Random Acts of Kindness revisited

 

"Everybody can be great ... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love."    Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

I invite you to drop by Marie's journal and read her entry today, called Random Acts of Kindness.

One should start the day on the right foot after reading this entry. Anyone can do this, any day... acts of kindness ... and serving others.

When I see trash laying around, I pick it up. Even if it is in the store parking lot, and I'm on my way into the store, if there is trash on the ground, I will pick it up and put it in the trash can. When people don't return their shopping carts properly, I will push them into the cart corral so they don't stick out into the driving aisle. I turn the laminator on first thing in the morning, even when I'm not planning on using it because I know a teacher will probably come rushing in and hope that it is on (it's happened to me many times). I buy breakfast for a teacher unannounced on a random day. When book companies show their wares in our school, I buy books for the younger teachers, the ones who start out with little or nothing, to help stock up their personal bookshelves.

Acts of kindness are easy to fit into one's life.

Do you do random acts of kindness? Do you fit serving others into your day? How do you do this... please leave a comment.

Thanks!!!

                                           

                                                                         Tag design by Donna

Pacing guides

You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Italian physicist and astronomer.

 

I'm inclined to believe this statement of Galileo's.

Many times I see that what we are supposed to teach is not being learned at the pace we want them to learn. Some kids just don't realize that they ... ahem ... I mean the teacher.... has a pacing guide to follow... !??!

Hmmmm... something is very unfair about that.

 

Expectations

"When teachers expect students to do well and show intellectual growth, they do;  when teachers do not have such expectations, performance and growth are not so encouraged and may in fact be discouraged in a variety of ways."

James Rhem, executive editor for the online National Teaching and Learning Forum

 

There's something brewing in the air at school. Specifically, in and around the fifth grade classrooms.

There's talk ... from the assistant principal... a couple of teachers... even a group of students have mentioned it to me ... that there is a project in the brainstorming stage.

The project involves a group of at-risk fifth grade students who are doing poorly academically. They already seem to be heading down the track that leads to drop-out by high school. They are struggling to keep up with their grade level peers, but it's been difficult. A few will fail this year. They won't be retained, but they will know that they did not pass, and that's all a kid needs to know to get him started down the fast slide  to Drop Outsville.

I cannot mention details, but I can say this: the school where I teach, if it were in New York City, would be considered an Inner City School. The city in which I teach is small, very small, by comparison to big city schools. However, compared to schools within the county, we fit the description of "inner" city. The population is mostly low-income, very high in second-language learners. A higher than normal proportion of students have some sort of exceptionality, either autism, mentally challenged, developmentally delayed, or learning disabled... and there are many, many students with ADHD, and a large number of behavioral-emotionally challenged students. Many parents do not work, cannot work, or are in between jobs. Many parents are single. Many did not graduate from high school themselves.

There are quite a few at-risk students here, and this is the group of students our assistant principal had targeted to be involved in the special project. I haven't met with them in the planning of it, but I should, because somehow, I will be involved. I was reminded of that today. It involves painting a mural in the new wing of the building. The art teacher is in charge of the endeavor, and the kids will be doing the painting.

When I heard of this, back in October, I made the comment, "I sure would like to paint this dreary building (referring to my classroom, which I love, btw)... and not just the inside!" I was kidding about actually painting the outside, because 1) I would have to paint it myself and 2) although I love to paint, I don't feel like I have much time to give to painting a building (or that I'm willing to donate to painting a building).

I don't mind painting the inside of my classroom, provided I could be guaranteed that the classroom will still be mine next year. I certainly don't relish the thought of painting the classroom, only to find myself relocated in August of the next school year. That can happen. I've seen it happen. A teacher paints her classroom one year, and booom!... the next year she is moved into a different classroom. A teacher knows when she makes the decision to paint her classroom that she could well be relocated and be put into another classroom with dreary walls, or plain white walls. But I'm willing to do it... take it on as a summer project, if I knew it would be mine in the fall.

But then there's the comment I made to my assistant principal about my mobile unit classroom being painted on the outside. He heard it, and took it to heart. "Really?" he asked me. "You know you can paint it. Go ahead."

I thought he was kidding. "I'm talking about the outside, not the inside. I'll paint the inside, but I'd need a lot of help to paint the outside."

"I've got the help... the kids will help. You know they're going to be painting the wall mural in the new wing... they're really pumped about that." He smiled as he thought of them working together as a team, creating something new that would be left behind as a legacy when they moved on to middle school in June.

"But the outside of the building?" I asked in disbelief. He had tobe kidding. We're talking about a school building, even if it is a trailer classroom, very visible from the road. My building is one of the first to be seen... highly visible. I could only imagine the bright colors and wild designs the kids would come up with. I was skeptical, me the artist. I do have a conservative gene or two.

