Wednesday, November 29, 2006

To Answer Your Questions...

We could here more about T, any long term plans for you all. Is he still looking for a job nearby?

Actually he ended up getting that job I told you about a while back. He starts on Monday and we are both excited for the change. The job involves some travel, but is mostly based in the Boston area. We decided to wait 6 more months before he moves in though. We both feel good about that decision. When he's working out of Boston, like he is all of next week, he'll spend every night here. But when he's based in another state, we'll still have our space.


How's school going? (Graduate stuff, not your day job.) Tell us about that!

Ugh. Well, as you know, I am taking my second to last graduate class. It started out as a breeze, and the class itself is still easy. But I have a gigantic research paper due 3 weeks from tomorrow, and I haven't started yet. I mean, I don't even really have my topic yet. I also have a lot of smaller papers due, so I've been working on getting those done so that I can fully (yeah, right) focus on my big paper. The big paper needs to be about a problem facing schools, and a way to resolve the problem. I need 10 journal articles that examine a solution to the problem. Half should be supporting one way, and the half should be against it. Then I need to state my opinion. I'm open to any and all suggestions for topics.

How about the boys' Hanukkah wish list? What WAS on that Thanksgiving day menu? How is Brooklyn? Is the WW thing still on track?

The boys really don't have a wish list for presents. Every catalog that comes to the house they grab and say they want every item in them. They are getting an easel, art supplies, books, and dramatic play items. Josh is also getting a doll, and Jacob is getting the kiddush cup he wanted :O)
Thanksgiving Day menu was delicious. We had the obligatory turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Plus gratin potatoes, twice stuffed sweet potatoes, grilled root vegetables, asparagus, brussel sprouts, and broccoli and cauliflower with melted cheese. For dessert there was an apple crisp, two types of brownies, a pumpkin roll, and an ice cream cake. (all homemade)
WW is still on track for the most part. Thanksgiving was a lost cause, but this week I'm back on course.

Any other questions?

-b

15 comments:

M said...

What about achievement gap for a topic?

M said...

what about retention?

b said...

ooh. Good ideas. I'll bet I can find more articles about either of those.

Anonymous said...

Your Tday sounded divine!! My week was a wash too, but I figured it would be.

Good luck with your topic and paper! Mel had great ideas!

Sandy. said...

What about special ed students and inclusion classrooms?

Maisy said...

Hey Sandy stole my topic - which I stole from her blog. Well, from there and a few problems arising at the schoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04168424641430220485
Sandy. I'm working at. You could pick any one of a huge range of students with special needs: deafness, Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD, epilepsy. (They're just the needs I remember Michael having in his multi-year class at his 3 teacher school...)

Ali

Anonymous said...

Firstly I have a question.

Do you feel the existential nature of human existance means that by and large the human race may in fact die out at some point at which point I might get an icecream?

Sorry, I have a habit of sounding really intelligent right up until the point I actually open my mouth and start talking.

As for paper ideas might I suggest litmus because it turns a different colour when you add either acid or alkali. :-)

Seriously though, what level is the paper? What if you did a paper on illiteracy within the adult population and the need for lower education (basic reading, writing, and maths) in adults?

Or how about the need for tailor made curriculums for boys? There were studies done in New Zealand that said girls are more likely to achieve higher grades than boys in High School (College for you Americans) and this was due to the way the curriculum was laid out. Due to the curriculum being more theory boys tended to switch off and therefore perform poorly while excelling in hands on classes like workshop and technical drawing. If things like science were more hands on then maybe boys would be better at school and thus less likely to be maladjusted members of society.

Alicia said...

I think you should start by taking a stab at some of my Unanswerables.

J.Rowe said...

Achievement gap was the first thing that came to mind...You can find a ton on that topic.

Also, food allergies in schools.

I'm really excited that T took the job, great!

J.Rowe said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

What about financial shortfall in public schools? (i.e. more and more private funds supporting what was once entirely publically funded)

Anonymous said...

Not sure if this is the case up there, but here there's a real trend to hold back boys born in the summer and not start them in Kindergarten until they're almost 6. (I obviously didn't do that but have seen it a lot.) Researching that topic could have a dual purpose for you since you have two summer boys.

b said...

Thanks for all of your suggestions! I'm now try to see which of your ideas comes up with the most journal articles.

((( MK ))) said...

...now THERE'S a topic for you! ;)

Hope all's well.

MK

allison said...

Since I'm taking a leave this year, I got to miss the beginning of inclusion. My former colleague all think it's going swimmingly (NOT).

How about girls vs. boys in terms of their readiness for Kindergarten? Avery will be 6 weeks shy of turning 5 if I put her in school when California allows me to (the cutoff is December some time).