Seasonal Soundings

Recently read on a blog:

2011-12-03T13:49:00.002-05:00

"I love God so much for creating academia.
How much infinitely more greater and desirable is the God
who fashioned all this brilliance
and endowed humans with the ability to endlessly think up ideas?
Academia
can sometimes be a disparagingly antagonistic
and snooty environment,
while other times
it can’t be more refreshing,
encouraging,
constructive,
and just purely fun."

I agree. It's refreshing to hear someone speak highly, and from a Godly viewpoint, about academia.

This blogger has an affection for bookstores too.

I don't know her, but I'd say we might be kindred spirits.

David McCullough

2011-12-03T10:55:00.003-05:00

I would like to be like him when I grow up.

Unfortunately, that is impossible any way you figure.

Enjoy this series of four, "Painting with Words."
(Each video is almost ten minutes long; be sure to go to each subsequent part - there are four.)

A self-centered conundrum

2011-11-26T11:10:00.005-05:00

Sometimes . . . like right now . . . I think I need to stop doing what I'm doing.

Yeah, I'm complaining of a sort. But, really, if I could pause everything -- stop everything right now and step out of it while, I think I would love it. I would like to be able to pause everything and catch up. I would like to be able to finish a task, and finish it well, before moving to another.

I love what I do, or at least I think I do. But I love to do what I do well, and I know that's not happening. I really dislike half-baked work that I am responsible for.

So, what do I do?

I cannot quit. I cannot let myself to that. Basically because if I quit, I would have no tasks to finish; they will all be given to others or left undone. All my tasks are work-related, and if I'm not employed, then I don't have these tasks.

I cannot give myself extra time; I have none. NONE.

I guess I could settle for less-than-well done. And this might have to happen.

I just know I need time and space.

If I had time and space, what would I do? Frankly, I'd try to finish my tasks before I enjoyed relaxation. And I don't think relaxation would ever come because I would never really "finish" a task. I would find just one more little thing to add or tweak to make that task "better."

There are no easy answers. And answers like "just say no" and "don't do it" are not acceptable nor realistic.

It's no answer but the realization is that I'm my own worst enemy.

And how does one overcome that?!

So what tasks are causing this conundrum?

scope-and-sequence work: directing, arranging, facilitating, writing

new history course work: outlining, making master (and student) note pages, developing tests for this year's two new courses

housework: trying to keep up with maintaining a clean and neat house without the aid of any help (because I've not been allowed to employ any)

meal preparation: keeping a menu, shopping for supplies, and cooking meals for two people, keeping the kitchen clean and neat

personal care: washing, folding, putting up clothes; personal hygiene care; exercise (which is not happening)

personal growth: reading, writing, thinking (the lack in these areas is, perhaps, felt the strongest)

How can I change any of this without stepping off the bandwagon? Is it possible?

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

2011-11-06T21:40:00.001-05:00

From that wonderful movie Akeelah and the Bee:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves,
who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

~ Marianne Williamson

I'm watching: Catherine Cookson movies

2011-11-05T10:08:00.003-04:00

After I finish schoolwork, I read, I watch, and I listen. No, I should correct this. It is usually while I finish schoolwork, that I read, I watch, and I listen. Multi-tasking, even with what should be leisure activities, has consumed everything I do.

Unfortunately now, I seem to need as second, or concurrent, task going on. While I prepare the coffee for the next day, one hand is emptying the old grounds, rinsing the filter container, and adding a new filter while the other hand is holding the pot as water fills it. Or while riding an hour in the car, I find myself taking along a book that needs to be read for school to read a few pages as we drive. While driving to work, I often scribble notes on a legal pad I keep beside the seat--often something I think of I need to do that day or a thought for an article I would like to write.

So, I do like to watch something while I type a test, grade a stack of papers, or read the newspaper. The past few months we have found some enjoyable videos on Netflix based on some of English author Catherine Cookson's books. Most, if not all, of her storylines relate to class struggle in 19th century England. We've equated her writings to American's Horatio Alger. What is interesting are the twists and turns the plot takes. All of these are well done, a few are exceptional (+) and only a couple are ones we just did not care for (-). You may enjoy these too!

+++ Tilly Trotter
The Secret
+++ A Dinner of Herbs
The Cinder Path
The Fifteen Streets
- The Gambling Man
-The Man Who Cried
The Glass Virgin
The Girl
The Moth
The Rag Nymph
The Wingless Bird
+++ Colour Blind
+++ Dwelling Place

My landscape for the past few days

2011-10-29T22:20:00.007-04:00

Earlier this week, I explained my necessary sabbatica l. I have completely enjoyed my time by myself. I have been able to work uninterrupted and have things in order through Christmas.

What I have loved has been the landscape. Beyond my computer screen has been what you see below. Taking short three minute breaks every hour or so, I was able to walk out and enjoy it all. The weather was warm enough to enable me to leave the door partially open all the time to enjoy the breeze and the sound of the surf. I don't think I would ever tire of the sound or the sight.

The pictures, in order, show the various weather during the past few days. Today began with "smoke on the water" and as the day progressed, the stormy clouds moved off into a beautiful dimension, and finally blew away completely to crystal blue skies closing in a gorgeous sunset.

Enjoy!

Reformation Day, 2011

2011-10-28T10:13:00.003-04:00

Resources abound today as we remember Reformation Day. Too many children are growing up without knowledge of the contributions of Martin Luther, to whom Reformation Day has become linked.

I find that when I mention Martin Luther in class, the new students assume I'm speaking of Martin Luther King; they've never heard of Martin Luther, the reformer. What a task we have to restore historic Christian culture!

Through Reformation Day (Monday), Ligonier offers a free download of R. C. Sproul's wonderful children's book, The Barber Who Wanted to Pray. R. C. reads this in his mellow and friendly voice. What a gift! Don't miss this generosity!

Also visit George Grant's Eleventary for his eleven quotes from Martin Luther.

Then top off the weekend with Luther, the movie.

For young children, a delightful picture book is Luther, A Man Who Changed the World (Maier).

And for older children (even up through high school), a wonderful little book, Luther, the Leader, summarizes Luther life. Even for adults, this is a good, brief account of Luther's life.

My October Sky

2011-10-28T10:10:00.006-04:00

My backdrop for today's work day.

Martin Luther on music

2011-10-27T11:47:00.000-04:00

"I always loved music; whoso has skill in this art, is of a good temperament, fitted for all things. We must teach music in schools; a schoolmaster ought to have skill in music, or I would not regard him; neither should we ordain young men as preachers, unless they have been well exercised in music."

"Singing has nothing to do with the affairs of this world, it is not for the law; singers are merry and free from sorrows and cares."

"Music is one of the best arts; the notes give life to the text; it expels melancholy, as we see in King Saul. Kings and princes ought to maintain music, for great potentates and rulers should protect good and liberal arts and laws; though private people have desire thereunto and love it, yet their ability is not adequate. We read in the Bible, that the good and godly kings maintained and paid singers. Music is the best solace for a sad and sorrowful mind; by it the heart is refreshed and settled again in peace."

...from Luther's Table Talk

Kunte Kinte memorial

2011-10-27T06:00:00.001-04:00

"Knowledge of history can be the first step away from anger and bitterness. Truth leads to understanding. Understanding and forgiveness lead to reconciliation and healing."

"Things don't ever get better unless you make them better."

Words from the Memorial Story Wall Plaque at the Alex Haley Memorial, Annapolis, Maryland.

Why?

2011-10-26T15:51:00.002-04:00

If you are a parent of a young child, isn't "Why?" a common question?

"Why?" is asked so often sometimes that you think the child is being intentionally irritating. And sometimes, he is. But more often than not, he is just asking something that comes naturally, especially with a particular age.

Children entering those middle school years tend to ask "Why?" about the simplest and the most complex. Children seek information. As teachers, we want them to seek information; we want them to ask those "Why?" questions. In turn, we need to return the favor and ask our own "Why?" questions.

Inquisitiveness is part of natural childhood development. And part of our responsibility as teachers and parents is to draw out those "Why?" questions. How do we do that? One way is to not directly answer the child's question. Instead, for example, respond to the question "Why is bird's beak is shaped like that?" with "Why do you think that bird's beak short and stubby?" Begin to lead the child's thinking with questions. "What does a bird do with his beak?" "What kinds of food could a bird eat with a beak like that?"

Leading a child's thinking is a responsible response for parents and teachers. After all, the word educate comes from the Latin "to draw out" which is exactly what Socratic teaching, or teaching with questions, is all about.

Socratic teaching, the most effective instructional method, helps the student learn by causing him to think. By responding to the student's question with the answer, the student is passive and has to do little thinking, but by responding to the student's question with another question that leads him toward the answer is effective teaching. This method helps the student figure out the answer and helps make that knowledge "sticky." Now sticky, that knowledge will begin to attract other similar bits of information which are assimilated by the student toward many "Ah-hah" moments.

All this gives credence to what E. D. Hirsch advocates: "The more you know, the more you can learn." One bit knowledge increases a child's literacy and leads to another bit which leads to another, increasing the wealth of his cultural literacy.

Teachers, as well as parents, should seek to fill those literacy larders so that students have the ability to become discerning thinkers, effective communicators, and lifelong learners.

A Short Seasonal Sabbatial

2011-10-26T12:00:00.004-04:00

I've thought of all kinds of alliterative descriptions to use for the next few days.

short .......... seasonal .......... sanity .......... survival

This has been a rough year. And it will not ease until June. This rough result is not from a bad thing; it's from that ambitious plan that we in the Strategic Planning Committee mapped out and the course we have chosen to help the school financially. We all knew it would be rough. Teaching extra classes, ~~double~~ triple duty, certification pursuit, scope & sequence formulation, . . . .

But, as usual, one never knows just how difficult, how involved, and how demanding a task will be until he is in the thick of it.

Such am I. In fact, seven weeks ago I felt stuck in the miry clay, quickly being overcome by the sinking feeling that I was not able to do my duties (not just well, but at all) and seemingly unable to do anything about it. This really concerned me because I'm not one that gets down about much. I almost thrive on challenges and workaholism.

But, I realized I needed some sort of break. And there would be one at the end of October when the faculty was scheduled to go to the ACSI conference. The conference is not what I needed. I had already secured CEUs from some tremendous summertime conferences -- on my own time and at my own expense and worth twice the CEUs. I made a request: give me that time off to work on my own. I'll save the school money in not going to the conference, and I'll be able to redeem the time I need to get through Christmas.

The request was accepted. And my reservations were made the same day. I knew I needed time to work, but I also needed a change of scenery and no, not one demand, expectation --implied or otherwise -- placed upon me other than the time to plan through Christmas.

My backdrop for these few days is spectacular. The weather will change, though, in a couple of days. But that's okay. It's quiet except for the rolling surf and the birds. I've already mapped out a plan for one new class (planning is like preparing a meal that is consumed in a few bites) and have my self-imposed schedule to accomplish the rest of my to-do list.

