A Dog's Life

Ever look out the window of your house into your back yard only to to see your furry friend stretched out on the grass, soaking in the afternoon sun? Those are the moments I envy my dog's life. She doesn't have a care in the world...other than hunting the shadows of butterflies. Yep. Tail out straight, ears up, and eyes focused waiting to pounce on the next unsuspecting shadow. I can say with 100% accuracy that she has never caught a one. Can you understand the envy of such a simplistic existence?

Needless to say, life has been busy and overwhelming lately. I could go into great detail and explain the complexities of my struggles, but then you would probably be thinking, as I would if had to read a diatrib of self-pity, "Join the club. We all have problems." So, to spare you the time of replying with some wity criticism concerning my whining, I'm going to reflect on todays sermon from church.

The pastor put it all in perspective today. In fact, I'm going to download his message onto my iPod and listen to it everyday. What was his message, you ask? Well, God is in control and this world is not the end. We were created to be immortal. We will live out eternity in either Heaven or Hell. Such a simple message, but profound. My eternity is secure in God's hands. I don't need to fret about trials and stresses of this life.I need to focus on Him and living for Him. He will take care of the rest.

I don't need to envy my little shadow hunter. I need to trust in the Lord and keep eternity in mind.

Love

I follow this blog titled "Teaching Paperless." The other day I reiceived and email from this blog with the following challenge:

You have been put in charge of creating a brand new education system. Whatever you decide will be done. You are the monarch. You have unlimited resources and everyone is mandated to do your bidding (and they love you and think you are a genius).

And they are waiting to hear your concept.

One caveat: This being the 21st century, you have to explain your entire concept in 21 words or less.

Hmmm... I wonder how people responded? I thought. So, I went and checked it out. I mean, wouldn't you? There were all kinds of posts, some very intellectual, some not, and others very humorous. I enjoyed reading them all.

WELL, this morning I had another email from this blog site. This time it was the author of the blog making his 21 words or less statement. Actually, he said it in one word...love.

Here is a quote from his site:
Let that be the foundation and you'll see humility.   Start with humility and you'll see authenticity.  Let those be your guide and you'll have paradox.  Real paradox.  Start with paradox and you just might have something that's sustainable.


This got me to thinking about 1 Corithians 13:1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

He so right. It starts with love. Not just any love, mind you, but God's love.

Here's a challenge: Read 1 Corithians 13, the entire chapter, and ask the Lord to show you His love so that you can love others like He does. I don't want to be a clanging cymbal or a loud gong.

Life isn't about how far you climb up that ladder, the possessions you own, or knowing the "right" people. It's about love, Christ's love.

1 John 4:19 We love, because He first loved us.

Joey, I loved you and will miss you.

A Role Model

I was coming in from car rider duty at the end of today and I started thinking about a particular student.  As I climbed the stairs to my classroom, I pictured this student in my mind and all the struggles he has been through this year.  I took a deep breath and let out a sigh, "What a role model of forgiveness he is." 

Let me start by sayting that he hasn't always been treated with respect and accepted by his peers, and yet, he comes to school with a smile on his face and an amiable disposition.  He doesn't tell on the other children when treated wrongly.  He doesn't return insult for insult.  He doesn't gossip. He doesn't seek revenge. Instead, he stands strong by being kind and forgiving. He doesn't try to "fit in". He is who he is and he is fine with it.

I have such respect for this boy, that I find myself becoming his defender, but he doesn't need  that from me because he forgives. I saw this in action when a couple of students made fun of him. I stepped in and made them apologize. Instead of seeking revenge, he responded to their apologies with, "I forgive you."  Other students have told me that they have seen him offer compliments to those who insult him. They, too, were impressed. 

He has so much wisdom for being so young.  He lives the example of what Christ wants us to be...forgiving.

Going Ape

This has been a very busy week, but hey, it's Friday and all is forgotten. I'm looking ahead to next week. Roller Coasters! Not the real things, but good substitutes. My students are heading into the next science unit titled Motion and Design. We will be studying different types of forces and their affects on objects. So, what better way to learn about force than studying roller coasters. Because we can't go experience the real thing, my students are going to be building their own. And get this. The mighty coasters will be made of card stock. How cool is that! Well, they are pretty excited and ready to get started. unfortunately for them, they have to have a test over the science unit we are getting ready to finish up BEFORE going wild with the coasters.

