Yes, it is personal!

I remember about 10 years the apartment that I was living in was burglarized. It was right before I had David. I was very pregnant and very tired, so I sent Sam to check the mail. Unbeknownst to me, he left the keys in the mailbox.
Obviously someone found them. They knew exactly whose keys they [...]

Fun with Picasso!

Even though I dislike OCR because it’s not suitable for special ed, I have to admit that I had so much fun a couple of weeks ago with the Picasso story in Open Court (3rd grade). I am happy to announce that I will be switching to Voyager when I have training next week, and [...]

When teaching long vowels…

In one lesson, teach that vowels say their name at the beginning of a syllable (as in a-pron).

In another lesson, teach that magic e makes vowels say their name (as in lake).

Teach the vowel pairs ai and ay, and the rule that ai is used within a word and ay is generally used at [...]

Vowel rules

The correct vowel rule should be:
a) An open vowel is long. (Show that an open vowel has no consonant after it.)
b) A closed vowel is short. (Show that a closed vowel is followed by a consonant)
If you teach the real rule, the student can apply it to thousands [...]

I’m so proud of you for fighting!

“I’m so proud of you for fighting,” I told my students as they related the story of what happened during lunch.
I know this may sound crazy, but that is exactly what I told my students yesterday.
I started off fussing at them for not being in line when I came to pick them up after lunch. [...]

The many jobs of silent “e”

I also got this from the website . If you would like to read it for yourself, here it is: http://www.all-about-spelling.com/silent-e.html
Taken directly from the site.
Here are the six jobs that Silent E performs:
Job #1: Silent e can make the vowel before it long (note).
Job #2: Silent e can make c and g [...]

How to teach spelling

While doing some research on teaching spelling, I came across this article: http://www.all-about-spelling.com/spelling-lesson.html. It was quite humbling as I have been doing some of those things that the article says not to do.
I am happy that I came across this information. Now I know what to do as well as what not to do. That’s [...]

Law of Attraction gone wrong!

I finally got a University Supervisor. She came to observe in my class on Thursday. It went well. In fact it went too well. It went so well that I knew that something was bound to happen.
I don’t know if it was like a Law of Attraction/Secret thing or what. Whatever it is, I believe [...]

Engaged & not distracted, part 2

The War Between the Vowels and the Consonants, which I will review later this week when I get a chance, written by Priscilla Turner and illustrated by Whitney Turner is such a cute little book.
I read this to my students and they loved it. We had a field day with this. Some of them were [...]

Mrs. Biddlebox by Linda Smith

Mrs. Biddlebox (2007), written by Linda Smith with beautiful illustrations by Marla Frazee, is one of the most touching books I have ever read. This book, under the guise of a children’s book, deals with the very adult subject of cancer.
This is the author’s personal story of her own battle with cancer. Sadly she lost [...]

Still learning!

Although I abandoned Open Court three weeks ago, I participated in the Unit Opener yesterday so that my children don’t feel left out. I enjoyed it. The other teachers are really supportive. They try to make sure that my children are included.
I just decided to participate the day before, so I didn’t reallly have anything [...]

Lito & Meanie!

I feel so bad for me and one of my students, Lito. He mainstreams to another class for 1/2 the day. He loves it. The only problem is that one of the students in the classroom, lets call him Meanie, keeps calling him stupid. Meanie tells Lito that he’s special ed and he doesn’t belong [...]

Happy Friday!

I haven’t said that in a long time. I am happy to see Friday. Even though this was only a four day week, it seemed long. I am happy that it’s over and I am home for the weekend. I look forward to the weekend so I can do some much needed planning. Twice a [...]

I am officially a teacher

I feel like an official teacher. I just made an inbox out of a cardboard box. All the teaching methods that I learned and all the schooling was for naught. None of that silly stuff makes you a real teacher. Being able to make something out of nothing is what it’s really about.
You haven’t lived [...]

Oooh! I’m telling!

I have had my first official complaint. One parent, upset about her son’s diagnosis, decided to lash out at me. The problem as she saw it was that he wasn’t receiving any homework. She was right. He hasn’t received any homework for about a week. I did have homework prepared but the children didn’t “get” [...]

Missed it by that much!

I am mad at myself. I missed the eclipse. A couple of weeks ago, one of my students, who I’ll call Man-Man, was interested in learning about eclipses, so during IWT when the other students were busy doing other things, I took some time with him to look it up. He was so excited. That [...]

On my way back!

