Pinterest....why are you so addicting.  I gave a training today over pinterest and how to use it as an educator.  I felt it was a good training.  We will see when I get the surveys back. But it got me thinking, "I have good ideas, I FIND good ideas, I need to share them with others.  I am going to try to blog more and share some of these ideas.  I can still pin them to pinterest, but I will link them back to here.

 

                               

This is a an article from edutedemic with the 20 best boards on educational technology.  You can find their list at: http://edudemic.com/2012/10/pinterest-education-technology/

Snakes! I don't like snakes!-Part 2

Today is a new day.  I am still not going to go and clean out the garage. (If you don't know that drama read http://ahaideas.blogspot.com/2012/03/snakes-i-dont-like-snakes.html)

It is pretty.
It isn't raining. 
It isn't 100 degrees outside.
I think I will go and do some yard work. 

This is where I should stopped and gone to facebook and played Rummikub or Bubble Pop!

I knew that there was a chance that the snake from yesterday could POSSIBLY be out there...bigger and with his whole family now, but I was determined to clean the back yard.  Here is how the story goes. 

I tend to procrastinate at times. It is true, ask my mom.  I almost didn't graduate from high school because I procrastinated taking a correspondence class.My high school counselor had to call and beg them to grade it so I could walk across the stage.

Anyway, we were trying to be good to our earth and recycle our aluminum cans.  One bag filled up and then another and then another until I looked at the pile and thought our yard looked like Sanford and Sons. 

I went to go get the bags and put them in the Jeep to take them to the recycling center.  I took a rake with me.  Why you ask?  I am going to poke at the bags so if the snake family is living under the bags they can move before I have a heart attack.  I am poking and lifting the first bag and there a lot of rolly pollys but otherwise, I am good to go.

UNTIL...

the bag broke.  I guess they had been sitting out there  lot longer than I remember.  My procrastination has now earned me extra work! 

I go and get the trash bags and start picking up the cans and re-bagging them.  The first bag is done and now so is the second.  All is going good.  I am still looking out for the snake, but no sign of him. 

The third bag...poke and move around, lots of rolly pollys, no snakes, but now RED CENTIPEDES.  Are you kidding me?  I thought I only saw those at Lakeview.  I promptly get my centipede killing stick (don't ask why I got a stick)  All I could think of is I have to kill these two new red friends before Cowboy finds them.  So I "chopped" those in half and proceeded to bagging. 

The fourth bag..poke and move around, lots of rolly pollys, no snakes, no centipedes, let's start bagging.  I am picking some of the cans up and out pops a lizard. 

Now here is where you have to use your imagination.  I am holding a new bag that is almost full in my left hand, blue gloves on both hands, and I am using the right hand to pick up the cans and toss them into the bag. When the large iguana lizard, not really but that is what I saw, came out of the bag. I really though it was a snake.  I drop the bag that is in my left hand, throw the cans that are in my right hand, stumble backwards to get away from this horrible creature that looked similar to a dilophosaurus, you know the one that spit the poisonous black stuff on Newman (Wayne Knight) in Jurassic Park, and then trip over Cowboy leaving me susceptible to this creature. 

I realize that it is only a lizard and look around to see if anyone saw that.  There is light at the end of the tunnel.  Only 2 more bags AND no snakes.

Now here is why the title of this blog is called, "Snakes!  I don't like snakes!-Part 2

The fifth bag...poke and move around...and there he is.

I SWEAR IT IS THE SAME SNAKE AS YESTERDAY! 

I wish I was braver.  I would have gone to get my camera so I could show everyone the snake that is stalking me during my spring break.  I am looking around to see what I can kill it with.  If you know me at all you are very impressed that I am even thinking about getting that close to a snake to kill it.  But it must be done.  My good friend Neoma always says, "The only good snake is a dead snake."

I saw the centipede killing sticks and realize that I would be entirely too close to the snake so I keep looking.  I see a board that is cut at an angle and realize, without removing my eyes from the snake this is my only choice. The snake is against the fence and it is going to be hard to kill. 

I chickened out and he slithered away.  I have decided I need a frozen thin mint to "calm" my nerves. 

I am almost done.  I can't let this snake win. Back outside I go. 

I get to the last bag, pick it up and he is underneath all coiled up.  I reach for my handy dandy snake killing board and slam it down on the tail of the snake. He is attacking the board, mouth wide open.  I went to strike him again and I hit the bottom of the fence and it broke.  No time to worry about that.  I go for the snake again and...

