Jody and I have been busy gathering gifts to take with us to New Zealand. Yesterday we visited Main Street books where they were having a sale. We managed to come away with 50 lanyards, 20 car stickers, and 14 Tshirts for a very reasonable price. Then today we picked up our laptops, and while we were there, we were given a bunch of nail files, highlighters, and pens to take with us. It sort of feels like Christmas!
On the way back from IT, we stopped in at the bookstore and purchased some banners to give to the universities, and we were given some of those triangular flag thingies that were the wrong blue! We didn't mind! We're going to have to get photos of people holding all these things!
After the bookstore, we stopped in to see Greg (who was relieved that we finally had the computers - the timing was VERY close as we have less than three weeks to go!).
About the earthquake in Christchurch. I'm monitoring it all VERY closely. As long as the city is determined to be safe, we will still go. If it is not considered safe, we will change our plans and obviously NOT go. No matter where we go in the world, there will always be the possibility of a natural disaster; after all, Western Kentucky is built on a giant fault line! So, we can never make ourselves 100% safe from the unexpected. We can, however, make ourselves safe from the results of the unexpected... and we will. So, Brittany and Kelli, just be aware that safety IS our main concern. If people ask you about it, tell them we're monitoring the situation and will do what is safest. That's all we can say right now. :-)
Now we have to prepare ourselves for a singing lesson tomorrow. I wait with bated breath! :-)
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Three weeks two days to go...
Well, we had our singing meeting on Friday. Not sure what to say about it other than there's tremendous scope for improvement there! :-) I have contacted Becki Alfrey, and she is going to help us! Yay!
On another note, we had news on Friday that our agreed financial plan has now been "disagreed" and we're possibly back to square one. Greg organized a meeting with Cathy for Monday (today), but when I arrived, I found out the problem is probably fixed. I'm tremendously glad about that because I had a very bad weekend as a result of the worry! On a related note, we were told we needed to fill in travel forms, so I made a best attempt today. I think I need to go to accounting school. I can't get the information for our overseas trip to fit into the neat little USA trip boxes. I ended up filling it in the best I could and delivering it to Virginia who said she'd look at it. I'm sure glad there are people around here who know what they're doing, because sometimes I feel like I'm swimming up a waterfall!
On a more positive note, my sister called yesterday, and we had a long chat about the forthcoming visit. I have to keep my eyes on the goal rather than sink in the mire of paperwork, so it was good to chat. She has all these plans for what we can do in our "down time" although, as she rightly pointed out, we don't have much (I think I may have overfilled our schedule :-(). She's found us a good deal with accommodation, so I think we'll be saving money there, and let me know that they've just had a cow slaughtered, so we'll have some good meat!
I am currently making sure that all our university contacts are prepared for our visit, then I'll be looking at making a literacy checklist for our classroom visits. I may need to delegate this task though! :-)
On another note, we had news on Friday that our agreed financial plan has now been "disagreed" and we're possibly back to square one. Greg organized a meeting with Cathy for Monday (today), but when I arrived, I found out the problem is probably fixed. I'm tremendously glad about that because I had a very bad weekend as a result of the worry! On a related note, we were told we needed to fill in travel forms, so I made a best attempt today. I think I need to go to accounting school. I can't get the information for our overseas trip to fit into the neat little USA trip boxes. I ended up filling it in the best I could and delivering it to Virginia who said she'd look at it. I'm sure glad there are people around here who know what they're doing, because sometimes I feel like I'm swimming up a waterfall!
On a more positive note, my sister called yesterday, and we had a long chat about the forthcoming visit. I have to keep my eyes on the goal rather than sink in the mire of paperwork, so it was good to chat. She has all these plans for what we can do in our "down time" although, as she rightly pointed out, we don't have much (I think I may have overfilled our schedule :-(). She's found us a good deal with accommodation, so I think we'll be saving money there, and let me know that they've just had a cow slaughtered, so we'll have some good meat!
I am currently making sure that all our university contacts are prepared for our visit, then I'll be looking at making a literacy checklist for our classroom visits. I may need to delegate this task though! :-)
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Presents
Just a brief update on the gift situation. Today I called Kem Tackett, and she was able to give us a bag of MSU pins (looks like maybe 250, unless the packaging was reused!). Jody and I took the laptop down to get fixed up, and I got a call this afternoon to say it was ready. We also stopped by the bookstore and talked to one of the ladies there about gifts. We left a note for the person in charge of ... gifts? ... and hopefully she will contact us soon. We saw some banners and triangular flags things that look good, and we're hoping we can get them at a bit of a reduced price.
