So When Do We Get a Gift?

     What scares me the most in the current economic climate is not the lack of teaching materials, not the loss of classroom space, not even the constant anxiety of whether or not I will have a job next year. What scares me is how when times get tough and powers that be start looking at cuts, first on the chopping block in many states seems to focus on either cutting education for gifted children or modifying it to uselessness. I have taught that demographic for a decade, raised two g/t darlings of my own for 2 1/2 decades, and walked the gifted walk myself for five plus decades (never mind how many pluses go with that.) These children are very close to my heart and mind and I am unapologetically passionate about them.

     Over the years I have watched services ebb and flow for gifted children depending on the political climate.  Right now, the climate is not a friendly one across this country for those at the top of the academic ladder. I hear administrators and education pundits push for a new age in learning where each child is addressed as an individual. Apparently, that idea of individuality works unless you are one of those who have long ago mastered the minimum skills sanctioned by those who decide on curriculum. Advanced thinkers such as Sir Ken Robinson (http://sirkenrobinson.com/skr/who) push for educational individuality and more fostering of creativity in our students. He isn't speaking about just gifted students, or just average students, or just those students with learning difficulties, he means all of them. You hear the same message from Daniel Pink (http://www.danpink.com/), George Lucas (http://www.edutopia.org/), Sylvia Rimm (http://www.sylviarimm.com/), and many more. But by the time the message sinks down to the local school level, the quest for individuality is watered down and interest is directed only toward those the school districts fear will lower their public rankings.

     I live in a state where education of those identified as above the norm is mandated. But the definition is left deliberately vague, and both identification methods and appropriate services are ideas left twisting in the wind. Identification can range from testing by licensed professionals all the way to a teacher who needs to get a child out of her hair for a little while each week. Services can range from a magnet school all the way to sitting in the back of the regular classroom writing an extra report to keep a child busy. Oversight of services for those in need of gifted services is spotty at best and left to school boards who may or may not understand the needs of all students in their district.

     Perhaps the biggest problem is that any attempts to define "gifted" leave much to be desired. Is it a physical condition? Is it environmental or genetic? Is it learned? Does it change over time? And one of the biggest questions...how can I get it if I don't already have it? That question alone is what makes it one of the most misunderstood educational labels of all time.

     There are advances in cognitive science which are making some headway into understanding what make the gifted different from the norm (NIMH, http://www.nimh.nih.gov/science-news/2006/cortex-matures-faster-in-youth-with-highest-iq.shtml, Rubinstein, http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-brain-research, just for two). We're still a long way from having a good answer to most of the questions about how humans learn, but we do know we don't all learn the same way.

     What I can tell you is from my in-the-pit-hands-on-living-it-everyday perspective: gifted children ARE very different from the mainstream students teachers see in their classrooms on a daily basis. And services, curriculum, and expectations MUST differ for these students. If you can go into a mixed ability classroom and teach a divergent-thinking lesson to everyone that's wonderful and should be done everyday by the general classroom teacher. But bear in mind it does NOT meet the specific needs of the gifted population within that room. If instruction is understandable for all, at the same pace, and takes all learners to the exact same conclusion, it is not differentiated for anyone. Inclusion in regular classrooms may be wonderful for some children who very much need the social skills and acceptability those classes can provide. But the regular classroom is the most restrictive environment a gifted student faces in their educational career.  Its focus is on a level far below what they can achieve. Pull out programs are better than inclusion but not as good as a magnet program. Gifted students are different 24/7, not just for a few hours a day. But even magnets can boil down to simple acceleration at times and are still not the epitome for the gifted.     

     The individuality of the type of school paradigms pushed by pundits is a great fit for those identified as gifted. Being able to move through curriculum freely, without being locked down by a "manufacturing date" (Robinson, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&feature=share), having an understanding of asynchronous development (Tolan, http://www.stephanietolan.com/gt_as_asynch.htm), and allowing students to collaborate with whomever they need to, whenever they need to (NAGC, http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=162 and Tinzmann, http://www.arp.sprnet.org/admin/supt/collab2.htm) are concepts which have been endorsed as best practices for the gifted for many years. It's no surprise this type of differentiation would also benefit all learners. We should not, however, walk back these practices at the gifted level as we strive to pull forward all other learners. It's counterproductive.

     For now, we need to recognize that being identified gifted means a child has needs not able to be met in a current general education classroom with the regular curriculum. They are a special needs population and need educators highly specialized in understanding and addressing their needs. If the needs can be addressed within the mainstream then the label of gifted is just that...a label, not a learning issue. Just as schools and classrooms differ across districts, states, and especially countries, the needs of students within those classrooms will also widely differ. And it explains why only one definition of giftedness doesn't always fit in our mobile society.

     My school district is beginning a ground breaking summit process this week which promises to listen to and address community concerns and expectations. As we and many other school districts work to transform education into a 21st century model we must focus on the differences in our students and include those differing abilities they bring to the table. Talking about looking at the individual child while thinking of only the ones who fit a neat little pre-determined box of "individuality" is no better than what we have now.

     I've never been fond of the term gifted. Not my students, children, nor I have ever been given anything. But if you're out shopping, what we really want is an abilities-appropriate education.
*Addendum 9/20- new very interesting study: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/09/20/05gifted.h31.html?tkn=SSNF3NjKOeqLBnXZsTgaiy4hGyOTdXytDhAI&cmp=clp-edweek

Ch-ch-cha-changes

     A new school year is knocking on the door and already the whispers have begun. "They're making changes." "They" is different in each school district, and "changes" seem to be pretty much amorphous. All that the teachers seem to know is that change is coming.

In my district we have a new superintendent. He is a shaker-upper and some teachers are waiting with great anticipation and some with great consternation. Those reactions are pretty much just what they always are when change is coming. But it didn't start with the new superintendent and it didn't start this summer.

     In many, many conversations about the state of education and where it is going, I have heard and read about how the current system is not working and that we need a transformation. For ten years I have been waiting to hear what kind of transformation that should be. For a long time, educational change was synonymous with technology. That led to the misinterpretation that just adding a computer to the lesson plans would make it all better. Even worse, it led to a me-thee attitude that if you didn't use tech, you were a bad teacher, and if you did use it, you approached awesomeness.

     The real problem is not with technology. Tech is a tool. The changes are coming with a new attitude and implementation of what education means for our students.

     We have been educating the masses with an assembly line technique. Through the years it became apparent that more and more learners were not able to be fitted with normal factory parts. It took some heart, some understanding, some research, and even some court cases to reach the point where we understood that there were outliers whose needs were not being met in the standard classroom. These students were grouped into various sub-populations and we thought we were rocking the system with a good thing. What a surprise that it only made a dent in the issues of education.