"Sure," he chuckled. "I would have thought if you painted it, it would have peace signs and flowers all over it!" He laughed. I wondered to myself why he thought that.

I laughed too. I wouldn't even have put peace signs and flowers all over it, but now I knew he was kidding.

"Seriously," he added, "The kids are really excited about the mural. They're going to design it, and the art teacher is going to help them with the planning, and the colors, but they're going to paint it. It'll be an after school project in the spring. They can paint your building too. They'd love it! You design it, they can help paint it."

I paused to investigate his thoughts on this. He continued with his vision for the group of students who had behaviors that were interfering with their learning. He said he expected that, with their new found confidence, their sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves, and the pride they would have after completing the project, it would boost their self-image. Not only that, all the other kids would see what they had done, and their peers would admire what the students had done.

I nodded. I had no idea what these kids could do or would do, but what fifth grade student doesn't like to paint or draw? I said okay, let me know when you are ready to start the planning.

That conversation took place last fall. Today it was mentioned in passing again. I just told him to let me know what he wants me to do.

The truth is, I will go along with it. I agree with his vision and his philosophy. If you expect a kid to do a great job, he will live up to it. Likewise, if you expect little from him, that's exactly what you will get. It's called the Pygmalion Effect, or the self-fulfilling prophecy.

So, I'm going to tote my camera to school tomorrow, take pictures of the building from all four sides... to be my before shots. And if.... I should say when.... we really do follow-up with the vision in the head of my assistant principal, I will have some great shots to share with you by summer.

If for some reason, the plan does not materialize, I will definitely be making plans to paint the inside of my classroom. With the assurance that I will be there in that same room again next year, of course. That will come straight from our principal's mouth before I start painting.

And if that doesn't happen, I will at least have pictures of the mural the students are going to paint this spring....

Yes, I think I should get my hands in on that project. This is what school is all about. Learning. Not testing.

(uh oh, I feel a mild rant coming on...)

IMO, NCLB has been taking all the fun out of learning. Testing has become the focus in our schools over the past five years. Giving tests, preparing for tests, taking tests, practice taking tests, and talking about the test results afterward.

Testing is only one way to measure learning, but it is not the learning itself. Test scores do not build character, do not create citizenship, do not encourage compassion within the hearts of children. Test scores don't even tell you who the good or the poor teachers are. You give tests to a school with a majority of second language learners and expect them to grow at the same rate as the rest of the American population... then penalize the school because they didn't make adequate growth... itjust doesn't make sense. The ones suffering from the penalty are ultimately the children. And many highly qualified teachers.

You can test the kids until multiple choice answers drip from their noses, but you can't make us stop thinking of ways to help put the creativity back into our classrooms!

I'm going down fighting with a paintbrush and a palette of colors!

Right after I teach reading, writing, and math <grin>.

 

Tags: Pygmalion effect, self-fulfilling prophecy, NCLB, testing students

A day in the life of a student EC teacher

                               

                                                  Photobucket Image

There were meetings every afternoon this week, curriculum based assessments, the state writing test, and report cards to finish. The young student teacher took it all in stride, wanting to just have a lesson that went smoothly, with the students working diligently and her cooperating teacher looking on in approval and admiration. So much to do, and many students whose individual needs had to be met in the classroom without pushing them too hard or pulling them up too fast.

Some lessons went well, and others did not, but inside she felt like none of them went well enough. It was so embarrassing to be 21 years old and suddenly to feel incapable, like a teenager hoping to get hired, but not having any practical experience to boast about. No, it was even worse than that. It was like you were trained to throw frisbees, but when you walk onto the job, they give you tires to throw. Yes, she didn't feel like she had prepared enough for this. She felt like that nearly every day.

One day, one student tipped the balance, and she fell over into the deep end. She thought for sure she would drown. She wondered why she had even thought she would love doing this kind of work. But this... nothing had prepared her for this! Why did she feel so utterly like a failure? "Why wouldn't he work for me, but he would for her? What did she do that I didn't do?" she wondered.

The older teacher recognized what had happened and gently whispered to her to leave the classroom and go to the bathroom, to calm herself down, to dry her eyes, to get away from the scene for a few minutes. "Come back when you feel calm... it's going to be okay.... remember, I told you there would be days like this... it's normal. Come back when you have calmed down."

                                                   

The young student teacher left, relieved to hide herself away so she could just cry out the tension that had been building up for the past two weeks. Her work load was increasing each week, and she would have to assume all the responsibilities for planning and teaching of this group of students every day for four weeks. How was she going to be ready to take on such a task if she couldn't handle this one student who refused to do his work? But it wasn't just the one student... it was all of them. If she looked at all of them at once, it was overwhelming.

