Upside Down!

This was one of those days when the schedule left the room as the students were entering! From start to finish things were a bit on the topsy turvy side. And did we get everything done? No, we did not. But we did our best. I'm very thankful for an administrator that understands that some days are like this and doesn't hold it against me. I'm very thankful for a group of students who are flexible enough to do things in a different order.

Several first graders were able to take their very first AR test today! It almost didn't happen as the AR website was being cranky about their user names and passwords. We finally got that all sorted out and with some help from Mrs. Burns, we managed to get the tests done. Passing an AR test in first grade is a BIG DEAL because it enables the student to go straight to the 'goody bucket' without having to first collect 10 tickets.

We said goodbye to Mrs. Tracy today. She's been our Computer teacher for 11 years and we are going to miss her. She's going on to a new and exciting career as a vet tech! We're going to miss her a lot but we are pleased to welcome Mrs. Burns to the job.

Writing

I've written about Reading and now I'm going to tackle Writing. Let me start off by saying that I like to write--most of the time. And most of the time I find that I communicate well by writing. It wasn't always so!

Despite the best efforts of my teachers I was never a very good writer. I had trouble finding inspiration and I had trouble finding words. I'm sure that I put more than a few gray hairs in Mrs. Koerth's hair when I was in sixth grade. She was the teacher who made us do our very first research paper---we had to have footnotes and a bibliography and more than one page! I'm not sure that either of my high school English teachers held out much hope for my writing skills. After high school came college and there was more weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth over my tortured efforts in English classes.

But then came Colonel Russell Fudge. Colonel Fudge was a professor of political science at Howard Payne University--my alma mater. He was also the director of the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom--an honors program in social sciences. As his title suggests, he was a retired military man. And he was tough--oh, that man was tough. He held a bachelor's degree in journalism, advanced degrees in something else. He was a war veteran and he had taught at the Army War College. And he taught me to write! And he instilled a love of writing in me that I'd never felt before.

Now, while he was teaching me to write in his advanced political science classes he also managed to cause me no small amount of angst over the red ink that was 'bled' on my papers! I'm sure I caused him no small amount of angst with my thick headedness. But over time, I took the lessons I learned and I have done my best to put them to good use.

I also have to credit my friend Viv for helping me learn good writing skills. She's English and has worked as a journalist in London for all of her adult life. In the early days of our friendship (since age 14) we wrote long, newsy tomes to each other--books, I suppose. We've joined the electronic age and communicate via Facebook, email, or text message. Viv is an amazing communicator and can do so quite effectively using as few or as many words as the situation requires.

My first graders are starting to write stories in class. We're going slowly and some efforts are easier and better than others. How can you help your child? Just be an encourager. Praise all efforts whether it's a great story or not so great! Have your child write a sentence or two about something that he/she has seen or heard or read. We're learning about capitalization and punctuation but realize that those are skills that require a lot of practice. Don't give up. Don't get discouraged. Be a partner in your child's educational journey!

Thank you for all you do for your children. I have amazing students--be they first, third, fourth, or junior high students!

WRITE ON!!

More Awesome Eighth Graders

Awesome Eighth Graders

One of the blessings of a small school is that students of all ages can interact with each other. I'm so proud of our older students. They set such good examples for the younger children! Mrs. Perry and the Eighth Grade Science class hosted my first graders on Wednesday in the Science lab. The order of the day was to create 'robots'. Now these weren't walking, talking robots but rather imaginative creations! Fun was had by all as the older students assisted the younger students as they used their imaginations to make the perfect robot. If you see Mrs. Perry or one of those students, please tell them thank you!

Healthy Eating

Thanks so much to Jennifer P. and Stefanie J. for bringing an enrichment activity to first grade! I missed out on the fun (I was teaching another class) but photos were taken.

Reading

I like to get to work early! I'd much rather get there before school begins and take care of things rather than stay in the afternoon when I'm tired and ready to go home. Monday is my hall duty day and has been for many, many years. I like it that way even though I often see students who wander in half asleep and grouchy! Sometimes on Mondays I'm half asleep and grouchy, too!

But one thing I've noticed on Monday mornings and any other morning of the week are how many of our students love reading. Come walk down the hall some morning and you will see! It makes me very happy that our students are readers. It makes me happy when I overhear them discussing books that they have read with each other. We have our own unofficial literary society in the halls of FBS!

I've been passionate about reading for many years. I can remember when I discovered the joy of reading. I was in 4th grade and my teacher, Mrs. Mac, encouraged us to take books off her shelves and read.  I started off with the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy mysteries, as did my peers, and like our students I enjoyed discussing the merits of individual books with my friends.

I grew up in a tiny town about 120 miles northwest of here. I was adopted at birth and was raised an only child.  Most of my classmates lived on the farms and ranches that surround the area and during holidays and summers there was no way for us to spend time together. We occasionally spoke on the old fashioned land line telephone but it was so antiquated that it cut our calls after about 5 minutes! So books became my best friends. My parents, bless them, were not wealthy but the one thing they never denied me were books to read! I'm sure my teachers loved to see those Scholastic book order forms coming from my house because it was always huge and they got lots of bonus points. If you visit my childhood home today you will find a floor to ceiling bookshelf still laden with the books of my childhood. Those books were and are my friends.

