Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 12/30/22

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

Elinor’s Nature Adventure - A fun interactive game to learn about nature (L:E; SA:S)

Scratch - “Scratch is the world’s largest coding community for children and a coding language with a simple visual interface that allows young people to create digital stories, games, and animations. Scratch is designed, developed, and moderated by the Scratch Foundation, a nonprofit organization. Scratch promotes computational thinking and problem solving skills; creative teaching and learning; self-expression and collaboration; and equity in computing. Scratch is always free and is available in more than 70 languages.” (L:G; SA:A)

Why Do We Get Dizzy? - “Have you ever been on a ride on the playground that made you really dizzy, like a merry-go-round? Have you ever wondered where that weird, spinning sensation comes from? Jessi and Squeaks have the answer!” (L:E; SA:S)

The Wright Brothers - The Smithsonian Exhibit about the Wright Brothers (L:G; SA:SS)

Owning a Car - Students will be able to explain the costs of owning and operating a car and calculate the potential costs of owning and operating a car.(L:H; SA:M)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Kindness and Compassion

During this holiday season, many people want to spend this time celebrating with family and friends. Social media and TV show excitement and happiness.

Yet, we need to remember those who find this time stressful and may be dealing with sadness from losing loved ones. This holiday may not be happy for everyone.

During this time, if you come across someone who is abrupt or may even seem angry, please be kind. Show compassion even if you don’t feel like it. It might make a difference to someone who needs your kindness right now.

Showing Gratitude

In An antidote from Seth Godin's Blog by Seth Godin talks about gratitude.

“So much of what ails us gets a bit better when we say ‘thank you.’”

When things get tough, it is easy to forget all the things we should be thankful for.

When I had a roof leak, I needed to be thankful that I wasn’t homeless and that I had a roof over my head that could leak.

When I had car trouble, I needed to be thankful that I had a car.

When my family and I are arguing, I need to be thankful that I’m not alone in the world.

It is too easy to focus on the troubles in our lives instead of the blessings.

Every day in my journal, I write down one thing that I’m grateful for. I think this would be good for students to do also. Have them start with a small notebook and every day, write down one thing that they are thankful for. They can write more than one if they want but they need to write at least one. It will help them see that the world doesn’t revolve just around them. It makes students more aware of the world around them.

It will be amazing to see how their attitudes change over time.

How do you encourage students to be thankful? Please share.

Calling Cows

“The NVIV (Next Vista Inspiring Video) series of posts are written by Rushton Hurley and designed to provide students and teachers with fascinating discussion prompts.”

In Calling Cows, Rushton features young Grace Lehane playing music that the cows love. It is great to see the cows come running when they hear her music.

Rushton gives the following prompts to accompany this video:

“Why the cows come when they hear the music is certainly an interesting question.

It’s also interesting to come up with a list of things, other than perhaps physical beauty, that you think are attractive.

What is it that makes people pay attention in a positive way to you, your story, or what you support?"

I love the idea of how music can be used to communicate. Maybe the cows think they are going to be fed when they hear the music. Or maybe they are interested in the little girl. We never can know what animals are thinking. I believe they are smarter than most people think they are. It would be fun to have students write captions saying what the cows might be thinking. Also, have them come up with other examples between animals and people that might be unusual.

Please check out the video and think of other prompts you might come up with. Please share.

Hurry vs. Rush

In Don’t rush from Seth Godin's Blog , Seth Godin shares,

“Hurry puts it up on our priority list. Hurry gives us urgency and focus.”

Rushing causes mistakes. These mistakes are careless errors because they can be avoided.

Too many times I see my students rushing through their work. They make careless mistakes because they are in a hurry to get their work done. They want to get it done because they know they won’t get permission to do anything else until the required assignment is done. Yet, they rush through it without worrying about the quality of work they are doing.

I learned to put additional requirements in my directions. When I tell them they need to complete an assignment before doing something else, I also mention that quality is important too. They must make corrections to all their mistakes before it is considered complete. Sometimes it takes a while before they learn that they should just work on getting the right answers rather than waste time putting any answer down and then having to continually go back to correct it. There is a lot of grumbling, but I remain firm and refuse to give in. Once they know that I won’t change my mind, they go back to doing the work.

They also learn during this time that if they need help, it is easier to ask me for help than to sit and get frustrated with the work. I don’t give them the answer but I help them look for the answer.

Over time, they learn that quality is as important as getting an assignment done in the required time

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 12/23//22

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

Daisy the Dinosaur - “This free, fun app has an easy drag & drop interface that kids of all ages can use to animate Daisy and make her dance on their screen. Kids will intuitively grasp the basics of objects, sequencing, loops and events by solving this app's challenges.” (L:E; SA:C)

Winter Wonderland - “Every year, right around the holiday season, students start to fall into a frenzy of excitement, forget their impulse control basics, and can use a little physical education etiquette reminder. OPEN’s winter-themed instant activity module was designed just for that! We’ve organized our collection of fun and engaging instant activities with social and emotional learning academic language posters.”(L:E; SA:A)

Mean: Share and Balance - “Justify how the mean is calculated. Describe the mean in terms of leveling, fair share, and balance point. Predict the effects of (an) outlier(s) on the mean. Compare an original data set with manipulated data to see how the mean (levels out, shared, or balanced) compares with the original data.” (L:M; SA:M)

The True Cost of Owning a Car - The cost of a car doesn’t end when you drive it off the lot. Learn about the true cost of owning a car so you’re prepared before you buy. (L:H; SA:A)

ClipArtEtc - “ClipArt ETC provides students and teachers with over 71,500 pieces of quality educational clipart. Every illustration comes with a choice of image size as well as complete source information for proper citations in school projects. All images are appropriate for classroom use. You'll find no advertisements, pop-ups, or inappropriate links here. A friendly license allows teachers and students to use up to 50 free clipart items in a single, non-commercial, school project without further permission. This free classroom resource is supported entirely by the fees received from the commercial users of the site.” (L:G; SA:A)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Merry Christmas

Sunday is Christmas Day in the United States. I love to spend the day watching Christmas movies and being thankful for all the blessings in my life.

