elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 30, 2012 0:01:20 GMT -5
Dear Diary,
With the establishment of routine, you begin to learn much more about the students in your class. Yesterday I mentioned the large amount of students who failed to complete the multiplication homework I had assigned. To compel those who failed to do better, I upped the amount of tables they had to write. I did this also to make sure they understood that in the realm of homework, I wasn't going to let them off the hook. Some of these kids have a passive-aggressive stance towards authority, and failure to do their homework can stem from some desire to subvert my instructions. For others it's just laziness and for others it might come from apathy, or a belief that my assignment is valueless to their life, but for a percentage of my students, it's a form of rebellion.
Is the reason for incomplete homework important? Ultimately I really don't care. As these students get older, excuses are going to hold less and less water for those who are their superiors. In the military, in business, in higher education, nobody really cares why you didn't do your duty, failed to complete a sale, or didn't do a paper. We are not an excuse oriented society but one that thrives, for good or bad, on production. So do I try to understand? Short answer, yes. I will take them aside and try to ascertain the conditions in their life that leads to this behavior, and I will work with them, even refer them into the school system for students who need outside help. But in the end, after all the meetings, after the paperwork and calls home, it is their responsibility is to complete what I assign because next year they enter middle school, and two years after that comes high school, and four years after that is college or the real world, and whether they like it or not, they will have to be more responsible - a trait that many never have been taught. And if they haven't been taught it by now, then I'm not letting it slip by another year.
So how did my plan work? Not so well. Five students from the prior day again failed to do this assignment, and three others decided to join them. To say I was disappointed would not even touch the surface of my emotions. I applauded and praised those who did the extra work and got their name off the board. I expanded that praise to those who had been perfect for the first two days. Then I got to my 'failure to operate' cluster. My response hit them on two fronts. First of all, I told them that they were unable to do the multiplication test on Friday. Passing this test is the only way they can stop being assigned this homework. If they fail to do the homework, they can't take the test. Second, they lost recess for the week. I asked them if they understood the homework from the night before - they did. I asked if they had a decent excuse for the lack of work - they didn't. I asked them to raise their hand if they enjoy losing recess - and got no hands. I stripped away their free time. I'll do it again. They can do their work at school if they don't want to bother at home. Next step is a phone call home and getting parents involved. Why don't I do this first? Because I am allowing the students to receive what most of them are dying for - self-determination. I give them a shot at turning around their behavior. I give them the power. If they fail to reform, then they have given power back to me, and I in turn will pass it to their parents (or parent, or grandparent).
Right now I am working hard to make the students understand that my instructions are to be followed. I am not an ogre or monster or filled with such a huge ego as to claim that I am perfect, but I do understand that to effectively teach order must be maintained and the students must feel that school authority is fair and impartial. I constantly ask students for feedback on my decisions - requesting their opinions on my punishments (too harsh - too lenient), rules, homework amounts, etc. Presently it seems that I have close to 100% support from them, and that my class is better controlled than some they experienced in previous years. They trust me. They just don't seem to think I will follow up on my stated repercussions for certain actions - or lack of. This belief is a learned one, picked up from other classes and other teachers or from their parents. Not all, of course, but there are enough teachers who either believe students should be friends or let the students usurp control of their classroom. So I'm shattering that belief.
I equate teaching to riding a horse. You will never have a smooth ride until the horse is broken and understands who is guiding it. Some days I'm riding on a well-trained horse. Other days I'm grabbing the reigns and doing my best to hang on. I've been lucky this year with smooth riding for the most part.
The rest of the day was mostly uneventful. Math passed with some frustration, but ultimately was successful. We were putting decimals in order, and I told my class to rewrite the numbers vertically with the decimal lines up. When I walked through the class during the initial practice phase, most failed to follow that simple direction and were doing the problem wrong. Again, I don't expect students to follow my directions. I demand it. By the end of the lesson, guess what they were doing? Yep, following my instructions and getting the correct answers on their page. "Amazing!" I tell them. "I might actually know what I am doing."
Really, I might....
L
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 28, 2012 23:55:40 GMT -5
Dear Diary,
Schedules have now been set and we're settling into the long ride for the year. My schedule is no surprise and follows the pattern established during my prior 8 years of teaching. We start the day with two hours of language arts (spelling, vocab, grammar, reading, writing) followed by a short period when we divide up the students by ability to target specific skills. Recess follows during which I usually stay in my room with students who failed to do their homework the night before. Yes, it's a hindrance, but my other option is to have the students sit on the picnic benches on the playground, but out there supervision is poor at best. The yard monitors have bigger fish to fry than making sure a handful of kids are sitting quietly isolated. Eventually friends of the seated gravitate over and then cluster around those who should be sitting quietly finishing whatever homework they failed to complete the night before (or reading if their punishment was based on negative behavior.) I used to be able to send my students to the cafeteria during our recess, but a change of lunch schedules put our 6th grade recess against the lunch period of the lower grades, so that option became null and void. So I sit with my little entourage and make sure they look properly chastised.... Today I had quite a few sitting with me at recess, and it really perturbed me, as the vast majority of them failed to do my multiplication homework I assigned, which is excessively easy. I must have had 10 or 11 sitting there at recess writing up their times tables for the number 4. If it had only been 3 or 4, then I wouldn't have been so irritated, but to have 33% of my class fail to put out the effort on this assignment on the very first day I assign it was extremely disappointing. If I keeps up, I'll use the term disheartening, but right now it's too early to say that. I guess I should explain this method I developed to get kids to memorize their multiplication. It's basic. It originated 6 years ago or so during a meeting of teachers. Oh my God, if you ever want to hear a group of people who argue over the littlest things, come to a teacher meeting. It drives me crazy. I had 8 years in a business office as an account manager at a telecommunications company. We laid cable across the USA and resold the capacity to local phone companies who needed to provide long distance to their customers. I had a pager 24x7 and dealt with all sorts of business people. At the busiest, I had a million dollars worth of product crossing my desk a month. It paid well, and at my peak, before my company went bankrupt, my salary was higher than it is presently 8 years into teaching. Anyways, there are quite a few teachers who have only taught, and I applaud them as wonderful people mostly, but some of what they argue over is so trivial at times - especially dealing with work amounts, I inwardly cringe and wonder if they know what its like working a job with two weeks off a year, business trips, an everpresent cell phone, cubicles, and a boss two doors down watching over his/her office like a lion monitoring its pride. Teaching, in comparison (depending on your principal) runs much differently. So I was sitting there, staring at the ever present bowl of candy that comes out for our weekly teacher meeting, when one of the 6 grade teachers (I was teaching 4th at the time) started complaining about how none of her students knew their multiplication tables. A 5th grade teacher picked up on her tone and claimed that was the job of the 4th grade, and someone in that group (not me) pointed down at the 3rd grade table and said that standard was a 3rd grade one. Then several others started piping up that the district doesn't give out much in the way of support and that they didn't