Two pink lines and six years later...

Two pink lines and six years later.  Today is Deanna's 6th birthday.  It's hard to summarize the past six years in just a few words. Amazing. Difficult. Wonderful. Sad. Exciting. Empty. Fulfilling. Satisfying. Bittersweet.  It's been a roller coaster of emotion since I began this open adoption journey six years ago.



On July 11, 2005, I didn't really know what to expect in terms of what our open adoption would be like; there were so many uncertainties and unknowns.  I only knew two things for sure: 1) It would be incredibly difficult for me to deal with the fact that I wouldn't be raising my daughter and 2) I would never be the same after what I had gone through at 18.

And I was so right.



To say that I had a difficult time coping with the loss of Deanna would be the understatement of the year. There were days where I didn't want to live and I didn't know how I was going to make it through. And I was forever changed by what I had gone through. But these truths don't change the fact that I still believe I made the right decision for my daughter. Six years later, I can happily say that I am at peace with myself and with my decision.  I absolutely adore Deanna's parents and extended family, and I wouldn't change the past for anything.  I have been forever changed because of what I've gone through...but I mean that in the best way possible. What God has done in my life these past few years is nothing short of amazing.  He has taken an impossible and heartbreaking situation and used it for His good.  "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace"  Ephesians 1:7



The Purpose Driven Connection is a website and blog by Rick Warren, (author of The Purpose Driven Life). Warren writes a Daily Hope called: "A Mission You Need to Accept."  Here's my favorite snippet:

"God has a purpose for the hurts you’ve gone through. He wants you to use them to help others –Who better to help someone struggling with alcoholism than someone who has fought that battle? Who better to help someone with a special needs child than a parent with a special needs child? Who better to support someone in the middle of a failing marriage than someone who experienced the pain of a marriage that fell apart? Who better to offer hope to a child who feels unworthy in school than someone who grew up feeling unworthy in school?

God wants to use the very things you are most embarrassed or ashamed of to encourage other people. While we think we encourage other people with our strength, it’s often those things we want to keep hidden that speak to them. They can relate and find hope when they see how God has brought you through those times of trial and used you in spite of your weaknesses.

What will be your life mission? Your life mission is telling other how Jesus helped you overcome the challenges of your life. The good news of the Gospel is as simple as letting people know salvation is a free gift; that you don’t have to earn your way to heaven. It’s telling people how God wants them to live forever with him and that everything they’ve ever done wrong can be erased by God’s grace."

Everything you have ever done wrong can be erased by God's grace.  What a powerful and hope-filled message! 



It's so hard for me to believe that Deanna is six-years-old.  I honestly can't believe how quickly time has flown by.  It's so easy to get caught up in the past; wondering why things happened the way they did and revisiting the dreaded "what ifs."  I know because I did it for years.  But today is a brand new day, and being at peace with my decision means that I am finally able to move forward with my life.  Not looking back, but also not forgetting where I've been.  When you take a step back to look at the big picture and realize that God has a bigger (and better) plan for your life, it's so much easier to accept and move past whatever it is that you've been through.  Today is July 11, 2011, and I know two things for sure...



1) God is good all the time and 2) All the time, God is good. 



Happy birthday Miss Deanna Marie!



"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.  Plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11 

Rambunctious little babe playing at the beach.  What a life!

It is well with my soul

I was featured at BirthMom Buds!

BirthMom Buds is an organization and website that provides peer counseling, support, encouragement, and friendship to pregnant women considering adoption as well as women who have already placed children for adoption. 



It was a huge honor for me to be featured as a guest-blogger at BirthMom Buds Blog.



Check it out by clicking here -->; Spotlight Blogger: Meet Amy H.  Enjoy!

Crowdsourcing Knowledge with Students

Over the last few weeks I have been playing with a very simple brainstorming and voting website called tricider. The great thing about tricider is that it is incredibly quick and simple to use, and yet it enables users to collect information and opinions from all over the web in a very easily digestible and powerful way.

It's very easy to create a tricider topic or question and you don't even need to register, just type your topic or question into the field.


You can also add a bit more detail and instructions to guide your students.

After you have saved the description, you or your students can start adding solutions.

