Begin at the beginning

I am having so much success with my students. Two of those who only knew a couple of high frequency and sight words are now reading.
How did I do it you ask? I went back to the beginning. I started at the basics- sound spelling cards and phonics. I don’t know why I didn’t do [...]

A pretty bad week but…

It was a pretty bad week last week and yesterday, but (and this is a big but) my emotions are so on the upswing. I’ve come so far in 3 weeks. Just think, just three short three weeks ago, I was planning day to day. Now I’m planning (w/homework) for the whole week.
But back to [...]

Thinking maps training!

I attended an all day training for thinking maps and am so excited about the possibilities. There are so many things that could possibly be done with these maps. Children as young as Kindergarten age could use some of them.
They are a great writing resource. I found a link in Open Court Resources explaining how [...]

20th Reunion!

June 21, 1988. The day that I graduated from high school. I cannot believe this it has been almost 20 years. So you know what that means? That means that my 20th reunion is coming up. I’m still not sure if I’m going or not. I talk to all the people that I want.
My friend [...]

Formatting lesson plans

**I am sorry for not giving credit to the person who wrote this, but I just do not remember where I got it from.**

Formatting Lesson Plans: The Madeline Hunter Lesson Design Model

Many consider Madeline Hunter to be the mother of direct teaching methods. Her theories are embodied in this 8-step lesson plan format.
Madeline Hunter is [...]

Aunt Flossie’s Hats (And Crab Cakes Later) by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard

Aunt Flossie’s Hats (And Crab Cakes Later), (2001), written by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard and illustrated by James Ransome, is such a treat to read. This book is like a feel good movie that you hate to end. I loved this book. I am always looking for books that will let me have what I didn’t [...]

No Saturday school

Well, as it turns out, I will not be teaching Saturday school. I am a little disappointed because I was looking forward to the extra money but I’ll get over it while I’m lazing around the house on Saturdays.
So, until next time people.

Sleeping problems in children with ASD!

Some children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have trouble sleeping. I found this article on that very subject. If you have a child with ASD, take a look at this article and see if it helps you. I hope it does.
Here is the link: http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds/autism/doyle_sleep.htm

Helpless me!

I have been feeling so helpless lately. I had to leave work two times last week. One time I was dizzy; the other I passed out.
I went to Urgent Care last week, but was still dizzy. The problem: The doctor prescribed Meclizine for me. When I went to pick it up, the pharmacist @ Kaiser [...]

The four stages of teaching

From reading the book by Harry & Rosemary Wong, I know there are four stages of teaching:

Fantasy
Survival
Mastery
Impact

I passed Fantasy a long time ago when I was an assistant. I have been on survival mode for the last week. This stage does not work for me. I need to quickly move on to the next stage [...]

Getting the hang of this!

Even though Friday all last week, except Tuesday, was horrible I think that I may just be getting the hang of this thing called teaching. Friday Almost all of last week, was so frustrating to me that I couldn’t think straight.
I don’t know why I always stress out and think that I am never going [...]

Getting it together!

I am finally getting it together. I asked for help from one of my teachers @ B.N.U. She showed me how to use the Open Court program. I was very happy about that because there isn’t another training until the summer. Although by then I won’t need it, the training is mandatory so I’ll still [...]

Scholastic Treasury of Storybook Classics

I just bought Scholastic’s Treasury of Storybook Classics. There are 16 DVDs with 100 stories of beloved classics.
There are so many stories in there. I have most of the books in the collection, but I have been on a quest to buy all the books in there. I am using this as a teaching resource.
For [...]

Upcoming Scholastic book fairs

Attention people: There is an upcoming warehouse book fair. I have only included the location closest to me, but Scholastic has stores all over the country.
(Directly from the Scholastic website) Finding a Warehouse Sale near you is easy! Locate dates and times of sales in your area and register for the event by selecting “Sign [...]

Black & White by David Macaulay

Black & White (1990), written and illustrated by David Macaulay, is a 1990 Caldecott Medal Winner. My Children’s Literature teacher, Katherine, just did not understand how this book won the Medal. She hated it. I, on the other hand, loved it. I think it’s because I love doing a lot of stuff at once. That’s [...]

What I’ve learned about life!

In my 37 years on this earth, I’ve learned that:

Being under a strong leader is one of the most important things.
Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on.
Everybody needs support at one time or another.
A good support system is everything.
Find something that you like, that helps you make it through the day, and do it every [...]

Not such a good idea

Well, going back to work today turned out not to be such a good idea. I thought that I was okay, but realized that I wasn’t as I was being wheeled into the nurse’s office after I had a particularly nasty dizzy spell and passed out right before I started up the stairs to my [...]

Back to school!

I am back at school but I think that I should have stayed at home. Since my classroom is on the second floor, my biggest challenge that I will face today is climbing the stairs. Usually I go up and down the stairs at least 10 times a day. While this is good for losing [...]

Home… sick!

