Wednesday, January 1, 2014

The Notorious 11 Questions

The PLN Challenge:

1.      Acknowledge the nominating blogger – @whsrowe, @mathneil, @JosephADevine

2.      Share 11 random facts about yourself

3.      Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you

4.      Nominate 11 bloggers for the Challenge

5.      Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer and let the bloggers know they have been nominated.


11 Random Facts about Me:
  1. I have two daughters
  2. They annoy me most when they are acting like me
  3. I almost quit teaching at the end of last year
  4. The only sport I care about is roller derby
  5. I love to read, but not when I am forced to
  6. I used to have two cats, but I replaced them with children
  7. I don't mind long drives, but I prefer to do them alone
  8. I am a hardcore Whovian
  9. I want to ride a dragon, even though I'm afraid of heights
  10. I have been to Iceland
  11. I love video games like EverQuest and World of Warcraft, but I hate playing with other people.

My Turn to Nominate:

I'm not going to nominate anyone because I hate chain letters, but I would be very interested in anyone who wants to answer

 Here are your 11 questions:
  1. If you weren’t in education, what would you do instead?
    1. Ideally, I would be a writer, but in reality, I'd probably be in sales...
  2. Who is your favorite actor of all time?
    1. Either John Cusack or Kevin Spacey
  3. If you could go to have attended any famous speech anytime in history, what would it have been?
    1. The Sermon on the Mount to what all the fuss is about.
  4. What do you do to relax?  De-stress?
    1. Video games (something violent) or books (something magical)
  5. If you could invite anyone to dinner who would you invite and why?
    1. Neil deGrasse Tyson.  The man is a visionary and a pioneer of science education.  He makes complex concepts accessible and interesting to people from all walks of life and level of education.  He is brilliant and fun and a snazzy dresser!
  6. Would you prefer to visit a Zoo or Aquarium and why?
    1. I love both of them in theory, but in reality, I don't like either.  I have an irrational fear over large sea creatures, whales in particular.  Zoos are always too crowded with families with small children.  I only really like my own.
  7. Favorite twitter chat?
    1. #MSMathChat and #NTChat are the two best ones.  I keep wanting to be a part of #SBGChat, but it moves so quickly that I have trouble keeping up.
  8. What is one thing you tried last year that you learned about from your PLN?
    1. My PLN has helped me to drastically change my attitude about teaching and my role in the classroom.  I used to be very much old school, feeling that students should just come in and do what I ask them to do, no matter how boring it may be.  I am a completely different teacher this year as a direct result of my PLN.
  9. Best place to be quiet and reflect?
    1. My car on my way in to work.  I need my morning commute (45 minutes) to gather my thoughts and re-align myself for the day.
  10. Favorite book of your life?
    1. Impossible to answer. I love Dune, anything by Heinlein (Stranger in a Strange Land, Tunnel in the Sky, Farmer in the Sky, etc.) almost anything by Jeffrey Archer and I find new books every month that I love with all of my heart.
  11. What is one thing you never/rarely share that you are exceptionally proud of?
    1. No idea.  When I asked my wife about this, she reminded me that if I am even mildly proud of something, I shout it from the rooftops.  I am, however, quite proud of some of the relationships I have built with some of my students.


My 11 Questions for YOU!
  1. Why did you pick your current content area?
  2. If you could pick any other content area, what would you pick and why?
  3. What is one thing that you would like to become expert in doing?
  4. If you won $100,000,000, what would you spend it on?
  5. If you could have one piece of tech that doesn't currently exist, what would it be and why?
  6. What is you favorite lesson that you have taught/seen?
  7. If you could  fight one historical figure, who would you fight?
  8. What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail? (2 things only)
  9. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
  10. What makes your favorite book your favorite?
  11. If you could change one physical characteristic about yourself, what would it be?

3 comments:

  1. Why did you pick your current content area?

    Because I love it. The patterns, the logic, the purity.

    If you could pick any other content area, what would you pick and why?

    Linguistics. It has many similar traits to math. I like that it's man-made and going back to discover the "origin stories" and connections among words and languages is really cool to me.

    What is one thing that you would like to become expert in doing?

    Answering questions. (not a joke)

    If you won $100,000,000, what would you spend it on?

    Setting up a family: buying a house, saving for my kids' college education, etc.

    If you could have one piece of tech that doesn't currently exist, what would it be and why?

    Transporters. We can send information long distances quickly and easily now, but there's still no replacement for being in person in many cases.

    What is your favorite lesson that you have taught/seen?

    I love introducing students to some of the more intricate details of infinity. It is naturally interesting and still "mind-blowing."

    If you could fight one historical figure, who would you fight?

    I do not like fighting anyone--historical or otherwise. So, I will pick Buddha so we can both be pacifists about it and maybe do some more metaphorical fighting.

    What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail? (2 things only)

    Build a teleporter. Start a family.

    If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

    Blueberries

    What makes your favorite book your favorite?

    It is, on the surface, a children's book, but has so much depth and wonderment about it that it has stayed interesting as I grew.

    If you could change one physical characteristic about yourself, what would it be?

    I'd like to have less seasonal allergic reactions.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Having trouble sleeping tonight. I'll tackle your 11 questions.

    1. Two things - I think it's what I'm best at and I thought it would be where I could have the biggest impact. I also LOVE literature but felt that people have their whole life to read and many choose to do so. Few choose to learn math on their own so my ego made me think I could make a difference.
    2. Literature. I love to read, I love to hear others' opinions. I love to try and analyze what the author might have meant.
    3. I'd love to finally get good at guitar. Never found the time or the energy for it.
    4. A couple of homes near friends/family for vacations. Set aside for the family's future, donate to my 1st school where my career began.
    5. Cannot think of anything clever at all here
    6. I was lucky enough to be invited to join in a project that an english teacher and history teacher put together. Their students were examining the 1950s and spent a whole day doing presentations to and for each other. I was invited to join in to discuss the origins of rock n roll and to be a part of the whole day. It was SO fun.
    7. Wow - ummm maybe Alexander Hamilton.
    8. Sing on stage in front of a big crowd, skydive
    9. Burgers
    10. Joyce's 'Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' has the most beautiful use of language that I've ever come across. I could just reread certain pages over and over.
    11. I'd love to be a few inches taller than I am. Only 5 ft 5 and change

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was already answering questions, so decided to grab yours too! #8 is kind of a doozy, actually. http://mathiex.blogspot.ca/2014/01/etc-sunshine-award-responses.html

    ReplyDelete

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