‘Star Wars: The Hive’ – Overview

Friday, end of the work week and I can happily say that my day was good overall and it ended on a plus note!  I got up this morning and found the kids ready to go for school.  It’s nice to have this much help and I think it’s cool that Heather is around to help me out.  Maybe it’s a good thing that Penney’s left her go after all.  As the kids got ready for school, I reminded them that next week the new season for “Clone Wars” begins.  They were pretty excited about that.  I got done getting ready for work and I was off to work while they were off to school.

I got to work and things were a little chaotic at first.  They weren’t sure if the laptops were available for me to use and so I went to my backup plan of going to the library.  Then, just before first period, I was told that I could use the laptops, so I went back to plan A of using the laptops in my room.  I had my seventh and eighth graders doing research for their classroom music video and podcasting projects.  My sixth graders watched Season 8 of “American Idol”.  I finished up with all of that and came home for the day.  Heather had most of dinner ready, but we had to take off right away because Ruth had a volleyball game at four-thirty.  But, before we left, we got our mail and found a nice check from IB for my new position as PLC Coordinator for my district.  That was cool because it made my house (which was pretty tight money wise) a little easier to handle the finances.  So, Heather and I talked on our way to the game and we’ve decided that we are going to take the kids out for dinner tomorrow night.

We got to the volleyball game and were a little late, but they were only warming up.  We watched the match that Ruth had and their team is trying really hard, but they lost miserably.  I feel bad for her because a lot of girls on her team have great technique and great form and are doing a good job bumping and setting, but they are lacking in the serving department.  It makes me want to get out there and coach all of them even though I know I should not.  It was a good game overall and I was pretty proud of my oldest daughter in the long run.  She has come a long way in a short amount of time in the sport.  We got done with the game and I helped clean up the gym and we left and it was about seven o’clock till we got out of there.  We came home and got dinner together right away. We ate dinner and then Heather and I headed downstairs to watch some T.V. together while the kids watched a movie upstairs.  I was able to watch the premiere of “Doll House” tonight and it was pretty cool.  We then watched our tape from the other night and I was able to watch “The Good Wife” which also seems pretty cool.  Got done with the tapes and we decided to go to bed.  It was a long day.  At least we can relax a little bit tomorrow.

Okay, so let’s review the book “The Hive” by Steven Barnes.  I will then give it a 1 through 10 rating (a 1 being a “Don’t Bother” and a 10 being a “Must Read”)…….

‘Star Wars: The Hive’ – Chapter 7 (Part 2)

It’s Thursday and I am a little excited because I have a weekend with little going on.  You gotta love that because it’s not often that I have a weekend with little going on in it.  I hope that it doesn’t get filled up with a bunch of things that we get stuck doing.  I got up this morning and had Heather around for about ten minutes to help me get the kids going.  Heather gets up a half hour before me now and gets the kids up with her, which is cool because by the time I get up, the kids are in full swing so I’ve had fewer arguments trying to get them ready for school.  Even Tara’s ready by the time I join them for breakfast.  Gotta love that!  So I had an easier morning this morning which was nice.  Before I knew it I was off to work while the kids were off to school.

I got to work and got things ready for my day.  Today I was focusing on music history with my students.  My sixth graders continued the Antiquity Era with me today and started the Middle Ages.  My seventh graders started the Baroque Era with me today discussing the life of Antonio Vivaldi.  My eighth graders finished the second segment of their Jazz series by Ken Burns.  Overall, the day did not go bad at all!  I was happy with how my students performed and behaved in class.  I got done with my school day, but wasn’t done with work.  I had a meeting to go to for PLCs.  We discussed our past PLCs and then came up with an action plan for the rest of the year.  It didn’t go so bad and I was happy to be a part of a discussion about what our focus will be as a staff.  It’s empowering to know that you have an effect on those around you and that others may actually be looking up to you.  I got done with my meeting and joined Heather at home.

I got home and turned around and went and picked up Ruth from volleyball practice and came home.  We ate some dinner together and then I went downstairs and worked on getting notes together for a “Galaxy Cast” recording that I’m hoping to do this weekend.  I got done with that and then started to watch my usual Thursday night shows like “Survivor”, “C.S.I.”, and “Fringe” which I had taped during “C.S.I.”.  After watching our shows, Heather and I decided to go to bed.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 2 of Chapter 7 of “Star Wars:  The Hive” by Steven Barnes…….

