Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Heartfelt Puzzler


10:00 PM UPDATE AND PUZZLER ANSWER: THE HEART-SHAPED OBJECTS BELOW WERE THE SEEDS OF THIS PLANT WHICH IS CALLED "RATTLEBOX" ... AT LEAST AROUND HERE.
THE SEEDS BELOW ARE IN THE PALM OF MY HAND SO YOU CAN SEE HOW TINY THEY ARE.
THANKS FOR PLAYING ALONG.


Now ... what could these heart shaped mysteries be?

Red Hots?

Not.


Speaking of hearts ... I'll be taking a CPR refresher this morning. I let my certification lapse last year after decades of being certified and need to get back on the train.


So, I'll be kissing a dummy at some point this morning, (my wife says it's not so bad ... you get used to it) which should get me out of some teacher meeting where they introduce another new program and at least two new catchy acronymns.

Monday was the first day back for teachers and the NEW PROGRAM count was two.

Yesterdays meetings covered NCLB and a NEW reading program.

CPR will keep me out of the general meeting for part of today, but I'm sure my afternoon will be one of fascinating NEW programs and clever acronymns. Only the army has more acronymns than education and we're gaining on them.


In a week of "preplanning", teachers are only guaranteed ONE day of uninterrupted planning time.

The rest of the week is stuffed to the gills with meetings and NEW program trainings and it's only a legal contract that keeps that one day free for us to think and plan.


One day.


The educational bureaucracy in this country makes the old Soviet 5-year plans look positively efficient.














18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps if you remind them that you have blogging obligations, they'll find a way to put more free time in your day.

Rurality said...

There's really not as much summer left in summer as there used to be, huh?

I think this is the most puzzling puzzler you've had. I would guess seeds of some sort but really I have no idea.

Doug Taron said...

I'll guess balloon vine (Cardiospermum) seeds.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm...they look like seeds..or perhaps some kind of zen garden stone ;)

Hope you transition well into the new school year....the 'prep' part is the most difficult...due to the 'educational red tape'....even at the college level we have 'rules' ;)

roger said...

N(national)E(education)W(wreck)

N(normal)E(everyday)W(waste-of-time)

hey, this is fun.

you're in trouble if the dummy kisses back.

robin andrea said...

I remember once asking the chair of the department I was working in at the University if we could please have a moratorium on new projects, until we had least gotten the previous projects completed and evaluated. It actually worked! He stopped coming up with something new for every meeting. Good luck with all your new programs! BTW--What happened to the new programs proposed from last year?

I have no idea what those little hearts are, but they are very cute.

Sharon said...

I have no idea what those things are, but I hope you have a good rest of the week. We start our various orientations tomorrow, Happy Happy Joy Joy! :)

Anonymous said...

Hey, ask any business or H.R. consultant, once you have the acronym you are well over half way to the easy money. But work through it, Bud. All successful people have two or three teachers who made all the difference. And my guess is that those teachers were getting at least equal value from those encounters.

Anonymous said...

Aww, I don't know what "they" are, but that chick post you did was about the cutest thing I ever saw!

Anonymous said...

So - the wife has gotten used to kissing a dummy, eh?

So has mine.

threecollie said...

"(my wife says it's not so bad ... you get used to it)"...now we know where at least some of the funny comes from.

h said...

I've always just called them Sea Beans. Don't get me started on the Education Bureaucracy.

Mute Mondays is Food And Beverage for August 20th. Post something True Floridafoodieishlike.

Deb said...

Arrgh...I thought I had posted a comment earlier but Blogger ate it. I have been less than thrilled with the AR (Accelerated Reader--I LOVE that acronym!) program at my kids' elementary school. I think it takes away the real incentive to read, encourages quantity over quality, and punishes those students who can see the fakiness of it all. Plus I guess it costs school districts a lot of money, which could be put to much better use!

getting off soap box...

Anonymous said...

The photo reminds me of the sea hearts that we would find along the shore at times, is that what it is? It looks like a type of legume to me.
Why is it that the name of something so common escapes me at the moment?

But then, that's why I come here. :)
I haven't yet commented on your wild journey around the mountain with Dave, but I did enjoy reading all about it, and it sounded like a lot of fun to try out at least once in a lifetime!

Hang in there with the meeting circus. It takes a lot of patience to be a teacher these days, in more ways than one.


This is the 4th time I've clicked to comment and it won't post. I'm about to come after blogger and wring it's little bloggy neck!@!

Cathy said...

Ummmm. . . Hope they're chocolate.

kathy a. said...

i'm guessing some kind of seeds, but beyond that, all i can say is that they would be very popular for the kind of nature collages that little kids do with beans and corn and sticks and shells.

condolances about the meetings.

pissed off patricia said...

Since I missed the seed mystery, I'll just wish you good luck on the new school year. I can't plan a meal in "one day". I don't know how teachers manage these days to do all they are required to do. Good for you for all of it. :)

Anonymous said...

hey i had no clue as to what the little hearts were-- but now that you've showed us i remember them from when i awas little. we would either stomp on them -cause they would pop or like you said shake them and they sound like a rattle
hope you have a good school year.
glad my 2 are out and almost on there own.(well sorta glad)