Category: Teaching

Veterans’ Day and NaNoWriMo

Why is it NaNoWriMo schedules never work as planned? My ideas for scheduled posts never made it off the page, I’ve only written 300 words of NaNoWriMo, and – to top it off – I’m feeling under the weather.

 

National Cemetery

 

But today is Veterans’ Day. Last week, the school put on its biannual Veterans’ Day Program – this particular one held special significance for two reasons: I wrote the program and the school chose to honor Mr. Tom, a 97-year old WWII veteran who just so happens to be my grandfather (who isn’t really my grandfather – you know how those family friends work). This was the first time in years he felt well enough to get out of the house for an extended period of time – he still lives at home in the house he built with his own hands back in the 40s and 50s – and stayed for the entire program. You can watch the program here:

 

 

As usual, I’ve also selected a poem for Veterans’ Day:


                       Grass
                 by Carl Sandburg

Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Shovel them under and let me work—
     I am the grass; I cover all.

And pile them high at Gettysburg
And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.
Shovel them under and let me work.
Two years, ten years, and passengers 
  ask the conductor:
     What place is this?
     Where are we now?

     I am the grass.
     Let me work.

 

And now, since school is out today, it’s time to play catch up on NaNoWriMo. Will I be able to write 16,500 words in one day? Probably not, but I’m sure going to try.

Monday Morning Grievance: Convention Edition

It’s Monday and I haven’t had my coffee.

Monday Morning Grievances Logo 1

 

You might recall I spent a few days last week at a teacher’s convention. I kept a list of grievances:
 

  • I forgot my toiletries bag at home; luckily, the front desk provided me with toothbrush, toothpaste, and comb.

    •  

  • Water pressure from the shower head left so much to be desired.

    •  

  • Vendors: thank you for the free stuff, but I have absolutely zero influence over the school’s budget and even less of my own money to spend. So, just give me your freebies and your handouts and let’s not waste our mutual time.

    •  

  • Conference Center: no free wifi unless we’re registered guests of the attached hotel? Seriously, I checked your website out before leaving town and you claimed to provide a group access account for conventions/conferences. So, who’s lying – the organizers or you? My money is on you.

    •  

  • Clickbait Workshops. At least two workshops I attended were nothing like the course description. One ostensibly covering the administrative side of our new standardized testing company could be summed up in one sentence: “Check the website and experiment for yourself.” Another touting an overview of “modern views” used information over ten years old. Modern my foot.

    •  

  • Bad coffee. Seriously, you’re serving lukewarm brownish water at a teacher’s convention? You do realize we live on coffee, right? This is tantamount to depriving us of oxygen.

 
Given the list, you might think I had an awful time at the convention, but the opposite is true: I actually had quite an enjoyable time – in fact, taken as a whole, this may have been one of the most enjoyable conventions I’ve ever attended. However, it’s hard to overlook terrible coffee and abysmal wifi.

 

What annoys you?

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Teaser Tuesday: The Man Who Touched His Own Heart

Like being stuck behind a log truck when I’m already late for an appointment, I find myself continually one book behind on my Goodreads challenge.

Be that as it may, the Wheel of Time has turned in its course to

Teaser TuesdayJust in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

As you might have guessed, I’m still reading Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the Soul of a Renaissance City by Paul Strathern.

So, what can I look forward to once this particular drama plays out?

I’ve taken a different tack and veered into the realm of medicine with The Man Who Touched His Own Heart by Rob Dunn.

The Truly Random Number Generator sends us to page 15:

The surgical team wanted the hundreds of thousands 
of blue daughters and sons to live. But a dog heart 
is not a human heart, and so the truth was that the 
team had no real idea whether their new procedure 
would work.

the man who touched his own heart cover

In Retrospect

I really need to get a handle on finishing what I’ve started.

 

What have you been reading?

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Summer Break 2015: Week One

I thought the summer break would give me more time to write.

I was wrong.

And yet, I was right.

I’ve written – or, more accurately, typed – quite a bit over the last ten days:

Four class supply lists

Three class outlines

Eleven class projects

Lesson plans for half of American History 1

Today I’m working on re-writing World History so the class is approximately 60% book/lecture and 40% project.

Sometime next week, the new Chemistry curriculum will arrive, meaning I’ll have to go through and check my current lesson plans against any changes in the new edition. Joy. I might just start over from scratch on that one.

I’ve also been cleaning the house.

Spring Cleaning didn’t happen this year; so now’s the perfect time to do it. Well, maybe not perfect, but there certainly won’t be a better time.

But writing for the blog? Not so much.

The only things I’ve published were mostly finished posts waiting in the drafts folder.

Yesterday, I even missed Sunday Snapshots.

However, that’s due mainly to the fact I didn’t take many photos this last week; I’ve been in my office working on the list you just read.

And The Book? Even less.

We’ll see how this week goes.

Teaser Tuesday: Exam Edition 2.0

A mountain of exams threatens my coffee and donuts. To save these delicacies, I must consume them.

Dunkin’ Donuts claims “America Runs on Dunkin” and today I’m doing my part to prove them right.

Unbelievably, the wheel of time has not only turned to, but also passed

Teaser Tuesday

Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share two sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

Yes, I’m still reading Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia by Fiona Ritchie. It’s really quite good, but end-of-term has intruded into book time.

There have been no funny/wrong answers to share (yet), but I’m 99.99% certain I’ll get some today and tomorrow. Stay tuned.

IMG_3018It took me 3.5 hours to grade 14 Physics tests. Brain = fried.

Not Quite In Retrospect

I decided to give Finnegan’s Wake a pass for now. I’ll try again sometime this summer.

Speaking of summer, do you have any suggestions for my summer reading list? I’m open to (almost) anything.

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Teaser Tuesday: Exam Edition

Assuming that Tropical Storm Ana has moved out of the area, I’m off on another field trip: taking a group of top-fundraising students to a fun park. Maybe I’ll get some interesting photographs for Sunday Snapshots.

Inexorably, the wheel of time has once again turned to

Teaser Tuesday

Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share two sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

This week I’m still reading Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia by Fiona Ritchie of Thistle and Shamrock fame .

I’m also reading my own work. No, I haven’t finished The Book; I’m reading exams. Here’s a sample from my physics review: 

A .22 rifle weighs 2.49 kg. The bullet has a mass of 2.60 
g and a muzzle velocity of 487.68 m/s. Calculate the 
kinetic energy of both the rifle and the bullet.

What I’d really like to ask is this: 

What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

Test Stack and Coffee Cup

Not Quite In Retrospect

I may have to give Finnegans Wake a pass at this point. I’m not sure why I thought I could knock it out in four weeks at the end of a school year.

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

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