Friday notes

Somehow I made it through the week with the coughing and the aches and the restless nights. The kids were understanding. There were meetings after school and one night of PTA meeting. What started as a head cold has moved lower, and I feel it in my chest... it always follows that pattern: head, throat, chest, stomach, intestine, and then it's gone. Like the virus is  working it's way out. Literally.

Friday. I'd celebrate if I hadn't brought the week's planning home with me. After making copies, holding an IEP meeting, completing the paperwork on it,  then straightening up my classroom, I packed up two tote bags with the books I'd need to plan for next week's classes. I couldn't stay in the building past 5:00 today.

Two things I found exciting happened this week, well, actually three, but I can only talk about two of them.

First, an author of a book I'd been reading with my students, Marjorie Cowley, responded to my email this week, and gave me permission to make paper copies of chapters from her book until I could get enough books (I need about 8) for a small reading group (well, technically, a small group should be no more than 6). The book is called "Dar and the Spear-Thrower."

I've been using the book to teach reading comprehension skills, and have pulled their spelling words from selected chapters. I've written lesson plans for each chapter, complete with assessment questions, and have kept them in a notebook so I could do the same next year.

I checked out her website, and guess what? She has a teacher's guide with lesson plans already written up for all 22 chapters! The main difference between her lesson plans and mine is that hers are directed to a higher reading level (6th grade) than I'm teaching. I may go back and visit her site and see if there are any ideas I can adapt for my reading group.

Second, I found out yesterday that the VBS training party we're planning for our church for the 8th of April is going to be attended by at least 34 VBS volunteers from five area churches. What is so interesting (for me) about this piece of information is that I had not even expected more than ten people to sign up for it. What little faith I had! With so many in attendance, we are sure to have a VBS event that excites those who are planning for their own churches. Including our own volunteers. For those who are planning or involved in their church's VBS, and are curious about which program I'm referring to, it's Group's Fiesta VBS. To learn more about it, click on the link provided.

I can't believe that I'm this involved in planning vacation Bible school in March when school isn't even near it's last week. Our VBS is scheduled for mid-July. Usually, I start thinking and planning for VBS after school is out. After I get a week or two off. After I start to feel like I'm getting a summer vacation for myself.

If it wasn't for the training party, I wouldn't be thinking about it this week. I guess that's what training parties are for. 

Little Mother

and so one of my more perceptive and sensitive students (a 4th grader) says to me today, "Are you sick Mrs. Gilmore?"

"Yes, actually, J., I am sick."

She held her eyes on mine, and with all the firmness of what could only be her mother's voice, she said, "Well, then, you need to get yourself home and go right to bed!"

I smiled. "Yes, I think that is what I should do." I grabbed a tissue. "But, you know, it's a cold, and I can't go home because I have a cold. This could last two weeks easily. I'll try not to cough on you."

Then we got down to the writing assignment, and for thirty minutes, I didn't feel so bad.

Once I walked into my home, though, it seemed the proximity of warmth and comfort began to work against me, and I felt an overwhelming urge to go to bed at 5:45 p.m. Which I did, but the headache kept me awake even though I had taken some hydrocodone for the cough.

Well, now it is really bedtime for me and I'm gone once more. Thank you all for your well wishes. It'll just have to work its way out of my system.

Crud continues.

I've slept away six hours of this day. Waking up I felt no better. I didn't even go to church because of the coughing and the diarrhea. It's been a miserable day. The headache is returning. I just took some Tylenol Nightime medicine. I was able to plan for Monday's classes. I will tackle the rest tomorrow. I'm going to bed. Now. G'nite. 

Now I've got the bug.

Thank you, Robin and Nancy for responding to the last entry.... and the address Robin left in the comments brought me straight to their quite extravagant website! thank yoiu Robin! It has all the bells and whistles of blogging, including music (choices the visitor can select), an ongoing slideshow, and many, many pictures. If you visit Mike and Mike, be prepared for a brief downloading time.

I'm coming down with the bug that everyone before me has had. It was bound to happen. I'm surprised it happened so late in the school year. I actually made it through the entire fall and winter without a single day of illness. Thought I was going to get through the entire school year, but it caught up with me this week, during the math workshop I attended in Greensboro. Coughing, scratchy, sore throat, head-ache. Been fighting it, though, with all the home remedies and the store bought ones. NyQuil is my best friend at bed-time, and Tylenol helped through today. Saturday got here just in time to let me sleep for half the day.

So, perhaps by Monday I will be getting over it. I'll come back later to make a more reflective entry. I've been thinking about Natalie, Interface. Haven't heard from her in awhile. Her father was dying a couple of weeks ago, from polio and Alzheimer's, I think. She had to travel far to see him, and I don't know if she got to see him before he died. She wrote a little piece about her dad back on March 9th, and it was enough for me to want to know more about him. I hope she is okay, and look forward to her return to journaling.

I discovered a new journaler in J-land. New to me. I think that most of the visitors I get here will like her, too. I found her quite serendipitously this week when I visited her first journal, Peaches (she is from Georgia, naturally), and then from there found a link to her most recent journal, and that is the one that intrigues me the most. She has begun a personal journey with Christ, and her journal is a reflection of this turn in her life. I am so looking forward to reading her entries there. If you haven't read Tara's writings, go by and you will see. She has something very important to say to the world.

