We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Blog…
… to bring you a review of my day!
All of today’s blogging time was set aside for mother/daughter eye exams, grocery shopping, drug screening/testing for my employment, and a visit to my new school to pick up keys and drop off classroom materials. I think it’s time for me to post some drafts in the queue just in case, but until then:
* I still don’t care for the blowy-puffy-here’s-grit-in-your-eye procedure that optometry techs seem to enjoy watching patients endure at the beginning of an eye exam. What *is* that thing, anyway? Is my eye dusty? Are you testing me on my blink and flinch coordination? Are you checking my mascara’s and eyeliner’s staying power? My eyes water just thinking about it!
* I’ve been experiencing some confusing encounters at the grocery store I’ve been frequenting here since our arrival. It’s on post, and each time I’ve gone, I’ve been approached by older ladies and gentlemen asking if my kids are “ready for VBS.” Huh? Each time their table has been surrounded by other people, so I’ve only been asked that one question before the greeter has turned his or her attention to someone actually interested enough to stop and look at their display. It wasn’t until this morning’s trip that I finally saw the table itself- and realized that VBS stands for “Vacation Bible School,” not “very big shoes” or “very bratty siblings.” Enough with the abbreviations folks. I get it with my husband’s military-jargon, I get it with all sorts of edu-speak, and I see it as I try to figure out just what my daughter is asking me for when she text messages me on her phone.
Spell…the…whole…thing…out…please. And if you won’t, please just step aside as I maneuver my way through the store with my thrilled-with-the-acoustics-toddler to get a loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stick of butter.
* Drug screening. Today was the first time *this* kindergarten teacher has had to walk in to a medical facility, surrender her i.d., allow someone else to lock up her purse and do the little aim-for-the-plastic-cup-routine with an audience standing right outside the bathroom door. Oh, and I wasn’t allowed to flush the potty afterward either. Yep, everything had to be as…witnessed…as possible. Wow. Just…wow.
* Yes indeedy, I did get the key to my classroom today! Dear Daughter and I were so excited, so pleased, so impressed with what we saw as we walked through the school, peeking into classrooms, lounges, cafeterias, etc… and when we got to see my room, I just about cried. This is the first time I’ve been given a classroom that is fully supplied. FULLY. I guess I’m no longer at a Title I school, and the difference leaves me in awe, and saddened. Standardization across the nation? Honeys, it isn’t happening.
The classroom is beautiful. Most of it is appropriate for kindergarten, though my teacher’s desk is fixed to the wall as part of a built-in, and it seems I can’t lower it to a better height for use as the reading table. The students’ coat cubbies are actually closets with doors (another interesting safety issue) and I have tons of storage for manipulatives, books, etc. I’ll be sharing a bookroom and a set of student bathrooms with one of my colleagues by way of two “walk-through” areas.
* I’ve brought home a school binder that seems to have our policies and procedures explained in it, but getting them committed to memory is becoming more difficult with each new move I make. Every school has its own set of rules, procedures, routines. The first one used clipboards for fire drill and stranger danger drills, the next had little red and green paddles we were to hold up outside during a fire alarm along with scrap pad sign-off sheets that had to be turned in to the office after each drill. The next required a binder or notebook with students’ names and contact info, while at this, my newest school, who knows what the variation will be. In the past six years, I have had to follow four different rulebooks on school procedures for fire drills, xerox copying, attendance reporting, lunch requests, stranger danger, parent pick-up, field trip requests, classroom newsletters, professional development, parent teacher conferences, NCLB documentation, lesson plan formats and due dates, social club dues and rules, phone etiquette, lunch time and recess procedures, before and after school bus duty, parking space assignments, computer lab sign up, nurse pass procedures, email and internet do’s and don’ts, office errands, teacher lounge clean-up, grade level planning times, preps, and tornado safety practice. Talk about a jumble.
*****
Off to bed (this is a late night posting)- I have a classroom to inventory and set up in the morning!
