Alan Lomax Audio Recordings Archived at Library of Congress

Did you know that the Alan Lomax Audio Recordings are Archived at Library of Congress?

Here's a sample:
Alan Lomax blues recording

blues guitar

I'm single again (old 1939 recording)

Old Dan Tucker

Rye Whiskey

Rye Whiskey with fiddle

Rye Whiskey 3rd version

When Teachers Travel

Despite teaching summer school till the end of July, I think it is important for teachers to experience other cultures as part of our initiatives in Diversity and Multiculturalism and also our push to include more global education and global perspectives. Even Los Angeles offers so many global experiences in our backyard. 

But traveling in 2012 to the village in Nepal where I had taught in the Peace Corps right out of college reconnected me to my world perspective of living and teaching in a developing country. 

This summer in a whirlwind, I finished the last day of teaching summer school Chemistry and my daughter drove  me from Buckley to LAX so I could join my wife in walking around Dublin, seeing the James Joyce Museum and live Irish music (and a lot of Johnny Cash!). Afterwards, I visited my sister in Hannover, Germany then toured Berlin, Dresden, and the Moselle River.

Teachers traveling expands the perspective from the classroom and helps students see the world less as an object of study but more as a place to be explored. Immersive travel allows teachers to tell students about "perspective taking," meaning seeing the world from a different point of view, which both travel and education promote. Teachers see the world differently, communicate that to students, and travel or other out-of-the-box experiences are a catalyst to close the loop. 

Looking back on my trip

Looking back after being home a week:
I'm thinking about the two parts of my trip, Ireland and Germany. Two European countries that are not SO different. My experience in both countries was similar. I walked about ten miles a day. European cities are so walkable and compact. Public transportation just aids you in walking and not having a car. In Los Angeles, I wouldn't want to walk a mile, but in Dublin, Berlin, and even San Francisco I wouldn't mind it.

But in some ways the two parts were so different. Irish speak English and I could talk to them, while Germans I understood but didn't speak to. That's an enormous difference for a traveller. To speak to people and interact is to be immersed in the country. I was more an observer in Germany.

I'll add more reflections as I think of them. Thanks for reading.

Back Home in Californai! What Jet Lag?



Koblenz at the intersection of the Mosel and Rhein Rivers

Finally returned to Los Angeles after 20 days on the road, split between Ireland and Germany. To fight jet lag, I stayed awake (barely) till 10: p.m. PST (7: a.m. German time) then rewarded myself by going to bed, triumphant in not napping. I'd stayed awake 26 hours. When I woke up, it was only 11:57 p.m., not even midnight yet. Reawakened at 2: and 5:, but feel quite fresh and ready to go!





It was perfect weather for boating on the Mosel River! Four hours I sat on the top deck on the bow, waving to barge captains (who waved back) and viewing castles along the hills. Riesling vineyards cover every terraced hillside and the grapes are ripening now. The Mosel is reported to be the lazy river compared to the Rhine.

 

Ship I rode from Cochem to Koblenz on the Mosel River
One day earlier I took a two hour roundtrip boat ride from Trier, also perfect weather.

LAST blog post (from Europe)

Barge moving up the Rhine River in Koblenz

Leaving on a jet plane tomorrow morning (though today's flight left two hours late). I am determined to keep blogging going forward, though it may be from Griffith Park instead of Nepal or Germany.

It's been a great trip, though a little less epic than going back to the Nepalese village where I served in the Peace Corps right out of college. Who can top that? Overall, Ireland and Germany have been good destinations for traveling. World travel is not always relaxing nor was it meant to be. But it can stretch your horizons beyond the bubble that is L.A.

I'm not an expert in German (far from it), but "Genau" (translated as exactly) is the most common response to a statement. One sided cell phone conversations can consist of one person listening to their cell phone and repeating "Genau!" Is that super-supportive or what? Wouldn't you like your friends to respond to your statements, not with "Okay" or "Uh-Huh" but instead "Exactly"? If you want to be a more supportive listener, just try it! (Genau!)

Entering the lock

The lock closed

Water draining from the lock and the ship lowering

That "sinking feeling" (overheard remark)

Castle on the hills by the Mosel River (1100 A.D.)

Rescue equipment for saving drowners

The lock opening

Do new resolutions made in Europe hold true in the States?

Do vows made in Germany still count in California? 

(for now) I VOW TO:

• Blog about classroom tech enabling literacy at least weekly (find 40 minutes anywhere on campus to type up a blog post)
• Keep blogging at PeaceCorpsNepal.blogspot.com even if I'm not traveling except a freeway commute: LACMA and Getty art museums, hearing music in Los Angeles, lifestyle in L.A... It means re-purposing my blog from travel, Nepal, Europe to a staycation about culture. Can I do it? Stay tuned!
• Be active on Twitter, not just lurking and retweeting, but actively making contributions from my classroom practice, links to student blogs, my edutech blog, my classroom blog, my reading in Penny Kittle and NCTE publications, etc. Also, ask questions of my professional learning community on Twitter (Kittle, Jago, Burke, etc.)
• Visit some people at USC, Michael Messner, John Holland, Jack Blum, perhaps others as well.
• Get book talks going in MS and Upper School.
• Get student conversations going outside of class time 
• Get teacher conversations going during or after school about instructional practice, classroom technology, best practice in each discipline and grade level. Rich conversations about teaching and student learning.
• VTS (visual thinking strategy) support group for trained teachers and others who are interested. How can we get art and visuals into the classroom and train students in how to SEE visual details and how to THINK about what they are seeing, and start conversations with teacher and classmates about what they see?
• Establish a culture of writing short scripts and poetry 6th through 12th grade with a forum for performing during school or after.
• Student book recommendations on a common website.

Did I say these are just goals? One thing about travel is it inspires one to go back refreshed and renewed (after jet leg subsides). Like going to professional conferences where you decide "I'll do that when I get back to the classroom" but the reality of prepping and grading soon evaporates those lofty resolutions. Still some ideas stick, and then travel (and conferences) are worth it. Very much so.

Goodbye Koblenz, Hello Dusseldorf

Mosel River from the ship

Koblenz from the Mosellle

A barge from Rotterdam in Koblenz

My last post from the Rhine and soon to be my last post in Europe! Great espresso at Coffee Hero. Skipped the Fruhstuck (hotel breakfast): too many deli meats and cheese this early. Printed boarding pass for tomorrow from Dusseldorf. Boarding train to Dusseldorf in 1/2 hour. Alles gut!

HAPPINESS FACTOR
BBC interviewed Arianna Huffington on a panel with two other guests, one who has written a book about happiness, all arguing that the GDP of countries is less important than the well being of its citizens (GWB?), or at least both should be taken into account. The author, after a spell of depression, reconnected with creativity and play by interacting and modeling behavior of children. I've noticed my affinity for children playing while traveling on this trip, often with no toys and long waits, and yet they continue to make sounds, interact with a sibling or a parent in a playful way, and enjoy humor and simple games more than adults do. I've known this, but this trip I'm responding more to their playfulness. With my child nearly an adult, how can I reconnect with the playfulness of youth? Invite 3rd graders to come to class with my seniors for story time? Read to kindergarteners?

BOOK TALK
Establish book talks at our school: student or adult starts the period with a book in hand, a short review, then a short reading, max 3 minutes. Students of any age or staff who aren't classroom teachers are encouraged to participate. With two book talks a week it takes max 6 min but could establish a reading culture.