Parent Enrichment Activities

I have certainly appreciated the moms that have planned and carried out enrichment activities with my students. These are photos from the Joseph activity. Everyone had a great time! Thanks, moms!!!

A Tribute

A great woman passed away in the wee hours of this morning. Her name was Catherine Koerth. She was 93 years old. She spent 40 years of her life teaching children in rural Texas. She was my 6th grade teacher. She was my inspiration. She was my ideal of what a teacher should be. She was my friend. If I am half the teacher she was then I think I've done well!

The greatest thing I can tell you about Mrs. Koerth is that she walked with Jesus. She was a wonderful Christian lady. She will be missed. She will not be forgotten. Rest in peace, dear lady. Your legacy lives on.

Weather Changes

I awoke this morning before the alarm sounded. The wind woke me up. Our first really cool 'norther' has blown in. Unfortunately, it did not bring us much needed rain but we can be thankful for the cooler temperatures. And we'll be reaching for jackets before we set off to school tomorrow morning.

I could have told you yesterday that the weather was going to change today! The 'barometers' of my students were fluctuating rather wildly! Now, I am a reasonably educated woman and I know that scientists say that such a statement is merely an old wives' tale and hasn't a grain of truth to it. They just need to come and visit our school and observe! It's not that my students behavior is necessarily bad but they are definitely different. They are usually a bit more excitable and don't focus quite as well as they should.

With the weather change and the high winds comes an increased fire danger all across our state. I know of at least two first grade dads who are volunteer firefighters. There might be others. If you know a firefighter (volunteer or paid) please tell him/her thank you. They risk their lives and give up time with their families to help protect our communities. They are heroes each and every time they answer that call.

May God bless your family! May God bless and protect our firefighters and other emergency personnel.

Classroom Helper

A former student came to see us today. She is in high school and had the day off. Instead of sleeping in or hanging out with her friends she came to FBS and volunteered her services! She wound up in my classroom and I put her to work. She worked hard and she worked long and saved me many hours of before/after hours work. I really appreciate her servant heart and her willingness to do whatever was asked of her.

Thank you Taylor N.!! You have grown and matured into a wonderful young woman!

Apologies Required!

We teachers are not perfect and this teacher certainly isn't! I had to apologize not once, but twice today to some of my students.

The first bit of hot water I found myself in was with my first graders. I forgot to tell them yesterday that our librarian is going to be gone tomorrow (their usual day to check out books) and that they would be going to the library today. What that meant was that several of them didn't have their books and thus couldn't get a new one. This is a group of students who love to read! It's serious business! They forgave me--I think!

Then I went to my third grade history class and reviewed a lesson that we covered last week. I had turned to the wrong page in my lesson plan book. I caught my error and we did the correct lesson but not before they rolled their eyes and said 'we already know THAT!' I pointed out to them that a little bit of review never hurts anyone, especially when there might be a quiz or test in the future.

I'm really glad that they forgave me but most importantly, I'm so glad that God forgives us all when we err! He is a faithful and loving Father.

May God bless each of you and your families.

'Rithmetic

I've blogged about Reading which I've always loved. I've blogged about Writing which I learned to love. And that just leaves the third 'R'--'Rithmetic.

If I demonstrated thickness between my ears when it came to writing I have to say my brain was a brick wall when it came to anything Math related. I did just fine with adding and subtracting but when they decided I should learn Multiplication and Division---well, let's just say it took a long time and I wasn't the top student in the class. But I learned and rocked right along until I hit Algebra I in high school. And I'm suprised I didn't send poor Mr. Adams straight to the crazy house! That man wanted me to solve for x (or y or z or whatever) and he thought surely I could understand those problems that read a train left station A at a certain time and a train left station B at a certain time and when would they meet up!! It was almost too much for me to absorb but I did--more or less.

And when I got to college, I thanked Mr. Adams over and over again in my mind. Whether he realized it or not, he taught me well and while I was not a stellar student, I did manage to get through the college Math class. And I worked my way through three more years thinking I was done with Math. WRONG!!! I got to my senior year and discovered that while I had enough Math credits to graduate I was one short of the number required to get a teaching certificate. So I took a deep breath and enrolled in a one credit course called Calculator Programming. Sounds easy? WRONG again! Understand that this was back in the day when the university had one computer and it was located in a house sized building! And it was slower than molasses. Our calculators were huge in comparison to today's pocket models.  I'm still not sure what I learned in Calculator Programming but I do know that I spent an inordinate amount of time in the professor's office for tutoring and nearly drove my poor husband nuts at night as he tutored me some more. But I passed, got the credit, got the diploma and the teaching certificate.

But DO NOT WORRY---I can do first grade math really, really well. I can even do second grade math really, really well. Beyond that? I haven't given that a shot in a very long time! All three of my children managed to get through school without a lot of help from their mother in the math department. Thank God for their daddy.

I love teaching first graders and I love teaching history. I'll leave the math to others who are far more capable than me!

Field Trip!!

We are so fortunate to have a world class university in our 'backyard'. Whether one is an Aggie or NOT (I'm not, but I'm not a Longhorn either--in case you wonder!), one has to admire the educational opportunities that are available just over the Brazos River. We had the opportunity to visit the campus of the Health Science Center and the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library today. Our time there was well spent and we appreciate the opportunity we were given to visit.

The HSC has a state of the art simulation unit where students in the biomedical fields can practice and hone the skills necessary to become health care professionals. It was amazing! Our time at the library was focused on the Presidential Election and Conquering Cancer exhibits.
Lest I forget, we also descended on CiCi's Pizza and fed some hungry students! I never cease to be amazed at the amount of pizza that junior high boys can consume!

Thanks to the parents who went with us and who joined us for lunch.