HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Please, enjoy your family today. Even if it’s a small gathering. Also, take the time to say a prayer and be grateful for everything that you have. Most importantly, don’t forget to wear your eating dress or eating pants and eat until your heart’s content! Have a great day!!!

Yay! Mini-Vacation Time!

Dear Readers,

As of 12:55 p.m. today, I am on mini- vacation. I am so happy that I don’t have to do anything for 4 days. I’m not hosting Thanksgiving this year, so I have tons of free time on my hand. I am going to sleep in tomorrow- probably until 8 a.m., then I’m going over my mother-in-law’s house. I’m going to eat myself silly, then come home and sleep like a baby. So, I will post on the weekend. Bye for now!

Stayed Home From Work Today!

I really hate getting gas. I will wait until my husband is in the car with me and conveniently stop. That way, he has to pump it. Pretty slick, huh? Well, today didn’t lessen my disdain for stopping at the gas station. In fact, it increased it. Why, you ask? Well, since you asked so nicely, I will tell you.

I knew that I needed gas, but thought I could put it off, since, you know, I hate stopping at the gas station. Well, since I was right on E, I knew that I wouldn’t even make it to work. So, I had to stop. I get out. It’s freezing, my heater stopped working yesterday for some reason. Not only that, but my blinkers are on the fritz. Even so, I have people at work waiting for me, so I go. At least I tried to. I stop at the local 76, pump my gas and prepare to leave. The only problem is that I somehow managed to waster gas all over my cute self. I hadn’t worn this skirt since earlier in the year. I lost a little weight, so it actually fit pretty good. Anyway, there was no way in H.E. double hockey sticks that I was going in to work smelling like gas. So, I went home. At this point it was already 7:25. Once I would have taken a bath and put on another outfit, there was no way I was getting out of the house before 8:00.

“What’s the point,” I thought. Screw it! I’m getting back in bed. So, that’s what I did. I got back in bed. I woke up about 12:30. I got some well deserved rest. That’s it. That’s all there is to tell. Bye for now!

Lakeshore’s Weekend Sale (11/26/11-11/27/11)

Busy, Busy, Busy Me!!!

Dear Readers,

I am so sorry I have been neglecting you. I haven’t written in a couple of days because I’ve been so tired lately. There’s just so much on my plate right now. At home, Phillise’s cheering is so intense. Her team is preparing for Nationals in January and the practice is really demanding. At school, we are going through WASC accreditation (Is that redundant?) and it’s a little stressful. I do not feel ready for it. I’ve been stressed out. As a result, my body is betraying me. As I write this, I have a heating pad on my back. This job is really taking all of my energy. So, I am going to get some rest and enjoy my downtime this weekend.

The only thing that’s bothering me is that I really wish I would have remembered to bring my umbrella home since Phillise is cheering for her team tomorrow morning @ 9:30 a.m. and there’s a possibility of rain. Hopefully it won’t rain. After the game’s done, I am going to do a little grocery shopping, a little cooking and call it a day! To add to that, I’m really tired and achy from exercise, so I am done for today. Bye for now!

Six Guiding Principles of Math

This is from my workshop with Math whiz Kim Sutton. There are six guiding principles in math:

1. ALL math is based on patterns.
2. The language of mathematics is spoken here. (Teach students the use of mathematics terms early.)
3. Math is filled with constants. (2 x 1 will always be 2 x 1)
4. There are no accidents in math.
5. Math is the pursuit of laziness. (Teach them the long way first. Once they get that, teach them the short cut.)
6. Mathematics teaches the power to persevere.

Finally,

• Know your stuff,
• Know who you’re stuffing,
• Stuff them elegantly

Sure Would Like to Go!

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum cordially invites you to attend the 2011 LOS ANGELES DINNER FEATURING GERDA WEISSMANN KLEIN TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13 Beverly Hilton Hotel 9876 Wilshire Boulevard Beverly Hills, California5:30 p.m. Cocktail reception 6:45 p.m. DinnerJoin us in honoring Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein, who was just 15 years old when the German army invaded her hometown of Bielsko, Poland. In 1945, Gerda was liberated by the Fifth Infantry Division of the US Army after a death march. One of her liberators, a young GI named Kurt Klein, would become her beloved husband of over 55 years. Now an acclaimed author whose autobiography All But My Life has been in print for 54 years, the subject of the Emmy and Academy Awards winning documentary One Survivor Remembers, an accomplished humanitarian, and the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Gerda exemplifies the tenacity of the human spirit and the values the Museum was established to protect. Tickets are $500 per person. RSVP by December 2 at www.ushmm.org/events/2011losangelesdinner/.

I’ve Never Won One!

Dear Readers,

I’ve never won one! The one, in question, is a student with a negative influence at home. I’ve never gotten one to change their negative thought pattern successfully. My dilemma is with one of my students, Binaca Blast. She’s VERY mean. She lies with no conscience or remorse and is just generally causing chaos in the class. I am exhausted. She is so much to handle. It’s almost to the point of being too much to handle. I have to admit that this is the first time that I have not been invested in a student’s well-being. If she changes fine, if not fine.

One thing I will say is that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. She is just like her mother. Her mother is one of the Parents from Hell who was giving me trouble. She was the main reason that I had to call the Emergency meeting.

So, my problem is that I am trying to reach her, but her behaviors are so deeply engrained because she sees the negativity and trouble making everyday from her mother. I don’t know how to motivate her to want to do right. What do I do?

Yay! She Got 2/20!!!

