Lil's First Video

Oh If Only I Had Been Taught Mulitplication This Way

I know Lil and Han are gonna love this.

The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet - Trailer

Here is a better link to the trailer made by a parent :)

Blizzard

We wake up to this...

And so we begin to dig out...

Eliot wishes he could play "king of the hill"!

While Bryan blows through the driveway...

Dan blazes a trail down the sidewalk with his shovel.

The house peaking out of the snow...

The guys toast to their work...

Shovel/blowing revisited... notice the pile has outgrown Bryan.

The front yard...

Nearing the end of shovel/blowing, Kismet brings over Cranium for game time.

Lil and Kismet, just about to warm up inside...


Dan is silly after 10 hours of shoveling.

Mr. Heater glows again!

A little wind blown... unwrapping in the garage thanks to Mr. Heater!


Kismet lifts her ear flap to better hear Bryan's humming... the treacheries of board games in winter wear.


Cranium and Dan's Julia Child impression get the best of Bryan... tee hee...


The house after the plows came by and the sun came out!

The driveway Sunday night... more like a drivetunnel!

Show Shirt

Ok, so it's backwards, but at least I am posting pictures....

Preview

From our partial dress rehearsal:

Not trying to rub it in...

but we had venison dinner yesterday. Here are some shots from that:

For the first time ever it was cooked inside! This required much reorganizing of oven space...


Dwight, Cindy and Gracie chillax...


Even inside, the guys stood around the meat and talked about the one that got away... deer that is...


I am including this just for the flour print on Dwight's elbow, placed there by Dad as they cooked together for what must be nearly the 100th time...


Wish you had been there girls!

Well here...

I was feeling bad because I had to skip posting on Saturday, and I log on to find that neither of my sisters has posted at all... imagine my dissappointment! I skipped Saturday because although I now have internet at home- whoo hoo!!- I have to use my slow old computer because my work computer won't connect; ah, the mysteries of technology. Anyway, didn't have the time to set aside and needed to charge my camera anyway. So, today bring you three photos instead :)
Eliot enjoying the snow and the 9 degree day we are having here...







This last one is my favorite, with his ears in flight and his face full of snow; a dog in action!

Pic a day...

So, on Mila's Daydreams, a sight I enjoy for her cute imaginative stagings, she is doing 1 pic a day this month ( which are not of the cute stagings, but more for her family), leading up to Christmas... and I think that sounds like a lovely idea to reignite this blog and to share a little humor, love, craziness, what have you, in this busy month!!

I'll kick it off...Sisters, please play too??

Here is me, with my daily jar of iced coffee and my SLP pride colors, which I rock every Friday!

Lil Learns Technology

I am attempting to learn how to put a link to an assignment on my teacher blog and this seems the perfect platform for the lesson... let's see shall we??


Check out my old 7th grade syllabus here

Mama gets her ipad... or tries to!

Here is Mom, surprise gift cards in hand, ready to buy her iPad! Sounds like she and Bear had a blast at the Manhattan Apple Store!

Amazing

I may be behind the eight ball on this one, but just heard an interview with these guys on NPR and had to check out the youtube clips. This one gives kind of an overview/ example of what they do... watch the ones where they are actually pulling a hoax, like impersonating the Cargill DOW folks, or EXXON. Pretty amazing!




In this one they give a key note address proposing that those killed by global warming are used as fuel in the future... for real! And these people applaud!!

Aweeeeeeee

Speechless

Do you suppose these girls parents watch them gyrate and thrust with pride?

