Gathering of Oregon's First Nations

Oregon celebrates her sesquicentennial this year. Today, the First Nations of Oregon gathered at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem for an exhibition and powwow. There are nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon, and members of each of the tribes attended. It was fun and colorful, and a great way to spend a few hours.

Learning

I'm a huge believer in life-long learning. And as many of you know (from the previous post) I blog surf. In the course of surfing, I discovered the "100 Weird Facts About the Human Body." from a blog entitled A Majority of Two. Enjoy!

Inauguration 2009

Wow. Old building, temperamental server connections, and squirrely kids did not allow me to watch the big "tahdah" live today. I knew this and planned ahead. Love the DVR, but that meant hours of watching this evening, even with the fast-forward button frequently engaged.

I'm left with mixed emotions. Intense pride for the tradition of peaceful transition, great pride in being an American witnessing an historic event. Hope that the next four years (possibly eight) will bring about the success in "...the work of remaking America." Yet, there is still a part of me that is apprehensive for the future. Mr. Obama's intentions may not be fulfilled. The next four years may not be any better than the last four. And I wonder if the build-up is based more on the novelty of the 44th president, rather than his substance.

I hope I'm wrong.

Patience, Grace and Wisdom

This week this has been my mantra. I came back from our odd Winter Break, hoping that all the progress my students and I had made in the previous three weeks would be easily recalled. Boy was I wrong! I have a particularly raucous group of disrespectful boys (I can't yet bring myself to call them young men even though by age they should be). So far, every trick in my teaching bag has failed. Things sort of came to a head a couple days ago when following a discipline referral for one of ringleaders (one who is not welcome to return until we have a team meeting. Thank you Principal!), I realized that maybe I'm trying too hard. That's where the mantra comes in. Patience, Grace and Wisdom. I pray for it daily.

Blog Surfing (and taking a detour)

I can spend hours blog surfing. Some days I start with the tried and true; those belonging to friends and acquaintances. Others I start with my own and hit the "Next Blog" button. It's interesting to see what comes up. I see lots of families. Sometimes I get to practice my foreign language reading skills.

I guess what really strikes me is that some people write so elegantly, others insightfully. And I can help but find some of my offerings rather staid. Or bland. Mediocre? I'm sure there are many other synonyms I could add to the list, but that would be redundant. Then I start to think about why I blog. On the days I don't have anything witty to add, I wonder why I bother. Sounds so melodramatic and egocentric, doesn't it?

But in January I tend to be melodramatic and egocentric. It's the way of the universe. I'll be back to normal (or as normal as I get) sometime next month...or maybe the following month.

And then there are times when I have the intention of focusing on one moment or thought, and the stream that comes shooting out the ends of my fingertips takes a completely different turn.

For instance, that last sentences reminds me that many schools don't teach kids to type anymore. What, do they think that super fast texting skills make up for it? Wrong! And don't even get me started on the subject of handwriting. I know mine is not very pretty, but at least it's legible. We spent hours in 2nd grade making sure of that. And math skills. Rote memory is not all bad. All high school students should know the multiplication chart! And why do I have to teach fractions to high school students? I had to learn those suckers in 3rd grade.

See...off track and not terribly witty. Oh well. It's late and I'm going to bed so I can teach fractions again tomorrow, and decipher handwriting, and hope that kids will relearn how to type. And maybe when I get home I'll find a blog gem.

January

I have mixed emotions about January. I'm ready to find some internal peace following the holidays. I LOVE the holidays, but a person can only eat so much food and buzz around to so many places! I'm feeling overstuffed and exhausted. But that is balanced by the need to really clean my home and pack away the Christmas stuff. I don't know why, but the stuff multiplies every year. That's why I found myself buying yet another large, red, storage tote yesterday. Now the task before me is to clean closets. Lose the junk; find all that tax stuff. Have I mentioned that I'm about three months behind on my personal filing system? At least I threw it all in one box, I think....

I need to make some plans. I don't like to call them resolutions. But I like to kind of map things out a bit. It's the linear/concrete part of my personality. The abstract/random part is the part that lets me deal with life when the plan falls apart, or I get sidetracked. And the plan will be sidetracked. That's my reality.

School starts again tomorrow. I'm not ready. At least I don't feel ready. Some kids come back from the break all ready to dive back into school and be cooperative. Others see school as a safer and saner place than home, and they will test the boundaries repeatedly for a couple of weeks. With a new job, I'm not sure what to expect yet. I guess I will just have to wait and see tomorrow.

So here's to January. I hope I get it all done. :)

Rabbit, Rabbit

My mother has a friend who practices "rabbit, rabbit" on the first day of every month. The goal is to say it first in order to bring good luck for the coming month. So, to all my friends, those superstitious and those who are not....Rabbit, Rabbit! And a Happy New Year for 2009. May we all be blessed.