Meteor Shower!

 

My Head is Going to Explode

It has been a VERY interesting couple of weeks!  Last week, I took a class for my Google Level I Certification. We covered: 

• Google Slides
• Google Chrome
• Google Web Store
• Gmail, Calendar, and Meets
• Google Groups
• Google Forms
• Google Sheets
• Google Docs
• Google Drive
• Google Classroom
• Google Sites and
• YouTube

This week, I took a class for my Google Level II Certification. We covered: 

• Screencasting
• Chrome Extensions
• Gmail Templates
• Creating, Sharing, and Embedding a Calendar
• Creating Appointment Slots
• Google Maps, Google Earth, and My Maps
• Google Sheets Functions
• Publishing and Protecting Sheets
• Creating a Sparkline
• Creating and Using Pivot Tables
• Creating Surveys and Quizzes
• Google Forms Digital Differentiation
• YouTube Studio, Playlists, and Channels
• Google Docs (more in-depth)
• Blogger

I had No Idea Google offered so much for educators! I have to sign up for the exams, each of which is three hours. Hopefully I can knock out the Level I exam this week and get the Level II exam done before school starts. 

Twins are a-Comin'!

One of my co-workers is having twin boys in October! A benefit of being laid up for a while... I've completed the first of two baby blankets. 

Foot Surgery

For the past few months, I've been struggling with a plantar fibroma on the bottom, arch area of my foot. I thought the analogy the doctor gave me was interesting: 

Think of the plantar tendon as a stalk of celery, branching out from the heel to the toes. For some reason, sometimes the tendon frays, like strands of celery do. (Why is not known.) When this happens, the strands bunch up into a knot. Unfortunately, the only way to get rid of that bunched up knot is to have it removed. 

So I did. I will be on crutches for two weeks until the first half of my stitches are removed, then taking it easy until the remaining stitches are removed at the three week mark. After that, it will be another four to six weeks for the inside of my foot to heal, so I will still have to be careful. 

July 10, 2020
Excision of plantar fibroma

Yep. Somebody Ticked Me Off.

I am not an angry person. I'm not even an angry blogger. I'm basically a happy, satisfied, optimistic person bumbling her way through this adventure we call life. 

But every once in a while something irritates me so much I just HAVE to say something, and since this is my blog to express my opinions, sit back and enjoy the ride or keep scrolling. If you're easily offended, I recommend the latter.

<Rant Mode On>

I am Sick And Tired of the Incessant Complaining. I am disgusted and horrified by some of the protests where people hold up signs like, "Sacrifice the weak - reopen". I am completely exasperated with all the excuses.

Yes, masks are uncomfortable. Yes, they can be an inconvenience. Yes, it's aggravating when your glasses steam up. Yes, they can be hot. Yes to all of these things...and whatever else you come up with to excuse yourself. 

But it's not about you. It's not about the government taking away your rights or turning this country into Nazi Germany. It's not about a descent into fascism or decimating the population to benefit the rich. It's not a hoax perpetrated by Democrats to get Republicans out of office. It's not about getting a vaccine so the government can 'chip and track' you. It's not about my alleged fear and your claim that my 'fear' is 'not your problem'. All of that is horse hockey.

It's about keeping your friends and family, the older ones among us, and anyone who may be medically unable to wear a mask, safe. It's about respect for other people. It's about being a caring, moral, ethical, loving person in society. 

And if you claim to be Christian, you should be thinking about the Golden Rule. You don't care enough about your family and your friends to wear a mask to protect them from a potentially fatal virus? Well, how about that...you know...love your neighbor as yourself thing? Don't be a hypocrite. 

Just. Wear. The. Mask.

<Rant Mode Off>

Thank you for listening. We now return you to somewhat normal programming. :)

Building a firepit

 

My neighbor stopped by to help my son build a firepit in our backyard. It was easy - and cheap! He watched a youtube video first. Check out how to build a fire pit on youtube: 

I Don't Understand Boys.

