11 Years is an Eternity

Today marks exactly 11 years since the Buffalo Bills have been to the playoffs. In the grand scheme of their 50 year history, 11 years might not seem too bad. But consider this: Some of the current sixth graders were not alive when the Bills last played a playoff game; 11 years ago, the iPod had not yet been invented; Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and NSYNC were "cool" 11 years ago.

Interestingly enough, the Bills made the playoffs 10 of the previous 12 years before the year 2000. They were a dominate force of the 1990s. But those days are gone. The current young generation only knows the Buffalo Bills as a group of pitiful, pathetic, perennial losers.

For those of you who were too young, not yet born, or simply want to relive the infamous "Music City Miracle" play that eliminated the Bills from their last playoff game in over a decade, here it is. By the way, this is clearly a forward lateral and everyone knows that had the Refs made the right call, the Bills would have gone to the Super Bowl. Instead, the Titans went and lost by a yard.

Bringin' in the New Year with a Smile

I am three days into 2011 and am already labeling it a great year. Why? Well, let me rewind to way back when in 2010...

Two weeks ago. The final day of the fall semester at Chrysalis was amazing. We took a trip to Memorial City Mall for an Ice Skating extravaganza. Besides the event taking me back to my New York roots of cold winters and ice hockey on frozen ponds, it was a blast to see so many students ice skate (or perform moves that sort of resembled the activity called ice skating). By the end of the two hours, most of the students who stayed out on the ice were getting the hang of gliding gracefully--one foot in front of the other.


Next, I drove to Florida with Kiera, Macy, and Maverick to spend the Christmas season with family. While there, I ate a TON of great food, went bike riding, started bonfires, played Disc Golf, and saw a couple of movies: Tron and The Little Fockers.























But, nothing compares to this next thing. Kiera and I went to a diagnostic center to find out the gender of our baby...and we found out that it's a beautiful girl! The process of looking at the Ultrasound was pretty incredible. The technology that the doctors have is absolutely amazing. We were able to watch the baby move, stand, and practically do back flips inside Kiera's womb, all on a 32'' LCD TV screen. The 3D ultrasound allowed us to get a more detailed picture of what she looks like. Looking at the screen, staring at my future daughter, it's a feeling that I simply can't describe. I can only imagine what it will be like to see her smiling, crying, kicking, and screaming in just 6 more months! I am just so thankful that God has blessed us!

The picture below is everyone in the room looking at the ultrasound on the screen. If you look hard enough, you can see the tear marks on my mom's cheeks. We shared this awesome moment with Kiera's mom, her sister, and our brother-in-law.







Here is our beautiful Isabella; it serves as proof that there is a God...and He is good!

Always a New Yorker

Something struck me today. I realized that I have now spent the same amount of time in Texas as I did in Michigan for college. After four years of college, I had a lot of Michigan pride. I felt a connection with the state and even considered it my home away from home. In my time as a Michigander (Mish-ih-gan-der), I acquired a University of Michigan hat.
In my time in Texas, I have a pair of cowboy boots, a pickup truck, and a taqueria saved into the contacts of my cell. While I do not have much Texas pride at this point, I sure have begun to look like a Texan...and that is a little scary.
Here's what's crazy. I am a New Yorker, or at least that's what I identify myself as. However, I have not lived in New York for nearly 9 years! So, this begs the question: What defines us? What constitutes as our "home"? I reckon (see, there I go again) I will always identify myself and my home as being New York, even though I don't think I will ever live in New York again.



If the Buffalo Bills relocate to Toronto, I will feel extremely upset even though I am not longer in the Buffalo area.
Maybe I am overreacting. Maybe it's not so bad to realize that I am slowly becoming a Texan, at least in the material sense of things. But somehow, for some reason, deep down, I will always be living in Western New York. I will always be a New Yorker.

Sailing in Galveston Bay!

This past weekend, Kiera and I took some sailing lessons. It was a blast--the weather was beautiful and so was the sailing. Here are some pictures of our past experience.

Penicillin

This week, one of our vocabulary words is penicillin. Now, I taught the students that penicillin is an antibiotic derived from molds. Job done, right? Well, what kind of a teacher would I be if I didn't take my lesson to a whole new...applicable level? Behold, I show you what happens when you leave a fresh loaf of bread in the cupboard too long:


Now, I don't know if this is the exact types of mold that penicillin is made from; nonetheless, it's still pretty cool...and gross at the same time. To my defense, this bread is actually only two weeks old. I guess this is a great example of what happens to bread if it is not injected with a ton of preservatives and unnatural elements.

Enjoy!

Science Experiment, Anyone?

I have been absolutely disgusted at the articles that have been circulating the web about how Mcdonald's hamburgers defy the natural laws of science (literally) and do not grow mold or decompose, no matter how long they are left out.

Recently, a NYC artist left a McD's hamburger sitting out on her bookshelf for six months. Yes, SIX MONTHS! What do you think happened to that hamburger? Well, if you are slightly messy and sometimes dirty like me, you have probably left food sitting out for a couple of days. If you have done this, then you also know that when food is left sitting out, it begins to grow mold on it. If you don't believe me, just ask Miguel Lara. Last summer, he had to clean out my mold-filled coffee pot. The coffee was only sitting for about a week and a half and, I swear, it had already amassed an entire fungus colony.

Back to the hamburger. After six months, the hamburger looks exactly the same. Not one speck of mold can be found. What's even more disturbing is that this is not the only example of someone doing this. According to Yahoo! News, there is a school teacher who has left a McD's burger sitting out for the past 12 years! Apparently, she has done this to prove to her students that they should never eat fast food.

Here is a picture of the burger that had been sitting out after 145 days...it still looks as edible as day 1.

After reading this blog and looking at the picture, what do you think? Do you believe it to be true? Does your perspective of eating at fast food restaurants change now? If I were the science teacher, I know what I would be giving out as an extra credit assignment...

Are We Moving Too Fast?

As my students finish taking their second district benchmark (in the first seven weeks of school, the students have taken a diagnostic exam, two district benchmarks, one unit exam, and four quizzes...in my class alone), I can't help but wonder if we are trying to cram too much information into our students' brains too fast.

I came across a blog from the Houston Chronicle called, "Slow Math?" The article asks the same question that I just posed and uses something called slow math to make its case. The article compares the "Signapore math," which introduces concepts slowly and over a long period of time, with Texas' current education philosophy of introducing difficult concepts to students as early and rapidly as possible.

The Singapore method takes a "slow-but-steady" approach. The Texan method takes the "Rapid-fire" approach. Which is better? Is our goal to make sure Kindergarten students understand difficult concepts (and then forget it before second grade), or is our goal to ensure our seniors are graduating with a depth of knowledge that comes from years of practice and fundamental teaching?