Obviously, this man is my soulmate...

Just read a recap of a speech by Jim Cummins at the state NCTE conference in California. I so wish I had been there to hear him speak! Because just reading it, I gave him a standing ovation.

Some of the things I've been saying for years are in his speech. Just one example is the unconscionable amount of instructional time being lost to testing. This is something I have personal experience with, as student teachers under my supervision, every spring, spend literally weeks overseeing students taking tests. And that's just the time being spent on TAKING the tests, not the time spent by teachers (who are, yes indeed, afraid of losing their jobs if their students don't perform well) on preparing students to take the tests. I'm still waiting for the huge uprising of parents against the amount of time and the stress involved in these tests. Ridiculous. Parents, you should sue!

And then also there's the preposterous idea that the tests students are taking actually represent what they are capable of. We have those data, sure, but what other data might we also be collecting to help us understand how our students are doing?

And don't get me started on notions of "highly qualified" teachers that take into account ONLY the content the teachers have and not their actual ability to develop a classroom community, organize and carry out instruction, interact with other humans, etc.

Anyway, if you have a minute, go and read the overview of Jim Cummins' talk. That is an enlightened man.

Writing Project notes

The weekend beginning Friday, July 13th (and no, there was no bad luck associated with it) began this summer's invitational with the Wyoming Writing Project. I'm one of 12 "fellows" and -- along with several staff members -- we spent the initial weekend at the lovely Elk Mountain Hotel. The fellows are mostly teachers, with me (teacher educator), a school librarian, and a couple of principals. All education folks, anyway. We spent all day last Wednesday through Friday writing, brainstorming, and taking a field trip to Rock Springs. Why Rock Spring? you may be asking.

The culminating project of this year's Wyoming Writing Project will be writing, producing, and performing a play based on the massacre of @30 Chinese miners in Rock Springs in September of 1885. So we had a little tour of Rock Springs, so that we could more clearly envision the events and the places of the massacre.

If you'd like a little more information, here's a Wikipedia entry to get you started.

We also had to develop an essential question . . . I decided to focus on this one: "How does knowledge work?" which will allow me to do some personal and professional research related to knowledge transfer between differing types of settings.

I have a feeling that, over the course of the project (still 2 more weeks to run) we'll all get to know each other really well. I'm happy that so far no one has emerged as a complete wack job, and everyone is getting along fairly well. Perhaps we are still in a honeymoon phase . . .

I am most excited about being pushed to write. I don't take enough time to write for myself; instead, I'm constantly doing professional forms of writing, which are fulfilling, certainly, but lack a certain intimacy that I would like to have in my writing. So far I've done a scad of journaling, written a few poems, and begun reading on high-road and low-road transfer. I think that this experience will also be helpful in terms of my classes next fall; I'm hoping that I can transfer some of the community-building experiences and build teaching patterns for transfer into my classes.

Finals Week

Well, sort of. I have basically this week to finish my syllabi for fall courses, write and prepare materials to send to outside reviewers, and write my program report for accreditation. Why so much in just one week? Well, because starting Friday I'll be a "fellow" in the Wyoming Writing Project and when that finishes we'll be heading out east to hike about 100 miles on the AT in Maine. When we come back from that (much slimmer, I hope!), I'll have 4 days before the meetings and other crap begin that signal the onset of the fall semester.

So, I'll be working my ass off this week -- no slacking!

Day Hike

Yesterday's day hike down French Creek Canyon in the Snowy Range was delightful! The trail begins on the ridge of a steep canyon (the French Creek Canyon, don't ya know) and then follows that ridge down into a beautiful meadow. Going out is mostly downhill, which means that going back is mostly uphill. It was a great hike, a good workout, with lots of beautiful sights.

The trail follows French Creek down its canyon, which means our hike was accompanied by the sounds of rushing water and opportunities to soak our feet. . .

. . . and now that I'm a nerdy geology buff, I noticed some interesting rock formations that I still know nothing about. One day, however, I will understand these . . .

8 Things Meme

OK, I've seen this meme at Russian Violets, Dr. Crazy, and others. No one tagged me, but I thought it might be interesting to see what I can come up with, then to tag some folks and see if anyone actually follows through.


Here are the rules to play:

1. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.

2. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.

3. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.



So -- 8 random facts about Dr. Bad Ass:



1. I have a bad habit of picking at my cuticles; I can only keep myself from doing this by giving myself frequent manicures and keeping my nails painted.

2. When I was in third grade, I told a fellow third-grader (yes, a "popular" girl) that I had broken my leg the summer before. Somehow, I thought this would make me cool.

3. I went to Girl Scout camp every year between the ages of 8 and 14. Then I became a Girl Scout camp counselor.

4. When I graduated from high school, I wanted to be a truck driver. My mother did not approve. Now I'm THRILLED that I didn't become a truck driver, since I hate driving 45 minutes to the mall in the next town over!

5. I like going to conferences, but I rarely go to sessions not presented by me, my students, or my grad school colleagues (yeah, Margaret, Gwynne, Melanie, Cheri, George, and Alison!).

6. The young adult lit course that I taught last spring was my best experience as a college teacher ever. You guys were fabulous!

7. According to my mother, when I was two years old, I wanted to do everything "my-by-self." Still do.

8. I love our Farmer's Market here in town, but I wish they would just give away baskets of cherries and forget everything else.



I know I'm supposed to tag 8 people, but .... I don't think 8 people who blog read this! So here are the folks I'm tagging:



Tessa (your mom or dad can do it for you!), Jen, Kathryn and/or Paul and of course, anyone else out there who hasn't already done it.



Connie, it's time for you to have your own blog, now . . .



8-)

Once Again, with the Old Manuscript

Now I'm finally back to revising (for the umpteenth time) that old manuscript. We got a revise and resubmit for it, and fairly good and substantial reviews, so I'm at it again. I do like revise and resubmits, for the improvements I can make to my writing. However, having been burned last year with two revise and resubmits that were later rejected, I've become a bit cynical.

Some of you may find that hard to believe.

But really, the reviewers are asking for additional data (which we have!) and it's a matter of polishing up, adding material, being thoughtful about our implications, and in general, good researchers and writers. I think we can do it. Whether it will then get accepted and I can stop messing around with this old thing (which is now called version 17) is yet to be seen.

Anyway, it's Friday, and I've about done everything I can on it.

Bullets

• Recovering from a Weird Virus. Well, first Loving Spouse (hereafter known as LS) had it. Then I got it. What is "it" you may ask? It's a weird virus that only made us a little sick, but sick enough to feel crappy, dragged down, and lie around in our easy chairs for several days. Neither of us could figure it out, but we did lots of sleeping and lots of complaining for the 3-4 days that it took to work out of our systems.


• Underwater Video Progress. I've already got the camcorder; two days ago LS ordered the video housing for me. Yesterday I ordered a battery that should last 100 minutes. Next thing you know, I'll be posting videos from our next dive trip on this blog.


• Work Stuff. Movement toward this year's T&P review is underway. I won't say more about it, but getting confirmation of a manuscript's acceptance several weeks ago leaves me feeling pretty good about it.


• More Work Stuff. The Weird Virus (see above) put a big kibosh on my work, which means I have tons to do this week and it is already Wednesday! So I should stop blogging immediately and get to work. But I won't.


• LibraryThing. Love it. I can spend HOURS cataloguing my books, which means hours not spent working.


• Window Boxes. We put up window boxes on our house and filled them with flowers. They are beautiful!

Happy Nude Hiking Day!

OK, it's really the Summer Solstice, but to long-distance hikers, it is Nude Hiking Day. In 2001, I was hiking through the Shenandoahs on June 21st, so I didn't hike nude. Why, you may ask? Well, because I didn't want to freak out the little children and their parents (tourists) that I encountered multiple times a day as the trail crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway. I didn't think that little children should be exposed to adult hiker nudity. Way too hairy, believe me!

I did see several hikers who hiked nude, though -- using bandanas for strategic coverage. Let's see, the trail names of those folks were Hippy Longstocking, and a couple of others I can't remember . . . maybe Stovetop? I know that my buddies Skidmark and Balloo hiked naked in 2003, cause that's the kind of folks they are. Fun-loving and crazy. Anyone who takes their three-month old on her first camping trip has my complete love and respect.

It's been a week or so of helping Continental Divide Trail (CDT) thru-hikers. Today we shuttled Sly to Cheyenne, so he could take a bus to Glacier in Montana; and we dropped Haiku off at the bus station, where he's taking a bus to Denver as I write this. None of them were naked, by the way.

I spent a good bit of time today -- no, not being naked, get your mind out of the gutter! -- checking the edits of my fantastic chapter authors. You should know that almost all of them got their edits back to me within the deadline, and they did an excellent job of addressing all of the queries posted by the publisher. I just had one clarification to make, and it was easy. All of THAT makes me a happy co-editor.

I have a manuscript to review, a dissertation to read, and a manuscript to revise, but maybe I'll get to all of those tomorrow . . . when it's NOT nude hiking day.

Near our campsite at Lower Silas Lake . .

was this big rock. Cool, huh?

