January 2008
14 posts
Off to Bodfish...
Leaving for a holiday visit in my dad’s new home. I have a nasty head-cold. I hope it disappears tomorrow.
1 tag
December 2007
26 posts
The Administrator's Slimming Regime...
Me: Hey Mr. AP, you on that admin diet plan? No lunch till the kids go home?
Mr. A.P.: Hey, I don't get lunch until 6:30 some days.
Me: I see you power walking the hallways this week, going from fire to fire. Keep this up and those pounds will melt away.
“As the week progresses (and I find myself recovering from short sleep,...”
– Miz Mercer about her students’ work
All I want for Christmas is six, "the hard way"?
mizmercer: Thought you'd be amused....
mizmercer: Son wants to go to Vegas
distanceed: what's he want to see in the city of sin
mizmercer: " wanna see what it's like"
distanceed: ha
distanceed: if it were the 90s I'd say bring him
mizmercer: "the hotels are great"
mizmercer: "...but I know the rules, no kids allowed in casinos"
12/20/2007 Day in a Sentence
Still holding good, but lots of fancy footwork: I feel like we’re holding some of the kids together with lots of amateur psychotherapy.
12/19/07 Day in a Sentence
Sweet and sour: Most classes were great, the few that weren’t were managable; but, migraine, followed by low-grade lock-down.
“Well, it’s still good so far; I’m falling back on showing Magic...”
– 12/18/2007 Day in a Sentence
“When I was in school I could hardly wait for the holidays to begin. I never...”
– an adult friend of mine
“The school day was smooth as satin, then WHAM! a kid lost it halfway through the...”
– 12/17/2007 Day in a Sentence
“I’ve discovered the perfect movie for quieting and calming a class....”
– Day in a Sentence 12/12/2007 (book and video)
It was about 45 degrees on the yard this a.m.
ME: Where is your coat?
Student in a thin t-shirt shivering: I didn't think I needed it, it's not raining or anything!
ME: Just because it's not raining doesn't mean it's warm.
Day in a Sentence 12/11/2007
The world is upside down; easy classes are difficult; difficult classes are easy; easy tasks are complicated; complicated tasks are easy.
Preview of the week...
Two days with a sub. One for me (taking son to therapy), one for work (typing up all-day SSTs). Something to look forward to? Some great responses to last week’s questions in ELD: http://mercereld.edublogs.org/2007/12/05/thursday-december-6-2007/ But, just so you don’t think I share only the good stuff, some others that were, meh?...
“Reflecting on organizing the after-school tutoring program: I managed the paper...”
– 12/10/2007 Day in a Sentence
Closing out the week...
I tried to show a video to the sixth graders on class differences in Ancient Rome and how Romanization caused gaps to widen. Can I say what a bomb this was. It had Terry Jones, and was pretty fast-paced, but the vocabulary and accents went right over the kids heads. I tried to preview, and stop things more often to check in with the second class, but it didn’t work.
And while I'm on this topic...
I went to Noah’s for a lox and cream cheese on a bagel. Because this is California outside of Los Angeles, I asked what veggies came on it. I asked for capers and tomatoes. I was served a bagel with lox, cream cheese, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, and lettuce. JEESH!
Dreidel, is that one of those skirts that Heidi...
Sister: Where can I get dreidels in Sacramento? I'm looking everywhere.
Jewish Friend: Sacramento is not a great place to find Judaica.
One more reason I hate the "Rugrats"
Son: Mom, can we celebrate Hanukkah? (after viewing Rugrats video on Channukah)
Me: Well, I guess so
(Note from me: I had a grandfather on my mom's side who was Jewish. I prefer to celebrate Passover. It seemed a more legitimate holiday to appropriate, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur would have been pushy)
Son: I can get a [insert Lego toy du jour]
Me: This is NOT a present holiday!
Family Literacy Night
We had a computer/reading center donated by the local Rotary and the WNBA/Sacramento Monarchs to our school. We had a family literacy night, and I was in charge of the computers. I did a quick and dirty web page with site, for parents to use. I even made some video, which I will probably not get to until Winter Break.
Someone has let squirrels loose in our school...
Ah, rainy days, kids hate ‘em (it’s wet and there is no outdoor time), teacher hate ‘em (no breaks, and lunch is shortened). On the whole it’s a lose, lose situation. They kids were very chatty, squirmy, etc. today. Tonight was the school’s Family Reading night, which probably due to the rain, was not well attended.
Ever see the car crash coming?
There was a reason I only do whole class instruction at the start of the period, and I was reminded why today… Worked on getting together some nice video second grade did on what does kindness look like. OMG, they were all over the place, started moving around. I finally told them to line up. Two girls push into others, causing a girl to be crammed into the table. That started tears, then...
It's all good
Continuing with human rights theme. Finishing up watching a pretty good movie about a magic eggs, a little girl with more responsibilities than rights (and a younger brother who gets to do what he likes). Students watch the video with rapt attention. I’m thinking about Wes Fryer’s admonitions against entrallment. I like them getting entralled by a moving story. I guess I don’t...
Chat with Mr. Moses about my Children's Rights...
Mr. Moses: Whadya use to make it?
Me: MovieMaker
Mr. Moses: No Way!
Me: Way!
Mr. Moses: But there's no white letters on a blue background ;-)
Week in summary...
Friday adds: They are still upgrading our wiring (and haven’t connected school to the fiber optic network). I got a bunch of positive feedback from AmeriCorp tutor, the tech support guy, my assistant principal liked my lesson plan for my observation, and the principal running the SES tutoring . Human Rights unit: fantastic; SES Tutoring: on track but it’s a lot of work at this point;...
