Is This the Little Boy I Carried, Too?

Life with the boys is filled with days known as Therapy Thursdays and trips to various ENTs, asmatha/allergy doctors, regular doctors, OTs, PTs, and doctors of the head shrinking variety. In 2006 when J failed two hearing tests speech therapy began. With this therapy other OT and PT evals came along. In the end once a week PT sessions would be had for "low tone" in the upper trunk.

As the number one advocate for these children, I decided in March to contact the public school so I could have J evaluated and see if I can get some of these services for free. His eval was over the summer and our speech therapist informed me, "He probably won't qualify." Nonetheless with my own Mommy in tow we attended his staffing on his birthday.

Long story short, he qualified for their "at-risk" preschool and he would start in seven days, but don't worry he can take the school bus from daycare. While a relief how do you explain to a 3 year old that even though Mommy won't be there, get on this bus to a school you barely know and join in a classroom full of kids and two teachers you don't even know. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. I was able to bring him over there a few days before my school and his school started and he seemed okay.

While I would normally take off a day of work for such events, this would also mark my first full day with students, students who need to get the 411 on Ms' U.S. History class. So I encouraged D to get J on that bus and that it would be okay. I even enlisted a fellow daycare goer to sit with J on the bus and help him out if need be.

His first day would be the day after D's first day so outside we went for "the picture". I would like to say it's because he was in a hurry to get going. But alas, it was more that he was tired and didn't want to participate in my memory making schemes.

I sent the e-mail to the teacher asking how it went and it went a little something like this. "J had a blast. He acted like he has been here for years. He is making friends and loved the bus." Indeed he did make friends. When I asked it was, "Yeah we play outside with Diego, Nicholas and Girl."

Here's to a great year with Girl, J!

Is This the Little Boy I Carried?

Many, many, many years ago my parents sent me off to kindergarten. Before I left my Dad took a picture of me in smelling a flower holding my little book bag next to the lamppost in our front yard. This is one of my Dad's favorite pictures of me. While I don't remember this moment, it was one that is ingrained in my Dad's head (not to mention along with a lot of other useless information). In an effort to keep such memories of my own children, I decided when D went off to kindergarten I would take the same type of picture, minus the dress and flower smelling thing.

This week marked the forth picture we would take of D. Have a great year Mr. Boo.

It's A Girl!

I've always wanted a girl around here. One I could buy lots of cute dresses and of course a pair of Mary Janes. Last week I got my girl, but I don't think Mary Janes are in her future.

Welcome to family Dazie!

I Gave Him My Heart & Got No Pen

Saturday my good friend B got tix to the Cubs game. It was a great day for baseball and even better because they kicked the Nationals butts. The best part of this game by far was the singing of the 7th inning stretch. To my utter surprise John Cusack aka "The Man I Can Cheat On My Husband With" sang. Luckily, we were sitting near the press box and I was at the ready for this awesome picture.











He's the one in the Cubs jersey...I SWEAR. I was hoping he would be walking in the other direction on the ramp where I would take a much more awesome picture but no such luck.

I was dying! I mean and Jeremy got off lucky! Here I was 20 feet from the man I could potentially have a one night stand with and yet it was not meant to be or was it?

After the win we were standing on Clark waiting for the shuttle back to the parking lot and a security guard was clearing the way when out of nowhere John, on a scooter, was leaving the VIP lot, looked at me and said, "Excuse Me". Mom was nervously shuffling through her purse looking for the camera but we weren't quick enough. In a flash he scooted off with who I think was Dr. Cox from Scrubs.

This was quite possibly the most exciting thing I ever experienced. I know I chicken shitted out and didn't "say anything" to him, but I was in shock and what could I have said that wouldn't have sounded totally lame. Especially something like this, "I totally have a blog named after you Lloyd Dabler!"

Do They Know The Way To San Jose?

A new school year and a new set of humorous anecdotes. It took all of 2 days. While working on a map packet this conversation took place.

J: Miss, don't you think it's kind of dangerous to have maps like these?

