Greetings everyone. Even though February is the shortest month, the winter drags for us in some parts of the earth.  It holds opportunities for celebration as well. So here we go:

Kevin is officially off to Japan taking full advantage of the February school break and just before he left, he made sure to offer up his sentence.

Off on an adventure, (No pictures this week)

Amy feels February’s  spirit of patriotism as she writes:

Patriotic feelings swell in the midst of Lincoln’s 200th Birthday Celebration.

And here’s her photo that I must have missed

Lincoln in Post-It Notes created by Chris Killham and displayed in the windows on the bridge that spans Jefferson Street.

Delaine is taking advantage of this month of celebration to bake:

To end my busy, overly scheduled week, I baked a simple berry cobbler.

I want a piece:

Ken, from the Middle Earth, may not be celebrating or feeling our winter, but as usual he offers up wonderful words and an image:

Kia ora Bonnie!

Here are my words:

Wanting grace-note roll or trill
From simmering kettle or steam boiler,
Lacking resonance with clear clarion shrill
From aileron blade or spoiler;
Diapason with its languid chiff,
Euphonious calliope,
Aeolian harp with plaintive riff,
Diaphanous vibrant canopy;
The fine aesthetic dulcet choice,
Tawhirimatea’s breath of life,
It yields the most mellifluous voice
On flageolet or flute or fife;
If you puzzle at this trite epistle
Ponder a while on the humble whistle.

Catchya later
from Middle-earth

And a link to Ken’s photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27480515@N06/3275545895/

Nancy was ready for this photo/text challenge and found herself way right back in the center of her heart::

Once again, despite my best efforts, my favorites subjects are the star of my DiS contribution.

And my HVWP bud, Eric joins us with a week focused on his teaching challenge,  Kindergarten.

As my first goal is to foster well balanced, independent and cooperative children, what do I say when a five year old child responds, ” She is my sworn enemy!”  while trying to resolve a conflict?

My guest host partner Anne, reminds us that even though many of us are enjoying a well deserved vacation, there’s tragedy in another part of the world and she shares:

This week was a really sombre one for me, as the full impact of the Victorian bushfires surfaced, with its death toll, housing loss, animal injuries and grazing land damage. (So, I hope that you will forgive me for not adding a photo)

As I come to the end and add something from my Photo-a Day Challenge, I thank you for taking time to share something here.

On the West Side Highway in the Passenger’s Seat: 45/365

How lucky for Kevin and his family to be jetting off to Japan and how lucky for me to host this week’s DayinS and Anne is rising to the challenge next week.(More details to come)

This week, maybe selfishly, I’m going to suggest that you send me a photo to upload along with your distilled text for the week.

It was about a year ago that D’Arcy Norman suggested that, we might challenge ourselves to shoot a photo a day for the year 2008 and share as many of them as possible.

“What’s today’s picture?”

He calls it “mindful seeing,” and explains in a post he wrote last January:

Mindful seeing is the process of turning off the filters, of seeing your surroundings unfettered and unobstructed.

When viewing the world without filtering, even the most boring and banal subjects can become wondrous and interesting. We are constantly surrounded by interesting things that we normally don’t see – textures, lighting, patterns, shapes, objects, groupings, even messages.

Photographers are often described as distancing themselves from their surroundings by “hiding behind a camera” or “viewing the world only through a viewfinder.” I see photography from the exact opposite side of the coin. By mindfully seeing the world around me, I feel as though I am seeing much more than I would otherwise. I see patterns, convergence, divergence, shadows, lighting, juxtaposition, and composition that are likely missed by others. That’s not to say that I am “better” than any other – just that by being mindful of what I am seeing, I am aware of what is around me. And when I am aware, I am better able to take an interesting photograph.

If you’re interested, the group’s still there, and  now there’s  the 2009 challenge.

Of course there’s Photo Fridays at Flickr where we’ve been sharing together since June and going strong.

