 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
What Jane Has Been Up To:
Highlights of 2009: Jan. to Apr.
2009 Blog: May through December
Click here for all blog links
Follow Jane on Twitter!
April 29, 2009
Back on the Deck
Two things happened this week that seem to have opened a channel for me to get some more writing done. First, the weather broke and it’s warm enough for me to sit out on my beloved deck again. This is such a great place for me to write, certanly the best place in the house or on this property.
Second, I spent a great deal of time cleaning my office this past month, several days in fact. I went through closets and shelves, found all sorts of equipment and BOXES of cables I no longer use. (Isn’t it amazing how quickly the technology we use every day stops being supported?) Got rid of several dozen cassettes. Books, software, anything that didn’t pass the “Do I still use this today?” test.
I went through boxes and boxes of paper, and over the past few weeks have put out 9 or 10 bags for recycling. (Boy am I glad Albuquerque has a paper recycling program.) And yesterday, I dropped off a trunk load of stuff at the Animal Humane Thrift Shop.
I can’t tell you how good it feels to just be clearing things out of my space and my life. Just being able to walk through the office is a very big deal, as is seeing clear surfaces, uncluttered shelves. Amazing what a little space—and spaciousness—can do for the energy in my life! It really feels as if something is opening, or at least my head doesn’t quite reflect the clutter in my workspace!
I have to believe that the fact that I’ve written more in the past few days than in the past year and a half has to do with these efforts. That and the fact that people far more knowledgeable than I are reporting energy shifts starting to happen, although things are still pretty stuck right now. (Click here for an interesting, and reassuring—to me, at least—perspective from energy reader Karen Bishop.)
So, it’s starting to happen, this book thing. Finally. Of course, I have a few interruptions coming up—a week on the road this coming Saturday and I decided to go back for the 40th reunion in York. (Still waiting to hear whether the Cherry Hill group will have something.) But I’m feeling some movement and fluidity I haven’t felt in quite some time. Molasses instead of tree sap. Still, an improvement.
Videos: Another New Frontier
Anybody who knows me at all knows that I have a pretty strong Geek personna. It’s a matter of personal curiosity, as well as professional and economic necessity, that has brought me to explore the potential of personal computing, not just for writing my books—a long way from when I wrote my first book on a bunch of yellow tablets in the early 80s—but also for print production (which I needed to learn to create flyers, order forms, handouts, bookmarks, self-published books, and other products), Web site design, and managing our business, among other things.
I have taken dozens of computer classes, have been on 8 Geek cruises, and am becoming a fixture at the Apple store, where I have been getting one-to-one instruction on different software apps. I’m pretty comfortable doing a lot of different things on a computer, but nothing could have prepared me for the complexity of working with video! I feel like I’ve just come out of the woods and have never seen a computer before!
Nonetheless, with help, I have finally posted a promotional video (shot by Jim Thompson a few years ago) on this site. Click here to watch the promo. I’m still working on the ones I did a few weeks ago, and as soon as they’re done (almost), I’ll put up links to them on the online presentation page. I’m really enjoying what I’m learning, the challenge being—as always—remembering what I’ve learned as I flit from one project (and application) to the next.
April 8, 2009
Some time at home
It’s a quarter to four, so I’m back to my usual sleep patterns. I’ve been home for a little more than a week. My suitcases are still in the hall, waiting to be unpacked and put away for another week and a half.
I finished my taxes today and sent them in. When I went to visit my accountant and pick up my stuff, I noticed something really remarkable. He (like, I would assume, pretty much every other accountant in the country) is overwhelmed and stressed out, but his desk was neat. He had a huge row of files on his desk, each one several inches thick, each one, an account he still had to go through and work up. But his desk was neat! There wasn’t one piece of paper that wasn’t in a file or drawer or box or stack or... Maybe he had stuff stashed somewhere, but his workspace was neat and orderly, and that is something that is definitely missing in my life.
I’ve been trying to ignore the mounting piles in my office (and even with my research for this book) and just write, and I'm finding that’s just not working anymore. Physical clutter is, for me, mental clutter, and a part of what feels blocked.