I hope this Christmas finds you happy and healthy.

 

Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Music

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the music. I love Christmas music any time of year. It usually makes me feel happy and full of hope and wonder. Here are some of my favorite socks. Do you have any favorites? Please share.

Sweet Time

“The NVIV (Next Vista Inspiring Video) series of posts are written by Rushton Hurley and designed to provide students and teachers with fascinating discussion prompts.”

In Sweet Time. Rushton features jelly beans and how they symbolize different activities in your life.

Rushton gives the following prompts to accompany this video:

“Take a guess at how much time you spend each week on the set of 6-10 activities that you do most, and arrange those activities by the amount of time you spend with them.

If you were to take those same activities and rank them in order of how important you think they are, would the two lists match up? Should they?

What would be a clever way to spend more time on what’s important? Would you need to trick yourself in some way?”

I like the visual representation of how each day is represented by a jelly bean. I think students would gain a new perspective by watching this video.

Please check out the video and think of other prompts you might come up with. Please share.

MSC Seascape

Click here for pictures.

The MSC Seascape can hold 5877 passengers and 1648 crew but I was told we had about 4200 guests on board. Our captain was Francesco di Palma (he was our captain on the MSC Seaside in September 2019), the hotel director was Yannis and our Cruise director was Gene Young. Our cabin was 12127 and our cabin steward was Leah. The elevators were different in that you had to pick the floor that you wanted to go to first and then you are assigned to a specific elevator. When you get on that elevator, you don’t push any other buttons. In fact, there are no buttons inside the elevator. You are committed to going to the floor that you picked. Also, there are on-demand movies on television, but you must pay $10 to see each one. We had dinner at table 592 in the Green Wave Restaurant.

Day 1 Sunday, December 11, 2022, Embarkation

We got to the Port of Miami at 10am. The signs were deceiving and when we followed the signs to Terminal C, we missed the luggage drop-off area. So, we parked the car and brought our luggage to the area. We were able to check in right away and were on the ship by 11 am. We went to our cabin which was very nice and then we walked around the ship and eventually had lunch. The variety of food on the Lido deck was very nice. At 3:30 was the muster drill and we had to watch the video in our cabin. Then we had to call and confirm what we did from our cabin phone. After that, we had to go to our muster station and check in by having our keycard scanned. We went to dinner at 5:15 and sat at a table for 8. 2 other couples are at our table: Boon and Yoko (from Davie, FL) and Jon and Jocelyn (from NZ/Australia). They no longer give paper menus and you had to look up the menu on your phone. Luckily earlier in the day, I took screenshots of the menu and was able to pass my phone pictures of the menu around the table. We had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed the conversation. I had prime rib for dinner, and it was cooked perfectly! We had 7 pm reservations for the show and thought we might have had to miss it but the men outside working the doors encouraged us to go in and have a seat since it just started. The show was Dreamscape which was excellent. It included singers, dancers, and acrobats. After that, we walked around the ship before going to bed.

Day 2 Monday, December 12, 2022, Ocean Cay

We got off the ship around 8:30 and walked to the beach right near the ship. We got two very comfortable wooden Adirondack chairs, a small round table, and an umbrella right near a palm tree. At first, it was overcast and then the sun finally came out. When it was out, we got in the water and swam for about 30 minutes. I didn’t realize there were different food venues on the island that was free, so we came back on the ship to eat lunch. Don wasn’t feeling well so after lunch, he took a nap until dinner. We had dinner on the Lido deck and then went to see the comedian, Matt Bergman. He was okay. I stopped and got two Cokes to put in our refrigerator for in the morning. Then we went back to our cabin to watch TV until bedtime.

Day 3 Tuesday, December 13, 2022, Nassau

We decided to stay on the ship since we have been here so many times. After breakfast, we found a spot above the pool to relax. We looked out at Nassau but soon it got too hot, and we moved to the side overlooking the pool. It was much cooler. After lunch, we returned to the same area to relax until dinner. It was Gala night at dinner and we had Surf and Turf for dinner. Luckily, we had scanned the menu and I took screenshots of it again because I was able to share the menu pictures with Boon and Yoko. After dinner, we went to the show Love Blooms which was very good. Even though we had reservations at 8:30, they let us into the show at 7 pm. Before we went to bed, we had to turn our clocks forward for one hour.

Day 4, Wednesday, December 14, 2022, Sea Day

We decided to try eating breakfast in the dining room this morning. It was hard to read the menu off our phones and the server didn’t always understand what you were saying but you couldn’t point to the item on the menu because the screen was too small. We decided we didn’t want to eat breakfast there again. We left there and went to sit on the deck and relax. People were cranky and trolling for seats.

For lunch, we decided to go to the Butcher’s Cut (which is complimentary for Diamond guests). When we got there, we found out that our key cards don’t show us as Diamond guests, which is the top level in their loyalty program. The manager of the restaurant took care of the problem and told us to go to guest services after lunch to get new key cards. The lunch was delicious!

