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 places where they’re not supposed to be. Let’s not even talk about semicolon usage; either I abuse it or under use it. The other day, I actually misspelled a word. Imagine that. Me. The one who was almost Spelling Bee champ in sixth grade (thank you very much). I found this site where you (excuse me, where one) can brush up on their grammar. If you’d like to check it out, the website is:

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar

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 in the classroom that I was subbing in last week.

It all started years ago when I worked at a Special Education Center with severely disabled students. It was not a good experience for me and I did not want to do it again. To do that type of work takes a special person- I am not that person.

I don’t think that Phillip really understood what I was saying. He thought that I was being mean. I wasn’t. What I was saying…well, the best way that I can say this is to compare it to the desire to have children. Either you want them or you don’t. There are no if, ands, or buts about it. In the same vein, either you want to be a special ed teacher to the severely disabled or you don’t.

It’s that simple. Either you do or you don’t!

I don’t!

I want to deal with mild or moderate students with learning disability or autism. I’ve worked with many children with mild autism and learning disabilities and really enjoy it.

My “problem” with the severely disabled is that there is almost no interaction. Working there for the two months that I did, I missed the interaction. I like interaction. I like to have a response to my question. Saying that I want anything less would be lying to myself as well as others.

So, to sum up everything, one of the reason that I want to teach special education could be because I like helping those who are underdogs and outsiders, since I am one myself I know their pain personally.

I want to improve their quality of life. I think part of it could also be that I feel that people need to continually improve themselves, and I want to be there to help them do that.

I want to help them to not only grow academically, but socially as well.

I want to be there or hear about it when they get something for the first time- that “Aha” moment!

Until next time people. Hasta la bye-bye!

Thursday’s Thirteen

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

1. Although a broken heart can kill, it didn’t kill me. Although it probably feels like it now, it won’t kill you.
2. Childbirth, though it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever experienced, didn’t kill me.
3. There is still life after a 30 day late.
4. That being said, it is far easier to get things, and for a cheaper price, with good credit.
5. That being said, good credit is hard to get; even harder to maintain and way too easy to lose.
6. I’m 37. Yesterday I was 18. Life passes by waaaaay too fast. It’s so precious. Cherish it.
7. Although it can seem like it at times, nothing too good or too bad lasts for too long.
8. Having four children and going back to school is not easy. (Understatement of the year!)
9. Regardless of what my husband thinks, bills don’t take care of themselves. I actually have to schedule payments or go there and pay them.
10. Putting the maximum amount of money into 401K is one of the smartest things you can do; especially when your company matches it.
11. Plan. Plan. Plan.
12. Be flexible.
13. Always have a Plan B, C, D, E……

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 was 130,000 names strong. They then proceeded to have a conference…and to make a long story short, the D.A. in Jena decided not to appeal the decision to try Mychal Bell as an adult. In a couple of days he should be home with his parents.

They are now working on the cases of the rest of the Jena 6!

Hallelujah and thank you Jesus!

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 we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Well, I have to disagree with that this time. I did judge the book by the cover and I was right. The total package made me want to know more about what was inside. Before buying it, I quickly read the inside cover and decided that it was worth my money.

I liked everything about it from the beginning: the color, the overall look, the illustrations, and especially the title.

Here’s an excerpt from the book:

On their way home, they pass Brian’s house. Ruthie shields her eyes from the sun to watch Brian playing in his front yard with a fire engine. A red fire engine with a black-and-white dog sitting up front and a silver ladder that slides up and down and a yellow hose to unwind and a siren that goes

whee-ooh! whee-oh! whee-oh!

“Do you have a fire engine to play with at your house, Nana? Ruthie asks.

“No,” says Nana, “but I have some beautiful dolls waiting at home for you.”

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 when she took my sons shopping. The only one that I had to take care of was Phillise. That was easier said than done because of the uniforms that she’s required to wear.

I figured that I’d go to Fallas Paredes, the uniform store, to get her uniforms. The only problem is that they stopped carrying the color that she needed.

What? Are you kidding me?

I was so upset. Of all the colors to discontinue, mine is the one that’s chosen when my money is so funny it’s making fun of me!

Well, I went to this other local store that’s owned by Fallas Paredes, Factory 2 U! The cashier told me that the chain no longer carried those colors anymore, but the manager did give me a flyer with the phone number and locations of all their stores in the L.A. area. I decided, like I always do, that I would not take the word of one person, ’cause one monkey don’t stop no show!

I called all of the Fallas Paredes that were within 10 miles of me until I found one that carried the color that she needs. Did I find them?

Boy did I? And can you guess how much they cost? You are not going to believe me, so I am including the receipt.

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 stop her to get a look at Moriah. Can you blame them? Look at that face!

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 dealing with people.

The story began last night when I was talking to Sam, my oldest son, about a post that I wrote entitled,”Letter Response to an Angry Commenter Regarding the Jena 6“. I wrote the letter in response to an angry commenter with much too much time on his hands. He was harassing me. He let me know how disgusting he thought black people were. I tried to be fair and publish his comments, but he was feeding off of the negative attention that he was getting so I had to cut him off and stop publishing his comments.

Another part of this story relates to a talk that I had with my husband about an activity that I did in my class on the legal foundations of special education. My teacher split us up into four groups, with each of us tackling a specific part of the text. Well, my group tackled Hendrick Hudson District Board of Education v. Rowley (1982), a case that involved a deaf/hearing impaired child.

Her parents sued the school district because they did not believe that their daughter was getting a Free Appropriate Public Education (F.A.P.E.), so they asked the district to provide a sign-language interpreter for their daughter on a full-time basis. The school district refused. Well, the Section 504 regulation requires a school district to provide a F.A.P.E. to each qualified person with a disability who is in the school’s jurisdiction, regardless of the nature or severity of the person’s disability.

According to this, the school district should have provided a F.A.P.E. However the Supreme Court denied it on the grounds that the school district didn’t have to “develop the maximum potential of students with disabilities; that the law was intended only to give students access to educational opportunities”.

