Tag Archives: So many books: So little time

Sobering.

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photo from the Overpass Light Brigade

Life moves on even as we grieve. The Internet is full of commentary – some valid and valuable, some less so. I do my best to share the pieces that are relevant and written by those who are well informed.

I don’t like the rumors. I don’t repeat them – unless I feel an absolute need to refute them.

I’ll wear green and white, Sandy Hook Elementary’s school colors, even though the symbolism does nothing. Sometimes, symbolism is all we have, and it’s all we can do to show we care.

Death is sobering. Death from unspeakable, unthinkable violence is – incomprehensible.

Let’s remember the victims, all of them innocent and undeserving of being killed. And then, let’s work to identify, treat, and counsel those at risk of harming others – so there will be no more victims of senseless tragedy like this.

 

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Through the inbox at work –

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Believe it or not, even in a heavily regulated work environment, interesting items sneak through the filters and land in my inbox. I shared the voter registration set-up yesterday. Today it came in the form of the abstract to an article in a professional journal. Not the entire article, but just the summary abstract that described it.

Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Obama administration pumped $100 billion into public K-12 and higher education, saved over 300,000 education-related jobs, doubled spending on special education services, and added $10 billion to Title I programs to serve disadvantaged students. A year later, Obama championed another $10 billion to save more teacher jobs.

So far, so good. This sounds like basic Daisy, stereotypical teacher talk, right? Teacher = Obama Backer.

Wrong. We teachers are intelligent beings and independent thinkers. We do not vote as a block; we vote as individuals. We pay attention to our associations’ endorsements, but we don’t follow those recommendations automatically. Here’s the rest of the abstract:

 Both major national unions — the NEA and AFT — have endorsed Obama’s reelection bid. But they have not done so on account of the money. Unions haven’t fully embraced several significant Obama education policies, including his support for including student performance on tests as a measure of teacher performance, more charter schools, and measures that would make it easier to fire ineffective teachers. What’s developed is a complicated, evolving relationship between the administration and the teacher unions.

Contrast that with Wisconsin’s Governor Scott Walker who has absolutely no relationship, evolving or otherwise, and – oh, let’s not go there.

And on an entirely different note, check out this real life math problem I posed to the math teachers with whom I teach.

If I want to order 60 copies of a book from a commonly-utilized bookseller, the book costs $2.99 or 75 bonus points and bonus points are awarded 1 pt. per dollar spent. How many books do I need to buy with cash to get the rest with bonus points!

Extra credit: I’ve already accrued 312 bonus points from other past purchases.

 Have fun!!

No one answered my email yet. Maybe they’re waiting for me, a reading and writing verbal linguistic type, to prove my worth. Readers, it’s up to you. Can you help?

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The price of time off

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I only took the morning. In fact, I finagled two appointments in one morning so I could handle these issues with one morning off instead of a few hours or even two half days. See how teachers think? We hate being gone. Even in my current job, where I don’t have to prepare plans for a substitute, I don’t like being away from school.

I was rather pleased to manage my schedule in such a way as to minimize time off. But I couldn’t feel too smug; look what I faced when I got to school. This is my gradebook. The puffy A+ symbols mean that students have submitted work to be graded.  The only classes with nothing to grade are those that haven’t started yet.

Daisy’s Gradebook

The load was significant, too. Most of the section gradebooks had at least ten portfolios or tests in them.

I filled up my WSRA – Teaching Wisconsin to Read coffee mug and I hit the ground running, er, clicking. By the time the day was done, I had replied to seven parent emails, graded two science portfolios that came in the mail, and –well, see for yourself.

Daisy’s Gradebook – later

That’s a beautiful sight, those blue A+ icons. Now let’s see if I can be ready for Friday, when the first writing portfolio, a personal narrative, is due.

 

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Further evidence that NFB-MN is really Hogwarts

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So far, you’ve seen the outside of the castle, er, mansion. Then I shared observations of the fireplaces, hidden doors, and lamp-holders. But wait – there’s more. We went into the dungeons, I mean the basement, not for Potions with Snape, but to see the wood shop classroom.

Power tools and Amigo? And no magic allowed?

On the way to the stairs, we saw evidence of Mr. Weasley’s Muggle artifacts collection. Someone tell him it’s not plugged in.

Rotary phones? I prefer my Android, really.

On our way to the Owlery, we opened an ordinary-looking door only to find an old safe.

