Shaman

Our Art Teacher Extraodinaire, Cindy, won a grant to create a mural depicting the "family" here at WPS with all our diversity and cultures. All the students were done and so Cindy sent out a request asking teachers to participate. Of course, how could I say no to Cindy who does so much and yet asks so little? She gave me my tile early last week. Well, today I asked her if there was any extension on the deadline since it has been so busy at work that there's been no time to even think of a design! As I suspected, no there was no chance to extend since she had to take them to the kiln this weekend. Totally understand, but I ask just in case...

Well, as it turns out, there was no need for an extension since the design came out quite lovely with very little effort on my part and I LOVE it! I don't know why I am always so amazed at the result when I actually take the time to do something creative. It generally works out that I am captivated by my work. And since I could care less what other people think of my creativity, it's all for the good.

I went to a Mexican tile website for inspiration and found her within minutes. It was a petroglyph called "Shaman". She needed some tweaking to become me but within moments she was drawn on the tile and I'm ready to lay on the color tomorrow. It's a simple design so I don't think that it will take long to color at all.

Let me try to describe her and when she is fired and ready to mount, I'll post a picture. Around the outside of the tile, there is a painted black rope border to honor the "Unknown". On the diagonal there is a flame head with spiral hair coming out around the flame design. There is a yellow flame with an orange flame and a small inner red flame within each other. The body is a long rectangle with zig-zags on the top third, vertical stripes on the middle and wavy lines (for water) at the bottom. The body is finished by a fringe. The right arm (really just a line coming off of the shoulder) goes down and appears to be holding a computer. The left arm holds a book.

That's it. That's me. Doesn't it just sound like me?

"The Piano" week

Every year in Texas, usually in the spring, we get high cedar pollen counts. People refer to it as "cedar fever" and before you know it, everyone is hacking and sales of Mucinex go through the roof in order to combat it. I was hit by "cedar fever" this week. It started with a tickle in the back of my throat, then the roof of my mouth started to itch and next thing I knew, I was coughing away to no avail. Invariably, my voice gets husky and within a day or two, I lose my voice for a day or so. While I wouldn't say I look forward to cedar fever, I must confess that I'm always a little relieved when I get those few days to be mute. I refer to them as "My Piano" episodes. I get to be Holly Hunter with every one talking around me and ignoring me while I am relieved of all social obligations except for the occasional weak smile. I LOVE my job, my family and my friends. Usually I am more than happy to be in the mix, but when my Piano episodes come around, I am reminded how heavy the burdens of social obligations are. It's during these silent times that I fantasize about being cloistered with a vow of silence.

Now, I know I wouldn't be happy to be silent ALL the time, but the peace of being mute is incredibly attractive to me. Especially in the silence of winter... well, I mean a northern winter. The kind of days when your frosty breath hangs in the air in front of you and the only sound that you can hear is the wind whispering over the snow. There are no lapping waves, no bird cries or the sound of the leaves talking to each other. The grass lays bowed under the weight of the snow, animals curl up in their burrows waiting, and there's just you and the bare branches reaching into the sky. Silence.

I wonder to myself, what if I moved away to an exotic location and was not able to communicate. Would I play mute? Would I have the strength to stay mute?

Home sick

I've been losing my voice little by little, since Sunday's trip to IKEA with Mom and over the intervening days I have deteriorated to this... can you hear me?

No? That's because I can't speak. At ALL. So why go to work when your job is to teach 7 year olds? I originally thought it was just "cedar fever". That's a Texas thing where the cedar pollen in the air is so high that people get ill. It usually happens to me once a year but never to this extent.. so maybe it's NOT cedar fever...

I thought I would get so much done today. I brought home work to catch up on, grades to put in the gradebook, etc. And now I'm just SIcK. My head hurts and I can't speak. I have chills and yes, they're multiplin'. But it isn't much fun.

At least I had the opportunity to start up my blog again. I've changed the name and the design. I've moved a blog from another site to here. And WHY you may wonder? What would provoke all this extra work??

I don't know.

I MUST be sick....

So much to do!

