Foundations

    





Foundations- what are they? Sometimes I think of them as origins, or beginings...then years go by and I think with more experience, they become personalized, individual- or more so anyway. We take with us the things that our parents, grandparents, loved family members, and childhood memories instill in us. The lessons we learned, the interests we hold, our morals, values, and the like, are all what we hold as "foundations".
More years go by, and what becomes of our foundations? Do they sit and fester, as a bad thing that haunts us? Do we think about them and occasionally visit them in our thoughts and daydreams? Do we hide them, and ignore them, because it's too difficult to remember them and hold on to them? Or do we cherish them as heirlooms and try to abide by them in our daily lives?   
    
     What is it that keeps us drawing on our foundations? I often ask myself, how am I like my mother or my father? How am I, or am I at all like my grandparents? Since I lost three of my grandparents as a child, I never got to know their personalities very well, but I do know some of the things they did. I have a grandmother who passed in her early 50's. I was in 3rd grade. Her husband, my grandfather, died weeks later, he was in his later 50's. My other grandfather was 53, I was 3 when I lost him. Never knew much about him, except for what he looked like, because I have some good pictures of him, and that he was a baker, he started a bakery that his step brothers took over after her passed.

     My grandmother loved to bake and I know she crocheted. She was a very loving grandmother from what I can remember. My other grandfather was a fire chief, and he loved to fish. He also liked beer and playing cards at the station on their down time, but I don't know much about all that.

     I have one grandmother who is still with us. She is 95 years old. I don't know her much, I wish she would have been the kind of person I could have gotten to know, but she wasn't. I have seen her a few times in the nursing home she is in, but I am having difficulty finding the time to see her on a regular basis. I love her, but she was always hard to love- now at 95, there is no reason not to love her!

     My foundations are strong, and clear. I've never questioned them. My parents are to be commended for giving them to me, and helping me to see how important they are to my life even now. I need to be aware that my own kids need a strong foundation- and even though we live in a different time and attitude, it is still essential for a good and wholesome and life, with many benefits along the way.

    
     As I get older, I see myself understanding the joy that some of my grandparents got from the things they did to pass the time. I am beginning to appreciate the craft of crochet, baking, and fishing! I also like beer, but with moderation. :)  These things are becoming essential in my life, and I wish to share it with others in some way. What way I'm not sure. I am still toying with "Tea Catering", but I am scared. I am not a business person, I am a teacher- so I still need to draw all my thoughts out on this one. I love to crochet, it is such a stress reliever! I have made 2 cute scarves and am in the middle of my first afghan. Now I am obsessed with various yarns with their textures and colors. Heaven help me! LOL

     With my foundations in place, and my thoughts in a whirl for the future-
it's a good idea for me to have tea!!!

Time for Tea!!!
E-

Thoughts to Ponder

                                                                                  

Our staff did a great job this week in qualifying for AYP, or Adequate Yealy Progress in the state of Michigan. I am very proud to be part of such a great staff and work with such wonderful administrators!

We truly are strong at Strong Middle School!

Going through the process of this endeavor, I realized that I would like to re-open an old project that I organized last year with my 7th grade students. We had bake sales, organized sunglasses day, and made a lot of money to landscape the front of our building. With the help of Home Depot, we were able to purchase trees, plants, flowers, soil, mulch and pavers! The project was very successful!

I would love to open that can of worms again, but in a big way! I am thinking of constructing a greenhouse to grow plants, herbs, etc. and continiue the landscaping project on a grander scale. Students could grow and sell fresh herbs, vegetables, plants and the like to fudraising for our school's upkeep on the landscaping projects.

When I was in Califiornia last week, I met a wonderful woman named Beth who is a Master Gradener in her area. She told me of school garden projects that were being organized with the help of Master Gardeners. She kindly sent me an enormous amount of resources for me to research and get a quainted with. I can now contact Master Garders in my area of Michigan, and get help with ideas for our school!

This is exciting for me, because our school is very multicultural and the possibilities can be endless if we could reach out to our families to generate "growing" possibilities for ethnic cooking! What a great contrast in herbs, vegetables, ingredients and recipes we could come up with!

It's nice to still have passion for my job after 21 years-

So many thoughts to ponder...

With that said-

Time for TEA!!

E-

Writing...

     I have been looking through my many journals in my nightstand from years gone by, and I decided to begin writing again. I have had many literature and writing courses between my bachelor's degree and my 2 master's degrees in Reading and Literacy, and have always wanted to take the time to actually try my hand at writing. I have jotted down many ideas and thoughts about what I would write about, and the only thing that keeps popping into my mind is what Jerry Spinelli, author of several young adult books, said to us at th Michigan Reading Conference 8 years ago! Write about what you know! I have heard many authors say similar things, as well as professors, so I guess they can't be wrong, can they?
     I write what I know whenever I blog-
So what's the difference? I do enjoy blogging about things...and I don't care that no one reads them! LOL! I do it maily for myself anyway-to "practice" I suppose.
     Well, I have begun a writing piece that I want to share with my fiance', and I am very excited to show it to him. We both love a good story. We are reading all the time, and listening to audio books, and telling each other if we enjoy them or not, or whether or not the other would enjoy it so they can check it out of the library next! Sounds so nerdy, but it's the honest truth, and I love it!
     I am intereted to see what his opinion of my writing will be. He seems to enjoy my blog, so I hope he will have good things to say about my more serious writing.
     I teach my students all kinds of things about author's craft, voice, transitions, strong verbs, and proper noun verb agreement throughout their writing- and I wish I could just sit and write with them. (Sometimes I do...for modeling purposes, but I get carried away, and they love to watch me go!) LOL!
     So, if anyone is reading this blog-please comment on my style or anything else for that matter. I really do want to hear your comments and thoughts, good or bad. I can take criticism -well-I'm a teacher whose been coached for years- I want "fixers" and "keepers" in my writing world now- and you are the experts!

         With that in mind-
It's time for tea!!  Chai!  Mmmmmmm!
E-