Secure: Alohamora didn’t open it.

I did say Owlery. If there was any doubt earlier, this bathroom provided convincing evidence that we were visiting Harry’s alma mater.

Where’s Hedwig? Pigwigeon, are you there?

Amigo, pack your wand. And look out for that Malfoy kid; he can’t be trusted.

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Touring Hogwarts with Amigo:

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We last left our heroes – no, strike that. Let’s try again.

You saw the outside and the entrance to Minnesota’s answer to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now lets follow Amigo and his parents (Daisy and Chuck) as they scope out the fascinating place.

Conveniently located for floo powder travel

The director has a huge working fireplace in her office. Many other rooms have fireplaces, but none are this big.

Speaking of rooms, when I asked to use the rest room, they showed me to the hidden door in the wall.

Myrtle? Are you in there?

To get to the second floor, we had to go up the ancient wooden steps. Luckily, these stayed in place; none of that bad habit of changing directions every other Tuesday. Or was it Thursday?

How many staircases are in the Hogwarts castle?

On the second floor we were certain that this was a division of Hogwarts, U.S.A. Could these lampholders exist anywhere else?

Holder of the Light

There’s more to behold – later. For now, the answer to the above question. How many staircases are in the Hogwarts castle? Well?

142, of course. “…wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday…”

Oh, the white thing in the top picture? I honestly don’t remember. Maybe it’s the mansion’s ghost, Mrs. Pillsbury. She’s supposed to be friendly.

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Amigo visits – Hogwarts?

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We called a cab to take us from our hotel near all the modern travel amenities (like the airport and the Mall of America) to the NFB Training Center in Minneapolis. Amigo is planning to attend one of the centers, and this one is high on the list. The taxi driver, however, wasn’t so enlightened. He fiddled with his GPS, asked us if we were sure of the address, and called his central office before he could get us on the road. When we got to the destination, I realized why he couldn’t figure it out on his own.

                         A long fence…

We walked along the stone (concrete?) fence and saw —

lions? tigers? bears? dragons?

…these creatures guarding the gates. Then up the steps to the front entrance:

I’m not sure what’s guarding the main door, but it’s big and ornate. Looking more closely, we saw this.

Can you hear it? The door carving is moaning, “Ebenezer…. Ebenezer Scrooge…”

Oops, wrong British novelist. Anyway, the mood was set.

The cabbie must have been a Muggle. The mansion was obviously Minnesota’s answer to Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, bewitched such that ordinary non-magical folk would never know it was there. If he could have seen the mansion, he might have seen this.

                              Never Tickle Sleeping Dragons.

There are too many details to share in just one post. Stay tuned: you’ll enjoy more of the Midwest’s answer to Hogwarts. Just wait. I need another butterbeer to quench my thirst before I continue.

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Fine Dining with Toddler

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Fine dining with a two-year old is fun. Trust me. Doubters? I’ll show you.

Audrey has her hair up in pink hairbands. Pink!

 

Audrey smiles for her favorite aunt – favorite for today, at least.

 

Spoons! Must count spoons.

 

Audrey took a picture all by herself (almost). Time to get this girl a smart phone.

 

I prefer to focus on this view.

Must count spoons again. Now there are four!

Alas, even a fine dining experience must come to an end. We went home to read books. Go, Dog, Go and Clifford’s Pals were on the literature list for the evening. Then finally, it was goodnight time for the one who is Two. Maybe she’ll rest up for more adventures – tomorrow.

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Flowers and Workplace Karma

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I took a chance and sent a funny email to the cubicle three feet away from me. Hey, don’t laugh. It’s far enough away that she has a window. Really! But anyway, she’s a regular reader of Compost Happens, and she appreciates my sense of, well, irony. She replied to my silly email:

Fellow cubicle dweller: Funny! Daisy, you always manage to put a smile on my face. Can I be known as “Rosebud”? 

That started it. I replied in the positive, of course, but I couldn’t leave it at that.

Me, Daisy: And who will be Chrysanthemum? How about (insert high school English teacher’s name here)? 

Description: Chrysanthemum

Rosebud: I always wanted to be called Rosebud! Don’t ask me why. I think she would enjoy being called Chrysanthemum. (Science teacher) could be Thistle and (Mr. Math) could be Dandelion.

Daisy: I’ll call (another colleague) “Clover” or “Marigold.”

