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!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
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.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Another Phone Call... and Air New Zealand
We called Carolyn from Koru School on Thursday. Brittany has written an excellent summary of the call if you're interested in specific details. I enjoyed the call; it was interesting listening to the way reading is approached in Koru, and Carolyn really had a great grasp of the overall reading plan. I am really looking forward to meeting her in person and seeing the school.
I have booked our tickets from Auckland to Christchurch (Air New Zealand), Christchurch to Wellington (Tranzrail) and Wellington to Auckland (Air New Zealand). However, I have to say I am enormously peeved off at Air New Zealand right now. Through chance, I learned that they may have changed their baggage policies, so I looked it up. Sure enough, only ONE bag allowed (for checkin). I checked United and Qantas to see if they had changed, but no, they still have TWO bags. Further, ANZ has changed our seats! I looked at them yesterday, and Kelli and Brittany were relocated across the plane. I reorganized them, then called ANZ. Most unhelpful. Apparently, if you book together, you HAVE to sit together. Side-by-side - or else you're manually moved. It doesn't explain why Kelli and Brittany, who were side by side on the return trip from Auckland to LAX were moved elsewhere (away from a window). I have to say, I was rather annoyed, and let ANZ know both in the phone call AND in an email I sent. They changed the policy in late May, apparently, but didn't see fit to make any big announcement or anything. Oh well, we'll enjoy our flight because it'll be the last ANZ one for me!
(Off Soap Box now). Six and a half weeks to go now! Things are firming up nicely. This coming week we'll be focused on the presentation Brittany and Kelli are making at Posters-at-the-Capitol next week. Should be a good day.
I have booked our tickets from Auckland to Christchurch (Air New Zealand), Christchurch to Wellington (Tranzrail) and Wellington to Auckland (Air New Zealand). However, I have to say I am enormously peeved off at Air New Zealand right now. Through chance, I learned that they may have changed their baggage policies, so I looked it up. Sure enough, only ONE bag allowed (for checkin). I checked United and Qantas to see if they had changed, but no, they still have TWO bags. Further, ANZ has changed our seats! I looked at them yesterday, and Kelli and Brittany were relocated across the plane. I reorganized them, then called ANZ. Most unhelpful. Apparently, if you book together, you HAVE to sit together. Side-by-side - or else you're manually moved. It doesn't explain why Kelli and Brittany, who were side by side on the return trip from Auckland to LAX were moved elsewhere (away from a window). I have to say, I was rather annoyed, and let ANZ know both in the phone call AND in an email I sent. They changed the policy in late May, apparently, but didn't see fit to make any big announcement or anything. Oh well, we'll enjoy our flight because it'll be the last ANZ one for me!
(Off Soap Box now). Six and a half weeks to go now! Things are firming up nicely. This coming week we'll be focused on the presentation Brittany and Kelli are making at Posters-at-the-Capitol next week. Should be a good day.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Snow Friday
The four of us met today and caught up with where we're at. Brittany and Kelli have done a lot of work on their poster for the Posters-at-the-Capitol, and they only need to add a discussion, do some editing (which Jody is going to oversea) and then plan it out on a PowerPoint slide ready for printing. They have the beginnings of a great paper that perhaps KRJ might like to publish. Both Jody and I are very proud of what they have accomplished.
One thing that stood out to me as a result of Kelli's research so far is that New Zealand teachers use a lot of teacher made materials to instruct in reading. That is to say, they use non-purchased materials 64% of the time and purchased materials 36% of the time. Kentucky teachers, on the other time, use purchased materials 100% of the time. This is something we definitely will be following up with further investigation. Another thing that stood out to me (again, Kelli's research) was the difference in the focii of the interventions. Kentucky focused more on phonological awareness as an intervention, whereas New Zealand focuses more on comprehension. This is something we will keep in the back of our minds too.
Our schedule, as I mentioned in my last blog, is firming up, and I feel comfortable now that it's falling into place. We have a great range of schools to visit, and I think we're going to be overwhelmed with data once we get to those schools!
We discussed our travel, and there is unanimity in the thought that instead of flying from Christchurch to Wellington, we'll go via train and ferry. The cost is about the same, and since we have a full Sunday in which to travel, we may as well see as much of the country as we can. Brittany is going to have to bring her seasickness pills! ;-)
Our next step is to email all the schools who have firm dates and send them a couple of documents: one with information about ourselves, and the other with an outline of what we hope to achieve during our visit.
One thing that stood out to me as a result of Kelli's research so far is that New Zealand teachers use a lot of teacher made materials to instruct in reading. That is to say, they use non-purchased materials 64% of the time and purchased materials 36% of the time. Kentucky teachers, on the other time, use purchased materials 100% of the time. This is something we definitely will be following up with further investigation. Another thing that stood out to me (again, Kelli's research) was the difference in the focii of the interventions. Kentucky focused more on phonological awareness as an intervention, whereas New Zealand focuses more on comprehension. This is something we will keep in the back of our minds too.
