I Heart Teachers

This is a first for me -two blog posts in one day. Well, well. 

Ever since my recent post about lame excuses I've been feeling the need to clarify. One thing that never fails to rankle me is reading/hearing/otherwise being exposed to comments that generalize about teachers and, after throwing them into one big group, bash them. 

Teacher bashing is ubiquitous. I am overly sensitive to it, so maybe I notice it where someone else wouldn't, but trust me, it is almost considered acceptable, at least in the United States, to talk about teachers as if they are less than other professionals. 

So it bothered me to think that my post could add fuel to that fire. Often when I read or hear talk of how "schools are this" or "teachers are that" I am quick to jump in and point out the fact that one can't generalize about an entire profession made up of millions of people. Each school, each classroom, each teacher is different. I have long believed that part of the problem is that because most people have had personal experience with schools as students, they feel qualified to judge and think they know what it is to be an educator. Not so. And, of course, many people believe that "anyone can teach" or (and this one is the WORST) "those who can do, those who can't..." I invite whoever believes those things to go ahead and try it out.

Yesterday was National Teacher Appreciation Day or some such obscure holiday. Yesterday was also "contract signing for next year day" at the private school where I work. Ah, the irony. Yes, I got a raise...a raise infinitely smaller than the increase in gas prices. What % of nothing does it take to actually equal something?

But alas, this is not a post to whine and cry about how hard I work and how little I am paid. That's common knowledge, right? I must deserve to make so little money because I am__________ (choose as many as apply) noble, stupid, unable to get a real job, so lucky to have my summers off.

Why do I even care what people think of teachers? Why is it so important to me to elevate the status of the teaching profession? Maybe there are a lot of "lame excuse-making teachers" who just got into teaching to boss around smaller, younger people and take summer vacations. 

But that's not what I see. 

I guess I have been lucky to know teachers who are highly educated, deeply caring, well read, professional, resourceful and committed to a profession that allows them to make a difference in the world.

Yes, I would like to see more innovation and less excuses. But it goes both ways.  As teachers, we need to have high expectations for our students so that they will rise to meet them. As a society, we need to have high regard for teachers so that we teachers will hold ourselves and our profession in high regard. I'm not making excuses for the excuse-makers, but when people are exposed time and again to negative expectations and hearing how the best and brightest leave teaching because they can do better...well, what can we expect?

My questions: What can teachers do to elevate the teaching profession? What can other members of society do to elevate the teaching profession? Is this view of teachers unique to the United States? 

Day 7 of Comment08: Reflect on What You've Learned so Far

Oh good, a break from all this commenting to reflect ;)
Here is what I've learned so far:
I like blogging.
I like commenting.
I love when people comment on my blog.
People are smart and interesting and make me think about things in all kinds of different ways. Every new "voice" adds a new perspective.
I don't really have enough time to be a prolific blogger or commenter.
I should really take a minute to read my comment before I post it so that I don't have to feel annoyed after it is posted by all the times I said "interesting."
Out of seven tasks I completed all but one.
The one I did not complete was to comment on a post you disagree with.
I didn't find a post to disagree with yet.
I might do that task later or I might just skip it.
Disagreeing is not my favorite thing. I know it is a good thing to be able to express disagreement, but I feel that I get a lot of that in real life. I kind of enjoy the blogosphere for the homiphily...not sure I spelled that right, but I LIKE feeling a little warm and fuzzy about the blogosphere for now. I'm a newbie, ok??
The best thing about the comment challenge for me has been that I've gotten more comments on my blog than ever before, and I have discovered some new, fun blogs to add to my google reader.
That's all for now.
oh yeah, one more thing... it is easier for technorati to add my posts to the comment challenge if I say something like this:.....remember to label your posts comment08.

Lame Excuses and Bad Habits

So, today's challenge for the 31 day challenge was to leave an open-ended question on a blog. Not too hard, but a little harder for me than the previous challenges. As I read the instructions I clicked to a blog I'd never been to before and read a post called The Top 100 Lamest Excuses for Not Innovating. This post hit a nerve, and commenter that I now am becoming, I dashed off a
"yes, I agree with you, great post" type of comment (which seems to be my standard). But there was no open-ended question in my comment. Then I jumped into my google reader and read this post, which was another post about the same post I had just read. Maybe it's the universe telling me it's time to confront this issue of lame excuses which has driven me crazy at work forever.
Obviously, it is not something unique to my particular school or even to the field of education.

