Miscellaneous Missives

Leap day arrived with the first real snow of the season which is absolutely crazy.  On Sunday I posted a notice on my FB page.  My fellow teachers should plan ahead for Wednesday's snow day. I have decided to wait and correct the other 3/5 of the research essays on Wednesday instead of this evening.  Yesterday I reminded people of the impending snow day.   Please remember, tomorrow is a snow day. Don't leave work without what you will need to be productive at home, or do leave work without what you need to be productive at home. Merely remember, there will be no school tomorrow.  Last night I cancelled the snow day.  No one takes my school closing posts seriously, so I cancelled the snow day.  Actually I gave up on the snow day when the rain came.  Due to the negativity of those who are posting and commenting (in person and on FB), I am cancelling tomorrow's snow day. In the future when I plan a snow day, I expect people to be m...

Puerto Vallarta '11 Much of my recovery and what I'm able to do depends on my progress and the length of time since my surgery.  Friday will mark week seven.  The progress I've made to date has been ahead of schedule.  This last week, however, has been a bit difficult because I've been having some sharp pains.  Today when I walked into PT, she commented, "So, you're a bit sore."  After a long day at school, I had to give this some thought because I didn't remember mentioning the pain although it was my intent.  "How do you know I'm having pain?" I asked without thinking.  Instead of answering my question, she shot back another question, "Do you need to be back on your crutches?"   Of course my answer is absolutely not which seems to be the correct answer if I behave myself.  Behave is my middle name, so this should be easy for me.  While she was working on my hip and leg area, we discussed my daily activities and physical t...

Last week I received an e-mail from one of the MILI (Metronet Information Literacy Initiative) instructors explaining that by the end of February we should have 28 posts.  I needed six, so I sat down at my computer and entered six posts (from 3:19 pm to 3:43 pm).  My posts were complete crap, but when I finished, my total number of posts was 28.  At least in one of my posts, I was honest and stated that I found it difficult to post every week about technology although I am constantly using it in my classroom and personal life.  I'm not even sure why I felt the need to have the number of needed posts since I'm taking the class for the information and not the credits.  The credits are not going to help me.  Then this morning a colleague, whom I respect as much as anyone on our staff, told me he was impressed with my weekend posts.  When he said this, it made my entire day (perhaps week). Maybe my motto for the week is post even if it's crap! Today...

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/304756/20120226/oscars-2012-academy-awards-faq-guide-84.htm I'm fairly certain that I've never watched the entire Academy Award Show.  Since I don't really go the the movies, watching the show is only interesting until they start handing out the awards.  This year I saw one of the movies, The Tree of Life .  Although I only saw one of the movies, I read three of the books (The Help, Extremely Loud and Incredible Close, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) that became movies.  Why did I post about the Oscars if I really have no information?  It is such a big hype on the interweb that I thought I should join in.  Besides, I'll tune in for the first bit to see the "red carpet" and Billy Crystal although I don't think he'll be great.

This morning in church we talked about brokenness, Jonah's story, and God's covenant with us through the rainbow.  The fragmentation (brokenness) of light creates the rainbow. Instead of correcting my second class of five paragraph essays, I decided to search my photos for rainbows.  It seems I really don't take pictures of rainbows.  Anyway, I've been grading essays since 1:00, and I only have 1.5 classes out of five graded.  I think it's fairly certain that I will not get all five corrected tonight.  In reality, my goal is to finish this class and quit.  Enough is enough!  The brokenness of my day will not form into a rainbow if I do not do something besides correct essays on children's rights... just saying. I am thankful for... 1) The greeting I received as I entered church this morning, "You caught my attention."  2) The few students who followed directions and wrote fairly decent essays. 3) The West Wing ... It's been playing as I co...

Kitty Klaus is not a fan of driving in cars, nor is he a fan of visiting the veterinarian.  This morning was his yearly appointment.  He cried the entire time until the vet came in.  At that point he changed to growling and hissing.  As we were leaving, he was still being quite vocal, so I told the vet that the distemper shot didn't work.  We laughed, and then he told me some people actually believe that the distemper shot is meant to make the animal lose its temper.  Today I am thankful for... 1. booking my flight to Mexico 2. the sunshine reflecting off the snow 3. spending time hanging out with friends in 'Boji

http://www.freefoto.com/preview/41-07-87/Dead-End-Road-Traffic-Sign Typically I don't post during the school day.  In fact I typically don't use the school computer for anything personally related.  Today is a different story.  It's my lunch break, and I have no desire to do anything productive.  Actually this attitude/behavior is not limited to lunch.  The seventh graders are taking a pilot MCA reading test on the computer, so realistically I should be able to sit back and correct the 130 five paragraph essays I collected yesterday.  As of 11:53 I have corrected six.  Instead of attempting to be more productive this afternoon, I plan on starting to read Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos.  Don't worry; I am not crazy enough to believe that the outcome will be any better than that of correcting essays. Today I am thankful for... 1) Baby Ruth and Butterfingers 2) Having a book to read this afternoon 3) The ability to be crabby with my c...

