Ms. B’s Thoughts

There are so many times throughout my days (and nights) that I think-you should write about that-and then the thought leaves my brain and I’m off and running in another direction. My life is so rich right now that I wanted to reflect on some of it…and also alleviate some of the anxieties my ED483 students are feeling with regards to teaching, learning, and keeping up with it all!

First of all, let me tell you, I am blessed with a dynamic group of learners this semester! 46 students in two sections of Education Media and Technology let me share my passion and enthusiasm for 21st Century learning on a weekly basis. They humor me with their patience as I explain new technology tools like a child on Christmas morning. I know, at times, my love for this stuff explodes with a gusto that can make some people take a step back and I have reflected on that a number of times, telling myself that “my mission is not everyone else’s mission”, yet after a comment by friend and colleague, Charlie Yeager, about my ability to “sell it” when it comes to the use of technology in the classroom, I sometimes think that my enthusiasm is exactly what people need. So, I guess as I run through this course for the first time, I am not going to check my enthusiasm at the door–I’ve been at this game long enough to understand that enthusiasm for a subject, a passion for something is really what life is all about–and in teaching, if you don’t have it, your students won’t ever get it!

These same students–impress me with their ability to take new things and make them their own. Now, mind you there are a few students that are still anxiously skeptical and not quite buying in to it all, but those that are–are in hook, line and sinker. More than anything else, I feel like I am accomplishing something if a student takes a concept or tool I have introduced and uses it his/her own way, for her/his own purpose. Tools will come and go, activities can be designed and redesigned, but truly taking something and incorporating it into your personal learning experience is (I believe) one of the surest ways of becoming a life-long learning in this digital age. Want to see for yourself? Their blog roll, delicious names and twitter accounts are beginning to take shape–some really good networks are being formed!

Another factor that brings a new perspective to my learning this semester is that I am fortunate enough to have two of my colleagues enrolled for graduate credit in this pre-service course. They are veteran teachers who are Upper Peninsula Writing Project TC’s as well as members of our NHS MI-Champions project. Having their “real-world” voices in our class is a gift. I think that it is a good model for the soon-to-be teachers as they contemplate their own efforts to become life-long learners. Helen and Vickie are two of Negaunee’s finest teachers and I am flattered that they have elected to be part of my learning network! (Be sure to follow the links to their wikis that they have developed, just click their names!) Their desire to take their teaching and personal learning into the digital age is refreshing. They are always thinking, asking questions and most of all doing things to improve the learning experiences of their students.

So the uber-geek enthusiasm I bring to a classroom often projects me forward at speeds, I fail to recognize, are sometimes at a pace that may be a bit difficult for those new to this digital world. I’d like to provide the excuse that if they could jump inside my head and see all of the things I have yet to show them, they too, would clamber for me to move quickly. However, I also understand that I have been traveling this super-highway for a few years and I have to remember that the excitement and passion I have developed was cultivated along the way, not cast upon me in one workshop, at one conference or even during one course. I am going to implement a bit of the “less is more” philosophy when it comes to the actual introduction of “tools”, but will continue to feed their brains and lure them in with sights, sounds, articles, and opinions that illustrate the bigger picture of learning today. If they can walk away from my course with some tools that take them into a world of people, a network of educators, devoted to making education relevant to the needs of children then I feel the future of our schools will be a better place.

I have been so Google Ga-Ga during the last week that I finally feel like I am getting my brain refocused and my life back in some sort of order. (Although today I did mess up an IEP meeting…wrote Wed. Sept. 30 on my list…which changed to WED-IEP for the next list…should have used Google Calendar!) Regardless as crazy as it has been, I have enjoyed sharing tid bits of information, connecting online with my expanded network and generally growing my space as a tech educator.  But tonight…it was about settling into a pace of life with my kids.

