-seeing three bears in the wild (all of our group saw one bear as we were about to start on the trail, about eight of us saw two bears and I was the only one to see all three)
-seeing a rattlesnake up close (but not too personal)
-seeing the world’s only T-Rex print
-backpacking in God’s Country for ten days and about 55-60 miles
-sunrise on our last day on the trail at the Tooth of Time

We all made it safely without much more than sore feet and a bloody nose.
I took many pictures (about 5 GB worth) but unfortunately my two, 2GB cards became corrupt and the pictures were lost. I tried every piece of photo recovery software and sent one of the cards out for service without any luck.

My pictures can be seen here: Philmont Photos on PICASA.

I also took along a Flip Video camera and shot some video along the way. I was impressed with how it came out. It also did not burn through batteries as bad as my camera did.

Check out the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPdTKRiquR0

Here’s a picture from The Tooth of Time on the morning of July 5th.

Overall Philmont was an amazing place to visit and “I’m going to go back there, someday…”

Lost Lake Scout Reservation 2009
This summer marked by 20th summer at Lost Lake and my ninth (or tenth, I lose count) as Commissioner. I enjoyed camp but decided during the summer I needed a change. This was my last year as commissioner. In 2010, I will be teaching Photography Merit Badge and starting our camp’s Cinematography Merit Badge program. I look forward to 2010.

The Adventures of Robin Hood

When I came back from summer camp in early August I was anticipating having two-three weeks of lazy, nothing to do summer vacation. That lasted for about four days. I belong to the Stage Combat and Theatre Repertory Company Knights of Iron and have helped out for many years behind the scenes. I even have/had the nickname “Sir Not Appearing In This Film” from Monty Python because of helping out but not being on cast. This season would be different.

With ten days before opening day at the Michigan Renaissance Festival one of our cast members had to pull out of the show. I was selected to replace him in the role of James the Guard in our Adventures of Robin Hood show. The Adventures of Robin takes place in five scenes throughout the day and festival grounds. It finishes with a Human Combat Chess match. This is no small project. For me this required learning the script (Scene I, which was almost all of my speaking parts, was 9 pages alone) and learning three different sets of fight choreography. With the two other guards we fought Will Scarlet and Robin Hood in Scene I and I fought Little John in the Human Combat Chess Match at the end of the day. It was mentally challenging to learn the show in the ten days I had to learn the script.

The show opened on August 23 and ran on weekends through the first weekend in October. By the end of the run over 16,000 people had seen our show.
Here are some pictures from the show.

The first picture shows Little John tripping me during our fight in the Chess Match at the end of the day.The second picture shows us at the end of each day when we would greet the patrons as they left for the day. Many times we were asked to pose for pictures, to make things fun we had twelve poses, with three special poses. Prince John would choose a number and we would make that pose. We also had a Power Rangers, Charlie’s Angels and The Travolta pose. It was a fun way to make sure the patrons had a good time. In this picture I am on the far left. Also in the picture are Sir Guy of Gisbourne, The Sherrif of Nottingham, Prince John, Paul and Max. The last picture shows another scene from my fight with Little John. In this scene Little John is throwing me around the chess board with his staff.

Backpack the Cat
That sounds like the title for a children’s story and it could very well turn into one. One of my students found two kittens on her way to school. She put them in her backpack and left them outside for the morning. Someone found her backpack and brought it into the school where it was returned to her. She hung it up on our coat rack and kept quiet about it. The kittens cooperated by keeping quiet as well. Near the end of the day I notice three girls hanging around by the coat rack. I told them to go back to their seats and get to work. Just a few minutes later, they were back by the coat rack. So I walked over to send them back to their seats and find out what was so interesting. When I got to the coat rack, I noticed the backpack was moving, I asked who’s backpack this was and the student owned up saying “There’s a cat inside…” So we walked down to the Principal’s office. While at the Principal’s office, I removed the kitten from the backpack and was holding it, when I heard the backpack meow. So I opened the backpack and discovered the second kitten.
After determining that these kittens were not pets and were strays. I decided to adopt one of them, the fourth grade teacher adopted the other. So I have a new family member…to go with my fish tank. She was promptly named Backpack after where she was found.

Interesting note: One of her favorite places to sit is… on top of the computer backpack that I take to school every day.

So it has been an amazing summer. Some of the hardest work and most fun I have had in my life all at the same time.

Here’s the itinerary for my upcoming trip to Philmont.

