more photos. not all mine

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seaduppy/

here's some pictures I found from someone who was at goddard the week before i got here. we've had a lot of snow globe winterwonderland snow... just like in this person's pictures.

macbook photobooth funtime.

my advising group. Eric Debbie and Chuck. (not pictured: advisor, Eileen, and Allegra, who is a 3/4 time student and not here for this residency)


talk about transformational praxis!

more photos. not all mine

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seaduppy/

here's some pictures I found from someone who was at goddard the week before i got here. we've had a lot of snow globe winterwonderland snow... just like in this person's pictures.

macbook photobooth funtime.

my advising group. Eric Debbie and Chuck. (not pictured: advisor, Eileen, and Allegra, who is a 3/4 time student and not here for this residency)


talk about transformational praxis!

day 4 at goddard

my dorm room as seen by the computer



me with goddard window decal


well. here's a quick update:

- my roomie from last summer, heather, didn't come back this time. due to lack of communication between the housing people and the enrollment people (i assume) i am in a double with no roomie. heather didn't have any experience working in or studying education and had been in and out of a few different programs, so i'm not surprised it didn't work for her. i miss having someone around to chat with, go to meals with, etc., but i like having the space and privacy, and being more of a free agent socially is going pretty well.

- my new advisor, eileen, is awesome. we did a lot of group work with everyone's overarching problem statement and research question for the semester. mine situation is different since i am going for licensure so the general topics of my study are already set for me this semester, whereas my other group members aren't in licensure.

i think i may have had a breakthrough with my question, realizing that it must be more than one sentance. (other people's are more than 1... why was i trying to cram it all in??) the p.s. and r.q. in their current form are as follows:

Problem Statement: Traditional instruction in elementary schools has often consisted largely of rote memorization of discrete facts from disconnected content areas. This promotes conformity and passivity while discouraging the independent, critical thinking and internal motivation that are crucial for engaging as citizens in communities and democratic society.

Research Question: How can curriculum be designed across the content areas of ELA, math, science, history and social sciences as a dynamic process of active, collaborative learning through inquiry and reflection? How can this process create conditions in which students gain capacity and motivation to become social change agents, including deep understandings of core ideas, strong knowledge base, and critical thinking skills?
To what extent can teachers implement such curriculum in alignment with state standards?

I'm not sure about the last sentance here... i just added it to include the idea that all this hand holding drum beating protest marching idea contemplating curious creative playing stuff that i am into is not what the department of education is into, and there's only so much fun to be had talking about progressive dreamland before it gets depressing in its stark difference from the reality in most schools.

all in all, the r.q. may seem jargony to you all, vast and gentle readership, but i assure, it could be much much worse.

also, eileen (my advisor) had to leave the residency early (tonight) so i did most of the work on my study plan already. there's still more i can do, but it's mostly starting to read my books to make sure i like them. so that's good. what do i do for the rest of the week then, you ask? go to workshops by faculty and current students,thesis presentations by graduating students (these are helpful so i can get more ideas of types of projects), go to dance nights and the "cabaret" (talent show), commencement, hopefully more yoga and a night out in bustling montpelier.

okay, off to have fun now.

peace!
c

here

well, i'm here.

flights went fine.

there's a french meadow in the airport now! a real restaurant and separate deli it seemed. i resisted the temptation to eat this potentially tasty (but still overpriced) food.

meredith from my adivsing group picked me up at the (teeny burlington) airport. it was nice to chat on the ride down to goddard about how the semester went... we also discussed why we both failed at keeping in touch with anyone. it could be potentially so helpful/comforting/grounding...

this my dorm room is in a bigger building near the cafeteria and other main campus buildings (my room last summer was in one of several small buildings of 8 rooms each.) i think i may still have to walk outside for cellphone service, but at least it won't be as far. i tried to find a picture of the building on the goddard website but failed. oh well.

my roomie this time is the same, heather. we got along well so i'm happy she's back. she's not here yet though.

there's snow here and we're getting mroe in the next few days. looks there was more at home too. have fun shoveling, suckas!

that's all the wit i can muster for now...
i am planning on sleeping soon... long day.

off to vermont

well, winter break has flown by and i'm off to vermont again tomorrow afternoon.

tonight i am babysitting. kiddo was asleep within 45 min of my getting here so now i am half watching one of my most re-watched movies of the last few years: "to be and to have." it's a documentary about a one-room school in france. the kids are cute as hell of course. but i also love that the teacher is so kind and smart and good. even when he's grumpy he' still a placid pond of creamy butter. an inspiration.

i'm pretty mellow too, believe it or not.

the other half of me has been half non-essential internetting, half organizing my documents into a sensical system of folders and messing with NVU, this webdesign for dummies program. i am using it to create an electronic portfolio for my licensure stuff. this will take the place of having a huge binder with hundreds of pages. (last semester i wrote about 125 pages, and gathered at least 25 more of other "evidence" (letters, evaluations, photos,) of my worth as a pre-student teacher. i really like the idea of this e-portfolio, but i suck at this supposedly idiot-proof program. my advisor is running some workshops at the residency about the program, but they overlap with other workshops i want to go to. yes, i am the dork who wants to go to all the workshops. i am looking forward to this one especially:
Swagger and the Urban Male. Sinatra invented it. Ali perfected it. Snoop-Dogg's lazy drawl is saturated with it. What is it and what role might it play in the male teacher's identity and social justice? This workshop will examine men's identity development theory and the need to define, understand and perhaps embrace swagger in the classroom.

Okay. list time.

victories so far:

-confirmed ride from the airport to campus with buddy meredith.
-found out there is open yoga time on the schedule for this residency.
-realized my three weeks for working on packet one don't start til the monday after i get back, so i'll have almost a week to catch up on stuff like...

oopses:
-didn't go to the u library to look for books as i have meant to for weeks now.
-like i said, e-portfolio is stalled by my laziness/inability to work userfriendly programs

goals:
-spend the necessary time while i'm out there finding books for the semester, so i don't have to do as much searching when i should be reading.
-take better notes about workshops
-be open to new people/experiences


okay, that's all for now, if i don't post more from vermont, take it as a sign that i am fully immersed in a wonderful world of dialogue, contemplation, snow, and delicious local beer and therefore unable to write.