Do I have access to this?

POTS - This is What I know

No animals were harmed in the making of this yearbook.

Tonight, I will be submitting my 6th yearbook.  I hate to think of the first yearbook I submitted in Fosston years ago - Listen, if you ever have the chance to be yearbook advisor - walk away - run away!
  It's the one publication that everyone  finds every single mistake and then, tells you about it.  You thought you sent the best book ever made until ... it's in other people's hands.  And let me tell you this, kids aren't always very nice in their criticisms.  Parents neither. But as every year, I believe this is the best one ever!

If you are ever the yearbook advisor, I will tell you this - if there is a mistake - even a big mistake - say you forgot a senior in the yearbook - or the company puts the wrong school on the cover, it's not the end of the world.  Don't let anyone tell you it is either because no one got physically hurt making this yearbook.

You are human - and guess what? I tell kids that there are Obama problems and there are yearbook problems.  This works in many other instances - like curbing drama - and I mean drama with a small d - the kind of drama that shrinks your brain.  They tell me how awful there friend is and I say "Well, this is not an Obama problem, this is a small annoyance let's not go overboard."  They usually laugh.

You can call in your staff and remind them of the importance of proof reading.  Remember it as a life lesson - and maybe do a google search of famous typos and mistakes and remember how they moved on. 

Hello!

Years have come and gone, and I've been teaching for eight years.  What I can't believe is that I still have so much to learn and how much there is to learn.

I'm still learning about kids and their sometimes scary worlds.  I'm still reading new books and finding new things to teach. 

Natalie will graduate high school this year, and we'll be sending her off to college. It's funny that I never really wanted to think about that and now I'm scheduling senior pictures!

This fall, I will have some of my first "Oklee 7th Graders" back in my classroom as Juniors.  Time marches on!  I've been peeking at their progress through the last two years as they pass on to Mr. Swenson's classroom.  They are still the energetic bunch from four years ago.  The only difference is the stubble on their chins and the shade of the lip gloss.

Their Favorite Story - a Story About Sledding.

Today, I told my favorite story to my senior high school students.  Again.  The story of when I had my sledding accident. I know how to tell it just so - just so they know just how macho I am.

I was in seventh grade and had been missing the big hill at the elementary school when my friend, Melanie, gave me a call and asked me to go sledding.  She wanted to go down the hill by our home, the hill with all the trees.  I agreed and met her and her older sister at the top of the hill with the biggest clearing.  I followed Melanie down a few times and decided that this hill was even better than the elementary hill.

I remember looking down at the hill trying to find the best path, and I hopped onto my sled at full speed.  Wahoo!  Kerplunk!  I hit a pole and flew off the sled, landing face first in the snow with my right arm and my left arm by my side, and my right leg planted safely in the snow.  But, my right leg?  It landed on the top of the pole I had hit.

Yes it hurt, but Melanie's sister told me to shake it off and keep sledding.  I got up, brushed myself off, and zoomed down the hill a few more times.

Finally, when I looked down, I saw one red spot on my snowpants the size of a golf ball. I rolled up my snow pants and saw that my jeans were sopping with blood. I rolled up my jeans and saw the damaged jagged opening on my leg.

I showed my leg to Melanie's sister and she transported me on my sled to the arena which was the closest building in sight and called my mom. I should have gotten stitches that day.

For some reason, this story is their favorite.  They ask me to tell it over and over.  And so I do.

A New Friend...

Back in the day, we had many exchange students within the school system.  At one point, there were fifty students staying with our community.  I loved it.  I loved the possibility of new friends.  I loved learning new languages and having inspiration from their free-thinking ideas.  I am who I am today because of the friends I have chosen.

My favorite friends were from Japan, Germany, Spain, and Mexico.  I have the best memories of meeting students at school or their dormitory, and the sad memories of being with them when they boarded their planes to return home.

Earlier this summer, one of my friends from Japan asked me over facebook if I would host her daughter for a few weeks to help improve her English.  I didn't hesitate.  I said yes immediately.  Her daughter sat next to her and cheered when she saw my reply.

I forgot how much fun it is to help someone learn English and her facial expressions as she tries our food.  I loved making spaghetti and steaks and seeing a smile on her face.  I loved to see her politely eat her tater tot hotdish and just eat the tater tots. It's been lovely to hear her mother's far away laugh and smile within my new friend's face. 

My girls are now experiencing the wonder of the world watching Japanese movies with English Subtitles, eating Japanese Noodles and candy, and drinking Japanese Tea.

It's funny how the past has tapped me on my shoulder and reminded me of one of the greatest joys...  A New Friend....

