Monday, August 24, 2009

School

We began the second week of school and I finally feel as if I'm getting into the mode. Up at 5:10 and off for school by 5:50 is the goal. That means progress on the garage and house has slowed considerably. We finished the north side tonight and now we are ready to move to the front. There is only the south end where I have to be up in the air quite so high. That isn't enjoyable at all! None of this would be done without the help of my wife who climbs to the top of the scaffolding and nails, tapes, or generally does whatever must be done. I am so fortunate to have a partner in such projects. She did say that this is it, no more large-scale remodeling projects. My goal is that ever elusive $60 per month heating bill for the winter. Much care has gone into sealing cracks, taping the insulation joints and then wrapping the house in Tyvek. God has been good, no serious injuries and no fights.
It is amazing to have a wonderful partner in this life journey AND go to school and work with a great staff. The start of our year was a little different than most but our department members responded in their typical business-like manner. I think that is what frustrates me the most about NCLB, we work hard, we use best practices in our classrooms and because our test is the ACT we will never make adequate yearly progress. We are not a middle class school and most standardized tests measure economic class. Oh well, all we can do is keep on trying.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Therapy


From the picture on the top to the picture on the bottom in less than a month! I don't feel bad for a mid-50's teacher who has made his mid-50's wife help on some pretty heavy lifting. Building something is therapeutic. The creating process to actually nailing one board to another is a great way for a teacher to spend their summer vacation. To the left was my 2007 garage project and now I am moving to the rest of the house and getting ready for new siding. I have begun to tear off the first layer of siding and then the second layer and finally wrap the old windows, install insulation board and tyvek. Then I will be ready to install the new siding. Who knows how long that will take.