Ramblings

Looooong story here, but I’m focusing on the most important part right now.

I have an interview on Monday (like I said, looooong story, the actual interview is not the important thing) and for the first time since 2000, I’m not wearing a suit. So what, right?

Well, from my first semester of college in my first accounting course I took (in a seemingly never-ending string of them) I had it implanted in my head that I *must* wear a suit to an interview. Preferably black, but gray would do. Can you imagine our horror at Internship Interview Days when Alissa wore a baby blue suit? With white heels? Gasp.

Well, that was then. I’m not an accountant anymore. I know who I am now - if a suit is required for the job, I don’t want it. Seriously.

I’m wearing a dress. With slides.

And a confident, take-over-the-world smile on my face.

That’s who I am.

And I’m never, ever wearing a suit again.

Ever.

Unless I get paid a LOT of money and can wear Crocs or Birks with it……….and it’s for less than 4 hours. I’m flexible like that.

Note to all able-bodied humans:

When you see a 140-ish pound female struggling with a 55 pound bag of dog food at Sam’s Club, trying to wrestle it onto the bottom of a cart that keeps sliding away………….

OFFER TO HELP

If I had a dollar for the number of people who walked past and ignored me, I’d be able to at least pay for my eyebrow wax I had done today.

Shaking my head reading the latest issue of the T.H.E Journal (Technology Horizons in Education - August 2008) - something about these statements just do NOT make sense in the greater picture of education, society, LIFE.

And yes, this is a replacement for ranting to my husband about this - we have MANY things we discuss at length, but his eyes start glazing over at these………

Regarding Fort Worth Independent School District:

Now, however, as the district embarks on a $23 million commitment to invest in interactive white boards……….

Villano, M. (2008). Make it count. T.H.E. Journal, 35(8), 28-30.

Did you catch that? $23 million - $23 MILLION on IWB. As I shake my head in awe of this number, I wonder what other needs there just might be that could be better served with this money? Is there enough bandwidth? Are there enough computers? Are there enough teachers, aides, food, classrooms, transportation, after school care? I almost crawl under my desk cringing when I have the gall to question technology spending, but $23 million on IWB?????

And this, from a gentleman named Tom Johnson, a district technology coordinator explaining why 1-to-1 programs need spare laptops:

Students need to have working laptops; if they’re standing around waiting for repairs, the learning stops.”

Waters, J. K. (2008). High maintenance. T.H.E. Journal, 35(8), 38-43.

Huh, I thought learning NEVER stopped. Who knew that the minute a machine quits working that school. is. over. I get that spares are needed, but think that this statement explains pretty much everything that is wrong with SO many technology initiatives.

Maybe this just strikes a nerve after a friend just told me last week about her district paying a ton of money on IWB’s but paying for NO training and not having the necessary equipment/skills to get the boards installed properly. And this in a very small district with SO many needs. IWB’s = not a bad thing. Spending the money without proper thought, training, personnel, technology = wrong.

Learning is NOT about technology. Period. Technology can add to learning, it can detract from learning, it’s NOT about machines.

People, people, people. It’s about PEOPLE.

And that just got me worked up enough that I spilled my Diet Cherry Pepsi on my laptop - not sure which I’m more concerned about right now - wasting the precious liquid or my machine.

From the latest issue of TIME magazine (August 18, 2008) - an article titled Why Africa is Still Starving by Alex Perry:

Ethiopia exemplifies the consequences of giving a starving man a fish instead of teaching him to catch his own. This year the U.S. will give more than $800 million to Ethiopia: $460 million for food, $350 million for HIV/AIDS treatment — and just $7 million for agricultural development. Western governments are loath to halt programs that create a market for their farm surpluses, but for countries receiving their charity, long-term food aid can become addictive. Why bother with development when shortfalls are met by aid? Ethiopian farmers can’t compete with free food, so they stop trying. Over time, there’s a loss of key skills, and a country that doesn’t have to feed itself soon becomes a country that can’t.

Rings true in so many areas - where do I even start?