bugsii

I spent the day doing laundry, packing and running some errands in preparation for our trip to Oregon tomorrow.  I’m really looking forward to it!

But, in the mean time, I’ve been collecting a little list of things I wanted to write about and they aren’t coming together like I thought they might, so here they are in list form… random tidbits:

1) Have you been watching the show, What Would You Do? on ABC?  I kind of like it, but I have a few complaints.  On the show, they set up these scenarios where someone needs help or intervention of some sort and then they see who will step up to help.  Then they act like the person that stepped up is the hero and those that didn’t are heartless jerks.  I object.  I’m the type to step up and yell at someone if they deserve it and everything, but some of the set ups on the show are so obviously fake sometimes people actually ask, “Is this real?”  For example, when they had a Muslim woman, blind person, Latino, gay couple, etc. try to order at a restaurant, the actor that played the racist/bigot/craphead was so over the top that I don’t know if I would have believed it was real.  See, the thing is, most hate is very subtle.  That’s why it’s been able to stick around so long.  Usually it’s something as simple as ignoring someone, or a snide look, or a joke between friends.  Full frontal racism/bigotry isn’t an everyday occurrence, so I don’t blame people for not really knowing what to think/do/say.  On the other hand, after the shock wore off, I really think I would go nuts on that actor.  And another thing, a bunch of the situations on the show could seriously put someone in danger if they intervene.  Like when there’s some domestic abuse going on in the park and people walk by.  Who knows what that guy is capable of?  I don’t know if I’d call the police (I hope I would), but you can’t blame someone for self-preservation.  I feel like, immediately following this show, 20/20 will come on and there will be a story about some well meaning woman who tried to help a homeless man and ended up in the dumpster.  And they’ll say, why would she have put herself in that situation?  And then John Quinones will jump out and say, well if she hadn’t she would have been a heartless jerk!

2) At work, I like to send people emails, even if they are a few cubes down or even just a thin cloth-covered cubicle wall away.  Why?  Since becoming more of a technophile, I’ve become fond of asynchronous communication.  That is, communication that doesn’t take place in real time.  I like having an email inbox that I can respond to when I have time, a good answer, or the energy to do it.  I do not like phone calls demanding an answer, one in which I often need to look up anyway.  Plus, I’m much more articulate when I can sit, think, and write out my response.  I like Facebook wall posts that you can choose when to respond to.  Sometimes, I feel like jumping right into the conversation, sometimes I like to walk away, but I like determining which of these I will choose.  I still like phone calls with family, but with friends, I kinda like text messages.  It gives me time to think.  It takes some immediacy out of the conversation.  And since I don’t carry my phone around with me in the house, it’s nice to be able to check it when I happen to look at it and respond when necessary.  When I think back to college, the days of AOL Instant Messenger (or AIM), and the 6 conversations I would hold simultaneously in 6 different boxes, each one blinking and waiting for a response, I break out in hives.  So much pressure.  I never turn chat on on facebook and AIM has slowly died.  I couldn’t be happier.  I like time to think and I think other people do to.  So that’s why at work, I send emails when I could just as easily poke my head into someone else’s cube or raise my voice just a bit.  I like to give them time.  Maybe they’re on the phone.  Maybe they’re in the middle of something.  Maybe they just don’t feel like dealing with my problem right at that second.  So, I send an email.

3) When I was in choir in 6th grade at St. Joe’s School, Mrs. Frey, the choir director told us that singing was praying twice.  I always liked that.  It seemed very efficient.  Plus, I liked to sing, so in my mind, it was like being rewarded for eating ice cream.  And I had a thought the other day as I wrote my blog.  It was one of the more mundane posts; one of the “first I did this, then this, then this, then this, the end!”  And I thought, what a bunch of crap I’m writing right now.  But, then I got to thinking, and I really think there’s some value in sitting down each night and documenting my life.  Not every day is profound, but as I review the day, I rethink much of what I did and sometimes I wonder why the heck I did that or what doing that says about me or means about the world.  And so, I’ve decided that writing (and blogging) is thinking twice and there ain’t nothing wrong with that.

