Bring Me a Present.

       In the 80's and 90's people began taking their children out of school for a week or more to go on a holiday. They could get great prices on tour packages and the travel agents didn't consider school attendance.

       I'll admit that this practice bothered me a bit. I resented kids being absent from class. Yes, parents asked for work ahead, which I didn't have ready. But parents were apologetic and I was understanding.

       One day one of the kids was talking about going away so I said, "You've got to bring me back a present." The kid was uneasy and didn't know what to say. So to ease the anxiety I quickly said , "Bring me back a newspaper." I got a funny look and the kid said "Sure!"

      Sure enough when the kid came back he proudly delivered my present

      Now it so happened that I did a newspaper unit with my students. We looked a newspapers and I had them find parts like "national news, humor. classified ads, editorials etc. Some days we were knee deep in paper. They were also given a choice of many different writing exercises. Then there was always the tour of a newspaper to see how the real thing was put together.

     So accidentally I knew what I was doing when I asked the kid for a newspaper.

     I asked the next few kids for a present. They'd bring the paper and we'd pull it apart to see how it was put together. The kid always got his time to tell about his newspaper or his trip.

     Then I got, "My Dad's going to Russia. Would you like a paper?" Sure!  I got a few Russian Pravda's. Now we couldn't do much with them. It was just fun to see one.

     So over the years I amassed a great collection of newspapers in the bottom of the closet.

      When I retired I hated to put them in recycling.

     I'm not sure who had more fun with this or learned the most. "Me or the kids!

      It was one of those offhand moments where it turned out profitable.

My gr sevens from a long time ago.

Does Spelling Count?

     One of the comments on my post about cursive writing was on spelling. The comment was on her poor spelling.

     Now before I start off there's a caveat. I'm not a good speller.

    The comment was in reference to the use of spell check and that there was too much reliance on spell check.

    Spelling has become something very different since I taught language arts in middle school. Texting (Texting isn't on spell check) has brought about all kinds of weird inventions and shortcuts. I have trouble reading most text messages.

    Now I was one of the last to teach spelling. I thought spelling was important so I used spelling texts, rules and bribery. I had the usual test on a word list each week. If you had all words correct you got 110% . If you got three 100's in a row you could skip the next  lesson. I always had people who wanted to use the system. I was asked if they could get over 100% on their report card if the bonuses pushed up the average. I was the last teacher teaching spelling and I think it was important to give people spelling rules and skills. Many times people are baffled by spelling. For most things there is a rule.

     Now when it comes to blogs,

spelling errors are allowed. We are blogging for pleasure, not for marks! When we're using the computer , by all means use spell check. Keep on trying the choices until you find the correct spelling. 

      Some people write the way they speak which makes for an interesting realistic blog. They tell their stories from their own point of view and expression.

    Mostly , enjoy your writing. Have fun telling your story. Use the type of language and expression that gets your story across.

    Now when I gave assignments, I was often asked,"Does spelling Count?"  I had to say yes and no. You're not getting marked for spelling but good spelling goes a long way to a better assignment.

     Where do you stand on the spelling issue?

     Find any spelling errors in this post?

A Strenuous Backpack Trip

     I went along as a supervisor on many backpack expeditions. I got to go on a trip and people who needed and I provided an extra supervisor where needed.

     The longest trip I ever went on was in to Mt. Assiniboine in Mt. Assiniboine Park. Mt. Assiniboine is much higher than all peaks in the area and is a typical alpine shape. Mt. Assiniboine is 3618 m(11870 ft)  in altitude. No,we didn't climb it.

     A Venturer scout group ages 16 -17, wanted to do a five day backpack trip for one of their activities. We had nine Ventures and five supervisors...three man and two women. So off we went to Mt Assiniboine. Now these kids didn't need supervisors. They were super good kids. They were also in great shape.

     We started at the Sunshine Ski Resort which is a few miles west of Banff, Alberta. We found a pickup truck that was driving to the top and threw our big packs in and he took them to the top of the ski area. We walked up the 9 Km with our day packs. We found our packs at the ski lodge on top. By this time it was 5:00 PM  . We hiked three more kms and camped for the night. 

     The next day was a long hike over rough terrain. When they said Boulder Pass they really meant it. Boulders were the size of houses. We camped for the night and the next morning there was frost on the tent.

     The next day was a short walk to Mt. Assiniboine. We camped there two nights and enjoyed the area. We were at an elevation of 7000 ft. We were across from the mountain and in the late afternoon large chunks of ice would break off the glaciers and fall into the lake below. Some of these chunks would start off the size of houses and end up completely crushed by the time they hit the lake. the peak was about 5000 ft above us.

     Mt Assiniboine is one of the most difficult mountains to climb in the southern Rockies.

   On the way out we went over Wonder Pass which is a very good name for it. One more camp over and then a short walk out to where we were picked up.

