The Act of Creation…

So many times as I’ve been about to embark on a great journey, it’s been started by a quote. Well, this quote by Pablo Picasso is no different. Here’s the quote: Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.”

This is so apropos because I feel like my life has been torn down and is currently in the process of being restructured and rebuilt. I’m on medical leave from work and don’t know what my next steps are. I thought by this time in my life that I’d know for sure what path I’d like to take. Wrong!

←I feel like this lady right here. I know that something good is on the horizon because my career is in shambles. I’ve been trying to get my resume together but just can’t seem to get it together. I tell ya’, one of these years I’m going to get it together!

Changing My Playlist!

Dear Readers,

For as long as I can remember, I’ve listened to really sad songs. I think it was because I was afraid to be happy. I didn’t even realize they were really sad until one of my students told me that the song that I loved was really depressing. Depressing?!?! Until then I didn’t connect the two.

After she said that, I started paying attention to my song choices. Sure enough, they were mostly sad and depressing. Almost all of them.

Do you think I changed my playlist then? Nope, I didn’t. Wanna’ know why! I hadn’t changed my way of thinking. Until now!

A couple of months ago, I attended an event through L.A.U.S.D. with Siedah Garrett (writer of Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” & “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”) as one of the featured performers. She told the story of how she came to write the song, “Answer’s Always Love”.

I know that I keep using this phrase, but I vibed with her explanation and her song so much. I paid full attention to the song as she sang. I was mesmerized. Right then and there, I decided to change my playlist to suit my changed  mindset.

As an added bonus, here’s a poem I wrote in my upcoming book of poetry. Like to hear it, hear it goes:

I Changed My Playlist

My playlist, once so full of sad songs

used to depress me.

But those songs do not represent me 

or my way of thinking anymore.

My way of looking at things shifted.

I’m no longer sad, bitter, hurt, or afraid.

While Keyshia Cole’s “Let It Go”

And Mary J. Blige’s “Not Gon’ Cry”

used to be on repeat,

Now, the lyrics to Frankie Beverly’s “We Are One”

and Siedah Garrett’s “The Answer’s Always Love!”

Speaks to me.

Of necessity, I chose to limit my exposure to songs that kept me

angry, bitter, hurt, & afraid. 

While listening to sad songs.

 I was perpetually in an unproductive state of mind

that did not serve my desire to move forward

and heal. 

When your mindset shifts

and you’re ready to move on and

become a better you,

the way out can be as simple 

as changing your playlist!

© Original poetry by Carole L. Banks

Me, As A Reporter! Part 2

Dear Readers,

Do you remember when I posted a couple of weeks ago that I can see myself as a reporter?!?! Well, that was so crazy of me to post. I thought that was a really, really lofty goal. However, I put it out there in the wind. Well, guess what? A friend of mine, Quanda, posted a job on Facebook for a reporter.

WHAT!!!

 

You could have knocked me over with a feather. I proceeded to apply for it and am now waiting on the response. I hope I get it. However, if I do not, then there’s another position ready and waiting for me!

As always, I’ll keep you updated!

Walking In My Power! Part 2

Dear Readers,

My apologies! Yesterday I wrote a post entitled, Walking in Your Power! I thought I explained what walking in your power is, but apparently I did not. Well, for those of you who don’t have me on Facebook, it must have seemed that it came out of the blue. So, although this post should have been part 1 of Walking in Your Power, it is Part 2.

Here is my Facebook post explaining what walking in your power is:

I have one question for you, Are you walking in your power?!?!
I ask this because there was a time when I thought I was broken and would never be fixed. I thought that no one could possibly really love this broken, disheveled mess that I called ME! I was so wrong. I love ME; this formerly broken mess of a woman who learned who I am, who doesn’t accept SH*T from anyone, who realizes her worth, who walks in her own power!
I am finally beginning to walk in my power. I was up, around 4 a.m., watching various motivational videos and reading anything I could find about walking in my power. One of the simplest ones I read was on Huffington Post entitled, “Why Aren’t You Walking in Your Power?”
It wasn’t a long article. It was very simple and to the point. I recommend it.

Check it out @ https://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/mindfulness-practice_b_420…

You’ll see from reading the Huffington Post article that walking in your power is you being your best self, it’s owning your truth, it’s realizing your true purpose and who you really are! 

In the words of Vicki Kirk-May, “It’s time to dominate!” It’s time to SHINE!!!

It’s time to become the real ME. I feel like I’ve only been a facsimile of who I can and am supposed to be. This quote, down below, by Anaïs Nin, perfectly symbolizes my situation. I can no longer remain tight in a bud. It’s too painful. I’m ready to be and embrace the new me; the ME that is my best self; the one who owns my truth- ALL OF IT. I accept all of me, the good and the bad. I accept and own everything I’ve done, up until now.

IT’S TIME TO REALLY LIVE!

 

As always, I’ll keep you updated on the happenings in my life!

One Day She…

Dear Readers,                                                                                                                                  After writing a post on Facebook yesterday and then seeing this memory today, I realized that I was wrestling with finding my voice. The beauty (and synchronicity) of all this is that I actually wrote this post three years on my Facebook page in response to rediscovering my voice. While looking back, I realized that I deal with the same things around the same time. Right now, I’m trying to figure out how knowing this information can be used to my advantage.

Below, is what I wrote in response to this pic:

I am enjoying being me and loving EVERY single minute of it. I’ve rediscovered that I have a voice. I’m not talking about my singing voice. I’m talking about ME! MY VOICE! My voice that I’ve recently discovered after years of having lost it. The voice that says I CAN & believes it; knows it with my whole being. The voice that knows you can’t and shouldn’t try to please everyone. The voice that knows I AM THE BEST ME I CAN BE; the voice that has decided to be ME, no matter who likes it!

Stop Playing the Shame Game! by Janet Thomas

Here’s a great post I read and vibed with it. The author, Janet Thomas, discusses shame and how you handle it. I was blessed by it. Read it and decide for yourself:

 

https://www.janetdthomas.com/stop-playing-shame-game/

 

Burnt Out!

