:D YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED TO ME THIS MORNING! I got up and ready for school as usual. The last thing I did before leaving was to open the blinds, out back first. :eek: OMG! It was snowing! I ran to

the front to check -- and, yes it was snowing in the front too (duh!:rolleyes:). I thought, Yikes! I'd better get to school! (a 4-minute drive:D) So off I went -- 4-wheel drive set on Part-Time -- thinking, Everything looks so beautiful and peaceful? Drove into the parking lot thinking, hmmm? -- not plowed -- hmmm? Looked

around thinking, hmmm? -- the earliest birds are not here yet -- hmmm? Entered the building thinking, lights on -- nobody in sight -- hmmm? Rushed up to my room -- turned on the computers -- ran up to write the date and assignments on the board -- thinking all the time, :o If I'd stayed off PT yesterday, I'd know what I'm supposed to be doing today! It's all because of NeeCee, Risa, and MiddlingAZ! $#%$%$## Then, in my lightning-fast mind, I began to wonder if there was actually going to be school today -- LOLHa! Ha! -- :rolleyes:Dream on! Then letting my imagination run with the thought, Wouldn't it be wonderful to have one more day to actually get ready for the week? I ran to the computer -- brought up our district webpage -- clicked on "Wondering if this is a Snow Day?" button -- AND . . . :eek:ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I GUESS YOU'VE ALREADY GUESSED THE REST OF THE STORY . . . IT'S A SNOW DAY IN MISSOURI -- AGAIN!!! Now, I'm at school with an unexpected day to work, and I'm going to take full advantage of it! Later, Elaine By the way, we're never going to get out of school in this spring! AND . . . talk about test anxiety! How are we ever going to get all our GLE's taught before THE TESTS??? (This question is for Risa, from the "Test Prep 4 State Assessment" Group.)

has been having bouts of anxiety lately. I had called it separation anxiety before, but now I am not sure if that is accurate or not.Read More...

Oh, what a week. I'm still trying to process it. Our beloved former principal died suddenly on Monday. He had just retired 7 months ago. His wife is my best school buddy and someone I love dearly. It was painful to lose a wonderful principal, and friend, but even more painful to see his wife so overwhelmed with grief. They had such plans for their retirement. It's just too damn sad. Read More...

The dreary days of February have arrived. These are the tough days! Day after day of gray skies, piles of discarded mittens and the stack of benchmark assessments waiting to be given..... I am always grateful that February is the shortest month. Even with the joy of Valentine's Day, the days of forced togetherness inside starts to affect everyone. This is also the time when I have to admit that my class will just never "gel" this year. Read More...

Long after my blankie and teddy bear were history, I found comforts that were a far cry from the poor bedraggled dears, but I still miss those comforts when they are gone. Since I'm in a high stress time in my life I miss

these comforts all the more. 1. Chocolite ( sp?) bars: When I was a kiddo my dear grandpa always gave me a Chocolite every Sunday as a special treat. I still remember the yellow inner wrapper the half circle spinning wheel shapes on the bar and the bubbles of texturized chocolate. 2. Buttercups and Queen Anne's Lace:

I always loved the spring flowers that no one would mind my taking. I even liked to sit in a patch of buttercups and read. 3. Devil Dogs: My friends, today's Devil Dogs are a far and sad cry from those that my dad used to get us. These were moist with a thick creamy middle. The new ones just won't do. 4. The winter night sky: I would look out at the night sky and peace would be mine. It still works when I have time. 5. "....and I hope you had a good day....: Charlie Gibson's national news sign off. His voice always made me feel like he actually cared how my day might have gone. 6. Fudge covered Oreos: Need I say more.

I am so sick and tired of working my butt off on things to make my school building a better place...only to have other staff members (who did nothing mind you) pick it apart!Read More...

Aha! Another day, another mystery solved. Today's mystery: The case of the puzzle piece strategy. Together, my class and I found that with the proper recording tool and careful attention, we could use inferring to piece together the clues in a mystery. If we were really attentive, we might even solve the mystery before the author revealed it! Read More...

I'm avoiding working on report cards, so I thought I'd blog instead. Hope you don't mind my random ramblings about home, school and life...Read More...

