Sunday, July 23, 2006
Overheard at Teacher Training
From the must-not-be-english category:
"I'm bilingual in another language."
From the addicted category:
An 8 minute break started and one lady put her iPod in one ear, and her cell phone on the other.
From the are-you-sure-you're-a-teacher category:
"In first grade we use a letter grading system: A, B, C, D, uh... E?.... Anyway, it's a letter system."
From the true-false-and-whatever category:
"Please take exactly about 7 minutes to..."
From the trying-to-keep-a-straight-face category:
Guy commenting on an assignment to his partner: "This is retarded."
Girl partner, a special ed teacher: "Did you say retarded!?!?!?!?"
"I'm bilingual in another language."
From the addicted category:
An 8 minute break started and one lady put her iPod in one ear, and her cell phone on the other.
From the are-you-sure-you're-a-teacher category:
"In first grade we use a letter grading system: A, B, C, D, uh... E?.... Anyway, it's a letter system."
From the true-false-and-whatever category:
"Please take exactly about 7 minutes to..."
From the trying-to-keep-a-straight-face category:
Guy commenting on an assignment to his partner: "This is retarded."
Girl partner, a special ed teacher: "Did you say retarded!?!?!?!?"
Careful What You Wish For
Fifteen mile run yesterday. I was decked out shirtless with my GPS watch, iPod, and CamelBak ready for a long, hot run under the 90+ degree cloudless sky. I make it to my turn-around point on a gravel road that runs along the top of a levy (I think) around a large park. As I turn around I see large dark clouds coming in from the north.
Wish #1: "Ah," I think, "I hope they come this way and block out the sun for a while."
Heading back to the east I keep looking back over my shoulder at the clouds getting ever closer to the sun which is still beating down on me. Finally, they obscure the sun. A cool wind starts to blow and temps drop a bit. I pick up the pace a bit to take advantage of this respite in case the clouds blow over and the sun returns. It doesn't feel like rain, but I put my iPod in the CamelBak just in case.
After a little while it starts to sprinkle. That the sprinkling consisted of big drops should have been a clue. As it was, I enjoyed the coolness and kept the miles rolling. Soon the sprinkling stopped.
Wish #2: "Don't stop yet," I say to the sky, "you just got started."
It starts sprinkling again. Good. The miles keep going by.
Round about mile 12 God decides he's given me my fair warning and proceeds to dump a lake on my head.
By now I'm pretty much the only person left on this paved trail that runs through a grassy area between houses and a bayou. I'm running with my face looking at my feet, through puddles up to my ankles, with nothing to do but keep going.
Shortly after the deluge started the lightning and thunder got going.
FLASH. CRACK!!!!!
No counting the thousands there. I was ducking and swerving for the treeline before I realized what I was doing. That one sounded like it was right over my head. A couple more close ones had me slogging through the grass at the treeline for a few minutes. I got back on the trail again and had a few more uncontrollable fits of ducking before the lighting started to move on.
At one point, around mile 13, I went under a bridge where a street ran over the trail. There were a couple of cyclists there waiting for the waterfall to stop. At this point I thought to myself, "I can't get any wetter," and just kept on going.
Things started to slack off as I approached mile 14, which is where I get off the trail to head home. As I approached the overpass I saw my sis-in-law sitting in her car waiting for me. She had been worried about me and offered me a ride home. While I greatly appreciated the offer, the rain had now stopped and I only had a mile to go so I just ran the rest of the way.
When I got back to the house I checked the rain gauge and found 2 INCHES of water there.
Wish #1: "Ah," I think, "I hope they come this way and block out the sun for a while."
Heading back to the east I keep looking back over my shoulder at the clouds getting ever closer to the sun which is still beating down on me. Finally, they obscure the sun. A cool wind starts to blow and temps drop a bit. I pick up the pace a bit to take advantage of this respite in case the clouds blow over and the sun returns. It doesn't feel like rain, but I put my iPod in the CamelBak just in case.
