Starting My Day with Porcupines & Wolf

 I have the most placid dog on earth.  Wolf is his name.  Ha!  He doesn't bark, he doesn't jump, he just looks at you with his soft, puppy dog eyes and asks you to love him.  He doesn't seek out adventure by chasing cats or birds or any other creature.  As a matter of fact we have turkeys, deer, and even coyotes visit our yard and he just observes their presence.  Wolf is mellow.


Wolf is also predictable.  Every morning, 'hours before you are even dreaming about rising' Wolf comes into our room and sticks his wet snout in my face and wags his tail so hard it bangs against the wall like a drum.  There is NO ignoring this greeting.  This means one of two things.  I need water or I need to go out.  Today was 'I need to go out.'  On those mornings, Wolf goes out and 'refreshes' and then finds a spot to lay down either at the front porch or on a blanket in the garage (first pick).

About 5:45am,  I went out to the car to look for something and he was just laying placidly on his blanket in the garage (a favorite spot).   I smiled because he is just so freaking cute.  So I went over to pet him and tell him hello and was overcome with sharp pain as my hand encountered a snout-full of porcupine quills.  Of course, I'm flipping out, but there's Wolf, same calm Wolf just looking at me with those same 'love me' puppy dog eyes.  Poor Wolfy would have stayed out there lying in a bed of quills had I not gone over to greet him.  He wasn't making a fuss, just dealing with it.

My first reaction was to call the vet, but it was too early.  I couldn't stand watching him lick his nose and hurt his tongue.  He tried to eat and drink and well, obviously that didn't go over very well.  So, I found my tweezers and decided I would try and help this poor dog out of his misery.

Wolf is a 115 lb German Shepard so he is difficult to 'manage' when he is not in the mood to cooperate (you should see me drag him down the hall for a 'bath' - a real comedy show).  Amazingly enough, however, the first quill I could attach to,  I was able to pull out fast.  There was blood and I knew it hurt like heck.   He certainly wasn't open to a second stab at it.  

So I've got him on the floor and I'm sitting on him trying to get at the next quill and he is shaking his head back and forth. 

 I stop.  

He stops.  

He looks at me. 

 I look at him. 

 'Wolf,' I say, 'I can do this.  I can help you, just let me.'  He shakes his head 'No.'  So, I make another stab and he is just not letting that happen.  I get up and regroup.  I saddle him like a horse and go in for the kill.  I am hugging him tight with my legs and he's backing up and now he's is starting to articulate his distress.  I back off but not without getting another quill.  

It is not like he had a hundred quills.  If that were the case I would still be down on the floor wrestling with Wolf.  I followed him to another corner of the house, and again, looked him in the eye and said, 'Just one more, ok?' and he just calmed right down.   I was able to quickly pull out a few more.    Then when he went to lick his snout he realized it was getting better.  I could tell that he knew then that even though it hurt I was helping him.

At that point, Wolf held his nose out and let me finish pulling out all the quills and some of them, like the ones in the actual nose rather than the skin/fur area, were really difficult to pull out and I had to make several attempts.  Last one.  Relief.

Wolfie had breakfast and is now resting peacefully.  :)  Funny way to start the day.  

Many NH Schools Have "Gone Google"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Many NH Schools Have “Gone Google”

NH Educators Learn 21st Century Skills and Schools Save $$$

Contact:
Allison Mollica, NHDRC Grant Coordinator
603.340.0873 | allisonmollica@gmail.com

LOCAL EDUCATORS ATTEND GOOGLE EDU “BOOT CAMP” TO LEARN INNOVATIVE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Pembroke, NH, July 2012 —This could be the summer remembered as (many) NH Schools “Going Google."   Sponsored by the New Hampshire Digital Resources Consortium - www.nhdrc.org - NH school technology administrators and educators were trained by Google Certified Teachers and Trainers to help with their deployment of Google Apps for Education.

The NH Google Apps for Edu Boot Camp, and NH Digital Resources Consortium, was made possible through the Enhancing Education Through Technology (Title IID) Program at the NH Department of Education. This program awarded SAU #53 in Pembroke a grant to manage and lead the Digital Resources Consortium project. The NHDRC’s mission is to develop professional development, training and provide tools to help schools reach their 21st century potential.

In July, over 250 NH educators attended NH Google Apps for Edu Boot Camp at one of four locations across the state: The Seacoast Professional Development Center, UNH Manchester, Keene State College, and White Mountains Community College. The event was organized by NHDRC coordinator, Allison Mollica, with support given by the Local Education Support Center Network. Each Boot Camp was an intensive, 11 hour training where teachers received hands-on experience with Google's products and technologies, learned about innovative instructional strategies, and received resources to share with colleagues. To further extend the reach of this initiative, each Boot Camp participant will host a professional development session in their school district or region during the 2012-2013 school year.

Almost 100 school district technology administrators participated in Google Apps for Education Deployment training in May and June. Clearly this is the summer that NH Educators are “Going Google!”

What may be the most interesting to NH residents and taxpayers is that Google Apps for Education is available to all K-12 schools for FREE! This includes, email, web hosting, and more - potentially saving districts thousands of taxpayer dollars!

For further information about Google Apps in Education - http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/edu/

Governor Lynch Proclaims Digital Learning Day in NH

A litte late posting this!....
 
Governor Lynch joined 35+ other states in proclaiming February 1st as Digital Learning Day in NH and our Hanover Street Third Graders personally thanked him VIA Skype to celebrate.  

