Spring/Summer Transition
This graduation season saw two nieces and a nephew graduating from college. Congratulations to Emily H. and Sterling and Joelle M. who graduated in Kansas, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. Sterling and Joelle are siblings and they graduated the same day in different states. Since Caleb (their dad) is on the faculty of the school in PA where Joelle graduated, he attended her graduation, and Kara, their mother, attended Sterling's in Memphis. Kara made the 15 hour drive by herself both ways.
Another nephew, Benji, is set to graduate at Faith Builders at the end of this week.
Dorcas' brother Joe K. also graduated last Saturday with a business degree from a school in Wichita.
*******************
Two of my Iowa aunts and an uncle came for last weekend--Joe and Mary B. and Esther Z. The occasion was the memorial service for Harry Miller, a brother to Mary. I was happy to see my cousins here from various places for the funeral--Joyce from IN, Landon and Evan from IA, Wilbur from OH, Kathleen from Canada, and, of course all of Harry's children and grandchildren from their far-flung residences. My sister Carol and brother Ronald came from Eastern Kansas.
*******************
Joel and Hilda expect to come home from NYC at the end of this week. It feels like they've been gone a long time.
*******************
Shane has finished installing a new (used) engine in the old Choice Books van they used to drive in CO, and I went with Shane on a test drive last evening. Two large chest freezers full of meat live in the back of the truck. When it's home, the freezers run off current in the shed. On Farmer's Market Days they'll be unplugged here and plugged in again once the truck is in its appointed stall at the market. If you're local and want to buy good quality meat from Shane, ask him how you can do so.
******************
The wheat here is about as much gold as green, and it's obvious that harvest can't be too far away. It seems incredibly early. If we can get by without hail till then, chances look good for a great crop.
Timely rains this spring made a huge difference for the wheat and the first cutting of hay, but the hay crops are in need of moisture if there is to be a second cutting on schedule.
*****************
My young local nephews are on a birding roll. Last week Bryant and Andrew saw a Black-Throated Blue Warbler at Quivira and took pictures of it. They subsequently accidentally deleted the pictures, but they called Barry, the Quivira resident official to report the sighting--the first one ever at the refuge. He was a bit reluctant to list it without more evidence, but he went out to where they had seen it and it was still there. He got pictures and emailed them to Bryant and Andrew.
Hans took Bryant and Andrew and Joey and Dietrich (I presume D. went along.) back to Quivira and they saw a bunch of birds again that I've never identified. Today I got emailed pictures of a possible hybrid Scissor-tailed Flycatcher/Western Kingbird. There's a well-documented case in OK from 1988, and the tail on this bird looks exactly like you'd expect the tail to look from that cross. It's much longer than that of a WK, but a lot shorter than the STF.
Today Joey also sent me a list of confirmed nesting species, presumably sighted on their farm. He's getting pretty good with the camera, so I get to see them too, from the comfort of my home.
The 11-13-year old boys keep adding species to their own life lists, and reporting to the Reno County lists. I'm proud of their expertise, and delighted that they share their passion with me. Their uncle, Bill B. from NC, gets credit for helping nurture their interest, and their parents and Hans facilitate bird outings as well.
******************
Today I finished averaging grades for the classes I teach. I'm not sure it's quite soaked in yet that I'm really done with school for the year, except for some cleaning up and organizing. I hope to finish that tomorrow. I'm more ready than sometimes to put this year behind me, but already the mental gears are grinding out new and improved ways of doing things next year. It's not entirely up to me to decide these things, however, and the discussions have hardly begun. Class assignments might be shuffled significantly, and the student group will likely be bigger than it has been at any time in at least the past ten years.
******************
Jae is getting married in Korea later this week, on May 19. Hiromi was right about his bride's ethnicity, basing his deduction on how tall she is. His sister writes that the bride-to-be is a good friend of hers. Jae and she met about 2 years ago when she came to Japan to visit Jae's sister. In the best news of all, Jae's sister says that Jae and his fiancee both enjoy a strong Christian faith.
Jae came here familiar with Christianity, and he made a personal commitment while he was here. We didn't know much about what has happened since then, although we had some clues that he had not turned his back on Christianity. His sister writes that "they started their relationship through Bible study."
Thank you to everyone here who befriended Jae and welcomed him into their circle of Christian friends. To have a Christian journalist emissary equally at home in Korea and Japan is a very good thing.
****************
Tonight I listened for at least the third time to a TED talk on creativity in education. Here's the link. Understanding the British accent takes a little concentration, but the speech is quite entertaining and thought provoking. Ken Robinson's main point is that, since we can't really know what life will be like in the future, it's important that we not follow the same old same old hierarchy of academic study that is followed all over the world: math and language arts at the top, science and social studies below that, and the arts last of all. In the arts, music and drawing are at the top of the hierarchy, and dance and drama are at the bottom. Robinson says that since creativity will be the "skill" most in demand in learning to adapt to a world we can not yet imagine, the hierarchy should be upended, so that creativity is developed in school.