I sorted out the caravan payment today, so we don't have to worry about that until we get there. I also emailed the lady in charge of the flat in Karori to let her know when we'd be arriving (and to see if there are sheets and blankets available - that thought occured to me recently! Had visions of having to buy sheets and other bedding! Got to set that fear at rest or I'll keep worrying!). I emailed Brittany today to ask her to email the schools (not the universities) to remind them when we're coming and to ask a few questions. I'll be getting on to the universities shortly.
I don't know if I mentioned this already, but the Hobbit is going to start being filmed next month. On our way to and from Rotorua we'll be passing through Matamata which is where Hobbiton has been built! They're presently giving tours, but those will stop on March 18 (which is when I presume filiming is going to start). Nevertheless, I hope we get to see SOMETHING as we pass through! :-)
I sorted out the caravan payment today, so we don't have to worry about that until we get there. I also emailed the lady in charge of the flat in Karori to let her know when we'd be arriving (and to see if there are sheets and blankets available - that thought occured to me recently! Had visions of having to buy sheets and other bedding! Got to set that fear at rest or I'll keep worrying!). I emailed Brittany today to ask her to email the schools (not the universities) to remind them when we're coming and to ask a few questions. I'll be getting on to the universities shortly.
I don't know if I mentioned this already, but the Hobbit is going to start being filmed next month. On our way to and from Rotorua we'll be passing through Matamata which is where Hobbiton has been built! They're presently giving tours, but those will stop on March 18 (which is when I presume filiming is going to start). Nevertheless, I hope we get to see SOMETHING as we pass through! :-)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Reading in Kentucky
Yesterday I had lunch with a colleague, and I mentioned the fact that when we looked at interventions, Kentucky's were all "store bought". She suggested this might have something to do with NCLB and the caveat that all programs used must be research based. I found this to be an interesting idea, and when I was at Boyd County Middle School today, I spoke with Debbie (who's the Grade 6 principal and in charge of RTI). I asked her what she thought of this theory, and she thought there was probably a lot of truth to it. She pointed out that yes, interventions and strategies need to be "research based" and thought that perhaps teachers were grabbing onto commercial products because that is how they advertise them. She also said she felt teachers were very stressed, more so now than in any of her previous 27 years of teaching. She said teachers were having to learn about RTI, core content standards, and something else (which I have forgotten), so they tend to just reach out for entire packets. I can most certainly understand that.
I came back from BCMS and talked with Jody. Karen had mentioned her theory of why 8th and 10th/12th graders do successively worse on international tests, and Jody said that was a well-established theory: to wit, that textbooks are introduced in 4th and 5th grades but children aren't taught to read them. In other words, they are not taught strategic reading skills. We looked up MSU's elementary education and could not find any mention of strategic reading for 3rd-5th grade. Very interesting. Of course, we'll need to check syllabi, but it does LOOK as if our elementary candidates learn reading basics, and literature, but not how to teach strategies. I hope I'm wrong, and if I am, I'll blog my "wrongness!". Middle school candidates have the "Reading in the Content Area" course as a response to this 4th grade drop off problem, but I wonder how well it's working. I am interested, VERY interested, to learn about attitudes toward teaching reading in the content area in both New Zealand and Kentucky. Honestly, we have a study of a lifetime here... so much could be done.
Anyway, today marks the one month (4 week mark) for our trip. We're doing really well with our preparations; we just need to keep learning as much as we can about Kentucky so that we'll ask the right questions and observe the most useful things. SO glad there are four of us going!!!
I came back from BCMS and talked with Jody. Karen had mentioned her theory of why 8th and 10th/12th graders do successively worse on international tests, and Jody said that was a well-established theory: to wit, that textbooks are introduced in 4th and 5th grades but children aren't taught to read them. In other words, they are not taught strategic reading skills. We looked up MSU's elementary education and could not find any mention of strategic reading for 3rd-5th grade. Very interesting. Of course, we'll need to check syllabi, but it does LOOK as if our elementary candidates learn reading basics, and literature, but not how to teach strategies. I hope I'm wrong, and if I am, I'll blog my "wrongness!". Middle school candidates have the "Reading in the Content Area" course as a response to this 4th grade drop off problem, but I wonder how well it's working. I am interested, VERY interested, to learn about attitudes toward teaching reading in the content area in both New Zealand and Kentucky. Honestly, we have a study of a lifetime here... so much could be done.
