Summer: It’s Not Just for Reading
This past school year, I participated in a new summer reading initiative at the high school where I teach. Our past approach assigned specific books to students by grade then tested students when they returned to school in September. This did nothing to promote close reading, reading for pleasure, or student achievement. This year, we’re going to try the “One School, One Community” reading initiative; information about our decision and how we’re going to proceed can be found in this student produced video. After spending a significant amount of time discussing the benefits of this approach with students and faculty, I got to thinking about how schools focus on summer reading but rarely do much to prevent that “summer slide” in math. A good...
Skin like an Alligator? Try an Avocado!
I’ve recently become obsessed with avocados, also known as alligator pears. Here in the northeastern United States, avocadoes don’t come cheap, and I admit I haunt my local Stop-n-Shop on Wednesdays when they discount their produce. Five ripe avocados for $1.50? Yes, please! Of course, then I have to figure out how to use 5 avocadoes within 24 hours. Two usually become that staple of avocado cuisine, guacamole. I slice at least one and make an avocado sandwich. Never tried that? Just slice avocado, top with sprouts or lettuce, some sliced tomato and red onion, and you’ve got a delicious and nutritious lunch! That sandwich, according to the California Avocado Association has nearly 20 essential nutrients and can help in lowering cholesterol and...
Maryland Sheep and Wool
Some of you know I attended the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival the first weekend in May. The shepherd (also my ex-stepfather-in-law) contacted me the week before the show and asked if I’d like to drive down with them. The shepherd is actively involved in the Jacob Sheep Breeders Association and on the organizing committee for the Garden State Sheep and Wool Festival, so I knew I’d have a great time not only with fiber but with sheep! Also, his wife (my ex-mother-in-law) offered me a free hotel room with her Hilton reward points. How could I possibly say no? I’d never gone on a road trip with these two but I can’t wait to head up to Rhinebeck in the fall with them! Amusing banter aside, their ability to program their GPS to locate...
This “Professor” loves Ginger!
Growing up, my only experience with this spice was ginger ale, the soda we were forced to drink when all the Cokes in green glass bottles were gone or when we had upset stomachs. The grown ups kept it on hand to mix with their Canadian Club, and my mom would grab a bottle from the liquor cabinet whenever my sister or I complained of a “stomach ache”. Granted, a “stomach ache” could be anything from the heartburn that resulted from our downing 5 or 6 blonde brownies after school, to an actual upset stomach, to kid code for “I don’t want to go to school today”. Ginger appeared in other guises as well during my childhood. I dined on Chinese food for the first time at the age of 13, a dinner out with Dad after he returned...
Divergent & Insurgent #CBR5
Take the anger and grit of The Outsiders, the intellectual and geographical dystopia of 1984, and a good dose of satire a lá Harrison Bergeron, and you have these two young adult novels by Veronica Roth. Set in Chicago sometime in a future where everyone is a member of one of five factions, the story begins with the main character, Beatrice Prior, facing her aptitude test that will determine which faction best suits her. Beatrice was born into the Abnegation faction but displays an aptitude for both this and two other factions, Erudite and Dauntless, which makes her Divergent. As the woman administering the test advises, this is a very very bad outcome and the catalyst of this trilogy. Beatrice’s story is set in motion on her Choosing Day, when she...
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