International Blog Day

Good evening peoples......hope all is well and life is treating you just great.  It is about time for another blog about the life and times of Mr. Rosser but it won't happen tonight.  This evening I will share a little information I found while searching the web today.  

For those that don't know today is International Blog Day and to celebrate this day I will share some helpful and useful information about technology and today's world.  For experts and the rookies, this is sure to help in the learning progress of today's world.  Enjoy.  

What Are Blogs, RSS Feeds, Podcasts, and Widgets?

What Is a Blog?

The term "blog" is the shortened form of "weblog" — a diary or journal on the Web. The "blogger" (or author) writes periodically about a certain topic of his or her choosing (personal experiences, thoughts, hobbies, political aspirations, etc.). The blogger can provide links to other websites that s/he thinks might interest the audience. S/he can also allow the readers of the blog to post comments and start discussions about the blog as a whole, or about a particular episode in the blog (one day's entry).

Type in the words "teacher blog" in any search engine, such as Google, and you'll find that teachers around the country and the world are blogging all the time about their experiences in the classroom, from elementary school to high school and beyond.

What Is an RSS Feed?

RSS (which most people agree stands for "Really Simple Syndication") feeds are a way to get new content from websites delivered quickly to your desktop, through subscriptions. RSS is a quick way for computers to exchange information such as news summaries and other frequently updated content. The RSS feed is indicated by an orangebutton. FindTeacherVision^®RSS feedsfor the the subject and grade you teach. To subscribe to a feed, you must first have a newsreader. The orange button gives you the XML link address to enter into your newsreader. Drag that link into your newsreader instead of clicking on it — while XML is great for computers, most people find it a lot harder to read.

Getting a Newsreader

For your convenience, here is a list of several newsreaders. To find more, just enter "rss reader" into any search engine.

• SharpReader(Windows, if the .NET extensions are installed)
• My Yahoo
• Google Reader
• FeedDemon(Windows)
• NewzCrawler(Windows)
• NetNewsWire&NetNewsWire Lite(MacOS, 10.1.x or greater)
• BloglinesandNewsIsFreeare websites that let you select RSS feeds and display them on your own custom Web page.

Configuring a Reader to Use RSS Feeds

While each newsreader has its own means of configuration, here are some tips to get you started.

Drag & Drop
Most newsreaders allow you to drag and drop the XML button from your browser. Some will not let you drop the icon just anywhere in the application, but require that you put it in a specific spot—for example, the address bar.

Manually Enter the RSS Address
Almost all newsreaders support some means of entering the RSS address into a dialog or address bar. You may type it by hand, copy the address from the address bar of the feed page, or select "copy shortcut" from the context menu (i.e., the right-click menu) of the XML button .

Autodiscovery
In newsreaders that support autodiscovery, the address of the Web page alone will work, as long as there is an RSS feed for that page. For instance, if you drag the Favorites icon from the address bar, you should see the RSS feed, if your newsreader supports this feature. (Some applications will launch a subscription dialog, others will give you the option of subscribing after you have previewed the RSS feed).

What Is a Podcast?

A podcast is an audio and/or video file that you can download from the Internet and listen to on your computer's media player (most computers come with one installed), or on your MP3 player (like an iPod). You can listen to it right away, or you can save it for later and listen to it on the train, on a bus, while walking, etc.

You can choose to download any podcast that looks interesting to you, or you can subscribe to a podcast that is broadcasted regularly and have it sent to your computer via an RSS feed (see the above explanation for more on RSS feeds). It's just like subscribing to a newspaper or magazine — the podcast is sent to your computer when it becomes available, and you can choose to listen to it (or not) any time you want.

To download the podcast and listen to it immediately, you can just click on the audio file, which will open the media player on your computer. If you want to download the file as an MP3 file and play it on your personal listening device, you can usually just right click on the file and choose "Save as..." After that, you have to upload the file to your MP3 player.

You can try out a few of our podcasts to see some examples. We havepodcasts of poemsselected for National Poetry Month (April).

What Is a Widget?

A Web widget, also known as a gadget or a flake, is a piece of code that can be embedded in a Web page. A widget can provide you with weather updates, news, games, educational resources, and more! You can easily add widgets to your blog, personalized homepage (such asiGoogleorPageflakes), or social networking sites (such asFacebook).

As usual, feel free to comment on the blog post, like the page, share the blog with others or just read for self.  Until next time (which will probably be tomorrow night before the next game)........ STAY THIRSTY MY FRIENDS




B. Rosser Signing out....................PEACE

2011 Schedule

So you can keep up with the team.  And here's our team website.

Game Week

LET'S GO
Alright so the blog is up and running and I feel like there is so much to share, but time is of essence and I will try to do my best.  First things first, I did take some Benadryl tonight so that I could sleep the night of our first game and it is slowly but surely kicking in.  When it does this blog will stop abruptly, LOL.