Eskimo in Oz
My Dear Husband and I were having dinner away from home last night after having run errands for most of the day. We chose a buffet type restaurant for both its selection and its proximity to the Sprint Service Center, where my cell phone was being beaten into you-SHALL-display-email-when-she-wants-you-to submission repaired. The late hour combined with the buffet environment and the other diners that belonged to the senior citizen crowd seemed to bring out our silly side, and soon we were joking about the repairs my cell phone *might* need, the number of used car lots that my husband has to choose from in his search for a smaller vehicle that gets better gas mileage, and how it was funny for me, being an Eskimo in Oz.
It sounds like a great blog title, no? Eskimo in Oz. We’ll see if I find some inspiration for that one, since I’m back to rethinking my blogging now that I’ll be returning to the classroom. Should I just keep all of my content here and at Kindergarten’s 3 R’s, or should I focus one blog solely on teaching, and use the other as a catch-all… Pondering, pondering. Thoughts?
*****
By the way, after two forty-five minute waits at the Sprint Service Center, we realized that Sprint Service really doesn’t…sprint.
From Wiktionary: Sprint: A short race at top speed; a burst of speed or creativity; To run etc. at top speed for a short period of time.
*****
I’ve missed W.E.I.O. again this year- and will have to make vacation plans back to Alaska over the summer in the years to come to see and hear the dancers, drummers, blanket pullers, Native crafts and vendors, athletes and friends who gather there annually:
Thankfully, Pamyua’s “tribalfunk” sound occasionally visits Oz!
*****
Apologies if tomorrow’s Show and Share is posted a little later than usual- I’m hoping to get my key(s) to my classroom in the morning and will be photographing the space and materials to help me plan my activity areas for my students!
Blogging and Technology Reflection
I’ve caught myself in a state of self-reflection again, this time in regard to my presence out here on the web.
I’ve read the newest issue of Artful Blogging. For months now I’ve been enjoying my morning ritual of parking myself and my coffee in front of the computer to scroll through NetNewsWire. I’ve noticed the monthly blogging/commenting challenges that have popped up all over Blogsville this past week, and have wondered if I should join in or just keep my blogging activities to myself and my readers. I’m still confused as to why some of my subscriptions load reliably almost every day, while others get stockpiled in blog limbo and then flood my feed in one fell swoop after a month or so. It reminds me of my cell phone service here in the Bordertown. I miss calls, and messages get held for days, weeks sometimes, before hitting voicemail. Message after message, the callers’ tones seem to get testy, because they* JUST KNOW* I’m ignoring them and not returning their calls.
There goes that blind trust and over-reliance on technology again. Don’t trust the phone company or advances in voicemail technology, trust ME.
*****
From what I could gather during my job interview over the phone with my new employer (I’ll be back in Oz, this time at District #2), I’ll be working with a staff that is a bit different from the last three with whom I’ve taught. This is completely understandable to me because I’ve witnessed first-hand the diversity that exists in the United States each time Uncle Sam has relocated us, however it might still come as a surprise to those who assume school districts across our nation are actually nearing some state of standardization with one another.
During my interview I was asked about PLC’s and technology in particular, a question I’ve never been asked before. It’s a question I myself have asked prospective employers at each of my interviews here in the Bordertown, a question I received very awkward answers to, responses indicating that I was more familiar with current technology usage in education than the interviewing principals were. I was told by District #2 that my classroom would have at least three wireless laptops for my students to use, so no, I wouldn’t have to bring my outdated iMacs with me when I moved. For the first time, I was able to say “I have a blog” without worrying that the interviewer’s mental alarm bells were going off, imagining a site full of inappropriate photos and text of a wanna-be-web-celeb instead of a teacher/crafter/mother/military wife who was sharing recipes, craft ideas, family updates, and links to kindergarten-related themes. I’m guessing someone at District #2 has already Googled me…probably did it before ever dialing my number for the interview. I would if I were in his or her position.
*****
I know that time has continued to march on as my family and I relocate from state to state. When I left Alaska, my teaching experience was built over a decade’s worth of observations and paradigm shifts, most notably in regard to technological advances and their impact on school and society. I had to learn how to be responsible for an entire new iMac lab (not so new now!), and had to exercise caution because of what my students might encounter or see “out there,” *NOT* what they themselves might PUT out there. Teachers with their own web pages were testing the water for all of us, and must have felt the pressure of it. My usage of White Out decreased significantly when a computerized report card replaced the traditional hand-written one.
