Amazing Moments

It all started this morning with a tweet to @mr_fines, a Kindergarten teacher in my PLN on Twitter.  Within minutes, Mr. Jon Fines, was tweeting back lots of great technology lesson ideas to use with K-kids. At that moment, collaboration went global and energy surged! My colleague Jenny and I had been brainstorming and planning together for a bit before we tapped the Twitter network.  When Fines chimed in, it was energizing, like a firework exploding with bright colors in a dark sky. Our exchange went like this: “ I teach them to open Word,  increase font size, change font, then type the letters of the alphabet in order. Keyboarding+ Letter Assessment,” Fines tweeted. “GREAT ideas!!! Thanks so much! We have Paint and Word, so will give that a try. Any Christmas ideas?” I asked. “This is one of our Christmas favs. I use on IWB but PC's are great http://sprintsweets.com/ & http://bit.ly/8YSLHV is also a fun one,” Fines replied. “You made my day!!! I LOVE these sites!!! Can

I was on Twitter yesterday and ran across a link from @cybraryman1 on Random Acts of Kindness. The story I read was about a couple who gives a new crisp $50 bill to a waitress at a random restaurant right before Christmas.   What a great idea!  Giving something nice to someone who is not expecting anything is just as much fun as receiving a gift.   Giving a $50 bill not only made that person’s day, but will be a story they will share for the rest of their life. I was once a recipient of a random act of kindness and I will never forget the joy, disbelief, and happiness that flowed through me.  Here is my story. I had dreamed of owning a piano for many years. After I was married, I visited our local music store and fell in love with a Baldwin Acrosonic piano.  I picked up a glossy flyer with the beautiful cherry piano that included all the details and started saving for it.  I would go to Schmitt Music often and play the piano on the show room floor, then go home and keep saving.

Our first snow of the year ushered in a calm start to the week-end.  It was the perfect kind of day to just stay home, snuggle up, read a book, or even clean out a crayon drawer. Our crazy crayon drawer was overflowing with crayons,  like foam running over the top of a glass of bubbly soda.  Every end of the school year, the kids dump the contents of their pencil boxes into the crayon drawer, so to say it was full was an understatement   Every color had to be represented at least two dozen times if not more. My son looked up at me and said, “Mom, are we crayon hoarders?” I had to laugh. “No, son, but we could be if we keep buying more than we need and don’t share, “ I replied. Having a sea of crayons got me thinking about a time when there was only one special crayon box. This special crayon box had exactly eight colors. They were the fat crayons, perfect for all sizes of fingers that would use them over the years.  These crayons resided in the top drawer of the buffet in my g