For now, I am being revived with rest and quiet. And I'm being recused because that miry clay is becoming thin. My steps are getting easier, and survival seems hopeful.

Seasonal Changes

2011-10-02T16:41:00.006-04:00

Again, it seems, we moved from one season into another without that cushioned temperature change. Today, as yesterday, it is blustery, windy, and cold compared to the sizzling summer we just came out of. So, a fire in the woodstove to cut the chill and a bowl of a new soup: Winter Soup.

The recipe came out in the newspaper and what appealed to me was the comment, ". . . a big taste of the root vegetables you have been craving."

I've not tried anything new in a long time because I've not cooked much over the course of the last few years. I guess I had some sort of earth-mama hankering, and planned accordingly. Yesterday, because I had made my lesson plans for next week on Thursday and finished all my grading before leaving school on Friday, I had several hours free for kitchen duty yesterday. So I tried several new recipes: a new blueberry cobbler, Lemon-Pesto Rotini, and Winter Soup.

The soup took awhile to prepare because these thick, hard-skinned root vegetables had to be peeled--not a quick job. The picture below is not mine, but the soup looks like it. And the smell cooking it was so good!

Winter Soup

1 cup each, peeled and coarsely chopped: onion, butternut squash, sweet potato, Granny Smith apple, rutabaga, and carrot.

1 stick butter

5 cups chicken stock

1 cup heavy cream (or half-and-half)

3 Tbsp maple syrup

cayenne pepper to taste

Melt a stick of butter and add all veggies, cooking until onion is translucent. Add stock and cook until veggies are tender.

Transfer to a food processor (I used my Ninja - greatest little device ever) and process until smooth. Transfer back to cooking pot and add cream, syrup, and pepper.

Heat until hot and serve.

Now, when I peeled that big ole ugly rutabaga, which I've never bought or grown before, I had much more than a cup, so I just doubled the recipe and froze half of it. What a great-and easy-meal this will be after a cold school day.

Next time, I am going to experiment by adding some split peas and topping it with some bacon. The addition of hot pepperoni rolls will be a perfect complement too.

. ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ .

This school year is proving to be more than busy. From the time my feet step into my room of the morning, I am hustling until at least 3:30 pm. I often find myself unable to prepare for the two new classes until the morning of, necessitating 3:30 - 4 am wake-ups and stress I'm unused to and don't need. But, things are settling into a pattern, and I anticipate a good year, albeit busy.

Last night, we watched a wonderful movie, The Last Brickmaker in America with Sidney Poitier. Much like his Noah Dearborn, this is one of those good-for-you-to-watch ones. Positive and encouraging. Makes you want to take the high road even though it's not the easy one.

. ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ .

My reading life is a mess. I started a book in September in preparation for our England-Ireland trip next July. Sarum is 900 pages and I'm not sure I'll get it finished, particularly when I have other reading that I have to do and cannot hold my eyes open long after crawling into bed. Rutherfurd's writing sticks with me; he's obviously a gifted one because a week between readings is not a gap in my remembrance.

Blogging has taken a back-burner because of time, but I often think about all kinds of things to blog. The stress of my teaching life could be eased a bit, I believe, with some scattered blogging time. But with so much to do, I feel I can't even take a few hours off. One day things will change. :)

2011-09-18T13:15:00.002-04:00

I love to teach because I love to learn.

But I need to figure out if teaching is my self-imposed discipline to autodidactism.

Things have changed this school year. Too many additional expectations without the compensation. and too little time for classroom preparation.

Freelancing classroom materials is looking really attractive. And the beach is looking more and more like a place to run away to.

Do the next thing

2011-07-07T08:54:00.002-04:00

When faced with confusions and uncertainties, Elizabeth Elliot says to "Do the next thing."

"Do it immediately, do it with prayer, do it reliantly, casting all care. Do it with reverence, tracing His hand who placed it before thee with earnest command. Stayed on omnipotence, safe 'neath His wing, leave all resultings, do the next thing."

With my huge list of "next things," I can spend an inordinate amount of time deciding, unfortunately. But I must press onward.

From an old English parsonage down by the sea,
There came in the twilight a message to me;
Its quaint Saxon legend, deeply engraven,
Hath, as it seems to me, teaching from Heaven.
And on through the hours the quiet words ring
Like a low inspiration-Do the next thing.

Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment, let down from Heaven,
Time, opportunity, guidance, are given.
Fear not tomorrows, child of the King,
Trust them with Jesus, Do the next thing.

Do it immediately; do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care;
Do it with reverence, tracing His Hand,
Who placed it before thee with earnest command.
Stayed on Omnipotence, safe 'neath His wing,
Leave all resultings, Do the next thing.

Looking to Jesus, ever serener,
Working or suffering be thy demeanor,
In His dear presence, the rest of His calm,
The light of His countenance be thy psalm,
Strong in His faithfulness, praise and sing,
Then, as He beckons thee, Do the next thing.

-Author unknown

The Roots of Kunte Kinte

2011-07-03T22:46:00.010-04:00

A number of years ago, we got the VHS Roots to watch. I remembered hearing about it when the book first came out back in 1976. I wasn't much of a reader then at all, but I remember "Roots" being a buzz word. When we first got the DVD, I kind of resigned myself to watch the first of six tapes. Probably twenty minutes into it hooked me for the next 573 minutes. I could hardly wait until the next evening to watch the next tape. Way before the end, Kunte Kinte had buried himself into my being. This whole story was not to be ignored.

Another few years went by and I found myself teaching middle school history where I still am today. Every time we get to the Triangular Trade chapter, images emerge from my mind of that captivating film. I've talked about it in class but have never taken the time to show clips of the film, though I plan to change that this year.

Fast forward several years, and I found, but have long-since forgotten how, that a website for the Kunte Kinte Memoria l was in Annapolis, Maryland. I was fascinated by the simple, yet detailed and life-like, bronze statues. I wanted to see them in person but knew that was a slim chance. No one would trek five hours with me to Annapolis to see some bronze statues. The idea was rather silly. Until, that is, our daughter moved to Baltimore and worked in Annapolis.

We visited her over Memorial Day, and since our days were packed, little thought was given to visiting Annapolis. But, when I decided to go to the Society for Classical Learning conference a few weeks later in Baltimore, I wanted to make sure I visited the memorial. The area was super-crowded with people and maneuvering the car around was tedious, as was any leisure around the memorial. But I did get pictures that will stay with me.

The Kunte Kinte Memorial at the City Dock in Annapolis, MD was established here because this is where Kunte Kinte was brought on a slave ship to the City Dock at "Naplis," sold into slavery, and taken to a farm in (Spotsylvania County) Virginia. The life-size bronze statues of children from various minorities listen as the statue of Alex Haley tells his family's story.

Kunte Kinte is the main character in Alex Haley's book, Roots. Haley is the seventh generation of Kunte Kinte. The story begins in 1750 in Gambia, Africa and continues through seven generations until the 1970s. The film appears to portray an accurate picture of the plight of Africans captured to be transported and sold as slaves in the Triangular Trade.

[Because of the number of pictures, I chose to post them in a smaller size. Be sure to click on individual pictures to enlarge the view, especially the plaques. The inscriptions on these plaques are worth the time it takes to enlarge and read.]

Why this summer's posts will be few:

2011-06-14T07:23:00.003-04:00

Gerunds tell it all

2011-05-30T19:30:00.004-04:00

Our four-day weekend was perfect!

Leaving, just the two of us, for a five hour drive to visit our Baltimore daughter,
brunching on a longed-for late breakfast,
browsing books at the book fair,
walking away with several hundred dollars of books for only half of a hundred,
enjoying dinner prepared by our daughter,
resting leisurely while she bustles breakfast,
strolling the Inner Harbor on a pleasant day,
riding the water taxi all over the harbor,
reliving history at beautiful Fort McHenry,
visiting with arriving family while
marveling at the food and service at Fogo de Choi,
strolling the Inner Harbor again on a beautiful evening,
gaping in wonder at the swimming creatures at the National Aquarium Baltimore,
cheering wildly at the tournament of knights at Medieval Times, and then
driving home with satisfaction and love of family.

Tomorrow it's back to work. But only for 1.5 days with students. I can do this.

Life is good!

"My books are my tools....my counsel, my consolation, and my comfort."

2011-05-21T11:15:00.003-04:00

“My books are my tools. They also serve as my counsel, my consolation, and my comfort. They are my source of wisdom and the font of my education. They are my friends and my delights. They are my surety, when all else is awry, that I have set my confidence in the substantial things of truth and right.” ~Charles Spurgeon

From Semicolon, who always has great book quotes. Visit this week's Saturday Review of Books for reading ideas. Or post yours!

Nobody Don't Love Nobody

2011-05-14T08:35:00.003-04:00

I find a lot of the books I read from my rabbit-trail adventures. One trail leads to another, that one leads somewhere else, and so on. Almost ad nauseum.

This book landed in my stack, actually it was another interruption of my stack, a couple of weeks ago when the new Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, Beyond the Blackboard, came out. I was drawn to the movie because it was about a teacher, and when the introduction began saying it was based on a true story, I googled. Google is my reason for easy rabbit trails. I learned that the movie was based on the classroom experiences of Stacey Bess who had written a book, Nobody Don't Love Nobody. I ordered the book during the first commercial break.

Stacey Bess writes about her first teaching experience after graduating from college. She's some tough cookie to be so young and inexperienced and to have stuck it out in some dangerous and uncertain situations with little preparation or materials. She was definitely the diamond in the rough.

Her first school situation was uncommon. Assigned to a public school in a homeless shelter, she taught grades 1-6 concurrently. Talk about modern day one-room schoolhouse! Her students were children of homeless families who lived in a shelter in Utah. Many of these children had moved from place to place for much of their lives. Many of their parents were substance abusers who spent the little money provided on their habits rather than bread for their children. Many of the children had been emotionally neglected to the extent that they could hardly believe Stacey Bess really cared about them. She loved them as her own. She provided for them as best as she could. The children's understanding of the world around them was that "Nobody Don't Love Nobody," hence the title of the book.

While the book is a series of stories about the children which can become a bit wearisome to read, the instructional part for me learning that sometimes teaching, or encouraging, the notion of self-esteem has a place. In many classrooms today, the last thing we see needed is kids with anymore self-esteem. That shows the difference in Stacey Bess' classroom and mine. Typical kids today have no problem with self-esteem; they have plenty. Sometimes, too much. But in the Bess' classroom of the School with No Name, many of the children had little self-esteem due to their lifelong circumstances.

Stacey Bess managed to see the need early-on that this was a different sort of bunch; her given classroom was not what her educational experiences had prepared her for. She learned; she adjusted and adapted; she succeeded. She learned to teach these children first that they do have worth in the world; she taught them to love as she loved them. She continued to teach them typical classroom material, but her primary lessons were much more basic and human need related.

Movie adaptations are always different from books, and this is true with Beyond the Blackboard. The movie was good but a bit dissimilar from the book Nobody Don't Love Nobody. To couple with the release of the movie, the book has been re-released under the same title, Beyond the Blackboard: Lessons on Love from the School with No Name.