4) I think I’ve discovered a learning prejudice.  So, I’ve been interviewing teachers about technology and there’s a general theme that comes out which is, technology is good if students are using it to learn.  It must help students learn or it should not be in school.  And, as of right now, cell phones and Facebook are getting the haterade because kids aren’t learning.  But really, this isn’t about learning at all because surely, kids are learning.  They just aren’t learning what we want them to learn.  They may not be learning our Academic Content Standards, but they are learning how to communicate, how to use technology, how to be a 7th grader, how to be a girl (or boy), how to have friends, how to make enemies, how to talk online, how this effects in person communication, etc.  They are certainly learning; they just aren’t learning what we want them to learn.  So, what’s so much better about learning the Academic Content Standards anyway?  It sounds like we might be prejudiced toward this kind of content learning.  Why not allow kids to learn what they want to learn?  What are we afraid of happening if students don’t learn the 3 types of rocks?  Or, maybe we aren’t giving them enough credit… maybe they would try to learn the three types of rocks (although… okay, no they wouldn’t).  Who knows?  I’m not saying kids don’t need guidance; they do.  But when guidance starts to look more like control, and starts to inhibit the ability to think outside the box of standards-based education, I wonder if we should insist that these tools are used for a certain kind of learning only.  What else could be possible with a little more freedom?

The end.

In the past two days, I’ve been busy at 3 of my 4 jobs.  I spent all day at ODE yesterday, then I came home and worked on my research assistantship until 7pm.  That was tiring.

Today, I got up and did some more research.  Then, I stopped into the girls’ school to meet my Lego League participants and chat for a bit over lunch.  That was great and I am soooo excited about that gig!  (P.S. Even their cafeteria is amazing.)  In the afternoon, I attended a webinar for ODE, which was the worst webinar ever.  It was completely text, so I had to read everything.  Propping of the eyelids was essential to keep from falling asleep.  Note to self: Text-based webinars stink.  After that it was more research and more research (although I broke for dinner), followed by creating a schedule for the Lego League and mailing it off.  It is now 8:31pm and I am officially a workaholic.  Sigh.  BUT!  In just two more days I will be on a plane to Portland, Oregon where I will not be doing any work!  Well, most likely.

Yeah, I know.  But, two are small jobs.  Here they are in no particular order:

1) Graduate Teaching Assistant
2) Graduate Research Assistant (small one!)
3) Intern at the Department of Ed. (small one, as of today)
4) Substitute teacher/Leader of after-school technology program (hmm, that sounds like two, but I refuse to have five jobs).
5) Does student count?  Crap.

So, the other day, when I looked at my schedule and was trying to decide if I could indeed take the job to lead the after-school technology program at a local private school, I thought, something has got to give.  And that something, I thought, was going to be my job at the department of ed.  And it is, sort of.  But, this morning, when I was walking in to give my two weeks, I had an idea.  See, I felt bad because there are couple things that I do that are tech-related and I didn’t want to leave the already depleted gifted section in the lurch.  So, I thought, I could just do those little tech-related things from home for just a couple of hours a week.  I am not going to go into the office after next week any longer and I’m not going to be working on anymore projects.  Still, this is starting to sound sketchy to me.  Did I make the right decision?  Time will tell.  In the meantime, I’m excited at the opportunity to work with kids again.

And now I’m wondering how crazy my taxes will be next year.  Why do I do these things?

I’ve been reading more novels lately.  I think it’s because during exams, I had the habit of eating breakfast on the porch while reading a non-school-related book.  It was nice and I liked it.  And so, I’ve gotten into the habit of reading in the morning and often in the evening.  I read outside today on my lunch break and I couldn’t wait to get back to the book when I got home.  After dinner, I shut off the television for a while and sat on the porch in the warm sticky air and read some more.  Some nights I get caught up and the mosquitoes have to remind me that it’s time to come in.

There have been two books* that I have liked a lot recently and I’ve noticed that when I really like a book, and I’m about half-way through, I start to run my hand over the cover and then smell the pages at the top of the book.  A good deep inhale, and then I take a look at it again wishing that I could read a little longer or wishing that I could write like that or wishing that I could have the life of one of the characters.  I love the smell of a book, new and inky or old and musty.  It’s part of becoming friends with the book, really taking it in.  I used to get this feeling about books, but it’s been a long time.  I think that since entering graduate school, I’ve become a better reader in general, and I think that I’ve spent so much time wading through dense texts that opening up a novel that allows my eyes to glide across the page is so… pleasant.  I almost forgot people could write stories that make you feel something, that make you savor every word.  It’s a beautiful thing.

Tomorrow, I feel like finishing this book and writing some of my own stuff.  Ah, summer.

*Loving Frank and The Namesake

Yesterday was busy.  I spent all day at science curriculum meetings helping to develop model curriculum for the state.  It was sort of tiresome and I’m not sure how helpful it will be in the long run, but it was good to be thinking about something besides exams and it was nice to hang out with some teachers.  Teachers are usually either funny or happy and mostly socially adept, a welcome change from academia.

