What In Tarnation?!?!?

From Patrick’s Weekender.

CNN recently ranked the top 25 innovations of the past quarter century. Their list can be found by scrolling down in the article on their webpage. What would your top seven innovations be? Do you agree with their top seven, or would you have a different take? Remember, we’re talking about innovations of the past twenty-five years ago.

Here is CNN’s top seven:

1. The Internet
2. Cell phone
3. Personal computers
4. Fiber optics
5. E-mail
6. Commercialized GPS
7. Portable computers

Here is my list (very computer centric) :

1. The Internet
2. Personal Computers
3. TiVo and other similar Digital video Recorders
4. Global Positioning System
5. IEE 802.11
6. HAL 9000
7. Segway

How would your list shape up? Comments.

Class dismissed!

In my continuing mission to reveal potentially embarrassing guilty pleasures, we have part three of this series.

Have you ever been watching TV and a show came on in which was not marketed for a younger demographic than yourself. Somehow you get hooked into watching it. You keep telling yourself that it is cheesy and silly and that you have better things to do but you don’t move, you keep watching. And watching and watching. It would be embarrassing if someone walked in on you watching this.

Well, I found myself in this situation sometime ago with the Disney Channel’s High School Musical. High School Musical is basically an update of the movie Grease. Our two romantic leads meet each other at a New Year’s party while on vacation. They sing together but never plan to meet each other again. School starts again and our leads are reunited as one transfers to the other’s school. One has be stereotyped as a basketball jock, the other a Miss Smartypants. Neither of them has really ever been known to be singers except on their chance meeting on vacation. They meet up and decide to surprise everyone by trying out for the school musical which only upsets the school’s drama queen and king (brother and sister). The Drama Queen and King unite forces with the basket ball team and the scholar bowl to split these two apart. People should stay with their own kind you see. They do all this while happily singing about their inner most feelings and thoughts.

Cheesy? Yes. Strangely enticing? Yes. Something you tell everyone about? No. Don’t even mention that you have watched the thing several times. Don’t drop in passing conversation that you have purchased several tracks off of iTunes. And whatever you do, don’t let people know that you watched the Dance Along version and then immediately watched the sing-a-long version right after that. Keep this shameful secret to yourself.

My little guilty pleasure was at risk of being exposed recently at the Wyman talent show. One of the third grade girls did the dance to one of the catchiest numbers from High School Musical, We’re All in This Together. You see it is a little difficult to sit there an not do the dance that you to learned in the dance-a-long version of the show. Occasionally a fist thrust down or a wildcat teeth to the side would sneak out. Immediately I try to think of excuses as to why I knew the motions to this song. But then I realized that I wasn’t the only one trying not to dance along. As I looked around the perimeter of the room I noticed several other teachers discretely doing the dance too! I wasn’t the only one! Whew!

After school several teachers and I had a good laugh about knowing the motions and having seen the show more than once.

Now it is time for me to get my head in the game… the results of my High School Musical quiz:

Makes me feel special and unique to be on of the 50% who got the same result. Who you are and how much do you secretly love the High School Musical? Let me know in the comments.

Class dismissed!

Start at the very beginning:
Door #1 or Door #2

So I am tired of dealing with this so here is the short of it, take it away Reader’s Digest:

I did not take the position at the other elementary building.

Furniture for my room has been ordered.

The staff in my building (save one) applauded that I was staying.

I’m am happy with my choice especially when I learned that at the other building they were not going to send me through the training for at least a year. I think the training is a very important part of the program and it would have limited my effectiveness.

I think in the end I got the best deal and the best deal for Wyman. This was the catalyst for getting Wyman’s first eMINTS room, a program that I will hope will grow beyond my room.

Class dismissed!

Monday Madness on Tuesday.

Name 5 Things that:

1. Make you smile:

1. My students
2. Absurd things
3. Exagerated things
4. Sarcastic things
5. Smiley babies
6. Homestar Runner (all of those things combined except for 1 and 5)

2. You can see on your desk right now:

1. An iMac (PowerPC, I was an early adopter)
2. A quickly aging PC
3. A SLVR (which I am still enjoying Tim)
4. A Charlie Brown figurine that depicts CB sitting at a computer whose screen reads CRASH! (Whew. *COUGH* That was a little dusty, shouldn’t have picked it up.)
5. A Blockbuster DVD envelope for Arrested Development Season 1, Disc 2

3. Kept you busy this weekend:

1. This was a weekend off so… sleep.
2. Watching Arrested Development Season 1, Disc 1
3. Reading… right now I am ready How to Be a Pirate, Hoot, and finished up Replay by Susan Sharon Creech (author of Ruby Holler which I have blogged about.)
4. I watched a few episodes from my Buffy the Vampire Slayer The Complete Series
5. Washed my Mom’s car

4. You’ll be doing this coming week:

1. Teaching kids about fractions, cursive, division, and reading skills
2. In the continueing saga, I will be visiting Mark Twain on Tuesday
3. Going to a tech meeting
4. No school on Friday, but I am going to watch a few students in the Special Olympics
5. Teaching my Pastor’s Sunday School class while he is away but I guess that is technically next week

5. You’ve said to make someone else smile:

1. Well timed farting noise work
2. Doing a poor SpongeBob SquarePants imitation
3. Doing my evil doer laugh
4. Saying Cheesy biscuit repeatedly
5. Asking if a student was 394 years old on their birthday
(I work with 8 and 9 year olds, cut me some slack)

And you?

Class dismissed!

Jenn was right, this was an odd quiz.

Find your own pose!

