Wax Museum 2017

So, the kids have been working on their American Hero projects for like three weeks. Research paper, oral presentations, and then yesterday was our big day! We had the Wax Museum during the day and the Night at the Museum for the parents in the evening. We/I have sent home notes, reminders, emails, remind.com texts...I mean, how could you possibly miss this memo? And yet...

First Lady, Abigail Adams, waltzed into school yesterday morning mentioning in her nonchalant way that she did't have a costume because "I forgot to tell my mom to make one for me." First of all, we don't give orders like that. In fact, we impress upon everyone that they shouldn't need to spend money--just look around the house, ask Grandma if she has anything cool in her attic, etc. So I suggested, while picking up the phone, that we call the First Lady's mother. The First Lady said, "I think she's at the airport or something." Sounded fishy, right? So I emailed both parents and then I called her mother. The mom mentioned she was in SLC (so maybe she is at the airport?) and asked what time the museum started. 10:30 a.m. She asked to speak to her daughter. Her daughter casually said, "Hi, Mom." Then she said, "I'm Abigail Adams, the wife of the second president." Another pause. "I'm known for writing a lot of letters to my husband." And then she hung up the phone.

Well, we got set up for the Wax Museum and threw a few art prints of famous American's on the walls, arranged the desks, and all that. Our first visitors arrived at 10:30 a.m. and at that precise moment, Abigail Adams swished into the room with this amazing, presidential looking, period dress! She looked stunning! I couldn't believe this child suddenly had a costume! I went over and asked, "WHERE did you get this dress?!?" Her reply, "No idea!"

I looked toward the doorway, and there was the First Lady's mother, sort of leaning against the door frame, collecting her wits. She had done it. She pulled off the impossible. I approached her and repeated the question, "WHERE did you get that dress?" She took a breath and said, "Zurcher's. Seventy dollars. She'll be paying for half of it out of her savings account. And she'll be wearing it for Halloween." I said, "And you were in SLC? Were you really at the airport?" She said, "No. I was taking my citizenship test this morning."

And these are the moments of child rearing. These are the little traps that parents find themselves in. These are the times when you have to decide if you're going to let the cookie crumble or if you're going to save the day. This woman has three other children. I am amazed. I hope her daughter has a daughter just like herself so that one day she'll realize just a bit of what she put her own mother through. Citizenship test. No big deal.

March-ing on Snowshoes!

Saturday 4 March 2017 was such a lovely experience. I submitted a guest blog to The Nerdy Book Club regarding my own version of Jolabokaflod and they published it that day. Then we went snowshoeing near Big Springs up South Fork and had a hit-the-spot lunch of soup and salad (for me) and soup and sandwich (for the mister) at Zupas, thanks to a gift card I received at Christmas. And then we began our fast.

The weather was warm. The car said 51 degrees when we headed up the trail (not the usual trail that most people take up Big Springs) and 58 degrees when we got back. I snowshoed wearing just one layer of pants and one shirt and no gloves or mittens. It was a beautiful, sunny day! The Vitamin D was healing.

We saw evidence of wildlife (tracks) but that black bug was the only actual wildlife we saw. See? It was warm enough for BUGS!

The snow was plentiful and soft. I ended up breaking a lot of trail up on the flat, but on the other hand, the snow was not new, therefore the "donuts" that had rolled off down the steep bank were day old (or older) and not so fresh from that particular "bakery." Still, I love the motion they represent and I loved the motion of the breeze (crazy hair in photo of me). And I loved being IN motion. It was a fine mix of motion and emotion.

That glorious mountain is called Timpanogos. I've been to the top of it, but not on snowshoes. She is breathtaking, especially when dressed for winter. So many blessings have come to me living in her shadow.

And that guy? That guy is my husband. I am thrilled to be married to that man. He is so good to me and really fun to hang out with! We love to play outside and we had that whole place all to ourselves on a Saturday.

And that woman? That's me. I continue to age. I can't control my hair like I used to, even without a breeze. I wear glasses now. I should buy some new clothes. But I wasn't worried about anything like that on March 4th. I was walking in snow. And sun. With my eternal companion. Who could ask for anything more?

Not Regular (In a Good Way)

Well, I bawled today. One of my 30 Darlings had to move to another school and so I am left feeling empty with 29. Maybe I'm making a difference once in awhile.

