Why I Teach

Last fall I travelled to New York with my fellow 2008 state Teachers of the Year to participate in a video project sponsored by the Council for Chief State School Officers and by the Pearson Project. Each of our state TOYs created individual video works on the topic "Why I Teach". I think you may find the results interesting and get a greater insight into why I was so amazed and honored to, spend time, and become friends with this amazing group of teachers last year. You can find it by going to http:/www.pearsonfoundation.org/ccsso-toy/2008/.

105 years ago today!!!!

105 years ago today at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina Orville Wright accomplished what no man before had been able to do - he flew the first successful powered flight. Others had flown gliders, and many were trying to accomplish this goal (many with heavy financial backing), but the Wright Brothers were first.
Many (including the Smithsonian's Langley) were reported to believe that the Wright brothers were unworthy of this achievement because they lacked the academic credentials. The Smithsonian spent almost $100,000 ( early 1900s dollars) on a wind tunnel that the Wrights built for under $100 - and which was found to be a more effective tool to study aerodynamics! Our scientific history is filled with tinkerers, dreamers, and curious people that many would consider amateurs, but who accomplished great things.
So to all of my students, and those students who visit me here at the Science Corner, I challenge you to dream big. We need your dreams! Thank you Orville and Wilbur Wright!

A plug for a friend

I am an avid follower of my friend, Mike Geisen's blog site. Mike is our 2008 National Teacher of the Year and has been on the road almost non-stop since being introduced at the White House last May. Mike has a unique sense of humor and take on things that is invaluable in his journey. Away from his wife and two young children, Mike is finding balance by sharing his trip with us through this site. It is a must watch. From a video journey through Japan (complete with one of the most hysterical introductions to a hotel room), to his take on the national educational scene, to reflections on his personal journey, Mike gives food for thought to every teaching professional.

I encourage you to follow Mike's journey. If you are like me you will be hooked on this site. Check it out at http//ntoy.blogspot.com (or go to my links below and click on his site).

A Late Fall/Early Winter Update

For my northern teaching friends looking out at ice, snow or frost I thought a look at our school garden before we go on winter break might be of interest to many of you and your students. Some of our beds are being spruced up with annuals planted by our fifth grade garden club; we are finishing off the last of our tomatoes, replanting onions and broccoli, and awaiting the harvest of our carrot crop; and we are fighting weeds just as any dedicated gardener would! Let us know what you think!

Bragging on a friend

I want to share the accomplishments of a friend of mine. Paul Gray, 2008 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, recently returned from a trip to Antarctica where he joined the National Geographic Society on expedition. Paul is an AP Geography teacher and was selected from teachers across the country to participate in this great adventure.

I am both proud of Paul's accomplishment and excited that he was able to participate and share with us in this once in a life time experience. I am posting a couple of pictures he has shared of life on this frozen continent.

A journal of Paul's experience can be found at http://www.expeditions.com/DER_Details113.asp?DailyReport=148082&SearchS

When there is no room for student work

At many of my workshops I am asked to share ideas related to organization. I teach in a portable classroom and see about 725 students each week. There is simply no room to display samples of student investigations or share with students what other classes or grades are working on. My solution has been simplified in this age of digital photography.

I am constantly taking pictures of students at work (with signed permission provided to homeroom teachers at the beginning of each school year). I regularly print the pictures in sheets of six pictures and place them in plastic sheet protectors. These plastic "displays" are attached to the metal cabinets by my front door. As students enter the class and line up to leave the pictures are there to be viewed by all. Kids regularly see their friends and siblings and get a peek into what's going on in other classrooms.

For Open House I have expanded this to a slide show that runs non-stop on my Smart Board for everyone to enjoy. Since my program uses science journals and hands on explorations, rather than product driven projects and worksheets, these pictures becomes documentation and a great source for conveying what takes place in the lab.

