Sloth: The Man with the Hammer

[Mrs Van]

6 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

But I was singing along to the radio all day and I'm a much more positive and thus better teacher when I don't hurt. I hope this continues.

So glad for you.

[Sloth the Enduring]

11/9/16 Wednesday

 

Being on the ADD meds calms my monkey brain and gives me space to feel emotions.  I still have a heart of stone compared to most people, but for me I'm a roiling cauldron of feels. I maybe should have waited until after the election to go back on the meds. 

 

I need a stuffy.

 

My  student's lesson from the election is that it is okay to be racist.  You can argue that they don't understand the political policies or the need for change, but that doesn't calm their fears. It was a rough day at school. I don't talk politics with my students.  Even though the politics are pretty homogenous in my district, I wouldn't want the outlier students to feel excluded from my community. My talking points with anyone that expressed concern was that school is and always will be a safe place and that I want them to vote their hopes when they turn 18.

 

I'm still angling for the second grade gig next year.  However the principal has let me know that there are a lot of experienced people interested.  I interpret that as no way in Hell. I've been cleaning out my room and organizing my materials for the next teacher, which I guess is future Sloth. I'm about a third of the way through.  I might as well finish.

 

Training: I had to go to school early for a much-needed parent conference.  They were a no show. I did my half-assed yoga flow and the Roman chair, but nothing else.

[Shello]

Your timing stinks then.  Now is not the time for feels.  My kids are having a rough time too, particularly my inquisitive 13 year old.  I like your strategy for talking with the kids at school.  

 

Maybe the principal wasn't saying No way in hell, but was merely making sure you knew you weren't a shoo in.  Stay positive. 

[shaar]

On 11/6/2016 at 2:28 PM, Sloth the Enduring said:

He suggested I switch to Pilates and swimming.  I guess I could do that, but what would be the point of living.

 

Laugh-snorted in my office, haha!  Did you tell the doc that??

 

Glad your back is feeling better!

 

I have heard some really sad and depressing stuff going on with kids at school post-election.  Ugh..

[LouCarJo]

I'm commenting on an old post, but animal flows I find exhausting too.  Something about coming up and down off the floor that sends my heart rate through the roof.  

[Sloth the Enduring]

On November 8, 2016 at 6:35 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Glad to hear reducing back pain has improved your mood.

 

Thanks.  It's funny that I didn't know I was in a bad mood. 

 

On November 8, 2016 at 7:38 PM, Xena said:

Maybe see if the burpees are still challenging if you do a low impact version (step in and out, maybe substitute a squat or something for the jump at the end). For me, it's still plenty hard and I can get my heart rate up.

 

That's a good idea or maybe just step ups.  Thanks. 

 

On November 9, 2016 at 0:34 AM, elizevdmerwe said:

So glad for you.

 

Thank you

 

On November 10, 2016 at 0:14 PM, LadyShello said:

Your timing stinks then.  Now is not the time for feels.  My kids are having a rough time too, particularly my inquisitive 13 year old.  I like your strategy for talking with the kids at school.  

 

Maybe the principal wasn't saying No way in hell, but was merely making sure you knew you weren't a shoo in.  Stay positive. 

 

No one else wants the second grade position.  That'll be the kindergarten group that I felt compelled to help out with last year. He tries to hire new, inexperienced teachers whenever he can.  He probably figures he can find a new grade school teacher easier than he can find a new science teacher. 

 

On November 10, 2016 at 0:24 PM, shaar said:

 

Laugh-snorted in my office, haha!  Did you tell the doc that??

 

Glad your back is feeling better!

 

I have heard some really sad and depressing stuff going on with kids at school post-election.  Ugh..

 

Thanks.  No, I tend to keep my mouth shut when I know I won't change someone's mind. 

 

4 hours ago, LouCarJo said:

I'm commenting on an old post, but animal flows I find exhausting too.  Something about coming up and down off the floor that sends my heart rate through the roof.  

 

That makes sense.  I was wondering if it was the sheer awkwardness of them that made them tiring. 

