The First Day of the 21st Grade

If you count every year of school I have had since graduating from the 12th grade as a grade, then this week I started the 21st grade. The classes I am taking include: cell and membrane physiology, the science of animal well-being (emphasis on dairy this semester), stress and immunity, regulation of feed intake, and canoing.
The first day of school I just had cell and membrane physiology. It was good, I made a new friend (Darren) which is what mothers always want for their kids when they go to school. He wants to study with me, which is good. I don't know why he picked me, the class if full of pre-med students, and I am not one of them.
My friend and neighbor, Wes told me he was taking tap dance, bowling and canoing. The canoing class sounded really fun. He told me Monday night that it started Tuesday, so Tuesday morning I looked it up on line and decided to try to register for the class. It let me in, then I realized the class started at 9am and it was currently 8am, so I'd better get moving.
Regulation of feed intake is really interesting. My friend, Matt Thorpe from our ward is also in the class. This week we learned the solution to the energy, water, and obesity problems. Get rid of the clothes washing machines and dryers. If people were working harder washing their clothes, they would burn more calories and we'd save water and energy.
Stress and Immunity and Science of Animal Well-being will also be interesting. In both classes we discussed how people assume they know what the best way to treat animals is, and they completely ignore the research. I'm not sure how many of our readers support the humane society, so I'll be careful what I write, but if any of you are thinking of supporting them, talk to me first, and I'll steer you towards better uses of your money.
I think it will be an interesting semester with lot's of exciting things to learn.

2nd Grade 5th Grade 21st Grade

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday (August 19th) Bruce and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that much time has elapsed but at the same time it seems like we've always been together. Each year we have tried to go somewhere else to celebrate. Our first anniversary we spent the day in Chicago, Illinois. We went to the temple, saw some other sights, and ate lunch at the top of the Hancock building where the Blue Angels were performing an air show. It was neat to see the airplane at nearly eye level. Our second anniversary we spent in St. Louis, Missouri. We went to the temple and visited the zoo. It was a lot of fun and we go back often. This year we went to Monticello, Indiana (the weekend before our anniversary since my first day of school was on our anniversary) to an amusement park called Indiana Beach. The amusement park is built on a lake, so it does seem like a beach. However, we weren't real impressed with the park itself. We refer to it as a "redneck" kind of amusement park. It wasn't kept up the best, and the other people there were kind of sketchy. We saw a lot of people scantily clad and have never seen so many creepy body piercings and tattoos on people in our life. We went for 2 days. Friday was nice because the lines were very short, and we got to ride a lot of rides and go down the water tubes frequently. Saturday was crammed full of people. There isn't a whole lot of room there because the park is kind of small, and we didn't get on very many rides. We did see a cool pirate show however. Either way, we still had fun being together, talking, and enjoying each other's company. Afterwards, Bruce took me to dinner to Olive Garden - one of my favorite restaurants. I know I made the right decision 3 years ago. We have a great relationship and I couldn't be any happier. I love you Bruce! You're the best!

Got Milk?

After girls camp, I brought home a truck load of left over food. Some perishable items, and some store-able items (like 4 bottles of maple syrup). Among the guru of food was 3 crates of milk. Bruce and I counted them - 125 half pints of milk. I tried to cram them all in our refrigerator until we could figure out what to do with them. Unfortunately they all expired within a couple of days and some of them were going bad already. I had a brilliant idea to share the wealth. I thought it was better for others to get some use out of them instead of throwing them all away. We loaded up the trusty wagon and took milk to 7 other families who lived close by. I apologize to those who had some bad milks, but I hope you were able to get some use out of them. At this moment, I truely felt like a milk maid. Needless to say, it was pretty memorable. I guess it's not every day someone knocks on your door with a wagon full of milk and offers to fill your refrigerator with left over camp food.

Girls Camp!