At 4, 5 and 7, they have a great deal of energy to offer.  They are also sponges for any information I throw their way.  We held a dance party to the new CD’s offered up from my friend Patty.  Ate a relaxing dinner together joking, talking about our day and planning for the rest of the week.  My four year old, Shane,  hit the tub, the five year old, Beau,  was on the old Sony typing all of our names and the alphabet (along with the crazy nonsense typing and the question–What does this spell, Mama? ) and my daughter, McKenna, typed up the 4th installment of her spelling words in her Google Docs account.  (This time her focus was on different font types for each word!) She has been sharing her list with her teacher, Auntie and grandparents and they responded back to her via her gmail account.  She was pumped to have email and spent some time reading the messages and replying back.  They rotated through taking tubs and turns on the computers, taking time out to play a few minutes on the piano or strum one of the guitars lying around.  Shane cleaned off the dry erase board that held McKenna’s spelling words (and the Sammy Rules) from the night before.  He had me “dot” the letters in his name so he could proudly trace them.  It was an easy dance, the pace simple, the mood filled with light-hearted jokes, laughs and learning.  Finally we settled in and read the newest Skippyjon Jones book and laughed and giggled at the funny antics of this beloved character.  Tucked in their beds now, I am catching up, prepping for my classes, both those taught and those taken…but I am filled with peace.  I am busy, for sure, but the time I have with my children is rich and filled with everything I think they need.  Our calendar is not filled with 100’s of their personal activities–we don’t run for this or that.  Nights like tonight reaffirm my belief that I am giving them the best childhood I possibly can…and that is a good feeling.

• Policy Studies for Educational Leaders : An Introduction
  (tags: ED630)

My responses..thoughts…and other stories.  Sums up a lot of who I am, what I believe and where I want to go.

Why You?  Why Google Teacher Academy?  What do you hope to gain?

I am sometimes described as a geek, a dork who is obsessed with technology.  I prefer to think of myself as passionate, a life-long learner who models technology use for my students and peers.  I am constantly amazed by the technological advances in our world.  I am even more amazed at the potential technology has for education and the future of our children.  Google has taken the read-write-web to a new level.  I am a huge fan of Google apps, the philosophy of the company and appreciate the ease at which students and teachers are able to incorporate the use of these applications into their learning and teaching. I often describe Google as THE place to start when immersing technology into teaching.  Google just makes sense.  I want to learn all I can and would be thrilled by the opportunity to network with people who share that same passion.

Favorite Teaching Moment.
Picture this.  12 young men.  All with learning disabilities.  Just finished up two long grueling days of state standardized testing.  We used a cart of Macbooks with audio DVD players to access audio versions of the exams.  The day is over and I say, go ahead and play.  They break out GarageBand and start composing.  None of them had ever opened the program before.  For the rest of the day, they tinker, learn, share.  Listen to this! They call to me from across the room.  Can we come in at lunch and play?  They are entirely hooked.  They feel success. We save all of the creations and burn a CD.  It was magical because it was spontaneous, simple, they were passionate and they were fearless.  Not always an experience for students with learning disabilities.

Role as a professional developer.

In addition to my unofficial role in our high school as a technology geek, I am the technology liaison for the Upper Peninsula Writing Project (UPWP) and work part-time as an adjunct instructor in the Education department at Northern Michigan University.  I have led workshops on Web 2.0 tools, digital-storytelling, blogs, wikispaces and co-teaching.  I provide technology support and lead teaching demonstrations during the Summer Institute of the UPWP. At NMU, I work with pre-service teachers each semester and have modeled technology integration and the concept of Personal Learning Networks in every aspect of my teaching.  As the team leader of the MI-Champions technology grant from MACUL, I facilitate monthly meetings to brainstorm, problem solve and inspire the use of technology throughout our curriculum.  I talk, talk and talk about the changes occurring in education and the urgent need for teachers to embrace that change.

Describe an obstacle in your career and how you overcame it.

The largest obstacle is still to be overcome– the shift in learning and instruction in our schools. I think of it as a large boulder that is slowly, but surely being chipped away. There are holes, cracks and eventually it will crumble and all schools will be places that children can learn with an individual style and at a pace that supports their ability. We will embrace the idea of teachers as facilitators of learning and open the walls of our schools to the world that is just waiting to be tapped by each and every child that walks on this planet.  How do we chip and crack this boulder? We collaborate, communicate and cooperate with each and every teacher that will participate.  We make the effort to be better, to learn each and every day.  We become the leaders of the change—and we do it now.