Today I was on my own.  I had a nice leisurely run this morning (and it was in the 60s!).  Then, I read a good book (The Namesake, finally!  Thanks, Beth!) on the porch.  I even snuck in some academic work I had been putting off… put together a proposal for Bergamo (one of the conferences I loved last year) and resubmitted a formerly rejected article to a different journal.  I’m hoping that both of these turn out well, but if it has been anything like the past, my conference proposals get accepted too often for my taste (as they involve a presentation) and the journal article gets rejected.  Oh well, now I just wait.

This evening, I made myself some kale and rice soup and burned my wrist with steam.  Have you ever heard that steam burns are worse than regular ones?  I have and it sure hurts worse than the burn that I gave myself last week trying to catch the curling iron.  You might call me careless, but I prefer fearless.    Tonight I plan on reading a little more and maybe watching some solo telly.  Tomorrow I go back in the office for the first time in 4.5 weeks.  Wow, time flies.

This blog post is a dud, ain’t it?  Publish!

Today was a good day.  I didn’t just work on exams all day, but I got a lot of work done that I needed to do.

I reworked my AERA proposal and I like it better now.  I read through some articles that I will be adding to my second exam to make it better.  I also did a lot of work for my professor on the study we are working on together.  And, finally, I put in some time for ODE.  Phew.  I’m tired of looking at the computer.

I think I’ll watch some Losing It with Jillian!

Yesterday, I worked pretty much all day.  The highlight of my work day was sitting outside in the stifling heat eating lunch by the fountain.  The heat felt great after freezing in an unnecessarily cold office building all morning.  What I didn’t expect was a sudden, long gust of wind that blew water from the fountain all over me.  Seriously, it was so long that I couldn’t just scrunch my face up and wait for it to be over (which I did for a few minutes).  I had to move.

When I got home I made Sunny Blueberry Corn muffins from my new cookbook and they were delicious (and so was the batter, so I scraped the bowl clean)!  Then I kinda sat around all night thinking up new schemes.  It’s all a blur now, but there some good ideas in there somewhere.  I promise.

Yesterday I worked all day.  My nice coworkers took me and another coworker out to lunch to celebrate our birthdays.  We went back to Arepazo to have some delicious arepas and they were indeed delicious.  Last time we went there it was freezing out, but this time it was awesome and hot and we got to sit on the patio.  I love patios.  When I got home from work, I made a new recipe from the cookbook that Dan gave me for my birthday.  It was called Chickpea Broccoli Casserole and it, too, was delicious (It was a good day for eating).

This morning I didn’t have to work, so I got up and ran and got dressed and went down to OSU to drop my scholarship acceptance letter (I got a scholarship, woohoo!) and reserve a room for my defense on October 6 at 10am (gulp).  Then, I came home to have leftover casserole (still delicious) and then it was time to go to the dentist.

Do you want the long dentist story or the short dentist story?  The long one?  Oh, goody!

So, as a kid, I LOVED the dentist.  There were many reasons for this.  First, my dentist had a nice receptionist.  She knew our family and she was friendly and said nice things to me.  Second, the dental assistants were gentle and also friendly, AND they gave me a choice of flavored fluoride foam which I enjoyed very much (strawberry, duh).  Third, my dentist had a wicked huge smile (borderline creepy, but mostly nice) and his name was Dr. VanHala (cool, right?) and he thought my teeth were pretty and he called me Miss America, and I liked it, even though he probably called all the girls Miss America, and even though I know I have huge teeth that would only be good for Miss America because you could see them from very far away (that was the longest run on sentence ever in the history of run on sentences).  Also, and one would think this goes without saying, but everyone was professional, the place was clean, and when I needed a filling or something, I never felt pain or had any problems.  Oh, and let’s not forget the free sticker at the end (I was a connoisseur of stickers.  No, really, I had a collection.  I was a dork.).

Flash forward to my life in Cincinnati, and the dentist that wanted everyone to call her by her first name, Jodie.  Jodie was alright.  She was spacey and kind of unprofessional.  She reminded me of a hippie with an 80s haircut, which is rare.  She had televisions in each of the exam rooms, which I hated because the dental assistants would pause to see what was going on… on television… while they were cleaning my teeth, which might explain why they were absolutely BRUTAL with the dental floss.  What annoyed me about Jodie, though, really, was that she always wanted me to tell her how to proceed with my dental care.  Jodie: “Well, do you want your wisdom teeth out?”  Me: “Well, do they need to come out?”  Oy.  Then, she told me one of my wisdom teeth was impacted and that she would “keep an eye on it.”  A few months later, it came in.  Um, that means it was NOT impacted, Jodie!  My worst experience with Jodie was when I needed to have a tiny little cavity filled.  When I left that office my NOSE AND RIGHT EYE were numb.  I could barely drive home.  She used way too much novocaine and I could STILL feel the pain.  Terrible.  I was glad to be rid of her.

