A localhost install of Moodle is absolutely necessary for Moodle theme development, not to mention the development of jQuery plugins for eLearning interactions. My work machine runs Leopard, and is already set up with several versions of Moodle. I avoided installing Moodle on my new macbook pro for several weeks, afraid I'd spend hours poking away at the postgresql database and failing to make it work. But the installation actually went faster than it does on my work machine.
Note that these are instructions for a localhost install, not a secured and protected installation accessible by actual users on the Web.
- Make sure your installation of psql is working. I had a really hard time with this because I've always just pasted in
/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql -u root -p
to connect with mysql on my macbook, and never bothered to learn how to actually tell whether it was running without connecting. Turns out that a good way to do that for mysql is like this:/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql -v
If mysql is running, you get a response like this:Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
The analogous action to take with psql, then, is this:
Your MySQL connection is 1
Server version: 5.5.15 MySQL Community Server (GPL)
...
psql --version
If psql is running, you get a response like this:psql (PostgreSQL) 9.0.4
If you execute that command and you get something else, you might need to fiddle with your psql installation. There are many instructions for installing psql via homebrew, and this might do the trick, but you have to install xcode first. I ended up doing that, and then followed the instructions here: http://od-eon.com/blogs/calvin/os-x-lion-postgresql/.
contains support for command-line editing
- Once you've got psql working, let's go ahead and start a git clone on the branch of Moodle we want (this assumes you have a github account and ssh key set up, instructions at http://help.github.com/mac-set-up-git/).
// cd into your mac's web dir
cd /Lib*/Web*/Doc*/
// make a new dir to hold your repo clone
sudo mkdir 21stable
// cd into your new dir
cd 21stable
// clone the branch you want
sudo git clone -b MOODLE_21_STABLE git://github.com/moodle/moodle.git
// this process will run for a while
// leave the terminal window open and let it run
// open a new terminal window for the steps below
- While the git clone is running, let's create our moodledata directory.
// *not* in the Documents dir
cd /Lib*/Web*
// make directory
sudo mkdir moodledata21
// permissions
sudo chown -R www:admin moodedata21
- We can also create our psql database and user, and grant permissions.
// create your database
createdb moodle21
// set encoding to utf-8
SET CLIENT_ENCODING TO 'UTF8';
// create user
create user moodle21user with password 'password';
// grant privileges
grant all privileges on database moodle21 to moodle21user;
- Once the git clone has finished, we set permissions for the Web directory:
cd /Lib*/Web*/Doc*/
// ownership
sudo chown -R www:admin 21stable
// permissions
sudo chmod -R 755 21stable
- Now load up localhost/21stable/moodle. If you're prompted with ../install.php like normal, you're golden. Run through the installation prompts just like normal, entering the values we established in the steps above.
> Vaughn course Nov. 8 & Occupy Wall St.
I'll be teaching another short-course in poetry at Vaughn Library Nov. 8. Last time I had requests to talk less about the writing craft and more about writers and their work. So this time we'll take a close look at the life and works of current Poet Laureate Philip Levine.
If you've got a few minutes to burn, take a look at the list of writers at occupywriters.com. Lots of great work there from writers you already know and love.
> 2011.07.09: New work!
I've got new work in print and online! Rain Taxi's summer print edition has my review of Sobbing Superpower by Tadeusz Różewicz. And here's "Single Life 18: In which our troubled protagonist, though thrall to yet another woman, resists the temptation to romantic fallacy" at Contrary Magazine. Thanks to both wonderful mags.
Up and coming: I'll be teaching the second installment in a year of poetry short courses at the Vaughn Public Library on Tuesday, July 19. That's right! It's coming up. I'm going to be talking about imprecise language, and what havoc it wreaks on a poem, especially in inexperienced hands. Not that there isn't a place for aphorism, cliché, mixed metaphor, and banal simile in the world of poetry, but that these elements are like a particularly strong spice: use it too much and the dish, however delectable the other ingredients, is spoiled. More on that later.
