Wahoo!

Alright, kinda cool. First time I decide to actually comment on something and I get an Editor's Pick. Here's the NY Mag.com article that I commented on, I found it linked from this BRO post. My comment is almost all the way down on the second page of comments.


Editor's Pick

Buffalo or NYC, choice is yours, surely depends on your ideals, "what" is "where" in you pyramid, can't do this in beau fleuve, wouldn't do the in the apple, needing to know what you want, tis key but the same lock won't accept both, come here, go there, go somewhere.......??

By jamnjazzz on 08/25/2008 at 1:19pm

I Think She Likes the Water

The new pup (Autumn) went out yesterday for her first hike. Nothing major just a little walk at Tillman to get here used to being out on the trails with us. She was good as Gold(en) and even though she liked being in the lead, she never let us out of her sight. That's a good sign.

So, part of Tillman is a couple of small abandoned quarries and it makes for perfect swimming holes. We let Autumn get her feet wet and she kept wading a little farther in the water. Slowly we started tossing a stick in the water for her to Retrieve and as this went on, she kept getting more aggressive in jumping into the water.

Autumn scared herself once or twice. The first time was when she stuck her whole head in the water trying to catch a leaf, and the second time was when she left the bottom and swam for the first time. She kept going back for more, each time leaving the shore a little more until she swam out for a stick and then swam back.































Looks like she's gonna be a real Golden. Also looks like we'll be coming back to the beach many, many more times.


As promised........

Coming home it was nap time!!

What's Going On??????

One of the reads I came accross recentely is this disturbing saga of American education.

One Teacher's Cry

I have some idea and sympathy for what she is saying and our national education policy is certainly a formula for disaster. I know a little about this because a long, long time ago........

I spent some time studying to be a teacher. I had tutored and trained people at various stages of my life experience and I thought....."Hey, I'm good at this, I should do this for a living" Besides, I felt (and still do) that my area of expertise is of extraordinary value in addressing the problems of our society. Don't we all!

So after being layed off, I figure, be a teacher. I apply and am accepted at a local institution of higher education and start by taking my general teaching courses. Nothing earth shattering. I them progress to taking some area specific teaching courses (Dr. Wielder, your course on Reading in Secondary Education is one of the 3 best courses I've ever taken, kudos!) and a few puzzles begin to surface. In many classes there is a theme running through all of this that says......"Make it fun! Keep them amuzed!" as if the students (were talking secondary students now, Jr. and Sr. High) shouldn't be asked to actually work for their progress. The notion that progress might actually be hard and difficult and something other than entertainment was completely swept away and ignored.

OK, well, I figure once I get into methods, I'll really see how to teach. Wow, suprise.....it got worse. The methods program was run by an elementary education specialist and boom! Work, who needs that! The kids must be entertained, we're all performers. So being totally disillusioned here I think to myself, I don't know about this any more. But I've got three semesters invested and all I have left is student teaching, and if I don't it's a waste money and time. So off to student teaching I go.

Yep, you guessed it, final blow. Let's be serious now America. You want to know why education isn't working, it's because we don't expect our kids to work for their education. They don't value an education because they see it as some sort of magic, and if they don't understand, oh well, they just weren't one of the lucky ones.

Here's the real problem with education. Teachers are simply baby sitters, and if someone actually learns while in class......wonderful, but the primary goal is to keep everyone quiet and orderly and pacified and moving through the system with a minimum of headaches and knowledge.

Valuing education can be blamed on society, or the media or teen culture. Look deeper though and you'll see the real culprits are parents. Some parents took the time to instill values in their children, some entertained them. If a child values education, they want education. I a child see's it as useless, well good luck.

I'm Back......

Going through a slew of unread reads, and came across a link for a personality test. I always think these things are interesting so as long as it not too long, I'll give it a try. So what do ya think?? Here's the link if you want to take it yourself.

Quiz

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...

NBPC - The Daydreamer

Nature, Background, Big Picture, and Color

You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on the hidden treasures of life (the background) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the colors around you. Because of the value you place on nature, you tend to find comfort in more subdued settings and find energy in solitude. You like to ponder ideas and imagine the many possibilities of your life without worrying about the details or specifics. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You are a down-to-earth person who enjoys going with the flow.

Back In A Day or Two

Still loungin', back in a day or two!!

Breakfast Anyone?

Ok, so this is a few days old, I've been on vaca and been busy doing stuff, so posts have been slow. This was last weekend and the attack of the Banana Pancakes. Nothing fancy, just add a mashed banana to the mix and adjust moisture accordingly. This time we had some addons instead of syrup; strawberries, whipped cream, chocolate chips, powdered sugar.

This time we had a guest, Erin (on left) had her friend Jackie over for the weekend and both enjoyed breakfast.

Never Perfect

Here's the only flowers in our wildflower garden right now, just 3 cone flowers, that seem to be haveing some problem with bugs of some king (the appear to be getting eaten). But right now they are really vibrant as I sit here looking at them. Thier violet is set off against the white fence and they're just standing out so proudly as if saying, "yeah, that right, isn't this a grand garden". Kinda funny really how they're taking the responsibilty of all the rest of the plants on themselves and displaying themselves.

Our garden is a real late spring early summer lover, lot's of day lilies that are gone now. Just this one cone flower plant is left, trying to carry on.