Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 2/28/14

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels: E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

The Science of NFL Football – learn how math and science relate to football (L:M,H; SA:M, S)

Connect A Sketch – use existing images or sketches to make flow charts and diagrams (L:G; SA: A)

Nature Sound Map – “A group of professional nature recordists from around the globe have collaborated to develop Nature Soundmap, an enjoyable and interactive way of exploring the natural sounds of our planet. Combining high-quality field recordings with the latest satellite imagery, the project brings together some of nature’s most beautiful, interesting and inspiring sounds.” (L:G; SA:A)

BioInteractive – “Free resources for science teachers and students, including animations, short films, and apps.” (L:G; SA:S)

Hemingway – “Hemingway makes your writing bold and clear. Hemingway highlights long, complex sentences and common errors; if you see a yellow highlight, shorten the sentence or split it. If you see a red highlight, your sentence is so dense and complicated that your readers will get lost trying to follow its meandering, splitting logic — try editing this sentence to remove the red.” (L:G; SA:A)

Original Image: Tools by Pat Hensley

Monthly Review of Goals from February

February was a quick month and I want to share how I’m doing with my goals to this point. All of my goals can be found here.
Yearly goals:

1. Try at least 12 new recipes (one per month). – We have done a lot of traveling this month so I didn’t do a lot of cooking this month. I barely got a new recipe in before the end of the month! 
   1. January – Quinoa Meatballs
   2. February - Cheddar Chicken Quinoa Bake
2. Reach my target weight by the end of the year. – No loss of weight this month. In fact I gained 5 while on the cruise.
3. Knit a Fair Isle vest. (not started yet)
4. Learn to chain ply some handspun yarn. (not started yet)
5. Dye yarn and fiber. (not started yet)
6. Spin my camel, yak, and cashmere fiber.
1. January - spun camel/merino/silk blend fiber

Daily/Weekly/Monthly goals:

1. Daily - Read the bible and keep a log so I can tell how I am doing. – I’ve read it every day in January and February.
2. Daily - Do strength exercises for 30 minutes each day. – I have done this every day.
3. Weekly - Walk at least 10,000 steps for 4 days every week. – I’ve done this and sometimes managed to do it more than 4 days each week.
4. Weekly - Keep a journal and write down 5 things that I’m thankful for. – Every Sunday I take time to jot down the 5 things.
5. Monthly - Read one non-fiction book every month.
1. January - Life in Stitches by Rachel Herron.
2. February – The Spinners Book of Yarn Design by Sarah Anderson

This month was kind of slow. I think I did alright but I’m hoping to do better with my cooking and my weight in March.
Image: 'Goals' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68131855@N00/739519564
Found on flickrcc.net

Day 12 Homework

On the Free Technology for Teachers Facebook, the twenty day blogging challenge created by Kelly Hines was mentioned and I decided to give it a shot. So here is the challenge for today:
“Talk about homework. Do you give it? Why or why not? What types of HW do you give? How do you balance it with other demands?”

I give homework but I don’t give any homework unless I know that my students can be successful with it. I do not use it as a punishment. I do not give it out of meanness because I want my students to work outside the classroom. I do not want my students to work on homework for more than an hour outside of the classroom. I also do not accept any homework early so that everyone turns it in at the same time. This keeps things from being mixed in with other assignments or a discrepancy in whether something has been turned in or not.

My students and their parents are told that there will be homework every night except weekends and holidays. This way there can be no misunderstanding on whether there is homework due or not. Parents also have my phone number and email address in case their child says there is no homework or that they turned it in already.

I give homework for several reasons.
1. Homework is a good way to practice new skills.
2. Homework teaches responsibility.
3. Homework teaches doing outside work independently.
4. Homework teaches students to complete work for a deadline.
5. Homework teaches students to organize their time.
6. Homework teaches a student that there are some things that need to be done that we don’t want to do.

Do you give homework? Why or why not? Please share.

Image: 'home work routine'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73645804@N00/4195916777
Found on flickrcc.net

Day 11 Dropbox

On the Free Technology for Teachers Facebook, the twenty day blogging challenge created by Kelly Hines was mentioned and I decided to give it a shot. So here is the challenge for today:
“What is a website that you can’t live without? Tell about your favorite features and how you use it in your teaching and learning.”

Another website that I use is Dropbox. I use this in the classroom to upload files that I can share with the whole class.

