Lorraine Sigle

September 26th, 2015

9/26/2015

I am so frustrated. I just posted something and find it has disappeared. I wonder if this will disappear, and is it in the place I want? I just hit Post, so we'll see.

My vanishing comments were about the discovery of The Great Book of AMBER, The complete chronicles of books 1-10 by Roger Zelazny. Years ago I had the complete set, loaned the first four books to someone and never got them back. I'm thrilled to have the complete set again in this humungous book. Zelazny is a master of fantasy. I've never ready anyone with such creative imagination. His characters are fully developed, his plotting on target, and his stream of consciousness descriptions while travelling between shadow worlds is often lyrical. In a word, he's brilliant. And sadly no longer living on this plane of existence. If you haven't read him, treat yourself.

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11/4/2012

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August 1, 2015
I'm in awe of beavers.

July 3, 2015
Okay. I have a confession to make. I am technologically challenged. It is so frustrating that I can't operate all the gizmos with so many aps and possibilities. My mind just doesn't work that way. I wouldn't have this web site if Teresa hadn't set it up for me. My book wouldn't be on Kindle if she didn't format it for me. So a bazillion thanks to Teresa.

I can do other things, though. I designed a double decker bird feeder four feet long by 20" wide. I just looked out the patio door and saw a mother ground hog and her baby after some feed. I have a lot of feathered and four-footed friends that visit my yard. Does that compensate for non-nerdiness? No. But it brings joy to my life.

June 13, 2015
Many thanks to several people who made the Teacher's Guide a reality. First to Carolynne E. Wilcox, MA for suggesting Earth Watchers should be in middle grade classrooms and then for providing much of the content. Next to Teresa Crumpton, MFA for developing the vocabulary lists from the chapters and created all the word puzzles and other materials. Finally thanks to Susan Santone, Director of Creative Changes for donating the lessons on page 122 - 170.

June 9, 2015
Good News/Bad News.   The good news is that the government released the Next Generation of Science Standards in April 2013. This puts information about climate change in the hands of teachers. Classroom materials are available from The Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. I've looked at some of these lessons and they would be interesting and engaging for students. Teachers should also check out materials from Creative Changes.

The bad news is that I learned about this from The Wall Street Journal article, Schoolroom Climate Change Indoctrination by Paul H. Tice. Mr. Tice is a climate change denier and his ignorance, or denying of scientific facts is distressing. Sadly some people will believe him.

Enough said. Let's celebrate the good news and hope teachers and school districts will take advantage of the materials provided.

Let's Talk About Writing. Putting your thoughts and emotions down on paper feels great. Sometimes it's hard to tell someone how you feel about something. Sometimes you aren't even sure yourself. Grab some paper, or a computer/tablet, whatever, if you prefer, and just dot down whatever comes into your mind. Don't edit. Just write.  It is a magical process. Try it.

The same is true if you would like to write a poem, or story. Just start.

I learned a lot about writng while trying to tell Elyana's story. There are rules - things that if you follow them make your writing better. Fortunately, I had a good teacher to tell me when I did something wrong. And I made plenty of mistakes.

    I also learned to have confidence in my own opinion. It's a delicate balance - being open to the ideas of others - knowing when to take advice and when to stand firm.

    A lot of situations in life are like that.

    What do you think helps us make good decisions - good choices - in our life?

    Do you think Elyana always made good choices?

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September 26th, 2015

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