Just Thinking

It's for your Tooth Fairy!

2011-12-29T18:57:00.005-06:00

Matthew, a bright little 1st grader with a shock of red hair and freckles to match, walked up to the circulation desk at the busiest time of day. He was clutching a baggie with my name scrawled across it--misspelled in red marker. It contained some bills and coins. Since we had just finished the book fair I figured he was bringing me money to pay for something he bought and that I had paid

Timberlake Christian Church Youth worked like dawgs!

2011-07-10T19:57:00.002-05:00

Timber Lake(function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();What makes working with teens so is fun? It has been a while since I was a high school librarian, but it

Ripening Summer at the West Nasvhville Farmer's Market

2011-07-03T16:39:00.004-05:00

Saturday morning and a real farmer's market. Not the giant one downtown which has farmers from Kentucky, North Carolina and other nearby states, but one that has farmers and growers that are right here in Nashville.I found three of my children from school, or rather they found me. There was a singer, folks doing yoga, makers of natural herbal soaps, lotions and other things in addition to food/

Inch by Inch, Row by Row, Gonna Watch the Garden Grow!

2011-06-29T09:37:00.003-05:00

Green with envy was I yesterday as I visited my friend's garden. Joann has been using Bokashi in her composting and her church has created a community garden. O.K. I know that I have a lot less experience and our children and parents do also --- but that is what a garden is really about growing and learning as we do so.When Tennessee Volunteer Gardener contacted us to be part of a program on

Hands Down Great Cooks--160 Aprons say so!

2011-05-30T09:08:00.003-05:00

You never know when you make a small contribution to a conversation what can happen! That is how I felt Saturday as adult volunteers put the finishing touches on the 160 aprons for the cafeteria workers in Metro Nashville Public Schools with school gardens.How did I get into the business of producing aprons? It was the outgrowth of a comment I made at a Nashville School Garden Network meeting.

Salad for 500

2011-05-14T09:44:00.016-05:00

The thought of preparing strawberry spinach-salad for 500 was daunting. Luckily I have people! Martha Stamps, chef extraordinaire, was consulted for a recipe for dressing that young tastes would welcome! Her husband, Shayne of Good food for Good People was able to find a flat of locally grown strawberries. The two of them gave me courage to believe that I could carry it off.Garden helpers

REAL SCIENCE for REAL KIDS - a school garden

2010-12-11T10:17:00.006-06:00

In order to understand why a library would sponsor a school garden, you must have some idea about why school libraries exist.We support the curriculum, and helping kids become independent readers, but far more than that we support the ultimate goal of formal education; to create life-long learners who are curious and able to develop answers to their own curiosity! Since much of what happens in

I didn't know grown-ups did that

2010-10-15T23:22:00.007-05:00

At dismissal I stand at the door making sure children don't leave the building before their parents cars pull up to a full stop. We use a park bench to hold one of the doors open as the cars move in a rhythm established by teachers who direct their movement in a ballet that lets us load cars with children in just 15 minutes.As the time stretches on I sit on that "doorstop." Since I injured my

The World is sort of FLAT & Cuba is next to Africa

2010-10-09T09:55:00.009-05:00

4th graders had just arrived to do "research." They each had an explorer. I had created WebPages at various reading levels (3 & 4) that answered all the questions their teacher had given them. I wanted to insure their success and believed the WebPages would make their reading easier. Each page had two graphics - a portrait of the explorer and a map showing their explorations.Admittedly, the

Race to Nowhere......

2010-09-11T00:29:00.015-05:00

"If you haven't noticed, the parameters of public education are changing. Gone is the day of hourlong lectures that cover basic academics. Gone are the expectations that teachers only teach academics. gone are the standards that left Tennessee students among the lowest performing in the nation.Now is the time for us to teach relevant, real-world skills that will keep students engaged in

Creating a world as you like it!

2010-07-30T17:27:00.003-05:00

The chair, which for centuries was accessible to tourists at Westminster Abbey to sit in and touch, with its carved initials from thousands of tourists over

Asking the right questions...

2010-06-06T19:48:00.004-05:00

Two books that I am reading this summer are coming together in an unexpected way. Diane Ravitch's The Life and Death of American Education and Jim Wallis' book Rediscovering Values are about seemingly very different topics, but as always the reader makes the meaning and I am finding that they share much in common.Ravitch, one of the early education reformers, has concluded that not only were

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane: Insights from young readers

2010-05-21T21:04:00.010-05:00

"How come they haven't made Edward Tulane into a movie." These and other questions and insights bubbled up from 2-4th graders. It was the last Lunch Bunch of the year. Lunch Bunch is an Oprah-style book club that we hold each month during the school year on a book chosen by students. I had no expectation that students would be able to carry on a conversation at all since we are at the end of the