Looking for Blogger Mike

I'm trying to find the blog of a former AOL Journaler... his name is Mike, and his friend's name is Mike.

Mike (the first one) is an artist. I visited his journal for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and unfortunately, he was in the midst of changing blogger servers. I left several comments regarding his beautiful paintings... absolutely intense colors, like stained glass windows. I added him to my favorites so I could easily link to his website any time, and a few days later he emailed me to let me know he appreciated that I had commented in his journal, but he was changing to a new blog address. He sent the address in the email.

However, when I clicked on the address, I was taken to the blog server, not to his website, and it looked like I had to register to become a member.

I began to wonder if he had inadvertently sent the wrong address. I really would like to find his new website.

If anyone out there knows of which Mike I am speaking, and I think there is someone I know. I can't remember who, but I found his link in someone's blog. So one of my J-land friends, maybe it was you... maybe you visited him, and left a comment there at his journal too. I saw a familiar name there in the comments, but cannot remember.

I figure if you remember his beautiful artwork, you'll know who I'm talking about. His journal address with aol had been http://journals.aol.com/mlskysprto/TheLifeofaGayVisualArtist/

but the journal no longer exists. Do you remember him? Do you know his new address? Or Mike, if you read this, can you email me and let me know where you are once more? Or leave a comment link?

I want to keep in touch with this artist... he's quite talented, innovative, original. I think he lives in New York.

Dancing with the Lord

After I read Gwynn's entry, about her struggle to get hold of the Lord's hand, I was reminded of my own struggle to let go of His hand. It seems an odd thing to want to do, but I wanted to try to do His work without feeling like He was always carrying my weight, like the weight of the cross. I wanted my hands to be His hands. I was failing miserably at being a servant of Christ. When would I ever be able to stand on my own two feet and work for Him? When would I help bear the cross like Simeon?

In 2003, I asked that question. The tune of an already well-loved hymn called "Lord of the Dance," by Sydney Carter (1963) kept playing in my head, and I didn't want it to go away.

If you know the hymn, then the following song makes musical sense (somewhat), otherwise it will read like a poem. I wrote it the Monday after Easter Sunday, 2003. The first and last verse is the chorus from "Lord of the Dance." Those were the words that inspired my version of the song.

Dancing with the Lord

“Dance, then, wherever you may be.

I am the Lord of the Dance said he.

And I’ll lead you on, wherever you may be,

And I’ll lead you on in the dance, said he.”

 

He carried me when I was a child.

I felt secure in his arms, all the while

I never thought I could dance on my own.

Close to his heart, I never felt alone.

 

One day I realized that my life was all wrong.

He sat me down, then he sang me his song.

Words of love assured he had forgiven me,

Then with a final embrace he said, “Come dance with me!”

 

I trembled with fear, I looked into his eyes.

“I don’t know how to dance!” this frightened girl replied.

“I’ve never even walked, you’ve carried me along.”

“Come dance with me,” he urged with his song.

 

The scars on his hands were rough against my skin.

My heart began to open, I felt his Light come in.

I realized he’d chosen me; it was time for me to stand.

“Come dance with me!” sang the Lord of the Dance.

 

I finally understood he had some work for me to do.

He said “If you will live in me, then I will live in you.

You have a gift to give the world, the giving sets you free.”

And then he explained, “Your dance begins with me.”

 

My heart filled with joy, I knew the time had come

To dance with the Lord, with Jesus Christ, the Son.

I took my first step and all my fears went away.

“I am dancing with the Lord of the Dance today!”

 

"Dance, then, wherever you may be.

I am the Lord of the Dance said he.

And I’ll lead you on, wherever you may be,

And I’ll lead you on in the dance, said he.”

 

Bea Gilmore, April 2003

 

The invitation to dance with the Lord is extended to all! That is the life-changing point of the song: He invites each one of us to "dance" with Him! Not everyone pays attention when He asks, though. Not everyone is ready to follow Him. He promises to lead us, so don't be afraid. All one has to do is accept the invitation and follow His lead. Dance then, wherever you may be...

1st Day of Consortium Math Workshop

The first day of the math workshop, The Best Current Strategies for Teaching Math: Computation, sponsored by the Piedmont Triad Education Consortium of North Carolina, was fun and practical. About 150 teachers from all grade levels were in attendance today at the Greensoboro Coliseum Pavillion Center, where Don Fraser, a teacher, speaker, and consultant from Toronto entertained, educated, and generally impressed the heck out of us all with his wit and humor as he demonstrated different ways to teach traditional computational skills.

He introduced ideas he had created himself during his years as a teacher, and borrowed others' ideas, expanding upon them, showing us how we can use them in novel ways. Other ways to add and subtract that might confuse one person but seem crystal clear to another certainly reminded me that not everyone approaches a math problem the same way. He demonstrated identifying place value with a card game, how to use your fingers to multiply sixes and sevens (similar to the trick of doing nines). I had been looking for a finger trick for sixes and sevens... can't wait to teach it to my kids.

