Conference, Day Two. A Perfectly Horrid Little Time.

The wake-up call came at 7:15 a.m. The free continental breakfast was out from 7:30 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. I finally dragged myself out of bed at about 7:45 a.m., needing more sleep. Robert jumped in the shower and I used Lynn's shower next door. We made it out for the free breakfast, but there were only some dry mini-bearclaws and coffeecakes. Robert and I went over to the local McDonalds for Egg McMuffins.

We went to two more presentations during the morning sessions. Both very simple PowerPoints covering basic subjects and topics. We learned nothing new. We did manage to visit the vendors' booths. There were eight. As they began to close up for the weekend, they began giving away their sample textbooks. I got one nice "Macromedia Suite" Projects book. Lynn took home about 12 books. I don't know if she will ever look at them all.

We then had lunch, a Chicken/Beef Burrito buffet. Good food. Unfortunately, this was the end of the conference and someone had the poor idea to wrap everything up with another "speaker." This was a lady "Storytelling Cowboy." Apparently, this person does this for tourists out on dude ranch retreats. She was awful. She told a total of three stories, each taking 15 minutes or so. Her stories were poor, her accents were bad, her timing was poor and her story punchlines and morals were TERRIBLE. I have seen and heard good "Cowboy Poets and Storytellers." They are wonderful. This lady was horrid. Not sure what else to say. It was really bad.

Then, there was another round of awards and doorprizes. This time I won a door prize. I selected a bottle of red wine from the award table, as Shannon loves Merlot. Little did I know, the wine was donated by Dr. Yohon, who made the wine herself at a local business that specializes in that sort of thing. We haven't opened it yet, but I am thinking it must be pretty good, or Dr. Yohon wouldn't be giving it away.

When the dust cleared, we couldn't get to the car fast enough. We jumped on the highway and were home by 3:15 p.m.

The experience was pretty lousy, overall. The main speakers were terrible, the seminars were very average. The exhibitors were pretty bland. Although the food and the company were good, I didn't leave the conference with that "charged up" feeling that one is supposed to acquire at such an event. The whole thing left me thinking, "Blech."

I did, however, get 50 extra credit points, so the weekend was not a total waste.

Colorado Business Educators Conference. Day One.

Hi. It is Saturday evening, just after dinner. I got back this afternoon at about 3:30 p.m. from my day and a half trip to Denver for the Colorado Business Educators Conference, held at the Renaissance Hotel near the old Stapleton Airport. If I haven't mentioned previously, our attendance at this conference was optional, but yielded 50 extra credit points for our Business Methods course. I need the points for an A, so there I was.

We left at 8:00 a.m. on Friday morning, Robert, Lynn and me. As there was a reported accident on I-25 backing up traffic for miles, we jumped on US34 heading East to Greeley, then got on US85 heading South. This added abit to our drive, but we arrived by 10:00 a.m., with plenty of time for checkin at the hotel and for the conference. The hotel room was nice, with two queen sized beds. Lynn had one room and Robert and I had the adjoining room. There was a door inbetween the rooms, usually open.

We met up with Tim, the fourth Project Promise Business member in the lobby. He had driven down with Rebecca, a member of our Methods class. Emily, Rob and Chris also attended. Tim and Chris and Rebecca were to stay in our rooms with us. It made for a cozy arrangement.

We checked in and went to our first seminar of the conference. This was our Methods instructor, Dr. Teresa Yohon, giving a talk regarding the revamping of Business Standards for the state. Not much we hadn't heard before. We then got together as a group and went across the street for lunch at a Panera's restaurant. In the afternoon, we went to a couple other presentations. Apparently, most of the seminars are simply given by teachers in the organization, using simple PowerPoint slides. Nothing very innovative or exciting, that I could see.

In the evening, we had a fairly good "chicken or fish" dinner. We managed to meet some of the other attendees, mostly business teachers from around the state. Predominantly, the folks were from smaller and rural areas, such as Delta, Burlington, Holyoke, etc.

As the meal wrapped up, the keynote speaker took the mike. He was a lobbyist for the IFBE, a small business lobbying organization. He spoke for almost an hour. He had a couple of cute anecdotes, but his speeck was, on the whole, terrible. It had no point or focus and consisted mostly of a slew of statistics without visual supports. We all thought it was a waste of time.

