Blogging

I have really enjoyed blogging and I am going to try and start a blog at school. I thought a book blog would be nice.

I hated being frustrated about this project (the end product, I mean) and not being able to get it to look or sound the way I wanted it to. I hate my voice, even though my allergies are in full swing. I would like any suggestions on how I could make it better. I can't imagine what it must be like to have a child like Kenadie or did not know why dwarfs walked the way they do because of their bone structure. And I also learned that there are more than 200 medical reasons that a person could be born with dwarfism as shown in the different celebrities that I focused on. I think it is sad that Herve Villachaise shot himself because of his medical health problems. Although, I can definitely identify with him over being sick and tired of being sick and tired, never feeling well or 100%. Depression can make people do ugly things and become selfish. Suicide is never an answer. One should always take into account those people you would leave behind and what it would do to them.

Final Reflection

I could not get the music split even though I downloaded splitwav. There were no directions as to how to do this. The expert did not give me detailed information as I had asked. So, I guess the project will go as is.

I really enjoyed searching for all the information I could on dwarfism and people of short stature. I suppose being short myself, I had always felt a connection with other short people. We used to have this Greek woman who was my height working at the high school in a counseling compacity and when we would see each other, we would both smile and give each other a hug, because it is so nice to look someone in the eye when you talk with them.

I looked at information from sources I knew to be credible first, such as Medline Plus. When I was looking for information on celebrity dwarfs, I chose the ones that I knew from my past. I remembered watching Wild, Wild, West and Fantasy Island.

I found out how to download youtube and switch it to a file that would be supported on this blog as well as my Power Point. Thanks to Annette for introducing me to zamzar.com I have already mentioned this site to our school technician.

I then looked at the information I had obtained. While I was looking at different things and reading different things, I thought of Randy Newman's song "Short People". Even though so many short people thought it offensive, I thought it was a catchy tune and in the middle where he sings "Short people are just the same as you and I. All men are brothers until the day they die," it spoke to me of his message not to stereotype people based on their looks. This reminds me of Scott Westerfeld's series Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras. That is the message I hope my power point conveys. There is too much prejudice in this world and people need to always look at the specialness of each person and their unique qualities before casting the first stone.

I believe a project that concentrates on differences could be used in sociology or in primary grades. One could have an exploration of gender differences, cultural differences, physical differences, racial differences.

Still trying

I tried to do what the expert suggested and got a 404 error. So, I tried to go to one of the sites listed on the page. I ended up downloading AVS editor software. Thought it was free and when I would play it back it would say "AVS demo" all the way through the song. So, back to the drawing board.

I asked the expert again.

Still working

I had never done a print screen shot before, but I have now. It was fairly easy. I guess I always thought it was like cutting and pasting, but it is a little different.

Anyway, I got my answer from Ask an Expert, so now I am going to try to split my music on my Power Point.

Ask an Expert

Well, I went to Ask an Expert and I haven't received a response yet. I asked how to put music in both the first and last slide by dividing the song into two parts. I also asked about transitioning. Jeffson is who his name was, but I have not heard back. I asked the question last night. I am trying to make my project a little better. Still more to come.

Have a great day!

Wishing

I am wishing to be in better health. This has gone on for too long now. It has affected my work, my home, and my school work. Hopefully, on Wednesday the doctor will make me feel better with medicine and treatment (shots). I had to be off anahistamines for a week so my head has been killing me.

What do I wish for on my project? I wish I had it done a week ago which is what it should have been. I also wish it didn't have so many points where I was stammering orwhere the microphone turned off and on. I wish the youtube video was clearer. Is there anything I could have done with that? I also wish I could have broken Randy Newman's song in half (first half at the beginning of the power point and 2nd half on the last slide.

As my boss says to his faculty, "Let's move forward and keep those buckets full."

Waving

Is there a way to attach my end project? I am really not happy with it, but it is done and complete. I do know that I hate to hear myself talking particularly when my sinuses are so poor. But, I want to turn this in so I can get caught up with my reading and my Trailblazer 4. I apologize Annette for having to listen to this, plus I don't really feel it is high quality.

Wrapping

Youtube does not save it as anything other than to Real Player and due to time constraints, I am going with Power Point. I really would have liked to do movie maker. Should I try a little harder? Maybe if I had a dvd to record on. I don't think I do. All I have is CD's. Bad for me. :(

I am anxious to have time to play with something new. Maybe next project.

Wrapping

I am trying to decide the best way to put my project on the web. I know how to do a Power Point, but I was thinking of trying Movie Maker. I am not sure I can get it to work however. I have already tried to download a movie on it from youtube and it wouldn't download, the format was not compatible, so I may have to do a power point presentation after all. Photo Story might be good as well.

