Another Repair

My computer tends to run hot, so I use a chill pad to cool it down. I have gone through many different chill pads. The most current one just died. The problem is with the connection from the chill pad to the computer. It becomes loose and won’t maintain the connection. Paige used rubber bands and ingenuity to make it work. I told Paige she did another MacGyver job. Do you remember the TV show MacGyver? He could fix anything with whatever junk was near at hand, and he could do it in a few minutes. Paige must be channeling MacGyver.

Got Music?

Recently I was looking for a particular song online. I wanted the lyrics. I found a recording of the song on Amazon.com. For 99¢ I downloaded the song to my computer and put it on my MP3 player. I had no idea that Amazon sold songs. I downloaded “My Own Little Lamp” by Janice Kapp Perry. I like the message this song has for Primary children. It makes a reference to the 10 virgins that waited for the Bridegroom all night. All 10 had lamps, but only 5 had brought extra oil for their lamps. These 5 were prepared and ready when the Bridegroom came. This song points out that we can’t live on the testimony of others. We need to have our own.

My Own Little Lamp

I need to have my own testimony
to be sure that the gospel is true.
It’s a blessing to have parents
who are certain of the truth,
but I need to know it too.

I need to have my own testimony
to be able to stand for the right.
I know there may come a time
when I will have to walk alone,
and I can’t live on borrowed light.

I must ask the Lord.
I must make a choice
To listen for his gentle voice.
And then I will know that these things are right,
And my own little lamp will be filled with light.

Anagrams

Instead of reading right before I go to sleep, I play anagrams with Marc. We play Word Warp on his IPod. We are given six letters to build words from. Usually there is only one six-letter word. Often we come up with all possible words. My specialty is the six-letter word. Often I suggest words that are part of the solution, but I don’t always know how to spell them. Marc’s specialty is spelling. We have even encountered words that we didn’t know. We definitely do much better when we work as a team.

Recycled Cart

During the school year I use a cart to take things to and from my classroom. I write most of my reports at home, so I need to bring files home to research for the reports. These files can be very heavy. I am very hard on these carts. I have gone through about six in the last two years. My most recent cart had a broken handle. Paige decided to fix my cart. Even though I had replaced them, I had not thrown out two of the previous carts. Paige worked them over, and now I have two working carts. Luckily different things had been broken on the carts, so Paige was able to piece together two carts from the three carts. This will save money since each cart costs about $20. Thank you, Paige!

What Do You Do In the Summertime?

It has been very relaxing having this month off from school. I have really needed this time to refresh my mind and body. I have been able to read, listen to audio books, work on Primary projects, exercise, blog, and meditate. I decided that I wouldn’t go into school until August. I have actually taken the entire month of July off. Wow! I have never done that before. School begins August 23rd, but I will be going in much sooner to set up my classroom, organize my files, and schedule my students for the new school year. I hope I will be ready to return.

What Did You Say?

My hearing has not been great. I was convinced that the right earbud on my MP3 player was damaged because I could hear very little out of it. When I visited the doctor at the end of June, she told me that I had earwax in the right ear. She recommended a product I could get over the counter at the store. Finally, I got around to taking her advice. The result is miraculous! I can hear again, and my earbuds are not defective.

New Goal

Today I swam 1 mile in 1 hour and 10 minutes. I improved my time by 5 minutes. That isn’t much, but it is an improvement. It is getting easier to do the crawl stroke. I want to do more laps of the crawl and backstroke. I did it every 5th lap, but I would like to increase to every 3rd lap.

Primary Opening Exercises

On Sunday we changed our format from conducting closing exercises with the children to beginning with opening exercises. It was very difficult for the children to be reverent at the end of a 3 hour block. This week reverence was greatly improved. The Junior Primary dismissed from their classrooms. Cleaning up was easier. We put the chairs for Junior Primary away during the time that Junior Primary went to class, and before Senior Primary arrived for Sharing Time. Senior Primary quickly put away their chairs at the end. It was so much more peaceful this week. I hope these results continue.

