Bedroom

Over the last three months I have painted my bedroom, ordered a new bedspread ( a real bedspread that reaches the floor and doesn’t need a bed skirt) found a quilt to fold at the bottom and matching pillow shams.  I love the paint color – when Bradley was scraping the window trim he ran across the color of blue I was looking for.  So I took the chip to my favorite paint store – Cowan Ace Hardware  (their grandfather built our house in 1937 – Conyers old-timers call our house the Cowan house).  Eli Cowan is a master at paint – he was able to color match it perfectly, so now my room has a truly vintage look just because of the paint!  I really like it!  It’s soothing and helps me calm down at night.  Here are a couple of pictures.  I still need to put stuff on the walls.  That will come later.  Oh – and it really needs some throw pillows.  The photos made that very obvious to me!  And, it would be really nice to have a bedroom set.  That’s working its way up on my priorities!

      

My New BFF Store

John hates clothes shopping, and he’s difficult to find clothes that fit well and look nice on him.  Hence, he had been wearing khakis with a white shirt and tie to church for several months.  Finally,  in December it could not be procrastinated any longer.  He desperately needed a suit – his other one, like many of my clothes, had shrunk.  So we started at a discount suit store in Stone Mountain where we had gotten some good deals previously.  Nothing in John’s size.  We tossed around a couple of other ideas, then decided to try Men’s Wearhouse.   I really didn’t think they carried anything in his size, but it was worth a try.  To our pleasant surprise, in less than an hour , we had picked out two suits, three ties, alterations had been measured and we were on our way home.

Last weekend was the annual Rockdale County Democratic Party Gala – a well-attended black-tie affair.  John needed something to wear.  Men’s Wearhouse to the rescue again in less than an hour.  Actually about 30 minutes this time.  We bought a tux shirt with tucks (a little play on words there!) with a silk bow tie and matching cummerbund.  He wore them with his dark suit and it looked great!  Unfortunately, no pictures :(  Maybe next time.

The Purpose of Schooling

This sounds like a really deep topic.  It is and I have divided the conversation into two sections. 

Section #1: Schooling

Section #2: Education

#1 – Schooling and Education are not the same phenomenon.  Schooling at this point in time refers to learning the necessary facts to pass THE TEST.    Monday begins the “purpose of school” – THE TEST.  I wonder if I have taught my students the material they need to know to do well.  I know I have “covered” the information, but have I really taught it to them?  Only THE TEST will tell if they know the facts the state expects them to know.  And only THE TEST will show if I am an effective teacher.

#2 – Education is another story.  I try desperately in my teaching to educate my students while they grasp some level of understanding about the required curriculum.  Education is a life-long pursuit that I hope I have instilled some sort of desire in them to continue to be inquisitive and questioning.  Being educated can not be evaluated on a multiple choice test.  How will the test show that my students really learned about the lack of clean water in African countries and that some of them donated money towards building a well?  It doesn’t ask the question that says, “What responsibility does a student have to examine the underlying meanings of what is included and not included in the text?” 

Well – you get the idea.  Next week is the CRCT test that will tell all!

Downloaded Windows Live Writer

Rebecca showed me windows live writer while we were in Hattiesburg and explained that it was more flexible that blogging directly into blogspot.  So-o-o I am trying it out!  Here are some pictures from Easter:

Natalie trying to open the door to go out!

Melanie’s Dad enjoyed himself!

The HUNT has begun!

A pastel-yellow family affair!

Melanie enjoying the afternoon!

Okay – so now I can blog, insert picture, blog, insert picture, etc.  I see I can add a hyperlink also.  Hm-m-m, I’ll have to think about which link to include.

Now, I better go get the house cleaned for the housekeeper tomorrow!  I’ll add more pictures later.

Definitely, this is easier than blogging straight.

Don't feel like blogging

I have started to blog several times in the last few days, but always end up erasing the few words that I wrote and exiting the program. After trying to write for the last few days, I think I'm all writ (?) up! Actually, what I really mean is I've done all the thinking my brain will allow me to think and I'm just tired. One more day of deep thinking and maybe writing, and then I'm taking the rest of the week off to go play with my grandkids in Mississippi! Maybe Rebecca can help me look for something to wear to a big fancy affair in a couple of weeks.

Start of vacation

Finally, I have a day off - first one since Christmas other than MLK holiday. Three flood and snow days took up the other three days we were supposed to get. BUT, tomorrow is a holiday, the start of Spring Break! I actually arrived at school yesterday in a really happy mood and again today just in anticipation. It is a much needed break which I hope to put to good use writing and visiting grandkids in Mississippi!

Teaching For Social Justice Through the Arts in Social Studies

The Conference on Literacy, Urban Issues, and Social Studies Education (CLUES) held at Georgia State University today turned out to be quite interesting and personal. My colleague, Heather, and I presented this afternoon to a full capacity receptive audience about the role of aethestics and imagination in promoting social justice in our social studies classrooms. Before our presentation, the keynote speaker was Greg Dawson, a reporter who has written a book about his mother's experience during the Holocaust. (http://www.hidinginthespotlight.com/)

He opened his remarks by saying that one of the presentations scheduled for after lunch inspired the focus for his keynote address. He read the title, Teaching For Social Justice Through the Arts in Social Studies, then asked if Doreen Williams was present. Heather and I had worried that no one would come to hear us; now we were really worried! It was rewarding to have our work recognized even before we had presented, but mostly it was just humbling. I had a remarkable conversation with him after our presentation and he signed my copy of his book, thanking me for giving him inspiration. His mother was also there, and she signed the book too! When I spoke with the organizer of the conference after it was over, she invited me to come present again next year. Wow! What an exhilarating day. It's nice to have those speckled in the middle of mostly mundane days. It counteracts the worry of not getting as much writing done as quickly as I would like it to be done.