Posted By Christina M on November 22, 2011

1. If people are outraged about CEO salaries, why did they not protest in the streets when Obama, after promising an economic stimulus package, gave all the money to CEOs?
2. We have a man in the white house who makes fun of learning-disabled people. He is comfortable with the killing and disposal of inconvenient people, including the ill, the elderly, and the unwanted newborn. His wife makes fun of fat people. Yet President Obama is considered a symbol of Tolerance.
3. Following on that, people continue to look to President Obama and his party (which is, to be fair, quite tolerant of the Obamas and their bigotries) to cure inequalities. They continue to trust that in the name of all that is good, kind, and fair, the Obamas will bring about a new era of Tolerance.
4. Euthanasia, the movement to eliminate the costly or inconvenient, is lauded as an act of love, mercy, and Tolerance.
5. Republicans, who oppose targeting groups for extinction, are called Intolerant and labeled Bigots.

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Posted By Christina M on November 9, 2011

When I was student teaching early in the year, I ran out of time. Between teaching, and the associated homework for my teaching program, and the classes on the side, there was scarcely time to hug my kids or wash the dishes, let alone blog. After I finished my master’s program, I didn’t feel like there was much to say: no job yet, a messy house in need of repair, and a looooong wait for the pieces of paper that proved I was qualified. By the time I had the time and motive, I was a little embarrassed to come back to blogging. That, and I had sort of lost my sense of direction. I no longer felt like I was entirely the same person. So, embarrassed, I stayed away.

In some ways I really do feel like a different person, with different motivations, and different direction. My faith struggled for a while, but it’s healed now. When I started this blog, I was a person who knew I was never going to be able to achieve my dream of a bachelor’s degree; now I have a master’s. For two years, I was a student working toward a teaching credential. Now I am a teacher. (Even if my only employment is as a substitute teacher.) I never dreamed of spending my days with a different collection of kids every session, but as it turns out I love it. I love when I get to return to a classroom and I remember the names and personalities. I love when I am reminded of how quickly and easily first graders give affection, and when I am reminded of how quickly and easily seventh graders think, and joke, and engage.

I haven’t been to my Carmelite meetings in a long time, because of school obligations and then illnesses. My focus has spread out from children, saving money, and rejoicing in my marriage to all of those things plus a good many more. I am the same person, with the same core values, but not always with the same direction I had in a former life (the one three years ago). How do I explain that to any readers this blog may still have? I wondered.

Then the answer came: just get it out of the way, if you feel you must, and move on. Simple.

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Posted By Christina M on October 28, 2011

I don’t care what color it is, it’s called an orange, not a yellow.

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Posted By Christina M on April 7, 2011

Conceptual learning is all the rage. Sure, it has been ever since they introduced the first “new math” that didn’t do a very good job of teaching it; but the idea was there: method is fine, but it should never be taught in place of concept. And tricks should be avoided because then kids will just use the tricks and never learn (or understand) the concept.

The only problem is that line of thinking doesn’t work.

Kids need a combination of approaches, and one “great idea” does not a curriculum — or an education — make. They definitely should be taught, for instance, what the concept of multiplication means before they begin to learn how to do it. And they should have frequent reinforcement of the concept as they continue to learn it. It should be tied in with their other subjects, and tied in with money, and tied in with geometry, and tied in with home life. But that isn’t exactly going to help them pass the No Child Left Alone tests, now, is it? Once they understand what the concept means, they then have to learn a number of other related subjects or the conceptual knowledge isn’t very useful. They have to learn when to use the function. And when not to. (Is it multiplication or division? Or is it subtraction?) They have to learn how to apply it to story problems. (Now that I know it’s a multiplication problem, which numbers in the question do I multiply? What does the answer mean?) And they have to learn — no matter how much it rubs the wrong way — rote facts.

When a child first learns what multiplication is, it’s helpful to have them figure out the answer instead of calling up memorized facts. If they have to figure out that three times three is nine by counting the cherries in each bowl, they will understand the concept much more clearly than if they are simply told. But eventually one hopes they already understand the concept, and they need ciphering skills. Concept without skill is useless. That’s where memorization comes in. They should learn that 3×3=9, every time. They should not have to figure it out again and again. Do you have to look up your phone number every time someone asks you for it? Of course not. Even though looking up numbers is a useful skill, eventually your time becomes more valuable than that, and you memorize the phone number. The same goes with math facts. If a child has to figure out three times three every time, he is going to be slowed so much in his ciphering that he will get behind in his seat work and homework. Eventually, he will be behind in his math learning.

