Tuesday, August 30, 2011
My revelation!
I just have to realize you can't control someone's behavior, you can only control yours! That's not to stay i cant teach better behaviors, that's what I strive to do everyday! Believe me this is hard to do, but I just try to give as much praise to the good kids so hopefully the not so good ones will do something to get praise, and at the end of the day it will help me to feel positive because I will remember all the praise verses the negative.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Back To School
It's back to school time. I returned to work from a long relaxed summer last week and it has been a crazy, hot mess! But it is very exciting to start the new school year. Shawn has been absolutely amazing and all the trainings I went to this summer really gave me a fresh new outlook for this school year. I will have a great day everyday and I will remain calm and positive. I also feel so much better this year because I am actually going back to the same class, at the same school for the first time in my teaching career. Just knowing that I already know how to do things in my classroom and what works and what doesn't work is a great start to the year. It has been such a smoother transition for me and my class. I am glad to have most of the same students in my life skills class and to have seen how much they have grown and matured over the summer is amazing. I am ready for the school year and can't wait to see the wonderous things my students will do this year.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Around Ireland- last day!
Up and around mountains,
Over the hills,
We saw the cliffs of Howth
Ireland's eye not the mouth
In Dalkey the people were quite stalky,
Into the castle, tales of ladies and lords,
And a cup of Irish coffee,
We were never bored
In Dun Laoghaire,
The boats were steery,
The wind was cold
The water was blue,
and the town was filled
with old and new
Finally to Blackrock,
Had some Irish stew,
We were already too tired
To think of something to do
This ends our trip around Ireland,
Back home to Texas
We will always remember the sights we saw
And never will forget the Guinness
Over the hills,
We saw the cliffs of Howth
Ireland's eye not the mouth
In Dalkey the people were quite stalky,
Into the castle, tales of ladies and lords,
And a cup of Irish coffee,
We were never bored
In Dun Laoghaire,
The boats were steery,
The wind was cold
The water was blue,
and the town was filled
with old and new
Finally to Blackrock,
Had some Irish stew,
We were already too tired
To think of something to do
This ends our trip around Ireland,
Back home to Texas
We will always remember the sights we saw
And never will forget the Guinness
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Day 4
our fourth day in Ireland:
We woke up really late this morning because Shawn and I had a late night. I don't think our bodies have got use to the time change, being that it is still light at 10pm and that at 2am it is 8pm in Texas. We weren't able to sleep.
So we wake up late and are starving. We ask the host for a traditional Irish food restaurant, and he marks 3 places on our map, so naturally we get lost. We thought we were going to one restaurant and ended up walking 15 extra min away from where the restaurant actually was. We turn around and when we arrive it is about €20 a plate, so we aren't doing that! Then we are reminded that a man named Ollie we met at the airpot suggested the elephant castle. We are just around the corner, so we go there.
Ok, I havent yet mentioned how cold it is outside. We are freezing! Everyday that we had been in Ireland thus far has been perfect weather. The one day we chose not to wear long sleeves, it is freezing raining. So we were walking around for about 30 min before we got into a heated place.
We eat at the elephant castle. Shawn had a temple bar omelet with avocado and I had a chicken club sandwich with curry mayo. My sandwich came with 5 triangle slices which I didn't finish and Shawn cleaned his plate. It was good food, and a nice place to sit in.
After eating we decided to go to trinity college because we had not visited this area yet. We got there too late to walk on campus or in the library to see the book of kells. This has been a theme for us throughout Ireland. So we stopped at the tourism office to make sure the Guinness factory would be open for us to tour. It was and so we took a bus ride over to the brewery.
When we got there, it almost felt like we were visiting Willy Wonka's Chocolalte Factory. Remember how plain and closed off the factory was on the outside, this is what the brewery looked like to us. We walked a long route around to the back of the building and almost snuck in through the exit, though we didn't know that's what it was. Finally we got in and escaped the cold weather. Walking through the brewery was cool. The design of it was very masculine with pewter and wood accents. They were also very advanced in technology. As a teacher, I also appreciated that the tour explored all 5 senses. We saw, smelt, felt and heard about all the ingredients used to make guinness: hops, barley, water, and roasted barley. And finally we tasted the product. We were allowed a free sample of Guinness draught. And then we exchanged our ticket voucher for a free pint of Guinness in the upstairs cafe. Upstairs we could view the whole city from the sky view cafe. It was beautiful to see all the monuments and churches of Ireland.
After the Guinness brewery we decided to go to a restaurant my good friend Laura recommended, the canal bank cafe for hot wings. We had to take 2 busses and cross the canal to get there. We also had not been to this part of town, which was less touristy. The restaurant looked very nice. One thing I have noticed in Ireland is that all the seats are really close together. If you are a couple sitting together you are sitting so close to the next couple almost at a distance like a 4 seat table in the US. The wings were too die for!! There was plenty for us to eat. Thanks Laura. I will continue to recommend this place to anyone traveling to dublin.
