Needles, Notes and News

Summer 2010 Mystery Mittens and Hat - Clue 6

2010-07-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

Don't be concerned if your stripe pattern doesn't match up with mine at the thumb stitches. The photo is of a prototype - the number of rounds got tweaked in the final pattern.

Download Clue 6 as a pdf here

Summer 2010 Mystery Mittens and Hat - Clue 5

2010-07-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

Mitten cuffs (either hand) should look like this:

Clue 5 can be downloaded here

Clue 6 (final clue) will be available on Friday, July 23.

Summer 2010 Mystery Mittens and Hat - Clue 4

2010-07-15T18:25:00.000-07:00

The last clue finished your hat. Hopefully, you have something that looks like these!

Download Clue 4 here

Clue 5 will be available on Tuesday, July 20.

Summer 2010 Mystery Mittens and Hat - Clue 3

2010-07-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

Here's what you should have at the end of Clue 2.

Download Clue 3 Here

Clue 4 will be available on Friday, July 16.

Summer 2010 Mittens and Hat - Clue 2

2010-07-08T19:21:00.000-07:00

Here's what you should have after Clue 1.

Download Clue 2 as a pdf here

Clue 3 will be available on Tuesday, July 13.

Summer 2010 Mystery Mittens and Hat - Clue 1

2010-07-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

A mystery knitalong intended to produce a hat-and-mittens set for charity donation or personal use. The resulting hat and mittens will be a child size L/XL or adult size S/M, depending on your yarn and exact gauge.

Download Clue 1 as a pdf here

Conversation

2009-09-05T21:47:00.001-07:00

Me: I'm going to the grocery - anyone need anything?

Son: Is it OK if I give you a list?

Me: Of course.

Son: Are you going someplace that they sell mussels?

Shawl Collar Charity Sweater Patterns for download

2009-09-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

A lot of people have been patiently waiting for this pattern to be made available, so...here it is.

Lattice Wrap solid color with textured pattern

Scrap Wrap sweater designed to use up leftovers

Homework Excuse

2009-04-17T16:38:00.000-07:00

Same story, new verse, today, with a surprise ending…

“Mrs. G, I KNOW you’ll think this is not true…I feel SOOOOO stupid, but it’s TRUE, it IS! I put my binder on top of my car and…”

Right. I did believe her. Totally.

I told her she was just lucky it wasn’t a baby in a car seat that she’d set on top of the car and driven away…not that I really believe that particular urban belief tale, but I might personally know someone who has set her coffee mug on top of the car, then headed off down the street…

Much to everyone’s amusement, an office aide interrupted class about an hour later, with the binder…a bit worse for wear after having survived its tumble off of the car roof, but more or less intact. A neighbor had seen her take off and watched the binder fly.

The homework was deemed by me to be “on time”, as class was not yet over…

My Favorite Class (II)

2009-02-28T06:04:00.001-08:00

Let me tell you about 8th period.

They're my favorite class.

Eighth period is scheduled differently at our school. Period 1-6 meet on a block schedule. 80 minutes twice a week and 45 minutes on Fridays. The last two classes, 7th and 8th periods, meet M-Th for 50 minutes and 45 minutes on Fridays. Do the math, and right away, you see that 8th period gets an advantage. I see them for 245 minutes per week, whereas I see my other classes for 205 minutes.

It may not seem like 40 minutes a week would make much difference. It does. Eighth period is the class that actually gets time in class to work on the homework. They get more time to ask questions. We cover less per day, but we cover it better. I'm not a huge fan of block scheduling, and I'm REALLY not a fan of the last 20 minutes in a block class.

Here's the real difference in this class, though.

Eighth period only has 14 students.

My other classes are in the 20-25 range and I know that's nothing to my colleagues who regularly see 30-36 in a class, but 14? That's practically private tutoring! We can have class discussions without resorting to "holding the speaking stick" and "lab groups" tend to be a little more free-form since there's more than enough equipment to go around.

This is teaching at its best. Time, space and resources in abundance.

And here's the kicker, for anyone who thinks these things don't matter.

EVERY student in 8th period is passing the class. I can't say that about any other class period.

Eighth period. That's my favorite class.

My Favorite Class

2009-02-22T17:19:00.000-08:00

Welcome back. The status chart tells me that I have "followers". To my followers, my apologies. What can I say? I've been busy.

The second year of teaching. It's night and day different from the first. It's better, no question. I know what's coming, sometimes. I have lesson plans, and even when the lesson plans are sketchy, I have ideas. Things I can fall back on when things get hectic.

I'm no longer "The new teacher". Students and parents both appreciate that, but then, last year I tried desperately to downplay "the new teacher" role, so there were plenty who never knew. This year, I have no excuses.

And with experience comes...commitment. Without trying, I find myself on 2 committees, coaching an academic event team and co-sponsoring an organization. I just THOUGHT my Saturdays were going to be mine after my own classwork was over...

As a parent, I've considered the question "Which child do you love the most?". Of course, there's no answer, but I do like the quote I picked up somewhere..."I love the child most who needs me the most". It changes from year to year. Sometimes, from day to day.

And so it is with my classes. Which one is my favorite?

***********************

Let me tell you about 3rd Period.

They're my favorite class.

They're easy to love. That's the "Honors" class. It's filled to the rafters (next year, can there PLEASE be two sections of Honors?) with the brightest and most motivated. They love a challenge, they want to succeed. They do the homework, they study for exams. Many of their parents have contacted me during the year, and then, satisfied that I'm at least minimally competent, have sat back to enjoy the ride with me, with their children, with my students.

There are 5 girls in 3rd period. And 20 boys. How did that happen? Despite the gender disparity, we survive. We laugh a lot, and I roll my eyes some days when the silliness gets out of control and they know I love them anyway.

They read the textbook, they read the assignments, they read the instructions, and when they question me, it's because they truly want to understand.

They're easy to love. With them, I am an education genius, I am a success. I make them look good, and they make me look good.

It would be easy to say that they are my favorite class.

Mittens '08

2008-09-30T03:51:00.000-07:00

Mittens, knitted here and there in between other projects all summer long. On their way to the Cheyenne River Youth Project.

Snowman Mittens Pattern

2008-07-21T06:59:00.001-07:00

These mittens are quick to make, and the smaller size only needs one 50-gram ball of worsted weight yarn. The design uses simple cable stitches and is charted in the directions. Enjoy!

Download a .pdf of the pattern here

Summer Vacation

2008-06-27T08:06:00.001-07:00

Out of the frying pan, into the fire, so to speak. School ended, company came, the graduate graduated, the company left and I was right back at school, since somewhere along the way I agreed to tutor students who did not pass the state-mandated exit exam.

It's been an learning experience.

I have a group of about 25 students, from which about 10 show up on any given day. Some are dedicated. One young lady even brought her two young babysitting charges with her one day so she wouldn't miss the 2-hour tutoring session. The children, roughly age 8, sat quietly in the hall and waited and I felt terrible because I didn't even have any crayons to offer them. The dedicated ones are "getting it", this time around.

Then there are those who see the tutoring sessions as 2-hour time blocks in which to text-message their friends. They are not "getting it".

Sweaters and socks for CIC have been accumulating in a box since mid-April. In the record-setting Texas June weather, it's hard to imagine wearing all that wool...

By the Numbers

2008-06-01T15:12:00.000-07:00

36 (+1 for finals that I hadn't figured in up front) down. Zero to go. The first year is over.

Some numbers for the records:

140 - Number of students on my roster on the first day of school.
156- Number of students who were on my roster at some point in the year.
120 - Number of students on my roster by the end of school.

1 - Number of physics students who dropped the class.

6 - Classes assigned to me.

3 - "Preps", or unique classes assigned to me.

4 - Number of Physics students who went the entire year without ever turning in a homework assignment

4 - Number of Physics students who failed the class

3 - Number of Physics students who failed the class by fewer than 10 points (Note to the wise: Homework counts for 10% of the grade)

90 - Percentage of Physics students who said "Homework" was their least favorite part of class
95 - Percentage of physics students whose advice to next year's class would be "Do the homework"

1 - Number of blank notecards allowed to fill with formulas to use during tests.
1.8 - Average number of "new" notecards required per student.
13 - Maximum number of "new" notecards requested by a single student. That would be...one for each of 12 tests, and one for the final.

70 - Number of "2 for a dollar" lab notebooks purchased at the beginning of the year
6 - Number of lab notebooks still in the box at end of year

250 - number of short, eraserless "golf pencils" taken from the spare pencil cup
Innumerable - number of complaints that "These pencils don't have an eraser!"
Equal to above - Number of times I said "Too bad. Next time, bring your own pencil"

1 - Number of "feature movies" shown during class time. ("October Sky")
Large - Number of students who suddenly developed an interest in model rocketry.
10 - Number of model rockets launched at least once
18 - Number of rocket engines used
4 - Number of model rockets sacrificed to the education gods and to the delight of students

Unknown - Number of marbles and bouncy balls which disappeared over the course of the year

96 - Percentage of my Junior students who passed the exit level state science test

12 - Number of seniors in all my classes combined

12 - Number of those seniors who graduated this week

They are a varied and fascinating group, these seniors. Nearly half speak English as their second language. There's a talented musician and a phenomenal photographer and an impressive dancer. Two of them graduated in three years. Two have signed on with the military. Some are going to college, one hopes to be an architect. Others are already a part of the work force.

Rebecca.
Shawn.
Andy.
Erica.
Justin.
Patricia.
Justine.
Priscilla.
Irving.
Josh.
Aaron.
Derrick.

Thanks for your hard work, the laughter and for your patience with the novice teacher.

The numbers are all in your favor, now. Make the best of them.

I couldn't be prouder of you if you were my own.

Waffles #9 - Pattern available for download

2008-05-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

A pdf of the pattern can be downloaded here.

Intended for personal and charity use.

For free distribution only.

I Love my Students...

2008-05-10T06:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes they play RIGHT into your hands...

Brenna is a dance team star, cute, bubbly, and so BLONDE it's not even funny. No offense intended to anyone blonde, but the term is commonplace and gets the point across...

She's struggled all year to maintain 70-73 grades so she stays eligible for the dance team. She's a busy, busy, busy young lady, and Physics just isn't at the top of her priority list.

However, this final 6 weeks, dance is winding down and somehow, circuits and electricity have caught her attention. Three-week progress reports were just mailed, and she came to class yesterday practically screaming. "Mrs. G!!! Do you KNOW what my progress report said??? 95! Ninety-five!!!"

I said that yes, I did know that, and congratulated her.

Then...I wish I had this on tape. She turned around to the rest of the class and said...

+

+

+

+

+

+

"Just SEE what happens when you do all your homework?!?!?"

Waffles #8 - All Done!

2008-05-02T17:03:00.001-07:00

And here's the finished product.

If you have a picture to share, please post a comment with a link, and thanks for playing along!

Waffles #7 - Sleeves

2008-04-30T17:47:00.000-07:00

Sweater so far:

Pick up 54 stitches around the armhole opening.

The stitches should be arranged as follows: 2 stitches over cast-off stitches at underarm, 26 stitches to shoulder, 26 stitches back to underarm.

Sleeves are worked in the round, with no underarm seam.

Begin work in pattern stitch at the 2 underarm stitches. The two underarm stitches will be "purl 2" of the pattern and a "knit 4" rib will be centered at the top of the shoulder.

On the first round, P1, place marker, continue to end of round. The marker is at the center of the underarm.

Work pattern stitch for 5 more rounds.

