School year over

With the end of the school year we now have a new 1st grader, 3rd, 7th, and a high school sophomore and junior. Hard to believe. They will be spread out at four different schools next year. Actually, if you consider Deanna and myself at Kingsville and UCM the family will be at six different schools. Only Kalina and Byron will be at the high school together.

Kalina is excited about driving now that she has her license. She's taken her siblings to Dairy Queen, drove to school by herself on the last day, and can go to music lessons without us. I think her, and the other kids too, are appreciating this freedom. 

Today is the first day of summer vacation for them. Hope they do something other than on the computers/tablets all day.

Home Improvements Summer 2012

With the sale of our old house we now have the ability to take care of some major projects this summer. We did a lot last year, and we have much more to do in the years to come, but this summer is concentrated on the  exterior of the house. With old windows that never closed tight we lost a lot of heating and cooling, and the exterior of the house was badly in need of paint and even repairs in many areas. So we are working on the following:

• siding
• windows (26)
• gutters with leaf guard, and downspouts tied into drainage out to street
• window well drains out to street
• garage door and opener
• back door and screen door
• outside electrical outlets
• motion sensor flood light by garage
• front door threshold and weather stripping
• repair of water damage to ceiling in dining room and front room
• screen door repair by patio

and I think we will also be replacing the refrigerator that they left with the house too, which is another story.

Pictures and more to follow later as work is completed.

Retirement

With all the talk of retirement lately, from Provost Wilson, to other faculty on campus, to family and friends, it made me think a little more about my own plans. Obviously it's a long way off for me, and it's not really anything to seriously plan to the penny at this point, but you know me. I don't like to wait to the last minute.

So, after reviewing social security and medicare (and assuming all will still be there in current form), university pension, and a little, by then, savings, I think summer of 2040 would be a good target. Maybe I'll want to work longer, but Deanna will probably be itching for me to retire as she will turn 65 that summer herself. Or maybe she will want me to keep working instead of staying at home! That puts us both eligible for medicare, maximum social security benefits for me, and I'll have put in 38 years at UCM. I'm at 10 years right now, so 28 years to go.

We'll see. Nothing is set in stone. But for now, I'm shooting for 70 years old in the summer of 2040. There. It's settled.

Finland

Finland has done incredibly well internationally in regards to student success. What are some of the characteristics of their educational system?

• Teaching is regarded as one of the most important careers to go into. Females rank it as their top choice above all else, and males rank it only second to being a medical doctor. Their society recognizes teaching as prestigious.
• Only the top students get accepted into teacher education programs, with one of ten actually making it because of the high number of applicants. No alternative certification, no other paths. You have to put in the time at the university.
• Master's degree minimum required for teaching. Additionally, this includes a big research component. They believe teachers need to learn how to use research in their career to improve learning.
• Teachers spend half the number of hours teaching everyday compared to the U.S., which leaves them a lot more time for collaboration and planning lessons. U.S. teachers are overworked and burned out in comparison.
• Finland does not have all of the standardized tests that we do here in the U.S., so more time is actually left for teaching and learning.
• Students are not held back or repeat grades. If they start falling behind they get additional support to catch back up.
• There is no merit pay or pay linked to performance in Finland. They recognize that competition among teachers is not as effective as working together.
• They recognize the importance of continued professional development and learning and put the money into it.

Just a few things to think about as we see what's going on here in the U.S., where we are falling behind doing the opposite.

Professor

Today I received my letter from the president promoting me to the rank of full professor. While I have had the title of professor for 10 years, the official title and rank is a bit more detailed. Faculty usually begin at the rank of assistant professor when they finish their doctorate, then are promoted to associate professor when they get tenure, and then full professor, or simply professor, is the final promotion. This is the highest rank possible, and the culmination of many years of hard work. Seeing the letter today caused me to think about the journey.

This spring coincidentally marks 25 years since I graduated from high school. In a way, you could really say that I have been working towards this goal for 25 years. During that time I spent 5 years studying full time for my bachelors degree, another 1.5 full time towards my first master's. My second master's was done part time, and this took a few more years, and then finally my doctorate 5 more years of part time study. I held many, many part time jobs during those early years, from substitute teacher to technical writer. I worked full time as a librarian and a library director while in school part time. Ten years ago I made the switch to faculty and came to UCM as an assistant professor and then moved up the ranks, to associate professor with tenure, and now professor.

Some people may not realize how long of a journal this really is until you see all of this written down. You don't just get tenure and promotion as a 20 something fresh out of school. Schools don't just give tenure on a whim, but is often given to those later if life. Sure, I'm not the youngest professor, and many do progress faster than I do. But I'm still considered relatively young on campus. Those with doctorates in education are typically my age now when they are only completing their degrees. Twenty-five years is an awfully long time. It would have been difficult to image all of this 25 years ago if someone would have told me where we are today. Twenty five years. It's very strange realizing how long it has been.

So that's it, no more promotions beyond this. I remain a tenured full professor, senior faculty member, until I retire.

