Tradition!

Yesterday I worked during the day at the Waldorf College Library. In the morning there was a convocation held in the Atrium to open the academic year. The Waldorf Wind Symphony entertained before the program and the academic procession. All the professors, in cap and gown, followed the cross bearer, the ceremonial mace bearer, and 7 flags representing the countries of students attending Waldorf. New students might think this ceremony is kooky but they will come to treasure the tradition.

The professors formed 2 lines and freshman students walked through the lines to their seats. It was really neat. There are 300 new students at Waldorf this year. there was a little pastor/audience response, performance by the combined Waldorf choirs, and then the President of the College gave a welcome.

Waldorf College is now under the auspicious of Columbia Southern University and the President of CSU, Robert Mayes, Jr., gave the convocation address. More choir. Raymond Beebe, Waldorf Foundation Board President, offered a few words of encouragement to new students and presented them with an inspirational book.

The Waldorf College Alma Mater was sung and prayers given. Then the professors exited. Again, it was a very nice program. I love academia!

Today I start the night hours at Waldorf. By day I'm a quick-witted, dedicated teacher-librarian and by night, a well-mannered academic librarian.

Well, better get going!
We'll talk again...
Love ya, Theresa

TGIF!

Last night Steve and I were guests at the annual President's Dinner at Waldorf College. New faculty and staff are invited to join other present and retired faculty and staff at a buffet dinner held in the Ballroom. It was very nice. There were around 250 people in attendance. The meal was delicious! Dr. Joe Manjone, Waldorf College President, gave the welcome. Following the meal, introductions were made of new faculty and staff by Dr. Bob Alsop, Jason Ramaker, and Bruce Morgan. A Service of Consecration was conducted by Pastor Steven Smith. Yes, I had to stand up when they read my name. You can find my name on the WC website under "staff"!

Well, one week of school down and 35 weeks to go! This week I was in Britt, Kanawha, and Belmond. The first week is always tiring for students and teachers! Everyone needs to get back into the groove. Next week I'm in Britt on Tuesday & Thursday and in Belmond on Wednesday.

On Monday I worked at Waldorf during the day. I start night hours next week.[Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday] I work at Waldorf during the day on Monday, again. We'll see how I feel by next Friday!!!

Steve heads back to Kansas on Sunday. He's leaving Garner early AM and will stop in Le Mars to visit family before going south.

Gotta go to bed now - TIRED!
Love ya...
Theresa

SIGH......

I so love the cool mornings. I sit on the back deck either with my computer or a book and always a cup of coffee. I tie the dogs out. I listen to the gentle ring of the wind chimes and watch the sway of the wind socks. RELAX. Oh, I'm going to miss this!

Today I plan to go to B-K to work on the elem LMC and take a look at how well the 7-12 LMC is coming along. I'll show pictures of the finished room. Recap: the 7-12 LMC was cut in half to make room for an alternative school. What to do with shelves and books that don't fit?!?

Steve arrived yesterday afternoon. After a feast of pizza, he and Lynne headed for Iowa State University to get her settled into her dorm. He got back shortly before 10pm and this morning I'm letting him sleep in. Nice of me, huh?

I finished Heat Wave by Richard Castle. Not bad, especially if you're a fan of "Castle" on TV. I started Valiant: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black. It may take me awhile to get thru it as I don't like it as well as the first book in this trilogy [Tithe].

The house will certainly by quieter now that Lynne has returned to college. When Steve leaves it will just be me and the dog girls. I'm sure my 2 jobs will keep me busy!

My training at Waldorf has been pretty easy. Tomorrow I go in the morning to see how everything works during the day. It's also the first day work study students work so I'll get to meet them. I only work part day so I may go to WH and check on the HS LMC. I'll probably start my evening hours on the 30th. I am scheduled for M-Th, 5-11pm and 1 weekend a month.

We are so proud of Marie. She was awarded an internship to the Discovery Channel. She leaves for Washington, D.C. toward the end of September. She will be working with promotion and PR. The internship ends in December.

Well, that's about it for now.

Love ya,
Theresa

The End of Summer (for Me)

Here it is, the last day of summer. For me at least! Tomorrow I climb into the wagon of actually working. On Monday, I start my training at Waldorf College. Then from Tuesday thru Friday, I'll be at teacher workshops in Belmond and Britt. School starts either the 23rd or 24th at my schools. Waldorf doesn't start until the 30th.