What We'll Be Reading part 1

These past months,  I've been reading books that I'm including my curriculum.  According to the expert who visits our school, the State of Minnesota expects 60%-70% of all reading to be nonfiction.
That means only 30%-40% of all reading should be literature.

I got cold feet about buying new curriculum for 7th and 8th grade all at once and decided to teach the same materials with varying rubrics for my junior high English classes.

This year,we will read Riding the Bus with My Sister by Rachel Simon.  We will pick and choose some key chapters for junior high and may even include this book for my senior high class.  In summary, Simon writes about how her sister Beth has centered her life around the bus schedule.  The book centers on how Simon must face growing up with a special needs sister with Down Syndrome.  Themes from this book include bullying, sisterhood, neglect, and family.


Our educational standards demand inclusiveness.  This book emphasizes another type of point of view. It's important to consider others' life view and mindset.  It's so easy to judge.  It's so easy to watch people from the sidelines and judge their lives.  This book forces us to consider the life of a woman with learning problems.  Also, the movie starring Rosie O'Donnell is a great way to compare the movie's actors' interpretations of Rachel Simon and her sister Beth; which is, yet, another standard!

Youth is not Wasted On the Young...

Recently, a young lady asked me if I was jealous of her because she was half my age.  It took all patience and God-Loving Control not to slap her.

 Instead, I bit my tongue for five seconds and said,  "No, I'm in the best part of my life"


 I know my husband loves me.
  I have two lovely daughters.
 Never again will I have to worry about morning sickness, first job interviews, or what I want to be when I grow up. 
I have my dream job, dream man, and dream home.
 I've lived through my mother's cancer, my sister's cancer, and my daughter's broken neck.
And I never want to live through that again...
I have the confidence of a forty-year-old woman,
and I'm not foolish enough to think I know it all.
I have read enough teen journal entries in my life to know
that I don't want to go back there.
And I'm honored to know that I can be a comfort to these students.

"Am I jealous that I'm old enough to be your mother?  No.  I'm a forty-year old woman.  I'm proud."

Boarding Schools - Not as fun as you'd think

What finally hooked the kids on this book, Ojibwe in Minnesota, was the boarding schools.

They were mortified.  They quoted Anton Treuer's writing in outrage -

 - Mrs. Aakhus,' Kill the Indian in him and save the man'. They said that

"I know"

-  They didn't even know their parents when they came home.

I know.

- They wouldn't even send them home if they had died.

I know.

- They didn't even know the same language as their parents.

I know.

- They didn't have a role model, Mrs. Aakhus, they didn't have their parents.

I know.

My students' compassion is awakening. Maybe they will learn with more compassion and see the young boy (from my previous post) patting the book in the far off corner, too.

On Powwows and Birch Bark Canoes

For the past two weeks, we've read 40 pages of Ojibwe in Minnesota.

It's been slow rowing....

This book has a lot of dense information.  Most of the kids were having a hard time getting into powwows and birch canoes.They were struggling with the fact that they were gong to have to re-read the information and build new knowledge.

I heard complaining from some of the most dedicated students.

But what keeps me going...

is that one kid who hides his book on the top of my book shelf.  He takes it down at the beginning of the class and pats it and looks at the pictures over and over.  He is coming home.  We are learning about his history.  He doesn't add to the conversation much, but he sits and smiles quietly and discreetly.  

Ojibwe in Minnesota

Because English Language Arts standards of Minnesota stress nonfiction and encourage the study of Minnesota Native Americans, my 8th grade class has been reading Ojibwe in Minnesota by Anton Treuer.  When I set the books out on my desk, there was instant controversy...

"What!?  Why don't we study Norwegians in Minnesota?"

"I think Native Americans are boring"

"Why do they have powwows?  Who cares?"

"Reservations aren't fair.  Why do they get special rights?"

Of course,  I was proud to hear;

"Finally, something interesting."

"I know all about this; my grandpa is half Ojibwe.  I go to powwows all the time."


And I knew.  This is why this is in the standards.  They needed a gentle lesson in racism.  We had read all year about the Holocaust in Germany, and now, the same type of  racism is being studied about our own state.  I think it's time to squirm.  I think it's time to look in the mirror and call ourselves out.  I could see the one boy, called Chief by his uncle, stroking his book and smiling.

Last Friday, I left the first chapter of Red Earth White Earth by Will Weaver for the kids to read with their sub.  I'm curious about their reactions.  I wonder if they see Guy's father's tantrums and think about the things they are saying about the reservation just a few miles away. Will they be mad that a dad could be so heartless and rude and realize they may be on the same path?

I'll find out today.

