This has been the best day! Certainly the best work day of 2007. My students were awesome. They came in, sat in their seats and prepared for the day. They were ready and eager to please. They even worked diligently the entire period! Awesome.
Want to know the trick?
I gave them 1/4 sheet poster board and play-doh. Yes, play-doh. We created landform maps today. They had to draw the state and landform regions, then fill in the regions with playdoh. When putting the playdoh in place they have to pay attention to the characteristics of the region. I had them work in pairs…had to conserve supplies. We covered their map with plastic wrap so they can come in tomorrow and etch the counties into their map. Over the next few weeks we will use them as study tools.
Really a good teaching day. I got to know my students and they got to have a relaxed day, yet still benefit.
In other news…
I PASSED MY AL SKILLS TESTS!!!!
Yeppers! The math portion I scored a level 6 (7 being the highest), reading a 7 (7 being the highest), and writing a 4 (5 being the highest). If I had worked faster and not guessed at the last 5 math problems I might have scored higher. I’m happy with the writing. That was the hardest style test I’ve ever taken. If you missed the description, you had to listen to a memo and take notes…then write the memo. It was also timed, which added a serious stress element.
Now the only thing I have to stress over, with regard to my license, is whether they will accept my MSU coursework. Should, but this is the Dept. of Ed. we are talking about. Sometimes they just don’t do what makes sense!
Great day…great day…great day.
And for an additional smile, the forecast for Thursday (according to Weather Underground)
[Partly Cloudy]
39° F | 20° F
4° C | -7° C
Mostly Cloudy
Ice Pellets
100% chance of precipitation
There’s also the chance of flurries. I’m a little glad that this is a possibility…I really want the break. However, Froggy is having a party Saturday and I don’t want it spoiled. Looks like we may have to do it another time. *sigh* There’s also the negative of date night being interrupted. I can’t ask my sitter to drive in yucky weather. I love date night.
It wasn’t Elmer’s either. The black lab swallowed a polyurethane adhesive. That’s serious glue. After surgical removal of the masses in his stomach he is recovering.
I chose this story not just because the dog is cute and favors our Tchaik…
I chose it because of the statement from the doctor:
Reineck — who has had to remove a raincoat, a stuffed animal’s head and the bottom third of a Christmas tree with glass ornaments from other dogs — said people need to be aware that household items can be attractive but dangerous for both pets and children.
A raincoat? A bottom 3rd of a Christmas tree? What kind of dog? A St. Bernard! Be careful guys, your pets are likely to sample anything.
I’m not really a huge TV fan. There are a few shows that I will take the time to watch and Whose Line is one of them. I’ve spent most of the day working on Djembe’s PitPass site so this was a welcome laugh. It isn’t horrible, but if you are easily offended you should probably click on by.
I wanted to respond to something Sage said in my last post.
Sage Says:
January 26th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
you know, it is so easy to touch a life in the 3rd World, I like your attitude–both giving to your students and to those in other countries.
I think it is easier to touch a life in the third world than it is to do so at home. I attended missions meetings last week to discuss local interests as well as the trip to Ghana. A very good point was made. How do we reach out and love those in the third world if we can’t bring ourselves to do so at home? There are SO many opportunities in our own backyard! One of the coolest things this past Thanksgiving was our feed the hungry drive. We planned to make 500 plates and deliver them to people that had been contacted. After 500 plates were made there was so much food leftover that we had to figure out other places. Many were taken to assisted living facilities, but a several of us took plates to local apartment complexes where many lower income families live. The people couldn’t believe that they were being given this hot meal at no cost, and no expectation. It was so cool to see their faces light up.
I’m involved with a local girls home here and there are several other similar opportunities. They just want attention, want someone to care.
Back to the statement Sage made…why is it so easy to go abroad? I really think that we are so familiar with our areas that we really don’t see the opportunities that are right under our nose. It is also the fact that even our poor are rich compared to many in the third world.
Not much to offer in the way of blog reading. I’m totally consumed by teaching and move prep. My students aren’t horrible, just high maintenance. As a result…I’m exhausted. Seriously.
Reading the news I am distressed to see that Haiti remains in turmoil.
‘Four dead’ in Haiti UN operation
The UN mission in Haiti says four people were killed when its peacekeepers expanded their presence in the Cite Soleil slum of Port-au-Prince.
A spokesman said six other people were injured in what he described as exchanges of fire with criminals.
On Wednesday, when the operation took place, another UN spokesman had said there had been no reports of casualties or much of a reaction to the operation.
