Thanksgiving!

Sunday evening before Thanksgiving 2009. The forecast for the week ahead calls for beautiful Autumn temperatures with sunny days and cool nights... just like last week, how wonderful! October was terribly rainy here and I prayed for fall...even small prayers are often answered aren't they? I am settling down to do some school work before a short week (we're out Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving break) and thought I would take a few minutes to jot down some people I am VERY thankful for!

BJ - my best friend... he has to be the most giving husband in the world
(and he puts up with me which is difficult at best)
Jeremy - our son is kind, hard-working and funny.
Jordan - our daughter is compasionate, generous and witty.

Daddy and Momma - my parents love me unconditionally - and in my opinion, did a near-perfect job of raising my brother, sister and I.

My Family - brother, sister-in-law, sister, nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles - I love them all with all my heart.

My Friends - I have been Blessed with the best friends anyone could ever ask for. Though I recently lost Jill, the many wonderful years I had with her are cherished. I hope I can tell you about her someday... but I'm not there yet.

My Students - past and present. THEY are what make going to work happy for me.
(even on Mondays!)

My Dogs {maybe not human, but family regardless} - Raven and Sadie have been (and still are) keeping me company for the four years since my back injury. I can't imagine how lonely it would have been without them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

{Grad School Post} Synectics II

I hadn't planned to post again about the Synectics model, but after using it in class thought I would post a short note. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the students did with this! I EVEN thought it was successful enough to use again ;-) I think a different topic might have been better... something not as concrete as "problem-solving", and I had a tiny class to work with so they didn't have as many folks to help them come up with descriptors - but it worked in spite of all that. I filmed for Janette as she worked with a group (they did a GREAT job with it), so had the opportunity to see it work even BETTER than with mine... I think I'm going to take her lesson plans to my other classes (including the one I filmed using this model) and see how the rest of them like it.

{Grad School Post} Synectics

As I've worked and worked and worked on my lesson plans for teaching the Synectics model I've learned at least one thing - I am NOT good at analogies :-) Oh, I remember all the ones I've grown up with: dumber than a box of rocks, slower than a snail, smarter than a whip - you get the picture. I don't do a great job with thinking of them myself though. Maybe had some wise instructor used this model to teach me more in my youth I would be better at it?

For those educators out there that don't remember this model, first you have your students brainstorm descriptive words about your chosen topic. Oh, never mind - if you're interested - look it up. My head spins too much to repeat it all... but here's hoping that by using it with MY students - I'll help them be better at using their thinking caps to conjure up analagies better than me!