Dear Readers,

I am burnt out! I’m fighting, but it’s sooooooooooooooo hard!!! My burn out is taking the form of:

• going to bed late
• waking up late (as a result of going to bed late)
• not being as productive as I can be
• wasting time at work
• leaving things at home

I’m going to be Captain Obvious here and say that I don’t like being burnt out. I only have 7 more school days after today. I know I’m going to make it. It’s just hard getting there.

 

Teach Plus @ LMU PD, Part 3!

Dear Readers,

For the first session, we learned a couple of strategies, called Opportunities to Respond (OTR). They include:

• Response Cards
• Hand Gestures
• Take A Stand
• Choral Response
• White Boards
• Think-Pair-Share

I’ve used all of these. We also learned a strategy I hadn’t heard of, the Round Table strategy. The teacher, Drew Otto, introduced it to us by giving a handout & explaining what we were going to do. So, we watched two videos with instructions to critique the video. First, we had to look for evidence of engagement. Then, we had to look for evidence of students not being engage. Once we were finished critiquing both videos, we passed our handouts around & others responded to what we’d previously written. Then, after that we passed that person’s paper around & someone responded to that person, until we did this for 3 rounds. For the last round, we basically summed up everything. Look at the templates below to get a better understanding just in case you didn’t understand my explanation.

Here are the templates I created using Drew’s template:                  equityequalityroundtable-1   equityvs-equalityroundtable-2

Please email me if you have any questions!

Faster or Slower???

Dear Readers,

I’m torn on what to do with my students. For some of my students, this is my third year having them. The problem is that I’ve coddled them for most of the time that I’ve had them. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve started the process of weaning them off of me to steer them towards independence. The only problem is that I feel that I’m pushing them too hard. I’m torn on whether or not I’m pushing them too fast. Should I go at the rate I’ve been going (faster) or should I go at the same pace as I went last year???

Part of my indecision stems from the fact that I’ve always wanted the Resource Lab to be different. I wanted it to be a safe haven- a place where they could feel safe, loved, and fully valued. What I did not intend for it to be was a place for them to give over responsibility for their education to me!

Well, sad to say that that’s where they were last year. So, I decided to change the way I ran the Lab. One of those changes was not giving them as much time to complete their work or telling them that it was okay for them not to do my work in the Resource Lab so they can do their work in their other classes. At the end of the school year I let them know that the Home Office decided that the Resource Lab was to be restructured and that it would no longer be a ‘Homework Lab’. Well, some of them didn’t take kindly to that. There was moaning & groaning, weeping & gnashing of teeth. Ok, that’s a line from the Bible. That didn’t really happen, but they didn’t groan a little. In the end, they accepted the way the new Lab is. They’ve even been getting work completed even without the extra time.

So, I guess I have my answer! I’ll keep you updated!

Putting the Onus on Them!

Dear Readers,

I’m training my students to be more independent. I have to be honest and say that some of it is my fault. When I first started working with them, I wanted them to know that they were loved, so I may have gone overboard on taking care of too much stuff for them. When they needed extra time on an assignment, I talked to the teachers for them. It’s a whole bunch of other stuff that I can’t remember doing for them, but suffice it to say that they became very dependent on me and I was very worn out the past two years. Fast forward to this year and I am recovering from being very worn out.

Last year I was so burnt out, I very nearly quit; I was super stressed. Part of the problem is that if there’s a problem, I usually only have struggles with admin & the students are wonderful. Well, last year I had struggles with admin & students. I had at least five very strong personalities that gave me the blues. So this year I said no more coddling and no more putting up with bullshit from admin or unruly students. Firstly, I’m putting the onus on them. It is now their responsibility to know their assignments, not mine. When they come to me and ask if I can get their assignments from their teachers, I give them two choices- I tell them they can go and ask the teacher themselves or send an email to them or we can go to the teacher together. Usually they choose the second option. However, when we go together I let them do the talking. If they chose the option of going to speak (or email) to the teacher themselves, of course I follow up with the teacher.

So, that’s my plan for this year. I am weaning them off of me, helping them get to know themselves, letting them self-advocate, become more independent, and helping them transition to the young adults they are.

I’ll keep you apprised of their progress. Bye for now!!!

 

Limitation Setting ME!

Dear Readers,

I’m on such a self-improvement tear. Usually after school is out for the summer, I have a chance to absorb & process all of the information I didn’t have time to during the year. I relate it to The Quickening (Click here, here, here, here, & here).

I’ve recently started studying Anthony Robbins’ philosophy. I really vibe with the ones where he talks about limiting beliefs we place on ourselves. After listening to him, I can see that I’ve set limits on myself because I didn’t think I deserved more.

Since school ended I’ve been in such an introspective mood. I’ve been in such a positive sense of expectancy. I’m happy that this sense of expectancy has returned because I stopped having a positive sense of expectancy after experiencing hard times in life. I can remember having great expectations when I was younger. I would be in such a state because I knew that something good was going to happen. I just didn’t know what. Well, somewhere along the way I stopped being in a state of expectancy and I started being or having a sense of dread because that’s all that seemed to be happening in my life. Instead of continuing with being ME & being in a state of positive expectancy, I sidetracked myself & changed my life and my positive sense of self expectancy for the worse.

However, after listening to Anthony Robbins lately, I’m discovering how to get back to where I came from when I stayed in a state of positive expectancy.

Here are 10 empowering beliefs that will change your life:

1. The past does not equal the future.
2. There is always a way if I’m committed.
3. There are no failures, only outcomes- as long as I learn something, I’m succeeding.
4. If I can’t, I must. If I must, I can. *
5. Everything happens for a reason and a purpose that serves me.
6. I find great joy in little things…a smile… a flower… a sunset
7. I give more of myself to others than anyone expects.
8. I create my own reality and I am responsible for what I create.
9. If I’m confused, I’m about to learn something.
10. Everyday above ground is a great day.

I’m going to spend the next year meditating on this! Bye for now!

Graphing WJIV Scores

Dear Readers,

Are you looking for an easier way to explain the Woodcock-Johnson scores to your student’s parents?

Well, I was! That’s when I had a brilliant idea and decided to graph the scores. I’m not sure why I never graphed them before. It would have made my life so much easier when it’s time to explain the Woodcock-Johnson scores.

