Donato's Mixed Bag

A Rare Treat, or so I'm Told

2009-07-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

During the week of July 19, my bride and I spent time at Isle of Palms, SC. A pretty good thunderstorm occurred during the early morning of Wednesday the 21st. In fact one thunderclap was so loud that I thought someone had dropped a house just outside our unit.

So I got up and started my morning coffee-drinking ritual. I decided to go outside on the deck and check out the ocean -- while I drank coffee. I happened to look to the southwest and waddaya know -- a perfectly formed water spout.

It looked like the storm was about a quarter mile away (could have been further -- hard to judge the distance), but I though it was right next door. This certainly got my attention. My bride took this picture.

Apparently, these events don't happen that often in that area, but it was spectacular. Looks like there were two in the area that morning.

Read more here. http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/jul/21/waterspoutweb89896/

School Rankings and Fishing Lures

2009-07-13T11:59:00.000-07:00

Ranking schools is somewhat like ranking fishing lures. There are many ways to rank schools and there are many types of fishing lures. All work to a degree. None is perfect.

I begin to quake with fear when someone mentions something about "raising educational standards' or "educational reform." My experience with these is that most people simply mean that we need to add more stuff and to make it harder for students. I often wonder if the 15 year-old brain is more highly evolved now than, say, fifty years ago. I doubt it.

I’m not even sure if any educational debaters even think that the 2009 meaning of the word, “educated,” may be somewhat different from what it was in 1950 and even different from what it was in 1900, etc. Things do change – really. To think that we can continue to teach and evaluate today’s students in the same way that students were taught and evaluated in 1950 or whenever may be unrealistic.

There seems to be special concern over whether or not students have “gained” from one year to the next. How this can be accomplished with a paper/pencil multiple-guess-type test has never been clear to me. Whether or not students have learned anything may not be apparent for a while. Students do not really learn according to someone’s time-table as might be inferred in the very familiar saying. “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” Or, as my daddy used to tell me, “Boy, one day you will understand.”

Kinda makes you wonder why sometimes students who struggled through and hated high school wind up doing very well in college.

And speaking of testing, the other nugget comes to mind. “You can’t fatten a pig by weighing it over and over.”

Most recently, there has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth because our high school was not included on the list of the top 1500 high schools -- according to one ranking measure. Apparently, for some reason or other (certainly not purposefully), data were not submitted in time. This ranking/rating of high schools is calculated by taking all advanced placement (AP) tests taken (not necessarily "passed") and dividing by the number of graduating seniors. Our data have now been submitted and the ratio has been calculated -- 1.665, a ratio higher than last year's 1.465.

That our data were not submitted does not change the facts that 541 AP tests were taken and 325 seniors graduated. The AP teachers are doing their job. The AP students are doing their job. Nothing changes that. The mere act of submitting data, however, propels our high school from nothing to one of the 1500 top high schools in the nation -- according to this particular ranking system.

In “The Wizard of Oz,” why is Scarecrow smarter just because the wizard gives him a diploma?

It is a sad state of affairs when we get caught up in jumping through these kinds of hoops.

I have issues with ranking systems of any stripe.

A Pretty Full Weekend

2009-07-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

Friday night my bride and I saw "The Full Monty" at the local playhouse. What a hoot! I had tears coming down my cheeks. Between this play and "The Producers" a few weeks back, there have been some side-splitting moments.

Saturday evening, we attended a "class reunion" kind of thing at one of the local places in town. It was a reunion of teachers and staff that taught and worked at Jefferson Junior High School (now known as Jefferson Middle School). The good news is that many attended. The bad news is that many could not attend. We saw folks that we had not seen in years. We had lots of fun and not many "war stories" were told. Just some good visitin". I know that I am biased, but I think we had a very good, hard-working and caring staff.

Walk, Mow and Sweat

2009-06-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

I felt like mowing my lawn today. I have no idea what got into me, but I had been putting it off because my riding mower may be terminal and I really didn't feel like walking all over my yard -- behind a push mower. I've fixed my rider three times, and it's starting to get a bit more expensive that I want to deal with. So, I fired up my pusher and went to work. About four hours later (about an acre of mowing) and lots of sweat, I finished. This included trimming. I was focused.

I still have my rider. That piece of machinery is 16 years old. Now I have to decide what to do with it. But, walking in what seemed to be like a steam bath this morning and afternoon is helping me to decide.

I sweat so much that I am sure it was very cleansing. But, as I walked and sweat, I kept thinking of the words my dad would say and would probably still be saying. He would have looked at me and seen me drenched in sweat and said something like this. "Take-a lottsa water out."

