The day after Valentines and there is a general malaise throughout the classes. At Merced High the week has been the annual multicultural week. One of my students asked me,"What is a Hindu?" I spent about 20 minutes talking about what they believe. All he knew was the many armed lady image that he portrayed with outstretched arms and out stretched hands and one leg tucked up under himself. He wanted to make sure that everyone in the class saw his image.
Another of my all starts just got back from 5 days of suspension for exposing himeself. the guardian was miffed because the behavior was identified in the IEP. He is a little obsessed with the word toilet. I worked today to teach him some alternatives. Facilities, lavatory, restroom, the sign language equivalent of restroom. He is working his diary book for an external reward at home. I logged in the info and noted that he was learning it.
Other kids were wondering about the significance of the ashen cross on people's forehead. I explained lent and fat Tuesday that preceded it.
The morning classes were playing the worm with the easiest answers coming from my vocabulary list. Classes were only 32 minutes long due to the minimum day and the need to get all six period covered and two assemblies during that time. The big basketball game is tonight. Crosstown rivals, Merced High vs Golden Valley High School.
The walk was just cold this morning.. no wind. That made it welcome. We are quickly approaching the time that frost is not expected. There was frost on the car window by the time I went to work today.
The lunch crowd was not the same today.
Tom was off to Vancover today to capture a lighthouse or two in the BC harbor. Ron was home the last half of this week since his wife had this week off. I am hoping that by next year we will have a cruise vacation planned for this week. The rates are at least half the cost of the Christmas Mexico week cruises. Linzi and Heather think that they could pull it. Sean's job would make it iffy. I would be great cruising into Acapulco Tuesday or Wednesday.
The girls are coming down this weekend to have some fun and give us a hand.
We ate the leftover shrimp from last night. (Sue did) I got the go ahead to make that recipe again. I ate the leftover meatloaf with the chunky onions. The cats all had a go at the left over shrimp sauce. I added some fresh microwaved broccoli to the larder and sliced up a Maui gold pineapple from Costco. They are yummy.. but they need to be consumed as soon as possible as they go rotten soon.
Tonight Sue and I went through our old medicine shelf in the hall closet. My we had some old stuff in there.
I hope you had a great Friday night.
Love
Pat
Friday, February 15, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Valentine's Day
At the high school this day is usually chaotic at best. Girls expectin, boys deliverin, helium gas going into the student body balloons at full blast. Its got to be Heather's idea of a nightmare.. she has loud pop phobia. Students running aroudn campus delivering huge unmanageable balloon bouquets to a sea of red colored outfits.
This year it was somewhat subdued. The is significantly less available cash for such stuff. Balloons in 25 mile an hour winds are not too acceptable. One may student sidled with about 6 of them (a very small quantity) got ticked off at them and started poping them one at a time. At Merced High the Ag department with their flower arrangement class, became the sole distributor of real flowers on campus. This would have been great for them except the proceeds were purloined around second period. More then a hundred dollars.
I always thought the the ultimate subtle revenge for an almost ememy would be to burden them down with so many balloons that they could not take the bus home, they would have difficulty getting into a car with them and that they would want the recognition that so many balloons would engender. Talk about killing them with kindness!
I bought Sue a little mini yellow rose bush from Loews. I had spotted them on an earlier foray. Unfortunately the wind was working its magic and it was not the perky little plant that I had seen eariler. It worked however.
Tonight I went to Costco and bought some shrimp for dinner. Viet Nam tiger shrimp. They were 10 dollars a pound and I bought a pound and a half. I cooked them with some olive oil and butter, with some garlic thrown in. Once they were pink I pulled them out and reduced the sauce (no corn starch) and at the last moment I tossed in some capri tomatoes. Yum. We had some potato patties from the mashed last night and some fresh asparagus. We only had 4 shrimp left after we ate our fill. Sue was hungry for shrimp and so it all worked out great. Sue loves their frozen lattes there. I bought five and brought them home and put them in smaller cups to be refrozen in the freezer.