He gave us a 50-page packet of strategies that we can copy and use in our classrooms to teach any kind of computations, including games and activities that give the kids relevant practice of finding range, median, mean, and mode, and other number games, finding equivalent fractions, looking for number pattern, and much more.

I'm looking forward to the one he's presenting tomorrow which focuses on Problem Solving. I'm going to be a better math teacher, and I'm going to try to adopt his affable sense of humor. I'd like my kids to laugh as they learn like we did today.

Cocoon update!

Cocoon Update: the Luna or Polyphemus Moth is about to emerge from the cocoon I've been keeping since last October.

Last week, when we had one of those very warm spring like days, I had checked on the cocoon, which I had kept in a cool dark place in the garage ever since last fall. My concern was that the warming temperatures would signal to the moth inside that it was time to free itself of the papery prison. It was quite active and responded immediately to my touch with lots of leg movement.

I did a little bit of research once more and found that it isn't just the temperature, but also the length of daylight that signals the moth's time to emerge. Maybe I could coax it to stay inside for another week or two? If it comes out now, I doubt there will be any mates flying around looking for it. Since it will only live about a week, it would be a shame to let the moth out now with no way of fulfilling its final purpose!

I also found out that they are likely to come out in mid-morning. I wanted somehow to time it's coming out to happen in the classroom of the students who found it. Since it's still a bit too cold for moths to fly and mate this week, I've been keeping the moth dark and cold so it'll still think it's winter, which today it really felt like it was.

An expert on Giant Silkworm Moths in North Carolina, Ms. Saylor, responded to my email request for more information on what to do about it being attached to the wall of a little wooden cage. I knew that if it came out in the little cage, it would never be able to fully expand its wings, and it would never be able to fly if that happened. Yet, I was afraid to remove it, afraid I would crush it if I tried to separate it from the wall. Ms. Saylor assured me that I could pry the cocoon carefully from the wall without crushing the insect inside. So I did, and it came off easily. Then I took a picture of it.

She also suggested I somehow attach it to a stick and place it in an aquarium. It needs a stick to crawl up so it can hang upside down and let its wings unfold. She said do not use tape because the moth could get stuck on the tape.

I thought about super glue, rubber cement, Elmer's glue, and hot glue. The chemicals in the super glue and rubber cement might be harmful, and the Elmer's glue would take too long to dry. The hot glue would be too hot. Didn't want to burn the little critter.

But if I was careful, I could let the hot glue cool off a bit before I applied it to the stick, and made sure the moth inside was upside down and not touching the inside surface of the cocoon when I attached it to the warm glue. That's what I did, and the cocoon was attached neatly to the stick. I placed the stick in a giant sized glass cookie jar until I can get it to school where an aquarium waits for it.

I felt the moth squirm inside after all the handling in my warm house, but set it back out in the garage, forcing it into its dormant, or whatever you call that, state before it chews its way out.

At least I know it's still alive, and in another week or so, I can take it to school for a "coming out" party! The kids will be so excited...

but I'm going to be the most excited! My first Giant Silkworm Moth! I've never witnessed the entire cocoon cycle of a moth before. I'll keep posting and taking pictures as the event happens.

Jackie, over at Waiting to Exhale, has just experienced the loss of someone very special to her.  He died suddenly and unexpectedly. Send her your prayers and love if you know her, and if you don't, she is truly a loving and lively lady who needs some Jland comfort and support. As a regular visitor of her journal, I am feeling some of the shock myself.

It's been a good Lord's Day today. I have lots to write about, but lesson plans call to me... and it's already evening. I must take care of that first before I can do the journaling bit. I'm going to a math/problem solving workshop for two days this week, which means I will also be writing up substitute plans. Friday will be a Professional Day, which means no students, and a day to get reorganized as we go into our last two months of school.

I'll try to get back later with a detailed entry. I've been reading journals this weekend. Lots happening with spring coming on. Have you ever gone back to read your first entries over again? I did that yesterday. If you haven't done that yet, I suggest you take the time to meander through your past, select out some entries you wrote, go back there. It's quite interesting what you will learn about yourself, and what you will remember that you've already forgotten.

Bible Study: Warning, Scripture quoted here!

If you don't like to read someone's Bible study reflections, you might want to skip this entry. But if you do, come on in!

After the pond pictures, I cooked a breakfast of scrambled eggs and English Muffins, orange juice, and tea for me, coffee for Steve.

Then I checked my email, read a few blogs, left a comment or two. After a shower, I quickly dressed, then drove to our church for a few hours of Bible Study.

The topic was "Children of the Bible," sponsored by the UMCW (United Methodist Church Women). Our pastor, Alan, presented several of the stories from the book, leading us through related scripture, helping us to gain a new understanding.

It amazes me that every time I attend a weekend Bible Study, or a six-month long workshop, or anything in between, I learn something new, something I hadn't heard before.

What is most interesting is that I hear the familiar stories over and over again, but each time it connects with me in a new way.  I see it from a different point of view, I understand it in a deeper way. I find new meaning.

For instance, and those of you who study the Bible will appreciate this I think, one of the children we looked at was the story of Cain and Abel (Gen 4:1-8).