I have had a great week! I was able to meet with many of my parents and plan to meet with most of the others this week yet so that will be very good! At least conferences are over for now... we'll start this round up again in January but that's another day. This weekend I actually finished up the fire pit! Now, if it will just cool off enough to start a fire... at least we had rain. Ahh, Texas, two seasons- blistering hot and not. I still had to water the garden today, sigh. C'mon rainy season! I got my 3rd Bundle in order, just in case Mr. Gagne comes in and asks me about it. He does things like that sometimes. He keeps me on my teacher toes! Have I mentioned how much I love those bundles in this post yet??? You know, usually during parent conferences I say something about how these grades are probably the highest they will be since traditionally we review first grade the first 6 weeks but after I said it once, I realized that it wasn't true this year at all! The bundles got us all off to teaching grade level requirements right away! What a great realization! AND that my students did so well, was even more awesome! I'm happy about the things that we are doing in the classroom. If you ever look at the list of TEKS we are required to teach during the course of a year, you might feel a bit overwhelmed like I do every year but this year with the bundles, I feel like I can do it. It really is easy to wrap my mind around a three week unit of study and it's becoming easier for me to make connections between the subjects which makes it easier for students to understand as well! A win-win situation.

I spent all day on the computer because I realized that the Best Buy TEACH Award grant was due TODAY, not Wednesday as I had been thinking! Not to worry, I got it done--you know I really am lucky I get as many grants as I do since I usually wait until the last minute-- now let's all cross our fingers and hope we get it!! It'll be 5 digital cameras, a color printer and a camcorder for our classroom...!

Speaking of grants, THE BOOKS CAME IN!!! I'm so excited! I just know the kids will love these science sacks(ok, I really need to think of a cute name soon). Mrs. Woodall and Mrs. Wedge helped me to sort them out and they are as excited as I am!! Yes, we'll share with them, they're friends and we have more than enough to share! Hmmm, I spent a lot of this week on school, not very balanced... but it was just that kind of week, next week will be better.

Hey! I did go to COSTCO with my mom and spent a significant portion of Saturday on the phone working out the details for my mom's birthday coming up in two weeks. Hmmm Let's see anything else? Oh, if you're looking to try out your new portal for your child's grades, I put some in there for you! Until next week!

Ahhh... Labor Day

Yes, it's Monday and I'm not at work. Not like I don't have things to do there(!) but it's Labor Day and my family just left to return to El Paso. I intended to take a nap for it is my policy that on non-work days I take a nap. I personally believe that if more people took naps, our society would be less stressed out. My daughters scoff at my naps. They say that the 10 minutes I close my eyes does not constitute a nap. I disagree. Those 10 minutes are enough to make me grateful for the rest of the day and enough of a nap where I'm not sluggish but can return to the day ready for more.

I certainly had more this weekend. With one daughter and her family living in El Paso (an 8 hour drive if you're not a lead foot, nor a slowpoke) and the other daughter and her family at Fort Bragg in North Carolina (easily 18 hours), I don't feel like I get much family time anymore and I miss my boys. So, of course, when I found out that my daughter would be coming in for Labor Day, I knew that even though school had just started and there's a million things to do, I would be staying home to see how much my grandsons had grown. Rubencito brought his 1st place Karate trophy to show to me. Mikey spent a lot of time talking with his head on my shoulder how if he lived in Pflugerville again, he could be in my class because he's a big second grader now. And Marcos gave me kisses and snuggled in my lap after a few hours and I started to understand his baby talk. All too soon they were piled back in the car and I was waving goodbye. I was very proud of myself that I was not crying as they left this time when I noticed Rubencito's head bent over. When I knocked on the car window to wave, his teary face made my heart break and so no, I cried again this time. I remember back when I had my eldest daughter and I was pregnant with my second child. I was at my mother's one day when I blurted out, "How can I love another baby as much as I love Melissa?" After she realized that I was serious, my mother started to laugh so hard, she had to sit down. She told me then these words that I've never forgotten, "Love never divides, it only multiplies." And when I had my second child, I found her words to be true since I still loved my oldest daughter and found my second daughter to be equally as precious. After I had grandchildren, I realized that truly there is always enough love for each precious child that comes into my life.

I can't wait to return to school tomorrow!