have time to teach something that should have been done before their grade. I believe I turned a little red. I asked why they didn't come up with anything themselves instead of relying on relief that never was coming. I heard excuses and mumbling. (Please understand things got a lot better with a new principal we received the following year - and who is now the assistant superintendent of curriculum, so the atmosphere at my school is much changed now from this low point.) So I went back to my room and thought about the problem. I couldn't take up much time in my class teaching multiplication, and I couldn't use up much in the way of physical resources. The budget wouldn't allow it. After a couple days I had it, and I began its implementation immediately and have had wonderful success with it for years now. You start by giving a 10x10 multiplication grid - the randomized 1 through 10 listed across the top and down its side. You then give students 5 minutes to finish this grid. If you fail to finish or get even 1 wrong on the page, you are assigned homework. The homework is simple and must be done Monday through Thursday. The student begins by working on the times table for the number four with the numbers 1 through 10. (4x1=4; 4 x 2 = 8; through 4 x 10=40.) This list is written five times but the order MUST be changed each time. On Friday the quiz is given again, and again, if incomplete or bearing 1 wrong answer, the student is assigned homework (times tables) for the following week, except now they will be doing it for the number 6 and not 4. Test again on Friday and if still not passing, the number 7 is assigned. then 8 and finally 9. The times tables for 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 are too easy to memorize to waste time with them. As stated a few days ago - with this program - I go from less than 5 passing on the first test to over 20 passing within six weeks. It works, but the politics of teaching have kept it from being used in at least one other school. I had a teacher hear about it and when she went to her principal was told she couldn't it use it because it wasn't the adopted curriculum! No Child Left Behind has pushed scores up across the county in many places, but in its wake is a loss of self-reliance and out of the box thinking that leads to some crazy decisions.
But I was talking about my schedule. After recess, we work through math until lunch. Lunch the kids go out of the room and I shut my door to keep out the random clusters of girls who come back and ask if they can help with anything. I recently bought an Open/Closed sign normally seen on storefronts to place in my window while I relax in my room. After lunch comes my Events of the Day followed by science or social studies. We do this for around 45 minutes. I'll be losing some of this time soon when we add a half hour of English Language Development for students who have English as a second language. (How the students are divided is ludicrous but I don't have the heart to get into this right now.) Finally, to top off the day, we have PE a couple times a week. Currently I'm trying to build up the students' stamina so they can run the mile in middle school. Today I outran 6 of my students, which is horrible, as I am an overweight, underexercised, 45 year old male. They should run circles around me. "What happens if you pass me?" Asked one of my students during the run. "I get bragging rights," I replied. The boy's eyes got real big and he hustled forward yelling, "Don't let Mr. Foster pass you!" Ah, I love motivation through humiliation.
The last thing that happened today, and which occurs now on each Tuesday, is our teacher's meeting. Today we discussed a great many things, but you really are probably nodding off. Maybe I'll talk about them tomorrow.
And I wonder how many students will be sitting tomorrow?
L
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 27, 2012 21:03:05 GMT -5
Thanks all for the kind words!
Lee,
Regarding the commentary, don't worry. I'm hoping that part of the responses to this diary are discussions after each. My only hope that if someone claims one point of view is wrong - in terms of factual support, that a rebuttal is made with supporting evidence. Helen's response - which I'm fine with her making - deals with the fear teachers' have with how politician's manipulate education and all its pieces. Now, is her point correct? Truthfully, I don't know. If you can find a website that disproves her accusation, please post it. Supported evidence is much more valuable that unsupported commentary - but it is that commentary that can lead to the most enlightening conversations. Persuasion is a 6th grade standard. I'd love to see it more properly utilized here rather than the mudslinging over the ideological divides we know exist.
So - no harm on any front, but thank you for your apology.
Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 27, 2012 20:51:28 GMT -5
Dear Diary,
There was a school shooting in Baltimore today at a high school. As school shootings go, this was a minor one, and I mean minor in that as of this moment, I know of nobody who has been killed in the incident. I found out about the shooting during lunch while researching material for a new part of class that I was beginning today. Essentially this new activity involves combining map skills with current events. As most people know, if you are curious about a topic, you tend to remember it more than if you are not. So what I did seems basic. I gave each student an unlabeled map of the world and a page broken up by day, with each day given three lines for three separate events. On the board, I marked three locations and labeled them. I then gave the students three 'News Titles' to write on their Event Page. Originally the three topics were to be 1) "New Orleans Braces for Isaac" with New Orleans marked 2) "Quebec struck by Legionnaire's Disease" with Quebec marked and 3) "Ventura gets First West Nile Virus Case" with Ventura marked. From the list one might get the idea that I'm fascinated with outbreaks of disease, and they would be correct. Deadly diseases combine science and social response in a way that few other events are able to. They also, in a school setting, will get the students engaged faster than most any other topic, and that is the goal. Hands fly up and the questions come in rapid succession. How is it spread? Why is it dangerous? How do you treat it? Each of these questions drops right smack into the scientific process and involve 'cause and effect'. My other topic invoked the ghosts of Katrina and it aimed for a different response - one developed from a discussion of an event of 'mythic' quality, which is an event just beyond their true memories but is spoken about, in reverential tones, by the society around them. Most of these events involve a substantial loss of life. For this generation of elementary school kids, Katrina and 9-11 fall squarely into this bucket, and to a lesser extent the Christmas Day Tsunami could be considered. So when I popped onto Yahoo to get some information on Hurricane Isaac, the school shooting jumped right out, and if there is a topic that students will drop everything for, school shootings - for obvious reasons - are at the top of the list. I decided to change my lesson. In working with this topic I had to make sure I didn't come across as trying to scare the students. My goal, educationally, was to place a city on a map, not paralyze the students with fear. My second underscored the importance of following procedures when an intruder is on campus and a lockdown is called. A couple days ago I mentioned a type 2 lockdown, but I don't think I explained this security code in any detail. In my district a Level 2 lockdown is called when there is a police activity in the neighborhood and there is the possibility of the school being placed in danger. During a level 2 lockdown, the doors are all locked but teaching still occurs as normal. We email our rosters to the front office, and no students may leave the classroom without an escort. A Level 1 lockdown is called when there is an intruder on campus and the students are in immediate danger. The event in Baltimore triggered this kind of lockdown that lasted over an hour according the few reports I read. In this case, the lights in a classroom are turned off, the doors locked, and the students moved to the floor away from any doorway or unblocked window. The roster is emailed to the office with listings of who might of been out of the room at the time of the incident (speech, bathroom, office visit), and a green card (all students accounted for) or a red card (student missing outside of classroom - such as in the bathroom) is placed in the window. The students are to remain silent and no one leaves for any reason. The teacher is not allowed to bring into the room any student at that point, even if they are pounding on the door begging for help. That door is to remain a barrier, and it is possible that any cry for help might be a ruse. Until the police clear the room, this will be the living conditions of everyone in the room. No bathroom breaks. No water. No food. No talking. We have even been given a portable toilet/tub with a pull around drape if a student is in immediate need of relief. I am grateful I never have had need of this device.