I’m only just now getting to the dentist here in Columbus because Dan and I forgot that I was on my free teacher insurance and then I had to wait for the enrollment period for his insurance and blah blah blah, insurance companies are crooks.  So, I schedule an appointment with a dentist just down the street (yay for walking to the dentist!) and the first thing I notice is that the receptionist and the nurses are unprofessional, talking about other coworkers, talking about how terrible their job is, etc.  I meet the dentist and he doesn’t smile, or tell me his name, he just starts working on me.  He was gentle with the dental floss though, I will give him that, however, he kept resting his hand on my lip and under my lip (surprise!) are teeth, so I thought I was going to get a cut on my lip.  It hurt.  There was also no choice for fluoride and he was not very good at watching for when I was about to gag on my spit (Dr. VanHala was good at that too).  I was in and out in about 15 minutes with almost no human interaction.  Plus, the place was a little… not dirty, but not neat and tidy either (Dr. VanHala’s office was immaculate).  Okay, so today’s dentist (I don’t even know his name) was no Jodie, but he definitely couldn’t touch Dr. VanHala with a ten foot pole.  I miss loving the dentist.  I used to look forward to going to the dentist.  You can say a lot of things about Canton, but it sure does have fine dentistry.  I wonder if he takes MetLife?

I walked to work this morning and it was another gorgeous day.  This is the building catty-corner to ODE, the LaVeque Tower.

Look at that blue sky.

After a good morning at work, I left only to find a St. Patrick’s Day parade parading down High and turning on Broad right in front of my building.  Here are some guys in kilts.

Parade!

Because I didn’t want to go home just yet, I stopped at the North Market and ate some Indian food, followed by some Jeni’s.  It was that kind of glorious day.  But, I did eventually make it home to do some work and then around 5, I went out for a run.  And, guess what?  It was the first day I went running and didn’t have to take a jacket!  Yay for Spring running!  I ran up to campus and back.  When I got near the stadium, I saw this guy that riding a mountain bike that looked like he was straight out of the mountains of Afghanistan, but had stopped at Clintonville Outfitters on his way into town.  He was wearing an orange robe, orange turban, had a long gray beard, but then he also had on a Northface jacket, hiking shoes and a rugged bookbag.  It was kind of awesome.  Now, that’s something you definitely won’t see in the suburbs.

Yesterday in my Ed Philosophy class, we were talking about a court case from the 60s where this woman was on unemployment and refused to take any job that required her to work on Saturday.  She was a Seventh Day Adventist and they celebrate the sabbath on Saturday.  She was going to stop receiving unemployment because she had refused possible jobs, but she sued because she was basically saying that if she were forced to take a job that required her to work on her sabbath, then that was a infringement on the free exercise clause.  The courts were on her side in this case.  Since then, there have been a few more cases reversed this and then called it into question again.  But, what this made me think (and this is sort of a stupid tangent) is, what if no one worked the weekend, ever?  I know most of us don’t, but what if no one else did either?  So then we couldn’t really go anywhere or do much.  What would we do?  We’d kind of have to stay home, cook for ourselves, hang out, maybe go to a park, watch movies… it sounds kind of awesome.  It would be like Christmas day, when everything is shut down, but every weekend.  I wonder if it would make the week too busy though, like if we would have to cram our grocery shopping in in the evening or whatever.  I don’t know.  It’s not a profound thought, I know, but it’s fun to think about.

At ODE we receive an email everyday with all the news clips from around the state that have to do with education.  Today, there was a story about how the state is considering allowing school districts to make up snow days online.  There have been lots of stories about this lately.  People are sort of excited about it, but there was one article where a state congresswoman said, “Hey, what about the kids without computers at home?”  This is always something that’s hard to keep in mind when you start to get excited about the capabilities of technology, but it’s a huge problem.  So, here’s my solution (and it’s not really a new one).  Every kid should be handed a laptop in Kindergarten.  They should get free maintenance, upgrades, replacements, etc. all the way through twelfth grade.  It’s just too big of a disadvantage not to have access to a computer at home.  Oh, and there should be free wireless EVERYWHERE.  What do you all think?  One laptop per child?  (Say yes.)