A large pumpkin sits on the receptionist's desk at Noble School. It is decorated with traditional Hmong art. The ink inscription on the pumpkin reads "It was my grandparent's dream to go to school. I am living that dream."
It was sweet to have two fifth grade classes sing happy birthday to me yesterday.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Good question!
While I was working with a group of 3, 5th graders today one student asked me "Who invented the # sign for numbers?" "I don't know," I said. "Good question" she said...and it was.
Accompanying one 5th grade class to their session on "Musical Math" satisfied my curiosity. I'd been wondering about Musical Math for which the students leave their home room. What is it? It explores the connections between math and music. Today's lesson was about whole, half, quarter and eighth notes and the fractions implied.
Accompanying one 5th grade class to their session on "Musical Math" satisfied my curiosity. I'd been wondering about Musical Math for which the students leave their home room. What is it? It explores the connections between math and music. Today's lesson was about whole, half, quarter and eighth notes and the fractions implied.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Best Weekend Story
Lars, Charlie (Lars' father-in-law) and I had a weekend hunting trip to SD. Lars' story won top honors with the group. It goes like this.
Lars, needing a haircut, called the phone number listed on the door of Sinai's new hair salon for an appointment. Visiting with the barber as she cut his hair she said she lived on a acreage about half way between Sinai and Nunda. She went on to say "The coyotes were making such a racket again last night that I couldn't sleep. I wasn't about to lose another night of sleep so I got up, took my pistol went out and fired a couple of shots in the air. That's the last I heard of the coyotes and I slept like a baby."
Lars, needing a haircut, called the phone number listed on the door of Sinai's new hair salon for an appointment. Visiting with the barber as she cut his hair she said she lived on a acreage about half way between Sinai and Nunda. She went on to say "The coyotes were making such a racket again last night that I couldn't sleep. I wasn't about to lose another night of sleep so I got up, took my pistol went out and fired a couple of shots in the air. That's the last I heard of the coyotes and I slept like a baby."
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Field Trip
Target Field (baseball) was the destination of a 4th and 5th grade field trip for Noble Academy today. We got a thorough tour of the facility; dugout, dressing room, boxes, bull pen et. al. There were math and science lessons for the students which related to baseball. It was apparent that our students aren't much into baseball but they really enjoyed the day.
Our one room country school didn't have field trips though I remember the day an airplane landed in the field next school. The teacher let us go across the road and into the field to investigate. A local contractor flew his Piper Cub to look at some drainage work he was to do. When he took off he had us hold the airplane while he revved the engine. At his signal we all let go and he was airborne in a few feet. I also remember tearing out the seat of my pants crossing the fence to return to school.
The memory of that takeoff came back to me when I was on aircraft carrier while in the Marines. The USS Princeton had been retrofitted to carry Marine helicopters. The Marines also use Pier Cubs for reconnaissance and there were some of those aboard ship, too.
The carrier would cruise at about 30 knots, approx. 45 miles per hour, and always headed into the wind when airplanes were landing or taking off. The Piper Cubs would be airborne at about that speed. To land on the deck the pilot would come in low, slowing to about the speed of the ship. He'd suddenly cut all the power off and sailors who were standing by would quickly grab the plane and keep it from flipping over backward.
To take off the sailors would hold the plane while the pilot revved the engine. He'd give it full power, the sailors would release their hold and the plane would be instantly airborne.
Our one room country school didn't have field trips though I remember the day an airplane landed in the field next school. The teacher let us go across the road and into the field to investigate. A local contractor flew his Piper Cub to look at some drainage work he was to do. When he took off he had us hold the airplane while he revved the engine. At his signal we all let go and he was airborne in a few feet. I also remember tearing out the seat of my pants crossing the fence to return to school.
The memory of that takeoff came back to me when I was on aircraft carrier while in the Marines. The USS Princeton had been retrofitted to carry Marine helicopters. The Marines also use Pier Cubs for reconnaissance and there were some of those aboard ship, too.
