a sad day.....

Today our loving Yorkie Cara died. She was only 5 years old.

Her death was a tragic accident. When we came home this afternoon after running a few errands she was not in the house. We figured that she ran out the door when we where in and out getting ready to leave. We did not notice her outside. She must have gone walking around the house.

After calling on neighbors and checking out the area one of the neighbors found her just around the corner on the side of the road. I went and got her. She was hit by a car and died right away. It looks like it happened not long after we left. (We were gone for 4 hours.)

Needless to say we are all very upset.

Here are a couple of pictures of Cara.

1 down 3 to go

Man alive what a whippin'!
As die-hard a Sox fan I am I did not imagine that last night's game would go the way it did. How about the patience and the number of hit=runs with 2 outs.
I really don't see anything else than a Sox win tonight. When the series heads out to Colorado the Rocks should take 2.
The fans deserve a series win in Boston this year.
Let's play BALL!

Dirty Jobs, what a show

If you have not seen the Discovery channel show, Dirty Jobs, you need to.
The show is an eye opener of what jobs people do for a living that are .....dirty.
The show is funny, intelligent, scientific, and educational.
One comment I have about the show is that I have noticed how happy the people are as they show off their job. They really seem to enjoy what they do for a living.
Here's the web address for the show.
http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/dirtyjobs/dirtyjobs.html

By the way...GO BOSOX!!!!!

My scholastci homepage

I have put together a homepage at Scholastic. Scholastic has a free webpage builder for teachers that their students and parents can access. It is very user-friendly and has a nice step-by-step process when you first get started.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/homepagebuilder/index.htm
Here is the address for the log in screen for students/parents/others.
http://homepage.scholastic.com/CHBuilderWeb/jsp/StudentParentLogin.jsp
The class name is strommer and the password is math.

GO SOX ! Bases loaded and up one run.

2 things for tonight.

Well, it is now or never for the Sox tonight. Everyone needs to be focused on on the ball tonight.
GO SOX!

I found a cool math website the other and my students are hooked.
It is www.coolmath.com
There is a bit much to look through visually but the games are fun and push the limits on problem solving and higher end thinking skills.
The puzzles and strategy games are what they like the most. I was able to reach level 8 on the Rush game. One of my 4th graders made it too.
Take a look and see what you think.

Game 2 ALCS

Manny will do what at this at bat? Bases loaded.....and..TBA
How about that! Another walk for Manny. Talk about patience.
What's that ... 3 walks for him with the bases loaded these two games.

ALRIGHT LOWELL! They need to keep him. Sign him!

I will temp fate and say there will be a third series sweep. The Sox are just playing too well as a team and Schilling is in the zone today. Not over powering but placing his pitches well.
Pats won convincingly from what I can tell. Didn't watch much of as I was doing yard work.
What is with the heat. 3rd day with 90's for our high today. There might be something to this global warming thing. By the way, I do think we humans have royally have messed up our planet. And, it will only get worse before it gets better. The US is, overall, I believe on the right track for environmental issues. Current Presidential administration excepted. The developing countries will be the main problem in years to come with pollution generated and environmental abuses.

Just discovered fun sites

I found a few sites today that I see potential use with my students.
The first is Kerpoof. A fellow teacher described it as a bit like KidPix.
I see it as a way for kids (of all ages) to make their own comic.
You can make just a picture with the backgrounds and images supplied.
You can even make a story and short animated movie. I have not tried those yet. This weekend.
The second is Voki. I have not gone into much depth with the site but I see that it may be used with my 6th graders.
The last is one that I have known about for some time but have only watched my students use the site. Millsberry is the name. The students have created a virtual persona that they interact with. It seems like a kids version of The Sims or Second Life. I see where this could be a way to use concepts learned in the classroom in a "real" world setting. We'll have to see about that.