Today I was working my classes with associations. They worked to name 15 things that were purple. This is difficult for them. Once we got purple down we went on to red (much easier) and white (the easiest). I pointed out how they could take a word that was up the board and think of other items that would go with that one that could be the same color. Cars.. think trucks...both could me purple... or white or red.
Then I divided the class up with even and odd numbers and we played a game. The color was tan. Each team came up with 20 things that are tan. Tan was a new concept for some of them. Then they prioritized the items on the basis of uniqueness. What are 10 that the other side will not have. Most of the time they guessed right and the other side did not have the supported item on their list. They enjoyed learning how to work together, (some of them could not) and the whisper communication (if the other side heard they would know what that side was thinking) and the general illusion of competition. It kept me up at the board writing entries throughout the period.
Tomorrow is a minimum day for one school (the morning school). Each period will only be 30 minutes. Usually they are 50 minutes in length. I think that we will be working on notable structures of the world. We have worked with the GG brige in SF, the arch in St. Louis, and the Empire State Building. Europe was represented by the Eiffel tower. I am going to introduce the leaning tower of Pisa and the Taj Mahal in India tomorrow.
I hope you had a great valentines day all you valentines of mine!
Love
Pat
This year it was somewhat subdued. The is significantly less available cash for such stuff. Balloons in 25 mile an hour winds are not too acceptable. One may student sidled with about 6 of them (a very small quantity) got ticked off at them and started poping them one at a time. At Merced High the Ag department with their flower arrangement class, became the sole distributor of real flowers on campus. This would have been great for them except the proceeds were purloined around second period. More then a hundred dollars.
I always thought the the ultimate subtle revenge for an almost ememy would be to burden them down with so many balloons that they could not take the bus home, they would have difficulty getting into a car with them and that they would want the recognition that so many balloons would engender. Talk about killing them with kindness!
I bought Sue a little mini yellow rose bush from Loews. I had spotted them on an earlier foray. Unfortunately the wind was working its magic and it was not the perky little plant that I had seen eariler. It worked however.
Tonight I went to Costco and bought some shrimp for dinner. Viet Nam tiger shrimp. They were 10 dollars a pound and I bought a pound and a half. I cooked them with some olive oil and butter, with some garlic thrown in. Once they were pink I pulled them out and reduced the sauce (no corn starch) and at the last moment I tossed in some capri tomatoes. Yum. We had some potato patties from the mashed last night and some fresh asparagus. We only had 4 shrimp left after we ate our fill. Sue was hungry for shrimp and so it all worked out great. Sue loves their frozen lattes there. I bought five and brought them home and put them in smaller cups to be refrozen in the freezer.
Today I was working my classes with associations. They worked to name 15 things that were purple. This is difficult for them. Once we got purple down we went on to red (much easier) and white (the easiest). I pointed out how they could take a word that was up the board and think of other items that would go with that one that could be the same color. Cars.. think trucks...both could me purple... or white or red.
Then I divided the class up with even and odd numbers and we played a game. The color was tan. Each team came up with 20 things that are tan. Tan was a new concept for some of them. Then they prioritized the items on the basis of uniqueness. What are 10 that the other side will not have. Most of the time they guessed right and the other side did not have the supported item on their list. They enjoyed learning how to work together, (some of them could not) and the whisper communication (if the other side heard they would know what that side was thinking) and the general illusion of competition. It kept me up at the board writing entries throughout the period.
Tomorrow is a minimum day for one school (the morning school). Each period will only be 30 minutes. Usually they are 50 minutes in length. I think that we will be working on notable structures of the world. We have worked with the GG brige in SF, the arch in St. Louis, and the Empire State Building. Europe was represented by the Eiffel tower. I am going to introduce the leaning tower of Pisa and the Taj Mahal in India tomorrow.
I hope you had a great valentines day all you valentines of mine!