     What we fail to realize is that each and every student is an individual sub-pop. There may be some overlap, but no one learner is exactly like the next. It doesn't matter how many labels you place on a student, you can't teach him or her in the same way you did last year or ten years ago. Change is inevitable because we never deal with the same population.

     I don't have answers. I teach a specific sub-pop so my ideas and beliefs are skewed. Applying the  logic of Christensen's Disruptive Innovation (http://www.claytonchristensen.com/disruptive_innovation.html) to my students lets me understand that change comes from the un-served and the under-served. If we think of each student as under-served in some way or another we begin to see the magnitude of the problem.

     We have many educators who are great teachers based on current parameters of today's schools, but who resist the (no-longer-new) tools of the age. They don't see that these tools are not the threat. The changes coming for these teachers are that we have been grouping for economy, mass-producing curriculum, and measuring learners based on accumulation of facts, not the application of ideas, and these practices need to cease. Our standardized testing only grades and ranks the ability to accumulate, not the connection of the learning. The tools of tech are making mere accumulation obsolete. Will those educators still be considered great teachers when the whole point of education has shifted and they're still playing Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit? They sure can be, but not without changing.

Don't Mess With Mama

     In perhaps an odd choice for a suburban mom/elementary school teacher, I recently accepted my husband's invitation and joined him in a class to get our concealed carry licenses. Yes, guns. My husband has always had interesting choices for date nights. Our first date ever was ghost hunting, but that's another story.

     We signed up for a ten hour class with DFW Shooters, taught by a very calm and patient man named Travis Bond. Far, far more calm and patient than I would be if faced with 22 strangers packing heat. He did an excellent job of talking us through gun safety and the responsibilities of carrying a weapon of any kind.

     I grew up with a dad who is a hunter and former Navy guy, so it was no big deal to see guns in the house. Dad is very aware of his guns and not once do I ever remember seeing a weapon sitting around waiting for trouble. We were taught to let them alone. In my early 20s, during my broadcasting days, an old boyfriend took me to the country to make sure I could shoot due to a problem with a stalker. I proved I could shoot and kept a gun with me for a while until the incidents ended.

     But some time after that, after my children were born, I had a vivid dream about guns and death. Maybe it was the hormones, and after that I wanted nothing to do with guns. Did not want to shoot a gun. And other than Duck Hunt or Wii, that's how it stayed for years.

     Meanwhile, hubby has no problem with guns. He's former military, from a military family, and goes on WWII reenactments. He especially enjoys guns from the WWII era. Over the years he had convinced me to at least keep a gun close by if he went out of town. When he asked if I wanted to take the CHL class with him, I thought it might be good to have some idea about what I would do if I ever thought of pulling that gun out of the box.

     I am pleased to announce that due to the excellent information in class, I will NOT be getting a CHL at this time. This is not due to a failure on my part nor on the part of Mr. Bond. Both of us performed admirably. But I learned that a CHL is a serious matter, not to be sought for the heck of it. As Mr. Bond put it, CHL holders are held to a higher standard of gun owners. This license actually is noted on your record and law enforcement is aware of it if you are stopped. With Texas laws, I can legally have my little gun for my protection in my home with no need for a CHL. I really never had any plans to take one with me anywhere else.

     I am a teacher and live in a world of children. I would not be able to have one at work. My neighborhood is full of my students. I run around with teachers and moms. At this time, I don't have an overwhelming reason to be armed while going to Sprouts or Mardel's.

     However, times do change. I reserve the right to be so armed if I see the need, and I appreciate the knowledge I gained in the CHL class. I won't hesitate to visit Mr. Bond again if circumstances warrant. I also plan to go on more dates with my husband which involve a gun range.

     For the record, I passed both parts of the qualifications, test and range. That paper doll guy did not survive my Rambo-ness. For your protection, you might want to call before coming to visit me after dark.

This Chick Don't Tweet

     I'm very saddened to report that I am not the tech diva so many of my co-workers think I am. I love playing with tech tools and love sharing them with my students and friends. I love my perceived ability to find uses for most tech advances along with my problem-solving abilities which I have used in fitting the tools to the tasks. But methinks I have met my match...Twitter.

     I've had a Twitter account for more than two years. I signed up to keep track of some educator awards; you know, just in case I was getting a visit from the prize patrol. Then, I followed a fast food place to see if I could win a soda. After that, I added my daughter and several educator related threads I was already following on Facebook. But other than that, my feed was limited to just a few occasional tweets when some free giveaway was calling my name. I rarely checked on it. Pretty much everyone and everything I followed I also saw on FB. Once in awhile, at conferences, I would take in a Twitter class in an effort to be less of a twit, but still was unable to wrap my mind around a single large question...WHY?

     Then, summer came and I thought I would push my mind into the tweety bird. In just the past two weeks I have taken two classes about Twitter. I know how to find people and chats to follow. I know about all kinds of apps for all my devices to help me better organize the people and chats. But I still just can't figure out why I need to chase the chats.

     It may have something to do with the fact that I teach elementary school and even if my students had a twitter account of their own (which they are not supposed to have) I would not be virtual friends with them. It may have something to do with already being exposed to more threads than I can tie on Facebook and the many, many blogs and articles I read each week. It may have something to do with being too verbose for a mere 140 characters. It could be that I just don't care what others are doing or saying 24/7 (Sorry Brittney, Kim, and Charlie). It could just be that I'm too old. Naw, it can't be that.

     But whatever it is, it simply comes down to not being able to find a need to tweet. I can play with it and will probably continue to do so, but I'm taking the pressure off myself to forcibly make a space in my life for the tiny tweets. If it works out one day I'll be ready. But until then, I will be content to bore my friends with my FB posts and enlighten anyone in the world with this blog. That should be enough- cheep, cheep.

One Size Never Fits Right

     I was given an opportunity to attend a very good edtech conference this week, the Southwest Building Learning Communities conference by Alan November's group. One of my friends was unable to attend all three days and allowed me to take her place on the final day. (Thank you Kathryn!)  I had heard of the conference before but it's expensive so I didn't even ask.  I'm very glad I went! 

     The keynote session by Mr. November was not anything novel, but certainly reinforced the beliefs I have in engagement, relevance, and how sad it is when gifted students have to cobble together their own educations. The conference assistants were young people who obviously had  far more knowledge into tech than I do. One young man talked about his efforts in creating an iphone app in order to prove mastery in a chemistry class rather than take two pencil and paper tests. I smiled all the way through his talk, until he said he worked on it, with and without the teacher, pretty much on his own time. So, he learned what he needed for his app, which was everything from the unit being taught, developed and created an instructional tool that would help his peers also learn the material, but had to continue on with regular classroom instruction? What?!?  

