It's been 6 weeks, but I'm still alive!

I've had several thoughts recently about what I could post and talk about. But instead of posting my brilliance, I've kept it to myself. But today I sit, watching Carolina football, and thinking about the impacts of social networking on education.

I have to make a presentation Monday on new technologies that teachers can use to help increase student engagement. I've used Facebook myself--I have two pages for students and parents to use for communication and current event announcements. Now I'm venturing into Edmodo and Glogster, two sites that are very new to me. These sites have great potential for improving student engagement in our classrooms. We are moving away from pen and paper and getting students to interact with their knowledge through the use of authentic assessments.

So I'm expanding my repertoire and trying to take some of my colleagues along with me. More authentic assessments lead to more authentic learning, right?

Where were you when the world stopped turning?

Nine years ago, I was not in the same place as most of my fellow educators. I was at home. Sleeping.

You see, on September 10th, I spent most of the night in the emergency room.

Just as I was drifting off to sleep that evening, my house phone rang. It was late and I ignored it. My roommate did not and was soon banging on my door to get me to pick up. Some lady, whose name I will never remember, was on the phone asking for me. And then my sister got on the line. My hysterical sister. There had been an accident. A car accident. I had to get to Columbia College. Now.

This was Audrey's first year at CC and I didn't really know my way around that end of town. I called a friend and got vague directions and headed that way, only to be stopped at the end of the block by an officer. Apparently the wreck was so bad that the entire block was cordoned off. All passengers had been taken to Richland County Hospital. One more place for me to try to find.

Did you know that when they bring in victims of auto collisions, they don't automatically get their names entered in? They get trauma numbers. My parents were on their way (I had to call them immediately, of course), so I was in the waiting room by myself. With the family of the driver. So I waited. Alone. Not knowing anything except that this family's daughter had landed my baby sister in the hospital.

About the same time my parents arrived, the hospital figured out who Audrey was and we were able to go back to her. She was on a body board, with a neck brace, covered in dirt and twigs and broken glass. But she was alive.

There was a lot of sitting around that night. Lots of waiting. All three girls were basically okay, although one didn't have on her seatbelt and had a nice, long ICU visit. But all three eventually walked away. Audrey walked away around 3:30 or 4 that morning.

I only woke up to call in sick the next morning. I rolled over and attempted to sleep some more. The all-nighter in the emergency room was too much for me. And sleep was good until my phone started ringing again. And again and again. It rang until I picked it up and a friend told me to get to a TV. I was appalled and in shock at how such an accident could happen. I was sure it was an accident. Then the second plane connected and I knew this was no accident.

I wasn't with my kids on September 11th. I was glued to the TV wondering how something like this could happen. September 11th will always resonate within me--I'm an American, after all. But it will always be linked to that fateful night near Columbia College for me too. I can't think of 9/11 without thinking about what happened the night before.

A new school year! A new opportunity!

We have been back at school for 8 days. Eight whole days. Already I feel so much better than I did at this point last year. Last year, I was making the transition from coach to teacher. I was putting ideology into practice. I was coming off of my mountain.

This year, I am so much more in control. I can see things falling into place like never before. It is like I've embedded all the things I've learned and I've made them my own.

I can not believe the new place that I'm in. I actually planned lessons this weekend. :)

This week, we are going to use "The Necklace" to cover some basic English I standards that will later be reinforced by Bronx Masquerade. I am planning with my fellow English I teachers and we are piggy-backing better than ever before.

Needless to say, I am excited. I have great kids. I have great partner teachers. I have a great schedule. I work in a great school. I still have a job.

And every day, I get to wake up and teach children. I love them more than they could ever imagine. I know that I am molding and shaping them into something new everyday. They will look back on their high school experience and remember me. Their ninth grade English teacher.

People ask me how I can get up so early in the mornings. They ask me how I deal with 14-year-olds. They ask me how I work in education. The rewards are intrinsic. And they are never-ending. I'm so proud to say that I am a teacher. With all that that entails.

Still need a book...

I went from reading several things at once to reading nothing. NOTHING. I am in a reading funk and it's making me spend hours and hours on the Internet doing nothing. Except reading tweets and news articles and other stuff.

I realize that that is reading, but I need a book.

I read a great espionage novel by Steve Berry earlier in the summer and I read/edited the novel my uncle wrote. I also read a great low country novel on sweetgrass baskets. Other than that, my summer has been replete with technology but shockingly void of good reads.

