Math

My math class is such a hoot. I asked them to do some reflecting on math - what they're good at, what they need to work on, etc.

Some of my favorite comments on: ....when it comes to math, I wish....

 

• I wish I could be taller and be picked to answer questions
• I wish we could eat during math (a girl after my own heart...er, stomach?)
• I wish the word problems were harder and the skip counting was easier
• I wish it was all simpler

Life Changing Moments

 

This morning I almost died. Serious.

I was sitting at a red light. I heard a big crack and looked in my rear view mirror to see a little car flying down the road straight at me. I didn't even really have time to think or do anything. Right as the car got to me it suddenly turned, flew over the median (luckily there was no traffic in the oncoming lanes) and hit a tree dead on.

I drove my vehicle around the corner and then ran out to help. We had our first snowfall last night so the snow is kind of deep. I was slipping and falling and trying to get there as fast as I could....it was surreal. The car was totally wrecked. The driver was probably in his early 20s. My guess is he had a seizure. He kept going in and out of consciousness while I was on with 911.

Once the firetrucks came I left. It was an odd feeling to just walk away - but they said the police have my info from the 911 call so I could leave. That's when the emotions kicked in.

My guess is this is the first seizure this guy has had....his life has changed today.

So has mine.

Grateful to be alive. Grateful to be able to tell the story and not be hurt. I should have been hit. I had actually just turned the radio off a few blocks previous and was talking to God as I drove.

 

Man, did I say a prayer of gratitude after.

Book Whisperer Presentation

Last Spring I was asked to teach a workshop on reading for the Charter School Conference this fall. I had read The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller and was quite excited about it. That, along with my grade 3 book club, and perhaps my obsession about books, made me the perfect victim. I was thrilled!

I also ended up doing the same workshop for the International Reading Association this past week. It's good to have to present something more than once. By the 3rd time I had a pretty good presentation going!

I really enjoyed preparing for this. I probably should have started preparing my slides sooner, but that seems to be my style. I ruminate on a subject forever, and then at the last minute pull it all together. It would be better on my nerves though if I could somehow convince myself the deadline was sooner than the actual deadline and have it done early. I always see right through that when I try to do that to myself though.

All I know is I truly do love reading with kids. I love kids books. I also love reading. It is wonderful to be able to talk to people about something you really love. Last year I was asked to do a presentation on Storybird.com - which is a pretty cool website. There sure was a difference talking about something I'm passionate about though!

....now I really must get working on report cards.

Wayne Who?

I'm having the kids in my class write a biography about a friend - so I wanted to teach them what a biography is by watching a few videos of famous people. I tried Wayne Gretzky. No one had heard of him. No. That's not true. One person thought they had heard of him. "He played hockey in the olden days in Calgary."

 *sigh*

 Kids these days!!!

Things I Loved About Last Week

It has been a great week.

1. I took my kids to a really fun concert by Rick Scott on Monday. I picked them up at the pool with dinner in hand and persuaded them to go to it with me. They agreed on the condition that I wouldn't stay and talk to people forever after it was over. Deal! It was a lot of fun. Rick Scott is amazing and they recognized that.

2. I got an email from a mom of a child in my class. I had told her how one day her son was calculating how long it was until bed time. I asked if he was tired. He wasn't. He was excited to be able to read our book club book, The Witches, with his mom, as they do every night. She told me she'd been reading it aloud to him and really enjoying it. She also said that she doesn't ever remember reading a book from start to finish in school and wanted to change that for her son.

Isn't that awesome?!

3. We had an awesome assembly on Friday. We did the cup song with our own words. Tricky!!

4. I got to volunteer at the football game Friday night ( $ goes to swimming). Peirce loves it. Loves it! He really wants to grow up and get a job and is excited to have something on his résumé (must be his dad's son). I was excited because I got to just sell beer tickets rather than work in the concession - our regular spot. The ticket booth is heated!! Best kept secret!

5. I have the best husband ever. He keeps gas in my van. I hate checking oil, getting gas, etc. I can totally do that. - but he does it for me because he knows I hate it. Ahhhhhhh!!!!!

Time

I'll admit it. Our life is a little crazier than most people's. We get up very early in our house - which means we go to bed very early. On swim days we leave the house at 5:00 am. On seminary days we leave at 6:15 am. I do marking, read my scriptures, walk (although not enough lately!), write (I am going to be a writer, I decided!) and reading while I wait for Jill. I have my book club book, my grade three book club book, and books I just plain old want to read. I have more to do than I can do in the time I have.

So, that is why I am amazed at other parents I see just sit. Sit and watch. I don't see it at seminary so much. Most parents read or work or walk their dog or do something. However, at the pool, there is always a core group if people who just sit there. No judgments......but really, I just don't get it!

There. I finally said it. I have wondered this for years!!

How does one get that life?! Seriously? Every day you can't think of anything more to do than just sit and watch? Maybe they care more about their kid. I don't know. I think it's pretty boring though to watch them swim back and forth and back and forth. Besides, there is so much to do!!

I seriously don't get it.

Maybe I should get them to do my marking. Mwah ha ha!!!!

Service

I noticed the other day that Jill's iPod was cracked and asked her about it. She said she dropped it while delivering flyers for the food drive. She said she also got shin splints that day.


"Sometimes service warms your heart. And sometimes you 

just get a broken iPod and shin splits" -Jillian Ackroyd




Sadly, that's the way service goes sometimes.

Sentence of the Day

The word to be included in the sentence was delight. We are learning about prepositional phrases to start off sentences. The challenging part seems to be where to put the comma.

After we fixed the comma, this one was perfect. (Did you see what I just did there? LOL)

...and it sure made me chuckle.

"Before I go, I will delight my girlfriend."

Friendship

In my class we are reading stories that follow the theme of friendship. This past week we read a story about a little boy who had to go stay with a family during the week while his mother worked. The older boy thought this little boy was quite annoying for a number of reasons. I thought many of the reasons were quite justified. He was a greedy little guy, always wanting whatever the older boy had. The older boy had to take him places with him where he never had to do that before. He would okay with the older boys toys and break things....typical kid stuff.

After we read the story a couple times I had the kids write a paragraph about whether or not they would like this little boy has a friend. The majority wrote as I expected: that they would not like him for a friend. There were a handful though who said they would have him for a friend. They felt bad for him that his mother had to leave him with another family and they thought maybe he'd be sad or lonely and needed extra love. It was so touching.

One interesting thing to note: the kind paragraphs came from kids of all sorts of religious backgrounds. A Jehovah's Witness, Mormons, and Muslims. If only this could be magnified for the whole world to see. Perhaps we would have a little more peace in the world.