Read more info on Stacey Bess here.

Decisions, again!

2011-05-07T08:06:00.003-04:00

They are relentless! Always decisions have to be made . . . what to fix for dinner, when to schedule a test, how to effectively teach a difficult topic, where to go on vacation, and the whys, . . . well, we always have whiney-why questions.

Monday is the requested due date for our textbook list for next year. This decision couldn't come at a better time because when you are in the midst of the end of months of academics, what has been successful is easy to judge, and what has not, is easy to throw out. On the other hand, the timing of this decision couldn't be worse: you are trying to finish and wrap up material, trying to squeeze in the one bit the students need and you've not covered, making decisions about academic awards, planning the end-of-year subject test, etc., etc.

I've been thinking for several months now about texts for next year, and I've accumulated some unsightly mounds of books to review as possibilities. My current classes will not change material except to add a regular book for vocabulary. That part is not hard. But next year, I will take on a ninth grade ancient history class and an upper school US history class. Both of those classes will be new from the ground up: the school has never had an ancient history class, though I've taught ancients before, and the US history will be completely revamped.

I have made a decision about the main texts for these classes and am very comfortable with those. But a few support materials need to be detailed for that textbook list due Monday, and that will take awhile to compile. Plus, I plan to include in the curriculum several literature selections to integrate with the history. THOSE are the indecisive parts of the puzzle that I've not figured out.

Originally, I thought I would read one book a quarter, for a total of four. In reality, I wonder if I will be able to do this the first year with these new classes. For ancient history, I would like to read something Gilgamesh, the Iliad, the Odyssey, and something Roman. For US history, I'm really at a loss -- so much good stuff, but still no idea.

On top of all this, I have scope and sequence to coordinate. This coming year's topics will be English and history. I pretty much know where I'm going with all this, but it will be incredibly time-consuming. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

So, onward, over, and conquer!

Decorah Eagle Cam

2011-04-20T13:48:00.003-04:00

By all means, visit this live-feed eagle cam from Decorah, Illinois.

Three chicks, plus the male and female eagles.

Uncovering the Logic of English

2011-04-07T05:42:00.003-04:00

I wish I could readily remember where the rabbit trail began that led me to this new book, Uncovering the Logic of English (Eide). I'm sure I started that trail from someone's blog or a Facebook post. Maybe I'll cross paths again and find out.

In the meantime, Eide has written an interesting-to-English-nerds book about all our spelling rules. She subtitled the book A Common-Sense Solution to America's Literacy Crisis.

Not necessarily bedtime reading, but the book is written simply and straightforwardly. This coupled with my worn copy of How to Teach Spelling, I hope to perfect my know-how and lessons.

Plus, I find all this just plain interesting!

For more about Uncovering the Logic of English, see this site. Eide keeps a blog there too.

The poet

2011-04-05T05:46:00.002-04:00

“The poet

is a person

who uses words

not primarily to convey information

but

to make a relationship,

to shape beauty,

form truth.”

The Contemplative Pastor (Peterson)

Poetry

2011-04-04T05:00:00.000-04:00

April is National Poetry Month.

I use poetry in my classroom every single day. Each week, all classes have a new poem, or part of a long poem, to memorize. We recite it every day. Several times. We read it in round robin fashion to stay on our p's and q's.

We, rather, I talk about it. I talk about the vocabulary, the rhyme if there is any, the structure. I weave in grammar lesson content that we've covered [find the inverted word order in the second stanza; find the rhythm meter; find synonymous (or antithetic) parallelism; find an onomatopoetic word; find the gerunds; etc.].

I try to pick poetry that harmonizes with the history we are currently studying. For instance, when eighth graders studied the Crimean War, we memorized "The Charge of the Light Brigade." Incidentally, just this week, I had a student I taught four years ago come to me during lunch and ask what the name of the poem was that went . . . and he proceeded to recite a bit. I wasn't even pressing poetry on those students much in those days. Yet, he remembered.

Nowadays, I press poetry. Last month, the eighth graders studied World War I. I had chosen two poems for memory during this time: "In Flanders Fields" and "A Prayer of a Soldier in France." I shared the picture book In Flanders Fields to help illustrate.

I didn't realize the effect of these poems on the students until one student brought me a picture she had drawn illustrating "A Prayer of a Soldier in France." And even more, when we were reading All Quiet on the Western Front, I took up the books one day at a cliff-hanger ending because I did not want them to read ahead. One student was obviously almost upset because she left her bookmark in the book. When I found it and gave it back to her, I saw that she had copied "In Flanders Fields" on a 1" x 2" piece of notebook paper. Tiny. It was frayed around the edges from use. Her little bookmark was quite special to her, almost part of her. She had been bookmarking All Quiet with "In Flanders Fields." There was no coincidence; it was all very intentional.

Realization of this had an effect on me. Students are affected by poetry's effects. They get it. And the words and meanings begin worming their way into their inner eye. I will treasure Sarah's longing look and begging for her bookmark for a long time. She had been moved.

The past two weeks, the seventh and eighth graders have learned "The House by the Side of the Road" by Sam Walter Foss. I found this poem as a result of Marva Collins who said in Marva Collins' Way that she teaches this poem every year. Every.single.time I read it, the words deepen in meaning and I see something else new. What a great poem to learn. A lovely reading with flowing piano music support (yet rather distracting, in my opinion, visuals) can be found here.

The House by the Side of the Road Sam Walter Foss (1858 - 1911)

There are hermit souls that live withdrawn
In the peace of their self-content;
There are souls, like stars, that swell apart,
In a fellowless firmament;
There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths
Where highways never ran;
But let me live by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

Let me live in a house by the side of the road,
Where the race of men go by;
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner's seat,
Or hurl the cynic's ban;
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead,
And mountains of wearisome height;
That the road passes on through the long afternoon
And stretches away to the night.
And still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice
And weep with the strangers that moan,
Nor live in my house by the side of the road
Like a man who dwells alone.

I see from my house by the side of the road,
By the side of the highway of life,
The men who press with the ardor of hope,
The men who are faint with the strife.
But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears
Both parts of an infinite plan;
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

Let me live in my house by the side of the road
Where the race of men go by;
They are good, they are bad, they are weak,
They are strong,
Wise, foolish - so am I.
Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat
Or hurl the cynic's ban? -
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

New classroom poster

2011-04-02T09:25:00.005-04:00

Anyone can do this!

Enter your info into Create box at Wordle.

Play with format, layout, colors until you have what you want.

Save it.

Copy and save it as a JPF file. I use PowerPoint and scale the size to the size poster I want (18" x 24" or 24" x 36").

Export file to Shortrun Posters, buy, and within a week, you will have a sharp-looking poster on heavy paper to hang.

I have done several of these, some as posters and some as pictures to post. The first time I entered my thesis on classical education and came up with this.

Earlier in the year, I did this Preposition poster. The students love to look at and use this.

Mother Teresa's advice

2011-03-28T19:18:00.004-04:00

Life is hard, then you . . .

2011-03-28T05:56:00.003-04:00

Having recently used the phrase
"Life is hard, and then you die"
several times,
I smiled when I read this.

Need I say more?

A shrieking voice

2011-03-27T14:17:00.004-04:00

"Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night." ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

And everything blooming early is evidently what has caused my voice to "an unbelievable shrieking."

Choose two or three of these cartoon characters. Now, blend their voices together into one. Alternate between that cartoon character voice and "Mama Sang Bass." The result will be my voice for the past four weeks.

I hit the four week mark this past Thursday or Friday after getting what I now realize is a sinus "problem." I knew my difficulty centered in my sinuses, and my upper respiratory tract. Whatever the cause, I am ready for this to be over. I haven't coughed during the night for the past four nights, so I'm finally sleeping better.

And I've used something for the first time that I thought I'd never, ever use: a Neti pot. Not sure how to use it exactly, I'm so glad I watched a YouTube video for directions. I still inwardly groan when I need to use it, but I must say that this is really effective in moving things out of one's sinuses.

Here's hoping that this week will be the time that my normal voice returns. This week's school agenda is packed:

6th graders are finishing "Daffodils," learning another long list of homonyms, finishing a chapter on capitalization and punctuation, and studying the Battle of Agincourt.

7th graders are finishing "The House by the Side of the Road" which I love more every time I read it, learn a long list of homonyms, begin a chapter on prepositions, and study the French Revolution.

8th graders are also finishing "The House by the Side of the Road," learn a long list of homonyms (could there possibly be that many?), continue to study adverbs (the hardest of all parts of speech, in my opinion), and study the stock market crash and the Great Depression.

A routinely week in the classroom.

Add laying groundwork to writing scope and sequence for history and English and this will be a full one!

My nighttime book that I amazingly am able to stay awake long enough to plow through is The Rector of Justin (Auchincloss). Another book that was not on my 2011 list. After reading about it at A Circle of Quiet, I knew it had to be on my list, yet I'm not sure how it made it to the top of the stack without ever beginning in the stack. Nevertheless, it has been interesting, but I hope I enjoy it more in its second half than I do. I've always found it interesting how a book can be so good to one reader, yet pallid to another.

So many books, so little time.

Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague (Brooks)

2011-03-21T16:59:00.000-04:00

This book has been on my nightstand for -oh, I don't know- maybe five years. It's been on my t0-read list for much longer. I finally bit the bullet, moved it to the top, and read it.

Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague has intrigued me for years. For whatever reason, I've always been intrigued by the Plague. And I've read several books about it. All have impressed me with the mysteriousness of the times, the witchery, the uncertainty, and lack of desperate overall clinging to life.

This novel was no different. Geraldine Brooks is a fantastic wordsmith. The way she crafts words into thoughts, and thoughts into sentences left me in awe many times.

Surprisingly, the book was a rather quick read for me who falls asleep easily two sentences into anything anymore. When I reached the end of the book, I had to go back and look to see that the title did not say Years of Wonders. For all that happened, I was sure that this took place over several years. I'm still amazed that it was only one year.

This book crossed my path a number of years ago when a couple of my children took a community college level microbiology class. The professor required it as outside reading for the class. So I put it on my to-read list wondering what in it would be intriguing for a microbiology student. I can't say I have the answer for that. I'm sure the professor, a young women herself, read and was moved by the book. Of course, there is little in the novel regarding any causative agent of the Plague, and because little was known during the 1660s about the cause, the mystery led to all sorts of wild reasoning.

Another reason I wanted to read it was to see if it was acceptable to place on my classroom bookshelves, either for middle or upper school students. Only a few scenes in the book give me decided reasons not to place it on the classroom shelves. If it weren't for several scenes of sexual behavior, one in particular was quite descriptive, I would recommend this book. But I cannot. The descriptions are too graphic for middlers and uppers and there is no reasons to incite and excite their curiosity. Frankly, the story could have been told well without those inclusions. They neither add to nor detract from the tale.