     I know the teacher was doing the best he could in addressing the needs of all of his students including this one, but how sad is it that there's nothing more tailored for students achieving above the "normal" expectations?  It's wonderful the teacher was able to see how much more this young man could do and find a way to encourage his learning. But I wonder if that teacher had to find the way, by himself, to help outside the parameters of normal learning curves. And that is where this conference was pointing...teachers helping teachers. 

     The student also mentioned that he did not always attend a school which fostered his learning through the use of tech. He was very pleased this one did have the tools he could use to go beyond the norm.  And that's the other place the conference went...using the tools available to expand learning environments. Where would this wonderful young person been without them? Would he have tuned out school?  Where would he be if his school had the tools but no teachers willing to take the risk to use them? Not a pretty thought. 

     I hear stories like this young man's quite a lot. The tales are inspiring and hopeful. But I admit that I'm beginning to become a little bitter, too. Why, after all these years, are these recollections so unusual? Why aren't they normal? When is the world of education going to rouse from its apathy and realize that one size does not fit all? It's imperative that we stop squandering the education of our students...ALL our students.  Do we want everyone meeting minimum skill levels? Or do we want each and every child to become the very best they can be- lifelong learners, problem solvers, critical thinkers, creative souls? 

     Yes, Mr. November, I had to memorize the states and capitals. No, I don't know why, nor can I still do it. I bet I can find the info when I need it. Austin, right? I NEEDED to know that.

Time and 5th Graders Wait For No One

     The end of yet another school year is here. For many weeks my teacher friends and I have counted down, dreamed of summer, and packed away school tools and rules. And now it's here. As usual, I'm not really ready. 

     I tell myself it's the paperwork and packing up that makes me so anxious. But really, it's watching the kids moving on. You see, I'm one of those odd, lucky teachers who gets to watch her students grow up over many years. Some of these guys I've had since kindergarten. Now they're taller than I am. 

     They have not been perfect children. I don't know why I will miss them so much. They have taxed my patience, talked non-stop, and spent more time working to get out of work than they have working. 

They have also magically become their own persons. They don't want to wait for me to tell them anything. They want to tell me what they are thinking about. And they all want to tell me at the same time. They have some of the most creative thoughts and dreams I have ever heard. At least this year. 

     Because yes, there have been so many more like them who have come and moved on. They too outgrew my height, my books, and my ideas. And this is why I can push them out the door. 

     It's because I still get to see my former students sometimes that I can see they kept on growing without me. I did my part and got them to the end of childhood. There are more teachers out there just like me who will take them farther than I ever could. I get to be where they started their learning. I sometimes envy those who will see who these kids become. But I belong here  to help get these children started down the path to individuality. No, I can't go to middle school with them. Everyone is taller than I am there.

     Besides, there are more children still to come. I'll stay here where I never have to grow, or have to grow up. Good luck to my wonderful students. I'll miss you.

To All the Moms I've Loved Before

     Since today is Mother's Day I have been thinking about all of the wonderful, strong women I have had in my life. People say you don't appreciate what you have until you don't, and I agree. I've been very lucky. I actually knew and remember not one, but three great-grandmothers. I suppose I always believed the women in my family would live forever. But the generations behind me are winding down, and the future belongs to my children and (hopefully, eventually?) grandchildren. But what examples those children have and must live up to.

     I still think of the family reunions at the old farm in Western Kentucky. We would go way back in the boonies to see Great-Grandma and Grandpa Franklin and all the rest of the clan. My sister and I were not too fond of going. There never seemed to be much of anything to do. It never entered our minds how much there was to do BEFORE we got there. All the ladies of that generation cooked and cleaned for days just to welcome us. We ate food grown right there on that farm, not  ordered and picked up from Honeybaked Ham. Funny, it was too expensive for my family to do things like that, but now I understand how much better the home cooking really was.

     There were roses around the farmhouse and fireflies in the evenings. But when you're 10, you just don't care about those things. You have no idea how much Great-Grandmas harvest, cook, and clean just to have a chance to pinch your cheeks.

      Now, we did enjoy Great Aunt Lee who lived next door to her parents. Another strong woman, she had a Lincoln collection we loved to hear all about when we were little. When we were older, she began to share her genealogy hobby. Yes, she was two generations behind me, but she always knew how to speak my language.

     On my grandmother's side of the family there was Great-Grandma Page. She was really a hoot. She never really grew up, just grew older. I can remember on one visit, she wrapped her head in a towel and became a gypsy fortune teller, telling stories to all the kids in the neighborhood. She was the perfect lady for the "I shall Wear Purple" poem, and is probably the  warped member of the family where my sense of humor was cultured.

Great-Grandma Page (front), Grandma Franklin, Daddy, and me  

 My other great-grandmother still alive while I was a child was Grandma Loften. My sister and I really didn't want to go there when we were little. It was an old house, complete with an outhouse, and smelled like tobacco.  I really regret not talking with her more, finding out what she remembered from her childhood. But that just wasn't important when you are living your own childhood. She gave my dad an old muzzle-loader once. Said it was used for Indian fighting or something. He cleaned that gun with great care and prepared to take it out and fire it. He only shot it once. Kicked him back so hard he landed on his rear.

     Her daughter was my Grandmother Ritchie. I adored Grandma. She always gave me a dollar and let me drink coffee (with lots of milk and sugar). She and her best friend Wanda used to babysit me sometimes. That's how I learned to play Hearts - sometimes they needed a 4th player. Both of them were married to river boat captains and were alone every other month. Legend has it that on babysitting nights they would take me with them to honky-tonks and let me dance on the tables. That ended one Sunday morning when I boogied down the church aisle in apparent imitation of the night before.

     But she also taught me to quilt and embroider. I think my creative side came from her. As she aged, sometimes it was hard to remember how she was when I was small. I had spent so much time with her for so long but began to dread going to see her in the nursing home. I know now that was selfish of me. Trying to keep my memories intact, I robbed both of us from making new ones.

     My dad's mom was Grandma Franklin. She was married to a railroad man and had five children, four of whom lived to adulthood. She inherited the family dinners and reunions after the generation before her all passed. It seemed like she could do anything. She could cook, sew, garden, and worked in a department store. When I was little, I think I annoyed Grandma. We'd go to her house and I would go to a quiet room and read. I think she thought I was odd. (Maybe she should have seen my moves in the honky-tonks.) As I got older, I liked going out there. My Aunt Kat and Aunt Sis were there and they were just a couple of  years older than I was. Mom didn't like to leave me out there to be babysat. She never knew what Grandma and my aunts would do. One time they cut and permed my hair. I was like a big doll for them, but at least it kept me out of the bars.

