happy birthday GRANDMA FRAN!

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happy birthday GRANDMA FRAN!

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AVID SI Luncheon - Summer Institute Speeches

One of the highlights of AVID Summer Institute is the luncheon. The luncheon is in a huge ball room. There are about 2,000 people stuffed in there. And there are two luncheon days. They happen on Wednesday and Thursday. The food is good, but the speeches from AVID teachers and students are way better.

Here is an editorial from this week's Dallas Morning News. It gives an overview of the luncheon that I was at and also about how powerful it was.

Editorial: These kids prove college is achievable goal
05:25 PM CDT on Thursday, June 25, 2009

If only those naysayers who believe Texas puts too much pressure on kids, especially poor ones, to attend college could have been at the Dallas Hyatt Regency on Wednesday.

They would have heard straight talk from Monica Washington, an English teacher from Texarkana; Ron Rossingh, an Odessa Permian sophomore; Elizabeth Ruiz, a top Edinburg High School graduate; and Gerardo Venegas, a Lake Highlands grad headed for Baylor. These were some of the most determined students and teachers you could meet. They not only dream big, they fuel it with the passion to realize those dreams.

They spoke to a summer institute run by AVID, a nationwide elective program that gives elementary and secondary students an extra push toward a college future.

Washington was first. The thin, soft-spoken African-American woman stared into the 1,800 faces staring back and launched into an inspirational address rivaling something out of Barack Obama's mouth. She had every bit of the crowd's attention when she described hearing a student in her AVID class say, "If I go to college..."

She knew she had to change that to, "When I go to college..."

Rossingh, broad-shouldered and round-faced, offered an arresting personal story. He was brutally frank about his drug-addicted mother, his spiral into gang life and his grandparents and middle school teacher who helped him turn himself from a smart-mouthed C student to an inquisitive A student.

What did it? Part of it was realizing that "gangs don't hand out scholarships."

Then, he leaned over the podium and said in the steeliest voice, "And I will be a college graduate," as adults around the room reached for tissues.

This is what Rossingh and his peers represent: They prove we can overcome the achievement gap, that pernicious divide that separates wealthy and poor, white and minority. It will take effort, programs and money, but we can get there. Initiatives like AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) prove that, by believing that every student can get to college with rigor and support.

Yes, the same college that naysayers say is too hard for some kids to achieve. Try telling that to these students. They want to go places, and their teachers believe they can get there.

The rest of us should get out of their way.

Definitely a highlight of my week.

AVID Summer Institute 2009

AVID Summer Institute in Dallas was great! We got in early Monday morning. I rode up with the new AVID teacher at Summer Creek High. It was great to tell her all about the 3 students that she'll be getting from my class. :)

I also spent a lot of time with the folks that teach at Atascocita Middle and Timberwood Middle. They were great and it is really awesome to learn who they are and how they work. We are so lucky to have such great teachers in our district.

This summer my class was for "AVID College Readiness." This meant I was learning all about what we should be doing during the Junior year of AVID. I am excited to say that I am now ready with tons of lessons, plans, and ideas. During the session I was lucky enough to have a tremendous facilitator from Wichita North in Kansas. They have an amazing AVID program there. She helped me so much.

We will be spending a great deal of time on four essential skills that colleges look for:



We will be using a long term research and writing project around "Leaders" to accomplish our goals of learning these skills. We'll do the skills as a full group, in smaller groups and then finally individually.

Last spring we finished the year in a really strong way. I can't wait to get started in late August. It will be a huge year for my AVID juniors as they begin to take Advanced Placement and Dual Credit classes. Everyone says the Junior year is the toughest academic year. We will also be focusing on SAT and ACT preparation. Juniors will take the PSAT in the fall, and then SAT and ACT in the spring.

And for my sophomores it will be a big adventure. We'll need to replace a lot of students and continue to tweak the skills we learned as freshmen. I am also really excited about the project the sophomores will be doing. It's called "Road Trip Nation." Check out a little sample here:

Official Road Trip Nation Website



Follow Road Trip Nation on Twitter

Michael Jackson

While on the treadmill today at the "Y", I saw that 90% of the news casts were focused on Michael Jackson. Really amazing how much of a publicity machine this is.