‘Star Wars: The Hive’ – Chapter 7 (Part 1)

Well, it’s Wednesday and the middle of the week and it’s another day without my cell phone.  I really didn’t realize how much I relied on that object until I finally lost that particular object.  I got myself going for the day and the kids got up and got themselves going.  Heather was a little upset this morning because she got a late start to the day.  She left and I finished helping out the kids to get ready for school and then I was off to work to get ready for my day.

I had quite the successful day with my students today.  I worked on keyboards with both my seventh and eighth grade students and recorder with my sixth grade students.  I even had the ability to give a special needs kid the ability to play the keyboard for the first time in his life and this kid was beside himself.  He was beaming from ear to ear over the fact that he got to play keyboard.  It’s moments like these that completely remind me why I went into teaching to begin with.  It was a fulfilling day as a teacher and I know I’m lucky to have that as that does not come along every day.  I got done with my school day and came home.  On the way, I tested my cell phone and found out it still does not work.

I got home and took a quick nap before working on a few things.  Heather came home and made dinner while I went and picked up Ruth from volleyball practice.  We ate dinner together and after dinner I left and went back to my school for curriculum night.  I almost ended up in TWO car accidents on my way there.  One involved a former student that didn’t pay attention to where he was riding his bike and almost put his bike and his body acrossed my hood.  Another was an adult that ran a Stop sign by my school and almost side-swiped me!  Oi!  I was glad to get to the school in one piece!  I did my curriculum night and a few parents showed up, but not many.  No more than I’ve seen than in years past.  I got done with curriculum night and came home.

I got home and caught up on my blog and did some paperwork for school while watching “Garry Unmarried”, “Glee”, “CSI NY” and Heather and I taped “Law and Order SVU” and “Criminal Minds”.

Okay so let’s talk about Part 1 of Chapter 7 of “Star Wars:   The Hive” by Steven Barnes……

‘Star Wars: The Hive’ – Chapter 6 (Part 5)

It’s Tuesday and I can’t believe the rate at which my weeks are now starting to fly by.  That last I knew it was the beginning of the school year and now we’re into our second full week of school.  Still a tight day as far as things to do and places to go, so I didn’t have much time to breath today.  Or so I thought.

I got up this morning and got myself ready for the day.  Heather left as she usually does now at seven o’clock.  The kids were a little better today, although Austin and Tara are still bickering pretty bad.  I really wonder what would happen if I handcuffed the two of them together for a day.  They would be forced to have to work with each other.  Anyway, got myself going for the day and I have to admit that Ruth was dragging this morning, but I did at least get her going.  She was a little bummed because they lost their volleyball match yesterday, but I reminded her that they can’t get better unless they loose every now and again and understand what it is they need to do to improve.  Ruth headed off to school and not too long after I was off to work.

I got to work and set up for the day and I’ll admit that I was in a better mood today so my day went better overall.  I had some nice interactions with my students, especially two of them that were struggling initially.  I found out that they were just frustrated over the work we were doing and they couldn’t get motivated to do well because they were having problems doing the work.  I worked with these students and gave them some self confidence about themselves.  I made it through the day and was pretty happy with how my day went.  I got done with work and was still frustrated at AT&T and still didn’t have a cell phone.  I came home and dropped things off and changed clothes.

I then immediately took off again to go to SMASH rehearsal.  I got to SMASH and no one was there.  I then called Jim on a borrowed cell phone and found out that Jim didn’t plan on having SMASH start till next week.  Wish I had known!  I got done there and left and came home.  Had a discussion with Heather about the cell phones as we got dinner together.  Found out that our bank sent payment to AT&T but the idiots at the company just haven’t processsed the money yet!  The local shop claims they have no idea what is going on.  I told Heather that we need to get these phones back up and working.  We then sat down and ate some dinner together as a family and then I went downstairs.  I decided to try to blow off some steam and play “Call of Duty 4″ for a little while and then I watched “Hell’s Kitchen” double episode and then “The Good Wife” before going to bed.  Tomorrow’s another full day!

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 5 of Chapter 6 of “Star Wars:  The Hive” by Steven Barnes……

‘Star Wars: The Hive’ – Chapter 6 (Part 4)

It’s Monday and it was an interesting day to say the least.  I had a LOT to get done today and very little time to get it done in.  I got up this morning and hit the ground running with the kids.  I had to get Ruth ready for her first away volleyball game tonight and then I helped Tara get things together for her day and Austin was panicking about some things he was missing for his school day.  We scrambled to get the kids ready and Heather was out the door before seven o’clock.  I then had to scramble myself to get ready for school.  I quickly put my things together and was off to work trusiting that Tara and Austin could catch the bus when they need to.