She returned ten minutes later to the classroom, and by then the students of that class had left. The older teacher sat her down and told her not to beat herself up over it. "This is part of your learning process... I'd venture to say most new teachers experience this at one time or another. Better to have it happen now when you have a strong support system, when you have someone in the room with you to help out, someone to talk to about it."

The young teacher was set at ease... she had been so anxious to talk about her feelings on the job with her cooperating teacher because she only wanted to be the best student teacher. Yet, it seemed like day after day, lesson after lesson, she did not feel successful by end of day. She wanted to show her college teachers also that she was ready after four years of education. Her observation was coming up in two days ... what if it flopped? All her worries seemed to erupt that one morning with the lack of response from that one student.

She listened as the veteran teacher assured her that she was doing a good job with planning her lessons. She was prepared with her materials. She was prompt, and she was generously reflective of each lesson. Yes, she was doing those things, wasn't she? "But what about that math lesson... they didn't seem to know as much as I thought they would... I should have..." and she spouted off a string of critical and negative should'ves.

"Sure, you can look back and say what you should have done, and that's what a good teacher does every day, after every lesson,"  her cooperating teacher said. "Even the best planned lesson can go astray for any number of reasons, and you won't know what you would've done until you are driving home after school, or you are taking a shower, or you are falling asleep at night. Ideas and suggestions will come to you freely once you are out of the classroom. Just works that way for a new teacher. When you've been doing it for a few years, it gets a little easier."

"Think about it, I have two file cabinets filled with files of lessons I have taught, and ideas for lessons I want to teach, and copies of other teachers' lessons, files I have been collecting for seven years now. I have something for nearly every concept and skill I might want to teach, at any grade level. How many files do you have?"

The young teacher thought about this... it made sense. She had only what others were willing to share with her, and her courage. For now, she had to rely on expert teachers and their file cabinets, books, and materials, but someday she would have two or three file cabinets of lessons and plans of her own from which to draw.

                   

Yes, she could see better now. Her perspective began to change. She sat up a little straighter, feeling her confidence return. Then the two teachers, the apprentice student teacher and the veteran cooperating teacher talked about behavior management, and how it could be improved to manage students who refused to complete a task.

They talked about how for some students, just showing up to school would qualify them for an award if you looked at the challenges and barriers in their way. Other students, the ones who couldn't read well at all, struggled to read words, and lost the meaning of what they read because it took them so long to read. It's no wonder the little guy refused to work. He has a hard time speaking the language, his vocabulary is weak, so why is it any surprise that he can't express himself in writing?

Then it hit her. She began to see that this wasn't at all about her. It wasn't about her needs as a novice teacher, nor about her feelings getting hurt because she couldn't inspire one child to rise above his disability.

This was about the needs of the student. She couldn't fail in the classroom because they needed her to be there for them. If she thought this was a challenge for her, then she wasn't looking deep enough. This was why she was here, after all. She was here to teach children to learn, and to find ways to help them overcome the mixed up and confusing processes that took place within their brains.

No, there would be no more tears of frustration in this classroom while the students were around. If a student's difficulty pushed her insecurity buttons, she would recognize that his insecurities were greater. If a student pushed her fear buttons, she would know that he was more fearful of something he did not even understand. If a student pushed her rejection buttons, she would understand that he was not rejecting her, but only the difficult task at hand. 

Yes, she was becoming a teacher. Her tears of fear, rejection, and insecurity may not be allowed in the classroom in sight of the students, but tears of sadness or great joy would be.

Whatever she had to do to become strong for them, she would do it. She would learn everything she could, she would talk to other teachers, she would attend workshops, and observe classroom teachers, and try... she would keep trying and she would never give up because if she gave up, then she would be letting one of them down. Novice she was for now, but she knew she couldn't let them down. That was no longer an option.

Then something within her budding teacher heart gently stirred, forming new moisture in her eyes. Silently, it spilled over her eyelid, slid down her cheek, and disappeared beneath her upturned chin.

She knew what she had to do. She no longer doubted it.

She didn't even bother to wipe this one away. This kind of tear was completely acceptable.

And her cooperating teacher smiled.

                                                         

 

     This entry is a semi-fictional retelling of one day in the life of a student teacher of Exceptional Children.

Tags:

Akiane: Is she for real?

                           

                                                 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YdIVeBo8SE

Here again, Akiane Kramarik, the twelve year-old child prodigy. I think some folks are thinking she is a hoax, that she isn't for real. Maybe her parents are doing the painting and the writing?

This is only one video I have seen of her. There are others. She is easy to find on the internet. Her faith in God is real, despite having been raised within an atheist home during her formative years.

It is difficult to grasp that a four year old could paint with the maturity of a forty year old, but isn't that what a child prodigy is? Someone who knows and understands far beyond their years?

I haven't found anything yet to disprove her claims.