All of the students had a project where they needed to do some research on a specific disability. Then they needed to come up with a one page information sheet about their project. Instead of running off each sheet for every student, I decided to upload all of them to Dropbox. Then I sent out the link to all of the students so they could download them in a way that suited them the best. Some downloaded the work on their laptops, some on their iPads, and some on their phones. If a student wanted it printed out, they could do this also.

I think this is much better than sending out a mass email with attachments. Many people have a problem getting attachments or receiving emails with attachments. This seems the best way to share files with my class.

What do you use to share files with an entire class? Please share.

Image: 'Dropbox'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17213139@N00/7463062672
Found on flickrcc.net

Frog Watch Training

This past weekend we went to Frog Watch Training which was an awesome experience. In fact, it was my second time to attend. What can I say, I’m a slow learner and need repetitive learning. As many of you know, I usually bring my knitting with me in case I get bored or distracted and I never once pulled out my knitting during the entire session. It was so informative and interesting that I never needed to do anything to help myself focus. Our local chapter is FROGZ for FrogWatch Researchers of Greenville Zoo.

What is Frog Watch USA? It is a long term frog and toad monitoring program. The data collected by citizen scientists describe local species diversity, detect rare and invasive species, suggest shifts in species diversity, range and seasonal timing, and may be an indicator of wetland health.

Here are some other important things I learned in the class:

Citizen science is research collaboration between scientists and volunteers.

Volunteers learn about and explore the nature of science, collect scientific data on frogs and toads, spend time in community wetlands.

They benefit the natural world and humans, predators and prey in the ecosystem, pest control, food, medicine, education and research, culturally significant, serve as indicators of environmental health.

Over the past 20 years, there have been dramatic declines in amphibian populations around the world. See AmphibiaWeb.

Primary causes of decline: Habitat loss, Pollutants, Invasive species, Climate changes, Disease

Types of Wetlands: Marshes, vernal pools, swamps, bogs, fens
 
Survey site registration:
To find Latitude and longitude, go to www.terraserver.com
Write in Digital format
Longitude is always negative.

Monitoring protocol: Practice identifying, temperature must be above 35F, Not raining too hard or too windy, monitor 30 minutes after sunset

Recommended Books:
The Calls of Frogs and Toads by Lang Elliot
The Frogs and Toads of North America by Lang Elliott

Wear latex gloves with no powder
No insect repellent

Last year when we were camping I was able to use some of my learning to identify some of the frogs that we heard around us. During class they teach the different frog calls and help you learn how to distinguish between the different calls. I know that it will just take some practice in the same way that it took when I was learning to identify wildflowers.

One of the teachers is going to send out a schedule of when she plans to go out and do some monitoring. We are welcome to meet her there and get experience recording data. I’m really looking forward to doing this and learning. After getting some experience we might be able to do it independently but I know I will need a lot of practice.

There is another training coming up on March 8 from 10-3 at the Greenville Zoo. Here is the form you need to send in if you are interested (Deadline March 3). If you have the time to attend, it is well worth going!

Original photos by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 2/21/14

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels: E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

The Great Depression – First person accounts of the Great Depression (L:M, H; SA:SS)

60 Second Civics -  “60-Second Civics is a daily podcast that provides a quick and convenient way for listeners to learn about our nation’s government, the Constitution, and our history. The podcast explores themes related to civics and government, the constitutional issues behind the headlines, and the people and ideas that formed our nation’s history and government.” (L:M, H; SA:SS)

Learning Pod – “Learningpod's goal is to help our community build the largest library of free, online practice questions in the world. We believe great education should be available to anyone who wants to teach or learn.” (L:G; SA:A)

TouchDevelop – “TouchDevelop lets you create apps on iPad, iPhone, Android, PC,Mac, Windows Phone. Our touch-friendly editor makes coding fun, even on your phone or tablet!” (L:M, H; SA:A)

Spanish is Your Amigo – Learn Spanish (L:G; SA:FL)

Original Image: Tools by Pat Hensley

The Tyrant’s Daughter – A Book Review

I recently read the book The Tyrant’s Daughter by J.C. Carleson. This is the review that I gave the book and I am not being paid to give this review):

The story is about a 15 year old girl who comes to America with her mother and younger brother. They come to America because her father, a ruler in the Middle East, is assassinated. Throughout the story we see how she has to adapt to a new culture and how things that a normal American teenager takes for granted is seen so differently from someone else’s eyes.

I wasn’t sure that I would like it when I started it but then I couldn’t seem to put the book down. It was very interesting and well written. I think teenagers would learn a lot by reading this book because they would see their peers from a different angle.