When it can, Contrary pays their authors. I already spent mine on a new kit for minimalist running sandals. The ones I'd had made at a cobbler's in Madison weren't designed (by me) quite right. They had cotton ties, and when cotton gets wet it's suddenly stretched out and your sandals are falling off. Which is a problem if you use said sandals for running on wet surfaces. Nothing beats an evening run alongside, & them swim in, Cheqamegon Bay. Lately my problem has been burning-hot asphalt. Hence the sandals.
> 2011.04.29: Ashland Current Interview
Ashland Current just published my April 14 interview with Andrew Broman. It will also play on Northland College's WRNC.
Familial accents are so interesting. What I think when I listen is, "Why is my sister talking like that about literature?"
> 2011.04.20: Launch & etc
In my opinion, as I'm sure will be the opinion of many of y'all who have any background in Web dev, this baby's not quite ready to launch. But I've run into this pressing issue which is my inability to tolerate the sexist marketing and conservative politics of the GoDaddy CEO any longer. Honestly, it wouldn't be an issue if their UI wasn't the most obfuscating, "confuse me into buying sh%! I don't need" interface I've ever navigated. But whenever I'm wandering the morass of vague menus and dialog boxes that is GoDaddy's admin interface, my stressed mind begins to enumerate the ethical vagaries of Bob Parsons. And suddenly I'd rather shoot myself in the head than pay him another credit-card-transaction dime.
While that's not sufficient excuse, hopefully it's at least sufficient explanation for why I've got a header animation, and Google's font API, but no decent favicon, and no smooth collapse and expand animation for these blog entries. In addition, I've got a book review coming due, and an essay. So if you're emotionally invested in the appearance of my site—which, I'm sure, you're not—you'll just have to find something else to despise me for (for the next few months, at least). Plenty of fodder in the list of publications, if you're at a loss. Ta-ta!
> 2011.04.13: Poetry Short Course
On Tuesday, I taught a Poetry Short Course on writing in the daily life at the Vaughn Library in Ashland, WI. We had 9 folks pre-register, and all of them attended the course! They were a talented bunch, and interested in the topic. We discussed daily writing practice, and how to read well and deeply. We also looked at three different kinds of writing exercises: forms (sonnet), free verse imitation, and the freewrite.
Based on the success of this poetry evening, the Vaughn wants me to give a short course/lecture on a quarterly basis. The next evening will be on a weeknight in July. I haven't yet set the date in stone. If you have a preference, send me an email and let me know what night would work for you!
Thanks for taking a look at these! If I've placed an active link, then selecting the link will take you to the work itself, and not just the publisher's Web site. Cheerio!
- "Single Life 18: In which our beloved protagonist, though thrall to yet another woman, resists the temptation to romantic fallacy" in Contrary Magazine, Summer 2011 edition
- Review of Sobbing Superpower: Selected Poems of Tadeusz Różewicz, translated by Joanna Trzeciak, in Rain Taxi, Summer 2011 Print Edition
- Review of LESS IS MORE: Embracing Simplicity for a Healthy Planet, a Caring Economy and Lasting Happiness in Rain Taxi, Fall 2010 online edition
- Review of The Book of Things by Ales Steger, translated by Brian Henry, in Rain Taxi, Winter 2010 print edition
- Review of LOOK BACK, LOOK AHEAD: The Selected Poems of Srečko Kosovel in Rain Taxi, Fall 2010 online edition
- "Rubia Writes a Poem About Light for a Contest" in Alaska Quarterly Review, Spring & Summer 2010
- Review of Sexuality and Socialism by Sherry Wolf, in Rain Taxi, Spring 2010 print edition
- Review of Port Trakl by Jaime Luis Huenún, translated by Daniel Borzutzky in Mantis, Issue 8
- Review of I Wrote Stone: The Selected Poetry of The Selected Poetry of Ryszard Kapuściński, translated by Kiana Kuprel and Marek Kusiba, Rain Taxi Online Edition, Fall 2009
