Halloween Chatter

It's Halloween and I am writing in between runs to the front door to hand out candy. Lisa, Craig, and I have been laughing at some of the things we've heard from our trick or treaters.

Child: Do you have a dog? Me: No, why? Are you afraid of dogs? Child: No. I like dogs.

I love your house.

Me: How are you? Little Girl: I'm three.

I like your bug. (I wore an oversized gold pearl and rhinestone spider pin.)

Oh, my gosh, it smells so good in every house!

Thank you!!

I TOLD you we'd already been to this house!

Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!

And my favorite which came from a group of middle school boys:

This isn't NEARLY enough candy. We gotta move faster. 

We also had a visit from Curt and Vanessa who were on their way to  a party dressed as characters from the film, E.T. !

Happy Halloween!

Dear Great Pumpkin

This morning I gave my students a reading assignment while I sat down to check in homework. As I sorted papers and ticked off names on the grading sheets, I became aware that my room was unnaturally quiet, so much so that you could hear the proverbial pin drop. (Unusual for a room filled with 28 fourth and fifth graders!)

Thinking something might be amiss, I looked up and glanced around to check. All heads were bent over the books and the children were fully absorbed in their reading.

I was surprised - this class tends toward the chatty side, plus tomorrow is Halloween and the excitement level has ratcheted waaaaaaay up.

You'd never have known, looking at those kids as they read.

I decided they needed a compliment, and so, in the spirit of the holiday, I got up from my desk, weaved my way around theirs to the white board, and wrote a note.

Dear Great Pumpkin,

Wow!! You would not BELIEVE how quiet my class is! (At this point I could hear some ripples of hushed laughter.) I know they're excited about tomorrow, but their behavior continues to be SUPERIOR. (More quiet laughter; that's an inside joke on the highest comment I put on student work.) Please, could they have extra candy when you rise out of the pumpkin patch? They deserve it!!

Thanks!
Mrs. I.

P.S. I like candy, too. Just sayin'...

Chuckling was heard about that last bit, too, but still not one student spoke, continuing to maintain that quiet reading atmosphere.

Good things happen to those who do the right thing, especially when they do it without being asked or reminded. And so tomorrow the Great Pumpkin is going to leave a piece of candy on their desks as a surprise and post his own note thanking them for being such good kids.

Postscript the next day
Sure enough, the Great Pumpkin paid us a visit the next day, leaving treats on everyone's desk.

Dear Mrs. I.,

You're right! (Per usual...) Your class is terrific, so I dropped by and left them a little something. It's also the most SINCERE classroom ever.

Happy Halloween!
The Great Pumpkin

An Update

After being gone for a week, my troubled student returned. It was so good to see her, and her classmates eagerly welcomed her back, too.

Sadly, after just two days with us, she is gone again. Her mother reports that she will be out of school for at least a week, and may need to go into a long term facility.

Still absolutely no signs of any problems at school - none whatsoever. I find it difficult to match what the mother says happens at home with the smiling, happy child I see at school.

I am so sad for her. Worried, too. What is going on?

Sewing is a Treat, Not a Trick

Recently I was asked to sew a Halloween costume for a three year old girl - a very exciting proposition for me. When my children were young enough for trick or treating, I made almost all of their costumes, and so for years my Octobers were spent in a frenzy of sewing, stuffing, and shaping. To be asked to make one for this Halloween transported me back in time to those golden days of mothering.

It all began when Sarah Ferguson, a 5th grade teacher at Hershey, showed me this picture of a scarecrow costume in a catalog.

Pumpkin, black cat, and scarecrow costumes.

It cost $79, more than she wanted to pay. Knowing that I love to sew and am very fond of her three year old daughter, Grace, Sarah asked if I might be able to make the costume for her. As you can imagine, I leaped at the chance! After taking a look at the picture and talking to Sarah to make sure I was clear on what she wanted, I agreed.

We shopped together with Grace one afternoon after school at JoAnn's Fabrics. Total cost for materials? $15 - a far cry from $79.

Since I have several drawers full of patterns from the outfits I sewed for my children, we didn't buy one to make the costume. I figured I could adapt what I already had, so I got Grace's measurements and sorted through the children's patterns tucked away in my closet with my other sewing supplies.

Using one from a dress I'd made Lisa when she was little, I lengthened the pieces of the bodice and drew a pattern for shoulder straps that would button in the front. With the photo in the catalog as a guide, I added two large felt buttons to the straps and some patches to the bodice. I left some of the edges a bit rough to simulate the untidy look of a scarecrow.

 The finished bodice.

Next up was the skirt. Oh, dear, all that tulle... 

Shades of the disaster with the prom dress from last spring! But this skirt did not have 35+ pieces to layer and gather, so it was much simpler to construct. I cut three layers (brown, taupe, and orange sparkle on top), angled the sides so Grace wouldn't look like a tube of sausage, stitched the sides, and then layered and gathered the three skirts. I improvised a waistband out of the orange sparkle tulle, then strung elastic through it to further gather the tulle and to give the skirt a floaty look.

