What does handicap mean?

While doing research for another post, I came across this interesting article about the origin of the word handicap on:
www.disabilityisnatural.com/peoplefirstlanguage.htm
It’s very long, but it is very interesting. Since it is really long, I would suggest printing this out to read or reference for future use. As always, it’s good information.
Check it out!

Brushing up on your grammar skills!

When I was younger, I was a stickler for the rules; especially grammar rules. I can remember when I dotted every “i” and crossed every “t.” I didn’t forget things; other people did. My paper was never marked up like everyone else’s.

Well, gone are those days. I forget commas, or I put them in [...]

Either you do or you don’t!

I was talking to my husband Phillip the other day when he asked me a question that I hadn’t stopped to consider for a long time.
“Why do you want to teach special ed?,” he asked.
He asked me this in response to the story that I was telling him regarding the bad day that I’d had [...]

Thursday’s thirteen

In no particular order, these are 13 things that I’ve learned over the years.

Although a broken heart can kill, it didn’t kill me. Although it probably feels like it now, it won’t kill you.
Childbirth, though it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever experienced, didn’t kill me.
There is still life after a 30 day late.
That being [...]

Breaking news regarding Mychal Bell!

On my way home from school, I was listening to KJLH when Jackie Stevens, the news reporter, announced that she had an exclusive interview with Dr. Ernest Johnson, President of the Louisiana chapter of the N.A.A.C.P.
Dr. Johnson announced that, in his conference with the governor of Louisiana, he presented the Governor with a petition that [...]

A Fire Engine for Ruthie by Lesléa Newman

A Fire Engine for Ruthie (2004), written by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Cyd Moore is so cute. It’s tells the story of a little girl named Ruthie visiting her Nana. Nana has a lot of stuff planned for her and Ruthie. Ruthie, however, has her own ideas of what fun is.

It’s said that [...]

God really looks out for me, part II!

Oh. My. Goodness. I cannot believe this. If this were someone else telling me, I probably wouldn’t believe it. Okay, time to stop rambling. I am talking about finding uniforms for Phillise.
My money, like most peoples’, is funny right around school time because of back-to-school shopping. Well, my mother-in-law took care of most of that [...]

A picture of Moriah!

My little sister just gave me a picture of Moriah. Did I mention that I helped deliver her? Isn’t she one of the most beautiful little girls you’ve ever seen? Look @ all that hair. She looks just like my little sister when she was a baby. When my little sister goes out, people always [...]

It was harder for me…

When I dropped Phillise off for her first day of Kindergarten, it was harder for me than it was for her. I am such a sissy.
Why do we have such a hard time letting go? It wasn’t even this hard when I left her on the first day of Pre-K.
I will post a picture later.

Tell it to Mychal Bell’s mother!

**This post is pretty long and it takes a lot of twists and turns, but bear with me, I’ll get you there. **
“Just the facts ma’am. Just the facts,” is something that Sgt. Joe Friday, a fictional character, from Dragnet says. However in real life, there’s a lot more than facts to consider when you’re [...]

High frequency words!

High frequency words are words that appear well… frequently. They are often confused with Dolch sight words. However, there are some differences.
(I found this resource @ http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/res/frequent.html. This is taken directly from the website.)
Simply put, high-frequency words are the words that appear most often in printed materials. According to Early Education expert Robert Hillerich, [...]

Mychal Bell’s request denied!

I just read over at Yahoo! news that Mychal Bell’s request to be set free on bail while his appeal is being considered has been denied. Here is the link: http://news.yahoo.com

Another Jena 6 update! Mychal Bell is still not free!

I went to this blog, blackperspective.net, where I got this information regarding Mychal Bell. He is still not free. This is yet another slap in the face from some of the racist folk in and around Jena. If you would like to read it, here it goes:
http://www.nydailynews.com
I didn’t post the website to Jasiri X’s [...]

LETTER RESPONSE TO AN ANGRY COMMENTER REGARDING THE Jena 6!

This letter is in response to an angry man who left a comment regarding his distaste for the Jena 6 and all black people. I was replying in the comments section, but it got too long. So, being the Blogmëister that I am, I decided to make a post of it. This letter was written [...]

So, what are you bringing?

In order to be ready for my interview for L.A.U.S.D., I had to do a self-assessment. I had to ask myself what I had to offer. Why should they hire me? What makes me have my high standards? Why am I so confident?
I had to think about all this because yesterday I went on my [...]