The peacekeepers are now holding a strategic location in Cite Soleil.
The stronghold is to be a centre for operations against armed gangs, a UN spokesperson told the BBC.
A local aid worker for the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, Fabio Pompetti, told AFP news agency that three women had been wounded in Wednesday’s clash and that one of them later died from her wounds.
UN peacekeepers, in Haiti since 2004, were sent to the country to maintain order after a revolt ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Hundreds of people have died in Port-au-Prince in clashes between rogue police officers, ex-rebels and gangs.
The Brazilian-led UN force includes more than 8,000 soldiers and police supported by some 1,000 civilian personnel.
Many people want to travel the world, see the sights, and experience the excitement. I would much rather travel to the struggling areas and attempt to make a difference…even if it is for the moment. I often wonder how “the girls” are in Haiti…the orphanage we worked with there. It is so sad to see a country turned upside down and know that there are innocent children their who have little hope of a better life.
I’m too tired to be contemplative. Too depressing.
OK, if you have reason to be at work at 4 AM why are you on my website fun page playing games? Really, I doubt admin would like that. Unless it is admin…and then I still have to wonder, why are you here so early? Any game requests or are you just lurking?
There are so many things on my mind right now so I’m going to do what I do when I get too much to deal with…make a list
NCLB requirements are about to drive me nuts. I have documentation waiting to be done and will be spending my weekend contacting parents. I think my new students are capable, but they just won’t come to school or make-up work when they are out!
I have to get my transcripts from MSU sent to UNA.
I really want an adjunct position…it’s very likely, but I’m not sure that is the best thing.
I want to teach at my old high school. No positions open. The school that has positions is a system so difficult to get into that I’m frustrated.
So many doors are open for this transition. I can’t imagine that it is the wrong path.
We will desperately miss our church. Jem has gotten involved there and I really like it as well.
I have the opportunity to go to Ghana. Unfortunately, I would have to have the ticket money by the end of February and that is a lot. The trip is in June. I really want to go, but I’m not sure if it is what I am supposed to do.
Jem is waiting to hear from his interview. We’ve had positive feedback. It would be ideal.
That State of the Union is on. I expect this will be an unbelievable political season.
Just read the story. 3 more…THREE MORE KIDS MURDERED!!! and one messed up for life b/c of what she suffered.
Why? Absolutely senseless. Want to know why? It’s b/c our screwed up system puts more value on the life of a child molester than they do on the lives of countless victims and possible victims! He was out on BAIL!?!?! WTH! Why?
I just don’t get it. Why does someone who hurts a child EVER released? ESPECIALLY someone with a record like this. He had spent most of his adult life in prison b/c of crimes against children. So he was LET OUT ON BAIL after ANOTHER!
Ok, this is one of the COOLEST Firefox add-ons!!! I am not viewing my wordpress write page I am looking at the Performancing add-on site and making notes about what I see! If you like to blog about what you read on the web this is an awesome add-on. You can make notes and then publish from the notes screen! There are other add-ons I am really enjoying as well. Firefox has an ftp add-on that makes life easier. Another that I am trying is Cooliris. I was visiting Steve over at Tattered Bits of Brain and scrolled over a link one day. The mouseover was a preview of the site he was linking. I thought this was ultraneat, but I haven’t found anything else out about it. Looking through Firefox add-ons I found something really similar. It lets you view links of the page you are on with various customizable previews. You can turn it off if you find it annoying, but so far it has been a handy tool.
BTW, what sparked this little exploration? I ghosted my notebook this evening. It had slowed down and was running so poorly that I couldn’t come up with a better option…yes, I tried all others. Running great now.
Check out the add-ons, really neat. Not running Firefox? Why? I prefer it to IE6 and IE7 is nothing but a poorly attempted rip of Firefox.
Choose 10 words and write a sentence showing that you understand the meaning.
This was part of Froggy’s homework last week. She got in trouble for not turning it in. It wasn’t that she didn’t do it. She just didn’t do it correctly. I even remember discussing it. I was cooking dinner and she asked for help with a sentence. She showed me a list of words and asked for help making a sentence out of most of them. She said it was her homework. Slightly confused I asked if she was sure she had to use ten of them. I just assumed the teacher was REALLY trying to challenge them. After all, the words fit together well.
So, Froggy chose ten words and wrote a sentence. Apparently it was supposed to be ten sentences, using a spelling word in each. I think she should have been given credit for the creativity it took to choose ten words a make a sentence. I know, I should have clued in…but, that’s what happens when you multi-task dinner and homework with two children.
I love date night.