Even though I vacillate greatly between wanting to quit one day to being totally committed the next, I love my job and the children that I work with even though it may not seem like it from the way that I write about it. However, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
My way of thinking [...]

Excited about school again!

I’m not sure if I shared this or not last semester, but I was just so unmotivated about school. I had so many other things going on that school was just not as important to me as it used to be. I got a “B” and 2 “I’s”.
I have never been this way. I was [...]

A gift horse…

I just returned from an AmeriCorps meeting. (I know that you’re not supposed to look a gift horse in the mouth.) That being said, I’ll peek into its mouth just a little.
The AmeriCorps program that I’m with, T.E.A.M.S., brings many guest speakers to us to give us excellent presentations with a lot of good information [...]

Limited punishability!!!

What does this mean? This is in reference to my post from yesterday. I feel so powerless in regard to my students. I have no support from the administration and/or the parents.
I have a system in my classroom. If step 1 doesn’t work then I move on to step 2. If step 2 doesn’t work, [...]

Yet.. another.. one.. of… those days!

Today was yet another one of those days. It was horrible. Let me start at the beginning: One of my hispanic students thought that it was okay to call another one of my students, who’s black, a ni**a’.
“What did you say?” I asked.
“Nuthin’. I didn’t say nuthin’, ” he said.
I heard what you said. You [...]

Patience is a virtue? Isn’t it?

I have had a restful, almost stress-free Christmas vacation. Now that I’ve snapped back to reality it’s a little weird. I mentioned that, over the break, I was at all day faculty meetings. I was pleasantly surprised. I did not want to go, but I am glad that I did. I had a chance to [...]

It was another one of those days!

Yesterday was so hard for me. I don’t know what went wrong. I just know that it did. All the fire was out of me by the time the children came back from recess. Today was a little bit better because I just refused to let it be like yesterday. Everyone that I talked to [...]

OCR Unit Opener (Imagination)

Tuesday was my very first Unit Opener ever. We decided to do it on Tuesday because of the break. We just didn’t think that it would be a good idea to have the students try to focus too much on the first day back at school after a three week break.
I mentioned earlier last week [...]

A Huge Warehouse Sale !

F.Y.I.- I received a flyer in my box @ work regarding a sale on Martin Luther King, jr. Day at Teacher Created Resources. Just in case you’re interested, here is the information:
What: Huge Warehouse Sale
When: Monday, January 21, 2008
Where: 6421 Industry Way
Westminster, CA 92683
Time: 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
Phone number: (714) 891-7895
(888) 343-4335
website: www.teachercreated.com

Freedom writers (Erin Gruwell)

I just finished watching Freedom Writers and I swear it feels like I was watching my life. Okay, there are obvious differences. I am not white. I do not work in Long Beach. I don’t work with high school, etc. I do, however, work with kids who live in less than ideal situations.
I felt the [...]

Goodbye to Toolie!

Life is so funny. A couple of months ago I would have given anything to have this kid, Toolie, out of my class. He was loud and very disruptive. He called me names, etc.
I thought that once he was out of my class that it would be so much better off. Oh, how I wished [...]

Now…back to reality! Part 2

Today will be business as usual. I have been off work since December 14th. I guess it’s time to go back. Even though I technically went back to work on Wednesday, tomorrow is the first official day back…with the children.
I can’t believe how good I felt over the break. I felt like I felt before [...]

Learning to love the rollercoaster!

I was feeling kinda’ down a little while ago because I was starting to get anxious about returning to work. Thoughts started coming up in my head:

What made me think that I could do this?
Am I ever going to learn all of these programs that I need to do my job competently?
Will I ever stop [...]

What’s in a name?

I found this site that tells you the meaning of your name. Here’s the meaning of my name. If you would like to check it out, here is the website:
http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyournameshiddenmeaningquiz/
***What Leila Means***
You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.
You are light hearted and accepting. You don’t get worked up easily.
Well [...]

Looking back on 2007

I have to say I am not sad to see 2007 leave. It was a year or great ups and down. I achieved one of my long term goals of graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Development from Azusa Pacific University. My oldest son graduated from high school and started college. My little [...]

Not so alone anymore

Boy am I glad that I had these all day faculty meetings. If not, I would not have been able to participate with the other teacherss on site. We planned the Unit Opener for Imagination. Everyone seemed to have so many tricks in their bags. They were like Felix the Cat. Whenever something came up [...]

Faculty meeting

I am fresh back from an all day meeting. This is weird for me because I am not used to going back early. I was kinda bummed about going back a couple of days early.This is my first time. When I was an assistant I just showed up. I didn’t have to do any advanced [...]

Happy New Year!

Hey all! Whew! I made it through the year. With my sanity intact. Even though I went through great turmoil this year, I have emerged victorious. I am stronger and wiser for it. That is something that I did not think would happen. Here’s to a new year, new trials, new victories, new ?????

It’s 2008. [...]