Blog Archives - The Land of the Weird

The Land of the Weird

Why Start an Ed.D.

8/31/2016

[I'm cannibalizing from a portion of the post I put on the class's discussion board today. My actual post had another five paragraphs of a similar length.]

I hate to say it, but the basest of reasons are my primary motivation to continue my education beyond the master level. For one, I would like to earn more money. Each time I have moved jobs, I have lost steps on the salary schedule. Currently, as a teacher in my 19th year, I'm on the equivalent of step seven. I do not regret my professional moves (other than the students and colleagues that I have left behind), but I also need to provide for my family. For another, I hope that this will help build a safety net for my employment (although I hope to only leave teaching when they pry the chalk, or its equivalent, from my cold dead hands). Again, moving jobs also means leaving behind tenure and sitting at the bottom of the seniority ladder. I hope that, with a higher degree, I will have more job opportunities that would keep me at a level of pay which can support my family. Also, if I'm being truly honest, I want an Ed.D. so I can be "Dr. Marks." I won't insist on anyone calling me that (well, maybe a little), but there's something about that level of prestige that really appeals to my over-developed ego.

Grapes

8/30/2016

Grapes have long been a favorite of mine. I remember responding when I was little to a question about my favorite fruit. I said something like the blue ones that are smaller and kind of round. To this my mother said that those were blueberries. Little did she know that I meant the dark purple grapes that we would occasionally find at my grandmother's apartment. I remember telling people that my favorite fruit was blueberries and then being confused when blueberries were actually presented to me. For years, everyone insisted that blueberries were my favorite. I did like them and grew to like them even more over time, but it wasn't until later that I realized that it was grapes that I originally meant.

Now, I'm not a fan of grape jelly, grape juice (except for the extremely tart wild grape juice that my mother occasionally made), or grape pop (the old Dimetapp was good, though). However, fresh grapes are a treat that I can just keep eating. As long as they're seedless. Thus, finding them on sale at Freddy's today brightened my day quite a bit.

To be clear, my preferred color are the red. I like the white grapes (which look green) if they are closer to being ripe. As for the blue grapes, I haven't had them for a while. They're not as common and I like the others just fine.

Yes, I know that they can also be made into wine and enjoyed that way, but as much as I love grapes, I haven't gone that route.

New Student

8/29/2016

While I've technically been a student since I started the two courses required for my Alaska teaching certification, I truly felt like a new student today as my online degree class started. Back are the discussion boards with their posts and required responses, the papers, the rubrics which have a category based solely on adherence to APA formatting, and multiple deadlines. That said, I've already learned a few things this first day. Looking ahead at the next few weeks' assignments suggests that I'll be learning a bit more or at least putting some things that I've learned in the past into direct practice.

It looks like this is going to be doable. Granted, this first term is a bit abbreviated and only has one class, but I still feel confident starting this program. I just hope that it isn't overconfidence.

My daily postings might get a little light in the days, weeks, months, terms, and years to come. I am going to make an effort to keep them coming, but we will have to see how well I can hold to that when the heat really turns up.

The Twenty-Second Day in Ordinary Time

8/28/2016

Today's readings focus on the rewards of humility and warns of the dangers of self-importance. While I certainly have plenty of areas where I need improvement, this is one that is a continual struggle for me. Not only do I suffer from an over-indulged ego, but I become too easily complacent. I am quick to label something that I have done as "good enough" and to overly rely on either low standards or the mercy of others.

Today's homily talked directly about the danger of being "good enough" when it comes to our faith. We often treat our faith as though it's a bank account which we add to whenever we good to church, say a prayer, do something nice, etc., but that's not what Jesus asks of us. He doesn't want our prayers as a way to keep some sort of score, but as a means to be a part of our lives. Often we attend church and take part in the sacraments as though doing so will purchase a ticket to heaven, but they are meant to be a means to keep God in the present, not some distant future.

These are all areas that I need to work on. I need to allow God more fully into my life, to not allow myself to become lax in the roles that I have, and to pull ego out of other people's way.

One Class Down

8/27/2016

Although I intended to have it done before Katrina got here, let alone left, I have now successfully completed one of my online courses. I still have one more to go for my certification. For the delay on the second class, I at least had the excuse that they took a while to send me my books (and still haven't sent one as it is out of print). However, I need to get that one out of the way as my first class for my online degree starts up on Monday. It is a busy time to start up my degree program, but I figured that if I didn't start soon, I would always find a reason to put it off.

