Why We Love Her

My principal, Linda Fields, is an excellent leader, wonderful with children and teachers, and knows her stuff. The email she sent out at 6:00 AM this morning is an example of why her staff loves her and would do just about anything for her. I am fortunate to work with Linda.

All,

Please be careful driving to school this morning!  There are many power outages and I have heard of many stoplights being out via the TSC bus radio.  Apparently, the north end was hit hard by last night's storm.  There are many limbs as well as other debris in the roadways.  Please wait until it is light outside before coming;  everything at school can wait.

See you later rather than sooner!

Linda

And I Even Get Paid!

I love to teach. If I can't be a mama at home all day with my children, then being with someone else's kids all day is next best. And I am fortunate to have a PLUM of a position teaching gifted 4th and 5th graders.

Just yesterday and today, some remarkable things have happened during the day where children took something I had given them to learn about and absolutely RAN AWAY with it. They came up with ideas and learned far more than I had intended.

First, WU and MB were intrigued by the Sator Square JT and DT had given me for Christmas last year and which I display in the classroom. A Sator Square is a palindrome of five Latin words, and they have been found from the ruins of Pompeii to France. They look like this:

Pretty cool, to my way of thinking, and to the kids in my class.

WU and MB asked if they could investigate it during the time we normally read silently after lunch. Since both boys are excellent students, I gave them the green light to get on the computer and see what they could find out. I sat at my desk grading papers while the rest of the kiddos read at their own desks.

Suddenly, the boys cried aloud, "Mrs. I!! You have GOT to come see this!" and beckoned me over. (The other kids were dying of curiosity, but stayed in their seats.)

The boys had found a bonanza of information about the origin of the Sator Square, its translation, and history. There were even connections to Christianity (the letters can be rearranged into a cross spelling out "Our Father" in Latin with A and O left for Alpha and Omega.)

The boys felt the rest of the students would be just as interested as they were in the Sator Square info, and asked if they could have 15 minutes, the use of the ENO board, and my tablet computer to discuss their findings! (Oh, and it "would be best if the lights were out" as well. Haha, I love it!)

Those boys were right - the other kids were fascinated, and we spent nearly half an hour learning about the palindrome and its quirks. Some kids got so excited that they have been borrowing my dictionaries and trying to create their own Sator's Squares using English words.

It was wonderful to stand aside and watch those two boys follow an interest and then be so excited about what they had learned that they had to share it with the rest of their classmates. But there was still more to come that would make me appreciate being with these kids.

Earlier in the morning that same day, I had been reading aloud  A Wrinkle in Time (my FAVORITE book) and its opening line is, "It was a dark and stormy night." We looked at the history of the phrase, including some Peanuts comics where Snoopy begins his novels with that line, and then I gave the children the assignment to write a creative piece using the phrase as their first sentence.

WU came up to me and asked if he could do his story as a Powerpoint. I responded that I really wanted to see his writing on paper.

"No, you don't understand. I will write the story, but I also want to do it as a PowerPoint."

I wasn't totally clear on what he meant, but I know him well enough (this is his second year with me) to feel comfortable in trusting him to do the assignment and then add to it, so I gave him the green light.

To my surprise, when he arrived this morning, he said, "I brought the PowerPoint on a flash drive. Will we have time to show it today?"

"You mean, you've finished it already?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah, and the rough draft is done, too. But I went ahead and did the story as a PowerPoint. Can I show it?"

You know, when a child has taken your assignment that seriously, you are NOT going to deny them, so after lunch we turned on the ENO board and showed WU's story. Unfortunately the ENO board had sound problems, so I will have to have our computer tech fix it before we can watch it in its entirety.  But I saw enough to realize that WU had actually filmed a MOVIE of his story, turned it into a PowerPoint, and done it all in one night!

(For perspective, this is a child who came into my room as a 4th grader with a flag in his file that he was difficult and a behavior problem. Yeah, right! Some behavior problem!!)

Believe it or not, there are three more things I could write about that happened during the past two school days where children became so excited in their learning they took it way beyond my original intention. For example, KO who is so intrigued by the Greek alphabet we are learning, he asked for a class roster so he could write everyone's name in Greek. He proceeded to sit down during free time and do so! (And it was a struggle because there are only 24 letters in the Greek alphabet and 26 in ours, plus the letters/sounds don't match up.)

Or NC who just finished reading The Odyssey and borrowed my Greek cookbook, trying to find recipes that Odysseus might have eaten. She wants to cook something authentic for our class to try when she presents her paper on the book.