 

I'm not sure how he thinks...and sometimes it makes me laugh.  He put his clothes in the dryer. He then  dug up a post-it note, found a pen, wrote a "still wet" note, and stuck it on the dryer. 

Wouldn't it have been easier to start the dryer? 

My Irises Bloomed!

 

The School Building is Closing

 

We're going to be closed for at least two weeks because of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Some of the teachers are saying we won't be back this year. 

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.  In the meantime, we'll be teaching online from our basements, spare rooms, and wherever we can find a bit of quiet. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

My Steven is very good to me.  

An Epiphany Moment

Mom, he says, with a contemplative look in his eye.  I've had an epiphany.

Alarm bells start going off in the back of my brain.  I don't like surprises, and epiphanies definitely qualify as surprises. I just never know what he's going to say when he gets that...look.  I decide to tread gently, just in case I need to hide the knives, because I'll never forget his "epiphany" when he decided my chef's knife should be used for everything (resulting in stitches).

An epiphany?

Yes. I really am a geek.  I ... belong ... with the geeks.

Ahh, another proud mom moment. I do love that boy.

He's dreaming about math!

I tap on his door gently to wake him up at around 10:30 a.m. He told me he does not want to sleep all day; he's got homework to do before he goes to work at 4. 

Hey, kiddo, it's time to wake up. 

He yawns, stretches, and then gets this wild-eyed, panicked look...

IT'S COMING ALONG SOON! IT'S COMING ALONG SOON!

Ummm...it's coming along soon?

YES! IT'S COMING ALONG SOON!

What's coming along soon?

2√2y!  (Pronounced, "2 root 2 y")

Errrr... 2√2y is coming along soon?

YES! IT'S COMING! ALONG! SOON! 

There is another long pause, and then he looks at me angrily...

You have NO idea what I'm talking about, DO you?!

Sweetie, do YOU know what you're talking about? 

There is another pause, and then the confusion clears...

Oh.My.God. It's that DAMN MATH PROBLEM I've been working on all night!!!

I couldn't help myself. I just burst out laughing. 

HE'S DREAMING ABOUT MATH! 

I couldn't be more proud.

Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty...

Yes, part of it is camera angle. He is getting big, though. He's a little over a year old and weighs about 12 pounds. And I swear he's still growing.

Surprise!

School has started again and I am not teaching what I thought I was teaching ... I will still be teaching HTML and CSS using the code.org curriculum, and I will still be teaching Introduction to Computer Science in JavaScript using the codehs.com curriculum. I will be writing the Introduction to Business course and teaching that. AP CSP however? The school decided over the summer not to offer it, so the 30 hours I spent at Buff State in a professional development course and the 60 hours I spent online in a second professional development course were a waste of time.  Heavy sigh. 

Well, at least I was prepared. If I am going to teach it next year, I will have to take the PDs again, because the College Board is changing the exam and/or the requirements for 2020-21. In the meantime, I am LOVING teaching Business!

It's been a while...

Teaching has been so rewarding, but so very challenging. I started in 2016 teaching middle school math. That summer, I taught 7th and 8th grade math in summer school. In 2017, I started teaching HTML and CSS from code.org as well as Intro to Computer Science from codehs.com. I had never had any computer courses before and had no idea how to code, so the entire year, I was one or two lessons ahead of the students. 

In 2018, I taught these two courses as well as Desktop Publishing and AP CS A. AP CS A was a disaster...I thought I was supposed to be teaching Computer Science Principles, but I spent the year being one step ahead of the kids in Java. 

This year, I am teaching the original two courses (HTML/CSS and Intro to Computer Science) as well as AP Computer Science Principles and Introduction to Business. I am really looking forward to this year! 

In the meantime, for the first time since I graduated from high school, I took the summer off. My son and I have seen baseball games and thrown catch in the yard, gone to movies, seen the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and just relaxed in general. 

It's time for me to get serious again though... school starts in four weeks, and I have the remainder of a 60 hour PD course to get through! 

