Teaching small folks is not for sissies.
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Humph.......I know, I know. They just are so cute. They are so nice. They are just so little.
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Little people (those under 6) usually don’t have a hidden agenda. If they see it and they want it, they take it.
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Mary Michael, when she was six, told her mother that it takes one year to fly a rocket to the moon if you “take the long way.” I love her. Her nickname is “Cautious”. She is going to graduate from school some day and go to Paris. Just ask her. She is enamored by crepes, the Eiffel Tower and anything French.
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Sally is much more practical. She's 6 right now. Her nickname is “Crash.” Sally is still all about the Babbies. Babbies are her baby dolls. She has elaborate scenarios that are conducted with the babbies. I personally like it when she assigns me a babby role and I have to be covered with a blanket (dish towel) and wind up sleeping side by side with her dolls as she tends our needs. (I am very good at being a babby.) My favorite babby is one named Frozen Babby.....she was found sleeping in the freezer. (No, I can’t make this stuff up!)
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When she was three, Sally saw a dead bug....flat on his back, feet straight up in the air. “Shhhhhh,” she told her mother very dramatically, “I think it is a dead baby hedgehog.”
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For those servants of the Lord that teach our smallest of children, my hat is taken off to you.
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Kindergarten teachers are saints. Pre-K teachers are angels. 1st grade teachers are lion tamers with no whips....only honey-sweetened words to make those small ferocious beasts follow them blindly down the lane to learning. Watching primary teachers help small students learn to open milk cartons by themselves should be an event in the Olympics.
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I am in awe of great teaching. Always have been and I always will be. I was over fifty and an assistant principal the first time I really understood chemistry....I was listening to Traci Wood and Ron Aaron explain the periodic table to their students and thought to myself, “Dang, I wish I had them explain this to me when I was in high school.” High school teachers see the future of their charges looming so close in time....they are determined to teach as much as they can in a short period of time.
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And middle school teachers. Middle school teachers are smart, fast, and full of the devil themselves. They enjoy coming to work because they LIKE adventure. Middle school students are frisky. On a good day they are wide open and on a bad day.....they....they....they.....make us turn white-haired!
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Mary Michael headed to fourth grade last week. Sally moved to first grade. I have been thinking about is their true education.....I hope the girls find joy, and wonder, and friends, and life-long learning. I want them to read great books, internalize science, and see social studies everywhere they look. It's time to sing, and play, and create art and enjoy math. Spanish will be spoken, the pleasures of writing and spelling will be used on a regular basis, and I want them to love a great book fair like their Nana does. I want them to listen to their teachers, be kind to their classmates and see how it all fits together in the big picture of life. These are the same things I want for all children.
Monday, August 12, 2019
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Leadership Following the Good Book
Frankly, I think that the Bible is probably the best leadership manual ever written.
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It covers lots of different situations.
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Lots of different people.
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Wise, wise, advice.....
1. To everything there is a season......
Everyone (teachers, students and administrators) should eat lunch at different times. Eating lunch at 10:30 a.m. is never fun.
No one should always get the last period of the day for planning. Hey, and what about the idea that all teachers get some planning every day?
All God’s children get to do duty....be it morning, lunch, after school or parking lot.
2. And the greatest of these is love......
It is hard not having a date for the Prom.
Breaking up is hard to do.
"I know you don’t want to take four years of (insert least favorite content subject) because you love (most favorite content subject) and you want to take all of the (easiest content class) you can take.”
No Pig Latin is not an approved second language...good try though.
No, your "Uncle Hunk" may not sign you out.....good try though.
The caller ID says you are at Disney World....you might want to revamp the story of why you are not at work.....good try though.
3. Jesus loved the little children.....
No lie. You get more bang for your buck on the front end of education instead of the back side of education.
Primary teachers are saints. They also like to help everyone.
Being a teacher of young students reminds me of someone trying to put cats in a sack....it’s fascinating to watch.
Small children usually have no filters on their thoughts.
Secondary teacher are saints. They love to help teenagers grow into productive members of society with some content knowledge to rely on.
Teenagers usually have no filters on their mouths when they get started on a roll. It's either fight or flight.
Middle school students and middle school teachers are indeed the rarest of rare breeds. God bless them all. I remember Rosalind Rodrick telling Mike that he didn't have to write so small. She thought his mother would buy him more paper to get through the year. My kids have not been in middle school since 1999....twenty years. When I see their teachers, they always ask about them. That's amazing! They are saints as well! Their halos might be a tad askew!
4. Luke 6:31"Treat others the same way you want them to treat you"
If you, AS A PARENT, don’t want to do car pool, do you really think our teachers want to work car pool?