I still read today. I've graduated to a Kindle (love it!) but I still like to turn the pages of a real book and read.
I'm thankful for Mrs. Mac and other teachers who encouraged me to read.

God bless you all!! And please pick up a book and read!

Remembering

I had my History students interview a parent, other family member, or friend about their remembrances of September 11, 2001. The questions were simple and most of the answers were brief. I hope it gave my students a sense of what we felt on that horrible day 10 years ago.

It was a day like all others at FBS. We were having class. A parent called and asked us to pray because a plane had it one of the twin towers. We were unsure of what that meant and we were not going to tell our students anything until we had more information. Mrs. Hadley got on the internet and printed off a news bulletin--copies of which I still have. It simply said a plane had hit the north tower and there was smoke. A few minutes later we got more information and knew that our nation was under attack. At that point, we gently informed our older students and we all prayed.

My thoughts ran in many different directions. I thought of my sister Denise who had retired from the USAF in 1999. I wondered if she would be called back to active service. I thought of my brother Tim who was celebrating his birthday. I thought of my youngest daughter who was in the panhandle attending college. I thought of other family members who were working or going to school somewhere. What I wanted most was to 'circle the wagons' and draw them all close. I knew no one who had lost their life or the life of a relative or friend and yet I felt a profound sense of loss. One of my student's reports alluded to the attack on Pearl Harbor. How true! Our country was directly attacked and the only thing we could do was sit helplessly and watch it happen--just as our families did in 1941.

A lot has happened in the last 10 years. I don't know where we are going in the next 10 years but I do know this: We must pray for our country. We must pray for our leaders--whether we agree with them or not. We must respect our fellow Americans without regard to race or religion. We must lift each other up. We must seek God's face. And we must celebrate the fact that we live in the greatest nation on the face of this earth!

God bless the U.S.A. And God bless each of you.

Heritage

I've just come home from the Kolache Festival. It was hot and crowded and I was more than happy to reach my house and the air conditioning!

What I don't like about the KF is the heat and the crowds and the occasional person(s) who behaves badly because of poor choices. But I don't want to focus on that.

I want to focus on what I do like about the event each year! It is a celebration of the Czech heritage and I applaud that! I love history and family history in particular and anything that inspires young people to learn more about their personal history gets an A+ from me!

Whether you are Czech or not, a native Texan or not, a native of Caldwell or not I encourage you and your family to get interested in the past. Find out who those ancestors were and what they did and where they lived. Dig out those old photos. The past can be a window to the future and you can build relationships in the process!!

I've had the privilege of learning about BOTH of my families--my adopted family and my birth family. It's been fun to see that I am a product of both nurture and nature.

Enjoy your weekend and celebrate your family!

Thank You

Thanks to Stefanie J. and Jennifer P. for bringing the USA Bingo game to first grade. Thanks to Kim E., Rachel J. and Tabbatha P. for joining in the fun! The students had a great time. I appreciate parents who are willing to share their time and talents with my students.

First Grade USA Bingo

The Golden Rule

Take a good look at these students! They are few in number but they have big hearts and caring spirits. They are doing for others what they would want done for themselves and their families and friends. They collected items to donate to relief efforts for the fire victims in our area. Thanks to Cody P. and Pastor Todd for assisting me in unloading these items at the collection site.

Take another good look at these students! They are the leaders of tomorrow. They will be our educators, our doctors, our nurses, our pastors........our politicians, our attorneys, our law enforcement officers, our fire fighters.  It's easy to say they are just kids or they are just adolescents but what they learn today will affect all of us in the future! It's humbling to think that I am afforded the opportunity to participate in their education. It's a privilege to do that in a school that is Christian.

Thanks, students! You are awesome. Thank you, parents! You are awesome, too.

Helping Hands

This is a message for my junior high students and their parents. I've put this in an email but want to make sure the word is out.

The Caldwell Area Ministerial Alliance is collecting items for our neighbors in Bastrop County. There is a list of items needed on the email I sent out.

Any junior high student who brings one or more of those items to school tomorrow or Thursday (make sure I see it!) will receive a daily grade of 100. Service to our fellow man is a Biblical principal that I feel is very important. Every item will say to someone that there are people who care!

Please pray for rain and for the fires to be contained.

God bless you all!!

Prayer

One of the blessings of teaching at FBS is that we can stop what we are doing at any time and pray--OUT LOUD!! This will be a week of many prayers--for rain, for our neighbors to the north and south and east and west who have lost much in the wildfires, and for the brave firemen and women who are doing their best to protect our public safety.

I was in west Texas over the Labor Day weekend and as we drove back home yesterday we could see smoke from the fires from Temple to Caldwell. We saw one grassfire just outside of Temple and pulled over for fire crews who were obviously being moved straight from one fire to another.

I am sure that many of you, like me, know someone who has been or is being directly affected by these awful fires. There's not much we can do right now except pray and I encourage each of you to do that--without ceasing.

I thank God for the privilege of teaching in this school. I thank God that we can be open prayer warriors in the halls and classrooms of this building. I thank God for our students and their families. And I pray that we will all remain safe.

God bless you all.