A longer post than I wanted to write...

I avoided making a current events post for a while, but then the riot at the Capitol hit. I checked the news between classes, so I was aware of it unfolding while I taught. None of the students mentioned it, so Geometry continued unabated.

The short of it: 

Trump continues to claim that he won the election and fights the good fight. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar and enemy who is trying to steal the election. He's continued to call on his supporters and played the narrative until it boiled up and over into a riot. 

The long of it:

Trump has been claiming he's won since election day. He's happy to call out anyone who doesn't agree with him. 

No matter how many of Trump's claims are shot down or proved fraudulent, he continues on. Texas tried to sue Pennsylvania and the Supreme Court shot it down. 

Trump appointed 3 of the 9 Judges on the Supreme Court. If there was going to be a bias, you would have expected it to be in his favor.

Unless you're a consipracy theorist. Which Trump has certainly been.

Some of the more liberal sites I read noted that Trump was putting a lot of pressure on Mike Pence to declare the results of the election invalid. The more conservative sites claimed Pence should use his power to fix the wrong. I think that the idea of letting the sitting Vice President pick who won an election seems un-democratic, but what did Trump think? Was there any way to hear his unfiltered opinion the subject?

Twitter.

For better and worse, Trump's presidency has given me the ability to read news articles about him and then I can check Twitter to see what's coming out of the horse's mouth.

There was a rally in front of the White House the day of the certification. Trump called out Twitter and called on his supporters. 

Did he realize what would come next?

People who claimed "Blue Lives Matter" ended up with blue lives blood on their hands. One officer was killed and many others were left black and blue.

Meanwhile, Trump posted a video on Twitter. I watched it even if I pulled this quote from here: "This was a fraudulent election, but we can't play into the hands of these people,\We have to have peace. So go home. We love you; you're very special." 

To me, that reads as "You're right to be mad. I'm saying this to cover my own ass." 

I wasn't the only one to think that either. Fox news tends to support Trump, but...

...but the updates they were putting out weren't very flattering. 

They posted words from George W Bush condemning Trump's words and actions, too.

CNN was much quicker to call the riot an insurrection.

Sadly, I'm inclined to agree. 

So what will happen next?

The Inauguration isn't until the 20th. My crystal ball (and ability to backdate posts) allowed me to get this screen shot: Trump isn't planning on attending.

W Bush handed the reigns to Obama. Obama handed the reigns to Trump. Trump plans to leave the reigns and a mess for Biden to pick up himself.

Of all the presidents in my lifetime, I bet Trump will have been the one to do the most damage to the United States. 

And it's not like it wasn't predicted. Many Republicans spoke out against Trump while he ran for President. Only they changed their tunes once he was President. Our government is supposed to be founded on a system of checks and balances and I waited for them to check him several times.

Trump: You won't fund my wall? Well, I'll just pull funds from elsewhere!

Republicans: ...

Me: Do you really want to let him set that precedent? Because all future presidents, whoever they may be, may say "He did it, so I can, too!"

But it's not like anyone heard me. I'm not a political expert. 

For me, it comes down to this: Trump refuses to concede anything. He's unable to be wrong. Some of his supporters seem to love him for it while I see it as a dangerous character flaw. A flaw that played heavily into what happened yesterday.

There's plenty of blame to go around. Individuals are responsible for their own decisions. Sadly, there are people dead and wounded from what happened.

I will give the news a special call out: Their biases that turn everything into a battle may be great for raiting, but they don't promote unity or healthy discourse. 

I'm sure if I were to call one side out, they'd say something like "We had to say what we said to cancel out what the other side said!" In some cases, they'd even be right, but someone has to make the first move.

An example of competing headlines (with the time on my phone showing I took them back to back). Here's CNN about the COVID-19 death toll...

And the counter headline on Fox.

Also with matching timestamps, Fox says Trump is upset with the COVID relief bill Pelosi sent him.

Whereas CNN says the House GOP voted against a larger bill. 

Are they both telling the truth? The House GOP could vote against more money and Pelosi, as Speaker, could still be said to have been the one to pass on whatever the bill was. Hmmm....

The most consistent I've seen the news channels with each other was during the coverage of the Nashville bombing.

Headlines looked the same. Articles read the same. They were probably getting all their initial news from the same sources (and maybe even the same journalists!).

There were follow-up articles, but not too long after I didn't see it on either Fox's or CNN's front pages anymore. I guess it didn't fit into either's political narrative and there was so much other 'entertainment' going on they dropped it to further down.

