Holiday Cheer

Coffee Shop in Weaverville

I'm so glad the Holidays are upon us. This year I'm really in the spirit. 

The holiday spirit is not a "given" for me. But, I'm just so delighted it has landed on me this year. 

Bill and I have taken small day trips to Weaverville, Burnsville, and other neighboring towns. I enjoy how each town has decorated for the season. It's been cold up here, so when we visit other little towns and walk outside the feeling of Christmas is accentuated. Popping into a coffee shop for a warm cuppa is just the cozy holiday feeling I crave.

Gifts will be small this year. Bill and I splurged on a few things throughout the year and decided that we needed to restrain ourselves when getting gifts. There's something about the restraint that has created even more excitement for me. 

Just three weeks ago I had another knee replacement surgery and I've been less than agile. We also had a trip to Atlanta to see Bill's family for the Annual Cookie Painting Party. We have our tree. It is up and in its stand. We just need to add lights and decorate it. I think that will happen tonight. It's not long for a tree to be up before the big day, but I'm glad we are doing it anyway.

We will be watching our favorite Christmas movies this weekend. They include "Funny Farm" and "You've Got Mail". We have a favorite that we discovered two years ago, "The Man Who Invented Christmas". It's about Charles Dickens as he decided to write a Christmas Carol. I love the story better from this point of view.

I hope you are enjoying your version of Holiday Cheer as well.

Still Trying To Figure It Out

I enjoy ruminating with a hot beverage. This is especially true when the crisp air of autumn arrives. The epitome of cozy is warm socks, a thick blanket, and a hot beverage. All three can be enjoyed either on the couch or sitting on top of my freshly made bed. Today I am writing this under just such cozy conditions. 

It's the day before Thanksgiving and all through the house, nothing is stirring... Oh, wait, wrong holiday. My husband is very much stirring. As I enjoy my quiet stillness, my husband doesn't stop moving. It's one of the things I find endearing about him. Today as I enjoy the cozy comfort inside, Bill has been working in the yard. Bill's work ethic is strong. Mine has gotten less strong as I've gotten older.

I've continued to substitute teach and with each assignment, I get a new perspective of what it's like to teach students in today's world. I'm still learning how to adapt my "style" as I try to learn from each experience. 

In one high school class, the teacher left specific instructions that phones were to be placed in a central station before class and were picked up as they changed classes. When I made this request to the students they looked at me as though I had three heads. Not one student stood up to comply. Of course, the students said the teacher doesn't require phones to be collected. Which begs the question, "Why was this specifically spelled out in her instructions to me?" and, "Why was there a place hanging on the wall to accommodate cell phones?" I simply said, "I'm sorry if this isn't what you are used to, but your teacher's instructions for today are clear". And I told them that we would handle this as part of the roll call. With each child indicating their presence, I simply asked "Do you have a cell phone," and then I asked them to bring it to the front. It was somewhat surprising that by handling it this way they complied. I think it was when they were asked as an individual that the group non-compliance mentality lost some of its effect. 

Was that a battle I necessarily wanted to fight? I don't know. When I was a student we "passed notes". Today, they use cell phones to text. I think the difference is that our note-passing was covert and not so unapologetically overt as cell phone usage is today. It surprises me how students are willing to blatantly communicate disinterest to the person trying to engage them. 

I secretly regretted choosing to follow the teacher's instructions regarding cell phones. This is for a few reasons, the first being that I set myself up for battle the very first thing. I set myself up to be a clear "enemy". In addition, I did not realize that there was another teacher who was taking charge of the instruction. 

The notes gave directions for what the students were to do individually. When the literacy specialist came in she simply said, "I'm the literacy specialist, I work with students in this class." In my other experiences, the specialist takes students aside to work with them individually. I expected the same from this specialist and I gave the students instructions (per the lesson plans). I thought that she would seek out the students that were struggling. To my surprise, and truthfully to my embarrassment, the specialist proceeded to pass out books to the students and told them to open the books to a certain page. She then began to read the chapter, asking the students to follow along. She stopped periodically to engage students in discussion and to recommend that they make a note of certain quotes for the projects that they were working on. 

If I had understood that this was the specialist's class I would have taken a back seat immediately. Instead, I felt that I had put myself into a power play with her. I think her expectation was that I would simply take attendance and leave the rest to her. That is what I wish I had done. I feel foolish, to be honest. But, I also understand how I made that error. My lesson from that is I should ask them specifically specialist what their role is and what they need from me. 

