Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 11
Little Bird Tales
Holly Gerla reviews Little Bird Tales as a kiddie educational tool (and what an efficient way to get kids producing!), but I'm also thinking it will probably be great for the elder generations - how great would it be for Grandpa to add some pics and narrate stories from his life?!
Saturday, October 19
Local school district's "top ten"
The local school district's publication arrived today. We don't use these services, but it's interesting to read the highlights they find worth publishing.
The lead story was a "top 10" list. Most involved accomplishments the district had made in innovative programs and teaching methods, including a middle school with all national board-certified teachers, broadening access to achievement programs, and standardizing the math curriculum across all schools in the district.
I know a handful of teachers who've gone through the certification process. It's a rigorous process, including a great deal of self-study. I'm inspired by their dedication to their professional development. I imagine that the middle school programs will be enhanced, but, as always, I wonder about the unintended consequences? When such a rigorous program is mandated in a single institution, how much is lost to the students with the extra strain on time and energy is devoted to the certification? And who is absorbing the $3000 in fees?
Also on the list was free access to the SAT for 12th graders, PSAT for 11th graders, and an 8th grade assessment. I appreciate that the district is choosing the absorb this cost, which can be a barrier to higher education for low-income families. I'm a less comfortable, however, with the absorption of AP and IB programs. I don't question that eliminating the financial barriers can lead to more students accessing and excelling through these programs, but I am critical of the teach-to-the-test approach that is essentially mandated by the licensing of an AP curriculum (and similarly, presumably, in the IB program). Not that I have a great solution, mind you; I truly want young people to have equitable access to education. However, I don't want that access to be suppressed with a teaching of what to think; I want our children to learn how to think.
Finally, the math curriculum edict certainly caught my eye. The district holds that it must be standardized because children frequently move between different schools and need to be able to pick up where they left off at their old school. What I didn't see was a reference to students who move in and out of district, for whom these standardizations would be rendered useless. I'm also a big believer in success in addressing individual learning styles, and one curriculum for seems diametrically opposite of that belief. With all that's put into specialized schools that emphasize STEM or the fine arts, why cannot the district better tailor an understanding of mathematics in the younger grades?
So, again, I don't necessarily have ready solutions to increase the graduation rate and eventual success of the coming generations. However, when a public institution issues a publication that aims to only produce accolades for its own benefit, I can only assume that we are called to skepticism.
The lead story was a "top 10" list. Most involved accomplishments the district had made in innovative programs and teaching methods, including a middle school with all national board-certified teachers, broadening access to achievement programs, and standardizing the math curriculum across all schools in the district.
I know a handful of teachers who've gone through the certification process. It's a rigorous process, including a great deal of self-study. I'm inspired by their dedication to their professional development. I imagine that the middle school programs will be enhanced, but, as always, I wonder about the unintended consequences? When such a rigorous program is mandated in a single institution, how much is lost to the students with the extra strain on time and energy is devoted to the certification? And who is absorbing the $3000 in fees?
Also on the list was free access to the SAT for 12th graders, PSAT for 11th graders, and an 8th grade assessment. I appreciate that the district is choosing the absorb this cost, which can be a barrier to higher education for low-income families. I'm a less comfortable, however, with the absorption of AP and IB programs. I don't question that eliminating the financial barriers can lead to more students accessing and excelling through these programs, but I am critical of the teach-to-the-test approach that is essentially mandated by the licensing of an AP curriculum (and similarly, presumably, in the IB program). Not that I have a great solution, mind you; I truly want young people to have equitable access to education. However, I don't want that access to be suppressed with a teaching of what to think; I want our children to learn how to think.
Finally, the math curriculum edict certainly caught my eye. The district holds that it must be standardized because children frequently move between different schools and need to be able to pick up where they left off at their old school. What I didn't see was a reference to students who move in and out of district, for whom these standardizations would be rendered useless. I'm also a big believer in success in addressing individual learning styles, and one curriculum for seems diametrically opposite of that belief. With all that's put into specialized schools that emphasize STEM or the fine arts, why cannot the district better tailor an understanding of mathematics in the younger grades?
So, again, I don't necessarily have ready solutions to increase the graduation rate and eventual success of the coming generations. However, when a public institution issues a publication that aims to only produce accolades for its own benefit, I can only assume that we are called to skepticism.
Saturday, August 27
Vignettes from Fifth Grade
My teacher was Mr. Pepper and he played the guitar. I brought him rocks from the playground after recess. I was going to be placed in "Open Class," but my parents fought against this new-fangled notion of mixing grades and had me put in traditional 5th grade.
