Rejuvenated

With all that has been happening, I will admit that I am flat tuckered out!  I am so tired that I can't see straight which is why I almost declined to attend a school awards assembly last night at my division's high school.  However I am so glad I went!

As the Association president for Amherst Education Association, I was honored to be the one to award two 5oo dollar scholarships to future colleagues, high school students who are headed into education.  Both of these students were deserving of these scholarships but I will say that one will forever remain in my memory,  One of the scholarships was awarded to a student I had in 3rd grade.  He and his twin brother were two of my favorite students! (Of course, every student was a favorite of mine.)  I am thrilled I got the privilege to give him the scholarship.  Young beginning professionals like this young man make the fight for education worthwhile!

Storage Pod

Here is my husband in front of the pod we rented to store our things.  It is hard to see from this photo but the pod is 20 feet long.  As you can see from the picture, it was packed! Mid day my sister, sister-in-law, and I drove out to AAAA Storage on Forest Road to rent a second unit.  It was smaller but it was needed!

You can also see how tall the grass was.  I did feel bad that we left the buyers with a yard to mow but it rained the entire week and we only had  from Wednesday to Saturday to pack and load up.

To the left of the pod is my butterfly bush.  We just planted that last summer.  It was a tiny thing when we planted it and we didn't have a lot of rain last summer.  I was afraid that it was going to die but this year it was back and much taller.  *sigh*  I am sad to leave it behind.  My forsythia bushes seen in front of the car had just gone from yellow to green.  I will miss them!  My mom did go to the backyard and dig up a small rose of sharon bush for me.  The entire back yard was bordered in the back with these.  My bushes had come from my grandmother's yard so I wanted to make sure I took one to the new place.

A New Journey

I am not very good at blogging.  I start off nicely and then after a short time, I get busy with life and blogging goes the way of the dinosaur.  Well, I will try again.  This time I want to share the process that we will move through as we leave the home we lived in for 26 years and build our first house.

This is my family.  My daughter, son, husband and myself lived in a modest split foyer, as I said, for 26 years.  My husband's grandmother gave us the money to buy the home when my husband and I moved from Fort Lauderdale. FL back to Lynchburg VA.  The home was not perfect but I have many fond memories of raising my family in this place.  I never thought I would move from this place.

However, three years ago my father-in-law died leaving my mother-in-law behind.  My mother-in-law is a VERY sweet lady!  I feel sorry for anyone that has mother-in-law issues.  I got the best out of the bunch!  My mother-in-law does fine on her own although she did have a rocky start.  Who wouldn't!  She had been married for over 50 years!  Even though she seems to do well right now she is very lonely.  And her mobility is becoming limited.  We all discussed it for over a year and then last January decided to put both homes on the market and build one to live in together.  It has taken a very LOOOONG time to get started.  My mother-in-law's house has had many previews in the past year but has not had an offer yet.  My home was not getting much traffic.  My realtor said it was because my home was a split foyer and not many folks wanted a split foyer.  Two weeks ago we had a preview on our home while my husband and I were away at a conference.  It was the first preview we had in about 4 months.  While we were gone, the realtor called us to say the persons previewing wanted to put an offer in.  The initial offer was stinky and we went back and forth with negotiations.  We finally settled but the buyer wanted us out in one week's time.  It was horrendous but we did it!                                                                                                   
I had friends come over and help pack up the house.  I don't even know what boxes contain what items.  We just sort of shoveled it all in.  I hope I can find my things when we get to the new place. 

We ordered one of those pods that the storage facility brings to your house but mid way through Saturday we realized that we would need a second storage unit.  It was crazy!  Packing did get done (don't get me started on my son's room!)  and we were out by Sunday.  Closing was on Monday.  Whew!  Talk about cutting it close!

We have moved into Mom's house.  My son is staying with my daughter and her husband.  Poor Lacon!  I hope he doesn't have to call the cops on his wife and brother-in-law!


                                    

I Stand Accused

Yesterday, July 12th, I was privileged to be part of a conversation at the VEA District 12 Summit.  We were discussing educational issues as they relate to the seven locals within our district.  I then came home and (because I am a FaceBook Addict), checked out what all my friends were doing and saying.  One of the ongoing professional pages I follow on FaceBook is Governor Bob McDonnell's page.  He had a post saying that he was going to be on CNBC today discussing job creation in VA.  I commented back the following: "Governor, Please discuss how VA will support its public education system as well. We need you to remember the promises that you made at the VEA delegate assembly two years ago. I am a conservative, family values oriented voter who happens to be a public school teacher. It is not right that voters have to choose between voting on family values and public education. Public education should be a family value."  


