I’ve been known to GIF my day on special occasions. Alan Levine even created an honorary #ds106 assignment in my name for the practice. And in honor of the the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States, I thought I’d take a day to share what I’m grateful for using the one of the media formats I’m most thankful for; the animated GIF! I’ll be revisiting this post through the day with updates, so stay tuned 🙂
I’m thankful for a good deal of people in my life, and I could easily fill several posts of those that have helped shape who I am. There may be a post or two along those lines in the coming months, but in the spirit of finding small moments of thanks throughout my day, I’ll let my son represent the close loved ones in my life.
I’m thankful for the highly skilled and conscientious adults we have that transport students to and from school everyday in my district. We have nearly a quarter mile of school busses that pick up and drop off students every day during the week. When you have that many large vehicles stretched across the front of school buildings, hundreds of students pouring into and out of those buildings, parents and other cars moving around the parking lots, there’s a lot that could go wrong. While we have had other drivers run into our busses, we have never had an accident involving people or vehicles being hit by our busses, and for that I’m incredibly thankful.
I’m thankful for the forward thinking of our district’s Technology Director. Not only do we have powerful machines capable of allowing teachers and students to explore every nook and cranny of creativity they desire, but he also trusts teachers to manage their own devices. When my old copy of Adobe CS4 just doesn’t cut it anymore, I can download and install a newer version (provided I find a way to pay for it) when I’m ready; no waiting for a district admin for approval.
I’m thankful for being to work next to the Life Management class at our middle school, because it gives me the opportunity to peak in on all of the fun hand-made projects. I like to think of Life Management and Home Economics classes as part of the overlooked Maker Movement. The teacher in our middle school program has students sewing, designing their own popcorn flavorings, and even creating their own sewn circuits using conductive thread and arduinos. She’s partnered with local university teachers and students, and constantly pushes her students to explore what it means to “make.”
I’m thankful for the people in my life that are always looking out for me. I’ve been running for a little over 2 years now, and sometimes it can be a bit scary out there on the road, especially at night. This year has been especially bad with the poor weather coming on earlier. My mother and my aunt both bought me protective, neon, flashing, and otherwise garish (but important) outer running gear. I’m glad I have them to make up for my own stupidity.
I’m thankful for my ability to still be young at heart, a bit silly and goofy at times, and to be able to enjoy video games with my family. Sure, I still play video games on my own (I’m a huge nerd), but I’m glad that I have loved ones that enjoy playing games with me. And for the excellent rainbow paintings from my four-year old. It’s good to be comfortable with the youth inside of us.
That’s it for today’s “ThanksGIFing.” I didn’t share as many GIFs as I had hoped, but I’m thankful for each one, and for what they represent. How ever you show thanks this week, I hope you do it from a place of sincerity and simplicity.
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