As our Summer Institute fades from the present, I want to remember the Tech Literacy Strand that we instituted this summer. Last summer when I returned for the last week of our SI ‘06, from Tech Matters ‘06 held for tech liaisons at Chico,CA, I was able to invite our TC’s to create personal blogs on the last day of the SI as they came to the lab as a group to reflect on the SI experience. Many thanked me for beginning the process for them in a way that was user friendly and comfortable. I linked their blogs to an HVWP SI ‘06 blog from edublogs and I,over the year offered prompts to respond to, sending friendly emails to encourage them to continue the community we had established during our SI, Not too many participants responded to these gentle calls.

This summer, with the HVWP Tech Team established and meeting monthly,  my own blogging experience under my belt and my collaborative work on the web with Kevin Hodgson, Karen McComas,Troy Hicks and others, I was motivated to pushed for more precious SI time for collective web work with the new TC’s. Many  interviewees talked about their interest in exploring technology. As usual, I presented my digital stories and and this year, a returning fellow worked on a piece he has been comitted to creating with software that I suggested.

As a group, though, we included 5 sessions during the SI for a new Tech Literacy Strand durng the SI schedule. During the first session we had participants create a personal blog as a place to share their drafts with the rest of the SI community for feedback. In addition, the community shared responses with the entire community on our SI blog that was linked to participant blogs and websites and blogs that I thought might be useful and helpful to the community in the future.

Once the individual blog was created, I moved them to register for the E-Anthology and take a look at what the anthology could offer them as they began to create drafts for our SI anthology. Some participants jumped right in, but many  moved  more slowly, concerned at first ,about the public issues of sharing on the net. Some were confused about the personal blog, the home blog, the E-Anthology. In the future it would be better to create one and then the other on a separate session.

I also pushed them to put something on the net by the end of the first week. Was that too soon? Most participants, in their reflections felt it was important to be pushed, even though it was tough to start. I think that participants needed a sheet to keep track of all their user names and passwords and a basic set of paper directions as well. I think it was great to have tech support provided by a returning fellow and participants that jumped in to help. As the Si moved along more participants, confident with the process, were able to support their community as well.

By the end of the SI, everyone had been using the E-Anthology to post pieces for feedback and read other pieces, especially from a sister site experiment with Western Mass and people were using their blogs and commenting and posting on our SI blog.

Sure it’s not the same as face-to-face feedback, but more sessions for writing groups were provided, There the problem was that some groups used writing group time to write. Can we find more time to write?

As the SI ended I collected anthology pieces and created an online anthology and a new blog to allow for comfortable threaded discussions.  I’m thinking that maybe a site like CLassroom 2.0 might be a better social networking blog to offer in addition to the E-Anthology.  I have to get in touch with the Facilitator of Western Mass to debrief as well.

Sometimes you say,”Thank G_d, one more week, more day…and you mean it. And you don’t mean it at the same time. That’s what I’m feeling…but as this day moves closer to its finish I will be feeling, no, don’t end. So what will help me prepare for the end of this daily, rich group of people who have become a unit through shared authentic experiences? How will we preserve this particular group? Secure it from the outside world?

I don’t have answers, but Thank G_d I’m not ending a more traditional workshop experience where it’s just a week and a real ending…I am not good with endings…I am not good with endings…

Today it will be easier and harder. Tuvia will force me back to our world: a hair cut at 11am, dinner with the Rosenberg clan,my birthday on Tuesday and crusing plans with my parents…all wonderful events to celebrate, but this experience as we know it is ending…

What a wonderful morning: I wrote on this blog and shared it visually and reading it. Then many others shared a prompt: The Last Day of the Summer Institute. Melba had a great bingo on your feet game. Reminds me of my opening day at school. Then photos shared by Beverly and Odell, Scott’s TIW reflection and finally my DS with great sound from my recently purchased speakers and I so enjoyed watching it along with them. It’s exciting to watch with an audience at the back of a dark auditorium. I wonder if this is how a movie director feels. I remember watching my student productions but I think this is different for me. I am the voice and it’s my writing and my photos. There’s no middle man. Anyway I think the group felt it was a gift to them and I will have copies when we meet in October along with their anthology DS.

I am so excited that Kirk has created his first DS about his Iraq experience.  He has come so far with the HVWP.  What an amazing piece.  I remember our early conversations about creating it and here it is with the voice of his son and the a photo of he and his daughter to end it.  Wow.  Impressive.  And he’s joining the tech team.  How lucky can we/I get!

What a wonderful group and I love my role with them. I love this whole experience. Sure, it’s better to co-facilitate, but honestly, it’s easier to not and that’s not as powerful. You know, leadership should not be easy. You need to share and I hope Kirk and Kerri and Rebecca and Mary feel that their voices were respected, heard and then some…

We are all clicking away in the lab and that’s very peaceful. What’s everyone writing???

And as Beverly and Odell finish up in the lab and we all head over the Rebecca’s I wonder how we will deal the heat and how Tuvia will find his way and feel about being with the group.

We arrive and I realize that I am starved and I find my way to the dips and appetizers and some wine.  Rebecca has set her place up to be a perfect place to share for one last time, to end the summer.  I am eating without any guilt or control, not good.  That needs to stop. The food is lovely and creative and comes from the heart.

