I’ve pondered what to write for the Back-to-School post, and my first intuition was to post resources for the first week. Or, maybe I could introduce a new initiative from our department. How about a cool website? Hmmmm. Or, how about what is right about education? How about a dose of what will encourage from within, so as the year begins, our batteries get recharged? I do much better when I’m encouraged than when I’m threatened. Encouragement gives me the willingness to go farther, to push harder, and to not give up. Students need to be led by somebody who is looking out for the good and not in fear of the Testing Gods.

When you have 22 minutes, take time to watch this video about what’s right with the world from a photographer with National Geographic. Take moments this year to sit, relax, and reflect on what’s RIGHT in your classroom. Keep a supply of this to help recharge your batteries when they seem totally void of any power! What “pictures” are you going to take this year? Happiness can be infectious! All of a sudden, before you realize it, raising test scores won’t seem quite as tough and overwhelming!

[A side note of an example of what I found right while working in the mountains of China--a picture I took in the market place of a mother and her child. Note the joy!]

Watching the movie, my wife and I turned to each other and asked what each other would put on their list. I pondered about mine, for experiences that I have had many never experience in a lifetime. What would really matter? Staring at the ceiling and pondering the question, I KNEW what one of the top ones was: I wanted to find my best friend from elementary. My last contact with him was in 1979, and that was when he decided to try my old phone number to see, if by some chance, I was still there. Imagine my surprise, after seven years, I hear his voice on the other end of the line from Wisconsin.

As we all know, careers and children get in the way, and soon the timelines of our lives start rocketing at full throttle. In my case, it was survival mode. My wife and I were living on love after graduating from college: she a day care worker and I a substitute teacher for three years in a small town in Ohio. Can you believe our food budget was $25 a week??? No matter how hard I tried, principals seemed to not know of my existence. We moved to Virginia, and entered the depths of our careers.

For years I wondered, what happened to D? He was no ordinary friend. Growing up without a father or brother (both died), D. was like that brother I never had, and his family always welcomed me as one of their own. In other words, I felt safe. Growing up in a family of all females with no male mentor, D. was my link to male sanity. Moreover, his sensitivity to peoples’ emotions was a trait I had not seen in any other person; where one might shrug off an expression or comment, D. would zero in and have an uncanny grasp of getting to the bottom of situations. For example, one night his father came home from work and I was terrified. A kind and gentle man, D.’s dad had done nothing to gain this reaction, but the male mentors in my life were derogatory and found it easy to find fault with me. In other words, I only knew ridicule. D. was able to assess the situation with few words from me. “Hold on,” he said, as he left the room, “I’ll be right back.” He had gone to prepare his father and understand the timidity. D. was soon standing in front of me, and to shorten the story, had me with his father, totally relaxed.

I also learned a lot from him that I was unable to be taught from an all female household (all good). Never once did I feel insulted, hurt, or was my ego damaged. The family was likewise—people matter more than anything.

When the fateful day came when I found out his family was moving, I kept a stiff upper lip there but cried the whole way home. Each summer I was invited to his house, and the friendship continued until another transfer took his father to Wisconsin, and somehow, contact was lost.

For years I tried everything I could think of to find him. In fact, I even investigated organizations that would find people and was very tempted to pay the fee to do so. I was stumped. I didn’t know what to do.

Fast forward to a strange event–my best man from my wedding joined Facebook. If he could do it, could I? My sole purpose was with graduate school correspondence with colleagues around the state, but NOT for personal interaction. In other words, I rarely opened it. This happened for a year plus.

I don’t know why, but one day, as if watching a plane go across the sky with a banner behind it reading, “Have you thought of checking on Facebook, dummy?” The light bulb came on, my feet zoomed to the mighty HP in my home office, and I went searching. I typed his name in and just a few names came up. Soon, there was a face looking back at me. “Could that…be…him?” I pondered, stared, contemplated, and studied the portrait. Interestingly enough, the person looked nothing like the friend of 40 years ago. Aging—could it be possible? I typed a message to him and asked if he had lived in the same town as I. Imagine my surprise, on the next day, when I get the following message:

Yup. It’s me Brian, and I’ve been looking to find you too. It’s great to hear from you.

I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced one of those Hollywood movie moments where dreams come true, this was it. Did I hear the angels singing above?

Soon we were talking on the phone for almost three hours, and it was easy to reacquaint, and as my wife said, eavesdropping, “”Wow—you were immediately delving in as if time was not long at all!” Life is good, and this old soul has Facebook to thank. Whoever would have thought that technology could bring such great things to ordinary living? Social networking–when used correctly–is a great benefit in these stressful times.

