Sorry about the lack of pictures from me today.
A brief recap of Nate's day.....
Usual trip on the BART and a new "muni" bus route this morning. Getting around efficiently is getting easier every day.
Early lunch away from all the tourists. Went to a chinese restaurant called "The Mayflower". They specialize in "Dim Sum".... style of eating very similar to Spanish tapas. Here's how it works for those unfamiliar with dim sum....
You order many small dishes from a menu card instead of one entree, etc. Very good food and fast service. I had a grand total of 5 waiters. As they would emerge from the kitchen with a dish in each hand, they would stop my table and check my card against what they happened to be carrying at the moment. If they were carrying a choice of mine, they would stop and serve me, if not, they would move on to the next table.
After lunch, I walked a bit in the neighborhood. In this part of NW San Francisco, there were very few tourists, so this part of town felt much more quiet and regular. It was set up well, to. There seemed to be 2-3 blocks of residences and then a street with mostly markets and businesses, then more residential areas.
I returned to the block where the Mayflower restaurant was and entered the coffee shop across the street. It had free WiFi, so I parked there for several hours to work on school stuff.
After working on things for a while, I discovered one of the best knife merchants on the west coast was in SF. It was located across the street from cafe Trieste, one of yesterday's destinations. What a great store! The proprietor was VERY helpful and nice, and I left with some knew cutlery for my collection......nothing huge, but some definite things you can't get just anywhere. Interesting to note that her retail space is not much bigger than our bathroom at home. She didn't have everything I asked about, but most.
From the knife store, I headed back downtown to catch the BART. This particular bus served Chinatown, and the residents of this district share something in common with their brethren in China and other asian countries......the belief that there is ALWAYS more room on the bus.
......Except one elderly lady who greeted me the moment the bus door opened at the stop I was waiting at. As soon as the door swung open and I smiled and moved toward the bus, she stopped me (and everyone clamoring and pushing behind me) with a gesture of her frail hand. She wailed,
"NO MORE WOOM ON DIS BUS!" She sounded like a female Mr. Miyagi!
As if on cue, the driver hurredly shut the doors and took off, leaving me and a mob of blinking onlookers wondering if we had just been bullied by a 90 year-old lady.
We got on the next bus.
Arrived back at the hotel before Jenny was done with her training for the day.
We went into Burlingame tonight for dinner. Not much to tell you about here, except that trolley broke down with us on it while on our way into town. 20 minutes later, back on schedule. On our way back to the hotel we had a nice conversation with a Continental flight attendant. Once back we read and blogged.
Please comment!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Jenny's Musings
Hey there everyone! I want to catch everyone up on some of the information that has been filling my very full brain!
This seminar has been amazing. We are in class from 9-5 and we DO NOT get out even 1 minute early! Susan Barton (our instructor/expert) is very intense and fills every second with important information. There are people here from everywhere in the US including Alaska. There are even a few Canadians. It is such a privilege to learn with other people that are passionate about helping children and adults read. It has totally changed the way I look at my students, how they struggle, and what I can do to be effective in helping them. I feel so blessed to be given this valuable information and burdened to use these resources to impact, change, and touch lives.
Monday marked day one in diagnosing dyslexia. The day was so intense that I was a woman of very few words when I left class. Imagine that! Me, a woman of very few words! ha ha...I thought I would share some of my notes with you. By the way, the binder we received on Monday is about 5 inches or more thick!!!! We will cover that information in 6 days!!!!
If you do not have spelling issues, you do not have dyslexia.
Today, Tuesday, Susan Barton went over various tests, guidelines, a case study, and we were able to sit in on part one of the testing process. Part of this class allows us to watch her test a child for dyslexia. I am not able to share information about this child, but I will say the child was at an age that moved my heart and a grade that I know much about. It has really hit home. After the testing, we learned how to score some of the testing.
Tomorrow we will spend the day going over Tuesday's test results, learn about the rest of the testing process, watch Susan finish testing the child, and go into greater depth with scores, and much more.
This evening, Nate and I went into downtown Burlingame for dinner and came back to the hotel to have a quiet evening. This means that I will be intensely reading Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. :)
Love,
Jenny
This seminar has been amazing. We are in class from 9-5 and we DO NOT get out even 1 minute early! Susan Barton (our instructor/expert) is very intense and fills every second with important information. There are people here from everywhere in the US including Alaska. There are even a few Canadians. It is such a privilege to learn with other people that are passionate about helping children and adults read. It has totally changed the way I look at my students, how they struggle, and what I can do to be effective in helping them. I feel so blessed to be given this valuable information and burdened to use these resources to impact, change, and touch lives.
Monday marked day one in diagnosing dyslexia. The day was so intense that I was a woman of very few words when I left class. Imagine that! Me, a woman of very few words! ha ha...I thought I would share some of my notes with you. By the way, the binder we received on Monday is about 5 inches or more thick!!!! We will cover that information in 6 days!!!!
