Paul Castro said every random act helps. #RAKDavid
“All of those things are making the world better. And those are the things that give us the energy and the strength to face the next day. It is impossible to explain to anyone what it’s like to lose a child. I don’t know where we would be without the support of our friends and family, and really, strangers.”
7-24-21 RAK
I spread the word about #RAKDavid at the Memorial Villages Farmers Market as I introduced Stephanie to my Plant-it-Forward farmer and other entrepreneurs . Met her at a UNICEF CFCI assessment workshop she was facilitating where safety was one of the questions. Met a family with their young daughter moving back to Annapolis shared the message with their father.
7-23-21 RAK
I picked up a dog mess that was left on a pathway I walk daily. In the past I went by angry, especially when I almost stepped in it. I shared this idea with a teenager who was helping her little brother explore tadpoles. Said maybe they didn’t have a bag as I have experienced that problem or didn’t realize their dog went. As we chatted, she said she was interested in scaling the acts of kindness. Said she was in the Red Cross Club at Memorial High School where my grandson attends and I graduated. I said I would help. Maybe this can help other students be the best dude around and aspire to be like David.
7-20-21 RAK
Thank you Paul for inspiring me to make the world a better place. Watching the launch today inspired me to call a teacher I know about a project Idea that connects to our passions. Hoping that chatting can help her through a difficult time. That was my RAK, to take time to see how she was doing and share an idea. She is now going to do the same thing and call another teacher to help her. We chatted about suggesting to Bezos to take a teacher up in the Blue Origin. Amazon is already one of their school partners with the https://www.amazonfutureengineer.com/ program. Who knows, maybe a teacher at WHS could be the one to go and take music memories of David.
7-19-21 RAK
What I know I can do is scale my work from decades ago with friends who are still scaling education with Random Hacks of Kindness, Jr. and The Last Mile Education Fund.
I am on the watch to give a helping hand when I can and share my ideas. And hope David’s memory grows kindness.
Searched the word “KINDNESS” on Ted.com and this 2009 talk was first. Researched Jonathan Zittrain and discovered he is a professor at Harvard. This is where one of our NCWIT AiC winners is going to go. Then saw he is looking for a research assistant. What a connection to make. The award application asks “Describe a problem that you would like TO SOLVE using technology and explain HOW you would solve it.” I would like to add:
Please help me answer my questions as a computer science teacher since 1985 who had an Internet connection in her classroom since the beginning. The administration did not trust teachers to have a telephone in their classroom. I asked for an Internet connection and modem to hook up to an Apple IIE. So I got a telephone in my classroom and teachers asked me how I got one when they didn’t have one.
My goal is to learn to be a better listen! Sit on a bench and offer RAKs as needed. To listen to the benches in social media.
Here is one of my brainstorms for #RAKDavid, but never felt right to add so storing here as a way to share with those who build future engineers.
Watching the launch today inspired me to call a teacher I know about a project Idea that connects to our passions. Hoping that chatting can help her through a difficult time. That was my RAK, to take time to share an idea and she is now going to do the same thing . We chatted about suggesting to Bezos to take a teacher up in the Blue Origin. Amazon is already a partner with the https://www.amazonfutureengineer.com/middle-high-school program in their schools.
July 14, 2021 – Houston Prep presentation on Zoom after years of F2F.
Brain Break – Dancing with the Bees.
I am a teacher.
I love creating and sharing lessons.
But most, I enjoy talking to students and seeing what they create.
I use EPL methodology created by Ridley Scott. That means, go with the flow. Plan as you go based on current events and the audience questions. When it snowed I took my students outside to taste the snowflakes and cancelled my lesson plan. We researched snowflakes and created digital art instead of the scheduled activity. Please ask questions to go down your pathway!!
Environmental Planning 4 Learning is our future paradigm shift classroom, I hope. Are we Frozen in time? Do you think you might want to be a teacher? My first job was as at a brokerage firm analyzing markets. After 3 children attended a career interest course and it pointed to being a teacher. Best decision I ever made.
Frances “Poppy” Northcutt is a Texas attorney who began her career as a “computress” and then an engineer for the technical staff on NASA’s Apollo Program during the space race. During the Apollo 8 mission, she became the first female engineer to work in NASA’s Mission Control.