Crazy to think that already all 10 albums on iTunes biggest sellers are MJ albums:


Michael Jackson was a lot of things...

cute and talented little boy...
creepy and sad older man.

once black...
then very white (probably whiter than me!).

but, he will be remembered for the music. It reminds me a lot of Elvis. On MSBNC they were discussing the Elvis and MJ trips to the White House the other morning. I thought it was funny when Andrea Mitchell on NBC news did her Reagan impression, "Well... Michael. It's ahhhh a Thrilla to meet you." Cracked me up. She said, "He actually uttered those words, I was standing right there."

Every time I see any of the Jackson videos, I just have to think of Wierd Al Yankovic. His parody videos were epic.

I would say that we will miss Michael, but in truth we have been missing him for decades. He's been gone for a long time. This is just finality. A talented man, but it just goes to show how bright the spotlight can be for a 10 year old.

my new glasses.

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huge luncheon crowd. cool video idea.

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playin in the water

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Aidan - 4 Years :)

I am a very lucky Dad. This video is the proof. It was fun to put this together. 4 years of clips from the videos we have made with Aidan. He sure has grown up a lot.

Aidan - 4 Years from Mr. Duez on Vimeo.

This is a video that i put together from many of the videos that we have created in Aidan's short but fun life.

it is amazing to see how quickly he has grown.

Happy Father's Day Everyone.

08-09 Reflections on the School Year

I asked my World History classes to reflect on their school year. Here is what they answered to the first question:

Mr. Duez's World History Pre-AP Class - End of the Year Reflection
What were the best activities or assignments of the year? Why? (Things you enjoyed doing)
[examples: projects - rock art, religion pstrs, castles, human rights posters, video project, career project; or cnn student news, philosophical chairs, socratic seminar, trench warfare.]

Video Project = 40
Castle Project = 33
Philosophical Chairs = 15
Rock Art Project = 13
CNN Student News = 12
Trench Warfare = 12
SOCRATIC SEMINAR = 11
CAREER PROJECT = 10
Human Rights Poster = 8
RELIGION PROJECT = 2

It's very interesting looking at these numbers. Obviously our Video Project ( see the Video Project Blog here ) had a huge impact. It is great to see that the kids enjoyed it.

The Castle Project was a pretty close second. This can be a massive project. But, the students put a lot of creativity into it. Many students commented negatively about this project as well (I'll run those numbers later). And I may continue to tweak it to make it better and a situation where students might be able to learn more.

I only used Philosophical Chairs during the fall semester and Socratic Seminar during the spring. I am going to change that up next year and mix them up more. And I am going to use both more. I think the numbers would have been higher if we would have done them more often. It is just hard to turn things over to the class sometimes as a teacher. The benefit is that they learn from each other in their own language and it is a powerful way to get ideas across. I just have to plan and work harder to get these activities into the class better.

Trench Warfare was fun (as it always is). We take two sheets of notebook paper, make balls out of them, divide the class into two teams - East and West (Germans and French) and have them fight it out in trenches. The trenches are created by using the rows in the classroom. It is fun and it does give the students a bit of a feeling of what it must have been like to hide, attack and maneuver through the trenches.

Here is the form I used for the survey (adapted from one that MissTeacha inspired me to use):
Year End Reflection-WH

Teaching reflection on subjective grading...

I was reading a blog post by Ms. C over at her blog: Cant of Cheating and Judging and it really made me think tonight. She is obviously a gifted teacher and very insightful thinker. One of her comments made me think deeper about what I have been working on over the past two years with Assessment for Learning and my adjustment in my grading practices. Here is what I wrote:

I just wanted to make a comment about something you said,

"one of the goals of those who seek to refine grading systems is that they want to make grades less subjective and more objective-- admirable on the surface, if not a bit unrealistic, but let's leave that aside."

It really interested me. In the past two years I have changed my viewpoint. I tried to be "less subjective" and what it always brought out in my teaching and corresponding student learning was too much rote or simple learning. So I have used the principles of Assessment for Learning and re-assessment to focus on being much more subjective.

I have done so in these ways,
1) Students have multiple avenues for feedback. I have encouraged students to use a window of time to turn work in to me, get feedback and then redo it for a better assessment.
2) Re-assessment of homework, quizzes and tests that do not reach a level of 85 or above. They have one opportunity to come in to reassess and the must come in for tutoring/feedback and extension of learning before this occurs.
3) Constant encouragement of students to use me, their teacher, as a reference to improve their learning. I try to show the learning objective/target, rubric, and what I am asking for them upfront, but I am removing the guessing game by having them work with me to improve their aim.

