80's Flashbacks

You never know what will trigger a memory. Today I was talking to a friend about a movie that was an 80's classic that I never watched till the 90's. A Never Ending Story was what it was called. I remember thinking the special effects were terrible. Thinking about this made me think of another movie The Pagemaster which came out in the 90's. I liked it at the time. I haven't watched it since but I think I will. Thinking of these movies based on a love for reading made me think of 6th grade library. I had changed schools after 5th grade because our school was closed. I started at a new elementary school. Our previous librarian was amazing at getting us  to read books. She'd pick great ones and read us just enough of a chapter to get us into it then stop. Unfortunately, my friend Terri always seemed to beat me to checking them out. Thank goodness mom took us to the county library.

Anyhow, I was at a new school with a new librarian. I didn't love that library as well as my last and it definitely wasn't as big. I caught on quickly that the class would beg the librarian to watch this show. I'd never heard of it or seen it before. It was a post-apocalyptic  show that began with most earthlings being transported off earth because earth had become so polluted. Well a few unfortunate survivors all trapped at the library of course, had to use these library resources to survive. Basically this whole show was a way to teach kids about the Dewey Decimal system. It was released by Mississippi Educational Television and I think only released on public television. It is a bit hysterical to watch now. It really is a great example of 80's t.v. The show was called Tomes and Talismans. Click on the title and watch the first episode. I remember thinking it wasn't very good at the time and I couldn't figure out why my classmates wanted to watch it. Well, after being in library with our very grumpy librarian a few times, I understood. Watching a show was a much better idea.

I also left an extremely amazing music teacher at the last school. My new music teacher was not only of poor quality, but very annoyed by us.  My classmates also begged him to play a song at the end of every class. I missed out on what led up to it... but this was the song: Daddy Sang Bass.  This was also the height of the Jazzercise Craze. They would beg to do Jazzercize in P.E. I hated it. Well, mostly the girls would beg. Jazzercise ....legwarmer flashbacks .  

So...It all started with a movie mention by a friend. I am glad that I read more books than watched movies as a kid. Hollywood and especially Disney has ruined a lot of great books. They've really ruined them for kids and teachers. You don't want your student to go watch the movie to find out the ending. You want them to enjoy the journey. We just finished The Mouse and the Motorcycle, by Beverly Cleary. It is a classic. The kids loved it and some went to check out their own copy after we read it together. There are two more books in that series. We started reading The 13 Story Treehouse. It is a fun book with a lot of funny drawings. It will be engaging for reluctant readers. However, it is not going to be a classic. It is a fun read.

Stop

Few would be shocked to know that I have strong opinions.  Sometimes these opinions are based on reading and research into the areas of topic. However, I will admit sometimes it comes down to personal taste. Where am I going with this you say?

Yoga Pants!

I do appreciate that many have stopped pretending they are on their way to yoga or to the gym and now call them leggings. I have one descriptor for them. Ugly.

No, No, No, you don't need to try to talk me into anything. I know they are comfortable. I understand they are easy to work out in (when actually used for that purpose.). Stop pretending they are professional ready-to-wear work clothing. Stop with the terrible patterns and unflattering styles. Stop with the immodesty.  Stop! Just Stop!  Some of those patterns you are wearing match the curtains, wallpaper, and sofas of many Great-Grannies' homes.   I really don't need to see that much of you.

It's sad that I'd give anything to see sweatpants or flannel loungers.

(Update: My mother would also suggest, they are not meant for every body type. Know your limits!)

Q-tip Wars!

I started off my Monday morning with sneak attack Q-tip wars! It was a very one sided war as I was the only armed patriot. My colleagues or enemies were the targets of my very inaccurate firing. The bonus was we all had a great giggle to start off the day. You can arm yourself here!  I ordered them for a much much cheaper price! Shop around and you too can start off your Monday with an epic battle.

There doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day for grading. I correct the papers. I enter in all the information needed into the grading software, then I enter in the grades, then I put the graded work in the students cubbies. It is a long process. I try to make sure I have grades going home quite often. It is a time consuming aspect of teaching.

It rained today. I have mentioned before and will most likely mention again that people here melt in the rain. We can't go outside during the slightest drizzle. We must cancel recess immediately. We can be outside in a blizzard, but outside with rain that is unacceptable. We had two canceled recesses today. Do you know what that creates? It creates students that are bouncing off walls and frazzled teachers who need to use the facilities. Rain, while I have enjoyed your presence, I have a request. Rain after 3:20p.m. and before 9 a.m. I know you tried because you woke me up a lot last night. Your schedule can be anytime on Saturdays and Sundays. I'm not concerned about rained out soccer games. See what you can do Rain! Thank you.

Spring...

That time of year when the outdoors does its best to kill me. I have to figure out out to change my game plan! Breathing is not over-rated!

Friday is coming!

What a thing to think about on a lovely brisk Saturday evening. I have to plan ahead. This coming Friday is our grade levels turn to provide lunch for the staff. I decided to make that journey to Wal-Mart this evening to purchase my contributions. We are doing a salad bar for the staff. My contributions included the plastic-ware, plates, bowls, croutons, nuts, seeds, peperocinis  and a gazillion croutons. I think we should have ordered sub sandwiches. I did not purchase the prerequisite dessert. I will decide what to do about that later in the week. Unless I am suddenly inspired earlier.

There was quite a few people at Wal-Mart purchasing last minute Easter Baskets or dinner items. It is an interesting place to observe people but I mostly wanted to get the heck out of there. I usually avoid shopping there, but when you're trying to shop "cheaper" it is the only option.

People keep asking about my summer plans. I am not sure if I will be taking a class or attending any trainings. When I think about that first week after school is out I know it will probably be a combination of cleaning house, doing laundry, and recuperating. I don't think I will be switching classrooms this summer but one never knows for sure. The janitors are in charge of the heavy lifting we just have to take everything off the walls and cover bookshelves. I will probably empty mine because I  want to do some rearranging in August.  I don't think clean up will take as long because we don't have to box every single thing up as we did at my previous teaching position.

This coming week we have Leadership Day which will involve an assembly and visitors. In May we have a school/family dance that I will be attending to serve food. We also have a field trip that same week that I wish I could explain but I have no idea what it involves. We've completed two weeks of the last nine weeks of school. I think the rest of the year will fly by.

ADD and ADHD

This has become a bit of a controversial topic. I think mostly because the over diagnosing of mostly very active boys and the overuse of Ritalin. There has become a bit of a stigma attached to even a suggestion of these diagnoses.  If you have an easily distracted child. I would be the first to say make medication the last resort. Try changing the diet. Remove all processed food and food dyes. Check for other possible medical issues. Sometimes children can have sleep apnea that can cause them to show similar symptoms. A medical evaluation is important. Making sure your child has plenty of time for physical activity can reduce possible issues. There could also be underlying anxiety problems. Parents should look at the possibilities.

When to medicate? When your child is adversely affected daily by their inability to focus. They can't complete school work, they lack success in school, they can't seem to complete a thought, and they are very easily distracted. I think the main reason to medicate is when their inability to focus is breaking their spirit and making them feel like a failure. The medication has changed for treating ADD and ADHD. There are more options and different dosage possibilities. I think this is important for parents to know.

I had a student this year from day to day and hour to hour you didn't know what to expect. I had multiple conversations with the parent. The child wasn't hyperactive. The child didn't lack the mental capacity. The child had no other impairments that I could see. A few times I thought the child might be having a seizure because it appeared that there were no lights on in the office. Sometimes, the child could get through part of a task and have it done correctly, then later on the same task have it all incorrect. The child was easily distracted by others. I had to learn to let the child come back into themselves ,so to speak, to give them help. At spring conferences I spoke with the parent again and suggested a medical evaluation. I told them I had no idea what was going on ,but the impact on their learning was significant. I suggested they go to a pediatrician they had a lot of confidence in that would listen to their concerns. School doesn't get easier after 2nd grade.  The parent made an appointment immediately. Then brought me paperwork to fill out. I didn't know if there was follow through after that.

Then this  last week I started to notice a change. There was an ability to follow through, a focus that wasn't there before, an ability to ignore other off task students, and best of all a growing confidence. The parent messaged me and asked if I had noticed anything and I let them know I had. I was then told the student was put on a low dose medication. I talked with the student privately and asked how they were feeling there was a big bright smile that lit up the room " I feel like I can think!"  I am so excited for this student. They are having success and their confidence is growing. I think the school experience is going to completely change for them.

So my message is, while I understand why you don't want to medicate there is a time that it should be considered. Don't allow a spirit to be broken because you have  preconceived ideas about ADD or ADHD. Times have changed and more options are available.

