Thanksgiving

Tomorrow (Thursday), I will host Thanksgiving for the McCammon side of the family. I have a menu planned and ready to execute. I will go to the gym Thursday morning and work out enough so that I can eat what I want to later in the day.

I've been pondering the idea of what I am thankful for this year since Sunday when I attended another McCammon Thanksgiving hosted by my sister-in-law to be. I don't think I'm supposed to mention my last name... Needless to say, there are many things I am profoundly thankful for-- namely, my partner Luke and our son Quinn. Last Saturday, Luke's parents and cousin took Quinn to Macy's to see their annual Christmas display so Luke and I had the day to ourselves. We went to the gym and worked out-- a very new aspect to our 10 year old relationship-- and then had a late lunch before heading to a movie (Bond). Then, we hit Target for some Christmas shopping. There's something quite hilarious to our interaction; on one hand, we have patterns we always seems to follow and at the same time, we're just as likely to exhibit a Becky behavior as we are to do something Luke-like. Does that make sense? We know one another so well and are so established in our relationship, that there is a familiarity and sameness, a security in our routine that is highly funny and cool. I am thankful for that. Luke is the most steadfast, committed and loving man that I have ever known.

Quinn, well, Quinn is joy personified. I feel happier on a level that is always astonishing me just by looking at him. When he laughs, I'm inclined to laugh. When we does something new, I marvel at learning and growing. He has car slippers now, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, and they're a little too big but he loves to wear them. For whatever reason, when he wears them he likes to lumber from side to side, embracing his semi-balanced equilibrium. Yesterday he reveled in walking backwards. This morning, he was insistent on having his blue car; the fire truck and recycling truck just wouldn't do it. He says "Thank you" and "love you Mommy" with a sweetness that I don't see or hear anywhere else in the world.

But I could go on and go about the people I am happy to share my life with at my home address. I am also remarkably grateful to teach. I love what I do and it feels so instinctive to work with young people that I can't imagine how other adults work primarily with one another. I am an imperfect educator and person but the joy of this field is that I am constantly empowered to improve myself-- can all professions claim such lofty actualization? So, to you, thank you for being in this class and for allowing me to work and write with you.

Today, please muse about gratitude, thanks and the like. See where the idea takes you and elevate what could be a trite recitation on what you are thankful for to another level. Have a great long weekend folks and enjoy time with friends and family.

Friday Frolicking

Not a reference to anything in particular, I just felt the desire for some alliteration. I've just spent the last hour or so reading people's blogs from the past couple days. My week has been plagued with proctoring tests, which means that I read a really drab script that reminds testtakers of common things, such as, "don't cheat". Needless to say, I've never quite found my groove this week. Next week is a short one and I'll be gone on Monday at doctor appts. for Quinn and I so I can only hope that after Thanksgiving we can really connect as a writing community more directly. In the meantime, I'll send out a positive remark: I really like getting to know each of you more specifically through your writing. I thank you for the trust you have in this forum and in me. I hope that my comments have been affirming or guiding.

Flummoxed. I'm still a little floored by the infrequency of some people's posts. I'm not entirely sure what is happening to your 50 or so minutes of writing time, but perhaps each of you can illuminate me... I don't want to be the hammer of school justice, but I also don't want you to maintain any illusions about earning credit in this course through shallow, spotty writing. Not going to happen...

This is your final day to post about what you've researched this week. You should have 4 research based posts. I give you credit for any worthy comments you leave for other writers and also for the additional writing that is happening on multiple blogs. Again, it is joyful to read and learn from you. Please embrace the potential in this learning endeavor and jail the slacker in you-- metaphorically speaking, of course.

On Monday, there will be a sub and they'll also be using the lab for testing. I'll have some articles for you to read and respond to related to contemporary blogging. Have a terrific weekend and I'll see you Tuesday!

Happy Thursday

The average household will spend $660 on Christmas gifts this year.
ACTUAL pirates are attacking ships on the high seas.

These are two news items that stood out to me this morning on the way into work. Pirates? I find stealing to be pretty repugnant, especially on such large scales as piracy. BUT, what fuels that kind of thievery? Poverty. The pirates are Somali and their country is impoverished. A moral imperative then, to steal? I don't know. Does a hungry person have a right to steal from SA? I'm not sure.

