The Kohlmans

Yep. Still here. I just haven't made time for blogging the past couple of weeks. I plan to do that more often in the next few weeks. (I probably won't be joining the March Slice of Life Challenge this year, but I will post more regularly.) Track practice started Monday. Middle school track. Our first meet is something like April 5. We're hard core over at ACMS, that's for sure. And, while I don't do the work out with the kids and I do still run in the morning, I have been doing the warm-up with them. It's about 45 minutes long, including a half-mile jog and lots of dynamic stretching. After two days, I am so sore I can hardly move. So sore. My muscles will work out of it in the next couple of days, but those heel walks and lunges are killing me right now. I'm pretty sure it's all Brad can do not to laugh at me when I get up. One of my students started the week by asking me if I'm scared of Santa. "You know, he's a big, fat man who sneaks...

In celebration of this Hallmark Holiday, I want to share what is quite possible my favorite literary proposal ever... "'In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.' Elizabeth’s astonishment was beyond expression. She stared, coloured, doubted, and was silent. This he considered sufficient encouragement, and the avo wal of all that he felt and had long felt for her, immediately followed. He spoke well, but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed, and he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride. His sense of her inferiority—of its being a degradation—of the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit." -Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen Oh, Mr. Darcy. You do know h...

Can I vent a bit? Be a downer for a while? Of course I can. It's my blog.  (This post may be vague; if you really want specific details, feel free to ask privately. I, as always, reserve the right to withhold information, especially in such a public forum.) February, thus far, has proved to be a tough month, which is a big part of the reason I haven't posted much. Not rough in the sense that anything overwhelmingly negative has happened. Rough in the "little things are adding up" sense, in the emotional sense.  I'm frustrated with things that are beyond my control, that affect what is in my control. I work hard at everything I do, so when my hard work just doesn't seem to be enough, I feel lost and overwhelmed. And that's how I feel right now. Hard work just doesn't seem to be doing it, and I'm not sure what else to do. I really want to be content, at the very least, whatever the circumstances. But when I just can't quite get there in...

...realizing, after checking out at the library, that the last time you opened your wallet was during your last trip to the library. Three days ago.

Last Saturday we got together with my mom's side of the family to celebrate Christmas. In February. We picked out some "new" colors for cabin paint updates, and proofread the new cabin guidebook. We ate some amazing food. (As usual.)  We watched the KU game, visited, and just spent some time together. It just wasn't the same (without Sarah & Jamie, Hannah & Jason,or  Genet), but it was a great way to spend a Saturday evening.

Jenn , who is one of my MLS classmates, asked me another question! Good thing, too, because I had no idea what to post about this week... ---Oh by the way, I still read your blog and I tried to comment on there when you asked what questions your readers wanted answered, but I could never get anything to post for me.  Anyway, I am always interested in activities teachers do in their classroom.  So that would be my question:  What are some of you favorite classroom activities? I try to do a lot more than just read a story and write about it. This is a little bit counter-intuitive to me. I was definitely a student who just wanted to read a story and write about it, but my students always get excited about fun things, which is pretty affirming. My favorite activity that I've ever done in my classroom is this one, where my students create life-sized(ish) versions of the characters from our novel, then add character traits as we read and the characters develop. Anothe...

Things have been pretty quiet around the blog lately. Sorry about that. I am still here. Quiet around the blog does not equal quiet around the house. It pretty much means the opposite. This, in fact, was my planner last week. Definitely not quiet. I did cross off almost all of it.With so much to do, you'd think I would have plenty to blog about, but I'm not sure you want to read about troubleshooting technology in the library or my daily chore schedule. I keep thinking things will slow down, but they haven't yet. Maybe after basketball season or this summer or when I'm done with my master's. But probably never. Hopefully someday soon I'll at least have something more interesting to post about than school and house work.