summer school

I've been teaching summer school at DVHS for the last 3 1/2 weeks. I've found a way to fit an entire semester's worth of material in that amount of time: craziness. I had 17 students to start, one found out she'd passed the class, so she left, and two more dropped for absences. 14 students for the past week: not bad. All of these students were given the shot to retake this class after they just failed it this past semester during the normal schedule. I think this set up works better for these students, though: less time from lesson to quiz, from quiz to test, and so on. I do four things each day: any mixture of lessons, reviews, quizzes, and tests. For instance, the first day of summer school, the students had 4 lessons in the same day, but yesterday they had a test first thing, and then three lessons after that. It was a lot of material in a short amount of time, but these students seemed to enjoy it and did well. Other than the two that dropped for absences (they were allowed 2 at most, they both had three and then were dropped), I now have no students with Fs in the class as they enter the final exam (which they are taking right now). I have liked this setup, as it was more like college. We had four hour sessions each day, each with two 15 minute breaks evenly spaced in the day. It gave a sense of trust and freedom that the students normally don't get throughout the regular semester. I am now really looking forward to possibly teaching at a community college one day. We'll see what the LORD brings our way.

seven random things

I have been tagged by my friend Christy du Mée to reveal seven (7) random facts about myself and pass the baton on to seven (7) others. I will do the seven facts, but I will not pass it on. I know, what a thrill kill.

meme

/meem/ n. [coined by analogy with `gene', by Richard Dawkins] An idea considered as a replicator, esp. with the connotation that memes parasitize people into propagating them much as viruses do.

Random Fact #1: Amy and I dated for a month and a half before we were engaged on April 27th, 2002.

Random Fact #2: The wedding date (December 28th, 2002) was set by our parents even before we were engaged at a meeting of the families.

Random Fact #3: Amy and I only went on two dates alone before we were engaged. One was to see the Phantom of the Opera in Tucson at UofA, and the other was when I proposed at Encanto Park in Phoenix (we had a KFC picnic).

Random Fact #4: Our son, Aidan, is the first Van Liew male to not have blue eyes.

Random Fact #5: Amy ranked higher than I in high school. I was 5th (of 405) when I graduated from DVHS, yet Amy was around 3rd or 4th (of 9) when she graduated from NFHS. She beat me: how 'bout that?!

Random Fact #6: Amy is 2 1/2 months older than me to the day.

Random Fact #7: I have never had a manicure or pedicure (so, Christy, don't feel too poorly). I'm not saying that I would mind getting one, though.

superhero rumble

Talk about an epic battle!

Those DP cans are deadly.

Bat-Girl is ready for anything.

In the end, Dr. Pepper invited Bat-Girl to a nice dinner together in the cafeteria.

dr pepper

I was asked to put a few of the "Dr. Pepper" pictures up, so I decided to put a few select ones up that show off the outfit that Amy and I put together for me for sc07 Chasing Heroes Friday. What do you think?

Chaz Oltman, Mike Chase, and I all looked fantastic, I must say. ;-)

Steven "Bomber" looked great.

We didn't think about it until the day of, but Amy could have gone as Diet Dr. Pepper and rocked the house. That would have been sweet, or nutra-sweet, at least. ;-)

new/updated blogs

Another reason that I've not posted on here as much lately is that I've been working on two more blogs. I have one that I've had in my possession for 4 years, have done absolutely nothing with it (http://pseudobass.blogspot.com), but have now added to it and plan to continue to post new things there that are specifically of a spiritual nature (not that I'll stop putting spiritually-minded items on this blog). I also added a blog to my possession (http://dvccc.blogspot.com) which will be for the Deer Valley Christian Club on Campus. I hope to get the student leaders to post during the school year about dvccc happenings and personal growth deals. I think that one could really turn into something great, that is, if the students get on board with me in doing it. May the LORD be honored. Check out the other blogs and let me know what you think. I have also linked to them on the side bar of this blog.

sc07

I know it's been awhile since I posted last, but we've been at camp for the student ministries at ncc. sc07 (summer camp 2007) was incredible: heart change; great, freeing worship; good lessons; and awesome games. But best of all, we did it all to the glory of God. I've got over 500 pics that we took, but I won't be putting all of them up on this blog, though I plan to put a few select ones up. It was a great 5 days at PLNU (Point Loma Nazarene University) in San Diego, CA. It was at least 30 degrees cooler in SD than it was in Phx when we returned. Believe me, I love Phx and don't want to move away from my desert home, but it was quite nice to have a respite spiritually at camp and physically with the weather and beautiful ocean. I hope to get mon Amy's opinion on things up here, as well, but we are still trying to get back in the grove of life. We've had family here, as well. Misty & Melissa Sides, Amy's first cousins, have been staying with the Ogles for the last few weeks. It has been great to see them again and to be able to disciple Misty even more. She's got a desire for growth, and that's exciting. They leave today, so life might get back to normal soon, but it was a great time together, and Misty joined us at camp, too. Melissa will be with us next year, you can count on that. Overall, these last few weeks have been a blessing. Praise our God, for He is good.