The lesson was a huge success, and the vast majority of the room was fully engaged and asking relevant questions. Most teachers know that some clowns will try to spice up a slow lesson with comments or questions devised to provoke laughter or just be annoying. This didn't happen today. When I brought up West Nile Virus and mentioned that Texas had the most cases, one of my students asked if the disease could be found in Mexico. To answer him, I brought up the CDC website and did a mini-lesson on how to search for information, and we found a worldwide map showing the disease's distribution. The whole experience was such a success today that I am really looking forward to tomorrow's topics, though right now I'm not sure what they will be, except for Isaac and his march towards the coast. I may modify the format slightly, to save some time, and bring the number of topics down to two (or maybe one - depending on if we use up my allotted time for these discussions.)
In other news, we finished our class elections today and a girl I'll name Rabbit won, beating out a boy I'll call Silent. Both exhibited good responsible behavior and when given choices between catering to other students or doing what is best for the class, they chose the class. I'm really proud of them, and I believe they will do well in their positions.
I also gave out my first multiplication homework today, the work that is tied to my method of forcing (for lack of a better word) students to memorize their tables. We'll see how it goes and I'll explain the process more later. Maybe tomorrow.
Welcome to Monday.
Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 25, 2012 16:23:52 GMT -5
Okay, I'm willing to say it's not windowing a rock... so would you call it cabbing? But on a more serious note: I would assume these would be called windowed: Parcelas Mex.: Chuckwalla Springs CA Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 25, 2012 16:20:18 GMT -5
If you haven't noticed, Christopher really really likes fireworks.
Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 25, 2012 16:18:31 GMT -5
Hey Mel,
Stop showing off!
Most people use coins to show scale!
(Man, you would find the one use for dead scorpions I forgot to list...)
Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 25, 2012 12:12:40 GMT -5
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 25, 2012 12:02:06 GMT -5
Happy birthday!!!!!!
May you have a scorpionless day!
Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 25, 2012 1:10:33 GMT -5
Heck, what do you do with all the corpses, Mel?
Grind them up for fertilizer?
Tie them to little posts outside your front and back door as a warning to all those scorpions that still live outside?
Go Norman Bates on them and stuff the little critters and put them on display?
Sell them to China as folk remedies for measles, gout, male enhancement, and tiger aphrodisiacs?
Bury them in tiny mass graves under unmarked stone?
Put them in your bird feeder?
Cover them in resin and little plaques saying Texas and sell them as paperweights and key chains?
Extract their DNA for cloning purposes?
Milk off their poison to coat your sword collection in case you ever are called out to duel another rancher over grazing rights?
Insert them into envelopes and mail them to people who piss you off?
Dry them out and make scorpion jerky? (I don't even think there's any real meat on these things...)
Put them into your tumbler as extra media?
Leave their tails on restaurant tables as tips?
Use them as models for stop motion japanese monster movies?
Slab and cab them?
Tie strings to them and drag them along hoping to sting all the cats of your neighborhood?
Take those that are still slightly alive to a local hospital and demand to see a doctor claiming that they are covered under the affordable care act?
Give them to the children of the neighborhood with the apology that you didn't mean to kill the Tooth Fairy?
I could go on, but I've already written too much....
Any of the above???
Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 25, 2012 0:54:31 GMT -5
Dear Diary,
I'm depressed today. Those state scores I was so eager to see have come in and they're not as I hoped, though they were as I feared. I was overseeing a spelling lesson detailing all the ways we make plurals of nouns in the English language when one of the two 5th grade teachers in my mod stuck her head in my room and whispered: "The CST scores are in. Have you seen them?" Unable to restrain myself, I set my class into autopilot (I want you to make 25 plurals with objects you see around the room), I popped on the computer, and started scrolling through my former class. It wasn't all bad news, but numbers don't lie and I felt my mood shifting down to neutral. You see last year was also a less than optimal class year for teaching. I've already explained that tragedy continually befell the other classroom, with deaths and illnesses etc. that tore into the continuity of the teaching and drove the students farther and farther behind. What I didn't say at that point was the C's (the original 6th grade teacher in that room) replacement (Gt)was a teacher who had never taught this grade before. She was a retired teacher from another district who had essentially taught 3rd grade and below for the past 30 years. She had recently retired and was looking to supplement income by subbing near her home. Now she was being put into a different beast - the 6th grade beast - with boys discovering girls and girls discovering drama and testosterone terraforming these young kids' bodies into things they themselves couldn't understand. Unfamiliar with the standards and forced into a level of discipline much different than what is functional for primary grades, her class slipped - at least in math. Reading she was doing fine, but by the time her husband failed to return from his fishing trip in March, she had already farmed out her better students to myself and Mrs. S for math instruction. When she had to leave for a month to deal with her emotions as well as the obligations of death, I felt compelled to step in and take over the math lessons. I'm not saying I'm a great teacher, but I had to somehow give that class a stable teacher for the rest of the year. I knew my class would be sacrificing some of what I was giving them in order for me to aid this other class that was about ready to receive their 3rd teacher of the year. Before I finalized my decision I spoke to my class, as I always try to make sure they are part of decisions that affect their education - especially when it entails a less seasoned teacher taking over some of their schooling, but they were troopers and understood my motives. The biggest change they would feel would be to their schedule. I didn't give up teaching them math (crazy talk) but I shifted my schedule so I taught Gt's class before lunch and I taught my own after. C's substitute would teach social studies to both classes. I didn't like it, but it was the best solution at the time. What pained me was shifting my math to the post lunch slot, when the kids were all digesting and gurgling and run down from running around after eating. Right away I noticed a change in how they responded to the lessons. Post lunch is great for science and social studies, activity laden classes that you can get the students' attention directed at experiments or pictures of ruins and half-rotted mummies. Math is a more attention orientated skill, and in my class it suffered. In Gt's class, the damage was already done. They were so behind I had to backup 4 chapters to find where at least half of them showed a functional level of comprehension. By the time May rolled around, I was so burned out doing two math classes that were on different paces that I cancelled my after school tutoring I did for free. I just was feeling drained and I recognized my control after school was slipping.
