Standards Glog

After trying a couple of times, I finally got my glog to save - here it is. It's not as interesting as the MILI home page. I was most frustrated by the amount of time everything took, and the fact that I couldn't change that many aspects of the graphics. I'm sure that there is something that I am missing about it.

Glogs - an application (and a big WOOPS)

The middle school study group at my school has lately been focusing on the standards, and trying to hone them to the basics: what do our kids need to know/do by the time they are done with our class in our grade? If you've seen the standards (hopefully everyone has them memorized??), you know this is difficult (and kind of boring). I made a glog about mine. I just linked it here, but when I tried it, it was GONE!! I searched and searched - I guess that there is a step I missed. Too bad - it was cool.

Best Laid Plans...

My students, colleagues and I set out last Monday for a five-day trip to Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center. Never having been there, I didn't know what to expect. After last month's MILI meeting, I concocted a plan to podcast (at first using Gcast, but after the imposition of a cost, I switched to Podomatic), hoping to involve the students in a really thorough reflection process.
But after arriving at Wolf Ridge, I realized that this was not going to happen. For one thing, on the previous Monday the area had been hit by an ice storm, which had knocked out power for several days (thank goodness that didn't happen while we were there!!). As a result, the wireless internet wasn't functioning. Also, there was just no time! We were running nonstop from 6:30 am (when we first knocked on the kids doors to wake them up) until 9:30 pm, when we put them to "bed". Then we spent the next two hours encouraging them to go to sleep.
I definitely need the next week of spring break to recover from the trip!

Podcasting on the go.

I was immediately excited when podcasting was introduced tonight - although I was kind of scared of the "phone" method of gcast. But the ideas started flying (thanks to my teammates and Karen!), and I now have a really awesome plan.
You may remember (from an earlier blog - I know everyone hangs on my every word) that I am taking my 7th graders on a 5-day field trip to Wolf Ridge. That is coming up very fast - only 11 days away, in fact. Well, I set up the 7th grade web page so that we will be able to do podcasts from Wolf Ridge. There will be 5 groups of students, and initially I thought each group could take one day and do an overview (sort of summary) of their day. But as I think about it more and more (and more), I believe it will be better to have a few kids from each group do their own podcasts every evening.
There are some excellent reasons for podcasting. It will be something that parents can listen to while they are missing their babies, and the (very few) kids who are staying at school can hear what their classmates are doing. It will also give the kids an immediate reason for keeping up their journals (rather than waiting until they get home to try to remember what they did while they were gone). We plan to use the journals as a writing exercise back at school - now we'll have some incentive to keep them current!
I can't wait to see how it goes. Just one more thing to look forward to!

A new appreciation for technology

Starting on President's Day, everyone in my family began coming down with the awful winter cold that is going around. I took a day off here and there to keep one of the kids home from school (my husband is also a teacher, but is in two different buildings and four different classrooms, so it's harder for him to take a day off), and it was nice for me to be home with them - to give them some mothering and get some stuff done at home at the same time.
Then I got a sore throat. It came on really fast, and two days into it I couldn't swallow or talk. A quick trip to the doctor found that it wasn't strep, and so I settled in to wait it out.
A week later and I just wasn't feeling better - in fact, I was worse, with a hacking cough, headache, sore muscles... so on Tuesday I went back to the doctor to see if there was any kind of drug that could speed up the healing process.
Turns out - I had pneumonia. Knowing that this could turn serious if I didn't slow down, I took the doctor's advice (and she wrote me a note too!) and stayed home for the rest of the week. With a big field trip coming up in a couple of weeks and loads of curriculum to teach, I hated to miss school, especially knowing the way many of my students behave with a substitute.
But I put aside my worries (a little) and tried to figure out what I could come up with at home for the students to do - without having to drive into work to copy it off and set it up. Luckily I have a couple of very helpful colleagues who were willing to do that stuff for me - that left me with the planning.
Thankfully, earlier this year I had emailed some work from my documents folder at school to another teacher. I searched in my sent mailbox until I found the things that I had sent - readings and questions on plants. I fixed them up, sent them to school, and voila - one day done. Then I used puzzlemaker to create a word find and crossword using plant words - saved it as a pdf and sent it to school - day two (feedback from sub - not enough work for kids to do - woops!). Day 3 - at this point I had been gone for three days in a row. I had no idea how much of the work that I 'd been assigning was actually getting done; I didn't know if they were ready to riot or if they were enjoying a break from me. So I thought something fun yet educational, easy but still holding them accountable for learning something would be appropriate. My source: Discovery Education Streaming. The exciting curriculum-related lesson? Magic School Bus (gets planted). That was Friday - I haven't heard from anyone yet about how that went.
Thank goodness I have a computer and know how to use it. Otherwise...?