After dinner we decided to walk back to whelans pub to see the upstairs part. The first night we went to whelans it was closed and I didn't recognize the area to what I saw in ps I love you, so I thought maybe upstairs would look like it. It didn't. I guess that's Hollywood for you. Things aren't like they are in the movies.
After a long afternoon we head back to the hotel and hit the sack for our last day in Ireland.
We woke up really late this morning because Shawn and I had a late night. I don't think our bodies have got use to the time change, being that it is still light at 10pm and that at 2am it is 8pm in Texas. We weren't able to sleep.
So we wake up late and are starving. We ask the host for a traditional Irish food restaurant, and he marks 3 places on our map, so naturally we get lost. We thought we were going to one restaurant and ended up walking 15 extra min away from where the restaurant actually was. We turn around and when we arrive it is about €20 a plate, so we aren't doing that! Then we are reminded that a man named Ollie we met at the airpot suggested the elephant castle. We are just around the corner, so we go there.
Ok, I havent yet mentioned how cold it is outside. We are freezing! Everyday that we had been in Ireland thus far has been perfect weather. The one day we chose not to wear long sleeves, it is freezing raining. So we were walking around for about 30 min before we got into a heated place.
We eat at the elephant castle. Shawn had a temple bar omelet with avocado and I had a chicken club sandwich with curry mayo. My sandwich came with 5 triangle slices which I didn't finish and Shawn cleaned his plate. It was good food, and a nice place to sit in.
After eating we decided to go to trinity college because we had not visited this area yet. We got there too late to walk on campus or in the library to see the book of kells. This has been a theme for us throughout Ireland. So we stopped at the tourism office to make sure the Guinness factory would be open for us to tour. It was and so we took a bus ride over to the brewery.
When we got there, it almost felt like we were visiting Willy Wonka's Chocolalte Factory. Remember how plain and closed off the factory was on the outside, this is what the brewery looked like to us. We walked a long route around to the back of the building and almost snuck in through the exit, though we didn't know that's what it was. Finally we got in and escaped the cold weather. Walking through the brewery was cool. The design of it was very masculine with pewter and wood accents. They were also very advanced in technology. As a teacher, I also appreciated that the tour explored all 5 senses. We saw, smelt, felt and heard about all the ingredients used to make guinness: hops, barley, water, and roasted barley. And finally we tasted the product. We were allowed a free sample of Guinness draught. And then we exchanged our ticket voucher for a free pint of Guinness in the upstairs cafe. Upstairs we could view the whole city from the sky view cafe. It was beautiful to see all the monuments and churches of Ireland.
After the Guinness brewery we decided to go to a restaurant my good friend Laura recommended, the canal bank cafe for hot wings. We had to take 2 busses and cross the canal to get there. We also had not been to this part of town, which was less touristy. The restaurant looked very nice. One thing I have noticed in Ireland is that all the seats are really close together. If you are a couple sitting together you are sitting so close to the next couple almost at a distance like a 4 seat table in the US. The wings were too die for!! There was plenty for us to eat. Thanks Laura. I will continue to recommend this place to anyone traveling to dublin.
After dinner we decided to walk back to whelans pub to see the upstairs part. The first night we went to whelans it was closed and I didn't recognize the area to what I saw in ps I love you, so I thought maybe upstairs would look like it. It didn't. I guess that's Hollywood for you. Things aren't like they are in the movies.
After a long afternoon we head back to the hotel and hit the sack for our last day in Ireland.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Day 3 -- The ShawnDeezy Version
Ok,
So my wife Angel so eloquently explained the first 2 days of our trip, and now I'll try to shed some light on the next 1 (Wednesday). But first, some general observations. I've noticed a few things about this country. First of all, it's very beautiful in many ways. The architecture is great and amazing and it has modern zeal with many ancient historical buildings too. I'm also humored by the accents. It's amazing that they are speaking English but I rarely understand what the heck they're saying. It's probably more my fault, but it's funny nonetheless.
Another thing and probably most surprising is the lack of attention given to customer service. My experience in Texas has always been that you'll usually get a waiter or waitress that will bend over backwards to give you what you want. Doesn't matter how complicated your order is, how pissy you are to them, or any of that. For the most part, you will get someone who will show a lot of effort in making you happy. There are exceptions of course, and it's probably like 70/30. That is absolutely not the case here in Ireland, at least not my experience. In general, people are still polite. But they are not afraid to rush you and they are not overly apologetic if they can't make things perfect for you. My spoiled U.S. attitude was not gonna fly, from the first moment we stepped on the bus. The driver quickly snatched my money and gave me my change and motioned for me to get out of the way. Then, as I was dragging my 2 bags of luggage to find a place to put them in the luggage rack, he took off and punched on the gas, almost making me fall and I still hadn't put my luggage away. So, I ended up just standing up and holding my luggage against the side of the bus for the whole 30 minute ride. And I've come to learn that that type of service is not the exception to the rule, it IS the rule. We've been to about 8 bars, and I've asked every bartender for advice on what to drink. 6 of the 8 responded with something like "What the hell do you want!!" before moving to another person then coming back to see if I had made up my mind. All the restaurants have closed 15-30 minutes before the posted time and if they aren't closed (like McDonalds and BK) they are not usually in a good mood at all and not afraid to show it. In summary, I've come to appreciate good customer service while here, and our luck has been changing a bit lately. But I know now that nobodies bending over backwards for me so I better be on time, know what I want, and I better like it cuz nobody cares if I don't.
