Text 10135, 122 rader
Skriven 2007-01-07 09:32:00 av hap newsom
     Kommentar till en text av Ruth Haffly
Ärende: RE: Flat Stanley
========================
Hey Ruth!
-> 
->  hn> Hey Jawjah Ruth!
-> 
-> It'll work; I'm here now instead of HI. (G)
-> 
Yep, new places, new faces, new friends to meet!

-> -> teaching 3rd grade now but the curriculum is so intense that they don't
-> -> have much time for "extras" like Stanley.
-> 
->  hn> That was the same reason Anne had for not doing Stanley this
->  hn> year...just too much stuff to get done and this year the whole group
->  hn> of kids is "slower" and doesn't get things as quickly so it takes more
->  hn> instructional time for them to grasp concepts and apply them.
-> 
-> But if they leave her classroom well grounded in the basics, so much
-> better.  A few weeks ago there was a big murder trial in town; the
-> newspaper got a letter to the editor complaining about the almost
-> uninteligable English of some of the young men on the witness stand.  A
-> few days later, another letter writer said it's because, altho English
-> is taught in the school system, there's a heavy use of Ebonics in the
-> community.  If Anne can teach her students well enough that they don't
-> fall back on non standard English, then it won't matter whether the kids
-> did Flat Stanley or not; they had a better teacher than one who may have
-> done the Flat Stanley and not concentrated on getting them as well
-> educated in the basics.  (stepping off my soapbox)
-> 
With these kids it's just get them to absorb as much as you can at the rate 
they can absorb it. There is a lot of pressure to meet "District Goals" and
with 
this group of kids (the whole grade level !) that's just gonna be a very tough 
goal to achieve. They are not stupid, they just don't catch on to anything 
very quickly (must have been something in the water that year{grin}) and it 
simply takes longer for them to grasp an idea and make it their own. They 
had the same problem at the first and second grade levels....but at the third 
grade level there is a district wide, and a state wide "learning assessment" 
series of exams they must take....so the pressure is much greater for them to 
meet the goals...Anne says it's like trying to go 50 mph in a car that will
only 
do 35mph. It's very frustrating for her and the other teachers at her grade 
level. The flat stanley project is really a great learning experience for the 
kids...they have to write, calculate math, geography, do a lot of reading, and 
be able to integrate all those concepts into a meaningful "report" Plus it's 
exciting and interesting to them and the children are usually very enthusiastic

about the whole experience....much better than (and often much more 
effective) than the "old" way. (off my soapbox (G))

-> -> Not that you've ever had to go down for an emergency, but still nice to
-> -> know.
-> 
->  hn> It really is! We've talked on the phone several times daily since she
->  hn> went back (grin) Both of us spent Wednesday doing tons of
->  hn> errands...and going to the post office!
-> 
-> We've talked several times with Rachel, once or twice with Deborah.
-> Steve is back to work on a regular schedule and I'm still half out of
-> things, fighting this crud.
-> 
We've talked with Amanda several times, but she's back into her final class (a 
very complicated statistica analysis class) and is spending about 30 hrs a 
week in homework for it, a LOT of work! After this she's off on her own to do 
her research and work on her Phd thesis. She has her oral boards sometime in 
May I think (she makes a presentation to a board of 6 phd's and then spends 
2-3 hours answering questions from them; very in depth and very intense) 
and then she'll be "in the field or lab" the rest of the way unless she is 
teaching a class or TA'ing in a class.

-> -> -> Cheese & crackers, plus plenty of liquids and antibiotics for me for 
New
-> -> -> Year' eve.  Hasn't been much solid food today either.
-> 
-> ->  hn> Not feeling well again? You've had a rough year...let's hope this 
new
-> ->  hn> year will be much more healthy for you!
-> 
-> -> The usual problem of asthmatics--bronchitis.  Fluctuating weather, more
-> -> so than we're used to, hit both of us hard.  Steve had a head cold that
-> -> almost went into a sinus infection; he's still coughing a bit every now
-> -> & then.  But, we both felt decent enough to get our sinuses cleared out
-> -> at an Indian restaurant last night. (G)I had an onion rava masala with a
-> 
->  hn> I love Indian food, we used to have a REALLY good one here...but the
->  hn> owner closed up shop and bought a SUBWAY franchise....what a
->  hn> tragedy!!!
-> 
-> Very much so! He probably figured he'd make a lot more money but did he
-> count in the franchise fee, cost of (inferior to what he was selling)
-> food, etc? He may get a lot of business from young people looking for a
-> quick meal but the long term, repeat customers are what keeps a place
-> going.
-> 
It was a small indian restaurant, he and his wife were the entire staff and I'm

sure it WAS a lot of work...and the SUBWAY Franchise was in a much more 
affluent area, AND it's "American"! I think it was a tragic loss, he was a good

cook who really knew his dishes and gave a great value for the price...but 
the American Dream is bigger better more and MORE....and he wanted 
it....sigh

-> -> I'm sort of back to my regular stuff.  Not quite as much as usual,
-> -> trying not to tire myself out so a lot of rest in between short spurts
-> -> of work.
-> 
->  hn> I have tons of stuff to catch up on ...and I have some painting ideas
->  hn> that I need to get on paper before they jump out of my head! And I
->  hn> need to make some beaded lanyards for Anne's co-teachers....so 
much to
->  hn> do so MUCH to do!
-> 
-> Sounds like here. I've got all sorts of sewing projects I'd like to do,
-> housework I should do, health I need to work on improving.........
-> 
I got one lanyard done for Anne yesterday, may try to get one more done 
today...for some reason my left hand is getting cramped holding those beads, 
and BOY O BOY does that hurt! (grin)
Chat with you soon!
hap 
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