I should mention that the specialist did a great job of engaging the students. They participated when she stopped for discussion, and they asked questions when they didn't understand. I just have to repeat that if I had understood the protocol I would have stepped aside immediately. I'm still sick about how that went down. I feel I stepped on her toes and that I acted foolishly. It's funny how working with teenagers can bring out my underlying insecurities. 

There is one more reason I regret the cell phone decision. It is one that I think shines a light on something bigger than simply what is expected in the classroom. During class, one phone that was set to silent vibrate rang almost incessantly. When I heard it I struggled with how (or if) I should handle this. My concern was that this may have been an adult family member who desperately needed to speak to their child. Ultimately, a student asked to use the restroom and as he was leaving stopped to get his phone, which I thought was entirely appropriate. Later when he returned he again received a call and politely asked the teacher leading the class if he could step out in the hall to take the call. This reminds me that I have no idea what real life is like for any of these students. I have no idea what sort of home life situations require the student to be able to take a call when it comes in. 

It reminds me that assumptions about the appropriateness of such things as allowing students access to their phones are likely skewed. This includes my own assumptions. Once again my myopic view of the world with the flawed assumptions is exposed. 

I can't help but learn from all of this.

Kids Today

I'd dreamed of being a teacher when I was younger. I even had a blackboard that I used to teach my stuffed animals. I received a copy of the Young People's Science Encyclopedia which I read several times. The book was volume 1-Aa with information on how educators can order the entire set for their classroom. I'm not sure how I got this one, but back in the day, I mailed off for almost everything offered in magazines. 

I also received a book about cats from Little Friskies Cat Food. I had to mail away with the coupon cut from the food back to prove my purchase of their food. I had a huge appetite for information about things I cared about (cats).

Both of these books are available from booksellers for a minimal price. These books do not possess any antiquity qualities that I know of, so their only value is that of nostalgia. As an aside, it would be interesting to see how much has changed in the subject of science since the late '60s. I looked at the Cat Book on one of the seller's websites and they showed pictures of the book's interior. When I saw them I knew I would still love the contents.

Remember there was no internet and I was dependent on reading (books) for knowledge. Our family even had our own World Book Encyclopedia set. I used those extensively for the little research papers we were assigned in elementary school. 

Now that I'm a substitute teacher, I get the opportunity to sample the job as it is today. I am not saying I'm experiencing the teacher's actual job. There is so much more that goes into teaching than just showing up. When the teacher leaves lesson plans, I happily follow them. I've gotten to see several different teaching styles based on the plans they leave behind. For the most part, the students understand their directives and appear proficient in doing their work. That's not to say that they don't have questions. Which I happily answer. Sometimes my answers don't work for the student. When this happens I recruit another student to be a tutor. 

Except for 1st grade, I've subbed for classes in each K-6 level, including one special education class.  Elementary grades were fun to work with. The students were excited to show what they knew. 

I've also subbed for 8th, 10th, and 12th grades. I subbed for high school grades in two different schools and the experiences were very different from each other. At one school the students wanted to get their work done and they were cooperative and positive. At another school, the students were defiant and disrespectful. It was filled with disruptive boys that alternated between making cat sounds and shouting "F... You". The boys were impossible to appease or control. This was a shame because there was a small group of girls who dutifully did their work. 

Eighth grade at one school was also an absolute nightmare! This included three blocks of different 8th graders. For these classes, I made the executive decision that they would not be doing work on the laptops. Instead, I assigned them reading in an actual textbook and assigned worksheets to complete. I made this decision early in my first class. The kids were shocked that I told them to put the laptops away. "We always do our work on laptops", they whined. To which I said, "Not today." The students were further shocked when I told them they had to hand the worksheets in and those that didn't work didn't work on them would get a "zero" for the day. "You can't do that," they said,"you aren't the teacher". To which I said, "I am today." 

Who knows what the regular teacher did with the stacks of "zeros". I hope he follows through. I was shocked to find that roughly a quarter of the students did the work. 

Lessons:

#1: Teaching and learning looks completely different in this post-COVID world than it looked when I was a student. (I wrote about that in my last post.)

#2: Many students are NOT motivated to do well for the sake of doing well. 

#3: Some student populations have a culture that rewards being disrespectful. 

Long story short: Nothing in Middle School or High School will reflect your own school experience.

Herculean Heroes

A long while back, I took two years off as a sort of "sabbatical" from banking. One of those years I spent teaching Middle School Math. Fast forward to today. I have one year of actual teaching in the school system under my belt and I can tell you that teaching today does not look like teaching in the early 2000s. It definitely doesn't look like the 1970s. The county I've been substitute teaching for has fully embraced technology and each student is provided with a laptop. In some classes, the students are using technology for their school work almost exclusively.    