I joined this challenge as of January 1, 2009 on my  photo blog, every day and  so far so good. What will I discover about myself?

I want to keep returning to D’racy’s quote to rethink my passion for capturing images.

So if this challenge whets your appetite,  get out our camera and capture something in your world with some of your wondrous words along side or just words is always welcome of course.

Cant’ wait to see what Kevin has to share with us, You can send me your photo in an email:

blkdrama@me.com and leave your sentence as a comment below.

Bonnie

Hi everyone,

Sorry I’m late, but I stalled today giving our DinS community extra time to share a bit of life and now, without further ado, here we go…

I was at a loss until yesterday morning myself, and I’m glad I was patient:

I wonder, if this guy will be extra busy on December 25th?  As I walked outside,early  yesterday morning, I was running late but  he and three relatives greeted me and challenged me to take the time to grab my camera from its warm space and here’s my reward!

It was great to see Gail in San Antonio for the NWP conference and then to vist her blog today and remember to listen to a great TTT podcast on digital media. It’s always a pleasure to visit her blog.

Despite all the gloom and doom around the economy, it truly is the non-material things that make the holidays a magical season.

Congrats to  host Kevin, for his Edublogs 2008 nomination for a blog we have come to love! Right?

Stuck in a time warp between one holiday and another, I have suddenly realized that there is just not enough time to get a major project (puppet theater) up and running and completed — 2009, here we come.

It was great seeing Cynthia In SA.  We got to write and photograph together!

Because Adair and Tommy LaRue are coming home for Christmas on Tuesday–yes, this Tuesday–Larry and I have spent the entire day cleaning and baby proofing the house–again.

Lisa is right to the point- a place we would all like to be now!

All right…Done!

Ken our resident poet, never lets us down and here’s the proof:

modest thought bringing
humble faith to those singing
of Christmas giving

Paul is sharing a Christmas memory as we get closer to the big day:

I was nine when I thought to myself, “Why does Santa’s handwriting look just like my mom’s?”

Matthew, (a double nominee for a ‘08 Edublog Award)  given all he is dealing with still makes time to share his bit  of fun and giving.

I’m in the process of moving, I may be changing jobs, but the most stressful of all is having to purchase a Secret Santa gift.

And last but never, least, Lynne who we  missed this year at the NWP in San Antonio.  I kept looking over my shoulder, hoping to see your smile. Next year? In Philly? My fingers are crossed.

Selecting poetry for an annual exchange with WP friends of over 25 years reminds me how important the Writing Project is not only in my professional but also in my personal life (and growth). Missed seeing NWP techies this year, but you are still a big part of my holiday fun.

So here you have it.  Thanks for joining me here with your memory gems. Next week we are off to share at Nancy C’s blog More details to follow….

Wait….Here’s Nancy for herself:

My blog’s identity crisis has been resolved, I think and I’m feeling good about being back in regular blogging mode!

Happy Holiday preparations,

Bonnie

I’m hoping that even with the craziness at school and the craziness with the stock market, December finds you enjoying this time of the year.

Feel free to take this moment to share some holiday reflections( or anything you like) with us.

It’s always a challenging pleasure to find your gems in my email, so send away and I promise to that everything up as early as I can on Sunday morning.  If life gets really crazy, feel free to send something even if you miss the official release.

And if you have a photo or two you are burning to share with our Photo Fridays group send it to us,

Can’t wait to hear from you,

Bonnie

I’m just beginning the Sunday task of reading through my Boil Down Your Day in a Sentence. It’s always daunting at first to create a platform to share the gold that’s been growing in my blog comments. As the Olympics come to a close, I am taking the plunge while there’s still water in the pool.

Some of our boilers have just begun a new school year so let’s start there:

We have Lynn (our hostess for next week), who is not new to teaching but middle school is her challenge this year.

A gaggle of seventh graders made me laugh all week.

Sounds like she is captured! I’m not surprised.