[Sloth the Enduring]

11/10/16 Thursday

 

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.  Once again I skipped my workout so I could meet the family before school and still have time to set up my labs. Again they didn't show up.  

 

Its a a new quarter so I have a new programming group.  This is the advanced math cohort. Like I have in the past, I showed them how some basic programming blocks worked and let them explore. By the end of the class everyone had figured out how to do something I couldn't figure out.  Next class I'm going to show them how to look into published programs to see how people did even more advanced stuff and give them a menu of possible projects and let them go wild. It should be exciting. 

 

Training: half-assed Yoga flow and Roman chair for back, nothing else. 

[Mrs Van]

9 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

He probably figures he can find a new grade school teacher easier than he can find a new science teacher. 

If its anything like here, then grade school teachers are more around than good science teachers. But if it is what you want, I sincerely hope you get it.

[Xena]

On 11/10/2016 at 0:27 PM, Sloth the Enduring said:

My  student's lesson from the election is that it is okay to be racist.  You can argue that they don't understand the political policies or the need for change, but that doesn't calm their fears. It was a rough day at school. I don't talk politics with my students.  Even though the politics are pretty homogenous in my district, I wouldn't want the outlier students to feel excluded from my community. My talking points with anyone that expressed concern was that school is and always will be a safe place and that I want them to vote their hopes when they turn 18.

 

So sorry that the kids were upset about this stuff. Happy that you are able to share an inclusive and comforting message with them.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Since I posted last I haven't gotten into the body weight training. I'm in a bad head space right now, I don't like body weight training, and I'm lazy. I have maintained the daily half-assed Yoga flow and Roman chair.  

 

My back might have plateaued in its improvements, but yesterday I had a brief period of time when it didn't hurt at all. It was a pleasant surprise. It might continue improving for another two weeks though, so there's hope. 

 

Friday was nerd night.  We spent 2 hours playing Dragon's Gold, which is billed as 20-30 minute game. This is typical for us. The group was somber, which is atypical.  One of the guys is going to make some beginner Magic decks and teach us how to play next time. I'm not sure if I'm excited or dreading it.

 

Saturday we spent most of the day at the Science Museum. It was the Girls in Science day. Last year it was manned (womaned?) by volunteers from the Society of Women Engineers and there was a ton of hands-on projects.  This year it was womaned by employees from the sponsoring corporations. It was mostly demonstrations and swag.

 

Sunday casual day mostly.  The kids are crafting.  In a bit we're going to a gathering in support of the Somali immigrants. They're going to have free sambusas. Following that we're going to the roller rink for an event sponsored by my school's PTA and then dinner at Chipotle. 

[Sloth the Enduring]

I modified the already modified body weight program. This should be what I do for a while.  

 

Half-assed Yoga flow (10+ minutes)

quick foam roll

 

Warm up

3 rounds of 

Halos at 12 kg X5

Roman Chair X 15

Band Pull Aparts X10

side and one arm planks  will alternate with a leg raise. 

Maybe jumping jacks - I did all 3 rounds today, but forgot jumping jacks. 

 

Strength Training

Squats - today I did 2X25 at body weight

Push ups - I did 3,5,7.  When I tried the second circuit I couldn't and fell on my face and quit working out. Stupid weak pecs. I'll alternate with Pike push ups. 

Reverse Lunge - 1X25/25.  Is there a next progression here or should I add load?

Inverted Row - 1,3,5.  These will alternate with chin ups. 

The goal is to do 3 rounds of the circuit. 

 

I'd listen to advice on my program. Frankly, I'm hoping to heal enough to go back to KBs and sledgehammers. 

 

I've been sneaking into the Assassin's threads for inspiration. It isn't motivating me much, but now I want some rings.  

[Sylvaa]

<---- fan of magic (if that gives you any incentive). We play the WoW version as a family (although, now that Hearthstone exists, they don't make new stuff, which makes me sad). 

 

Sorry that you aren't in the right head space right now. Warm thoughts your way! 

