Happy New Year!
2008 ~ 2008 ~ 2008 ~ 2008 ~ 2008 ~ 2008 ~ 2008
Welcome to the party!
Get into comfy clothes, pour a favorite beverage, put on some special music, read through what has been posted here already, and use the form below to greet your chapter colleagues and share "small talk" that will help us get to know each other better. Here's some conversation starters...
Propose a toast!
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| Gay Wiseman | 2007-12-29 21:14:35 | |
| Happy 2008, everyone! I am watching it rain outside, slogging the heretofore delightfully dry snow we got a few days ago into the wettest, sloppiest, "Sierra cement" imaginable. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. I've had family visiting, and have been making a few visits myself, not far from home, but have had a low-key holiday break so far and I mean to keep it that way. I always love this week between Christmas and the New Year. I get things done, and I'm in a mood to be both reflective and forward-thinking. I did get kind of down, being a witness to so much of the typical seasonal commercialism and waste that happens here in America at Christmastime... this bothers me more and more. (Here's a link I went to with my students on the last day before the break, which plays a video illustrating, very concisely how much damage this mis-directed "Christmas spirit" does, globally: http://www.storyofstuff.com/) I don't think the students wanted to see this--especially as they were in full pre-Christmas fantasy gift mode, but I hope the "inconvenient truth" did just start to sink in... maybe? Good to meet with you all again! | ||
| Gay, again | 2007-12-29 22:10:16 | |
| Notice the poll below, on this page, in the yellow box. Try it! | ||
| Andre Elliott , Founding President | 2007-12-30 08:01:14 | |
| Greetings to all. I had to add "Founding President" because I often feel that I have the best seat in the house, enjoying the fruits of all who have come to bless and buoy our ambitions. Here we are again, festive, reflective, and brimming with optimism. We are uniquely a one of a kind PDK chapter. Theran, Gay, Barb, David, and Marion were instrumental to the initial planning of this 2008 new year party. I thank each of you with great pride. Gay, your web master talents are conspicuously fantabulous. With your steadfast leadership and support as webmaster, we are an exceptional coterie of scholars in the cyber galaxy. Thanks for reminding all of the waste of the shop until you drop mindset. I share your concerns. The weather in my part of Japan has finally turned crispy cold with strong winds to boot. This is certainly among the most enjoyable times of the year in Japan. One can hear, akemashite omedeto gozaimasu. This is politely saying happy new year. This year, just yesterday, I joined my ten year old son at an overnight campout with the boy scouts. It was our first time to take a tent and sleeping bags to brave the winter night. The scouts have twelve principles. PDK has three.I have emphasized with my two small boys the importance of giving to others and helping others. As I reflect on this year, I hope to continue to help Walden PDK become the most exemplary chapter in the history of Phi Delta Kappa. I know that this is a grand aspiration. However, I also know that in the summer of 1997, I had a conversation with a few Walden students and Dr. Marilyn K. Simon about the inchoation of Walden PDK. The dream began. The dream is alive. If we are bold enough to say the words... I hope we hear from each leader who took time to keep us on the cyberspace path. Happy Kwanzaa, Happy New Year and Happy Hanukkah to all. | ||
| Theran Mugleston | 2007-12-30 09:31:39 | |
| Happy New Year! I am travelling this week in order to enjoy the birth of our latest grandchild (#9). She came early, but both mother and grand-daughter are doing fine. The weather in Missouri where my daughter lives is cold, but so far while we have been here it has been nice, no storms that they are famous for. May each of you have a marvelous, safe, and fun New Year. | ||
| Marilyn K. Simon | 2007-12-30 15:00:49 | |
| Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, prosperous, and purposeful New Year. We are at our home on the beach in Calafia Mexico Estamos en nuestra casa en la playa en Calafia, Mexico. We will be leaving for Tonga (in the Pacific South West) on January 10th to work with high school students in a leadership program there. This is shaping up to be one of the most "traveling years" to date. When we return from Tonga I will go to Dallas for a WU graduation, then Phoenix, then Ron and I will go to Turkey, Alaska, Hawaii, and Salt Lake City. We do love to learn about different folks in different places. | ||
| Karine Clay | 2007-12-30 18:40:10 | |
| HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! I want to wish Everyone and their families the blessings of good health and a wealth of kindness. My daughter just turned 3years old on 12/27/07 and the terrible twos have now been extended and transformed to a different level.We are on our way to celebrate the New Year and my 38th birthday on 1/6/08 in Las Vegas, Nevada. We are also considering moving to Nevada in 2008 so this is also a house hunting trip. In reflection of 2007 I have improved in many areas of my life. My health with the help and support of God,family and friends is short of a miracle a complete healing. I have completed my PhD, received appreciated awards from Walden and Phi Delta Kappa Walden Chapter and found online employment at Phoenix University and Walden University with the support and direction of my mentor Dr Marilyn Simon. I am thankful for these accomplishments in my life but God know they would not be possible without the influence, support and unconditional love of the wonderful souls in my life. Thank you for being a positive influence in my life and inviting me into yours. Karine | ||
| David Kenneth Waldman | 2007-12-31 01:36:30 | |
| Happy New Year, I am mindful when a new year approaches of the significance of the year just departing and the anticipation for the new year not yet born. On New Year's Eve all is possible, all dreams, hopes, wishes can come true. "If wishes were horses beggers would ride" is a saying we all know meaning the falsehood of wishes. I beg to differ and my new year message to you all is that I want you to keep wishing (the wish list of what you would like for our chapter to accomplish is possible) I have seen children without shoes, clothing torn, and with little to no educational resources write and sing a song about girls that they are "born with a learning mind" and the importance of girl education in the developing world. I have seen in internally displaced people camps children with little to no food and a dirt floor and a thatched roof for a school run with smiles to greet me. I have seen the compassion of Ugandans living in one of the poorest countries of the world extend themselves and make great sacrifice with the little they have to make life better for their nation. Wishes are horses and in my world beggers do ride and I am there to provide more horses for them to extend my metaphor. This chapter is filled with extraordinary, educated, caring profesionals scholars-practitoneers that are making a difference in the lives of children. You can not be a educator and not believe in the power of what is possible. That is what a education is all about. My wish list for OUR chapter: That each and every member take one action no matter how small to extend the possibilites for a child to ehance their learning and opportunity to experience the real world to apply what they are learning. I wish that each and every member learn something about the conditions of the state of education in a district, state, or country not their own and then share that information to their colleagues. That more of you share your dreams and wishes and "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has" Margaret Mead is not a homily but has been proven throughtout history of humankind. Here in Germany where it stays dark in the winter till after 8:00 A.M. and gets dark again around 4:30 P.M. the light in between highlights the saying that "it is always darkest before the dawn" takes on a new meaning of a wish is not real until you make it? Happy New Year, celebrate the advantages in your life. Celebrate your family and those that love you. Enjoy prosperity, health and your wishes come true in 2008. David Kenneth Waldman Vice President of Membership | ||
| David Kenneth Waldman | 2007-12-31 03:35:51 | |
| Hello again! I wanted to add my thoughts briefly on what was shared about the story of stuff. as names are not being displayed at the moment please see the first post above. This is the kind of reflection and teaching our children benefit from. Bringing the real world into the classroom so that you encourage critical thought and analysis. Children understand the most about the have and the have nots as they have little control over their resources so they understand what it means to be helpless. To see others get what they want and you can not and are dependent on the good will of your parents and family for food, shelter and clothing and presents. Some children get all they want and some get very little. But the story of stuff is about giving more meaningful things to our children than material stuff that does not add to the pursuit of happiness.... Sorry I am writing my KAM on democratic goverenance and Madison and the philosophers