The week following my trip to Hannibal was girls camp. As the assistant stake camp director, I got to participate and plan all of the fun. Camp this year was a great success. Our theme was "Of one Purpose: Hearts becoming one with Christ." We focused a lot on unity and the importance of unity in our lives (within ourselves, our wards, our young women, our families, etc.) I know that in the past, there has been a lot of drama and fights at girls camp; however, this year there didn't seem to be any. I noticed most of the girls having a great time, getting along, and including everyone. It was really neat to be there. The first night I helped plan and prepare a team building activity that helped build unity. The girls were split into groups and had to put together a puzzle of Christ (each girl had a separate piece to the puzzle). They then had a specific task they needed to accomplish and include each girl. They came back, posted their puzzle and talked about what they learned. We were pleased to hear them realize that there activity went better when everyone was involved, everyone gave their ideas, and when they listened and respected each other. The puzzle had a missing piece which I had. I tied that all into not leaving anyone out and having Christ's atonement as the missing piece - meaning the atonement completes the puzzle. I had a great time participating in lots of activities like canoing and rifling. I had 2 out of my 16 shots not hit the target and 5 of the 16 were bullseye. . We had a great fire building contest which turned out to be rather competitive.
. I even got sparks from my flint and steel. As an emergency preparedness activity, we learned how to cut up and de-bone a whole chicken. It seems like a necessary skill since the price of food is going up so much. . We had a priesthood leader cancel at the last minute, so Bruce even got to fill in for him. Bruce came to girls camp Tuesday, Wednesday, and half of Thursday. It was nice to see him since I was in a different state the entire week before. I always loved girls camp when I was younger, and it was a lot different being in charge of camp. When others ask me how camp was I can only say "Fun!" and "Successful!" It was successful in a lot of different ways, and this girls camp experience is much different than the one I had growing up. The wards have smaller amounts of young women so wards and branches combined in their campsites. We also had women we called as camp cooks who made all but 2 meals for everyone and we all ate together in the dining hall. I know that the girls were touched by the messages we shared and prepared and they felt the spirit. They all felt that they were a part of Christ as a daughter of God who loves them, and I think that is the most important thing. Camp was great! I look forward to next year, we are already making plans and changes for next August!. Camp Drake here I will come!

Mark Twain Conference

Some of you may remember a post about a field trip to Hannibal Missouri I took with my 7th grade reading class. While I was looking into and planning that field trip, I came across a conference for teachers offered by the Mark Twain Museum. This conference focused on why and how we should teach Mark Twain in the classroom. They focused on specific methods and strategies for teaching The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. When I saw this conference, I knew that I wanted to go. I got permission from my school district who paid for the week long conference my hotel, and my drive out there. I went the last week in July. It was fantastic! I had such a great time! I had no idea there was so much to Mark Twain and I left having a deeper respect for him and his writings. The conference was directed by experts on Mark Twain. The curator of the museum grew up in Hannibal, and has worked at the museum studying everything to know about Mark Twain for 30 years. Another professor dedicated her life to studying Mark Twain and she has a passion for his writing. In fact, every room in her house is decorated and dedicated to either a book of his or a character in one of his books. I never thought anyone could have such a passion for anything really. It was evident in everything she did or said. The conference started with a 2 hour life sketch of Mark Twain. So much was said, I can't every sort through all the facts. The great thing about this conference was that it cost $100.00 and all meals, fees, and entrances into the museums and other things were all included. On Monday night, we went on a river boat dinner cruise down the Mississippi. We read passages and excerpts from his book "Life on the Mississippi" and some from his autobiography. The next morning we had a walking tour of Hannibal, had a private tour through all the museums, climbed Cardiff Hill, and walked along the river front while learning about Hannibal during Samuel Clemens' (Mark Twain is a pen name) time. We took a tour of Rockcliffe Mansion, the biggest and most expensive house in Hannibal built in the late 1800's.
Afternoon sessions were reserved for lesson ideas and themes to discuss in the books. The next morning we went on a riding tour of Hannibal (to the cemetery in Tom Sawyer and the cemetery Samuel's family was buried in.) That evening, we had a private tour of Mark Twain's cave. The tour guide was great as he related excerpt from the book Tom Sawyer to us while he also told us historical facts about the cave. We drove to Florida, Missouri (Samuel Clemens birth place) and learned about his early life. We ended the conference with a performance by a Mark Twain look alike (actor who knew about Twain's life), and a buffet dinner. The conference brought back the spirit of Mark Twain and his writing. Of course I took gobs of pictures to show my students about these places and what life was like for people during Mark Twain's time.
The curator of the museum certainly has an interesting job. More interesting than I first though possible for a curator. He gets calls from people all over the world who have random questions about Mark Twain and his life. He has been contacted by Sports Illustrated for a picture of Mark Twain playing Billiards, a cooking magazine wanting a quote from Mark Twain about food, and other various magazines wanting pictures or information. It certainly was entertaining to hear the story of how he was taken to court by a man who thinks he is Mark Twain reincarnated. This guy was selling autographed pictures of Mark Twain on the museum property. Solicitation is not allowed on the property and the curator asked him to leave. Everywhere this guy showed up (always on museum property) he was breaking rules. He went to the point of telling false stories about his life as Mark Twain focusing on his motorcycle trip across the United States. Mark Twain lived during the 1800's they didn't have motorcycles back then. He finally took the curator to court on grounds of harassment and unfair treatment to his business. Of course the case was dismissed once the "reincarnated" Mark Twain represented himself and had no real case. It just goes to show that there are a lot of crazy people out there. Now the museum has posted signs stating the following: "The Mark Twain Museum does not employ or support Mark Twain look alikes." Needless to say, I have an entire folder full of ideas to bring back to my class. We had to complete a lesson plan as part of the conference. You can find my lesson plan posted on the museum website under steamboat jargon. My partners and I did a huge lesson on steamboat jargon to use with either Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn. We had so many ideas floating that our 2 days lesson turned into a 3 week lesson. We had to tone it down, so all that is posted is a couple of days teaching vocabulary and all our ideas for extension listed. Because we were doing a lesson plan on river boats, we took lots of pictures of parts of steamboats and river boats (not posted with lesson plan.) My partner got the best deal of all. She somehow convinced the pilot to let her on this boat to get private pictures. She was gone for 2 hours and missed the first lecture of the day. . We have put together a great slide show to show out students for understanding and I'm really excited. Hannibal is a great place to go. There is so much more to see there than just Mark Twain related things. I recommend everyone go. I'm really glad I went, words can't describe how much fun I had and how neat the opportunity was.

