Tag Archives: teachers live at school

She’s baaack – an encore from Grandma Daisy

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She couldn’t stay quiet for long. Grandma Daisy is back, just a few weeks before election day. This is an encore, but it didn’t need much modification to be current.

Fiddle-dee-dee. Tomorrow will be another day.

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!

Big Brother is watching.  

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Wilbur didn’t want food, he wanted love.

I have created a monster!

 

Well, grandkids, all of these are lines from classic books. Let’s see how many you or your mother can identify. What? So few? What are they teaching these days — never mind.

Let’s look at the last one. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,  of course. Truth be told, though, young ones, this particular quote isn’t a direct quote from the novel. It’s kind of like crediting  Buzz Lightyear with “To infinity and beyond!” when he only said it twice in the first Toy Story movie.

The truth is that Shelley’s work inspired the phrase.  An English teacher I knew (they’re always handy when you need a good literature quote) mentioned that there is no exact quote in which Dr. Frankenstein says or another character says that he/you have created a monster–it’s more of a thematic draw from the overall text. Frankenstein warns the man who meets him at the end of his life how “dangerous is the acquisition of knowledge,” as a way of saying, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should!” in keeping with the “created a monster” idea.

So, young ones, back to the upcoming election issues – like the state budget. Governor Talks-a-lot claimed to have innovative changes for our fair state’s education system. His changes consisted of a straining-at-the-seams budget for public schools and a significant increase in a program called Vouchers. Vouchers were grants, money, scholarships paid by the state for students to attend private schools. Private. Not public charters, not home-schooling, but private schools. Governor Walk-on-by ignored the evidence that current voucher schools in Milwaukee were not doing any better then their public counterparts down the road. In fact, if they measured success by the standardized tests of the day, voucher schools did a poorer job of educating their students.

Governor Walk-all-over-you decided that his “innovative education reform” would expand the voucher program into other middling to large-ish cities. Make it bigger. Spread the money around. Around the state, that is. One city, one school district at a time.

The Governor, despite his lack of scientific or educational background, had created a monster. He wanted to open up the private vouchers, damage the state’s education budget, and further gut public schools.

Governor Walkerstein was ready to create his monster. He didn’t have the wisdom of my English teacher friend to tell him that just because he could, didn’t mean he should.

Oh, young ones, it was a tough time to be a teacher. In fact, I could use a cup of coffee. Let’s take a break and talk about classic television. Have you ever seen WKRP in Cincinnati?

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Eating the Opponent – Miami

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We made Cuban sandwiches a few seasons back. We joked about buying tuna not certified “dolphin safe.” I was ready to go with the Cuban again, but then I found something else.

And I have a staff meeting on Thursday after school.

How do these two go together? You might be surprised – or not. If I have supper in the crock pot on a staff meeting day, we’ll have something better than pizza delivery for supper. And this week, my friends, our Miami recipe works very well in a slow cooker.

Ropa Vieja, it’s called, and that translates literally as “Old Clothes.” When it’s done simmering for hours and hours, the end result resembles threads of old cloth. It’s much more descriptive than “beef simmered until it shreds.” Some recipes suggested serving on tortillas, but at least one said that it would not be authentic Cuban or Miami style on tortillas. Rice is the preferred side.

And so it goes – eating the opponent plus a staff meeting yields a good meal.

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I Believe In Music – Musical Intelligence, that is.

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It’s the last in a series. My first post on Multiple Intelligence theory attracted a lot of attention, so the folks in the social media and marketing offices decided to capitalize on it with a series of posts. I wrote many of the drafts, and I edited and contributed to the others. Here’s the last in the series: the Musical Intelligence. Those who know me and my family will not be surprised by the reference to the history of the well-known Suzuki method of learning to play an instrument.

My only regret is that the social media Powers That Be did not include my tribute to Barbara Dryer. Barbara was co-founder of Connections Academy and leader of Connections Education. She passed away in early September from a very aggressive breast cancer. As she faced her own mortality, Barbara took the time to create a smooth and workable succession plan. Her brilliance and her dedication to online learning will live on.

