The past two months...

So it's been a while since I've posted. Lots of stuff has happened... new house... new job. Portland, Kennebunk, respectively. It has happened very quickly too. Back in the beginning of May, I had a Skype interview with Kennebunk High School. I later found out that the new principal (who was there) thought I "came alive" on the screen and seemed very passionate. Two weeks after that interview (and another no from an interview at Massabesic Middle School), I got a call from the current principal who is going overseas this summer (hence the new principal). He asked me to join their team. I was speechless... and by speechless, I mean I was so excited that I could barely wait for him to finish his sentence to say yes.

He talked for a while more on the phone, but I was honestly too excited to fully hear him. I'm getting a great pay raise for one. I'm going to be living with my husband again. And Tangie will get to know more than being alone for eight hours a day... she'll make friends at the doggy parks of Portland! We began our search for a new apartment/house almost immediately, and found a wonderful (somewhat expensive) house on outer Forest Ave in Portland.  I came down for a weekend with some stuff that I was moving out of Houlton, and we went to look at this 3-bedroom house in Riverton after Devon's baseball game.  The landlords loved us, and we loved the place.  The landlords also loved Tangie, which was wonderful since Tangie is very obviously a pitbull, but not very obviously a wonderful dog.

So that was around the last week of May (I think it was Memorial Day weekend). From there, I came back to Houlton for the class of 2011's graduation. Miss Sydney, their valedictorian, was in my anatomy class this year, and gave me a shout-out in her speech. I was pretty stoked to be noticed as a good teacher at that school, even if only by a single student. Later, when I was leaving for the year, and forever, I found that there were a few more people who were going to miss me.  Sheesh. I don't know why, but I felt like maybe it would have been nice to be acknowledged as a valuable teacher and colleague before my last week teaching there.  Oh well.

The past few weeks have flown by! I turned in my final grades, got my room cleaned out, and said my goodbyes. The guidance counselor there has been the only one to consistently support me and "boost my ego" and she was able to make me cry on my last day.  Thanks, B. I was also pretty bummed to say goodbye to a few students that I would have loved to continue teaching. After my last day on June 17th, I drove myself and the rest of my stuff down to Portland forever... or at least until we move into our new place on June 30th/July 1st.

Unfortunately for my lovely roommates (one being my hubby), they'll have to do a lot of cleaning and moving over the next two days. Why? Because I presented "Wikispaces for Classroom Use" at the SAMS Summer Institute on June 23rd & 24th back in Houlton... then I came back late Friday only to pack and leave for Philly for the annual ISTE Conference. I've been here since Saturday evening, and being here has been fun, but the conference has been a waste of time. It stinks. I've been to three 1-hour sessions in two days. One of which I was pre-registered for and I didn't really like. It was just a plug for NatGeo's Beta Education site.

I'd like to talk more about the two sessions I desperately wanted to attend but were full by the time I hauled myself to the closed doors.  I will do that later, but not in this post. I want to discuss why I wanted to attend more than the sessions themselves.  For now, I must have a yummy Philly dinner, then MOVE into my fancy new house, then I will discuss.  Take it easy, it is summer after all!

Curriculum development: Micro-scale.

First I have to mention the article I read recently from class, where they talk about the definition of the word "curriculum." They raise an interesting point because the idea of a "common core curriculum" implies different things to different people.  Many people think that curriculum is "a lean set of big ideas that can be tackled in many ways." For others, it's the textbook for that course that represents the curriculum. Still others think that a common curriculum will be "scripted, day-to-day lesson plan[s]."

I find the last definition of curriculum absolutely horrifying. Do people really think that a common core curriculum would result in complete loss of control? The article goes on to point out that it would be ludicrous to create scripted lessons and leave out any teacher input. President of the Common Core organization in Washington, D.C. Lynne Munson said, "we would be fools to create materials in a process that doesn’t draw on the tremendous wisdom of a public-review process.”

So I stand on the side of common core curriculum that thinks of it as a "town common," like a place where everyone meets and collaborates. I have a lot of control in my classroom as far as curriculum goes, too. If someone came into my biology class to tell me, "you're teaching this now," I think I'd be pretty upset! In general though, because I have relatively "new" training in education, I can mold my lessons to fit into whatever curriculum or standards I am supposed to be teaching.