Bird Watching

As our northern friends are enjoying frost and snow, we in Florida welcome the annual migration of "snow birds" taking temporary residence in our trees. This year our third graders are participating in a population study in which we identify and quantify the population of birds found in our adjoining wetlands area. High in the pine and oak trees we are watching daily and recording our observations. Using binoculars, field guides, cameras and data sheets we hope to accurately record how our bird population will change through out the school year.

To date we have been joined by flocks of Crows, Mockingbirds,and Sparrows. We have been joined by two large Owls (see picture),a Red Winged Hawk, a Bald Eagle, Doves, Snowy Egrets and a female Cardinal. We will post our pictures and observations periodically throughout the upcoming months.

Hair Raising Science

Our fourth and fifth grade have been exploring static electricity and have had a great time with Van DeGraff generators. Pictures illustrate the excitement that can also be generated. if course a cheap alternative can easily be created by placing styrofoam beads (or small pieces of styrofoam peanuts) in a balloon. Blow up the balloon and you have a "supercharged static electricity ball". Rub the balloon on pieces of wool, silk, or fur and watch the beads react!

A special thank you to our principal, Janet Medina-Maestre, for being such a good sport. If you look closely you will see much of her hair beginning to "stand up". Everyone has also enjoyed as I place my head near the ball and catch static electricy bolts jumping to my hair!

An excuse

A quick apology for the limited recent postings. I have a history of back problems beginning with back surgery twenty years ago and I recently spent a few weeks in bed with more back problems. I'm back in the lab walking with a cane, but still not at 100%. This has limited my time in the evening on the computer. Hopefully I will be more regular with postings.

Another thank you to UCF

Nothing really beats being recognized by your alma mater. Last Friday evening I was again honored by the University of Central Florida and the College of Education as one of ten recipients of the annual UCF Professional Achievement Award. We were honored at the annual alumni Black and Gold Gala. As I watched the videos and learned about the group of respected judges, community leaders and business people being honored I kept trying to figure out why I was being included. I still do. Regardless, thank you UCF, Dean Sandra Robinson, all of my wonderful friends in the College of Education, and fellow alum, Jennifer Van Kirk, winner of the prestigious Rising Star Award. What a great evening capping an incredible year.

A Few Fall Garden Ideas

I've had a number of visitors lately who are at schools that would love to garden, but have limited time, space and resources. I found some great ideas last spring visiting the EPCOT Flower and Garden Show that are unique in the use of containers and space and thought I would share as we look to those fall and upcoming spring gardens.

Pumpkin Explorations

Fall is a great opportunity for taking those pumpkins and using them for science. Thanks to Tracey Powell and her third grade class at Camelot Elementary for sharing their passion for pumpkins. Her students predicted the weight of a pumpkin, debated what a pumpkin looks like inside, estimated the number of seeds you might find and even tested to determine whether or not a pumpkin will float. Enjoy the pictures and the obvious excitement for pumpkins!

Have a safe Halloween

I love Halloween. I will be out in the yard with my smoke machine, and spooky music, and lots of candy. And looking out our living room window will be our rescued cat, Radar. Radar is a completely black cat that we rescued last spring (along with his brother in the picture, Chairman Meow Meow) and this year we will be quite vigilant as we make sure that he stays in the house. I have shared with the children that there is nothing scary or bad about a black cat. Radar is actually one of the most loving animals I have ever come across. Every year at Halloween black cats become the center of attention - and often cruelty. Please enjoy Halloween. Watch out for little children, tolerate teenagers who are not quite ready to grow up, and keep your cats safe from harms way. Happy Halloween, Radar!
Halloween is a great time to correct many misconceptions. A quick trip to the garden allows us to visit spiders, look for webs and learn more about the importance of these valuable creatures. And a look inside a pumpkin may result in the drying and harvesting of seeds which will be used to begin our next pumpkin patch. After Halloween I recommend keeping that Jack o Lantern and watching the long term changes which take place as it eventually closed up. I know of one school that put one outside and ended up with a pumpkin patch growing out of the rotting pumpkin come early spring. Take advantage of the teachable moment and every opportunity to observe and record changes in a long term study.