My bias says that school itself is often a great hindrance to the development of creativity, and learning in a more flexible environment facilitates creativity far more naturally. Robinson also rightly identifies our current educational system as having its roots in the idealization of industrialization (mindless efficiency)--the antithesis of creativity. I know, of course, that teachers do their best to develop their students' creativity, but the constraints of group learning are often too hard to overcome.
****************
I cut my finger the other evening and Hannah did a masterful job of bandaging it for me. TGhe bandage, however, is fairfly fatgf on gthe very end of my fingerf and I rfegularly hitg extgfra keys when I'm tgryinbg tgfo tgype. Can you guess which fingerf has tghe b andage? And do you apprfeciatgfe how much corrfectgfingv I've done on tgfhe previous paragrdaphs?
I really hatfe seeing a small piece of my finger lying on tgfhe cutfting boARD. I'm squeamish aboutf such things and haven't had tfhe courage to change tghe bandage yetg. I was racingv tgo cutgf letgftfuce up for a salad I was taking to Lowell's house to have a meal with Aunt Estgher and Uncle Joe and Aunt Mary. I couldn't vgetg tgfhe b leedding tfo slow enough tgo pug on a b andage myself so I wrapped a paperf tgissue around itgf, and fastfened itf with tape and tfook off for Lowell's house and Hannah's ministgragtions. TGhatgf girfls ougfhtf tfo b ecome a nurfse. Her motfher Judy and her grfandmotfher Marftgfha had tfhe same genes forf nursing.
*****************
We spent Mother's Day at Shane and Dorcas' house. Dorcas and Clarissa provided the picnic meal. It was a lovely treat. I couldn't help sympathizing though with my daughters-in-law--none of whom were with their own mother on Mother's Day. This is Dorcas' first Mother's Day since Tristan was born, but it is also the first Mother's Day since her own Mother died. Clarissa's mother is far away in Washington, and Hilda was in NYC with her mother here. I am privileged to have my mother nearby, and her aging provides opportunity to offer payback for the care she lavished on us early in life.
*****************
Our year-end activities took on a slightly different form at school this year because of the funeral service for the principal's father-in-law beginning at 11:30 on Saturday. For the first time since I've started teaching, I did not need to prepare an end-of-the-year speech to be given at the Awards Assembly. Usually I rather enjoy it, but this year I was glad to be able to skip it. It was also the first time that I attended the grade school Awards Assembly. Usually I'm busy helping get things shut down at the high school in time for the Assembly to begin there. Some changes were unintentional. I had prepared the "Merit Money" well ahead of time, but we all forgot to distribute it at the Awards Assembly.
This year for the first time, an award was given for one of last year's seniors who scored 32 or higher (out of a possible 36) on his ACT (College Entrance Test). The certificate was mailed out by the state testing office. Seth Y. got the award. I know that Seth wasn't the first person from here to score at that level, but I'm happy for the recognition he got.
Another nephew, Benji, is set to graduate at Faith Builders at the end of this week.
Dorcas' brother Joe K. also graduated last Saturday with a business degree from a school in Wichita.
*******************
Two of my Iowa aunts and an uncle came for last weekend--Joe and Mary B. and Esther Z. The occasion was the memorial service for Harry Miller, a brother to Mary. I was happy to see my cousins here from various places for the funeral--Joyce from IN, Landon and Evan from IA, Wilbur from OH, Kathleen from Canada, and, of course all of Harry's children and grandchildren from their far-flung residences. My sister Carol and brother Ronald came from Eastern Kansas.
*******************
Joel and Hilda expect to come home from NYC at the end of this week. It feels like they've been gone a long time.
*******************
Shane has finished installing a new (used) engine in the old Choice Books van they used to drive in CO, and I went with Shane on a test drive last evening. Two large chest freezers full of meat live in the back of the truck. When it's home, the freezers run off current in the shed. On Farmer's Market Days they'll be unplugged here and plugged in again once the truck is in its appointed stall at the market. If you're local and want to buy good quality meat from Shane, ask him how you can do so.
******************
The wheat here is about as much gold as green, and it's obvious that harvest can't be too far away. It seems incredibly early. If we can get by without hail till then, chances look good for a great crop.
Timely rains this spring made a huge difference for the wheat and the first cutting of hay, but the hay crops are in need of moisture if there is to be a second cutting on schedule.
*****************
My young local nephews are on a birding roll. Last week Bryant and Andrew saw a Black-Throated Blue Warbler at Quivira and took pictures of it. They subsequently accidentally deleted the pictures, but they called Barry, the Quivira resident official to report the sighting--the first one ever at the refuge. He was a bit reluctant to list it without more evidence, but he went out to where they had seen it and it was still there. He got pictures and emailed them to Bryant and Andrew.
Hans took Bryant and Andrew and Joey and Dietrich (I presume D. went along.) back to Quivira and they saw a bunch of birds again that I've never identified. Today I got emailed pictures of a possible hybrid Scissor-tailed Flycatcher/Western Kingbird. There's a well-documented case in OK from 1988, and the tail on this bird looks exactly like you'd expect the tail to look from that cross. It's much longer than that of a WK, but a lot shorter than the STF.
Today Joey also sent me a list of confirmed nesting species, presumably sighted on their farm. He's getting pretty good with the camera, so I get to see them too, from the comfort of my home.