- "Fort Healthcare, Fort Atkinson, WI" on Owlsmag, May 2009
- "Work Ethic" in Political Affairs, May 2009
- "Paying the Bills" in Political Affairs, February/March 2009
- Review of The Baltic Quintent in Rain Taxi, Winter 2009
- Three poems and featured writer interview in Contrary Magazine, Spring 2008
- "Single Life 8" in The Contrary, Winter 2008
- "Egressive" in The Contrary, Fall 2007
- Shin Deep published by Finishing Line Press, available for purchase at Amazon.com
- Review of Daniel Borzutzky's The Ecstasy of Capitulation on CutBank Reviews, August 2007
- "Paying the Bills" in Seeds of Fire: Contemporary Poetry from the Other USA, a poetry anthology edited by Jon Anderson, published by Smokestack Books, and available for purchase at In Press Books
- "The Revolutionary" in The Contrary, Fall 2006
- "Single Life 1: The Sentimental" and "Single Life 9: Going Without," Porcupine, Fall 2006
- "Antipastoral: Dairymen" in The Contrary, Spring 2006
- "Attempted Blessing" in The Contrary, Summer 2006
- "Me in the Bathroom" in The Anchorage Press, June 2006
- "Paying the Bills" by Broadsided Press, 15 April 2006
- "Kirkland Farm, Rt. 1, Schroeder Rd." in Radical Society, Spring 2006
- "Thomas McGrath" in The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Poets and Poetry, edited by Jeffrey Gray, Greenwood Press, 2006
- "Single Life 13: Dinner at Her Place" in Bloom, Spring 2005
- "Gdzie Napisac" and "Alzheimer's Weltanshauung" in Alaska Quarterly Review, Spring 2005
- "Bunyan Snowed In North of Bemidji" in Blue Collar Review, Spring 2004
- "Cow's Leg: A Midday Visit to My Grandparents" in Ice Floe, Winter Solstice 2003
- "Grappling with the Green Giant" in Wisconsin Natural Resources, August 2000
Praise for Shin Deep
How does one blurb really fine poetry? That's like bird droppings on clean white linen on a clothesline. I guess I would say that: "In this little book, you will find both the deepest meaning and meaninglessness of life. If you are afraid to cry, do not read it."
—Gene Logsdon
Amy Groshek's work not only reflects my literary genesis—those virtuoso heartland poets I read in the '60s and '70s—it moreover speaks to my very genetics, to the Polish-Italian DNA helices of my rural Wisconsin roots. Riffing like the feminine flipside to a John Mellencamp LP, SHIN DEEP turns stanzas into rock choruses into black-paged shapshots of the soulful, mournful folk of small-town America. This bushel basket of a book, this cornucopia of emotional honesty, is not, unfortunately, for everyone; it is for those who need to know where one of our most nutritional human foods, Poetry, is home-grown.
—Paul Zarzyski
Learn More About Shin Deep
Shin Deep is a chapbook composed of narrative poems set at the tail end of the Farm Crisis. Some of the poems are first-person confessional (that is, stories told by yours truly), and some of them are dramatic monologues (that is, narrated by a fictional character). The poems focus on family relations and the relationships farmers have with the land and with animals.
Want to read samples of poems from Shin Deep?
- "Egressive" in The Contrary, Fall 2007
- "The Revolutionary" in The Contrary, Fall 2006
- "Antipastoral: Dairymen" in The Contrary, Spring 2006
- "Paying the Bills" by Broadsided Press, 15 April 2006 [PDF download]
Shin Deep is now available for purchase on Amazon, and at Finishing Line Press.
If you live in the Madison area, you can also purchase Shin Deep locally at Avol's Books, 315 West Gorham Street. They only keep two copies in store, so if you stop by and they're gone, please let me know!
Education
MFA, Creative Writing. University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), May 2004.
BS, Cum Laude, Plant Ecology, Minor in Writing. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP), May 2001.
Work Experience
Lead Instructional Designer
Remote-Learner.net, Fishersville, VA, Fall 2007 to Present.
Technical innovation and support for instructional design team. jQuery, Flash AS3, CSS, and PHP custom development. Development of interactive eLearning content. SCORM support for hosting customers.