Illya is also returning to her teaching life and in need of acclimating to her school rhythm from leisure. I’m sure Illya, you are up to the challenge.

The hubbub of school life begins again as I try to find my rhythm between the comings and goings.

Sara touches on school life outside her classroom and that’s always tricky.

I vacillate between the euphoria of an all-new school administration who *gets it* about education, and isolation from my grade-level team, who don’t *get me*.

Rick shares a dilemma I remember well as a high school drama director.

The hardest part about coaching elementary school soccer is telling nineteen kids that they did not make the team.

And then we have the group who are using their last few days to enjoy and prepare for their classroom return.

Grace has had a busy summer in the world of technology, working with teachers at the New York City Writing Project in July and then as a learner herself. She is a passionate learner. BRAVO, Grace.

I absorbed a lot of helpful strategies related to scaffolding at the QTEL Institute which can be summed up in the words of Aida Walqui, “Amplify don’t simplify.”

If you haven’t clicked over to Stacey’s blog, now might be a perfect opportunity. She has created a mixed media piece using Smilebox.

Stacey shares a Shabbat dinner with us.

And even though dogtrax is still on blog vacation, he is resurfacing. Welcome back Kevin, we’ve missed you!

The proofreading process for a book about technology in the classroom (of which I am co-editor) is becoming agonizingly nitty-gritty with details but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I’m not sure where Elona is, but it sounds like her life is rich as she learns from her granddaughter Lauryn about early matters of the heart.

My week has been a delightful one because my granddaughter Lauryn, who just turned nine yesterday, has been teaching me about the world from her nine year old perspective. Did you know that the world would be a better place if all the boys lived in one half and all the girls lived in the other half. Boys are so annoying when you’ve just turned nine, don’t you know!

And even though Anne is not on summer break, it sounds like she’s had an amazing educational experience beyond the four walls of a classroom. Check our her blog for more details.

Spending time as a host to an Indonesian Islamic teacher was a rewarding one, and witnessing the look of sheer excitement on his face after riding around our wet paddocks on our four wheel motor bike, watching my husband shear a sheep and working with the young students at school made the effort all worthwhile.

And Ken seems to be focused on the reality of chocolate. What do you make of his weekly share?

DEANZ’s chocolate reality, digital fantasy, ideas of note to enact – but native or immigrant, heed the statistics, it’s death to the digital fact.

Kate seems to be taking a leap of faith, moving out of the classroom and back to her passion for theater. I can’t wait to hear more about her new challenges.

A new week, a return to the old days and a revival of an almost-lost love.

Oops, I need something.

I spent a fantastic two days working with my Hudson Valley Writing Project and remembering why I remain an HVWP born-again.

Here’s where we began our Visioning Retreat, working on a site mission/vision statement.

Thanks for making my hosting role so much fun. See you again and next week we are off to Lynn’s site. Check your email for further news and reminders.

Bonnie

Late Breaking News:

Tracey is holding on tightly to her last week of vacation and used her early Monday morning time to compose a sentence for us and here it is:

A few more days until school calls, in the sun, listening to music, words and phrases jumping out at me when they can, behind the keening of the cicada on the tree, confirming why I do what I do and how I feel at this time of year: excited, anxious, rising.

Hang on,.Jo has one more to add.  Her 39th birthday celebrated at her school’s open house.  Good thing for my I was an August baby and summer vacation lasts for us, until Labor Day in September.  I don’t know if I could give up my day.

I spent my 39th birthday meeting about 60 of my 107 new 9th- and 10th-graders, most of whom came with their parents to Open House.

& Photo Fridays

While Kevin is still under the radar, enjoying life on a beach, we are home, enjoying the end of summer, starting school, maybe dealing with winter(?)
So how about sharing a sentence that best describes where you are in this moment and maybe, if you are inclined, to take or select a photo and upload to Flickr and share it with at
http://www.flickr.com/groups/photofridays/

As for your Week in a Sentence, you can share it here or visit my blog: http://blk1.edublogs.org and leave it under the comments.