This was sorely needed because so many times, at the IEP meeting, parents are “talked at” and overloaded with so much information. I can’t speak for the parents and say that they don’t understand, but the blank look sometimes says it all. I like this graph because the parents can see and hear the information.

I got the idea while planning lessons for my students who need simultaneous auditory & visual input. By graphing the scores, parents are able to see and hear the information for themselves, at a glance. Not only that, the graph saves about 10-15 minutes of explanation.

Here’s a mock up of READING scores from the WJIV. I also graphed WRITING & MATH scores. The first & last score (90-110) are just an illustration to show the AVERAGE range.

Of course you can use any color you’d like. These are the colors I used:

Note: I changed the colors I use to represent Average and Low Average. I now use Green to represent AVERAGE & Purple to represent Low Average. ~Leila~ 10.18.22

Standard Score Range	WJ-IV Classification
131 and above	Very Superior (Plum)
121 to 130	Superior (Dark Blue)
111 to 120	High Average (Orange)
90 to 110	Average (Green)
80 to 89	Low Average (Purple)
70 to 79	Low (Borderline) (Blue)
69 and below	Very Low (Significantly Below Average) (Red)

***I didn’t choose any colors for Superior & Very Superior because I have not yet had students score at this level.***

UPDATE: Just last week, I had a student test in the Superior & Very Superior Range. So, I choose the colors Dark Blue for SUPERIOR & Plum for VERY SUPERIOR.

There are many sites where you can create graphs. Here’s the site I used: https://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/graphing/classic/ 

Let me know if this will work for you! Bye for now!

Resource Lab Curriculum

Dear Readers,

I’m stuck and need help! I have about 100 followers but only about 2 people comment. If I’ve helped you at all, I’d like for you to return the favor. I’m working on my Resource Lab curriculum because I didn’t like the one provided by my organization. I just didn’t feel that it was relevant to what my students needed to know.

So, here is a link to my barebones, work in progress curriculum. I have a long way to go. I could use your input on this. Thanks in advance!

Feel free to comment! I’m open to feedback. Remember to be brutally honest; not mean, just honest. 

http://tinyurl.com/jhauguj

 

 

 

NOTE TO SELF…

Dear SELF,

The stuff you text to yourself @ 3:00 in the morning may very well be unreadable the next day. Apparently, “Quibble, wibble, wobble” is not a real thing!

Here’s the story behind this text. I’ve been having a hard time at work lately and hadn’t been laughing much. Well, that sure changed this afternoon at lunch when I finally settled down to read my “brilliant” texts that I texted myself at 3 a.m.

Let me just begin by saying that I use this particular tactic of sleeping on my problems and letting my subconscious work it out. It usually works for me. However this time, it did not. I was out of my mind to the point where I was texting myself complete and utter gibberish.

Here are some of my gems that I texted myself:

• A relationship should be better than a sale!
• Sporadic moments where the price/value of the relationship is lowered.
• Shoe on the other foot.
• 8 Principles
• Ali Baba & the 40 Thieves
• & of course Quibble, wibble, wobble!

I know that in some faraway or parallel universe, this means something!

They Can Barely “Function”?

Dear Readers,

This year, I am really going hard with the metacognitive strategies for my students. I started them out with Learning Styles (Auditory, Visual, Kinesthetic/Tactile), Multiple Intelligence Survey (HOW are you smart?), Executive Functioning Skills (8 Key Skills- Impulse Control, Emotional Control, Working Memory, Planning & Prioritization, Organization, Task Initiation, Flexible Thinking, & Self-Monitoring), & Fixed/Growth Mindset.

I’m working on all of them, but what I’m really working diligently on is impulse control. At least five of my students have weaknesses in the area of impulse control. Let me be real here and say that they are wearing me out. I know that this will be a year-long journey, but it’s a journey I must start if I’m to have any chance of normalcy in my Lab.

Wish me luck on this journey!

Sensory Processing Disorder or ADD/ADHD?

Dear Reader,

I’m doing research to fill gaps in my knowledge. One particular curiosity I discovered is that ADHD & Sensory Processing can often be confused with each other.

I’m going to research and write a post when I’m finished. Here are some of the articles I’m using for my research. Enjoy!

http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/793.html (Sensory Processing or ADHD?)

http://www.brainbalancecenters.com/blog/2014/01/sensory-processing-disorder-or-adhd/ (Sensory Processing or ADHD?)

http://www.webmd.com/children/features/the-truth-about-sensory-processing-disorder (Sensory Processing Disorder)

http://www2.nami.org/Template.cfm?ContentID=106831&Section=ADHD&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm

http://www.childmind.org/en/posts/articles/2014-4-28-how-sensory-processing-issues-affect-kids-school (Sensory Processing)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3149116/ (Sensory Processing Problems in Children with ADHA, A Systematic Review)

Piggy & The Emergency Packet!

Dear Readers,

I have a student that I call Piggy because she loves to eat. Don’t worry, she’s not offended; she actually thinks it’s cute. She is the cutest thing. I’m writing this post about her because how cute she is. All of her life she’s relied on how pretty she is. I sat down and talked to her one day and asked her if she ever thought that she could do “it!” I asked her if she was going to rely on her looks forever.

“Trust me when I say that looks fade, we gain weight, etc., etc.,” I told her.

She looked absolutely horrified when I told her that I wasn’t always a size 12. I took the time to tell her that she doesn’t have to rely only on her looks; that she could do “it.”

“You think I can?,” she asked.

“Yes, Piggy! I know you can!”

During my weekly grade check I told her that I wanted her to actually try in Biology & Math class. She agreed that she would. I told her that I was going to stay on her to make sure she did. She smiled and thanked me.

Well, I had to tell you the story of Piggy to finally get around to the Emergency Packets I made for my students.

Obviously that’s not my hand in the picture, but I digress. This is what was in the packets I made them. It took me a couple of days to assemble the packets, so I didn’t want the students to waste them. I told them to take out the chocolate Kiss if they didn’t want it and return the bag of items to me because others wanted them.

When I got to Piggy, I asked her if she wanted the packet. To my surprise she said that she did. After she ate the Kiss, she read the note and thanked me. This shocked me because at the beginning of the year she would have simply thrown the bag away without a second thought. It said a lot that she actually cared and is starting to believe in herself.