After lunch, we got our new key cards and decided to have a drink at the atrium bar. While sitting there, they announced the bar area was closed for the private Diamond party, which we never got an invitation to. I asked the hotel manager when it started and he said at 3:45. So, we went back to our room and changed for the party. The party was awful. They had it there in the open area rather than in a private lounge and the noise level was horrible. Plus, there was nowhere to sit and visit with other Diamond guests. It was very impersonal, and we did not feel like they valued Diamond guests at all.

After that, we went to dinner and the show, Imaginocean, which was excellent.

Day 5, Thursday, December 15, 2022, San Juan

When I got up, I noticed that we had several wrong charges on our bill! We were charged for the internet which was included when we paid for the cruise in advance. Then we were charged for lunch at the Butcher’s Cut yesterday, which should never have happened. It is complimentary for Diamond guests, so I had to go take care of it at guest services at 6 am. After 10 minutes, the girl had to ask me to come back in 10 minutes when her colleague returned because she was new to the system. I told her I would wait right there until it could be fixed because I know the lines at guest services have been very long. Finally, the other man arrived, and I was able to talk to him. He told me that they would check on it for me and that I needed to call or come by in the afternoon to check on it. To deal with the internet charges, I had to go to that desk to talk to them. I told them that I didn’t want to spend my whole day standing in line dealing with mistakes that they made!

We arrived in San Juan around 10 am and we got off the ship by 10:30. We walked around town and visited Castillo San Cristobal. Then we returned to the ship for lunch around 12:30. In the afternoon, we sat on the deck and relaxed until it was time to get ready for dinner. After dinner we went to the show: Premiere and they sang a lot of songs from movies and shows. After the show, we went to the Cabaret Lounge for a little while, but the show was awful. There was a girl who spun plates and hula hoops. Then there was a guy on a keyboard. It seemed like they were bad auditions for America’s Got Talent. We left there and had a drink at the Sports Bar before bedtime.

I did notice that the charges were cleared on our account and was happy that had been taken care of.

Day 6, Friday, December 16, 2022 Puerta Plata

Today we arrived in Puerta Plata in the Dominican Republic at 10 am. It was recommended that we take a shuttle to town for $20pp. We saw from the deck that you could walk into town easily when we got there. So we got off the ship and walked around the port area before heading out the gates to the town. The cab drivers were very aggressive and “in your face” so we got aggravated and turned around to come back to the ship. We spent the day relaxing on the ship. The hotel director did make sure we got all of our Diamond gifts today which included sweets, dark chocolate, Nylon cinch bags, and a bottle of Prosecco. After dinner, we went to the show featuring Nina Skyy who sang Whitney Huston songs. We had a drink at the sports bar before going to bed. We also had to turn our clocks back an hour before bed.

Day 7, Saturday, December 17, 2022, Sea Day

As usual, I was up early and went to Guest Services to find out about Disembarkation. They said we would get the info today, but I found out that Diamond guests meet in the Cabaret Rouge at 7:45 tomorrow morning. She said we would get luggage tags for Diamond guests which we did in the afternoon. We sat on the deck overlooking the jungle pool for most of the day. When we dressed for dinner, I packed our suitcases. After dinner, we went to the show: Concert which was okay. The cruise director was very offensive and kept telling people that they needed to stop complaining about the cruise. He said the “retired cruisers were the ones who complained.” Then after dinner, we went to the sports bar, but service was very slow because there was only 1 bartender. We finally left and went back to the cabin to put our suitcases in the hall.

Day 8, Sunday, December 18, 2022 Disembarkation

We got to the Lido deck around 5:30 to wait for breakfast to open at 6 am. We were to meet in the Cabaret Rouge Lounge by 7:45 to get off the ship. They didn’t call us until 9:15 and we finally got through customs at 10 am. There was no organization and the luggage was arranged in a totally chaotic manner. None of the numbers were in order and different people were telling us to go to different places. It was the worst disembarkation we have ever had! The traffic was awful but we got through the port and on the interstate by 10:30.

Things I Learned:

• Make sure your key card reflects the correct loyalty status you have.
• Check your bill every day,
• Look at the dinner menu in advance in case you have to share the phone image with others.
• The shows on MSC are wonderful!
• The food and service in the Butcher’s Cut restaurant were exceptional!
• The Easy Drink Plus package was $51 per person per day. If it hadn’t come as a special with the cruise, we would not get it. We couldn't drink enough drinks to get our money's worth. 
• Don’t count on the internet to do anything more than email and browse the internet.
• If you find the locals too aggressive, don’t be embarrassed about returning to the ship.
• This cruise director was the worst that MSC has ever had.
• I’m not sure we would recommend this ship to others.

Original Photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 12/16//22

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

Clippix - ClipPix ETC is your source for photos and pictures for classroom use. A friendly license allows teachers and students to use up to 25 free photos in a single, non-commercial school project without further permission. Each photo is available in multiple sizes as well as a high-resolution TIFF image for quality printing. The classroom-appropriate pictures on ClipPix ETC are great images for school websites, class projects, student reports, homework assignments, presentations, posters, art projects, picture books, bulletin boards, and creating teaching aids. (L:G;SA:A)

Coco Material - “Discover CocoMaterial, the Open Source hand-drawn illustration library with 2,494 images. Customize & download” (L:G;SA:A)

Does My Voice Really Sound Like That? - Take it from an expert: It’s weird to hear how your voice really sounds. But why does it sound different to you than everyone else. Hank explains -- in a deep, resonant voice. (L:E;SA:S)

Family PE Week Resources - even though it isn’t Family PE Week, I thought there was a great list of resources that would be useful. (L:G;SA:PE)

Roller Coaster Simulation - “How much energy does it take to run a roller coaster?”(L:H;SA:S)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Space Hologram Stamp Envelope

The envelope (# U617) shown in the photo is a 25¢ envelope and was mailed on April 2, 1991. The smaller stamp (#2521 - released on January 22, 1991) under the hologram says, “This US stamp, along with 25 cents of additional US postage, is equivalent to the ‘F’ stamp rate. At that time, it was worth 4 cents. Please note that the smaller stamp has not been canceled.

