How have you done on your summer school goals? I made two goals for summer school.  First, I wanted my students to increase their understanding of how technology could help them learn on their own and how technology could help them create products which will grab other people's attention.  Secondly, I want to learn from my students what best meets their needs. 

I think I have done a fantastic job on the first one.  My student's project speak to that.  There are a lot of projects that I could not post because they were too large and those ones are even better.  I think I have done a good job on the second one as well.  I have not arrived, but I will keep pressing on in the area of assessing my student's needs.  That is something that I will never "arrive" at.  This summer has helped me improve my formula for a class I teach during  the regular school year.  During the summer I had in mind, the students I will have next year as well as the students I have had during the summer.  I wanted to create a course that I could teach during the "Study Skills" period.  The course I have taught this summer has been a opportunity to better prepare for that.  I plan to expand the course I taught this summer to create a course that will give the students an opportunity to improve their reading, communication, artistic, analytical and organizational skills.  All of these will be integrated into the projects that the students will complete.  All of the planning, organizing and implementing of the projects will hopefully increase their skills in all of these areas while having fun. 

More details will follow during the school year.

So, I was going to write about my least favorite subject but the best I could come up with was penmanship.  Last millennia, students would have to practice their handwriting skills.  We would have to print our letters by following a model letter.  We would print each letter over and over and use them in words.  We did the same in cursive, or handwriting as some call it.  Since this does not sound dramatic or tragic I'll write about my most favorite.

Art.  Not just any art class with any art teacher, but a Chinese art class with Mr. Roy Chang.  We learned how to make woven wicker baskets (no jokes about doing it underwater), we learned how to make lots of different kinds of pottery, we did a lot of brush painting and character writing with a traditional brush and ink on silk paper, we made the most amazing kites out of bent bamboo and rice paper.  Mostly I learned from Mr. Chang that art came with passion.  I learned from Mr. Chang that I should do my best the first time, be as careful as possible, be meticulous, always work in such a way as to say, "I did my best." 

I learned this from a lot of other people in my life too, but Mr. Chang's combination of love or art, love of people, high standards and integrity made an impression on my.  And by the way.  I had the privilege of knowing Mr. Chang from the time I was in sixth grade (at Latimer Hall)  until I graduated from high school.  Thank you Mr. Chang for being such a great example.

What is your favorite subject and why?

This location is a national park.  It is not a state park, or a local park.  This park contains rivers, streams, tree and mountains.  It is located within 1,000 miles of the Los Angeles area.  This park also contains an active volcano.  It's most recent eruption was witnessed in 1894.  This park has many alpine wild flowers in the spring and summer months.

Where do you think I am going?

I am reminded of the famous line from "Fiddler On The Roof" and the song, "If I Were A Rich Man".  I suppose I am a lot like him in his wishes.

He wished for a big house with one long staircase going up and a "and an even longer one coming down".  He wished for free time to do what he wanted instead of work or go to school.  He wanted to provide good things for his family so they would be happy and not worry.  Of course I would invest some so that my family would be taken care of for the rest of their lives.

There are other people I would help, people we know, people who need help, people who deserve a helping hand to get going, people who will later help others. 

Since I don't know anyone who is rich I don't know what these kind of people are like.  Oh, sure, I recognize some rich people who help others with their money but I don't know them.  This is a little hard for me to imagine because I would not want to hoard the money, I would not want to sit on all my riches and keep it all for myself.

There are some amazing places that I would want to take my family too.  Beautiful places and historical places.  Places like Rome, London, Paris, Beijing.  Other places like the Grand Canyon, the Andes, the Himalayas, the savannas of east Africa.

What would you do with your money if you were rich?

It has been a long time since I have been able to do much about my hobby.  I have always enjoyed fixing old cars.  My love of all things mechanical began as early as I can remember.  My earliest memory is of a train set that my dad bought for me before I was born.  I remember seeing some of the model rail cars sitting on the shelves in his study.  I remember them sitting on the shelves to the left of his desk which looked out the window, facing the setting sun.  Later on in life I took this love of all things mechanical and tried to fix an old car.  I was hooked. I never got the car running  but decided to take classes in college to learn about cars.  We had a lab in that class, and in the lab we were required to completely take apart an engine, measure all of the tolerances and and put it back together.  My engine did run after that.  About three years later I had the opportunity to buy an old Triumph GT6+, the photo is of its engine compartment. When I got it almost nothing worked, the tires where flat, the body was rusted and dinged and the windows seals were disintegrating.  Over the next year and a half, I fixed the car up.  I got it running and began to enjoy it. 

We sold the car a few years ago,  so I have been investing time into my relationships with my wife, children, family and friends.  Now I have begun the process again.  My brother kindly said he would let us have an old 1967 Mercedes-Benz 230 sedan that he has garaged for the last eleven and a half years.  I picked it up last summer and we have been working on it slowly.  This time the kids are old enough to join in and the sedan will be more comfortable to ride in that the little sports car.  If you look in my blog you will see other post on the status of the repair.

What is your hobby?