As summer comes to an end for me, I am in need of some good reads to take to the mountains with me. There's nothing better than the cool mountain air and a good read in a rocking chair.

I need a book. Stat.

Promoting Professional Advocacy amongst Educators

I was met with a disturbing comment from a colleague this year.

Let me set this up properly. My state is undergoing serious budget cuts this year, as I'm sure others are as well. This lead to me getting hot and heavy with some e-mail accounts. I sent several e-mails to the local senator and representative, as well as those for whom I am a constituent. I also sent out the links to all faculty members. My e-mails were pretty informative--a link to the e-mail forms, key items up for debate that week, and some talking points to use. Doesn't get any easier than that, does it?

I had good response from several teachers. Lots of "thank you!" and "I e-mailed today!"

This is what we need to do. We need to remind these politicians that we vote and we matter. What we do everyday affects kids, which affects this state's future economy. We want this economy to turn around? Whose shoulders do you think our future rest on?

Now to the disturbing part. In conversation with a few colleagues, the e-mail campaign came up, to which the youngest in our group responded that she hadn't sent any e-mails. What was the point? She just didn't do stuff like that.

How can you NOT do stuff "like that?" We voted for these people. They change platforms and loyalties like the rest of us change underwear. It is our responsibility to remind them who they work for. We can't just turn them loose and hope for the best!

So how do we encourage teachers to take the extra five minutes it takes to be politically active? How do we convince them that their five minutes are worth it? That's what I'm working on with my new committee members. As a part of CERRA's advisory board, we want to make advocacy as simply as possible.

Input is most definitely welcome.

One last, lazy day (Hey! Alliteration!)

I'm enjoying what will be my last weekday on the couch with the dog and the DVR. Tomorrow, it is back to work.

Tomorrow, I have to start thinking about SGA (and possibly kicking myself for agreeing to take it). I head to Newberry to meet with the student body president about registration and then pick up the notebooks, aka instruction manuals, from the outgoing sponsor.

Tomorrow, I have to do a two hour driving lesson for a friend's son. It will be an exciting trip down to Newberry to run the road test and back.

Tomorrow, I will have to get up and shower and get dressed and wear shoes.

Tomorrow, I will have to eat breakfast on a schedule and not whenever I want to.

Friday, I have an 8 a.m. tee time and then scheduled pool time.

But, tomorrow, I'll feel the pressure that starts as summer ends.

I feel you slipping away, slipping away...

I feel the end of summer is nigh. (Just the use of nigh makes me giggle.)

Now most of you teachers may be looking at your calendar and thinking, it's only July 11th. There's plenty of summer left! No, there's not. Not for me anyway. This is something I do to myself. I have so ingrained myself into extracurricular activities that my summer is over in approximately one week, 14 hours.

That is when I will get in my car and drive five hours to Georgia.

To teach color guard.

To end my summer vacation.

Color guard is the visual aspect of the marching band. It's the flags, rifles, sabers, and dancers. Basically, it's the fun stuff. And it's something I've been doing for the past, oh, fifteen years or so. It eats into my summer, but it's also something I enjoy. I get to be physical and really stretch that creative muscle.

So summer vacation will end in approximately one week, 13 hours, and 56 minutes. But I guess it's my own choice. Although it does have me thinking now about what I will be doing this time next month.

Summer Reading and Commitment Issues

I often have commitment issues in the summer. It's too hot to go outside. It's too hot to do anything inside. And I never can find anything to read! Or I can find too much to read. Whichever.

So I'm having some reading commitment issues. I have about four things going on right now and I'm not making major headway in any of them. I'm editing a book for my uncle (I'll be shamelessly plugging it here later so I can make some money off of it) and that is the only thing I have focused on for longer than five minutes this week.

Have I mentioned it is HAWT? Like, over 100 degrees hot. Welcome to the South! This is what summer is all about. And since I can't go outside, I'll just juggle my editing assignment and my three summer reading books.

The first of my summer reading books is
the well-known, best-selling Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. I've read this book before. In fact, I've read all of the books before. But the movie comes out at the end of the month. I struggle to remember what I ate for lunch yesterday, much less what I read two years ago. Ergo, I'm rereading.