So, I digress, a summary of our other days here. I believe angel left off mid-day on day 2 (Monday), so I'll start from there. We walked back to the Temple Bar area and went back to Quay's Pub to listen to music and have drinks. The bar tender was impatient again but angel got a waitress to suggest a strawberry cider for me while she sipped on her Guiness, or Heineken, or I think it was Carlsburg. It was something a lot more manly than my Cider. Anywho, we ended up sitting next to these 2 German guys name Haiko and Steffen and singing to some punk rockish/oldies/country music. Since it was July 4th, there was a pro-american sentiment and the atmosphere was very nice. I was pretty surprized when they busted out with "friends in low places" and everybody in the pub knew the song. It was actually the only song that the 2 German guys did not know word for word. Made me feel pretty dumb cuz it was 1 of like 5 songs that I could sorta sing along with. Either way, it was a good time and very relaxing. After the band finished and our German comrades took off, we decided to try a different flavor. We walked down the street to this pub called alchemy and heard some hip hop music so we started to go in. They were charging 5 euros cover so we started to turn around (just got hustled the night before) before some tall skinny Irish guy in a suit grabbed us and gave us complimentary entry passes. The club section was down the stairs and past a pretty well set up coat check. The music was good and all but it was just a little bit too undercrowded to really feel a crunk vibe. So, we danced to a couple songs then we bounced. On the way back to the hotel Angel finally gave in to my begging and we skipped Mcdonalds for Burger King this time. She had pancakes and I had a bacon burger or something. It was all good.
Day 3 kicked off with me being lazy and finally gettin up to go to Queen of Tarts. We were excited to get in since they had closed on us the 1st day. The service here was a little better than most places and we were offered to sit inside or outside. We finally got seated and Angel and I shared a BLT before I ordered a Chocolate pecan tart while she enjoyed the apple crumple. In my opinion, it was just good, which was slightly disappointing. I would certainly recommend it though, since it was by far the best desert we've had to this point. I believe my longing for ice cream was ruining my ability to enjoy the meal. From Queen of Tarts, we went on a little bit of a shopping spree as we walked back to our hotel. Nothing too exciting, just that there was a good mix of stores you would find in America (Footlocker, Forever 21) and some stores that I recognize as unique to Ireland. We went to a big store called Penney's and they had several things for under 10 Euros, which tempted me to really shop a lot, but it was not really my style, Thank God. Angel managed to find a couple things there and in other places. After shopping, we were sore and beat, so we took a nap. Then we got dressed and went to a place called "The Living Room", a little bar right next to our hotel. By far the absolute best customer service I've had the whole trip. The guy answered my 15 drink questions, gave me some fries even though they didn't come with the meal, and suggested some other places we could visit. After eating some good fried chicken that was a great bang for our buck and having a couple drinks, we walked down to the Arlington Hotel. Our bus driver had told us to be in our seats by 8pm if we hoped to see the free 9pm show. We showed up around 8:05 and most of the good seats were already taken. however, in order to actually get a floor seat you had to buy the 30 euro meal, and since we had eaten already we decided to get a seat at the bar. There were 4 open seats right in front of the stage, so we ordered a couple drinks and settled in. We met this really nice couple named Bryan and Christie and had a good conversation. The show itself, it was interesting from the perspecitve that it was Irish music and talented performers, but it was fairly short (30 mins), started at 10 instead of 9, and a bit repetitive. A good idea if you want to chill for a bit and don't have any other plans, but not really a must see. Anywho, we finished up the show and then walked over to Whelan's Pub. Angel was pretty disapointed that the stage upstairs was closed but we decided to sit down and have a drink anyway. The place was fairly empty, so after a drink we got up and headed back towards temple bar. We didn't actually end up going into any bars though, and headed back to the room at about 12:30 am.
So my wife Angel so eloquently explained the first 2 days of our trip, and now I'll try to shed some light on the next 1 (Wednesday). But first, some general observations. I've noticed a few things about this country. First of all, it's very beautiful in many ways. The architecture is great and amazing and it has modern zeal with many ancient historical buildings too. I'm also humored by the accents. It's amazing that they are speaking English but I rarely understand what the heck they're saying. It's probably more my fault, but it's funny nonetheless.
