Once Upon A Teacher

When my principal and several of our teachers - myself included - went to see Lucy Calkins speak in Orlando, we were so excited about what we were learning from her. I watched and waited for the Teachers College to post information on applying to their summer institutes. I filled out the application and was so excited to find out a few months later that I was accepted! One of the ways that it was possible for me to go was my boss covering part of the travel and registration and me staying with a teacher friend from my professional network on twitter! That's right, I know her from twitter! Karen Blumberg and I knew each other there but met face to face finally in 2010 at the national technology conference, ISTE. Since she teaches in New York I contacted her last summer when my family was here visiting and she toured us around and spent time with us. So much fun! And her last words were: You should just come visit me sometime! So I thought... Maybe if Karen is in town she wouldn't mind me bunking with her so I could attend the Reading Institute at Teachers College? And she said, "Sure! I live in a one bedroom, fourth floor walk up so it would be a true New York experience but you are more than welcome to come bunk on my couch!" So I arrived this morning.

My first thought as I arrived outside her apartment building was, "Oh! Look it has a stoop in front just like in Sesame Street!"


Without Oscar the Grouch

So Karen showed me how to use the different keys to get in and walk up all the stairs to get to her apartment. Let's just say, if I don't lose weight this week I've done something wrong.

She was determined to show me around and orient me to the area where I needed to go for the training tomorrow so she wanted to finish her laundry first, which involves climbing back down all those stairs to below the building in the basement. Along one whole wall was a line of meters that showed the energy usage in all the apartments in the buidling.

Meters in the laundry room

When we went back upstairs we discovered Karen's cat loves my suitcase.


Angus the cat

Karen said I could walk to the Teachers College so we set out on a walk down Broadway near her building. I've never been in this residential section of New York and thought it was just beautiful.


Broadway

We did pass by Director Michael Moore, she MADE me take this photo to prove it.

Can you even tell that's Michael Moore?

But after the 30 block walk I assured her that I would be taking a taxi. So her plan B was to teach me how to use the city bus. The last time I was on a city bus in Denver, CO with my boss while we were at a conference and we witnessed a full out brawl among the passengers and I haven't been on one since...so it took some convincing. But she walked me to my starting place tomorrow at Riverside Church so I would know where to end up and I think I'm prepared to arrive bright and early tomorrow for a full day of learning at the Reading Institute. Check out these photos I got today of the church. Should be a beautiful location for the opening keynote by Lucy Calkins!

Riverside Church

I'm a worrier by nature. I worry about my kids, my husband, my job and my friends. I pray and know most things are really out of my control, but why can't I give up the worry? Logically, it's really silly to spend time worrying about things that are out of our control. I know this in my head, but have always struggled with keeping my thoughts on the positive when things are on my mind.

Lately, I have found myself really starting to be able to focus on my blessing and not my worry. It's not gone, but it doesn't consume me. Why? I'm not sure if 45 is a magic age, or if the ups and downs of life have finally seasoned me to roll with the punches a little better.

It just so happens that last week as I was celebrating this noticing about myself, I came across this video that was being shared a lot in my professional network:

And I have stopped and taken notice of these small moments in my day since watching this. I am conciously making the CHOICE to think positive and count my blessings instead of fretting over my worries. Accepting and breating in the freedom of letting go of my worries...

This week, as if to punctuate the value and appreciate each moment, I ran across this article about a teen that died on Monday from osteosarcoma. It just gave me pause to read the headline. Inspirational 18 year dies from cancer this past Monday. I had to read more. My teen has the daily worry of what she is wearing, how her hair looks and if she remembered to put gas in the car to get to school. This boy taught those around him to appreciate each moment simply by living his life and not letting it break his spirit. I have watched this mini docmentary twice. Once by myself and once I asked my teenager daughter to watch it with me she sat glued to it as well. "Wow", was all we could say. But both our eyes were filled with tears. It's worth watching. It has made the big in my life seem small this week. I spent more time smiling this week and thinking about the positive in my life because of Zach. In honor of his passing this week, let him inspire you as well:

I hope Zach inspires you as much as he did my daughter and I.

If you read on an ipad, nook or kindle you probably get these questions all the time like I do: "Do you like reading on that thing? Don't you miss holding a paper book in your hand?

And I get it, I do, because when I first got an ipad several years ago I had no intention of reading books on it. I'm a book lover. I love the smell of all the books in a bookstore. I love the feel of bent back pages curled in my palm. I love going to the library and browsing through the possibilities. I love sliding down low in a bubble bath sometimes getting the bottom edge of my book a little wet as I read. It's probably an addiction, but I digress...

The first book I downloaded on my ipad was out of necessity. We were on our way out of town and I needed something to read in the car because I had just finished a paper book. I thought it was cool to be able to get a new book in a few seconds and fiddle with the font, backlighting and orientation but it wasn't love at first sight. I ended up finishing that book quickly and downloading another while we were out of town to read as well. When we came back to town an avid reading friend handed me a well worn paper book and said, "I just finished this during our break and it was soooooooo good! You have to read it." I couldn't wait! Those kinds of books passed on by another book lover are gems.

Then I got home and opened to the first page to read it. I thought: Ewwww, what kind of font is this book written in? I wish it was just a smidge bigger font. Ugh, I forgot...if you are reading in bed you have to keep a bright enough light on and then when you start getting sleepy you have to get up and go turn off the light. Wow, two books on the ipad and I was spoiled. Ruined for all paper books there-ever-after.

The problem was most of my professional reading was still done on paper. See, when it comes to professional books I like to tab corners and underline things I want to refer to later.

Those books are usually wider and lay open flat for me to refer to when making a chart or writing a lesson plan. I even got caught up in the frenzy of new professional literature to read when my school colleagues and I attended Lucy Calkins recent training.

