Stingy Jack

Each year on Halloween, I teach a history lesson about how Halloween came to be the holiday it is today. We discuss the religious and cultural aspects of the holiday and how those different ideas and beliefs blended into what Americans celebrate.

My favorite Halloween myth is the one about Stingy Jack. It is the story of how Jack O'Lanterns came to be.

There was this Irishman named Jack who was very miserly. The story goes that he was having a drink with the Devil one night and promised to give the Devil his soul if the Devil paid for the drinks. The Devil changed himself into a coin to pay the bartender, and Jack, being stingy and miserly, snatched up the coin and put it in his pocket. Jack always carried a silver cross in that pocket and the cross kept the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack made the Devil promise to leave him alone for a year. One year later, the Devil sought out Jack to take his soul, but Jack tricked the Devil again by asking the Devil to get him an apple from a tree as his last meal. The Devil, figuring he had nothing to lose climbed the tree. Jack immediately put crosses around the trunk of the tree, trapping the Devil. He would not release the Devil until the Devil promised to leave Jack alone for 10 years and that if Jack died, he would not claim Jack's soul. The Devil agreed and Jack released the Devil.

When Stingy Jack eventually passed away several years later, he went to the Gates of Heaven, but was refused entrance because of his life of drinking and because he had been so tight-fisted and deceitful. So, Jack then went down to Hell to see the Devil and find out whether it were possible to gain entrance into the depths of Hell, but the Devil kept the promise that had been made to Jack years earlier, and would not let him enter.

"But where can I go?" asked Jack.

"Back to where you came from!" replied the Devil.

The way back was windy and very dark. Stingy Jack pleaded with the Devil to at least provide him with a light to help find his way. The Devil, as a final gesture, tossed Jack an ember straight from the fires of Hell. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed-out turnip...one of Jack's favorite foods which he always carried around with him whenever he could steal one. From that day forward, Stingy Jack has been doomed to roam the earth without a resting place and with only his lit turnip to light the way in the darkness.

Have a fun Halloween!!

Fall Break

Ah, an entire week to do whatever I want to do!!

I had great plans for this week, and then reality settled in and I shortened the list!

I spent time in my studio finishing up some quilt projects. I quilted two baby quilts and sewed the binding on. I only have to hand sew the binding to the backs. I finished the binding on Rob's quilt and hand quilted 2 more blocks (that makes 9 out of 32). I also worked on a few more blocks for my Mother-in-law's quilt (I think I have 5 out of 16) My MIL's quilt is a sampler, so each block is completely different. These are the blocks for my Underground Railroad Quilt. I also cut out the fabric for the sashing and borders for this quilt.

I also finally finished stocking my Etsy shop! I have 9 items listed and more to come. I did create another 10 baby bibs from my stash in addition to the other quilting projects I worked on this week so far. I have to just put on the velcro and do the top stitching.

I plan to spend today finishing up some more of the projects, as it is a rainy day here in Tennessee!!

From Trash to Treasure??

Every year in school, the students get involved in 4-H. Each month they have a contest to promote different skills. The first month is usually entitled 'From Trash to Treasure' which works to encourage the students to create something useful and wonderful from trash.
I want to believe that I am encouraging this in the classroom this year by my own actions!
Our first Social Studies Project will be making Pyramid Trading Cards. These are similar to baseball cards in that they will have a picture of a pyramid on the front and statistics about the pyramid on the back.
The cardboard base of the trading card will be cut from cereal boxes. The kids liked the idea of bringing in trash to school that we then use!

Another project I want to work on is to make models of pyramids. The pattern I have uses a 21" square piece of poster board. I want to avoid asking my students to buy poster board, but I have yet to find a source for thin cardboard (paperboard) that will yield a 21" square. I thought about using a smaller piece of cardboard, but then the model is to small for the other part of the project. Other types of cardboard are not thin enough to fold well. I have some friends who work in retail, I plan to ask them if they receive anything in that I can use for this!

Can I reduce paper towel usage further?

Over the past year or so, I have stopped using paper napkins and tissues. I was just contemplating paper towel usage.
I do not use them to dry my hands, nor do I use them for cleaning.

I find that the only time I use them is to pick up a mess the dogs have made.
It is time to designate some old worn-out dishtowels for this purpose. Then the only use for paper towels would be when Vince makes his greasy, stinky steak sandwiches.

Can I come up with a method that will work and that Vince will use? Ah, there is the question of the day!!



I know my mother use to use brown paper bags to absorb grease, but we no longer get paper bags when we shop. We bring our own.

I have some old dish towels that are not terrycloth, so perhaps they would work and not leave terrycloth fibers on the steaks. Any thoughts?

Egypt

We have started our Social Studies Chapter on Egypt. Yesterday, we created T-charts showing what the students know about Egypt and what they want to know about Egypt. The plan is to create cross-curricular lessons involving Math and Social Studies. After reading an article in Education Week about the need to extend learning time, I am even happier that I am planning to make this Egypt unit work for more than one subject.
Over 25 years ago, A Nation At Risk was published, which was a report urging the American public to see that our nation was falling behind other countries and that our education system needed to be reformed. While there are always changes being made, it is up to the individual teachers to work hard at making the most of the time we are given.
One of the challenges for the students will be in the project area of this unit, they will only be able to re-use items to create their projects! There will be pyramids, hieroglyphics and trading cards created. Let's see how they do!