Moods Change as Quickly as Kentucky’s Weather

It’s snowing again. I’m so tired of snow. I’m not looking forward to a potential snow day tomorrow, which a half-inch of snow and the right temperature could lead to. I’m ready to actually get a full week of school in. It didn’t take long for the few days of warmer temperatures to spoil us. A few students even broke out the shorts and flip-flops for Monday and Tuesday, though it was back to sweatshirts and boots today. When I left work, the wind just had a “snowy” feel to it, so while I’m not surprised it’s snowing again, I’m not happy it’s snowing again.

You know what else makes me unhappy? Actually, I’m trying to think of a nice way to say this, so it may be helpful if I set up the situation and lead into what makes me unhappy about it. The other day, all teachers in Kentucky received an email about KTRS (our retirement system which is being placed at risk by our state legislature). Today, somebody started the “remove me from this mailing list” email, and from that point on, it was on. There were probably at least 150 folks who sent a “reply to all” to that email asking to be removed from the list. Then there were another 30 or so who sent an email pointing out that since this was sent to “all teachers,” you can’t be removed from the list, and another dozen or so who hit “reply to all” to fuss about others using the “reply to all” feature. It was endless. A few replied to all to point out it was futile to reply to all asking to be removed from the list. A few more replied to all to give instructions for leaving the conversation. And still a few others replied to all to complain about all the emails they were getting, how it was filling up their inboxes, while apparently not recognizing that they were actually contributing to the problem. Then there was the one email sent to everybody that, unprofessionally, reminded all of us that we are educators and professionals and should “ACT LIKE IT!” And it all started because ONE person hit “reply to all” asking to be removed from the mailing list. If that one person had not done so, the email would’ve quietly gone away. But no, that email came through, and within five minutes, I had 50 emails with people asking to be removed from the list. The most useful email I got today, though, came from our technology coordinator, sent to those in our district, giving us instructions for how to send that whole mess straight to the deleted items folder, and it worked wonderfully, until people started changing what was in the message line. So, what else makes me unhappy besides the fact it’s snowing again? Considering I really do want to be nice, and I really don’t want to use the words “stupid” and “idiots” to express what makes me unhappy, how about I leave it open-ended for you to figure out?

And a final note about something that makes me unhappy. Have you been watching Jeopardy!? Arthur Chu is the current champ, and so far he has won almost $300,000 (I’m writing this before tonight’s episode airs, so I’ve no idea if he’s still the champ at the time this gets published). There are a lot of people out there who don’t like his strategy. You see, Arthur refuses to pick a category, start at the top of the board, and then move straight down that category until it is finished, and then politely move to another category to do the exact same thing. Who cares? Why is that such a big deal? I find it more exciting to not know which category or dollar amount is next. And the thing is his strategy is working. In less than three weeks, the man has won almost $300,000. He clearly understands that the object of a game is to win the game. He also clearly understands that if you’re trying to win money as a part of that game, the more you win, the better. To some, they feel as if Arthur is breaking some sacred, unwritten rule, which he’s clearly not. His approach may not be traditional, but who says everything has to be traditional? What I find amusing is that there have been a few opponents who have caught on and will actually jump around the board themselves, but there’s always at least one who takes the traditional route and when given the option to make a choice will move to the top of the board and will continue down the line. Arthur Chu isn’t ruining Jeopardy! He’s playing a game and winning a lot of money. More power to him.

And just so we don’t think I’m unhappy all the time, I’ll leave you with something that makes me happy. I’ve been able to get things caught up at work and been able to do some reading. I was a little behind on my goal at the end of February, and, in fact, just hit the point last night where I needed to be at the end of February to stay on pace to reach my goal, but I’m hopeful that I can do a lot of reading in the next three weeks, especially since that third week will be spring break, and I can hopefully spend much of that time reading (though there are other things I should also try to knock off the to-do list). Either way, it’s all good, because reading makes me happy, and I’ve been able to do more reading lately. If it must snow this evening, sitting in the recliner with a blanket and a book will be an excellent way to spend the snowy evening. And, while I’m waiting for my husband to edit this blog so I can post it, that’s just what I’m going to do.

