Tinkerings

It is nearly the end of 2009.  It didn’t sneak up on us.  It came barreling at full speed since about June.  I’ve had a hard time keeping up this year.  Everything has moved at double or triple speed.  It can’t really be 10 years since we were all afraid the world would come crashing to a halt with Y2K.

It is at this time nearly all of us try to do two things.  We reflect on the past year and make resolutions for the new.  Here are some of mine (though not at all an exhaustive list for either):

Reflections

This has been the year of “the struggle.”  Some years go by smoothly.  You could almost sleep your way through it and everything would still operate at top efficiency.  Other years, it is a constant pounding of the pavement to get anything done.  It is the ‘quicksand’ Falco talked about in “The Replacements.”  One thing goes bad.  Then two.  You try harder, but a third goes bad.  Pretty soon your struggling through quicksand as nearly nothing works no matter how hard you try.  This has sort of been one of those years both in the classroom and outside of it.

It has also been a year of change.  I know, I know.  President Obama won an historic election on the promise of change.  But just to be clear, most of the time change sucks.  Oh, I suppose one thing here or another thing there doesn’t matter too much, but when everything changes all around you, life can get to be pretty dizzying.  It is hard to keep your balance because your equilibrium is thrown off.

Last, it has been a year of D(d)iscovery.  I put that word in both forms for the simple reason that it has two meanings for me.  First, I have done more with the Discovery Educator Network this year than I’ve done in all the previous years combined.  It has been a fantastic time of meeting new people, traveling to new places, and pretty much just having a blast.  It has also been a year of personal discovery for me.  I’ve had a lot of time to think about who I am and who I want to be.  Which leads to change.  Which leads to struggles.  Which leads to…well, you get the idea.

Resolutions

I hesitate to even post these ideas.  Resolutions, like most rules I suppose, are primarily made to be broken.  I hope I can keep these.

I want 2010 to be the year of getting fit…finally…with finality.  I’m overweight and under-exercised.  The charts tell me I am supposed to weight 163 pounds, but I think that is pretty much meant for bones and skin and some “innards.”  It certainly can’t include any muscle.  No, I’m shooting for 185 by the end of 2010.  However, if I can achieve a 36″ waist, I won’t care about weight.  Eating right, exercising, and regaining a sense of spirituality are the three keys to this resolution.

I want 2010 to be the year of advancement.  I want to advance my knowledge of classroom skills as well as my computer / media skills.  I also want to advance my career to a new level.  I don’t want to wait around for this to happen “to me.”  I want to actively advance myself in these areas, whatever and wherever that means.

I want 2010 to be the year of friendships.  I am, by personality, a loner.  It isn’t that I don’t like people (OK, maybe some days that would be true).  I am just very comfortable sitting at a table at Starbucks working or playing on my Macbook Pro and ignoring the world around me except for its own entertainment purposes.  I need to develop the friendships I have and create new ones as well.  I need to “get out there” and have some fun with others for a change.  I’d love to go bowling, shoot some pool, play some ping pong, take in a ballgame, or host a dinner party.  Yep, 2010 needs to be a year of friendships.  And if those friendships can help me advance and get fit, so much the better I say!

OK, that’s me.  What about you?  Leave a comment to tell the world your reflections and resolutions as we face the crossroads of 2009 and 2010.

I recently joined a group on Facebook called “I went to Lee in the 70s.”  I joined, and then I forgot about it for a few days.  Today I went back to look at the thread of conversations.  Most of the people there I simply don’t remember.  Many went and left before me (I started in 1976).  But it did bring back a lot of memories.

People were talking about going to chapel in the “old” auditorium, eating in the cafeteria, cruising the Village Mall (Yes, it was a living mall then), and more.  It made me rather nostalgic for a lot of things “Lee.”

I had a brand new 1976 Cutlass Supreme then, but I was jealous of a friend’s ’69 convertible Cougar.  Nice!  I lived in Walker Hall (now Medlin) on the 2nd floor.  Practical jokes abounded.  Skipping classes was a norm.  Going up the mountain to Chilhouee was a necessity.

There are a lot of “bad” things I remember about Lee.  Girls were not allowed to wear slacks on campus.  We weren’t supposed to go see movies.  Chapel was required 4 times a week.  I’ve never liked community bathrooms.  You know, the normal stuff.

