Our summer adventures have been keeping me busy and unfortunately away from my computer. I have a lovely Tiffany blue notebook that is full of ideas and thoughts that come to me as I travel, but getting those thoughts onto the blog has proved to be challenging. Hopefully I can soon work past my technical difficulties and learn to work remotely. Technology is not always my best friend, but it allows me to do this, so I will persevere. In the second full week of June we visited Paris. My husband, Jason, headed there for work and Logan and I tagged along as tourists. Travel with him is something I do as often as I can because it gives me insight into what his business trips are like and the stress he is under. As he travels we often hear comments from people teasing about his fun jet-setting life, and if I didn't understand I could be jealous. He has traveled throughout the United States and internationally to Canada (Quebec), France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, India, and China on business. What I learn when I travel with him is that business travel involves little time to adjust times zones, working at hectic paces in strange places, and little chance to enjoy the culture or scenery. Logan and I explored all over Paris, but Jason worked most of the trip. We did have one day together and some time at night for adventures as well. Sometimes he gets a break and is able to explore so I don't begrudge him that a bit. We took every minute he could spend with us and thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Have you heard that Parisians are rude and difficult? Paris is just like any other place you will visit. You will get what you look for. If you seek beauty and culture it is to be found in spades. If you expect the people to be rude and the tourists obnoxious you will find plenty of that too. On a past visit to Pairs we encountered a gracious host at a restaurant. He showed us around his establishment with pleasure, introduced us to the chef, and told us about himself. Among other things he had studied at Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. His English was fluent. He offered us the French menu because it was better worded and offered to explain the options rather than just handing the English menu. We happily obliged and had a marvelous time. Later, another American couple and their friend came in. They were abrupt and asked for the English menu. Our waiter spoke French to them and they spoke about him as though he couldn't understand them. It was truly painful to watch. They expected to find a rude Parisian and they found one. We expected to find a kind Parisian and we found one. The city is what you make of it. We left Paris as different people than the people we were when we arrived. We learned and grew in ways that only come trough experiences traveling. What are your favorite travel destinations for business, personal, or missions? I will definitely have more to say about Paris later, but for tonight, I must say bonne nuit.
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I tend to think deeply about things. According to 16 Personalities, a site where participants can take free Myers Briggs personality tests, I am an INFP-T. Often, when I tell people I'm introverted, they are genuinely surprised because I can be outgoing and seemingly extroverted and I have no problem speaking in front of others. In fact, I love teaching and speaking in front of large groups, but one on one meetings are terrifying for me. A loud party with lots of activity is absolutely exhausting and a concert with loud music and so much going on is draining. I LOVE my alone time, but not being lonely which are very different. (I'll say more about that another day.) I love to stare off in deep thought and although I may not be able to find my keys or notice something directly in front of me, I notice the flight patterns of birds and see the beauty in poetry. This doesn't bother me. Except the losing the keys part. That is SO annoying. But I have learned to appreciate that I love things others don't appreciate. That's a good thing. I don't need for others to love it for me to find it interesting. Today's word is a result of musings about birds. Have you ever noticed how a flock of birds will change directions together? I love watching this. How do they do it? I'm not the only one to ask this question. Scientists have studied the phenomenon and are still defining it. One site called it a "flight flock" while another called it a "maneuver wave." (For the record, I vote for maneuver wave.) This article from Audubon does a great job of explaining what is going on and how the maneuvers take place. Several types of birds move like this, but one group is especially intriguing, which brings me to today's word. Today's Word: Murmuration Four syllables. Pronounced: [mur-muh-rey-shuh n] Defined on dictionary.com (because it's too obscure for my OED) as a flock of starlings. Below I've posted a video of a murmuration. It is positively fascinating. The way they turn and move together is mesmerizing to watch. The sound is almost apocalyptic near the end as they get closer to the camera. I promise this is an entirely useless word that you will never need to know and will rarely use in your everyday speech unless you discuss the flight patterns of starlings regularly. But that doesn't make me love it any less. The word's beauty is not diminished by its unnecessary existence. Just like noticing movements in flocks of birds, noticing beautiful words is something that helps me appreciate the beauty around me. The Audubon article quotes poet Richard Wilbur who compared a murmuration to "a drunken fingerprint across the sky,” which is a captivating way to describe the undulating movements of the flock. (Undulating, another great word.) Go for a walk. Breathe deeply. Notice the little things, like how birds fly and move together. Contemplate what Jesus said in Matthew 10:29, "Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's