Mario Williams - ESPN Cover Shoot

What is McCain Thinking?

Interesting post here on What is McCain Thinking? His choice as VP? A former beauty contestant, very small town Alaskan mayor and two year Governor of the state of Alaska.

There are street signs in Wasilla with bullet holes in them. Wasilla has a population of about 5500 people, and 1979 occupied housing units. This is where your potential Vice President was two short years ago. Can you imagine her negotiating a nuclear non-proliferation treaty? Discussing foreign policy? Understanding non-Alaskan issues? Frankly, I don’t even know if she’s ever been out of the country. She may ‘get’ Alaska, but there are only a half a million people here. Don’t get me wrong….I love Alaska with all my heart. I’m just saying.

Wasilla is the town that Palin was mayor of just 2 years ago. She is in her 40s and will debate Obama's VP pick Biden, who has spent 40 years in government.

It is going to be interesting.

The "Troopergate" scandal for the Alaskan Gov was also most interesting in the link above. I'm sure we'll hear more than we want to about it!

Car Accident

Well, Thursday was a tough day. We left our house around 5:30pm and headed off to have Italian at a new place in Kingwood. We pulled out of our village and headed up a two lane street. There was a truck in the lane coming towards us and he suddenly turned left onto a side street and plowed right into us. Very scary.

There was nothing I could do. I slammed on the brakes as he hit us. It was almost simultaneous. He had no turn signal on. And there was just no indication in my mind that he would ever try that turn. After hitting us, he also rammed into a lady who was stopped at that street and about to turn onto the same lane we were traveling in. I immediately got out and checked on Norma and Aidan. He cried for about 10 or 15 minutes which we were panicking and worrying about him. Once he calmed down we realized he was fine. He had some strap marks across his chest and shoulders and that was it.

The car was totaled. My right front passenger side made impact first on his right front passenger side of his Chevy Truck. Again this just shows there was no way I could have avoided him. It's not like I clipped the end of the bed of his truck or something as he crossed into our lane.

Our car spun with the back end pulling around and into the lane he was coming from. It jerked us around pretty good. I know my middle back is aching because of that twist and torque. Norma injured her ankle, which probably struck and was pinned by my seat. She was seated behind me. Aidan was in the back in the passenger side. Believe me, we are so pleased with our car seat that protected Aidan: Britax Marathon - worth every penny.

Luckily for us there was a cop in the car behind the guy that plowed into us. He jumped out of the car after calling the accident in and reporting it. The guy who hit us in the truck looked at the officer and said, "I never saw them." The officer said, "How the hell could you NOT have seen them! What's wrong with you!" It was nice to not have to yell at anyone, he was doing a good job of it for me.

In a matter of minutes there were at least 20 neighbors around us. Lots of them said they heard the crash from their homes. One lady brought ice for Norma's ankle and water for all of us. The police arrived and took our statements. They explained that they issued a citation to the driver of the truck and they gave me the insurance information.

In 38 years I have NEVER had an accident. I know I have been lucky... but I am an excellent driver. Our car was paid off in January! That really, really sucks that we will now have a car payment.

Today was spent in the emergency clinic for about 3 hours getting checked out. Norma has bumps and bruises all over and a badly sprained ankle. She's limping pretty good on it... but I am trying to keep her from walking on it. I have back, shoulder, and neck pain. My left knee is also bugging me. So we know we'll have a few weeks of discomfort ahead of us.

After the doctor we brought on more pain by meeting with our insurance claims agent. She verified that the driver of the truck had insurance through All-State and that our claim should be against them since he was at fault. She said they would be contacting me. I've never gone through this before. But, I am tempted to get some type of lawyer. We can not afford to be screwed around here. Yet a lawyer could screw us in just as many ways.

At this point we are going to know the value of our car at retail - it's about $15,000 for a 2003 Honda Accord. So we'd like to get between 15 and 20 grand out of this to put towards a new car. I CAN NOT BELIEVE we have to buy a new car. At this point we are considering a Honda Civic. My Honda was really, really good to me. We'll also test drive and consider Saturn Aura. I would love to buy a hybrid Prius or something of that quality but it is so much more expensive. And we are teachers. It's not like I have a money tree growing out back.

