My Favorite Musicians

My favorite musicians or type of music. That is a hard one...I listen to all kinds of music it because it just depends on what I'm in the mood for. I have to say that anything that has a good beat will get my attention. It seems that whenever I am just in the mood to relax and listen to music I tend to put on one of two albums. The first is Jack Johnson In Between Dreams. I really like several of his songs including Banana Pancakes and Sitting, Waiting, Wishing. All of his songs I think are really good. I started listening to him a few years ago when a student had me listen to his cd. I was skeptical at first but once I listened to the music I really liked it. The only artist is Ben Lee. He hasn't had anything out in several years but whenever I need a pick me up I like to listen to his album Awake is the New Sleep. Its really good.

Lets see.....the past few weeks I have been on spring break and my students have started turning in their African Masks. This group of masks is the best yet. I will post pictures as soon as I get them all graded. For spring break I went with a friend to New Mexico. I have never been to west Texas or New Mexico so I thought it might be a fun road trip. I spent the day in Carlsbad New Mexico and spent several hours exploring the cave. It was really beautiful and an experience everyone should try to experience. I then went North to Roswell New Mexico home to the "alleged" alien crash...unfortunately I didn't see any real aliens but it was a fun city with lots of Alien paraphernalia. They had a UFO McDonald's and the light posts down town were all shaped like alien heads. The last day I headed to Alamogordo to see White Sands. This was really a beautiful site. 300 square miles of all white (gypsum) sand surrounded by mountains. it was a completely different site than I have ever seen before. I really enjoyed the trip and can't wait to see the rest of New Mexico.

Free Topic

Lets see.....what do I want to talk about? I guess I can start by telling a little bit about the hobbies I am trying hard to develop. This summer I decided that I should learn how to cook. It started out with a goal of one new thing every week. That goal lasted for most of the summer, however, now I have not kept up with it. I did learn how to make a New York Cheesecake that everyone seems to like. There is a lot of stuff that goes into making one. I never realized how long it takes. I also learned how to make my own pizza crust, cinnamon raisin bread, cinnamon rolls, and oatmeal raisin cookies. The only thing I thought that was good was the cinnamon rolls and pizza crust....everything else was given to other people who liked it. So I think I can bake....my next challenge was learning how to actually cook. I attempted to cook homemade fries and that was a huge disaster. I also attempted steaks and baked potatoes....also another disaster. I have learned to make a good bar-b-que chicken sandwich and unfortunately that is about the extent of it. I guess I should pick up the hobby of cooking again and try to improve. So if anyone has any suggestions let me know.

Life over the past few weeks. School has been very busy the last few weeks. We had TAKs tests last week. (Not one of my favorite things to do) We have one more week until Spring break and I think we are all ready for it. We have begun to learn about Africa and we are having our first socratic seminar over Rwanda next Thursday. The students began reading the articles today and will watch the video Ghosts of Rwanda next week in class. I have to brag about my students because they always impress me when it comes to Socratic Seminars. I can't wait until next week to see what they have to say about Rwanda.

Love

Is it better to fall in love or learn to love? I think this is a tricky question to answer. There is so much evidence that arranged marriages do work but that might also be because of culture. It might be that a culture that surrounds the belief of arranged marriages helps to create a culture in which the marriage will last or that they feel like they can't seek a divorce. The same can be said for people who "fall" in love. Divorces are a part of everyday life for most people in the United States. I think we can all name at least 5 people easily that we know that are divorced. I know I personally have parents that are divorced. So is it the culture that helps a marriage to survive or is it love. Who knows. I think that there is a big difference in the initial stages of love and what makes a successful marriage. The initial feelings of love change over time and in order for a relationship to work there has to be a learning process and a growing process. No one ever stays the same and that I believe is also true of relationships....love changes and grows and adapts.

Now to reflect on what I have been up to the last few weeks. Let's see.....speaking of love I found out that my sister and her husband of five years are expecting a baby in October. This will be their first child which will make me an Aunt for the first time. Inside school I have been trying to get things ready for Advisory training which will take me out of the classroom next week. I am beginning to take an on-line class to help develop more international cooperation projects. I am really excited about this class. I hope I am able to broaden the scope of our blogging project. I think it will be great to include more international students in our blogs. We are also welcoming Mr. Prather and Mr. Powell's class to our blogs in the next few weeks. Hopefully this will allow the students more opportunities to talk and learn from each other.

