11/11/11 11:11

It's 11:06 pm and I'm waiting for 11:11. This morning I just so happen to be paying attention to the clock and I didn't miss the first one. I text 3 of my best friends and made sure that they were aware of the time. One of them text me back, and she said, "Our kids will be so jealous." in response to my 11/11/11 11:11 most epic wish ever text. It made me realize this does only happen once in a LIFETIME. Be ready! It's almost time! What will you wish for? :) Make sure you don't pass up these opportunities every day. Not to make wishes, but to make your kids jealous. Enjoy the little things in life that you'll be able to tell them about one day.

Socially Awkward

I just finished reading this article on Yahoo about social networking.

<a href="http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/10-things-you-dont-know-about-teens-and-social-networking-2527367/"></a>

Go look at it...I'm not good at working the link thing. : (


I was so shocked and saddened by comments made by these YOUNG girls. It literally broke my heart. Sure it's all well and good that we want to make sure our students our "tech savvy", but at what cost? It's great that students know how to Google, and blog, and Tweet, but how sure are we that they're getting the work done. One of the girls in this article even said she was on Facebook when she should have been taking notes. Now I know we can't stop this, but how do we help? For starters, we can instill certain characteristics in our children. It's called integrity. Basically what you do when no one is around. So how do we instill that our students?

Another thing that simply broke my heart was that these 13, 14, 15, year old girls, were saying how comfortable they were with lying. Not only lying to other people, but lying to themselves. They were totally ok with just putting up a front. It's important to not lose yourself.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..."-Romans 12:2


In one of my favorite movies, "He's Just Not that into You", Mary says, "If I want to meet someone, I don't go out and get a new haircut, I update my Myspace." It makes me terribly sad that we lose that personal quality. So all this means is that when we do actually have to interact with someone, well...we...we don't know how.

Challenge: How do you not let your students (or own children for that matter) lose themselves in the virtual world? Do you set a good example?

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting." --E.E. Cummings

Reality...Really?

So I just finished watching Sweet Home Alabama, bachelorette style...only Southern. After posting my thoughts on Twitter, someone commented, and told me not to believe anything that I see. I got to thinking, can you believe ANYTHING you see on tv? Especially reality tv? Is there anything real about any of these shows? Big Brother...Survivor (all like 15 seasons)...Jersey Shore...Teen Mom... Come on folks...is this what we're teaching our kids?  Merriam Webster defines reality as...

1 : the quality or state of being real

2 a (1) : a real event, entity, or state of affairs <his dream became a reality> (2) : the totality of real things and events <trying to escape from reality> b : something that is neither derivative nor dependent but exists necessarily

3 : television programming that features videos of actual occurrences (as a police chase, stunt, or natural disaster) —often used attributively <reality TV>

— in reality

: in actual fact 

 

I love that it even includes reality tv. My point is that sure these shows may follow people in their everyday lives, but is it them? How differently would YOU act if a camera and camera crew were following you around all day everyday. 

 

Yeah...that's what I thought.

We have to remember that they generation that we teach will have grown up on these kinds of shows. How can you make sure they keep in mind what "reality" really is? 

It's not blaming others for our actions. It's not acting like we're the center of this world. It's not loving conditionally.

 

So here's the question. In a world of watching others' lives, how can you make your students focus on reality...really? 

 

Lessons from Mama

   

     So Sunday is Mother's Day [If you didn't know you do now. You now have about 132 hours to go find a present. : )] I'm going to be just like everyone else and say I have the best mom in the WHOLE world. But it's the truth. I definitely have the best mom a girl could ever ask for. She's a wonderful Christian lady who gives everyone she knows something to look up to. She never says no to helping someone in need. She works in customer service at a bank in my hometown. We'll be in the Wal-mart and her customers will come up to me and they'll say, "You know you have the sweetest mama in the world?" I always respond with yes ma'am or yes sir, I sure do.
     This past weekend I was in the kitchen while she was cooking supper. I was making cupcakes. I was trying my hardest to pour the batter into cupcake tin with the paper holders in the slots. I kept missing the paper or getting it all over the pan. I finally set the bowl down.
I said,"I'm putting too much batter in each one."
Mama said, "You know what happens when you too much batter in them?"
I said, "They spill over and make a mess..."
She said,"You get big cupcakes." Short pause. "You know what's wrong with big cupcakes?"
I said, "You run out of batter quicker, and make fewer cupcakes."
She said,"Nothing."
I started laughing. My mom was so right. I was stressing over something so small and simple. She saw what I couldn't. That no matter what happened, it was going to be ok. We kept talking, as I kept trying to pour batter.
I said, "Here will you do this. I'm making a mess and you're much better at this than me, and you have more patience"
She said, "You know why I have patience?"
I said, "Cause you've been doing this a lot longer than me?"
She said, "By making really big messes."
     Once again my mom has shown me that she probably knows better than me [but don't tell her ;)]. Also once again, that it was going to be ok. When you look at someone who's much better than you at something, whether it be a classmate, or a friend, or a sibling, you have to remember that they probably once were exactly where you were.
     So don't forget this weekend to tell your mom how much you love her. If you can't do that for one reason or another, tell someone who's been like a mother to you. I know there are many ladies in my life that have been like second moms. So to all you moms out there...Happy Mother's Day!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