It's been a crazy week. First week of school and I've already missed a day with my kids! We are counting our blessings though. We are all ok. Cars are "things" and people are important.

First 2 Days

First two days have been wonderful. Best first two days of a school year I've ever had. Love my classes, kids, schedule and new house. It's been awesome.

I'm beat tired though. Left the house at 6:15am today and got home at 8:45pm. I taught a class tonight for accelerated teaching certification. Great class. I presented mostly on Assessment for Learning.

The pictures here are from the first day of school. I'm wearing a tie that Norma and Aidan made for me for Father's Day last year. He used a crayola set with a white tie, colored the tie and she ironed it in. It is awesome. I got a BUNCH of great comments about it. It was cool to think of Aidan all day long.

Hillary Hit it Out of the Park

Wow. Great speech:

"Barack Obama is my candidate and he must be our next President." "You haven't worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership," Clinton said. "No way. No how. No McCain."

Great job. I feel like the party is coming together. Bill tomorrow night... Barack from Mile High on Thursday. I am ready!

The Year Begins Tomorrow!

On Saturday Norma and I went up to the school and we finished getting our classrooms in order. I also shot some video and pictures for my first day video on rules and expectations. Instead of standing there like Charlie Brown's Teacher... I show the video and let the kids think a little about how the room is arranged and what my expectations for the year are.

I can't wait for tomorrow. Should be fun.


Welcome to 2605 - Mr. Duez - 2008-2009 from fordee on Vimeo.

My classes are:
Senior Advisory (pass out schedules) 15 kids
1st period - planning
2nd period - 36 kids in World History Pre-AP (sophomores)
3rd period - 31 kids in World History Pre-AP
4th period - planning
5th period - 33 kids in World History Pre-AP
6th period - 31 kids in AVID II (sophomores, had most of them last year)
7th period - 18 kids in AVID I (freshmen, interviewed these kids for the program)

The 36 kids in 2nd period is a BIT MUCH. We'll see what happens. I have my fingers crossed that a few don't show up. But, the reality is that more will show up than are on the list. Our enrollment is through the room. The school is built for 3,200 kids. As of Friday afternoon it was 3,407. Ouch.

In World History Pre-AP I'll be handing out my parent letter and showing the video above. In AVID I plan on showing The Wizard of Oz (after my rules video) and having the kids write about the scene where the tornado comes and dumps Dorothy in the world of colorized munchkins. It is a writing exercise and I am asking them to reflect on their first day of high school (as freshmen) and how they have adjusted. Should be fun!

my beautiful wife.... boy am i lucky!
DD

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havin fun @ the pool. last day of summer!
DD

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Fantasy Draft, Biden, and My Classroom

What a wild day. I woke to a text message from Barack Obama. Joe Biden is his man for VP. I was very excited to start the day that way. I like Biden a lot. Blue-collar guy, great on foreign policy, and an attack dog type of guy. He will go after McCain/Bush. So I was wildly excited about that piece of news.

I went into school at 7am to work on my room. Unfortunately it wasn't open until 7:45. So I had a bit of an obstacle. But, it was ok. I rushed through what I had to do (put up posters, put away boxes, etc) and then raced home for our family fantasy football draft. Here's my squad:

The Tenacious D
Brett Favre, QB, NYJ
Andre Johnson, WR, HOU
Marques Colston, WR, NO
LaDanian Tomlinson, RB, SD
Reggie Bush, RB, NO
Antonio Gates, TE, SD
Deuce McAllister, RB, NO
Roddy White, WR, ATL
Julius Jones, RB, SEA
Kenny Watson, RB, CIN
Jay Cutler, QB, DEN
Patrick Crayton, WR, DAL
Owen Daniels, TE, HOU
Kevin Walter, WR, HOU
Bryant Johnson, WR, SF
Josh Brown, K, STL
Philadelphia Eagles D

I had the #1 pick and took LT. It's pretty much a slam dunk at this point in his career. I have a lot of talent, but a lot of injury questions. I tried to build in depth as much as I could. One thing I didn't get that I usually do - rookie RBs. They went fast! Crazy.