We smooze, as I watch the clock.  Melba’s family is with us and David will be playing guitar and singing with Madlyn and his daughter.  Perfect.  The kids are great and happy to listen to the reading.

The anthologies look great and as I push the group to eat and get to the books I realize that I am in that clock keeper position.  Terry helps me find an easy button to put my phone on vibrate so I can listen, document and watch out for Tuvia.  All the pieces come together. Tuvia arrives as Justine finishes her piece and Beverly stands and asks us to join her at the front to thank us for our time and effort with lovely momentoes.  What a wonderful surprise and something too, for Scott.  Perfect.

TUvia is blown away by Madlyn’s Amazing Grace and as we all move in for a group photo it’s hard to say good bye to everyone.

What happened to the tshirt plan?  I have to ask Kerri..

So where do we go from here?

BK

Today as I stopped for my large coffee and a new discovery- bagel, egg and cheese at DD. (Only one more day of this calorically horrific routine.), I started thinking about life without the SI’07 and you know, I was sad. This group has been very low maintanence and the RF team, totally in it! I will miss the routine of it. I’ve enjoyed too, being BK and some of Tom. Mary has been breezy and supportive and insightful, especially in the TIW area in our debriefts. I miss Tom’s passion and his total love of everything WP be it NWP or HVWP. Sometime his energy is exhausting and frustrating but it’s always passionate and that’s what bonds us.

What a treat today, Julie’s Log with her guitar. Wonderful! And I have it on tape!

Today we had one last TIW, the TIW conversation. I’m glad that Rebecca remembered to list everyone’s TIW, so that we could have people refer specifically, to the work of others and they identified things they learned and might still have lingering questions about. The responses were again, powerful. What I remember most is Julie’s comment about creating workshop threads for elementary, ms and hs. Love that.

Scott arrived late after a long night creating the anthologies, and preparing for his TIW. I hope he’s okay tonight and can be with us tomorrow. This morning we used the writing time to write from the reading articles, selecting a passage as a jumping off point. I wil never forget Madlyn’s reading from it. We saved it for the afternoon and wow, it was so good for us to move out of the computer lab and back to the room to share this. Bravo, Kerri!

Scott presented a powerful strategy that needs some refocusing for audience and stance and time spaces for writing and sharing. I hope he can join us tomorrow to bask in his anthology work. The books are officially ready at the printers. YES!

We were in the lab. I worried a bit about presenting CLassroom 2.0 and Kirk was such a big help. He’s always a strong support even if he doesn’t talk a lot. He is one great, lm, guy! So glad he’s been with us the last two summers.

I hope people don’t see me as a “boss”. I want to be popular and that’s hard when you are leading, but I being where I am and comfortable with what I do, most of the time.

It was great to have my DS piece completed last night although I did have to trade out the phone of my “real” first SI, for the first one I loved with TOm and Mary.

Tomorrow night with Tuvia with the Gunks outside our window. I am ready for being with him for a night in New Paltz.

When will I start missing SI’07? We have a good day planned for tomorrow. I hope it’s not too hot and not too much for Rebecca.

And I could go to bed at any moment now.

PS The Panels came down and I loved hearing the ahhhs from Madlyn. What a passionate force she is a she plays in the group.

I didn’t begin this entry when I created the title. I had to concentrate on my Marisol’s TIW focused on ELL students. I’m a HLL student sitting around a table listening to Hebrew and praying the hear English and enjoying the sounds at the same time. Everyone is starting to feel frayed and fried. I can see it on Madlyn’s face as Mary introduces the community readings for tomorrow. This morning was cool with Marisol. I was listening and distracted by it was easy to follow her rhythm as she moved through her sections smoothly. I so enjoy when I can sit back. I haven’t been sitting back much. I keep thinking about what comes next???? We worked on the Don G. TC letter beginning with an ink shed that reflected on the Returning Fellows Day. It was a great intro into the beyond SI07 conversation. And then the rich conversation about what a TC can be and do. Inservice workshops, Saturday Seminars, Professional/Personal Writing Retreats, Tech Team…Great Middle Eastern Lunch!Back in the afternoon with Tom(sweet) for a short visit that seemed out of place, but good.I’m fried.And Mary leads a MAPS list on the kinds of writing done.

We are done and I can’t imagine driving home but somehow, with the help of Jackie on the phone and Tuvia on the way to meet me, I am okay on the Thurway but I”m wondering how I will finish my DS and read for tomorrow.  But I am home and pleased with the place, as usual.  I turn on the AC to cool down the humdity and when Tuvia arrives we are off to the Golden Mushroom for Chinese and I eat too much and am axious to get home and finish my work.    I put on what I have, sure that there’s a lot to edit and NO it was just very late when I finally quit but there was more there than I realized.

Tuvia was very patient.  He was so up for a walk and that happened.  Our walk inside the complex and then back home but I was Done.  Just needed to fix the resolution by creating the piece in full quality: 1.4 gigs and that’s okay.

And I read Kathy’s piece.  Wonderful and I remember Kathy reading it when we scrawled in the city with Tom  a few years ago.  It was in an early stage.  Now. wow, nice, beautiful voice and details and characters and organization. Nice. Really Nice.

And tomorrow is Wednesday and we are back in the lab.