Directions, and good listening skills

My mom just left town for a month. She flew to Texas, and she wanted me to pick up her car from the airport so it won't be sitting in a $20 per day spot for all of that time. I arranged to carpool and get dropped off at the airport, she called me this morning to tell me exactly where she parked, and I arrived at the HHH terminal at about 4:30 this afternoon, ready to pick up the vehicle.
By 5:00 I was getting a little frustrated. She had clearly told me to go to Level 3, Purple Q - but in all of my wanderings, the purple section of the parking garage ended at N. I had her keys, and was pushing the panic button indiscriminately, but no honking, no car. I called her - no answer. Left desperate message number one - "Mom, I don't think I understood your directions correctly..."
5:30 - called again, left another message. Had gone to level 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - all purple, no car, no panic button reaction, all aisles checked.
5:45 - decided to check Orange. There was a 3Q there. She had said "right by elevator" - checked up and down and all around by elevator - no car.
6:00 - got ahold of mom. "I told you, Orange Q, third level." Hmmmm. "Right by the elevator" - no, still don't see it. "I could see the car from the elevator room." Hmmmmm. I spot a different elevator, far away from the one I had been hovering around. I push the "open hatch" button. A hatch swings open. I have found the car!!!!
I wish I had a podometer on me tonight - I definitely got in my 10,000 steps today!

Today's Meet a Success...today.

Enthused and inspired by last week's use of Today's Meet, my colleague and I decided to use this site, along with "All About Explorers" (if you haven't seen this, you should check it out - it's a great way to show the kids that they need to CHECK THEIR SOURCES!).
After hearing about the trials and tribulations that others were having with the site, we were a little leery about using it...but we decided to try it anyway. We set up our "meet", then had the kids read about Christopher Columbus (they couldn't believe some of the stuff they read - thank goodness!). Then we introduced Today's Meet as a way for them to share what they thought was false in the article about Christopher Columbus (besides all of it), and to post the "real" info.
After a couple minutes I had to announce that the "hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and "LOLOLOLOL"-type comments were going to be "minuses", and actual, thoughtful comments were going to be "pluses", and they had better start doing some more work or they were going to be in the hole...and that got most of the kids on track.
Overall, it worked well today. Tomorrow may be another story!

Fun with math

There's a great resource that is free called World Math Day. You can easily set up your classes and get your students involved in this competitive, fun site - try it and tell me what you think. It's kind of addicting!

Blog Questions

I was looking through my blogs tonight, and I can't figure a couple of things out. I had a bunch (well, ok, 1 or 2 per blog) of comments but the only way I knew is because I looked at my blog. I don't do that very often (sorry). How can I feed my comments?
Second, Karen had commented on many of my blogs and I'd like to comment back. But there doesn't appear to be a comment-within-a-comment feature, and I'm not sure she'd see my comments anyway. So then I was going to go on her blog to comment (returning the favor) and when I clicked on her profile she only had ONE blog. Karen, did you go back to Edublog?

Email Reply Anxiety

As I've gotten older I am finding that I am developing quirks in my personality - I have to be busy, but I don't like to be too busy; I want to do everything, but I don't want to do everything; I can't sit still, but I just want to sit still. I'm sure you know what I mean. But today I realized something new about myself: I have Email-Reply Anxiety (ERA). {This is a variation of compulsive email reply syndrome (CERS), which I had already self-diagnosed - you know, where you keep replying and saying "Thanks" or "See you tomorrow" or whatever whenever someone emails - just to be polite.}
I'm sure that in this new era (no, not ERA) of communicating via the web these neuroses of mine will become more well recognized. I can't believe that I didn't realize earlier that I was suffering from this condition. But here's how I found out:
I team-teach an after school class with another teacher. We receive emails from a woman in the "central office" of this program, asking what we need, telling us what to do, etc. Earlier in the year I had been a frequent responder, cc'ing my colleague to make sure that she knew I had replied. Recently, we started a new project which the other teacher of the team had done in the past. Because of this, she has knowledge that I don't - what supplies we have, what we still need, what type of wood we need...so I've decided to leave the communication to her, even though we both get the emails. The first email came on a day that she wasn't in school due to district staff development. I replied-all to the central office woman and my colleague, telling them both that we would definitely be getting back to her soon, but since the colleague was out of the building, it would be later in the day. That same day we got another email from the central office, asking yet another question. I literally had to sit on my hands not to respond in the same way I had earlier.
Two days have passed. (Don't worry - I checked that my colleague had gotten the emails and responded). Now we have gotten several more emails asking for more information. I can tell from the questions and requests that there have been replies, but I don't know what they are and I don't like not knowing. AND I don't like knowing that I don't like it. Does that make any sense? I see a whole new field of psychiatry popping up - for cyber-nuts. That's me.

