Game Lists

             Most of the games that I play on my kindle are word games.  There are two that will provide a list of four words and it is up to the player to figure out what the four words have in common.  One list that came up was

DEFEAT

LOSER

DISASTER

ZERO

Twelve letters appear at the bottom with seven spaces above.  I was to come up with a seven letter word using the letters below.  I came up with FAILURE and thought just because one is defeated does not make him/her a failure.  Just because one loses a game does not make him/her a zero. 

My next set of words was

PROSPEROUS

PROVIDENTIAL

LUCKY

GOOD

Once again I was given a choice from twelve letters to come up with an eight letter word which was

FORTUNATE

One set of words had such a negative vibe while the next list was positive.   Just thought it was interesting and thought I’d share.

Another Day In the Life

Another restless night and stomach pains

What did I eat that made me so sore?

I didn’t have anything scheduled for work

but checked the availability as I was

willing to work at the middle school today.

No jobs were posted.  Just as well.

I thought perhaps I would sleep for much

of the day and then I received a text.

I really like working with the aide who text me.

If it had been anybody else, I would have said “NO”

but I got dressed and scraped my things together.  

Roland fixed me a lunch.  And then I was off.

The morning drive was in thick fog. 

I thought that would mean sun and

heat during the day, but it was cold. 

All day.  I only had to be outside two times for recess.

In each class I’m supposed to help with phonics

And letter sounds.  What a confusing language!

ONE – a word that rhymes with “sun” or “fun”

– where are the phonics?

Nobody looks at the “O” and expects a “wwww” sound.

What the hey?

One student asked for the pronunciation of “doughnut”

which is often spelled “D_O_N_U_T”.  That makes sense. 

Well, sort of.  Can “u” and “a” be pronounced the same?

I think “a” has a variety of sounds:

dance, carnation, awesome, alligator

and what is up with the “gh” sound?

Laugh, ghost, dough   or  “oo”

Cook, food, door

And once again why is the spelled a

different from the written a? Lest we not forget

c as in city or c as in cake?

                                      chocolate, school, charade

and what is up with the spelling of “choir”?

The only part to be read phonetically is the “r”

The i is pronounced, but in the wrong place. 

So how does the letter “O” fit in that scenario?

Oh, the things I think about when I am at my job.

Let’s Compare

         Compare means estimating or measuring a difference or similarity.  For instance, you may compare the prices that are in one store compared to the prices in another.  Or you may notice the name brands generally have higher prices than the brands you have never heard of.  Albertson’s used to have a knock off brand called Janet Lee and Smith’s Food King had actually marketed one called “No Name” if you can believe that.  Today the most common knock off that I am familiar with is “Great Value” found at Wal-Mart.

          I’ve compared my life to Salt Lake with the one I have in Oregon.  I’ve compared the library systems, the transportation, the road conditions, and education.  I am always comparing the weather to itself.

          We may test the waters by first getting our feet wet.  We may practice for events that may or may not come to pass – for example, we have prepared backpacks in the event that we do have to evacuate with only a moment’s notice . . . we haven’t had to use them however and don’t really know if we are as prepared as we think we are.

    

     

          Sometimes the actual event does not have the same results as did the drill.  For example, the fire drill compared to the evacuation that I discussed in this post

          We compare how we think we should feel to how we felt or would like to feel.  We compare how we look  - we compare to ourselves, to others, supermodels, celebrities.  We compare our brains to others.  We compare our lives. We compare our size, our shape, our skin tone, our weight, our hair . . . .

          We compare the time we spent in school learning a trait or skill to finding a job in the real world where your schooling time does not count as “years experience”.  We compare others success or luck to our own.  There have been a few days in my life which I have compared to Alexander’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

          I have noticed different personalities within different cartoons.  For example, I think the Peanut Characters all represent a different personality.  Lucy is the uptight controlling personality.  Charlie Brown is the one who may allow himself as a doormat; his intentions are noble, but he often allows himself to get bullied. Schroeder is so focused on his music that he doesn’t pay much attention to anything else.  Linus represents wisdom – even with his blanket.  I have also compared Winnie-the-Pooh characters to different personalities in this post.

          We compare the taste of food.  We describe the taste by comparing to familiarity.  We compare how food is prepared.  We compare cooking styles.  We even compare how it looks to how we think it should look.

          We liken the scriptures to our own lives.  Often instructors will teach with a modern day twist comparing the scriptures to the latest movie or works in literature.  Jesus made comparisons through parables.  We make comparisons to help ourselves learn – to grow and develop.  We use analogies.