Adjusting to the common core standards in my classroom will be the next time I have to "make curriculum changes." A large part of the common core standards is L-I-T-E-R-A-C-Y as it relates to college and career readiness. Many of my lessons include some funky literacy strategies, but I think some need work. I'd have to paw through them, looking at literacy strategy books and websites (like www.adlit.org, a new one we discovered this week). I can think of several units that start with an engaging "hook" that I could wrap into a literacy strategy such as an "Anticipation Guide." I would talk with my PIT group too, getting some ideas and suggestions on how to improve it before I implement it. I'd have to make sure it fits in well too, and isn't just in the curriculum to "be there."

Bubbl.us as a collaborative classroom tool.

I wanted to share with my teacher-readers a website I discovered last year:


www.bubbl.us - created by two programmer dudes, Kirill & Levon, who graduated from UW-Milwaukee and are both from Russia.

I have used Bubbl.us in a solo project fashion. My environmental science and wildlife ecology students had to narrow down their choices for topics on a final project. Bubbl.us is an online brainstorming and mind mapping tool that is free to use for up to three saved documents. They have a couple membership options, with a 50% discount for .edu email addresses (students & teachers). Their best plan is $29/year (with 50% off included in that price) for unlimited access and saving. Personally, I can't think of any project I would have them do where they may need more than one mind map between a whole group. Free users have full access to the site other than the "saved sheet" limitation. But it says on the site that "sheets shared with a user by others [...] does not count against the quota."

My kids last year struggled with the site though, and I hadn't returned to it until now. I think I may use it on the final project for biology. I used to love doing brainstorming clouds when I was a kid, and this is like an easy-to-use, digital version of that. I've only used it on a Mac, and it is SUPER Mac-friendly! I can't say for PC... but who still likes PCs, anyway? You just click "command + enter" to add a "child bubble," and tab to add another child bubble. You can use any combination of colors (which is one piece that makes Bubbl.us kind of distracting), and change the size of the font with a quick click. I would compare this tool to OmniGraffle on the MLTI Macbooks... except that it's so user-friendly! I really had to grapple with OmniGraffle when I was first using it, and I got lucky only when I used their templates.

As far as "effective group work," I think that this tool could foster creativity in the group. Too often, the group is anxious to get started on their project. They use whatever idea the leader comes up with, and go with it. I could use this tool as an effective way to "branch" the groups ideas, having them color coordinate their suggestions off the main idea. The main topic, "Orono Bog Boardwalk," is the class assignment, Heidi's ideas are in green, Joey's are blue, and Claire's are in purple. There is a sharing option for Bubbl.us, but I have not used it. I would probably have one kid type, while others helped with suggestions. I want to give kids the opportunity to organize their thoughts and form conclusions about the information they'll be working with. It will also give me a chance to see if groups are all choosing the same thing, or if different groups have different preferences. A simple way to see this would be to have each group member put a color-coded asterisk next to their favorite idea. The group hands this brainstorm into me (via email or print), and so I can look over each group's ideas and make suggestions.

I'm trying to get back into yoga...

I really miss yoga.  Truly.  The longer I go without it, the worse I feel.  The longer I go without it, the harder it is to start it again!  I think I need someone to do it with me, or at least someone to hold me accountable!  Any volunteers?  The video below is of my most favorite yoga-blend activity, it's called "Yoga Booty Ballet."  One of my best friends and I did this video for several weeks one summer.  It's intense, but it feels great!







I read somewhere that 21 days makes a habit.  So I'm starting in the morning with this site: http://www.youtube.com/user/yogayak.  I'll do yoga every day for 21 days.  By that reasoning, I should have formed a solid habit by March 9th.  Cheer me on!

Pink's Drive... a biology teacher's review.

So I've been reading Daniel H. Pink's book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.  My curriculum teacher said "you'll love it," and I kind of thought, "suuuuuure," and started reading.  What a cool book it turned out to be.

My fellow students in class know what the book is about, but for students of mine who are curious, here's the tweet from Pink: Carrots & sticks are so last century. Drive says for 21st century work, we need to upgrade to autonomy, mastery & purpose.

Autonomy is defined as freedom from external control or influence; independence.  I find that high schools in particular are lacking in this part of "motivation 3.0."  Motivation 3.0 is the "upgrade" from carrots and sticks (reward and punishment) that presumes humans have a "third drive:" to learn, to create and to better the world.  I started thinking about autonomy and this human drive to be such last night when I was writing some homework.

