Friday, August 29, 2008
A'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I finally got my grades for my 2 master's classes I took this summer. A's in both! Yay!! I guess I can do this!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Philly and Gettysburg
Well, I have been home for a week from Philly and Gettysburg and I leave tomorrow to go to Ashland University in Ohio to begin my master's classes. It remains to be seen how well this old brain can function. I had a great time in Pennsylvania and learned a lot. If you are ever in Philly make sure you go to the National Constitution Center and go through the permanent exhibit. It is just awesome. Here are some pictures of me in Gettysburg. The one at the right is with Dr. Gabor Boritt, who is the nation's leading scholar on Abraham Lincoln. The other one is me at Little Round Top - "Meade held the high ground"
This is the memorial in front of the tomb of the unknown soldier in Washington square. I really liked the quote "Freedom is a light for which many men have died in dark."
Gettysburg was full of reenactors because it was the anniversary of the battle. It was really neat to walk down historic downtown and see all of these people in period clothing.
In Philly, we stayed in the historic district. I have lots of pictures from that one too, so I will show a few.
This is a nice picture - the liberty bell with Independence Hall in the background. We asked the guide if Nicholas Cage actually got to go up into the bell tower and he said no.
And this one is the Graff house, sometimes called the Declaration House. This is where Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence. The houses are so narrow becaused they were taxed on how much frontage they had.
In Philly and Gettysburg I was again impressed with what a blessed country we live in. The liberties and freedoms, first expressed in the Declaration of Independence, then guaranteed by the Constitution, are what made the sacrifice at Gettysburg so important.
"...It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. "
God bless us and God bless America.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Gumbo - it's whats for dinner
Yum! Chicken, sausage, shrimp, okra and all kinds of seasonings. This is one of my very favorite things to eat. Normally, there would be crab claws in there too, but they are out of season right now. Gumbo is the Swahili word for okra, so it truly isn't gumbo unless you have the okra. I don't make this very often, but every once in a while nothing else will satisfy my taste buds. We usually have this Christmas Eve. When Nate and Meg were engaged we invited her over on Christmas Eve for some gumbo. She got confused as to what it was called and when her Dad asked her what she was going to do Christmas Eve, she said "Going to Silvesters for some guano." (bat poop) Nowadays, we call it guano as much as we call it gumbo. However, this is a very tasty soup so I imagine it taste nothing like guano. You must also have some rice to serve it over, and some crusty bread (I like baugettes the best) to serve with it. Anyway, we are having some tonight!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Father's Day
Father's Day is tomorrow and is always a bittersweet day. My father passed away 15 years ago and I miss him. I wish he could be here to know his grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was a funny loving guy and someone you could talk to. He was a retired Air Force veteran. I remember talking to him on the phone when I was at BYU and he asked me how my money was holding out. I told him that my debts were all paid but there wasn't much left over and he said "Not even a quarter to buy a candy bar with?" and we both laughed. A few days later, I got a card from him with a quarter taped in it. He did those kind of little things that could always cheer you up. I could always count on him to stick his finger in my ear when I was pouting to which I would always respond " Da-ad!!" He would never let me sass my mother. He was hardworking and I always knew that he loved me.
Missing you Daddy. Happy Father's Day!
Relections on a particulary difficult school year
Well, my summer break officially began on June 4th at 2:30pm. I must congratulate myself for getting through this 2007-2008 school year without a) seriously injuring a student and b)resisting the tempation to take up alcoholic beverages or mind altering substances.
We had 130 students and approximately half of them were underachievers and intent on doing anything other than schoolwork while at school. We lectured, we rewarded good behavior, we had parent/teacher conferences, we had parent/teacher/student conferences with the principal thrown into the mix most of the time. We gave detention, we gave fun Fridays, we had after school tutoring, morning tutoring, lunch detention, lunch tutoring...it just didn't seem to matter what we did, we just weren't getting through.
As much as I lectured these kids and got onto them about proper behavior and treating each other with respect, and all the eye rolling and huffs and puffs in response, I thought the school year would never end.
I teach with the best group of teachers you could ever ask for. Each of us has a different teaching style and usually each of us can reach a different group of kids and nuture them and we have some positive experiences along the way. That wasn't happening with these kids and it really wasn't until the last week of school that we finally realized that we had done some good along the way.
One of the positive things that comes from having this kind of year is that you learn so much about truly effective discipline. The other good thing is that you realize that this type of class doesn't come around very often. Thank goodness for that.
Teachers get very little respect in the United States. Constantly on talk radio, public school teachers are bashed, particulary by people like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. They dislike all teachers because of the teachers union. They want choice in public education. They have never seen a group of dedicated teachers who truly want the best for the students go through a school year like the one I just went through. And on that subject, I have an opinion I would like to share about choice and the voucher system particularly. If you pass legislation that would give vouchers to parents to take their children to any school, public or private, then you are also going to have to give those vouchers to parents who homeschool their children. I know many families who successfully homeschool their children and who would continue to do so. The problem comes in when parents in the lower socioeconomic bracket discover they can get a lot of money for their children if they educated them at home. That will induce a lot of parents who are ill qualified and undereducated themselves to pull their children out of school in order to boost the family income. What you will end up with is whole generations of people with little or no education. Crime, unemployment, and a welfare state will result.
