Dear Readers,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! Today is my 43rd birthday. Time has simply passed by too quickly. So happy that I do NOT look 43. Thank goodness for good genes & brown skin. My husband and I are on the way out to my favorite restaurant, Cheesecake Factory, so I’ll write later.
Dear Readers,
Today is my middle son Dakota’s birthday. Happy Birthday Dakota! He’s 22! I can’t believe it. He was supposed to be born on my birthday, the 27th, but came 3 days early. What a birthday present! I really love this kid. He’s a great son! I knew he would be from the time he was little. I feel really blessed to be his mom!
* I don’t know why this post didn’t post on the 24th!*
Dear Readers,
It’s amazing what a difference a month or two makes. Just a couple of months ago, I was distraught and ready to give up because I felt like I wasn’t making a difference. Well, it seems that I made a difference after all.
A couple of weeks ago, during bucket filling, a couple of my students filled my bucket and told me that I am a great teacher and that they’ve learned a lot under my leadership.
Two students, in particular, have made tremendous progress. When I first assumed control of the class in January, these two students were not big on critical thinking. AT…ALL!
I knew that I had to do something or they would go through life just being another pretty face. So, I set out to help them along the way, by way of summarization, metacognitive thinking, predicting, and inferencing, just to name a few.
Although it seems like it’s been longer, it’s only actually been four months that I’ve been working with them. It’s been slow going, but I see progress is one, who I’ll call Velma. One of her favorite phrases was, “I don’t get it!” The sad part is that she wouldn’t try to understand. I don’t get it was a way of complaining. It wasn’t actually a cry for help. I don’t know if it was because she gave up or she just learned how to be helpless. However, at any rate, she has progressed to, “I don’t get it” to “I don’t get it, can you help me?”
Well, since you’re reading this, I know I don’t have to tell you that that is one of the most amazing feelings in the world.
Not only that, but on Tuesday, we were sitting down at my desk and I was spending extra time helping her with her Social Studies, she got up from my desk and started walking away.
“Umm, what are you doing,” I asked.
“Oh, I’m getting up to get my highlighter. I found out that that works for me if I underline it.”
“Bravo,” I told her.
“What for?” she asked.
Well, you are actively thinking about how you learn and what works for you. You know how you forget easily. So, this is a really good thing that you are finding ways that work for you. Keep it up!”
She flashed a brilliant smile as she thanked me for complimenting her.
It took awhile to get to this place where she is, but the toil, trouble, and tears were all worth it.
This post is getting kinda’ long, so I will end it right here and write more about the other one, who I’ll call Brooke, tomorrow. Bye for now!
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Special 2 Me 