First week of doctoral studies finished!!

I made it through the first week of doctoral studies. I think everyone in the cohort is questioning his/her sanity in pursuing this course. It is going to be a long four years. But it will be an exciting time. The professors are very supportive and I've connected with a couple of people in the cohort who are interesting in similar research. This week was just the orientation week! The real fun starts on August 23rd. Why am I doing this??

Since I was otherwise engaged, my podcasts and my blog were put on the back burner. I've uploaded more podcasts today to make up for the past few I missed.

Tomorrow my son and I set out to move him half way across the country. We are driving his car out to Columbus Ohio where he will be participating in City Year -- part of the Americorps program. We going to take about a week to get there so we can stop along the way and do some site seeing. I'll spend a couple of days in Columbus and then fly home. I've never had one of my children so far away before. I don't know how I'll cope!! When he first decided on Columbus, there was an airline that flew from NH to Columbus for $39 each way. That was so cheap we figured he could come home on weekends if he wanted to. Unfortunately, that airline no longer exists. And we all know how much airline tickets have gone up. He probably won't be able to get home until Thanksgiving.

New podcasts:

Keller, John G. THE RUBBER-LEGGED DUCKY

When Mama Duck accidently swallowed a rubber band, she could not possibly know what would happen. And what did happen is that one of her ducklings was born with a rubber leg!! That's right -- a rubber leg. Instead of running, he bounced. The animals make fun of him but his Mama tells him he is very special. Will the other animals ever believe that too?

http://www.nancykeane.com/booktalks/mp3/keller_rubber.mp3

Houle, Michelle M. MARK TWAIN : BANNED, CHALLENGED, AND CENSORED

Vulgarity. Poor grammar. Low morals. Heresy. Nudity. Sexism. Racism. Do these sound like words to describe required reading in high school? Can you believe your teachers would force you to read a book like this? Well, this is just what many high school teachers are doing. Forcing their students to read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Are you surprised? Well, this book is one of the most challenged book in the last century. And yet, it is considered an American classic. How can that be?

http://www.nancykeane.com/booktalks/mp3/houle_mark.mp3

Klise, Kate. LITTLE RABBIT AND THE NIGHT MARE

Little Rabbit needs a topic for his school report. All the kids are going to give their report on Friday but Little Rabbit can't think of anything. He was so worried about it, he had trouble falling asleep. When he finally fell asleep, he had a nightmare that woke him right up. Night after night, the nightmare came back. Will he ever be able to get some sleep and write his report?

http://www.nancykeane.com/booktalks/mp3/klise_little.mp3