Rosebud: Nice – Marigold seems appropriate. We’ve got the whole garden/plant theme going on here.

Daisy: You realize, of course, that I’m going to blog this.

Readers, are you wondering what started the whole thread? Karma. Pure Karma.

What goes around, comes around.

And you thought I’d made it through an entire post without mentioning the recall election.

 

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A glass of wine and a good book

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Wine makes me feel thoughtful. Sentimental. Poetic, even.

My sixth grade students will soon be reading Walk Two Moons. 

Put these two together, and you get a philosopher reading a deeply insightful and emotional story.

“It was not a trip I was eager to take, but it was one I had to take.” p. 4, start of Chapter 2

How many of are truly eager to take trips that are life-changing, mind-altering? These novel pilgrimages always take characters not just to their physical destination, but to a metaphysical end as well. On my bucket list sits, in bold font, a trip along the old Route 66. I don’t plan it to be a pilgrimage, but who knows? Hours and days on the road can bring thoughts and ideas – kind of like a glass of wine and a good book.

“If people expect you to be brave, sometimes you pretend that you are, even when you are frightened down to your very bones.” p. 13, middle of Chapter 3

This one – I could be punchy and say “I resemble this remark.” People expect me to be brave all too often. The simple first aid responsibilities when no one else can handle the blood; the disability advocate role for myself and my son; leading by word and example, at work and at home; being brave by pretense takes a lot of energy. To act brave when frightened “…down to your very bones….” – we all do it. Some of us play the brave role more often than we ought.

“It is surprising all the things you remember just by eating blackberry pie.” p. 34, final sentence in Chapter 6

Memories. A good memory is both a blessing and a curse. I can forgive, but I never forget.  Certain flavors and certain scents take my mind back to whole events, many fraught with emotion. Those memories, the ones with strong emotions, aren’t always good. But those that are positive, those scents and flavors are pathways to contentment, even happiness.

Walk Two Moons belongs on the shelf I call “Read with a Kleenex.” When main character and narrator Sal reaches her destination by her self-imposed deadline, she — well, read it. It’s worth the time, and it’s worth the tissues.

 

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>Life as we Knew It – are we prepared?

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>Not so long ago, after the World Trade Centers fell, U.S. residents were coping with a new reality. At one point, Homeland Security advised folks to stock up on duct tape and plastic, supplies to seal the house off from potential chemical or dirty bomb attacks.

At my home? We didn’t buy into the fear. We bought wine and cheese instead.
Years later, I trained as a volunteer with our local public health department for the potential, much-feared pandemic flu. After the training, we went home with a stock-the-pantry list in case commerce as we know it shut down. We picked up a few things, but didn’t go wild then, either.
Remember the Y2K scare? People picked up generators, oil lamps, and stockpiles of bottled water. I think we had a gallon or two of water. Maybe.
Now I’ve picked up the book Life as we Knew it by Susan Beth Pfeffer. It’s the first in a trilogy aimed at young adults. The story begins in an average high school in an average spring. Exam preparation, summer plans, prom, crushes, and changing friendships all go on as usual. Then a big event captures everyone’s attention, and I do mean everyone. An asteroid is headed toward the moon, and it’s expected to be visible with the naked eye. Families gather outside on a spring night to observe the phenomenon – and then all hell breaks lose.
As the title suggests, life changes dramatically when the asteroid hits its target. Without too many spoiling details, I can tell you that prom and final exams take a backseat to survival. The struggle for food, heat, light, and water pits family against family, individual against individual, and threatens to destroy an entire way of life.
The panic to stock the pantries reminded me of times in the past when pantry-stocking was a hot topic, even a trend. In Life as We Knew It, pantry-stocking may initially look like a panic reaction, but it turns out to be necessary. Typical sources of food are just not available. Starvation is a very real possibility.
Life as We Knew It sets up an apocalyptic world in which every individual and family group must cope together – or risk the worst. This story caught my attention; I looked up the rest of the trilogy and put the titles on my wish list on PaperbackSwap. If you’re looking for an easy and entrancing read, or if your young adult reader needs something dramatic to hold his or her attention, consider Life as We Knew It. Stocking the pantry may never feel the same again.
I found my copy of Life as We Knew It through my favorite book swap site, Paperbackswap.com. This review was spontaneous and in no way compensated. I’m looking forward to the next two when they become available.

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