A Clue

Last week, I decided to give my 8th graders a day off reading and a day to play Clue - They were pumped!

A DAY OFF READING!!!

The next few class periods were filled with learning and insight, but not for the kids.  I'm  the one who did the learning that day.

The State of Minnesota has spent millions of dollars testing students every April to be sure schools are cutting the mustard, but I say why not take a look at Colonial Mustard to get "A Clue" at students' reading and perseverance. Reading rules to a game is a "real life" application of why it's important to read and read well.


Some students just dug into their work, maybe they didn't want to read the instructions for a board game, but they realized that they needed to get the task at hand done in order to play the game.  On the other hand, some students looked at me with blank looks on their faces and hollered out; "I don't get it".  These kids were waiting for someone else to explain the rules to them.

As we started to play the game on various spots on the floor, I noticed some students taking charge.  Some students would skim the rules again to be sure they were doing it right.  Some students had never played the game before and even though they had a hard time with the directions of the game, they watched what everyone else was doing and asked questions. I was proud of these kids, because even though Clue can be a difficult game filled with higher levels of thinking, it was these kids who decided that they were up to the challenge. I was most frustrated with the frustrated kids.  Students who didn't try because they were scared to try.  Students who hollered out "I don't get it" without reading the instructions.  Some of these kids just sprawled on the floor with their cards showing and complaining that the game was too hard.

Next year, I will requisition 6 or 8 Clue games.  On the first days of school, I will assign 4 kids to a game and watch how they play the game.  I will be able to learn their learning styles and levels of perseverance.  I will see which kids have parents who take the time to play board games with their kids.  I will see which kids need coaching through their reading assignments.

I will know more about my students and abilities from this than any test anyone could give them.

Carpe Diem

In Senior High English, we are writing our life philosophy essays.  I'm writing about taking life by the horns and living life to it's fullest. This is my first draft as I'm showing students my writing process. 

My life philosophy is to “Seize the Day.” Life is too short to waste watching television or being lazy.  Life is too short to not tell someone you love them.  Life is too short not to live life to the fullest and make a bucket list of amazing things to do.

          In Seth Godin’s blog post, “Welcome to Paris”, Godin explains how you only have limited time when you go on vacation and how wise it is to bring this attitude to everyday life.  We should look to the people around us and enjoy them and their ideas.  We shouldn’t waste time with our e-mails or facebook but look to real people and talk face to face.  Life is meant to be lived real-time rather than virtually.

          Robert Herrick’s poem, “To the Virgins, to make much of Time”, also offers the philosophy of living each day to the fullest;

          Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

          Old Time is still a-flying:

          And this same flower that smiles to-day

          To-morrow will be dying.

Herrick tells us that the pleasures of today may be gone tomorrow, so we should get out and enjoy them while we can.  Enjoy the sunset before it turns into evening.  Dance while your legs still work. 

When I think of gathering flowers while I can, I think of my sister and how she slowly lost her eyesight.  She didn't expect to lose her eyesight - she just did as a result of the Graft Vs. Host Disease from her stem cell transplant. Luckily, my parents had taken my sister and I on many vacations when we were younger. Missi got to see Mount Rushmore, Washington D.C., Colorado, Hawaii, and Disney World before she lost her eyesight. Last year, my mom and dad decided to bring our entire family of 12 to Disney World this Christmas. My sister needed chaperoning.  She needed us to guide her way through the crowds and obstacles.  All I can think is how relieved I am that she got to experience the sight of Cinderella's castle while she could still see.

Personally, I try to work hard everyday to be present and helpful.  I want to remember every experience that I'm thrown into.  I don't want to take my life for granted. 

 Eventually, I will take this five paragraph essay and keep adding to it.  I want students to see how writing can be improved.  

On Grattitude

Earlier this week, I found this blogpost , "The Forgotten Thank You" by Nicholas Provenzano. It made me realize all that my students have done for me.

These past years, my days have been filled with a lot of personal worries.  When I mention worries of my sister's eyesight or struggling health, they listen.  You could hear a pin drop.  I'm so thankful that they care.  It makes all the difference in the world to me.

Some of my students share some of the funniest stories.  Some of the stories are told in front of the classroom, full of animation and giggles.  Not all students have the guts to draw in an audience, and when I come across a giggle or two within their journals or writing.  I smile.  Most of these stories are about snowmobiles or the evil of twerking.

Not all students share everything with me, but sometimes, they really spill their guts out. Kids go through a lot.  That's all I have to say about that. 

I could think of many  times they make me smile and bring real meaning to my life.  I'm so lucky to have one of the hardest jobs in the world.

