were debating the insertion of this feeding tube for about half a day, father in law died, relieving us of this difficult decision. Father in law passed away less than one week after entering the hospital, leaving a void in our lives that was never to be replaced. Father in law was given a Russian Orthodox funeral on a cold, drizzly, dreary, dark day in November. Daughter and son did not attend the wake due to the usual protocol of the open casket but did attend the funeral. After the funeral, it was expected that spouse and I would host a gathering of the funeral attendees. I was not in the mood to entertain after this gloomy event but agreed with social protocol and provided a meal to the guests after the funeral.
As this was my first experience in arranging for a wake and funeral one was aghast at the procedure involved in the selection of a coffin. The arranger of the wake invited spouse and I into a room at the funeral parlor containing several coffins. Here we received a “sales pitch” on the benefits of the different coffins offered. I was sickened by this procedure believing it to be insane and bizarre. After this “shopping experience” I stated to spouse that all dead people should have the same decent coffin offered to relatives for funeral services. Another idea would be to allow the family to privately inspect the different coffins with the prices displayed of the various coffins and then to provide the funeral arranger with their decision regarding the selection of the casket.
By the middle of spring, daughter was completing her requirements to receive the Sacrament of Communion. The instructor responsible for the student practice of the Church Communion ceremony was a nun. In the Church, a considerable number of mothers expressed outrage over some of the aspects of the Communion ceremony. I could not believe at that time that some people would dare to question the authority of a nun concerning religious procedures. Having completed the Sacrament of Reconciliation, daughter, participated with other children in receiving her first Holy Communion Host. A large family party was held at our home to celebrate this occasion.
University studies were coming to an end with my final year requiring teaching and classroom observations and a student teaching experience in the last semester. In the spring, two classroom observations, one for reading and one for mathematics were required. The public school reading instructional observation experience began with the teacher providing a general instruction to the entire class on topics of reading, including comprehension, grammar, and writing skills. After completing this instruction, students proceeded to their reading group where the expectations were to complete other assignments in a group setting. One teacher was assigned to oversee several reading groups with each reading group assigned different reading curriculum that was based on individual student assessments. The second experience was an observation of a parochial school’s mathematics class. After the teacher provided the students with a mathematics lesson shown on the chalkboard, students were told to reference previously assigned work. Proceeding by rows, every student had the opportunity to state an assigned problem, explain how the problem was solved, and provide the answer to the class. This instruction was rote and methodical and provided an ease of understanding.
In the autumn, I was assigned to two public elementary school teachers, spending approximately two months in each classroom. The first experience required the teacher to spend about three to four weeks