So I spent an hour today just putting stuff away. (I always get a kick out of the advice to “never touch any piece of paper twice.” I just seem to have stuff come in faster than I can deal with it and frankly don’t always have a place to put everything the second it comes in. Hence the piles.) I can’t believe how much I put away, how much I threw out. And I can’t believe how unnoticeable the dent I made actually is.
One scrap at a time. In the meantime...
Project Updates
Video podcasts: I made my first videos this week. Two of them. I have an appointment at the Apple store because I want to learn how to clean them up before I provide links. I made them for a friend who is setting up a Web site for single parents. Just sat in my office, launched iMovie, hit Record (or Capture of whatever it was), and voila! We have video, useable stuff, two pieces on motivation.
Not perfect by any means. (I actually do better responding to an interviewer than doing a “talking head” session, but it’s not bad, especially for my first go at it.) I will add links to the videos to my site as soon as I have them cleaned up.
Overhaul of High School’s Not Forever Web site: I finally have the code set up and can start creating pages. I’ve done two or three so far and they look pretty good. This site will be so much better in CSS than in frames and tables. I have a lot of new materal to add to the site, and haven’t wanted to add it to the old pages. So while it may be a while before this entire site is completely replaced with new pages, it’s another project I can work on one page at a time.
Singapore and the next Geek Cruise in Beijing: I have finally confirmed at least one day of work in Singapore during the first week in July, and my friend and contact in Singapore, Hamidah Bahashwan (with whom I worked the last time I was there, about ten years ago), is working on at least one more speaking engagement, plus a book signing or two.
Afterwards, we’re heading to Beijing for the next MacMania Geek Cruise with stops in Korea and Japan. I am very likely going to participate in the two-day post-cruise tour, since I booked my flight home to coincide with it. Good to have that settled after being up in the air for months.
The book: I have two pieces added to the next section of the manuscript, so I’ve made some progress there. I’m now at a point where I need my research, interview notes, and surveys and am not sure they are as organized as I had thought, so I need some time sorting through those piles, but I’m pretty sure I have what I need to continue.
Facebook: I’m new to this network but am amazed at how many people I have found (and vice versa). In addition to family and people I know through my work, I am back in touch with people from the two high schools I attended, in some cases, with people I’ve known since grade school! It’s been 40 years since we all graduated and I’m getting such a kick out of being Facebook friends with people I barely knew, and rarely interacted with back then.
I went to school with some incredibly bright people, and it’s been so interesting catching up with where they are in their lives right now. Definitely a time-consuming distraction, and a fun one.
Career Evolution, or just an interesting Pause?
I just answered a friend’s email, directing her to a video I’ve started showing in my seminars that has some incredibly interesting facts about the changing world (and technology in particular). It takes less than 5 minutes and is well worth checking out. In my note to her, I mentioned that I think it’s obvious from an education standpoint that we really need to make friends with change.
For those of us trying to figure out where to plant our feet on these shifting sands, I do believe that vision, experience, passion, and adaptability will count for much. There is a strong sense among many of the people with whom I’ve been talking lately (especially people who are self-employed, retired, or in between jobs) that we may well not be doing what we’ve been doing.
From a 67-year-old single retired friend (after 42 years as a teacher and principal) who is going to sell her house and move “somewhere else” but who has no idea where, to a dentist, in her late 50s, whose arthritis has her now successfully reinventing herself as a specialist in helping people deal with the dental aspects of sleep apnea, there are so many of us looking into a future that doesn’t look a whole lot like the past, and looking ahead with excitement and anticipation.
My programming would have me doing the opposite of what I’ve been doing these past few months, which is simply settling into being where I am, cleaning out my office, being open to all kinds of new possibilities (including those in other fields or areas of work), and figuring, with way more assurance than I have any rational evidence for, that as long as I’m out on this limb, a tree can’t be far behind.
Mar. 22, 2009
Aloha... and up for some (moist, tropical) air
I am looking out into this beautiful garden outside the condo we’re renting in Wailea (on Maui), the ocean visible just beyond the palms on the next property down the hill. A really good place to come down from the past few weeks. (This is the 9th state I’ve been in since the March 3rd, working in all but one, where I just changed planes.)
I am still jet lagged and pretty fried—I worked in Honolulu on Friday after working in San Jose earlier that day and then spending the next 12 hours traveling. Pretty demanding, though the groups I’ve had this week have been just wonderful, and that always helps.
