2 out of the 3 eagles have hatched!

The Decorah Eagles are as entertaining as ever! The baby eagles are so cute and fluffy and extremely wobbly. It looks as though the third eaglet is in the process of hatching? So nice of the daddy to bring fresh food for the rest of the family. Although it doesn't look like there's much acknowledgement from the rest of the family when he arrives. At least that I can tell (from my untrained eyes).
I wish I had my own classroom right now. I have so many great ideas of how I would use this!

Macaron Day Toronto 2012

How did I miss this?
(Well, actually, I know how. It's been a particularly trying week. And I think it's going to continue to be a slog for the next month or so.)

- courtesy of www.foodpr0n.com

Things have changed

So he accessorized his Burberry trench with a McQueen skull scarf and used a PS1 as a school bag. Kiddies are really dressing differently for undergrad lectures these days.

The Sleeper Car

Genius, absolute genius.
I've had one experience in a sleeper car. It was quite the adventure. In a nutshell: Italian train system (I could stop right there), not really understanding how to get the bed to appear, snow storm, PANIC CITY!!
And then they combine it with a subway? C'mon, everyone knows I love subways.
I love improv everywhere.

Eagle cam

They're right. This can be quite addictive.
I hope I'm around this weekend to see the three little ones hatch.


Live streaming by Ustream

I can't believe I'm saying this...

Thank goodness I had my cell phone with me. Yesterday morning, the hotel I was staying at had a power outage. After my cell phone's alarm clock went off, I was pretty confused when the bedside lamp wouldn't turn on. Neither would any of the other lights in the room. It was early enough that it was still dark outside. I looked out the window and saw lights in neighbouring buildings still lit. I tried to call the front desk, but that wasn't possible. Jeez, everything relies on power! My cell phone has a light on it, so I was able to get ready in the pitch black. I wandered down the hallway and found the stairwell and found my way to the lobby of the hotel to check out.
I didn't have my cell phone, I would have most definitely slept in. But then again, before I brought my cell phone with me on trips, I would have my little travel, battery-powered alarm clock. So yeah. But I probably wouldn't have been able to get ready quite as well I did with my little cell phone light. Maybe I could have just fumbled around in the dark, but it probably wouldn't have been that effective. I'm not sure how much worse it could have been though, my hair did look pretty atrocious that morning.
Still, I will give credit where it is due. My cell phone did help me out yesterday.

Bye bye jury duty

Once the excitement of my summons wore off, I realized that there was no way that I was able to do jury duty at the assigned time they needed me. I have other commitments that I can't get out of which directly conflicted with jury duty. With a heavy heart (and slightly panicked that I wouldn't be able to get out of jury duty), I submitted a case outlining my hardships in attending jury duty and nervously waited to find out the outcome. Instead of a deferral, I was exempt from serving altogether. This means that my name goes back in the pot and I will have to hope that I'm lucky enough to be selected again in the future.
Oh well. I guess it just wasn't meant to be this time around.

Learning to love the foods I hate

Like most people, there are some foods that I don't really enjoy eating. Unlike most people, I will force myself to eat them...in hopes that I will grow to like them.
This tactic proved to be successful with mustard. My time in Europe forced me to face my anti-mustard stance. Anytime I had a sandwich, mustard was lurking. And now, I love the stuff. I especially like the straight-up-mustard-seeds type.
I desperately tried to grow to love olives as well. They were everywhere in Europe, so I had plenty of opportunity to face my foe. I am disappointed to report that I still have not won this battle. I will keep working on it.
Another food that I have come to enjoy (or at the very least, tolerate) is avocado. I don't think that I had actually been exposed to avocado until I was am adult, so I'm sure that had something to do with the fact that when I did try it for the first time, the unfamiliarity of the texture and taste proved to be a little off putting. Some recent persistence has paid off and I do eat avocados now. While it's not my favorite food, I am capable of eating an entire avocado au naturel.
I'm not ready to conquer papaya quite yet, but maybe in the future.

I keep all of my old clothes for a reason!

You know Gap's current advertising campaign for their brights? It reminds me of when they had all of those bright jeans in the late 90s and turn of the millenium.
What do they say, trends come back every, errr...12 years?
Remember those great adverts? Pastel khakis versus bright jeans? WEST SIDE STORY!!!
You'd think that I could find a good quality version of the ad series on youtube, but I can't (if anyone else wants to do a little digging around, they were on TV in 2000 if that helps). I did manage to find this video about the making of the ads.

GAP / West Side Story TV Spots / Making of from Connor T. McDonald on Vimeo.

Just keep swimming...

Two months after I thought I would be able to finish, I have finally transcribed all of the interviews from my research.
Thank goodness.
Up next, coding.

Moncler Grenoble FW2012

The more I hear/see/read about Moncler, the more I love them! I wonder if the girls got to keep any of the items that they modeled. Or at least, I hope the company gave them a decent chunk of change to appear in the show...knowing how much it costs to be an athlete these days, the support is definitely needed!

I have been summoned

...for jury duty. How exciting!
For those who aren't sure, I'm not being sarcastic here. I think it will be a neat experience to see what this is all about.

I wonder...

If kids these days have a shorter attention span because of the world they live in (youtube, Twitter, TV, SMS, etc.) should teachers be changing their teaching strategies to cater to today's student? Or maybe teachers should just be developing the skills that have become weaker? Are we changing our standards or just adjusting based on our current reality?

