This puts things in perspective

Today, I got an email at work from our school counselor. She found this post from a teacher in Joplin, MO. I immediately opened her email and then started crying at my desk during the day. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

This is from the journal of a teacher in Joplin, Missouri as the school year is beginning. It kind of puts many things into perspective.

This may end up being my last tornado journal update. You want to know why? Because for the first time in 87 days, I have been able to breath today. I have been able to feel almost normal today. My kids were able to sleep and have something to wake up for today. We didn't have to spend our summer days wishing the pools hadn't been destroyed. We didn't have to wish we could go to our favorite parks, only to remember that they are no longer there. We didn't have to do anything that revolved around the tornado. We got to get up and go to school!

With the help of donations from around the world, these kids came back in style! Every child received a backpack with Joplin Eagles and our eagle logo on the front that was filled with school supplies appropriate for the grade. Every high school student--whether they were going back to school at the mall campus or the old middle school--received a laptop in the backpack. They will do all of their learning via the computers since the textbooks were destroyed. There is a coffee bar set up in the mall campus that the business classes will run. A theater in Branson adopted the drama department. Barry Manilow sent a truckload of instruments for the band. Amazon donated truckloads of books. As we walked into our building this morning, members of a local church greeted every child and teacher with smiles, high fives, handshakes, and snacks! Media outlets, both local and national, filmed at the various school locations, focusing on the more innovative spots like the high school in the mall and the middle school in an old warehouse. These children will not be disappointed with the facilities that were amazingly constructed over a few weeks’ time. It took a lot of time and effort from many people. We had volunteers from around the country putting together furniture, stocking libraries, cleaning new desks, filling all of those backpacks. There is even a health club in the new high school because there was not space for a traditional gym. Talk about getting the job done!

As a teacher, the best part about today was seeing the kids. There were some physical injuries from the tornado that were still visible. There will be even more emotional scars that will pop up in the days to come. Several former students wanted to tell me their stories today. One boy crawled out of his house after the tornado was over to find an arm in his front yard. Another 7th grader found a child when he was helping to clear the rubble near his home-the child hadn't survived. Another talked about coming up from his basement to find that there was nothing left of his house and how disorienting that was for him. I was lucky enough to be trained by Dr. Arshad Husain and his staff of trauma psychiatrists and psychologists in a Teachers As Therapists program. I have to admit that it seemed a little weird to me that our town needed this type of training as I knew his team works with children experiencing major trauma. I had to admit that we did indeed need his help. Today, though, the tears were mostly from joy and pride and, yes, that hope we talk about around here all the time. It finally feels like we are healing. Never underestimate the role that a school system plays in a community. It was a huge step for our town to get back to normalcy.

We had our Welcome Back session on Monday for all Joplin Schools employees. It had all of the usual things you would expect--the cheerleaders, the band, the speeches. It also had a lot of things we didn't expect--the entire sidewalk heading into the auditorium lined with people from the community shouting "thank you" and holding up "good luck" signs, a copy of the USA Today on every seat that featured a front page story about our schools and one of our students, the governor praising our school and city efforts since the tornado, and even a video with celebrities like Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, Charles Barkley, Sugarland, and Lady Antebellum wishing us good luck and shouting, "Go Eagles." There were boxes of Kleenex scattered around the seats because this was no ordinary Back to School session. This one made everyone in that room proud to be an Eagle and proud of our town! Even though it is still going to be awhile before we can truly get things back to normal, we are headed in the right direction. When you have hope, nothing is unreachable!

I still love him

Do you remember when I wrote a few years ago about how much we loved Matt Damon? Well, he's back ... and not afraid to say what he's thinking.

Matt recently attended a Save Our Schools rally in Washington with his Mom who is a teacher. He had this to say when a reporter accused teachers of not being driven to do a good job.

Watch out! I love watching the reporter's wheels start to turn as Matt defends the great teachers in this country!

What are YOUR thoughts?

I was fascinated by this video for a few reasons:

1) The drawings are amazing! I could watch this for days!