Favre is listed first, but I took him pretty deep in the draft. I do think his numbers will be good in New York. But, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Jay Cutler. I think he was my steal of the draft. (this statement will probably look dumb down the line! But, it is how I feel) Also, Reggie Bush in this league is VERY valuable. It's a receptions league. So everytime someone touches the ball they get a point. Reggie catches a ton of passes - so his value is higher than a normal league. I am optimistic. But, I'll be watching the injury news on these guys closely!

After the draft we went out for a salad and then darted back to school. Norma put the finishing touches on her room and I slaved in my room for about 4 more hours. One of the cool things that I was able to do is to take some video of Aidan talking about my classroom rules. I'll be putting that together tonight and tomorrow and I'll post it when it is finished. That is something I do the first week is show a video to explain the classroom procedures and rules. Much better than hearing me babble about it.



So I am going to work on the video and watch a bit of the Steelers-Vikes game. Then BED. I am tired. This has been a long week, but a very productive one. I don't believe I have ever been more excited about the beginning of a school year.

New Grading Policy II

I wanted to add the actual late work policy for Social Studies and the Reassessment Policy for our school to this blog. I know some teachers read it and might be interested. There is a lot of misconception about "No Zeros" and "Retesting." So seeing these parameters and policy notes might help some understand:

Social Studies Late Work Policy:

Intervention Process for Incomplete Assignments (WON’TS)

When a student is missing an assignment(s) on the due date, the teacher will warn the student it must be turned in at next class period.

If the student does not have the assignment during the next class period the teacher will set up a make up session with the student by filling out the top part of the intervention form. The top part of the intervention form will then be turned in to the house principal. (white copy) The teacher will then call/email the parent and tell them the about the make up session. The student will not come into the make up session with the work completed. Rather they will do the work with the teacher at that time and then turn it in.

If the student misses the make up session the teacher will fill out the bottom part of the intervention form and the student will be sent to the house principal. (yellow copy)

The HP will meet with the student, assign a D-hall, contact the parent, notify Wyatt Bingham, and confirm the HAC#.

The HP will give a copy of the D-Hall assignment to the teacher.

The HP will keep the yellow copy, staple the original white copy and D-Hall assignment to the yellow copy and file in student’s folder.

Once D-Hall is assigned the teacher will send missed assignment to D-Hall and the student will make up the work.

If they did not complete the assignment then a zero will be given.

A student, parent, teacher, and HP/HC conference will be held if WON’T behavior is continuous.

Reassessment Parameters
2008/2009
A set of parameters will guide the use of reassessment for these courses. These parameters create an equal opportunity for all students in these courses and will be utilized by all teachers in these courses. They were created with the input of the teachers who teach these courses. The parameters are as follows:

If students in Level Courses/Honors/PreAP Courses want an opportunity to be reassessed on a summative assessment:

1. Students must have completed the assignment(s) pertaining to the objective(s) or section(s) they want to reassess.

2. If the re-learning of non-mastered material does not occur in the classroom, students will have to attend an arranged time to be tutored or receive additional help on the non-mastered material.

3. Students have a deadline of one week to reassess after receiving the original graded assessment.

4. Students may be reassessed on the objective(s) they missed and in the modality of choice the teacher selects, i.e., a different test, oral defense, written modes, explanations, demonstrations, etc. Again, it is the responsibility of the student to attend the reassessment.

5. The student gets ONE reassessment opportunity. If the student shows improvement on the objective(s) or section(s) reassessed, points earned will be added to the original assessment grade with a CAP OF 85% on the grade.

AP/Dual Credit: At this time, reassessment opportunities will not occur because some assignments cannot be reassessed in certain courses due to College Board guidelines.

New Grading Policy

Today was an interesting day. Our school has come up with a new policy for late work. It is quite revolutionary to some. To others it just seems to make sense.

We are no longer going to allow students at our school to not turn in homework and take a zero with no consequences. Now students will have until the next class period to turn in the work. If that does not happen a tutorial session will be scheduled with the student/parent where the work will be done. Work can be done for up to full credit. But, it is at the teacher's descretion. I will be quizing the student once they hand in the work orally. This means they must have learned it all to get full credit.

If the student does not show up for the tutorial with the teacher to do the work, it is a discipline issue and they will have a referral written up to their principal. Students will then attend a school detention. The zero then will stand. This is called an Intervention Plan.

