Miscellaneous Missives

Another beautiful afternoon in the 70s makes for a great day to walk and ride bike.  Of course I hit the wonderful bike trails by my house to enjoy the weather.  Heck, it was nice enough to take a walk and a bike ride!  It is an absolutely beautiful fall day, and I shouldn't complain.  But... I can't stand Segways on the bike trail.  NO motorized vehicles on the trails means NO SEGWAYS.  Take your fat butt downtown and enjoy your afternoon on the Segway.  Get off my trails!  Yes, it was a beautiful fall day, and I really shouldn't complain.

This picture came from Aboriginal and Tribal Nation news on Facebook.  When I saw this picture celebrating the Harvest Moon, I thought it was appropriate since a colleague and I presented today at the Minnesota Writing Project Fall Workshop.  The theme was lessons and resources concentrating on American Indians.  It was a difficult day to be inside since it was in the upper 70s today, but I was able to enjoy a bike ride before and after the workshop. The Harvest Full Moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox.  The next full moon after The Harvest Moon is the Hunter's Moon.  Do you want to know more ?

Although this Everlast song is from 1998 students still seem to like it and talk about going home to find it on Youtube.  Only my honors class has listened to it and read the lyrics, but I was disappointed to quite disappointed with the result.  Yes, they liked it, but they totally missed the theme of song.  First, we discussed their favorite lines.  At least two boys repeated the line about a man by the liquor store begging for change.  When I asked why they liked the line, both mentioned they liked it because that's what people do, beg for money to use on alcohol.  Next, I asked if this was a stereotype.  Both said, no.  Then I asked if it was possible they were grouping people into one category.  Nope.  They still didn't get it.  I mentioned we'd come back to the discussion and solicited another response.  One student mentioned, "I've seen a rich man beg."  This conversation also digressed as one student was adamant t...

Autumn Fires by Robert Louis Stevenson In the other gardens   And all up the vale, From the autumn bonfires   See the smoke trail! Pleasant summer over   And all the summer flowers, The red fire blazes,   The gray smoke towers. Sing a song of seasons!   Something bright in all! Flowers in the summer,   Fires in the fall!   This post is brought to you by LH's autumn blog challenge (post about autumn once a week).  Getting outside as much as possible is part of her theme, and I'm going to play along.  Instead of going to the gym today, I biked because it was sunny and the temperature was in the upper 60s.  Fall is a beautiful time of year, and I was not alone on the trails.  Everyone seemed to want to get out and enjoy the weather and the colors.

At the end of the day I actually zeroed out with calories.  After skipping lunch, I was able to enjoy pasta for dinner, but I was left with zero calories.  Even though I had hot chocolate in the morning and had no calories left, I still wanted a candy bar.  I arrived early at the Fitzgerald Theater for Talking Volumes with Jeffrey Toobin (bright, knowledgeable, but not real charismatic), so I decided to hit the market across the treat for a chocolate treat.  It took me awhile to make up my mind as I checked the calories of the various candy bars, but I ended up with a 100 Grand Bar.  Imagine my disappointment when I opened the aged to quite aged candy bar.  Thanks to this disappointment, I remained at zero instead of a negative number for the day. 

Cedar Lake (once I was found) From the time I woke until early this evening, I was trying to complete school related tasks.  Even though I was at school early, the tasks seemed never ending.  Maybe I was a bit overly stressed because I skipped the morning bike ride, but I also needed that extra hour of sleep.  Anyway, as soon as I finished my school projects this evening, I wanted to treat myself with ice cream, but I didn't have enough calories left.  Since I really wanted the ice cream, I went out on the trails.  For some reason I thought tonight would be a good night to take a new route.  At one point I thought the trail was leading in a path I didn't want to take.  Normally, I'm not a fan of roller blades on the trails, but I yelled out at a guy on his blades who was going in the opposite direction.  Yep, I had chosen the incorrect path.  I turned around and caught up with him, and he gave me more specific directions.  Thanks to...

