How I will remember you…
I was just thinking how I would remember this summer, four weeks of intense learning and bonding, and how I would remember each of you. Take no offense please, but it works for me.
tech savvy – Patrick, Amber, Xen
3 Muskateers – Charlie, Ryan, Dan
grinning Grandpa – Steve
perfectionist – Hillary, Beth
Antique Adele
mad knitter – Rachel
cheerleader – Morgan
quiet spirit – Dumi
painter/novelist – Christine
break time/table gatherer – Gail
computer terminator – Rosalee
poet laureate – Judy
“how do you” – Pat, Elaine
hostess with mostess- Teresa
observer of all – Libbie
tweet – Ellen
where’s lunch? – Tiffany
and because of commitments and obligations beyond their control, but not to be left out:
MIA – Delores, LaDonna
AND..if there’s food I’ll be there – Scott F.
It’s been great guys, I will miss you but plan to keep in touch through blog and twitter.
5 comments July 10, 2009
I See the Light
Well, as the end seems to be drawing nearer, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Three and a half weeks ago, I was walking around, moaning to whoever would listen to my story of sob. Four weeks, 9-4, M-F, that’s a lot to swallow.
Even the teachers I work with thought I had lost my mind. I think I did somewhere along the way. But it must have been the passive part, the sleep part, the calm as a cucumber part, because that has been gone since day one.
I must admit, through my whining, I have had an enjoyable time. Oh yes, the work was hard, climbing stairs was a monster, learning all this stuff on the computer was torture, but, I had an enjoyable time. It must have been the people that I have bonded with. There are sixteen of us in the program and then the ones in charge (or keep the whip cracking). Then there is the secretary who I don’t know what she will do without us running in her office to eat, chat, laugh, look over material, sit, eat, chat some more. There was a lot of eating and chatting going on.
But this is what made it all worth it. We seem to suffer together. Some in computer skills, some with lack of sleep, not getting our houses cleaned, having class instead of celebrating you birthday or anniversary, but we kept plugging along. And now, here we are!
Boy that light looks good! I can even begin to smell the fresh air of summer vacation. Yes, some of us have other obligations, but not as intense. So as I am 3/4 of the way in the tunnel, that light is really looking good. So calm.
I’ll miss this place. I wonder what I will do Monday……
1 comment July 8, 2009
The Alley
What happened to all the alleys? You know, the neighborhood alleys we all grew up with. Every block had an alley all the way through half the block from one street to the next. Those alleys were important to my childhood. They were supposed to be for garbage trucks and maintenance trucks, but that’s not all the alley was for.
We used the alley for a short cut. Instead of walking all the around or half way around the block, the alley was the best way to get to your friend’s house. We would cut across the alley, check out people’s vegetable and flower gardens, maybe pick a few of something out of one of them.
I remember Mr. Nelson had a lot of fruit trees and grape vines in his back yard. He would let us come in and pick apples, plums, apricots, cherries and grapes. He always said we could come anytime. His stipulation was not to mess up his garden or flowers. We would come down the alley and go right into his yard. We’d pick whatever we wanted to because we knew it was fine.
Sometimes we would pick green apples and go across the alley to my friend’s house and put them on a stick. When the fire was going in the garbage can, we would roast those apples. Sometimes we would get sick. I’m not sure if it was from the green apples or from the fire, but it was always fun.
There was an abandoned brick house on Mr. Nelson’s property that sat at the corner of the alley. We weren’t allowed to go in it. It was usually boarded up but someone would always pry some of the boards loose. We were told that ghost were in there and to help it along, we would make noises from the back near the alley and scare people that were walking down the street.
At night, the alley was really scary. In the summer when we would be outside around 11:00 p.m. because it was too hot indoors, we would play hide and seek, lemonade, and baseball in the street. But running down that alley trying to play hide and seek was a little scary. There were no lights to be found anywhere. It was the alley. Some were afraid to come and look for us, some were brave enough and usually scared the heebyjeebies out of you. But it was a blast.
There was the time we would go over my friend’s grandmother’s house and be up in the bedroom with the window open. The back porch roof was right outside of that window, so we would sit on the roof. Her grandmother would not like us to do that. If we heard her coming up the stairs, we would jump down from the roof, take off running down the the back path, straight into the alley. We would hide there for a bit or just take off down the alley with her grandmother yelling at us out the window.
