schooled in a small town

Yesterday I had my orientation to my teaching placement for this semester... in the small town of Hill Spring. I will be working with junior high students all the way from grade six to nine, and it looks as though it is going to be a lot of fun.
I will be starting out primarily with Social Studies. Remarkably, my class also has a "history" option that I will have full creative liscence with, so I am looking forward to doing some fun things with that class.

under construction

Blogger has updated its program and it has messed with a lot of my settings. This might take me a little while to fix it so I like it.

it has begun

Our defense didn't let us down on our way to winning the season opener over the Flames. I can't wait for the game on Saturday to see if we can make it two in a row.

placement

Today was a big day, we found out where we are going to be placed for our first Professional Semester. I will be going to the small town of Hillspring and I will be working with Middle School students. I can't wait to get into the classroom!

quote of the day

I feel like butter spread over too much bread
- Bilbo Baggins

the grammar nazi - part ii

My little observation today is about personal pronouns, you know that fun stuff you stay up late at night ruminating over and over again in your mind.

In our age of political correctness, it is no longer appropriate to use the third personal pronoun "he" or "his" when referring to a singular subject of an unspecified gender. For example, it would be inappropriate to write "A teacher should consider all of the learning styles of the students in his class when preparing a lesson." Current convention dictates that this statement should read, "A teacher should consider all the learning styles of the students in his or her class when preparing a lesson."

This is simple enough when you are writing one or two sentences, but it gets extraordinarily redundant when you are trying to write a lengthy paper from an "objective" point of view and you are constantly typing out the phrase "his or her" every time a generic third person pronoun is needed. Some have suggested that interchanging "he" and "her" or "his" and "her" throughout a paper addresses this issue, but I am not so sure. On one hand it makes the work smoother to read, but I believe it draws too much attention away from the subject of the paper and places it onto the subject of political correctness. When I read a paper that uses the technique of "interchanging the pronouns" I can't help but count the number of times the masculine and feminine pronouns are used to see how "balanced" the writing is. This simply will not do.

I am not suggesting that we go back to the days of using the pronoun "he" all the time, I would suggest - at least suggest that we consider - something far more radical. Instead of writing "he or she" or interchanging "he" and "she" throughout a work, I think we should start using "their" as a gender neutral singular pronoun. Thus, my above example would read, "A teacher should consider all of the learning styles of the students in their class when preparing a lesson." Currently, this is one of the biggest grammar foibles a student can make, because "their" is exclusively a plural pronoun.

People use "their" as a singular pronoun in spoken English all the time, but in written English it has not been accepted. Perhaps this is the answer to the redundant "his or her" statements that are found throughout academic writing, or perhaps this suggestion opens up a Pandora’s Box, making it unsafe for all the grammatical rules we love and hold dear to our hearts.

this is who i am

This is a cheesy little assignment that I had to do for one of my education classes, but it turned out to be a pretty accurate portrayal of myself, so I thought I would post it on my blog. I am not usually one for poetry, so please bear with my ways...

I am a husband, a student, a brother, and a son
I am a sojourner whose journey has only begun
I am the northern prairies of my childhood home
I am a view of the Rockies and Calgary’s Saddledome

I am a magnifying glass focusing sunshine rays
I am a study break clearing heads that are dazed
I am a hammock swinging between shady trees
I am a prayer of faith whispered in the breeze

I am a footnote dangling below the text
I am the curious voice wondering, “What comes next?”
I am a buzzing string on the bridge of a guitar
I am a letter from a friend who has journeyed afar

I am the crest of a wave breaking on the Great Lakes’ shore
I am a skeptic’s question continuously searching for more
I am a yellow highlighter running across the page
I am a message delivered from a podium on a stage

I am the blade of a plow turning once hardened soil
I am a late night study session burning midnight oil
I am a stiff cup of coffee, steaming and hot
I am the product of reason from which I was wrought

I am a coolie on the bank of the Old Man River
I am a teacher in training learning to deliver
I am a husband, a student, a brother, and a son
I am a sojourner whose journey has only begun

work and school

I have taken on a part-time time job to help out with the ongoing expenses associated with going to school. I just started training with Convergys, which employs a lot of people here in Lethbridge. It is a call center that deals with customer support issues for over 50 different companies all over the world. Here in Lethbridge we take care of Comcast and I will be dealing with customers who are having problems with their Comcast internet service.

Convergys seems to work with student's schedules very well, so hopefully that will work out well with all the reading and lesson planning that I get to do. The extra cash will definitely be a great assistance.

professional semester one

Jeremy asked about the classes I am taking this semester so I figured I would talk about them a little bit in a regular post...