Travel Fun....map

2010-04-28T19:37:00.002-05:00

I just tried out a new website with lots of cool stuff for geeky folk like me. It lets you create a map that shows where you have been or where you are going......Where I have beenMake yours @ BigHugeLabs.comHere is the web address....http://www.bighugelabs.com/

2010-04-26T17:40:00.003-05:00

One of the things Mr. Duncan said, was how excited he was about “young, new teachers.” I find young new teachers exciting also, but what about those of us who are seasoned, who have ridden some of the waves of change and reform? Education’s problems have never been solved by getting rid of everyone who is over 30! When I first finished my Masters, and encountered resistance to change, I remember

2010-04-24T10:53:00.000-05:00

Following Dean as he went to earn his Phd. I found myself in a small district in West Texas. I stood in the middle of a “library” that clearly offered many opportunities for my gifts, with a group of teachers and administrators who were promising to give me the tools I needed to make a difference in this school library! It was an offer I couldn’t refuse! I never looked back toward a classroom

The more things change part I

2010-04-20T06:07:00.007-05:00

Last weekend I watched Education Secretary Arne Duncan discuss the state of American Education. You can take a look for yourself at what he said at the following link -- Mr. Duncan's remarks generated a lot of thought for me, and my response is too long for a tweet, too long for one single blog post.....so if you are curious after reading todays post, you will have to return daily to see what I

Who am I and how did I get here?

2010-04-11T14:11:00.007-05:00

Yesterday, I found myself searching for a pair of Crocs (those plastic shoes that are great for summer gardening). For some reason the shoes, once available at most stores, were illusive. I found myself at Greenhills Mall here in Nashville. Unlike the mall nearer my home, which is struggling to survive and lacks any clear understanding of who their consumers are, Greenhills caters to a wealthy

What would Jesus Read?

2010-03-10T21:21:00.006-06:00

Some days you know you are where you belong! A week of Dr. Seuss Fun, thanks to teachers who support Read Across America! Then this afternoon as I was heading to "car duty" I noticed one 1st grade student at the computers. "I've got to do dismissal," I said. "But I have to take this test," he wailed. "If I don't I'm gonna get a spankin'!"I told him to let me do dismissal and then come back to the

Another new thing...or is it?

2010-02-28T19:11:00.004-06:00

Friday afternoon at school our leadership team met with Dr. John Norris, a consultant to our school district's central office. He brought encouraging news of a new process to help our district reach its educational goals. He made a point of noting the fact that it is a process rather than a product. This is a real change in a district that spent a lot of time and money seeking silver-bullet

With what shall we come before the Lord?....with rivers of pennies

2010-01-22T21:05:00.012-06:00

The library smelled of hot chocolate, marshmellows, and homemade brownines....crystal snowflakes hung from the ceiling and the monitors flashed a deep blue with snowfalling and a snowman doffing his hat in its center. Some children sat at the tables decorated with frosty blue and silver arrangements enjoying their treats, while the other half sat at the computers designing virtual snowflakes with

Thoughts for the new year....prophets or profits....

2010-01-07T10:56:00.010-06:00

Each day last week I used State-of-the-Union Addresses from history as the interesting fact of the day. Some of these speeches remind me of the Old Testament prophets. January 6, 1941, was FRD when he gave his famous speech about the four freedoms. He spoke about what everyone (not just Americans) should have. "In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a worldfounded

Passports, Bags and International travel

2009-12-05T19:47:00.006-06:00

Bitting cold has driven a choreographed flock of twittering birds to the tree outside my window. They gleen juniper berries and are gone with the sound of fluttering wings. How do they know where to search for and find food? They remind me that in their own way they are filled with hope and faith. Hope -- that there will be a nutritious reward along the way and faith that they will find it! The

"This was the best tea party I've ever attended!"

2009-11-14T20:54:00.005-06:00

Four moms and one librarian worked to make a memory in the library today. High tea was served on linen and china! Kids were treated to the real thing - High Tea. 150 of them who had met their reading goals for the first 9 weeks were escorted into the library which was transformed into a tea room. Little girls wore their hats and gloves and several of the boys wore their ties and vests along

Wonder, Eccentricity and the Library

2009-10-09T22:08:00.013-05:00

When most people think of librarians they think of stacks of books, people who walk about speaking in hushed tones smelling faintly of moth balls, wearing reading glasses, with pencils stuck in their mousy buns. That image and my experience with librarians who valued order over people was why it took me a long time to finally admit that I was a librarian! Still, after all these years, people are

Learning to live with blessings and courses!