I've observed a lot of interactive learning applications being assigned with knowledge checks at the end. This is true across grade levels. I can only hope that the technology helps reduce the time that the teacher works outside of the classroom. Working in the classroom requires a significant amount of stamina and patience. At the end of the day, teachers deserve to truly clock out. But, of course, that is not the case for them. 

Most of the teachers I have subbed for provide clear plans for their classes. I cannot express how grateful I am for this. Some of the plans include directing students to complete certain assignments on their laptops. In those cases, my job is to make sure students are actually on task, which is not hard to do. I do it by walking around. Some teachers use the "share the student screen" technique. It allows teachers to check any student's screen while they are in their classroom. There are incentives for the students to complete their work, which can include game time on the computer. 

One nice thing about computer learning is that students can complete their work at their own pace, without being intimidated when others have finished. The apps also provide bright, kinetic animation which presents information in several ways. It can help a visual learner grasp the concepts as well as an auditory learner. It also has practice features that help the hands-on learner. 

Electronic presentations are simply "how it's done" now. This is true even in the field of adult learning as well. For corporate training, I can't help but think of the time that can be saved when there are good training packages that can reduce the individual trainer's prep time. When I was in the corporate world, I appreciated online training because it allowed me to schedule for myself. The information could be reviewed quickly, which I really appreciated.  

Some people express worry that using colorful and interactive apps to teach our students will diminish their ability to learn the "old-fashioned" way. For as long as I can remember parents or concerned adults worried something important would be lost with each teaching innovation. 

As a product of the '70s education system, I can tell you we were not hurt by such things as Sesame Street or "The New Math" or other such things that were new. When calculators were introduced in the classroom the concern was students would become dependent on them. --Heck, I'm dependent on them. The difference is that today a calculator is readily available on our phones. 

For an accurate analysis of what educational tools work for today's students, I defer 100% to the teachers using them. I don't know which applications help our teachers and which add extra layers of work. My guess is there are some of each. 

I hope that it is the teachers that are consulted for any new school curriculums. I hope that it's the teachers who decide which books (or applications) are best for each group of students. The reality is that their voice is probably rarely consulted. My guess is that teachers' needs (which is another way of saying student needs) are not the biggest consideration. 

When we speak about "what's wrong with education today", it is certainly not the teachers. Teachers are herculean heroes. If we really want to know "what's wrong..." then we need to ask the teachers. They are the only ones truly qualified to answer the question!

View from Parking Lot of School

Freshly Sharpened Pencils in Fall

"Colourful" - By Ole Houen from Denmark

Each year when fall arrives or school starts I remember the line from the movie, "You've Got Mail". Tom Hanks writes to the anonymous Meg Ryan, "Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." It's one of the best lines ever! 

I love any place where the crisp, fall air overtakes the summer heat. Buying school supplies is another love of mine.  There is something about new spiral notebooks and file folders that makes me want to organize all of my papers! It helps if they are pretty.

"You've Got Mail" will turn 25 in December, so a whole generation of people must not have seen it. I recommend renting this one and enjoying a feel-good movie. It's not a spoiler to say that two people fall in love...so there, I've said it. But the movie is also a love story about New York. And of books and bookstores. The internet mail communication was cutting edge when the movie came out, which is funny. The movie offers me a love story to nostalgia as well. 

This is my and my daughter's favorite movie. When we lived in the same town we watched it together at least once a year. 

Nora Ephron is the film's director and the writer most credited with writing the script. What needs to get more acknowledgment (in my opinion) is the fact that the movie is co-written with Delia Ephron (Nora's sister).

Delia Ephron is a talented writer in her own right. Last year, Delia released her memoir, which I highly recommend. Since it has been a while since I read it, I looked back at what I wrote on Goodreads, which I'm sharing with you below.

I absolutely loved this book; it is Memoir at its best. I'm afraid my review will not do it justice. Ms. Ephron tells her stories with the intimacy of a close friend. One of the best stories is "Love and Hate on Hold with Verizon". Ms. Ephron captures the insanity of trying to get something simple corrected when you are dealing with a company that is so big it really doesn't care if you are satisfied. Her story is about Verizon, but could just as easily be about AT&T or Cable TV. The frustration, laced with humor, is universal.

Delia's Webpage

Enjoy the beautiful weather! 

Knee Updates

Enjoying Saturday @ New Belgium Brewery

It's my goal to increase my yoga teaching gigs to a bonafide gig. I was working towards that but slowed down after the knee surgery. I am teaching two times a week to a community center group. The classes are nice because they are small. The participants are fairly new to yoga, so the classes give the opportunities to emphasize teaching the poses and focusing on alignment. I also offer lots of variations for each pose. I've gotten into the groove of those classes since my surgery. I've been able to show the modifications I take for my body; this seems to make everyone more comfortable in making poses work for themselves, rather than trying to achieve what we imagine a pose is "supposed" to look like. 