Well, initially I agreed with the Supreme Court’s decision strictly because of the precedent that it was setting. This was my take on things: If the court decided that they needed to give this child extra services, then many more people were going to come out of the “woodworks” asking for extra services which could potentially cost millions of dollars.

That was all fine and dandy until one of my classmates mentioned that she had a problem with it because her little sister was deaf and needed an interpreter in class. My classmate then asked how the child in question could have a free and appropriate public education if she couldn’t communicate with the teacher. A sign language class was only offered to her teachers if they wanted it. So the student in question was not, in fact, getting a free and appropriate public education because she didn’t have fair access. How could she have fair access if she didn’t understand what was being said?

“Okay,” I thought to myself, maybe she does have a case.

However, the Supreme Courts’ ruling stood. But the school district that my classmates sister was in did decide to hire her sister a teacher and an aide who signed. What we took away from that was that the school district could do it if they wanted to, but because of the Supreme Courts’ ruling, they were under no obligation to do this.

This leads me directly into my next point- the human factor. When dealing with anything to do with people, there is always the human factor. By that, I mean that you can’t just look at the facts. You have to look at the person involved.

In this case, it took my classmates’ deaf sister to change my mind. That is why I would like to pose the question to all those out there who think that these teenagers should get 22 years of their life taken away.

Could you tell their mothers to their faces that their children deserve jail time? Could you tell Mychal Bell’s mother that her son should not be free until he’s 38 yrs. old? Could you honestly say it to her face and not care about the hurt and pain in her eyes? Could you honestly tell these mothers that their sons deserve to be in jail for the rest of their teenage years? All of their 20′s and almost all of their 30′s?

Could you honestly discount the human factor and tell her that? Because if you can, I would like to know if you’re an organ donor, ’cause someone else could use that heart that you’re not using!

With anything, there is always the human factor involved. It took my classmates sister to make me see that the Supreme Court was wrong. Although I do agree with why they did it, I don’t agree with the people that are hurt by it.

What will it take those who think that these boys should get this type of treatment, just because of the color of their skin, to realize that these young men are people too and we don’t need just the facts?

I am really trying to be fair with this thing, but there is no way that I could say that these boys deserve to have the bulk of their lives taken away because I’m just not going to say it. I do feel for Justin Barker, the boy that was beaten up, but there is just no way on God’s green earth that these boys deserve this type of treatment. No way! No how!

Think about! Could you tell his mother something like this?

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, “Just three words I, and, the account for ten percent of all words in printed English.”

High-frequency words are hard for students to remember because they tend to be abstract. They can’t use a picture clue to figure out the word with. And phonics clues don’t always work either.

Learning to recognize high-frequency words by sight is critical to developing fluency in reading. Recognizing these words gives students a basic context for figuring out other words. Once they recognize the, they can predict with amazing accuracy what the next word will be

Ideas for Teaching High-Frequency Words

• Have students create rebus sentences, using high-frequency words such as the, is, and in.
• Write high-frequency words on cards. Have students form sentences using a pocket chart.
• Have students keep lists of words they can read and write. When they have trouble with a word, they can refer to their notebooks.
• Point out similarities between new words and those students can already decode.

Here’s a list of 1200 high-frequency words: http://www.pedagonet.com/quickies/words.htm

Jan Brett also has high frequency flash cards on her website that are so beautiful. Here is a representation of what’s @ her website:

Also, I just couldn’t finish until I told you about this cute little game I found-high frequency hangman. Test your knowledge of high-frequency words @: www.manythings.org/hmf/8993.html

Check it out!

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 myspace because I couldn’t find it then, but I have it now, even though I am on the late freight with it. I looked around on Michael Baisden’s site and found it. Here is his MySpace site: http://www.myspace.com/jasirix

For those of you who don’t know, Jasiri X is the one who wrote the song about the Jena 6. It’s pretty nice if you like rap.

This is just a shout out to Michael Baisden. I am so happy that he is on the radio and fighting for the underdog. He is one of the few people who wouldn’t let this thing die. Thank you Mr. Baisden, George Wilborn, Steve Harvey, Reverend Al Sharpton, Ice Cube, and so many more for bringing national attention to this matter.

Also, thank you Jasiri X for making this song.

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 with a lot of sarcasm, so read it accordingly!

Enjoy!

Dear Jim Telegony (If that is your real name),

I’m not sure where all your anger is coming from. You seem to be confused and a tad bit racist. The only thing the black kids wanted was the same chance to be in the shade. Firstly, get your facts straight. The black kid was invited to the party. It was a set up.

I’m not going to go into all the particulars of the case because you just wouldn’t believe it anyway. So, I have to say that we are going to have to agree to disagree. We are both obviously biased on this towards those like us. I am an angry black woman who is biased towards the blacks, since I am black; and you are obviously an angry white male who is biased towards the whites.

I don’t have a problem with you and wanting to stay away from black people. If you don’t want to be around black people, that is definitely your prerogative. Do what makes you happy. However, do not stereotype all black people. Why can’t your family be safe if blacks are around? Even though you seem to think so, not all blacks are thieves, ne’er do wells or on the welfare roll. Of course there are going to be a certain unsavory element in any culture, but that is, by and large, not the black culture as a whole.

As far as staying away from blacks; good luck with that. What if the pilot is black? You know, since us blacks learned how to read, there’s just no stopping us. Heck, some of us can even speak proper English. Ain’t that something! Some have even been known to get advanced degrees and do stuff like teach school children (like me).

But God forbid that your children should be around me because of that doggone melanin thing happening with my skin.

So Jim, I am not even going to waste my precious breath trying to get you to see all of the difficulties that black men and women have had to endure because you just wouldn’t get it.

I am not even going to waste my time talking about how young and old, light skinned and dark skinned, professional and blue collar, rich and poor black men are routinely stopped for what has come to be known as Driving while Black (DWB), or that it later came to be known as Driving while Brown because the police couldn’t leave our Latino brothers out because you know what, you wouldn’t even believe me!

Another thing I would like to say is that I can definitely understand why you wouldn’t want to be around folks with that melanin thing happening because after all, it is contagious. Isn’t it?

