Storm Surge!

Every teacher knows that one of the hardest times to live through (and maintain some semblance of sanity) is that period of time in between The Very Big Deal Government Mandated Tests and the Very Last Day of School. The kids have shut down. They are done, done, done! It doesn't matter that there are still a few weeks to go, a final chance to bring up that grade point average, and grades being taken. They. Just. Don't. Care.

So here's the dilemma. How to keep these hormonal seventh graders busy and occupied and actually learning something?

Mrs. Eagle and I have pondered this on and off all year. We had four weeks to keep them busy, and we wanted something that wouldn't drive us completely over the bend. We did have one final (non-tested) standard to teach - severe weather, so we knew we'd do something with that. And thank our lucky stars we found something in one of the NSTA publications we get (that membership is worth its weight in gold), modified it to fit our situation and came up with the Natural Disaster Construction Assignment.

This was a group project, and that in itself created a lot of entertainment. We have our kids work in groups all year but this was the one time they got to chose their groups. The natural tendency of seventh graders is to want to work with their friends - even if their friends are a bunch of brain-dead slackers who won't lift a finger to help. When they realized that part of this assignment involved grading each other, some of them reevaluated who they wanted to work with. Others decided half way through that they wanted to fire their teammates and change teams because the teammates weren't doing their share. I heard more complaining and whining about people not doing their jobs than I'd heard the entire year prior. It was, in short, a real learning experience in working with (and getting along with) others.

The goal of this project, besides learning to work with others and to meet deadlines, was to research the most common natural disasters in the U.S., and to build a prototype city that could withstand these. We showed a few videos on hurricanes and tornadoes that had a lot of information on building construction, safe houses, and warning systems. The students also had to write an evacuation plan for their city as well, which was a real struggle for some of them. Thank goodness much of this research could be done quite easily on line as our library was in the process of shutting down for the year.

But the most fun was actually building the city.

They had to supply all the materials, and were to turn in a design plan which had to be approved before they could begin construction. In short, if they hit the assignment deadlines, they would have plenty of time to build. If they didn't, they spent the rest of their time playing catch up. They didn't particularly like the deadlines - this is a group, after all, that isn't real big on turning in assignments on time, and still freaks out when they don't get credit for late work (apparently they do in elementary school). However, as I explained to them, in the Real World, when you hae a job, you need to meet deadlines.

Some of them have decided that the Real World, in their words, "sucks".

Yeah, well, welcome to it.

The models themselves ranged all over the map - we had domed buildings, buildings that were shaped like pyramids so the wind would blow up and over them, models with storm walls, cities with extensive basement shelters, and more. It was awesome hearing the kids discuss (and argue) the various merits of the ideas they were tossing out. Kids talking science...gotta love it.

In any case, we had set aside time to test our models on Tuesday and Wednesday of this past week. We were going use some box fans to blow wind at the models, then a watering can with water, and last, but not least, a bucket of water to simulate storm surge. Mr. Enforcer got wind of our project and arranged for maintenance to bring us one of Those Really Big Fans that they use when carpets flood to help dry them off - the kind of fan that can knock a kid off his feet, given the opportunity. We were also going to throw pennies at the model to simulate flying debris, but someone else was using the goggles from the science lab, so we bagged that idea.

Mrs. Eagle's classroom has a back door that opens to a grassy area, with a drainage ditch behind it. It slopes, so it was the perfect spot to use to test our models. She also has sinks with water in her room (I don't) so we had a ready source of water. We got an extension cord, hooked up the Really Big Fan, had the watering can filled, a couple of buckets filled, and were ready to go.

The kids could hardly stand it.

We put the first model on the ground in front of the fan. The kids were lined up along each side, all eyes on the model. We started the fan on low speed.

The model didn't move.

We moved to high speed.

The buildings on the model began to bend a bit in the wind. A toy car went flying.

We began pouring water out of the watering can which blew against the model like a driving rain.

Some of the buildings began to sway a bit more and the streets begin to flood.

After the watering can was emptied came the bucket of water.

