And that’s when it occurred to me: “oh yeah! I still have a del.icio.us account! I even used it to create a sort of online textbook at one point. Let’s get back to that, eh?” So I did. This helps me stay interested in things other than my job, areas other than writing and reading and English-ing.
Delicious
Delicious is a social bookmarking site, which really just means you can save bookmarks online instead of in your browser. It also means that everything you add, every note and every tag, is public and shared. Do not use this to keep track of your dark secrets because the whole world can see. Anyhow, create a Delicious account.
If you go over to a friend’s house and you have a site you want to show him, using Delicious prevents this awkward conversation with your friend Pete:
Alright, fine! What bloody page do you want to show me?
YOU
lightly laughing
OK, OK. This is going to be great! Here, sit down. This is so awesome, I can’t believe you haven’t see this yet!
PETE
obviously wanting to get on with other things
Well, bring it up, then. Let’s go.
YOU
suddenly realizing
Oh… wait, it’s not… it’s on my computer.
PETE
closing eyes and hands covering face
This is so stupid…
YOU
giggling uncomfortably
Want to come over to my house and see that cool YouTube video?
PETE
the stare of the steal-your-lunch-money bully when you’re flat broke
If you’d bookmarked that video using Delicious, a quick trip to your bookmarks online would have solved the whole thing, with you and good ol’ Pete laughing late into the evening.
Now, on to how Delicious can make your life more interesting.
Recent And Popular
Look through the Recent and Popular pages. Open links in a new browser tab because those pages change every second. If you visit one of two links you hope to check out and rely on just clicking back in order to visit the other one, the page you click back to will have changed and you’ll never see that second link again.
As you find sites that look interesting to you, click on “Save” and add them to your account. The “Notes” area is a good place for you to write some thoughts about the site you’re saving. “Tags” provides a way for you to categorize your links, so type any words that make sense to you and will help you find this page later.
By knowing about recent and popular bookmarks in Delicious, you have a way to see what other users are adding to their accounts. It’s actually a fairly easy way to keep up with online trends you might otherwise miss.
Your Subject Area Shouldn’t Be Everything
Dan’s latest video is about being interested in the world around you. It’s not about an interest in students, nor is it about an interest in the things your students are interested in. Sure, both of those are worthy goals, but they are only a pleasant byproduct of the approach Dan’s advocating.
Your students will find you much more compelling when you whip out something completely out of your subject area; they realize that you are more than just one thing. There’s passion involved here, too. If there’s nothing you’re passionate about, you’re boring and your students know it. Find your passion and pursue it every bit as much as you wish students pursued your subject area.