Run, Jump, and Throw

2009-05-09T15:19:00.000-07:00

Thursday, May 7, was the TSSAA Section 1-AAA Track and Field Championships. What a day -- all day. I got to the track at 8 am and returned home at 7:15 pm -- worn out. But, someone did the same thing for me when I was in high school.

It was worth it. Our high school will have 15 different athletes in 12 events at the state track meet. I am especially pleased that my grandson has qualified to go as part of the two sprint relays (4x100 and 4x200). He's a freshman -- I think the only freshman of the 15.

I guess I am not really surprised because he used to sprint wildly down the aisle of the church (and everywhere else) when he was two years old. In fact, the boy has always had two speeds --sprint and sleep. Now, he has a bigger play area.

Our high school is well-represented by some very fine athletes -- boys and girls. Go to my website to see more.

http://www.oakridgetrack.org

We were at the discus area practicing one day, and one of my boys was celebrating his 17th birthday. I chuckled to myself. I'm a half-century older than he is. What fun it is to see these young folks do their work.

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

2009-04-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, April 26, marks three years with my new hip. Seems to be working just fine. It's not perfect, of course, but it's much better than what the original had become. It was nothing but two bones rubbing together. I was afraid I was going to set myself on fire. Hurt like the dickens, too. There was absolutely no way to get comfortable. Replacing that one part solved a lot of problems.

Now, it's hard to compare my new fake hip with the original model. The Original Manufacturer made a pretty good product. But these parts do wear out.

So, I'm going through the life stages: build up, maintain, repair, and spare parts. I may be at the spare parts stage, and I am glad that medical science keeps improving these parts. Besides, my new part reduced my overall average age. However, I am not ready to repeat the experience any time soon.

Right on Track (and Field)

2009-01-28T16:50:00.000-08:00

Pre-season conditioning for track and field is underway at the high school, and, right on cue, here comes the cold, wet weather. It seems to be a rule.

I'm a volunteer coach for the throws (discus and shot put). This means that I'm at practice daily -- like a good-boy volunteer. Some will ask why a coach is needed for throwing things. Those two events (discus throw and shot put) only look simple. There is nothing simple about it. And, we will never get the techniques right. That's why we practice under a structured program.

Since we are not yet allowed to actually go outside and throw, we are hoisting weights. The boys are mostly football players, so they're involved with the football weight workouts, but the girls are under my care. And they do work. Neither the core groups of boys nor girls whine about their work. They just do it, and they will stay right with you. Good kids and fun to work with.

Hopefully, when we can actually go outside and begin throwing, the implements won't seem so heavy.

Inauguration Day!

2009-01-21T18:47:00.000-08:00

I don't think that I have ever watched as much television in one day as I did yesterday, January 20, 2009. In fact, I may have watched more on that day than I usually do in a week.

Inauguration Day! Fascinating--and mesmerizing. The whole thing. Even the flubbed oath which underwent a do-over today.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-politics-whitehouse/20090122/Obama.Oath.Do.Over/

Now, to work -- and much work there is to do. Even I know that.

Congratulations and best wishes, Mr. President -- to you and to all your team -- which includes all of us.

I Still Like Toys.

2009-01-05T11:01:00.000-08:00

So, the holidays are over, and all the purtys have been put away. Friends and family have been visited. Parties have been attended. Folks have been entertained. Money has been spent. And, a good time was had by all -- I think. Of course, my bride does most of the work. I certainly do my part -- by keeping out of the way.

I did treat myself to a new little toy, however. No, not a new flat screen TV, since my old big-box TV is still good. Besides, I can fall asleep in front of my old one just like I could in front of a new one.

I bought a new electric pizzelle baker. My old electric one had seen better days, and I was not going to use the old stove-top baker that I have. My mother and dad used it, but it is labour-intensive, and I am not in to that. For those of you who do not know what a pizzelle is, you should look it up. Basically, it's a thin, crispy Italian cookie -- somewhat like a waffle. They taste good.

I have made one batch already, and another one is due to be made soon.

Happy New Year to all.

Santa Rocks into Town

2008-12-25T16:54:00.000-08:00

Once again, Santa came. Amazing. Sometimes I wonder if he really pays attention throughout the year, or if he is just very forgiving.

