What Did I Learn Today

So last post I said, "the thought [that came to me] was 'during scripture study or pick a scripture/conference topic, write posts (journal) about feelings or lessons learned.'

I have since had lots of thoughts and no posts, rather I've been keeping notes on my thoughts (as they usually come when I can't blog) and saying I will get to those posts later, I guess later has to come eventually so here it is.

Since the new year (literally January 1, 2015), my testimony of prayer has grown and solidified into a foundation stone. Which I wasn't expecting because I never doubted prayer, I always trusted in it and believed its power. But I guess there is always room for growth (a lesson for another time). With Wade's birth circumstances (more details at quarterinchsteele.blogspot.com or wadetolkiensteele.blogspot.com), I know that there is no way we could have made it with the love of Heavenly Father and all those who prayed for us and of course the hospital staff, doctors, nurses, NICU, etc.

Along with the newfound knowledge of prayer with Wade's situation, I taught the lesson "Pray Always" in Relief Society and I just can't help but have prayer on the mind all the time. The thought that came to me (after my lesson of course) is this: "Since life is a learning experience, perhaps something we can add to our prayers (maybe at the end of the day) is a 'what I learned today' section. Just like parents ask their children what they learned/did in school that day, I imagine God is just as interested in our learning progression here on earth."

So, what did I learn today?

The actualization of the realization of how much prayer has shaped my life is almost overwhelming. Besides my parents (who I know prayer for me, my family and my brothers by name) I have also come to feel and realize all the others who prayer for me and not just in times of trial or need. My other family members, my friends, my church leaders and ward members to start. And then there are those who pray for the sick or in need of comfort, those who pray for hospitals, missionaries, and military. And I've come to understand in a new light that the world needs prayer of all kinds. Personal, family, general, private, public, priesthood blessings, food blessings, prayers in the heart, and glances toward Heaven.

All communication with God is heard, all prayer has power. I am a daughter of God and He loves me, He wants to talk with me, and I love Him and will come to Him with my joys, sorrows, needs, and thanks as I would my earthly parents.

Because God Knows

So the thought came to me while sitting in testimony meeting, (now before I go farther and at the risk of incriminating myself, I know most thoughts I have during testimony meeting are less than righteous, but this one seems pretty good so I'm gonna go for it), the thought was 'during scripture study or pick a scripture/conference topic, write posts (journal) about feelings or lessons learned.'

I recognize for most of you (and if I were honest I would include myself too) this makes perfect sense and its what we've been taught since we learned how to spell journal. What else is a journal if not a place to express, state, and lay it all out there? For some reason, all though I love deep discussion and especially love to talk, journaling (or blogging-those words can be interchangeable for this post) is very daunting. I suppose you could say it was procrastination, but the more I ponder it the more I don't feel it falls into that category-and believe me that is no excuse, I can procrastinate anything without hesitation (did you get it?). Somehow I can't figure this one out. I love to write, I think about blogging all the time, I enjoy other blogs, and I have time.

Well for whatever reason, this impression was strong enough for me to want to write it down so I wouldn't forget, and here we are. So I guess for this first post on my new kick (and in honor of when the thought struck me) I want to share my testimony.

I think a lot about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not necessarily the doctrinal truths themselves, but because they have been part of my my whole life, there is always a little inkling somewhere in my thought process. I know that I am a daughter of a living Heavenly Father. Mostly because I have been given no reason to doubt it. Some may say well you can't prove it-but my mind doesn't work that way. You can prove math and I still don't understand it so that isn't really an argument. Others may say there is no way to know for sure-there is no way to know for sure of anything (without getting too philosophical, because I am not well versed in that area) how do I know my husband loves me, or that my son or any other member of my family or close friends love me? Because they tell me so? Sure. Because I feel it? Yep. Because I love them back? You got it.

There are lots of questions in the world, I have lots of questions about lots of subjects and lots of people have answers, but in the end we will believe what we feel to be true and right regardless of the proof or knowledge given. Until something can change our feelings about something, we don't really change our mind.

