Happy Easter!

We spent Easter hiking at Hanging Rock state park, and it was lovely! Though going for 8 miles when I haven't been hiking since last fall may have been a bad idea...

These used to be homes

The tornado caused mass destruction and devastation in Bertie Co., particularly in Askewville and Colerain. There are so many places that are just covered with debris, where there used to be homes. Farmers are going to have a difficult time clearing their fields, we saw fields scattered with sinks, parts of cars, insulation, and all kinds of unrecognizable detritus. The county has set up a disaster relief fund:

Disaster relief fund – A disaster relief fund has been established for tornado victims in the Colerain and Askewville areas. Anyone wishing to donate can do so by visiting the County Manager’s Office at 106 Dundee St., Windsor; Town of Colerain Office at 101 C. Winton St., Colerain; or by mailing donations to the Bertie County Tornado Relief Fund, P.O. Box 530, Windsor, N.C. 27983. Checks should be made out to “Bertie County Tornado Relief Fund.”

There are also other organizations working in the area, details found here.

Another Diaster in Bertie County

Bertie got hit the hardest from the raging storm on Saturday. Many homes were destroyed, and 11 people are confirmed dead. Luckily none of my students or their families were hurt, though one lost her house. Through this link you can donate towards a disaster relief fund.

http://projecth.chipin.com/bertie-county-disaster-fund

It's official!

I'm going to UNC in the fall! School of Education, the Culture, Curriculum and Change PhD track. Woo-hoo!

Game Designing

I love this

Jeopardy

This was one of the most creative. To play, you throw something (in this case, my squishy brain) at the board, then lift up the flap for the question. There was an easier question for round 1, a harder one for round 2.

You throw the brain at the board to pick your question category. They also got carried away in making people spin 20 times (to their classmates chagrin) before throwing. I was glad their classmates were annoyed at this foolishness.

The girls have a disgusted look on their face because a boy (just off camera- you can see his crossed arms) just got a question wrong, when the answer was given away in a previous question.

A board game, with some very difficult questions.

This was probably my favorite- a True/False twister game. They asked a student a question individually, and then another student had a spinner which told them where to place their hand or foot. The kids loved it too!

In class yesterday, I had the students make games as a review activity for their test on Things Fall Apart. They had a fabulous time, and many came up with ideas way more innovative than I ever would have thought of myself. This lesson was completed in one 90 minute block (40 minutes to design and make the game, the rest to play in rotation); if I do it again, I may have them design the game one day, and have a day or half day to play them, by rotating around in groups. I had 3 roles- leader, researcher, and rules recorder, and it worked pretty well. If anyone wants those, let me know and I'll pass it along. Now we have something to occupy our time during that dreaded EOC time of limbo.

Peggy in Edenton

My aunt Peggy was visiting folks in Elizabeth City, so we met for dinner in Edenton yesterday.

Outer Banks day trip

I went to Nags Head with some of my Windsor buddies. It was cold and cloudy, but we had a good brisk walk on the beach at least.

Austin Pictures

Apparently this guy has been here for years, Susan remembers it from her library school days at UT.

Tofu bulgogi crepe- delicious!

I was amused by the large number and styles of boots available

I was so happy with this picture, because I'm 12.

Apparently this is a chain.

There were lots of cute food carts on South Congress

Susan's flight was late getting in so I went and had beers with her brother and some groomsmen, and learned some...interesting... things about them.

I love this poster, I wish I'd taken one.

Pictures with the Swoggers

Here are some pictures from the rehearsal dinner, and her parents party on Sunday. My favorite part was visiting the Narnia room! A childhood dream come true!

The "gay lady plate" Kathy made

Entering Narnia!

Kathy's glass studio

Stephanie (Susan's cousin) gave Steven and Tegra a painting she made for them

Kathy (Susan's mom), and the incredible food spread

Susan's parents house, as seen from Lake Austin

Susan and I on the boat for the rehearsal dinner

Wedding in Austin

This weekend I went to Austin, TX for Susan's brother Steven's wedding. His new wife Tegra looked beautiful and it was a lovely ceremony. I also met her family for the first time- parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, everyone. I had a great time and it was fun meeting everyone, though sadly an allergy attack kept me from joining part of the party on Sunday. Here's some pictures of the wedding.