Grandson got a "Guitar Hero" game. He is really quite good at that game. Late in the afternoon, my bride, my daughter, grandson, and I were huddled around the game -- each with a different part to play -- yes a regular rock "band." Grandson was good. The rest of us were very marginal, but he was very patient with us as we tried to learn. For those of us of a mature age, there is nothing easy about that game

Our renditions of "Hotel California," "Beat It," and "Eye of the Tiger" were just barely recognizable -- at the "easy" level. We actually made it all the way through the last one without getting cut off by the game.

But, we had a good time.

Merry Christmas to all.

An Enjoyable Evening

2008-12-17T08:01:00.000-08:00

Last night, our high school freshmen had their end-of-season football banquet. Grandson was among those joining in the celebration.

Eating was done. Some awards were given. A song was sung. An appropriate speech was given. Videos were played. A good time was had by all. But, the best thing in my opinion was seeing the relationship that had developed between the coach and his players. It was pretty good. The kids liked him, respected him, and enjoyed playing for him. The team also won two-thirds of their games.

I am very appreciative of the work that the coaches and players did and the way they conducted themselves.

Good lesson here if only we could see it.

2008-12-08T18:13:00.000-08:00

I will refrain from adding to this. I got it from a friend of mine via email.

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.
'That laundry is not very clean', she said. 'She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.
Her husband looked on, but remained silent. Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.
About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:'Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this?'
The husband said, 'I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.'

Do I hear what you say?

2008-12-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

So, this past Wednesday, I missed a lunch date with a couple of my buddies. I was real sure that the guy who called me said that we were eating at Eatery A on the river. I heard Eatery B on the river. I missed the date.

A few years ago at an out-of-town track meet, we coaches were cleaning up our site after the meet --picking up stuff that our kids (yes, high schoolers) had left behind.

I picked up a shoe box (this piece of information is real important) full of CDs and was carrying it back to the bus. One of our runners came running down the sidewalk and stopped me to say. "Those are my CDs." That's not what I heard. I heard, "Those are my shoes." So, I responded, "No, these are compact disks."

The boy just stared at me.

You Prayin' or Exercising?

2008-11-13T17:07:00.000-08:00

First, you have to read this.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27008935/?GT1=43001

It occurs to me that folks can get exercised (no pun intended) about some of the most interesting things. There seems to be no shortage of opinions about anything.

I am sure that there are some folks who really can pray and exercise, work and/or meditate under any conditions. I am not one of those. A priest at the church that I attend once told us that if we didn't believe that Satan existed, that we should try to pray. I can't even make it through a full sermon at church. The shortest prayers challenge my attention span. I guess that I am just too easily distracted to pray well. So, how would I do it during exercise?

It is real difficult for me to view exercise as a religious experience. I gotta tell you. When I exercise, the only thing that I am likely to pray about is that I don't hurt myself during the next repetition.

Pigskin Season

2008-11-10T09:41:00.000-08:00

The freshmen football season is over for my 9th grade grandson. I have already congratulated him on a good season -- and it was. All his teammates played well, and they seemed to have a good time.

Grandson has played two years -- beginning last year as an 8th grader. Last year when he began, I'm not sure that he really knew which end of the field was his. This year, he had a bunch of tackles, a bunch of pass knock-downs, a couple of interceptions, a good punt return, a wisely chosen fair catch, and four touchdowns. This last one needs a little more explaining. I did notice that after every TD and reasonably long runs, he always thanked his teammates for their blocks. This is a real good sign.

Now, none of these qualify him for All-America status, and it's much too early to be counting college scholarships. If he is willing to work at the game (and do all that's required), he is now in a position where he may be ready to start learning how to play -- if that's what HE wants.

Is we or is we ain’t – educated?

2008-10-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

Everyone has an opinion or two about the emphasis that should be put on education—especially during an election year. Things like standards, goals, metrics, ranking systems, and test scores--not to mention vouchers and charter schools--are all part of the education debate.

I’m not sure, however, if any debaters even mention that the 2008 meaning of the word, “educated,” may be somewhat different from what it was in 1950 and even different from what it was in 1900, etc. Things do change – really.

To think that we can continue to teach and evaluate today’s students in the same way that students were taught and evaluated in 1950 or whenever may be unrealistic. And, there seems to be special concern over whether or not students have “gained” from one year to the next. How this can be accomplished with a paper/pencil multiple-guess-type test has never been clear to me. Whether or not students have learned anything may not be apparent for a while. Students do not really learn according to someone’s time-table as might be inferred in the very familiar saying. “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” Or, as my daddy used to tell me, “Boy, one day you will understand.”

Kinda makes you wonder why sometimes students who struggled through and hated high school wind up doing very well in college.

And speaking of testing, the other nugget comes to mind. “You can’t fatten a pig by weighing it over and over.”

