A Walk In the Park

Buzzing of Bees,
     flowers Scenting the gentle Breeze.

Clouds floating high,
     Whispers of time flowing by.

Laughter fills the shimmering air,
      children everywhere.

Hand in Hand,
      mosey We along.
                  nothing as Peaceful as a walk in the park

I am kind of sad today. I have a few cousins that are sadly messing up their lives. They are young men, 19-23ish. They are partying and drinking like crazy. I have no idea how to be of help to them or their moms, who worry about their "lost" boys.

These cousins are smart, strong, talented young men. Unfortunately, they have become enamored with drinking, partying, and drugs. Through death and divorce they have been exposed to family discord and abandonment-even if they don't acknowledge it. All the boys have been in church since childhood, and now have walked away from religion.

How I wish I could make them see the difference between religion and relationship. I have never been tempted by drinking and partying. I like to hang out-but I am quite silly enough with out numbing my brain with chemicals.( I am addicted to carbs but that is a whole other matter.) . I have no idea what to do other than love 'em and pray. Prayer is the best option, the only option that will work. But oh, is it hard when you see the worry and hurt their moms are going thru, when you see the lost chances: lost jobs, lost family moments, lost education, last and most important-lost souls.

My young cousins have been fed by society that partying is good. It is their right. It doesn't hurt anyone. AND THAT IS WRONG.

Unfortunately, one result of some drug issues is that two of the boys' mom's faith is very shaken. She even told her mom, that God doesn't do miracles anymore. How sad not to believe in miracles.

Please pray for our boys. Pray for their moms. Only God can make a change-and only the boys can choose God.

A change in the regime...

So, this blog started as part of a class assignment. The early blogs will be about a combo of school and life.

I have found that I like having a place to speak my mind...even if it is just to say I hate my science class. LOL. Thankfully that class is over. ;o) Therefore, I have renamed my blog....re-purposed it.  I will more than likely still write life stuff. BUT, I also hope to start writing and sharing short stories. I am trying to become a good writer. I plan to try my hand at different types of writing.

I welcome comments and critiques....but not profanity or cruelty.

So...let's get this show on the road!

Finally, finals!

I have completed my final projects for Read 4043, Read 4023 and Tech in Ed. I have test for Lang Arts, Sci for Elem, and ASL on Monday.  I will then have the rest of the week to chill. YEAH!

 I am just a little freaked about the Sci test. But I am sure I will pass...I hope. I have a solid high C in that class. And I don't like it. I hope when my unit plan and lab notebook grade are added it at least goes up to a B. I have worked to hard for such a crappy grade.

After the short break this week, I will be starting May intercession classes at the BA campus. So I will be staying with my sister at least part time. I still haven't heard about summer fin aid-until That is all set up I will remain stressed.

Good luck with finals to the rest of you. :o)

second times the charm....

Here is the link to my glogster:
http://cooleyw.glogster.com/writing-to-learn/

Ch9 glogster

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Sunday...what a blessing.

It has been a wonderful Sunday. I love, love, love teaching my kiddos. But boy did they have some ants in the pants. I try to do enough interactive stuff in my lesson. For instance, we do sigh language with our memory verse. But that didn't seem to phase them. They all wanted to go, go, go. LOL. I have a teen helper named Cassandra, Cassie, and I have threatened to "take her away" from the little girls if they don't listen. At one point, I felt like a big meany. But once we get a little calm we all seem to have fun. They really are a good bunch of munchkins. If teaching at school goes anything near like with my Sunday School class I am going to love it.

Ps. What are the chances I will have two helpers? ;o)

I Hate Science!

Okay, I maybe exaggerating....but not by much. I have a unit plan w/ 5 lessons due soon and i am having a horrible time. I can't find anything online that fits the designated theme (aquatic/watersheds). The theme was predetermined by the professor and I am STRUGGLING to get it together. The first lesson is due next Monday, and I have nothing.

Well, I feel better; now to try and figure this out.

sPRING bREAK, wOO hOO!

I love my new lap top, but I have this horrible habit of hitting the caps lock at the same time as the shift-see title for proof. Ha HA!

Anyway, I am happy for spring break, however after the two weeks of snow I don't feel all springy yet. Maybe after the time change this weekend it will kick in. Normally, Easter is the boost into spring for me. It comes to late this year, April 21st.

As for spring break, with gas prices outrageous and five science lesson plans due the next Monday I will likely be home all week. That could turn out to be the most restful week. Otherwise, I would/will be spending time with my sis and her girls at some point this week-money allowing.

