Travel | Reflections on the Teche

Posts Tagged ‘Travel’

Here we go, Paleo

Posted in Slice of Life, tagged #nwpianthology, #outside, Atlanta, Kim Douillard, paleo diet, Travel on January 20, 2015| 19 Comments »

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Skylight at High Museum, Atlanta

My 2015 One Little Word is Reach. Here are some images of my weekend in Atlanta where I reached for my phone a few times to take these shots. I follow Kim Douillard. She posts lots of pictures. Her blog title is Thinking through my Lens which is exactly what she does, photos and reflections. She posts a weekly challenge. This week’s challenge was Outside. We were in Atlanta for a wedding, and the weather was gorgeous, sunny and cool. On Saturday morning, we took a walk outside. We followed the mother-of-the-groom’s niece, her husband, and their young children, and together we found a park.

Look at the high cirrus clouds.

The iPhone captured a rainbow around the sun.

The joy of being four on a big tall slide!

Another Reach for me is a paleo diet. I have been vegetarian (actually, pescetarian) for about four years. My daughter started a paleo diet and wanted to take me along with her. What a stretch! I had to add some meat back in to get enough protein, but I am particular about it. For example, New Year’s cabbage rolls contained grass-fed beef.

Stacey Shubitz of the Two Writing Teachers has made a paleo Pinterest board here.

Maggie and I went on a paleo shopping event on Monday to Whole Foods. This is a 25-mile trek. We came home with loads of vegis, almond yogurt, fruits, salmon, and coconut cream. My cat was curious about all the plastic bags and new smells.

The biggest reach for paleo me is my morning cereal and crackers and hummus afternoon snack. I am having eggs, turkey bacon, and avocado for breakfast and nut mix for a snack. Fruit is always a good choice. There are problems, too, with eating out. I have to ask a ton of questions: Is your soup cream based? How is the fish cooked? So far, most servers are willing to answer and explain. I think more and more people are becoming conscious of what they eat.

I’m not sure how long this diet will last. I haven’t lost any weight that I can tell. But challenges are good for us, and being more knowledgable and more concerned about what we eat is important to leading a healthy life.

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When it comes to technology, balance.

Posted in Digital Learning, Gifted Education, Teaching, tagged Cambodia, digital literacy, Nanci Atwell, Travel, Vietnam on November 16, 2014| 4 Comments »

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Last week there were posts in response to a well-known and respected educator, Nanci Atwell, about the question of using technology in the lower grades. I have long admired Nanci Atwell as the author of In the Middle. Her theories and ideas have guided my teaching for many years. The comment that garnered so much attention was this:

I do think classrooms in grades four or five and up should have computers, so kids can experience and experiment with word processing, but I have concerns about them in the younger grades. In fact, I think the trend of iPads in the primary classroom is a mistake. –Nancie Atwell

I understand her thinking. When children are young, their brains are still growing and developing. I tell my students often that video games are OK in moderation, but hours can harm their brains. I offer them choices in the classroom for writing and composing. Personally, I do not want to take time from actual writing to teach handwriting, so I would rather their final drafts be typed. I think this is real world application. My students have balance. The right balance is important in many aspects of life, eating, exercise, and technology use.

Cutting a papaya, fruit from Vietnam.

This week, my mother-in-law visited my classes to teach about Vietnam. She recently went on a trip there and brought back many pictures and ideas for teaching my young students. She was worried about what they would and would not understand. I put together an Emaze presentation with some of her pictures. She did not think it included enough. I told her the Emaze was background to her presence. The kids would pay more attention to her. And I was right about that! She brought in fruits and vegetables from the Asian market. She bought them all bamboo hats. They each had a taste of peanut candy. And they touched an actual silk worm cocoon. There is nothing better than the real thing.

Technology, however, allowed some of my students to process her visit even further as they wrote a Slice of Life story. You can read Tyler’s, Vannisa’s , and Kielan’s. As she wrote, I watched Kielan refer back to the Emaze presentation. It helped her remember everything that she saw.

I believe this process is the best for teaching. I will continually advocate for hands on experience through guest speakers and field trips. The technology serves as a means for processing and communicating that is here to stay and is a necessary part of the balance in education.

Children are fascinated by money from other countries.

**Note: Due to NCTE and Thanksgiving holiday, there will be a two week break from DigiLit Sunday posts.

Link up your Digital Literacy posts.

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Celebrating Thirty-two Years

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Writing, tagged anniversary, Napoleon House, New Orleans, Travel on August 9, 2014| 9 Comments »

Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.