Looking for the Elusive X

2008-10-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

Apparently, algebra is a gift to us from the Babylonians. Now, that was a long, long time ago. Pretty good math stuff. I even passed the courses when I was a young pup. I still remember how to do some of the stuff.

However, it is amazing that after all this time students are still looking for X. You know: given such and such, find X. X=?

We need to remember what it was like when we old folks were 14 and how we were taught algebra. This must be difficult to do, however, because many adults go on and on about how much more difficult their schooling was. Please. I was there.

One of the joys of grand-parenting is that I get to help my 14 year-old grandson with algebra. Lots of fun -- really. Now, to you in reader-land who think American public school children are not working, may I suggest that you sit down with your children (or grandchildren) and regularly help them with their homework -- especially math (algebra). Let's see how many of you are driven to your knees in tears.

To Market, To Market....

2008-09-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

Let's see if a mere mortal can understand this. I am certainly not a financial wizard.

This week the US stock markets seem to be in free-fall. Things have been going south for a while now. Big swings up and down -- mostly down. Investors sell. The more selling that goes on, the more the people sell, and the more the markets sink. Folks are being hurt by this.

Last week, gas was in short supply (we are told). Folks panicked and bought gas. The price rose. The more people bought, the less gas there was, and the more the price rose. Folks are being hurt by this.

The economy is the subject of a lot of conversation. And, I know of at least one person who has asked another (not me) if his personal position was on the brink of danger.

I think that all of us should be concerned about our personal positions. However, a more major question to me is what kind of mess are we leaving for our children and grandchildren and more?

Passing Gas

2008-09-16T06:34:00.000-07:00

Those of us old enough to remember the "energy crisis" of 1973 might look at the current "gas shortage" situation somewhat cynically -- probably an understatement.

I don't think we learned anything from 1973, and I don't think we will learn anything from this situation. Looking at things with an historical perspective does not seem to be our strong suit.

Blaming different groups, political parties, etc is probably not helpful either. So, who is responsible? The first three words in the Preamble of our constitution seem appropriate here. "We the People...."

As we all know, people actually have to go to work, to school, etc. Whether or not to drive may not be much of an option. Car-pooling seems to be "so yesterday."

I filled up last Saturday at $3.75 per gallon--just before the price of gas went into the stratosphere. Sadly, we will now think of $3.75 as a bargain. As for me, I will try not to drive much, and I will pass gas stations until absolutely necessary before I buy gas at these current prices.

To learn more about this, go to your favorite search engine and search: energy crisis+1973. Read to your heart's content. See for yourself if there are any similarities -- and differences.

English Only Golf?

2008-08-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

In an Associated Press news story, I read that the LPGA Tour has 121 international players from 26 countries, and starting in 2009 the association will require players to either speak English or face suspension. The tour includes 45 players from South Korea. Apparently, the PGA tour does not have a similar rule.

According to the LPGA website (LPGA.com), and if I have counted correctly, the 2008 tour has 28 tournaments, and seven of those are not in the US. Also, the top 30 rookies of 2008 include 22 international players.

So, I’m trying to figure out why this English-only rule bothers me. If you follow golf at all, you gotta wonder about this.

So, what's up? Does this rule mean that golf is evolving into an English-only sport? If the LPGA is a global tour, why is the new rulo designed to have the language of the PGA English-only? How does this affect those players that have hearing or speech disabilities? But, I'm sure all of these questions have been thoroughly discussed.

It's hard for me to believe that a player must speak English before she can hit a golf ball.

What am I missing here?

Another New High School

2008-08-26T17:23:00.000-07:00

This past Monday evening (August 25), I had the delightful experience of visiting the campus of the new Hardin Valley Academy as the Oak Ridge High School freshman football team opened its season with the freshmen of HVA. It was an historic evening for HVA. It is a new school, and that was their very first football game at their new stadium.

The game was very well attended, spirits were high, and there appeared to be a lot of pride and community support for the new school.

ORHS won the freshman game, and HVA won the junior varsity game against Jefferson County.

But, aside from the win/loss thing, what was clear was that everyone was having a lot of fun -- especially the kids. Congratulations to the HVA administrators, staff, and entire community for pulling this together. And, a thank you for their cordial welcome to all who attended and participated. Best wishes to all.

If you have not seen HVA, I encourage you to go have a look. It is a very comfortable and beautiful setting. One day I would like to tour the place inside.

A Tentative Step into the Blogosphere

2008-08-26T13:12:00.000-07:00

Well, let me give this a try -- a toe in this blogging thing that is going around.