Question #10 in our reading workbooks always began with "What do you think..." and I would occasionally be marked wrong! (For what I thought!) I campaigned against the injustice, going so far as to fashion and wear a billboard on the playground. Say no to #10! Viva la resistance! Mr. Pepper and I finally struck a bargain and I only had to answer every other #10. I still think those questions should be re-worded.
I chose Hawaii for my state report because I felt I was an expert based on our annual family vacations to Maui. Surprisingly, it entailed more work than just writing down what I already knew about the place. I got frustrated one day and wadded up my work-thus-far and threw it in the garbage. Mr. Pepper had me retrieve it, rework it and showed me how I could paste the rumpled paper onto a report page, as to salvage the piece. He gamely noted "nice texture!" in red ink when he returned it to me with final comments.
I met a girl named Dana who lived up the street. I went for a sleepover one night and her parents were gone much of the evening. We played with ingredients in the kitchen and would up wilting lettuce in a frying pan. The texture was intriguing and we thought it would be fun to bag it and sell it as "pot" at school. The next week, Jake said he'd buy some, but made faces and exclaimed "Ewww!" when we handed him the damp baggie. Looking back, I'm appalled at this game and that - despite all PSA's that drugs were bad - I thought it a good idea to sell pot.
Another classmate brought a gigantic bottle of vitamin c drops to school one day and sold them a tablet at a time. Sweet, exotic treats that they were, she made quick sales. Jeremy reported that they gave his dad the runs. Mr. Pepper decided to stop the sales of pharmaceuticals in school.
I ran for class president against Worth. My mom told me that she ran for class office when she was in college and worked with a friend to hand out flagged gumdrops across campus. I wrote clever sayings on tiny flags, glued them to toothpicks and stuck them in gumdrops. I tried to hand them out during freetime, but Worth said it wasn't fair. Mr. Pepper backed him up that it wasn't a reasonable campaign practice to bribe voters in the 5th grade. I cried and asked to call my mom, who - not seeing what the big deal was to any of us - told me simply to abandon the practice. I was crushed, even though we got to enjoy the candies after the election. My Print Shop printouts from my Apple II+'s dot-matrix printer paled in comparison. Worth won the election.
Our gold rush unit culminated in an overnight trip to Skagway via ferry (Southeast Alaska's topography doesn't allow for roads) where we saw Soapy Smith's grave, gambled fake money in a saloon, watched a musical revue, slept in the basement of a church and hunted for "gold" rocks. We fund raised for this trip by holding a family spaghetti feed in the school gym. One would assume there must have been other means that contributed to this field trip, but they eyes of a child only see things as magical happenings.
I developed a crush on Jaylin, a plainish new boy in school. It was less of a hearthrob so much as a curiosity about behaviors I saw in Bop! and Bananas. I'm sure he was clueless about how to respond to my friendly "advances," but gladly accepted monetary loans when I offered them. I think I ended 5th grade owed $2.
I didn't care for a particular girl because she was smelly and mean. My parents thought I was discriminating against her because she was poor, and thus smelly. I finally had to rat on her to get my mom off my back about spending time with her: I told them about how she wrote the f-word on the chalkboard after school one day.
Several times a year the school counselor would visit and let us know that we could come see him about any problem at any time. I thought this attention might be kind of neat, so I wrote a note to him about how I had a relative who annually binge-drank and another relative would have to fly to Seattle to find him and bring him back. I was disappointed that the counselor never called me in for an appointment. I tried again by writing about my parents yelling at each other during a disagreement they had one evening. This time, the counselor came to me during class and invited me to talk about it. The occurrence I'd described in my note actually wasn't that big of a deal and now I found that the counselor's appointment really wasn't as cool as I'd hoped. After some dull, "How did the argument make you feel?" and "It doesn't mean they don't love you," counseling, I was eager not to return to the office.
My "growing pains" were increasing and I sometimes had cold numbness in my pinky fingers during piano practice. After a series of doctor appointments in Juneau and at Children's Hospital in Seattle, the experts diagnosed me with rheumatoid arthritis, which was to be treated with 3 aspirin and 1 Tums three times daily. In short time I began gagging nearly as soon as I saw the bottle of Bayer. The Tums made it even worse, since those had to be chewed. I hid or disposed of the pills as often as feasible and tearfully swallowed the chalky remedy when forced.
The second part of my prescription was that I was to limit physical activity, particularly in school PE. My doctor's note was met with distrust and criticism by the awful Mr. Bonk, who was the worst excuse for an elementary school PE teacher to begin with. For a short time he let me sit out the activities prohibited by my note. Soon, however, he took me aside and told me that he had talked with his doctor who said I could jolly well do a certain number of similar activities. This brought him the wrath of my mother who called his office, Mr. Pepper and our school principal. The following week I came to class, asked him what I should do that day, and he told me he wasn't going to talk to me because my mother was trying to get him fired. Classy.