A Marble Track

Here is a quick and easy addition to any classroom that is guaranteed to excite a class. Paper towel tubes are cut length wise in half to create ramps. Depending upon the surface you can staple them to bulletin boards, tape them to dry erase boards, use velcro on a really large flannel board area. Regardless of how you do it, you have created a marble track that explores acceleration and gravity, friction, the collision of objects, recognizing and controlling variables, construction techniques and a wide assortment of other concepts. Marbles race to the bottom and my students predict how long it will take. They may then change the track to make it take longer or less time. We add bells, drops and anything we can think of - the track is constantly changing all year long. The neatest thing about this is that kids can make one of these at home. One of my students created one on a large garage door a few years ago and the entire neighborhood came out to watch the fun!

F.A.S.T.

The Florida Association of Science Teachers is holding it's annual conference here in Orlando at the Doubletree Hotel across from Universal Studios. A great opportunity to bring great ideas back to the classroom. I will be presenting two workshops on Elementary Science Labs and hope to see you there.

Fall Gardens

Many have asked for more information about our school garden. This is a reprint of an article I wrote for KidsGardening.

As many look to the fall season as a time of winding down classroom gardening, there are places where you will find a second gardening season filled with flowers, butterflies and vegetables. Gardening in Florida provides just such an opportunity. As you travel south until fall leaves cease to exist you will find a region of year round gardening that many would envy. As a science lab teacher and native Floridian my students and I do not experience the beauty of fall leaves or excitement of the first snow, but our garden is filled with the color of flowers in December, our garden still hosts caterpillars and butterflies in January and we harvest cucumbers and tomatoes almost year round. Raised beds provide the year round home for dill, mint, pentas, salvia, milkweed, fennel and much more.
For years my elementary school garden has enjoyed the advantages and challenges unique to year round gardening. In the sub tropic zone of Central and South Florida the cool mornings of fall aren’t usually felt until mid November; a winter freeze threat usually exists for only a few weeks in January and February; our spring planting begins in early March; and summer comes to us in May. With the opportunity of an extended growing season come challenges. Garden pests are a year round concern; the depletion of soil nutrients is an ongoing battle; and garden management and maintenance become critical gardening skills.
Because the challenge of year round gardening can be overwhelming, in our school garden we have approached everything in manageable stages. Our research and past experiences helped us to realize that the soil in Florida is mostly composed of sand and organic matter and our rain pattern is seasonally inconsistent. As a result we undertook creating a diverse raised bed garden supported by in-ground sites where appropriate. The decision to rely on raised beds was made due to a number of factors. 1. We could more easily enrich the soil and control moisture, 2. We provide better control of nematodes and other garden pests, 3. All students would have equal access to the garden – from kindergartners to fifth graders to our physically challenged students, 4. We could better control weeds. Most of our beds are large, measuring eight feet square, others much smaller. Container gardens also are found throughout our garden and allow us to provide a greater diversity of plants.
Large beds were developed to provide the following experiences: one bed is filled with assorted mints, lavender, and other scented plants for a sensory experience; one bed contains only annuals so that students may better understand plant life cycles; two beds provide host plants for both caterpillars and butterflies (we have focused on Monarchs, Queens, Viceroys, assorted Swallowtails, Gulf Fritillary and Sulfurs); a bed of perennials is provided to measure plant growth; a bed of ginger and cannas allows us to explore bulbs; a bed dedicated to Southern wildflowers allows students to better understand that one region’s weed in another region’s wildflower ; a bed of vegetables that are constantly harvested; and assorted container groupings of kalanchoe, sunflowers, roses, ornamental trees and other plants.
Soil is revitalized courtesy of our rabbitry which provides the foundation for our large composter. Additional soil is obtained from composted matter available at our county landfill. Irrigation as needed is supplied through web-like hose of connected sprinklers we have created linking each bed to our main water supply. Our goal was to use as little water as possible. Seeds from the garden are collected, dried and added back to the beds as part of our understanding of the life cycle. The garden is maintained by our afterschool gardening club, as well as volunteer classes. Pruning and weeding are ongoing and vital to our gardens. With a mild year round climate many plants will grow at accelerated rates. Without a period of dormancy many plants have been planted in small areas only to eventually take over the entire garden space. Our own experience started one year with a Mexican Petunia staging a revolt and attempting to take over our entire garden through a network of vine-like roots. Unable to learn our lesson, we repeated the cycle with a determined ornamental potato vine.
Water gardening is popular in our state, but has its own challenges. Evaporation leads the list. If fish are part of the water gardening experience then tap water must be ruled out as the water source. Many gardeners have rain barrels or filtration systems designed to provide a constant source of appropriate water. Too much or too little water depletes necessary nutrients creating more work, and our wonderful sun also contributes to high growth of algae! And don’t forget that you may also find the occasional egret or crane looking for his next meal in your water garden!
Regardless of how you approach gardening in Florida the joys far exceed any challenges one might encounter. Our school garden has become such an integral part of our community that last spring it was the site of evening Garden Party attended by over 400 students and their families. Though we might out on miss the colors of fall leaves and the clean fields associated with the first snow, we in the Sunshine State celebrate with an explosion of colors everyday and invite you to come down and share in the warmth and excitement of year round gardening!