What was always odd to me was in one block, there were houses that were in the alley. I never knew the addresses but some of them were my friends’. Their front yard faced the alley. That was the only block that had two alleys intersecting like a street. It was also the only alley I can remember that had one of those big Illinois Power lights in it.
The alleys were so useful back then, now I don’t see them. There are a few in the big cities so people can get to their garages or delivery men to come down and unload in the downtown area. But it is not the same.
I wonder why progress took the best pathways and playgrounds from us. It makes me sad and wish again for the alley.
5 comments July 7, 2009
writing process movie
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/washin16/uiwp/Ladonnainterview2.mov
2 comments June 30, 2009
Phonetic Praise
June 30 a.m.
As I was sitting this morning, I began to think about the writing process. Not thinking before I started this program that I was a writer, I have been surprised at how much I write. I usually don’t think about writing. I teach, therefore I don’t have time to think about writing. Although I teach writing, there is no time to think about it. Or so I thought.
With this writing project, I have seen great demonstrations from all of the participants. Most are middle school, high school with a few elementary school people. This was interesting to seeing how I was among a group of people that mainly teach writing. I’m thinking, I don’t teach that much writing and therefore this will be of no use to me. But each demo had some part that would be useful to primary students. With adaptations some of the lessons could be amazing.
The upper grades talked so much about format, pre-write, writing, first draft, editing, research, collaboration, etc., I felt that I don’t really teach writing. But the more I thought about it, I realized that being a kindergarten teacher, I am the beginning of the writing experience for most children.
Upon this realization, I saw where writing is a process for the youngest of children. Yes we do some pre-writing, and writing even some editing, but not on as large a scale as I was witnessing that goes on at the upper levels. But for kindergarteners, what we do is a large scale. So, perspective makes a difference.
As I was thinking about my classroom and how my children approach writing, the struggles they endure to get where I want them to be, it is the same. Just a different age group. As we take our journey into the writing process, it is a struggle for some of the children to form letters, so pictures have to suffice. Dictation occurs to go along with their squiggles that lets me know the thought process, their story line.
We are lucky if we get a sentence and it is a struggle by the end of the year to have them write two sentences. When you have students that think the end of the paper is the end of their sentence or thought; children that don’t know what a period is and think the period is at the end of each line because that’s the end of the physical paper; or “Ms. Harmon, Ms. Harmon, how do you spell…?”, then you know that the writing process is occurring.
It can take most of the morning to finish one sentence and this is without editing. We have flying periods, torn paper from erasures, some near tears because they can’t spell a word, chit chatting not about their writing and only me. So it is a journey for both, me the proverbial teacher, them the struggling author.
So as it seemed that the writing that takes place at the upper levels seem easier to achieve, I was able to see the same struggles that my students go through with their writing. I attempt to write a phonetic story that may show the struggles or how my students really write.
On Satrda I went to a picnic at Hesl prk. We had fun. Ther was a lot of fud and I ate to much but it was good. We jumt rop. Sum uf us did dubl duch, sum did singl rop. I chrid dubl duch but was not good at it. So I stad with singl rop. I was tird whin I got hom and restd all nit.
So as I wrote this piece the way my children would, it was a struggle to think phonetically as they would write it. But it has also made me realize that writing is a process and a struggle for all grade levels.
3 comments June 30, 2009
The Beat Goes On
As I was driving over to my Aunts’ yesterday, they announced Michael Jackson had died. Michael Jackson….
I grew up with him. Even though much older, I grew up with him. Trying to learn that moonwalk, doing those moves, looking like a chicken. But still, it was the moonwalk, or a variation thereof. Although he was eccentric at times, I remember the real Michael of the “Jackson Five”. When they performed on the Ed Sullivan show, they had arrived. (or at least we were always told that anyone on that show would make it)
The excitement, the energy on stage was electrifying. You couldn’t help but move your feet, snap your fingers and try to busta move to their beat. I mean, that was the going thing. They were it, the group.
You know the story. Poor family, ghetto, father worked all the time trying to make ends meet. At the time it seemed all of us were there. This was common for my neighborhood and most Black neighborhoods. But it gave us a connection.