Even better, his wife served as a substitute some weeks later. By that time my family and the school had come to the agreement that I would just walk laps for the duration of PE. At the end of class she let me know that Middle School wouldn't allow me to walk laps, and that I'd lose credits (whatever those were) if I didn't do the activities with the rest of the class. Geez.
Finally, a radiation appointment in Seattle suggested hypothyroidism. By the end of the year, I was beginning to resume PE exercises with my class and taking a once-daily synthroid pill instead of the abundance of pain relievers and antacids.
Names I remember: Dana, Jeremy, Jaylin, Rory (during legislative season), J.J., Worth, Hiram, Kelly, Joy, Jessy, Sarah, Jean, John, Julie, Judson, Sherwin and Mark. Mr. Pepper, Mr. Bonk, Mr. Deitrich, Mrs. Harris and Mr. Walker.
Question #10 in our reading workbooks always began with "What do you think..." and I would occasionally be marked wrong! (For what I thought!) I campaigned against the injustice, going so far as to fashion and wear a billboard on the playground. Say no to #10! Viva la resistance! Mr. Pepper and I finally struck a bargain and I only had to answer every other #10. I still think those questions should be re-worded.
I chose Hawaii for my state report because I felt I was an expert based on our annual family vacations to Maui. Surprisingly, it entailed more work than just writing down what I already knew about the place. I got frustrated one day and wadded up my work-thus-far and threw it in the garbage. Mr. Pepper had me retrieve it, rework it and showed me how I could paste the rumpled paper onto a report page, as to salvage the piece. He gamely noted "nice texture!" in red ink when he returned it to me with final comments.
I met a girl named Dana who lived up the street. I went for a sleepover one night and her parents were gone much of the evening. We played with ingredients in the kitchen and would up wilting lettuce in a frying pan. The texture was intriguing and we thought it would be fun to bag it and sell it as "pot" at school. The next week, Jake said he'd buy some, but made faces and exclaimed "Ewww!" when we handed him the damp baggie. Looking back, I'm appalled at this game and that - despite all PSA's that drugs were bad - I thought it a good idea to sell pot.
Another classmate brought a gigantic bottle of vitamin c drops to school one day and sold them a tablet at a time. Sweet, exotic treats that they were, she made quick sales. Jeremy reported that they gave his dad the runs. Mr. Pepper decided to stop the sales of pharmaceuticals in school.
I ran for class president against Worth. My mom told me that she ran for class office when she was in college and worked with a friend to hand out flagged gumdrops across campus. I wrote clever sayings on tiny flags, glued them to toothpicks and stuck them in gumdrops. I tried to hand them out during freetime, but Worth said it wasn't fair. Mr. Pepper backed him up that it wasn't a reasonable campaign practice to bribe voters in the 5th grade. I cried and asked to call my mom, who - not seeing what the big deal was to any of us - told me simply to abandon the practice. I was crushed, even though we got to enjoy the candies after the election. My Print Shop printouts from my Apple II+'s dot-matrix printer paled in comparison. Worth won the election.
Our gold rush unit culminated in an overnight trip to Skagway via ferry (Southeast Alaska's topography doesn't allow for roads) where we saw Soapy Smith's grave, gambled fake money in a saloon, watched a musical revue, slept in the basement of a church and hunted for "gold" rocks. We fund raised for this trip by holding a family spaghetti feed in the school gym. One would assume there must have been other means that contributed to this field trip, but they eyes of a child only see things as magical happenings.
I developed a crush on Jaylin, a plainish new boy in school. It was less of a hearthrob so much as a curiosity about behaviors I saw in Bop! and Bananas. I'm sure he was clueless about how to respond to my friendly "advances," but gladly accepted monetary loans when I offered them. I think I ended 5th grade owed $2.
I didn't care for a particular girl because she was smelly and mean. My parents thought I was discriminating against her because she was poor, and thus smelly. I finally had to rat on her to get my mom off my back about spending time with her: I told them about how she wrote the f-word on the chalkboard after school one day.
Several times a year the school counselor would visit and let us know that we could come see him about any problem at any time. I thought this attention might be kind of neat, so I wrote a note to him about how I had a relative who annually binge-drank and another relative would have to fly to Seattle to find him and bring him back. I was disappointed that the counselor never called me in for an appointment. I tried again by writing about my parents yelling at each other during a disagreement they had one evening. This time, the counselor came to me during class and invited me to talk about it. The occurrence I'd described in my note actually wasn't that big of a deal and now I found that the counselor's appointment really wasn't as cool as I'd hoped. After some dull, "How did the argument make you feel?" and "It doesn't mean they don't love you," counseling, I was eager not to return to the office.
