tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59169062024-03-23T13:34:46.948-05:00Ramblin' EducatI am an Educrat with a touch of Disney whimsey. I am everyone's favorite Fairy Spinster.
I'm here, I teach for the State, Get used to it.educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.comBlogger831125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-14262428877170071072012-06-26T22:48:00.000-05:002012-06-26T22:48:03.970-05:00Bumper Sticker PoliticsRemember one of the very last things I said here before I left you for facebook, blog? Remember how I said that life was too nuanced to have a 150 character limit? Scroll up, it's there.<br />
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Reading facebook in an election year is enough to bring me back to the land of the paragraph.<br />
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What I like about facebook is the ease of sharing articles, the wider audience, the conversational interchange. What I'm seeing, however, is a rash of bumper sticker politics. I'm completely over the deep thinker who posts a quote and says "End Standardized Testing!" or the pontificator who doesn't bother to share what has her riled about the State Senator, just calls him a racist fuck. And for the record, I give standardized tests and don't like them and I know the Senator...and he is sort of racist. But how 'bout you prove you've done the homework? How 'bout you recognize that I'm on facebook to see pictures of kids and condescending Willy Wonka (*snort*...he's funny) and realize that I can't end standardized testing? How 'bout you get off facebook where it's safe and you can just spout and go WORK to make change? Or RESEARCH your opinions?<br />
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Now for the record, when I went to look up the number of characters allowed in a fb post, I came across <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/facebook/facebook-increases-status-update-character-limit-to-63206/5754" target="_blank">an article showing that this limit has been raised</a>. Significantly. Anyone want to vote on whether or not it raises the level of discourse? Bet it won't, but I'm totally posting it anyway.educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-63918829003696108972011-12-11T08:01:00.001-06:002011-12-11T08:25:47.718-06:00Blog Van Winkle (Rip Van Blogle? Rip Blog Winkle?)So in the past three years, give or take, I've moved twice, lost a sister, gained a fiance and a cat and doubled my teaching load (moved from a 4 period day to a 7 period day). That said, I barely read blogs anymore.<br />
<br />Are people paying so much attention to facebook that blogs are the frontier again (or even worse, are they MySpace!?)? It seems that <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57321666-504083/first-grade-teacher-should-lose-job-over-facebook-post-rules-n.j-judge/" target="_blank">teacher facebook scandals</a> are bigger than anything the blogs were experiencing when last I was around. It leads me to wonder if there's greater civility over here in the land of the full paragraph. In fact, as I remember it, this was the very thing I had planned to write about when I left: I won't get on facebook because I'm a full paragraph gal. Prose=civility! Status updates are for looky loos!<br />
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<br />Then we had a snow storm and I got on facebook.<br />
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Turns out that talking with old "from real life" friends on the internet was much of what I needed to pull me out of a funk--a funk that I later realized was the confusion of living with a sister whose frontal lobe was greatly compromised. I think I'm discovering that there's a place for all of this, it's just a matter of what news goes where.<br />
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And I'm not sure what news goes here now. I am thinking big thoughts about my job--What is all this testing going to do to us? Are the big changes happening in the biz going to kill public ed or is it just another change? I'm thinking about being married. I'm thinking about being forty (because that happened too) and if I have any business thinking of kids (<a href="http://www.happilychildfree.com/bingo.htm" target="_blank">Advice to you my reader? Don't ask</a>). Does all of that belong here and is anyone listening? Remains to be seen, I suppose.<br />
