My Own Little Piece of the Ocean
About three years ago, I got this hair-brained idea to set up a saltwater aquarium in my classroom. No big deal, I had set up plenty for laboratory studies in college so it would be a breeze. The whole idea was to be able to show the kids the real-life relationship between a clownfish and anemone. It’s a concept that’s in nearly every biology textbook I’ve ever read so I thought it would be a pretty cool to bring the pictures to life. It worked out better than I had planned. The kids loved to watch the clownfish nestle in the anemone. It reminded them of Finding Nemo which is one of their favorite movies. Who would have thought high school kids would be so fascinated with the relationship between a fish and invertebrate. The only problem was that I too had become fascinated. It wasn’t just something to study, it was calming just to simply watch.
I have always had freshwater aquariums in my home and classroom, but saltwater aquariums were always too expensive to own and maintain. With improvements in technology and a drop in prices of equipment, I decided it was time to take the plunge. The classroom experiment was such a success that I began working on a home project. It took months of planning and building and the help of family and friends to get it done. Two years after beginning the project, I can honestly say it’s been an incredible learning experience. The animals are the easy part, I spent my life studying them, but the maintenance has been tough. It takes an elaborate system of filtration and lighting to keep a reef aquarium going. For the most part, I’ve had great success and I enjoy the results every day when I walk through my front door.
It has been a lot of fun watching the fish, corals, and other invertebrates grow and interact with each other. If I can ever afford a new camera I plan on creating an album in the gallery so there will be visuals to go with the words. You can’t put a price tag on the hours of peace and enjoyment I get out of my aquarium. I have always found peace in the ocean and now I have my own little piece.
Bring Sherman to Our Beach
Running out to get the Sunday morning paper to read the comics just isn’t worth the energy anymore. The comics section of our local paper has slowly taken away all our favorites. Probably the most popular comic strip never to be printed in our paper is Jim Toomey’s Sherman’s Lagoon. Picking up Toomey’s popular syndicated strip might just be a way to boost Sunday sales for our newspaper and restore laughter to people at the Beach. It would give people another reason to buy the paper besides the weekly sales ads. So what would make Sherman’s Lagoon so popular here? It’s simple, we are the hairless beach apes that Sherman loves to terrorize.
Since we don’t have Sherman’s Lagoon in our paper, I subscribe to it through DailyINK to satisfy my Sherman fix. To give you a quick idea of what the strip is about I borrowed their introduction.
“There’s a lagoon called Kapupu near the island of Kapupu in the sunny North Pacific just west of the Elabaob Islands in the Palauan archipelago of Micronesia. Sherman the Shark, his wife, Megan, and a host of other ocean occupants call it home. Occasionally, the hairless beach apes with their so-called civilized human ways try to encroach on the Lagoonies’ tropical paradise. So seven days a week, there’s bound to be high jinks in this coral-reef heaven…”
Sherman is a great white shark who’s not quite all there. No matter how hard he tries, things always seem to blow up in his face. Along with his wife Megan and son Herman, friends Hawthorne the hermit crab, Fillmore the sea turtle, Bob the bottom dweller, Thornton the polar bear, and Ernest and nemesis Captain Quigley, they will keep you laughing every day.
I Make a Difference?
I was sitting here at my desk working on lessons for my AP class and people kept congratulating me. The look of confusion on my face had to be the first clue that I didn’t know what they were talking about. Finally, one of my colleagues told me to read my email. Apparently the principal feels that I make a difference. There’s a weekly award that our principal presents to someone he feels makes a difference in the school and the lives of our students. In my eight years of teaching, it has only been awarded to a science teacher twice. The first time was to me six years ago and then to Lauri, one of my closest colleagues, later that same year. Have we been that bad for the last six years that no science teacher made a difference?
Here’s my thought on the whole award. While I appreciate the idea behind letting people know that they make a difference, isn’t that what a teacher is supposed to do? I mean, I know we are supposed to teach students about a particular subject, but I thought one of the most important parts of job was to make a difference in the lives of our students, preferably in a good way.
I work at a school with the lowest demographics of any school in the district. It is the only place I wanted to teach because it’s where I belong. I’m proud to have graduated from this school, although, it was many years ago. I understand and relate to the kids because I’ve literally been where they are and shared many of their experiences Most of my day is spent just trying to teach kids how to cope with the troubles of everyday life. It seems that with each passing year there is less and less time for teaching actual content. It amazes me that my kids actually score as high as they do on the standards tests.