So when these students took the Math CST last year, I feared what they would score. My quick check while students converted 'clock' to 'clocks' and 'brush' to 'brushes', showed my fears were justified. Gt's class tanked, and tanked hard. Of my own students, it wasn't as bad, but no one improved to a higher level in my class. This has never happened before. Usually my ration is 3:1 for levels gained vs levels lost. Not so this year. My own class lost four students from the proficient ranking (I admit I expected this as their scores in 5th grade were noticeably higher than their 4th grade scores - so I knew their rank was tenuous at best and needed support - but whatever drove them to success in 5th grade, I failed to identify it in 6th, and their scores suffered.) Also noticeable was the drop in the scores of my highest math achievers again. My highest raised his score to almost perfect - the rest dropped a dozen to a hundred points on the test.
The news kind of knocked me on my behind a little bit, and I felt my dedication to the spelling lesson waver. I needed a shift, so I had them put away their work, and we held our class election today. As for as I know, I'm the only class which elects a president, with the runner up becoming vice-president. It great fun to see them all get involved and vying for a chance to be 'in charge'. The job of president is highly coveted for several reasons. First, there are only three times a president is elected - beginning of the year, post Christmas, post Easter breaks - so it is an honor to hold the spot. Obviously it is an ego boost to be picked by your peers, but more so, this spot actually holds some power: my president can rescind punishments I dole out depending on the severity of the action. Essentially, there are days I either come to school irritated (lack of sleep, daughter misbehaving, chores piling up) or the students press all my wrong buttons. When this happens, I don't always recognize when my punishment is overblown for minor class infractions. One time talking does not deserve detention, but when my rope has reached its end, I may snap out that judgement in order to bring order to a class that has slipped into the fringe of anarchy. A president can recognize that and can eliminate the punishment or downsize it from detention to a missed recess. I always have the last say, but I believe it shows the class that we all need checks and balances in our lives. The other parts of the job are more mundane: handing out the piles of paper notices the district churns out on every color of the rainbow, picking rows to line up first, monitoring the class while if I am absent and giving me a letter of how the class behaved and if the substitute messed up. They run behavior notes to the office and remind me what I was talking about if my train of thought derails. They are extremely helpful. The vice president becomes president on days the president is absent, and takes over permanently if the president fails to live up to the need of the office or if the president gets impeached. This can occur through several actions such as receiving a detention, being sent to the office for any disciplinary action, lying to me (gotta trust the president...), and failing to do their homework. Grades don't matter as much, though if these begin to suffer, I will speak to the student and his/her parents to discuss if a change should be made. (I should also say that these infractions will also lead a student to lose his/her voting privileges for the rest of the year - sort of like being a felon in some places - though I believe some people are trying to change the law in order to allow convicts to vote.)
We took 15 minutes went through the preliminary process of voting for the people who would be placed on the final ballot. The primary's voting is very simple. You write your student number on the ballot and vote for anybody except yourself. If these people could vote for themselves, I would have 36 separate nominations. No, it's better if they can't vote for themselves the first ballot. After that, if they make the candidate list, then they can vote for themselves.
The process went fine and after the second round - we had a tie between a girl and boy. We will have the run-off on Monday and I might put down some more of my thoughts on classroom jobs, but tonight it is getting late and I have a few more thoughts to relate.
During lunch, between bites of P&J, I ran off excell spreadsheets filled with CST scores for the other teachers in my mod. What I noticed was our overall math scores for 5th and 6th were less than stellar. My results were typical of what the others had experience. It didn't make me feel any better about how the students might react to these new scores, but it made me wonder if the test was somehow made harder than before. (One can hope.)
After lunch, we did the multiplication quiz for the 2nd time. This is the one I explained a few days ago and that noone had passed on Wednesday. Today I had three pass. Hurray! It's a start. Monday the rest begin their multiplication homework, but that too, will be discussed next week.
Finally, at the end of the day, I got my students out on the grass and we began our running for the year - maybe 15 minutes or so. You must know that I am not the most fit person around. It's sad to say but I have slopped on 30 pounds since 2008 and I need to find ways to carve out that spare tire (and snow chains and oversized hubcaps). So today we rambled out to the backstop and I etched out a simple rectangle we would follow as our track. I said that I was tremendously out of shape and that if anybody, at the end of the run, was behind me, I would take away their recess as they darn well sure couldn't have been trying very hard. So we stretched. (I have to assume my toes are down there as my fingers definitely didn't touch them...though I'm fairly sure I reached my kneecaps...) And stretched...and stretched...and then began the run. Most students hauled off and left me in the dust, but a few girls, shorter and, well, less fit, showed that they were in need as much as I of exercise. I walked/jogged around the track two times without blowing that tire or falling down. It was great fun. Each time I felt like scattering the slower girls ahead of me like a flock of chickens I would start yelling a loud band song (can't name it but i swear there is some high school band that must be playing it somewhere right now) such as "hail the conquering hero!" and start running as fast as I can. The legs of the girls (and those lapping me by this time) would frantically pick up the pace and I would watch these scampering kids try to not be left behind.
Then the bell rang and I let them all go, and I went in my room and planned and then, happily, I drove off to pick up my daughter from afterschool care.
It was a good day in class. Still no discipline issues. Work interest is still high. Talking has not become more than small pools of noise that disappear quickly with the right look. It's still the honeymoon phase. All honeymoon phases end eventually. That's when I'll see how ready I am for the year.
It's late, and I'm tired, and I really haven't proofread you too much. I hope (being a teacher) I did okay.
Thanks for being here,
L
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 24, 2012 23:11:37 GMT -5
Condor - the all-seeing I:
Which professional sport will be abandoned first and its league disbanded and eventually forgotten?
Baseball, football, or basketball?
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 23, 2012 22:07:09 GMT -5
Happy Birthday!
Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 23, 2012 22:05:18 GMT -5
To all,
Thanks for your comments. It sounds like you found this worth reading so that's great as I really don't know if these read dry or if there is enough in them to be interesting. Your comments are encouraging, and in writing, feeling encouraged is often the spark that ignites a person.