An avid reader, NC loves classic literature so much that in her "It was a dark and stormy night" piece, she includes references to other classic literature, and does it well! She was so excited for me to read her rough draft, and beamed when I discovered those references to other books.

I cannot believe I get paid to do this every day. I am one lucky gal.

Friday Night Frenzy

School has begun, and that means everyone is excited about the FRIDAY NIGHT FRENZY! The newscasters have been talking about it for several weeks, and many Hoosiers, including Craig and me, participate.

Just what is Friday Night Frenzy? Well, it's this:

 Friday night high school football! (In the winter, it's basketball.)

 Even better when it is under the lights. This is West Lafayette playing at Crawfordsville last night.

And this is Craig, watching his team play. He was captain of the West Side team back in the day. (Personally, I was actually watching the thunderstorms build in the clouds to the south of the field.)

A few years ago he started sheepishly asking me on Fridays if I minded if he went to the game. Then he started inviting me to tag along. (I think he was surprised when I accepted.) It has become a fall tradition for us to follow the team. 

As you could probably gather from my comment about watching the clouds, I could care LESS about the game! I like to people watch, enjoy the fresh air and the atmosphere, and just spend time with Craig. We've even added a tradition where we stop somewhere at an out of the way local cafe and eat dinner before the game. Last night it was Arthur's Cafe in downtown Crawfordsville, on the town square across from the courthouse. (I had the chimichangas, Craig the taco salad. Yum!)

We both look forward to the Friday night game, and we unwind from our busy week as we drive, chat, eat, and watch the game together. (Diehards even watch the 11:00 PM news for the half hour broadcast of game coverage from around the locale. Er, I am not a diehard, but Craig is!)

One of our new "empty-nester" traditions. Just don't ask me the score. I never know! :D

A Thank You to Teachers

Matthew Tully, a writer for The Indianapolis Star, wrote the following thank you letter to teachers. Made my day.

Dear teachers:

Well, the first day of fall doesn't officially arrive for another month or so. But this year's summer vacation is over. Across Indiana, thousands of you have returned to work in recent weeks or will do so in the coming days.

On behalf of fellow Hoosiers from Valpo to Vincennes, I want to say a few things.

First, thank you.

If there is a more challenging job than being a teacher, I don't know what it is. For far too modest pay, and despite far too many obstacles, you are each asked to corral, inspire and educate dozens of students every day, in class after class. You do so in the face of federal, state, district and school rules and regulations that don't always make sense and, sadly in many cases, despite parents who don't make your jobs easier.

Thank you for taking on a tremendously difficult job.

Second, good luck.

I've heard from many of you that these are nerve-wracking times. A long list of state education reforms is kicking in and, in a few Indianapolis schools, teachers will enter buildings that are on the verge of a state takeover. The demands and expectations on public school teachers are higher than ever, because the stakes are so high. The scrutiny is more intense because of the desperate need to improve student achievement and make sure our state's children have more opportunities.

But it's heartbreaking to hear many teachers say they are under attack. Yes, some critics go too far. What's really happening, though, is people finally realize just how important teachers are and how impactful great teachers can be. So please know your fellow citizens are rooting for you.

Third, you are rock stars.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a person happy with the way his life has turned out but who can't name a teacher who made a positive difference. A great teacher often sticks in a person's head and heart for decades. Many of us know our lives could have gone in many different directions and credit a teacher with opening a better worldto us or just helping to keep us in line.

I recently spent a few hours reading up on the late economist Milton Friedman in preparation for a speech I gave. In my research, I came across a quote in which Friedman credited his success, which included a Nobel Prize, in part on a geometry teacher who opened his eyes to the beauty of math. When I read that, I thought of the many times I've heard highly successful people -- from presidents to movie stars -- say a teacher played a defining role in their lives.

It's important work you do.

In recent years, I've become sort of a groupie of great teachers. I find few things more enjoyable and fascinating than watching a wonderful teacher lead a classroom full of students. It truly is an art. And a science.

Along the way, I've talked to students who said the only reason they stayed out of trouble or endeavored to attend college was because of a certain teacher who pushed them. I've met teachers who have improved an entire school's test scores by rallying their colleagues and others who worked furiously to help individual students get their diplomas.

The summer break is over. Your latest journey is beginning. It's challenging, frustrating, complex and vital work that you do. So thank you for the energy and enthusiasm you pour into your students, for the many hours you invest in our state and nation's future, for the lives you will change forever this school year.

Gettin' Some Respect

This morning my cell phone rang fairly early. I didn't expect any calls at that time, so I'd left it back in the bedroom. In the time it took me to hobble back there, the caller had hung up.