Then there are the things I really liked.  I loved Dr. Boone’s class on Psalms.  I believe we had our first year there together: me as a student and he as faculty.  I adored both Drs. French and was privileged to have the Mrs. Dr. French for The Bible as Literature.  I still talk about some of those lectures to this day.  I liked the fact that my Christian Ethics professor gave me an A- on a paper I wrote where I specifically chose a totally inappropriate topic on purpose.  He didn’t stay long as I recall.

I loved the fact that the friends I made in the dorm turned me on to Peter Frampton, Boston, Michael Omartian, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Fleetwood Mac and more.  Some of the best music I’ve ever heard, even to this day.

On balance, I have a lot more good memories than bad ones.  But it makes me wonder….

Ten or twenty years from now, what memories will my students today have about my class?  Our school?  Their experience?

During our faculty Christmas party, the teachers and spouses sitting at each table were set up as teams to play a Christmas Trivia version of The Amazing Race.  Shortly after starting the quiz, it became apparent that some of the questions might not be known by anyone.  Almost as one body, people at each table whipped out their cell phones to begin Googling for answers.

There was no thought process here.  No questions about whether it was ok.  No one standing over them telling them that cell phones were cheating.  They just did what came naturally to them.  Naturally even to those who would be classified as digital immigrants.

What would happen to student engagement if we just let them do what came natural when they had to find answers to tough questions?

Something to consider…

Last night I attended our annual Lake Forest Middle School faculty Christmas party.  Typically, this event is pretty much the same from year to year.  It is always enjoyable as we get to sit and talk and eat and listen to songs and have fun.  Last night was a little different….

This year’s Christmas party was held in a barn at Black Fox Farms just south of Cleveland, TN.  It was beautifully decorated with Christmas lights everywhere and trees put up all around the building.  Rather than our usual “formal” setting, this year was a lot more laid back.  Nearly everyone was in jeans (OK, not me but I hadn’t been home from work yet).  Our food was catered from Shane’s Rib Shack.  And the blue grass band….yes, the blue grass band….played throughout most of the evening.

It was loud.  It was fun.  It was different.  And I loved it!  I can’t speak for everyone, but it was the most fun I’ve had at a faculty Christmas party.  Kim Goins did a fantastic job of coordinating the event (as she always does), and kudos go out to Kim, Jamie Ogle, and Kane Ayres for a wonderful job decorating the tables.

Did I mention that one of the blue grass band members is an 8th grade student at LFMS?  I know it is probably an oxymoron of some type, but the blue grass rocked!

Now we’re just trying to decide if we can get everyone up to Gatlinburg for next year…..

(NOTE: This is also posted on the DEN TN LC Blog)

Today has been a great day in Memphis, TN!  The good folks with Memphis City Schools have done a remarkable job for their first truly regional Mid-South Technology Conference here at the Memphis Convention Center.  Nearly 1,000 are in attendance for technology training just a few blocks from historic Beale Street and the Peabody Hotel.

The day began with a keynote from Alan November.  If you’ve ever seen Alan speak at a conference, you know how engaging and personable he is.  Today he was at the top of his game just bouncing us from one idea to the next as they ping-ponged across his brain.  I’ll share more about that in a later post.

In the morning, I attended an informative session on BrainPop and another on the use of the video site Oovoo in schools.  Both were well-attended and the information was extremely useful.

After  lunch there was a keynote by John Seely Brown.  I had never heard him before.  While his information was sound, his presentation style is a little staid for right after lunch when nap time calls.

At the end of the day was my session on Skype.  I had a fairly packed room with about 65 people in attendance.  Most had never heard of Skype, or if they had they had never used it.  Another TN LC member, Tina Moore, Skyped into my session to talk about how she has used Skype in her classroom.  She was able to demonstrate Skype’s ability to share your computer screen.  The participants had lots and lots of questions when that piece was over, so we threw out the rest of the planned session and just popped the hood on the old Skype convertible and took a look at its horsepower.  It was, quite honestly, one of the most enjoyable sessions I’ve ever done.  The feedback from the group was phenomenal.

Tomorrow we start again.  Hall Davidson will be doing a keynote right after lunch.  In the morning, I will present on Building a Better Builder.  I would love to Ustream both sessions if I can get the audio fixed.  Today’s session is online, but there is only video, so its coming down later tonight.  Or maybe I could do one of those voice-overs like when the director narrates what was going on in his mind while shooting a particular scene.  Hmmmm…..