Manic Monday

I think it’s fair to say that for most folks Monday is the most hated day of the week. After enjoying a weekend off, many of us have to return to work, and let’s just be honest, we’d much rather not be working. However, we realize we have responsibilities, and as a result, we go to work.

The workday itself wasn’t so bad today, but it was one of those days with a three-hour PD after work. After that, I had to stop by the dollar store and buy some supplies for school. Yes, you read that right. In case anybody doubts it, let me reaffirm that we teachers often do spend money out of our own pockets to buy school supplies. Somebody has to buy pencils and paper for the kids to use. Finally, I found my way home and made a salad for supper.

It’d be nice to say that since I got home later than normal that I haven’t really done much, and while I haven’t done a lot, I have done enough that I can say it has been a long work day. I set up some more things on those interactive technology sites that I want my AP and English 200 kids to try out for me on Wednesday. With the exception of typing up their instructions for accessing the sites, I think I have those ready to do trial runs on Wednesday. I thought about reading more of Mockingjay but decided if I read anything tonight it’s going to be more of that book of novellas by Stephen King.

There are a few television shows I like to watch on Monday. Of course, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! always top the list. Then there’s How I Met Your Mother, and I’m really looking forward to meeting Mother. After a half-hour break, it’s time to go to TNT and watch Dallas. Tonight was the episode I’ve been dreading all season. They’ve killed J.R. Ewing. Of course, they had no choice since Larry Hagman died. I wondered how they’d do it. Heart attack? Stroke? Murder? And it appears that it was murder as once again we’re left with the question, “Who shot J.R.?” Next week’s episode will be difficult to watch, too, as old favorites return to Southfork Ranch to bid farewell to the infamous J.R. Ewing. Before anybody freaks out, though, let me acknowledge that I do realize J.R. Ewing is a fictional character. It’s a testament to the show’s writers and to Larry Hagman that the character came to be one of America’s most loved villains, the man everyone loved to hate. It’s fortunate for Dallas that Hagman was around long enough to get the series off the ground. Old and new viewers alike are in for the long haul.

Finally, it’s time to wind down. Tomorrow will be a long day simply because the routine will be different from what it usually is because the juniors will be taking the ACT in the morning. Right now, though, I’m ready to settle down and read a few pages of my Stephen King book. It has been a long Monday, but I think I prefer that Monday be the longest day of the week, because now, I can look forward to coming home right after work the rest of the week. I’ll still have some things to do when I get home, but at least I will be home.

Fire Convenient, but Not Necessary to Kindle My Love of Reading

For Christmas, my wonderful husband got me a Kindle Fire, among other things. Last year (2011), he had gotten me a Kindle for my birthday, and I was enjoying it more than I thought I would. Don’t get me wrong, I still love holding an actual book in my hands, turning pages while I read, using a real bookmark to mark my spot, and closing up the book when I’ve made it to the end. I can’t do any of those things when reading on my Kindle, but I have still enjoyed the convenience the Kindle allows me.

As my kids starting getting the Kindle Fire for themselves, I was intrigued enough to want to upgrade, and thankfully my husband took care of that for me. Fortunately, Amazon doesn’t place a limit on the number of Kindles that can be registered to an account, because I currently have seven registered to my account – my original one, and then a Fire for Byron, Nic, Cody, Tiffany, Ashley, and, now, me. The great thing is that we can share books and apps.

For the most part, when it comes to apps, most of what has been applied to our account has been free apps. There is the occasional app that somebody will pay for, but even then, I don’t recall anybody paying more than $5 for an app. Often, we also choose free books. A lot of the books on our Cloud are classics, and I have chosen some free books as well. That’s not to say that on occasion one of us doesn’t buy a book just for the Kindle. The great thing about all these Kindles on one account is that whatever one person buys goes to the Cloud and is available for all of us. All we have to do is download it to our own device.

Now that I have the Kindle Fire, I’m quite happy. I’m not going to stop reading actual books that I can hold in my hands, but there are so many other things I can do with the Fire. I will use my Fire for reading books, but I also have several apps that I will enjoy. There are games, such as Scrabble, Unolingo, Tetris, Solitaire, Jewels Star, Logo Quiz, Words with Friends, Jeopardy, and The American Bible Challenge. I have apps for Pinterest, WordPress, and Facebook on there. Two other apps that I’m looking forward to using are the WWPP Calculator (Weight Watchers Points Plus) and Lose It! I’ll be revising my weight-loss goal for 2013, and I’m hoping the combination of these two apps will make achieving that goal a little easier for me.

