Miscellaneous Missives

I think I could post about workshop week in one sentence (Workshop week sucks).  Unfortunately, although that's my general sentiment, it's not completely true.  Although yesterday was a day of nothing but meetings, we were given 1 1/2 hours for lunch to play some lawn games, take a walk and week.  We were at an offsite location.  The long break in the middle of the day and the shorter afternoon made it tolerable.  The biggest problem is that I'm having huge lower back pain issues.  It's probably because the only exercise I've gotten since my ride on Sunday is the short walk yesterday.  Today we meet cross district which always causes me to get a bit crabby.  It'd be the perfect time to schedule a chiropractor appointment if I didn't have a new teacher (dyad partner).  Leaving him to fend for himself with the other 7th grade language arts across the district would be mean.  Right?! Oh, Wing Young Huie is coming in today to talk to th...

I consider Okoboji my home.  Not only did I live there all my years until I went to college, I've always made frequent (almost monthly) trips back to visit. When I was younger, my dad bought land in the country.  We never lived on the land, but we spend time out "in the country."  For a couple years, we hauled water to take care of many little trees.  Now they're adult trees. Later, when my parents divorced, my dad built a house and moved out to the land.  I helped with the move and painting.  It's been over ten years since the move, and now another stage comes to life.  My dad is auctioning the land and house.  It's sad and perhaps a bit traumatic for me. One chair remains in the garage.  I pulled it to the front of the house and sat looking out over the land for a few hours on Thursday.  Going to Iowa is always a "get away." Of course, I can return to visit Boji and my friends, but I will miss the open space of t...

My trip today at the farmers' market ended with the purchase of apples.  I always buy my apples from Denny .  He is a retired school counselor whom I worked with when I started teaching in Bloomington.  Each year I know school is about to start when he shows back up at the farmers' market.  Basically, I have an apple in my school lunch for the first couple of months of school.  Today I purchased Zestar and Sweet Tango.  The weather is also starting to feel a bit like fall, so I guess it's time.  Next week is workshop week, and I think I'm ready.

Maybe I need this mug. As I content mentor for a new teacher to the district, I am sitting in a day of new teacher workshop.  Already I'm annoyed at the article we were given to read.  It's on the importance of standards which according to this article is more about the testing and results.  I think we're all clear on my views without me sharing additional information here. I'm saddened to see a group of new teachers get discouraged with this sort of workshop day.  The good news is that we will be able to break out and work together in our rooms this afternoon which means the entire day is not lost.

Since it's raining this morning, I'm skipping the farmers' market.  Saturday without the farmers' market doesn't really feel like Saturday.  The rain will make it a great day to read and nap.  In fact, I received an email today about tonight's (and tomorrow morning's) ride.  Once again I'm riding the Dark2Dawn ride which starts at 8pm.  The email reminded us to "rest, take a nap, and charge your lights."  It also gave a warning about the "cool temperature."  Last year's ride was so cold that I chipped my tooth.  It's time for me to figure out my layering and to toughen up.  Part of me is feeling like counting my registration fee as a donation and skipping the ride.  I, however, remember the knowledge and awareness I gained from last year's ride, so I should be posting pictures and thoughts tomorrow.

Today I'm not riding my bike because the weather is crappy.  Instead I'm working with Storybird and other curriculum decisions for next week.  As I did last year, we will talk about community the first day of school instead of doing classroom procedures/rules.  Our discussion will lead to groups of three making a Storybird picture book  (Can you open this link?).  I think it's going to be good. I'm also going to blog about three YA books ( Ghetto Cowboy , The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B , Fast Break ) I've finished reading.  I liked all of them.

Today I met with the gentleman I will be teaching with next year.  He is a new teacher (kind of) and soooo excited, and perhaps a bit nervous, about teaching this year.  Last year, after he was hired, I suggested he come in my room and watch me teach.  Today he mentioned this was a positive experience that shaped his viewpoint as he finished classes this summer.  I'll admit this was as exciting as when the ladies asked if I was Peace Corp person on Monday.  Anyway, his enthusiasm is contagious. Of course, I've been thinking about ideas for the new year.  One crazy idea I had was to use Storybird to have students think/write about community at the beginning of the year instead of merely using whiteboards.  I thought it might be a bit crazy (over the top), but he liked the idea this morning.  I guess I'm going to play a little more with Storybird. Next week I will spend one day working at the district as this young man's content mentor. ...