The USPS issued its first postal item produced with a hologram as a 25¢ stamped envelope showing a space shuttle docking at a space station. They first started thinking about making postage with holograms in 1987. Even though the technology was created in the 1960s, it was still new in 1987. They spent most of 1988 doing research and meeting with those who could make holograms.

In order to make a stamp, it would have to be very small and holograms need to be big in order to create the effect of a hologram. If the hologram covered the whole stamp surface, it would be extremely hard to cancel. The foil they had to use would not hold ink or repel it either.

Finally, after all this research, they decided the best thing to do would be to place the hologram on a stamped envelope. If they put the foil hologram on a sticky label or in a window, they wouldn’t have to deal with cancellation issues because once they printed the denomination on the envelope, the envelope could be canceled.

Holography was invented in 1960. It created two-dimensional images that looked like three-dimensional images. It is used as a security feature on many credit cards. First, they make a three-dimensional model and then the imaging system splits a laser beam in two. One beam bounces off the object onto a film, with a small delay. The other beam hits the same section of the film directly, and the pattern between the two beams causes a holographic image.

The envelope was created and issued on December 3, 1989, on Stamp Designers Day at the World Stamp Expo. The US was the third country to use holograms in its postage. The other countries were Austria and Brazil.

Class Activities:

• Find other holographic items to show.
• Where else is holography used? Make a list.
• Design your own stamp that you would like to see made into a hologram.
• Design your own postal envelope.
• Make a picture showing how holography works.

Original photo by Pat Hensley

References:
https://www.mysticstamp.com/Products/United-States/U617/USA/
https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/stamps-take-flight-creating-america%E2%80%99s-stamps/holography-into-the-future

Choosing Your Words

In Sorry/thanks from Seth Godin's Blog , Seth Godin states

“If you often find yourself saying “sorry” in a way that doesn’t advance the conversation, it might be interesting to substitute “thank you” instead.”

I thought of ways that this could be used in the classroom.

Instead of: I’m sorry some of you didn’t do your homework.
Substitute: Thank you to those of you who did the homework so they can get better at learning this skill.

Instead of: I’m sorry you can’t “do what you want.”
Substitute: Thank you for willing to take a risk and trying something new.

How you word something can make a big difference on how an assignment is perceived. It might make some people more willing to complete a task.

I’ve heard teachers even tell the class that they are going to learn something hard and it may be difficult. That already has some of the students prepared to not be successful.

Instead, I tell my students that they are going to learn something challenging and it is always fun to face a challenge. Luckily we are all there to support each other so we are not alone when we face these challenges. Challenges can be fun and exciting, especially when we are together with friends.

What a difference this can make when teaching a lesson. The students in my class tend to look forward to learning new things whereas the other class dreads this event.

As teachers, we need to choose our words carefully in order to help our students be successful in our classes and in life.

What do you say differently than others to help your students be successful? Please share.

Places and Creative Processes

“The NVIV (Next Vista Inspiring Video) series of posts are written by Rushton Hurley and designed to provide students and teachers with fascinating discussion prompts.”

In Places and Creative Processes, Rushton features a company trying to come up with the ideal cubicle.

Rushton gives the following prompts to accompany this video:

“Thinking about your school, what would be something that could use a creative redesign?

Can you learn to listen to the wild ideas of others, and think about the possibilities, rather than how weird they might sound?”

This was a great video to see and I think it would be a great way to introduce any lesson in a classroom. Students can see how people can brainstorm and all ideas are accepted. Then they discuss all the ideas calmly. It was fun to see the people break into groups and work together in order to present their project to the group. Finally, it was amazing to see the final product.

Please check out the video and think of other prompts you might come up with. Please share.

HAL Nieuw Statendam

Click here for pictures.

The ship can hold 2666 passengers and 1036 crew. Our captain was Noel O’Driscoll (from Ireland), the hotel director was Mustafa Gulbahar, Food and Beverage Director was Niek Van Der Kolk and our Cruise and Travel director was Bettyann Chun. We had open seating for dinner and had to make a reservation every night. Our cabin was 8047 and our cabin stewards were Adi and Egen.

Day 1 Saturday, December 03, 2022, Embarkation

We got to the port around 10am and checked in easily. We were in Group 1. We got on the ship around 11:30 and got our cabin keys which were in the mail slot by our cabin. Then we went to the Lido deck for lunch. I had to call MSC about our tickets for next week because I was concerned about not getting them. The lady on the phone helped me and I got them finally. We walked around the ship and found the dining reservations counter, so we made dinner reservations for 5:15pm for the next 3 nights. We also checked in at our muster station. When we got back to the cabin, our luggage was there so we unpacked and watched the safety video. Then we went to the pool bar and got drinks and watched the ship pull out of the port. We got to the dining room early and were seated at 5. We had great service at table 91, and I was able to get a couple of diet cokes for dinner. Don tried the salmon again which was very good, but he still got heartburn from it. I had lasagna but I really wanted steak which was only served on the Lido deck for dinner. So, after dinner, we went up to the Lido deck so I could have my steak. After dinner, we walked around the ship and got some beer and diet cokes to put in our cabin fridge (we get 15 free drinks each per day). Next, we went to the Royal Dutch Café and Don had a cappuccino. I was told I could get a Frappuccino in the Crows Nest. By then we were tired and went back to the cabin.