Anyway, today marks the one month (4 week mark) for our trip. We're doing really well with our preparations; we just need to keep learning as much as we can about Kentucky so that we'll ask the right questions and observe the most useful things. SO glad there are four of us going!!!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Post Posters-at-the-Capitol
Today it seemed everyone was exhausted. Jody was losing her voice, Brittany looked as if she'd been run over by a train, and I was having trouble staying fully awake. The only one who looked at all fresh and perky was Kelli. We're going to have to nominate her as our spokesperson when we're all tired! :-)
We all met today and completed a couple of really important tasks. We got the folders organized (to leave at various places such as International Studies and the Dean's office (we put in copies of our itineraries, copies of ID such as passports and university id cards, and copies of tickets, as well as information about our insurance and some contact numbers and addresses). It was a fiddly job, and Kelli did it well.
Brittany and I finished off the schedule. There probably are more things we could add, but right now we have all the schools, along with addresses, phone numbers and email addresses, placed in whichever day we're going to see them, and we've put in any other things we know we're going to do. It's pretty well completed. Now we just need to contact all the schools again and ask about times to meet, check again about permissions for photos and videos, and ask if there's anything we should bring/do etc... Probably wouldn't hurt to ask about lunch plans too.
I played a little with the new camera. I think it's going to be a lot of fun, and I also think we're going to get a lot of really nice shots. I'm going to have to remember to take lots and lots of photos though. I tend to take one or two only, and that can be bad if they both blur or are otherwise not too good.
I'm going to try and attach some photos from yesterday's Posters-at-the-Capitol, but I'm writing from home and my Internet is seriously misbehaving... so I'm not sure if it's work!
We all met today and completed a couple of really important tasks. We got the folders organized (to leave at various places such as International Studies and the Dean's office (we put in copies of our itineraries, copies of ID such as passports and university id cards, and copies of tickets, as well as information about our insurance and some contact numbers and addresses). It was a fiddly job, and Kelli did it well.
Brittany and I finished off the schedule. There probably are more things we could add, but right now we have all the schools, along with addresses, phone numbers and email addresses, placed in whichever day we're going to see them, and we've put in any other things we know we're going to do. It's pretty well completed. Now we just need to contact all the schools again and ask about times to meet, check again about permissions for photos and videos, and ask if there's anything we should bring/do etc... Probably wouldn't hurt to ask about lunch plans too.
I played a little with the new camera. I think it's going to be a lot of fun, and I also think we're going to get a lot of really nice shots. I'm going to have to remember to take lots and lots of photos though. I tend to take one or two only, and that can be bad if they both blur or are otherwise not too good.
I'm going to try and attach some photos from yesterday's Posters-at-the-Capitol, but I'm writing from home and my Internet is seriously misbehaving... so I'm not sure if it's work!
Posters-at-the Capitol
Wow... where to start! Fortunately, I am fairly sure that all four of us are going to blog about this event, so if I miss anything, it'll probably be in one of the other accounts.
We left Morehead early, not as early as I had hoped, due to the fact that I dropped my car keys in the snow as I walked the third of a mile or so up to my parked car. Very frustrating! However, I got into Morehead (BTW the temp was 10 degrees F), picked up the university vehicle and the other three team members and we drove on off to Frankfort. We didn't get lost much, so we managed to arrive in time for Kelli's planned visit with her legislator (or senator... not sure which one it was!). Meanwhile, Brittany and I registered and set up the poster (a complicated affair consisting of alligator clipping the poster to a board - took about one minute!). After that, we wandered down to the snack bar and picked up a drink before heading back to have our photos taken in the big group photo. This was followed by opening speeches. We talked with Dr. Andrews (our university president), and our provost, then went back to "woman" the display.
After a while, we decided to go and see our Rowan county senator, so we did. He was gracious enough to have us in his office and talk to us, and then later on he visited our display. We had our pictures taken with him. We also had our pics taken with the president and Dr. Mattingly (the MSU professor who started up the undergraduate research fellow program). Lunch was taken in the annex (which was enormously crowded), and the rest of the early afternoon was spent at the poster. We had no chairs! Probably ok for our young, fit undergraduates, but us old people were really feeling it!