I will collect the sentences and release them on Sunday.

Feel free to visit anytime.

Bonnie

Welcome, once again,to my condo in the blogosphere. As much as Kevin loves hosting his Day in a Sentence, he believes so strongly in community collaboration, that he reaches out, offering the thrill of hosting to others. I am honored to open my door to you this week, so if you have any energy left to share your week with us, please freeze a moment or more of it, here and check back on Sunday for the surprises to come..

Here’s my moment (so far):

As I write this invitation I’m listening to Bruce “the Boss” Springsteen, singing to TIm Russert at his memorial service. I’ve been touched and saddened by his sudden death and the more I watch others talk and share bits of his life with the television audience, the more I respect him, beyond Meet the Press

Bonnie

And what’s a Friday without sharing a photo and some words on our new community creation, PHOTO FRIDAYS! (http://www.flickr.com/groups/photofridays/)

Join us here and there.

Greetings All,

Thanks for sending your amazing sentences my way. There’s been a blast from “home” every time I open my computer.

This has been a week of travel, vacations and holiday celebrations.
Read on:

Cynthia:
Spring break finally arrived, and I boarded an American Eagle flight to Dallas to spend a week with my grandson Tommy LaRue and his parents where I spent way too much money(obviously my daughter thinks I am made of money when I come to Dallas), but the hugs and kisses Rue gave to his “MyMy” were worth every penny–they are priceless.

Eric:

Arms crossed, body stiff, eyes piercing, she did not want to go- but sometimes you know it will be okay, just because they think they don’t want to do something doesn’t mean they don’t want to do it or that some good maybe even fun won’t come from it.

Muriel
Queen Esther (My granddaughter) meets Hat in the Cat (me) on Purim in Salt Lake City for a first ever Celia and Bubbie Purim with even grandpa, dad, mom and little brother joining us in the synagogue for dinner and the “ganse Megilah.”

Jane

Ann
We began our school break with dreams of endlessly relaxing days but were treated to amazing seats at a pro basketball game, 14th row, center court and felt like royalty.

Nancy
All week, I’ve been looking forward to family time in Albany–Shabbat dinner, Shabbat lunch, a trip to the Apple Store with Dad (who is FINALLY getting a new laptop) and a birthday dinner with Mom.

And my vacation photo (Cape Cod, and we’re going up to the cottage in April!):

Susan
Spring break for the University means empty hallways and offices and quiet, open space for me to turn down the pace on a very hectic year.

Anne last week’s guest host from Australia: http://murcha.wordpress.com
Today is Easter Sunday, in Australia, where a visit from the Easter Bunny, bearing chocolate Easter eggs is customary and family gatherings take place, but a day when I would love to be in Belgium, savouring some of their wonderful chocolate delights, meeting up there with my 2 boys who live in London.

Lynn
As I worked with my student on her culture presentation, reminiscences of a long ago trip to Laos crowded my mind, bringing back the sights and sounds, the smells and tastes of traveling through a hot tropical country.

Paul/Pam 2
My husband and I will be traveling soon to Israel. We are looking forward to the 60th year celebration there!
I will send a picture of Sedona, Arizona my little get-away place of the perfect weather!

Stacie
I arrived exhausted, deadline-driven, tight across my shoulders … ate callaloo and jerk lobster, walked the beach every day, counted shooting stars at night, watched my skin turn a beautiful honey-black, got a massage from Joshua, weathered a category 4 hurricane … and left mellow, brown, my true self.

Ben
To me, spring break meant three happy, happy things: sleeping in, seeing a heist movie, and hanging out at Borders until it closes.

Karen
For one whole week in late July, my sister and brother and I, with our children (as many as possible) in tow, return to what we knew first and know best: the water and northern Michigan.

