Greedy Apostrophe: A Cautionary Tale by Jann Carr

Greedy Apostrophe: A Cautionary Tale (2009), written by Jan Carr and illustrated by Ethan Long was quite an informative little book. I believe that it would go under the title of edutainment since it was informative, educational, and entertaining all at the same time. I highly recommend this book since it does double duty. It [...]

Results Of My Personality Perception Image Test

NBPC – The Daydreamer Nature, Background, Big Picture, and Color You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on the hidden treasures of life (the background) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the colors around you. Because of the value you place on nature, [...]

Be Like Nike…

Okay, this is my beef for the day. In my program, there are a lot of young “intellectual” types. They are working my last nerve. Whenever we are given an assignment, they have to question everything and let the instructor know that they don’t agree with the assignment for whatever reason. Usually it’s a vague, [...]

All That I Am…

All that I am, I owe to my hard times. All that I am, I owe to my suffering. All that I am, I owe to doing what I didn’t want to do. All that I am, I owe to being hard headed. All that I am, I owe to my good times. All that [...]

It’s Closing Time…

I was @ a birthday party on Saturday when I noticed that the owners of the house owned a karaoke machine. “Hey, Rose. Is that a karaoke machine?” I ever so politely asked. Do you guys karaoke??? “Yes,” she replied. “Would you like to try it?” “Try it? Are you kidding? I am the karaoke [...]

The Biggest Difference Between Good & Bad Spellers…

From Marie Rippel @ all-about-spelling.com What are the biggest differences between a student who knows how to spell and one who struggles? Kids who are good spellers tend to enjoy learning, read more, and do better in all subject areas. They normally have the confidence that they can tackle most academic learning. Poor spellers, on [...]

Nine Ways To Save Time In The Classroom by Gay Su Pinnell

Hey, folk, I found this informational article on Scholastic.com. Nine Ways to Save Time in the Classroom By Gay Su Pinnell Posting a daily schedule keeps students informed and the day on track. Posting a daily schedule keeps students informed and the day on track. Figuring out how to get it all done is a [...]

Snap Back To Reality (continued)…

Well, today was my first day back at school. Not where I teach at, but the university where I am working on my teaching credential/Master’s degree. It’s so nice to be back. The atmosphere is so very nice. The teachers are super laid back. However, although I am happy to be back, I will be [...]

Welcome To The Newest Member Of My Family

I want to extend a warm welcome to my great-nephew, Khai Rodrigo. Born two days ago, to my niece, Brooke. He weighed in @ 6 lbs. 1.5 ozs., 19 inches long.

Thoughtful Quote

“Worry is like a rocking chair–it gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere.” -Anonymous

Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner, Part 2

While writing my previous post, I realize that I am a kinesthetic, and tactile, as well as a visual learner. I thought that I was a tactile learner only, but have been doing a bit of thinking about it and realized that I, as well as a many people, employ multiple modalities during the course [...]

The Joys Of Reading

I was reminded of just how much I love books when I was talking to my husband on one of my weekly trips to the library. He mentioned that he didn’t even know why anyone still used the library when the internet is so handy, and how great technology is- the Kindle electronic hand held [...]

Back In The Game…

Okay, folks. I am back in the game, as far as my student loans are concerned. A while back, I wrote a post about how I cried because I misunderstood something and that something cost me more than $13,000- the money from the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program. Let me explain. Firstly, I thought that I [...]

Hey Black Child by Eugene Useni Perkins

This is one of my favorite poems. Hey Black Child Hey Black Child, Do you know who you are? Who you really are? Do you know you can be What you want to be? If you try to be what you can be. Hey Black Child, Do you know where you’re going? Where you’re really [...]

Counting Down The Days

Well, people, it’s about that time. Summer is almost over. School will be starting in a couple of days. I’m ready to go back. I’m ready to tackle another year. The one good thing about teaching 2nd-5th grade is that I still have all of my students except for the three that graduated. So, I [...]

What Language Do You speak? or (Can You Spare A Square?)

** WARNING- This post is kinda’ long** Let me begin by saying that because of budget cuts, the district will no longer be paying for hotels for teachers’ training. Nor will they be providing lunch. They provide a continental breakfast (fruit, coffee, juice, croissants, and muffins) to get you there. After that, you are on [...]

The Alphabet War by Diane Burton Robb

The Alphabet War, A Story About Dyslexia (2004), written by Diane Burton Robb and illustrated by Gail Piazza, was a cute and informative picture book about dyslexia. It was simple enough that it can be read to a small child to acquaint them with the disability. Yet, it has enough information in there for the [...]

Looking Back or (The Secret To My Success)…

I am still trying to put my finger on exactly what worked for me this year because I would really love to have an equal amount, if not more success this year. I’d like to know exactly what it was that made my student’s test scores shoot up so much. While I’m not exactly sure [...]

I Looked Fabulous!!!

I just returned home from my 20th High School Reunion. I have to say that the people were a lot nicer this time around. The first time, the people who were snotty in high school were still snotty. Not this time though. Time tends to soften people. I spoke to some people for the first [...]