August 7, 1982

On August 7, 1982, I was not even 21 yet. But I made a very wise and wonderful decision to marry my best friend. We celebrated 32 years by dancing to our favorite Zydeco band, Geno Delafose and the French Rockin Boogie. They were playing in New Orleans at the Rock N Bowl. Yes, you read that right, Rock and Bowl. Only in New Orleans can you bowl and dance to Zydeco. Read about the interesting history of the place here.

I thought the band started at 7 PM. I don’t know why I thought that and having not verified it, we showed up at the Rock n Bowl at five minutes to 7. With our hands stamped, we were told that the music started at 8:30. Jeff and I walked next door to another longtime New Orleans establishment, Ye Ole College Inn. I’ve never had a bad meal there. We had a delicious meal and a drink (or two), so we were ready for dancing the night away. Geno has more stamina than we do, so we rarely see the tip of his hat and his farewell. But we made it until 11:30, dancing our last dance to “Make the Dust Fly.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fU_Fa2qybU

We took our time getting up on Friday morning. We had a nice lunch and visit with my cousin and his wife. They are renovating an old four-plex in Uptown making it into a single family home. My cousin is an architect. I am fascinated by his choices. The door to the back porch is an automatic garage door. He has salvaged tin from an old shed to make a tin wall. He is also using an old gurney to make a rolling island in the kitchen. Regretfully, I didn’t take any pictures. I just listened to him talk passionately about keeping the integrity of the materials he is using. I celebrate his endeavor.

One of our favorite bars is The Napoleon House, known for its Pim’s Cup, a delicious refreshing gin-based drink. When we were dating long ago at LSU, we would drive to NOLA after a game and hang out at The Napoleon House, a unique bar/restaurant with crumbling concrete walls, cheerful male waiters most of whom have a handle-bar mustache, and loud classical music.

Our celebration continues today.

Napoleon House

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Slice of Seattle

Posted in Gratitude, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Seattle, Travel on July 29, 2014| 8 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

Today is my last day in Seattle. I have been here for a week with my mother-in-law visiting her son and his family. My sister-in-law Julie is the saint who has been our tireless tour guide. You can see her in the picture collage above delighted by her friend’s dalia garden. This friend offered us a bouquet of dalias, big, beautiful, and colorful to go with her gift of crabs. Each meal we have had here has included fresh vegetables and seafood.

On Sunday after an intimate service at St. Mark’s cathedral, Julie and Greg took me paddle boarding. I mentioned that I had never done this before. “You must try it!” So there I am standing on a windy lake paddling. I really didn’t do half bad. Julie, who rows for sport, paddled far out in the lake. I stayed closer in, but I decided that was OK. I’ll just enjoy being here in this breeze on this clear lake listening to the joyful sounds of fun. I’m not sure if I will get a board for the bayou (as friends on Facebook suggested), but I was happy I did it.

You can see my 5 image story of our trip to Bainbridge Island here. Today we are going to another island. This vacation has been a perfect combination of walks in parks with mountain views, shopping at Pike Place Market, food from the garden and from the sea, and adventure. My only regret is that my husband and children are not with me. I miss them.

The weather has been only perfect with clear skies and daily mountain views. Mt. Rainier is visible, but I cannot get it to show up in pictures. The white snow blends with the sky and clouds.

I didn’t mention my own private attic room. Greg and Julie renovated a century old home and finished the attic. I have to climb narrow Italian stairs, but once I am up here, I can see the sky and rooftops, the mountains and lake beyond. I have enjoyed this inspiring writing space.

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Perfect Day for a Field Trip

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Teaching, Writing, tagged field trip, gifted education, Grace Episcopal Church, Longview, Natchez, St. Francisville, The Myrtles, Travel on October 26, 2013| 6 Comments »

Today is Celebration Saturday over at Ruth Ayres’ Site, Discover, Play, Build.

Yesterday was a wonderful fall day! The air was clear and crisp. A perfect day for a field trip. The gifted program for our district takes the 4th-6th graders on a field trip every other year to St. Francisville, LA and Natchez, MS. Early Friday morning at 6 AM, our students and teachers, along with some parent and grandparent chaperones, boarded a chartered bus and headed north to St. Francisville.

In St. Francisville, we toured the haunted Myrtles Plantation home. One of the stories we heard was about a slave who had her ear cut off. This ghost apparently steals earrings, actually takes only one for her remaining ear, and is especially fond of hoop earrings. And sure enough, one of the moms had on hoop earrings. One was gone, Poof!, by the end of the tour. I had the freezons, which is Cajun for chills.

Students pose at the outdoor fountain.

