Miscellaneous Missives

After talking with a technology guru, I decided to change the format of my blog.  Change for me is sometimes difficult, so I should not be surprised that this change is also a bit challenging.  I have questions that are causing me to want to revert to my old format. Why does it say I have no readers if I have two comments?  How is it that they were able to comment about the blog without actually reading it? Why are readers allowed to view the blog in "Flipcard" when I intended it to be viewed in "Sidebar"? Does the formatting of the blog even make a difference if I really don't have anything to say? Will the new format force me to post a picture with each entry? If I feel I need to post a picture with each entry will I blog less? If I blog less, will I actually have more and/or something to say?

This afternoon a colleague with whom I co-teach and I presented at the MinneTesol (Minnesota Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) Fall Conference . I'll admit I did little to nothing to prepare for this presentation. We met a couple times and e-mailed, but little work was required. When I can merely stand up and talk and/or answer questions without a formalized speech, I do much better, and today went well. Although our group was small (smaller than the class we teach), I think those that attended left with useful ideas and a better understanding on how to move forward in their current school. Of course I know little about teaching ELL students or setting up an ELL program, so I spoke from the perspective of the classroom teacher. I will admit I enjoyed talking with these teachers, and it made me thankful for my current position. Even though I wasn't super excited to do this, it was a great experience. Plus, I was paid well to quite well for this two hou...

According to the MRI my hip problem has a name, FAI with Labral Tearing /Fraying. My orthopedic doctor gave me the news today. During my last visit she said I was skinny. Today she told me I wasn't old. Unfortunately she also told me I need to see a different orthopedic surgeon and probably need to have surgery. The good news is that I can go back to my physical therapist, whom I like. The bad news is that I can't get into the new doctor until December. Woot Woot! Crutches in December...

Tonight I went to the first meeting of a month long book study of An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor. I brought my notebook with pink paper, the one I take with me to writing type classes, because I knew there would be writing, discussion and reflection. One of our first activities was to reflect on our Bet-El moment from the story of Jacob in Genesis. "I think my Bet-El moments come from when I 'need' God to be present... Maybe not as poignant and distinct as Jacob's yet certainly as palpable..." I wrote questioning the reality of such a "moment". We were given time to reflect and build our own cairn . Each of us had little stones to make our cairn. Mine was incredible, but I accidentally deleted the picture from my phone, as I took a picture of our next writing, so no one will ever know its true wonder. The photo I was taking when I deleted my cairn was of a picture I was given. We were each given a separate picture and asked,...

The MRI for my hips was yesterday. They scheduled two hours for the MRI. Of course this made me a bit uptight. Most people would have been nervous about the large needles they stuck in each upper thigh or being claustrophobic in the tube. I was worried about not being able to move for two hours. When they went to put my in the tube, the radiologist (?) reminded me it would be two hours. I looked her in the face and exclaimed, "They told me twenty minutes." When she realized I was messing with her, I bet she was happy that I was going to be motionless for a long time. I also tried to explain to her that I don't really sit still all that well. She responded by taping my feet together. Being in the tube wasn't difficult for me, but not being able to move was horrible. After the first 30 minutes (of 80 minute testing), I asked if I could put my arms out of the tube. Genius!!! This allowed me to tap my fingers and move my hands. Genius, I tell you! I wa...

It's only Wednesday, and I feel as though it's been a full week. I'm teaching an after-school reading program. Although it's only an hour after school, it's made a long week even longer. My fellow seventh grade language arts teacher and I are co-teaching the class. Due to this weeks events we've had a difficult time choosing a novel. Last week we were excited to choose Monster , but thought it might be a bit challenging for these struggling readers. Monday we decided to go with another book. We looked at the lit circle books. Tears of a Tiger was out after the recent suicide of a sixth grade student that has rocked the school. Bang! was our next title, but we also thought this was a bit "too soon". Finally we chose The Hunger Games . Although there is death involved it's not as "real". Tonight we had to explain our choice and decided to be "real" with the students. We explained the death of two staff members' fa...

Saints are among us. Yesterday morning on the plane I was reading about being more present in life. Let's be honest; sometimes being present is painful and difficult. I work with fabulous people (saints many of them). Our school is experiencing the grief (real grief) of middle school students as many of the staff are experiencing their own grief. In difficult times it is important to have those saints around us. I am thankful for those saints in my life. Who are the saints in your life? The graphic is a screen shot from a site I learned about on The Generator Blog .