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Thanks, <a href="http://kibblesnwhine.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Amerloc</a>, for the happy welcome back. Again, we'll see what happens.educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-82941764277318112702011-12-10T06:37:00.001-06:002011-12-10T06:56:57.818-06:00Where I Find The Old Educat Costume, Packed Away In MothballsUm, Hi.<br />
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I've been thinking about visiting here again. No idea why. No idea who is listening. But as I think about what this blog was and who I was as it ended, it's felt like a loose end.<br />
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If you're wanting a salacious answer like "I was a man trapped in a woman's body" or "You've heard that Sasquatch walks in Oklahoma", go back to whatever you've been doing for the past two years.<br />
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At the end of this blog, I was living with my sister, watching what we now know was a brain tumor squeezing out her judgement and personality. In the process, it hurt me (and probably others) in ways I'm just now figuring out and in June of 2010, it took her life. She'd been married eight months and was 35 years old.<br />
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And it's awful. It's horrible. It's tragic and every possible bad adjective you could fine for this injustice but it was also the end of that aforementioned hurt and the beginning of some clarity. How sad and embarassing to get clarity with a death. I probably offended some folks when I couldn't cry too much in that first year she was gone. I heard just last night that my sister's widower (do people even say that? Feh.) say that I seem so happy I must have forgotten my sister (Oh. Did I tell you I'm getting married? Imagine me knees together drawing a circle on the ground with my toe and grinning when I tell you I AM!!).<br />
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I'm moving because life demands we move. I'm moving because I grieved the loss of my sister for more than a year before she died and her death brought sense to some grief and I guess I wanted to say that here so it could safe. Don't tell him I said that, ok?<br />
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I probably have more to say and it might happen, but for now I'm going to investigate all my comments. I hear I can get some great deals on electronics!!<br />
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<br />educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-20828431740291815152009-06-24T17:37:00.002-05:002009-06-24T17:41:27.233-05:00Where I AmMister Teacher (and others) asked. You should know, I'm alive. Lots of stuff has eaten my will to blog. Facebook is a big factor (yeah, I know, it really didn't hurt when I made like a lemming and went off the cliff...) but I've also just been framing thoughts differently in my head. I've been semi working on a possible stand up routine, reading books, the dog ate my weblog. Just haven't felt it.<br /><br />Tell you what, I'll try to think toward blogging. Don't know how soon, but I'll try.educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-34265281550735239742009-01-27T11:04:00.002-06:002009-01-27T11:10:40.593-06:00Ice MeltingWe're in the teacher's parking lot after school yesterday and the ice has been falling since about 10am. We already know there's no school the next day and so we're toting extra work to our cars and wanting to get home as soon as we can.<br /><br />There are times that I just unashamedly love my job and my co workers and this moment was one. Two or three of the men are walking around with their big scrapers, helping the ladies get their cars clean and a couple of us who happened to have de-icer handy shuffled around spraying it on other cars. Everyone's mood was light while concerned that everyone will arrive safely at home.<br /><br />It might be a strange thing to find so much grace in such a small thing, but I slid home last night a bit warmer than I would have been.educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-62752404631766220772009-01-24T10:56:00.002-06:002009-01-24T11:17:56.644-06:00Relief For My Backed Up CrawI once again need to get something out of my craw. It's large and has been annoying me for some time. I'll begin by describing one representative situation and then working into a meta conversation.<br /><br />Our semester began on January 6th. On that day, I met a whole new group of students for the first time. January 9th was Pumpkin's last day of class until the end of February. She is leaving to have her baby. The next morning, I have an email in my box asking me to prepare work for Pumpkin. Now, they don't want this work all at once, but I am being asked to prepare work for her for ALL SEVEN WEEKS OF HER ABSENCE.