Just Wither Up and Die

And thus began the conversation in my class last Thursday...

Mrs. McAffry: Today we are going to take some time for self-reflection.  Blah. Blah. Blah.  Because, really, if you are not setting goals to improve your life or the lives of others, you might as well just wither up and die.

Students Who Comment Without Raising Hands: Mrs. McAffry, that seems a little harsh.

Is it?  I'm not sure, but it definitely got their attention and that is usually my first goal in the class.  So, I had my students set some goals for their senior year of high school, some goals for the summer, and some long-term personal goals.  They focused on this assignment intently.

More Students Who Comment Without Raising Hands: We should do things like this more often.

Mrs. McAffry: That would constitute fun, and we all know fun is not allowed in school, especially in English class.

Because of my "a little harsh" comment, I decided I better set some goals while they did.  Here are a few of my summer goals (which I may begin in no less than 5 days): 

• Play tennis at least once a week
• Finish reading Steinbeck's East of Eden (I have started it two times already...)
• Spend time with Mama Ese, my great-grandmother
• Study photography (I took a class last semester and have since forgotten everything)

I took these pictures yesterday without using any of the knowledge from that photography class.  Auto-focus is so easy.  All that f-stop, aperture, light meter stuff makes my brain hurt.  Who knew photography involved so much math.  By the end of the summer, though, I hope to have at least working knowledge of it.

The Lonas Family

The Reed Family