Rain

Second grade students understand sarcasm. I know this because after the second or third student came in with a pouty face and complained to me that it was raining at recess, I exaggeratedly said "Oh MY GOODNESS! I've had students MELT in the rain!! Did everyone make it? Are we all okay???" Laughter ensued and complaints ended. I am always amused by the reaction to rain in this state.

I have allergy related asthma. I hate it. I feel for anyone with breathing issues. It is frustrating to not be able to do what you want simply because you cannot get enough oxygen. When I have a reaction even laughter can trigger issues. It also takes awhile for me to get back to max capacity. It is why I love time by the sea. I can breathe easily and freely. It is that breath of fresh air my lungs long for.  We had a couple days of strong winds ahead of the storms. They blew dust and dirt, and of course I reacted. Tonight I have my diffuser going, had a long shower, am drinking my "Breathe" tea, and used my inhaler. I took my allergy medicine. If I could "wish" this away I would. People who have breathing issues year round I feel terrible for them. It is miserable.

Oh my word my computer keeps yelling at me for some reason or another. I'm doing updates, virus protection, etc. I hate Windows 10 if you haven't heard me rant about this before just know I will NEVER by a computer ran by Windows software again! UGGH! That was a short rant, but I have to sign off before it starts yelling again!!

It's almost here....the weekend

I was trying to contemplate my week. I can say for sure that I have brought home papers to grade for three nights in a row. What did I do Monday night? I think I fell into bed early. I was contemplating my day tomorrow when I realized it is Friday. This means someone else makes lunch and it is "Casual Friday." I can wear my jeans and tennis shoes. I had a list of things I brought home that I thought I would get done. Well after grading papers, eating dinner, washing dishes, and taking a shower. It is almost time for bed.

I stayed a little late after school to print some things that I haven't had time to. Usually the copy room is very busy. I thought there would be a chance that I could get some things done without too much competition. I did manage to! Yay! Tomorrow when I drop my students off for Library I will have to work on getting ready for next week and maybe tackling a couple more things on my list. I expect I will have to come in to school on Saturday to finish it up.

Not that there was any other option, but I am so glad I went to a community college before heading to a four year school. I listen to my peers and the debt they've accumulated and I wince. I also think the community college experience provided me with a quality foundation. I definitely used the available resources to help get me through and I had some really great instructors. I don't know how to quantify my learning there, but I often reflect on my learning there and how it impacts my teaching now.  I think I got more "learning about teaching" from that experience than my actual teaching degree. I'm really glad I had that experience and that I am not swimming in a mountain of debt.

I was invited to friends for "Easter Dinner" on Sunday. They don't attend church but observe the holiday with baskets, eggs, chocolate, and dinner. Since I did not grow up celebrating Easter as such I didn't remember that it was this weekend. It is interesting to see how Easter becomes a once a year event to acknowledge Christ. Today though I suppose I am glad there is any acknowledgement. We have a variety of religious backgrounds among my colleagues from some real "Holy Rollers" to traditional Lutherans. I will say this, I work with good people.

I have went through a few "Teacher Bags" as a teacher. I have given up on finding the perfect bag. There isn't one that meets my needs. Although that week with the giant Costco bag came close. I am back to using the backpack. I don't have to juggle everything to unlock or lock doors. I am not losing circulation in my arms from carrying the bag. Yeah, the backpack! It isn't fancy, but it never disappoints. Speaking of the backpack. I bought a backpack in 1999. I was told it would never last. It has been with me over seas, dales, hills, banks, streams, field trips, and much more. It is still going! Not a tear or a weak zipper. In  two years that backpack will be 20. I bought it for $19.99. It's a keeper!

I'm back

Spring break flew by. I packed a lot in a little time. I was able to stop in and visit a few folks. There were a few I missed, but time always seems to run short. I soaked up a lot of moisture. I forget what it feels like to not have dry skin. I packed a lot in a little bit of time.

Luckily when I arrived home I had planned and was prepared for the first couple of days back to school. Even though the copier broke before leaving on break I had those first two days ready and the next couple partially ready. It was nice to see my colleagues again. A change of scenery was very refreshing. My friends made me dinner my first night back home! I managed to put off the grocery store visit for one more day. I went after work today. I just got the basics so I could finish out this week.

I had to quickly make some desk adjustments this morning. I had to place some students in independent seating. There are a few reasons for this. Some students just cannot help themselves with constantly bugging their neighbors. Some will not attempt to do their work independently. I want them to be able to read it and attempt it before relying on others. Then other students don't work well with others. It seems like separating them from the group isn't effective, but they want to work with their peers. They just want to do it their way. They will be put back in the group when they are willing to contribute in positive ways. This  is usually effective. We shall see.

This is usually the time of year when I can reel it back a little because students are ready and able to do their work. They are showing independence and willingness to problem solve. They are usually willing to make attempts before requesting help. This class is the most needy class I've ever had for this time of year. It is a very immature group as a whole. I think there are a few that developmentally probably were not ready to be in this grade. It is a bummer when teachers do not retain them in kindergarten or first when they are not academically or developmentally ready for the next grade. Retention is much less traumatic in those grades.

Another busy week ahead!

Time for Break!

Every single year at parent-teacher conferences I have this situation. As I kindly explain that their student is not on grade level and why that is. They begin to talk over me, make excuses, and tell me why I am wrong. I know I am not getting through to them. I know I am not heard. I know that they probably heard the same thoughts from the previous two years of school and will continue to hear it. They can say the education system failed them. Maybe it has. Maybe that student should have been retained. However, the parent is also failing them by not being realistic about their learning. If they are in denial you know they are not going to have any extra help at home. It makes you sad. The parent has effectively tied your hands. This year I only had a couple of those situations. Overall I think conferences were successful.

Next year we move to student led conferences. The parents share their goals and demonstrate their own learning. I like the idea. I did get a piece of feedback from a parent that went to one this year. They said that multiple parents were at the conference at the same time as they moved around the room from learning demonstration to learning demonstration. The parent said she had questions she wanted to ask and thoughts she wanted to share with the teacher. The parent didn't feel comfortable because there was not any privacy to do so, it left the parent feeling frustrated. I completely agreed that this was important for the parent to have that time with the teacher. I think I may need to share that in private with administration. I didn't think other teachers would be receptive to that. They thought it went better to do conferences this way because they went more quickly. They also said when the students demonstrated their learning parents had less questions about their grades. I think getting conferences done quicker is nothing to brag about. I have a feeling there was a lot of people who felt rushed.

I came home this afternoon and hung out with my little buddy and his big sis. After he had a meltdown the other night about me leaving for spring break I had to make some time to hang with him. We went and bought slushies, chatted about their new gecko, and played games. I also managed to get through a couple of loads of laundry and a load of dishes ran through the dishwasher. I am finishing up the last of my laundry. Then I can begin packing my suitcase. I didn't want to come back to a laundry pile and a sink full of dishes.

I hit the road soon!

Teacher Education

I've had a few conversations recently about why Teacher Colleges are not doing a good job in preparing teachers. I had another conversation with a friend tonight who has applied to teach at a teacher college. The interview process was interesting to hear about. The education department was well represented at the interview. What she observed was that many of the people in the department had not been teaching in schools (outside of the college) in a very long time.

We have regional professional development coordinators here who will train you or you can take classes from them while still teaching. I've learned more from these coordinators than I learned in teacher college. A lot of this is due to the fact they are continuing their own education. A huge part of it is that they are in schools all over the region A LOT! This gives them more insight into the actual needs of schools and teachers. They also can be a bit more objective as an outsider. Another thing that makes their instruction to teachers highly valuable is the way they design their instruction. They realize they are teaching teachers. So they embed strategies into their instruction that we can use with students. If we are learning about math instruction we will be not only learning that material but practicing strategies we can immediately use with our students. This means we are not just sitting and listening to a lecture. We are practicing our practice. Their job is to continue their own learning to be of help to teachers. I notice they travel quite often to attend conferences. They read a lot and pay attention to research based practices.

We also discussed that while in teacher college, fledgling teachers need to be in the classroom more. WAY More. I think they need to do an internship with mentors as well. There is a huge aspect of learning to teach that is through the experience. We can discuss theory all we want but putting ideas into practice is way more difficult. I think having really hands on mentors for new teacher is vital.

Classroom management is one of the most difficult challenges of the job. Every year how you manage your classroom changes because the needs of your students change. You also find ideas that work for you and don't work for you. It is in a perpetual tweak mode. I am constantly looking for ideas that may help. Every year I have a challenging student or ten that I am at a loss how to get them in "school" mode. It takes time to figure out what will work. Sometimes it feels like that doesn't happen till the last two weeks of school.

