Ready or not, here comes the 2011-12 school year: welcome back students and teachers!

Starting tomorrow, it will be the first day of school for all students and teachers in the State of Florida. Some districts started last week but most will start tomorrow. I want to take this time to wish everyone: students, teachers, all other school staff, and parents, a successful and fulfilling school year! Every school year starts off with promise and hope. I know that  I always make promises on what I am going to do better and improve at the beginning of every school year, sounds just like a “new years” resolution of sorts, doesn’t ? Last school year, for example, I talked to my co worker Mark Keith about how I was going to give myself more time in the office so I could get my paperwork done on time and not let myself get overwhelmed. I also decreed that I was going to work on more projects. Well before that school year ended, I started booking trips for the 2011-12 school year…. So much for spending time in the office and getting paperwork done on time, right?! I am not complaining, this just means I have to reexamine my “new school years resolution”, now doesn’t it?? Humm let me think about that one for a bit….

 My biggest problem is not being able to say “no” . If I get a call from a district…I drop everything I am doing and go where I am needed. Thank goodness I have an understanding husband. He has always been supportive of my work and encourages me to do better. After we got married (5 years ago!) he told me that he didn’t expect me to stop traveling because we were married. All I can say is that I truly am lucky to have him in my life. It also helps that I have an understanding supervisor who “gets it”. Again, I am truly lucky.

With that said, I want to share this article from Krista Ramsey from my hometown newspaper the Cincinnati Enquirer: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110818/COL01/108190332/Note-teachers-Thanks-loving-our-kids?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Columnists|p

Till next time!

The swing of the pendulum: getting ready for change

The one thing that I have learned over the years is that the more I know about my field, the less I know…what do I mean by that? Well, it seems that just when I grasp and understand the new changes that are thrown my way; it changes yet again, no time for the “old, new way to gel” in the brain. The old, new way of doing things is out and passé. For example, I went to a training not too long ago (last school year).. This was a follow up to a training that was offered at the end of the 2010 school year…Well, come to find out that everything we learned that previous year is being thrown out and new initiatives are being introduced. Soooo, what we did last year is no longer any good and  we have to start all over again with new assessments this year…which by the way will be out dated next year.

Speaking to a veteran teacher whom I admire, she told me that this happened to her many (I leave it at the one many) years ago. She too, went to many professional development opportunities and tried to implement what she learned in her trainings with her students…the next year, she said everything she learned  was “out” and something new and cutting edge was in, only she said that this “cutting edge” way of doing things was not new, it was done in the previous decade and she noted that  some of these “new, old” ideas are being brought back again in this century.  So, I must ask: Isn’t that insanity?  And we all know the definition of that!

This reminds me of what we were told recently  by the experts about nutrition… for example as a child my parents made me drink skim milk and eat wheat bread…now, I  come to  find out that skim milk is not good for you. Great, so all this time, I have been doing more harm to myself then good for the sake of being healthy. I guess I should have stuck with my original plan…the chocolate/bacon diet…instead of being unhealthy and unhappy by drinking skim milk and eating wheat bread, I could have had chocolate and bacon and a healthy heart. Oh, and had more fun getting this way. Not to worry, as far as I know I have a healthy heart but still. I heard that chocolate cancels out the bad cholesterol of the bacon-no not really. This goes to show that the more we learn, the less we know.  Confused yet? I know I am!? Hang in there, I am sure it has to get better, right!?!?!

I am currently working on a wiki space for itinerant teachers who work with blind or visually impaired students. I just finished my outline and will be putting together the pieces one day at a time. I hope to have something up and running by the end of the week.I will also post my first I-movie I made using my I pad. I'll keep you posted on the release date for that as well

By the way, the beginning of the 2011-12 school year begins: T (being for teachers): T- 4 more works days for teachers.  S( for students) it is 8 more school days (that does not include weekends) so that would be: S-8 days. I guess this is my sad attempt at embracing Math(see last post)  So, teacher and students savor what is left of this very hot summer…go to the beach, swim, eat chocolate- bacon flavored ice-cream or what ever makes you happy. I plan on enjoying spending time with my two nieces and playing auntie! 

Math the other four letter word.. and other musings

I had the opportunity to attend the Florida Diagnostic & Learning Resource System (FDLRS) Region 2's Summer Institute that featured Judi Sweeney as the speaker, she is the founder of Onion Mountain Technology a firm that specializes in assistive technology for all students. Her workshop on this day was about Math and Technology. First off, I want to go on record to say that Math is not my favorite subject and have yet to meet a teacher with whom I work that gets real excited about teaching this subject to their students. Math is a four letter word that I tend to avoid if possible...The only thing Math it is good for is helping me balance my check book which is by no means an easy task.

Anyway, I digress back to Judi's workshop. Siting there freezing, in dread , and afraid she was going to talk about quadratic equations or the Pythagorean  Theorem ,  I found myself fascinated by her presentation. She didn't focus on the M-word  and the national standards all that much but instead on the different types of learning styles, eye movements and how we process information...Brain based learning.It was so interesting and it applied to some of what I do when administering a Learning Media Assessment that determines how a student access information be it visual, auditory or kinesthetic/tactile(tactically for the Brailler reader). Did you know that 50% of people are are hardwired to be  visual learners, 20%  of the people are auditory and 30% of the people are kinesthetic/tactile  learners. I find this fascinating since I work with children who are blind or visually impaired and many of the children are visual learners.

She also discussed the various types of low tech devices to assist a student in math. I think sometimes, I forget and think that if it is technology then it has to be "high"tech and expensive-the bigger the better! Not true as I have found out this past school year a simple pencil and a piece of paper can be technology. Oh, I also found out from this workshop that I am a visual symbolic learner...I should be good at...yes, you guess it,  Math!

I have also been working with my braille note taker The Braille Sense. At the recommendation of the LATS, I managed to get a computer monitor to hook up to my device. Again, visual learner here and I need all the help I can get with learning how to use the Braille Sense... The monitor made all the difference and has made it so much easier to navigate the different menus, create documents and even check my emails or surf the web. Look out facebook here I come via the Braille Sense!!  This device is helping me refresh and remember Braille.

With my I pad, I also made a couple of i movies. I am still waiting to down load  my movie debut "Eye Heart the Ipad 2: Embracing Technology . When making this short film, I discovered how to laid down some music tracks, a voice track, some sound effects and take screen shots to use  for images in the film. Sure the short film is "campy" but it was fun to make and helped me understand just how use this tool. My second attempt at the movie was even better"Mainland 2.0" and even more "campy". I can't wait to show some of the teachers how to use this with their students

Well as summer wraps up, more and more people are on campus everyday. Most of our team is back and is getting ready for the school year. In a few short weeks, we will be all over the place.