Day 2 Sunday, December 04, 2022, Half Moon Cay

I love having an omelet every morning and people-watching is a lot of fun! I was second in line and this lady who came behind me tried insisting that Sam should move up to where she wanted him to be. He handled it so calmly and didn’t move which I think frustrated her. It was a hilarious situation to watch! I did have to stop at the man’s table and we had a good laugh about it. His name is Sam and his wife is Patty. They are from Sarasota, FL After breakfast, we had to go to the BB Kings Lounge (Deck 2) to get our tender tickets around 8:30 and were in Group 1. We got on the tender to the beach at 9 which left at 9:30 and had a lovely day at the beach. We couldn’t get our drinks on the beach so I brought a diet coke that we collected yesterday. Don brought a bottle of water. We swam in the ocean for about an hour and then went to the BBQ at 11. I had a hamburger and a hot dog without buns and Don had fish and potato salad. When we got back to the ship and cleaned up, I went to the lido deck and had stir fry which was great! Then we sat on the deck and relaxed until dinner. Don was not feeling well and thought he got food poisoning from the fish at lunch. At dinner, he tried the Mahi Mahi and it gave him bad heartburn like the salmon did so I think it is the orange sauce they put on the fish. Don changed clothes after dinner and then we went to the Captain’s welcome at 7:15 in the World Stage. He had a great sense of humor! At 7:30, we watched the comedian Jon Stringer and I enjoyed his show too. Don was still not feeling well and we went up to the Lido deck to see what food was still open but it was closed. Then we went to the pizza place and Don couldn’t decide what he wanted. Instead, we ended up in the Exploration Café and got mocha coffees to take back to the room. Don didn’t feel well all night long.

Day 3 Monday, December 05, 2022, Sea Day

Today was a sea day so we spent the day relaxing. The lady from yesterday got in the omelet line really early so she could be first in line. Sam and I got in line behind her. I found it interesting that I still got my omelet before she did. At 9:30, we went to the Exploration Café to join the Talk with Bettyann. She interviewed the comedian, Jon Stringer and I enjoyed the talk. Then I sat on the deck and relaxed while Don walked on the jogging track. At 11:30, we had lunch, and Sam and Patty sat with us. We really enjoyed talking with them. After lunch, Don walked on the Promenade deck and I went back to read on the deck. At 2pm, we went to the lecture on The Story of Rum in the World Stage theater. It was the same presentation that we saw on the Rotterdam. At 3pm, we stayed to hear about future cruises. I saw a lady knitting and when I talked to her, she recognized me as Loonyhiker on Plurk (social media started around 2007 that was like Facebook and Twitter)! Wow, I was stunned. At 5pm, we had dinner in the dining room, and it was a dressy night. After dinner, we changed clothes and walked on the promenade deck. I didn’t want to go to the show featuring the dancers because it was the same one that we had seen on the Rotterdam. Then Don got a cappuccino at the Royal Dutch Café. By then we decided to go back to the room and watch a movie.

Day 4, Tuesday, December 06, 2022, Ocho Rio, Jamaica

We ate a leisurely breakfast on the Lido deck because we weren’t in a hurry to get off the ship. After breakfast, we went out outside to see where we were docked, and we were not docked at the cruise ship terminal like our informational brochure told us we would be. We would have to go out and walk along the street to get over to that area, so we decided not to get off the ship. Carnival Horizon was docked at the cruise ship terminal. Don decided to go walk while I sat on the deck in a comfy lounge chair and read or knit. We went to the Lido deck for lunch but for some reason, after eating, Don had a bad case of heartburn. He took some tums to see if that would relieve it and he had some ice cream which he said helped. We sat back on the deck until it got so humid and hot that we had to leave. There was no breeze at all. So, we went to the Ocean Bar to have drinks in the air condition. While we were there, we met a new friend, Chillies. He has a YouTube channel that I will check out when we get off the ship. It was so nice to hear that he will be on the MSC Seascape with us next week.

We had dinner at the Pinnacle Grill at 5 (but I missed the Prime Rib in the dining room). I had lobster bisque, 15 oz. boneless ribeye with asparagus and sauteed mushrooms, and crème Brulee. Don had lobster bisque, baked Alaskan halibut with sauteed mushrooms, and roasted baby beets with blue cheese. During the main course, Don suffered from severe heartburn again and had trouble eating the rest of his meal. I felt so bad because there was nothing I could do. I was disappointed because the sample menu I saw online mentioned a 23 oz. Porterhouse, but they changed the menu so instead, I got the ribeye. The ribeye was a little tough and had some gristle in it. Everything else was good. After dinner, we went back to the cabin to watch movies on our TV. I’ve had to ask the cabin steward to fix our TV twice already. He says that it keeps going offline and it isn’t anything that we are doing wrong.

