What an awesome week!

I love this week. It was a completely fabulous experience. I know I was there for work but I had such a great time it was like vacation. I wish all work could be like that!

As I said before, I worked at a high school journalism camp as an intern. I worked with kids who are appointed section editors of their school papers. Kids came from all over the US and they were awesome, fun and smart. I loved how their brains processed information and I loved that they shared their creativity.

I learned quite a bit myself. I have some great ideas for a school publication if I ever have a chance to be a sponsor or journalism teacher. I'm going to take some of these ideas back to my current school and see if I can convince the principal to let me do a student publication. We shall see!

In addition to working with kids on story packaging, grading, student instruction, facilitating leadership activities, and news/ feature/ op-ed writing, I helped my friend Photographer, who got me this gig, prep for her fall semester. I developed 50 research writing topics on Native American Indians for her to use with her advanced juniors, and an additional 30 research topics on the 1920s/ Gatsby for her AP juniors.

I met some cool people and made a few contacts (which I don't think will really turn into anything for a teaching job BUT will be very helpful in the future if I want to teach for this program!). I also met neat kids, of course. And people in the community were wonderful.

Obviously I loved the food* and the culture. I wish with all my heart that I had gone to a huge school. It's such a cool town and the school offers so much that I love and couldn't experience except in that sort of setting. It's such a historic university, rich in so much. I felt so at home in that setting.

All in all it was wonderful and I so was NOT ready to come home. Especially since I had to come home and go straight to work at my part time weekend job!!! Ugh! (I really need to get rid of that! If only I could get a raise....)

Mags

*I did real Turkish food, after trying to decide after I wrote about all my good eats here. The food was plentiful and excellent. The staff was good, and really helpful since I had never eaten Turkish and had no idea what to order. And the price was right! I had wonderfully seasoned lamb kebabs on a bed of rice with a red lentil soup drizzle with a salad with a funky dressing, warm homemade bread, a white bean soup, and hot Turk Tea.I chose to eat a table with a chair rather than on the floor with huge cushions because I was alone and all I could have visions of was myself on the floor, with a full belly, and unable to stand up! Excellent meal and I want to go back!

Is it work? Is it a vacation? I can't tell the difference!

Not only am I having a super cool week working with the kids at journalism camp, I'm also having a great time in this college town. It's a wonderful atmosphere and I just love the culture.

There are tons of amazing little shops all over the place. I'm not shopping so much as just wondering in and out of all these cute little places. I love the options and variety. I can find just about everything and then stuff I never thought of before. I love all the New Age stores, in person esty shops, vintage shops and tons of bookstores.

Speaking of bookstores, I went into one that has the biggest collection of newspapers and periodicals for sale of anywhere I've ever been. There were papers in at least 12 different languages plus papers from all the major North American markets. There were periodicals for every topic under the sun, appealing to everything. The collection of books- and this wasn't a used book store- ran from best seller and popular to rare and eclectic. I explored for hours there. It also had all sorts of fun and quirky novelty gifts for the reader and the artist. I bought a Monet coloring book, and almost bought a book of pin up girl paper dolls (but I wasn't sure what to do with it other than just owning it because it was amazingly cool).

The choices of places to eat is also amazing. It's very much a "bar" culture but in the middle of all of that are some great places to eat. I've had some of the best food ever this week- diet be damned. I've had English fish and chips at an Irish pub, arroz con pollo at a Mexican place, and some wonderful gyros at a Greek place. I ate a fabulous vegetarian bagel at a local place where bagels are made fresh (and boiled) 3 times daily, on site, with homemade schmears. I still want to eat Indian or Thai before I head home.

And the culture is everywhere. There are tons of free galleries and museums. There are poetry readings and author readings. There's all type of classes like yoga or belly dancing or Pilates. The music that plays in shops and restaurants is as diverse at the people and food options. And people talk about politics and books and just all these wonderfully intellectual ideas. (I spend time eavesdropping on fellow diners and shoppers)

Campus is amazing. It's historic and majestic. It just feels like I'm surrounded by history and can feel brains and intellect just ooozing from the building and people, practically. I like the history in the buildings. I love the nooks and cranies.

Tis a lovely working vacation!
Mags

Smart kids are fun

I. love. smart. kids.

It's been a long time since I've worked with kids who seem, for all accounts, just really smart and really well adjusted. These are kids that take, in addition to journalism, courses like Russian Literature, Chinese III, AP Everything (Calc, English, Psychology, Chemistry, etc), Forensics, and other advanced thinking classes. These are kids who do volunteer work and take it seriously. They travel with their families. They have adventures. They use words like salient and reticent in everyday conversation. They read for fun and take music lessons.

I've spend the last several years of my life working with special education students and at-risk kids. The change of those kids to these is simply amazing. I know most of these kids are smarter than me. I think I've gotten dumber (or maybe I'm just not challenged intellectually) over the last few years.

This week I've worked with kids at this journalism camp who've come from all over the country and they are smart and delightful. They're funny and creative. They enjoy thinking and having a conversation. We say "work in groups and discuss a story package" and they do. They actually stay focused on the topic at hand. They really do!!! That is soooo cool.

It's been a good workshop and I'm learning too. Now I want to go back and have a student publication with my kids. It will certainly be a totally different experience, of course, but it will be fun, too. I think I want to publish a digital newspaper using blogger or Wordpress and let the kids upload their writings daily, staggering the deadlines for freshness. I think it would be a good experience as well as being super easy if it's all online. AND since our entire school is electronic I think it will make sense to have it online.

And there's an available stipend for student publications so I think I could make some money. I'm going to create a sample for our principal and see what he thinks. Because it will involve me getting $$$$$ I have to ask for permission (rather than forgiveness... heehee!)

Mags

A professional growth opportunity AND a vacation of sorts!

I get summer vacay a week early! Goooooo me!

I have an opportunity to work at a special camp for high school kids who are into journalism. I'll get to help teach, in workshop style, journalism writing, elements of layout and design, and use of photos and graphics in yearbooks or newspapers. My minor is actually Journalism, so I'm excited to use it in another way. This is going to be great!

I get to actually teach!

I get to miss work for a week but it still get paid- we're calling it professional development!

It's a fabulous addition to my resume!

I get to be in a very cool college town for a whole week and can explore, and will have time to myself to do whatever- read, shop, research. I love that there's play time built in!

I can make professional connections in education and in the world of news media.

I get to work with kids who are INTERESTED in writing/ journalism/ photography and who are usually good students.

I'm excited. I head out on July 9! Whoot-whoot!

mags