Geraldine Brooks uses sensory imagery superbly. You smell what she writes. You feel what she writes. You hear what she writes. You taste what she writes. Her word choices are effective. She will make the reader live through the Plague. She will cause you, as the reader, to hold your breath in anticipation. I'm sure she caused my eyes to dilate with apprehension and fear at times.

Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague is worth reading as an adult. I even think excepts could be used while studying the Plague to add to the sense of realism.

The following first paragraph hopefully will whet your appetite for her writing.

"I used to love this season. The wood stacked by the door, the tang of its sap still speaking of forest. The hay made, all golden in the low afternoon light. The rumble of the apples tumbling into the cellar bins. Smells and sights and sounds that said this year it would be all right: there's be food and warmth for the babies by the time the snows came. I used to love to walk in the apple orchard at this time of the year, to feel the soft give underfoot when I trod on a fallen fruit. Thick, sweet scents of rotting apple and wet wood. This year, the hay stooks are few and the woodpile scant, and neither matters much to me."

~Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague (Brooks)

Thinking about . . .

2011-03-20T16:14:00.002-04:00

While I'm now into my third week (that's 21+ days) of this sinus / allergy-that-never-happens-to-me mess, I've spent the third week home from church. I do not want to inflict my coughing and hacking and gross nasal noises on the quiet of a solemn service. Even though I still go to work, there is something different and less acceptable about making gross noises in the quiet surrounding among adults. In school, it's more palatable for some reason. Anyway, I have little voice this weekend that alternates between squeaks and silence. I tired. of. it. all. But, I think I am better and hope that this mess leaves completely this week.

While I have been quiet and restful, I've read several snatches here and there whose quotes stood out as seemingly bold-faced in my edition. Here I share:

"Great readers are made by great books." (p 97)

"But studies of computer-aided instruction in basic subjects have shown that students learn less and more slowly in the classroom environment when computers are involved. More often than not, computers in the elementary classroom are a distraction that compete for students' attention and draws their focus from the essential instruction of the curriculum. . . .There is no time for computers in the elementary scope and sequence." (p. 107)

"Despite heavy workloads, it is not sufficient to just grade papers. As conscientious teachers in the liberal arts tradition we must correct papers. We serve students as editors, respecting their style and voice, but holding them accountable for good grammar, sounds logic, and meaningful expression in their writing." (p. 112)

"But the key component to the cultivation of minds is the curriculum and its learning goals." ( p. 151)

"We can never stop learning about the things we teach." (p 155)

"While all cultures may not apply Christian values and principles equally, ultimately, in our students' minds, all cultures answer to the same standards of justice, mercy, and charity." (p. 187)

~ from Wisdom and Eloquence: A Christian Paradigm for Classical Learning (Littlejohn and Evans)

Decisions

2011-03-19T08:59:00.002-04:00

I mentioned last week that with some class changes for next year will come some decisions on curriculum. Unless things change, and they may well change though its appears unlikely they will, someone else will pick up two of my middle school English classes, while I pick up two upper school history classes.

As our school's scope and sequence coordinator, this change will give me the opportunity to do two things at once: write history scope and sequence and implement at the same time. Of course, we will tweak changes over the course of the next few years.

I've long been a fan of Jackson Speilvogel. From early in 2001 or '02, I have read his Western Civilization with interest. His writing is interesting, and he communicates his information well. When I had the opportunity to use his book with some of my own children, I chose his World History: The Human Odyssey because I wanted to all of world history, not just the western countries. At that time I had gotten the study guide (teacher and student) which is not readily available now.

Now that I have opportunity to choose a text, I am immediately drawn to his The Human Odyssey book. We have been studying world history through middle school using Susan Wise Bauer's The Story of the World. Speilvogel seems to carry on that tradition for rhetoric level students.

My choice of text material also depended upon the ancillary material available. Though I'm perfectly capable to writing my own, I simply do not have the time to do it all. I have found plenty of available ancillary material to use because this text material is used in other Spielvogel-authored books. Not only do I have the study guide material, I have instructor books and test banks. A quick search between texts will show that the writing has not changed with new editions.

The Human Odyssey is actually out-of-print as such. But a school resource has a number of good used copies available. If, or when, these are not usable, the text World History by Duiker and Spielvogel is issued almost every year in a new edition. It includes all of The Human Odyssey material, plus some.

So, my decision is made for upper school history. We will use Spielvogel throughout the four upper school years, breaking it into the chronological eras.
9th grade: Ancient History through the Fall of Rome
10th grade: the Fall of Rome through the Renaissance
11th grade: Early Modern history
12th grade: Late Modern history

Also in the twelfth grade, students will take a class in U. S. Government and Economics in addition to their history class.

As scope and sequence coordinator, I am able to use what I've found most helpful throughout my 20+ year career. One suggestion is to drop our current middle school history down a grade so that we begin The Story of the World in 4th grade and finish the four year cycle in 7th grade. We will use the 8th grade for one whole year of U. S. history.

That brought me to another decision point about text material. What to use? In the past, the school has used both Abeka and Bob Jones material. While neither is absolutely terrible, several of us had many mixed feelings about continuing that "tradition."

Because The Story of the World has been immensely popular with the students (pay attention when students actually like the material!), I found (as a result of my own pursuit and that of some WTM-ers) Bill Bennett's The Last Best Hope (volumes I and II) to fit perfectly. The books are written in the narrative style so popular with our students, plus plenty of ancillary material is available through his website for the books, Roadmap to America.

A huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders after finding and deciding these things. It's not a done-deal yet (the headmaster is still pouring over these suggestions), but I feel that his confidence in me will give way to the go-ahead. If not, I'll deal with it later. :)

I've spent hours each day for the last three years readying material for our middle school students. My current eighth grade class is the first group to have come all the way through the curriculum. Because I was still adjusting it, we didn't get as far in it the first year as the last, but that is that way with any new implementation. But they have finished the last three years of The Story of the World. And they certainly have a good knowledge of history.

Last year, the fifth grade class began using The Story of the World, but it wasn't until this year that they read it in earnest. Next year will be even better. It won't be for another three years until we see that group move through the whole series. By then, our upper level history will be in place and the transition should be seamless.

My hope is to establish a reading list of suggested picture books for grades one through three that coordinate with The Story of the World, and for them to learn a timeline chant/song that will be immediately built upon beginning in grade four.

There will be bumps in the road as usual. There may even be a temporary detour. But I believe our itinerary is made. Now onto the journey!

When a plan comes together

2011-03-13T22:06:00.003-04:00

I just love it when a plan comes together. That relief when just the right things cross my path -- things I need to decide and voila! there they are -- the answer I've been looking for.

And I have to admit that the Lord answered this weak, half-hearted, half-formed prayer-that-never-made-in-from-my-mind-to-Him. He pulled some things right in front of me that were just perfect.

Without going into the details now --I will, just not now-- all this has to do with curriculum decisions for next year that have to be finalized by June. I am incredibly thankful. And awed.

- - - - - - - - - -

And on another note, I finished reading (whizzed through it somehow) a book that is literally been on my nightstand for maybe three years. I had put it on my list to read this year which is probably why I actually read it.

I'll try to write a review of Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague (Brooks) in the next few weeks. Some great insight into a mysterious time, but the book won't be going on my classroom shelf, unfortunately. More on that later.

- - - - - - - - - -

For the past two weeks I've been fighting some nasty sinus thing -- not a cold, not bronchitis, not laryngitis -- though by listening to me you couldn't prove it. Doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon though I've been to the doctor and have taken all sorts of interesting medicine combinations.

I remembered this weekend that about twenty-eight years ago while living in the deep, deep south, I had a bout of "allergies" that I don't have. I realized that the symptoms were strangely familiar. And we have had some unusually warm days in late winter this year to bring out the invisible pollen. Since this is also a year filled with stink bugs, I've named this The Year of the Stinkbug. Who knows what horrid things those armored-alien-looking things bring upon us besides their obnoxious stink?

Changes

2011-03-06T09:34:00.006-05:00

Changes are likely on the way.

After spending three years introducing and implementing curriculum and instructional changes to my middle school classes, it appears that things will change next year. Not for middle school, but for me.

I embrace the area of scope and sequence development, and as part of our Strategic Planning Committee, I am the new S & S coordinator to lead the revision of the school's entire scope and sequence. Exactly what I've always wanted to do. . . . I think.

In addition to this, a vacancy has appeared in our upper school history. With everything in place in our middle school history (and English), I requested to move into the upper school over the next three years. And it looks like this is going to happen.

With this move, I will be able to not only lead the history S&S revision, I will be able to implement the changes immediately. This should be good for the school as this plan will get us down the road toward our goal quicker than otherwise.

Next year, I will give up two English classes, retaining 8th grade English, keep all three middle school history classes, and teach upper school U. S. History and Ancient History. Over the course of subsequent years, I will turn over one middle school history at a time to someone else while picking up one upper school history. This gradual turnover should make preparation easier.

Some class combinations will occur this first year simply because certain students will have to have certain courses for graduation. The goal after next year will be to drop middle school history down one grade so that eighth grade can have one whole year of U.S. history before beginning Ancient History in ninth grade. After next year, we will add Medieval History in tenth grade, then the next year add Early Modern for eleventh and Late Modern for twelfth. Twelfth graders will also take a separate course in Government and Economics.

I already have my choice for the upper school text: Spielvogel's World History: The Human Odyssey, used over the course of four years and in combination with literature sequenced to the history. Since I always give heavy doses of geography and teach history in combination with geography (is there any other way?), the need for a separate geography class is alleviated.

I do want students to be schooled in the Constitution and hope to incorporate it into the U. S. History class.

I've searched for a good U. S. history text and found one but am uncertain whether it is too difficult for eighth graders. At the same time, I've vacillated between using a big, bulky textbook (that's the only way they seem to come) and developing my own curriculum.

Deep down inside me I know that students won't and don't typically really read textbooks. Only a very few. Since the school's goal is for the student to learn the information first in order to understand and apply it later, I wonder if I should not go with this inclination: teach the basic facts and read primary source material instead of a textbook. This would allow for more time to read secondary sources which I personally think teach more than textbooks.

Whatever I implement will stay for several or more years, so I need to be wise in my choice. Considering our economic times and the cost of those mammoth and overpriced textbooks, I'm inclined from that standpoint to avoid them. What I do need to consider, though, is if I go with developing my own curriculum, how much time I will spend doing so. That's a heavy weight to bear. So, readers, if you have advice, now is the time to chime it!

Since I love books --I love the feel, the weight, the pages, the graphics (especially in history books)-- I will be hard pressed not to get a text. But what a time as this to go in a new direction.

Please speak!
"In the multitude of counselors, there is wisdom."

Snow day

2011-01-26T14:48:00.004-05:00

How Meagie enjoys a snow day!

Weekdays, he gets put outside while I'm at work.

During the cold months, he meets me at the door when I drive in and hunkers down for the night inside.

Today, though, he's enjoyed inside all day long.

A good movie

2011-01-22T20:50:00.004-05:00

This movie is based on a true story of a German soldier taken captive as a Russian POW at the end of WWII.

