So if you know any men in their, um, nineties, who are looking for a very superior wife of the 1930's, tell them to give me call. Did they even have phones back then?

93 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

I am so excited about Girls Rock Camp!!!!!!!! Steve took me to see the documentary about the camp at the Tower Theater back in June, and I can't stop thinking it. In case you didn't click on my hyperlink, Girls Rock is a summer camp based in Portland, Oregon. Basically, they take girls at all levels of music experience, help them choose groups ("rock bands"), give them private lessons, and  help them write an original song. Then, at the end of the week, the campers participate in a showcase concert, performing for their friends, family, and the community. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!??!?!?!

Also, they are 501(c)3 non-profit organization with lots of scholarship assistance for girls who can't afford tuition. 

From their website:
We want to eradicate all the limiting myths about music and gender that make girls afraid to speak up, sing out, and make noise. We want to abolish all the obsolete traditions that restrict many girls' and women's free musical expression and obstruct their access to the world of music. We seek to demonstrate—through lessons, mentorship, positive examples, and the shared experiences of the staff and volunteers—that every genre of music from the heaviest to the most delicate, and every technical job and creative endeavor in the music industry, is available to any girl or woman who wants to explore it.

I had a really strong emotional connection to this film. Not so long ago, I was one of those girls who played the drums and sometimes felt out-of-place making music. I often felt intimidated by jerky boys who didn't want to "play with a girl." I eventually found solace with Brickle, my girl band from college. I made music with two amazing women (Briana and Minda) and one incredible, enlightened, opened-minded male bass player (Dave). I can't begin to describe how empowering it is to make music, to play the drums in a rock band, and to play shows in front of big (and semi-big) crowds. 

The camp has locations in other cities around the world, all organized by woman rockers who are dedicated to empowering the next generation of female musicians. There are camps in Washington DC, Portland, Brooklyn... 

Can anyone guess what city still needs a branch of Girls Rock Camp? I am seriously considering organizing a Las Vegas chapter. I have one colleague who is willing to collaborate on this. Anyone else willing to lend a hand for next summer?

Wise Words #6

There's such divinity in not being what people expect.

-Darci L.

K, so in case I haven't made it already clear, I have been out of town for nearly a month. I arrived home to find that there were zero groceries in the fridge (surprise!). And since I'm really hurting for money, I thought I could scrape together a few meals until my next paycheck on the 25th. Last night, I made a delectable meal of spaghetti noodles, a pat of butter, and pepper. Exciting, I know.

So tonight, I was feeling pretty good about my culinary skills. Plus, I was hungry and had ZERO dollars. I thought I'd branch out and make migas, using a recipe from the Rachel Ray website. Heck, I saw Rachel Ray herself make these on t.v. a few days ago. Plus, Steve and I made them a few months ago for dinner, so I didn't feel like I was exactly flying solo on this one.

However, remember that I had an empty fridge and zero cash. So I had to substitute a few ingredients.  And the ingredients that I HAD were ALL borderline moldy. To be fair, none of the expiration dates had been expired for longer than two weeks. But still...  

Tonight I learned an important lesson. If you cook with disgusting, near-moldy ingredients, your dinner will be a soggy foul-tasting mess. 

I can't even bring myself to throw it out because today was trash day, and I don't want this mess hanging around until Friday (the next trash day). I'm contemplating putting it all in a plastic bag and driving to the nearest public garbage can, preferably a garbage can in front of a 711 where I can splurge $2 on a slurpee to help get the taste of rancid bacon, eggs, and onion out of my mouth. After tonight, I think I could start a whole new fad diet based on taste aversion.

We had the second annual Scarlet Something camping reunion over Fourth of July weekend (FYI: "Scarlet Something" was my rock band in college, the predecessor to "Brickle," another college band). 

It was really fun to go camping, and even better to be with such awesome friends. You guys are like family- I love you all! It was so much fun to get together again, along with our spouses/children/significant others.