Once there are some solutions added it's easy to either vote for them or add arguments for or against, using the + or - symbols.


Once you have set up your page you can add your email so that you get notifications when ever anyone adds something new or votes. You can also get a URL to edit the page (in case anyone adds something offensive) and a separate URL to either share with your students or post to Twtter or Facebook.

Here are some examples that I have set up to crowdsource in formation from my PLN.

• What digital skills do students need for the 21st century?
• How do we encourage pedagogically sound exploitation of technology in language learning?
• What do you want from a digital coursebook for EFL / ESL?

So how can we use this with students?

• Set up some controversial statements and get students to vote for the ones they agree / disagree with and leave pro and con comments. You could assign groups of students to all think of pros and another group to think of cons and see which can come up with the most convincing arguments. Example: Controversial Issues
  
• Your statements could be about a particular book your students are studying and they could add arguments for or against. Example: Goldilocks and the 3 Bears
  
• Get students to brainstorm word or phrases based around a theme. Example: Computer Phrases
  
• Get students to vote on a list of topics they want to study. Example: Topics
  
• Put up a list of favourite films or books or bands and get students to vote and debate which is best. Example: Favourite films
  
• Get students to brainstorm, debate and share knowledge about any particular topic or even language point. Example: Present Continuous
  
• Set up true false questions to check comprehension of a text.
• Create action research questionnaires to get feedback on the things you do in class. Example: Things we do in Class
  
• Create needs analysis questionnaires for your students or other colleagues. Example: Needs Analysis
  
• Get students create their own questionnaires and circulate them online (through Twitter or Facebook) to collect opinions. You could also get the students to use this information as part of a written assignment.

What's so good about tricider?

• It's free and really quick and easy to use.
• It's allows people to interact and share opinions.
• It doesn't require any registration.
• It's very simple for students to add their arguments or just vote.
• It updates very quickly so you could use it live in class and just click refresh as students add opinions or vote.
• It's versatile.
• It can help students pull in opinions from outside their classroom and also share opinions beyond their school.
• It creates easily digestible information.

What's not so good?

• Well there's not much wrong, but a couple of nice extra features would be:
• An embed code to allow me to embed the page into a blog or wiki.
• An archive button to enable me to close some of the debates so they don't go on forever.
• The ability to export the results to pdf or csv.

Well I hope you find tricider a useful tool and please do share any ideas you have for using it in the comments below.

Related links:

• Create a Video Q&A Booth
• So Ask Me a Question
• Create Video Questionnaires
• Creating Social Polls and Questionnaires Using Urtak
• Pros and Cons as Web Based Research Tasks

Best

Nik Peachey

On Mother's Day, Honor Moms Who Chose Adoption Over Abortion

I found this article on lifenews.com, and I just had to share! 

On Mother’s Day, Honor Moms Who Chose Adoption Over Abortion

Article written by Kristan Hawkins | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 5/3/11

Mother’s Day is just around the corner and this year be sure to honor all mothers, grandmothers, daughters, and birthmothers. Amanda Lord, Field Coordinator with Students for Life of America explains the importance of reaching out to all mothers, including birthmother’s this year:



Nearly every American can tell you why we celebrate Mother’s Day. People use it as a day to honor their mother, grandmother, stepmother, or someone else they view as a mother figure.



But there is one type of mother that is commonly forgotten. These mothers watch as other women receive handmade cards, flowers, breakfasts in bed, and family brunches. On Mother’s Day, they don’t receive a card made by their child, no burnt pancakes covered in maple syrup, and there isn’t a single flower to put into a vase.



Some of these forgotten mothers will spend this May 8th in tears.



The mothers I’m speaking of are Birthmoms, women who place a child for adoption. Generally, these mothers are not celebrated on Mother’s Day.  It’s not because people are cold-hearted or thoughtless toward birthmoms. Rather, most don’t know how to respond. They think it might be insensitive to say anything to a birthmom on Mother’s Day. Others are simply unaware of the birthmoms around them.



Birthmoms never celebrated their baby’s first word. They could not guide them in their first steps. They didn’t pack their child’s lunch for the first day of school. They weren’t there to take prom pictures. But they are still Mothers. They should be honored as much as mothers who parent their children. They made the ultimate and most selfless sacrifice in order that their child may live and thrive.