This would be good in a high school class or library. It would lead to great discussions on different cultures, religions, tolerance of differences, social skills, social expectations, adapting to different things, and family relationships.

Day 10 Brain Breaks

On the Free Technology for Teachers Facebook, the twenty day blogging challenge created by Kelly Hines was mentioned and I decided to give it a shot. So here is the challenge for today:

“Share ideas that your classroom uses for brain breaks and/or indoor recess.”

Sometimes when the students are in a bad mood or when nothing is going is going right no matter what we do. Life gets frustrating and it is time to take a break.

Here are some of the possibilities when I want the class to take a break.

1. Break up in groups and play board games they are familiar with.

2. Discuss a possible social situation and brainstorm different appropriate ways to act.

3. Pick a current events issue that is a hot topic in the news and discuss it.

4. Break up in small groups. Give them one word with a lot of letters like elephant, alphabet, and encyclopedia. Have them use only the letters in that word to make up other words.

5. Play Pictionary with the class. Give the leader a secret word and they have to draw the picture of it. The person who guesses it right gets to come up and draw.

6. Play Mad Libs using parts of speech.

7. Read a fun story to the class.

8. Play music and have students draw a picture of what they imagine is happening.

9. Finish the sentence game. Give students the beginning of the sentence and have them finish it. Examples would be: If I was a bird, I would be…If I could live anywhere, I would live…If I had a million dollars, I would…

10. Play a bingo game. Have the questions made in advance for this occasion. Write the answers on the board in scrambled order. Have students make a grid on their paper of 9 or 16 blocks. They write the answer in each square. Then you will ask the question and if they have the answer, they put an X in the box. The first one to get any straight line across, down, or diagonally wins.

What do you do for brain breaks? Please share.

Image: 'Monopoly'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24742305@N00/5588594181
Found on flickrcc.net

Day 9 Self Advocacy

On the Free Technology for Teachers Facebook, the twenty day blogging challenge created by Kelly Hines was mentioned and I decided to give it a shot. So here is the challenge for today:

“Share a topic/idea from class this week. What’s one thing you did with students this week that you will (or will not) do again? Why?”

An important topic discussed in my class is self-advocacy.

Many of my high school students believe that they are in a special ed class because of their behavior and not because of a disability. For some reason they can stomach the idea of being segregated from their classmates because of a behavior problem (that they could control) rather than having a disability (that they can’t control).

It is important for my students to understand that having a disability is not something they should be ashamed of having because they did nothing wrong. Having a disability is not their fault. Also, they might have a disability in one area but be quite gifted and talented in another area.

I spend a lot of time talking about disabilities and the perceptions that people have. We talk about how we view ourselves and how we think others perceive us. We also talk about how our perceptions may possibly be exaggerated or skewed like how a person feels that everyone can see the huge zit on their face when in reality, it is so small that no one notices it much. In fact, it is our own behavior that draws attention to it rather than it actually being the center of attention.

It always amazes many of the students to find out how many celebrities have a disability and how they have successful lives in spite of having a disability. They do not let their disability define who they are.

What is more important is how they deal with the life they are given. Their actions will define who they are and how others perceive them.

This also applies to all people and not just people with disabilities. Throughout life, everyone will face obstacles that can either defeat them or make them stronger. I want my students to come out being stronger and I hope that I can be the right tool to help them get this way.

What is an important topic in your class? Please share.

Image: 'Dirty Girl 2013'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15119648@N04/9445016442
Found on flickrcc.net

Day 8 Professional Impact

On the Free Technology for Teachers Facebook, the twenty day blogging challenge created by Kelly Hines was mentioned and I decided to give it a shot. So here is the challenge for today:

“Tell about a professional read (book, article, blog post) that has had an impact on you. Why/How?”

Recently I read Practice productive procrastination from Blue Skunk Blog by Doug Johnson. He asks,

“Should we be encouraging student to practice productive procrastination as well? Should kids be working on math in our English class when they get tired of reading their novel? Could they read that novel during social studies? Are we allowing kids to choose better options than Twitter?”

I commented on this post the following:

This is exactly why I loved teaching a special ed self-contained class. I taught 4 subjects to my students over 4 periods a day. I would have a weekly assignment sheet with all of their assignments for each subject and each day. This allowed me to individualize the lessons and sometimes students with the same assignment could work as a group. It also allowed students the flexibility to work on the assignment that they wanted to do first. I was able to help students who needed help and those waiting could start on an assignment that didn't require my help. Students remain engaged instead of bored waiting for help. Some students liked to start on the hardest subject for them and get it out of the way. Others liked to do the easiest and leave the hardest for last. Sometimes I could let students who already completed an assignment help others who were working on it. I love having many options throughout the day for myself so why wouldn't I allow my students to have the same flexibility?