A Clean Water Challenge

Many of us in Florida are combining lessons dealing with water cycles, water conservation and the fragility of ecosystems. This is a lesson I wrote for our district almost 20 years ago and was later published by learning Magazine. You have seen the pictures I have shared on the side and here is the explanation.

While learning about the fragility of our water resources in Florida my fourth graders complete a challenge related to water pollution and reclamation. My students are given the challenge of taking dirty water and cleaning it. The “dirty water” is water to which I have added raisins, coffee grounds, crushed tea leaves, a few drops of vinegar and cooking oil. The result is a pretty good representation of water that might be found at a water treatment plant, only without dangerous parasites and bacteria. Small groups of three or four students are then given the tools for “cleaning” the water. Tools include a strainer, three coffee filters, funnels, extra cups, straws and a spoon. Each group additionally receives a cloth dish towel for clean up and a plastic tub (shoe box size) in which the experiment will take place.

Groups have an hour in (two class periods in the lab) which to clean the water. At the end of the hour all of the cups of water are compared to determine clarity. We discuss if the water is actually clean and talk about things that can’t be seen which may harm us. As a follow up to this activity I take all of the cups of “clean water” and place them in a pot, which we bring to a boil. Using the pot cover as a condensation catcher we distill water. We compare the distilled water to a small sample of what the students cleaned, but we also talk about the amount of energy which was needed to distill water and the materials needed to initially begin our process of reclaiming water.

This activity is the hands on introduction to our real world science understandings. We follow up by going to our local water treatment plant, as well as the Orlando Wetlands Park, which is a wetlands reclamation project of the St. Johns Water District and reintroduces reclaimed water into the St. Johns River. The reaction to this activity has always been one of really appreciating how difficult it is to reclaim water after we have polluted it.

All Things Considered

This afternoon I will be interviewed on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, Weekend Edition. Along with a parent from Florida we will be sharing our experiences with No Child Left Behind. At the end of our segment we have poised questions to the educational advisers to Obama and McCain campaigns. If you are unable to listen in I invite you to go to the NPR website and listen to the podcast which will be available after 7pm this evening.

A Few Updates Courtesy of Some Friends

Bev Cox, Elementary Science Resource Teacher for Orange County Public Schools sends incredible information to the teachers of our district on a regular basis. That's Bev in the picture with me at last year's Regional Elementary Science Olympiad. With credit given to Bev I pass on the following:

Earth Science Week
Get ready now for Earth Science Week 2008, which will be celebrated from October 12-18. The organizers hope that the theme "No Child Left Inside" will encourage teachers to not only bring some aspect of Earth Science into the classroom but to take their classroom/students outside as well! http://www.earthsciweek.org/ Teacher’s page: http://www.earthsciweek.org/forteachers/index.html