New "School" Year Resolution

As many of you know, the school where I teach is in the middle of nowhere. Literally! It takes me about 25-30 minutes to get there depending on what time of the morning I leave. If I leave a little later in the morning, more cars are on high cross road heading to Urbana to work. Once I turn onto Sellers Road, I rarely see any cars. In fact, for most of the drive it is an open road through multiple corn fields. Normally, I don't have a problem following the speed limit, but I have noticed that I do have a problem when I drive to school. I guess when I am the only car and I see a wide open road, my foot tends to get a little heavy on the gas pedal. Most days I pass a cop on Sellers road, but he is traveling in the opposite direction and driving faster than I am. That means that I am pretty safe! However, there is always the issue of the suicidal dog walker. She walks her dog on the road forcing me to drive in the oncoming traffic lane to avoid hitting her. Additionally, I only see this lady walking her dog on the highway during bad weather and heavy fog. Seriously! I rarely see her when it's sunny. When it is snowing, she is wearing a white snow suit. This is why I call her the suicidal dog walker. Needless to say, I set a goal for myself. This school year, I want to drive the speed limit on my way to work. Today was the first day of school, and I was successful. We will have to see how long this trend lasts. It's a good thing I have speed control to keep me a law abiding citizen. :)

Painting!

I found myself being way too ambitious and desired to paint my classroom this summer. I have 6 molding white panels above the 6 windows in my room which I found completely ugly. I tried sticking posters and other things over them, but nothing would stick up there. I tried tape and tacky stuff but to no avail. I decided that I wanted to paint over it so it wasn't so ugly. I got permission from the superintendent who graciously bought all the paint and I got started. I was originally only going to paint those panels above the windows and my ugly white bookcases. (There are 2 although you can't tell because one is at the entry way to my classroom)

I accomplished that. I liked the light blue color so much and I had a lot of paint left over that I decided to do the rest of the walls. That ended up being more of a pain than it was really worth. I had to buy another gallon of paint just to do 2 coats because the texture of the wall was so difficult to paint over. The wall is made of smoothed over cinder blocks, so of course the roller wouldn't get all the rivets and wouldn't fill in the mortar. I had to paint in between those all by hand. Every time I thought I was finished, my principal kept finding more and more things wrong and I had to keep going back to fix it. After nearly four full days of painting, I think it looks great right now - a whole lot better than it did before. I find it kind of irritating that I had to paint it myself just because I wanted it done, but at least I can enjoy the beauty of it all. It's a good thing Bruce helped me otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do it at all. This picture might be hard to tell, but the wall above my desk is a beautiful Scandinavian sky color. I love the way it looks now, so I guess it was worth all that hard work.