Educational | The Angel Forever

Category Archives Educational

Drama at schools

Posted on July 16, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As a former teacher, I am quite used to drama at schools. It can happen at all levels and I even remember some as a child. Still, I was lucky enough never to deal with the scenario that is playing out for my son. You see, once again there is a threat to close his school down.Yes, they are threatening to close a school that has had a steady increase in enrollment, high state test scores and a phenomenal community spirit. I am blown away with the so called rationale and backhanded politics behind some of the reasons. Of course, none of these things are really new in the area. The problem is that the state of the economy in New York has made this boil on our bottom even closer to the point where it will burst. (Can you tell I am in a mood?)

So yesterday, after digesting more uncertainties at the school board meeting, I had to take a minute and get some things off my chest. I wrote about it here: Education funding crisis – save our school.

Obviously, I am being a bit vague about things. Since I try to protect my son, I can not go into all of the details, or it will be obvious which school he is in. So this week my question to you is:

Did you or your child ever go to a school that was constantly threatened to close down or get shut down? If you have any experience, I would love to hear suggestions on things to do to help our school and especially my son who will be devistated if this happens.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #108

Categories:
Aloha Friday Educational losing my mind me moments school stupidity

Education funding crisis – save our school

Posted on July 15, 2010 11:23 am by TheAngelForever

When my son left school on his last day of first grade, we assumed he would be back there in September to see his friends, teachers and other members of this amazing school community. This assumption came to a screeching hault on Tuesday afternoon. After a fun filled morning out, I arrived home to a rather disturbing e-mail. Nothing could prepare me for this as I let out a rather frightening scream and tears fell down my face.

It seems our dear governor had pulled some powerful punches that would pretty much screw our entire school district. Rather than think about the children that this move would hurt, he kept signing off on item after item. Once again our district was being forced to make some rather disturbing decisions which may include closing one or more elementary schools, including ours.

I do believe that fire burst from my eyes as the anger increased. No, I never thought we were 100% safe until my child walked into school in September, but I NEVER expected this on going roller coaster. My son heard me and saw that I was upset. I had to explain in second grader terms that once again we did not know if his school would be opening again. My child asked me why. This was a tough one. I told him that for too many years members of the powers that be have sat back and allowed some businesses to come into our district and take children away from us. I told him that they pretend to be schools, but most of them are not. I promised him that I would do everything in my power to:

I asked NHL to go into the other room and play with JSL. I had some important phone calls to make. I started with the mayor and moved on down my list of community politicians. I left messages, talked with some people and then called a representative of our school district. I wanted to know what a concerned parent/citizen could do to wake up our community. Enough is enough! The truth needs to be heard and people need to stand together to stop the insanity. If we do not do this, not only will my son’s school be on the chopping block, but our entire public school system could be in danger. Our community needs to be the example to other parts of our state and I dare say the country. We need to get the right people to hear us and see how these money hungry businesses that are dressing up as educators are killing public schools across the nation.

Previous posts about the battle to save our school:

Categories:
bad news decisions Educational looking back losing my mind real world news school vent

Introducing Tuesday Tales

Posted on July 13, 2010 4:33 pm by TheAngelForever

I have a confession, I am addicted to books. These are just some of the books that our boys have. Some were mine from teaching, others ones we have bought or received over the years. There are many other chapter books and adult books in storage for another day.

Of course, this is not really surprising since I am a teacher, but something you may not really know about me. My favorite class while getting my undergraduate degree in Elementary Education was Children’s Literature. Where else could you spend an entire semester talking about favorite childhood books, characters and authors? In addition to reading a lot of children’s books for the class, we also had to do a presentation on a picture book author and one on an author that writes for older children.

Who would you have picked for each of these?

For the first of mine, I wrote about Arnold Lobel. He is the author behind the long time favorites Frog and Toad. While Lobel is possibly most famous for the stories about this famous duo, he also won the 1981 Caldecott Medal for his book Fables. I learned a lot about his career and grew to love Frog and Toad even more.

My second presentation was on Lois Lowry. When I was in elementary school, I adored the Anastasia Krupnik. They were the books that I went to when I was older and had finished reading Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series. While in college, I found another book of Lois Lowry’s that will forever be one of my favorite books, Number The Stars. This historical fiction book about the Holocaust won the 1990 Newbery Medal. It is a powerful book that teaches children about the topic on a level that is perfect for them. I adored this book so much that I did several projects in college about it and then did a unit on it when teaching Language Arts a few years back. After looking over her website, I now see that I need to catch up on some of her latest books.

For many years, all I read were books for college, my classroom, and my own children. Even when I had time over the summer, I would sit down with a children’s chapter book to see what my students had been reading – you know like Harry Potter, The Series of Unfortunate Events and the list goes on. These days I do stop and read my own books by Debra Macomber, Mia King or dive into a little vampire life with a Sookie Stackhouse book, but the teacher in me always moves toward books to read with my children.

