Because it's there...

In the comments of my last post, several people asked me why, exactly, my daughter was dressed as a blue M & M.

The answer is simple... because I happen to own a blue M & M costume.

A few years ago, Marley insisted that I dress up for Halloween. I was planning on refusing her demand until I came across the aforementioned costume on sale. All it required was that I pull it on over my regular clothes. A few days ago, while rummaging around in a closet, Marley pulled it out and his been playing with it ever since. My favorite thing she does is use it like a fort. She curls up in it, all puffed out--the costume, not her--and just hangs out.

I was hoping to post a picture to go along but she won't cooperate. I'll have to stalk her.

Now, about that mathmatics and Chinese thing...

Oddly enough, only one person asked me to elaborate on that.

Here's the gist, straight from the book:


"The discussion of Chinese orthographic effect on students' mathmatical performance is drawn from research conducted by Miura and her associates (Miura, 1987; Miura, Kim, Chang, & Okamoto, 1988; Miura & Okamoto, 1995). These scolars have claimed that numbers are inseparable from language; and, individuals becoming literate in Asian languages that have roots in ancient Chinese, such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, share a common numerical
language structure. In essence, the numerical names in these three languages are congruent with the traditional Base 10 numeration system. . . This group of researchers argued that spoken numerals (e.g., eleven, twenty, thirty) in an alphabetic language such as English, are not congruent with the Base 10 system, that is, the elements of ten and ones contained in these numerals are not apparent in the spoken word. Consequently, an alphabetic language system may not provide sufficient scaffolding for some children as they advance from single digits to multidigit concepts in learning place value. In comparison, children from Asian language groups whose numerals are congruent with the Base 10 system benefit more readily from the relationship between spoken numerals and the concepts." (from Sociocultural Contexts of Language and Literacy, Chapter 7, Ji-Mei Chang)

Before everyone goes getting all impressed with my being able to read this, not all of my reading is this technical. This particular article happened to focus a lot on the specifics of the Chinese language so that it could serve as background information in teaching Chinese ELL students (English Language Learner). Throughout most of this article, my eyes were pretty much rolled allllllll the way back into my head.

So, there you go. The answers to your burning questions. If you have anymore burning questions relating to the nature of reading, just let me know.

Ground Control to Major Tom...

commencing countdown, engines on...

I don't know why but this song popped into my head as I decided to do a quick post in the midst of two online class assignments.

I guess there is only so much analysis of the sociocultural context of literacy and learning using J.P. Gee's six contexts (cognitive, social, cultural, historical, institutional, linguistic) in regards to African American students and Chinese American students that a girl can do. . .

on Valentine's day!

And I still have the 30-year journey of literacy from a linguistic, psycholinguistic, cognitive psychology, and sociolinguistic perspectives.

Woo woo!

I do know more than I ever thought I would about the morphosyllabic nature of the Chinese writing system (not a logographic one as is commonly thought) and how it differs significantly from our phonemic alphabetic one.

I also know that the Chinese language is congruent with the Base 10 mathmatic system and that English is not.

I should probably stop before you all die of excitement and interest, shouldn't I?

At the risk of sounding like The Boy Who Cried Wolf, I am fairly scared over the amount of work I will have to do this semester. It will be much worse than last semester. Truly. Of course, in the face of so much reading, analysis, research preparation, etc., what am I spending too much time doing? Reading for pleasure.

I am procrastinator extraordinaire. I could compete in the Olympics of Procrastination and Time Wasting. I would win every gold medal.

Oh well, Marley is dressed up as a giant blue M & M and is bouncing off the walls. Paul is making dinner and Colin is making brownies. And the literacy journey awaits.

I just wanted to say hello.

Hello!

A Pox Upon My House and a Quiz Answer Revealed

Be it a Shakespearean character, Karma or just plain bad luck, my house has been stricken...


Monday night I got a migraine and yesterday I was nursing a migraine hangover most of the day.


I was stressing a little about dealing with my first day of the semester when I heard my son walk in (two hours before school was due to let out). He had called Paul while Paul was out running errands.


He was shivering and pale, complaining about a stomachache. I sent him to bed.


Great. Migraine hangover, sick kid and Paul was packing for an early evening flight.


I made it to school and survived just fine. Paul's parents came over to stay with the kids.