Children Can\’t Wait

Here is the video I created for the application to the Google Teacher’s Academy in Chicago in September.  It is a crazy long shot, but what the heck!  Special thanks goes to Mindelei who encouraged me to apply and pointed out the link to me!

It has been a crazy summer…lots of learning, laughing and time spent with my babies.  I am looking forward to blogging a bit on some of the experiences and starting a new school year.

She has a beautifully organized very cute journal that she takes with her.  It is filled with her perfect penmanship and has the most amazing stories.  I love her words…love her smile.  She is an absolute doll…and yet I despise the ease at which she stays so completely organized!!  I have started a few marathons with new journals..in an attempt to recreate this wonderful place I can collect all of my writings…only to stomp around my house the morning of a marathon trying to find that journal.  I started writing on my laptop instead.  Even then I wanted all of my writing in one place…using the WORD notebook feature…I couldn’t even find the documents I started in previous marathons–they aren’t even saved in the same folders!  UGH!  A-ha!  Technology to the rescue!  I decided tonight to cut and paste the writings I could find from various UPWP sessions and other writing moments…and put them on my blog!  Voile! I do write…a bit. Rereading it all in one place inspires me to write more…(at least it did tonight…we will see what tomorrow brings!)

Lake Superior

Crash…is there any other word I could possibly start with?  The waves pound the shore in great gasps gushing up and over the rocks.  It is cool, but not cold.  Autumn leaves hang sparse from tired branches.  They begin to sleep.  The cold air slows their breathing.  Peacefully they will wait, dormant, until they wake with the warmth of the spring air.

Winter can be cold, dark and still.  Sometimes we live in that place.  Tired and weary, we wait for spring. Feeling invigorated from the rest, we wake, happy, peaceful with a new vision.  Like the trees, sometimes we are given a chance to start new.  To grow new leaves, green, healthy and full of life.  Reaching up to the sky, we feel the warmth of a new day.  A new beginning.  Wonder fills our hearts.   I capture the feeling in my smile.  Your face, your words, your love…all keep me warm…peaceful like hot apple cider, filling me with hope

Peter White Lounge–NMU Campus

I wonder if Lincoln’s feet were really this big?  Is this a life size statue?  Seems almost possible.  Who knows what the artist was thinking.  That’s the funny thing about art—the interesting, captivating thing about art.  I almost want a narrative to go with the pictures.  The word story to go with the picture story.  I am a visual person…but somehow…I want the story.  Where were you?  What were you thinking?  What do you dream to be?  How long did it take you?  Were there drafts, revisions?  Final projects seem so flawless…what were your struggles?  How many pictures did you take before you captured just the right shot?  Do you have a favorite pencil brand?  Where do you work?  How did you get to be so good?

I compare the art to the familiar process of writing.  We both create.  Writing, story telling, poetry.  It is all an art form.  Expression.  Creativity.  Taking what is in your mind and releasing it.

I can’t even draw a straight line…my circles rarely ever meet up in the same place.  But give me words….or let me talk…that’s my expression.

ICU-MGH

Funny how a room can take you so many different places.  In May I came here for the first time since my mother-in-law died.  To see my Granny.  She had heart surgery and after weeks of trying to recover, we lost her.  Even as I type the words…lost her.  I don’t really mean that.  Do I miss her?  Terribly.  She was my Granny.  But I am 35 years old and I spent countless hours with her, baking, sewing, digging worms, playing games.  Did I really “lose” her?  McKenna was just 8 weeks old when she “lost” her Gramma.  I think that is a loss.  Me?  I gained so much from my Granny.  Define Matriarch?  Definitely Granny. She was very wise—living a full 78 years.
She had six children, 27 grand children and 25 great-grandchildren…wow.  Full of spirit, faith, love…she gave us so much.  I do miss her.

