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!