I think we have here the genuine article.

                

Prince of Peace, she was 8.                                  Jesus: the Missing Years. She was 10 years old

 

                                                

                                                                                                      Angelic Love, she was 12 years old

 

                                                                       http://www.artakiane.com/akiane_art.htm#

                                          

                                                           

 

Tags: Akiane Kramarik, child prodigy, YouTube Video, faith in God

Child Prodigy! You must see!

Check out this link to the most inspiring story I've seen and heard to date. It took my breath away!

If you love to read about child prodigies, this is for you. It's a CNN report. A brief DVD clip, beautifully presented, in huge format, with music.

This twelve year old girl, Akiane, is going to take your breath away ... she has been painting since she was four, and recently began to play the piano. She is a self-taught painter, inspired by God. No, touched by God.

I was just discussing art (via email) with MTRIB2 (he's an artist, in case you aren't familiar with his journal) this morning, when an email came to me from my friend, Alan.

Alan sends me lots of joke mail, and often it leaves me laughing. But this piece he sent me this morning just left me speechless.

Thank you, Alan!!!!

Please check out this extraordinary girl's work. You won't believe what she has done!

 

For more reading about this talented child:

Akiane Kramarik, Dream Child by Mary Berryhill

Akiane, the official website dedicated to Akiane, http://www.artakiane.com/press.htm

News Video, Akiane talks about her painting

 

                                                    http://tinyurl.com/yxewot

Tags: Akiane Kramarik, child prodigy, mtrib2, artist, Christian artists

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Early morning snowfall and teacher workday, and Autism video

         

Yes, as I wrote in the previous entry, it snowed... really it did. In some parts, like in Sunshine, Colorado, they might call this a dusting. It looks like a dusting when compared to what they're getting in Colorado. But it's our first winter season snowfall here in the middle of North Carolina.

Coincidentally, today was a teacher workday, so I was able to run outside in my slippers and snap some photos before getting dressed for school. Max hesitated at first, but after the two of them saw me clump down the stairs with the golf umbrella they eagerly raced each other down the steps.

                                    

Afterward, Max returned, begging for me to wipe the stuff off of him, and Misty's feet were cold, but they seemed to enjoy their early morning chase around the yard.

                                    

Just in case some of my students had slept in this morning and missed the event, I took some pictures around our classroom building to add to the screensaver slideshow on my classroom computer. They love seeing pictures of themselves and our classroom file across the screen.

It was a great day, as far as workdays go. My student teacher and I attended an excellent and well presented Autism workshop... I learned somenew facts, interventions, and strategies that I could use to teach my students who live within, or at least in the very near vicinity, of the world of Autism. I'm going to share with you some of the things I've learned about the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). By explaining it here, to you, I will be able to better understand it for myself.

                   

I found this video tonight... one of many I will feature as I write on the subject of Autism. This one is about a young girl named Jessica. It features photos of her first fourteen years of life. Her parents love her and nurture her, ... what a blessing she is to their family!

I plan on writing an entry or two on the subject of Autism soon, but not tonight. Tonight, I'm taking it easy.

We spent the rest of the day meeting with various teachers regarding the writing test and the new focus in writing after the test. We also talked to a few teachers about Ms. J observing them in the upcoming week, and planned for her to observe a student or two and do an on-task behavior check list for each of them. This will help me get a handle on specific behaviors, and help me make a plan to help them modify their behaviors. It's do-able. I couldn't do this without her help. So glad she is working with me this semester.

I'm feeling better after having coughed my way through the previous four weeks, maybe longer. It started just before Thanksgiving, went away two weeks later in time for the week before Christmas, then returned a few days before Christmas, eased up around New Year's eve, and hit me with a vengeance a week later. So really, it's been more than a month. Still hoarse, but feeling better today.

Today I went in for a chest x-ray to see if the "consolidation" in my lung has cleared up. Will know more by Monday. Thank you all for your comments, prayers, and concerns regarding me, and my sister. We both appreciate the well wishes.

 

Tags: Autism, teacher workday, first snowfall in NC, YouTube Video

First Snow this winter!

                  

This is what I saw when I let out the dogs this morning!!! Our first snow here in the Piedmont of North Carolina.

WoooooWooooo!

Bindi Irwin's Tribute

I included this video because I had seen it on tv. This little girl is one good speaker/writer. Her father has died tragically, and look at her standing up there with confidence and presence. She knows she is loved my many people. She knew her father's love.

I've been trying to get my students to think of someone special in their lives, and to give three reasons why they are special, with supporting examples for each reason.

When I heard what this little girl wrote, I thought "There, this is what I mean. Listen to all the examples she gives to support her statement that "my daddy was my hero." She even ends it with a very good reflective sentence, and a hope for the future, "Now it's our turn to help daddy."

