Who Would Have Thought?

It's unprecedented that we are out 4 days in a row from school. The combination of ice and snow have kept us comfortably secluded in our house, sitting by the fire, reading, playing computer games, doing laundry, baking, and good old fashioned wintry things. It's amazing how your world, so familier and comfortable, can appear so drastically different when under 7 inches of snow. Here are a few pictures I took this morning:

Snow Days!

The day started out like any other, my alarm blaring me from a quiet slumber at an ungodly hour (4:45AM), groggily slapping it silent, stumbling out to the kitchen as I drag on sweatpants, tennis shoes and jacket, readying myself for the morning walk or run, depending on which day of the week it is. Dogs circling me with channeled anticipation, mouths open, grins on their faces. Except there was this noise that I couldn't quite place, so I stop the dogs' antics so I can listen better and what do I hear? The sounds of a SNOW DAY!

The wind is barreling through every nook and cranny of our not-quite-installed new windows and with the frigid temperatures there is freezing sleet pelting the windows. I open the front door, and my German Shepherds bolt past me to frolic in the icy ground cover. This is weather they were born to experience they say with their happy tails, dashes through the snow, the come-and-get-me taunts they throw at one another. Even my old boy Tchico forgets his aging hips for a minute as he chases the young pup Griffin and bites at the icy whiteness on the ground.

I love snow days. They are spontaneous, unplanned little pockets of unexpected pleasure. They are fires in the fireplace, steaming mugs of coffee, good books, and naps! They are staying in your pajamas all day, baking cookies, watching movies and catching up with friends. They are snuggling on the couch, playing with furry companions, and sometimes even the opportunity to do things you've put off (like laundry!).

So, with no immediate plans, I will let the day unfold, I'll enjoy the fire in the fireplace, and take full advantage of this gift.

Things I'm Learning Today

I'm actually sitting in class now, and listening to fellow classmates present. I thought it might help me to write down what they are saying in an effort to learn something. So here's what I am learning from my classmates.

So I just learned about this cool web site called Prezi. A teacher, Angelyn, in my class has made her presentation using this software, and it's really cool. Temple, who is sitting next to me, said that there's a version made for educators. I think it's free. I'll have to check it out. Angelyn also mentioned all these cool free Web 2.0 sites for making online portfolios. She mentioned:

Glogster
wkik
wix
prezi
voicethread
wordpress
youth voices

Ashley is sitting on the other side of me. She showed me this cool web site called alien rescue. This is something I want to use for my TAG science class.

And Brett spoke about online note taking. He told us about Diigo.com. Another thing I'll have to look into. I don't think my 5th grade students will use it, but I might find it beneficial for myself.

Stephanie spoke about a program called Gaggle. It's a network which allows the teacher to control what is written and who can correspond with the students. It is not a free program except for the email function which is its primary function. The upgraded version is $5.00 a student. Besides email, the upgraded version has homework drop boxes, blogs, a calendar, SMS texting, message boards, and a social wall. Because it's web-based, it can be accessed at home and in school. The drop box feature of the homework drop boxes reduces paper used by students, papers can't be lost by teachers or students, students can't say, "My printer isn't working, or I didn't have any ink." Teachers can grade from home without taking any papers from home. The blogs are a little plain, but get the job done. I'd like a blog to b customizable because I think it helps the student feel a sense of ownership.

Texas A&M has a great vocabulary program for 5-8 science vocabulary. I need to research this because she didn't tell too much about it.

Blog Post #10

In keeping with the theme of Blog Post #9, I wanted to include a picture of the cabin we toured this summer at the lake. I tried to include this in the previous post, but I got an html error. I don't know enough about html to go in and edit the error, so I thought I would try again.

This cabin sits on 1.5 acres filled with red and white pines, birch trees and rolling terrain. If I win the lottery tomorrow, I'm buying the cabin, no plumbing and all. I have wanted to live on this lake since I was 10 years old. I'm tired of waiting.

