New beginnings

9/8/12

One week of the new school year is done, and I didn't get cursed at once!  Looks like it's going to  be a good year (knock on wood!).  In fact, one student even made a special stop in my room to apologize to me for being sleepy in class!  She didn't want me to think she was being disrespectful.  Wow.  So far, it doesn't look like anyone in any of the five classes is going to be a behavior problem.  Of course, that doesn't mean they'll all work hard and learn a lot, either.  I can already ID a few students who will slack off and likely fail the class without a significant attitude change.  There's only so much I can do, and at this age (16-18), they really ought to be responsible for their own motivation.

The classes are all large: 28, 33, 38, 39,and 40.  This means less time for each student, which is not good. I do offer after school tutoring, but few take advantage of it.  The few who do, usually find it very helpful, but how do I get them there in the first place??  Many have after-school responsibilities (jobs, family care, etc.), and too few put their math class (or even school, in general) at the top of their list.  Very difficult to get them to realize and believe how important post-high school education is and how hard it can be to get accepted into a worthwhile program.  A high school diploma is simply not enough anymore!

Farm news is all about winding down the summer and getting ready for the winter.  We have a couple of blue spruce seedlings and one lilac to transplant, and the garden is getting to its endpoint.  It looks like we'll have lots of squash!  The tomato plants still have a lot of producing to do - is there anything as tasty as a garden tomato??  Sliced, with chopped walnuts and crumbled feta cheese scattered on top, drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette... yummy!  The squash will be good, too, though I have to confess I use them purely as vehicle to hold a slurry of melted butter and brown sugar!  Definitely not a low-carb dish!  

We're going to build some kind of dogbed in the garage for the dogs this winter.  I'm picturing a low manger, filled with straw.  Henry simply demolishes anything less durable, and he'll chew on the wood side of the manger, too, but at least he can't really shred 2x4's!  Our fancy electronic dog door would be fine if he didn't simply stand in front of it, triggering the door to raise, so he can stay in the warm house and still watch Jack (the barn cat) in the cold garage!  I'm worried that he'll burn out the motor!  So, he and Molly will spend their days in the garage and the outdoor kennel.  Don't feel bad for them; the kennel is 16x18, and the garage is insulated - they'll be fine (they've been doing it since last April).  The other dog project is to build some kind of barrier along the bottom edge of the kennel fence to hold the pea rock in.  Henry makes great diving pounces at the fence (usually when he sees Jack on the outside), and shoves massive amounts of pea rock right through the wire fence!  I can just imagine what the snowblower will do with pea rock whipping through it, along with the snow...  Not a good thing.  So, maybe strips of 3/4 inch plywood?  A double row of 2x8's?  Fiber cement siding??  Not sure yet!

Fred spent three hours in the barn this morning with our farrier, helping the farrier reset the shoes on all three horses.  The farrier, Ernie, is a very chatty guy - nice, but boy! does he talk!  I escaped earlier by going to the grocery store, so Fred had to do the honors and make like a hitching post.  There really does need to be someone helping, but it makes for a long morning.  I particularly dread it in the winter.  Standing around for three hours when it's about 20 degrees makes for a chilly time!  I just can't dress warmly enough...

Well, it's still nice out for now!