For my master's paper, I've been researching forms of sex education because I'd like to create a curriculum that teaches sexual literacy-- a critical awareness of choices, thoughts, relationships, etc. It's a wild ride, no pun intended, exploring the madness to sex education in the United States. For example, did you know that Title V money, the money from the government that pays for health teachers, programming, etc. is only available to schools if they teach abstinence only? Did you know that abstinence education is designed to stress that marriage is the ONLY positive place a person can copulate? AND, that sex outside of that institution leads to psychological and physical/emotional distress. Now, don't get me wrong, I think the world of sex education and young people's burgeoning sexuality is a conversational minefield, but I don't know that the current approach is working. My aim is to design a literature course that allows for rich discussion about gender dynamics, relationships, sexuality, etc. So, that's what I've been researching. Eager to read posts from you all today. Have you read anyone else's blog this week?

Extra Credit Blog

So I'm still sitting, slightly chilled, in the theater while students take a test. I'm wondering, what is it like to grow up in a culture of standardized tests? I remember a couple annoying ones in elementary and high school, mostly so that teachers would know our reading levels, etc. There weren't any high stakes tests, to my knowledge. In high school, I took the ACT for college, as well as the PSAT, but aside from that, my graduation wasn't staked on a BST or MCA. How does it feel to be tested to frequently? What is your approach to the exams? Do you like that you are coming of age in an era of accountability? Do you feel good about knowing that future generations will know that you passed these tests to graduate, making your success more authentic? Share your thoughts with me. I'm intrigued.

Blarg

So here I am in the theater space, proctoring the BST writing test. I'm drinking water even though it's chilly because hydration is a good thing. I'm feeling splendid about this class because I love reading your writing and being able to respond quickly and with more detail since I'm not trying to jam the words on the sides of your paper in cursive. Alas, I just hit a wall. Metaphorically speaking, that it. While I have enjoyed reading new works by SOME of you, many of you didn't post at all today. Why? What's the situation? Please illuminate the darkness for me. Many of you have internet access at home-- please use it to stay on top of your work. I feel frustrated. What can we do to remedy this situation? Comment, please.

Thoughts

Morning Writers. Today I am proctoring the BST Writing Exam so Ms. O will be in the lab with you while you compose. Here are some thoughts for today as you research your topic of interest and compose. First, look at the clock on the computer and note the time.

What drives us to achieve? What compels one individual to go above and beyond and another to get by? This thought started yesterday when I was mentally noting- again- that some people's blog posts are consistently of a greater length and depth than others. Don't get me wrong, I admire a snappy, succinct writer, but there's little substitute in terms of writing growth than actually writing more. In 5th hour, this point was driven home even more powerfully. My science fiction class has a project right now to design their own planet, culture and people. Some people have literally typed 6+ pages while others have their work on 2-3 sheets of notebook paper. How do I even begin to assess one versus another? Or, how do I know if 6 pages for one is a breeze and 2-3 notebook pages is over-achievement for the other? Wild. Ideally, I assess a student against themselves and what they are capable of. BUT, what if a student rarely gives glimmers of their most amazing, but totally achievable kind of work? To use a Jordy phrase, BLARG.

Last night Quinn and his Dad came home from Dad's Class (Early Childhood Family Education) with a class photo of all the kids and their Dads. Freaking adorable. Applying my consternation from above onto this photo, I wonder what parents, adults and teachers should do to create a culture where excellence is the norm, not only for the "reward" of a grade- that's far too fleeting and lame- but for the sense of pride and accomplishment or the evolution of self. I routinely tell Quinn he's the brightest, most curious, friendliest and lovable little boy. I validate his actions with phrases like, "Great running! Way to eat your peas!" and other silly sayings. What kind of learner will Quinn become? How much of his intellect and giftedness will he apply to school and how will he distinguish between the worthy work and the busy work-- as you all surely do without even realizing it.

Feel free to respond to this. Also, what time is it now? Please let me know how long it took you to read this message. Why? I'm trying to determine how long people spend reading, researching, brainstorming, etc. so that my expectations for actual composition are fair. Thanks! Have a splendid day!

Good morning Fair Students

I hope that you all had a marvelous weekend and that you're ready for another week of marvelous writing. Due today is your assessment of 5 existing blogs. Remember, you need to profile each blog, explain it's content or theme and describe the writing style the author uses.

What's coming up? This week I would like you to select an idea, a problem, a person or even a place that fascinates you and I want you to research it throughout the week. Each day (Tuesday-Friday) I want to see you blog about your discoveries. For example, perhaps you want to pursue your post-secondary options. Then, you would spend a chunk of your time each day looking into different schools, financial aid, the timeline for registration/application, etc. Next, you blog about the experience of looking ahead and embracing the next phase of your life. OR, maybe for you, the idea of Wicca is fascinating or you really want to follow the transition for President-elect Barack Obama. Whatever you choose, be a researcher, a detective, an investigator of all that you can learn and then write about that process. Heck, you could research ways to lose weight, how to gain more friends, a popular artist or even your own geneology. Please reference in each blog the sites and places you have traveled. Were they sound resources?