As most of you know, I have just been admitted into the Faculty of Education after two years of undergraduate study in the pre-education program at the University of Lethbridge. The Ed program at the U of L is comprised of three professional semesters. In PSI we start the semester by taking a number of "seminar" style courses that specifically relate to various dymamics intrinsic to the profession of teaching.

My seminar courses include:

• Curriculum & Instruction: here we learn all about lesson plans (including year planning and unit planning), and how to incorporate all the requirements from the Alberta "Program of Studies" into our lessons.
• Evaluation: This course is all about how different students learn and how to fairly evaluate the learning that is taking place within the classroom.
• Educational Psychology: I take this class for the first time this afternoon, but it looks pretty self explainatory.
• Language in Education: Again, I havn't taken this course yet, but think it is all about teaching kids how to read.
• Teaching Seminar: this is a course where we specifically talk about the role of the teacher, and we deal with practical things such as classroom management. We also develop Professional Portfolios, which we are required to work on throughout PS1, 2 & 3. By the end, these portfolios are designed to help us showcase our experience and abilities to potential employers.
• Communications Technology: This course is primarily done online where we learn to incorperate a variety of technologies into the classroom setting. The Government of Alberta has specific technological requirments that all students are required to learn, so this class is designed to help us do this effectively in the classroom. Believe it or not, our first assignment was to create a blog and discuss how blogs could be used as learning tools. We were required to create a new blog if we already have one; mine is called techno-pedagogy (Wesla thought that was a really lame name, but I like it!).

These seminar courses run for eight weeks, until November 7th. Then we get assigned to a Teacher Associate in a classroom where we get to try and apply some of the things we have been learning. The practicum portion of the semseter runs until December 14th. The best thing about this schedule is that there is no final exam week, WOOO HOOO!

humbled by a softball

I am back in Lethbridge and I am back into the swing of my Education program, which is great in many ways, but that is not the subject of my post today...

This past weekend my wife had me join her weekend softball team for a tournament in Okotoks... and I have never sucked at anything so bad in my entire life! Mind you I haven't played a game of ball this entire year and I was thrust into a competitive tournament at the end of the ball season, but that is just me making excuses. I struck out twice, and nearly every occasion when I got on base was due more to a poor play by the opposing team than to any ability that I was demonstrating with the bat. My hitting was poor, but my play in the field was absolutely terrible. On two occasions (in the same inning no less) I mis-read the distance on a fly ball as it was coming into right field, which resulted in the ball soaring over my head and rolling into the fence. In fact I didn't manage to catch a fly ball the entire weekend, and by the end I was praying that no hits would come in my direction.

I am a competitive guy. I like to do well. This was an absolutely humbling experience. On the bright side, Wesla also has me playing "Fall Ball" with another team in a much less competitive format. So, hopefully I will be able to shake off the cobwebs before winter sets in.

almost done with selling

Things have been going fairly well in Edmonton (much better than the last little while in Virginia), although it looks as though I will not quite make my goal of seventy-five sales. I am still deciding on whether I should sell part time in Lethbridge/Calgary during September or if I should look for more "normal" job.

Personally, it has been nice spending time in Edmonton because I was able to visit with Wesla twice, including the opportunity to go with her to her cousin (Todd's) wedding. I also had a chance to hang out with my old buddy Matt and I am looking forward having some more laughs with him before the summer is done.

The best thing of all is that Wesla is taking next week off work and she will be hanging out with me up here in Edmonton. I am definitely looking forward to getting back to my normal routine.

a little road trip

Well, I have done a little bit of driving since my last post, as you can see in this little mapquest image. Last Saturday we packed up the bags in our Virginia office and we transferred everything we could muster back to Alberta to finish off the summer.

I won't bore you with all the details, but it had to do with licensing issues, a saturated markets, overwhelming heat and humidity, and a desire to be back in Canada. We didn't have a lot of time to make this decision. In fact, last Friday we decided to leave, Saturday by 2:00pm we were on the road and we arrived in Lethbridge at 9:00am on Saturday morning. (After about 38 hours driving). We spent the night in Lethbridge, and then we were off to Edmonton to finish off our summer of selling ADT security systems.

So far things are looking up, besides the fact that I cannot stop thinking about going home, I have sold two systems in the past two days... when I had only three in my past three weeks in Virginia. I got to see Wesla on Monday when I was in Lethbridge, and I will get to see her again when she comes up for the weekend for a wedding here in Edmonton.