Lower Silas Lake

On Saturday, we drove to Rawlins, picked up Sly (a CDT thru-hiker) and drove to Lander, where we had a lovely lunch at the Gannett Grill. In Lander, we ran into Haiku (another CDT thru-hiker); we then drove both of them to Atlantic City/South Pass City so they could get back on the trail.

More driving (on a narrow, twisty Forest Service road) took us to the Christina Lake trailhead. We hiked in about 2 and a half miles to Lower Silas Lake, where we spent the night. Lovely campsite, quiet and peaceful.

Sunday morning we saw a moose munching on bushes across the lake, and we were glad that we were out there and not at home.

After we hiked out, the driving began again -- back to South Pass City to pick up Cheers (yet another CDT hiker), to Atlantic City for lunch, and then back to Laramie. Lots of driving, a little hiking, and then back into work for another week.

Wikis in Plain English

Yipparific!

Found out yesterday that our candidate for the literacy endowed chair has accepted the position. Hoorah! Hooray! Love that guy -- can't believe he's coming here -- so excited!

Cayman Islands Highlights

Our first week of vacation was spent scuba diving from a live-aboard (the Nekton Rorqual) around the Cayman Islands. We were married on this boat (by a captain named Chris Christofferson, but that's another story) and this was our first return trip. We've made other trips (several!) on the other Nekton boat, the Pilot.

Travel to Grand Cayman was seamless -- we arrived on Saturday early afternoon, and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting at the bar at Sunset House with City Girl (Loving Spouse's daughter) drinking bear and enjoying each other's company. The Rorqual crew picked us up at 7:00 and took us to the boat.

A week of diving, eating, and sleeping ensued. Some cool diving events:

• Being 40 feet underwater when it started to rain on the surface. Did you know that when this happens, it sounds like Sizzling Rice Soup? And with the visibility of 60 to 80 feet, we could see the dimpled surface. Very cool.
• On a late afternoon dive, we came across two Hawksbill turtles circling each other. We think they were competing for access to a tasty bucket sponge. One would circle in, wedge himself against the spounge, take a few bites. Then the other one would come in, take the first turtle's place, and take a few bites. We watched this for about 15 minutes, until 1 swam away and gave the other total access. Loving Spouse took some pics, but they turned out a bit dark, because of the lateness in the day.
• Great wreck diving -- a huge Russian destroyer and a boat used to carry bananas around the Caribbean.
• Interesting people on the boat, including a somewhat fundie group of tec divers who were extremely regimented in their routines and gear. But they weren't evangelical, so that was ok.

Traveling home got a bit sticky. We had only an hour to go through customs in a big southern city before catching our next flight. Needless to say, we missed our flight, but Continental was kind enough to give us a hotel. We arrived home a day later than we had originally planned and spent Sunday rinsing gear and doing laundry.

Now back to yard work, writing, and trying to continue the relaxation. Oh, and losing the 10 pounds I gained on the boat!

In the meantime,

While I'm waiting for Loving Spouse to get his pictures burned on a CD or otherwise sent to me, here's a link to a website with photos and video from the underwater world . . .

http://www.rnrscuba.net/

Enjoy!

Coming Soon . . .

Travel tales that will make you extremely envious, because you were not there when we spent last week on a dive live-aboard around the Cayman Islands, scuba diving every day.

And pictures.

But for now I'm so pooped from traveling (and missing flights!) and rinsing out scuba diving gear -- though to be honest, loving spouse did most of that -- that I must adjourn to my own bed and begin snoring.

I'll post some stuff in the next few days.

Um, ok, but . . .

Your Power Bird is a Vulture

You are always changing your life and the lives of those around you.You aren't afraid to move on from what holds you back.Energetic and powerful, you have a nearly unlimited capacity for success.You know how to "go with the flow" and take advantage of what is given to you.

What's" Your Power Bird?

Grudge

On Sunday mornings we walk downtown to a coffee shop, where we order breakfast (plain bagel, toasted, with butter) and coffee (Chiapas, large), read the newspaper, and chat. This coffee shop has cool art that hangs on the wall, and a big bulletin board with flyers for concerts by Freak Mother, yoga retreats, lost dogs, etc. One of the flyers that I noticed today -- because I make it a regular practice to stand and read the flyers on the board -- was for a writer's group in town. They meet on Wednesday nights, they read and respond to each other's writing, and it all sounded great. I was memorizing the email address when I realized that the last name on the email sounded suspiciously like the last name of the female half of the couple who shafted us out of our dream house several years ago.

It was then that I realized I've been harboring this grudge for much too long. I mean, I get emails from her occasionally, through the faculty/staff listserv, and I regularly delete them without reading them. I've seen her on campus a couple of times and have given her a hard stare and then refused to acknowledge her (I don't think this means much, as I doubt she remembers me the way I remember her!).

But when I consider NOT joining a writing group because the last name of the contact person sounds a bit like her last name -- but clearly isn't -- this is a sign that I need to just get over it. Or perhaps write about it. Either way, now it begins to injure me, and that must stop.

When all Goes Awry

My trip to Toronto was a string of what I'll call "bloopers" connected by a few wonderful highlights:

Blooper #1: waiting to check in for my flight from Denver to Toronto on Sunday, I heard the man behind me say something about his passport, and a dreadful realization dawned on me: My passport was serenely tucked away in my nightstand drawer in Laramie, a mere 2 and a half hours drive away. I decided to soldier on and see how far I could get -- I managed to get into Canada on my driver's license and charm, and out of it on the same charm and a faxed copy of my passport from Footslogger. Needless to say, I worried about this CONSTANTLY while in Toronto. Sunday night I had to say "Everything will be ok; everything will be ok; everything will be ok" in order to get to sleep.

Highlight #1: Lunch with colleagues from graduate school at Bistro 990, where the omelette was PERFECT and the frites were all that.

Blooper #2: On Monday, I checked out of my hotel room and into my friend Marilyn's (smile). I neglected to listen when the clerk mumbled something about the room; when I took my bag there, I realized that it was a smoking room. Not good! When Marily arrived we had to do some arm-twisting to get a non-smoking room, but . . .

Highlight #2: . . . the new room was not only non-smoking, it had 2 beds instead of 1. Since I'm a loud sleeper (translation -- a bit of snoring, I've been told) this is a good thing.

Blooper #3 [connected to Highlight #1]: I didn't look at the map, and we decided to walk to lunch at Bistro 990. I thought it would take about 10 minutes, but it was actually almost 2 miles and took us over half an hour. We were late, but our friends graciously forgave us. On the plus side, Marilyn and I got an excellent workout.

Highlights #3 and 4: Dinner at The 360 Restaurant in the CN Tower, with former advisor and aforementioned friend Marilyn. Presentation with both colleagues and friends at the International Reading Association; they're so smart and cool, and they make me feel smart and cool by association.

Bottom Line:

Your passport. Don't leave home without it.

What are the chances?

So I'm in Toronto, walking down Front Street with a cup of coffee, a donut, and a newspaper. I'm enjoying the urban thing and feeling good about just hanging out in such a cool city. The weather's good, I'm from Wyoming, and I know no one.

And then I see them: a colleague and her husband. Standing on the corner. In Toronto.

What the hell?

Now it's Summer!

My husband and I are sitting in our shorts with the doors and windows open, typing away on our separate laptops. Sunshine, cool breezes, birds chirping. The cats are outside enjoying eating the grass (and puking it up, no doubt), and we're planning a trip to Fort Collins for some dive gear in preparation for our trip to the Caymans.

Summertime, she has arrived!

Friday I completed the last of three day-long meetings on articulating our teacher ed program. OK, it was worthwhile, but . . . the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and we were sitting on our butts debating how we articulate basket-weaving in all of our courses. No, really, it was good and worthwhile. But I'm glad it's over.

Yesterday evening I dug up some weeds out of the front yard, which is looking incredibly lush right now. That's due to the massive amounts of fertilizer I've been putting on it, and perhaps to the fact that the neighborhood cats haven't started pissing and pooping in the middle of the yard yet. Yes, I live in the house whose yard serves as the neighborhood cat box.

Now I'm off to Toronto for the International Reading Association conference.

Oh, and by the way: I got an A in CHEM 1020 this semester. Let the jubilation begin!

Is It Summer Yet?

Last week we had a candidate in for an endowed chair position, that is, a position funded by the state designed to bring in a big-name scholar who will provide leadership to the college in his or her area of expertise.

Or, if you're my spouse, an endowed chair is a kitchen chair with big boobs. Take your pick.

Anyway, we had this person in for our endowed chair position, and then I spent the next couple of days agonizing over whether or not the candidate would take the position. When. We offered it. Because if we don't we're insane.

Now that I have that off my chest, I want to mention that snow in May is not cool, but it is so Wyoming. It was drizzling on Saturday as I walked to graduation, but during graduation it started to snow. And it snowed all day and all night. There's still snow on the ground. Damn. I'm so ready for some summer, I've got my shorts and t-shirts out and everything. I've bought planters to put flowers in, I want to do yard work! But I must be patient. This too will pass.

