Tag Archives: teachers live at school

Prepping for surgery

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It’s not always what it seems. I followed the doctor’s advice, drank lots of liquids, rested, etc. But in addition, I prepared myself for a six week (possibly) leave of absence to recover.

  • Load the Kindle with reading material.
  • Order a few books from Paperback Swap.
  • Train a substitute teacher – no easy feat in an online school.
  • Prepare all the files the online teacher might need. Store them on a jump drive for her.
  • Buy new pajama pants.
  • Stock up on lip balm and lotion.
  • Renew any meds now – to avoid making extra trips out of the house later.
  • Grind coffee beans!
  • Create a place to rest and hang out. Daybed? Bedroom recliner? Couch?
  • Set up blog posts so my dedicated readers won’t get lonely.

How’s that? Did I miss anything? If I did, it’s too late – unless I put Chuck to work.

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When emails go wild

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I like to include a reading or book-related quote with my auto-signature. It has my name, my school’s name, and my position (grade 5 and K-12 Music), and a quote. My dear, darling husband “Chuck” drops a hint when he thinks I need a change of quotes. Once he simply sent me a list of new quotes from which to choose. Another time, he paraphrased in such a way that I couldn’t keep my old quote. Simply couldn’t. For your perusal:

  • The quote: Books are a uniquely portable magic. -Stephen King
  • The paraphrase: Beer is a uniquely potable magic. -Chuck

At the end of a long day, the high school science teacher offered (by way of an all-users email, of course) a parody of the song The Fox entitled “What does the Sock Say?” Brilliant.

I’d been sitting on this image for a while, and it was the right time to share.

match dot com

 

Then another more intellectual staff member posted a link to a parody called “What does John Locke Say?” 

Let’s just say we’re at a crucial point in preparing first semester report cards. Anything goes.

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Health News at the O.K. Chorale

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No one has the flu.

Chuck’s kidneys are not, at the moment, stoned.

Amigo is in good spirits and preparing for Trivia Weekend, one of his favorite weekends all year long.

La Petite and her significant other will visit to go to a hockey game armed with teddy bears. Trust me. It makes sense.

And me? I finally reached my tolerance limit and told the doctor I was ready for a permanent solution to a problem that’s been happening on and off for the last five years. My surgery is Monday morning.

My recovery could take as long as six weeks. My substitute is trained and ready to take over my online school obligations. I have loaded my Kindle with books, I bought new pajama pants emblazoned with Dr. Seuss’ One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. There’s coffee enough in the cupboard.

Deep breath: I think I’m ready.

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Academic Vocabulary – the Language of How To

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I meant this draft to look into academic language. Most of the post survived, but the title became a more generic focus on  vocabulary and one of my favorite references was deleted. The writer in charge of revisions saw my quote from Colonel Potter in M*A*S*H (Pentagon: four wall and one to spare!) and crossed it out, claiming that no one today knew the show. Despite my reminder that M*A*S*H airs twice each weekday on MeTV, Colonel Potter’s quip didn’t see the light of day. Readers will have to remember Pentagon = five sides all by themselves.

It’s still a good post. You can enjoy it here. 

 

 

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A Snarky Day

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I could make this sound like I felt eternally grateful for everything, but really, I was grumpy. Read all about it, if you dare.

I submitted a draft to our social media office, and it hit the pipeline this week. The writer/editor eliminated my M*A*S*H reference, saying that few would know the show any more. I countered by letting her know that M*A*S*H airs twice daily on MeTV these days. No go – Colonel Potter’s “Pentagon – you know, four walls and one to spare” didn’t make the final cut. Why didn’t I just take her word for it and admit I am aging? Heck, this was the same woman who tried to eliminate mention of Edna Ferber from a pop culture post last spring. She’s a decent writer, but she needs to get out more.

On my way to an appointment at the Clinic That Shall Not Be Named, I was stuck behind a line of traffic stalled by a HUGE tow truck backing into a business driveway near a busy corner. I called the clinic and told them I’d be a little late. Somehow, I thought this was the courteous thing to do. The operator on the phone wasn’t pleased. Instead of saying she’d make a note of it or some other such action, she told me to hurry up and get there as fast as I could. When she started rattling off a “ten minutes late” policy, I tuned out completely and watched the road – and hoped my blood pressure wouldn’t be off the charts when I arrived. Luckily for me (and my blood pressure), everyone else was courteous and professional.