Blog Post #9

It was rather coincidental that Yahoo posted this video on their news page yesterday, because I have been mulling over the possibility of downsizing my house to something smaller. You see, when we are in Minnesota, we live in a small, two-bedroom house that has a tiny kitchen, one bath, and one living area which also doubles as the dining room. We love it.

This year, as I was floating on a raft in the middle of the lake, I met a man who had been coming to the same lake as me since 1958. He's the first person I have ever met who had been vacationing at the lake longer than I have. I started in 1970. Turns out this man is the owner of a lovely hand scribed log cabin that's about 180 square feet, and coincidentally, he's looking for someone to buy it. He's getting ready to move to England and will no longer need it. I told him I'd be interested in looking at it, though I am on the five year plan and need to wait until all of my kids are through high school. He quickly informed me that the cabin had no plumbing and was surprised when I said, "Doesn't bother me. There's a lake to bathe in, and I love to camp."

So my husband and two of my three boys toured his little cabin and spent the ensuing evening talking about what we could and couldn't do in a place that small and would it be worth looking into leasing it next summer if it didn't sell.

So that's how the wheel in my head started turning. Then the video on Yahoo, and now I'm ready to go purchase Jay Shafer's book. Lots of people are "going green" these days, and I suppose that's a good reason for wanting to live in a place so small. For me, it's more about shedding the unnecessary material things. I think there's a lot of freedom in that. I'm tired of being bogged down by "things." I think if I lived in a place like the homes Jay Shafer builds, I would have more time to get on with living my life.

I think this guy is on to something and the world needs to pay attention to him.

Blog Post #8

Of all of the things that I have been learning about in class, I think I've enjoyed the digital photography and videos the most. I've used this trip to Minnesota to practice making videos in Movie Maker, and I've taken lots of photos. For my second video, I am creating an educational video about the flora and fauna of the woods of northern Minnesota.

I don't think one can take a bad picture with a setting as beautiful and serene as the one I'm currently in. There are numerous opportunities to photograph plants and animals in their natural settings. And with an amatuer photographer like my husband to help me understand lighting and effects, we've amassed quite a collection of photos.

What I'd really like now is a high quality video camera. My one disappointment is the zoom on the digital video camera I am using. I can't keep objects in focus when I am zooming. My kids tell me that's jut how digital zoom is, but surely, with all of the technological advances being made in the world today, there is an idiot-proof digital video camera that allows the videographer to zoom AND still be in focus, right? I have included some shots we have taken this summer.

Blog Post #7

According to Wikipedia, experiential learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience. My son was lucky enough to be a pupil of one of the most masterful teachers I know. My son, Jeffery, spent 4 consecutive summers in Colorado experiencing the classroom of the earth. There was no set curriculum, rather, Jeffery and his two friends decided each year what they wanted to learn.

The first year they learned about shooting rubber duckies. Now how can that be educational? Think about it. The boys spent hours sitting on the front porch of the log cabin, shooting BBs at yellow, rubber duckies of all sizes that had been hung from a crossbar. The boys thought it was all great fun but they were learning at the same time. They learned about gun safety, gun cleaning, resilience (of the duckies to the BBs), physics terms like trajectory, drag, arcing, velocity, acceleration and more.

One year they shot and killed 4 beavers that were damming up a very important water way. The boys learned how to clean, skin, and tan the hides of beavers, they learned the importance of water in the high mountains in Colorado, they learned about water rights and municipalities. They learned how beavers can effect the lives of people and vice versa.

One year all of the boys were turning 15 and dying to get their learners permits to drive. That summer, they all learned how to drive a stick shift. They learned how to ride ATVs, build bridges, mend fences, build campfires, and cook food in the outdoors.

My son's senior year, this teacher took him on the trip of a lifetime. They spent 10 days in Alaska photographing Grizzly bears, fishing for salmon, and learning about glaciers. This man gave my son the precious gift of his time, knowledge and expertise, but most of all, he helped my child understand that our world has so much that it can teach us if we reach out and experience it. The mundane comes alive and truly inspires students to learn.