Now, if you’ll hand me your pen, I have something to check off my Bucket List.

First, here was our department’s webcast about 21 Things: http://www.istevision.org/viewsession.php?id=122

See the general splash page here: Go

Get Nancy’s reflections here.

The attendance this year is the most I’ve seen with all the ISTE conferences I’ve been to; the mantra has become, “Get to your session early, lest ye see the sign outside the door, ‘Session Closed’” For example, today the lobby was packed 30 minutes before the Tammy Worcester session on Google docs. Many have commented on being unable to go to their first and second choices of workshops because of the infamous Closed Door. Moreover, due to the size of the Center, it takes some fast walking to get to your back up session quickly before that door closes also. That aside, much has been learned and there is much to take back. Highlights:
GOOGLE DOCS
Tammy Worcester’s Google Doc Session
Tammy shared how-tos and templates that can be used to assist you in your classrooms. Need an online quiz? Survey? Check her website for handouts and a summary.

HISTORY/PRIMARY RESOURCES
Digital Tools for Teaching with Documents from the National Archives
The National Archives has a new site, DocsTeach, that helps bring history alive for your students. Design interactive activities and much more.

IPOD TOUCH SESSIONS
Contemporary Teaching Affects Contemporary Learning:…What Exemplary Educators Do
See the Wiki on an example of a unit using iPod Touch as a tool

From a Posters session, see a Ning with emphasis on iPod touch activities and discussions: IEAR.ORG

MUSIC
Music to Your Ears: Integrating Music and Technology Into Your Curriculum
See what a music teacher did in integrating technology not only into music, but the general curriclum: http://wmusic.wikispaces.com/

MATH
Making the Most of Online Math Explorations
Online Math explorations with a fun twist: Go

VOICETHREAD
Using Voicethread to Empower Learning: Cross-Country Collaboration with Expert Scientists
See how a teacher used Voicethreads with 8-11 year olds in virtual meetings with experts across the country: Go

PROFESSIONAL
What is Engagement, Really, and Where Can I Get Some?
The presentation is here, but take a look at 360 degree views of cities around the world. Imagine what you can do with virtual trips!

How many of you have used GoogleApps? One application that I learned about today which tweaked my interest was http://www.googlelittrips.org. Our presenter, Lindsay Hopkins, from Discovery Education, presented a sample lesson incorporating Google Earth, Discovery, and Google Lit. She was able to imbed GoogleEarth into a PowerPoint presentation with a story where the participants were able to decipher an appropriate duck habitat from synthesizing information from our story using Google and helped bring the story “alive”. For a link to her presentation to get more detail, go to http://links.discoveryeducation.com/MakeWay (requires a DiscoveryEducation account to access).

That being said, tomorrow my colleagues and I head out for Denver to ISTE for time to learn about new trends in technology integration, collaboration with colleagues around the country and world, as well as time to focus and plan for this Fall.

Stay tuned for updates and things I’ve learned!

1. Open up ActivInspire and click on Tools and scroll down to More Tools:

2. Click on Edit User Defined Buttons… at the bottom:

3. Click on the Settings Tab
4. Click tools on the left hand side.
5. Beside “Default tool”, click the drop down arrow to “Select”

Now you won’t have rogue pen marks going across your flip chart!

End-of-the-year paper work looms over teachers like a vulture, seeking to devour any vestiges of free time. As the clock turns in to an enemy and the hour hand speeds out of control around its circular course (”What? Two hours have gone by already and this is all I’ve been able to finish?!?!????”), it’s time to step back and remember to charge our batteries so that we do not fizzle and sputter out. Do you have a personal learning network (PLN)? Do you subscribe to blogs to touch base with educators around the country? Many ideas can be shared (that’s where I was able to get the idea for the COW sign up!) and realizing that there are other like minded people can buoy your spirits.

At this time, the reader may be saying, “Where is he going with this?”

TEACH Academy is quickly approaching and I will be leading a day long workshop on bringing technology into differentiated instruction. The class is quickly filling up and room is still left for you! The day will be spent on ideas on how to integrate non linear concepts with instruction and ideas that will capture learners’ attention, which, in turn, will help test scores skyrocket. I have an RSS feed to Langwitches, and she has posted a 17 minute lecture from TED that hits exactly on what I referred to above. And so, in this time of high stress paper work, take some time to sit back and reflect on what we do as teachers.

Want a whole day of a high powered, high interest, like-minded people? Sign up* for the class as well as others that are offered!

________
*Portsmouth employees only