ISTEP Results Are In!

And much as I dislike all the pressure and stress that goes along with the ISTEP, as well as the emphasis on the ISTEP as the indicator of success, both for student and teacher, I am really pleased with this year's results. The scores are the best I've ever had a class receive!

For my 5th graders, 37 of the 39 individual tests (English Language Arts, Math, and Social Studies) received Pass Plus, the highest score. And the 4th graders did well, too. Out of 48 individual tests (English Language Arts, Math, and Science), 46 were Pass Plus.

Obviously, the kiddos took the tests seriously and worked hard. I am so proud of them.

My incoming class of new 4th graders is another story, however, and one of concern. They did not do well on their 3rd grade ISTEP. They took 20 individual tests (English Language Arts and Math) and only received 10 Pass Plus scores. Breaking the scores down proves interesting: 8 of the 10 Pass Plus scores were in Math, and only 2 in English Language Arts. The 2/3 teacher had told me that this incoming class was low, but to be honest, those English Language Arts scores do not even look like a gifted class' scores. And why is it skewed so heavily on Math? I suspect that may be a product of SuccessMaker, a program TSC began using two years ago that tailors Math instruction to the student.

Looks like I may have to try some new strategies this fall to get the incoming 4th graders back up where they should be.

The Play-Doh Cake

Well.

What do you say when you are my age, have cooked for eight people for years and years, are a pretty good baker, and you produce this monstrosity?

 I call it the Play-Doh Cake.

 Even putting it on my pretty red cake plate didn't make it look any better.

No matter which way I turned it, it was just plain UGLY.

I had baked a spice cake this morning for Sunday dinner, and decided to make penuche frosting for it. The recipe said to let the cooked portion of the frosting cool before using. But I had my suspicions that, once completely cooled, the frosting would be unspreadable, so I decided to let it cool about ten minutes and then added the powdered sugar. Even that was too late - the icing was the consistency of Play-Doh.

I tried to spread it on the cake, but its stiffness tore the cake. Then I got the bright idea of kneading it in pieces, putting those pieces on the cake, and then using a hot knife to smooth it out.

In theory - brilliant. Execution? A bust!

The cake was delicious despite its appearance , but somehow I don't think I'll get any requests to make it again.

Productive Day

Today felt like a "school year" Saturday. (I knew my brain had switched gears when I went out to Hershey the other day!) All day I felt that GOGOGO feeling as though this were my only day of the week to run errands and get things done.

And get things done I did. I got every box at Hershey unpacked.

No more boxes piled on the back shelf!

 Nope, those empty boxes are now stacked up on the kids' desks.

 The tall bookshelf is all arranged (and with some space left!)

 The classics shelf is ready to go. I put in another shelf because I now have so many classics and sequels. I also sorted the games on the bottom shelf and have a box of them to take to Goodwill. I only kept what the students play with most.

 And the other bookshelf is full and ready for kiddos to come choose a good read.

I worked about three hours at Hershey and then came home, grabbed some lunch, and took a nap. I got a text from Lisa just as I laid down, asking me if I was watching the USA women's soccer team play Colombia in the Olympics. Thank goodness she called - I had forgotten. Got the DVR going and headed back to my nap.

Then, in the "on the to-do list all summer but still not completed" category, I cleaned out the cleaning closet. It was last sorted out in November, 2010 by Jessica, so it was time.

 It looks so much better, and like the tall bookshelf at Hershey, now has some extra space!

I got the sprinklers going on the lawn, and then turned my attention to the fountain. It quit working last summer, and on Thursday I'd taken the pump to Aquarium World to replace. The clerk there discovered it was caked in lime from our lovely Indiana limestoned water, and he cleaned it for me and then advised me to soak the pump in vinegar for a while. (And he did not charge me for his time -  thank you!)

The pump worked great in a bowl of water, but when I connected it to the fountain, nothing happened. I worked on the pump some more, but no luck.