It is interesting. We are taking the approach that students must do the work. If they do not a heavy price is paid. If they do the work and show that they have learned the material they can score up to a 100 on those assignments. There is some give and take with the policy on both sides. Students are getting extra time and can still score up to 100%. Teachers are demanding that they actually learn the material and not just copy it.

Our Social Studies team was pretty much for this without exception. I was actually surprised how much everyone was down with it. But, we had a great guest speaker on Monday that discussed how damaging zeros are on averages and also how damaging it is for the learning process. I also discussed it some in my "Grading for Learning" presentation to the faculty this summer. So it was great to see the faculty and staff understand the new system and embrace it.

What message does a system like this send to our students? The work is very important. You must learn the material. Students sometimes say, "just give me the zero! Please???!" That is not going to happen anymore without them serving a dhall and having to sit with their principal and have an intervention.

We are also going to unveil a reassessment policy tomorrow. I believe (from what I am hearing) that it will be a system where students can retake tests or rewrite major papers one time for up to an 85 for the grade. This means a student could fail the test and then come in for tutoring, do all the homework, and then come back to retake the test. This also means that we are saying to our students, "It does not matter that you messed this up once... you must learn it."

Of course, some students may not chose to come in and retake the tests. Will students still fail? Sure. But, we are taking off the table the punishment factor of grades. Some students find that they are so afraid of failing that they just accept they will and self-defeat themselves. What this is saying to the kids is - we will work with you and continue to work with you until you learn the material. It is all about the learning.

I used this last spring and found some very good success with it. It removed my "Teacher Stare" over behaviors and focused me on what was important - Did the student learn what they needed to know today. That's the most important part of my job. Now what also comes with this is a different focus on classroom instruction. We will be doing a lot of formative assessment (non-graded and practice work) in class to build student confidence and assess where they are weak -- before we test. I found this was the most effective part of the system. I was able to diagnose at the end of a period much more clearly - did the student understand the material.

Taking it back a step is the fact that we are being VERY clear about our expected learning goals. I wrote my first chapter's target plan last night. I will share the link in this post at the end. If you check it out, you can see that it spells out to the student - This is what you need to be able to know, do, create, analyze, etc. My first chapter is very simple - "The First Humans." So this will be a great place to start the process for me. Hopefully it will help the students. I will be printing up a copy of this learning plan for each student and a copy will be on my website for them to download at home.

As we go through this semester, I'll keep you updated on how things are going. But, I have never been more excited about the start of a school year before. It is a very exciting time. I also hired my last AVID tutor today and I am totally pumped to have that all finished now. I got 4 great tutors to work every 6th and 7th period on Tue/Wed/Thu. My AVID students are going to love them. I also interviewed and pulled in two new AVID students today for my 7th period freshmen class and I'll be interviewing 2 more tomorrow. Very cool.

Check out my first Chapter Learning Plan here: Chapter 1: "The First Humans"

A Busy 2 Days

Wow, I am beat. Monday was our first day back to school (w/o students). Norma had to stay home because Aidan ran a fever for 3 days - he has strep. Today Norma brought him in for a little bit so she could go to her House meeting and tomorrow I am going to stay home with him.

I almost feel like I need a day off. On Monday I got home at 9:30pm because I taught a class after school for Alternative Teaching Certification. It was an awesome class and we got a lot accomplished. What a great group. But, it really sapped my energy.

Today I got home at 9:00pm. We had our first AVID parent meeting. I showed a 10 minute video to review what we did last year with our two classes. We all spoke about AVID and the state of the program and then took some questions. We had a nice turnout and had cake and punch at the end.

These two days though have felt like a whole week! I left the house both days around 7am and got home around 9pm. Those are wicked tough days. Reminds me of football camp in high school and college. But, I should be ready next Monday for the kids when school starts. This is breaking me in.

Tomorrow Aidan and I are going to sack out on the couch, watch movies, play video games, eat popcorn and smores, and enjoy time together. I have missed him more than I can write. When he is sick you just want to be with him, making him laugh and making him feel better. It's awful when you can't be with your boy when he's feeling down. Tomorrow we are going to have a "Boy's Day In."

I am really happy for Norma that she'll have some time to work in her classroom and have some time at working getting ready. She spent most of the first two days with Aidan and I am sure she is feeling behind schedule with things.