Graduation was -- as usual -- super cool. My students (now graduates!) are awesome; 75% of those who walked graduated with honors!! The way we do graduation is that as students in particular programs walk across and off the stage, faculty in those programs are there to greet and congratulate them. It's the typical time for me to be bawling like a baby, so proud of my students as they become professional educators. As I was hugging and congratulating one of my students, she took off her brown satin UW stole and hung it around my neck, saying "This is for you, Leslie, for everything you've done for me." Oh. My. God. Couldn't stop crying for several minutes after that.

So now I'm just mopping up -- finishing a few grading tasks and putting my grades in the system. Then the writing will commence.

Hokie Nation

Last night in my Young Adult Literature class we were talking about Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelson and the topic of the killings at Virginia Tech came up. I haven't said anything about that here, because I've been trying to sort out my own perspective on it. Initially, I was horrified and kept imagining it happening here, which caused me to burst into tears at odd times imagining my students and colleagues being attacked by someone who had come unhinged. I have a friend who teaches at Virginia Tech, and she talked about being locked down in her building (right across from Norris Hall) and watching as police and medical personnel swarmed the building.

I was especially touched by the groups of Virginia Tech students who focus on the campus as a family and support each other through their sorrow. What a sad and sobering commentary this event is on our world today. But along with the horror, there is much that is good about the human spirit being exhibited in Blacksburg.


And can I just take a moment to go on a tangent? Kudos to my Young Adult Literature class members this semester. They are a great group of students who participate in class with a serious but communal kind of demeanor. I tend to teach in ways that some students don't appreciate -- big focus on "how are we making sense of this together" -- and they always go with me. Last night I asked them to role play a character from one of the novels that we have read this semester and they all participated very well. I can't say enough about how much I appreciate these great students.

Spring Update

I know, I know. It's been a very long time since I've posted. I'm not going to make excuses, but here are a few things that have been going on:
*The Wyoming Cowgirls basketball team won the WNIT championship. NATIONAL championship. We went to every single game, and I was in tears at the end, because of the courage, heart, and determination of every member of that team. We have been season ticket holders for the last three years. Now we are fans for life.
* Chemistry 1020 is coming along well -- I made an 82 on the last test, which in this class is the equivalent of an A++. Lab is over, but I still have one chapter quiz, the lab final, and the course final to complete. I'm setting aside one hour every morning to study, and I feel pretty good about what I've learned in this course.
* Student teachers are in their last week of the student teaching semester. We made our last trip to Casper (!) for the semester, and much of the grading is completed. No serious meltdowns, no major crises, and most of my students are getting job interviews and job offers. Graduation is next weekend and I'm looking forward to dressing up in my fancy robes and celebrating with our graduates.
* The daffodils and snowdrop bulbs that I planted last fall are starting to come up and bloom, which is so beautiful and exciting. In spite of the fact that it is currently SNOWING, I feel certain that spring will arrive soon.

This summer I have so much to look forward to -- a week in the Cayman Islands scuba diving, finishing my last 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail, participation in the Wyoming Writing Project, and a reunion with my English education graduates (date still to be determined). It's going to be a good summer for traveling and I hope that it will be a good one for writing as well.

Thanks for continuing to tune in ....

It's Official: I'm Only Slightly Above Average

Got my chemistry exam #2 back on Thursday, and as I expected, my grade was a 54. Out of 100. Which is 2 points above the average for the exam.

Of course, I still have issues with the test, including the fact that it took me two and a half hours to complete, that it included questions on material we were not directed to study, and that obviously most of the students in the class (including me!) don't have a clear sense of the information that we should have learned.

But what the hell. Exam three is coming up this week, so I'm pushing on. I've decided to take a break from chemistry next fall and am taking a 2000-level geology class. That's not to say that I'm not learning a hell of a lot this semester, because I am. There are things I never knew I didn't know -- and those are the things I'm learning in this class. I find the material intrinsically interesting, (that may have something to do with my age) and I'm struggling to keep up with the fast pace set by the instructor. I do feel sorry for those students who are not interested, because I know the role that affect can play in helping or hindering learning.

I went to a presentation on quantitative reasoning Friday afternoon (not well attended, but then what is on a Friday afternoon) as I consider myself the poster child for lack of development of quantitative reasoning. In fact, my spouse says that my junior high and high school math teachers should be taken out and shot (do you hear that, Coach Chauvin?). It was interesting, but I would have liked a bit more that was relative to HOW we can help sudents to develop quantitative reasoning -- I think that some of the folks who were there teach college algebra classes, and I got the feeling they would have liked some help as well.

Things I Like about Spring Break

1. shopping with the girls
2. dinner with former student and his girlfriend
3. chance to make some extra money and do professional development for an alternative high school
4. judging debates, speeches, and duets at the district speech meet (held at the local high school)
5. no chemistry class for a week!
6. chance to study chemistry for a week!
7. sleeping late (only one day, but what the hell)
8. gradual recovery from bronchitis
9. time to grade mid-term exams
10. new nighttime reading material -- novels by Terry Pratchett (the Discworld series)

Average: 52

Chemistry professor announced in class today that the average grade on exam 2 was 52. "But don't worry about it," she said. "You've got lots of other chances to do well, and that exam covered the core of the course, so every year lots of people fail it."

Ahem.

To a teacher? When that is the average on the exam? It's a sign that something is wrong with instruction, perhaps with the exam. It's a sign that one should go back and re-teach or at least think about how one might change instruction and/or the test for next year's class. It's a sign that even those students who studied their asses off (me!) weren't adequately prepared for the test.

I'm pretty sure my grade on exam 2 was about average for the class, though I haven't gotten it back yet.

Not-so-good Grade

Got my first chemistry exam back this week, and -- though I didn't want to publicize this -- I made a 75. That's not good enough for me, but also I should say that it is actually a B in this class, and it is exactly the class average for this first exam.

But can I also say that I got several questions wrong because I hadn't memorized conversation tables? Such as, how many micrometers are in a meter? I took a guess at that, and got it wrong. If I had had my note card with the conversion tables, I would have been able to do the problem without error. I just don't think it's that important that I have those things memorized, but that I can do the conversions and figure out units for the problems. I also had to memorize the solubility and insolubility rules for a quiz. I can only imagine that chemists have those things memorized, but because they use them so frequently. But first-year chemistry students? Just knowing that we need to refer to the solubility rules and how to apply them should be enough.

Bronchitis

I went back to the doctor yesterday and found out that I have bronchitis. So, I'm now taking just about every medication in the book, trying to get myself healthy. My department members went off for our research retreat, but I decided to stay home. Partly to keep myself healthy, but also because a bit of bad weather came in and the roads were getting slick and icy.

So I'm staying home, again, coughing. But now I have the feeling that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Coughing. And Not Traveling.

For weeks I toyed with the idea of writing a conference proposal for the NCTEAR conference, which is taking place this weekend in Nashville. I did write a proposal, which was accepted, and then came a commitment that was important to a family member, so I had to cancel.

This morning, we packed up our things to drive down to Leadville, Colorado, only to find that all roads out of Laramie were closed. We tried 287; we tried the interstate; nothing doing.

So we came back home. No conference presentation, and no fun day spent with spouse and other hikers. I've spent the day (again) sitting in my easy chair, playing solitaire and watching TV. And coughing.

So I'm about finished with my antibiotic, but I'm wondering what else I should do. I've been drinking water and gatorade like they're going to stop making it. I've been hanging my head over a pot of boiling water. I have a humidifier going in my bedroom. And still, the cough and the shaky breathing is bothering me.

Maybe I'll feel better tomorrow.

Sick, Sick, Sick

It's spring semester in Laramie, Wyoming, so that means it is time for the yearly crud. In past years, the yearly crud has attacked my ears (2004), throat (2003), and chest (2002, 2005, 2006). This year, it's again attacking my chest like a bank vault that needs to be dynamited. It all started on Tuesday when I woke up with a sore throat and coughed my way through visiting student and mentor teachers in Casper. Then on Wednesday it was a fever of 102 and an iron band around my chest. I staggered to the doctor's office and got a prescription for antibiotics, but it's now Thursday evening and I'm still feeling shitty. Better than on Wednesday, but still pretty shitty.

Anyway, I cancelled class on Wednesday night, didn't go to my discussion section on Wednesday or lab today, and it looks like I won't make it to chemistry on Friday either. So . . . lots of time off but with no energy to get any work done. Chemistry exam on Wednesday, lots of papers to grade, but I doubt any of it will get done in a timely fashion!

I've watched lots of movies, though, and got a lot of extra sleep. So that's a good thing. That's me, seeing the silver lining . . .

Science Literacy

I've been doing some thinking lately about the kinds of learning that are taking place for me, especially this semester as I'm pursuing a general chemistry class for the first time. I've discovered that -- though I am usually a quick study -- chemistry takes much longer for me to get comfortable with, to digest to the point that I don't feel hesitant about my ability to answer particular questions. That plays very much on the affect, as I am usually easily frustrated when learning information and skills doesn't come quickly. I'm learning, as a result, to allow myself plenty of time to master even what might seem to others as the simplest of problems.

