Jury Duty....the saga continues

So the jury duty thing is over and wow what an experience. First, there were about 200 to 250 people there in the “Jury Assembly Room”….As the first morning went on, you would hear strings of names for people selected to be on a jury. At times, there were calls for the juries that belonged in a certain judge’s courtroom. These were juries that hung over from the previous week. At 11:00 am, my name was called. The first on a list of 22 people….this indicated it was a criminal trial. We made our way via 2 secured elevators to the 19th floor of the Justice Center in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.


It was quite a gathering of people as they say “from all walks of life”. Some had served on jury duty before and some had not. The Judge was what I would consider young. He was very thorough. We spent the remainder of Monday, all day Tuesday and half of Wednesday in “Voir Dire” [from Wikipedia web pageVoir dire (English pronunciation: /ˈvwɑr ˌdiər/) is a phrase in law which comes from the Anglo-Norman language. In origin it refers to an oath to tell the truth (Latin verum dicere), i.e., to say what is true, what is objectively accurate or subjectively honest, or both.]. This is the process of jury selection where a series of questions are asked that help the lawyers determine who they do and don’t want on the jury. In this court, the judge was the main driving force in this process and it seemed that he was very thorough. Everyone had an opportunity to speak about their previous experiences with courtrooms, crime and understanding of the law.

Once the 12 were selected, the remainder of the 22 was released back to the Jury Assembly Room where they were again in the pool for being selected to another jury. This was also the place where we gathered in the morning and at lunch time before going up to the courtroom. The people watching in this room was also very interesting (enough so for it to be the subject of another blog).

After the voir dire was complete, we heard testimony and evidence on Wednesday afternoon, all day Thursday and the case closed on Thursday. We were late in the day and elected to come in on Friday to deliberate. In my mind, and with hind sight being 20/20, I think we could have deliberated on Thursday and been done. There was not much evidence to convict the defendant and we quickly agreed on Friday morning. It was however nice to deliberate at a leisurely pace without really feeling like we needed to be in other places or beating rush hour traffic.

From the first day in the courtroom, the judge told us the testimony would take about a day and a half and that the trial would be done by Friday. I think that since he had spent what seemed like such a long time on the voir dire process, we were all nervous that it would go longer than the 5 days jury duty is supposed to last. It did indeed end on Friday. To me, this is just amazing, that 200-ish people can be gathered on Monday and business or “court” would be finished by Friday and the next Monday, it would all start over again with another 200-ish room full of people.

Jury Duty

Today is my first day of jury duty for the Cuyahoga Court of Common Pleas. There are probably about 200 people here. We have watched a movie, been addressed by two bailiffs and a judge. So far it has been interesting. Will try to post as able...the most harrowing part so far, has been the trip to downtown Cleveland...new traffic patterns because of construction. it took about 40 minutes during rush hour to make a 6 mile trip...huh!

Evolutionary Revolutionaries

I am sitting in a meeting today....an all day meeting. The focus is to make school a better place. We seem to have these evolutionary/revolutionary moments where we see a picture that looks good but we don't know how to make the picture a reality instead of a picture. The evolution part is changing the way we do business. Evolving into something new and different. The revolutionary part is freeing us from the old ways of doing business.

"Action expresses priorities" Mohandas Ghandi

3rd Week Of School

Wow, the third week already. Open house is done and over with. Parents have come and gone. We are nearly half way through the quarter. The students are really coming along. I wonder what is next. What can I do next? One of my colleagues said it is hard to change the world...but it is also hard to eat an elephant so you have to do it one bite at a time.

The First Week of School

There is something exhilarating about the first week of school.  I get to meet a whole new group of students and help them figure out this thing we call high school.  The kids were great this week.  I'm always happy when school starts no matter how tired I am at the end of the week; it is like starting a new mission (not impossible) with a whole new team.

The Beginning of a New School Year

So, I am thinking I want to try to blog more as a new school year resolution....

School ended on  June 9.  I have  been in the building about  1/2 a day a week except for the  3 weeks I was out of state (vacationing).  And, this past week, THE WEEK BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS,  I have been there everyday except  one.  As dept. facilitator for  the special education department, I have been making preparations for the new school year since  the end of  the last school year.  That's right I have been preparing all summer...That is how I feel about my classroom AND my students...I have been getting ready for this Monday, the first day of the new school year, since June 10th.  I am so excited  to try to implement  some new tactics to help my students.  I am so excited to meet the  4 new teachers in my department.  And, although the beginning is always hectic and stressful, I am so looking forward  to a new beginning. Here's to the  2011-2012 school year!

Preparing for a Conference

I am in the midst of preparing for a conference where I am presenting with a team of teachers I have worked with this past school year.  The whole presentation thing is very stressful....I am glad we are presenting in the afternoon...enough time for the morning coffee to kick in...but I fear, being that we are right after lunch (on both days) people will be in food coma, the team included....

We have spent a school year changing the way we do business in school.  It has been very rewarding to see students look a the world in a different way.  Some were very resistant to a non-traditional classroom...some came around....some fought it all the way to the end.  We functioned much more like the real world.  I have a new ...mantra...paradigm....frame of reference....not sure what it is, but it  should focus what teachers do....

Where in the real world, does the boss give you a worksheet to complete that he already knows the answers to?

We do this everyday in the classroom....I call it search and destroy learning....there is no (new) thought in this process........The "boss" asks us to solve problems....sometimes we present the problem to the boss and the solution.....Aside from my  high school job asking me  to memorize the composition of the vast and numerous sandwiches of a fast food menu,  I have had to do very little memorizing of facts since high school graduation...(and it was oh so long ago)....In every job I have had  since my fast food era, I have been asked to solve problems...so we should be practicing in classrooms....

The Joys of Summer Travel

so it all started when I got of the plane in Atlanta and this weird guy was staring at me...I sat with Michael (my best friend's husband)until his plane left....he was traveling to Orlando to meet his family who had just spent a week with me at the beach....I grabbed a bite to eat, made a few phone calls... the gate agent announced our plane was running a half hour late...no biggie..when the plane arrived so did a crazy thunderstorm, horizontal rain, zero visibility, lightening, thunder...but we boarded anyway....then we sat...and sat..and sat...they said we were waiting for clearance from the tower...soon, the captain announced that the storm had moved into our flight gate and that they were going to re-route the flight ...on the next announcement, they were going to let us get off of the plane and as they told us about the procedure, they got the call from the tower that we could leave the gate..a cheer was heard throughout the plane....then we joined like fifty other planes in line for take off...we slowly taxied for what seemed like an hour....then they announced that we would take off in 15-20 minutes..after about 10 minutes they announced there was an emergency situation and we had to go back to the gate...an elderly lady was taken off the plane by EMTs. ....while at the gate, they told us we needed to refuel....needless to say, I was on the plane from 4 pm until 9 pm and when we finally landed, there was a spontaneous round of applause....it's good to be home!

COOL THING

The  idea of a classroom set  ipods for student use...i'm loving it...i could really see a lot of good things i could use them for....audio testing....flashcards.....all kinds of apps  that would be good for kids....

slow on the uptake

Okay, so i've been playing with an i-pad since august and i am just seeing some of the capacity...the flashcards app...pretty cool and easy to use...Stanza app...pretty cool many books available...

Where am I now?

I am at the Educational Technology conference in Columbus, OH....no real tools...just a lot of imaginative minds....helps you look at things differently....kinda cool...there was a guy who made the comparison of a teacher to C3P0.  It was kind of interesting....

My colleagues gave a great presentation and one of them gave a solo presentation.  Both were to packed rooms...yeah for us!

tomorrow, more to see, do and participate in....