After the speech, awards and door prizes were given out. Tim, from our cohort, was the second winner of a door prize. As he went up to the table to select his prize, there was a large basket with a stack of business books, some stuffed animals and a "Flash drive" perched on the top. Flash drives are cool little plug-in accessories that go into a computer's USB port to provide portable disk storage. At the cheapest, they run 50-100 bucks. Tim passed this basket up for a smaller gift bag. When he got back to the table he opened it, exposing a jar of jelly. We thought this was extremely funny and gave Tim a hard time about it for the rest of the weekend.

Later in the evening, our Methods instructor, Dr. Yohon, won the "Colorado Post-Secondary Business Educator of the Year" award. Kind of neat, I suppose. She seemed very pleased.

The "banquet" did not let up until 9:15 p.m. We then ran back to our rooms to make plans. The "kids": Rebecca, Tim and Chris, were interested in going out. Tim knew of a high school reunion going on in Boulder, so they took off at about 10:00 to drive for 30 minutes to go to a party of some sort.

Us older folks, Robert, Lynn and myself, decided to watch a Pay-Per-View movie. After about an hour of decisions making, we finally decided on "Mystic River." See a description here. Overall, the acting in the movie was pretty good, but the movie was pretty bleak and depressing and I spent most of the second two-thirds of the movie waiting for one of the main characters to get killed unjustifiably. This happened at about 12:52 a.m.

We finally got to sleep at about 1:00 a.m. Tim, Rebecca and Chris got in at about 2:30. Rebecca apparently has more energy than common sense and with a couple of drinks under her belt, she set about waking up everyone by laughing and pillowfighting. It was pretty annoying, but I guess it could have been worse.

It must be nice to be 21 years old without a care in the world.

STEPS is over!

Hi! I haven't written for a day or so. I spent much of last night reviewing our STEPS final and getting ready for our test today.

We came in at 8:00 a.m. for our test. Some of it was pretty easy, like the matching. However, there were some mini-essay questions on the test that required some thought. I struggled through, with a bit of good memory and a bit of B.S. along the way. I did well, getting a 101 out of a possible 100 (there were a few extra credit questions.)

We then divided into groups and put together quick presentations regarding different aspects of our last 6-7 weeks in class. My group consisted of Lynn, Wendee, Tom, Jay and myself. We put together a little "toolkit" of essentials from our STEPS program that one might need in their future teaching endeavors. I created a couple of tools, including the "Skinnerian Reward Beverage" (Beer) that should be in your toolbox for the end of your day.

Some of the other groups presented on "Inviting Classrooms," Trust and Communication using an Obstacle Course, and so forth. It was pretty amusing during the "Inviting Classroom" to have seen all of our cohort members and our instructors all on top of two small work tables in the PP room.

Anyway.

We then had a PowerPoint presentation from Bill Smith, the Vice Principal at Boltz Junior High School on Neglect and Abuse Issues in schools and reporting such.

Tomorrow, Tom, Lynn, Tim and I leave bright and early for Denver for our Business Education conference. It should be fun, I guess. We are going to be staying down in Denver at the conference hotel and won't be back until Saturday afternoon. I'll let you know how it goes later.

P.S. If you might be interested in some pretty amazing Dynamic Computer Graphic Art, check out this link:

http://zoomquilt.nikkki.net/

Click on the "Shockwave 2.3 MB" link at the top of the page, then the "Click here to start" area at the bottom of the screen. Amazing!

Tuesday, One Week Before Student Teaching Full Time.

It is Tuesday. We had Project Promise classes today, as well as Business Methods class. I am pretty tired and don't have a ton of energy to write, but will put up some thoughts.

We had our debriefing today regarding our Rural Experience. The consensus was that Caliche was wonderful, the people were wonderful, the kids were wonderful, the teachers were wonderful, we were wonderful... I think that you get the idea.

I really enjoyed Rural and I got a lot out of our experience, but I think I am ready to move on to other things now...

...like our STEPS final and our PP Projects and our Methods Projects. Argh.

We met with Mauricio for an hour or so this afternoon regarding our Technology class and what things are due when and where we are supposed to put them all. I am actually caught up with everything in this class, I think. I turned in everything I could find and did not see any gaping holes.

We then had Methods class. We mostly spent the time going over stuff. I didn't get much out of it. We have a huge project due in a few weeks, Robert and I, worth about half of our points for the entire course. We are supposed to put together a course plan, some unit plans, a bunch of lesson plans, a list of course materials, and who knows what else. We will be meeting tomorrow morning during Independent Study time to get this ball rolling.

And my good friend and adversary Dave M. is correct, there is no such word as "alot," even though I use it, alot.


Oh, and, "Hi, Mom!"

The Last Day at CLP as a Temporary.