The carrier would cruise at about 30 knots, approx. 45 miles per hour, and always headed into the wind when airplanes were landing or taking off. The Piper Cubs would be airborne at about that speed. To land on the deck the pilot would come in low, slowing to about the speed of the ship. He'd suddenly cut all the power off and sailors who were standing by would quickly grab the plane and keep it from flipping over backward.
To take off the sailors would hold the plane while the pilot revved the engine. He'd give it full power, the sailors would release their hold and the plane would be instantly airborne.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Fire Drill!
Noble Academy conducted a fire drill while I was volunteering. The 5th graders quickly lined up and trooped responsibly out to the parking lot until the "all clear" signal. Everything I've witnessed at Noble thus far has been well done.
We didn't have fire drills at Brookings Country rural school #21 in the eight years I attended. It wouldn't have taken a teacher and twelve students long to exit that small room. The furnace (stove) was in the front of the room and the exit in the rear so the likely hood of being trapped was small. What good the quart size, glass fire extinguishers near the ceiling would have done is debatable.
While I was in grades 1-4, heat was from a coal burner in the front left corner. The school was uninsulated so when the coal burned out in the evening the inside of the room quickly became as cold as the outside temperature. It was the teacher's job to arrive early and light the fire so that there was some heat in the room when students arrived.
When the coal burner was replaced with an oil burner we thought that we'd really arrived! The burner would be turned down after school but there would be some heat in the room in the morning. There was no coal fire to light nor coal to schlep into the school from the coal shed.
One thing remained the same. Students sent to stand in the corner for misbehavior stood in the corner behind the stove; coal or oil.
We didn't have fire drills at Brookings Country rural school #21 in the eight years I attended. It wouldn't have taken a teacher and twelve students long to exit that small room. The furnace (stove) was in the front of the room and the exit in the rear so the likely hood of being trapped was small. What good the quart size, glass fire extinguishers near the ceiling would have done is debatable.
While I was in grades 1-4, heat was from a coal burner in the front left corner. The school was uninsulated so when the coal burned out in the evening the inside of the room quickly became as cold as the outside temperature. It was the teacher's job to arrive early and light the fire so that there was some heat in the room when students arrived.
When the coal burner was replaced with an oil burner we thought that we'd really arrived! The burner would be turned down after school but there would be some heat in the room in the morning. There was no coal fire to light nor coal to schlep into the school from the coal shed.
One thing remained the same. Students sent to stand in the corner for misbehavior stood in the corner behind the stove; coal or oil.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Silence at Noon.
It was a picture perfect day for the pheasant season opener in SDak. The temperature was about 60 degrees, there were a few fleecy clouds and perhaps a 6 mph. wind from the north west. Quite a contrast to the 30mph wind with gusts to 40 the day before.
One of my fields is adjacent to a large, perhaps 320 acre, state owned wildlife area. When I arrived at my field I noted a hunting party of 6 persons waiting for the opening on the public area. Pheasant hunting opens at noon on the third Saturday of October in SDak.
Both the date and the time are rooted in history. When the pheasant population grew enough so that there would be a hunting season noon was set as the opening hour. Noon was not chosen for any conservation reasons. Noon was an economic decision. SDak was a popular destination for out of state duck hunters and duck hunting is best done at dawn. Therefore, noon was chosen as the opening of pheasant hunting each day so that duck hunters would not miss out. The money spent by the duck hunters was important to the state so the pheasant season's daily opening time was set to accommodate them.
The tradition still lingers so the during the first two weeks of the season shooting begins at noon. For the remainder of the season hunting begins each day at 10:00am. Hunting ends each day at sundown.