What I have found is that there is less cheating. Students are seeing that the class is not about a "gotcha" grade, but rather it is focused on improvement. Anyone can improve their grade if it is not up to their satisfaction. It has improved student motivation, effort, and by the end of the year I had some real breakthroughs with students I didn't expect to pass the class at the beginning of the year.

Although I understand these procedures wouldn't be welcome at all schools, I am lucky enough to work at a school where the focus is on the student's learning and what we can do to move them closer to that.

In your discussion of the moral consequences of cheating, I thought I might offer this up as a potential positive alternative.

I wonder if cheating is really something students would do more of if they felt trapped by their situation? For instance, if they know they have an opportunity to re-assess that test for a grade up to an 85, will they cheat less? I don't know the truth behind it, but I know how it feels in my classroom. I have less looks of fear, frustration and resentment about tests, quizzes and homework. Students seem to look at those assessments as less about 'finality' and more about where they are at that point in their learning.

I don't know. It just made me think a little bit tonight.

Fun at the Children's Museum of Houston

We had a great time at the Children's Museum of Houston. Then ate at Adobe Cafe and then had to go to the Kolache Factory (because Aidan says, "I never been to a factory that makes kolaches!" We got free food since we came in a minute before they were closing for the day). Fun adventure.

See all of our photos from today here: Facebook Picture Album: Summer 2009 Children's Museum

New Logo & Look

Do you like the new logo, banner and look of this blog?

Thought I would try something different for summer. :)

my boy, throwin down some brown cow.

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My New Glasses

Well, I finally bit the bullet this week and went in and got new glasses. It's been three years since I purchased new ones. I have had super light glasses and I love them, but they are all scratched up and pretty worn out. They are flimsy and not very durable anymore. They could snap at any moment.

What I was looking for was a pair that could be more sporty, but still be my 100% of the time glasses. I never take them off, except to sleep, swim, shower and sometimes during workouts. So I wanted I pair that I could be comfortable in while working out, or at school teaching, or outside playing with Aidan.

I also wanted a pair of glasses that would have the transition lenses. I haven't had transitions since I was a kid. The technology is a lot better now. Many of my students have them. The reason I want them is that it is sunny down here in Houston almost every single day. Moving from indoors to out and having to switch to prescription sunglasses is a pain. How sweet will it be not to have to worry about that anymore?

Plus, I have had this eye infection issue this spring. One of the things my eye doctor mentioned was that exposure to sunlight might be a factor in brining on more of them... doesn't that stink? He mentioned getting transition lenses during our appointments. They are a lot more expensive, but I think they will be worth it.

So I looked for glasses a few times. It was really frustrating. One frustration is that you can't really see yourself well without your prescription glasses. So I never feel like I get a good view of what I look like in them. Plus, as Aidan said, "Dad, there are stickers all over that pair, don't get those!" The dang stickers on the lenses make the view of the glasses look strange.

Norma is always my judge. After all, she is the boss. And she has to see me in the glasses more than anyone. We are together like 90% of the time. She helped out with the glasses I finally chose. It came down to two pair. This pair won:



I like the gunmetal grey color. They are titanium, which makes them very light. The little red nike logo is very small and hard to see. There were other pairs where it was bigger and stood out a bunch. I didn't like that.

It is very hard to find a pair to match my hair color - light (I can't really say blonde anymore, it's 1/2 blonde and 1/2 grey!). It is also hard to make this mug look good at all, so a real struggle to find a pair. These looked ok.

Much more sporty than the pair I have now. I think they will decent as regular glasses and also as sunglasses when the lenses darken. We'll see. I won't get them until after my trip to Dallas. Because of the lens type they had to send them out to get them created. So it'll be a nice fun thing to do when I get back from Dallas.

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Swim Lessons

Tomorrow is the last day of swim lessons. Aidan has done very well. I do think he's improved and is a little more comfortable in the water. The biggest reason we did the lessons though was for him to get out, enjoy himself and meet other kids.

It really has worked out well. Most mornings we've been working out right after his swim lessons. I get Aidan showered up and into their little day care center and Norma and I go and lift weights and work out. It has been wonderful. Everyone is happier. He's getting to socialize with other kids, color, play and enjoy some adults other than us. We are getting a good solid workout and feeling a lot better.