So yesterday, the music stopped. It turned and knew that someone who had embodied it was now gone. The music composition, the cutting edge choreography, the voice, gone. What had once been so dynamic, was now gone.
Although the moonwalk is still, the raised gloved hand that sparkled its light around the world is at his side and the voice that transcended so many generations is muted..THE BEAT GOES ON.
4 comments June 26, 2009
June 25 a.m.
Well today is my brother’s birthday. I was awake before midnight so I was all ready to make the call. At 11:58 p.m. I got a call. It was my brother. His clock in the hospital said it was already midnight, mine said 11:58 p.m. We decided to stay on the line until 12:00 or thereafter. At 12:00.01 I started singing Happy Birthday. He was cracking up the whole time. We kept chatting until he received another call. Of all the nerve, he made me hang up. Well at least it allowed me to go back to sleep. AMEN!
2 comments June 25, 2009
June 24 a.m.
Well today is my birthday. This will be an unforgettable one. Eugene My brother is having surgery today. I was there early this morning. The surgery will last 3-5 hours. So I’m a little anxious but sort of glad I’m here to keep my mind off things. Not completely off but enough that I won’t worry all day while he’s in surgery.
The other unforgettable thing is that I am in class ALL day. Oh yeah. Nice birthday. By the time I get home, I won’t want to do anything. Plus there is church tonight and I’m sure that the other teacher won’t be there, since his daughter is in the hospital. So this is it for the day.
I always like birthdays. When I was small, we didn’t have parties. As a matter of fact, I didn’t get a party until I turned 50. The big one. When I became an adult that is when I started getting lots of calls and cards.
My brother and I are exactly a year and one day apart. People thought we were twins. I don’t think we look alike but that ‘s another story. Everyone says we do.
Every year, we started calling each other at 12:01 a.m. to be the first to wish each other a happy birthday. It is always funny. The older we get, the later the call gets because we fall asleep. Old I guess. By the time we wake up it’s too far past 12:00 so we just try to call before another person or family member calls in the morning. This morning, he and his wife called at 5:00 a.m.
One year, he and my cousin came by the house at 12:01 a.m. on their motorcycles. I was waiting for the call before I went to bed. Well it didn’t come. So I was half asleep on the couch when I heard this awful singing outside. They were singing the jazzy birthday song. Now here I am in a condo complex and these turkeys are singing at the top of their voices. Whoa was I embarrassed. I figured they would kick me out of the complex or at least call the police for disturbing the peace. My neighbors said in the morning that they thought it was hilarious. I was glad they weren’t disturbed or should I say took it all in good humor.
The next year, I was waiting for them to do that or sneak over with some other trick. So I waited up and listened intently. Nothing. I could not sleep because I knew he would do something. Well he did come over on his motorcycle. He walked it into the complex so I wouldn’t hear it and he came early. You talking about being thrown off. I was a nervous wreck. But it was funny.
So each year, we try to outdo each other with the craziness of seeing who’s first. Some of the other family members have joined in. So now I get calls from all over the country close to midnight. It’s easier for the ones on the west coast because it is earlier for them anyway. It’s a lot of fun.
Since there are so many family and friends with birthdays in June, we also started the tradition of dressing up and going out to eat. It started with a good friend, my sister-in-law and myself. We would go out to lunch on one of our birthdays. We had to change it to dinner. When my friend moved away, my sister-in-law and I kept going out. We would trade gifts and just have a ball. Well of course my brother had to horn in and another friend with a birthday in June. Then a few family members started coming, so it ended up being an event. It’s always fun. We exchange gifts and everything.
Well this year, with my brother’s surgery on my birthday, he’s going to be in the hospital on his birthday and VBS was going on on my sister-in-law’s birthday, we didn’t get to go out. Maybe when he’s a little better, we will go and have our birthday dinner. It may not happen until July. We’ll see.
He’s the one this morning that said this will be a birthday I won’t forget. He’s got that right. But I’m 59, feeling fine and have no complaints. I praise God that I was able to see this day. There are many of my friends that have passed and gone. So I feel blessed to be here.
3 comments June 24, 2009
June 19 a.m.
June 19 a.m.
Well, here we go again. My house saga continues. At least the news is much better. They are finished with the living room dining room area. They moved my furniture back and I can now sit on the couch!! AND watch television. I am soooooo happy.