Then, I decided to fill the tubing from the pump to the fountain with vinegar - maybe there was a clog inside it. I waited a couple of hours and then gave the tubing an experimental squeeze. Ick! Out of it came a sludge the consistency of toothpaste - no wonder it hadn't worked.   I hooked the pump up again and...

 Success!! Look at that water flow over the edges!

I also watered the horses (and visited with them for a while) and went to the grocery this afternoon.

Busy and productive day!

Double Trouble

That "trouble" would be Trouble the horse. But, it would also be real trouble, too. This afternoon as I was caring for the horses, I noticed this sticking out of the ground:

 I put a lead rope by it for perspective - that's rebar poking up through the soil.  (Look at the bottom middle of the picture.) And it's right in front of the water trough where the herd congregates several times a day.

That's trouble.

If a horse stepped on that rebar, it would be painful and it might damage the hoof. Or, if they fell or rolled on it, it could do some real harm.

Tim's out of town and I am in charge of the barn - I had to fix the problem. I tried wiggling the rebar, and did move it some, but I could not pull it out. The job was bigger than me.

So, I asked Craig for help. Sweet guy that he is, and despite how busy his schedule is at the moment, he grabbed some tools and drove to the barn with me. Craig couldn't pull it out, either, but he'd brought a pick axe and other tools to dig the rebar out of the ground.

 It proved to be a bigger job than than we'd anticipated. 

 That rebar was in deeply. 

And, Craig spotted a second piece of rebar sticking out of the ground that I had missed! More trouble!

He dug at them both, and they seemed to go down deeply and be attached to something, possibly each other. Unsure of what else he might find, Craig decided to use the axe and bend the rebars over and then bury them so the horses could not get hurt on them.

Of course, while all this is going on, someone REALLY wanted to help dig out and then bury the rebar. Who else, but Trouble himself?

I kept shooing him off, but back he would come. With the way that pick axe was swinging, I did NOT want him sticking his nose in to see what we were doing.

Do not let this sweet, innocent face fool you.

Trouble can be a VERY mischievous boy. Why, earlier this afternoon, he got it in his head that the lead rope on the gate had been put there for his personal entertainment. Take a closer look at Trouble's mouth.

See what I mean? 

 And when we finished burying the rebar, Trouble just HAD to get close to us and poke his nose in our business.

 Craig, gentle guy that he is, didn't mind, and gave Trouble some loving.

So, naturally, Trouble lived up to his name and tried to remove Craig's work glove!

In the meantime, we have a temporary fix on the problem. Unless the horses dig that rebar out tonight (who knows? With Trouble in the pasture, it could happen!) the horses are safe. And I'll let Tim know about it when he gets home.

School is Looming

Niggling at the back of my mind since I got home from BreyerFest has been the thought that school begins in a short amount of time. It's as though my mind shifted inside and the "school" switch clicked on. Even though I have two-plus weeks of vacation left, I am constantly thinking of all that needs to be done out at Hershey.

So, this afternoon I drove out.

 Two other cars were in the main parking lot; otherwise it looked deserted.

(I've always asserted that a school in the summer is a sad, lifeless place.)

 Obviously the heat and drought are affecting Hershey's grounds like everywhere else.

The custodians did an excellent job of getting my furniture back where it belongs.

And the new carpet looks super!

 But, due to having the carpeting installed, I had had to pack everything up in May so the furniture could be cleared. Fortunately my aide, Tim Schnepp, did the bulk of that for me. 

 Still, my heart sank when I saw all those boxes that needed to be unpacked.

And the desks and chairs that needed to be matched up.

And the bulletin boards, covered in protective paper, which needed removing.

 I surprised myself, though - I got nine boxes unpacked! And the shelves behind my desk are all ready to go for the new year.

I'll be back at it tomorrow! And the next day...

Organized!

The food storage shelves in the laundry room have been bugging me since late winter - they needed sorting and organizing. Yesterday was the day.

I'm pleased with the results - I made a list of what needed replenishing, threw out a few things (cans dated pre-2007? Outta here!), and put like items together.