          Speaking of scriptures,  I like having two or three open books to compare verses side by side . . . there are some of us who still use books.  And how many times have we compared books to tablets or modern day technology?  Finding information on Google is less time consuming than looking up information first in the card catalog and with finding the book and then in finding the information in the book itself.

          In 2016 somebody compared our libraries to being on life support.  Voting “no” on the November ballots would pull the plug while voting “yes” would keep the doors open.

          We tend to compare the past to the present and find the pros and cons with each.  We compare the growth, the technology and the paths we have taken as individuals, as a country, as the human race.

          Two comparative posts that really stood out to me are this one as I felt had a lot of good quotes about self esteem and self worth.  I love the quote about not comparing “our behind the scenes moment to somebody else’s highlighted reel”.  So often we measure ourselves by how we are seen by others.

        and This one as it compares Christmas symbols to our beliefs in Christmas – though many are just legends it is great to have “meaning for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear” to verify the reason behind a symbol that is used such as the candy cane and Santa Claus

          I suppose I don’t really need to explain further or give more examples.  We’re all guilty of comparing probably often.

I Haven’t Heard that Word for Three or Four Years

     I vaguely remember the facebook comments that were made after Devin Durrant’s talk given during the Sunday afternoon session in the October 2015 General Conference.  It was the first general conference we had watched after moving to Oregon.  I don’t know how focused I was on his talk.  I remember he used the word “Ponderize” though  I didn’t realize how often.  22 times according to this website.  Okay . . .

          I remember I had facebook friends who really liked the idea behind the word as it offered some sort of empowerment – 20% memorization and 80% pondering.  And then I had facebook friends who were overly irritated with the new made-up word.  How dare someone introduce as non-existing word into conference!  Would it be a trend?  I was indifferent and really didn’t care about the word one way or the other – although I may have leaned slightly toward those who were not in favor than those that were – just because my relationship with those that seemed to LOATHE the idea of PONDERIZATION were closer friends to me than the ones who seemed to love the new word.

          I hadn’t heard that word many times since – though I do remember the few times I did hear the word mentioned, I’d smile about the different comments made particularly from those who hated the word.  And then I forgot all about the very existence of the word until today.  The bishop’s wife used it in her talk.  I Googled the word to learn about where it had gone, not knowing a scandal had followed as a website was created within hours of Bro. Durrant’s talk.  The website was labeled as “Priest-craft” by some members.

          The Urban Dictionary (here) provides several definitions for the word “Ponderize” – the seventh definition is the one that had been used in conference.  Although it’s misfortune and most likely ego bruising, it’s the first definition that makes me laugh.  I must have a warped sense of humor.  I’m glad that Ponderize didn’t become the trendy word that I suppose it could have (I suppose because of the website scandal). I think if it had caught on, I would be rolling my eyes every time I hear it.

2 week sub assignment

2nd grade reading

          chapter books

          Journeys - first story

Jess makes gifts

          story goes that she makes

          homemade gifts for her mom

                                      her brother Mike, and Gram.

Last paragraph mentions a Jane

          a Jane that was never mentioned

                                      before

Type-O?

1st group reading

          or disciplining rather

          simple words

                             first pets     

                             then jobs

Yesterday we worked on packets

          simple words

          saying phonics

                   I think the first graders are

loudest of all the classes

Kindergarten

          Rhyming Words

          Blending words

          Packets

Half hour with each class

Break

2nd grade math

          they are learning

          regrouping subtraction

There are at least two who

          share the same focus that

                   I do for accounting

lunch

          my lunch

          fourth grade recess

          fourth grade lunch

                   last grade in lunch room

                   clean up has started before

they are through

Friday is popcorn day

                   It is a madhouse!

back to kindergarten

          more rhymes

          more blending sounds

Computer lab

          Potty breaks

          hall monitor

                   until their teacher comes

3rd grade reading

          first book on Sears Tower

          needs to be updated from

                             present to past

2nd book

          monkeys - the vervet monkey

                             to be exact

          they nurse from mother's womb

the kids are grossed out

          it is nice to know they are still innocent

                             and not interested in the

facts of life

          but still -

I tell them they don't have to look at the pictures

But   

          the word "nipple" is in the book.

                             They moan and feel embarrrassed.

They read slowly

          their facial comments and expressions

                             make it slower

I take my turn reading

I read with confidence

                   and at a pace

                                      I think the book should be read.

We have it finished

                   in two days.