We only have a few days here, and I want to savor every minute. No big ambitions for this trip other than trying a few new restaurants (we had a wonderful dinner at Sensei last night), revisiting a few of our favorites (Longhi’s and Maui Thai so far, both as fabulous as always), get to the beach (walking down there in a few minutes), and maybe spotting some whales.
I have my new sun hat (crushable, unlike all the others I get home and never pack again) and sunscreen, and my camera, as always. I finally slept last night—seven straight hours, which is probably the best and longest sleep I’ve had in a few weeks. I feel like I could use a month over here, but the week will be a good re-set for now.
Looking at the real estate here, even the recession deals are pretty outrageous. I know there are deals to be had (here and in the central coast area of California, which I also love), but I’m really looking forward to not having to work quite as hard as I’ve been working these past 40+ years, and frankly, the thought of starting on another mortgage right now makes my stomach hurt.
So last night on the beach at Kihei, looking up at a gazillion stars and listening to the surf, Jerry and I pretty much decided to use whatever another property would cost (not to mention the headaches, taxes, management, or other things that occurred to me after I flirted with the idea for all of about 8 seconds) for vacations like this one. Maybe a little longer. Or more frequent.
More Hawaii stuff
On today’s walk, I schlepped my camera, a Canon Rebel xti that Jerry bought for me during the holidays in 2007. Every time I come to Hawaii, I end up taking the same pictures of the same flowers. I can’t help it. They are so deliciously irresistible, visually, that I just end up shooting a lot of the same scenes and subjects trip after trip.
I love the diversity of the birds and plants here—so different from the beauty of the high desert.
After lunch, we went down to one of the beaches (behind the Wailea Marriott, which just happens to be one of the prime whale watching places in town, and got to see quite a show! I’ve never had much luck catching whales on camera at just the right moment. On previous whale watching excursions, my best shots have included little more than a bunch of splashing and an occasional
bit of a fin or tail. And I have never seen a whale breech before today. It was quite amazing. Jerry caught the beginning of one amazing jump (and has been bemoaning the fact that the whale just continued, almost completely out of the water, and that he didn’t think to keep shooting). Here’s a somewhat grainy blow-up of the whale starting to breech, which is actually happening a good mile or so from where we were. This is when you really want a good video camera, and if we go out on a tour, I plan to play with a few of the settings to maximize the likelihood that I can finally nail that perfect vacation shot after all. (Update, Mar. 24: Check out my Facebook page for some GREAT shots from an amazing whale-watching tour. Click here or go to the Jane Bluestein Facebook page, the one that says Albuquerque, NM and has my photo.)
Feb. 24, 2009
The Podcasts are coming
Finally getting an Apple store in town two years ago (6 miles from my house) has been one of the biggest blessings imaginable, and some of the best money I’ve spent lately is the $99 for a One-to-One personal training they offer.
In my last session, after going over a few questions I had about a couple different apps, I casually mentioned I was interested in learning how to do podcasts. (I already have two posted on my site from interviews with my friend, Jeff Wolfsberg, and have had requests for more.)
I was blown away by how easy it is and left the store with my head buzzing about all the topics I want to talk about and all the people I want to call and interview or have conversations with about issues that are current and important to educators and parents.
I have absolutely no idea when I’ll be able to start work on this. Easy as it is to create a podcast, I’d actually like to make this a weekly project, so maybe when I get through all the back-to-back stuff I have scheduled for March.
I’m really excited about this so if you have any topics you’d like me to discuss or any questions I can answer, click here to send an email. I’d also like for some of these podcasts to feel more like conversations with parents and educators, or people concerned with issues related to the mission of this site, so let me know if you’d like to participate, or if you’d like to recommend someone.
The Economy
OK, I know everybody is having a hard time with what’s going on right now. No one seems immune. Teachers I’ve met who are on the verge of retirement are rethinking their decision and hanging on for another year or more. I’m still getting inquiries, but money is more scarce and everyone seems to be more cautious than ever. The biggest change, for me, came when my biggest client cut my days for the coming school year from 28 this year down to ten.
I think it’s fascinating evidence of a lot of the work I’ve done over the years (personal growth kind of work) that I did not revert to all the messages I got from my upbringing (PANIC!) and to feel, with great certainty, that this “extra time” is an opportunity for lots of other stuff to start happening. Nature really does abhor a vacuum, and I think it’s time to make time for other experiences and ventures.