We understood Cain's anger against God, and that he killed his brother because God did not accept his fruits of the earth as an offering, yet God accepted Abel's blood offering from the best of the flock. But we wondered, why did God not accept Cain's offering, but did accept Abel's?

Our pastor told us to go back to a previous passage (Gen 3:17,18). There we learned that God had cursed the ground after Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. As a punishment, God cursed the ground, and told them that they would have to toil at the earth, and eat the plants of the field.

God cursed the ground, and Cain toiled in that ground. He brought his offering of fruits from the land that God cursed.

God had chosen Abel (Abel took care of the flocks), and Cain worked the soil. It seems that God is saying "Blood sacrifices are required for my blessing." Abel was born first, and grew to tend the flocks. Cain toiled in the fields. Apparently, Abel chose what God wanted him to do. God doesn't sound like a very nice person here. Do what I say, or you are out of the circle! Make me happy, or you will never be (my thoughts).

The point our teacher was trying to make was that throughout the stories in the Bible, God chooses, or selects, one person over another, one group of people over another. Here, Abel was first born of Adam and Eve, and Cain killed him in a rage. All of the children that would have descended from Abel died that day, too. Cain had stolen much more than one man's life. He had stolen entire generations of Abel's future. I had never thought about it that way before!

I can't begin to relate the other stories, it would take far too long.... after all, it took four hours to cover five stories today.

Reading and rereading the stories of the people whose lives are recorded in the Bible is one way to find out who God is! Certainly, we can find out who He is from our own experiences, and the Bible is filled with stories of people's experiences with the Lord.

And the other thing I relearned today... that despite the fact that down through the ages, God, the God of the Jews, repeated over and over again His selective pattern (remember, He chose Noah, and Abraham. He chose Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, Solomon... He told Noah, take your family and the animals, leave the rest behind. He made a covenant with Abraham's descendants. Moses was called to bring his people out of Egypt, thousands of them freed from slavery), the selection of people ended with Jesus.

God Himself came down to live among us, and by giving His life, all people became inheritors of the blessings of God. God had accepted Abel's blood sacrifice, and then, after thousands of years, He became the final sacrifice. Through Jesus, all are accepted as inheritors of God's kingdom.

Not just those who go to church, not just those who claim to be Christians, in fact. There are many people whose faith is strong in the Lord, but don't belong to a church. One of the stories we looked at is told in two Gospels (Matt15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30). This is the story of the woman who asked Jesus to heal her daughter. She was not a Jew, and the disciples wanted her to go away, and Jesus told her "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel," and "First let the children eat all they want, for it is not right to take their bread and toss it to their dogs." When the woman replied, "But even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs," Jesus accepted her faith and healed her daughter.

This tells me that even the crumbs left behind for the dogs are spiritual nourishment, life-sustaining, blessings. Even those who act like they don't believe can show the littlest of faith and reap the same rewards as the ones dining sumptuously at the Lord's table!! No less... as much as!

What kind of promise is this? The most magnificent promise ever made. One that isn't selective, one that includes everyone. That's the God I believe in. That's my Lord!!

I'm sure that I haven't told this in the correct theologic manner with all the Biblical references, but you know, sometimes you got to read it for yourself.  I didn't cover everything we talked about today.

I just wanted to write about what I discovered again, and for the first time. Today. 

Today was a good day to read and reflect on Scripture.

Revisiting the Pond: The Era of the Koi Pond Ends?

Just a quick entry before I go to prepare my Sunday School lesson for tomorrow.

I woke up with the sun, even though today would have been a great Saturday morning to sleep in. The first thing I did was put on some shoes, grabbed the digital camera, and stepped out the front door to see what kind of early sunlight photos I could get from the pond (#5-7).

Steve confessed this week that he's thinking of letting the koi pond go. After all these years, possibly fifteen of them, he is ready to call it quits, and fill it in with dirt. Reclaim the yard.

I know why.

It's the maintenance required to keep it up. There are daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal maintenance jobs to make sure the koi have a healthy environment, a safe environment (free of winged predators). We can't go anywhere for more than a few days for fear that something can break down in the filtering/ pump process. It wouldn't take very long for the fish to do die if anything along the way of water maintenance were to break down. No one but my husband knows what to do and how to fix it.

The little square-like pond you see in the photo above is all that's left of what used to be a pond system three times larger. He buried two thirds of it last fall. I cried after he had shoveled in the last shovelful of dirt, sensing the great void that was left behind (#8-11). Even after the new grass grew back over the site of the pond, the shape of the ghost-pond remains, like a scar (photo#12).

The last photo in the series above shows how the koi pond looked in all its fine natural beauty two years ago.

And now he's talking about letting this remnant return to its natural state: a yard of grass. He compares the benefits: less yard work, easier to mow.

I can't talk him out of it. I wouldn't be able to maintain the pond myself if he became physically disabled or worse.

We both want to step away from the homeplace and travel one day soon, and cannot do so with the pond. At least we can take our two dogs with us on the road. But who can take care of a pond? Our friends and neighbors have offered, but we know the reality is that if something big happened, Steve would have to be here. He's the only one who knows what is hooked up to what, what needs to be running and how it looks and sounds when it is running correctly, how to dismantle the filter and clean it out, etc, etc.