This warmed my heart so much. I really enjoy making a difference in their lives!

Almost Totally Paperless!

Dear Readers,

I have a problem. Not a big problem but a problem nonetheless. It’s a small problem, actually a good one. You see, I’m almost totally paperless in my classroom. So, when the 9th grade chapter chair requested work to put on the board, I didn’t have any.

When I first decided to become paperless I didn’t think about this ‘problem’. I was just thinking about how inconvenient making copies was. I didn’t think about not having anything on hand to put on the board.

I printed out one of their power point presentation in color and put them on the board. Problem solved!

DVR is Over!!!

Dear Readers,

I’ve been ridiculously busy getting ready for the District Validation Review, which is a review of the SpEd dept. to ensure that we are in compliance. Well, we were. We passed with flying colors. However, I don’t want to see another green folder (SpEd folder) for awhile. I, along with my assistant & my co-teacher, had to clean up the green folders that’d been neglected for years. A green folder only requires up to three years of IEPs. Well, one of the folders had IEPs back to 2003. So, believe me when I say that we had our work cut out for us.

I am so happy it’s over. The day of I was spazzing out. I found a hole in my dress that I don’t remember seeing there when I put it on. Thank goodness I had a sewing kit in my car. I got it, went to the restroom and sewed it up. The only problem was that I couldn’t print, and hadn’t been able to in since Monday. I was completely frazzled. I even cried! That was huge for me because I’m not a public crier. I mad it through it though. The person in charge of the DVR was very personable and helpful. It wasn’t stressful. The stress I had was self-imposed. It was because I just didn’t know what to expect.

I wanted to go home right after it was over. Not so! We had parent conferences that I had to stay for. After that, I came right home and went straight to sleep. I was simply exhausted. The only thing I did in my classroom the next day was a DO NOW & grade checks. It was a pretty easy day. After the school day crawled by, I came home and crashed. I went to see Kingsman: Secret Service and was extremely happy with it. It was so good. I’ll write about that in another post. Bye for now!

Go Ahead, Call My Boss!

Dear Readers,

The title was too long to finish writing how I feel, so I’ll write it here. “Go ahead, call my boss. I have nothing to hide,” is what I thought as I gave this mom my number to call the head of the SpEd department. She’s one of those “shoot first and ask questions later” kind of people.

There’s such a big backstory on her and the situation I’m currently experiencing. My first meeting with her started off friendly enough. However, my thoughts about her changed once I saw how she attacked the 9th grade English teacher over her son’s grades which he earned. Little did I know that I would be the next one.

During our meeting, she was cordial enough. She then took me totally by surprise when, out of the blue, she began launching accusatory questions at me about a “C” grade. Even when I showed her his grades, she was still not satisfied. It was at this point that she stomped out of the room and apparently went straight to the Assistant Principal’s office. She told the AP that I attacked her, was unfriendly, and that she didn’t want to deal with me. I could tell by the AP’s voice and intonation that she believed the parent. I was insulted for a hot second until I realized that I didn’t care. I went to speak to the AP in charge of SpEd and let him know her M.O. He let me know that he had my back and that he would defuse the situation if it came down to it. I thanked him and went on my merry little way.

Did it end there? Of course it didn’t. That would have been too easy. The REAL problem began when the 311 report was run and the SpEd Director noticed that two students were assigned behavior intervention services. Wouldn’t you know that he was one of them? I sent home notices that she would not return. I called her and she would not answer. I even tried to schedule meetings with her that she would agree to and not show up. She began insisting that he receive the services even though she didn’t even know what they were. She began to try to bombard me with e-mails. That’s when I promptly told her that she could speak with my boss or one of the SpEd coaches if she would feel more at ease. I gave her both their numbers and wished her well. You know what, she never even gave them a call. In fact, she hasn’t even shown up for any parent conferences since then. It was not a surprise to me. I knew that she was one of the those people who try to bulldoze their way through to get their way when they know that simply asking will work. Those types of people puzzle me. I just don’t understand it. Has she never heard, “You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.”

I have not had to deal with her since then but his IEP is coming up in May. I’ll keep you updated on that. Bye for now!

My Threshold! Part 2

Dear Readers,

One thing I’ve learned to do it to listen to my body and know when it and I have had enough. Well, I tried to anyway. This sickness came out of nowhere. I’ve been down since Sunday night. I went to work on Monday because I had an IEP and just didn’t want to submit lesson plans. It was easier to go to work. So, I thought.

I got to work and could barely walk. I felt like I was walking in slow motion, in water, in a snowstorm. Yeah, it was really that bad. I had chills and a fever at once. Not to mention the scratchy throat and the achy muscles.

I left immediately after the IEP at 2:30, picked up Phillise, and got in bed until 3:00 p.m. the next day. I only got up then because I had to pick Phillise up and I had a presentation to do at my school @ 4:30. If not, I would have asked my mother-in-law or my sister to get her and stayed in bed. I’m still in bed as I write this on Wednesday night @ 6:40 p.m. I’m going to work tomorrow though. I’m a little weak and dehydrated but I’ll be okay.

It’s good to know your threshold. I make a habit of knowing when I’ve reached mine. As I recuperate, I will say bye for now!

The Little Engine That Could!

Dear Readers,

I am pleasantly surprised with my students! I’m seeing leaders emerge with strengths they, or I, in some cases, didn’t even know they had. What am I talking about? I’m talking about my students coming alive and developing their life skills.

One of the activities I introduced to them when we came back from break was jigsawing. In one of my last post I stated how I put the onus on my students for asking for extra time and getting their missed work from when they were absent. I know they are only in the 9th & 10th grade but within the next 3-4 years they will be young adults in charge of their own lives. So, they need to have certain skills. Two skills they really need and that are very important to have are self-advocacy & self-reliance. They are beginning to do well with self-advocacy skills, so now I’m training them in self-reliance. Many times during the last semester, the work would be right in front of them but they would not take to time to try to uncover it. I thought and thought about how to help the overcome their learned helplessness but it was tough. Let me tell you that learned helplessness runs deep. They were so used to believing they couldn’t do it that they stopped trying.