But even after calling out the media, it still comes down to individuals. Do you read multiple sources for your news? Do you only click where you can see the most drama? Do you only read news that you agree with?  Are you willing to listen to someone who disagrees with you and not label them an enemy?

Yes, there are deal-breakers. You don't have to listen to pure evil and give it the same courtesy as someone who differs on how to make America a great nation. Someone who tries to argue that Whites are a superior race or that murder is fine and dandy? Doesn't deserve your time. Someone who has a different view on whether or not gun control makes your country safe? Give it a listen.

I would think that's obvious, but based on how people yell at each other online....Then again, I'm pretty sure that's happened since the internet became a thing. 

$80 Champion

Grandma and Grandpa bought Shane a book for Christmas, The Eighty-Dollar Champion. Horses aren't my passion, but I do love books. 

I started reading it with Shane as a bedtime story within a day or two of getting it. It was new and shiny, so I wanted to strike while the iron was hot. I told Shane it would show he appreciated the gift if we got through it, too!

I figured we'd read a chapter a night or so (28 in total), but Carrie started to help with some daytime reading!

Shane can only sit so long. He likes to add in sound effects and dance around in ways that don't seem conducive to listening, but he swears he hears it all!

We haven't read every day. I ask Shane if he would like to and don't usually force it. Thankfully, we've read multiple chapters on other days. My goal is to have Shane finish the book before he goes to Nana and Pop's next since we won't be there to read it with him.

Loki prefers shoes, though. Fetch, tug of war, he's not picky about which. 

He likes to push for attention if we're all still for too long. He'll settle for a nap at our feet if we're determined to read instead!

Virtual School - Beginning of the End

January is the march to the end. Well, the end of the first semester at least.

There are a total of 15 classes left over the next 4 weeks. The SOL is currently scheduled for Jan 28th. They asked for volunteers to proctor, so I signed up to watch over my 12 students who have said they'll come in to take it.

New classes are scheduled to start with February, but the question is: Will they be hybrid?

The current plan is that the Superintendent, Dr. Haas, will give his recommendation to the school board about how to school on Jan 14. We will either remain in Stage 3 (Pk-3 and some ESOL/SPED in person) or move to Stage 4 (Elementary 4 days a week, Secondary 2 days virtual and 2 days in person).

What will he say? Who knows. 

Right now, we're in Stage 1. We will go back to Stage 3 next week and winter sports will get to have their first practices of the season. 

Geometrically, we're working on circles.

We were supposed to wrap circles up BEFORE winter break. It probably wouldn't have happened, but the 2 days off (snow + power) ensured it didn't.

After circles, we'll do surface area and volume.

And after that we'll try to talk about constructions and some other odds and ends. 

The last week will be review and some sort of culminating activity. I just don't have a clue as to what! I can use the SOL for some kids, but only 12 out of 55 of my students have signed up. The others either don't need it or they're postponing their testing date until May (which I would've said is foolish if not for COVID). 

The kids who take the test now have the passing score dropped from a 400 to a 350! I'd like to think my kids will do well. I'd like to dream that they do so well that they get noticed, but there's no telling.

The semester flip is going to be interesting. Once kids sign off at the end of January, I will not see or hear from them again unless they reach out over email. There are no halls to say hi in as they walk by. That will be weird.

I've really enjoyed teaching with Marcell. We'll only have one class together next semester. Having two teachers in the room has been a tremendous help with making class feel like a class. If the kids are quiet, Marcell and I chat until kids start commenting and joining in. We can divide and conquer with breakout rooms, as well. I made friends with Scott last year and Marcell would be another friend in the building if we're ever in it again.

Busy times. This is the push to finish strong!

Gif Overload

I take a lot of pictures....and sometimes I think I even manage to catch some cool moments.

Like mass bird migrations.

Or horses running in from the field at a tear.

Or just running over to have a pow-wow with their buddies.

There's the horse game of "Race you to the other end of the field."

And sometimes there's goofy, 'what the...' moments.

Followed by "Let's roll.

That was the progression there. I can't make this stuff up.

A cold rain started on day while the horses were locked in the dry lots. Mayhem ensued.

Abby went vertical! First time I'd ever seen a horse do that on our property.

This post started off as "I have video I don't post." Followed by "I can make some cool gifs." And ended by "All the non stop gifs are driving my eyes crazy while I draft this!"

I put a bunch of spaces between pictures to make it less overwhelming. How do wizards in Harry Potter stand having every picture on every publication moving!?

