Takin' a Break

Summer is almost a memory - within a few short weeks, it'll be back to school ...but actually, I haven't left. With workshops, conferences, meetings, inventories, teaching teachers, etc., the school year really is year-round for most teachers. The days of a long stretch of weeks to forget the classroom and just relax are long over. I think teachers are more stressed, more tired now than ever before. spetember used to mean back to school. Now it's early August. And that's not counting taking courses all summer by internet.
With retirement close, I'm doing a lot of thinking about what it will be like when school is over for good - I can't believe I can be paid to stay home and do as I please.. But because I want to have an inkling, I'm going to my beach house - the place we bought with retirement in mind - for a week and "play retirement." That means nothing school or work-related, while I look for other things to do - and not just baking brownies and reading books. Bill has been retired for 8 months now, and he has no shortage of stuff to keep himself busy. I may not have it so easy. I don't enjoy gardening, other than planting a few window boxes. I don't like to "put up" food - canning, pickling, making jelly, etc. I'm not a shopper, scrapbooker, or home remodeler, though I like to dabble in those things. At one time I thought I'd like to do something completely different - go birdwatching. Take up hiking. Work in a soup kitchen.
What I'll probably do is wallow in the freedom for a while, walk around in the morning in my robe and slippers, take a walk with the dogs without hurrying them, make a second pot of coffee, luxuriate in the idea that I can read the whole paper in the morning. Then get dressed, register for a class, and get back in a classroom...on the other side of the desk. I want to learn forever.

Dog Days in Education

I keep wondering if there is anyone out in the general public who doesn't think he's an expert on education. The prevailing thought seems to be "I spent 13 years sitting in a classroom, therefore I know how to teach, manage a school, run a program." So many people are certain they could do it better, yet most wouldn't dream of telling their doctor, lawyer, policeman on the corner, or druggist how to do their jobs. For some reason, educators are fair game. From the government down, from NCLB to local, state and national politicians, to state ed employees who haven't been in a classroom for years - if ever - the stuff keeps rolling downhill. You have to give teachers credit for toughness in the face of a constant barrage of regulations and unsolicited advice. What's most admirable is that those who stick with it can do a great job while the changes keep coming...and going...and if you stay around long enough, what's "New" is just a rehash or another name for something you had foisted upon you long ago.

Tuesday - Worse Than Monday?

Ok - trying again - am I in the right place and will I succeed in uploading a photo today?
am I on blogger?
or blogger-blog?
or wiki?
or google?
or all of the above?

What's my name?
What's my address?
Truth be told;
I'm a mess!
Tell me quick -
before I burs' -
Is this better?
Or is this worse?

Post- Globaloria Thoughts

There's a joke in the title somewhere - my blog title is all wrong - I have no spare time - and it's Monday - my thoughts are unformed and bleary as I try to settle all the ideas sifting through my cluttered mind after last week's busy schedule.
Went to a Globaloria Workshop and learned how much I need to learn - and will never learn - about technology. It's a love-hate thing. Give me words and a pencil and I can fly around in swooping happiness all day long. Give me a keyboard and a url or http or some strange, fast-sounding software (Flash, anyone?) and I'm a dunce. Ask me to follow along as a technological teacher leads the group through a simple (?) set of steps and I'm back in 7th grade math, hoping Mr. Poiani doesn't (Oh, please, god) call on me because I'm still on Step 1 (find the icon) and the rest of the class is, I am absolutely certain, on Step 9. I'm clicking like mad on little pictures (have to get close, whip off my glasses) and my classmates, who are all gifted beyond reason, have already created little digital creatures who are madly hopping around on their pages.
Now, of course some of this is a mild exaggeration - I was at least on Step 2 - and my fellow English teacher admitted to a bit of confusion and a preference for "Words! Give me words!" so I wasn't completely alone in my anxiety. And I really do enjoy the computer - I couldn't get along without it and I don't "get" people who want nothing to do with it. But - lesson learned - I have come face to face with my limitations, and I've been reminded of how the student feels when the pace isn't one he's comfortable with.
Like many "Rose is Rose" cartoons, where a moment's insecurity can instantly morph one into a former, insecure self, that feeling of not being quite"with it" is a transformer - and it's the pits!!
But now I'm catching up - I've created this blog, per the assignment though I can't get a picture to load as yet. I'm well along in getting the program started - thanks to some great teachers and principals. I'm looking forward to plinking around on the team webpage, maybe get over the uploading jinx...