Tools

"Man is a tool-using animal. Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all." -Thomas Carlyle

Patrick Higgins, a member of my PLN on Twitter, recently advised a follower to

"take the focus away from the tools. Ask them [teachers] what they want their students to do first, then find what best fits."

This is a message that I've heard - and used myself - before, but it bears repeating.

Too often those who are technically adept, or at least aware, try to convince others to try new technology tools, teach new skills, to their students. This may lead to failure for a number of reasons:

• the listener is less knowledgeable about the digital world than the speaker
  
• the listener perceives the tools as an add-on rather than an integral part of teaching process
• the speaker overwhelms the listener with too much information
• the tool is inappropriate for the task

Sometimes technology is intrusive. If the purpose of journaling is self-reflection, a simple, inexpensive, portable, composition book might be the best "tool" to use. When interaction and collaboration is the focus, then an Internet-based blog, wiki, or Google Document is a viable alternative, provided the teacher possesses the requisite knowledge of how to use these tools successfully and the students have access to necessary hardware and applications.

As with clothing, one size rarely fits all.


"A tool is but the extension of a man's hand, and a machine is but a complex tool." -Henry Ward Beecher



"Inside a Toolbox" by Siomuzzz

Balance

"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony." -Thomas Merton


No resolutions this year, just a plan of action: decide what's important in my personal and professional lives and begin to adjust my schedule accordingly.

Retirement is six months away. I don't want to be a juggler, multi-tasking is not my goal. There must be time for family, friends, hobbies, exercise, and work in my daily life. My house and my mind need to be decluttered.

Author Melinda M. Marshall has said that

“True balance requires assigning realistic performance expectations to each of our roles. True balance requires us to acknowledge that our performance in some areas is more important than in others. True balance demands that we determine what accomplishments give us honest satisfaction as well as what failures cause us intolerable grief.”

"Realistic performance expectations" are just what I'm after, in everything from housekeeping to blogging to online facilitating.

"Honest satisfaction" is what I hope to feel at the end of this transitional year.






"Balance" by Brent and MariLynn

Looking Back

It was a very good year.

In case you're wondering:

January: New MacBook
February: Daughter & her husband with their new Scion xB
March: Elementary students enjoy books in the LMC
April: Forsythia in bloom
May: Tim & I at a wedding on Dunham's Bay, Lake George, NY
June: En plein air painting in our backyard
July: Tim's pictures on display at the Remington Museum, Odgensburg, NY
August: Morning workout at Saratoga Racetrack
September: The family (except for SIL, who had to work) enjoys Tim's retirement cruise
October: View of Lake George from Prospect Mountain
November: Riding a school bus on a field trip to Warrensburg, NY
December: Mom and her new afghan
Center: NECC Librarians' Panel, San Antonio

Christmas Celebration 2008

It's a mixed bag of photos, from Scott's TV appearance to Mom's afghan to Sean's Slinky. A patchwork of memories, fun and good cheer, the best kind of holiday celebration.

Seven Things You Don't Need to Know about Me

Liz B. Davis tagged me for this meme. It gave me an excuse to stroll down Memory Lane and pull out random facts about my life:

1. I can’t whistle, except by inhaling; I can only snap the fingers on my left hand.

2. I was a Camp Fire Girl (before the organization became co-ed).

3. I love to travel, have seen “the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome,” but my favorite city is still London.

4. During summer study at Oxford University, I had a small part in a production of King Lear.

5. Although I started college as a Math major, I graduated as an English major.

6. I have climbed Mt. Marcy, New York's highest point.

7. The first time I visited Yankee Stadium was to attend a Mass celebrated by Pope Paul VI.


In keeping with my "no stress now that the holidays are almost over" policy, I'm not tagging anyone specifically. This is a fun exercise, though, so I'd encourage anyone who has a few spare minutes to play along and give us a behind-the-scenes look at your life.




"Rearview Mirror" by cammyrw

Christmas Greetings

"Bringing Home the Christmas Tree" by Tim Cordell

Stars over snow,
And in the west a planet
Swinging below a star -
Look for a lovely thing and you will find it,
It is not far -
It never will be far
-Sara Teasdale

May you find many lovely things in your life! Have a peaceful and joyous holiday.

Life is One Big Top Ten (2008)

I've been tagged by my good friend, and fellow teacher/librarian, Cathy Nelson, for a meme. Paul C. invites bloggers to write a Top Ten list for 2008 on a topic of their choice. He plans to collect the lists later for our instruction and edification.

A news article that popped up recently in my Google Reader quotes Florida State Senator, Ronda Storms, who "railed against the book-cataloging system during a budget hearing on state library aid, calling the Dewey Decimal System 'anachronistic,' costly and just plain frustrating."

Here is my response to such blasphemy:

Top Ten Reasons not to abandon the Dewey Decimal System

1. The Dewey Decimal System is the norm in most U.S. elementary and secondary schools. Students who learn to navigate the system can apply this knowledge when searching for materials in their local public libraries, which also use the DDS.

2. Melvil Dewey designed the system to be very flexible. Categories that didn’t exist in the late 19th century – computers, space exploration, nanotechnology – can be accommodated by the infinitely expandable decimals.