I've been surprised by how achy my knee and hip continue to be. I have trouble falling asleep at least 3 times a week. I just can't get comfortable. My knee feels pain on both sides of the artificial patella. And my hip joint feels pain because the hip has been compensating for my knee for years. Now I'm asking the hip joint to move into the socket the "correct" way so that my foot points straight instead of out to the side. I can feel the hip click in and out of its socket. Both things will settle down. I know. It's only been 8 weeks. But that doesn't keep me from being disappointed with the pain. 

I'm also disappointed that I have not regained my full range of motion. The doctor is happy with my progress as is the physical therapist. I have achieved between 120 and 125 degrees for flexion. I have -3 degrees for extension. Both of these results are "acceptable" based on the literature. But I really want to achieve 130 degrees or better for flexion. The fact that I haven't achieved full extension adds to the misalignment of the two legs because it effectively shortens the right leg. My right leg also tends to be shortened because my right pelvis continues to have an anterior tilt, bringing the hip joint higher up into the body.

I've been going to one or two yoga classes since about 5 weeks after surgery. I'm worried that I've lost some of the stamina and strength I had gotten earlier this year. But this week I've hurt too much to even consider going. I've had PT two times a week and I've been substitute teaching (a lot of standing and walking) as well as teaching two yoga classes. I hope that between all of this, I'm doing what I need to steadily improve. 

On the plus side, Bill and I have been able to take pretty long walks on the weekend. Two weeks ago we walked up to the local brewery and enjoyed the outside venue. So, I am walking better than before the surgery. And I'm able to walk further too. The results have been successful. I just have to wait out the pain. 

Tardy

This fall I began working as a substitute teacher. When I arrived at my school assignment, I saw this sign and had to take a quick pic. I texted the pic to my daughter so that we could both reminisce about the "Tardy Days". You see, my daughter's elementary school years (the first two anyway) were plagued with the need for tardy slips. It is not a memory I'm proud of. In fact, I still get a little sick to my stomach when I think about it. 

Funny enough, I wrote this many years ago. I think I may have written it as I was journaling about motherhood failures. 

I'll share it here...only, please don't judge.

When my daughter was in elementary school I often had to sign her in "late". It was so lovely going into the school office and feeling the judgment of the school secretary. When I (we) arrive in the office, she clicks her tongue. It's as though I am the one in trouble. Which, I am. After all my child couldn't very well drive herself to school could she?

Each time my daughter was tardy (ahem, I was late), I had to sign a log. It was an acknowledgment, if you will, of my being a negligent if not just simply a bad parent. I had to write an explanation for my child's tardiness. Every. Single. Time.

"Really?!" I wanted to say, "If my kid is late then you know I'm REALLY late. I still have to get to work, you know." I mean, how else can we afford to live in the house that affords my daughter the right to go to such a good school?

Driving into the school drop-off zone, I would try to come to a rolling stop as I said to my sweet child, "I'm sure you're not late. It's probably just the first bell," I would say as I encouraged her to go ahead into the school.

"But Mom," she would say, "you know we're late. The teachers aren't out here anymore and there are no other cars in drop off." She was right, of course. All of the good mothers had already been and gone.

Parking illegally in the drop-off zone, I would take my sweet girl to the office so I could be judged. It was bitter medicine. My girl was here! Here, bathed, clothed and homework done. I'm not a complete failure. (Am I ?) Am I traumatizing my kid?

So each day I would smile as I wrote down our excuse in the log. "Car wouldn't start; Alarm didn't go off," that sort of thing.  Once I wrote, "You don't even want to know".

Did I tell you the secretary reads what I've written in the log before she issues the admission slip? Often she reads while pursing her lips to look at me. She thinks carefully before deciding if my reason is acceptable. Finally, she writes the admission slip for my cherub. The "Get Into Class Free" card. "Yes," she decides, "this little girl will get her free public education today". I'm thankful and I'm sheepish and I'm grateful.

"Yes," I say to myself, "even children with flaky working mothers deserve their education". 

Hello October

At B&B - Sept 2023

Happy October! It finally feels like autumn is upon us. I probably say this every year, but autumn is my favorite season. Especially if the summer has been squelchingly hot. Moving to Asheville was a way to celebrate the fall season for as long as possible. The mountains are simply the best place to experience all that fall offers. Crisp fall afternoons with bright sunny skies, dramatic fall foliage, and mountainous skylines. 

