Tanner, the 9-toed wonder

Meet the newest addition to the family, Tanner:

Jeff and I were going to adopt a dog this summer, but we couldn't resist when we saw this little guy up for adoption from Austin Pets Alive (a shelter in Austin that gets dogs from shelters that are going to euthanize them).

We think Tanner is a Rhodesian Ridgeback mix, though the APA thought he was a Boxer mix, and he is 7 months old.  His story is both interesting and sad, though he is quite a happy and unendingly sweet pup.  He was previously adopted and APA had to remove him from the home because he was not being taken care of properly.  The owners were keeping him in a small dog crate (think 24" x 18", rather than the 42" x 28" crate a boxer requires), and the only reason I can come up with is that he was very small when they got him and they forgot to figure into their calculations that he would get bigger?  And crates are expensive.  I really can't even imagine what they were thinking.  Regardless, it was terrible for the dog, who was left in the tiny crate long enough and with so little space that he started self-mutilating.  He chewed on one of the toes of his back right paw, and it got terribly infected.  When APA removed him and pointed out the infection, the previous owner said, "oh, yeah, that just happened this morning."  Clearly not.

Thus, Tanner has had the toe in question amputated because the infection was so severe and has found a happy forever home with us.  We'll probably have to work on separation anxiety a good bit with him, but we're up to the challenge.  The best news is that it comes with free puppy kisses and cuddles!

So get excited because there are going to be silly pictures now of both our cat and our dog.  Hurray!

¡Feliz Pascua!

Yesterday was Jeff's little sister's birthday, and Meg wanted to bake Easter goodies, so we baked in honor of Mary Beth's easter-weekend birthday.  First, a bunny cake:

Second, dinosaur-shaped brownies.  Who in their right mind wouldn't want dino brownies for Easter?!

And last, but not related to Easter: Jeff and I made a pie on Pi Day (3/14), and I thought it appropriate to add here with our other baked goods.

Things that are currently making me happy:

-My cat is asleep on my feet

-Spring is here and the plants we bought are still beautiful (so far I have not killed them!)

-Job prospects have me optimistic for August

-I wrote a paper already today

-Jeff and I are going to buy his wedding band later

-Right now my excitement about being a teacher is stronger than my terror of my first year

-I have been eating bunny cake and dino brownies all day

Hope your weekend has been delightful.

English-only Rule Doubles the Dropout Rate in Boston

Apparently, Boston voted for a change six years ago that enforced English-only curricula in their schools in hope of speeding non-native English-speaking students along their road to language acquisition.  --This doesn't work, and there is proof.  In six years, the dropout rate in Boston has doubled.  Imagine not having full proficiency in your second language and having all of your classes--not just language arts, but also math, history, and science--in that language with no extra help.  I might drop out, too.  This is especially unfortunate because 38% of the district's 56,000 students are non-native English speakers: 21,280 students.  The full story is here.

Luckily in Texas many educators realize how ineffective this approach is, possibly due to the large (and continuously growing) Spanish-speaking population in the state.  For example, I tutor at Metz Elementary School, which has adopted the mentoring program Help One Student To Succeed (HOSTS).  At Metz, the school has two HOSTS programs for language arts/reading, one in English and one in Spanish.  The purpose of the program is to pair students one-on-one with a mentor and have them read together; the mentor teaches the student reading processing skills and strategies, as well as pronunciation and vocabulary.  What is unique about Spanish HOSTS is that it is based on a type of language transfer theory.   Reading is a process not dependent merely on decoding the lexicon, but on processing the ideas, structure, transitions, etc.; if a student has under-developed processing skills in Spanish, then he/she will have the same struggle in English--with the added struggle of also grappling with foreign lexicon and syntax.  This could create a crippling cognitive load for the student.  In HOSTS, native Spanish-speaking students are tutored in Spanish so they can learn the processing skills in their first language so those skills will transfer to their reading in English.

Granted, Spanish is not the only first language students will have, which complicates the dilemma.  However, we already have teachers who are negotiating this difficult area.  ESL teachers daily search for ways to communicate with their students who are learning English because it is often at the same time the only common language among them.  

In my humble opinion, enforcing an English-only curriculum is a simplistic way out of a very complex problem, and Boston's growing dropout rate proves that.  It is an injustice to our students to choose this "solution" when they are the ones who suffer for our mistakes.  If bilingual or multilingual education is not an option, we have to--at the very least--acknowledge their needs and try to meet them through individualized efforts.  That is what we claim we believe in as a country.  That is what our public education stands for: equal opportunity.  Denying students' needs for specialized instruction is denying them of the equal opportunity we say we believe in; denying them of that opportunity essentially denies their validity as members of our society.  As teachers, we cannot stand for this.  It will be hard work, but we have to find an effective solution to this problem.

I'm an intern!

I'm so excited and had to write about it.  As of today, I am the curriculum design intern at the Mexic-Arte Museum in downtown Austin for their massive Día de los Muertos festival!  As part of their celebration, they organize after-school programs to teach students about this part of Mexican art and culture.  --And they want me to re-design their curriculum, which will entail enough research to become and "expert" on the subject and building curriculum based on that knowledge.  Because their celebration is such a big event, they want it to have a firm educational foundation.  I love their vision and am thrilled to have the chance to work with them.

new direction

I've decided to shift this blog a little.  I have, so far, restricted my posts to projects only, which is a pretty narrow part of my days.  --And for that matter, a pretty narrow definition of what I enjoy of the arts.  And it has been boring.  Very boring.

Expect more variety and fun!  Like this, for example:

Yes, it is another picture of my silly cat (looking quite like a turtle this time), but what is important is that it is a project of mine in progress.  I'm making a rug out of fabric strips, and for some reason my cat is fascinated with it.  Especially sitting under it:

Scaredy turtlecat!

A Prayer in Spring

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;

And give us not to think so far away

As the uncertain harvest; keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,

Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;

And make us happy in the happy bees,

The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird

That suddenly above the bees is heard,

The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,

And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,

The which it is reserved for God above

To sanctify to what far ends He will,

But which it only needs that we fulfil.

-Robert Frost

I know Punxsutawney Phil says winter will continue, but the days in Texas are feeling more like spring is here, and I couldn't be happier.  I enjoy spring to the point of distraction.

Hope you enjoy your day, too.

saturday saturday

A bit of fun so that you can at least say your day was interesting:

My cat will not be limited by labels and stereotypes; he is a liberated feline who will drink from the toilet if he so desires!  Who says toilet water is only for dogs, anyway?

G'day!