Well, by lecturing them, supporting them, and helping them realize that they can do it, they have begun to advocate for themselves and to rely on themselves. It’s one of the best feeling in the world to see that light bulb go on and have someone realize they can do it. I always think of The Little Engine That Could when this happens. I should read it to them. They’re so young they probably haven’t heard of it. I’ll see. Back to the lecture at hand. I’m happy to see them blossoming. I’ll keep you updated.

What is Your Disability?

What is your disability? That is a question I asked of my students. In my first period class, I have 10 students. Of those 10, only one student knew that he was diagnosed with ADHD. The other ones had no idea what their disability was. So I gave them the assignment that I sussed out over the break. Since I introduced them to jigsawing, I printed articles for the three disabilities in my class- Specific Learning Disability (SLD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Autism.

Here’s the breakdown. Of my 26 students, 1 has Language & Speech Services (LAS), 2 don’t have the lab with me, 4 have autism, and 2 have ADHD, with 16 having SLD. I split them into groups, gave them the articles and the link for the Google sheet to answer the questions they would later transfer to their ppt. or Google slides presentation. I then explained their roles and let them tear apart the article and answer the questions. They were free to research any questions that were not answered by the article. I’ll discuss the outcome in another post. Just color me impressed!

Bye for now!

Techy Me! or Challenge Accepted!

Dear Readers,

I work at a Blended Learning School. It’s a format that combines technology with traditional learning. When I took the job I was so out of my league. However I issued myself a challenge to get into that league. CHALLENGE: Learn and incorporate as much technology into the classroom as possible within the next couple of months. At the time I was hired, I hadn’t used much technology in the classroom except my classroom blog and iFilm.

However, I knew at this school I had to step up my game. So, I did! I accepted the challenge. Not only that, I saw the challenge and upped the ante a bit.

Usually, I can’t see my progress as it’s happening. However, in an earlier post, I briefly wrote about my Quickening process (click here). I also wrote about some of the programs I was using (click here). If I can think of anything else, I’ll post it. For now, here are the programs I’ve learned.

• Kahoot! online quiz program that automatically compiles correct & incorrect answers for me,
• Edmodo to post my power points, make quizzes, and display instructions,
• Haiku, used by our SpEd. department,
• Pinnacle to take roll & track grades,
• Class Dojo for behavior management,
• my school website to upload digital agendas,
• my other school website to download important documents & answer PD surveys,
• Google docs,
• Google sheets,
• Google forms,
• Google slides
• Online stopwatch for tracking time,
• Weebly website to post links and work from core classes.

Not sure, but I think that’s all. One last thing I’m very proud of is how I’m using Google sheets to make my exit slips for the month. I was using Google forms to send them daily, but discovered it was quickly filling up my Google drive and causing too much work for me. I knew I needed to find an easier and more efficient way to get the job done. I played around with Google sheets and figured out how to do it. Happy to say that I’m no longer creating daily exit slips; I’m now creating them monthly. If you’d like to know how, shoot me an email @ specialedandme@gmail.com.

 

 

HAPPY 2015!

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope yours is as good as mine is going to be!

About That Kid!

Dear Readers,

Here is a great read about “that kid” in your child’s class who disrupts, hurts your child, and hits other children, among other things.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/11/14/teacher-to-parents-about-that-kid-the-one-who-hits-disrupts-and-influences-your-kid/

My Threshold!

Dear Readers,

I discovered something about myself last night. It was always my belief that I could take a nap later in the day in order to last long into the night. Well, I discovered that I was wrong. Even though I took a long nap and woke up at 7:30 p.m., I still tapped out about 10:30. I thought I could write and complete other work, but realized that I’d reached my threshold. I was beginning to do Midnight thinking. That’s when I realized that I needed to throw in the towel.

-Signed, No Longer in Denial!

 

***WATCH THE VIDEO from 19:17-19:37- This is what my writing is like when I’ve reached my threshold.***

 

 

So Much To Write About!

Dear Readers,

Usually at the end of the year I have what I call The Quickening. For those of you who are not Syfy fans, that’s a reference to the movie Highlander. In the movie there are beings- Immortals- who are fighting for the right to be “The Only One.” In order to be the only one, the Immortals hunt each other down, fight to the death with swords and chop off the other Immortal’s head in order to claim their knowledge (usually hundreds of years), which comes out in the form of violent lightning that engulfs the victor & literally deposits the knowledge in the victor’s head. Well, I said all that to say that’s how I feel. The only thing is that I usually feel this at the end of the year when I’ve had time to process and sort through everything I’ve learned up until that point. My new job is so intense and so all encompassing that I feel The Quickening now. What’s even stranger is that I felt it as it was happening. I even helped encouraged the process.

At the beginning of the school year I could tell that I was in for quite an experience; I could feel it. There seemed to be magic and a sense of the possibilities in the air. I could feel that this job could be what I needed and more. I have my church’s breakfast banquet to attend, so I will write more later about my Quickening.

 

Resource Lab, Final Part 2!

Dear Readers,

The finals went very smoothly. I was able to see in real time who did or did not complete it. One con: it would have been easier to have a paper final. I was so in love with the idea of a paperless final that I didn’t stop to think it all the way through. Unless I can think of a better plan, next semester I think I’ll give a “paper” exam. I’ll keep you updated!

Vacation, Here I Am!

Dear Readers,

I was in the house for all of four minutes before I had on my pajamas & my newly arrived Netflix movie popped in the DVD player. I am kicking in the door screaming, “Vacation, here I am!”

Sicky McSickerton Me!

I am so sick. It hit so suddenly that I was totally unprepared for it. I didn’t think I’d get sick this year because I’m happy and I’m not super-stressed. I was ridiculously sick on Wednesday morning, but since I only teach in the mornings on Wednesday, I knew I’d be finished before 10:00 a.m. Once I finished my 2nd period, I went home. I got in the bed and have not been out of the house since. I’m debating whether or not to go to work tomorrow. It all depends on how I feel in the morning. Hopefully I’ll feel well enough. If not I will simply stay in the bed and recuperate. It’s Friday, so I’ll have the rest of the weekend to recuperate and be back at work bright & early Monday to give benchmarks on Monday & Tuesday, & finals on Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday.