I am on my way back from my slump that I was in. I had lost my passion, after only 4 months. It was only for about 2-3 weeks, but it seemed like a long time because this is what I have wanted to do for the last 10 years.
I have been working on getting [...]

Self deprecating, self-sacrificing, self-defeating sabotage!

Long title. Good reason. That’s me. I am the most self-deprecating, self-sacrificing, self-defeating, sabotaginest person I know. Just when I think that I have things under control and I’m not going to sabotage myself anymore, Wham! I do something so stupid, then I wonder why I did it.
For instance, take this teaching position that I [...]

My dwindling readership!

If my self-esteem were wrapped up in this blog, I would be in bad shape. I am talking about my readership through Feedburner. I have seen it dwindle from 9 at the beginning of this month to 1 (Take a look for yourself).
Although this is a bit of a wake-up call to freshen things up, [...]

Really Hallel!

In regard to my post, Thank you Mr. B., about my student Hallel. I spoke with him today and presented the idea to him of him helping to make his own classwork (within reason, of course), and he liked the idea, but just couldn’t come up with anything. At least we’re getting somewhere.
I asked him [...]

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

Hello everyone! Good morning! Good morning! Good morning. You know what today is. The day for lovers. It is also my 10th Wedding Anniversary. So Happy Anniversary to me!
I usually have this big shindig where I move the table chairs out of my dining and go out all. I rent 3 round tables and 12 [...]

Famous quotes

“To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions”–Benjamin Franklin

Thank you Mr. B!

I had a talk with David’s teacher about one of my students, Hallel. This boy is on genius level, can read 186 w.p.m., and can ead anything I put in front of him. The problem is that he won’t do any work unless I prod and prod and prod and prod him.
N-e way, I spoke [...]

Still not at 100%!

I really had to make a big decision yesterday. I had to decide whether or not to miss work. It shouldn’t be a big deal but my children at work get so mad at me when I missed last time for legitimate reason. Even though I have legitimate reason this time too, I still had [...]

What I want doesn’t exist!

I have discovered, much to my chagrin, that what I want either does not exist or I just haven’t found it yet. I am talking about my perfect, ideal job. My perfect, ideal job would be one that would:

allow me the freedom that I desire, which means not having to be at work every [...]

Getting better

I have been so sick. I wish that I had another job where I was free to miss work and not be penalized (by the children). I’m not sure if I wrote about when I passsed out at work because of my vertigo. If I didn’t here it is. I left work on a Thursday [...]

7 random and/or weird things about me

I’ve been tagged by Chris @ soupornuts.com to tell 7 random and/or weird things about me. There are so many weird things about me that I don’t even know where to begin.

I never fit in anywhere. I am such an oddball. No matter where I’m at, I stick out like a sore thumb. I hated [...]

The perils of Special Education

I have an I.E.P. today. I only wish I knew what time it was. That would be really nice. (Read with a bit of sarcasm). I am not given most of the information that I need for my students. I am not lying when I say that Special Education is the red headed stepchild. I [...]

Eureka!

I have something very good to report. One of my students who I’ll call Man-Man, has started reading. I am so, so, so proud of him. When I assumed leadership of the class, I asked him if he wanted to learn. He said that he did.
“Good, I said, that’s the first step. The second and [...]

I’m sick… again!

Yes, I am sick once again. A couple of teachers were out last week because of this. Now, it has caught up with me. The only good thing about this is that I don’t have an appetite, so maybe I’ll lose a couple of pounds like I always do when I’m sick.

Positive thinking!

Here is some food for thought. It is a great article that was e-mailed to me about gossip and positive thinking. If you would like to read it, here is the link: http://www.healthywealthynwise.com

I got the writing bug again!

I have been up for a couple of hours. I fell asleep while trying to finish the reading for my methods class. I knew that I had to finish the reading and write a reflection paper on the chapter that I read, so I woke up. I just finished. I am so happy about that. [...]

Happy Black History month!

Happy Black History month to everyone. This is also a “shout out” to Carter Woodson who started everything.

Enough already…

Yeah! Yeah! I know. I was just whining & complaining, but I am learning to just shut my big fat mouth. As I was sitting in the back of the classroom feeling sorry for myself, as I was having a strategy moment with one of my students, I realized that all these hard times are [...]

Feast or famine!

This thing called life is so weird. One minute you’re up. The next thing you know, you’re down. I say this because that’s how my life is. There is usually no in between. It’s either feast or famine. Right now it’s famine. It seems that no matter what I do, I can’t get ahead. It’s [...]