Tmartoonies

I love summer time.  Actually what I love is holidays of any kind.  However, as an international educator I am especially fond of summer.  It is the time that I return to the States and visit family and friends there.  Usually it involves a great deal of Mexican food (I live in Arizona most of the summer) and time hanging out with my sister’s family.  Time in the swimming pool, playing games with kids (ranging from 21 to 10), shopping with my sissy, and enjoying my Arizona home.

Of course, I always put together a to-do list.  The shopping list always gets attended to.  The other chores?  Well, I do make some effort, but this year it will need more diligence.  Change the house deed into my name, sort through the linen closets (possibly by new towels and sheets to replace the 30 year old ones), sort through kitchen cabinets (how many mixing spoons does one really need), and clean out the garage.  OK, so the list looks like a lifetime of chores.

This year I am going to add some professional chores to the summer list.  I must try to establish some better “techie” habits.   *At least one hour a day, log on to the internet and read blogs, wikis, etc.   *At least once a week, contribute to my own blog, or respond to something I’ve read.   *Try to remember how set up an RSS feed, do it, and use it.  *Upload pictures to Flickr.  I have been promising people I would do this for two years.  *Look for interesting workshops or conferences I might want to attend. **Actually put together some solid plans to try things I have read about and heard at conferences.     Long list.  I have already given myself a “by” for the first 2 weeks of holidays as I will be visiting friends in Chicago and not near a computer.  Gasp.

I also have that long list of must reads and want-a reads.  Am hoping to hit the public library more and Barnes and Nobles less.  My accountant likes that idea as well. 

Only three more weeks.  I can make it.  I just need to keep adding to the lists!

I laugh when students come up and ask if I have any good books. “Yes,” I reply, “about 6,000 of them.”  That would be the number I have in my new library.  They probably aren’t all GOOD, but most are and the ones that I might deem less that good would be the ones the kids adore.  In any case, they are often gobsmacked that I haven’t read all 6,000 yet.  I am working on it.  We’ve only had a library since October.  It was mostly boxes for the 3 months before that.

I try to vary my reading.  I get stuck in a rut with personal reading.  On holidays I refuse to read professional stuff.  Jeff Utecht would be aghast at that.  Good old fluff – a mystery – an adventure tale – a mystery – thus the rut.  When not on holiday I do try to read those professional tomes that are recommended.  I get overload headaches.  Now I have a plan.  One or two professional books, then a children’s or youth book, then some fluff.  I must admit I have recently been sidetracked by the Twilight series.  My high school nephew gave me book one and two.  My Canadian visitor just brought me books three and four.  How could I possible go on to fluff or professional growth without first knowing the outcome of true love? 

When talking to students about what they are reading or giving a book talk to a group, I try to point out that trying something new is ok.  You don’t have to like it.  You don’t have to stick with one genre.  You can sample, abandon that which doesn’t suit you at this time and space, and you can set a book aside until you are ready for it.  The written word (even when digitized) will wait for you.  Ah, I think a few written words are calling me.  I must go.  No won’t power.

Here at Riffa Views International School, my current place of employment, we are gearing up for adding our middle school next year.  Actually we are only adding the sixth grade but we are planning for the future.  The committe has been working on philosophy, mission, and thoughts on core subjects.  It has been incredibly exciting for me.  The conversations have been peppered with great ideas and the desire to make it student centered in every way.  Of course, technology and library intergration has been a big part of the discussion.  The American Library Association came out with the new Standards for the 21st Century Learner recently.  It not only fits right into our discussion, is is everything we have been discussing.  They have read our minds.  We are using it to guide many of our discussions and decisions.

It is daunting as well as exciting when putting together something from the ground up.  Afterschool activities, advisory groups or no advisory groups, humanities or split English and Social Studies, field trips out of the city (in our case that would be out of the country), are just a few of the things to decide. 

Thankfully, we have an excellent team made up of experienced middle-school minded classroom teachers, support teachers, and administrators.  All are focused and we are moving ahead.  The results will start in August!

Bahrain is revving up for this year’s Formula One Race which takes place this coming weekend.  My friend from Canada arrives tonight.  There will be hordes of people swooping onto our island.  Traffic will be even crazier, restaurants harder to get into, and people wandering about with a vague look of “where was the hotel?”   On the other hand, it brings revenue into the public and private coffers.  I have never been to a Formula One race, but I am going on Sunday.  J is bring earplugs that they use at the sawmill.  Industrial earplugs will be a good thing.  I will try to upload a pic or two after the big event.

I was just reading a post by David Warlick on his blog, 2 Cents Worth.  He was reflecting on an article by Jeff Utecht, which was posted on his blog, Thinking Stick.  Jeff was just back from a conference in Borneo where he did four presentation and attended two.  Jeff’s reaction was that he didn’t go to more presentations because he doesn’t like to learn alone.   For those of you that don’t know Jeff, he is a prolific on-line communicator and is part of a vibrant group leading the charge for change in our schools.  But I digress.

David’s reaction to Jeff’s work was that he too realizes that he enjoys his on-line learning more than conference attending.  David is also a prolific on-line communicator and, like Jeff, does many presentations around the world about using technology within our lives and the lives of our students.

Interesting views about conferences.  I find them exhilarating.  As opposed to learning alone at a conference, I learn from the people I see there.  At the conference in Amman, Jordon in October, there were a wide range of people attending Doug Johnson’s sessions.  Doug’s sessions were fabulous, as always, but the interaction and the conversations that sprang up outside of the sessions were informative and educational for me as well. 

When we were talking about using YouTube, RSS feeds, Twittering, blogging, and other venues many people in the room were novices to them all.  However, we had many more in the group that were using them all and were right there to help the others with ideas and practical hands-on help to get some things started.

Of course, my frustration level is low when I don’t have someone to ask a question and get an answer pretty quickly.  For instance, I am trying to build a wiki for my school library.  I have had several $%^$% moments.  By the time I had gone out to the web and asked a question and searched some of the probably answers, I had worked myself into a dither.  Then I asked Geoff Ward, a fifth grade teacher, to stop by.  He had me moving forward in about 5 minutes. 

I have been doing more reading on-line and have gotten many ideas that I am using in my library.  I even buckled to the pressure to join Facebook!  Gads.  However, I still enjoy the conferences.  Now, if I can find those in places like Borneo I will really be happy.