The Digital Move

In a previous blog I mentioned that we were having internet connection difficulties and had to have a technician come over to deal with our problems. Well, as you may have experienced, people who work for those types of companies can never pass up a chance to encourage you to upgrade, or bundle, or upgrade. In this instance, we were not using the same satellite company that we were using for phone and internet. They offered an excellent deal to bundle, so we accepted. We got in touch with our (then) current company, told them we were switching, turned down their new, excellent deals to stay with them, and eagerly awaited the day when the new company could install the new dish.
That day came at the beginning of December (the 5th, to be precise). Since our previous network had cut off on November 30, we had been 5 days without "good" TV, and were excited for the installation. It was a very cold day, and the "installer" braved the wind and frigid temperatures to find a suitable place on our roof to mount the new dish.
Alas, there was no such place to be found. All of the angles to the satellite were blocked, if that makes any sense (I don't really understand all of the technicalities). So...he'll be back in April to try to dig a post into the ground to use for the dish.
April? We had already burned our bridges with our old company. What could we do now? I bet my husband that by winter break he would be begging the old company to take us back, and that we'd be paying double what we had before. And then there is the deadline looming in front of us...would our television screens go black?
But, strangely, we haven't missed our old channels. We watch the news at night, I watch PBS while I fold clothes, and the kids don't watch any TV at all! It's been an eye-opener for us - how much time we spent with the TV on, not really caring what we were watching.
Still, the deadline for the switch to digital - I hadn't paid any attention to it because we were already digital, so I didn't even know how to deal with it. But a neighbor related a story about how he lost his coupons and when he found them back they were expired (I think he told the story to see if we would order some and give them to him!). I went online and found the site, ordered, and the coupons arrived yesterday! I'm going to get my converter boxes before the day is out.

Field Trip Troubles

During my fourth year of teaching, at my fourth school in Minneapolis, I suggested to my team that we plan a field trip to the famous corn maze near Canterbury Park. It was a world map that year, I believe, and I thought it would fit in well with the world geography that was being taught in social studies. Somehow, perhaps because it was my idea, it became my responsibility to plan the trip. So I contacted the corn maze, asked about discounts, talked to them about when we would come, got permission slips out, and had the entire 7th grade loaded on a bus and out to Shakopee. But when we arrived, the place was closed! Panic!
Being a corn maze, it wasn't really "closed", just blocked off. Some of the kids had to go to the bathroom, so we explored the area a little (and inadvertently set off an alarm). The owner came rushing over, demanding to know what was going on. One of my teammates, fuming, informed him that we 'had confirmation', and she wanted to know why the place wasn't open. It was at that moment that I realized that I hadn't actually booked the field trip in the official way, that I had just assumed that because they were supposed to be open on that day, we could just show up. Unfortunately, it was cold and they decided not to open - until the two busloads of city kids showed up!
I relive that horrific experience every time I am called upon to organize a field trip for my students - which is way too often for my comfort. I am sure that soon I will have an ulcer that can be directly traced to the most recent trip I am planning - Wolf Ridge in March for my 7th graders.
Who knew there would be so much work?! I have searched for grants and scholarships (one yes, one no, two unknowns so far); we have held three fund raisers and are in the middle of a fourth (anyone want to buy some delicious, organic coffee?); and I have 4 more days until the deadline to let Wolf Ridge know exactly how many students we are bringing - and so far I have only heard from about one-third of them. Quite a few have told me that they can't come, or they don't want to. But what will they do at school for 4 days while the rest of us are gone? Will a teacher have to stay back? Should we just cancel?
When I think back to the day that I got this brilliant idea, I kind of wish that someone would have told me what would happen! I could do without the pain in the lining of my stomach associated with it.