It turned out so beautiful!

Grace LOVES her costume, especially the skirt. As soon as she tried it on, she jumped onto the bed and began dancing and twirling around.

Actually, I think it is too big and would've liked to tailor it some, but Sarah is over the moon and  pleased with how it turned out. It was fun helping out a friend, and even more meaningful to be involved again in making someone's Halloween costume dreams come true.

A Surprise in the Studio

Last night, Cole was working in the studio at Match Records when he got a surprise visitor.

Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees!

(Cole, unknown, unknown, Barry Gibb, Ryan Kenny, Cole's professor, unknown.)

One of Cole's professors used to work with the Bee Gees and invited Barry to come to MTSU, give a concert, and a lecture. He gave Barry a tour of Match Records as well.

(As Cole put it, "Scratch meeting Barry Gibb off the bucket list!")

 Don't know the name of this (midi mixer?) but this is Cole at work in the studio.

 Another view of the same piece of equipment.

A nifty microphone Cole was excited to get. Looks like something out of Star Wars to me - I can almost hear it going, "Gronk!" as it rolls around the Jawas' crawler.

As Cole's career continues to roll forward, it will be interesting to see who else he meets as a matter of course through his work in the Nashville recording industry.

A Tweak from New York City

It's Fall Break and many families are traveling as a result. (Not me - I am home and relaxing!!)

Yesterday I got an email from the Roberts family whose two daughters were in my classroom when the Hershey GT class first opened and I was the 2/3 teacher. The girls were my students as 2nd and 3rd graders, and then were in my classroom as 4th and 5th graders. (Which means they are part of the group of kids who were in my classroom for three years - lucky me!)

As you might imagine, after three years together, they know you really well, and vice versa. So, I laughed out loud when I opened this picture that was attached to their email.

Meredith and Madeline Roberts

They're in New York City for Fall Break and holding orange and blue stuffed M&Ms while visiting the M&M store there! And wearing gold and black Purdue scarves at the same time.

It's always nice to hear from former students, but these two are pretty special, and I am glad they've remained in touched. Even if it is to tweak my love of the Illini.

Insights from Conferences

Parent/teacher conferences are over. I love to meet with parents and celebrate what the children have done, but the time commitment is huge (before and after school all week) and I am pretty worn out. (Heading for a pedicure with Lisa later today.)

The 2/3 teacher had told me that this particular group of kids was her most challenging class ever in her career. I had eight more students added to that mix, and while I would not say it is my most challenging class, I can say it has been the most challenging I've ever had at Hershey.

Parent/teacher conferences gave me an insight into why they differ from past classes.

One issue is chattiness among the fourth graders. Not mean talk at all, just having to talk all the time, including to me (it's kind of cute the way they try to include me in their discussions of what's going on in their lives.)

So, I guess I should not have been surprised when two of their mothers talked constantly during our conferences, some of what they were saying pertaining to school, some of it not. I'm pretty experienced at conferencing and keeping the conferences on topic, but I could not with those two mothers. (Neither parent was complaining; they were just talking about things that did not pertain to the conference.)

They left without hearing about their child's progress, and with me realizing that their children mirrored their mothers when it came to chattiness.

I have a few students who stress far more than they should over their grades. They spend too much time on academics and not enough on playing outside with friends or in outside activities. They, too, can be a mirror of their parents, and I needed to reassure those folks that their child WAS doing just fine even if there was a B on the report card. If the child is trying, and a B (or less) is their best effort, then that is okay.

Several of my families are in turmoil at home; that spills into school and adds to the challenge this class presents to me. I ended up doing an extra conference for one set of divorced parents because the tension between them makes me tense and on guard, fearing I will say something that will trigger an argument. (It's happened.)

But despite the fact that this is a challenging class, the bright spots far outweigh the difficulties. That chattiness, for example? It is not unkind talk at all, and it is because the kids like each other and want to share. And when I ask them to pipe down, they do. For a little while, at least. :D

Kids who work too hard? I have two years with them to help them figure out how to balance academics with being a kid (and I'd rather have this problem that children who could care less about school and aren't motivated.)

Turmoil at home? That's a toughie. I cannot change what is happening at home, but I can make sure that while those children are at school, they feel safe, secure, happy, and loved.

Yes, it's a challenging class, but it is full of happy, eager to learn kids. They've come a long way since school began in August, and I expect for that trend to continue.

Name Permutations

Marrying and changing your name to one like "Isenbarger" has its pluses and minuses. It's hard to spell and it gets mispronounced. ("No, sweetie, it is NOT pronounced IsenBOOGER or IsenBURGER. It's IsenBARger.")

If you meet someone new who knows an Isenbarger, most likely that Isenbarger is a relative. Case in point, Kyle is the ward mission leader in his ward in Florida. A new sister missionary was introduced to him Sunday, and she said, "Hmmm, I know a Vanessa Isenbarger. I wonder if she's related to you."