   
     Does anyone remember the song "Here Comes Peter Cottontail"? You know "Here comes Peter Cottontail, hoppin' down the bunny trail. Hippity hoppity Easter's on its way. Bringing lots of boys and girls, baskets full of Easter joy..." Congrats. Now it's stuck in your head. I love Easter. It's one of my favorite times of the year. I love celebrating our Lord and Savior's death and resurrection. I love the colors and the excitement of the Easter bunny coming! (Why yes, the Easter bunny still comes and visits me :))
     There's no better way to start the Easter season than by watching the children at my church performing their musical, "Hallelujah, What a Savior!". It was the most precious thing I have seen in a long time. You could absolutely feel God's presence. There just isn't a better way of hearing the Easter story.
     What I was most impressed with was there learning. One of the ladies at my church does dance and sign language. I admire her for her sweet and loving spirit, and most of all her love of God. She taught the children, ages 3-11, the songs and motions to perform. The cutest little girl down front, and the youngest, was singing her little heart out! She knew every sign and every word. I thought about how cool it was that she just ran with it! I sat in awe as she was praising God. If you start a child out young enough, you can teach them anything. We have that capability as teachers, to help them be the best people they can be. It may seem simple, but when you have a small child in your class, or even in your presence, it's important to help them to become better people. I won't have the privilege of teaching elementary school, but by the time they get to my classroom, I will expect a lot out of them.
     We've been learning about teacher expectation in one of my classes. It's important that we do expect a lot out of our students. ALL of our students. Not just the already high achieving ones. Everyone needs that fair chance to succeed. If we act as if they're all little, and all mold-able, then we give them equal opportunities. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying treat them as if they are little, I'm saying give them all an equal playing field, a clean slate. Give everyone the same leadership opportunities, the same responsibilities. It's easy to give the good students all of that, but if we do that, what makes the others want to achieve. We have to encourage and support!
     Challenge: How can we, as teachers, give the support that students need? How can we make make sure that we support ALL students equally?

Happy Easter!!

Look Ma! No Adjectives!

A friend of mine posted this on her Facebook, and I found it so incredibly fascinating. (Wow this lady would NOT like me :)) Go read and see what you think of her ideas!

http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004270.html

I get where she's coming from. Kind of. I mean it's wrong to "judge" people. However, how boring would life be without adjectives?? Just a little food for thought. : )

Grown-Ups and Sight Words

     For my very first post, I couldn't think of a better subject than my best friend's son, Wyatt. He's my favorite 6 year old in the WHOLE world. He asked me the other day with big eyes as he was eating his lunch, "P?" (He calls me P and has since he was old enough to talk : )) He said, "P? Am I your only boyfriend?" I said, "Why yes darling for now." He always makes me laugh. Later on that day we had a discussion.

‎"P? How old are you?"--Wyatt
"I'm 19..."--me
"You're almost grown up."
"How old do you have to be when you're grown up?"
"20."
..."P? How old are you gonna be when are you get married? 30?"
"I don't know baby..."
"Who are you gonna marry?"
"Well that's a good question."
"Well I'm not getting married til I'm 30."

As cute as his 6 year old questions are, it got me thinking. What really makes you grown up? I mean gets who decides how old, old is? 

Wyatt was given an award a couple of weeks ago for knowing 100 sight words. Now I was totally confused when he told me this. I was like, "What is a sight word and how do you know them??" Haha well after his mom explained it, I was like oh, ok. He had to know a list of 100 words, and be able to recognize them on the spot. I was so proud that he knew ALL of them! It just confirmed that he would forever more receive books from me on his birthday (don't worry, he always get something cool too). 

I got to thinking. It's awesome that teachers now begin in kindergarten teaching kids to be better readers. It's so important that they get that good foundation early on. I don't know how many people I come across everyday that don't like to read, because they aren't good at it. I don't just mean it bores them. They struggle with it. What if we taught kids to love it? What if we showed them what books could do for them? Who says we can't? 

It's a hard task. I mean we have to compete with cell phones, Facebook, T.V., and a million other things. 

Challenge: What can YOU do as a teacher to help you students love to read? 

 This is one of my favorite pictures of Wyatt! : )

"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter..."-- Mark Twain