Love
Pat
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
A Most Difficult Student in Class
The following student this week has been transfered out of my class. He is disappointed as he characterized me as the best teacher he ever had:
Student has difficulty staying focused. He enjoys disruption in the class. Currently he is working on a behavioral continuum. His current level of performance is more than 5 disruptions per class period. The target is less than 5 hash marks on the board. He can copy off the board but is a self reported nonreader. Articulation needs are minimal because he uses infantile speech patterns to get his way. Articulation errors in er and r are easily stimuable.. Substitutes characterize his demeanor as "obnoxious."He charges the whole class with his antics.
I came to appreciate this student: normal ability, very intense. over the top in HDHD. Parents claim no meds have been successful. He is highly inventive and has some sort of drama usually revolving possessions who gave this, I gave him that.. but then takes it back. Around Christmas time he found a set of bamboo along the streamside. He set about making all of his friends (including me) a flute made from the bamboo. One day he gathered up some yellow tape used to block entry to a student body function, he figured out how to make a sling out of it so that it would support a skateboard as he walked around campus (he was not allowed to ride the skateboard on campus).
I don't think that he learned much being in my class.. but then again.. academics are not going to be his strong suit. Right now he looks like a third grader. He is white.
Student has difficulty staying focused. He enjoys disruption in the class. Currently he is working on a behavioral continuum. His current level of performance is more than 5 disruptions per class period. The target is less than 5 hash marks on the board. He can copy off the board but is a self reported nonreader. Articulation needs are minimal because he uses infantile speech patterns to get his way. Articulation errors in er and r are easily stimuable.. Substitutes characterize his demeanor as "obnoxious."He charges the whole class with his antics.
I came to appreciate this student: normal ability, very intense. over the top in HDHD. Parents claim no meds have been successful. He is highly inventive and has some sort of drama usually revolving possessions who gave this, I gave him that.. but then takes it back. Around Christmas time he found a set of bamboo along the streamside. He set about making all of his friends (including me) a flute made from the bamboo. One day he gathered up some yellow tape used to block entry to a student body function, he figured out how to make a sling out of it so that it would support a skateboard as he walked around campus (he was not allowed to ride the skateboard on campus).
I don't think that he learned much being in my class.. but then again.. academics are not going to be his strong suit. Right now he looks like a third grader. He is white.
Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and broccoli. The banana bread was baking at the same time as the double batch of the banana bread. King Arthur's unbleached white flour (which is hardly white) No nuts in case Kelly stops by. (One could hope).
That was the menu tonight. Sue took a bath in her new tub. I chopped away in the kitchen.
Homemade mashed potatoes from the bag of yellow (tastes like butter already in them) costcos finest.
Of course I made too much. They will be sent to the refrige for an uncertain fate.
Hamburger went from freezer to micro on a new auto defrost setting.. you select the kind of defrost and the pounds and ounces and it does not jam up the defrost by cooking some parts too hot. (At least in theory) The defrost worked beautifully.. however I wasn't sure of the weight and under guessed it.. So there was a core of undefrosted iced burger.
Onions needed to be chopped finer. No operative chop blade on the cuisinart. I am hopeful in getting a new one soon. All appliances on the counter have been red.. not sure I can live with a kitchen Aide food processor.. may have to get a stainless steel Cuisenart at Costco too.
The dishwasher is a gasser (as dad would say) quiet enought to have a gentle conversation in the kitchen while it is going.. and absoultely no prewash needed.. It even recognizes my cutting boards with slots in the top rack for them to fit into as it slides into the back. Lots of cool controls.. you can do just the top rack if you so desire. It does take about 2 hours to work. You can make it do its best with a 1 hour setting. I haven't needed that kind of turn around yet.
Hope you had a great dinnner like this one tonight.
Love
Pat
That was the menu tonight. Sue took a bath in her new tub. I chopped away in the kitchen.
Homemade mashed potatoes from the bag of yellow (tastes like butter already in them) costcos finest.
Of course I made too much. They will be sent to the refrige for an uncertain fate.
Hamburger went from freezer to micro on a new auto defrost setting.. you select the kind of defrost and the pounds and ounces and it does not jam up the defrost by cooking some parts too hot. (At least in theory) The defrost worked beautifully.. however I wasn't sure of the weight and under guessed it.. So there was a core of undefrosted iced burger.