So, as I hear him speak words of letting go, and as problems increase with the pond, and his patience and desire to keep it wane, I prepare myself for the end of an era. The era of our koi pond.

I think that is why I was outside this morning snapping more pictures. I don't know when he'll do it. This year, next year? I might come home one day, and he'll be standing in the empty hole shovelling in dirt. I know there will be great sadness, because he has loved the gifts of the pond even more than I. I know this because he has spent thousands of hours working on it, in it, around it, and sitting on the deck and falling asleep in the air chair.

I observed it, he built it. I took pictures of it, he maintained it. I told him what a fine pond he had made for us, but he had to figure out how to fix the pumps when they broke down, or what was causing the fish to die, or what caused the imbalance in pH and fix it. We both appreciated it, but he did all the work. God bless him!

Over the years, he has solved most of the pond's problems, lost sleep over it, spent lots of bucks on it, and now he's looking at downsizing. It's a great deal of physical labor, and he's not thirty years any longer!

Don't worry about the Koi, though. We'll make sure they find a good home. We have some neighbors who have real, natural ponds, and we can ask them if they would like our fish. We only have about thirty fish left, if that many. It shouldn't be too hard to find them a home.

Unless you would like them! And if you don't live too far away. Travel can stress them out terribly!

Blog Six-Pack Picks

Joe, Journals editor here at AOL Journals, has started a new way for us to find new journals. He asked us to name six blogs we like, dislike, whatever. I could easily have named ten or twenty, but was limited to six. My apologies to those of you who I regularly visit but did not put here. When he does it again, I am sure to add another six, different from these. My choices include those I find to be educational as well as personal. Keep in mind, these are not all the journals I enjoy reading, and will recommend others at the next go round of Blog Six Pack Picks.

http://journals.aol.com/daddyleer/CaregivinglyYours/ Patrick. I find his observations on living with MS to be objective and humorous, sometimes biting, sometimes tickling. His entries are thoughtful, educating the rest of us on what it's like to live in this society and deal with all the trials and tribulations of his beloved wife's illness.

http://outmavarin.blogspot.com/ Karen. Another writer who is soon going to be on the market. A sample of her first novel is available online. Visit her site to find out all the details. She is witty, a humorist, a fantasy expert, and a teacher at heart.

http://journals.aol.com/lurkynat/Interface/ Natalie. Another teacher at heart, Natalie observes the world, and asks us to think about what's going on around us. She always ends her entries with a thoughtful question. She loves interacting with Journalers. Her father recently passed away after suffering from Alzheimer's for a long time.

The following journalers are teachers professionally. I only recently met them, and we keep in touch on a regular basis. If you want to read what teachers do and think when they are not in the classroom, stop by their web sites. I love hearing from them and visiting them.

http://journals.aol.com/INAFRNZ247/Reflections/ Michelle, she recently lost her Nana to Alzheimer's.

http://journals.aol.com/hillareeday/Serendipity/ Angie, her journal is kind of like mine. Some entries are about school, and some are about her family. Others are just for fun in response to assignments.

http://journals.aol.com/sunnyside46/MidlifeMusings Marti, she tells the greatest porch stories!

Photo Shoot Entry: Pets at Play

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Get a shot of your pets at play. A new shot is good, or if you have an older shot (that you haven't already used for an earlier photo shoot), that's good too. Humans can be in the picture, but it can also be of your pet (or pets) by themselves. The important thing is to catch them at play.

I'm offering a few pictures of my pets at the end of the day, playing with their favorite toys. Misty's is the big plastic ball I bought for $3 at Wal-Mart last summer. She has basketballs, tennis balls, balls with treats in them, squeaky balls and fluffy balls. This one is so big she can't sink her teeth into it. She loves for me to throw it so she can leap after it, bark at it, and knock it around. She also dribbles a ball, somewhat. Couldn't get that shot.

Max prefers anything but the balls. He hasn't figured them out... he wants something he can catch and hold onto. Whereas Misty loves the chase, Max is in for the catch. If he hasn't got the toy in his mouth when he goes for it, he will turn and walk away from it, so no rolling toys for him. The triangular pyramid is perfect for Max. He loves for me throw it high, and he leaps into the air, sometimes flipping 180d to catch it. Then he teases me with it, begging for me, with ascending growls, to dare to take it from him. I always oblige, pretending to pull it from his mouth, but he lets it go so I can throw it again. No tug of war... just catch it, pretend growl, gives it back to me so I can repeat the play.

Dogs are easy to please. A few toys, two meals a day, a yard to run around in, a couch to sleep on, and they are pretty much happy. Well, let's not forget the attention of their "parents." That's what they really live for.

Isn't it?

Go by John's site to leave a link to your pet at play entry!

Dictionary Dance is a Go!

Thank you to all who left comments and sent me emails with suggestions for a name for my activity. It was hard to make a choice, but I decided on Angie's suggestion, Dictionary Dance, because I could see me coming up with a song and dance to go with the lesson. I haven't come up with anything yet, but I can see me coming up with one! Especially song lyrics. Maybe something with a rap ring to it (lots of kids around here like the rap sound. I don't, but if they like it, I'll work with it.)