There is another aspect we call "With-it-ness." This is like your mom having eyes in the back of her head and knowing what you are up to from the other side of the house. Teachers need to have that. The ability to look and see the needs of the students in a glance. It's an awareness of the surroundings. I've been in classrooms in which the teacher had none of this. There were students throwing things at each other, playing with each others hair, making things out of paper, singing songs to themselves, and talking to each other. The teacher didn't notice. She had a great lesson but was completely unaware to what her students were doing. Now I will be the first to admit that some days you are more "with-it" than others. However, if you have this you can see if your students are even understanding the lesson.  I think this is an ability that can be worked on and improved, but some people may never get it.

I think in most (not all) teacher colleges you spend so much time on the theories of learning that you do not get to the brass tacks of quality instruction. It really does help if you have professors who are continuing their own education and getting into classrooms themselves.

Mystery Trash

My students are wonderful. They helped me get through this day without a voice. They volunteered to help me call names, ask questions, call tables to line up, and much more. They tried their very best to be quiet and that is a challenge. It's like asking a bunch of ladies to come to a potluck and not speak to each other. It's physically impossible.

I also learned a new trick. The "Mystery Trash" trick.   After contemplating what the mystery trash might be you announce " I spy a mystery piece of trash on the floor and if you find it there is a prize for you! You stop when they find it or if the floor is sufficiently clean to announce a random winner. (They just can know it's random). The floor of the classroom will never be cleaner. It's quite the motivating game. Wish I'd learned about this a couple of years ago.

After school we did a team building competition of sorts. We were broken into teams. The teams chose a person to represent them in Skittle⌐ sorting. Our team came in third out of six teams. I was NOT the official Skittle⌐ sorter. Thank goodness. At one point a teacher on our team said "Can you imagine what parents would say if they knew at our meeting today we were sorting Skittles⌐! "  After we finished that exciting business we broke of to schedule our sibling conferences. This school is so much more organized. Before any other conferences are scheduled we get together to schedule the siblings so that parents do not have to come back and forth to school. The office copies all the papers that go home to have parents choose a time, day, and alternate times. Then they supply a paper that confirms a time with parents. It is just a level of efficiency I am not accustomed to. It saves so much time. I had to always type up the note and get it all ready. I feel spoiled.

I'm drinking a cup of tea before bed. I came home this evening so tired. I had a little nap. I think with a hot cup of tea I will be able to get back to sleep again! G'nite

Grocery Store Contemplations

I decided I needed to find my "suck-it-up-buttercup" attitude and take myself to the store. I got what I needed and came home. After putting the perishables in the fridge. I wasn't very motivated to keep moving. I have to find the energy somewhere because it is back to work tomorrow. I can do it. I went to the small more pricey grocery store. I did this because the lines are shorter and the public is well cleaner and healthier. (I guess I messed up that healthier bit.) I used the sanitary wipe on my cart and got it done.

I never go shopping at this time of day. I notice the older folks shop in the morning. The stay-at-home moms in the afternoons. The early mornings are these weird bunch of happy early risers that cannot be tolerated or people grabbing last minute lunch on their way to work. The evening crowd is usually mostly working people. The late-night crowd is a motley crew. They usually have a scary element and then some of the non-early risers that don't want to shop with crowds.  Older folks have interesting shopping habits. They kind of wander and are perpetually in the way. The stay-at-home moms are a bit leisurely if no young children are with them. I like people in a hurry. My grocery shopping strategy was learned from my mother. If there was a way to make shopping faster and more efficient she would be the person you should contact.

The grocery store line in my opinion should be like at the bank. We need just one line. The next open cashier takes the next person in line. We can keep the 15 items or less line if that helps people to feel like they are moving faster. It would be fair and efficient. I get it though. We like choice. My mom prefers this cashier to another cashier because the checkout is quicker and more efficient. Maybe there should be a cashier training you should go through.

I suppose that is enough grocery talk for the day. I really want to take a nap. I pulled all my bedding off to wash it. Nap in my chair or make my bed?
Hmmmm

Can this cold be done yet?

'lil who?

If you need a light and have your phone with you, you can pretend to be Harry Potter with a magic wand. Open your "Okay Google" app and say "Lumos" the flash for your phone camera will come on and stay on. It's a fun little trick. However, If you have a cold "Okay Google" my not hear Lumos. It may hear 'lil Mouse. Then you'll be listening to some ummm "Hot New Hip-Hop" (ahem).

I've been misunderstood quite often with this cold. It makes life interesting.

White Noise

I can't recall a time when I didn't find white noise relaxing. I remember taking a nap after lunch and mom would start the dishwasher. It hushed the background and outdoor noises and made for a pleasant nap. I like a good nap. I have had trouble sleeping since being sick and it seems like just when I am relaxed enough to get a decent sleep some sound awakens me. I have a small white noise machine that I have been running. That helps a lot. Then of course my humidifier is going. This all leads me back to my classroom of course 😁. I am sure you are wondering "How?" Well, when my students are able to be good enough listeners for enough days in a row they earn "Flashlight-Friday." They get to bring flashlights to school and read. I usually put this fireplace on my Smart-Board. It has been perfect during the cold weather. It gives an illusion of warmth. There is something so calming about watching a fire. I started thinking about other relaxing videos we could watch during this time. I found a few more like this one, and this one, and even this one. I think I can put any of those of for a fairly quick calming influence on my class. 

Anyhow, all of this made me think of my favorite ride at Disneyland as a kid. They've now messed it up. Like many great things someone thinks they have a better idea and they completely remove the part that made it great in the first place. My absolute favorite ride as my mom will attest to was the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride. Anytime there was a lull in rides and a possibility of making a choice to go again. I did. My very favorite part of the whole ride was the boat ride through the bayou. The people on their swamp shack porches the fireflies flickering. There was something about it that everyone would get quiet on the ride. It was peaceful. I loved that ride. The following relaxation video reminded me a little of that...

After watching and listening to all of this I now feel ready to sleep....after I visit the ladies room.

How to Blow Your Nose!

I found these helpful videos today! I really will have to play them for my students. I mean really...don't be a Snerd! I love classic Sesame Street. 

Cold

What a week! I gave it all I had this week. By Friday there wasn't much left to give. I started feeling as though I had a cold coming on. I was correct. It is a total head cold. I came home last night just done in. I picked up some dinner then came home and made a hot toddy before bed. I didn't sleep well as it was hard to breathe. I feel like such a wimp. It's a cold. Usually by now I've had a terrible respiratory infection or bronchitis. I have a cold.  I think it is a combination of that and just being worn out. I am whining.  Since I was not sleeping well I got up at my normal time and did the dishes and started laundry. I completed quite a bit.

I just really want to sleep. I've tried off an on all day to squeeze in a little nap without success. It might be in part all that tea I've been drinking.

Next week is a full week of school without (knock-on-wood) any interruptions. The following week is parent teacher conferences. That is when I have to tell the truth in really nice ways and hope that it gets through! The students are released early both of those days so that we can have conferences. Then we are off for Spring Break! I am so ready!

There has been struggles and stress this year. However, no where near the stress of previous years. I am glad to be where I am.

Not Mine...Yes! Yours!

As I was getting ready to complete my day of school on Friday I received a message from a parent. It was  a so-and-so is a bully message. I shared with a colleague and she reminded me that due to our new state anti-bullying laws I had to report it. As my administrator was about to complete a very busy week I had to share.  What drives me crazy about the word "bully" now is that it is used in every situation. It is overused. It is abused. However, if a parent wants to create a stink they immediately use that word. Then they get a meeting. My administrator helped me to form a reply. Then we offered times that would work. Those of course came back with replies that no that wouldn't work. My administrator chose another day. Do me a favor. If your child gets in trouble at school ask them What part they had in the situation? Did they help make it better? Did they make it worse? More often than not the second party is not all that innocent.   The good news about all of this is that for the first time I have back-up. I have administrations help. I don't have to do my best and figure it out on my own. It will be handled. We even came up with another plan to help relieve some of this issue and it is being executed immediately.

We often have meetings as teachers I refer to as "Not my child meetings." Yes, it could be your child. They are seven or eight. They are growing, learning, and making mistakes as they figure out the world. Yes, your child might to something naughty. Yes, your child may break the rules. Yes, your child may decide to not do work when they've always done it before. Your child is testing the strength of your boundaries. Yes, your child....