     Grandma thought we were oblivious to the fact that she drank a little wine now and then. It was pretty funny when we would stumble on her stash. Once it was in the trash can in the formal living room (which, of course, was never used except on a holiday) and when daddy pushed the wrapping paper down, he hit paydirt, pulling up a bottle of Mogan David. Another time, daddy was working on her washer, pulled it out from the wall, and guess what was sitting under the cold water pipe? Yep, a nip of the grape.

     I was also privileged to be daughter-in-law to an awesome woman, Joanne Effler, otherwise known as Momis. She was an Army wife who raised four sons. She kept hearth and home together during some very lean years but never lost her sense of humor or her love for her boys. I wish I was more like her, she never spoke ill of anyone. But she could tell some truthful stories on her kids. Like when they would tie up babysitters so they could go out and play. Or like when they washed and dried the cat. In the washer and dryer. That one made the papers. I don't think the cat made it long enough to read it though.

     And that brings us to my own mother, a smart, sassy female and the last of my heritage still with me. She married young and promptly became a Navy wife, trying to make ends meet while living far from home. She's not afraid of much, just airplanes and traffic. I get the airplane part: it has to do with a monster storm while she was on her way to join my dad on base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I still am not sure about why traffic gives her the willies. But that woman will drive five miles out of her way to avoid certain streets at rush hour. And that's just in small town Paducah, Kentucky. She won't even come here to Texas anymore because of the traffic. I've always thought the perfect Mother's Day gift for her would be a brake pedal in the floor of the passenger seat of the car. She's got the move down already.

Dad and Mom

     She can cook like you wouldn't believe. She took a cake decorating class when I was five or six, and I can remember hanging close, hoping she would mess up her icing roses so I could eat them. She's still the one everyone calls when they want desserts. I've lost count of how many Blue Ribbons she's won at the fair. Even the newspaper just assumes that mom will win each year, and announced her ribbons last year as usual. Only problem is, she didn't enter. Doesn't matter, she would have won if she had entered so just go on and give them to her.

     My most prevalent memories of mom are of her sitting in a chair, on the phone, with a gold loafer hanging from her big toe, shaking it for all she was worth. That phone would ring starting around six am, no alarm clock needed.

     Notice that nowhere in this trip down memory lane did I mention that these women held any high paying jobs, or had college degrees, or were known outside their circle of family and friends. They didn't and weren't. They were all good God-loving Southern women who took care of their loved ones and did the best they could. They formed the base for my life and no amount of fame or fortune could have raised me better. Each generation pushed the next one up and along, sacrificing so the young'uns would have a better life. Through them I learned everything I needed to know, and got pushed along to learn a little more. My sister and I live pretty great lives, but we won't cease to nudge our little chicks even further.

     I see the next generation rolling their eyes at us, cutting our apron strings, and flying away. I hope one day they too look back at who came before, and stop to appreciate us before we're gone for good.

     Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's I've loved before.

     

Nibbling the Apple

    I have given up and given in. I am now the proud owner of an ipad2. I even took a day off from school to be home when it was delivered. And I don't take days off easily so you can tell it was quite an event.

     As usual when I over-plan something, things went awry. Scheduled for a Thursday delivery (remember that day off?), the pad came on Wednesday. With a little scrambling my darling daughter was there to accept the handoff. But I still stayed home the next day to meet my new little friend.

    Getting set up was not too hard since I have had an iphone for some time. Get it on the network, set up mail, and GO! I figured I would sync everything and see what turned up. The first thing I noticed was that the phone apps do go to the pad, but start out small, centered in the pad screen the same size as the phone screen. There is a 2x button to the bottom of the pad and you can expand the app to fit the larger screen. But it is a fuzzy resolution when you do. Most of the time this won't bother me. I watched a 17 year old behemoth TV in the bedroom until last week when it died. I thought the DirectTV guide screen was supposed to be soft focus. What a surprise on the new TV!

     Then began the process of filtering what I wanted to keep on the pad vs the phone, along with sorting and grouping into files. I highly suggest that if you haven't filed your apps on your iphone or ipad you do it quickly. It's very simple: hold your finger on an app until all of them wiggle. Then drag to move one type of app, such as a game, over the top of another game. They will blend together into a file and suggest a name for the file based on the two apps. You can, of course, give the file your own custom name. You can also drag from screen to screen. For those of you as OCD as I am, you can even alphabetize your files. Once finished, you can easily locate even the most obscure apps, especially if you have a file marked "Obscure Apps."

     After filing, I started looking through itunes to download some must haves and to upgrade some of my old phone favs. I spent most of my bucks on Pages, the mac word processing app. At $10 it was a bit pricy, but I know I will want to do some real work occasionally. It's also easy to use. Even printing was a dream. Because I have a wireless printer on my network the pad automatically found it and printed happily away.

     Next up was Garage Band. My daughter, an existing Mac snob, tsked me and said it wasn't that great. But I think it's really cool to be able to play virtual instruments since I can't play any real ones. Air Guitar or Air Drums just won't cut it anymore. And I've almost figured out Heart and Soul!
     I also felt the need to get the newer ipad apps to replace some of the iphone ones. Those Angry Birds just look soooo much angrier in HD. Same with Yoga. Well, actually, they looked more peaceful.

     Then I went off grid. One of my big issues (along with the rest of the non-Apple world) is that the istuff doesn't do flash. No facebook games! But there are some apps which allow a parallel version to run. The ones I hear most about are Skyfire and Cloud Browse. But both are pay as you go and can get pricy. I had also heard about iSwifter and decided to give it a shot. It is free, and although it asks for a purchase, for now at least, you can keep it free if you choose.  There is a good video on it at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVIy6XeapkM.



It does work, but just as the video says, it's clunky. I won't be playing any of my timed FB games on it, but it works just great for things like slots. Another plus: Hulu movies look great on it. No problems at all.

     BFF Patti, an old hand on the ipad, also weighed in on apps for me. She had already been the final tipping point for my joining Words with Friends earlier that morning, challenging me to a game at 5:45 AM. Several friends had tried to get me interested but I had declined. But that early in the morning when the caffeine had not kicked in I foolishly gave in. Now I face a number of challengers wanting to take me down. And it's only been ten hours! Too much pressure!

     She also showed me iBooks, Scramble, and iFarkle. I showed her Mummy's Treasure and Cat Physics. You'd think we had better things to do, huh? But summer's coming. And teachers will have a life once more. There'll be time for a much bigger bite from that apple.