The other day, I was talking with a parent. She told me that her child was sooo excited about this next unit that he's been on the computer researching and looking at roller coasters ever since I mentioned it last week. That was very encouraging to hear. In fact, when a student gets excited about learning, it's ALWAYS encouraging. Learning is so much fun and seeing my students hunger after it is better than BBQ Pizza... and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE BBQ Pizza (Needless to say, I was very disappointed when Pizz Hut discontinued this item.).

You can probably guess that I'm just as excited as my little darlins' when it comes to this next unit. In fact, I'm constructing my own roller coaster at home. Made of paper, of course. I plan on bringing it into class...if it's presentable. I'm thinking of BBQ Pizza as my roller coaster's theme. Then again, I might settle on something more simple, like Wolverine. He's my all time favorite X-Man comic hero. What am I saying! Why don't I just make my theme a mixture of both. A picture of Wolverine scarfing down a slice of BBQ pizza. How awesome is that! STOP THE PRESSES! I've got an even better theme...Planet of the Apes (The Charleton Heston version). OMG! That is probably my most favorite movie of all time. I watch the marathon every year. Can't get enough of the Ape. Yep, I think that's it. I'm going "ape" for my coaster.

I plan on posting some killer photos of their creations. So, be on the lookout.

TTYL

Never say "Yes" to a question you don't completely hear.

The other night I was dining on some chicken at Chick-Fil-A. Hmmm...imagine that? Well, as I sat in the booth savoring the spices of my poultry sandwich, I was not alone. A friend and collegue from work joined me. We were talking about this and that when she brought up an event that happened at school earlier that day. The Marine Corps Jazz band came and put on this amazing performance for our students. She expressed how much she enjoyed the "New Orleans" style music. I had to agree, it was fantastic! However, her facial expression changed from one of excitement and pleasure to disgust within a nano-second as she brought up a particular happening during the performance. But, before I tell you what that "happening" was, let me do some prep work to add some flare to her uprising.

As mentioned, the Marine Corps Jazz band played some awesome tunes for our students the that day. The music was loud, the teachers and students were clapping, and everyone was in good spirits. At one point in the performance the band danced down the center aisle playing their tunes. They convinced some teachers to join them. It was great fun! No, I wasn't one of the "dancing" teachers. Moving on. The performance continued and the teachers glided back to their duty stations making sure no one got out of hand. The end was near. This is where the story takes an unexpected turn.

As the band was playing their final piece, backing down the middle isle, a student came up to me. Remember, the music was loud so it was hard to hear. I leaned down to hear what he was asking, but couldn't understand him. So, in teacher fashion, I said, "WHAT? I can't hear you!" He repeated the question and this is what I heard. " Mrs. Brown, can I rown?" Being the expert interpreter of children's questions, I took that to mean , "Can I go to the bathroom?" My response was "Sure, go ahead." The performance was almost over anyway. And "go ahead" he did. Right to the middle aisle in front of the freshly starched Marine Corps Jazz Band. Not the bathroom, that is, but a break dance move called "the worm". Yep, doing "the worm" in front of the Jazz Band while everyone was watching. My jaw dropped to the ground, but I couldn't say a word. I gave him permission.

Now, back to Chick-Fil-A. My collegue and friend went on to explain how appauled she was at the sight of that student doing "the worm". She didn't know it was my student. "How disrespectful." She iterated. " I can't believe a student would do something like that!" I winced, not because I was offended, because I was caught. At this point I'm thinking should I agree with her and cover-up my sin or confess. Well, I did the admirable thing and confessed. She gave me this look like, "What?" I quickly defended myself by saying, "The music was loud. I thought he was asking to go to the bathroom."


To all those who desire to to work with children, never say "yes" to a question that you don't completely hear.

LOL!!!!