So now each Tuesday, I hope to bring you some books that we have read. Whether they are old favorites, newly released or something a little different we will be sharing them with you via:

I hope you will join me each week to share a favorite story and link up what you have been reading, whether with your children, at school or on your own. All books are welcome. See you next Tuesday when we share with you The All-American Jump and Jive Jig by M.P. Hueston.

Categories:
books Educational looking back me moments photos school Tuesday Tales

Thank a teacher – Bing Teacher Appreciation Tour

Posted on June 6, 2010 2:30 pm by TheAngelForever

As a classroom teacher, I spent a lot of my own money buying things for my classroom, students and beyond. It may have been a little here, and a little there, but it adds up quickly. Did I mind? Not one bit. To me it was part of my job and helped to make the classroom experience better for the kids.

Many people ask me why I became a teacher. It’s easy, I was inspired by my teachers. I loved how they spent each and every day trying to make us the best that we could be. They were the ones that taught me to read, write and have a fascination with the world around me. Although I am home with my boys right now, I am still a teacher at heart. When we go places, I am constantly thinking about lessons that could be taught. As I take photos, I inventory them for future use when I go back to teaching.

Right after I decided to stay home with my boys, I heard about DonorsChoose.org. This is an organization that works with teachers in the classroom to set up projects that need funding. Teachers submit plans for items that they need, you pick a classroom in need and donate money to them. DonorsChoose.org buys the requested items for the classroom with the money donated and kids and teachers benefit. One of my teaching friends, CityStreams, did a DonorsChoose.org project and wrote about it here. The possibilities are endless. Each teacher can submit an idea and donors help them to make their lesson plan a reality.

If you could take a minute to thank a teacher from your past or one that your child has now, would you? Would you do it if it meant you earned a $5 donation to DonorsChoose.org that you could put toward any project of your choice?

Now that I have your attention, let me tell you you can participate. Here is more about the Bing Teacher Appreciation outreach with DonorsChoose.org:

Starting on May 19th, Bing is encouraging students and parents to recognize teachers who have made a difference in their lives through a new philanthropic campaign focused on supporting kids’ education. Bing has committed to a gift of up to $500,000 and teamed up with DonorsChoose.org to provide both kids and adults with a way to express their thanks to a teacher and help another teacher or school in the process.

Visit www.bing.com/education to post a comment or share a story about a teacher who made a difference in your life (or the life of your child), and Bing will provide you with a $5 donation to DonorsChoose.org, which can be applied toward any classroom project of your choice. Each visitor can leave up to 5 comments, resulting in a total donation of $25. At the end of June, Bing will aggregate the comments and share them with each teacher in the form of a congratulations letter.

It really is that simple. You go to the Bing website, thank a teacher, and soon after receive a $5 DonorsChoose.org code to donate to any current project of your choice. So far I have sent thank you notes to NHL’s 1st grade teacher and the school Nurse Teacher. I will be doing an additional three to make sure that I get the $25 to donate by July 10.

Check out schools in your area. There are a lot in mine that are looking for donations. Right now, I am working with my son’s school to come up with a project. Why? Well, when I signed up for this Blog Tour I received a $100 code to use on DonorsChoose.org. I have donated with them before and seen projects that my teaching friends have accomplished thanks to them. I am looking forward to donating this $100 toward something that my children and others at our school will benefit from.

A big thank you to Bing for supporting teachers and all that we do in the classrooms to help the children that will be the leaders of the world in years to come. Now please do your part and thank some teachers to help classrooms that are in need. Let’s make sure that Bing donates the maximum amount to needy classrooms all over.

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Bing and a $100 DonorsChoose.org giving code to facilitate my review. Mom Central also sent me a thank-you gift certificate.

Categories:
Blog Tour charity Educational looking back me moments photos school

My computer savvy kid

Posted on May 22, 2010 5:46 pm by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL,

It does not surprise me that you are a big fan of all things related to computers. I firmly believe that you would give up television if you could have your own computer. Thanks to Daddy, you have been learning a lot of skills. With all of this knowledge, you are pretty excited when we allow you to use the computer. You want to go online to educational websites, and know all about what Mommy and Daddy do with Social Media and beyond.

Today, while Daddy was pulling down the fence in the backyard you were tired and asked to go inside. When we got inside, you immediately asked to use my computer. I agreed since you had not used the computer a lot this week. You immediately went to the internet and to Starfall.com. I thought you would go to PBSKids.com, but you surprised me with something different.

Once you found what you wanted, you were all set. I went outside to check on things quickly. When I came back inside, you were dancing and singing along. Of course, your little brother was excited to see what was going on. You let him climb up next to you and showed him the ropes.

It has been so much fun watching you learn to do everything on the computer. I can not wait for us to teach you even more items that will keep you ahead in the future. With your new found love of Star Wars, you are most definitely a proud geek in training.

Love,

Mommy

_______________________________________

If you want to participate in Dear Kid Saturday, head on over to Cutest Kid Ever by clicking on the button below.