"Storm Surge!" they all yelled, and we threw the bucket of water onto the model.

A few buildings toppled. More cars went flying. Trees bent and buckled under the weight of the wind and water.

The kids SCREAMED.

But...amazingly...a few buildings were still standing!

The kids screamed some more, and then we did the next model. And the next. And the next. And we all had a fantastic time.

Nothing like a bit of water, sun, and destruction to make a seventh grader's day!

The best part was, later in the post-destruction class discussion, they actually discussed what worked and what wouldn't. Despite having to deal with teammates that were slugs, having to meet deadlines, having to write an evacuation plan, and all the real work that went into this project, they actually learned something.

And they all said it was the most fun they'd had in a long time.

Why I Love My Basement

If you haven't been living under a rock, you may have heard that we've had some pretty nasty weather down here in my beloved South. It has been, in a word, wild.

Due to Super Tuesday, the schools in our district were closed for students, but faculty and staff reported for an in-service. As far as in-service days go, this one was actually quite worthwhile as we had a very detailed presentation on gang awareness as well as some information on new special education laws. However, many of us were heard to mutter "Glad the kids aren't here as the weather will probably get nasty." We will remember our earlier run-in with bad weather in January, and I don't think any of us wanted to get stuck at school with our kids during a tornado. The fact of the matter was that it's just been too warm for February. We hit a record high of 72 degrees on Tuesday, and when it's that high this time of year, you know that cold weather is just around the corner. And when cold fronts and warm air hit, you get bad weather.

And man, did we get bad weather.

I was trying to watch the hockey game that evening when it started up. First, lots of wind. Lots and lots of wind. Then lightning, thunder, and heavy, heavy rain. I have a NOAA weather radio and it was beeping alerts every few minutes. The hockey game I was trying to watch had lost the audio and was intoning that computerized voice that told all of us that bad weather was on the way. (By the way, watching a hockey game without audio is a bit weird.) Around 8:30 I started moving some valuables down to the basement because it was making even me nervous. A few minutes later the sirens went off, so I tucked two cats under my arms and took them downstairs, ran up and got another cat, and then headed down there myself, closing the door behind me.

As an aside, when I had to buy a house down here Mr. Bluebird wasn't able to come down and help. His only request was I get a house with a finished basement because he thought this area had too many tornadoes. That I did, thank goodness.

I spent about 45 minutes down there before the warning expired and I was able to let the cats, who were really annoyed, back upstairs. I didn't, however, move anything else up as I had a feeling we weren't done.

We weren't.

Around midnight the second wave of storms woke me up. It was pounding and the lightning was flashing like a strobe light. I looked out the window and thought, for a moment, that it was foggy outside as I couldn't see the houses across the street clearly. It took me a minute to realize that it wasn't fog, it was just really heavy, heavy rain. I went out to the living room to turn on the news to see if we were under a warning when the sirens went off again. (I also managed to buy a house that has a tornado siren at the end of the street - when these things go off, we hear them.)
Grabbed cats and hustled everyone downstairs where I stayed until about one in the morning.

This last round was really bad. The hail was bouncing all over my deck before I headed to the basement and the sirens went on and on and on. Usually they'll sound off about 4 times before they stop, but this time I could hear them going on for a significantly longer time.

Of course, by the time it had all passed I was wide awake. I tried to go back to sleep but I was still awake an hour later when Mr. Bluebird arrived home from his trip back from Ohio. He'd dodged supercells the whole way home, hunkering down in gas stations and truck stops when it got so bad he couldn't drive.

The next day at school the kids were dragging. Many of them told me they'd spent the night sleeping in basements, their closets, or bathrooms. Shreck Boy was exhausted. He'd spent the night in the basement after the roof of their house began to lose shingles and the rain started to come in. Some kids told me about huge trees coming down in their yards, trampolines slinging through the neighborhood and ending up blocks away, and barns crashing down. The western edge of our county got hit really hard by a thunderstorm that destroyed one house and damaged at least 13 more. The tornadoes that ripped through the state, amazingly, rose back up in the air before they got very far within the county and we were spared a lot of the damage other counties are facing.