Anyone who knows me is well aware of my desire to have things well planned out... this has been a really challenging experience, learning to roll with the punches and trust that I will land on my feet after a bit of craziness in between.

lady in the water

I am a real M. Night Shyamalan fan and I always look forward to the release of his films, and Lady in the Water was no exception. While I enjoyed the film, I must confess that I was a little disappointed - particularly with the ending of the film. Don't worry, I won't give anything away with this post...

I enjoyed the unique story behind the film, the humour (the most I recall seeing in a Shyamalan film), and the character development. I will not go into details about my dislikes, but in the end I really was not a fan of how the film ended - without question this was the most predictable of all the Shyamalan films.

My ranking of Shyamalan films ranks as follows:
1. Sixth Sense -it started it all, and it blew me away the first time I saw it
2. The Village - The story at face value is a little better than average, but when viewed in an allegorical light it is brilliant.
3. Unbreakable - A close third. A cool concept and and a sweet twist at the end.
4. Signs - A distant fourth. I like Mel Gibson, but he was not good enough to redeem the alien plot.
5. Lady in the Water - My feelings might change about this after I see the film again, but at this point it resides at the bottom of the list.

hangin' in the oc

Ocean City, Maryland that is. Five of us guys went to the beach yesterday, and we had a good time. It was the first time I had ever had the opportunity to swim in the ocean, so that was fun. We also played a little beach v-ball and some frisbee.

Throughout the day there were planes flying over top the beach with banners advertising all kinds of things, such as "all you can eat pizza for $5.99." Needless to say we had to take advantage of that offer.

forever

Wow, it has been a long time since my last post. Honestly there is not a whole lot of new stuff happening in my life at this point. I continue with my sales and I long for my wife's visit, which is coming up in just over a month now.

rap battle pinnacle style

Ask anyone who knows me, I am about as white as they come. In fact my nickname in high school was "Crackerman," and that is no lie. Much to the surprise of everyone in my office I actually won a rap battle that was a fun little contest in our office. This video is from the preliminary round when I was facing Arlen.

still alive

Game one was very painful... the good guys were up three nothing, in the end they lost and to top it off Rollie the goalie incurred a season ending injury.

After an undisciplined game two, of which I have no comment, the Copper and Blue have come back to make this visit to the Stanely Cup Finals interesting.

i'm in

I could have included this in my previous post, but I thought this disserved its own place in the blogosphere...

After taking two years of undergraduate courses at the University of Lethbridge I have finally, and officially, been admitted into the Faculty of Education. This is good.

life goes on in virginia

It has been far too long since my last post, but in all honesty not a lot has changed in my neck of the woods over the course of the past three weeks or so. I am still selling ADT Security systems (at the moment in southern Maryland), things are going well enough as far as work goes, and of course I still really miss my wife.

Wesla moves into our new house at the end of June and we are both really excited about that. I really wish I could be there for the big day, but at least Weida and Thomas (Wesla's sister and Weida's husband) are going to bring their truck down and help with the move; there is also a chance that Wesla's father will be able to make the trip down from Wetaskawin, if he is not working.

We had a really cool sales incentive this past week, every person who beat their best week of sales (I needed eight) would receive an Xbox 360. I came up two short, but at least it inspired me to keep pounding the doors.

i love the oilers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Oilers have defeated the Sharks in fine fashion and they are going to the conference finals. This is so amazing, and can't wait to see my boys crush the Ducks. I didn't want to post anything related to the Oilers before this series was done, but now I just want to shout it out!

soggy

It rained today and I got a little soggy, but I guess those are the breaks... though I am still smiling

so far so good

So life is pretty good here in Virginia. I am bunked up with a group of five cool guys and we are meeting some cool people on the doors. I will try to get some picks and post them before too long.

It is tough being so far away from my lady, but we are keeping in touch every night and I even talked to my mom and my buddy Jayson last night... so that was pretty cool.

another one under the belt

Well, I have just finished my fourth semester at the U of L. It was the most challenging semester for me academically, so far at any rate. I'm not sure if the classes have become more challenging, or if I have laid back a little bit now that I am pretty sure that I have made the cut into the Education faculty. (I should be hearing from them very soon, I expect to be starting my practical semesters this Fall!)

In other news, I leave for Virginia on Thursday. For those of you doing a double take (our office was slated for New Jersey), a sales district opened up in Virginia and our office manager felt that it was a better market, so that I where I will be heading out come Thursday. My blogging might be a little more sparse than usual until I get myself established, because I won't have my own computer, at least not at initially.