<br /><br />Are. You. Serious?<br /><br />I asked a few people if I really was hearing correctly. I asked her asst principal and her counselor if I was really supposed to supply this child with a textbook and page numbers and expect that those assignments would be equivilant to actually attending class. Their reaction was baffling.<br /><br />"Yeah, just give her the work." Like the entire experience of life in my classroom can be boiled down to a worksheet.<br /><br />This struggle affixed to my craw and festered. I took my plight to our next Principal's advisory committee meeting and the story was met with similar outrage by the other teachers in attendance. My head principal got it also. Oddly, the counselor just sat there slackjawed, completely failing to see the problem here.<br /><br />Here in the Great State of Oklahoma, the class of 2012 must pass four of seven End of Instruction exams in order to graduate high school. Schools must jump through their buttholes to document that Pumpkin and those like her are given every bit of instruction and every possible chance to succeed. However (and I discovered this after a long hard read of State law regarding education), we have no State attendance requirements. So, Oklahoma, what you're saying is that <strong>I could be sued for failing to educate a child who never bothered to show up in my classroom?</strong> <strong><em>Really???</em></strong><br /><strong><em></em></strong><br />My first steps to relieve my pain over this sitation is to finally answer the emails from the counseling office. I assembled work for Pumpkin with the following note...<br /><blockquote>Attached is another couple of week’s worth of work for Pumpkin. I apologize<br />for the wait, but it is impossible to prepare English II as a correspondence<br />course. The work attached is not an equivalent for the work done in class,<br />despite my real and honest effort to give your student an equivalent<br />experience. Please be aware that I am unsure if Pumpkin will be prepared<br />for her End of Instruction exam by simply completing bookwork.<br /><br />Also, I am happy to schedule a time for your student to make up<br />the test over the three stories she was previously assigned. I will cover<br />details of the stories as well as the literary elements of plot, mood, and<br />conflict.<br /><br />Completion of this work will bring Pumpkin relatively up to date<br />and I will start working now on the next batch of work. Thank you for<br />understanding my difficult position, I am concerned that the textbook simply<br />can’t provide all the learning we’ve done in class.<br /><br />luv and hearts--<br />Ms Educat<br /></blockquote><strong><em></em></strong><br />...and for the larger problem, I am on this, friends. I am all up in this situation. I'm making plans to speak with State legislators about this. My first approach will to listen, a sort of a "help me understand" approach. In fact, is there any insight you have to this situation? After that, we start talking legislation. Ms Educat is going to the Capitol.<br /><br />Thank you, and watch your step as you walk away. All that stuff from my craw is lying around on the floor.educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-49984949019294519802009-01-24T09:50:00.000-06:002009-01-24T09:51:12.420-06:00<p align="center"><a href="http://www.strangegirl.com/emma/quiz.php" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.strangegirl.com/emma/quizlizzy.jpg" width="200" height="300" alt="I am Elizabeth Bennet!" /><br /> <br />Take the Quiz here!</a></p>educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-405682660277142062009-01-22T13:57:00.001-06:002009-01-22T13:57:41.879-06:00Yo Comments Are Whack!<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p><object height='350' width='425'><param value='http://youtube.com/v/7tt-WIdmCVQ' name='movie'/><embed height='350' width='425' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://youtube.com/v/7tt-WIdmCVQ'/></object></p><p>This doesn't need commentary...</p></div>educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-90224040607607110592009-01-19T17:37:00.002-06:002009-01-19T17:51:52.439-06:00A Waste Of Tea, But A Huge ReliefGot back yesterday from our school's annual leadership retreat. We took 55 great kids and spent about two days talking about being the best we could be and turning our school around.<br /><br />What did I get from this? Besides strengthening relationships with some students, I learned the latest in goofy teen boy tricks.