My "growing pains" were increasing and I sometimes had cold numbness in my pinky fingers during piano practice. After a series of doctor appointments in Juneau and at Children's Hospital in Seattle, the experts diagnosed me with rheumatoid arthritis, which was to be treated with 3 aspirin and 1 Tums three times daily. In short time I began gagging nearly as soon as I saw the bottle of Bayer. The Tums made it even worse, since those had to be chewed. I hid or disposed of the pills as often as feasible and tearfully swallowed the chalky remedy when forced.
The second part of my prescription was that I was to limit physical activity, particularly in school PE. My doctor's note was met with distrust and criticism by the awful Mr. Bonk, who was the worst excuse for an elementary school PE teacher to begin with. For a short time he let me sit out the activities prohibited by my note. Soon, however, he took me aside and told me that he had talked with his doctor who said I could jolly well do a certain number of similar activities. This brought him the wrath of my mother who called his office, Mr. Pepper and our school principal. The following week I came to class, asked him what I should do that day, and he told me he wasn't going to talk to me because my mother was trying to get him fired. Classy.
Even better, his wife served as a substitute some weeks later. By that time my family and the school had come to the agreement that I would just walk laps for the duration of PE. At the end of class she let me know that Middle School wouldn't allow me to walk laps, and that I'd lose credits (whatever those were) if I didn't do the activities with the rest of the class. Geez.
Finally, a radiation appointment in Seattle suggested hypothyroidism. By the end of the year, I was beginning to resume PE exercises with my class and taking a once-daily synthroid pill instead of the abundance of pain relievers and antacids.
Names I remember: Dana, Jeremy, Jaylin, Rory (during legislative season), J.J., Worth, Hiram, Kelly, Joy, Jessy, Sarah, Jean, John, Julie, Judson, Sherwin and Mark. Mr. Pepper, Mr. Bonk, Mr. Deitrich, Mrs. Harris and Mr. Walker.
Friday, July 30
Uniform pieces at Costco
A good friend just reported that Costco currently has tables of uniform pieces by Nautica!
9.79 khaki pants
8.79 khaki skorts
7.79 white shirts
9.79 khaki pants
8.79 khaki skorts
7.79 white shirts
Thursday, February 4
Valentines from the heart
I'm so proud of my child's writing talents. Here's a sampling of this year's valentines to friends:
Dear J,
You are lively. You almost always speak up. You spout out answers when you can.
You make the world braver.
Dear Carson,
You are playful. When people want to jump up and play, you
just do a few jokes, then they calm down. You always play at recess
if you can plus,you do great in P.E. You inspire athletes.
Dear B,
You have courage. You always speak up. You suggest games, too.
You have the touch.
Friday, March 20
Auction Setup - Day 4
Lunch: Yikes! I ate so fast that I don't recall what it was! (I'm sure it was delish.)
Waters consumed: 2
Coffees consumed: 0 (yikes!)
Corals created: 2 tall ones, and strung with lights
Friday, our last full day of auction setup, was another adrenalizing day. I glued yet more anemones and twisted more coral reefs. The day's big puzzle was stringing lights over a bar section that had already been fully set with glassware.
Contrary to popular belief, that glass (not pictured) was already broken and on the floor when I got there! ;)
Here are some photos from nearly-finally-almost-done.
Waters consumed: 2
Coffees consumed: 0 (yikes!)
Corals created: 2 tall ones, and strung with lights
Friday, our last full day of auction setup, was another adrenalizing day. I glued yet more anemones and twisted more coral reefs. The day's big puzzle was stringing lights over a bar section that had already been fully set with glassware.
Contrary to popular belief, that glass (not pictured) was already broken and on the floor when I got there! ;)
Here are some photos from nearly-finally-almost-done.
Thursday, March 19
Auction Setup - Day 3
Lunch: Leftover lobster bisque & salad
Waters consumed: 3
Coffees consumed: 1
Corals created: 1 giant, and 1 partial gi-normous!
We finished the giant coral at the entrance today and strung it with lights. I wasn't impressed until I happened to see it from across the room. Wow, it really looks coral-y!
The remainder of my afternoon (I only spent a half day on site today) was spent cloaking a light tower in "reef." Leslie, Charlotte and I will suffer carpel tunnel, but we've nonetheless become expert paper-twisters. I look forward to posting pictures tomorrow.
Oh, and I got to hold the puppy again. I've named him "Toto."
