Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes by Margaret Atwood

Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes (2004), written by Margaret Atwood and illustrated by Dušan Petricic.
Taken directly from the book jacket: Ramsay has reached the end of his rope. He is sick of dining on rockhard rice, rubbery ribs, wrinkled ravioli, and raw rhinoceros. So he and Ralph the red-nosed rat resolve to leave their [...]

No summer school for me!

I got into an argument with a parent on Friday, had a family pow-wow that could have gone pretty badly, but ended up working out pretty good on Monday. I was sick yesterday, and so I missed work as a result. Needless to say, I need a break.
My doctor agreed!
That’s why I decided no summer [...]

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

Happy Memorial Day to the widows and children of the veterans. Thank you for fighting for this country. Even though it’s not much, this day’s for you.
If you would like to know the origin of Memorial Day, here is a link to Wikipedia that explains it all:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_day

A homegoing celebration! ( A life well lived!)

Yesterday was a great day. Instead of having a funeral, we had a homegoing celebration. Besides missing Mama Josie, there is no reason to be sad. She was 91 years old, she wasn’t sick, and she was still in her right mind. She went in such a peaceful way, that there was no reason to [...]

The one where I flew off the handle!

** Warning, this post is kinda’ long!**
Okay, this one’s a doozy. This is the one where I flew off the handle! This post is such a doozy because today the sh** hit the fan! The student that I was talking about, Robin, his mother came up to the class yelling and screaming.
Things were wrong [...]

Batman, where’s Robin?

Batman’s, where’s Robin? Well, although I didn’t ask Batman, I did ask my assistants that question about one of my students, Robin, who walked out of the class and was M.I.A. as I was in the process of suspending him from my classroom for the day at 8:30 (yes a.m.)
I didn’t let him in the [...]

The one with the magnifying glass…

I was talking to my Assistant Principal about one of my students, Mannish, who works my last, and I mean last nerve. I was telling the A.P. how difficult he is, and that I was having a hard time liking him as a person. She told me that I needed to find something about him [...]

So proud, so proud!

I am so, so, so, so, so proud of myself. I did not raise my voice at all today. This is a major accomplishment because my class can become pretty unruly. However, I noticed that the more I yell, the more I had to yell. It turns out they respond better to a lower voice.
I [...]

How to teach reading series

I will have more time to blog again since the summer is coming up (Yahoo!!!!!). I am going to start a series on teaching to read. I don’t know how many posts it will be. It will be as long as it needs to be.
It will be a combination of my personal experience and journal [...]

It went great!

I had a great Stull. I listened to the Principal’s suggestion, put them into practice and as a result she was very pleased with the lesson.

So sad, part II

I feel so sad in a way, but in another way, I’m not because I know that she’s in a better place. The way she went was so peaceful. She simply took her last breath and slept away.
It was like God said, “It’s your time. Come home”.
Just like that, she was gone. One minute she [...]

So much help!

Ever since Monday, I have had so much help. Earlier in the week, I explained about the situation regarding the CSTs (click here). Not only do I have two extra male teachers in the classroom, but I just got a new male assistant (My other one is out on maternity leave).
He is so good [...]

Yep, really smart!

This is a guess how smart I am. Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead! Guess!
The punchline: I am so smart that I submitted the wrong lesson plan to Livetext (an online portfolio). As a result I ended up getting only half credit. So I got a B- instead of an A when I [...]

Five Fat Folders!

I want five fat folders. Well, what does this mean? Why do I want five fat folders?
It’s quite a nice concept actually. I got this term from Mrs. Elizabeth George’s “A Woman After God’s Own Heart”. It is a wonderful book. .
Again, I ask the questions, “What does five fat folders mean?”
Well, it all comes [...]

(Happy 500th post!)Cutting off your nose…

HAPPY 500th post to me! I was trying to reach it before my 1-year anniversary, May 11, but I had so much to do I just did not make it then. But I’ve made it now.
When I was younger, I would cut off my nose to spite my face. It was so silly. When I [...]

The funniest thing!

The funniest thing has been happening all day. I have been bombarded with a constant stream of children in and out of my classroom all day long. The word got out that I’d given a couple of students some treats (chips, stickers, etc.) for helping, and now everyone wants to help; they’re suddenly so helpful.
It [...]

A new approach to it all

I have good classroom management skills (i.e., I have control over the kids). I am always complimented on them. I have a problem though. My problem is obviously not that. What my problem is is how I got control. I got control over my formerly unruly classroom with coercion, punishment, and a raised voice.
At the [...]