How would you answer Doug’s questions? Please share.

Image: 'Flexibility' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16462767@N00/3983734887
Found on flickrcc.net

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 2/14/14

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels: E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

Geostories – “GeoStories combine interactive maps, media, and narrative. This collection contains all GeoStories from NG Education.” (L:G; SA:A)

AirPano – “AirPano is a non-commercial project focused on high resolution 3D aerial panoramas. The AirPano team is a group of Russian photographers and panorama enthusiasts. During the next 2-3 years, we plan to shoot a variety of aerial panoramas and create virtual 3D tours of the most interesting places of our planet.” (L:G; SA:A)

MapFaire – “We're here to help you create any kind of map, for business or for pleasure.Mapfaire is free; there's also a pro version that gives you more powerful customization options.” (L:G; SA:A)

Peep and the Big Wide World – Math and science activities for elementary school children (L:E; SA: M, S)

Gooru – “Create and share collections of engaging web resources with your students.” (L:G; SA:A)

Original Image: Tools by Pat Hensley

Signazon Scholarship Contest

Signazon.com launched its 4^th Annual $1,000 Scholarship Giveaway. The winner will receive $1,000 towards their education!

Scholarship Contest Name: 4^th Annual “Design-A-Sign” Scholarship Contest

Start Date: Wednesday, January 29^th, 2014

End Date: Friday, May 30^th, 2014

How To Enter: The students are encouraged to design signs that represent their dreams and goals. Students can submit their design online and then share their entry to earn votes to ensure the design’s success. The highest number of votes at the end of the contest wins the scholarship!

Scholarship Prizes: $1,000 (1^st Place), $200 (2^nd Place), $300 (3^rd place)

More details about the contest can be found at: http://www.signazon.com/contest/grad2014/

Cruising on the Ryndam Part 3

On 1/26/14 we took a 14 day cruise on the Holland America Ryndam. I kept a journal about each day and learned something new every day. This is part 3 of what we did on the cruise. If you are interested in seeing all the pictures, here are the links to them.

• 2/5/14 Wednesday – Aruba
• 2/6/14 Thursday – At Sea
• 2/7/14 Friday – Grand Cayman

2/5/14 Wednesday – Aruba
We got off the ship and walked around town all morning. After buying some souvenirs, buying and sending some postcards, it was time to return to the ship. We only had about 5 hours in this port but next time we will try to go to a beach (Eagle Beach and Royal Beach were recommended. Mike said it was $4 to the beach pp, $2 entrance fee, and $7 to rent the chairs at Royal Beach.). It looked like if we had walked towards the right when facing town, there were a few beaches within walking distance. It was pretty hot even though the temperature wasn’t extremely high but the humidity and the strength of the sun was strong. In the afternoon we did some laundry and just relaxed. We went to the show at 6:30 which was a comedian and after dinner we went to the movie showing Gravity, which I didn’t enjoy.

2/6/14 Thursday – At Sea
We had a lazy day at sea. We spent the morning on the deck relaxing. I went to the Culinary Arts demo on making cinnamon rolls. After lunch we went to the pool and swam. Before dinner we went to the show Lazlo and Claudia, who were excellent violinists. Don isn’t a big music fan but he said he would go see them again. After dinner we went to see the movie Hunger Games: Catching Fire but we both were nodding off so we went to bed.

2/7/14 Friday – Grand Cayman
I was not looking forward to getting off the ship because this is my least favorite port. I was surprised to find that I had a good time after all. The tender got us to the port by 8:30am and we walked around the town. We bought postcards and mailed them from the post office. The people in the post office were extremely nice. After that we found a store where I bought a diet Pepsi for $1. I also bought a t-shirt for $8 and the second for half off. Then we found a stamp collector’s store and Don was in heaven. He found lots of treasures at a reasonable price. In the evening we watched the movie with Michael Caine called Last Love which was really depressing.

2/8/14 Saturday – At Sea
We had a lovely day at sea but I ate too much and I was too lazy. After breakfast, we sat by the pool and read. I also listened to podcasts while I relaxed. After lunch we packed our suitcases before going to the Indonesian Tea which is always a lovely event. All of the wait staff wore their traditional shirts and the tables had runners with Indonesian print. The pastries that were served were traditional Indonesian goodies along with the regular tea time desserts. After tea we got ready for dinner and then went to see the movie All Mine. It was a good movie but depressing about dementia. We had a fabulous dinner and a trivia contest where the winner won a badge that Chaz donated. David won but it was so much fun competing! We said farewell to our dinner mates and I will really miss them! It was amazing how well we all bonded the first night we ate together.

