Did You Know....

I didnt!

38 Weeks

We had our 38 week ob appt. today and everything is fine. Caden has officially gone through the lightening which basically means he has dropped down into the pelvis and is ready to go but with that comes him pushing on some very uncomfortable and painful places in Sarah's legs and hips. Sarah is 1.5 cm dilated, but according to some books and our doc, first baby boys like to come after their due dates, so we aren't optimistic he will show up until after August 8th.

Like 4 million other people in America, Sarah rushed out and bought the new Harry Potter book. Unlike most of them, she is taking her time reading it, and is less than half way done, so no spoilers from any of you please. There is a rumor that JK Rowling is coming to the lowly K Mart by our house so Sarah is thinking about getting her autograph, and then like any faithful capitalist, selling it on eBay for a profit.


Well, life has come full circle once again. Last year I joined my first fantasy sports league of any kind when a college friend of mine asked me to play in his fantasy football league (thanks Rico). I loved it so much that I was in about 6 different football leagues last year, and have played basically every fantasy sport since then. Basketball, NCAA basketball, Nascar, Golf, Baseball, I even almost joined a movie fantasy game but decided against it. Anyhow, fantasy football season 2 is beginning now. I know its only July, but its time to start. So, if there is anyone out there who is at all interested in joining a fantasy football league post a comment and let me know. We can set something up.

I would really like to hear any comments you have but Im not sure if everyone has figured out how to do it. Blogger isnt very clear about the comments area, so this one is less user friendly than other blogs. Anyway, you will notice at the bottom of every blog entry is a section that says '0 comments' or '1 comment' or however many comments there have been.



Just click on the word 'comments' and up will come another screen.



Type your comment in the right hand box.

'Choose an Identity,' if you dont have a blogger account than just select 'other' and type in your name.

Then hit 'publish your comment' in the bottom box.

Even if you dont have anything to comment about what I wrote in the blog but you want to share something from your life, please feel free. Share anything, well, almost anything! c

Success Stories

My school, which for those of you that dont know, is a charter school. That basically means that we are a public school, funded by the state, under state regulations and following state standards, sponsored by the Clark County School District (the 5th biggest in the U.S. ugh) so we follow their basic rules, but, and there is a big but, we have some freedoms. We can do things that a regular public school cant do. For one, we dont have a lot of overhead costs so the school can buy new programs, invest in teacher training, supply computers to all the teachers and some of the students, and other things. But like a public school, we are struggling. There is close to a 40% dropout rate across the U.S. (this fact has been argued, but there is no denying it is a big number). Most of the stuff kids are being taught aren't compatible with the way business is moving in this age. So, with that understanding, and our charter, we are always changing. Always looking for something to make it work better. For that I'm privileged to be at my school, but its still not working. So, I wanted to ask you guys.

What positive experiences do you remember from HS? Did something that a teacher did help you learn, or help you survive, stop you from dropping out? I'd like to hear some success stories to help me going into my 4th year of teaching. If you work in education, you can share those stories as well. You can either post your replies by clicking the 'comments' button at the bottom of this entry, or if you want to share a more private story, email me at cjplough75@gmail.com.

RSS Feeds

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Please watch the video to get a clear explanation of how they work.




These 4 sites are popular RSS organizers. If you have a google email account, I recommend just using their google reader and IGoogle to keep track of all your favorite sites.

GoogleReader best connected with IGoogle
My Yahoo Feeds
NetVibes
Feedburner



Once you have signed up for one of the accounts above, come back here and look for either of these 2 symbols on the page up near or in the toolbar.


Click on either symbol and follow the instructions for sending it to your location of choice. This makes it easy for you to know when I have added something to the blog, it will show up right on your home page or your favorite feed organizer.

Full Term

That's right, today is one of those important bench mark days in the long journey of pregnancy. We finally got to 37 weeks, which is full term for all the guys out there, and that means the lungs are fully developed and the baby is as ready as he is going to get for facing the bright light at the end of mommy's tunnel.





Our other baby, Maxwell, was getting pretty scruffy so we had to get him cut this week.

Before

After



We finished a 2 1/2 hour breast feeding class yesterday. I am now certified to breastfeed. Wonder what that means?

We have our 37 week obgyn appt tomorrow, we are at the stage where the doctor checks for dilation ('dilitation' according to one nurse) and effacement. We will let you all know if anything happens on that front.

The Finished Product

Shout outs to Leslie and Sarah for finishing the nursery all by themselves. hehe
I was lucky enough to come back from SD and find the nursery completed. Leslie came out to visit Sarah while I was out of town and together, as always, they did some impressive work.



Sarah painted a few paintings and Leslie hung up all sorts of little thingamajigs.



Then the bedding came on Sunday, and Sarah had her final pieces. It was on backorder so we had to wait a month for it to show up and when it came, of course it didn't quite look like the picture. Sarah wasnt so sure if she was sold on the greenish components of the bedding, but when I said I could care less, she said great, and we decided to keep it.



The only thing left to do is stick a baby in there!

I'm Back

Well Im back, in more ways than one. I have been gone for what seems like ever. First in SD for a week, then at work for a planning retreat the last 2 days, and now I finally have a chance to catch you all up.
San Diego started out with a bust. Of course when I was planning, which I'm Mister Planner so should of thought of this, I forgot that I would be leaving for SD on a Sunday morning following 4th of July week in Vegas. For those of you who haven't driven from Vegas to So. Cal on a Sunday morning, esp. following a holiday, I'm jealous, its one of the most painful experiences imaginable, you know, that and childbirth. Anyhow, I realized my error when I pulled out of my garage at 10 a.m. last Sunday and got ready to turn onto the freeway. In a split second I saw my whole day gone, engulfed in a nightmarish-traffic jammed-rage invoking-delirium of near nervous breakdown levels, and I changed my mind. I decided not to go down the 15, but to take some back desert roads down through Needles, out to Barstow, and then south from there. It was still busy, and its quite a few more miles in distance, but the stopping-starting, paranoid rush was avoided. Nevertheless, I made it to SD and was welcomed with a beautiful accommodation at the Sheraton overlooking Coronado Bridge and Island at the Harbor in SD.

The next few days were spent listening to lectures and attending workshops trying to find methods for working with failing students. I had the privilege of hearing Henry Wong speak who is a leader in Classroom Management, and while I teach in a virtual classroom, many of his platitudes apply. I highly recommend his book "How to be an Effective Teacher, the First Days of School" to anyone in the field. Douglas Reeves was another great speaker, and he is one of the country's leading researchers in academic leadership and student achievement.

After 3 days the conference ended, but I had to kill some time until the wedding at the end of the week so I hung out with a couple of friends down in the area. I saw Transformers, which is about as fun as a movie can get. The special effects were unparallelled and it was laugh out loud funny too. Also saw Die Hard 4, not bad, really intense, but not too memorable. When Saturday morning came around, I headed up to Temecula for a wedding of one of my closest friends from HS. It was a reunion of sorts. The 4 guys I moved out to Morro Bay with, the same 4 guys that I spent a majority of my time with the last 3 years of HS, were all there, plus a few others. Its amazing how well us At-Risk HS students turned out. Some got lucky and married well, others went to school, and others were just good at stuff, but we all are doing unpredictably well from where we were in 1994. The wedding was glamorous, the setting was beautiful, the camaraderie was life affirming. I owe you a few more posts, so check back soon.

c