Thoreau

Just completing my third snow day in a row. We received 13" of snow Tuesday night. I was working on-line when suddenly..................... Twenty-four hours of feeding a generator to power two space heaters, lighting a lot of candles, finding our campstove, cooking a backpacking gourmet meal (can dried food be gourmet?), calling the power company, hiking back and forth to the gas station for more fuel and assisting neighbors with plowing our driveways. Thoreau had nothing on my wife and I.
I did notice a curious item, why do people blow the snow from their driveways into the street making the street impassible? Why not blow the snow into their own front yards? Our neighbor did get yelled at for plugging up the street so out he went to clear the street. I did get almost get caught up today. Sun was out and it was beautiful.

Curiosity

I am three weeks into an on-line U.S. History class for high school juniors. It is a pilot class, randomly selected students and provides an opportunity for students to pick up a seventh class. Enough review. I started with thirty students but never had contact with one student and still have not but that will give me twenty-nine. I sent over five hundred e-mails (group and individual) in these first three weeks and, as of Friday (Jan. 21st) have logged over sixty hours of time for a "one period class." If, like me, you are math challenged, that would would transfer to 100 hour work weeks if I were attempting to handle five classes. As the software trainer kept repeating last fall, "next year will get easier."
Observations about the class:
1. most students do not like to work independently
2. many students are not curious about technology (how it works, how can I make it easier)
3. only one student made a suggestion for better organizing material, I adapted it and received numerous positive comments (until a student came in yesterday to drop and told me I was just too unorganized, amazing, they had never looked that the big folder is titled "assignments for chapter 20!" )
4. repeat of number 2, our youngest son (now 28), was forced to purchase his own computer at an early age because he kept breaking into the programs on our Apple IIE and later, our early IBM and altering the program to suit his young needs, today, we want everything done for us, I have a small group of students who are into everything (we can track them) and a large group who are into nothing
5. I had failed to understand how little I actually prepared my face to face students to be independent thinkers, researchers, or workers
6. I had failed to act on my failures to teach at a higher level, over the years I had allowed the students to wear me down
7. I had failed to act on what I knew needed to be changed (NCLB doesn't help this), now most students are simply test score data to be manipulated (apologies, teachers are to use interventions) so that test scores go up, why? (another whole post)
8. to end on a positive, students who are doing their work, communicating regularly with me, reading my responses to their discussion threads......they are doing great, number of insightful responses is growing daily and I will continue to modify what I am doing (oh, getting rid of textbooks for e-books will take time, I put the textbook on-line, most stopped and wanted a print version, some listen to the audio version while getting ready for school, some listen while working out

Any suggestions from on-line teachers of high school students please send me an e-mail.

New Class

In a moment of something or other, I asked to pilot an on-line U.S. History class this semester. I like technology, have been thinking that brick and mortar schools are outdated, am always seeking a better way to connect with students, like a challenge, and really never have understood why we need to meet face to face with high school juniors five days a week.

I'm in day two and will check my e-mail right after posting this to see how many questions tonight. Oh, did I mention that now students hunt me from 7:00 a.m. until I shut down and quit checking e-mail (last night it was 9:00 p.m.). I never thought about the fact that I would be blending a traditional work day schedule with demands of students needing to talk (e-mail, text, etc) to me of an evening because that is when they work on an on-line class. I have an advanced degree with a few hours beyond so a thought occurred that this is a great way to extend my current work day from 6:00 a.m. (when I arrive) until 3:15 p.m. and then another 3 hours of an evening. Last night the additional time was 4 hours and it wasn't getting a chance to work ahead, it was problem solving for students new to on-line learning and new to not being walked step by step through every situation.

I may have gotten a bit short when one e-mail asked "Is there anything due tomorrow?" Uhhhh, nope, not answering that, look at the announcements, the calendar, and they will tell you. I can't get thirty e-mails every day asking if something is due because a student doesn't want to look for due dates. Oh well, it's going to be an interesting semester and the questions keep me sharp and learning new things. Oh, what system are we using? BlackBoard. No comment.

Another New Year

Returned from an end of year trip to Minnesota. As you can see from the photos we were able to use our snowshoes again. We visited family which is a great way to close out another year.

We did get out for two days of snowshoeing at Baker Park. They have prepared trails that you share with people being pulled on skis by their dogs. Skijourning?? That looked like a lot of fun but I would need a big dog.

Our nephew is the final days of college decisions. Visits to Harvard and Dartmouth in January will determine where he goes. Dartmouth appears to have an inside track with access to broom ball and skiing in the off season. Oh, our nephew is 6'5" and 270 pounds, football is his sport, high ACT scores, high gpa draws interest of schools where education goes with sports. We pray that God would clearly show him where he should spend his next four years.

2010 was another blessing from God. Through all the seasons of life it has been nice to be able to visit various areas of the country and spend time with our family. We are blessed with family within 10 miles and family in Portland, OR. Vicki and I pray that 2011 brings the peace of Christ to each and everyone who finds their way to this post.

Friendship

Vicki and I have been blessed to see much of the United States. We literally have friends in most areas of the country and to spend time with people doing something outdoors is the greatest treat. This is the group picture (minus the photographer, Michael) taken after our snow-shoe adventure.
What a great group of young adults who willingly spend time with the "old" folks on the day after Thanksgiving. It keeps Vicki and I young and focused on keeping the perspectives of others in mind. It becomes very easy to get set in your ways as you age. Teaching with a solid group of young people keeps me from becoming that old grouch (I hope.) that many people turn into after age 55. The future belongs to the young and while I have learned several things not to do in life, their optimism is needed in my life. We can learn from each other. During this Christmas season it has been fun to look back and see how blessed I am to be able to spend a lot of time with adults the same age as my children. Their friendship is invaluable!

Winter

This is a picture of Vicki and I on the Frog Lake Trail during our recent trip to Portland. We truly were blessed with a snowy day in the woods with great company. We didn't complete the entire trail, Michael and Chris got tired of breaking the trail plus it was starting to get late and we weren't excited about hiking in the early Oregon darkness.

Winter is beautiful when you get enough snow to actually get out and enjoy it. We love to snowshoe and the peacefulness of the woods is truly a place to clear the mind. Since returning to the Midwest it has been hectic but the "Walden" experience recharged batteries that were in a severely weakened state. Are you in need of a recharge? Head outdoors, find a nearby woods and enjoy a walk, leave the headphones at home, listen to your Creator who has far more important things to say to you.

Portland

We flew to Portland for Thanksgiving with family. Our daughter-in-law spent an entire day (honest) preparing a wonderful meal. While my idea of good weather does not mix well with Portland from November to March we were blessed to be in that part of the country. It is nice to be able to walk four blocks and get a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich, walk four blocks to get to the New Seasons organic food store, walk four blocks and get on the mass transportation to ride downtown. We explored Powell's, snowshoed, ate breakfast at Mother's Bistro, and visited the Saturday market where we heard Boka Marimba. Boka plays music in the Shona people tradition and they were outstanding. Hopefully I will get a picture or two from our son to post in the near future.
No issues traveling, no body scans, etc. but every flight is packed.