Doomed Spacecraft
Jules Verne is about to become a fireball. On Sept. 29, with NASA aircraft looking on, the 22-ton European spacecraft will plunge into Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean and harmlessly disintegrate. Jules Verne recently spent five months docked to the space station where it delivered supplies, used its engines to help the station avoid a piece of space junk, and served as an impromptu bedroom for the ISS crew. Mission accomplished, the doomed spacecraft is now making its final orbits around Earth glowing about as brightly as Polaris (the North Star). U.S. and European observers are favored with flybys this weekend. If you'd like to see Jules Verne, check the Simple Satellite Tracker for viewing times: http://spaceweather.com/flybys/

Spetember Equinox

A Quick Science Note:
Seasons on Earth change much faster than they do on the sun. Today, autumn begins in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere when the sun crosses the celestial equator. The crossing, called the "equinox," took place at 1544 UT (11:44 EDT) today, Monday, September 22. Happy Equinox!

Take Nothing For Granted....

After visiting a number of science classrooms last year I began to notice a trend. Many of our students do not have mastery of the most basic of measuring tools - the simple balance scale. As we all know, accurate data collection depends upon the ability of our students to first determine if the balance is accurate, and then for them to be able to accurately weigh an object.
With this in mind I created a simple beginning of the year test which I recommend to everyone. The first part of the test is for each table to determine if the scale is balance, and if not they are to balance it. A mini-lesson may necessary before proceeding. Then, at each table I have place a plastic pencil box with 8-10 objects of different size and weight. Each table has identical objects. For my purposes I include a golf ball, a rubber stopper, a D cell battery, a large metal washer, and a variety of other common objects. In my science groups students will identify each object, weigh it and record the weight. Since each table has the same materials (which I weighed before placing in the boxes to determine each is of equal weight) we can assess quite easily the accuracy of the measurements.
This fifteen minute activity may prevent a great deal of inaccuracy for future data collection. Try it.

A source for hot water...

Hot water is something every science teacher needs, but in an elementary school few of us have. While visiting friends around the district I stumbled upon this exceptional idea for overcoming this problem. All you need to do is find a secure place away from students and remember not to add coffee! A special thanks goes out to Susan Botts at Endeavor Elementary School in Orange County, Florida.

Geology ideas

In my district we begin the year studying geology. In Florida that provides challenges due to the lack of diversity in available rocks to study. Limestone makes up most of our state and it isn't the pretty rock on the planet. I collected rocks as a boy and try to encourage this through a great machine that hums along all year long - we run a rock tumbler. The picture is a two drum Thumbler that will run forever. We started with a really cheap tumbler that broke within six month and replaced it with this heavy duty machine. Two drums allow us to create complete polished rocks much more quickly since different materials (called grit) we added throughout the process. Everything you will ever want to know about rock tumbling can be found on the web. I bought How To Tumble Polish Rocks into Gems by Edward Smith and have found that it answers everything question I have had. We buy our rocks online and for very little investment you can create enough polished rocks for your entire class in a month. Just remember to only run during school hours - it takes longer, but is safer. This is a great tool to explain erosion in a very dramatic way.
In terms of erosion I don't have an erosion table, we create a huge hill of fill dirt on our concrete area to observe erosion. We measure the circumference at the base of the hill and and the height of the hill, then we observe and record changes daily. You will be able to see the effects of wind and water, weeds will begin to grow on your hill and children can observe how erosion patterns change. For those of us living on flat, sandy soil this has been an effective long term activity. Of course if I lived in an area of the country with hills, clay, rocks and other things, then daily walking field trips would be central to my geology studies.

Rain Totals

As most have read, Tropical Storm Fay has impacted Florida far beyond what any of us ever expected. If you have heard about flooding let me put it into perspective: Camelot Elementary was 45 miles from the storm's center when it was nearest us: my lab rain gauges measured 14.75 inches in a 3 1/2 day time period (beginning Wednesday, August 20th at 5:00 pm and ending on Sunday, August 24th at 11:00 am. At one point water flowed between our raised garden beds so quickly that there appeared to be a current! As huge levels filled the St. Johns River, Florida will continue to see flooding. The St. Johns is unique in that it's source is the south central part of our state and it's mouth is in the northeast part of the state - in other words, it flows north. So the impact of the high waters will be felt for the next week or so as the swollen waters flow north through much of our state on it's journey to the Atlantic Ocean.

