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Hi folks, this is the time of year I always looked forward to, a bit of rejuvenation. So what are your plans for the Summer. . . taking grad classes, teaching Summer School, taking a pottery workshop, working long hours in the studio, taking a long well deserved trip or are you young enough to say all of the above? Myself, I still plan use this time of year like I always did, lots of outdoor time, kayaking, camping, making pots, finishing pots on the deck in the sunshine, bike riding, and so much more. Now if I could just get this NE weather to cooperate. . . .

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Hi folks, this is the time of year I always looked forward to, a bit of rejuvenation. So what are your plans for the Summer. . . taking grad classes, teaching Summer School, taking a pottery workshop, working long hours in the studio, taking a long well deserved trip or are you young enough to say all of the above? Myself, I still plan use this time of year like I always did, lots of outdoor time, kayaking, camping, making pots, finishing pots on the deck in the sunshine, bike riding, and so much more. Now if I could just get this NE weather to cooperate. . . .

 

 

Here are my (Tentative) Plans:

 

-Hang out with my daughter.

-Finish order supplies, for my classroom next year.

-Attend a professional development day, for the high school college credit class I teach.

-Continue to get my studio set up/ arranged. I have the wheel and kiln, but the kiln still needs cleaned/ fixed up, and power run for it. I also need to get my work table/ bench set up.

-Work on my new potter's wheel.

-Work on a hand built sculpture, that I had an idea for.

-When I've got some free time, the Art Club and myself are painting a big mural in the Band hallway at the school.....I'm still waiting for the Band instructor to get the paint *Taps foot patiently*

-Continue to be awesome.

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Guest JBaymore

I'm not teaching at the college this summer........ so my plans......

 

Try to finally get the yard in shape here in June if it ever stops raining!

 

Finish getting pots made for a firing shortly.

 

In less than a week ... I'll be a grandfather for the first time. Go see my daughter and my new grandchild.

 

Packing up and scheduling shipping of work for some shows that are happening while I am away.

 

Headed off to Japan to work and study for the rest of the summer.

 

Get back JUST in time to deal with pre-start-of-semester faculty meetings and tuning up course outlines and content.

 

best,

 

.....................john

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Pres,Benzine,John;

I am still actually teaching until June 30. I was going to say until" the last dog is hung", but it sounded weird.

I don't know if you saw in one of the posts that I mentioned that I had broken my left ankle. Drove myself to the clinic in a standard car. Broken ankle on the clutch. I now have one of those huge "moon boots". This was last week.

Here is my list of tasks starting today[saturday];

1.Move dirt and sod for back yard. To be delivered today.

2.Get an electrician to add a couple of sockets in the kitchen. Install tile back splash that I made over the winter.

3.Build loft beds for my two sons.

4.Repair drywall holes in ceiling,bathroom and kitchen where the plumbing gave way.[it's been three years.]

5.Fix plumbing in basement bathroom. I replaced the toilet myself. It still leaks.

6.Organize my work bench.

7.Clean out my mother-in-law's garage. I have a work table, clay and a couple of old wheels in there.

8.Make pots.

9.Back at school September 5 after Labour Day. I know you don't celebrate that in the U.S. It's a holiday that supports workers.

I am usually in school the week before to organize my classes.

TJR.

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I've got summer plans, too.

 

(1) lie in the hammock in the woods with some Jim Beam and watch the muscadines grow.

(2) later in the summer lie in the hammock and eat muscadines with Jim Beam.

(3) once a week, starting in July share Jim Beam with wife while watching a moonflower open as the sun goes down.

 

Jim

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TJR, I feel your pain, and did remember that you had broken your ankle. After my break, years later, it is not the ankle I broke that bothers me, it is the one I abused trying to get around with the other in the casts.

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TJR, I feel your pain, and did remember that you had broken your ankle. After my break, years later, it is not the ankle I broke that bothers me, it is the one I abused trying to get around with the other in the casts.

 

 

Pres;

Laid the sod today. I am hoping for a thunder storm. I have a removable cast which I take off at night.Stairs are a pain. I am careful as I don't want to break the other one.

T.

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TJR, we do have Labor Day, in the U.S. It technically serves the same purpose, as it does there. But here, it's more of an unofficial end to the summer, with Memorial Day at the end of May, being the beginning. There's also some rule about not wearing white after that date.