So, I left my open-ended question on Britt's blog.

I know that it is part of human nature to resist change. I, myself, have a hard time with change. And yet, there is no stopping it. Why do you think so many teachers are so averse to innovation and change?

Now I want to try to answer my own question. It's a tough one. Mitch Ditkoff (from the first mentioned blog post) gives this technique for dealing:

1. Make a list of your three most bothersome excuses.

2. Turn each excuse into a powerful question, starting with the words "How can I?" or "How can we?" (For example, if your excuse is "That's R&D's job," you might ask "How can I make innovation my job?" or "How can I help my team take more responsibility for innovating?"

3. Brainstorm each question -- alone and with your team.

So, there is a potential answer to the question...but still, I am interested in the very open-ended question, "WHY?"
Creature of Habit
I guess I will look to myself first. It is kind of a silly example, but this firefox-safari thing comes to mind. I am in the habit of using safari as my browser. I have all my bookmarks set up just the way I like them. But, more and more, I am finding that things don't work as well in safari, and I need to switch over to firefox. It's not just cocomment, it's moodle, edline, a number of tools work best in firefox. And yet, creature of habit that I am, I open safari first, every time. So yesterday, I decided to remove safari from my dock (dock=the thing we use in mac osx to easily access applications). Do you know that I couldn't stand not having safari in my dock? I had to put it back!

We know all the sayings "creature of habit," "old habits die hard," etc. There is a lot to be learned from examining our habits and teaching ourselves to adopt new habits to help us make the kinds of changes we wish to make. It brings to mind a favorite quote that is on the top of my blog and on my wall in the computer lab at work.

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn."

I see this at the core of the lame excuses: old habits and some laziness. The more you do it, the easier it is to learn, unlearn, relearn. It can almost become a habit in itself, and I think it is part of what using technology is doing for us as human beings.

So, why are teachers so stuck? Perhaps it is unfair for me to pick on teachers. I only know teachers. I have never really worked in any other type of organization. But, that said, it is sort of widely known that schools seem stuck in the industrial age. Why is that?

Here is what comes to mind: Fear. Lack of time. Lack of interest. Lack of passion for learning, improving their practice, trying new things (this is the one that bothers me most). Habit.

I have had an idea for professional development for next year that I hope will address a few of these concerns. I will blog about it as I go forward with it. The only thing that can not be addressed even with the best professional development is a lack of passion for being a learner. I wish people like that would go into some other profession.

image: "Question mark in Esbjerg" alexanderdrachmann's flickr May 4, 2008.

Comment Challenge Day 2 - and I've already messed up!

I always like to tell the kids I teach that I am a great mistake-maker! I want them to see that making mistakes isn't a bad thing...in fact it's a good thing as long as you learn from your mistakes (which I do try to do). 

So, it is in that spirit, that I report that I already seem to have lost track of what I am supposed to be doing with this comment challenge.

Today is day 2, and the activity for today was to comment on a "new" blog, meaning one where you haven't before left a comment. 

That part was super-easy, as I read many great blogs but rarely comment. I left a comment on Wesley Fryer's post about ideas for summer professional development. Then, after I left my comment I realized that I was in safari and my cocomment tracker is only in my firefox browser. And I even blogged about that yesterday!

oh well. 

Hopefully, I have learned from this little mistake and will remember to start tracking my comments. 

It's all part of the learning for me. 

And if you are part of The Comment Challenge remember to add the comment08 tag to your post. 

Comment Challenge Day 1

Day 1: Do a Commenting Self-Audit

For this activity, do the following:

1. Answer the following questions:

•How often do you comment on other blogs during a typical week?

I don't really have a typical week as far as blogging. I am still getting into the habit of it. I find myself jumping around quite a bit, skimming posts and occasionally commenting. I may go weeks without leaving a single comment and other weeks I may leave several comments on many different blogs. Sometimes I read a really great post, or a post that really makes me think, and I want to say something, but I don't know what to write. Either I feel that I have nothing new to add or I feel too rushed to really put my thoughts into words properly. And so I don't comment at all. Sometimes I will share a post I really like in my google reader widget on my blog instead of leaving a comment at the blog. Sometimes I plan to go back and comment later, when I have more time, and of course, I get involved in something else, and I don't go back.

