chatter from the Library Monkey

devils time

Happy halloween.

I did my story (dog breath popcorn.pdf) today. The fourth graders were kind of nonchalance, as if they were brave and the story was boring, but when I read the last night they got a little jumpy. My quiz seemed to work well.

The fourth graders are the tough group in our school, but they have matured some AND I have my secret weapon — the seating chart. Not only is it beneficial for classroom management, it works to the benefit of the good students. A girl in the class has a hearing disability, but since she is now seated facing me, in the second row, she isn’t being distracted or having a hard time reading my lips.

I am so surprised by it, not that I didn’t think she was a bright girl, I just thought she was not paying attention. In that regard I feel kind of guilty about not expecting more from her. All the kids have a little more focus on the guy in the front…I like that.

The stiffness in my body is mostly gone. I should have shoveled some today, but passed on it. I really need to re-consider yoga, just to get my body flexible. When every I do the big exercise, I am really in need of the stretch out exercise.

Hmmmm, thought I had more to say, like usual, I don’t.

though ironically

Seems like the middle of the night, 11:21 p.m., but really it is 12:21 a.m. — if not for the time change. Lots of things add up to me being up now.

The main one being I went to bed about 7 p.m.

The power went out last night, probably about the time that we are suppose to reset the clocks back an hour. So today was spent with no power, but for the generator. It took a bit to start the generator. I think the battery is dead. There is a lawnmower type pull start, which isn’t easy. Partially due to the fact that the bracket meant to hold the electric cord is right where you are yanking.

They guy who built this house and kind of the general repair guy is a nice guy, but I don’t know if I would hire him. The whole generator is an example. It is in a little dog house behind the house. The pull start and choke is not very accessible, because the things you need access to are next to the wall of the house. Same is true with the front of the generator — where you have to plug the power line in.

On top of that — he didn’t plow the driveway OR street today. So I got stuck and did way more shoveling than I would like. I wonder how the owner would feel about these things if she was here through the winter. As it is I am wondering how she is going to feel about the tree hitting the side of the house. It didn’t do any damage. I think I have been kind of in the right place right time for the house. I let her know I didn’t go to Saranac Lake and was able to start the generator. And let her know that the house wasn’t hurt too much from the falling tree.

Ironically I was going to go home and get snow tires put on my truck. Also, get more winter things, like boots. It’s funny when I went to bed around midnight last night, it was raining. I didn’t think we would get the snow and since the ground was so warm (and wet) I didn’t think it would stick. It stuck to the tune of about six inches.

I should have started training in September for all this shoveling. I can feel how stiff my shoulders are right now. On a steady diet of ibuprofen

I think I will be able to reflect on what a great season it was for the tigers…but not quite yet. When you think you are going to win four out of the first five games in the World Series and the opposite happens — takes a little to get used to.

Detroit Tigers

okay a little more

10:42 p.m.

quiz.pdf Came up with some quizzes and I thought I would add one here… almost always you can click on the picture and get a download or a picture.

same place next year

The mighty Tigers will have to wait one more year. I am hoping the same time next year, we are here on the brink of victory to be the World Champs.

I didn’t go home this weekend. It is suppose to snow, rain and just generally be crappy weather. I thought it would be smart to just not drive the three hours this weekend. played a lot with making animation, one for Nisus. Having fun and wasting time. Too much rain to go for a walk — if I had my bike on rollers I could do that, but that is back home.

NWE

I should read some. I want to work on this lesson play this weekend. It’s one I have done before. The students will take pipe cleaners to measure the distance the Pilgrims traveled. Knowing how many days they traveled, calculate how many miles they went a day. Also, calculate how much space each passenger had in the hold of the boat.

I am having trouble understanding anyone who would trust our president. I try to give him the benefit of doubt, but it seems like just about every week he does something goofy. Like the vice president saying prisoners can use a dunk in the water on one day and the president denying it the next. Or the thing where he is now saying he never said: stay the course. We had nothing to do with Abramoff; no one in my administration had anything to do with outing a CIA agent; and all the others.

I also want to start making quizzes that have all the answers contained in them, so students will learn to learn from the test they are taking.

I am so filled with desire

The exercises I do put a nice tone layer of muscules under the layer of fat.