Bombarded

Everything I seem to do anymore has just a little bit to do with technology. Math class - document camera. Library - automated system. Title I - Accelerated Math. Writing Research - Moodle/Digital Citizenship/Paperless if Possible. Home - Facebook, Plurk, Twitter, delicious, Diigo, iPhone. Hmmmm. That looks like more than just a little bit to do with technology; it seems to be part of just about everything I do. I know that sitting here searching, social networking, blogging, checking Moodle and email means that I am not doing the things I used to do. Where is the exercise, the Y, the knitting, the sewing? I still read, but that's about it. I'm usually keeping up on everything things else except what I used to do. Technology has become my new lifestyle. Seriously lacking balance here............

Encroaching on my life - technology

Ok, I've got a million things to do today, but what am I doing? On the computer, writing. It's not even what I'm supposed to be writing, either. I just got back from Moodle Boot Camp, where I was supposed to be learning how to create online classes using Moodle. The connectivity sucked (I'm still convinced it was those darn astrobiologists taking away our bandwidth), and so of course I got behind because I got distracted by my iPhone, Facebook, and other things that were more interesting than waiting for a connection that stayed connected. Where was I going with this.......? Oh, yes, technology. Sitting in a room with 50+ people all working away, I had to ask myself if I have what it takes to be a 21st century teacher. I mean, I truly believe that if I can do anything for kids, it's to better prepare them for their life as a 21st century citizen, and frankly, that means being able to use technology is ways now that they will use later. It will mean working collaboratively, either in person, or online, it will mean using programs, tools, and all of that that I never dreamed I would ever use. And for them, to quote Ian Jukes, of The Committed Sardine blog http://www.committedsardine.com/, they will have an astonishing number of jobs in their lifetimes - 7 - 9 - while I have had basically two jobs, both in basically the same field! Am I actually qualified to get them to where they need to be?

So, what's a mid-century educator to do? Is it this? Keep plugging away at it, read about education and technology, play around, try blogging? Guess so... If I'm lucky, one of these days I'll actually be able to put a hyperlink into a document. More Moodle, please.....

Moodle Boot Camp

I'm sitting in a darkened room at Pack Forest, outside of Eatonville, WA. I'm in the midst of being overwhelmed by the information being presented, and am feeling behind, so what else can I do but write about it? We've had connectivity problems (a word that never made it into my vocabulary prior to this day), and while sitting with my back to the screen, and not being able to log on - and stay on - I've missed a bunch of stuff, like the basics. I hope the book I bought, Moodle 1.9, will help me. Wow - it's cool, but right now, it's too much.....

Vacation

I didn't think the winter break would ever arrive. We had a hint of it on the 18th, with a snow day, followed by the crashing reality of having to actually go back to school on the 19th - with about 50% of the class/school in attendance! Oh, well.

Now I'm sitting at the cabin, and it's snowing, snowing, snowing........ It's starting to pile up, which is nice, since I'm inside. This gives me a chance to not think about school so much, to concentrate on knitting and embroidery, and to read the fat book I've been looking forward to . I might read the math book I brought so I can start thinking about fractions. STOP THINKING ABOUT SCHOOL! I AM ON VACATION, and really don't want to think about school until closer to next week. Back to knitting......

Summer - it's almost over

It's hard to believe I actually took the summer off. Except for two days in June when I went to school to complete contract negotiations, I did not get in my car and deliberately head west to go work in the library. Not once - that is a record! Of course, I was a bit occupied with my Walden class, so while I was not doing school work, I was doing school work. The last day of class is tomorrow, and we have a two-week break before semester four begins. In-services will be happening on the 27th & 28th, and I will probably go out to work at the beginning of the week, so summer will officially be over for me. We start on September 2nd.

What did I do on my summer vacation? I read a ton of books, worked a bit on a quilt I started a few years ago, continued with my current knitting projects, emailed, blogged, and hung out. Not a bad way to spend July (my new favorite month) and most of August. And when we get Internet at the Lake Wenatchee place, I will once again be free to roam the planet knowing I can do my Walden work at our get-away place. I had a great summer, but I'm starting to think about school again. That's always a good sign.

End of the year - again - almost

Yesterday was the last day of school, not so bad for a Friday, the 13th. As usual it was crazy, with a real lack of structure that I hate. I didn't really appreciate being ambushed with Silly String by a deranged looked future sophomore, but at least it matched my shirt. My fourth grade math students were a little nuts, so off to the computer lab we went for everyone to have a chance to try ClassChatter before the summer. I've gone high-tech since the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year, and I started my kids on blogging. I'll be moving up with them, so hopefully when school resumes at the beginning of September, they will know how to blog using this particular web site, and will have had some experiences composing on the computer. From the looks of their first posts, we have some work to do! I managed to get more overdue library books back, not as many as I would have liked, but with fewer belligerent exchanges as in the past. Do they just not care that their book was under a cabinet, and someone else found it? What was the purpose of five weeks of overdue notices if so many kids ignored them? I need to do that better next year. But for now, school school is done..............but Walden University continues. In pursuit of higher education, I'm also going to school, but I have to say, I enjoy it, and the reward has been awesome ideas for my classroom as well as a complete change of philosophy as I become a much better teacher after 30 years in the business. See? There's hope! But in the meantime, I plan on writing my papers, communicating with my soon-to-be fifth grade math students, becoming reacquainted with my sewing room, and finishing the socks I started knitting a couple of months ago.

A Day with the Reading Team

I spent the day away from school on Friday, in Poulsbo with the Reading Team. While the focus was on writing, specifically writing poetry, the day included much more than that. I've participated, off and on, with the Reading Team for a while, and usually end up seeing people I've "known" for some time. I've been on the team for...........well, I can't remember, but when I first started participating the team met at the ESD and Libby wasn't retired. I don't always go, because we trade off participating among interested teachers, usually Debbie or me. We started off with introductions, and the group has grown from mostly primary teachers to include even middle and high school teachers - unheard of at the start of the team. Today, though, I stuck with the elementary teachers, mostly because I'm teaching 4th grade math.
Back to poetry - what does that have to do with math? I'm interested in having my math kids look at math instruction as more than just numbers, so I already have some plans to include writing into my math instruction. I think we'll write an autobio poem about quadrangles, although the house poem is an interesting idea, too. My challenge will be to make sure that the regular instruction takes place, as well as introducing the concepts and working through the book the way I have to.
The thing about participating in the Reading Team is that while it takes time away from school, which means I spend a bit of time agonizing over lesson plans, and I have to drive an hour plus to get to the meeting, it's worth it. It's professional developement at the very basic level - with the teachers who practice what they preach, who seek answers to the questions they have in order to provide the best instruction they can offer to the students who are in their care for 180 days a year.