Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day: May 15, 2017

It’s my first GBBD of the season.  Somehow, April slipped past me, probably because I was grading finals.  I’ve entered the leisure season at least until Thursday.  I’ve gotten an unfortunate diagnosis of endometrial cancer.  It’s the most common form and if caught early carries a really good prognosis.  Can prognoses carry??

Anyway, I’ve been garden lazy and it shows.  We’ve had a wet spring and the weeds have gotten way ahead of me.  But, my standard poodle Bridget is now a therapy dog and we spent the spring going through that training and then getting our shadow visits in.  All of that is done and the paperwork will go in tomorrow.

Now, though it is May, there isn’t a lot that is blooming.  I missed taking pictures of the cherry tree, and the early lilacs, and the glorious magnolia. But all May blooms are welcome regardless.

Everything blooming right now is pink.  I have no problem with that.

This always makes me think of ballerinas.

These allium were planted last fall.

The hellebores are fading, and the seedpods are growing. But they are lovely nonetheless.

These allium were planted two falls ago, and they are taller and bigger than they were last year. The great thing about these globes is that they make wonderful dried arrangements.

This lovely columbine comes up every year, right outside my back door.

August 15: GBBD

Looking through the rose medallion to Limelight.

Love this view of the Entrance Garden. That is rudbeckia in the foreground. The Walker’s Low catmint is starting its second bloom after getting cut back a few weeks ago.

Many thanks go to MayDreamsGardens for providing such a wonderful opportunity to share what is blooming in our gardens each month.  Here is what is blooming in my gardens today.

H. June

Kathy Perkins, the very last of the daylilies.

Hybiscus in the Secret Garden

Blackberry Lily in the entrance garden

Anemone just beginning to bloom in the Secret Garden.

Limelight in the Lower Garden. It is HUGE!! And it was given a hard prune last fall.

So glad for annuals. And, the catmint is starting its second bloom after getting a hair cut.

This is the first summer I’ve planted gazania. It’s such a happy little annual.

H. Halcyon. I love this tidy medium sized hosta.

Lesson Websites

Lesson Websites 

Math  http://illuminations.nctm.org/

 

Geography  http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/

 

The Humanities http://edsitement.neh.gov/

 

Economics http://www.econedlink.org/

 

Art http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/

 

Science http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/

 

Reading/Language Arts http://www.readwritethink.org/

Welcome EDR 621 Students

Hello, and welcome to the world of literacy theory.  My hope is that you will be able to strengthen your knowledge of literacy theory and practice through the conversations and assignments you engage in during this course.  EDR 621 is not an easy course. 

As you set up your own blog sites, please return to this blog and use the comment feature to announce your blog address.  I will add them to the blog roll here, and you can then add them to your blog roll.  We will then be able to read each others’ blogs and further our understandings of the readings and assignments in this course.

It’s been a day

I met my friend Maja about seven years ago.  She subscribed to a listserv for English teachers that I was quite active on, and her fresh ideas and grasp of theory impressed me.  I was pleased to learn that she lived in Grand Rapids, only about an hour’s drive from my house.  So, we decided to meet.  I was amazed at how young she was.  At the time, she wasn’t even 30.  And she was pregnant with her second child.  Since then Maja has moved to a small city on the shores of Lake Michigan where she and her husband raise their two toe-headed boys and where Maja teaches.

This week the world opened to Maja.  She wrote a book, Rethinking Rubrics published by Heinemann, and here at NCTE’s conference, she is experiencing the warmth and acceptance that she deserves.  Her book is smart and beautifully written, and it challenges a sacred cow in education–the rubric. It’s beautifully written.  She has the most fluid writing style.  And she tackles the topic in such an intelligent and graceful way.

Maja did a session yesterday that was very well attended, especially since it was placed at the end of a long conference day.  But Susan Ohanian was there and Maja was thrilled at the warm hug she got from Susan.  Maja deserves all the attention she’s getting.  It makes me tear up just thinking about all the good things that are going to happen because she wrote such a meaningful and necessary book.  She’s going to be an important voice in this profession.  And she’s my friend.  I feel honored.

I had a good couple of days, too.  I’ve gotten a couple of invitations to write chapters for books.  And I have a terrific book idea.  It’s something I should have written about years ago.  I’m going to try and get it done by next fall, which means I have to get cracking. But I have the introduction in my head already, and I know how I’m going to write it.  No book ever really writes itself, but I know this topic so well.

Today I sat next to Susan and listened to Doug Christensen, Nebraska’s Commissioner on Education.  What a wonderful man!  He bravely stood up to the feds and refused to let them mess up the assessment system that he developed for Nebraska.  We gave him a standing ovation at the end and he was touched. 

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