Picture Monday, May 19, 2008

HOORAY! It seems that all of the sordid computer "issues" are taken care of. I have been able to get my pictures from Sea World up and posted.

Below is the dolphin tank. The dolphins are a little hard to see because they were under water when I snapped the picture.

This is a picture I took inside the shark exhibit. I love this picture because of the blue cast from the lighting and water. After I took this picture I turned around walked to the piranha display. While looking at them I overheard two girls talking about them. One of the girls said she thought their mouths looked "cute." I thought, "Cute like a paper shredder!"

Here is Julie and Jace in the children's area getting wet and having a great time doing it.

The day is beginning to get long. Here is Scott and the others looking for a drink and a bit of refreshment.

Jace is getting tired and is intent on seeing that his Mom, Jessica, gets tired also.

Proof positive that Jace's plan worked. Here they are, both having a well deserved rest.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


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Fridays vs. Mondays

I found this video online. I think it shows how we as techers feel on Friday afternoons. After a restful and relaxing weekend it is time to head back to class. Sometimes we have to push it to get there.Thanks to elRellano.com.© 2008 Barry T Horst


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Intense, Insane, Interminable Update

Kathy wrote in and told me the name of the song I mentioned in Intense, Insane, Interminable is Valley of the Vegetables by Laurie Berkner. Listen to a bit of the song at MyStrands.com. The plaayer is on the lower right hand portion of the screen. If you would like to purchase the music you may go to Blue Sunflower Associates and purchase the CD "BUZZ, BUZZ" by Laurie Berkner with the song on it.Thanks Kathy for the information. And in all honesty, and in the light of a new day; the song wasn't all that bad. I'll even listen to it again if you want me too. Once! Only once!© 2008 Barry T Horst


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Intense, Insane, Interminable

Twice a year at our school we have an I³ Day or I -Cubed Day. At this point I really can't remember what the three I's stand for. It could stand for Initiating Intelligent Interaction or maybe Introducing Integrated Information. However, yesterday it felt like the three I's stood for Intense, Insane, Interminable.

Let me explain what I³ Day is. The entire campus teaches various skills and objectives, all centered upon one theme or literature selection. Each teacher is provided with a lesson and all supplies needed for the lesson. Homeroom teachers then teach this same lesson throughout the day as other classes rotate into their classroom. Yesterdays selection was "June 29, 1999". This is a story about a young girl who is doing an experiment for school using vegetable plants. Her experiment is to send plants aloft and see if there is any change in them. Weeks later gigantic vegetables start falling from the sky. Where have they come from? (Go to Blue Sunflower Associates and buy "June 29, 1999" find out.)

I teamed up with a fellow Kindergarten teacher and we both did a lesson on shopping for vegetables at the grocery store. The students were supposed to shop, pay for, and get the appropriate change for their selections. The only problem was we only had 30 minutes for each lesson and 17 - 25 students per rotation into the room. We occasionally modified the lesson and challenged the students to shop for vegetables and try to hit a target amount and not go over. The amount we chose was $3 - $5 depending upon the grade level. Some students did quite well, others broke the bank.

Don't get me wrong. The day is great. Teachers get to see a different set of kids every 30 minutes. (This way we all get to see what the other teachers have to deal with on a daily basis and they see what you deal with.) As a Kindergarten teacher I love it because I get to see my previous students and get to interact with them once again. I also get to see what wonderful students many of them have become.

Now the Intense, Insane, Interminable part. It doesn't really have anything to to do with the lessons, the story, the students, or anything like that. It has to do with the music that our Instructional Specialist chose to signify that it was time to rotate; which is what my head began to do after hearing the same music and chorus over and over and over and over. You get the idea. It was something about vegetables and every time I heard it began to feel like someone was taking a hot poker and sticking it in my head. It really was Intense, Insane, Interminable. Maybe Kathy will write in and tell me the name of the song so I can share it with all of you. After all, you need an I³ day also.

PS: A Google search for June 29, 1999 yielded many scholarly articles. However none are related to what we taught. Goodness knows that we could have done some great lessons on "Neurotoxic Lesions of Basolateral, But Not Central, Amygdala Interfere with Pavlovian Second-Order Conditioning and Reinforcer Devaluation Effects". © 2008 Barry T Horst


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My Summer Vacation, Sort Of

When I became a teacher people told me I became a teacher for three reasons; June, July, and August. I would laugh and reply that it wasn't true because school generally began in the middle of August and teachers had to report before then.

Well, the State of Texas in it's infinite wisdom decided last year that school should not start before the last week of August but schools still had to meet the required 180 days. I guess you can tell what that means for most schools now. Since they can't start until the end of August , most schools have to go into the month of June unless they have cut out some holidays through the year. Waco ISD's last day for students is June 3rd and for teachers it is June 4th.

When the new school year begins teachers will have to report on August 18 and students will report on August 25. Now I know that most of you will say that still gives me most of June and August off and all of July. Not true. You see our district offers summer training opportunities for all staff. While this training is not mandatory it is strongly encouraged. Several campuses will begin a new campus climate program called TRIBES. Also, the district has adopted a new Math program and my campus will phase in a new reading program. All of this requires training. So for my summer enjoyment today I scheduled 51 hours of training during the month of July.

So for all of those who think a teacher becomes a teacher because of June, July, and August; you can tell them I became a teacher because of 3 weeks in June, 2 weeks in August, and not much of July.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


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The Restaurants On Memory Lane

Sometimes you start to reminisce at the strangest times. Well, now is it. Last night I was thinking about some of the hamburger places that my family would go to when I was much, much younger. Waco has had it's share of chain restaurants and local restaurants come and go. One hamburger place I remember that I think was a local establishment was The Chuck Wagon. The Chuck Wagon was a walk up establishment that I remember my family going to many times. It was located on Waco Drive in the vicinity of 7th or 8th Street s or thereabouts. The main thing I remember about the restaurant were the wagon wheels that adorned the outside. We would drive up and park. My dad would go to the window and order and then we would wait to hear our number called. When the number was called you knew that something good was coming. Years later the restaurant moved a few blocks down Waco Drive and then moved again to New Road and Waco Drive. It has been closed for many years now.

Another restaurant that has given me many memories is The Golden Point. They sold hamburgers and fries. I suppose they were similar to McDonald's. We would go there Sunday afternoons and get a bag of burgers and fries. I recall the burgers cost 15 cents. It was located on Valley Mills Drive and Sanger Avenue. At the time we would go to the Golden Point it was on the part of Valley Mills Drive that was beginning to narrow down to a couple of lanes heading out of town towards the lake. Now that same spot has seven lanes and seems like the middle of town. At the time I thought that this restaurant was the only one in the world. Nope! Here is a website that has some pictures of several Golden Point restaurants from across the states. They closed a long time ago and the building was later torn down a replaced by a convenience store.

When I was in high school there was a Sandy's Drive In just down the road from the school. At that time we had open campus for lunch and students could leave campus and go anywhere in town. Just be back in time for your next class. Since I couldn't drive my first year at Richfield I would either eat at school, walk to the McDonald's (A local shop, not the big chain), walk to the snack bar in the Clark's Discount Store, or go to Sandy's. At the time I thought it was great. Maybe that was because I was able to take a break from school. Check out Captain Ernies Showboat for a lot of great information about Sandy's.

When I have more time I will share more of my memories of growing up in Waco. For now, I think I'll go get a burger at Cupp's Drive In or The Health Camp on the Traffic Circle.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


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