Waters consumed: 3
Coffees consumed: 1
Corals created: 1 giant, and 1 partial gi-normous!
We finished the giant coral at the entrance today and strung it with lights. I wasn't impressed until I happened to see it from across the room. Wow, it really looks coral-y!
The remainder of my afternoon (I only spent a half day on site today) was spent cloaking a light tower in "reef." Leslie, Charlotte and I will suffer carpel tunnel, but we've nonetheless become expert paper-twisters. I look forward to posting pictures tomorrow.
Oh, and I got to hold the puppy again. I've named him "Toto."
Happiness is a warm puppy. ~Linus
Wednesday, March 18
Auction Setup - Day 2
Lunch: Lobster Bisque
Waters consumed: 2
Coffees consumed: 1
Corals created: ~10, plus the beginning of one GIANT coral
The reef looks lovely as the decorations take their intended shapes. I continue to be proud of my work, including the paper-mache blowfish, bespeckled with aqua toothpicks stuck through the "skin" and adhered with glue.
Volunteers have been heavenly. All who enter the dome are happy to jump into any activity. One group from rummage spent the bulk of the day fashioning paper into sea anenomes. Others spent hours coloring tin fish. My group deserves some kind of "super manipulation" award for all the time spent twisting butcher paper into growing coral!
No pics today, sorry. I whipped out the door without my camera.
Tuesday, March 17
Auction Setup '09
Lunch: Chili
Waters consumed: 2
Coffees consumed: 3
Corals created: ~10 partials
I spent the day helping with the school's auction setup. Like rummage, it's clearly a well-oiled machine, with a big recruitment of parent (and alumni parent) volunteers who eagerly take charge of a series of outlined tasks. Maintenance went to work on the hoists, stringing used nets to and fro across the ceiling of the athletic dome.
A table in the lunch section (an area set aside for the refreshment of volunteers, complete with a volunteer whose job it is to solicit food donations and feed the hoards) was ready for drop-in workers to sit and color fish. It's kinda like coloring sheets, but instead we're using bright Sharpies on even brighter tin sheets. Both sides are colored and the images will be hung to reflect the light.
In addition to the handmade stuff, we have several kits of party supply decoration that require assembly. A variety of smart folk worked through parts and directions to put those together.
For my part, I worked on reefs. Today's task was to create free-standing corals - painted tubes adorned with crumpled and shredded paper. I had a good team of paper-scrunchers and I was soon dedicated to stapling their creations to the bases.
I look forward to seeing the final setup [in a few more days]!
Waters consumed: 2
Coffees consumed: 3
Corals created: ~10 partials
I spent the day helping with the school's auction setup. Like rummage, it's clearly a well-oiled machine, with a big recruitment of parent (and alumni parent) volunteers who eagerly take charge of a series of outlined tasks. Maintenance went to work on the hoists, stringing used nets to and fro across the ceiling of the athletic dome.
A table in the lunch section (an area set aside for the refreshment of volunteers, complete with a volunteer whose job it is to solicit food donations and feed the hoards) was ready for drop-in workers to sit and color fish. It's kinda like coloring sheets, but instead we're using bright Sharpies on even brighter tin sheets. Both sides are colored and the images will be hung to reflect the light.
In addition to the handmade stuff, we have several kits of party supply decoration that require assembly. A variety of smart folk worked through parts and directions to put those together.
For my part, I worked on reefs. Today's task was to create free-standing corals - painted tubes adorned with crumpled and shredded paper. I had a good team of paper-scrunchers and I was soon dedicated to stapling their creations to the bases.
I look forward to seeing the final setup [in a few more days]!
Wednesday, February 25
Comfortable attire
The ladies at the Farmhouse had a good time today. I charged them with the task of dressing a mannequin in a number of outfits suitable for the auction coming up at school. The invitations simply suggested "comfortable attire," which left some people wondering what it meant, exactly. Certainly not bathrobes and slippers, right? I thought some illustration might help.
The only difficulty is that these photos don't completely illustrate the full range of casual-to-dressy; the clothing sorters have been efficient and we only had a few days' worth of contributions from which to make our selections. Still, you can visual options.
I only wish I could have played a bigger part in this project - it's like dressing a life-size Barbie! Alas, my daughter's sniffles distracted me away from school duties today.
At least we have pictures :)
The only difficulty is that these photos don't completely illustrate the full range of casual-to-dressy; the clothing sorters have been efficient and we only had a few days' worth of contributions from which to make our selections. Still, you can visual options.
I only wish I could have played a bigger part in this project - it's like dressing a life-size Barbie! Alas, my daughter's sniffles distracted me away from school duties today.
At least we have pictures :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)