(It turns out that the sister missionary was one of Vanessa's bridesmaids!)

Then there was the time I was presenting at the biggest education conference in the world, AERA, down in New Orleans. Education leaders and researchers from all over the world come to AERA, and it was a huge deal for me to be accepted as a presenter. So, I was thrilled when a man approached me. Someone who wanted to know more about my presentation! But my bubble soon burst. "Are you any relation to John Isenbarger who played for Cleveland?" he asked.

::pop::

One of the cutest botchings of my name was in Primary when I taught the three year old class. Those little kiddos could not remember my name, but they could remember what it sounded like. Sort of. They called me "Sister Raisinbarger" and finally just shortened it to "Sister Raisin." I still smile when I remember that.

After sixteen years in the classroom, and working with gifted kids, most of the plays on the name Isenbarger have already been bandied about. But yesterday a student came up with a new one. Or if it's been done before, I've forgotten (a real possibility these days!)

We were collecting data from an experiment that has been ongoing for several weeks. We're looking at the effects of light on pumpkin ripening and the children have been surprised as the results we're seeing are not what was expected. And so we were tossing out ideas as to why we were getting these unexpected results.

We're also using the scientific method as a learning framework and to help the kids become familiar and comfortable with its terminology.

TC came up to me with a grin and a twinkle in his eyes. "Hey, Mrs. I, I know what YOU call it!" he announced.

"What do you mean?" I asked, aware that whatever it was, he was finding it pretty funny.

"You don't call it a 'hypothesis;' you call it an 'I-pothesis!'"

Now that's pretty clever!

A Double Dose of Migraines

I've had migraine headaches since I was nine years old. Up until three years ago, I would get several a week most of the time. As you might imagine, over the years, I've learned to live with them and how to handle one when it occurs. I know what meds work for me and what don't; I know what can trigger a migraine and how to avoid those triggers.

So, my migraines, while unpleasant, have been manageable for the most part throughout my life.

(And on a positive note, it was because of my migraines that we discovered my brain tumor in 2000. While not the source of the migraines, it is still good to know about it in case it begins to grow and cause problems.)

One of my migraine triggers is stress, which is awfully hard to avoid. So, with my mother having broken her arm and wrist coupled with it being parent/teacher conference week, it was no surprise to feel one coming on at 5:30 this morning.

What was a surprise was its severity. It was the miserable type where I lose my vision in addition to having the searing headache. Those are extremely rare for me - not even once a year do I get those. I just had one of them only a month or so ago, so having another this soon afterward was an unexpected (and unwelcome) surprise.

And an even bigger surprise was to have a second loss of vision an hour later. Despite having taken my medication and gone to bed in a quiet, darkened room.

That has NEVER happened.

I don't know quite what to make of it and am wondering if I ought to let my doctor know. Because of the brain tumor, I am supposed to report any unusual headaches, vision problems, dizziness, or loss of balance. (Those could indicate that the tumor is growing or pressing on something.) I would definitely call today's double loss of vision highly unusual!

Luckily Craig was home and was able to administer  a priesthood blessing. That plus the meds enabled me to get through the day and attend my before and after school conferences.

One of those conferences was with the mother who had sent the blistering email a few weeks ago, threatening to pull her son out of my class. I was not looking forward to my conference with her, and now suspect that subconsciously I was more stressed over it than I realized. And that that was the trigger for the double migraine I had.

Fifteen hours later I am still feeling the effects with pain in my right temple and at the base of my skull. The conference with that unhappy mother is over (and it went surprisingly well) and, even though I have six conferences tomorrow and another eight on Thursday, I am not dreading any of them like I was hers.

Here's hoping that any remaining stress from conferences will not lead to another migraine.

Or two.

The Primary Program - a Whispered Part

One of my favorite Sacrament meetings of the year is the annual Primary program - a Sunday when all the children in the ward do the church service by speaking and singing. Not only is it lovely to see the faith of the children, it also never fails to be quite... um... ENTERTAINING. There are always a few kids who sing with gusto (or off key), wave to family members in the congregation, nearly swallow the microphone in their enthusiasm to speak, etc.

This is the first year I have not been to one of our grandchildren's Primary programs. They all live too far away. Such a disappointment to me (but they gave us their parts over the phone, so at least I got to hear them!)

Sunday was our ward's program but I had to miss it. I was home helping my mother, and had planned to go to church, but we discovered she was out of her medications and we needed to go to her home and get them. By the time we got back, church was in progress and I was not dressed or cleaned up. So, Craig filled me in on how it had gone, and that was that.

But I still got to hear a part of the Primary program first hand. JR, my student who is LDS, had participated. So, when he was up at my desk this afternoon asking about something, I told him that Mr. I. had said he had done a nice job and how sorry I was to have missed it.

"Would you say your part for me now?" I asked. "I would love to hear it."

"Sure!" he replied, and he leaned toward me and quietly murmured something about the priesthood and blessing the sacrament, ending on a whisper.

Made my day!