Formatting note: Activities tend to happen after the backpacking is done. Elevation changes are estimates. There may be some side hikes to places not on our itinerary that will add some distance and allow for some additional opportunities and photos.

Day 1- Opening Campfire

Day 2- Ranger Training (Philmont Training), See the World’s Only Tyrannosaurus Rex Track-
Backpacking Distance- 2 Miles
Elevation Change- Not much
Ending Elevation: 7200 feet

Day 3-Archaeology, Tour Petroglyphs, Conservation Project
Backpacking Distance- 2 Miles
Elevation Change- about 1000 feet
Ending Elevation: 8200 feet

Day 4- Western Lore, Horse Rides, Cantina Show, Chuck Wagon Dinner and Breakfast(no dehydrated food)
Backpacking Distance- 5 Miles
Elevation Change- about 500 feet
Ending Elevation: 8500 feet

Day 5- Rock Climbing and Rapelling
Backpacking Distance- 6 Miles
Elevation Change- about 1000 feet
Ending Elevation: 9500 feet

Day 6- Burro Racing 12 Gauge Shotgun Shooting and Reloading
Backpacking Distance-7 Miles
Elevation Change- An up and down day, last 3 miles gain about 1000 feet.
Ending Elevation: 10200 feet

Day 7- Trail Camp- No Activities
Backpacking Distance: 5 Miles
Elevation Change: Another up and down day last two miles push us over 11000 feet
Ending Elevation: 11500 Feet

Day 8- .30-06 rifle and Reloading
Backpacking Distance: 5 Miles
Elevation Change: Next two days are all downhill (-1500 feet)
Ending Elevation: 10000 feet

Day 9- Gold Mining and Panning, Mine Tour, Blacksmithing, “Stomp” show
Backpacking Distance: 7 Miles
Elevation Change: Continuing downhill mostly (-2000 feet)
Ending Elevation: 8000 feet

Day 10- Cabin Tour@Hunting Lodge, Western Lore, Branding
Backpacking Distance: 6 Miles
Elevation Change: Up and down but not much of a change
Ending Elevation: 8000 feet

Day 11- Side Hike Tooth of Time
Backpacking Distance: 5 Miles
Elevation Change: Up and Down day (1000 feet up and down during the day)
Ending Elevation: 8000 Feet

Day 12- Return to Base camp
Backpacking Distance: 5 Miles
Elevation Change: (-1000+ feet)
Ending Elevation: <7000 feet

Backpacking Distance (not including any side hikes): 54 1/2 Miles
Highest Elevation: 11800 feet
Longest Day: 7 Miles

Looking for more information?
Check this site out: http://www.philsearch.org/ Click on Treks. Scroll down the page and click on Trek 5. There is our itinerary. You can also see photos from previous groups. I hope to submit some of my own after the adventure.

Thanks to all veterans and current members of our armed forces.

Here’s an example of outstanding tech support. We bought a Smart Board 8 years ago (well past warranty) I started having difficulties with it a couple of weeks ago and emailed their tech support email. Within two hours I had a response. Two hours for a product that in tech terms is an antique.

Thinkwave Educator is similar in that any issues I have had with both their free accounts (currently) and with their paid products I have always received prompt and accurate customer support.

Is Engrade going to provide support for their product?

One of my favorite archaeology/fantasy authors. I have not read this one yet but have read the 12 books preceding this one.

Rules:
* Get the book nearest to you. Right now.
* Go to page 56.
* Find the 5th sentence.
* Write this sentence – either here or on your blog.
* Copy these instructions as commentary of your sentence.
* Don’t look for your favorite book or your coolest but really the nearest.

Thanks to Stephen Abrams of Stephen’s Lighthouse and Doug Johnson (Blue Skunk Blog)for this rather interesting (and easy) meme.

Bloggers, you’re it.

And now for a variation…

Follow the same rules as above but this time use the most recent book you finished.

Alex Henry’s only three boats were lost and he saved his own life by grimly hanging to the bottom of an out of control craft he had been riding in, clinging tenaciously for several hours before finally being rescued by one of Amherst’s aides.

The Conqueror’s by Allan W. Eckert

A narrative of the French and Indian War focusing on the rebellion around Detroit led by Chief Pontiac. I started reading this in October to get ready for my hike along the Chief Pontiac Trail in southeastern Michigan.

What is the closest book to you and what did you last read?