Following my post were several more which engaged me in an online conversation concerning public education.  One commenter said that public education is as far from family values as it can be.  When I questioned why this was so, another commenter said, "Public Education = Progressive Liberal Indoctrination of OUR KIDS." While a third posted, "As Conservatives, my husband and I are involved parents... how else do you think we know about the progressive liberal indoctrination, not only what's taught but also by whom... the influence of teachers. One actually told my daughter that Nixon ORDERED the Watergate break-in (for starters)."

I would like to respond to all this but out of respect for the Governor's original purpose for the post, I will move to my blog.  Before responding I would like to say that I am as right winged as one can get.  I vote family values and list my political stance as conservative.  I was educated in the largest Christian University in Virgina, LU.  Of course, when I earned my undergraduate degree it was LBC.  The chancellor of LU at the time I attended was Dr. Jerry Falwell.  I LOVE Dr. Falwell but this wasn't always true.  You see, when I met him for the first time it was because another pastor took me to see him.  I had no intention of attending Liberty and I didn't like Jerry at the time.  In fact, I cussed him out.  I left that meeting with a partial scholarship to LBC which paid for my first semester.  I got saved at Liberty and now in addition to being a conservative-right winged, family values voter, (who by the way voted for Governor McDonnell). . . 


I am also a member of Thomas Road Baptist Church, the church started by Dr. Jerry Falwell.  I have sat under the teaching of the most politically involved pastor in history.  I know my duties as a voter.  And. .  .

Most importantly, I am a child of the King of Kings.  My father has asked me to do a job for Him, that job is to be a public school teacher.  Believe me, no one in their right mind would choose this profession at this time if not committed to working with children.  With all this background behind me now, I would like to address the comments.


First of all, I cannot say much about the Nixon comment.  I am not sure if the teacher was totally informed on what history teaches or if the student misunderstood what the teacher was saying.  This I do know because history has proof.  Nixon was knowledgeable about Watergate and was involved.  Whether or not he ordered it, I don't know.  I wasn't there.  Merely saying that Nixon ordered Watergate does not make me a progressive liberal indoctrinator.  I will also say that the topic of Nixon is not one that I have heard in elementary which is my field.  

If the teacher merely misspoke I can totally relate!!  I remember my very first year of teaching.  A first grade child asked me where babies came from.  In my youthful ignorance I said, "When a mommy and daddy love each other a whole lot, God often blesses that love with the gift of a baby."  The child's mother came in and raked me over the coals for telling her daughter that a man was needed to have a baby.  The mother informed me that she was a lesbian who had herself impregnated at a clinic.  I realize now that my response should have been, "This is something that you want to discuss with your parents." I was  young and stupid and fresh out of college.  Of course, this doesn't address the issue of public schools indoctrinating children with progressive liberalism because this incident happened in a Christian school. 

If this child mentioned in the comment is in middle or high school, there are tons of other issues parents need to be concerned about more than a misspeak. Peers, classmates and friends will have much more influence on the child than the teacher.


Secondly, the teachers can only teach what is in the Standards of Learning and these standards are in dire need of a revamp.  Our curriculum is laid out for us and is tested under standards laid out in NCLB.  Teachers daily complain about the pacing and trivialities of the SOLs.  Try teaching about ancient China and Egypt to a second grader who has never traveled more than 5 miles away from her home and in whose mind old is her grandparents who were alive at the same time as the dinosaurs.  Seriously.  I had a second grader who thought his grandpa rode on the back of a dinosaur.  I got a kick out of the story until I realized I hurt the child's feelings when I thought he was just doing some creative writing.

NCLB, or No Child Left Behind, which governs our SOLs in Virginia has its roots in ESEA which was passed in 1965 under the Johnson administration.If the argument is that all progressive liberals are Democrats then, I guess I have to cave because President Johnson was a Democrat.  The ESEA dates back to Brown v. Board of Education, when the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed racial segregation in public schools and determined that the "separate but equal doctrine" was unconstitutional. Just after the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act became law in 1965. On Jan. 8, 2002, President Bush, Republican, signed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-110) into law with overwhelming bipartisan support. The final votes were 87-10 in the Senate and 381-41 in the House. No Child Left Behind is meant to ensure accountability in schools and continues the legacy of the Brown v. Board decision by creating an education system that is more inclusive, responsive, and fair.  Its primary fault is its progressively liberal amount of testing and test prep enforced on children and the fact that the school, the teacher, and the child are judged by the result of one test score taken on one day.   

I am glad that the parent above is involved in her child's public school and I am not being sarcastic here.  So many parents aren't or can't be because of job related responsibilities.  Not to mention the number of family issues that interfere with a parent's responsibility.  As a professional I cannot and will not share the horror stories I have heard from children who enter my classroom and I cannot count the number of tears I have wiped away because the child is still emotionally dealing with home issues at school.  Believe me! For every nutcase teacher you think your child has had to deal with, I have 10 stories to match from what children have shared with me.  Elementary teachers know every word spoken  and every action taken in every house represented in her classroom.