2/9/14 Sunday – Disembarkation

I got up around 4:30am so I could get on the internet and use the rest of the minutes that I bought. The “On Location” daily paper said that we would be able to use the internet until we got off the ship.  The wifi hadn’t worked in a couple of days so I used their computers but was still unable to get on the internet. When I went to the front desk, the girl told me that the internet was unavailable on the disembarkation day so I asked why they lied in the daily paper. She didn’t have an answer and told me that she would contact the internet manager at 7am. I continually tried to connect using my iPad and again on their computer before 7 but couldn’t do it. The girl called me to tell me that the internet manager said there was no problem with the internet so I asked for him to meet me at the computers. While I was waiting, it still didn’t work and then all of a sudden, it worked so I guess he reset them. By then, it was too late to use the computer because it was time to go eat breakfast. This means that I lost about 200 minutes left on my account. I won’t ever get that many minutes again!

Getting off the ship was fast and easy. They called people by the color and number on their tags. We got off the ship about 9am and I called the hotel when we got out of the building. I’m glad the clerk asked for my phone number. We were picked up by the hotel shuttle at 10am. The shuttle missed on us on the first circle but the driver called me and asked where we were.  In about 5 minutes he found us and we were on our way.

We had a absolutely awesome time on the ship and would do this again!

Things I have learned:
1. It is always worth getting off the ship even if you have been to the port before. Each visit is different and it is fun every time.
2. I noticed that there were a lot of empty stores on many of the islands. The downturn in the economy is hurting the islands too.
3. I learn about different cultures from the crew on the ship. They are interested in learning about my culture too.
4. Use all the internet minutes before the disembarkation day!
5. I learned so much from our nightly trivia games at dinner!

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Cruising on the Ryndam Part 2

On 1/26/14 we took a 14 day cruise on the Holland America Ryndam. I kept a journal about each day and learned something new every day. This is part 2 of what we did on the cruise. If you are interested in seeing all the pictures, here are the links to them.

• 1/31/14 Friday – St. Thomas
• 2/1/14 Saturday – Antigua
• 2/2/14 Sunday – St. Lucia
• 2/3/14 Monday – At Sea
• 2/4/14 Tuesday – Curacao

1/31/14 Friday – St. Thomas
We had a wonderful day in St. Thomas.  My hubby and I walked 2 miles into town and after a day of shopping, we walked back to the ship. We stopped in the Tavern on the Waterfront (upstairs) for a few drinks which was reasonably priced (2 beers for $5). We went to the show before dinner where we heard them sing Rock classics from Madonna to the Beatles. So far, the entertainment has been okay but I really think that Carnival has much better entertainment. After a formal dinner, we watched a movie. Did I mention how much I enjoy our dinner mates?!

2/1/14 Saturday – Antigua
We got off the ship around 8am and walked around town. There were showers on and off all morning so we just ducked under one of the covered walkways and waited for the rain to stop. We went to the open air food market (vegetables, meat, fish). The fish market was interesting because we saw red fish, blue fish, and even rainbow colored fish. One man started shouting about my expensive camera and it felt like he was signaling someone about my camera so I put it in my bag immediately. Then we left and went back to the ship to get something to drink and go to a computer class. After having a little rest, we went back out to walk around town again and headed for the church with the two towers and found out that they were renovating it. We did see the taxi driver we know called Ninja.Then we returned to the ship for lunch and walked around the deck. I decided to sunbathe while Don continued his walking. We had a snack and went to another computer class and by then we had to get ready for the evening. We went to the show which was jugglers called Airborne (husband and wife team). After dinner we chose not to go to the movie and went to bed. We tried to watch a DVD in the cabin but we couldn’t get the DVD player to work.

2/2/14 Sunday – St. Lucia
We had a better day in St. Lucia than I expected because I’ve been here before and I wasn’t impressed. At 8am, we docked in the Point Seraphina area where the white triangle building is. We didn’t see this path up the mountain until we were almost leaving the port so we hope to try seeing where it goes the next time we are here. We walked into town which is about a 10-15 minute walk and you can see the town from the ship. Since it was Sunday most everything was closed except some booths in the market. I bought a rainbow colored sundress for $20. We were going to eat and drink while in town but we could not find a clean public restroom anywhere. I think the government is trying to clean up the area because the police car did stop to ask us if everything was alright when we crossed a street to avoid a group of sketchy looking men. At 11am, we arrived back at our terminal and found a cute outside bar hidden away in an alleyway where we got Piton beer for $2. At 1pm, we returned to the ship and had a lovely lunch. After lunch I sat out on the deck and Don took a nap.

