Conversations #105 - Summer Plans

Post-Show description: 

This week we were joined by Amanda Marrinan, who was in the same time zones as Lisa, Maria and Sheila! She was visiting Maria before heading to ISTE11. This week we discussed our professional and personal plans for the summer. Curriculum planning and having fun were at the top of the list!

This is our last show of the season. We will be taking time off for the summer, but will be back in the fall!


Chat Log:
 11:11:16  MariaK: Hi Scott! You are here early.
 11:11:45  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): Hi Maria.  Didn't want to miss the last show of the season.  I wanted a front row seat.
 11:19:01  Lisa Parisi: Hello Scott
 11:19:22  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): Hi Lisa.  Good to see all of my favorite podcasters here today
 11:24:06  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): coffee refill.... brb
 11:31:08  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): What are we going to talk about today?
 11:31:24  Lisa Parisi: What is going on this summer.
 11:31:28  connect2jamie: Hi all!
 11:31:29  Lisa Parisi: Hello Jamie
 11:31:53  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): sound good
 11:32:10  woodenmask: Good morning, Gang. Is there sound yet? (And where can I find it?)
 11:32:17  connect2jamie: yes!
 11:32:25  connect2jamie: ustream
 11:32:28  Lisa Parisi: Yes, John.  In ustream
 11:32:29  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): ustream link on the right
 11:32:30  connect2jamie: Click on the play button
 11:33:08  woodenmask: Aha. There we go. Thank you. Welcome, Sheila!
 11:33:15  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): we should have video today
 11:33:21  woodenmask: Amanda, rather...
 11:33:57  woodenmask: (Although I'm always happy to see Sheila.)
 11:34:20  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): northern hemisphere, anyway
 11:34:22  Sheila: Photos are Amanda at my school!
 11:34:41  connect2jamie: fun!
 11:36:14  Conversations: Quick on the draw Scott!
 11:36:31  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): We have been out for weeks, but we start around Aug 15
 11:37:21  connect2jamie: @scott so do we
 11:38:10  connect2jamie: half days. wow! interesting
 11:38:29  connect2jamie: we always have to lock and completely move out of our rooms. hassle
 11:38:45  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): what grade are you switching to?
 11:39:02  connect2jamie: I don't though, b/c I have the library office. I just lock it
 11:39:03  Lisa Parisi: 4th
 11:39:16  connect2jamie: we aren't allowed half days either.
 11:39:41  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): Cool... I'll be student teaching 3rd and 4th in the fall.  we can do a project together
 11:39:57  connect2jamie: I love 4th graders
 11:40:11  Lisa Parisi: I am project planning this summer, Scott.  I will keep you informed
 11:40:56  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): OK.  My 3rd grade cooperating teacher will be at ISTE. You two should meet - you have  a lot in common.
 11:41:11  connect2jamie: We only have half days if there's a weather emergency
 11:41:39  connect2jamie: our 4th graders study TX history @lisa
 11:41:46  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): Sounds like a voicethread project....
 11:42:05  connect2jamie: although connecting outside our "walled garden" would probably be a no-go
 11:42:08  connect2jamie: :(
 11:42:32  Conversations: That's too bad.
 11:42:57  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): even garden fences have ocassional peep holes.  ;-)
 11:43:10  connect2jamie: yup. I think students can get to Voicethread now though. They could for awhile last year, but don't know if it's still open.
 11:43:21  Conversations: Gopher holes and go underground!
 11:43:28  connect2jamie: they should, @Scott!
 11:45:13  connect2jamie: subversive librarianship is one of my policies! L O L
 11:45:19  Lisa Parisi: LOL
 11:45:31  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): @jamie I like the way you think
 11:45:48  connect2jamie: sometimes thwarted in practice, but I keep pushing.
 11:45:53  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): The library ninja
 11:46:05  connect2jamie: :)
 11:47:18  connect2jamie: virtual field trip is good idea. Then our kids could
 11:47:39  connect2jamie: create one and upload it, and the real time is out of the equation for thos of us who are still behind wall
 11:48:08  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): How do you format the field trip?  Webquest?  
 11:48:42  connect2jamie: another problem is that our tchrs don't "get around" to teaching social studies much. Math/Sci/ELA is constant. History is stuck in where they can manage it
 11:48:59  woodenmask: Sigh... ISTE....
 11:49:07  connect2jamie: Ahh....ISTE....wish wish.
 11:49:13  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): If it's not on "the test", its not important
 11:49:21  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): ISTE.... maybe next year
 11:49:21  Conversations - Sheila: Amanda is getting an award!
 11:49:31  woodenmask: I think a lot of us only go every other year. It seems like all the people i need to meet up with go on the years I don't.
 11:49:36  connect2jamie: That's def the case in TX @Scott. I assume it is everywhere these days tho.
 11:50:21  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): I'm taking a SS methods class now.  Lack of status in elementry is a comon lament in the textbook
 11:50:26  Lisa Parisi: http://www.isteconference.org/ISTE/2011/program/search_results_details.p...
 11:50:32  connect2jamie: Great thing abt ISTE tho is that so much is acessible virtually. It's fantastic.
 11:50:55  Conversations - Sheila: http://www.iste.org/news/11-05-10/ISTE_Awards_Amanda_Marrinan_with_2011_...
