Jungle

March 23, 2014 (082/365): "It's a Jungle in Here!"

I'm back at the Kalahari in Wisconsin Dells 
for my fifth conference in the past year -- the second one this week.

This time the jungle is teaming with animals:

A virtual stampede of raucous college students on Spring Break  

and boisterous families overflowing the water parks.

I'd be "lion" if I said I love this place, and I'm not sure I'll sleep tonight!


Perhaps a little music will sooth the savage beasts! (This is awesome :)

Moonlight

March 22, 2014 Photo (081/365): "Moonlight"

"When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in worship of the Creator."

- Mahatma Gandhi

Subtle

March 21, 2014 (080/365): "Subtle Signs"

Soon the the thick clouds will part, revealing clear, blue skies.

Soon the ground will thaw giving way to gentle green shoots.

Soon the magnolia will shed her fur coat, and the birds will sing of warmer, fragrant days.

"When the seasons shift, even the subtle beginning, the scent of a promised change, I feel something stir inside me.  Hopefulness? Gratitude? Openness? Whatever it is, it's welcome." - Kristin Armstrong

Thawing

March 20, 2014 Photo (079/365): "Ducks"

"Then I thought of something, all of a sudden: 'Those ducks in that lagoon, that little lake...Do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? '" - Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye

Mallards on Okauchee Lake. Maybe it's because I'm teaching The Catcher in the Rye or maybe it's because I always fed the ducks in Sturgeon Bay's Little Lake when I was a little girl, but I wondered too... I don't know where the ducks go when the lake freezes over, but on this first day of spring, I'm so glad that they're back!

Punctuation

March 19, 2014 Photo (078/365): "Winter into Spring"

Today is officially the final day of this long winter sentence, and as an exclamation point: it's snowing! Will tomorrow look like spring? "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?" - Ode to the West Wind (P.B. Shelley)

Books

March 18, 2014 Photo (077/365): "Books"

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read..." - John Burroughs. To read or not to read -- that is the question! I have so much to do this week!  It feels like I'm drowning in sea of educator effectiveness, Google, mobile apps, and social media. Over the next five days, I will make four presentations at two state conferences.  At tomorrow's EE EdCamp, I will be facilitating a discussion on gathering artifacts to demonstrate proficiency in Domains 1 and 4 of the Danielson Framework. Next week, I will be at the Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association (WEMTA) conference speaking about using mobile devices and applications in school (iCommunicate, iCollaborate, iCreate...iLEARN), creating Google Sites, and developing a Personal Learning Network (PLN) via social media. My presentations for next week are far from ready, yet this afternoon, rather than working on these projects, all I want to do is read! Last week, I started Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, "A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption." As I learn about Louie Zamperini's harrowing ordeal, I remember the stories my dad told of his own experiences during the war and I wonder about what he didn't share with us. These days, I relish the start of my American Literature class when my students and I are allowed ten minutes to simply read -- what a luxury! Will things ever settle down long enough for me to read more than a chapter at time? OK, enough procrastinating! Back to work!