Digital Learning Day was initiated by  Alliance for Excellent Education, and refers to digital learning  as a broad array of topics and approaches where technology can help in school reform efforts. This may be in teacher preparation and continuing education, STEM and innovation instruction, broadband access for all, using data to inform instruction, personalizing instruction, increasing quality teacher time, online/blended learning opportunities as well as using robust digital content in high-quality lessons. The Alliance seeks to use Digital Learning Day to highlight these innovative teaching approaches and celebrate the potential of technology as a force multiplier in America’s schools.    Watch the 2012 DLD Town Hall Broadcasts.

Lebanon School District has also started a blog Educational Technology @ Lebanon School District to highlight and showcase the various ways technology is impacting learning in our classrooms!  Please check it out!  

Image:  Governor Lynch with Allison Mollica, Instructional Technology Facilitator, and Hanover Street Third Grade Students (via Skype) @ the State House on Wednesday Feb 1, 2012.

Digital Learning Day in the News:

• Education 2.0: Can Digital Learning Day begin a classroom revolution? (Christian Science Monitor)
• Celebrating Digital Learning Day | (The White House Blog)
• Celebrate Digital Learning Day with 40 Years of Times TechEd Reporting (NY Times)
• On Digital Learning Day, 7 Golden Rules of Using Technology (MindShift)

Google Apps for Edu Prague Summit October 2012

Looking forward to presenting at the Google Apps for Education European Summit in Prague - October 2012.

Learn, Create, Share - Portfolios with Google Sites for K12

In this session participants will see how Google sites can be used with students in a K-12 environment in two ways - as comprehensive academic portfolios that showcase student achievement over time and as project portfolios where students create a variety of projects using Google Apps and other Web 2.0 tools and build a portfolio in Google Sites to showcase their "constructed knowledge." The idea is to Learn, Create and Share. This can be applied to younger and older students - if you are interested in using Google Sites for portfolios and need to create a plan with a vision, the information shared here will help you.

@amollica https://plus.google.com/u/0/116502499532003007487/posts amtechnology.org

NH Goes Google Week Day 3 Google Boot Camp Keene @ KSC

Another great day for Google Camping.  The crowd is ready and interactive - working collaboratively together to learn and share.  Our Power Google Team Leaders - Kern Kelley, Alice Barr, and Richard Byrne really know how to differentiate instruction.  Accompanying their fabulous lessons are a plethora of resources for advanced learning and further development.   

The NH Google Bootcamp at Keene State College (Southwestern NH Edu Support Center) was made possible through the NH Digital Resources Consortium (special thanks to Stan Freeda, Cathy Higgins,  SAU #53, Mary Rubega, Helene Bickford, Deb Boisvert et. al) in partnership with SWNHESC (thank you Bev Straneva) and the EdTechTeam (thank you Mark Wagner, Alice Barr @alicebarr - The View From My Window, Kern Kelley @kernkelly - The Tech Curve, and Richard Byrne @rmbyrne - Free Tech For Teachers).  A lot of preparation and collaboration went into making an experience like this happen!  #nhdrc #gafe
Please check out these upcoming Google Apps for Edu Events going on this summer!  Don't stop here - expand your knowledge, collaboration and expertise!  Hope to see you at one of these!

• Google Apps for Education Summit, Yarmouth, Maine Summit  #gafesummit (there are summits being held all over the world! - find me at Boulder (8/3), Maine (8/14), and Prague (10/13)
• Google a Day Week in August and More in Concord at PSU -  EdCITES 
• Google Apps and IPads - Summer Schedule @ Seacoast Professional Development Center in Exeter, NH
• Making Google Work for You - at SWnhESC  7/23-24

NH Goes Google Week - Day 2 Google Boot Camp Manchester

What a fantastic day for Google Camping.  The NH Google Bootcamp at Manchester (UNHM) ...was made possible through the NH Digital Resources Consortium (thank you Stan Freeda,  SAU #53, Mary Rubega, Helene Bickford, Mary Rubega et. al) in partnership with EdCITES (thank you Jen Lowton), UNH - Manchester Campus, (thank you Ginger Lever) and the EdTechTeam (thank you Mark Wagner, Alice Barr, Kern Kelley).  A lot of preparation and collaboration went into making an experience like this happen!  #nhdrc #gafe

Please check out these upcoming Google Apps for Edu Events going on this summer!  Don't stop here - expand your knowledge, collaboration and expertise!  Hope to see you at one of these!

• Google Apps for Education Summit(s) - Maine Summit  #gafesummit (there are summits being held all over the world! - find me at Boulder (8/3), Maine (8/14), and Prague (10/13)
• EdCITES - Offering Google a Day Week in August and More!  
• Seacoast Professional Development Center in Exeter - Summer Schedule

NH Goes Google - 1st Day Google Boot Camp @ Exeter

Over sixty NH educators got up before the crack of dawn this morning to drive to Exeter's Seacoast Professional Development Center for the 1st EVER NH Google Boot Camp!  Richard Byrne, Alice Barr and Kern Kelley delivered an outstanding performance today!  Sixty educators from NH participated in this 11 hour training sponsored by the NH Digital Resources Consortium in partnership with our LESCN centers and the EdTech Team.    We covered Google Search, Docs, Drive, Voice, Books, Moderator, Sites, Calendar, Gmail, Video, YouTube, Forms, Scripts and much more!  The trick is now leveraging that new knowledge to positively impact how students experience life in their education.  Google Apps for Edu opens up a wide opportunity for collaboration and making learning fun and EASIER for both teachers and students.  We'll be doing this again in Manchester tomorrow, Keene on Thursday, and Gorham on Friday.  Thanks for a great day everyone!