… Loud Mouth, Warrior, unusual cases, refugees, proof, Africa, realities of the world … So … what do you think?
Rocket Scientist … Computress
… Hidden Figures, Code Breaking, Women’s Studies, 954 Wage Laws, Promotion, Technical Staff, Team Work Advocates, Progressive Contractor Advocate, Who is best? … Does this bring to mind anything on this blog site?
ADVOCACY CLIPS
… Stereotypes, STEM Program Expanding Your Horizons Valuable, Equal Pay, $7 million, Custom Yoga Pants, Secure Future, Discrimination, Lucky One – Why Involved in Women’s Rights, AAUW Great History, Equal Rights, Equal Pay Act failed by one vote this week, Violence Against Women Act still unfunded, Speed Dial Congressman, text with resist.bot, Voter Registrar, … Do you think being an educated voter should be a priority?
… Backward with computer science, dropped in 1/2, why? as money goes up women go down. You can register people in high school, do something where earn a living, need role models, that is what women do, if teaches a women to read will teach her child, her husband, her parents. If teach a man stops there …
Poppy is an inspiring champion of change!. Our next steps for AAUW-WHC can be heard at our New Member Coffee on August 28, 2021 … Please let us know if you would like to join our group of WISE Leaders.
My current listen to book while gardening – best place to have small wins when a flower grow. To grow minds education’s focus should be on quality control and feedback giving the opportunity for learners to share their small wins. For me it’s about the tiny tweak change agents. I found one of the best which comes next.
…. What was fun?
…………Having a Great Day in Houston Cleaning.
Listening to story telling from the heart with Debra Duncan as she connects the dots :))
If you would like to find out why Debra came to sit in my kitchen having a conversation with me, you will just have to log onto Great Day Houston.
Now to ingrain the habit of keeping my house clean as if there was a party happening. So, let’s party everyday. Keep the small wins going.
… with this video from my daughter who arranged for my carpet to be cleaned.
Want to be part of creating small wins for you youth?
Had a fun day watching the filming by Great Day Houston.
While J.J. Zavalla the Producer was capturing footage, I had an opportunity to chat with Debra Duncan. One takeaway was the suggestion of laying water lines when the oil companies laid pipe lines. My 12 grade grandson Gage knew her son from the after school program at Idea Lab where he learned to code Mindcraft.
That someone is my grandson. Someone Builds the Dream was my Hunters Creek Elementary 5th grade graduation gift. So looking forward to seeing his dreams of being an architect grow.
Once in every 17 years … Is the time now? Is there a paradigm shift in caring? How bad is it behind the current? How do we scale teachers with wisdom that are put out to pasture? How can we build wars that bring joy? Questions that are inspired on Sunday Mornings.
Answers that inspire me to keep on my pathway of public education policy. So what did I do? I signed up to be selected to be on the Texas SBOE TEKS K-8 Technology Application review work group. Why I am asked? Answer, because I can. I am the only person in the state of Texas that has the experience and history. I tried to integrate CS / CT in 2010 as a member of the TA TEKS writing team, but alas my ideas were not used. That was when my grandson was in first grade in SBISD. I now have future sixth and kindergarten grandchildren and have to step up and do my part.
Time for some data visualization … “Inventors are always testing” – Innovation Nation. It is not testing in schools that needs to go away, it is the way students are tested. Take flight with a sine wave. Mission Unstoppable … We can solve it together!!! As together is better!!!! We need more counselors and librarians who can build teams to solve for tomorrow. What does it take to be part of the party? Solution – the universal language of food. Be an architect for the future. Be a builder of Housing for All. Create a curiosity driven research and collaboration system of education for our future. Oh, the places we will go with lessons learned.
I am so blessed to have 3 loving children and 4 grandchildren who are my inspiration. Now to stop procrastinating and get back to writing Story Worth adventures. And creating my gardens. But relaxing on a Sunday morning is my favorite thing so thinking of tap dancing, remembering Hamster Dance, and watching nature’s chicks.
“A violin contains 70 different pieces of wood.”
NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) Awards 2021 Mentor Circles
Please read our Houston Awardees Biographies to learn about their aspirations.
What is in your GARDEN of action?
dreams – stories – parents – inspiration
I think
in circles.
NCWIT Aspirations in Computing AiC Mentor Expectations
AiC Award Event:
Do you see TedE sitting in the chair?
