Sep. 15, 2008 - no school today
Hi, everyone!
Well, I've been back to school for three weeks now. I have 24 students this year and they seem like a pretty good class. They're a little talkative at times, but for the most part they are co-operative and willing to work. I think we'll have a good year together.
Today was the best day of the new school year so far. We had a "no electricity in most of the area" day. We had hours of high winds (50 - 70 mph) yesterday evening. It did a lot of damage - especially to power lines. When I woke up this morning and turned on the news to see the weather, they were scrolling 2 hour delays and cancellations for about 10 counties. Within 20 minutes the list had increased to about 40 counties and districts - and ours was one of them. We started with a two-hour delay, but later it was switched to "No School"! My favorite words! So I had a great bonus day off from school. We have had electricity all day, fortunately. It went off for a few seconds last night, and we lost our cable signal several times while we were watching the Steeler game, but, basically, we weren't affected by the winds. According to the evening news, several thousand people are still without power and it will take up to 7 days to restore power everywhere. That's a real hardship - I hope everyone will manage OK.
I also hope everything is going well for all of you. Take care!
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Aug. 20, 2008 - Back to School
This is my last day of summer vacation. So I took full advantage of the opportunity to sleep in. Tomorrow I officially start back to school. We have an all day in-service at the middle school. 
Then on Friday and Monday we have meetings at our own schools and time to work in our classrooms. Then on Tuesday, the students arrive. I've been to my school several times this summer, though. I made three or four trips just to drop off school supplies that I bought on sale and books for my library shelves that I bought at Half Price Books. Last week I went to school on Wednesday and worked for a few hours organizing my room a little. The custodians wax the floors during the summer and they leave everything stacked up and pushed to one side of the room. So I had to move book shelves, filing cabinets, my desk, student desks, tables, etc. around the room. That takes some lifting and moving, and I wanted to get it out of the way. I also started work on updating my book shelves (adding new books, weeding out books the kids don't read). Yesterday I went to school for a few hours and filled the pencil boxes and art boxes I bought for my students with the supplies I had gotten. Then I stored the rest of the supplies in an orderly manner in my storage closet. I also organized my textbook cart, my reference book cart, and started on my games cart. I'm going to school in just a little while to finish the cart work and finish the book shelves. That way I'll have time to get lesson things ready on Friday and Monday. It would be nice for my new students to actually learn something when they come back to school. 
I had a good summer! Sleeping in, watching tennis and the Olympics, traveling, visiting with family here and in IN and NC, cleaning out my closets some (that's a never ending job), helping with Bible school, shopping, shopping, and more shopping - it's been great! Although I'm reluctant to start getting up early every morning, I am feeling well rested and refreshed. So I guess it's time to go back to work. I hope you all had a good summer, and I hope we all have a good upcoming school year! Take care!
P.S. Check out my adopted, virtual pet in the bottom right hand corner. If you click on "more" you can drag the steak into the box to feed Tigre. (It isn't misspelled, it's Spanish for tiger). When you click the mouse, he takes another bite. Thanks to Tuper for serving as my technical adviser and installer for the virtual pet! What would I do without her?
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Jul. 29, 2008 - back from Indiana
Hi, everyone! Dave and I just got back from Indiana last night. We went to visit some of his relatives, find the Marc Adams School of Woodworking (in Whiteland), and do some sight-seeing. We stopped for a quick visit with friends in Columbus on the way to Indiana. Then we drove on into New Castle where we decided to stop for the night. Fortunately, the hotel where we stopped had one room left. It turned out to be a "race weekend" and hotels everywhere were completely booked. I, of course, had to ask "What race?" because I had no idea what was going on. The Allstate/Brickyard 400 was scheduled for Sunday. So on Sunday we checked out Anderson, Alexandria, and Elwood instead of going into Indianapolis. Dave has relatives in all of those places (about 30 - 60 minutes away from Indy). Then on Monday we went to see the Motor Speedway and Racing Hall of Fame. I got a picture for Aunt Karen of the Formula 1 Benetton car that Michael Schumacher (sp.?) drove. She's a fan!
We had a good time. The weather was good, we enjoyed the visits, the tours, and the shopping. Now that Bible school is over, I got to sleep in again this morning. I needed that! Then I unpacked, started on laundry, and finished reading a book. Take care and have a good week!
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Jul. 14, 2008 - visitors and another Greek Festival
Hi, everyone! I hope you're all having a good week. We had a busy weekend. Dave's Aunt Denie has been visiting from California the past three weeks. (She is going home tomorrow. I'm taking her to the airport at 1:00 P.M.) Since she was here, my sister-in-law and her husband came from Michigan this weekend and our cousin Diana came from Indiana to visit. We ate together, talked, went to Amish country (where we bought oatmeal pies and monster cookies - yum!), talked, shopped, talked, went to church, talked and then they had to go home yesterday afternoon. Did I mention that we talked a lot? It was a great visit!
Now I'm looking forward to the Greek Festival that starts on Thursday. More spanikopita, gyros, almond cookies, and baklava! Yea!