I have a boy in my class that I have a soft spot for. He is NOT the most well behaved. He is NOT one to follow the rules precisely. He is extremely active. There is an energy oozing out of his pores. He cannot help but be on the move. He is very bright. His life is NOT easy. He does NOT have a reason to trust women. I've had to work hard to make a connection with him and I have. There is trust there that I take very seriously. He fights reading and writing. Not because he is incapable. I think writing taps into emotions that are unbearable. Reading doesn't promote movement. Just for him I ordered a hardback Calvin and Hobbes book. "Scientific Progress Goes Boink!" He has been slowly reading through this. I made him promise as I handed him the book that he would NEVER call me Mrs. Wormwood. He didn't know what that meant but he did promise 😀! He came to me this morning as I was inputting attendance. He said "Miss Carpenter?"  "Yes,  I replied!"  "I asked for THIS for my birthday!" and he holds up the Calvin and Hobbes book. I smiled a big smile at him. We've connected and maybe he will have just a little relief from his world.

I have had bouts of insomnia lately. I cannot seem to find a nice balanced sleep schedule. I think my sleep is as bi-polar as the "spring" weather. The bonus is that when I inevitably wake up I grade papers. I have a lot of grading to do. We are nearing the end of the quarter. Grading takes sooo much time. Correcting papers takes a long time but then... I have to input them. Which takes a VERY long time.  So it goes. As I complete grades and input them... I have more in my box to do. It's like laundry. I do have June though.... In June I get a reprieve!

Read...JUST READ!

Every Reading Night at school I look around. I look at the parents that are there. I notice their kids. We discuss the importance of reading with, to, and around your kids. Read! The thing is every reading night we are "preaching to the choir" so to speak. In general the parents that come are the parents who are involved and are reading to, with, and around their kids. 

Reading impacts all content areas. It is very difficult to pass tests if you are a struggling reader. Turn off the T.V. hide the electronic devices and just read a book. If you still struggle to read as an adult listen to an audiobook. Please! There are amazing and wonderful things happening in the brain development of a reader. 

READ! 

I can't even begin to explain how heartbreaking my job can be. I have to put it aside sometimes because it is just too much. Honor the nuclear family. I can't emphasize that enough. We are told all of that doesn't matter these days, but I am telling you, I know, without one single doubt, it matters! Kids are lost confused and heartbroken because parents are confused, lost, and heartbroken.  I was listening to a podcast not long ago and the speaker said (I'll paraphrase here) "We went wrong when we became more concerned about self esteem and less concerned about self-control." This is so true. If children have love, safety, and security their self esteem will be fine. Self-control is lacking across all aspects of our society. Self control. That is a gift you can give to the world if you can give your child a few lessons in that skill.  

I've had so many students in heart-wrenching situations in these teaching years. I think this job gets harder and harder for all teachers. In part because of the increasing demands placed on us and in part because more and more students come needing so much love and structure. Their worlds are a mess. It is so many kinds of wrong that students are looking to school in hopes those needs will be met. 

I am so tired this evening. It was such a long day. I arrived at home after 8 p.m. tonight. I was just ready to doze and recalled that I forgot to print something I wanted to have ready for my students tomorrow. Then I recalled a forgotten e-mail. Then I decided to laminate what I printed...and on it went. It is time to tell my tired brain...to shut up...and go to bed! 

Blue is the Color!

My oh my! The week is done! We had a lot of preparations for Read Across America next week. We have a door and bulletin board to decorate. I am sooo over bulletin board decor. An amazing parent has been helping me this year or it would be VERY dull. We have to decorate with a Dr. Seuss theme. I took photos of the kids looking down today so their pictures will have a Dr. Seuss book in front of them as though they are reading and a "Cat in the Hat" Hat upon their heads. They also learned how to draw the "Cat in the Hat" today. My amazing parent is coming on Monday to put this all together for me.

Wednesday night is a "Family Reading Night" that I was asked to help out with. We do get a small stipend to help that night. My classroom is also being used that evening. I have a lot to accomplish before next week. Thursday night is the 2nd Grade musical. There will be a few late nights at school. Monday we have visiting author Eric A. Kimmel coming to visit our school. We have an assembly with him presenting. Then we have musical practice. Tuesday and Wednesday we have two 1 hour musical practices. Thursday a practice then a school assembly showing off their musical. I am not sure when teaching is going to occur with all these events. I guess I will figure it out. It was a bit difficult figuring out a schedule.

The most wonderful thing happened this week. This summer just before school started my hallway wall was painted 70's orange. It was so 70's I went to look for Alice in the kitchen. This week they

decided they should do some touch up on the walls before the next Parent-Teacher Conferences. Something went terribly wrong. It was the same paint on the same wall. A chemical reaction occurred that made it look like someone had smeared mud on the wall. They came back with primer and tried to paint over the primer and it happened again. The struggle the discussion and frustration levels were high! I said it's okay I'll just make sure I do some really big decorations around my door! This afternoon they came in and said "Which color do you like better?" The two options were another orange and a lovely blue. I pointed eagerly at the blue. I had to seek out my colleagues and ask "BLUE OR ORANGE?" High fives for blue! I hope to come in one day and see a lovely blue hallway! I am filled with hope!

A parent took some initiative and decided to build me some "lockers" for students to hang their coats and backpacks. I need to do some shopping at the hardware store to get the materials! This will save on a few arguments over backpack and coat placement. I had been trying to come up with a lot of solutions to this problem. I am very thankful the parent is helping me out!

My buddy came to hang out with me tonight. He wanted to watch a cartoon for a bit. Then my I-Pad. We played a game on there together for awhile. Needless to say we stayed entertained for the few hours he was with me.

I have a stuffy nose and have been fighting a cold. I smelled a terrible smell in my kitchen but my sniffer was letting me down as I tried to sniff out the culprit. I finally went to put something in the dishwasher and WOOOWEEE! I identified the culprit. By that time I had cleaned out my fridge of possibilities and emptied my trash. The dishwasher is on the "Heavy" wash cycle now! Yikes!

Have a great weekend!

It's all learning! For grownups too!

Well..... another staff meeting I survived. We went over how to look at our testing data on the national testing service provider we use. I had been looking at my data a lot. The bad news is most teachers do not know how to read statistics. (Including me). I keep looking at it until I have some understanding. The good news is only four students did not make gains in all subject areas. There are a lot of things going on there. The bad news is I have many students way below grade level. It is frustrating. Looking at the data recently I realized  that they needed more practice reading a text and answering questions about it. Daily practice referring back to the text to find answers. I have a few with major reading issues. However, the majority will benefit from  practicing referring back to the text to find answers. I also realized they needed more practice reading charts and graphs. A few of the areas in math they needed work on were areas we have not studied yet.

If your child is a struggling reader and things are not improving by second grade. Start simple get their eyes checked. So many reading issues are related to vision problems. If that does not help them then discuss more with the teacher. I have had so many students this year that just needed glasses! They are behind in reading but are making progress very quickly because they can now see the words clearly. Vision changes can occur quickly in children so maybe they don't have issues one year, but the next year they do.  This is a great article on vision in school aged children. 

Another frustration I have and I have talked with parents both in and out of the school setting is math fact fluency. If your child isn't speedy it does not mean they are not fluent mathematically. Thinking deeply about math and seeing patterns, relationships, and other strategies is way more important than quickly know how to add all of my plus 4's. Time limits are okay as long as they are reasonable. If it takes them 4 minutes to complete a 2 minute test are they less fluent? I would say not. However, if it took them an hour I'd say we have some issues there. Here is an article to support this idea that fast isn't necessarily evidence of fluency.

Observation Day

I have a hole in my sock. If that doesn't sum up the day I don't know what does. At some point during the day I noticed....holey sock.

I was observed this morning. I think that was the last time my students had decent manners. I am thankful they were giving it their best effort while administration was there.  After that behavior was all downhill. I asked them at one point "Did you all forget how to behave in the classroom this weekend?" It was nutty.

My observation went well. I know it didn't go badly because if it did they have so many hours to discuss it with you afterwards.  My post observation has been delayed...indefinitely. I did have a bit of technical difficulty. The presentation I made had graphics that would not show up.  I even played it before school and it worked. I did the graphics a bit differently and we will review with it tomorrow.

Apparently my soup I ate for lunch was JUST enough to get me to the end of the day. When the kids left all I could think was "I am HUNGRY."  

I only had one sick student today. I hope we can stay healthy. I have a bit of a cough and a sore throat. I don't feel terrible. I would appreciate that all ending, but it isn't at a point I can't deal.

Next week we have Musical Practice two times daily all week. Yes, two times daily. That is just crazy. I had to read the schedule twice to make sure that was correct. I really have to cram teaching in between all of these other interruptions.

One more day...

Apparently all my green tea, vitamin c, b vitamins, EmergenC, essential oils,  etc etc went to work doing their job. I felt so much better yesterday. I wasn't achy or chilly. I am still coughing and sneezing a bit, but not too bad. I continue my fluid flush and hope the worst is behind me. I am thankful today is a holiday. It gives me one more day to get well.