It would be one thing if the testing stresses, pacing guide problems, and children's emotional issues were handled from 9:00-5:00 like most people's jobs but they aren't.  Teachers have a 40 hour a week contract job but on average put in 20 hours a week over that.  In addition, at an ordinary job, if the person needs paper, staples, etc to get the job done, the company supplies the materials.  On average, 15% of a teacher's salary goes back into their job.  I often have had to purchase supplies for children that couldn't afford them.  

Until the 1840s the education system was highly localized and available only to wealthy people. Reformers who wanted all children to gain the benefits of education opposed this. Prominent among them were Horace Mann in Massachusetts and Henry Barnard in Connecticut. Mann started the publication of the Common School Journal, which took the educational issues to the public. The common-school reformers argued for the case on the belief that common schooling could create good citizens, unite society and prevent crime and poverty. As a result of their efforts, free public education at the elementary level was available for all American children by the end of the 19th century. Massachusetts passed the first compulsory school attendance laws in 1852, followed by New York in 1853. By 1918 all states had passed laws requiring children to attend at least elementary school.  Virginia's provision for free and public education was ratified in 1869 as part of the Underwood Constitution. We were a progressive state at that point I admit because our law was mandating free and public education to all those between ages 5 to 21.  Later this melted down to end at high school.  My question is, do we really want Virgina to be the first state that returns its public educational system back almost 150 years?  If Virgina thinks it has problems now with its economy, lets see what happens when children no longer have schools that are available to all freely.

To the commenter above, your children are in a public school.  Please don't kill the cow you get your milk from just because the milk doesn't taste right.  Provide better grass and hay for the cow so that the milk you get is better.

And remember, I don't have to be a progressive liberal to ask for more support for the schools in which your children are being educated.  All I have to do is care.  And I will hold the Governor accountable for promises he publicly made.

Boo Hoo, the NFL is on strike

Today, in the check out line of the grocery store, the clerk shared that the NFL was on strike.  Apparently, (prepare to be shocked!) it's all about money.  The teams want 14 million more apiece.  That's all.  And since they aren't getting it, they are striking.  Don't you feel sorry for them?  When the clerk told me about this, I said, "whoo-hoo!!"  I couldn't give a flying flip what the NFL does. 

Apparently though I had the wrong attitude.  The man behind me in line had to barge into the conversation the clerk and I were engaged in to say that it was obvious that I wasn't a man because what I just said wasn't nice.  If I were a man, I would have more compassion.  The clerk and I both looked at him with as much disgust as we could manage and began to share with him the real facts of life.  Our youth think that these behemoths of barbarism are all that and a bag of Doritos too, yet  there are few sports heroes that have any character at all..  Let's take the Michael Vick story as an example.  He commits a crime and because he can make money for the NFL, he is given a second chance to influence youngsters.  If  you check out this page, you will find that Vick is not the only sports hero that has seen the inside of a court room. 

Of course, if these so called sports heroes showed any sympathy for education, I may feel differently about them.  Why should I feel sorry for a person who makes more money in one year than I will make in my lifetime as an educator?  Tell me.  Where are our values today?  No one complains about spending huge monies on sports paraphernalia but let public education ask for money to buy new books or more paper and see what is said about that. If the NFL wants me to care, they can start advocating for education and will begin enforcing players to show proper behavior both on the field and off.

No, I am not a man and my compassion is saved for that child who is being told that their teachers and schools are unworthy and the only way they will amount to anything is if they become a high paid sports hero. 

Summer School 2011

Today is the last day of summer school.  I am exhausted but very excited over what my students have accomplished.  We had ten third graders, four fourth graders, and 3 fifth graders.  The principal requested that we make summer school fun so using the theme of the Rainforest, students researched and presented their research in a variety of ways.  I would like to share some of their projects:

This is a link to a podcast created by third graders: The Animals of the Rainforest.  This was a reader's theater found on EdHelper.com.

This is a slideshare created by fourth graders.  Students used a site called Build Your Wild Self to create a humanized character that could live in the rainforest.  We took screen shots of their creations and using Smart Board, made the faces of the characters transparent.  These images were layered over pictures of the students.  Another screen shot was taken and pasted onto a power point presentation.  Students added their own comments and we uploaded the presentation into Slideshare.

Children of the rainforest

View more presentations from Melanie Lewis

Fifth graders worked with Voicethread.  Students painted pictures and then scanned them onto the computer.  The pictures were uploaded into Voicethread and students narrated another reader's theater.



Third Graders also used Smart Board to create a book patterned after Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  Since I can't embed the actual Smart Notebook document, I exported it to a PDF document and am sharing the link.

The big project of the three weeks was our claymation video.  These are students who have never done anything like this before and so the final product is pretty infantile.  But then again, I am a process and not a product type of person so I hope you aren't looking for perfection because this is as far away from perfection as you will get. However, the students are quite pleased with themselves!

Playing