<br /><br />I walked into the room to meet with my small group Saturday morning just in time to hear one of them announce,<br /><blockquote>"Dude, I'm so mad at that one kid. He totally teabagged me last night"</blockquote><br />Don't comment here asking me what that is. You're on a computer, so you'll have to look it up yourself. If it's enough for you to know that it's a sex act, then now you know that.<br /><br />I'm standing there frozen and a bit torn about what to do. Should I trust that the conversation will end soon? Just move on with our agenda? Anything else will let on that I know what they're talking about...<br /><blockquote>"Yeah, we totally got this other kid and he didn't even know. He was asleep!"</blockquote><br />Oh sweet crap. I hate this...<br /><blockquote>"I'm gonna get him back though. I got these this morning"</blockquote><br />...and the kid produces two tea bags from his backpack. Evidently, the fad is to actually place wet teabags on unsuspecting friends.<br /><br />Whatever you kids are calling it these days.educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-23759979243079300802009-01-13T14:54:00.003-06:002009-01-13T14:58:56.259-06:00Pretend Like You Won And I'll Drop Balloons!!By admitting that it's taken five years to get this many hits, I will appear far less cool and much more obscure but I've never been one of the popala girls so whatever.<br /><br />Sometime this week (tomorrow, I'd guess), Ramblin Educat will turn over 100,000 hits.<br /><br />I'm celebrating this milestone by rolling out a bunch of new crap. I'll have my twitter account linked (because seriously, I rock at under 140 characters) and will perhaps begin a discussion of why I am avoiding facebook. The conversation promises to probe deep into my bitter and nasty psyche. You'll want to stay tuned.educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-53952004428569067892009-01-11T18:03:00.001-06:002009-01-11T18:05:03.021-06:00Because My Life Is That FascinatingI'm on <a href="http://twitter.com/">twitter</a>. Search for mseducat if you'd like to find me.educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-68240391069803384872009-01-10T10:26:00.001-06:002009-01-10T11:17:35.883-06:00Monday: The First Day Of The Rest Of Your LifeI am so excited to get a student teacher on Monday!<br /><br /><br /><br />Firstly, I am so very ready to start a young teacher on her way to a long career spent investing her efforts into students. I had the best student teaching experience a puppy teacher could want. My cooperating teacher was actually an old friend from church (she babysat me as a child), I planned to be a Speech/Drama teacher so the twelve hour days were no shock at all to me and my mentor teacher could watch me work with kids and articulate with ease the things I did well and the things that weren't so great. I want to be that encouraging friend that naturally builds on the wealth of gifts that my puppy will bring.<br /><br />Secondly, I need another set of hands. It's beyond tough to run a school spirit empire, a fake kid government, and to maintain full responsibility for two of the three Rs. She's going to take over one class at a time and her first one will happen quickly so I can work on Senior assembly. I can't wait to share the burden of grading.<br /><br />But there's a gamble, isn't there? I'm assuming that babygirl is a natural teacher who just needs one last good push into the big world of teaching, but what if she isn't? I don't expect her to work twelve hour days, but what if she thinks that teaching is a seven hour a day job? What if she's a yeller?<br /><br />So I guess I want ideas. I'm already noting everything my buddy <a href="http://shrewdnessofapes.blogspot.com/2006/06/okay-rookie-were-gonna-put-you-in.html">Ms. C shared a coupla years ago</a> but it's been about 12 years since I've had a student teacher and it was in a whole other subject area. Thoughts, please. I have a student teacher...and go!educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-86368845311914011102009-01-06T19:31:00.003-06:002009-01-06T19:36:10.243-06:00New Semester News<ol><li>Brother of Urinator didn't show in class today. He's still on my roll. I have set my mind to give him his own, very fair shot into my good graces but that doesn't mean that I'd rather not exercize that particular professional skill. </li><li>The <a href="http://educat.blogspot.com/2008/09/teachers-dillemma.html">Sophie's Choice of teacher-dom is </a>no longer my dillema!! My plan is during the lunch period so I have a giant planlunch all smashed together!! Today I used the restroom and ate a healthy lunch! Such riches!