Won’t you turn black from being around black folk?

Won’t you start talking slang and grabbing your crotch if you associate with black folk?

What about a platinum grill? That’ll look nice, don’t you think?

Well, if none of that happens, perhaps we will lower your property value!

Okay, I can’t think of anymore stereotypes because I’m just so daggum black and ig’net (ignorant just in case you don’t know). Can you?

Well, go ahead, get together with your friends and talk about this. I’m sure you’ll think of some more; maybe invent some new ones that I haven’t heard of.

I hope you have the time while you’re quite literally and figuratively burning me in effigy!

Sincerely,

Leila

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 interview for L.A.U.S.D. I know that I probably should be, but I am not really nervous. A possible reason for that could be that I have done all that I can. I’ve done the preparation necessary to get to this point. Another thing that I have done is to mentally answered all the questions in my head. One question that I am so sure that they are going to ask is “Why should we hire you?”

(Watch out for the horn, ’cause I’m about to toot it!)

I have many responses to this. Here it goes:

L.A.U.S.D. should hire me because this is what I bring to the table:

I love teaching and have the experience to back it up (toot). I believe in hard work and going that extra mile (toot). I believe that our children deserve the best and am willing to do what it takes to help them achieve that (toot). I believe in a socially just educational system-that every child should receive a good education regardless of their color, race, or place of origin (toot). I am very passionate about teaching. I am one of the best candidates that you will see. (toot)

It’s not only because I graduated from a very good teacher preparation program (toot). (Anyone can follow directions well, everyone can’t retain those lessons and use them for their intended purpose.) It’s that I have the passion and the dedication necessary to do this job that loses 80% of its new hires within the first five years (toot).

It’s not just because I am in a great combined credential/Master’s program. It is because I don’t want to do anything else (toot). I was born to do this (toot). I know how hard teaching can be; it’s like being a second parent. Yet I still want to do it and do it well (toot, toot).

If this doesn’t convince them to hire me, then I don’t know what will.

I guess the same principle applies when a woman is looking for a husband; or a husband looking for a wife. Sometimes the seeker has to step back and ask them self if they have a reason to have such high standards.

‘Cause if you’re not a trophy wife type, what makes you think that Denzel is going to leave his wife for you! (Back off honey. Denzel’s mine!)

You should be asking yourself if someone, (L.A.U.S.D. in my case), should hire you, marry you, love you, miss you, etc? What are you bringing to the table? What do you have to offer them?

It’s not all about what you want. It’s about what you can give back to them; not only what they can give to you. It’s about what you can offer. It’s about what you’re bringing to the table.

If your table doesn’t have all the necessary “place settings”, then you need to do a little more shopping, or preparation to get things in order and bring the main course with all the trimmings, and the dessert to the table. Because what matters is not what someone else is bringing to the table. What matters is what you are bringing to the table.

So. What are you bringing?

Thirteen Reasons Why L.A.U.S.D. Should Hire Me

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

1. I am a very good teacher.
2. I am not afraid of hard work.
3. That being said, I know how much hard work is involved and I still want to do it.
4. I am very creative.
5. I am very organized.
6. I have so much to offer.
7. I will be highly qualified (for real) in 2 years.
8. I am very passionate about teaching.
9. Because nothing but the best will do.
10. This is one of my purposes in life.
11. I teach not only academic skills, but I teach social skills, as well as life skills.
12. Because a sista’ needs a job. I got four kids to feed and clothe. (**crying. sobbing.**) Please, please, please, hire me! Please!
13. Because I’m good enough. I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.

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 of Eureka. (Eureka is equivalent to “I found it.”)

That “Aha” moment is when a child discovers that,”Eureka!” They’ve found it; the encryption key; the one thing that has been keeping them from getting “it”.

That is what an “Aha” moment is. It’s that moment when a child finally gets “it”; when they realize that they can indeed do it.

“I can do it” are some of the best words that a child can say in the world, besides I love you.

Aha moments! Here’s to more of them!

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 TFA for whatever reason. I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure that I’ll find out later”.

Well, later came a couple of weeks ago when I found out how hectic their schedule is. In the summer, they had a six week training that they call Institute. After that, they went right into teaching summer school, with no break. They have been going non-stop since the beginning of summer. They even have all day meetings on some Saturdays.

One of the girls in my program who is in TFA, even told me that she wish that she wouldn’t have signed up for it.

“It’s so much work,” she said.

“Is that right?,” I thought to myself.

Now I know why I was rejected. It would have been too much for me. After finishing at Azusa, I decided that I would steer clear of anything that was accelerated or too demanding. God really does take care of me. I wanted it so badly that I wasn’t thinking clearly. I probably would have been so overwhelmed that I wouldn’t have been able to handle it.

I know that I am harping on this TFA thing, but I was devastated when I didn’t get in. Now I’m happy that I didn’t get in.

Sometimes we don’t see that there is a reason and a purpose for everything, but when stuff like this happens, you know that there is. I was just talking to Traci last week about wanting stuff (or people) that may or may not be good for you, and afterwards, realizing that not getting it was the best thing that ever happened to you. We were talking about how, when we were younger, we thought that we just had to have certain things. We thought that these things were the end-all be-all; that if we didn’t have them, we would die. In the same vein, I thought that not getting into TFA totally derailed my plans. But it didn’t.

It’s funny how things come full circle, because just last month, I also talked about this in another post about being right where I’m supposed to be, even though I didn’t think that I was taking the right path at the time.

The path that I am on is the path that I am meant to be on. That TFA path is not the path that I was meant to take. I am on the right one for me.

Are you on the right one for you?

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 I just didn’t make the time to review it. Sorry Mr. Anderson.

For the summer, I decided to start my own Guys Read book club. Since I have mostly boys, I am usually around a lot of boys, so it was only natural that I recruited mostly boys. Well, as we all know, little boys are not the most cooperative little things when it comes to reading. They are usually reluctant readers because according to Jon Scieszka, it is not seen as a masculine thing to do. Also believe me when I say that in my testosterone driven house, machismo rules. Since David doesn’t see my older sons read, he is very reluctant to do it.