Disaggregating The CST data!

We are disaggregating the data today at school. Simply put, disaggregating the data  means that we are taking the data apart and analyzing it. For instance, for my class, I want to see how many of my students moved from FBB to BB or B; or even if they stayed at the same level, did [...]

Alphabet War by David Artuso

I found this poem in the front of a book entitled READING BY THE COLORS by Helen Irlen. It was written by a college student who wanted the world to understand the frustration of the reading experience for someone with SSS. Perhaps there was a title, but I didn’t see it. So I took the [...]

Refreshed & ready

I know that I’ve said this a lot in the past couple of weeks but I am still going to say it again, “I wish that I would have had this training that I’m getting now, last year”. I know that my timing was all wrong, but it still would have been the difference between [...]

Guess How Smart I Am?

Well, guess!! I am so smart that I went to the library and checked out some books. No, that’s not the guess how smart part. The guess how smart part is when I fell asleep in one of those comfy chairs while waiting for David, Phillise, Calvin, & Chloe to finish on the computers and [...]

The CST Scores Are In!!!

My school just received our preliminary CST test scores, and they are very good. I am extraordinarily proud of my students. They did such a great an excellent job. I’m talking about my students having an average +58.2 point gain in English/Language Arts, and an average gain of +57.5 points in Math. I’m not sure [...]

About The CSTs!!!

The California Standards Test. What is it? It is the test given by the state of CA. If you’ve ever read the results and didn’t understand what they meant, here’s an explanation: FBB-(Far Below Basic- the lowest) BB- (Below Basic) B- (Basic) P- (Proficient) A- (Advanced- highest level) These tests are a thorn in some [...]

The Big R (Reclassification)

RFEP IFEP EO ELD 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 These were all terms pertaining to me that were foreign to me last year when I first started teaching. In teaching, there are so many acronyms. Imagine trying to make sense of them all. Especially when I have to contend with special ed. acronyms also. It [...]

Grade Level Planning. Yay!

Oh, how I wish I could have had this information last year. Well, I did have some of it last year, but not to this extent. It is simply wonderful. I don’t have to have the burdern of planning by myself. I now have others to split the work with. This year already seem so [...]

Rocket Science

Reading is rocket science by the way. There’s actually an article (a 40 page pdf) with this title, that was written especially for the American Federation of Teachers. The article deals with teaching reading. It basically says that reading can be taught using a systematic approach. That information was all that surprising to me. Even [...]

Books For Children About Disabilities

I have read all of these books. I will update the list as I come across more. One of my favorite books of all time, Thank You Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco (dyslexia) Egg Drop Blues by Jacqueline Turner Banks (dyslexia) The Alphabet War by Diane Burton Robb (dyslexia) Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack [...]

What Do I Do On The First Day Of School? part 2

Thanks to snap22, I now have more tips on how to deal with first day of school jitters for new teachers. I don’t know how I forgot # 1. That was one of the first things I was told in grad school. Anyway, here they are: Here are a few that I posted to a [...]

What Do I Do On The FIrst Day Of School?

What do I do on the first day of school? What do I wear on the first day of school? Am I going to know what to do with unruly students? Will the kids respect me? How will I know how to teach a certain concept? What will I do if a lesson bombs? What [...]

Read To Me L.A.

(Taken directly from Los Angeles Public Library website) Read to Me L.A. is a free program that teaches parents and caregivers how to read to their preschool children and help them become successful readers. Giving children a head start in reading is important, because kids who read succeed! Beginning in Fall 2007, librarians will hold [...]

What’s Up With That?

I don’t know what’s going on with the feed stats, because I’ve noticed that a couple of people added. Yet, it doesn’t show up to the left. The number of readers haven’t gone up for a couple of months even though a couple of people have added. I asked this question a while ago, but [...]

21 Ways To Get Your Child To Write This Summer

(Taken directly from All About Spelling) Summer is a great time to introduce spelling and writing activities to keep your student’s skills sharp. Take advantage of these fun ideas to encourage your child to write: 1. Go on a nature walk with your child and have him bring a sketchbook. Encourage him to draw sketches [...]

I’m Back!!!

Today was the first day of buy back days. I went to work today and it wasn’t that bad. There was, as always, lots of good information. One of the high points are our grade level meetings. We accomplish so much. I guess I’ll be getting to bed now. I gotta’ go back tomorrow @ [...]

The Scrambled States of America

The Scrambled States of America (2002), written and illustrated by Laurie Heller is a pretty nice little book. It originally came to my attention because it is part of the Scholastic Video Collection. So, on one of my trips to the bookstore, I read it. liked it so much that I decided to buy the [...]

What’s In My Future…

There are so many things going on with me this month. Like to hear about ‘em, here they are: There were so many birthdays in my family in the summer that my aunt Linda is giving a party for all of the July & August birthdays tomorrow. It’s adults only. I’m not mad at her. [...]