Visual History

My husband had been wanting to go to the Pacific Aviation museum for the past four years now, but something else always seemed to come up. That could partially be my fault because I always hated history class in high school.  Somehow I managed to do well in my college history classes because I'm decent at writing papers, but I still doodled in the margins of my notebook and wrote notes to my friends and made weekend party plans.   I also skipped a lot of class to go to the beach.  The only history class I actually paid attention in was the pacific island history class I took my junior year of college.  Something about princes and princesses gets my attention every time.  The funny thing though, is that I love movies based on history.  Especially, movies that involve Natives or African-Americans (Wind Talkers and The Tuskeegee Airmen).  I really feel like the delivery of the material is the most important step in teaching.  As a student, I loved to read, but not boringness that came in the form of a text book with a kajillion dates and facts that I had to remember for a test.  Most students I know are the same way.  They are able to learn through a combination of visual, oratory, and tactile lessons.  The museum uses all three.  You are able to see the planes, watch the film, listen to the documentary portions, and actually try flying in a flight simulator.  If only I were a history teacher, I would definitely have field trips to the museum every term.  It seems like such a great way to put students in the atmosphere and really get them engaged in learning about WWII and all of the things surrounding that era.  Here are some photos (from my instagram ofcourse)....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thought of the day: How do you make something boring (but exciting to you) seem interesting to someone else?  This is something I think about every term as I have students who complain (without fail) each time on the first day of the term, how much "they hate English." Fortunately, for them, I was once a student and know exactly how they feel, so by the end of the term, they have learned "how not to hate English" and they will also remember how much fun they had in the process.

 

 

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Charming Spaces

I finally updated my iphone! It's been over a year and I still would have had the old settings if it wasn't for my addiction to Candy Crush Saga.  That's the only reason I use facebook anymore!  I couldn't add it to my phone without the update. So, while I was updating the apps, I decided to add some too.  As a result, I now have Instagram, which I have been playing with all day today.  I was trying to decide what to take pictures of and ended up taking pictures of stuff on my desk at work.  This made me think of the different spaces that Natives spent alot of time in.  I looked up teepees and found some interesting things here: http://nativeamericans.mrdonn.org/plains/teepees.html

I think every space where you spend a lot of time should have some element of the things you love most.  I love my family, faith, nature, art, and literature.  I only took a few pics of my desk and the building (I'm sure I will be adding more later, I love this app!). 

 
Thought of the day: Where is your favorite space and what elements in that space represent your personality?  My favorite space is my living room.  The book shelf with all of the books and pictures of my kids, the black & white city scape art on the walls, and the plush sofas with pillows in bright jewel tones all make me content and happy.  It is a great place to be at the end of day.

Just sweat it out (stress that is)!

Between the two graduations, the boys' birthday party, teaching, paperwork, and trying to squeeze in time to finish my book, I have been really stressed out.  Throw in lack of sleep and I was in a particulary foul mood yesterday.  Then I felt like people were taking advantage of my niceness and I almost erupted, but managed to stay calm, but thoroughly frustrated.  Then I went home and everything seemed to dwindle down. Family always makes things better.  After a delicious dinner of soba with these really good noodles (House Ramen) that my husband found at the grocery store, we combined the boys' birthday money with the yard sale money from a couple of weeks ago and went on a small shopping spree for the family.  Our Wii (which we've had since 2006 when it first came out) suddenly stopped working and (after numerous attempts to fix it) we figured it was time for a new one, especially since we use it so much.   Our older son wanted to use his birthday/tooth fairy money for skylanders giants, so along with that we ended up getting a Wii U.  It's all set up and I can't wait to try it out later this evening!  The retail therapy definitely helped improve my mood, along with a little red wine.

This morning on the way to work, the tension started to appear again, but while driving I thought about this blog post I read last week.  It was so good that I actually ordered the book for my kids from Amazon.  Read the blog post here: http://freespiritpublishingblog.com/2013/05/06/guest-post-flying-frustrations-on-a-spring-evening/

The key steps to stress management provided by the children's book in the post are: name it (the problem), tame it (a solution to the problem), and reframe it (find something positive from the problem).  I went through these steps in my head and they actually worked.  This got me to thinking about the Native approach to stress management.  One interesting thing that I found was about sweat lodge ceremonies.  They were introduced as a way for Natives to re-purify themselves.  This reminded me of my life before my day job (which I started in December) when I went to the gym with one of my friends every day during lunch time and we sat in the sauna after our workouts.  We talked about; relationships, jobs, future plans, kids, shopping, etc. and the steam (plus the girl talk) always seemed to leave us refreshed, as if it had cleansed all of the stress and carried it away. 