  A Team by Ed Sheeran White lips, pale face Breathing in snowflakes Burnt lungs, sour taste It's too cold outside For angels to fly Angels to fly Yep, it's official.  It's cold.  I even turned on my heat last night.  This morning I donned my new pants for biking, a long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, and fingerless gloves before heading out a little before 7am.  Although it didn't take long before my ears and neck were chilled, the hood of my hoodie actually fit over my bike helmet, so I was able to keep going.  I think I may actually be able to bike through November...

To Autumn by William Blake O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stain’d With the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit Beneath my shady roof; there thou may’st rest, And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe, And all the daughters of the year shall dance! Sing now the lusty song of fruits and flowers. “The narrow bud opens her beauties to The sun, and love runs in her thrilling veins; Blossoms hang round the brows of Morning, and Flourish down the bright cheek of modest Eve, Till clust’ring Summer breaks forth into singing, And feather’d clouds strew flowers round her head. “The spirits of the air live in the smells Of fruit; and Joy, with pinions light, roves round The gardens, or sits singing in the trees.” Thus sang the jolly Autumn as he sat, Then rose, girded himself, and o’er the bleak Hills fled from our sight...

View of City Tonight on my Bike Ride with iPhone I wasn't going to blog or ride my bike today, but I ended up doing both.  Yea me!  As I was yawning and leaving book club (early start and finish), a friend said are you going to work-out or go home and go to bed.   I hadn't thought of anything but going to bed until I realized that I could be on the trails by 7:00.  Since it was too early for bed, I decided to bike.  When I returned home, I was going to go to bed.  Since it was too early for bed, I decided to blog.

The Daily Show Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes , Political Humor & Satire Blog , The Daily Show on Facebook It seems I've been too busy to watch and/or read the news this week.  Don't feel sorry for me because I've had a great week (steak fry on Sunday, gym on Monday, and Diaz on Tuesday)  Perhaps it's not true because I've had time to peruse Facebook on my phone.  Although I saw the 47% photos, comments, etc., I wasn't sure of their origin.  Thanks to FB and Jon Stewart, I was able to get up to speed.  Of course, I should read some news articles instead of marking my updated links in GoogleReader as read, but I don't see it happening.  For now, I'll count on the liberals I follow on Facebook and Twitter to keep me semi-informed.

I think Junot Diaz may be my favorite author to speak at Talking Volumes .  This is How You Lose Her came out last Tuesday.  Having a job doesn't allow me to read as much as I would like, so I only finished 68% (Thanks Kindle Reader for the iPhone) before last night's reading.  After reading the first half of the book, I wasn't sure that I would finish it until I listened to Diaz speak.  He has an amazing way of sharing his intelligence while periodically (often) properly using the F-word or something as startling.  Part of it, in my opinion, is that he is switching codes, not only between Spanish and English but between street and academic talk.  As he spoke, he mentioned a variety of authors because he views himself as a reader first then a writer.  Some of the names were unfamiliar, so I tried to discreetly use my phone to search the web.  When he mentioned his students, I needed to grab the phone again.  Junot Diaz, a teacher?  A...

Although Fall doesn't officially start for five days, I'm feeling it in the air.  Unfortunately, I left my window open and came home to find a chill permeating my living space.  The good news is fall makes for easy lunch preparation.  I put an apple, a piece of string cheese, and some Annie's snack mix in my lunch bag, and my lunch is packed.  Today's lunch did, however, pose a problem.  Since I don't like biting into full apples, I use my apple slicer (I don't know what it's called.).  Perhaps the above picture taken with a bit smaller apple does not show my predicament, but I'm sure any of my teammates, who ate lunch with me, could verify my difficulty.  My apple was too big, so I pushed from the top then the bottom.  Then I had to piece off bits of my apple since it didn't cut all the way.  For tomorrow, I have added an extra napkin and a smaller (I hope.) apple to my lunch bag.

Some would say it's crazy to drive eight hours (four to and four from) to spend four hours at a Democratic steak fry in Iowa, but I appreciated Tom Harkin and all he does.  I wish I'd go every year.  Today's keynote speaker was Martin O'Malley , the governor of Maryland.  The other speaker who wowed the crowd was Zach Wahls .  You may know him from his eloquent speeches about having two moms.  He is an amazing young man.  I am proud to be from Iowa, and I am proud of Tom Harkin and all he does for America.  Most of all I am proud to be a Democrat because of my values and the way I choose to live my life.  Today was certainly worth the drive.  The short videos only give a glimpse into the afternoon.