The shelves looked full before I began, but that bottom shelf is now half empty. Time to stock up!

Now, dare I tackle the tornado closet off the laundry room where the big cases and bags of food are stored?

Piano Tuning

Finally, for the first time since we moved here, I am having the pianos tuned. (I know, I should be hanging my head in shame...) I cannot even remember the last time we had the pianos tuned, and I have never had the player piano tuned (we've had it since 2003, at least.)

The tuner has been absolutely ecstatic about the player piano. He says it is really high quality, and that when Bruce Newman restored it back in the late 80s/early 90s, he did top notch work with a lot of attention to detail - details that, since they're inside the piano and not seen, many simply slap together quickly.  Not Bruce!  The tuner also says that Adam Schaff, the maker of the player mechanism, was known for excellence. He says that we have a real treasure in this piano. 

 The player mechanism exposed. I'd never seen the interior of it.

The tuner was so excited, he went out to his car and brought in a book on piano manufacturers and piano history. He looked up the serial number on the player and it was made in 1920 or 1921.  Wow!

Because of its age, it is very seasoned and just barely out of tune. In fact, we're going to wait until after the heat breaks to do so.

 This is the Kimball piano. Jerry Call helped us select this one in December, 1982, and it has a beautiful tone. A very bright, cheerful sound.

 The tuner says it looks like it has been barely used as the hammers have very little wear. Since the kids did play it quite a bit, perhaps that's because it's good quality, too? It's more than a quarter-step out of tune but not a half-step (which would be really bad) so the tuner is going to need to do some partial tuning on it now and then will retune it and finish up when he comes to do the player piano. I knew it was bad - when played, sometimes it hurt my ears!

I love the old stickers you find in pianos.

I am still in contact with Bruce, so I think I will write him and ask him to give me a bit of the history on the player piano - where he got it, what shape it was in, etc. I think that would be good to have as part of our family history since the player piano is enjoyed by so many of our family members (especially the young ones!)

I'm Melting!

Will this heat wave never end?? More triple digits today!

A First

Here's a first for me. A girl from my very first class, my beginner year as a teacher in 1998-1999, is now a teacher herself and just was hired to teach at Yankee Ridge.

My school is now her school. As a teacher, not a student.

It feels odd to think that she's old enough to be a teacher. To realize that friends of mine still there, who were her teachers in the past, are now her colleagues. Which I would be were we still in Illinois.

Hard to wrap my mind around that one.

What is not difficult to think about, though, is that Yankee Ridge is lucky to have her as a staff member. She's a wonderfully grounded young woman, and one who cares deeply. I have no doubt that Urbana School District 116 just scored big-time by adding her to their roster of teachers.

So, good luck, Sarah Papajohn. Your 4th and 5th grade teacher is really proud of you, and is delighted that Yankee Ridge, a place near and dear to her heart, will benefit from your presence.

BreyerFest Saturday

My last day at BreyerFest! (Even though it continues through Sunday, I don't go that day.)

Like yesterday, I spent much of it in the covered arena watching the live horse demonstrations. I did shop the concourse again, but did not find anything to buy. Correction, I found a LOT of things, but nothing I felt I wanted to purchase. The woodgrain Brahma Bull was still there - what a gorgeous piece! Until you saw his tail where there were four tiny teeth marks, two on top and two on the bottom. I'd say a chihuahua or some other small pooch grabbed him once. What a shame!

I think I mentioned that two horse shows were taking place simultaneously with BreyerFest in the Kentucky Horse Park. Trailers and vans shared the parking lot with the BreyerFest attendees.

 Yeesh! These horses really ride in style! I wonder how much this rig costs?

 It is popular for the kids who attend to decorate their cars as they prepare to come to Kentucky.

 This is the approach to the covered arena where the live demonstrations happen along with the concourse shops. The arena inside is HUGE. (Maybe football field sized?)

