Monday Day Four

Opening moment by Pat who read Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky

CC shared that she posted a poem on NWP and received responses from all over the country.
There was a problem using the hashtag which was a great introduction to a silly hashtag monologue with Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake.

We had five powerful and emotional learning autobiographies today starting with Dani.  Here are some highlights of their stories:

• Don't depend on strangers to get you where you want to go.  You'll never reach your destination.
• My entire teaching career was made worthwhile in an instant.
• You are stronger than you know.
• Be careful not to let the business define your values.  Lose the script and improv the rest of the scene.  (Just what teachers do all the time).
• If life is so easy, when do we learn.

The remainder of the morning was spent learning how to present our portfolios on Thursday.  We had time to explore Google Sites if doing an electronic portfolio. 

Our afternoon began with a presentation by Lorrie on the step-by-step process for completing Teacher Action Research.  Teacher Action Research is a good way to answer those burning questions about something that you care about. 

JoAnne led us through a Mindfulness In Schools activity.  This was perfect for our stressed out state with portfolios due on Thursday.  Students will definitely benefit from learning how to be more mindful of their present state, also. 

After a nice, solid chunk of writing time, Rebecca got our creative juices flowing with poetry prompts. She pushed us to break the rules, and to encourage our students to do so as well. We made Sound Lists, Cut Up words and phrases, wrote poems with Paint Chips, and journeyed through an Emotional Landscape. Rebecca has generously shared all these juicy ideas with us in the ISFI shared folder in the drive.

To round out the day, we got to watch Taylor Mali tear a dinner-party lawyer to shreds, while restoring our faith in what we do as teachers. I make a difference...What about you?

Included is a picture of Danie's stunning visual from her LA today!

Don't Forget the Hashtag

Thursday Late Marathon Day Blog of the Day

First of all thank you to CC for reminding me there were actual assignments we had to do for this class. (Well, maybe not really thank you because now I have work to do, but at least now I won't flunk out for not doing anything that is required!)  :=)  I realized (thanks Pat!) that as a host Thursday, I was supposed to post the day's blog...oops! Better late than never.

As people were finishing up their learning autobiographies today, I couldn't help but be amazed at the bravery in so many of our stories.

• Traveling to Israel
• Giving up your baby and adopting a baby
• Hitchhiking to Virginia with nothing but the shirt on your back (and surviving)
• Teaching in New York City (and surviving)
• Fearlessly coming out
• Fighting and beating cancer
• Changing careers
• Becoming a teacher even after such a difficult time in school yourself
• Running through town wearing a coconut bra or a toga
• Going into those needy students' homes
• Sharing personal, tragic events that would crush anyone's soul
• Sharing all these things out loud to a group of strangers
• and so much more...

You are all very inspiring!

Day Three!

Stephen Fry kicked off our day with his diatribe against the self-proclaimed “keepers” of language and reminded us that Shakespeare “chaired the meeting” and “tabled the agenda” of the verbing of nouns.  Brigid shared Diigo with us during Ten Minute Tech.

Our morning batch of Learning Autobiographies were INTENSE (note to self:  bring a box of tissues on LA days!) and a testament to the bravery, trust, and creativity of our Fellows.  We were properly wowed, boy-howdy.  Phew.  The afternoon Learning Autobiographies were equally compelling and reminded us of how great it is to get to know one another in this intimate and deeply moving way.  The talent in this room is enough to knock one’s socks clear off.  Here are some doozie lines from the LAs we heard today:

• “She had the body for grading papers”
• “The Russian Department gave great parties”
• “The sun never sets on a badass”
• “Girls don’t hunt until they’re married”
• “Destiny has a way of finding you wherever you’re at”
• “Comparisons cheat happiness”
• “Our bodies hum in sympathy with nature”
• “Own your slippers”
• “The tentative space right outside the comfort zone”
• “I’m here at the center of the room to do my laptop dance”

Your visuals complemented your words.  Gigi, thanks for sharing the pictures of your younger selves; CC, that snippet of “Like A Prayer” was tantalizing; and Lucinda, cookies are always welcome!

Though summer has barely begun, we did have a short introduction to the expectations for the Fall which -- sad to say -- will be upon us before we know it.  You don’t have to make any decisions just yet, but you’ll want to let your mind graze over it now and again.  You’ll have a couple of opportunities next week to meet with your mentor groups to kick some ideas around -- and you can always check in with us, as well.  Just a reminder that there are a couple of documents in the shared folder to help you in your thinking, and we posted the presentation slides under the links section of this blog.

Following some much-needed writing time, Patricia presented her teaching demonstration on Writing Across the Curriculum and Writing to Learn, which we think is a great model for the workshop.  (Another great thing about Patricia is that she always has chocolate!)

It was a day of inspiring videos.  In addition to Stephen Fry as the opening moment, we got to watch “Our Story In Two Minutes” and a TEDTalk on the power of simple words.

Thanks for another great day, Fine Fellows!

Rebecca & Brigid

"The Rundown"

A discussion that came from our group....get right to the heart of a matter. Here is Starlee Kine's from "This American Life" take on it.

Images from the Writing Marathon!

 How about chocolate vegetables?

 One group visited the Historical Society and were regaled by this upstanding gentleman.

Happiness = Cupcakes

The Aliterate Reader--At Home

Last evening I was talking (maybe arguing) with my 13 year old son about reading a book this summer. His school "requires" two summer reads. Since many of you teach kids this age, I was hoping you could suggest some terrific books that will hook him. He is a bit of a history buff. In fifth grade he read every World War II book in the school library! In Sixth grade they told him to try a different genre. I'm not sure if it was that or the XBox that made him decide reading isn't his thing.
Thank you so much for any ideas you may have!