Again, thank you Karen, Jackie, Nancy, and Angie (hillareeday)!

I'm saving all the other names for naming future games.

 

The Moth Awakens!

I made an entry back in October about a green caterpillar found by a couple of 2nd graders  near the playground.

Since the weather was so spring-like today, I had to check on the cocoon to see if it was considering emerging. Or if it was dead. From the outside, it appeared dead. It is covered by an old dried oak leaf.

Looking at it gave me no answers, so I opened the little cage door, and reached my finger in to touch it to see if I could feel anything.

Hardness. I was so disappointed. I thought that if it were still alive, it would be supple, and soft.

My touch must have stimulated it. All of a sudden, I felt a burst of activity through the hard silken shell.

Concern that it would emerge before morning arose... I want the kids to watch this!

Scratching sounds, like its legs and mouth parts were working double time against its prison-like shell, softly cut the silence of my observation.

I don't know what to do... should I put it in the refrigerator as though it was having another cold winter night, to send it back to an inactive state? Or will that kill it? I don't know.

We're so close to emergence, and I want it to wait until morning when the 2nd graders can be witness to it. Then we can find out once and for all if it is a Luna or a Polyphemus Giant Silk Moth.

Say hello to a JL friend

Penny, over at From Here to There, has taken a fall, and been unable to get about for the last few days without help. I hope she doesn't mind my telling you this, but if you can take a moment to stop over at her place and let her know you're thinking of her, I'm sure she'd appreciate it. She's a giver. She has given much love to many people, and provided a family and a home to many more. Say a prayer for her, too. I hope she'll be back to writing again soon. I miss her journal entries, and her lovely graphics! Get well, Penny.

Sunday Dinner on the Stove

I'm making Country Style steak for Sunday dinner today. One of Steve's favorites. Other favorite is fried chicken. We're having mashed potatoes and pinto beans on the side, with peaches for dessert.

Y'all come!

Good News in Patrick's journal

If you haven't visited Patrick's journal, today is a day worth celebrating at his home. Go and see why! Click the link above or the link below to get there.

He and his wife are new owners of a new wheelchair accessible van... it is an amazing work of technology that they are pleased to tell the world about. The pictures tell the story. Don't forget, while you are there, to read his previous entries leading up to the purchase.

I am so happy for them! Their lives will never be the same. God bless them both!

http://journals.aol.com/daddyleer/CaregivinglyYours/entries/730

I just finished making an activity for my students to help them practice using the guide words in a dictionary to find a word they might have to look up. I need a catchy name for the activity.

Here's how it works:

The kids work in pairs.

Each pair will be given two word cards, representing the guide words at the top of dictionary page. I copied the words from an actual dictionary so if they look it up, they will see that these are really the guide words in the dictionaries in my classroom.

Each pair will also receive a little baggie of smaller word cards. Some of these words will fall between the guide words, and others will not. The students will have to carefully look at the spelling of each word to determine if it falls between the guide words or not, and then put them in alphabetical order.

When they have completed putting the word cards in their proper positioning, they are to copy the words that fit between the guide words on their paper.

Then they rotate to do the next pair of words, until all six pairs are completed.

My students sometimes have trouble using guide words because they get their middle alphabet letters out of order.

Anyway, I've cut up all my cards. They are all laminated. The little cards are in the baggies. All the words cards are neatly packed away in an old plastic Swiffer container (rinsed and dried, all clean). It's green, and I covered the label with dark green construction paper. It looks very nice and presentable.  The kids will think they are playing a game. I hope.

I want to write a catchy phrase or name for the activity, but it's getting late, and I'm tired and can't think. They are fifth graders, but it can be used with the fourth graders as well.

Some of you are really great with naming things. Think about the activity, and what it's for, and leave a comment with your name suggestion. I need it by Monday morning. I'm taking it to school by then.

Karen? Nat? Robin? Penny? Patrick? David? Jackie? Becky? Jackie? Nancy? Lori? Hillaree? CyndyG? Gayla? Michelle? Marti? Sugarsweet? Cathy? Betty? Donna? Pat? Patrick? Anybody? Y'all have any ideas to help me out? Thank you for helping!

Weekend Assignment #102: Life Out There?

I love reading science fiction, but I don't think there is life (like us) out there. That is, not anywhere within our ability to communicate, not in any imaginable time of the near future... say even three hundred years from now... unless someone does indeed develop warp speed and find a wormhole that really can take them to another part of our "folded" universe, and back again ...

I think there may possibly be other life in other galaxies, or even in our own, but in another solar system... we know enough about our own solar system regarding our needs as human ( and the needs of the other creatures here), and we understand why our planet has life, and Venus and Mars and the others do not (like ours).