Big Ideas

For the past months, Senior High English has had an interesting mix of ups and downs.  I find it interesting how kids can vary their maturity.  Some days, they're spot on, and I'm amazed at their abilities.  Others days, they get the cold-steely-eyed stare of a pessimistic literature teacher wondering what she did to deserve them.

Luckily, that literature teacher forgives and forgets and remembers that they are just kids.

Yesterday, we circled up and had a discussion of big ideas.  It always surprises me how deep these kids are and how some of them are really interested on what others think.

Is there destiny? Are we fools to think we have any control over our futures?

Is true-love predestined?

How did people first start talking about aliens?

I loved that the paraprofessional in our room opened up and started talking about her big questions. 

 I love this job.

Exercise has taken over my life.  Every free moment I have I find I'm finding a way to run.  I love it.  I never thought in my life I would write that sentence.  I remember seeing people run and thinking; "Crazy, who do they do it?" 

I started running for one minute. Then, I ran for a minute and a half.  I started running very slowly.  In fact, I'm still slow, but I can run for a full hour.  I'm faster.  I feel great.

I had to choose.  Would I blog?  Or would I run?  I decided to run, but I've missed blogging.  I think I now have the energy to do both.

Hooray!

We just finished reading The Giver in 8th grade. 

And Hooray!

Of course - not everyone cheered and the best parts - but those kids,  you know the ones...

The ones who yell out "I hate reading."

Those were who cheered at the best part ever in the book -

and even read ahead -

They even knew not to give the best part away - and definitely not the ending -  They did not give away the ending.

Now - I hope the next things we read hooks them just as much!

On helping ...

Tina decided we were going to be in the Uff Da Mud Run in Grand Forks, ND.  I'm not quite sure how she talked me into it - but she did.

I'm not sure I knew what I was in for until I paid the registration fee and starting reading about the different obstacles. I was scared to death.

Caron, Tina, and I trained.  We ran. And then, we ran some more.  We army crawled.  We swam.

Eventually...   they put the course map out.


View UFF DA mud run (public) in a larger map


In the back of my mind, I figured I would do some of the obstacles and support Tina and Caron as they managed the course.




 Every Thursday, we met at the park and ran the hills of Red Lake Falls.  I always knew they were faster than I was, but I plugged away.  I did what I could.

Friday night, Caron and Tina picked me up.  We registered for the race and went for supper.  We scanned the course took a big gulp went home and tried to sleep.

Jason brought  me and the girls to the starting line the next morning.  Natalie and I stood at the riverbank looking at the final swim when she turned to me and said "Mom, it's just sad."

"What?"

"I wonder how many people will drown today."

 IF that didn't comfort my anxiety for the day, I'm not sure what would.

Tina, Caron, and I started at the finish line pumped and ready to go!

We started over the first few obstacles of muddy rocks, hay bales, and increasing wall heights, and looked at each other and knew we were going to try them all.

I wasn't the fastest runner, but I had heart and determination, and I did things that day that I never thought I'd do.

What sticks in my mind the most is when I stood in line to climb a cliff and thinking that there was no way I'd do that.  In the back of my mind, I wondered how I was going to get out of it.  I watched Tina go, and then, Caron.  I decided that if they could do it, I could do it too.  I grabbed the rope and wrapped the rope around my wrist.  I climbed up  about 4/5 of the way and looked down.  I did not want to fall. I was so tired.  I looked up - it seemed so far.  I looked down.  I didn't want to go down either.  And, at the top my friends yelled "You can do it. You can do it."  And I went a bit further.. and then, arms hugged on to me, and they lifted me up the rest of the way.  I did it. 

In every day's struggles, I think of  reaching the top with someone's help.  I think of helping kids get to the top.  I'm more determined. 

Rockstars

I'm in awe.  We did it.  We swam. We crawled.  We jumped. We balanced.  We climbed. We laughed.  I'm in awe at what my friends helped me do.


There were a few times that I wondered if I would quit, but they pushed me through to the end.  After this, I think I can do anything. 

On Summer

The past few weeks we've been busy enjoying summer.  August brought the beginning of summer for Allie Ann as her neck brace came off.



We spent every spare minute at the pool enjoying the freedom of being young and healthy.  We even got Allison's bike fixed up only to realize that she is too tall for her small bike.

 I saw that my youngest daughter has grown up.  When I looked to my oldest, I realized that she is a hair to be being half way to twenty.

I'm reminded of the Robert Frost poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay"

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay. 

As summer turns to fall, I see the girls age a year.  The growth always astounds me in the Fall, when nature is the most golden.

 

Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19977#sthash.XiFHu3wv.dpuf

Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19977#sthash.XiFHu3wv.dpuf