I know it's not Friday, but I'm going to pretend it is. And I'll pretend that I was able to keep up my New Year's resolution formore than eight days.
I'm stealing this from Amy..
1. When I fell in love I also fell down - because I'm horribly clumsy. Lucky Suellen was standing next to me.
2. I have to start mowing again when the flowers bloom and it heats up outside!
3. Oh no! The internet connection is down, how will I ever procrastnate while trying to school work!
4. LOST is the craziest tv show ever. I'm completely hooked on something that ISN'T trashy reality.
5. Cheese and nearly anything makes a great meal!. (Sorry Amy -not anything!)
6. I wish someone would put a garden in our back yard, and then come in and care for it regularly since we never seem to be able to keep plants alive.
7. And as for the weekend, I'll be 'on the mattress' at UHS all week. Then sleeping after.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Five Things I Love About Teaching Writing
Many of you know that my school is a tinsy-bit different, and right now we are in the middle of our J-term which means that I'm spending my entire day teaching 12 kids about the New Yorker Magazine. That's the whole day straight for 14 days, and it's really pretty cool to see how much they can grow in such a little time when they really get working. It makes me happy - which is very good because if I wasn't happy, I'd be tired.
5 - Writing is nothing more than speaking on paper. Most students won't write much when they get out of school, but all of them will speak - probably a lot. Spending all day honing in on their writing skills has actually helped my students speak better. They think faster, they think on a deeper level, and they've stopped saying 'like' (I hate 'like').
4 - Writing is not math. No offense to people who like math (I was once a high school mathlete, so I kind of get it), but math pretty much always works the same way. Writing rarely gives you a straight consistent answer. I like that.
3 - Writing is not life or death. Some people are just designed to life or death decisions all the time. They become doctors, or EMTs or nuclear war button pushers. I'm not. If the writing sucks today, nobody dies. It will just get better tomorrow.
2 - Writing can feel like life or death. As much as it doesn't matter whether or not you chose to use or abuse the serial comma, writing does matter when you put yourself behind it. Writing is taking a risk to say what you believe. If people don't respect your opinion (respect is not agreement), then I think that is like dying. And that matters.
1 - Writings is all about telling stories. Stories are all about life (I mean it's pretty hard to write a story about something that doesn't ever do anything or have anything done to it). That's why we tell so many stories to children. So they know how to live their lives. What's not to like about that?
5 - Writing is nothing more than speaking on paper. Most students won't write much when they get out of school, but all of them will speak - probably a lot. Spending all day honing in on their writing skills has actually helped my students speak better. They think faster, they think on a deeper level, and they've stopped saying 'like' (I hate 'like').
4 - Writing is not math. No offense to people who like math (I was once a high school mathlete, so I kind of get it), but math pretty much always works the same way. Writing rarely gives you a straight consistent answer. I like that.
3 - Writing is not life or death. Some people are just designed to life or death decisions all the time. They become doctors, or EMTs or nuclear war button pushers. I'm not. If the writing sucks today, nobody dies. It will just get better tomorrow.
2 - Writing can feel like life or death. As much as it doesn't matter whether or not you chose to use or abuse the serial comma, writing does matter when you put yourself behind it. Writing is taking a risk to say what you believe. If people don't respect your opinion (respect is not agreement), then I think that is like dying. And that matters.
1 - Writings is all about telling stories. Stories are all about life (I mean it's pretty hard to write a story about something that doesn't ever do anything or have anything done to it). That's why we tell so many stories to children. So they know how to live their lives. What's not to like about that?
Monday, January 7, 2008
Post New Year's stuff
So after getting blasted for requesting more frequent blog posts by my friends while never actually posting on my own, I feel as though it's time to give regular blogging more of an effort. I also read a very cheesy article in the "Living" section of the Indy Star about blogging and how you should develop a distinctive blog style - something like making every post a list of 5 things or being a huge snark (the paper did actually use the word 'snark'). I figure I'm a reasonably intelligent person. Certainly I can come up with 5 things to say each day.
To that end, we had a guest speaker in class today, and one of the things he said was that he is someone who is never bored. That struck a chord with me. I get bored a lot, or at least I think I do. What I really probably get though is lazy. So without further ado, here's a list of 5 things I'm going to try doing to stop being lazy. Consider it a late New Year's resolution.