I can not tell you how excited I am to start the school year. Seeing kids tonight and their parents really got my juices flowing. It's all about the kids. Spending too much time with adults this week before school can wear you down. So having a little time with my kids tonight really gave me a boost. It's going to be a great year.

Back 2 Work

Tomorrow we head back to school (Students arrive next Monday). I got a really big lift with this email tonight from a former student:

Comments: Mr. D,
I don't know if you remember me, but I was in your class in the 2005-2006 school year. You assigned us the Africa Group Projects sometime during the year ( I think it was Spring Semester) and my partner ended up moving, leaving me to do the project myself. This ended up being the best thing that has ever happened to me. I had the topic of Genocide in Sudan and doing the project forced me to learn about the atrocities that are occurring in Sudan. I remember presenting my power point and starting to cry because I was still in awe that I had never even heard of the genocide and it had been going on for about 2-3 years. The point of this email is to let you know that after the project, I learned the importance of taking initiative and educating myself on social issues. I am still learning about Africa,Sudan in particular. This summer I traveled to Uganda and realized that I want to spend my life helping and learning about the African people. I am also going to be working this fall with David Humphrey from Aid Sudan while I am in Waco at Baylor studying Psychology & World Affairs. I mainly want to say thank you for being a teacher that was honest with us, even when the topic wasn't pretty, and for thinking of this project because it is still affecting my life two years later.
Sincerely,
A

This really made me smile. My reply back to her was a grateful one. So many students chose not to write this email that she took the time to send. But, it can make such a huge difference. A difference for me and for my current group of students. I have asked her if I could use her experience in Africa as a kick starter for the project this year. I also have asked if she might be able to come in and speak to my AVID kids this year. That would be so awesome.

It's good to have a job that I love.

Oh yeah, and it is AWESOME to have a wife that thought up that project to begin with! If I have inspired this student at all... well, I was first inspired myself by Norma. :)

Aidan's Letters

Today we got a paper from preschool that Aidan did. It is his letters. He was real proud of it. This was the first time they tried letters at preschool and he did a pretty good job!

So proud of my big boy!

Aidan's New Camera

So Aidan got the camera that he wanted. Posted about it earlier this summer: "My Boy the Photographer

Here are some of the cool pictures that we have taken with the cute little camera. Many of them are blurry, dark, too light, etc. But, it's "Aidan's World." ;)

Zoo Pictures

We went to the zoo last week. I am just now getting around to posting the pictures. (School is coming, I guess I am getting busy?)

Check out all the pictures here

There's Russians in Atlanta?

Kudos to DrPrezz for finding this cartoon. It's actually sad. Sad to realize that most Americans have no idea that Georgia is a sovereign country (and even more sad that they don't really care that they were invaded).

Easin' Back to School

The past few weeks I have been "easin' back into school" mode. Three weeks ago I spent two days at school (one in classes and one day giving a presentation). This week I was at school on Tuesday and Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. And this afternoon Norma and I are taking a class on podcasting to get a few credit hours through our school district. Tomorrow I'll be at school to welcome AVID freshmen as they come up for orientation (We call it "Eagle Flight School").

So we have been easing back into things.

Next week we go back on Monday morning for a week of teacher-only inservice. It will be a very full week. Monday night I also teach a night class and Tuesday night we have our first AVID parent meeting. On Wednesday I'll be helping to train teachers on our new gradebook program on the computer (the one I don't even have access to yet!).

So it is a slow crawl back into things. Before we know it, Norma and I will be going fast and furious through the school days. Welcoming new students and getting lots of work done. We have a few moments today and tomorrow to enjoy things and a nice weekend to relax with Aidan. Then Boom! It's on.

I have also been recruiting and interviewing potential tutors for AVID like crazy. We need at least 12 kids with college credit hours to come in and help our AVID kids on Tue-Thu. They get paid $10 an hour and can get as many as 4 hours a week. Not bad. Our high school seniors are even eligible because many have 6th or 7th period free (they have all their credits in) and can come in and tutor. They also have college credit through dual credit or AP testing. Great role models for our AVID kids.

The beginning of the school year is always stressful, but it is also a lot of fun. It's been amazing to see all the kids up at the school this week for their orientations. They grow up so fast. A couple months of summer can really change a teenager! It is wild.