The number on the Caller ID was familiar, but no name was associated with it. So, I googled the number. What came up was Endocyte, the well-known cancer research facility in the Purdue Research Park. That meant it was either our stake president or our bishop. My guess?  The stake president. He also happens to be CEO of Endocyte. (Our bishop is chief financial officer.)

I assumed he had called from his direct line to his office, so I blithely dialed the number, expecting President Ellis to pick up. To my surprise, I got the company switchboard.

I awkwardly explained that someone had called and I was returning their call, but that I didn't know who it was. (I was quite embarrassed. Bear in mind they have 200+ employees.) The woman who had answered my call asked who I thought it could be.

I responded, "It was probably either Ron Ellis or Matt Call."

Silence on the other end for  a few moments.

"Oh!" she said, with new respect in her voice. "I will check with them."

A moment later I heard President Ellis' voice saying, "Hi, Lynn. Thanks for calling me back." And he began discussing an idea he had which he wanted to run by me.

Sometimes when you have a lay clergy you forget that your leaders have lives and professions outside of your experience with them. I respect President Ellis tremendously already, as a leader as well as  a person, but it was interesting to hear the respect in the voice of the woman who answered the phone at his place of employment.

(Note to self - you have his cell phone number. Call that next time!)

Stepping Stone Garden

When JC, Trinalee, Braden, and Addie come to visit, we love to make stepping stones to commemorate our time together. Over the years we have made many of them, some with tiny hand- or footprints, a few big footprints with jewels pressed into the concrete as toenails, and others with our names and the date the stone was made surrounded by various baubles. There is even one with Zeus' pawprints!

Some of the stepping stones have gone home with the kids for their own gardens, while others have stayed here with me.

This week I have been cleaning out the front flower beds, discovered I now had twelve of them scattered around the gardens, and decided I would put all the stones together into a sort of stepping stone garden.

I put them near the garden fountain (Craig and I are wondering if we might find some frogs or toads in the fountain now that there are rocks making the water more accessible), added a bronzed horse on a stake, and love the result! I keep "stepping" outside to look at it. 

Next year I may plant some annuals like marigolds or begonias among the stones. And, our long term plan is to actually use the stepping stones as a path to some raised beds we have discussed for the back yard. Looks like we have a good start on stepping stones for that path!

Teaching My Peers

Last May I was asked by Faith Christian School to teach a seminar on gifted education to their teachers in August. I accepted, and today was the big day.

 I love to teach, but I was wondering a little about teaching a group of teachers in a private, religious school as I know there are some differences in the teaching requirements they have compared to public schools. Plus, I have had 3-4 students who came from their school - kids who were pulled out of Faith Christian School and put in Hershey so they could be in the 4/5 gifted class. I wondered if they were aware of that, and if so, how it made them feel? (No teacher likes to feel he or she failed with a child.)

Things went very well - the teachers were warm and welcoming, and sincerely interested in meeting the needs of their gifted kiddos. They freely admitted it was a gap they had and were aware of, and listened intently to what I had to present. In fact, we were only scheduled for 50 minutes, but we went nearly an hour and a half. I told them they did not need to stay that long, but they kept asking questions and no one left.

While preparing, I called the Loftus, Blanchard, and Roberts families and asked if they had kept any of the projects they'd completed while in my classroom. Did they! Just look:

 Three projects from the Blanchard girls that I put on display for the teachers.

 Games from a few Independent Studies and some Classics projects from the Roberts and Loftus gals. Not shown in the video commercial Andrew filmed advertising Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It knocked their socks off (as it did mine when he showed it during a Classics presentation!)

 One of my all-time favorite student projects - Carobou's made-to-book-specs Frankenstein! It is 8 feet tall and had to be propped on a ladder to display.

I also did some Math games (these are Logic Links) with the teachers as a warm up before we got started into the presentation.

All in all, the seminar went well, and I think I gave them some ideas on how to better meet the needs of their gifted kiddos. I also gave them my email address so they could contact me if they had more questions or concerns.

It was so much fun teaching, that it made me excited to have school start next week!

Happy Anniversary!!

Happy 1st Anniversary, Curt and Vanessa!!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 6th Anniversary, Kyle and Ashley!

Look Closely!

Take a look at this:

I walked past this flower pot outside the door to Hershey several times today, but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

A parent who had dropped by, though, discovered that there was something unusual under the pot and took this picture:

A baby bunny!

Richard, one of the custodians, was mowing the grounds today, and my guess is that now there is little cover for the baby rabbits, and so this one found shelter under the upturned flower pot.