Teaching

Today is the final day of the first round of major testing this year. The tests my kids are taking are called the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment, or MCA's. These tests are what we call "high stakes" because they have a significant impact on our lives. These are the tests used by the federal government to determine if we are making adequate yearly progress, AYP. There are something like 20 total cells which are measured. For example, black boys are one cell, special ed girls are another, free and reduced lunch is another, and English language learners. If you school has more than 20 kids who meet the criteria for being in a cell, then you must have 100% of those kids pass. If you have 19, they can all fail, no biggie. Each year that you don't make 100% in a cell, you are put on what is called "AYP", which is confusing because it is actually a list of people who didn't make AYP. At any rate, every year you are on this list the school suffers some consequence. I don't remember them all, but something like the 1st year you have to pay for any tutoring that a family may want, the 2nd year you pay for bussing to a different school, etc. This is all beyond non-sensical because one of the more major reasons schools don't make AYP is lack of resources, and then every year you don't make it you have to spend money on things outside of the classroom as part of your punishment. Additionally, the cells are accumulate separately. For example, imagine you are a school that has recently had a rise in ELL kids, like some of the farming communities a little further out from town. These teachers have spent much of their careers teaching white, middle class Catholics and Lutherans, and now they have a significant population of Hmong, Latino or Somali students. The teachers may be wonderful educators of their previous students, but it takes them a few years to learn the best techniques for the new kids. In 2007 they are on AYP for ELL. And in 2008. But, by 2009 they have spent an enormous amount of time on teacher training, goal setting and innovative teaching and they get 100% of their ELL kids to pass! Whoo hoo!!! However, in the meantime, the bad economy has forced some other families out of the city and their population of kids on free and reduced lunch has grown enough that they will now be counted in this cell, and they don't all pass. This means that they will be on AYP for the third year. Of course they all want all their kids to pass, which is why they have worked so hard to help the ELL kids... but now they are on year 3 of AYP. They are stressed. They need to re learn how to teach a new population of kids in poverty, which is a highly transient population anyway and often can be hard to form relationships with, not to mention that they often have been in a few schools already and their learning lacks continuity and has huge gaps. Now, this school has 2 years to get all of these kids to pass or they risk being shut down and reconfigured. Jobs could be lost, families disrupted.

At my current school the stress is high. We have spent most of the year preparing our kids to one degree or another. We have offered after school classes, practice testing and additional help. We have monitored our F's and had homework lunch for anyone failing. We have prevented play time in sports or other extra curricular activities for kids not passing. We have worked hard. Parents over-ride us, or won't let their kids stay after for whatever reason. The media bashes us for not doing enough. Kids increasingly bring weapons to school, or bullying gets out of control and schools are blamed. My colleague was punched in the face yesterday for breaking up a fight between two girls over sweatpants. It is insane. And now, today, I sit here with my own future, to some degree, in the hands of these kids.

As a reading teacher, my content is one that is included on the tests. In the fall, when this year's data is released, they will look first to the English and Math teachers to either praise or blame. And yet, though it is certainly my job to teach them as well as I can (and I am the first to criticize bad, lazy, ineffective teachers) ultimately, that passing depends on them. Can Jon pay attention long enough, or will the promise of his ipod after the test push him to rush? Can Tiffany forget about her parents divorce and her fathers treatment for mental illness so that she can read these passages? Will Tom, a child generally disenfranchised from school, with parents who do enough drugs that even I know about it, even care enough to read the questions? I am not allowed to look at the tests at all, so I don't even know what the questions are, nor can I predict if all my preparation was even in the right vein, as I have no idea what they were tested on today.

Tell me, does there exist and equivalent in the business world? Are there companies who rate their workers exclusively on how the client responds, in a situation where the worker is not even allowed to see the questions being asked of them? This can't possibly be the norm else I can't imagine a single cell phone customer service person remaining employed more than a week. Plus, my clients are not even adults. I mean, if I was aware that my bad response or lazy attitude on a customer service survey or questionnaire could actually cost someone their job, I would give some real thought to what I said. Not so with a 13 year old. These test have no effect on their grades or advancement or anything and they don't even get the results for 4 months, so to them it is just an annoying thing they have to do that the teachers are all crabby about.

This system is messed up. Let's all just hope that my kids cared enough to do their best so that I can continue to have a job long enough to see it fixed.

Shameless Redirect

On Friday I wrote a post on The World In A Paper Cup regarding some amazing efforts & causes. Just wanted to take a moment to share it with all of you as I am sure you'd love to support such endeavors. So, click here.

Sweetie Darling, Sweetie Darling, Sweet Darling

Deep Loathing

I have a new and renewed hatred of Wells Fargo. I can't even speak in detail about this hatred at the moment, but I want to go as near as possible to public humiliation of this vile company, thus I will be spewing my hatred on every publicly visited site I can access. Really, they are not alone... the list of horrible banking people is pretty long, but today, this is the company that has burned me the deepest, so they shall have my wrath.