I’m totally open. Every time this kind of thing has happened —and I mean EVERY time—something bigger and better has come along. And I actually need some time to get to a few new projects I’ve been wanting to get to. (Like the Podcasts, or the other ideas mentioned in my Goals and Intentions below.)
The one place where I’m feeling the pinch (and this is more caution than anything else) is in the possibility of having to cancel or restrict some of my vacation plans. Jerry and I are still planning to meet up in Maui after my Mar. 20 presentation in Honolulu. But I’m still waiting for a few things to come through (or officially cancel) before I make any decisions about some of the other plans I have on the table.
Work on the book
I’m almost finished with the first part of the book and have sent what I have to my editor with my fingers crossed, as this book has taken on a rather different direction from the book we originally contracted to do.
What I have so far is about COMMITMENT with chapters on teaching as a calling, why we leave, and why we stay. I’m now pulling together a chapter on character assets— qualities that help teachers excel and succeed, and stay in the profession in one capacity or another. If you’d like to weigh in, click here to send an email.
Go Steelers
The month started out with a big Steelers party at the home of a guy I met at the Phoenix airport. He was wearing all sorts of Steelers clothing so, of course, I had to ask. No, he’s not from Pittsburgh. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s never been to Pennsylvania, but like a whole lot of people in New Mexico, he’s a big-time Steelers fan. So when he invited me to his house to watch the game, I took him up on it.
Left: Me showing off my Steelers stripes, Feb. 1, 2009
Prior to the game, my email inbox was full of Pittsburgh stuff, Steelers stuff, songs, jokes, videos, and all kinds of related comments from a bunch of people I knew from the ’burgh— many still in western Pennsylvania, but others who have since relocated to Colorado, Florida, Arizona, and other parts of the country.
Superbowl Sunday, when we lived in Pittsburgh in the 70s, was an occasion for a big party—especially when the Steelers were playing, which, back then, was pretty often. I always miss that certain group of friends with whom we always spent those days.
So it was really nice to be with a bunch of very warm, welcoming people, and watch what was probably the best, most exciting football game I’d ever seen. .
Jan. 19, 2009
Breakthrough
The evening of the 9th, after posting the first blog entry of the year, I woke up around a quarter to three in the morning and grabbed my journal. Turning to the blank pages in the back of the notebook, I started to jot down a few ideas, the start of a thread that I hoped would unroll into a first chapter or an introduction to the book for beginning teachers.
My notes held up to the scrutiny of the morning light and I was off on the book that has had me totally stalled for about a year. With the exception of this weekend—I was out almost all day on Saturday and working on taxes and packing yesterday—I have written something daily for this first week.
I’m noticing that this book seems to have a very specific direction, and not exactly the one I initially thought it would take. Or be. (If you remember, this contract was originally going to be for a book that would update, revise, and replace Being a Successful Teacher.) But for a number of reasons, I don’t seem to be able to get anywhere near the issues addressed in that book.
For one thing, there are already a zillion resources available for classroom management (including things like bulletin boards, lesson plans, seating, group instruction, and so on). Second, some of the topics I included in the original book, like deciding what to teach, for example, are not particularly relevant in an ever-increasingly-scripted educational landscape. And third... been there, done that.
What keeps coming up for me has been inspired by so many struggling teachers—beginners and veterans—who are feeling frankly beaten by the system and frustrated at not being able to do what motivated them to become an educator in the first place.
So I have a chapter (or section or something) on “teaching as a calling” which somehow led to a section (or chapter or something) about “why we leave.” That’s where I am now.
On the road
Geographically, I’m in Knoxville, which makes writing hard. (Well... being in Knoxville is not the problem, but being away from home and my little writing space with my little piles of notes scattered all around the room is!) Even getting in relatively early today, just getting myself grounded for the week has kept me from cracking my writing files. (I’m also operating on about 4 hours of sleep, which, especially after a day of travel, is hardly ideal.)
Besides, between the holiday, the long weekend, the inauguration, and the Steelers winning the playoffs (which always harken back to my days in the classroom in Pittsburgh back in the 70s), there’s so much going on right now, it’s been hard to stay focused.