Priorities

Found his glasses...

We don't know why, but Ernie likes to put his toys in his water bowl. Guess where I found Ian's glasses?

Am I in the way?

Somebody likes to sleep on my shoulder.

Ernie the Kitty

Ernie the Kitty

We got a kitten!

I really hadn't planned on getting a kitten...I wanted an older cat that has less energy. :D  This one picked me, though.

We went to the SPCA and there he was, this little brown tabby, shaking and trying to hide in a corner. I sat down on the floor, putting my hand on the floor beside me, and I sat very still.  He came out, sniffed my  hand, and ran back to his corner.

The volunteer told us that was the most interaction she'd seen from him since he'd been there. Ian and I looked at each other and said, "He needs us."

He came from a hoarding situation. He was so thin you could feel almost count his ribs, and he was so flea-bitten it was heart-breaking. We will feed him and love him and he will be safe and happy.

His name is Ernie.

He's grown up too fast.

Ian and I went to the DMV today and got his learner's permit. I have so many mixed feelings about it...

Where did the time go? Wasn't it just last week he was 3# 9oz and struggling to breathe? Or yesterday that he broke his elbow playing touch football? All of a sudden, he's driving and graduating from high school.

Time flies when you don't know what you're doing.

Washed Away

One of my family's legends is that my great-grandfather was a rooftop survivor of one of the great floods in Pennsylvania. I'm not sure of the year or the town (it depends on who is telling the story).  I picked up this nook book through Barnes & Noble to start my flood history education.

I'm having trouble putting this book down.  It is told chronologically and separated into sub-chapters by town. It details the lives of the people who both survived and succumbed to the great flood waters at that time. It is interesting, and more often than not, heartbreaking.

I cannot imagine the fear those people must have experienced seeing the waters rise within hours of surviving a tornado outbreak.

I found this map of the area affected by the tornadoes and floods in 1913:

Credit to: http://brisray.com/flood/flood1.htm

(This website, http://brisray.com/, has a well-organized library of pictures/postcards of the flood areas at the time.)

I'm halfway through the book, and I recommend it.

Dining Experience

A couple months ago, Steven and I decided to go for Chinese takeout at my favorite little local eatery. We stood behind a couple completing their 'to go' order. After the couple left, the little old lady behind the counter was FURIOUS. "He never pay! Every time they come, he never pay! She pay all the time! He Deadbeat!"

Well, you had better believe Steven and I, in a silent joining of the minds, decided that was not the night for me to treat him to dinner. He had his wallet out before we even ordered. Fast forward to this evening...

Steven is working and Ian is hanging with his buddies tonight, so I was left to fend for myself for dinner.  I decided that I haven't had Chinese takeout in a while, so I walked over to get my Chicken Chow Mein to go. The little old lady was behind the counter again. I gave my order, and she said, deadpan, "Okay. Give me all your money."  I started laughing, and she said, "That good, right?" and I said, "Yes - for you!"  She began laughing too, and I realized this was the first time in all these years I've been their customer that I've ever seen her so much as smile.

I was alone in the restaurant and sat at a table waiting. All of a sudden she yells, "Okay! Goodbye!" I laughed again and thanked her, and she launched into a chorus of "Bye Bye Love" as I grabbed my bag. I sang with her as I was leaving, and here it is, three hours later, and I'm still laughing.

I don't even know her name, but I love her!

Dead Men's Dust

Excellent read! I do love murder and mayhem (in fiction, that is).  This is Matt Hilton's debut novel. Although I thought the story started off slow, after the first chapter or so, I could not put this book down. The synopsis from Amazon says:

The electrifying debut of ex-military officer and all-around tough guy Joe Hunter, who is on the trail of his missing and estranged brother . . . and the madman who may have taken him.