Fireplace

And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Here are the kids in an incredible shot, happy and smiling. Our first Christmas in the new house. Spent Thanksgiving weekend putting up a mantle over the fireplace, mounting a new tv above it, putting in shelves to the sides to fit the computers and other equipment, decorating the mantle and the house, putting up the tree,... We really wanted to get everything set for the holidays.

Have to share some photos here, all having to do with climbing. We've got some monkeys. From hanging ghosts in the backyard to the climbing wall at UCM.

Repealed

The portion of SB 54 in regards to social media has been repealed:
http://www.govtech.com/e-government/Missouri-Governor-Signs-Law-Repealing-Teacher-Social-Media-Restrictions.html

SB 54 Social Media Section More Harm Than Good

Letter to the Editor of the Warrensburg Daily Star Journal, 8.24.11

There has been a lot of discussion and debate over SB 54, mostly over the section concerning the use of social media. While there was good intention, and we all want to protect children, there are two points missing from this conversation.

First, there appears to be a lack of thorough reasoning for including the portion on social media. I've not seen any research indicating a link between child abuse and the use of social media, and I've not heard legislators citing studies. Is there an increase in child abuse directly related to social media use? Perhaps there is. If so, please share. Alternately, there is research that shows a positive correlation between use of social media in the classroom and test scores. Therefore, the end result of the bill is the lowering of test scores. In regards to the intent, it seems to be a knee jerk reaction, feel good legislation, that makes it look like they are trying to do something. Furthermore, the name of the bill, the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act, tells a story of an abused child, which naturally brings about strong emotions and the desire to protect future children. But the abuse took place 28 years ago, long before computers and social media. So there is no connection. In fact, much of the abuse took place while the student baby sat the teacher's children and also at their local church. Should they instead ban babysitting and church attendance? There seems to be a leap of logic that doesn't add up. I would prefer that laws be based on well researched sound reasoning.

Second, while we debate what the bill allows and forbids, the fact of the matter is that some schools will be so scared that they will take measures to an extreme. Does it matter what the actual meaning of the law is if the effects are drastic consequences? We see this already with internet filters and current use of technology. Some schools still block youtube and an incredible wealth of websites for fear of lawsuits. This in turn inhibits teachers' abilities to educate students. It's just one more push towards a climate of fear even if those consequences were unintended.

Teachers already have an incredibly tough job. Budgets are continually slashed, and when teachers take advantage of using free or less expensive alternatives are often blocked or frightened away. It's like they just can't ever win. Then people complain when test scores are not as high as they want them to be. Teachers have had their hands tied over and over again instead of letting them do their jobs as they are educated to do. Don't start restricting free tools, even slightly, unless you want to provide funding for alternatives. Better yet, provide both better funding and also let teachers and their communities decide what should be used.

More Chromebook

I continue to love my chromebook the more I use it. Here are a few more things I've learned over the past couple weeks. First, I added Google's document view extension. Before that when I would click on a link from a website or an email with a Microsoft Word or other document I had to download it, then go to Google Docs to upload and convert. The extension gives you the ability to instantly view those documents in the browser. You can then decide later if you want to save it or convert it. If you just want a quick and dirty ability to read those email attachments this is very fast.

I'm also going to be taking more advantage of online storage. On my old laptop I have so many files that I save and later refer to. While I can still do that with my chromebook the whole point is to store files on the cloud. If my chromebook ever dies then it's easy to replace. So I can save pdf's on google doc storage or other places like Dropbox. When it comes to Word files or Excel I can easily convert those to google docs and save them.

While UCM has not given faculty their new google gmail accounts I do have the calendar and google docs pieces from UCM google apps since I was previously using them. For the docs I am going to have remember which account, personal or school, I am placing them. I really have not kept them entirely separate. For the calendar I also have personal and work appointments. As of December 1 I am putting all of my future appointments into the google calendar and phasing out my Groupwise. And I have a lot already added. The issue is that while I can view both personal and work calendars and I thought it would be nice to keep them separate, my office professional and others on campus won't see my personal, which then makes it difficult for people to see my free time. So I'm going to have to put everything into my work calendar. This isn't really a chromebook issue, but it is related to google and living on the cloud. Additionally, I'm now using Google Sites for my faculty website. I can then edit it from any computer and don't have to worry about downloading or using any specific software. However, I don't like the url so have kept my old UCM site and use that address as a redirect to google.

Since I can't skype I have used the Google Talk video conferencing. Worked good.

I've added Awesome Screenshot for Chrome OS and also Explain and Send Screenshots. They seem like good extensions that will make life easier. While there is a built in screenshot shortcut it seems like there are more features with these.

By the way, in regards to battery life I've carried my chromebook with me around conferences and have been able to go the entire day easily. I didn't think it would last that long, but as it goes to sleep in between sessions and doing other things that really stretches the battery life out. I suppose it wouldn't last as long if you used it continually as it's only rated for about 6.5 hours, but in real life it can go all day.