Gail
Today marks the spring equinox here in the Sierra foothills and the signs are all about, making me feel even more connected to our global day/week-in-a-sentence-community. Happy Spring/Hag Sameah to all

Matt
I’m on vacation in beautiful Culver City; bought a car, fixed a car, fixed a granny, made a movie, and wrote a paper…come on over, the weather’s beautiful.

Kathryn
The Easter egg hunt completed, we walked around our neighbourhood taking photos in a disposible camera, all ready for a virtues class in the morning and a second birthday party in the afternoon.

Teaching Sagittarian
With slight nervousness, yet increasing excitement, I’m like a cat on a hot tin roof as the count down to leaving New Zealand to fly to Argentina, then Madrid, then Rome, then Bangkok, hits less than 4 days to go!

Brian
You’ll excuse me, I hope, if I fear and loathe the Disney Company, makers of all things marketable, but when on vacation in the Magic Kingdom, shaded for a moment from the terrible Orlando sun, our little girls watched a princess dance across the stage I saw in their faces that magic is real and that perfection lives in their eyes.

Mary
Hopeful and happy harbingers of spring wore their shorts to school with swing.
Our week was full of playful expectations.

Elona
On March 24, is my son Chris’ birthday and of course birthdays are times of reflection. In reflecting upon his journey from birth to the wonderful man he has grown up to be and reflecting on this week’s theme about vacations this came to mind

One of the vacation moments I cherish most is the one 20 years ago when my then 17 year old son told me on the plane coming home that he really enjoyed our four week trip together to England, Holland, France and Germany because he got to know me as a person and not just as his mom- at that moment, my heart smiled.

Lynne C.
Temperature hit 90 degrees on this last day of Spring break, providing ample excuse to luxuriate in the sun, check in with old friends, and watch new neighborhood children practice time-honored egg-hunting strategies.

J. Hawke
Foregoing our usual train ride back to our Manhattan hotel after the late show was providential; our meandering walk that very early July morning led us upon the series of 96 bronze plaques known as Library Way, and quotations from writers like Milton, Chopin, Thoreau, Clifton, Woolf, Dickinson, and Hughes kept us braving the dark night along 41st Street.

Aram
‘Ive been fishing and relaxing in this spot, located on the Au Sable River in Michigan, with a handful of male relatives in the past and my plans to do it again for a week this summer keep me going through March’s cruel wintry weather.

Kevin
Here is mine (I twisted a metaphor into a vacation theme):

While my body feels as if it is in London — all dreary and foggy on the outside of the world — my mind yearns for some little tropical island somewhere that no one else knows about — restful and relaxed from morning until night.

And my podcast: http://www.box.net/shared/static/r1selmtq8g.mp3

and a photo:

And mine:

I was ready for a warm sun, I was ready to peel off my winter
clothes and return to shorts, light tops, and sandals and I was
ready to enjoy a full-blown spring and leave the lingering winter winds as Israel begins its festival of Purim.

Thanks so much for your sharing and patience. 25 of us shared moments, photos and a podcast this week. I was proud to host  and look forward to where we travel next as  Boil Down Your Day/Week  returns back to Kevin.

I strongly recommend the guest host role; it’s a stimulating challenge,

Thanks Kevin,

Bonnie

Hag Sameah (Happy Holidays) from Israel.

It’s Purim here, Israel’s version of Halloween.

This is the second week of guest hosting international.

I am on vacation here in Israel and in keeping with the spirit of vacations, let’s add a twist to Kevin’s very popular and successful Boil Down Your Day/Week in a Sentence. Of course, this variation is offered with lots of collaboration.

How about a sentence (and maybe a picture) of a recent vacation moment you are having,  had or would like to have.

Here’s mine:

I was ready for a warm sun, I was ready to peel off my winter clothes and return to shorts,light tops, and sandals and I was ready to enjoy a true spring in Israel and leave the lingering winter winds as Israel begins its festival of Purim.
Bonnie

Of course, feel free to just continue with what’s comfortable for you for the week.