After a little while it starts to sprinkle. That the sprinkling consisted of big drops should have been a clue. As it was, I enjoyed the coolness and kept the miles rolling. Soon the sprinkling stopped.
Wish #2: "Don't stop yet," I say to the sky, "you just got started."
It starts sprinkling again. Good. The miles keep going by.
Round about mile 12 God decides he's given me my fair warning and proceeds to dump a lake on my head.
By now I'm pretty much the only person left on this paved trail that runs through a grassy area between houses and a bayou. I'm running with my face looking at my feet, through puddles up to my ankles, with nothing to do but keep going.
Shortly after the deluge started the lightning and thunder got going.
FLASH. CRACK!!!!!
No counting the thousands there. I was ducking and swerving for the treeline before I realized what I was doing. That one sounded like it was right over my head. A couple more close ones had me slogging through the grass at the treeline for a few minutes. I got back on the trail again and had a few more uncontrollable fits of ducking before the lighting started to move on.
At one point, around mile 13, I went under a bridge where a street ran over the trail. There were a couple of cyclists there waiting for the waterfall to stop. At this point I thought to myself, "I can't get any wetter," and just kept on going.
Things started to slack off as I approached mile 14, which is where I get off the trail to head home. As I approached the overpass I saw my sis-in-law sitting in her car waiting for me. She had been worried about me and offered me a ride home. While I greatly appreciated the offer, the rain had now stopped and I only had a mile to go so I just ran the rest of the way.
When I got back to the house I checked the rain gauge and found 2 INCHES of water there.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
More Training
I'm in training at my school district this week. So far we're getting told about learning methodologies and taxonomies. Yeah, it's about as fun as it sounds. Who'd have thunk you need to break complex ideas into simple ones in order to teach them? Apparently we need to be told that very thing using fancy words because we're too stupid to figure it out for ourselves.
For the last couple of days my learning partner has been a fresh from college teacher. She's had all this stuff recently in classes, and I've seen it all recently in my ACP (Jimmy: that stands for Alternative Certification Program). She has learned this stuff more recently, and more formally, than I so she's been helping me understand what they really mean when they use the fancy jargon.
Every few minutes the instructor will ask a question and tell us to discuss it with our partner. Many times I would find myself not paying attention and frantically rewinding in my brain to try and figure out what the question was. This as I'm turning to my partner and see her looking at me like she's being nice and giving me first shot. At one point I can't remember the question at all. We just sit there staring at each other and she finally says, "I wasn't paying attention." Whew. I tell her I wasn't either, and we come to a new understanding of how similarly we feel about this. It's too bad they're making us switch partners from time to time because we get stuck with people who are really into this and like to nit-pick silly points. The elementary teachers are the worst at picking at the fine distinctions that really don't matter. I wonder why that is?
For the last couple of days my learning partner has been a fresh from college teacher. She's had all this stuff recently in classes, and I've seen it all recently in my ACP (Jimmy: that stands for Alternative Certification Program). She has learned this stuff more recently, and more formally, than I so she's been helping me understand what they really mean when they use the fancy jargon.
Every few minutes the instructor will ask a question and tell us to discuss it with our partner. Many times I would find myself not paying attention and frantically rewinding in my brain to try and figure out what the question was. This as I'm turning to my partner and see her looking at me like she's being nice and giving me first shot. At one point I can't remember the question at all. We just sit there staring at each other and she finally says, "I wasn't paying attention." Whew. I tell her I wasn't either, and we come to a new understanding of how similarly we feel about this. It's too bad they're making us switch partners from time to time because we get stuck with people who are really into this and like to nit-pick silly points. The elementary teachers are the worst at picking at the fine distinctions that really don't matter. I wonder why that is?
City? State? Whatever...
As part of the move from Chicago to Houston we're moving our insurance to a local agent. I got a call from this agent asking me some questions.
While trying to find our file she asked where we were moving from, I said "Chicago."
She asked what the code or abbreviation was for Chicago. Since we don't actually live in the Chicago city limits I told her which suburb we live in.