I'm going to see if I can send this to my classroom computer, and play it for the students. I think they will be as impressed as I was.

What a brave, courageous little girl is miss Bindi Irwin, daughter of Steve Irwin.

Tags: Bindi Irwin, student writing, courage

A new woohoo! Woohoo #2

I loved the woohoo so much that I made another. I used the photo pile style for this one. The one I made yesterday employed the Ken Burns effect.

If you check out yesterdays, you can see the difference in presentation. Same photos, different look.

 

                              

The instructions for woohoo making are simple. You just fill in all the fields. Type in your AIM name (mine was the same as my screen name), check which photos you want to use (they should already be in an album somewhere on your computer or at  your AIM pages.

Then you select which effect you want (photo pile, ken burns, mixed media, etc).

Select the size you want it presented (small, medium, large, extra large... mine is XL).

Finally, you submit it, and voila, your woohoo is ready.

If you want to insert it into your journal, you just copy the html code, open up your journal entry, select html instead of text, and copy the woohoo html there. When you save your journal entry, the woohoo shows up in all its fun and photographic fanciness!

If you make one, come back and leave a link.

 

Work-week, and woohoos, and my sister

Have I really gone for five days without journaling? It's been quite a full week.

This evening, while waiting for the night time cough suppressant to kick in (which by now, it has, thank you), I played around with the woohoo feature provided by aol.

Here's my woohoo!

                               

It worked on my test journal, so let's see if it will work here too. This is just an experiment using some of my pictures saved on my computer. No particular theme. A couple of zoo pictures, some family photos, the dogs, the pond... things I usually put in my journal.

I like the Ken Burns effect, the panning across the photo. Gives it some movement. If you want to try the woohoo slideshow, which I first read about at aol pictures and at JournalsEditor Magic Smoke, you can click here to create your own!

As soon as I figure out how to put it on my AIM page I will probably create a woohoo with a central theme.

Finally, on a more serious note, I would like your prayers for my sister, Joy, whom I wrote about on New Year's Day. She was having chest pains Wednesday while she was at work (she's a nurse at a state hospital). She didn't tell anyone right away because she's had them before, but thank goodness she decided to tell some of her co-workers there, and one of them drove her to the hospital. That's where she learned she'd had a mild heart attack. Yesterday, one artery blockage (80%) was removed, and a stint was put in its place.

So many people, especially men, ignore those first pains in the chest because they are somewhat bearable. She called it angina. She is recovering, and will be allowed to go home when her blood pressure and other vitals return to normal rates.

Fortunately, she was in a hospital and was able to get immediate medical attention. Had it happened at her home, she may not have been as fortunate, as she lives on a lake in the country, very far from any hospital.

She sounded pretty good today when I called her on the phone, but I would still like for any of you who pray to add her to your list. I cannot be with her at this time, but was happy to hear that her children and our two brothers had visited her, and she has heard from our mother, and other brothers who live in California.

Thank you for your prayers!

I started coughing again about midweek, and because it seems to be getting worse instead of better, I called the doctor again... my voice is gone again due to the excessive coughing. She thinks I've caught another bug. I had actually recovered from the one I contracted just before the Christmas holidays.

So I'm on medicine again, and the humidifier is running at night, drinking lots of fluids... yada-yada-yada... taking care of myself. It must be the new school, new germs, ... you think?

 

A few notes before bedtime on a Sunday

Ms. J met with me after school on Friday for a planning session. We discussed which class she could take over for her first week, and we both agreed that, due to edutesting claiming the early morning hours, her best choice would be the 10:20 a.m. 1st grade writing class. There are six students in that class, and she has already had several observations. The students know her, and she feels more comfortable taking on that class. She asked if she could take home with her to study the Write from the Beginning notebook to familiarize herself with the writing curriculum.

After we planned, we went out for dinner at Golden China in Graham (my treat). We were able to discuss a few more details about her upcoming role as student-teacher. She seems excited, and happy to finally be in this place, both geographically and professionally.

I feel very positive about our first few days together in this teacher-student relationship.

Today, I drove through the dreary rain to school for my Sunday planning time. Got there at 3:30. I made room in one closet for her to put her things, made room in another closet for Ms. B to put her things, and added a heavy duty plastic hook to the inside door of a third closet to hang my coat. Now each of us has a personal space to place our pocketbooks, bookbags, and coats.

By 4:30 I was ready to sit down and look at lessons for fifth grade reading, to include guided reading and focus lessons, and writing. Once I had those written up, I looked at second and first grade maths, and prepared some materials to teach what they needed this week. Finally, I planned for second grade reading and writing, although I didn't write up any full-length narrative plans for Ms. B because during the first two days we are edutesting.

It was 7:30 pm before I finally turned out the lights and trudged through the dark rain to my car and headed home. It was a good planning time.