Of course Tropical Storm Fay just begins our season. We now keep our eyes on the Atlantic and Caribbean for tropical depressions. The latest to strengthen is Tropical Storm Gustav.

A final storm bonus - while standing in the rain Thursday morning helping with bus traffic I found a crayfish crossing the bus loop. He is now in a shallow aquarium living under a rock and has been quite happy eating feeder fish. Every year at this time my students bring me six or seven rescued crayfish. We will see how many are found this year.

Rain Maker

Tropical Storm Fay continues to impact our school and area. Stalled about 46 miles away from us off Florida's coast we have seen dramatic changes. Initially we had light rain and moderate winds. When I left school yesterday I emptied my rain gauges. In the last 24 hours we have seen 6.5 inches of rain and winds that have gusted to over 35 miles an hour (according to my hand held wind gauge)throughout the day. My garden is flooded and there is a stream running between the flower beds. There is erosion at the base of my portable and we brought our students in from the portables all day due to the worsening conditions.

Ponds in our neighborhoods are filled and are now creeping up to the back door of houses, young trees are being uprooted due to winds and loose root systems, but we aren't complaining. Our neighbors in Brevard and Volusia county are having power outages, beach erosion and wide spread flooding.

This is really just the beginning of our tropical system and a reminder of the importance of being prepared. Should be an interesting season. And yes, for those that are wondering, all of my wind socks and wind chimes are safely tucked away for a sunnier day!

Tropical Storm update

School was out today but Orange County Public Schools reopen Wednesday. Tropical Storm Fay has proven to be a fascinating system. This storm made landfall as a tropical storm and has crossed Florida increasing intensity the entire path. The Everglades and Lake Okeechobee apparently furnished the moisture for the build up. Current predictions have this system exiting Florida near Melbourne (about 40 miles south east of my house) and building up to become a hurricane. It's path isn't completely clear, but most models suggest it will loop back and hit either north Florida or southern Georgia. This is quite unusual for a tropical system and will be studied and discussed for some time.
Meanwhile, we return to the second day of school a day late, a little damp, but ready to go! I have a lot of plants to check and wind socks to put back up. Such is life in Florida!

An exciting start to the new school year!

We start back to school tomorrow and are closely watching the path of Tropical Storm Fay. Almost exactly four years ago we were closing schools the second week of school and preparing for Hurricane Charlie, the first of three hurricanes we went through (I lost my roof and was without power for almost a week). We will be closely monitoring the National Hurricane Center (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov) for updates. At this time the predictions show this storm intensifying to a category one hurricane and a path to the west of Orange County. Unfortunately history has taught us that hurricanes rarely follow the exact projected path. The reality is it could pass us by completely with little impact or come directly through us. We will no within the next 48 hours.

If we experience this storm I'll try to have pictures on my blog and my classes will provide their descriptions of what is observed. In the meantime I will be spending tomorrow afternoon securing loose garden items, taking down my windsocks and "air toys" and preparing for some bad weather.

Wind Toys

When I first came to Camelot I knew that I needed to sell science to my students, parents and my administrator. So the first thing I did was to create a visually appealing entrance which allowed us to also learn about wind and weather. Over the years my "air toys" have grown and become an aesthetic part of my outdoor learning lab. My windsocks are attached to 30 foot telescoping fiberglass poles, my six foot spinner is on a twenty foot pole which comes with the spinner. I find my stuff online, craft stores, hobby shops, garden shops and kite shops.
Today my "air toys" are an integral part of my units on air. I can teach about wind direction, wind speed,wind energy, textiles and the effect the sun has on fabrics. Of course my poles can be seen almost a half mile away and advertise the excitement of science!

