The kid comes in.
He peers over his shyness to a table full of people frantically filling out forms.
His teacher is there, reluctantly telling lies about him.
Everyone smiles and the questions are asked.
What do you want for a fun elective?
You can have that fun elective if you go to summer school and pass and not miss three days.
When?
Every morning from June 10th to July 21st.
When?
It starts at 7:30. Its over at 1:00.
Sure, I will agree to do anything.. just get me out of this room.
Sign here... what am I signing?
Oh there is a translater.. yes its in Spanish.
Do you want to play sports in High School?
Yes, you are on the Jr. High team.
You want keyboarding..yes that is the same as computers.
Does your mom understand her rights?
(In his mind.. what is the principal doing here?)
And...my speech teacher...I just call her speech teacher.
And there is this other guy from the High School.. he says that he is a speech teacher too. Am I going to have speech there too?
I really don't know how to ask that question..
Whoops its over we are out of the room. Its time for the next group to come in.
Thats the way it was going today
:) Pat
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
April 1 and Fools among us
This is a very interesting day at school for the language impaired.
It is not too far from St Pat's day when people can go out and pinch others for not wearing green. The difficult part about this day is to get a prank pulled on another that is significant enough to say.."April Fools!" This is hard when your language is behind to begin with.
My students tried to do the uniform alert.. your zipper's down, your button is unbuttoned, you are wearing your shirt inside out.. again.. after the third one of these it just doesn't fly. They still keep trying.
Today was writing day. Wednesdays are always.. or mostly always writing day in the class. I let them choose from my career photos one career and then write a couple of paragraphs about it. I put up hints regarding the content I wanted in each of their chosen careers. One of the students who is on the A spectrum say the mail lady and called her Nacho Libre. He could not get that out of his head. So.. what does nacho libre do to deliver the mail?
Have a great day!
Pat
It is not too far from St Pat's day when people can go out and pinch others for not wearing green. The difficult part about this day is to get a prank pulled on another that is significant enough to say.."April Fools!" This is hard when your language is behind to begin with.
My students tried to do the uniform alert.. your zipper's down, your button is unbuttoned, you are wearing your shirt inside out.. again.. after the third one of these it just doesn't fly. They still keep trying.
Today was writing day. Wednesdays are always.. or mostly always writing day in the class. I let them choose from my career photos one career and then write a couple of paragraphs about it. I put up hints regarding the content I wanted in each of their chosen careers. One of the students who is on the A spectrum say the mail lady and called her Nacho Libre. He could not get that out of his head. So.. what does nacho libre do to deliver the mail?
Have a great day!
Pat
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Colonoscopy was a bust
Too much stuff to drink and no way to do it.
The old way has been rejected by the FDA as too intrusive on the kidneys. The way Sue was supposed to get to the colon inspection was to drink this gallon of mixed up stuff. It didn't work so the whole thing had to be cancelled.
We went out to IHOP and split a chicken fried steak breakfast. Man it was almost too much for two. This morning I have catching up with the laundry. I put too much in the cold load and and had to stop it and restart it with fewer items in it. The cold load always has to be hung. So that got done this morning. The other project is cleaning out the refrige. It really needed it. We have one of those great fridges that has glass trays that collect the spills and each one of them come out like portable shelving with the angle brackets. I paid extra for that kind of shelf and it is really worth it when you go to cleaning them out. I just redistribute the goods on another shelf and take the glass parts to the sink and scrub them down. In the process I pitch out anything that has an expired date or that looks over the hill.
I know what I have and what I will need when I go the the grocery store at the first of the month.. its coming.. I hope.
I need to pull some weeds. My front yard is looking like the set from the jungle. I pulled weeds from around the new kumquat tree. I hope that it produces some fruit this year. My poor lemon tree needs to be relieved of its fruit burdon so that in a week or two when the blossoms come out it will be ready to give me more for lemon pies and "shooters" for Thanksgiving.
So much to do and so little time. We all live busy lives..