 11:51:34  connect2jamie: @Scott so true. I don't even know HOW they wrangle anyone into teaching 8th gr history in TX. It's the first test, and those poor tchrs know full well that very little SS has taken place in the grades previous. Oh my.
 11:51:37  Conversations - Sheila: Last link was Press release for Amanda
 11:52:19  connect2jamie: Hooray @Amanda! Huge honor! Congratulations!
 11:52:27  connect2jamie: Joyce rocks!
 11:52:32  marragem: Thankyou, Jamie
 11:53:21  connect2jamie: tweet as much as you can, everyone! For those of us that are virtual!
 11:53:49  connect2jamie: I hear a very happy bird in the background at someone's house!
 11:53:52  connect2jamie: :)
 11:55:21  connect2jamie: LOL @Maria!
 11:55:32  connect2jamie: no passing notes!
 11:55:33  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): if you two dont behave I'll have to seperate you !
 11:55:55  connect2jamie: you are well and fully connected!
 11:55:57  woodenmask: I eBayed 75 or so Town Reports for our town this year. I'll be spending most of the summer scanning them, so each student can have their own year's worth of data to work from next year. Going to collaborate w/my math colleague to use historical data to use math concepts.
 11:56:21  connect2jamie: Interesting!
 11:56:22  Lisa Parisi: Cool John
 11:56:59  woodenmask: Also attending a Duke Ellington workshop in CT/Harlem for a week.
 11:57:15  Lisa Parisi: I remember that, John.  That is going to be amazing.
 11:57:47  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): I'm taking 3 classes this summer.  16 week classes crammed into 8 weeks!  
 11:58:15  Lisa Parisi: Wow.  I am done with taking classes.  I'm at 60 credits over my masters.  
 11:58:27  Lisa Parisi: I spent many summers taking classes.
 11:58:40  woodenmask: I hope so, Lisa. I've been reading so much about the Harlem Renaissance so much lately that I'm excited about teaching it next year. Just wondering how to make it accessible to very sheltered, white middle-schoolers.
 11:58:58  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): These are my last ones.  All that is left is 16 weeks in the classroom and a few Praxis tests.
 11:59:02  Lisa Parisi: Just showing them the world will be enough probably
 11:59:05  Conversations - Sheila: Wow! that's a lot!
 11:59:22  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): (I'm accepting job offers now) :D
 12:00:42  Lisa Parisi: ANything coming your way, Scott?
 12:01:26  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): I have a few "soft" offers,... call me when you get your license... that sort of thing.
 12:02:09  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): I've ben told MANY tims that my age, gender, and grade preference will be a big help.
 12:02:39  Conversations - Sheila: Good luck scott!
 12:04:10  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): Scripted inquiry?
 12:04:25  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): might be a good name for a band.....
 12:07:07  connect2jamie: unfortunately my real life is calling! Gonna have to run. Everyone have a wonderful, restful summer! Have big fun and learn lots and tweet if you're headed for Philly! Happy summer!
 12:07:18  Lisa Parisi: Bye Jamie.  Have a great summer!
 12:07:30  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): Bye Jamie
 12:07:49  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): compuserve, alta-vista....
 12:08:07  [email protected]: el  delfin
 12:08:19  Lisa Parisi: Ahh.  I remember compuserve
 12:11:20  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): Laptop=creation, tablet=consumption
 12:12:44  Conversations - Sheila: That's what I'm thinking Scott!
 12:13:18  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): Can you imagine trying to use this chat room on a tablet?  I need a keyboard.
 12:13:29  Lisa Parisi: Me too, Scott
 12:14:28  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): what are you ISTE folks doing for connectivity?  Are you depending on public wifi?
 12:14:43  marragem: we are, Scott
 12:15:06  marragem: ISTE should have arranged for extra bandwidth
 12:15:29  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): It might be worth paying for one month of tethering on your phone.
 12:15:47  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): I always travel with a power strip.
 12:15:50  Lisa Parisi: I don't pay for tethering
 12:15:54  marragem: as an international guest, I can't do that Scott
 12:16:34  woodenmask: The opening keynote speaker was really, really bad and people had things to say about it that weren't universally gracious.
 12:16:43  woodenmask: He was the head of the IMF, I think.
 12:16:53  woodenmask: Not the rapey guy, but someone else French,
 12:17:07  woodenmask: Actually, Luxembourger
 12:17:33  woodenmask: And yet, I can't remember my son's birthday.
 12:17:59  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): Mob mentality....
 12:18:01  Conversations - Sheila: :)
 12:18:09  woodenmask: But he was REALLY poorly prepared.
 12:18:37  woodenmask: And I think people felt disrespected that he hadn't done any research on who he was presenting to.
 12:24:17  woodenmask: Yeah. We suck...
 12:26:04  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): Isn't it about growth, not absolute scores?
 12:28:24  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): you bloom in the deepest fertilizer
 12:31:32  woodenmask: I'm in an unusual position in that it's very easy for me to document how what I'm doing aligns with State Frameworks. It's much harder (logistically and emotionally) for my Elementary colleagues. (Keep your chin up, Maria.)
 12:32:01  woodenmask: So, lots of good wedding limericks, Maria.
 12:32:26  woodenmask: Intercourse, PA?
 12:32:41  woodenmask: Truth or Consequences, NM?
 12:33:50  Conversations - Sheila: Thanks all!
 12:34:05  woodenmask: Oh - just got the first hard cover copies of Invisible Hamster, the Authorized Biography, yesterday.
 12:35:05  woodenmask: Have a good summer, All.
 12:35:09  Lisa Parisi: Bye all
 12:35:15  Scott Shelhart (@kd9sr): Thanks all.