A travel bug is a geocaching item that has been given a unique code that is trackable using the geocaching.com website. Generally the travel bugs are small items that have a small tag attached to them. Scout Bear is different. It is one of the Post Office Bears in a Scout Uniform.

He started close to home near Auburn Hills, Michigan and has traveled over 10,000 miles. He has met many scouts along the way including Cub Scout Pack 25 from Princeton, Massachusetts and the GPS Scouts who took it on the MidState Trail while they were getting ready for Philmont. (Interesting note: I will be going to Philmont this summer as well) He has traveled to 11 different states and Mexico during the three short years he’s been on the trail.

This could be done as a sort of modern Flat Stanley type activity with a class and their own travel bug. The only difficulty is the random travel of the travel bug. Travel bugs have been known to disappear (someone finds them and doesn’t log them into the site or just keeps them) or they end up lost.

Any suggestions?
Other than get a Mac, which may happen anyway.

UPDATE
Just a few weeks ago I bought a new Inspiron 1525 from Dell. I am getting used to Vista slowly and enjoy the rather large amount of hard drive space I have now. Thanks for your help and suggestions!

Tomorrow is our last day of school for students and Friday is our last day for teachers. Its going to be a bit crazy for me for the next couple of days….

The schedule:
Thursday:
At school:
1/2 day of school
- Awards Ceremony
-Assist with technology presentation for teachers during the afternoon.
-pack up classroom

At home:
-Pack for summer camp and trip to St. Helena Island.

Friday
At School:
-Finish packing classroom and check out of school.
At Home:
-Unload car and continue packing for camp and St Helena Island trip.

Saturday

-Pack car for move to Lost Lake Scout Reservation.
-Drive to Lost Lake Scout Reservation in Clare, MI (about 2 3/4 of an hour trip)

Sunday
-Drive to Mackinac City to catch boat to St Helena Island at 9:00 am.

Sunday Through Wednesday Morning
-Camp and work at St Helena Island with Troop 4 from Ann Arbor. (See My First Animoto Video for a taste of St Helena Island)

Troop 4 from Ann Arbor, Michigan has been renovating the light house and keeper station for the past 20 years. Scouts, adult leaders and their families camp for the week and spend most of each day working on various projects on the island. Some other highlights of the week include a day hike to a Heron Rookery and the remains of an old village, twice weekly bonfires and the scouts work on advancement as well. Its a very rustic week. This will be my second time camping with Troop 4 (I’m from Troop 154 in Sterling Heights and know Troop 4 from Lost Lake Scout Reservation)

Wednesday
-Drive back to camp

Thursday
-School meetings back in Detroit. Return to Lost Lake for remainder of staff week and summer camp.

I’m really looking forward to being back at camp this summer. This will be my 18th summer at Lost Lake Scout Reservation on staff. I’ve had many positions over the years ( Handicraft Director, Program Director, Pathfinder Director (1st Year Scout Program) and Commissioner) Currently I am the commissioner and work with the troop’s leadership and camp staff to make sure the scouts have a good time at camp. Some of my specific responsibilities include judging our Scoutmaster Cookoff on Tuesday afternoons, coordinating the campwide barbecue on Wednesday night and taking photos for our camp’s slide show at the Friday Night campfire. Here’s an example slide show from last year. http://scouts21.ca/2007-08-20_llsr.php

I also do a lot of the carving on our growing collection of totem poles in camp which range in size from 8 to 25 feet tall.

Technology wise it will be a bit of a challenge. Internet service is Dialup and is slowwwwwwww. We can get WiFI at the local McDonalds (about a 20 minute drive)

Our summer camp season lasts until early August. I won’t be as active on Twitter and I cannot imagine what Google Reader is going to look like. Email and direct messages are probably the best way to contact me via the Internet.

Here’s a list of the books I’ll be reading this summer for Professional Development on my own.

1. Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative by Ken Robinson-

2. The Passionate Teacher by Robert L. Fried

3. The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam

4. Thinking Visually by Oliver Caviglioli and Ian Harris

5. Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

6. Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design by Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe

7.Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds

I will be reading the Understanding by Design books to see how they fit into my school’s adoption of SIOP (Structured Instructon Observation Protocol) http://www.siopinstitute.net/. I will be reading Presentation Zen, Thinking Visually and The Back of the Napkin to improve my presentation and graphic design skills for the classroom.

Also during the summer I hope to experiment more with the Wii Board project to see how it can be used in my classroom in the fall.