Weekends

Well, finally a relaxing weekend! Last weekend, I was furiously working on preparing for a teacher workshop that I was conducting on Monday and trying to make some graphs for our graphing unit in math. It was all very labor intensive and I spent a significant portion of my time in front of the laminator and the copy machine. It was a hectic weekend and I felt rushed throughout the entire week.

This weekend, it was much more relaxed. On Saturday, I went to a meeting with some inspirational teachers in the morning and in the afternoon I saw "I'm Not Afraid of the Dark" by Joe Scruggs and the Austin Ballet (two thumbs up by all of us!) at the Paramount downtown with my niece and nephew. In the evening, I spent some time with my parents. Mom and I went to Dillard's where they are closing out their housewares departments and I scored on some Fiesta-ware at half price! Mom even bought my birthday present there!!! But of course, I don't get it until my actual birthday-- which is fine with me, the anticipation is fun! And I rounded out the evening watching "VH1's Top 100 hits of the 80's". I had to watch it because I couldn't believe that there were actually 100 decent songs that came out of the entire decade but there were! I had a great time remembering good times "back in the day.."

Today, I actually got some things done around the house like painting the trim in my bedroom and cleaning the bathroom (yuck) but those things have to be done, I guess. I'm off to a dinner with my second grade team and then I'll come home and do lesson plans for next week. I really only have to plan for two days since two days will be taken up with reading assessments.... but nevertheless, it'll be planning time.

A very satisfying weekend, again... I think I must have the best life ever.

Starting off the Year

Today I went to sew labels on blankets for Project Linus, one of my favorite charities. Many quilters, sewers and people who knit or crochet donate blankets to Project Linus. We, in turn, wash them, label them and hand them out to kids who may find themselves needing a blanket to hold. Diane, our coordinator, has an extensive list of where the blankets go, such as Williamson County Social Services, the Round Rock Police Department, Starry Night and lots of other places. I go once a month to sew labels on blankets or to pack them up for delivery, but I always imagine that one day I will be able to take a blanket that I have actually made to donate to Project Linus. It seems at this time though, that my life is very busy so I do the best I can by helping in ways I can manage. I was thinking, however, that perhaps this year my class could make several blankets for Project Linus and donate them to our chapter. That could be our service project for this year. Last year we sold jewelry from Bead For Life and made quite a bit of money for women and children living in Uganda... hmmm something to think about. Then I cleaned out Houdini's cage and let him scramble around the floor in his ball. Houdini is the name of the mouse in our room. I was about to walk out the door when I noticed the Hissing Cockroaches looking all sad in their boring habitat so I went outside and brought in the old aquarium that doesn't work and set about creating a nice habitat for "las cucharachas" and brought both habitats up to school. They are sitting on the animal shelf waiting for a new year to begin, just like me. While I was up at school, I fed the fish in the aquarium that I brought up yesterday. They're doing good so I set about sorting through posters. There's so much to do at the beginning of the year that it's almost overwhelming but also very exciting. I've been trying to take photos to capture the work and when the room is all finished, I'll post the new slide show on this website. Meet the Teacher Night is barely a week away!!!

But, then it was time to go out to my nephew's birthday party, He is six today and he had a "Kung Fu Panda" party with Master Al, a Karate teacher, who came in to teach all the party goers a few Karate moves. We learned to block, we learned to punch, we learned one kick and we learned how to throw someone to the ground. Then Joey broke a board with a Karate chop! What a great time.

What a well-balanced day! Service, work, and family! I need to keep this balance in mind so I don't obsess about work this year. I'll work on balance.....

School's Starting... and I'm not ready!!!