Technical skillset includes:
- HTML, XML, JavaScript (jQuery and jQuery UI), CSS, ActionScript 3.0, PHP, mySQL
- ADL SCORM 1.2 Compliance
- Moodle instructional design in accordance with social constructivist pedagogy
- Alfresco Explorer, Alfresco custom content types, and Alfresco web scripts
- Authorware platforms including Captviate, Articulate, and Camtasia
- Flash CS3, Photoshop CS3, Illustrator CS3, Open Office, GIMP, Acrobat Professional, Flex, dotProject, JIRA, Confluence, VMWare Fusion, FFmpegX, Audacity, Vi, MacVim
- Windows 7, OS X, Ubuntu Linux
Instructional Designer, Writer
Web Courseworks, Madison, WI, Summer 2006 to Fall 2007.
Design of eLearning and eTraining interfaces; text and design of Flash learning objects; composition of web copy, business proposals, and work statements; composition of eCourse content, assessment, and remediation. Moodle LMS coursebuilding, configuration, consulting, and training.
LMS Administrator, Instructional Designer
Rural Alaska Native Adult Distance Education Program
Alaska Pacific University, June 2004 to June 2006.
Instructor
Alaska Pacific University, 2002 to 2006. Courses taught:
- Introduction to Computer Applications. Basic computer use.
- Basic Writing. Review and development of basic grammar, organization, and composition. Introduction to research and citation.
- Argumentative Writing. Introduction to persuasive forms. Students learn and use rhetorical strategies while analyzing, researching, and composing papers.
- Writing for Discourse Communities. Overview of academic and popular publication content and styles with students focusing on the field of their prospective degree.
- Introduction to Creative Writing: Poetry. Investigation and practice of the forms and techniques of imaginative writing. Examination of important work by poets. Relationship between writing and publishing.
Editor in Chief
Understory, Department of Creative Writing and Literary Arts, University of Alaska Anchorage, May 2003 to May 2004. Publication April 2004. Supervisor Linda McCarriston.
Publicity and Events Coordinator/Co-Editor
Understory, Department of Creative Writing and Literary Arts, UAA, September 2002 to May 2003, Supervisor Sherry Simpson. Designed and coordinated WORD Creative Writing Workshops for High School Students, March 2003. Understory publication April 2003.
Writing Tutor
Alaska Pacific University. September 2002 to December 2002. In-person and online work with students to improve academic writing skills.
Administrative Assistant/Events Coordinator
Department of Creative Writing and Literary Arts, UAA, October 2001 to May 2002. Planning and organization of department readings. Planning and publicity for visit by writer Adrienne Rich. Supervisor Linda McCarristion.
Writing and Reading Tutor
Tutoring and Learning Center, UWSP January 1999 to May 2001, Supervisor Dr. Bobbie Stokes. Training in four-credit practicum including basic composition theory, learning styles, and the instructor-learner relationship. One-on-one tutoring of academic writing and reading including English as Second Language, learning disabled, and special-interest students.
Individual Study Tutor
TLC Individual Study Program, UWSP, August 2000 to May 2001. One-on-one facilitation of student-designed creative writing projects in poetry, fiction, and screenplay.
Content-Area Tutor
TLC Content Tutoring Program, UWSP, August 2000 to May 2001. Group tutoring of majors and non-majors in chemistry, biology, and statistics.
Editor in Chief, Fall 2000. Poetry Editor, Spring 2001. Fiction Co-Editor, Fall 1999 to 2000. Barney St. literary journal, UWSP.
Managing Editor
Cornerstone Press, UWSP, Fall 1999. Scheduled, coordinated, and troubleshot class functioning as publishing house with budget to select, edit, market, and publish Seeing Clearly by Julie Ray.
Content and Copy Editor
College of Natural Resources, UWSP, Fall 1999. Biodiversity Internet course. http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/wcee/biodiversity/index.htm
Presentations, Productions, and Readings
- "Philip Levine: Life and Works," creative writing short course, 9 November 2011, Vaughn Public Library, Ashland, WI.