Michael

There are people in this world who are truly alone, who have no one to share their thoughts, feelings, and lives with. Years ago, I thought I was one of them. When I left my parents' religion on my 18th birthday and they asked me to leave their home, I felt I was unintelligent, unworthy, unwanted, and truly, desperately alone. As the years passed, my brother and I opened communication between us, and although we were not without our problems and baggage, I realized he was the one person in my chaotic existence I could count on.

I think the life event that changed my thinking about my feelings of self-worth was the death of my mother. When she passed, Michael stayed with Ian and me for a few days. After the service, we talked for hours, and I came to see that many of the things I was going through and had been though in my life, he had forged the path for many years previously.  His knowledge and wisdom, shaped by time and experience, was ahead of me and there for the asking.  Although I suspected I was not alone in my life experience, or really alone at all, that night I came to believe it.

Michael is there for me, even though he is 3,000 miles away. He's the first one I call, as he puts it, "when shit goes sideways." When the going gets tough, the tough call Michael.

I used to have a Chevy Cavalier. One day, it quit. Just quit. Ian was still young enough to be in a car seat, and I had no idea what was wrong with the car. I let it sit, and she started up again, only to completely again quit a few feet down the road. The gauges looked okay, she wasn't smoking, the tires were still round, and nothing was dripping, so I was clueless. An uneventful drive home from the daycare center usually took about 15 minutes, but that day, it took 2 hours. It never occurred to me to call for a tow or call a mechanic...I called Michael.

"Hmm. Let the car cool down for a couple hours. Get a rag, a flashlight, and a screwdriver, and call me back at 8:00 your time." 

From Seattle, he walked me though fixing my car. I learned from him that an engine needs three things to work: fuel, oxygen, and air. A leaf had somehow gotten caught in a place that was cutting off air flow to the engine. He may say it's just basic science; I know he is Obiwan.

A straight-A student in school, it never occurred to me that I might fail a course. Cost and Managerial Accounting changed that. A single mom, working full-time, I was putting myself through college to get a degree. Granted, I was a little tired and a bit stressed, but I failed the final exam for CMO1 six times. SIX. Times.  CMO1 was the only thing standing between me and my baccalaureate. I called Michael.

"Hmm. Send me everything. I'll get back to you." 

When I'm thinking straight, unencumbered by emotion and exhaustion, I tend to think in math. It's  a beautiful language, orderly, logical, and sometimes humorous. It makes sense to me. Try as I might, I could make no sense of CMO1.

I sent him everything. The first day crawled by. I reasoned with myself to settle down. Michael will fix it. He has a life. Give him time.

The second day crawled by. I continued reasoning with myself. Settle down. You sent him the entire 900 page e-textbook and all your papers and assignments. Everything is going to be okay. Sleep with the phone. He needs a minute to read everything. Reasoning was quickly approaching a fatal end at the hands of emotion.  

The third day crawled by. By the end of that day, reasoning completely failed me. I was checking my email every three minutes. All I could think was oh, god, I've killed him. Any minute the phone is going to ring and Camille is going to tell me it's my fault he's dead. I couldn't stop crying. 

Looking back, all I can say is ... sheesh. There's probably medication for that.

After an eternity (about 76 hours, real time, but who was counting?), the email came, and Michael's first line was, "Think of the profit margin as a tangent line on a circle." Everything clicked into place. Not only had he read everything I sent him, he translated it into my 'native language'.  I passed the exam with flying colors the seventh time I took it.

Michael moved to Seattle in 2000, and countless times over the years I've called him. When I got my Masters Degree, and when my son started using drugs. When I got my job teaching 7th grade math, and as recently as last week when I got the news that my Aveo was at death's door.  I've forgotten the time difference and called him at the crack of dawn. I've called him with good news and bad, when I'm so happy I have to tell him or my head will explode, and when tragedy strikes and I can't stop crying.

Sometimes I think that when he sees the 716 area code come up on his phone, he probably looks for a place to sit down and brace himself. But he is always the deep voice of reason when my limbic system threatens anarchy. As soon as I hear, "Hmm..." I know it's going to be okay. I'm not alone.

I never really have been.