consent." The video below shows over 10,000 starlings in a murmuration. Each movement is known by God, which is something that I can take great comfort in, even at the darkest of times. I love summer break. One of the reasons teaching appeals to me is summer break. My calendar runs June - May in my recently created bullet journal. I. Love. Summer. It is a time to take a break from school and learn just for the fun of it. Did you catch that? Not take a break from learning, just a time to take a break from formal learning. Summer is the perfect time to learn, grow, and explore in ways that just aren't possible during the school year. For the past several summers Logan and I have had a themed summer bucket list and a hashtag to go with it. We've had The Summer of Adventure, The Summer of Go and Grow, The Summer of Exploring, and The Summer of Progress. As you can see, I put some big things like trips on the list, but I also plan little things, like make paper airplanes or play Old Maid. I started it because I don't like the days passing and feeling as though we've accomplished nothing. We never complete everything on the list but we have fun trying. Earlier I wrote about the importance of experiencing things. The more children are exposed to the more they will be able to learn in a classroom. Standing in the Wright's Bicycle Shop is way different from seeing it in a textbook. At their childhood home actors put a on a show called "Coming home from Kitty Hawk" which is quite inspiring. I usually cry, but I'm weird like that. Don't believe me? Well, go to Greenfield Village and check it out for yourself. The Wright brothers' father strongly believed in the power of play and encouraged his children's curiosity by giving them educational toys, including a propeller toy and you see where that lead. No, building paper airplanes isn't usually encouraged in the classroom, but this is summer. Look up different designs then build a airplane landing strip to see which fly the best. You don't have to make it super educational by explaining the science behind the aerodynamics, but when your child studies physics and learns about lift, the lessons they learned through play will help the ideas click faster.
One of the saddest things I saw as a teacher was a lack of REAL outdoor experiences among my students. If you know me, you know I'm far from outdoorsy, but I do enjoy walking and taking easy hikes. If your child has done some hiking, they can relate to the mountain stories they will be reading about in literature. Students can tell all about building a shelter in a video game, but send them out to try to build one with whatever they can find in the woods. Suddenly Hatchet by Gary Paulsen gets much more intriguing. Once, on a walk on the I&M canal trail we saw a tree that had been chewed down by a beaver. That experience was priceless and way more valuable than only having read that beavers chew down trees. The time we've spent exploring the Morton Arboretum or the Stage Nature Center has helped Logan understand forest growth and decomposition in a way that is more comprehensive than he could gather from a book. Trust me, I'm not saying that ONLY experience is necessary, but that it lays a strong foundation for academic learning. This summer we have big plans. We are calling it "The Great Summer of Adventure" and using #greatsummerofadventure2018 to track our activities. I would be honored if you would join in our adventures. Come over and swim, visit a museum with us, join us on a walk at the nature center, but let's get out there! If you can't be with us in person, join in by making and displaying your own Great Summer of Adventure bucket list and hashtaging along with us. I'm waiting to reveal our list until Monday, the official first day of summer break for Logan, but if you would like a copy of my "Great Summer of Adventure" bucket list poster please contact me. I can't wait for the fun to begin! I love words. Really. I get super excited about them. My excitement would sometimes illicit eye rolls or groans from students, but that didn't slow me down. If the teacher isn't enthusiastic about vocabulary instruction how can the students be? I've read multiple books about the English language, books about language development in children, even a book about the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary, who's title contained the words "murder and insanity" so that was a must read. My love language is words of affirmation. I even made a list of my favorite words, just to see them on the page. I adore the way some words sound when spoken aloud. The pronunciation and sound of certain words is just requires them to be spoken. Have I convinced you I'm a big nerd yet? Anyway, I decided to share my favorite words with you each Wednesday. (Why Wednesday? Well, without doubt, I have a weakness for alliteration.) Today's Word: Undulate Three syllables, rhymes with rate or eight. It could also be pronounced to rhyme with lit or bit, but the first is my personal favorite. According to my handy dandy OAD (Oxford American Dictionary) undulate is verb with two meanings: 1) move with a smooth wavelike motion 2) have a wavy form or outline. The first time I remember reading this word was in Jack Prelutsky's book If Not For the Cat, a collection animal riddles in haiku. He uses the word to describe the movements of the jellyfish and it is beautiful. I can't print his poem here, but really, just check the book out of the library or get yourself a copy. Recently, I visited the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach California, which was stunning and packed with fascinating creatures. The creatures I couldn't get enough of were the jellyfish. All I could think of was UNdulate, UNdulate, UNdulate. It even sounds like wave like motion. Below are a couple of videos I took of the entrancing jelly fish at the aquarium. I tried to take photos, but it was their movements that made them so intriguing to watch.