Hopefully I will be able to find a way to watch some Oilers games while I am down south, I am counting on them going all the way to the Cup!

offer accepted

Wesla and I put an offer on a house the other day and we just heard that it has been accepted. It is a small two-story half duplex. I think we got a really good deal, especially considering how hot the real estate market seems to be throughout all the Alberta cities these days. Now we need to get our financing finalized, then everything should be all set.

this is crazy

I as taking "study break" yesterday and the craziest thing happened. I was playing a computer game, then all the sudden I heard a loud "snap" from inside my computer followed by a rattling noise. I immediately shut my computer down and opened it up. I couldn't believe my eyes; my CD had exploded inside my disk drive!




I had never heard of anything like this happening before, but I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday and he confirmed that this is not outside the realm of possibility. I am so shocked, because CDs are not easy to break and I have no idea what could have caused this. Perhaps this is a sign that I need to stop playing video games and I need to get studying!

what is your plea? (the grammar nazi - part i)

There is nothing like studying another language to sharpen your awareness of the subtleties found in your own native tongue. The only problem with this increased awareness is the is the potentiality of finding elements within your own language or dialect that drives you nuts...

More and more I find myself cringing every time I hear the someone use "pleaded" as the past participle form of the verb "to plea." This word is used all the time, especially when you are listening to the news, and it makes absolutely no sense to me. I say this because the verbs "to plea" and "to lead" come from the same word family. No one would say, "he leaded the horse around the field yesterday." That would be absurd, rather "he led" is the appropriate form of the verb. In the same way if someone has made a plea, the past tense form of the verb should be - in my opinion - "he pled" not "he pleaded."

If you start listening for it, you will hear it everywhere. Call me a grammar-Nazi, but it drives me nuts.

morning yearning

My good friend Kevin recently introduced me to Ben Harper's music. Harper is a relatively little known recording artist with a loyal following, and I must say that I have been won over to the fold.

These are the lyrics from the title track off his latest album Both Side of the Gun.

Not only is his sound soulful, at times he is truly profound... at least in my humble opinion. The first two lines of his fourth verse, in particular, move me:

like a summer rose, i'm a victim of the fall
but am soon returning

Enough of my ramblings, here are the lyrics to his song in their entirety...

Morning Yearning
Written by: Ben Harper

a finger's touch upon my lips
it's a morning yearning
pull the curtains shut, try to keep it dark
but the sun is burning

the world awakens on the run
and will soon be earning
with hopes of better days to come
it's a morning yearning

another day, another chance to get it right
must i still be learning
baby crying kept us up all night
with her morning yearning

like a summer rose, i'm a victim of the fall
but am soon returning
your love's the warmest place the sun ever shines
my morning yearning

my world this coming summer

Call me crazy, but I have taken a position with a company doing sales this summer on a commission basis. I am going to be selling ADT home security systems on a door-to-door basis, in New Jersey of all places. There are some obvious downsides and challenges associated with this move, but Wesla and I feel it has some significant potential benefits to our family in the long term.

By far, the most difficult thing about this summer is going to be the lengthy amount of time that Wesla and I are going to be apart. Another challenge is related to the stigma - and potential lack of income - associated with commission sales. The long term benefits essentially lie with my ability to do well in a summer job, selling a product that I can believe in, with the potential of making significantly more income than I could with a more traditional summer job. I am also really happy with the training that we have received up to this point, as I really do think the company gives its first year reps a very good idea about what they can expect in the field.

Since the beginning of this past school year Wesla and I pretty much decided that I would be working this summer - as opposed to taking summer courses like I did last summer. At the minimum level, that would require me to make enough money to cover my school expenses for my upcoming year (we really don't want to rack up any more student loans). For a while there I was seriously considering taking a plunge into the oil patch, but I have no experience doing that kind of work and I am not sure that I would be able to handle all of the physical demands associated with oil-field work. When this opportunity presented itself it seemed to be more of a match with my current skill set.

Anyway, as of yet, I haven't posted anything about my plans for the summer. As they stand, that is what I am planning to do.

overtime glory

That was an intense game, and I must say that the Oilers needed that win so much more than the Flames. I cannot believe how good Samsonov is at moving the puck, his moves were brilliant setting up the overtime winner.

wow, a win

Wow, the Oilers finally chalked one up in the win column for their new netminder. Personally, I think Roloson is going to be great once he finds his game - we must keep in mind that he has hardly played since the beginning of 06. It is going to be a dogfight all the way to the playoffs. All I can say is that I hope the Oilers come out big against the Flames tomorrow night... and in their three games coming up against the Canucks.