In New Mexico, the kindergarten curriculum included goals for computer technology, but my classroom was given rarely operational PC’s for the job because really, why would five year olds need computers? They’d just “play on them.” Many of my colleagues had never heard of or seen Living
Books before (another no-longer-”new” resource). Teachers emailed, or instant messaged one another, but other than professional communication and entering data for attendance records, computers were to be used for student assessment only via Accelerated Reader. During chats in the staff lounge, no one complained about their own childrens’ MySpace pages, and no one understood why I would want a dry erase, mobile magnetic white board in my room instead of the singular chalkboard I had. My son’s and daughter’s teachers didn’t assign web projects. My own students were taught how to use the overhead projector, c.d. player, computers, and scanner instead of just being parked in front of them during lessons. Report cards still had to be filled out by hand. DIBELS too, though the number crunching of scores took place at Central Office somewhere.
In Oz, District #1 seemed to focus on using technology primarily again for student assessment. Improved reading and math scores were the be-all-end-all goal, with lists of acceptable web resources and sites xeroxed off and distributed ad nauseum during most professional development seminars, while statewide assessment test “practice” took precedence over any other web activities or lessons that students might have normally been assigned. My old iMacs came in handy, as my students were never a priority for computer lab time when the assessment crunch was in full swing unless my colleague and I were prepping them for future first grade AR assessments. I’m guessing the proposal I helped to author for an additional portable/cart computer lab wouldn’t have created increased computer access for my kindergartners…it would have provided more test prep for additional (older) students. District email was handy, as were the attendance and report card programs though the kindergarten report card wasn’t aligned with state standards and didn’t provide enough narrative space for additional and essential info/documentation.
A younger group of teachers have MySpace pages, but several still don’t quite know that their just-out-of-college-weekend-partying photos that they regularly post on their public sites are still viewable by students, parents, and colleagues. Some post photos on their personal pages of not only themselves but their students as well, something as a parent and teacher I find highly inappropriate. Some colleagues have their own personal blogs, where they reflect on their teaching practices and philosophies, their frustrations and their goals. Many of their identities are kept private for good reasons, as professional retribution and/or public misunderstandings by parents and colleagues who might search the web for them would be unbearable and possibly even job-threatening.
District #2 sounds incredibly promising, pro-teacher and therefore pro-student.
*****
I’ll reflect more on why I blog at some later time, but I have to tell you, it’s because of blogging, reading, commenting, participating in discussions, and contributing to the sea of teaching perspectives out there that I’ve been able to continue my own professional development during my Stay-at-Home-Mom year. My professional learning community stretches around the world, crossing borders, philosophies, cultures and ages, and in many cases it includes my own personal tastes and interests apart from public education. A wiki on cross stitching, a MySpace group devoted to scrapbooking techniques, a subscription to a photographer’s blog overseas, my weekly download of the latest Oprah podcast for A New Earth, and my own contributions to blogs like In Practice aren’t threatening to me or my employer- they’ve been essential to expanding my connections with others, and with myself.
My next goal? Podcasting- reading my students’ favorite stories for them to access at school or at home. My voice, and the memory of face-to-face storytime can increase the personal connection with my students that promotes literacy better than any digital/cartoon character ever could.
*****
Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to comment here for a chance to win the blue wreath tomorrow~
“What Happened” Wednesday
Miss me?
While I was happy to share the wonderful Muppet video clip on Monday, I haven’t written anything in the past two days other than grocery lists and email messages, which is odd for me. It’s not that I haven’t had scenes, situations, or thoughts to share, in fact I’m happy to catch you up in a sec… I suppose I just needed a little break from blogging. Now *reading* blogs… I’ve been up to the task, and have even been rewarded for my reading and commenting…
Hostess With the Mostess hosted a giveaway with Childish Clothing.com last week, and GUESS WHO WON? Oh yes, ladies and gents, that would be ME! Five hundred dollars to shop for my almost three-year-old, and don’t you know, it’s perfect timing since the last growth spurt made most of our boy’s wardrobe much too small. I’m making sure that the boy gets one of these:
It’s the shirt that inspired me to comment on the giveaway post in the first place- I’m such an Army Wife/Mom!