You want to know the frustration level of kids in your class?  I have a simple idea.  Got to a technology conference that makes it hard for you to use your technology.

Kids are connected in every aspect of their lives.  They are connected to the iPods, cellphones, email, social sites, and more.  They live, as one YouTube video put it, in the “nearly now.”  They live in that space just after their last tweet, plurk, and post.  They thrive there.  They use their critical thinking skills to figure out how things work without having to ask an adult (or a teacher).  They want to use these tools.

And if they can’t?

Well, let me tell you a little story.

I just went to our state technology conference.  There were a lot of great sessions (including my own! ha!).  I walked in and asked what the code was to gain access to the wifi in the convention center.  I was told I could PAY to gain access, or I could use the cyber cafe in the exhibit hall.  I was a little miffed.

I wanted to blog immediately about the sessions I was in.  I wanted to update my Twitter profile.  I wanted to connect with my Facebook friends.  I wanted to make sure my substitute teacher was ok (which she wasn’t, but I couldn’t find that out easily).  So many things I wanted to do.  But the education powers that be refused to allow it (I know, I know, cost is a major factor here.  But isn’t it always?)

Did I enjoy the conference?  Most of it.  Did I learn some things?  A couple. Did I disconnect from most of what was going on because I was so frustrated that I couldn’t the tools I came there to learn? You betcha.

And so do our kids.

I’m heading to the Mid-South Technology Conference in Memphis next week.  I can only hope things are different.

Last Sunday I visited my oldest daughter and her family near Nashville.  I drove up to take part in my newest grandbaby’s…er…grandSON’s dedication service at their church.  They have always gone to a progressive, somewhat charismatic church, so I was not surprised when her email giving directions also included a disclaimer that earplugs were available at the information counter in the lobby (they were not needed, by the way).

You couldn’t have planned a better juxtaposition if you tried.  When we turned onto the road for the church, to our right sat a very formal chuch-looking Methodist church with its stained glass and tall, skyward steeple.  Grace Center sat opposite in an old school building.  Both churches seemed to have rather full parking lots, so it was obvious one wasn’t really in competition with the other.

We walked into Brittany’s church and found a very warm, friendly atmosphere.  People were genuinely wanting to help us find our way around.  Rooms were decorated beautifully, and the Christian Education closet was stocked plentifully.  There was a small reception planned for all the families who were taking part in the dedication.  Again, everyone smiled and talked and generally seemed pleased to be there.

I immediately knew I liked the place.

It wasn’t until I walked into the sanctuary that I really knew the place had something for everyone.  There were old and young mingling together.  Blacks and whites and Hispanics and more were seated together.  Teens gathered around the front stage in their torn jeans and hip-hop hats.  Starbucks cups were everywhere.  The band looked like they might have been playing down on Broadway the night before (how could you do anything in Nashville and NOT have great music?).  People walked around in high heels, cowboy boots, sneakers, bare feet, sandals, and more.

The pastor began the service by asking people to NOT gather around the stage in a great mosh-pit of worship (OK, my words, not his) in order to leave room for the families who’s babies were being dedicated.  After that part of the service concluded, young and old alike came down in front of the stage to dance and sing as the band played melodious worship songs that built layer upon layer as the sounds of instruments and voices built to a great crescendo of worship and then backed away again to leave people room to meditate on the experience of it all.

A man got up to make announcements and spoke with a beautiful Irish brogue and maneuvered through the slides of announcements on his iPhone.  The pastor was in jeans with his shirt untucked sipping water from a plastic water bottle until time to speak.  His message was clean, clear, concise, and entirely personal.  And his call to action at the end resulted in people simply not wanting to leave the place as they searched for ways to fill a hunger for God he had so eloquently placed before them.

This, to me, was church.  Ecclessia, the called out ones.  The community of faith that springs from all walks of life.  There were no socio-economic boundaries.  No racial divides.  No mutterings about not getting to sing a particular style of song (yes, we even sang a hymn somewhere in there).  I had never been before, but I immediately felt at home.  It was that same feeling of acceptance I have felt at every church Brittany and Dave have chosen to attend.

I came away wondering how to translate that acceptance and tolerance to my classroom.  How could I get kids to just accept one another without all the drama that comes with middle school years?  How could I plan my lessons so that I truly have something for everyone?  And, most important, how could I get that band to play in my classroom everyday?