Spring Tech Me Up

     I attended the Region X/XI Texas Computer Educators Association conference this weekend and came back with a new attitude. Actually, I went there with a bit of a spring in my step due to some small (but not minor) changes in our district as of late. For some time now I have been up to my knees in Web 2.0 and many of the highways and bi-ways of the internet. But I have been unable to use many (most) of these apps in the cloud with my elementary students due to filters. However, in the past few weeks our district is giving new filters a try and letting us open up areas of the world previously hidden to us on campus. Teachers can use YouTube now!  Ring the bells!

     Don't get me wrong. I am very much a proponent of internet safety for my students. But there is a difference in teaching the proper use of technology and playing ostrich. We are not doing our students any service by saying, "Sorry, don't go there...no, not while at school...I know you go there at home, but not here." Some of my peers and I were quite shocked recently when we asked our 5th graders how many had personal e-mail accounts of their own. We expected maybe 40-50 percent. Easily 85-90 percent raised their hands with no hesitation. The students are already there. We are only playing catch up right now. But we can catch up. First and foremost: more in-depth lessons on appropriate use of the web.  I'd rather work with the children and guide them instead of having them learn about tech on a street corner the way I did.

     At the conference I shadowed Randy Rodgers, a teacher from Birdville ISD  who I had met in previous years. I went to all of the sessions he led and was not disappointed. He has a huge amount of ideas, connections, and experience. Even better- he's willing to share. His blog, The Moss-Free Stone, will give me many hours of reading pleasure as I mine it for quirky uses of tech.

     I also attended a session on ipads. I have a second generation pad on order and can't wait until it comes. In the session I learned about a number of apps I can use not only for myself but also in the classroom with my students. The instructor was using it under a document camera and I had wondered if that would work should I need to demonstrate something. I am pleased to say it did, although video/movement still has that doc cam drag.

     I am a baby with apple products (in spite of my iphone) so I was happy to get a heads  up on the device. I had heard about the issues with apple and flash products but didn't know there were work-arounds such as Skyfire and Cloud Browse (app store) to let you see flash sites on the pads and phones.  Maybe I need a vacation day when the new pad arrives so I can become proficient? Shhhhh, don't tell my boss.

     I also learned about LiveBinders, yet another take on the cloud work/storage genre. It was very interesting and may have fewer limitations than Skydrive, which I just started using with my students.  I love the concept in general ("Seeing Sense in the Clouds" February, 2011) and this is one of the main reasons I wanted e-mail for my class. I will be doing more research on LiveBinders over the summer and may move the kiddos into the format this fall.

     We wrapped up the day with prizes and I snagged an itunes gift card and USB hand massager. Score! As usual, a good time was had by all.

And They Said it Wouldn't Last...

    It has been twenty-seven years since my father walked me down the aisle to stand beside the man I was to marry. It's been twenty-seven years since we loaded two separate lives into one small yellow car and left for Texas. I look at my wedding photos and think, "Dang I was skinny."

Wait, of course I mean, "Oh, how young and in love we look." Because we do.

     It's been twenty-eight plus years since he walked into my Basic and Fortran computer class at Middle Tennessee State University, sat on the front row, turned to scope out the room, and promptly relocated to sit next to me and another boy on the back row. He leaned over and informed me he was quite fond of  my legs and hoped I planned to wear skirts often. Strangely, he is surprised to this day that line did not work and I did not fall swooning into his arms. I thought he was a jerk.

     We didn't exchange another word until the end of the semester when I was attempting to debug a program by using a shoe on the side of the computer (technology is great...when it works). I guess I was making a bit of noise and he leaned over from the adjacent carrel and offered to help. I said, "Thanks, Dan" (I thought his name was Dan for the first 8 months I knew him), and realized there was more to this jerk than arrogance if he would offer assistance to a damsel in distress.

     We met again the next semester in Horror and Gothic Literature (yes, I had a very stressful, depth-filled college schedule), and went on our first date right around spring break. It was to Stone's River Battlefield. We were searching for the cold spot where civil war ghosts were supposed to walk. How could I not fall head over heels in love?

     A year later came the romantic proposal, "How long will it take you to get ready for a wedding and move to Dallas?" He gave me a month. I chose March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, thinking that for the rest of his life he could go into any Irish Pub in the world and get a countdown to his wedding anniversary. He has never forgotten when it is.

     Here we are, twenty-seven years later. We've been richer and poorer, we've been better and worse, we've been sicker and healthier. I have loved him, I have honored him, but rarely obeyed him. I had that one removed from the vows. I knew he wouldn't notice until it was too late. We've raised kids, dogs, cats, rabbits, and the occasional rodent. We've been back to other colleges to further our educations. (It was too hard to find a job in Horror Lit.) We're to the age where we have stopped shredding the AARP letters and started reading them. We looked so young and in love back then. In our eyes we still do.

     Happy Anniversary Doug. You are still the love of my life.

P.S. I guess that darn line about my legs actually did work after all.

Here a Tech, There a Tech...

 A fellow teacher asked me this week what a classroom looked liked when it's fully integrated with technology. Then, before I could answer, she said, "Like yours - aren't your students on the computer all day?" That question brought me to a stop for a moment. Is that what people think is really happening in my classroom?

     I love technology. Both for the fun it brings to my life and also for the doors it can open into areas of the world which I will never see any other way. Not coincidentally, I also love reading. And it is by comparing tech to reading that some teachers might see what makes a tech-integrated classroom.

     Reading gets a lot of attention in schools and rightly so. Without it adults are the openers of the doors for children, but the ultimate goal is for the students to seek out and open their own passages. Reading enables the mastery of all other subjects, including math.

     Teachers have many ways of teaching reading. Immersion, whole-language, phonics, sight words; and all are necessary because all people do not learn to their personal BEST in all the same manner. Much time is spent in the early grades making sure to reach each and every student, trying all tips and tricks in teachers' goody bags. The learning of reading goes on for many years, and sometimes never stops, as the acquisition of vocabulary is a never ending pursuit.

     Now look at technology. It's a quirky little thing. It too can be used to promote reading skills in students. But it needs the partnership of reading to be used at its best. As reading abilities soar, so can technology use. Just like in reading, there are some things which need to be studied in isolation: sounds, letters, blends, etc… compare to: keyboarding, "click," menus, etc…  A few basics in reading and technology and students have the world at their fingertips.

     But are books used every minute of every day in a classroom? Of course not. Children are found all over the school coloring, cutting, moving around, using manipulatives, and discussing. And when books are used, it is always the same book? The same genre? The same topic? It's the same with technology, just substitute "tech" for "reading" in the paragraphs above.

     In my class we have a techie's dream. We are 1-1, have an interactive whiteboard, projector, CPS units, doc cam, cameras, software, and apps. I'm sure there are a few things we could use, but we're pretty much covered. Believe it or not, there are pieces of tech we don't use every day. I know, a real shocker. And to make things more horrifying, we don't even use tech AT ALL some days. Why? Because sometimes we don't NEED to.