Love
Pat
The old way has been rejected by the FDA as too intrusive on the kidneys. The way Sue was supposed to get to the colon inspection was to drink this gallon of mixed up stuff. It didn't work so the whole thing had to be cancelled.
We went out to IHOP and split a chicken fried steak breakfast. Man it was almost too much for two. This morning I have catching up with the laundry. I put too much in the cold load and and had to stop it and restart it with fewer items in it. The cold load always has to be hung. So that got done this morning. The other project is cleaning out the refrige. It really needed it. We have one of those great fridges that has glass trays that collect the spills and each one of them come out like portable shelving with the angle brackets. I paid extra for that kind of shelf and it is really worth it when you go to cleaning them out. I just redistribute the goods on another shelf and take the glass parts to the sink and scrub them down. In the process I pitch out anything that has an expired date or that looks over the hill.
I know what I have and what I will need when I go the the grocery store at the first of the month.. its coming.. I hope.
I need to pull some weeds. My front yard is looking like the set from the jungle. I pulled weeds from around the new kumquat tree. I hope that it produces some fruit this year. My poor lemon tree needs to be relieved of its fruit burdon so that in a week or two when the blossoms come out it will be ready to give me more for lemon pies and "shooters" for Thanksgiving.
So much to do and so little time. We all live busy lives..
Love
Pat
Friday, March 27, 2009
Its a Rosebowl Afternoon
California used to get a number of new immigrants from the snow country every time the Rose Bowl parade and football game occurred. People would look out the window (or so the story goes) and they would say.. pack your bags Ma were headed to California. If they could see this afternoon they would do the same. It is 74 degrees out and hardly a breath of air. It is beautiful.
This morning I did my usual classes.. the afternoon classes had a minimum day and closed it out before 12:30. At 10:45 I was waiting in the office of my sleep doctor. I am thinking that it is about time for another sleep study. That office said that I am severely over the time line. The doctor gave me the business for not doing the yearly follow ups. The last time I was in was in 2000. I have gone through another machine since that time. He thinks I am ready for another.. each it gets smaller and smaller. The one the next time is about the size of a paperback.
Sue is starting the sequence for a colonoscopy on Saturday. The worst thing that she says is not the procedure itself but rather drinking the stuff before had. This time she has about a gallon to down in 8oz incrments every 15 minutes until is is clear.. joy.. nothing but clear non colored liquids tonight.. I will be with her when she starts at 7:30 Saturday morning.
You just have to take care of yourself and do what needs to be done when you reach 50+
: ) Pat
This morning I did my usual classes.. the afternoon classes had a minimum day and closed it out before 12:30. At 10:45 I was waiting in the office of my sleep doctor. I am thinking that it is about time for another sleep study. That office said that I am severely over the time line. The doctor gave me the business for not doing the yearly follow ups. The last time I was in was in 2000. I have gone through another machine since that time. He thinks I am ready for another.. each it gets smaller and smaller. The one the next time is about the size of a paperback.
Sue is starting the sequence for a colonoscopy on Saturday. The worst thing that she says is not the procedure itself but rather drinking the stuff before had. This time she has about a gallon to down in 8oz incrments every 15 minutes until is is clear.. joy.. nothing but clear non colored liquids tonight.. I will be with her when she starts at 7:30 Saturday morning.
You just have to take care of yourself and do what needs to be done when you reach 50+
: ) Pat
Thursday, March 26, 2009
The Wind came up
Just when we were starting to enjoy spring weather last week, it decided to rain and start to blow.
Today the cold wind blew out and the warm wind from the south replaced it. The students were in a terrible mood. I had to send a student out to OCAR for funky attitude.. this just never happens in my class. She came in aggressively bored.. and then continued to strut her stuff as we were getting everyone to the potty before we could start.
Second period is a natural break for most students in the class. They have too much to do or they don't want to go in front of others.. or be caught in the bathroom.. so everyday time has to be allowed for them to take care of their restroom needs.
Today I was working on space and and where to be when you are walking with someone else. Also we talked about the times that people give you the not so subtle hint that they don't want to walk with you. Or for you to be around them. My autistic students need a lot of practice in doing this right.
