The Valley Girl Story Continues

I've heard that being consistant in discipline is a good thing for a teacher. It certainly paid off with the "Valley Girl" who challenged my patience and classroom authority earlier in the year as I told about in a blog entry. She apparently went home expecting mom to fully support her in her tantrum towards me. I don't know what was said but she has been an absolute darling since that day I called her mother. I have rarely seen such a sudden turnaround in a student's behavior. Knowing when to duck and when to punch is a valuable quality I've learned over the years teaching. It's certainly nice to see my classroom discipline have a positive effect. Years from now this girl will possibly thank me for helping her to face her emotional responsibilities.

Nah.... that's too much to hope for. At least she is a little more mature emotionally thanks to my intervention. That will save her a lot of potential grief in the future. See, teachers do occasionally make a difference!

Technorati Tags: School, Discipline

How Are You Doing Today?

Why do we always ask that when we greet people? Do we really want them to give us a detailed litany of our state of health? I'm going to try a little experiment here. I'll give you all an honest answer to the title question.

I woke up at 2:30 AM this morning with a lot of gassy pain in my stomach. I took some soda, some antacid tablets, and some ginger ale, all three of which will usually stop normal indigestion in its tracks, and nothing helped. I could not lay down without a lot of pain. I added some simethicone to the mix and it had no effect. I finally managed to doze off for an hour on the couch before the alarm woke me. The pain was better but I was nauseated and shaky. Since I hadn't eaten anything new or unusual I figured that this was probably a 'stomach virus'. A dose of Pepto Bismol helped but by this time I knew that going into teaching was out of the question today. I could just see myself doubled over in the classroom with everyone wondering if this meant they wouldn't have to take the test Friday. I called in for a substitute teacher and made out lesson plans which my wife kindly offered to drop off for me. The plan was to go back to bed and get some sleep. My nasal allergies had other ideas and I suddenly started sneezing my head off. This was followed by my nasal passages completely closing up. Antihistamines and a shower opened me back up but unfortunately also woke me up. Since then I've been staggering around the house in a semi-zombielike state talking to the cats and watching some really horrible TV. I'm just waiting for that moment I will be able to collapse and get a couple of hours sleep. The good news is that the virus seems to have run its course and I am ok as far as my original problem goes. I just hope that tomorrow when I go back to work I still have an intact classroom.

Now aren't you glad I shared how I am doing with you?

Technorati Tags: Ill, Virus

Sometimes You Are Powerless To Help

One of my students was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. She is a pleasant student with a winning smile and personality who has now found herself in a situation far removed from the ordinary concerns of teenagers. She has started on her first course of chemotherapy and has had to face nausea and hair loss. She now has a wig that she is uncomfortable wearing. I met with her parents who were completely bewildered by these events. They are putting up a determined front with their daughter but I can see the panic in their eyes as they talk to me about how I can accomodate their child's future absences from class.

Talking to the student is awkward. Teachers are supposed to have all of the answers but I find that there isn't much I can say to help. All I can do is to let her know I will be flexible in allowing her makeup work to be completed. She has been out several days so far and will probably be out much more in the coming month. When she is in class she is now very quiet and does not socialize with the other students. I try to treat her normally but the other students are uncomfortable around her now. After all, high school kids are invincible and anything that indicates otherwise is looked upon with horror by the students. It disrupts their tidy worldview in which they live forever. It's sad to see them have to grow up so fast and face the reality of illness and death.

Technorati Tags: Hodgkin's Lymphoma, School, Students

Candice Night Responded To My Email !!

Richie Blackmore has always been one of my favorite guitarists. When the mercurial 'man in black' left Deep Purple I didn't know what to expect. His passion for medieval music led to a series of CDs from his new group Blackmore's Night with the brilliant singer Candice Night providing the wonderful voice and many of the lyrics for the band. I have been curious about their cats and their efforts with animal rescue since seeing several photos featuring their pets and reading about their donations to a number of worthwhile animal causes. I wrote Candice about this and she put her response here on her letters page at the bottom of the page. If it is not there, it will be in her July archives page. She wrote a very nice reply in which she tells about her two cats Hopper and Romper as well as her feelings about animal causes. She was such a sweetheart to respond given her busy touring schedule. I highly recommend purchasing their beautiful music, both CDs and the new DVD "Castles and Dreams". Now if they would only come down here to Florida!

