A New Year Again

It's that time of year again!   Yellow busses are ubiquitous.  Little kids and big are getting up earlier and making their way to school.    Another year has begun!  

Hello Fall! 

"They Grow Up so Fast!"

"They grow up so fast!"

This comment is muttered frequently this time of year as school-age kids are finishing up their programs.   It is a time of transitions.

Preschoolers become kindergartners and elementary students become middle schoolers who become high schoolers.

Seniors in high school are ready to gain independence and move on to college or make their way into the world.  Similarly college seniors receive their credentials and eagerly venture into"the real world."

This year I've got three moving forward to new things

• Kristen is my cousin's daughter. She is independent and so intelligent.  She is graduating from her class of 30 and will head off to Drake University in the fall to pursue the sciences.  
• Lexis is the daughter of my daughter's best friend.  She is smart and very athletic.  She graduates with honors and has plans to further her education in Wisconsin on an athletic scholarship. 
• Dane is my grandson.  He is handsome, witty, and amazing.  (I may have a bit of a bias!)  He plans to play baseball, swim, and build things this summer then begin kindergarten in the fall.  

So to all the graduates everywhere I give the words of Dr. Seuss: 

Today is the day! 

Your mountain is waiting

so get on your way. 

Do you have any new graduates in your life? 

What Do Teachers Make ?

Teachers Make a Difference

The view today is *SNOW*

This is the view from my world today--from my window overlooking the front yard to be exact.  The snow began falling at 2 pm yesterday afternoon and laid a nice white blanket over everything by 5:00.  It continued snowing  off and on throughout the night and this is what I woke up to this morning.  The temperature is bitterly cold and is expected to be even colder tomorrow.  Wind chills are reaching  -20 to -30  degrees F.  

The fun this is that they canceled school today.  I am sure there were groans from parents who had to scramble around to make arrangements for children, but many cheers from kids and teachers.  

The extra nice thing was that they ( the school big-wigs)  called school off by 8pm last night which let me have a little more freedom in deciding what time to go to bed and what time to wake up this morning.  There is nothing worse for a late owl like me than waking up early in the morning for work only to find out work has been canceled.  Even if I stay in bed, it's not the same as sleeping in for the day.   

Since we have only been back at school for 3 days, having this snow day isn't as exciting and refreshing as a surprise snow day in mid February after teaching 5 weeks.  But...... I'll take it!  And it looks like I'll take another one tomorrow.  The message just came that they are calling it tomorrow too-and it is only afternoon~  Yeah!   I think I am liking this new superintendent.    I appreciate the advance notice. 

So now I can sit back and enjoy my warm beverage, snuggle in my afgan, and do some pleasure reading....  and tomorrow the alarm clock stays off and I am sleeping in! 

Maybe I will get caught up on reading all the blogs I want to read!

Just what I Need!

Uh oh. I did it again. Let me loose with a credit card, the Internet, and a desire to learn and I spend WAY too much money!

I bought 7-8 books today. Here is my rationalization:

I bought 2-3 books on teaching students who are not native English speakers. This was my first year teaching ELL's [English Language Learners] and it was a steep learning curve. My students were literally just off the boat and it was time to test them with our state tests for No Child Left Behind and accountability. Now how can you test someone who cannot even speak the language?? I don't get it, but it doesn't matter-- it is a fact. I must teach these children and I need some help from others who have gone before me. Therefore, a couple of books on strategies to use with ELL's.

Then I also found some books on writing-- a good little book by Ralph Fletcher teaching children to write the story or their lives. It looks like an informative book written for kids on their level. I had to have it!

The "sisters" have a new book out called The Cafe that is a good nuts and bolts book on how to make literacy work in the classroom --conferences, assessments, mini-lessons--everything. I saw lots of charts in this book, so I thought it was a must read!

None of the books I bought were simply for pleasure. They all have to do with teaching and learning. I wonder if I could get a tax break?? Probably not.

Those of you who know me well know that what I really need is more books. My only problem now is where am I going to put them??

A modern day connection

We're learning about the body systems and a group were presenting on the Nervous System. They explained that the brain sends and receives messages by way of the nerves and spinal cord. A girl raised her hand and made this timely connection: It's like texting---only faster!

Being known

A first grader approached me in the hall on the way to lunch. She asked me what grade I was in. I replied I was in 4th grade and asked her if she knew anyone in 4th grade. I thought perhaps she had an older sibling or cousin.

The young girl thought for a minute then said, "Nope, except for MM." I told her that I knew MM, but that she was not in my class. The girl looked at me again with a puzzled look on her face. "What's your name?" she asked. Again, I replied and told her my name.

Immediately, the little girl blurt out " I've never heard of you in my life!" then spun around and walked off.

I guess that is that!

Dogs on the Loose

One day last week while eating lunch, the voice on the intercom notified us that all children will be brought inside and there would be no outdoor recess until further notice. A loose dog was in the area and this was all done for safety's sake. Within the next few minutes, I saw our school resource officer out in the parking lot scanning the area. While I thought "this is a first" I didn't feel it was scary. I was glad our school was taking a safety view of the situation.

Later in the afternoon I went to the office and inquired what the details were. They had not much to offer except the fact that Joint Communications had called saying there was a report of a vicious dog in the area.

The evening news filled in most of the gaps and made the whole situation even more scarier than what i had imagined. At a nearby shopping area, two pitbulls were loose in the parking lot chasing customers. People were running up on their hoods and roofs of their vehicles to escape the dogs. One store manager tried to distract a dog from chasing a woman and succeeded in getting bitten. One woman reported that she went driving around the parking lot to warn people just pulling in to stay in their cars. Imagine if you had your young children with you --how would you escape the raging dogs?

Eventually the police arrived and they attempted to distract the dogs. One dog lunged at the policeman and the dog was shot. The other ran off later to be found back at his nearby home.

The owner of the dogs was cited for assault.

Letting my imagination run, I wonder what the scene would've been if the dogs had made their way to the schoolyard where kids were out playing at recess. Now that's scary!