Retroactive Look

Due to the vastness of technological knowledge and understanding I have recently acquired since the 1st of January, I am now able to offer a look into the very recent past (i.e. since August 2006) of my activities and experiences here in Finland. I hope you just read that with a little humor. ANY gram of progress I make in the technology field is monumental for me and I celebrate it like crazy. I am getting a new appreciation for the "light bulb" coming on in the minds of students I teach and so, "I will celebrate, sing unto the Lord, I will sing to Him a new song"

Speaking of singing, I had the distinct pleasure of participating the the Finnish Independence Day Celebration that my school (Pyhäjoen Lukio) sponsored for the students on Dec 5, 2006. This was an Independence Day / Mid-Term Graduation Ceremony. There were 3 students graduating - called "White Cap". The actual date for independence is Dec 6th. The celebration was video taped and put on the web at the following address mms://video.pyhajoki.fi/juhlat
I appear at about 1:09:35 (that's one hour 9 minutes and 35 seconds) into the 1 hr 20 minute program. I sang the first song in Finnish (Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World"), the second song is "More Than Wonderful" made known by Sandi Patti and Larnelle Harris. I usually sing this with Barbara - boy did I miss her - but God gave special anointing to get through it successfully. I was also told by some Finns who know, that the placement of my participation in the program showed me honor and respect. That after I sang, the only thing that could be done was to sing the Finnish National Anthem. I was truly honored by that. Hope you enjoy the video. It should come up in the Windows Media Player.

Hei, Hei until next entry...

Week # 5 of the year 2007

Monday!, MONday!!, MONDAY!! Another fabulous day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!! Had another great weekend working in the studio with Hannu. It's hard work but so much fun. Will go again on the 10th of Feb.

Classes are still going well. The students are really helping out a lot. I don't think it would be as successful without them. I truly, truly appreciate their help. It is making this a tremendous experience. My key concern has always been that the students in the classes get what they need and not lose anything because of my presence here this school year. I believe there are elements that I do contribute, but I want to ensure they receive the skills they need to move forward successfully in this system. The studnet help assures me that the kids are getting what they need. I enjoy being a part of this process.

I continue to learn and formulate ideas of what I want to do in my classroom next year. It is a tedious process - formulating ideas, tailoring those ideas to merge within the system that I will return to, and making them work to improve student learning. It would be impractical to think anyone could study and experience other systems and believe it could be taken as a component and simply 'dropped' into another system and expect it to automatically function and be accepted. I view it as surgical transplant - the host has to be prepared to receive the transplanted entity. I envision that transplant patients (even though I am a "doctor" in a sense, I am not a practicing medical physician), must go through some kind of process whereby they prepare themselves for this type of intrusive surgery. I believe that over the next few years, that's what I will be doing. I want to continue to go to school, study, and learn...I am been reinvigorated with that desire since being in Finland. Also, the desire for pleasure reading has been given a dose of "literary viagra"--- I am currently reading The Autobiography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that I received as a Christmas gift. After all, what is one suppose to do with all of the time one has riding buses and trains across Finland? There is only so much sleeping I can do - even though it is refreshing. Heippa

Last Page of "Yours Truly" Article

Last page of the article..Chow
(Click on pages to increase size and view)

Turku Diversity-In-Action Seminar

The visit to Turku this past Saturday (Jan 20th) was fantastic. The Diversity-In-Action presenation went very well and was well received. For those that may not know, Barbara and I do a presentation geared around African-American contributions, called Diversity-In-Action, in the areas of Scientists & Inventors, Poetry, and Music. It its a few higlights and presenst some not very well known inventors. We feature two poets: Langston Hughes and Paul Laurence Dunbar. We also discuss music from spirituals, gospel, contemporary, blues, & jazz. We provide demonstartions of the poetry in standard english and dialect, and the music. The audience gets to participate in the poetry and the music portions. This year, since I have been in Finland, there have been soem revisions and additions. I have added a powerpoint to the presentation. In my own very biased. but reflective opinion, it's great, but has the potential to be earth shattering. I also include two new poems (one from eack poet) and replaced one other. Since my move into the blues, I added "The Weary Blues" by Hughes and actually sing the appropriate portions. I aslo provided a handout from an internet resource on the poem as well.

At this seminar, in addition to the forty-five minute presentation, I had the opportunity to sing an additonal 15 minutes worth of music. I could have filled up 2 hours easy and no one would have been bored. As it was, the time passed by very quickly.

The seminar was presented to the organization of Finnish teachers of English classes. I saw a copy of their annual publication "Yours Truly" and I'VE BEEN PUBLISHED!! That's right, I had an article published regarding my experiences in Finland (specifically Pyhäjoki), thus far. WoW! to see your work in print and it actually reads well. I'm delighted. A literary "not quite genius yet" in the making.

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic weekend. Of course I was wiped out from the trip home.

Well, hei, hei for now - until next time...

Look At Kalifornia!!

KALIFORNIA DREAMIN'

This continues to be an exciting time for me in Finland - especially in Pyhäjoki. Since about mid-November, I have been singing with the Kalifornia Group blues band. I was invited to join by their bass player Heikki. He is the Headmaster, (THE FRONTMAN), at the Raahe Lukio. He had evidently heard about my singing at Lukio and other places in Pyhäjoki and Raahe. My first time with them, I was a bit nervous, but really enjoyed the time with these men. They have a great sound and sing well. Singing with a live band is an awesome expeience. There is a bond, a life flow that happens between the members. It's a special electrical communcation aura that happens that is unlike anything using just a backgroud track. It's something special that I really enjoy. I have always wanted to sing blues and jazz music. I really enjoy gospel, but I particular enjoy the blending of the various forms and types of music into the ministry of the gospel to the audience. We have two concerts coming up in February. One on the 4th in the Pyhäjoki Lukio auditorium, (Pauhasalissa Pyhäjoella) at 5 pm, and another in Raahe as part of the Music Festival. That one is on Friday the 23rd at 8 pm. I saw a poster of the advertisment on Tuesday night in Raahe while I was attending my weekly Finnish class. It was a pleasnat surprise to turn the corner in that building and see the poster. I WANT A COPY!! (smiles...) Looking forward to sing quite a bit with the group before I return to the states the end of July - bittersweet...

Monday! Monday!

Well, it's Monday, one of my favorite times of the week. "Why?" you would ask. Well, becasue so many peol in our world absoulutely hate Monday's, I figure that I could get a jump on th erets of the owrld and get that extra headstart that I need to get much accomplished towrads success. By the time the "world" woke up to begin their life on Tuesday, I would be well on my way. Besides, sometimes it takes me just a bit longer to 'catch on' to things than others...this blog site is a great example. I know some elementary school age kids that have blogs with moving things that are better than this one. It's amazing what we are able to do with technology these days. Hopefull, the more I use this system, the better I will become, and the more interesting it will be for me and "my audience"

Genesis!!!

Wow!! The time has finally arrived for the very new "Blog of Kalli Kello". Isn't technology amazing? And, IT'S IN ENGLISHHHHHHHHHHHHH....

So come on boys and girls,; guys and dolls; ladies and gents; HÄns and Hänettes drop me a line.

THE DOCTOR IS IN!!