Now, I must say, the whole teenage angst thing gets old. It is more about the creatures for me than it is about Edward and Bella. In this one, he won't even let her out of his sight for heaven's sakes. Is that really the type of relationship we want our teenage girls to think is okay? It's quite sickening to me, but I love my personal freedoms more than life itself. I enjoy being able to go and do and be and whatnot. (Sidebar--I'm looking for somewhere to be in the water tomorrow, so...any suggestions?)

But I am enjoying my reread of Eclipse. I sometimes read things so quickly that I skip parts. When I reread, things are like new again to me and I love that part! Now I'll be ready when it's movie time. I'll know exactly where the teenage angst will be overwhelming...and I'll escape for a popcorn refill.

I'm also reader Jen Lancaster's newest memoir, My Fair Lazy. I am a huge Jen Lancaster fan (check out her blog at www.jennsylvania.com). I read two of her other memoirs last summer and I've passed them on multiple times to share with other people. She has a great voice that is laugh-out-loud funny.

This newest memoir is especially meaningful to me as a reality show junkie. Yes, I admit, I have a problem. My name is Dianne and I love trashy reality TV. In fact, as I type this, Tyra is interviewing teenage girls who beat up their mothers. Trashiness! I still love all the VH1 dating shows and "Real World." What can I say? They make me feel good about myself!

It seems Jen and I have this in common. She, too, is a self-confessed reality show junkie. But in her newest memoir, she makes an honest effort to get out there and change how people see her by becoming more refined and knowledgeable about current events, politics, and the arts. So she embarks on a Jenassiance, to remake herself. This book is F-U-N-N-Y! She has a voice that is going to pull you in from the start and totally entertain you. Check it out. It's worth it.

Finally, I'm reading You Can't Drink All Day if You Don't Start in the Morning by Celia Rivenbark. Buy it for the title if nothing else! Seriously, though, Rivenbark, a columnist for The Sun Times out of Myrtle Beach also has a light-hearted voice that is entertaining and easy to read. Her books are more like a collection of her columns, just slightly longer. And this one includes recipes! The chapters examine things like over-zealous moms that try to make slacker-moms feel bad. I'm not a mom, but I imagine I would fall into the latter category.

So I technically have four books going on at once. It's like summer reading ADD. The editing job gets the most attention--the quicker I'm done, the quicker it's released, and the quicker I get paid! The others get picked up here and there. I have a few others that are currently laying around the house dog-eared or open and face-down on an arm chair. Hopefully, I'll wind down soon and get settled into some long-term reading. I have a lot of books to knock out this summer and it will be over before I know it!

A month later...

I'm still alive. I finally made it to summer vacation and today is a MAJOR day. Our state's primaries are today and the polls are rapidly reporting results.

I did something today for the first time--I voted in the Republican primary. A fellow educator is running for state superintendent of education on the Republican ticket and I cast my vote for him. I also cast my vote against Nikki Haley. She seems to be the Republican forerunner and also the strongest candidate. Since I'm crossing my fingers for a Dem governor in this Red State, I would prefer a weaker candidate.

Elections are interesting times. I try not to talk politics at home--one set of grandparents is hard core Republicans; the other set is hard core Democrats (almost yellow dog, if you know what i mean). My dad never talks politics and my mom is slightly, or maybe largely, more right than I am. I don't like Sarah Palin, so anyone who gets her vote is not for me. A la Nikki Haley.

Elections also tell you who knows you and how definitely does not. I am constantly getting invitations to join groups for Andre Bauer and other right-wing folks. There is no way I, a public school teacher, is going to support the same people who are proponents of school vouchers and privatization and so forth.

Elections are an interesting time. They bring out the best and the worst in people. And some days, it is hard to be a public school teacher in a Red state.

Down to the last few Fridays

In just a few short weeks, Fridays will be meaningless. For now, though, they are treasured.

The end-of-school fever has set in. We have end of course tests next week, followed very quickly by final exams. Are the children worried about those? Of course not. They only know that summer is near enough to sniff out and that they are ready for it.

The end of the year means some different things to me. At this point, I have hopefully covered all the standards tested next week. This is a chance for me to look back at the year and decide what worked and what didn't. This is a chance for me to start planning ahead for next year.

Next year, I will go in with a concrete plan. I will go in ready to tame the freshmen beast with daily routines and procedures that will ensure safety and comfort.

Next year...I think I said that last year.

One year, I'll actually get it right.