A Family Princess History

Addie and Corinne are princess-loving gals. Honestly, I think Addie must wear a princess dress every day of the week, and would do so to church, too, if her parents allowed it!

So naturally, the girls are going as princesses for Halloween (no surprise there) while big brother Braden does his best Captain America imitation.

Ashley made the wig - isn't it fabulous?? (Photo taken by Ashley and posted on Instagram.)

I was not much of one for princesses when I was growing up, although I did have a nifty Princess Aurora Colorforms set.

 My set was pink (see below) and Leslie's was blue.  

But I admit that it was the prince's horse that was what I played with the most!

You can see him best in the photo of the blue colorforms. He's on the right and barely in the photo.

I had one other princess item - my Cinderella Timex watch. It came with a china Cinderella figurine which I still have tucked away in a closet. Her head broke off long ago, and I glued it, but I have kept my eyes peeled for another intact one for years, even doing internet searches trying to dig one up. She has proved quite elusive - even on eBay, Etsy, and other collectibles sites.

At last, this past week I found one. She was only $5 and so I snapped her up.

It was amazing how memories of playing with her flooded my mind when I unboxed her - memories made on Prophet Drive, just a short walk away from where I live now. I guess you could say she's come full circle, in a way.

And in a sense, the princess tradition in our family continues. My role may have been minor and more about the princesses' horses, but still it was there.

Loving and Serving Others

One of the main reasons we came back to Indiana after twenty-seven years in Illinois was to help out our parents. And we have been needed by them all at various times through illnesses and accidents.We are glad we can be there for them when they need help.

Caring for Dad in his final years with Alzheimer's Disease was a real blessing, and some of my fondest, most poignant memories of him were made during that time. At times it was hard to see his mental faculties decline - he was such an intelligent, well read man - but at the same time, I am glad I could be there for him when he needed me most. (And, to the end, his sense of humor was intact. Oh, the laughs we had together!!)

And now it is Mom's turn to need some help from us. Thursday she fell and badly broke her wrist and arm in multiple places. If she were younger and (more importantly), did not have COPD as badly as she does, they would have repaired the breaks surgically with pins, plates, and screws.  But it is too risky, and so she is in a cast and recovering here in our home because she is unable to be independent.

Today as I helped her bathe in a basin on the couch and then change into fresh clothes, I thought of how lucky I was to be able to do this for her. For years she took care of me; now it's my turn to give back to her. And, as I did with my father, we are spending time together laughing and talking, and making memories.

Serving her has caused me to reflect on the teachings of the Savior and how He told us to love our neighbors as ourselves. The example He set of caring for others, be it healing the sick and the lame, raising the dead, or showing compassion for a woman taken in adultery. The ways He taught us to serve others as part of following Him and living the gospel. All have been on my mind.

I realized that, no matter how much I serve, I still end up being blessed far more than my actions blessed another. One way or another, I seem to benefit more as a result. The principle of service and love "boomerangs" back on the giver.

And that is a humbling thought.

Troubled Student Update

My troubled girl was not at school again today. Last night she had another meltdown at home, the police were called, and they had to restrain her from running away.

Her mother phoned me to let me know that her daughter is in a facility several hours away where they hope she will get some help. She will be gone from school for an extended period of time.

I think I will call the temple and have this family put on the prayer role.

Like Jekyll/Hyde

I wish that subject line were referring to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic book, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Unfortunately, it is not.  I seem to have a Jekyll/Hyde situation with a student.

Her mother has made me aware of her problems, but those problems are occurring at home - they are not spilling into the classroom. And it is like there are two different girls.

Coming to school is a sweet, friendly girl who smiles a lot, has friends, works hard, and never, ever is a discipline issue. She is well accepted by her peers and not isolated socially nor is she a bully target when at lunch recess with students from other classrooms. Academically she struggles - she scores very low in comparison to the rest of my class, and would not be in it except that she moved here from another school in which she had been identified as GT. As such, we had to consider her for placement. But, she has an excellent work ethic and gets her work done and handed in, even if it is of much lower quality than her peers'.

Her mother paints a very different picture of her. She says her daughter has anger issues to the extent that the girl has meltdowns at home and is in counseling. There have been some absences related to this, including a time where she apparently ran away from home, was caught by police, and reportedly taken in handcuffs to Juvenile Detention.

Mom reports other times like last Friday where she had a meltdown at home, ended up in the ER, and then refused to come to school the next day. Or times when getting her on the bus is a real struggle.

During a phone call yesterday, her mom said that when she brought up possibly changing her to a general education classroom, her daughter exploded and did not want a change. Yet she says my student frequently complains that she hates school and has no friends.

What on earth is going on with this little girl? Truly, if her mother had not shared with me, I would NEVER know as the girl seems quite normal and no different from her classmates (aside from not being on the same academic level.)

After a phone call yesterday from my student's mother asking if her daughter was okay since she'd nearly not made it to school again (she was refusing to board the bus), I consulted with our school psychologist, Linda, and our school Resource teacher. We all agreed that something seems very amiss.

