Listening to: Sogno – Andrea Bocelli
Reading: Ransom Julie Garwood
Weather: 40, sunny
Trivia: How many people have ever been both President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?
Only one - William Howard Taft, who also holds the distinction of being the heaviest President to ever hold the office, weighing in at a hefty 325 lbs. Taft's goal was always to be chief justice, the Presidency being something of a detour for him. Handpicked by
Theodore Roosevelt to become a tax collector for the IRS, Taft would succeed him in the executive mansion. He also installed the famous "luxury-size" bathtub in the White House and is known for starting two Presidential traditions: He was the first president to play golf and the first to toss the ball to open the baseball season. He also was the first President to keep a car at the executive mansion. Eight years after leaving office Taft got his lifelong wish, when he was appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court. However, in his last year on the bench he was diagnosed with hardening of the arteries and died soon after. Even in death he was a pioneer, as he was the first President laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
Cool word: anomie (an-uh-MEE) - In society, unrest or instability that arises from a collapse in values and systems of order; for an individual, feelings of alienation, insecurity and discontent, largely due to one's loss or confusion over ideals or purpose in life. "Fred tended to look at the President's infidelity as a symptom of the country's anomie rather than it's cause."
Conference/Shopping
I love going to conferences. I hardly ever get the chance to go, I think this was the first one in almost five years.
It seems so civilized and so "real world" to me. You get to speak with other adults, hear ideas on how to implement new things into the curriculum, and have a real lunch that doesn’t have to be wolfed down in twenty minutes.
And it’s a real lunch with real salads, soup, and baked potatoes. Not the prefab mystery meat they serve at schools. You get to sit at a real table and chat with colleagues, take your time eating and relax a bit.
People in the business world think teachers have it so easy because we get out so early. If we added the hour for lunch that most businesses allow, we’d be getting out at about the same time they do.
The biggest luxury of the day was in being able to sleep late. This is where I sound totally pathetic. I got to sleep an extra two hours, which meant not getting up until 7.30. In the eyes of most of the world this is not sleeping late. I mentioned that to Michael once and he was horrified to think that I thought that not getting out of bed until after seven was sleeping late. He still hasn’t gotten over the fact that he actually gets e-mail from me before sunrise.
The conference itself was pretty good. It was on using technology in the schools, so I loved that aspect of it. The first presentation I went to was on using HTML to create a web page. Now, granted, I’m starting to get the hang of this, but I really would like some more formal instruction.
This wasn’t the place to get it. Basically they were encouraging everyone to find a web page that someone else has already created, copy it, and adapt it to your needs. I didn’t like that at all. I know that I have a bunch of flaws on this site, but it’s something that I’m still working on, and it t least is a reflection of me.
Why would you want to totally steal someone else’s ideas? I like originality. I don’t mind copying clip art, but an entire page? That just seems like cheating.
An eighth grade language arts teacher gave the second presentation I went to, and she incorporated something called Avid Video. It was very cool. But we don’t own that software, so that won’t be happening anytime soon in our building.
Next it was time for lunch. (The conference didn’t start till 10 and each presentation was about an hour and a half long.) I met several people I hadn’t seen in years, people I work with when I was in Northampton. I love it when that happens.
I found my friends from school had had lunch with them. Long, relaxed, and delicious. It was such luxury!
At lunch I was told that I’d been chosen for two more full days of technology. One is an in-school training to learn a program the system has purchased, so I can go back to show the faculty how to use it, the other is a day out of the building for web page design. I hope the head of my department doesn’t flip over this.
After lunch I went to view the projects different schools had done with grant money, and I also pent time in the exhibition hall, looking at things that vendors were offering and signing up to win free stuff. I never win, but I always sign up just in case.
The last presentation I saw was about a piece of software I really want the school system to purchase. It’s called "Inspiration" and it has to do with making graphic organizers. I think it would be great for a lot of the teachers and the kids.
Not sure I’ll be able to get the system to spring for it, though.
I left the conference to go shopping. The town where this conference was held has some cute funky shops, and craft galleries. I picked up a couple of things to give as Christmas presents. I also bought more candles. I know I don’t need them, but I just couldn’t resist.
I was home at about six thirty. It was a really good day. I like feeling human.
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