'Teaching' - first week

Folks are asking how it's going. All is well, but it's not quite 'going' yet. I have been given the opportunity to prep for class and observe this first week of school. This has meant hours (perhaps too many - perfectionism strikes again) of making PowerPoint presentations and brainstorming for activities. (Sitting in the corner of the classroom, which has itself pricked some of the students' curiosity.) So I am still nervous. If there is no class discussion, we may end up sitting around looking at each other for half the class. There a couple of gals in the class that I may be able to count on for relevant input, and I realize that I have friends and family that are confident in my ability to carry a discussion all by myself, but it will largely depend on the atmosphere in the classroom.

The night before

student teaching.
Tomorrow is my first day teaching. I feel I am more nervous than I would like to be, but I don't know how else anyone would feel about being nervous. It is common for student teachers to adopt one of the cooperating teacher's courses for the duration of the quarter. I will be teaching an Interior Design course for the time that I am at Boyceville. (3rd quarter) I took the primary course related to interior design the first semester that I was at Stout. My learning curve during the course of the class was evident. But the designing that has been done in my corner of the basement isn't so evident. I think I am going to have to provide more information than 'hang some pictures and get some plants'. (regardless of the fact that the walls aren't finished)

The course outline is built on defining Interior Design as a 'Functional Form of Art'. I can then use the definition as an outline - going from structural, to design, and topping with expression. I think I may need more than the five slides that I have ready for tomorrow. Every time I start thinking of interior design this is the picture that comes to mind:












During the celebration that we attended in the Masaai village, we were invited into this family's home to 'see what it was like'. It was gracious of this woman to allow us to come into her home when she knew that we were primarily curious. We couldn't see while we were in there. Most of my own understanding of the space has come from these flash photos. There was a smoldering fire in the center of the room and it was (to me) oppressively smokey. Like all the people that we took pictures of while we were in the village, she did ask that we would send her a copy of the photo.
I learned something about hospitality during the time in Tanzania. I don't know how many Americans would open their home to foreigners to allow them some gauk time. I also found myself questioning the excess of all that I have. I don't think I've been called to take a vow of poverty in the sense of abandoning a position (or potential position/job) in this society by abandoning the capacity to maintain it, but I also don't think I need as much as I've accumulated.

Whoa! That's Quite the Update!

This is a posted copy of my 2006/beg 2007 newsletter.

Greetings from my corner of half of the basement!

This June, Grandpa took five granddaughters (Sheryl (my sister), Amanda (Bobbie/Matt’s), Caitlin (Paul/Laurie’s), and Sarah (Marilyn/Pete’s) to Tanzania for three weeks. My time was extended by about a week to complete some observation/interaction time for one of my courses at the International School – so I was there a tad over a month. The question resounding in my ears since then has been ‘How was the trip?’ The answer, ‘Amazing’ hardly covers the experience. ‘Remarkable’ may leave enough open for interpretation and more information, but ultimately there is still no simple answer to the question. The experience was exhilarating and exhausting; relaxing and adventuresome; inspiring and heart breaking. There were moments of great joy and great fear. There were times we got on one another’s nerves and we continue to thank God for the gift of our family, each other, and the time that we all spent with one another. The world shrank and grew at the same time. The doorway was opened to the ability to consider, dream, and love on a global level. We have been challenged to consider America’s influences on the global market and culture. We witnessed the influences of Western society while marveling at the vast differences between the worlds of the peoples that we met and spent time with.

Will I be going back? Hopefully, or at least ‘going’. My future is planned as far as graduation and after that I have only rough ideas as to where I will find myself. I do know that this trip and the brief exposure to a fraction of the global community coupled with ongoing contacts with missionaries and family abroad would play a role in the shaping of my teaching philosophy and focus.

The trip, after the rest of my family arrived, was divided into four 4-day trips. From our home base with family, we went on a Dorobo safari, to the beach at Pangani, back to portions of Grandpa/ma’s mission fields, and into Maasailand. Each of these short trips stood out in stark contrast to the others in regards to the things that we saw, the people that we were with, meals that we had, and the activities we did. The unifying factor throughout the trips was the time that we spent together. The vast majority of this time was considered quality and good time, while some moments were just considered a bit close. An 85-year-old mzungu (who speaks Swahili) and his five granddaughters stand out a bit in Tanzania. We met scores of people, learned what tribes they were from and what families they had. Scores of people met us and they (and we) learned which of us are ‘binti’ (single – Amanda, Sarah, Caitlin, and me) as opposed to bibi (mothers - Sheryl).