The problem now is that I have to clean. There is paint dust and sanding from the floor dust everywhere. I started a little last night. That helped to take the stress off having to make my presentation today. So I just cleaned away last night. I have a long way to go but it was a start.
It’s funny, when you have all this work done on your house, it makes you realize how much clutter you actually have. I have too much. So I am going to make a decision to live lighter. That’s what my friend calls it, “living light” and I’m so there. My home will look beautiful. Not quite Good Housekeeping beautiful, but beautiful.
Today I am a wee bit nervous about the demo. I hope I can deliver what I’ve practiced. Ryan had so much ease up there. I am so used to a much younger audience. I mean five year olds, you just have to act crazy and they enjoy that. But this will be an audience of my own peers. We’ll see how it goes. I’m trying not to stress about it anymore. What good will that do. At least I can sit back, relax and move on to the next assignment.
I am so happy that I made it through the first week. Even though the intensity hasn’t waned, I am getting a little more comfortable with this. When you don’t consider yourself a writer (or teacher thereof) it is a little difficult. But I am feeling better about the whole experience.
I guess most of my entries have been more journal entry writing than a start to a story. But I am finding this frees my mind and I tend to function better. It allows me to get rid of frustrations of whatever is going on in my life. Then I tend to accept it more and move on. I may continue this.
I have done daily journal entries in the past and really enjoyed it. None were this lengthy, but this has been a good thing. At first when they informed us we would spend the first 30-60 minutes writing, I thought…too long…but sometimes when we are ready to wrap up, I am more to write. So hopefully this will be an ongoing thing that I will set aside time for.
2 comments June 19, 2009
June 18 am
June 18 a.m.
Well I got all the books here for my demo tomorrow. I had to lug them down five flights of stairs in the parking garage. I’m not complaining it could be worse. But they were still heavy.
Charles just asked us to upload some of our writings to our blog. Yeah right. I just learned how to blog, don’t know what I’m doing and now I have to upload. OK, HOW? As you can see I decided to write some more instead of upload. BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW HOW TO UPLOAD INTO MY BLOG!
So much for that little tantrum. My house is still a mess. They didn’t even come yesterday. The guy said he traded cars with his wife and didn’t bring the key and by the time he would have gotten it, it would have been late. I told him he could have called and I would have come home at lunch to let them in. DUH! Well then it would have been too late. LATER THAN WHAT? Not working? He said they went to another job. MY job is just as important! I am tired of living in my bedroom and eating out. (although it has been a good excuse to eat out) (Like I cook anyway)
I enjoyed yesterday’s session. Working with the camera and going outside. LaDonna and I had fun. Although when I was editing you can hear my big mouth. If I have to use some of it, I don’t think the voice over is going to cover my big ol’ mouth. Maybe some loud music. Really loud music…really loud. We’ll see. Anyway, I got some good footage on the quad just messing with the camera and the tripod. I’ve used a tripod before but all are a little different.
LaDonna had me cracking up when she scanned with the camera. We were both dizzy, though she thought it was cool, and finally convinced me that it was. We were really trying to see if we could get the blurry effect. Well, she did! A lot of blur.
I think our interview piece went really well. She was interesting to talk to. Very confident. Of course my questions were brilliant. Hey, the next Robin Meade in the house!! Of course you have to ignore the uh, uh, uh and the rambling, but I thought I interviewed her well. I made up my own questions. When I finished her, we thought maybe we should have written the questions down first.
When it was her turn to interview me, Katie Couric (I mean LaDonna) did a good job. I wonder if she’s not an under cover correspondent or something. Could be, I’ll have to consider that. She may have been sent in by the furniture to see if I’m ready to crack or something. Hey, you never know. I just have to look at all sides of the issue.
I made some footage last night and early this morning. I don’t quite know how I’m going to put it together. It’s a little organized in my head but not quite on paper. (or computer) I know what I want it to look like.
Image, the trees, this cut away scene to my feet, the swirl of indecision, paper, time passing, time passing, light breaks, early hours, computer, DONE. Hey wait a minute. This may work. I think I got it. OK, if i can pull this together I think I have an organized plan and now, ta da, it’s on paper. Now I just have to get it onto the computer. Well at least it’s a start.
Add a comment June 18, 2009