Another thing and probably most surprising is the lack of attention given to customer service. My experience in Texas has always been that you'll usually get a waiter or waitress that will bend over backwards to give you what you want. Doesn't matter how complicated your order is, how pissy you are to them, or any of that. For the most part, you will get someone who will show a lot of effort in making you happy. There are exceptions of course, and it's probably like 70/30. That is absolutely not the case here in Ireland, at least not my experience. In general, people are still polite. But they are not afraid to rush you and they are not overly apologetic if they can't make things perfect for you. My spoiled U.S. attitude was not gonna fly, from the first moment we stepped on the bus. The driver quickly snatched my money and gave me my change and motioned for me to get out of the way. Then, as I was dragging my 2 bags of luggage to find a place to put them in the luggage rack, he took off and punched on the gas, almost making me fall and I still hadn't put my luggage away. So, I ended up just standing up and holding my luggage against the side of the bus for the whole 30 minute ride. And I've come to learn that that type of service is not the exception to the rule, it IS the rule. We've been to about 8 bars, and I've asked every bartender for advice on what to drink. 6 of the 8 responded with something like "What the hell do you want!!" before moving to another person then coming back to see if I had made up my mind. All the restaurants have closed 15-30 minutes before the posted time and if they aren't closed (like McDonalds and BK) they are not usually in a good mood at all and not afraid to show it. In summary, I've come to appreciate good customer service while here, and our luck has been changing a bit lately. But I know now that nobodies bending over backwards for me so I better be on time, know what I want, and I better like it cuz nobody cares if I don't.
So, I digress, a summary of our other days here. I believe angel left off mid-day on day 2 (Monday), so I'll start from there. We walked back to the Temple Bar area and went back to Quay's Pub to listen to music and have drinks. The bar tender was impatient again but angel got a waitress to suggest a strawberry cider for me while she sipped on her Guiness, or Heineken, or I think it was Carlsburg. It was something a lot more manly than my Cider. Anywho, we ended up sitting next to these 2 German guys name Haiko and Steffen and singing to some punk rockish/oldies/country music. Since it was July 4th, there was a pro-american sentiment and the atmosphere was very nice. I was pretty surprized when they busted out with "friends in low places" and everybody in the pub knew the song. It was actually the only song that the 2 German guys did not know word for word. Made me feel pretty dumb cuz it was 1 of like 5 songs that I could sorta sing along with. Either way, it was a good time and very relaxing. After the band finished and our German comrades took off, we decided to try a different flavor. We walked down the street to this pub called alchemy and heard some hip hop music so we started to go in. They were charging 5 euros cover so we started to turn around (just got hustled the night before) before some tall skinny Irish guy in a suit grabbed us and gave us complimentary entry passes. The club section was down the stairs and past a pretty well set up coat check. The music was good and all but it was just a little bit too undercrowded to really feel a crunk vibe. So, we danced to a couple songs then we bounced. On the way back to the hotel Angel finally gave in to my begging and we skipped Mcdonalds for Burger King this time. She had pancakes and I had a bacon burger or something. It was all good.
Day 3 kicked off with me being lazy and finally gettin up to go to Queen of Tarts. We were excited to get in since they had closed on us the 1st day. The service here was a little better than most places and we were offered to sit inside or outside. We finally got seated and Angel and I shared a BLT before I ordered a Chocolate pecan tart while she enjoyed the apple crumple. In my opinion, it was just good, which was slightly disappointing. I would certainly recommend it though, since it was by far the best desert we've had to this point. I believe my longing for ice cream was ruining my ability to enjoy the meal. From Queen of Tarts, we went on a little bit of a shopping spree as we walked back to our hotel. Nothing too exciting, just that there was a good mix of stores you would find in America (Footlocker, Forever 21) and some stores that I recognize as unique to Ireland. We went to a big store called Penney's and they had several things for under 10 Euros, which tempted me to really shop a lot, but it was not really my style, Thank God. Angel managed to find a couple things there and in other places. After shopping, we were sore and beat, so we took a nap. Then we got dressed and went to a place called "The Living Room", a little bar right next to our hotel. By far the absolute best customer service I've had the whole trip. The guy answered my 15 drink questions, gave me some fries even though they didn't come with the meal, and suggested some other places we could visit. After eating some good fried chicken that was a great bang for our buck and having a couple drinks, we walked down to the Arlington Hotel. Our bus driver had told us to be in our seats by 8pm if we hoped to see the free 9pm show. We showed up around 8:05 and most of the good seats were already taken. however, in order to actually get a floor seat you had to buy the 30 euro meal, and since we had eaten already we decided to get a seat at the bar. There were 4 open seats right in front of the stage, so we ordered a couple drinks and settled in. We met this really nice couple named Bryan and Christie and had a good conversation. The show itself, it was interesting from the perspecitve that it was Irish music and talented performers, but it was fairly short (30 mins), started at 10 instead of 9, and a bit repetitive. A good idea if you want to chill for a bit and don't have any other plans, but not really a must see. Anywho, we finished up the show and then walked over to Whelan's Pub. Angel was pretty disapointed that the stage upstairs was closed but we decided to sit down and have a drink anyway. The place was fairly empty, so after a drink we got up and headed back towards temple bar. We didn't actually end up going into any bars though, and headed back to the room at about 12:30 am.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
The hills are alive
Day 2:
We woke up at 8:15 to get ready to go see Wicklow mountains. We ate MickeyD's breakfast, we just cant stay away! At 9:20 our bus picked us up on O'Connel St and we headed for Wicklow County.