Which leads to the next point. Teaching “tricks” may not aid conceptual knowledge, and therefore may not be a good way to introduce the material. But once they understand a concept, mathematical ciphering tricks can be a very effective way of mastering facts. If you refuse to teach a child the “tricks” the smartest kids will figure them out anyway, but those who don’t give it much thought, or those who don’t naturally look for alternative angles may not. All it does when you withhold the tricks is widen the gap between the “smart” kids and the “average” kids. It hurts those who most need the help. So yes, teach the concept, and teach it well. Cement it. Review it. Practice it. Review it some more.

And then tell them that the digits of a multiple of 9 always add up to 9, and that every other multiple of six rhymes. Give them every help you can. Set them up to succeed, however possible. And then review the concept some more, just to reassure yourself that you haven’t harmed them by rote memorization.

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Posted By Christina M on December 31, 2010

I’ll admit it: I’m a time management and organization junkie. I can’t resist a nice, indulgent Lifehacker session. I’ve been known to do weird searches there for fun. Recently, for example, I did a search for “lists” and found an interesting looking piece of webware called Workflowy. Will I use it in the long run? Who’s to know? But it opens up all kinds of possibilities in my mind; and really, that’s where the adrenaline comes from, anyway. Unfortunately, it does not come from organizational success.

One thing that I found in the process of my latest session, though, was a slew of articles about how to manage to-do lists. And as I read the articles, I realized that at least there’s one thing I’m doing right in the time-management arena. I’m using TeuxDeux.

TeuxDeux is a simple, scrolling calendar-ish thingie. It shows five days at a time, and has another section always showing labeled “someday.” The simplicity may well be why it works so well for me. I have this tendency to over-complicate things, and TeuxDeux makes that impossible. You enter an item in the space above a day (the program always puts today in the center, as the default, but you can scroll left or right.) It puts it on that day as a list item. When you are finished doing the item, you can hover over the item until it highlights with a strikethrough, and cross it out. Everything you have on Monday’s list that isn’t complete will automatically move to Tuesday. You can also move items manually with a drag-and-drop interface that works smoothly and simply.

And no, in case you are wondering, I am not being paid to endorse this site.

What really works for me might work for you, if you also tend to over-complicate your efforts to get organized. I only put on a day the items I realistically think I can and will accomplish. Everything else gets moved to a future day. Even if I have 30 items on tomorrow, I only have 3 or 4 items on today. It makes me trim it down to the non-distracting essentials. And then, trimming the list that remains on tomorrow, which I will do tomorrow, makes me prioritize again. It keeps things in perspective. It also gives me the chance to see when an item has gotten shuffled for a week, and ask myself if it really is something essential, and whether I really intend to do it.

If you keep a to-do list, whether you use a program or website like this, or a piece of scratch paper, I recommend that you keep your daily list to a minimum. If you use a calendar or other dated list, don’t put too many items on any date. If you use a single piece of paper, keep a second page for your master list, so that you can keep your actual daily list trimmed. It feels great to see your list complete at the end of the day… and it is much easier to get started when you haven’t overwhelmed yourself before you even began.

Oh, and one more thing: if you read Lifehacker, save it for when you have lots and lots of time.

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Posted By Christina M on December 26, 2010

Please offer emergency prayers for baby Marcus. He’s hospitalized with RSV and getting worse.

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Posted By Christina M on December 22, 2010

Directv and Directory Assistance are not the same thing. You cannot add services to Directv by calling Directory Assistance. Even if you called Directv, they would not let you add services. And, by the way, calling Directory Assistance costs $1.25. Every. Single. Time.

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Posted By Christina M on November 28, 2010

One of the hardest things for a child to get over is when their God image hurts them. We all have images of God… the father or mother who represents goodness to us; the aunt or uncle who teaches us about God and seems like His voice to us; the authority figure, the early figure of love, and so on. In a sacramental sense, these people who give us a face to attach to God help us, as young people, to see the unseen.

But they are fallible. Sometimes these faces that we think of as representing God hurt us. A parent, a pastor, or a neighbor who seems to be God’s presence in our life will eventually let us down because he or she is not perfect; and if that person lets us down in a big way, it may not only feel like we can never forgive and heal, but it may feel like it was God Himself who hurt us.