The other moment of wisdom in the day came during an online staff development session. The leader posted a number of images of the Lincoln penny with a catch – only one was correct. The others were all photoshopped in some way. I thought “Aha! I can reach my purse with my headset on – she’ll never know!” And I pulled out a penny – that didn’t feature Lincoln. It had leaves on it. “Hey, wait, this isn’t an older wheat penny. These are -” I turned over the penny. Queen Elizabeth. I had pulled a Canadian penny from my wallet.  Served me right, eh?

The solution was simple. On my way home from the Clinic That Shall Not Be Named, I picked up bunny food and M&Ms. Don’t judge me; it worked. I feel much better now!

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Political Parties – an encore post, mostly

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My students have been learning about the Articles of Confederation and the events and debates and compromises leading up to the writing and ratification of the United States Constitution. I’ve been correcting their tests lately, and the essay questions and their thoughtful or not-so-much answers have kept me thinking. I share with you an encore post, and I promise I plan to collect this year’s responses and form a new post.

I can’t post the specific question, but I’ll just tell you that they were discussing the creation of the Constitution and interpreting George Washington’s warning against the destructive nature of political parties.

Actual student answers:
-“I think Washington wanted people to be happy and to work as a team.”
Can this student run for office some day? Please?
 
-“They would disagree on things because they would have different opinions and they would argue a lot.”
Run-on sentence aside, she was predicting the future with amazing accuracy.
 
-“It creates tensions and the good that could be done is lost in the arguments of each party’s plans.”
Another candidate for office someday – governor, perhaps.
“Washington knew that if the country split into political parties, then the country would be more split up and there would be too many disagreements.”
Politicians, stand warned. This student and others like him will be voting before you know it.
 
It’s time, it’s well past time, to start cooperating. Bipartisan collaboration would be a good start, but in all honesty, nonpartisan cooperation would be even better.
I’m sure George would agree.
Now back to the gradebook to grade the section on Shay’s Rebellion.

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Prepping for the Cold

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Be Prepared! It’s the Girl Scout Motto. It’s also part of what we do in Wisconsin and other Northern realms of the U.S. Let’s see how this played out so far.

Friday we heard the forecasts. Minnesota’s governor ordered the entire state’s schools to close. I won’t go into the responses circulating our office or the Internet regarding the likelihood of our anti-education governor actually doing something positive for children. Oops, I just did. At first the smaller, rural districts announced they would close Monday. Then the Big Cities of Madison and Milwaukee announced they planned to stay closed through the dangerous wind chills starting Monday..

The vast geography of Packer Nation started calling out “Ice Bowl II! Ice Bowl II!” Ticket holders and the intrepid people who work on the sidelines stocked up on long underwear and fleece lined jeans. People who could stay at home stocked up on – milk, bread, and eggs, along with a bottle of wine or a case of beer if they didn’t get any for Christmas.

Facebook was full of calls for more schools to plan ahead. Local papers ran Internet polls asking “Should schools close on Monday?” Families sent letters pleading for at least an excused absence should families decide to keep their children safe from frostbite and hypothermia.

Survival comments from Wisconsin and Minnesota ran like this —

  • There’s nothing about this weather a box of Triscuits and can of Easy Cheese won’t remedy.
  • Cabin Fever is already in full swing for me, and we have only just settled into winter. It’s going to be a LONG winter!
  • Lawrence University in Appleton ranks as one of the top 20 coldest colleges in the country.
  • Sage advice from a ski patroller and stagehand re: frigid cold. Take this very seriously. A person can go from fine to needing an ambulance ride in a few minutes.
  • Today will consist of Netflixing Dexter & making warm things out of yarn.
  • Grocery stores are packed as people prepare for the frigid temperatures that are set to hit.
  • I have plenty of coffee. Bring it on!
  • I am ready for the deep freeze. I have tomato soup & fixings for cheddar/swiss grilled cheese sandwiches.
  • We’ve got more warm gear than you can imagine, though. We’ve got common sense. Together we’ve got over 100 years of experience with Minnesota weather. 
There are those who panic, and those who make fun of those who panic.
snowstorm panic
Here at the O.K. Chorale, we’re a bit calmer. We took precautions, stopped off at a grocery store, charged the phones and laptops, and then we settled in. Well, Amigo and I stayed home. Dear darling “Chuck” put on his fleece lined jeans and headed north to work (with a visiting crew from San Francisco!) at the NFL venue known for good reason as the Frozen Tundra.
Tell me, readers. Did you need to prep for the storm or the cold? How did you handle it?