Jim, Those who work in special ed, in my book, are angels. It is a job where I probably couldn't cope with the emotional investment that comes with that responsibility. One of my best friends, S, who has taught with me the last three years is off at least to December. She just had a little baby boy in July who has Down Syndrome. I give her all the positive statements and support I can, but I know her family is going to have a lifelong responsibility, one that will bring great joy but also can be heartbreaking at the same time. She will be a blessing for that child, and as a teacher I project into the future and can only hope her son has as good a teacher as her mother is. Special ed teachers are in a calling that would break most others. It sounds like your daughter is a wonderful teacher and all I can say is I can only hope to achieve the positive and long lasting impact she has already experienced. It is awesome to hear of her influence on others. In this day and age, it's not always said.
Bill, What I finally realized last year is that students won't remember who taught them multiplication or how to write down a paragraph. They - like us - remember events and actions and people. If I tie activities in my class to learning, I hope they remember the reason for the activity when they remember the activity later in the year - or the next. And I won't correct your grammar as long as you don't critique my open heart surgery... :help:
Mel, Yeah, the multiplication test shocked me a little, but I'm not really discouraged. I have a system I developed that will have over 20 of them scoring perfect by late October, early November. But really - it p*sses me off when I get a series of students that have such huge gaps in their basic skills. I don't know if I blame teachers or the system or both - or maybe its a collective complacency in the region. As for being the 'cool' teacher - I've learned you become that when you establish and display fair and balance discipline while catering to these students' active imagination and curiosity. (They love the pile of polished stone bags I have in the classroom from last year. I haven't brought in the new box - big thank you - as I still setting up routines.) Get the students to look at you as a person who should be followed rather than who makes you follow. Nobody likes to be told what to do...
Oh!!!! If you ever catch one of those scorpions - drop him in a vial of alcohol and ship him over to me. I'll set him on my shelf at school. We're doing "Cabinets of Curiosities" in my class this year to get them all hyped up on earth and life science.
Sheri! - thank you for the complement on my writing. It is heartening and helps strengthen my resolve to keep this thing going. I never know how my prose will read, and having others give a nudge helps eliminate my insecurity on the subject.
L
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 23, 2012 21:30:11 GMT -5
Dear Diary,
I survived another day, and it was another good one.
Got up, got out, and got to school in plenty of time. This is a good thing cause if you ever work at an elementary school (or worse yet and live next to one) you soon realize that mornings are the time all the worse and most manic drivers come out to drop off their children. It chills me to the bone sometimes watching a combination of a frantic mother pushing through traffic in order to drop off three kids while students 5 years old and up are darting across streets in a mad dash. It got so bad at our school we had to lock our parking lot 15 minutes before 1st bell - both the entrance and exit. When we only did the front gate, we had parents driving against the flow of traffic to bring them in the exit. Makes me shake my head.
Still, I got to my class - by the way I have 36 students this year. 20 boys and 16 girls. If you know ed code, at least around here, you are only supposed to have 35 in a class, but the rule specifically says "average" so as long as one class has a little less, I get a little more. I can't complain. Last year I only had 30 students in my class. At one point I actually was losing a student every week to moves. It was crazy. S, one of my other 6 grade teachers last year, asked me why all the kids were leaving my class. My answer (please know I was joking....) was "You know all those sensitivity and anti-harrassment classes we take every year? Just do the stuff they say not to do and kids will fly out of your class." She laughed. The following week she lost a student and I gained two. I told her I taught her too well....
Still, I can't believe how mobile families have become recently. I already, two days into school, have been told by 3 kids that they might/should/are probably moving within a month or two. One said it with his voice slightly hitched, and he admitted he really didn't want to go, but they had to support the family. Still, some instances are much more damaging to a child's education than others. Last year I had a girl in my class whose records confused me. Her state scores were very low, but they were only recorded every two years. It turns out that mom had been returning to mexico every other year and her schooling south of the border was spotty at best.
I'm looking forward to seeing her scores... but that's another story. (Yes diary, stories within stories leading me away from this year's narration, but bear with me...) Normally the state scores are returned to the schools by the beginning of August. They are delayed this year. Can you believe why? It turns out students at some schools actually took pictures with their cellphones of test questions and their answer documents and posted them on social media sites. Most of the answer sheets weren't a problem as the posted photos supposedly showed people writing bad words in bubbles on their answer sheets (yes, our future is doomed....) It was the posted questions that made the state wonder if the overall scoring was affected. So they delayed releasing the scores. This is interesting as all the middle schools and high schools usually place students primarily based on the previous year's state scores. Guess what - school's begun and we don't have those yet. I cannot imagine trying to place students then having to shift them around like chess pieces two weeks after school's start date when the scores finally come in. Supposedly some districts have already received and passed out their scores last week. I checked an hour ago. No luck for me. Now I'm a data-head. I love pouring over my class's scores and comparing them against their past rankings. I do this for several reasons. (1) I want to see how they did, obviously. It's both ego boosting yet also humbling. I start with comparing individuals. If they improved, I feel vindicated that I did my duty, and that these kids have a better chance at success tomorrow. This is especially true when I see kids who I know were given up on in other classrooms jump up a huge percentage. It's amazing how low scores can be believed to be a sole indicator for low potential. There are those who drop, of course, and most of those tend to be the slackers (pardon my bluntness) who ignore help and fail to make more than a token gesture of valuing what school offers. There are some who drop due to emotional turmoil at home. Others drop because they were sick the day of the test or were mad (I've some show up at school with flu-like symptoms and last year I had a girl show up and sit the majority of the test without doing a single problem as her home life was in shambles and she couldn't cope .....[digression]and people want to adjust my pay grade based on testing when I'm dealing with these issues in a low-income neighborhood - can you find a better way to drive quality and established teachers into the more affluent and successful neighborhoods and leave the new teachers and 'less desirable' teachers in schools which need the most help?)
Oops....a rant. Sorry.
(2) The second reason I want to look at my scores is rank myself. I want to know how they did, though I know other teachers who never look, because I need to find the patterns that show the strengths and weaknesses of my instruction. Truthfully, no matter what I said above, I do believe that teachers make a difference and that it is the district's responsibility to monitor and hold accountable teacher effectiveness. Case in point: My first 5 years of teaching I was moving tons of students up on the test, but when I broke down the scores by level for math (advanced/proficient/basic/below basic/far below basic) I saw that everyone proficient and below made great strides. The exception was advanced. Out of 15 advanced students, 14 dropped points on the test (none lost their proficiency) and only one improved (though she achieved a perfect score on her test! Awesome!) But it told me I needed to push my higher students - that they don't respond the same way as students whose knowledge is at other levels.
