chatter from the Library Monkey

It is a staff, not a team

I was just thinking about high school meetings we had on Friday and Thursday. They call them ‘team’ meetings, but we don’t have functioning teams at my school.

Well that is sort of not true. Our Elementary teachers are 90 percent a team, our Middle school is about 50 percent a team and our high school is only 30 percent. There numbers are not about participation, though that factors in, but in how the teachers approach everyday professionalism as a staff.

bonus day

There was no school today — a surprise to me, I thought we would be lucky to get a two hour delay. I don’t know how ice it is outside, since I never ventured out. The weather was really a mix to day. At one point it was still s leeting — around 8 a.m. or earlier. Then it seemed to be nice and everything had melted off the trees — around 11 a.m. After noon it was blustery and it seemed like snow was coming down. It’s 24 degrees right now… I would like for winter to be over.

Since I didn’t go outside, I exercised a lot — to burn energy. I must have done 200 curls with the dumbbells. I did more squats and crunches than I list, but I didn’t keep track very well. It’s why I don’t count curls, I always lose track, so the number would likely be wrong — if I wrote it down.

Regardless — I am going to have some tight/sore shoulders tomorrow. I will be using the ibuprofen.

It worked out for me, I wasn’t mentally ready to teach a lesson the second period of the day. I have to do it tomorrow, but for some reason an extra day is better — even though I didn’t much more to prepare. For the most part I did the lesson two weeks ago, but I need to refresh what I am doing to remember.

I have a site meter that lets me know a little about mostly their city, not much more. Occasionally it is the coordinates (latitude/longitude) of the company that the IP is based at, but not where the service is at. I did the coordinates (45.5184, -122.6554) for one and put it into Google Earth and it took me to a building.

This Google Earth is amazing, you can look weather, find pictures people have taken…on and on. It’s 21 degrees at the Grand Canyon. I can’t figure out if I want to go there and camp when it might be the same temp I keep it in my apartment 52°.

I read some today and I made a little graphic that I can use to add up my pages — in increments of 100. I have done the challenge that ’star’ is in charge of (but I do much of the work) and I always finish about three pages short. And I cheat too. I always throw in one or two books on tape — that way I can play on the internet and listen. I listened to about 50 pages of: “The Experts’ Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do” organized by Samantha Ettus. And during DEAR time I read a sixth grader book….and a graphic novel at that.

I figure if I am going to be reading at work it should serve me at several levels. I need to read books that I will recommend to kids, I am reading the sequel of “Diary Of A Wimpy Kid,” by Jeff Kinney. I recommended it to the oddball kid at school. The one the aide says him and I are two peas in a pod. We both enjoy the book. I also like books at a lower level because I can set it down and pick it up without losing what is going on. Something I have to do a lot since kids are still coming and going in the library when they should be reading. That is because they don’t have a book and need to get one.

Took a wonderful nap today.

Wrapping up the night with Cracker on archive.org

The Tigers won two games in one day. The team was split up and beat both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The hardest part of the two wins was a) the Justin Verlander was not broadcast and b) the Yorman Bazardo was by some lame-0 Pittsburgh announcers.

I need to end and get some reading and some sleep in.

Gratitude (3)

wrapping the weekend

I woke up today feeling good. Not great, but most importantly — not fat> I am sure I didn’t lose 40 pounds last night, but I didn’t feel bloated. I knew why, I like to snack before I go to bed and last night I did not. What happens is I feel stuffed when I wake up and hungry. And I know I need to eat in the morning or I will crash about 10 a.m.

And ironically the first thing I stumble over on yahoo: Turn Unhealthy Habits Into Healthy Ones

1) Eating late at night – make yourself a meal bedtime. Put eating to sleep at 6, or 7, or 8 o’clock, whatever is realistic for you. Make your eating bedtime at least two hours before you actually go to bed.

It’s a hard habit to break. The day — some radio (npr), listened to The Tigers lose to Cleveland . Tigers did well, Kenny Rogers looked good. No runs against him, not a big deal —- a big deal would be if he got shelled for 10 runs.

I exercised a lot — push ups, squats and snowshoeing. Did some cleaning — made chili so a productive day. I also got tickets for three Tiger Games (one will be in Cleveland) so I guess really productive. Gonna wrap the night up with a new concert by Cracker on archive.org. Last few days I have been listening to a bit of Pandora.com.

The deer have really been hanging out around the apartment. I hope they stay for a while.

Talked to my friend — Kathy and Dave will be here on Wednesday, unless an ice storm delays them. Short week for me, since I am taking Friday off. I have the chili and chicken noodle soup already for them and we will likely eat out some. I told her about the deer, so I hope they are around. The come here to ski, but she mentioned that last year they didn’t ski at all here. They usually come to see my play, which didn’t take place this year.

I wrote one poem this weekend, but thought I would have a couple done.

Looks like I am going to make it through the night without eating. It’s 10:14 p.m. and I haven’t eatten since 7 p.m. One night doesn’t make a habit, but it does make a start.