Well, you'd think that after a week full of workshops, and a day or two in the classroom, that I'd be ready to start the school year... Nah! I'm so far away from being ready it's a little frightening. I stayed at work today until 8:30 pm. Yesterday I stayed until 9:30pm and when you walk into the room, you'd never know that I've been there at all! At least I'm ready for Meet the Teacher Night-- almost. There's a few things that I still need to copy and assemble and I'll feel better when they are done. But how am I going to put all that stuff on the tables away when I don't know where I want it to go??? I need to be able to find these things this week and yet I'm running out of time to put them away properly!! (sigh) Apparently this is not the year I can complain about not having resources to teach with. Mr. Gagne has stacked a huge pile of books near the doorway and I don't normally use textbooks because they become outdated so fast! I'm feeling overwhelmed by our new math adoption. There's just so much to it which is good but you still have to find a place to keep it all,

I called my students yesterday.. well actually I spoke with some of their family members. You know what? It's going to be a great year! I can't wait to meet everyone tomorrow and what's messy will just be messy. There's more important things than cleaning.. although I'd hate for parents to think I'm disorganized...
Well, right after the 2nd grade teams science lessons tomorrow, I'll clean. It should be okay...

I hope!

Curriculum Bundles

Pflugerville ISD has been hard at work analyzing and breaking down our TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) into 3 week "bundles", for lack of a better word. The TEKS are our state mandated curriculum that teachers agree to teach when they sign their contract each year. I'm a TEKS fanatic. Now, I'm not the kind who can spout "Math 2.13B" off and know which TEKS that is exactly, but you can be sure that if I'm teaching it, it's a TEKS. The beauty of this bundling that our district has spent a great deal of time, money and energy on, is that the bundling breaks the TEKS down into managable, related chunks. This makes it easy to plan and implement since the TEKS can be overwhelming for even veteran teachers. It also takes a great deal of stress off teachers when they wonder, "Did I cover 2.7D?". (Well, maybe all teachers don't really wonder that, but I'm sure you understand my point.) It standardizes the curriculum throughout the district. If you move during the school year to another PISD school, your child's education will continue on track. If you ever have time, go to the Texas Education Association website and look at the TEKS for your child's grade level. Remember, there are about 14 TEKS (with A, B, C, and D) for each subject that we teach so you will need to look at the English Language Arts section, then scroll to the Math section, then Social Studies, Health, P.E. Art, Music, Science, etc. (It's actually a little scary all that we are responsible for but hey, teachers LIKE to live on the edge of sanity. ;) ) At any rate, I'm digressing... the point I was trying to make is that we have these neat little "bundles" for this next year that have been tied together into managble chunks by lots of people throughout our district including me and my friend, Elaine (we worked on Science), my friends Molly and Sara (who worked on Language Arts), and Katrina and Wendy (who worked on Math)....
The bundles and what we will be learning can be found on the Resources page of this website. We learn a lot of things in second grade! Be sure to check out what your child will be learning.

New Math Adoption

Today I went to the new math textbook introduction. Every 7-10 years, states around the country choose new textbooks for a particular subject. The purchasing is staggered out so school districts don't go broke buying all new textbooks in one year for all subjects. This year it was the math textbook's turn to be reviewed. We've been using Math Investigations at Windermere Primary School for a few years now, so it was no surprise when we choose a new math text that correlates with Investigations. Our new textbook is called enVision Math. This week representatives from Pearson are on hand to train all grade levels in how to use the new textbook. Today was 2nd and 3rd grades' opportunity to be trained. So, of course, I went. I'm glad I did. This might be a math textbook that I actually use. There are certainly quite a few resources that I know will be invaluable for the classroom, but I am an "Investigations" teacher. I actually had the good fortune to try out Investigations when it was in it's first printing and loved how it is based on research with children in actual math classes. Yes, sometimes it's difficult to find things to grade since most of the activities are hands-on explorations that kids do in small groups or pairs, but I think the company is getting better at that. They are developing more tasks that can be graded so it's not so hard when it's time to tell parents about their child's progress in math. What I like best about Investigations is that kids really end up understanding math concepts instead of just memorizing formulas or facts. That's really important when you come to a problem that you've never solved before. You have to be able to think about what you know, then use what's appropriate to help solve the problem. We do it everyday as adults and don't think anything of it but kids haven't had the life experience we've had, yet.

