Search results matching tag 'new news'

Stolen time…

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:54:57 GMT

As it turns out, I can only do ten things well, not eleven. Guess I don’t go to eleven. Oh well.

Anyway – I haven’t been posting on this blog frequently for two simple reasons: first, haven’t wanted to use any of the time in my contractual day with personal technological communications and missives, and second, by the time I get home I want to goof-off. You know, be a responsible wife, mom, writer, and part-time gamer. Sure there are loads of clean laundry in there, too, but have been suspicious about certain odors.

But the thing is, I started this blog as part of my integrated technology instruction for 2st Century Learners. There’s a mouthful. My intent was to use my technological prowess to provide my students a platform for their voices, too, and for the most part, have succeeded. Took a mini-break last year, more like break-down, but am trying to reconnect to these restless digital natives in new and innovative ways.

And it’s not easy.

And I’m even questioning its necessity.

So, a fabulous librarian offered to come to my school and talk to our students, in our classrooms, about new books, and what is being offered at the library.

You should know this: she shared with me that Neil Gaiman hugged her once. He. Hugged. Her. Among a group of well-heeled Gaiman Groupies, she was fresh from working in her garden, a little grimy, and he hugged HER. I immediately jumped up and hugged her, of course!! Forget you, Kevin Bacon. Two degrees of hugging Neil Gaiman works for me. When I shared this with my students, they ran up and hugged ME! It was hilarious! So, Neil, if you felt a little happier yesterday, there was adolescent worship coming your way in the universe.

You’re welcome.

Her personal blog is: http://www.infocreature.blogspot.com/

I think between the two of us, we got a few new converts to reading. I conspired with my students that over the break (which officially begins tomorrow…thank you loving heaven above, because I am wiped out….), if they needed to “escape” for a bit and were sick of playing Call of Duty, they should go to the library. I gave them four creative project choices from How to Be An Explorer of the World by Keri Smith.

My “everyone can be creative” belief may be greatly challenged by the results of my open-ended experiment. What the heck — it is extra credit, after all. There is no standard for “creativity.” Pity–but perhaps not having it tested on a national assessment is the best thing that ever happened to creativity.

Well, before the New Year, where am I now? Where are my young charges? Four months until the state tests of reading and writing for 7th grade, our school needs to meet AYP or something, and none of us know what, will happen. I have been placed in the care and feeding of 7th grade students because so much is riding on their scores, and I am feeling equally unbalanced in my wavering “YES I CAN DO THIS!” and “OH NO!!!!”

But I hugged Neil Gaiman.

Kind of.

Just a little story.

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:36:46 GMT

My husband and I have a great “how we met” story. Maybe I’ll tell the whole story another time. One of the details of that story is that, during our first unofficial date, I noticed on his Chevy Blazer (cool) that he had an Apple logo sticker on the back window (more cool). It was one more sign that he was the guy for me. No, we weren’t ‘hipsters’ before there even was such a word — we are the lost demographic. Those of us who share more in common with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert than with Barbara Walters or dare I say it, Oprah? We are the children born at the end of the “Baby Boom” but he and I both feel we have nothing to do with that wave of post-war babies. Our parents didn’t fight in any of the wars of the 20th century; they were in school, having their own babies, being the last of their generation’s middle class and American Dream seekers. But my husband and I share what those of us in our 40s share: even though we straddle between the boomers and the gen-x’ers, we move mountains, too. We are the creative class. The artists, designers, and innovators who seek sublime beauty in code and interface; who seek to change the world with the good of technology, and instill those ethics in our children. I promise you, I am not overstating this.

We sat in darkened theatres as adolescents and had our own heroes and heroines, we were the digital pioneers who sought form and function. We pressed ‘send’ on the first e-mails and published the first blogs. The Mark Zuckerbergs of the world sadly have their own focus: world domination via distracting, mindless games and mean-spirited interchanges. Granted, it’s not all bad. And my and my husband’s hero, Steve Jobs, certainly had his share of human foibles. All innovators do. I would just challenge those young billionaires to be the masters of the universe, and not the robber barons; to be the voices and catalysts for change and good, share the power, wealth, and narratives.

You will be missed, Steve.

(My husband created that image in homage. Oh, and by the way, my husband is a creative, innovative Renaissance man himself. No doubt. He attributes his successes to Job’s providing him with the creative tools to build his career and avocations.)

http://blog.ted.com/2011/10/05/remembering-steve-jobs/

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déborder

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 02:41:53 GMT

déborder: in French, this means “overwhelmed.”

