Teaching

I wish I posted more.
Here's a thought I was having:
I like teaching.
I also like being a teacher. 
I'm a little ashamed to say that I'm not sure which one I like more.
Here's an XKCD cartoon that I happened upon recently.



I'm not sure if it's pro-teaching or not, but I like to think it is. 
The cartoon got me to thinking about technology and the future of human survival.
I'm a big fan of the "we need to work on getting off this planet and out of the solar system if we really want to survive" mentality. I think we could do it. Look at how creative humans can be when they put their mind to something. The only problem is, the technology that could save us is much less popular than the technology that is destroying. If we as a species are going to outlive this solar system we either need to refocus our technological interests (more to the things that aren't killing us) or increase our maturity to help us handle it.

Back to teaching...
As a teacher and as a new parent, I am often thinking of the best way to help my kids absorb the things I think they need to know. Over the years I've learned a secret: An excited kid will be more likely to learn on their own and more likely to actually enjoy the thing that they need to know. This is something I learned through personal experience - more through regret than appreciation, sad to say.

Besides being healthy, one of things I hope my son will learn is to play an instrument or two. I was never forced to play an instrument when I was younger. My brother ended up playing saxophone. I always thought it seemed like the most boring thing in the world to play orchestra-style saxophone. Maybe, if I had been shown something like the video below, I would have been more interested in playing an instrument.
Enjoy.

Last Day of Newvember

So today was it. The last day of Newvember. Today's challenge: blog about Newvember. I never completely intended on blogging about Newember all month long, so when I created my schedule of challenges today was going to be the only entry. I'm glad I blogged kind of regularly though. Let's look at all the things I tried.

1. Take a new route to work. Done and fun. 
2. Practice hand-stands. Done and painful. 
3. Be 10 minutes early for an appointment. Technically done, but not very well. Not something I see myself doing in the future. 
4. Study sign language for 1 hour. Done and done and done and done. My favorite challenge by far. 
5. Change the lyrics of a song to compliment someone. Done...with lots of help.
6. Go out of my way to meet someone new. Done. Not very fun. 
7. Write a review of an artistic performance. Sooooo done. Fun but exhausting.
8. Sleep on the floor. Done. So fun we did it two extra times. 
9. Make a t-shirt. Done. Thanks for your printer, friends. 
10. Make a new playlist highlighting one artist. Technically done, but not completely finalized. 
11. Make a collection of happy photos sans X. Collection started, but not completely finalized. 
12. Write a speech and give to myself in the mirror. Not done at all. Complete fail. 
13. Eat nothing but pizza all day. Done and loved it!
14. Paint a picture with someone else. Done. I hate painting. 
15. Write an actual letter to someone and mail it. Done and appreciated by the recipient.
16. Write stream of consciousness. Done and done. Very fun. Will do it again someday. 
17. Write a grateful email to someone. Done. No word from the recipient yet. 
18. Meditate. Done. Late. No fun. 
19. Pick up litter all day long. Technically done, but very weak. Not much litter where I was. 
20. Write a poem. Done. Late. No fun. 
21. Reply to a reddit writing prompt. Done. Meh...
22. Learn all I can about Spanish (my least favorite subject in HS). Not done at all. Complete fail. 
23. Do everything with the opposite hand. Nope. 
24. Be vegan for a day. Failed by accident then gave up. Didn't prepare well for this one. 
25. Blog about Newvember. Almost done. 
26. ***Study sign language and write stream of consciousness were done on multiple days. 

So...out of 30 days/challenges I completed 26. That's about 87%. That's me, 87%. A couple of them were done late. A couple of them are not entirely completed. That's ok. I practiced sign language enough to make up for any missed challenges. I also blogged a lot. I also made two t-shirts and slept on the floor two extra times. With all that extra credit I think I may have sqeeked out an A-. I'm pretty satisfied with the month. Actually, I'm extremely satisfied with this month. Other highlights include:

• Brother having a baby!
• Friends coming to visit and having a great time. 
• 3rd place in a 5k. 
• Pizza Fridays and faculty basketball Thursdays are going strong. 
• The ultimate season went out with a bang. 
• Football was fun. 
• Thanksgiving with family was great. 
• X is getting cuter by the day. 
• Got someone else ice skates and went ice skating. 
• Got to know coworkers better. 
• Listened to a lot of good music. 
• Visited NY and went on a great hike.
• Biked to work more. 