2/3/14 Monday – At Sea
We had a lovely day at sea. After breakfast we sat out on Deck 6 (the walkaround deck) and relaxed for a couple of hours. At 11, we went to culinary show where we watched the chef make a Caribbean dish. Then we went to lunch and then returned back to the culinary show to watch the chef make a Caribbean dessert. After that we walked 3 miles on the walkaround deck. Then we attended a computer class on the Calendar app. Before dinner we went to the show and then met our tablemates at 8pm for dinner. After the show we went to the movie to watch Captain Phillips.

2/4/14 Tuesday – Curacao
We got off the ship as soon as it docked so we could find the Starbucks at the Renaissance hotel where we would meet Karin. The girl on the ship sent us across the floating bridge but then we had to return because we were on the wrong side. We enjoyed a mocha frappuchino at Starbucks while we waited for her. She took us to Cristoffel Park and we took the green loop road. We didn’t climb Cristoffel Mountain though because it was too hot and takes at least an hour to do. Then we met Joseph at Landhuis Daniel for lunch which was wonderful! After lunch we went to Playa Daaibooi for a swim. Joseph had to return to work and we went back to their house for a shower. Karen took us back to town to show us the old buildings and the floating market. By then it was dinner time and we ate a nice restaurant on Ostrabundo. By then it was 9:00 and we had to return to the ship.

Things I Learned:
1. I get a lot of walking steps in when we go into the ports!
2. Whoever chooses the movies for the ship needs to rethink their choices!
3. I am learning so much in these computer classes. I learn something new that I can use from every class. I’m so glad they are free classes.
4. I’m not a big fan of Caribbean style food.
5. I love having friends in some of the ports who are so generous that they don’t mind picking us up and showing us around. I also love trying the local foods.
6. Curacao is beautiful at night! It is also hotter than you think because even though the temperature wasn’t so high, it was really hot there. Luckily Karin bought us a huge bottle of water that we drank all day.

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Cruising on the Ryndam Part 1

On 1/26/14 we took a 14 day cruise on the Holland America Ryndam. I kept a journal about each day and learned something new every day. I will share my notes over 3 parts so I don’t bore you too much with the details. At the end of each post, I will list some of the things that I have learned for that part. If you are interested in seeing all the pictures, here are the links to them.

• 1/26/14 Embarkation
• 1/27/14 Key West
• 1/28/14 – 1/29/14 At Sea
• 1/30/14 San Juan

1/26/14 Sunday
Shuttle from Hampton Inn on Waters St. to port took an hour because the driver stopped at the airport first. The embarkation was fast and easy. All security were friendly and happy. We went to the Lido deck and ate lunch. While we were eating, they announced our cabins were ready.

Our cabin safe doesn’t work; I called the front desk and she asked me to call back in about 30 min. We stopped an hour later and the girl from the front desk came to our room to check it and said the battery was probably dead. She said that they were having an issue with door locks so it might take a while so she suggested we get a safety deposit box at the front desk.

When we went to unpack, we found out that our TV remote didn’t work. Eventually Don found the cabin steward and asked for a new remote.

We walked through the spa and the staff there were rude. It was open house and I was taking pictures of the empty rooms when one girl said that she didn’t think we were allowed to take pictures. She didn’t say she knew and was quite mean about it.

The life boat drill went well. Joma, a wine steward, was at our lifeboat station. Later he was our bar waiter on the lido deck while we waited for the ship to leave. We got a bucket of 5 beers for $21 plus tax and tips.
Dinner was tortuously slow! We sat at a table for 2 and the dining room was really cold. It seemed that the wait staff was understaffed. We only were given water to drink and I didn’t notice anyone with iced tea. After dinner we went to the show which was packed. They gave a sample of all the music entertainment around the ship.

1/27/14 Monday – Key West
I slept well even though the outside lights on the walking deck was right outside our porthole. I was up at 4:30am and went to the internet café where I used the internet. I bought a package deal of 1000 minutes for $250 and was given an additional 100 minutes. After 45 minutes of that, I went to the gym to walk on the treadmill. I still thought the staff there were rude. One couple opened the shades in front of their treadmills and a girl rushed over to tell them they had to close them. It was pitch black outside and you couldn’t see anything so I don’t know why it mattered. At 7am, she walked around and opened all the shades herself.
After that I went to the Lido deck to wait for Don to wake up. He came up for breakfast around 8am. We stopped by the front desk to ask for someone to fix our safe which still didn’t work. Then we went to a free computer class at 9:30 about Windows 8.1. That was a wonderful class.