I'd been hunting for about a half hour on Sunday when I realized what was missing. Like Sherlock Holmes' "dog that didn't bark" there was silence. Usually a few minutes after 12:00 the sound of gun fire sounds like a small war. A couple of times a I heard a few shots from the hunters in the next field and that was all. Predictions were that the bird numbers are down 40% from last year. A combination of a harsh winter and wet spring had taken its toll. The silence suggests the predictions are true.
You ask "And what about you?" Yes, what about me? My plan was to walk the fence line that divides my land from the states and post "No Hunting" signs so that hunters will know where the public land ends. Trygve had flushed a brood of young birds that hadn't even developed adult coloring, obviously a very late hatch. I had posted a couple of signs and was about to post a third sign on the fence next to standing corn planted as a winter food plot on the state land. I laid my gun carefully in the grass, turned around, took my sign and stapler from my hunting vest and two roosters flushed about 15 yards in front of me.
I once read an outdoor writer who said "Birds you miss fly forever." He's correct. Those birds remain in my minds eye flying into the distance. Did I mind? Not much...it's the proximity that counts.
One of my fields is adjacent to a large, perhaps 320 acre, state owned wildlife area. When I arrived at my field I noted a hunting party of 6 persons waiting for the opening on the public area. Pheasant hunting opens at noon on the third Saturday of October in SDak.
Both the date and the time are rooted in history. When the pheasant population grew enough so that there would be a hunting season noon was set as the opening hour. Noon was not chosen for any conservation reasons. Noon was an economic decision. SDak was a popular destination for out of state duck hunters and duck hunting is best done at dawn. Therefore, noon was chosen as the opening of pheasant hunting each day so that duck hunters would not miss out. The money spent by the duck hunters was important to the state so the pheasant season's daily opening time was set to accommodate them.
The tradition still lingers so the during the first two weeks of the season shooting begins at noon. For the remainder of the season hunting begins each day at 10:00am. Hunting ends each day at sundown.
I'd been hunting for about a half hour on Sunday when I realized what was missing. Like Sherlock Holmes' "dog that didn't bark" there was silence. Usually a few minutes after 12:00 the sound of gun fire sounds like a small war. A couple of times a I heard a few shots from the hunters in the next field and that was all. Predictions were that the bird numbers are down 40% from last year. A combination of a harsh winter and wet spring had taken its toll. The silence suggests the predictions are true.
You ask "And what about you?" Yes, what about me? My plan was to walk the fence line that divides my land from the states and post "No Hunting" signs so that hunters will know where the public land ends. Trygve had flushed a brood of young birds that hadn't even developed adult coloring, obviously a very late hatch. I had posted a couple of signs and was about to post a third sign on the fence next to standing corn planted as a winter food plot on the state land. I laid my gun carefully in the grass, turned around, took my sign and stapler from my hunting vest and two roosters flushed about 15 yards in front of me.
I once read an outdoor writer who said "Birds you miss fly forever." He's correct. Those birds remain in my minds eye flying into the distance. Did I mind? Not much...it's the proximity that counts.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Lynx
In June I began attending the Lynx, MN WNBA basketball team. It's a seven block stroll over to target center where they play. It turns out I was a bit ahead of the popularity curve as the Lynx had the best season in the WNBA and then swept through all of the playoffs and to the championship with only one loss.
There was a parade in their honor today down Nicollet Mall with a pep rally following at Target Center. It was a fun celebration. Naturally they thanked many people. Among those they thanked was their publicist whom they called to the stage. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that their publicist is Aaron S., whom I confirmed at St. James.
I'll attach a couple of picture from the parade. The top picture shows Taj McWilliams/Franklin,the LYNX starting center who started every game though she's turning 41 in a couple of days. The other picture shows Seimone Augustus and Lyndsey Whalen who is from Hutchinson, MN.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Skunk vacation...
Ruth Quail, age 88, of Sinai, SD died October 3. 2011. She grew up on a neighboring farm and was my teacher for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, grades in Rural District School #21, Brookings Co. SD. Seeing her obituary reminded me of a 1st grade experience.