    It was one of the most strenuous trips I was on but very well worth while. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

    The photos were taken by my friend Mike.

These kids would sing as they walked along.

MT Assiniboine is the peak on the right

I Can't Recognize Myself!

     You might have guessed this would happen. I spent a good part of my winter scanning photos. I found many photos of myself and I couldn't resist putting them out there to show my aging.


     Since I was a teacher I have a school photo for almost every year. That takes me to age 57. I've been retired for 19 years.

1954

1960

1973

1988

1992

Hey! It's Spring

     Yes, today is the first day of spring. It's not a day where things suddenly change from black to white...where winter suddenly disappears and we have this pleasant time called spring. No , it's just one more day of slow change in each day. Sometimes the changes are warm and pleasant and on the other end we have cold and unpleasant times coming.

    The first day of spring does give me a lift. It does give me more energy. 

    On Dec 21 , we had 7 hours and 39 minutes of sunshine. Today we have 12 hours and ten minutes of sunshine. So we've gained 4 hours and 32 minutes of sunlight since Dec. 21 2015. It just feels better to look at these numbers.

     Where ever  you are I hope you enjoy spring weather for your area.

     Now for those people on the other side of the equator you are not left out. You will also have changes to look forward to and make proper preparations for the time.

  
                     These photos were taken Mar 21 , 2012

                     This photo was taken Mar 28 2012. 

Outdoor Education

      From time to time in my posts I have mumbled about being involved in Outdoor Education. Three of us taught the program and Mike was the guy who had the passion for outdoors and developed the program.

      We covered things like food, clothing, shelter, safety, first aid, map reading,orienteering, cooperation and a few other good things to know when you're enjoying the great outdoors. The highlight of the course were the two field trips each class took. We would take one trip that involved backpacking and a second that involved cross country skiing or snowshoeing. Usually we overnighted in a rustic hostel or tented.  For November tenting we didn't go too far away from home.

     We usually had about 35 students with two teachers and a couple of parents for supervision. 

     The photos are from the top of Coliseum Mountain. The leader would start the hike and make numerous stops for rest and water. My favorite spot was to be the last. Of course , I had the little guys who were incredibly slow and out of shape. I got most of these little guys to the top. Going down was the same except worse. By this time the little guys were more fatigued and became fairly weak. Sometimes the feet had started to blister.They were slower downhill than uphill. Sometimes the other kids had been waiting on the bus for a long time before I got there.  

    I've talked to former students about this course. They enjoyed it but one stands out in my mind. One of these people became a lawyer and was on the library board with me. One day he told me that Outdoor Ed was the "funnest " course he ever took. His Mom and Dad never took him camping. He found it hard as he said I was a little short, fat kid with a big pack and it was hard but fun!"

    I think I was up Coliseum Mountain 17 times and the sister peak 12 times.

On top of coliseum before going down one of the teachers would tell the kids that they did a very challenging activity that day and to be very proud of what they did. We then asked kids to go to a separate spot and meditate on the activity for two minutes and then we started down.

We always carried the school flag and had the mandatory photo.

A happy group.

    

Hand Written Letters

       A columnist in my local paper had as a topic writing letters by hand.  It started me thinking.

       When was the last time I wrote a letter by hand? I can't remember. I've had a computer in the house since 1997. Before that, I can't remember who I would have written to. When I first left home in 1957, my Mom wrote me every week and I replied. My Mom and Grandma exchanged letters every week. There were many friendly letters in our local rural mailbox. The letters were newsy and always exciting to receive. Mom would read the letters to us many times. Am I about to sit down and write someone a friendly letter? No!  

      Now I know I receive at least one written letter per year. My sister-in-law hand writes every Christmas. She writes a very good letter.

     Because of the absence of personal letters in my mailbox. I'm not the only one who's quit writing letters.

    In a slower time it was pleasant to sit down and write a  letter to tell people what was going on in my life and to inquire what was happening to another person.

     So why don't I write? Well you can guess. Email has made it easier for us to make contact quickly  and easily. Why we can phone all over the place in an instant. In the 1940's, to phone Grandma long distance would have been very expensive and I can't remember if Grandma and Grandpa had a phone.

    Now I also have to admit that my cursive writing skills have disappeared. I could probably write in cursive form but I would really have to think about it. I've printed for more than twenty years and the printing is also getting rather rough. I've been through some old mementos here and found a couple of letters I had written. It gave me a rather strange feeling to see the evidence from my hand. So the keyboard has limited my cursive writing and printing.

    Now all this comes from a retired teacher. We taught cursive writing to the kids in the 1950's and 60's. I know these kids don't use cursive writing any more. 

    So have we lost something that is a necessary skill? Do we have something that will adequately make up for our lack of cursive writing? What's next? How will technology influence our handwriting or printing? How will our letter writing be influenced?

    There's been  an unbelievable change in the last twenty five years. 

Now I have to admit that my talented daughter wrote my poem beautiful lettering