Last year, during the height of the drought, we didn't have one single tornado warning. This year, so far, we've had the sirens go off three times.

And it's February. Tornado season doesn't really begin until March.

Kind of makes me appreciate the basement.

Momma Bird is Back in the Nest

Momma Bluebird called today to let me know that she and Kitty are safely back home. They don't have any water, but as far as she is concerned, that's not an issue at this point. She'd been away from home since Sunday night and they were both ready for familiar surroundings. She did manage to leave the shelter on Wednesday after finally hooking up with her "California family", all of whom seemed to have ended up scattering with the wind when the evacuation order was issued and everything got crazy.

As an aside, it's kind of hard to explain relationships when it comes to Momma Bird. We don't come from a huge family so we tend to adopt people. Good friends become family, in other words. Mom's California Family consists of Beauty and her husband Beast, along with Beauty's Mom, Pam, and daughters Kolleen (who turned seven yesterday) and Baby Gracie who was born earlier this month. I love these folks because they are just wonderful people and they take care of my Momma Bird when I'm so far away and can't do it myself.

It sounds like Pam had the roughest time, having hauled Scooter, the horse, and her dogs to Del Mar. She slept in her truck the entire time and didn't get a shower, or much food, while she was camping out at the fairgrounds. She also had vehicle trouble which didn't help any. Beauty and the kids evacuated four different times before she ended up with Mom at her brother's. Beast stayed up at the house, along with his antique firetruck with a Very Big Tank.

But everyone is home, they're all safe, and Kitty, at last is very, very happy.

There's More Out There Than Malibu

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not overly impressed with celebrities. Perhaps it has to do with growing up in the L.A. area where every waiter was really an actor, where parents of classmates made their living in the film industry, and where you get so sick of hearing about celebrities that you want to hurl.

So I would like to remind my dear readers that, when it comes to the horrific fires in California, there are many people who aren't millionaires who are doing their share of suffering.

People like Momma Bluebird.

Momma Bluebird is retired and lives in a charming little cowboy town called Ramona, in San Diego County. This is a town with Title I schools, with residents who barely make minimum wage, with retirees and veterans who've saved to retire out here, and a few folks who have the money to live in Country Estates. (Keep in mind that a "half a million dollar" house in this area is equal to about $200,000 in most of the country.) Momma Bluebird tutors at a local school with kids who probably wouldn't get a meal if it wasn't for the nutrition department of the local school.

I knew when the Santa Anas were setting off fires in Malibu that it was simply a matter of time before Mom was affected. Four years ago the Cedar fire ran through her area and she was darned lucky she didn't lose her house (some neighbors did). By mid-afternoon Momma Bird had called and said that their luck had worn out, that there was a fire between Ramona and Julian and she was packing - just in case. Later that evening they were given a mandatory evacuation order and she packed up Kitty and headed out. (I have to give a big cyber-hug to her neighbor, the retired fire chief, who made sure she was okay, packed and had him follow his family out the single road that gets you out of her neighborhood. What a guy.)

She headed into Ramona to her friend's house, where she rode out the Cedar fire, only to get there in time to find out the whole town was being evacuated. Her friend loaded up her dogs and horses and headed out to Del Mar (this is a very horsey area), and Momma Bluebird found her way to a Red Cross Shelter. She's lost track of most of her other friends so it's just Kitty and Momma Bluebird (and her knitting) right now hanging out at the shelter.

She said it's a little weird and there's "people like your student Scratchy here." Great. She does have a cot, thanks to the National Guard, and a place to stay, thankfully. One of my old college sorority sisters emailed me and offered her a place to stay in Laguna but Momma Bluebird is afraid to leave because they keep closing roads and she doesn't want to get stuck anywhere.

Sigh.

So I'm here in My Beloved South, trying to teach my kids and worrying about my Momma Bluebird at the same time. Rough Day for me, but worse for her.

Keep all these folks in your prayers. They aren't all rich and famous celebrities...many are hard working blue collar folks who live pay check to pay check. And now, they might be burned out.