I loved San Francisco. I loved the way I could sit in a little French cafe, sipping thé and eating madeleines, and look out of the window at a Hebrew shul situated just inside the Chinatown gates. I guess you could describe it as an eclectic city, with such a mix of cultures and architectural styles all jumbled together, cheek-by-jowl; and yet it doesn't feel cramped. It's like an old woman who has led a very interesting life and is by turns elegant and earthy, cultured and just a little bit racy.
On our second day in SF we went to Alcatraz. I thought the tour was about an hour or maybe two...however, once on the island you were left free to wander and just get a ferry back when finished. They have a very good audio tour, which is told from the point of view of the guards at the prison. For souvenirs I purchased a tin mug such as the prisoners used and a book written by Darwin Coon, one of the last prisoners to leave Alcatraz. It was 3 pm by the time we got back to the mainland, and as I wanted to mail my AVID books back to Australia (so that my luggage would be within weight allowance) we walked up through Union Square to the post office, then walked up through the Quartier Français, back down through Chinatown and so back to Market Street and then across to our hostel.
The next morning we flew back to LA; this time we stayed at the Wilshire Plaza Hotel, which is right on the Metro line, in fact at the Wilshire/Normandie station. That made getting around so very easy. There was a small strip mall which had several cafes and restaurants just across the road, so the first night we had a delicious Italian meal at the little trattoria on the strip. The next day we spent the morning walking up and down between Hollywood/Vine and Hollywood/Highland photographing 'stars' and generally seeing the sights. I popped into Borders and bought the latest Lyndsey Davis to read on the way home, and then spent a pleasant hour at Madame Tousaud's. We lunched on mexican food at Hollywood Fresh and then took to the metro to head down to Venice Beach for the afternoon and evening.
It was freezing! The wind off the Pacific cut like a knife, and yet people were determinedly enjoying their summer holidays in skimpy tank tops and swimsuits and little else. I had sore legs from all the walking by this stage and sat in a sunny nook with a hot coffee, until the wind found me there too and I started to petrify from cold, so I headed down the beach looking for Chloe... who shortly zoomed up to me on roller blades. She was having a ball scooting up and down the beach and promenade like a local. As it was getting dusky by this time we walked up to Santa Monica beach for dinner at yet another Italian restaurant and to catch the bus back to the hotel. Knowing we had a BIG day the next day, we went to bed early.
Our final day, Saturday, we were up, breakfasted and heading out to the bus-stop by about 10 am. First stop - Rodeo Drive. We hit all the jewelry shops and the fashion designers (YSL, Balenciaga, Donatella Versace, etc). Some of the fashions were just soooo ugly! yeuch! Others were gorgeous and we derived a lot of pleasure from window shopping. Then onto our last stop before the airport.
George C. Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries, which is on Wilshire Blvd between Rodeo Drive and our hotel. Fascinating! the La Brea 'tar' pits are one part of a series of museums and art galleries all clustered in a two block area. There's a car museum, a folk art museum, the modern art museum, etc etc. The La Brea discoveries are thousands of skeletons of ancient creatures that lived in the region: american lions, mammoths, ground sloths, dire wolves, the list goes on; all of which were trapped in the asphalt that seeped up through the ground. There is a section of the 'dig' where you can see skeletons being excavated and a window in the museum where you can watch paleontologists at work cleaning the finds. There are also hands-on activities for people to get involved in the displays. They have so many bones that they have some out on display where you can actually touch bones from animals that lived and died 10,000 years ago. Amazing! so interesting. I bought a book as a souvenir here too.
Finally, our AVID conference trip and US tour was drawing to a close. We took the shuttle to the airport (leaving at 6:30 pm LA time), went through all the formalities and enplaned for Australia at 10:30 pm. The flight took almost 15 hours arriving in Sydney at 6:15 ish (Sydney time). Only 10 minutes late, BUT we then had a mad dash through baggage claim and customs to reach our connecting flight which was scheduled to leave Sydnay at 8:05 am. Anyone who has flown will know, that was cutting things VERY FINE. Thanks to other travellers letting us through as we were so short of time, we made it with about 8 minutes to spare...