Begin sleeve decreases on next round Decrease one stitch on each side of marker, every third round.

In other words, decrease 2 stitches at underarm every 3 rows, 12 times. (30 stitches remain).

(Hint: I found it easiest to keep those two underarm stitches as "purls"...one on each side of the marker, adjusting the next stitch away from the marker as the pattern gets decreased away)

Continue to work even in pattern stitch until 7 complete pattern repeats have been worked (7 purl ridges), ending with row 6.

Change to smaller needles and work 6 rounds in P2, K4 ribbing.

Bind off all stitches.

Work second sleeve to correspond to first.

Weave in all yarn ends.

Waffles #6 - Collar

2008-04-28T19:41:00.000-07:00

From the last set of instructions: Sweater is inside out, ready for 3-needle bindoff at right shoulder.

Left upper front is removed from holder and ready to be worked. Yarn is joined at neckline.

34 neckline stitches picked up, ready to work collar.

COLLAR:

Knit 3 rows even.

Increase row: Increase 3 stitches, evenly spaced. In other words, increase one stitch at each shoulder and one stitch at the center back.

Repeat these 4 rows twice more. 43 stitches total.

Knit two rows even.

Bind off all stitches.

Take a moment right now to search out a tapestry needle and weave in all of the yarn ends so far. You'll feel so efficient and when the sleeves are done, the sweater will be DONE.

End of an Era

2008-04-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

In 1997 we moved a reluctant 7th grader 90 miles north to a new life, new district, new school. Elizabeth had already made quite a name for herself in the music, math and science programs at her previous schools and we were anxious to get her involved in something similar as soon as possible. Without much idea of what we were getting into, we encouraged her to try out for a spot on the middle school Science Olympiad team.

Unknowingly, we had stumbled on to one of the finest middle school teams in the state. Within 6 years, they qualified for National competition 5 times. Parental help was an expectation, and Dave and I discovered niches we hadn't looked for, but came to love, as "parent coaches". Dave coached winning teams of bridge builders, tower constructors and model airplane pilots. I quickly garnered a reputation as a very versatile coach, working with helium balloon lofts, graph and chart events, metric measurement and estimation, climate, oceanography, physics, chemistry. There's no question in my mind that the coaching helped me last year when I attempted teaching certification in "Composite Sciences" for the state of Texas...I'd been reviewing for years!

As our children grew, each one earned a place on the middle school team, then advanced to the high school level. We learned to work around after-school practices, Saturday reviews and the weekend tournaments each year; Regional Qualifiers, then in late April, the State event. The school teams were excellent, each year the competition became more intense, the honor of reaching the State level more satisfying.

And each year, the family collection of medals grew.

Elizabeth stood out in middle school for her computer skills. Before the days of "Google", she was an expert (and State Champion) at combining keyboard and language in internet searches. We watched her friends grow up, graduate and move on, and last year, one of my early coaching proteges ended up working with Dave in the professional engineering world. We watched in awe as her team captured the first State championship of several we were to experience and wished her team well as they went off to the University of Chicago.

In the following years, at least one child would participate in National Competitions in Colorado, Delaware and Pennsylvania. They learned the finer points of group dynamics, tour buses, shared hotel rooms and time schedules. As parent/coaches, one or both of us went along on most of these trips. We were honored to be a part of "that Texas team" with its signature black cowboy hats, neat tucked-in logo shirts and blue jeans.

And the medals kept on coming home.

When Alex was in middle school, a last minute event change meant that he'd be competing in an event he'd never studied for. In what I consider one of my finest moments of parenting, I drew on what I remembered from long-ago chemistry classes and coached him for just 3 days in "Polymer Science". He represented his school alone, without an event partner, and placed first in the state competition. Never mind the parenting...the child was willing and capable. The honor was his. At the high school level, he earned a reputation as a meticulous detail man in balsa wood construction. He, his event partner and Dave spent many afternoons fine-tuning wings and propellers and occasionally watching a competition-worthy plane fly directly into a gymnasium basketball hoop.

Two years behind, Isaac observed and absorbed the knowledge. His forte has always been memory/recall and he quickly earned the respect of students, teachers and coaches in a variety of "academic events". Oceans. Glaciers. Insects. Water chemistry. Ecology. One year at the State level, he had the distinction of medaling in 3 out of his 4 events.

I have great respect for the teachers who orchestrate the practices and the paperwork to make this event what it is. I'm proud to count several of our children's teacher/coaches as my mentors as I begin my own teaching career. In a world where the headlines include teenagers who seek to break down and destroy, it has been an honor to work closely with some of those who search for excellence and aren't afraid of the hard work necessary to achieve it.

In Texas, the competition has become fierce. More and more schools participate, and there are more levels to the competition...not just anyone can go to "State". A few years ago, Regional qualifying tournaments were introduced, and the State competition was capped at 30 teams. A school team that advances to the State level has every right to be proud of the accomplishment. Regional competitions allow more local participation, and I'm always happy to hear the name of a "new" participating school. Best of luck to them...I hope they'll be back next year, and the next, and the next.

This weekend was the 2008 Science Olympiad Texas State Tournament, and late last night, 4 weeks away from high school graduation, Isaac arrived home triumphantly displaying his final medal in the Science Olympiad. Second place silver in "Environmental Chemistry". A brilliant finish to something that has bound our family together for 10 years. It's truly the end of an era.

Waffles #5 - Upper Front / Neckline

2008-04-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

Sweater so far. Left front stitches are on waste yarn and right front is ready to be worked.

The crossed stitches at the center front will provide reinforcement at the bottom of the neck opening.

RIGHT UPPER FRONT:

Work back and forth for 10 rows, keeping pattern as established and ending at the shoulder edge. Break yarn, leaving about 4 feet.

Use your preferred method to attach the shoulder stitches to each other. Either use a Kitchener Stitch from the "right side" to graft 12 front and 12 back shoulder stitches together, or turn the sweater wrong side out and use a 3-needle bind off from the "wrong side". Keep the last stitch "live, and place it on a stitch holder along with the 8 neck-edge stitches.

(Hint: do not fasten off the yarn used to graft or bind off the shoulder seam. Leave 6-8 inches of yarn; you can use this tail later to draw up any slight "holes" at the shoulder after working the collar).

LEFT UPPER FRONT:

Take left front stitches off holder. Join yarn at center front. The wrong side of the sweater should be facing you. Beginning with pattern row 3 (and keeping neck edge section in garter stitch), work back and forth for 10 rows, ending at neck edge. Do not break yarn!

Place back left shoulder stitches on a double-point needle and use reserved yarn at shoulder to graft shoulder seam (from right side of sweater) or work a 3-needle bind off (from wrong side of sweater). Again, leave the last stitch "live" and place it on the circular needle next to left front neck stitches. Again, break shoulder seam yarn, leaving a tail for later.

Pick up the yarn at center front and with wrong side of sweater facing you, knit across 8 front neck stitches, 1 shoulder seam stitch, 16 back neck stitches, 1 shoulder seam stitch and 8 right front stitches.

34 stitches total.

Waffles #4 - Front to Neckline

2008-04-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

Upper back with stitches divided for shoulder, back neck, shoulder. Yarn is saved at left shoulder for grafting shoulder later.

Yarn is joined at right underarm. The first row worked on the section will be a "wrong side" row.

You will begin the pattern stitch with row 5. Work back and forth for 11 rows, ending with pattern row 3.

With right side of front facing you, work 12 stitches in pattern, place marker, K 16 stitches, place marker, work 12 stitches in pattern.

Keeping the side panels in pattern stitch and the center panel in garter stitch (K every row), work 9 rows.

With right side facing you, work 12 stitches in pattern, slip marker, K 7, cross the next two stitches, K7, slip marker, work in pattern to end of row.

(To cross stitches, remove the first stitch from the left hand needle, hold that stitch at front of work, knit the next stitch, replace the first stitch on the left hand needle and knit it. You have made a mini "cable twist").

Place the first 20 stitches on waste yarn or a stitch holder. These will be worked as the left upper front later. Work will continue on the remaining 20 stitches to form the right upper front.

Waffles #3 - Upper Back

2008-04-22T16:59:00.000-07:00

Body worked to front/back dividing round:

Body after front/back dividing round: yarn is at the left underarm of sweater. "Wrong side" of back is facing you and you are ready to start working "back and forth" on back section.

Work back-and-forth across these 40 stitches for 32 more rows, ending with row 6 of pattern, and with yarn at left shoulder. Break yarn, leaving about 4 feet of yarn. This yarn will be used later to graft the shoulder seam.

NOTE! Remember to reverse the pattern stitches when working "wrong side" rows - knits become purls and purls become knits when the wrong side is facing you.

Place back stitches on stitch holders or waste yarn as follows: 12 stitches (shoulder), 16 stitches (back neck), 12 stitches (shoulder).

Turn work so wrong side of front is facing you and join yarn at the right underarm.

Waffles #2 - Main Body

2008-04-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

Here's where we stopped:

Continue in pattern stitch for 27 more rounds, ending with row 3.

You should have a total of 6 purled "ridges" and be at your beginning-of-round marker. This is the left underarm of the finished sweater.

Bind off two stitches, work across next 40 stitches in pattern as established. Place these 40 stitches on waste yarn or on a spare double point needle. They will be used later for the front of the sweater.

Bind off two stitches (right underarm) and work across the remaining 40 stitches, keeping pattern as established.

NOTE - To center the pattern on the top of the sweater, the two bound-off stitches at each underarm should be the "Purl 2" stitches of the pattern. Both 40-stitch sections, front and back, should begin and end with the "Knit 4" stitches of the pattern.

Waffles #1 - Getting Started

2008-04-18T23:30:00.000-07:00

Begin at bottom of sweater body.

Using 24-inch circular needle, CO 84 stitches. Join, being careful not to twist stitches.

Place marker to mark beginning of round.

Work in P2, K4 ribbing for 7 rounds.

Begin pattern stitch, work through 6 rows of pattern (13 rounds completed).

Pattern:
Solid dot - P on right side, K on wrong side
Open space - K on right side, P on wrong side

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Pattern stitch, for those who prefer not to use charts:
(Worked in the round over a multiple of 6 stitches)

Rounds 1 and 2: Purl 2, Knit 4
Round 3: Purl all stitches
Rounds 4, 5 and 6: Purl 2, Knit 4

Putting the "Mock" in "Mockingbird"

2008-04-17T20:15:00.001-07:00

You can't see it.

No, you can't, but Pandora can.

One of Texas' finest, the State Bird, is out there just on the other side of that window.

It comes every morning and drives that cat mad.

"Bird Brain"? Not that one...

"Waffles For Brunch" Sweater Instructions Coming Saturday

2008-04-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

Beginning Saturday, April 19, I will begin posting the instructions for the Waffle sweater in a "Knitalong" format, a section every other day or so.

For now, here's the materials list:

(Sweater is about a 3/4 Toddler size - intended for charity knitting where "every sweater will fit some child")

Gauge: 3 stitches = 1 inch and 4 rows = 1 inch

About 400 yards bulky weight yarn (I used Lamb's Pride Bulky by Brown Sheep Company for the red sweater pictured in a previous post. The sweater that will be pictured in the Knitalong is made from Reynold's Lopi)

Needles to get gauge (I used US size 11)
24-inch circular
Short circular or double points in same size for knitting sleeves in the round
Double point needles one size smaller than main needles for working sleeve cuffs

A couple of stitch markers

Waste yarn, an extra circular needle or stitch holders

Waffles for Brunch Sweater

2008-03-24T12:57:00.001-07:00

The red sweater is going in the mail to Children in Common today, and I'm sort of sorry to see it leave. It doesn't fit anyone here, for sure, so there's no reason for it to stay, but it's full of memories of a wonderful weekend in Boston.