     Despite accumulating massive amounts of tech in the class there are still some subjects which need a different method of teaching to best be mastered by the students. Shoving tech into a lesson just to say you used tech in the lesson is inappropriate. Tech should be used in order to best help the students learn, help them demonstrate mastery, and (in a distant third place) help present material to them. If it ain't broke, don't fix it with tech. You could actually hinder learning by making lessons too complex. Put the complexity into the content, not the format.

     Technology is very engaging to all of our students and I know that most, if not all, job choices for them will involve tech to some end. Using no technology at all would be a true disservice to our children. You cannot justify never using tech just because that's the way you've always done it anymore than you can justify tossing in technology where it is not relevant. So, don't break the teaching, enhance it. Things do change and disruption happens.
     I will continue using technology in my lessons to bring in relevance, heighten engagement, foster an ease for learning, and bring a sense of pride into finished products. I will also allow my students to make some of the choices on their learning by themselves, including adding or omitting the use of technology tools where that use is not an integral part of their understanding. My students will learn how to be fluent and flexible with the tools of learning. That my friends, is what a classroom looks like when it is integrated with technology.

     Oh yeah, we'll also have a lot of fun.

Oscar-Smoscar

     I'm not sure if I'm just socially inept or if I'm the little kid at the end of the story who says the king has no clothes. But I really don't care a whit about the Oscars. Besides, he's really NOT wearing any clothes.

     Everywhere I turn this weekend, there it is...on the news shows, in the paper, at the grocery store shilling snacks and soda. There's even an iphone app for crying out loud. I get the feeling that I'm alone in the world because I should be focusing on who is nominated and who will win, but I don't remember ever caring and I'm getting more crotchety about it as I age.

     You see, I don't usually like the shows the Oscars pick. I have seen exactly two of the shows up for this year- Inception and Toy Story 3- and only one of those was seen at a theater. Inception was meh. (Spoiler alert) I think he was in reality at the end. If not, it could only mean a sequel is coming and that's almost always a bad thing for movies.

     Toy Story 3 is one of the exceptions to that rule. I liked this sequel. I'm not sure what it says that the only movie I support for an Oscar is an animated kid's movie. Maybe that's why I'm an elementary school teacher.

     I might watch The Social Network sometime in the future. But I fear it will be like the time we got Pirates of Silicon Valley from Netflix then mistakenly sent it back without watching it because we couldn't remember if we had seen it or not. We really need to have that sent again, I guess.

     I like hearing about movies from friends with similar views as mine. But my friends must not be as sophisticated as the Oscar judges. Like me, few of them agree with the picks. Even with friendly recommendations we don't go to see very many movies. We just live the plot lines vicariously through what we get told.

    It's expensive to go to the movies. We pretty much only go for the popcorn, but now we have one of the fancy poppers and our own coconut oil. Before that, we were known to have bought popcorn from a mall movie theater to take home without seeing a movie. It tastes the same with the lights on or off.

     I haven't seen anything in years worth ponying up the cash to go see a movie immediately on release. We have DirectTV, but haven't rented anything in about a year. We also have the aforementioned Netflix, where we have some trouble picking out one movie a week to watch. We don't even care that we have to wait 28 days to see it.

     Back to the Oscars, I can't say I care or even know who half of the people are who are up for an award. I've heard of a few, but don't think most are that great at their craft.  A couple of them, Nicole Kidman and Natalie Portman are pretty good, but I won't give up three plus hours of my life to see if they win.

     I suppose there was a time I watched to see who was wearing what. But now, you can just look at the internet the next day. I know I will never wear anything like their red carpet attire. But, it used to be fun to see what some of the nominees came up with. Now, after Lady GaGa's meat dress at the MTV awards, all other award day fashion will just pale in comparison. Where can you go from there Oscar? Oh yeah, right. You're not wearing any clothes.

Seeing Sense in the Clouds

     Some of my classes began participating last week in a bit of a technology trial run which allows them to have their own e-mail accounts though Windows Live. I agreed to work with this program, not for the e-mail, but as a means to take my students to the clouds.

     I don't think anyone can argue that we are past the tipping point where so much of our interaction with computers is stored somewhere in the ether-world of the internet, and doesn't actually live on a hard drive in our homes or workplace. This enables us to access our files and folders where ever we go, sharing them with others, and working on them at will. Personally, I have been a Google docs girl for a few years and thoroughly enjoy the flexibility it affords.

     I have many lesson plans, meeting notes, and collaborative projects in Google. I have had no problems with the apps there and highly recommend it to other adults. But for my students, it was a no go. The district I work for does not allow the children to use Google docs, nor many other programs within Google. In fact, they are currently filtering out Google images due to inappropriate content. I don't fault them for this, but always wished I could find some ways to get to some great apps in a safe, secure way for my classes.

     The best thing my district said to make me excited about getting e-mail for my students...the use of SkyDrive! Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and OneNote in the clouds! My students can now work both at home and at school, sharing files with me and/or with others. This has meant a radical change for the kids in the way they work. They have access in my class or in other classes if they need to get into their projects. I can see the files anytime I need to check on progress. They can get help anytime, anywhere, from nearly anyone, even parents, by just sharing out the file. It's Nirvana for homework! Well, maybe not for them. It's now impossible to say they forgot it or their dog ate it. Things have definitely changed for the better.

 

     Over the past couple of years I have tried having students bring in flash drives to use for transportation of their work. But kids are kids, and flash drives were never where they needed to be at work time. What to do?

     We do use Moodle within our district and my classes have made use of up/downloading documents through it. But it tends to be multiple-step and therefore clunky, so few of them liked it.

     The biggest stumbling block for taking my students to work in the cloud was that most apps require an e-mail account to register. Since I work with elementary age students, e-mail accounts were few and far between until I was offered the trial program. There is Gaggle, but rumors persisted that they are lean in service unless you use the paid subscription. I also did not feel that there would be enough support from my district if I used it, so I held off, looking for alternatives.

     I have found some work-arounds that do very well, and will continue to use them. One of the best is PrimaryPad, a free app we began using when old favorite Etherpad was purchased by Google. PrimaryPad uses the open source code from Etherpad and works great. I continue to use it with my younger students because it's so very easy. 

    

   The main downside is that PrimaryPad is completely open to the internet. This is how my kids can use it for free, but is also how anyone in the world could find their project and edit within it. In comparison, SkyDrive is locked. I explain this to the students and caution them to never use their real names or any other personal information. I also make sure to tell them to contact me if it appears that someone else might have used their pad.