Math Night

Yep, a night of math.What fun! Especially if it's done carnival style. I always expect the worse and sometimes get surprised. Well, the other night was a one those few moments where all my worrying was for naught. It was just a fantastic night. I've embedded the video to share with you. However, let me say one thing before you enjoy the festvities (virtually, that is.), I was not the creator of this art work. A parent, a few teachers, and I took the pictures and my students did the rest. Two of my students used their recess and specials time and cranked it out. I am so proud of them. They worked so hard. Enjoy!

Structures



Let me start by saying that I'm so proud of my students.  We started a project about a month ago that has required a lot of work, determination, and collaboration.  There was a lot math involved, as well.  They built these structures out of cardboard to use for our Family Math Night and for their carnival game on probability we are studying in Math.  The structures were mostly designed and built during their Engineering class. However, there were some complications and delays and parent reinforcements were called in to help surpervice during recess and related arts.  All in all we had a great time building these works of art. Below are some of the finished products:

The Tank like Space Shuttle



The Barn




The Cottage



The Castle

The Train

The Pirate Ship

Auditioning for the Blog

Writing this blog has been so much fun. In fact, I've grown quite addicted to it. So much so, that I let my students in on it. Being in a good mood and all of that, I decided it was time unveil to them the blog that was about them. I knew they were going to to be a little, "What!" but none the less I had to share.

I wanted to introduce them to it slowly. So, I began by talking about authors and how they write from their own life experiences. I rambled on about Tolkien and his childhood and how his ideas for TLOR could have from those experiences. I reiterated that all good writers do this (You see what I'm inferring,don't ya?). After the prep speech, I type in the address for this blog and display MY writings from My life experiences. They read the title of the last entry. "The Number 2?" Someone questioned. "What kinda title is that?" Then they started to read it. "Hey! That's about us!" "That happened yesterday." I interjected amongst all the surprised looks and comments, "See,authors write from their life experiences." Um, that point suddenly became irrelevant now that they saw my entries were all about them.

After the initial shock of "What!", they requested that I read all of the entries to them. As I read them, they tried to guess who they were about. They "hit the nail on the head" every time. Of course, when I read Hair there was a boy who disagreed with my analysis. He admittedly responded with, "I wash my hair everyday!" He's a rare breed. Then there were the boys who wore the description like a badge of honor. "Yep, that's me." They said proudly. OK, so the blog was a hit. That was a relief. Opening Pandora's box can be a bit scary.

Now for the finale. "I want to be in your blog." A few of them told me. In fact one of them said, "I'm going to go home and think of some funny things to do in class so you will write about me." Well, little did she know, that statement alone was all that was needed.

LET THE AUDITIONS BEGIN!

The Number 2

Today, in class, a student said something that was so funny I did the unpardonable... laughed out loud. OMG! Can you believe it! I forgot my teacher training for a brief moment and let loose some humaness.

Well, it goes like this... integers. You know, positive and negative numbers. All those rules that I can't believe I remembered: positive times a negative is a Negative, and on and on and on. Well, we spent MOST of class today practicing and exploring multiplying and dividing with integers with some review of add/sub, too. Needless to say, there was some whining. However, they did a pretty good job and where totally, 100% challenged, which is an accomplishment within itself. Seeing that they had stretched those large brains to the max, I decided to switch gears and review some fractions. These guys like fractions. They are my kinda peeps. So, the problem went like this, 20 2/5 / 10 1/5. Not a complicated problem, but their are several steps to the solution. If you go the long route, which most of my students do, you first change the mixed numbers to improper fractions, then find the reciprocal of the second fraction, multiply and and finally simplify. You should end up with the answer being 2. Most of the students got this answer without too much difficulty. I was proud. OK...let me get to the point of the story. Once the answer was announced, a student piped up and and said rather disgustedly, "2!!! All that work for the number 2!" Like certain numbers have more "value" than others. Well, I laughed, and laughed. I couldn't help myself. I looked at the student and said, "I know, right. It should have at least been 100 or something higher. I mean all that work for just the number 2." She nodded her head in agreement. And I laughed some more.

I so love to teach.