Parents, when you are out and about with your little ones, look for times like these to teach new words. Your children are much more likely to remember a wonderful word like undulate because you said it while watching jellies at the aquarium or hearing the wailing of a siren. Children are never too young to hear big words. If they misuse them that can be corrected, but hearing more words even at very young ages can increase verbal understanding and abstract processing. As we explore marvelous words together, I look forward to hearing from other word nerds about their favorite words and how they acquired them. Vocabulary doesn't have to be a boring class with memorized definitions. Word lovers unite!
I don’t like to work out with friends, because I’m also kind of a loner and I’m also terribly wimpy. Once, I went to a weight training class with a friend and discovered she was a beast! She was upping the instructor’s suggested weights and lifting with ease! Meanwhile, I was struggling with half the weight and staring at the clock waiting for this torture to end. The next day she was gracefully ambling around while I moved with the ease of a ninety four year old woman. By attending the class, I learned to respect my friend’s physical prowess and gained new found respect for her. Did I go back? What am I crazy?! No. No, I did not. But I got a great story out of the experience. See? This whole paragraph would have been empty without that story. So many paragraphs of the story of my life would be empty without having endured painful experiences. Even though I don’t like something while I’m experiencing it, when it’s over I find a way to turn it into a good story. It’s made my life so much more enjoyable. This turning-bad-experiences-into-a-great-story thing is not unique to me. It's pretty much the majority of what you will hear if you listen in on a gathering of Booths. The crazier the story the more we get excited to share it with our audience. These story telling gatherings were my first introduction into why experience collecting was so valuable. We didn't have to be rich in money or possessions. We took the experiences we encountered and used them to enrich our lives. Collecting experiences isn’t as easy as collecting Starbucks mugs, t-shirts, or bumper stickers, but experiences are much more rewarding. They enrich my life as a reader, learner, and employee. Experiences have made me a more interesting person and they have made me a more interested person. I can hold my own at a dinner party with a story to share about one of my experiences and I am interested to hear about others experiences. Collecting experiences has taken me down some rather unusual paths, but that’s the point, right? While in St. Louis with Logan, we were slowly wandering toward our dinner destination. During our walk we ended up splashing and laughing in a park fountain. By the time we were done we were both soaked and disheveled looking, but we had a lot of laughs and made some great memories. (This park seemed to allow this activity. I wouldn’t recommend splashing in random public fountains.) I’ve seen a performance at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, walked on the Great Wall of China, and stood on the top of the Empire State Building. I've also snuggled a new born baby, cooked with my mom, and danced in the rain. Experiences can be big and grand, but they don't have to be. Sometimes collecting experiences can be perceived as expensive because experiences seem better in exotic locations. But don’t believe that you have to spend big to begin your collection. All it takes is the actions I’ve mentioned previously. You need to be a learner and reader so you know why something is an experience worth collecting and you need to be willing to explore. Why is it worth it to eat a brownie at the Palmer House? Because it is where brownies were first invented. So after eating it you can say that you have tasted the original brownie. Being willing to explore will push you beyond your comfort zone. If your friends are going camping and have invited you, consider going even if you aren’t a camper. This doesn’t mean it has to be a regular thing, but you can say that you did it and create lasting friendships and community along the way. Sometimes these experiences don’t go as you intended. That’s okay. Go with the flow. One time I took students and Logan down to the Museum of Science and Industry for a lecture about Project 120 and Jackson Park. It ended with me climbing in the koi pond to