I KILLED HIM!

I ran around the yard like I had just won a million dollars. Victory is mine!!!

So as I am telling you this I am thinking, "Yes! I killed him! Wait, what if he was the baby snake and his mama is ticked off and is plotting her revenge?"

I think I will go clean the garage!

Snakes! I don't like snakes!

So, one of my favorite Christmas books is called, "Who Will Guide My Sleigh Tonight".  If you have children it is a must read.  Heck, if you don't have kids it is just fun and why shouldn't we have fun.  Especially during the holiday season!

So you are probably thinking to yourself, "Why is she talking about Christmas in March?" On any other day that would be a fair question.  BUT NOT TODAY!

There is a page in the story about snakes and let's just say I agree with Santa(I don't want to give the story away)!

So I was cleaning out the garage.  I have wanted to do this CHORE forever.  I have finally decided that since I am on Spring Break and it wasn't TOO hot I would get this done.  I mean how long can this actually take, right!

It started off by throwing some old Cleveland Drill Team tapes away.  That was harder than I thought.  I thought that this is where my 12 step program would need to start.  I seriously thought, "Maybe I should take a break and go and watch the reality TV show Hoarders.  No, Alise!  Keep going!" It had been a couple of hours and I could see some progress.  I stayed on one side of the garage and I was to the sweeping! I would finish sweeping that half of the garage and then I would work on the other half with Matthew since it is the side with the t-shirt equipment and all of I the supplies.  

As I move a piece of sheetrock, there he is.  The biggest snake known to man.  OK, really he was about the diameter of a pencil and as long as a ruler (do you like my measurements?  Thanks Teresa C.!)  It is him against me?  There he lay sticking his tongue out at me...the audacity!  He was in MY garage.  What do I do? Jump and scream while holding onto the broom , of course.  I guess he did not like my high pitch scream so he slithered out of the garage. 

I have now decided that the other half of the garage is just going to be dirty!

The Science Fair Project

So I really hadn't decided exactly what to blog about today.  I am making dinner, well hot dogs.  Those barely count as dinner.  They are the "I have NOTHING left to cook in the house except a can of pork N beans that have been in the pantry since I moved into this house 4 years ago." Anyway, back to my story, I was talking to Matthew and he was asking about school.  I said it was fine like I always do ( I REALLY try not to bore him with the happenings of the elementary school).  He said "Really?" I had a long day and really nothing exciting happened...or even funny.  He said ok and went back to the tv.  I went to the computer and saw the word GOOGLE and I started laughing.  
Here is why...

If you are an elementary teacher or the parent of an elementary student you know that it is time for the science fair.  I was in the computer lab with a couple of students who were finishing a test.  A fourth grader came in and said, "Ms. Lamoreaux can I use a computer for my science fair project?"  I said sure.  He stood there for a moment looking a little confused.  I asked him what he was doing for his science fair project.  In a really long explanation, that I will not torture you with, he was going to compare laundry detergent.  I said, "Ok, so what do you need the computer for?" And he said, "I need to look up the research." Ummmm, what?  He proceeded to tell me that he needed to get on Google and find out the answer for science fair project.  I told that he has to do the project.  At home. Without the computer.  His response, "Why do I need to do that?  Google has all the answers"

Touche' Touche'

Out of my Mind

 

Every year I try to read 5 of the bluebonnet nominees so I can vote with the kiddos at school. I think it is important for them to see their teachers reading. So, I am reading Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper. Colleen Hicks said that all techers should be required to read this and I agree. But I also think that everyone should read it. Children AND adults with disabilities are still people. They have feelings and just because they don't speak or look "cute or groomed" doesn't mean they deserve any less love or compassion. I use to be a special education teacher and loved every minute of it. It was never a dull moment. It was hard. So many days go by and the "light switch" never comes on. But then that one magical day...there are no words to express how you feel. Parents come in and cry because of the things that their child is doing in the classroom that they didn't know they could do. And in your head you think, "Really, you're excited about this? THis isn't on their IEP?" You never know what a difference you make. As I am typing this I think of some of those kiddos that I dreaded having in my class. Not because they were not "cute" or "well groomed", but because of how difficult they could be. I am being reminded that they may scream or "act out" because they don't like something and they don't have the words to tell you. So the next time you are around a child, or an adult, that has special needs ask them their name, ask them how are they doing, treat them like a human being. You never know what they understand. You will never know how much that means to that child and maybe more importantly their parent.