All this on top of Newvember!!
And it's No-Shave-November as well!

Wow, how can December match this? Here's what I'm hoping December will look like:

• Continue to practice sign language with wife, child, and coworker daily. 
• Be in bed by 9 so I can...
• Be at the gym around 5am three days a week. 
• Run at least two days a week.
• Continue to not eat any unapproved snacks through the rest of the year. 
• Streamline my biking routine to make it quicker. 
• Not freak out about flying out west with a 1.5 year old.
• Blog once in a while. 
• Be in bed by 9. It's going to be hard to do this but I really think it is the crux of the month.

Wish me luck...or come by for a visit! 

The stream will never run dry.

I really like stream of consciousness writing. Here's my latest stream. Someone else gave me the topic. It's one of my fav's.

The future.
I like thinking about the future. I really like planning and thinking on the future. Is “thinking on” a real phrase. I’m thinking of the time I saw some author speak and she said that she needed to stop “meditating on” her enemies. She meant that she needed to stop thinking so much about her enemies and thinking they they are negative. Oh well. Ok. Back to the future. I just watched back to the future 3 the other day. Not al of it. My father had it on while we were waiting for another movie to cue up. Is that the right way to spell cue for this meaning. Or is it que? Not sure about that one. So, the future. I really hope to do many things in the future. In the near future I would like to finish Newvember strong and consider it a successful month. I can already consider it a success depending on how I rate myself. If I rate myself like I was in school, I would only need 65% completed to pass. I definitely have that done already. But I want to hold myself to a higher standard. In a way, anything but 100% will be considered a failure, but that’s unfair. I think as long as I can finish some of my incomplete challenges by the end of the month then I’ll call that a success. Next month I’m going to make it simpler. I really only have two main challenges for next month: continue to learn and love sign language and work out regularly. I’m feeling lazy and weak and crappy. Last year we did the push-up bonanza, maybe I need to do one of those again?! No, I don’t want to do that. I want to go to the gym and work out. Since my breathing is not very efficient right now I’ll put cold weather running on hold an stick to bike riding (which I’m actually enjoying a lot lately). What I would like to do after this session of consciousness is map out a route from my house to school that will have me avoid hills and add some miles on my morning commute. A half-hour commute would be ideal. That would give me some exercise in the morning and afternoon. To really maximize my health I hope to go to the gym before riding my bike to work. I know it’s possible; I’ve done it before. I just need to take it one month, or week, at a time. Ok. Now I’m kinda freezing on topics. Someone else has disappeared and all I hear is the churning of the dishwasher. Ok. Now she’s back. She seems to be eating something. She said “wow, that was quick” when she saw the amount I have already typed. She then said “I do need the computer when you’re done.” That’s good, that will give me a reason to get off quickly and let my fingers/hands rest. I like this type of typing because I get to type really fast but it does hurt my fingers and hands pretty quickly. I wonder if those split keyboards are good enough to invest in. ok, I can see the word count at the bottom of the screen. I’m over 500 words. I’m drifting off. Someone else needs the computer. It’s time for me to go. This is the last stream of consciousness for Newvember. I will definitely do this again someday. It’s always fun and fun.

Tomorrow I have to learn all I can about Spanish, the subject I disliked the most in high school. I guess I'll do that while my better half is out and about. I'm not really looking forward to this. I didn't like spanish then and nothing has changed to make me rethink my opinion.

Oh, and here's a fun thing. This is a link to a google spread sheet. It has all the words I can currently sign (there might be a few missing) in alphabetical order. Feel free to use these words to create a sentence, paragraph, or conversation for me to practice. You can email it to me if you know that info, or you can just post it in the comments.
Thanks in advance for such a ridiculous request!