As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me is in German with English subtitles. I'm not a fan of subtitled movies, but this one is good.

It's a survival and endurance story which reminds me somewhat of the best-book-I've-ever-read crucifixtion and resurrection story in Island of the World.

Tissues will be necessary.

John Bunyan

2011-01-22T17:57:00.004-05:00

One of my goals this year is to read more biographies that I've gotten for my classroom shelves. Given that it seems to take me longer to get through a book nowadays, reading juvenile books just fits the bill.

This week I read through John Bunyan: The Tinker of Bedford (Deal) now out-of-print. I'd read another biography about Bunyan a few years back, so I'm not sure why I wanted to read this one too. But I'm so glad I did. This short 160 page book doesn't lend itself to a lot of white space on the page as most juvenile biography do. It is a thorough account of Bunyan's life told in a conversational style, and much more interesting than the previous biography I'd read on Bunyan.

The author's writing is engaging, and I found myself reading much longer into the night than is wise for a school teacher. I looked forward each day to getting back to the story every night. So I'm surprised that the book is now out of print.

Bunyan spent much of his adult life in prison for unlicensed preaching during the reign of English King Charles II. Because of his imprisonment, Bunyan wrote prolifically and is remembered today because of it. His sixty-year life is credited with sixty books penned by him.

I was reminded several times of Genesis 50:20 when Joseph's brothers realized who he was and remembered what they had done to him. "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good." True in Bunyan's life too.

A student reading this book will be able to place Bunyan in time and space in his history studies if studying history chronologically. Plus, it will serve as background to read Pilgrim's Progress.

The love of learning

2011-01-17T13:48:00.004-05:00

Oh, that Henry Wadsworth . . . he's my favorite poet, I think.

Just ordered this poster for my classroom.

Jules Verne and Books 2011

2011-01-16T10:07:00.008-05:00

I just love juvenile nonfiction. So accessible. Gets to the point quickly. Pertinent information. Quick reads.

This morning I finished the short Jules Verne: His Life (Peare). What a good little book. So encouraging to see how much reading and writing and thinking influenced this man. One passage I marked was when Verne was traveling in Italy and wanted to see the Pope. Verne and his family were Catholic, and his celebrity preceded his arrival in Rome. The pope said of Verne (and I quote directly from Peare),

"[W]hat I esteem in them (the books) most of all is

their purity, their moral and spiritual value."

This very statement is causing me to add available Jules Verne books to my classroom library and consider adding Around the World in Eighty Days to my literature list for next year. This linked edition has a helpful glossary. (All books, in my opinion, should come with maps and glossaries.)

Since I'm not someone who reads swiftly (I attribute that to not being raised as a reader), sometimes it seems like it takes me forever to get through a book. Plus the fact that I'm now working over full time, my eyelids fall often before the page turns. Nevertheless, I've made my book list which I know I cannot finish. And there will be books I'll add to it and ones I ignore. But as I've said before "If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time." And as Alexander Pope said in his Essay of Man: "A mighty maze, but not without a plan."

I've stressed intentional reading for years. This year, I've made books-to-read categories quite general. Simply: biography, fiction, education. And, because our wonderful new-ish head of school encouraged us to make our year goals in August, I made my book list in August. But I'm keeping my completed-reading list by the year in the sidebar again. I plan to also list the books I read with my literature classes since I read those too. Those will repeat every year.

I encourage you to read. And read intentionally. Read broadly. Read deeply. Read to learn. Read to enjoy. Read to travel. Read to live vicariously. Read to think.

Just tolle lege!

2011-01-15T09:01:00.004-05:00

It's not often, but it happens sometimes.
Plodding in miry clay.
Slogging in the slough.
Disheartened in daily life.

Such is now.

What I think I need is some time.
Vacant time.
Restful time.
Leisure time.

But, that kind of time does not exist right now.

Every minute, it seems, there is a task to start and finish.

Many of the tasks are self-imposed yet now trapped in a system that expects completion.

The only answer for now: Do the next thing.

Many will think and some will say to "Let go," "Take care of yourself," "You have too many self-expectations."
All that may be true, but I remember "My strength is sufficient for you."
And I think of all those who have been involved in monumental tasks, labors I could not do, and how they finished the job with a "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

So, my duty remains to do the next thing.

The life metaphor I've always thought of is I'm holding my oars in my little boat, floating down life's stream. Sometimes I use my oars for direction, sometimes balance. Sometimes I battle short distances of rough water with those oars, sometimes float without need of their assistance.

But now, those oars seem useless to steer or balance, but I dare not drop them. The water, violently rocking my boat, is often too swift to do anything but hold on. Such is life. Sometimes. The promise of calmer water is my hope. For rest and leisure.

For now, though, my skies are gray, my tasks are many, and my outlook . . . well, I'm just thankful I have an outlook. Without that, I'd have no hope.

Maybe with the next thing I'll see the sun peeking from behind a cloud.

Once Blind: The Life of John Newton

2010-12-31T20:20:00.003-05:00

Books have the strangest way of finding me. Maybe that should be the other way around. So it was with this one, but that could be another post.

After reading much about William Wilberforce in recent years with the production of the movie Amazing Grace, I became interested in John Newton as well. I was especially interested in finding a biography about him accessible and interesting to middle school students.

Well, I've found it! Once Blind: The Life of John Newton is captivating from the first page. If you want to see for yourself, read the first chapter here. (Scroll down a bit.) I got the book just a few days ago, and have already finished it during Christmas break. This book seems to be listed as an adult book, but the writing is easily written for younger audiences. Besides, author Kay Marshall Strom has already written a juvenile biography on John Newton, and I don't think she'd write two of them. But, I've not read her juvie bio.

Strom has a gift for pulling the reader into the story. Each chapter begins with a chapter-appropriate quote from John Newton's own writings in this story of God providence! The life of John Newton, as well as those around him -William Wilberforce and William Cowper- confirm the rewards of perseverance.

I don't believe you will not be disappointed in Once Blind. If you are like me, you will be encouraged. I liked it so much that I've already ordered enough for my seventh grade students to read this spring!

The List

2010-12-18T11:10:00.004-05:00

Great book for the whole family! In The List, which set in Philadelphia as the British occupy the city during the American War for Independence, the reader is immediately absorbed into Dr. Archibald Browne's family. A family of split loyalties to American causes and British crown, the reader will not know where the real loyalites lie until the end of the book. Not only is the story itself engaging and, at times, a page-turner, one realizes just how difficult taking sides were within the city and within the family.

Though I've read a fair amount of fiction and nonfiction about this decisive point of American history, I always learn more interesting details about life during this time with books such as The List.

This would be a good family read-aloud. The vocabulary and sentence structure is advanced enough that any age below eighth grade would find reading difficult. But this is a solid book for independent high school reading.

Interestingly, the author, from all indications is American. Yet, he uses a number of English spellings for words. He has also written an equally stirring (maybe more so) book about the Children's Crusade--The Journey of Souls,-- that I read last year.

In the author's introduction of The List, are a few outstanding quotes:

" . . . civilisations are simply collections of families."

" . . . there are seasons of time
when a culture is more affected by virtue than others."

And,

" . . . if our present civilisation would embrace the virtues of its own past,
liberty might once again find its rightful place."

These quotes, coming on the heels of the book Island of the World, have become pregnant with meaning.

Christmas 2010 Bulletin Board

2010-12-04T22:00:00.001-05:00

Reading Credo

2010-11-27T07:36:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Sherry at Semicolon for this interesting quote. Whenever you want a quotation about books or reading, visit Semicolon!

“I believe in the absolute and unlimited liberty of reading.
I believe in wandering through the stacks and picking out the first thing that strikes me.
I believe in choosing books based on the dust jacket.
I believe in reading books because others dislike them or find them dangerous.
I believe in choosing the hardest book imaginable.
I believe in reading up on what others have to say about this difficult book,
and then making up my own mind.”

~Rick Moody

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T10:03:00.003-05:00

"Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West,
From North and from South comes the pilgrim and guest;
When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board
The old broken links of affection restored;
...When the care-wearied man see...ks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before;
What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye,
What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?"

~John Greenleaf Whittier

The Wedding: An Encounter with Jan van Eyck (Rees)

2010-11-22T15:00:00.000-05:00

The Wedding: An Encounter with Jan van Eyck by Elizabeth M. Rees captivated me from the first few pages. Eighth grades girls are sure to love reading this book set in the 1400s in northern Europe. Major scenes in Bruges, Belgium and Lyon, France acquaint the reader with late medieval life.

The story is fiction and appears all-too-familiarly Romeo and Juliet-ish. Even an Amazon reviewer commented thusly. Yet, when you think about it, life then was probably not too different from that: arranged marriages for business purposes, ongoing feuds between families, potions used for covert and deceptive purposes.

Most of the story's characters are fictional, too. But Jan van Eyck is not. He's not as prominent of a character as I had hoped, but he's there, playing the positions he played in real life. I loved learning how oil paints were made and how wedding portraits where done in medieval times. The details we find odd in the Arnolfini Wedding portrait --the oranges, the shoes, the mirror-- are explained, whether or not that's why those details were included is the author's license. But the story does illuminate much I would not have known otherwise.

Another aspect of the book that I liked, and why I like historical fiction, is how much it painted the landscape of Flemish business and trade, and how the descriptions give a picture of what Bruges looked like. A book that, or rather, the author who can cause me see the landscape in my imagination and embed me as an invisible bystander is one I want to read.

I got the book to put in my classroom library but decided to read it first. I'm glad I did because the author includes a few dicey sections of what you think will be immoral behavior during the climax of the story. These few paragraphs describe typical natural emotions and physical feelings common to young girls toward who they think is the love-of-their-life. Nothing blatant happens. But you hold your breath thinking that it will. On the contrary, the protagonist of the story, Giovanna, is intent that she remain virtuous and honorable which, I believe, is the beginning of triumph in the story.

In the end --general spoiler here-- , Giovanna learns what real love is. The ending is touching and triumphant . . . making a choice to learn to love. This surpasses those few dicey parts and makes the story worth reading.

Eighth grade girls should like this book. It will touch real aspects of their personal lives, and it should encourage prudent and chaste behavior. If concerned, that part is on page 181 and continues to the middle of page 183.

I would like to read more of the books in the Art Encounters series though I know all too well that there's "Too many books, not enough time."
Just started reading The List (C. D. Baker) and am already fascinated by beautiful writing and vivid descriptions.

Instilling a love of learning

2010-11-21T09:31:00.005-05:00

Following one of my many and usual rabbit trails, I found this quote I've extracted from Jerry Coyne's response to a response (see those rabbit trails?) to the president of SUNY at Albany for eliminating its humanities department. This quote--out of a much longer treatise at which I find myself cheering--this quote is what I aspire to be:

"The best teachers
are not the ones who instill knowledge in your brain,
but those who instill a love of learning,
making you autodidactic in their subject
for the rest of your life."

The letter is castigating, worth reading and probably needed to be said. The author, Gregory A. Petsko, makes several "take notice of" points with which I agree. Read it for yourself, and see if you do also.