Our tour guide was named Kevin, after Saint Kevin, however he had no relation (what he said). He told us of some hotspots around Dublin and then we drove to Dun Laoghaire (Dun Lerry!), (Just like Gerry said in PS I love you). We stopped at the coast and saw the shore line, took some photos and could see the city Howth. Shawn and I are planning on taking a train there. It is a fisher's village and we want to mingle with the folk.
After leaving Dun Logahire, we drove around and stopped at an Avoca hand weaving shop. We did not see the hand weavers but could buy kicknacks. There was also a little cafe to get coffee. We met another couple, Tessa and Ryan, from Chicago and sat with them outside on the patio. I love the little shops and cafe's, they are so quaint. It was very delightful to sit, feel a cool breeze (the weather has been pretty amazing 60's F) and eat some fruit. The couple we met had been traveling through Europe and Ireland was their last stop. They were younger, sophomores in college. It was fun talking to them.
Then we headed back on the bus to Wicklow. We tugged up the mountain and saw the hills start to come alive. There were cottages with acres of land. We saw some sheep herders and lots of green. I told Shawn, "this makes me want to buy a house in the mountains" and he said, "this makes me want to buy some blue sheep". lol, some of the sheep were tagged blue by owners. As we headed up the mountain and heard some of the history, I just kept thinking how wonderful the scenery was. It was a little piece of heaven. We got to the top and stopped to see the lake. It was an amazing sight. I will never forget it. This is some of the great work God has done. Truly magical.
We also saw the Guinness estate. They own a portion of the land right by the lake and it is gorgeous. Some movies have been filmed along the hills of Wicklow, such as Braveheart, Black Beauty, Excaliber, and PS I Love You (have to admit a fave of mine). The one thing I didn't get to see was all the lavendar. Our guide Kevin said that all along the mountains there is Heath which will turn lavendar, NEXT WEEK! Oh great. Well, that just means Shawn will have to bring me back in late July. :)
We then went down the mountain a little ways, and stopped in a little village to grab a bite to eat. We had lunch in a little cafe with our new friends. I had the Guinness Beef Stew and Shawn had Honey baked ham with potatoes and carrots. My stew was very meaty with celery and carrot bits and a scoop of creamed potatoes right on top. I love Ireland, potatoes with everything! It was delicious. Shawn liked his food this time. The beef stews they have here are so warm and delicous to fill your tummy for all the walking we do.
Then we headed to Glendalough. Here is where Saint Kevin and other monks lived. There was also a celtic cemetary that only has 5 more plots to fill. We walked into the ruins of a church and there was a wishing stone that was over 100 yrs old. We made our wishes and it is said that if you return and make a wish 7 times it is the equivalent to being blessed by the Pope. Hopefully we can return someday.
We walked in the center of the church that was built partly in the 1100's, I can't remember what year they first started (700's or something). This part held tombs of church offical people. They had to be really high up to be buried here. We saw the tombstones of 2 individuals that exceeded the life expectancy of people in the 1700's. People back there were expected to live until 27, if you got past that you were lucky. These two people lived to be 106, and 102. Wow! They were extremely lucky.
We walked through some more of the cemetary and saw the look out tower. We also saw the place where Sait Kevin lived and died. People call it Saint Kevin's Kitchen because the pagons that were converting to Christianity, would see smoke coming from it and would know there was food.
Shawn and I walked up a trail to the lakes named Upper and Lower. (really that is there name). It was 1.4 KM, a long walk! We took lot's of pictures looking at the lake. It was beautiful. Then we headed back to the bus and had some ice cream for the ride back to Dublin.
All in all, the day was beautiful. I am so glad we go to see Wicklow.
We woke up at 8:15 to get ready to go see Wicklow mountains. We ate MickeyD's breakfast, we just cant stay away! At 9:20 our bus picked us up on O'Connel St and we headed for Wicklow County.