Monday Notes:
If you do not have spelling issues, you do not have dyslexia.
Dyslexia effects way more than reading.
“Nothing can mimic dyslexia except dyslexia.”
Warning signs begin at age 1. You can catch it before the child goes to school.
20% of our population/ 1 out of 5
Dyslexia is the most common reason a child will struggle.
They struggle 1st with spelling.
It is not unusual for a person with dyslexia to have ADD/ADHD. Often they have both.
Research shows that half of the people with ADD also have dyslexia.
5 Most Critical Things of Dyslexia
Inherited
All the reading in the world to a dyslexic child will not teach them how to read independently.
Phonics is NOT the answer for dyslexia. They can learn it in isolation but they can’t apply it.
It runs strongly in the family tree. It is a genetic issue.
“It is not a developmental delay.” A child in 1st grade will still struggle in the 8th grade. Waiting is the worst thing you can do.
50/50 odds for children born in the family tree with dyslexia
It does not skip generations.
If you have dyslexia, it is almost impossible to master a foreign language because they haven’t mastered their own yet.
They are directionality confused. Left and right are difficult. They get lost when driving around. They have trouble with before, previous, etc..
Only mess up b’s and d’s when they are hot, tired, sick, or under stress.
Brain difference
It is not damaged but it is a structural difference.
Process language differently
Directionality
Difficulty up, down letters (b, p) left, right letters (b,d)
Memory
Difficulty with sequences (days of the week, months, phone #’s), wrote random facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication tables), visual memory, auditory memory
They are NOT seeing things backwards.
In a class of 30 random students, 5 or 6 will have dyslexia.
It can be mild, moderate, severe, or profound. A person with dyslexia won’t make it into special ed. unless they are severe or profound.
The inability of an adult to read above a 3rd grade level is a marker of dyslexia.
A child can test accurately as early as age 5. Early intervention is the key!
Don’t bring up the possibility of dyslexia unless there are 3 or more warning signs.
2 HUGE warning signs: In the family tree or spelling difficulty
Today, Tuesday, Susan Barton went over various tests, guidelines, a case study, and we were able to sit in on part one of the testing process. Part of this class allows us to watch her test a child for dyslexia. I am not able to share information about this child, but I will say the child was at an age that moved my heart and a grade that I know much about. It has really hit home. After the testing, we learned how to score some of the testing.
Tomorrow we will spend the day going over Tuesday's test results, learn about the rest of the testing process, watch Susan finish testing the child, and go into greater depth with scores, and much more.
This evening, Nate and I went into downtown Burlingame for dinner and came back to the hotel to have a quiet evening. This means that I will be intensely reading Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. :)
Love,
Jenny
Monday, July 30, 2007
Full Days!
Jenny and Nate in San Francisco Day 4
Today was Jenny's first workshop day. She enjoyed it, but there was so much information to absorb that it was spilling out of her by the end of the day. The person that runs the workshop, Susan Barton, has alot of stamina. She'll be going strong for 6 days in a row, lecturing and teaching for 8 hours, and sometimes running a special session at night as well.
As for me, I say Jenny off to class and then headed for the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. After a few missteps (one involving getting on the wrong cable car) I finally made it to the coffee shop I was heading for........Cafe Trieste.
This particular place is special in that Francis Ford Coppola wrote almost the entire screenplay for "The Godfather" in this very cafe. His picture is on the wall with the owner. I was able to write a page or two of my thesis there. Cafe Trieste had free Wifi, but no power outlets. Alas, the food wasn't all that great, and my laptop battery was running low. I needed power, so I packed up and headed for another coffee shop hoping for an open receptacle. After a short walk...
Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store and Cafe
This place was great, but I didn't see any cigars. They had GREAT espresso and the best tiramisu I had ever eaten. I charged up the laptop and noticed that time was running out. I had purchased a three day pass that gives me unlimited use of the public transportation in town, so I used it for the 2nd time to try to get back to the BART station downtown via a city bus. VERY CROWDED BUS. As we moved through Chinatown on our way back to the BART station, people were taking up every bit of empty space on the bus. I got to chat briefly with some French tourists who remarked how similarly crowded these busses were to the city busses in..........you guessed it............................ROME. Please refer to my Xanga site for that story. Anyway, I got back to the BART station at the airport and picked up Subway for Jenny and sushi for me. It was a good day.
Jenny and Nate in San Francisco (and San Jose) Day 3
Winchester Mystery Mansion
"Do you know the way to San Jose?" Thanks for the song references everyone. We did find our way. It is about a 1 hour trip on the Caltrain. On our way (cue song again) to San Jose, in almost every town, was a yummy looking produce market. It was interesting to compare the different towns' markets as we glided past.
We had lunch at a bagel shop and then attempted to use San Jose's municipal bus transportation to get close to the Mansion. Wow...it dropped us off right in front. Kudos to SJ public transit!