Take balancing chemical equations, for example. I began working problems from the textbook, as preparation for the exam, but found that I wasn't sure about how to proceed, even after hearing how to do it in lecture and reading about it in the textbook. I decided that I needed some simpler problems to work, so that I could work my way up to the slightly more complex ones in the textbook. So I got online and found some sample problems -- really, they were designed for a high school chemistry class -- and spent an hour or so working those. I also read a couple of different sets of directions for balancing chemical equations. After this practice, I went back to the problems in the textbook and found them quite easy. I also found that, along the way, I had developed my own preferred method of balancing equations -- a mixture of suggestions from various sources along with my own twist.

I hope that I can remember this experience and be patient with myself in future. The reality is that I'm probably going to be spending much more time studying for this course than I have for any other. Except perhaps my first qualitative research course, when I had to read and re-read and re-read in order to understand the theoretical frameworks that were presented in that course.

Luckily, I'm pretty serious about being successful in this endeavor. I'm going to need every bit of luck and hard work I can get my hands on.

Bad Manners

Hey, blog world. Don't you think it's bad manners when someone puts you on the agenda for their meeting and then doesn't tell you a) that you're on the agenda; b) when the meeting is; or c) where the meeting will take place?

Cuz I do.

Dear Band Nerds:

Yes, I'm talking to you. The pair of you, who sat behind me in geology class and talked non-stop; the same pair that sits in FRONT of me in chemistry class and talks non-stop.

If you don't stop talking about nonsensical crap in class I'm going to be forced to resort to extreme measures. I don't know yet what they will be, but I'm thinking about one of the following:
* sitting between you and elbowing you both smartly in the ribs when you start snorting and giggling
* standing up behind you and "accidentally" dropping my $140 chemistry book on your heads
* posting about you on my blog.

Oh, wait, I've already done that last one!

Sincerely,

Bad Ass Turtle (serious chemistry student)

2006 in Review

First line of each month's post from 2006:

January 3rd, 2006: We returned home from our Christmas extravaganza at the home of my brother, his lovely wife, and their oh-so-precocious triplet boys (2.5 years of age), graced by the presence of Mom, Sam, assorted in-laws on either side, lots of booze, neighbors, parties, gifts, etc.
[Wow, was that a crazy Christmas! But so much fun to see the boys.]

February 2nd, 2006: Face Plant
Lest you think that I have some new kind of ivy or rhododendron growing from my visage, here's the gruesome story.
[This was my bloody noise accomplished by trying to ski too fast down a slope in some seriously slippery snow. Whew. Makes me look forward to skiing this weekend!]

March 6th, 2006:
Spring Break is Coming! Spring Break is Coming!
Here's what I'll be doing over spring break . . .
[Ah, our Belize diving trip. This year, it's the Caymans!]

April 3rd, 2006:
Change is a Good Thing
Lately I've been pondering changes to my junior-level English methods class, which focuses on teaching writing.
[The changes to my class were fantastic! Such a vast improvement, and it made the class a lot more fun for me, as well.]

May 2nd, 2006:
Exciting Stuff!
Yesterday was my last day of involvement in a year-long professional development project in a large city in my state (now called "Center City").
[Now that the professional development is over, I'm working with a colleague on getting a publication out of it.]

June 2nd, 2006:
Hiking Journal -- Monday, May 22nd
My loving spouse dropped me off at the Blue Ridge Parkway (not sure of the mile marker, but it's near the Peaks of Otter Lodge) at about 10:30.
[My 100 miles in Virginia by myself. The heat just about killed me.]

July 17th, 2006:
Hard Hiking
Um, those Mainers? When they say a trail is hard, you should listen.
[No shit. That was the hardest 100 miles of hiking I've ever done. Bar none.]

August 3rd, 2006:
Boring as Life
I received some harassment from a friend (yes, you, Jennifer!) about not updating my blog, so I am writing an entry under pressure.
[No comment. My life can be pretty boring.]

September 1st, 2006:
As a Freshman . . .
Since I'm now taking a freshman level class, I'm technically both a faculty member and a freshman.
[A freshman who got an A. Damn skippy.]

October 2nd, 2006:
Not Enough Sleep
I woke up countless times during the night, worrying. About friends who are ill, about a manuscript that I'll need to revise (again!), about my students, about my upcoming bid for tenure, about my husband, about my geology class and my inability to find a class to take next semester, etc. Worry, worry, worry.
[My mom says that if I don't have something to worry about, I'll worry till I find something. Hmm. She is so smart.]

November 4th, 2006:
What's Up?
Several colleagues have asked me recently what's going on with my adventures in geology.
[Next semester should be even better.]

December 1st, 2006:
Science Nerd Test #3
In about 30 minutes, I will take my third test in physical geology.
[Hoo-yah. Aced that test AND the final exam.]

The End of the Semester

Holiday Parties Attended: 2
Secret Santa Presents Given Out: 5
Final Exams Taken: 1
Graded Writing Workshop Descriptions: 4 (out of 16)
Graded Unit Designs: 0 (out of 8)
Graded Writing Portfolios: 0 (out of 16)

So, it becomes clear what I'll be doing this weekend.

No more death-wish skiiers

On Sunday, we went to the first weekend of skiing at our local ski resort. Lots of fun, though we waited in line too long to pick up our season passes, and we only did two runs. It was icy, and the ski resort was selling $10 lift tickets, with only 2 runs open. So we felt that we were putting our lives on the line as we made our (relatively slow) way down the slope only to have skiiers with death wishes come zooming at and past us along the way.

Afterwards, we dropped off our skis for a tune up, and I fell in love with this jacket. It's red, it's warm, and best of all, death-wish skiiers can see me well and perhaps choose to run into a tree instead of me!

A Student

That's me. An "A" student. Got a 92 on my geology test.

Science Nerd Test #3

In about 30 minutes, I will take my third test in physical geology. Aside from previous posts, in which I attested to the lack of difficulty that this class presents, I've still been spending every evening this week studying. Why, you might ask? Well, because I'm a serious grade freak. I admit it. I like making A's. On the first test, I had a high A. On the last test, a high B.

What?

I'm planning to make an A on this one, dammit.

I got up extra early this morning to study, came to the Union and am now surrounded by other students, most of whom are also studying for tests. Cool. Had myself a sesame bagel for brain food, and now I feel pretty ready for the test.

In other news, next year's student teaching applications are due today at 5, which has resulted in an unexpectedly high number of panicked phone calls to my office. That's ok, but I wonder about what seems to me to be the racheting up of the stress level around those applications. I don't think it is healthy; however, I also don't think there is much I can do about it, except to provide as much advice as I can and be willing to help students out when they ask for it. The problem for me is that that is a reactive response, not a proactive one. Maybe I should make an attempt to talk to the powers that be about our process? I don't think most of them would want their own children going through this level of stress. And I don't think that's what partnership should be about.

I'll be working this afternoon on revising a manuscript that has (so far) been rejected by three different journals. I've still got two potential publication sites for it, though, so I'm not giving up on it. It does get better every time I work on it!

Thanksgiving with Mom

We bought Mark's mom a new tv for Christmas. She is almost completely blind, but with the larger tv she was able to watch some home video of her parents' 25th wedding anniversary party.

Home, finally

I want to say just a few more things about the conference I attended, and particularly about the conference presentation.

Our presentation was a bit of a preview for an edited book that will (hopefully) be available in November of 2007. It's an edited book on secondary reading and writing, with chapters written by talented and wonderful people on interesting topics. Our presentation was part commercial for the upcoming book and part information on research on secondary reading and writing. My part was on research on secondary writing, and I had three sections:

1. What do we already know about instruction of writing in secondary schools?
2. How does the upcoming book add to that knowledge base?
3. What questions are we (really, just me) still asking?

I tried to make it both interesting to secondary teachers and useful, with a bit of humor thrown in. I DID make my opinion of five-paragraph essays and 6-Traits of Writing painfully clear. After the session, in our discussion time, there was a discussion among several teachers of how assessments in this country, from state assessments of writing to the SAT and ACT seem to push students into formulaic writing. It was a heated discussion among audience members at our session that I was happy to see.

I just wish I were more of an activist. So many teachers tell me that they just go in their classrooms, shut the door, and teach the best way they can. OR they do some kind of balancing act between teaching to the test and good instruction (I've been there myself, so I can really relate).

I want to see teachers banding together and arguing for quality instruction, for learning that indicates depth, and for encouraging the whole child, not just the child's ability to perform on standardized assessments.

What did you say?

English teachers are a funny bunch. There are thousands of them here, and they are all different. Different accents, clothing, body shapes, colors, hairstyles, etc. But they all have one thing in common: They like to talk.

I'm surrounded by English teachers, they all have something to say, and I can't get a word in edgewise. At dinner tonight, the cacophony of voices, all striving to be heard, echoed off the ceiling and smashed into my ears. This went on and on and on, and the whole time, I was leaning over the table, shouting "What? What did you say? I can't quite hear you" to the guy mumbling into his buffet plate beside me.

Fun times in conference land!

