Relief Midst Chaos

As Gilda Radner said: "There's always something." Now that the testing at one building is winding down and there is only one TAP observation left at the other building I have learned of my media allotment for next year! This is reason enough to celebrate!! To make a long story short, I will be .5 at the same two buildings next year!!! Hurrah, I am literally overjoyed and very relieved; I am almost giddy if I weren't so tired I would be. Do you know what this means? I don't have to redo my resume, make a portfolio, although I will save some of my students "best work" just in case for next year, search online for positions, prepare for interviews, dress up and go to the interviews, and worry and worry. This is something I am very good at - worrying, but I should know by now that it will all work out. It always does. The entire process is extremely time consuming as well. Now I just have all the other things to do to try to keep up.

When it's Springtime in MN I'll be testing you...

Yes, when it's springtime in MN I'll be testing you & you & you...or so it seems. What a stressful past week; the MCA math test is going fine for 3rd, 4th, & 5th graders, the paper/pencil test, I only have a couple of absentees to make up test tomorrow, then it's on to the MCA reading test this week followed by the only science test for the 5th graders. There was only one glitch on the online MTELL for ELL students, but after a couple of frantic phone calls to REA & IT, the test "Magically" appeared. What a relief.
On the homefront we attended the first of three weddings we have been invited to on Sat. It was friend of Don's from his duck club, 2nd marriage for both. The mothers of the bride & groom, ages 87 & 81 respectively, each did a reading. It was quite moving, I don't think there was a dry eye in the church, I'll never forget that. Today after SS and church I picked up Cara & her Mom Dawn from Jordan Park and took them to the last day of Macy's flower show, lunch at Macy's and then to the matinee performance of the 42nd annual Wastebasket Revue! @ Park Center High School on Brklyn Blvd. It just gets better every year. Teachers from the Osseo school district put on this slap stick show to raise money for scholarships for students in the district. They have raised over $850,000. in that time. This year's theme was USO - Home Away from Home. We have attended since our daughter Carrie was in 2nd grade because her teacher was in it; that would be 24 years now. Both our older children received Wastebaskets - that's what the scholarship is called in the amount of $2,000. As you know every amount helps with that Augsburg/Concordia tuition. Then because I'm testing coordinator at one school and because the tests must be administered on the given days, which were April 15th & 16th last week & April 21st & 22nd this week, I must be at that building and get a sub for the other site which of course means wonderful lesson plans! So here I sit trying to accomplish it all again. But it's fine, I wouldn't change a thing.

It's a Blog eat Blog World or Thing 2

Who would have believed it? I have turned into a blog addict! It's not that I post so much, but that I have been busy reading all my co worker's blogs. It is SO interesting to learn what they are doing with their students. I am determined to have each of my 46-Hmong 7th graders blog this 4th qtr. They can do it. It will really help them develop their English literacy as well as full sentence development. I think they will really enjoy this and have fun reading each other's blogs. In reading Kevin Hodgson's article entitled: "Bringing the World to My Doorstep: A Teacher's Blog-Reading Habits" I have realized how reading blogs as well as blogging has really changed my life. I feel that my teaching focus has sharpened. I appreciate what others are doing with their classes; I think up more creative activities piggy backing on my co worker's experiences. I love checking to see who has added to their blog, especially my daughter & son-in-law who began their blog on 7/4/08 in order to keep more in touch with family all over the US. After all this time, I am beginning to "get it". What we have been learning in our MILI classes is about the tools of the trade; RSS feeds, delicious, etc. so we can use these tools to not only make our lives easier through higher order organizational skills, but to also teach these tools to our students to help them better prepare for their high school years! When I read about what other teachers are doing, I gain confidence that I can also do these things with my very nice, agreeable willing to work students that I have known & loved for 5 years. Students can really make a difference through blogging as evidenced in the Darfur Project mentioned in the article. I still need to practice and get some of these things down better but I can now see how I can use online tools to become a better teacher. Hmm this is called "social media literacy", interesting. I heard on TV today that email is just so common nature. I guess it is, but it is more or less one on one, unless a person is doing a mass school/business email or a sales type of email. With blogging people can read current as well as older posts to get the big picture. A person can go back and reread previous posts. It can all be done online w/o having to print a thing. I like that as well. We can read each other's "Thing 1's & 2's" in order to gain deeper understanding. It's sort of like having a conversation but without being face to face or on the phone. We bypass the visual and get down to the cognitive. I like the quote from the "Summer Professional Development" article about how using an "RSS reader can save you substantial amounts of time & helps you stay better informed about the topics your favorite websites address." Now I can really use both of those items - time as well as being better informed. I remember a college prof. talking about media literacy the summer of 1976 when I was earning my technology certificate in the summer from the U. We've tried to teach media literacy to students in various forms throughout the years. I don't know how successful we have been. We as Media Specialists have had to wear too many hats to survive in this district. The buck stops with us. Having been involved with both TILT & MILI has really helped me to grow professionally. I really want to be part of MILI next year as well, if that's possible. I feel as if I am finally "taking off" and don't really want to stop. I need to continue with my learning until I feel more comfortable with it. Now I need to work on RSS readers. The best thing about technology is that there is so much free "stuff" for teachers. It is pretty incredible. I will have to readdress some of the questions in this thing after work tonight. Currently I envision blogs being used in education the way we are using blogs with each other. I have learned so much from the insightful articles from Exploradora and Information Woman as well as DWR and others. I have another pineapple upside down cake to take out of the oven. Stay tuned for part 2 of Thing 2.


I like the quote from the "SUmmer Professional Development - Pt. 1 - RSS

Week off for Break? or Tick Tock Time Marches On....

Who says having a week off actually means time off on break? Yikes, it's already Tuesday. Why does "break time" just fly by? So far I've sung in 2 church services, attended 2 funerals (luckily I could attend), gone to 3 dr. appts, and had my 2nd flat tire replaced. The 2nd flat tire is still residual from the damage done to the first flat tire pot hole blow out incident in February. So what's left? Today I have the lily delivery to elderly relatives in So. St. Paul; oil change; one more dr. appt. (it's all maintenance & upkeep now) and a quick stop at the store formerly known as Dayton's, 8th floor Bachman's flower show. I'm bringing my camera and will try to add pictures to my blog. I also finished my grades for the last 8th grade class last night. Things 2 et al are also waiting not to mention house cleaning and all the Easter baking but that comes later in the week. Actually I could use another week. Andy wants to go to my parents house in Lauderdale and get the vise but I have a plan for that one. I'll do that on Friday if he will go to the Como Park Conservatory with me. We always used to do that when the kids were little. Oh I also have to work 2 nights @ HCL - one down one to go. Wisely I took off Saturday as I have been doing this entire school year. Good luck to everyone else on wisely using their break time as well. I also want to get to "Raisin in the Sun" @ the Guthrie, but it's almost impossible to park with a Twins Game going on at the same time. Tick Tock the clock Ticks Away and so it goes it's the balancing act of time.