    avid.org      Advancement Via Individual Determination Today I talked to my classes about AVID .  It was a great chance to talk to students about college.  At least half (probably more like 75%) of the kids in my classes have never been on a college campus.  When I was growing up, I was on Iowa State's campus and many other campuses frequently.  Whether or not I would go to college was never the question; the question was where I would go to college.  My students don't have the same advantage.  This curriculum would give them more of an opportunity.  One girl that deserves this opportunity doesn't necessarily meet the criteria because she is a straight 'A' student.  As I was going over some of the criteria (B's and C's for grades, low income, minority, first to go to college...), I was concerned that she wouldn't be interested when she realized her grades don't fit the grading criteria.  After class...

With each of our breakings you break, and with each of our woundings, your own wounds grow deeper. Yet you hold the pieces together till we learn to make the new connections, and you guard each throbbing wound till we have had enough pain. You remind us that it is our delight you seek, not our suffering. And you tell us it is not the wounds that give life, but the tending of them in each other. And you say it is not the breaking that makes us whole but the mending of the pieces that brings us new life. ~Jan L. Richardson Although people that work with me today would think "breaking" was a post about my day at work, it really has nothing to do with the frustration of my job.  It is the theme our church is using for Lent.  Tonight as we walked into the sanctuary, we were given a shard of some ceramic object or tile.  I was pleased that no one was behind me because it took my some time to choose my piece.  Of course this was a process as I...

This evening at book club I learned about a new app, iTunes U.  It's not a new app, but it's a new app to me.  It is college courses downloaded to an app.  The lady that shared the new app is taking a course on the Revolutionary War and is reading Common Sense by Thomas Paine.  While listening to the conversation, I downloaded iTunes U and started perusing courses (Please let me know if you have a favorite!).  Actually, the new app also solves my Lenten practice dilemma.  Typically I add something to my schedule for Lent.  Something in addition to listing three things I'm thankful for each day.  I was going to go back to praying the Rosary (not Catholic) like I did three years ago, but I found something better.  In the humanities section of iTunes U, there are chapel sermons from Duke and other podcasts that I can add as my Lenten practice and listen while I'm on the bike.  Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent... Bring...

Last Saturday I sat down to do my taxes using Turbo Tax.  For the last several (more than several?)years,  I have used Turbo Tax.  This year I had a gut reaction that my taxes were incorrect, but I couldn't figure out my mistake going back through my taxes.  For some reason I thought it had something to do with how I answered questions about my HSA.  Although I knew something was off and didn't know how I could possibly owe money, I filed the taxes electronically.  Today I decided to take my taxes to H & R Block for their free "second look".  It seems I was correct; my mistake had something to do with the HSA although the lady didn't really know what I had done wrong.  Anyway, I paid them $100 to refile my federal and state taxes.  Now, I owe state $7 and federal owes me $3500.  The financially responsible people reading this have many questions such as, "Why do you have so much taken out of your check."  The answer is tha...

This week a colleague, who listens to conservative radio (What educated person does this?), told me about an incident where federal marshals made a school aged child throw out her lunch.  He then told me the contents of the lunch which seemed healthy.  I asked him if he thought it was true, and he did.  It seemed crazy to me, "Federal marshals are not checking school lunches."  Since he seemed to believe it, I decided to look into it tonight when I had some time .  Of course federal agents did not take the child's lunch.  As I looked up the information (to send to my colleague) on the internet, most of the stories came from conservative (idiot) bloggers.  It's amazing how people are misguided and believe obviously crazy stories without doing some fact checking.  I was even shocked reading the comments at the end of the eatdrinkbetter.com website.  Shouldn't we want young kids to eat healthier food?  Maybe it's not that insane for peo...

Today was the "Courage Retreat" for our seventh grade team.  It's put on by a group called Youth Frontiers , and it's basically a positive experience.  They start with games and dancing to get the kids involved.  Once the kids are feeling relaxed and involved, they add in small group talks and large group talks talking about the courage to do the right thing and be yourself.  The day is a great day and is life changing for some.  Unfortunately we are talking about seventh graders, so some really don't get it.  Others are involved for the day, but continue to bully the next day.  At the end of the day, they do an activity called "Pebble in the Pond".  It's my least favorite part of the day because many students participate merely for  a chance to be "center of attention" and are typically always the center of attention.  Although it may be unprofessional, we (teachers) added a betting experience to the day.  While the students w...

Dad and Carol gave me a Clivia plant.  It finally flowered although it is not as robust as the plant at my dad's house. This afternoon I had a PT (physical therapy) appointment.  As I was getting out of the car and grabbing my crutch, a young man came out limping carrying his crutches.  I asked my PT if that was her patient, and she affirmed.  After this affirmation, I asked why he could walk without crutches and a limp while I was told to remain with the crutches with my limp.  It seems he needs to push it a bit more, and I need to push it a bit less. Last night my knee locked up causing intense pain.  It is still sore today although it gets better as the day continues.  The PT seems to think it could be related to the hip or perhaps floating cartilage although she doesn't really know. Today a seventh grader explained why he wasn't going to attend tomorrow's "Courage Retreat".  We try to get all students on this field trip because it spea...

