11, 11, 11

Time for a fun blog post, not really geared towards education but one that is coming about thanks to connections made with other educators through social media.  Mande was kind enough to tag me to forward this along as a blog assignment.  Seeing as I am trying to focus on blog posts this year, I think it is ok to do one that is not as serious as the others.  So here goes.

11 Random Facts about Me

1. Born in Albert Lea, MN.
2. I have a 3 year old son who is by far the best thing I have ever created.
3. I have a wife who is a lawyer and tries to use her lawyer skills to win arguments.
4. I started college as a civil engineering student but switched to physics and secondary education.
5. Even though I did not come to Iowa till college, I have now lived in 4 different cities in Iowa and taught in 3.
6. I am really enjoying my new position as a technology integrationist, lots of new challenges and it is helping me connect with a lot more awesome educators.
7. I have worked with 6 different principals in my 10 years of being a teacher.  1 in Cedar Rapids, 3 at South Hamilton in 5 years and 2 here in Ames (I was at both the Middle School and High School last year).
8. I have taught 10 different subjects in my 9 years in the classroom, 12 if you count each time I taught Physics in a different district since each had slightly different curriculums.
9. I have won 1st place in a couple fishing tournaments and was a BASS Casting Kids champ for my region as a kid.
10. I love technology, it is now my top hobby since I spend more time playing with it and less time golfing or fishing.
11. I have missed the classroom and the students this year but I know that when I get back into the classroom, I will be a better teacher than before.

11 Questions
1. What's your favorite book character?  Why?
Tully Mars from A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffett, living the life that Jimmy sings about seems like fun.
2. If you could have a super power, what would it be?
Flying or teleporting, I would love to be able to get to places faster and without having to pay for gas or airline tickets.
3. What's your favorite 'get to know someone new" question?
To steal from Gus on Psych, "so, did you hear about Pluto?"
4. Would you ever consider a job that required an out of country relocation?
Yes, but only if it was on a tropical island.
5. What did you think you'd be as an adult when you were 8?
Veterinarian, but then I found out that I prefer physics to the squishy parts of science.
6. Now, what's your dream job?
Pretty much what I am doing now, that or a fishing guide on a tropical island.
7. How long does it take you to get to work?
Less than 5 minutes, my shortest drive as a teacher ever.  Longest was closer to 40 minutes each way.
8. What was your proudest moment thus far?
Too many to list that involve my son, every day he does something great.
9. What's your favorite thing to cook?
Most things on the grill or pulled pork in a slow cooker.
10. Android or iOS?
Was iOS only for the last 5 years or so but I am giving Android a try, I like the look and feel of iOS but love the widgets and customization in Android.
11. What's the last thing you said out loud?
What questions do you have? (just left a classroom where I was helping students with a project)

Now for the next part, I have to nominate 11 (we will see how many) people to continue this.  They have to acknowledge the person who nominated them, write 11 random facts about themselves, answer the 11 questions provided and then send it on to 11 more people.  Since I am not feeling that creative today, I am just going to push the 11 questions I got forward.  Also, most of the people that I know who blog have already done this so I am just going to send this out to whoever wants to do it.  Might not be a bad way to start blogging.