I'm usually behind the times. For instance I have an iPhone 4 and I've only had it about 6 months and now most people are getting the 5c. Shoot I'm just happy with my 4. Not only with phones but lately with TV. Jon and I just started watching Breaking Bad. Ironically we watched the very first episode on the same day that the series finale aired. Hey better late than never...
Orange is the New Black is another show that apparently has been very popular but I just started watching. I'm going to blame all of this "behind the times" thing on the fact that I spend a lot of my free time reading. Yep that is way more important. Ok, anyhow, back to Orange is the New Black. WOW, where have I been? Well I've already established that my nose has been in a Nook. But really this show is so addictive. I'm loving it! First of all I was shocked to see Natasha Lyonne on there. I seriously thought she had died. Am I the only one? I was so pleasantly surprised to see her not only alive but back at work. I always love the characters she portrays. After I found out that this show is based off of a true story, of course I had to buy the book. I'm almost 1/2 way through it and it's so interesting. Of course the show is much more dramatic because that makes for good TV. But can you imagine committing a crime in your 20's and then 10 years later after you've moved on with your life for the better it comes back to haunt you? I can't help but think how horrible that would be!
I think the majority, if not all of us, did pretty stupid things when we were young. We just got away with it. But man, just think if you were just living your life as you do now and then POW! your past gets dragged up. We expect this of politicians and celebrities but just the average Joe Schmoe like you and I? Yeah that would so totally suck. On the bright side Piper Kerman is making money off of her ordeal but I think she's lucky to have rebounded like that.
Bottom line... if you haven't yet watched this show, what are you waiting for?
My positive for the day: Was supposed to work 8-5 today (BLAH!) but I got off at 4:30 instead. It's the little in things in life. :)
Monday, October 14, 2013
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Shadow A Student Day
One thing I really like about our middle school is the fact that they do Shadow a Student Day every year. In October they chose one 1/2 day that the school invites parents to school with their child. When Alexis was there I did 6th and 7th grade with her and then was "uninvited" in 8th grade. Apparently it is not cool to have your parent there by then. So I'm thinking this might be the last year I get to do this since Hallie is now in 7th grade. I went with her last year as well. In the 4 years that I have participated in this I've really enjoyed it.
When I was in school it wasn't really "hands on". I really just remember the teachers lecturing and then the students doing work. Usually on our own, but sometimes in a group. Over the 10 years that my kids have been in school I've been so impressed with how much participation students have in their classroom learning environments. They are learning so much more and are much more engaged then I ever was. It's awesome. Today was just another example of this and I'll break it down for you...
Advisory was skipped today due to being on a 1/2 day schedule so:
1st period: Broadcast- Each work station has an iMac that the kids do all of the editing for the shows on. Each group works on a segment of the show that airs on Fridays. Today Hallie's group showed us their latest work and then they were free to roam around campus and work on their filming. So cool! They didn't use this time to goof off, they were serious about their assignment. The teacher made it clear that it is their show not his. They definitely take pride in this.
2nd period: Math- Each table seats 4 students and today was Jeopardy day. The class is divided in 3 rows and each row gets to name their team. Ours was Team Motivation the next row was ##unmotivation and the 3rd was #team3. The teacher was totally cool w/ the hashtags and was apologetic that he was out of fruities to give out as prizes. Each row has 3 tables. Each table works together for the answer. Even us parents got involved solving problems. So much more fun to learn this way!
3rd period: PE- OK not much as changed here. Volley Tennis was the game today. Self-explanatory
4th period: Science- Hallie has the BEST science teacher. She is one of my favorite teachers. Hallie had her last year too. She has an 8th grader herself so she gets kids. The kids go into class grab their netbooks and jot down their homework in their planners and then class begins. Today was writing an hypothesis and then experimenting w/ catching a falling ruler between your fingertips. It was all about how many centimeters it takes before your finger react. It was partner work and the kids had a lot of fun with this. After documenting on paper they transfer to OneNote on their netbooks. I have noticed that most of these kids are the fastest two finger typers around. I wouldn't mind seeing them learn proper typing technique however.
5th period: History- Again they all have their netbooks and ready for work. Each student is working on a travel brochure for Rome and they have to have 5 articles completed by tomorrow (they've been working on these for a few weeks). These kids were really working hard and using the Internet for research. Before all of this though the teacher was telling a story of Attilla the Hun. She was such a good storyteller that I was so sad when she said it was to be continued tomorrow. I wanted more. Thankfully she gave a website to find more of the story. But she has a gift for storytelling for sure!
6th period: English- Now I have to say that Hallie has a very strict and kind of boring teacher. She's probably about ready for retirement but she did give a little of her background and it was interesting. Apparently her family has had land in Virginia that dates back to the American Revolution. They lost some of the their land to a National Forrest and her grandfather is buried in that land. Kind of neat. The kids had great group work in this class too.
All in all was a great day. I love being an observer because I am a GREAT people watcher. It's interesting to see the fashions at school, even with the ridiculously strict dress code.
My positive for the day: Spending time with my sweet girl at school. :)
When I was in school it wasn't really "hands on". I really just remember the teachers lecturing and then the students doing work. Usually on our own, but sometimes in a group. Over the 10 years that my kids have been in school I've been so impressed with how much participation students have in their classroom learning environments. They are learning so much more and are much more engaged then I ever was. It's awesome. Today was just another example of this and I'll break it down for you...