So
It's still day 2, so I haven't established my routines yet. We still have things to pass out and 'Getting to Know You" activities, and they need to learn I mean business. We did some reading fluency and I modeled how to break down a passage for comprehension. We started our math - place value and the different number forms. (I love telling the students that they must remember that numbers don't exist. They are only ways to measure things. Basically I tell them "Do you ever see a number 19 flying across the sky and dropping a #2 on your car?" ---- Yes...I do stoop to potty humor to make a point, but most see the point better with examples that relate to their level of thinking...keeps them engaged.) I started my science/social studies crossover lesson that covers maps. I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW IGNORANT kids are about the difference between states and countries and cities. "What town do you live in?" "California" So we're drawing and learning about maps as a basis for the earth science and ancient history coming up this year. We also started our 'Math Placement Test' which will act as our initial benchmark for monitoring their progression. They will have one in January and another after state testing.
As for behavior, they were really good. I have one boy who thinks it's cute to yell out incorrect responses and then say "My mistake". He stopped when the mistake cost him a recess...
I also explained that I don't condone cheating (like all other teachers) but I explained it this way: People who want to become stronger lift weights. People can't get stronger if someone else lifts their weights. Either by giving answers to someone else or copying answers from someone else, people are not lifting their own weights and they will not become stronger at whatever skill is being worked on. Cheating leads to weakness.
So diary, my day ended well and I finished with some dittoing of practice sheets and setting up my room for tomorrow.
I look forward to what tomorrow brings.
L
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Aug 23, 2012 1:06:34 GMT -5
Dear Diary,
I have to be honest with myself. I truly don't know how long I will keep up this diary, but I feel compelled to write it. I don't know if that urge comes from the optimism (ha!) I have for this class, or because the last two years have been so overblown with events and tragedy for my teacher friends that I want to capture the behind the scenes life of a 'normal' school year from the start. So here it is. I don't really care who reads it either. My goal is to write it, and to keep it as honest as possible - so when I think back on this school year, I don't see it through rose-colored glasses.
So how to begin?
Well, the easy part is to say I returned to my school in X two days ago to receive some training and begin preparing my room for the new crop of students coming in. The training was interesting. It focused on our school's role as emergency service personal in case of a large scale disaster - especially if the disaster occurs during school hours. It was a new concept to me - this possibility of watching over students for several days in a worse case scenario while we wait for civil authorities to organize and respond. We worked on listing our potential commanders, discussed liability (welcome to the new world), and argued the finer points of who got to leave first (pregnant women, people with dependents with medical conditions, people with dogs(?!?). Closer to home was the discussion of lockdown drills - the process of shutting down a campus in case there is an intruder. My school has had several Type 2 lockdowns over the last couple years - primarily caused when the police raid a home in the neighborhood, but there was another when an armed man was jumping fences through the backyards of people's homes. The man eventually was found hiding in the bathroom of one of my students later that day.
But as I said, last year was tough. In my class we had the father of one of my students pass away, and that affected many people as he was the assistant coach of our boys basketball team. I also had several divorces that occurred during out school year. At least I wasn't in the 4th grade. They had a girl killed in a rollover accident that partially was filmed and then posted on You Tube. We had crisis and grief counselors all over the place for that event.
But though this may seem to be a digression, it isn't, as these things have been preying on my mind now for the past couple weeks as the first day of school crept on getting closer and closer. After my first couple years of teaching, I realized that we, as teachers, go to see the effects of traumatic events through the eyes of children. We don't usually see the parents or aunts and uncles and grandparents, but when a person dies, when marriage fails, when homes are lost, we witness these events through the eyes of the children involved. Policemen and firemen and bankers all deal with the adults for the most part. In my world, the adults are very rarely seen.
So beyond this depressing beginning we also spoke about the budget. First of foremost our principal talked about the new law on the ballot that would raise sales tax to aid schools. If it passes, it helps a little. If it doesn't pass, I'm expecting a 12 day furlough. Yeah, that's like a 1/2 month decrease in salary (on top of the already $100/month raise of medical insurance). Still, you do what you can as there's not much money out there now.
There's more, but maybe I'll add it to some later posting.
So, diary, who are the teachers this year?
Well, four years ago when I started in 6th grade, I joined S and G and we spoke of leading the 6th grade for years to come. Didn't happen. Both got pregnant (don't look at me) and were out 1/2 of the next year - then G got another job. So that second year I worked primarily with 2 long term subs. (one of whom is back this year). S came back again the 3rd year (aka Year 3 as we called it because it was like the 3rd year of a TV series - we had some recurring characters, some new ones, and a few who weren't coming back), and we had C join our crew, another male teacher...but he didn't last. Why you ask? Consider this a behind the scenes peak at what teachers must deal with while functioning in a classroom:
Well, not that people are serious, but some say that third 6th grade room (Mr C's) is cursed. Now, I'm not the one to believe in curses, but there has been a fair bit a horrible things that have happened to the teachers in that room the last three years - and it hasn't stopped this year at all. G, who was in that class four years ago, lost her youngest sister in a offroading accident while in that room. Last year C has his child diagnosed with a non-life threatening yet serious condition so he went home to stay with his child. G, who replaced him, lost her husband in Nov in tragic boating accident in the pacific (3 others also were lost). F, her replacement, lost her housing while subbing in that room and became essentially homeless. G returned for the end of the year. This year CL was given the teaching job during the summer. Her ex father in law (her son's grandfather) was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and he passed away today - the first day of school. Her son is grief stricken right now.
I tell the other teachers that life happens to everybody and that it is not the room....but truthfully, I would feel like I was tempting fate if I volunteered to move in there.
Day-om!
So, really Mr Teacher, how did today go with the students. Truthfully, in my class, it went great. What's interesting is that 5 of them have siblings that I have taught in the past. I kept on seeing names that I recognized (and all apparently had good things to say about me...) I gave them the "I'm not your friend speech" which says basically my position in their life is different than everyone else, and that I won't be watching movies at their home next saturday after eating dinner and texting all day. My job is to make them smarter, more capable, more self-assured, better problem solvers, more responsible, and blah blah blah. We all put hand prints on a poster to symbolize our community and our commitment to help each other up rather than tear each other down. I gave a simple multiplication quiz - facts 1x1 to 10x10 - that takes 5 minutes. Nobody passed. First time that has occurred, and I know my year is going to be busy and engaged. We did schedules and we did books and and we got used to being in 6th grade today. I'm watching a few boys and girls to make sure they stay controlled with their comments and actions. Some might need some support pretty soon. We ending the day with some random batting practice. Then all were dismissed home.
