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.