June 2006 Archives

My family and I decided we needed a new place to visit this summer. We are accustomed to spending our time away from home with extended family - usually in Illinois or Michigan, occassionally in Florida. I enjoy my family, but it was time for an adventure.

Have you ever slept in a yurt? I thought you had to go to eastern Europe to sleep in one, but right in our own backyard, almost, is a "bed and breakfast" where the guests sleep in yurts. Odd. Trust me, it was like stepping into the pages of Mother Earth News. I half expected to turn around in some time-warped dream to see my children with flowers in their unkempt flowing hair and sundresses and my husband sporting little round sunglasses, a hemp necklace, tied-dyed shirt and, well, the leather sandles he still owns from his California days.

Lovely pastoral setting, rolling hills, cows complaining in their calving, bats and birds, peacocks and guineas, a log heated water heater that delivered hot water to all units including the Japanese soaking tubs (which to my amusement were nothing more than Rubbermaid horse troughs) and herbs - mostly unattended.

Curious? Check out their website.
The site of the yurts gave my oldest (potential city dweller) the willies. She was totally undone when she discovered there was no running water and the loo was a port-o-pot 20 yards from the door.

We stayed one day, one night. I loved the night sky. So many stars! The tub wasn't bad. The bed was full-size. We normally sleep on a king. I was sure I wouldn't be able to sleep so close to the main source of heating for our house. But the bed was wonderful - the mattress excellent and sheets soft and scented. The conversation with the head Chinese Herbal Medicine expert netted interesting business snippets, but she wasn't into her medicine that day. (Must have been her day off. . . or an off-day.)

Hubbie and I hiked a trail before a pleasant breakfast that I'm sure wasn't low fat, high fiber, whole foods fare by any stretch of the imagination. And except for the ticks - more in one walk than I saw in one season living in the Ozarks 25 years ago - I enjoyed it!

I'm afraid that was the last straw for my oldest who camped out in our vehicle until check-out time. No hugs for Mommy!

After losing nearly four years of summer gardening opportunities due to a return to school (including a summer for recovery), my backyard looks like a junkyard slum. It is overgrown with weeds and wildflowers, an untidy, unattended compost pile, piles of wood from two homes that had trees removed and that still need to be cut and chopped, and piles of junk/scrap/recyclable items that came from the remodeling of our kitchen and sunroom.

This beautiful new sunroom looks out over all this mess. Consequently, there is hardly a day that goes by that I'm not reminded of the mess.

NO MORE!! This is the summer to clean up the back yard. In May, I opened my front yard gardens. I weeded, planted, Preened, and mulched. I planted annuals that were likely to need very little care like impatiens and pansies next to mature perennials. I figured with a little care thoroughout the summer, they would hold their own while I focused my energy in the back yard.

I considered the big picture. What did I want it to look like at the end of the summer as well as by the beginning of next spring? I decided upon "zones" of improvement over a three season effort (think Excel spreadsheet).

Zone 1: Vegetable Garden (southwest corner of yard)

Zone 2: New Northeast Garden (by the barn)

Zone 3: Wildflower Garden (northwest corner)

Zone 4: Compost Pile (far northwest corner)

Zone 5: Logs and Brush Piles (all along north yard and far southeast corner)

Zone 6: Retaining Wall and Pond Garden (along the house on the s-east)

While all this activity is going on, my husband is working on the barn and greenhouse. Conveniently, when he needs me, I can help him and vice versa.

My list is in a sequential order of completion. The vegetable garden is nearly finish. It has been doubled in size to accomodate my herbs from the retaining wall that will be removed sometime this fall or next spring. All those plantings need homes this summer while that corner of the yard along the back of the house is renovated next year.

I would like to attach pictures - especially "before" and "during" pictures - a recording of my progress as this project develops through out the next few months. (Hope my lovely sister will be able to talk me through that operation!)

More on this later!

You were singing that Alice Cooper song, weren't you! Wow, that was a few years ago.

Okay, I'm back.

Summer break began June 2 for me. I'm one of those teachers who believes that we should use the summer to rest, recreate, and renew - NOT work during the summer. I believe it is our professional responsibility to do these three R's to be prepared for the the needs of the students by August. Resting and recreation allows my body and spirit to strengthen itself, but just as importantly, a teacher is obligated to pursue professional development to develop their mind. Critical to staying on the cutting edge is this continuing education or professional development.

I have four professional development goals for the summer.

1) I will be teaching a new reading class for middle school students at my alternative school. I'm not a reading specialist, but rather I am a licensed 5-12 language arts teachers. Amazingly, content area teachers were not taught reading strategies back in the day. Hopefully, Schools of Education have seen the light. Too many of our students are failing to read adequately. By the time they get to high school, they are not prepared for the amount or difficulty of reading for which they are responsible. In the 12 years that I've taught at the alternative school, it has been necessary to teach reading skills to all levels. I've learned the craft on the fly, reading books, talking to those who are in the know, and attending conferences. This summer, I want to formalize what I do to teach reading.

2) My second goal is an extention of another thing that I do at my school, but again the responsibility will take on a formality. I have been officially assigned the team leader for our school (8 total teachers: 5 in the alternative program 3 others in offshoot programs). My work this summer will be to design a big-picture vision for the pedagogical design of the school, then to backwards design monthly foci to lead teachers toward a cutting edge plan that takes our students' education beyond the textbooks and handouts. Team meetings will occur initially every two weeks. I will teach and lead my colleagues towards research based teaching principles, ultimately creating a team that learns about and makes these decisions about design principles and their application.

3) My third goal is to redesign one major unit. Every year, I take one or two large units and redesign and improve them. We recently retired two teachers in the alternative program. The two new teachers hired to replaced them were picked with a specific goal (see goal 2) in mind. They are able to take us toward project-based, problem-based, hands-on integrated units of study. Education research has proven that this is the best practice for motivating students to learn. My goal is to determine which units can easily be redesigned to incorporate other disciplines more fully into them. Or, even more exciting, to take these new teachers favorite projects from the last jobs and design a language arts curriculum to cooperate with their project. The new math teacher has an awesome pyramid project - well-known and well-copied within our school corporation. I'd love to research some literature that would support his project.

4) I also have an administrative license that requires updating. It expires in May of 2007. I am investigating a leadership academy that our corporation is beginning this fall. Otherwise, I will have to find some coursework to take. Our new state requirements will allow other ways to renew licensing, fortunately. Things like educational research and professional writing would be interesting ways to renew my license. Wouldn't it be nice if accomplishing my fourth goal would assist me in meeting my other three goals!!

So much for sleeping in, eating bon-bons and watching soaps. Not me!

I loved this one. Take the test - it's quick, if not a little predictable. My results . . .

You Are 48% Cynical

Yes, you are cynical, but more than anything, you're a realist. You see what's screwed up in the world, but you also take time to remember what's right.

Don't you think we get "more realistic" about the world as we get older? I believe a fairly wise appreciation of human nature lends to a realistic view of the world around us - and yes, sometimes attributing self-interest to the motives of others IS wise. By definition, cynicism assumes that what others do is self-serving.

Being realistic assumes that one understands that there are many reasons a person is motivated to action INCLUDING self-interest. Do you recall the saying, "Look out for Number One"? Perhaps it became popular because we are naively surprised when others demonstrate their interest is NOT in us! And we react defensively. Imagine that.