Ready to go Conference

Yes, I just verbed a noun. Too bad, Trout!

I have just returned from a walk around the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center. I like it much better from the outside, because there is actual air to breath. Liked it. That may just keep me from going insane here.

On the other hand, inside the massive Disney-like structure, they have ducks. Mallards or some such shit. How do those ducks live all inside?

Nayushvuhl

Here I am in Nashville, Tennessee, hanging out with 27,000 or so English teachers. That's either someone's worst nightmare or . . . someone's worst nightmare. I've already run into an old friend from grad school (hi Leslie!) and had a nice dinner of fish tacos (they weren't that great). Tomorrow is my presentation and a presentation by one of my former doc students (now graduated), along with a luncheon that features Sherman Alexie. Coolest!
A busy day tomorrow.

Only one little spot to mar my conference happiness. I'm supposed to be rooming with a former student who now teaches in Dubois. She hasn't shown up yet. I'm hoping she didn't bail . . .

We shall see what happens.

My thoughts, exactly . . .

My Beloved Monster & Me: An Important Message to Democrats, from an Independent voter and swell guy

Rob clearly and succinctly states exactly how I feel about the election switcheroo.

Flexibility

On occasion, I consider the possibility of going back to teaching full-time. I miss the kids, the focus; sometimes I even miss the colleagues I taught with over the years. I'd like to try out some of the ideas I've developed over the last few years about teaching and see how they work. I'd like to have that great feeling of helping kids develop reading and writing skills and stronger vocabulary, and responding positively to great literature. I miss those things.

Then happens a day like today, when I'm suffering from a bad cold. I can decide to work at home pretty easily, can get almost as much done at home as I could at work (because I don't teach on Mondays) AND I don't have to prepare any sub plans or feel guilty about not going to work.

Flexibility is a good thing.

What's Up?

Several colleagues have asked me recently what's going on with my adventures in geology. Apparently, I haven't been talking about it much. I guess that's because I've realized, in spite of my lack of background in the science, that there's a reason it's a 1000-level class. It's easy. Go to lecture, take notes, go to lab, take a quiz, take a test every now and then . . . I'm learning a lot, don't get me wrong, but this class is just dead easy.

Perhaps things will be different in the spring when I take chemistry. But it also is a 1000-level class, so I'm not sure.

In the meantime, last week was advising week. Advising week is hell, aside from the entertaining moment when one of my advisees described her major (majors changed to protect the innocent):

"Well, I'm a science education major, with a minor in German. And I'm thinking of getting a double major in engineering."

Focus, grasshopper. Focus.

What is Boring?

Froshboy in front of me in Geology class this morning:

"This is the most boring class I've ever been in. I have trouble staying awake." (Pulls sweatshirt hood over his head and proceeds to nod out.)

This comment and others like it are regular fare from students in my Physical Geology class. I can understand this, because I remember being 18 years old and only interested in the next party, the next date, the next time I could be the center of attention.

But now that I'm in my 40s, and am learning things that are intrinsically of interest to me, the only time I'm truly bored is . . .

[wait for it]

. . . in meetings.

Now those are boring.

Climate of Fear

I apologize for not posting recently. The only excuse I can give is that I had a test on Monday, and a football game on Saturday, so my mind was all awhirl and awry. Anyway, now that the test is over -- and I think I did pretty well on it -- I thought I would post this poem that I wrote over the weekend. I hope it makes some sense.

Fear of Freedom

A kernel, a core, a seed
has long ago infiltrated,
overthrown and occupied her system,
blood, bone, sinew, and muscle.
Placed there by --
Institutions, perhaps.
Schools and churches.
Families, yes,
our mothers and fathers,
brothers and sisters;
our pastors and teachers
with loving care
imparted to us the offshoots of suckers
emplaced in their guts
by others.

In the gut, this tiny crumb
occupies space and
makes brittle and thin and rigid
what should flow and pulse and beat.

Movement slows, fluids dry,
Dust collects in the veins and organs,
lithifies into a clastic sediment of
blockages and boundary lines.

And the breaking begins.

Dear one, I recognize in you
the endstage symptoms
of my own disease.

My dust calls to your dust;
my brittle breaking bones
sound an echo to yours.

Let us seek a greenhouse, a waterfall,
that oasis of health where
rules should be broken,
good sense need not apply,
and our boundaries
become
thoroughfares.

Yesterday evening I was privileged to be part of the crowd listening to Wole Soyinka, Nigerian Nobel-Prize winner, speak about the politics of art. Quite impressive, thoughtful, and funny at times. It was actually reading his book, Climate of Fear that gave me the beginning image for this poem.

Today I'm off to Center City to visit with some high school English teachers. Should be interesting!

Poetry Galore

No, that is not a sideways reference to a Bond film.

I spent Friday evening and Saturday with several Wyoming Writing Project folks in Center City, planning a course for new teachers on teaching writing, eating a lot (A LOT) and writing poetry. Fun was had all around, only a little pretentiousness and self-promotion was to be had, and we all had a great time. Even got some planning done, too.

I wrote a new poem, but I'm not going to post it here just yet. It is not yet worthy of your eyes, oh dearly beloved. Oh, and I also dreamed that I wrote a poem that solved all of the problems related to applying information from my dissertation research in classrooms. Finally! A breakthrough!

And then I woke up. Dammit.

NCTEAR

Got another email reminder yesterday about an upcoming conference -- NCTE's Research Conference, which can be found here. As you can see, the topic for 2007 is "What Counts as Literacy? Living Literacies of the Body and Image." Now THAT is exactly what my dissertation was about, and I have yet to get a good article published from it. Well, I did get an article but it was an invited one and not a peer-reviewed one. So, I'm thinking about framing a proposal that would use the research I've already done in terms of developing implications for classroom practice. That has ALWAYS been my difficulty with that study, is making the connection between it and the classroom. Perhaps the round-table based format for this conference would help me to get something going with it. On the other hand, I'm already so FREAKING busy with classes and other research projects that I'm not sure it's a good idea to get started on something else.

I'll think about it. The proposals are due November 1st.

Not to Worry . . .

. . . the sleeping problem is over. I have, however, been obsessed with my list of things to do and have been steadily crossing those items off while also attending loads of meetings, teaching, etc. Actually, my obsession with my to-do list is probably the only thing that's allowing me to sleep. Somehow, writing down all of those things swirling around my head helps me to shut off my worries.

Soon it will be time to register for classes again; I'm thinking of taking an introductory chemistry class in the spring. Should be a challenge!

Not Enough Sleep

I woke up countless times during the night, worrying. About friends who are ill, about a manuscript that I'll need to revise (again!), about my students, about my upcoming bid for tenure, about my husband, about my geology class and my inability to find a class to take next semester, etc. Worry, worry, worry. My mom says, and she is so right, that if I didn't have something to worry about, I would worry until I found something.

What's called for here, I believe, is more exercise. So I got up this morning and did 20 minutes on the gazelle (love that machine!) and 50 sit-ups (with a 10-pound weight). I hope that will do the trick. During the day, I'm good. Reason allows me to focus on the task at hand and to enjoy my day. It's only at night that my worrying side takes over -- sometimes -- and keeps me from sleeping.

Freshmen Are Rude

This morning in lecture, I had serious difficulty restraining myself from casting hairy eyeballs, uttering loud sighs, and coughing in (mostly passive-aggressive, I admit) attempts to shush the loud freshmen around me. The loudest bag of cookies ever opened, conversations about how boring the class was, and people dropping CPS units in class were all ganging up on my patience quota, attempting to frustrate me right out of my gourd.

I restrained myself by promising I would tell you reader(s) all about it.

See, my professor was not in class today, so the lab director (also with a doctorate) who just happens to be fairly young and female, took his place to lecture. I noticed a DISTINCT difference in the way students were behaving toward her, talking away as if she was not lecturing in the front of the room, etc. Perhaps there is something going here in terms of gender? Hmmm?

Anyway, it annoyed me and I wanted to tell you about it. And I wanted to cut off the ears of the cookie-eater behind me, but that is for another time.

Drum Roll, Please . . .

I. Made. The. Highest. Grade. In. The. Class.

Seriously.

And another thing . . .

I have a test on Friday. Think of me, please!

An Elephant

Rough draft of a poem written recently in a meeting:

A monstrous elephant
is rampaging through this meeting room,
thrusting his tusks through the upholstery
and battering away at the polished tabletop.
His massive head butts up under
the lip of the table, overturns it
and tramples heedlessly on the meeting
minutes, paper clips, and agendas.

The conversation glides quietly on,
with barely a ripple to mar
the calm surface.

Nuclear huh?

You might be wondering, dear reader(s), how things are going in the science nerd sweepstakes I have recently entered. Well, everything has, in fact, been going along swimmingly. I had to change where I sit because the band dorks turned out to be non-stop talkers -- very distracting, when I'm trying to figure out science for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE. I do have a huge bruise on my arm: on Wednesday in class, because some guy came in late, everyone in his row had to stand up to let him squeeze into the really tiny row. The girl who sat behind me stood up and DROPPED HER NOTEBOOK ON MY ARM. Ouch. But I am willing to take the beatings and the torture, just to be a science nerd.