of the enlightenment. They would also be appalled at the pursuit of materialism as that was not I assume their meaning of the pursuit of happiness. Your thoughts, and comments would be appreciative. Our founding father Andre said is well talking about teaching his son principles, giving him a moral compass and then by example showing his son through his actions in our chapter and these past 10 years of his work in PDK International. As I have said each of you are extraordinary and think of pooling our intentions and wishes through the auspicies of this chapter? Think what we could accomplish in the new year? Of the addition to not stuff but substance? Let me leave you with this quote to ponder "New Year's eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man/woman has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights." ~Hamilton Wright Mabie | ||
| Jennifer Pullman (Jenny) | 2007-12-31 19:21:58 | |
| Awk, I never received any emails about this party, which has become a cherished tradition in my holiday rituals!Hope my antivirus ware isn't absconding PDK messages now! Glad I peeked in to check. What a beautiful quote provided by David. Any time that we collectively mark the passing of time it stirs deep reflections, doesn't it? I am happy to hear of everyone's varied feelings and thoughts on this special night. As always, we are alternating between the Twilight Zone Marathon and just reading in front of the fireplace at my house. Many beloved family members came in for Christmas and it was wonderful...but we are savoring the quiet now. I raise a toast to all my esteemed Walden PDK friends for a healthy New Year filled with wonderful moments! | ||
| Marion Carpenter | 2007-12-31 23:18:55 | |
| It's a cold, windy night, warmed by the yipping sound of the little fox who comes nightly to dine at our house in the woods; warmed by love of God and family; warmed by a hot cup of jasmine tea. It is comforting to be able to curl up in a warm blanket with a good book to rest, relax, & recall memories. Christmas memories of our daughter & her family coming to share the feast; memories of her Boston terrier chasing our cat, who jumped in the middle of the apple pie on the table, & from there to the top of the cupboards precariously close to my husband's precious collection of oil lamps; memories of having to climb up on a chair & then the counter to pull the frightened cat, who had all claws out, down without breaking my neck or the lamps; memories of her new pug puppy, Angel (who isn't one), trying to climb up the center of the Christmas tree, and fonder than usual memories of waving good bye. My New Year's resolution is to uninvite the dogs next year. As founding VP of Membership, I was in the chapter while it was still a club - 8 years now. The chapter has grown and time has flown. I am very proud of the chapter and its many service projects. I hope some of our excellent members will be thinking about becoming more active in 2008. May this new year bring you all of the things you hope for, with none of the troubles. | ||
| David Kenneth Waldman | 2008-01-01 03:42:28 | |
| New Years Day If you look to see that we live from Japan to Germany to Mexico we circle the globe. In this perspective then we each had a difference time when we experienced the coming in of the New Year. Time being relative is the same isn't it that our views on how to make a difference is relative to our own experience and education and where we live and work. Taking the collective ideas from our chapter that is virtual allows us to synthesize the totality of ideas that range globally to our great advantage. How can we reach out more to our membership to bring more brain power into achieving our mission? What will our potential become in 2008? | ||
| David Peter | 2008-01-01 10:18:48 | |
| What a year! To think of all that has been done, and all that still needs to be done ... My wish for the year is for each of us to continue to make a difference. While reading for KAM 1, I saw the movie, "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" ... and one line rings true: "Your life is an occasion, rise to it!" May we each realize this occasion, and rise to it! Peace, Happiness and Blessings to All! | ||
| Theran | 2008-01-01 11:03:49 | |
| HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! (Whistles, Bells, yelling, screaming, fireworks.....) I do hope each of you are having a wonderful New Years Day. | ||
| Sandy Wenzel | 2008-01-01 14:23:10 | |