Public education in the US has its problems, yes, but it still allows a good ecucation for all of its people, even insures it. Those who want to change it need to think the process through very carefully and work all consequences of change before they alter it.
We had 130 students and approximately half of them were underachievers and intent on doing anything other than schoolwork while at school. We lectured, we rewarded good behavior, we had parent/teacher conferences, we had parent/teacher/student conferences with the principal thrown into the mix most of the time. We gave detention, we gave fun Fridays, we had after school tutoring, morning tutoring, lunch detention, lunch tutoring...it just didn't seem to matter what we did, we just weren't getting through.
As much as I lectured these kids and got onto them about proper behavior and treating each other with respect, and all the eye rolling and huffs and puffs in response, I thought the school year would never end.
I teach with the best group of teachers you could ever ask for. Each of us has a different teaching style and usually each of us can reach a different group of kids and nuture them and we have some positive experiences along the way. That wasn't happening with these kids and it really wasn't until the last week of school that we finally realized that we had done some good along the way.
One of the positive things that comes from having this kind of year is that you learn so much about truly effective discipline. The other good thing is that you realize that this type of class doesn't come around very often. Thank goodness for that.
Teachers get very little respect in the United States. Constantly on talk radio, public school teachers are bashed, particulary by people like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. They dislike all teachers because of the teachers union. They want choice in public education. They have never seen a group of dedicated teachers who truly want the best for the students go through a school year like the one I just went through. And on that subject, I have an opinion I would like to share about choice and the voucher system particularly. If you pass legislation that would give vouchers to parents to take their children to any school, public or private, then you are also going to have to give those vouchers to parents who homeschool their children. I know many families who successfully homeschool their children and who would continue to do so. The problem comes in when parents in the lower socioeconomic bracket discover they can get a lot of money for their children if they educated them at home. That will induce a lot of parents who are ill qualified and undereducated themselves to pull their children out of school in order to boost the family income. What you will end up with is whole generations of people with little or no education. Crime, unemployment, and a welfare state will result.
Public education in the US has its problems, yes, but it still allows a good ecucation for all of its people, even insures it. Those who want to change it need to think the process through very carefully and work all consequences of change before they alter it.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Me, too
It has been so long since I posted that I am going to borrow Casey's list and post my version. I like doing these kinds of things. So...
1. Where is your cell phone? ....................bookbag
2. Your significant other?......................computer chair
3. Your hair?....................................brown...ish
4. Your mother? ................................. dear
5. Your father?.................................. missed
6. Your favorite thing?.......................... hugs
7. Your dream last night?........................confused
8. Your favorite drink...........................Coca-cola
9. Your dream/goal?..............................eternal family
10. The room you're in?..........................sanctuary
11. Your children?................................brilliant
12. Your fear?................................... car crash
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years........... retired
14. Where were you last night?...................home
15. What you're not?............................. fashionable
16. Muffins...................................... poppyseed
17. One of your wish list items?.................debt free
18. Where you grew up?.......... Bermuda, Tennessee, Houston, Picayune
19. What you read last........Narrative of a Revolutionary War Soldier
20. What are you wearing?........................ lounger
21. Your TV?.....................................50 in plasma
22. Your pets?.........................kitty asleep on the heating pad
23. Your computer? .............................. outdated
24. Your life?........................routine (and I like it like that)
25. Your mood?...................................anxious
26. Missing someone?.............................The Van Noys
27. Your car?....................................minivan
28. Something you're not wearing?................shoes
29. Favorite Store?.............................. amazon.com
30. Your summer?.....................studious, which is my kind of fun
31. Like someone?................................many people
32. Your favorite color?.........................dandelion yellow
33. Last time you laughed...............over dinner (Curt and Jake are funny)
34. Last time you cried?..............well, off and on since Laura left
1. Where is your cell phone? ....................bookbag
2. Your significant other?......................computer chair
3. Your hair?....................................brown...ish
4. Your mother? ................................. dear
5. Your father?.................................. missed
6. Your favorite thing?.......................... hugs
7. Your dream last night?........................confused
8. Your favorite drink...........................Coca-cola
9. Your dream/goal?..............................eternal family
10. The room you're in?..........................sanctuary
11. Your children?................................brilliant
12. Your fear?................................... car crash
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years........... retired
14. Where were you last night?...................home
15. What you're not?............................. fashionable
16. Muffins...................................... poppyseed
17. One of your wish list items?.................debt free
18. Where you grew up?.......... Bermuda, Tennessee, Houston, Picayune
19. What you read last........Narrative of a Revolutionary War Soldier
20. What are you wearing?........................ lounger
21. Your TV?.....................................50 in plasma
22. Your pets?.........................kitty asleep on the heating pad
23. Your computer? .............................. outdated
24. Your life?........................routine (and I like it like that)
25. Your mood?...................................anxious
26. Missing someone?.............................The Van Noys
27. Your car?....................................minivan
28. Something you're not wearing?................shoes
29. Favorite Store?.............................. amazon.com
30. Your summer?.....................studious, which is my kind of fun
31. Like someone?................................many people
32. Your favorite color?.........................dandelion yellow
33. Last time you laughed...............over dinner (Curt and Jake are funny)
34. Last time you cried?..............well, off and on since Laura left
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