A full week ahead

2010-11-14T20:10:00.003-05:00

"He that masters the laws of teaching may send knowledge into the depths of the soul, and may impress upon the mind the images of immortal truth." (Gregory, The Seven Laws of Teaching)

Lots going on this week:

Going with 6th graders to the Far East, the Thirty Years War with 7th-ers, and to Australia with 8th-ers. Throw in The Hobbit, Pilgrim's Progress, and finishing The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (for the second time this year!), plus concluding grammar chapters for all three grades. (That means three huge grammar tests to grade, in addition to spelling, vocab, and memory, and one history test.) Oh, and leading chapter 1 in The Seven Laws of Teaching for our faculty's Professional Development.

Whew!

All that is why I post so infrequently. :(

WORK, Work, and work

2010-10-23T10:08:00.003-04:00

Just dropping in to say to any SS readers still around, I've not died and gone to heaven. Not yet!

So many things going on this fall. All good, but very busy.

Most every weekend has been full of many things to do. I've not had much time to simply stop and think. Not to mention read. :(

School is going so well. Even though I have used the past two years to lay lots of groundwork, it seems there is always something else I want to incorporate into my plans. And those just take time to do.

This year's big successful venture was finishing the history workbooks for student use. They love them because the coilbound book keeps all there reading questions and maps together in one place. Neatly! And it is perfect to now implement cumulative material into tests.

So, I am finishing the work on a similar English workbook. It will include a year's worth of spelling and vocabulary, all English note sheets, and literature questions.

The one thing I must decide, and am seriously contemplating, is to include sheets for all the homework. At first that sounds just ridiculous: Why would I do that instead of having the students write their homework assignments on notebook paper?

Well, students aren't the most organized people in the world! They lose stuff all the time. And that takes away valuable class time as an interruption. If pages were included in the workbook, it makes checking homework--or at least checking to see that it has been done--quick and easy. If I don't include homework sheets, I may have to rescind my no-spiral-notebook ultimatum. I hate those cheap spiral notebooks that students buy. Their wire gets bent, pulled, out of shape quicker than the blink of an eye and usually on the first day of classes. And the annoying little confetti-sized pieces of paper from tearing out a page litter the floor constantly. So, I must still think about all that. I think the students would appreciate having everything in one place, so I may decide to include homework pages too. That would probably make one fat book, adding about 60 extra pages. But it might just be worth it. Brainflash: I'm getting ready to start a new chapter. Since I hand out an entire chapter of notes at the beginning of the chapter, maybe I will add sheets for all the homework also and test the plan.

I love it when I can disentangle my thoughts over the tip of a pen (click of the keys)! This is precisely how this blog is most useful to me. Disentangling my thoughts!

On top of classwork, our strategic plan in finalizing. I'm now Scope & Sequence Coordinator. Beginning in 2011, the next three years will be filled with developing and coordinating a new scope & sequence for each major discipline. The work looks massive. But it is what I've been longing for since our homeschooling journey ended.

So, I've been busy. I haven't fallen off the globe. But I do plan to travel the globe again next summer in the midst of all the previous work considered!

Welcome, Autumn!

2010-09-22T14:22:00.002-04:00

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."
George Eliot

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."
Albert Camus

Another poster in the works

2010-09-06T15:52:00.004-04:00

I have found that these little creations stimulate a lot of interest from the students.

This is one that I plan to have made into a 24" x 18" poster at ShortRun Posters and keep up in my classroom. I am amazed how beneficial quick hints are to students and am convinced they learn better and are engaged more when there is help hanging on the wall.

Of course, that help will remain until test time, but, hopefully, by then, the info is stuck in their minds.

Books that change you

2010-09-04T09:42:00.007-04:00

Only every few years do I read a book that does something to me. This something is an elusive description; all I can say is that such a book changes me. It makes me think about the world outside of its pages. As a good friend says, it's like the book moves into your life as a family member and stays awhile. Yes, it follows you around like a shadow long after you have finished the last page.

Island of the World did just that to me. Bear with me as I lay some landscape. . . .This past school year was a busy one. I was tired. My to-do list stretches into my retirement years. My summer was going to be filled with neglected cleaning ventures, finishing a major school personal project, and attending several conferences. Those eight weeks were already full, so I was looking forward to filling my reading time with some mindless political thriller fiction. Then, one day as I flipped through some of my favorite blog spots, I read that a 16 year-old young man thumped Island o f the World as the best book he'd ever read.

I paused. Sixteen year old. Boy. Best book ever. That combination sounded almost antithetical. I was curious, but guarded. This book was over 800 pages. Gulp. But, I went ahead and ordered it. I put it into my stack. Before leaving for the first conference, I picked it up, almost upon a whim as I walked out the door, and stuffed it into my luggage.

After twenty pages, I was hooked. Simple story: a man's life. Island o f the World begins with eight-year-old Josip in 1933 in the Balkans. I have never read anything about or set in the Balkans and really was skeptical whether I would continue. But I did. I couldn't help it.

I learned more about the geography of the land and surrounding area than I would have in a geography class. By night I read; by day I Googled the places. Those images provided a rich landscape in my mind for the story with which I became obsessed.

Prepare for joys and sorrows, exaltations and devastations, crucifixtions and resurrections. Prepare to be changed.

As a teacher who loves when the classics are written into scripts, I was doubly hooked when I came to these lines:

"But tonight, as his mother makes bread, his father is seated at the kitchen table by the oil lamp, reading aloud from The Odyssey. They have read The Iliad twice, and now they are beginning The Odyssey for the second time. Josip knows what is coming, yet it is always new....He is Telemachus..."

Yes, as you read Island of the World, you will understand just how metaphorical this description is.

And later, an assortment of lines I've marked:

"You study to train your mind...You work hard to build up your muscles when you work with your fathers in the field. You don't always like it. It's easier to read no books and remain uneducated. It's easier no to strain your mind and body with labor, easier to lie on the ground all day and let the birds drop boiled eggs into your mouth."
"A man is himself and no other....He is an island in the sea of being. And each island is as no other. The islands are connected because they have come forth from the sea, and the sea flows between the. It separates them yet unites them if they learn to swim."

"Life is strange. But God has the final word."

"It is essential to have nothing in order to keep the riches he has been given. Yes, he is rich--he is a man who can distill sight and insight onto bits of salvaged paper; he is a man who can enjoy taking the garbage down to the corner; he can chat with fishermen and carpenters and housewives, never as condescension but as the replenishment of his true self. Every day he can swim in the greatness of the ordinary. This is freedom, and he is very grateful for it. It is all good, just as it is."

"Still, clothing is a language of respect, he reminds himself, a world of manners that is the basic level of human charity."

"An ocean cannot become a brook; it is the other way around, always....Yet he longs to speak words that have taken a lifetime to coalesce, to become distinct and ripe, so that they may shimmer at last under the open sky and drop into outstretched hands, so that they may be eaten and transformed into youth and hope."

"Isn't it a basic truth that we are brought to prayer only by passing through suffering?"

"[I]n Christ the worst catastrophe can be transformed into a blessing."

"Men speak of peace, but they do not know what they mean by it. Is it absence of conflict? Is it passivity and compromise? Is it the peace of the grave, or is it the peace of an active and wise love that doesn't count the cost?"

Another physical and metaphorical thread throughout the story is that of a swallow, the delicate bird which twists and turns, dives and soars, and begins and ends this wonderful story. I finished turning the pages of this book at the beach as I sat by the sea literally watching the Least Terns dip and dive from the sky to the water. If you read this book, you will know the power this landscape had over me by finishing it at the beach.

Maybe it is my age, maybe it is the complexity of things on my personal landscape that made this story so poignant to me. Nevertheless, I push this into everyone's life that I can. "Read this," I say. "It will change who you are."

And it did.

Upon finishing it, I was determined to find out about its author. After reading his website and a few interviews, I learned that Michael O'Brien is most concerned with restoring Christian culture. This endeavor does not go unnoticed in Island of the World. And, interestingly, the restoration of Christian culture is a topic that has been the subject of several recent conversations with me. As O'Brien says, "Life is strange. But God has the final word."

Read this book. It will change you. It will stir up something within you that can, through the twists and turns of life, make a difference in our world.

Begin now by reading the opening pages of Island of the World now, online here.

2010-09-02T21:01:00.004-04:00

Wisdom, knowledge, stability

2010-08-10T18:48:00.002-04:00

Every year I've taught in a traditional classroom, I try to have interesting things to look at and thought-provoking words the read on my walls.

This year, I did something a little different. I designed a poster and had a company online print it. I was very pleased with both the printing and the cost.

I had just come across this verse when I decided to "poster-it." (If you are the one who posted this verse, or if you saw this recently, please tell me; I cannot remember where I saw it.)

For $10, Short Run Posters will print whatever you want. They only charge $2 for the poster, but $8 to ship it (only UPS). The paper is study poster paper with a fairly slick finish. Adequate white area surrounds the image so that you may trim it, if you wish. They did such a good job, that I'm already thinking of how I can manage to use them for some other stuff.

Classical Education

2010-08-10T13:50:00.004-04:00

Recently, I wrote an ACSI-required paper on my philosophy of education. What only needed to be six pages turned out to be twelve.

Playing around, I pasted the bulk of the paper into Wordle to make a word cloud. The result:

My schoolyear reading list

2010-08-03T19:25:00.005-04:00

I'm surprised at how quickly this came together. You will see a lot of the abbreviation "JB" and a few "JF." That means juvenile biography or juvenile fiction. Yes, I have a lot of juvenile books to read! Juvie books are great for adults to read: they get to the point quick and easy and keeps moving right along. Lengthy reading must wait until school holidays and summertime.

The covers of all these books are on my Shelfari in the sidebar.

Biography

Painter of Patriots: Charles Willson Peale (Peare) - JB
Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution (Bober)
Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail Adams (Withey)
John Bunyan: The Tinker of Bedford (Deal) - JB
John Wycliffe: Man of Courage (ed. Hammond) - JB
The Story of David Livingstone (Golding) - JB
The Story of H. M. Stanley (Golding) - JB
American Genius: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Hughes) - JB
Alexander the Great (Abbott)
Nero (Abbott)
Isaac Watts: His Life and Hymns (Hood)
Far Voyager: The Story of James Cook (Latham)
The Life of General Francis Marion (Weems)

Fiction

Hostage Lands (Bond) - JF
The Curse of the Romanovs (Rabin) - JF
The Striped Ships (McGraw) - JF
1212: Year of the Journey (McDonnell) - JF; based on a true story
Year of Wonders (Brooks)

Education

Socratic Circles: Fostering Critical and Creative Thinking in Middle and High School (Copeland)
The Educated Imagination (Frye)
Protocol Matters (Boswell)
The Art of Teaching (Highet) - reread
How Lincoln Learned to Read: Twelve Great Americans and the Educations That Made Them (Wolff)
The Maxims of Robert E. Lee for Young Gentlemen (ed. Williams)
The Core (Bortins)
The Book Whisperer (Miller) -- Book lovers will love the cover of this book!
That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week: Helping Disorganized Boys Succeed in School and Life (Homayoun)
Teach Like a Champion (Lemov)
The Paideia Classroom: Teaching for Understand (Roberts)
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (Heath)
Plowing in Hope (Hegeman)

Finding Time to Read

2010-08-03T16:35:00.006-04:00

It can be so difficult for a teacher. Many, if not most, minutes of the day are devoted to school in some shape or form. Either planning or grading papers, posting grades or making copies. When I finally fall into bed for my five to six hours of sleep, I am so tired that I can barely make it through a few pages of even the most intriguing of books. A book is poised in my hands, often for thirty minutes, after I fall asleep reading.