The miniature horses were being shown when I arrived. I quibble with their breeders - they're PONIES, not horses. The proportions are pony-sized, not horse-sized. (For clarity, think of the different proportions of a human midget vs. a human dwarf. Midgets are proportional; dwarves are not.)  But pop that "mini-horse" label on an animal and the value goes up. I keep my mouth shut, but I am guilty of rolling my eyes....

 This little grey pony... er, I mean "miniature horse" was beautifully groomed. Loved his dark eyes!

 And this boy's mom dressed him as a knight with his steed in keeping with the British Invasion theme for BreyerFest.

 A team of "draft miniature horses" pulling a western wagon. (This group is from Indiana.)

 This cutie was entered in the jumping competition and decorated like the union jack!

 Another driving team and a single in harness.

 (Now, this mini does have proportions close to a horse!)

For some reason the Gypsy Vanner/Drum Horses came in again despite not being on the schedule, but I didn't mind as they had some new animals that were not in yesterday's show.

 What a gorgeous horse and beautifully behaved. Again the announcer talked about how gentle these animals are, but just like yesterday, some of the horses' actions belied his words at times. There was a 16.2 hand 3 year old stallion who kept rearing. (Since I am being opinionated in this post, I'll continue - why would you bring a very young horse, one that is a STALLION, into a place full of 1000 people who are making a lot of noise?  It did not seem safe to me, for the horse, for his rider, or for those in attendance.)

 This Gypsy Vanner's tail was so long that its owner tied it under the carriage to keep it from dragging in the dirt! I can only imagine what it must take to keep that horse and his pretty tail clean.

Breyer has a large following (obviously, given the size and scope of BreyerFest) and thus some influence in the horse world. They have used that in the past in bringing attention to issues by using their models. For example, they had a Mustang series which raised awareness of the vanishing Kiger Mustangs and helped preserve them. (Proceeds were also donated.) Currently they are doing a breast cancer awareness series - unusually painted models with the pink awareness ribbon on them.

 And Breyer has brought attention to the Cleveland Bay, a British breed of carriage horse that is nearly extinct - only a few hundred are left. One was at BreyerFest for us to ogle - she was massive! (She reminded me of Trouble, or perhaps Trouble reminds me of the Cleveland Bay.) Breyer also has done a Cleveland Bay model.

The last demo I watched was of Pony Club/Gymkhana and Gaming. Small horses work best for this as they have to be fast and handy at turning. I especially like that crops, bats, spurs, etc. are not allowed - only vocal encouragement can be used to get the horse to run.

Four teams were in attendance, and the riders ranged in age from youth to adult. The horses sported colorful leg wraps and skid boots, and a few were actually decorated with handprints, circles around their eyes, etc.

 This group is lined up ready to sprint when the flag drops!

 Several teams at the end of the arena, waiting their turn to run.

 Gold, the palomino, is 29 years old and loves competing. (You can barely see the green circle around the eye on the left. He also had a green handprint on his hip.) He's so gentle, he doesn't even need a bit - she's riding him in a hackamore! Contrast that to most of the other competitors' horses who were rearing and plunging in anticipation of the flag signal.

 But not just shopping on the concourse and demos in the arena are taking place in the Covered Arena -  see those glass windows on the second story? Those are rooms where seminars are taking place - painting model horses, miniature tack making, lectures on breeds of horses... all kinds of things. And, the participants can watch the action down below while they work!

This rider is the announcer for the Gaming demonstration, explaining to the audience the rules of the games, sharing about the participants (who were from all over the world), etc. She kept to the perimeter of the arena to stay out of the way of the galloping racers while keeping up an informative running commentary.

I love this picture of a dad holding up his little girl so she can pat the announcer's horse. The horse is standing there calmly, but you can tell by his cocked ear that he is also paying attention to the baby patting him. Often horses sense when someone is young, inexperienced, timid, etc., and become very, very gentle while that person is with them. This photo is a beautiful case in point.

I made one more tour of the concourse before saying good-bye to BreyerFest 2012 , hopping in the car, and heading home. BreyerFest certainly was a fun and relaxing "mini" (haha) vacation for me.