June 2007 Archives

I've had the most enlightening experience. And yet, I'm not all the way through the end of this - so in some respects, I keep waiting for the other foot to drop.

When have you ever heard someone say that they had a really good experience with their insurance company?

Quit laughing! I'm not kidding!

My youngest daughter (16 1/2) decided to go into our little town for a vanilla coke about 10 days ago and was rear-ended by a woman who never even hit her brakes. She had stopped for the four-way blinker and proceeded through - I imagine thinking about her trip to Chicago for the weekend - and didn't see that my young one was stopped waiting for traffic to pass in order to make a left hand turn. We figure that the woman's speed was about 25 or 30 mph at impact.

Young One (YO) is okay. She was shaken up, had a bad headache and sore neck for a few days, but she is fun. (I've teased her about being a little more blonde than usual. Unfortunately, that was more true that you could know! The impact has affected her memory a tad.) The car on the other hand - the new one, the one that I've only owned for 2 months, the one I hadn't even sent the first check to the bank on yet - yeah that one . . . 9300 dollars in damages!

My carrier is USAA and the lady who hit us is insured through Encompass. I want to say that both companies have been wonderful. They have been infinitely patient as we navigate the legalities and paperwork. Both have ensured that the car is getting fixed quickly and have called several times to ask after YO's health. Both have answered plenty of questions without the slightest hint that they would not pay for this or that.

This process has been more complex that I expected. I have not ever experienced an accident involving another driver which involved the insurance companies, nor where there was an injury. As I've said, the paperwork is plentiful.

It's a nice feeling to know that an insurance company can take care of business in a caring way. I've never gotten the feeling that their "bottom line" is more important that my child's health or the repair of my car. Yeah!

Sometimes I'm worse than my own students (or kids!) when it comes to studying. Now that school is out, I am using my time to get caught up on all those projects that routinely get ignored throughout the school year, but especially from Spring Break until the close of school. I also use the summer for a little professional development.

Yesterday, I began an on-line course called Motivating Boys and Reluctant Readers. Though I've taught Language Arts to 8th through 12th grade students at the Alternative School for 12 years, last year was the first time that I actually taught Reading at the middle school level. It is different and then it's not. I'm not a Reading Specialist, but I need to get smarter about this. My attempt last year was noble, but there are many things that I would do differently. I'm hoping this class will strengthen what I did well, and help me improve my areas of weakness. It comes with the possibility of up to 45 CRU's (15 CRU's is 1 college credit). In order to earn the 45, I have much to do in the next two and a half weeks.

Course requirements include reading three professional articles, three middle school fiction books from the Young Hoosier Awards book list (I've picked Hoot, Red Kayak, and The Teacher's Funeral), and the entire text of Reading Don't Fix No Chevys. All of the above must be followed with reading responses posted to an on-line discussion board. I must also respond to two of my colleagues' responses to each of the six chapters of the text book.

I'm enjoying the reading, but I'm finding it difficult to just sit down to write the responses. Let's see . . . I've checked my mail on both accounts, surfed the 'Net, wrote something out for my daughters about their savings accounts, talked on the phone, fished for a lost earring (that I KNEW I wasn't gonna get back), did the dishes and blogged. . . OK, you've got the picture.

I guess I better get down to business. I'll feel better about this when I just get it done.