Over my Spring Break, I visited daughter Elizabeth and for three days, we did fun things. We watched movies, went out for coffee and took a field trip into central Massachusetts to WEBS where we spent a fine four hours petting the merchandise. We restrained ourselves to just one medium sized shopping bag each, and since Elizabeth was driving, I cast on the red sweater on the way home.

I finished the body by bedtime and must have planned the neckline and collar in my sleep. Saturday morning, I was honored to join Elizabeth's "Knitting Brunch" friends for waffles, coffee, more coffee and great conversation. The first sleeve was finished as the gathering began to disperse and nothing would do but that the second sleeve was finished before supper time.

I wish the child who wears it warmth, love, laughter...and maybe a waffle for brunch.

(Pattern is in the works...will post when finished)

Artsy

2008-03-18T15:53:00.000-07:00

So, I've been working on the Raspberry Parfait raglan for several weeks, on and off, since it doesn't lend itself to transporting places. I finished it yesterday, blocked it last night, and decided to get artsy with the photography. Just about the time the wind came up.

Yes, Northerners, the grass in the front yard really IS that green.

Spring Break

2008-03-14T18:37:00.001-07:00

Twenty-seven down. Nine to go. Nine. Where has the year gone? The past week has been a case of "just hanging on", but suddenly it was 12:30, the "early release" day was over, the students were gone and the teachers were out the door about 20 minutes behind them. This is a stange but wonderful profession, that which gives me a week-and-a-day-and-a-half break just when it seems to be needed most.

Sometimes I feel like I'm being pretty effective in the classroom. Then there are the other times. Times like this week when I graded an essay on "Newton's Laws of Emotion" and read through a test answer about Millikan's "Oil Spill Experiment" (it's supposed to be an oil drop...). Despite what I thought were fairly clear lecture notes, I still have at least one student who believes that the standard unit of capacitance is the "ferret". OK, then. Maybe not so effective sometimes, after all.

The sweater has been in progress for the past week; a super-quick knit from bulky alpaca yarn. I found the yarn on clearance, and naturally couldn't resist the U-Texas burnt orange. The pattern is from charity knitter Marguerite and there are a lot of things to like about it. It's quick, with minimal finishing. The pattern is predictable; once it's started, it just keeps on going. Twenty to thirty minutes here and there and the fast progress encourages one to keep on knitting. Hopefully some child will be a little warmer next winter.

Enough about the sweater. Now, check out the daffodil.

No one warned me how much I'd become involved in the lives of 140 new people.

Last fall, one of my students asked me if I'd like to buy some flower bulbs as a fund raiser. Now, I have about 5 chances per day to buy something to support something, and for the most part, I decline. There's no way I can support every softball player with a t-shirt and every choir member with a dinner ticket and every sophomore class member with a candy bar. Mostly, I politely refuse, but for some reason, the bulbs caught my attention, partly because of who was doing the selling.

"Sara" is a junior this year, taking standard junior Physics. She's a tiny person, maybe 80 pounds, and appears much shorter than her actual height because of various skeletal and muscular deformities. She's dealt with more health issues in her 16 years than most of us will deal with in a lifetime, but she's positive, pleasant and has a wicked sense of humor. By some quirk of fate, one of her best friends and usual lab partner is the Amazonian star of the women's track and basketball programs. The unlikely pair works very, very hard for their mid-B physics grades. Students like these make teaching rewarding.

And Sara was offering me bulbs to plant.

Would they even grow in central Texas? I love bulb plants, but I'd always associated them with other climates where there is a long, cold winter. I hadn't even thought about them here where we MIGHT hit freezing for a couple of days in February, but Sara assured me that these bulbs were guaranteed. Well, sure, then. I'd take some.

A few weeks later, my mesh bags of rather unlikely looking bulbs were dutifully delivered to school, I took them home, moved them around the garage entry for a month or so, and just before Christmas, in a fit of holiday housecleaning, I took them outside, dug a few quick holes in a particularly bleak section of dirt in the front garden, stuffed in the bulbs and promptly forgot about them.

Last week, Sara came to talk to me before school. She needed to plan out most of the rest of the semester. It seems that her spinal curvature has progressed to the point where her ribs are jabbing her heart and lungs. She needs a medical consultation in another part of the state. She'll be having surgery soon and will be studying from home for some time.

Sara, guess what? Your bulbs not only grew despite my skepticism - just today they started blooming.

Just in Case You Wondered

2008-03-03T05:01:00.000-08:00

It is illegal to use a crossbow to shoot opossums within the city limits of Austin.

Now you know.

Just don't do it.

For Alicia

2008-02-28T16:20:00.000-08:00

OK, it's not for Alicia. It's for Alicia's baby, born about a month ago.

Alicia's in the same teacher training cohort I'm in. She's doing everything I'm doing, and somehow managed to fit in "have a baby" on the side.

Alicia teaches math - I hope she likes the right angles!

Blind Ambition

2008-01-25T16:39:00.000-08:00

I had an interesting chat with one of my sophomore students yesterday.

It seems that she can't WAIT to be a Senior, so she can take those great Senior math classes.

Since this is not a student for whom math comes easily, I was curious. "Really? Which classes did you mean?"

"Oh, you know. Calculator and Pre-Calculator".

Roll-off

2008-01-17T21:27:00.001-08:00

Half way. I can hardly believe it.
18 down. 18 to go.

My physics classes are studying rotational motion. Some of my students think I have made this up, personally, just to torture them...

Today, we had a "moment of inertia roll-off competition".

Students were told to bring "something round". Their only instructions were that it was supposed to roll in a straight line and that they had to be able to carry it into class in one hand (no tractor tires allowed). We set up tables as ramps, put up a tournament bracket spreadsheet on the computer projector and we were...ahem...off to the races.

We had the candle and the marble.

We had the pencil and the tennis ball

There was the highly competitive golf ball and oil-and-water-in-a-bottle

But nothing in my teacher training courses had prepared me for...

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

The Sausage.

December Knitting

2007-12-27T07:21:00.000-08:00

One of the groups with whom I knit issued a challenge - knit two pairs of socks for charity "in honor" of someone on your gift list.

Here are my December knitting contributions.

If you think they are "in honor of you", they probably are.

Christmas Wish Status - Granted

2007-12-27T07:15:00.000-08:00

Just about the time I had resigned myself to living without my LCD projector, I received a totally unexpected e-mail from the school librarian.

A special grant had allowed the school to purchase many, many new projectors.

"Please come and pick mine up, at my convenience".

One of my knitting buddies suggested that my karma account from all those socks-for-charity was just coming round and paying back.

Maybe she's right.

Christmas Wish

2007-11-23T16:30:00.000-08:00

It hasn't been a very good week.

My faith in mankind has been tried on quite a few levels and the upper limit had to be having my classroom broken into and my LCD projector stolen. I don't like to think I was targeted specifically, but a sudden string of incidents caused Isaac to ask me if I thought I was being "hazed". Could be. Probably not. Probably a string of unrelated incidents, but the unrelated incidents are getting really old, really fast. I had a lengthy chat with the police, told them what I knew (which wasn't much) and they promised to let me know of any "developments", but a friend laid it on the line for me.

I'll never see that projector again.

The crazy thing is, I didn't think I "needed" it. Heck, teachers have been teaching without them for centuries. They are only commonplace in the classroom within the last decade or so. They allow a laptop computer screen to be projected onto the wall. Suddenly, video clips, PowerPoint presentations, the internet, spreadsheets can all be shared with an entire classroom.

In addition, I was "wired" to allow me to project paper documents in "real time". To the uninitiated, this means that I could write on a worksheet, and the worksheet, my hand, pen and the words appeared magically on the wall as I wrote. Not unlike an older style "overhead" projector, but better. No acetate transparencies. No special pens. No bright, blinding light, and when I was finished, a hard copy that could be saved for a student absent that day. I hadn't thought I "needed" that, either, until I tried it.

I also had the capability to project in "3D". Beakers, rulers, springs, motors. Too small to make sense to the back of the room from the front of the room, but when projected on the wall, well, they say that a "picture is worth a thousand words", and if that's true, a live image of a 3D object might just be worth a million. I hadn't thought I "needed" that, either.

It took several weeks to get the projector, another couple to have it installed, and then another couple of weeks for me to get comfortable with using it. Finally, within the last month, I'd really gotten the hang of which switches, when, what connections, how, and reveled in the "Oooohhh"'s from my students when it happened to be put to particularly good use.

9 days ago, a person or persons unknown decided that their desire for a projector was far more important than was the learning going on in my classroom, broke into the school and took what they wanted.

It's the day after Thanksgiving, and I don't argue for a moment that I have plenty to be thankful for. I know the whereabouts of all of my family members. The refrigerator is overfilled with tasty leftovers from the feast, the sudden cold snap outside is nothing more than an excuse to light a fire in the fireplace. I truly enjoy the vast majority of my students, and they are getting comfortable enough with me to share an occasional joke. Most are succeeding academically, and those who are not, know why they aren't. I have friends who call me up just to "check in" and our nuclear family is celebrating exciting changes across the board.

I have many reasons to be thankful, but selfishly, I really, really want that projector back.

No.

It's not the projector.

I want my innocence back.

Transit

2007-10-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

Nine weeks down, 27 to go. One quarter of the year is done. Nine weeks ago, I hardly could imagine getting this far.

I've passed a kid who probably should have failed, and failed a kid who thinks she should have passed. I've given a large handful of Kleenex to a sobbing cheerleader (never did find out the "why") and have gotten anonymous "I heart Mrs. G" sticky notes on my computer. I've sat in special education reviews for several students, participated in a "Prevention and Intervention" conference for another and was the catalyst for yet another student receiving a police citation. I've been observed, yea, even better, I've been video-taped.

People tell me that I'm making the grade. Sometimes, I believe them.

One thing I never expected to enjoy was my morning commute.

When I took the job, I was somewhat leery of the 18 miles between "here" and "there", but figured I'd get used to it. I didn't expect to love it.

In 9 weeks, it's never taken me more than 26 minutes. I have friends who commute 5 miles and need half an hour. It's "against" the traffic. I'm heading out into the "country" as the country is heading into the big city. In the evening, duplicate the magnitude, reverse the sign. My favorite classical music station broadcasts all the way, and there are only 7 stop lights in the whole 18 miles. Three of them are within 2 miles of home. Two are within a mile of the school. That leaves a lot of open space in between.

I've come to know the trains that travel parallel to the highway; one in the morning and one in the evening. I see the prairie sunrise each morning, and I'll miss that next week when Daylight Savings Time shifts my routine. I've watched the cotton crop mature, be harvested and the fields cleared in readiness for the next season. So far, I've weathered only a couple of "bad weather" days. One morning with a torrential downpour and one with a transoceanic London fog. Undoubtedly, there will eventually be an ice storm. Ironically, an ice storm nearly kept me from an interview for this position. Maybe my ice storm karma will be good from here on.

Carving Out Time

2007-09-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

"They" warned me. "They" said that first year teachers were risking losing their own identities. Every waking moment would be school, school, school. There would always be one more thing to organize, one more lesson to plan, one more item to cross off the list.

They counseled me to keep on carving out time for friends, family and hobbies.

They were almost right.