5 - Take a short nap every now and then. As most know, there is nothing better than a nap. Maybe they will keep me rested so that I am less inclined to plop in front of the TV when I too tired to do anything else. And at least when I'm sleeping, I won't be bored.
4 - Blog more. See above.
3 - Read more. If you've been to my house, you know that the number of books I own is a highly contested point in my relationship. The fact that I haven't actually read most of them makes Suellen even more upset. I figure since I've got a wealth of knowledge sitting on shelves that I keep lobbying to keep, I better read them.
2 - Play more games. This is a recently acquired geeky trait I've gotten from Amy and Ben, but I figure that if I'm playing a game, I'm not zoning out in front of the TV, allowing myself to slowly die in the wake of its pale glow.
1 - Maybe - just maybe - I'll write poems again. I'm actually hoping that this will be a result of the 'bullocks to laziness plan'. We'll see how it goes.
To that end, we had a guest speaker in class today, and one of the things he said was that he is someone who is never bored. That struck a chord with me. I get bored a lot, or at least I think I do. What I really probably get though is lazy. So without further ado, here's a list of 5 things I'm going to try doing to stop being lazy. Consider it a late New Year's resolution.
5 - Take a short nap every now and then. As most know, there is nothing better than a nap. Maybe they will keep me rested so that I am less inclined to plop in front of the TV when I too tired to do anything else. And at least when I'm sleeping, I won't be bored.
4 - Blog more. See above.
3 - Read more. If you've been to my house, you know that the number of books I own is a highly contested point in my relationship. The fact that I haven't actually read most of them makes Suellen even more upset. I figure since I've got a wealth of knowledge sitting on shelves that I keep lobbying to keep, I better read them.
2 - Play more games. This is a recently acquired geeky trait I've gotten from Amy and Ben, but I figure that if I'm playing a game, I'm not zoning out in front of the TV, allowing myself to slowly die in the wake of its pale glow.
1 - Maybe - just maybe - I'll write poems again. I'm actually hoping that this will be a result of the 'bullocks to laziness plan'. We'll see how it goes.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Insignificance
Been a long time. Been a hard week.
My grandmother had a stroke on Tuesday. Somebody asked me if we were close. It's hard to think about. What does close mean?
I don't see her often. I rarely ever call. I've thought for the last few years that every time we said goodbye would be Goodbye. But as we drove the six hours out and back this weekend, I realized I wasn't ready for it to be.
Losing someone is hard, but I think knowing you can't do anything for them is harder. Maybe that's selfish.
As I sat in the hospital room while she slept, I searched for anything to say that would show her what she means me. How strong I think she is. How much I hope to live long and well and full like her.
All I ended up with was silence, but I think she knew it was love.
I hope to tell her that soon.
My grandmother had a stroke on Tuesday. Somebody asked me if we were close. It's hard to think about. What does close mean?
I don't see her often. I rarely ever call. I've thought for the last few years that every time we said goodbye would be Goodbye. But as we drove the six hours out and back this weekend, I realized I wasn't ready for it to be.
Losing someone is hard, but I think knowing you can't do anything for them is harder. Maybe that's selfish.
As I sat in the hospital room while she slept, I searched for anything to say that would show her what she means me. How strong I think she is. How much I hope to live long and well and full like her.
All I ended up with was silence, but I think she knew it was love.
I hope to tell her that soon.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Lawn Mowing - and why it blows chunks
After a brief period of blog-death, I decided that something exciting (i.e. frustrating) enough has happened to warrant posting.
Let me preface this by saying that start of school has kicked me in the behind in every sense of the phrase - including the 10+ hours of grading I did this weekend so that I could post grades for our first set of academic updates. It has been a good first four weeks, but I am pooped!
Anyway, after a faculty meeting and trip to the grocery store for someone much needed cat food, I arrived home today to find that everyone on our street managed to get their lawns mowed. Great. It's bad enough that we suck at all things requiring a green thumb, but now our jungle-length, patchy lawn stands out even more agains the nice, pretty mowed lines of our neighbors. We now look like the uncivilized heathens of lawn-care that we are.