She said "Not that, is it CH, CHI...?"
Ah, I get it now.
"It's IL," I say in a disgustedly flat voice, trying not to let the disbelief show through.
Her response was to laugh it off.
Can I still make jokes about public schooling?
While trying to find our file she asked where we were moving from, I said "Chicago."
She asked what the code or abbreviation was for Chicago. Since we don't actually live in the Chicago city limits I told her which suburb we live in.
She said "Not that, is it CH, CHI...?"
Ah, I get it now.
"It's IL," I say in a disgustedly flat voice, trying not to let the disbelief show through.
Her response was to laugh it off.
Can I still make jokes about public schooling?
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
AP Conference - Dorm Living
Back in the dorm. Jeez, I don't remember it being this bad, and this room is better than any I stayed in during my Froggie time.
This room has a private bathroom,
The hot and cold on my shower are switched and should be labeled cool and cold. Apparently you need to run the water for 30 minutes for it to warm up. I don't get up that early. Oh, and the toilet only flushes if you pull the handle in a particular direction and hold it there for a bit.
it's own thermostat and AC controls,
It could be nice if it was quieter, and didn't try to freeze you out no matter what temperature you tell it. I just tell it "off."
and movable furniture.
Too bad I had to move the desk and bed just to find electrical and network outlets, and I sleep on a low wooden dresser-like thing with a small (really small) PLASTIC COVERED mattress on it.
There was a stack of sheets, blanket, and towels sitting in our room when we arrived. The towels are almost translucent (not kidding), and I had to make my own bed. I haven't had to do stuff like this since I got married (love you, honey). For sheets we get two FLAT sheets. For those husbands out there who have been married longer than I the flat sheet is not the one with the funky corners that won't fold right no matter how hard you try, but do keep it on the mattress. Here I am with a flat sheet laying on top of a PLASTIC mattress (which is so small it doesn't fill the space it is in) with another flat sheet on top of that, and a thin blanket on top of that. The thing about sheets laying freely on PLASTIC mattresses is that there is a low coefficient of friction (I had to throw in some physics) which means the sheet doesn't stay on the mattress very well.
While I sleep ok curled up in a ball on the part of the sheet that is still on the mattress with the other sheet and blanket tucked under my feet so I won't feel like I've been short sheeted, others have complained about getting little sleep.
Oh, and there's no trash can in the room.
When did I become so picky?
This room has a private bathroom,
The hot and cold on my shower are switched and should be labeled cool and cold. Apparently you need to run the water for 30 minutes for it to warm up. I don't get up that early. Oh, and the toilet only flushes if you pull the handle in a particular direction and hold it there for a bit.
it's own thermostat and AC controls,
It could be nice if it was quieter, and didn't try to freeze you out no matter what temperature you tell it. I just tell it "off."
and movable furniture.
Too bad I had to move the desk and bed just to find electrical and network outlets, and I sleep on a low wooden dresser-like thing with a small (really small) PLASTIC COVERED mattress on it.
There was a stack of sheets, blanket, and towels sitting in our room when we arrived. The towels are almost translucent (not kidding), and I had to make my own bed. I haven't had to do stuff like this since I got married (love you, honey). For sheets we get two FLAT sheets. For those husbands out there who have been married longer than I the flat sheet is not the one with the funky corners that won't fold right no matter how hard you try, but do keep it on the mattress. Here I am with a flat sheet laying on top of a PLASTIC mattress (which is so small it doesn't fill the space it is in) with another flat sheet on top of that, and a thin blanket on top of that. The thing about sheets laying freely on PLASTIC mattresses is that there is a low coefficient of friction (I had to throw in some physics) which means the sheet doesn't stay on the mattress very well.
While I sleep ok curled up in a ball on the part of the sheet that is still on the mattress with the other sheet and blanket tucked under my feet so I won't feel like I've been short sheeted, others have complained about getting little sleep.
Oh, and there's no trash can in the room.
When did I become so picky?