2009-09-19T09:38:00.004-05:00

As someone who embraces technology and has used it throughout my adult life, I recognize that it follows the pattern established by God in Deuteronomy where he places both blessings and curses in our paths. With every new blessing there are ways we can use them that bring on curses!The blessings of technology are easy to spot. Access to so much information, staying in contact with people,

Hummers and health care......the Zen of manure!

2009-09-17T09:39:00.007-05:00

My father taught me always to make every job, no matter how menial, into something that I was attentive to. His favorite example of how to do this was mucking out the stable on his brother's ranch. Shoveling manure was not something he looked forward to, but it was necessary. When I close my eyes I can see him and hear his voice as clearly as though he were sitting next to me today. "Always try

Assault on Truth

2009-09-05T10:11:00.002-05:00

My return to America was as culturally shocking as my arrival in Europe two months earlier! I returned to a country where anger had utterly replaced discourse. It seemed that every day newer and more preposterous accounts of what was in the emergent congressional health care legislation was reported in news media lending credibility where none was deserved. Please read the article in AARP's

Toto, there is no place like home......

2009-07-26T23:31:00.001-05:00

Doolin to the end.Our journey to Doolin took a couple of detours. We stopped to have lunch and somehow, because we were in a hurry to get to the Burren left Kathy's chair and a gift behind at the pub. We got about 20 miles down the road, before it hit me that we had not loaded her chair! Finding a place to turn around is not as easy as it might seem in Ireland. Like England the roads are

2009-07-26T06:41:00.003-05:00

A sky -- filled up with clouds-- blue and white clouds, patches of blue, cauliflower clouds, gray-violet clouds, and a landscape that could only be found this side of heaven on the Emerald Isle. There is a peculiar atmospheric event here that I have never seen before. I don't know how to describe it clearly, but I'll try. I saw it and couldn't take my eyes from it. It was as though a single chunk

Things happen in threes

2009-07-23T17:46:00.003-05:00

The journey from Edinburgh began at 6:15 at the train station near our hotel. It was too early for there to be kitchen staff --- so we had "breakfast to go" fruit and a scone in a bag with coffee in a "take-away" cup.Things seemed to be going well when we were met at the station to be assisted to the platform --- we were taken to a new lift. (1)Unfortunately the new lift didn't work.....and they

2009-07-22T17:06:00.003-05:00

The trip to Edinburgh was pleasant enough and speedy......until we got about 50 miles from the city and started to look for a place to spend the night! We found several places in the shadow of a large nuclear plant --- Seeing nuclear plant towers was a bit unnerving so we drove on. The problem was that in a strange country you have no idea where to find the streets on which lodging is likely to

2009-07-22T16:49:00.002-05:00

Isle of Skye

2009-07-20T16:37:00.002-05:00

We left early in the morning after a British Breakfast (eggs, toast, bacon (which is more like ham) grilled tomato and mushroom, and cereal of choice. Another feature of the British Breakfast is the practice of toast bits (they fry small pieces of toast in butter --- and many also always have baked beans and 'sausage; which is really more like our wieners than sausage. They also serve "black

Wordsworth & Beatrix Potter Lived Here!

2009-07-20T16:29:00.002-05:00

We headed for the Lake District in heavy rain and wind. The roadways were puddling up, especially on the B roads that we were routed over until we reached the A66. There were may places we crossed that had water deeper than I would normally drive through if it were moving, but it was just standing water, so I prayed to the car gods to keep us from stalling out and drove on.We reached Keswich by

Evensong at Yorkminster

2009-07-20T15:08:00.003-05:00

Sun spilled onto the carpet this morning this morning making a puddle of warmth for the first time in days. As I went to get the car a warm breeze carried the scent of mown clover and dare-I-say summer!? Summer was, however, short-lived since a front was moving in and it would be raining later. Cold maybe even gale-force winds from time to time by tomorrow morning the news said.We drove into

Cotswolds to York

2009-07-15T15:12:00.002-05:00

Monday, the third day of our road trip --- was mostly hard driving. We took the M5 (equivalent to I 40 or 10.) Most of the way we could go 70mph. So we made good time. We stopped and bought food in Glastonbury and then went to see the Abbey. This is a charming British village --- which has been taken over by new age people --- seemed a natural fit since this ancient site was a holy site before

2009-07-11T17:06:00.002-05:00

Cool breeze and cloudy skies greeted us as we left early for St. Paul's Cathedral. Younger and less impressive than the Gothic Cathedrals we have seen in other countries it has a completely different feel to it. It is only 300 years old ---having burned down several times. (However, the age issues is really not exactly true since it was first built in 603 A.D. and became ultimately ultimately

Kathy with the Knife in the Louvre Peidmont

2009-07-08T15:08:00.002-05:00

Weary from travel and arguing with the taxi driver about the scenic route to our hotel -- BW Louvre Piedmont..We dragged our baggage into the waiting room. All European hotels have teeny-tiny eleavators and this one was no exception. We folded the feet on the chair to make it smaller and pushed the elevator call button. It arrived and the steel door opened (usually there is a regular door that

The last time I saw Paris

2009-07-08T02:17:00.002-05:00

Light filtered in through the window at our balcony this morning and the cool breeze belied the heat of the day to come. Our little home in Nice will be a memory tomorrow in Paris. I opened the window and pulled the last things in which I had hung out from the laundry yesterday. Our balcony looks out onto a courtyard. The building opposite is partly renovated --with some apartments clearly

The beuty of the mundane - laundry and the kindness of strangers!