I am going to start asking myself a few questions as I create homework in the future (from page 175 in the book):

1. Am I offering students any autonomy over how and when to do this work?
2. Does this assignment promote mastery by offering a novel and engaging task?
3. Do my students understand the purpose of this assignment?

I want to be able to offer my students autonomy over the assignments, but I think that as a teacher, I hesitate to give up a certain amount of control.  How can I give students more autonomy over their homework?  How can I turn the work into learning?  How can you, the students, claim more autonomy?  What would you have to do to prove that you can be autonomous?

Honestly, I can say that some of my assignments definitely do not promote mastery.  Section review questions and vocab are really just about rote organization of information that we've done in class.  Other assignments, such as colorful essays, are a different way of showing that you have mastery of a subject.  Do you have any ideas for some engaging tasks that will show that you have mastery of the topics we cover?  I know that not all of you find biology to be your favorite subject, but how can autonomy and engagement improve your enjoyment of the science we cover?

What about purpose?  What is the purpose of each assignment I hand out?  I think the general consensus in my classes is that I'm just giving you busywork and forcing you to do pointless homework that you don't like.  Well, disliking the homework aside, I always have a good reason for the assignments I give out.  Even though section review homework does not wholly promote mastery, as it is pretty simple, it does have a point!  The more you expose yourself to the vocabulary, the more likely you are to understand the higher level assignments! 

One final point about the book is Pink's discussion about Type X and Type I behavior.  Type X people are "extrinsically motivated" by things like money, grades, and other external rewards of activities.  Type I people follow a different approach to life built around "intrinsic" motivations like autonomy, mastery and purpose.  These types of people still think that money, grades and other external rewards are important, but they have a different drive.  Type I people have an innate desire to direct their own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better for the world they live in.

Something I knew before reading this book, but didn't realize, was that I want each and every one of my students to be Type I.  I didn't have a name for it like Pink, but I knew that I wanted my students to go on and do good things in the world.  And before you get out into the world to do those good things, I want you to learn.  Your goal throughout your whole life should be to learn.  Something in this book that will stick with me for a long time is this: "With a learning goal, students don't have to feel that they're already good at something in order to hang in and keep trying.  After all, their goal is to learn, not to prove they're smart."  Pink is citing another book, Self-Theories by Carol S. Dweck, that I intend to read soon.

Too often, students think they need to prove something, and they think the only way to do it is to get the good grade.  I sincerely want all of my kids to take a look at their learning, and really push themselves to learn the things I teach, and not just memorize the information for the good grade on the exam.  If your goal is to prove your intelligence to anyone, then you're not learning.  If your goal is to "get through" the class, then you need to figure out a way to enjoy the class and get something from it.  This should be true in everything you do in your life!

TED Talk - Khan Academy!

This is great... and you kids think he's such a dork!

The changing curriculum, then and now.

How has the curriculum changed (the content included) since the 1900s?  This is a question from a classmate, and I found it easy to answer with a quick google search.  As far as America is concerned, it has changed with the times, and changed according to what was happening in the world (not so much about bettering the world, but about how the world was affecting the US). 

Here's a breakdown of curriculum development (and its development) since the earliest part of this century (for high school):

• From 1893-1930s, it was up to college professors to decide what was necessary "college prep."
• by 1912, every state had a high school, but only 10% of America's youth were graduating from them
• in 1917, after some complaining from farmers and labor groups, funds were authorized for high schools to have vocational programs.
• When the depression hit, many high school graduates were not able to find work because of their "lack of preparation."
• The period from 1931-1942 saw extensive curriculum development.
• high school enrollment doubled because American youth couldn't find any jobs and therefore chose to stay on in school.
• several studies were rolling out that revealed teachers did not follow curriculum models
• teachers were also encouraged to get to know their students better so they could develop better units
• Curriculum development was shelved when America got involved in WWII.
• schools were expected to provide "preinduction training" and to provide war/military industry training
• After 1946, schools were under pressure from many different groups who had vastly different ideas on curriculum
• these included: environmental education, global understanding, free enterprise, one world emphasis, air-age education, and physical fitness.  Sounds familiar, eh?
• In 1957, the Soviet Union launched a satellite into space, creating panic in the States
• had we fallen behind Russia in general skill sets and knowledge?
• in the next 15 years, more than $100 million was provided for math & science education
• textbooks and lab guides were developed that took students away from memorization and toward scientific inquiry
• In the late 1970s, the NSF (Nation Science Foundation) found that students interested in science careers liked the new courses, but most other students did not.  This sounds quite familiar!
• After 1980, the structure of public high schools became very similar to what we know now.
• By the 2000s, "standards-based education" had taken a foothold
• this changed the measurement of success from "finishing 12 years" to "academic achievement."