Now can you see why Mr. Anderson’s books were like an answer to my prayers? It is definitely a plus that his books are written from a Christian perspective.

Mr. Anderson writes for tweeners (8-13), those who are not quite teenagers, but who are not little children anymore either.

His writing is really smooth and so are his transitions. They are really easy to read. His book was a nice read, but I have to tell you that David was a reluctant reader to the end. He liked the book, but I would still have to tell him to stop what he was doing and read. I had to keep my cool so that it wouldn’t defeat the purpose of his reading. I wanted to make it an enjoyable experience for him. All in all, even though he is a reluctant reader, the book was a good experience for him. He liked it. He really liked the fact that the boys got rewards.

I would like to thank Mr. Anderson for the book. I really appreciate him sending this to David because he really enjoyed it and so did I. I’m glad that I had something to read while my little sister was in labor at the hospital.

Here’s a synopsis of the story:

The story revolves around four boys who open their own detective club. Their prized possession- a police scanner- is their first purchase. Boy, did they get their money’s worth! The scanner brings so much excitement their way. What they hear on the scanner takes them on an adventure of a lifetime that they will never forget. If you would like to find out about where their adventure takes them, you’re just going to have to buy the book and find out for yourself.

As I said earlier, Mr. Anderson’s books are easy to read; they’re fast paced and packed with a lot of action, which is what little boys like. I would definitely recommend this book for your reluctant readers. They may be reluctant readers until the end like David, but they will ultimately enjoy it.

If you would like to learn more about Max Elliot Anderson and his books, here is the link:

http://www.maxbooks.9k.com

Check it out!

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 have to be easily recognized in order to achieve reading fluency. The compilation excludes nouns, which comprise a separate 95-word list.

Many of the 220 Dolch words can’t be “sounded out” and have to be learned by sight. Hence the alternative term “Sight Words”.

From 50-75% of all words used in school books, library books, newspapers, and magazines are in the Dolch Basic Sight Vocabulary of 220 words (preschool- 3rd grade). There is no way that some of these words can be sounded out.

I found a great resource of these on Jan Brett’s website. In case you don’t know who she is, she’s an author. She’s written many books. Some are retelling of other stories. Her stories are Berlioz the Bear, The Umbrella, and many others. This is an example of the resources that she has on her website:

Here is a list of other websites that have the Dolch word lists available for printout and use:

http://www.janbrett.com (The prettiest and most colorful)

http://www.fcboe.org/schoolhp/shes/sight_words.htm

http://www.kidzone.ws/dolch/kindergarten.htm (Kindergarten sight words list)

http://www.kidzone.ws/dolch/grade1.htm (1st grade sight words list)

http://www.kidzone.ws/dolch/grade2.htm (2nd grade sight words list)

http://www.kidzone.ws/dolch/grade3.htm (3rd grade words list)

http://www.learningbooks.net/xDolchSpanish.html (words in Spanish & English)

http://www.theschoolbell.com/Links/Dolch/Contents.html. (This site contains a wealth of information. It has a complete lesson plan that can be used, along with all the materials necessary. I highly recommend this.)

Check it out!

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 up. The next way to get points is by sending books.

If you would like to check it out, the address is: www.socialbib.com

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 a teacher maintain the surface behavior of students during some difficult transitions or short periods of time. These strategies are stopgap methods and are not a substitute or fix for a well-designed, consistently implemented behavior management system.

The advantages of these strategies are that they do not embarrass or identify the student and may be carried out during instruction.

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 much my technique as my impatience sometimes. I did most of the things that I’m supposed to do, but I still had a bit of a hard time.

All the techniques that I used are checked (√ ).

Here they are:

1. Read to your child. Choose books that you both enjoy. Instill a love of books. √
2. Play word games. Nursery rhymes, games, and songs will attune the child’s ear.
3. Play sound games. Think of a word that begins with M. Mmmmmmm. Mop, map, man, mog. Nonsense words add to the fun! √
4. Pick a symbol such as moon. Say, “What do you hear first when I say moon?” The beginning sound is mmmm. Practice other words. √
5. Write words or stories dictated by the child. Make pictures to go along with them. Read the stories back to the child.
6. Sing alphabet songs, real or made up. √
7. Encourage the child to scribble, write letters, and draw pictures. √
8. Avoid criticism. There is no wrong way to be creative. √
9. Play games with blocks, memory cards, and easy jigsaw puzzles.
10. Point out short words when you read. Ask the child to repeat them. √
11. Be sensitive to the child’s attention span. Expect short practice times. (In the beginning, I was overzealous and made our sessions too long, even though I knew better. She let me know that they were too long. Needless to say, I shortened them and made more progress with the shorter sessions.)

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 could take their lives away with the stroke of a pen. And this is exactly what he and others working with him are trying to do.

I am looking forward to September 20th, which will be the day of Mychal Bell’s sentencing. There are so many celebrities throwing their weight behind this: Michael Baisden, Steve Harvey, Al Sharpton, Tom Joyner, Ice Cube, and so many more.

There’s even a song out by an artist named Jasiri X. If you log onto Michael Baisden’s website, you can hear it. In it, he talks about the Jena 6 situation and how those who are able should try their weight behind it. I wholeheartedly agree. I really wish that Oprah would get behind this. That could make all the difference in this thing.

Michael Baisden has been key in bringing much needed attention to this issue. He, along with many others, are marching down there on the 20th for Mychal Bell’s sentencing. I was listening to his show the other day when he posed the question to the audience as to whether the audience thought they were putting too much emphasis on this Jena 6 issue. I was shocked at some of the responses from the black audience members.

One caller, a black woman with one daughter, thought that he was. She said that the young men that make up the Jena 6 committed a crime and they should pay the price.

“Are you serious?” Twenty-two years for a school yard fight.

She then started spitting facts to Michael and he had to shut her down.

“No!” he told her. You are not correct.

“Do you know the facts?”