At lunch time the wind was really whipping. As I left the cafeteria an fight broke out. The yard guards were doing flying tackles on kids with raised fists whiles others were standing around and watching and then two more singular fights broke out with 25 foot taunts and students running to close the gaps. Our job is to get students back to moving to their classes. As I was helping to facilitate that, a student came up to me and told me that I needed to see his homework.. I did not have the student.. he was just getting me out of the area.. trying to same my life..
A total of 6 students were involved.. probablly gang affilated. Some of the are headed for explusion, some are headed for 5 days of suspension at home.
What a waste. I think that the problem with students is students.. its not parents, its not teachers, or management. We have a lot of students that have no interest in being in school except for the criminal piece. We collect ADA on these students but we are basically wasting our time and money. It is time for sociologists to really look into what can be done for these students to get them to be productive.. what are the links?
Our institutions are crumbling. Our education based on no child left behind is about as crazy as just say no to drugs.
We need to grow up as a society and figure out ways to solve our problems.
soapbox Pat
Today the cold wind blew out and the warm wind from the south replaced it. The students were in a terrible mood. I had to send a student out to OCAR for funky attitude.. this just never happens in my class. She came in aggressively bored.. and then continued to strut her stuff as we were getting everyone to the potty before we could start.
Second period is a natural break for most students in the class. They have too much to do or they don't want to go in front of others.. or be caught in the bathroom.. so everyday time has to be allowed for them to take care of their restroom needs.
Today I was working on space and and where to be when you are walking with someone else. Also we talked about the times that people give you the not so subtle hint that they don't want to walk with you. Or for you to be around them. My autistic students need a lot of practice in doing this right.
At lunch time the wind was really whipping. As I left the cafeteria an fight broke out. The yard guards were doing flying tackles on kids with raised fists whiles others were standing around and watching and then two more singular fights broke out with 25 foot taunts and students running to close the gaps. Our job is to get students back to moving to their classes. As I was helping to facilitate that, a student came up to me and told me that I needed to see his homework.. I did not have the student.. he was just getting me out of the area.. trying to same my life..
A total of 6 students were involved.. probablly gang affilated. Some of the are headed for explusion, some are headed for 5 days of suspension at home.
What a waste. I think that the problem with students is students.. its not parents, its not teachers, or management. We have a lot of students that have no interest in being in school except for the criminal piece. We collect ADA on these students but we are basically wasting our time and money. It is time for sociologists to really look into what can be done for these students to get them to be productive.. what are the links?
Our institutions are crumbling. Our education based on no child left behind is about as crazy as just say no to drugs.
We need to grow up as a society and figure out ways to solve our problems.
soapbox Pat
Monday, March 23, 2009
Working with Occupations
I was teaching me students about occupations from photo cards this morning. The VP in charge of Special ed at Golden Valley, stopped by to do an unannounced work through. She seemed to be very happy about what she saw. The students were engaged and we were working through what do you call the job of .... and using the photos as a prompt to get the labels. Then develop each to add more threads of meaning on each. The VP wrote a nice response and pased it to me on the way out the door.
The toughest job to remember.. conductor. Some students came close.. engineer. So distinctions needed to me made. The nice part about having a class is the we can review with a short turn around time what they learned today. Its all good.
Last night I made a chinnese chicken. A big pot of boiling water is made with room for the chicken to take a splash. When the water boils up again and cooks for about 4 minutes, then the whole pot with the chicken and its accompanied water is set off the stove for an hour. It can me taken off the bone and the juices remain in the chicken rather than being lost to the pot in the broth.
So tonight.. its chicken enchiladas. I just need to go over and pick up some corn totillas at the grocery store.
: ) Pat
The toughest job to remember.. conductor. Some students came close.. engineer. So distinctions needed to me made. The nice part about having a class is the we can review with a short turn around time what they learned today. Its all good.
Last night I made a chinnese chicken. A big pot of boiling water is made with room for the chicken to take a splash. When the water boils up again and cooks for about 4 minutes, then the whole pot with the chicken and its accompanied water is set off the stove for an hour. It can me taken off the bone and the juices remain in the chicken rather than being lost to the pot in the broth.