I will say that my lack of science background caused me a momentary problem on Wednesday, when the professor -- who is really great -- was lecturing on the origins of the universe. He got the nuclear fusion part and showed us this diagram:



It looked like this to me:



but I went straight home and asked my even more science nerdy husband about it; I think I understood his explanation.

Today in lab we had to identify rocks, and that was somewhat difficult. The girls at my table and I kept looking at rocks and saying "Is that metallic? It's kind of shiny... but maybe it's not." Then there were issues with whether this rock would scratch glass, or could be scratched by a penny, or was metallic, or fizzed when an acid solution was poured on it, or tasted like salt, for god's sake. Complicated, especially for me and the other freshmen.

But now I can definitely identify galena and pyrite and probably plagioclase feldspar. Which is good, because we have a quiz next week!

Fern Envy

I got this fern from a colleague who said it had outgrown her house. Now it's in the process of outgrowing mine. It's huge and beautiful, of course, but the question is, where do I put it? It needs to be in a bright room without direct sun. And it needs to be up off of the floor, or my cat will eat pieces of it and vomit a lot. Right now, it's in a room on the north side of my house and it's on a baker's rack that's really too shaky and small for it. I'm thinking of buying a plant stand, but probably in that room, which I think will work ok.

Any suggestions on the care and feeding of unknown ferns?

Nap Cat

 
This handsome guy is one lucky cat. His name is Loner, and he's been with me since he was found abandoned as a young guy. 

As a Freshman . . .

Since I'm now taking a freshman level class, I'm technically both a faculty member and a freshman. It's been an interesting experience (now that I'm so experienced, with a week of class under my belt!), reminiscent of My Freshman Year by Rebekah Nathan (that's actually a pseudonym for Cathy Small at Northern Arizona University). I've sat in class and listened to interesting discussions like this one that took place between a couple of band dorks (I can say that, cause I was in the band in high school) behind me:

Male Band Dork: Wow! It's really crowded in here. I can't wait till next week.
Female Band Dork: Why next week?
Male Band Dork: Everyone goes to class for the first week. Next week, they'll all be skipping, and we can spread out a bit.

Skipping class? WTF? Why would anyone do that?

Also, I've noticed that, towards the end of class, these kids (and I say "kids" because I'm the only grey-haired chick in the bunch) start closing their books and putting them away just like my high school seniors always did, religiously, in the last 5 minutes of class. It always bugged the shit out of me then, and it still does, even though I'm not the teacher.

By the way, the website associated with this course is freaking amazing!! I'm completely impressed.

My class looks to be great, although my lack of background in chemistry is going to bite me in the butt, I believe. It took me quite a while to work my way through the section of chapter 2 on atoms and their accompanying electrons, neutrons, protons, etc. Luckily, my husband has long been a science nerd, so I was able to close the book and say "OK, here's what I just learned about electrons. . . is that right?"

We'll see how I do on the first test . . .

Ulterior Motive

Just saw a commentator on CNN remark that one motive for John Carr's weird declaration of his involvement in the Jon Benet Ramsey murder (ok, he said he loved her and she died by accident) could be that he was charged in Thailand with some other sex crime, and he preferred to deal with the police in Boulder, rather than those in Thailand.

OK. That makes sense.

Or, he's just a wack job. It's a toss-up.

Global Warming Ads

OK, I've seen the "tick-tick" ad on television, advertising www.fightglobalwarming.com, but this one is even more striking. Take a look:

Obsession with P.R.

I don't know what it is about Bravo's Project Runway but I seriously cannot get enough. I've got my DVR set to record new episodes, and then I have to watch some of it every morning before I leave for work. Perhaps it is that the next round of work is due to begin in LESS THAN A WEEK and I'm substituting obsessive behaviors for the real work of getting ready for it. I mean, I'll get the work done, don't get me wrong. But for some reason, Project Runway allows me to forget about it for around an hour a day. AND it's not harmful!

However, on the drawbacks side of the equation, is last night's dream about Laura, one of the contestants on Project Runway. In my dream she was building a sleigh. Yes, she was dressed in one of her characteristic glamour gowns, but she was hammering and welding and working with metal. Interesting.

On the issue of books, I did pick up my geology text yesterday afternoon and started reading the first chapter. So far, so good. But, knowing myself, I'm pretty sure I'll need to read every chapter twice . . . .

Hang Onto Your Hats, Campers!

TODAY is the day I pick up my geology texts. Calloo, callay! More later . . .

Can I Get Them Now? Can I?

In my overzealous preparation for the geology course I'll be taking this fall (cause I wanna be a science nerd) I decided to purchase my textbooks online at the bookstore, thinking I could get them early that way and actually do some reading before class starts.

But no.

I called the bookstore and they said, sure, come pick them up. I went there and they said, no, not until the 21st. I momentarily considered buying a new set of books and then returning the other set -- once I was able to pick them up -- but that seemed, even for me, a bit too paranoid and nerdy.

I am a bit nervous about starting out down the science route, but I think that's just part of the stretching-myself motif that is engrained in my current science push.

Also, last night we had company over for dinner on our deck, with our new furniture and etc. Had a GREAT time, with a very international crowd, representing folks who are from or have traveled/lived in Europe, South America, Central America, Japan, Australia, and Africa.

CDT near Encampment, Wyoming

After the rain ended and the sky cleared, we had this kind of lovely day . . .

Handy Reading Meme

I read about this meme on Profgrrrrl. Here's how it works:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open it to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence on that page.
4. Post the text of the next four sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. No careful choosing of books that will make you look cool! Just pick the one that is closest to you.
6. Tag five people.

The nearest book is David Miller's AWOL on the Appalachian Trail. AWOL is a hiker who thru-hiked in 2003, when my spouse hiked. I met him when I hiked about 200 miles in Virginia. In fact, Footslogger and I are mentioned on page 80-something!

OK, here's the excerpt:

"Baltimore Jack, repeat thru-hiker and all-around trail bum, is at the grill, churning out hot dogs and hamburgers. A piece of red tape, roughly the same size as a white blaze, is plastered to the back of his t-shirt.
I am intrigued by what I over hear from a small group of hikers. They are talking about Elwood. I move closer with my plate of food, and ask if they will start the story over, from the beginning."

Hmm. As to tagging, I only know a couple of folks with blogs who read this one. So ... Trout and Classroom 9, consider yourself tagged.

On another note, we drove out to Encampment on Saturday and hiked a few miles in on the Continental Divide Trail, camped overnight, and got a deluge during the night. No leaks from the tents, though! More on that in the next post.

One S One H One E One R One I

Thursday evening -- and late into Friday morning -- I had the awesome opportunity to visit with one of my oldest friends, Sheri (see title for spelling) and her family, who stopped by one their way back home from vacation to spend the night with us. We barbecued, we chatted, chatted some more, and talked till 2 in the morning. The last time I saw Sheri was maybe 8 years ago. Now, even though we were both 16 just yesterday, she has one child about to begin her senior year in high school and another starting 6th grade. Wow. How does that happen?

Oh, and mom -- Sheri said to say hi.

OK, this blog entry will not be complete without a few memories that Sheri and I share:

* Junior year English class, writing notes to each other in Shakespeare-esque language while Mrs. R droned on and on in her unescapable monotone. Statements like this appeared in our notes: "Wilst thou comest to my abode after schooleth?" and other such rot.
* Canoe trip with Explorer Post #4 down the Current River in Missouri, where we spent one night in a public restroom because of a devastating rainstorm and a frog perched itself on Mrs. R's face (not the same Mrs. R as the one above -- this was a cool Mrs. R). We also lyricized our adventure as follows: "Red water/ Red water/ That's what you get when you go down a six-foot waterfall with sharp rocks at the bottom."
* Touring campsites at Philmont Scout Ranch -- back in the 80s, when campers and staff of the female persuasion at this august scouting famility were rarer than six-footed antelope -- singing "In the Jungle" to sold-out audiences of panting males.
* Driving together to our job at Page Drugs (in my lovely Datsun, named Bernie) during several years of high school. We were usually singing along to an 8-track tape of one of Paul Simon's albums, screaming the chorus at the top of our lungs. We goofed off more than we worked at the drugstore, taking lots of "sample" pictures of people's butts with the Polaroid Land cameras (we had to make sure they worked!), running around the store with feather dusters, etc. There was that one time the pharmacy was robbed and Sheri was almost shot, but I won't get into that one here!
* The morning of our high school graduation, Sheri's mom and mine organized a champagne breakfast for us and all of our friends, who showed up in our pajamas. Surprise! It was a good thing no one was sleeping nude that night . . .

There is much more I could add, but I won't, just to protect the innocent. Needless to say, it was great seeing Sheri again, her family is the bomb, and we should not let 8 years go by without seeing each other again. Maybe another reunion trip down the Current River?

Weeds

I don't know whether to be happy or sad that I spent the whole morning (9-12) pulling weeds from my front yard. Should I be embarassed that I had that many weeds? Or happy that they're all pulled up? Either way, my hands and arms are sore, I have blisters on my palm, and I have a REALLY good excuse to spend the rest of the day piddling around. Ha!