So, since Suellen can't mow due to all the waiting, I don my tennis shoes and head out after dinner for my least favorite household chore (please God, give me laundry any day!). Now, my father was nice enough to get me a brand new, shiny lawn mower for birthday since we were on our second hand-me-down mower and it wasn't cutting it (cutting it...hahahaha...I'm amusing myself). However, since it's been so darn hot all summer, I've only used it twice and I've never done anything but mulch with it. Given the fact that our grass is tickling my legs well above the ankles in some places, it's clear to me that mulching just ain't gonna cut it. So I pull out all the various attachments and decide on the little side shooty thing. The grass maybe long, but surely it can just spit the long grass back out? That way I can just run it over with the mower again in some sort of faux-mulching action. This all makes perfect sense in the drive way. Reality, it turns out, is suspended in my drive way.
So, I succeed in mowing our tiny front lawn and most of the left hand side using the side-vent. I'm just putting along, merrily spewing grass chunks until I enter the 'deep woods' of our back yard. After the mower stalls for the 5th time, I decide to switch to bagging, WHICH IS MY ABSOLUTE LEAST FAVORITE THING EVER! Needless to say, I'm pretty pissed at this point, but I drag out the lawn mower bag and a the enviro-friendly paper bag to put the trimmings in, and start the mower up again. I walk about 10 feet and stop again. Why do you ask? Because our lawn is so over-grown the grass trimmings are forcing the bag away from the body of the mower so that it clogs up anyway!
So (yes, this is now the 3rd paragraph I've started with so) to make a long story somewhat shorter. After an hour and forty-five minutes and 12 re-starts of the lawn mower, we can now show our faces in the neighborhood. I am so thrilled to have done my part to keep America beautiful.
Now it's off to bed, where I will lie awake trying to thing of intellegent things to say about the literary merit of the pilgrims tomorrow. If you have any thoughts, I'm open to telepathic communication.
Let me preface this by saying that start of school has kicked me in the behind in every sense of the phrase - including the 10+ hours of grading I did this weekend so that I could post grades for our first set of academic updates. It has been a good first four weeks, but I am pooped!
Anyway, after a faculty meeting and trip to the grocery store for someone much needed cat food, I arrived home today to find that everyone on our street managed to get their lawns mowed. Great. It's bad enough that we suck at all things requiring a green thumb, but now our jungle-length, patchy lawn stands out even more agains the nice, pretty mowed lines of our neighbors. We now look like the uncivilized heathens of lawn-care that we are.
So, since Suellen can't mow due to all the waiting, I don my tennis shoes and head out after dinner for my least favorite household chore (please God, give me laundry any day!). Now, my father was nice enough to get me a brand new, shiny lawn mower for birthday since we were on our second hand-me-down mower and it wasn't cutting it (cutting it...hahahaha...I'm amusing myself). However, since it's been so darn hot all summer, I've only used it twice and I've never done anything but mulch with it. Given the fact that our grass is tickling my legs well above the ankles in some places, it's clear to me that mulching just ain't gonna cut it. So I pull out all the various attachments and decide on the little side shooty thing. The grass maybe long, but surely it can just spit the long grass back out? That way I can just run it over with the mower again in some sort of faux-mulching action. This all makes perfect sense in the drive way. Reality, it turns out, is suspended in my drive way.
So, I succeed in mowing our tiny front lawn and most of the left hand side using the side-vent. I'm just putting along, merrily spewing grass chunks until I enter the 'deep woods' of our back yard. After the mower stalls for the 5th time, I decide to switch to bagging, WHICH IS MY ABSOLUTE LEAST FAVORITE THING EVER! Needless to say, I'm pretty pissed at this point, but I drag out the lawn mower bag and a the enviro-friendly paper bag to put the trimmings in, and start the mower up again. I walk about 10 feet and stop again. Why do you ask? Because our lawn is so over-grown the grass trimmings are forcing the bag away from the body of the mower so that it clogs up anyway!
So (yes, this is now the 3rd paragraph I've started with so) to make a long story somewhat shorter. After an hour and forty-five minutes and 12 re-starts of the lawn mower, we can now show our faces in the neighborhood. I am so thrilled to have done my part to keep America beautiful.
Now it's off to bed, where I will lie awake trying to thing of intellegent things to say about the literary merit of the pilgrims tomorrow. If you have any thoughts, I'm open to telepathic communication.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Coming at You Live from...
Amy and Ben's kitchen. Baby-sitting on a Friday night. Wahoo! (I'm only joking. Between crazy game convention and a high school football game, watching Bryn is definety the best option.)
