Sunday, November 23, 2014

Attitude of Gratitude


My attitude of gratitude is slow going.  It is difficult to appreciate people who seem to work against you, but I am being more open-minded about it.  I am still enjoying my classes through GCC and I am taking all that I am learning and applying it as a I interact with a very diverse group of students, colleagues, parents, and community members.

I was very grateful to be a fly on the wall on Thursday.  The G+ Community has been just wonderful to be a part of and I happened upon a poetry group who was delivering through hangouts.  Young at Art is in Conneticut and works with students at Manchester High School.  Manchester's Technology Coach posted about HOA with the poetry group and we have a wonderful group of our own here.  Lyrikal Storm is both a non-profit group and school group who works with students through Spoken Word.  A mere few minutes of tech set up on hangouts on our end and then.....voila!! Lyrikal Storm was watching Manchester High students deliver and then our students at Parkdale took their turns. the culminating activity included each founder introducing their respective poetry groups and then the students got to share a bit about themselves.  The most important ??:  What is your favorite cereal?

What a powerful experience for students at both schools!!  

Young at Art           Lyrikal Storm


        

Family Traditions I miss from Thanksgiving



My great-grandmother complaining about a newfangled dish that my grandmother introduces.

My mother eating way too much and laying in the middle of the floor with her pants unbuttoned.

My sister, Penny (deceased), and I cooking together and drinking too much spiked egg nog.


Back-Log: Book I am Grateful for...



I am very grateful for a book I read for an Aesthetics class I am taking.

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

There are no words in this book and it tells a powerful story

I will not ruin it by sharing my thoughts, but rather encourage others to explore it.



Saturday, November 15, 2014

Tech Tools: GRATEFUL


Time for Myself



I was one of those teachers who never missed work unless I was practically on my death bed.  I have come to realize that the world will not stop if I am not at work and that I must value my time off.

Leave is not to abuse....but USE IT!  I need mental health days, time to get things done that pertain to my personal life, and that I should not feel guilty taking a day here and there.  I also use my leave to attend professional development and that is a part of time for myself.


Stretching, meditation (still working on this), and pleasure reading are all a part of time for myself.

I also have started walking with students and co-workers as a part of a long-term service project.  Although it is at work, the walking gives me time to myself as I listen to music on my phone and get two miles in.

I love dancing to House music.  I enter my own world through this genre and it just frees me.  My favorite DJs are JaBig (in Canada), Osunlade (in Greece), John Crockett (in New Jersey) and my local favorite is Sam the man Burns.

PAMPERING: massages, pedicures, manicures, and facials all a part of time for myself

VACATION:  I love to get away....time permitting during the school year

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Grateful for...Bitter Sweet

Picture above is of me graduating from college!


Grateful for my sister...we are 14 months apart and as close as ever

Grateful for my daughter.  This is my mom holding her.  Savannah is 7 now!



Sunday, November 9, 2014

Attitude of Gratitude

What I am learning from GCC Program:


I have been a big fan of technology in my classroom.  Within the last two years, I have explored how to use social media for professional growth.  As a result of being on Twitter, I found the Newseum’s Summer Institute Opportunity.  My only complaint about the Institute was that it was too short.  I wanted to spend more time.  However, I am fortunate to reside in DC and will take my students on a fieldtrip to the Newseum in December.  My time there was spent with a wonderful group of educators who are just as passionate as I am.  The Institute’s Museum Educators prepared, delivered, and implemented some of by the best 21st century professional development I had received in a very long time.    

Additionally, while using LinkedIn, I found yet another opportunity to grow myself as a globally competent educator through a chance encounter with Jennifer Lofing.  After an informational webinar about the program, I knew that this was a ‘can’t miss’ opportunity. 

Columbia University (Teacher’s College more specifically), World Savvy, and Asia Society have partnered to create a unique program to support the transformation process.  This is the first cohort of the program and I am excited to be a part of it.  I am challenged daily by supportive and expert professors in the own fields.  William Gaudelli (Introduction to Global Competence) and Deidre Combs (Dialoguing in Global Education) have led us through topics, readings, and discussions that involve both theory and practice requiring us to reflect and grapple about who we practitioners in the classroom, but also about our identities in daily lives as parents, family members, children, and community members.  I definitely feel I a getting a real dose of what my International Baccalaureate students endure (at the graduate level) as our explorations are interdisciplinary and require an understanding of multiple perspectives.

I would be remiss if I did not highlight the awesome educators who are in this first cohort with me.  They are from all over the world as my colleagues are in San Francisco, New York, Utah, and the United Kingdom (to mention a few).  Our discussion boards are lively!  I feel comfortable taking risks when posing questions to classmates or sharing information about myself.  My Skype sessions with my classmate in Utah, Margot, have been invaluable.  We recently discussed bias and language.  Margot serves on the diversity committee at her school and talked about the novel approach of dialogue dinners with teachers, parents, students, and community members.  My e-discussion with Margot prompted an hour-long discussion with two students in my class about identity. 

I look forward to my continual learning, reflection, and refinement of my own practices.  And I especially am looking forward to the fieldwork and Capstone projects that are a part of the GCC certificate.  I have a teacher pen-pal in Uganda and I am crossing my fingers that I will get to meet him in person while conducting my fieldwork for the program.  I have learned so much from him as a result of our inter-cultural communication through ePals and Facebook.  

My professor for Dialoguing in Global Education has written a book and I am hoping to apply many of her teachings from the book and in the class to use with students and colleagues.