Splash

This morning I did two hours of water aerobics. I am getting stronger. I actually didn’t feel like passing out when I got home.

1 Mile

Today I swam 1 mile! That is 36 laps. It took me 1 hour and 15 minutes. I even did the crawl and backstroke every 5th lap. I put my face in the water without feeling a sense of panic. It certainly takes a lot more lung power to do that stroke. I was sore the rest of the day, but it wasn’t a bad kind of sore. It felt good, and I was much more mobile. I even went shopping with Marc in the afternoon.

Walking at the Beach

Marc and I took a walk today in the late afternoon. He had fun saying hi to everyone we passed. Many people were surprised, but returned his greeting. Only a few people just looked at him and said nothing. We walked the top level of the strand by the beach. First, we measured the distance in the car. It was ½ mile long, so we parked at one end and began to walk. The idea was to walk to the end of the strand and back making a total of one mile. My knees worked well. I am very grateful for that. I started to have trouble when I was about ¾ of the way done. It was difficult to finish. I kept thinking of the people on the “Biggest Loser” show, and how hard they work. I kept pushing myself until I got back to the car. I know I will benefit from walking, but at the time I thought I might throw up or pass out. I hope it gets easier.

Writing Style

My writing style was analyzed by a website. I only had blogs or journal entries to analyze. I submitted 4 samples. Two of the samples were in the style of David Foster Wallace, and two were written in the style of Stephen King. I have not read either of these authors. In fact, I didn’t even know who David Foster Wallace was. According to the Internet he uses humor and irony in his writing. I didn’t realize I did. Of course Stephen King is known for his horror stories.

Read the Directions

When all else fails, read the directions. I was determined this morning to try again to transfer the audio book, I had checked out, from my computer to my MP3 player. I searched the library’s website for instructions on how to load my mobile device; that is what the website called it. I needed to transfer the book from Windows Media Player, which I synced to my devise. I was successful. Well, sort of successful. I transferred a double set of each track, and they were out of order. Through a process of trial and error, I determined which track to begin with. The tracks play in the correct order on my computer, so I just need to check with it when a track ends. Luckily a track is at least an hour long. I began with track 17. My next mystery to figure out will be to download a book correctly and in order.

Listening Library

I discovered that I can download audio books from my local library. I have been a subscriber to audible.com for awhile, and I love the quality of their readers. I am currently listening to the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. The narrator is very good. She does many different voices for the different characters. I found the 4th and 5th audio books, with the narrator I like, at the local library. It was free to check them out. I downloaded them to my computer successfully. I am half way through the 4th book, and I am enjoying it very much. However, I have not been able to load it onto my MP3 player. This is frustrating. I’m not sure what to do. I have tried many things, but I have not managed to transfer it. I am beginning to wonder if the software that allows the audible.com books to load, is also preventing the public library’s book access.

Getting Closer

Today I did 30 laps at the pool. I used the kick fins for all 30 laps, and it took me just over an hour. I used a kickboard must of the time, but I did the backstroke too. For some reason I don’t like to put my face in the water. I am getting closer to my goal of 36 laps.

Water Workout

On Thursday I used my kick fins to swim 18 laps. Then I took them off and did 6 more laps for a total of 24 laps. That took about an hour to do. That is 2/3 of a mile. Then I did water aerobics for another hour. That is a total of two hours in the water. My knee feels much stronger. I am amazed how much more mobile I am.

Earthquake

On Wednesday, just before 5:00pm, my recliner started to shake. Then I felt a swaying motion followed by a loud rattle of the windows. We were having an earthquake. It was centered near Borrego Springs in northeast San Diego County. It registered at 5.4 and lasted about 30 seconds, which seemed long to me. Marc was taking a nap and it woke him up, but not enough to realize what was going on. It was a gentle rolling shake. It was scary to realize that the entire house was shaking.