So, I'm off to bed feeling confident about Ms. J and her taking on the class this week. I'm also feeling pretty excited about being her mentor teacher. Finally, I get to explain and demonstrate what I do to someone who really is interested, who wants to know more, and who will try to emulate me if what I do is effective.

I take this role very seriously. I'm teaching a teacher!

 

A good first week in 2007

An interesting week filled with surprises, some pleasant, some not so very. The year 2007 has kicked off grandly, and I'm feeling pretty good about it.

This is not to say that as I look ahead of me, I see clear skies and smooth seas... uh-uh... ain't gonna happen. But I do feel like I'm up for whatever may come my way.

Monday: Jan 1 was a holiday for teachers and students, so of course, I only used part of that day to get ready for the school week. I felt nearly 100% recovered from the illness over the holidays.

Tuesday: School doors opened, beckoning all those little open minds, our future caregivers, politicians, doctors, policemen, preachers, business entrepeneurs, writers, artists, actors, singers, homemakers, soldiers, etc., etc., not to mention future mommies and daddies... all of them, including the teachers, walked down school halls and through classroom doors with a rekindled passion for learning.

That's the way I saw it... my view of School. It's how I felt when I found myself once more moving through the building, into which only four months ago I had taken my place as a teacher.

I recalled my first apprehensions back in August, my concerns for not knowing anyone, that none of the students knew me, that I didn't know where anything was, didn't know the "ropes" in this particular building.

All anxieties have been laid to rest. These people have welcomed me with widely opened arms, complete trust, seeking my experience and my opinion, needing my expertise. And I, oh yes, especially I, ever needing theirs. There is no doubt that I am part of the team here, and I love that. I didn't acquire those feelings my first year, eight years ago, when I began my teaching career. I was apprehensive for two years, possibly three... probably my own doing, my own perceptions. Yet, already, at this school, I feel like I fit in. It's a wonderful feeling.

Also,Tuesday after school: I attended an orientation meeting at a well-known university, my alma-mater, Elon University. The meeting was to acquaint me with my new role as a Cooperating Teacher for a student teacher. Yes, the young lady who completed a student practicuum in my class back in the fall semester is coming back for the remainder of the school year. She is doing her student teaching with me!!!! Can I celebrate? I knew she had asked to do this with me, and I accepted with pleasure. Although I have never been selected to be a cooperating teacher before, I felt like it was time for me to fill that role.

Wednesday: Ms. J began her first day in my classroom as a full-time student teacher. This is similar to what doctors do when they do their internship. She has to gradually take on the role of teacher, under my guidance, with my assistance, with my students, in every class I teach. Eventually, over a period of three weeks, she will assume all the tasks I normally do. My schedule is her schedule. She goes with me to all meetings, all school functions, and will plan with other teachers when they plan. I will always be there with her, for her. I want her to feel like part of the team.

And I don't want to scare her away. We need more smart, enthusiastic, healthy young people like her to enter the field of education. We need her dedication... I want to inspire the dedication and the commitment, for that is what it will take to keep these younger people in the classrooms. They need to find their own passion, and if that passion is found in the classroom, by golly, we have a lifetime teacher who will have the time of her life.

She is eager, filled with questions. I sense her anxieties, and then I remember when it was me as a student-teacher, taking on my first full-time role as a teacher in another teacher's classroom. Oh, even at 45 I was like a younger student. I looked older, but I didn't feel much more confident to take on students with learning difficulties. Confidence came with experience, over time.

After school, we attended a second grade planning session with all the second grade teachers, and then we attended a first grade planning session. My young student teacher mostly listened and observed, and I knew she was thinking there was lots to do, lots to learn, and lots to think about... I hoped she wasn't getting overwhelmed. After the meetings, she had questions, and we talked about what she had seen and heard. Her interest was high.

Thursday: She walked in early as she said she would. She accompanied me on a first-time task for her: bus/car duty. I told her that this is one of my favorite tasks, which I'm only assigned one day a week. I wanted to impart upon her the big picture: when you greet a student as they step down off the school bus, or out of their warm car, you are the first teacher they encounter. You help set the tone of the day for them. I say goodmorning or hi or hey there or have a great day today to every single child as they pass by me.

Parents are dropping off their precious cargo on their way to work... I remember being that parent twenty years ago. Parents are trusting the teachers in the school, the principal, the specialty teachers, the custodian even, trusting them all to be kind to their child, to love their child, and to teach their child something each and every day. When the parents see me, I want them to know that their kids are in the best school in the county, and that we will provide the best elementary school education for their child, and that I am only one of those teachers who is glad to be there, one of many more.

Yes, that is what I was hoping to impress upon my student teacher yesterday as we stood outside at 7:25 a.m. greeting students at the front of the building. I saw her smiling, she picked it up fast... yes, I think she got it!