“I want you to find out the facts for herself,” he said. Because you are ignorant of the facts.

He really did try to suffer her, but it was too much for him. Michael is not the type of deejay, from what I have observed from listening to him for the past year, to cut someone off just because they don’t agree with him. He lets people speak their peace, but this woman was over the top.

I was shocked. I know that everybody doesn’t have to think like I do, but maybe this lady wasn’t thinking about what she was saying. Maybe she didn’t think about how she would feel if her daughter stood to serve 22 years in prison for fighting at school. Maybe she didn’t think about the pain and anguish that those boys and their family are going through. Because if she had, she wouldn’t have been so quick to say that this young boy, Mychal Bell, and the rest of the Jena 6 should have their lives taken away because of a school yard fight.

The prosecution didn’t even really have any real witnesses. One of the witness that they had was one of the boys who hung the noose that started everything.

Again I ask the question “Are you serious?” Another of the witnesses, a young woman, couldn’t remember what happened a couple of days after the event, yet once it was time for the trial, she had perfect recall. I wonder how much that perfectly recalled testimony cost the prosecution!

This case is huge. If we, as a people, don’t stand up right now and stop this, imagine how bad this can get. I have heard some people say that this is not only a black thing. Well, I tend to disagree with that. This is mostly a black thing, but others can weigh in on this.

I say that it’s mostly a black thing because if THEY succeed in doing what THEY want to do with this case, then it is the beginning of the end for all blacks, mostly black men. It will be all out war; out in the open as never before. Civil rights will be set back so many years.

I think that this is so real to me because I can imagine being in this situation since I am raising three black men. Where is basic human decency? I hope that the mom mentioned earlier never has to experience this type of injustice for herself or her daughter. Ever.

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 read, I thought that I’d give them a try.

I finally received them and was pleasantly surprised. The books are a joint effort by husband and wife team Bobby Lynn Maslen and award winning illustrator John Maslen. She writes, he illustrates.

First of all, they come in this cute little box. (I love cute stuff) Inside there are 12 little kid-sized books. Before I allowed Phillise to see them, I took a look at them myself, like I always do. I was immediately drawn to the child-like drawings. The author explains that part of the charm of the book is that children can draw the simplistic characters themselves and they’re right.

“Kay. I think you can draw these. Look at ‘em,” I said.

She said, ” I sure can mom.”

“Do you know what else you can do, baby?,” I asked.

“What mommy?,” she said.

You can read it all by yourself. See. The person who wrote it said that she wrote these especially for little boys and girls just like you, so they can say, ” I read the whole book by myself.”

“Here, give it a try,” I said while gently handing her the books.

“Mommy, I don’t know how to read,” said Phillise.

Just try it and I bet that you can do it. Just try it and see.

“Okay,” she said.

Though she was hesitant, she tried it. And guess what? She did it. It took a few tries, but she read the whole book. All by herself. She was so happy. I was so happy. We were high fivin’ all over the place.

I had been trying to teach her to read most of the summer, without success. She was ready. She knew all the alphabets and sounds, but she didn’t have the confidence until she read the BOB books.

Well, after that, she read the 2nd one and we’re currently working on the third one.

This is one of the best learn to read programs I’ve ever used. I love them. I will be purchasing the rest. Some will be for home and some for the classroom that I will have soon.

Do yourself and your child who’s learning how to read a favor and buy these books. There’s a special going on now. You can visit the website @ www.BOBbooks.com and see for yourself.

FEATURES OF THE BOOKS:

• There are 12 books in each set, each written in three-letter words and short sentences.
• There’s a sounds/picture dictionary to introduce readers to each letter.
• On the back of the book, there is a preview as to what the story is about. Bobby Lynn even offers suggestions on how to talk about the story with young readers.
• A few letters are added in each sequentially ordered book, with only five sight words (more on this later) introduced in the whole set.

Here is the first book

Set 1, Book 1:

Mat.

Mat sat.

Sam.

Sam sat.

Mat sat. Sam sat.

Mat sat on Sam.

Sam sat on Mat.

Mat sat. Sam sat.

The End

That’s the whole book. It’s so simple, yet it works. (In case you didn’t know this, simple works!) It gives children the confidence that they need to continue trying to read, so they can say, “I read the whole book.”

Couple these books with the starfall.com site and your child will be an expert reader in no time flat!

If you would like to know more about the Maslens, here is the link: http://www.bobbooks.com/maslens.htm

Check it out!

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:

1. Poor table manners.
2. People who wait until the last minute to turn on their blinker.
3. Cheaters (unless it’s me and Denzel )
4. People who don’t pull their own weight.
5. Coming out of the grocery store to find that someone has left a basket behind your car when the cart thingy is right next to the car.
6. Selfish people.
7. People who block the street when all they have to do is pull over.
8. Condescending people.
9. An educated fool.
10. Half-assing it. (If you’re going to do it, do it right.)
11. Discouragers, otherwise known as haters.
12. E-mail chain letters, in the guise of Christian e-mails.
13. Get-over-inskys, otherwise known as people who will do anything to get over and save a buck.

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 you want to read it later or if you want to print it.

http://www.metrokids.com/august06/tattling0806.html, or if you want to read it now, simply click on↓

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 little girl!

This story goes back, waaaay back. A long time ago, when my older sons were little, whenever I would question them about what was going on, they would never ‘fess up. I could never find out what really happened. Well, I fixed them. I got even with them, but good. I had a little girl too.

They don’t get away with anything now. Whatever I want to know, or even if I don’t want to know, she tells me. ALL the time! It helps me because I know what’s going on now, but that’s also why I’m so frazzled! She is such a tattle tale. She tells on EVERYTHING! ALL THE TIME!

I don’t want to stop her from telling for obvious reasons, but it’s wearing me down.

Help! Does anyone out there have any advice on how to stop a tattletale, without stopping them from telling everything?

Happy 200th post! Yesterday was my 4 month anniversary! Yay me! Do you think I write too much? So what! Yeah, I’m talkative. Here’s to 200+ more!

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 will you use until the bell rings and it’s time for class to begin?

