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As a recent addition to the AllofE team, I thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Rachel and I am in my first year of a PhD program at the University of Kansas in Rhetoric & Composition. This past year I received my undergraduate degrees in English & Spanish and I hope to teach at a University in the future.

I know it sounds like a different profile than you might have expected of a person writing to you from AllofE, but I am confident that my personal style and varied interests bring something unique to the already exciting direction we're going right now.

And, well the truth is, I feel that I am a lot like the people AllofE Solutions works with, so let's connect! This past year I made a promise to myself that I would actively seek out knowledge about social media, technology, and ways to be a better connected teacher in the future. When I found the opportunity to work with AllofE Solutions and continue working toward my graduate degree, I knew it was the perfect fit. I represent many of the people directly affected and influenced by ContentM systems, higher education, and of course, social media. I want to learn outside of the classroom over the next few years and stay ahead of my colleagues. I hope ultimately I'll be more marketable as a teacher and socially connected as a person with this knowledge and experience that is necessary for success today in the U.S. I want to be connected: with other teachers, administrators, and most of all - my students.

Who am I?
I am a student. My weekly agenda, both academic and social, are run by these systems - I communicate, receive information, research, and spend every day working with social media and higher education curriculum management systems.
I am a future teacher. As early as next year I will be teaching my own classes, and as late as five years from now, I will be done taking classes and ready to be a full-time teacher. I need to know what is going on with these systems, how easily accessible they are to teachers, and how I can keep up with technology at the pace my students will be in their lives.
I research Language and Writing. Just last week, the professor of one of my classes stated that technology is changing the way language works in society, and the current generation (oh, that's me...and you!) needs to evolve with it in order to understand and work with it in the future. I'm here to keep evolving with this language. Too many times I have heard teachers concerned about holding onto the way they learned about language & books, assuming they cannot keep up with the changes in technology today. Why not learn how to "keep up" with it and use it to my advantage? If my students write differently because they communicate more via Twitter, Facebook, and texting, I won't turn my nose up and act as if it's not legitimate, because most likely it's the most legitimate language in their lives! I want to study and collaborate with them to see what writing can and will be in the future.
I am an alumna. Not only have I now entered a huge network of graduates from undergrad, I am also an alumna of a sorority, service fraternity, and a number of other social networks. Why wouldn't I want to keep up with those people, learn from others who have been out of school longer than me, and know how to utilize social media to connect in ways my parents couldn't have even imagined when they graduated from the same school almost 30 years before? That's just exciting. I can keep in touch with friends, connect with new colleagues, and continue to expand my social "network" exponentially each year.

So here I am. I love to write, I love challenges, and I love connecting with others. You may hear from me quite a bit about the exciting things that we have going on here at AllofE: about what I'm learning and how we can connect and evolve together. Survival of the fittest isn't so threatening when you know there are people like AllofE to make sure you come out on top.

My Year in Review / Happy New Year 20-10 from Katie!

Yes, the correct pronunciation is "Twenty-Ten," not "Two-Thousand-Ten." Don't believe me? I'll prove it--HERE!

It's been quite a year for me!

• The year began last January with my last Winter Training session with the University of Kansas women's rowing team in Austin, TX.
• From there, I went back to school at KU to finish out my senior year of college.
  
• In February, the rowing team moved into its brand-spankin'-new boathouse that my graduating class worked so hard to get. As a captain, I had the honor of cutting the ribbon at the grand opening, and also dug in during the groundbreaking.
  
• In March, I spent Spring Break as I have for the past 4 years, on the river, rowing in snow. What a Spring Break, right?
• April and May were spent at regattas, getting ready for graduation, and really just a whirlwind of different things! My graduation was spent in Tennessee at a regatta, however my teammates and I held our own little graduation ceremony by the Campanile and walked down the Hill after we got back. I graduated with honors with a BSJ in Journalism: Strategic Communications, with a Minor in English, in May.
• In June, I received the best birthday present ever, a Golden Retriever puppy named Murphy, who is now 8 months old.
• I did a lot of traveling this summer to Texas, San Diego, Las Vegas, Twentynine Palms, CA, which included a road-trip back to Kansas from California, so I suppose you could say I traveled to all the states in-between as well, along with a short stay in Colorado.
• In-between my traveling adventures, I also waited tables...
• ...Until August, when I started my job here, at AllofE Solutions.
• In August, I began the MBA program at KU with an emphasis in Marketing. It has been quite an experience so far with so many different types of people from so many different places, and has opened my eyes to so many new things.
• Since then, it's been a lot of schooling and working for me!
• For Thanksgiving, I visited family in Houston, Minnesota.
  
• Last week, I went to Keller, TX to spend some time with my family for the holidays.
• And here I am today, on the last day of 2009.
  

Celebrating the New Year is a time for reflection, renewal, and resolutions.

My resolution every year is to make this year better than the last. What are your resolutions?

New Year's is also about traditions. What are my traditions? Well, being a native Texan, I can't go without a little Texas caviar. However, I'm not sure where I'll be able to find it in Kansas...Here are some New Year's Eve traditions from all over the world on Wikipedia.

Happy New Year, everyone. Here's to this year being even better than the last.

Déjà Vu?

Tonight, 1st-ranked KU plays Memphis in St. Louis for the first time since the 2008 National Championship game, which, in case you forgot, we won!

· Quick Recap: Mario and the Miracles came back from being 9 pts. down with 2:12 left in the game. And I say Mario and the Miracles, because Mario Chalmers' 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in regulation put the game into overtime, and made everyone in Lawrence and every Jayhawk fan lose their minds. And, as they say, the rest is history.

Although we are a little sad that the game isn't in Allen Fieldhouse, which is, in our opinion, the best place in the world to see a basketball game, it's sure to be a good one.

However, not nearly as good as our win in 2008. Here are a few pictures from the Mass. St. mayhem that ensued after one of KU's best year in athletics ever.

Here's to another (hopefully) Championship-winning season! We've got our fingers crossed.

ROCKCHALK JAYHAWK GO KU!