Thirteen reasons why L.A.U.S.D. should hire me

Here’s thirteen reasons why L.A.U.S.D. should hire me:

I am a very good teacher.
I am not afraid of hard work.
That being said, I know how much hard work is involved and I still want to do it.
I am very creative.
I am very organized.
I have so much to offer.
I will be highly qualified (for real) in 2 [...]

That “Aha” moment!

Yesterday I talked about that magical “Aha” moment. So many people say it, but what does it mean?

If you will just think about it for a minute, you will know what I am talking about. It’s the equivalent of what Archimedes said when he discovered the theory of displacement. Aha, he might have said, instead [...]

Harping on that TFA thing!

In one of my older posts, I wrote about thinking that I’m not good enough sometimes. It was in regard to being rejected by Teach for America (TFA). At the time I tried to tell myself that things happen for a reason.
Not fully believing it, I told myself, “Maybe I wasn’t meant to be in [...]

Secret of Abbot’s Cave by Max Elliot Anderson

Mr. Anderson was kind enough to send me this book for David in response to another book review of mine where I talked about David being a reluctant reader. He writes for reluctant readers. Believe me when I say that David is a reluctant reader.
I received this book from Max Elliot Anderson awhile ago, but [...]

Dolch sight words!

What are Dolch sight words? The Dolch Word List is a list of frequently used words compiled by Edward William Dolch, PhD. The list was originally published in his book “Problems in Reading”, The Garrard Press, 1948. Dolch compiled the list based on children’s books of his era. The list contains 220 “service words” that [...]

Sale @ Michael’s!

Michael’s, the Arts & Crafts store, is having a really good sale. Now is the time to stock up on cardstock, foam, and other classroom necessities. Go to your local Michael’s and see for yourself.
Check it out@: www.Michaels.com

Free books for college students! (Social Bib)

Freely give. Freely receive. That’s the motto of this great website that my husband found for me. It’s called Social Bib. It’s a book swap/give away for college students in need of books. You list the books that you need and the books that you have to give. You automatically get 1 point for signing [...]

BOOT CAMP RESOURCES, Part 3

 
This one is a little wordy, but it’s helpful. It’s all about dealing with behavior issues. It’s called surface management strategies because you’re dealing with the behavior on a surface level. You’re not getting all deep with it. So, without further ado, here it is.
Surface Management Strategies
Surface management strategies – These are designed to help [...]

11 TIPS FOR TEACHING YOUR CHILD TO READ!

Included in my Bob books package were 11 tips for teaching your child to read. I thought that I’d share them with you. Teaching a child to read is not easy. Even though I am a teacher, I still had a hard time teaching Phillise how to read. I’m not sure if it was so [...]

Mychal Bell is free!

I am listening to Michael Baisden and am crying tears of joy. His case was overturned. They said that he should never have been charged as an adult. Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus!
Michael Baisden is still going to Jena on Thursday because there are still 5 young men awaiting trial.
Prayer really works!

The Jena 6- It’s going to be all out war!

Here is more news on the Jena 6.
Is the pen mightier than the sword?
If things go down the way THEY (with THEY being the racist folk in Jena, Louisiana) want them to go down, the D.A. of Jena 6 fame will indeed have been right. He told the black students, in an assembly, that he [...]

BOB books by Bobby Lynn Maslen

**This review is a bit long, but worth it. So bear with me; especially if you have a child learning to read.
I signed up to preview the BOB books @ momcentral.blogspot.com in July. I didn’t know what they were, nor had I heard about them, but since I was trying to teach Phillise how to [...]

Thirteen pet peeves

Since starting school, I’ve been so busy that I forgot to post my Thursday’s thirteen last week. So, even though it’s late, here it is. This is thirteen pet peeves of mine:

Poor table manners.
People who wait until the last minute to turn on their blinker.
Cheaters (unless it’s me and Denzel )
People who don’t [...]

Tattling vs. telling

I wrote a post yesterday about my little girl tattling. To finish the post off, I went looking for a picture of someone tattling. That’s when I happened upon this great article. It explains the difference between tattling and telling. It’s a little long, but it’s a very good read. Here is the link if [...]

Frazzled me!

I know that this was a long time ago, but does anyone remember Sinbad’s stand-up routine where he talks about how he was so bad. He said that his mother got even with him by having a little sister. He said that she told on everything that he did.
Well, it’s the same way with my [...]