At the end of the day, she asked if she could have a planner, so we walked to the office and asked the secretary if there were any extra teacher planners. Sure enough, there they were, and one was given to my student teacher. She grinned.

Friday: Today, she taught her very first lesson in a second grade reading class, using three poems I had selected earlier. I couldn't observe her, for I was teaching my fifth graders at the same time in the same room. I had to wait until lunch time to talk to her about it, how it went, how she felt about it. She said it had gone well, she reflected upon her experience, upon how the students responded, and she said it was fun... yes!!! Poetry should be fun.

I was able to arrange for her to have her own key to my classroom, and I even asked if she could have a key to the main building. By the end of the day, I found a little envelope in my mailbox with a key to my classroom, and she smiled when I gave it to her. The principal overheard us talking about the key to the building, and searched for a lanyard for her to wear around her neck... I told Ms. J that she is officially a teacher here when she puts that key around her neck (that's how most of us wear our keys and ID badges).

After the kids were on the buses or in their cars, we were able to meet with a fifth grade teacher and discuss math plans, then we finally sat down to discuss what we wanted to do next week. She is going to take over my first grade reading and writing class next week. We made some plans, looked at materials we would use, she took some books home with her.

I took her out to dinner at the end of the day, sort of a celebration to mark our first three days as a student/teacher team.

I asked her how she thought her first three days went, and she said she thought it was a good week. She realized it was a short week, but still, she was pleased so far. I told her about the feeling of being overwhelmed, that "at some point it will happen, all teachers experience it that first time... so just don't fight it. Let me know when it happens... I will help you through it."

But, I think I will recognize when it happens... I think I will know when she has reached the end of her "rope."

When that happens, I will be there telling her to let go of it.

 

Like that story about The Rope that I found at Discovering Me by Scotthlori.

                                 

Thank you forthis tag, but I have lost the information about who sent it to me. If you are the one, please leave a comment. Was it you, Penny?

 

 

                  Oh! and thank you, God, for all of this and more.

 

Tags: The rope, school, teaching, student teaching

BLOG CRAWL: Back to Nature

          

                                       

There's this new blog concept called Blog Crawl. Dorn at Dust Bunny Club of North America is starting it. She describes the concept as being "like a blog carnival, a journal jar, and round robin all smashed into one."

                            

We're all writers out here, and many of us are also photographers and artists. If you can't get enough reasons to write, here's another: blog crawl. If you want to participate, check out Dorn's specifics. The good news is that there aren't that many. She is into simplicity.

Anyone who knows me through this journal, or in person, knows of my amateurish interest in the natives of the landscape, creatures of the earth, otherwise known as bugs. I also love the other critters found in our yard. Or in the school yard.

                                    

So this J'lander is going to participate. Now. Tonight. Even though I just took a swig of my favorite cough suppressant just about 30 minutes ago, and I know it will allow me to melt into the finest undisturbed sleep I could ever desire on a school night. Ah, life is sweet when you can sleep all through the night!

Well, here goes.

Back to nature.

With a few favorite photos.

                            

I don't have to go far to get back to nature. I think that is one of the reasons I love where I live. When we built our home in 1981, all future camping trips came to an end. It seemed ironic for us to spend money and time trying to set up camp in a mountain state park hours from our home when the exact same nature surrounds our home every day and night of the year.

Look

Look around you... there are lots of beautiful creatures  completing their life cycles right at your feet or just above your head. You don't even have to touch them... just take their pictures when you see them. They are usually patient and willing subjects.

If you love and appreciate God's creations, and if you have time, click on the View Larger link within the aol pictures frame at the top of this entry, then click on View Slide Show. I think you might enjoy some of the creatures who share their place in our yard with us.

 

Tags: Blog Crawl, insects, back yard

There is Joy!

                                 

My sister and her husband arrived on the 30th, Saturday, and left this morning to return to her home in Georgia. It was a brief, but wonderful visit. Truly, she lives up to her name in this stage of her life. Joy.

She was born a year and a half after I was. I held the distinction of being first born, and didn't understand the ramifications of such an honorary position in the family order of siblings until I was an adult. However, as youngsters, she and I were very close, sharing everything.

We adored each other. She followed me everywhere and copied everything I did, and I taught her everything I learned in school as soon as I got home each day. If I came home with chewing gum in my mouth, she was the first person to benefit from the surprise. She didn't care that I had already chewed it. She was too young to understand germs, but like I said, we shared everything in our youngest of days.

She was born while our father was stationed in French Morocco. When he returned home, the story goes, as our mother tells it, baby Joy did not know this man whose arms she was thrust into. Daddy was not a word she had come to know the meaning of. I don't know how old she was when dad came back, nor do I remember our happy reunion. I may have been two/three years old. I'm sure I greeted my father in shy jubilation, for I knew him. She did not. Mom said she cried every time he picked her up.

