Tag Archives: education

Winding Down

Thursday, May 10, 2012, @ 5:31 amFamily, jobs, Reading, Scouting, teaching, Writingchildren, education, exercise, fishing, fitness, great days, hard work, history, making the days count, pets, reading, scouting, seventh grade, Summer Vacation, teaching, weather, writingClay

: Courtesy of FineArtAmerica.com

It is Teacher Appreciation Week and I am feeling appreciated. More importantly, I am grateful for the teachers I had who shaped me through their lessons, stories, patience, and passion. Thank you to, and in no particular order, Atlee, Guinn, Wright, Giesberg, Clark, Shand, and Gilbert. I know there were more, but it’s early and I am thinking and writing. I am also grateful to the teachers who have shaped my kid’s lives and made a difference for them. THANK YOU and THANK YOU for being a teacher. Continue reading Winding Down →

Saturday morning, late April

Saturday, April 28, 2012, @ 7:27 amcountry, Family, history, Life in General, Reading, sports, teaching, Teaching and Learning, Weather, Writingbaseball, children, education, hard work, history, Imperfect: An Improbable Life, Jim Abbott, Major League Baseball, making the days count, MLB, reading, sports, teaching, weather, writingClay

It’s been a loonnnnnggg time. This morning, I woke up on the couch. It’s where I fell asleep in the middle of the night when Ivy began to bark, yowl, and whine. She wanted out, so I crawled out of bed and went downstairs only to fall asleep on the couch after I let her in. I decided it was easier to stay downstairs than go back up and covered up with Ivy snuggling in a ball at my feet. Hours later, as night slid into early morning, the pitter-patter of rain woke me and I heard a rumble of thunder. It was time to get up and get going, and Ivy wanted out. Continue reading Saturday morning, late April →

Easter Sunday Morning

Sunday, April 8, 2012, @ 7:01 amCooking, Family, Life in General, Reading, teaching, Writingchildren, church, Easter greeting, Easter Sunday, eating, education, Family, making the days count, reading, seventh grade, teaching, writingClay

The alarm ruined it, or maybe not.

I dreamed last night, but when I awoke, the dreams were cloudy, as they usually are. I went to bed thinking about school, writing or rather about teaching writing, the book we are reading – The Giver, and blogging. Interspersed were thoughts about Easter, Easter Sunday, and the bunny. So, you can only imagine my dream. I can’t recall precise details of the dream, but I was at a writing seminar with my peers and writing a blog came up. I remember sharing my blog and the ideas that drove it, that drove the daily topics, or sometimes weekly topics L.

Then the alarm ruined it, or maybe not. Continue reading Easter Sunday Morning →

Thursday, before Friday

Thursday, April 5, 2012, @ 5:18 amFamily, history, Life in General, pets, Reading, teaching, Weather, Writingchildren, education, Family, geography, great days, hard work, making the days count, pets, reading, seventh grade, teaching, weather, writingClay

I woke this morning trying to breathe, it took almost an hour of blowing my nose and trying to go back to sleep, before I gave up and started the day. Ivy wanted nothing to do with me, or my waking ideas, and is still sleeping soundly – as only she can.

“We have so much time and so little to do. Strike that, reverse it.”
Roald Dahl from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Continue reading Thursday, before Friday →

The List – Part 2

Friday, March 30, 2012, @ 7:14 amadventure, country, Family, history, Life in General, model railroads, pets, Reading, teaching, Writingchildren, church, education, Family, fishing, Grayling, great days, hard work, history, making the days count, Mega Millions, reading, scouting, Spring Break, teaching, The Lottery, writingClay

Over a year ago, I wrote ‘The List.’ It was blog post about winning the lottery, or more specifically, what I would do if I won the lottery. With tonight’s jackpot listed as $540 million or a half billion, it was hard not to think about it as I drove home, yesterday. I mentioned to grandpa and grandma that a lot of good could be done with that much money and it could. So, I decided to dust off last year’s post, revise it, and repost. Continue reading The List – Part 2 →

weekends, sigh

Saturday, March 10, 2012, @ 10:32 amFamily, Reading, Scouting, teaching, Weather, Writingchildren, education, Family, great days, hard work, making the days count, reading, restaurants, scouting, seventh grade, shopping, teaching, weather, writingClay

nightsky — inage courtesy of NASA - click to learn more!

Weekends disappear in the blink of an eye; actually, the entire past week disappeared in the blink of an eye. I can hardly believe the week is done. It was an easy week due to state testing, but it is done except for makeups for students who missed a day or two. I look back at the week with a bit of pride – I accomplished quite a bit and am current with just about everything at school; however, my office space downstairs is a fire hazard and I have other tasks to accomplish this weekend. Continue reading weekends, sigh →

Testy, testing, whatever…

Thursday, March 8, 2012, @ 5:44 pmFamily, Reading, teaching, Weather, Writingchildren, education, hard work, making the days count, race to the top, reading, seventh grade, standardized tests, teaching, weather, writingClay

Snapshot_20120308_5 — plugged in, late afternoon coffee - just for fun! See Author's note below!

It’s springtime – or pretty darn close. The days are getting longer and slowly warmer. Yesterday it was in the sixties and windy with gusts in the 30-40 mph range. It’s been a pretty lame winter and I’m glad it’s getting closer to spring. There is that feeling in the air when it smells like spring. The wind howls and you know, really know, that warmer days are near. Right now, it is that time in the day when the sun seems to hang in the air and make the afternoon linger and seem to last another hour, or two. Continue reading Testy, testing, whatever… →

March Saturday Morning

Saturday, March 3, 2012, @ 10:33 amadventure, Family, history, Reading, teaching, travel, Writingbrothers, children, education, Family, great days, history, making the days count, Paris, reading, seventh grade, teaching, word parts, writingClay

bros_cambronne_park — the picture that distracted me this morning!

It is another three-day weekend for the kids and they need it. Yesterday was a teacher institute day (teacher learning) across the county and all schools were out. I sat through a class on vocabulary acquisition our district rolled out at the beginning of the year. It is a pretty successful program focusing on Greek and Latin roots. I like it because it is concrete. There is a right answer and a right way. As much as the kids needed a day out of school because state testing begins next week, I needed a day in the classroom. I got a lot of the learning yesterday and am looking forward to applying it, but most of all it was it was good to get confirmation that what we are doing is helping kids learn. Continue reading March Saturday Morning →

Spring Day

Friday, March 2, 2012, @ 6:37 amFamily, Hobbies and Fun, Life in General, Reading, teaching, Weather, Writingchildren, education, Family, great days, history, making the days count, reading, seventh grade, spring storms, teaching, writingClay

Spring has sprung, at least for a brief moment earlier this week. Wednesday morning, I walked out of the house and it was 50 degrees; it was the same morning the storms rolled across southern Illinois. Right now, we are back in the mid-30s and cloudy; it looks much the same as most of January and February did. Nevertheless, it is spring. Continue reading Spring Day →

Stamps, stamps, and more stamps

Tuesday, February 28, 2012, @ 9:35 amadventure, Family, history, Hobbies and Fun, Life in General, Reading, teaching, Teaching and Learning, travel, Writingchildren, education, Family, great days, history, making the days count, patriotism, politics, reading, seventh grade, stamp collecting, teaching, writingClay

lovestamp_1973 — Love postage – circa 1973

For those of you who know me and maybe those of you who don’t – I like stamps. My last post included a mention of stamps and I have mentioned stamps and letter writing several times. But, I love stamps, postage stamps, commemorative postage stamps to be precise. Continue reading Stamps, stamps, and more stamps →