Monthly Archives: December 2013

You Should Follow – Number 7

Note: I REALLY want to keep up with the #365greattweep recommendations, and I REALLY feel like a blog post should accompany each recommendation. I’m just not good at blogging every day. I started this series in October and am only now picking it back up.

So… I will have 365 recommendations, but it might take me more than a year to finish them all. (Better than not doing them, right?)

 

Summer Howarth

I started following Summer on Twitter a couple of years ago and then met her at ISTE12 in San Diego. She is instantly likable, and her passion for education and kids is really contagious.

Summer is fearless – she jumps at opportunities to share what she is learning and pushes herself to broaden her experiences. As an Australian enamored with the junk food of America, she also willingly ate cheese from a can. (That’s more bravery than I can muster.)

I don’t know if a person’s name influences his/her personality or not, but Summer seems like pure sunshine to me. Sorry for such a sappy phrase –  but if you know her, you understand.

Summer blogs at A View From the Middle and tweets as edusum.

Homework from Dean

This was the post that was supposed to be fun, light-hearted, and published last weekend. Something else happened. And another blog post was written. This one stayed in Draft for a while.

 

It’s ok to be silly sometimes. There are days when being an educator is uplifting and purpose-filled. And there are some days when I feel like we all take ourselves so very seriously. Levity can be freeing and much needed… and that’s why I’m participating in this “silly” meme.

On top of that, I love learning about the people from whom I learn. Sometimes, knowing that “he” is a dog lover or that “she” is a Phillies fan helps us to make deeper connections with each other. That is a very good thing.

I don’t do a very good job of balancing professional and personal, nor do I take time often enough to just think about fun for me.

So…

Dean tagged me.

11 Random Facts About Myself

  1. When I’m nervous, I talk. A. LOT. Sometimes, I make sense, and sometimes, I don’t. My apologies if you have ever been subjected to that from me. 
  2. I’m socially awkward. Meeting new people can be stressful for me. I don’t know how to end conversations, and awkward silences make me really nervous. (see #1)
  3. When my parents used to leave the house to run errands, I would play the piano and sing. One day, they came home and “discovered” my musical talent. They forced me to sing in church and try out for music activities in school. I eventually majored in music.
  4. My years in music and performing on stage have contributed greatly to my ability to speak in front of large groups of people. Also the reason most people don’t realize I’m awkward and shy.
  5. I used to play in a women’s golf league. We played 9 holes every Monday night in the spring/summer. My best net score- due to a very high handicap- was 19. Par was 36.
  6. In high school, I had mono for 2 years.
  7. I have a paralyzing fear of heights.
  8. I love dogs, and dogs love me. Friends call me a dog whisperer.
  9. I have a specific coffee cup for Saturdays and a different one for Sundays. I don’t use them for any other day but the “designated” day.
  10. I have to be in the mood to eat chocolate, and that doesn’t happen very often.
  11. I would rather be somewhere really cold than somewhere warm. I’m happiest when outside temps are between 0 and 40F (-17 and 4C). Anything over 65F/18C makes me a little cranky.

Questions from Dean:

  1. How do you feel about pants? Overrated, but necessary in public.
  2. What was the last movie you saw in a theatre? Catching Fire.
  3. Where are your car keys? In a box by my front door.
  4. What time is it? 8:30pm.
  5. What’s the last tweet you favorited? Roberto Luongo’s Ugly Christmas Sweater tweet with Ryan Kesler (Canucks)
  6. Outside of your immediate family, which relative do you like to spend time with? Hard to choose, since I have a great family. If I had to choose, my nieces and nephews.
  7. Have you ever been to Saskatchewan? Not yet. I have a goal to visit every Canadian province in the next 5 years.
  8. How long did it take you to walk to school as a kid? The longest walk was about 30 -45 minutes. 
  9. Besides you,  blogger should I be paying attention to? http://thejourneyisthegoal.wordpress.com/ by @backcountrynut
  10. Name one golf course. Torrey Pines.
  11. What’s your favorite Seinfeld episode or line? “Well, if it isn’t Chesty LaRue!”

Now It’s Your Turn!

  1. Carol McLaughlin
  2. Sean Beaton
  3. Laurel Beaton
  4. Deirdre Bailey
  5. Kristina Peters
  6. Dan Roberts – The ChickenMan
  7. Michelle Hiebert
  8. Rafranz Davis
  9. Jamie Fath
  10. Christine Ruder
  11. Brent Catlett
  12. I know this is 12… but if you’re reading this and want to participate, I want to know more about you.