Jan. 9, 2009
Web Site Update Complete
I just uploaded what will be the last of the page conversions of this site for a while. I still have a site map to construct and many new pages to add, but all of the pages that had been on the site are now in their bright, new, more-easily-navigated page layouts.
All in all, a worthy and long overdue project. (Note the copy of the original 2008 blog at the left. Not bad for its time, but from a design and site structure perspective, I just think the current version of this site works a lot better.) Although clearly different visually, many of the changes are under the hood, in the code and the use of Cascading Style Sheets instead of Tables and Templates and Frames (oh my!) This new version has been getting some strong, positive feedback, and has improved the traffic, number of links, and page rank significantly.
I still have the old site map to overhaul. Since I moved so many pages and renamed files, the pages I have are a mess. I’m still thinking about creating a search function (data base) for this site, though I have no idea when I’ll have time for that!
Goals and Intentions
First of all, I’ve renamed this list, changing “Resolutions and Plans” to “Goals and Intentions.” I started by doing a cut-and-paste of the items from last year’s list, many of which are holdovers from years before that.
I’ve deleted the goals that I had accomplished by last January and added a few new ones, updating the items that had been on the list which are either in progress, on-going, or not finished yet.
So here goes: My goals and intentions for 2009 include:
Write the BOOK!
I am well aware that the goal of spending the day finishing the update of this Web site and working on today’s blog was, in part, to avoid the fact that after a year of anguishing over this book, I still do not have a voice or a starting point.
Other than my physical and mental health, this book—and I’m talking about Becoming a Win-Win Teacher here, a book for people coming into the teaching profession and those wanting to stay and maintain their passion for teaching—is my Number One priority for 2009. I am committed to having the first sentence down before this weekend is over.
OK, this is really sad. Here’s a direct quote from last year’s blog: “I haven’t touched my beads or other crafts, there are piles of things around my office and house that need to be put away, and stuff on my desk that frankly scares me to go near.”
Actually, I have accomplished quite a few big things over the past several weeks, including cleaning out and reorganizing my closet and storage in the bedroom, finishing up a number of 2008 projects (including a complete overhaul of this site, plus updating and publishing Magic, Miracles & Synchronicity, and creating a Web site to go with it), and getting into a healthier routine in the past week or so.
But I’m still hungry for the non-work, creative pieces of my life. I honestly don’t think I’ve touched my knitting, clay, beads, or anything else that brings such satisfaction (in a way that work- and computer-related endeavors just can’t) for close to a year. Ouch!
The Win-Win Classroom achieved “Best Seller” status which is a very big deal, and for which I am extremely grateful. The Facilitator’s Guide was released this past summer and I’ve gotten great feedback on that as well.
I got the rights back to Daily Riches and after finally getting the files and the software I needed, brought out Magic, Miracles and Synchronicity.
I had hoped to bring out my Teacher Tapes on CD, and have edited the sound files a bit (though probably not quite enough to fit on one CD, so that still needs work). A funny thing, though: A few months ago, a tech teacher in upstate New York asked if I had the “tapes” available as an MP3 download, which is even easier and far more cost-effective than creating and packaging a CD, for heavens sake. (Talk about a “DUH” moment!)
Perhaps now that the site overhaul is pretty much done, at least for the moment (omitting only the site map pages for now), I can get these files uploaded and create a page to link for downloads!
I had hoped to bring out a set of CDs for counselors, and put a number of our products (“Pads” on the Back, TeacherSaver Memo Pads and the article, “Positively Positive,” among other things) on a CD as well. This is another goal that’s been on the list for a while. And turning Parents in a Pressure Cooker into an ebook is still a possibility, though pretty far down the list at this time.
However, without question, my main priority right now, as far as new products go, is actually writing Becoming a Win-Win Teacher, and getting a workable manuscript to my editor in the next few months.
This goal had moved from a “maybe” to a “probably” by this time last year. It has now become more of a priority, if not out-and-out necessity.
I had created two different site maps, one listed by topic, another listed alphabetically and thought they would suffice until I got around to creating a data base or a search function for the site. When I redid this site, I moved so many files around and renamed so many things, that the site maps are a mess.
Since I just uploaded the last reconstructed page about an hour ago, it may be a while before I can bring myself to look at those pages and bring them up to date. I still would like to have a search function added to this site, so that’s still on the table.