2) I wondered if I'm one of those teachers that believes all students should be medicated.

3) I know the creativity is dwindling in my job.

4) The drawing skills are amazing ... do I have ADHD?

5) I believe standardized tests have made great teachers wonder what in the world they are doing in the classroom. And more importantly, why do we care about "1 test that tells what my students can do on 1 particular day"?

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What are YOUR thoughts?

250

Back to school. I feel like we just started a week ago, but we are actually just two and a half weeks away from the end of first quarter. I don't know how we got here.

I'm still running around like crazy. I'm still overwhelmed. I still can't see the top of my desk.

A new daily Math program (on top of the current Math materials), a new way to do literacy centers (on top of the current Reading materials), a new principal (who is lovely and nice and organized), a new class of 27 students (soon to be 28) has me busy as ever! Throw working on my National Board Certification AND what little life I have outside of school on top of all of that, too!

I went to my Heath & Wellness screening last night through the district. When I sat one-on-one with a nurse she asked me to rate my current stress level. Ha! How high does the scale go? Then, we had to log on to our insurance carrier's website to do a Health Risk Appraisal. I was asked how many hours a week I'm expected to be at my job. Then, how many hours a week I actually work. Lastly, how many hours I've done work for my job during the past 4 weeks.

Mitzi and I were sitting next to each other, so we laughed ... and then calculated together. Hmmmm ... let's see. I'm expected to work 8:15-4:00. I can probably count on both hands how many times I've left school AT 4:00 when my contract hours are over. Most days a week, I'm there from 8:00-6:00. Often, I'm the last car in the parking lot. I hate that. I also bring work home to do at night, although I try NOT to do this so I can relax and recharge before the next day. Most weekends I work at least one day, sometimes more. Add it all together ... close to 250 hours of work within the last month. 250!!!! How many hours do you think you put into your job in the last month?

I wear many hats at my job and I attempt to wear a party, happy hat most days. I know things will turn around. I just wish it would happen sooner than later. That's it! Done complaining ... ... ... for now :)

Too busy to post about the last few weeks, but I can do it quickly with pictures!

I started back to work (unofficially) in my classroom early in August. It takes a lot of time to get things unpacked, uncovered, and organized. I was happy to head back in with my new camera, to share my room with better photographs. Here is my new calendar set ... may not be exciting to most, but I was happy to have something fresh this year (even though it was a hand-me-down)!

Here is my new, FABULOUS, fabric banner that the author of one of my favorite blogs, Whatever, made for me. I found a picture of this banner on one of her blog posts & knew she was the creator. I left a comment & she emailed me later that night! After much encouragement on Megan's end that I could make one myself, I thought it would look better if I could pay her to make one for me. It arrived just in time for school to start! It was the perfect way to tie in my current, bright decorations. The kids really love it, too!

Here is poor Minnie after her day of shots with Dr. Jed. This year wasn't as bad as years past, thanks to antihistamines the day before, during and after her vaccinations. She sure was tired, though :(

The unbelievable sunflowers in Jill's garden! Look at how much taller it is than Mitzi. There were beautiful orangey pink ones, too!

I needed a change & asked for your advice. Molly sent me the link to this idea. I liked it, but had another idea instead.

Jill helped me one night to empty out the jars, clean the jars and then fill the jars with various glass pebbles. I LOVE the way they look now!

I finally got to put my Jayhawk license plate on my new car. I bought it the year that I got my VW Bug, and minutes after I bought it, I realized I didn't have a front plate. Now I can share my KU pride!

Enjoyed my last official day of summer at the pool. This summer, I was fascinated with the clouds and the reflection lines in the pool water. I didn't have my camera with me at the pool very often, but I did make sure to take some final pictures.

As a family, we went out for a "Going Back to School" dinner the night before my meetings started. I picked Los Cabos in Mission Farms because of their giant patio outside and because the weather had finally decided to cooperate a bit. This little one was begging for "moe sasa" (translation: more salsa) during the entire meal. She even liked the spicier ones that I couldn't handle :)

At the end of our meal, we saw three vans that held hot air balloons. We stuck around long enough to watch them inflate & take off. Quite the experience for Ellen!