•Do you track your blog comments? How? What do you do with your tracking?

No, I do not track my comments. Well, for this challenge I just signed up for cocomment, so I guess I will begin tracking my comments. Although, I couldn't download the bookmark-thing in safari, which is the browser I normally use, so I am going to have to remember to use firefox as I read blogs from now on. If the blog has a choice to receive an email of follow-up comments, I do check that, but not all blogs offer that option. If I leave a comment on a blog that doesn't send follow-up emails, I do try to remember to go back to the blog to read follow-up comments, but sometimes I can't even recall where I left a comment.

•Do you tend to comment at the same blogs or do you try to comment on at least one new blog per week?

There is nothing purposeful about the way I comment on blogs. Right now I subscribe to over 60 blogs in my google reader. Not that I read them all, but I do read at least a few posts each day. I probably do tend to repeat-comment on certain blogs because I feel that I have established some connection or previous communication with that blogger, and I feel like I am continuing a conversation.

2. Now review Gina Trapani's Guide to Blog Comments and ask yourself how well you're doing in each of the different areas. Are there any specific areas where you think you need to do some work? What do you want to do to address these issues?

Well, after reading this, I'm glad to say that I seem to be doing ok with following the rules. I would not leave an anonymous comment, be rude or a drunkard. I try to stay on topic and add to the conversation. And I am not a know-it-all. But, I often don't feel that I have anything new or interesting to add. I think that is one reason that I tend not to comment too much. Once in awhile, I even feel a little bit shy about my comment after I've left it.

So, that is the issue I need to address. If I'm going to be a blogger, I have to stop feeling self conscious and just put myself out there. One thing I am doing to address this is blogging in the first place. Another way I am going to try to address this is by doing this comment challenge.

This sentence has been added in an attempt to get technorati to pick up this post for comment08. If you are part of the 31 day comment challenge, tag your posts with comment08. And good luck!

The Comment Challenge. I'm up for it!

I just joined the 31 day comment challenge. It is just the kind of challenge I enjoy, and I appreciate Kim, Sue, Silvia and Michele for setting it up in order to help new bloggers break into the conversation.
The goal is to comment often and well, to showcase new blogs, to stir up the pot of learning that is happening on blogs all over the web. And I, new blogger that I am, want in.

When I started my blog, back in January, my goals were simple. I just had the feeling that it was something I needed to do. I have to say that I am amazed at the way that blogging has propelled me forward as a 21st century teacher/learner. I actually think I have learned to process information more quickly as I jump around the web --reading, thinking, learning, commenting, subscribing, twittering.
I remember when I first put a visitor map on my blog. For a long time, it had only two red dots. One represented me, and the other one represented my friend who lives in Charleston. I was intrigued and excited when a new dot appeared. Who found my blog? Was it an accident? Did they read it?
I was so thrilled when I got that first comment from someone I didn't know in "real life." I still get excited every time someone comments on my blog.
I've learned a lot, but I still have so much to learn.

So, I am up for the challenge of going deeper into this blogging experience. I know it will affect me in ways I can't conceive of at this point. I don't care about the prize, unless the prize is that more people will read my blog and comment on my posts.
See, I do want to be a better blog citizen, but I have to admit, I also want to be a better blogger. As in, I want my own blog to be better.

I've noticed that since my name was put up on the wiki, I've had more hits than usual on my blog, hits that came from the wiki. It feels like a lot of pressure to me. I want to make the most of having people visit my blog. It's a good kind of pressure, because hopefully, this challenge will help me get into a routine, one that includes writing good, short! posts, reading, commenting and moving on to do some of the many, many other things I have waiting for me to do. I've long wondered how these bloggers/teachers/parents,etc. seem to do it all. Maybe this will help me figure it out.

Or maybe I'll just go completely nuts!

This is what my kitchen looks like on the evenings I blog. Truthfully, it usually looks even worse than that. I can't seem to do it all. That's my confession.
But I'm in it for the long haul.

I see great value in being a part of the edublogger community.

Tweet Cloud Poetry Meme

As usual, I am a few days/weeks/months....years??? behind the wave, but I am joining the fun of the found word poetry with my tweetcloud. Can you tell that I am completely burnt out? There are so many important thoughts being articulated and discussed in blog-land, and I desperately want to be part of it. I really do. 