Words from previous stops on the Marathon fill my brain—

Lessons from the Marathon

Fill your life with positive people.
Practice Passion
Find yourself in your heart
Write, force yourself—it brings you to new places.
Be kind to those you love–Keep them close.
Continue to grow, gain wisdom and learn.
Share—for when you do you receive back—tenfold
Take risks…but take them with those that love you, know you.
Have courage to do

I am posting here a letter I wrote just over a year ago to one of the best people in my life…she just got hired as a Pre-K teacher at Father Marquette.  Yipee!  It has been a LONG time coming!  Congrats!May 5, 2007

Angela Claire Turcotte Beauchamp—

From the day I met you, I knew you were destined for great things…you bounced into my room like a little redheaded firecracker, ready to go, to change, to challenge, to take on the world.  I also knew that day, without a doubt, that you and I would get along famously.  I have always seen in you, a younger version of me…smart, sassy, confident and caring… always in the lead, never content to just follow.  When I asked you to read at my wedding, I asked you because I knew the words you would write would speak from my heart as well as yours…I also knew, deep down that my little brother would fall head over heels in love with you…(I am just so very smart!)

And now look at us…almost six children between us, miscarriages, a pending divorce, different jobs, different houses–life has taken us down a path…one filled with some tears, some heartache, but so many more blessings.  I remember that day we were driving around talking about you and Roo…how we would get to raise our kids together, share holidays, days at the beach and trips to Disney World.  We are so very blessed…to share our lives.

As if we didn’t have enough in common…now we get to share a profession!  Welcome to the world of teaching!  There are so many teachers in this world…some good and some bad and some that fall in the middle.  What excites me most is that I know in your heart you are a teacher.  You have been teaching without a license for so very many years…like me, you were born to teach, to guide, to nurture, to instill in every student the love of LEARNING.  You are entering the field in some of the most tumultuous times in the history of education.  I am counting on you, your courage and strength to stand strong in your convictions and fight for what you know in your heart is great teaching practice.  Don’t be swayed by nasty lounge talk or negative attitudes.  Don’t be discouraged by mounds of binders containing the latest information on GLCE’s or MEAPS. Don’t get caught up in the financial strains our state is suffering. Keep in your heart the faith…the faith that each day you are touching lives, changing minds and giving hope to children.  Believe that things will change.  That in time people will come to appreciate our schools and change will occur.  I truly believe that teaching is a calling.  We never know the impact of our interactions with children…we just have to believe we are making a difference.

I love you.  I look forward to the day you get your own classroom…the day the children who walk into your room will have their lives changed forever by knowing you.  I look forward to sharing many years discussing, debating, and learning with you.

Congratulations, my dear!

Forever,
Sara

(Written at the UPWP kickoff 2006!)

We have heard many reference the writing project as a life changing event.  It is a transformation of sorts.  I wrote at the end of my summer experience last year, “It was the best thing I did for MYSELF in a long time.”  Life moves at a fast pace.  Changes occur and force us to reevaluate who we are, what we want.  Writing is deeply personal.  It can be a vehicle for self-reflection.  For me, last summer gave me the opportunity to look at my life, to look inside myself, to reflect upon all that life had thrown my way in my 34 years.  The pieces I chose, while I hope not as a legacy, but perhaps as more of a life lesson, are a random puzzle piece and my word rock which simply reads patience.

The puzzle piece represents the many things in life we must figure out, the twisting and turning of the pieces to fit into the bigger picture.

The word rock…one of Jan’s famous lessons…

I have taught writing for 20 years, and had taught it blind until the Writing Project.   Until I wrote with my peers and truly experienced what it felt like to be a writer, I didn’t fully understand how my first graders felt.

–Marsha Page   May 13, 2006

(Written sometime this past winter…)

My eyes see a man with a heart,
full of passion
a heart that desires, wants, needs
clearly there is a hole,
torn, shredded,
trying to mend.

Relief appears
across the wire
something to distract
something to get lost in
make it stop for a fleeting moment,
so he can breathe.

In his eyes I see such depth
a soul so sensitive
encased in a body so strong
imagine the pain
only a lover can inflict
dishonesty, betrayal, ultimate marital sins
trying to heal,
a sadness remains, so deep
your self is lost

He is desperate for relief.

Reach out-
compassion and understanding
are a whisper from your finger tips.
Let the distraction help,
stitch, repair the gash-
it can’t do anymore harm-
only good can come,
Believe that,
hope and optimism are powerful drugs.
Let her shower you.