It's been a bit of a week for me. In fact, I think it's been one of the roughest starts to school that I've had. (This is the point where all my public school teaching friends groan and tell me to get over it). Now, I know that I see only a fraction of the students that my large, public district compatriots do, but my student load has doubled this year, I'm teaching twice the number of classes, have twice the number of mentees, and am sponsoring two independent study projects. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I love every piece of the 5,000 things that make me feel like a train has run me over by 1:37. I just wasn't quite ready for this week. I thought I was, but I forgot about the emotional drain of teaching. I get so energized for 45 minutes at a time that I crash afterwards. Who knew teaching writing had so much in common with herion addiction? Strike that. A lot of writer's did.
Well, whatever the week was, it's over. Suellen and I have safely navigated our charge to slumberland. I've finished grading a stack of essays (yep, I am that jerky teacher who assigns homework on the first day), and I'm betting that once Amy and/or Ben returns, I'll be off to slumberland as well.
It's been a bit of a week for me. In fact, I think it's been one of the roughest starts to school that I've had. (This is the point where all my public school teaching friends groan and tell me to get over it). Now, I know that I see only a fraction of the students that my large, public district compatriots do, but my student load has doubled this year, I'm teaching twice the number of classes, have twice the number of mentees, and am sponsoring two independent study projects. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I love every piece of the 5,000 things that make me feel like a train has run me over by 1:37. I just wasn't quite ready for this week. I thought I was, but I forgot about the emotional drain of teaching. I get so energized for 45 minutes at a time that I crash afterwards. Who knew teaching writing had so much in common with herion addiction? Strike that. A lot of writer's did.
Well, whatever the week was, it's over. Suellen and I have safely navigated our charge to slumberland. I've finished grading a stack of essays (yep, I am that jerky teacher who assigns homework on the first day), and I'm betting that once Amy and/or Ben returns, I'll be off to slumberland as well.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
The End of Summer
For me, summer officially ends tomorrow. We have our all-school picnic, and the kids come on Monday. Needless to say, I'm quite ready. While my lessons are planned, and everything is set on paper, I'm not mentally up to the task quite yet. Hopefully a yummy breakfast will kick-start me tomorrow, or something like that.
In other exciting news, this week has not been very exciting at all. I had meetings most of the week, and then Suellen and I drove to Bloomington for what is now know as the 'wine rack debacle.' So, about 3 weeks ago,my brother orders me a birthday present (bear in mind that my birthday is June 22). He doesn't tell me what it is, only that it's being shipped to his dorm. Then I get a call. It's too big to fit in his car, and could I please come pick it up. We couldn't coordinate schedules then, so he agreed to call me later. Well, he called later. Much later. As in Thursday afternoon on the day it had to be picked up by 4:00. So, Suellen and I move everything around to drive down there to find that my brother has bought me a 6 ft tall wine rack. (How he ever thought it would fit in his Geo Prism is beyond me). Now it is a very nice gift, but it's huge, and it won't hold all our bar ware/stem glasses. To cut a long story short, we drove 3 hours round trip to pick up a box that barely fit in our SUV, drive it back to Indy and take it directly to the Target and return it. Very thoughtful gift, made for a very long afternoon. But we found a replacement wine rack that fits and is functional, so it's not all bad.
That's about it. So much for summer.
In other exciting news, this week has not been very exciting at all. I had meetings most of the week, and then Suellen and I drove to Bloomington for what is now know as the 'wine rack debacle.' So, about 3 weeks ago,my brother orders me a birthday present (bear in mind that my birthday is June 22). He doesn't tell me what it is, only that it's being shipped to his dorm. Then I get a call. It's too big to fit in his car, and could I please come pick it up. We couldn't coordinate schedules then, so he agreed to call me later. Well, he called later. Much later. As in Thursday afternoon on the day it had to be picked up by 4:00. So, Suellen and I move everything around to drive down there to find that my brother has bought me a 6 ft tall wine rack. (How he ever thought it would fit in his Geo Prism is beyond me). Now it is a very nice gift, but it's huge, and it won't hold all our bar ware/stem glasses. To cut a long story short, we drove 3 hours round trip to pick up a box that barely fit in our SUV, drive it back to Indy and take it directly to the Target and return it. Very thoughtful gift, made for a very long afternoon. But we found a replacement wine rack that fits and is functional, so it's not all bad.
That's about it. So much for summer.
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