Sigh, here are the skulls that Daddy likes:
Just perfect for our toddler, who is ALL BOY!
Thank you again Hostess and Childish Clothing, you have made our week, and our toddler’s summer!
*********************************************************************
Along with fun surprises, we had a not-fun one this morning. One of those that makes you wonder as a parent just *how* exactly your own parents allowed you to live past the age of, oh, thirteen…
I asked Dear Daughter to please wash my truck yesterday. Apparently she took my truck keys in order to stick them in the ignition so she could listen to tunes during her dreary task. An hour later (she washed the outside and cleaned the interior), she came back into the house, and since I wasn’t aware that she had taken the keys, I didn’t ASK HER FOR THE KEYS. This morning we headed out the door to run some errands, and guess what I couldn’t find?
And guess where daughter found them? In the ignition. With the ignition on. And it had been on, all night long. The problem was solvable, doable, but a pain in the sheer timing of it. Military Spouses, you’ll understand this one: guess where Husband is this week? Yep, out of town at training. For those of you non-military families, believe me when I tell you that Murphy’s Law LOVES to lurk around the homes, vehicles, and workplaces of military spouses and families. Just waiting. Yes, you can almost hear the theme music from Jaws in the background begin to play as soon as our soldier deploys or leaves town for training. Pipes burst, tornadoes hit, cars die, and basements flood as soon as we’re on our own. Add “teenagehood happens” to that list.
So after a phone call to Dear Husband to find out 1) where the jumper cables were and 2) just HOW I should use them to bring my truck back to life, I was moving vehicles, getting into the tool box, poppin’ the hoods, and making sure red went to red and black went to black (my husband warned me that “bad things” happen when the reds and blacks on the jumper cables are mixed up on the vehicle batteries). Ten minutes later, my truck was running, and I had cooled down enough to know that I could speak to Dear Daughter without bursting her eardrums or the windows of our neighbors. I even fed her lunch.
Good mommy.
***********************************************************************
I’ve got the urge to make a banner…or two…or three… with inspiration from Holly at Decor8, and Candice at Peacoats and Party Hats, and easy directions from Beth at Stitch, Rip, Repeat. One for kindergarten, another for birthdays, and possibly one that says “Welcome Home!”
***********************************************************************
Jenny and Doug, I’ve started thinking about the passion-quilt meme, really! It will be coming up in a future post!
***********************************************************************
See you back here tomorrow for Show and Share Thursday- I think I’ll go make sure my keys are where they’re supposed to be!
Writing Marks My Personal Pace
No, not “personal space.” Dinner is done, the toddler is wrestling with Daddy on the couch, and daughter is in taking her shower before it’s the toddler’s turn for the tub. I’m munching on pink, white and red peanut m-n-m’s (I know, not the healthiest choice), and have just finished reading the latest postings from the blogs to which I subscribe. The day is winding down. Surprisingly my thoughts are winding up.
I read some posts from teachers who were reflecting on their teaching practice, their latest successes, their most recent frustrations and disappointments. Several crafters have posted new ideas for spring, have rearranged their work space, and are entertaining thoughts of repainting rooms in their homes. A military wife is reviewing the latest book she’s read that has been published as a resource for those of us who married military-folk, and several painters have listed their latest canvases on Ebay or Etsy. I myself posted earlier today about the baby afghan given to expectant friends, the Girl going to the district science fair, the wet and windy weather, and the cookies I was going to make (but didn’t yet) for our daughter’s friend.
I read the local newspaper several times a week, enjoy perusing the craft and home decor magazines at the store, and read the postings on NetNewsWire each morning. I’m authoring my own blog almost daily, responding to comments, answering emails, and following interesting links to wherever they might lead. It’s a very different personal pace for me, considering what my schedule was at this time last year. Teaching full time, my husband deployed, primary parent 24/7, feeling extreme twinges of guilt whenever the load felt too heavy, too much a burden.