Tetherball Traits and Tendencies
Tetherball is the pose of perfect compromise, the oasis of a full-contact sleeper coupled with a solitary sleeper. The pose allows the Pole (the solitary one) a free range of movement, while the tight self-embrace of the Ball (the full-contact one) supplies the necessary crowded closeness. Both sides win!

Comfort Zone
The Tetherball is part of the Wood sleepers family. Other Wood poses you might try include Pillow Talk, Pillow Listen and Stairway.

Note
A series of small hip pats (called “bubbles”) from the Pole infuses the Ball with
reassuring feelings of closeness without triggering the Pole’s delicate sense of claustrophobia.

Ooookay… Well, good to know. How about you?

That’s all for now. A Monday Madness is in the works.

Class dismissed!

Previously on WIT?!?!?:

Door #1 or Door #2
Door #1 or Door #2 Part II
D#1 or D#2: The Plot Thickens Part III

After the IEP meeting (that was for a student for next year) I headed over to the administration building to see what was up at the technology office.

“I heard a rumor about you today,” she said.

“I’ve heard some rumors about me today too. What did you hear?” I said.

“I hear that you have been offered a classroom in a different building.”

“That one would be true,” I said. “It is really quite an honor.”

“I’m sure that you have heard plenty of advise and don’t get me wrong, both buildings are great, but… Well let me put this simply… you can’t do it. Not really, but I would really like it if you didn’t.”

She went on to explain that if I left there was really no one in the building to take my place as tech contact.

“Honestly when I first heard that today, I was shocked and then I was trying to come up with a way to make your room at Wyman an eMINTS room.”

“Funny you mentioned that because my principal is trying to figure out how to do that as well. Evidently she has some money somewhere.”

“Really? Well I figured out how to get you the computers but I can’t really cover the professional development and the furniture needed will be difficult to get out of money designated for computers equipment but I might be able to do that. So if she can cover the PD and part of the furniture, I think we can do this.”

“So this is really feasible?” I asked. That morning it sounded like a long shot.

“Oh yeah. It can be done. Installation won’t be difficult because you are in a new room. We have already run all the power and Ethernet in the walls.”

“Wow. I guess that really makes my decision for me.”

We spent some time gathering prices from the Internet and discussing the board meeting.

By Friday morning my principal was getting bids on the furniture.

One word: crazy.

Class dismissed!

Previously on WIT?!?!?:

Door #1 or Door #2
Door #1 or Door #2 Part II

I was in the gym doing car duty Thursday morning when my principal came down to talk to me.

“I woke up at 3 this morning thinking about you,” she said.

What an interesting way to begin a conversation. “Oh really?”

“Yes. I think I can get you an eMINTS room here at Wyman.”

“Really?” How would that happen?

“Well the PTO set aside money for buying computers for the computer lab. When we went and built onto the school the school bought all the computers so we still have that money form PTO that is to be used for computers or computer supplies. I’m willing on spending that money to make your room and eMINTS room if you stay here at Wyman. It is going to be tight but I think that it can be done.”

“Wow. If it can really be done, I couldn’t turn it down.”

“Okay. So do you still want to visit the other building?” she asked.

“Well even if I am going to be here, I think observing an eMINTS room would be beneficial. Don’t you think?”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. Just don’t forget, I’m working on getting you an eMINTS room.”

Good news. It is just that I wasn’t 100% confident that it could be done. I still wanted to talk to a few more people and as fate would have it, one of those people e-mailed me that afternoon. Our director of technology sent an e-mail that just said that she needed to talk to me. I made an appointment to see her after school after the IEP meeting I had and just before the school board meeting that I was planning on going to.

Now the phrase come see me isn’t too descriptive. Either she heard about the offer of the first eMINTS room and had an opinion or she was going to throw another wrench into this situation and I had really have had enough bruises from wrenches being hurled at me. I keep repeating to myself, “It is nice to be wanted and appreciated.”

To be continued…

Class dismissed!

Previously on WIT?!?!?

Door #1 or Door #2

So my plan was to keep the potential offer quiet. I wanted some time to consider my options before getting advise from anyone at school.

It was a good plan. It was a good plan with one small problem. My current principal. Evidently after telling me about the phone call, she went downstairs to the other third grade classes and told one of the other third grade teachers what was said and told her to convince me to stay. This makes it difficult to consider my options without suggestions and advice from others in the school.

Of course Tuesday, most everyone knew about the offer that had yet to be offered and most everyone had an opinion and most everyone shared it with me. It was rough and I was a little ticked off at the whole situation. I still am.

Today (Wednesday) I still hadn’t heard anything so I thought that maybe the current eMINTS teacher had changed her mind and I wouldn’t even need to worry about it. That was until around noon and I got the e-mail from the other principal asking if I was interested. The choice became profoundly real at that point. I had told myself that I wouldn’t really consider anything until I was contacted. I had just been contacted.

So I e-mailed back that I was interested in considering it and I asked if it would be possible for me to take a day to just observe the class, meet the other fourth grade teachers and just be around the building. She said that it was an excellent idea so some time next week I will send the day in the class, I will have to nail down the details tomorrow.

It seems that it comes down to this. There are only two classes in the district of three elementary buildings that are eMINTS and I have been offered (maybe that isn’t the best word, interest has been expressed in my taking the room) the chance to work in it. When will the opportunity next appear? I would imagine not for awhile. After thinking that I think about having to say goodbye.

Sigh.

I hope you don’t get too tired of reading about this because I have a feeling this isn’t that last time that I going to be writing about it.

Thanks for listening.

Class dismissed!