Interests

Gardening on the patio! :)

I'm pretty sure that Matt would like to recreate Thoreau's Walden pond and live off of the meat of the land. I'm not sure I know too many people who are as crazy about gardening as he is. Often times he comes home excited to show me the new plants or seeds he has recently purchased for our house. We've gone through this phase every Spring for the past 2 or 3 years. I'm sure it is something we will always go through.

We started growing some plants in January at a green house close by. We had a couple of pea plants that did well and radishes. When we planted them I was sure we would have more peas then we knew what to do with. We had a couple of planters filled with peas and beans. I was thinking, "We're going to have to can the ones we dont use! I hate canning!" I even tried to tell Matt we didn't need so many peas. Well as time past, we barely got a handful of peas from our harvest! Based on this single and personal experience, I have decided that maybe you need at least an acre of land to really be able to live off of your own produce alone. Since we live in an HOA we're not allowed to do much to the property around us. Needless to say, we dont really have a backyard either. They've given us a limit of planting a garden around our house, but the garden itself cannot be more than 3 or 4 feet away from our home. As you can imagine, that is not nearly as close to an acre as I think we would like, but we will do what we can do.

Yesterday I ran the Salt Lake City Half marathon. I think I have decided that I don't really enjoy running. I run half marathons for two reasons 1: Because I noticed I gained 10 lbs from September to December and 2: I have this 30 by 30 list... I figured, the sooner I can feel that quota/goal... the less I have to worry about it. I decided this while running up to mile 10 on State Street, going up hill... I blame the pain I am going through still and the pain I experience on the course as a result of my under devoted training. At least I can say, that running a half marathon really forced me to get out and exercise on days when I felt too busy and too tired to do anything. Will I be doing more half marathons in the future....? Unfortunately, yes.

This is Richard. He is 79 years old and has ran at least 2 marathons (not half but FULL marathons!) in every state. He started when he was 63. The Salt Lake marathon was his 7th one this year. Aye, aye.... to live a full and extended life takes a lot of work. Here's hoping that I learn to love running so I can be like this guy.

Spring Break *sigh*

How I love vacation! 


I know I shouldn't complain, seeing as most people don't typically have planned week long vacations, nor a  company planned vacation once a month.... but wow isan't a holiday nice!


Everyone has their lists of things to do. The list I am referring to is the list labeled, "When I have time I will do...." Last Sunday night I sat down and made a list of all things I've ever wanted to accomplish or thought about accomplishing when I had an extended vacation. I am not going to say that I did not do anything on that list, but my oh my.... life is too short. I think about summer vacation and maybe that will be the time for me to cross out more things on the list.... who knows. Any suggestions in how to get things done?


Lately I've been thinking a lot about Education Reformation. I read a book called The Global Achievement Gap a couple of months ago. Here's a summary of something I pulled off the internet, it's a little dramatic, but definitely summarizes the issues of the book:

"Instead of teaching our students to be critical thinkers, we are asking them to memorize facts. Young adults leave school equipped to work only in the kinds of jobs that are disappearing from our economy, and teens in India and China are competing with our students for the most sought-after careers around the world. Tony Wagner explains how we can overhaul our education system, and he shows us examples of dramatically different schools that work. An education manifesto for the twenty-first century, The Global Achievement Gap is essential reading for anyone interested in seeing our young people succeed as employees and citizens. "

Tony Wagner, the author of the book, is a PHd Graduate from Harvard and traveled around the country speaking to Fortune 500 CEOs and asked them what the skills they were looking for in futuer employees. Tony Wagner then visited America's Top public schools to see if they were teaching those skills. Apparently, his results were rather depressing. 


As I look around my school and in my own classroom I see how students are asked to conform in the classroom to learning a particular way. Sometimes I see kids in my class and I wonder if they would be better off being home schooled. Some kids I dont think can learn very well in a classroom. As a teacher I do what I can to provide variation in the types of lessons I teach and I try to make things hands on, (I think most kids do better when they can touch everything.), more visual, or explorative but I think there is only so much you can do that is not direct instruction. I have yet to see how I can teach double digit addition as solely a hands on activity. I wonder if some kids just need to be taught one on one instead of 26 to 1. 


I realize I am only within my 2nd year of teaching. I am learning slowly and I am hopeful that in the years to come I will come up with the traits I need to be powerful, like so many teachers who are working hard to teach the critical thinking skills so many students need, and to be an agent of change in world of education.


Did you know the number one reason why students drop out of school is because they are BORED. BORED! Now being bored can come from a number of things. Maybe they didn't learn the reading skills they needed to read/understand Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and so therefore school is useless. However, maybe they realize they have other life interests the school is not providing and so leave to pursue their own ideas on their own, not given the tools they need to survive in tomorrow's market.


Lately when I see homeless people or bums I've wondered how the American school system has failed them. I do recognize this is a generalized statement because I am sure that is not the case with EVERYONE, however I wonder if the American school system did work harder to produce children who were critical thinkers and were out to solve problems instead of memorizing the answers... would we have less people on the streets and more Americans competing for international jobs?


Seriously, how often have you called for technical support and have reached someone who is from India, Asia, or the Philippines?  Why weren't those jobs given to Americans? Some may argue that it's because labor is cheaper to outsource to other countries, but Matt told me that they recently hired an engineering firm to help them with some stuff, that was located in India. Not because it was cheaper but because they couldn't find anyone capable enough to do what they were looking for.


Anyways, this is getting kind of lengthy.... 


Spring Break was awesome! I felt like Matt and I got some good bonding time that we haven't had a chance to have since the beginning of the school year.