I went in to school again yesterday. I completed more of my lesson plan and even created an interactive presentation to go with my lesson. I may go out again today to prep a couple more things. I could work all weekend without any breaks and still feel like I should do more. One needs breaks to feel refreshed and ready to take on the challenge again.

Right now I am tackling the laundry pile. It was getting pretty impressive. Last night I went to purchase the ingredients to make a Hot Toddy. I came home and made myself one. I asked colleagues what kind of booze to purchase. They gave me some good advice because I  didn't mind it. I think the cloves, cinnamon sticks, and lemon blocked most of the booze flavor. I hoped I would sleep well. It didn't turn out that way as I'd been drinking tea and water all day. So the consequences of that were many visits to the bathroom. I did sleep well in between bathroom breaks. I woke up pretty congested this morning so more tea and water for me today.

A recent topic of discussion lately has been... What is the thing you want to do but it is never the "right time."  The idea is that the time is never going to be right, so just do it. Just start. I'm not talking about cleaning the garage or some other task you hate. I'm talking about the thing you really WANT to do. So go START.

Thank you to George and Abe for being born in the same month. Thank you to those folks in 1885 who thought we needed to honor George.  Enjoy your day. Also, Happy Birthday to my Dad. He needs a hot toddy too! Dad drink your tea, take your vitamins, and just do what mom tells you too! 😃 HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Weekend

I didn't get much accomplished today. I slept in YAY! Well I went back to sleep after my alarm went off. I apparently knocked the alarm off my nightstand in my sleep. I had to search for it in the dark to turn it off. Luckily, I had no trouble at all falling back to sleep.

This afternoon I went to school to work on some prep for next week. I had forgotten that Missoula Children's Theater had been working with students on a play and the play was today. I had to sneak in because I didn't want to attend. I went to my room, locked the door, and only turned on one corner light. I did get part of my math lesson completed. I started feeling worse and worse. Achy, sneezy, coldy 😰, and coughy! Those are Sneezy's cousins.
 

I got home and broke out the green tea and vitamin c. Then I started having chills. I took some acetaminophen and waited for that to work. I am drinking a lot of water and tea. I hope I caught it in time to flush it from my system. I don't have time to be sick.  When drinking this quantity of liquids you end up spending a lot of time in the WC!


I am introducing a new topic in my math lesson. I hope it goes well! With my students I feel like I never know from day to day. My poor class is a bunch of coughing, sneezing, sick, kids. It's not any wonder I am feeling it. I was very generous with my Lysol usage this week as the little germ spreaders seemed to all be coughing. Hopefully, this three day weekend will be enough to get most of them healthy.

I hope to get a little more accomplished tomorrow! I had thought about driving up north since the road has been reopened. The dam break washed out the road. I'm glad I didn't make the drive.

My amazing Granny turned 96 today. I wish I was there to give her a hug! Happy Birthday Granny!

I have a Rant on! Beware!

One of the greatest disappointments of my adult life was revisiting my childhood library. I loved walking in the cool quiet building to look for the next great read. I looked forward to the peace and quiet to search for that next book. Quietly searching the shelves, looking at book covers, flipping pages, seeking favorite authors, in the peaceful quiet. Revisiting it there were kids running around yelling, no one shushed them. There was no corner for quiet study or reflection. I guess that is a general sign of the times. That general lack of respect. I am sure my mom would've loved to yell across the library that it was time to go when I'd already started reading my next book. She didn't because that is rude.

I am very disappointed again. My district put together a team of teachers to pick a new reading curriculum. These are the teachers with masters in reading instruction. Not sure what they learned working on their masters, I don't think they learned how students learn to read. Sooooo we are going to get a less than stellar, poor quality curriculum. It will be sparkly, shiny, beautiful and have lots of worksheets YAY! (ahem) I understand why teachers want these types of curricula. It takes the "thinking and planning" out of the equation. Heck they even give you suggested dialogue. This just kills the soul of instruction in my opinion. EVEN WORSE...is that they provide readers. It sounds great right? It is NOT. In Kindergarten or First grade they can fit complete stories into the readers. In second on up...they edit and cut out huge chunks of great literature just to provide a "reader." UGGH
😩. So sad....  I can only hope that the Math Team is picking a quality curriculum.

I spoke with a colleague about it. She'd decided that she might go teach at a college. She said maybe the only way to create change is to teach teachers and future teachers how to teach reading.  I talked with mom and told her one thing I'd heard "Kindergartners can't learn that letters make more than one sound that is too overwhelming for them."  ARRRGGGHHHH Mom said "That is dumb...How to kids learn foreign languages at  a young age if they can't work that out?"

Yeah.... this is in partly why the American Education System is failing....rant over...for now

That Store!

I had to be a grown up and go to Wal-Mart tonight. I waited till an hour I thought there would be a few less people there. I timed it okay. I decided to grab some Vitamin C and of course that is in the aisle right in front of the pharmacy. The aisle the pharmacy uses to line up their customers. So of course they wouldn't move out of the way so I could grab some Vitamin C. I finally got it. I hate Wal-Mart. I also bought a couple electronic items I needed for my kids to start their claymation. Just when I thought I had everything... I thought of something else! I think (knock on wood) we are ready.

One of our local schools is near the river that flooded. Many homes of students have been condemned and their families lost everything. The school sent us and e-mail asking for clothing, bedding, furniture, non-perishable foods etc. When I went to that terrible store I picked up some towels and pillows. I thought to myself. I wouldn't want a used pillow. My school is collecting items to drop off at the site that is distributing them to families. I talked with my students about it. It is hard to explain to them that every single thing they own they cannot use because it was contaminated by sewage. I finally told them sewage is everything you flush down the toilet. Then they had a little bit of a picture. I hope it will help them to think of others. A few of my students are really, really spoiled.

One of my students is with a babysitter who does not accept anything less than stellar behavior. She provides a lot of structure for children that really need it. The student told me today that they didn't need to behave because they weren't with the babysitter today. Well then....!

I am trying to think of what else is new, but I can hardly keep my eyes open. G'nite

👀

As much of the town is in their boots trying to help others survive high waters. I am staying out of the way. I decided not to be a "looky-loo."  Sounds as though there are a lot of messes. The water level is supposed to peak tomorrow then begin to recede.

I didn't accomplish a lot today. I did get a few loads of laundry today. I put my class Valentines together! I printed a few things. I laminated a couple of things. Then I finished my day off by picking up mail and going to the grocery store. I went to Wal-Mart because there were a couple of things I needed to get there. I spotted shop-lifters stuffing a backpack full of stuff in the back-pack aisle. I notified an old lady employee then realized I'm not sure she was very with it. I found some young ones who were in pursuit of the culprits. I decided my shopping should probably come to a close there since the shoppers spotted me spotting them.  I checked out and went on my way. I did get everything on my list!

My plan for tomorrow is to go in to work and complete next weeks lesson plans. Tuesday is Valentine's Day. So there will be some hyped up, sugared up, nutty kids. 👀👀👀! I will take extra vitamins!

It rains

We're experiencing a lot of water. Tonight it is expected to turn to snow. It's a mess all over the place.

Today was a little nutty. A colleague went home  yesterday sick with a 103 degree fever. Needless to say she was absent today. Unfortunately, we also ran out of substitutes. So her class was split between the other 6 classes. It's amazing how only three more kids can make such a big difference. It poured down rain most of the day so much so that by afternoon recess the playground was such a big muddy puddle that it was cancelled. Some of the students had to complete some school work during recess. The others got to play with these!  They haven't gotten too creative with them yet but they really like them. They are such simple toys, but they really like them. Probably because most kids do not have toys like these at home anymore.

It was interesting having students from another class in my room. They were completely lost in math. It is a bummer because what we did today was pretty basic 2nd grade material. This stupid curriculum these other teachers are attempting to teach are turning them into terrible math teachers. It really is the curriculum. It is HORRIBLE. Rant over....for now. I sometimes wish I could just teach math to all the 2nd graders. I think in some ways I would become really bored. I just hate seeing them learning math in this manner.

I am soooo glad it is Friday. I do need to go into work for a bit this weekend. I did get some preparations done during my prep time today. We have less than 80 school days left....and I have a lot left to teach! ACCCK

Flooding

Tonight when I came home from work i did more work. I was creating labels to help create a literacy rich environment. At my last job if there was too much on the walls the Fire Inspector would tear it down and leave it on the floor or if he was feeling generous on a desk. We don't have as strict a Fire Marshall here. I spent about an hour creating word labels with marked phonograms and spelling rules. I need to laminate them, but that will not occur this evening.