Newvember is slipping away

Newvember has lost some of its steam. Last week on Thursday I was supposed to meditate; I didn't. On Friday I was supposed to pick up litter all day; but I was only able to pick up a few pieces (which was all the trash I saw, but it still felt like a failure). On Saturday I was supposed to write a poem; no poetry has left my brain. On Sunday I was supposed to reply to a reddit writing prompt; I didn't even look at one. Today I'm supposed to practice sign language for an hour; I'm not quite there yet and I'm watching TNG and getting more tired by the minute.
Here is a cram session to keep Newvember going until the end of November.

My feet carry me swiftly where I go
My legs follow high and low
My eyes keep watch of rocks that grow
My hands grab trees my fall to slow
No need for music
No need for chat
I like to lose it
Just like that
All the way
Down I'll say
As soon as we can
Lets do this again
Beginning feelings are gone
Leaving natures silent song
Until next time I long

To be so gleefully wrong
And walk through the wood
With family that could

There's my poem. I call it: Slowly Rushed While Watching Star Trek

Now for the reddit reply.

The prompt is: the world's armies no longer use guns or explosives. describe a soldier's routine

Here's what I would have submitted if I had the patience to figure out how to submit on reddit. 

"Wake up you maggots. Your not being paid to dream about home. Rise and shine, eat and grin. Today is the first day of basic. As you all know the world's armies no longer use guns or explosives. In fact, the powers that be have decided to eliminate all forms of physical aggression. You'll be fighting the enemy with words. Insults will be your new side arm. Manipulation will be your RPG. Black mail and bulling will be your mines and mortars. Now, first things first, you'll have to be able to withstand any and all insults and comments the enemy might hurl at you. There's no point in being an expert in advanced battlefield boulder-dash if you're crying on your knees cause Charlie has touched upon a sensitive memory from your past. After defensive training you'll split up to your separate classes. You'll all become experts in: Arguments. Sarcastic Agreements. Bad Advice. Articulate Announcements to Distract. Basic Banter. Confusing Burble. Bickering to Annoy. How to Breakdown and Use a Cliche. Criticism. Cheap Chit-Chat. Your classes will last all day. You'll be given food on the go so as to keep your wits about you. If you have sufficiently impressed your teachers during your days class load you will be allowed to relax and speak kind words to each other. But you have to EARN that privilege. Any questions?"

Ok, I know it's not perfect, but I think it's pretty good for 20 minutes of writing while watching ANOTHER episode of TNG!

Before bed I will meditate.

For the rest of this episode (and perhaps one more) I will practice some sign language.

I still need to finish my Happy Group of Pictures, edit myMedeski, Martin, & Wood playlist, and write a speech. I hope I can get these done by the end of the month. If not, oh well.

Tomorrow is stream of consciousness writing. Should be easy.

Grateful email

I don't like the way grateful is spelled, it looks wrong to me.
Ok, so tonight I wrote a grateful email to someone. It was nice. When I started thinking about this post I thought I needed to write an email to someone who I owe a lot to. Like a parent or wife or something. Then I thought I should write it to someone who did something for me professionally, like a professor or advisor or employer. Then I though, why write it to a person, I can write a grateful email just saying how grateful I am for something, like music or running or trees or something. That made me think I should write a sarcastic email, like "I'm really grateful for you old-lady-who-drove-in-front-of-me-today-and-wouldn't-let-me-pass-cause-you-kept-swerving-and-I-was-on-my-bike-and-I-was-going-faster-than-you." But then I was listening to The Mars Volta and I though, I should thank the person who turned me on to this band (and so many others). So I wrote a grateful email to that person.

That's it.

Tomorrow I have to meditate. I'm not looking forward to that. Especially since I'm rocking out to The Mars Volta right now.

Here, have some Mars Volta.

I'm not sure how I feel about the middle of this song. The album version is just straight up rock, but this live version (as well as others of this song online) have these weird cover/inserts in them. Whatever; I think they pull it off.