The Lord Giveth...the Lord Taketh Away

Talk about a day when I didn't know whether to laugh or cry...

Steven called me. His father passed away today, and he will be heading down to the Carolinas to be with family during this difficult time. I feel so bad for him. I know when my father passes, I'll be a mess. I'm going to miss him terribly while he travels. 

I hung up the phone with him, and within one minute, my phone rang again. It was my nephew Andy. Carlie is pregnant! They are expecting their child around September 25th. I am so excited for them!

Life does have a way of throwing curve balls. I'll cry for Steven while I crochet for the baby.

Haiku

Gently falling snow

Tiny crystals of courage

He will be home soon

Pleasure

One of my students has been in this country for less than six months, and as we all know, English is one of the hardest languages to learn. I help him all I can, and I'm glad that he feels comfortable with me to ask questions that are not necessarily related to math, but to science and ELA as well.

He came up to me after class to ask me what pleasure meant, only he didn't say "pleasure". He made it four syllables with his vowels all long. It sounded something like plee - a - su - ree. It took me a second, because I knew he was saying the word he was reading phonetically. "Oh! Pleasure!" I said, "It's something that you enjoy, makes you feel good, happy."

"Pleasure," he said, a couple of times, trying it out and thinking hard. "Miss?" He paused again, and I could see his wheels turning. And then he gave me a big smile. "Miss, I pleasure this class math."

My favorite student now, hands down. 

I love these kids!

For the holiday, I assembled treat bags for the kids with little things Melissa and I bought for them. We gave them a jingle bell, a candy cane, a pencil with two little erasers, a sticky hand, and a coloring book. We decided that, because of the low attendance today, we would show them a movie and give math a break.

7A, my SPED class, was the one I thought would be the most crazy. Instead, they opened their treat bags quietly, ate their candy canes, and enjoyed Beethoven's Christmas Adventure. They even said thank you as they were leaving the classroom!

7B, my gifted group, was the one I thought would be the quietest. Wrong again. The sticky hands were almost immediately flying in all directions as they tried to pull other student's belongings away from them, tried to stick them on the ceiling, tried to stick them in each other's hair... The Santa Clause was just background noise for happy shenanigans. I thought they were a riot, but Melissa was not amused. Probably a good thing...they would have been out of control all period, and I'd have been right along with them. :D

7C, my English language learners, was the group I was unsure of. A high percentage of the group follows the path of Islam, so I had a back-up coloring sheet in case they had religious objection to a Christmas movie and gift. I need not have worried. Some seemed to get the biggest kick out of the candy canes, eating it from both ends. As a whole, they initially preferred coloring in the little holiday coloring books in their treat bags to watching the movie , but then quickly realized they could grab each other's coloring books with the sticky hands. I probably shouldn't have let them get away with it, but hey, it's the last day of school before break, and I'm tired. :D

It's funny how this job is working out for me. I don't think I've ever worked so hard or for so many hours, but I feel like I'm making a difference. It's fulfilling, enjoyable, and worth every minute.

I have finally found my purpose.

For my ENL (ESL or ELL) students

I have quite a few students who are learning English as a second (or fifth) language. While the signs in math are similar or the same, they struggle with the words.

As a basic cheat sheet, I made 3 x 3 cards out of construction paper:

I then laminated them ... :

and then hole-punched a corner and put in a binder ring so they can keep them in their math notebooks:

I hope this helps them! One of my students has only been in this country for about 4 months, so now he is not only learning a new language in a new culture, he is learning math in a new language in a new culture. I can't imagine how difficult this must be.

I Got the Job!

Say hello to the new 7th grade Math teacher for the Buffalo Academy of Science! I am so excited and scared and nervous and excited...

I am about to begin a big adventure, a new chapter in the story of my life. It's going to be interesting, fun, frustrating, challenging, and much different from the typical day I am used to. I am looking forward to it.

And I am determined to be the best darn math teacher I can be.

Einstein Quote

"Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction."