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What Jane has been up to
Highlights of 2005: January-May
2005 Blog: June through November
May 26, 2005
High School Web Site is up. Sort of.
I am pleased to announce the launching of the Web site for our new book, High School’s Not Forever. There’s not much content yet, but all the structural and design elements (templates, library items, CSS) and the home page frameset are all in place. Click here to check out the site!
The deck is open...
This is my favorite day of the year! It’s summertime (almost) and time to move my workspace out to the deck. Although there are certain things I can only do efficiently at my desk in the office downstairs, I love spending mornings working outside. (It gets too warm after about 2:00 on most days.)
This is where I do much of my writing and research or reading, and where, lately, I’ve been working on my Web sites, watching the birds at the feeders right in front of me, enjoying the incredible view and the high desert air. I know I’m still a bit giddy from being home for more than two weeks, but it really doesn’t get much better than this.
May 15, 2005
3:30 a.m., London
Jet lag, anyone? I’m not only wide awake but really hungry! (It’s 8:30 pm at home right now.) It takes days for me to get on local time and probably just as I start adjusting, it’ll be time for me to head home—about 36 hours from now.
I did all the things they say to do—staying up all day when I got here, walking around in the sunlight, avoiding caffeine and alcohol, going to bed after it gets dark. And still...
The day I got here, I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather to do some sightseeing. I grabbed a couple of maps at the front desk and had a blast navigating the buses and the Tubes (subway) to get around town. (Nothing like a good mass transit system, especially in a city this size!) I still ended up walking for miles, which I hoped would wear me out so I’d sleep later that night.
I wanted to check out the London Eye, this enormous, slow-moving ferris wheel right on the banks of the Thames. The views were incredible (or “brilliant,” as they say here!) but I think I was even more fascinated by the engineering of this thing. Truly remarkable.
I walked past the Parliament and Big Ben (no tours until summer, I was told) and spent a couple hours just hanging out in Westminster Abbey, which was one of the first places I visited on my first trip here, nearly 30 years ago! (That was also the last time I actually spent any time in London.)
I slept so late on Friday, once I finally fell asleep, that I never did get out to do any sightseeing! But I had a lovely evening meeting a friend for dinner and a play. (We saw A Patch of Blue in a tiny theater in the back of a pub! Terrific performances, with the British actors really nailing the American accents! Quite impressive.)
The conference yesterday was fantastic, and a great way to end the semester and school year. What a lovely group of people! Of course many of the problems and concerns in schools we see in the States also exist here, and clearly the same solutions will apply as well. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the other speakers; the participants certainly got a terrific blend of information.
London is incredibly expensive and our dollar is definitely not doing well right now. It’s more than $25 a day to get online here so I’m not gonna bother uploading these updates until I get home.
So, OK. It’s now just after 4 a.m. I’m supposed to meet another friend sometime later today and I sure hope he’s flexible cause at this point, I do not feel like setting an alarm and there’s no telling when I’ll be asleep (or awake) again.
May 11, 2005
In the Air again...
Greetings from 35,000 feet! I’m on my way to London for a conference focusing on the relationship between kids’ behavior (or, “behaviour”) and achievement.
As much as I whine about traveling sometimes, I’m actually quite excited about this trip. I guess being home for a few days was enough to re-energize me. It’s been ages since I’ve been in London and the thought of seeing a few friends I haven’t seen in a couple of years, walking around town, and just being in a big, foreign city again has me really psyched.
In the meantime, I’ve got the iPod shuffling through Tull, the Stones, Roxy Music, the Smiths, Cream, and the like, definitely getting me in the mood. Too cool...
But first...
I think I’ve nailed down a design for the new Web site—the one that goes along with the new, soon-to-be-released book, High School’s Not Forever. If you want to get an idea of what the site will look like, click here.
May 5, 2005
Quick Update
I’m writing from the restaurant in the Thunderbird Hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota, one trip away from the official end of the semester. Just finished a lovely day with a group of about 150 counselors, social workers, youth intervention specialists, teachers, foster parents, alternative school and corrections people and others who work with at-risk kids. I’ve got about 3 hours before my flight home, a few minutes before the airport shuttle will ferry me over to the airport.
I’ve finished with BER for the school year which means quite a bit less travel for the next few months, a chance to catch my breath, sort of. The last run was a good one and I’m grateful for the work I did with this terrific group of people.
I’ve now turned my attention to a few other projects, including revising my handout book (which I do every year for my BER workshops, and which becomes the source of all my workshop handouts for the year), working on the High School’s Not Forever Web site and starting on a 3rd edition of 21st Century Discipline.
Yes, this is exciting news. I’m anticipating a contract from a new publisher and as soon as we nail down details, I’ll fill you in. They look like great people and I’m excited about the prospect of working with them.
High School’s Not Forever is still in the design phase and we haven’t seen anything beyond what I already have posted on this site. So stay tuned...
I’ve got one trip left this crazy semester: I head out for London next Wednesday. Very excited about working with this new organization (The Centre for Child Mental Health) and looking forward to seeing a few friends I haven’t seen in a few years. (Though you think Cream could’ve held off one more week before their big reunion concert. Darn!) I’ll let you know how it goes.
April 16, 2005
High School Book Galley Pages online
We got some sample galley pages this week and BOY do they look good!! If you want to check out what the book will look like on the inside, you can click here to download the PDF.
Off my Chest: The State of the Profession
I just got a postcard from a friend. He’s a high school principal, and a brilliant educator. He writes, “Education backsliding fast. Time to get out before the ship sinks.”
This really struck a nerce, in part because it came at the end of a long week, after six full-day presentations over the last eight days. Now I met some incredible, positive, dedicated and committed educators this time out. But an otherwise terrific trip ended on a sour note, and yesterday... yipes! I ended up with a number of people who had been sent to my seminar as a “disciplinary action” (always a danger when doing presentations that focus on dealing effectively with difficult students) and boy, did they have the attitudes, agendas and closed minds to go with it.
Every now and then I get a number of people who are, perhaps understandably, bitter and negative. Their energy reminds me of a trapped and wounded animal. They’re defensive, hurt, angry and disenfranchised. Getting something out of the presentation—much less enjoying it—becomes an impossible concession to the administrator or supervisor who demanded that they attend (or, like yesterday, threatened them with insubordination if they did not). Not exactly an ideal way to prepare someone for a potential learning experience. It doesn’t actually feel personal, but boy, it can make the day seem awfully long.
I am increasingly nervous about the number of people I meet who are leaving the profession for lack of support, continual decreases in discretion, increased pressure to improve or fix things beyond their control, or simply, as one person told me, because “I did not go into teaching to prepare kids to take tests.”
My heart hurts for them, partly because I’ve been down that road myself and remember all too well the needless obstacles that made a challenging job nearly impossible to do, or do well.
I’m also nervous because what they learn in my seminars, if indeed they learn anything, is probably 180° from what their administrators sent them there to get. And that doing what actually works with kids—in terms of improving behavior, commitment, learning and performance (even though I make sure to discuss ways to “cover their backsides”) is very likely to draw fire and create even more stress in their lives.
I know the feeling of wanting to jump off a sinking ship. When I left the classroom, I was fairly sure I was done with education, and I’ve sworn off numerous times since. But I keep coming back because, in part, this is simply who I am. Or maybe I’m just not ready to give up on the wealth of proven possibilities we actually have for reaching kids, the hundreds of strategies we can use that work, especially in a healthy and supportive environment.
And, as I also experienced in this past week, I know that there are at least a few healthy, positive and supportive schools and districts doing some amazing things, and I guess as long as there are a few of them left, or as long as at least a few people show up because they are indeed committed to making positive changes and just want a few more ideas, I’ll hang around.
It’s late in the season. I haven’t been home for more than 2 weeks (and that long only once) since the end of September. I’m tired. There are days when I feel, physically, like I’m barely holding together. And I never seem to be able to stay caught up on much of anything anymore. So I’m a little sensitive to the negativity out there right now, and very grateful for the creativity and persistence of the educators I meet who are somehow managing in these crazy times.
April 7, 2005
Up in the Air
Literally. I’m on a plane (my 9th commuter flight in a week and a half) heading to Winnipeg. I’m starting to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve lost track of how many days I’ve been out, but I’m very clear on what I’ve got left: 13 presentations in 13 cities in 3 countries, five out of the next six weeks on the road.
So OK, I’m tired. Grateful for all this incredible work, all these remarkable opportunities. It’s beautiful up here at however many feet high these little jets go and I actually have an empty seat next to me—a rare and precious treat. But I am starting to feel the effects of being gone more than half of the past eight months, of not being home for more than 8 or 9 consecutive days since New Year’s. And there are days I feel like I’m holding on by a thread.
Yes, I’m quite exited about all of my upcoming engagements. And I’m looking forward to having a three-week break in mid-May, more than I can describe.
Books, Books, Books!
High School’s Not Forever is in production. For all intents and purposes, our work on it is done. (I am, for some reason, having a hard time deciding on what to write for my bio. It’s easy writing for teachers. I can’t imagine what a bunch of kids would want to know about me...)
Here’s a very cool thing: I’m talking to a publisher for a new (3rd) edition of 21st Century Discipline. This will mean a significant revision—more like a complete overhaul! So assuming this goes through, I guess I’ll be writing again this summer. I won’t be home as much as I’ll probably need to be, but the thought of laying out on my deck, watching the birds, this laptop on my lap... how cool is that? Even if it’s only for a few weeks, I’m so looking forward to spending some time like that. Stay tuned for details as soon as we nail them down.
New Website!
I only have a welcome page for a dedicated Web site for the new book, High School’s Not Forever, at highschoolsnotforever.com. (Yes, we can see how much it looks like highschoolSNOTforever. Hey, if that helps people remember the URL, so much the better.)
Eric and I are now wrestling with the design, but the basic architecture is there.
What we need is content!! We have some perfectly lovely stories and tips and facts and quotes that we had to cut out of the manuscript when we found out it was twice as long as it needed to be, and that’s a start. I’ve just printed up a bunch of invites for teachers and will share them at my workshops in Winnipeg and, next week, in the five workshops I’m doing around New England. Anybody reading this want to write?
Mar. 9, 2005
High School Book
It’s been edited and is moving toward production. For more details, click here.
Other Stuff
I’m in Rochester, NY (as opposed to Rochester, MN, where I was three weeks ago), in the middle of a week that started in Burlington, VT and ends on Friday in Buffalo. (I’ve declared this to officially be my last week of winter!!)
I’m waiting for about a dozen pages of parent handouts to come back from the Ann Worthington, who is proofreading the Spanish translation and translating a few links, references and additional material on those pages.
I’m excited about finally having some of my material available in Spanish. I’ve had many requests for some Spanish-language materials over the years and should have these handouts up by the time I post this, even if only in draft form.
I’ve been approached by a couple of people who might be interested in translating these pages into French. Pending their proposals, I am looking forward to being able to offer these pages at some point in the near future.
Speaking of translations, I’ve got about 10 extra copies of The Parent’s Little Book of Lists in Turkish if anyone is interested.
OK, that’s about it for now. It’s actually Friday, 3/11, and after five back-to-back, full-day presentations, I’m a bit fried.
Feb. 6, 2005
High School Book
I just turned in the revisions on the last chapters. Eric and I have completely overhauling the the organization and structure of each chapter. Hopefully, these will be the last major changes to the manuscript. We expect to move a few chapters around, but that’s mechanical—and a whole lot simpler than these major conceptual changes have been. See our progress page for more details.
I also expect that my role will be, in the next few days, responding to feedback from my co-author and editor. This is far less imposing (or intimidating) than where we were six weeks ago, facing a major reconceptualization. I really do hope that that part of the process is done.
The latest version of the reorganized structure (with sub-categories within each chapter) is listed on the contents page. Note that the current sub-category titles are simply for our benefit in reorganizing the content. I expect that we’ll eventually be renaming these with more teen-friendly titles. (Eric is way better at this than I am.) Stay tuned.
Closeout Books
Wow! On my last few speaking engagements, the coupons for these books were scarfed up quickly and we sold out of another six titles. As our supplies dwindle (I think we are now down to 10 titles out of the original 350!), I decided to consolidate all the remaining supplies onto one closeout sale page, rather than dividing them up into resources for specific markets. Get ’em while you can. In many cases, we only have one or two copies left.
Immediate Goals
With the major revision pretty much finished, I am really looking forward to sinking my teeth into a few other projects I’ve had on deck for a while. I just received a number of handouts and materials from The Parent’s Little Book of Lists and Parents, Teens & Boundaries in Spanish! I am hoping to have the text of these pages entered and added to this site in the next couple of weeks.
There are so many other things needing attention! New projects, Web site updates (I really want to get to the Forum ideas people have shared, add to the Links section and improve the materials for Staff Development Coordinators) and still a number of clerical details related to the book. I’m leaving tomorrow and will be gone most of February (I have LOVED this past week at home!!) but will update from the road.
Jan. 10, 2005
High School Book
I’ve just updated the page on which I promised to keep track of our progress on this book. I am not in a good space about it right now, anticipating having to cut a lot of good material (which ultimately will end up on the web site, whenever I get around to putting that together) and very anxious about trying to figure out how to reorganize what we’ve got.
We’re waiting for more specific input from our editor, but this has really created a lot of stress for Eric and me. An hour before the call, I had been sitting at my desk barely able to breathe trying to figure out how I was going to get through all the crap on my desk. And now this...
They need these revisions done in a month, which would be hard enough without me being on the road for four of the next five weeks. Wonder why I’m up at 4:30 in the morning? Again?
21st Century Discipline, Being a Successful Teacher
These books were acquired by McGraw-Hill when they bought out Frank Schaffer Publishing and, as often happens when old titles end up in new hands, were immediately overlooked and ignored! That’s hardly the first time that’s happened with these books, each of which has been in the hands of at least 9 or 10 publishers since the first contracts were drawn up!