The Things I Learn While Teaching

We recently had parent/teacher conferences and so one father came to school one afternoon to help his daughter clean out her desk. When she pulled out a small cup of BB's (yes, little silver BB's), I asked, "Where did you get those?" She simply replied, "The Black Market." I asked, "Where is the Black Market?" She answered, "At recess." I further inquired, "Did you pay actual money for these?" She explained, "No, you just make a craft or whatever and then trade for things on the black market!"

I see.

"Piloting" with Park Rangers

My school district does this monthly newsletter called All About Alpine and for the first time ever, I made the paper, thanks to Rangers Annie and BJ at Timpanogos Cave National Monument. Ranger Annie did a little write-up after our class helped them pilot their new Distance Learning program and submitted it. The activity was fabulous, my fifth graders deserve all the credit, and I'm just passing this along, not so much to toot my own horn, but to let anyone in the world know that you can have the same experience if you have a certain amount of technology.

When looking for a classroom of excited, engaged learners to pilot our new distance learning/digital fieldtrips program with we knew our best bet would be Jody Kyburz’s 5th grade class at Snow Springs Elementary. Jody has always been willing to stretch herself and try new things in order to give her students the best opportunities possible and in return her students have year after year proven to be attentive, engaged, full of curiosity and highly respectful.

This program was no exception. The class completed the required half-hour long pre-visit activity with interest knowing that they would be the subject experts and presenting their information to rangers the next day. Their handouts were highlighted and detailed notes were taken without any prompting on her part. It’s a very small group research project on their part, but a project which helps the students be equally invested in the presentation.

The ranger part of the presentation is approximately 35 minutes and covers weathering, erosion, fault lines, uplift, continental drift, and the creation of caves. The student presentations take another 10 minutes and are scattered throughout the program. This leaves approximately 10-15 minutes for questions at the end of the presentation. It covers core requirements in science, scientific literacy, reading, writing, language, and speaking and listening. A full and detailed list of the standards are available on our webpage.

To connect with Timpanogos Cave classes need to either have video conferencing equipment such as LifeSize or a computer, webcam, mic, and projector. If you’d like to schedule a digital ranger visit for your classroom more information can be found at the following link: https://www.nps.gov/tica/learn/education/distance-learning.htm and if you have further questions we can be reached easily via email: annie_brantley@nps.gov

Annie Brantley Park Ranger Timpanogos Cave National Monument 2038 Alpine Loop Road American Fork, UT 84003 801-756-5239

New Books! No Time!

So on 23 January they announced all the Youth Media Awards at the annual ALA Midwinter Meeting and I immediately hopped online to order from both Scholastic and Amazon. And guess what? Both shipments arrived on Friday 27 January! I bubbled over with excitement in front of my students and exclaimed, "And today is FRIday so I have a little more free time tonight to READ!"

Guess what? Homework. That's what. I did homework Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Today in order to be prepared for class this evening. I still have not read my new books.

But I got a photo so...there's that.

I also got an email from Nerdy Book Club saying my guest blog post is "terrific" and they're going to run it on Saturday 4 March, so I'll probably mention that somewhere when the time comes. I've never been a guest blogger before.

Whine, No Cheese--BYU Homework

I, having a sound mind, CHOSE to take on the challenge of getting my Literacy Endorsement (Reading Endorsement, whatever). And I truly have enjoyed it. I've learned so much! I KNEW it would take seven semesters and involve a lot of reading as well as the writing of papers (APA) and time. I am four semesters down, in the middle of the fifth, and have two more after that at which time I'll be "prepared" to face the PRAXIS, a big test I have to pass or guess what? I will not be endorsed!

The homework this week is a bit heavy. I shouldn't waste time writing about it and yes, I have started it, but just to know mentally the mountain I'll be climbing from now up to Tuesday night's class, I have to map out the route for myself.

And just for perspective, our homework for last Tuesday's class was this: Read chapters 3 and 7 and write a reflection paper. Not too bad, right? Just read 61 pages of literacy textbook and write a two page reflection. Check. Did it. With fidelity.