What really got me about this new textbook is the technology and online components available to us -- yes, even to parents. Families with computers will be able to access math games and the textbook online or by CD to assist their kids at home. I'm thinking again about Dr. Daggett's lecture back in June and think that this math book with its components will fit in nicely with our technologically savvy students. I saw a bank's advertisement on a billboard in Minnesota that bragged that their bank was "as connected as your teenager". It seems that our children outpace us in integrating technology into their lives. They don't have the reluctance that adults seem to harbor about technology. Not that all adults are technology-phobes, that's not what I mean at all. I am just amazed at how kids so easily incorporate new learning into their lives while it takes more effort for adults to do so. My principal has a vision that technology will be seamlessly integrated into each school day. She sends us lesson ideas and provides us with the equipment that we need as she is able, within her budget. I love her vision and I am striving to make it happen. It's hard though because I really have to think about where to integrate technology. Soon I'll be getting a Promethean board (no, I haven't been told I'll get one of those that will be installed in October, I'm just using the power of positive affirmations) and I'll raise my technology usage to a new level and then I'll learn some more and raise it even higher. Maybe this new math curriculum has ideas that I can already embed into my lessons without having to think up the ideas myself! Wouldn't that be nice? I'm one of those people who just need a spark and I can catch on fire with ideas...

End of Summer School

It's been a great day. I was even happier yesterday when I graded my students' End of Summer School Math Test. WOW!! Those kids worked HARD! I was really frustrated as I walked around the classroom supervising the test and saw answers that I thought-- "how could they think that?"-- but of course, it was a test and there's nothing to say during a test except perhaps, "You'll just have to do your best!" and smile encouragingly. But, after I graded the tests, I compared the End of regular school Math test to the End of Summer School test and was floored! One child went from a 20% to a 76%. Great, huh? But she wasn't the only one, just perhaps the most dramatic. Kids who had a 25% at the end of the regular school year went up to a 64%. ALL students made an improvement in their scores and most more than doubled their grade. Now, I don't say this to brag. Truly, I'm not the only one doing all the work in that classroom. I do invest a lot into my students-- even during a short amount of time like summer school. I work hard to make the classroom a learning environment that's safe and comfortable. I try to build in routines that make kids' lives easier. It's always easier for children when their day consists of a routine. Then they know what to expect and can concentrate on the concepts they are supposed to be learning. It's rewarding when you work so hard and agonize over your students and then watch them grow and bloom! THAT'S the best feeling ever. So summer school is over now. I sent them off with books to read and math packets to complete for the remaining time of summer. Do you know what I thought the moment I realized they were all safely on their way home? Can you even imagine?

I thought the same thing I do at the end of each school year....

"Oh, no! Everything they learned will fall out of their heads tonight when they fall asleep! Everything we've worked so hard to learn will melt away under the heat of the summer sun! I hope they read every day!!! Please, please, please let them read everyday!"

Please help them read!

Texas Collaborative Conference

I've been involved with the Texas Collaboratives for quite a while. In El Paso, I was trained by the Dana Center in math and UTEP in Writing through the UTEP Regional Collaborative. When I moved here to Pflugerville, I found myself working with the Region 13 Collaborative for Excellence in Science Teaching. These past two years, I've been working with the ACC Collaborative in Science based in Pflugerville, Round Rock and Hutto. The Texas Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching is a network of Pre-K through Graduate college level educators that provide sustained professional development to elementary and secondary teachers. Here's their link if you want to find out more... http://thetrc.org/trc/
For the first time, I was able to attend the state conference. It was held here in Austin out at the airport Hilton.... wow!!!

Well, first of all, if I've been involved with something this long, there must be something that I'm getting out of it. I just don't stick with things because I like to say I was a member since 1991. As a matter of fact, I'm not much of a joiner at all. It's hard for me to even plan lessons with my very cool second grade team that I love! When I had to change from the Region 13 Collaborative to the ACC Collaborative, I did some serious grieving because I missed all my science friends who were as geeky as I am. (Some might say we don't have a life, but I say we LOVE life and want to learn all about it.) An aside: It was a little like the television show, Big Bang Theory when we all went out the McDonald Observatory... except we're all female and no, I wasn't Sheldon! Good times!

But it's not just the friendships that you develop when you are involved in such intense professional development. It's also the concepts and the things you learn that make you a better teacher! And seriously folks, science is so cool! There's always something new happening based upon new developments, technology and research. How irresistible is that?