On the second day of school, back in August, teachers were asked to tell their classes about their outside interests, and I showed off my knitting, talked about sock construction and told a little bit about the charity group for which I knit. My students were either somewhat interested or very polite...

Last week, I realized that the second day of school had been the last time I had knitted any rows, rounds, even any stitches. I made time that same evening to finish off the stocking that had been sitting since late August, and made sure I found 10 minutes of knitting time every day since them.

"They" should be proud.

Socks in photo are August/September CIC contributions.

Bonded

2007-09-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

Three weeks down. Thirty-three to go.

The first round of tests was this week; now we'll see whether or not I'm having any effect up in the front of the classroom. My Pre-AP class would learn "in spite of me", I rather expect. The other five classes have thrown down gauntlets of varying sizes and shapes to gauge my response.

Eighth period is by far the biggest challenge. It's a large class, it's at the end of the day, and it's filled with students for whom science is NOT the reason they get up in the morning. I've been trying to connect with them. Trying to find some common ground. Anything other than introductory physics and chemistry. It's been tough.

Yesterday, we had a breakthrough. Who would have believed that we'd connect over that quintessential southern beverage, "SWEET TEA"?

(For the record, I'm not particularly fond of "sweet tea", but that's entirely beside the point.)

The lesson was about "Clasification of Matter". I threw out the word "matter" first thing, and suggested that we had an unknown material referred to as "stuff". In my classroom, we have large amounts of "stuff", and yesterday, we classified it.

Element?

Compound?

Or Mixture?

We were delving into the possibilities of "mixtures", and after there was a general hilarity over the fact that a teacher would actually SAY the word "homogeneous" in a classroom situation, we were getting pretty much nowhere. The difference between a homogeneous mixture and a heterogeneous mixture was totally eluding them.

The text suggested a discussion of "salt water", and despite being only 3 hours from the coast, few of my 8th period students have been to the beach. They have no reason to mix salt and water at home, and we weren't doing anything in the lab. The homogeneous mixture of salt water was a complete failure.

Then, I remembered "sweet tea". Properly made, the sugar is added while the brew is still hot. A supersaturated, supersweet concoction poured over ice in tall glasses dripping with condensation to be savored on lazy, cicada song afternoons.

"Hey, guys! Who in here likes sweet tea?"

I had them.

"Oh, YEAH, miss! I LOVE sweet tea!"
"Sure wish I had a big pitcher of sweet tea right now!"
"Hey, Miss! Think we could have some sweet tea in here in the classroom?"
"My mom makes some fine sweet tea! You should taste it!"

Amazingly, it worked. Sweet tea was the key...it's homogeneous unless you get TOO much sugar in, then you get a layer of solid at the bottom, and you cross the void from homogeneous into heterogeneous territory. Even more encouraging: TODAY, they still had the concept. We started class this afternoon with another round of praise for our favorite homogeneous mixture.

Next week will bring new challenges, but for today, we have found one small shred of common ground.

Point, Counterpoint

2007-09-09T19:12:00.000-07:00

Point:

Subject of the week is "measurement". Precision. Accuracy. Percent error. Distance. Mass. Density. We've been doing a lot of measuring, which means we've been using a lot of metric rulers. Most of them aren't fancy. Most of them are the rainbow colored plastic ones from Target. Nineteen cents each if you watch the sales.

Somehow, in a bit of high spirited physics lab, one of my students managed to break one. He was mortified. He didn't mean too. He was really, really sorry. He said he really wanted to pay for it, pulled out his wallet and handed me a dollar bill.

As luck would have it, I'd been selling a lot of 50-cent composition/lab books, so I had a pocketful of quarters. I assured him that it probably was not worth nearly that much, and gave him 50 cents back. We're even. We're friends again.

Counterpoint:

I wish I could have that young man work a mindmeld with whoever stole the high-end electronic balance from the counter, sometime between noon and 4 on Wednesday.

The Chair

2007-09-02T20:35:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a week. I'm figuring out the kids, figuring out the system, finding where the pipettes are hidden, and dealing with my nemesis, the copy machine.

There have been highs and lows, and I fully expect there will be more of each. Probably all before noon on Tuesday.

My classroom is state-of-the-art for high school physics. It's a palace, really. One half for "lectures and seat work" and adjacent, another whole classroom for labs. There is ample room for 24 students per class, and at the moment, only one class has more than that. I'm grateful. Not many beginning teachers start with this kind of luxury.

There's only one problem.

The "teacher chair". It's really just a hard plastic "student chair" with 4 wheels. It works, and honestly, I spend far more time on my feet than in my chair, but it's not comfortable. No...it's downright UNcomfortable. And we're only one week in.

+

+

+

I grumbled on and off about THE CHAIR over the past couple of days, thinking I should do something about that "sometime", but having no particular plans.

This afternoon, Dave and Alex went out shopping.

I'm now the proud owner of a padded leather "executive chair" with adjustable height, 5-point casters, arm rests and optional rocking motion.

Next week is already looking better.

I love my men.

The Right Choice

2007-08-31T21:53:00.000-07:00

One week of teaching down. 35 to go...

Tonight was the FIRST FOOTBALL GAME. I've come to know some band kids, some football players, some cheerleaders. Students have been asking me for the past couple of days..."Hey, Mrs. G...are you going to THE GAME????"

I was non-committal. Frankly, I was exhausted. This teaching thing...it's not for wimps. "Hmmm...maybe. I'm not sure right now. I'd love to see the band!"

In the end, I was still at the school at 6:10 on Friday. I'd hardly seen my husband or my own child all week. I opted to go home and skip the game.

At 7:30, a HUGE storm blew in. POURING rain for nearly an hour.

May I just say..."I'm glad I WASN'T at the game"?

Take my money. Please.

2007-08-25T16:42:00.000-07:00

It's hot and humid, there was a snafu with Isaac's school schedule, Dave's worked until after 8 every night this week. School starts on Monday, for better or for worse, with me at the front of the classroom. There are just enough things still left undone to make me edgy. This afternoon I made one last trip to the Big Box Office Supply Store and crossed one more thing off of my list. Happy with my progress, I exited through the automatic doors.

Picture a table at the exit, covered with goodies bearing the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) logo, and manned by a young lady, maybe early 20's.

She said:
"Ma'am, we're helping out the people at DARE today. May I tell you about the program? Do you have young children?"

I said:
"My youngest is 17, and I'm well aware of the program. I have a very high opinion of it. All of my kids participated in the program in elementary school"

"Would you like to purchase a t-shirt or mug to help fund the program?"

"No, not really, but I'd be happy to make a donation."

"Ummmm...like how much were you thinking?"

"$10.00"

"That will get you the mug or the t-shirt".

"I don't want the mug or the t-shirt, but I'll donate the $10".

(Rummage in wallet...pull out a ten, try to hand it to her).

"Well, there's tax involved. It's really $10.83".

"But I don't want the mug or the t-shirt. I'm just making a donation".

(Insert very confused look on girl's face)

"So what do I do with the t-shirt? I don't think I can take money unless you pay the tax"

(Picture me trying to thrust money toward her, and her backing away from me)

"But I don't want anything in return. I'm just DONATING THE MONEY!"

"Well, should I donate the shirt to someone, then?"

(My turn to look confused).

"Ummm, sure, that's fine with me".

"But you still owe me 83 cents!"

I did not pay 83 cents. Nor did I pass go, nor did I collect $200.

My children remind me occasionally of the year I danced with the Salvation Army Kettle Santa Claus. That's got nothing on the year I argued with the D.A.R.E. t-shirt lady...

Six Sox August Knitalong

2007-08-11T07:07:00.000-07:00

The designers at the Six Sox group have a real winner with this one! The pattern is called "I Love Ganseys" and the stitch patterns are typical of Fishermen's sweaters from the British Channel Islands area. I'm using a merino wool/silk blend yarn which is extremely soft and fine to work with, even if it's not totally in keeping with the original intent of the patterns.

Lots of ribbing in an amongst the cables and seed stitch hearts, so these aren't nearly as narrow as they appear.

Overheard

2007-08-08T11:33:00.000-07:00

Something you do not want to overhear while waiting for the child to finish getting the haircut for the senior photo session two days hence:

"Maria! Can you come show me how to fix this?"

What's in a Name?

2007-08-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth sent me an e-mail last week with an exciting image attached. It seems her new business cards are ready, advertising her new status as a software engineer in neat block letters. I e-mailed back, complimenting her on how professional her name looked, all printed out like that.

Rarely have I experienced such an exquisite case of "open mouth, insert foot".

She might have warned me that she'd be calling less than 24 hours later to announce that late next year, she'll be needing new business cards, as she'll be changing her name.

I can't say that the news was particularly surprising, but the timing did catch me off guard. Due to the couple of thousand miles that separate us, my sister-in-law and my mother will have the fun of seeing "the ring" before I do, and the mother of the groom will be handier for consultation on "details" as the wedding approaches, but e-mails and phone calls have been flying fast and furiously between central Texas and the East coast.

Elizabeth and Matthew, we wish you every happiness. May you always find as much joy in each other as you do today. May you support each other, respect each other, laugh and celebrate with each other. I love the fact that your shared website already refers to you as a family, for you each will be, from now on, the most important person to the other. A wedding is for a day, but a marriage is for a lifetime.

Summer Camp 3, Day 3

2007-07-25T15:56:00.001-07:00

It's not Colorado, but it's awfully pretty anyway. Texas Hill Country, "tamed", as much as it CAN be tamed.

Summer Camp 3, Day 2

2007-07-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

The Zilker Botanical Gardens. I'm not sure how I've managed to live in this area for 10 years and missed this treasure the whole time.

And another animal too cute to ignore (look out, little fishes!)

Summer Camp 3, Day 1

2007-07-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

"Community Gardening" and "Native Plants"

And one animal that was too cute to pass up.

Knitt'n (more) Mitt'ns

2007-07-22T09:17:00.001-07:00

Lots of seminars, workshops and classes this month, most with coffee breaks, so there was a fair amount of "short block knitting time", and mittens aren't too taxing to the mind. I was able to finish 7 more pairs for the Cheyenne River Youth Project "Mitten Blitz". These are all wool, and the bottom two pairs seem to be made of a particularly attractively scented wild and wooly wool. Pandora could hardly keep her nose away and whenever I took a break from knitting at home, I had to hide the knitting FAR out of kitty reach...

Size range is "Child's medium" to "Women's large/Men's medium". Sort of.

Home from Camp

2007-07-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

I've been at camp for the past week, and it was great. OK, to the average outsider, it probably looked more like a week-long seminar on teaching techniques for Pre-AP Physics, but to me, it looked a whole lot like summer camp.

I packed my bag, left the family at home and "stayed over" for several nights.

At 8 AM on Monday, we gathered in the University Chapel for a welcome, announcements, introduction of the lead presenters, then our "counselors" for the week were introduced and we sorted ourselves into our cabin groups. There were 9 people in my group, and my Counselor's name was Mark.

My group (call us the Physics Nerds) came from small towns, larger towns, the inner city. Some had 30 or more years of teaching experience; some had next to none. If there had been a volleyball game, we probably would have lost, but afterward, we would have roasted marshmallows with the Chemistry Nerds and laughed about the game while secretly adding chemicals to the campfire to make it glow in strange colors.

We wore tags around our necks with our names and cabin groups typed on them and had to show our name tags to get into the dining hall where we filled our trays then sat at table clusters...with our cabin groups. If Mark got there late, we saved him a chair and waved wildly when he finally came through the door.