Summer, in terms of the agricultural traditions we have in the States, is over tomorrow for me. Tomorrow is our first in-service day: it promises to be a day of reviewing the Student Handbook to make sure we, both new and old staff, are “on the same page.”

Last week, on Thursday night, I found out that I will be switching grades, from 8th to 7th. A few weeks’ prior, I found out that I will be moving rooms. This is a photo of my new classroom, after two days’ of moving from across the campus. I spent two full days using an old grocery store shopping cart, hauling my books, office supplies, flotsam, jetsam, debris, clutter, memorabilia, Beatlemania, Harry Potter movie posters, and of course, my Spiderman life-size cut out, from old space to new. This is how I left it on Saturday. I did all I could physically do. It was warm, no air, stuffy, and a very long walk with small threshold bumps and doorjambs that needed maneuvering and anticipation. This took approximately 30 trips.

The one vow I made myself at the end of last year is I would have everything mapped out, to the day, just like I had in years prior. Every holiday noted. Every student’s name on their own folder. Every composition book ready to go. Bulletin boards up, and away we go!

But, oh, that was not meant to be. And call it a sixth-sense, but I knew the best laid plans of mice and men would be wonky again. I chose to spend my summer like I had more sense: I played, I walked, and I got my toenails done. The best part of this summer was that my older son asked to have a French exchange student come stay with us for almost three weeks. He was wonderful: he fit right into our crazy family. We all enjoyed talking about politics, visiting all our favorite old stomping grounds. It was incredibly enriching to see his love of:

1. Relish (Really, France? Can’t figure this one out?!)

2. Baseball game (explaining the 7th inning stretch to him–worth the price of admission right there)

3. Krispy Kreme doughnuts

4. Dr. Pepper

…and him explaining to me the meaning of

Laïcité

powerful stuff, my friend.

We miss him already. I have more to say about what I learned from him, from someone who is learning a new language, sharing cultures, and stories. He brought us many gifts, not least of which was an appreciation of eating a family dinner together again. He wasn’t feeling well when he first arrived, and it included a trip to the urgent care on that first Saturday morning, redneck with a head injury included to add to the tableau, and later he told me, that he knew he would be okay with us because I took such good care of him when he was sick. Are you kidding? I would expect the same from any mother, anywhere in the world.

So I will get my classroom in order. I will have a plan. And I will teach my 7th grade charges with love, care, firmness and high expectations. They are somebody’s baby.

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Rites of passage.

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 17:03:15 GMT

About a week or so ago, I was at a district meeting. One of the huge perks of these meetings is sometimes the group will get to go eat lunch like grownups. Nothing in styrofoam. No plastic cutlery. Real plates, filled water glasses, napkins, and hot food. There’s a Thai place we frequent: service is fast, [...]

Guidelines.

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:42:56 GMT

Been thinking a lot recently about social media. This was not a banner year for technology integration in my school, or in my classroom. There were more trips to the “Swap Room,” misplaced or borrowed chargers, and blatant disregard for Internet safety, common sense, and use. It’s indicative of the chaotic year we’ve had, too. I [...]

Twenty points for Gryffindor!

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:12:19 GMT

Totally Random Quote of the morning: “Mrs. Love, are you aware there’s a banana over there?”–D I tried an experiment with grading this year: not sure how it worked. The grades for this year are largely for completion, ,and some rubric-oriented structure. In the past, I have been a huge believer in rubrics, and even more [...]

WIHWT: Just peachy.

Anonymous — Fri, 27 May 2011 20:52:16 GMT

http://www.roalddahl.com/ Today we had a special assembly and focus put together by the PE Department, “Wellness Day.” The various content area teachers provided our support by creating lessons around healthy nutrition, etc. Well, as important as all that is, my own take was to have students start to think about how food is used by writers in [...]

Relevance.

Anonymous — Thu, 26 May 2011 16:27:36 GMT

You may all think I am evangelizing the mighty gospel of gaming, but that is not true. What I am promoting is relevance. My brother-in-law works for Blizzard games. He has been working 60-90 hour weeks for months on end. He is extremely talented and intelligent, like all of the Love brothers. He sent thise-mail about his [...]

Characters out of the bag.

Anonymous — Fri, 20 May 2011 15:05:48 GMT

http://characterproject.usanetwork.com/#!/ Currently, I’m having fun in my spare time writing again. I say it’s “fun,” but am not sure that’s true. Is writing “fun?” In a story I’m working on now, the main character shares a lot of qualities with who I was in my 20s, some of the same pitfalls and heartaches. But how much is [...]

WIHWT: A reflection

Anonymous — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:45:35 GMT

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