I just wrote up a test to give to my fifth grade students.  In order to show the kids what to do, I enlarged the test on the copier. I got the copies, and stapled them together, and then I thought: "Hey: Big Test!"  ha ha. For a sense of scale, I point your attention to the ruler to the left of the test.

This time of year, for as long as I remember, there is always talk of whether or not we'll be enjoying a "white Christmas".  On the streets, on the TV and radio, friends, family, and coworkers invariably wonder aloud: "I wonder whether we'll have a white or a brown Christmas this year.  I sure hope that it'll be white!" I have always wondered whether this desire for a white Christmas existed before Irving Berlin wrote (and Bing Crosby sung) the song "White Christmas" in 1942.  ...

I heard on the radio this morning that there is a legal challenge to the city of Minneapolis' photo-ticket program. Apparently the city of Minneapolis has a number of stationary cameras posted around town. If a camera catches drivers commiting some sort of traffic violation, a ticket is sent to the address of the owner of the "offending" vehicle. Is the insurance industry behind this? Sure these tickets can be an economic boon for the cities, but will be even better for insurance compani...

There were significantly fewer cars on the road today than would be on an ordinary Monday morning rush hour.  Lots of people must have the entire pre-Christmas week off of work. I know that lots of people have vacations, holidays, floating days, and the like; but it is surprising how many people seemed to have gotten this particular week off of work.  I'd say that 100% of the people I know are working -at least half of- this week, but there seems to be about 75% less traffic on...

This morning as I was leaving for work, I had an excellent idea for a weblog topic. I was certain that I would remember it! I spent my entire day at a meeting, and I'd be darned if I could remember what my "hot topic" was supposed to be about. I have been spending the last few hours trying to remember what I had to say. Well... Merry New Year

This morning I was listening to the "Pat Miles Show" on Twin Cities' WCCO radio. (Maybe some of you out there were listening to it too...) As part of a weekly segment, they invited a policeman into the studio to do their "ask the cop" feature. (That's the name I gave it. I don't know what the official name of it is.) It is interesting to hear what sorts of gripes the callers have regarding the police. One complaint (which ALWAYS seems to come up) is that the police leave their cars runnin...

Last night I went to my local K-mart to buy a game for my students to play at school.  I brought the game into work, and put it on my desk. On the box, I noticed that there is a price tag.  I was struck at how rarely one sees an actual price tag these days.  With the advent of bar codes and scanners, price tags have become increasingly rare.  (Strangely, as a marketing strategy, the tags on items at stores like KOHLs don't even reflect the actual price of the item for ...

This morning one of my co-workers asked me whether I had gotten a job at Target.  It took me a second, but then I realized that I am wearing the familiar red-tan combo that Target employees wear at work. I am ready for Target. ******************************************************* In more disappointing news, Twin Cities' AM 1220 is going through a format change.  The station is going from talk, to adult standards.  This format change means that I will be once again ...

Yesterday my son and I went to the flu shot clinic at the medical center in our home town. There were all sorts of people there lining up to get their shots. It was certainly the place to be! While we were there, I overheard numerous people proclaiming how they "hate needles." There were many people who were making quite the deal out of getting a little shot. I bet that it makes the nurses cringe every time they hear that (unless they're already numb to it.) I think that it is one of t...

I am sure that this has happened to everyone who at one point in their life has had either a stressful, or a repetitive job. You go to sleep, end up dreaming about your job, wake up, and then realize that you have to go to work. It is like working two consecutive shifts! The other day I experienced kind of a variation to that dream. For a good part of the night, I dreamt that I was having a hard time going to sleep. As soon as it seemed that I could finally get to bed, something else cam...

Yesterday Vicki -my student teacher- was going over a vocabulary worksheet with one of our fifth graders. It was one of those fill-in-the-blanks activities designed to help familiarize students with upcoming vocabulary. I was doing something in some other part of my classroom when I heard Vicky say this: "Listen to this. You wrote: 'My brother went on a slave trade to Mecca last year.' Is that right?" I got a real kick out of that. The original is number 2.

When you're a kid, every year you can expect a new professional photo of yourself.  Once school is finished, that's all done. Now that I teach at a school, I once again receive annual portraits.  Two years ago I was happy with my pictures.  Last year they weren't so good.  My pictures this year weren't so bad.  Here they are.

I ran into this sentence today: there is a green car and a motorcycle on harriet street Students are supposed to read it, and then correct it for errors. The correct answer is: There are a green car and a motorcycle on Harriet Street. In prescriptive grammar, this compound subject (two singular nouns linked by "and") requires a third-person plural to-be verb in order to maintain subject-verb agreement.  Most native English speakers would apply the "proximity principle"...

My wife and I went grocery shopping tonight.  Not knowing what to eat for tonight's dinner, we decided to have curry and rice, since we already had some rice cooked.  My wife decided to get a canned curry sauce to put on our rice.  I was a little skeptical, as I couldn't imagine that canned curry would be any good. Surprisingly enough, the curry turned out to be among the best curries that I have ever had.  I fried up a little bacon at home to mix with the sauce, and we po...

I dare you to knock this battery off of my shoulder.