By the time our first brother Joey was born, my dad and baby sister Joy had not yet established a good bonding. I am making this inference from the things both my parents have revealed to me over the years, years of trying to understand the relationships each of us have had with them. So when child number three, otherwise known as #1 Son, was born, my father's affection was directed more to him than to daughter #2. Then came sons #2, #3, and #4. The last born was daughter #3. I was eleven years old when she was born.

Of all the children, my sister felt the least loved. Her words. I always assured her that our parents loved us all equally, but I think what she was really saying was that they didn't show their love equally. I think they were overwhelmed with the responsibilities of parenthood, and loved us each in their own way. She came to recognize this rather late in life.

Sometimes one child needed more attention than another. We each had our way of seeking the attention we needed. I was the obedient child, and this earned me their praises. She was the argumentative child, outspoken when she experienced unfairness. This trait earned her countless memories of punishments, angry words, and hurt feelings. My sister did not experience joy as a child. This would later affect her relationships with husbands, and those she had with her own children.

                                                        

That's me on the left, and Joy on the right. Possibly this was taken in 1956, when she was two years old (or younger) and I was three/three and a half.

I took this brief stroll through my sister's and my life because I want her to know how very much I love her, how very much I have always loved her, and how I yearn to know that she has found joy in her own heart. I think she has come to that place in her life this year.

                                    

In this photo, we are both in school. This one was taken in 1959, according to handwriting on back of photo. Which means I'm about six and a half, and she is five-ish. I'm in first grade, sheis in kindergarten.

                                

This photo was taken last night, on New Year's Eve 2006. I believe this was our first New Year's Eve together at my house. Actually we were at my friend Alyson's house for the occasion.

                                  

Here I am with my girlfriends and my sister last night. Actually, any one of us would claim that we were all sisters. Aren't we a picture of motherhood, health and happiness? That's me on the left, Beth, Carol, Joy, and Alyson. I could write a book about this fine group of ladies, but I'm saving that story for another day.

I am so proud of all that Joy has done with her life. She became a nurse after all her kids had grown and left home, at about the same time that I became a teacher. Seems we still have a kind of soul connection that cannot be hindered by time or distance.

Despite the hardships she has endured throughout her life, she strives to find the good in everyone she encounters. A generous person, she would give you anything she has. She raised five beautiful children who have blessed her with ten or eleven grandchildren... I've lost count. She would love to do more and be more for her grandkids, but therein lies her heartache. Revealing more than this would be treading on her privacy.

She is like the lotus flower I have many times referred to in my journal. The lotus flower is a most beautiful blossom that has its beginnings in the muck and mire of a muddy bog. A hardy plant, it needs a certain amount of warmth and sunlight to coax it out of its dark and dismal beginning. Once it raises above the mud, the blossom eventually opens to reveal all its beauty to the world.

                                                  

Here is my sister with the man she married several years ago. He has loved her the most, he is the sunlight and warmth of her life, the one who has helped to create the conditions which has allowed her to bloom.

Yes, my sister is a joy to be with. I am so glad that we have these moments together. I wish things could have been different, could have been better in the past, but then, she wouldn't be where she is right now. The truth is, we can never know where we would be had things been different.

I am grateful for the light and warmth in her life now, and yes, I am talking about her husband.

There is plenty of room for more joy to be experienced, however. One needs only to be aware of what is right in front of them. It can all be taken away in the blink of an eye. My sister's health is not very good. She looks good, but she wouldn't appreciate me writing so much about her.

Life is short.

It isn't too late for those who haven't discovered the Joy in their life to reconnect with her.

Happy New Year, to all my friends and family!

Thank you Alyson for sharing your family with mine, for your open house policy, for your traditions, and for your determination to keep friends and family close. You inspire us all.

Thank you, Beth, for your friendship. You are a beautiful and loving woman who brings out the best in all of us.

Thank you, Carol, for your strength and your vision for change. You keep us all on our toes with your plans and your dreams.

And I thankmy husband who has to endure the love of my girlfriends, which he does very well, and with a sense of humor that carries us through the most difficult of times. To Beth's, Carol's, and Alyson's husbands as well... what a great bunch of guys we are married to! We would be so utterly lost and bored without them to spice up our lives. We are truly blessed.

And to all my J'land friends, I thank you for always being here, no matter the time of day, with words of encouragement and wisdom, praise, and advice... this is a fine community of friends, and I am ever grateful to know each of you in the way we have come to know each other: through our written word and shared stories.

Happy New Year all!

                                        Thank you Donna for the New Year's tag.

Tags: Happy New Year, Joy, D's Designs, family