As usual, you can leave you sentence with me as a comment at the end of this post, (and photo by email blkdrama@mac.com) by Sunday morning and I will get them up asap. Remember, I am 7 hours ahead of you .

Can’t wait to hear from you,

Bonnie (with Kevin’s blessing)

From Tel Aviv

Delaine Zody | | dkzody.wordpress.com

Students fill the room; yearbook deadlines loom; skies are all gloom.

Melba Lucio returns again, to join us with lots of news in and outside the classroom.

|

This week has been unusual for me–I attended a hippie/motorcycle wedding in Oakland, California–wow I had never attended a wedding where I was the oldest person there–everyone was under the age of 28 at that reception! Incredible but so interesting to watch young men and women, how they danced, spoke and loved one another–now back to reality, I am so excited about my new Comp I students–I am energized by their youth and eagerness to learn. I need to find a permanent job with the university–even if it is less money than the district job I have. I am thinking with my heart these days–my creativity is being stifled in my current job but it pays well–but I am not happy so I have to weigh my choices very carefully this spring semester–since I am not a spring chicken anymore–I turned 50 over the holidays and I need to think of my future in education.

Matt has great news to share. All our best to your granny, Matt.

Mathew | | needleworkspictures.com/ocr/blog |

We went to the hospital, we x-rayed her hip, granny’s okay.

Lynne Culp adds her unique approach to boiling this week. BRAVO!

Lynne’s words:
can’t find the sentence but here’s my six words?

Sentence sandwich

finals grant
deadlines grades
writing hurts

Larry Ferlazzo | | larryferlazzo.edublogs.org

Last week Larry shared frustration but this week things are better. YEAH!!!!

“I’m feeling excited about some tech experiments I can try in the classroom this semester because the District has unblocked the sites I requested — a week turn-around time isn’t too bad at all!”

Susan | sphillips@poughkeepsieday.org |

Welcome Susan from HVWP. Glad to have you join us this week with such a lovely vision of the nature around you. Hope this is just the beginning…

Spent the week watching the moon set in the west and the sun rise in the east each morning, as I drove to school, thinking that this kind of sky gazing might be making me a traffic hazard.

alice mercer | | mizmercer.edublogs.org |

This week Alice left her mark in many forms. Thanks for all your efforts, Alice.

My sentences for each day can be found at: http://mizmercer.tumblr.com

Oh, this one has a photo: http://mizmercer.tumblr.com/post/24600049

Mary | sawyerm@newpaltz.edu |

Mary Sawyer joins us from our HVWP as well. Glad to have you even with life moving at lightning speed for you

This week was a blur.

Karen McComas | mccomas@marshall.edu |

It’s a pleasure to see this sentence again, this time on my blog. Thanks Karen.

Every day I drink (coffee), read, write, talk, think, teach, learn, and capture it all in my favorite journal.

Karen and her journal

Gail Desler

blogwalker | | blogwalker.edublogs.org |

Wow, that sounds fantastic, Gail. I’m jealous.

The highlight of my week was attending a regional ed tech conference where I met fellow bloggers Larry FerLazzo and Alice Mercer f2f.

Steven Masson

Steve also joins us from the HVWP and we hope he comes back for more. He reminds us again, what time of the year it is for high school teachers.

I spent the last three hours grading mid-terms and wishing that we could spend more time teaching and less time testing.

Cynthia Calvert

What a pleasure it is to celebrate this week with you, Cynthia. Star Teacher and Grandma!

Wednesday was a most excellent day: Tommy LaRue’s (my sixth month old grandson) murmur is innocent and nothing to worry about, and Emma, WCCA’s Star Student, selected me as her Star Teacher; my cup overfloweth.

Never fear, here’s Mary Meyer

“Cold, snow, wind power inhabit my back yard.”
Kevin
Here’s Kevin’s variation. Don’t mind us, we keep playing with the bar…

And finally, here's my piece.

Thanks for visiting this week. Next week stay tuned.

Bonnie