About 2 weeks ago, I put weed and feed on my yard, which caused most of the weeds to shrivel slightly. This did make them easier to dig up, but . . . I still had to dig them up! I want to reseed in the bare spots, but I need to wait a month after the weed and feed, according to the instructions. So . . . I'll probably get some practice by reseeding in the back yard first, (where the weeds are growing happily) and then reseed the front once school starts.

It's not that I'm obsessive about my yard. I just want the grass to grow nicely, and it seems to be not doing so well. I've fertilized the heck out of it, and I water faithfully, but . . . .

We had dinner on the deck last night, with the new deck furniture, new umbrella, etc. Lovely! Felt all elegant and shit.

I Wanna Be a Science Nerd

Over the summer, I came to a startling awareness that has resulted in a choice that I'm still unsure about. Here's the deal: when I hike, I see rocks, and I wonder about them. How did that big chunk of (what I think is) granite get a vertical white stripe in it? How did that weird-shaped rock get left sticking out of a meadow? What makes the Appalachian mountains so rounded and green, while the mountains in the Grand Tetons, for example, are jagged and pointy and barren? (I know a bit of the answer to that is age, but I'd like to know more). So, I've decided to take up my employer on the promise to pay for 3 hours of coursework a semester, and use it to pursue these questions and others yet undiscovered. This fall, beginning August 27th or so, I'll be a freshman taking an introductory Geology course, also known as "Rocks for Jocks."

Another part of this for me is that I know I'll be pursuing something I don't have strengths in. Every other degree I've gotten has been in an area of strength -- literature, words, history, etc. I'm looking forward to a challenge, an intellectual one, that will require me to push on areas of weakness and make them stronger. At least, that's the tack I'm taking on it currently; we'll see when I start having to do math.

I'll keep you posted, my couple of readers . . .

Boring as Life

I received some harassment from a friend (yes, you, Jennifer!) about not updating my blog, so I am writing an entry under pressure.

Right now, things are pretty boring. I go to the office in the morning and work on projects, like

** editing chapters for a book (in regard to this book, I just found out that I'm going to be the first editor and not the second. Hoo-yeah!)
** writing an introductory chapter for said book
** writing a chapter on secondary literacy programs with a colleague from another southwestern state
** preparing for classes, which will start in a couple of weeks
** preparing for a research project on Instructional Facilitators

Mostly, I'm getting used to my new computers. It was my turn around for technology money, and I managed to get a new desktop and a new laptop. I LOVE my laptop -- it's tiny, weighs only 2.5 pounds, and fits smoothly into my backpack. I'm finally getting my desktop set up to run smoothly; the best thing about it is that the new monitor has USB ports right on it, so I can plug in my flash drive without getting down on my hands and knees and crawling around under my desk. Beautiful!

The weather has been delightful here this week -- today we had a high of 78 degrees. Perfect!

And I just found out that I'm going to get paid bookoo bucks for a project that I will enjoy working on. Hello, I'll be paying off my credit card . . .

Now back to Project Runway, my newest obsession.

Maine Pics

OK, this is the kind of thing I'm talking about. My mom would say "This is not a trail. This is a bunch of rocks with blazes painted on them." Actually, we found blazes were few and far between in these rocky sections, leaving us often wondering if we were climbing up the right set of rocks! The guy in the picture is my loving spouse. The bandana under his cap is to keep out the biting flies. You know, the kind that fly circles around your head for miles, looking for a way to get inside your brain? Sort of like a Twilight Zone episode.

Hard Hiking

Um, those Mainers? When they say a trail is hard, you should listen.

Slogger and I just returned from a week or so of hiking on the AT in southern Maine. Whew. That was -- bar none -- the toughest hiking I have ever done in my life. And since I've been backpacking since I was 12, that's a lot of hiking.

We hiked from Rangely south to Gorham, about 78 miles all told. Part of that involved climbing countless mountains, as the trail was either going up a mountain or down one. None of this weeny, sidehill hiking for southern Maine.

The highlight of the trip, of course, was the Mahoosuc Notch. This one-mile section of the AT, known as the "most difficult mile on the Appalachian Trail" is famous for its rock scrambles and general coolness. It's hard to say whether it's really the most difficult, but it did take us 2 and a half hours to negotiate over and under boulders, etc. Basically, there's a stream -- the Bull Branch, I think -- running through this narrow valley and on top of the stream are loads of boulders that range from smallish to house-sized. The trail winds around and over and through, sometimes through holes so small you have to take off your pack and push it through, then crawl through yourself. Here's a trip report on Mahoosuc Notch, if you're interested. Oh, and one of the coolest things about the Notch is -- it's really cool. There's even ice in crevices under the boulders, and as we were hiking through, every once in while we would walk through cool air that felt just like walking into a walk-in cooler. (And I do actually know how that feels, as I got locked in a walk-in cooler once by a sadistic fellow employee at a Boy Scout camp where I once worked. Maybe I'll tell that story at a later date.)Climbing up and out of the notch, we could feel the temps rising at an incredible pace.

The day we did the Mahoosuc Notch we hiked 5.1 miles -- and it took us from 8 in the morning to 5 in the evening to do it. So . . . needless to say we were a bit bushed. A different kind of tired, though, from the regular backpacking tired. The regular tired is a sore feet, achy knees, sweaty and disgusting tired; this one felt like I had done energetic aerobics and weight workouts all day long -- think The Firm workouts for a full day.

When we got into Gorham, New Hampshire, we had planned on hiking on to Pinkham Notch, but the timing was a bit off. (Translation: if we had kept on hiking, we wouldn't have had time to take a shower before taking a bus and two flights back here. Just can't inflict that kind of olfactory torture on the unwitting populace.) So we ended up renting a car and driving around New Hampshire, stopping at places where the road crosses the trail and handing out trail magic -- sodas, Little Debbies, and fruit -- to hikers who happened along. You wouldn't imagine how good it feels to see a hiker's eyes light up when you croon to them "We've got Swiss Rolls . . . "

Now that we're back home, we're compiling a video of photos from our trip, which we will obnoxiously send to just about anyone who either voices an interest or who we think might be willing to receive it without throwing it in the trash.

In the meantime, lots of work to do and lots of time to spend daydreaming about next year's long-distance hike. I'll be posting a couple of pics soon.

Peak Bagging

With friends from the AT in town yesterday, (hi Trace and One-Third!), we decided after lunch that we HAD to hike the Medicine Bow Peak trail. Got started hiking about 3 and had a beautiful, flower-filled hike. What lovely vistas. Reminds me of why I love hiking.

Speaking of which, we're heading for Maine soon to do our 120 miles from Rangely south to Pinkham Notch on the AT. Looking forward to that... this time I'm taking my digital recorder to do a better job of journalling.

Summer so far has been a parade of visitors, which has been lovely.

Not Enough Time

In spite of the fact that it is summer, I still have not had the time to finish posting my hiking journal from my Virginia AT hike last month. Perhaps because suddenly the deadline on the handbook section that I am co-editing is NEXT WEEK! Erg. That means I've got to spend every moment of Monday and Tuesday doing final edits on all four of the chapters I'm tracking, along with working on our co-written introductory chapter.

So . . . more hiking journal later, folks.

Now it's back to yard work. It is summer, dammit.

Hiking Journal -- Monday, May 22nd

My loving spouse dropped me off at the Blue Ridge Parkway (not sure of the mile marker, but it's near the Peaks of Otter Lodge) at about 10:30. He's only got just enough time to get back to the Tri-Cities Airport if he speeds the whole way. He'll probably miss his flight.
I hiked 7 miles in lovely sunny but cool weather to Marble Springs Campsite. Along the way, I met some thru-hikers: Pumpkin, Pepperoni (whom we gave a ride to Pearisburg), Caboose and Walkabout (picked them up on the Parkway), Energizer Bunny, and Lounge Lizard. Interestingly, Lounge Lizard was sitting next to a van at a forest service road about halfway through today's hike, with sodas, fruit, cookies, etc. When I asked what he was doing, he said that he had started the trail, but only got a few days into it (in Georgia) when he injured his knee. The interesting thing is that he was doing his dissertation research -- he's working on a degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies -- while hiking the trail. Sound familiar? When I heard this, I immediately took off my pack, sat down, and chatted for a while. I wish him the best -- in fact, it's probably for the best that he was injured. Though it means he won't get to hike the trail, he'll probably do a better job of his dissertation than I did.
As I reached Marble Spring, I thought about going on, but my legs were a bit wobbly -- first day, and all -- so I decided to stay put. Energizer Bunny, a 60-year old woman who is surely high on caffeine at all times, pushed on, planning for a 22-mile day. Better her.

Zero Day

Although I'm currently hiking on the AT in Virginia, I am taking a day off (a zero day, in thru-hiker speak) at a lovely bed and breakfast just off the trail. Internet access is just one of the perks of this beautiful place!

I'm keeping a journal of my hiking experiences, and will post those when I return.