Anyway, back to the conference... I went to two of the best sessions EVER!!! EVER!! The first one was "Building Motivation for Journaling" which, to be honest, was not my first choice. But I was late and couldn't get into my first choice session and am I glad for that! They used some Dinah Zike foldables for science and I was SO into it! I can't wait to make the the little scientist with the science class rules in his jacket with my students. They are going to love making the little magnifying glass holder with paper bags and so much more! I had had a challenging day working at summer school that day and I just wanted to go home, fall asleep and pretend it was all a nightmare but I felt compelled to attend the conference since it was quite expensive and it wasn't my cash. But that first session jazzed me up and I was ready to teach all over again! Of course, as compulsive as I am, I came home and ordered two Dinah Zike books so I can plan new foldables for my class....yeah, I spend a lot of money on my classroom.... Then I charged out of that session excited about the next session and again, the one I wanted was filled and so I found myself in a podcasting session with Stephanie Paramour-- from my old crew, the Region 13 Collaborative. Steph is a dynamo and she is an incredible teacher. I know that she's finished her Master's Degree but in my mind, she is really a Master Teacher. Steph got me all FIRED UP about using podcasts in the classroom so after I got home and spent too much money on Dinah Zike's website (hey, I wonder if I could talk the district into sending me to Dinah's "Foldables Camp"-- it's only $900.00 and I would be a trained foldables trainer... there's a new grant cycle coming up!....), then I went onto iTunes and spent hours reviewing podcasts. I found a few that might work for my second graders but most are geared toward an older audience, even third graders. But do you think that deterred me? No, now I'm just convinced that my class will have to develop some podcasts to involve the younger kids! What a great day! What a great conference! A pretty low day ended up recharging me completely. That's a good day.

Breakfast In America

Since 1964 when the U.S. Government commissioned many educational research projects on student achievement, we have known that breakfast is one of the most important factors in the success of students in schools. Even our physicians and the AMA have declared that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If we think about all the time our body functions without food in the evening until we eat the next day, we KNOW that we need to eat. Yet how many of us actually get out of bed in time to make that meal a possibility?

In many of my education classes (back in the day), we talked quite often about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It's a simple pyramid design based upon Dr. Maslow's study of human behavior and learning. In a nutshell, it says that until we have our needs taken care of at each level, we are UNABLE to progress onto the next levels. The pinnacle of Maslow's pyramid is "Self-Actualization" (to become all we can be).
Basic survival is the first level. We need to know that we have food and shelter before we can learn anything more. Children going to school hungry are unable to ignore the rumbling of a hungry tummy. They are restless and easy to distract. They are not at all concerned about learning to read or how to subtract, they want to eat. And yet, knowing this for the past 40 years, what has the government done about it? Not much.

But, there is still hope! Here in summer school, we serve breakfast each day to every child without cost to the families. It takes about 15 minutes for the students to eat their cereal or other breakfast item and to drink their milk and juice, and yet, it is probably the most powerful 15 minutes I feel I invest in the day. By the time the students have finished eating breakfast, I have finished with all the paperwork and both the teacher and the students are ready to learn. We start right in on Math and we zoom through until recess. Kids can focus, they've had food AND a chance to socialize, they are ready to learn!
Until we can get breakfast in every school, it is important for families to realize how critical breakfast is for children.

So, as I ask my parents each year during parent orientation, "Please, PLEASE, feed your children breakfast before sending them to school OR make sure they get to school in time to have breakfast. It is one of the three most important things you can do to increase the chances of academic success for your child.

Dental Health

This morning as I was brushing my teeth, I remembered a picture I took when I went to Japan several years ago. Japan has a national health plan and one of the ways they strive to control health costs is to teach children healthy habits. One of those habits is to brush their teeth after meals. Each child brought to school a small cloth sack containing a tooth brush, a small travel size tube of toothpaste and a cup. All of the children's toothbrush sacks were hanging outside their classroom door next to the sink on coat hooks. After lunch, everyone went to the sinks where they brushed their teeth.
Brushing my own teeth caused made me to wonder how many of my students have dental insurance? I remember a few students going to the dentist this year, but not many. True, most of the appointments were probably made outside school hours and so I never knew about them but through all the years that I have taught, I see more and more families who do not have health or dental insurance and therefore never go to the doctor or dentist. And the numbers increase as the economy continues to slow down.