Well, diary, I've written way more than I expected. I'll talk more tomorrow. If anyone stumbles across this diary and finds anything worth responding to, well, be my guest.
I wonder what tomorrow brings...
L
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Aug 20, 2012 2:55:02 GMT -5
Helen, Love your comments and questions. Please see below responses - and if I ramble or lose my thoughts, I apologize. I'm tired...I'll write why at the bottom of my post....
Well, some people LIKE hardcopies:)... not the least of which the photography detail:). Now don't get me wrong. I love real live hardcover/softcover books. I got myself a storage unit with 3,000 of the suckers packed away (they used to be here at home but my daughter's bedroom knocked out my personal library....(heavy sigh) I love the way old books smell, and I love the new colorful books coming out in the agate field recently. Nor will I argue the details of photography. Transferring the indexes to PDF files lowers the photo quality, though I've been finding ways to better reprint photos. Besides, as stated in the book - you can print the indexes yourself. You just can't print copies and then sell them. My agreements when I ask for permission to use images, is strictly for a free share index. You can print and/or digitally copy it as much as you want. It just can't be sold. Why? All image copyrights still belong to the individual contributor. I never asked for or received permission to use the images beyond their current free use. I probably would have to go back and ask for permission to put them on an Agate/Index facebook page if I ever go that direction. Do I think they'll (the contributors) will say 'no'. Probably not, but I've had more than on person specify that I have permission for reprint rights solely in this format.
But since you're doing an ebook ANYWAY... adding the text wouldn't be such a big deal, and then you can shop an editor?? Or is the fact that it's been an ebook mean no editor would be interested? (I read that somewhere a while ago, but not sure if it's true).
The Index is meant to be just an index, an identification guide, not a Gem Trail or Journal. Though maps and stories would be great, that is beyond the boundary of this series - though not beyond the scope of what I want to do. Though I plan on adding pictures of collecting sites in a later edition. I have a collecting book 1/2way done for the Wiley Well Region that is illustrated and filled with stories of the location - both history and personal. I think this is more of what you were talking about. The index, though, will remain pictures and ID's at present. So it's really not about an editor, it's about the strictest goal of this series set down by myself and a few other people several years ago. It's a guide to quartz materials in the USA. Would it be great to see a book highlighting personal collections? That would be great! Love it! Would I buy it? Hell yes. Am I going to do it - in a way I already have skeletal versions. I've done four Artists of Agates portfolios (2 Dan Heuer, 1 Bob Rush, 1 Steve Haynes, and I am working on another one for Stones in Motion - Ed, got permission from him a few months ago to start work on showing off his work.) I'm not saying your idea shouldn't be done as a colorful hardcover (see Ron Gibbs Agates and Jaspers book - it's a great example of how publishing is being done these days), nor am I saying I wouldn't want to be involved in putting it together. My comments last time were primarily directed as to why ebook publishing was better (for me) than print on demand or similar methods - small specialty publisher.) For me - that list of items keeps me from taking these indexes beyond the electronic form. If someone else wanted to tackle them for their project - go for it!
That guy Hans Gamma published a book... and I'm holding it in my hand, and I think most of us bought one?? There's nothing but pix... and they're mostly the same pix on his website. At most there's maybe 5 paragraphs of text.
I love love his series, and it's filled with pages upon pages of photos that show specimens from across the world, and you are using a bit of hyperbole when you say there are maybe 5 paragraphs. There is actually a great deal of writing in that series. (By the way, I have a standing offer of $500 for a copy of Agates I, if anyone is a little cash poor....why? Because Johann Zenz says he's not reprinting the first book again because it is too expensive. I don't know if he's going to crack from pressure from those without that book, but he's so far holding firm on no reprints....)
Would I pay $28 again for it? Yes. Because the PICTURES are accurate, not subject to monitors, and I can lay in bed surrounded with crumbs (not really), drinking milk and reading it:P. Getting milk and crumbs all over my keyboard is not ok.
Not going to argue with being sprawled out in bed with a book over a tablet, but reprinting is a different story - if only 30% of the Agate Index is new - then it's worth my revising and re-releasing it for free...but if I charge $30, is it going to be worth that to everyone who is interested in it? Again, this is a information distribution project - get the info to as many people as possible for their personal use. If I charge $30 another bucks for 30% new content, I'm not going to have as many people get the updated version, and many who do will think that I am gouging them for money....So, free book with free distribution get more people to acquire it than hard copy with a price tag. Now, your story based idea (which I do love - don't get me wrong) is a different beast....A single shot (or limited series of books) showcasing personal stories and collections is more in line IMHO with a more traditional publishing venue, but whoever does it still must deal with the list I put out earlier.
It's a thought:). I'm a FAST writer, but I'm not an accurate editor (you can probably tell by my posts:P). But if you and the others are interested in the idea, I'd be happy to help where I can.
I'm very interested in seeing a book put together detailing what I've already mentioned. It won't be an 'Agate Index' but it would be a great brother/sister project. For example, I'd love to see photos and stories from people's adventures in the 1970's and earlier - when a different time and different set of circumstances existed. I'd love to see family histories of multi-generational rockhounds and hear stories of how it all began for them, and what their most prized (not most valuable) rocks are. I'm just buried. These projects need way more resources than my simple cut and paste and edit jobs of the index. You need contributors who are willing to invest time and energy into creating their portions of 'your' book. Writing needs to be gathered. If you go hard copy, printer and costs and investments need to be gathered/raised. Again, I'm not saying it should not be done. It sounds wonderful. Timewise, i have a hard enough time putting together these Indexes - and they have no writing except the intros, essentially.
As for money, that's easy... % contribution for % benefit. If there's a cost, same % of cost. If you supply 10 pix out of 500 pix, what's that worth? Pix 50% / text 50%. For example, if you provide 10 pix, no text, that's 1/50 of 1/2 (other half for the text).
It's a great and functional idea, but not one I personally want to deal with - hence free/free. I may be OCD (check out those indexes I put together....) but I have to decide where to put my time. In addition, if you get anything wrong with your calculations, make sure you have a good lawyer, because people have a habit of litigation with they think they've been slighted...and if you have to readjust for one person, then most likely all the other % will need to be adjusted. Again - for me - not something I have time to break apart and monitor. If I add two images in the Index, I don't need to readjust anything but the index and table of contents. I can't imagine revising contributor payout sheets. At least with the TOContents and Index, I'm still writing about rocks. Oh - and don't forget tax forms and paystubs and everything else that goes with a small business. Once you start charging....you got to pay Uncle Sam...