“No” on the garage, “minimal” on the studio, and “a little” on the files. Ongoing, and still valid goals, all of them.
On my last Geek Cruise, one of the classes I took (these were presentations scheduled in between our fabulous excursions) and one was on iWeb, Apple’s Web development program. I was playing around with my copy and decided, “Hey, this might just work for my Studio pages!”
As a result of a day or two (so far) of playing around with the application (and a bunch of photos of some of my work from the past ten years or so) I’ve got a very rough start of a Father Sky Studios Web site started. I have a ways to go, but the fact that I have something to work from suggests that these pages will continue to be developed in the coming year.
Between June 2007 and July 2008, I reached my goal of walking 100 miles (actually putting the equivalent of 100 miles on my pedometer in 13 months). I’ve spent so much at my computer since then, that I’m pretty far behind repeating that goal, though I’m definitely shooting for the next hundred miles.
I think this will always be a goal, and I’ve made a conscious effort to increase the amount of physical activity in the past few days, so that’s a step forward.
As far as eating on the road, I’m still struggling with that just-finished-the-seminar stretch around 3:30 at which point, regardless of how or what I’ve eaten earlier in the day, I am ready to inhale anything I can get my hands on. If my intentions are going to break down, that’s one of several places it’s likely to happen. So this goal stays, too.
Actually, there is still a lot of “Free Stuff” I want to add to this site.
This list item is actually a combination of a few items, including increasing and enhancing the Links section of the site. Unfortunately, maintaining these pages is a challenge, as sites and pages come and go, and if there is a dead link anywhere on this site, it’s likely to be in this section.
I really would like create Forum sections to offer an ideas exchange (which had been on previous versions of my site, always “under construction” and pretty much empty as far as content or actual ideas go). I have piles of notes I’ve gotten from teachers and parents and many of the ideas I’ve received would be great in a section like this.
In addition, over the years, I’ve gotten a number of questions about certain issues related to dealing with kids (from educators and parents) and would love to add both the questions and responses to a separate part of this site. I’m not even sure I know where half those correspondences are, but I’d love to have an “Advice Column” (or some kind of FAQ section relating to adult-child relationships, teaching, parenting, etc.) on this site.
I have now added a list of books that our book group has read and would like to add recommendations for really good products and services I’ve discovered.
I was looking at the possibility of writing a regular column for a Web site that has still not been launched. Until this book is done (or at least started), I don’t know how I can fit this in. But I would love a regular column at some point.
I actually figured out how to do this on my server and then forgot to do it. So I suspect that a sign-up form will happen fairly soon. (Newsletters are still a long way off.)
I did not do this at the end of 2008, rationalizing that I had taken off the month of November for our vacation. There were so many problems during the week I was on the road this past December (among them lost luggage, crowded flights and lines at the airports, not seeing the sun for a week, and getting stuck in Rochester, NY for two extra days when I was absolutely desperate to get home) that I was very strongly reminded of why I stopped working during this time of year.
Additionally, I had no time to recharge—the vacation was as exhausting as it was wonderful—and it shows. So yes, this is very much a priority, and in fact, what I’d really like to do is not only block off the time from mid-November until the very end of January to not be traveling or presenting, I’d also like to commit to not spending that time writing, as I did during two of the three years I was home during that stretch.
On-going. I have a One-to-One membership at our Apple store and having spent an hour yesterday getting very personal instruction from a really wonderful trainer, I plan to take advantage of this service and heartily recommend it to anyone using a Mac (or iTunes or an iPhone or an iPod or...). It’s terrific. I’m also scheduled for another geek cruise, and will probably be contacting my new computer coach to help me get the High School’s Not Forever Web site out of it’s current Frames and Tables construction (which, I’ve been told is “soooo 2003”) into CSS.
Since I started the overhaul to the current version of this site, my traffic has quadrupled, the number of links has doubled, and my page rank has moved from 0 to 3. So this is cerainly a new and important goal.
Not exactly a high priority, but I was so pleased with how the hardback books from MyPublisher turned out, that I would love to go through my photos and slides (boxes and boxes and boxes...), scan as many as possible, and put them into photo books as well. Maybe during my break this time next year!
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.