2009-07-07T02:39:00.002-05:00

Very humid and uncomfortable unless there was a breeze. Our arrival in Nice was late and we took a taxi to the hotel. After checking in we started looking for a place to eat. It is a bit of a struggle in a place where sea food is the most abundant of anywhere we have been....almost every place offers it in vast variety. Since Kathy is allergic we passed a number of places. We also must be careful

Como where Tsars and Kings vacationed

2009-07-06T03:03:00.002-05:00

We slept in --- I awoke at 8 and came down to the breakfast room. I asked at the desk for a converter for my computer --- the one I have doesn't work. Europe needs standardization of their electrical plugs -- my converter has worked in many places and in some not at all...so...I plugged in to get recharged. It is frustrating that the hotel charges $7.50 for an hour Internet connection and you

Trip to Como...what a trip!

2009-07-03T09:04:00.002-05:00

We left the ship around 10:00 a.m and caught a taxi to the train station. This Taxi charged us only 5.20 euro and took us by a direct route --- a refreshingly honest person!The gangplank to the ship exited on the 3rd deck and was remarkably like that you usually have on a plane. We crossed over into a modern building and took the elevator down to the ground floor where our cabin porter left our

24,000 Islands

2009-07-01T01:51:00.001-05:00

Sunrise was at 3:30 this morning. I wonder how people adjust to this. The sun was below the horizon, but not by much so that the horizon and sea never really grew distinct from one another. I now know when those two Kroyer paintings were executed --- It would have been just this time of year when the horizon, sea and sky seem to blend into one magnificent and ethereal color somewhere between

Helsinki

2009-06-29T01:06:00.001-05:00

We woke up late and headed into town around 10:30. Finland seemed clean and beautiful, but town was too far away to walk. We had to take the shuttle into the station and then began our walk to the Senate Square. The day is sunny and for Finland very warm. Usually it only gets this hot in mid July -- we are told. It is a comfortable 70+ degrees. Near the water was an open market where Finns were

Cathedrals of St. Petersburg

2009-06-29T01:02:00.000-05:00

We slept in this morning since the tour was not scheduled until the afternoon. I went up for breakfast and worked on the blog. I had two glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice....I am getting spoiled. The day is cloudy and not as warm as yesterday so even though it is Saturday there were no people on the beach as we passed. We arrived at the first Cathedral, the Cathedral of St. Issac. It is the

The Hermitage - St. Petersburg

2009-06-28T00:28:00.002-05:00

We arrived in the middle of the night...how apropos for a spy novel. How would snoopy begin...."It was a dark Moscow night." Of course it is not night here at this time of year....in St. Peterburg - formally Lenningrad. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be here! The local people call these the white-white days.....meaning that it is never truly dark. The sun dropped below the sea at

Tallinn Estonia

2009-06-26T23:48:00.001-05:00

A liesurely morning. I awoke at 8:00 a.m. and showered and headed to breakfast. I left Kathy sleeping and went to breakfast first ......COFFEE and FRESH SQUEEZED ORANGE JUICE were really enticing me. Then up to the Internet/Library to try to straighten out the situation....complex and irritating! I also checked out John Dean's new book -- Broken Government -- to read while we are at sea. We

At Sea in the Baltic

2009-06-26T22:50:00.001-05:00

This ship is much nicer than the one in the Mediterranean. Perhaps it is newer, Not that the other wasn't nice --- it was great, and the people were very attentive. One of the best things is having a big window to the outside world. Even though our view is of the lifeboat we can have natural light and we can see the condition of the sea. The cabin is a bit larger and the bathroom is luxurious in

Copenhagen to Berlin--out of order!! Should come before the last post

2009-06-25T01:17:00.001-05:00

We went down for breakfast in a traditional Danish dining room with warm woods all around us. There were real scrambled eggs not the kind we have been getting, but the kind that the chef breaks into a pan and cooks. It is strawberry season in Denmark and there were delicious berries and melons waiting along with strong Danish Coffee. This hotel was perfect -- only a couple of blocks from the

Leaving Berlin

2009-06-25T01:15:00.000-05:00

5:45 came early and I was grogy from the night of restless sleep. A hurried trip to the breakfast buffet and then off board to find the ICE to Berlin. The ticket booth was not open, but the tarin captain allowed us to get on. Soon we were flying past magnificent farming countryside in what used to be East Germany. It is difficult to think that just 20 years ago we could not have traveled here.