Our cabin had leaders and followers, those who had been to this camp before and knew all the rules and those who were brand new to the camping experience, talkers and observers. Two came together from the same school, and others of us discovered connections with others that we would never have suspected.

We had guest speakers, show-and-tell with projects and ideas from our home schools, and yes, even arts-and-crafts (have you ever made a model capacitor from common kitchen supplies?) We were given souvenirs to take home: a really, really heavy Physics textbook, a neon light bulb, a big bag with the camp logo printed on the side.

At the end of the week, we all exchanged e-mails and promised to keep in touch. Some will, some won't. We may meet again next summer, at this camp or a similar one. I packed the car and drove home, pondering the week's experiences.

Camp. What would summer be without it?

Order Rodentia, Suborder Hystricomorpha

2007-07-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

Could you get much closer to the world's largest rodent than this?

The capybara at the San Antonio Zoo.

Going to the zoo with "big kids" is even more entertaining than going to the zoo with "little kids".

The one with the pansies...

2007-06-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

I didn't mean to collect tea cups.

I'm not sure you could even say that I DO collect tea cups...I have a couple of splendid, heavy celadon cups that Dave has brought me from business trips to Korea, but I don't officially "collect" them.

I collect books and knitting needles and yarn and refrigerator magnets (by default) and souvenir spoons and strange little science toys, but I've never collected tea cups.

Not until a couple of weeks ago.

Grandmother collected tea cups. She collected them on trips to Europe in the 60's and 70's and I used to admire them in her kitchen when we would visit...so pretty and dainty and elegant and everything a bookish pre-teen was not. They spoke to me of storybook characters and summer days in the garden and something beyond Girl Scouts and bicycle bells.

I don't think I ever touched them, but perhaps I was treated to sugared hot tea in one once. It wasn't important that I touched them...gazing at them fulfilled some sort of princess-y fantasy and was sufficient. I admired the gilt edging and the various curved handles and my favorite was always the one with the little purple and yellow pansies.

Grandmother is 93 now, and in recent years, she has been passing on her favorite possessions to those she loves.

Two weeks ago, she sent me the tea cups.

Knitt'n Mitt'ns

2007-06-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

The knitting folks at Children in Common have been rerouting some of the woolly goodness this summer, to the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. As a sideline, there's a mitten challenge going on, and I like nothing better than a challenge, so here's my first round of 7 pairs of wool mittens. Most are knit with a combination of one strand fingering yarn and one strand of worsted (accounting for the preponderance of TWEED), and I used up a lot of small ends of balls and odd leftover skeins. All are knitted on either 36 stitches or 40 stitches in the round. No special significance to the cabled pair except that I hadn't made anything with cables for a while.

350 million cards?

2007-05-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

I had another one in my e-mail this morning. A small child with a terrible cancer, who hopes to set a world record by receiving 350 million get well cards.

350 million.

I see these things, and I wonder if anyone has thought through the logistics of the plan. Where, exactly, do you store 350 million cards? Not in scrapbooks...

Let's say, just for argument, that you can fit 1000 individual cards inside a cubic box 1 ft x 1 ft x 1 ft . Judging from the junk mail piled on my breakfast bar, that's a generous estimate.

You would need 350,000 of those boxes to store your cards.

The volume of those boxes would be a cube of the size (cube root of 350,000 ) on each side...or about 70 feet on a side.

Picture a room that is 10 x 10 x 10 feet (a small bedroom with a tall ceiling)

You would need 7 x 7 x 7 of those rooms...or 343 rooms.

Maybe we should turn to e-mail, instead.

Let's say 350 million people each send the boy an e-card.

If he opens one card every second, it will take him 350,000,000/60(seconds per minute)/60(minutes per hour) to look at all the cards, that is, about 97222 hours.

That's about 4050 days, or slightly over 11 years (around the clock, all day, every day).

Honestly, I bear no ill will toward the sick child, but what if, instead of sending a greeting card, each person were to donate $1.00 toward cancer research?

American Cancer Society

CIC Knits, April/May 2007

2007-05-23T07:35:00.001-07:00

CIC is taking a slight detour this quarter and supplying handknits to the Cheyenne River Youth Project in Eagle Butte, SD. They have especially requested hats and mittens, but are grateful for anything, and these Baby Surprise Jackets and socks were already either on the needles or in the shipping box. I'll work on mittens in June.

Nine years

2007-05-16T21:20:00.000-07:00

I started substitute teaching when Elizabeth entered 9th grade. I wanted to get out of the house, I wanted to keep an eye on what was "really" going on in the middle school and high school, I wanted to see if maybe, just maybe I could like this "teaching" thing.

That was at the beginning of the school year, 9 years ago.

Today, I turned in my resignation.

This "teaching thing". Yeah. I like it.

Day 10. What I learned in school.

2007-05-11T20:40:00.000-07:00

Appreciative parents sometimes bring treats for teachers.

Kolaches are a delicious diversion during Tutorials hour.

There's another baseball game.
There's a student/parent bus available TO the baseball game.
What time and where to meet said bus, and how much money to bring.

Tryouts for Drill Team officers are this evening.
5 young ladies from Pre-AP Physics are trying out.

What time and where "Friday Night School" happens.

It surprises some students to meet Algebra in Physics class or to meet Biology in Chemistry.

I can see the value to co-teaching certain subjects.

4 out of 5 Physics students surveyed will jump right into the lab without reading the instructions first.

What books are on the Summer Reading List.

Digital cameras and computer projectors can be checked out from the library.
It's not called the "Media Center" for nothing.

The ladies in the front office know just about everything. The librarians know everything else.

Pre-AP Physics thinks I'm going to do "just fine". Easy for them to say, since they can be pretty sure they won't be in my classes next year, but I'll take them at face value and thank them for their vote of confidence.

Day 9. What I learned in school.

2007-05-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

What day New Teacher Orientation begins.

Where and what time the baseball game is.

Where to vote for next year's Honor Society officers.

How much money is reimbursable for classroom expense each year.

How to keep track of inservice/training hours.

What the teacher websites look like, and how they are updated.

How many compasses we have for the next mirror lab. Not enough. I've fixed that.

When the textbook turn-in deadline is.

A certain percentage of Chemistry students thought I was there for their amusement. Daily chemistry discussions just for the fun of it. They didn't think they were supposed to be taking notes (or doing the homework, evidently). They have a test tomorrow.

Crawfish guts clog up the sink.

Some really, really good illustrations for the concept of low entropy/high entropy.
***
Low entropy: All the clothes folded in the drawer.
High entropy: Clothes all over the floor.
***
Low entropy: Kindergarteners in a circle for story time.
High entropy: Kindergarteners on the playground at recess.
***
Low entropy: Saving money in the bank.
High entropy: Spending money!

I learned that it feels really good to bring up a concept from a week ago in a different context and have students both remember and apply it correctly. Something clicked.

One more day. It's going to be strange to NOT go to school on Monday.
It's OK, though. I'm subbing in Physics on Tuesday. My cooperating teacher has promised to come by and say "hi".

Day 8. What I learned in school.

2007-05-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

Teacher Appreciation Week has its perks.
I've heard a rumor of breakfast tacos on Friday.

The best perk of all might well have been "No departmental meeting today".

TAKS scores have been released.
There really are seniors who will not graduate.

How to submit work for a sick student who has requested it.

A whole lot of Science/Math teachers have 3-year-olds.
This is not a group I regret not belonging to.

It's an odd feeling to teach 3 classes in a row with a substitute teacher in the back of the classroom.

The Latin Club is raising funds for a trip to Italy.

The science wing cleaning lady and the crossing guard a block west of the school can lift anyone's spirits in about 10 seconds.

Working Dry-Erase board markers could be traded profitably on the black market.

A signed contract is a beautiful thing.

Day 7. What I learned in school.

2007-05-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

An entire class session can be planned in 5 minutes when necessary.

5 more minutes to fine tune the plan is good.

I have the only set of overhead projector fine tipped markers in the department.

By the end of the day, I'd reclaimed all but the blue one...

When graduation is.
Where graduation is.
Which student won't be graduating unless she gets her Physics lab turned in post-haste.

How, when and where the field test for the Biology End of Course Exam is being given.

That next year Chemistry will be field testing an EOC Exam.

Proficiency in protractor use is rivaled by proficiency (or lack thereof) in compass use.

The compasses with the "safety points" are not worth the time or effort. I'll take the risk of being poked with the good old fashioned metal compass points, thanks.

How hard it is to use a compass intended for pencil and paper on an overhead projector with a fine tipped overhead projector pen.

How to input grades on the computerized/online gradebook system.

Where the safety goggles are kept.

(Note to self: splurge on personal pair of safety goggles. Mother's Day is coming. I'm worth it.)

Day 6. What I learned in school.

2007-05-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

It's not me, after all. It's the copy machine.

Fire alarms do go off during tutorials (the 45 minutes before school) and everyone still has to go outside.

A fire alarm during tutorials does not exempt you from taking the exam you were in tutorials getting help for in the first place.

Pre-AP Physics doesn't remember how to use a protractor any better than the regular level class did.

They listen to me! They really do! Some of them more than others...

Junior boys will giggle at their images in convex mirrors. They'll also crowd ear-to-ear to try to see each other in the same mirror (these mirrors are at most 3 inches in diameter).

Some paid attention, some didn't. Some did the homework, some didn't. Some tried, some didn't. Quiz grades ranged from 100 down to 10.

I'm going to need a large box of red pens.

Ms. S's multiple choice test questions are harder than the questions involving calculations.

I can go a long way on one "Thank you for helping me" from a student.

Day 5. What I learned in school.

2007-05-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

Nobody is ready for Friday like teachers are ready for Friday.

The Physics room has two boxes of Kleenex. The Chemistry room has none.

Not every senior is counting down the days until graduation. Some are happy with the status quo.

There are parents who e-mail teachers daily.
Teacher websites can be a wonderful thing.

2 out of 5 students surveyed do not know how to correctly input order of operations into a TI-83 calculator.

Those same students will insist each time that the calculator MUST be wrong.

Mr. S1 can be counted on for good lab suggestions.

Mr. S2 can be counted on for "how to get along with kids" suggestions.

Ms. S can be counted on for test and quiz suggestions.

I may need to change my last name to fit into this department.

A new teacher teaching is a novelty. The regular classroom teacher observing from the back of the room is something unheard of. The new teacher's teacher visiting and observing could possibly cause a riot.

It didn't. My hat is off to first period Chemistry, who helped me get top scores in "New teacher teaching". They asked ALL the right questions, at just the right times. One might have thought it to have been scripted. It wasn't.

Day 4. What I learned in school.

2007-05-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

There's a full sized statue of Dobby the House Elf in the library.

No matter how many students successfully print their simulation graphs, someone will not be able to.

No matter how few students need to print their simulation graphs, at least one will not work.

There's a certain prestige to being known as "that teacher with the pink calculator". I didn't even mean to get a Barbie Pink TI-84 when I bought it, but it's gotten a lot of attention. No one steals it, either.

Students do cheat on exams, they do get caught, they do swear at teachers, and parents do get called.

It takes about 100,000 Joules (100 kJ) to heat up the water for a cup of tea.

Where the printout ends up when you choose "Science office". Not on the printer in the science office.

A lot of forgetting has happened since students first learned to use protractors.

A well-timed conversation with an athletic coach can work wonders for certain students' behaviors.

Snell's Law really works. I don't remember ever doing the neat Snell's Law Lab...but I have now!

There's a lot of experimental error introduced between using a 1/8 inch mirror and using a 1/4 inch mirror. Be ruthless. Grab the thin mirror first.

