Rachael's trip

Saturday, April 23, 2011

The Spring of Home Improvement - Spring Break Edition

According to local news, today is going to start off gray but turn into a sunny warm day. I am looking forward to going outside and doing a little container gardening. All those magazines and blogs say to take your container to the local nursery and ask for help.

Yesterday, I did just that. I took one of my three containers to the local garden center. The ladies there were so helpful. They helped me design and create what I am sure will be some great looking planters. I would never have been able to design them myself. I brought the plants home and put them on the front porch to spend the night. I wanted to be able to get started without having to run off to the nursery first.

So, after playing in the dirt and water on the porch...here is what I ended up with....


Now, all we have to do is hope that they survive my brown thumb!

Friday, April 22, 2011

The Spring of Home Improvement

For two years, I taught full time and attended graduate school in the evenings. My family was still living their busy lives and my husband was writing a book. Needless to say, my poor house was totally neglected and boy, can you tell! 

So, this is the spring of home improvement. We have added a wonderful wrap around deck and have begun working on the kitchen. Last weekend I painted the cooking area. It's the smallest part of the kitchen, so I knew I could get it done in just a few hours. This weekend, I hope to get behind the refrigerator and get that part cleaned and painted. 

I'll post pictures later...






Sunday, April 10, 2011

I can tell its spring!

It's spring and I have caught the spring cleaning and redecorating bug! I have been inspired by the many crafty bloggers whom I follow to do something new and creative around the house. I am beginning to see things come together and am starting to feel quite accomplished.

We are having a new wrap around deck put in by the construction classes at school. It is absolutely beautiful.  My husband, the engineer, and the expert construction teacher have come up with a beautiful yet functional design. I can't wait to open it up for the season! Below are some before pictures that I took before we started.


Now, here are a couple that give an idea of where we are going with this whole thing....
I am just so happy with how this is turning out! I can't wait to see how it looks when all the post caps are installed and finishing touches are added. Keep watching...I'll keep you posted...

Friday, April 1, 2011

Reflecting on the Effects of Possible Budget Cuts

I know that one of the possible ways that school systems are looking to save money is to move away from the newer "4 x 4" schedule in high schools by going back to the traditional 7 period day. I am not sure how this saves money but the powers that be can always do that "administrator math" to prove that it does. However, what I have been thinking about is not the dollars saved but, the loss of individualized and creative instruction.

Yesterday, we had an early release day to allow for district wide staff development. Each of our classes was 40 minutes long much like those class periods when I first started teaching. I tried to keep  my class as close to our daily routine as possible. We did our Vocabulary Word (instead of WORDS) of the day, we had our lesson (lecture) and then did our activity. However, there was very little time for the activity. If our classes were this short all the time, the activity would have then been left to be completed as homework.

So, what did I learn from yesterday? That the fastest way to make sure your kids get the information they need is to lecture. We all know that but, we have been trying to move beyond being the purveyor of information and into the realm of facilitator of knowledge. Most of the time, the lecture part of my class lasts only 20 minutes at most. (Unless of course, the kids get to discussing, questioning, or debating...it is Social Studies, after all...) The biggest part of the class is the discovery part or project part depending on the topic we are studying.

If we are forced back to the traditional schedule, high schools every where will become lecture and homework driven. We will actually move backwards through time. We may save money (Mr. Administrator show me that math!) but we will most definitely be losing students!