If in my quest 2 achieve my goals I stumble or crumble and lose my soul Those that knew me would easily co-sign There was never a life as hard as mine No father-- no money-- no chance and no guide I only follow my voice inside If it guides me wrong and I do not win I'll learn from mistakes and try 2 achieve again ~2Pac Today was another day of data analysis.  It's good for me to do this because it reminds me that teachers do have some input into the tests.  It also reminds me that some teachers spend time teaching to the test, and I refuse to do this.  Today there was a question with a cliche (idiom according to the state) which I thought was problematic (as the flags on the entire question would show although most did well on the question) to ELL (English language -learners).  When I questioned it's biased, I was told that it was in the standards to teach idioms.  A teacher at the table mentioned she has a book of idioms she uses with her students....

Powderhorn 24 was complete at 7pm yesterday.  It was another fun experience even though we did our group ride (first ride of the 24 hours) in the rain.  Actually, we spent a couple hours in the rain and several hours after in wet.  The weather (after Friday's rain) for  year's ride (24 hour relay is maybe the best way to explain) was wonderful.  We had two new members for the ride, but I think we all bonded and had a great time.  All of us kept the tradition of sporting our tutus.  I love the group ride at the beginning and end when we all have our tutus.  It's quite a sight. One thing we focused on this year was doing more bonus laps.  Some of the bonus laps are better than others.  For example, one member had to have hot sauce poured on her tongue then eat a tortilla.  Another member had to sit in a circle and answer Richard Gere trivia.  It wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't taken so long.  During the time of t...

Powderhorn 24 starts tonight.  I'm getting my camping and cycling stuff ready this morning.  We'll hit the Midtown Greenway around 4:00 to set up our tent (Hopefully we'll find a spot that isn't washed out,).  The "mandatory" meeting begins at 6:30 followed by a group ride.  I hope to do a better job this year taking pictures because it's a really fun, community event.  We have four returning members and two new members.  It'll be exciting to see how the group forms and gets to know each other.  Basically, we're a 24 hour bike relay.   A lot of cycling is combined with a lot of down time.  24 hours of...  Stay tuned.

Most teachers know the analogy of August being the Sunday of the weekend (June= Friday, July = Saturday, and August = Sunday).  It's Sunday, and I'm starting to do school stuff even though I really don't want to.  This morning I've been corresponding with my new dyad partner (fellow 7th grade teacher).  He's new to the district and is super excited about teaching.  It's going to be great working with him, but while he's trying to figure out the first weeks of school, I'm trying to ignore that this school thing is really going to happen.  This morning we've been corresponding, and I think his enthusiasm will help motivate me.  I have also spent the morning blogging about the last four YA books that I read.  Now, it's time to read a book for me.  Plus, I've been geeking on FB and drinking coffee.  FB is where I found the above image.  I'm going to try to replicate it as a bulletin board.  What do you think?  Let's hope no one ...

When a chance to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity appeared in the Sunday bulletin, I put it in my calendar.  Today was the day.  A group of retired men was working when we arrived.  They volunteer at least once a week and work together.  As we took a morning break, they invited me to join their group.  My group was a church group, but I didn't know anyone.  As we sat around eating lunch, I commented that I was glad we didn't have to paint.  Oops!  It seems as though painting the garage was the afternoon chore.  Tony, however, made sure I had plenty to keep me busy and put me in charge of caulking the windows.  He positioned another gentleman who couldn't paint due to his lungs as my ladder holder.  The ground was uneven, so my job was certainly easier.  I'm glad I volunteered and plan to volunteer again.  It was a tiring yet satisfying day.

I am in the process of finishing my laundry and putting the camping gear back in storage.  Another year of RAGBRAI is finished.  Before I started to post, I looked at last  year's posts.  Unless one rides RAGBRAI, I don't think it can be explained.  This year's ride was BRUTAL.  Although the last two days were less hilly, the hills were relentless. I actually sagged (quit riding and received a ride into the last town) on the second day with 25 miles of the 75 miles remaining.  As I was standing in line to fill up my water bottles at the meet-up town, I was having difficulties breathing.  When I mentioned aloud that it would be stupid for me to keep riding when I couldn't breathe, a stranger behind me agreed.  Of course, I got back on the bike, but before we left town, I decided to sag.  The friends riding with me agreed.  We went over the steps of catching the sag although I didn't need them because we were close to a offici...