Onions needed to be chopped finer. No operative chop blade on the cuisinart. I am hopeful in getting a new one soon. All appliances on the counter have been red.. not sure I can live with a kitchen Aide food processor.. may have to get a stainless steel Cuisenart at Costco too.
The dishwasher is a gasser (as dad would say) quiet enought to have a gentle conversation in the kitchen while it is going.. and absoultely no prewash needed.. It even recognizes my cutting boards with slots in the top rack for them to fit into as it slides into the back. Lots of cool controls.. you can do just the top rack if you so desire. It does take about 2 hours to work. You can make it do its best with a 1 hour setting. I haven't needed that kind of turn around yet.
Hope you had a great dinnner like this one tonight.
Love
Pat
Wednesday It must be Writing Day
My classes write every Wednesday. The topic in my morning class included a summary of movie, Tuck Everlasting. One paragraph was to be about the plot. Another was to be about the characterizations and the third was to be about the theme or message.
The first period class could only write about the plot. Second could write a little about the plot. They tried some to get to the characterizations and the theme was a lot more difficult.
The afternoon classes have been watching a movie about a mythical discovery of the dragons in the 14th century frozen in time to modern era and then pieced together. The afternoon classes wrote 6 things they saw in the movie about the dragons. It was easy for a few of them much more difficult for many of them. Organizing the writing process is probably the main benefit from the Wednesday writing. It also gives me something consistent to grade and enter in the grade book each week.
Thanks to Kelly for highlighting my blog in hers. She also sent some oranges to a niece in San Diego which shows up nicely on her blog. We love those neices!
Sue and I are slowly getting things together at this side. The computer is up and therefore I was able to charge my ipod. It was also nice to get back to my podcasts.We put together a bathroom storage unit with a glass door and two drawers yesterday. It was a Loews kit. Medium in difficulty. They actually sorted out all of the screws and mounted them on a paper scrap with their size. This is a first for kits for me. Getting three sides together and square enough for the drawers to work is a difficult assignment.
This afternoon it has been blustery and getting a little colder too.
Hope you had a great Wednesday.
Pat
The first period class could only write about the plot. Second could write a little about the plot. They tried some to get to the characterizations and the theme was a lot more difficult.
The afternoon classes have been watching a movie about a mythical discovery of the dragons in the 14th century frozen in time to modern era and then pieced together. The afternoon classes wrote 6 things they saw in the movie about the dragons. It was easy for a few of them much more difficult for many of them. Organizing the writing process is probably the main benefit from the Wednesday writing. It also gives me something consistent to grade and enter in the grade book each week.
Thanks to Kelly for highlighting my blog in hers. She also sent some oranges to a niece in San Diego which shows up nicely on her blog. We love those neices!
Sue and I are slowly getting things together at this side. The computer is up and therefore I was able to charge my ipod. It was also nice to get back to my podcasts.We put together a bathroom storage unit with a glass door and two drawers yesterday. It was a Loews kit. Medium in difficulty. They actually sorted out all of the screws and mounted them on a paper scrap with their size. This is a first for kits for me. Getting three sides together and square enough for the drawers to work is a difficult assignment.
This afternoon it has been blustery and getting a little colder too.
Hope you had a great Wednesday.
Pat
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Finally.. Back online
We are off the comcast and I had to buy another DSL modem at Best Buy.. but I am back publishing again.
Since the first of the month, we have been living in our newly remodeled house. We have not been able to use the new square footage much because there are so many storage containers around it that moving in has prevented much of it.
Yesterday pm I spent the evening into night rebuilding for the second time the support for our bed. The king size mattress and box springs was supported by a rather flimsy rail structure that did not interface well with the laminate flooring. It is very slippery and the little pad kept giving away. The first time I ended up on the floor head down as the side rails broke. I repaired the side ledge and bolstered it with a couple of decent screws. Two nights ago it gave way again. This time it didn't go all the way to the floor just somewhat with a gigantic sway in the middle. Last night I decided to take things into my own and designed and built a 2x4 wooden double box support system. It has 2 73 inch 2z4s separated by 4 1/2 inches of 2x4 spreaders.I made two of these and installed them with a horizontal piece between them. It holds the weight of the king sized bed beautifully. I also got to use the 23v battery powered saw and screw drivers that I got last Christmas. The key to the whole thing was to pre drill the holes before driving the 3 inch screws to attach the wood pieces. Total cost for this recovery was 25 dollars.