Technorati Tags: Candice Night, Cats, Deep Purple, Music, Animal Rescue, Richie Blackmore

My Wife At School

Here is a photo of the wife Karen at Bartram High School. She visited my Physical Science classes with her 'dog and pony show'. The students helped conduct a number of water tests. Karen is the city chemist for St. Augustine, Florida. The students were exposed to chemistry in the 'real world' and got to experience what it is like to conduct experiments in a real lab setting. Karen was a high school teacher for a number of years before accepting the job of city chemist in 1992.

24 hours in an 8 cat, 1 bunny household

The cast of characters:
1) Tommy (in photo) - an aloof and very spoiled cat.
2) Sir Francis (in photo) - also spoiled. Bonded to Tommy for the past 8 years.
3) Beau (AKA "Crazy Beau") - a black youngster who loves to play 'fetch the ball'.
4) Velvet - black dad of Beau. Very quiet and shy, the opposite of Beau.
5) Luvey - personality that suits her name. A large white cat with blue eyes.
6) Casper - loveable old grey lug who watches the world go by.
7) Sebastian (AKA "Psycho Kitty") - 5 pound Tuxedo with mental issues. Once on Prozac.
8) Freddie (AKA "Freddie Mercury") - young grey cat. VERY shy around people.
9) Miss Kitty - a tiny older tabby who thinks she rules the house.

Saturday
6PM - We return home from errands. 6 cats are lined up at the door waiting to be
individually petted.
7PM - Velvet meows loudly and runs over to be petted for 10 minutes.
7:30PM - Played ball with Beau. I throw. He fetches. Again and again and again.
8PM - Fed the cats in the bedroom and front room to get them out of the room so
Francis won't chase them when we let him out. We miss Miss Kitty and he runs
her all over the living room. We rescue Miss Kitty.
9PM - Put up Albert the cockatiel (did I miss him in the intro?). Get out Tommy.
Tommy takes one look at Francis and grabs the bedroom doorknob with both
paws, trying to get back to safety. No such luck. Francis bounds over and
happily sniffs Tommy. Tommy makes a run for a box and jumps on top. Francis
follows. Tommy gives up and is resigned to having a constant companion for
the next 2 hours.
11PM - Put up Francis. Tommy rejoices. Let out all of the cats. They all sit there
glaring at us waiting for another feeding. We oblige. They sniff at the
Fancy Feast and most wander off in disgust.
12PM - We go to bed. Sebastian, Casper and Velvet all follow and jump onto the bed.
They demand petting. We have to give each one equal petting or one will get
mad at the others and start a fight.
Sunday
8AM - Get up. Sebastian and Velvet are still on the bed so I pet them.
9AM - Feed the cats in the bedroom. Feed the bunny and let him run around awhile.
10AM - I take a bath. Cat screams come from the bedroom. The wife drags Beau out
of the room where he has chased Sebastian under the bed.
10:04AM - More screams. Beau is back at it. The wife grabs Beau again and this time
hangs onto him awhile until he forgets about chasing Sebastian.
10:30AM - Bath finished. Tommy checks out the bathroom to ensure no 'boogers' have
snuck into the room while I was bathing. Next he checks the closet for
boogers. Head pats to Tommy for the booger check.
12PM - I am doing lesson plans for Monday. Luvey is helping by sitting on my opened
books. I remove Luvey three times. She finally gets bored and leaves.
12:30PM - Sebastian comes out and checks out Beau's whereabouts.
1PM - I watch a football game. Hisses come from the direction of the living room
drapes. Miss Kitty comes flying out with Sebastian chasing. Sebastian sits
and smugly grooms himself. Miss Kitty hides under the table and glares.
2PM - All cats are thankfully asleep. More football.
6PM - Dinnertime! Cats are all herded into the bedroom for feeding and the evening
begins again.

Technorati Tags: Cats, Bunny, Life

The Finished Telescope

With help from Luvey the cat I finished putting together the new 10 inch Orion telescope. Now I wait for a break in this dratted rain so I can try it out.

Technorati Tags: Telescope, Astronomy, Cat

Thelma and Louise

Here is a shot of Louise, one of the cats we were trying to adopt out from Goliath and Bebe's World at Petco today. Her sister Thelma was adopted but Louise was too shy to get much attention. I think she is adorable anyway and hope she will find a good home soon.

Technorati Tags: Cat, Adoption