Day 5, Wednesday, December 07, 2022, Grand Cayman

We had to eat an early breakfast because we had a shore Excursion: Grand Cayman Highlights and Turtle Center at 9am. We had to meet in the theater at 8:15 to get on the tender. We didn’t get on the tender until around 9:10 and got on the bus by 9:40 with 37 other people. We went to the Turtle Center and spend an hour there, then we stopped at a gift shop that gave rum cake and rum samples. Next, we went to Hell, where we sent a couple of postcards home. We got back to the ship around 1pm and had lunch. After lunch, I sat on the deck and Don walked. We had a couple of drinks before dinner. After dinner, we went to the show featuring Jon Stringer again. We liked his first show so we wanted to see him again. Then we came back to our cabin and watched Ambulance. Don didn’t have any heartburn the whole day!

Day 6, Thursday, December 08, 2022, Sea Day

After breakfast, we sat out on the deck all day and relaxed. At 11, we went to the World Stage for an Ask the Captain session. He has such a great sense of humor! He is probably the most personable captain that we have ever had. He gave a virtual tour of Behind the Scenes of the ship. At 2pm, we went to the lecture by Bettyann about Italian fashion. Then we had before dinner drinks. We decided to buy cigarettes with our shipboard credit but we don’t know what is the difference between regular and 100s in the cigarettes that are available so we went to the smoking section to ask the smokers. Then it was time for dinner. After dinner, we went back to our cabin to watch Where the Crawdads Sing.

Day 7, Friday, December 09, 2022, Bimini

We got off the ship at 10:10 and were able to follow the signs on the dock to the free shuttle. We were the first ones on the shuttle and rode it round trip to get a look at the area. The last stop (which we passed on the way out) was the free beach. It was at the end of the dock and was faster to walk there than to wait for the shuttle to fill up and go the whole route. We decided not to go swimming and were back on the ship by 10:50. We had lunch and then sat on the deck and relaxed until it was time to get ready for dinner. After dinner, we stopped at the shop and bought 4 cartons of Marlboro for $150. Then we finished packing our suitcases and went to the show featuring the One Step Dancers in Off the Charts. I thought it was a nice show but Don didn’t like it. When we got back to the cabin, we put our luggage in the hallway.

Day 8, Saturday, December 10, 2022 Disembarkation

We chose the last group to get off the ship, around 9-9:15. We aren’t in a hurry since we want to stop at the Postcard Club meeting on the way home but then I found out it was their Christmas party and we wouldn’t go after all. Now I’m sorry we picked a later time. We got off the ship around 8:45 and were on the interstate by 9:30.

Things I Learned:

• Service can vary from ship to ship on the cruise line.
• It is worth it to pay a little extra to get premium wifi. On the surf package that came with our Have-It-All package, I could not send pictures most of the time or do any streaming.
• I liked the dining room better than the Pinnacle Grill.
• Gas in Grand Cayman was $5.95 Cayman Island money or around $7.44/gal in the US.
• 6 traffic lights on Grand Cayman and everything else is roundabouts.
• The Cayman Islands are made up of 3 islands.
• Grand Cayman is 22 mi. long and 8 mi. wide.
• Grand Cayman has over 575 banks.
• The Cayman Islands Flag has a coat of arms with a pineapple on it to represent it is tied to Jamaica. British settlers from Jamaica were the first ones to settle in the Cayman Islands.
• The 7-mile beach is only 5.5 miles long.
• Temperature determines the sex of the turtles before they are born. If it is cool, it will be a male, and if it is warm, it will be a female.
• Hell has unique rock formations that is really just a dead reef.
• There are 3 shelves that cause different depths of water around Grand Cayman – 6000 ft., 10,000 ft., and 25,000 ft.
• There wasn’t a lot to do on Bimini.
• There was a pretty beach that was free at the end of the cruise dock in Bimini

Original Photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 12/9/22

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

Bring Your Own Book Game - “the game of borrowed phrases, where players search through books for text to take way out of context.” Sign up for the newsletter and you get the free print and play edition. (L:M,H;SA:LA)

Felt - The best way to make maps on the internet. (L:G;SA:SS)

Random Name Pickers - choose the one you like (L:G;SA:A)

Math Maps - “Four years ago I created Google Earth resources for the classroom and posted them to the GE Community Forum. Two of them were called Maths in Madrid and Maths in Las Vegas. These were based on the fact that there is maths all around us, every day, everywhere we look. Google Earth (and Maps) gives us a great perspective on it all. It also provides easy access for our students to see rich visual content that depicts everyday maths. I have always loved the idea of children seeing the maths they are working on.” (L:T;SA:M)

Comiclopedia - “Online since 1 November 1999, the Comiclopedia is the world's largest overview of comic artists, and the brainchild of comic shop Lambiek's founder Kees Kousemaker (1942-2010). Kees was at the vanguard of promoting comics as art, and both the Lambiek store and the website are continuing in his spirit. The editors/writers of the Comiclopedia are Bas Schuddeboom and Kjell Knudde.”(L:T;SA:FA)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Never Say Never

In How long is “never”? from Seth Godin's Blog Seth Godin shares,

“Some things actually deserve “never.” But most of what we’re worried about probably would be better categorized as “eventually.””

Never means not ever. To never do something means you won’t do this ever again on any occasion.

When I first learned to crochet, I said I would never learn to knit. A year later, I was knitting and have been ever since. At the time I learned to knit, I said I would never learn to spin yarn, and then I bought a drop spindle and learned to spin. I bought 3 drop spindles after that. At that time, I said I would never buy a spinning wheel. I now have three spinning wheels. I learned to stop saying the word never!

It is too easy to use the word Never and we really don’t mean it. When my kids were little, they would get mad and say they would never talk to me again, but they do. When I eat something that makes me gain weight, I say I will never eat that again, but I do.