Advisory was skipped today due to being on a 1/2 day schedule so:
1st period: Broadcast- Each work station has an iMac that the kids do all of the editing for the shows on. Each group works on a segment of the show that airs on Fridays. Today Hallie's group showed us their latest work and then they were free to roam around campus and work on their filming. So cool! They didn't use this time to goof off, they were serious about their assignment. The teacher made it clear that it is their show not his. They definitely take pride in this.
2nd period: Math- Each table seats 4 students and today was Jeopardy day. The class is divided in 3 rows and each row gets to name their team. Ours was Team Motivation the next row was ##unmotivation and the 3rd was #team3. The teacher was totally cool w/ the hashtags and was apologetic that he was out of fruities to give out as prizes. Each row has 3 tables. Each table works together for the answer. Even us parents got involved solving problems. So much more fun to learn this way!
3rd period: PE- OK not much as changed here. Volley Tennis was the game today. Self-explanatory
4th period: Science- Hallie has the BEST science teacher. She is one of my favorite teachers. Hallie had her last year too. She has an 8th grader herself so she gets kids. The kids go into class grab their netbooks and jot down their homework in their planners and then class begins. Today was writing an hypothesis and then experimenting w/ catching a falling ruler between your fingertips. It was all about how many centimeters it takes before your finger react. It was partner work and the kids had a lot of fun with this. After documenting on paper they transfer to OneNote on their netbooks. I have noticed that most of these kids are the fastest two finger typers around. I wouldn't mind seeing them learn proper typing technique however.
5th period: History- Again they all have their netbooks and ready for work. Each student is working on a travel brochure for Rome and they have to have 5 articles completed by tomorrow (they've been working on these for a few weeks). These kids were really working hard and using the Internet for research. Before all of this though the teacher was telling a story of Attilla the Hun. She was such a good storyteller that I was so sad when she said it was to be continued tomorrow. I wanted more. Thankfully she gave a website to find more of the story. But she has a gift for storytelling for sure!
6th period: English- Now I have to say that Hallie has a very strict and kind of boring teacher. She's probably about ready for retirement but she did give a little of her background and it was interesting. Apparently her family has had land in Virginia that dates back to the American Revolution. They lost some of the their land to a National Forrest and her grandfather is buried in that land. Kind of neat. The kids had great group work in this class too.
All in all was a great day. I love being an observer because I am a GREAT people watcher. It's interesting to see the fashions at school, even with the ridiculously strict dress code.
My positive for the day: Spending time with my sweet girl at school. :)
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Filter
Today I was speaking with a coworker about having to keep a cool and pleasant face even when patients aren't very nice. It got us to talking about our personal lives and I told her that even though I'm very opinionated I have a pretty darn good filter. I think I'm usually pretty pleasant even when I'm kind of upset. I mean I deal w/ stupid, rude and condescending things people/friends say all the time. I try not to say much back for the most part because it's usually petty and not anything too serious. And actually I like those people if I look beyond those faults because lets face it we all have faults. But... one of these days my filter is going to burst and I'm going to freak the freak out on someone. hahahaha The problem with that is that rather than just let it out little by little I bottle it up and then when I burst I think I will go too far. Maybe I'll lose a friend and it will be over something super dumb. Oh well. My filter's still strong for now. ;)
On that note it gets me thinking about FB. It cracks me up that people think that it's important to friend everyone they know and have lots and lots of "friends". Even when they really don't like someone they will keep them as their FB friends. Hypocrites, I say! If I feel like someone is really negative or rude I'll just unfriend that person. I'm not trying to prove a point or be rude but why would I want that junk clogging up my newsfeed. But I think this offends people. Why??? You can unfriend me if you don't like seeing my crap. What's funny is that a couple of weeks ago some very rude people took it upon themselves to attack me and tell me to remove a post from my wall. Um? Excuse me? I was told I was inappropriate. I hate to tell you but they were inappropriate by tell me that. Screw them. If they are offended unfriend me. But no... those people are hypocrites. They kept me as the FB friends even though they didn't want to see my stuff and truly are not my friends judging by their behavior. I did decide to unfriend them and it wasn't to be petty. I just figured if my stuff bothers you then hasta!
Judging by this post nothing exciting has happened lately if this is what I have to write about. hahaha
My positive for the day: A patient told me that I was very nice and helpful to her. It made me smile. Makes my job worth it. :)
On that note it gets me thinking about FB. It cracks me up that people think that it's important to friend everyone they know and have lots and lots of "friends". Even when they really don't like someone they will keep them as their FB friends. Hypocrites, I say! If I feel like someone is really negative or rude I'll just unfriend that person. I'm not trying to prove a point or be rude but why would I want that junk clogging up my newsfeed. But I think this offends people. Why??? You can unfriend me if you don't like seeing my crap. What's funny is that a couple of weeks ago some very rude people took it upon themselves to attack me and tell me to remove a post from my wall. Um? Excuse me? I was told I was inappropriate. I hate to tell you but they were inappropriate by tell me that. Screw them. If they are offended unfriend me. But no... those people are hypocrites. They kept me as the FB friends even though they didn't want to see my stuff and truly are not my friends judging by their behavior. I did decide to unfriend them and it wasn't to be petty. I just figured if my stuff bothers you then hasta!
Judging by this post nothing exciting has happened lately if this is what I have to write about. hahaha
My positive for the day: A patient told me that I was very nice and helpful to her. It made me smile. Makes my job worth it. :)
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