I'm happy to have one out of the way. Although I still feel that most of the assignments were hoop-jumping, I do feel that I both learned a great deal of new information about Alaskan native culture and rekindled some forgotten facts which I had learned back when I earned my bachelor degree. I certainly feel better about classes where I feel that I got something, if not necessarily my money's worth, out of the class.

I have plenty of work ahead of my, but at least one hurdle has been cleared.

Sunset

8/26/2016

Due to our puppies' tendency to believe gravel is a delicacy, we have to keep a close eye on them when we put them out in their outside dog area. They have learned where we can see them from the windows that overlook the area, and tend to hide out of sight when they are feeling mischievous. Thus, I was standing outside for a little while tonight, watching as the sun's refracted light tinged the wispy clouds with shades of pink and light orange.

The wind was making the clouds dance; the entire performance reminding me like nothing more than seeing the aurora float dreamily across the sky. As the sun continued to dip below the horizon, the pinks turned to purples and the spruce trees stood in mute silhouette, a living wall around our yard. With the cloudy (and often rainy) skies of the last month, I haven't had an opportunity to watch such a spectacular display.

Still, mosquitoes interrupted my reverie and River managed tangle herself in one of the small trees at the edge of her range. Going back in, I returned to my computer screens, ignoring the tasks ahead of me and the beauty around me. Again I wonder, technophile that I am, if my life might be better if I were to unplug.

Last Day of a Full House

8/25/2016

Katrina heads back to Michigan tomorrow. Janelle is dropping her off at the airport in Anchorage while I will be at work. It's been nice having all of the family together these past couple of weeks. Sure, there have been arguments, but it's been a real comfort to have everyone together.

I realize that, with Alex and Katrina being adults and Trevor now a sophomore, the days that we will have a full house from this point on are limited. Although that saddens me, I am also so immensely proud of my daughters and the people they are becoming. They have both being doing well in their scholastics and their lives. I am eager to see what the future brings.

My prayers go with Katrina on her travels and into this next semester of college.

Puppy Update

8/24/2016

We went to the vet today to get the third, and final, standard vaccine for our puppies. They were both fairly well behaved, if a little over-excited while there. River is now a little over 21 pounds while Starbuck is a little over 20 and a half, which is a switch in their normal standing. We didn't get the call saying that the, ahem, lab sample had any sign of worms. We had been told that no news is good news. Unfortunately, their deposits did still have gravel in them. I've heard of rock candy, but these puppies take it too far.

While they have been pretty good about not using our house as a bathroom, they are still a bit on the destructive side. It doesn't help that we're in a bit of a catch 22. We won't let them upstairs with us until they're less destructive, but they're the most destructive when we're upstairs. However, for the most part, they are getting better.

A note on pictures: My phone has somehow squeezed out all space for pictures with data despite my removing all music and podcasts. I think it's Apple's way of guaranteeing that I will get a new phone; although that is still at some amorphous point in the future.

First Day of School 2016

8/23/2016

Today marks the beginning of my nineteenth year of teaching. No matter how much experience I have, the first day always catches me by surprise.

I'm surprised at how fast the day goes by.
I'm surprised by how many students from last year want to say hi and talk about their summer.
I'm surprised at how sore my throat and my feet are.
I'm surprised by how, no matter how underprepared I might feel, I never get through everything I need to say on the first day.
I'm surprised at how tired I am by the end of the day.
I'm surprised by how quickly I get invested in students I hadn't even met until today.

I'm surprised that these things surprise me year after year.

Backtracking

8/22/2016

This summer, I haven't been doing so well on the diet side of my getting healthier plan. I've been pretty consistently working out, and sometimes even more often than when I was during the school year. Unfortunately, several road trips and more time at home around snacks has helped me add a little over ten pounds to my weight and to start making my pants feel a little bit more snug.

I think my barbecuing madness really contributed to the problem. We have these fantastic burgers that have bacon and cheese already in the patty. Well, I can't say that I'll have just one. That would not show my appreciation for such a delicacy. Besides, I often don't have a bun with it. Well, at least not the second one, so that makes it better, right? And if there are hot dogs, I need to test to make certain that I did them right. You know, one of the hardly singed ones to make certain that they are thoroughly cooked and then one of the more burnt and split-open ones since they are my favorite and the kids don't truly appreciate them.