Great night for picture-taking, too. I was sad I had just removed my new Canon from my purse and had to use my point & shoot for these pictures, but they still turned out.

This year at school, we voted on a Western/Cowboy theme. We've never had an all-school theme before, but it was really fun to see how everyone decorated. I just did a few things here & there, because I really like my regular decorations. Becky, down the hall from me, created this mural out of bulletin board paper & wrapping paper. SO FUN!

The first weekend after school started, some KC friends flew out to Columbus, Ohio to surprise Julie for an early 30th birthday party! We went straight to the party from the airport and she was BEYOND surprised!

The next day, Mike & Julie opened up their house to all the family and friends for a BBQ. My camera was passed around the table for everyone to play. Becca changed some settings for me, and took this great picture. I have a lot to learn!

Here's a picture of all the girls. Exactly a year ago, we were together for our 10 year reunion. Glad we got to celebrate together!

I hope to have more updates this year, but it's going to be a busy one. I'm going to be working towards my National Board Certification, which will mean about 300 hours of work (outside of my job) between now and March when my portfolio is due. If I become a hermit and have a hard time keeping in touch this year, now you'll know why. Writing here and continuing with my 365 photo blog have been easy ways for me to keep in touch with others, even though it's not face-to-face time. Keep checking back from time to time!

Come on in!

Tomorrow morning is the first day of school! I've been up in my classroom for about 2 weeks, even though our official work days didn't start until last Friday. As always, things really started to come together in the last few hours.

Tonight, we had our Popsicle Pop-In where I get to meet kids and parents for the first time and they get to see the classroom for the first time. The third grade classrooms are right next to ours, so some kids I knew really well, and some I hadn't ever seen. They all seemed excited to be there!

My room finally came together. I have some new decorations, new bulletin boards, new name-tags, new books, new rules ...

... and a new mess! Way to start off the 2010-2011 school year, Betsy!

UGH!

Name! That! Celebrity!

You are welcome to participate in this mini game show!

Use the pictures provided to determine which celebrity my kids read about this month.

Yes, these are all illustrations of the same celebrity, even though it really doesn't look like it. We got LOTS of laughs over these illustrations!

Clues added each day. Make your guesses in the comments.

Saturday's Clue: Famous for being a singer. (Yes, even though you think there might be drawings of breadsticks or ferrets with the celeb ... they are actually microphones.)

Sunday's Clue: She is still living.

Monday's Clue: She is married to a singer.

Tuesday's Clue: She was in an awful bus accident and broke her back.

Wednesday's Clue: She donated close to $3 million to Hurricane Andrew survivors!

What makes YOU mad?

A few weeks ago, I got a great writing prompt idea from my friend, Rachel.

"What makes YOU mad? What makes YOUR PARENTS mad? What makes MS. MCKNIGHT mad?"

So, when I went back to school on Monday, I posted it as my morning work & was excited to take them home to read. What I found was VERY interesting. I had a great insight to what really does push the kids' buttons and they do know what frustrates their parents. When the kids were having trouble completing the work (I told them, it should be a paragraph on each topic), I told them that writing what makes me mad should be easy :) They did have some great ideas, but some of the things were quite funny.

Here some of the best ones (unedited, of course):