Next week is AVID Summer Institute, so I will be gone for a whole week. I am really going to miss our summer routine. It has been a great summer so far. Then I come back and we have a regular week, then Norma attends her week at Rice and then we go to Pennsylvania for 2 weeks. We are looking forward to seeing everyone.

jumpin in!

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aidan after buid-a-bear 2day with Spot Brownie-Brown Doggie-Dog.

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"We are surrounded by people who want to control you." - Glenn Beck

How do they let people like this on tv?

Glenn Beck warns everyone, "We are surrounded by people who want to control you." So scary. Isn't that the same kind of fear that led James Von Brunn to do what he did? Just sad.



This is so super sad. I don't understand why people vent on people who "hate" -- while hating themselves. It's a ridiculous self parody. Sad.

Professional Development Meme 2009

I’ve been tagged by Tracy Rosen, who came across this at Clif’s Notes recently. I love reading Tracy's blog. It is very inspirational and creative.

Directions:

Summer can be a great time for professional development. It is an opportunity to learn more about a topic, read a particular work or the works of a particular author, beef up an existing unit of instruction, advance one’s technical skills, work on that advanced degree or certification, pick up a new hobby, and finish many of the other items on our ever-growing To Do Lists. Let’s make Summer 2009 a time when we actually get to accomplish a few of those things and enjoy the thrill of marking them off our lists.

The Rules:

NOTE: You do NOT have to wait to be tagged to participate in this meme.

* Pick 1-3 professional development goals and commit to achieving them this summer.
* For the purposes of this activity the end of summer will be Labor Day (09/07/09).
* Post the above directions along with your 1-3 goals on your blog.
* Title your post Professional Development Meme 2009 and link back/trackback to http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/2447.
* Use the following tag/ keyword/ category on your post: pdmeme09.
* Tag 5-8 others to participate in the meme.
* Achieve your goals and “develop professionally.”
* Commit to sharing your results on your blog during early or mid-September.

My Goals:

* Read the book Why Students Don’t Like School and participate in the book club conversation around it over at Dangerously Irrelevant
* Be prepared to lead my AVID 3 class through their junior year. Put into practice all the tips I learn while going through Summer Institute through the class College Readiness and Preparation.
* Develop a plan to kick off, introduce, and make interactive my World History and AVID classes while using technology in these ways - My Blogs and classroom website, podcasting, podcasting my notes, and using Twitter in my classroom discussions around Socratic Seminar.

Tagging:
Ms Teacha (MsA)
Tamara Eden
Ms_Teacher
Mr D @ TeachForever

Our Trip to the Beach - Summer 2009

We had a great three day trip to Galveston and Kemah Boardwalk. Aidan could ride a lot of the rides at Kemah Boardwalk. He had a blast.

It really is a perfect trip...
1) Start off at 9am, get a kolache and coffee
2) Drive down 59 and then 45 to Clear Lake. Take the exit to Kemah.
3) Spend from 11-12 riding the rides at Kemah Boardwalk.
4) Eat some lunch. This day we had Cadillac Bar Mexican.
5) Head down 45 to Galveston Island.
6) Check in the hotel.
7) Go to the beach (across the street).
8) Come back and shower, then head to dinner.
9) Watch the Penguins win the Stanley Cup! & Sleep
10) Wake up and go back to the beach.
11) Check out of the hotel and head back home.
(oh yeah) 12) Get Hins Garden Chinese for lunch.
13) Home for a nap.

Great three days.








If you want to check out all the pictures, click here

Say Hello To An Old Friend... Sir Stanley!

The game was GREAT. So satisfying to watch these kids win the cup. I watched it in a cramped Galveston hotel room on a standard def TV, so I can't wait to rewatch it tonight on my dvr on the nice widescreen 58" HDTV. :)

I also can not wait to get home next month and buy some Penguin Stanley Cup Champs gear!

Freakin' Talbot is the man.

go pens! nothin like watchin hockey @ the beach!

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fun in the sun

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fun @ kemah boardwalk

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I would accept this note...

Obama writes a student an excuse from school
Pretty cute.

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Ten-year-old Kennedy Corpus has a rock-solid excuse for missing the last day of school: a personal note to her teacher from President Barack Obama.

Her father, John Corpus of Green Bay, stood to ask Obama about health care during the president's town hall-style meeting at Southwest High School on Thursday. He told Obama that his daughter was missing school to attend the event and that he hoped she didn't get in trouble.

''Do you need me to write a note?'' Obama asked. The crowd laughed, but the president was serious.

