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. ...