15th blog

I'm not doing ATTPS - I'm all about doing what's easiest! But this is my 15th blog just for fun. I would like to blog more often, and really I do have great ideas - but I can't picture anyone else really thinking that what I have to say is "time worthy". Because it does take time to read the blogs!
Is anyone else hitting a wall at school? I'm feeling like if I have one more responsibility, one more paper to fill out, one more meeting to attend, one more schedule to rearrange, one more new student...I don't even know. Is it getting worse each year? Or do the previous year's pain and agony go away during the summer? Then I need summer right now!

Winners!

I am part of a really exciting after school program called Gems, which is special to Minneapolis. Last weekend was our big fall/winter event, the Lego League Tournament. Between myself and my teaching partner, we managed 24 girls, 6 teams, and what seemed like a million events. After 10 hours and some blood, sweat and tears, our teams came out with 6 awards!
There are many lessons that come out of this day and this program. Teamwork is one of them, for sure. Staying on task and using time wisely is another big one. Being able to shake off disappointment, performing under pressure, poise during presentations...
We were so proud at the end of the day. Our girls behaved well, took care of each other, and had a ton of fun.
Photo provided by Dan Fergus.

Reader's Digest Version

Even though it's been a long time since I've blogged, I have had many posts composed in my head. Rather than create new blogs for each of my many topics, I'm going to do a condensed, Reader's Digest version of all of those blogs here.
First, back to libraries. I found out over winter break that my favorite library, the one-room, part of a strip mall, cozy place that is located not far from my house, has had its hours cut. It is now open only from 2:00 to 6:00 pm Monday through Thursday, Fridays from 10 - 2, and not at all on the weekends. This was put into place before I could even figure out who to complain to about it, much less do any complaining. So now this little gem is going to have even less patronage because of the inconvenient hours, and before long will become obsolete.
Second, Facebook. I haven't really gotten into it like some of my colleagues have. I feel obligated to check it when I get an email telling me that someone has left me a comment or tagged me in a photo, but that's it. Something that's funny is that lately I have been getting invitations on my school email from parents to check out their Facebook profile. I received one of those from a friend last year, and when I asked her about it she said that it was kind of a mistake. Apparently when you are signing up you can have Facebook send one of those invitations to everyone in your address book (or maybe everyone who you have emailed?) - so her invitation went to people who she worked with, nurses and doctors who had emailed her... she was embarrassed. I've decided not to "friend" any of the parents - even of former students.
Third, I had a weird computer problem over winter break. When I would plug in my charger to the laptop, the light was dim and it wouldn't charge. It would power the computer though - so if it was at 17% when I plugged it in, three days later it would also be at 17%. I googled the problem and found some suggestions, which I tried (resetting some acronyms, etc). They didn't work. Finally I decided to take the computer into some sort of Mac store to have them figure it out. But, luckily, before I had time to look for a place it take it, the computer miraculously fixed itself. So now it charges beautifully.
At the end of Reader's Digest articles there are usually jokes or quotes or words. I'll skip that!

Online Teacher Grants

I have had great luck lately with an online teacher grant site: DonorsChoose.org. It's the easiest way to get supplies for projects or activities that I've ever used.
The site is specifically for teachers, and it has a very simple format. You follow a step-by-step "formula" to shop for materials (you order what you want on their site - through different vendors), explain why you need the materials, and submit. Then if (when!) you are funded, all you have to do is take pictures of your students using the materials, have the kids write "Thank You" cards, and send a packet back to donorschoose.
Teachers, let your imaginations soar! Last year I received supplies to teach my math enrichment classes how to bake (convection ovens, pans, measuring cups, and other gadgets), materials to open a school store (pens, pencils, sharpeners, notebooks), and books for the kids to read about the Periodic Table. This year I've received digital thermometers, Current Science subscriptions, fiction books with science content, reams of Astrobright copy paper, and toner for my classroom printer.
In the past when I've had a creative idea, I had to think of ways to get the materials for free or figure out how I could pay for it myself. Now, I just write a proposal and see if it gets funded!

Not MILI related, but still...