| For me personally, 07 ended on a very upbeat note with the completion of writing my dissertation. The end of my doctoral journey is near which comes with very mixed feelings. I want to say publically in this forum how much I cherish Dr. Simon for her constant support and guidance. She has been such an inspiration and souce of knowledge that has been presented in a manner that i would never have imagined from a mentor. To her, I owe much gratitude and I am thankful that I can rest assured that her meaningful presence in my life will continue as this Walden journey closes. Thank you Dr. Simon. Sandy | ||
| Rose Monroe | 2008-01-01 16:10:06 | |
| Happy New Year! I normally remain quiet for meetings and all, but I thought I would just bring in the new year with greetings to all. I am a charter member of our Walden PDK chapter, but I am no longer a Walden student. I remain a member because I feel like part of a family since I was one of the folks to help with our chapter's initiation. I live in Baltimore, and we here have had pretty nice weather - 40s temperature - no snow - no rain - full of sunshine. I recently had a discussion with a close friend about the commercialism of Christmas and how many have forgotten what the day really represents. Most children as well as adults do not really know how the idea of gift giving during this day came about. In fact, many do not know that the idea of Rudolph came about from a department store. I do believe in giving gifts to those less fortunate, but I also like giving gifts to see the joy in the eyes of the receiver. Sometimes it is not about how much the gift costs as much as it is about the significance of the gift. I've given gifts I spent hardly anything for, but I have been amazed at how proud the recipient was to get the gift. So I do what I can for family and others that I feel can benefit from the spirit of giving at Christmas, and I don't feel slighted if I get nothing in return because Christmas can be expensive if we let it. I don't want anyone to go into debt trying to buy me a gift. | ||
| Marion Carpenter | 2008-01-02 00:36:11 | |
| I really like David Peter's quote - our own unique lives and thoughts are an occasion to celebrate, and then live that life to the fullest. DKW's quote is also true - everyone has different thoughts on New Year's Eve, but I also believe most of us have some thoughts of how we can make this new year better. I think of New Year's Eve as I think of my garden - next year is always going to be the best one. There are always improvements one wants to make in many different areas of our lives, and bit by bit we can make every year better, so we have a lot to look forward to, as we have 365 more brand new, unused days, just waiting for us to fill them with a great variety of things. Let us plant as many beautiful thoughts, words, and deeds into the lives of others as we can. On making the chapter improve, I'd like to see a chat room set up for discussions to take place between members so that we get to know each other better, and to help each other out. I also wish for someone knowledgable to help Gay out as webmaster, as she carries a big burden for us. Hi, Rose! I remember your name from the initiation! Glad to hear from you. I appreciate the true spirit of Christmas within you, giving, but not expecting to be given unto. May you give the gift of that unselfishness to many, many others by your fine example! Jenny, I'm so glad that you remembered our tradition & came right on in! You are always on top of things. It's good to hear from you again. New years is truly the time for auld lang syne (old long times) to be remembered, and to be back in touch with old friends. Thanks to all who have visited; I look forward to hearing from more of you out there! | ||
| Andre Elliott, Founding President | 2008-01-06 04:25:27 | |
| At this moment, I am gazing upon an enlarged, resplendent replica of the Walden University Cyberspace Charter that was presented on the 23 of January, 2000. Seventy-four members of the Walden University community are named as charter members. During this new year party, we have heard from Rose Marie Monroe, Marion Carpenter, Marilyn K. Simon, Gay Wiseman, and Theran Mugleston, whose names are enscribed for posterity. Did you know that our charter was on display in PDK headquarters? When I visited PDK headquarters a few years ago, I came to know that the display of our charter is a testament to our bold accomplishment. By the way, it was the only charter on display. I hope we hear from more charter members. Let us know what you are doing almost 8 years later. I was lifted by the words shared by David Kenneth Waldman, Sandy Wenzel, David Peter, Jennifer Pullman and Karine Clay. You are the evidence of our strength and greatness. | ||
| Jarek | 2008-01-08 00:30:29 | |
