The beginning of the end of the world did not happen today. Despite the predictions of a small but vocal group of religious fundamentalists, half of the people on earth did not disappear leaving the others to face five months of turmoil before the ultimate apocalypse.
There was no catastrophe back on January 1, 2000, either, even though many people told us there would be a huge problem when lots of computers thought it was 1900 instead of 2000. New Years Day was as quiet and uneventful as usual.
Our next date with doom is on December 21, 2012. That's when the Mayan calendar supposedly ends, and with it, some people think, the world as we know it. Whenever someone asks me what I think of such predictions, my usual reply is something like, "I don't think so, but what do I know?"
Life Lesson:
Fire and Ice
By Robert Frost
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
R is for Remains
We were fascinated in my third period class this week when one of the students came in with the tale of confiscating a relatively fresh skull from her dog. According to her, there was still some hair and tissue, but otherwise the thing was not very recognizable (although her dad thought it might be a cat!). All those police and detective novels I've read kicked right in, and after questioning her for a few more relevant details, I started googling images of small mammal skulls, but without any luck. It wasn't a cat, a squirrel, a possum, a raccoon, or a puppy (thank goodness...). It was always the eye size that was wrong-- whatever it was, it had pretty tiny eyes. When the bell rang for lunch, I sighed and gave up.
Fortunately, she brought a cell phone photo in today, and before I ever got to see the picture, one of the other kids recognized it as a skunk. We searched again for an image to confirm his hypothesis, but it was never 100%. There was too much gore on the one in her picture to make a positive identification. LAter, though, I did some more research and found that skunks do indeed have very small eyes. They rely on their hearing and smelling more than sight.
Coincidentally, I heard a story on the radio this morning about why mammals have such big brains, especially compared to reptiles. Millions of years ago, dinosaurs were hunting in the day, so anything that could hunt at night had an advantage, because it wasn't prey or competition to the dinosaurs. The theory goes that mammals developed a strong sense of smell to help them hunt in the dark, and that the sense of smell takes up more brain space, so their brains grew to be larger and larger. Later, some mammals evolved into daytime predators, and they have larger eyes, but not the skunk. Good job, Skunk!
Life Lesson: Do what you're good at.
Fortunately, she brought a cell phone photo in today, and before I ever got to see the picture, one of the other kids recognized it as a skunk. We searched again for an image to confirm his hypothesis, but it was never 100%. There was too much gore on the one in her picture to make a positive identification. LAter, though, I did some more research and found that skunks do indeed have very small eyes. They rely on their hearing and smelling more than sight.
Coincidentally, I heard a story on the radio this morning about why mammals have such big brains, especially compared to reptiles. Millions of years ago, dinosaurs were hunting in the day, so anything that could hunt at night had an advantage, because it wasn't prey or competition to the dinosaurs. The theory goes that mammals developed a strong sense of smell to help them hunt in the dark, and that the sense of smell takes up more brain space, so their brains grew to be larger and larger. Later, some mammals evolved into daytime predators, and they have larger eyes, but not the skunk. Good job, Skunk!
Life Lesson: Do what you're good at.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
2 is for the 24 Game
The premise of the game is simple-- each card has four digits and players must use each number once and add, subtract, multiply, and/or divide to get 24. The cards often have more than one solution, but there are no answer keys, so the only way to figure it out is to figure it out.
Our sixth grade team has an annual Challenge 24 tournament and as that time of year approaches, we dig out the brightly colored blue, yellow and red cards and start playing with our homerooms to get them in practice for the competition. To be successful, good mental math skills are helpful, but not required. Over the years I've become convinced that the best way to win is to look for the patterns, especially 8 x 3 and 6 x 4, although this year I have a student who is all about 16 + 8-- that combination seems to work for him pretty often.
I found out today that there is actually an app for the game and of course I downloaded it right away. At first, playing electronically seemed harder, somehow, and I was really slow. It took me a while to notice that all the numbers are right side up on the iVersion of the game. I think that difference was disorienting enough to slow my brain down until I became accustomed to it. The longer I played, though, the better I did.
Life Lesson: Sometimes our brains work in strange ways, but that's okay as long as they work!
Our sixth grade team has an annual Challenge 24 tournament and as that time of year approaches, we dig out the brightly colored blue, yellow and red cards and start playing with our homerooms to get them in practice for the competition. To be successful, good mental math skills are helpful, but not required. Over the years I've become convinced that the best way to win is to look for the patterns, especially 8 x 3 and 6 x 4, although this year I have a student who is all about 16 + 8-- that combination seems to work for him pretty often.
I found out today that there is actually an app for the game and of course I downloaded it right away. At first, playing electronically seemed harder, somehow, and I was really slow. It took me a while to notice that all the numbers are right side up on the iVersion of the game. I think that difference was disorienting enough to slow my brain down until I became accustomed to it. The longer I played, though, the better I did.
Life Lesson: Sometimes our brains work in strange ways, but that's okay as long as they work!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
X is for X Marks the Spot
Do you think it would be fun to follow clues leading to a hidden treasure? If your answer is yes, then Geocaching is for you! Geocaching is an international game where people hide "caches" all over the world, then they post the GPS coordinates of these hidden stashes on a website called geocaching.com along with clues to help other geocachers find them.
Once you find a cache, you sign the log book and post your discovery. Some caches have trading items-- you take a fun trinket from the collection inside and replace it with one of your own. Some of them have "travel bugs." These are things that travel from cache to cache-- your job is to help them on their way by taking them from one site and placing them in another. For example, once I found a Red Sox keychain that was trying to travel from Florida back to Boston in time for the world series. Fortunately, I was going that way on vacation, and so I dropped it off about 10 miles west of Fenway Park.
