Rome and back home

Johnson's Three Rules of Travel

• Always bring something to read.
• Never bring more than you can carry.
• Never order anything from a menu you can't translate.

One of the advantages of blogging for the writer that is a distinct disadvantage for the reader is the complete lack of editorial oversight. The blog author may, at his or her whim, write about any damn thing.

I like to write about my travels although they have nothing to do with libraries, technology, or schools. This post is one of pure personal indulgence. My feeling won't be hurt if you skip it. 

The dozen pictures below were all taken with my iPhone4. I tried the HDR mode this time. This setting takes three photos each time the shutter(?) is released - with one shot an f-stop ahead and one an f-stop behind the regular setting. All shots are combined, making dark spaces lighter and light spaces less washed-out. At least that's the theory. I found I liked the HDR photo better than the regular shot about 50% of the time. 

I've now visited six of the seven "wonders of the world." Only the Taj Mahal to go. The Coliseum is very interesting in that it looks like every football or baseball stadium I've been to - but made out of stone. Humans and thier structures over the course of the centuries have really changed very, very little.

Being a beggar in Rome is an art form. Very old women in front of churches seemed especially adept.

 Piazza del Popolo was holding a carnival with street performers. A serendipitous find during a walk. 

The view from our hotel window. The building looks like Lucisu Vorenus's home from the HBO series Rome. Although, as I remember, he lived in the Aventine. We were at the Aberdeen Hotel near the Termini.

Even the hardest stone is worn down over time as the ruts in this Pompeii street prove. Keep grinding away, educators who want change.

Imperial Rome's art borrowed heavily from both the Greeks and Egyptians. Anubis, here, looks pretty good in his toga. He was at the Vatican Museum -  one of the highlights of the trip.

A view of Palatine Hill from the Coliseum. Rome itself was much cleaner, greener, lovelier, and easier to navigate than I had anticipated.  

Boxer of the Quirinal from the National Museum asks, 'What did I do to deserve this?" Ever had one of those days?

Can't remember which emperor it was, but he only wanted busts made of him that looked mean. I'd say he'd make a pretty good tech director. 

Morning and evening light in Rome was mystical. Here saints take the morning watch from the roof of St. Peter's Basilica.

 And here the fountain in Piazza Republica reflects the late afternoon rays. The models of these nymphs visited the fountain until they were well into their 90s according to a guide book.

Every fresco contained ghostly portraits of past lives. They want to speak if you want to listen.

When I was in my 30s, I distinctly remember watching from the top of Great Wall of China tour buses pulling up that contained many passengers who were too old, too decrepit to get out and climb the wall, ride the camels, and feel the air. I resolved then and there to never wait to until I retired to go to the places i wanted to see. I resolved not to see the world through the windows of a tour bus.  I resolved that experiences were better that possessions. I've never regretted a single one of these resolutions.

Gluttons for punishment can find more photos here.

Rick Steves's guide to Rome was right on target with just the right amount of information. We did not hire a guide or take a commercial tour but did great. Just ask me a question!

Mark all as read

 Every year, there’s another hot new online service, another drain into which to pour your time. Question: Once you’re on Facebook and Twitter and Foursquare and Google Plus and Tumblr and LinkedIn and Instagram and Reddit and Path — when, exactly, do you have time left over for a life? - David Pogue

The button above from my GoogleReader may just be the best sanity saving tool I use. Especially when I am on vacation. 

Which is where I am heading this evening. The LWW and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary with a trip to Rome (Italy, not New York) - a city neither of us has ever visited. I am just praying Rick Steves knows what he is talking about.

I'm going to do my best to cut the electronic umbilical cord for the trip, although the iPhone, iPad and Kindle will be coming with us. (Acutally, I'm still debating about the iPad - I want it so I can read my local paper when I am away.) This is always tough for me since I am so addicted to my feeds and e-mail conversations.