We had our 2nd day of training today. It was as exciting as I imagined it would be. In other news the camera, clay, and tripod came. I think I can get my students started on making a claymation. I found out one reason I was having trouble downloading software is that it is not allowed on student computers. I can login under me on a student computer so I hope that will be enough to allow the students to access the software when they are ready for it. I am excited to get them going on it. The other two students that are working on the newsletter. One is more gung-ho than the other. I decided today I need to let the gung-ho one run with it. If the other one decides to hop in and do more they can, but I won't let the second hold up progress.  I tried to find another project for another group of students. I think I will have them work on a Prezi it is a presentation software. The students would have to research a topic then present it too the class. I just need to get the first couple groups on the move before I add another project to my plate.

At about 6p.m. I really thought I needed to go to bed. I managed to stay up just long enough that I got my second wind. bummer! The problem is that if I fall asleep too early I wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back to sleep, but don't feel awake enough to accomplish anything. It's a balance. I did accomplish the goal of making dessert for our Friday Lunch tomorrow. I was debating stopping at the store in the a.m. and  just picking up a dessert. It sounded like the best idea a few hours ago. I managed to get it done!

I hope to have a nice quiet weekend this weekend to recuperate from a  few busy weeks. I'd thought about heading up north to do some shopping. Unfortunately, there is extensive flooding and a road completely washed out. A dam has failed in another town. Quite a few of our parents are struggling to leave their homes to get their students to school. We had a lot of rain on a lot of snow. It's a mess. The school district told parents to make arrangements with the school if they couldn't make it safely. I think my driveway is flooded ;) nawww! Tomorrow is FRIDAY!

I work with really wonderful people. Have I mentioned that. It isn't that I didn't work with some good people before, it is just that we were all stretched so thin you felt like you were perpetually treading water. What is great here is that you have time to communicate and collaborate in a meaningful way. We help each other out. I still can't believe how wonderful it is to drop my students off at specials. Having that time to prepare, grade, etc. is just fantastic. I even have time to go to the bathroom. I hope I do not take this for granted.

Shutting My Brain Off

I just realized I spent my entire evening preparing materials for school. I printed, laminated, and cut out materials. I suppose I accomplished a lot. My brain needs a break. I've had a lot of students out sick this week. Well, one is perpetually absent, one is at a funeral, and the rest were sick. It is tough to keep them all caught up on their work. Some won't be able to make it up. It's a bummer because they just fall further behind.

I stopped by the store on my way home to grab a few groceries. This Friday is our Friday to make lunch for the staff again. We are ordering pizzas. Which makes everything SOOO much less work. We do have to bring a dessert. It was strongly suggested/ordered once again that I make Special K Bars. I wasn't sure I had enough chocolate and so I bought some. I also picked up a couple of snacks to make it through my training tomorrow.

The students are being released at noon. Teachers will be attending professional development. The only super annoying part of this is that most of us just took a class on the topic. What we are being taught is material already covered. It feels like a massive waste of time. I am not sure why they are making everyone attend. This training is on the new science standards our state has adopted. Our district has not officially adopted them as of yet, but the school board is expected to approve them. The poor Art, Music, P.E. teachers, support staff, and special ed. staff was required to attend. Today once we covered what we'd already learned we discussed important grade level things such as what dessert to bring Friday.

It has been pouring down rain the last couple of days. I dam failed northeast of here and a town is flooded. Many people locally had their basements flood as well. The rain melted a lot of snow really fast.  So It is a mess. The playground is just an endless series of puddles we have to discourage students out of wading through. Lunch recess was cancelled today due to the rain. We can be outside in blowing snow, but must draw the line at rain.

I had to write a few notes to parents today. I've had to really crack down on behavior. I am trying to emphasize being prepared for third grade. Some of these kids are dealing with some tough home life issues. I have to remember they need more structure than any of the rest of the kids. What is amazing here is our school counselor is not pulled as much to other tasks. She helps a lot with student issues. Well, I need to shut my brain off and go to bed....

6 more weeks

Almost there! Tomorrow is Friday. I am ready. It has been one crazy busy week. We had our Buckaroo Breakfast. We also learned about branding. The kids got to "brand" a paper with paint using a real brand. They seemed to enjoy it. They also made stamped quilt squares in art. The art teacher was absent and the sub said "you have an interesting bunch." Indeed I do.  I had another student leave school sick today.

I came home tonight to some grumpy parents! I think they missed their afternoon nap.

Today was Ground Hog Day as well. We had to check out Punxatawney Phil's prediction. They weren't too excited to see six more weeks of winter. I told them he's an east coast ground hog he might be a little confused.  

Well... I need to get to bed! G'nite

Wednesday

Whew! Our poetry presentation went off without too many hitches!  Tomorrow is our Buckaroo Breakfast and a branding presentation.  I can't remember what is on Friday. I've been taking it a day at a time. Tonight every teacher had to take home a big bag of sausage to cook up for the breakfast. I put mine on a baking sheet and baked them. I wasn't standing in front of the pan to cook up that many sausages. I accomplished that homework! Whew!

I had one student who threw up at lunch today and went home. It seems like they usually throw up at lunch. Thank goodness. The lunch lady told her it was probably the yogurt and made her go to recess. She comes in to see me after recess and asks if she can take off her sweatshirt because she got throw up on it. Ummm yes... Then I sent her to the nurse. The nurse sent her home.

I had a parent meeting after school. All I will say is... brick wall...banging head.  Then I had a meeting to attend. It was for the "action team" I am part of. We are working on Family Engagement or something like that. I created a blog for the school. Which means that I don't have to do a lot of the other homework! Yeah! I also created a survey for the families. The blog has had minimal traffic. I think it is because there is NOT student work posted on there! I think if parents could brag about their students work that would change.

I have started off my two students on creating a classroom magazine. They are so gung ho! One sat through 5 tutorial videos. I told the student you can stop you don't have to keep watching. Nope!

 I've been trying to get a variety of material for my students to read. I just want them to read, read, read. Some students are great pretenders. They will sit and slowly turn pages. You can tell by how their eyes track the page whether they are reading or not. Anyhow, to get more kids reading I've ordered a couple of magazines for kids. I was hoping to find other options. Maybe I just need to place the Cabela's catalog in the student library and have them read product descriptions! HA! I ordered Calvin and Hobbes and Garfield. I will have to order more of those at some point. I expect a couple of battles over the comics!

I've been trying to get parent volunteers in to read with students. It is very disappointing how difficult this is. I have 2 parents so far. Some kids never turn in a reading log. They don't read at home. Turn on closed captioning on your TV hit the mute button and make them read that cartoon. You can also choose video games that make you read to figure out the next step. The parents who overuse those forms of entertainment can  make some better choices!

It's only Tuesday

This is a kind of discombobulated week this week! It is Western Folklife Week. Yesterday was a presentation on Ranch Life presented by ranch kids. Then they let the kids sit on a saddle on a saddle stand. From the saddle they were allowed to attempt to rope a roping dummy. They loved this and would have practiced it all afternoon if they had been allowed. FYI we do have Roping Club at school for 3rd-5th grade.

 Today we had a storyteller and poet Jack Sammon. He is from Australia and told the students about a 1,000 mile cattle drive he did back before there were enough roads and modern methods of transportation to move the cattle. There were only four cowboys on this drive with hundreds of cattle. His storytelling definitely created a picture in my mind. I don't know if the kids fully comprehended what a huge ordeal this would be. They would sleep in shifts at night taking turns watching over the cattle that would sometimes stampede. He also told a story of a 13 foot python that invaded his house over and over again looking to eat their dog. They finally just moved away because the python although relocated miles and miles away would keep returning. I'm not made for Australia.

We also heard Cowboy Celtic. They call themselves that because so many western tunes originate from traditional Irish and Scottish tunes. The kids really enjoyed them. They taught the classes how to yodel. Heaven help me. My little special needs buddy was yodeling and yodeling. I finally had to tell him to please turn his yodeler off until recess.

Tomorrow the students (if they chose too) are reading poetry they wrote for their 2nd grade peers and parents that show up.  Thursday we have the Buckaroo Breakfast. I have to bring home sausage to cook tomorrow night for the breakfast. Parents are invited to attend this as well.

Speaking of parents. I have a parent coming in to see me tomorrow. I am dreading it. I want to tell this mom to get a job or a hobby unrelated to her child. She is making mountains out of molehills. She is also making the kid needy, and anxious. If the mom would chill  the kid would chill. I have a  very busy class with a lot of issues going on. I can't tell this parent details like oh this child's parents are divorcing, this one's mom abandoned them, this one never knew their mom and dad is in prison, this one....... etc. etc. etc. I am doing the best I can helping these kids learn and deal with the emotional issues they have going on.