</li></ol>educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-78634388808276824432009-01-05T18:34:00.002-06:002009-01-05T18:51:26.287-06:00Just A Few Quick Questions<ul><li>Tomorrow, our new semester begins and I have the brother of <a href="http://educat.blogspot.com/2007/11/isnt-it-cute-when-adults-text.html#4102311027643515268">"The Urinator"</a> in my last period class. From what I've been told, The Urinator is the good brother. Would you cry to the counselor's office for some sort of immunity ("Do I have to have both of the pee brothers!?")? Is it a situation worthy of special consideration?</li><li>For the English teachers--When you're in those awful staff development meetings and other teachers refer to you as "An English Person", are you tempted to answer them in your best Princess Margaret voice? No? Not even a little?</li><li>If you're at lunch with a group of mixed age colleagues (all "English People" for what it's worth, and no one eating fish and chips...) and all the diners of a certain age are bemoaning the downfall of society and how text messaging has brought us there, should I mention that I was just notified by text message of the passing of my great uncle? </li><li>If not Princess Margaret, how about Eliza Doolittle?</li></ul><p>For the record, I'd say: no but I'd like to; yes, yes, oh HELL YES; no; and tempting but no.</p>educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-37063110175055957152008-12-22T09:31:00.004-06:002008-12-22T19:42:44.859-06:00One True Thing<object width="512" height="296"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/lzN1mTrT8k9Jm83A32hwCQ/4909/5112"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><br /><embed src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/lzN1mTrT8k9Jm83A32hwCQ/4909/5112" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="512" height="296"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />One True Thing is streaming over on Hulu right now. I watched it yesterday while attacking some Christmas knitting.<br /><br />The irony of this is totally available to me. When the movie first came out, my whole family commented how much I seemed like the Renee Zellweger character (especially when they refer to her and her best friend as "The Sylvia Plath Twins") and here I am just a few years later, doing the Christmas knitting and hoping my mom will be all right this Christmas.<br /><br />By the time it got to this clip, the knitting was almost done and I was sobbing uncontrollably. Don't worry, you'll only see the five minute clip here.educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-40933685677939627712008-12-18T22:54:00.001-06:002008-12-18T22:54:22.445-06:00You're A Mean One Mr Grinch<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p><object height='350' width='425'><param value='http://youtube.com/v/MPBS7dVrE1U' name='movie'/><embed height='350' width='425' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://youtube.com/v/MPBS7dVrE1U'/></object></p><p>If you're wondering, it's me. <br /><br />I'm the mean one. The only one who doesnt' give their class a party or let children play the last day of the semester. We're doing reflective writing.<br /><br />I'm the mean one. Anyone else with me?</p></div>educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-6539164674276549192008-12-17T21:46:00.002-06:002008-12-17T21:58:54.847-06:00Knitting And The Single Woman<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZ3YqhUws0SQtIXYsTqspha9rhEDQKFcApMbK9wA5tEiBdo758h0Wk2r2FmRzlyPuL11xx3oiBYR49VUAyGnuqqIxZVGWh8bD5P0miRBTVbzKFnTueiE8t6osRgszJFkEDlytxQ/s1600-h/sock.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280971776253663666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZ3YqhUws0SQtIXYsTqspha9rhEDQKFcApMbK9wA5tEiBdo758h0Wk2r2FmRzlyPuL11xx3oiBYR49VUAyGnuqqIxZVGWh8bD5P0miRBTVbzKFnTueiE8t6osRgszJFkEDlytxQ/s200/sock.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">...or How I Ended Up With A Phone Sock</span></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div>Once I realized that this fetching sock was too large for my sister's ipod, I was left to find another use for this beauty. It was still on the needles at the time and when my spirit club co sponsor noticed it, I told him I was experimenting with ipod socks.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>My ulterior motive, of course, was to feel him out to see if he'd want it...