Some of all of this is due to the specifics of the computer manufacturer. However, the computing requirements for Chrome OS and the features that laptops are being built for (no optical drive, small solid state hard drive, smallish screen, etc.) means that it is light weight, portable, and has a long battery life. My old laptop seems so heavy and slow and old in comparison. My goal is to leave my UCM laptop in my office for the few things I might need it for and then use my Chromebook to take home, to meetings, and to conferences.

I would also like to see how much I can do this next year with only my Chromebook. I've already converted my fall class roster to a google doc spreadsheet as well as the list of advisees. I've converted my syllabi to google docs and linked those on Blackboard instead of attaching those files for my students. So far so good. It's exciting.

Google Chromebook

I've had my new Google Chromebook for four days. Here are some initial impressions for those who might be wondering.

First, you have to understand that this is a completely new operating system, and there are only two options at this time: an Acer and a Samsung. I bought the Acer because it was slightly smaller (11.6 inch display), lighter, and less expensive. It's a little big for a netbook but smaller than most laptoptops. With an estimated 6 hour battery life it should be great at work when my UCM Dell can barely get through a single meeting.

The display is very sharp, and the webcam is also better quality than my Dell. It's got a couple USB ports, a HDMI, a 4 in 1 memory card slot, and a small solid state hard drive. The small hard drive is purposeful because the device is really meant to live online.

It's not Microsoft Windows, it's not a Mac. There are a few little quirks that make sense, but feels a little weird. For instance, there is no taskbar at the bottom of the screen as there is no need for a start menu. This saves valuable screen real estate. So the clock, network signal, and battery life are at the top right, in place of the minimize/maximize buttons. Since the browser is the computer, your desktop is the Google Chrome browser. There is nothing to minimize. If you try and close all the tabs, you just get the new tab displayed. Surprisingly, I placed my 11.6 inch Chromebook next to my 14 inch Dell, and I can see exactly the same amount of space on any webpage.

As for the keyboard, there is no caps lock key. They replaced it with a key just to open a new tab. The top row of keys are dedicated to browser functions such as back, forward, reload, increase/decrease brightness and volume, etc. Additionally, there is no delete key (use backspace instead), and all the keys are labeled with lower case letters instead of the traditional upper case.

So how does it actually work? Like advertised, it boots fast. They are not lying when they say it only takes 8 seconds to boot. And waking from sleep is almost instant. I could probably turn this thing on and off 20 times before my Dell even gets me to the log in screen. I can't tell you how much I like this.

When you turn on the machine for the first time it updates the OS automatically, and then does so as needed after that. You also set up the machine with your profile to log in by taking a picture with the webcam and then logging in with your google account. You can set it up for multiple users at the log in screen and/or have a guest login. Guests basically get online but can't store or save anything, like bookmarks. It's like working in incognito mode.

How did it go that first day? Worked beautifully at home. Logged into my home wireless without a hitch. At work, not so well. It was only after an hour of struggling and no help that I got online by using the university wifi guest login. Apparently the network didn't like my standard username/password. But it's not a problem because I don't need network access, don't need shared drives, don't need anything else but wireless.

I also went to the computer settings (which opens a new tab by the way) and had it sync with my google account. All of my bookmarks and extensions instantly transferred. I've been able to use just about everything and access everything just fine. There have only been a couple quirks, but have been able to get around.

For one thing, google says you can't really hook up a printer, so instead you use google cloud print. Basically you have to go through another computer to print. Therefore, it feels like a chromebook really needs to be a secondary computer. Or maybe I just print too much. But setting it up was really easy. I enabled cloud print on the Dell, then did it on my chromebook, and tried printing a document. It worked perfect. In all, about 30 seconds to set up.

Another issue is that you can't install software, so there is no Microsoft Office, or even Open Office. You have to use Google Docs. I love Google Docs and have been using it more and more. The problem is other people still use Microsoft. However, I did uncover that you can save the office file to the computer and then go to Google Docs. You upload the file to Google Docs and it converts it to a Google Doc for you to read, share, and do anything else. So it works. It's just an extra step. Hopefully future updates will make this more seamless. I don't know why it just doesn't automatically open it as a Google Doc.

In playing with websites and some extensions I stumbled upon a problem because I wanted to do a screen capture. I've been using a free tool called Greenshot, but can't install it on a chromebook. There is a google screenshot extension, but it surprisingly doesn't work with the Chrome OS (only Chrome on a Windows machine). However, I found a keyboard shortcut to take a screenshot and then it also saves it to the local hard drive whereupon I can then upload it to wherever I need it after that.

That brings up the file manager. Under tools you can open a new tab which shows locally saved files and downloads. Nothing complex, and kind of limited, but again the idea is to do most of your work on the cloud. The one thing I can't find is how much storage space is left. That's odd.

What it comes down to is trying to figure out what you can do and what you can't, and finding alternatives. Instead of skype (since it has to be installed on a Windows/Mac), you use Google Talk and their video conferencing. Instead of Microsoft Office or Open Office use Google Docs. Instead of Greenshot use the keyboard shortcut for a screenshot. Use other online and web based tools like Picnik to edit photos online, and Picasa to store them.