Stream of consciousness

Today's challenge was to write stream of consciousness at least 500 words. 500 words is pretty easy. I feel like I could do this everyday. Now lets just get one thing straight; I'm not writing brilliant prose or deep thoughts, it's more just a log of what my brain is doing at the current moment. Here is the unedited product. I decided to write this just after school when all the kids had left. I did it in my room, at my desk. I wrote it on Word so it corrected some of my errors, but the grammar is all me!

Enjoy

I ride my bike to school. I’m glad I ride my bike to school. Last year I really didn’t like it. I started off not liking it and even though I changed routes and incorporated different things to make riding more enjoyable (better clothes, better lights, music/pod casts) I never really liked it. I’m very happy to think about my coming bike rides. I still need to get some things for the winter, mostly cold weather gear, but I’m pretty set and happy with my set-up. As I type this I’m looking at my bike in my classroom and I feel like listing the things I enjoy about my bike.

1. I like the basket I put on it. It’s an old milk crate. I think this is the best type of basket to put on a bike. It’s ugly, but functional. 
2. Uh oh, a friend of mine just Google chatted me about a JP Morgan settlement. He’s asking my view on the issue. Am I ashamed to admit that I have no idea what’s going on, or am I proud to admit that I don’t have any idea what’s going on. I’ll take the later. Now I’m thinking about how I’ll have to look this up. But do I look it up first and create a quick opinion…..oh, his second message is a link to the case in case I haven’t heard of it. Ok. So what I’ll do is respond that I don’t’ have a response yet. Then I’ll read over the information and discuss it with Zanny, she’s very helpful at making things clearer…except for when she makes things more opaque. Is that the correct usage of opaque? I hope so. Ok back to talking about my bike. 
3. I like that it’s kinda a nerd bike. Let me quality. One time I was in a stationary store on mass ave. I was reading a book about bike snobbery. In the book the author listed different type of riders. There was the rider who rides for exercise. The rider that is really a runner but who’s injured so has to ride a bike (ugh). The rider that is just trying to be a hipster. The rider who is trying to shrink his/her carbon foot print. The rider who just rides to commute. And the rider who just rides for pure enjoyment. I am obviously the commuter. They broke down the different type of commuters and I feel into the “nerd” type category. The characteristics were someone who just rides a bike that looks like an old mountain bike that has never really seen a mountain. Basket on back. A bunch of safety lights. A banana seat. Something that the owner has made into pure comfort and utility. Besides the banana seat, that’s my bike!
4. I like that, although I’ve had to fix the gears a bunch, my bike is pretty durable and has lasted a good amount of time. My parents bought me the bike when I moved back from California and I’ve used it ever since. I did actually get to ride it on some trails in the ADKS, but it now has road tires on so it wouldn’t be too useful on a trail. The shocks are also completely shot so they wouldn’t help either. 
5. I like that my bike fits nicely in my class. That is more a nod to my class than the bike, but whatever, this is my stream of consciousness writing.

I guess I should say some things I don’t like about the bike…..but I can’t think of any right now.

Actually, right now I can only feel sad and a little regretful at the fact that next year, I will (hopefully) not ride my bike at all and instead I will be running to school. That would be AWESOME!

Well, that’s more than 500 words. This took me just a couple of minutes. I like it. I will definitely do it again sometime.

But for now, I have to get changed and head home on my durable, utility oriented bike.
Bye.

Signing is fun

Signing is very fun. Someone else and I had a nice time practicing tonight. We took the 3rd lesson quiz and got 100% (although I feel like I took it before). I practiced a little with my coworker. It's hard to just walk into someone's room and start signing, especially when I'm really not that good yet. I signed the sample paragraph that was at the end of lesson 3. She was pretty impressed. So was I.

Oh, quick story about why I love this lifeprint website. I wanted to go to her (my coworker) and tell her that because ultimate was cancelled, I could practice with her for a bit. When I searched the word for Ultimate on lifeprint, the teacher showed the sign for frisbee!