At 10:30, we went back to the room to find out that our safe still had not been fixed. So we went to the front desk to complain and get money out of our safety deposit box for our trip off the ship.

At 11am, we went to the Lido deck to have an early lunch and then we got off the ship around 11:45. We had a lovely day walking around Key West. The weather was absolutely beautiful! We stopped at one bar near the water and had 2 draft beers for $2.75 each which came out in small plastic cups. Then we found a CVS where I bought a 12 pack of diet Pepsi and some chocolate which we took back to the ship. Then we went back out to walk around and found another bar – Two Friends Bar which wasn’t too far from the ship and got a beer for $2 which was served in an ice cold glass.

When we got back to the ship we stopped at the grill and got a sandwich, fries, and some dessert. Then we watched the ship prepare to leave the port. At about 4:45pm, we watch them load an elderly man from our ship into an ambulance. Some crew members took the family’s luggage to a van which was going to take the family to the hospital.

When we prepared for dinner, I found out that I didn’t know how to work the shower! The knobs were not hot and cold! I had to get the cabin steward to show me that the temperature is controlled by the right knob and the on/off was the left knob. We did find out that the drain plug didn’t work and he had to report it to the plumber. After my shower, I found out that the outlet for the hair dryer didn’t work. I had to hold the dryer plug in by stacking some things up to hold it in the outlet.

We found out that we were moved to a table for 8 at dinner. There are 4 people from the UK (Kymberly, her husband Chas, her mom and dad – Maureen and Mike), and 2 people from FL (David and Linda). They are a fun group! Chaz asked us trivia questions from the trivia game he went to and we tried to come up with the right answers.

1/28/14 Tuesday – At Sea
At breakfast I met Ann and Wade Stevenson from Manchester, TN. They had a leak in their cabin from the kitchen above them. AT 5am, they had to move to another cabin until the leak could be fixed. In the evening when we went to dinner, it still hadn’t been fixed and someone told them that their cabin door was standing wide open!

We went to 2 computer classes on photo editing which was wonderful! I will have to upgrade to Windows 8.1 and get the newest version of Photo Gallery when I get home.

Formal night was tonight and dinner options included beef wellington and lobster tails.

We went to the show Droom which was great! I thought the costumes, singing, and dancing was excellent.
After dinner, we went to the 10pm movie Enough Said with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini. I didn’t think it was very good.

1/29/14 Wednesday – At Sea
We went to 2 more computer classes and we are truly enjoying them!

Went to the movie theater and saw Before Midnight with Ethan Hawke and it stunk! 2 couples got in an argument about the seats because one couple who got there early wouldn’t move over a seat (because it was broken!)

Got a lot of exercise on the treadmill in the morning and walking around the exercise deck with Don later in the day.

1/30/14 Thursday –San Juan
We had a lovely day in Puerto Rico yesterday. Our friends (Yolanda and Mike) picked us up and took us out to lunch at their favorite restaurant. Don had some kind of bbq pot roast and I had a stuffed Cornish hen with black rice and plantains. We had a wonderful visit with them! Before they came though, we were invited by the Captain to take a photo with the crew and others under the 12^th man flag to cheer on the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. They hoped to show the photo in the super bowl and in the Seattle Times. After they dropped us off, we walked around town.

Things I Learned:
1. It is better to be the first group to be taken to the port because if the shuttle gets backed up, you won’t leave until later than you planned.
2. Check the safe and outlets as soon as you arrive at your cabin to make sure everything works.
3. Make sure you know how to work the shower.
4. You can always learn something new in a class, even if you think you know the information.
5. Plantains are sweet when they are ripe and cooked. The green plantains that are fried are not as sweet but tasty too.

