Workshop and Grandparent Visit

I got up at 6 again yesterday. The early wake up is working so far. I was able to relax more in the morning, because the workshop didn't start until 8:30. I had planned to leave around 7:30 to ensure that I would get there in plenty of time. I wish I always had the opportunity to relax in the morning before school, but that would involve getting up a half-hour early. Plus, I probably shouldn't get used to relaxing in the morning, as I imagine it will be quite hectic soon with the baby coming. But anyway...

I left around 7:30, heading up to the school where the workshop was. It is in a neighboring district, I'd say about 5 miles north of where I work. I found the school, and got there about 10 minutes early. I walked into the building, and followed the directions on the registration paperwork to room A107--only to find it locked, dark, and empty. I headed over to the main office, and they informed me the workshop was moved to the media center. I found the media center upstairs, went in, and took a seat. Around me there were about 20 other teachers, all pulling out and setting up their own little white Mac iBook. Here I sit with a pen and a pad of paper. I didn't know laptops were needed for this workshop. Even if I had brought my laptop, it would have done me no good, because I don't have the software they were using.

I had already felt very out-of-place, and it got worse when the next thing happened... a union meeting! Apparently, I was the only one there who didn't work for this district. The union leader was passing around salary guides, and the members voted on them. I just blended into the background. I had no idea this workshop was for members of this district only, all who were given a laptop by the district. I also learned that this workshop was for people who already had an ActivBoard, and have been using it regularly in their classes. I had never actually used and ActivBoard before today; I had just seen other people use it.

At this point, I was feeling alone and out of place, and almost had the urge to just sneak out. But I decided to stick it out. After the union meeting, the presenters began the workshop with a "getting to know you" game, which I thought was ironic, since all of these people work for the same district (but I guess in different buildings--this is a new concept to me, since my district is so small). There were four stations, and we had to brainstorm answers to questions at three of the stations. The first station was, "What ActivBoard lessons do your students enjoy the most?" Whoops, I've never taught an ActivBoard lesson. I admitted this to my group, and suggested a lesson I would do (music composition). The next two stations questions were easy enough to fake. On the last station, you had to come up to the ActivBoard, and copy and drag either a red, yellow, or green dot to an area of the board to indicate your comfort level with the ActivBoard. I watched a few people do it, so I was able to do it without a problem (I probably should've picked red, but I chose yellow instead).

The workshop continued on with tips such as inserting links and images from the web. I was bored at this point, because everyone is trying this on their laptops, and because this is something I could've figured out on my own. Eventually, he gave everyone some time to work this out on their own, in which I texted Meg about how boring this was.

I learned a few other useful tips as the workshop continued, and things started looking better. I was worried about the last hour of the workshop, because the agenda listed individual work-time on creating your own presentation using the techniques learned in the workshop. Since I didn't have a laptop, I wasn't sure what I would be doing. When the time came though, the presenter let me use his laptop. I created a listening map in which students would drag and copy various animals to represent the tempo changes in Brahms' "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 5". I figured out how to use the program pretty quickly, because it was basically like using any other program where you place objects and draw, like PowerPoint, or Adobe InDesign, or even Word for that matter. At the end, we were able to present our flipcharts (that is what they are called in this program). Everyone seemed impressed with what I came up with. I e-mailed the file to myself so I could use it when I do get an ActivBoard. And I also got 5 PD hours for the workshop too!

After the workshop, I came home, and finished editing my band handbook, so I could submit it to my principal for review. Then we got ready to go to my Grandmom and Grandpop's house.

The whole family was coming: Meg and I, my parents, Nick, Laura, and Sean. My grandparents live in a rather small apartment, so things were a little tight. My mom brought baked ziti, meatballs, salad, and bread for dinner. As things usually go with my family, there was much laughing and craziness involved. Nick and I took Grandpop's digital camera, and took pictures of odd things and from odd places, to name one. You'd probably have to be there to get the full experience. Here are some pictures though:


Sean and Laura


Meg and I


My Dad (doing a Rocky impression)


Grandmom, Mom , and Grandpop

Apparently my brother is camera shy, because there were no pictures of him.

We came home at about 10 and went to bed. I slept very well, but woke up at about 3:30 from the sound of dead silence. The power had gone out. I figured there was a storm coming, and it had knocked out the power. Since I didn't really have to be anywhere today, I just ignored it, and tried to go back to sleep. Then I noticed the sound of running water--the pool filter was still on. Meg also noticed that the candles in the front windows were still on. I checked the breaker, and apparently the one for our room had tripped. I can't figure out why. All that was on was the ceiling fan, the window fan, and our alarm clocks. I reset the breaker, then went back to sleep.

I added an extra snooze this morning, getting up at 6:09. I had breakfast, and am now blogging. Max is in the family room whining because no one is paying attention to him. So I'll play with him for a while, and then we have our annual termite inspection at 10. I plan on going to church and switching the handbell closets today, and then working on school work and money stuff the rest of the day.