Saying Goodbye in Frankfurt

2009-06-21T17:05:00.002-05:00

We awakened early this morning and went down to breakfast. We wanted to have Matt at the airport in plenty of time--in case there was a problem. Ibis, even though it is only a 2 star hotel is really as nice or nicer than some of our 3 star accommodations have been. It is mostly a hotel chain that caters to tourists, tour buses and business people. Breakfast included the American classic (

Interlaken to Frankfurt

2009-06-20T04:48:00.002-05:00

Kathy was in bed last night by 9:30 so she was chipper and ready to go this morning at 6:00. She thought it was later than it was so I jumped up and finished getting packed and ready for the day. When we got down stairs it was only 6:30 -- Sometimes it is almost like she can run circles around me. At 6:45 they opened the breakfast room early for us....and we had our standard meal. Headed for the

To the top of Europe

2009-06-20T04:40:00.002-05:00

This day began in an easy way and ended being a bit stressful trying to make the multiple changes. You must reserve handicapped help 24 hours in advance, and of course when you change borders -- the reservation goes away. BUT you no longer know how to contact that handicapped access people. Therefore when we arrived at Brig we lost all the wonderful help. The good news is that in Switzerland

2009-06-20T04:40:00.000-05:00

A walk in the sky - Tuscany

2009-06-18T00:30:00.002-05:00

We slept in a bit and Kathy and Matt went to see David. I stayed and emptied my mailbox, checked my Face Book Page, and posted the blog while they were gone in the morning. I met them in the Piazza San Marco where I found them having coffee and coke at the little outdoor cafe. We caught a taxi to the train station (standard fee from our hotel to train station is 7-10 Euro)and then a tour through

Mea Culpa and Handicapped Access

2009-06-16T03:54:00.002-05:00

The hotel was beautiful and we had an excellent breakfast. HOWEVER, we learned when we got to the train station that we should have made our reservations to get across the track 24-hours in advance. I plead, quite truthfully, ignorance and the same woman who was so helpful yesterday relented and helped out. I got her name and hope to be able to write a thank you letter to her supervisor.The

San Marco and Pagentry

2009-06-15T02:46:00.003-05:00

We got up at about 7:00 a.m.-- the church bells of Rome awakened me! We went down for a breakfast of cereal and juice as well as a couple of pastries with cheese or some packaged biscuits. I love the way they serve food in Europe. There is always linen on the table and always china --- no plastic. An older lady brought a pot of coffee to the table with a cream pitcher filled with frothy hot milk.

From Luxury to Reality

2009-06-15T02:42:00.003-05:00

Had Kathy felt better we could have taken a free shuttle and then walked four blocks to the train station. Instead it cost 20 Euro for the cab to the train station Although she is better this morning she clearly doesn't feel up to to great a challenge. When we arrived at the station we learned that we would need a train that says Roma T (Rome is the terminus). AND in addition we needed one that

Corfu and the last day....aboard..

2009-06-12T15:20:00.002-05:00

We used tender boats to go on shore These are smaller vessels used to transport people from a big ship to the port if the ship cannot dock for some reason. -- Corfu is a large island and looked very much like San Diego as we were bused to the beach. I had been scheduled to go on a tour of the island, but there was a strike of the guides so no tours were operating. The young woman who waited on

Days at Sea

2009-06-12T15:18:00.000-05:00

The cruise was punctuated with days at sea. This is a reflection on several, rather than individual entries.A school of dolphins came up next ot the bow of the ship and dove out of the water. The water was so clear that you could see the school as they swam underneath the surface and than as they broke the surface of the water. They are such stunning creatures and as they say --- they are the

RidingCamels in Egypt

2009-06-10T12:23:00.002-05:00

As we docked there was an acrid smell in the air. Similar to the smell from childhood when we took trash to the "dump" -- As a child it fascinated me because there were always little fires burning or smoldering all around the perimeters. The smell was burning damp cardboard and other unidentified things. We had to present our passport and sea pass upon disembarking. We were met by our Egyptian

Speaking to the Ephesians

2009-06-08T10:46:00.004-05:00

In these waters we were able to pull in Aljazeera T.V. So we began to watch news from this perspective. I must say that I found much of their reporting to be as Fox says "fair and balanced." There was a story about a madras which was !forcing Muslim children to beg during the day to help pay for the school. It was an unflattering account. A report that Iranians are using Satellite dishes which