Listen when people talk to you. Don’t play with your phone, your computer, or your other electronic toys. This is for every one.
Everyone is important in a school.
(Side note: I grew into loving it when people threaten to get me fired. I always gave them my business card and asked them to spell my name correctly.)
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It's easy to write this from the comfort of my own home. Just remember folks-- everyone has a story-- be it the teacher, the student, the parent, the principal, the bus driver, the lunch room lady, the coach, the community! I hope this school year 2019-2020 is absolutely the best ever.
Corinthians 13:4-7
**************
It covers lots of different situations.
**************
Lots of different people.
**************
Wise, wise, advice.....
1. To everything there is a season......
Everyone (teachers, students and administrators) should eat lunch at different times. Eating lunch at 10:30 a.m. is never fun.
No one should always get the last period of the day for planning. Hey, and what about the idea that all teachers get some planning every day?
All God’s children get to do duty....be it morning, lunch, after school or parking lot.
2. And the greatest of these is love......
It is hard not having a date for the Prom.
Breaking up is hard to do.
"I know you don’t want to take four years of (insert least favorite content subject) because you love (most favorite content subject) and you want to take all of the (easiest content class) you can take.”
No Pig Latin is not an approved second language...good try though.
No, your "Uncle Hunk" may not sign you out.....good try though.
The caller ID says you are at Disney World....you might want to revamp the story of why you are not at work.....good try though.
3. Jesus loved the little children.....
No lie. You get more bang for your buck on the front end of education instead of the back side of education.
Primary teachers are saints. They also like to help everyone.
Being a teacher of young students reminds me of someone trying to put cats in a sack....it’s fascinating to watch.
Small children usually have no filters on their thoughts.
Secondary teacher are saints. They love to help teenagers grow into productive members of society with some content knowledge to rely on.
Teenagers usually have no filters on their mouths when they get started on a roll. It's either fight or flight.
Middle school students and middle school teachers are indeed the rarest of rare breeds. God bless them all. I remember Rosalind Rodrick telling Mike that he didn't have to write so small. She thought his mother would buy him more paper to get through the year. My kids have not been in middle school since 1999....twenty years. When I see their teachers, they always ask about them. That's amazing! They are saints as well! Their halos might be a tad askew!
4. Luke 6:31"Treat others the same way you want them to treat you"
If you, AS A PARENT, don’t want to do car pool, do you really think our teachers want to work car pool?
Listen when people talk to you. Don’t play with your phone, your computer, or your other electronic toys. This is for every one.
Everyone is important in a school.
(Side note: I grew into loving it when people threaten to get me fired. I always gave them my business card and asked them to spell my name correctly.)
*****************
It's easy to write this from the comfort of my own home. Just remember folks-- everyone has a story-- be it the teacher, the student, the parent, the principal, the bus driver, the lunch room lady, the coach, the community! I hope this school year 2019-2020 is absolutely the best ever.
Corinthians 13:4-7
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Wait your turn! No “sticking” in this line!
Heaven help me. I went to the grocery store the other week and a bag boy said it best, “It’s like the day before Thanksgiving but these folks are rude.” It has taken me about two weeks to get over it.
I looked around and saw a “different type” of shopper. The neophytes were here. Their carts were piled high with "holiday" food and they were all sporting cases of beer, wine, and junk food. I am going to guess that they were getting ready for the 4th of July.
Now, here I go out on the thin ice....most of these shoppers were......novices. Not all the men were rude-- I saw some great shoppers-- but the "beginners" were totally out of their element. Grocery shopping should be civil. We are all spending lots of money and yelling at the check out girl that the milk is overpriced is tacky on a good day.
****************************
For those of us who tithe to Kroger, grocery shopping is somewhat of a science. We know where we are going. We stay to the right. We wait our turn at the meat counter. We use coupons that are 1. not expired 2. for the product we actually bought and 3. we know the rules about double coupling, company brands, fuel points etc.
***************************
Most of the people that I encountered last week had never read Emily Post’s Etiquette at the Grocery Store. They might need to explore the "Click It" app and have their groceries delivered to their car.
****************************
I was angry when the blonde streaked bimbo (hard looking 40) tried to run over the older lady with her shopping cart. The older woman had a bum foot and was moving slowly but steadily. (No, it wasn't me.) I saw that stank eye that you sent to the woman, Blondie. I saw it. So, I put the Irish hex on you. Shazam!
****************************
I had a VIM -- very important man --- try to cut in front of me at the meat counter. “Whoa,” I said in my sternest principal voice. “We wait our turn at the meat counter. I was here first. You aren’t even next in line. The lady behind me is." I bet he was thanking God he was not married to me. AND I bet I thought he was an a$$hole. Yes, the meat man was laughing. That man hadn’t been told much no in his entire life. The crowd at the meat counter didn’t applaud but I could have been elected to a public office by them.
