And another...

And another...

 Lunch break thoughts about this ballgame last night and the comments that have been made:

 1) Auburn fans celebrating- well, I rooted for Clemson too- it's natural- when I moved to Tuscaloosa three years ago it was the night when AU played in Cali for the national championship. I went in three restaurants where almost all Alabama fans had on clothes from the other team and rooting hard against Auburn --I got take out and watched it at home. It's natural to root against your rival. Just be classy about it.

 2) Alabama fans hating on their defense. Are you kidding me. They are stellar. They literally lost one game- come on! And to hate on your quarterback who is amazing... I got one thing to ask... wanna trade?!

 3) People saying they are consoling their young devastated kids about the loss...whoa. I honestly read that several times- are you serious? You may wanna buy them a goldfish or something and just wait--cause they may need a lesson in loss and how to deal.

 4) And lastly... God wanted Clemson to win. Well.... I haven't personally spoken to him BUT my guess is that he is concerned with Syria, starving people, cancer, you know just a few other things. I'm not even 100 percent sure he had time to watch the game.

 That is all. Happy Days!

Home sweet home

2017 is looking like it is going to be an even better year than I first realized!

Back in April or May of 2016 I found out that there were plans to move my teaching position to a new school about 15 miles away from my hometown for Fall of 2017. I don’t have anything against the town or the new school. It will undoubtedly be a really good thing for everyone... Except for me.

Now, I realize that the good of one should not outweigh the good of all. But I am also selfish. I love what I do (most of the time). I love where I teach. I went to school here. I grew up here. My daddy still teaches here. I am home.

This is my HOME.

When I came back to JHS after working in industry, I didn’t feel like I was starting something new. I felt like I was going home.

Now, yesterday I got a phone call from my principal. He told me that I will not be able to be moved to the new school because it will not be finished by the projected date.

Home sweet home.

It may only be one more year, but I will take whatever I can get J

Random September Roadtrip

Jason, Si and I took a little roadtrip this past weekend. We left Saturday afternoon and headed north. We didn't know exactly where we would end up. We went through Selma (which has a slew of abandoned places to photograph, might I add...) and ended up spending the night in Birmingham.



On Sunday we traveled to Ensley and Wylam )(both suburbs of Birmingham) and we stopped at Tannehill State Park on the way home (which was AWESOME!!). Trade days was going on at Tannehill so we picked a perfect weekend for our random road trip :)

 
 

So much more than money

Tomorrow I won't be at school. My mother-in-law and I are going to Fairhope to a flea market. It is going to be fun!! :) I need a break from school...

And, you're right, I am off during the summer. For 4 weeks. And I don't get paid for those 4 weeks. Same with the week and thanksgiving, two weeks at Christmas, and the week at spring break. Altogether, that makes 8 weeks a year. Not including, of course, all of those holidays that you probably mentioned under your breath that I get off. And yes, I get a paycheck all year, even though my measly wage is merely prorated throughout the year so that I won't have to go half of December and all of July without a paycheck.

But... what about all that time that I spend at the school and get no compensation for? Football games... basketball games.... softball games.... volleyball games.... baseball games.... after school faculty meetings.... after school detention.... the hours on end that I have spent (and will continue to spend) grading papers and projects... the conferences during the summer that are not during my contract time.

And yes. I am on contract. Which means that I am basically salaried. BUT I doubt there is another salaried OR hourly position in this WORLD that has as many duties as teaching has. I feel bad for ever thinking my mom had it easy by being a teacher. Because... I’ve figured out.... the good teachers have the hardest jobs. The ones that don't care are a totally different story.

This is the hardest job I have ever had. But it is also the most rewarding. There are days that I just want to throw my hands up and storm out of my classroom, never to return. But then.... a senior that I helped with algebra comes to me and hands me his grad exam results right before graduation and with a tear in his eye, says... "I passed..." Or a former student emails me out of nowhere needing help making a decision about her major in college -- because she has no one else to talk to about it that she trusts to give her an unbiased answer.

So... maybe I take it back. I don't get paid close to enough money for the work that I do at that school and for that school.... but I know that I will be a better person because of the lives that I get to influence and the continuous impact that these kids have on my life and my attitude.

And that is worth so much more than money....

CS4HS Day 1

First day of class! I'm excited and nervous as heck! Here are some examples of the posts we have had so far...

What is Computer Science?

Well here we are at the very beginning of the CS4HS MOOC.  One of the reasons for this course is to help prepare teachers to teach Computer Science in high school classrooms across the country.  It will be very interesting to see what your understanding of Computer Science is at this point in the course and your thoughts on how important you feel the subject is to our high school students.  So our question is: How would you define Computer Science and how do you feel it should it be presented in the high school curriculum?

