Also, So Funny

We Love Museums...But do Museums Love Us Back?

The Pinky Show

Purusing this so called "Education Nation"

First of all, I think it is ambitious of NBC to set up a whole interactive learning plaza in Rockefeller Center, however, I think the only part that is interactive about it is that visitors will get to watch videos  by people who NBC deems "important" to the future of education in America.  So people are using their eyes and maybe their brains?  Maybe there is more to this interactive then the website details.

I decided to search through the other tabs on this website and came across the "Summit" page which detailed the 12 panels that will be of important discussion during Education Nation week:
The Panels

Ones that caught my attention were:

1.  The Innovation Gap

Bringing the technology revolution to the schoolhouse

Leaders in technology and innovative educators discuss new models and methods of instruction and the use of cutting-edge technology to advance student learning and help close the achievement gap among ethnic and income groups.

2. Kids Can't Vote

How can the politics of education put students first?

Policy leaders, elected officials and district administrators will focus on education governance structures and explore the benefits of and challenges posed by localization.

3. Educating the Digital Generation

What are the roles and responsibilities of media in learning?

Children from ages eight to eighteen spend an average of nearly 11 hours per day in front of a screen of some kind, including televisions, computers and mobile devices. Media executives will think about how we can encourage students to use the tools of the digital world in ways that are productive to their educational development.

4. Good Apples

How do we keep good teachers, throw out bad ones, and put a new shine on the profession?

Prominent voices discuss how American public schools can attract the best talent, evaluate teachers based on performance, nurture and support a rapidly changing teacher workforce, and pay and retain top talent in the profession.

5. A Fresh Start

Leveling the playing field before school begins

The Federal government invests five dollars in Americans over the age of 65 for every one dollar invested in children under the age of 5. Leaders in the field will shine a light on the ways early education makes a deep and lasting difference in our lives and communities.

6. Shrinking the Achievement Gap

Is education the civil rights issue of our time?

African-American and Latino students are years behind their White and Asian peers. Despite focus in recent years, the gap remains. During this discussion, panelists will analyze what’s impeding progress and how to finally start to address the problem.

7. Study Abroad

What can we learn from the global leaders in education?

As other countries have gained ground in educating their students, America’s public schools have stalled. We rank approximately 15th in Literacy, 24th in Math and 21st in Science behind Finland, Canada, South Korea, Ireland, Japan, Slovakia, Switzerland and the Czech Republic to name a few. We look to educators and policymakers from around the world to show us what we might be able to learn from effective strategies used by other countries.

That is quite a lot to ponder!  These panels will be posted on the website as well as on msnbc.com.  These are all quite interesting to me as an art educator and a student who is still learning about education and the politics behind the different forms of school structure.  I also hope that this focus from NBC does have some sort of effect on educational policy for the U.S., but they are just a TV network.  It will be interesting to see what the outcome of this week will be or if there will be no outcome at all.

Sunrise in Vermont

The sad part is that I missed at least 30 other photo opportunities on the drive to the airport!  There was a lot of beautiful mist when the sun just started to peak over the mountains.  Crazy breathtaking.  It was certainly good to be home for a short while.

Chillin at my second home....JFK

As a frequent flier (jet-setter if you will....haha, i wish) I often find myself spending a lot of down time in airports.  The Jet Blue terminal at JFK has certainly become a second home, and now that I live in Chicago, I'm sure I will spending A LOT of in-between time here.  But it is a fantastic terminal! Almost as fantastic as Heathrow terminal 3...but that one is just full of designer shops that I could never afford to shop at/wouldn't bother to shop.  But the idea to put a shopping mall in a terminal is grand;  well done Britain.  Anywho, the terminal I'm in now is quite cozy, has free WiFi, they make a GREAT burger which you order via touch screen technology and there is a lot of light.  I just like it here and can't imagine I would mind spending the night here if my flight got canceled.  The one time I was stranded at an airport was in Philadelphia, and it was NOT a great experience.  Curse you U.S. Airways.  Not only did they delay delay delay my flight home to Burlington, they then canceled it, and lost my luggage too.  I have sworn to never fly with them again. 