Now, for something interesting. The Ok Aquarium in Jenks is raising money for a turtle habitat. If you eat at Los Cabos part of the bill goes to the aquarium thru April. Cool deal. I like the aquarium even though I haven't been back in a long time. My nieces all love to visit and feed the rays.

Well, have a good break, be safe and come back rarin' to go.

opinion proof

"For students who struggle academically, high stakes testing can diminish both their self-efficacy for learning and their motivation to attempt academic pursuits" (Content Area Reading 2011)

Students that are poor testers may be wonderful writers and/or artist. They may be able to tell you all about a subject BUT test poorly. By judging the student and thus the teacher solely on these high-stakes standardized test we are telling students what they can do is not good enough. It tells students that what motivates and interest them isn't important. Thus we limit their choices in school and ultimately can end up limiting their futures based on a bubble test.

"Some students simply do not test well. Many students are affected by test anxiety or do not show their learning well on a standardized test, resulting in inaccurately lower scores.... But if students do not have access to an adequate and equitable education, they end up being held accountable while the system is not. States must take responsibility and be held accountable for providing a strong educational opportunity for all."(http://www.fairtest.org/dangerous-consequences-highstakes-standardized-tes)

"Getting to know You, Getting to know all about you."

As a teacher it is very important to know your students. And the sooner you understand something about their background and skill set the sooner you can get to authentic learning. One way I would use to get to know students family is an informal newsletter to the parents. It would introduce me to them, offer them ways they can reach me with questions. In the letter I would provide a basic form for parents to fill out about themselves and their child. It would be an ice breaker, questions would be about favorite foods, holidays, books, and music. I know not all parents would fill out the form, but it would be a good place to start.

More formally, I would want to have a parent night within the first two weeks of school. At that time I would set up individual meetings with parents over the course of the next week. This is a good way to open communication with the family as a whole.

On a day to day basis I would have my kids draw or write about themselves thru various prompted journal quick writes. I would start the first day of class with various work that was both educational and observational assessment. Like Putting a big word on the board and seeing how many new smaller words the kids can find. Maybe do some math drills about basic counting.adding/subtraction in teams. Maybe have the kids pick books from the in class library and take turns reading to each other.

I teach Pre-k at church now and try to sy hi and how are you doing to each parent as they drop their kids off. I don't always know the kids in my class but I try to learn their name within two Sunday; and hopefully their personalities. Already I am applying various things to my class, such as the newsletter.

The more I learn, the better I hope to be at teaching my kids-now and in my future class.

i hab a told....

No really, I have a cold. It is just the sniffily kind of cold. But I'd much rather have no kind of cold. I am praying it dissipates quickly.


I am enjoying my classes, although I am not sure I am quite caught up. Or maybe it just still feels like catch up after all the missed classes from snow. I have three test next week. The one I am most worried about is ASL. We will have to sign back and be right. Lord help me. 

Well, I am good for now. Time to study.

It won't be long before We'll all be there with...

snow, Snow, SNOW!

Crazy weather. Another foot on the way overnight-geez! Other than a couple blizzards when I lived in Colorado Springs I don't remember ever seeing so much snow at one time, and in Oklahoma of all places. It is pretty to look at. We are all stocked up and ready for the next round. Hope to be back in school next week.

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

Monday, Monday

Mondays are LONG! My last class gets out at 8:30pm. And since the first class starts at 8 am....

But I do like all my classes. I know it will be work but I am brave, I can do work. And now, before the need for sleep deprives my brain of function, I am going to bed.

:o)

You will see that I nicely avoided posting any pics of me. This is because I am not particularly fond of the camera being pointed at me. Now, my sis and dad are wonderful photographers. I think some of Sandra's pics of the girls look like magazine layouts. And both Bill and Sandra would make some pretty greeting card pictures.

okay, I gotta go do all the other homework and quit playing around on the blog...I can see another method of procrastination coming my way.

4 am

It is about 4am and I am WIDE awake. SO, I have decided to play with my brand new blog. I was thinking about this whole blog deal and this is what I came up with. I could get to like it. It is basically like facebook only more journally. And so I can say whatever pops into my mind and someone will read it...and maybe even have a "things that make you go Hmmm" moment. And if not at least I am entertaining myself. It kind of reminds me of people that talk to themselves because no one else will or wants to listen to them. And well, if you can't tell already I do like to ramble and frequently lose my way and have to refind the trail. It is a decided effort to stay on topic sometimes. I blame my mom and the other women of the family because whenever we get together we have multiple converations going at any one time. And somehow we all but in and out and it makes sense. At least to us.

Anyway, that is the thought I had at 4 in the morning.