</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I need to stop and talk about my spirit club co sponsor. He is perfect. My love for him is deep and pure and platonic (because, seriously, he's about nine years old or something...). He is perfect for our silly club and he loves hand knits. When I gave him a hat, he went right inside to look at the striping and commented on <em>how much he loved the inside</em>. What!?</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Comment sometime on the beauty of the wrong side of a hand knit. It's how to love a knitter.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>So I was all ready to wrap this chunk of yarn and glory for my buddy until he said, "I really want an ipod sock, my wife promised to make me a felt one, but that hasn't happened yet."</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Dang. Is it a strange moral line in the sand that I won't make this man something his wife promised him? I've met his wife and love her, I'd amputate my hand before I'd offend her.</div><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEietVfpIRFDx880kBEAsYijn0Pxp8cP5EV_FnulPCcig2yhEYxijwxUb-NsG7xWpIrPumBOks_tazZGBU5MYZ_1S8fflrCzmu9G4e4unYiDReg5Gt4VboI3G64Y6guU36oUS29kZw/s1600-h/graft.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280974514696516306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEietVfpIRFDx880kBEAsYijn0Pxp8cP5EV_FnulPCcig2yhEYxijwxUb-NsG7xWpIrPumBOks_tazZGBU5MYZ_1S8fflrCzmu9G4e4unYiDReg5Gt4VboI3G64Y6guU36oUS29kZw/s200/graft.jpg" /></a><br /><div>So I'm left to use this sock on my phone. It might be where it should be. Could anyone else really appreciate this perfect graft at the bottom? I doubt it.</div></div>educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-66973900829348269442008-12-16T20:20:00.003-06:002008-12-17T19:22:01.842-06:00They're Not Hats, Just Trees<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio5UXSg4KVZsP_p-kzmhMYVB-lZUow7Qhc9pK0Jx0peq2cL8bN0KE2NSbuQGtdwDrJ1w17Lpp4sdq_rPqhpUiMvO_9Shpymp-LMdnzz8vRPQpJ-DMObjYCmG5QxC8xXbK_DGTCQg/s1600-h/tree.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 237px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 213px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280578385026383378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio5UXSg4KVZsP_p-kzmhMYVB-lZUow7Qhc9pK0Jx0peq2cL8bN0KE2NSbuQGtdwDrJ1w17Lpp4sdq_rPqhpUiMvO_9Shpymp-LMdnzz8vRPQpJ-DMObjYCmG5QxC8xXbK_DGTCQg/s200/tree.jpg" /></a> I have a tiny forest of felted trees from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mason-Dixon-Knitting-Outside-Lines-Confessions/dp/0307381706/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210365619&sr=1-2">Mason Dixon Knitting, Outside the Lines</a> going right now. Two different friends of mine today thought I was making rather artistic hats--not the case. Here are my favorite three--the buttons are actually pink even though they look red here.<br /><br />I almost hate to give them away.educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-77397676439954277732008-12-15T06:27:00.001-06:002008-12-15T06:27:17.206-06:00You Cannot Be Sad, Part II<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p><object height='350' width='425'><param value='http://youtube.com/v/TaJrXjofZmg' name='movie'/><embed height='350' width='425' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://youtube.com/v/TaJrXjofZmg'/></object></p><p>Sorry, can't write about this while my toes are tapping uncontrolably!</p></div>educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-85688909818478893402008-12-14T15:05:00.001-06:002008-12-14T15:05:34.789-06:00You Cannot Be Sad, Part I<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p><object height='350' width='425'><param value='http://youtube.com/v/BV0SbkrG44Y' name='movie'/><embed height='350' width='425' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://youtube.com/v/BV0SbkrG44Y'/></object></p><p>In order to get us through this long last week of school, complete with two days of State Testing, first home basketball of the season, writing folder compliation, one act play, completion of Christmas knitting and finals; I'll be offering a gift each day.<br /><br />Things you cannot be sad while viewing<br /><br />That's an awkward title, but I'm too danged happy to fix it.<br /><br /><br />We kick off with the real harbinger of Christmas in my family: Emmett Otter. My sister and I watched it as kids on HBO and the first year it came out on video, I was in college. My sister had it playing on the TV as I walked in the door from finals.<br /><br />If these woodland creatures don't make you smile, you are dead and broken inside.