Here’s hoping I feel better soon!

Knocked it Out the Park!!!

Dear Readers,

I’m not sure why I’m surprised that I knocked the ball out the park with my latest PD that I presented with my co-teacher. Presentations are my strong suit. So, it should have come as no surprise.

The purpose of the PD was to explain what Passports are and how they’re related to the IEP. Let me explain what Passports are. They’re documents created by my charter school organization that include the student’s lexile level, present level of performance, and goals for the GenEd teachers to use in their planning.

Well, the Passports were updated and given out during the first month of school. However, when they were given out, only 3/4 of the SpEd staff was present. The 11th/12th grade teacher was absent because his son was having medical complications, my assistant was on her honeymoon, and I had a PD to attend at the home office. I said all of that to say that we were unavailable to explain to the GenEd teachers how to use them. Needless to say, some of the teachers weren’t using them because they didn’t know how.

To help the GenEd teachers, we (the SpEd staff) created an AT-A-GLANCE spreadsheet for 9th-12th grade that listed important accommodations across the top, students names down the left hand side of the spread sheet, and then checked off which students received which accommodation. I, along with my co-teacher, explained all of this to the teachers. They were very grateful. They asked many questions and received clarification on questions they had.

My A.P. even sent me the results of the PD survey. The results were overwhelmingly positive. I have to say that the best thing to come out of presenting the PD was the teachers’ understanding that the IEP is a legal document because I kept hammering it home. Whenever someone asked a question about accommodations, I related it back to the IEP being a legal document. They got it!

I’ll keep you updated on further PDs. Bye for now!

I Should Have Known!!!

Dear Readers,

As I was pushing into one of the math classes I support, I was taken aback that a student I was helping in 9th grade didn’t know her multiplication tables. Now, this particular student is something. In the beginning of the school year she was constantly being put out of the English class for misbehavior. This goes with my post on the chicken or the egg years ago regarding students who would rather be thought of a “bad” than “stupid.”

I am so mad at myself for not connecting the dots faster. I was so shocked as I had to scaffold lower and lower to accommodate her lack of basic foundational skills. She was just sitting there with a blank look on her face. Once I “really” saw that blank look, I knew that she’d been misbehaving at the beginning of school because she didn’t want anyone to know about her and her lack of knowledge.

I should have known!!!

Nerdy Me!

Dear Readers,

I feel like such a nerd!

“Why?,” you ask.

Well, I’ve just recently learned Google docs, Edmodo, Kahoot!, and a host of other online & tech programs I was previously UNable to use. Well, I spent the better part of Saturday morning organizing my Google docs, making folders for them and being happy doing so.

One of my favorite things to do is have my students share their work with me via Google docs. On Friday I was actually editing my student’s work as he was working on it across the room. One thing I like about Google docs, forms, & sheets is how it’s real time. One other thing I’m really enthused about is Google forms. Over the Veteran’s Day four day weekend, I took that time to create my monthly self-assessments for the rest of the year with Google forms. I couldn’t believe how easy it was. Since my decision to go paperless, I’ve been so gung-ho about all things tech, and I am loving it!

Dear Readers, what are you doing to incorporate technology into your classroom? Drop me a line and let me know!

Happy Me!!! Part…I Don’t Know

Dear Readers,

I’ve written so many posts entitled “Happy Me” that I’ve lost count. That’s not as important as why I’m happy, so I won’t even harp on them. I’ll get to why I’m so happy. I’m so happy because I’ve had a very stressful couple of weeks and I didn’t fall apart. Usually I would have gotten sick or at least taken a day off. I probably would have complained without ceasing to my husband. I mean the list could go on. The beautiful part is how I handled it. Can is just say that I handled it like a champ? Yes, I’ll say that I handled it like a champ. I did not crack. I did not complain. In fact, I stepped up my game and became even more organized. I created templates and lists for my most important tasks. Today, I began organizing my binder that first year teachers can use. It really would have come in handy this year if I would have had it. I can probably still use it next year. I’ll keep you updated. Bye for now!

“Only Me,” he said.

Dear Readers,

I got a story to tell you. Wanna’ hear, here it goes. One of my students was in a mood today. You see, in the beginning of school I gave him many chances to answer questions when others didn’t know the answer. After awhile, I pulled back and didn’t let him answer as much because I wanted other students to have a chance to answer. Well, I guess he didn’t understand that because he bad mouthed me to another teacher who told me, so I talked to him and asked him why he was bad mouthing me. He told me that he didn’t feel that I was giving him enough individual attention. He told me that I should only give my attention to him.

“You should give your attention to only me,” he said.

“Now, that doesn’t make sense to me. How am I supposed to support the other students? How would it look if I gave my attention to only you?”

“I’d like it fine. That’s what you should do,” he said.

I had to tell him that he was important, but not the most important person in the world. I talked to him for a couple more minutes until he finally got it. He said it wasn’t fair but he understood. Let me just say for the record that I do give him a fair amount of my time. He stops by sometimes before school & during lunch. We’ve come to an understanding.

He’s very conscientious and an all-around good guy who deserves the best. I’ll continue to make him feel special.

Detox Time!

Dear Readers,

I’ve been so overly busy the past couple of weeks that I have not had time to detox. One of the main reasons is that my classroom is never empty. I have the class for 1st & 2nd period; the 11th/12th grade Resource Teacher has it 3rd & 4th, and the Spanish teacher has it 5th & 6th. Not to mention that the Spanish teacher tutors on Mondays & Tuesdays. On Wednesdays, we have PDs; on Thursdays, I have tutoring; Fridays are free, but who wants to stay on Friday, right? Couple all of this with the many demands of my church and you have a very burnt out me.

Because of all this, I’ve bee feeling like I could star in one of the  Snickers commercial because I wasn’t myself. I could not center myself, so I stole some time today. There’s a storage closet on the 2nd floor that no one’s using W-F. This will be my go-to spot when it’s not in use because I am so refreshed. I took lunch + my prep period = 2.5 hours. When I tell you that I emerged sooooo refreshed from the storage closet, I mean it. I was able to think clearly. Now I can think of solutions to problems I’ve been having. So, let me get to it. Bye for now!

(Almost) No NPs!!!