Then there's the ice cream. Freddy's had a fantastic sale that Janelle's discount only made better. How can I say no to children who ask for ice cream on a summer day? And since there's sugar, I need to slather on the peanut butter (natural crunchy) to not only add that salty taste, but to add more protein. That should make it healthy-ish.

I think it might be a good thing that I've had to be back to work this past week.

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

8/21/2016

Today's second reading warns that we will not always have easy times. God disciplines out of love. Even if the challenges that we face seem like the actions of a vengeful or bitter God, they are often there to help us become better versions of ourselves. In truth, were it up to us, life would be carefree, but such a lifestyle would make us slovenly. Often we are at our best when we are challenged, when we are taken out of our comfort zones.

The Gospel warns us that God's path is not an easy one. Today's homily even pointed out the seeming discrepancy between Jesus' messages. Just a few weeks ago, He said to knock and the door will be opened for you, but in today's parable the people are knocking and are turned away, left to wail and grind their teeth. Our priest emphasized that the difference is in the relationship we have with God. If we are open to God, He is open to us. However, if we think that it's enough to merely be God's acquaintance, He will turn us away.

I need to do more than just go through the motions of my faith. I need to work better at building a meaningful relationship with our God. I need to do so not out of fear of being left behind, but because I want to return in my own small way the tremendous love that continually surrounds me.

Heroes of Mythology

8/19/2016

As a language arts department, we decided to focus the literature of our first marking period on heroes in world mythologies rather than last year's focus on Greek mythology stories. On the surface, this seems like a no-brainer. There should be many stories to choose from and students should be able to compare various cultures' idea of heroism. In actuality, it turns out to be hard to find hero stories written in English that aren't both Eurocentric and masculine.

We really had difficulties in finding texts that described heroines. [On a side note, looking up heroine on the Internet can sometimes bring up sites that you might not want to see.] Even focusing on Mulan, getting a text that is readable and relatable to students was quite a challenge. The problem was compounded by the fact that few of the stories dealing with Mulan (aside from the original Ballad of Mulan) are translated in English.

In the end, we chose the following: Odysseus (He was our starting point since we already had material from last year and a large number of later stories allude to his tale), Mulan, Aladdin (although he's really not that heroic in the original story), Raven from Tlingit oral tradition, Robin Hood (paired with Raven as the stories of the two had similarities and were both relatively short), and Sundiata (the founder of Ancient Mali, the first "Lion King").

Honestly, just looking through the various texts was enlightening. I'm pretty excited about the coming term.

Too Tired Today

8/18/2016

Getting back to school has been wearing me out more than I expected, and the students aren't even there yet. I know that part of this tiredness is from having visitors over and thus staying up later than is probably healthy while at the same time going back to an early morning schedule. I know that some of it is the standard beginning of the school year flood of information and tasks. Certainly part of it has been the diabetes as my summer diet has taken a few steps in the wrong direction.

One way or the other, I've been too tired these past few days. I feel my thinking processes taking longer than normal and my temper bubbling easily.

Early on when starting my blog, I read a how-to-blog article that gave one piece of advice that echoes in my head when I feel like this: Don't write when angry. I suppose "Don't write when tired" should be added to that advice.

Weather

8/17/2016

For the most part, the weather has been cooperating with us during Katrina and Peter's visit. Despite forecasts of nearly constant rain, the clouds have managed to part at some of the best moments. For example, while in Seward on Monday, we drove through rain, had a break in the clouds when we went to the park on the shore, had the rain return while we at lunch, part again when we went to the glacier, and return off and on during the trip home.

Yesterday, Janelle took the kids to Homer for a rain-free trip. Even yesterday evening's get together at a colleague's beautiful home and yard was rain free during our time there despite a downpour just before we left our house and dark clouds looming nearby.

They didn't have as much luck today and so postponed a planned hiking trip, but maybe tomorrow will turn out to be better anyway. I, however, was greeted by a magnificent sunrise as I got ready for work.

My heart goes out to those in Louisiana and other locations around the world who have not been as fortunate when it comes to weather. May they too have sunrises that greet them on their future horizons.