But I gave professional reading a try on my ipad and once again it has spoiled me.

It can tab pages.

If I want to take notes I don't need a sticky note, I can do it with a click.

I can highlight in multiple colors.

And I can search for a portion of the book I am looking for easily.

So .... paper smaper, give me my ipad. The only itty bitty issue I have is reading in the tub. I have to be verrrry careful. Ha! What are your reading habits?

Courtesy of White Peach Photography

I really enjoyed and learned so much from doing the 365 day photo challenge last year. I only chose not to do it this year so I could give myself some time to do some online courses in photography. But I have missed the daily challenge of catching a photo to represent my day.

Yesterday, I saw a posting in my facebook feed for a 30 day photography challenge. Apparently, the challenge originated from a photographer who was looking to take some time for herself to capture some images that weren't for her job. Her original post became extremely popular, so even though the first challenge start day has passed many others are joining in when they can and completing the 30 days from their start. A new facebook page was started for the project and it is saying that the next start date will be Monday, June 20th. My first instinct was, "I'm in!"

So, what do you think? Does this interest you? Would you like to join in and share photos for the challenge? I'd love to meet some new photography lovers and also see lots of photos from people I know. You don't have to have a DSLR camera. You can even use your iphone if you like! Here's what you need to do after you take your photo each day:

Add your photo to this flickr group (join flickr).

Label your photo with the Day # and topic.

Look at other photos in the group and comment on a few.

Have fun and get as creative or as literal as you like!

The majority of our at-risk students at Chets Creek Elementary come from one specific impoverished community nearby. In order to meet the needs of these students outside the school day, last year we launched an Academic Resource Center inside the community. My co-worker, dayle timmons, best describes the center here.

As we approach the first year anniversary of our center, we are looking for ways to fund more opportunities for children and families at the center. We decided to apply for a grant from Community First Credit Union. Here is the digital story I created to help let people know how important this work is:

I'm asking you to take a moment to help us. Please "like" our submission on facebook, to help us win. The "like" button is below the entry.

Do you have something similiar you are doing in your school? How is it funded? I would love to hear your ideas! Thanks friends!

One of the most popular technology trainings we have ever done at our school was Speedgeeking. Speedgeeking is a great way to showcase several different technology tools in a short amount of time. It is also one of the most entertaining trainings we do. You can revisit my post from last year's session to get the break down on how we set it up because it worked so well we used the exact same format.

Last year, my technology team and I focused on tools for teachers to use with students. This year we wanted to focus more on tools teachers could use themselves. We have had so many people ask us about this training, we tried to capture as much of it as we could for you to see. Nothing fancy, just real teachers having fun, learning and sharing with the peers in an imaginative way.

Introduction: Done in the media center where we explain format and split up in groups.

Speedgeeking Intro from Melissa Ross on Vimeo.

Sessions: Where they rotate to the rooms where the tools are taught
JAMENDO

Jamendo from Melissa Ross on Vimeo.

WYLIO

BIG HUGE LABS

Big Huge Labs from Melissa Ross on Vimeo.

SYMBALOO

SKYPE

Skype from Melanie Holtsman on Vimeo.

My technology team really owned this for the second year in a row. These are full time classroom teachers that only meet with me one morning a month and then endure my emails the rest of the time. :) A big thank you goes to them for teaching the sessions, planning and organizing and this year...FILMING so you could learn from them as well.

Our review from the faculty was done in the same cheeky way as last year. You can see the results here.
We would love to hear what you think and to get your ideas for topics we could possibly use for next year....speedgeeking, the trilogy!

When I first heard of the 365 photo project, which consists of taking a photo each day and posting it, I thought it was interesting. I enjoyed looking at the photos being shared on twitter and enjoyed perusing the 365 groups on flickr. As a mom with young children, there are many times I wished I had a camera ready to snap a cute moment. So in 2009 I gave the project a try ...and fizzled out.

But what I discovered from looking at my colleagues pictures on flickr is that I really enjoyed looking at how moments were captured; composition, lighting and expressions. I found myself continuing to keep a camera with me at all times and photographing moments and images I never had before. I decided to trade my point and shoot camera for a DSLR and a love affair with photography truly began. I couldn't wait to begin the next year with a new 365 project.

So here I am proudly sharing my first completed 365 project. You can look at them all individually here where I have written a little description for most of them, but what I really looked forward to doing was putting my completed project into a video like my friend Dean does. What I noticed while putting them together is that my photos really do tell the story of my year. They show my life as a mother, aunt, teacher, friend, reader, shopper, Floridian, Disney fan and most of all, photographer. I hope you enjoy watching. :)

Melanie's 365/2010 project from Melanie Holtsman on Vimeo.

Ok, this is exactly why I needed the blog challenge. I need a post to be burning under my feet to get written. Even if I'm running late getting it up I am thinking about it constantly and crafting it in my head. (Over a MONTH late!) So, on that note, better late than never....here are my thoughts on thankfulness.

I am thankful most of all for all of the things I should be thankful for, my beautiful family, God, my job, friends, etc. I don't mean to belittle those things, because they are BIG things, but this year I tried to think a little further about things I take for granted.

The first thing that came to mind was simple: health. For the past 2 months I have watched my mother undergo radiation and chemotherapy for throat cancer. We have been blessed that they found it early enough to treat and she has a good prognosis for recovery. But during the treatment it has been difficult. I have been reminded to be thankful for small things we take for granted with our health... being able to swallow easy, a sense of taste, energy to get up in the morning, healthy skin and having the luxury of hair on our head.

I have also been reminded to be thankful for having a mother still walking on this earth.