While I don't think that I can do 100% of my work with a chromebook, it's probably pretty close. And it will get closer every month as more and more is done online. Some people in certain fields may have more problems because of tough software requirements. But look at what we do for teaching online. Blackboard is completely online and interfaced through a browser. Include gmail, google talk, and other online sites, use social media like Google+ and Facebook, take some screenshots, and I'm probably 98% there. I can enter grades and do other university stuff through the MyCentral website. I even have a personal faculty webpage through Google Sites than I can do online instead of having to mess with a downloaded web editor. What's missing is Adobe Presenter. I don't have an online alternative for creating those types of files yet.

In the end, the chromebook is powerful and fast, light weight, long battery life, and I live 98% online already. I'll just have to keep my Dell for those few times when I need something else. I think that machine will spend less time being used and my chromebook will be my primary device to bring back and forth home, to meetings, etc. Not perfect, but definitely happy with it.

Lots of house work

It seems like an endless task. We've been unpacking box after box. Valen and Cordelia needed help organizing their rooms, and that has taken hours of work each. The older kids are doing most themselves, but we still had to help out with pieces such as putting Kalina and Acacia's beds into bunk beds, putting shelves on their walls so they had places for their alarm clocks and cell phones, and getting Byron's new mattress. We've installed new smoke alarms throughout the house, fixed a tub drain and a leaky faucet (still have a plumber coming with another tub leak), moved the cable in the front room from one side to the other, and countless other tasks. But as things are being put away, as boxes are being emptied, we are able to walk through the house and it feels like progress is being made.

House Progress

Almost ready to move into the new house. Over the past month and a half we have had new tile floors put in the kitchen, eat in kitchen, laundry room and back bathroom. Painted every single room. Replaced toilets, bathroom faucets, kitchen faucet. New built in double oven, which required some remodeling. New dishwasher. Basement window well drainage put in. Brick work done outside the house on the chimney and on the front of the house. New locks and door handles, new thermostat, window air conditioner for the upstairs girls bedroom since the central air didn't seem to be quite handling it up there,...

I'm tired just listing all of that. And that was just the major projects. There were so many little things along the way.

Wood floors will be finished within the week, which then means we can actually move in. What a summer. Can't wait for everyone to come by and visit.

Profile Series

Check out our program on the Profile Series:

http://www.youtube.com/user/UCMLive#p/a/u/1/ND_SbJRNMmk

Educational Technology is cool!

New House

So, THE house is ours, the one we've been looking for. It fits our personality, our style, and while a little dated we'll be keeping some of that charm and then updating the rest. We will be restoring it to where it once was when built. Deanna and I couldn't be happier. We knew what it looked like from the outside, but as soon as we walked in we said this is it, stop looking at anything else. Told the realtor we found it and to put in an offer. Working with the banks and sellers has not been fun, but we finally got through it.

This is quite a year. After almost 16 years of marriage and 6 kids Deanna has finally found the time to get her Bachelors degree. She graduates in one week. With a tight job market and us being location bound there were few job openings. Actually, she only applied to one. And then she got it. So she will have her first full-time job (outside of full-time mom, and volunteering, lobbying, LaLeche League, etc.) this fall.

Valen starts kindergarten this fall. This means for the first time ever we will have no children at home. All of our kids will be in school.

Then I go up for my last and final promotion this fall. I already have a draft dossier which I will submit for full professor, the highest rank possible.

Add it all up and we are having quite a year, a lot of changes, a lot of successes, and really feel like we are moving on to the next stage in our lives.

House Hunting Adventure

We moved to Warrensburg almost 9 years ago. At the time I was ABD, in the final stages of writing my dissertation and finishing my doctorate. I was hired as an assistant professor and we had no savings. We quickly found a house on a single weekend visit. Since that time we have had two more children and have made significant enhancements to the house to fit our needs, including finishing the basement and adding a third bathroom and a fourth and fifth bedrooms. However, now that we are a little more stable, I received tenure and will apply for full professor in a few months, a little bit more better off, know the various neighborhoods, and feel like it's time to settle down, we're looking for a home that we can now be a little choosy.

The downturn in the economy has brought housing prices down, as well as interest rates. Still, homeowners feel they are not getting as much as they want so some are simply reluctant to sell, keeping their houses on the market for months and sometimes years.

Many of the newer homes just don't fit our family. Floor plans seem odd, we don't like the vaulted ceilings, bedrooms are small, and dining rooms are small too.

So we continue to look and have some properties we are working on. Hopefully the right one will work out in the end.

Upcoming schools

We registered Byron for high school this week and created his course schedule. In addition to the standard advanced math, science, English, etc. requirements he chose his electives. He'll be taking Spanish like Kalina is, art, and some computer classes, one semester in Photoshop and another in multimedia design. We're working on getting him out of gym this first year so that he can also take some industrial technology classes.

With Deanna and I having German as our language backgrounds I guess Kalina and Byron will now have a way to talk about things without us knowing!

Hard to believe Kalina and Byron will both be in high school this fall. It may still be a little ways off, but with the paperwork starting it's approaching fast.