Student checklist

Piggybacking off my post on I.R.I.S. from yesterday, these are good questions that you can ask yourself. It can help with classroom management. I found this checklist @: http://www.kinderkorner.com/chklist.html

1. How and where do your students spend their time before school? If they come directly to the classroom, what activities/procedures [...]

9/11 Remembered! My lament! (Business as usual)

On this day, six years ago, I was having a lazy day. I was 6 months pregnant with Phillise, so of course I was laying down and taking one of my many daily naps when my sister, Saudia, called me and told me to turn on the T.V.
“They just bombed the Pentagon,” she said.
“What?”
“Who did?”
“Huh?”
“The [...]

BOOT CAMP RESOURCES, Part 2

This is a continuation of the boot camp resources that I received. This one is just for you to be in the know.
Just in case you wanted to know what your children should be learning, here is the website for the standards (which is what all California schools abide by). Here you will find a [...]

I.R.I.S.-BOOT CAMP RESOURCES, Part 1

In my boot camp a couple of weeks ago at B.N.U., I received so many resources; many of which I will share with you. Some of them may be relevant to your situation and you may want to use them. While some may not be relevant and you may not want to use them.
I received [...]

My apologies!

I know. I know. I was supposed to post about the I.R.I.S. website yesterday, but I was so tired. I usually am on my first day back to work. I woke up on Saturday morning at my usual time, about 6:30 a.m., played around on the computer for a bit, and did other odds and [...]

Who’s your hero?

I had been wanting to see one of my favorite T.V. shows from the 80’s- The Greatest American Hero. Well, my husband found it for me. Do you remember that show? It was about aliens who gave this guy a super suit that gave him super powers. He had the power to fly and do [...]

Keep your shoes on please!

I decided to return to being an assistant while waiting for the teaching job to come through and boy am I glad that I did. Being at work today renewed my strength. It made me remember my commitment to be the best that I can.
The only thing that I don’t like about the assignment is [...]

God really looks out for me!

Yes, God really does look out for me. I am truly a blessed woman. This is not to say that bad things don’t happen to me; it’s just that God is there for me.
Here, let me start at the beginning. I was so happy last week when B.N.U. gave me a “birthday” treat, a brand [...]

Silly me. I hit a snag!

I thought that Phillip & I would have the house to ourselves this week. Well, yesterday, I hit a snag. Silly me! One child o’ mine is still home this week. How, oh, how did I forget that Phillise needed a physical to start school? The earliest that I could get an appointment [...]

First day of school!

To all you parents, “Happy first day of school” to you. I know that it’s been hard a little challenging having all of your children home for the summer, but don’t fret. They go back today! Hallelujah and Praise God!

University interns ARE highly qualified!

A couple weeks ago in bootcamp @ B.N.U., my advisor read the class a story from the L.A. Times about a parent trying to sue the state because her child’s school had too many teachers who weren’t qualified. Some of them were University interns, like me.
My advisor read it to us in response to my [...]

Yay us!

Well, today is the first day of school. Today, all of my children will be at school after being at home with me alllllllll summer. Thank goodness because my food budget couldn’t take it anymore. The question is what am I going to do with myself? I don’t have a job yet. I thought that [...]

Monster Mama by Liz Rosenberg

**Warning- This post is kinda’ long.**
Monster Mama (1997), written by Liz Rosenberg and illustrated by Stephen Gammell (one of my favorite illustrators), is a masterpiece. This book review is kinda’ of piggybacking off my older post about depression from a couple of weeks ago. It’s so funny (not a haha funny, but ironic kind of [...]

Beryl’s Box by Lisa Taylor

You know how you go out of your way to buy your kids the best stuff, but they only want to play with pots and pan, and the box. Well, welcome to Beryl’s Box. It’s written by Lisa Taylor and illustrated by Penny Dann. This book is yet another tribute to imagination.
Here’s an excerpt:
“Their moms [...]

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

It’s just one of them days! Everyone has them. This book written by Judith Viorst and illustrated by Ray Cruz, captures that terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day perfectly. It is such a cute little book. It all centers on Alexander who is having one of the worst days of his young life. It [...]

Sally’s Room by Mary K. Brown

Sally’s Room, written and illustrated by M.K. Brown, is sort of like an answer book to The Day That Henry Cleaned His Room that I reviewed a couple of days ago. In that book, reporters came to Henry’s house when he decided to clean up. Well, in this book, no one goes to the room, [...]