I believe in the story of Creation. I know many consider it myth like all other creation stories, but I believe that the Big Bang theory and the Creation story share a common element. The earth and the planets, the sun, the moon, and the stars (the universe) came about as a result of a cataclysmic event: in one telling, worlds collide, and in the other a Master Creator speaks it all into existence. We cannot begin to comprehend the Great Beginning with our limited human brains, as superior as they seem to be on this planet. We try to explain it in scientific terms, using scientific observations and reasoning, but in the end, we don't know for sure what happened. A few great and interesting theories, but nothing proven.

I believe that God created the heavens and the earth, and even if the story sounds mythical and metaphorical, there is truth in the telling of it, a truth that we can understand and accept, even as we learn about scientific matters. The truth is that what we call our home was made for us, and we were made to take care of it, and to take care of all the animal and plant life living on it. We have been charged with that responsibility right from the very beginning  when Adam and Eve were given dominion over all living things, and again when Noah was told to build the ark and save the animals two by two.

This was written in response to John's weekend assignment.

My favorite fictional alien creature: Yoda. At any age, Yoda.

2nd runner up would be Chewbacca.

Third, Worf.

"Weekend Assignment #102: Do you honestly think there is life out there in the universe? And if so, what kind of life do you think it is?

Extra Credit: Name your favorite (fictional) alien creature."

"Your turn: Share whether you think there's life out there -- big or small, smart of dumb or anywhere in between. Write it up in your blog or journal and then come back here and leave a link. Let's get cosmic, people!"  John

 

What is in my bookshelf?

This is in response to John's "Your Monday Photo Assignment: Your Bookshelf" So, what are you reading? I want the visual evidence:

"Show us what's in your bookshelf right now. That's right, right this very second!  ... Take a snap, upload it to your blog or journal, and then come back here to leave a link. Let's see what you're reading... or at least wish to imply you read. Hey, that's okay, too. " John Scalzi

Well, here's my entry.  I'm having to use the little photo window once again because I tried the "Add pictures from Hometown" feature, but when I went to add the pictures here, I came to a sudden halt. I'll try to work it out later. I did upload four photos into a folder I made here at the journals. I clicked on the folder to view the contents, but nothing showed up. Maybe I'm supposed to not put them in a folder first? Anyway, I'll find out. For now, bear with the little pictures. If you click on view larger, you may be able to see titles... might something you have read as well.

Do you think I like to read?

My husband thinks if I stop buying bookshelves, I won't buy anymore books to fill them. He is so funny sometimes.

Show me your bookshelves!

Weekend Assignment 101: Talents

Weekend Assignment #101: Name a talent that you don't have that you wish you did. This can also include talents you have a little bit of, but wish you had more.

Extra credit: Do you have any completely useless talents?

I've always wished I could have the talent for writing and playing music. I'm always hearing music in my head, uncertain of its origin. Sometimes notes from familiar tunes will rearrange themselves and become new tunes and I hum them over and over again until I have it memorized.

Sometimes I'll take the tune I've heard in my head, or one that I have made up entirely with effort, and put words to it.

I have made up lyrics to a song that came to me that way. I call it a parting song. You'll think this is silly, but I sing it to my dogs each morning before I go to work. I could write the words here, but then it would only appear to be a poem. It is a song, and I sing it each morning. Just a ditty, but it's familiar to them. It's a song promising them that I will return. See, silly.

Other tunes I have written lyrics to are based on Bible verses. Two Bible verse songs I wrote last year. I recprded them on my mini-cassette recorder just so I wouldn't forget the tune. Whenever I can't remember it, I play it back and there it is, I can sing it and hum it to my heart's content. Helps me remember the Bible verses, too!

Here are the words to one song I wrote based on Ephesians 5: 1&2:

Be imitators of God,

as dearly loved children.

And live a life of love,

just as Christ loved us,

and gave himself up for us,

a fragrant offering

and sacrifice

 to God.

You see, I've taken the words, and they are nearly word for word from the Book, and put them to music, but you don't have the tune because I don't know how to put it on paper. If I could write music, then anyone could read it and sing it for themselves. I never forget that verse because I can sing it in my head.

I've always thought that if someone were to be taken prisoner (political, or in war), one way they could comfort themselves and thus survive any lengthy separation from their loved ones would be to pray. Even moreso, recalling words of faith, words that  carry strength, resolve, and hope would be a survival strategy. Particularly regarding spiritual survival, for once one gives up hope, the chance of surviving what appears to be a hopeless situation drops quickly. I have never been a political or war prisoner, but I can only imagine that if one didn't have something nourishing in their minds and on their hearts, one would perish from spiritual starvation and loneliness.

For instance, if a person had memorized some Biblical text, recalling familiar and powerful words would give them heart and hope. Yet, you don't have to be a prisoner of war to reap the benefits of memorized scripture, or other words of faith. When you find a verse or passage that speaks to you, that strengthens you, that assures you that God is with you, reminds you how to be a better person, how you are His beloved, how you have been rescued and saved, memorize it. Then, during the work day, when you feel a bit stressed out or chaos seems to surround you, take a moment to recall the words you have committed to your heart. Often when I do this, the rest of the day is more productive for me, and I find myself responding to others with less demands and with more compassion. Literally, it is like having a song in your heart.

Singing the verses I have stored in my heart and memory helps me remember them. A talent I would really love to have is writing music... but, you know, that is a skill that can be learned, so maybe I can look into it!