I watch my stats a lot and visits are down some. I am not all that surprised these can been pretty boring — if not repetitive, but there are some people who come back time and time again. It seems like they aren’t around long.

That was funny…I thought I had two media sources going (archive.org and iTunes), but it was just someone in the audience talking at the Cracker concert and when the music stopped the talkers did not.

Time to read… ’star’s ‘ March reading challenge starts this week. It is kind of funny to call it hers, since the past two years I am the one who collected all the rewards — and true to form, star did not thank me. She thanked me some, but mostly it was so the students could not hear. It’s funny —- I collected (teachers donated) enough prizes that the students who met the challenge got two prizes each — and star thanked the people who scooped the ice cream. Not the librarian who wrote a letter to the Stewart’s Shop, to get it.

It is frustrating because some of what star does is deliberate and some is just her personality and it is invisible to her — what is frustrating is not knowing where one starts and the other takes off.

Gratitude (3)

• I am grateful for new Cracker concert on archive.org.
• I am grateful for friends who will travel to see me.
• I am grateful that sometimes when I recommend a book — a kid reads and likes it.

• pushups = 80
• crunches = 600
• squats = 600
• snowshoe = 20 minutes

Chaperoning ugh

It’s late and a day later. I chaperoned to the away game yesterday and it was something — on many levels.

First of all we had a big send off to pep up. The great irony is that I am kind of the cheer voice now. I introduce the players. The irony is when I was in high school I didn’t like the pep rallies and didn’t cheer at all. And now I am the pep guy — and the thing that is difficult is I don’t feel much for it. I know how to do it and how to rev people up, but I don’t feel I have a relationship with many of the older kids in my school.

My cheering didn’t seem to do much, because both the boys and girls varsity lost the game.

Then to top it off the long trip home — two hours long and we started at 8 p.m.

First I have to say, and maybe it is the reason I don’t have a very good relationship with the older students, is I can never figure out their grasp on the world. The school provides a free bus ride for up to 20 students and they pay me — yet the kids think of the trip not as a privilege, but as a right. I know it is the entitlement generation, but geez. One girl argued a couple times about the stupid things and she is a welfare family girl, who we also allowed her boyfriend to ride the bus so she could be with him. Here is a 15 year old girl who is acting like a jerk and not feeling one bit of remorce.

So the trip goes on. There are maybe 12 kids on the bus, with seven of them sitting in the back. They are being a little rough, but not to bad — kids. Or so I thought.

With about 40 minutes to go, a girl asks the bus driver if he could stop so she could go to the bathroom. Luck for her there was a rest stop two miles ahead. We stop and about half the riders of the bus goes in. I hesitate, but decide to take advantage of a pee break. I guess the group of boys didn’t think I would be there, because one of the kids says (to who I am still not sure), “How was it to touch boobies.”

That made it clear the kids in the back were not so well behaved. I lean back from the urinal to let him know I had just heard him. The kid got kind of nervous and the bathroom emptied out. The kid added — defensively, “I didn’t do anything, in fact I stopped it from going further.” I didn’t think the kid had done anything, though I did wonder if there might have been some drinking. I didn’t see anything, but I was told that there is one girl who was on t he trip is always drinking. I also caught her sneaking off out of the school. I am not sure what she was going to do, but I had her go back in to the school.

I think the drinking girl was the one playing with the boys, but I am not sure. Anyways…When we get back on the bus I have everyone move to the front of the bus. and there was way too much whining, that continued for about ten minutes — including the drinking girl singing: “row row throw your teacher off the bus and listen to him scream.”

I should say what is interesting about the whole thing to me is that as soon as I said, “move to the front of the bus,” everyone got up and moved, so I think they had a sense they were in trouble, or at least did some inappropriate things. Then the girl who had her boyfriend on the bus started to whine about how I should be telling them why they have to move it. I asked her if she wanted to move up to the very front. This went back and forth. I couldn’t figure out why they wanted me to explain — I assumed it was an attempt to go into a debate, which I didn’t open myself up to. I did find it curious that someone didn’t whisper to the girls what I had just heard.

I called the principal today and relayed the incident to him, he didn’t seem to concern or at least too concern that I might have let things get out of had. Considering I had the bus driver turn the lights on once or twice and I also walked back to see what was going on. I assume we will eventually be searching the drunk girl in the future.

There is a job advertised in the Buffalo area, but it is one of those things that makes you wonder. I think I applied for it three years ago, it required much more in the application than most schools and now it is open again. It is the same kind of red flag that was at my school when I applied there. Turn over is never good. It is a sign of two things. 1) not a pleasant place to work (i.e. ’star’) and 2) it is better to work other places (location, pay or culture of the school).

The Tigers are in spring training and it is so cool to be reading stories again — and soon (feb 26) to be listening to games

When asked about Curtis Granderson’s well-chronicled habit of eating at McDonald’s, even after signing his new long-term contract, Leyland was skeptical.

“If he’s eating at McDonald’s,” Leyland said, “he’s probably talking to a guy about buying a McDonald’s.”

ending the night with Raq on archive.org

Gratitude (3)