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TJR, we do have Labor Day, in the U.S. It technically serves the same purpose, as it does there. But here, it's more of an unofficial end to the summer, with Memorial Day at the end of May, being the beginning. There's also some rule about not wearing white after that date.

 

 

Benzine;

Are you sure that you have Labour Day? When I was going to grad school in the states, I wanted to take the long weekend off [ in September], but people said that it wasn't a holiday. We also do not have a 4 day weekend for thanksgiving, and it definitely is not called black Friday. Our Thanksgiving happens in October and not November. Great holiday. I love the fact that there are no gifts involved, or chocolate.

TJR.

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TJR, we do have Labor Day, in the U.S. It technically serves the same purpose, as it does there. But here, it's more of an unofficial end to the summer, with Memorial Day at the end of May, being the beginning. There's also some rule about not wearing white after that date.

 

 

Benzine;

Are you sure that you have Labour Day? When I was going to grad school in the states, I wanted to take the long weekend off [ in September], but people said that it wasn't a holiday. We also do not have a 4 day weekend for thanksgiving, and it definitely is not called black Friday. Our Thanksgiving happens in October and not November. Great holiday. I love the fact that there are no gifts involved, or chocolate.

TJR.

 

 

Yes sir, it's the first Monday in September, so this year it is the 2nd. Most schools, that I know of, have that day off, as well as Memorial Day.

I know about quite a few of the Canadian holidays, as my friend lives in Northern Maine, aka, Southern Canada. So in his area, they celebrate both holidays.

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TJR, we do have Labor Day, in the U.S. It technically serves the same purpose, as it does there. But here, it's more of an unofficial end to the summer, with Memorial Day at the end of May, being the beginning. There's also some rule about not wearing white after that date.

 

 

Benzine;

Are you sure that you have Labour Day? When I was going to grad school in the states, I wanted to take the long weekend off [ in September], but people said that it wasn't a holiday. We also do not have a 4 day weekend for thanksgiving, and it definitely is not called black Friday. Our Thanksgiving happens in October and not November. Great holiday. I love the fact that there are no gifts involved, or chocolate.

TJR.

 

 

Yes sir, it's the first Monday in September, so this year it is the 2nd. Most schools, that I know of, have that day off, as well as Memorial Day.

I know about quite a few of the Canadian holidays, as my friend lives in Northern Maine, aka, Southern Canada. So in his area, they celebrate both holidays.

 

 

I always hated to see the 4th of July come, as that is almost the mid point of Summer here. It meant that school was just around the corner. I also had a thought all along that I would never start school before or on my B-day as that was on August 19th. However one year we opened on the . .. . .19th!

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TJR, we do have Labor Day, in the U.S. It technically serves the same purpose, as it does there. But here, it's more of an unofficial end to the summer, with Memorial Day at the end of May, being the beginning. There's also some rule about not wearing white after that date.

 

 

Benzine;

Are you sure that you have Labour Day? When I was going to grad school in the states, I wanted to take the long weekend off [ in September], but people said that it wasn't a holiday. We also do not have a 4 day weekend for thanksgiving, and it definitely is not called black Friday. Our Thanksgiving happens in October and not November. Great holiday. I love the fact that there are no gifts involved, or chocolate.

TJR.

 

 

Yes sir, it's the first Monday in September, so this year it is the 2nd. Most schools, that I know of, have that day off, as well as Memorial Day.

I know about quite a few of the Canadian holidays, as my friend lives in Northern Maine, aka, Southern Canada. So in his area, they celebrate both holidays.

 

 

I always hated to see the 4th of July come, as that is almost the mid point of Summer here. It meant that school was just around the corner. I also had a thought all along that I would never start school before or on my B-day as that was on August 19th. However one year we opened on the . .. . .19th!

 

 

I'm the same way Pres. After the Fourth, the summer seems to go quick.

 

The 19th? Schools around here have regularly started session around then, if not mid-August. A couple years ago, the district I was at started pretty early, with the goal of finishing the first semester before Christmas. It went well until December rolled around, and then that plan went right out the window.

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Many of the schools around here do not open until after Labor Day, as this allows the small local amusement parks to stay open longer. Without the Summer help only weekends would be open. That is the reason some try to get out very soon after Memorial Day.