I am attempting to conjure up the paragraphs that would encompass all that has been ‘news-worthy’ over these past two years. I was violently ill the spring of 2005 – with about 10 days encompassing final projects and exams that I was unable to get out of bed. I have come through the ordeal much more careful about getting enough sleep and heeding warning signs about stress levels. Throughout that summer I spent hours every day kayaking Tainter Lake healing and recovering (or something like that). Mid summer I took off to the apostle island area to go on a guided kayak tour over a ship wreck. It was a beautiful trip and solidified my personal desire to take off on a bit of an adventure once a year. As it turned out, the next summer I ran around London for an afternoon. (and did see a lot of pigeons)

Also the summer of 2005 Sheryl and Mark moved to Eau Claire from Albuquerque. They married August 13 and the next day I ripped off the end of a finger. It was torn from the outside edge of my middle finger up, crushing the bone – I left a miniscule strip that was apparently large enough to house enough nerve to someday again have feeling. All-in-all it was an eventful summer. The finger has healed although it will never look the same – it is a continual reminder that no one else pays overly too much attention to the length of my digits. At the beginning of this December, one of the 5-year-old girls in my Sunday School class did pray that God would help me not cut off my finger again – I wholeheartedly agreed with her. Sheryl and Mark’s launch into married life has been much less painful or disfiguring and we enjoy their general ‘nearness’ and frequent visits.

I did end up cutting back on my class load that semester as it would’ve been difficult to type and keep up without being able to type. The injury healed as an open wound and it was months before I could go without the bandages. I did have the bandages off by the time my mother cut off the end of the middle finger of her right hand. She did a much cleaner job of it and hers now looks normal. She, however may have severed both bilateral nerves that service the tip of the finger and she seems to have less sensation than I do. With her excellent nursing skills; the practice that she has at work and had on my wound, she healed without infection as well. As is evident – it has been a bonding experience for us to discuss and compare sensations and phantom pains and such.

The spring semester of 2006 was difficult. My class load was heavy and I had courses to finish carried over from the semester that I was ill. Shortly after the New Year the dream was hatched for the Tanzania trip with Grandpa. Added to the deadlines were visas, passports and itineraries. Grandpa phoned much of the foot work in these areas and then family in Tanzania provided the needed (and more) support from the Tanzania side of the Atlantic. The first of June I flew out for Tanzania, elated and terrified. But not scared enough to stay in Heathrow Airport and miss out on London. I met a group of people at the airport and several of us hopped a tour bus and saw as much of London as quickly as possible. (My photos of London are on a CD that refuses to cooperate, so if anyone knows how to reach the unreachable, let me know.)

Africa is half a world, and now (amazingly) half a year, away. My final semester of classes flew by and I am now reeling at the thought of being done with university classes. I feel at home in a classroom, which at least validates the idea of teaching. I will be student teaching this spring in Boyceville (Grandma Peterson’s hometown) and Bloomer and will then be done with the degree. Come July, the sky’s the limit – or rather the job opening is the limit. I will be graduating with a B.S. in Family Consumer Science Education with minors in Chemistry and English Literature. Contrary to what I had thought, this will not enable me to be a licensed teacher (in a public school in the US) in Chemistry (or Lit). What all this will mean for a job, I have no idea. I am reminded that the degree is meant to open doors, but at the moment am not even sure where to knock. Luckily I still have a semester of teaching to focus on. There are multitudes of opportunities to teach English abroad and I am strongly considering various options in this area. With increasing numbers of students graduating with significant student loans, organizations are becoming more obliging to work with those who are in debt.

Launching:

I had, for quite sometime, been typing up thoughts, observations and such (with photo enhancement) as a word file. With encouragement and a name from my Dad, this habit became my ‘blog’ (web log or journal, “Basement Blog”, in May of 2006. The frequency of ‘posts’ (entries) is indirectly proportional to impending deadlines, but I enjoy the outlet nonetheless. My existence is expressed in a wide variety of pursuits and passions, certainly not limited to this blog. There is much more to life than the loss of half a digit (with lots of pictures), the chemical balances of my fish tank (with fewer pictures) or the cricket hordes in the basement (no pictures – yet). When I returned from Tanzania I focused on organizing and printing the hundreds of pictures that I (and the girls) took while there, but I did not get many of them posted on the blog. I intend to ‘back-post’ and share some of the best.

I find myself reaching the end of one significant stage in my life -- my degree (finally) completed. I’ll resist the temptation to claim that I am standing at the edge of a precipice and wondering in which direction to leap, but my emotions are somewhere in that vicinity. I would covet your (continued) prayers concerning strength for the final stretch and clarity of direction for the next step. I have stated that my life and direction are my Lord’s and I would only ask for the presence of mind and heart to head in the direction of the door that is open.