Valen is excited about kindergarten in the fall and can't wait. We'll be having a preview night and school visit sometime soon. He and Cordelia will be at the same school, the new elementary that was just built this year. Brand new and just waiting for them to arrive.

That leaves Acacia as she will enter middle school, the only one with no other sibling at the same school this fall.

Blizzard of 2011

We've survived the Blizzard of 2011! While winter is not quite over, and we're looking at some more snow and single digit temperatures this week, the end seems to be in sight and the worst is over. Actually, it was enjoyable in a way. Since moving to Missouri almost nine years ago we missed that Illinois snow. I really didn't mind shoveling the driveway (good exercise) and the kids have enjoyed the snow days from school and playing in the snow. The university even closed down for three days straight, a record from at least anyone on campus can remember. I've lost count but I think the kids are around 10 days off from school. In all we got 23 inches of snow, breaking the 20 inch record from 1938.

We were lucky that the power never went out, the Internet never went out, and we had plenty of food and water the whole time. We were completely stuck at home during the blizzard. At one point we were shoveling the driveway and by the time we got to the end the beginning had a couple inches of new snow on it. We took a couple passes over a couple days with the shovels. You can't just drive over 23 inches of snow, at least not with our vehicles.

During the days Deanna and the kids baked a lot: muffins, pancakes, banana bread, homemade pizza, a ham,...We had so much to eat and drink that meal times and the time of day and the days themselves blended together.

With the new fallen snow, before any of it could be dirtied or contaminated, Deanna scooped up a big bowl of the fluffy white stuff and then made it into a dessert with milk and sugar. The kids said it was better than snow cones.

It was the aftermath of the blizzard that the kids enjoyed the most, when they could really go out and have fun. Byron started tunneling into a snow pile at the end of the driveway. The snow was so deep that Valen couldn't get around to it so I took a shovel and created a narrow path as wide as the shovel. It looked pretty neat too. Then the other kids wanted to tunnel and I created more paths and in the end I think we ended up with four snow igloos. Byron wanted his to go all the way through, so Valen started at the opposite side of that one and eventually they met somewhere in the middle. A very impressive looking yard.

Who knows, with global warming perhaps we'll have more snow like this in the years to come.

Back in school

The kids are back in school after the holidays. Let's see...Kalina is I think happy to be back. She won't admit it, and she'll just grunt a response when you ask her, but she seemed stressed with the little kids over the past couple weeks. Byron, on the other hand, just about broke down the other night because he was the opposite and was stressed about going back. He started a long tirade about how school is a waste of time and he doesn't need any of this for real life. Deanna and I tried our best to explain, but as you know he would be happy to just read books or play on a computer all day. He still thinks he's going to be rich by creating and selling video games as a career. Acacia, Cordelia, and Valen have their own levels of excitement. The only hard part for them is waking up and getting ready in the morning.

Christmas break went fast. Shall we run down the list of things we got accomplished? Rented tons of Red Box movies, got the Dr. Who Christmas special from iTunes, went to Science City in KC, went out for Chinese food, took the van in for the recall, took my best suit in for repair (moth damage on the jacket and also the pants taken in at the waist), replaced a bathroom faucet, back half of the roof was repaired, took a fresh look at our household budget and started a new plan, and with all of that had the flu run through the family.

Only one question remains. Texas?

Another year coming to a close

It's hard to believe that yet another year is close to an end. 2010 saw Kalina entering high school, enjoying color guard and band, and attending dances. Byron is in 8th grade, still reading and on the computer all the time. Frequently he's silent and kind of a hermit, but other times he's the big brother to Valen, running around, helping him out, and coming up with adventures and stories. Acacia is in 5th grade, last year in the elementary school, and is in those middle years where she's still young but also trying to grow up. She too reads a lot, is on the computer, but wants to be like Kalina. It's been a good fit having the two of them share rooms this year. Cordelia in 1st grade has that age gap between her and Acacia. She is the oldest of the young kids, desperately wanting to be like Acacia. She loves doing her nails and acting grown up, yet has a hard time with clothes and getting ready for school. Valen has his last year before starting school. A joker, he wants to be just like Byron, enjoys being the oldest when he goes off to day care at Ms. Michelle's house, and has a unique outlook. You can see that there will be a lot of transitions and an interesting 2011 coming ahead for all of them.

Meanwhile Deanna finished her last semester of classes. Student teaching is coming up in the spring. I have now spent three years as department chair, and submit for full professor next year. My ed tech program is booming, and lots of exciting things could happen. Wow, I guess next year could really be a big year for us all.

Halloween 2010

Had to keep up my tradition of including Halloween pictures every year. Amazing looking back and seeing how they have grown over time.

Election Over

Well, the elections are over and things did not turn out as expected. Disappointed that Courtney Cole lost. She did an amazing job, ran a very clean campaign, had great ideas, and was supported by a great group of hard working people. I'm proud of the way she ran. She is a true advocate for education. I'm sure she will continue to make a difference in the lives of her students and in the community in other ways.

Denny the Deadbeat Hoskins

Denny "the Deadbeat" Hoskins is making news across town as the Missouri Republican Party continues the atrocious advertising made of lies and exaggerations. This kind of campaigning only damages the process.