Sometimes my bedtime books are dictated by my classes. Either I need to read an upcoming book, or I read a book associated topically with one of my classes. Other times, I just need an alternative, like a political thriller or a warm-and-cozy series (romance, no, thank you) such as Gervase Phinn or Jack Sheffield writes about his life as a teacher in England.

During the march of school days when I finish a bedtime time book, sometimes it is hard for me to decide what to read next. Often I'll dawdle around a few days trying to decide. With all the unread books I have, you'd wonder what my problem is! A thought dawned on my today (which spurred my culling activity posted below) that maybe I needed to go back to "The List." The old adage I seem to quote so often, "Aim at nothing, and you'll hit it every time," suddenly became very real.

As a list-maker, I used to make a yearly list of what I was going to read throughout the year. I cataloged my choices into categories to have a well-rounded list. And I succeeded at reading most of the books on the list. Things, changed though, when I started teaching in a traditional classroom, and though I've tried to make a yearly list, I never get much read from it but it was not realistic for my life now.

With my routine more down-pat, maybe it is time to revisit making the list again. But only during school months, August through May, leaving school holidays of Christmas and Spring Break open for the gotta-reads.

And with so many books unread, I feel obligated to make the list from them. After all, most of those books arrived on the shelves due to my rabbit trails from another book or a must-read from a school-related topic.

This list will, of necessity, be short. Really. Sometimes, if I am able to read three hundred pages in one month, I doing well. When I think about reading only these meager amounts, I wonder if I would enjoy not working so I could read more. Then I remember why I teach. It is because I love it. So, . . . may I live long enough to read most of my library . . . after I retire.

I am resolved that my list-making will begin soon.

Not an easy task

2010-08-03T15:49:00.006-04:00

"Of all the things which man can do or make here below,
by far the most momentous,
wonderful,
and worthy
are the things we call
books."
~Thomas Carlyle

~

"When I am dead,
I hope it may be said:
'His sins were scarlet,
but his books were read.'"
~Hillare Belloc

Spur-of-the-moment culling activity netted about sixty books off the shelves destined for the public library and Goodwill.

Some of the books are antique-y heavy hardbacks from used bookstores.

Many are those which I will never read or consult again.

Some were favorite series which I would not re-read; they simply took up shelf space.

During the culling, I came across the two quotes above that must be saved.

I hope I don't forget the people in these books. Discarding some books seems almost wrong, and passing others on to someone else almost borders on betrayal of friendship.

But, I'm sure I'll get over it.

These are not my books.

Patriotism and Christianity . . .

2010-07-05T09:54:00.003-04:00

. . . are not equivalent.

This is the beginning of a post I hope to come back to complete, but I'm putting it out there so that I hopefully will come back to develop. It will never be complete, at least in my mind, yet it does need development.

First of all, let me say that I am glad I live in America. No other country that I know of would offer the same privileges and freedoms as this country.

But we are not completely free. At least free to do whatever we want. That would result in a state of anarchy.

Secondly, let me say that I do not subscribe to the thinking that America is God's land, that it is the second, or new, Israel. I do believe that it was founded upon certain Judeo-Christian principles. That said, I therefore do not believe we were founded a Christian nation, but as a theistic nation. What history teaches us about the men who penned our founding documents is that they were not all believers in the God of the Bible, but that they were mostly believers in God. That "God" meant many things. But importantly, it meant that there is a higher being than us.

That being said, which I need to come back and expand upon when the notion strikes and the thoughts are ordered, let me also say that this thought of elevating patriotism to the same platform as Christianity leaves my stomach churned and my mouth full of stuff I don't want to swallow.

Just yesterday, the 4th of July, I had lots in my mouth to deal with. Because this year's 4th fell on Sunday, well-meaning but, in my opinion, way-off-base people equivocated (and I use this word in its meaning of "falsified, altered, misrepresented") the observance with Christianity. No, maybe I mean they replaced Christianity with patriotism.

In the little church I attend, there are several people who have lately become involved with the Tea Party movement and all-things-republican. For this reason, I believe this may be where much of their motivation arises. Some of these people are responsible for the music of the church. (Unfortunately, we do not have a minister who has the motivation to assume such responsibilities that are, by right, position, and responsibility, his.) So for our morning worship service we begin by singing "Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee." What wonderful words to begin worship with! What a right and proper focus. With the exception of this and "God of Our Fathers" and "Onward, Christian Soldiers," the remainder of the music was patriotic. (See below for comments on this second hymn.) The choir sang something called "Patriotic Medley," a combination of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "America, the Beautiful," and the final hymn was "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Again. Choke, choke.

I guess it could have been worse. They could have moved an American flag into the sanctuary and had us Pledge Allegiance to it. And the minister could have had a purely patriotic message. Thankfully, neither happened.

What is my point? Seemingly every year that goes by, we remove ourselves from being a church of the Reformation by years. I have deep respect for the Ancient Church and the Church of the Reformation. I have deep respect of liturgical church practices. I've said for years that following a liturgy is "safer" than the tendency of the new Emergent church.

Interestingly, someone pointed out yesterday in choir practice the question of what a Muslim would think if he heard Christians singing boldly "Onward, Christian Soldiers." "You know," he said, "what would Muslims think when they hear Christians say they are peaceful, non-violent people only interested in the souls of men, then to hear them sing lustily "Onward, Christian Soldiers." Good point. If you read the lyrics closely, they sound much like a Medieval Crusade hymn, rousing the troops as they go to physically-through-real-war reclaim the Holy Land from the Muslims rather than the recognition of the spiritual battle that exists.

Anyway, when this question, more rhetorical than it was taken, was posed, the remark was "That's their problem."

I was taken back. Yet, I know that could have been a knee-jerk remark.

How do we reconcile being peacemakers with remarks and thinking like this?

This post has probably gotten way-too-long to come back and develop. But at least I got my muddled-though-they-be thoughts down. And maybe some discussion can come out of it.

Also interestingly, I am reading a book right now in which an alternate culture is being developed by former Yugoslavian artisans. Just one-third of the way into the book, I am intrigued. I have elevated this book to Wendell Berry status, so those Berry fans know it's a good one. This "alternate culture" is what I wonder if we Reformation-believing Christians are going to have to step up and do, if we want to hold on to those bits and pieces we are so quickly losing. Our culture has changed. It is changing exponentially. And we are losing it to the Post-Modern world.

Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda.

The church reformed, and always reforming.

Finish the 4th . . . . .

2010-07-04T21:17:00.003-04:00

with this 33 question Civic Literacy Quiz from ISI.

Average score for Americans taking quiz is 49%, 55% for college educators. Interestingly, elected officials did a bit worse on the quiz than the average citizen (see results here).

To read how educators can increase civic learning, see here.

Hooking the student with something new

2010-06-29T10:02:00.004-04:00

I love it when I can find something to catch a student's eye. Since I've always been fascinated by word clouds, I found a free word cloud generator and played for awhile, inserting this and that. Then I thought about inserting the list of 100 most frequently misspelled words which I include in my weekly spelling lists. Using this free generator, I am able to choose direction and color palettes.

I can't wait to enter the titles of all our history chapters and see what happens. I'm thinking binder covers might be an idea for these!

2010-06-19T06:03:00.005-04:00

Back to the real world at noon today. But only until Wednesday afternoon! Then I skip over to Williamsburg to saturate myself in another classical education conference. This next one will be smaller. And instead of a Friday afternoon session, we have passes to Colonial Williamsburg. It's been years since I've been, so I'm really looking forward to it.

I've been so useless with my huge summer to-do list except for the window washing part. Out of the thirty-nine windows at home, I've finished fifteen. So, Monday and Tuesday will again be designated WW days. Oh--no--Tuesday's out! Just remembered I'll be taking my mom to the doctor that day and her cat to the vet. After next week's conference, I will be able (hopefully) to sit down and knock off some of those items before school starts in seven weeks.

So, why is that cluster map in this post? Evidently ClusterMap has a policy of clearing the map when it reaches so many red dots, and they sent me a notice that the clearing is imminent. I rarely look at it, but wanted to capture one year's visits to SS recorded on this map. What I find interesting are the visits from other countries. Clearly absent is the country of China. But where the other visitors came from and why is a mystery to me. I had put a ClusterMap on my classroom blog and think it might be a good tool to get the students interested in where people come from to visit Through the Ages, thus helping them learn where those countries are located. Adding this to my to-do list.

I started a book last night that may well take me the rest of the summer to read and likely on into the fall. More on the book later, but do you know how hard it is to hold a 3"+ book in your hands while reading in bed? 3" and 800 + pages -- what was I thinking?

Providences are not coincidences for a believer

2010-06-17T07:00:00.003-04:00

Today begins the 2010 ACCS conference in Durham. Just a two and one-half hour drive from me (much shorter than I thought), I couldn't pass it up. The agenda of seminar to choose from has me marking the conference CD list to buy since I cannot be two, or three, or even four places at once.

I came by myself, but I'm sure to meet some soon-to-be friends. I like people, don't get me wrong, but I don't mind time alone during a conference. I love the quiet of the hotel room. I love being able to focus on whatever without the distractions of laundry, vacuuming, or cooking. So I'm enjoying right now my second cup of coffee with some sharp cheese, almonds, and a banana for breakfast. Being alone at a conference means usually eating alone in the restaurant, at first, and feeling somewhat like a fifth wheel. So, to make the best out of a good situation, I bring my own breakfast to enjoy in the comfort of my gown and my morning reading. :) Perfect! Plus, I'm saving $10 to spend on some Memoria Press stuff! Same goes for lunch: almonds, nabs, and banana with flavored water so I can spend more time combing through vendor stuff. Then, tonight I'll trek out to some restaurant for a decent meal before spending some needed time typing some grammar material in prep for the upcoming school year.

This morning brought a synthesis between my readings in Nehemiah and my daily devotional. Finishing out the quick pass through Nehemiah before a deep, expositional study beginning next week, one phrase is common throughout: "Remember me, o my God, for good." Then, from Tabletalk: "By this Spirit, we are being transformed from glory to glory, and He is leading us into righteousness. Are we following His lead? Are we doing what is right even when it is difficult?...Though the Lord is always working for our good (Rom. 8:28), most times we cannot discern how His providence will work things out. We must often make decision when there seems to be no good option or when God's Word does not have must direct information to give us. After prayer and an honest attempt to apply biblical principles, let us decide and trust that His providence will work through us even if we make a mistake."