Day 3. What I learned in school.

2007-05-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

My possible class assignments for the fall. I am still processing this information.

The band is going on a trip.
The English classes are going on a trip.
The Seniors are going on a trip.

Alternative Classroom students get weekly visits from their classroom teachers. I'm still deciding if this is an incentive or a deterrant to being placed on AC status.

There are too many people in Pre-AP Physics. Just because there are chairs empty does not mean there is still space in the class. Not that class.

How to sign up for a computer lab.

"Last summer when I was fishing" can be applied to any class. I do not fish. This could be a problem.

There are only 16 days of school left (and I may well be the ONLY person who didn't know this).

The biology department is short on preserved minks.

A 20-year-old garage sale lamp makes a great visual during a discussion of total internal reflection.

At first glance, many students will assume that said lamp is a Van De Graaff generator.

A child who has missed 3 days of school CAN catch up in one class period if motivated. Another child will take the 3 missed days as an excuse to give up on the rest of the term.

Day 2. What I learned in school.

2007-05-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

"A thing" that does "something" is not a valid test answer.

Low doorsills + heavy rain = live frogs in the hallway.

The importance of keeping students honest in the computer lab with occasional spoken checkpoints ("You should be drawing your diagram on part 7 by now").

Do NOT bring the jacket to the computer lab. All of the cold air stays in the science wing.

The stapler in the teacher's lounge doesn't.

Burnt gummy bears smell like burnt marshmallows.

Where the two nearest copy machines are.

Both microwaves in the science work room cannot be run at once.

If you smile at a child, the odds are good that he will smile back.

Day 1. What I learned in school.

2007-04-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

Take a jacket. The Chemistry room is freezing. The Physics room is more freezing.

There were live fish in bowls at the prom. The decorations were great, the music was OK. The air conditioning was turned off at 11:30 PM, making the last 30 minutes even warmer than the first 3 1/2 hours, which were plenty warm enough.

Some of the cold air from Chemistry should have been transferred over to the dance, most definitely.

There's a secret back door into the science wing, and I can use it.

I can also park in the teacher's parking lot - I have the special green tag to prove it!

The science teachers rotate supplying 12 packs of diet sodas in the workroom refrigerator. Those who drink, donate. Those who don't, don't.

A class of sophomores will spontaneously applaud for the one in their number who qualified for State in shot put.

I learned that women's shot put is a real event, and I met the young lady who qualified.

Any unknown adult in the classroom when students enter is automatically assumed to be a substitute teacher.

Where the mirrors, pins, cardboard, friction blocks and rulers are kept. For rubber bands, you have to go ask in the office.

Respect a child and the odds are good that he will respect you in return. I already knew that, but it was good to see it in action.

Take My Lunch or Buy?

2007-04-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, the adventure begins.

Teacher Class has been going on since the first part of February. We've learned a lot of theory; for the next two weeks we will be putting into practice what we have learned with "Field Experience". Not exactly "student teaching", but more intensive by far than simple "classroom observation". The 22 of us have been assigned to 6 different schools within a 40 mile radius of central Austin. We have been assigned to coorperating teachers (who get a princely $50 stipend for putting up with us for 2 weeks) and know which instructors will be making the trips out to "observe" us as we try our wings.

Yesterday, our teacher asked us to discuss what we had done to prepare ourselves for the experience, and what questions we still had.

It seems that new shoes were high on the list. Many of us have new shoes (which we have dutifully been wearing for the past 2 weeks so they aren't TOTALLY new shoes tomorrow). Freezers have been stocked against the reality of all-day school and several-evenings-a-week cohort sessions. We've reviewed class material and made some sketchy lessons plans, to be filled in when we have a better idea of the classes with which we'll be working. Daycare arrangements are complete for those with small children. We have looked up bell schedules and student handbooks and dress codes. Most of us took the precaution of driving the route to our assigned schools during rush hour to make sure on the timing. We have nametags, folders of paperwork and sufficient pens and pencils.

The overall plan is in order. It's the details that still are bothering most of us, and it seems the details haven't changed much since we were considerably younger.

Where will I park? I'm not a teacher, I'm not a student, and I can't really claim a "Visitor" slot for the whole two weeks!

What if my cooperating teacher misses a day? To whom will I report, and what shall I do?

And yes, what shall I do about lunch? Shall I take it or buy it? What if no one wants to sit with me?

"Rose" and I will be at the same school, in the same department. Rose is not more than a couple of years older than my daughter, slight and energetic, she kayaks for fun and dresses in t-shirts from various marathons. We're an unlikely pair, but I greatly look forward to working with her in the fall.

We've decided - we're both taking our lunches. It's good to have a friend.

Texas Kids DO Learn All They Need to Know in Kindergarten

2007-04-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

A few years back, "Robert Fulghum" , a man of considerable wisdom, published a bit of brilliance entitled "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten". Having small children the first time I read it, I was enthralled, and I haven't changed my opinion. We'd all be better off if everyone on earth would share, play fair, clean up after themselves and remember the mortality of the mice, the goldfish and the seed in the Styrofoam cup.

It's become popular in the recent past to bash public education and especially to complain about the initiative "No Child Left Behind". Heaven knows I've offered my own choice comments on NCLB. I'm impressed, though, with one aspect of the Texas school design that links our children from class to class and grade to grade. It's called the "Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills" , TEKS for short. It's an elegant document that sets out precise guidelines for what should be taught at each grade level by subject, concept, proficiency. Needless to say, it's a key element in training new teachers in the state of Texas.

When Alex was in 3rd grade, we moved 100 miles north within the state, mid-year. On his last day at his old school, there was a "Lunar New Year" celebration, a dragon parade, and as a special honor since he was leaving, he got to wear the dragon head and lead his class in the dragon chain. Four years earlier, Elizabeth had also been a part of the Dragon, and by luck of the draw, had "won" the honor of bringing home the class dragon head, which took up floor space in her room for months. Despite the inconvenience of the paperboard Dragon head, I like these connections and the continuity, child to child and year to year.

I've only recently become aware of exactly how MUCH continuity there is. Required by "teacher training class" to take a very close look at the TEKS, I was amazed and enthralled to see how it all fits together. The photos attached to this entry are a visual representation of the key concepts of the subject of Evolution, followed from kindergarten basics right on through high school biology. Two of my classmates and I (overachievers, all) produced the display as part of a class assignment. Isaac scoffs a bit at the fact that for three years, it doesn't get any more involved than "Living organisms have basic needs", but those early elementary years are pretty busy with learning to read and add and subtract and share. The concepts are introduced, though, and progress through "adaptations" and "traits" and on into genetics with each year being a review, a reinforcement and an expansion.

While the subject matter broadens from grade to grade, the key concepts are introduced early and revisited from year to year. First grade expands on kindergarten, second grade explains a bit more, and third grade delves a little deeper, but with a reassuring review of what we already learned...in kindergarten.

Striped Surprise

2007-04-09T05:42:00.000-07:00

In the mid-1900's, the knitting craft was revolutionized by British-born Elizabeth Zimmermann. As much a mathematician as a knitter, she developed some simply brilliant patterns and techniques, many of which are still very much in use or have been the springboard for other knitting designs.

I was aware of some of her work, and earlier this year, gifted myself with a copy of The Opinionated Knitter and found the astonishing instructions for the "Baby Surprise Jacket". The instructions, first published in a knitting pamphlet in 1968, go on in a conversational tone for 114 rows, adding stitches here, decreasing there, picking up some more here, working buttonholes on both sides of the front, except as you are working them, it's not at all clear that this IS the front.

Since I had several partial skeins of yarn that I wanted to use up, I jumped right in and worked in some stripes, not totally sure where those stripes would ultimately end up. Finally, the instructions called for binding off 202 stitches, and more accomplished knitters than I have called the resultant shape "an amoeba".

Here's what you get:

Then, the surprise. Some quick folding, sort of an origami-for-the-knitter, two short seams (across the shoulders), and you get this:

Elizabeth Zimmermann's original instructions called for a baby-weight yarn, small needles and produced a newborn/small infant sized jacket. I upped the ante to a worsted weight yarn (Rowan Cashsoft Aran) and size 8 needles and the resultant jacket is about a 2-year-old size.

I've already got my next color combination planned...

(Editing since some have asked - The sweater pictured is about 21 inches around at the chest, with buttons buttoned. It's about 12 inches top to bottom. Stitch gauge is 17 stitches = 4 inches)

Class Project

2007-03-30T11:23:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since I've had to do a "class project". Oh, I've assisted with many and offered suggestions, glue and sticker letters for myriad projects in the past 20 years, beginning with a float for the "Storybook Parade" when Elizabeth was in preschool, and most recently, supplying a propeller for a "container project" in the shape of the Spirit of St. Louis, but a project by me, for me? It's been a while.

That's a water molecule. The arrows show the unequal sharing of the electrons in the covalent bond; the oxygen atom has more pull than the hydrogen atoms, resulting in a slightly negative charge at one end of the molecule and a slightly positive charge at the other. This is called a "polar molecule" and it's a main player in life on the planet earth. It has to do with why ice floats and why lakes freeze from the top down. It has an effect on what dissolves in water and what doesn't and it's a whole section of a chapter in high school chemistry. It was also my teaching subject for "class" last week.

That's the SECOND molecule I built. I knew in my mind what I wanted, and bought my styrofoam balls, sliced off sections to make flat surfaces, even got out my protractor to check the angle between the hydrogen atoms. Glued it all together with "model glue for plastics" and set it aside to dry.

HOW does plastic model glue work? Right...by dissolving a bit of the plastic and welding it to the next bit of plastic. It works really nicely on hard polystyrene. It works equally well on that styrofoam, except there isn't much plastic compared to the amount of air space in between. Rather to my astonishment, I picked up my model a few hours later and found large empty pockets where there used to be foam and glue. I had a 3-D model all right...a hollow one.

It was a bit flimsier than I had hoped, so I trekked back to the craft store, bought some more styrofoam balls and a bottle of tacky white glue and was glad that this was MY project and not a kid project at 10 PM on a Sunday night. The second molecule turned out just as I wanted and it gained me a bit of fame and glory at teacher class. Funny how everyone wants to touch the model and pass it around.

The best part wasn't the model, though. The best part was how much at home I felt in front of the group, teaching what I know.

On the needles - nothing?

2007-03-30T06:10:00.000-07:00

It's true. At the moment, I have NOTHING on the needles. I'm sure I'll remedy that situation very soon. Just finished, and just mailed off to CIC, the sweater and socks pictured above, squeaking in under the wire for the "Big Kids" challenge. My personal favorite is the pair of red/gold striped socks, and no, the similarity to a certain clown associated with fast food and cheeseburgers hasn't escaped me!

For Sandarusi, Wherever He has Wandered

2007-03-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

Strange, the things that become part of the family lexicon. "Sandarusi's Law" is a family staple.

J Sandarusi was one of my classmates way back (WAY back...) in high school. Bright, funny, clever, and definitely going places, he and I were in many classes together. Exotic, too; he was the only person I knew back then who was Lebanese. He had a lot going for him, but just like other teenaged boys I have come to know and love, common sense was not his strong suit.

"Sandarusi's Law" was generated one day in Honors Chemistry when he reached out and picked up a test tube only oh, so recently, removed from the general vicinity of the Bunsen burner. Yes, he dropped it. Yes, it broke. And thus spake Sandarusi:

"Damn! Hot glass looks just like cold glass!"

Truer words, as they say, were never spoken.

