Last Fall I decided to try to get elected to the Board of Trustees of our pension fund.  For the last 13 years I’ve been on the PAC associated with the fund.  It’s the perfect education for the board because you learn about pension legislation and try to educate legislators about your issues, etc.  It has also helped to be on two contract negotiating teams and a trustee of the union scholarship fund.  I guess I had to be elected to be a trustee for the scholarship fund, but it’s more like an uncontested election and there isn’t really any question of being elected.  The point is, I’ve got decent credentials to be elected to the board for this election.

The tricky thing about this election is that there is another person on the board with my same last name.  The other one has been retired for about 15 years.  Many active teachers do not know him.  Many retirees do.

When you have the same last name, people have various expectations.  It’s hard for people to understand that you can still be completely professional.  The two of us actually do have experience at this already, but it was about 15 years ago when we taught in the same building.  We were colleagues in the same department with rooms in opposite hallways and rarely saw each other.

When I decided to run for the board, I got all of the paperwork ready and submitted.  Mr Same-name did not know I was running.  He found out when another board member told him.

The results of the election were made public at the annual meeting this past Thursday.  The top three candidates get elected and there were four of us running.  I’ll admit that it was nice to hear that people were glad that I was running and supported me.  I actually received enough votes to keep up with the incumbents.  The candidate that finished fourth was very gracious and said that he didn’t expect to get elected and he thought I had great credentials for the board.

So now I start my first 3-year term and learn more about investing and pension legislation.  My vocabulary will be expanding with Large Cap, Mid Cap and Small Cap Growth, actuarial assumptions, stocks, bonds, equity, annuities, real estate, securities, and the list goes on.  Mr Same-name and I will take on a new adventure of being colleagues of sorts once again.  We’ll have our professional relationship in the board room.  Outside that venue, I’ll still call him Dad.

Teaching without a voice is rather interesting.  For the most part, it can be better than teaching with one.  The kids are more attentive because they have to be.  Everything is being communicated with hand signals and writing.  When a student understands and verbalizes it, I have them repeat that for the class.  It’s a more cooperative effort.  It makes me wonder if I should try this approach when I’m healthy…

So why did I go to school instead of calling in sick?  I actually felt pretty decent.  The main issue was my voice.  And even without a voice, I can get more done any day than a sub can with one.  Like any teacher will tell you, it’s more work to be gone than to be there.  I honestly didn’t have the time to make sub plans.

So we’ll see if recovery is in the cards for me this weekend.  I really hope so.  If not, I can at least figure out when I could take a day next week.

Another perk of going with grandparents…  We went to the Omni movie about the Amazon.  When the ticket-taker dude saw that Grandma and Grandpa had these little cane things that change into stools, he suggested that we go upstairs and use the special needs entrance.  This turned out to be awesome!  We were the first ones in the theater and could get the best seats!

So… back to the title of my post…

This is Diana with Megan and Jack.  There is a door that opens over Diana’s face and water vapor similar to the force of a sneeze comes out.  Since Megan has been sneezing, it was a very timely lesson.

The exhibit was about the human body.  This exhibit is one that has been used in the past.  Why do I know this?  Because I’ve been going to the Science Museum for years, and Diana is a former student of mine.  When this exhibit first appeared, Diana was in high school.  I would guess that Diana is probably in her mid-twenties by now.  This picture is of a 14 year-old Diana.

So even though I didn’t actually see Diana.  It was fun to see Diana, the sneeze girl, once again.

We split into 2 teams.  My team had 4 houses to go to and the other had 3.  As it turns out, none of our 4 were home.  The other group got lucky and caught one.  But each member now has a copy of our proposals, from us.  Not the district version.

We did sing at the house of one board member.  Her husband is a teacher in another district and could appreciate our songs.  The clever band director from my school came up with lyrics to some carols.  Try them out…  they’re kind of fun!

Do you know what this is?  If you’re Scandinavian you know.  It’s lefse.  It’s made from potatoes.  You butter it and put some sort of sugar on it.  You roll it up, and eat it.  Is is my imagination, or does every culture have something similar to this?  The Latino culture as tortillas.  Even when I was in Tanzania, there was something similar to this – chipati.  Some sort of flat bread-like thing is present in many cultures.

Yesterday was the first time I had made lefse in several years.  I have an aunt that makes it several times each holiday season.  But for some reason, my family really has to work up the energy to do it.  My parents peeled, boiled and riced 10 pounds of potatoes yesterday morning.  In the afternoon, we put a pretty good dent in what turned out to be, 4 batches of lefse.  My specialty is the frying part.  I used my lefse stick for the first time and I’m pretty good at flipping the things.

We had some relatives over and they all joined in the fun.  It actually is a fun activity to do as a family.  My cousin’s six-year-old son actually was a natural at it.

So, dear reader, I just thought I’d share my Saturday activity with you.  Happy Holidays!

Last quarter I had 3 kids turn in homework papers with practically identical work.  I don’t know who did the original work, but it was completely wrong and the other two had no clue and still copied it.  Even the location on the paper was the same.  Stray marks or boxes are copied that don’t make sense…  Really.  Do I look that stupid?