And that's what I could come up with at 10pm on a Monday night!  To wrap up, I'd like to add a question or two about the last bullet point.  Was this a good change? Will we ever walk away from the state and national standards?

Gearing up for a vacation...

Why do I always feel like I'm forgetting something? My husband and I take off for Miami tomorrow, making a stop in Boston to visit a friend and commandeer a parking space for the week. I'm preeeeeetty excited. I've gotten just about everything done for grad classes, and I'm finishing up some grading for the kiddie tonight. I'm not even bringing my laptop with me... I don't think. We'll see I guess. I don't know if I can go a whole week without being directly connected to the thing!

We're staying at my sister's new South Beach apartment... 20th floor, jacuzzi, nearly 360 degree view of Miami, the beach, the bridge and the islands. *sigh* Delightful. We'll also be doing a day trip to the Everglades, and probably spending a day or two in Key West (probably one of the neatest places I've visited!).

I hope everyone else has a lovely vacation relaxing and and rejuvenating and at least TRYING to get out of the house! I know I ws about to go crazy with all the snow in Houlton!!! I'll take lots of pictures, and maybe I'll bring back some cool stuff for my classroom!

Have a delightful break! See you in March!

"New technologies result in ubiquitous connectivity and the pervasive proximity of unstructured relationships."

This is a quote from Curriculum 21, in which the author talks about "5 socio-technology trends" that are changing everything about how we learn and about how we teach.  I really enjoyed the ridiculous use of thesaurus in that particular sentence quoted in my title, but on top of that, the message is very real to me, and it should be to you students.  What she is saying is that all of this new technology (iPads, iPods, laptops, smart phones, etc.) gives us a stream of data and information that we are almost incapable of escaping.  Have you ever tried to go a day without your phone?  Or even a couple hours without your laptop open streaming a Netflix video?  It's frightening to think that we are crippled without the technology, and, in a way, crippled by the technology.  What I am trying to reference is the "unstructured relationships" that are becoming universal in their accessibility.  When I think about life before I had a cell phone, it reminds me of a time when I would have to memorize my friends phone numbers and I would call them to have them come over.

When I think about life before a cell phone with unlimited texting, I remember calling my friends just to say hi and to chat about nothing... I remember the sound of a human voice, too.  I am exaggerating to a point here, because we still have real human interactions every day.  But when you receive/send more than 1,000 text messages in a day, maybe it's time to take a step back and think about what you're missing.  Skype, iChat, AIM and other instant-messaging services have altered our interactions that much further.  It is useless for teachers and parents and others of the "landline generation" to resist this change.  But it is wholly possible for us to do something positive for the generation that must navigate, sometimes blindly.

I think that the one thing I'd like to talk about more specifically is the social network.  No, not the movie.  Social networks such as Myspace and Glogster are very new on the timeline of technology and human evolution.  The "iGeneration" has not lived in a time when Facebook and Twitter were not around.  It is very easy for the landline generation to put down these social networks, and to block them in schools across the country.  And yet, Facebook has some 200 million users across the world.  YouTube, another form of social networking, is blocked and banned in many schools too.  Why?

These social networks have so much potential in the community of learners, it is merely our responsibility as teachers to grasp it, understand it and use it to benefit our learners.  The possibilities are endless, and the amount of knowledge you can choose to share or not share is unlimited.  Facebook has over 24 million photos uploaded every day.  Who's to say that 30 of those photos couldn't be from a really great lab that we did about bacterial transformation?  Or that 10 of those photos are from a student who was assigned to take photos of science creeping into their every day life?

Status updates have evolved since 2003 when Facebook launched, but the idea is still the same: what's on your mind?  Is there any reason a child shouldn't be allowed to update their status to say "wow, just discovered that I have a Hitchhiker's thumb and can taste PTC paper.  What about you?"  Is there any reason that a teacher can't post the homework as a status update? "Biology, don't forget to do Chapter 6 vocabulary and study for the quiz on meiosis."  What about posting a status update for students to reply to with thoughtful conversation and insight?  "Class, please read the article linked here.  Respond to the article with your thoughts and additional research below.  Keep your response concise while bringing in new information for the group."