The 11-13-year old boys keep adding species to their own life lists, and reporting to the Reno County lists. I'm proud of their expertise, and delighted that they share their passion with me. Their uncle, Bill B. from NC, gets credit for helping nurture their interest, and their parents and Hans facilitate bird outings as well.
******************
Today I finished averaging grades for the classes I teach. I'm not sure it's quite soaked in yet that I'm really done with school for the year, except for some cleaning up and organizing. I hope to finish that tomorrow. I'm more ready than sometimes to put this year behind me, but already the mental gears are grinding out new and improved ways of doing things next year. It's not entirely up to me to decide these things, however, and the discussions have hardly begun. Class assignments might be shuffled significantly, and the student group will likely be bigger than it has been at any time in at least the past ten years.
******************
Jae is getting married in Korea later this week, on May 19. Hiromi was right about his bride's ethnicity, basing his deduction on how tall she is. His sister writes that the bride-to-be is a good friend of hers. Jae and she met about 2 years ago when she came to Japan to visit Jae's sister. In the best news of all, Jae's sister says that Jae and his fiancee both enjoy a strong Christian faith.
Jae came here familiar with Christianity, and he made a personal commitment while he was here. We didn't know much about what has happened since then, although we had some clues that he had not turned his back on Christianity. His sister writes that "they started their relationship through Bible study."
Thank you to everyone here who befriended Jae and welcomed him into their circle of Christian friends. To have a Christian journalist emissary equally at home in Korea and Japan is a very good thing.
****************
Tonight I listened for at least the third time to a TED talk on creativity in education. Here's the link. Understanding the British accent takes a little concentration, but the speech is quite entertaining and thought provoking. Ken Robinson's main point is that, since we can't really know what life will be like in the future, it's important that we not follow the same old same old hierarchy of academic study that is followed all over the world: math and language arts at the top, science and social studies below that, and the arts last of all. In the arts, music and drawing are at the top of the hierarchy, and dance and drama are at the bottom. Robinson says that since creativity will be the "skill" most in demand in learning to adapt to a world we can not yet imagine, the hierarchy should be upended, so that creativity is developed in school.
My bias says that school itself is often a great hindrance to the development of creativity, and learning in a more flexible environment facilitates creativity far more naturally. Robinson also rightly identifies our current educational system as having its roots in the idealization of industrialization (mindless efficiency)--the antithesis of creativity. I know, of course, that teachers do their best to develop their students' creativity, but the constraints of group learning are often too hard to overcome.
****************
I cut my finger the other evening and Hannah did a masterful job of bandaging it for me. TGhe bandage, however, is fairfly fatgf on gthe very end of my fingerf and I rfegularly hitg extgfra keys when I'm tgryinbg tgfo tgype. Can you guess which fingerf has tghe b andage? And do you apprfeciatgfe how much corrfectgfingv I've done on tgfhe previous paragrdaphs?
I really hatfe seeing a small piece of my finger lying on tgfhe cutfting boARD. I'm squeamish aboutf such things and haven't had tfhe courage to change tghe bandage yetg. I was racingv tgo cutgf letgftfuce up for a salad I was taking to Lowell's house to have a meal with Aunt Estgher and Uncle Joe and Aunt Mary. I couldn't vgetg tgfhe b leedding tfo slow enough tgo pug on a b andage myself so I wrapped a paperf tgissue around itgf, and fastfened itf with tape and tfook off for Lowell's house and Hannah's ministgragtions. TGhatgf girfls ougfhtf tfo b ecome a nurfse. Her motfher Judy and her grfandmotfher Marftgfha had tfhe same genes forf nursing.
*****************
We spent Mother's Day at Shane and Dorcas' house. Dorcas and Clarissa provided the picnic meal. It was a lovely treat. I couldn't help sympathizing though with my daughters-in-law--none of whom were with their own mother on Mother's Day. This is Dorcas' first Mother's Day since Tristan was born, but it is also the first Mother's Day since her own Mother died. Clarissa's mother is far away in Washington, and Hilda was in NYC with her mother here. I am privileged to have my mother nearby, and her aging provides opportunity to offer payback for the care she lavished on us early in life.
*****************
Our year-end activities took on a slightly different form at school this year because of the funeral service for the principal's father-in-law beginning at 11:30 on Saturday. For the first time since I've started teaching, I did not need to prepare an end-of-the-year speech to be given at the Awards Assembly. Usually I rather enjoy it, but this year I was glad to be able to skip it. It was also the first time that I attended the grade school Awards Assembly. Usually I'm busy helping get things shut down at the high school in time for the Assembly to begin there. Some changes were unintentional. I had prepared the "Merit Money" well ahead of time, but we all forgot to distribute it at the Awards Assembly.
This year for the first time, an award was given for one of last year's seniors who scored 32 or higher (out of a possible 36) on his ACT (College Entrance Test). The certificate was mailed out by the state testing office. Seth Y. got the award. I know that Seth wasn't the first person from here to score at that level, but I'm happy for the recognition he got.
posted by Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige) at
8:21 PM
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