...only to find that because Albury was fogged in, we had a three hour delay! We arrived in Albury at 12:15. That meant I missed my first lecture and tute of the new semester which were from 9 - 12. C'est la vie! I HAVE done my first readings, and taken C-notes on them while in various airports in the US, and will revise them before class next Monday. So all is well. We are returned, laden with much luggage, dirty washing, exciting tales to tell of our tour and a heap of ideas and enthusiasm garnered at the AVID conference.
So this is the final blog,
thanks for hanging in for the journey,
farewell,
Tracey
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
San Francisco
Have just spent an amazing day in San Fran. Arrived lunchtime, can't check in to Hostel until 2 so Chloe and I put our bags into a locker and went for a walk.
All the posh hotels are within a couple of blocks, and we are 2 blocks from Union Sq, 2 blocks down hill to Powell and Market... where the trolley line starts, so we took the trolley down to Fisherman's Wharf... checked out the Mechanical Museum, which has the funniest "what the butler saw" type stereoscope. What an innocent age, when a girl in her underwear was considered titillating!
Then we had some SF sourdough and cookies and hot chocolate... any excuse to get out of the wind. Our first sight of the Golden Gate bridge, shrouded in fog.
Got the trolley back to downtown and then went to the Biscuit and Blues, just across the road from the hostel for dinner and to hear Walter Trout and his band play... what a fabulous (ear-deafening) performance! Have a CD as a souvenir.
Tomorrow to Alcatraz and ???
CU l8r,
Tracey
All the posh hotels are within a couple of blocks, and we are 2 blocks from Union Sq, 2 blocks down hill to Powell and Market... where the trolley line starts, so we took the trolley down to Fisherman's Wharf... checked out the Mechanical Museum, which has the funniest "what the butler saw" type stereoscope. What an innocent age, when a girl in her underwear was considered titillating!
Then we had some SF sourdough and cookies and hot chocolate... any excuse to get out of the wind. Our first sight of the Golden Gate bridge, shrouded in fog.
Got the trolley back to downtown and then went to the Biscuit and Blues, just across the road from the hostel for dinner and to hear Walter Trout and his band play... what a fabulous (ear-deafening) performance! Have a CD as a souvenir.
Tomorrow to Alcatraz and ???
CU l8r,
Tracey
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Day 5 and onto Vegas
Hi y'all,
The last day of the AVID summer intensive was actually half a day, with us all in our strands for one final lesson. Bill Madigan had us doing different activities that recalled what we had done over the week, we all moved around to the next activity and had to try to remember something extra... amazingly, we were all able to add different things we had remembered from the conference; each group recalled more. We completed the session with two new reading activities: one we read a chapter of a book and then created a tableau... the teacher tapped each person, who had to "come to life" and describe what they were doing in the tableau and then he asked high order questions to elicit deeper responses, emotional responses from us; and finally another reading and a Socratic Seminar on that reading, to delve into it's deeper meanings.
At lunch time people were packed and leaving for the airport. We Aussies who were not leaving until lunchtime the next day, set off on the Dart to do some shopping at Casa Mexicana (the same place Heather and Valerie had discovered the previous day). We did take a wrong turn, due to me misunderstanding the gesture of the gentleman who I asked for directions; but eventually we arrived and purchased some lovely authentic Mexican bits and pieces as gifts for the folk at home. My bag is almost to the baggage limit, I shall have to watch what else I buy. Ummmm! I forgot about that this morning when I went out to the Grand Canyon.... ooops!
So we flew from Dallas to Las Vegas and Chloe and I are staying at the Flamingo, right on the strip, opposite Caesar's Palace!!! My goodness, these hotels have to be seen to be believed! Talk about opulence! decadence! well pick your favourite stunned adjective! The Luxor looks like a pyramid with a small sphinx; the Paris has a fake Eiffel Tower on the roof; Caesar's Palace has a small coliseum in the front garden and several huge italianate palaces, Bellagio has it's own LAKE - and all this in the midst of the desert. You don't realise how desert like it is until you leave the strip. For example, today I flew to the Grand Canyon and did the Skywalk and the Guano point trek, we only went -ooh, a few feet past the last grand hotel and we were in the desert. I took photographs of the suburbs, all of which are painted desert colours, adding to the monochrome look of the area. We landed at the airstrip at the west end of the Grand Canyon, and set off on the bus portion of the trip.