Global Warming

Global warming is a concern in Texas and in Austin in particular. Austin I believe is doing a lot to reduce its carbon footprint and become green.
According to a Newsweek article “The CO2 State” (Newsweek - 2008-02-28 by Matthew Philips):
“If Texas were its own country, it would be the 48th most populous in the world, right between North Korea and Ghana. In terms of landmass, at 268,000 square miles it would be the 40th-biggest. But when it comes to environmental impact, Texas is on par with some of the largest, most industrialized nations on the planet.
Were the Lonestar State to secede from the union it would be the world's eighth-largest emitter of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, just behind Canada, with 630 million metric tons spewed into the atmosphere in 2005, according to new figures released this week by the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration. That's actually a reduction of 40 million metric tons since 2003, when Texas was the globe's seventh-largest CO2 contributor. But even though the state is improving, Texas still outpaces the combined emissions of California and Pennsylvania, the states with the second- and third-highest CO2 outputs.”

I think this is a concern that many people in Austin share. Austin, has passed rules to encourage energy efficient construction. The Austin Climate Protection Plan will eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from virtually all municipal activities by the year 2020. This includes powering all City facilities with 100% renewable energy, converting the entire city fleet of vehicles to alternative fuels and electric power, and implementing greenhouse gas reduction plans in every City department.

Things have been busy the last few weeks. Unfortunately a lot of students at school have been sick and I unfortunately have fallen sick too. But I am getting a lot of rest and am ready to get back to teaching on Monday. The students turned in their Mural of a Historical on Monday and they all did a great job. I am really looking forward to seeing the rest of the presentations on Monday.

Technology

I can't imagine my life without technology. I remember the days when the internet was new and we learned to type on typewriters. It is amazing how much things have changed in such a short period of time. In my daily life what technology do I use.....well at home it would be the computer, internet, cable, tv, my alarm clock to wake me up in the morning, my cell phone (which I can't imagine not having around, even though I didn't have one just 15 years ago) and the microwave to heat things up. At school we use lots of technology from computers, projectors, the distance learning lab (which I absolutely love), internet, telephones, and who knows what else there is.

I think the biggest technology innvention of my time period would be the computer. I think that it has completely changed the way we live our life and has broadened our world. The days of relying on telephone calls and the postal service to get our point across is gone. Everything has some sort connection to a computer. I can't imagine life without it.

A reflection on my life.....
The last couple of weeks have been a bit busy. I will mention one historical thing that I think all of us probably watched together and that was the inauguration of President Obama. We used our class time to watch the proceedings and write letters to the new president expressing our concerns and desires. I was very impressed with the letters that my students wrote and how touching so many of them are. It is amazing the knowledge that students have today of world issues or even issues closer to home. It made me very proud.

New Year New Bloggers

The end of the semester was busy but the students did an excellent job on finals. I am really impressed by my students this year. They have made two movies in my class. The first was showing diversity in Austin and the second educated us on different Latin America music genres. The students went above what I thought they would do and I was blown away by the results. I think everyone learned a lot from the project. I am hoping to arrange a Cinco de Mayo celebration for the students with another teacher on campus. We have already gotten St.Edwards Ballet Folklorico to come and perform for us.

We are now starting to learn about Europe and the students are starting to settle back into a normal school day pattern again. I think we all needed a nice long winter break. I spent part of my winter break in Missouri with my family. When I left Texas is was in the upper 70s and very humid....when I arrived in Missouri it was 12. I had a very cold visit to Missouri with a couple of days when the temperature only reached 3 degrees. Its amazing how spoiled I have gotten since I have moved to Texas. I am happy that it did snow when I was back home so I got a white christmas. The rest of my break was spent in Texas. I got to go see my Missouri Tigers play in the Alamo Bowl and win the game in overtime. It was a lot of fun and I hope the Tigers do better next time. The rest of my break was spent relaxing with friends. I wish my break was longer but it was time to come back and start working again.

This semester I am hoping to bring even more students on board with our blogging project. It will be fun to have new people to talk and share with. Thats all for now I look forward to reading all the new posts.

