quotable quotes

Boy: "Did you have a hard day yesterday?"
Me: "Yes, actually. How can you tell? Do I look that bad?"
Boy: "Oh, it's just your hair. You have fly-aways everywhere!"
Me: "...Oh. Well that's not a result of my hard day. That's just because I didn't shower."

Things are going well. I'm still myself up here, and I can prove that with the above statement and because I am currently listening to Christmas music. There's a church in Louisville that has amazing albums and music, and I found a free sampler of their Christmas album on noisetrade.com.

Feel like learning?
Have you ever heard of Baby Can Read? Don't do it.

I've taught that at OSU - that not only is there no benefit to watching television, there may actually be negative effects. A recent position statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics confirms this belief from a compilation of studies. (See the link here.) There are no benefits to placing children younger than two in front of a television, even for background noise. It is not just that there are no effects - there are actually negative effects of television watching.
Yes, I can write this convincingly because I don't have to care for any children under two. I'm sure I will be plenty tempted to plop them down in front of the tv... so you can hold me accountable to that. Maybe, when I grow up, I can live on a farm in the 1800s and not have to worry about it?

On more serious notes, I am interested in your opinions. As a teacher at a Christian high school, to what extent do you think my focus should be content? To what extent should it be relationships? Spiritual development? I am not happy with the percentages that I currently feel like I am doing, but I don't know an ideal. What do you all think? Would it change if I were teaching a different age? Subject? Public school?

she's back. and she's wearing a viking hat.

I held an after-school cooking club where we made different types of squash, apple crisp, and used freshly grated parmesan cheese. It was a success! See the empty plates below. I plan to hold a session monthly, so let me know if you have suggestions for winter foods that are healthy-ish.

I wore my Viking hat from the Warrior Dash in class last Monday. That was fun. I made up a story problem about Viking boats (also about the number of Viking warriors before and after battles) and said "Hmm, I think we need a visual aid." Then I reached into my "props" drawer, pulled out a Viking hat, and continued teaching. The kids were a little shocked, but I suspect they enjoyed it. I actually heard someone say that it was a pretty good lesson... and I think all that was different was that I kept looking at my shadow in the overhead. And trying to poke people (or not poke people) with my Viking horns.

Squash-apple turnovers: I've been in somewhat of a squash frenzy. I love squashes - all kinds of them. To your left, you see a squash-apple turnover. Did you know you can cook apples like this? I suppose you probably did, because apples turn into applesauce. But they don't have to get mushy - you can saute them. With butternut squash. And then add some other stuffs, wrap them in crescent roll dough, and call it lunch?



Since I happened to have dough... I made some peanut-butter-smores turnovers as well.

 They were tasty too. Although marshmallow creme is a better option than marshmallows, because actual marshmallows kind of just dissolve. By kind of, I mean they really do.

Thanks for checking in. I hope to write something meaningful someday soon - it's there, inside me. I think.