The possibilities are there.  We just need to open our minds to the idea that we can trust students with this responsibility.  We must allow them to work in the medium that they will have to use the rest of their lives.  Who better to guide them than a teacher?

Share your thoughts in the comment section below, I'd love to hear your opinion.

If you had the choice, what would you learn about?

Thinking about curriculum is beginning to upset me.  I'm having these horrible thoughts like "am I really teaching the students?" or "am I really teaching what matters?" or, worse, "will they be able to perform well on the SAT because of what I taught?"

Ugh.  Surely some things are working, right?  I think my learning goals and objectives are well-aligned with "state benchmarks" and the school's mission.  Perhaps some of you don't even realize that when you're working through a lab or experiment, you are improving your problem-solving skills!  The science fair has started, and you are, in groups or solo, working through obstacles in your thought processes and adjusting your procedures to work perfectly.  My sneaky hope is that you'll become better scientists and more "tuned in" and interested in science!  

Another last thing that works, at least in my science classroom, is the wide variety of assessments and computer activities.  Be honest, how many days of class have you had with me where we didn't use the MLTI laptops?  Even some of our assessments (quizzes, exams, lab reports, etc.) are online!  I have to tell you, I really wanted to use NoteShare for lab reports, but I just couldn't get it up and running in time... maybe next year!  Even so, I'm pretty excited about how labs are going in class.  I'm wicked excited to start doing some fruit fly work (see attached video) as we start rolling into genetics and natural selection!

One last thing I want to talk about is what I know: personalized learning in the science classroom.  I think you kids can comment on this more than I can, so feel free to post below!  I hope that I am doing my best for all of you, and, despite the numerous things that don't work in a given school system, that I am giving you the very best of scientific information.  You may not know all of the things I do in a daily class/lesson, but I work very hard to customize the learning.  I know that not everyone wants to learn about the cell cycle, and I know that not everyone wants to learn about the intricate and specific mechanisms behind cell signaling.  But for those that do want to know these things, I try to keep it interesting and varied.  I also try to keep things riveting for the kids that aren't exactly fascinated by this stuff.  Because, who knows?  You may learn something new that you never thought you would find so cool!

So I come back to the question in this title:  if you had the choice, what would you learn about?  Teachers are faced with fulfilling a curriculum based on many different things.  Sometimes it seems as though it is not really about your needs, wants and desires.  This is an open-ended question, and one that I want you to answer honestly.  I'm not going to give you any suggestions on how to answer, I just want you to think about the question.  Another way: if money were not an option, and you could learn at your own pace, what would you go to high school to learn about? (Or middle school.)  And, if you care to elaborate... what would your schedule be like?

Click here to answer anonymously!

Global Learning & Curriculum, a short commentary.

I'm at the end of a discussion with a couple classmates (via Skype!) from EDC, and I'm thinking, "Wow.  There are some serious problems with the general [lack of] curriculum development in the States."  Not many "non-teachers" would have this thought, I understand, so I will break it down as I see it.

Many schools are focused on dropping languages from their curricula, citing underfunding as a strong reason for cutting the programs.  But "the economies of China, India, and Japan, which represent 18 percent of the world's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2004, are expected to represent 50 percent of the world's GDP within 30 years (Jacobs, 98)."  As of 2008, China, India and Japan held 24 percent of the world's GDP (Univ. of Groningen)!  With that said, shouldn't we be adding languages to our curriculum, in order to better prepare our students for a global economy?  Many people think that, to be competitive in the global marketplace, students will need at least a basic knowledge of world cultures and foreign languages. 

Another fascinating fact: "if there were just 100 people in the world, only 5 would be American (Jacobs, 99)."  Kind of makes you think, doesn't it?  We concentrate on ourselves (the U.S.) and the things we think of as important so much, that we don't even think about what a small part of the world we really are.  This factoid didn't matter much back before the internet.  Now we are all connected, and have no excuse to remain ignorant of other cultures.

Vive l'unité!

Briefly, a definition.

When thinking about what "curriculum" is, I had to go to friends and colleagues to ask them.  It's an interesting habit of mine, going to others for an opinion or thought before forming my own.  But I digress.  I want to get back to that sometime, though. 

