Reflections of a Techie

Mathematical Fiction Homepage

This young man is trying to create a database of fiction that relates to math. It will be terrific. Hope it lasts.

On the eve of Lynn Erickson

Tomorrow I'm off to spend two days thinking about curriculum and pairing it with instruction. Boy, this is near and dear to my heart. Ever since I read the UbD book for the first time six years ago, all this just made sense. I've talked and talked about this until I'm blue in the face.

It first started to fall into place when I constructed WebQuests. Fortunately I was working with a colleague who I totally admire and we were in an online class with Grant Wiggins and Bernie Dodge. Learning to construct WebQuests was so difficult and it took us 16 weeks...no wonder because the facets of understanding are elusive and the web was fairly young.

Fast forward six years and now in 2003, I came across the first Lynn Erickson book at the National Board national conference. Content Area Curriculum immediately made sense to me. It was what I had done to get through my National Board process and how I went about coaching candidates...didn't quite know that it was at that point. But the book helped put words onto the process. And it refined my thinking.

A year later other colleagues brought another Erickson book to my attention. Stirring the Head, Heart and Soul. Here was for me. The first time all the stars started to align in one book. It wasn't that I didn't understand all of it. But she was able to able to explain UbD and alignment and Big Ideas and on and on and on in such a way that teachers could understand it. Up to this point, most of the people I had tried to talk to just had gotten that "dear in the headlight" look and became overwhelmed.

Sometimes I wear out waiting. It's a real shortcoming I work on. I know it's not my strength. So here was a book that explained what I couldn't.

And now for the next 2 days, the author is coming to explain her work. We are having 4 representatives from each of our buildings come and listen. Hurray. I couldn't be happier. And my colleagues who convinced the upper managment that it was the best move to bring her to the district rather than pay to send all these people to conferences---hurray for their persuasive brillance.

I can hardly wait for tomorrow. You can bet that I'm going to not only hang onto the message, but the way in which the message is delivered. It should be as informative as the message itself for me. I have much to learn.

What a day

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

e.e. cummings