The airport, skywalk and food at Guano Point are all run by the local First Nations people, the Hualapai (pronounced Wol-a-pie), Eagle Point is where the skywalk is. It is a very solidly constructed, glass floored, viewing platform, built in a loop out from the point. The canyon is 4,000 feet deep at this point... being scared of heights I had to force myself to go on it - but I am so glad I did... I didn't stay long enough for a photograph and there was no way I was letting go of the handrail to lay down and be photographed on the glass as if I was flying. Then I went on to Guano Point and walked out to the point to take photos, still a 4,000 foot drop, no handrail, but I wasn't nervous... strange, huh? Maybe because the earth feels so solid beneath your feet and it is a wide path, 5 or 6 could walk abreast. There is also a very spiritual feel to the place, a nest of some large raptor is in a tree level with the table where I sat to eat lunch, and they were soaring hither and yon, with the parents coming back and feeding insects (I guess) to their young. The helicopters flying people to view the canyon were below us... maybe all of that together and the wind blowing people's voices away so that you felt cocooned in silence all added to that spiritual ambience. Very special.
Tonight, seeing it is 4th July and Independence Day (which seems to be going largely unnoticed within Las Vegas itself) there will be fireworks across the road from us at Caesar's Palace - and as we have a front room we have an absolutely grandstand view. The girls all want to go down to the strip and join in the excited atmosphere - but I think I'll be quite happy with a picture window view and a chilled champagne at my side. Tomorrow I'm off to Excalibur for dinner and a show, 'The Tournament of Kings', for a die hard medievalist THAT is something to look forward to,
Until next time,
You take care of y'self, y'all,
Tracey
The last day of the AVID summer intensive was actually half a day, with us all in our strands for one final lesson. Bill Madigan had us doing different activities that recalled what we had done over the week, we all moved around to the next activity and had to try to remember something extra... amazingly, we were all able to add different things we had remembered from the conference; each group recalled more. We completed the session with two new reading activities: one we read a chapter of a book and then created a tableau... the teacher tapped each person, who had to "come to life" and describe what they were doing in the tableau and then he asked high order questions to elicit deeper responses, emotional responses from us; and finally another reading and a Socratic Seminar on that reading, to delve into it's deeper meanings.
At lunch time people were packed and leaving for the airport. We Aussies who were not leaving until lunchtime the next day, set off on the Dart to do some shopping at Casa Mexicana (the same place Heather and Valerie had discovered the previous day). We did take a wrong turn, due to me misunderstanding the gesture of the gentleman who I asked for directions; but eventually we arrived and purchased some lovely authentic Mexican bits and pieces as gifts for the folk at home. My bag is almost to the baggage limit, I shall have to watch what else I buy. Ummmm! I forgot about that this morning when I went out to the Grand Canyon.... ooops!
So we flew from Dallas to Las Vegas and Chloe and I are staying at the Flamingo, right on the strip, opposite Caesar's Palace!!! My goodness, these hotels have to be seen to be believed! Talk about opulence! decadence! well pick your favourite stunned adjective! The Luxor looks like a pyramid with a small sphinx; the Paris has a fake Eiffel Tower on the roof; Caesar's Palace has a small coliseum in the front garden and several huge italianate palaces, Bellagio has it's own LAKE - and all this in the midst of the desert. You don't realise how desert like it is until you leave the strip. For example, today I flew to the Grand Canyon and did the Skywalk and the Guano point trek, we only went -ooh, a few feet past the last grand hotel and we were in the desert. I took photographs of the suburbs, all of which are painted desert colours, adding to the monochrome look of the area. We landed at the airstrip at the west end of the Grand Canyon, and set off on the bus portion of the trip.