Me: What do you mean J?

J: What if the terrorists got these and like knew where all the cities in the U.S. are?

Me: J, I think that terrorists have better resources than your U.S. History textbook and chances are they already know how to get around the U.S.

Bologna and a side of Mashed Potatoes

I have been teaching in my building for eight years. It is a building that is about 76% Hispanic, 12% black and 10% white. I will never forget a conversation I heard between a few students talking about "black people food and Mexican food". When I asked them what they thought white people food was they quickly responded, "Bologna sandwiches, salad and mashed potatoes." It's always interesting to hear their perspective on things.

Last year a fellow social studies teacher was discussing with her current issues class racial issues and stereotypes. Of course the students started to talk about how (mind you in a class with all minorities and one white student) Mexican houses smell like tacos, black houses smell like fried chicken and then they looked at that white student and asked, "What do white people's houses smell like?" Without skipping a beat he said, "Lean Cuisine."

I find this funny on several levels. One is that everyday in our office all of the white female teachers eat either Lean Cuisines or some version thereof.

Yesterday in my American Government class something of this sort came up, yet again, and I started to tell them the story I just told you. Many laughed and a young African American student looked at me and said, "What's Lean Cuisine?" His friend next to him laughed and said, "Hot Pockets with broccoli."

I could not contain my laughter and when I did I headed down to the office to watch my friend K heat up her Lean Pocket and it began again.

Brother Can You Spare A Dime?

Ahhhhh yes it's that time again! Working with the members of my team was quite the treat today. We have a new member with whom I am quite excited to be working with this year. She has been in the district for several years, but in a different building and was calling to task two of my favorite team members. It was AWESOME. She was all, "Uh, T? M? Do you have anything to share? I can't do this alone!" Oh M#2, where have you been all my life? You say things that I think. This is going to be a good year!

While we were working on a goal today M#2 and I started to think about how my subject matter (U.S. History) and her subject matter (English) overlap in themes. Since U.S. History moves at the speed of sound it was difficult to get some interdisciplinary units going, but we did decide that we could chose a theme. One idea we had was, change. What drives change? Why do people seek change? We were feeling pretty good about this while M#1 and T were chatting up their subjects.

M#2 begins to explain to M#1 and T what we were talking about. She mentions we would like to focus first semester around the common thread of change. M#1 looks at her square in the face and I shit you not says, "Change? Like loose change in your pockets? How does that go across the curriculum?" Yes, M#1 loose change that is exactly what we are talking about!

When I began to laugh she was all, "Well how was I supposed to know what you two were talking about?" I felt like saying something snide and sarcastic but I resisted, I will take the high road this year....well at least until October.

Memoir

Today was , to me, the official beginning of the 2008-2009 school year. We are in heart of meeting time for small learning communities (SLC). I consider myself a team player but these meetings are H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E. I literally feel like I am being punished. We are supposed to learn things, but let's be honest professional development is a fancy way for administrators to feel that they are providing "valuable" and "useful" information unto us lowly teachers.

Our school, in some circles is referred to as "ghetto". Others may say our kids our educationally disenfranchised. I call it a great place to spend 180 days in the company of some great teachers and friends and some colorful kids to boot. In order for our school to become, "enfranchised" (if there is such a word) we are all about the three Rs. Rigor, Relevance and Relationships. Our meeting today would focus on Rigor.


The first task of the day was to, and I quote, "Let's get started with some rigor of our own." Some fancy pants educator wrote an article entitled The Short, Happy Lives of Teachers (I would include a link but I would like to keep you as a reader). This article talked about an author who wrote the book Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. Our facilitator asked us to then write our own six word memoir about our teaching experiences to date. I came up with four pearls of wisdom. Two I shared with my team the other I will only share with you. See if you can guess which is which.

1. Try something different, it can't hurt.
2. Learn to say no, save yourself.
3. Can't make them dumber, already tried.
4. Those who can't, really do teach.

PS-To all those who have requested a post I hope I have fulfilled your wanting. Thanks for reading!