| Happy New Year to All ... Southern California stays cold and rainy, but the gloom is nowhere to be found around here. Thank you all for the warm thoughts and wishes. On my end, I travelled a lot too this year, yes, Germany was on the list along with other places. I saw Paris and Venice and Poland of course. In the fall, I went to Bangkok, got back just before the New Year's and all along, together with the best editors ever, we've been putting together the newest issue of the JEPSC that was published in the Fall. We have the ambitious goal of publishing the Journal at least twice a year: Spring and Fall, so please do spread the word. We can always use new authors. Happy New Year to All!! Jarek | ||
| Lisa | 2008-01-08 19:16:51 | |
| Hi all.... Happy New Year! I had a birthday on January 2, and I am officially ready to start this new year with a bang. I was browsing through the social organizations and happened to run across yours. I have to say for an internet organization I feel everyone is comfortable and at home. I hope to pledge or join a organization, this year to get the feel of it. I work a teacher in Clayton County schools in Atlanta, Georgia. Right now was are in the midst of a heatwave (sorry to your all that has snow and rain). It was 67 today, yesterday was 66 and tomorrow maybe 70 with rain. It's weird because I grew up in a cold climate and Christmas and New Years we did receive any snow. Ok, so the bad news we are in a drought, but we did get rain for the holidays which to me is promising. On the up side...this year I am looking forward to a great year as well. | ||
| Andre Elliott | 2008-01-09 06:05:55 | |
| Lisa, We are delighted you discovered us. I was born in Birmingham, Alabama and will meet my family during a 2008 summer reunion in Atlanta. I would like to know more about teaching there. Can you recommend a website? Consider joining our network of cyberspace scholars. Andre | ||
| Dr John Cohen | 2008-01-10 06:03:26 | |
| Greetings from Australia and Happy New Year. I've just been chatting to Andre about a PDK cyber chapter for the South Pacific. In fact the PDK board is set to approve the project in a couple of weeks' time. This will replace the current Australian Capital Chapter which has been geographically specific and has fallen on hard times. If all goes well we hope to extend the new chapter to New Zealand and maybe beyond. I've been a Kappan since 1972 and I mentioned to Andre I have every copy of Kappan since I joined - I love the organisation (note the Australian spelling). I'll be giving a presentation on the new project at the CML meeting in Bloomington on January 24-26. I hope wherever you are that you are not in the middle of a heatwave such as happening in Wagga Wagga NSW (we've had a week of 38-40C and more is to be expected. So all the best for the 2nd half of your teaching year. Australia begins its academic year at the end of the month. Don't forget we are at the bottom end of the globe and the water goes down the sink the other way around (urban myth). John | ||
| Theran Mugleston | 2008-01-16 11:48:19 | |
| I have never talked about or mentioned my career change. I was attending summer sessions in Bloomington in the mid-90s, enjoying the friendships gained over 3 summer sessions there. I received my doctorate degree in 1998. At that time and previous to that I had worked as a contractor employee under primarily government programs or nuclear power plant construction--in procurement. At that time I was working at Ft. Leonard Wood, and had begun teaching evening courses for a few of the colleges/universities in the area. I began thinking of teaching full time and had an offer to teach for a college in East Tennessee, which I accepted. I began teaching full time in 2002. I enjoy teaching, and I owe this career change to getting my doctorate at Walden. It is a joy to belong to this organization, PDK, and especially this chapter. Best wishes for a wonderful 2008! | ||
| Andre Elliott, Founding President | 2008-01-17 22:13:33 | |
| As John in Australia said earlier, a new cyberspace chapter is being conceptualized. It is likely to function to serve PDK members in Australia. I will be seeing John at PDK headquarters next week. I will keep all of you informed regarding their progress. By the way, I will have a few minutes to talk about about our cyberspace chapter at PDK headquarters next week. | ||
| Doris (charter member) | 2008-01-19 23:17:39 | |
| Happy New Year to both old and new friends and hello from "sunny" Orlando as a cold front pushes it's way towards us. Fortunately we didn't have any tornados tonight, but we did have some stormy weather. Has it really been eight years? No, I think it was a bit longer as our group struggled to gain recognition from PDK as a group. We were a "club" of sorts back in '95-96, but as they used to say "we've come a long way, baby!" Congrats to all and best wishes for the new year! |
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