2021 - Sunday's Off

If my yearly goal is to write a book, I'll need time to do it. 

The blog takes time.

There are posts that take an hour and posts like this one that take under 10 minutes.

Pulling numbers out of thin air, if one post takes me an average of 20 minutes and I post 365 days a year, that equates to ~122 hours of writing. If I take 1 day off a week that drops to ~104 hours. 

It's not a lot of time, but it's better than nothing.

So, I'm thinking I'll take Sundays off this year and see how it goes. I've had trouble keeping up through virtual school, so even if it doesn't translate to chapters it may help me make it through first semester!

Third Christmas 2020...ish

Third Christmas didn't hit until after the New Year, but it still counts! Carrie, Shane, and I drove down to Grandma and Grandpa's for a visit.

There were big hugs!

Grandma had cooked up a roast for lunch.

My eyes were on the food, but Shane's eyes went straight to the Christmas tree. 

"Look, Dad! Presents!"

"Those are just decorations."

"Nuh-uh!"

We were all wearing Christmas light necklaces Carrie doled out in the car to help keep it a Christmas mood.

Grandma plated Shane out first and then we all got to dig in!

Grandma was thrilled when Shane and I both used the sauce she'd made for the beef (horseradish, sourcream, and who knows what else). "You have no idea how happy this makes me!"

Shane ate well. The food was excellent, but he may have been partly motivated by presents. 

He tore in with abandon! Once he opened one, he was on to the next. 

The good thing was Shane's exuberance was slightly contagious. Grandpa and Grandma got a kick out of his excitement.

Meanwhile, I went counter-culture. I took my time to sloooowly open anything handed to me. Shane nearly jumped out of his skin as I gently undid tape and folds!

Shane would go nuts after my turn. He accidentally started to dig into Carrie's traditional can of mandarin oranges!

He got a little light ribbing for nearly breaking tradition, but everyone was in a merry mood.

We'd brought some presents to bestow as well, but Grandma and Grandpa had been thinking on a different scale than us. Chris and Rachel had left some gifts behind as well! We hadn't expected any and I felt bad. They've always been overseas or far away. We need to get the cousins together again.

The big surprise was Grandma's been creative. A group of her friends have been meeting about once a month to work on custom nutcrackers! 

This is the sort of task you have no idea how long it really takes unless you've tried something similar. She spent a lot of time making our nutcrackers!

Carrie's was decked out as a hunt master. It was spot on! Shane had a TKD uniform and a fishing hat (and looked a little Luke Skywalker-esque). I had a beard, some books, a John Deere hat, and a mullet (Do I look that redneck nowadays?).

I didn't make the "Whoa, those look fragile" comment, but I was thinking it! We've given them a home up on top of the entertainment center where cats would like to tread, but can't now that we've moved objects away....probably.

Unfortunately, it was only a day trip. We drove down, had a bunch of fun, and then drove back for chores. I've told Carrie I'd be happy to have a "working board rate" where someone could do a bunch of chores and have close to free board. The money to offset costs is nice, but I'd be willing to forgo some of that for time saved!

And that's the last of the Christmas posts from 2020. It was a fantastic Winter Break!

New Year's Goals....for Shane and Carrie!

I don't try to make everything educational, but I do like to slip things in here and there. I had Shane and Carrie come up with New Year's goals (I already posted mine!).

Carrie's goal was simple: She wanted to get in better shape. It'll take a combination of doctor's appointments for health issues, eating right, and exercise.

Shane had trouble picking. He wanted to pick things like "Make at least x new friends," or "Visit SC at least x times" that he has no control over (but wants!). 

We talked about what a goal was and I offered choices when he was still stumped. 

I offered things like:

1. Read more books
2. Exercise
3. Practice a sport
4. Typing skills
5. Learn something new

He ended up picking typing (I'd hoped he'd pick the books!). 

We did a baseline test to see where he was at. We'll slowly address it over the year. There's really no rush.

I've always done goals, but part of this year's family goal drive was because I heard something on the radio about "so many people make goals and so many people fail so you're better off not making goals."

Which I immediately thought, "BULL!"

Making unrealistic goals? Trouble.

Defining yourself or your happiness based on goals? Trouble.

Making some goals to give yourself some guidance or something to work on? Healthy!

It's GOOD to have goals. It's OKAY to redefine them as your situation changes or you discover new things. 

We haven't addressed or practiced our goals at all yet, but this is a year long goal. It's not a sprint to burn out.