A Good Time Had By All

I had the great fortune of going to Northern Minnesota to visit parents and sister/brother in law with my two adult daughters. In this beautiful pristine landscape we ate ableskievers, wrote New Year goals in Hibbing, MN, bought yarn and needles for knitting, cross country skiied, ice fished and then ate the fish, nailed up photos of ancestors on my parents livingroom wall, watched birds outside the window eat from the feeders,laughed and enjoyed everyones company. We even brought in the New Year watching Field of Dreams. "Is this heaven? No, it is Iowa."

Tis the season..

Schools out for Christmas break. We were let out at 2:10 today. I had 20 students in the artroom for an hour and a half working on a variety of art projects. I felt somewhat like the picture on the left by the time I left school. Now to unwind and try to get into the holiday spirit. I have several books to read, a couple projects to work on, and also a trip up north to Minnesota for several days to visit my sister, her family and my parents. I hope my two girls will be able to join us and do some skiing. I plan to visit my parents and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
So...on to the eggnog.

Snow, wind...blizzard

I can hear the wind howling outside as I type away. Snow day on Friday. No school. Second snow day this school year. More snow today and now the wind has picked up, the temperature has dropped to below 0 degrees and it is nasty outside. So, what do you do on a day like today? Make kringla and caramels for Christmas. Even church has been cancelled for tomorrow. So, tomorrow I will continue my cooking frenzy and make fudge and possibly lefsa. The blizzard warning is suppose to be lifted at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow. Late start on Monday?

Living in Iowa

Frank hit a deer today. He is alright....the deer, not so good. Either is the car. There seems to be a history of deer/car collisions in the family. ( My Father could write a short novel) Frank's first deer collision was with the blue station wagon while going to a Fourth of July celebration in Albert Lea, MN. I no longer believe in deer whistles. They definitely didn't work. The second collision was when Frank and my daughter were returning in the school car from a music event in Fort Dodge, IA and they hit a deer. The car was totaled. Both of those events were at nighttime. On this occasion it was broad daylight. Frank says he saw a deer in the ditch and when he looked back up there was one directly in front of him on the road. The front of the car, the grill is missing, the hood is pushed back and it looks like a few weeks of a disheveled car.

Born Digital

I received a new book today from Amazon. It is about the students that have been born since 1980...born digital. I also started teaching my class with another teacher today after school on "On Line Resources. It will run until April of this year. We will be exploring WebQuests and the internet in general. I am anxious to read what the new book will bring to the discussion.
I just finished "Twilight" from the suggestion of my high school students. I guess the movie comes out next week.
Sister leaves for Japan in the next couple days. It will be interesting to hear her stories on her return.

Technology Underwater

Technology is wonderful. I can sit on my computer and pretend I am under the ocean. I am working with a colleague in designing a course for our Area AEA in Online Resources where we will be designing WebQuests. Parent Teacher Student conferences were last week where we used the Artsonia slide show feature to highlight the gallery of artwork done by the students. My students are finishing an advertisement using PhotoShop. another class are making themselves into cartoons. What is in store for the future? I can only guess. Digital education.....

South Dakota Book Festival

I returned from the South Dakota Book Festival a week ago. I took a day off of work of Friday. (It was Homecoming activities in the high school and I am sure they didn't miss me much) and traveled three hours to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to the Holiday Inn for the Annual Book Festival put on by the South Dakota Humanities. The festival alternates locations with Deadwood each year. I ended up getting two books. One is "Buffalo Bill's America...William Cody and the Wild West Show". by Louis S. Warren. Since I was lived in LeClaire, Iowa I have had an interest in William Cody who was born near there. The other book I got was by "Bombay times: a Novel" by Thrity Umrigar. I heard her speak about her books and India. In fact, I road down the elevator with her. Such interesting people. I also attended a workshop on geneology and on demand printing. I had a great time with friends, eating, and enjoying the sites of Grand Rapids.