• When students talk back to her. Aslo if they say that they cant do it. Somtimes they get a strike. (I try to not make her mad).
• What makes Ms. McKnight mad is when we are talking & yelling to each other when she's out of the room.
• What makes Ms. Mcknight mad is when I know that people are talking. That really pushish her button when it is after the bell.
• She gets mad when they don't get their assignment notebook signed and she especiley does not like it when she is talking and other people talk over her.
• Ms. Mcknight gets mad when people put books back on the bookshelf in the wrong spot.
• What makes Ms. McKnight mad is when someone is not listening to the lesson. It makes her mad because she wants everyone to know the concept, not have their mind blank when she calls on them to answer a question.
• Ms. McKnight gets mad with ______, _______ and ______ and everybody else when their mouth is open. Or when we don't follow directions. She gets the madest when we talk while she is talking!
• Ms. Mcnight will get mad if I talkin class or don't pay attention in class. She will also get mad if I talkback. (I never do). She would get mad if I took one of her books home without her permistion. Those are the only few I will tell you.
• What makes Ms. McKnight mad is when I blurt out. Or talk to a neighbor when I'm not suposed to. When someone sharpens thier pencil while she's talking. When someone is talking during a test
• What makes Ms. McKnight mad, our tiny minds can only comprehend the hundreds the thousands the millions of things that do. But I will bravly try: Talking when she is talking. Bringing unhealthy snacks. Forgeting home work. Running in the halls. Camping out in the bath rooms. Misbehaving in the lunch rooms. Being late to specials.
• When someone is talk while Ms. McKnight is talking or if people don't listen to her. When she has to repeat everything again. When she see the same people talking in the line or somewhere else. Go to the bathroom and talk with your friends.
• Whenever people are talking when miss. McKnight is talking, she just waits intell those people stop. Miss McKnight says that it wastes our time. It mak Miss McKnigh mad and it makes other people mad.
• It makes Ms. Mcknight mad when someone talks back. Or when were suppose to be quiet and were not and she walks in the hears us talking really loud.
• What makes Mrs. McKnight mad are a lot of things I've noticed. She's a erupting volcano when we talked when not asked to, when we talk back to her, when we forget our homework for over a week and more. I'm sure she gets mad at us because we know better then to do those things or she's told us not to do certin things. I know she's a good teacher but there are just certin things that make her mad.
• When people dont falo derectons. When They are bulling somwon. When somwon is talking. When somwon isent sharing. When they dont chec ther name off.
• Talking while the teacher is talking is pet-peave number one. Anoughter is not listen to instructions. But I better stop writing because we are suppose to be working and my teacher is giving me the eye. Another example of a teacher pet-peaves.
• When kids don't have penciels moving and thier mough open she gets mad. She gets mad when she gets a bad report from a sub. If tables aren't clean in the lunch room she gets mad.
• I now what makes Ms. McKnight mad when we all fail a test or something. When every budeis talking at once.
• There's a million things that makes Ms. McKnight mad. I'm not going to name a million but here are some of her pet-peaves. One is when students aren't listening and when she is done withe the directions those students ask her what were the directions.

They do know me pretty well. I'm impressed they know how to stay on my good side ... now if they could just follow their own advice! I thought some of the things they mentioned were funny. I hardly have time to worry about whether or not they get their assignment notebooks signed and it seems like we are always late to specials! (Mostly because I haven't been watching the clock.)

If you are a teacher in my PLN ... what makes YOU mad?

Too pretty to pass by without taking a picture

Found right outside the door at school. A sign that Spring is here ... oh, and we have just 6 more full weeks of school! :) You can find teachers all around the country counting down the days!

What a great visit!

Last week at school, we were lucky enough to have Susan Stevens Crummel visit our building and give an author presentation. We used to have an author visit every year and we've since decided to save up our money and splurge on a really great author every two or three years. When our librarian, Jill, told us that Susan was coming to our building, I didn't know much about her. Jill read one of her books each week when my kids came in for library check out.

Many of her books are about dogs. Of course, I liked that! Her presentation was over an hour long & the kids were engaged and excited the entire time. That's hard to do! I was laughing, I was interested in hearing what she had to say ... and I walked away wishing that I had some writing and/or illustrating skills!

Here is Susan with one of the many puppets that she brought to act out parts of her stories. Susan is the author and she partners with her sister, Janet Stevens, or Janet's best friend, Dorothy Donohue, to finish the artwork in her books.