One of my favorite sayings is "great teachers are made by the teacher next door." This was a catch-phrase for a teacher resource company many years back, but I have found it to be very true. Throughout my lo-o-ong teaching

career I have been blessed to teach with some wonderful women. This blog entry is dedicated to them and all the things they have taught me, materials they have shared with me, and ways they have cared for me. Tiffany Tiffany is my team-mate, across the hall co-teacher, confidant, and trusted ally. She is very

nearly matches me for being overly concerned about what goes on in the classroom. Tiff is young enough to be my daughter, yet she and I think alike in so many ways that I simply see her as a valued friend. From Tiffany I have learned to make things up as I go. She doesn't need a DOL book or Mountain Math or any other bought review book. She just makes her own. And because she does this (and shares with me), she is able to target the skills her class is weakest in. Our team worked hard last year to create Morning Work review sheets. We saved most of them, and I assumed we'd just use them again this year. But this year's students are different from last year's. So Tiffany lead the way and began creating new sheets designed to meet their needs. On my week, I used one of the recycled sets, but it was obvious that it didn't meet the standard we are trying to achieve. So, this week, I wrote a new one. When Tiffany comes into school on Monday, brand new, designed-for-this-year's-students, morning work sheets are awaitng her. I can't even begin to count the reading, math, and especially health lessons Tiffany has shared with me. But she is one of my touchstone teachers because she grows with me. When we need to vent about changes being forced on us, she hangs with me. But we are always able to support each other in adapting these changes to suit our ways of teaching and our beliefs about what's best for children. And finally, Tiffany has taught me how to see children through loving eyes. She works hard to have a positive relationship with each child in her class. I hope I won't be judged if I say that length of service combined with a few knock-abouts in my school/class assignments had left me a bit jaded. This year, I love my class. Some of the little stinkers can annoy me, but for the most part, I can stay pretty happy with them. Marcia Through the magic of Facebook, I have been fortunate to reconnect with another touchstone teacher. Marcia and I wandered out on a journey along with a couple of other teachers. We were working on creating developmentally appropriate classrooms. As we explored new ideas about teaching reading and math we kept coming to the realization that one year with a child wasn't enough. So be began to dream. We were lucky enough to have administrators who encouraged our dreams and our K-2 multiage classes were born. When we first began the multiage journey, I was not in a classroom. I had a supporting role, but I like to think that my passion for researching and abilities to asimilate and adapt the research into everyday classroom practices allowed our dreams to become realities. Marcia was the teacher who saw this ability in me. She was my greatest cheerleader. Marcia will always have a special place in my heart, too, because she was my DD's teacher for three years. She treated Emily like a princess and was always amazed at how wonderful she was. (She still is!) She nurtured my little girl and helped her to grow. In Marcia's classroom, Emily was able to challenge herself and develop the foundations for an amazing education. (Marcia would not mind me pausing from praising her to praising Emily for a moment. Emily graduated from high school with over a 4-point average. She graduated from college Summa Cum Laude. She is now in her final semester of her Master's Degree at the Boston Conservatory. Indeed, this incredible young woman, who would have succeeded in any field she chose, followed her heart and has studied to sing opera.) Marcia and I made a school change together in the middle of our multiage experience. At that point I went back into the classroom. School politics changed, so we were not able to support our multiage classrooms and Marcia and I grew in separate paths. She retired early; I moved on to a different school and higher grades. I will always count those years in multiage as my finest teaching times. We taught children. We respected their backgrounds and their rates of growth. We nutured them to become independent learners. Margaret I'm going to be brutally honest here; I didn't care for Margaret when I first met her. Margaret is a "take-charge, get it done" kind of woman. I often felt left out or left behind in Margaret's wake. As I continued to work with her, I learned a new respect for her and her teaching style. Margaret was old school. When we first met she could cover an entire blackboard with seat work in about 15 minutes. She even had a notebook dedicated to seat work assignments. Not only that, but if you were out, she'd fill your board, too. Margaret could run a first grade classroom with her eyes shut. The kids knew they'd better stay on task while she taught reading groups. If any child stepped out of line, Margaret had no qualms about placing an immediate call to their parents. And you know, those parents always responded. Margaret was just that down-to-earth kind of teacher that would give it to them straight and they appreciated it. At one point (when I was on my way to those multiage classrooms), I was charged with working with Margaret to help her make some changes in her teaching style. The only problem with that was that her teaching style worked. Why do administrators always think they need to fix what "ain't broke"? Margaret's students always scored well on standardized tests. Her parents were happy. Her students loved and respected her. Now you may wonder why I count this woman as one of my touchstone teachers. Her style and mine are almost completely opposite. Margaret had about the biggest heart of anyone I ever met. She was there for me through some very rough years. Indeed, Margaret shared anything she had with me, including her personal time. We had our second children a few months apart. The babies grew up together. At times we even confused people by interchanging them! I went through a divorce with Margaret's care. She was my rock. She was always willing to babysit for me so I could take a class or join in Kiwanis activities. She was my sounding board when I was overwhelmed with some life decision. She was my rock. Through it all, she supported me completely. I could never repay her for all the good she did in that time of my life. The Others Well, this entry is long enough. There have been lots of other women that I have had the pleasure to teach with and the good fortune to know. Donna, Tiffany, Nicole, Sarah, Ginny, Nat, Blaire, Susan, Kathy, Lisa, and Ginger to name a few. Without their openness and willingness to share, I would never have become the teacher I am today. This is my tribute to all my "Teachers Next Door."

my sister that is. She if off to Asia for a month by herself. Needless to say the family is going to be nervous for the next month!Read More...