When I met Barbara in person, I mentioned that I was the music teacher at WCA. She smiled broadly – I can only call it a grin! – and asked, “What’s your instrument?” I knew immediately that she was a musician, too. I will always remember how brief and yet exciting our chat was, and how enthusiastic she was about this partnership between Juilliard School of Music and Connections Education.

And so, in honor of her memory, here it is: The Language of Music.

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Teachers Pay Teachers

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My educator friends – do any of you use Teachers Pay Teachers to buy and to sell material?

I’m a relative newcomer to this corner of the Internet where teachers can post lesson plans and more in the hopes that someone will pay a few bucks for the privilege of using those materials themselves.

Here's the cover image.

Here’s the cover image.

I’ve posted a few things. I’ve only sold a couple, so the money thus far is just a drop in the bucket. If I’m optimistic (and I try to be optimistic), I might remind myself that if there are enough drops, the bucket might fill.

My “store” name is Ideas from the OK Chorale. If you’re an elementary teacher and you’re looking for a few good plans, please take a look!

Meanwhile, I’ll push myself to post a few more goodies to appeal to other creative teachers who might benefit from my experience and ideas. In my spare time, that is. Yea, yea, I hear you snickering at your monitor.

So, readers, what are your experiences with online buying or selling? Etsy? Teachers Pay Teachers? EBay? Leave a comment and let me know.

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Four Burners Theory: Back to School Again

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An encore post with a few updates – all updates in Italics. 

In the midst of Back to School preparations, it seems appropriate to discuss the juggling act we call work-family balance. Sometimes we’re juggling tennis balls, all the same size, all the same weight, all responding the same way. Then someone tosses us a watermelon, and the whole juggling act changes.

Another way to look at this is the Four Burners metaphor. Imagine a stove with four burners, each representing a task. Can you tend all four without burning a dish or forgetting to add an ingredient, therefore ruining the meal?
Is the four burners theory accurate? Realistic? If all four are equal, maybe it is. But life’s tasks are rarely equal. The first day of school requires a bigger burner. Packing a young person’s possessions in the van for the big move to a dorm is a burner that simmers for a while, then comes to a quick boil. In my life, sending my kids back to school coincides with preparing to teach another new group of elementary students. My teaching assignment is the same this year, but I need to move my materials into a new cubicle. That’s a front burner task, but it will cook up quickly.
We’ve learned to survive these chaotic first weeks of school by balancing and “cooking” ahead. Every night I set the table for breakfast, pack my lunch, and set out my (admittedly simple) clothes for morning. By planning ahead, slicing and dicing the ingredients for the next day, we can cut out one burner. Our family spends much of the summer catching up on routine appointments, too. Dealing with routine dental care and physicals and eye exams in June, July, and August means one less pot to stir come fall.
Filling the freezer and putting up foodstuffs is another step in maintaining the cooking – this time in a more literal sense. Each bag of healthy local vegetables in the freezer is one less that we have to buy. A shorter grocery list means less time at the store, less money out the door, and less pressure on us to produce the produce. Um, yeah. You knew what I meant, right? We bought an additional chest freezer when a local appliance store went out of business, so I’ve spent a lot of time prepping peas, beans, corn, and more for the freezer. That task is more like a slow cooker than a burner because I’ve been at it little by little all summer long.
Thinking of all this late August and September busy-ness makes me feel stressed already. I think I’ll go water the garden; that’s a task that provides relaxation, not stress. Turn off the burners; I’m hooking up the hose to the rain barrel. And that, my friends, is balance.

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Back to School – Daisy Style

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Back in my regular classroom days, preparing for school meant something different. Here are a few examples.