Worshipping Athena in Lindos

2009-06-08T00:51:00.003-05:00

Up at 5:45 a.m. Our tour was to leave at 7:00 a.m., but actually it left at 7:45 so we could have slept a bit later. We met in the Anchors Aweigh lounge forward and then left the ship by bus for Lindos. The journey took nearly one hour. I couldn't help but think how much this road and the terrain looked like the desert near Kathy's and my childhood home, Victorville, California. But then my eyes

Mykanos, Greece

2009-06-06T05:30:00.003-05:00

Last night, we were trying to find news that would give us information about what was happening at home. On the T.V. there is a Bloomberg channel -- but we cannot get CNN or BBC -- which is puzzling since we get a Russian version of CNN. They have taken the CNN turning globe only put it in red and even used a bit of the music! Too bad we cannot get this in U.S. It is easy to see propaganda -- of

Athens from the TOP!!!

2009-06-05T09:07:00.001-05:00

Athens -- up early - we left before any of the tours. Our panoramic tour of Athens didn't start until 1:30 from the ship-- so Kathy did not want us to waste the day away. When we got out on the port there were many cabbies ---waiting. When she told the cab driver where she wanted to go he tried to talk her out of that destination. She wanted to go to the Plaka (old town or plaza just beneath the

Sea Day

2009-06-04T00:02:00.002-05:00

The cruise ship is amazing --- it is like a floating city with everything you might want. The library is richly appointed with trey ceilings, inlaid woods, leather sofas and furniture of the Louis XVI style. The colors however, are dated circa 1980s (pink/turquoise) so this is an older ship/decore.Everything is kept pristine . The brass balustrades are polished daily. The cabin crew cleans our

The ocean is wide and my ship is huge!

2009-06-03T23:57:00.002-05:00

First day aboard ship was a bit hectic, because of the confusion of our arrival. Kathy was so frustrated last night worrying about not making the tours she had wanted that she did not go to sleep until about 1:00 a.m. Then we were up at 6:00 to be in line at the excursion desk to book the day's tours. Clearly we should have booked these on-line -- but since this cruise was a last minute choice

Rome to the High Seas!!

2009-06-02T03:49:00.001-05:00

Rainy morning -- but beautifully comfortable other than that. Breakfast was chocolate croissant, coffee, fruit and for me two boiled eggs. Once again the appointments at table were lovely -- the ever-present creamy yellow linens, fine china and flowers! The rooms were quite comfortable --- standard European bathrooms with slippery marble floors, very high step up for the tub. The hand towels are

Rain, Luggage and Ugly Americans

2009-05-31T17:08:00.003-05:00

Munich to Bologne---change to Rome...Breakfast at the Alpha was lovely. They had scrambled eggs, a variety of breads, including sweet -even chocolate. They also had a section of traditional German food - meats/sausage/cheese/breads and yogurt with museli. The tables were covered with white linens topped with pale yellow linen. The coffee was strong and came in little pots with small pitchers of

Munich and pigs knuckles

2009-05-30T15:44:00.004-05:00

As we travelled by train toward Munich the meadows widened outand fields of clover, yellow flowers, and still some lupine are beautifully visible. The little towns are spaced about every thirty miles, and the mountains are becoming less dramatic on either side of the valley. Trees are now mostly deciduous and divide fields where the cattle often lie down quite contentedly. I have seen no feed

The Three Country Tour

2009-05-29T15:50:00.004-05:00

(Sung to Gilligan's Island theme)Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip.It started out at Garmisch stadt for a three country trip.We settled back in our seats totally unaware that the captain of this fateful bus was a yoddler with lots of hair. Kathy rode shotgun with Bunny by her sideSnapping photos left and right at castles in the sky.The weather turned from stormy

Crazy Ludwig and Counting Swans!

2009-05-28T11:18:00.003-05:00

Cool again, and breezy this morning with no rain. The peak of Zugspitze is still shrouded in clouds. We have yet to see its summit even though we were there yesterday! We joined an early tour for the famous Neuschwanstein Castle. It is the most popular castle in Germany with as many as 6000 visitors daily.As with all tours you have to pay your dues and we stopped first at a tourist shop with the

Oberamergau and Zugspitze

2009-05-27T15:11:00.003-05:00

We sang every show tune that we knew today to the entertainment of the bus on the way back from Oberamergau. Early morning found us boarding the gondola to the top of the tallest mountain in Germany. Bavaria is beautiful -- rather like Switzerland. Water pours down off the mountains in huge waterfalls and rushes past the roadway in great torrents that seem to have a high mineral content for it

Humor, rain, and cowbells

2009-05-26T15:51:00.005-05:00

We slept until we woke up -- I guess that means we are all alive! My friends were exhausted from their travels and the late hour that we retired last night. I was exhausted from having only cat naps for 30 hours.Breakfast at this beautiful lodge, built for the military families serving in far-flung regions, was oh-so American with bacon, eggs, pancakes, bisquits, gravy, ham,country fried

First Stop 'Garmisch

2009-05-26T05:16:00.002-05:00

Neuschwanstein castle is just an hour from Garmisch. This is the castle that Disney based Sleeping Beauty's castle on.I arrived in Garmisch at about 11:00 a.m. I was so pleased with myself...that I managed to find the Deutch Bahn (DB) in the airport, buy my ticket, board the train, change trains in Passing, and actually get here. But to say that I got here on my own would be a total falsehood!