The very notion of believing that God is my Heavenly Father leads very easily into believing in the rest of the doctrines and teachings. LDS.org has made it so easy to search anything. They provide a list and brief summaries of 9 basic doctrinal principles:

1. Godhead
2. Plan of Salvation
3. Atonement of Jesus Christ
4. Dispensation, Apostasy, and Restoration
5. Prophets and Revelation
6. Priesthood and Priesthood Keys
7. Ordinances and Covenants
8. Marriage and Family
9. Commandments

The Lord has given us eternal truths, or principles, that help govern our decisions and actions. These principles lead us to live as the Savior and receive His promised blessings.

Now, while I don't have answers to all my questions (let alone answers to all of anyone's questions and neither do you), the things I do believe in, give me the faith to believe in the things I don't understand or have a hard time trusting. President Uchtdorf said it best, "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters—my dear friends—please, first doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. We must never allow doubt to hold us prisoner and keep us from the divine love, peace, and gifts that come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ."

I know this has gone quite long, and it doesn't make for a quick read (which are my favorite), but I am happy to have written it down at least. Wish me luck in my new endeavor ;)

"I don't know,

But I don't need to know,

Because I know God knows,

And that's all I need to know."

-Brother Ron Bartholomew

oh yeah

So I kind of forgot about this blog. I created this gmail account after interning with Dr. Sandie Waters and then needed a blog for a class, so I used this account to create that class blog. I had all ready created a blog for the 'Steele Family' (bondsofsteele.blogspot.com) so I just completed assignments here.

Since then I have created tons more gmail accounts and many more blogs, but this one was still here. So now I will make it private and use it for personal reflection. We'll see how well I do.

Here I don't have to talk as me and Tyler (and now Tav too). Here I can just talk about me and my thoughts and feelings. I don't have to worry about who is reading it or trying to please everyone. This one can be for me.

Six Degrees of Separation

Create a map of your social network. Blog about strengths and weaknesses.

Putting a map together of my social network was eye-opening! I couldn't believe how many people there are (and how many didn't get mentioned or were forgotten)! After about 10 minutes, I realized this would be a daunting task and decided to blog first. (image of social networking map coming soon).

Because of the easy access given to my generation, there is no shortage of contacts in one's social network, however the relevancy of contacts can be debated. I can take all those 'people' in my email address book(s), my cell phone address book, my old wedding announcement mailing list (go figure and actual address book) and make a three page hierarchy right there! But keep in mind the difference between a strong tie and a weak tie. I can't say it any better than what was given to my COMM 332G online class in our week's reading:

One important idea that comes from social network theory is related to strong ties and weak ties (Barabassi, 2002). We all have random and informal ties. For example, you may generate a weak tie when you get on a plane or a bus and sit down next to someone who you do not know and generate a conversation. You may find them to be interesting, and intelligent, and a good business connection for the future. Strong ties, on the other hand, are relational and geographically defined. These are your friends who you know from school, your family, or your business associates. You know them because you live by them, you work by them, and you see them and talk to them every day.

Imagine sitting at a table with everyone else in the world. It would be a large round table, and those sitting next to you would be your strong ties. Your mother and father, your brothers and sisters, your friends and associates, would all be at the table near you. They are the ones who are most likely to share your cultural values. Now imagine that you look across the table and see someone from a different geography, a different work environment, perhaps a different religion, or set of social values. If you know that person then they would be a weak tie. Weak ties are the people we meet when we step outside our cultural comfort zone.

The part for me that gets hard is the 'stepping out of the comfort zone'. I seem to do all right until I have to leave the norm or my homeostasis (so to speak). Not saying I don't do it-especially when the gain far out-weigh my nervousness, but it is a hard thing for me to do.

