Education Innovation Summit

Having the Education Innovation Summit take place right in my backyard made it irresistible and I promptly registered.  I was introduced to the start up world in the education space.  Fascinating stuff.

A panel

A panel

Ava, Media

Mr. Crow,ASU

 KIIP schools.

Small panel

Night view from the pool.

Another panel

 Outside.

1.  Great speaker.

Grand Ballroom for a panel.

I was a bit apprehensive about the choice, but I went and did what I do best - gorge on information and learn all I can.  This was a new arena for me, and a missing piece in my puzzle. 

Despite the fact that most people were there to do business, I managed to run into people like me who are involved in education in some way and needed to know more. 

And did I say it was held at the Phoenician?  Special!

Prepare

Technical glitches during recent online tests are raising concerns about the coming #CommonCore tests: http://t.co/NH1Mnbdqn0 via @EWMDavis -- Education Week (@educationweek)

Volunteers

This firefighter volunteered to show elementary school kids  what his job is all about.

The clothing they wear.

The hat.

Oxygen.

Shoes and radio.

Getting ready to test the hose.

The caramel frappe and South Mountain

This is a daily trip to a movie making class for Snowden.

The McDonald's frappe is the best coffee beverage ever...  I mean EVER.

The road to the school.

At South Mountain.

Happenings at the Capitol

We may or may not have a budget by the end of today, the last day of the fiscal year for the government.

Things were hopping at the Capitol.

The press office in the Senate.
It's thrilling to watch and be part of history in the making.

Tap, tap, tap,,, the sounds of the typewriter

Celebrating Africa

In Art Masterpiece at school.

Tribal women in Namibia gather after the rains to repaint their mud houses using their fingers as brushes. They work in harmony and do not compete. I taught this lesson in a 5th grade class today and I asked most kids individually what they remembered. They remembered that the women worked as a group.

Escrever

Writing (escrever) was not something that was natural in our house. I did not do any creative writing. But because I like to be a part of my girls' learning at school, I am reading this book and applying some of the ideas.

I am more confident. I am writting.

It's actually fun. And I can now help my young students with their writing assignments.

Vote

With older kids in mind, check out this website.

Running God's Way

I stopped by C-Span this morning and saw Vicki Hartzler speak to a group of college students about running a successful campaign.

I put into perspective my observations of various local school board elections in the last few years. I just love this kind of forum. The expert shares knowledge that is practical and really makes a difference.

Field Trip

To the Heard Museum for Museum Family Day to see the exhibit Life in a Cold Place.

We had lunch at the Arcadia Cafe on site. Lovely place it is.

Eskimos are, in my view, the opposite of the people of Africa, with all their fur and icy environment.

School is out

A year's worth of making sure the youngens make it there on time is over. A year's worth of ensuring homework is done by due day is over. I am grateful my efforts contribute to their success in school. And successful they are.

I found this to be the ultimate visual representation of the end of the school year.

The day's calendar.

On the playground one last time.

The Young Web Designer

The thrill of learning! And the thrill of teaching! She designs her own website to be published later.

Do Schools Kill Creativity - Sir Ken Robinson

A talk about education, and his defenition of creativity.

Festival

We helped set up and stayed around as audience.

A drum group.

Their drums.

Local group

Local organization supporting arts in education.

Living history

The school where my children go everyday is a very welcoming place and I get to enrich my life with the stories from children's book writers, or, in this case, the stories of a woman who lived the Civil Rights Movement and knew Mrs. King personaly. She talked about a book commissioned the the Smithonian Institute that depicts MLK's legacy. Pretty high on my coolness scale.

The Hamster with a sense of humor

Dietlof Reiche, and don't forget his name, has written fabulous books about a literate golden hamster - adventures - I could say, from the point of view of Freddy, that hamster of the highest order. These books are perfect for 2nd and 3rd graders who prefer humor in their reading. Freddy himself is currently working on a volume of poetry he plans to publish, called A Hamster in Love. They really are funny and I am tickled to hear my young one laugh out loud, and enjoy reading. Because reading is important, we must find what tickles their pink.

I am a:

The Story of Lucy and more

Drag your kids to a science fair at the School of Earth and Space Exploration and you might learn about Lucy the hominid. If you believe in the theory of evolution this fits right in. I watched the college student give a short lecture about the differences in the skeleton of a chimp, a woman, and a replica of Lucy's. She definitely looked more like a human. We played with moon sand and panned for gems.

The fair

Gems

Moon sand

Lucy

Education enriched

Deep inside my person lies a drive to learn, to know, to understand. Parenting is a complex experience where I am aware of me, her, the other parent, the sibling, the school, the friends, and education is intrinsically weaved in all of it.

We are grateful to have opportunities to offer them rich educational experiences.