Dragons Bolivia Climate Change

In 2007 my daughter and I ran into a Where There Be Dragons summer program in the rural highlands of Guatemala.  I was so impressed by the Dragons approach that I have stalked their website ever since...and now I'm off on my own Dragons trip to Bolivia. I will be joining a group of educators for a two week experiential learning adventure with a focus on climate change.  I'm looking forward to being a student..love the learning; love letting someone else drive the boat; and as a teacher, it's good for me to step into student shoes.

After two flights on American Airlines, I arrived in La Paz, Bolivia  then switched to BoA Airline for a flight to Cochabamba.  There were amazing views of the Andes which my obliging seat-mate attempted to capture on my camera.

The airline provided a small breakfast in a box, and I was surprised to open the lid and see Pope  Francis, or Papa Francisco, as they say here.   Our trip will overlap with his visit to Bolivia.  He's  been strong on climate change already; I have great hope for more.

Korea on My Mind

Summer can be full of wonderful opportunities for teachers—and this year I have been fortunate to participate in several outstanding workshops.  My week with KAFE (Korea Academy for Educators) in Los Angeles was fabulous. 

It wasn’t just learning about Korea and the Korean immigrant experience in the United States. It wasn"t just the intriguing and delicious food, the many hands-on projects, the friendly, unbelievably committed staff, or the truly diverse group of fellow participants.  It wasn’t staying in Koreatown, the amazing kick-off dinner in the director’s backyard or the lovely final party at the Ahn Family House at USC---all of that was just a beginning.  My interest in Korean culture and affairs has been awakened, and I will keep learning.

Don’t believe me?  Well, last night I watched  The Way Home, a film I learned about from KAFE; I am finishing up Helie Lee’s book In the Absence of Sun about helping family members escape from North Korea; and I have plans to turn the beautiful organic Napa Cabbage from my CSA share into kimchee (why didn’t I purchase Korean chili powder while I had the chance?).

Next week, I will return to teaching and begin sharing the experience with my students.  Stay tuned for a posting on the two-evening workshop on Korean culture that art specialist, Althea Dabrowski, and I have planned for Northfield Elementary School students.

Guess where I want to travel?

Audience Matters

It's close to the end of the school year, a time when projects are being completed and shared. From one end of the building to the other, I have heard teachers or students talk about the extra motivation that students have when their work will be shared. Sharing can take many forms--a paper carried to the senior center, a student produced video to share with another class and post on the school website, or sharing on the web with students in other countries. The wider audience really does motivate students (and teachers, too.)

As my application for a Google Teacher Academy, I was required to make and post a video on one of two topics. I chose motivation, and audience seemed like a good focus. I drew on my past experience in social research to script a short parody of educational research with puppet actors. Nicol Wander, puppeteer from Wanderful Creations, was extremely generous with her time and talent. We worked hard on hot days to produce and film this one minute (could not be longer) performance. Whew! I posted it to YouTube today because of the application deadline. It's my best effort to date--I'd like to do more with it. If you'd like to take a peek: Does Audience Motivate?

Google Earth and Art Lesson

The lesson I created using an image from the National Endowment for the Humanities Picturing America collection is posted on the Primary Source website.

Take a peek--it's an inquiry-based earth science lesson using Google Earth to compare a location as depicted in a painting by Thomas Cole to that same location today. Inquiry Into Our Changing Earth--Oxbow Observation.

Newsweek Lauds CommonCraft.com

The June 1, 2009 issue of Newsweek praises CommonCraft.com. I couldn't be a bigger fan of their paper-cutout animations. I have sent a number of grateful adults to view their videos on technology topics. (The ones on the financial sector are excellent, too.) If you want to be inspired by simple explanations, take a peek at their videos.

Science Lesson

The session I most appreciated at the recent Christa McCauliffe Technology conference was Welcome to Our 21st Century Science Classroom by Paul Facteau from Apple. It was a simulation of a well-run classroom mid-project on a river study. I was a student—I dissected an owl pellet; I tested water samples. I took photos (with the microscope); I generated graphs of my water data. I inserted these products into books and blogs. It was great to see how all the pieces can fit together. It wasn’t about the technology; it was about the learning.

9 of Me--Photoshop Elements

This lesson is for my 5th and 6th grade students at PRES who are in the middle of their first project with Photoshop Elements.