A completely useless talent? Hmmmm.... I can recognize actors and actresses in a movie, and name all the movies (that I know of) they had a role in.

It can be annoying to go to a movie with me. Sometimes I attempt to make a game of it when we are watching a movie on TV, and I'll ask my husband "Who is that actor?" or "Do  you remember the last movie we saw that he played in?" Completely useless! But I do it anyway.

I'd say that over the past ten years, my husband is getting good at the game. And for the past two years, he's even asked me the questions. "Bea, come here!" he'll call from the living room. "Who's this guy? Do you recognize him?" I'm always game.... I love to play that one. When we disagree, the internet usually resolves any confusion.

One time I cheated before we went to a movie. I did a search to see who was going to be in it, then looked up other movies the main actors had played in. I went prepared to impress my spouse. During the movie, my whispered comments were like little pop-up bubbles with trivia about the actors. Steve acted like he could care less, but I know he was impressed by my incredible memory. 

This is talent particularly useful if a movie turns out to be boring.

What talent would you love to have? Do you have a useless talent?

Write about it, then post a link here or at By The Way where it all started.

History of Writing...My writing that is.

The 4th grade writing test is upon us. In North Carolina, that will be Tuesday of next week. We’ve been working intensely with our kids, practicing the skills they weren’t born with but have been taught ever since they began kindergarten.

When I think about the writing I was exposed to as a child, and the writing we are teaching in the classroom, I am in conflict. Maybe it’s because I always enjoyed writing, long before I even knew how to do it well.

My first experiences with writing came about when I was a young child. I don’t remember writing much, or even thinking about writing, before I started school. I do remember watching my mother write letters at the kitchen table ( in the 1950's). My father, her husband, was an Air Force man, and from the time I was a toddler, he was in the military. Often he would be far away from us, and I would watch my mother write letters to him, or read the ones he wrote to her.

Later, when I was in grade school, I watched my mother write to her sister, my Aunt Del. I remember one day, I wanted to write a letter too. The flowing marks she made on the paper with her pen fascinated me, and I remember trying to read them. They looked nothing like the letters I was learning to write in first grade. I wanted to write like that one day!

Another time I remember thinking about writing was when I wanted to write to my aunt again. By then I was able to write the letter myself. I wanted to address the envelope myself, for this letter was going to my aunt directly from me. I asked my mom for the address, and she told me. There was the word “apartment number”, and as I was scribing what she dictated, I remember trying to spell that word, and the only word I could relate to that sounded like apartment was department. So I put on her mailing address, “Mrs. ……., 5555 whatever blvd, department #5, etc, etc.” Fortunately, my mother proofread the envelope for me and corrected my error, explaining the difference between apartment and department.

One Christmas, I asked for a typewriter. We were living in Manchester, New Hampshire, and I was in 3rd -4th grades. I wanted a typewriter to make my writing look neater. My parents were great! They gave me a child’s typewriter. It had a ribbon that could print red or black. It didn’t take long for me to realize that the typewriter would not always type what I wrote, and the ribbon quickly ran out. To re-use the ribbon, I had to remove the spool, rewind it, then snap it back into place. My fingers would be black by the time I was ready to type some more.

In Junior High, I discovered journal writing, and found that it was one of the easiest things I’d ever been told to do. If I were a fourth grader today, I’d have those writing prompts beat… give me a prompt, and I would write as much as I knew about it, or as much as I could make up about it. And I didn’t mind rewriting or revising.

In 10th grade my best friend Vonnie and I made productive use of our weekends and summers, even after school time, making up stories based on our favorite TV shows. I remember my most favorite TV show (from 1969-70) was Lancer, a western about a rancher and his two sons, each born of a different woman (mother of #1 son died, father remarried, mother of #2 son died). We wrote serious stories, as well as ridiculously funny stories making fun of the characters, or exaggerating their qualities. My friend, Vonnie, was a far better writer than I, though. She invented new characters to enhance the stories and complement the already established ones. I wish I had kept those stories… we laughed and pondered over many of our scripts, taking our writing very seriously.

When I was a high school senior, Vonnie had gone on to college, and was dating by then. I turned to another friend who loved to write poetry. She introduced me to the music of Carol King, and the Tapestry album, and I fell in love with her love songs. Debbie and I wrote poems and shared them with each other. My poems were usually silly, like the one I wrote about the frog we named Jeremiah who frequently showed up on her front steps as we talked late into the summer nights, or dramatic like the one I wrote about Napoleon as he pondered his fate on St. Helena. Her poems were about falling in love with a “bad” boy, and the agony of not being able to tell anyone (she told me though!).

In college, I learned to write essays about famous artists or periods of art for art history class, and advertisements for the advertising class. Journaling continued to be my preferred form of writing all through college. That and letter writing.

It seems I haven’t changed much since then!

I'm curious about others. What have your writing experiences been like? Have you ever written a piece that was published? Do you secretly write poetry? Do you have a book on the back burner? I'd love to know....

I'm thinking journalers in JLand don't do anything secretly! I also think most journalers have loved writing ever since they were kids. Am I write?  <grin>