Reading Recovery

Well, I just finished my third official class in Reading Recovery today. What a lot of work! I'm really enjoying the class and the content - it's interesting to read the conclusions that Marie Clay has come to about how children acquire language. Being a music teacher, I am seeing a lot of parallels between her studies and studies I have read about how children acquire musical knowledge and skills.

Unfortunately, that's about all I can write about it - as there is quite a bit of copyright involved, and I might cross a "copyright line" if I put any of the connections or any of my thoughts, impressions or reactions to the content of the course in this blog. I was disappointed to find out today that I have to handwrite all of my Reading Recovery data - typing the forms into a word processor also crosses the "copyright line". I feel sorry for my instructor who has to try to read my chicken scratch!

Currently Reading

Currently in the middle of this book by Nasrin Alavi - It's a collection of blog entries from Iranians of the under 35 year olds - my generation and younger. It's wild to read how disillusioned they are with the revolution and what their attitudes are about the dress codes, as well as love, and life in general. The book also talks about the history of Iran. For example, did you know that Iran had the first democratic government in the Arab world in the 1950's? Too bad the CIA and the US government at the time took it down and put the Shah in power instead. The more I read this, the more I watch the current president of Iran, as he continues to say that Iran will develop nuclear energy, and think that he can't be speaking for the people who are quoted in this book.

House update

Well, we bought a house.
After looking at a bunch of houses prior to our holiday, returning back and looking at a few more, we made an offer on a house on Lipton street. It's a 3 bedroom house with a little office on the main floor. Kitchen and bathroom are remodeled, main floor is tile and hardwood floor (don't want carpets with our pooches), and there is a front porch and a back deck. Electricity and plumbing have both been updated. Need to complete the fencing next summer, and do a couple of minor repairs, but the big things are already done.
We don't take possession for a couple of months (Oct 28), so you won't see any pics of the house until then.

Swimming Lessons

Nathanael completed his summer swimming lessons this week. Didn't pass level one, but he did swim in the deep end without screamnig his head off. As long as he's wearing the life jacket, he's willing to do it. We'll have to sign him up for lessons over the winter and keep working at swimming in the shallow end without the jacket.

Catch up.... kind of

Been playing with flickr since we returned from Alberta. Wanted to find a way to put pictures on the Internet so that my parents and sister could see them easily. Now I find out that Mom can't view them at work. Oh well. Maybe after she retires...:-( Dad's not a techie at all... but we are working on him.

For anyone interested, the link to the tags page is
http://www.flickr.com/photos/budlong/tags/

Some neat tags to check out would be:

GrandmaGrandpas - Nathan - there are pics of the boys here. More to come.
Orfflevelone2006 - pictures from orff course.
Liptonstreethouse - saw this house last week and are considering buying it. It's a nice house West of Arlington in the West End. Still close to downtown and closer to Nathanael's school than where we are now.

I will still put pictures on here, but if I have a whole bunch, like these ones, I'll post the link or the tag.

Can't sleep

woke up in a coughing fit - and can't get back to sleep. I hate summer colds.

Wading pools

We're hitting the wading pool again - this time it's the one close to Nathanael's school. The one in Vimy Ridge park is being redone - may be sometime I'll take some pics and put them up here as well. It's pretty depressing, though - it's taking the whole summer for them to be done - August will be done before they are finished working on it.
It's getting us into the heart of Wolesley, though, which we do like.

Orff Level One - done tomrrow!

Been away from the blog these past two weeks because I've been working on my Orff Level one. It's a 10 day intensive course at U of Manitoba, and I have one day left - Day nine, today, was the last of the testing days - I had 5 tests - recorder improv, dance presentation of the anulelul, movement test, Orff lesson, and my Basic Orff instrument skills test. I'm very tired now.

I've definitely learned a lot - and really am looking forward to taking the things I have learned here and applying them to the Music program at the school I teach at. Perhaps I'll have some pictures to post after tomorrow - we are doing an Open House as our final presentation.

TTYL
Chris.

I'm an uncle!

Check out this photo - my sister's baby at mid June - already sucking his/her thumb! Cool!

summer is here

July 1 has become a milestone for me since I began teaching. It signals the beginning of the summer and two months of recuperation and recharge time for me. I will be spending some of the summer relaxing, but I do have some things that I will be doing that people wouldn't call relaxing.

In preparation for the next school year, I am taking a two week course for music. It's Orff Level One, and the course runs from 8:30am to 5:00pm for ten days (July 5-18), with homework on each day. Needless to say, I expect to be very busy with this. The advantage is that it is a 6 credit hour course, and I am taking it for credit.

I have been confirmed with Winnipeg One again for next year - 1/2 time music, and 1/2 time Reading Recovery. I knew nothing about this program until this year, and it seems that everyone I meet knows a bit about it, or knows a student that goes through it. I hear nothing but good things. The training for that begins in September, but I have 4 books to read over the summer (total thickness 4 inches), so I'll start that after the Orff course.

Other than that, we are both involved in a drama for church in August - that means a number of rehearsals throughout the month of August.

So, my summer is not being spent lazing around - although I am sure to fit that in somewhere. Maybe I'll do that at my parent's place in July (we're going after the course is done).