Our tour guide was named Kevin, after Saint Kevin, however he had no relation (what he said). He told us of some hotspots around Dublin and then we drove to Dun Laoghaire (Dun Lerry!), (Just like Gerry said in PS I love you). We stopped at the coast and saw the shore line, took some photos and could see the city Howth. Shawn and I are planning on taking a train there. It is a fisher's village and we want to mingle with the folk.
After leaving Dun Logahire, we drove around and stopped at an Avoca hand weaving shop. We did not see the hand weavers but could buy kicknacks. There was also a little cafe to get coffee. We met another couple, Tessa and Ryan, from Chicago and sat with them outside on the patio. I love the little shops and cafe's, they are so quaint. It was very delightful to sit, feel a cool breeze (the weather has been pretty amazing 60's F) and eat some fruit. The couple we met had been traveling through Europe and Ireland was their last stop. They were younger, sophomores in college. It was fun talking to them.
Then we headed back on the bus to Wicklow. We tugged up the mountain and saw the hills start to come alive. There were cottages with acres of land. We saw some sheep herders and lots of green. I told Shawn, "this makes me want to buy a house in the mountains" and he said, "this makes me want to buy some blue sheep". lol, some of the sheep were tagged blue by owners. As we headed up the mountain and heard some of the history, I just kept thinking how wonderful the scenery was. It was a little piece of heaven. We got to the top and stopped to see the lake. It was an amazing sight. I will never forget it. This is some of the great work God has done. Truly magical.
We also saw the Guinness estate. They own a portion of the land right by the lake and it is gorgeous. Some movies have been filmed along the hills of Wicklow, such as Braveheart, Black Beauty, Excaliber, and PS I Love You (have to admit a fave of mine). The one thing I didn't get to see was all the lavendar. Our guide Kevin said that all along the mountains there is Heath which will turn lavendar, NEXT WEEK! Oh great. Well, that just means Shawn will have to bring me back in late July. :)
We then went down the mountain a little ways, and stopped in a little village to grab a bite to eat. We had lunch in a little cafe with our new friends. I had the Guinness Beef Stew and Shawn had Honey baked ham with potatoes and carrots. My stew was very meaty with celery and carrot bits and a scoop of creamed potatoes right on top. I love Ireland, potatoes with everything! It was delicious. Shawn liked his food this time. The beef stews they have here are so warm and delicous to fill your tummy for all the walking we do.
Then we headed to Glendalough. Here is where Saint Kevin and other monks lived. There was also a celtic cemetary that only has 5 more plots to fill. We walked into the ruins of a church and there was a wishing stone that was over 100 yrs old. We made our wishes and it is said that if you return and make a wish 7 times it is the equivalent to being blessed by the Pope. Hopefully we can return someday.
We walked in the center of the church that was built partly in the 1100's, I can't remember what year they first started (700's or something). This part held tombs of church offical people. They had to be really high up to be buried here. We saw the tombstones of 2 individuals that exceeded the life expectancy of people in the 1700's. People back there were expected to live until 27, if you got past that you were lucky. These two people lived to be 106, and 102. Wow! They were extremely lucky.
We walked through some more of the cemetary and saw the look out tower. We also saw the place where Sait Kevin lived and died. People call it Saint Kevin's Kitchen because the pagons that were converting to Christianity, would see smoke coming from it and would know there was food.
Shawn and I walked up a trail to the lakes named Upper and Lower. (really that is there name). It was 1.4 KM, a long walk! We took lot's of pictures looking at the lake. It was beautiful. Then we headed back to the bus and had some ice cream for the ride back to Dublin.
All in all, the day was beautiful. I am so glad we go to see Wicklow.
Ireland Day 1
We are now officially in Ireland!
Ok here is a recap of how Shawn and I got here and what we did our first day.
Plane ride: We flew from Houston to Chicago, had a 7 hr layover(geez!) and then flew overnight into Dublin arriving at 9:30am Sunday. I guess I'm not a great flyer because I could not get comfortable and didn't sleep. So I was awake for about 21 hrs straight!
Arriving: Once we arrive at our hotel off of O'Connel St. we are not allowed to check in till 2pm! (grr!) don't mess with a sleepy Angel. so we waited in the Lobby because we did not feel refreshed to let Dublin see us yet. My wonderful husband kept asking for our room check in every half hour and we got to check in at 12:30. Now, everyone said do not sleep, or you will not get yourself on the right time schedule, and what do we do, sleep! We didn't wake up until 4:30. but we were rested :)
We got up, refreshed and headed out to see Dublin. We first went to Flannaghan's to have some traditional Irish food. I had roast beef with creamed potatoes (mashed potatoes) and Shawn had an Irish breakfast which included, fried eggs (over easy), chips (French fries), bacon, sausage, and beans! I loved my meal. It was warm in my tummy! Yummy. Shawn did not.