But it isn’t.

The person who harmed you wasn’t God. God was the one holding you, rocking you, consoling you, and hurting with you. The person who looked the other way while you were being hurt wasn’t God. God was the one whispering in that person’s ear “Have courage, my child. Tell the secret. Help the victim. Do what you have to do.”

And you hurt because the person who hurt you didn’t stop, and the person who knew didn’t find that courage. And you blame God, because that person who loved you, and knew you were being hurt didn’t love you enough to do anything about it. And if they love you and don’t love you enough to help you not to be hurt, you reason, God also must not love you enough. So you turn your back on Him.

If God’s rules, and God’s representatives, don’t do the job, then you’ll create your own god, who will serve your needs. You’ll redesign God in the image of  how things should have gone.

The problem is you aren’t really redesigning God; you are only re-imagining those humans you thought represented Him. You are picturing what they should have been like, and how they should have behaved. And when you attach that picture of the people who harmed you to God, you reject the very one who does love you enough to help you.

He loves you. And He only wants what is good for you. It was not his will that you got hurt. It was his great pain. He loves you so much, all he wants to do is help you and heal you; but when you run away from Him, you reject that healing.

I understand why you find it hard to trust Him. And He certainly understands. That is why He is still waiting, with open arms, to comfort you. Pour out your pain and let Him.

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Posted By Christina M on November 20, 2010

I think one of the biggest sources of unhappiness in the world is that we don’t know what happiness is. I think that, in order to be happy, we must know what happiness isn’t.

Pleasure isn’t happiness. Pleasure may be fun, may be enjoyable, and may even at times come with fulfilling results. But it also may not. Pleasure is the nice — pleasant — feeling we get from things we enjoy, like backrubs, compliments, or ice cream. There is nothing inherently wrong with pleasure, but there is also nothing inherently right about it. Some forms of pleasure may be harmful, and some forms of pleasure may be immoral.  Just because something feels good does not mean it is a form of happiness. A person who takes a pleasure-inducing drug, or receives a really great Christmas present may well experience pleasure while receiving no happiness at all; because happiness comes from within. If pleasure were the same as happiness, there would be no suicide as long as ice cream is around.

Gratification isn’t happiness. Gratification is getting what we want. Sometimes what we get is pleasure. Sometimes it is the fulfillment of a goal or other more esoteric desire. It can be power, or hedonism, or a lack of want. But it does not lead to growth. When we do not grow we stagnate, and too much gratification without effort or self-discipline can lead to stagnation. Getting what you want isn’t necessarily bad, but it isn’t happiness. Even if we get that nice, warm feeling of pleasure with it.

Success isn’t happiness.  Convenience isn’t happiness. Luck isn’t happiness. All sorts of people who have all of these things still go to bed sad, depressed, or even suicidal.  Because not only are they not happiness, but they are also not things that can cause happiness.

The reason is that happiness is internal, and all of these other things are external. Happiness — true happiness — is joy. It is something much deeper than a feeling of knowing you can get what you want. The old saying says “Happiness isn’t getting what you like, but liking what you get.” Attitude is where happiness is born, not circumstance.

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Posted By Christina M on August 26, 2010

It was both a relief and a frustrating when I heard someone refer to a spot in their home as “Laundry Mountain.” A relief to know that someone else has the same term, and that I am not alone in the struggle; but a definite frustration to think that this struggle may be truly universal. Will I ever catch up?

Well, today I don’t have some magic cure for shrinking the mountain; but I do have a small tip to help keep future laundry a little more manageable. The three hamper system. Each room (at least those belonging to people old enough to do laundry) gets three hampers. Sounds like a lot, right? Sounds like a space hog. But it isn’t, if the three hampers nest. Stack the three hampers nested one in another in another, and use the top hamper as your laundry hamper. When it gets full, you separate the three hampers, and choose a color to wash. White? Ok. Put all the whites into one empty hamper and everything else into the other. Presto, you have a single load sorted and ready to wash, and the whole load gets put away in one room, so it is easier to put away as well. When you’re done, you have one hamper with your other clothes, one empty, and one just emptied when you washed. You nest them again, and they’re back to taking up the space of a single hamper.

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Tags: housework, laundry, tips