Tag Archives: education

Saturday: the super moon, equinox, and spring…

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three 'brave' crocusses poke up through the soil - Monday 3/14.

Fourteen minutes since Monday, we have gained fourteen minutes of sunlight since Monday! I fell fast asleep last night as the moon was illuminating Earth brightly. This morning a light frost graced the ground and rooftops, it will burn off later this morning as it warms up into the fifties. Monday afternoon, I was scouring the yard for signs of spring and I found couple of crocuses poking its head above ground in the backyard along the stone path. We will all be outside today and I will be looking for more signs. It has been a busy week, the days are screaming by as we get closer to spring and spring break and warmer days. Today is Saturday and it will be a busy day – as they all are. Continue reading Saturday: the super moon, equinox, and spring… →

Saturday – President’s Day Weekend 2011

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Snow remains in only a few places in the backyard, what a bright sunny February day

Most of the snow has melted leaving only pockets of grey dingy ice piles here and there. Fallen twigs and branches litter the backyard and deck leaving a carpet of brownish grey grass matted from the snow. That is what is left of the yard after twenty or more inches of snow and several days of late winter days in the forties. It is nice outside, thought the sunlight belies that temperatures in the thirties, which will probably remain there all day, at least that is the forecast. Continue reading Saturday – President’s Day Weekend 2011 →

Weekends in December

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“Every man has only enough strength to complete those assignments that he is fully convinced are important.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German writer and philosopher

Saturday and Sunday all seem to run together. Weekends are busy and filled with unscheduled time to get things done including all of the tasks and jobs left undone from the week. Of course there is the unexpected, the task or job that pops up and needs to be done at that moment. I got pulled into such a job Saturday and am still finishing it Sunday morning. Continue reading Weekends in December →

Day 57: The Writing Process and the week before Thanksgiving

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This is the week before Thanksgiving and the past several days have been busy – very busy. My students turned their narratives in Monday and they all look great. I did a quick scan of what was turned in and it seems my students learned from my instruction and did well with their writing. I will begin grading them this weekend with plans to return them after Thanksgiving Break. It takes time to read and respond to writing and I want to make sure I have time. This week has been too busy to even start grading. Continue reading Day 57: The Writing Process and the week before Thanksgiving →

Veterans Day and Heroes

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Grandpa, Beth, Olivia, and William pose beside the island on the deck of the U.S.S. Hornet, September 2006

Veterans Day is November 11th and for most schools in Illinois it is a holiday. But, Thursday morning found me at two schools on my day off. William had an honor breakfast and I was glad to attend. He is doing very well in seventh grade as he did in sixth grade. He is a solid young man, respectful and his character shines through. His school, Hubble Middle School, rewards students who display excellent character traits through their actions with ‘Hubble Huskie Coins.’  William had earned a ‘Huskie coin’ in the first quarter of the year and was being honored with other young men and women who had done something similar. Less than hour later, I was working as a crossing guard at Olivia’s school. When I can, I volunteer to be a crossing guard at Wiesbrook. It is always fun. After my crossing guard duty, I attended the Veterans Day flag ceremony.

Continue reading Veterans Day and Heroes →

Day 49: Leads and Seeds and the Introductory paragraph

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As I wrote last week in Day 45: The Writing Process, I am teaching students to write a personal narrative and their assigned topic is a time in their lives when they had a personal conflict and the conflict led them to learn a lesson or an important life-changing lesson. As adults, it is easy to look back and see some of these moments, but it is not easy for a seventh grader to look so introspectively at their lives. Continue reading Day 49: Leads and Seeds and the Introductory paragraph →

I Voted!

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I voted this evening. I arrived at the polls after six when the final push to the polls was happening. It was a hectic end of the day. Because of Election Day my school district does not have attendance, but instead has parent teacher conferences from 7:30 until 3:00 and the students have the day off. As a social studies teacher it concerns me that students get a day off for elections. However, looking at the broader perspective, safety, there is no easy way to secure a public building for a day and a polling place needs to be open and accessible. So voting won out and for the past few elections it has worked well. Continue reading I Voted! →

Day 45: The Writing Process

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Me in front of the list the class created this afternoon.

Teaching Language Arts is fun and I am learning more each day. Though, not as much fun as teaching geography, but I am learning and growing to like it. The students this year are enthusiastic and excited about learning. I know much of it has to do with my attitude and comfort level in the classroom. I have always been open with my students about what I think, how I learn, and the kind of student I was in seventh grade. Continue reading Day 45: The Writing Process →

1492 – Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue, the rest of the story

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Painting of Christopher Columbus taking possession of the new world. In the painting, Columbus kneels on a rocky coast, with a flag in his left hand and a sword in his right. He is surrounded by European men, some of them bearing flags. In the background, three ships are in the water.

 This was supposed to be the weekend I caught up but, time is fickle and just as Johann Goethe, the noted German philosopher, wrote, “Every man has only enough strength to complete those assignments that he is fully convinced are important.” So therefore, I accomplished what I felt was truly important. Some of my to do’s will just have to wait for another day, or week. 

Columbus Day is one of those holidays that was intended to celebrate diversity when it first began to be celebrated in the late nineteenth century. The holiday has since been mandated as an official federal holiday, but it is now outdated. Continue reading 1492 – Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue, the rest of the story →