Then I started thinking about all the spare fabric and remnants that I have in my craft closet that could easily be turned into small "dental health" sacks. I wondered how parents would react if I asked them to bring a toothbrush and paste to put in the sacks so we could brush our teeth this year.

Hmmmm... Shall I???

Professional Development

It's the end of the year and while most people think teachers are already lying beside the pool, I have just finished with three workshops (2 that I've given) and am now thinking forward to summer school which starts tomorrow. I haven't even been checked out of my classroom yet!

I'm crazy about science and I am always looking for ways in which to integrate science into the core curriculum which was exactly what the presenter of today's workshop spoke about. Dr. Daggett is a leader in educational reform and we here in Pflugerville are filled with the desire to make our schools the best they can be for our students. We've spent some serious time looking at the statewide student learning expectations and developing "bundles" for our district. Now Dr. Daggett comes to us preaching things things that I would dearly love to see implemented here in Pflugerville-- like year-round schooling, looping with classes and reading in the content areas. (Yes, I know I'm spouting a bunch of education-ese, but this is how we talk when we are alone in teacher groups.)

Year-round schooling challenges the archaic notion that students need the summer off to help out on the farm. Let's be honest, most of my second graders are not allowed out of the house much less helping out on any community farm that may be in our area. It is my fear, that at this very moment, all their hard-earned learning from last year is seeping out of their head because they haven't picked up a book once since school let out! Year-round schooling gives students and teachers the chance to have a greater impact on student achievement through more "learning curves" in a year. What I mean by that is, we typically test students when they come in at the beginning of the year. Usually they have lost a few reading levels and some math skills as a result of two months of non-academic activity. In those first six weeks, we see huge growth (a learning curve upwards) in what they remember and learn. Then the learning "levels out" until we return from Winter Break where we see huge gains in learning again. Year round schooling typically goes for nine weeks at a stretch, then takes a two week "inter-session" break. That two week inter-session period is a great time to catch kids who are showing difficulties and need additional teaching or tutoring to get back on track. Other kids get a break and not all teachers teach the inter-session, so some teachers get time off then as well. When school resumes, we get that upwards learning curve again because not a lot of learning is lost, a rest period has occurred and we are off on another learning spree. Those "learning curves" occur more often in year-round schooling than does in a regular school calendar. I also like the fact that kids who are falling behind don't fall SO far behind. Teachers know that after nine weeks those students who are at-risk can get some additional tutoring.

Looping is staying with the same class for two years. I have looped several times and found it to be invaluable for myself and my students. The first time I looped, I was unprepared for what would occur. Like I had for every year before, I prepared the beginning of the year activities. Those activities are designed to introduce the teacher to the children as well as the children to the teacher. Teachers find out all kinds of information about students during those first two weeks of school. Children find out a lot about their teacher as well. Well, the first time I had looped, I had moved from 5th to sixth grade with my students and I was ready with the learning expectations students had to achieve at 6th grade but I wasn't prepared to find that all my "beginning of the year/getting to know you" activities would be worthless. We spent the first hour or so catching up on what had happened to all of us over the summer and then Crystal looked at me and said, "So, when are we going to get started, Miss?" And we were off. We learned so much that year! We had a year long study of whales and marine life. I knew that while Ernesto might smile and say "yes", he had absolutely no idea what I was saying to him, I had to push my ESL strategies to the maximum so he would learn English AND the curriculum. I knew who needed challenges, I knew who needed help, and I knew it all before we even started the year. All because I knew my students like no one else-- I had just spent nine months getting to know them the year before! Looping is exciting for teachers and beneficial for student achievement. It benefits everyone involved.

We are on fire in Pflugerville and Windermere Primary is an awesome school! I am looking forward to next year and all that will happen. I'm excited to try out our new curriculum bundles. I'm hopeful that the trainings I have given our teachers will result in increased interest in science as well as increased student achievement. And I am excited about this website. I think I will be a wonderful way to connect the school and the home. That ALWAYS works to our children's benefit!