Many times, my students have told me that they can never learn something. I try to get them to change their phrasing to – I haven’t learned how to do this…yet. Maybe it will take more time but if they want to learn something bad enough, I believe they can learn how to do something. This doesn’t mean they will stick with it forever, but they could learn how to do something eventually. Different people learn at different rates so they can’t compare themselves to someone else.

I put up a poster that has the phrase, “I haven’t learned how to do this…yet.” Whenever I hear a student say they can’t do something, they end it by saying they can never learn this. I stop them and point to the poster and have them repeat the new saying. It eventually becomes a game and even other students will join in when they hear someone say they never can learn something. Everyone stops and points to the poster. They like being the one who points to the poster and not the one who is having to say the statement. It takes a while but soon, most of the students stop saying the never word.

How do you break students from saying never? Please share.

Scrapbooking - November

I haven’t been doing a lot of scrapbooking this year but for some reason, I was in the mood for it last month. It reminded me what a great teaching tool scrapbooking can be. This can be used in any subject to highlight important things from a lesson. 

If a student reads a novel, the student can scrapbook a timeline or focus on one event or character. This would be perfect for social studies or science to highlight a topic. A student could even do a page for PE to feature a sport or activity. There are so many ways that scrapbooking can be incorporated in any lesson,

Here are some of the ones that I’ve done this month. 

If you’ve used scrapbooking in your classroom, please share. 

Original scrapbook pages by Pat Hensley 

A Lot of Love

“The NVIV (Next Vista Inspiring Video) series of posts are written by Rushton Hurley and designed to provide students and teachers with fascinating discussion prompts.”In A Lot of Love, Rushton features technology that helps people with memory loss by pairing Google Earth with a stationary bike.

Rushton gives the following prompts to accompany this video:

“If you’re in a class, ask three other students what they liked about the video. If not, share the video with friends and ask what stands out to them. You may learn something new about someone you know!

And when you’re ready, take a look at the comments on the YouTube page (linked below). Do any of the comments strike you as particularly powerful?”

I like this video because it shows how even though a person was frustrated, he tried to help because he loved the other person. It would be a great discussion to talk about the things we do because of love. For teenagers, it might be a good time to talk about how peers might use the “love” word to manipulate them into doing something which might not be a wise decision. It could also open the discussion for those who are dealing with health situations at home and the stress it causes many family members.

Please check out the video and think of other prompts you might come up with. Please share.

Teaching Post-Covid

I recently received an email from a university student who was asking if I had any additional advice for teachers in 2022, especially with COVID and just the general state of teaching in America.

I think the most important problem that teachers have some control over is burnout.

• Teachers need to eat and exercise regularly. This means not working through your lunch hour. Teachers need the time to re-energize.
• Another thing teachers need is some kind of hobby outside of education whether it is some craft or sport or something that will give them joy outside of the classroom. This will go a long way to helping teachers from getting burned out.
• Staying prepared and organized. Gather necessary materials needed for a lesson a few days in advance and don’t wait until the last minute. This helps you focus on the lesson that day rather than on preparation.
• Last, teachers need to stay away from those who only have negative thoughts to share. Negativity is unhealthy and contagious. This is different from an occasional rant or venting. This person has only negative things to share and finds nothing joyous about being a teacher.

As for teaching post-covid, teachers need to look at students from a different perspective.

• During the pandemic, students picked up many bad learning habits. Teachers need to identify these bad habits and try to teach the students better habits. This can’t be done all at one time and teachers may need to conquer one bad habit at a time. Teachers will need twice as much patience because it is easier to learn a bad habit than to unlearn it.
• Many students may suffer from anxiety. During the pandemic, the student’s world was packed with fear and uncertainty. It may take a long time for them to feel safe and secure again. They need to learn that the world is always changing and that nothing can stay the same forever. Students need to learn a different perspective where they see change as an opportunity and not something to fear. Modeling this behavior and discussing it with students will take time but is very effective to show students how to deal with change.
• Keeping a class routine will give students stability that they haven’t had during the pandemic. By having a routine, they will know what to expect and can focus more on learning new skills.

What other suggestions would you give? Please share.

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 12/2/22

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

Crane Claw Grab Machine Name Picker - random name picker (L:G;SA:A)

GeoGeek AR - “Learn geography through augmented reality.” (L:G;SA:A)

Record a Tour in Google Earth - Richard Byrnes “demonstrate how to record a Google Earth tour in your web browser.”(L:T;SA:A)

What gives a dollar bill its value? - “The value of money is determined by how much (or how little) of it is in circulation. But who makes that decision, and how does their choice affect the economy at large? Doug Levinson takes a trip into the United States Federal Reserve, examining how the people who work there aim to balance the value of the dollar to prevent inflation or deflation.” (L:G;SA:SS,C)

How to Read Music - “Like an actor's script, a sheet of music instructs a musician on what to play (the pitch) and when to play it (the rhythm). Sheet music may look complicated, but once you've gotten the hang of a few simple elements like notes, bars and clefs, you're ready to rock. Tim Hansen hits the instrumental basics you need to read music.” (L:G;SA:FA)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

2022 Goals Review for November

November was a busy month. We are at our beach house in FL and spent 2 weeks there before a hurricane came through. So we had to put up the hurricane shutters before we left for a cruise. We were supposed to go on a cruise on November 9th but it was delayed a day due to the hurricane. Once we got on the cruise, we had a wonderful time. 

