New Article Published - Feb. 2012, Teaching Writing

My article, "Teaching Writing as a Profession," has just been published by the Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I wrote this article to help parents discover ways to mentor and inspire a budding author in the family.

You can read the entire magazine using this link. I hope you enjoy it!

Thanksgiving

It's just around the corner! What are you cooking up for guests? Me? I'm taking the four of us to Michael V's for Thanksgiving Dinner. All we can eat, no cooking and no cleanup!

Since all our relatives are on the coast, we don't make a big deal about holidays. However, a friend of mine posted this cute little goodie on her Facebook page and I thought I'd share it with those of you who are having company. This little treat looks fun to make and yummy to eat!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Carpal Tunnel - 2nd Update

I can say that this new keyboard has been a huge help with my carpal tunnel issues. It took me about a week to get my speed close to my old speed and even yet, I'm not quite as fluent. However, I get faster every day. I'm probably up to 45 wpm now.

As far as pain, it's MUCH BETTER! Not all gone by any means. I still have problems at night with numbness; however, I just learned from my doctor, that thyroid increases problems with carpal tunnel. I had my thyroid removed in January this year. She said that this could be aggravating the issue. We are still working on getting the medicine adjusted. So the good news is, this problem should go away with time. Maybe I will get a full night's sleep sometime in the near future!

Biology Class - Cells

We are just about finished our unit on cells and cell function. It's been a tough one! I don't remember half this stuff from high school - maybe because we hadn't discovered it yet - after all, it's been a few years! LOL!

To help them learn the parts of the cell, I had the students create cell models using icing and candy. We used tootsie rolls for mitochondrion, gummy worms for ER, and icing for for cytoplasm. Here's a photo of our end product:

Cell model made of candy.

I gave the kids a zip bag to carry their "cells" home, but most of them ate them while we were in class. Ooooh - tummy ache!

The vocabulary words for this unit were difficult, so I divided the kids up in teams and had them match the word with the definition using paper strips. That was fun!

Vocabulary matching game.

Today, we're going to review using a jeopardy game; then have our test on the unit. Next up: DNA

Carpal Tunnel UPdate

I went to the doctor and got some braces for my arms as a temporary fix until my keyboard got here. Yesterday, my keyboard came. Oh wow! It's going to take a while to get used to it. My speed went from 70+ wpm to 10! Today, I think I got it up to 20. I can tell it's going to help once I get used to it. I'll keep you posted.

National Novel Writing Month for Kids

National Novel Writing Month

Write a novel in a month? That's the idea of the creators of National Novel Writing Month for Kids. The idea is to encourage the kids to write by keeping track of the number of words written and offering a certificate of achievement as incentive.

Each person sets a goal of so many words (depending on age level) that they expect to write for their novel. Then, they keep track of their words on the website. At the end of the month, they are awarded a certificate IF they write the required number of words. Create Space offers all the winners five free copies of their work for free.

I've pitched this idea to the kids in my class. Let's see how many take me up on it!

By the way, if you're interested, there is an adult version (age 13 and up) of this competition: National Novel Writing Month. I haven't read through all the rules yet, but it appears that the word count is set for 50,000 words. That's a lot of words in one month! The website describes it as follows: "National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000-word (approximately 175-page) novel by 11:59:59 PM on November 30." No editing allowed - just write the words! The winners get certificates. No pressure, just fun.

I'm going to try it, but I'm not sure I'll be able to finish because of my carpal tunnel issues. But, hey, I can try! 

Carpal Tunnel Pain - Time for Help!

I broke down and gave up quite a few of my dollars to buy an ergonomic keyboard and mouse. Carpal tunnel is giving me a really hard time lately, but I don't have time for nor do I want to have surgery. In the meantime, I've been doctoring myself with way too much Advil. Not good for the kidneys!

So, I ordered an Kinesis Advantage Pro keyboard and an Evoluent Mouse.

Evoluent Vertical Mouse

Kinesis Advantage Pro Keyboard

From what I've read, these are both highly recommended for Carpal Tunnel pain; however, there is a 2-4 week adjustment period to get used to the new key placement. I figure with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, this should give me some time to practice and not have huge deadlines on me.

I'll keep you posted on my progress, both in adjusting to the new keyboard and pain relief.