I got to work and started to get things together for my day when none of the kids from my homeroom showed up on time.  Heck, none of them showed up until ten minutes into the period and I had to give them a lecture about being to school on time.  So much for tyring to start off my day good!  I kept my day going from that point on and managed to have an okay day considering what I had to work with (as far as the start to the day).  It was a typical Monday with moody teenagers and moody adults.  I got done with my day and had to race around a little bit to get things ready for my after-school meeting.  I managed to get to the High School in time to see the tail end of the last meeting and to start mine.  The meetings went okay and I was happy with how mine went.  For all the nerves I had, I managed to have a nice meeting with the individuals there.  I am feeling a little more confident about getting up in front of my colleagues, but it’s still a little nerve-wracking.  Especially when you are getting up in front of teachers that have more experience than you do.

I finished with my meeting and came right home.  On my way home, I discovered that AT&T had turned my cell phone off.  AGAIN!!!  I’m getting sick and tired of them turning off my phone when I have already paid my bill.  This is ANOTHER example of where people have too much power and wield it in a way that they think is befitting their power.  Okay, getting off my soap box now.  I was not happy about my phone getting turned off.  I guess you don’t know what you have till it’s taken away.  I got home and Heather and I talked about the situation a little bit while we ate dinner together.  After dinner I ran Austin to Scouts and then went downstairs and graded some papers and watched my usual T.V. shows on Monday night including “How I Met Your Mother”, “Accidentally, On Purpose”, “Two and a Half Men”, “Big Bang Theory”, “C.S.I. Miami”, and I taped “Heroes” which I will watch later.  After that, I went to bed because it was a long day.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 4 of Chapter 6 of “Star Wars:  The Hive” by Steven Barnes…….

‘Star Wars: The Hive’ – Chapter 6 (Part 3)

Well, it’s Sunday and it’s the end of he week and I am proud to say that for us, it’s an important day because we have a fundraiser for Lung Cancer Awareness through the Binghamton FanForce.  So, we got up a little later than normal for a Sunday.  We got up around eight-thirty or so and we all took showers and got things together and got ready for our day.  We had a nice breakfast and I did a wake-up call for one of the members of our group.  I then helped the kids finish putting away breakfast and we started to load up the car.  That took about an hour and then we did some last minute things around the house and then were on our way to the Lung Cancer Awareness Walk.

I got to the park (without Heather because she had to take Tara to soccer) and met up with Jackie and Derek.  They helped my older two children start to put together the EZ Up tent for the group while I went and picked up Danny.  Dan and I rode back to the park and then we finished up putting together our tent and the information that we keep on the table inside the tent.  We got the EZ Up set up just before everyone else started showing up.  The only person we were missing was the person who had the tent to change in.  Jeff finally arrived (and wasn’t feeling well, evidently) and we set up the tent and changed into costumes and did the event.  Like last year, a few of us walked about two blocks in costume and then had to call it quits.  It’s not easy walking that far as fast as you can in a Mando costume.  I guess you can say they are built to be tough, but not fast!  We got done with that and hung out for the awards ceremony and then packed up our stuff.

We got done with the event by about three o’clock and Heather and I left the event (she joined me at about noon, after Tara’s soccer practice) and came home.  Garry joined us and dropped some things off that he was donating to the group.  We have some AWESOME things to give away/auction off for charity and I was so happy that Garry was able to donate it.  The big item is going to be a year long charity event for next year that we will auction off throughout the course of the year!  I talked with Garry for a little while and Garry then decided to leave.  We also talked with our neighbor who decided to donate to my family (and the cause of Heather and I loosing weight) a stepping machine.  It was nice and light, so I picked it up and it is now in my basement so I can do some stepping while watching T.V.  We got done with that and I went downstairs to relax.  Little did I know that I was taking an hour and a half nap while I relaxed.  I was exhausted!

I got up from my nap and it was time for dinner. We quickly whipped something up for dinner and enjoyed a nice family meal.  We got done with dinner and I had a masssive headache, but continued on with what needed to get done.  I put away all my costuming gear (which can be quite the excursion in and of itself) and the put away the Binghamton FanForce stuff and then got ready for the week by packing up for my school week (which is going to be complete chaos).  Im amongst doing all this, I also watched some football games.  At eight o’clock I decided to take a break from all the work and watched some of the usual TV shows including all the shows on Fox like “The Simpsons”, “Family Guy”, “American Dad”.  By the end of the night I was so tired and I had taken medication for my headache (and I’ll admit I had a beer) that I decided to actually go to bed early.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 3 of Chapter 6 of “Star Wars:  The Hive” by Steven Barnes……

‘Star Wars: The Hive’ – Chapter 6 (Part 2)

Well, it’s Saturday and I can say that I am SO happy that it is a day off from my job.  I’ll admit that a full week of school has taken it’s toll on me mentally and physically.  I got up around nine o’clock this morning because I didn’t want to sleep in too late and really throw off the schedule I’ve started from school.  I decided that today I really needed to try and get some notes done for the Clone Wars TV show, so I started right away with that this morning.  I went downstairs and watched two episodes of Clone Wars and took notes for Galaxy Cast.  I know Ian and I are going to want to record a lot in the near future, so I’ve got to catch up on notes which I’ve fallen behind in doing  before Dragon Con.  I also started to help Heather around the house by cleaning some things up in the basement as well.  I got done doing a lot of that and joined Heather upstairs for lunch.

After lunch, Heather joined our neighbor next door and helped her tear out the carpet in one of their bedrooms.  While she did that, I worked with our kids in putting the pool back up so Heather could clean it later this afternoon.  I also helped them pack things up in the yard for the Fall and I mowed the lawn for (what I hope is) one last time.  At least that is my hope.  I did that for most of the afternoon.  In the late afternoon, I watched a few more episodes of “Clone Wars” and took notes just before dinner.  I then went upstairs and joined the family for dinner.  After dinner, Heather and I decided to watch the movie “The Rocker”.  After getting done with the movie, I got things ready for tomorrows Lung Cancer Awareness Walk event for the Binghamton FanForce.  After that, we went to bed.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 2 of Chapter 6 of “Star Wars:  The Hive” by Steven Barnes……

‘Star Wars: The Hive’ – Chapter 6 (Part 1)

It’s Friday, it’s payday, and it’s the end of the week!  All is right with the world!  I am so relieved that my wife and I made it through to my first paycheck of the school year.  I swear we always hold our breath till that first paycheck comes and even after it comes, we are still on pins and needles till we see exactly how much each check is going to hold.   I got up this morning to my wife getting ready for her second day on the job as a bus monitor.  She’ll only have to do this for a few more weeks until she takes her bus driving test on October 5th and we will need to pray for her and hope she passes the test.  She was happy to be at a job again.  She got herself ready and was on her way to her job as I got the kids up and got them ready for the day today.  My own children are starting to settle into their schedule (and I can tell) because they are starting to fight amongst themselves in the morning.  It never fails, whenever they are fighting it ususally boils down to Tara and Austin mistreating each other.  I swear, one of these days I’m going to put them into a rubber room and let them duke it out one of these days.  I finally got them ready and was off to work and my kids had to wait for the bus.

I got to school and got things ready for my day.  The students were much wilder today than they have been in days past and I think that’s simply because they wanted the weekend to come and honestly, so did I.  I made it through my day, however and things seemed to go okay for my students and myself.  I was happy just to have survived the day and was even more excited because I got paid for some of my workshops that I did at school.  It was a decent school day and finished up my day with a smile on my face.  I drove home and was so happy that the weekend had come.

I got home and talked with the kids and Heather for a little bit and then took a quick nap for the evening.  I got up from my nap and went and picked up Ruth from volleyball practice.  I got home and we all had dinner together and I then went into the basement and recorded the next two segments of “The Clone Wars In A Galactic Minute” and then watched two episodes of “Clone Wars” and took notes before I decided that I would go to bed.  It was a long day, but a restful day in it’s own way.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 1 of Chapter 6 of “Star Wars:  The Hive” by Steven Barnes…..

‘Star Wars: The Hive’ – Chapter 5 (Part 4)

Thursday and there is only one way to describe my day.  Chaos!  It was chaos from the moment I woke up until the moment I went to bed, so it was just a lot to get done and so little time to get it done in.  I got up this morning to Heather going to her new job for the first time this morning.  She was leaving by the time I woke up this morning, so I was pretty much on my own.  I got the kids going and then went in the shower and took a shower and got dressed and made sure the kids were ready to go for the day.  I helped Ruth get out the door on time and then I set a timer for Tara and Austin and left for work myself.

I got to school and set things up for a day of Music History.  I hate to admit it, but I have a tendency to do better on days when I’m doing Music History with my students and I think it’s just because I’m that into music history.   My eighth graders started Jazz, my seventh graders start with the Renaissance and my sixth graders did the Antiquity Era.  Overall, my lesson plans went well today and I was happy with how my classes went.  However, I had an issue with a meeting today where I felt like I got “called out” by some other staff members.  This upsets me a little because some people were questioning my integrity as a teacher and I did not take that well.  I don’t like being questioned about how I did something last year and the fact that it’s coming up now and not last year upsets me even more.  Here’s some advice for other teachers out there.  If you have an issue with a fellow employe, just tell them.  Don’t dance around the subject and for goodness sake, don’t wait a year to tell them about the issue.  Anyway, I made it through my day and then it was time for my crazy night.

I got done with school and came right home.  Heather was on her afternoon bus run, which ended up running late.  I got home and helped Austin get dinner going for the evening and he went and did homework while I got ready for the evening.  Heather got home a little after that and complained about what Austin and I had done for dinner, but I believe her instructions were not explicit enough.  Anyway, dinner was running behind and we didn’t have much time.  I grabbed a slice of pizza and two for Ruth and headed off for Chenango Bridge Elementary School.  I picked up Ruth from volleyball practice and raced back home.  Heather brought out a Mountain Dew to me and we drove with everyone over to the park for Tara’s soccer practice/game.  We finished with that and were done by about seven o’clock and came home and finished dinner.  We then put the kids to bed and Heather and I watched some of our usual Thursday night TV shows, including the season premiere of “Fringe” which was really cool!  We even went to bed early because we were just that tired from our day!

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 4 of Chatper 5 of “Star Wars:  The Hive” by Steven Barnes……

‘Star Wars: The Hive’ – Chapter 5 (Part 3)

It’s Wednesday and the middle of the week.  It was an interesting day from top to bottom and there’s plenty to discuss.  I got up this morning and started to get ready for my school day.  I took a shower as Heather got breakfast ready for everyone.  She had received jackets from her seamstress, Marsha, last night.  So she had work to do today and I had a lot I had to get done today as well.  I got dressed and ate breakfast with the family.  We talked about all the things we had going on today and how we were going to get them all done.  The kids got ready for school and then headed off to school while I was off to work.

I got to work and started to get ready for a little bit of a chaotic day.  We had a “beginning of the year celebration” this morning and I had to make sure that my homeroom was doing all the things they needed to do for the morning.  We then went out to the stadium and had the celebration which we call the “Everybody Matters at Our School Campaign”.  We then released balloons to mark the beginning of the school year.  I didn’t have the heart to tell everyone just how much those aren’t environmentally friendly.  I digress.  We got done with our presentation and then had shortened periods for the day.  It wasn’t a bad school day overall, although I will say that my students are starting to act more like themselves.  They’re being rude to each other, outbursts in class, the usual teenage stuff.  I got done with my workday.

I came home and it was all about the bad news this afternoon.  First, Heather told me that J.C. Penney’s had let her go.  That’s right, my wife was released of her job today.  Like that is supposed to be a relief or something!  Gotta love how they let my wife go, but on the same day hire three new people to work in the store.  Businesses today make no sense at all!  Why?  Well, there is no reason to search out the why, what’s done is done.  Just after  I got that news, Tara showed up at home.  She was all bouncy and happy and didn’t realize that she didn’t have her backpack with her.  I then had to run Tara over to the bus garage to get her bag because she had homework in it.  I got her back home and helped Heather with dinner and then we all sat down and ate dinner.  We finished with dinner and I came downstairs and started to do a bunch of things on the computer including catching up on all my “Facebook” stuff.  Ever get so many emails and so many things to keep track of that you just can’t seem to keep track of it?  Well, that’s me with Facebook.

While I did this, I watched “Star Trek:  The Next Generation” on DVD then “Glee” and then the “Jay Leno Show”.  After watching all that T.V. and all that negative news from the day, I thought it was time to head to bed.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 3 of Chapter 5 of “Star Wars:  The Hive” by Kevin Barnes…..