Here We Go Again....

February Vacation has officially begun (well it actually started at 2:45 p.m. on Friday!)  I am sitting at my computer watching the wind whip around the snow outside my window.  It is actually snowing sideways!!  I understand this won't be "Nemo II" the sequel, but high winds and measureable snow are forecasted for us.  Therefore I am scrambling to do anything requiring the use of electricity in the next couple of hours. 
Before we lose power, if we should lose power, I wanted to take a moment to comment on the excitement I was feeling in my lab before vacation.  I'm not talking about the, "vacation is almost here" excitement, but about the podcast script writing excitement.  My students are really taking this assignment seriously.  As I looked around during one of my classes I noticed students not only accessing sites which had come up in their searches, but also using Pinterest because they had created a "board" and "pinned" resources at home earlier!!!  One group was typing their script on their workstation and using a Kindle to bring up their pins.  The range of "How To's" for this podcasting series is wide and extremely interesting.  Students were up out of their seats pretending to swing baseball bats as their partners hastily keyboarded the sequence of moves.  It will be very exciting when we begin our recording and then move to editing.  I am sure my students will master Audacity quickly.  I am doubtful they will lose their enthusiasm over vacation.
I hope all of my hard working students enjoy this week off from school.  I know some are traveling while others are sitting at home watching these flakes soar sideways.  I will be thinking of them all if we lose power.  I remember how bored they were last weekend when Nemo took it away for a while. 
Let's keep our fingers crossed that we will stay "connected!!"

Digging Out and Charging Up!!

WOW!  Nemo left quite a mark for such a small fish!!  The Blizzard of 2013 will be remembered as one of the worst storms to hit our area.  I consider myself very lucky to have only lost power for 50 hours or so.  My house is intact and my family is safe!!!  I am sitting with my students, okay maybe half of a class, who are blogging themselves.  Our schools are open, though many of our students were not able to make it in today.  Parts of Cape Cod are still without power.  Many extraordinary stories are unfolding.   I feel as though our crews, both town and utility, did an unbelievable job to get us back to "normal" or as close as we currently are this morning.  I heard a chain saw running at 1 o'clock this morning!! YIKES!  I give those workers credit.  Can you imagine still going at that hour?!!!!  It was amazing to see the out pouring of help from local businesses.  For those of us who could access social media such as Facebook on our devices the posts inviting people in to businesses to "charge" up devices, and get warmed up were abounding.  Some local business owners were providing coffee, breakfast, and even pizza for lunch- free of charge!!!  I love it when Cape Codders pull together like that!!
As for my students who are missing school today.......we are working on our blogs; adding another post.  If you are sitting at home and have Internet, I'd love to hear about your experiences.  Remember to be careful about revealing too much personal information!  I hope all of my students are safe, warm, and dry.  I know for some of you it was a tough couple of days.  I am sure some of your homes sustained damage from the storm.  I hope to see you in school tomorrow morning.  I especially hope you and your families were the recipients of some of that good old Cape Cod neighborly assistance along the way!

Image Link:  http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130211/NEWS11/130219964/-1/NEWS