After touring and walking the beautiful grounds of the Myrtles, we headed down the road to Grace Epicopal Church to their old cemetery. There the students did gravestone rubbings. Next week we will research these and write historical fiction stories.

In Natchez, we ate lunch on the grounds of the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, and the kids had the chance to run up and down Indian mounds and learn about the pottery and basketry of the Natchez Indians. A favorite souvenir for my boys were arrowhead pendants.

Then on to Longwood Plantation. Longwood is an impressive site, the largest plantation home in Natchez; however, the only completed part is the basement. The Civil War broke out, and the owner died of pneumonia. His widow raised 8 children in the completed part of the basement which was only 10,000 square feet. Imagine the completed house would have been 30,000 sq. feet. You go up the stairs and can see the framework of the incomplete mansion. It is most fascinating. Again at this plantation, the students sketched. Back at school, they will compare and contrast the life of a child at each plantation we visited.

Even though the trip was long and we didn’t get back home until 8:30 PM, the friendships made and nurtured as well as the history learned and appreciated made this field trip a valuable experience for everyone.

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Chicago Weekend

Posted in Slice of Life, tagged Animoto, Chicago, family vacation, Travel on July 23, 2013| 9 Comments »

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The Bean in Millennium Park.

We just got home from Chicago last night, so I wasn’t going to do a Tuesday Slice of Life. But I read Katherine Sokolowski’s blog post this morning about her day trip to Chicago, and I decided OK, I can do that! So I made an Animoto video of our weekend in Chi-town. My husband and two older daughters ran the Rock-n-Roll half-marathon on Sunday. I watched with my mother-in-law, my youngest daughter, and two boyfriends. They did great! We had a packed weekend with lots of walking and eating. Enjoy my video!

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Summer on New Castle Lake

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged family, Mississippi, Travel on June 25, 2013| 8 Comments »

Join the Tuesday Slice of Life

I have had a wonderful, peaceful week with my parents in Madison, MS. on New Castle Lake. They look out at the lake every day. There is something so calming about watching water. Each day, they are visited by a great blue heron, a gaggle of Canada geese, and a family of mallards. Each evening, the sun sets over the horizon making a new painting in the sky.

Each day we embarked on an outing. The first fell on my mother’s birthday. We attended her monthly book club meeting that took place in a Circa 1908 Revival mansion The Fairview Inn B&B and restaurant. I loved being surrounded by smart southern women discussing books and life! They put a candle in Mom’s crème brûlée.

Happy Birthday, Dot!

The next day the three of us went to the Mississippi Museum of Art for lunch and a viewing of the Old Masters to Monet. We also enjoyed the permanent collection and the quilt competition.

On Thursday, we went to the Mississippi Craftsmen Center on the Natchez Trace. So many talented artists and craftsmen in Mississippi!

The rest of the week included hearing my brother play with two other musicians at a fine restaurant, a bookstore visit with my dad, and seeing my sister-in-law in Steel Magnolias. She played the mother, M’Lynn and had me sobbing by the end.

My favorite part was just being there, having time to read, write, and visit with my family. One evening we sat out on the screened-in porch. I read aloud poems by Natasha Trethewey (who is originally from Mississippi) while Mom tracked the stars on her iPad. I wrote the following poem:

Tonight,
instead of TV,
we stargaze;
chart the evening sky on the iPad app.

Mom announces Venus
above the horizon
glimmering like an orange diamond,

not unlike the firefly
with its lonely, silent flashes.

When we stop talking,
frogs moan, crying
like spoiled children resisting bedtime:

Let me stay a little longer,
to find more stars,
to catch more stories,
to be more awake!

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Keep Austin Weird

Posted in Slice of Life, tagged Austin, Texas, Travel on March 30, 2013| 9 Comments »

Slice of Life Challenge Day 30

I am in Austin visiting my sister and her family. We ventured downtown to South Congress yesterday, known to locals as “SoCo.” Austin has a personality, and obviously, the people here are proud of it. They sport vehicle bumper stickers that say, “Keep Austin Weird.” We enjoyed some of the weirdness.

Selection of a lunch place split up our group, and I went with my daughter and husband to the Lucky Robot. The bathroom stall said it all, I was a “Lucky Gal.”

We ordered using an iPad. How cool is that? And the table next to us had a yellow porch swing for seating. Not to mention, the food was delicious. I had two Asian tacos full of fresh vegetables and topped with avocado and tasty sauce.

As the warm breezy afternoon continued, we ran into a man with a cat on his backpack, a picture-perfect graffiti sign, and a piglet on a leash. We enjoyed the weirdness of Austin and time spent with each other.