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Back to School – January Edition

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Going back to school, ending a break of decent length, all of that starts today. I’ve checked in on my school mail account(s) a few times because I have ongoing plans and commitments pending. I have not, however, graded any work during break. Progress reports will be at the top of my to-do list all too soon.

I looked back to posts from a year ago. I expect much of the same, mostly. Mainly. I think, probably. For example, I have a blanket and several pair of fingerless gloves at my desk.

The pair on the left is warmest. The pair in the middle goes with everything. The pair on the right goes with nothing. I’m set for any occasion.

I know I’ll be getting envelopes decorated like this:

Some envelops will look like this, so overloaded that they’ll need duct tape to seal them.

As I was browsing, I saw last January’s post titled “Notes to Teacher Self.” I pulled it up, of course, and found notes that are still relevant to my teacher self a year later. Here are the highlights.

  • Note to reading teacher self: When a student doesn’t have her book, always ask why. Why? One of my middle school struggling readers didn’t have her copy of The Cricket in Times Square because (drum roll) her 16-year-old brother had picked it up and was reading it. Ah, I love this job.
  • Note to PR-loving self: It’s okay to say no. When approached about an interview with a local rag that has been notoriously anti-teacher, No is a valid response. Feel no guilt.
  • Note to role model self: Smile, don’t laugh, when a student struggles in writing to a prompt because “he doesn’t know anyone with a disability.” If they don’t remember I’m hearing impaired and it’s a disability, I’ll take that as a compliment. It means my disability doesn’t interfere with the way I do my job.

And that, teacher self, is one to remember.

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And on we go, into 2014

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Yesterday I described a few highlights and lowlights to what I’m now calling the Year of Survival, 2013. To follow up, I’ll address the other part of the challenge: What word reflects my intentions for 2014?

Many of my ongoing projects got set aside in the mess that was 2013. The manuscript for the book Educating Amigo is still in limbo, and sending out submission packages became less of a goal than learning to walk well and handle stairs without a cane. The book project is back on a front burner now, and I hope to reach out to a another potential writer/editor for guidance.

I wrote a few short grants at work, none successful. I don’t mind losing the grants; I learn a little every time I do the research involved in any project funding request. Looking ahead, my grant applications will still focus on our goals of increasing family involvement and improving reading skills. I might reach out to more grantors who have the same mission, rather than more general resources.

In a post on my employer’s national blog, I suggested setting goals in the form of a 3-2-1 summary. 3 good habits to keep in place; 2 bad habits to break or leave behind; and finally, 1 positive change. Let’s see how that looks in my own life.

3 good habits:

  1. Put my health first. Reach out to health professionals as necessary.
  2. Eat local, cook from scratch, and preserve (can and freeze) to keep the family’s menu healthy and delicious. 
  3. Rest. Make sleep a priority.  

2 bad habits to leave behind:

  1. Stop putting my health at risk by putting off routine care – this is a dangerous route to follow.
  2. Don’t sweat the small stuff; keep the big priorities on top of the to-do list. 

And in conclusion, 1 positive change to put into place:

Get my home office in shape and use it – for book work, possibly for summer school, and also for privacy, peace, and quiet.

Back to the first question: What word reflects my intentions for 2014?

Reach. Reach out to those who can help keep me healthy and keep my brain and body functioning properly; reach for resources that can help with grants for my work and help with the publishing process; reach for the sky, but keep at least one foot on the ground for balance.

Readers, how about you?

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Decorating Cubicle Nation

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We’re elementary teachers in my section of the office, and it shows. Seasonal “ugly” sweaters were the norm in December. We may not have four walls and a chalkboard for decoration, but our cubicles do express our personalities and the season.

Packers' Stocking

Packers’ Stocking

Dear Santa; now that the holiday rush is over and you have a little time to spare, please bring Aaron Rodgers a healthy and strong collarbone. He needs it, and we need him.

Packers' Hat

Look closely!

Santa, if you look closely, my red and white hat has a hint of green and gold, too I knew you wouldn’t mind.

Let it snow!

Let it snow!

Across the aisle from my place of employment, my coworker set up a theme she can keep up beyond Christmas. Like it or not, we will get snow, so we might as well celebrate the weather.

Not a tree

Not a tree

It’s not a typical tree, but with a few painted pine cones and a felt snowman, my plant can look festive, too.

So Santa, we keep working hard and making the place look homey and bright. Please give some thought to that little favor for the green and gold clan. Really.

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