The airport, skywalk and food at Guano Point are all run by the local First Nations people, the Hualapai (pronounced Wol-a-pie), Eagle Point is where the skywalk is. It is a very solidly constructed, glass floored, viewing platform, built in a loop out from the point. The canyon is 4,000 feet deep at this point... being scared of heights I had to force myself to go on it - but I am so glad I did... I didn't stay long enough for a photograph and there was no way I was letting go of the handrail to lay down and be photographed on the glass as if I was flying. Then I went on to Guano Point and walked out to the point to take photos, still a 4,000 foot drop, no handrail, but I wasn't nervous... strange, huh? Maybe because the earth feels so solid beneath your feet and it is a wide path, 5 or 6 could walk abreast. There is also a very spiritual feel to the place, a nest of some large raptor is in a tree level with the table where I sat to eat lunch, and they were soaring hither and yon, with the parents coming back and feeding insects (I guess) to their young. The helicopters flying people to view the canyon were below us... maybe all of that together and the wind blowing people's voices away so that you felt cocooned in silence all added to that spiritual ambience. Very special.
Tonight, seeing it is 4th July and Independence Day (which seems to be going largely unnoticed within Las Vegas itself) there will be fireworks across the road from us at Caesar's Palace - and as we have a front room we have an absolutely grandstand view. The girls all want to go down to the strip and join in the excited atmosphere - but I think I'll be quite happy with a picture window view and a chilled champagne at my side. Tomorrow I'm off to Excalibur for dinner and a show, 'The Tournament of Kings', for a die hard medievalist THAT is something to look forward to,
Until next time,
You take care of y'self, y'all,
Tracey
Thursday, July 1, 2010
AVID Conference Day 4
Hi,
After sending yesterday's blog I went back to the Hyatt and met up with Heather and Valerie in the bar at the top of the Tower. The tower has a revolving restaurant and bar and the three hundred and sixty degree views are just gorgeous. We sipped elderflower martinis or margaritas as we slowly rotated, then when we had seen the whole view went downstairs to dinner. Some in depth passionate conversation ensued which ranged from religion and politics to post-modernism and revisionist writing. Yours truly didn't add much to the conversation but sat and drank it all in. Good conversation can be as heady as champagne!
Thursday 1st July
Next morning, back in the Strand session, Bill quoted Medina's research which proved that emotionally charged events persist much longer in our memories, and are recalled with greater accuracy than neutral memories (Brain Rules), so we worked on adding emotion to our teaching. He also spoke about testing done on dogs which were immobilised and shocked, until they stopped reacting - and linked it to children in a classroom being forced to sit still, immobile, for long periods and the 'learned helplessness' that this induces. Lack of movement can CAUSE depression but activity can actually REVERSE it. [I MUST get a copy of the book to read for myself].
Then it was time to stand up, and we went out (or aside) in groups to work out how we would present a 'Punctuaton Chant' to a class... we called ourselves 'The Ragged Edges" after an Oscar Wilde quote that Bill had mentioned the previous day. Again, there were 6 groups and 6 completely different skits resulted from the same 9 minute collaboration. Next we worked on vocabulary and TPR - yet ANOTHER acronym - which stands for Total Physical Recall (what I call muscle memory). There are so many acronyms I didn't know; how could I remember this one? So with assistance from one of the other teachers in my group I did the body movements that help recall the words behind the acronym... its very hard to describe in words, suffice it to say, it WORKED, because I just wrote about it and didn't need to reread my notes! After the mid session break, we discussed Kirkegaard and the Fridge analogy...if faced with a choice of chocolate eclair and healthy low fat yoghurt... which would you choose? That tug-of-war is constant in our lives, SO then we discussed graphic organisers and did a very interesting activity with a grid made of 6 x 6 squares which cearly demonstrated how many of us obey blindly... without reasoning on or thinking logically about the instructions given. The only rule was the helpers could not speak, but we interpreted that to mean we couldn't step into the grid or use tools in the grid - until we were given permission. Insightful!
Lunchtime brought us to the official luncheon, and it was amazing. First and least amazing the staff fed 2,000 people at once, and started cleaning up in just on twenty minutes. The highlight of the lunch, though, was the ex-AVID student's experiences. All four of them have had such hard lives and overcome such soul destroying events in their lives, and due to the influence of AVID have been able to turn their lives around and make positive choices because of the independent determination that AVID helps the students develop. Several of us at our table were in tears at the hardship these young people have faced. Remembering their experiences will certainly help me get my much smaller issues into perspective. As I type this I realise it is a perfect example of our morning's lesson on linking learning to powerful emotions. Yep, once again, AVID WORKS!