Today I took a day off to get in touch with the other systems of the house. The contract has been ratified and the retro should be on its way in the end of the April check.. so just in time to pay for taxes.. or almost.
I am still walking every day. I only missed a couple of days to severe rain. I have found a new route that takes me all the way down to Parson's and a gate gets me through to walk the entire East side of Donna avenue. This is only possible of the days that I get up soon enough to walk that extra distance. I sort of feel the difference in the afternoon and evening when its a little harder to stay standing for a long time.
I hope you have all done well in the absence of this blog. I will endeavor to continue this blog as daily as I can.
Love
Pat
Since the first of the month, we have been living in our newly remodeled house. We have not been able to use the new square footage much because there are so many storage containers around it that moving in has prevented much of it.
Yesterday pm I spent the evening into night rebuilding for the second time the support for our bed. The king size mattress and box springs was supported by a rather flimsy rail structure that did not interface well with the laminate flooring. It is very slippery and the little pad kept giving away. The first time I ended up on the floor head down as the side rails broke. I repaired the side ledge and bolstered it with a couple of decent screws. Two nights ago it gave way again. This time it didn't go all the way to the floor just somewhat with a gigantic sway in the middle. Last night I decided to take things into my own and designed and built a 2x4 wooden double box support system. It has 2 73 inch 2z4s separated by 4 1/2 inches of 2x4 spreaders.I made two of these and installed them with a horizontal piece between them. It holds the weight of the king sized bed beautifully. I also got to use the 23v battery powered saw and screw drivers that I got last Christmas. The key to the whole thing was to pre drill the holes before driving the 3 inch screws to attach the wood pieces. Total cost for this recovery was 25 dollars.
Today I took a day off to get in touch with the other systems of the house. The contract has been ratified and the retro should be on its way in the end of the April check.. so just in time to pay for taxes.. or almost.
I am still walking every day. I only missed a couple of days to severe rain. I have found a new route that takes me all the way down to Parson's and a gate gets me through to walk the entire East side of Donna avenue. This is only possible of the days that I get up soon enough to walk that extra distance. I sort of feel the difference in the afternoon and evening when its a little harder to stay standing for a long time.
I hope you have all done well in the absence of this blog. I will endeavor to continue this blog as daily as I can.
Love
Pat
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Goodbye Radio
A family joke.
It must contain one member of the group that does not know the joke, several members of the group that know the joke.
Two penguins leave their homes. One travels north from the south pole and the other travels South from the north pole. When the reach the equate one penguin says to the other " Hello Radio."
Everyone who knows the joke laughs. The person that does not know the joke sits there with a befuddled look on their face. Hello radio?
So in the ultimate form. The joke teller tells the joke again. The usual response is "Whats funny about that?"
Well, nothing is fun about that. So now you are in on the joke. So you get to laugh the next time the joke is told!
WEll this is no joke the computer is being unplugged from its Comcastic connections and loaded into the car to join the world of the Silver Stars..
Love and Goodnight
Pat
It must contain one member of the group that does not know the joke, several members of the group that know the joke.
Two penguins leave their homes. One travels north from the south pole and the other travels South from the north pole. When the reach the equate one penguin says to the other " Hello Radio."
Everyone who knows the joke laughs. The person that does not know the joke sits there with a befuddled look on their face. Hello radio?
So in the ultimate form. The joke teller tells the joke again. The usual response is "Whats funny about that?"
Well, nothing is fun about that. So now you are in on the joke. So you get to laugh the next time the joke is told!
WEll this is no joke the computer is being unplugged from its Comcastic connections and loaded into the car to join the world of the Silver Stars..
Love and Goodnight
Pat
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)