They call Courtney an “Obama Superstar,” as if this has a negative connotation. In reality it simply means the Democratic Party has identified this race as one that can be won. This is making the Republicans run scared and is why they are propping up Denny the Deadbeat Hoskins with additional funds because he hasn't been able to raise much money locally. To call Courtney Cole “a card-carrying member of a liberal special interest group” is a pretty far stretch and comes across as slander. The truth is she’s a high school English teacher, and like most teachers is a member of the MNEA (Missouri National Education Association). I can’t speak for what Courtney Cole will do in terms of taxes or spending, but to then follow up that her connection with the MNEA would mean “a massive increase in…taxes” is misleading.

Why must parties try to slam their opponents with misinformation? Let’s vote based upon the facts. If you don’t know all the information you might just fall for these flyers, which is what the Missouri Republican Party is hoping for.

Apparently the Republican Party hates teachers, hates education, doesn't care about our children, and just wants to give tax breaks to businesses. They all want individual rights to do anything they want (such as Denny's vote to allow concealed weapons on school grounds) yet at the same time will turn around and say that gay marriage should be illegal even though it should be a private matter/choice. Will they make up their mind? Do they want individual rights or not? It seems they want to control which rights and for whom.

I don't know if Courtney Cole will support the Obama administration in everything, but I fully support Democrats because they seem to be the ones more interested in healthcare, education, and the environment. My only complaint is that they have not gone far enough.

All I can say is that from what I know Courtney Cole supports education, teachers, and our children.

Start of a new school year

Don't really use the blog much anymore because of Facebook, but it is neat to see how the kids are growing year after year.

Summer Time

Three weeks in between spring and summer semesters. It is almost over, going by fast. It has been a little quieter around here due to the construction. Half the building was without electricity until yesterday, limited or no air until just this morning, and all of the windows are being replaced as we speak. And that's just our building. So between the construction and being between semesters it's been quiet, at least in relative terms. A few less meetings, and a few less students popping in.

I've got all the faculty annual reports turned in, a compilation department scholarship, and have drafted the department annual report. We've worked on internal program reviews, summer schedules, achievement (scholarship) awards, I've prepared my summer classes, and have started work on editing my fall classes, recorded new introductions for my classes, and starting looking ahead to what our new course management system will look like this fall. I've reviewed course evaluations, got my laptop updated from Windows XP to 7 including getting tons of software reinstalled, and dealt with the day-to-day needs of the department and the building. I'm taking the Quality Matters review course to update my online teaching skills, and to top it off have put together a draft of my promotion dossier and appendix for when I go up for full professor next year. Yes, a year out, but why wait to the last minute?

And that's just off the top of my head. There's been much more.

Courtney Cole

Tonight we are throwing a get together at our house for Courtney Cole. She's running for the 121st House District in Missouri.
http://www.votecourtneycole.com/

Deanna has been cooking up all the food, and we are stocked with drink, chips, cookies, and more. We're really excited to have faculty, staff, and students from UCM as well as anyone in the area interested coming out. It's an educational experience. While we personally like Courtney and think she would represent us well, we're just trying to help make the connection between her and the voters. They can decide then which way they want to vote.

Kalina Winter Guard

Here's Kalina's winter guard performance, the rehearsal for parents night. Today she is at the actual competition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIhSnxAaioI

Winter going strong

We seem to be having a record cold and snowy winter here in Warrensburg. The kids used to always wish for snow days and more snow for sledding. They got it, with no end in sight. We've been busy this first month of the year with hosting birthday parties, going to birthday parties, sleepovers, band practice, guard practice, and just busy, busy, busy. Deanna is busy with her classes, I'm busy teaching mine, and all of my administrative work and committees seem to have somehow kept increasing.

Next week Deanna and I go to the state capital (mini time away even though event filled) for a legislative day (MoACTE and MACTE coinciding for me, MoACTE and midwives for Deanna), then a DESE Educator conference which I have to leave early from to get back to another budget meeting with our strategic planning council, and then to the TechNet conference on Friday. With other meetings I think I have a "couple" hours in my office next week. We'll be getting more baby sitters, farming out the kids, and a combination of things to keep everything running.

Birthday Party

Valen had his first birthday party last week, and Cordelia's will be coming up. This is their first although they have been to several others. Actually, it was hard scheduling Valen's because there were four birthday parties in his class over a single weekend. I guess they are getting in to all of this because that's what everyone does around here. Our other kids really have not had too many of their own. But Acacia had a sleepover in place of a party last month. They are all very social and really enjoy this whole party thing. Games, activities, making individual pizza's, frosting cupcakes, presents...They have quite a blast. And they are growing up fast.

Decade

Ten years ago, New Years' Eve 1999, we were living in Rockford Illinois. We had a 3 year old (Kalina), 1 year old (Byron), and a newborn (Acacia just a week old). Since then I have finished my doctorate and Deanna is getting close to finishing her bachelors as the kids are growing up. Tonight we have had six kids, have been in Warrensburg for almost 8 years, and our oldest starts high school in the fall.