Personally, my radar is going off big time, and I have learned to listen to that sense I sometimes get about children. Clearly I need to keep my eyes and ears open.

A Beautiful Fall Day

A beautiful fall day sparked a couple of photos last week. Hershey is situated waaaaay out in the hinterlands, in a gorgeous area right by the north fork of the Wildcat. The area is teeming with wildlife - I have even seen bald eagles by the school! (Along with deer, coyotes, and a even couple of peacocks from the farm down the road.)

I love that we are surrounded by farm fields, woods, and the Wildcat - not only is it pretty by the school, it also makes for a very scenic drive to work. (I also get to cross the Wabash twice a day - now, that's MY river!)

Last week as I was leaving the building, the autumn light and turning leaves on the trees was giving everything a lovely golden glow. I whipped out my iPhone and snapped a couple of pictures as I walked to my car.

The view from the exit door near my classroom includes both the new playground, the cornfield behind it, and then the woods along the Wildcat in the background. This is looking south.

To the east/southeast the woods continue while the field comes to an end. The owners of the woods allow Hershey to use it for learning trips and maintain a trail through it across several smaller creeks that flow into the Wildcat. We are fortunate to have that access, and it is beautiful down in the woods. (The trail actually takes you down a ravine for access.)

Braden, Addie, and Corinne's New Sibling!

Braden, Addie, and Corinne are getting a new sibling in February!

And it's a girl!!

"The Dog Ate My Homework"

A tired, but still humorous, old phrase - the dog ate my homework.

Well, in WS's case, the dogs truly DID eat his homework!

I got an email from his mom yesterday morning saying that she HAD to share what had happened to her son. After the students designed and built their solar ovens, I gave them plans to build another - professionally designed plans along with some recipes of foods to cook.

WS, whose oven had been the one that actually worked at school, went home that day and sat down with his grandmother and built one from the plans I'd sent home.

WS at home with his second solar oven.

He placed his afternoon snack, a Pop Tart, in it, set it out in the back yard to catch the sun, and began the wait. (Solar ovens take a while, something WS already knew from experience.)

And then... disaster. His mom wrote,

W asked me to send you this picture. He and his grandma worked on the oven. Had to laugh, he put it in the yard after school, I get home and let the dogs out, and his dog doesn't come back, so we go in search. Moxy was eating the food in the solar oven:) 

Poor WS! But he's a guy who NEVER stops smiling (I think this boy could fall and break his arm and STILL have a grin in place!) and so, when he arrived at school and I asked him about his cooking "homework," he smiled and said, "Yeah, my dog ate it, all right!"

"Smoke! There's SMOKE!!"

"Smoke! There's SMOKE!!"

Not the words you want to hear in a school situation.

Unless your students have designed solar ovens and are cooking marshmallows for s'mores in them!

The jubilant cry triggered an excited celebration AFTER I made sure they had not set their oven (made from cardboard) on fire and that what was smoking was truly the marshmallows.

And it was.

One group had focused the sun well enough in their oven to burn a hole right into their marshmallows!

 As part of our Heat unit, they designed their ovens using principles they'd learned of heat transfer (conduction, convection, and radiation) and how insulators can prevent that from occurring.

 I do this every other year as part of my STEM curriculum, but this is the first year that a marshmallow has actually cooked - and that team cooked several successfully in their oven! Usually the combination of the heat of the day and being in direct sunlight is enough to at least soften the marshmallows and the kids are happy with that.

 But a gooey, sun-cooked s'more fixed in an oven that you designed yourself is the best of the best. WS was lead engineer of the team that built the successful oven, and so he got to eat the first one. (Although he told me he felt someone else should have the first one, not him. Not really a surprise; that's the kind of guy WS is.)

 TM enjoys her s'more while her team checks the other marshmallows in their oven.

Our buddy class came out to watch us cook. Since solar cooking takes a long time,  we also played together on the playground.

 TM plays with her buddy SM who is also her sister. What a look on SM's face as she hangs face to face with TM! AM and PC watch their fun.

Head engineer WS chases IC around the circle in a game of Duck, Duck, Goose. I love WS's exaggerated "run" as he chases IC.

AM is a very patient young man, and his buddy, PC, requires a LOT of that patience. Here PC is pulling him around the playground. AM did all that PC asked and never once complained. Behind them, TC and my student, KR, are pretending they're monsters and stomping around the playground together.

S'mores, happy kids, a sunny afternoon of STEM learning... It doesn't get much better than that!

Just Borrowing!

Today we did "Hurry Scurries," an activity in which my students present something from the book their Book Club group has just read. Only a small amount of time is given to prepare, and yet the creativity level is quite high despite the time crunch. My students can be quite resourceful and ingenious.

Case in point? KR needed an ace bandage as a character in
her book breaks his ankle. Unfortunately, she had none at
home to bring in and use in her presentation.

Her solution?

"I went to the barn and borrowed the horses' polo wraps," she
told me with a big smile.