If you’re turning in homework papers that have most of the points and work, but you completely bomb a test, don’t you think I’m going to be suspicious?  It’s pretty easy to tell the difference between a clueless student and one that is on the right track with a few minor errors.  Don’t you think I’ve encountered this sometime in the last 15 years?  Do you really think this is an original idea?

One of my good teacher buddies teaches Chemistry.  She has some lined paper in her classroom that is green.  I’ve gotten a few assignments from a kid on said green paper.  I happened to see a few of my students heading into her class the hour before they’re in mine.  So today, as I was going through the homework, I figured out which student’s work was being copied.  I kept him after class and asked if the green paper student was copying his homework.  Yep.  So I told him if it happens again, he’s getting a zero along with the green paper kid.

After school, I stopped by my friend’s classroom to tell her what I had figured out.  She confirmed that she took the homework paper away from a different student and gave it back to the owner.  So now I know that there were two kids copying his work.  Kid #2 said he forgot it at home and wanted to turn it in tomorrow.  I guess we’ll have a little chat tomorrow…

They really don’t get it that we have a plethora of experience in spotting cheaters.  And guess what?  We talk to each other and share information!  And to top it off, we send that information to their coaches and it results in extra physical training as a punishment. Heh heh…

That’s what you get for thinking you can pull one over on me.

2 pears + 1 pepper + 2 yogurts + 1 apple + 4 clementines + 2 apples + 3 yogurts + 3 pears + 1 pepper = ?

5 pears + 2 peppers + 3 apples + 4 clementines + 5 yogurts

2p + e + 2y + a + 4c + 2a + 3y + 3p + e

= 5p + 2e + 3a + 4c + 5y

The order doesn’t matter.

Really?  Is it that hard?

This year we had more fruit than in years past.  We made seven batches.  Yikes!

1. Strawberry, 2. Strawberry Rhubarb (3:2) , 3. Strawberry Blackberry (3:2), 4. Strawberry Blueberry (3:2), 5. Strawberry Rhubarb Blueberry (3:1:1), 6. Strawberry Rhubarb (4:1), 7. Strawberry Blackberry (4:2).  All total, we had 36 cups of fruit (the last batch had an extra cup),  and 49 cups of sugar.  We just use the recipe from the Sure-Jel package.

What’s nice about making the jam at this time of year, is it’s all ready to give as gifts for Christmas!

A few posts back, I wrote about safety in school.  My mom had asked me about keeping mace in my desk.  In general, I do feel safe at school.  But you know that it could change on a dime.  That particular post reminded me of an incident outside of my school several years ago.

Apparently it has been about five years since the incident.  A 13-year-old girl was raped a few blocks away from school.  She was on her way to the bus stop.  I remember our principal on the PA system telling kids to walk in groups and beware of strangers.  There were increased police patrols in the neighborhood too.  You saw cop cars all the time.

I remember it as one of the worst neighborhood crimes that affected the school.  It was so close, and they never caught the guy.  I’ve always been concerned for the safety of students walking in the area, especially after that day.  On my way home from work, I drive by the scene of the crime from those years ago.  So it’s something that I am reminded of almost every day.

The news story that I saw on Thursday was one saying that they have someone in custody whose DNA is a match for that case.  He was arrested on another sexual assault charge last May.  The picture was flashed on the screen along with his name.  Hmm…  Looks familiar…  Sounds familiar…

Friday I looked at some old records.  He was in one of my classes.  It’s an uncomfortable feeling, knowing that this individual was in my classroom. Especially knowing the heinous things he’s [allegedly] done…

I’m definitely more of a wine person than a beer person.  Don’t get me wrong.  I like beer.  But I tend to buy and consume more wine.  I take wine classes.  My next one starts in another week.  This time it’s about wines of France.  I’ve taken enough classes so that this current one is half off the regular price!

On Friday I went out with friends.  We went to this lovely restaurant which was having a Friday night fish fry.  The food was excellent!  But one of the main reasons we were going was for the beer.  There is a local brewery with kind of cult following.  Each year they have some special brews.  Some are anniversary brews and some are seasonal brews.  Right around Halloween, Darkness is released.

I’m usually not a dark beer fan, but I think I may turn into one.  Darkness wasn’t at all like I expected.  It hardly seemed like beer.  It was an imperial stout with great flavor.  Here’s the description: This massive Russian Imperial Stout brings waves of flavors; chocolate, cherries, raisins, coffee, and toffee. We add a touch of hops to make this delicious brew even tastier.  We treated this glass as dessert.

I had a pint of Bender with my dinner.  That was another dark brew.  What’s the Bender like, you ask?  This oatmeal brown ale defies traditional categories. Bender begins crisp and lightly hoppy, complemented by the velvety sleekness oats deliver. Belgian and British malts usher in cascades of cocoa, coffee, caramel and hints of vanilla and cream. An easy-drinking ale with many layers of satisfaction.

I took the descriptions directly from the Surly Brewing site.  Feel free to check it out.  It was such a good experience, I have a feeling that there will be more dark beer in my future.