****************************
We had most of the immediate family here for the 4th with Erin Malloy (niece from Iowa) as an added bonus. Yes, we went to Lanes, ate peach ice cream, swam, shopped and thoroughly had a delightful time.
****************************
My mouth runs like a bubbling brook...it must be spring fed ‘cause it just doesn’t ever stop.
****************************
Blast from the past recipe:
GORP
A jar of dry roasted, salted peanuts
A box of raisins
A big bag of M & M's
Put all of it in a big Tupperware container. Mix. Eat a handful after swimming. Put it in a little Dixie Cup if you want a childhood memory to magically invade your mind.
****************************
GORP can be eaten with your morning coffee.
I looked around and saw a “different type” of shopper. The neophytes were here. Their carts were piled high with "holiday" food and they were all sporting cases of beer, wine, and junk food. I am going to guess that they were getting ready for the 4th of July.
Now, here I go out on the thin ice....most of these shoppers were......novices. Not all the men were rude-- I saw some great shoppers-- but the "beginners" were totally out of their element. Grocery shopping should be civil. We are all spending lots of money and yelling at the check out girl that the milk is overpriced is tacky on a good day.
****************************
For those of us who tithe to Kroger, grocery shopping is somewhat of a science. We know where we are going. We stay to the right. We wait our turn at the meat counter. We use coupons that are 1. not expired 2. for the product we actually bought and 3. we know the rules about double coupling, company brands, fuel points etc.
***************************
Most of the people that I encountered last week had never read Emily Post’s Etiquette at the Grocery Store. They might need to explore the "Click It" app and have their groceries delivered to their car.
****************************
I was angry when the blonde streaked bimbo (hard looking 40) tried to run over the older lady with her shopping cart. The older woman had a bum foot and was moving slowly but steadily. (No, it wasn't me.) I saw that stank eye that you sent to the woman, Blondie. I saw it. So, I put the Irish hex on you. Shazam!
****************************
I had a VIM -- very important man --- try to cut in front of me at the meat counter. “Whoa,” I said in my sternest principal voice. “We wait our turn at the meat counter. I was here first. You aren’t even next in line. The lady behind me is." I bet he was thanking God he was not married to me. AND I bet I thought he was an a$$hole. Yes, the meat man was laughing. That man hadn’t been told much no in his entire life. The crowd at the meat counter didn’t applaud but I could have been elected to a public office by them.
****************************
We had most of the immediate family here for the 4th with Erin Malloy (niece from Iowa) as an added bonus. Yes, we went to Lanes, ate peach ice cream, swam, shopped and thoroughly had a delightful time.
****************************
****************************
Blast from the past recipe:
GORP
A jar of dry roasted, salted peanuts
A box of raisins
A big bag of M & M's
Put all of it in a big Tupperware container. Mix. Eat a handful after swimming. Put it in a little Dixie Cup if you want a childhood memory to magically invade your mind.
****************************
GORP can be eaten with your morning coffee.
Thursday, June 27, 2019
It's Been HOW Long?
I blog in my head daily. I write something on the computer every week. I get ideas everywhere. No lie. I'm always writing....so it was a surprise when I looked at Blogger this morning and saw that I have not published anything formally since DECEMBER of 2017. I missed 2018? How the heck did this happen? Well, chalk that one up to time flies when you're having fun.
There are over 80 blogs written in my draft file. I guess I'm pure lazy about publishing....well, I'm consistent. All I have to do is hit two keys and my writing is out there. My goal in 2012 was to publish once per month. I am behind...as the lady said to the bill collector, "The check's in the mail."
This is a perfect example of wasting time and energy and getting very little completed. I think of that crazy hamster on a wheel....running and running and getting absolutely nowhere. This hamster is getting off the wheel and getting some stuff done. Push two keys, Erin. Push the two keys.
*********************
The grand girls continue to make me laugh on a regular basis. Mary Michael just turned 9. She is long and lean and likes to go climb up BIG walls. The Harry Potter series has called to her like the Sirens called to the sailors and she's thrilled that there are lots of books in the series-- Mary recommends books that I need to read. AND I LIKE HER TASTE IN BOOKS. Sally is solid as a rock. She enjoys orchestrating play (she assigns me a role and then we have a time of it-- I liked it when she told me I was a big baby that was sick...."be a big, sick baby, Nana." Then she covered me with a tea towel.) Sally loved kindergarten and is ready for first grade. She's social. Very social.