Think about where we will be in another 10 years. On that New Years' Eve Kalina will be 23, Byron 21, and Acacia 20, all college or college graduates, with the youngest Cordelia 15 and Valen 13 in high school.

School Christmas Programs

Here are some clips of the kids and their school programs:

Kalina
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbKMcauPri4

Acacia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EsjFBlAfio

Cordelia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t678P3_HdGQ

Not blogging much

I seem to be blogging even less nowadays since Facebook is so convenient, and short updates are what everyone likes to hear. What's been going on in December? Kalina's band concert, Acacia's school Christmas program, Cordelia's school Christmas program, each and everyone one of us finishing the semester and the year in one way or another, and on and on. Lots of A's given out, lots of A's received. Gingerbread houses, cookies, potlucks, parties at work and school. Below normal temperatures, no snow. Looking forward to the semester break and the holidays. Lots going on.

It's about time

It's about time. Conan and Beth are expecting, which means our kids will have another cousin to play with. The distance will still make it difficult, but when we do get together it will be good. I'm sure my kids will have a lot of fun teaching this new baby how to get into trouble. Hoping there will be many more cousins in the future, especially before the age difference grows.

Stitches

Last night was another adventure to the ER. Byron was working on his Halloween costume, with duct tape and a pair of scissors. It was actually his sword that he was working on at that time, and apparently the scissors slipped and he cut himself pretty good. When I heard Acacia yelling that Byron was hurt I ran into the kitchen and saw him standing at the sink. I applied pressure, grabbed some paper towels, and got it running under cold water to clean everything off and see if it would stop bleeding. When I finally took it all away to see what it looked like it was bleeding pretty good, and was pretty deep. I knew immediately that it would need stitches. I yelled to Acacia to tell Deanna, who was in the shower, we needed to go to the hospital right now. Deanna got dressed quick, then traded places with me and Byron so I could then get shoes on. Helped them get in the back seat of the car and while I stated driving Deanna called friends to see if they could come over and help. Kalina took care of the rest of the kids until then.

At the ER they looked at it right away, but it took about an hour before they could fit us in to actually stitch him up. Luckily an off duty doctor came in and was helping with the overflow of patients. Byron was pretty pale, wanted to sleep, and was "slowing his breathing" to help slow the bleeding. The worst part was the shot to numb that part of his hand, so the actual stitching was not that bad. They also gave him a tetnus shot since it's been about 6 years since the last one. Stopped by Walmart for more bandaids on the way home.

Quite an adventure. Byron has needed stitches more times than any of the other kids. But Valen is still young. Seeing the things he does I just wonder what else we have in store with those two.

Canoe

This is from Labor Day weekend. Grandparents and Uncle Donald came out from Colorado. Rented canoes and went to a lake just a few miles down the road. A little tentative at first, but they all really got into it and had fun. Cordelia was especially afraid of the water. But no accidents, no tipped boats. Kalina and Acacia went off on their own what seemed like a good mile away.

Canoe

Had a great time camping with Byron and boy scouts this weekend. Took a canoe trip down one of the rivers. Not too fast of a ride, but enough that we actually felt it moving. The water was deep in a few spots though the water level was low and in places scrapped bottom and had to get out and wade through to lift the canoe out. The scenery was beautiful, with cliff walls and lots of trees and forestation. Stopped several times for breaks, eat lunch, etc. We left the campsite after breakfast and made it back in time for dinner.

The new tent worked out great. Unfortunately it was dark Friday night when we got there, and it was my first time taking it out, so it took some fumbling but finally got it.

Byron enjoyed running around with the other boys, playing with the fire, and hanging out in general. We stayed only one night and not two because I think Byron had had enough by then, and then that's when the rain started too, so it was probably fine that we headed back through the storm. It rained all night and early into Sunday morning.

Acacia's 3rd grade MAP scores (from last spring)

Acacia has a lexile score of 890 for reading level, an Advanced score for Communication Arts, and is at the 87th percentile. For math she is also Advanced, at the 99th percentile. Way to go Acacia!!

First day of 2009-10 school year

Hard to believe, but Cordelia began kindergarten today. Super excited, new backpack and lunchbox, and ready to go. No fear, and was running out the door for the bus.
















Now why can't they be like this all the time? Kalina and Byron were in a playful mood and posing for pictures, hugging and not fighting.











Here's a nice fancy dinner to celebrate the day. Nice china and silverware, good manners.












Valen is already shaping up to be the class clown. This was one of the few shots where he wasn't trying to shoot webs like Spiderman, or some other type of superhero pose.
















This is a good shot that really shows how tall Acacia is getting. When you put her next to the younger kids you can tell. She's off at a new school this year too as she moves up.

Basement bathroom remodel

Well this is it finally! Our basement bathroom is back. So nice to have a third bathroom again. When we first moved into the house there was nothing there, just a floor drain and a the toilet drain roughed in. Wide open unfinished basement. We then put together a bathroom with Deanna's Dads' help, and then hired out to get the rest done. But it wasn't perfect, more functional than anything. Good enough at the time.