Clay Burell calls it fluff. Well, maybe for him it is...

Tried blogging interesting, useful thoughts. Come comment. Thanks!

Teachers sure talk.

Enjoy everything. Use time better. Eat chocolate. Feel happy. Choose love.

Want free fun? Try Twitter.

Ramblings of My MInd

I am forgoing the usual attempt at a coherent post. My mind is a jumble of thoughts, and I am going to spill them. Isn't that my prerogative??

 (sung to the tune of It's My Party... -- It's my blog and I'll ramble if I want to...)

T*O*D*a*Y...

Good things about today ---

1. The BEST thing about today was that my 5th grade class skyped with Laura from 25 Days to Make a Difference. We have been working on our own blog for a difference, 17 Chances to Help. The kids love Laura's blog and they have been having a bit of a back and forth exchange with her via comments and posts. It was one of my students who asked if we could skype with her. I really haven't done much skypeing with my students at all. In fact today was only the second time I have used skype in the classroom and the first time I have used it in this way. Laura was so adorable and sweet. My students were so excited and kept asking her the same questions, like, "How did you get the idea for your blog?" over and over. All in all it was just cool.

2. A friend at work made me lunch. How nice was that?

Frustrations for today...

1. I got a not so nice, "anonymous" comment on the 17 chances to help blog. I think it was from a student in the class. I'm not sure of the motivation for the comment, if it was a passive-aggressive way of complaining about the project or just a misguided attempt at being funny. I don't know if he/she didn't realize the comments were moderated. I don't know. I have heard that a few of the students have complained about spending so much of our lab time working on the blog, but when I asked the whole group about it, I got a positive response, even asking if they can continue in next year. 

It really hits a nerve and illustrates, for me, a piece of the issue of digital citizenship that is being discussed so much lately, especially after the appalling videotaped beating of a teenager last week. Every little aspect of digital citizenship needs to be taught. Here I am, a teacher, used to students complaining about this and that, and a little comment (which was not even THAT bad) really felt like a slap in the face. There is something cowardly about posting anonymously. I would much rather hear students complain directly, and I told them that.

Now this same group will also be working on a collaborative writing project, using google docs to collaborate on a story using the pictures from The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. I am really interested and even a bit worried to see how they handle the collaborative aspect of the work. 

2. I am a bit disappointed in the aforementioned group blog project. It was helpful "talking" a bit to Laura's mom, Angela, and reading her post about Laura's blog. I want to do so much more than I am able to do in my 45 minute per week sessions. I can't seem to get the kids to go as deep as I would like them to go. They have a "mitzvah club" as part of their Judaic Studies, but it seems to me that something is missing. They seem to be going through the motions, but not gaining a real understanding of what they are doing. Their writing, their thoughts, even their answers to some of Laura's questions, really make me wonder how our school could be doing a better job of teaching. I don't know if my expectations are out of line for 5th grade... I don't think so, I used to be a 5th grade classroom teacher, but maybe I've lost my sense of the age group? 

Final thoughts:

•I don't know how to address the 45 minutes a week dilemma. I like being the tech resource at the school, even with the limitations. The Judaic Studies teacher who does the Mitzvah Club with the students has no interest whatsoever in integrating tech. She didn't even want to see the blog. I hope to get a grant to continue and expand the project. If I am lucky enough to win a grant, it will give me more options. Maybe I will take it to the afterschool arena, as I did with my student blogging group, the Tech Explorers. I would like us to actually DO some things to help out in our community. I want the students to experience the power of helping and giving, as well as their own power to create, connect and make good things happen.

•As to the issue of teaching digital citizenship, there is a wave building. Talk about using the power of technology to harness the good...I have jumped on board and am expecting quite a ride. Only a few days old, it is called ad4dcss (advocates for digital citizenship, safety and success) and there is already a lot of action afoot.

 

My Daring Dozen...Part 2

It was great writing the first half of my daring dozen list. It made me focus on people I have been lucky to encounter who have inspired my love and passion for teaching. I realize that my list could easily go on and on....Here are numbers 7-12 of my daring dozen, teachers who are doing amazing things in their own corner of the world. 

7) Silvia Tolisano AKA Langwitches: I met Silvia only a few months ago, but in a short time, she has made a large impact on me. She doesn't know it, but I have adopted her as my mentor. She and I have similar jobs at similar schools. I met her serendipitously at FETC. I had only recently started my blog. I don't think I would have connected with her had I not started blogging, as I don't know that I would have paid attention or known to leave a comment on her blog. 