On a piece of paper, he wrote: ''To Kennedy's teacher: Please excuse Kennedy's absence. She's with me. Barack Obama.'' He stepped off the stage to hand-deliver the note -- to Kennedy's surprise.

You can't deny the man has a great sense of humor and has life in perspective.

the goggled swimming boy!

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aidan @ swim lessons @ the ymca. he has really enjoyed them this week.

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Ohhhh, Make Me a Milk Shake Malkin!

Mike Lange is a Pittsburgh institution. Only Mike Lange can capture the emotion of a Penguins win. This is coverage from Game 4.

"Donna Needs a Donut!"
"Slap Me Silly Sydney!"
"You'd have to be here to believe that!"

How fun is that?

On to Game 7. I can't wait.

The New Humanities

I just love this video. Found it on Karl Fisch's Fischbowl.

After you get past the introductory portion about the professors, there is real vision here. They imagine an English department of content creators using Web 2.0 technology and not just the typical, read and write papers curriculum. Fantastic imagination.



For my own personal classes, I consider this a great challenge: Get students ready for a world that is improving faster than schools can keep pace with and the pace will keep getting faster. So what can I do? Chip away at the process by starting students down the road of content creation.

In my 5th six week's period my students this year created videos and we showcased them on this site: VideoProject09.Blogspot.com

It is my hope that the students learn how to create content in a stronger way. And it is my hope that they can move people in a new direction. As they said in the Rutgers video - Content Creation, Creativity through the portal of connected and networked computers.

I am very lucky to have a technology background, but I do believe that any teacher can start down this road and improve it. When I first started my "Video Project" it was merely a power point project. But, as technology has changed we changed with it. And I learned as much from my students as I have passed on to them. That is so much fun for a teacher!

Teachers out there, this is the time - it's summer. Think outside the box and try to find ways to give your students a chance in this new world.

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aidan's first merry-go-round on his own. solo!

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t_rex is big

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rexy!

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Houston Man Honored at D-Day Ceremony

KHOU: Houston Veteran Remembers D-Day

Combs is now 84 and was just 18 years-old on D-Day. He said when told he would be driving a PT boat, "So then they asked for volunteers for PT boats. Well, what in the world is a PT boat? I volunteered for that," said Combs. He quickly learned that it stood for patrol torpedo. He was a part of a line of PT boats that protected the western waters above the invasion.

Mr. Combs has created maps, paintings, and models of his time during this invasion. He has helped this, very difficult to imagine, day come to life for many.

Thank you Mr. Combs for the service you have done for our country. And thank you for keeping the memories of this day alive for all of us.

ABC KTRK: Local veteran to be honored at D-Day Celebration

Remember D-Day

Remember those who died on the sacred ground of the beaches of France 65 years ago today. D-Day should never be forgotten. It was the beginning of a new world. May we never forget their sacrifices for our hopes to live free on June 6, 1944.

To learn more about D-Day, visit this link: D-Day from Army.mil

robbie - aidan playing the toy you got him years ago. he likes it now. he's a learning machine.

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swimmin @ the Y

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last day of preschool.

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Revisiting the 08-09 School Year

I was sitting tonight and thinking about my school year. I came across the video I created for the first day of class this year. It is amazing how little Aidan was! Crazy. I am looking forward to doing this video again. There are some things I am definitely going to change. I may add some of the comments from the student surveys that I handed out - like "words of warning" for next year's students.

I love doing this video because on the first day I don't even talk "Rules" with the kids. I just show the video. We discuss it a little and I ask if there are questions, but we move right along to getting to know each other.

Next year I'll probably make it a lot quicker and faster paced. And I will add more information. Maybe a preview of topics we'll talk about during the year and maybe some clips from students from the year before.

Aidan is so cute in this though. He will definitely be making another acting engagement next year!

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

This is Mr. D's Rules and Expectations Video for 2008-2009. Starring Aidan!

Appreciation Part II

Continuing with another letter of appreciation from a student. This one was handed to me in our main hallway (called "Main Street") as I was running to class the other day. The student stopped me and just had this big look in their eyes. He just said, "Mr. D. I wrote this for you, I mean every word of it and Thank You for everything this year." I was stunned. But, not as much as when I sat and read it.

Dear Mr. D,
Easily the greatest man I have ever met in my life. I envy the happiness that you have, the love you have for your wife, your son, your job, and every aspect of life. From what I can tell you must have had a difficult childhood, but you took the best out of it and became somebody important.