With Love,

Kristi

orchids and Rorschach

Sheryl, Mark, and I went to the conservatory today. The company was delightfully invigorating. Conversing with the two of them challenges me to think.This is a rather small orchid. The background, as it often does, showed the physical structure of the greenhouse. I did a 'watercolor' effect on the picture with my photo image program. I would like to learn to paint someday, but right now it is only an expensive, time/space-consuming dream, so I'll make the computer do it.I think this reflection photo looks like the old Disney wolf is in it. I don't know what this says about my personality though. (The blue half moon to the right and low of center is his eye with his mouth going to the left and he's going to eat something.) The movement in the water is created by the curious koi mulling about near the surface. The black portions of the reflection are the beam structure in the sky roof.


I have leaned how to frame photos (click on 'photo frame') and have been enjoying the effect - boundaries can be a good thing.


"The artist doesn't see things as they are, but as he is." - Anonymous

Today I haven't seen myself as an artist, so I don't know where that leaves me.

Pene wears socks for school

but she doesn't like to.

Our final assignment for Secondary Reading was to write an instructional booklet for our students. My Family Consumer Science group chose to instruct on the topic of basic survival skills for the fledgling young adult. I got to write the laundry portion. I enjoy doing the laundry -- to the extent that Sheryl has not 'let me' do her laundry as it seems a bit too odd. I think it is magical that dirty clothes can be put into a machine, buttons pressed and then largely ignored until CLEAN! (I say largely ignored because we have a front loading washer with a window in the door - Rainman knew what he was talking about.)
The first step of my laundry instruction booklet was to 'Find Clothes'. I think that any school assignment that allows you to throw your laundry about the house and then take pictures of it is a pretty fun assignment. The picture of Pene wearing my socks was a part of this 'Find Clothes' step. She looks about as happy as she was about the entire process.
The only possible secret in laundry is the sorting process. So I guess there isn't much magic in that. I realize knowledge is supposed to sap the wonder, but it remains wonderful to me.


Grades are in and are good. I had completely blanked on my Quantitative Analysis midterm, but did well on the final. Environmental Chemistry did answer my questions about the fish tank. Simply stated, the introduction of the oxygen with the underground filtration oxidizes the nitrites to less-nasty-for-the-fishes nitrates. Waste-water treatment plants have a similar step in their processes. I thoroughly enjoyed my environmental chemistry course. The direct application of the science was precisely how my head wants to think and anytime you can learn how to save a few fishes it's gotta be a good thing.

My next step is the direct application of my teaching skills. I enjoy teaching, but I am sure that I will have much to learn about the real-life application of planning, structure, and classroom management. I am thankful that I have been teaching my Sunday school class each week, but somehow doubt if classroom management of 4-year-olds will be the same as high school. At least the four-year-olds are smaller than me - standing up goes a long way.

After graduation - I don't know where I go. I am not the type of person who plans well (I am actually quite uncomfortable with set, long-term, binding plans). I hope to head toward an open door rather than a closed one.

mouse boogers and humble pigs

This is my Birthday card from Sheryl, Mark, Brook and Guinness:

We laughed out loud.

It has been a wonderful birthday. My canker sore is finally healing. I got to wear my favorite socks. My cross stitch bird looks like a bird. (kinda) I got to watch Charlotte's Web with Sheryl, Mark and Brook and to be with Brook a little more before she flies home. I went to Michael's craft store and didn't spend a lot of money. But I did get 2 calendars for $.50 a piece - there are lots of things I can do with calendars... I have bookmarks for each of the books that I have started and not finished! - this way I at least do not have to reread what I had started, so some time is not wasted. I got to start listening to Bill Bryson's A Brief History of Nearly Everything, which, it turns out, is 'my kind of book'. - full of fun facts and party trivia. (I'm not sure why I don't party much...)

The night before last I developed a bit of a life plan (it bein' the new year and all) for the next three years. (I graduate this spring - attention deficit or not) This plan is certainly not set in stone, but is productive and will be good for helping me to get to wherever it is that I am going. I can only hope that when I get to where I'm going, there are days like today.


"Space curves in a way that allows it to be boundless but finite. Space cannot even properly be said to be expanding because as the physicist and Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg notes, "solar systems and galaxies are not expanding, and space itself is not expanding." Rather the galaxies are rushing apart. It is all something of a challenge to intuition." p 17 A Short History

I suppose something a akin to the pool balls rushing apart but the table is not expanding - except there is no 'table' because without the boundaries that are defined by the playing surface for the balls - there simply is no table - or universe - or galaxies - beyond where the expansion has already occurred. As a science dives further into itself, the trinity is not so strange sounding. It seems that we will be able to 'prove' the other dimensions more sooner than later - then what are we to do with the possibilities of life within our own planet? Perhaps heaven is a place on earth.