Dear Readers,

I’m very happy about my students receiving almost no NP’s! I checked grades last week before report cards were due and last night at parent conferences. Almost all of the parents were happy. Most of all, my students were happy.

After performing grade checks today with my 9th graders, we got down to the nitty gritty- I asked them three questions. I first asked them if they were pleased with their grades. After their response, which were positive by the way, we looked at the grades and the reason for the NP’s. I then asked them if they could have done more to get better grades. They agreed that they could have been more diligent. Lastly, I asked them what their next steps were; moving forward, how were they going to do better and get C’s or better!

I don’t remember all of the grades, but, overall, there were great improvements. One student was happy with receiving 2 NP’s because she was down from 4. We celebrated her success. Another student saw how messing up on one test caused her to get an NP. I told her how I’ve seen her looking at herself in the iPad, combing her hair, talking, and just generally not paying attention or doing her work in class. She nervously smiled and said she would do better. I really hope she meant it. Seeing the grades every week seems to be having a positive effect on them. I’m quite happy with the results, but there is still room for improvement.

We’ll see how things go for the next 5 weeks. I’ll keep you updated. Bye for now!

The Face of 44!

Dear Readers,

A pic of me on Friday. It’s not my favorite pic, but I must say, not bad for 44!

Terrible Me!!!

Dear Readers,

I feel so bad. Yesterday I cut this student to shreds. I really didn’t mean to. It’s just that she’s so frustrating. She will sit in class and do absolutely nothing. I’ve been dealing with this since the second week of school. Well, today-for my Do Now- the students completed their monthly self-assessment and a quiz I created on Edmodo once they were done. After that, they were to do classwork from other classes, while I performed the weekly grade checks. So, I call on her and ask her what she’s doing and she says, “Nothing, because… (insert lame reason here). Keep in mind that we are about 15 minutes into the class. At this point I asked her what she’s been doing. She gives me a blank stare. I look at her iPad and it’s in the same state as the day before where it’s stuck on iTunes, for some reason.

“Wild Girl, what have you been doing for the entire 15 minutes we’ve been in class?”

Again I get a blank stare. I was going to ask her further questions, but was frustrated at this point, so I told her bye. Next thing I know, I hear the door close. “Where’s Wild Girl,” I ask.

“She just went outside,” my students said.

I was just about to ask my assistant to go and get her when my class was interrupted by the administration for random backpack checks. Once I get out there I see her and talk to her. She starts crying because she says that she thought I put her out when I said bye. I told her that I could understand her thinking that I put her out of the classroom since my words to my students when I put them out is, “Bye Felicia!”

However, this is not the first time this (her doing absolutely nothing) has happened. The other day I found her working on a powerpoint that was due almost 2 weeks ago. She “worked” on it the whole class. I then told her that I did not want to see her pretending to work on that powerpoint again. In addition to doing no work, she’s also ditched 2nd Advisory when she just didn’t feel like being bothered on several occasions. Needless to say, I was not very patient with her. But, I digress.

I go to her and tell her that I am going to call her dad as soon as we are allowed back in the classroom. She was pleading her case to my assistant as I walked back into the classroom to get my phone to give to my assistant to call her dad. Since he speaks Spanish only I asked my assistant to speak with him. He didn’t answer and I got so busy I didn’t call him back. Believe me when I say that I will call him on Monday and use Google translate to communicate with him.

I say that I’m so terrible because I made her cry when I didn’t mean to. I also feel terrible because I had no sympathy for her while she was crying. I simply walked away to let her deal with the consequences. In the past, when someone cried, I would feel so bad. Don’t get me wrong. I would still let them suffer the consequences, but at least I felt bad for them. For Wild Girl, I didn’t feel anything. Does that make a terrible person? Please chime in and let me know your feelings on this. I really don’t want to get to the point where I don’t care about my student’s feelings. Give me some feedback. Please & Thank you!!!

Welcome September!

Dear Readers,

September is upon us. Usually tomorrow would have been my first day of school. However, since I work for a school with an extra month of school, I am already completing report cards. I would have preferred for tomorrow or Wednesday to be my first day of work, but that’s not my reality.

As it stands, I am stretching myself further than I ever have. I am more organized than I’ve ever been, I’m free to use the restroom since I’m walking around a lot, I’m free for 2/3 periods a day for me to push in. Right now, I am loving my job.

I am going to use an old cliche from church- I’m not where I should be, but I’m not where I used to be. I thank God that I have a job that I adore,  I’m getting closer to being the person I want to be, I’m making more money than I’ve ever made, I’ve got a new car (2014 Nissan Altima), and most importantly, I’ve got a new attitude.

I say this because just a couple of minutes ago, before I started writing this post, I began to get overwhelmed because I realized I wasn’t managing my time as wisely as I could have been. Normally it would have made me depressed and/or anxious. However, since I’ve been working on my approach to problem solving, I’m learning to assess the situation and look for a solution. I’m so proud of myself. For this reason, I am happy to welcome September because I am welcoming more than a new month. I am welcoming a new ME!!!

Love is a VERB!!!

This is just a couple of thoughts on my mind.  One thing that’s always on my mind- Love! It’s such a hard thing to “pin” down. Some say that love is a verb, like the song by L. Young:

There are so many kinds. I’m not seeking to explain them. That’s too big a job. What I’m seeking to express, to write about, is the kind of love that grabs hold of you and never lets go. It simply won’t. No matter how you try to rationalize it; no matter how you try to shake it; no matter how you try to tell yourself that you shouldn’t love them, no matter how much pain it’s causing. I’m talking about the kind that embeds itself so deeply within your soul. The kind that gives you butterflies just thinking about the moments spent together that mean so much to you. The kind that simply will NOT let go! It simply won’t!

Can we pinpoint that exact moment when we realized that this was a person who would change our lives so much? Can we remember that exact moment when this feeling- nay, this verb- took hold? What is it that makes this person so important? Why him/her? Was it ordained? Was it pre-determined from time immemorial?Why this person, of all the billions of people in the world? Why can’t you shake this person from your mind? From your heart? From your life? Why? Why? Why?

That’s what’s on my mind today? What’s on yours?

Tomorrow’s Plan!