  • Then: I’d browse the school supply ads and stock up for students that I knew couldn’t afford supplies. 
  • Now: I stock up on canning supplies and fresh, local foods so I can feed my family through the winter.
  • Then: I’d plan at least a week in advance, usually more, to spend time in my room setting it up for the students’ arrival. It would take several days.
  • Now: I’ll stop in this week to move my belongings from my old cubicle to my new one. It’ll take an hour, two at the max. Maybe Amigo will help.
  • Then: I’d get the calendar up to date, noting staff meetings and parent-teacher conferences and any other commitments outside of the regular hours.
  • Now: I’ll get the calendar up to date. This item is still necessary.
  • Then: I’d spend a few Saturdays at school preparing my room and catching up with coworkers.
  • Now: I spend Saturdays at the farmers’ market or in the kitchen working on stocking the pantry.

I also make a point of spending time outside. It can be as simple as weeding or watering the garden or reading a book on the deck, but getting out is an important ingredient in self-care. Back to school means back to my cubicle and much, much more. The process may look different on the surface, but underneath the hustle and bustle it’s the same: getting ready for a new group of kids and parents.

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Plant a seed and wait.

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I found this packet when I was cleaning. By its shape and label, I knew I’d saved it from the dumpster when my school adopted a new science curriculum. I cleaned my classroom closets, but I couldn’t bring myself to throw away seeds. Seeds! They might grow! But what kind of seeds was in the packet?

Curiouser and curiouser.

Curiouser and curiouser.

I took a closer look at the label. Then I started doing the math. These seeds are very likely at least ten years old. They’re unlikely to germinate.

Can you read it?

Can you read it?  

Seeds, Bean Oriental Mung, 30g. Not the usual variety for my zone, but I planted them anyway. 

My Internet research told me that Oriental Mung beans are an heirloom variety, a non-hybrid bean. The sprouts are delicious in salads, and they’re popular in Europe and India. They don’t resemble any beans I’ve planted, so I am really curious. However, after many years in a classroom closet, I’m not counting on feeding the family on Mung beans despite the quantity in the bag.

I’ll let you know, readers. If something comes up (and doesn’t get eaten by the furry creatures), I’ll show you the results.

While we wait, fellow gardeners and other lovely readers, what kinds of experimental seeds have you planted? Old ones? New ones? Something not usually suited to your zone and climate? Add a comment and share.

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The Truth about Straw Bales

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I mentioned my dilemma about the straw bales. Did I have the right fertilizer? For that matter, did I have the right bales? We bought them from two different places last fall, and it seemed like one might have labeled the bales Straw when they were really Hay.

Hay? Straw? I’m a city girl, despite my green thumb and green attitude. I didn’t know straw from hay. So I did what a good virtual teacher does; I asked a student and her family for advice.

My students live all over Wisconsin, and several live on farms. I asked about the bales, describing the one set as looking straw-like and the other growing like a Chia Pet.

One of these things is not like the other.

One of these things is not like the other.

I learned that straw is what’s left over after the wheat is harvested and removed from the stalk, and hay is a grass. Yep, that’s it. I can extend this to say I learned not to buy a bale of “straw” at a grocery store. Uh-huh. This batch was left over from a fall display, so the store sold them off for a few bucks each. The rest are from a garden center. I know where I’ll go if I need a set of straw bales again.

Meanwhile, I took time to yank most of the growth from the hay bales. They’ll still work for planting; I just might have to weed them more often than not. And that’s alright. Weeding, after all, is therapeutic, too.

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There’s a map for that – or an app

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Sometimes I wonder if I seem like a diva-type to the folks in the main office in Baltimore. Whenever they ask if I’m willing to be “author of record” on a blog post, I insist on having input into the post before my name goes on it.

This one was no different. The research was already done by someone in the main office or the agency that works with them. I reworded several awkward phrases, inserted some simple explanations to define terms, and made it sound more like me. Since one of the reasons the office calls on me is because my posts are supposedly full of personality, I think I can add my personality if they want to add my name.

Anyway, they managed to link to two of my previous posts (Flat Stanley and Pop Culture),  so I tweaked the rest to make it mine.

Here it is: Navigating the Summer with Family-Friendly Apps.

Don’t get lost now.

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