Last night I melted a bag of cat treats. Then, I tried to change my shower head only to realize that I myself am not strong enough to get the new part on tight enough so the water doesn't spray out in all directions. Now I have to wait for Mr. Sturm to come visit on Sunday to fix it, so I think I need to go to my parents house earlier than planned today to shower.
Finally, Squeaky has a furball on her back leg that I want to cut off before it gets any worse, so I chased my cat around for a while this morning with a scissors. Goodness only knows what an observer would have thought. Eventually I gave up, because even when I caught her, I couldn't hold her down and cut off the furball in what I felt would be a safe way. Now I have two jobs for Mr. Sturm on Sunday.
In good, less incompetent news, it is Spring Break for me! Monday and Tuesday I get to go to a bed and breakfast in Lanesboro, Minnesota. Then, I'll putz around at the cabin for a while before returning to my folks' home for Easter. Yay!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
4th Grade Social Studies
One of my co-teachers in 4th grade has let me go crazy and take over for our Social Studies Unit 4 on the Midwest. Teaching the content from a language perspective (since I am an ESOL teacher) has been a little more challenging than just following the book to the tee, but we have seen great results! The kids are active, engaged, participating, and, while we have yet to do a formal assessment, seem to be getting the material. Their illustrations to go with the unit vocabulary and definitions were all quite good.
So, if you are a teacher out there teaching Houghton Miffline Social Studies and are looking for some different lesson plan ideas, I would be more than willing to share some of the slides and handouts I made to teach this unit. Of course, it is all based off of the Houghton Mifflin States and Regions curriculum, so you'll see a lot of quotes or similar phrases and statements.
As a teacher who teaches so many different grades and subject areas, I always enjoy when people share their ideas. I especially like "Waltke's Web" for ideas or powerpoints about the Scott Foresman curriculum. If there is an interest, I will post or somehow share my social studies materials.
Teaching is pretty fun, isn't it?
So, if you are a teacher out there teaching Houghton Miffline Social Studies and are looking for some different lesson plan ideas, I would be more than willing to share some of the slides and handouts I made to teach this unit. Of course, it is all based off of the Houghton Mifflin States and Regions curriculum, so you'll see a lot of quotes or similar phrases and statements.
As a teacher who teaches so many different grades and subject areas, I always enjoy when people share their ideas. I especially like "Waltke's Web" for ideas or powerpoints about the Scott Foresman curriculum. If there is an interest, I will post or somehow share my social studies materials.
Teaching is pretty fun, isn't it?
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
One Good Foot, One Sweaty Foot
I once returned from school to find the Protagitron frozen in our kitchen, standing in a lake of red oozing in all directions. It had turned out that she had dropped a bottle of some sort of red sauce which had broken. The shards of glass had then sliced open her toe, and the sticky crimson lake was a horrifying mixture of condiment and human blood.
Practical, and with General Tao Chicken in mind, this small setback did not hinder the Protagitron's progress. She cleaned up the mess and bandaged her foot. As it was, however, the toe wound was quite deep and continued to bleed for quite a while. Rather than visit an emergency room to see if she needed stitches*, Protagitron wrapped her foot in many bandages, put it in a plastic baggie, propped it up on a chair, and enjoyed her Chinese food delicacy of a dinner.
I bring this story up, and hope the Protagitron does not mind me telling it as imitation is a form of flattery, because I now have a plastic bag on my foot. After a delightful bath in my relatively clean tub in my somewhat tidy bathroom, I could not stop the bleeding from a shaving wound. If you are a person who shaves their legs, you know how these wounds can be. They are small, but gush blood in an endless stream. After bleeding on my towel, in the tub, on the bathmat, the kitchen floor, and in the sink as I tried to wipe up the blood and apply bandages, it became clear that my efforts were futile, much like resistance to the Borg might be.
Taking inspiration from one of my favorite women of all time, I did what I could with a band-aid, then put my foot in a quart sized bag, sealed it around my ankle, and called it a night. It is better my foot sweat a bit and the inside of a plastic bag get blood-stained than I bleed all over my couch.
*And who could blame her? I once walked in and right back out of an emergency room in Quebec. Also, I watched the film Jesus de Montreal. I know that visiting a hospital, especially the urgent care part, is a surefire way to die a slow, agonizing, death due to incompetent and negligent care and understaffed healthcare facilities.
Practical, and with General Tao Chicken in mind, this small setback did not hinder the Protagitron's progress. She cleaned up the mess and bandaged her foot. As it was, however, the toe wound was quite deep and continued to bleed for quite a while. Rather than visit an emergency room to see if she needed stitches*, Protagitron wrapped her foot in many bandages, put it in a plastic baggie, propped it up on a chair, and enjoyed her Chinese food delicacy of a dinner.
I bring this story up, and hope the Protagitron does not mind me telling it as imitation is a form of flattery, because I now have a plastic bag on my foot. After a delightful bath in my relatively clean tub in my somewhat tidy bathroom, I could not stop the bleeding from a shaving wound. If you are a person who shaves their legs, you know how these wounds can be. They are small, but gush blood in an endless stream. After bleeding on my towel, in the tub, on the bathmat, the kitchen floor, and in the sink as I tried to wipe up the blood and apply bandages, it became clear that my efforts were futile, much like resistance to the Borg might be.
Taking inspiration from one of my favorite women of all time, I did what I could with a band-aid, then put my foot in a quart sized bag, sealed it around my ankle, and called it a night. It is better my foot sweat a bit and the inside of a plastic bag get blood-stained than I bleed all over my couch.
*And who could blame her? I once walked in and right back out of an emergency room in Quebec. Also, I watched the film Jesus de Montreal. I know that visiting a hospital, especially the urgent care part, is a surefire way to die a slow, agonizing, death due to incompetent and negligent care and understaffed healthcare facilities.
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