Today as I drove home from work I saw the shadow of a bird fly overhead. I don’t know what compelled me to stop the car and drive back to the point where I had seen the bird, but I’m so glad I did. It’s pretty obvious from the title of my post, the bird was an eagle that had landed in a lake along the side of the road.

As I peered at this marvelous bird of prey I was awe struck and thrilled. After watching from the car for approximately 10 minutes I decided I would take a chance and get out of my car to get a closer look. The eagle never moved. It simply stood on a stump perched over the water and looked at me as if to say, “Yes, I own this lake and the land surrounding it. I belong.”

Soon, other cars pulled over along side the road. As people realized that I was staring at the lake for a reason, they quietly got out of their cars, whispered hushed tones of delight, pulled out cameras, and asked strangers to send photos their way. Despite all the quiet commotion, the eagle remained stationery, dipping his beak in the water from time to time. The air was crisp, the sky was clear. The sun glimmered over the water as it began to lower across the horizon of the lake. Eventually people returned to their cars and drove off. I was left alone with “my eagle” once again as I marveled at my good fortune, found peace with nature, and wondering how many majestic moments in my life had passed by unnoticed.

I stop for Eagles. I belong.


Several years ago I created an eagle website. I updated it this evening to honor “my eagle.” I hope you too will take time to stop for eagles.

Click on the screenshot to visit my Celebrating the American Bald Eagle site.

By the way, the photo included in this post was sent to me by a kind soul who carries a camera so that he can record the “eagle moments” of his life.

So…the holidays are around the corner and I was picking up a few gifts at Walmart after work tonight. I am still feel guilty because I did not intercede on the behalf of this small little tyke who had clearly had enough shopping (and so had his seemingly short-tempered mother). I try not to judge, but this little guy’s mother was spanking him repeatedly as he screamed at the top of his lungs, “But mommy, I don’t want to be a bad boy anymore! Stop mommy! I don’t want to be a bad boy no more.”

The mother’s scolding’s continued, the spankings continued, and the little boy kept crying the same refrain. It broke my heart as I tactfully followed the mother around the store checking to see that the child survived his trip to Walmart and tried to decide whether I should offer to take the little guy to the McDonald’s in the front of the story for a happy meal. I worried that I would be viewed as nosy at best, perverse at worst. I know the mother needed a chance to recover and there was no question that little guy needed a break, but I didn’t have the nerve to step forward. In school I would not have hesitated, but in public? Finally, the little guy’s Grandma joined the fray and seemed to calm Mom and son down a bit. Still, the mother’s scolding continues to ring in my head, “You are a bad boy and you will always be a bad boy…I should have left you home.”

The whole scene brought tears to my eyes. I felt sorry for the little guy and angry with myself for not being more courageous on his behalf. If I’m honest, I also felt sad as I remembered a few times when I wasn’t such a great Mom myself. Young children, shopping, and holidays can be stressful even for a parent that adores her children.

I suppose the whole incident should have ended there, but I just jumped on my computer and clicked on a twitter recommendation for a great inspirational video called Teachers are Mirrors. I have embedded it below. So, here is the thing that is troubling me tonight….how much can a teacher do when a child’s parents reflect so much negativity? I agree that as teachers and educators we do have a tremendous impact on student self-esteem, but how can we possibly reflect enough self-esteem and self-worth to undo the damage faced by some of our students in their family life? I hope the Mom at Walmart was simply having a bad day…

Wouldn’t it be lovely if the Holidays could deliver good cheer and self esteem to our students in their homes as well as in their classrooms?

I did not realize this, but sometimes reviewing and assessing Web 2.0 applications can lead to an embarrassing situation. Recently, as I checked out an application called Spacelocker my contact list on my Google Mail account was accessed without my clear authorization or understanding. I may have made a mistake during the registration process, but gosh darn, I have reviewed over 150 Web 2.0 applications and this has never happened before! At any rate, imagine my surprise (and anger) when I realized everyone on my contact list had been invited to join and use Spacelocker.

I might not have been so angry if I had decided this was an application I recommended for teacher or student use, but I had determined it had too many social features for my conservative viewpoint. I would not have included this application in my blog as a recommended Web 2.0 application. Granted, it’s interesting and most certainly has kid appeal and I did like the cute graphics, but I just figured it was not an application I would recommend.

So I find myself eating humble pie as I publicly apologize to everyone on my contact list. Obviously, I have already sent an apology email to everyone in my contact list as well. I have learned a valuable lesson. I will not use an email account that is connected to any of my contacts when I review applications in the future, especially when I am reviewing a Beta application.

In fairness to Spacelocker I have included the personable note I received from them in quick response to my request for cancellation of my account….

Hi Jennifer,

I just saw you note and I thought I would write you personally. First I am sorry that you are unhappy with the spacelocker sign up procedure. The intent was to make it easy to have friends join new users at the lockers. We put 2 different forms on the sign up page and put a notice on the page what each form does. We even put a warning in red letters on the left side form to read the the note on the page “before signing up”. We thought people would naturally choose the form that achieved what they wanted in spacelocker. Please see the forms here: http://www.spacelocker.com/signUp.php

However it appears our attempts to make things easy or to caution people sometimes does not work. We are looking at new ways to maintain the ease of invitation (that so many people like) but better get across to new users how the the process works.

Again I am sorry your joining spacelocker affected adversely. We will cancel you account as you wish. I hope you check back at spacelocker in the next few weeks and see what we have come up with.

Cheers,
Gaby
Spacelocker Ltd
www.spacelocker.com
the happiest space on earth

This is the email I sent to cancel my account (and the email that Gaby was replying to)….

Message : Cancel my account ASAP. I was reviewing your service for
possible inclusion in my blog. I would not recommend this service based
on the fact that it invited everyone on my contact list to join….a
function I do not like and find very embarrassing…it brings into
question my credibility with friends and colleagues. I do not recall
authorizing this access to my contact list. In fact, I tried to back
out of the subscribing process when I saw this function activated.
CANCEL MY ACCOUNT ASAP!!!!