Editors gets 20% for the collation off the top (plus % of content contribution). Now that's my off the top of head breakdown, which naturally you can refine, but a % break like that is very fair, no one's getting ripped off, and everyone can contribute.
Honestly, contribute <X> pix and text for a FREE COPY alone is worth it, your name's in lights to show your family and friends. Ok, at least somewhere in the 'contributors' page, like movie credits... how kewl is that? You are now published!!!
It's very Kewl, but I run several dozen contributors per issue, of which maybe 15 or 20 are major contibutors. Giving 15 people a $30 book (of which $15 might be cost) plus shipping adds $225 + to you bottom line. If I get people to donate for free - it's even cheaper... Money just complicates things...Others may love to play the accountant, but I avoid it like the plague.
There's several self-publishing outfits, Lulu is one. If you can shop it with 'real' editors who will front a payment, even better:).
It's your baby, you've been doing this a long time! A hardback book that's going to have a copy in the Library of Congress, that people can reference for the next 100 years? I don't think it's about money, it's also about recognition and giving people a nice big book they contributed to too:).
Anyway, it's a neat thought, and if you decide you want to do it or would like some help, let me know:). [/quote]
I'm really trying not to be argumentative but realistic in terms of what it would cost in time and money and participation to expand the project into the realm of hardcopies and by default - money. I'm into this publishing bit because I enjoy doing these books. Adding money and cost will decrease my enjoyment, hence, no effort and the index goes away. My true goal (and one Mel has stated in the past) is to get this think to go viral. Initially the first 2010 edition was a great rough start. It's the last two volumes that I believe are beginning to shine. Once I have a set, I am sending messages to any club I can find, plus the AFMS and the CFMS. I'll be printing copies to submit for the awards, but I'm first seeing if I can submit them on disk, as that is how they were published. It might be interesting to nudge the Federations to see how they handle updated technology....it will also be interesting to see if they gain a broader following...
Anyway....I start school again tomorrow and really don't want to go to sleep on this last day of my summer vacation....so if you are wondering why I am such a windbag right now, it's because my pillow is calling me and all I hear is the ruckus of children....
Lowell
ps - I never knew how many colors I could choose from for my writing..... mwa ha ha!
Ah heck....it is late. Time to heed the siren's call.
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
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Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Aug 17, 2012 20:17:30 GMT -5
Hey Helen!
Love the ideas and enthusiam! Enthuciasm...enthuseasm...How the hell do you spell enthusiasm? Oh....got it that time...]
One of the many ideas I have had on my plate for a while (one I haven't delved into too much due to both the download issues and lately time issues working on other projects - discussed ad nauseam elsewhere) is to do a 'monthly' download magazine with contents taken from the field trip reports and personal rocks shared. Basically, you put the scattered bits of knowledge and adventures and personal stories here on this board (and can be others) into a semi-permanent state as an ebook.
The reasons for the agate index being an electronic book (and this goes back to your idea of writing a physical book) are several-and you'll see they merge into each other: 0) It's done for love of the hobby and to give freely back to those who share my love. 1) Cost for others - Presently it's free. Know who likes free things? Everybody-more demand. You know who likes paying for things? Hardly anybody unless there is good/great value and low risk - lower demand. If I sold the index, then most likely some people would want to be paid for images, then I need contracts of some kind. I'm not a lawyer - don't want to be. Keeping it free allows as many people who can access it to gain a copy. 1.5) Cost for me - Free. I pay no upfront fees to publishing houses for initial printing. I don't need to worry about buying ads to sell product. Right now I only offer contributor credit and links to websites as payment. If someone loves their image so much that want to charge, then they can have their image. I like the idea of people from everywhere participating in this endeavor. {Group hug} 2) Space - I don't need to have a wearhouse or rent space to store copies. Computer memory takes up a lot less room.... 3) Reprint ease - If you print a book and then revise, then you need people to shell out money to buy a product that is not 100% new. E-books can be revised and replaced on share sites so people can just redownload the revised book at no cost. (Unlike IPads which have been upgraded - what? - 6 times in the last five years? Try trading in your old one for a new for no extra cost....) Why shell out money now if there might be a better version coming out in 6 months. 4) Distribution - No mailing. No returns. No damaged copies (minus friggen viruses that is...but that is a distribution issue - not a product issue....) Again - I need to find a reliable way of distribution outside of John's generous efforts. 5) Control - Ah, yes. Control. I control the actual production so no errors will be attributed to someone else. I am the end body in deciding what goes in (with invaluable input from Mel to keep me on the straight and narrow). 6) Time - I don't need to worry about printing times and shipping times. Once a book is finished, it's posted and available. Viola! **** What it costs is time to create one. Lots and lots of time.
With that said - I'd love to see a book of rockhounding experiences - especially dating back to the earliest memories of our longest lived rockhounds. Photos and stories of places forgotten or closed. Images of the contraptions made to gather and carry stone. Stories of driving at night when A/C was rare and the desert presented a wide space of trackless landscapes. You get the picture....
Love the idea - just wanted to state the limitations of physical publishing vs. ebooks.
BTW - If you read my whole post...you need to get a hobby cause it's probably one of the driest things I've ever put on this board and you must be desperate for something to do!....
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Aug 17, 2012 19:36:53 GMT -5
Ms. Muse - Or should I call you Scribble? Cool rocks. It's fun seeing the material you can find in the middle of Wy. I grabbed a couple of your images to post for people to see directly, as you requested a few posts back. I didn't do them all as I wanted to check first with you. I hope you don't mind: ScribbleMuse's Material: Looking forward to seeing more of your material from that creek bed.... Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by elementary on Aug 16, 2012 10:15:02 GMT -5
Kris,
If I ever get up into that area again with some free time, I'd love to go hunting with you. I have a magazine article with maps to that area from the 1960's or 1970's. I just ran across the article a couple months ago, and I think it might be a Mary Strong article. I don't know if you've seen it (probably) but I can scan and post you a copy if interested.
Bob,
I love the shots. Those trees are amazing... I also like how after a while kids will just stand in front of whatever you want to take a picture of like mug shots, arms at their sides, resigned look on faces. I'm thinking of getting one of my daughters images like that and photoshop them in front of random landmarks across the world and show people shots of my 'international' travels. The worse thing I could do is show them to my daughter when she's 20+ years old and say "What? You don't remember going to paris? But we saw the Eiffel Tower! See, here's a picture!"
Lowell
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