Happy hiking on your own trails to you!

And I Didn't Cry

Graduation was this morning. Most of my students showed up to walk, and it was fun seeing them and wishing them the best. I enjoyed dressing up in my spiffy robes and snazzy hat. The graduation speaker was excellent, with lots of good things to say about the responsibility our nation has to provide a good education especially for the millions of children who live in poverty. Quite inspiring.

I got to stand at the end of the stage and give all of my students hugs as they walked off the stage, having received -- well, not their diplomas, but a neat portfolio for the one they will eventually receive in the mail. I hooded my first doctoral student, which was an outstanding feeling (congrats, Karen!).

And I did all of this without crying. Miracles. Never. Cease.

Exciting Stuff!

Yesterday was my last day of involvement in a year-long professional development project in a large city in my state (now called "Center City"). We've been teaching secondary teachers, speech therapists, principals, librarians, etc. about using comprehension strategies, developing text sets, writing, working with vocabulary as part of their work with students. It's been the most satisfying professional development work I've ever been involved in, particularly because of the ways in which groups of teachers at various schools are implementing the knowledge they've gained. Heard lots of stories yesterday about new projects started, new classes for students in which they are reading young adult novels related to various topics in content area classes. Lots of excitement brewing, and very high ratings on the professional development program itself.
I got to sit down with an art teacher and a music teacher who are taking seriously the involvement of literacy in their courses, and that was thrilling for me.
The drive there and back was beautiful -- I checked out a book on CD from the library and enjoyed listening to about half of it.

Good News!

As of yesterday, I am finished visiting student teachers! Calloo, callay, it's a beautiful day!

No, really, can you tell I'm relieved?

It was actually quite a decent semester for student teachers, except that I supervised nineteeen this time, spread out over 4 districts and 9 buildings. That meant that I didn't get to spend as much time with all of them as I wanted to, but I still feel that I did the best I could under the circumstances. (I know, what am I doing under there, anyway?)

Only a couple of problems, and those were handled with a relatively small amount of angst.

Now I must get to work on the umpteen billion writing projects that have to be finished this summer.

One More Thing

Another change to my junior-level English methods class: Since I'll be operating Thursdays as writing workshops, each student in class will collaborate with me on teaching the mini-lesson for one workshop day during the semester. The collaboration is so that the workshop focuses on an aspect of their writing that is in need of work, and so that I can make sure the instructional experience they get is valuable. Perhaps after the workshop, I should require them to meet with me to debrief the experience of teaching the mini-lesson? I'll need to be sure to have a clear, highly structured and well-articulated sense of what the mini-lesson should involve.

I think this plan has more possibilities for quality instructional time and for learning about teaching than the "opening circle" work that I did last year.

I also would like to work in to this class some experiences with reading and commenting on student papers. This will mean, probably, using the local writing project website (for which I am the technology liaison) for teachers in the state to post their students' writing, and for my students to have an opportunity to read and respond to those. It's a bit tough to figure out, because I'm not sure how to organize it so that both the preservice teachers and the students of the inservice teachers get the most out of it, especially in terms of timing.

I'll work on that aspect some more this summer.

FYI

Just an FYI. If you write a grant proposal that has this in it:
"This data base can help departments of education start to think about how current and future high school teachers are taught how to teach writing."

and this:

"This statistic would allow us to look closely at the kind of education our teachers are receiving and to look at how they are applying their education in the classroom."

you'd better have talked to me about it first. Especially when you're talking about English teachers.

"Start to think"!! What the hell?

Blizzarding

I decided this mornign that I would walk to work. Decided that BEFORE I looked out the window and saw the snow falling. That's right, you heard me, snow falling on April 18th.

But it's ok, I'm a bad ass, I can take walking to work in the snow. I pulled on my warm blue jacket, wool hat (made by my mom!), fleece gloves. I turned on my mp3 player (no, it's not an Ipod, damn it) and cruised along for a few blocks.

That's when the real fun began. The wind picked up, to the point where I could hear it whistling even over the 70's-rock sound of Lenny Kravitz. The snow was pelting my face, sticking to my jeans, crusting my gloves and hat. The side of my face started stiffening up, and I could barely begin to see the snow sticking to my eyelashes.

I started looking around for a building I could enter, but aside from just knocking on doors, there was nothing around. So I trudged on, passing other freaks of nature out for a walk in this terrible weather, until I finally made it to an office building where I had to run an errand anyway.

Whew.

Now, of course, the sun is out, the snow has melted, and spring is back. Such is life. I'm sure when I head for home this afternoon, another blizzard will hit. Just seems like that kind of day.

I recently sat in a meeting with some school administrators who told me about the state's investment (via an allocation of funding from the legislature) in "instructional facilitators" for school districts. These are teachers whose job will be to work with other teachers on improving instruction. My sense is that these IFs will be working particularly with math and literacy skills across the curriculum, especially at the secondary level. Many school districts in the state are now frantically getting their paperwork in line so that they can hire several IFs per school. For example in the district I mentioned above, they will be hiring 36 new IFs, mostly classroom teachers who will come out of their classrooms to work with other teachers.
This trend has been common in elementary classrooms, particularly in terms of teachers called "literacy coaches" -- this has a special meaning for schools involved in the Reading First work.
But in secondary schools, it's a fairly new idea.

Of course, as soon as I heard about this, my research mode kicked in. A colleague and I have something planned, something I am very excited about, to take a look in a mixed method format at what happens in secondary schools when IFs are provided to help teachers. Still in the planning stages, but I'm excited about it.

The whole IF thing also raises some questions in my mind:
* What kind of teachers will volunteer to step out of their classrooms and work with other teachers? Will they be (and this is my hope) the ones who are master teachers, who are keenly interested in improving instruction and who can work well with other teachers? Or will they be the ones who are sick and tired of being in the classroom and see IF work as an easier, less stressful option?
* Will these IFs be able to work with teachers? I mean, in my experience, there are some teachers who are seriously interested in changing/improving their craft (the easy and lovely ones to work with) and then there are those who would not change if a fire was lit under their ass. How successful will these IFs be with the latter? What will stand in their way? What will facilitate their work?
* Ultimately, we will want to see improvement in student achievement. Will this happen?
* What does this do to the principal's responsibility as an Instructional Leader?

In the meantime, while this work is in the planning stages, the chapters are beginning to roll in for the two editing jobs I've agreed to. Exciting stuff.

And my class in Casper is over for the semester (except for the grading) and I'm suddenly freed up a bit to get some writing done. Hooray!

Beer Poet(ry)

Here's a poem written by a long-distance hiker, Beer Poet, who is now hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. (He's also famous for his poem, "The Rainy Day (AT Poem)"

My Compass (8/13)

15 miles from Oregon
I realized
that I had lost a close friend. . .

(my compass)

This is a horribly tragic moment.
That compass had become my mirror,
my reflection of the real world. . .

When it looked back at me
I found movement and direction.

"Oh what grief!"

If only it could talk. . .
It would yell out,
“Help! . . .
Take me to my friend!”
and it would tell grandiose stories of adventure
and madness.

(It could tell one hell of a tale.)

but it lies quiet somewhere . . .

(without me)

Sadly sleeping,
without the movement . . .
without serving me well.

And the hush of the wind
sings a lulling sad lament
as the morning begins
the stars fade, and the sky turns
from black to early grey. . .
and I sip on a cup of tea
(Earl Grey)
with a distant bugle playing taps in my head

. . . and I miss my compass.

The Beer Poet

Change is a Good Thing

Lately I've been pondering changes to my junior-level English methods class, which focuses on teaching writing. This has begun with completely abandoning the textbooks for the class and adopting new ones. I've decided on these:

Teaching Writing: Craft, Art, Genre by Fran Claggett
Grammar Alive! A Guide for Teachers by Brock Haussamen
Risking Intensity: Reading and Writing Poetry with High School Students by Judith Rowe Michaels

I'll also need to have students read some chapters on the writing process, on conferencing with students, on setting up a writing workshop -- I've got most of those in hand.

I'm thinking of setting it up in a similar fashion to last year, with Tuesdays being regular class days and Thursdays being workshop days. As to the workshop, we will be spending time developing our own portfolio of writing, including at least one narrative piece and some poetry.

Other assignments I'm thinking about include using Hillocks' ideas about structuring writing and a sense of writing workshop format to have students -- individually -- create a plan for teaching a particular type of writing. This will include a "gateway activity" and then a series of structured lessons, in workshop format, to assist students with writing that particular genre.

That's about as far as I've gotten so far, although I have other ideas milling about in my brain.

The highlight, for me, of our spring break diving trip in Belize, was swimming alongside this turtle for a good five minutes. Eye-to-eye, we shared this moment. What a blast! 

Spring Break is Coming! Spring Break is Coming!

Here's what I'll be doing over spring break . . .

Friday night, our search committee took our final candidate out to dinner. The folks at the table started counting the number of times I said "Belize." I think the count was about 10 in an hour and a half.

I'm expecting to come back tanned, fatter, and happier. I'm certainly not taking any work with me. Sigh. Can't wait.