Once the poster session ended, at about 3pm, we wandered up to the senate (our senator had suggested we go on up and visit the floor). We were given tags, and introduced to the senate. It was a real buzz for me! We sat down and watched/listened for a while, and then recess was called. "Doc" Blevins (our senator) called us up to the front of the room where the senate president was, and we posed for a photo which they are going to send to us. We all felt rather important! LOL.
We left after this, and drove to Lexington where we planned to find a camera. One of my colleagues (thank you Elizabeth!) had given us the name of a good store, so Kelli and Brittany sat in the back with Brittany's iphone and directed us to the store. The guys at the store were helpful, and they gave us a good deal, so we now have DSLR cameras for the trip. These will be particularly useful for the classroom visits, as well as for video recording.
Next, we stopped off at Best Buy to see about iPads, but they weren't able to do what we needed them to do with the tax, so we just left. We'll probably just order online. After that, it was dinner time and we parked ourselves at Logan's for dinner. We talked a lot about New Zealand (oh, and by the way, we listened to NZ music in the car, as well as "My Old Kentucky Home") and had a great time.
We left Lexington at about 7pm and drove home. I dropped everyone off, dropped off the car keys, jumped into my car which of course immediately started (NOT), and eventually got home around 9ish. My husband (Peter) welcomed me with the news that he had found the car keys after a couple of trips up and down the driveway, so that was a relief.
After that exhausting day, I simply crashed into bed at about that point! :-)
We left Morehead early, not as early as I had hoped, due to the fact that I dropped my car keys in the snow as I walked the third of a mile or so up to my parked car. Very frustrating! However, I got into Morehead (BTW the temp was 10 degrees F), picked up the university vehicle and the other three team members and we drove on off to Frankfort. We didn't get lost much, so we managed to arrive in time for Kelli's planned visit with her legislator (or senator... not sure which one it was!). Meanwhile, Brittany and I registered and set up the poster (a complicated affair consisting of alligator clipping the poster to a board - took about one minute!). After that, we wandered down to the snack bar and picked up a drink before heading back to have our photos taken in the big group photo. This was followed by opening speeches. We talked with Dr. Andrews (our university president), and our provost, then went back to "woman" the display.
After a while, we decided to go and see our Rowan county senator, so we did. He was gracious enough to have us in his office and talk to us, and then later on he visited our display. We had our pictures taken with him. We also had our pics taken with the president and Dr. Mattingly (the MSU professor who started up the undergraduate research fellow program). Lunch was taken in the annex (which was enormously crowded), and the rest of the early afternoon was spent at the poster. We had no chairs! Probably ok for our young, fit undergraduates, but us old people were really feeling it!
Once the poster session ended, at about 3pm, we wandered up to the senate (our senator had suggested we go on up and visit the floor). We were given tags, and introduced to the senate. It was a real buzz for me! We sat down and watched/listened for a while, and then recess was called. "Doc" Blevins (our senator) called us up to the front of the room where the senate president was, and we posed for a photo which they are going to send to us. We all felt rather important! LOL.
We left after this, and drove to Lexington where we planned to find a camera. One of my colleagues (thank you Elizabeth!) had given us the name of a good store, so Kelli and Brittany sat in the back with Brittany's iphone and directed us to the store. The guys at the store were helpful, and they gave us a good deal, so we now have DSLR cameras for the trip. These will be particularly useful for the classroom visits, as well as for video recording.
Next, we stopped off at Best Buy to see about iPads, but they weren't able to do what we needed them to do with the tax, so we just left. We'll probably just order online. After that, it was dinner time and we parked ourselves at Logan's for dinner. We talked a lot about New Zealand (oh, and by the way, we listened to NZ music in the car, as well as "My Old Kentucky Home") and had a great time.
We left Lexington at about 7pm and drove home. I dropped everyone off, dropped off the car keys, jumped into my car which of course immediately started (NOT), and eventually got home around 9ish. My husband (Peter) welcomed me with the news that he had found the car keys after a couple of trips up and down the driveway, so that was a relief.