Aunt Betsy & cousin Minnie were nice enough to get some books for Ellen. We took them over yesterday & she was happily flipping through the pages. Both books had doggies on the covers and Ellen waved hi to the dogs! :)

Here is the first book, Help Me, Mr. Mutt! It's a book where dogs have written to Mr. Mutt to ask for advice on all their "people" problems. Check out the autograph!

Here is a sample of one of the letters. Overdressed in Oklahoma writes, concerned about the amount of clothes that his owners are dressing him in.

And here's the funny reply. Be sure to click on the picture to look at the graph that compares the breed of a dog vs. how often they are dressed up!

I loved the illustrations in this book! The yarn in this illustration looks so real, that I actually touched the page. Janet punched holes in her original artwork & laced the yarn through. Then it showed up like this in the book!

Minnie got City Dog, Country Dog for Ellen. It is about a book about 2 dog friends (based on City Mouse, Country Mouse). The City dog, Henri T. LaPooch lives in Paris and his friend, Vincent Van Dog lives in the country.

The book has lots of French in it, which I thought would be fun for Ellen. This book has illustrations made out of all cut paper. They also looked like they were 3D.

Here is an example of the "real" artwork in the book and the letters that Henri & Vincent wrote back and forth.

Here are the two dogs visiting in Paris, at the Moulin Rouge. In the end, they realize that they like their lives better in their original homes, but they will continue to be pen pals.

If you're looking for new books for your little one ... or a dog lover ... be sure to check out Susan's books! Some other great ones are The Great Fuzz Frenzy and All In One Hour!

Enjoy!

It's never easy

I've wanted to be a teacher since I was in first grade. No joke. I was 6 years old. My teacher was Mrs. Rodman. She was pretty. She was nice. She let us earn all kinds of prizes. She had bunnies, fish, and birds for class pets. She invited us to her lake house in the summer. She even let me stay in touch & come to observe her when I was looking for a job during my student teaching. When I observed, Mrs. Rodman was now Joan to me ... but she was exactly as I remembered her.

I also observed some other amazing women during high school and college. I always hoped I could be as great as they were. I never strayed from the "education" track in high school or college. If there is one thing I regret about my classes in college, it's that I didn't allow myself a summer or a semester to study abroad. I've been babysitting since I was in 6th grade, I've tutored since I was in college, I taught summer school to preschoolers - elementary students for several summers.

Not once in all those years of learning, observing, preparing and dreaming of my own classroom did I ever think I'd be the "mean" teacher. I thought my kids would all love me just like I loved my teachers. I'd never yell. Never punish. Never make kids cry. Well ... things apparently change.

I do have a couple things going for me that help to hide my "mean" status on most days. I have what I think is a fun-looking classroom. I like to read books & they are all over for the kids to read. I LOVE to decorate for the seasons & holidays - my kids are amazed each time I pull down the next box of decorations. I DO laugh & smile & have fun. I adore my teammates/best friends and we made a great trio. I'm good at what I do & can teach (almost) any concept to any kind of learner.

To me, the most important part of my job is the not the curriculum I teach. It's definitely NOT the State Assessments that I prep for all year. The friends I've made at work are a close second. The MOST important part of my job is teaching some important life lessons & skills that may or may not have been introduced to my kids before they walked into my room for the first time in August.

I feel like it's important to create your classroom norms, tell your kids what you expect, and build a strong sense of community from day one. If I waiver at all on what I expect, the kids seem to run right over me. Twenty-six 9- and 10-year olds can do that. I learned early on that classroom management is NOT easy! Keeping up with the behaviors of 26 students (plus all the other students I see on a daily basis throughout the building) and keeping my cool is not something I can do well, without getting flustered.

I don't want you to think I have an awful class that is always out of hand & getting in trouble. I teach in a wonderful district, my colleagues at my building are honestly more like a second family and my classes are always great. However, the stories I tell about kids getting in trouble with me always shock my family. They think I'm so mean & need to let up a bit. I don't remember kids talking back to teachers when I was in school. And not that I got in trouble a lot in school (maybe Mom & Dad want to correct me here), but I don't think my parents would ever believe my side of the story over my teacher's. Things have changed.