As a Birthmother, I am so grateful to be surrounded by people who honor me as a mother. Every year I am honored in one way or another – flowers, cards, or even dinner.  Having someone celebrate my motherhood reminds me that I am not alone on a day that can sometimes be painful.



This year, my organization – Students for Life of America – has expanded our annual Mother’s Day Postcard campaign giving individuals the opportunity to not only thank their mothers and grandmothers for choosing Life but to thank their birthmothers or a birthmother they have never met. View the postcard here.



It is my hope that there will come a day when all mothers are honored on Mother’s Day, and I believe that receiving a ‘thank you’ via an organization that helps save the lives of babies like my son would be a blessing.



To view this article on lifenews.com, click here!

Create Video Questionnaires

Intervue.me is a new website I have been using recently. It's another website that is based around the use of webcams. The site enables users to create questionnaires and then get the recipients of the questionnaire to leave video recorded answers. The site is very easy to use.

Register the go to 'My Dashboard' and click on 'Create New' to start your first questionnaire.


First you decide on the levels of privacy you want for the questionnaire and whether you want people to be able to leave anonymous answers or add comments to the answers.


Next you click on 'Start adding questions'.
You can type in your question and give more explanation below the question if you think that makes it clearer. You can add as many questions as you want. You'll also need to click on 'Edit title' so that you can give your questionnaire a name.


Once you have added all your questions you can just click on 'Share' or 'Invite' to either get a URL for your questionnaire or to email it to specific people.

Then once people receive the questionnaire they just click on the questions and record their answers using the webcam in their laptop.

To see all the videos you can just go to 'My Dashboard' and click on the 'Videos' tab.

Here are some example questionnaires I have created. Feel free to leave an answer to any of the questions.

• Blended learning
• How digital is your classroom?
• Mobile devices in the classroom

How to use Intervue.me with students

• Create comprehension check questions to go with reading homework so that students also do some speaking for homework.
• Create opinion polls for students to answer.
• Make action research questionnaires
• Play the alibi game and get students to explain where they were and what they were doing at particular points in time.
• Ask students about childhood memories.

What I like about Intervue.me

• It's very quick and easy to create questionnaires
• It's a great way to provide speaking practice for students.
  
• You can add more detail and explanation to the questions.
• Students get to practice their digital communication skills.
• Students will be able to watch and listen to their replies and rerecord them so this will focus them on accuracy.
• It can be more communicative and engaging than writing down answers as students can also see the other answers that have been recorded.
• You can create long questionnaires or very simple single question ones.

What I'm not so sure about.

• It could take time to get students feeling comfortable in front of the camera, so you might need to help them a little and get them to think about lighting and getting the correct distance from the camera.
• Be careful about enabling anonymous replies or comments as this could be abused.
• Students need a laptop with a reasonable quality microphone.

I hope you find Intervue.me useful and that your students get plenty of speaking practice.

Related links:

• Create a Video Q&A Booth
• So Ask Me a Question
• Create a Video Dictation Activity
• 20 WebCam Activities for EFL ESL Students
• Teach Yourself to Teach with Tech
• Get your Students Listening and Interacting with Native Speakers

Best

Nik Peachey

Adoption Cards!

Hello fellow birthmoms! Reminder: Sunday, May 8th is Mother's Day, which of course means that Saturday, May 7th is Birthmother's Day! 



Below is an important message from Coley Strickland, Founder & Executive Director of Birthmom Buds.   

Dear Friends, 

Just a quick note to let you know that we have adoption cards for purchase in a new Etsy store, Heartmark Designs. Currently we have Birthmother's Day cards, cards appropriate for birthmothers to give their child's adoptive Mother for Mother's Day, and a few cards specifically for reunited birthmothers and their children. We will be adding other cards as we create them. We're currently working on some special cards appropriate for birthmothers to give their children on their birthday, which has been requested numerous times!

Feel free to spread the word about our cards. Bulk orders are available for adoption professionals.  Proceeds from the cards benefits BirthMom Buds. 

Use the code "BMOMBUDS" at checkout to receive 15% off your purchase. 

Thanks,

Coley Strickland,

Founder & Executive Director

BirthMom Buds