We went to San Jose (I hope that crazy musical phrase is stuck in your head now, too) to tour the Winchester Mystery Mansion. Old Lady Winchester (as I call her) was completely off her rocker. You can read some more about her at the mansion's website.
I was skeptical, but it turned out to be a really fun and interesting tour. We took the regular mansion tour, and then the "behind the scenes" tour as well.
Getting on the bus back to the train station required quite a bit more walking. It was worth it though, because across the street from our bus stop was Jenny's favorite....BASKIN ROBBINS!
With our bellies satisfied for the moment with creamy, cold goodness, we got back on the Caltrain and headed back to Burlingame (the town where our hotel is, a "bedroom" community of the San Francisco area). In Burlingame, we ate dinner at a wonderful small italian restaurant that had some nice authentic menu items (see slideshow for pictures of my carpaccio and capellini pomodoro). After dinner, we wandered a bit and then boarded the trolley that takes us back to our hotel.
That trolley ride was very similar in speed and certainty of a fiery death to the kind of cab rides my Dad describes when talking about his time on Guam. Mario Andretti at the wheel.......yikes!
It was late. Time for bed. Enjoy the pictures!
Today was Jenny's first workshop day. She enjoyed it, but there was so much information to absorb that it was spilling out of her by the end of the day. The person that runs the workshop, Susan Barton, has alot of stamina. She'll be going strong for 6 days in a row, lecturing and teaching for 8 hours, and sometimes running a special session at night as well.
As for me, I say Jenny off to class and then headed for the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. After a few missteps (one involving getting on the wrong cable car) I finally made it to the coffee shop I was heading for........Cafe Trieste.
This particular place is special in that Francis Ford Coppola wrote almost the entire screenplay for "The Godfather" in this very cafe. His picture is on the wall with the owner. I was able to write a page or two of my thesis there. Cafe Trieste had free Wifi, but no power outlets. Alas, the food wasn't all that great, and my laptop battery was running low. I needed power, so I packed up and headed for another coffee shop hoping for an open receptacle. After a short walk...
Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store and Cafe
This place was great, but I didn't see any cigars. They had GREAT espresso and the best tiramisu I had ever eaten. I charged up the laptop and noticed that time was running out. I had purchased a three day pass that gives me unlimited use of the public transportation in town, so I used it for the 2nd time to try to get back to the BART station downtown via a city bus. VERY CROWDED BUS. As we moved through Chinatown on our way back to the BART station, people were taking up every bit of empty space on the bus. I got to chat briefly with some French tourists who remarked how similarly crowded these busses were to the city busses in..........you guessed it............................ROME. Please refer to my Xanga site for that story. Anyway, I got back to the BART station at the airport and picked up Subway for Jenny and sushi for me. It was a good day.
Jenny and Nate in San Francisco (and San Jose) Day 3
Winchester Mystery Mansion
"Do you know the way to San Jose?" Thanks for the song references everyone. We did find our way. It is about a 1 hour trip on the Caltrain. On our way (cue song again) to San Jose, in almost every town, was a yummy looking produce market. It was interesting to compare the different towns' markets as we glided past.
We had lunch at a bagel shop and then attempted to use San Jose's municipal bus transportation to get close to the Mansion. Wow...it dropped us off right in front. Kudos to SJ public transit!
We went to San Jose (I hope that crazy musical phrase is stuck in your head now, too) to tour the Winchester Mystery Mansion. Old Lady Winchester (as I call her) was completely off her rocker. You can read some more about her at the mansion's website.
I was skeptical, but it turned out to be a really fun and interesting tour. We took the regular mansion tour, and then the "behind the scenes" tour as well.
Getting on the bus back to the train station required quite a bit more walking. It was worth it though, because across the street from our bus stop was Jenny's favorite....BASKIN ROBBINS!
With our bellies satisfied for the moment with creamy, cold goodness, we got back on the Caltrain and headed back to Burlingame (the town where our hotel is, a "bedroom" community of the San Francisco area). In Burlingame, we ate dinner at a wonderful small italian restaurant that had some nice authentic menu items (see slideshow for pictures of my carpaccio and capellini pomodoro). After dinner, we wandered a bit and then boarded the trolley that takes us back to our hotel.
That trolley ride was very similar in speed and certainty of a fiery death to the kind of cab rides my Dad describes when talking about his time on Guam. Mario Andretti at the wheel.......yikes!
It was late. Time for bed. Enjoy the pictures!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Nate and Jenny in San Francisco
Hey Everyone! Just want to keep you updated on our trip to California!
For those of you who don't know, Jenny and I are in San Francisco so Jenny can take a course in testing and tutoring dyslexic children. Since her stuff doesn't start until Monday morning, we are going to do some sightseeing, which started today. Enjoy the slideshow below!
For those of you who don't know, Jenny and I are in San Francisco so Jenny can take a course in testing and tutoring dyslexic children. Since her stuff doesn't start until Monday morning, we are going to do some sightseeing, which started today. Enjoy the slideshow below!
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