Adteacher

I got a visit from the very entrepreneurial Calvin and Ryan Sprague today, and I got filled in on their http://www.thisisouryear.net/ venture. They have really gotten so much business for their design firm, Pavlovvisuals (see http://www.pavlovvisuals.com/ ) doing merchandise for well known musical artists and local bands too, that they are now branching into the world of sports merchandise. The "Claws Out" shirt that they designed is very popular and selling like hotcakes. I know I'll be wearing mine this weekend and during the rest of the games until the World Series is over, and I am going to be so much happier during those games when I realize that I have on a popular shirt that some of my former students were responsible for. Go Rangers! I have so many former students that I am so very proud of. The list of students who are out there in the world working and doing great things is becoming longer each year, and I guess I'd have to say that motherhood and my lon

Every day this week when I have walked out to my car, I have realized that I missed out on the weather during one of the most beautiful times of the year. I was kind of sad when I realized it, but I have been so tired every day that I just had to go ahead and go home to rest. This weekend we have a wonderful 3 day weekend for the holiday that is both Texas State Fair Day and Columbus Day. I would love to go out to the fair, I only have a few weekends to get there this year. But I feel like I MUST catch some of the lovely Texas autumn. The sun has been out, the sky has been clear and blue, but the air is what really makes it special. There is a slight crispness, not really a chill, but a crispness. I love this time of year in this state, and I hate to go through too many more long workdays where I just miss the day. This weekend, even if its just a bikeride around the neighborhood... I will be outside. Ideally, I will be here though. The great Texas State Fair. Eating a Fletcher's

All CCE students, working on my class project. I guess pride can be a bad thing, but honestly, in the case of the pride I had today - well, I am pretty sure it is a good thing. I was always so happy when someone told me when I was a kid that they were "proud of me." I got to say that to a roomful of teenagers today, and I really meant it. There was a group presentation today and it went really, really well. The kids were good at their presentations, but they were also good at giving and receiving feedback and having a mature discussion without erupting into chatter and silliness like sometimes can happen in a high school classroom. I was just very proud! OK, proud talk is over... "In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's work.  It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years."  ~Jacques Barzun I hope that I can be around to see my kids, my students and my possible grandchildren sometime 20 years down the road from now. I guess by that tim

Concern is a natural thing. I am always concerned. I am concerned about my family, my students, my job, myself. I am learning not to worry though . Even though it has taken me 50 years to figure it out (I'm kind of a slow learner) I have FINALLY thought about it and realized that no matter how much I worry about something or someone, it does no good. All it does is hurt me. I didn't say I didn't have concern, but concern does not equal worry. Let's look at dictionary definitions of those two words. Worry -verb  to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret Concern -verb  to relate to; be connected with; be of interest or importance to; affect . Even though I think we commonly mix these two up, one is obviously more disruptive to a healthy lifestyle than the other. Worry causes negativity, concern is generally a positive thing. Hmm. Positive/negative? Which to be, which to do? It seems obvious when you view it in those terms. I don't know

So these seven were nominated by their teachers and are going to be honored by Mr. Moreno. I like it when we find those students who are motivated and seem to be pushing themselves really hard. I don't know all of these students personally because they are not in my classes, but I do know Andrew, and I can tell you that he has what it takes to be a professional graphic designer or photographer. I have a new photo that he took in the studio recently, and it shows promise! It makes me want to drink a Coke too, so I think I'll run for now. But yeah, congrats to these students!