This class is every Tuesday night except...EXCEPT! Because of the way the calendar fell, we had to throw in one extra night and that was last Thursday the 26th. Except! Our professors (we have two this semester) decided to cancel the Thursday class and just assign the homework instead. Theoretically, we were to spend that block of class time doing the work at home. This is the work assigned for the 26th (which I have started, but have not yet completed):

Read the IRA position statement article (16 pages), read Chapter 2 (25 pages), read the Edwards article (28 pages), read the Linebarger article (27 pages), read a blogpost (length unknown, I haven't made it to that point yet), watch three short videos (not sure what short means, haven't watched them yet), and write a paper about it all. Hmm...that's only 96+ pages of reading! Way more than the week prior. And when I read, I don't just read. I'm borrowing one text, so I take notes on sticky notes and remove them at the end of the term and save them on regular paper in sheet protectors to review in preparation for the PRAXIS in January 2018. And the articles? I highlight them and sometimes write notes in the margins. I can't help it. If I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it right. I can't just skim and scan and hope for the best. How would I know which parts to skim? There's no better time than NOW to do this work. And when I write, I go over it all again and am earnest and thoughtful about my reflections. I don't really know how to be less thorough without worrying about missing something important.

And then of course, there's homework for this Tuesday's class. We have to read Chapter 4 (31 pages), Chapter 8 (33 pages), and Chapter 9 (36 pages) for a grand total of 100 pages. And then write another reflection.

So, to summarize, since we met last Tuesday evening, our professors have assigned us to accomplish prior to this Tuesday evening: Read 196 pages, read a blogpost, watch 3 videos, and write 2 papers.

And guess what? That's not all for 4 people in the cohort (fortunately, I'm not one of them). Four of our cohort mates have an ADDITIONAL assignment! They have to read ANOTHER article (each of the 4 have a different article) and then write ANOTHER paper about how that relates to the homework, and then LEAD A DISCUSSION for ten minutes at this week's class. I don't know who they are, but I feel sorry for those four who unwittingly signed up for those dates not knowing how much homework was coming down the pipeline.

Did I use my class time on Thursday evening to do the homework? No. After school (and bus duty), I took my car to get the safety and emissions testing so I can renew the license plates for another year. To my credit, I did get started on Chapter 2 in the waiting area and wrote notes on stickies. And then I, as a member of the stake council, went to meet with the 10th Ward at 6:45 p.m. to go on stake council/ward council visits to members' homes along with their ward Primary president. We had two appointments--one at 7 and one at 7:30. We listened a lot to the family of four at the first appointment. They are new in the area and all four (mom, dad, older sister, younger sister...and their cat named Sven) had a lot to say. At the second appointment we visited a single mom with three kids--fifth grader, third grader, and Kindergarten. We taught them a lesson about the Plan of Salvation and learned so much about their activities with sports and school and music. It was time well spent. My choice.

After those appointments we met back in the office of 10th Ward's bishop for some debriefing and I got home at 8:30 p.m. So tired.

This morning is Ward Temple Day. I have a family name ready to go. We're supposed to meet in the chapel by 7:45 or 8:00 a.m. for the 8:15 session. Not going to make it (unless something changes drastically in the next ten minutes). We are so tired. My husband went to the doctor this week and received medication for his illness. Our neighbor is getting baptized today and we've decided to go to that at noon. Their family has some challenges right now and we would really like to support them. So I've been doing homework since waking up at 5:15 (no alarm, that's just when I woke up) and this has been a rather long study break, but I just to had park it all here because sometimes it's like, "Which good things on my list of things to do should I just flat out ignore today?" I don't really like saying, "I'm going to ignore the temple today." But that's what I'm saying, isn't it?

I wondered if this reading endorsement could count toward a master's at BYU. When I asked an earlier professor he said, "No, BYU won't recognize these credits as graduate work." And then he laughed.

I have church tomorrow from 9-12. I am going home teaching with my husband at 1 p.m. because his companion has a brain tumor right now and is waiting for surgery. And then we have 10th Ward's Ward Conference from 3-6 p.m. I didn't correct the science tests yesterday and I forgot to bring them home. I don't know if I can even make it to school today. I just need to focus on homework and get to the baptism. I hope I'm choosing the right things. I love church so much! And I LOVE my job! And I still love this reading endorsement. I love my husband too, which is why I sat next to him on the couch for 90 minutes last night watching a DVD of his choice, while holding hands. I love it all. Like Shakira sings, "I Want To (Wanna?) Try Everything!"

They always talk about good, better, and best. Well, these credits are helping me to renew my teaching license in the next couple of months, so they are necessary. So is that best? Is that better than the temple? Sunday is busy. Monday is work and Family Home Evening. Tuesday is work and BYU class. Wednesday is work and Scouts. Thursday is work and stake Primary (ward conference home visits, Round Table, or presidency meeting). Friday is...work and exhaustion/date night at home/whatever I can squeeze in, and yes, I did homework last night. And Saturday is...whatever seems most urgent.

Back to work!