2. What will you use as your signal to get the children’s attention? Flashing the lights, ringing a bell, singing a song, raising your hand and expecting them to do the same, etc.?

3. How will you choose a student helper the first day of school, to do things like lead the flag salute, take the attendance and lunch count folders to the office, help pass out papers, etc.?

4. Where will your students line up after recess and lunch? Will you have one line or two? Alphabetical order or whoever gets there first? (ABC order really cuts down on pushing in line).

5. What is your policy about excusing children to go to the restroom during instructional time? (5 and 6 year olds *all* need to go to the bathroom as soon as you let the first child leave, so be sure you’ve decided how to handle this

6. How often will you send homework and when will it be due? What is your procedure going to be for collecting and recording homework?

7. What activities have you chosen for the first week of school, when teachers are often busy with tons of paperwork and are frequently interrupted by the arrival of new students, parents, and notes/phone calls from the office?

8. What type of behavior reinforcement/positive discipline plan are you going to use? You will probably need a pocket chart to keep track of color changes if you are going to use that type of system (I use a calendar pocket chart with 4 colors of apples).

9. What other class rules and procedures are you going to have? Be sure to have them in writing before the first day of school, and spend time the first day explaining them to your students. Realistically, you’ll have to go over class rules and procedures every day for at least a week, to help your students learn your expectations.

10. What type of letter will you send home with students the first day of school? Your letter should introduce you, tell them a bit about you and your goals for the year, and explain your rules, procedures, and behavior management plan.

11. What will you do about students who consistently don’t complete their work?

12. What are your policies for allowing children out of their seat during worktime? Will most of your work be assigned seatwork, or will your students spend most of their time out of their seats, doing individual and group learning activities?

13. What is your plan for making sure that students who are absent are able to catch up their work? (I have the person next to them get a yellow “We Missed You” folder and put on the absent child’s desk at the beginning of the day, so that any and all work papers can be put in the folder until the child returns to school).

14. Do you have cubbies or mailboxes for your students?

15. Where do you want your students to keep their jackets, backpacks, and lunchboxes? (In my room, jackets and backpacks are kept on their chairs, which greatly reduces the spread of lice. I use the area beneath the coat hooks as a work area for centers and independent work).

16. What will your rule be about interrupting you when you are working with a student or a group? (In my room, students may only interrupt me for B Emergencies … blood, bathroom, and barf

17. If a parent shows up unexpectedly and wants to conference with you during classtime, what will you do? (I usually ask them to have a seat and let them know when I will be able to talk to them. I also ask them if they’d like a job to do while they wait, and give them a tub of papers to collate and staple, or something similiar. I *always* have work ready for helpers to do).

18. What are your procedures for fire drills, etc.? Be sure to go over these the first morning, and take your students on a walking tour of the campus, showing them where they meet and line up during a fire drill, if they aren’t with you when the bell goes off.

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 Pentagon?”

“Somebody bombed the Pentagon?,” I babbled and questioned incoherently.

Everything was surreal. I woke up out of my pregnant, sleep-induced haze to watch the news in total and utter shock. I knew the world, as we knew it, would never, ever be the same. How could it?

I didn’t feel safe anymore.

“What about this baby I’m carrying?,” I thought to myself.

What kind of life would he/she have? How can I even consider bringing another baby into this crazy, mixed up, messed up world? Some many thoughts ran through my head. None of them good. I was absolutely terrified. Everything was different.

Even small stuff that I used to take for granted was different. I noticed that for the first time in two years, I didn’t have to turn my television up when the airplanes flew overhead.

My house is in the flight path right before L.A.X. airport, so whenever the planes fly overhead, they are low because they have already begun their descent. This can get kinda’ noisy. Before 9/11, this used to make me so mad that I had to turn up the volume on my television. Now I missed it. No planes flew over my house, or anywhere else in the U.S., for at least a week.

The first time that my husband and I thought about it, we were outside and we noticed how quiet it was. The quietness was so eerie. We looked up at the sky and just stared at it. Oh how empty it was. It was a reflection of how I felt on the inside.

I quietly rubbed my pregnant tummy and wondered again, for the millionth time since all this happened, what kind of life would this baby in my stomach have.

Fast forward six years and it is business as usual. This makes me sad that it’s business as usual because right after 9/11, everyone was so united. There didn’t seem to be the usual differences. We weren’t black or white Americans; we were just Americans. We weren’t rich or poor Americans; we were just Americans. Proud Americans.

Now, the usual sources of contention are back. We are once again Black-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Greek-Americans, Chinese-Americans, etc…

Though I feel for all the families who lost loved ones due to the senseless act of terrorism, there are certain things that makes me really sad, that aren’t as big a deal as those who lost loved ones. They are so much smaller, but they are still important to me.
What I mostly lament is the end of the closeness and togetherness that Americans shared, as a nation, that is no longer there.

I lament the fact that the child that I was pregnant with, who is now 5 1/2 years old, will not be able to go to the airport and watch the planes take off like my older sons did when they were younger.

I lament that my daughter is a Black woman in America who will probably always hit her head on the glass ceilings.

I lament the fact that it is business as usual!

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 list of standards to save or print.

http://visalia.k12.ca.us./standards

Check it out!

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 so many resources that I am going to spread them out over a couple of days. At any rate, here is one of the resources that I received. This resource, that I received at my bootcamp @ B.N.U., was so helpful. It helped me to solve one of the biggest things that I was afraid of- behavior management. I have always been afraid of not being able to handle behavior problems. Well, that’s not a fear anymore thanks to the website run by Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.

The project is called I.R.I.S. It stands for I.D.E.A. ’04 and Research for Inclusive Settings. It takes you step by step how to create a behavior management plan. This includes classroom procedures, hallway procedure, a crisis plan, etc…

The website explains that misbehavior is due to lack of planning and preparation on the teachers’ part. This is not to say that the teacher is a bad person or anything, just unprepared.

(Taken directly from the site): The goal of IRIS-II is to serve college and university faculty who are preparing the next generation of school personnel, including special education professionals, as well as to serve professional development providers who conduct inservice training for practicing educators.