I am still laughing!!

"Do You Know that Tower?"

One of my fourth grade boys is a Mormon like me. I think he enjoys that extra little connection we have, and every once in a while he brings it up to me. Yesterday, he positively bounced into our classroom at arrival and made a beeline for my desk.

Normally a hesitant speaker with some stammers and long pauses, his words came tumbling out in excitement.

"My mom says to ask you something. She says she thinks you'll know about it," he announced.

(I had NO idea as to what she might be thinking of.)

"You know that tower? You know, the one in the Book of Mormon?"

(Aha!)

"Do you mean the Rameumptom? Yes, I know that story," I replied.

"Yeah, that one. The ... whatever. And do you know about the people who stood on it once a week and how they proclaimed themselves better than others? And then they were done with God until the next week?"

"I sure do. That sure is an odd way to worship God, isn't it?" I remarked.

"I LOVE that story. It is soooo funny," he chortled. "We talked about it in scripture study this morning, and my mom was sure you would know about it. She was right."

And off he trotted with a big smile on his face. (And the kids who were behind him waiting to greet me clearly had NO idea what we had been talking about!)

Losing a Student

At the end of this week, one of my students is leaving and returning to a general education classroom.  It is not the student whose struggles have been documented here; it's a boy in a completely different situation.

He's one who, when placed in my classroom, former teachers raised their eyebrows and questioned the placement. Mine raised, too, when I saw his past report cards and spoke with those teachers. Because the state had issues with the ISTEP tests, we had no access to those scores; had we, he NEVER would have been put in the High Ability program. (They were acceptable, but very ordinary scores, and much, much lower than the other kids' scores in my room.)

Couple that with a lack of organizational skills as well as a history of never doing or handing in his work, and the transfer out is no surprise.

So, how did he end up on the roster for the High Ability classroom?

Deciding to not replace two teachers who retired or moved, TSC balanced the class sizes at Hershey by pushing children into the High Ability program.

It has proven to be a poor decision, but it is one that the students, myself, and Linda Fields have to live with. (She argued and argued with Central Office over this to no avail.) As a result, of the nine kids added to my room this year (in addition to the 4th graders coming in from the 2/3 High Ability class), only two or three of those nine are truly high ability.

It is not fair to these kids to balance classroom sizes by adding them to the program when clearly they are overmatched academically. But that is what happened - even as late as two days before the start of school, Linda Fields received a call from CO and was told to "find five more kids" who could be placed with me. We did our best but it has been rough, on them and on me, trying to help them keep up with the pace.

This boy who is leaving simply could not handle that pace or the work load. Nor did he want to - he continued his past pattern of not doing any work that former teachers had documented.

I began sending emails to his parents on the fourth day of school, already seeing issues, and working with them to help their son keep up. They came in and met with me before school, we made plans to help, we did all we could to support him. (His parents are very supportive, of him and of my efforts to work with him. Parents like that are a huge blessing!) But in the end, he just could not do the work. It was not the right academic fit for him. And so, after another meeting with Linda and the parents, the decision was made to place him in a general education 4th grade classroom.

Where he really should have been from the first.

I hope he does well and that he does not feel like a failure. His parents have shared with him that he is leaving, and he has been a bit mopey (which has surprised me.) Yesterday he told me that he was wondering if maybe he could stay after all, and he has made a concerted effort to complete and hand in work in hopes that that will happen. (It won't, but I sure hope that the "new leaf" of doing work continues into his future studies!)

Linda and I have talked a couple of times about the problems TSC's decision has caused. We don't want this to ever happen again - it is NOT right to balance classes (and budgets) on the backs of children!

 So, instead of letting them make those decisions, she and I have decided that we will have a list of candidates for my class that WE select in conjunction with input from Hershey teachers that we can then present to Central Office for consideration next spring . We're going to generate a waiting list, too, just in case we have to "find five" again at the last minute.

And hopefully we will place these kids where they belong and can learn best rather than shuffle them to keep class sizes down and balance the budget.

Our Little Miss Mitchell

Take a gander at our little Miss Mitchell! Due February 11, and coming to Jessica and Andrew!

In love with her already!!

General Conference - Sunday Morning Session

Elder Henry B. Eyring
We may be insignificant and contemptible in our own eyes, but we are not in His eyes. President Eyring quoted the Lord with a phrase that is familiar and highly sacred to me when he spoke of the grandmother who was praying for her grandson. Wow. I did NOT expect that. One of my most sacred spiritual experiences was very, very similar. Still thinking on that.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks
What do we put ahead of God? The plan of salvation explains our destiny - the purpose of creation, who we are, why we are here, where we are going, and the Savior's role in that.

Bonnie Oscarson, YW General President

Living a principle helps us become converted to that principle, not the other way around. 

Elder Richard J. Maynes
Feast upon the word of Christ and endure to the end. Testimony is what helps us do what is right and endure in righteousness. Dedication, perseverance, and self discipline are the price.