What I'm Watching

And, of course, there is football. There you have a pic of my current view in my living room. There is nothing like a good game. Early on in my dating relationship with Bill, I asked him if he liked football. Before he answered I followed up with "Please say yes". I love to watch football. Mostly I love NFL ball, but lately, I've been enjoying college ball as well. You can guess that Bill said "yes", with a somewhat quizzical expression, as if to say, "Who doesn't like football?" 

It's nice that it's cool enough outside to have our windows open. I enjoy our little corner lot. We get dog walkers and parents walking their kids in strollers and lots of people that park so they can walk the block to a local favorite taco place, Taco Billy. It is such a fun neighborhood. 

Bill's summer project has been to create a proper driveway for our two cars.

You can see he has done a marvelous job. New gravel comes on Wednesday. I can't find any pics of our driveway from "before". It was basically a one-and-a-half driveway, big enough to park two as long as you toggle them. Before Bill's project, the side yard and make-shift driveway were not level at all. I am shocked that Bill has done all of this on his own. 

I need to get an updated photo of our sweet little cottage. Bill took these bushes down the first summer. 

A Wedding Anniversary

At the Beach (June 2023)

Today is our wedding anniversary. One year ago we said, "I do". We are having a low-key day and plan to go out to a nice dinner this weekend. The anniversary just sort of slipped up on us. 

Speaking of anniversaries, tomorrow will be 5 weeks since I got the new knee. I saw the doctor today and he was pleased with my progress. I'm surprised that I still experience quite a bit of pain. Not all of the time, but when it aches, it really aches. My goal is to get the full range of motion. I'm not satisfied that I'm there yet. I've got a few more PT appointments to get scheduled, and hopefully, we will make more progress these next few weeks. 

My stamina is not what it needs to be yet. It's embarrassing that I get sort of lightheaded after a long hot shower. I think that's just stamina. I know I get tired as I try to head back to my regular yoga classes. I went to a Sculpt Yoga class yesterday and was able to do most of the activity. Granted, some of the moves I have to modify, but I'm able to get a lot of benefit from the class. The class is taught by one of my favorite people, Liz. She is so encouraging! And I just love her energy. 

Right before my knee surgery, I was in 3 weeks of  Yoga Teacher Training which will be part of my updated 500-Hour Certification. I should finish the hours for that by the end of the year. I'm still digesting some of the information that we learned. Not everything we learned will speak to every person. I have to determine what aspects ring true for me. 

These are just a few thoughts to get back into the groove of writing/blogging.

A Whole New Knee

There was a time when I was obsessed with writing blog posts. It was one of my favorite things. I've dropped off the blogging tour for a while now. But it was unintentional. It wasn't that I didn't want to blog...it was that I was busy. Crazy busy. The kind of "busy" that makes you want to take naps and go to bed early. But today, I'm determined to get at least one post out there! Most likely it's a message in a bottle in the "interwebs". 

It won't be much fun to read a litany of what I've done. But, one of the things that regular blogging does for me is establish a history to look back on. My prior blog, "Kimberly Is Thinking", has a much longer history to show life changes over time. I looked back at that blog for a few minutes today. I was looking to remind myself of my history of knee pain. I was a little surprised by how well I'd documented it. I'm proud to be able to tell you that I had a total knee replacement (right knee) two weeks ago. 

I had knee surgery in 2021, but it was really not sufficient for what I needed. It was an arthroscopy, which was an effort to "buy more time" before an actual knee replacement. 

I'm really happy with the results of this surgery and the rehabilitation I'm getting. I'm a huge believer in rehab. Without strong rehab, any knee surgery can have diminished results. With my past knee surgery, I never saw the results I hoped for. I remember having to wait to get my first appointment with PT. I had surgery at a "mega-hospital / practice". It is one of the most well-known hospitals in the country and is well known for being one of the "best". But, in my case, I was surprised that the various departments operated like silos with little coordination between the groups. Rehab. was a completely different department from surgery. The surgeon gave the "order" for rehab., but actually making the appointment was up to me. That meant facing ridiculous time between an appointment request and receiving an actual appointment. I lost at least two weeks for rehabilitation from the date of surgery. 

This surgery is with a specialty group that operates like a well-oiled machine. (Excuse the cliche.) My first rehab visit was just two days after surgery. Of course, I have rehab exercises to continue on my own at home as well. I'm very motivated to regain a full range of motion so I'm diligent. 

The pic I have above is of my earning a Training Certificate to teach Sculpt Yoga. This is a nice addition to my Yoga Certification and one that I'm extremely proud of. 

I'll sign off for now...but I hope to return with more updates soon.