Wendy Mair Clark

This week on the farm we are finally settling into what will be our ordinary days.

There are trees that need relocating…to the wood pile.

And a downed building that needs relocating…to the dump. And contents that need recycled. Anyone interested in purchasing an old furnace? Or two?

And this beautiful house. Strong winds on Wednesday blew the tarp off of the roof. Luckily the contractor was able to reattach it Thursday before the rains hit again today. Hopefully the roofing will be completed in the next couple of weeks.

Then there are the littles. It is so fun to watch them romp around. They make these ordinary days a little less so.

via Daily Prompt: Ordinary

Teaching Tuesdays

Teacher Tuesday – Minimal Pairs

March 22, 2017March 22, 2017 Wendy

Well let’s just change that to Teacher Tuesday on a Wednesday Morning. Sorry, I just had a headache yesterday.

However, I was pondering the word of the day Minimal and came up with very little to write about. Ha ha..but true. While seeking inspiration, I happened upon the definition for minimal pairs which are words that differ by only one sound. These pairs of words can cause pronunciation problems for our ELL students as well as others.

True story: I did not learn/hear the difference between sit and set until my first year teaching. Imagine my embarrassment when a whole study hall asked “Do you mean sit down?” after I had asked them to set down.

It turns out I have a problem hearing/pronouncing the difference in minimal pairs. I still struggle to pronounce the long e sound in words. For example, deal is pronounced dill, feel is pronounced fill, etc.

And there was the time I was wrote about perspective teachers throughout one of my Master’s papers. Yup, another embarrassment. I still struggle with pre, pro, and por…and rely on spell check heavily to help me with this.

I always thought one had a sick sense…and people believe in old wise tales.

So it turns out that these pairs play a not so minimal part in my life. But I am surprised I am just now learning about them. (Keep in mind, I am a math major though…so that likely explains it.)

I have not had time to explore this further, but I will be checking out minimal pairs pronunciation activities and thinking about ways to incorporate them into my teaching and learning. I also want to explore the connections to this morning’s late-start meeting where we discussed language development. (Related side note: Today was the first time I realized {yes, I pronounce this rilized} listening is a component of language.) My favorite quote from today’s meeting.

Language is a tool we use to ACT in the world.

I want to act fully in the world and I want my students to act fully as well. I would hate to think that minimal pairs limit students’ or my own participation in the action, but I have a hunch that sometimes it might.

Please share if you know of strategies that work.

Math Mondays

Math Mondays – Back to Calculus

March 21, 2017 Wendy

I am back to a calculus review problem today. I am just not sure where I want Math Mondays to finally settle. So for now I will just grab and solve whichever problem is at hand.

Here it is:

A merchants daily inventory over a 30 day period is given by

, where x is the number of days from 0 to 30, inclusive.

What is the merchant’s average daily inventory over the 30-day period?

So I am thinking I want to find the integral to get the total….but I have some questions about that. If I want daily, do I really want the area under the curve for the total inventory? To me it makes more sense to use Sigma….for the summation from 0 to 30. Regardless of how I find the sum, I will then divide by 30 to get the average.

So lazy student moment here. I really just want to find the inventory on day 0…(1200) and on day 30 (487.88) and then find the average. This is approximately $844.00. Which is a choice.

My not at lazy approach was to find the integral of the function and divide by 30.

To get approximately 791. Which is also a choice. And the choice I am making.

Long story short, I think I conceptually understand why I want the area. I am picturing 30 rectangles with a width of 1 and an average height of the function value f(0) and f(1), f(1) and f(2), etc. Finding the sum of these rectangles (or the total area under the curve to be more accurate) and dividing by 30 gives the average daily inventory.

Am I right?

Sacred Sundays

Sacred Sundays – Let Him Be

March 19, 2017March 19, 2017 Wendy

I am continuing with the challenge to read all the scriptural references to Jesus…at a snail’s pace…but continuing.

This weekend I have been pondering Matthew 20:17-28. In particular, I am considering the counsel given in verses 26 and 27. Jesus said,

26 … but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

Letting someone minister to me or serve me is a real struggle. I do not want them to think less of me or to be burdened. And, I kind of have the attitude that I can take care of myself. But then reality sets in…

Like the time I was 6 months pregnant and broke my ankle. I cannot even begin to list all the people who helped me at work and at home. I experienced an overwhelming outpouring of love and concern from family, friends and neighbors.

Or the time my best friends helped me write my National Board papers in the final hours. And then did the same thing when I reapplied 10 years later. They are the same friends who drove 2 days to attend my wedding and ended up helping me prepare for it in the final hours. (Yes, there is a final hours trend that I need to study further.)

Or the many times and ways my husband…who works hard all day, every day…takes care of our family when I most need him to do so. (He does not deserve the grief I give him from time to time.)

These people …I love them. They are certainly great in my eyes and chief among my favorite people.

But, there is the One who has been there in every moment. He is the greatest and chief among men. In ways I do not fully understand, He has ministered to and served me even when I was not always willing to let Him. He is my Savior and I am thankful He…

… came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Matthew 20:28

My prayer for us this week is that we will all “let Him be” in our lives.

Have a great week.

Farm Life Fridays

Farm Life Fridays – Floods, Trucks, and Other Old Stuff

March 18, 2017March 19, 2017 Wendy

The Snake River is high! We knew it was coming, but we hoped that some how it wouldn’t. Yesterday we had to take a look.

The drainage ditch, the outlet to the river is now acting as an intake and is overflowing into the lower fields. I know there are others who are worse off, but this will set us back and will change our plans.

It is upsetting, but even with the setback we are in love with this place. I mean just look at this beautiful field. We are so thankful for the blessing of being the caretakers.

In addition to the fields there are all the cool things to discover and photograph. I am not sure why, but old stuff…OK…I will just saw it…Junk makes my heart sing.

Just look at this truck.

Or the side panals of an onion truck and the old threshing machine.

There are so many things to discover! I am sure if the education gig does not work out for me, I can always manage a junk yard. But then again, maybe not!?!? I think you have actually sell the stuff to make a go of it.