Then we walked around towards Christ church cathedral. Dublin has so many tourists from all over the world and is very busy. Oh yes and you have. To be careful crossing the street, look left! The drivers are on the other side of the street and seat! Now, I am no travel expert so I only say this from my experience but Dublin seems to me kinda like Amsterdam. The atmosphere is quite the same. I enjoy the city. There is so much to do.
After spending some time at the church admiring it's beauty, we head back to the hotel, noticing places we want to check out later, and because everything we tried to go into closed at 7! We rest at hotel again to get ready for our first night out!
After a nap, we are now ready to go to the pubs. We hit up the tourist spot, temple bar and go to Quay's bar. I had my first Guinness and Shawn had his rum and coke. The pub was great, there was a guy with a guitar playing music and a whole lotta people in the pub. It was fun singing along. Then we went to fitzsimmons a pub the hostess said had 4 levels. We walk in, not as packed as pub 1, so we try to go downstairs to the night club, which is €5 per person, so we pay, get Down there and there is only 2 people dancing! So we ended the night there, having a taste from home, McDonald's before bed.
Ok here is a recap of how Shawn and I got here and what we did our first day.
Plane ride: We flew from Houston to Chicago, had a 7 hr layover(geez!) and then flew overnight into Dublin arriving at 9:30am Sunday. I guess I'm not a great flyer because I could not get comfortable and didn't sleep. So I was awake for about 21 hrs straight!
Arriving: Once we arrive at our hotel off of O'Connel St. we are not allowed to check in till 2pm! (grr!) don't mess with a sleepy Angel. so we waited in the Lobby because we did not feel refreshed to let Dublin see us yet. My wonderful husband kept asking for our room check in every half hour and we got to check in at 12:30. Now, everyone said do not sleep, or you will not get yourself on the right time schedule, and what do we do, sleep! We didn't wake up until 4:30. but we were rested :)
We got up, refreshed and headed out to see Dublin. We first went to Flannaghan's to have some traditional Irish food. I had roast beef with creamed potatoes (mashed potatoes) and Shawn had an Irish breakfast which included, fried eggs (over easy), chips (French fries), bacon, sausage, and beans! I loved my meal. It was warm in my tummy! Yummy. Shawn did not.
Then we walked around towards Christ church cathedral. Dublin has so many tourists from all over the world and is very busy. Oh yes and you have. To be careful crossing the street, look left! The drivers are on the other side of the street and seat! Now, I am no travel expert so I only say this from my experience but Dublin seems to me kinda like Amsterdam. The atmosphere is quite the same. I enjoy the city. There is so much to do.
After spending some time at the church admiring it's beauty, we head back to the hotel, noticing places we want to check out later, and because everything we tried to go into closed at 7! We rest at hotel again to get ready for our first night out!
After a nap, we are now ready to go to the pubs. We hit up the tourist spot, temple bar and go to Quay's bar. I had my first Guinness and Shawn had his rum and coke. The pub was great, there was a guy with a guitar playing music and a whole lotta people in the pub. It was fun singing along. Then we went to fitzsimmons a pub the hostess said had 4 levels. We walk in, not as packed as pub 1, so we try to go downstairs to the night club, which is €5 per person, so we pay, get Down there and there is only 2 people dancing! So we ended the night there, having a taste from home, McDonald's before bed.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Capturing Kids Hearts
This week I am attending Capturing Kids Hearts training. It has been a worth while experience so far. I am half way through the program and I can say that it has really been a WOW experience. Sometimes things come into your life for a reason and God has purposely put this in my life, at this time, to help me. This training has totally changed my outlook on life, on people and most importantly on myself.
This training is for teachers to use strategies and modeling techniques to teach their students and capture a kids heart in order to have their heads, well it is so much more than that. It is a relationship and personal training. I have learned to ask the questions that I am afraid of, such as "How do you see me?" and "What is standing in the way of our relationship?" And I have received feedback that I will use to motivate myself to become a better person. As our facilitator says, "If you are not growing, you are dying," which made me realize that I do need to keep on growing and learning in order to become the best Angel I can be. I will use criticism to make a change in my life because I don't want to be perceived in a way that I do not agree with.
I have learned what it takes to become a better listener, better teacher and a better partner. I am ready to use my feedback to be more respectful to my loved ones and how to gain self control. This is all about me making a change for myself. As I was talking to my husband about this training, he said, "Wow, you are really taking this seriously" and I teared up and said, "Of course, God has put this in my life because I have prayed to become a better person and this is my chance to do that." So I am definitely going to make a commitment to thinking about what I am doing, saying and how I am treating others. I highly recommend this training to all teachers and other professionals so that you may learn to grow in all your relationships.
Remember the most important thing is that no one else can change you but yourself.