Hair

OK... I'm sitting in the cafeteria at one those blue tables, enjoying my egg salad sandwich on whole wheat. By the way, Southern Sweets does it up right when it comes to sandwiches. Well, as I savor the taste and enjoy every bite, I randomly check out the scene. My students seem to be enjoying the social scene of the elementary cafeteria. Talking, laughing, eating...all is right with the world. Honestly. No disasters today. I'm getting a little bored, so I start comparing hair. I look over at the table where a group of boys are sitting and wonder, "How long has it been since they've washed their hair?" Then I scan some of the girls' heads and conclude, "thoroughly washed and groomed." I notice there's this shine with their hair that the boys hair is lacking. I wonder, do the boys, like, smell the odors of all that unwashed hair as they scarf down their lunch? But then I think, how can they? They all smell the same.
Let me just say this, in all my years of teaching, I've rarely seen a girl come to school and her hair not have been given some attention prior to entering the classroom. On the other hand, I rarely have seen a boy come into class without his hair sticking up in all directions and sometimes smushed up to one side. I think this is called bedhead. The funny thing is, they think nothing of it. When I inquire as to a comb, they give me this confused look...does not compute. Boys are so funny.
Lunch comes to an end and out we go to one of the two reasons many children come to school...recess. The other being PE.

Paint!

OMG! What a day. First, paint gets splattered all over the walls and then...paint gets splattered allover the walls. This makes me think of a top 10 list.
Well, let me make a top 10 list of things you should never do as a teacher.

1. When asking a child to help out, NEVER give them a bucket of paint and ask them to return it back where you got it. It doesn't matter that you checked the lid to make sure it was securely on, or that the bucket has a handle, or that it was only half full. Because, if it can happen, it will happen, especially in the hands of a 10 year old boy.

2. When having your students paint anything, NEVER let them paint in their school clothes, even if they promise they will be careful. BECAUSE if it can happen, it will happen, especially in the hands of a 10 year old.

3. When having your students handle scissors,NEVER let them use them to cut cardboard. BECAUSE, get ready, if it can happen...

4. When cleaning up paint that has been splattered all over the floor, walls, and doors NEVER try and scoop up the piles with your hands and try to put it back in the bucket. The paint will dry quickly on your hands and make it hard to use the interactive whiteboard.

5. Always have a back-up plan in case the unthinkable happens and NEVER think that those who you need most will understand.

6. NEVER use a non-water based paint. The unthinkable always happens.

7. Even if it was said to be an accident, as you are unknowingly stepping into a puddle of paint, NEVER lose your cool.

8. As you are trying to clean up a paint splattered disaster, NEVER, after having stepped in it, walk to a different location. It will "follow you" and you will have more to clean up.

9. When you finally make it back to class, NEVER tell the truth about the paint that is streaked across your face or the paint that it is now your new highlights. Let your students think that your trying out a new fad.

10. Never get so angry that you can't laugh. This is very important.

THE Pink Bow

You know the old saying, "If you don't bend you will break." Well, in education if you don't laugh you will cry. Humor is medicine that tastes like that purple cough syrup we took as children when we got sick. Ya know, the stuff that tasted like grape cool-ade. It always left you wanting more. Well, when a teacher can laugh and have a little fun it kinda works the same way. It leaves the kids wanting more. Sometimes it motivates them to do boring work (there words not mine). So, this story is about how humor helped a "boring" topic become interesting.

I have this student who, in my opinion, has the most gorgeous set of blonde curly locks that I have ever seen on a little girls head. The kind you wished your daughter had. But, and this a big but, this particular day she came to class with it flowing from her head like a freshly ironed shirt. All the curles were gone. Instead, they were replaced by a pretty pink bow clipped strategically on the top of her head. This was now her shining glory.

Math class started as usual...mental math. I called out problems and the students shouted out the answers. It would be nice if they would wait until I called on them, but their enthusiasm for math overwhelms them and they just can't contain themselves (That's what I choose to believe).With every problem, my pink bowed straight haired friend kept shouting out the correct answer."Hmm..." I thought. "She's really on top of her game." Then the lesson continued to the "boring" topic...equivalent fractions (Personally, I love fractions.). Again, Pinky was amazing! "It must be the bow." I concluded. Enter the humor.

