I just read an interesting blog post by Phil Plait - the Bad Astronomer. I like a lot of what Phil has to say, even if I am not even a very bad astronomer. I can even understand his point - he is thankful to people around him for their love, help, support, and encouragement; but he is glad that circumstances worked out so that he met and married his wife. Phil doesn't find evidence for a higher power, so doesn't feel that the correct word is "Thankful" to describe his delight in his wife and daughter. He has no one to be thankful to.
The God I serve is not the same God whom a number of my friends describe; nor do I believe He works as people around me believe. Having said that, I am still thankful today.
I'm thankful for four wonderful children and a delightful daughter-in-law. I'm thankful for the colleagues with whom I teach. I'm thankful for the students I teach, and for the light in their eyes when they learn a new concept. I'm thankful for a warm home and a daughter to share it with me. I'm thankful for the cats who share our home and our hearts. I'm thankful for my parents and siblings as well as the nieces and nephews who add such variety and inspiration to my life. I'm thankful for loyal friends. I'm thankful for the years I was married and the man I shared those years with.
I'm thankful for the ability to learn, for the pleasure I find in a good book, for the chance to run each morning, for warm showers, hot coffee, and cold Dr. Pepper.
I know who I am thankful to - I thank God when I think of each of you.
Loons on a Lake
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Success!
Walking in Circles in Kelowna
Last summer I found an challenging looking geocache description while planning an interesting afternoon with Shannon. This particular geocache involved finding a total of three different locations, doing sums, figuring out how to set a bearing compared to true North, figuring out how many squares were in a road sign, and then calculating the points of intersections between two circles, and then finally finding the physical container and logging the find.
I knew that this wasn't a project I could do that afternoon, but I really wanted to solve that puzzle. A few days later I logged in the coordinates for the first waypoint into my GPS and headed off to Mission Creek Park. I found Ground Zero and wrote down both dates I found on the sign. Then I headed home to try to do some math. It wasn't too hard to figure out which direction I should go from waypoint 1 to find waypoint 2, but I really struggled to figure out how to calculate the distance I should travel.
A week later I drug Caitlin and Shannon out to search for a sign with squares on it. No luck.
Two weeks later we tried again - this time going much further than we did the first time. We found a sign all right, but I wasn't sure it was the right sign. I tried plotting two intersecting circles on a google map screen capture, but was quite sure I wasn't very accurate.
I didn't exactly give up, but I did put that particular puzzle away.
Six weeks later I realized that I needed to teach bearing angles compared to true north to my math 10 class, and knew I needed to find a way to capture the interest of some reluctant learners, and wanted to use my SMART board to help.
I introduced geocaching to the grade 10 students and then opened the file for this cache. The students seemed quite interested and learned how to adjust the magnification and then use the screen capture feature of the Smart notebook software to have a map they could manipulate. They were able to confirm that I had indeed found the correct sign, and did the math to find radii of both circles. The intersection they calculated looked close. Next I found an iphone app which calculates intersections of circles and discovered that the students were only about 30 meters off- but across Mission Creek from the actual Ground Zero!
It wasn't enough to do the book work - we all wanted to actually find the cache, so we planned a field trip for last week. We re-did all our calculations in the field and had a great time. Kudos to the class! You were exactly the encouragement I needed.
I've tried to include pictures which help show what we did.
The first waypoint. Redoing the calculations just in case.
Dancing in the snow to stay warm.
Running along the Greenway towards the cache. Success!
Next step: I need to incorporate more of the tools available with Smart technology - and figure out how to convert Powerpoint files to Notebook files! I should be able to use probeware in my Chemistry water quality lab, and then compare our data with that collected elsewhere by other students - or collected at the same place in previous years. I also want to add caching to my Rosario trip.
Every success helps me think of other challenges -- Life is good!
Last summer I found an challenging looking geocache description while planning an interesting afternoon with Shannon. This particular geocache involved finding a total of three different locations, doing sums, figuring out how to set a bearing compared to true North, figuring out how many squares were in a road sign, and then calculating the points of intersections between two circles, and then finally finding the physical container and logging the find.
I knew that this wasn't a project I could do that afternoon, but I really wanted to solve that puzzle. A few days later I logged in the coordinates for the first waypoint into my GPS and headed off to Mission Creek Park. I found Ground Zero and wrote down both dates I found on the sign. Then I headed home to try to do some math. It wasn't too hard to figure out which direction I should go from waypoint 1 to find waypoint 2, but I really struggled to figure out how to calculate the distance I should travel.
A week later I drug Caitlin and Shannon out to search for a sign with squares on it. No luck.
Two weeks later we tried again - this time going much further than we did the first time. We found a sign all right, but I wasn't sure it was the right sign. I tried plotting two intersecting circles on a google map screen capture, but was quite sure I wasn't very accurate.
I didn't exactly give up, but I did put that particular puzzle away.
Six weeks later I realized that I needed to teach bearing angles compared to true north to my math 10 class, and knew I needed to find a way to capture the interest of some reluctant learners, and wanted to use my SMART board to help.