Read about sweat lodge ceremonies here: http://www.barefootsworld.net/sweatlodge.html


Thought of the day: How do you stay stress-free?  My favorites are retail therapy (even something as simple as going to the grocery store for dinner items or a magazine), reading, writing (which is why I'm able to update this blog so much), and looking at random fashion stuff online, check out this video about scarves from Coach (so cute!): 

Donations and Secret Obsessions

On a recent assignment for my students, I had them watch a video and then write a paper examining one issue and stating how the research process was used in the film to discuss the issue.  The documentary "Alicia in Africa" told of the AIDS epidemic and how it plagues families in Africa, leaving many children without parents.  One paper I received that really made me think examined how each person spends their money.  The student exclaimed, "Some people spend $20,000 or more on cars they don't really need, while there are children in Africa fighting to keep their parents alive with antiretroviral drugs that cost a mere $30 a month.  We can do something about this, but we don't." Another student explained how he "turned the film into family movie night to teach his kids about the world and showing compassion for others." Needless to say, I was proud of them.  At the particular university I work for, the mission is not only to educate students academically but also on another level, which is hard to put into words. 

The documentary is heartbreaking, but you can't stop watching.  There is something about culture in general that attracts people.  The film is filled with cultural elements that attract viewers, then hook them with the cause.  We learned about three different appeals in argumentative writing; rational, emotional, and ethical.  This film contained all three, but there was definitely emphasis on the emotional.  I've seen it a few times, but each time I end up getting lost in that world.  It's like when you read a really good book from cover to cover and then when you're finished it takes an hour or so to get back to reality.  This film does exactly that.  Check it out here:

http://www.aliciainafrica.com/


Thought of the day: Is there some secret obsession you have that you spend a lot of money on?  I, for example, love purses.  I spend a lot of money on them and then lie when people ask me where I got them or how much they are.  I say things like, "The store was having a really good sale so it was this much (insert percentage) off," or "It was a gift."  I lie because I feel guilty and then have conflicted feelings, while trying to justify my purchases.  I mean, I work several hours a day, so shouldn't I be able to splurge every now and then?  Last year though, I made a New Year's resolution to give back as much as I could.  So I donated and stopped shopping, cold turkey, okay okay, except for the trips to Target (another blog post because I can't explain in one sentence how I have a LOVE/hate relationship with that store).  This year, my resolution was to work toward reaching certain goals (writing my first book, 10 pages left!!!) and eating healthier so I can finally wear the collared Burberry shirt my husband got me back when I was a size 4 (before kids), but I haven't forgotten how good it felt to donate.  In the video, Alicia Keys mentions toward the end that "everyone has this gap in their life, an unsettling feeling like something is missing that they can't explain.  Giving back to others will fill that gap."

Earning feathers

My son just celebrated his 7th birthday this past weekend.  Then, yesterday I attended my second graduation this month.  Last weekend I attended the Wayland graduation as a faculty member and yesterday I was a staff member at the Chaminade graduation.  It's a strange, but great experience to see the university life from all angles.  I always leave with memories replaying in my head of my own college graduation, which seems like forever ago.  However, because my son's 7th birthday was thrown in the mix this time, I was also reminded of when I was 7.  I lived in Greece back then, on a small island (Crete) and an even smaller Air Force base.  We always had cultural days at school, celebrating every culture with food, parades, and performances.  Close to Thanksgiving, my second grade class learned the lyrics and sign language for a Navajo song called "Go My Son."  I went home and showed my mom the signs.  She knew the song too and it also reminded her of when she was in elementary school.  It also happens to be a very fitting song for graduation.  Check out this Youtube version...

Thought of the day:  I love love loved the movie "The Neverending Story" when I was a kid.  Isn't it funny how things can take you full circle, like we are always retelling the same story, but at the same time that story is constantly changing.  My mom learned the song in elementary school, I learned it in elementary school, and now I have to teach it to my son because his 7th birthday and all the graduation stuff reminded me of it.  We've each learned the same song, but in different ways.  It's the remix, but the song is still the same. 

Journey to Motherhood

For Mother's Day...

They asked women on the radio what they wanted for Mother's Day

Flowers, gift cards, chocolate, sleep

I agreed

Then Mother's Day came, the day after your birthday, two weeks before yours

And I realized what I really wanted for Mother's Day, I already had


Thought of the day: Who knew how hard it could be to get pregnant?  It seems like infertility is on the rise these days.  I have polycystic ovarian syndrome and so do so many other women I know.  I also had a miscarraige 5 years ago. It was one of the most depressing things I've ever gone through.  I remember how I cried continuously for days on end until I couldn't cry anymore. I thought about this alot on Mother's day and how fortunate I really am.   How could I ever put into words how happy I am to have my children?