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 2/7/14

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels: E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

Estimation 180 – daily challenges to build number sense. (L:G; SA:M)

Would You Rather – “asking students to choose their own path and justify it.” (L:H; SA:A)

Random Name Picker – download the program and input your students names. Then it will randomly pick names as you need them. (L:T; SA:A)

Exam Time – “ExamTime is changing the way students learn by providing free study tools for students and teachers. ExamTime has been developed to help students make studying more than just a mind exercise. It can be a “do” activity.” (L:G; SA:A)

Kahoot – “a game based classroom response system” (L:G; SA:A)

Original Image: Tools by Pat Hensley

Day 7 Classroom Management Tip

On the Free Technology for Teachers Facebook, the twenty day blogging challenge created by Kelly Hines was mentioned and I decided to give it a shot. So here is the challenge for today:

“Share a classroom management tip. What is one thing that you do that works for you? How could it be adapted by others?”

The best thing that has worked for me was calling home regularly. When I call home, I try to find something to brag about that the student has done. Too many times, parents expect trouble when a teacher calls and I want a better relationship with the families. I don’t want to be the negative call that they hate to get. I want us working as a team to help the student be the most successful.

The best way to do this is to call and find positive things to say about the student. Then when I do have a problem that we need to work out, the parents are more receptive to trying to find a solution rather than being on the defensive. They are more open minded to what I’m saying rather than thinking that I’m attacking their little baby.

I also ask the parents to let the student know that I was bragging on them. Since this is unusual for them, they are surprised and flattered. They come back to my classroom and try harder to do well so that I will have more to brag about the next time I call. I feel like this breaks the negative cycle that they are used to. Sometimes I won’t call home if the student is being annoying and they notice. The student will ask me why I haven’t called their home and we discuss the behavior that I am seeing. Then I promise that if I see an improvement, I will make the call which I do either at the end of the class or at the end of the day.

I know this has been successful for me because I rarely have any office referrals for misbehavior. The parents are supportive and the students respond so well to this. It works for any age student so could easily be done by any teacher.

What classroom management tip works for you? Please share!

Image: 'My iPhone 2G 2008 8Gb' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21061013@N03/3158929044
Found on flickrcc.net

Day 6 Being Better

On the Free Technology for Teachers Facebook, the twenty day blogging challenge created by Kelly Hines was mentioned and I decided to give it a shot. So here is the challenge for today:

“What is ONE thing you wish you were better at? Just one! Why? What could you do about it?”

I wish I was more creative and could think outside the box. When I was growing up and in school, I was taught that there was one way to do things, the right way. My teachers wanted things done their way which in their minds were the only way. I wasn’t encouraged to find my own way that works best for me. It was important that everyone conforms to the same way. Even when my mother tried to teach me to knit, she wanted me to hold the yarn and needles exactly like her. For some reason, I think I have a mental block with thinking of different ways of doing things.

Now that I’m older, I’m trying to be more open minded and looking for alternate ways of doing things. I’m trying to remember that others might know of other ways that may even be better than I know. I think the more I try to look at different ways, the easier it is getting for me. I still struggle and may be a lifetime challenge but I’m trying to get better at it.

In my classes, I like to throw out a problem and seeing ways that my students would solve the problem. It amazes me every time at how easily they solve the problem and that the solution is so easy and simple yet I didn’t see it. Sometimes I feel foolish but my students love that not only were they able to help me but that I was so willing to listen to their input.

What is something you wish you could better? Please share.

Image: 'Snow White - Now you can't see+me.' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48447300@N02/10066127874
Found on flickrcc.net

Monthly Review of Goals from January

Now that January is done, I want to see how I’m doing with my goals to this point. All of my goals can be found here.

Yearly goals:

1. Try at least 12 new recipes (one per month). – I made Quick Quinoa Meatballs.
2. Reach my target weight by the end of the year. – I lost 2 lbs. in January.
3. Knit a Fair Isle vest. (not started yet)
4. Learn to chain ply some handspun yarn. (not started yet)
5. Dye yarn and fiber. (not started yet)
6. Spin my camel, yak, and cashmere fiber. - finished my camel/merino/silk blend fiber.

Daily/Weekly/Monthly goals:

1. Daily - Read the bible and keep a log so I can tell how I am doing. – I’ve read it every day in January.
2. Daily - Do strength exercises for 30 minutes each day. – I have done this every day.
3. Weekly - Walk at least 10,000 steps for 4 days every week. – I’ve done this and sometimes managed to do it more than 4 days each week.
4. Weekly - Keep a journal and write down 5 things that I’m thankful for. – Every Sunday I take time to jot down the 5 things.
5. Monthly - Read one non-fiction book every month. – I read Life in Stitches by Rachel Herron.

I’m pretty happy with how this month has gone. I’ve accomplished the smaller daily/weekly/monthly goals without any problems. The yearly goals are coming along fine also.

Image: 'Goals' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68131855@N00/739519564
Found on flickrcc.net