As avid ice cream eaters, my family goes through several buckets of Kemps, Blue Bunny, etc through the course of a year. The buckets come in handy - I use them for flour, sugar, cookies, macaroni noodles, crafts...you get the point. Recently I pulled a bucket out of the cupboard and filled it with scones. When I tried to put a cover on it, I couldn't find one that fit. All of the ones in my 'cover drawer' were too big. I thought it was strange, but just switched containers and moved on with life.
Then last weekend we emptied another bucket (Cookies 'n Cream). While I was washing it, I noticed that it seemed smaller than usual. I looked at the lid. I pulled an 'old' lid from the drawer and compared them. The old one had 40 servings, 4.73 liters of ice cream. The new one...35 servings, 4.13 liters of ice cream. WHAT A RIP OFF!
I stewed about this for a couple of days. I shared my discovery with my husband, who was equally shocked and indignant. We contemplated calling the I-Team (or whatever news program would do a nerdy show like that). I told my students about it (they didn't care except that I was talking about ice cream right before lunch and they were hungry). I told colleagues about it. Then I told someone who I carpool with - someone who loves ice cream the way that I do. I knew he'd be sympathetic. And HE told me about this article that he had just read in the Star Tribune - about lots of packages that are getting smaller, while prices are staying the same or getting higher. I had noticed that prices were creeping up, but I hadn't noticed all the other sneaky things.
It doesn't make me feel any better to know that it's recognized and "out there", but I just thought I'd share.

Libraries

Some of my best memories from my youth are of going to the library. My younger brother and I would walk from school to the Great River Regional Library in St. Cloud - a building that, from the outside, looks cold and industrial, but on the inside is cozy and FULL of books! Every Wednesday we got this treat - our mom had bowling, and so could pick us up "in town"; so rather than having to take an hour-long bus ride home, we got to go to the library.
When I grew up and moved out on my own, I discovered the St. Paul Public Library system. As a new mom living in the Midway, I toured all of the libraries that were in walking and biking distance from my house - and there were a few of them! My favorite was the small Hamline branch, which had puzzles for my daughter to play with and child-height shelves; and a great fiction section for me.
Now I live in Washington County, where the branches are far spread, and extremely diverse. The beautiful, immense Woodbury branch is nice, but the kids can get lost if I'm not careful. There is an updated Stillwater Library, which we discovered for the first time yesterday - it was a great way to spend an hour while my daughter was at hockey practice, but I had to ask a librarian for directions to the fiction section - it's that big!
Our absolute favorite library is the tiny, unattractive, in-an-out-dated-strip-mall branch that is a short drive from home. The hours are bad and getting worse, the selection is limited...but the librarians know our names, the computers work well for searching and placing holds, the programs are fun, and the hold shelf is kept up-to-date. For my kids, it's the destination of choice ("What do you want to do today?" "Go to the library!" - music to my ears!).

Internet Reliance

I didn't know how much I used the internet until something went wrong with mine at home. It happened one day two weeks ago - one moment I checked my email, the next minute I was unable to look up my daughter's vocabulary words on her teacher's website. We live in the boonies and have to be plugged into a phone jack. I called the phone company (which must remain unnamed - but I think it's the only one??) - together, we deduced that it was a faulty DSL modem. Since we had purchased our original one from the company, we decided to get another from them.
I waited eagerly for the day that the new modem would arrive. Each day before leaving work I would check my online calendar, the only place in which all of our evening errands were recorded. I would check, then double check, my email, which I admit I read too often. Two Thursdays went by without a chance to watch Survivor online (this was sort of a good thing - then I could watch two at one time!). An old friend invited me to be a friend on Facebook...but I couldn't access it from school or home so I couldn't accept.
Then the day arrived - we got a new modem in the mail. Unfortunately, it didn't work either! A technician was called, and a Saturday appointment was made - right in the middle of an important event that the kids were participating in. Priorities... It turns out that there was something wrong with the connection to our house - I don't really get it, because the phone worked fine.
So now it works great - in fact, our old, original one is hooked up and we didn't have to purchase a new one after all. Another great piece of information - it has some sort of wireless-ness to it as well, so the wireless router that I bought and hooked up is now unnecessary.
So now I'm caught up on Survivor, I've added my "friends", checked my email (there must be something wrong with it - nobody has emailed me in a full 24 hours), know where the kids need to be delivered and when, and I get to BLOG again!

Not a fan.

I tried out Facebook - I admit, I was curious, and it does seem to be a little more "grown up" than MySpace. But I can't really see the point. I keep trying and slowly my friend list is growing, but it's mostly people who either I see on a daily basis (and therefore can make fun of for the updates I get about their lives), or people I don't see often for a reason! If I want to know something about a friend, I'll call or email. It feels very strange to broadcast to everyone who's a friend of a friend what I'm doing or who I'm talking to. And the strange things that come up: plants, causes, games...and then the warning: if you try to do this, you are giving access to all of your settings and your friends settings - it seems very extreme. Definitely not a fan.