If you have not done so already (while sitting next to your peers), please begin tracking and reading one another's writing. This week I will give credit for those students who post comments to their peers.

Possible research topics Becky might embark on: sexual literacy, literature circles, how to raise a toddler, the Obama transition or Korean culture and food.

Blog #2- Sample Assignment

I really like reading the NY Times online. I've never been to New York, but I hope to someday visit. I like the idea that within that city is a small world, like a microcosm for the true face of America: poverty, wealth, glamour, art, diversity, etc. For whatever reasons, I hold the paper in high esteem and often look to it to supplement my public radio listening habits. Today I found a cool blog there called "On the Ground" by Nicholas Kristof. His most recent post is about education in the US and how it currently perpetuates or at least sustains the achievement gap. With all that Obama has on his plate, his staff say that education is number 5 on his list of priorities. While Kristof doesn't argue against the top 4 things Obama needs to do, he would like to see education on the fasttrack as opposed to the back burner-- something I agree with strongly. One of the features of Kristof's writing that I really like is that he is consistently engaging reading with questions; he wants feedback and dialogue. Pretty cool. I might even send him a note:)

Sample Blog Assignment

Here's what your blog assignment might look like:

Blog #1- pittwatch.com
I'm a recovering Celebrity junkie. I used to subscribe to US Weekly, but gave that up in favor of a Parenting magazine that I rarely read. Instead, the parenting mag stacked up- as did my guilt for not reading it- and I went online to satisfy by "fix". The first site I frequented was eonline.com until I discovered people.com. If I'm feeling a bit stressed or anxious, a little celebrity nonsense seems to put things in perspective for me. Two of my fav stars are Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Pittwatch serves duel purposes in that the author follows BOTH stars! In terms of writing, she is complimentary, full of praise and sympathetic. She is a mother herself and she often tries to apply her own common sense to the practices of the two famous stars. I thoroughly enjoy her posts, the pictures and the videos. She always finds the most obscure articles or interviews and I love it!

Apple Sauce

Have I mentioned that I am striving to be healthier? My in-law's family is holding a Biggest Loser style competition and the winner gets some cash and the reward of looking and feeling great. Of course, I am participating because I need to overhaul my approach to food and exercise. Growing up, I was a thin gal. I think I was a sophomore when I crossed over to 100 pounds and I remember lamenting that I now weighed 3 digits. Nowadays, post-baby, my body is a whole new monster and my appetite is the same as or greater than my teenage years when my metabolism was a racehorse. But, of course, my metabolism is more like a slow moving turtle...

So there's a little snippet of my life. I mention my journey because I'm having to rethink how I approach what I eat and what premium or priority I place on exercise. Do I want Quinn to slowly but surely come to see his Mom as the chubby one on the sidelines or do I want him to never have to worry about losing me to a potential heart attack? Anyway, the manner in which this relates to you is that in school we often get into ruts or patterns that are familiar to us. In the same way, eating for comfort, for fun or because it's around is a strong habit to me. I am doing my best to consciously shift my approach to food and if school hasn't been a bastion of success for you, I hope that you too can modify your means of tackling school. It will be work, but it will be worth it. Let's both invigorate our lives by passing all your classes with great grades and me feeling and looking my best!

Don't forget to post at least once for Thurs/Fri. The blog assignment is due Monday. Cool. Have a safe and happy weekend!

What a thrill!

I am having such a great time reading your works! I love that the blog compensates for messy handwriting and presents our writing to cleanly. I love the variety to what people are writing and I can't wait to open the floodgates next week and invite you to read one another's work. On that note, however, I want to include a cautionary note about the nature of blogs. At present, no one but you (and maybe a pal or two) knows your blog address and so it's highly unlikely that anyone besides myself is reading it. Unfortunately, the world isn't always a swell place and there are creepy predator types on the internet and technically speaking-- unless you've already adjusted your settings, your blog is open for anyone to read. For that reason, I encourage you to NOT mention specific people by last name and please steer clear of giving away any pertinent information about yourself (statistically speaking). Once we have everyone successfully enrolled and blogging, I can give you a list of the class members who can and should subscribe to your blog. If you want to block everyone else, do so. If you want the world to stumble upon your genius, do so:)

As often happens with good ideas, I rarely account for how long such activities will take. My guess is that the blog assignment I gave yesterday (the research one) is going to take people longer than another school day. Am I right? So, in that spirit, I will say that the 5 blog research assignment is due at the end of class on Monday. However, I will ask you to post a new blog either on Thursday or Friday.