It's never easy to contact the parents of one of my students to explain how their child is a classroom bully. It's also not easy to hear from a parent that their child has been made fun of for _____ (fill in the blank with body size, lunch, grades, hair, etc). Sometimes I think parents still see me as the "new" teacher who might not know what she's doing ... even though this is my 6th year and I'm doing a darn good job at work! I don't like having to say, "Miss/Mr. _____, will you come talk to me for a minute" when I know the conversation might end in tears, yelling or worse. None of that is easy ... but it falls under that category of the most important things I need to teach; so it must be done.

I can do the academic teaching part of my job without too many questions or worry about how my lesson will turn out. The life lessons, manners, social cues, feelings and my own goal to help my students become a better person in the future ... that is what always throws me for a loop!

** I had a lot to say tonight. Excuse my ramblings ... not sure that it really makes sense.

Isn't that what a blog is for anyway? ;) **

New Year's Resolutions - Written by 4th graders

It's been a while, but I just sat down to grade the NYE Resolution worksheets I assigned to my kids the first day we came back from winter break. After sharing half of them with Jill during our grading party at Panera, I thought I'd share some of the best (unedited) resolutions with you. [Side note: I was surprised how many of my kids didn't know what a resolution was. Some had not even heard the word before.]

Directions: During New Year's celebrations, we often pledge to make the coming year better than the last. Many people make New Year's resolutions. Think of some resolutions you want to make and write them in the spaces below. List your resolution for becoming a better ...

Student:

• I will put my head down at lunch.
• To always put my best work into my papers.
• Listen & follow directions.
• Study 30 min or more a day on test.
• To stop playing alot of videogames.
• To get my work turned in on time. Because I'm a slow worker.
• I will pay attention in class.
• Don't talk as much.

Son or Daughter:

• I can be a better Daughter by babysitting For my mom.
• To not make a fuss about cleaning my room.
• Not complaining when my Mom or Dad asks me to do it.
• I'll think before I react to things.
• Not to say no when my mom or dad ask me to do something.
• Vacum the house when were cleaning the house.
• Help clean the citchin.
• I will do stuff on my own.
• When my parents say play the piano I will.

Sister or Brother:

• Dont tatltale as mutch.
• To not be so "mean".
• By not trying to be bossy.
• To help my sister with her homework.
• Lend a helping hand.
• Be nicer to my brother.
• I will try not to get upset when I am playing a game with my brother.
• I will not fight with my sister.

Friend:

• To not be so end pendent.
• I'll be generous to all my friends.
• If I want to play a different game than my friend I will play their game first.
• Inviting them to my partys.
• Don't just talk about me.
• Invite people more, so we can have a playdate.
• I will not push around with my friend.
• Listen to their ideas.

If you could make one New Year's resolution for our country or the world, what would it be:

• DO NOT POLUTE! (recicle)
• I would create world peace.
• Save electricity, and carpull, go green. So it will save our earth.
• To give more stuff to charity and poor people.
• Stop the ozoarn layer it from disentagrating.
• To end world hunger and every one have a home.
• To recycle more, stop globol warming, be green, stop littering, don't text while driving, let the troops see there family more.
• Stop puluting.
• Try to adopt animals so they aren't stuck in pet shop were they will get lonely and feel unwanted.

I think they did a pretty good job ... what do you think!?

Crossing my fingers!

The snow FINALLY decided to show up tonight! Every teacher I know is crossing her fingers, jumping & and down, wearing her PJs inside out, sleeping with a fork under her pillow and saying the hopeful chants for a snow day tomorrow!

I don't want to get too excited, because last night I stayed up too late (thinking we would have the day off today) and I was dragging ALL day! The snow really is pretty ... I just don't want to have to drive in it and get up early to walk Minnie before work in it.

Okay, enough whining. I'll just leave you with a few nice pictures I took tonight. I hope you are all staying warm!