So tonight.. its chicken enchiladas. I just need to go over and pick up some corn totillas at the grocery store.
: ) Pat
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Keeping a Printer alive
I have been working on some photos from our cruise from LA to the Mexican Rivera. Its been both fun and exasperating. My epson 2200 is a great printer.. but.. it takes 8 cartridges and there is always one that seems to be going out.
The benifits of a very large format printer is that it makes more than usual sized prints. 13 inch by 19 inch are really "hang them on the wall" kind of prints. Dad as the lowest end of the size. He loves it because there are only two cartridges and they all seem to hold more ink. He gives up some of the delicate colors..but to him it really doesn't matter. There are some very nice photos that he has made with his printer. The real key is the eye of the photographer and the printer is mostly secondary. For most family portraits, the larger size is really not appropriate. It takes a lot of wall space to be firing big stuff to be hung. There are a few nice photos that should qualify for the "hang them on your wall" category. I think the corn lady is one of them. I like the photos of the PV cathedral and the carnival ship coming in.
Sometimes this photography stuff has to be looked upon similar to fly fishing. If you fish to eat, you are joking yourself about the relative cost. It would be a whole lot cheaper to buy your fish in the grocery store than to buy all the equipment needed to catch fish. Photogaphy is the same thing. To think that you can do it on the cheap.. you have got to be kidding yourself. Digital photography has accomplished a major milestone. We are pinned to our computers to do the dark room stuff rather than in a poorly heated isolated place than has to have running water and a drain. Many of my friends don't even print their photos anymore. Costco and Walgreens are their photo lab. That is okay as long as they can keep the subject in the frame. Some of my small photos they have chopped the back end off the ship as it was heading into harbor. Something that I would not accept if I was doing my own printing.
The 2200 has expensive cartridges.. and the newer one looks like they are going to charge even more for their cartridges. The new one has even a cartridge for orange. I neededa new cartridge for the light magenta color. Staples is the only place in town that carries this cartrige. The going rate is 18 dollars for each color. Their are 8 colors.. I have won some bids on Ebay for complete sets. I will be waiting for them to arrive in case another color goes down.
Hope you had a great weekend.
Love
Pat
The benifits of a very large format printer is that it makes more than usual sized prints. 13 inch by 19 inch are really "hang them on the wall" kind of prints. Dad as the lowest end of the size. He loves it because there are only two cartridges and they all seem to hold more ink. He gives up some of the delicate colors..but to him it really doesn't matter. There are some very nice photos that he has made with his printer. The real key is the eye of the photographer and the printer is mostly secondary. For most family portraits, the larger size is really not appropriate. It takes a lot of wall space to be firing big stuff to be hung. There are a few nice photos that should qualify for the "hang them on your wall" category. I think the corn lady is one of them. I like the photos of the PV cathedral and the carnival ship coming in.
Sometimes this photography stuff has to be looked upon similar to fly fishing. If you fish to eat, you are joking yourself about the relative cost. It would be a whole lot cheaper to buy your fish in the grocery store than to buy all the equipment needed to catch fish. Photogaphy is the same thing. To think that you can do it on the cheap.. you have got to be kidding yourself. Digital photography has accomplished a major milestone. We are pinned to our computers to do the dark room stuff rather than in a poorly heated isolated place than has to have running water and a drain. Many of my friends don't even print their photos anymore. Costco and Walgreens are their photo lab. That is okay as long as they can keep the subject in the frame. Some of my small photos they have chopped the back end off the ship as it was heading into harbor. Something that I would not accept if I was doing my own printing.
The 2200 has expensive cartridges.. and the newer one looks like they are going to charge even more for their cartridges. The new one has even a cartridge for orange. I neededa new cartridge for the light magenta color. Staples is the only place in town that carries this cartrige. The going rate is 18 dollars for each color. Their are 8 colors.. I have won some bids on Ebay for complete sets. I will be waiting for them to arrive in case another color goes down.
Hope you had a great weekend.
Love
Pat
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