1st Blog of the New School Year

Well it is that time again..... Summer flew by and now I am back at school ready for another year at Anderson High School. I have a great new group of freshmen students that are ready to start blogging and meeting new students from South Korea, Australia, and California. It has been a really long week so far. It is always hard to start back to school and adjust to getting up earlier and having to teach again. I think the students are feeling it too. Usually by 8th period they are very loud and talkative. This week by the time 7th period arrives the students and myself all look like we are ready for a nap.

I will start by telling a little bit about what I did over my summer vacation. I worked a lot during vacation but I did manage a few short trips to Jacksonville, Florida and back home to Missouri. A friend of mine from Missouri was moving to Jacksonville and wondered if I could drive his car down for him while he drove the moving truck. So my sister and I flew to St. Louis arriving after 11:00 pm because of flight delays. The next morning we were up and ready to go at 6:00 am and started out on our adventure. Thirty minutes later and in Illinois the car broke down and we spent the next 2 1/2 hours on the side of the highway waiting for a tow truck and highway patrol. But they finally arrived and after 4 hours we were finally on the road again. We decided that we would take our time and enjoy our trip since we had already had such bad luck. We noticed a sign for a huge Superman statue in Metropolis, IL where the original Superman series was filmed. Of course we had to stop and have our photo taken. The other photos that I have included are from my adventures in Florida and the road trip getting there. The following week I was back on the road again heading to Missouri to visit family. While I was back home the Missouri State Fair was going on so of course I had to go. I've also included pictures from my Missouri trip as well.

I have a feeling that this is going to be a great year in room 241 at Anderson High School.

Food day

It is a really good day in World Geography room 305. Today is food day....the students have been working hard on the Map a Meal project and are bringing in food today from the project. So we are going to be eating lots of food from South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. So far we have had excellent noodles, rice balls, dumplings, and potatoes. I can't wait to try what everyone has brought. It is getting towards the end of the year and this is an excellent way to begin winding down. I think the students also learned a valuable lesson about procrastination when the website they needed to use for the project went down the night before the project was due. Hopefully in the future they will not wait until the last minute to work on a major project.

If I could go anywhere in the world on vacation right now I think I would go some where in Southeast Asia....like...Thailand or Cambodia. I would like to see the temples and statuary from the Angkorian Empire. I usually want to go to Europe but I think Southeast Asia is so beautiful and mysterious. It is so lush and green. I think so much of it has not been touched by the human need to make things bigger, faster, and better. I would also like to explore China..... One of these days I will go but until then I will continue to dream.

Skydiving!

This school year has gone by really fast. We are currently getting ready for a religion seminar on Tuesday. We are going to have representatives from Islam, Judaism, Catholicism, Episcopalian, Buddhism, and Hinduism. I think it is going to be a great opportunity for all the students to learn about the different religions. The students have already about holy books, hierarchy, religious places, and holidays of the different religions, however, this seminar will give them the opportunity to ask questions of the different representatives.

As for things happening outside of school........

This past weekend I went skydiving for the very first time. It was such an adrenaline rush that I can't wait to go back and do it again. Next time I go though I think I will go solo instead of tandem. (Tandem is when you are harnessed to an experienced jumper) The weird thing is that I was more nervous before I got on the plane then at any other time. Once I was on the plane and we were in the air it was rather relaxing. Then the next thing I know they are opening the door and I am hoovering 10,000 plus feet above the ground ready to plunge into.......nothing......it was the most exhilarating experience. When we jumped out of the plane we began tumbling head over heels through the air and all I remember thinking is oh my gosh what am I doing.....this is so awesome. Then before you knew it we were just gliding through the air under a huge parachute. It was a very serene silence. It was so beautiful and calming. I can't wait to go back. As soon as I figure out how to upload my video of my jump I will. Here is a link to my video: http://www.edb.utexas.edu/culture/RachelHollrahSkyDiving.3gp

Africa Mask Project

This has been a good week for me. The students have begun to study Southwest Asia and have the Africa Masks due. So far they have begun to present them and they are all very creative. Each student had to create a mask based on a tribe and country that they selected. The masks were had to have traditional African qualities and represent something the tribe would have actually found important. They had to use geometric shapes and have the overall spirit and purpose reflected in the mask. We are going to finish up the masks tomorrow and begun Southwest Asia next week. We are hopefuly going to cover water and oil resources in the region and how it influences the region.