After lunch we had our final Site Team meeting in which we practised the Socratic Circle method of analysing an article or reading, that allows multiple views to be aired, absorbed and discussed in a calm non-threatening manner. Following that session we bussed back to the Hyatt and went down to make a small presentation to Granger Ward (AVID Director) who along with Dennis, Shannon and Michelle had made us feel so welcome and looked after us so well.
Then we all went up to Perioni's Italian Restaurant (at the Hyatt). OMG! such good food... such nice wine... such great company. I was sitting with Michelle and Linda, whose remit in the SCA is assisting in implementing the Cultural Relevance program which is right up my alley. Another of those great in-depth conversations that stretch the mind and enlighten the soul ensued.
It's the last day tomorrow... already... I am so going to miss all the interesting, passionate, dedicated educators... and lovely, welcoming people... I have met this week.
Until next time,
Bye y'all,
Tracey
After sending yesterday's blog I went back to the Hyatt and met up with Heather and Valerie in the bar at the top of the Tower. The tower has a revolving restaurant and bar and the three hundred and sixty degree views are just gorgeous. We sipped elderflower martinis or margaritas as we slowly rotated, then when we had seen the whole view went downstairs to dinner. Some in depth passionate conversation ensued which ranged from religion and politics to post-modernism and revisionist writing. Yours truly didn't add much to the conversation but sat and drank it all in. Good conversation can be as heady as champagne!
Thursday 1st July
Next morning, back in the Strand session, Bill quoted Medina's research which proved that emotionally charged events persist much longer in our memories, and are recalled with greater accuracy than neutral memories (Brain Rules), so we worked on adding emotion to our teaching. He also spoke about testing done on dogs which were immobilised and shocked, until they stopped reacting - and linked it to children in a classroom being forced to sit still, immobile, for long periods and the 'learned helplessness' that this induces. Lack of movement can CAUSE depression but activity can actually REVERSE it. [I MUST get a copy of the book to read for myself].
Then it was time to stand up, and we went out (or aside) in groups to work out how we would present a 'Punctuaton Chant' to a class... we called ourselves 'The Ragged Edges" after an Oscar Wilde quote that Bill had mentioned the previous day. Again, there were 6 groups and 6 completely different skits resulted from the same 9 minute collaboration. Next we worked on vocabulary and TPR - yet ANOTHER acronym - which stands for Total Physical Recall (what I call muscle memory). There are so many acronyms I didn't know; how could I remember this one? So with assistance from one of the other teachers in my group I did the body movements that help recall the words behind the acronym... its very hard to describe in words, suffice it to say, it WORKED, because I just wrote about it and didn't need to reread my notes! After the mid session break, we discussed Kirkegaard and the Fridge analogy...if faced with a choice of chocolate eclair and healthy low fat yoghurt... which would you choose? That tug-of-war is constant in our lives, SO then we discussed graphic organisers and did a very interesting activity with a grid made of 6 x 6 squares which cearly demonstrated how many of us obey blindly... without reasoning on or thinking logically about the instructions given. The only rule was the helpers could not speak, but we interpreted that to mean we couldn't step into the grid or use tools in the grid - until we were given permission. Insightful!
Lunchtime brought us to the official luncheon, and it was amazing. First and least amazing the staff fed 2,000 people at once, and started cleaning up in just on twenty minutes. The highlight of the lunch, though, was the ex-AVID student's experiences. All four of them have had such hard lives and overcome such soul destroying events in their lives, and due to the influence of AVID have been able to turn their lives around and make positive choices because of the independent determination that AVID helps the students develop. Several of us at our table were in tears at the hardship these young people have faced. Remembering their experiences will certainly help me get my much smaller issues into perspective. As I type this I realise it is a perfect example of our morning's lesson on linking learning to powerful emotions. Yep, once again, AVID WORKS!
After lunch we had our final Site Team meeting in which we practised the Socratic Circle method of analysing an article or reading, that allows multiple views to be aired, absorbed and discussed in a calm non-threatening manner. Following that session we bussed back to the Hyatt and went down to make a small presentation to Granger Ward (AVID Director) who along with Dennis, Shannon and Michelle had made us feel so welcome and looked after us so well.
It's the last day tomorrow... already... I am so going to miss all the interesting, passionate, dedicated educators... and lovely, welcoming people... I have met this week.
Until next time,
Bye y'all,
Tracey
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