Tonight I attended an event at the Third Place Gallery .  Patrick Castillo and Karen Kim performed an " interactive, aleatoric work for violin and live electronics takes its form from competitive board games, in which a set of pre-determined rules, the actions of each player, and their consequences govern the choices each player is allowed to make."  Yep, I was "out of my league".  A local artist also performed spoken word which I could appreciate a bit more.  As Castillo and Kim were talking, they mentioned John Cage.  Thanks to my brother and a link to my Facebook page, I actually knew John Cage and his piece 4'33" for Piano.  Thanks to Blogger and Youtube you also now know about John Cage if you did not already contain this knowledge.  Enjoy the video, and don't worry, your there's nothing wrong with the video.  Google John Gage for further information.

The Fighter by Gym Glass Heroes  "Just waking up in the morning And to be well, Quite honest with ya, I ain't really sleep well Ya ever feel like your train of thought's been derailed?" This morning I woke up and weighed myself before my bike ride.  I've now officially lost twenty, and I'm three pounds away from my goal.  When I started pedaling, The Fighter by Gym Glass Heroes was the first song on my mix.  Since I didn't sleep well, I thought it was the perfect start to the morning.  TGIF!

The class after lunch is small but boisterous.  After the first day of school, I knew they were going to be a problem.  I spent the entire first week trying to squish them like a bug while building relationships with them.  This is not an easy task.  Today I had a glimmer that perhaps I have made some progress.  Most of the hour was spent reminding them to do their work.  One student wanted to know what writing about a picture had to do with language arts.  On the wall I have five words repeated:  read, write, think, listen, speak.  "Which of those words does this lesson cover?" I asked.  The student was able to name four.  "...and that's what it has to do with language arts!" I stated.  At the end of the hour, they were hanging around instead of letting the next class into the room.  "Leave.  Get out!" I exclaimed.  Three girls, who were hanging behind, laughed and said, "You're our favorite teacher." "Get ...

Instead of getting up with my alarm at 5am and completing my morning bike ride, I stayed in bed thinking the extra hour would be beneficial.  The truth is that I probably didn't achieve a lot more sleep.  Plus, I do have more energy after the morning ride.  Inside my house, it was still a bit warm from yesterday's 90º temps, so I put the red sweatshirt, that matched my red capris, on the chair as I was getting ready.  After all, today was the day to wear read in support of the Chicago teachers.  When I arrived at school, it was a bit cold and rainy.  As I reached for my bag and sweatshirt, I realized I did not have my sweatshirt.  The good news is I always keep a sweatshirt in my closet for times such as these.  The bad news is it didn't match my pants.  I thought my sweatshirt was probably on the floor near the door where I left it.  Actually, it was thrown over the chair where I left it. 

Ms. Sharon Flake and me The Chicago Public School's teachers are currently on strike, and I support them.  They're not fighting for more pay although they deserve that too.  They're fighting for a fair system that does not judge teachers and students on standardized tests.  Rahm Emanuel is wrong when he stand up against the teachers in his city, and Arne Duncan is wrong when he talks about education.  Our president is also wrong on education because he listens to people like Arne and Rahm, but he still has my vote.  Today my mentee (dyad partner) came up to me.  She was discouraged because our AVID teacher was asking her students to take Cornell Notes in all of her classes.  Cornell Notes work if one is doing the take notes and test method, but my dyad partner and I don't teach that way.  We don't test, and when we take notes, it's to process information.  It's the purpose of the Cornell Notes, but it's done in a way to help the stu...

Ode to West Wind ~Percy Bysshe Shelley I O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being, Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing, Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red, Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou, Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed The wingèd seeds, where they lie cold and low, Each like a corpse within its grave,until Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow Her clarion o'er the dreaming earth, and fill (Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air) With living hues and odours plain and hill: Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere; Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear!   V Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is: What if my leaves are falling like its own! The tumult of thy mighty harmonies Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone, Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce, My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one! Drive my dead thoughts over the universe Like withered ...