They told me so!

My husband and my mother-in-law told gave me really great advice, but of course I didn’t listen. I stubbornly held on to my old, outdated way of doing things.
“What was it?,” you ask.
Well, they advised me to seek out the help of my Principal in regard to my lesson plans. They told me to ask [...]

Finally…

One of my students, Lil Man, had a problem getting the concept and recognizing the symbols for addition and subtraction. I tried and tried to get the concept across to him without success. This frustrated me so, I even cried on a couple of occasions.
Well, yesterday, he finally got it. Since the previous approaches I [...]

It wasn’t half bad…

As it turns out, administering the CST’s wasn’t half bad. It was a bit complicated, but not bad.
What was so complicated about it you ask?
Well, as you know if you’ve been reading this blog, I have four grade levels in my classroom: 2nd- 5th grade, 7 years old through 12 years old. What that [...]

So it begins…

Today marks the first day of testing. I feel like I just did not do enough. I have always hated the thought of teaching to the test, but it looks like that is the way to go. I feel like I did my students a disservice by being their teacher. Maybe someone else would have [...]

Kinda’ creepy! How odd is that?

Talk about creepy!!! My husband just told me this a couple of hours ago. It happened to my oldest son yesterday when he was at work.
This older man, who my son didn’t know, who seemed kinda’ senile, came up to my son and expressed his condolences on the loss of his mother.
Of course my son [...]

A sad occasion!

This is a sad occasion indeed. My husband’s grandmother, who I also consider(ed) my grandmother suddenly passed away @ 8:49 a.m. this morning. She passed out and never revived. Her heart just stopped beating. I am so sad that I will never see her again, but I am happy that she had such a peaceful [...]

I feel so alive!

I taught Saturday school again yesterday, and I feel so alive! It is such a refreshing change of pace. I still had the children who need resource services, but I had a nice time. I had only six students. I had so much time to spend with each child. One thing that I was [...]

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!

I just wanted to say Happy Mother’s Day to everyone mother out there. Have yourselves a great day!

Happy 1st year Anniversary! (My acceptance speech)

I promised myself I wouldn’t cry. I can’t believe I won. I don’t have anything prepared (I say as I whip out an acceptance speech). Okay, snap back to reality. Snap back to my 1year anniversary of blogging.
Happy Anniversary to me. It’s been a year. I am so glad that I started this blog. It [...]

Guess how smart I am…

Guess how smart I am???
(I am laughing so hard as I type this!)
I am so smart that I thought it was Saturday. Let me begin my story by saying that I came home from work and took a nap. Okay, that being said, now I shouldn’t sound so crazy as I tell this story.
My little [...]

More students?

In the past week, I got two new students. In the next two weeks I will be getting two more. All boys!!!!
Did I really need any more students? Especially at the end of the school year?
One of my newest one is so angry that he is being transferred to Special ed. He was probably one [...]

Breathe….

Breathe… This is what my friend Susan told me as I was driving to school. I was telling her how I was so stressed out because I didn’t even have time to complete my take home final. I was so mad at myself. Well, there were so many other things I was mad at [...]

Saturday school

I taught Satuday today. The Assistant Principal came to me and asked me if I wanted to sub today. Initially I said no, then I thought about it. I had been wanting to teach on Saturday to get more experience and I love Mrs. M. to boot. So I figured that this was my chance. [...]

A renewed sense of purpose!

Eleven years ago when I was a tutor for the Crenshaw Chapter of the World Literacy Crusade, I went through a six-month long training where we were given many strategies on our quest to combat illiteracy.
One of the key concepts that I was taught and will always remember and use is this: If you get [...]

What I like about me:

These are things that I like about myself that I consider strong assets.
I like my ability to:
Bounce back
Make something from nothing
Take something bad and turn it around
My bounce-back-ability: I’m referring to my life. After having my first child @ 19 and my second one three days before my 21st birthday, I have still been able [...]

What’s the problem?

As I was to another teacher in the teacher’s workroom, I mentioned that I was overwhelmed. She also related a story of when she was overwhelmed when she first started. She said that she’d only recently come across some information from about 7-8 years ago from a Staff meeting. It was all new to her [...]

Guess how smart I am?

Guess how smart I am? I am. I locked my keys in the classroom today. I’m pretty proud of myself. This is good for me. This is only the second time. I thought that it would have been more than that.
Until next time people!