It is late in the afternoon and I am sitting in the North Fork Computer Lab at CLP. School let out a couple of hours ago, and I have been sitting here trying to get some of my projects done that are due this week. I have had limited success.

Today was nice. It was good to be back at "my school" after having been away for two weeks. Unfortunately, I have no idea what is going on with the kids. They are working on projects that I don't even understand, but I should get back into the swing of things quickly, starting next week.

Mr. Jewett and I have started seriously reviewing our courses and deciding which ones I will be running and which ones I will be observing. The one thing that I know for sure is that our 1st Period Computer I class, made up of seventh graders, will be switching out at the quarter break and we will be getting a new group of kids. This will be my class, from the very beginning. I have done some research and there will be 14 kids, 4 girls and 10 boys. They already have login IDs and email, so that will make life a little easier. We start in full time next Tuesday (Monday is a holiday or something.)

Of our other classes, I will be teaching the Computer Skills Class (sort of a Computer "1 1/2" class for 8th graders.) I will also likely be teaching Computer Productions (2 classes.) These classes are working on such things as webpages, graphics, etc. These two classes will likely be the classes in which I will do the Graphic Arts project that creates the Art Gallery in the Computer Lab.

I will likely be continuing to observe Mr. Jewett in the two Computer Graphics and Web Design classes. Those two classes started working in Macromedia Flash today. This is a program that helps with the creation of graphic movies. I have to admit, I got lost pretty quickly.

It sounds like there are a number of kids, especially in the 8th Period Computer Skills class that are anxious for me to start being their teacher. They think that I will be nicer than Mr. Jewett. Ha. From what I understand, one young lady in the class, M., kind of broke down last week and cried in class, saying that Mr. Jewett was picking on her and she wished that I was teaching instead. She is very talkative and Mr. Jewett sometimes loses patience with her disruptions. As I remembered her name on the first day of school, she has been a big fan of mine since then. I have tried to talk with her a couple of times regarding her talking in class and she does seem to quiet down when I am around. She seemed very happy to see me today.

I met with Jay, another PP member, for much of my planning period in the library. He was shadowing his student, much like I did a month or so ago. We agreed that neither one of us is caught up and that we are likely to be late on our upcoming projects or turn in crap, whichever our instructors deem is appropriate. I am just having a hard time getting everything done with my family responsibilities at hand.

It is getting late, I must go.

More later.

What I Took Away From Caliche

This is sort of a reflective posting regarding our Rural Experience at Caliche. If you have been following my blog, you know what Caliche is and what we were doing there. Here are some of the things that I learned:

• Little rural schools are really neat. The kids are all so excited to see you, it's hard not to get caught up in the enthusiasm. Even if you have only had three hours of sleep, you can still get pretty excited about being there.
  
  
• Kids are noisy on the school bus in the morning, but kids are really noisy in the school bus in the afternoon. I think that in the morning, some of them are not quite awake yet, but in the afternoon, they are all excited to get home and every one of them is yelling at the top of their lungs. Not a pretty situation.
  
  
  
• Boys in Rural schools punch and slap each other just as often as boys in city schools. That must be part of the deal with them.
  
  
  
• Alot of things are "gay." I must have heard that term about 7-8 times during the week, at least. Each time, if I was in a position to do so, I said the same thing, "You know, some of your best friends may be gay." That usually started a little discussion about the use of the term. Kids usually agreed to try to say something else. The consensus appeared to be that there wasn't anything wrong with being gay, just that it is an easy word to throw around as an insult.
  
  
  
• High School sports are pretty cool. We went to a Varsity Girls' Volleyball game and it was alot of fun. Caliche got beaten pretty badly, but it was alot of fun to watch. Cheap, too. I can't wait until I have my own school teams to support.
  
  
  
• If you are planning an extended field experience away from home, try not to micro-schedule each and every minute of each and every day, it gets to be really exhausting having to be places all the time.
  
  
  
• You can do Accounting out of doors and it almost makes it fun.
  
  
  
• I am concerned about young girls. I saw and heard about some pretty ugly behavior aimed at girls in high school. I am now very interested in making sure that my classroom values and respects girls. Boys grinding themselves against girls while slapping their butts WILL NOT be tolerated.
  
  
  
• Elementary kids are alot of fun. 4th and 5th graders are endlessly fascinated with just about anything you tell them and are grateful that you bothered to work with them at all. I think that by the 7th and 8th grades, there is some cynicism built up, but the younger kids are pretty neat.
  