Dear Readers,

Tomorrow I am going to  Well, I actually haven’t figured it out yet. As soon as I finish writing this, I’m going to continue working on a unit plan. I have to start from the bottom then work my way up.

I think I will begin with adjectives. I will have them give me “tired” words and think of new ones. Before that, though, I will also introduce them to two of my favorite resources- Banish Boring Words & How to Spell It. I’ll explain what an adjective is, discuss it with them,  have them give me a list of adjectives, then write a couple of sentences with great adjectives. After that, I will have them analyze their I Am poems and pick out the adjective. They will then rewrite the I Am poem with different adjectives. (I’m actually figuring it out as I’m writing this, by the way!)

Instead of writing it down here, I will write it down on the unit plan template, so bye for now!

No Sunday Night Blues Today!

Dear Readers,

This time last week, I had the Sunday night blues! BAD!!!! I was so super stressed out that I thought I was going to burst a blood vessel. I’m really not kidding. It was because I didn’t know what to expect, didn’t know if I had enough material. I. JUST. DIDN’T. KNOW!

Now that I have a whole week under my belt, I am much better. I had a very relaxing weekend, went to Lakeshore, finished school shopping with my daughter, visited my sisters and my nieces and their children, relaxed, watched a couple of movies, etc. All things that I couldn’t do last weekend on account of the stress.

I figure I’ll be very comfortable with this whole process in about 2 months. by the time I will not have to bring work home. I will utilize my assistant who’s very efficient. I’m under the gun right now, but I am looking forward to very productive and exciting year. Here’s to expectations!

Hello August!

Wow, can’t believe August came so quickly! This summer passed by so quickly. I’m really not sad to see it end even though it was a good summer. I accomplished some goals this year that I’ve been trying to accomplish for quite some time. Since my summer is so unstructured, I am usually very unproductive (that’s putting it mildly). That’s why I decided to get a summer job. Once I decided to get a job, it fell into my lap. LMU emailed me that Lindamood-Bell was hiring. I went, interviewed, and was hired.

I finished working there on July 18th. Overall, I liked it but had a problem with favoritism; but I guess that’s many jobs though. The research based techniques will come in very handy.

By working @ Lindamood-Bell, I conquered my summer slide of being terribly unproductive. I was also able to work through the place where I plateaued regarding teaching students how to read. I didn’t get a chance to learn as much as I wanted to learn, but am happy with what I did learn.

I also secured an RSP position from amongst five other job offers. It’s close to my daughter’s school, which is about 12 minutes drive from my house. This is only the second time (of my 4 teaching positions) that I’ve been hired before the school year began. That was my wish and I got it. So, I’m a little sad to see the summer leave but am happy to move on to another position, where I will hopefully be for a long time.

So, Hello August! Nice to see ya’!

Interviewing is Not for the Faint of Heart! Part 2

Dear Readers,
So…the demo lesson. It didn’t exactly go as planned. The first problem was the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) which I do not have a lot of experience with. I was given a very vague standard (Apply grade 7 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g. “Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims”).) and could not make sense of it. Maybe someone else with more experience with CCSS would have known what to do with this, but I didn’t.
So, I call in reinforcements- my friend Danika. She has more experience than I do. So, she gave me some ideas, told me how the teachers at her last school used to do it (pair it with a state standard), then I set about writing a lesson plan.

I paired the writing standard with a Social Studies standard about Hammurabi’s Code of Law. Problem: I totally misunderstood the standard. My goal was to use a current event (Young girl in Santa Ana, CA who lost her life chasing a suspect who stole her cell phone) and have the students act as a jury and decide whether or not to convict the suspect (who’s still at large) based on Hammurabi’s Code of Law. They were going to use Hammurabi’s Code of Law as their literary text.

Problem: This did NOT align with the standard. I confused it with another standard where the students have to Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text– CCSS:ELA-Literacy.RL.7.1.

So, my lesson plan was written according to the wrong standard. When I got my critique, I was told to remove everything regarding Hammurabi’s Code of Law and only use the article about the young girl as the piece of literature. Once I removed Hammurabi’s Code of Law, the lesson plan made absolutely no sense. Now, I had to go back to square one. When I say I wrestled with that standard, I seriously wrestled with it. I thought I had it nailed until I had my critique. After that I was so confused. I spoke with Danika’s friend, Tracy, who didn’t understand the suggestions either and she has much experience with the CCSS.

After speaking with someone with experience with the CCSS, I felt better about my confusion. She didn’t understand it either, but I knew the show must go on! I will explain how the lesson went wrong in my next post. Bye for now!

Interviewing is Not For the Faint of Heart!, Part 1

Dear Readers,
Here is a little bit more about what I’ve been through while interviewing these past couple of weeks.

Green Dot Process

The first step: Phone interview
The third step: Panel interview and lesson plan critique
The fourth step: Demo lesson plan

I struggled greatly with the demo lesson plan because I’m not all that familiar with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and didn’t feel as if I had a firm grasp of the given standard.
I’m not sure if this is a new trend in interviewing, but all of my interviews have been panel interviews. The one that I had with Green Dot actually had six candidates with a moderator sitting in the center of the room with about 10-12 administrators (I lost count) around the periphery listening to our responses to the questions being asked.

• After that was over, the candidates were allowed 30 minutes to answer questions from a writing prompt.
• After that, the lesson plan sent in earlier was critiqued in preparation for the demo lesson.
• Then, candidates met with the school(s) that were interested. From there, an appointment was set for the demo lesson.

I was at the Green Dot office from 10:00-1:40. Whew! In the next post, I will write about the demo which didn’t go as well as I planned. So, bye for now!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Dear Readers,
Today I’m 44 or 22 double as I like to say. I cannot believe it. Where has the time gone?

School Shopping???

Yes, Dear Readers,
I went school shopping! Not for my children, but for myself.  I like well made dresses, so I shop at Talbots & Banana Republic, but don’t want to pay full price. Believe me when I say, when they have sales, they have sales!

I didn’t have to have new clothes, I just wanted them. I’d bought various dresses throughout the school year, but hadn’t done any bulk shopping for myself at the beginning of the school year year since my first year of teaching.

I will post various pics throughout the year. For now, here’s a list of what I bought: