• TriciaScow
      • hello Tricia Scow
      • Username: TriciaScow
      • In response to: "What was the comfort food you enjoyed most growing up?" My gramma made chocolate pudding for me--NOT the instant--I didn't like that AT ALL; still don't. Nope, only the cook & serve kind for me, thanks. Waxed paper on top so it formed a skin.
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    • A Cliche I Can't Stand

      • I'm not sure that this counts as a cliche, but I hear it so often that it counts in MY book, and I guess that's what matters here, right? Anyway, I HATE it when people say, "It just wasn't meant to be." What a cop-out. That's a fatalistic attitude, and it just drives me insane. There's very little in my life that I've ever really wanted and not gotten. If there's something I want, I just put my head down and work on it until I get whatever it is I think I have to have, whether those are physical, tangible things or more intangible ways of thinking and knowing. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to make something happen, and believing that when something doesn't happen the way you want it to means "it just wasn't meant to be" is giving up.

        Let's say that I go shopping for a certain item and don't find it at the first store I go to. Does that mean "it wasn't meant to be" and I should not have that item? No, it just means it's not at that store, and I need to go somewhere else for it if I really want it. If one of my students doesn't understand something I'm teaching the first time we go over it, does that mean "it wasn't meant to be" for that student to get that concept? What about the 5th time or the 17th time or the 101st time I explain it? At some point, the kid's gonna get it and if I gave up after one or two or 12 times because I believed "it wasn't meant to be," I sold that kid short.

        We take our fate into our own hands. We make decisions, and we make things happen. That doesn't negate my belief in God to guide my choices or to give me the strength I need to make things happen. I definitely believe that God plays a role in what happens; I just don't believe He makes things easy for us all the time. Sometimes, oftentimes, we have to work for what we want and if we give up because "it wasn't meant to be," we are shortchanging ourselves. If something doesn't happen for you, try harder. Don't give up. Don't make excuses. Don't pretend you have no control. Make it happen.

      • answered by TriciaScow on 11/04/2010
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    • Overheard at My Own Funeral

      • Believe it or not, this is something I have thought about before, though I thought it was morbid at the time! Since I'm a teacher, I think that only students who liked me would be at my funeral, so those are the students who would talk about my commitment to their education and my goal to help them to have power in their lives through education. My coworkers would also be there, and they'd talk about my commitment to students and to my school and to always doing my best at whatever I signed up to do. They'd talk about how they could count on me to hold up my end of any bargain. They'd probably also make fun of my desk, which belies the fact that I'm actually quite organized and on top of things. If you just walk in to my office and look at my desk without knowing me, you would think I'm a disorganized mess.

        I do wonder what my family would say, what stories they would tell, what personality traits they would pick out to talk about. They'd have to talk about how my family comes first -- always -- and how dedicated and loyal I am to them. They'd probably talk about my bossiness -- my belief that I can solve any problem, get through any crisis, overcome any challenge. I hope they'd recognize how I remember, acknowledge, and celebrate special days and that I do my best to be thoughtful and considerate always.

      • answered by TriciaScow on 07/15/2010
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    • My Favorite Quote of All Time

      • Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."

        This is my favorite quote because it's so true. I believe in excellence, and I think everyone should work towards excellence in all that they do, not just at the things they enjoy or the things they get paid to do. All too often, people work as hard as they need to for any given task...and that's it. What's the point of doing "it" -- whatever "it" may be -- if you're going to half-ass it? Since I'm a teacher and since I have children, I have heard adolescents talk about "good enough." A "C" or even a "D" is good enough. Good enough for what? If you can do better, why is it good enough? Where does that message come from?

        I know there are two sides to this coin. I have also had students (and one of my children) for whom "good enough" isn't an option; these kids always want "excellent," and they want the grade that reflects that. I can't believe I've managed to link this quote (it's not where I was going when I started) with a grading philosophy discussion. Anyway, our system that uses grades as rewards doesn't take into account that "excellent" might show up in different ways. For example, I played a card game on my laptop called Free Cell while we were camping. The computer keeps statistics and right now I'm at a 61%. Not very excellent, is it? I lost the first game, but I won the next one; right away my statistic is 50%--not even close to "passing," but I'm learning. So I play some more, and I win some and lose some. My longest winning streak was something like 10 in a row, and my statistics were still in the "B" range -- hardly seems right when I've now learned the game and can win almost every time. But because of that first loss, I can't get back to "excellent." Then I come to a hand that I CAN'T WIN. Really. I played it FIVE times before I won it, but I finally beat it. But that killed my statistics, and now I'm barely "passing" if you look at the number. In my mind, the fact that I played and played the same game until I won is "excellent," but I wasn't rewarded with a statistic that shows that.



      • answered by TriciaScow on 07/14/2010
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    • The Best Advice I Ever Received

      • Work on not expecting what people can't give. I don't remember what prompted the conversation, but I do remember that I was talking to my husband's aunt, and she told me that the worst disappointment usually comes from our own set of expectations of others rather than from others acting badly or really doing something to disappoint us. It makes sense, you know? I don't tend to get as upset with folks that I'm not close to as I do with those to whom I am close. The people who are not close with me and of whom I don't have such high expectations rarely disappoint me or let me down, whereas those whom I hold dear and expect much out of CAN disappoint on occasion.

        That leads to another thought/memory (I read this somewhere but can't tell you where....): We often treat strangers with more consideration and compassion than we do our loved ones. Why is this? A level of comfort perhaps that allows us to "go off" on our loved ones and say things to them that we would never say to strangers or even acquaintances due to a sense of decorum or propriety? Sometimes when I've said something snide or snotty to my husband (not that it happens very often--smirk), I do think about that; I would never say those words or use that tone with a co-worker or someone at the bank or on an elevator. So why do I speak to the man I share my life with like that? Of course, I think that, but it doesn't stop me. I think I need to work on that.

      • answered by TriciaScow on 07/13/2010
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