It is a scary thing if even someone such as myself, educated and with a steady income, can find themselves so screwed over by the bank and so unable to dig out of debt. Somehow, I keep believing that things will get better and I will somehow go back to not being financially screwed all the time. I have no idea why I have this faith... probably because if I gave it up I would shrivel into a ball... Unfortunately, this will be done without ANY help from the banking world, in fact, they work at every turn to make financial rehabilitation COMPLETELY impossible.

And, what really sucks, is that there is nowhere to express my anger. I yelled, in hysterics, to the operator woman- the 6th I had spoken to over 3 phone calls- in tears, freaking out, and she can't do anything anyway. This is her shitty job. I know Well's does not pay well. This chick is just dealing with angry people all day and then goes home, probably lights a smoke and has a drink and bitches about all the hysterical people who freaked out at her. It's nothing off her back... nor should it be really. She, or any of the total of 9 operators I spoke to in a total of 4 phone calls in 50 mins, could probably make some real and effective changes to the financial world. But instead, no. These institutions are run by very wealthy, selfish and ultimately cruel people.

I will, however, be making a visit to the branch and the stupid man who set me on this path of horror a week ago.

Easter Craft-a-Go Go!

Here are the assorted crafts Sophie and I have made over the last several days...

First, DumDum sucker flowers:




Then, a basket of bead birds and bunnies:


And, inside the egg, a baby:


Mama and Baby:



The freaks and geeks of the bead baby world were quickly whisked away to a commune of discarded playthings that was erected in the back yard:


Big Heads:


Babies with big hair!


And, finally, a card to round it all out :)


So... are we all impressed?

TWINS FIELD!!!

I have a big post that I am trying to put together to cover the whole of the spring... but in the meantime, I had to share with you the exciting pictures from the first game EVER played in the new Twins ballpark!

View from 394 heading downtown:


Coming out of the skyway from the parking garage:



We sat along the third base line, very near to the field. For this game- played by the Gophers- it was all general admission, so we got to explore things we will probably never be able to afford to see otherwise :)



The new, and totally awesome, screen:


A giant board with an old logo from the Twins sits in the outfield. If a Twin hits a home run these two, Minnie and Paul, will shake hands:


This is the view from the cheap seats:

Not too bad!

Everybody enjoyed the sunshine... for a moment :)


Zach and Joanna were there... it was their idea after all :)


And Kirby was there too!

Lil, Please Please Please Do This Next Year

Happy Friday!!!!!

Shredding!

During a brief break in my scads of work perused some of the videos recently posted by friends in Google Reader. I came upon this one in a series called Shreds. Watch then read some mo...


You see what these trick bastards did? They've taken out the actual music and replaced it with crap over dubs. Instruments are only featured when they appear on camera (with the exception of Clapton) and none of the replacement music is remotely good. It's a interesting little project.

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

I am plum tuckered out. I got three hours of sleep last night- probably my subconscious getting back at me for sleep most of Saturday whilst dealing with the flu- and I have zero attention span right now. 0. goose egg. nada. Which is, of course, why I am taking time from my woefully ignored "to do" list to post this picture:

This is exactly what I wish I could be doing right now. Alas, I'm an adult now; one v. far from home at that. So, I shall go forth an float through the rest of this day on my own. Thank goodness a night of canasta, horsty-overies and good friends await. 

It's Up

Gowan over here to hear me "sound so knowledgeable" according to one of my readers. Tee hee hee, boy do I have them fooled. But really, it was a true honor to be asked and hopefully it'll grow my audience a bit.

Click Here

baby bear hurts her paw

Driven by her love of avocado and desire for dinner, Hannah decided to challenge the very large berry, also known as an alligator pear, to a duel... unfortunately, the end result is Avocado 1, HB 0.



HB, I hope your thumb is soon on the mend and you can even out the score!

Mama I'm Gonna Be On The Radio

I was just asked to give 10 minutes to HypeM Radio tomorrow!

I'm gonna be sharing the acts I'm excited to check out at SXSW in a few weeks and do a little push towards the new site. We spent the entire weekend moving the entire TWIAPC operation over to my own server so I control everything. Ry was incredibly patient with my pestering q's and beyond helpful with simply taking the reins when the minutiae began eating away at my brain. It's nice to get this opportunity to hopefully get a few more readers and give some of the lesser known acts at SXSW some love. Anyways, I'm not sure when the show will air but I'll be certain to post an update when I find out.  It's crazy to look back at where the blog was this time last year and how much it has changed my life. I'm really looking forward to seeing what SXSW is all about too.