Elder Richard D. Scott
We can receive personal strength through the atonement of Jesus Christ.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang an exquisite version of "O, Divine Redeemer". Goosebump time.

President Thomas S. Monson
From his perspective, this has been one of the most spiritual sessions he has ever attended. Tomorrow would have been his 65th wedding anniversary. (His wife died in May after suffering injuries in a fall in April.) His testimony has provided him the utmost comfort as he has adjusted to life without her. Making the gospel of Jesus Christ of our lives will pull us through what comes our way.

General Conference - Saturday Morning Session

President Thomas S. Monson
80,000+ missionaries serving around the world now. No new temples announced. (He looks thinner. I imagine the loss of his wife has been difficult.)

Elder Robert D. Hales
No topic is assigned speakers; instead, they are selected prayerfully by those participating. Conference is for all; include your children. As you listen, what do you hear and feel? It may be different from what was said. Trust in the Lord and apply what you learn. (He still looks ill.)

Elder Ulissis Soares (Brasilian)
Sister Carol Stevens
Missed their talks as I had to be out of the room.

Elder Edward Dube (Zimbabwean)
Always look forward, stop looking back. Blessed are those who keep His commandments. Look ahead and believe. He invites us to "come unto Me." (Love his Zimbabwean accent! But then, I love all the accents we hear in Conference - advice, perspectives, and spiritual stories shared by Church leaders from around the world is a real treat.)

Elder David A. Bednar
Subtle blessings can be significant. Blessings for living the law of tithing can be that way. Be spiritually attentive. (A Purdue alumnus!)

Elder Dieter Uchtdorf (German)
Douse your doubts before you lose your faith. The Church is designed to nourish those who struggle, and ALL struggle - it is part of being human. None of us is perfect, keep trying. There is a place for everyone and we are more alike than you might think. There is room for you - join with us. (A very insightful man with a way of speaking that makes you feel loved.)

A Parent Offers Feedback

Email is the way my students' parents communicate with me. I know some teachers give out their cell phone numbers so that parents can text, but I am not there yet. I prefer to keep my phone for family and friends and do not want alert chimes going off 24/7. I need time off at the end of the day, and I am not available on weekends by choice. (A teacher friend of mine recently had a parent phone her THREE times on a Sunday afternoon!)

I have had a couple of unhappy emails from one parent recently, but most of mine, fortunately, are in a positive vein, usually with an offer to donate something, to volunteer, or asking for a clarification about homework or something. 

And sometimes you get one that helps you remember why you put in those long hours - the kiddos. Yesterday I got the following email from a mama whose child was presenting her Children's Classic paper and project that day - a big assignment that each student does once a semester. My class LOVES classic books, and considers Fridays the best day of the week not because the weekend is looming, but because two children will be sharing about the classic books they have read. We smile and celebrate wonderful books for a good part of the morning.

Yesterday's selections were The One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith (which is on my personal list of favorite books) and Treasure Island, one of Robert Louis Stevenson's masterpieces. ("What?? The restaurant "Long John Silver's" is named after a character in this book? I never knew that until you shared that in your paper!" exclaimed a student Friday.)

LM was one of yesterday's presenters and her mother wrote:

Hi Lynn,

I thought this story would make you smile.  :)  L is the type of child who loves her sleep.  When I wake her up, she is always grumpy and drags herself down to the breakfast table.  This morning as I was downstairs getting breakfast ready, I heard noises from upstairs.  I thought "Who on earth is up so early?"  It was L!  She came bouncing down the stairs, dressed and ready a full hour early.  She greeted me with a big smile and said she was very excited for this day.  I asked her why, and she said "Because it's my classic day!!!!"

Whoever would think that a child would be so excited to go to school to read their report to their class?  I don't know what kind of magic you are working in your classroom, but when you've got children who are so excited to read their report to their class that they get up early, you're doing something right!

~Pam

I think the next time I am feeling a bit bruised by an email from a parent, I will reread what Mrs. S. wrote and remember that the most important thing I can do is to focus on the children and making their learning the best experience that I can.

A Picture of Kindness

This is a picture of kindness:

How can a sheet of Math problems be a picture of kindness? It is when a student recognizes that another student is struggling in the subject (the boy who may need to leave our class) and decides to do something about it. TM came to me this afternoon holding this sheet of Math problems.

"I noticed J has been struggling in Math with division, so last night I made up some problems that I thought might help him. Can I work with him?"

Oh, TM, your tender gesture makes me teary. J is lucky to have you as a friend. (And yes, you can work with him!)

The Spider Sprint

I am not a spider fan, although I do find them to be fascinating creatures. And who doesn't love Charlotte, E.B. White's immortal character, who befriends a pig and saves his life?

And so, in Charlotte's honor (and because they are beneficial animals) I keep a spider cup at school for the kiddos to use to scoop up any errant arachnids who crawl into our classroom. At home, I pop a cup over them, slide a postcard under the lip, and then quickly flip it and hustle the spider outside.