In other news I have about six students that are above grade level in every subject area. I have been attempting to figure out how to challenge them and still have them contribute in meaningful ways. I started one group on making a classroom magazine. They have been brainstorming. Tomorrow they will get on the computers and do a tutorial on using Microsoft Publisher. They are super excited so I am hopeful this will be a good thing! I have them in small groups. Students that excel are often not the best team players. I figure groups of two will be just right. The rest of the class will have opportunities to contribute to the magazine, but will not be working on it in any other way. My second group is going to work on creating a Claymation. I ordered a  cheap small digital camera, clay, and a tripod. When that all arrives they can get started. I am working on the software part. Our school computers do not have the necessary software. I am working on something for the next group. I  don't know what it will be....!  I have some things started and hopefully great things come from it.

Cowboys, Poetry, Western Folklife.

I caught a bug. Surprise Suprise!  I finally went on a much needed grocery store trip yesterday. My options were getting pretty sad.  I went in the evening on a cold night! I didn't have much competition at the grocery store. That was great because I knocked down my list pretty quickly.

I went in today to work on planning for next week. I spent 2 hours at school and felt like I accomplished very little. It is a little difficult to plan next week. The events for Western Folklife Week are interrupting regular class time. It was very nice that they tweaked the schedule so that we didn't miss our prep time. It is sooo strange to have prep time at school. In my last workplace it was before or after school. Then these times were often taken up by meetings. Having prep during the school day helps so much. You can tweak your lesson for the next day right after a lesson.  You are still fresh and not exhausted at the end of the day. Also, you aren't getting all your ducks in a row for the whole school day before school.

I have a parent that is driving me crazy. This is not a helicopter parent it is a hovercraft parent. The reality is I cannot tweak the entire school day to fit the needs of one student. If the student doesn't get what they want, when they want it, how they want it...etc. It is my fault for not meeting the needs of this student.  There are just a few others students in my classroom I need to be concerned about. Just a few. Of course this child is way more brilliant than the rest of the class. (ahem average) I need to make exceptions based on this (average) exceptional child.

Mom and Dad are on their way down for the National Poetry Gathering. They will have a busy week listening to some old school western and I don't even know what else.  To prepare for their arrival I went and bought ketchup. I also have cowboy beans in one crock pot, and a roast in the other. I need to finish by getting some sheets on their bed etc! While they are listening to Poetry I have been working with my students to prepare their own poetry. They will choose their favorite to share on Wednesday. The other 2nd grade classes and parents will be around to listen to them read their poems. It has been fun to read their poetry. Some of them are quite original.

Well, I'm off to finish all my chores...

Oh bloody boogers!

Well the weather has been so exciting! SO EXCITING! As a matter of fact all we are doing right now is figuring out how long until we can go to recess! Monday the roads were pretty awful. I had a lot of students absent because they couldn't get out of their driveway.  Today everyone was present, accounted for, and oh so talkative.

Yesterday I had a student walk up to me with a bloody finger. I said "Oh No! Did you slam it in your desk or something?"  "No, I have a bloody nose!"   Gag reflex in action as I realize that finger was up in her nostril!  I just filled out a nurse pass and sent her on her way. I grabbed my hand sanitizer  and Lysol wipes and tried to think about something else. 😖😲😷😷! That was gross!

Late Sunday Night or Early Monday morning a voice from nowhere made a sound. I was thinking "Who is talking? What did they say?" The voice came out of nowhere again! By the third time I realized it was saying "Low Battery!"  I couldn't figure out what was in my apartment that would announce it's batter was low. Then it was accompanied by that loud chirp that you get from a smoke detector. I finally figured out it was my Carbon Monoxide Detector. That does great things for your sleep. I am sure the neighbor above me was thinking "FIGURE IT OUT ALREADY!"  I was able to reset it. It made for a short night. I notified my landlord in the morning. They had it taken care of before I came home that day. I thanked my landlord not only for that but for keeping things plowed, shoveled, and deiced! It is wonderful to have that taken care of!

We finished the quarter and I finished grading. Now we start the 3rd quarter of school! We've been working on writing poetry this week. Students will be performing a poem next week during Western Folklife Week. We worked on acrostic poems today. Some of the kids had really amazing poems, but some were hysterically terrible. I had them write at least two poems so they could choose a favorite. The poems have to be related or pertaining to Western Life!  Tomorrow we will work on Cinquains!  I've been reading them a lot of poetry this week to get them in the spirit! I was trying to find the name of one of the poetry books I've been reading from. I will post the name tomorrow!
This group will be performing at our school next week:

Deserve

I've been thinking about this word: Deserve

The way in which the word is used is to imply someone deserves something or does not deserve something.  On dictionary.com It is defined as "to be worthy of, qualified for, or have a claim to reward, punishment,recompense, etc."
Where the problem lies is when we start to feel as though we deserve this or that. What it leads to is a sense of entitlement. What we need to ask ourselves is "are we worthy of ____."  Do we have a claim to ____." We have to understand that we may be worthy of a reward or a punishment.  If you start feeling like you are deserving of a reward, recompense, or have some claim, take a moment to think that through. To ask if you are worthy is to ask if you have earned it. Have you earned what you desire? Sometimes your existence is not enough to say that we are worthy of  a, b, or c. We can even think we deserve to be treated terribly. When we walk around thinking we "deserve" something we have not earned it is dangerous thinking. Are we worthy of it? Have we earned it? Can we truly lay claim to it?  I feel that people by their mere existence are worthy of being treated with dignity, to pursue happiness, to work for their goals, and to feel safe. Please be careful with the word "deserve." 

Fewer

It's been a night of cooking! It's our Friday lunch tomorrow. Second grade making lunch for the school. I am making a breakfast casserole. It is all ready to put together I just don't want to put it in to early or it might get overcooked. It was strongly suggested/ordered that I make Special K bars. I was so tired this evening that I was debating it. I had a second wind and got up to make them. Hopefully, that will make everyone happy.

I have a student that argues about every single thing. I have to be very careful not to get engaged in a power struggle. Today this student was exceptionally naughty. I had to message the parent. They had all kinds of justifications and wanted to argue with me. I had to be careful in how I worded my response so that I didn't end up in an argument with the parent. Sooo that explains where this child is learning this behavior. My concern is that the child will have fewer and fewer friends. It is frustrating that the parent can't see the bigger picture.

It is the end of the quarter and the end of the grading period. I have some grading left to finish. Tomorrow is Friday!

No more cupcakes!

The good news is that it warmed up a bit to snow. The bad news is there is still no sunshine. I'm not used to that in this state! Sounds like we will be getting snow through next week. We had sleet this evening then snow. I expect the buses will be a little late in the morning.

It is the end of the 2nd quarter. So I am trying to finish grades and get them put in my grade book. The end of the quarter always comes a bit quicker than I am prepared for. We are preparing for Western Folklife Week at school. Next week we will be working on western poetry in our class. The following week we have an event every day related to this event. It sounds a little hectic! Mom and Dad will be down visiting for the National Event that week.

I have about three boys in my class and one girl that are poster children for ADHD. They should avoid all processed foods, sugar, and food dye. I've discovered the detrimental effects with lovely store bought heavily frosted cupcakes for birthdays. The effect is so dramatic that it is difficult to explain. These kids lose all impulse control!  We had another birthday. The parent that brought the cupcakes looked at me like "OH MY WORD."  Ummm yes this is why we have cupcakes at the very end of the day and then I send them home.

Our turn at our Friday lunch is this Friday. Tomorrow after school I will be preparing for that in between finishing inputting grades. Our new grade book software program is still having serious glitches. It is very frustrating. It doesn't function like it should!

When I left for work this morning it was about seven degrees. It had warmed up to about 14 degrees by recess time. One of my students came to school without a coat or any sort of winter gear for our snow covered playground. I asked where it was " I didn't bring it!" So, as a result the student had to sit inside for recess. At these temperatures it could be dangerous. This is the second day without a coat. The parents are quite young and immature. They need a little parenting guidance. This student has also missed so much school this year I don't see how it can be caught up.

Well, I am off to sleep!

Pogonip

On our local weather page they posted this photo:



















It had the caption:  Hey, Remember these things?

It has been overcast for what seems like weeks. There has also been a lot of fog. A LOT of fog! We've mostly had freezing fog, because it is cold! Pogonip is the story of the month. When you walk outside on a quiet evening, and there is freezing fog, listen and you can hear a crackle in the air. It's amazing. So after all of this living without sunshine I was ready for our usual blue skies and cold temperatures.They arrived today! I was soooo happy to see that beautiful blue! Yes it is cold. It was especially chilly at recess today. I didn't mind though because the sun was out. I needed my vitamin D!