I introduced geocaching to the grade 10 students and then opened the file for this cache. The students seemed quite interested and learned how to adjust the magnification and then use the screen capture feature of the Smart notebook software to have a map they could manipulate. They were able to confirm that I had indeed found the correct sign, and did the math to find radii of both circles. The intersection they calculated looked close. Next I found an iphone app which calculates intersections of circles and discovered that the students were only about 30 meters off- but across Mission Creek from the actual Ground Zero!
It wasn't enough to do the book work - we all wanted to actually find the cache, so we planned a field trip for last week. We re-did all our calculations in the field and had a great time. Kudos to the class! You were exactly the encouragement I needed.
I've tried to include pictures which help show what we did.
Finding the correct sign for waypoint 2.
Calculating the number of squares "of all sizes" so they could find the radius of the second circle.
Next step: I need to incorporate more of the tools available with Smart technology - and figure out how to convert Powerpoint files to Notebook files! I should be able to use probeware in my Chemistry water quality lab, and then compare our data with that collected elsewhere by other students - or collected at the same place in previous years. I also want to add caching to my Rosario trip.
Every success helps me think of other challenges -- Life is good!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
SMART success!
Today in Math 10 I talked about bearings - angles measured compared to true north. Students practiced a little, and then they used their new skills to solve a geocaching puzzle which I have been working on for 2 months. The SMART board displayed the needed map, and the screen capture feature allowed them to take turns finding a bearing of 245 degrees and then measuring distance along the bearing arrow. Success! Their calculations lead them straight to where I thought the waypoint was, but they did a better job on the drawing than I could do on a small screen or piece of paper. After calculating radii of intersecting circles, numbers of squares in a complex figure, bearings, and figuring out how to construct a huge compass they are ready to actually go out an test their work.
Next Thursday we have a field trip to find waymarks 1 and 2 as well as the geocache.
I just have to find it first so we can have a successful trip in a limited time frame.
I love it when technology helps!
Life really is good.
Next Thursday we have a field trip to find waymarks 1 and 2 as well as the geocache.
I just have to find it first so we can have a successful trip in a limited time frame.
I love it when technology helps!
Life really is good.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Fall Fair
Yesterday was a mostly beautiful day. I found one geocache on my way to Shannon's house in Vernon and was tempted to spend the entire afternoon meandering outdoors. Once I arrived I was tempted to spend the entire afternoon sewing. The fire in the gas fireplace was comforting, the sun shining in the expansive windows was mood-lifting, I had a stash of gorgeous fabrics, the tools I needed, and time to quilt. I did sort some of those delightful batiks into piles ready to sew another day.
Instead of either of those options I spent the afternoon chopping onions for perogies, making frosting for one of the two cakes Shannon made, admiring the 3 or 4 loaves of bread she made, and visiting. We had fun - but we were working - both of us - like we worked last weekend at OKAA for a football tournament. Last night we tried to sell the food we made. There are 41 burgers left over for hot lunch at PVCA next week and two deck pans full of perogies, onions, and sour cream for hot lunch at OKAA. Shannon bought back one of the loaves of bread she made - but at least the cakes sold to someone else.
Welcome to the Fall Fair, a venue for bake sales, food tables, and games. A venue for people who work all week to bring lots of homemade food and then pay to take the food home again. I'm not really bitter, but I am tired. There must be a smarter way to earn money for playground equipment and future mission trips. (Which are themselves a chance to pay extra money to work hard in an exotic location!)
Life is still good, but today I am not going to work on school things.
Instead of either of those options I spent the afternoon chopping onions for perogies, making frosting for one of the two cakes Shannon made, admiring the 3 or 4 loaves of bread she made, and visiting. We had fun - but we were working - both of us - like we worked last weekend at OKAA for a football tournament. Last night we tried to sell the food we made. There are 41 burgers left over for hot lunch at PVCA next week and two deck pans full of perogies, onions, and sour cream for hot lunch at OKAA. Shannon bought back one of the loaves of bread she made - but at least the cakes sold to someone else.
Welcome to the Fall Fair, a venue for bake sales, food tables, and games. A venue for people who work all week to bring lots of homemade food and then pay to take the food home again. I'm not really bitter, but I am tired. There must be a smarter way to earn money for playground equipment and future mission trips. (Which are themselves a chance to pay extra money to work hard in an exotic location!)
Life is still good, but today I am not going to work on school things.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving!
Today the grade 12 boys used red hairspray - lots and lots of red hairspray. It looked like they were having fun - and it was probably the first time in years they had remembered school picture day. Being 12 graders, they were also very persuasive. Mr. L, Mr. B, Mr. C, and Mrs. H all sported red hair (and in one case a red beard).
I'm quite positive that the woman taking the pictures enjoyed the silliness as much as the students and staff did.
I'm quite positive that the woman taking the pictures enjoyed the silliness as much as the students and staff did.
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