I am so happy with one of my students, Ms. Loud Talker (It’s so the opposite. She’s very quiet, but she is slowly, but surely, getting her voice.), who scored 2/20 on her test. I know that you’re probably asking why I’m celebrating such a low score, but just sit back and, as usual, I will explain. I know you need background on this, so just know that this post could potentially be a little long. Now, just sit back & enjoy the story.

You see, last year, when Ms. Loud Talker came into my class, late in the year (March), she didn’t talk at all. I seriously mean, not at all, for the first couple of hours. Her twin sister used to do all of the talking. Her mom later told me that she didn’t talk to her other teacher for the whole year. Are you reading what I’m writing? A whole year of not talking. So, I went to her and told her that I understood that she was shy, but that it was disrespectful to not talk to me. So, she slowly started talking to me within the week.

She tried not to though. She would send her twin sister up to me to ask for something, instead of asking for it herself. When her twin sister would come to me to ask for something for her, I would send her back to her seat and tell her to tell Ms. Loud Talker to come and ask me for herself. She would, but she would ask me so quietly that I would have to lean forward to hear her. It was almost to the point of her whispering in my ear. Now, fast forward to this year and she’s talking, not only to me, but all the students in the class. She is also now speaking up for herself. Can you believe that? I am so proud of her.

Fast forward again to Friday when I saw her test score. I almost cried…until I looked at the words. That’s when I noticed how close she was to the correct spelling. That’s when I cheered up. I knew right then and there what I was going to say to her to make her 2/20 seem like 20/20. I circled the one or two letters that were incorrect. I then wrote the correct spelling next to the incorrect word and pointed out how successful she ALMOST was.

So, I wrote/said all of that to say that she has made SUCH great progress. This is a synopsis of her success:

• Last year, she wouldn’t even attempt a word she didn’t know. Now, this year, she will struggle with it.
• Last year, she wouldn’t speak up for herself. This year, she does.
• Last year, she was reading 5 w.p.m. last year. Right now she is reading 19 w.p.m.
• Last year, she would NOT even attempt a spelling test. So I do not have a record of any spelling tests for her. The only thing I have is some of her writing that did not have a single word spelled correctly.

This is a copy of her Spelling test. Look at it for yourself and see why I’m so proud of her.

1. ounce    (correct)
2. sprowl   (sprawl)
3. launch   (correct)
4. loyowl     (loyal)
5. ouvode     (avoid)
6. foulter      (falter)
7. moust       (moist)
8. hount     (haunt)
9. scow         (scowl)
10. noutty     (naughty)
11. distowry   (destroy)
12. sowser      (saucer)
13. pownc       (pounce)
14. pousen      (poison)
15. Aowgest    (August)
16. owcshen    (auction)
17. rowyal   (royal)
18. cower     (coward)
19. owcwerd     (awkward)
20. anounce      (announce)

Last year she didn’t even try. Now, she reads with such confidence and fluency. Now, do you see why I’m celebrating 2/20 words correct!

WORDWORLD’S Interactive eBook Library

WORDWORLD CREATOR, DON MOODY, LAUNCHED NEW INTERACTIVE eBOOK LIBRARY WordWorld’s new eBooks bring words to life across digital platforms just in time for the 2010 Back to School season/

Don Moody, creator of the three time Emmy™ Award-winning television series WordWorld is launching a new, free eBook library  available online now and on iTunes–for iPhone and iPad. WordWorld has been demonstrated by a U.S. Department of Education funded study to improve early literacy skills. WordWorld’s eBook library extends the learning lessons introduced in the television series.

The WordWorld eBook library consists of five dynamic educational WordWorld stories. Children may read the eBooks on their own, be read to by a caregiver or have stories read aloud to them by the eBook narrator. By clicking select words in each eBook, children build words and watch letters “morph” into WordFriends™. A Caregiver Guide accompanies the eBooks, providing caregivers and educators strategies to maximize the tool’s educational effectiveness. “Children and [the WordWorld] eBooks are a match made in educational heaven!” says Linda Labbo, Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia.

“Words come to life on screens in unique ways that invite children to interact with stories, characters, and language. The interactivity scaffolds children’s attention and provides age appropriate prompts that ensure an entertaining and educational experience.” The WordWorld eBook library supports the curriculum delivered through the WordWorld television series. It provides the groundwork upon which emergent readers can build early literacy skills. Each eBook promotes story comprehension, age-appropriate vocabulary, rhyming, print awareness, phonological sensitivity and letter knowledge.

The eBook library can be viewed at: www.wordworld.com/ebook1/ About Word World, LLC Word World LLC

**WordWorld is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Education and is part of the Ready to Learn literacy initiative focused on helping children ages two to eight improve their reading skills. The Ready to Learn initiative is a partnership of the U.S. Department of Education, the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, PBS and the Ready to Learn Partnership.

Congratulations to Phillise!

I am so happy. My daughter’s team won 1st place in the cheer competition at Magic Mountain & 3rd place in the dance category. I think it should have been the other way around because I thought they did a better job in the dance category. But, it’s all good because we are still going to Nationals in January. YAY! CONGRATULATIONS PHILLISE!!!

Reports Cards Nearly Done!!!

I am slowly but surely getting it together in regard to my organizational skills, meeting deadlines, & keeping it together. I’m nearly done with report cards. I just need the grades for Art & Music. I’ll get them on Monday. Right now I am about to get some sleep. So, bye for now!

Swamped me!

I have been so swamped lately that I hadn’t realized that I haven’t written for almost a week. Between work and cheer practice, I haven’t even had time to sit and think. Reports cards are due tomorrow and I’ve only completed half of them. But, as always, I will get it done. So, bye for now. I’ve got reports cards to complete.