Tuesday, September 14, 2010

School has officially begun

I had my first Art classes today. They were fun to say the least. I had the students make line drawings by revealing small sections of a picture a little at a time. To avoid them "guessing" how something should look I had the picture upside down as they were drawing so they had to concentrate on what they could see rather than what they "thought" they should see.

Grade 1 to 3's drew a grumpy, short, fat, old man. while the Grade 5's drew a backpack.

Since students are eager to take home their original pieces and these were 8 1/2 by 11 I scanned them into my computer and printed them out for display. They are a representation of the real thing but at least the students got to take their art work home.

Two statements that students made to me today that had me chuckling.
- One student was late getting work done, and made this comment. "Tomorrow I won't dream, I'll just work"

Another student had a number line to count on. when asked to count backwards from 15 to 5 gets this puzzled look and replies "I would, but I don't have enough fingers."

Cheers. Until next time.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Back Again - Changes

Good day everyone

It has been a long while since I have spent time updating this Blog. So many things have happened since my last post (A whole year has gone by) Below are just a few of the major events that took place the past year.

My wife and I were blessed with a wonderful addition to our family. We were blessed with a baby girl, Nevada Justine Waldner, born on the 25th of July 2010.

We've also moved into a mobile home that I spent my summer fixing up.

I was part of a planning committee that hosted an educator's conference, known as the International Conference of Hutterite Educators, or ICHE for short. Also, during the summer I participated in a 3-day institute on teaching in the outdoor classroom.

There are a multitude of other events that took place in the past year, but they would simply be too numerous to mention in one post.

As the school year progresses I hope to find (or take) more time to keep this blog updated.

Tschüss,

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Book Review - Obstacles Welcome, by: Ralph de la Vega.

Obstacles, challenges, trials, everyone has them. But how do we deal with them? This could well be the question you are faced with. When reading this book you will find how you can face challenges in practically an situation and find ways to overcome them and learn from them in order to become a better person. Whether business or personal, Ralph de la Vega explorers how obstacles he faced, both in business and personal life and shows through anecdote how to face those obstacles and become a better leader and person. Starting with his journey to the United States as a young boy to his current position of President and CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, de la Vega shows how the obstacles he faced helped him become the leader that he is.

As an educator and a married man, I am placed into the position of leader on a daily basis. Reading through de la Vega’s book had me constantly thinking how well I could implement his suggestions and ideas into my personal and professional life. I found it greatly interesting learning not only how to be a better leader, but also in learning about some of the details of the workings of a cellular company. Although the word religion is rarely used; honor, integrity, leadership, credibility, and perseverance and faith in the most demanding of challenges are but a few examples of how the ideas in the book fit solidly into the Christian perspective. I found it an awesome experience to read and learn about leadership, and how dealing with challenges gives you the insight and education you need in order to become a better leader and to climb higher in the leadership ranks.