After classes, I took Colin's temp and then decided to take Marley's, just in case. It was 99.9. I talked myself into believing it was a fluke.


And now, it is 3something in the morning, Colin just finished throwing up, he's shivering again and I take Marley's temperature again. 102.something.


Crap.


Welcome to the Spring Semester.



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Many of you rightly guessed that I am the Mrs. Bennet of parental driving instruction. Some of you were kind and guessed more charitable answers. Alpha DogMa was creative and thought outside of the box--Miss Daisy was not a choice. Gratefully, no one suggested Nurse Ratched.



I don't know exactly what I thought I would be like, but I wasn't expecting to have fits of hysterical giggling as every muscle in the right side of my body clenched itself into multiple balls of clenchisity.



Seriously. I am ridiculous. Well, I'm less ridiculous about it now that I've had a little experience.



Fortunately, my son has taken this with an inexplicable and uncustomary amount of good humor and grace. He must really, really, really want to drive.



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A note about the quiz. I got the idea for the quiz post and told Colin about it. He looked at me and then proceeded to inform me that it was the most literature-nerdy stupidness he had ever heard of.


To me, that sounds like a compliment!

Literary Behind-the-Wheel

My son now has his learner's permit and, as is typical of most 15 year-olds with learner permits, is eager to drive--anywhere and everywhere. This means that sometimes I am the parent driving with my son as the "designated responsible person age 25 or older."

For laughs, I thought I'd give you all a little quiz.

Which literary character am I most like as I teach my son to drive a car?

Atticus Finch? Capable, wise, disciplined, unflappable?

Nurse Ratchit? Controlling, cruel, demanding

Mrs. Bennett? Loud, easily startled, given to fits of hysterical giggling and exclamatory remarks?

Mrs. March? Gentle, wise, soft-spoken

Mr. Bennett? Quippy, detached, overly lenient?

What's your best guess?

Quick Bread

If I don't do this now, it might not get done at all, so here is the Bisquick version of my end of '07, beginning of '08 Sleeping with Bread post.

2007...

...was at times disappointing. Usually, the disappointment had to do with people. Go figure. If you've been hanging out in my universe for very long you know I love God and His church. However, His church (the people, not the buildings) can be headstrong, stubborn, given to fits of silliness, and just plain frustrating. Thank goodness He loves us anyway.

...was at times typical. I started last year with great intentions for my health, physical and spiritual. I ended it with the equivalent of one of those horrific pratfalls that makes you want to laugh and cry for a person all at the same time. The spiritual practices and physical exercise I was so diligent at for the first few months of '07 were nowhere to be found by the end.

...was at times exhilarating. I started school, was scared to death--as evidenced by much gastro-intestinal distress and disrupted sleep, juggled too many balls but came through it all with quite a nice result. I met some new, lovely people, figured out exactly what this Master's in Reading Education actually is and figured out a) that I think I'm going to be good at what I want to do and b) that I really like it.

For 2008...

...I hope to me more disciplined. With three classes and the usual commitments, I know I will not be Miss Perfect Exerciser or Miss Never-Miss-A-Prayer time. However, I hope to incorporate good practices, on all levels, more often than not. My life (and my family's lives) are much better off when I am eating right, exercising, and spending meaningful time in spiritual pursuits.

...I hope to continue to do well in school. This will require more of the discipline mentioned above. Oy! I almost laughed out loud as I typed that. I'm such an undisciplined person. This will be interesting.

...Ultimately, for all the challenges that 2007 brought, I wouldn't mind feeling overall about 2008 as I do about 2007: that it was a year in which I did good but could do better. I had dubbed 2007 as The Year of Restraint. While I still need to work on all the things I listed in last year's Resolutions post, I would be content to look forward to 2009 having shown some restraint and discipline but feeling as if I was able to enjoy life along the way.

The Year of Just Being...

being Mary-LUE

being Mom

being Wife and Partner

being Friend

being Daughter

being Student

Being.

Fine Art - Then and Now

Little Girl in a Blue Armchair
Mary Cassat
oil on canvas, 1878
National Gallery of Art

Lttle Girl in a Video Game Rocker playing Guitar Hero 3
Paul-LUE
digital photograph, 2007
Mary-LUE's Laptop

A Little Glimpse of DC

The Vietnam War Memorial

The Vietnam Women's Memorial

Paul and I at the Lincoln Memorial

Images from the Korean War Memorial