Computer Science to me is an understanding of how computers work. Not just the binary code, not just the networking cables, but all of it. Too many people know how to use a computer but have no understanding of the terms data or application program.

 

 Why am I Here?

One of the most important things we must understand in order to be successful in any task we do is to have a grasp of why we are doing it.  We also would like to know a little bit about our students and their motivation for taking the course so let me pose a question to you.  Please answer the following question: Why I am taking this course and what is it I hope to achieve from successfully completing the course?

I have a background as a COBOL programmer and my degree is in MIS. I have been teaching Business Education for the past 10 years and just recently changed my program in Career Tech to be Information Technology. Finally after 10 years I am teaching what I love! 

I have seen that there is a need for this type of program in my high school. The interest that has been shown so far has been very high and students have sought me out to ask about the new classes. I look forward to working with these students because of their passion and love for everything IT.

1300 miles

Day 5: miles 1300 - Bristol, Virginia or Tennessee... Not sure... I am so ready to be back home. Or at least in Alabama. Si has been unbelievably good on this trip. He has a cough that is sounding worse every day though. Pretty sure the day we spent in Louisville out in the cold rain didn't help much. Janie has been an awesome help with Si. I hope she doesn't start to resent helping with him... Jason has needed a couple of attitude adjustments, but overall this has been a really good trip. Our original plans of being gone for 4 days has turned into 6, which means I am already stressing about school on Monday. But it will all work out and be fine ☺

Got to Knoxville later than I wanted to. Unpacked our bags in our 2 adjoining rooms (score for Janie-no couch sleeping tonight!) Jason decided we should go to Texas Roadhouse for supper. We walked in the door at 9:56. By 10:48 we still had no food. Then Jason started feeling sick. Not sniffles/cold sick. Like vertigo/can't see straight/gonna throw up sick. And he did. Throw up I mean. I shoved one of the buckets they serve peanuts in under his face and he filled it up. I almost couldn't stand beside him when he was puking because I was worried I might puke too. Janie scooped Si up and took him to another table away from us. (Yet more proof of how awesome she is). We didn't leave the restaurant until 11:30 because it took forever to get Jason to the truck. Oh and I got to drive the truck for the first time tonight. Not the ideal circumstance... I drove way too slow and almost hit one little white car. That's when the tears started. I was just overwhelmed. Finally got to the hotel and got Jason all the way back up to our room. Janie stayed with Si in the truck because I had to go back out to park the truck anyway. (The truck is now sitting in the far corner of the parking lot all by itself) she had him wrapped in a blanket laying in her lap. She is not perfect but she is as close as she can be sometimes... ❤

Rural Decay

I think most people who come from and live in small towns have a love/hate relationship with that town. 

I love my hometown.

It is where I grew up, and where I still live.  

There has only been a short amount of time in the past 35 years that I haven't lived in here. For a couple of years I lived in SmallTownville while I worked and went to community college there. And I also lived in the quaint community of AnotherSmallTownville for 6 or so years.

But the remainder of my life has been lived in this good, down-home town..

There have been times I have loathed living here. When I couldn't find a job in town (hence having to move to SmallTownville to work after college), when I went through my divorce in 2010 (not so long ago actually), and when I went through a rough time with an acquaintance that decided to slander my name around my lovely little town.

But for the most part, I love this town. I am glad I get to live here now and that I get to raise my children here.

I have been taking pictures for a few years. I think I have been a Flickr subscriber since 2007, so that makes 8 years.  I went through all of the images I have stored there and  made two new albums:

Southography

Alabama the Beautiful

The first one is pictures of various places in the south that I have visited over the past eight years. I tried to concentrate on places that were forgotten - urban decay type pictures. Although most of the places I like to visit aren't and never have been urban by any means. 

So I should describe them as rural-decay.

The second set is of various places all over the state of Alabama. I really thought I had more images than what I found. I now have a mission -- take more pictures!

As if I needed to define a mission... ;)

Meridian

This weekend we went to Meridian, Mississippi. Let me tell you one thing... there is NOTHING worth looking at in between our little home town and Meridian. There's only one town worth mentioning and even it isn't much to look at.

Meridian, however, has lots to look at. I wish we had taken the stroller with us, then I would have taken more pictures of the beautiful buildings they have in downtown Meridian. There is even one that is falling down that is magnificent! Currently a group is trying to restore it (although I somehow doubt they will be able to finish).

Here's a few images of our weekend:

 Then we found this beautiful cemetery. The saddest thing was when I found children's graves... Some of them only a few months old... Makes me hold Si even tighter...

We drove past an abandoned school on the way to Meridian somewhere near Sweetwater, Alabama. On the way back, I got Jason to stop so I could take some pictures.  Nanafalia is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Marengo County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 94.