[Sloth the Enduring]

On November 12, 2016 at 0:52 AM, elizevdmerwe said:

If its anything like here, then grade school teachers are more around than good science teachers. But if it is what you want, I sincerely hope you get it.

 

Thanks. Around here science teachers are hard to find too. That's why I have the job (I'm teaching 6th grade science with a 1-6 license).

 

On November 12, 2016 at 6:56 PM, Xena said:

 

So sorry that the kids were upset about this stuff. Happy that you are able to share an inclusive and comforting message with them.

 

Thanks. My students are actually handling it pretty well compared to the reports I'm getting from teacher friends elsewhere. There's a lot I would change about my school, but the students are very inclusive. 

 

4 hours ago, Sylvaa said:

<---- fan of magic (if that gives you any incentive). We play the WoW version as a family (although, now that Hearthstone exists, they don't make new stuff, which makes me sad). 

 

Sorry that you aren't in the right head space right now. Warm thoughts your way! 

 

 I don't know enough about Magic to know what you're talking about. If they're not making new stuff perhaps I won't get sucked into buying millions of cards. 

[Sloth the Enduring]

For the record the Somali thing wasn't a protest.  I only agreed to go when I was promised no speeches. There were about 500 liberal white folks with safety pins on their sweaters and a bunch of Somali business men.  They ran out of food as I got to the front of the line. 

 

Skating was fun, swanky even. A lot of my difficult students were there.  It's nice, and helpful, to make a connection outside of school in a fun setting.

 

11/14/16 Monday

 

I'm at circus right now.  There are some kids doing some high level silks and ropes stuff way up high in the air. Slothboy's class does a little of everything and today they're doing silks about 3' (1 m) up.  Mostly he's wrestling with his buddy. The teacher needs to get her class in line and I need to talk with him. Done, my talking to Henry got the whole class in line. 

 

I registered for the 2017 Wausau race today.  I don't have confidence that I'll finally be able crack the top ten, but I still want to focus on this race.  It's my favorite. One of the nerds asked me to do an OCR with him next summer.  I agreed to it, but you know how these things go.  

 

Training: cardio day.  Cardio was skipped.  I did my half-ass Yoga flow though. 

 

[Xena]

For reverse lunges, one possible progression is to lunge off a small step. Another is to go from a lunge (back knee down) into a knee raise (same knee up with the thigh parallel to the floor). The knee raise thing is good for working your hip flexors, which might be more of a runner thing.

 

I think it's great that you signed up for the Wausau. For me at least, it makes a big difference to have something on the calendar.

[Elastigirl]

Good job at getting the kids  to behave in circus school. When my son was little, it seemed like every time I turned around  my son was wrestling. Back in the days before kids, I worked at a day care. Every time we lined up, the little boys (3 -4 yr olds) would start wrestling. I  vowed my kids would never do that.

 

Glad skating was swanky. I have failed @Wild Wolf and not used swanky near enough.

[Mrs Van]

6 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Thanks. Around here science teachers are hard to find too. That's why I have the job (I'm teaching 6th grade science with a 1-6 license).

Not a clue about licenses, but both positions are very important in a child's life. I know our teachers train to cover a specific level, primary as in gr.1-3, or 4-7. High school (gr.9-12) follows from there and are different as the subjects are more specialised. The right person when they are in the first grades (1 and 2) can make or break a child's educational future. With the right basis though, it makes the work for the teachers following in the higher grades easier. You've got the right stuff and the heart, so I can see that it might be difficult for the head master to choose, because he needs you in both positions. Quick, clone yourself!

I want to start introducing science, concepts, etc. to the boys next year. We've touched on a lot of topics already, explained about light, colours, speed, magnetism, gravity, planets, animals, etc. when they asked, but I decided to follow Science in the Beginning with them to make sure that we cover all the bases thoroughly. Part of why I like it is because it explains things simply and for various ages. Also the experiments can be done with stuff I have around the house. Hopefully there won't be any "big booms!"