This is the time of year that Texas starts to experience spring and the grass and trees begin to turn green. It is also the time of year that the famous blue bonnets and indian paintbrush begin to appear. You will see people stop on the side of the road and lay in the blue bonnets to take pictures. These are beautil blue flowers that grow wild throughout the state.

The Week Before Spring Break

This has been a really good week at school....despite the fact that I got sick. We had our socratic seminar over Rwanda and Darfur. The students really impressed me and the assistant principal with their knowledge and discussion skills. I am hoping that they will want to continue doing socratic seminars in the future.

Things have been hectic in my life. I am preparing to leave for Missouri tomorrow. I checked the weather and it is still in the 30s there. I am hoping that it will warm up at some point this week otherwise I will freeze. I am not taking my dog this time. She loves road trips but I think she will have more fun playing outside at my sister's house in the country. I have learned a lot since moving to Texas. My sister has a place in the country so I have been introduced to Texas snakes, scorpions, cows, and other various wild animals. It is a fun experience but some of the things like huge spiders, scorpions, and snakes I could live without. I have included a picture of one of those scary insects I found on my floor one night. It was terrifying. I do not wish to relive that experience.

East of Austin where she lives is very flat and you can see forever. West of Austin is the hill country. Texas has its own form of beauty. I think the most beautiful part about it is the huge open sky. It seems to stretch on forever with big beautiful clouds.

I had better log off of here and finish packing. I hope everyone has a wonderful spring break!

The end of February

It seems like just yesterday it was the beginning of the new year. Now it is already March. This week in class we have been discussing the genocide that happened in Rwanda. This has always been an important topic for me and I am glad that the students seem to be taking an interest in it. I wrote several research papers on it in graduate school and was amazed to find out how many people didn't know about the genocide. I think it was a shame that the international community turned their backs on Rwanda when several easy steps could have been taken to prevent of to stop the genocide.

This week in my life:
It has been a hectic week for me. It hit 90 degrees in Austin. I am still trying to adjust to the climate change in Texas. I am originally from Missouri and I am still not completely used to it being so warm in February. I was in Missouri last week and the temperatures were in the 20s and there was lots of snow and ice. By the time I got back to Texas it was in the 80s. It is definatley an adjustment.

Things that I have learned since living in Austin:
1. You can wear flip flops all year long. It never seems to get really really cold. Even if it is cold it usually only lasts a day or two and then it is back to being nice outside.

2. Austin Bats:

How Many Bats Live Under the Congress Avenue Bridge?: The Congress Avenue bridge in downtown Austin is the spring and summer home to some 750,000 bats with up to 1.5 million bats at the peak of the bat-watching season. It's the largest urban bat colony in North America.

Why Did the Bats Choose the Congress Avenue Bridge?: While bats have called Austin home for many years, it was after renovations to the Congress Avenue bridge over Town Lake in 1980 that they found their favorite hang out. Narrow but deep openings created in the bridge turned out to be perfect accommodations.

Congress Avenue Bat Flights: Each evening around sunset the Congress Avenue bats emerge like a black cloud from the crevices of the bridge. Covering the countryside in search of food, it is estimated that the bats consume from 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects.

Giving birth in June or July, the bats and pups hang around til October when they head back south. Watching the nightly forays for food is a favorite evening activity, especially in late summer.

Great Students

I just logged onto the Learn World Culture website and saw how many students had been using the website to post questions and help each other out with our project. I am so impressed with how my students are using the website. I am teaching a great bunch of kids who are always willing to help each other out. I think I am a really lucky teacher.

Tomorrow I will be out of the classroom again for an Advisory meeting but I can't wait to see what the projects look like when I get back.

Good Luck Everyone!

I made a blog!!

Hey you guys.....well I did it...my first blog. So I know if I can do it then you can do it as well. I am writing this Monday evening after a long day of students not turning in physical maps. I am hoping that things will change by tomorrow. This week we are discussing Russia and there is a lot of stuff to learn.

I hope you guys have fun with this project. I am really excited about it and can't wait to begin reading your blogs. So start posting and have fun!