Sandarusi's Law has become a family catch phrase, invoked when the obvious is ignored and disaster ensues.

I have recently begun a journey of discovery, working toward a teaching certification in the state of Texas. Imagine my surprise when I found that Sandarusi was, perhaps, ahead of his time.

State of Texas
Science Grades 8-12
Domain 1 - Scientific Inquiry and Processes
Competency 001 - The teacher understands how to select and manage learning activities to ensure the safety of all students and correct use and care of organisms, natural resources, materials, equipment and technologies.
III. Safe and Proper Use of Equipment and Supplies
B. Glassware
10. Very hot glass looks like cool glass.

Thanks to Sandarusi, that's one area in which I find myself fully competent.

New Socks, Two socks, New socks, Blue socks

2007-02-19T06:12:00.000-08:00

Well, wasn't this fun? Susan at "I'm Knitting as Fast as I Can!" published a knitalong for these socks last week. I didn't find the knitalong until it was practically over, but I pulled out 100 grams of worsted weight wool (Patons "Classic Wool", size US 5 needles) and worked up the socks anyway (and they were a great project to pass the time during the U-Texas Regional Science Olympiad, at which our high school team placed second, thankyouverymuch!). The pattern is as yet unnamed, although hints dropped seem to have something to do with Harry Potter. Lightning bolt socks, maybe? Socks of the Horcrux? Can't-wait-for-July-and-HPVII socks? How about "Socks-That-Must-Not-Be-Named"?

CIC Knits, Jan 2007

2007-02-10T06:13:00.001-08:00

Bottom-up raglan sweater in about a children's size 12. Knitted from one strand worsted, one strand sport weight on size 9 needles. Socks knitted in assorted wool yarns as I tried to perfect my short-row heel.

"Chain Link" Socks

2007-01-30T06:16:00.000-08:00

Nothing like coming down to the wire. The Six Socks Knitalong group challenges the members to complete a pair of socks every 2 months, with honors, accolades and occasional prizes for those who make the deadline. The deadline on this pair is January 31. I knitted one sock, got sidetracked on a stack of socks for CIC, and just finished these today. A good 36 hours to spare, anyway.

Knitted in Brown Sheep "Wildfoote", colors "Symphony" and "Vanilla" on size 0 needles. The 8 stitches/inch gauge is about my limit...

Last Minute Shopping?

2006-12-24T14:27:00.000-08:00

In addition to cashing in on the holiday itself, why not cash in on the preparation as well?

Out of This World!

2006-12-23T09:15:00.000-08:00

Out of this world, or other-worldly, or something. Look far enough on the 'net, there's truly something for everyone...

Entrepreneurs

2006-12-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

Here's a lovely bit of wall art for the holidays, making good use of those leftover toilet paper rolls and a bit of colored paper. There could be anything inside those compartments. Anything.

I had a bit of an experience myself recently with some colored paper...

Yesterday afternoon, the doorbell rang. Alex, age 18, answered it, and called out "Mom? Fundraiser at the door..." Fundraiser? 3 days before Christmas?

I went to the door and found 2 neighborhood boys with whom I have occasional short conversations, standing there holding 2 Cascarones. The older boy appeared to be the spokesman...they were selling confetti eggs hoping to raise money to buy "his mom" (nudges his buddy) a Christmas present.

Oh, I see. How much were they thinking of selling them for?

Well, they weren't sure.

Hmmm...what did they think they might like to buy for mom?

Well, maybe a pretty bracelet. Mom likes bracelets.

"I see. How will you get out to do your shopping?"

"His dad" (nudges buddy) would be taking them.

Seems their affairs and plans were very much in order (whether or not "Dad" actually knew it was not my concern).

"Well, those are really pretty confetti eggs...very bright purple. I guess I could use those on Christmas eve, couldn't I?" (Big nods...). "How about $5 for BOTH of the eggs?" (VERY big nods...).

I repeated the offer, just to make sure we were all clear on the details. I pay them $5, I keep both purple eggs, they buy a present for Mom. Yes, we were all in agreement.

I got the money, paid the boys (who wished me a "merry Christmas") and I took my eggs inside (to be greeted by the hysterical giggling of my assembled family, who had been listening in on the transaction).

About 10 minutes later, the doorbell rang...

Older brother of the previous spokesman. "I'm selling confetti eggs, and I just have one left! Would you like to buy it?"

How could I refuse? THAT egg was a beautiful burnt orange U-Texas color, and the boy WAS wearing a U-Texas t-shirt...

Too bad for him, though. My only remaining cash was a $1 bill and I rather doubted that he'd accept my debit card. I asked him if he knew there were other people out before him, ALSO selling eggs. His eyes got large. "REALLY? There ARE?" I offered him the $1, he looked confused, but accepted it and gave me the orange egg.

I would LOVE to know what conversation then transpired between older and younger brothers.

A Thousand Words to Make a Picture

2006-12-21T20:44:00.000-08:00

No picture today...instead, check out these detailed instructions for making your own Advent calendar in the pattern of your choice. Next year, you'll be ready.

Click Here

More Creatures Great and Small

2006-12-19T21:50:00.000-08:00

Another startling take on the Advent calendar. It's a dog's world, and all.

We've not had a dog in this nuclear family, but one year we did have a Christmas...well, let me start at the beginning.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
And Grandma and Grandpa were soon to be there.

We all were relaxing, full of good cheer
When what did our wondering ears seem to hear?

A scritchy-scritch scratching from up in the flue
The kids were excited! Who was it? They knew!

It had to be Santa, scritch-scritching about
Please, Mom and Dad, won't you let him come out?

You might imagine that it was not the jolly elf in the chimney, and you would be correct. No, somehow a squirrel had managed to take a holiday journey and was unable to get out without help. We closed off all of the house except the back door and locked the cats in the garage. Dave armed himself with a broom, I grabbed the camera and we all waited in great anticipation as Dave lowered the flue...

For a split second, a soot-covered squirrel stood on the grate, looking at us with beady black eyes, then in a flash he was out of the fireplace and rocketing around the family room, bouncing off the walls, up over the chairs and even across the piano keys, leaving sooty foot smudges behind.

Dave made a few ineffectual swipes with his broom, and I will admit to not being too much help myself, as I was prostrate on the floor with laughter. Three children watched wide-eyed as the Santa-turned-Rodent worked his mayhem, finally zipping out the back door exactly as planned.

Everyone wanted to be first to tell Grandma and Grandpa.

Meowy Christmas

2006-12-19T21:29:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you just luck into a good picture. Sometimes the cat is not so well behaved.

You'd better watch out, you'd better not climb
I've taken you down for the very last time
Santa Paws is coming to town!

He's making a list and he's checking it twice
Deciding which cats deserve some toy mice
Santa Paws is coming to town!

He sees where you've been sleeping,
He sees what you've knocked down,
He knows what you have shredded,
Do you WANT to go back to the pound?

You'd better watch out, you'd better not climb
I've taken you down for the very last time
Santa Paws is coming to town!

Home Made Love

2006-12-19T09:13:00.000-08:00

My friend Sophia got tired of her preschool-aged son asking the inevitable December question, "HOW much longer until Christmas?", and she created this Advent calendar overnight to answer his question.

I'm impressed on so many levels.

First, it's just plain cute and fun. Each one of those rectangles is a matchbox, and each matchbox holds a little treat. The boxes are attached to a metal cookie sheet with magnets, and the new boxes appear each day.

The craftmanship is beautiful; this will undoubtedly become a family tradition as the family grows. Her children are small enough that they probably will never remember a December when they DIDN'T count the days with little boxes.

But most of all, I'm impressed that Sophia took her child's question seriously and took the time to answer it with love.

Curses, Foiled Again

2006-12-18T19:12:00.000-08:00

Adjectives used to describe Barbie:

I can think of quite a few, but I'm not sure that "Fresh" is one of them.

A place for everything, and everything in its place

2006-12-17T21:07:00.000-08:00

Here's a fun little twist on the "open the window" Advent calendar...a three dimensional house with...that's right...windows.

Here's what's good about these houses: They can sit out on any horizontal surface (no wall space needed).

Here's what's bad about these houses: They can sit out on any horizontal surface (and the cats are likely to knock them down 6 times between now and December 25).

This all sort of assumes that you actually HAVE some open horizontal surfaces available, and as Christmas draws nearer and nearer, the open space dwindles.

The open space dwindles because all of the "required" Christmas decorations are coming out and being placed in their normal, required, every - year - that's - where - we - put - it places. The tree goes where the tree always goes, the tall gold angel goes on the book case, the snow globes go on the fireplace...even the stockings get hung in the same order. Santa probably would get the presents mixed up if we hung the stockings in the wrong order!

For years, Dave had a pair of large "floor speakers" (remember those?) for his stereo system. Roughly a 12 x 18 inch footprint that by necessity were within about 12 feet (wired) of the stereo cabinet. Those speakers were sort of a pain in the neck 11 months out of the year, but in December they became very useful...two more horizontal surfaces for placement of Christmas decorations.

One was for the little white wooden Christmas train. The other was for a white ceramic angel.

Several years ago, Dave ran all the music through the computer system, miniaturized the speakers, and I still haven't figured out where to put the train or the angel...

Preparing the Way, your own way

2006-12-16T18:28:00.000-08:00

There's a lot to be said for making your own, personal HOME MADE Advent calendars.

Especially when they cater to your own, personal tastes...

Cross-culture

2006-12-15T08:42:00.000-08:00

This is enough to make the brain hurt.
This item is actually available for purchase, and marketed as...
.

.

.

.

.

.

Are you ready?
.

.

.

.

.

.

Are you SURE?
.

.

.

.

"An Advent Menorah"

Yes, that piece is really available, from an otherwise reputable online retailer. The concept is fine...8 little doors, 8 little gifts. There even appear to be little "flames" to be added to one candle per day. The name, I think, is not so fine. The season of "Advent" is all about preparation and waiting. Hannukah, more about celebration of an ongoing miracle and a spirit of rededication and praise for long-term survival (please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

While I am solidly behind ecumenism when it fosters understanding among people, combining traditions just for the sake of combining traditions hits me as fundamentally wrong. This reminds me uncomfortably of an enthusiastic Girl Scout leader who gave a group of 4th graders a spirited talk on holiday traditions, including "Hanukkah - the Jewish Christmas!".

As traditions go, perhaps we're better off aligning Christmas with Passover, rather than with Hanukkah. As one of my daughter's friends pointed out, the tradition of "hiding the pickle ornament in the Christmas tree" sounded a whole lot like the tradition of "hiding the afikoman" at the Passover meal. I think he's on to something.

Things I don't Want to Know

2006-12-14T06:34:00.000-08:00

There are quite a few things that I can go my whole life without knowing.

I don't want to know what my college-aged son eats for lunch every day. Not really.

I don't want to know what the cat is so happily chewing on in the corner. I don't want to know where those muddy shoes by the front door have been, I don't want to look in my younger son's closet and I don't want to see what chewed up food looks like, ever. If the question is "Can I tell this joke at the dinner table?", the answer is probably "No".

I don't want to know what the Scotsman wears under his kilt, and I do not want to look under the rather unfortunate placement of windows 6 and 23 of this Advent calendar.

The Chocolate Monster

2006-12-13T00:14:00.000-08:00

This one is for Alex.

Well, it might have been for Alex if I had been willing to pay shipping from England for a chocolate Advent calendar purchased off of Ebay, which I was not...but he would have enjoyed it, no question.