I was still writing last year, a few rants and silly surveys, but mostly weekly parent letters sent home via email or backpack. In these “notes home” I reviewed our week’s activities, concepts introduced and explored, skills practiced, and made suggestions for activities that could be done at home for families to enjoy. My favorite part of the weekly note was the very last element I included, the “kindergarten quotes.” Those funny or amazing things overheard coming out of the mouths of my Super Stars that I knew parents would enjoy…are what I miss most this year of not teaching.
I could plow through my lesson plans each week, student assessments, documentation for IEP’s or whatever other school-required documentation reared its ugly head, but the weekly letter took time. Thought. Reflection. Editing. Evaluation of my tone. It often felt like it was the only written element required in my profession where my true voice would be “heard,” so it mattered to me that the parents *knew* they were really making a connection with an authentic part of their childrens’ school lives as they braved the backpack each Friday to excavate the note out of the pile of smooshed chips, broken pencils, and show and share items.
I’m a believer in behaving professionally when it comes to my job. My personal life is not to be confused with my public role, but I do believe in being sincere no matter what stage I might be occupying throughout the day. Though this year my pace at home does not match the speed usually kept when teaching, it has enabled me to spend more time in authentic reflection and on authentic writing. I’ve felt free to express how I’ve been feeling as a parent, spouse, stay-at-home mom, friend, out-of-work teacher, and blogger. I’ve reflected on my professional work as a teacher, my personal adventures away from the classroom, and I’ve found that I have new interests, new wishes, new directions I’d like to follow. Liberating myself from the trusted yet very routine role of public school teacher has put me in the position of having to stick one toe in the water, testing. I’ve been in the same pool for so long, and never entertained the thought that maybe the pond over yonder would cool my heels just as well… possibly even better. Is that a rushing brook I hear?
I love teaching. But I’ve found I love other things too. It will be interesting to set my pace again once we’ve moved, and I’m back to work.
GIVEAWAY at Kindergarten’s 3 R’s
In honor of my 100th blog post at Kindergarten’s 3 R’s, I’ll be hosting a giveaway (at that site)! Check in on Wednesday for specifics and to enter your name in the drawing (remember, I’m a kindergarten teacher so expect the giveaway item to be something literacy-enriching)!
Yay!
Blogroll Bonanza
The updates made to my blog site feature many new additions to the blogroll, so here’s some info that might help to make *your* visit a pleasant and productive one:
*Though I am a kindergarten teacher, and this is my “kindergarten blog,” I do not limit myself to only visiting the sites of other teachers. Never fear, I’m pretty certain each author could teach us a thing or two about his or her interest(s), so technically, the links in the blogroll can still be considered education-related, right?
*The categories are identified by education/kindergarten-specific-type phrases or vocab, “arts and crafts,” “dramatic play,” “snack/lunchtime,” “recess” etc.
*Teacher oriented blogs or resources are found in “Early Childhood,” “PE,” or “Teacher Talk.”
*Contrary to what kindergarten students might think, teachers do not live at school, though we spend many, many, MANY hours there. As I’m an advocate for teaching the whole child, so too do I believe in living my own “whole life.” Yes, family, recipes, home decor tips, technology’s newest gizmos, humor, music, art, health and opinions all make for a happy, content, fulfilled, and inspired existence.
*While I’ve chosen sites that I myself enjoy, you might not like what the authors have written or posted. Their content is their responsibility, not mine. If you don’t like what they’ve put out into the void, then don’t click on their link again. Simple.
*Comments, suggestions and feedback are always welcome, though spam is not.
Happy Reading, Happy Exploring, Happy Discovering, and most of all, Happy Thinking!
Year-End Blog Review
Looking back at the old while looking forward to the new- it’s my year-end blog review! For those of you who would like to try this one, just find the first blog entry from each month of the past year, cut and paste the first sentence or title next to each months’ name, then read and contemplate.
January: “Perhaps only other teachers will understand this.”
February:
March: “Apologies in advance, I’m still recovering from our latest round of Parent Teacher Conferences and all of the germs that have taken an extended tour in my classroom this month.”
April:
May:
June: “There are little eyes upon you and they’re watching you everyday…”
July:
August: “I’ve moved, unpacked, settled, and explored, and after once again having the time and inclination to visit the blogs and websites of teachers I admire, I feel myself getting back into the teaching mode.”
September: “My mother used to tell me ‘you can catch more flies with sugar than with vinegar.’”
October: “With a toddler running loose, time is of course, limited.”
November: “It’s November now, requiring some home decor swift-o change-o!”
December: “We decided to add bugs, ballerinas, and bulbs…”
Thoughts? It was a very busy year with my husband deployed, requiring I do the single-parent-thing as I worked full-time. I have certainly appreciated the time off since August, which is when my blogging really started to pick up. Writing almost every day has become part of my professional development as a teacher, has been my outlet for sharing what I’ve discovered elsewhere with others, and yes, has been therapeutic.
One resolution for 2008? Learn some more self-editing techniques!
By the way, I’ve posted again at In Practice, this time sharing authorship with Alice Mercer. Happy Reading!
Blogging as the Nucleus, Blogging as the Electron
My blogging began after my second military move during my stay-at-home-mommy year. I ventured into non-email authorship after my daughter expressed an interest in having her own MySpace page, something I was not about to let her do without having figured out the pros and cons of it myself first. I learned how to modify the page, add friends, comments, change the layout template, add graphics, and most importantly, began adding information and details about myself in text to categories of music, interests, books, movies, etc. I chose not to be deceptive (the lists really do contain my “faves”), just selective in the information and photographs I chose to share and post.
I then started clicking on the links in the MySpace banner, and discovered groups, music, and blogs. I was not then, nor have ever been impressed by the “Top 10″ Blogs list since most resort to attempts at erotica, hinted violence, or curse-laden lyrics to lure readers (and it obviously works, those blogs are in the top ten, right?). Undeterred, I thought there might be other people out there in CyberWorld like myself, a parent, teacher, military spouse, so I continued to explore. Joining “groups” on MySpace shared by teachers, famous-quote-enthusiasts, and crocheters, I started receiving recommendations for blog reading and began following links away from MySpace.
Having school-aged children and a husband with a twelve-hour workday meant that there was little conversation for me to participate in, no one to talk to or with save the newborn whose coos and cries kept me fairly focused on feeding, diapers, and baths. I found stay-at-home-mommy blogs, home decor blogs, sites for political rantings, crafting, and music. Parenting tips, joke sharing, photography, and world travel blogs gave me an escape each day during the then newborn’s nap, and soon I felt the need to participate in the dialogues that some blogs offered, into which I had been invited by their questions and requests for comments.
My interests and need to communicate as a teacher, parent, crocheter, and homemaker required that I reach out, and I surprised myself by doing so when I began posting my own blog. Still selective and honest, my public diary reflected whatever topic was forefront in my mind, and asked questions that I sent out onto the web. I didn’t often receive answers or suggestions in the beginning because of course, a blog must be “discovered.” Just the writing, the expression, and the interjection of myself out into the world (added to the reading and contemplation of others’ thoughts and ideas) helped me to feel less isolated, something that many people accomplish by participating in activities outside of their own homes. That year however, I wanted to be the nucleus and not the social electron. A newborn’s schedule has that effect.
After that year at home, I was hired to teach, and I re-entered the world of public education. School district #3 had me longing for school district #1, just as school district #2 had at our previous post. I blogged away, and felt starved for like-minded educational philosophies, professional stances and behaviors that would reassure me I wasn’t alone in the bigger picture, just merely an oddball in the current small pond in which I was swimming. Finally, one evening, I used just the right combination of words in Google, hit “return,” and there they were, educational blogs, written by teachers from all over the world. I was in Heaven.