fish out Logan’s toy boat. I could have been really mad. I could have chastised Logan and lamented that the day was a disaster, but what a story. After the lecture we headed out and had a tour of the island given by the president of Project 120 and the director of Chicago’s parks and recreation department. Our group met the president and even took a few photos with him. We then toured the Wooded Island and visited the Japanese Garden. This was beautiful. The cherry blossom trees were blooming and the garden, which was not even open to the public yet, was peaceful and inviting. Our group wandered all over the garden until we heard Logan calling. He had sunk his toy boat in the koi pond. The same koi pond we had just heard about in the lecture. The same koi pond that had just recently been cleared of years’ worth of litter and debris. The same koi pond that the director of parks and recreation department, the president of Project 120, and other official-ish people were now standing around. I contemplated what to do. Logan wanted his boat back. Jason had purchased him that boat as a special present so he would have been disappointed at its loss. I knew wading in the pond probably wasn’t encouraged. I also knew that they had only recently completed the clean-up effort and wouldn’t be thrilled about seeing a sunken toy boat in the pond. The parks director and other officials were staring at me to see what I would do. Logan and my students were watching. I sat down on a bolder, removed my boots, pushed up my leggings, and climbed in the pond. After removing the toy boat and seeing the stricken faces of the officials I held up the boat and proclaimed, “I didn’t want to litter!” One of the representatives of the parks department came over and shook my hand and said it was the most valiant effort in litter removal that he had ever seen. What started as an intellectual outing with students turn into a debacle that included a teacher in the pond. Despite the cold and the embarrassment the day was ultimately a success because we all got a great story. Do things that are unique, fun, and sometimes weird. Push yourself beyond your comfort zone. Sometimes these things scare will scare you, but that’s okay. Face your fears and proceed. Some things, like zip lining were terrifying at first, but then they become thrilling. My experiences also help me better know myself. How do you know if you don't like something if you've never tried it? I have tried to like fish. I really have, but I can say with confidence and authority that I don’t like fish or other sea food. When I say that people often tell me that I haven’t tried it in the right places, but I can respond, “I’ve tried it in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Portland, Maine, Boston, Massachusetts, and Monterey, California.” I don’t like camping and I know it because I’ve done it a few times. I did enjoy sleeping in the tent with my friends though so I’m glad my parents encouraged me to go. I have really tried to like roller coasters, but I don’t. I just don’t. Sorry, Cedar Point. I hope to look back on my life and remember the things I have done and the places I have visited with fond memories, thankful for how each experience has enriched my life. Collect experiences to fill your life with interesting paragraphs that will fill in the boring mundane details of your chapters. Some chapters are duller than others so they need more interesting paragraphs as fillers. So let's get experiencing together! A Few of My Favorite Experiences1. Being at Stonehenge for the summer solstice sunrise. 2. Running a marathon. I'm really slow, but I love being able to say I've done it. I've done a total of 6 (thus far). 3. Goat Yoga. This one is just too odd not to love. There are some people who find goat yoga a beautiful expression of connecting with nature, but I found it difficult to fully relax with the possibility of getting pooped on being present. 4. Staying up late to watch a meteor shower. A few of my former students visited me last summer and we sat in the driveway wrapped in blankets to watch the Perseid meteor shower. The photo below isn't mine. That night we put the electronics away and just watched and talked. Also that's WAY more stars than we could see from our home in suburbia. 5. Visiting Platform 9 3/4. My niece and I thought the idea was original. Apparently we were wrong, but nevertheless we had a great time. What are some of your favorite experiences? |
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