“develop” ― Kelly Weinersmith, Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything Easy to read and comprehend, Soonish gives us a "sneak peek" at technologies coming soon-ish to a life near you. I chose to read this book to get ideas about what types of technologies I should be teaching my students about in 8th grade.
The best part of this book was the elegant format they used to help us understand the realities of ten up and coming technologies. Each technology gave an intro to hook you in, a state of current affairs, possible problems, how it can improve our world, and then a connected end note that was a loosely related bird-walk. This really helped to framed a technology in an in-depth way that let me process the difference between what is and what could be. (As a teacher, I really liked this format to teach kids about any technology we are considering. Now to figure out how to build it in!) As for the technologies covered, I was somewhat disappointed. Of the ten discussed, none were new to me. Now, that might just mean I am more of a tech geek than I realized, but I am afraid it just meant that the authors went after pretty main stream fair. The most interesting technology discussed for me was the idea of mining asteroids as a method to settle outer space. Although this has been movie fodder for years, the detail provided gave me much better insight into the process. I was left really disappointed in the bio printing chapter--it seemed to be lagging in information compared to the rest of the tech discussed. At the end of the day, this was a good beginning of summer read--it balanced rich content with lots of snark (and some pretty hilarious cartoons). I will definitely buy a copy for my classroom--the kids will love it!
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“WHEN YOU LEAVE YOU MUST REMEMBER ALWAYS TO COME BACK…” -Esparanza, Pg 105 One of my goals in reading this summer is to try and learn about new cultures different from mine. It is SO easy in my upper middle class existence to ignore my privilege and pretend that everyone has the same reality as my family. However, as an educator, it is impossible to ignore that we all have different stories that bring us along in this world. My goal this summer is to read some new stories to gain a different perspective. To kick off this adventure, I read "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros. This book has been on my list for years and I decided it was a great way to start my summer.
Cisneros uses a series of vignettes to tell the coming of age story of Esperanza after her family moves into a modest house on Mango street. She tells the stories of the many colorful characters on the street and how they influence her through late childhood and into her teen years. The author weaves a beautiful thread of humanity through each story--you could relate to parts and pieces of all of them. My greatest take away from this story is that ALL of us have dreams but life throws challenges in the way that truly shape our stories. As an educator, it is imperative that I help kids name their dreams and help them find ways through the challenges to get there. As a woman, the challenges are greater and we have to share our stories of challenges to help others see that they too can overcome the hard parts. As a human, we need to learn peoples individual stories (there are many of them) to understand where they are coming from. This book is beautifully written and I particularly love the forward by Sandra Cisneros. They way she describes creating in her own "house" evoked my own feelings of creating in my office. Quirky belongings, sprawling out in my own thoughts, and dreaming of what comes next. It was beautiful! "Summer has always been my favorite season. I feel happier." -Zoe Deschanel Some of my favorite childhood memories revolve around summer reading. Each week we would go to the library and fill up a back with new books to read in the hot of the afternoon or at night after a day spent in the pool. There was something magical about signing up each June at the public library to read for the summer and then fill out the "chart" for the summer program. So, for this summer, I am going to recreate the magic for myself! I am going to do "summer reading bingo" this summer. There are prizes for different bingos: Horizontal means a pair of new tennis shoes, Vertical a new shirt, and Diagonal a trip to Dairy Queen. Four corners? A date to a new restaurant with the hubby. Criss Cross? New art supplies. Blackout? An over night trip with the hubby! As I made my bingo sheet, I tried to mix what I want to learn about (new school ideas and more diversity) with plain old fun (Judge a book by a cover!). I can't wait! Off to browse the library I go! "The classroom should be an entrance into the world, not an escape from it."-John Ciardi Spring in schools is always a hard time. There is state testing, the kids are getting riled up for summer break, and there are events nearly every day ranging from field day to awards to final projects. This year, this busy time has been compounded by the looming move from my current classroom into the newly remodeled building that has been paid for by the bond issue. We have packed up all spring--my classroom, 2 store rooms, a maker space, and a fellow teachers room. Every spare minute has been spent purging, organizing and packing. Late nights and weekends have been spent trying to get it ALL done. But today, the busy became worth it when I walked into this!
There are no words to fully express the joy I had when I saw this room. New possibilities leaped into my heart and mind and a deep sense of gratitude for my community filled the deepest parts of my soul. This room is 40+ years old and use to leak all winter. Now, exhaust fans silently regulate the new AC as the beautiful cupboards all stay closed without duct tape! The marathon is nearly over and this room holds a bright future! It is enough for today! "Survival can be summed up in three words - never give up. That's the heart of it really. Just keep trying.:"--Bear Grylls Progress on my Life List is super slow because real life is going super fast! The final days of a hectic school year are upon me and there is rarely a moment to catch my breath. There are five more days with students, 8 more days total and then I can find my center once again. My soul longs for calmer times but my heart is grateful for the community I teach in and the students that I love. I will survive--and then summer will be my sweet reward!
"The greatest education in the world is watching the masters work." -Michael Jackson And today it happened--I finished my last album on this journey. Thriller by Michael Jackson is truly a masterpiece--from the opening notes of "We be starting something" to the last chord of "The Lady in my Life", this album is filled with great music. It is the soundtrack of my childhood.
"Thriller" came on today in my classroom and instantly kids started dancing in their chairs whether they realized it or not. There is something classic about the beats and the "erry" feeling of this song. "Beat It' Took me back to skating at the roller rink and watching the older girls with the big 80s bangs dance it out to this song. I listened to the 25th Anniversary version on Spotify and loved all of the "Extras" on the collection. In particular, the Will.i.am "This girl is mine" made me smile. Whew, I made it! 25 albums down. Lots of new music is on my play list and I am excited to start my next list of tunes--Billboards 25 Best Country Albums! Here we go! |
AuthorAlmost 40 and tired of the treadmill, I am going to LIVE each day as a new adventure while finishing todo items on my life list. Mom, wife, teacher, geek! Archives
May 2020
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