Tagged in the "Meme Game"

I don't know why it's called the Meme Game, but if you're "tagged", you're supposed to answer some questions and tag some other people. Did I get that right? Berta Leiva tagged me, so here goes:

Berta tagged me, so it’s my turn to answer the questions in the “meme game.”

1. What was I doing ten years ago?
In May 1998 I was working, as I am now, teaching ESL at the Maryland English Institute, University of Maryland, College Park; my husband was working as maitre d’ at a country club in Bethesda, Maryland; my mother-in-law had been living with us for about six months and was recovering from a broken hip; and my daughter Vicki was in kindergarten.

2. Five things I have to do tomorrow (the question says today, but it’s bedtime so I will change it to tomorrow):
a. Attend a meeting from 9-12 to discuss our curriculum
b. Complete a faculty Survey and a Lab use survey
c. Draft a response to Mission Standard 1 for our self-study
d. That’s about all I will have time for!

3. Snacks I enjoy: dark chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, coffee chip ice cream (do you perceive a trend here?)

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: support lots of charities (medical, environmental, arts-related, animal rights, women’s rights…), redo my kitchen, maybe buy a horse

5. Three of my bad habits:
a. eating too much
b. getting stuck at the computer
c. complaining

6. Five places I have lived:
a. Jackson Heights, Borough of Queens, New York (when I was too little to remember)
b. Hackensack, New Jersey (where I grew up)
c. Rochester, New York (where I went to college)
d. In and around Paris, France (1970 – 1973)
e. In and around Washington, D.C. (1973 – present)

7. Five jobs I have had:
a. Care for and exercise Sonny Boy, a beautiful palomino horse (part-time after-school job in high school)
b. Teacher at the Ecole Active Bilingue, Paris
c. Teacher at the Club International Audiovisuel, Paris
d. Teacher, Curriculum Coordinator, and Assistant Director at the American Language Academy, Washington, DC
e. Teacher at the Maryland English Institute, U. of Maryland

8. People I want to know more about: Rita, Robert, Teresa, Dafne and Erika. If Erika and Robert will send me urls for their websites I will put up the links!

Nina's newest blog venture

When I posted about TweetWheel I realized that I had never posted about the leanrers' blog I created back in November 2007, English Power. It is meant to be a repository of ideas for students (mine at the University of Maryland, College Park and English House, as well as for English language learners anywhere) who wish to improve their English language skills outside of class or independent of a class. The ideas I've posted about so far are mostly using free websites such as TED.com and Free Rice, but some posts offer low-tech ideas like reading for pleasure and keeping a double-entry journal.

While the blog has not garnered much notice thus far, I hope it will gradually build an audience and that teachers who find it will direct their students to it.

TweetWheel - Find out which of your Twitter friends know each other!

I've been quiet for a long time. Having a web presence sometimes means being too invested in certain sites to the detriment of others. I want to keep my first blog as a place I can record some of the nifty new tools I've been introduced to. TweetWheel was mentioned on the webheads Yahoo Group, so I tried it out, and this is the result:

TweetWheel - Find out which of your Twitter friends know each other!

I was hoping the whole graphic would show up on the post, but it's just a link. It's cool, though! I wonder if it will update itself as my Twitter community grows. Maybe if refreshed?