But I will using the Mark all as read button with wild abandon, not posting to the blog, and responding only to e-mail emergencies for the next 10 days or so. I'll catch up when I get back. Assuming a lightening bolt doesn't strike me as I approach the Vatican.

Enjoy your vacation. 

Options, again

With the adoption of GoogleDocs a couple years ago we discovered that our staff was confronted with a relatively large number of options for sharing and collaborative editing (September 2009). And I wrote a short guide for helping people decide the advantages and disadvantage of each method.

With the adoption of Moodle in our district, a growing awareness of the power of GoogleSites, the increasing use the parent and student portal in our student information system Infinite Campus, a growing awareness that private social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter can be an effective means of reaching students, and the realization most parents can be contacted by e-mail or text, we need to expand this guide.

While the tools and purposes overlap, I am calling these new types of communication publishing instructional resources and direct communication. How might a teacher or administrator decide what tool to use to make classroom materials available (unit and course guides, links to readings, quizzes, and discussion forums)? And what's the best way to get timely information to students, parents and the community delivered?

Below is a rough outline and some beginning thoughts...

Options for publishing instructional resources in ISD77 and when to use them:

1. Your teacher page on the district website. This yours and the district's "public face." Contact information, broad course descriptions or grade level units, calendars and static information like supply lists and forms should be made available using the personal webpages on the district/school site.

2. GoogleSites/Blogger/Picasa. These tools that are available as a part of the GoogleApps for Education package can be used for providing instructional materials in electronic forms and for sharing student projects. Since permission to access these sites can be designated by the creator of the sites, worksheets, study guides, spelling/vocab lists, discussion forums and galleries of work are practical uses.

3. Moodle. As a management system, this tool is best used to develop entire course outlines and structures with links to units and lessons. Access to Moodle units can be given to students only. 

4. Gradebook accessible from the Infinite Campus student/parent portal. This tool is best used to inform students and parents of assignment and project deadlines and reporting what work has been done and how successfully. Since it is a part of the required use of the gradebook in the district, this should create no additional work for teacher, but perhaps more timely use of the system.

5. Non-district adopted tools. Wikis, blogs and other tools which teachers can create independently can be easy to use. However, there is a learning curve for both the creator and user of many tools and a means of locating the resources when not linked to district-adopted online resource can be problematic.

Options for direct communication in ISD77 and when to use them:

1. Telephone and direct e-mail. Best for spontaneous communication with individuals or small groups. Telephone conversations may be less subject to unintended misunderstanding and are better for in-depth conversations.

2. GoogleGroups. Smaller, relatively permanent groups of students or parents with whom one regularly communicates can be contacted conveniently using Groups. Messages are archived for later retrieval and members can be quickly added or deleted.

3. Sending e-mail via the student information system. "Groups" are already created by default using this system and require no additional set-up. (All students or parent in your 5th hour science class. All parents or students in 5th grade. All parents or students in a school building.)

4. Sending text or e-mail from the Public Relations subscriber lists. A good way to get information about events of interest to general public, not just those in the student information system. These announcements need to coordinated and approved by the Public Relations staff.

5. Publishing on a Facebook Fan Page or Twitter. While popular with many users of these social networks, staff must remember that voluntary subscription (or following) may mean not all students or parents will receive these messages. Students under 13 should be using these tools. There are still questions surrounding the appropriateness of the use of these tools with students.

From a few comments I've heard recently, so many choices can be confusing for parents, students and staff. At what point should districts require the use of certain tools (For blended course the use of Moodle is required) or meet specific communication expectations. (All staff members must post upcoming major assignments at least week prior to their due date in the gradebook.)

I will be upfront and admit that "mandating" anything for professionals in the schools is unpopular. We all have our favorite ways of doing things and our favorite tools. Some teachers may already have a large body of materials available in one program and moving them to another would be a lot of work. 

I sense though that as a kindness to parents and students, good technology leadership will require such guidelines to be created and enforced.

OK, readers, your thoughts? What does your district do in this regard? Is this truly an issue or am I being over-reactive to a few comments?