Now, you know your class is extremely bored when you see their eyelids start to flitter because they are fighting the desire to doze off. I had to do something quick. The bow! That's it! Let me call out one more problem and get this party started. "Who can tell me an equivalent fraction for 3/4?". Pinky took the bait. "I can! I can!" She shouted (again, with the enthusiastic outbursts). "6/8!"."Wow! Good job! I've noticed that today you have been on top of your game." She smiled. "I wonder why?" I ask (Here we go.)."I like fractions." She responded proudly."Na." I say shaking my head with a smile. "It's the pink bow. I'm convinced." She didn't quite get it, so I elaborated. I shared with her my observations and adimittaly professed the pink bow to be the culprit. Something stirred to the left and then a giggle from the right. "OK they're waking up." I thought. Let's go for the kill. "Mrs.Brown, you're silly." She says. "I'm serious." I said earnestly. "It has to be the pink bow!" More laughs. "Let me prove it to you." I asked if I could borrow the bow for a minute. I know,I know. Lice and such, but I was desperate. She removed the "crown" and handed it to me. Needless to say, she was a little suspicious. I held this power of motivation in my hand and watched while the now alert spectators stared at me with anticipation. "OK." I said as I clip the bow to the top of my head. The laughter gets louder. "Ask me a question about equivalent fractions and make it hard." I can't remember what she asked, but I do know that I got it right. Everyone was now awake and laughing. Then came the point at which I knew equivalent fractions were going to be fun. A little blonde headed boy raised his hand and said, "Mrs. Brown can I try the bow?"

The pink bow is now considered a symbol of genius. In fact, just the other day, Pinky said to me, "Look,Mrs. Brown.I wore my brain today." She laughed and so did I.

A Letter from an Angel

As a teacher, you become very passionate about your lessons and the content being covered. When you stand in front of the class you want your students to have that same passion about learning. So, here's a story about a letter that reminded me to "cool my jets."

I introduce the next unit in Science, the environment. I reviewed what they learned last year on the same topic ( that's what good teachers do) and connected it to this years focus. Blah, blah, blah went the lesson until I got to the part where I am passionate...cells. I love the study of cells and how they work. It's amazing how inside such a microscopic structure is the beginning of life. See how passionate I am about cells. Now, how passionate do you think my students were learning it? From my perspective about 50/50. Remember, that is my perception. Keep that in mind.
As I am imparting this knowledge to my students and projecting the gorgeous internal structure of the plant and animal cell up on my Promethean board, my excitement is going to new heights. Life couldn't get any better, and then to the left of me I saw what appeared to be a dream squasher. A student resting her head on her arms with her eyes closed. My excitement turned to disappointment. "A student not interested in cells! Choosing to sleep in class instead!" I know, don't go there. Don't say anything. Maybe she's not feeling well, but I went there. I scolded her for sleeping in class. She was very respectful as I told her that sleeping is for home and that she needs to pay attention. Now, this is where the story gets good. I went and finished the lesson, with some satisfaction that most of the class now loves cells as much as I do. I dismissed them and welcomed in the next crew of unsuspecting minds. As I was getting things ready, I saw what appeared to be a letter, resting on top of a stack of papers by my computer. It said on the top fold, "To Mrs. Brown". Awww... someone has written me a letter saying how much they enjoyed today's lesson on cells and hailing me as the greatest teacher ever. WRONG! I unfolded the paper and began to read.

Dear Mrs. Brown,
I wasn't sleeping in class today. I'm sorry that you thought I was. I was paying attention to everything you were saying. I love your class. I don't want you to be mad at me. It's just I get sick when I see things like cells and body stuff. It makes me want to throw-up This is why I had my eyes closed. I promise I wasn't sleeping.

OK, I'm feeling like a complete jerk, but I have another class that I have to teach. So, I purpose in my heart to rectify the matter before the end of the day. Finally, the best part of the school day...lunch. At least that's what the boys tell me. I walk into the cafeteria and I see the angel who wrote me the letter sitting at an infamous round blue table. She is laughing and talking with her friends. I walk up to where she is sitting and whisper in her ear. "I'm sorry." She looked up at me and smiled. She forgave me. I walked away with tears in my eyes.

Out of the mouth of babes. Thank you my little angel.