3. Although the Dewey Decimal System is copyrighted, libraries do not have to pay to use it. Melvil made his personal fortune through selling library furniture.

4. Library staff members quickly become familiar with the ten categories and can point patrons to relevant shelves. The same can not be said of the Library of Congress System, which is complex and less user-friendly.

5. The Dewey numbers always follow in sequence. No matter how large a collection becomes, items are arranged in order, not tied to a physical location.

6. Dewey numbers are not just for books. Video tapes, DVDs, magazines, hardware, software, etc. can easily be assigned Dewey categories.

7. Since the DDS uses numbers, it is not tied to a particular language. Any patron familiar with Arabic numerals can locate materials.

8. Without the DDS, each library would have to create its own system. Interlibrary loans and union catalogs would be difficult, if not impossible.

9. The OCLC, which holds the copyright on the Dewey Decimal System, maintains a database for cataloging and searching purposes and "integrates updates to the DDC almost as soon as they happen through quarterly, electronic updates to WebDewey and Abridged WebDewey."

10. Melvil Dewey was one of the founders of the American Library Association. He elevated librarianship to professional status.

If anyone else would like to contribute a Top Ten list, please be sure to do so and link back to Paul.



"Seattle Public Library - book spiral" by Padraic

Snow Day!

"A 'snow day'...is a day in which school classes are canceled or delayed due to snow, heavy ice, or low temperatures." -Wikipedia

The call came at 5:45 a.m.: because of an overnight snowfall and the possibility of icy roads and power outages, school has been canceled today. Snow Day!



What is it about these unplanned but highly anticipated holidays that causes such joy? There is a delicious sense of freedom, endless possibilities, time enough to complete all sorts of tasks...or not.

If nothing is "accomplished" but refreshing the spirit, isn't that a fine and rare thing, complete in and of itself?



“I love snow, and all the forms
Of the radiant frost…” -Percy Bysshe Shelley

At least, on Snow Days I do.



You can see my Snow Day flickr set here

The Others

"Commandment Number One of any truly civilized society is this: Let people be different." - David Grayson

My husband, an artist and musician, is left-handed. When he was in school in the 1950s and '60s, some teachers tried to "make him" right-handed. It didn't work.

Throughout history, society has had varying degrees of tolerance for nonconformity. Suspected witches and heretics were executed by being burned at the stake, hung, pressed or drowned as recently as the late 18th century.

Beatniks and hippies, Goths and Punks have all suffered some form of ridicule or discrimination. Time magazine reported on "a wave of shocking attacks and threats against emo youth culture" in Mexico, having "less to do with music than with the country's violent intolerance."

Most U.S. school districts try to accommodate teen individuality in matters of hair, makeup and clothing, as long as the styles don't distract others from learning.

Individuality in terms of curriculum and assessment, however, is another matter entirely.

A previous posting here, Today, My Job Was to Listen, prompted Paul Bogush to comment, "I wonder what the ratio is of minutes of teacher talk vs. student talk in classrooms." When he asked this question on Plurk, estimates ranged from 4:1 to 10:1, teacher talking time to student talking time. This impromptu poll would seem to suggest that traditional delivery of standardized content is still the norm in many classrooms.

Not all who are differently-abled have an IEP. Do you believe that our educational culture could be/should be more inclusive?

Are we reaching the Others?

"All eyes see a different world. All minds live in a different world. Why do we feel the need to force someone to see and live our way? When we do this, we lose sight of our world." - Bobby Lambert

"Black sheep. Do u also feel different?" by pasotraspaso

CyberSmart! Africa

"What is it that binds all people together? What do kids in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, have in common with kids from M'bour, Senegal, Africa? Through digital storytelling we can discover those connections and forge new, valuable relationships that were never before possible." -Jeremy Teicher, Film Director/Project Manager, CyberSmart! Africa

CyberSmart! Education offers facilitated online professional development, a free K-12 Student Curriculum, and a downloadable Educator's Toolbar. Their newest venture is CyberSmart! Africa.

"CyberSmart! Africa began in 2007 as a personal initiative of Jim Teicher, CEO and cofounder of CyberSmart! Education. After visiting Ecole Sinthiou Mbadane 1, a rural school in Senegal off the electric grid, Jim worked to establish ties that would support the students.

This CyberSmart! Africa project enables teachers and students in
rural Senegal to share their personal stories with the rest of the world, revealing the common bonds that connect people across all cultures. The stories will be posted on the CyberSmart.org/Africa web site along with questions for discussion, which will extend into the iEARN and ePals online communities."

The students of Ecole Sinthiou Mbadane 1 "look forward to communicating and learning with a global, connected community of learners." Their video clips will give classes in other countries a unique glimpse into a very different culture.

Through these digital storytelling and laptop initiatives, CyberSmart! Africa hopes to encourage collaboration among students and support efforts to prepare students of many nations to meet the challenges of this century.

Worthy goals, fascinating project.

Photos courtesy of CyberSmart! Africa. All rights reserved.

Full disclosure: I am a part-time employee of CyberSmart! Education in addition to my full-time position as a K-12 teacher/librarian.