You would be amazed how many caches there are-- it's over 1.3 million worldwide. You can find them almost anywhere you go-- in my small town alone, there are over 500, and one of them is even on the grounds of our school. When I first started geocaching, you needed a special device to play, but these days, many smart phones have GPS capability, and some of them even have an app to help you play, so it's easier than ever to get started with this fun hobby, so what are you waiting for?
Life Lesson: There's treasure everywhere!
Once you find a cache, you sign the log book and post your discovery. Some caches have trading items-- you take a fun trinket from the collection inside and replace it with one of your own. Some of them have "travel bugs." These are things that travel from cache to cache-- your job is to help them on their way by taking them from one site and placing them in another. For example, once I found a Red Sox keychain that was trying to travel from Florida back to Boston in time for the world series. Fortunately, I was going that way on vacation, and so I dropped it off about 10 miles west of Fenway Park.
You would be amazed how many caches there are-- it's over 1.3 million worldwide. You can find them almost anywhere you go-- in my small town alone, there are over 500, and one of them is even on the grounds of our school. When I first started geocaching, you needed a special device to play, but these days, many smart phones have GPS capability, and some of them even have an app to help you play, so it's easier than ever to get started with this fun hobby, so what are you waiting for?
Life Lesson: There's treasure everywhere!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Q is for Quite Quarrelsome
Dear Students,
Can we just agree that if you were not doing something that should be corrected then I wouldn't be redirecting you? That alone would save so much time.
You wouldn't have to act like you were completely mystified that I spoke to you in a bit of a sharp tone: What did I do? I wasn't doing anything! Who me?
I wouldn't have to point out the obvious in exasperation. Really? You're surprised that I object to you wandering around the room when you should be writing?
We wouldn't have to debate over the tiny details: I wasn't "wandering!" I was looking for paper, going to sharpen my pencil, getting a tissue, etc.
Honest, I did not become a teacher to arbitrarily control your life. There's a method to my madness, but I'm pretty sure you know that already. Right?
Life Lesson: An error doesn't become a mistake until we refuse to correct it.
Can we just agree that if you were not doing something that should be corrected then I wouldn't be redirecting you? That alone would save so much time.
You wouldn't have to act like you were completely mystified that I spoke to you in a bit of a sharp tone: What did I do? I wasn't doing anything! Who me?
I wouldn't have to point out the obvious in exasperation. Really? You're surprised that I object to you wandering around the room when you should be writing?
We wouldn't have to debate over the tiny details: I wasn't "wandering!" I was looking for paper, going to sharpen my pencil, getting a tissue, etc.
Honest, I did not become a teacher to arbitrarily control your life. There's a method to my madness, but I'm pretty sure you know that already. Right?
Life Lesson: An error doesn't become a mistake until we refuse to correct it.
Monday, May 16, 2011
N is for Netflix
Today at the gym I watched a movie on my iPhone. Usually I listen to music, but for a change I decided to just pick something from my Instant Queue on Netflix and that was that-- I was entertained as I plodded along on the treadmill. When I was a kid, if you wanted to see a movie, you had to go to the theater, and if you wanted to watch a particular TV show, you had to be in front of the television when it was on. There were no recordings of either of those. It's obvious that over the years, technology has really changed the way we view things, but I have to confess to a moment of amazement this afternoon when I looked down at the tiny screen in my hand and saw those credits roll.
Life Lesson: Today is the tomorrow we only dreamed of yesterday.
Life Lesson: Today is the tomorrow we only dreamed of yesterday.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
V is for Vegan
Vegans are people who only eat plant-based food. Unlike vegetarians, vegans do not eat eggs or any kind of dairy products like milk or cheese. Today I went to a movie called Forks Over Knives. Its premise was that eating animal products is the cause of almost all of the heart disease and cancer in the world. They also claimed that switching your diet to a completely vegan one can reverse those diseases, even in people who are deathly ill.
Like most documentaries, this film made a convincing case, but even as I was sitting there, I started to wonder about what a vegan diet would include, but more importantly, what it would exclude, too.
Never mind the obvious loss of chicken, steak, burgers, chops, and seafood-- start with breakfast: besides the usual scrambled or fried eggs, there would be no muffins, pancakes, or waffles, and no milk for your cereal. At lunch, no cheese means no pizza or lasagna, and almost every kind of baked dessert has eggs, too, so no more cookies or cakes, and of course there would be no ice cream, either.
That would be a tough adjustment, even if someone was convinced it was the right thing to do. Most of the people they spoke to in the movie were in a life or death situation, where changing their diet meant a chance at saving their lives, so to them it was worth it. Even so, they all said that they felt much better once they made the change, AND... they were still alive.
As for me? I'm still thinking.
Life Lesson: What's easy is not always what's right, and what's right is not always what's easy.
Like most documentaries, this film made a convincing case, but even as I was sitting there, I started to wonder about what a vegan diet would include, but more importantly, what it would exclude, too.
Never mind the obvious loss of chicken, steak, burgers, chops, and seafood-- start with breakfast: besides the usual scrambled or fried eggs, there would be no muffins, pancakes, or waffles, and no milk for your cereal. At lunch, no cheese means no pizza or lasagna, and almost every kind of baked dessert has eggs, too, so no more cookies or cakes, and of course there would be no ice cream, either.
That would be a tough adjustment, even if someone was convinced it was the right thing to do. Most of the people they spoke to in the movie were in a life or death situation, where changing their diet meant a chance at saving their lives, so to them it was worth it. Even so, they all said that they felt much better once they made the change, AND... they were still alive.
As for me? I'm still thinking.
Life Lesson: What's easy is not always what's right, and what's right is not always what's easy.
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