Today's church service was opened by grounding everyone through breath because there was a feeling we were not collectively together in the space.  We were asked to take three deep breaths together and release what was before and what would come.  It was done spontaneously, but it was wonderful.  I had the feeling that I need to do this with my class after lunch with some frequency.  Today's message was basically about our job as stewards of the Earth although those words weren't used.   After the Bible reading, the pastor said that there are two messages (well more but two that we were going to discuss today) in the Bible, a sense of awe and an engagement in mystery.  Well, this piqued my curiosity.  She also mentioned that we needed to live our lives, vote our voice, and walk our lives with Jesus as the example. These are words to live by although I would guess the conservative Christians believe they are doing the very same thing.  It...

Today I sat down to do my taxes.  My first step is organizing the receipts in my shoe box.  Yep, I literally keep my receipts in a shoe box.  Using Turbo Tax online I was able to find out that for the first time in many years, I owe the federal government (should that be capitalized?) money.  At least Minnesota still owes me money.  It does mean that Mexico is out for spring break (good thing we've had a mild winter).  If you're wondering if my Saturday has indeed been this lame, the answer is yes.

The Good While I was on Long Island for my uncle Jim's funeral, I stayed with my cousin, MB, her husband, T, and their two adorable (both As) children.  I felt honored to be able to stay at their home and be part of their family for a couple of days.  The events of yesterday were emotional.  It was great to hear the kind words about Jim, but I was sorry that my father was not well enough to make the trip. The people of U. S. Airways have been super accommodating with my crutch.  They've made the trip easy. The Bad Although I am able to use one crutch occasionally, I extended myself the last two days.  It made it clear that the hour of biking each day is truly helpful.  I will need to continue to make use of the crutch for a little longer. The Ugly T's mother arrived the same night as I did, but it wasn't until the next morning that I was able to meet her.  As the children were diligently doing their homework at the table.  I was nearby...

View from my Window My flight from Minneapolis to Philadelphia went well.  When I arrived in Philadelphia, things went a bit awry.  First I was at the farthest terminal that needed a shuttle bus.  I took the little cart to the shuttle and crutched through the airport which is good because the PT seems to think I'm not using my crutches enough.  Anyway, I had time to get a sandwich (which was good because I was a bit light headed).  Things became a bit more complicated when I realized I needed to walk stairs to the plane.  I'm not sure what they're called, but it was a plane that was out on the tarmac with stairs to enter.  Of course I immediately panicked trying to figure out how I was going to make the first step.  People helped me, but I am not a fan of little planes.

It seems I've had some bad things happen lately.  This weekend I fought a horrible cold with which I am still struggling.  As I told my last class today that I would be gone the next three days for my uncle's funeral in New York, one student asked, "Why do all these bad things happen to you?"  My answer, "Bad things happen to bad people."  Of course the class was polite, and said I wasn't a bad person. It seems that Tom Brady is too good to wear and/or carry his helmet like the rest of the players on his team.  I think Tom Brady is beautiful, but I think this is a bit ridiculous.  Speaking of ridiculous, it seems Tom can't throw and catch the F-ing ball.  Thanks for helping us understand this Giselle. I dislike any Manning, but I'm glad New England lost.  It's too bad they didn't lose with a last second field goal ... just saying.  It seems I'm still bitter about this and remember tears (literally) as this happened.  Go Rams! ...

God's Wheel by Shel Silverstein GOD says to me with a kind of smile, "Hey how would you like to be God awhile And steer the world?" "Okay," says I, "I'll give it a try. Where do I set? How much do I get? What time is lunch? When can I quit?" "Gimme back that wheel," says GOD. "I don't think you're quite ready YET."  Tonight I had a  leadership meeting after school.  Dress code was one of the agenda items.  Earlier  I asked my principal if teachers and administrators would need to observe the code.  It was a dig at a specific person, and he knew who I was talking about.  At the meeting I was actually able to use her (and her shirt) as an example by merely wondering how the wording of the dress code would apply to her shirt.  I always take notes at these meetings and share them with my "team" members.  My notes sometimes have unique comments that I am not able to share with the big group...

17th Century Nun's Prayer Lord. Thou knowest better than I know myself that I am growing older and will someday be old. Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and every occasion. Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs. Make me thoughtful but not moody; helpful but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all, but thou knowest Lord that I want a few friends at the end. Keep my mind free from the recital of endless detail: give me wings to get to the point. Seal my lips on my aches and pains. They are increasing, and love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by. I dare not ask for grace to enjoy the tales of other's pain but help me to endure them with patience. I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing humility and a lessening cocksureness when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that o...