Rain Barrels

With much of my garden sitting on an old basketball court it frustrates me to water plants and watch so much end up being wasted as it evaporates from the surface of the concrete. I have also watched with amazement at the amount of water which drips from the air conditioners that are attached to our portable classrooms. So I went to a workshop held by our local county extension office and learned to make rain barrels. The pictures are the result of my efforts. This one fifty five gallon rain barrel fills up with the dripping water from the air conditioner in under THREE DAYS!!!!! I will have a complete section on rain barrels, how to make them and how to use them in the garden within the next two weeks.

An updated look at the garden...

I've spent the last month and the heat of our Florida summer getting things weeded and back into shape. Expect regular updates regarding the garden, but let me begin with a few updated pictures. We've planted a lot of purple and yellow plants as attractors. In each bed can be found fennel, dill, parsley, milkweed or other food plants for caterpillars. We currently have a rather large population of Swallowtail and Sulfur butterflies.

It's Over!

Last night was the gala celebration and announcement of the 2009 Florida Department of Education/Macy's Teacher of the Year. Congratulations to Jean Lamar from Nassau County. Jean now represents the 180,000 teachers of Florida for the upcoming year. I have previously share what a wonderful teacher Jean is and the FLDOE website (listed on this site) has a wonderfully comprehensive overview of her many accomplishments. I wish Jean a fulfilling year; I congratulate the four finalists; and give my thank you to the teachers of Florida for allowing me such a wonderful year.

This has been the single most humbling and rewarding experiences of my life. I will have more to share later, but for now thank you all.

A First Pitch

My last official function as Florida Teacher of the Year will go down as one of my favorites! I THREW OUT THE FIRST PITCH FOR THE TAMPA RAYS! With the help of Michelle Todd with Governor Crist's office and the Tampa Rays I got to live a dream and throw out the first pitch at the Tampa Rays vs Kansas City Royals baseball game at Tropicana Field this afternoon.

Accompanying me onto the field was my wife, Susan; my best friend, Jim Lange; and my favorite former principal, Andrew Taylor. Andy has spent the last year battling colon cancer and it was great to see him looking better and having the energy to enjoy a day at the park. His progress has been followed by hundreds of his former teachers and colleagues in Orange County and he is an inspiration to us all.

I slept very little last night; my rotator cuff is torn; I don't throw very well anymore; and I desperately wanted to throw a strike. It just didn't happen. Whether it was the nerves, the sore arm, or just no talent - who knows? I threw it straight, flat and pretty hard. But it one hopped at the plate and I was a bit disappointed with myself. However, I had a great day and enjoyed myself immensely. My ball is in a place of honor and my bat is being signed by the entire team and will be sent back to me so that I can share it with the kids at Camelot Elementary.

The pictures: me with Evan Longoria; our motley crew of field rats; the jumbo tron; and one last look on the field!

Say Hello To My Little Friends

Being on the road this year meant postponing a few things in our family. I have had dogs all of my life until I married Susan and was introduced to cats. With all of the animals in my lab, my students are always amazed that I don't have a zoo at home. In fact we have only had two rescued cats for many years. Penner showed up at our door one day and decided that he would adopt us. We named him in honor of the wonderful children's songwriter, Fred Penner. He became the constant companion of our devoted baseball cat, Sox. Unfortunately Sox was an old cat and last summer (right before the Teacher of the Year thing started) he passed on. So poor Penner has been alone and moping and my mother in law, Gert (who lives with us and is 95 years old) was also lonely. As summer approached and we knew there would be a more normal life ahead we began to search for a cat or dog to join the family.

I was very close to getting a dog when we found out about a litter of very young kittens that had been abandoned in a dumpster. One of the ladies at our veterinarian office was hand feeding them and desperately looking for homes for them. So we agreed to take both of the boys! Say hello to our newest family members: Radar (the little black cat named in honor of Radar O'Reilly from MASH); and Chairman Meow Meow (the Siamese who lives up to his name). Penner and Gertie are very pleased!