  
  
• Rural communities are pretty cozy places. Everyone seems to know everyone else and anything said or done anywhere in town is instantly known by all. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending upon what you have done.
  
  
  
• Smile alot.
  
  
  
• Homegrown is better. Beef tastes a heck of alot better when it is grown on the back 40 and tomatoes are wonderful right off the vine.
  
  
  
• Sometimes, you have to go get what you want, instead of waiting for things to come up to you.
  
  
  
• There are times when it is nice to just sit in the sun.
  
  
  
• If you have a pond and stock it with fish, a nearby Pelican habilitation project will likely eat all of the fish in your pond.
  
  
  
• Hermit crabs are pretty neat little housepets and might be appropriate for a 4 year old daughter.
  
  
  
• Always make sure that you have control of your own transportation, whenever possible, it will make your life alot easier.
  
  
  
• Little communities are pretty tightly knit. There were a number of memorials at Caliche to students, teachers and boosters that had died in accidents or of diseases. Very sad.
  
  
  
• I think that I could teach in a rural school, if given a chance.
  

Friday, the End of Our Rural Experience.

I spent Friday morning (most of it, anyway) with Mrs. Stumpf, the 4th Grade teacher at Caliche Elementary. The kids had a spelling test, followed by a short story analysis. I got to administer the test, 16 spelling words. Then, I read the short story and lead the discussion regarding the setting, characters, actions, etc. of the story. It was alot of fun. I enjoy the elementary kids, they all seem very grateful for our presence. The picture was taken by Mrs. Stumpf of me with the kids.

After lunch, I went to Mrs. Duncan's Web Design class and gave my "Logos" presentation. This is the second time that I have given the lesson at Caliche. This time, the class was much smaller, as a number of the kids were out for the football or volleyball away games. The lesson went well, but I changed up the activity at the end of the lesson abit. Instead of having groups work on a logo for a fictional company, I tried individual logos, using the kids names or initials and their career interests. It did not work nearly as well as the group activity. I had fun though, and the kids were attentive and interested.

I then had Mrs. Lambrecht's Accounting class. She is the Volleyball coach, so she was out for the afternoon and she asked me to run her class for her. The kids were working on some ledger worksheets. They grumbled and began to open their books and start work on their sheets. I made them an offer. If they would promise to work on their worksheets, I would let them move the class outside. "Outside where?" someone said. "Outside, where there's trees and sunshine!" They were so excited. They all went out and sat on the lawn in the front of the school and worked pretty hard getting their work done. I took the picture to demonstrate that you could, actually, do Accounting outside.

7th period, I met with Mrs. Lambrecht's Computer Skills class. They were mostly working on Keyboarding. Mrs. Duncan and her Tech Prep class came over, as most of the kids were gone. I talked some with Mrs. Duncan regarding Internet Safety, Business Education and Lesson Planning. She is a very nice person and a great teacher.

At 3:15 p.m., everyone ran for our war room in the library, anxious to get our stuff and get on the road back home. We have loved our time at Caliche and the kids, families and teachers have all been wonderful. However, 5 days away from your family is a long time, and I was anxious to get home. I piled into Terry's van with Robert, Sara and Keith and we hit the road. I was home at almost exactly 6:00 p.m.

(The picture shows Terry, aka. Dr. Terry Deniston, the Director of Project Promise. As followers of my blog know, she is one of my very favorite people and works her butt off for PP16.)

Our Rural Experience was over!

Wow!

Sleeping and Skittles on Thursday.

I am catching up with my blog regarding our Rural Experience at Caliche, the K-12 school outside of Iliff, Colorado.

On Thursday afternoon, I was quite spent. I went with Stephen to watch his Storytelling lesson with the 5th graders in Mrs. Roark's classroom. It went over really well and he had some great activities for the kids. They all seemed to enjoy his presentation.

As I said, I was exhausted. At the end of the school day I actually jumped on the schoolbus and rode back home to the Zink's with Austin. (The photo above is mine, taken from inside the school bus) I wanted to get to a bed as soon as possible. We got home at about 4:05 p.m. I was probably asleep by 4:10 p.m.

Brenda had her homemade lasagna ready at about 6:30 p.m. Made with homegrown beef and garden raised tomatoes, it was really good. We then played Skittles. This is an older tabletop game, with a spinning top and little pins to knock down. You know the game... My Uncle had one when I was a kid. It was alot of fun playing with the Zinks.

Then I got packed up and ready to go. We planned on leaving from Caliche as soon as the bell rung on Friday, as we are anxious to get home.