Responding to Blogs

Mother and anyone else who disagrees with any of my blog entries:
Blogs are always written from a personal perspective. You can disagree, get angry, agree, get motivated or any other range of emotions, but the blogger is teflon. Nothing sticks. My perspective, as reflected in my blog, is my reality. My advice is to vent your spleen by writing me a comment or start your own blog. A perspective cannot be wrong- it can only be different.

My husband is in the basement building a head tracking device with a Wii Remote, otherwise known as a WiiMote. He put infra-red emitters on a magnification band (that he used to use to scrimshaw with a dremel tool) to track the direction of his head on the WiiMote. He is hoping to be able to make a mini-3D lab in the basement using this tracking band, a WiiMote and a flat screen. It is unbelievable what can be done with a home computer these days. He also has a remote robot project at work at the ARSC (Arctic Region Supercomputing Center) and invites all takers to try it.

I just finished a week of mentor training. Here are some of my general impressions of mentoring (working with first and second year teachers):
* there will always be work- job security
* even though the training is explicit, the variance in teachers, situations and abilities means that there is continuous insecurity about whether it is being done correctly and purposefully
* using framework developed by another state means that the program must be tweaked to make a good fit.
* mentor trainings and professional development should model/reflect best practice and continuous improvement.
* a cost effective practice would be to collaborate with new principal induction programs.
* districts should devote a training day to bring mentors up to speed on district-wide initiatives, core beliefs, expectations and materials.
* mentors should be full release, experienced teachers

I'm sure this will come up again in my mind, so I'll add to the list or maybe remove if comments can convince me otherwise.

Self-censored blogging: I am starting this blog cautiously, understanding that by making this public, I cannot determine the audience. Honesty will always prevail, but I will self censor by omission anything that will undermine my ability to continue being effective in my work or maintain a relationship with my family. For example, I will respect the privacy of the teachers and other mentors with whom I work. I will also try not to slander in an effort to state my opinion diplomatically. These are only goals, of course.

Off to Harley's Diner for dinner- hmmmm, meatloaf or Hog Heaven? Not too contemplative.