My purpose here is not to earn or receive given to me by my colleagues. The awards, or maybe even better, rewards, that mean the most to me come from the kids. When one of my kids is successful in the real world and comes back to share their experiences, that means something. When one of my kids goes off to college and comes back to share their experiences, that means something. When I run into one of my kids and I can tell they’re doing okay for themselves, that means something. When one of my kids gives me an invitation to their college graduation or wedding, that means something. Every time one of my kids tells me how much they appreciate the things I did for them, that means something. In fact, of the teaching awards I’ve received, the ones that mean the most to me came from my kids. For six straight years, I’ve been nominated by one of my kids for Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that, while I appreciate the sentiment, I’m not here for the awards, I’m here for the kids so I better go get ready for them.
A Fresh New Look
It was time to give the website a fresh new look to go with the new framework. I wanted to go with something clean with a touch of style. After spending hours looking at every WordPress theme on their website and searching the internet for more, the one that appealed to me most was a simple design called GlossyBlue. It is from a company called N.Design Studios and they offer two versions of the theme, basic and advanced. I found the background for the header in an old wallpaper image. It provided the clean element I was looking for in the header. With some style changes and a few simple plugins I have a look that I really like.
I’m Going Completely Organic
I’ve tried for years to make the switch to eating only organic foods. At first, it wasn’t easy because there were few places to get organic food around here and there was no guarantee that’s what you were getting. In recent years though, organic food has managed to work it’s way into the larger grocery stores and with the certification process they have now you can be relatively sure it’s pure. I’ve spent the last couple of years weaning myself off the standard foods and onto organic foods. My goal now is to be completely organic by the end of the new year.
So why am I going completely organic? That’s easy, it’s better for you and the environment. I’ve always prided myself on eating healthy and taking care of myself. Plus, we all know how I feel about the environment, I’m a treehugger need I say more. The Organic Trade Association was nice enough to put together a list of ten good reasons to go organic.
Organic products meet stringent standards
Organic certification is the public’s assurance that products have been grown and handled according to strict procedures without persistent toxic chemical inputs.Organic food tastes great!
It’s common sense – well-balanced soils produce strong, healthy plants that become nourishing food for people and animals.Organic production reduces health risks
Many EPA-approved pesticides were registered long before extensive research linked these chemicals to cancer and other diseases. Organic agriculture is one way to prevent any more of these chemicals from getting into the air, earth and water that sustain us.Organic farms respect our water resources
The elimination of polluting chemicals and nitrogen leaching, done in combination with soil building, protects and conserves water resources.Organic farmers build healthy soil
Soil is the foundation of the food chain. The primary focus of organic farming is to use practices that build healthy soils.Organic farmers work in harmony with nature
Organic agricultural respects the balance demanded of a healthy ecosystem: wildlife is encouraged by including forage crops in rotation and by retaining fence rows, wetlands, and other natural areas.Organic producers are leaders in innovative research
Organic farmers have led the way, largely at their own expense, with innovative on-farm research aimed at reducing pesticide use and minimizing agriculture’s impact on the environment.Organic producers strive to preserve diversity
The loss of a large variety of species (biodiversity) is one of the most pressing environmental concerns. The good news is that many organic farmers and gardeners have been collecting and preserving seeds, and growing unusual varieties for decades.Organic farming helps keep rural communities healthy
USDA reported that in 1997, half of U.S. farm production came from only 2% of farms. Organic agriculture can be a lifeline for small farms because it offers an alternative market where sellers can command fair prices for crops.Organic abundance – Foods and non-foods alike!
Now every food category has an organic alternative. And non-food agricultural products are being grown organically – even cotton, which most experts felt could not be grown this way.
Those are definitely enough good reasons to go organic. People have asked me why I don’t just go vegetarian. I really can’t see myself going that far because of the lifestyle changes it requires, but I am planning on switching completely to free-range meat. That will be a little tougher since it hasn’t become as popular as organic foods. The biggest adjustment I have to make is in my food budget. Organic and free-range foods are more expensive, but it’s worth it for my health and peace of mind.