Lynne starts back to ISU on the 23rd. Steve will be here to help her move into her dorm on the 20th. Did you hear about all the flood damage that hit the ISU campus? Lynne received a call from the university telling her not to move in yet. [students were able to move in early] I heard there was 5 feet of water in Hilton Coliseum.

Geoff has been taking a summer class at St. Olaf. His classes begin after Labor Day. He says he's going to do the January interim in the Bahamas.

Marie has been interviewed for an internship to National Geographic Channel's TV Series, "Dangerous Encounters." They only take 1 intern.

I treated myself to 3 new book purchases. Heat Wave by Richard Castle is based on the ABC TV detective show "Castle". His 2nd book, Naked Heat, comes out next month. The next 2 are by the author Holly Black. Ironside: A Modern Faerie Tale is the continuation of Tithe. Valiant: A Modern Faerie Tale is another book about dark faeries. I'm reading the Richard Castle book first!

My container garden is doing well. I have 2 green tomatoes and 5 banana peppers!

I want to send happy birthday wishes to my brother, Tim S. [16-AUG] and niece, Sara H-T [17-AUG]. Many more candles to you both! Happy Anniversary to my daughter, Marie and her husband, Jeff A. [18-AUG]. And many more!

Take a moment to listen to an Elvis Presley song or watch an Elvis movie this week. The great King of Rock and Roll passed away on 16-AUG-1977. There was or is no one like him.

Check back with me next week!
Love ya, Theresa

Off to see the Wizard

I love the Google home page! They celebrate special events in pictures using their logo. Today is the 71st Anniversary of the Wizard of OZ. Check it out!

I do believe hot is going to be the theme for today where I live. At 6:30AM it was already 80 degrees! Where is that cold front?!?

On Tuesday I traveled with 2 fellow educators from B-K to a conference in CF. We were there to listen to Bernajean Porter. Bernajean is an expert in digital storytelling and advocates integrating technology in the classroom where appropriate.

Yesterday I attended a DAR mtg. I'm not a Daughter of the American Revolution yet, but I'm invited to the meetings. State Senator Amanda Ragan was our guest speaker.

Please think about your American government, especially from September 17-23. That is Constitution Week and this year we celebrate the 223rd Anniversary of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. What passion our early forefathers had in establishing our government. "We the People..."

If you're like most people the first [and last?] time you came in contact with the Constitution was in school. Or maybe you remember the SchoolHouse Rock jingle.

"CIVICS LESSON 101" [from Wikipedia]
The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. The Constitution is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government to the states, to citizens, and to all people within the United States.

The Constitution creates the three branches of the national government: a legislature, the bicameral Congress; an executive branch led by the President; and a judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court. The Constitution specifies the powers and duties of each branch. The Constitution reserves all unenumerated powers to the respective states and the people, thereby establishing the federal system of government.

The Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and ratified by conventions in each U.S. state in the name of "The People". The Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times; the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.[1][2]

The Constitution holds a central place in United States law and political culture.[3] The handwritten original document penned by Jacob Shallus is on display at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.


I've been thinking about using my blog as a sounding board for some ideas I advocate. I'm just not sure where to start!

Until next time....
Theresa

V-E-R-Y HOTT!

Today is a strangler! It is so humid that it's hard to breathe outside. My thermometer says 100 degrees. I've stayed inside most of the day. I don't know why the dogs keep wanting out. Maybe it has something to do with the treats they get when they come back in!

Geoff was in town over the weekend. he spent Saturday afternoon and evening working on Lynne's car. And came back Sunday afternoon to continue. Sadly it's not fixed yet.

I've been trying to squeeze in time to finish the 3rd book in the Guardians of Time trilogy by Marianne Curley - The Key. It's a fantasy read for young adults, maybe JH. If you like fantasy, time travel, light romance, monsters, then you'll like this series!

I've been dragging my feet about getting back to school. I have numerous things to do at each district. Sometimes I feel I don't know where to start! I guess I'll get my lists started and check off projects as I go!

How has your summer gone so far? I know it's about over too!
Looking back I (1)traveled [CO, KS, and Keokuk, IA] (2)took two classes and participated in an online conference (3)planted some flowers and vegetables (4) read almost, if not, 10 books (5)went to several movies and (6)worked on collecting info to become a DAR [Daughter of the American Revolution] during this summer.

I've spent more time with my laptop than ever before! Since my classes and conference have dealt with tech tools in the classroom, I've been busy trying to find Web 2.0 tools that I will use with my classes. Blogging is one of them! I also like Glogster, Animoto, and Twitter. I probably won't use Twitter in the classroom but I'm personally a Tweet because of the networking possibilities with other educators/librarians. They are part of my PLN [Personal Learning Network].

