Schema Part 2 and Other Random Things

Alright, since all my avid readers were just leaving comments right and left and clamoring incessantly to know about last time's mystery passage, I guess it's time for me to end the suspense.

Now I need you to go into your brain, open your file cabinet, and take out the folder that's all about.....laundry. Now, re-read the passage and see how your understanding changes. Aha!! Makes sense now doesn't it! Amazing how a little bit of background information can make all the difference in how we comprehend what we read. (Actually Brandon was pretty close!) Therefore we can see how important it is not only to have a lot of schemata upon which to draw from, but how important it is to make connections and activate prior knowledge before reading if possible in order to enhance comprehension.

Enough of the educational stuff. Today is a very cold, drizzly, icy day in Dallas. Of course, Dallas ISD would not close even if we were in the middle of Hurricane Katrina, much less a little wimpy ice storm, so here we are. That's actually okay with me. I would rather have Good Friday or get out on time in June later in the spring than stay home because of a little ice. Of course I may not be saying that later on when it's time to go home and there is a half-inch on the roads as they are predicting. Now if it were Wednesday night, I'd be all for staying home (that's the night I have class in Mesquite) but since it's just Tuesday and I wanted to work out tonight, I'm slightly annoyed by the inconvenience.

My classes have started for the semester and let me just say....I'm in for a little work. Well, more than a little. I am doing my Practicum in the library this semester and wow, is it tedious. I'm just fortunate that I'm already in my own library instead of having to work in 135 hours on top of teaching like many people do. The other class I am taking is another instructional technology class, but it's face-to-face and not online, so it takes some schedule adjusting. I am also taking 12 hours of technology classes with the district (4 sessions that are 3 hours each) in order to get some new technology (like a laptop cart, document camera, data projector, etc) for the media center. So I'm definitely going to be getting my tech skills up this semester! After this semester, I will have one class this summer and two in the fall...and I'm done!!! Except that I'm going to go ahead and finish my MRT (Master Reading Teacher) certification while I'm in school mode...which is two more reading classes and a certification test (I have one of the required classes already). I'll take the school librarian certification test in June. So then I'll have three certifications and a Master's....no excuse for me not to have a job if we're in for a recession!

Also...update on the house search. I have now turned my attention to the townhome/condo option. The pros to this are: a) there are more of these located in the inner Dallas area that I would like to live in; b) I don't have to worry about the outside maintenance issues like lawn, roof, etc etc. that really don't interest me at this point; c) they are about the same size as a roomy apartment and usually come equipped with appliances already so I don't have to worry about buying a bunch of stuff like refrigerators and stoves and furniture to fill up the rooms; d) since they are about the same size as an apartment, I don't have to worry about my energy bill budget quadrupling...because we all know that I like to stay nice and toasty, but I don't know if I could afford my preferred level of warmth in a house! Now the downsides to this option have been that a) most include a huge Homeowners Assocation Fee on top of the mortgage amount, b) the ones that are in my price range have seemed kind of crummy on the outside, so you're paying that huge fee for....what?? c) you're actually getting less space and less "property" for the same cost and you still have to worry about being right up next to other people. I have found a few that include all utilities in the HOA fee, so that would be nice...but I have yet to find one where all my required ducks (location, cost, quality, desired indoor features) line up in a row. So...I'm not sure where this is all going. I don't have much time to look like I'd like to, but I squeeze it in when I can.

Well, I have been told that my posts are too long to hold people's attention to the end, so I need to work on that! Now that I'm finally blogging, I don't know when to shut up! I leave you with another quote (I'm a quote girl....love them!)

"To many of us who attain what we may and forget those who help us along the line--we've got to remember that there are so many others to pull along the way. The further they go, the further we all go."- Jackie Robinson