Things your school kids will love:
1) Caves!! Want a field trip that is informative, adventurous, and always 100% predictable? A cave is your answer. No matter the time of year, time of day, the weather outside, or even how the stock market is doing, a cave will be 45 degrees and dark...period. The only thing that could possibly go wrong is an earthquake or some sort of volcanic activity, and who wouldn't forget something like that? Just keep that part out of the parental permission slips.
2) School Spirit. In my current school I teach 7th graders math. They seem to hate coming to school each day. Then they met me, a person who saw what Shorewood High School did with their students last year. Now they understand how awesome I truly am, AND they want to come to school everyday. Get the kids involved people..Shoreline did!!
3) Bicycle racing. If you have ever wanted to use the word "doping" in your classroom I highly encourage you to take up a unit on bike racing, even more so if you teach math. Average speed, steady rates, total distance, drafting, and don't forget doping.....PLUS you get to use a word like "Pelaton"! All you have to do is say the word, tell the class it is a french word meaning platoon and you will be Mr./Mrs. Cool for the day. Oh yeah, and this will be math they will remember too. Check out the Bike glossary from of Wik...
Things I learned while in St Louis:
4) Writing is the way to our souls. Anne Lamott is a fabulous writer who tell us how to pour our emotions onto paper and filter through our thoughts until we hear ourselves saying what we really want to hear..."Did I really just pay $25 to get my bag onto this plane?" No matter how deep my thoughts seemed to get, the turbulence on the plane (tough to write when the plane is bouncing all over) and those darn bag fees really made it hard to see my inner self, unless of course this is as good as it gets...?
5) If you are going to video an event that will mean something to someone....use a tripod!! I didn't even think of packing one as it would have cost me another $25. So I prepared my camera to record forever the beautiful walk down the aisle for two of my dearest family members...this is when I realized I have the shaky hands. Not just normal shaky hands but what some might describe as a 4.3 on the Richter scale shaky hands.
6) Family is pretty darn cool to have around. If you haven't already come to this realization, and your family doesn't have a restraining order against you, then take a moment and thank them for being part of your family. Then take them to Meramec Caverns and tell them the story of Jesse James. Random, but predictable.
Things that I think will interest you:
7) The Life Aquatic. A movie that I detested the first two times I saw it. It had fragmented story lines, slowly developed characters, and unrealistic scenes. Then something happened. I heard someone quote a line from the movie..."He's got the crazy eye", and I was hooked. I went back searching for the scene and was forced to listen to the music, hear the dialog, and see the scenes in their individual elements. I had to break it down in order to build the movie the way it was intended to be seen...as a random conglomeration of music, people, adventures, and family that in the end means nothing but somehow leaves a smile on your face. Check it out, but prepare yourself to about 9 hours to allow for three viewings.
8) Amtrak sleeper cars. About three feet across and 5 feet wide. Two seats that convert into a bed and a table that folds back into the wall somehow fit into this 15 square foot space. Although if you take a train across the country there is no way to resist their miniature beauty.
9) Oprah in Yosemite? Ladies and Gentleman, I, for the first time in my life will take the plunge and watch an episode of Oprah. The woman has never visited a National Park before until now and I want to be there to see her reaction to the most beautiful place on earth. Once I see the reaction, I will forget the whole thing ever happened...Oprah who? Check out the article below, it is a great read about race in our Park system by Shelton Johnson, the only permanent African American Park Ranger in the country. You might recognize Mr. Johnson from the "National Parks" series by Ken Burns.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/29/shelton.johnson.yosemite/index.html?hpt=C2
Funnies for the Day:
Is there another word for synonym?
Isn't it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do "practice?"
Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?"
If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?
Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday
Cheerio
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