After that exhausting day, I simply crashed into bed at about that point! :-)
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Pre-Posters-at-the-Capitol
Kelli and I met yesterday to work on the finishing touches to the poster that she and Brittany are presenting in Frankfort on Thursday. The finished product looks really good, and I'm sure it will spark interest with educators. We're going to have a handout with the full chart that Kelli created because it simply would not fit onto the poster! We decided to display a selection of the interventions and have the rest available to interested parties. One thing that has stood out to me as we've all gone through this poster-making experience is how much of this research is now "owned" by Kelli and Brittany. That is truly a great thing to see. I am confident that they will be able to answer all but the most technical questions, and answer them well (and as a side note, I doubt too many people will even ponder the thought of asking extremely technical questions!).
I received confirmation from one more elementary school, so I believe we've heard from all but one school now. Since I haven't heard a single peep from the one remaining school (after four emails), I think it's safe to consider that school "dead in the water" so to speak. That's ok though, because it'll be nice to have an unplanned day in the itinerary. We can use it to revisit a school, spend time working on what we've collected up until that point, or simply take a day out to rest.
I think my next task is to book us some ground transportation so that we can get to all these schools! :-) I'll do that today, after returning from having a tetanus shot (ouch) and getting some new contact lenses (yay) - all this in preparation for this great trip that's only 5 weeks and 1 day away now! Eeep!
I received confirmation from one more elementary school, so I believe we've heard from all but one school now. Since I haven't heard a single peep from the one remaining school (after four emails), I think it's safe to consider that school "dead in the water" so to speak. That's ok though, because it'll be nice to have an unplanned day in the itinerary. We can use it to revisit a school, spend time working on what we've collected up until that point, or simply take a day out to rest.
I think my next task is to book us some ground transportation so that we can get to all these schools! :-) I'll do that today, after returning from having a tetanus shot (ouch) and getting some new contact lenses (yay) - all this in preparation for this great trip that's only 5 weeks and 1 day away now! Eeep!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Finances
I think we've almost finished with the major finances for this project - at least for the first part. We seem to be keeping nicely to the budget, but Greg will probably let me know today. I'll feel as if at least one weight has been lifted off my back once this is done. Greg has been an amazing help to us, and I'm so grateful the Dean put him on this task (of helping us). Once the final set of payments come through, all we'll need to do is gather gifts for those who are helping us with our work. I'm thinking that perhaps some of our representatives may have small flags or pins, so we'll ask Kelli and Brittany to follow that up.
Our second laptop still has not arrived, so we've decided that we're going to order our other equipment (part 2 of the grant) ourselves and get reimbursement. It should be a LOT faster. Only 5 weeks and 5 days to go... next month, in fact. Time is flying!
Our second laptop still has not arrived, so we've decided that we're going to order our other equipment (part 2 of the grant) ourselves and get reimbursement. It should be a LOT faster. Only 5 weeks and 5 days to go... next month, in fact. Time is flying!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Rotorua
We heard back from a school in Rotorua yesterday; it was really exciting. The school has a lot of programs going on, and it should be really informative to visit. They also might be able to give us a traditional Maori welcome, which will be fantastic, except for the fact that we have to sing back! Now we all have to practice a song! None of us claim to be singers, so I guess we'll see what comes forth from our vocal chords! ;-)
On a sort of related note, I figured out how to scan business cards on my iPhone, so that's been kind of entertaining for me! I also Skyped a friend from NZ yesterday using the iPhone and had great sound and picture. These phones are great! :-)
We are gradually filling in our schedule; now it's down to about three schools yet to confirm, so that's pretty good. We have an alarming amount of work to do before, and during the trip, but so far I feel that we're mostly in control of it. Every time we have contact with schools, I get a rush of excitment. It's going to be amazing to see so many schools in such a short period of time. I only hope we can store all the information we get in a really good, retrievable way.
On a sort of related note, I figured out how to scan business cards on my iPhone, so that's been kind of entertaining for me! I also Skyped a friend from NZ yesterday using the iPhone and had great sound and picture. These phones are great! :-)
We are gradually filling in our schedule; now it's down to about three schools yet to confirm, so that's pretty good. We have an alarming amount of work to do before, and during the trip, but so far I feel that we're mostly in control of it. Every time we have contact with schools, I get a rush of excitment. It's going to be amazing to see so many schools in such a short period of time. I only hope we can store all the information we get in a really good, retrievable way.
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