Needing/Getting, by OK Go

This is obviously going to go viral:


First seen: 310 views @ 7.10pm on 2012-02-05
Update: 1,810,356 views @ 11.27am on 2012-02-06
Update: 3,254,042 views @ 1.08am on 2012-02-07
Update: 5,747,054 views @ 10.14pm on 2012-02-07

London's NYE fireworks show

Wowza. As if I needed another reason to want to travel. A friend was telling me about how he liked experiencing New Year's in other locations to take in different traditions and such. I like the idea. Although, I imagine (non-Lunar) New Year's in London to be very similar to that in North America, I can say that this fireworks display is probably much more impressive than anything else that I could have witnessed on this continent.

Yogurt woes

Oh, right. Yogurt in North America tastes like water. And this is coming from a girl who drank skim milk (when I used to drink milk, that is). Oh, Swiss yogurt, you have spoiled me for life.

Numeracy and literacy...together

As I said in a previous post, I tasked my students to write a reflection on their course readings in the form of The Important Book, by Margaret Wise Brown.
The idea of this assignment came about because I regularly bring children's literature into my class. I will always have a table set up for my students to browse, with different books that implicitly (some examples here) or explicitly (some examples here) have connections to math. I will try to use some books in my lessons to that my student can see just how they can be used. And of course, I use them because I believe in them and I see that my students enjoy it when I do use them. Anyway, it had been awhile since I really used a book in my lesson, and I wasn't entirely sure if my students were taking advantage of the books I lugged to class each day for them to browse through. I knew that on this particular day, I'd only have 10 minutes to teach and in this time, I wouldn't be able to get to any mathematical content to the level that I would be satisfied with. But, I did want to remind them of the power of children's literature, the importance of bringing literacy into the math classroom (or vice versa) and I needed to find out what kind of content they had gleaned from the readings from that week.
You can tell I love to teach because I'll just come up with ideas, seemingly out of thin air. I just love teaching so much, that I will start day dreaming about different activities that I would like to try out in my classes.
Anyway, so that was the task and I just had to share a few of them...

***************

The important thing about math is supporting individual differences.
You need to recognize and know your students.
You need to provide them with tangible ways of learning abstract concepts.
Manipulatives, examples, and different learning centres are just one step.
Calculations, problem solving, or memorization can be daunting.
How will you eliminate math fears and anxiety?
It all starts with differentiated instruction and meeting all students’ needs.
You will start to build a community, and a place where everyone can learn.
You need to focus on the small ideas that build the bigger concepts.
Know your students, know their learning styles, and get creative.
No matter what you’re teaching, think of every single individual in your class.
But the important thing about math is supporting individual differences.

***************

The important thing about math anxiety is that we as teachers can diminish it
Math anxiety stems from an emphasis on black and white answers
Math anxiety stems from an emphasis on speed
Math anxiety stems from an emphasis on students' public display of ability
Math anxiety stems from a lack of confidence
Math anxiety stems from a belief: you are either born able to do math or not
Math anxiety stems from a perceived innate inability to do math
But the important thing about math anxiety is that we as teachers can diminish it

***************

The most important thing about math is that it is fun.
Most students tend to find mathematics boring.
But it can be so much more if teachers want it to be.
You can bring math into the food you eat
You can bring math into your daily exercise.
You can bring math into the music you make.
You can make math into a game to play
Math is a subject that can be used all day
And when students leave school and all is said and done
The most important thing about math is that it is fun.

***************

The most important thing about integers is that zero is not the lowest number
Integers are only introduced in intermediate years, before they slumber
Students understand integers, as they are common in our world
Like seeing a credit account, where their finances have swirled
Like playing a round of golf, where one can end above or below par
Like noticing water to be above or below sea level, they may see from their car
You see, it’s the “Zero Principle” that dictates integer rules
It’s where you can add or subtract, multiply and divided as long as you follow key tools
Any number can be added to its opposite to result in a value of zero
By following this, you’ll become a mathematics hero
Integers may be hard at first, but following one rule, you won’t cumber
But the most important thing about integers is that zero is not the lowest number


***************

The most important thing about us is
that we perceive the world in different ways.
Some see expanding brackets through a haze,
and shiver at the mention of a quiz,
while others were at birth a numbers whiz----
at least their parents don't mind all that praise.
But they forget the old familiar phrase:
how key that 99-to-1 thing is.

When you put work into a task, and feel
a sense of great accomplishment well up,
the inspiration to discover more
will grow quite naturally. No need to be
innately "gifted." Some may quibble, but
the most important thing is: your way's yours.

***************

New year, new template!

I wasn't organized enough to wear new clothes today, but I do have a new template for the blog. I might tweak it a bit, but we'll give it a go. The former template served me well. I like it. But I suppose everything needs an update every so often (ahem, bio on the sidebar...)

Like a proud parent

Remember when I started this blog and posted about the wonderful things my students did? I haven't done that in awhile, have I?
My role has shifted since that time but I still get a chance to be oh-so-impressed by what my students do.
This past week, I got them to write reflections on their readings a la The Important Book, by Margaret Wise Brown and they are pretty fantastic.
I wonder if this is the kind of feeling that parents get when their children do great things. Except that some of my "children" may be older than I am.

I mean, really.

Is it ridiculous that on a day that was stormy and cold, I saw two girls with attired such that one was wearing 5-inch pumps, bare legs, a mini skirt so short and tight that she had to keep pulling it down so that she could climb the stairs without something going terribly wrong and a Canadian Goose bomber-style parka and the other was wearing 5-inch ankle booties, bare legs and skirt/shorts/dress/anything that was so short that I don't even know what she was wearing because I couldn't see it peeking out from under her mid-thigh length wool coat? YES.

Is it truly that I'm terribly judgmental? Also, a resounding YES.