Since starting my job as tech coordinator, almost 2 years ago, I have spent a lot of time teaching and tutoring other adults to use all types of technology applications. Of course, I've learned plenty myself in the process. But Silvia is the first person who has actually taught me. And I can not believe how much she has taught me in a short period of time. I've learned a great deal through her excellent blog, not only have I learned from reading it, going back again and again, but I've been amazed and grateful for her generosity in encouraging me as a new blogger and mentioning and linking to my blog. It was Silvia who told me to join twitter and encouraged her network to welcome me. I've learned so much there, and who knows if I would have discovered it otherwise. When I went to visit her at her school, Silvia generously sat and taught me, much in the way I teach the teachers at my school,  so many useful things: google reader, gmail, google docs, igoogle. She shared with me the idea for the afterschool blogging group she had started, which I immediately copied at my own school and which is now the highlight of my week. Having someone in a similar position, who goes through similar challenges, also makes me feel less alone. 

I find her to be quite brilliant, and hope she realizes what a difference she is making, not only at her own school, but at my school as well! I'm sure she has impacted many teachers and students through her blog and the work she is doing. 

8) Fredda Kaplan. I used to work with Fredda at Domincan University in San Rafael, CA. We taught a technology integration course for pre-service elementary and middle school teachers. Fredda is the tech coordinator at the Brandeis Hillel Day School in San Rafael. It's funny, because when we worked together at Dominican, I used to jokingly say to her, "I want your job." (meaning her job at Brandeis Hillel) In one of those strange "be careful what you wish for" types of things that happen in life, I got almost her exact job when I moved to Jacksonville, even down to the detail of it being a Jewish Day School. Fredda is an artist who went into teaching, and she transfers that creative energy fully into her job. The work she brings forth from students is simply amazing, and I've used so many of her ideas and projects with my students. 

9) Melinda Kolk. Melinda is the Director of Professional Development at Tech4Learning. Tech4Learning is a company that makes, in my opinion, some of the best software available for education. They are a company that strikes me as having a true passion for education and, more importantly, understanding what education is all about. I was amazed when I met Melinda at FETC, and she told me that she wasn't a former teacher. Tech4Learning has really well-developed resources for teachers and is incredibly responsive to teacher needs. I feel that through the things she does in her position at T4L, Melinda is really paving the way for the changes that are happening in education. She presents at many of the edtech conferences around the country, and also impacts educators in that way. 

10) Nomy Szoychen. Nomy is a Judaic Studies teacher at my school. Nomy thinks so far "outside the box" that I don't think she could even find the box! She is an artist who truly approaches teaching as a craft. Every time I see her, she is overflowing with some new idea or project or some new "amazing" thing she has discovered online. I just love her enthusiasm for teaching.

11) Edith Horovitz. Yet another teacher at my school. As I'm writing this, I'm realizing how many great teachers I am blessed to be around. Edith couldn't be called a "tech reformer, " she is one who approaches tech as something that must be conquered, but I am sure it is not her great love. Here is why she makes my daring dozen: She LOVES her students with all her heart. That may not sound daring, most teachers love their students, right? But, Morah Eta is different. She seems to live for them, not in a pathetic way, like someone who doesn't have a life, but in the way of someone who was born to be doing what she is doing. She shares all of herself with them, all the time. She sings with them, dances with them, takes them to her house for breakfast...she has created the Mitzvah Program, a service learning project which our middle school students participate in throughout their middle school years. As for technology, Edith is so thrilled every time she learns or figures out something new, she truly delights in learning. She has been one of my best students, as well as someone from whom I have learned a great deal. 

Number 12....There are many more people to whom I could give this last spot. It's hard to choose, and I don't want to inadvertently leave anyone out (not that anyone reads this anyway...even the people I wrote about for the first daring dozen post and told I wrote about them,  didn't read it. ) But for the last space, I am going to award it to myself. I hope that doesn't come across the wrong way. But I do believe that I am a reformer in education, and that this is what I am meant to be doing. Let me tell you, it brings with it plenty of frustration and self-doubt. But I believe that meeting these other 11 people was no random accident, that it is not just luck, but that I am supposed to be where I am, doing what I am doing, at least for now. I like to believe that I, too, am making a difference. 