I am also going to be in a new small learning community (house) this year and Norma and I moved all my junk from one room to the other. The rooms were on the opposite ends of the building from each other. It was a long morning getting that done yesterday. But, now everything is in my room. I just need to build it out.

School bells will soon be ringing and kids will be scrambling from class to class. It is an exciting time of the year.

"Nations Don't Invade Other Nations."

Wow. McCain today about Russia, "In the 21st Century, nations don't invade other nations."

Another senior moment? Or does he forget this: Iraq War Results & Statistics

So Proud of My Boy!

Don't have a lot of time because I taught a night class in Alternative Certification and we are going in to school tomorrow to recruit AVID tutors (very busy time is starting). BUT.... Aidan did GREAT today.

He loved his teacher. He was actually in with a different teacher last week and Aidan did not like her. Today he was in the right room with the right kids and teacher and things were much, much better. He cried for the first 30 minutes off and on, but then the teacher said he calmed down and really enjoyed himself. We were sooo relieved.

He also had a super night at karate. I missed it (because I was teaching) but Norma said he did a great job. Master Peavey even commented to Norma that Aidan is a "Great Kid and ALWAYS says Please and Thank You. He never misses a chance to say thank you." That made me proud to hear.

Aidan gave me lots of hugs and kisses tonight. I could sense how he was excited, too. He just had a sense about him that he knew it was going to be ok now. How lucky am I?

Blog Award... wow.

Ms Teacher has given me a blog award. I have never gotten one of these before and I don't really even know what to say. Wow, thanks!

I know my blog here isn't easy to categorize. It's most about Aidan now. You put up with my rants about politics (Kerry H likes to call some of my posts "smart people posts" and wishes there would just be more about Aidan and Norma), sports, and the news. But, every once in a while I do post about school, teaching and my career. I love my job and what I do and I love being able to share in other people's careers and see how they are doing in teaching. That is one reason I love visiting Ms Teacher's blog. It is so positive and she shares more than just what is happening at her school.

Teaching is rewarding and a wonderful job. But, it is still just a job. Many get carried away with doing EVERYTHING for EVERYONE at very little pay. Well, we are human beings. Go out and live your life to the fullest. And enjoy your students while you do.

Now I have been charged by Ms Teacher to give out 7 blog awards myself. And I will need to think about it. I read a lot of teacher blogs and love them very much. Picking just 7 will be hard. I will try very hard to do that before the end of the week! Thanks Ms Teacher.

First day jitters... but still cool enough to try on hats!
DD

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Aidan playing @ preschool.
DD

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PreSchool

Today is the official first day of preschool for Aidan. He does not want to go. His "Discovery" day went pretty well last week. But, over the last couple of days he has progressively been crying more and more and upset about going in today.

All we can do is be supportive. There is nothing that we can do. It's not like we are going to say, "Hey, little Buddy, Mom and Dad will just quit their jobs and we'll stay home with you all day long!" It's hard for him because it is so good for him. How many other kids have their summers at home with both Mom and Dad?



So we are very lucky. He doesn't see that now, but hopefully he will later on down the road. We are taking him in for 8 am today because the rest of the week is pretty well booked for Norma and I.

Tuesday - "Flight School" at the high school, where Norma and I are going to be recruiting senior students to become tutors for AVID (a paid position during the school day). Norma also has a technology class through the district that day.

Wednesday - Norma and I will probably go in and work on our rooms at school a bit.

Thursday - We both have about 3 hours of technology training on how to do podcasting. Looking forward to that.

Friday - I'll be at "Flight School" to welcome my freshmen AVID students and be sure that they have their schedules in order for the year.

Flight School is what we call orientation this week. Kids get their schedules, lockers, etc. and get all setup for the year. We are the Eagles... so Flight School works, I guess.

It will be a busy and fun week. Hopefully Aidan will survive! :)

Switch

Happy Birthday Mary Kate!

Happy Birthday Mary Kate! from fordee on Vimeo.

Watch that Air Car Go!

CNN: 106 mpg 'air car' creates buzz, questions

That article above made me think of a video that I show each year in class about the Air Car:



This is really neat!
Here is one of the websites: Zero Pollution Motors US

The Change We've Been Waiting For

Obama's Olympic Ad:


Nothing negative about McCain.
No Paris or Britney.
Just hard working Americans rebuilding the economy.