The IRIS Center for Faculty Enhancement (IRIS-I), began in 2001 and focused on incorporating the How People Learn theory into its training enhancements, to facilitate the translation of research into practice. The Center was housed at Vanderbilt University and was funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to serve college faculty in the preservice preparation of general education teachers, school leadership personnel, school nurses, and school counselors.

The website is http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu

This is a great website. It has so many resources. If behavior management is one of your concerns, I would strongly recommend that you go to this website and complete “Who’s In Charge?’ & “You’re In Charge?” It will help so much.

Check it out!

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 ends. Then it hit me about 12:00 p.m. I could not keep my eyes open. I was exhausted. It was then that I remembered why I was exhausted. I did a lot of running out in the hot sun. I had forgotten what it was like to take children out to recess. It is draining. However, on the plus side, I do have a job offer- a long term sub position. I don’t know if I can take it though because for my program @ B.N.U., I think I need a permanent position. If I can take it, I will. Beggars can’t be choosers.

All that to say that I will post about the I.R.I.S. website tomorrow! Until then, hasta la bye-bye!

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 other amazing things. I thought that William Katt was too cute.

The bad thing about having the suit was not being able to use it correctly. He lost the instruction book. Even though he still managed to use the suit, it was not the same; not the same as it would have been with the instructions.

Anyway, in the show, he was a special education teacher. This was waaay back in 1981, when special education was relatively young. The classroom that he was given was crappy. There was nothing appealing about it. Most of the students were hard to deal with…well, not much has changed. That’s how special ed was back then. It was like having no instruction manual.

I was just thinking how different special education must have been back then. I’m sure there was not much support. There probably weren’t too many people even trained or qualified to deal with the students’ special needs. I am so sure that the training available now is leaps and bounds better than it was then. So much headway has been made since then.

Oh, how different things are. Now, there are so many supports and services available.

Imagine how much better things would have been for him if he would have had the instruction manual that teachers have today.

I am happy that I am entering the field now. Now is the best time to be entering the profession. My program at B.N.U. is wonderful. It is definitely preparing me for the classroom. I was already able to put to use some of what I’ve been learning in school.

The Greatest American Hero was the alien’s choice for saving the planet. He was their hero. Good special education teachers are the heroes for the special children.

Do you have a hero? Who’s your hero? Hopefully someone who’s doing great things! Hopefully they’re doing something for the children.

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 that it’s a 1-on-1 assignment, which basically means that I am mainly responsible for that child. Usually, the children who have a 1-on-1 has the extra help because the child either needs extra help toileting, he/she interrupts the class environment with inappropriate behavior and/or is a danger to themselves or others.

The child that I’m with, Danny, who’s adorable by the way, isn’t a danger to himself or others, he just disrupts the class. He likes to throw his shoes and other objects and he won’t stay put.

I can remember dealing with this situation before with a child who liked to take his shoes off. I would try to put them back on, only to be met with kicks, slaps, etc. After I tired of that, I assessed the situation. I thought about how I would handle it if one of my own children were exhibiting this behavior. So the next day when I went to work, I had a plan for him. When he took his shoes off, I kept them. About five minutes later, he wanted them back. I didn’t give to him. Why? I didn’t give them to him to make him want them. Whenever he would try to take them back, I would tell him that he could have them back when he kept them on.

“Are you going to keep them on,” I asked.

Once he tired of being without his shoes, he said yes. Did he take them off again? Yes, he did. I would have loved for it to have worked right away, but it didn’t. It took a couple of days, but he finally did keep them on.

I’ll have to wait until Monday to find out if it worked with my Danny. I did manage to keep him in his seat. He didn’t interrupt the classroom as much either. Too bad the other students did. The teacher was so frazzled. She asked for my input. I told her that I would work on it and get back to her on Monday. It’s a good thing that I just finished my Behavior Management Plan (B.M.P.) off of the I.R.I.S. website. I will give more information about I.R.I.S. tomorrow; what it stands for, how it can be used, etc. It is one of the resources that I received in my bootcamp @ B.N.U.

So, until tomorrow, keep your shoes on!

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 new MacBook. Well, that elation was shortlived. I was planning to play with the laptop the next morning, when to my shock and surprise, the power cord was not there. I had lost it before I even left the campus and didn’t even know it until the following morning. Once I realized that it was lost, I promptly called the Lost & Found at school to report it missing. Well, guess what? Some one turned it in. I am so happy because that little piece was $129 from the Mac store. While that’s not a lot of money, I just didn’t have it to spend. The security officer called me at 7:20 a.m. yesterday morning to tell me to come and pick it up. I actually cried tears of joy.

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 for her is Tuesday @ 2:45 p.m. Anyway, I’ll have time for just me and her for the next couple of days until I get a job and she goes to Kindergarten.

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 question regarding my introductory parent letter. Usually in the parent letter, the teacher introduces him/herself, their qualifications, expectations for the year and a host of other information.

The answer was up in the air. She told me to ask the principal, because some people get upset when they find out that the teacher is an intern.

Firstly, I understand that this parent wants her children to have the best possible education. Also, any parent has a right to know about the credentials of those in the classroom. It’s the law. That is not what I have a problem with. What I have a problem with are frivolous lawsuits. University interns are considered highly qualified.

To be considered for the position of intern, I had to have:

• A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university

• Passage of the C.B.E.S.T.

• Passage of all three parts of the C.S.E.T. (which isn’t easy by the way)

• Course in U.S. Constitution or the appropriate waiver

• Health clearance

• Fingerprint clearance (F.B.I. background check)

• Authorization to work in the U.S.

• Letters of recommendation

• A letter from my credentialing program stating that they believe that I am capable of performing the job. (Believe me that letter from the university is not automatic. Candidates are placed under much scrutiny before that letter is delivered. If that letter is delivered, the candidate earned it.)