In the meantime, I went to the Farmer's Market this afternoon. Then I went shopping for back-to-school supplies. I try to stock up in the summer (while the sales are on) for the entire upcoming school year. For example, I bought 108 spiral notebooks for only 5 cents each. I got a lot of supplies for the money, but I hate to think about going back to school already.
Next week is our church's Bible school. I'm in charge of the crafts. That should keep me busy and out of trouble for a little while. Take care and enjoy your day!
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Jul. 8, 2008 - Wimbledon withdrawal
Greetings, everyone! I hope you're having a good summer. So far, so good for me. I've gotten plenty of extra sleep, went to a great Fourth of July cook out at my sister's and brother-in-law's, and enjoyed watching lots of Wimbledon coverage.
Unfortunately, James Blake (my favorite current player) and the other American men didn't make it to the quarterfinals. But the Williams sisters did a great job of representing USA tennis by playing against each other in the women's singles final (Venus won) and playing together in the women's doubles final, where they both won.
The men's single final was quite a marathon match. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal played each other through three rain delays and five sets. Since Wimbledon doesn't have a fifth set tie-break, they played extra games in the fifth set to determine the winner. Rafael won, and I was glad, because he's my second favorite current player. I think he is darling cute - what a smile, and he is always so pleasant, and earnest, and respectful of other players in interviews. Now, I have to give Roger Federer credit. He also is pleasant, and earnest, and respectful in interviews. But the first time I ever saw him play, he beat Pete Sampras (my all-time favorite player) in an early round at Wimbledon. After cheering against him so much in that match, I can never bring myself to cheer for him. But time is healing old wounds, and I don't mind as much when he wins, anymore.
Now, I'm missing Wimbledon because nothing else good is on TV during the day. Oh, well, I have a house to clean, laundry to do, books to read, etc. I hope you all have a good week! Take care!
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Jun. 16, 2008 - Enjoying summer and looking forward to the Greek Festival
So far, summer vacation is agreeing with me nicely! I got to sleep in Wednesday through Saturday, catch up on running errands, do some shopping, read Pete Sampras's autobiography, and even get some laundry out of the way. Life is good! Yesterday I didn't get to sleep in because it was my turn to prepare communion at church. This morning I didn't get to sleep in because I had to take the car to the repair shop for new brake rotors. I'll make up for it tomorrow, though.
Later this week (Wednesday) the Greek Festival starts in the town across the river from us. (Our town's Greek Festival isn't until next month.) They have Greek music and dancing, but the best part is the food. Dave and I like to eat there every day that the festival is held, because you can't get gyros, spanikopita, stuffed grape leaves (Uncle Dave's favorite, not mine), almond cookies and other Greek pastries, baklava sundaes, etc. elsewhere in the valley at other times. So we make the most of the festivals when they're here.
I hope everyone has a great week (even if there isn't a Greek festival going on locally)! Take care, Aunt Sharon
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Jun. 9, 2008 - "School's out for summer!"
Greetings!
Can you tell how happy I am that school is over? 
Friday was the last day for students. I had to go to school today and I have to go back tomorrow (faculty meetings and organizing my files and room). After that, I'm finished with school for ten weeks. But, of course, August 21st is looming in the distance.
Here's an update for Thursday's and Friday's activities - the winner of the spelling bee was from another class (one of my students came in 2nd place, though) and my class did win the states and capitals tournament. Yea, team! 
This weekend was enjoyable, but hot. We had record-breaking temperatures here. Dave and I took it really easy on Saturday. On Sunday I did the children's sermon at church and it was my turn to teach Junior Church. That kept me busy in the morning, but then we relaxed the rest of the day. We took a nap, ate at a great Mexican restaurant we like, then went for a drive, and later got an ice cream cone. Ahh. . . no lesson plans to write, no papers to grade.
For the record, I checked out the song Scott recommended and it was a scary experience for me. It was a little gross, and I didn't know how gross it was going to get, even though it was silly. It turned out not to be as bad as I feared, but I'm not saying I recommend it (especially if you like sausage).
Tuper, I'd like to know how to underline when I'm commenting. On entries, there's a tool bar. There is no tool bar (that I can find) on the comment screen, so I have no idea how to do it. Maybe it's HTML stuff and you could advise me or send me the code. I appreciate any help you can give.
I hope you all have a terrific week! Take care, Aunt Sharon
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Jun. 4, 2008 - last week of school update
Well, I'm still here and I'm still anxiously awaiting the last day of school (Friday). It's been a busy week so far. Bad news about the Germany team (my class) in the 4th grade Olympics - we finished third. Sure, it's a bronze medal, but there were only three teams competing. We did win the three-legged race and the egg relay (with raw eggs, I might add). The East Germans might have been on to something with the steroid-stacking. Oh, well, we had good weather and the kids had fun.
The pool party was on Tuesday. The students really enjoyed that! The PTA sponsors these events (they're a great group) and they had the students vote on awards. The most helpful boy and girl, the most artistic boy and girl, and the class king were all from my room. I've been blessed with a mostly good class this year (only a couple of difficult students).