After redoing the two upstairs bathrooms we decided to tackle this one next. We completely gutted it except for the ceiling, doors, and the two walls that were framed in.

We then tiled the new shower (including a bench to sit while shaving legs and a recessed shelf for shampoo bottles), framed and add dry wall against the cement wall, added a new toilet, sink, vanity, medicine cabinet with mirror, light fixtures, tile floor, and heating element under the floor.

The tiling was the hardest because of all the cuts that had to be made. This was not a simple square, but fit in under the staircase, lots of angles, some vertical and some slanted areas. Then the shelf and bench really made it complicated. It was hard enough just getting the cement board up in the first place, and then all of the tile.

There is not a speck of the original floor, wall, or ceiling left from when we moved in. Wouldn't even recognize it. So now it is completely finished.

Another birthday

What a great looking bunch. Here they are for Byron's 11th birthday!!

DVDs at the UCM Library

The university library has a new DVD collection that is brand new. It's also totally automated with a really cool self check out system. Swipe your UCM ID, find and select the titles you want, and then print out a receipt. The receipt has a barcode that you take over to the DVD stacks. Scanning the barcode unlocks your DVD so that you can take it out. Kids have found a lot of movies and TV shows as well.

Just learn it yourself

Today we went out for Chinese food for Byron's 11th birthday. Out of the blue he says "Why can't the schools just give us the books and everything we need to learn at the beginning of the school year, then we can go home and read everything, and then come back and they can just test us on it?"

Standards based. Independent learning. Individualized. He could care less about socialization, Vygotsky and social learning theory, and group work. But there are some schools out there where this model is being used. Interesting that he thought of it.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin was fun, but tiring. About 25 hours in the car driving there and back over a three day weekend. The kids, for the most part, were good in the car. Yes, there was some fighting and frustration, arguing over which movie to watch, food spilling, and so on, but it was a very long drive.

The water park at the hotel in Elmhurst was a blast. Byron especially liked the water slides, though they were too much for Deanna! The little ones enjoyed their own play area, and the hot tub was always good. We went swimming Friday night as well as Saturday morning.

Then we were off to Pewaukee Saturday afternoon. The kids got pizza and stayed in the room during the wedding and dinner. Tried to get them to dance at the reception but were no fun. I think they were just tired, but it was horrendous trying to get them settled into bed. Deanna and I went back down for a couple dances, but had to cut it short.

Sunday morning was back in the pool again. Kids got us up at 7:30, and I had coffee in one hand and Valen in the other as I walked through the shallow end.

After checking out we went to brunch with Grandma and Grandpa Jurkowski. Food was great. It was then a long drive back home, a short stop in Rockford IL since we were passing through, and I was exhausted as we pulled in at 1:30 AM.

So we got to see my parents, grandfather, brother Conan and wife Beth, Uncle Mike and Aunt Laurie, Cousin Scott, and of course Cousin Cheri and her new husband Jason.

We have a teenager

Kalina turns 13 today. It's hard to believe how fast she is growing up. For her birthday all she wanted was an afternoon of clothes shopping with her friends at the mall. She's also now looking for a chair that she can lounge in but hasn't found anything yet. May have to order one online.

National Junior Honor Society

Kalina was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society tonight. Huge ceremony at the Middle School. Kalina was not impressed because she says the standards are so easy. We're still happy to see her doing so well.

Wisconsin Wedding

Just got the wedding invitation to Cousin Sherri's wedding in May. Nice to get back to the Milwaukee area (the actual wedding is in Pewaukee) and see everyone. We got a suite reserved with two sets of bunk beds so we will all fit in one place together instead of needing multiple rooms. The kids are looking forward to the mini-vacation right before the end of their school year. I'm sure they will want to spend time in the hotel pool with Grandma and Grandpa.

What a coincidence

This afternoon I was working on a new course, trying to brainstorm as to what it should cover, and thinking about a textbook. There was one book in particular I kept going back to because I had an older edition on my shelf. I went to Amazon.com to see if there was a newer edition yet and how much it would cost students. I decided at least tentatively that this would be the book to use, put the citation in the working syllabus, and went out to ask our office professional about getting a teacher copy.

I grabbed my mail that had been delivered today and, while chatting with our office professional, opened a package. It was the brand new edition of the book I had just been looking for. Freaky!

Kalina wins writing award

Kalina won first place in her middle school writing contest. The essay contest was on what the American flag stands for. She won a certificate and a $10 gift card.

Incubator

And one other big project that I've been working on is our Educational Innovation Incubator, or just Incubator for short. With NCATE it's been difficult to get much else done, but we do have a lot of the basics done for this huge, ongoing initiative I've been tasked with. I'm doing the website for this too.
http://www.ucmo.edu/incubator/

Reflections

Here's the new College of Education Reflections magazine. It's a way that we are publicizing all the great things going on here in education at UCM. This is hot off the press (or computer really as they are just now sending them to get printed). I'm in there myself a few different places, three to be precise.
http://faculty.ucmo.edu/ncate09/reports/coe_reflectmag.pdf