     I'm able to keep a watch on their pads too, by simply going to the name they assign it. Like SkyDrive, PrimaryPad is a wonderful way to keep an eye on their work at any time and work with them to guide their way rather than just assigning a grade at the end. There is also a feature which allows for collaboration by up to five students at a time. All can edit at once, rather than one person doing most of the writing work. If you can't get access to Office Live in your school, PrimaryPad is a wonderful substitute.

     Having the e-mail accounts for my kids will also help my students access other great apps such as Voki (avatar creator), Prezi (non-linear graphic organizer), and Delicious (bookmarking app). These are oldies but goodies to some, but will be very new and welcome for my students.

     Some people see elephants, cotton candy, or flowers in the clouds. But I see the future for my students.

Sugar coated Mondays always get me down

     As a teacher I'm asking for all fellow teachers to rise up and beg their congress-people to never allow any holiday associated with sugar to be on a Monday. There are a number of holidays with which we have taken liberties and moved to more convenient days to better serve businesses. Why can't we move days with potential sugar blockades in order to better serve schools?

     We are at the mercy of the calendar on many holidays. This includes but is not limited to: Valentine's day, Halloween, 100th day, Winter party, and a multitude of Birthdays for students or teachers. Each and every one of these days sends shivers of delight, followed by spasms of sugar highs, down the backs of elementary students.  When a day like these fall on a Monday, or even worse, a Tuesday, teachers pay for it for days on end.

     First, there is the anticipation of sugar gorging. All morning long students watch the clock, fearful that some how, some way, they will miss the party. Considering the parties are in the classrooms where the students are sitting, that is not likely, but just try telling them that. There is also the constant peeking at the area in the room where party material is being stored. I think we should cover these materials with brown paper the way store owners hide their adult magazines. Candy is candy, whatever form it's in.

     Lunch is a chaotic free for all, with students all talking at once about how much sugar they will be eating in just a little while. Meanwhile, most of the nutritious foods on their trays go uneaten. Recess- oh Lord. They know they're getting close by then. There is no containing them.  They have so much energy you'd think they'd already consumed a 5lb bag of sugar. The lines of students coming back into the school actually vibrate with excitement.

    Stopping at the bathroom on the way back? Good luck.  No one has to go...they think it takes too much time...they're in a hurry...they just aim close to the porcelain and move on.  Maybe their hands were waved in the vicinity of the faucet, maybe not.  But children seem to think candy can't be contaminated by dirty hands.

     Back to the door of the classroom. It's like the front of a shoe store on BOGO day. Release the hounds! And the feeding frenzy begins.

   Now, I have read studies that say sugar gives people a quick high, followed by a rapid bottom-out low. It's Thursday. Where's the low? I don't think these researchers studied the right demographic. Maybe adults bottom out quickly, but children don't seem to. There's some around here I don't think have slept since Monday.

     I think sugar holidays should float like Thanksgiving. Have them on Fridays closest to the original holiday. Then, all the sugar goes home with the students. Which makes me wonder...don't these kids ever see candy on other days of the year? Is this just a clever move on the part of parents? Bring the candy to school and have the kids eat it there. Leave the leftovers. Hmm?

     If a congressional act won't do it, then how about just making it a site-based decision on the campuses? Anyone voting against the proposal, gets lunch and recess duty all week.

Love is in the Temp

     It's just amazing what a bright sunny day can do for a soul. We have temperatures heading to the sixties today and seventies over this week. "I haz a hapie," as the lolcats would say.

     The fact that the wonderful weather aligns with the weekend before a Monday Valentine's Day and didn't for last week's Supergoatrodeobowl tells you just what side Mother Nature came down on. Love wins over football. Unless you love football, but then you have other problems not to be discussed here and now.

     Valentine's Day is mostly associated with a day for women, and with guys proving their love by bringing flowers, candy, and jewelry. Especially jewelry. (Are you paying attention hubby...jewelry.) But the truth is that it was named for dead men. Seems a bit, umm, not loving. But those men were martyrs for Christianity, and a love of God. Later on, Valentine's Day became connected with a priest who performed marriages at a time when young men were required by the Roman Emperor Claudius to remain unmarried. He seemed to think marriage made men into wimps and that the single life was better for warriors. I'm sure there's a really good lesson in there somewhere since things didn't turn out well for the priest, Claudius, or for Rome as a world power, but we still have marriage. From all this death and war, came a celebration of love. Now there is a really powerful lesson.

     First up for me this loving Saturday...laundry. Nothing says love quite as loudly as someone willing to separate and bleach your dirty undies. Then we move on to cleaning up indoor cat hairballs and the backyard dog poop zone. Can't you just feel the excitement building?

     But, you know, even the mundane tasks of middle aged suburban life seem just fine when there is a great sunny day. I'm going to get all the plebian tasks accomplished and then hubby and I are headed out to eat at my favorite restaurant.

     Why today? Why not Monday, the actual saint's day? Well, we've been married almost 27 years. It's not that the thrill is gone for Valentine's Day. It's just that everyday is Valentine's Day when you're with the one you love. We can eat any day, anytime, especially during early bird specials. We don't love each other any less after six than we do from 3-5:59 PM. Cheap meals don't cheapen our love.

sNOw Day

  Here we are again: early morning phone call, school called off, lessons postponed. But I sit and wonder- does learning have to be postponed? Isn't there some other way to connect with and engage my students? I have been pondering that question for the past week. We missed four days last week and now one more. Another Snow Day becomes a No Day.

     Within minutes of school being called this morning I had already received two messages from parents asking me to please try a cyber day, and more weighed in as the morning moved on. Our district has provided us with the means to use elluminate to conduct meetings and classes within a moodle base. I have had training to do this and have done quite a few meetings to reach parents at my school who are interested in how we determine a need for gifted services. But the biggest reason I wanted this tool was- my students. This was my chance!

     Unfortunately, our moodle/elluminate platform seems to have also taken a snow day. I have missed my chance for now. But it has given me time to think about where we stand in the effort to reach our students at every teachable opportunity.

     We have, at least in my district, the tools to reach our students no matter what. We have a web presence available to all. We conduct online classes at the secondary level. We are lucky. We have the hardware, the software, the webware, the wetware, and probably more wares than I know of. We are at the starting gate, fully stocked with provisions and ready to move into the new territory. I'm all packed, I have my ticket and map. I need someone with the deed to my land to point me in the right direction and yell, "Charge!" I just hope they are using a working trumpet.

     But there are so many other districts without the means to provide technology for their teachers and students. It boggles my mind, but it is true. My keepers (administration) let me out once in awhile to attend conferences and I see and hear from so many teachers who don't even have internet at their schools. There are no laptops or 1:1 initiatives. There are no interactive whiteboards, no document cameras, no hand-held query devices. They are in America, not a third world country. I have read about the quest to place affordable/free internet and laptops in countries around the world where children have nothing. But we have children here with nothing. Who speaks for them?