Today the PTA sponsored a bowling party. Everyone had a good time again. Some of those kids are good bowlers. Several of them scored between 100 and 140 points. Although, they did have bumper guards to prevent gutterballs. That definitely helped raise some scores. For some turns, it was like watching pinball - the ball would roll into one guard and bounce off, then roll across the lane and hit the other guard. It would go back and forth in a zigzag until the ball finally reached the pins. It was entertaining to watch.
Tomorrow we're having a 4th grade spelling bee and a states & capitals tournament. That won't be as much fun for the students as the PTA parties, but they'll still like it better than regular classwork. On Friday, we're having a pizza luncheon and a two-hour early dismissal. Then things will quiet down! I'm looking forward to it! I hope all of you have a great end of the week, too. Take care, Aunt Sharon
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Jun. 1, 2008 - For Patrick - some good books
I'm glad you finished the books. I assume if you read them that quickly, you must have enjoyed them. I did. I thought they were real page turners - lots of action and surprises! I just need to brush up on Greek mythology. I'm happy you think I should read The Lightning Thief to my class next year. I'll definitely do that. I could do a three circle Venn diagram with my students comparing Harry Potter, Charlie Bone, and Percy Jackson (all of whom have special powers, but don't know it for years, and all of whom fight evil).
Have you ever read any of the Artemis Fowl books (by Eoin Colfer)? Artemis has no magic powers (in the beginning), but he is a super genius and he interacts with "the People" (elves, pixies, sprites, centaurs, dwarves, trolls, goblins, and demons), some of whom do have magical abilities. The books are full of action, adventure, and humor. If you're bored this summer, you might want to check them out at the library. In order, they are: Artemis Fowl, The Arctic Incident, The Eternity Code, The Opal Deception, The Lost Colony, and The Time Paradox (due out in July). There is also a companion book called The Artemis Fowl Files. It contains some extra character info. and some short stories.
Anyway, I'm glad you liked the Percy Jackson series. Thanks for commenting. Much love, Aunt Sharon
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Jun. 1, 2008 - I added a friend
Thanks to technical advice from Tuper, I was able to add her to my friends list. She is listed as "Lacy". Now you can go back and forth between our blogs - although hers is much more interesting than mine! I've been having a fairly quiet, restful weekend just gearing up for the last week of school. We have Olympic Games Day (we are Germany), a swimming party, bowling, a spelling bee, and a states & capitals tournament scheduled - so it will be a busy, but fun time. (We're hoping for good weather for the pool party.) After Friday (the last day for kids), I just have to work two days in my room on June 9th and 10th. Then I have about 10 weeks off. I can't wait! I hope all of you have a great week! Take care, Aunt Sharon
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May. 28, 2008 - greetings and smart boards
Hi, everyone! It's good to hear from Aunt Karen, Joni, and Scott. Thanks again for checking out my blog. It's a shame you couldn't come with Bill for the visit, Joni. It was a great time! How is your job going? I hope all is well there.
Things are fine here. Only 7 more days of school until summer vacation! I mentioned that I just recently got a Smart Board for my classroom (thanks to a grant from Arcelor Mittal and funding from the PTA). It's an amazing big screen whiteboard that is connected to the computer through wireless technology. You can use it to show computer programs, DVD's, websites, etc. to the entire class. And it's interactive. You can touch the board instead of moving the cursor or clicking the mouse to navigate the computer. You can also "write" on it by opening the notebook in the control panel and using the computerized markers. There is a gallery of teacher pages within the notebook, so you can write on a blank screen, on lines, on a graphic organizer (e.g. a Venn diagram), on graph paper, etc. My students and I love it!
I see little brother noticed "teacher" in my description. I wondered about that when I wrote the description. I think it is very nice and open-minded of homeshool blogger to host my blog anyway. After all, I don't have any children to homeschool.
I noticed the smiley on the toolbar and when I pointed to it the computer offered to insert a smiley face. So I decided to take advantage of that generous offer. I am learning something new everyday here, Tuper. Take care!
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May. 27, 2008 - My first comments
Thank you for my first three comments. I appreciate you checking out my blog and taking a moment to respond. (I can use the encouragement.) I made note of the fact that my little brother did register the first comment. I'm sure Aunt Karen won't mind about your earlier comment - it was the best laugh I've had this week. I called her at work to tell her she had to check out Tuper's blog and the accompanying comments. She was quick to point out that I deserved no accolades for my blogging skills. I informed her that I had been upfront about that in my comments. Then I decided to try my blog out for real. Tuper, I even figured out that PM stands for private message. I still haven't figured out what I would do with HTML knowledge - I don't have any pictures to post or anything. (I already knew that HTML stands for hyper text mark-up language, though.) But I'm sure I can use your help anyway. (I'll call you this week.) Thanks again, everyone. Take care! Aunt Sharon
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May. 27, 2008 - Welcome to my blog!
Welcome to my blog. I started this site so I could post comments on my niece's blog without being listed as "Anonymous". She praised me for starting a blog and I figured I ought to try to find it again and write something so it just doesn't say "Untitled". (And a little child shall lead them.) Sorry, I don't really have anything interesting or profound to say. I do hope that you have a terrific day!