Another note: The length of people's blogs vary a good deal. Some of this may be due to typing speed and in other cases, to effort put forth. I have not read anything yet that displeases me; in fact, quite the opposite. But, I would caution people against less versus more. If I note that length becomes a persistent problem I'll have to do a word count requirement and that can be pretty lame.

For your Thursday or Friday blog, I would like you to find a quote, lyric or poem that you really like and use that as inspiration for a written discussion with yourself. Cool.

Welcome back Writers

Welcome to Day 2 of Blogging with Becky. I was thrilled to hear the click, click, click of people typing their first entries yesterday. There is something affirming to writing and then hitting, "Publish Post". I like that it presents my work with a nice backdrop too. As a reminder, your writing should be as close to grammatically sound as possible. Please do your best to spell and punctuate things correctly and feel free to use spellcheck. Adhere to capitalization rules as best as possible too. Now, I say all of that not so that you think I am judging solely on those features of your writing. To me, the ideas and extrapolation of this ideas is always the most important feature. However, since these will be read by others in the community, it is best to make the reading experience as easy as possible-- and let's be honest, reading work that is presented in the right form is preferable to trying to decipher someone's meaning through too many errors.

Enough said on that subject.

For now, I will keep your blog addresses to myself, meaning that only I will be reading your work. Additionally, since you have not advertised your blog titles to others, you should enjoy relative anonymity. If you want to adjust your settings to welcome guests you are encouraged to do so. Probably starting next week we'll open up the community so you can really get to know one another.

Today's task: Please blog in whatever fashion and style you would like. Process a situation or problem, vent, celebrate, venerate, or write a poem. Share a story from the past or the present. Write vividly.

Then, once you've posted for the day, please do the following:

Jump into the internet at large and look for other blogs. A good starting point might be a newspaper or news magazine that surely employs journalists to blog. Your task: locate 5 different bloggers that regularly contribute to their blog. Write down who they are and what you can glean of their intent or message/purpose to their blog. What do you notice about their writing style? Their tone? They topic? In an organized blog- by Friday- please list the 5 blogs you have located and liked and provide a description of both the author and the author's content.

Welcome to Class Writers!

I have been breathing in and out for 32 years, sometimes with great ease and appreciation for the blessings I have in life and other times I have struggled to catch my breathe because I felt life was nearly unbearable. This past Saturday was my Adoption Day, marking my arrival in the US from Korea when I was 5 months old. But, I digress.

I've been journaling and writing for as long as I can remember and if there's one thing I've carried with me from apartment to apartment, it has been those old journals. I don't know what lessons Quinn might learn from them if he should ever read them later in life, but it seems shameful to trash the records of my emotions and experiences. With technology the way it is, I save emails for far too long. I have thousands of emails- some of them worthless- but I haven't taken the time to sort through that which was cathartic and monumental and that which was lame.

I love having the time to write. I love having good books to read and a belly that is pleasantly full. I love having the time to cook and the money to shop for the obscure item on the recipe. I love that Luke will try anything new that I make- at least once- and won't complain. I love my son and I love my partner. I love my mother and brothers. I love teaching.

I used to knit a good deal, but the needles are stored away for a new era in knitting and life. They're too lethal to have out around Quinn and I imagine he'd disassemble anything I tried to make in quick order. I wish I volunteered more because I love the idea of making a difference in my community and the world at large.

My pet peeves include lazy and ineffectual use of language, ignorant or ill-informed speech, hateful behavior, a refusal to learn or unwillingness to change, and peas. I also dislike feeling like I can't speak my mind, not having enough money to feel safe and secure, and my abysmal relationship with my father.

Obama is my hope for the world realized. I know it's not that simple, but in some ways... it is. The fact that Quinn will grow up in a country that can elect a person of color to office is a big deal. I hope that Quinn and his children and grandchildren will have clean air to breathe.

I wish I could say that my quote for my life is "Carpe Diem", to seize the day, but I don't think I do this enough. I would like to though. There are too many books that I like and movies I enjoy to name, but I'll try to list a smattering:

Books: Anne of Green Gables series, Harry Potter series, The Sparrow, The Kite Runner and on and on the list goes
Movies: When Harry Met Sally, French Kiss, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Count of Monte Cristo and on and on
TV Shows: Sex and the City, Sopranos, Deadwood... anything on HBO, Weeds and so on...
Music: I have no taste or collection whatsoever. I did, however, recently attend a NKOTB concert and that was wicked fun.