One of my colleagues (who follows this blog I think), when I confronted her about curriculum, said she could spare a minute.  I asked, "what is curriculum?"  She politely declined to answer my question, stating, "Puhhhhhhh.  Another time, another time."  I probably don't remember it word for word, but suffice it to say that, even after begging for just a one sentence answer, she couldn't do it.  She huff-puffed away down the hall, as I stared after her confused and flustered.

Of course, I can start with a dictionary definition of "curriculum," which states it as a noun: "the subjects comprising a course of study in a school or college."  I'm always interested in the Latin root of words, as my kids would probably groan about when I ask them about the meaning of a "prokaryote" or "eukaryote" in Latin.  Curriculum is derived from "curricle," which is an open, two-wheeled buggy pulled by two horses.  I love horses, and I love Latin.  How did I not know what a "curricle" was before this moment?

Anyway, curricle then comes from "currere," or "to run," in Latin.  So a curriculum is a race.  A race where the winner is your brain.  You take courses in school to build your skills and knowledge.  But for what purpose?  What curriculum are you "running" when you are on a college prep trajectory?  What curriculum are you "running" when you are getting your GED?  Does each "race" prepare you for a later race (curriculum) that you will be running?

Curriculum 21 by Heidi Hayes Jacobs suggests that we, the teachers "negotiate the path [or race], but ultimately it is the student who determine how they will, or if they can, take steps on the path."  So, as we are developing a definition of curriculum individually, locally or nationally, we must work to deliver a trail or path that is both challenging and engaging, but not impossible to traverse.  Of course, this path must be meaningful to the generation who is on it.  We have to think about the skills they will need to navigate the high school path and future paths on their life journey.  In building our curriculum in any sense of the word, we must "translate [these skills] into highly discrete classroom applications connected to assessment types" (Jacobs, 28).  In other words, we need doable activities and work that easily show student knowledge and insight.



I hope to change an revise this beginner definition of curriculum soon.  Stay tuned for more on the science fair, and possible extra credit opportunities!

Gearing up for Midterms...

Did you study my little kidlets?  I spent my weekend working on making the midterms, so hopefully you spent yours study for your biology or anatomy midterm exam!

If you review material we have covered, I think you will do just fine.

P.S. I'm going to Miami!

Struggling to Stay Relevant

Or, as I like to call it... curriculum development.

I had an interesting discussion with my carpool buddy today, and the subject hovered around the struggle to keep our jobs, mostly metaphorical and relative to the world as a whole.  We, as teachers, face a rapidly differentiating majority: students who have literally grown up with technology and entertainment and pop culture, and parents/educators/generally old "farts" who have grown up with landline phones and books and celebrities that mattered.

How do we narrow the gap between "digital natives"and "digital immigrants?"  I say, it must be curriculum development!  Now, I have little to no experience in this area, but I have always been keen on the subject.  I had a little introduction to it while getting my initial teacher certification, but I really have not seen it or experienced firsthand until my school began working on Maine Course Pathways.  We've been developing syllabi for about a year and a half, but I'm not sure how integrated these syllabi are with our curriculum.  Nor do I know how integrated/aligned each syllabus is with a coworker's syllabus (same or different discipline).

And so, with the start of my second grad semester at UMaine, I hope to keep my science classes (and myself) relevant and tangible to the students that must suffer through them.

Look at my new DVDs!

These came in the mail today... from HHMI... for FREE!

BUHHHHHH...... Edline!

I have been procrastinating SO BAD.  I'm usually pretty good at updating grades on Edline, and I have TOTALLY been slacking!  I'm sorry to my kidlets for this, I'm a total bonehead.  I'm getting some of the grades up tonight, and a few more this weekend.  It is my "New Year's Resolution" (among other things) to post to Edline every 7-10 days.  I hope this will be enough for you guys!  Also... forgot to bring a bunch of stuff home tonight, so I'll have to grade quizzes tomorrow.

In other news, I'm in two new grad classes - "Dynamics of the Curriculum" and "Computers & the Collaborative Classroom."  Don't those sound fun?!!!  For me, yes; for you, probably not!  You'll probably be part of another experiment or two soon enough!

Also, I'm thinking about doing a "30-day challenge/365 project" about one of my classrooms.  Any input would be appreciated!