Our little school house sat on a stone foundation with no basement. One fall day we noticed that an animal had tunneled under the foundation. Marvin Jepsen, who was in 8th grade set a trap in the tunnel. When we returned to school the next day there was a skunk caught in the trap.
Marvin ran home, about a quarter of mile across a field, and got his .22 caliber rifle. After he shot the skunk Miss Quail decided to recess school for a few days to allow the odor to subside. It was my one and only skunk vacation.
Our little school house sat on a stone foundation with no basement. One fall day we noticed that an animal had tunneled under the foundation. Marvin Jepsen, who was in 8th grade set a trap in the tunnel. When we returned to school the next day there was a skunk caught in the trap.
Marvin ran home, about a quarter of mile across a field, and got his .22 caliber rifle. After he shot the skunk Miss Quail decided to recess school for a few days to allow the odor to subside. It was my one and only skunk vacation.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
So that's the problem!
In the 5th grade classroom I was given the task of introducing similes and metaphors to three students. After giving myself a quick mental review of these figures of speech I went to work. One student caught on quite quickly. Another student was having a particularly hard time. Being a part time volunteer it's relatively easy to be patient, but, I did think to myself, "Wow, he's really obtuse."
After class the teacher checked in with me. When I reported the student's struggle she said "Oh, yes, he's new and is just learning English." Well then............
After class the teacher checked in with me. When I reported the student's struggle she said "Oh, yes, he's new and is just learning English." Well then............
School lockdown.
Midway through my volunteer stint with a 5th grade class at Noble School on Monday there was a lock down drill. An announcement over the PA system said that a stranger had breached security in the building and the school was on lock down. All outside doors to the school are kept locked and admittance is by a buzzer attendant system. The 5th grade teacher quickly closed and locked the classroom door which has no window. She had the class sit on the floor in a corner away from the door and the windows and explained what was happening. The students sat quietly and waited for the all clear.
The chasm between my experience of the first eight grades in a one room country school and that of students in 2011 is as great as the Grand Canyon. This lock down was just one more such example. It did, however, bring back a memory.
There was a system in place for the supervision of country school teachers through a County Superintendent. In Brookings Country, SD, while I was an elementary student, that person was Miss. Van Maanen She had an interesting style.
Our school building was very small with three windows on the sides and none front or back. There was a small entry room which was the only access to the classroom. We left our coats, boots and lunches in the unheated entry. In the coldest part of winter lunches would be frozen by noon.
Miss. Van Maanen drove a twenties model car...bigger than a Ford or Chevy. She'd come to the school from the east which gave a slightly downhill approach. Turning off the engine and depressing the clutch she'd coast into the school yard. Exiting the car noiselessly she'd go into the entry quietly. There she would listen for awhile to gather information about the teacher's classroom management. Eventually she'd enter the classroom but that would be the first anyone would know of her presence. I don't know that the teachers thought be the students were all afraid of her.
The chasm between my experience of the first eight grades in a one room country school and that of students in 2011 is as great as the Grand Canyon. This lock down was just one more such example. It did, however, bring back a memory.
There was a system in place for the supervision of country school teachers through a County Superintendent. In Brookings Country, SD, while I was an elementary student, that person was Miss. Van Maanen She had an interesting style.
Our school building was very small with three windows on the sides and none front or back. There was a small entry room which was the only access to the classroom. We left our coats, boots and lunches in the unheated entry. In the coldest part of winter lunches would be frozen by noon.
Miss. Van Maanen drove a twenties model car...bigger than a Ford or Chevy. She'd come to the school from the east which gave a slightly downhill approach. Turning off the engine and depressing the clutch she'd coast into the school yard. Exiting the car noiselessly she'd go into the entry quietly. There she would listen for awhile to gather information about the teacher's classroom management. Eventually she'd enter the classroom but that would be the first anyone would know of her presence. I don't know that the teachers thought be the students were all afraid of her.
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