Weaving-already there

Pretty closely related. I have put down my thoughts as to what I would like to cover in my final project on my graphic organizer. Whew! I am farther along than I thought I was.

As I reread wiggling...

I know I have already done a little reception scaffolding by creating the graphic organizer to organize my thoughts and where I am headed with my final project.

Wiggling

Jen Traore had some good comments about the LPA website. Maybe I should go back and explore it a little further as far as seeing what things they have had to overcome.

I know my project is overdue

I will finish. Made an appointment with an allergist. My sinuses are killing me. It really has me down and very tired most of the time. I stayed up until 11:40 last night before going to bed. I had a dentist appointment tonight. Why is it so hard to get everything done?

Wiggling and Weaving and venting

I guess I am trying to do this at the same time.
I have a lot of good information.
I really want more people to have a better understanding of short people.

When I was 16, I worked at Ponderosa. Then, they had a cafeteria like line. Everyone wanted to be behind the line serving customers, me included. Otherwise, we had to bus tables. I kept noticing other people who were hired after me getting put on the line. Finally, I asked the manager why I did not get to serve customers behind the line? He told me because I was too short. He had already decided I couldn't handle it. Well, I gave my two week notice and quit. I went to a lower paying job. I did not like it one bit being discriminated against and not given a chance.

I thank God everyday I am the height I am and yet I wonder how difficult it must be for those shorter than me who are adults. Being prejudice against short people is the same as being prejudice against race, gender, obese and yes, even skinny people. I have a friend who I work with who has said she gets tired of people remarking on how skinny she is and how lucky she doesn't gain any weight (great metabolism). Anyway, we need to understand that people are special no matter what shape or size or color or nationality they are.

I really could have used Kuhlthau's zone of intervention with my graphic organizer. How frustrating trying to get it just right and then, not being able to upload it on my blogger. I tried several different ways. I did it with a free trial from Smart Draw, which was probably my first mistake. Because everytime I looked at what the printed version would be, it had "copy of Smart Draw" over part of my organizer. They wanted me to pay to get rid of the words. Why does it say I have a free trial and free printings if they are not going to give me my 7 days worth? Anyway, I ended up putting it in paint and saving it as a .bmp. I tried putting it in Word first, scanning it, and still had trouble uploading. What a mess! Where is my zone of intervention? I need some person to magically appear and help.

Now I know what students must feel like!

Putting it all together

As June Brown stated in Twenty-first Century Literacy and Technology in K-8 Classrooms, I thought I would facilitate visualize thinking by organizing what I know into a chart and maybe dividing it into topics. Here is my chart:

I hope you can see it all right. I worked on it a long time. I am not too good at making graphic organizers, but as was stated it does put things in perspective.

Wiggling

Where do I go from here? Let's see what I have found and what do I want to do with it?

Still webbing

As Annette says, I am locating, searching, and connecting ideas and information. So, I suppose I am still webbing. It is fascinating though. I have come across popular actors that I had forgotten completely about that are short people. Billy Barty wasn't who played in Wild Wild West. It was Michael Dunn. Herve Villachaise of Fantasy Island fame committed suicide. Emanuel Luis of Webster owns his own entertainment company. There is so much information. I found a link called Short Person's Support Organization. It has a list of many famous short people. However, they list people up to 5'5 1/2" which I don't think is that short. But there are a lot of resources on there.

It indicates most famous short people are actors, musicians, writers, etc. A short person can do whatever they set their mind to. It reminds me of when my son was littler and just barely in high school. We wanted him to start cutting the grass. I tried to show him that just because you are small doesn't mean you have to be small. You need to think like you are a tall person. Overcome the lawnmower. It was the same height as him at the time or he may have been a little taller. Now he cuts grass just fine. Of course, he is 5'8" now. Still not as tall as he would like.

Little Kenadie and Extraordinary Dwarfs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QBy8DFaLR4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEqrkcLVlH0&feature=related

I don't know what I am going to do with these two short clips but one is about achondriaplasia dwarfism (the most typical) and the other primordial dwarfism (not typical), but both are very interesting!

Diversity and Dwarfism

We are taught to learn and appreciate ALL cultures, so I wondered a bit about their diversity. All people are equal as the Constitution says, so everyone should be treated the same. While I was searching to see how diversity plays a role in dwarfism, I came across this article.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/30/television.dwarfs.reut/index.html

A dwarf could fall in love with a person of normal height and vice versa.