PS: 

This was my first attempt at "digital scrapbooking." Be sure to click on the "play" buttons at the bottom of the picture so you can see the rest of the pages.  There are five pages. My favorite is the "then and now" page. It's funny to see how much (and how little!) the four of us have changed in the last six years! 

I bet y'all are wondering about those last couple of posts. 

Well, I've been out and about for the last few weeks... I went to Washington D.C. with a group of teachers from the Clark County School District, thanks to the Teaching American History Grant. After six fun-filled days in D.C., I flew to San Antonio to co-present a session at the 2008 NECC Conference with Dr. Keeler. Click here for our fun and exciting presentation, and download the presentation, complete with my extra fun slide design! It'll feel just like you were there in person! Really!

Anyway, when I'm at a conference, I like to take notes on my laptop, but I found that if I post the notes from the sessions on my blog, I'm more likely to review them. So yah, sorry about that.

Fun-filled photos from D.C. and San Antonio will follow soon. It was my first time to visit both places and I had a great time. The trips included the following:

• 4 hotels in two weeks
• 6 airplane rides in two weeks
• 3 DC Metro tickets
• 2 fun outings with Natalie!
• 1 visit with Steve and his family!
• 12 hours in Colonial Williamsburg
• 4 hours at the Holocaust Museum
• 1 pair of crocs, with soles worn COMPLETELY through
• 2 Texas-shaped waffles
• 11-13 trips on San Antonio public transportation

But don't worry. Apparently, Steve was very busy while I was away...

Therese Laux
From iPods to MIDI: Transform Learning through Music Technology

North High Magnet School in Omaha, Nebraska, Vikings

READ: Technology STrategies for Music Education, Thomas E. Ralph, Floyd Richmond, David Mash, David Williams

Focus on 21st century learning
Where do you see:

• engaged students
• scial nd emotional connections
• sensitivity to cultural differences

• Have you noticed?
• students working collaboratively and creatively
• self-direction
• adaptability and accountbility
• What is it about music?
• engaged students- they like being in school and have positive experiences
• emotional and social connections
• collaborative and creative
• When business leaders ask what is needed today, they often say:
• people who think with creative sides of their brain
• people that have played in a band bc it enhances symbiotic capabilities
• http://ti-me.org
• the technology insitute for music educators
• non-profit organization devoted to helping music teachers learn how to integrate the tools of technology into the music curriculum
• 7 Areas
• electronic musical instruments
• MalletKAT
• MIDI wind controller
• keytar, Justin Timberlake, Herbie Hancock's recent CD
• electric violin from Yamaha
• Roland V Session electronic drumset
  
• MIDI sequencing
• music notation software
• Finale or Sevalius
  
• kids have to "own" music, it's a tremendous creative outlet
• teach kids to play happy birthday, let them figure it out
• in their music media tech, they have a piano recital every year for EVERYONE- this is true differentiated instruction
  
• computer-assisted instruction
• multimieda and digitized media
• internet and telecommunications
• information processing, computer systems, & lab management
• What are they so engaged in???
• Garageband!!! kept kids in school and out of trouble
• beginners and pros are able to do it
• tracks, loops, instruments, oh my!
• they find a way to communicate their ideas!!! They can express themselves
• podcasts: fellows night out, fellas night out
• What can we learn from the world of business? Do they have answers?
• at first this sounds insulting, but they might have some answers!
• Winning the Answers, by Jack & Suzy Welch
• Daniel Pink book
• seeing difference_ pay attenetion to differences that matter
• understanding difference: gain knowledge about those differences matter
• value difference: experiment with changes in how you operate as a result
• martin davidson, Darden School of Business
• What's the next big thing?
• www.sltib.com, Earth Harp, Bill Close
• Japanese Tenori-ON, blending the beauty of shape and sound, 16x16 led panel
  
• REactable, collaborative electronic
  
• therese.laux@ops.org
• web.mac.com/omahanorth
• andy crozier ipod ade
• apple learning interchange
• music and the mac, join this group at the apple learning interchange, form a ning group