Happy me!

This post is so different from yesterday.
This is yet another post about me managing to wrangle children into the Guys Read book club that I’ve been going on about.
I was so impressed with one of my recruits. When he came over late in the evening, I explained to him what I expected of him, and [...]

Blue, confused, contradictory and melancholy me, part II

I am sitting here wondering what’s wrong with me. I’ve been putting up these b.s. posts all week because I just can’t get myself to finish the 9 posts that I’m working on. It’s always like this right after school ends.
I pray and wish and hope for it all year long; then when it comes, [...]

More reading lists

I have been on a quest to find books for reluctant readers so I have been checking sooooo many websites that have book lists. I found one called [...]

MasterCard moment, part II

What with all of my children being home for the summer, plus a nephew=5, the post-a-holic anonymous meetings, and trying to keep my sanity, I have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I am finally getting around to making the stuff for my Guys Read book club. It is taking [...]

Reluctant readers, Part II

This Guys Read stuff has taken on a life of its own. I have gotten comments from a couple of people and I thought about how it connected to the larger picture of my wanting to motivate unmotivated learners. [...]

On the Hill by Lisa Jahn-Clough

I found this adorable little book for Phillise at, you guessed it, the .99¢ store. The drawings are very simplistic; enough to catch the eye of a five year old.

The Houghton Mifflin website says that this book is for ages 5-8, but I think that it’s too babyish for 8 year olds. I would only [...]

You be YOU, part II

I’m 36, 5′0 tall and very curvaceous. My niece, Jayelle, is 14, almost 6 ft. tall and as thin as a rail. I stopped growing up, but not out at twelve; at fourteen and almost 6 ft. tall, she is still growing upPPP. Suffice it to say that I am shaped like most black [...]

Time Flies by Eric Rohmann

I brought this book out of its hiding place because of the post that I wrote on imagination earlier this week. Again, I was rotating my books and came upon this one that was originally Sam’s. It’s written by 2003 Caldecott Award winner Eric Rohmann.

Published in 1993, it won a Caldecott honor award. The drawings, [...]

Summer reading list

I found a great list of books for summer reading from this site. On the lists are a recommended list of books for children from pre-K to high school to read for the summer.
Just a warning- it’s a pdf file. Sometimes they can take a long time to open. They won’t open if you don’t [...]

Who’s reading this blog, anyway?

After thinking about my readership going down on the weekends, I wanted to know who was reading my stuff anyway. Why do you read this? Are you weird like me? Do you also have an offbeat sense of humor like me? Are you getting anything out of this? Who are you? Let me know [...]

Graduation 2007

It’s official. My baby has graduated from high school. Here are some pix. Enjoy!

This was such a cute picture of us that I just had to post it.

Sam, Auntie Camille, Dakota

Me, Phillise, Phillip, Camille, Sam, Dakota & David

Books wanted for reluctant readers!

I got a great idea thanks to Max Elliot Anderson. He responded to one of my posts about reluctant readers by recommending some of his. I would ask the same of those of you out there who also know of great books for tweeners (9-13). I already have Jon Scieszka and now Max Elliot Anderson. [...]

Blue, confused, contradictory, and melancholy me!!

How apropos! I am sitting here listening to the Corrs w/Bono sing “When the Stars Go Blue” and that’s exactly how I feel. I am so blue. So melancholy.
I am such a contradiction. By Christmas break, I am counting down the days until summer vacation. Then once the end of school nears, I don’t want [...]

Confessions of a crazed Post-A-Holic

For all my fellow post-a-holics out there, there is help. I went to my very first Post-A-Holics meeting yesterday. Here is an actual transcript of my recent visit.
Me: Hi! My name is Leila and I am a crazed post-a-holic.
Group: Hi, Leila!
Me: Today is my 76th post in a month and a half. Sometimes I post [...]

Re: I Hate to Read!

In regard to my post from a couple of days ago I Hate to Read. I have gotten a couple of responses to this. Most notably from an author by the name of Max Elliot Anderson. He sent me many links in reference to his work. I am going to the library in a little [...]

Prom 2007 update

 
 
 
 
 
Hey, I just left everyone hanging about Sam’s prom. Here are some of [...]