[Sylvaa]

14 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

 I don't know enough about Magic to know what you're talking about. If they're not making new stuff perhaps I won't get sucked into buying millions of cards. 

 

Sorry, they are still making Magic, they stopped making the WoW cards (different type). 

 

14 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

I registered for the 2017 Wausau race today.  I don't have confidence that I'll finally be able crack the top ten, but I still want to focus on this race.  It's my favorite. One of the nerds asked me to do an OCR with him next summer.  I agreed to it, but you know how these things go.  

 

Yay for the race! Also, Yay for OCR! Which one are you doing?

[Sloth the Enduring]

On November 14, 2016 at 5:52 PM, Xena said:

For reverse lunges, one possible progression is to lunge off a small step. Another is to go from a lunge (back knee down) into a knee raise (same knee up with the thigh parallel to the floor). The knee raise thing is good for working your hip flexors, which might be more of a runner thing.

 

I think it's great that you signed up for the Wausau. For me at least, it makes a big difference to have something on the calendar.

 

Those sound good.  Thanks.

 

signing up for races really helps me too.  I'm surprised it opened so early this year.  Normally I sign up at Christmas break. 

 

23 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Good job at getting the kids  to behave in circus school. When my son was little, it seemed like every time I turned around  my son was wrestling. Back in the days before kids, I worked at a day care. Every time we lined up, the little boys (3 -4 yr olds) would start wrestling. I  vowed my kids would never do that.

 

Glad skating was swanky. I have failed @Wild Wolf and not used swanky near enough.

 

I may not be using the word correctly, but I used it all day. 

 

I had to cross the do-not-cross rope barrier.  I didn't talk to anyone but Slothboy, but I think their kindergarten teachers have them all trained so well that someone getting talked to was a big deal and they all straightened up.  I may have used my teacher look too.  I do that without thinking about it. 

 

20 hours ago, elizevdmerwe said:

Not a clue about licenses, but both positions are very important in a child's life. I know our teachers train to cover a specific level, primary as in gr.1-3, or 4-7. High school (gr.9-12) follows from there and are different as the subjects are more specialised. The right person when they are in the first grades (1 and 2) can make or break a child's educational future. With the right basis though, it makes the work for the teachers following in the higher grades easier. You've got the right stuff and the heart, so I can see that it might be difficult for the head master to choose, because he needs you in both positions. Quick, clone yourself!

I want to start introducing science, concepts, etc. to the boys next year. We've touched on a lot of topics already, explained about light, colours, speed, magnetism, gravity, planets, animals, etc. when they asked, but I decided to follow Science in the Beginning with them to make sure that we cover all the bases thoroughly. Part of why I like it is because it explains things simply and for various ages. Also the experiments can be done with stuff I have around the house. Hopefully there won't be any "big booms!"

 

You're preaching to the choir sister. I can't take a close look at the science kit, but I'm glad you're doing it along with all of the other things you have to cover. Big booms are the best.

 

12 hours ago, Sylvaa said:

 

Sorry, they are still making Magic, they stopped making the WoW cards (different type). 

 

 

Yay for the race! Also, Yay for OCR! Which one are you doing?

 

Oh no, I'm back in the financial danger zone.

 

I have no idea.  I found the MN race calendar, but it isn't very populated yet.  We'll go over it and pick one.  It's hard to find a race that doesn't interfere with mountain bike racing. The Dirty Girl sounds like the most fun, but if it actually happens I think we'll end up at the Warrior Dash. 

[Sylvaa]

11 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

I have no idea.  I found the MN race calendar, but it isn't very populated yet.  We'll go over it and pick one.  It's hard to find a race that doesn't interfere with mountain bike racing. The Dirty Girl sounds like the most fun, but if it actually happens I think we'll end up at the Warrior Dash. 

 

 

At first I was going to be like, "oh! I'll come for an NF meetup!" But man MN is not an easy place to travel to! I'll continue to wait for the perfect Shovelglove year.