"The mountains of Nevada appear to be the favorite home of pogonip. What is Pogonip? A fog that freezes onto trees and bushes. It is an Ice Fog (also called ice-crystal fog, frozen fog, frost fog, frost flakes, air hoar, rime fog) composed of suspended particles of ice.

It occurs at low temperatures, and usually in clear, calm weather in high latitudes. The sun is usually visible and may cause halo phenomena.

Pogonip is an Indian Paiute Shoshone word."  U.S. National Weather Service

Friday Lunch

It's been a busy week. I can't remember if I made any progress or accomplished anything significant. Which is scary. It was a week of delayed starts, late buses, snow, snow, indoor recess, and overly excited kids.

We started our first week of intervention rotations. I should tell you all the reasons why this is a good thing. It isn't. It's being sold  as though it is a really good concept. It isn't. Am I required to do so? Yes, I am. I have the lowest group of students. The intervention we decided to focus on was phonics. I am teaching them a kinesthetic way to learn letters and letter sounds. I did have one break through there a student looked at the word wine and said with a mixture of delight and confusion " I thought that said WIN!?" So we discussed that tricky silent final e and its first job! I could see the light-bulb moment for her. Hopefully, she can retain this.

 It was a little nutty. I had a parent join us. When it was time for the students to return to their own classes She looked at me and asked  "Are they always like this?" Referring to her very active son and another boy. I replied "Yes, but your son has pauses where he is moving but not talking, the other one talks and moves all day long." There are no moments of silence with the second. Even during our daily moment of silence. She looked at me in horror and said "I don't know how you do it!"  Truthfully I don't know either. She has made huge changes in lifestyle with her child. Making sure he doesn't eat processed food or food with dye. This can make a big difference in a child with attention issues. The other child those changes have not occurred. When  I release them at the bells ring, I enjoy the quiet. When I get home it is a sigh of relief. I allow for a lot of talk time to discuss learning.  There are some folks who do not know how to enjoy the quiet.

A friend messaged me tonight and she and her kids are going to be in town tomorrow. She is going to come for a visit. I ran to the store to get the "fixings" for breakfast burritos. Tonight I was at my friends for dinner so I ran to the store and bought a few other items on my list. After school today I visited the chiropractor and received a much needed adjustment. It feels much much better. He told me after my appointment to keep moving. My relief was so great I really just wanted to go take a nap. Instead I went to visit friends because I knew that if I went home my pajamas would call my name.

It is a lovely three day weekend this weekend. I should be able to get some laundry done, grade some papers, plan for next week, clean house, and get a little rest. This weekend is coming at the right time!

We were grilling our Principal about a possible curriculum adoption for next year. We did not receive any definitive answers. The push from many is for a free poor quality math curriculum. The quality is so poor I have found countless mistakes. I am horrified by the methodology and the sequence. It is not a state approved curriculum because of its poor quality and weird methodology. If we adopt it expect my head to explode. Simply put it's crap.

Next week is our "Friday Lunch." Every Friday a different grade level provides lunch. We had to sign up for four times a school year. This will be our second. Our last lunch we provided all the items needed for tacos. This time we are going to provide "Brunch for Lunch!" We are providing a spiral ham, several breakfast casseroles, muffins, fruits, and desserts. I am doing a crockpot breakfast casserole. It was requested quite strongly of me that I "Bring those yummy bars of deliciousness again." It was also suggested that I make a pan just for our grade level. So I will be making those as well.

I just put in a load of dishes. My pj's are calling and so is my pillow! G'nite

It's been awhile...

Christmas, New Year's, Back to Work!

I apparently have been too busy to keep up with writing  on my blog lately. During my break I took a break from pretty much everything! I didn't grade a single paper(even though I'd planned too.) I did get some school related work done. I avoided bad roads and did a little after Christmas shopping. My first week back walking on the ice into school I did the ever-so-graceful banana peel style slip onto my behind. I was carrying two bags and only a couple of items fell from my hands. I've been sore but not bruised like you'd think. I did get my back out of whack  a bit. I need to visit a chiropractor. It's been either snowing, raining, snowing, sleeting, hailing, snowing, or snowing since I came back from Christmas break. I think actually my last day of nice weather was the day I drove back. So that worked out well.

I was able to hang out with my buddies before going back to work. We haven't had a snow day yet but several delayed starts since school started again. It takes a lot of snow combined with wind to close school here. We have had testing going on in one form or another this month. The end of the month is Western Folklife Week. Next week we honor Martin Luther King Jr. The week after is Chinese New Year. Then a short break until Valentine's Day.  That will keep things hopping.

My little buddy is hanging out with me tonight. When I picked him up he greeted me with a big huge smile! I asked him what the plan was. He told we we were going to get slurpies then he would play on my I-pad. He's accomplished his goals ;-)

Well I need to get some things done for tomorrow! ttyl

The important questions....

The Reno Gazette Journal is obviously trying to answer the important questions...
https://www.facebook.com/RGJmedia/videos/10157875195725632/

Good intentions

I had all of these good intentions of getting up early, leaving for work early, and getting a great deal accomplished before school. I got up early. Had an epic battle with my printer and lost. Left later than I'd wanted, but still arrived on time. We had snow so I had to take it nice and easy over the hill to work. I was going to attempt to print at school what I could not at home. The copier we print to was broken down.  Mission failure. Sometimes you have to embrace the white flag and surrender.   What I was trying to print part of it I needed today. Luckily I was able to make do.

Tonight when I came home I waged war with my printer again. I won this time. I don't know what confounded the printer but it was good and confounded. I do think that the idiotic new Windows had something to do with it. Every time it does a stinking update something stops working properly. I dislike Windows with great intensity.

We began our "Christmas around the world" rotation today. It is kind of fun having students from other classes. They were as chatty as mine are and apparently they learned something despite that because they had a lot to share with their teacher. You never know what they are taking in when they appear to not be listening at all.  Our travels around the world continue until next week. I do this thing where we pretend we are taking off in an airplane to visit the country. The kids get such a kick out of this.  They have a "passport" they get stamps in with every country they visit. It is pretty tragic when they lose a stamp.

Anyhow, I had plans to go to bed early. It is too late to be early, but too early to be late... so I am off to bed....

Sunday

I opted out of going to the Christmas Baazar today. Instead I ran to Wal-Mart to get a few things I need for the week  and other items I was low on. Wal-Mart before a holiday is just a zoo. I survived. I am also working on laundry! It's good to have clean clothes. I did my weekly workout of changing my duvet cover. I have a little prep I need to do before next week. I have to be honest I am procrastinating a bit.

I keep adding notes to my to-do list because this week. I couldn't remember ANYTHING! I don't know if it was just tiredness or what. Double up on those vitamins.  

Christmas Decor

Well I went to the  Parade of Homes. It is kind of interesting seeing other peoples houses. They did have them all decked out for Christmas. A couple of them were combining it with their desire to sell a product they were pushing. Most of the appetizers served were meatballs. One house had beef and horseradish something or other, cheeseburger soup, tri-tip ,  ginger beef something or other. I hate it when they mess up perfectly good beef with nasty spices. Will I do it next year.... maybe not.

Tomorrow I might go to a Christmas Bazaar for a little bit. We shall see.
G'nite

Later....

Made it through another week. Didn't lose anyone and no major injuries. I had a bonus today of a absent difficult student. It was like a Friday gift. I'm not saying I was at school late tonight but I am saying the janitor asked me to make sure the lights were turned off and a few  doors were locked before I left. If I am not ready for the next couple of weeks it isn't from a lack of trying to be ready. Next week we start our grade level "Christmas around the world" rotations. Each teacher is teaching the class how Christmas is celebrated in different parts of the world. I am teaching about France. In the past I did this but I did several countries alone in my classroom. This is fun for the kids to rotate and experience other classrooms and other teachers. 

Tomorrow the local cattlewomens' association is doing a fundraiser. It is a "Parade of Homes."  It is a short parade with only four homes participating. Apparently each home is decorated for Christmas. Supposedly decorated to the extent it looks as though Christmas decor threw up all over their house. Since this event is put on by the local Cattlewomens' Association they server beef appetizers at every home. Dad asked me if that meant "all beef hot-dogs." I am guessing probably not. 

I was trying to get all my preparations complete for the next couple of weeks tonight because tomorrow the school is having a "Christmas Jamboree" it is a arts and crafts fair of sorts. I didn't want to be attempting to get prepared with that going on. Hopefully I didn't forget something major that I will need to return for later.

Well I am tired. My pajama's are calling.

G'nite