That's a Dalek, one of myriad bad guys in the British Sci-Fi series Dr. Who. The longest running science fiction series in the world, Dr. Who morphs through new actors as necessary, a time traveling sort of dashing James Bond melded with the innocent goodwill and ageless wisdom of a Don Quixote. Aliens feature heavily in many episodes, the Dalek being one of the best known.

I don't know, though. I can't quite wrap my mind around waiting for the coming of the Prince of Peace with a character whose main conversation consists of the single line "Exterminate! EXTERMINATE!"

All Creatures Great and Small

2006-12-12T00:26:00.000-08:00

We don't have either one of these.

I'm not quite sure why not; after all, we have two cats who think they are people, and of the 8 Christmas gifts I bought today, 4 of them were for cats (Sushi, Pandora, Tabi and Zelda will get presents...all of our other cat friends will have to make do with a card).

No question about it...an animal who comes home from the pound with one of our family members is a lucky animal indeed, and I'll add that we are lucky to have them.

A discussion of animals gives me a chance to put in a plug for one of my favorite charities, Heifer International. They do amazing work distributing farm stock to people in need, and at the same time providing the teaching and resources to encourage self sufficiency. Quite a few years ago, now, Mom and Dad offered to donate to Heifer International in our name as part of our usual lavish "American" Christmas. It has become a tradition since then, but as is often the case with such things, the first year was special. I recently found a copy of the reply that was sent to Grandma's and Grandpa's question of exactly WHICH animal should be donated in our names.

Mom and Dad:
As a family, we spent a fair amount of time looking at the Heifer Project site this evening. Here are the conclusions.

1. The "Ark", at $5000, is out of price range, though most desirable.

2. Whatever animal we give must most emphatically NOT be killed and eaten.
2a. This rules out all of the lower priced chickens, geese, ducks, rabbits, some of which might be egg-layers for a while, but ultimately...the cooking pot.

3. Isaac is strongly in favor of BEES. At $30 per unit of bees, he votes all bees. That is three stands of bees, coming in at under $100. He knows. He worked it out.

4. Goats were of major interest, as were trees, but neither drew as much interest as...

5. Llamas. Everyone loved llamas. The idea of those wooly, spitting, long-necked beasts, one of whom Mom (aka Jean) actually met in the backwoods of Sky Ranch...(actually, what everyone REALLY wanted was a camel, but that was not an option...). Llamas would provide wooly blankets for small children, perhaps even for the Baby Jesus. Llamas have lovely, long eyelashes. Llamas are wedding gifts to young brides. Llamas are companions to children, even more so than a burro or a horse, being by nature a more companionable beast (except for the spitting).
5a. Drawback. Llamas are $150, over our price limit.
5b. Saving grace: Llamas may be had in "shares", according to the Heifer Project website.

Conclusion, and a decision worthy of Solomon: We choose two stands of bees and some shares of a llama.

Sleep in Heavenly Fleece

2006-12-11T07:39:00.000-08:00

There you have it. Open the windows in the morning, count sheep at night.

Isaac has a long history of being a shepherd in Christmas pageants. Before he was a shepherd, though, he was a sheep.

He must have been three years old and that year, I was directing the Sunday School program. Costumes, lights, rehearsals and scripts for the characters who had speaking lines. Feeling a bit left out, I suppose, Isaac finally suggested to me that HE needed a script.

"No, you don't", I told him.

Yes, he did.

"No, you don't...all you say is 'Baaa', and you say that quietly. You don't need a script".

He drew himself up to full sheepy height and said "I DO need a script! If I don't have a script, I might just say "MOOO!"

I like that. A sheep who knows what he wants, and goes after it.

Resisting Temptation

2006-12-10T00:29:00.000-08:00

I've already admitted my addiction to the yearly Playmobil Advent calendar. A couple of years ago, it was brought to my attention that LEGO makes a similar item.

So far, I have resisted the temptation. Having recently purged the second floor of the house of Legos acquired over a span of about 15 years, I intend to maintain a Lego-free zone.

However, if anyone reading this actually HAS one of these wonders...I'd love to hear what appeared on the 10th of December...

Gifts From the Heart

2006-12-09T00:05:00.000-08:00

This astonishing Advent display belongs to a friend of mine (and thanks, Jill, for sharing your picture with me!). Each day of December has its own dedicated stocking and her two young sons are getting treats and fun every single day. She tells me that one super day, they will find a roll of Mentos in a stocking, because they've been dying to try the Mentos-in-Diet-Coke trick ever since last summer...and so they shall.

This year, I'm having a bit of trouble shopping for my parents. I'd love to fill 24 little stockings for them, but they will be moving soon. After 40-some years in the same house, they're downsizing, and the last thing they need is a few more little items from me that will need to be boxed up, moved, unpacked and stored. I come up with ideas, then I think "no...not this year".

What they NEED is about 50 good strong cardboard boxes and a mountain of packing peanuts. Wonder how they'd like it if THAT showed up on their doorstep, courtesy of the Big Brown Truck? Maybe they'll get that yet...look out, Mom and Dad.

But what would I give them, if I could give them anything?

I'd give them the first golden aspen in the fall and the first snowfall on the Front Range of the Rockies. I'd add the iris in May in the garden at the west end of the house, and staining the redwood fence on a hot afternoon.

I'd package up the aroma of dinner cooking as I walk into the house and a banana cream pie with bananas carefully left out of 1/4 of the circle. Christmas cinnamon rolls baked in the shape of a tree and clam chowder on Christmas Eve.

I'd give them dialing the phone to announce the safe delivery of a healthy grandchild, then I'd give them the same thing, twice more. I'd add the first glimpse of each child, and the first photos of tottering steps, kindergarten haircuts and Confirmation robes.

I'd wrap new white Easter shoes every year and a new dress for the first day of school. I'd wrap stepping out of the car after a 12 hour trip across Kansas or Nebraska, in August, with no air conditioning and being greeted by grandparents who had been waiting for those same 12 hours, ready to carry in suitcases and pour glasses of iced tea.

I'd put tissue paper around piano lessons, Scout meetings, new wallpaper and curtains in my bedroom, driving lessons, choir concerts and 6 bicycle trips in a single day to the elementary school to see if "class lists" were posted yet on the large windows of the cafeteria.

I'd put all of those things in small stockings if I could, but the truth of the matter is that you can't gift wrap Love.

Magnetic Attraction

2006-12-08T06:48:00.000-08:00

Here's an idea for those of you with limited wall space...a series of magnetic tiles that live on your refrigerator door during December. Flip one over each day and have a merry message by December 25. Advent Scrabble, as it were.

The refrigerator here is never going to win any neatness awards, and I like it that way. We never intended to collect refrigerator magnets (which brings up the side question..."Does anyone EVER 'intend' to collect anything?" Someone gives you one ceramic tiger because they thought once that you mentioned you liked the tiger at the zoo, which means next year you're ripe for an orange-and-black striped sweatshirt, tiger-shaped candy dish the year after that, tiger-printed notecards at your birthday and by then, you hardly know how to say "No, it wasn't Tigers...it was Tapirs that I liked!")

However it got started, we have quite a collection of refrigerator magnets, from the wooden block proclaiming "Look what Alex did in school today!" (a gift from his kindergarten teacher...Alex is now a freshman in college) to the most recent acquisition, a flat panel proclaiming "Luther is my Homeboy", a gift from the people at Old Lutheran in appreciation for my patronage. There's a miniature plate from Greece, several kitten faces, glass "marbles" over tiny pictures from a crafty phase, and homage paid to Minnesota, the Green Bay Packers and the University of Colorado. I am reminded every time I open the door that "No outfit is complete without cat hair" and there's a heavy-duty clip magnet from my insurance company...not pretty, but very, very functional.

If there's a magnet, there's probably going to be something held up WITH the magnet. Not Alex's schoolwork any more, but recipes-to-try, the check for the lawn guy, a stellar report card, a snapshot of someone's wedding or new baby or trip to Disneyland. The front of the refrigerator is a quick glimpse of our lives in 3-D, held together with magnetic force.

Elizabeth visited a friend's family over Thanksgiving and sent some pictures of the dinner preparations. In the background is a refrigerator, liberally covered with magnets and fluttering papers. I could learn to love that family...they think like we do.

Advent in the 'Hood

2006-12-07T00:06:00.000-08:00

Would you trust these men? Is there a reason they have obscured facial features? Maybe stockings pulled over their heads, hmmm? Why do I expect them to whip open those pocket trench coats and hiss "Hey! Wanna buy a cheap Rolex?"

Oh, no. Looks like they got to Santa, too.

"Hey, you in the red suit! Hands in the air, hand over the bag of toys and no one gets hurt!"

But just in case, your mug shot number is 1-2-3-4-5-6...

And unrelated to Advent...

2006-12-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

Maybe more like Epiphany...

How did I miss the fact that Isaac is quite the poet? Where has THAT been hiding all these years?

Due to a printer hiccup last night, he printed two copies of an English assignment due today. One went to school in his backpack. The other was left on the printer, where I found it this morning.

Ten poems, each a first-person narrative from the perspective of a character in "Huckleberry Finn". Wow.

Action Items

2006-12-06T07:23:00.000-08:00

This little gem was a gift to our children from friends perhaps 15 years ago and it is one of my all time favorites. For variety, it begins on December 6 (Saint Nicholas' Day) which means we have to exercise a bit of patience, wait a bit longer each year to use it, but it's worth the wait. It's long and skinny and needs a flat surface, and often gets moved around and knocked off of counters, but then, the best things in life aren't necessarily "convenient" or "easy", right?

Rather than doors to open, there are paper figures that slide out from behind a frontispiece, and it's heavy on little gnome and fairy type characters with friendly animals thrown in for good measure. Some of the parts slide horizontally and some drop down from behind clouds...the 18th of December never HAS stayed up where it belongs and needs to be taped from the back, untaped at its appointed time.

These are "action figures", if you will.

Action.

"Go and see!"

"Go and tell!"

"Go and teach/share/speak/feed/clothe!"

History is full of actions waiting to be done, often by people who didn't think they were up to the job at hand.

What action is calling you?

* * * * * *

In answer to those who wondered "Just how many Advent calendars do those people USE, anyway?" I'll say that this is the last of "ours". Tomorrow, I'll move on to others that have struck my fancy...or my funny bone.

The Gift of Guilt

2006-12-05T06:35:00.000-08:00

Here's one for you Boy Scouts. Find the square knots. Find the overhand knot.

This one's simple enough to make with your preschoolers, or, as has happened at our house several times, to make FOR a preschooler. It seems that this was the "gift of choice" from teachers to class when the boys were in preschool and we had several different versions ... hard candies, candy canes and once a series of chocolate kisses hot-glued to a poster board background. I don't recommend this option.

Quite a few years ago in a fit of holiday goodwill, I conspired with my mother to make a similar candy chain for my younger brother. It would be slipped in his Christmas stocking and I would be "helping Santa". I was probably 7 and Andrew, just over 2. I chose my very favorite candy for the project (butterscotch kisses!) and felt the spirit of Christmas in my very being as I knotted the candies together in a golden chain.

On Christmas morning, Andrew's eyes danced as he held the rope of candies, and I urged him to "Taste one! They're good!"

He popped one into his mouth and immediately choked on it. Hard candy discs and 2-year-olds aren't really the wisest combination. Of course he was fine 10 seconds later, but the candy chain was taken away "for later", and of course, HE never saw it again. It was offered to me; after all, butterscotch kisses were my favorite candies, but I couldn't bring myself to eat them.

There was enough guilt to carry me right on into Lent...