The question for our weekly discussion was: After reading about the different types of social support, discuss in a paragraph the strengths and weaknesses of your social network. This is what I reflected: "...we learn about four types of social networking: emotional, informational, instrumental, and motivational/spiritual and looking at this from a not-job related point-of-view interests me. As a social network is my group of friends and contacts its easy to find and pick-out people who fill each of the areas. A strength is that I have many people in many different places. It goes with the idea of six degrees of separation, in that if I don't know what I need (or who I want) someone I know does. A weakness for me is I have a hard time going out of my comfort zone to meet new people (or even meet people that my contacts have suggested)."

To sum up, it is a fascinating thing to actually write down one's social network-to actually see who you know (because it is so often said it is who you know not what you know).

ASL Final Project

For one of our projects in my ASL class, we were asked to tell an embarrassing date story. So here is a retelling of my first date with Tyler.

#3 Google Sites

How can I start this? I absolutely love Google and once I was shown how to create a Google website, there was no stopping me! I love to play around and create. I guess you could call it my 'scrap booking'-a hobby. They say a hobby is something you do in your spare time, something you do for fun. They also say you should lover your job and do something you love to do. So what's the difference? I have found a way to use my hobby in my career. I have two examples of using Google Sites as a teacher.

First off, I've seen first hand how to create a site from a teacher's point of view. As I continue my work-study with Doc Waters, we create and collaborate with Google Sites. She and I have created three separate sites, one for each course she teaches. It's been amazing to brainstorm and deliberate the many ways of creating a course website. I love the idea of everything living online. Nothing ever gets lost! When you use it in conjunction with Google Docs you can't go wrong. You create in Google Docs, email in Gmail, display on Google Sites, share in Blogger and the list keeps going. Now that I've learned all this and actually created a course website, doing it in my classroom seems obvious.

This brings us to my second example. http://sites.google.com/site/projectclassroom/
This is the site I've all ready created for my English class at my old high school, Pine View. Although the information will change and I'll have a much better grasp of what I'm doing once graduated, this is a great start and a solid base to build from.

Now my classroom has entered the home of my students. They are able to retrieve information and their parents have everything at their fingertips (I hate cliches but seeing as nothing else comes to me at the moment). Parents of students like my brother, can have all the information their child forgets to mention, all of the actual times and dates of school functions, the where's and when's of my classroom. My colleagues have access to my information when I'm not there. They are able to add, critique, and give insight. This also allows me to spend more time with family. The fact that I don't have to live in my classroom while completing lesson plans or grading. I can take it with me, not that I encourage taking work home with you, however if it means more time for children and vacation--well you be the one to decide--to each his own.

#2 Google Tools

Ha, right, blogging, right.

I absolutely love Google! Everything Google has to offer I love! I found out about Google Tools last semester and can't be separated from them now-it's kinda like an addiction-which scares me just a little, but I like it.

Google Calendar is my lifeline! I am an organizing freak! And G-Cal allows me to organize, color-coordinate, share, schedule, describe, view, alert, and embed! What else could I possibly need? In a classroom setting it is unmatched! Create a website, embed the calendar and BAM! Parents and students have all assignment, parent-teacher meetings, dances, club meetings, assemblies, you name anywhere!

I don't know how Google Docs was kept a secret from me but man oh man it ain't no more! Hallelujah, praise the Lord! This has been a lifesaver and could have been helpful a few years ago (like at birth). I can't even begin to describe the uses in a classroom-my fingers cannot type as fast as my brain is thinking of ideas. Group projects, different computer, different software, on vacation, no money for over-priced software, the list goes on!

iGoogle is nice because all of your Google Tools live in one place. Well they do as well if you're logged into your Gmail account, but this gives you a nice little "home" where everything can live-as well as being able to add your own gadgets for fun! Weather, quotes, dictionary, National Geographic pix, crosswords, how-to articles, etc.

As for the videos! Woohoo! Finally someone who can explain math to me! Well at least I can get started on my fraction homework. Mr. Duey rocks! Thanks so much for sharing-in a fun way, because math just isn't the brightest spot in my day. Videos are so essential for young learners. Lets face it, they'd rather watch TV than do anything! Even though it's about something they aren't interested in learning-they'll probably pay more attention than if they had to listen to their teacher drone on about it like everything else.