ISTE NECC June 29th - July1 - Washington DC

The conference was an intellectual and emotional treat. My participation was limited to a few key presentations focused on social structures, values of social connectivity, technologies associated with the topic and also available approaches for ELLs and struggling readers – I was interested in the technology and the strategies being developed to reach students. The exhibition hall was an incredible experience.

The zenith for me was the presentation that Dr. Katherine Hayden gave at the Library of Congress on Tuesday evening – I was invited to help. The iQuest & CyberTEAM Projects representing California was a very rewarding experience – wow! From the reception to VIP visits as well as peer state presentations it was like I said a treat.

WASHINGTON DC

We met our son Daniel at the The National Museum of Natural History to see the new Dig it! The Secrets of Soils exhibit. After working in his lab last week - this was very relevant and interesting. I am getting a deeper appreciation of soils and their role in geobiological cycle.

After a business meeting in Maryland my son James joined us for lunch - very nice gathering: friends and family. The restaurant: "El Guapo"

Science and family - doesn't get much better. :)

VIRGINIA

Well within the northern Virginia wilderness surrounded by beautiful country and memorial battle fields there are places of repose. Nested in the country side my son and his family hosted us to a wonderful welcome. Here is my daughter Shanese with her golden retrievers: Sir Lancelot and Romeo!

The view:

The wonders of nature:

NATIVE PRAIRIE - K U PEDOLOGY LAB

After a couple of hard working days in the lab - Daniel and I took off this Sunday...Father's day. It was a day full of surprises - surprised at the place of worship and the message, surprised at a student's text message wishing me a Happy Father's day, and a great field day collecting Pennsylvanian fossils, and visiting the Native Prairie site where Daniel is doing a project. Dayenu!

I thought of Miss Marapoti our AP Environmental teacher as I snapped the picture above. :)

Lab snaps - working with saturated soil preparations for pH extracts + measuring pHs...plus a variety of lab experiences from soils sieving to sample prep, to carbon determination, etc, etc. etc... overall a great experience in the lab!

TRAVEL TO KANSAS

My travel plans this summer started by going to Kansas to help my son work in his new pedology lab at KU. It started innocent enough and ended well - but in the meantime traveling on a stand-by basis was a nightmare :(

All started on Wednesday at LAX around 7:30 PM - after three missed flights that evening including the two red-eyes. The early Thursday LAX flights looked bad and sure enough they were bad. After four rollovers - around 9:30 am I was ready to go home and forget the travel. I was tired, no sleep...etc. Well my son would not hear of it - so here I am in Kansas working with him... and the picture above is where I have an assigned seat on a different airline.

A good ending to a tough beginning!

DOES IT MATTER?

Is what I do in the classroom important? To whom is it important and why? How does a teacher gauge his/her impact on his/her students? By a glee from them as the last bell rings? Or is it by the sad look at you as they leave or say good bye or the hug spontaneously given you by the student that gave you ulcers through out the year and he says, "thank you." Or is it at graduation as you see their joy and they say "hi" to you as they remember your class three years ago. Or is seeing that shy special young man now confident in his graduation garb. All I can say is that I am blessed to have seen these kids grow and if a small measure of our interactions has touched them - I have my reward. Thank you Lord for all my students.

AWESOME LANGUAGE TEACHERS

Here I am in the company of some awesome teachers... Have a great summer - and the best to you Jose!

2008-2009 ACADEMIC EARTH SCIENCE

1. Was the overall content covered properly?
2. Were the concepts clearly taught?
3. Was the Teacher/Student Interaction Effective?
4. Would you take class from this teacher?
5. Were tools/techniques taught useful to you?
6. Was the use of visuals Effective?
7. Has class increased your understanding of Earth Science?
8. Was the technology used helpful to you?

RECOMMENDED

I just finished this classic bio - excellent source of inspiration and strategies used in business and easily transferable to the classroom - honestly. Bravo Jack! What a ride!

THANK YOU VUSD BTSA TEAM