C.S.E.T. update

Well, I took two parts of the CSET, parts II & III on May 19th. I got my results today. I didn’t pass part II, but I did pass part III. I’m not upset though because I know what to expect. I am in the process of registering for parts I & II.
Congratulations to me! [...]

I second that emotion

Even though I haven’t officially started my job as a teacher yet, I know some of what’s in store for me because of my current job as a special education assistant. With my current students, I am like a second mother to them. I have to tell them to tie their shoes, blow their noses, [...]

That’s kid stuff!

Before my two older ones went to school, I hated kid stuff. I hated the little ragged edges, the coloring outside the lines, the scribble-scrabble, and the stray glue marks. Let’s not even talk about glitter; it got all over the place.

That is not the case now. I love the ragged little edges, the color [...]

Chickenrocks!

I am writing this post in praise of imagination. What does this have to do with Chickenrocks, you ask?

Chickenrocks! That’s an unusual term. What is it? What does it mean? It’s something my sister Amber made up. She’s unusual also. Amber is quite a jokester. She can make up a story in no [...]

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!!

Hey, I almost forgot to say HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all the great fathers out there.
This is for my husband from our children!

I already did that

I was just thinking about when I first took my 9-year old to Pre-K. I didn’t explain to him that he had to keep on going. I hyped it up and made sure he knew that he was going to be in a classroom setting. I told him that there were going to be other [...]

I HATE TO READ!! by Rita Marshall

Ever since I decided to start my own Guys Read book club, I have been on a quest to find books that little boys love. I have quite a few books in my personal collection, but I don’t have enough room for all of them in one place. There are some on the closet shelf, [...]

Grateful me

Eleven years ago, when I was a member of a small church, I was very active. I was a member of the choir. I was the children’s Sunday school teacher. I was into everything. It was my life. I spent most of my time there.
I had such high expectations of the church. I expected it [...]

XOXOXO (hugs & kisses)

Wouldn’t it be great if we could just go around and pass these out:

According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we cannot concentrate when our basic needs aren’t taken care of. According to me, hugs and kisses are part of our basic needs; and they are mandatory as well. My children can’t get out the [...]

Discontent me!

I found this quote and I just love it. It seemed to speak to me.
Resigning yourself to your discontent is the first step toward contentment.

Kudos to all Graduates!!!!

There are so many graduations in my family this year. My daughter from pre-K, two good friend’s son and one’s daughter from middle school; my oldest son and my niece from high school; me, my nephew and a cousin from college. Phewww, that’s a lot of people and that’s a good thing.
There are so [...]

My personal promise

 
First and foremost, I promise to make my classroom a place of refuge, a safe haven, a place for them to feel comfortable.
I promise to treat them as if they were my own. (Yes, this is a good thing.)

I promise never to embarrass them or make them feel ashamed.

I promise to do the [...]

That freaky thing isn’t so freaky!

I wanted a mini-me when I had my daughter. I didn’t want her to have my attitude though. I wanted her to be laid back like my husband. I just wanted her to look like me. Well, I didn’t get my wish with my daughter. She looks like my sister-in-law’s child instead of mine. It’s [...]

A+: Where there’s a will, there’s an A!

While at the local library signing up for the reading club, I came across a flyer for A+ tutoring. It’s a tutoring service that’s available free of charge for those who qualify. They have partnered with L.A.U.S.D. and other districts throughout California.To find out if your child qualifies for this FREE program, contact your [...]

Proud me!

Just a random thought. I’m sitting on my sofa, so proud of myself. I started my Guys Read book club a couple of days ago. I managed to wrangle our next door neighbor who is the same age as David into joining. Including my two little ones, we now have three members. When I see [...]

Unfi. nished posts

I have so many unfinished posts. I have so many thoughts and ideas in my head that many remain unfinished because I just can’t get the thought out. When I start on the post, I think that I have a pretty good idea of what I want to say, then I sit down to finish [...]

Baloney (Henry P.)

I wrote a post, Not the besta’ of Scieszka, reviewing John Scieszka’s book, Henry P. Baloney. As you will recall, I felt like something was missing from the book. However since my opinion isn’t the one that matters, I felt that I needed to rethink my post.
Well, after writing my review, I started thinking [...]

Soup? or nuts?