There's a new baby coming to the Patterson house in late November. Sally told me by showing me a book that stated she was going to be a big sister. Son-in-law, Brad, told me that we were far down the list of people to know they were expecting.....Sally had told total strangers at a park that her momma was going to have a baby....I just love that child's enthusiasm.
********************
Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, STARZ, Showtime, HBO, Showtime, Acorn, - there's a subworld that had been hidden from me.....how does anyone get anything done? (THINK about how much I have not published...I guess I have been watching tv). It started innocently enough....I watched "Weeds." Then "Nurse Jackie." Then my head exploded. Binge watching might be the downfall of the world (or maybe just me). I hate to admit that I find "Shameless" so darned funny, sad, heart-tugging, hilarious, true, crazy and pathetic in each show-- Frank Gallagher is a man that I have dealt with numerous times in my professional life. I have loved Mrs. Maizel, Longmire, and Michael Scott.
I have a list of "must watches" that will last me until I turn 105 and the kicker is, more great shows arrive monthly. After finishing "A Place to Call Home", I am currently enthralled with "Call the Midwife." It is my soup de jour. It is wonderful to have great stories to watch and enjoy. How the heck did I find time to work?
******************
I've got lots to write about this summer....my 50th class reunion, a trip of a lifetime to Ireland and Scotland where EVERYONE on the tour was sick (visualize barking seals on a tour bus), decluttering my favorite clutter, belonging to too many book clubs, Jack's (the 23 year old cat) trip across the Rainbow Bridge, attending the Victim's Assistance meeting held by the Pardons and Parole Board in Augusta, Georgia, engagement parties, and my furry friends, and feelings, and hopes, and dreams....my musings continue like the shows that are cranked out for our viewing enjoyment-- varied and unique-- something for everyone.
********************
There are over 80 blogs written in my draft file. I guess I'm pure lazy about publishing....well, I'm consistent. All I have to do is hit two keys and my writing is out there. My goal in 2012 was to publish once per month. I am behind...as the lady said to the bill collector, "The check's in the mail."
This is a perfect example of wasting time and energy and getting very little completed. I think of that crazy hamster on a wheel....running and running and getting absolutely nowhere. This hamster is getting off the wheel and getting some stuff done. Push two keys, Erin. Push the two keys.
*********************
The grand girls continue to make me laugh on a regular basis. Mary Michael just turned 9. She is long and lean and likes to go climb up BIG walls. The Harry Potter series has called to her like the Sirens called to the sailors and she's thrilled that there are lots of books in the series-- Mary recommends books that I need to read. AND I LIKE HER TASTE IN BOOKS. Sally is solid as a rock. She enjoys orchestrating play (she assigns me a role and then we have a time of it-- I liked it when she told me I was a big baby that was sick...."be a big, sick baby, Nana." Then she covered me with a tea towel.) Sally loved kindergarten and is ready for first grade. She's social. Very social.
There's a new baby coming to the Patterson house in late November. Sally told me by showing me a book that stated she was going to be a big sister. Son-in-law, Brad, told me that we were far down the list of people to know they were expecting.....Sally had told total strangers at a park that her momma was going to have a baby....I just love that child's enthusiasm.
********************
Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, STARZ, Showtime, HBO, Showtime, Acorn, - there's a subworld that had been hidden from me.....how does anyone get anything done? (THINK about how much I have not published...I guess I have been watching tv). It started innocently enough....I watched "Weeds." Then "Nurse Jackie." Then my head exploded. Binge watching might be the downfall of the world (or maybe just me). I hate to admit that I find "Shameless" so darned funny, sad, heart-tugging, hilarious, true, crazy and pathetic in each show-- Frank Gallagher is a man that I have dealt with numerous times in my professional life. I have loved Mrs. Maizel, Longmire, and Michael Scott.
I have a list of "must watches" that will last me until I turn 105 and the kicker is, more great shows arrive monthly. After finishing "A Place to Call Home", I am currently enthralled with "Call the Midwife." It is my soup de jour. It is wonderful to have great stories to watch and enjoy. How the heck did I find time to work?
******************
I've got lots to write about this summer....my 50th class reunion, a trip of a lifetime to Ireland and Scotland where EVERYONE on the tour was sick (visualize barking seals on a tour bus), decluttering my favorite clutter, belonging to too many book clubs, Jack's (the 23 year old cat) trip across the Rainbow Bridge, attending the Victim's Assistance meeting held by the Pardons and Parole Board in Augusta, Georgia, engagement parties, and my furry friends, and feelings, and hopes, and dreams....my musings continue like the shows that are cranked out for our viewing enjoyment-- varied and unique-- something for everyone.
********************
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