UTPB Testing and Turning Time

I won't do the diet update until later this evening. Right now, I'm relaxing surreptitiously in the Dunagan Library on the UTPB campus pretending to study for the next exam, but in reality I'm reading and blogging. I don't think the librarian is aware of my clandestine activities and hopefully he won't be made aware anytime soon.


I haven't been in the Dunagan Library in quite some time, since 2004, but I adore this place. It's enormous (in my opinion) for a small university library and it contains a wealth of primary sources. I remember in my Colonial history class, I was required to analyze an early colonial newspaper and write an essay pointing out how relevant the articles were to that time period...the period right before the American Revolution. My assigned colony of Massachusetts brought great offerings in the microfiche room and I spent hours gleaning paper after paper, I finally came across an article on pissing in the wind. It was quite humorous.

I completed the ESL certification test in about an hour. After leaving the room, I pondered for a moment about what I'd done. Seventy questions, less than a minute on each question...I'd be pretty upset with the boys at West Texas State School had they turned in their test so quickly. These tests though, although centered on a specific content, are focused on the current buzz words. If you know the current train of thought that's prevalent throughout all the training (uh, oh...the librarian has come to check out my clandestine actions) courses and running through the new curriculum, then you shouldn't have a problem passing these certification tests. Right now the educational buzz words are: Facilitator, Co-operative learning, heterogeneous grouping, cultural diversity, group discussions, brainstorming, semantic mapping, guided practice...so, if you can at least narrow it down to two choices out of four, then look for a buzz word, then voila...you have the answer!

I've decided I should probably look for the history of print media, I think it's something I need to know for the next test and besides, the librarian is looking at me over his glasses...I'm feeling a bit peculiar.

Teacher Training, Treacherous Tires & Totally Tipsy

Tuesday morning when I went to leave for more teacher training, I had a flat tire. I knew my tires were really old and worn out, but I was hoping to make them last just one more day. Sometimes, the cosmic forces send you a stark clear message..."Don't Push Your Luck." After a frantic phone call, I was picked up by the very pretty school secretary and together we were off to more training in Iraan.

Wednesday's training was in Odessa at the Fun Dome. The keynote speaker this year was Kim Bearden of the Ron Clark Academy. She was a perky little blonde with lots of energy and some great ideas. You may remember the made for TV movie starring Matthew Perry about Ron Clark and his unique approach to teaching.

We broke for lunch and my principal wanted us to all go to Harrigans where we could also meet his mother. His mother, 82, drove herself and was very spry. I was thinking I'd like to be that spunky and capable when I'm 82.

I'd never been to Harrigan's before, and it was a really nice eating facility, sorta upscale. I wandered into the restroom and before leaving washed my hands. There was a lady in there who had just finished washing her hands. There were two decanters on the counter, one was labeled lotion, so I just assumed the other was hand soap. I squirted the liquid, which was very thin and dark green into my hands. As I rubbed my hands together to lather up...there were no suds, then I could smell a minty freshness. Upon further inspection, I realized I had just washed my hands with mouthwash! The lady was still standing there, I guess it's kinda hard to pull yourself away from a trainwreck. As I left the restroom, I pushed through the door and immediately pushed through another door, which had me entering another bathroom. I stood for just a moment, trying to figure out where I was...that's when I spotted the urinals. Ooops! I quickly retreated from the men's restroom and was standing in the hall way trying to recompose myself...and yep, that lady was still there...laughing.

My boss was a bit worried about all the mistakes I made and on the way home he purchased a triple grande soy cappucino extra wet...just for me. I'm sure it was to ensure I'd liven up and not make any driving mistakes, but he told me it was because he liked working with me, mainly because I was weird. I took being weird as a compliment.