Please keep my sister-in-law/Steve's sister, Mary Beth N. and her family in your thoughts and prayers as she is scheduled for surgery on the 12th.

Lynne will be home from work in a little while, so I better start supper.
Until next time.....
Theresa

Hotter than ?

We've been hit with hot weather - again! At least Steve has! He told me yesterday that it was so hot in KS that the TV transmitters quit. The heat exchanger couldn't handle the cooling job. They had to hose down the heat exchanger with water to cool it down. Today wasn't so bad.

Yesterday morning was from $%*&. (fill in the blanks!) I should have known it would be bad when I saw how thick the fog was. I swear you could have cut it with a knife! I and 4 library aides had a 3 1/2 hr library webinar meeting scheduled for 8:30AM in Kanawha. When I turned on the computers at WHMS there was no internet! I called the superintendent at 7:30AM and found out that there had been a power outage during the night in Britt. After scrambling, calling the host in AZ, stressing, we were able to finally get started at 9:30AM. We finished at 12:30PM.

Today Terri A. called me to tell me that she has a new job. [Her last day at Good Shepherd was Friday.] She is going to work as a companion to 2 clients 2-days a week. Her photography business [Focus! Photography By Terri] is going good too. Check her out on FB! This Saturday she will have a booth at the craft show at Nora Springs.

I talked to Geoff today and he said he's coming home for the weekend. He said he wants to take a look at Lynne's car and see if he can fix it.

I am so humbled! Some R-E-A-L-L-Y big edtech people are following ME on Twitter! For example, Shannon Miller, Daniel Staemmmler, Alexandra Francisco, and Nick Provenzano, to name a few. I am learning so much from them and other educational architects I 'meet' at rscon10. What a wonderful experience that was! What a PLN!

Lynne went school supply shopping yesterday. It's getting that time again. :)

I'm closing for now. Have a great day/night.
Theresa

Final Countdown Begins

Only 14 days of summer left for me. In two weeks I have Waldorf College Library training in the AM. On AUG 17 I start my work at the schools I go to. Thus my life gets busy and more scheduled!

I have really enjoyed the past weekend learning about new technology tools for education via an e-conference called Reform Symposium 2010. IT WAS AWESOME! There were free sessions on many topics from presenters from around the world! You can read more about it on my technology blog at www.techwalks.blogspot.com or go to www.reformsymposium.com. "It's not about the tools, it's about the skills." I was awed at the passion expressed by the presenters [who presented for free, BTW] and their dedication to education. I have some book titles I plan to order for the Professional shelf at the schools.
Here are a few stats about the conference: 712 registered users, 3 days of conference, 35 presentations/keynotes/panels, 59 different countries represented, 4874 total visits to the website, 4239 tweets, 366 visits from mobile devices, and 313 attendees at the opening keynote address. AND IT WAS FREE AND COULD BE USED FOR PD! They are already talking about planning the next one!
I talked to Terry Freedman in England, Alex G. Francisco in Portugal, Silvia Tolisano in the USA, and Judith Way in Australia! Shelly Terrell and the Ellumanate company were behind the e-conference idea. As educational architects we can no longer NOT know and use the tools of Web 2.0 to facilitate learning.

It will take me a while to debrief and try the tools that were suggested. I look forward to the rscon's archives to peruse what I missed. I'm looking into WallWisher, Skype, and Shelfari to start with.

My motto this school year is YOU ARE A GENIUS AND THE WORLD NEEDS YOUR CONTRIBUTION. I'm making posters and putting that statement in all my library media centers.

OK, OK, off the education soapbox [for now! :)]
Yesterday I checked the house in Rockwell for water damage from the rains we have received lately. The basement was dry. Steve has done a lot of work over there! THANK YOU, BUDDY. I LOVE YA, MAN! He comes the end of August to finish up. Anyone want to buy some property in Rockwell, IA?

I started reading book 2 of the Guardians of Time Trilogy - The Dark - by Marianne Curley. I had to put it aside for awhile to attend the e-con. I should get it done and on to book 3 before the end of the week.

My little container garden is doing well. I have 1 little tomato growing! I have 2 tomato plants, 3 pepper plants, and lots of flowers. I did have another tomato plant that I put in one of those up-side-down bags, but it died. Anyone want one of those bags?!? HA-HA The pic was taken today.

Tomorrow I meet with the library aides from WH to train to use the new automation system, Destiny. I'm really excited about it!

As I should get going, I'll close for now.
Theresa