[The Most Loathed]

On 11/16/2016 at 8:11 AM, Sylvaa said:

At first I was going to be like, "oh! I'll come for an NF meetup!" But man MN is not an easy place to travel to! I'll continue to wait for the perfect Shovelglove year.

We have a great airport, we're super easy to get to.

[jstanlick]

On 11/16/2016 at 8:11 AM, Sylvaa said:

But man MN is not an easy place to travel to!

 

Hmm, maybe it's because I've lived in WI my whole life and have family in MN, but that's a sentence I've never heard before.

 

On 11/14/2016 at 5:52 PM, Xena said:

For reverse lunges, one possible progression is to lunge off a small step.

 

These will definitely add a degree of difficulty. It doesn't even need to be a real big step either.

 

On 11/10/2016 at 11:27 AM, Sloth the Enduring said:

Even though the politics are pretty homogenous in my district, I wouldn't want the outlier students to feel excluded from my community.

 

Wanna come teach at my kids school? Pretty homogeneous here too, but I'm guessing the exact opposite of what they are in MN. My son came home from school that Wednesday totally dejected and feeling alone among his classmates. Good on you for keeping the classroom a safe, secure place for all of your students!

[EricMN]

 

On 11/15/2016 at 8:54 PM, Sloth the Enduring said:

 

On 11/15/2016 at 7:54 AM, Sylvaa said:

On 11/14/2016 at 5:41 PM, Sloth the Enduring said:

I registered for the 2017 Wausau race today.  I don't have confidence that I'll finally be able crack the top ten, but I still want to focus on this race.  It's my favorite. One of the nerds asked me to do an OCR with him next summer.  I agreed to it, but you know how these things go.  

 

Yay for the race! Also, Yay for OCR! Which one are you doing?

 

I have no idea.  I found the MN race calendar, but it isn't very populated yet.  We'll go over it and pick one.  It's hard to find a race that doesn't interfere with mountain bike racing. The Dirty Girl sounds like the most fun, but if it actually happens I think we'll end up at the Warrior Dash. 

 

I knew I sensed a tremor in the Force.

 

Warrior Dash MN is on the same day as the Palmerton Spartan Super in PA so, for the 50th consecutive year, I will not be able to make it. :/

 

But you could always come down to Welch Village on June 24 and STFU with my people in green...

[Jakkals]

 

 

[Sloth the Enduring]

On November 16, 2016 at 8:11 AM, Sylvaa said:

 

 

At first I was going to be like, "oh! I'll come for an NF meetup!" But man MN is not an easy place to travel to! I'll continue to wait for the perfect Shovelglove year.

 

Hah. The other guy is gay, he wasn't that interested in a dirty girl anyway. 

 

13 hours ago, The Most Loathed said:

We have a great airport, we're super easy to get to.

 

That's what I was gonna say. 

 

11 hours ago, jstanlick said:

 

Hmm, maybe it's because I've lived in WI my whole life and have family in MN, but that's a sentence I've never heard before.

 

 

These will definitely add a degree of difficulty. It doesn't even need to be a real big step either.

 

 

Wanna come teach at my kids school? Pretty homogeneous here too, but I'm guessing the exact opposite of what they are in MN. My son came home from school that Wednesday totally dejected and feeling alone among his classmates. Good on you for keeping the classroom a safe, secure place for all of your students!

 

Thanks.  

 

I dont think I could survive teaching in a red state. By all accounts teachers aren't treated very well there. 

 

9 hours ago, EricMN said:

 

 

I knew I sensed a tremor in the Force.

 

Warrior Dash MN is on the same day as the Palmerton Spartan Super in PA so, for the 50th consecutive year, I will not be able to make it. :/

 

But you could always come down to Welch Village on June 24 and STFU with my people in green...

 

 if we aren't road tripping, that would be a good weekend.  STFU, shut the fuck up?!?  I really think OCRs are my sport, what I've been preparing for all my life, but I don't want to give up mountain biking and I don't have the recovery for both. 

 

8 hours ago, Jakkals said:

 

 

 

Oh, that is cool.  I'm honored that you used your computing resources to find me a cool picture.