You never gave up on me no matter what, and to have you there saying I could do it was so helpful. The last few years for me have been rough, especially this year. For the career project when my group stood up and I said I wanted to be a lawyer and you commented that I could do it most definitely, well that almost brought me to tears.

You tell me that I have so much potential, well Mr. D. I will try to push through the bad and be all that I hoped to be and more. You are someone I look up to and hope that I will be like one day. Your son is so very lucky to have a father like you to grow up learning from. The world is a much better place with David D around. I know I would have been lost this year without you.

Whatever I do in this life I just hope that I can reach your level of happiness. I hope that one day I will be like you, Mr. D. I do not think there are words to express how I feel. All I can say is thank you for everything. I will not let you down, never change, and I will see you down the road.

I will never forget you or all that you have done for me Mr. D.

Sincerely,
Your student

ps: One of my favorite all time quotes... it's really funny... "If it's free it's for me. If it's free, I'll take 3!" - DD

Kind of leaves (even me) speechless.

I put this on my blog for 2 reasons:

1) I hope some teacher somewhere reads this and realizes that you never know what kind of impact you can have on a student. Every day I come to work and try to be consistent and show passion for my job and build relationships as best I can with my kids. Sometimes we forget that what students are going through when they are not at school can be pretty tough. Being there for them is important. Never forget the impact you can have.

2) I hope Aidan reads this some day and understands why my job is important to me. I hope some day he realizes that a job is not just measured by a pay check. Sometimes the pay that isn't in the paycheck is priceless.

Appreciation

I have had several notes of appreciation from students in the past week. They really have meant a lot to me. I am going to type a few out here, but they are not for me... really they are for Aidan. I want him to be able to see why I do what I do.

When I left technology and turned down a lot of money to come back and teach, I hoped I would have an impact. That's really part of the pay. Knowing that what you do for a profession has the chance to improve the lives of others means a lot to me.

So here goes, the first letter was from an AVID student that gave me a Starbucks gift card for my birthday a few weeks ago. I know she probably can't afford to give me a gift card so it really meant a lot that she'd spend any amount of money towards something for me. She is a special young lady. All As in her classes. And she has 3 honors classes! So very proud of her.

This is for the most amazing teacher ever who never gives up on his students, is always there for anyone who needs help, and is an amazing role model. I thought this card would be perfect for you because I know you also long to see the world changed. Thank you for caring for us and may God bless you with an amazing birthday!

On the Starbucks card it said that money from purchases goes to support the Global Fund. She has the biggest heart and is always concerned about others. She wants to be a youth or childrens minister/pastor when she grows up. I think she'll be incredible at anything she chooses to do.

This was a letter that I got on that crazy Friday when we had a lock down on campus. This student has gone through a lot this year and it was the last full day of class. Everyone else was taking a test, but she was working on the quiz she missed a few days before. After she finished the quiz, she wrote this note and gave it to me. Then she asked if she could read it to the entire class. Of course we were all pretty emotional and stunned.

Mr. D, I've never really showed or have said how much I appreciate having you in my life. So I sit here and write to you. You've helped me in to understand that things in life come and go and sometimes there are road blocks along our path that we must break through. This year hasn't been the easiest, but the most worth while of my life. To be honest, I love my fifth period class and the adventures and journeys in here have been wonderful. It's come from not just the bottom, but through my whole heart to say you are THE GREATEST TEACHER on the face of the earth and probably the kindest most compassionate man I will ever come to know. I never knew that one person could change the outlook on the way I see life until I met you and I'm glad I did. I came into this year with very little self confidence and I am coming out strong and with pride and with so much confidence that I never knew I could have. So, I want to thank You Mr. D for teaching me not just what I can find in a book, but the things I will use for the rest of my life and with that I hold dear to my heart and go on to do something good with my life.

Stunning. It really gets to me, but I am just so happy that she is feeling better about herself.

So, Aidan... when you are old enough to finally read this on your own, "Pursue a job that isn't just a job... but something you are passionate about. Find the job that when you look at the clock on the wall, you hope it slows down because you have so much more to do today. Not the job where the clock on the wall is creeping along and you are hoping it could speed up until quitting time. It makes all the difference in the world."

[more tomorrow.]

aidan @ the library on the reading dragon.

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king tut left 2 me by a former teachr colleague who passed away. end of the year approaches!

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.