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

2009-05-26T03:39:00.004-05:00

Leaving on a plane is a little like dying! Whatever you got finished before you left is finished. Whatever you left unaccomplished is just that -- incomplete. Just as in death, you are boarding a ship for an unknown journey. You think you know your destination, but things could intervene. The destination might be different somehow than what you imagine --- it might be a surprise!As I boarded the

When is an aweful teacher wonderful?

2009-05-18T01:41:00.007-05:00

Jesse stood in front of the morning news camera reading his research on our Solar System. He had illustrated all of the planets and even some asteroids. Jesse is the kind of student every teacher dreams of. He has a fine mind which is coupled with a supportive family and enough personal discipline to insure that he can process the information he readily seeks out. He was on my mind that evening

Experience and knowledge

2009-04-18T16:46:00.007-05:00

Last night was a cherished and looked forward to event. Thanks to a dear friend, my husband and I attended a performance of La Boehme by the Nashville Opera. The performance was lovely --- NOT cataclysmic --- just lovely. It has been years since I saw this opera. Of course, though I have heard the main arias many times, I had not heard the whole of it in years.I wept piteously the first time I

A Very Red Shard

2009-04-06T20:27:00.005-05:00

This shard of the stained glass window is ruby red. The same ruby red of the red carpet on Oscar night!As with many things we reward children for their hard work and the ultimate successes! Curmudgeons would say that reading is a reward in itself, and I agree. However, for children to reach the point of intrinsic reward we often need a few extrinsic rewards along the way. Reading is complex. It

A Tiny Shard of Earth...

2009-03-29T13:54:00.003-05:00

One of the reasons I love stories is that metaphors let us move about flexibly within a larger framework of an idea. It is this need for flexibility and depth that causes me to wrestle with NCLB and its climate which makes teachers focus on discrete facts and skills.While in philosophy I believe that we can teach a child everything s/he needs to know to pass those all important measures by

A Single Shard -- of stained glass and flying fish!

2009-03-16T19:17:00.009-05:00

"When do you shelve the books, Ms. McIntyre?" Bushra looked up at me with her twinkling brown eyes through that open and joyful smile! I picked up one shard of glass --- ah yes --- "Bushra, when you come in at the beginning of the day-- when we are getting ready for our WMES Broadcast. (WMES is a morning news broadcast -- another of my responsibilities.) I always have a 4th grader at the

Walking Barefoot on Broken Glass

2009-03-14T10:19:00.006-05:00

It has been a year of walking barefoot on broken glass. It is why I have not written much. Since writing exposes our deepest despair or highest hopes, such exposure seemed like a bad idea, and there have been few posts.Thursday when I was helping fourth graders use the figurative language of metaphor, it fell from my head. This metaphor describes how I felt about this year's work in my elementary

What if

2009-02-13T05:57:00.012-06:00

I was listening to an NPR report about a fight between drug traffickers and the Mexican army in the small town, Villa Ahumada, just 60 miles from the border. The small town was controlled by a drug cartel. The numbers were shocking. "...spiraling drug war that killed more than 5,700 people across Mexico in 2008," The most shocking thing about the report is that these drug lords were using guns

Black Doll in the White House!

2008-12-02T23:16:00.003-06:00

I recently received an email from a friend about some of the difficulties the new 1st family will face, particularly Michelle Obama. The piece suggested that Michelle breaks many of the stereotypes of African American women and that finally "There will now be a black doll in the Whitehouse...." While its author may have meant that Michelle was a "black doll" it made me think---I wonder if there

Fingers of firelight on the wall

2008-10-22T21:32:00.011-05:00

"This is the best day of my life!" The kindergartner in the front row looked up expectantly. The announcement that I would share a story elicited that exuberant exclamation. While they enjoy being read to, most students LOVE to hear/participate in a good story.I laughed. My heart leaped up with joy. Seven small words had just altered the course of my entire day.At school, without any clerical

I've done with flags

2008-09-28T09:20:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday as I walked among the graves at Mt. Olivet, an ancient Southern cemetery, I was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. Next to many gravestones fresh Civil War battle flags were planted. These graves often had bronze plaques telling of their service to country (not the U.S.). They are maintained by Sons of the Confederate War Veterans who rightfully wish to preserve this piece of our