Not my favorite duty, but still...

It is "spider season" now. With autumn here, they're looking for a place to spend the winter. And we get one kind in particular: wolf spiders.

They're harmless and they don't really bother us, remaining on the ground and not climbing up onto things. But what they do that is startling is to RUN. You may not even be aware that they're in the room until they streak off across the floor. 

Just this morning I was reading the paper when a quick motion on the carpet by the fireplace made me jump. It was a wolf spider, sprinting across the living room floor, running from one sheltering spot to another. (I imagined him waiting and watching me, and then screaming "RUNNNNN!!!" as he tore off across the carpet.)

I quickly popped an unlit Yankee Candle tumbler over him, slid a postcard under it, flipped the candle, and carried it to the front door where I tossed the unwelcome visitor out on the sidewalk. (Sometimes they turn and run for the door; more than once I have wondered if I have scooped up the same spider a couple of times!)

Fortunately, we don't get nearly as many spiders as we did when our home was new and built in 2006. This used to be a farm field, and that first autumn, the spiders were far more numerous. Now I don't see as many (not that that makes me sad.)

I'll keep scooping them up and putting them outside as long as they come into my home, but I will be glad when my home is no longer deemed a spider sanctuary.

A Four Star School!

Hershey has earned Indiana's top award for schools - it has been deemed a Four Star School!

 It's based not only on academic achievement, but on attendance and other factors. 

The entire school celebrated together in an assembly. Dr. Hanback, Superintendent of TSC (and a former Hershey principal) joined with us as did Dr. Christy Fraley, TSC's Assistant Superintendent of Insstruction (also a former Hershey principal and mom of a current Hershey student.)

Linda Fields stood with them onstage to accept our award from the state.

We even had some special guests - the Harrison High School cheerleaders (several of whom are former Hershey students.) 

They led us in many cheers for the school and made the kids gasp with their flips, acrobatics, and pyramids.

But not only did we have the Harrison cheerleaders, East Tipp Middle School sent theirs.

All of them went to Hershey, and the very petite one in the front is one of my former students. They led us in cheers while Linda and some of the teachers onstage held up four stars.

As a surprise treat, someone donated popsicles for the entire school to enjoy as we celebrated the hard work the kids, faculty, and parents did in order to earn the distinction of being a Four Star School.

Congratulations, Hershey!!

Happy 85th Birthday, Mom!

We held a birthday party for my mother on September 22 to celebrate her 85th birthday. Originally, I had planned to hold an open house and invite her friends from across the community, but she asked that I keep it low key and the only non-family members invited were James and Sherree. They eat Sunday dinner with us frequently and so she wanted them to come.

It was a lovely evening.

 Mom requested an O'Rear's cake - white cake with white frosting. Blue is her favorite color so I had them add blue flowers and writing.

Cindie made a beautiful (as well as luscious) edible bouquet. I think it took her hours to do, and it was the hit of the party.

She opened cards after I played the traditional ten verse "Happy Birthday" song on the player piano. (L-R: Cindie, Mom, Leslie, Jenny.)

 Jenny, Steve, Eric.

 Lisa, Curt, Vanessa, Sherree, James, Craig.

My mother never quit smiling and even the next day she still was excited over the celebration.

"A Failure in Life"

It has been almost a week and I still have not heard back from the parent who was so angry about her son's homework and if she wants me to arrange that meeting with the principal to discuss removing her child from the High Ability classroom.

I am hopeful that that is a good sign - sometimes people say things when they are under duress that they don't mean. (Been there, done that!) But I have been wondering if I should continue on with him and push him to get his work done or if I should let things go because he will be leaving and my assignments won't matter. I am a bit in limbo at the moment.

And, I have been concerned about how he is emotionally. I know that evening was hard on him. Since then, some of his homework has been getting done - is that because things are better at home? Or is it because he is scared he will fail and have to leave, so he is grinding it out as best he can?

I decided that enough time had passed and that I needed to ask, so I pulled him aside privately. I asked how things were going and how he was doing. His answer (again) made my heart ache.

"My mom says I can stay if I try, but if I don't do well, I have to leave. And she says I will be a failure in life if that happens."

Now, I know kids OFTEN get things wrong and misunderstand what the adults in their lives say, be it at home or at school. So I don't know if she really said that or not. But, even if she didn't, that is what he understood from it, and what he is now operating under.

Before I could put together a response, he continued.

"All my family agrees with my mom. Except my one sister. The one who had you, too. She's like me, and she understands. She says I won't be a failure in life."

Thank you, big sister, for encouraging your little brother.

And I hope, hope, hope that he has misunderstood what his family meant.

A Surprise for Lisa

Lisa arrived yesterday and discovered this on the door to her classroom:

It's a room the 4th grade teachers share, and it is also the place Lisa calls "home." She has a desk, teaching materials, and supplies, and it is a place to put her purse and personal items. The fact that those things are there for her plus the classroom has been labeled with her name speaks volumes about how her fellow teachers and the administration feel about her.