Okay, some say that calling an intern “highly qualified” is just a way to skirt the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. While this may be true, most of the interns are placed in areas that are hard to fill. If the interns aren’t placed in the class, then some classes will be without teachers. Is it better to have someone in there who wants to do the job, is enthusiastic about the job and willing to learn or have the class vacant because someone who already has their credential isn’t willing to teach there? Though interns may not technically be “highly qualified”, they soon will be. They have the passion and are raring to go. I can honestly say, that if given the choice of a teacher who’s been there for 100 years but is burnt out vs. a fresh teacher who is actively learning in school all the new laws and techniques, I would definitely prefer the fresh teacher.

What I’m saying is that before “people get their panties in a bunch“, they should make sure their information is correct. University interns are considered highly qualified. Not all are young, but they are enthusiastic and raring to go.

That my dear sir or madam is my rant for the day!

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 I would by now, but I don’t. So, I am just going to chill and do some reading. I think I’ll go to the library and talk to the librarian. Here’s to all the people who are kid free today after being tortured blessed with our children all day, everyday, during the summer. Yay us!

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 funny) that when I first read the book, I didn’t put two and two together that it was about depression.

Look hard, here is a picture of the mom and the boy↓.

I bought the book because the title reminded me of myself when I used to have mood swings. Just look at the picture. That’s how I would feel when I was really depressed. Nothing made me happy. That’s pretty much how everything looked to me. I really connected with this book.

In the book, the author writes,”Her bad moods terrified the neighborhood. Still she had the sweetest touch in the world when Patrick Edward ran a fever.“

When my older children were little and I went through my depressive states, they would seem to be scared of me. I screamed a lot, but I never hurt them. I would always tell them that. They believed me when they were sick and I would sleep at the foot of their bed, get up and get them water in the middle of the night and cook them the best tomato soup, chicken soup and grilled cheese ever. Just like the mom in the story, I had the sweetest touch in the world when Sam & Dakota were sick.

Some parts speak to me, some don’t. Although I never did this, this is the part that brought tears to my eyes: “On rainy days when she drove him to school, she hid herself in a big cloak and hood.”

Because the mother in the story didn’t want to meet people, little Patrick Edward learned how to handle situations on his own. As in the case of the bullies harassing him. Little Patrick Edward had to go to the market by himself because his mother didn’t want to scare people. Along the way, he is harassed by some bullies. They would have probably gotten away with it, too, if it hadn’t been for those meddling kids…(Okay, okay, I digress, but I couldn’t resist. The joke was there. It handed itself to me.) Anyway, back to the subject at hand. They probably would have gotten away with throwing his hat over the mountain, tying him to a tree and eating up the delicious strawberries that he got for his mother, if they wouldn’t have said something about his mother. After they say something bad about his mother, he lets them have the old whatfor…

If you want to find out what happens after that, you’re just going to have to get the book.

Liz Rosenberg has a customer for life me if she ever writes another book about this. I truly empathized with this book. Some parts of it tell my own story. I would recommend that someone dealing with depression or if you know someone who is dealing with depression who has a young child(ren) purchase this book. The story is told in a simple child-like way that will communicate the message to the child without frightening them. Overall, the message is about a mother’s love. The underlying theme- depression.

I give this book *****/***** stars for dealing with such a sensitive subject with grace and finesse. Go out and get this book before I read it and cry again.

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 were the best of friends; Penelope and Beryl were not. Beryl didn’t like the freckles on Penelope’s ears and Penelope thought Beryl’s legs were much too bendy.”

The story focuses on Penelope Ponsenby who was bored and Beryl Bognut who was not. Penelope had five teddy bears, two pairs of roller skates, ten pots of luminous paint, three world cup soccer balls, and a bike with special wheels for mountain climbing.

Beryl Bognut had a cardboard box.

This part reminds me of that SpongeBob episode where SpongeBob and Patrick had a box that they were just having so much fun in. Squidward gets so mad. He keeps telling them that what they are experiencing is not real. That is until he gets in the box himself.

The same thing happened in this story. During their playdate, Penelope becomes so annoyed at Beryl for pretending that she is having fun in her box that she gets in to see what all the fuss is about. From there, she is taken on an adventure that she never thought possible.

I would say that this book is for those who are at a 3rd-4th grade reading level because of some of the words. The story is simple enough to be classified as 2nd grade, but the words are a little bit more advanced. There are words like distance, icicle, slippery, managed, freckles, googly, wobbly, roar, flattened, sloppety, gigantic, leapfrogged, slithering, whirlpool, rougher.

Some of the words can be figured out through context clues, while the others, the made up ones (sloppety, googly, bendy) might have to be explained. At the end of the story, Penelope gets an extra special gift that may very well give a boost to her imagination. To find out what it is, I guess you’re just going to have to read the book..

This book gets *****/***** stars because it deals with one of my favorite subjects, imagination.

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 actually began the night before when he fell sleep with gum in his mouth; now there’s gum in his hair. He tripped on his skateboard and dropped his sweater in the sink while the water was running. From then, he could tell that it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

His best friend is no longer his best friend, and his mom even forgets to pack his dessert in his lunch. He thinks that he’s going to move to Australia!

The day just keeps getting worse and worse as it spirals out of control. The book ends with his mom telling him that some days are just like that, even in Australia.

←The drawings in this book are black & white. This picture is representative of what you can expect to see in the book. Doesn’t this picture speak volumes?

On the occasions when I’ve read this book to some of my students when they were having a bad day, it made them feel better.

If you are having one of those days yourself or know someone who is, give them this book! It should make them feel better. Check it out!

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, the room is the one that travels.

This book is extra silly. These are my daughter’s sentiments exactly. She said, “Mommy, how can her room follow her to school?” She thought that it was so funny.

Sally can’t believe her eyes. What is her room doing in the hallway of the school?She is so embarrassed. She didn’t know that it was so messy in there. Still, she  doesn’t have a problem with it. Why can’t everybody just leave her alone?

This book is a cute, little book, about 1st-3rd grade level. It would make a great read aloud, just like The Day That Henry Cleaned His Room.

Try as I may, I could not find a picture for this. However, that doesn’t stop me from recommending it. Go out and get it for your little messy drama queen.