Popsicles

I go through phases where I want to eat the same thing over and over. Right now my choice is popsicles. Technically I like Edy’s Fruit Bars. Grape is my favorite. I also like strawberry and lemonade. Tangerine is nice too. They are only 80 calories each. I recently had a cold that lasted over two weeks, and a cold popsicle felt really good on my sore throat. I usually crave cookies or brownies, so this is certainly a healthier choice.

Kick Fins

Today I swam 12 laps. One lap is two lengths. My goal is to swim 36 laps because that equals one mile. I did a third of a mile today, plus one hour of water aerobics. For the laps I used these kick fins. They are designed to maximize my workout while eliminating ankle fatigue and knee strain. At least that is what the package states. Actually they worked well. I liked that they are adjustable, and fairly easy to get on and off. I felt more mobile for the rest of the day. It seems that workout was good for my arthritic knee.

Plan of Salvation

Yesterday our ward was in mourning for the loss of sweet 10-year-old boy. After much prayer, speaking with many people, and searching the internet, I planned sharing time for Primary. I thought that this might help someone else, so I am posting it.

Ship at Sea: I drew stick figures, a shoreline, and waves on the left side of the chalkboard. I asked the children, “Who has gone to the beach this week?” Since we live a beach community, most of them raised their hands. I asked, “When you looked at the ocean, what are of some of the things you have seen?” Their answers included seaweed, seals, dolphins, and boats. Boat was the answer I was looking for. I thanked them for their contributions, and then talked about the ship at sea going over the horizon. I told them the people on the shore are sad to their friend leave. On the right side of the chalkboard I drew another shoreline and stick figures. I asked, “Since the people on the left shore are sad to see their friend go, how do you think the people on the right shore feel to see their friend coming toward them?” The children told me they would be happy to see their friend. I compared this to death. When a person dies, we are sad because we won’t see them. At the same time, someone else rejoices to receive that person on the other side of life.

Plan of Salvation: I gave a mini lesson on the plan of salvation. I found good visuals online, and I asked questions to prompt the children to tell me about the pre-mortal life, receiving a body, death, the spirit world, and resurrection. We did not go into the judgment or three degrees of glory. The visuals can be found at the link below.

Visuals for Plan of Salvation

Cards: The children colored a picture for the family. Some of the older children wrote messages to the family. It was an opportunity for the children to express their love and concern for the family. I prepared the pictures on cardstock. Each page had four pictures. Then I cut the pages into fourths. I used white cardstock and black and white clipart.

Result: The children were all engaged in the activity and did their best on the cards. There was a sweet spirit in our Primary during this sharing time activity.

Someone Is Always Left Behind

Recently I was reflecting on the sentiments of the “No Child Left Behind” program outlined by the US government. I understand that each child needs to be challenged and motivated academically. What the US government does not take into account, is that each child is an individual and needs to progress at their own speed.

The one-room schoolhouse of frontier America placed each child in the grade where they were performing. One student might be in 4th grade math, but 2nd grade reading, and the ages were mixed. The student progressed when they had mastered the level they were at.

As a special education teacher I have to write grade level goals for my students. If they are in 7th grade, then I have to write a 7th grade goal. Some of my students read at a 3rd grade level. It would make sense to write a goal to get to 4th grade, but instead I have to write a goal for 7th grade. Many of my students are “Late Bloomers” and they begin to catch up in 7th grade.

Some of my students will never excel academically. This doesn’t mean that they don’t have talents. I have students that sing well enough to be soloists, others that are gifted at drawing, and some students that would do well in a drama class. Unfortunately, there are no choirs, art, or drama classes available for them.

Not everyone is destined to go to college, but everyone can make meaningful contributions in their life. One of my students will make a great Mom. She is patient and kind. She helps the other students whenever she can. She has told me that she cooks for her family, and helps to care for the younger children. She will most likely never be a scholar, but she is a fine person.

I think the US government has fine ideals, but they don’t understand that “One size” does not fit all. From my viewpoint, the government could change their slogan to “No Child or Teacher Left Unstressed.”