There are many other things I could choose to do with my Kindle Fire, including adding music, videos, and pictures, but I’m not sure I will do that. I still use my iPod for listening to music. I don’t know that I want to watch videos on a 7-inch screen, and I have pictures on my iPod and my phone, so I’m just not sure if I’ll be moving pictures over to the Fire or not. There’s a tab for audiobooks, but I’ve never been fond of “listening” to a book, so I don’t see myself using that. I’m also not sure how often I’ll use the tab for the newsstand. The tab for docs may come in handy. I won’t upload a lot of documents to work with, but it will be handy for carrying around the file that has my booklist. Too often I’m in a bookstore and can’t remember if I have a certain book. Being able to access this list will make life much easier. I’m sure there will be times when I’ll have another document that it will be handy to have easy access to, and when that happens, I’ll simply move it to the Kindle. Finally, there is the web link, and I’m sure that when wi-fi is available and I don’t have the laptop handy, I will be using the web browser. I’m not sure how often that will be, but it’s nice to have it if I want it.

I’ve only had my Kindle Fire for five days, but I’m very grateful to my husband for getting it for me. I had used my old Kindle more than I thought I would in the year and a half that I’ve had it, and I imagine that I’ll use the Fire even more. A couple weeks ago, someone was talking to me and said that she had read her first actual book in over a year, and it seemed weird to her to be reading a book where she had to hold it and turn pages because over the year she had only been reading books on her Kindle. I don’t think I’ll ever get to that point. I have decided that I like the convenience of reading on the Kindle, but I still love to hold and read actual books. The great thing about this device is that it does not have to replace your books. It can complement them. As for me, I’ll use my Fire as much for the other apps as I will for reading, and I will still be reading actual books along the way.

Why No Apostrophe?

I don’t always get to watch Jeopardy!, but tonight I did. And I was appalled because of a missing apostrophe.

My AP students read Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss as part of their summer reading assignment. We have discussed the book and the importance of punctuation. One of them asked me if I actually gasped when I saw mistakes in public. My answer? Yes. Yes, I do. It really upsets me. Tonight, upon noticing the missing apostrophe on Jeopardy!, not only did I gasp in horror, I smacked myself on the forehead and groaned out loud. Byron looked at me a little funny, a bit unsure if I was OK or not, and finally asked, “What?” I just pointed to the TV. After a second, he started to laugh and said, “The apostrophe?”

Tonight’s Jeopardy episode was the “Jeopardy! Teachers Tournament.” At issue here is a missing apostrophe. When nouns show possession, an apostrophe is required. In this instance “teachers” is in possession of the tournament. It’s not the teens’ tournament, the kids’ tournament, or even the Tournament of Champions. Because “teachers” lets us know which tournament it is, and to whom it belongs (teachers are the contestants, thus it is their tournament; non-teachers are not allowed to participate), the title should have been punctuated “Jeopardy! Teachers’ Tournament.” If the folks at Jeopardy! do not like this, they can always rename it the Tournament of Teachers, just as they have the Tournament of Champions, which eliminates the need for the apostrophe completely.

Some might argue that “teachers” is actually a noun being used as an adjective, thus negating the need for the apostrophe. However, this would be incorrect. Nouns used as adjectives are typically in the singular form, with the exception of collective nouns. Since “teachers” is neither singular nor collective, I’m not going to accept the adjective argument. If in doubt, consider the teachers’ union or the teachers’ salaries. If we’re going to accept “teachers” as a collective noun for the purposes of the tournament, we would have to accept it as such in these examples as well, and that just doesn’t work.

Punctuation is important. I’m going to suggest if you haven’t read Eats, Shoots and Leaves that you do so. Truss devotes much time to the apostrophe. My students think I’m a little crazy; they don’t quite get why punctuation abuse gets me so distraught. That’s OK. I have the rest of the year to try to convince them that they, too, should be distraught over punctuation abuse.