Jet Blue has never done me wrong.  Mucho props to them. 

I am flying home to Vermont for the wedding of my childhood best friend...more on that later.


Here's a lovely photo I just scanned in, no editing!  I got lucky with this one.....

                           Pinhole: August 26th, 2010 Niagara Falls

I miss my time in London

I spent a semester in London (BEST. TIME. EVER.) and my friends who travel there are always asking me what are the best things to do and see in London.  It always makes me very nostalgic, because I wish I could live in London forever.  What a wonderful city, and I have great memories from my time there.  It's crazy how I can remember exact details of certain days I spent there, but I can barely remember what I did on Wednesday last week (other than go to cyberpedagogy).  It's so funny how I compartmentalize my memories.  Maybe I was just so happy there that most everything I did was worth remembering.  Or maybe I just really need to move back to London....

Some Loveliness

Renegade Craft Fair, Sunday, September 12th

                                                                        I would have had to have one of these tents as a child

sweet i <3 buttons

Loving this song

what a lighthearted take on break-ups:

Meaghan Smith - Heartbroken

I Love Having Choices

I had a lovely weekend in Chicago.  I saw comedy at Improv Olympics, went out with my good friend Esau in Wrigleyville, read my book in Grant Park, found a yoga studio (and a yoga class that kicked my ass), perused the Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibit at the AIC, went to the Lincoln Park Zoo (hells yes it's free!) and saw a foreign film.  Wow, even I'm impressed with myself.  I especially love finding free things to do, hence the zoo, the yoga class, where my classes will be FREE for the next week, and of course visiting the Art Institute, which I have not fully explored yet.  Loving this.  

The thing I will always love about cities is that there is always something to do, whenever I want to do it.  I come from a place where every now and then something new or exciting happens, but for the most part it's the same ole grind.  Every day.  It drove me crazy sometimes.  I think the most exciting part about Vermont is when the seasons change, because you can feel it in the air, and smell it too.  Is it weird that I can smell winter?  I can.  It happens every year in Vermont around the end of October.  Fall is really lovely, despite lots of rain, and I hope that the leaves change here in Chicago so that I at least know the progression to winter is happening.  I'm assuming they will, I mean, that's what trees do.  But it wont be the same as Vermont, I am sure of it.  Fall is probably my favorite time of year, mostly because it's not as frigid as winter.  But fall also changes the green leaves to orange, red, yellow and burgundy, it brings apple picking, pumpkin carving and Halloween.  Which is by far my favorite "holiday", if you can call it that.  I'm just hoping I see some parallels between fall in Chicago and fall in Vermont.  Though the differences may make me miss home, I am thoroughly enjoying my time in my new home.

First

Very new to the blog thing.  I've always been interested but was wary of becoming an over-sharing, life-story blogging addict.  But now that I am new to Chicago and starting a very new life here, a blog just might be a grand idea.  I have always liked to write anyways, and I can share my photos.

Here's one from my graduation ceremony this past spring from the University of Vermont.  Sitting for 4 hours waiting for my name to be called allowed time for a quick pinhole shot.  I do miss Vermont already, and my people there.  Friends and my family, and everything I know are in Vermont.  But I have been ready to leave for so long.  Thank God I made it out of there!  It is a place where crunchy people, green mountains, beautiful sunsets, straight chillin', maple syrup, apple cider and cheese loving, art loving hippie freaks all join together into a black hole of goodness that makes Vermont such a hard place to leave.  I need a change of pace, and I am sick of seeing the same people around who just can't seem to leave.  I will miss local brews and free samples at City Market and the Cabot Annex, and being able to walk anywhere I want to go.  But I'm ready for the city, where every opportunity is at my fingertips.