</p></div>educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-66800654212972488882008-12-11T13:36:00.002-06:002008-12-11T13:41:13.520-06:00ForgivenessFrom <a href="http://www.reallivepreacher.com/">Real Live Preacher</a>...<br /><br />Yoon Dong-yun, the only remaining member of the family killed this week when a Marine pilot crashed into a San Diego home doesn't plan to sue, he's forgiven the pilot. He prays for him, in fact, that he won't suffer mental anguish from the tragedy. Read more <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/12/117_35894.html">here.</a><br /><br />I won't even cheapen this with commentary.educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-1628951425700185852008-12-11T08:27:00.001-06:002008-12-11T08:27:08.326-06:00Music To Test By (Pretend It's Postdated To Tuesday)<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p><object height='350' width='425'><param value='http://youtube.com/v/WcMsB3mYPMs' name='movie'/><embed height='350' width='425' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://youtube.com/v/WcMsB3mYPMs'/></object></p><p>This song drops my blood pressure every time I hear it. I've soopa favorite-ed it on Pandora and it's on every playlist I have right now. One cannot be sad whilst listening to this song and it played in my head a bit during testing.<br /><br />Lyrics by Woody Guthrie, Okie and Bad Ass. Kim, make note.</p></div>educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-1921184801392029992008-12-10T19:57:00.005-06:002008-12-10T20:17:30.660-06:00I Am The State<div><div>So we're one-third through testing now. The writing test is done and we've two glorious days of multiple choice before we call it a semester.</div><br /><div>I wanted to post some music in homage to the season, kind of <a href="http://educat.blogspot.com/2008/04/too-late-for-sample-prompts.html">like I did last year</a>, but I was dog tired and it never really occurred to me that day that I even have a blog (sorry, I think of you sometimes but dang, I couldn't even get to the bathroom). If I think about it tonight, I'll throw up some music and you can pretend it's postdated.</div><br /><div>Mostly, our kids have a good attitude about testing. They want to do well but don't stress too much about it. I have, however, one group of kids that seems to be the perfect storm for silliness. They don't mean to talk all the time, but they must be constantly occupied or they will grab each other and make fart noises, they just can't help it.</div><br /><br /><div></div><div>So anything I tell the kids to do is followed by a threat of the State.</div><br /><br /><div></div><div>"If you speak at all before everyone has finished the test, I have to report exactly what you said to The State"</div><div><em><span style="font-size:85%;">(Thankfully, this one didn't backfire on me, I can imagine what some kids would say to "The State")</span></em></div><br /><div>"If your cell phone goes off during the test, I have to report it to The State and everyone's test will be invalid. You'll all have to retake it."</div><br /><div>"I have to report to The State anyone who finishes their essay within half an hour. They suspect that you haven't tried if you do it too quickly."</div><br /><br /><div></div><div>It all really worked. The threat of The State was enough to get everyone working and behaving. I like to imagine that my kids all pictured this guy behind a desk, waiting to catch them in wrongdoing...</div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278350132517760450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 218px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBHa8caEfEkTP1b0tzFoiZrHM-xFZhvZB8viBPvyAUTbxUhcwqIWELxXQHLYwxCCFET4ObgQDgPvLwJpBM-Cz9hfiOjaqo6aMu2Ivvcnj2nb9bLTb8L715IR-rYeu53BAi0aLucw/s320/oklahoma.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div>...except he probably wears a tie to work. Since he doesn't have a neck, he sort of jauntily hangs it off the panhandle.</div></div>educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-83374277891729327392008-12-10T18:25:00.001-06:002008-12-10T18:26:10.284-06:00Not Sure, But I Bet It's DirtyReal question today:<br /><br />"Miss, what's a biological narrative?"educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5916906.post-52517310797900351782008-12-05T10:26:00.001-06:002008-12-05T10:28:25.903-06:00My Racist Friend, Part IISo this morning, <a href="http://educat.blogspot.com/2008/11/this-is-where-party-ends.html">this lady </a>told me that her jokes weren't so bad.<br /><br />Because a Jewish kid told them to her daughter.educathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03927744738999545249noreply@blogger.com0