     Our school has two teachers attending the wonderful Texas Computer Educators Conference in Austin this week. In the first phone call home they were talking about how lucky we were to have the capabilities we have in our schools. Within a day of arriving they had developed an appreciation for the opportunities we have .

      But even in our district an opportunity to continue learning at home would be a missed opportunity for many children because there is no internet nor computer there for them to use. A problem like the one I faced today would be frivolous.

    These are the issues facing our schools today. Things are not looking like they will be any better in the near future due to the current state of the economy. Our state's tech initiative is in peril due to projected budget cuts. Technology is all too often treated as the cherry on top of a dessert instead of the entrée it really is. The gaps facing our learners today will continue to grow until all have good home lives, good teachers, stable curriculum, and a footing in the 21st century. Pretty much in that order.

Boot Scootin' BooBoo

     Living anywhere near Dallas has been just a real joy lately (she said, dripping with sarcasm).  We have had to deal  with unheard of amounts of winter weather, rolling power blackouts, and Six Flags over Jerry- otherwise known as the Superbowl. 

     The news grew tiresome as all stations alternated leads. It was always weather or football. The two finally met head to head by the end of last week and football won. Sort of. By now most people have heard of all the issues surrounding the week leading up to the big game so I won't recap. But with the game over, the news is now able to focus on just predicting another round of bad weather. 

     I'm not sure why Texas is facing this much snow or such low temperatures. We've been here off and on for over 26 years without this much winter, and I had almost forgotten how good snow crème tasted. I didn't make any of the delicacy this last snowfall, however. I saw birds fall frozen from the sky into my backyard and it sort of took away the desire to eat stuff from where the birds died. Much too creepy. 

     After four days of no school and being stuck inside my house, I decided to make a run for the mall on the fifth day. I also needed to run away from Facebook and postings from parents of my students wanting me to teach at my home. They were really getting desperate and offering to put my own children through grad school for just a few hours of relief. 

     Now, I'm not much of a mall rat and I needed a goal for my expedition. New boots! I really needed some new ones to wear while on school duty outside on these cold winter mornings.  An explanation of duty for any of you non-school people: that is what we call it when we stand outside before or after school and help students get into or out of our building. This year, I have the honor of the crosswalk at the street level entrance to the campus. But there is no protection from wind and rain. New boots could help!  (Yeah, I know I'm reaching here, but women don't really need much reason to buy new shoes.) 

     So off I went to get new water-repellent boots. Found some in my size on the table and on sale! Sales clerk went to the back room and returned with a box with my size on the box and the soles of each shoe. I paid and happily drove home.  

     Monday morning I proudly wore my new boots to school. Many people, old and young alike, complimented my style and flair. The boots were the type with about half a sheep in the lining and you wear them barefoot. They felt so comfortable and roomy.  

     But as the day went by, my feet began to hurt. I was moving like some old mule, clomping around, making a lot of noise. A couple of other teachers and I walk after school as part of a fitness effort. Around 3:45, I changed into my walking sneakers and joined the group. I was only able to make a few rounds with them and commented that I guessed after all the days stuck at home I was out of shape again. My arches were really hurting by then. 

     I went back to my classroom and was changing back into my new boots when I noticed something. My walking sneakers had always seemed like big boats to me. There was a lot more shoe than foot. But the new boots were even bigger. Much bigger. As I reached to pull the boots on, I noticed a little tag way down in the leg of the boot. I put on my glasses and read. They were 2 sizes too big. I had been wearing shoes two sizes larger all day! I'm amazed I hadn't fallen over.  

     I called the store and they actually laughed! But they did tell me to bring them back and get the right size. While there, the manager told me they figured something was up because they had an empty size 8 box, but no size 8 boots left.  

     We checked the inside tags this time, they were my size- both of them- and made sure there was a right and a left just for good measure. I wore the new, new boots to school the next day and did not make near as much noise. I feel pretty stylin' again, but not very bright.

Buckets and Blogs

 I suppose if you looked at many teacher bucket lists you would find blogging on quite a few of them. That doesn't mean all of the teachers would actually blog, but many of them would like to.

     In the old days of maybe 10 years ago, we might have told ourselves we could write a book. Some teachers did. Most of us knew we would never have the time between lesson plans, grades, and meetings. The needs of our families, students, and life in general overrode our own needs to publish.

     But blogging fulfills many teacher needs. We tend to have narcissistic needs. You can tell that by seeing all of the "sages on the stages" where teachers talk and students listen. We need an audience. I'm not really sure you can be a good teacher unless you can perform for an audience.

     We have the need to clue everyone around us into our thoughts and opinions. If you don't believe me, just spend some time in a teacher's lounge. Toss out a topic, any topic, and just sit back and watch it be ripped to shreds. Of course, if you're a teacher you could never just sit back and watch without joining in.

     We need to be needed. We really, really want someone to care what we say and how we feel. The really good teachers also need to hear what their students say and feel.  We need them to want to tell us. Blogging gives us a stage, an outlet for our opinions, and the potential for followers to give us feedback. At least that's why a blog was in my bucket.

     Moving from bucket to blog meant creating and eliminating many excuses along the way. Would my district hinder my free speech rights? Only an excuse-they won't if I'm responsible and don't place them or students out in a public forum to be ridiculed. Would I be able to think up things to write about? Another excuse- see above about not being able to keep out of the fray.

     Would anyone really care about reading what I write? Big excuse-I talk when no one is listening so why not write what no one reads? I just tell myself someone somewhere needs me to write and it seems to work just fine.

     The biggest obstacle/excuse to overcome turned out to be the name of the darn blog. We all know how important that is. It is the identifier of your ideas and thoughts. It's how people can find you. It's what everything comes after. I just couldn't think of anything that could be both appropriately serious and funny without being snarky.

     So the idea finally came at the end of a long week of snow days; home from school, quiet house, boredom, and trying not to eat everything in the house. Combine a couple of the ideas and use creative grammar! (k)no(w) more.

     I liked the title because it says so much about me and what interests me. Not that I know more than anyone. No, I don't know more- what I want is to keep trying to know more than I do now. Like my students, I am a learner. I want them to leave me understanding that learning should never stop.

     Meanwhile, the no more part of the title fits many frustrations in a teacher's life. No more paperwork, no more meetings, no more little things that keep me from doing what I love- teaching. It also fits with many of the calls for school reform across our country. No more of the same old way of doing things when the world, the students, and the teachers have changed.

     I'll be tossing out topics about education, family life, and the quest for a private life when you have a public job. Let's not rip, let's dialogue.