This training is for teachers to use strategies and modeling techniques to teach their students and capture a kids heart in order to have their heads, well it is so much more than that. It is a relationship and personal training. I have learned to ask the questions that I am afraid of, such as "How do you see me?" and "What is standing in the way of our relationship?" And I have received feedback that I will use to motivate myself to become a better person. As our facilitator says, "If you are not growing, you are dying," which made me realize that I do need to keep on growing and learning in order to become the best Angel I can be. I will use criticism to make a change in my life because I don't want to be perceived in a way that I do not agree with.
I have learned what it takes to become a better listener, better teacher and a better partner. I am ready to use my feedback to be more respectful to my loved ones and how to gain self control. This is all about me making a change for myself. As I was talking to my husband about this training, he said, "Wow, you are really taking this seriously" and I teared up and said, "Of course, God has put this in my life because I have prayed to become a better person and this is my chance to do that." So I am definitely going to make a commitment to thinking about what I am doing, saying and how I am treating others. I highly recommend this training to all teachers and other professionals so that you may learn to grow in all your relationships.
Remember the most important thing is that no one else can change you but yourself.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
A difficult task
Before I describe one difficult subject I have to teach, I would like to describe my class. I teach the life skills class with less than 10 students. The students all have developmental disabilities ranging from intellectual developmental disability (IDD) previously known as (Mental Retardation/MR) and Autism. My students abilities range from reading on a DRA level 1, to reading sight words to barely speaking. But in my classroom the students are always learning. It may be something as small as pointing to a picture of the class and saying Mrs. Davis. These moments are what I live for. However, because I expect so much of my students, I push them to learn above and beyond their disabilities.
The most difficult subject for me to teach is reading. It is difficult to read a book to the entire class because some of the children do not stay focused for that long (which I know happens in every class no matter what you teach). Because of this it is hard to ask comprehension questions and have the students really understand what is going on in the story. Also when I am working with a student individually teaching them to read small sentences, I am not 100% sure they understand the sentence they just read has a literal meaning. For example, I have used this lesson to have my students connect the words to reality: "This is a chair", and then I will have the students touch a chair. This is a great start for most of my students and I am happy to get to this point but of course I want to expand it and see if they can read and understand more.
These are some ideas I've come up with from the help of my interact team and other teachers. I can use dramatic play to teach reading comprehension. I also thought that I could make a movie of the students acting a story using movie maker or animoto then play it for them. The students will see themselves acting out a story and then we can ask questions about the characters, setting, plot, etc. I've also thought of having my students listen to books on tape instead of listening to me read. Perhaps they will like the recording better.
I would also like to incorporate ipads into my classroom. I have seen that students with disabilities can use the ipads to read, by first reading on paper "here is a" and then the ipad will display a picture of something perhaps a bird, so that the student says "here is a bird" and relates that sentence to an actual picture of a bird.
I am very excited to try these ideas and am confident that it if nothing else it will allow my students to show creativity and gain confidence in seeing videos of themselves at school.
The most difficult subject for me to teach is reading. It is difficult to read a book to the entire class because some of the children do not stay focused for that long (which I know happens in every class no matter what you teach). Because of this it is hard to ask comprehension questions and have the students really understand what is going on in the story. Also when I am working with a student individually teaching them to read small sentences, I am not 100% sure they understand the sentence they just read has a literal meaning. For example, I have used this lesson to have my students connect the words to reality: "This is a chair", and then I will have the students touch a chair. This is a great start for most of my students and I am happy to get to this point but of course I want to expand it and see if they can read and understand more.
These are some ideas I've come up with from the help of my interact team and other teachers. I can use dramatic play to teach reading comprehension. I also thought that I could make a movie of the students acting a story using movie maker or animoto then play it for them. The students will see themselves acting out a story and then we can ask questions about the characters, setting, plot, etc. I've also thought of having my students listen to books on tape instead of listening to me read. Perhaps they will like the recording better.
I would also like to incorporate ipads into my classroom. I have seen that students with disabilities can use the ipads to read, by first reading on paper "here is a" and then the ipad will display a picture of something perhaps a bird, so that the student says "here is a bird" and relates that sentence to an actual picture of a bird.
I am very excited to try these ideas and am confident that it if nothing else it will allow my students to show creativity and gain confidence in seeing videos of themselves at school.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Interact 2011 thoughts
I have enjoyed interact thus far. It is a lot of information but it's exciting to learn all of this.I feel like I am now one of those technology people you see on tv, now I'm in the loop. I have really enjoyed using the IPADS! I never thought I would be that type of person, probably because I didn't know how to do that or think I could afford it but interact has changed who I am as a person and how I see myself. Using edmodo, tweeting and sharing with others isn't that bad. I also liked making the movies and I hope to use this with my students. I do think it will take time to teach my class but I am willing!
I feel that Rip Van Winkle will be very surprised by our classrooms now. In my class we have a promethean board, smart table, and computers and the students are using all of them independently.
I feel that Rip Van Winkle will be very surprised by our classrooms now. In my class we have a promethean board, smart table, and computers and the students are using all of them independently.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)