- "Strategies for Effective Revision," creative writing short course, 19 July 2011, Vaughn Public Library, Ashland, WI.
- "Poetry in the Daily Life," creative writing short course, 12 April 2011, Vaughn Public Library, Ashland, WI.
- "The Fallacy of Rapid Development: Quality Standards in Moodle Instructional Design," ASTE, 2009. Anchorage, Alaska.
- Apple Learning Interchange interview, FETC 2008.
- Shin Deep release reading, March 6, 2008.
- Wisconsin Federation of Poets reading, February 20, 2008.
- WORT Radio Interview, December 16, 2007.
- Thesomorphia, River Arts Center, Sauk Prairie, WI, Fall 2006. "Paying the Bills," "Education," and "Egressive" featured in an "original play celebrating the stories of triumph, joy, hardship, and determination of rural women." Directed by Jessica Lanius.
- Selected poems, Celebration of Change, Loussac Theater, April 2005.
- "Best Practices for Instruction with Moodle," Alaska Distance Education Technology Consortium Annual Conference, Anchorage, AK, September 2005.
- Open Source Technology Panelist, Alaska Distance Education Technology Consortium Annual Conference, Anchorage, AK, September 2005.
- Selected poems, Alaska Quarterly Review First Fridays, Bernie's Bungalow, February 2005.
- Selected poems, College Gate Elementary, Anchorage, AK, November 2004.
- Selected poems, Pacific Rim Literary Conference, UAA, March 2004.
- Current, One-act play authored and co-directed, Celebration of Change, Wendy Williamson Theater, Anchorage, AK, April 2003.
- Selected poems, Celebration of Change, Wendy Williamson Theater, Anchorage, AK, April 2002.
- "Identifying, Containing, and Eliminating Reed Canary Grass," Wild Ones Botanical Society, Stevens Point, WI, April 2001.
Professional Development
- jQuery Conference: San Francisco Bay Area, April 24-25, 2010.
- Flash AS3 Programming, C2, Milwaukee, WI, Fall 2008.
- VB.NET, Madison Area Technical College, Spring 2008.
- Flash Professional CS3, Madison Area Technical College, Spring 2008.
- Instructional Design Workshop, Fox Valley Technical College, Madison, WI, Spring 2007.
- UA Instructional Design Forum, Anchorage, AK, November 2005.
- Alaska Distance Education Technology Consortium Annual Conference, Anchorage, AK, September 2005.
- GS 150: Web Design, Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, AK, August-September 2005.
- Moodle Training Week, AVTEC, Seward, AK, June 2005.
- Alaska Society for Technology in Education Annual Conference, Anchorage, AK, February 2005.
- Student Training Sessions for Moodle, Nome, AK, February 2005.
- Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning, Madison, WI, August 2004.
At present I do a lot of Moodle theme development and custom JavaScript interaction development. I frequently utilize jQuery and jQuery UI, building them into the Moodle theme, and then skinning and scripting markup in Moodle htmlarea fields.
Other things I've had recent experience with:
- jMediaElement HTML5 player with SWF fallback
- Custom jQuery UI eLearning interactions
- Live draw using Raphaël.js SVG, with custom, skinnable controls, (for HTML5 compliant browsers as well as VML fallback)
- Moodle SCORM activity support and development, SCORM development
Because the kinds of eLearning companies that fund this work *always* require an NDA, I can't put code samples or screenshots up live on this site. But I can send you a .zip dir of screenshots with logos blocked out and interactivity samples with minified code. (I can also show you non-minified code, of course, just not from killer app work done for a customer.) Some companies don't like having to receive a .zip of sample code. I totally get that. Right now I work in an industry in which cutting edge is to be hidden away, rather than shown to the public on open access sites. If I can't respect my customers' need for discretion I'm not doing my job (which would make me a poor candidate for employment). Anyway, if you'd like to see screenshots, widgets, and code samples, please email amygroshek[a]gmail.com. I'll get right on it!