I've been trying to be good about my early morning bike ride.  To ensure that I actually make it out of bed at 4:45, I try to be in bed by 9:00 or 9:30.  As I've said before, I've skipped the last two nights.  After watching some youtube videos, I decided I really need to stay up tonight.  My viewing tonight started with Beau Biden nominating Joe Biden for Vice President.  Of course, this brought tears to my eyes.  To enhance my viewing I've also decided to follow#DNC2012 on Twitter.  If I was tweeting the event, I would certainly add this quote from John Kerry, "Mitt Romney before you have the debate with President Obama about foreign policy, you better finish the debate with yourself."  I truly am proud to be a Democrat.

The Christian Left on Facebook Instead of going to book club tonight, I made the choice to play golf.  The beautiful evening made playing golf the easier choice.  Other choices the last two days have been a bit more difficult.  Last night I made the choice to go to bed early and missed Michelle Obama's speech.  Since I am riding my bike at 5:00 am each day this week, it was the wiser choice.  Tonight I will make a similar choice when it comes to Former President Bill Clinton even though Obama is going to be "in the house".  Although the choice is difficult, starting the morning out with a bike ride gives me energy to start my day.  Thanks to the interweb, I'm sure I'll be able to watch the videos this weekend.  Watching undocumented immigrant Benita Veliz... I'm so proud to be a Democrat.

The first day of school is always interesting.  Although I'm not super pleased with several of the students this year, I think they can be molded.  I'm hoping it's merely the first day on a hot day without air-conditioning that caused them to act without thinking.  As I watch the Democratic National Convention, I am reminded that these students will be the next leaders of our country, so we, as teachers and as a country, better be able to teach our students to be people who think and care. 

http://heygirlteacher.tumblr.com/post/30342428387 Let the games begin.  Although I think I'm ready to face the students tomorrow, I won't really know until the day is done.  Another school year means new hopes, new dreams, and new frustrations, and I can only do my best and keep finding ways to be better.  This weekend while I was finishing last minute things for tomorrow, geeking on the computer, and painting my nails, I watched two hours of Dylan Wiliam's The Classroom Experiment .  I would recommend it to my fellow educators.  Although some of his strategies are not new, it's good to watch different teachers using these strategies.  If you are a teacher, you have already gone back to school are you are going back tomorrow.  Each day seems like a " classroom experiment ".  Enjoy the new school year.  After all, " Teaching is hard .  You're doing a wonderful job."

I know you've been waiting for my September Mix.  It's an interesting mix... should be fun. Harder to Breath -- Maroon 5 Girl all the Bad Girls Want -- Bowling for Soup Dark Side -- Kelly Clarkson Blow Me (Another Kiss) -- P!nk Blister in the Sun -- Violent Femmes Some Nights -- Fun. Hey Baby -- No Doubt Just a Girl -- No Doubt Dancing with Myself -- Billy Idol I Like How it Feels -- Ricky Iglesisas How Far We’ve Come -- Matchbox Twenty Armageddon It -- Def Leppard Just the Way You Are -- Bruno Mars Somebody Told Me -- The Killers I Alone -- Live Don’t Stop the Music -- Rihanna Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) -- Kelly Clarkson The Fighter -- Gym Class Heroes (You Can Still) Rock in America -- Night Ranger Smooth Criminal -- Alien Ant Farm

Today I finished one of the three young adult books I had left on my pile.  Towards the beginning of the book I found this sticky note used as a bookmark.  I appreciated the attempt to hold the correct location while feeling saddened by the spelling.  Actually, I'm not a freak about spelling because I believe it is more important to teach our kids how to use spell check than it is to teach them spelling.  Actually, maybe teaching them how to use spell check is teaching them spelling.  This may sound lame coming from a language arts teacher, but it's my belief.  When I type stoped, a red line tells me I'm wrong, and I can try again... stopped... perfect.  Spelling lesson done. Two is the magic number.  I have two young adult books left in my summer reading pile and two days until school officially begins with students.  Last week without students was tiring, so my guess is next week will be exhausting.  At least teaching students ...