 

Questions for You:

  1. What’s the happiest thing you can think of? 
  2. What DO you want to be when you grow up?
  3. Favorite Monty Python quote?
  4. What’s the worst time zone?
  5. Do you have any weird food issues? Describe.
  6. Describe the scene in front of you right now.
  7. How many books are you currently reading? Which ones?
  8. Tell me something you’re proud of yourself for doing/being, but too modest to “toot your own horn.”
  9. If you could make up a name for yourself or change your name, what would it be?
  10. Who is someone you wish more people knew about on Twitter and/or blogs?
  11. What is your favorite education story from your experience?

 

Here’s how it works:

  1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger.
  2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
  3. Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
  4. List 11 bloggers.
  5. Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer, and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. Don’t nominate a blogger who has nominated you.

Post back here with a link after you write this. 

Coping

I have at least 5 blogs posts ready to publish right now, but this is the one I need to post.

This probably will be my least cohesive/coherent post, and I apologize for that. This one is just for me. To process. And to cope.

 

1. On Friday, while we were ensuring our students were safe, my thoughts scrambled all over the place:

  • Arapahoe HS is just over and down the street from us. We have former students there. We have siblings of our students who attend that school. We have friends who teach there. Keep it together.
  • You have a job to do and protocol to follow. Thank God for that.
  • Keep calm. The kids are reading you, and they need to feel safe.
  • Remind the kids that they are safe.
  • The faces of the people I know at Arapahoe keep appearing in front of me. I need to become unfeeling and “automatic” for a little while, so I can keep it together. Having protocol and well-defined procedures helps with that.
  • How many more times will this happen in my career as an educator?

 

2. After details surface the next day, my thoughts are still rather scrambled, but also weary.

  • My heart is so, so heavy for the families of the injured students. For Claire. For the family of the boy who walked into that school with a gun. For the students and staff who experienced it all. For the community who will begin the long process of attempting to heal.
  • I worry that speculation and the need to blame will cause more problems than do any good.
  • Nearly 3 years ago, I sat locked in an office with about 25 kindergartners wondering the same things as I am today. Feeling the same things I felt on Friday. A friend was lost that day. Another friend was critically hurt. More friends affected. I can imagine that they are reliving that day all over again… as are countless others who have gone through the exact same thing.

 

3. Last night, at a company event, my husband shared this with his co-workers:

  • “As a teacher, she knows more people who have been killed or injured on the job than I do.”
  • He’s a former marine.

 

4. There are a lot of people want to attribute tragedies to “evil.”

  • What happened at Columbine was “evil.”
  • What happened on September 11th, 2001 was “evil.”
  • What happened at the Toronto mall, the Omaha Westroads mall, Millard South High School,  the Aurora theater, Sandy Hook, and numerous other tragic events…  was “evil.”
  • (I’m not linking to those events. Most of you don’t need me to do so, because you’re well aware of them. That fact is tragic.)
  • When we assign “evil” to these things, I feel we stop trying to DO ANYTHING ABOUT THEM. It takes the responsibility off our shoulders and blames some unseen demon, some “badness” in the world.
  • Speculation is maddening… before details are even released, people assume they know what is going on. This is almost as bad as misplaced blame.
  • Misinformation is spread like wildfire. Don’t fuel that.

 

5. I know that the main focus for a lot of people will be on gun control.

  • I don’t own a gun, and I’m not going to take a stand one way or the other here. 
  • I DO want to know how a child (18 yrs old is still a child) is able to purchase a gun several months after being suspended for  threatening someone’s life. (if the facts are wrong about these details, I will immediately correct them. This is what I know from reports so far.)
  • I don’t know that there was any bullying in this case. From personal accounts I won’t share, it doesn’t seem to be the case.
  • After the shootings in Aurora and Sandy Hook, more people started talking about mental health care. Social services. Has anything changed?

 

6. I have to focus on myself right now, right this very minute – not because ANY of this is about me – but because I need to process and cope before I walk into our school tomorrow. Before I sit with my students and help them return to as much normalcy as I can give them. Before we enter the week of many events where we’ll celebrate Christmas. And joy. And love. That’s what they need from me this week.

 

For anyone affected by Friday, my heart is with you. My prayers are with you. Maybe you were there. Maybe you had to relive another event all over again. I pray that you have someone to help you through your own method of coping.