                                  

I found this great blog called soupornuts. I don’t even remember how I found it, but I’m glad that I did. While there, I found a great post entitled “Building a successful life.” I include it here because the advice was so good. I can use it for many areas of my life. [...]

Explain yourself!!

There is a saying, “Keep it simple stupid.”
What do I mean by this? I mean when explaining something to a kid, keep it as simple as possible. Don’t make it overly complicated. Think about your response before responding or you might find yourself explaining your explanations.
When I was on my last assignment, I often [...]

Kickin’ kaknowledge????

I am putting up a new post category. I know that this shouldn’t warrant a post, but hey, I am the Blogmëister!
The new category is called “Kickin’ kaknowledge.”
Hold on. I will explain.
Years ago, I knew this guy who liked herbs (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). After imbibing, he would get very talkative. He would expound, [...]

the MONSTER SHOW by Charise Mericle Harper

I love books, so there are probably going to be a lot of book reviews on my blog. I am always on the lookout for good books.

This book, written for grades K-3, is very colorful and eye-catching. It is sure to teach you Everything You Never Knew About Monsters. It is written and [...]

Payola, shmayola!

I have reviewed a lot of books from Houghton Mifflin in this blog. If you’ve been reading this, you may have noticed. If not, I’m saying. I am not receiving any type of payment from Houghton Mifflin. Refer to my post from May entitled Faculty meeting just in case you don’t know. I reviewed these [...]

Career Ladder

As promised, here is information on the other way that I will pay for my education. It’s called the Career Ladder.
It is designed for paraeducators who want to complete:

60 units or an Associate of Arts degree

a degree leading to a job in teaching, counseling or school [...]

L.A.U.S.D. special education information meeting

For those of you who are interested in getting hired by L.A.U.S.D. as a special education teacher, there is an informational meeting that will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, June 18th @ the Beaudry building (333 S. Beaudry Ave) in the Blue [...]

How to increase traffic to your blog

I have found a surefire way to increase traffic to your blog. I thought that it was just a fluke when I did it, but the numbers don’t lie.

Okay! Here it is. The secret. What you’ve been waiting for-a surefire way to increase traffic to your blog:

You must first have a magic psychic eye to [...]

End of school year blues!!

Well, it’s that time of year again. The end of the school year. I am a little blue. Sure, I’m looking forward to the summer just like the next guy, but this time, I’m really sad. I am really attached to the students.
I finally told the students that I wouldn’t be coming back next year [...]

Beautiful BMW? or Lengthy loans?….

Let’s see, should I go for choice A and get a BMW; or should I go for choice B and pay for my student loans?
I think that I’ll go for choice A and get a BMW.
[...]

A very crowded classroom

If teachers were paid what they were worth, I think that it would be somewhere around $1,000,000. Classrooms would be so crowded because districts would have to spring for a counselor, a maid, (For GP, we’ll throw the mother part in because you can’t put a value on that. After all, what’s that worth anyway?) [...]

No more pictureless posts!

Yay, me! I learned how to upload pictures. I know that I hate reading posts without pictures. Now, thanks to instructions from Traci, I won’t have posts without pictures anymore.

Do you have enough educayshun?

[...]

Emotional me!

I am feeling so emotional right now. My husband is not here. He’s out of town and I miss him so much. It’s times like this that I remember why I got married in the first place. He’s so thoughtful, has a great sense of humor and has great taste. He picked me, didn’t he?
In [...]

BEARSIE BEAR by Bernard Waber

The book, BEARSIE BEAR AND THE SURPRISE SLEEPOVER, was nice. It was a bit long, but easy to read. I wouldn’t recommend it for those under 4. I had to shorten some of the dialogue because my daughter was starting to get restless.

The book has a lot of memorable characters with names like Bearsie Bear, [...]

Cute for no reason

When I was in junior high school, I had this teacher named Mrs. Morris. Mrs. Morris could dress her butt off. She was truly a fashionista. One day I overheard some of the teachers saying that she needed to stop dressing like she was going to a fashion show.
Why should she? Would it be better [...]

Taking my own advice

I was talking to my little boy today on the way to school about a flyer that he received about a book club at the local library. He told me that he wanted to join. I asked him what made him want to join and he said because it could further his education. Of course [...]