My Daring Dozen - the first 6

Read the Original Daring Dozen Post on Edutopia

We find evidence that the ranks of reformers are growing and their pleas for technology integration, project learning, integrated curriculum, collaborative learning, new methods of assessment are having more impact. The trenches are full of folks whose courage, imagination and inexhaustible spirit are bringing enlightenment to education, sometimes one school or classroom at a time. 

Thanks, Lucy Gray, for asking the question, "Who is your personal daring dozen?"

I can say for certain that I wouldn't still be in the field of education if not for the amazing teachers who've inspired me along the way. So, without further ado, my daring dozen:

1) Samantha Glickman - I was so fortunate to have worked with Sam early in my teaching career. She took me under her wing and taught me everything I know about classroom management. She puts every bit of her heart and soul into teaching. She looks at every challenge as an opportunity to try something new. I also credit Sam for getting me into teaching with technology. Back in the 90's, before tech in schools was the 'big thing,' Sam scraped together 4 mismatched computers and a old t.v. with an s-video adaptor to make a technology center in the classroom. If it will benefit her students, Sam will find a way to make it happen. Sam now teaches 4th grade at Noble School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and her class is pen pals with the 2nd grade class at my school. Yes, good old fashioned pen pals writing letters with the pen and paper and sending by snailmail. And they love it. Not everything has to be high-tech to motivate.

2) Susan Killebrew -I worked with Susan around the same time I started working with Sam. The three of us worked in an unbelievably challenging school with probably one of the worst, most ineffective principals of all time. There is no way I would have survived and remained in teaching without them to teach me, share with me, lead by example. Creative, resourceful, brilliant, and true to her ideals, Susan is the type of person who inspires you to want to be a better person. Currently Susan teaches Spanish at Peralta Elementary School in Oakland, CA. 

3) Loret Peterson - Another amazing teacher with whom I have been fortunate to work. Loret taught a 4th/5th grade class in San Francisco and may very well still be teaching there. We worked together for the California Reading and Literature Project. Loret is another educator who was integrating technology long before it was common.  As part of a project on immigration, Loret wrote a grant to buy several, digital cameras for her classroom. She sent the cameras home with students who interviewed family members. She then used the grant money to pay a consultant to come in and help the students use photoshop to create beautiful, artistic posters combining the photos they took and their written interviews. Done with one computer and a desire to do something different. Just one example of why Loret is in my dozen. 

4) Kathleen Ferenz - One of the teachers in my masters program, Kathleen Ferenz was one of the only teachers I had who actually modeled the type of teaching she advocated. Her class was one of the best classes I took. I learned a lot, and it definitely impacted the way I teach today. 

5) Kim Glasgal - Not an educator by trade, but making a difference nonetheless. Kim is my friend and my assistant at work. When I first took the job as a tech coordinator last year, I was completely and totally overwhelmed. To write about that would be a post (or several) in itself. Knowing that Kim was a tech-savvy type I asked her if she might be willing to come in and help me out a bit. (She is also a parent at the school.) She agreed. I had one project in mind that I just didn't have the time to deal with. I thought she could help get it going. She spent uncountable hours as an unpaid volunteer and took over many headaches, I mean projects, for me. She was so awesome that the school hired her as my assistant. This year she helps a lot with the students and teacher training as well, and she is wonderful. 

6) Deb Kuhr- Deb is the middle school English teacher at my school. I love the fact that she loves to learn and truly gets excited about teaching. On my very first day at the school she came up to me and said, "Ok, here is what I'm teaching this year. I'd love to integrate technology. What ideas do you have?" If only every teacher I worked with had her openness to trying new things, not only in the classroom, but for herself as well. When we had Kaleidoscope Day this year, a day fully devoted to the arts, all of the classes came through the computer lab to use pixie or image blender to create a self portrait. The teachers were required (for the one and only time all year) to come with their classes. Most of the teachers just sat and did other things while the students were working on the project, but not Deb. She wanted to do the same project that the students were doing so she, too, could learn to use the software. 

It's late, and I'm tired, but I like to publish what I write. So, I'm going to stop at a half dozen, and I will finish with the next half dozen real soon. This was a great exercise, really makes you feel good to focus on the good stuff. 

Thanks, Lucy, for the suggestion.