Something goofy and good to do

I got this idea from a blogging buddy half way across the country.  I have no idea how she finds all these creative places, but she’s very good about passing them on to the rest of us.  I took her up on the last one and did some toast art.  Not only do you get to do something fun (actually a little goofy), but it’s for a good cause.  Here is my bread art:

 

fruit with toast and a hat

I used a photo of a piece of art I have hanging in our guest bedroom.  It’s really a goofy piece so I felt like it would work well on toast.

Go make a piece of toast art and let me know about it.

how we started our day

We started the day at 7:30 with an evacuation.  Some kid had set fire to the boy’s locker room.  Four fire trucks rolled.  Instead of telling us where the fire was located, we evacuated right to area where the fire trucks arrived.  Made for an interesting start of another day and another week.

State testing wreaks havoc with schedules

We have started the mandated state testing for high schools.  This past week we spent 3 hours on Tuesday taking language arts and 3 hours on Wednesday with social science.  I am fortunate as I am testing all 11th graders so all the materials were the same.   Some classrooms had as many as three sets of tests, one for each grade level.

Since we spend the three hours in testing during the morning, lunch comes earlier and then afterwards we have four periods, yet out of order.  Tuesday was periods 5, 6, and 1; Wednesday was periods 2, 3, 4, 7.  This next week we will do it again, taking math tests on Tuesday, and science tests on Wednesday.  

This chaotic schedule came on the heels of our grade distribution night, where the teachers set up shop in the school’s gym from 3 to 7 (after teaching all day) for parents to pick up quarterly grades and meet with teachers.   Then it’s back to school at 7 the next morning to pick up testing materials, set up the classroom, and squeeze as much out of the time as possible.

I am not proctoring on Tuesday as that is our senior portfolio day for business students.  Although a big deal for our department, the rest of the school ignores what we do.  No other department has a culminating activity for its students unless you count IB tests, for which the school does make a HUGE, BIG, DEAL. 

My marketing students presented their business plans to Fresno State University people at the end of the week and the multimedia students are working on a big project for a local nonprofit.  Even with the testing, we keep teaching school.  Sort of like building the airplane in midair, during flight.

former student hospitalized

I hate going to the hospital, either as patient or visitor.  Sometimes, though, you have to make the trip.  Yesterday was one of those times.  My teaching partner and I had learned earlier in the week that a former student was hospitalized again with a very serious, life-threatening disease.  This is a great little gal who was a valedictorian (we get very few of those in our program) who had gone on to college and has worked for one of our business partners.  She has been successful at everything she does except battling this disease.  Even at that, she is a fighter.  We are praying she will win this battle and again be healthy.

Kitty update

Thank you, all dear Readers, who sent condolences for Samson.  He is home from the vet with more antibiotics.  Although he is still wheezing, he is eating and doing cat things.  I don’t know how long we will have him with us, but we are enjoying him while we have him.  And, I continue to spoil him.

My kitty is sick

My little Samson (well, he’s not so little anymore) is in the hospital with a terrible infection.  We are hoping the vet can make him all better.  We’ve had Samson since he was a tiny kitten who had to be fed with an eyedropper.  I now cook boneless chicken breasts for him to eat.  He’s a very special kitty.

Saturday afternoon

After working in the yard for awhile, I decided to enjoy the beautiful afternoon.

 

My bench under the trees

As I looked up, I could see this:

 

Looking up

The view to my right:

Samson came by to see what I was doing:

Samson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Under my feet:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above my head

It was a beautiful spot to spend some time on a a lovely Saturday afternoon.  I realized how much I needed just some quiet time to contemplate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also realized that after all these years, my yard is just what I had envisioned so many years ago when we first moved in and it was a barren, dry, hot place.  Now it’s shady, cool, and overgrown.  Sort of another room where I can go and daydream on just such a day as this.

Leaving the school but not the profession

I found this great blog about a teacher in San Jose, a Teach for America member, who has had it with her public school.  She is not leaving teaching after two years, as many Teach for America alums do, but rather shifting gears to a different sort of school.  

Bravo, Miss Bennett.  This quote says so much, and I know just how she feels:

I’m not willing to spend the next 10 years of my life killing myself fighting mediocrity. Every day, I know I make an impact in my own classroom, but beyond that door, I see nothing change. 

I was successful in school and when I worked in industry.  I didn’t have to read or hear each day, in the news, what a failure I was at what I did like I do now with education.  Everything that is wrong with schools is blamed on the teacher.

Twilight the movie

Although I have not read the Twilight books  I did get to see the movie this past week on a bus trip to Sacramento with my senior students. The girls have all been reading the books like crazy so I was curious to see what the hullabaloo was about.  

The movie is very dark, and I don’t mean just the storyline. The lighting is non existent. I truly understand, after watching the movie, why teen age girls love it so much. It’s sort of a Romeo/Juliet type thing. The kids fall in love with someone they shouldn’t. Neither the vampire or human society approves. There is that bad boy thing going on.

“And he loves me and rescues me and it’s just wonderful.” Yuck, but I’m not 16.

It’s really not a bad movie, but I wouldn’t waste money seeing it. My daughter, a youth pastor, read a couple of the books because she knew her students were reading them. Just like the Harry Potter books, she wants to know what her kids are doing so she reads a lot. She passed the books along to me to add to our book shelves at school. She believes as I do, it’s fantasy, and as long as young people keep that in mind, it’s not such a bad thing. Just as we don’t want to take Cinderella too seriously, neither should we take the Twilight series too seriously.

I’m going to make an addendum here

The next thing we are going to see is Twilight proms.  I remember when Titanic was so popular.  I had students who wanted to use that as the theme.  Actually, the Twilight prom might not be too bad.  Ten years ago, when I did the prom, I had the ceiling striped in lights, just like the gazebo in the movie.

The life & times at an inner city school

We spent two hours on the field yesterday due to another (our third since January) bomb scare.  What a waste of time.

My seniors are presenting their business plans to staff from Fresno State University, and the judges were at school, ready to go, when the alarm sounded.  Fortunately, we were able to get the ok to get one of the judges off the field by running them through the parking lot and out the gate.  The other one had been caught up in the office and was able to make her get-away.  

The principal is offering a $1000 reward for information on the culprit who continues to terrorize the school and waste tax payer money.  Each of these incidents costs $1000 to bring out fire and bomb squad personnel.  It wastes so much class time too, and I don’t know how you put a price tag on that.