I think it works rather well.
What do you think?

at the zoo! the end of summer looms.
DD

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Learning a big lesson

Today went great for Aidan. Preschool was good for him, but boy did it stress him out - big time. He didn't nap. He was so excited to see his Mom and explain everything to her. She was at work doing professional development sessions on Assessment for Learning (I'll be doing my presentation there tomorrow).

Tonight was also karate practice. Aidan was a mess. He started crying twice before we left over little things. So I knew he was exhausted and he might really struggle at karate. Then Master Peavey was not there. So we were both crossing our fingers. During warmups Aidan just started crying. The kid who was filling in for Master Peavey was nice about it and told him to go get a drink. I walked out with him to the water fountain and Aidan said, "Dad, I just want to go home."

These are moments in the life of a parent where you either make the right decision and it leads to big breakthroughs, or you mess up - big time. I asked him to go back in and finish. He started balling. So I took him into the observation room and explained why he needed to go back out there. I said, "Don't worry if you mess up - just do you best and we will be proud of you." He looked at me like I was killing him. So I pulled the McDonald's card. I said, "Do you want to go to McDonald's after karate?" He nodded through the tears. Then I said, "let's finish the lesson and we'll go." He said, "No Daddy, now, plllleaaase."

I took him by the hand and led him back out to practice and said, "I will stand here on the side and watch. When you get worried or upset - look my way. I will give you a thumbs up and let you know you can do it." He just looked at me and slowly walked back out to the floor. I was scared to death that he would quit.

Having been through hundreds of practices, sessions in the weight room, runs around the track, and 100 degree days of football camp... I know it's hard. I know there are days when you just want to run home. But, you can't. You have to keep going. If Aidan was ill, if he was hurt, if he was throwing up... different story. But, he was just tired. He was stressed from the first day at preschool. He needed to keep trying.

Aidan cried a couple of more times, but he stuck it out. Afterward it was like he won the world series. He was so excited and proud of himself. I was proud of him, too. He really grew up a lot today in my eyes. He learned a valuable lesson - if you have a commitment - you stick to it.

If my Dad taught me anything it was not to quit. He encouraged me. Hell he even bribed me. Just like I did with McDonalds, Dad used to pay me money for football games when I did not lay on the field hurt - like many little kids would do to get attention.

My little guy is growing up. Preschool, karate, and learning big time lessons. Even at 3 years old it is essential that he understands - life is not always easy. But, we have to keep trying.

PreSchool Preview

Tomorrow Norma is heading into school for her session of professional development. It was supposed to be today, but the tropical storm delayed things. We decided to take Aidan in for his preview of preschool tomorrow. So I am going to stay home, take him in for a few hours and then pick him up. It's his test run.

Aidan is pretty excited. He is going to have a ball with his teachers and all the kids his age. I am so happy to see him going through this. It is totally what he needs right now.



He's not our little baby anymore.

McMeltdown

This video is scary.



"You use the first nine seconds as the best ad Obama can run," said Keith O.

The problem McCain was having is that the crowd was equal parts cheering and booing. He has a pretty legendary temper. So he was getting worked up and crossed up. ("We are going to win the war by... errr, winning the war...")

The sad thing is that SNL is just gearing up their "Grandpa Simpson" parody of McCain right now.

A crazy side note to the craziness: McCain Gaffes, Volunteering Wife For Topless Contest

"I was looking at the Sturgis schedule, and noticed that you had a beauty pageant, so I encouraged Cindy to compete," McCain told an audience at the rally. "I told her [that] with a little luck, she could be the only woman to serve as both the First Lady and Miss Buffalo Chip."

You can't make this stuff up! Wow.

Ok - this is funny! (or not)

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

I give Paris credit. It was funny. But, the sad part is that we have REAL PROBLEMS in this country to solve. These silly distractions are just sad. This is America though... so this is what we get.

no internet here, but the

no internet here, but the storm isn't too bad. lots of rain, wind and thunder... but we are fine. there is a break in the storm band r

Astros 4 - Mets 0 ... Astros Sweep!

We had a great day yesterday at Minute Maid Park and at Discovery Green. Aidan didn't get a nap, but he did go to sleep early and exhausted. A full day.