Among the tombs....Shelley

2008-09-21T13:37:00.006-05:00

I spent the afternoon with friends wandering among the tombstones in Mt. Olivet Cemetery here in Nashville. The skies were overcast and occassionally spit rain so we began our time together in Confederate Memorial Hall. This building built into the side of the hill was originally where bodies were stored for burial. In this crypt-like structure we learned about the many famous historical figures

My Old Brown Earth; lament in joy

2008-05-29T22:05:00.005-05:00

A dear friend died this month, far too young. It was not unexpected. She had cervical cancer years ago and the radiation had left a great deal of scar tissue that damaged her digestive system making it increasingly difficult to process food for her own nourishment. As I looked at her picture, it was hard to imagine a world without that infectious smile and those sparkling eyes. She was beautiful

Another year gone....

2008-05-19T20:55:00.005-05:00

Each new school year comes to us unsoiled and fresh - new binders filled with pristine white paper waiting the touch of colorful ink from marvelous new glitter gel pens! Think back to those years when you were a school child getting ready for the excitement of a new school year. There was the organization of your underware and brand new socks that matched your wardrobe. Your clothes

We measure what we value?

2008-05-11T16:55:00.002-05:00

We have just completed our spring standardized testing rituals at school, and once again I am left with that empty feeling that what we measure is not what we need to be measuring. Many people have warned us about this over the years of the 20th century.We measure I.Q. and assign vast importance to this figure. Yet, as I grow older I wonder just what it really measures. We force students to

Thinking about Metaphors and Monday!

2008-04-26T22:40:00.002-05:00

Monday, April 28th, will be a staff development day. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had a whole day to spend exploring--listening to inspiring speakers, talking about 21 century education and how it is different from what we are doing, sharing our dreams and our fears! Wouldn't it be great to spend the day getting comfortable and acquainted with some of the ideas that all the new technology is

Playing the Organ is a little like Web 2.0

2008-04-22T22:52:00.006-05:00

Incorporating Web 2.0 tools has been a goal for me at school this year. The fact that I am so slow to incorporate these tools places me at the bottom of the food chain of educational technology bloggers. My experience this year has reminded me of a distant time when my husband was studying Organ Performance at Syracuse University. I had been playing the piano for a long time, but certainly not at

Ferengi is US - How much am I bid for the future of education?

2008-04-05T09:18:00.019-05:00

Bowker published its Annual with some ominous data, and independent publishers discussed the changing landscape where hedgefunds buy and sell them forcing staff cuts and requiring a 25% profit on any book published. In the past, wildly popular books helped to pay for those which were deemed worthwhile, but not so profitable. Harry Potter could have supported several hundred perhaps. Benefit to

Is the Story Enough?

2008-03-31T22:24:00.020-05:00

Meaning, in the end, is always a private construct built from the brick of our experience, and the mortar of our mood. In conversation we have opportunities (taken or not) to clarify the speaker's meaning.Editing allows the print author precision of expression, but still the reader constructs the meaning. Until we can read each others thoughts, communication both oral and written will be

Words, words, words

2008-03-28T06:29:00.010-05:00

Words, Words, Words.....Eliza Doolittle is talking about love, but the words are equally appropriate for technology in education. For the past 15 years computers and internet connections have dramatically increased in schools, but this doesn’t seem to have improved student outcomes. It is not just the luddites who are questioning the impact of every increasing technology.Peter Salovey, Dean of

My Audacity of HOPE

2008-03-01T17:00:00.004-06:00

The darkest hour is just before dawn! The first time I heard this lyric I was a teen listening to the Mamas and the Pappas. I came of age in the turbulant dark hours of the late 60s and early 70s.Still in the chaos and darkness of assisination and riot, I believed that dawn would arrive. My generation would usher it in! We would end war, poverty, racism, sexism, and wait quiety for the second

Habits of the High Tech Heart

2008-01-06T14:49:00.003-06:00

“We have to abandon the arrogant belief that the world is merely a puzzle to be solved, a machine with instructions for use waiting to be discovered, a body of information to be fed into a computer in the hope that sooner or later it will spit out a universal solution.”“We have to release from the sphere of private whim and rejuvenate such forces as a natural, unique, and unrepeatable experience

Nine simple words? Use them often!

2007-11-25T19:32:00.000-06:00

At school we are consumed teaching basic skills - READIN, WRITIN' and Rithmatic. As we focus on test scores I sometimes think we have lost sight of the child and the relationships that alter life! In Alaska, a bold new initiative is taking root. Educating Hearts struggles to bring community and trust to a school environment that allows many negatives to go unchallenged.I was lucky enough to grow