So, I have been waiting for this week and time to come since November 30th of last year when we lost in the state semifinal game.  We are back for another year with a more experienced and mature team.  We are ranked considerably high in most of the state, region and division polls which can be a double edge sword. Hopefully our kids will step up to the challenge and perform as we know they can.

A DIFFERENT VIEW

I am still having trouble being able to detach from the player's mentality and emotions of the game.  I am super pumped up for this game and will be yelling to get the kids hype and chest bumping and running around like a crazy man tomorrow night.  Seeing as though I never did that as a player, it is the only way I can get out my energy and emotions and share the experience with the kids.  I'm sure ex-athletes out there all over the world and every sport that are now coaches can relate to this viewpoint.
As it may, I have called all of my receivers, quarterback and offensive unit to make sure they were at home, in the bed and on their way to sleep for a good night's rest.  I came in at a whopping 95% on connecting calls with 2 going unanswered, but I feel that those players were already sleep.  (I HOPE)

COACH'S THOUGHTS

As I finished up the play sheet and looking at some final film the night before the game, I feel that we have a good chance to pull out a win.  We are extremely healthy for the start of the season, our gameplan is right and has been digested by the kids and the timing of our consistency seems just right.  If we come with the right attitude, play OUR game and have the football "gods" look upon us tomorrow night we should come out victorious.  I heard a great quote the other day from my buddy BB...."I don't pray for victory, I just pray for no more defeats."  As I ponder over my final sheets before bed, I will take this approach and pray that God reveals his plans to me and the team, keeps us uplifted and remind us of the love he has for us and how we were brought together at this time, for this reason.  It will be an exciting event, a crazy atmosphere and great time to be a part of something special on a Friday Night in Oak Ridge.  I am guessing (and hoping) that it will be like the movie Friday Night Lights in which stores and businesses close for the night to all head to the game.  It is possible in this place and may happen tomorrow evening.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Football in east TN is a big deal and I am happy to have had the opportunity to be a part of such a strong tradition at at time in which the culture of a school, community and city have transformed for the good.  I will endure a half day of school tomorrow with my precious 4th graders (even though my focus will be off a bit) and then I will begin the countdown to the kickoff of the 2011 season.  I even get to share the game and weekend with special people coming in to be apart of this experience and support me and the team as our journey for greatness begins.  (Icing on the cake)
The Star Spangled Banner always gave me goosebumps and I can't wait to have that feeling tomorrow.  As the old quote goes, "The Hay is in the Barn."  We will show our skills and talents and have them fall where they may. I am officially half loopy and sleepy and will conclude the blog at this time.  Look forward to another one this weekend with results, some highlights and comments of the game and the weekend.  Thanks for tuning in and until next time "Stay Thirsty" my friends.


To Be Continued.......


B. Rosser

The First Blog

Welcome and thank you so much for visiting this blog.  This is the blog of Bryson Rosser, the man, the myth, the legend and one of the most interesting people in the world.  (Stay Thirsty my friends.) Come along for the ride as I go through life as a young, intelligent, aspiring squire and share the experiences of the world with you through my eyes.  This journey of life will include good times, bad times, happy endings, trials, tribulations, joys, defeats, blessings and the realistic rationalizations of one man's journey for inner solitude.  With a strong work ethic, the right mindset and an endeavor to persevere the "Sky's the Limit" for Mr. Rosser and the many opportunities life has in store for the upcoming months.  


The next couple of months will involve taking a voyage through the paradoxal world of an elementary school teacher and the days of molding young minds with the cross over to high school football coaching of an upcoming 6A powerhouse in east Tennessee while attempting to form young men into a unit to become more than they could be by themselves.  


The school year started last week on Monday, August 15th and we are in the second week and functioning at almost full force already with a full schedule and diving into the subject matter head first.  As for the football season, I am serving my 3rd year as Quarterbacks and Wide Receivers coach at Oak Ridge High School and 2nd year as co-offensive coordinator.  I am continuing to learn as a coach and mentor and enjoy the experiences coaching has provided me thus far.  


After Week 0 and us having a bye this past Friday night, our first game of the season is this Friday evening, August 26th at home against rival team Farragut High School from Knoxville, TN.  After a strong finish to a learning experience last year and being ousted in the state semifinals to conclude an 8-4 season, the Oak Ridge Wildcats are hungry and looking forward to the start of a great 2011 campaign.  There will be another blog on the horizon prior to the game Friday evening so look forward to that.  


Thanks again for visiting this blog and stay tuned for further insight.  Feel free to add comments, join the site and like this page if the spirit moves you.


To be continue....


B. Rosser signing out