Aidan at that whole hot dog. Norma and I had NO ballpark food. We are being so great with our new diets. I am seeing a big difference. It's funny. We spend all day begging Aidan to eat and all day trying not to eat anything ourselves!



Discovery Green is wonderful. It's not as big as I had hoped. They are building two new huge skyscrapers right around the park. Which is kind of messed up. Struggling economy? Not in Houston! But, the area that they put the park on is awesome. It just isn't big enough. Houston is a huge city and the number of parks is so small. Sad. But, why am I complaining about something that they did a great job putting together. After all, it wasn't even there a year ago.

The day didn't cost us very much money either. (Not that it is the most important thing but...)
Tickets - $15 (7 a piece for Norma and I and $1 for Aidan)
Food - $20 (which is pretty ridiculous that a hot dog, 2 drinks and cracker jacks are almost 20 bucks. We also picked up 2 drinks at Discovery Green)
Parking - $10 (we parked very near Discovery Green, walked over to the game and then walked to DG afterwards. Worked out perfectly.)

So all told - around $50 bucks. Can't beat it. Before we left Norma and I loaded up on salad so we were 'kind of' full. We are both getting a little tired of salad. But, we are doing our best to motivate each other. I am definitely feeling great. So that is motivation alone.

Anyway, a great day. As summer boils to an end (and Edouard rolls towards us!) we are very pleased with what a wonderful summer we have enjoyed. We are so lucky!

If anyone wants to see all the pictures from the game and Discovery Green:
Astros Game Pictures

@discovery green
DD

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Aidan ate an entire star dog! It took him over an hour, but he ate the whole thing.
Astros winning 4-0! Lots of fun. A dood just asked his girl to marry him on the big screen, she said yes. Lucky for him. Man, I would have to be SURE. ;)
Go Stros!
DD

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at the astros game!
DD

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Aidan in my AVID hat

My crazy boy in my AVID hat!




Today we are heading downtown to go to an Astros game. We haven't been all year. I was about to purchase tickets online for $1 seat for Aidan and $7 seats for Norma and I in the nose bleed sections... but the extra costs were more than the prices of the tickets! Ridiculous. So I think we'll walk up to the stadium and buy them. We should be ok. The Astros are not doing so well, even though they are pulling in great crowds still, it shouldn't be sold out.

Plus, we have Discovery Green to go to if the game is a no-go. It is brand new and there is a lot for kids to do. He would have a ball... but it is going to be close to 100 degrees today. So I doubt we would be there long. Still our trip downtown would not be a waste of time.

It is really great that downtown Houston is growing like it is. There is so much more to do. When we first came to Houston in 1994 there was nothing happening downtown on the weekends. Heck after 5pm on a weekday it was a ghost town. I am really happy I had a chance to work down there for 4 years like I did. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the city and understand the dynamics of it. How many people out there are just too nervous to drive into a city and navigate their way? And how much are they missing out on?

We put up with a lot of crap living close to a city - pollution, traffic, etc. So I think these kinds of things - Discovery Green, Astros, Rockets, Texans and Aeros games, the many museums, and all the shopping - gives you something to balance out the crap parts. :)

Minute Maid Park is really a great place for kids. The Astros have done a remarkable job with it. Obviously they aren't playing well this year (but they will be going for a sweep of the Mets today!) but they are still pulling in big crowds. That is because of the Train (See a video of the conductor here), there Minute Maid Squeeze play zone for kids, and of course, Junction Jack!

I'm sure we'll have a great time today.

NCAA Football 09 Video

I have been playing as the Temple Owls for the past two seasons in Dynasty mode. My objective is to be ranked in the top 25 and win bowl games. Then move on to a new school and work my way up the ladder.

Fun game. This is a TD pass from my first season Bowl Win. Sweet!

EA SPORTS World: NCAA Football 09 Video

Pictures at Lake Houston

Tonight we went to a Bar-B-Que place that we love - Spring Creek. But, Norma and I did not have any bar-b-que. :( Instead we had monster salads. We are sticking to our diet. It was nice though to eat a salad out and not have to make one.

Afterward we took a drive and I took a few pictures.





This last picture is one that Aidan took! Amazing. Most of them didn't come out because he was screwing around. But, this was a nice one.