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(3) once a week, starting in July share Jim Beam with wife while watching a moonflower open as the sun goes down.

 

Jim

 

 

Why only in July? Does she lose her cool by that time from uneventful summer?

I am not asking why only once a week. Jim Bean would put me in a coma for a week too.

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(3) once a week, starting in July share Jim Beam with wife while watching a moonflower open as the sun goes down.

 

Jim

 

 

Why only in July? Does she lose her cool by that time from uneventful summer?

I am not asking why only once a week. Jim Bean would put me in a coma for a week too.

 

 

The rest of the time I'm either watching or eating muscadines. Moonflowers are fantastic. All day the bloom is a tight, long cone (sort of like a fat unicorn horn) then when the sun goes down it starts to unfold and if you stare carefully you can even catch it moving a little. It takes about 15 minutes for it to open fully for the bats and moths that are waiting. We can only take that much excitement once a week for about a month.

 

Jim

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Many of the schools around here do not open until after Labor Day, as this allows the small local amusement parks to stay open longer. Without the Summer help only weekends would be open. That is the reason some try to get out very soon after Memorial Day.

 

 

The legislators here, were really pushing for schools, to delay opening until around Labor Day, as well, and for the same reason as you stated, tourism. When my previous district, I mentioned in my last post, started so early, there was a bit of local uproar, because the State Fair was still going on. As this a pretty agricultural state, there were many students, who missed the first couple days, because they were there, including the "Ag" instructor.

 

When I went to school, they had a rule that schools couldn't start until the last week of August. That rule was somehow dissolved, between my time as a student, and when I became a teacher.

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Benzine, Pres,etc;

The deal here is that we must teach 200 days of school. Doesn't matter when you start, as long as you get that time in. As I mentioned before, education is a provincial mandate, so, each province is different. For a couple of years, we started the last week in August on a Wednesday. Half the kids were gone as parents were still on holiday. A new premier was elected. He changed this right away, moving the start date back to after Labour Day-the first Monday in September. Much cheering and adulation. He served three terms as our premier. He is now the Canadian ambassador to the U.S. His name is Gary Doer. I think our prime minister appointed him so that he would not have to run against him.

TJR.

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Benzine, Pres,etc;

The deal here is that we must teach 200 days of school. Doesn't matter when you start, as long as you get that time in. As I mentioned before, education is a provincial mandate, so, each province is different. For a couple of years, we started the last week in August on a Wednesday. Half the kids were gone as parents were still on holiday. A new premier was elected. He changed this right away, moving the start date back to after Labour Day-the first Monday in September. Much cheering and adulation. He served three terms as our premier. He is now the Canadian ambassador to the U.S. His name is Gary Doer. I think our prime minister appointed him so that he would not have to run against him.

TJR.

 

 

Interesting.

 

We have to have 180 days, where I live. For teachers, we end up with about 190, with all the in-service days and such.

 

In terms of what qualifies as a day, things have changed over the years. It used to be, that schools would have to get through half the day and/ or serve lunch to count it as a day. That led to a lot of problems, with accidents, as administrators, would try to get to that point, and count the day, and by the time school was let out, the weather had gotten worse. Currently, we are just required to have "Contact Time" with students, to count it as a day. So it could be the beginning of the first period, and we could count that. This has of course led to some concern, that we are losing out on educational time with student,s and that they are falling behind because of it. So now, it looks like we are going to measure the school year, by hours, not days. It sounded like a bad idea at first, because that meant that all of our justifiable, late starts/ early outs, would be punished. But our Superintendent did the math, and assured us, that even with our average amount of delays and such, we'd still have well over the required amount of time. The only downside is keeping track of all the hours, as opposed to mere days.

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Benzine;

Do you keep track of the hours or does admin.

Our 200 days include 10 inservice days.[exams and grad are in there too.

T.

 

 

The administration will be required to. There is no point in individual teachers doing it, as we will all have the same contact hours with students.....unless someone isn't doing there job....

 

Coincidentally, they were just talking about the start of the school year again on the news. They are really pushing to start school later again. What I forgot about, is that right now, schools are supposed to wait until the week of September 1st, to start. However, school districts can apply for waivers, and start sooner. Only eight districts, in my state, do not apply for waivers.

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