1. Lose 5 lbs. – My weight went up this month because I overate on the cruise. I’m afraid I won’t meet this goal this year. 

 

2. Finish my national park blanket. - complete! I also finished my Camp Along Blanket.

 

3. Year of the Gnome - knit at least one gnome a month. Completed 11 gnomes.

 

4. Knit a sweater. - Complete!

 

5. Yarn - more out than in (use more yardage than I buy) – I only finished a gnome this month. I have a sweater and a pair of socks on the needles so I hope this will help the amount used next month. 

-Yarn used - 12919

-Yarn bought - 13990

 

6. Design 3 new patterns. – Completed 2 designs. Finished one sock design and a cowl design. I’m working on a colorwork mitten design. It is harder than I expected to complete this design. 

 

7. Learn something new. -  Complete! I’m mosaic crocheting a blanket and dabbling with watercolor painting. I’m still working on my embroidery project. 

 

8. Read 12 nonfiction books - completed.       

-A Serial Killer's Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming by Kerri Rawson

-Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah

-Captive: A Mother's Crusade to Save Her Daughter from a Terrifying Cult by Catherine Oxenberg     

-That Time of Year: A Minnesota Life by Garrison Keillor

- The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess, Laura Sullivan

-The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

by Erik Larson

-Live Fearless: A Call to Power, Passion, and Purpose by Sadie Robertson

-Battle of Brothers: William and Harry – The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult by Robert Lacey

-The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan

-Going Solo by Roald Dahl

- Mary Poppins, She Wrote: The Life of P.L. Travers by Valerie Lawson

-Everything Beautiful in Its Time: Seasons of Love and Loss by Jenna Bush Hager

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How is your progress toward your goals? Please share.

 

Photo by Adam Winger on Unsplash

Tips for Teaching Students with Autism

Recently I received this email and I wanted to share my answer.

“I read over some of your posts pertaining to autism. I'm neurodivergent myself, so I've been pretty acutely aware of and involved with the community for a while now. I'd like to say I'm better than the average person at understanding autistic kids, but I genuinely wonder if I would be overwhelmed to have an autistic student in a classroom setting with a bunch of other kids to attend to. Do you have any beginner advice or experience to share on teaching autistic students? I know autistic traits can be wildly varying, but I know they suffer a lot in the education system, so I want to be as equipped as possible to take care of them when it becomes my job.”

First of all, I want to thank you for going into the field of education! We need more teachers who can relate to some of the struggles our students go through. I don’t think you will be overwhelmed with an autistic student along with other students because you will be focusing on each student’s needs. I explain to my students that we are like a group of people in a grocery store. We all like and need different foods and no group of people gets the same exact foods at the same exact time. In the classroom, each student may have different needs at different times so it is important that we all be patient and understanding toward each other.

Many of my suggestions would actually benefit all students and not just students with autism.

I always recommend that the first thing teachers should do is contact the parents or caregivers of students with special needs. These people know their children the best. Ask what you think the student may have the most trouble with in the classroom. Ask if they have any suggestions to help the student transition into your new classroom. I’ve had one parent actually give me a “cheat sheet” that she wished more teachers would be willing to look at. This can save you a lot of time from trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t work for that student.

Depending on the age of the student, I would also get them to fill out or answer an interest survey. What motivates them? Do they like food and if so, what kind? What kind of things do they like to do? Do they like to make things with their hands? Do they prefer to listen to audio or watch a visual?

Develop a routine for you and the students which will help tremendously for all students, not just students with autism. I always posted a daily schedule so students would know what to expect during the day. If there was a change in the schedule or routine, I would make sure to announce it at the beginning of the day so all of the students have time to process it.

I think teaching can be overwhelming so it is important to stay organized and prepared. Gather necessary materials a few days ahead of time and don’t wait for last-minute preparation. This gives you a buffer in case an emergency arises. It also gives you time to focus on the lesson rather than gathering materials.

One very effective strategy that really helped all of my students was my “help square.” It was a small 4” x 4” thin foam square. One side was red glued to another side that was green. On the red side, I wrote “HELP” with a black marker and on the green side, I wrote “OK” with a black marker. I put this with the green side up on the corner of each student’s desk when they arrived. When they were working, if they needed help, they would turn it over to the red side. I could quickly glance around the room and see who needed help and go help them. This kept students from holding their hands up and constantly trying to catch my eye so I would come to help them. After I helped them, I would turn their block over to green.

Do you have any other suggestions for this person? Please share!

Valuing a Memory

“The NVIV (Next Vista Inspiring Video) series of posts are written by Rushton Hurley and designed to provide students and teachers with fascinating discussion prompts.”

In Valuing a Memory, Rushton features technology that helps people with memory loss by pairing Google Earth with a stationary bike.

Rushton gives the following prompts to accompany this video:

“What might you do to help tell the stories of places in your community to help the elderly reconnect to cherished memories?

Can you teach yourself to look for unusual connections like Hertz did? Can you talk with friends about what could be, rather than simply what is?

Can you think of a memory that you hope you will never lose, because it’s worth more to you than almost anything else?”

As I get older, this was very interesting on a personal level because I’ve seen some friends and family who have suffered from dementia. I think this would be great for students to see in order to motivate them to look at elderly people in a different way. Some young people see older people as an inconvenience instead of an inspiration. For many years, I’ve been a member of a hiking group that believes exercise helps keep your mind sharper. Seeing my friends who seemed old when we started, continue to hike in their 90s and are still sharp-minded was evidence of this.

Please check out the video and think of other prompts you might come up with. Please share.