Amen and amen.

I am not following Tabletalk's Bible-in-a-Year schedule, but did happen to glance at it this morning. Guess where the Old Testament reading is from. Nehemiah. Yes, God provides. We should not believe in coincidences; we should believe and acknowledge those providences.

Now off to a day filled with

"Moral Education v. Moralism" (Doug Wilson)

"Staff Selection and the Continuous Improvement Model"

"Developing the Faculty as Lifelong Learners"

"Answering the Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life" (Os Guinness)

"Gatekeeping: The Parent / Family Interview Process from Beginning to End"

"Socratic Method around the Regents' Harkness Table in the High School"

Marva Collins

2010-06-14T20:31:00.000-04:00

I can credit Marva Collins for sparking the teacher in me. On a lark, so to speak, I watched "The Marva Collins Story" way back in 1981 when it was a television Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. That was the year our first child was born. And I knew from that point that, somehow, I was going to be her teacher. A few years later when I really was my daughter's teacher, Marva had written her biography, Marva Collins' Way, which contained excellent help to a homeschooling parent in the '80s.

I often wonder what Marva is doing now--still teaching or retired? Today, I found a couple of older youtube updates about her. They were follow ups to a 20/20 news story. Great to watch the confirmation of her techniques! Part 1 and Part 2.

Words, Walks, Web, and Windows

2010-06-14T07:34:00.009-04:00

In an effort to become more consistent in my note-taking, I've decided to try to write my morning reading discoveries on a (hopefully) daily basis. Note-taking helps write those words I've read onto my brain. Current morning reads are the book of Nehemiah, Tabletalk, Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children (Esquith)

From Nehemiah : As an overview before delving into a chapter-by-chapter study, I read the first six chapters. Interesting phrases during the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls: "door, bolts, bars" and "he labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other"-- how's that for 5th century B.C. multi-tasking.

From Tabletalk, To be redeemed, we must surrender self-reliance, selfishness, and the "comforts of our sin."

From Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children:

"Nothing is worth reading that does not require an alert mind." (Charles Dudley Warner)

"What" is an all-too-familiar response in schools where so many children have forgotten or never learned how to pay attention.

"attention to details"

"The inscription over the door at the library at Thebes states, 'Medicine for the Soul.' Literature needs to be a joyous and daily part of a child's life."

Also, thinking about a weekend discussion on the distinctions and dangers of being complacent, complicit, and confrontational.

Trying to settle back into daily walks, I distracted myself from that task by listening to The Teaching Company's course Great Scientific Ideas that Changed the World lecture "The Medieval Revolution in Know-How." Interesting. One fast fact: There were over 5600 mechanical water wheels in operation during the 11th century England. Amazing!

On the Web, several interesting sites have grabbed my attention: Engines of Our Ingenuity, Bible Query, and Engines has short, engaging three-minute podcasts, and Bible Query has lists of questions (with answers) for each book of the Bible. I listened to several episodes of Engines, including "Our Teachers."

Now, on to those ten windows to wash for today.

My middle schoolers sing!

2010-06-02T21:38:00.005-04:00

And just what do they sing?

They sing the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

All 107 questions and answers learned over three years.

Today, our last day of school, I got them all together on the spur of the moment, and let them sing questions 1 and 4 while I very amateur-ly videoed them.

What is the chief end of man?
Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

What is God?
God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

The four CDs are available for purchase through Reformed Music.

Memorial Day, 2010

2010-06-01T05:56:00.006-04:00

Our observance:

Reaching the goal--dollar by dollar

2010-05-29T07:01:00.004-04:00

Monday morning feet will pound the pavement as runners sprint through the paces of the annual CHA 5K road race.

Our soldier girl came in to run for us. Happy delights!

Results sometime Monday.

Many thanks for those who have contributed to our $20,000 goal! Others who are persuaded to help fill the gap, see the post below for donation information. The Lord blesses a cheerful giver!

Middle School Recitation of "If"

2010-05-26T20:39:00.003-04:00

Here are most of my middle schoolers during their recitation of "If."
They did such a great job!

Will you help advance Christian education?

2010-05-02T16:33:00.003-04:00

Every year on Memorial Day for the past two decades, the school where I teach sponsors a 5K road race. It is a big event. Runners for all over the area come.

Christian Heritage Academy is a non-profit school dedicated to providing not only an excellent academic education, but also training in Christian character and morals.

Our goal for the race is to raise $20,000. Most of the proceeds of this year's race will be dedicated to providing scholarship opportunities for those in need.

Many of my students will be competing in this race. Would you consider sponsoring them? Any amount would be greatly appreciated. All gifts are tax deductible.

We are making such great progress this year in our efforts to raise academic standards and implement action to give a quality education to our area's children. Every subject area is taught from a Biblical worldview to enable the students to be successful in whatever they choose to do.

If you are persuaded to be one of our sponsors, please use the following information as you send in your donation. My deepest appreciation to you as you consider supporting this valuable work.

Christian Heritage Academy

625 Glennwood Drive
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151

Please include a note that you are sponsoring Janie Dye's students and include your name and address.

Many, many thanks!

For my students

2010-04-24T13:13:00.003-04:00

Don't these pictures intrigue you?

Aren't you curious to find out what these doors are?

Do they lead anywhere?

What if you could travel to another place through one of those doors?

Have you planned your summer ~~travel~~ reading list?

Are you one who might be rolling your eyes and thinking, "Who makes a reading list?"

Well, just think of all the time you will have this summer! What a great time to spend in leisure traveling all over the world, and even into some imaginary worlds, through a good story.

Start thinking about a few books you should read for pleasure. Here are three to get you thinking: 100 Cupboards, Dandelion Fire, and The Chestnut King.

The first one is really good, the second better, and the third best.

Here's a video of author Nate Wilson on the Today Show.

"Reading is the basic tool of the good life." ~ Adler

The Captain's Dog

2010-04-15T18:43:00.004-04:00

I love this book. Just love it.

Detailed information written in captivating language gives The Captain's Dog (Smith) a high place on my list. Whether or not you are interested in the Lewis and Clark Expedition, you will find this book rewarding.

Told through the eyes, and sometimes nose, of Seaman, Captain's Lewis' dog, the reader will learn about the crew of the Expedition, the fauna and flora of the Louisiana Territory, and different Indian tribes the crew met in their travels.

Not only is it a rousing good story, the vocabulary is perfect to stretch the minds of my seventh graders! Author Roland Smith introduces new vocabulary on almost every page of the book, but as he does so, the words are understood through the context of the sentences. Very few words will float by completely unknown.

To insure my students remember their new words past the page they are on, I made them bookmarks to record the word and the page number found.

I just love a good book!

Music that moves me

2010-04-10T10:30:00.004-04:00

(click on the title for audio)

Bamfylde School Song
by Kenyon Emrys-Roberts

Look ahead to a life worth living,
Full of hope, full of faith, full of cheer,
To a life that is made for giving
Without stint, without shame, without fear.

Look ahead to the One who leads us,
To the Lord who guides our ways.
We shall follow, follow, follow,
We shall follow Him through our days.

May the stand for the just decision
For the straight and the true and the right
Take the hard choice in life's ambition
'Gainst all greed and injustice unite.

Standing true to the one who lead us
With the Lord who guides our ways
We shall follow, follow, follow,
We shall follow Him through our days.

This is the theme song of the miniseries To Serve Them All My Days.

Thanks to a gracious visitor who not only heard the right lyrics (which I inserted above) but also taught me a new word: mondegreen, a series of words that result from the mishearing or misinterpretation of a statement or a song lyric.

Break at the beach

2010-04-05T21:17:00.004-04:00

After a hectic, snowy and cold winter, what better way to revive than at the beach. The weather is warmer than usual for early April, and we're enjoying every minute.

You've just gotta laugh

2010-03-08T18:53:00.005-05:00

My 7th and 8th graders have a chapter test tomorrow on pronouns. Today, I thought we'd have a big practice sentence review on pronoun and verb agreement. No way do I have time, or the inclination, or better yet, the imagination, to create a thousand sentences for them to practice through.

Google is my best friend for this. And I found a source with perfect, so it seems, sentences. A cursory glance through showed no obvious obnoxiousness. So I click and print.

Pages ready. Bell will ring in 30 minutes. Plenty of time to mark the key.

I read through the sentences, marking away. These are times that sharpen my own skills. I love it.

As I'm breezing through, I come to this sentence:

For (we, us) there is nothing like a cold beer on a hot day.

Yeah. Right. I might need one if I leave this in the handout! The practice sheets are already printed, and I'm not going to waste the paper and do them over.

Black magic marker. Nothing stirs up the curiosity of 14 year old boys more (well, maybe not more, but close) than a black magic marker. They know something's hiding underneath. And it doesn't take long for them to find it.

Yep. There's nothing like a cold beer on a hot day!

Forward to the end of class.

While reading Prince Caspian, I glance ahead to see where we might end. It's almost time for the bell.

I see the line where Peter calls Reepicheep an ass.

Oh, brother.

And it's only Monday.

Bell rings. We'll cover the ass part tomorrow.

Eighth graders. Beer. Asses.

You've just gotta laugh sometimes.

In preparation...

2010-03-07T11:19:00.002-05:00

The Lorica of Saint Patrick

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through a belief in the Threeness,

Through confession of the Oneness

Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today

Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,

Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,

Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,

Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today

Through the strength of the love of cherubim,

In obedience of angels,

In service of archangels,

In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,

In the prayers of patriarchs,

In preachings of the apostles,

In faiths of confessors,

In innocence of virgins,

In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today

Through the strength of heaven;

Light of the sun,

Splendor of fire,

Speed of lightning,

Swiftness of the wind,

Depth of the sea,

Stability of the earth,

Firmness of the rock.

I arise today

Through God's strength to pilot me;

God's might to uphold me,

God's wisdom to guide me,

God's eye to look before me,

God's ear to hear me,

God's word to speak for me,

God's hand to guard me,

God's way to lie before me,

God's shield to protect me,

God's hosts to save me

From snares of the devil,

From temptations of vices,

From every one who desires me ill,

Afar and anear,

Alone or in a mulitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,

Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,

Against incantations of false prophets,

Against black laws of pagandom,

Against false laws of heretics,

Against craft of idolatry,

Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,

Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ shield me today

Against poison, against burning,

Against drowning, against wounding,

So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ on my right, Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,

Christ in the eye that sees me,

Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through a belief in the Threeness,

Through a confession of the Oneness

Of the Creator of creation.

A Lifetime of Reading

2010-03-06T21:19:00.005-05:00

Check out George Grant's "A Lifetime of Reading" where he takes familiar quotes about reading and books and adds short topic titles for a nice twist on the familiar.

More snow

2010-03-02T21:51:00.006-05:00

December snow. January snow. February snow. And now, March snow. It is a beautiful heavy one.

Heavy wet snow accented the vein-like branches of the trees.

Just beautiful.

But so ready for the sun and warmth of summer.