Training Log Archive: barb

Race at Fresh Pond. David finished in 21 or 22 min; Katia in 18.

Katia & Giovanni are visiting! Katia is starting as faculty at Harvard in January.

C • Holy cow! 1

Work commute.

Heard from Julia at the Morse school. Today her 5th graders worked with their kindergarten reading buddies to make maps of the classroom. She said it went well; I'm looking forward to talking to her next Wed to find out details. Next project is to make a map of the outside of the school, and then have the kids use it the way they used their classroom maps, to find stuff. It's pretty neat that Julia is just going with this project; I'm not even in the classroom and it's happening...

Heard from an ex-colleague of sorts (he was a big person in the Legal department and I was just me) about a project he is doing along with a few other people, like the founder and ex-CEO of Millennium. They want to teach entrepreneurship to Cambridge kids. I sent back suggestions ("can you incorporate the idea of socially responsible companies?") and put him in touch with a school committee member I know. I guess I'd be more into it if they were proposing to teach kids how to create non-profits or do science or something. Well, I can get into it; it's just didn't make me jump up and down when I first read it.

...

Note from Julia at the Morse school:

My class has been working on map making using ideas from the orienteering book you left with me. We will be meeting with our buddies Thursday and hopefully reading a lower level book to them about maps. Also, I thought the students could share their maps of our room with their buddies.
We've worked on keys, directions, etc. Fifth graders also did some writing: "How will you explain to a kindergartener what a map is?" Students had to identify 6 key components of maps and write about how they would teach this to K's. Also, "How would you help a kindergartener make a map and use a key?
Same process as above, 6 key ideas, write about it. (I hope this sounds like the correct approach.)

My hope is that next Thursday 5th graders will be working with their buddies to create a map of the kindergarten room. I'll let you know how it goes.
Any, and all feedback welcomed!

To work & back a couple times.
To the high school for parent-teacher[-student] conferences. David trained for cross-country rather than join me, which was fine. Things are good. David should be in honors English & History. Not a big deal for History, where he's got a Totally Awesome teacher, but the level of discourse in English would be a better fit in Honors. His challenge is that he is a slow reader and writer. Afterward, I had a phone meeting outside the school about next year's computational biology conference happening in Boston; I'm involved in "public outreach" and my dream is to bring Baba Brinkman here for a performance, but I suspect that won't happen... Then David and I biked over to Toscanini's and talked about school and stuff, and then I biked back to work and David continued on to home. It's neat that David is biking; today marks the day he transitioned from not wanting to ever bike because it's scary and confusing to do so in Cambridge, to loving the convenience and perhaps the experience of biking.

OK, I've (finally) checked out a few videos of Alan Grayson and I can't help it, I love him. Maybe it's because of my latest hobby (making jam) and his Huey Long jam on the lowest shelf for the little guy comment. Or maybe it's because he's smart, I agree with everything he says, and he is a laugh riot.

There has been a coyote sighting in our neighborhood. Ah, an article.

C • Where there are chickens 2

Local orienteering meet, Wrentham, green course. Raining.

Made relish for the first time. Green tomato and cabbage relish. The green tomatoes, cabbage and peppers were from our garden.

About 1 quart of processed green tomatoes
1 processed yellow onion
About 1 quart of processed green cabbage
3 processed green bell peppers
1 processed jalapeno pepper
(by "processed" I mean shredded in a food processor)

Soak the above with 2 T salt overnight.
Drain, and boil for 3 or 4 minutes with:

1 T cinnamon
1/2 T allspice
1/2 T cloves
1 tsp pepper
2 C sugar (brown sugar is fine)
1/2 T mustard seed
1/2 T celery seed
pinch chai masala (optional)
pinch ajawain (optional)
pinch kalonji (optional)
1 1/2 C white vinegar
1 T lemon juice
1 C water

Can in jars that have been sterilized. I don't think you need to boil them for long afterward because of the vinegar and lemon juice.

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Also made pickled green cherry tomatoes. Similar recipe. Put hot pepper, cut up onion, garlic cloves, spices in bottom of jar, then the green tomatoes. Pour boiling vinegar/water mixture over, and I boiled it after sealing it for a little while.

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