The timing couldn’t have been better, because Uncle Sam decided to isolate me again, this time as a wife, by deploying my husband for a year. Now that I was an electron in the atoms of parenthood and teaching, I had resources, information, support, and enough activities to keep me busy, away from being overwrought with worry and fear for my husband. Teaching students, enjoying my grade-level-partner, and developing connections to other teachers with engaging and thought-provoking blogs via the internet helped me to feel a bit more well-rounded, adding to my mommy and wife facets.
This year, again at home, has been rich in family experiences, and thanks to the collegiality shared amongst educational blogs, my professional development and ties to public education have continued to grow. I’ve found some terrific recipes, warm and cuddly blanket patterns, and ideas for home decor along with some tips on digital photography that will help no matter where Uncle Sam moves us or which district is brave enough to hire me next. Blogging and searching for other bloggers to read have been entirely selfish acts on my part, fulfilling my own needs on my own timeline, in my own way. There is a part of me that hopes I’ve offered something in return though, because this medium is give and take, and I have certainly appreciated what other bloggers have been willing to share at this potlatch.
I Changed the Name
… so today I felt inclined to add the word “eclectic” to my blog title because it just seems to fit. Many aspects of my life are always in motion, never static, so I encounter a lot, with equal amounts of discovery happening on accident as on purpose. I focus on an area of interest for a time, and am then drawn elsewhere, with occasions of something out of left field walloping me up alongside the head for good measure. Those left-fielders generate an immediate and usually loud response on my part, but my other discoveries tend to lead me down fascinating paths, inspiring me to share what I’ve found.
I was recently told I was a “fluff” blogger, sharing links, topics, and thoughts on “things of little value or significance.” Thank goodness for being in my thirty-seventh year, because the comment merely gave me insight into the person who said it without immediately inspiring me to remove the person’s name from my cookie-recipient list. Yep, I choose to share recipes, story titles, and music recommendations. I document some of my family’s special moments, photograph my latest attempts at home decor, and complain about my daughter’s teachers. I give my two-cents’-worth about issues in teaching, early childhood education, and kindergarten teaching practices specifically, and I sort my own preferred blogroll/links/favorites by kindergarten categories. As friends, colleagues and family often read my blog, I feel like I’m sharing with like-minded and like-spirited individuals, with those new readers who stumble across this blog free-as-always to either bookmark me or travel off in some other direction.
In my three-dimensional daily life, I’m all about sorting and classifying, “organizing.” The coffee mugs are in the cabinet above the coffee pot, the spice cabinet and side dish mixes in the cabinetry above the stove. All of my scrapbooking materials are in their own pouches which can be found in one cabinet. Magazines are kept in baskets in the living room and bedroom, yarn, crochet hooks and finished baby afghans on one shelf in the hall closet. When I’m done using the “autumn” candlesticks on the table, they’re put back in a cabinet with all of the OTHER candlesticks, and the winter votives come out for the season.
In Blogland however, I’ve found I don’t stay on topic for this particular blog site, Edublogs, and maybe that’s where the fluff comment originates. Many educators I’ve encountered online either have or contribute to several blogs, each with its own topic. I first started blogging on MySpace, then thought I’d spread my wings a bit by moving over to Blogger. As time passed, I was asked to contribute to In Practice here on Edublogs, and just found it easier to write “for them and for me” at one location. Friends, family and other readers have their own blog site preferences, so I tend to publish the same blog entry on all three sites (I know, redundant, redundant, redundant) to accomodate them all. I promise, sometime in the future, I’ll choose just one or two sites, really!
Until then, perhaps it’s best to describe any of my blog submissions as eclectic offerings shared in the spirit of educational collegiality. My colleagues? Anyone out there living LIFE, wanting to share information, resources, and ideas about whatever subject interests us!
As for the critic(s),
Blogged
Recent Comments
- Chocolate Angie on Show and Share Thursday: Sarcasm, Sparkle, and Desserts
- mrssommerville on Blog Discoveries/Meeting Students Today
- The Science Goddess on Blog Discoveries/Meeting Students Today
- mrssommerville on “F” is for “Filament,” “C” is for “Ceiling”
- The Science Goddess on “F” is for “Filament,” “C” is for “Ceiling”
