Tis’ the Season for Tradition

Unless you have been locked up inside your room for the past few weeks you’ve undoubtedly noticed that the Christmas season is upon us. One trip down Orchard Road is all it takes. There are lights and ornaments and decorated trees everywhere. This yearly tradition of decorating for the holidays is one important way to celebrate the holidays.

This weekend I was reminded of the importance of celebrations and these decorating rituals in my own life. My family went to a Christmas Tree Trimming Party at some close friends’ house. We go every year - well most, anyway. Last year we missed it, and I remember feeling a sense of something missing from our holiday celebration. This party has become an important “road marker”  of the year.

What happens at this party is that we decorate the family’s tree together as we munch on delicious homemade holiday snacks and catch up with friends; some of whom we seem to only see at this party.

The cool thing is that when we arrive, the only things on the tree are the lights. We string together strands of popcorn to begin the decorating. I love this part! It’s really “old-fashioned”, and it feels homemade. And somehow that reminds me of times when I was a kid doing the same kind of thing with my family, except we tended to thread cranberries.

Once the popcorn strands are up, there are boxes of ornaments to add. Everyone takes part, from the youngest to the oldest. It’s a real family affair.

And that, to me, is really what the holidays are all about. Family and friends being together, doing the things we do once a year at a particular time. Celebrations like this become anticipated events on the calendar. And now that I have kids, I’m excited to see that they are eager to join in the fun!

How does your family “mark” the season?  What role to traditions like this play in your life?

Blogging Basics

Believe it or not, we're living during an amazing moment in history.  Sure, there have been inventions like the printing press and the telephone that have revolutionized the way we communicate, but in the last few years, the exchange of ideas has exploded at an alarming rate.  New genres are being formed as we speak, and they are already making an impact on how we learn and communicate.  What's causing this big explosion?  Technology.

Enter the blog.  When I was your age, the word "blog" wasn't even invented yet, let alone Facebook, Twitter, and the internet itself.  Like those other innovations of the 21st century, the blog empowers us as we express our opinions and communicate with each other.  Maybe you're like I was until recently though, and you don't really get how a blog works.  Check out this video:

With blogs, we can share ideas and grow our community beyond the walls of our classroom.  We can include images and videos to enhance our ideas in ways that words alone cannot.  We can connect with others in the world and hopefully make an impact on them.  And finally, we'll be able to track and link our own thinking as we do it.

Of course many of you already know this.  I was amazed at your responses to the blog survey you completed.  Over half of you (24 to be exact) have written for a blog already, so maybe I'm already preaching to the choir.

You're not the only students trying this genre out in hopes of seeing results.  Recently, a teacher from ISB told me all about his students' blogging experience.  One of his students, Brian Leong, wrote a post about his experience with Operation Smile, a charity organization that provides free surgeries for children with facial deformities.

Along with his post, he created a video to show what he experienced.  Well, his video went viral.  It even got back to the folks at Operation Smile.  They loved it, and not only did they contact Brian to tell him how much it meant to them, they also asked him to be a keynote speaker at their conference.

So you never know where the ideas on your blog may lead you.  One thing's for sure, they'll connect you with people and places like never before.  So what do you say?  How about we give it a try and see where it takes us?