April 28: My Birthday

The guage shows only 1 inch but my husband poured out 3 before I could take the picture. I love April showers even if they come with huge claps of thunder. The leaves are even greener and the flowers just keep coming. Probably not what one expects to see for a birthday picture but we are celebrating this weekend. (if everyone stays healthy).

April 27: Forces

We have been studying Newton's laws for several weeks now....this student is using a broom to push a 16 lb. bowling ball around a pre-set course. Record time 32 seconds. The activity was repeated using a basketball; record time 13 seconds with no penalties.

April 26: Newtons 2nd Law

Over the last few weeks we have been working on Newton's laws. Students have performed a number of inquiry labs to figure them out. Takes longer this way but research shows that they will remember the stuff better.

April 24: Flower bed

Only a few flowers hanging on in my favorite flower bed...time to thin the violets and set some summer annuals...Off to Lowe's to make the needed purchases.

April 24: Concert

Traffic is impossible in this town when a big name is in concert. Names don't get much bigger than this one.............wish I had asked the man sitting in the driver's seat of the bus behind this truck for an autographed picture of Taylor.

April 22: Earth Day

The small image was taken on the 15th and the larger one was taken on the 22nd. Amazing how quickly the leaves fill in and become greener. I think that I have paid more attention to the passage of time this winter/spring than I normally do. I think it is because of the self-reflection this challenge is promoting.

April 23: Testing Ugh!

Last week the seventh graders in my building spent the entire week testing, eighth graders 4 days, and ninth graders 1 day. This week ninth graders 4 days and eighth graders another 2 days. A total of 10 days of instructional time lost due to testing....and now the students will be nearly impossible to motivate. Does anyone else see a fundamental problem with this scenario? It is not that I don't believe testing has its place nor do I think we as teachers should not be accountable. But good golly can't we just do one test similar to college entrance exams at all grade levels on the same date and be done with all this testing?

April 21: Irises

Irises make a very good pass-along-plant. These have been passed from my grandmother, to my mom, and to two different places that I have lived.

April 20: Wasps

The weather warms and these guys swarm the peonies.....they love the sap.

View of House

The view of my front yard. Spring is here....though temps. aren't haven't been warm many days in a row. I don't really like cool springs because it seems to go right from cool spring to HOT summer. Time will tell.

Arpil 18: Virginia BlueBells

The depth of field in my point and shoot isn't very deep, but it does a pretty decent job. Virginia Bluebells in my flowerbed (shown at the left).

April 17:

I thought this sign hilarious.

Star of Bethlehem

My favorite aunt inadvertantly shared a few of these bulbs with me when my husband and I bought our first house. They now travel with us from home to home and remind me of my roots.

April 15: Huff N Puff

I think I could spend all day simply observing my little one making new discoveries about his world. Today, blowing dandelions was all the rage. We must have blown the tops off 50 plants...how many seeds will find a fertile resting spot? Oh well, I will deal with those problems later.

April 14, Grasshoppers!

Newton's third law of motion....What is the action force? What is the reaction? Kids loved this activity.

April 13:

I am not sure anyone else can tell the difference in the amount of green showing or not, but it will not be very long before I will not be able to see the sky through the trees.

April 12:

I think the smartest thing I did before dyeing eggs this year was to put down one of those cheap plastic tableclothes...Clean up was easy.....and much less stressful this year. Life Lesson...

April 11: Dyeing Eggs

The little guy loved dyeing Easter Eggs. His hands were a mess and he huffed a lot of vinegar. Lots of giggles when the dye tablets fizzed after the vinegar was poured into the cups. I let him pour the water into the cups and he placed all of the eggs in to be dyed. We have been hiding eggs for several days and to my knowledge none have been lost and only two have had "accidents."

So Close...

I was so close to capturing the image of the swallowtail butterfly. I think it would help tremendously if I didn't try to photo while my little guy was running and scrieaming like a banshee.

Look at the green!!!!

View off the deck and across the woods. The understory is greening up nicely.......someone tell Jack Frost to go away....

Flower Bed

I will be photographing this flower bed at least once a month for the remainder of the year to show how it changes over time.

April 7 - Cloudy Morning

The blooms on the trees and the silver lining around the clouds captured my attention this morning on my way to work. I think that is an oak tree that is blooming now. I hate those stringing blossoms. They clog up the gutters on the house and get all over my car. But I love acorns. Too bad I can't have the one without the other. Much like life isn't it; can't have the good without the bad.

April 6th -- Root Canal

I had a tooth with a crack in it that I allowed the dentist to attempt to put a crown on. The tooth didn't hurt he recommended we "fix" it before it began to hurt. I complied and the tooth began hurting, so he recommended a root canal. Two attempts later I am still in pain and must visit a specialist, it seems I have really tough roots. At any rate, note to self "if it ain't broke don't fix it." I love my dentist but if the tooth doesn't hurt in the future no matter his recommendation I will not comply and go through this mess again.

April 5 -- More flowers

The wisteria are flowering now. This image immediately draws that unmistakable scent to mind.

April 4th -- Junior Academy of Science

These two young ladies were awaiting the results of their presentations. The university loans the use of it Jumbotron to the Arkansas Junior Academy of Science organization for them to post winners' names. The girls had their names posted in lights for all to see. I am very proud of them.

April 3rd -- State Science Fair

This image is not in focus and I am not sure why it turned out this way, but since student faces are in the image I am glad it is blurred. State science fair was this weekend and it was an enjoyable trip. I took four ninth grade students and all four received some sort of prize. I am proud of my students accomplishments.

April 2nd -- Playing with the Flip

Today, we played around with the Flip camera in class. Students shot several clips and then used the Flip software to develop a video. Next week, they will use the Flip as an option for their multimedia projects on Newton's Laws of Motion. I haven't seen this much enthusiasm from this group of students in a very long time.

April 1st - Newtons Laws

Today, students practiced several demonstrations of Newton's first law. I demonstrated a couple as well. The picture above was taken from a Flip video. Notice the suspended egg just before it fell into the water. Much like the coyote when he realizes he is about to fall don't you think?

Spring is A'Springin'

The view at the front of my house. The grass is greening up and the creeping phlox in the front window are beginning to bloom. They will probably be in full bloom by the end of the week. Not visible in the picture are the azaleas, they are beginning to show color and will probably be flowering within a few days too. Yep it's official spring is a'springin'!