When this happens, I’ve learned that it’s time to move on. The new publishers have been unbelievably difficult and unresponsive to work with, and frankly, that really told me it was time to get the rights back and move on—either seeking out a new home for these books, keeping them in print myself or letting them just die out. (This last bit, letting them go out of print, is definitely not an option with the discipline book.)
I’ve been writing and calling since September, just trying to get some sense of the publisher’s intentions for these books. And today, I finally got a letter confirming that the books had, indeed, been dropped from their “in print” list. In another lifetime, that might have really saddened me, but all I felt seeing their letter today was an immense sense of relief!
Over the last few months, we’ve managed to buy out all remaining copies of both 21st Century Discipline and Being a Successful Teacher. Unless something unusual happens with sales, we should have enough to last for another year or two. It will be at least six months before I can think about pitching these titles to another publisher, if that is what I want to do with them, or revising them to republish on my own, but for now I am simply content to have the rights back—for whatever I decide to do.
On the Road
I’m just back from four days in Wisconsin and Illinois. Despite some really nasty weather between Madison and Chicago, and a whole lot of snow, the week went well.
I’m definitely running into increasingly angry and frustrated teachers, and a lot of people who feel really stuck and disempowered sometimes. My heart hurts for them, and for what they are dealing with right now, and I hope that some of the ideas I’m sharing are helping.
I had some rather large—and lovely—groups on this run. Lots of really nice people, participants who got my jokes and seemed, in general, to be open to trying some new things. And while the turnout surprised me for being so early in the semester, the truth is, for me, it was way too soon to be back on the road.
I’m very much committed to keeping my schedule clear between mid-November through mid-January of next (school) year, and sometimes think that the promise of this break is all that’s keeping me going right now, and an important part of what might just get me through the next few months.
Need some Z’s...
I’ve decided that about 90% of what is NOT working in my life would be a LOT less of an issue if I were getting more (and better) sleep!
It’s 5:30 a.m. and I’ve been up for over an hour, though this is after getting nearly 5 hours of sleep, which is actually a pretty good stretch for me. The good news is that I’m home this week, so although it ends up messing up (and shortening) my day, I do have the luxury of going back to bed and getting some more sleep after I finish working on this site or reading some more.
This has really been a problem for me for the past few years and none of the alternative therapies seem to be helping much (although I suppose it could be worse than it is). I suspect this is hormonal, although I’m sure that, at the moment, anxiety is playing a part as well.
Bottom line, I’m depleting the reserves faster than I’m restoring them, and that makes me really nervous—which, I’m sure, is having an effect on my sleep. Damn...
Jan. 1, 2005
Welcome to a New Year
Happy New Year, everyone!
For the most part, I’ve spent the last two weeks recuperating from a very hectic and exhausting November and December, which involved a great deal of travel (including a whole bunch of presentations and a wonderful Geek cruise), finishing and submitting the manuscript for High School’s Not Forever, the flu and the holidays—with much overlap in all of the above.
It’s not unusal to feel a little let down and unfocused after wrapping up a project that has occupied such an enormous amount of my time and energy, and that has certainly been true since Eric and I wrapped up the book, especially with this event coinciding with the end of the semester and year! I’ve been moving slowly and in terms of productivity, don’t have much to show for the time I’ve been home (a precious two whole weeks). This is probably a good thing!
So what I’ve been up to has been mostly a lot of fun and restorative stuff—reading, knitting, renting movies, cooking, walking, hanging out with Jerry and Shadow and a few friends here and there, getting my hair cut or my nails done, and managing to work in two massages in the last two weeks! I suppose I have caught my breath, and while I am excited about the upcoming workshops, I’m not sure I’m entirely ready to head back to the airport again so soon!
As far as resolutions go, I’m still seeking balance and moderation in my life—things that have never come very easily to me. I find myself thinking more in terms of goals than resolutions and also find that specifying my intentions in writing seems to really help make them manifest. So here are a few things I would like to accomplish in the coming year:
Clear out the rest of the “closeout inventory” as part of our efforts to narrow the focus of our business. We’re currently down to about 15 titles (from the 350 we had in our last catalogue), many of them with only one or two copies remaining.
There’s more, I’m sure, and I’ll add them as I think of them, and note my progress on the ones I can actually get to. So stay tuned and as interesting things happen, I’ll update this blog accordingly!
2005 Blog: June through November
Other “Highlights” pages: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. For an index to all blogs, photos, and other personal information, click here.
Jane’s current Blog.
About Jane home page (bio, intro, other professional information).
Direct links to free stuff on this site:
articles and excerpts • handouts • materials in Spanish and French • videos and podcasts • links to other sites and resources • ideas, tips, and experiences of other educators
My Calendar
Click here (or on the image to the left) to see my schedule. Click here for a map with links to dates that I will be in your area.