Rewards

Rewards are amazing. They come in many forms. Some produce positive results and motivate you to go for the gusto, and others can yield very little return on the investment. well, today's blog is about rewards that produce positive outcomes.

As I sat with my class in the Learning Commons (the library), watching them take tests, work on the computers, look for books to read I thought this is what teaching is all about. Because everyone was busy learning, I was able to to do some 1:1 instruction with a particular child who was in need. No, she's not a struggling learner, in fact, she is quite the opposite. She has been working ahead in math and having to do it independently. So, I don't always have the time to meet with her like I need to, but today I did and here is the story.

We began by starting the next unit in math, which I was confident that she would master in a few days and then move onto the next one. She flew through the first two lessons in about 10 minutes. We did have to pause for a brief moment to go over some new vocabulary, but then we were off and running. We made it to the third lesson and that is where we spent the next 20 minutes. It was the most rewarding 20 minutes of the day. Not because she mastered the concept and proved me wrong on a couple of occasions (which I loved),but because we had a chance to talk and laugh while we, yes we, learned. It was nice, though, to be able to teach her something she didn't know. I'm sure she felt the same concerning me. LOL!

We began our discussion on angle measurements, which she was able to confidently rattle off concerning circles and quadrilaterals, but came to a screeching halt with triangles and other polygons. Of course, we had to debate the sum angle measurement of a regular hexagon. She was confident she was right with it being 360 degrees. I tried to tell her the error in her thinking, but she wouldn't accept my expertise and knowledge. So,we had to look it up on the
internet...then she believed me. This led into the discussion of the sum angle measurement of triangles and how to use that to calculate the sum angles of other polygons. We did a couple of practice problems together,where I got both of them wrong(computational errors) She was loving it. Of course,when we both got the same problem wrong,her response was,"You were more wrong than me. I was closer to right." For the next problem she told me to get out the teacher manual for help, not for her but for me. When I told her that she had the next problem right her response was,"What does the teacher's manual say?" We both laughed. The rest of the lesson was poking fun at each other,while solving problems in the workbook.

The reward wasn't the knowledge gained, the good grade, or the fact that she is ahead of everyone, but the relationship that was nurtured. It was encouraging and motivating. I just wish I had the time to do this with all of my students.

Today's reward wasn't a physical prize, it was something much deeper, a relationship.

I so love to teach.

A Deck of Cards

A simple deck of cards in the hands of a creative problem solver can be dangerous. Sitting at a round blue table in the preverbal school cafeteria, sat a group of precocious young boys who love food. Imagine that! Well, it was the food that was the driving force behind "The Deck of "Cards." From the corner of my eye, I see one of the boys holding a "hand", filtering through it like a pro. Hmm... I wonder why he has cards in his hand, but before I could finishing processing that thought,I was distracted with a question from another student, and then I had to run a quick errand to the classroom. When I settled back onto MY hard round cylindrical seat at MY blue round table...I was distracted again. By this time, I have totally forgotten about those cards until I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see the school janitor and he was handing me a deck of cards. Oh, ya, those deck of cards. I suddenly remembered my original thought. He graciously sat on a round seat beside me and began to tell me a story. I listened patiently and with concern as he explained to me how the boys were dealing those cards to each other, with the winning pot being donated food from their lunch boxes and their cafeteria trays. He went onto explain how gambling was wrong. I comforted him by offering assurance that I would take care of it. Before returning back to his duties, he handed me the contraband. A pathetic, weathered, torn box of playing cards. I gazed in the direction of the guilty. Our eyes met. Defenses were ready. "OK, boys..." I said. But before I could start my lecture, they blurted out their excuses, their denials, and started finger pointing. "It wasn't me!" "The cards are his!" "We weren't gambling! It was just food!" They caved...too soon. The supplier of the contraband spoke up softly and confessed.b "Those are my cards." I guess he didn't want to see his friends suffer the consequence because of the influence he had
over them. Needless to say, i finished my mini lecture on gambling and offered up a stern
warning to head off any future ideas, and then turned and walked away...with a deck cards in
hand. They didn't see it, but I had smile on my face.

I so love to teach.