Our schedule, as I mentioned in my last blog, is firming up, and I feel comfortable now that it's falling into place. We have a great range of schools to visit, and I think we're going to be overwhelmed with data once we get to those schools!
We discussed our travel, and there is unanimity in the thought that instead of flying from Christchurch to Wellington, we'll go via train and ferry. The cost is about the same, and since we have a full Sunday in which to travel, we may as well see as much of the country as we can. Brittany is going to have to bring her seasickness pills! ;-)
Our next step is to email all the schools who have firm dates and send them a couple of documents: one with information about ourselves, and the other with an outline of what we hope to achieve during our visit.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
First Week of Trip!
I am delighted to say that the first week of our trip is inked in! Things are starting to look much more settled, and I'm really excited about that. We've had a lot of really helpful responses to our emails, and I feel more and more sure that we're going to have a really fulfilling experience in New Zealand.
Today I managed to get hold of some certificate holders and paper so that we can give schools a sign of our appreciation. I also ordered some flash drives - we're already collecting a lot of information and I sure don't want to be losing any. I pulled out the camera today and Brittany swept her expert eye over it this afternoon. It's a lot easier having a Brittany than reading a manual! ;-) We took photos of ourselves and wrote up a paragraph about each of us so that we can let schools know a little more about who we are. I also put together a document outlining what we would like to do when in a school or university. Jody is going to look over it and add anything I've missed.
Tomorrow we're all meeting to discuss where we're up to - at least we will be if we don't get snowed in again (it's started to snow, and the prediction is 1-3 inches... if that happens, I'll probably be stuck in my house tomorrow!!!).
Today I managed to get hold of some certificate holders and paper so that we can give schools a sign of our appreciation. I also ordered some flash drives - we're already collecting a lot of information and I sure don't want to be losing any. I pulled out the camera today and Brittany swept her expert eye over it this afternoon. It's a lot easier having a Brittany than reading a manual! ;-) We took photos of ourselves and wrote up a paragraph about each of us so that we can let schools know a little more about who we are. I also put together a document outlining what we would like to do when in a school or university. Jody is going to look over it and add anything I've missed.
Tomorrow we're all meeting to discuss where we're up to - at least we will be if we don't get snowed in again (it's started to snow, and the prediction is 1-3 inches... if that happens, I'll probably be stuck in my house tomorrow!!!).
Sunday, January 16, 2011
New Year
The Spring semester starts on Tuesday, and that means we are heading like an unstoppable freight train to New Zealand in 8 and a half weeks! So much to do!
Our calendar is starting to shape up, although there are still some schools we need to schedule. We'll be doing some serious emailing this week for sure. We have received most of our equipment, minus a laptop, so we'll be having to familiarize ourselves with it (especially the voice recorders; these need to be "trained", with software added to our laptops for voice-to-text conversion). Now we need to hear from the second grant awarder so we can order a few other things. Eight and a half weeks!!
I've been reading more of the international research reports (TIMMS, Pirl etc... ) and it's really standing out to me that there seems to be a definite trend in all subjects. The USA is statistially significantly ahead of NZ in all 4th grade tests, but then in 8th grade there is no difference. By 10th-12th grade, NZ is statistically significantly ahead in all subjects. Why? Do NZ teachers teach more "lifelong skills"? Do teachers in the upper levels teach differently? It's not a case of money; the US puts more in that NZ does, and it's not a case of only testing the best students (the international tests addressed those problems more than a decade and a half ago, even though you'll hear people still saying "Oh well, they (other countries) don't educate ALL students" - we've got to address that as it's a copout, and simply not true.). So, what's happening? That's a question I'm taking with me to NZ. I doubt if I'll come up with a definitive answer, but maybe I'll get some ideas and insights.
Well, expect the blogging pace to pick up this semester!
Our calendar is starting to shape up, although there are still some schools we need to schedule. We'll be doing some serious emailing this week for sure. We have received most of our equipment, minus a laptop, so we'll be having to familiarize ourselves with it (especially the voice recorders; these need to be "trained", with software added to our laptops for voice-to-text conversion). Now we need to hear from the second grant awarder so we can order a few other things. Eight and a half weeks!!
I've been reading more of the international research reports (TIMMS, Pirl etc... ) and it's really standing out to me that there seems to be a definite trend in all subjects. The USA is statistially significantly ahead of NZ in all 4th grade tests, but then in 8th grade there is no difference. By 10th-12th grade, NZ is statistically significantly ahead in all subjects. Why? Do NZ teachers teach more "lifelong skills"? Do teachers in the upper levels teach differently? It's not a case of money; the US puts more in that NZ does, and it's not a case of only testing the best students (the international tests addressed those problems more than a decade and a half ago, even though you'll hear people still saying "Oh well, they (other countries) don't educate ALL students" - we've got to address that as it's a copout, and simply not true.). So, what's happening? That's a question I'm taking with me to NZ. I doubt if I'll come up with a definitive answer, but maybe I'll get some ideas and insights.
Well, expect the blogging pace to pick up this semester!
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