Ruth’s Ruckus2

Hi-

I’m at the Craft Hospital.  It’s the place they send burnt-out TRTs from Portsmouth.  I’m not quite sure what they do for TRTs in other school divisions, but in Portsmouth, we’ve had this arrangement for a while.  We usually get sent in groups, but in special circumstances they send us individually.  So now you know why my auto responder doesn’t say why I am out or when I’ll be back.  It’s really not so bad here.  It’s quiet and it’s beautiful outdoors.  The food is really good.  I had some visitors yesterday - DD, Big K and Ms. T.  They sat and watched TV with me in the lounge. 

As I write this I realize that this is my first post in months.  It is a definite sign that shows how bad things were before I left.  But the fact that they let me have my laptop back so soon is a good sign.  I know this, because I’ve been here before…here are some pictures from when the 10+2 TRTs got sent here during the summer.  You’ll notice that Nancy got her laptop back before anyone else…

Ok.  So I’m at the Discovery Educator’s Network National Institute and this is the first day… So I thought this might be like the WHRO Tech Trek experience - I’ve done it before, so I thought I could do it.  It’s kind of a formula: professional development followed by project time and then presentations.  I’ve done it before…well not this way…

 After lunch and the welcome we got an assignment:  Find the members of your group and create your own Boom De Yada video in the next 2 ½ hours. I was with the Mid-Atlantic group and we were rather successful.

Talk about a jump start to our week.  This is even faster then tech Trek the Next Generation…

Ever wonder what a TRT does during the summer?  I mean, TRTs are responsible for staff development…there’s not a whole of teaching staff around during the summer, so what do TRTs do?  Well it depends on their contract.  Some school divisions hire TRTs on a 10 month contract – they are around when the teachers are.  Other school divisions have TRTs around during the summer to do teacher academies and other special projects.  If you are a TRT in Portsmouth, you could be in either situation.  I have the distinct pleasure of working all summer.   It’s great for me – I always know what my summer job is going to be … and there is no learning curve…

So this summer I am working on 13-14 projects in an attempt to get ready for the opening of school.  It’s a lot of work, and there are days that I am not sure I will get it all done, but my goal is to close 2 projects a week and beg for mercy when the others don’t get done.  Our summer project list was huge…Here’s a picture of it…