More Response to Tiger Mom

 Okay, so I seriously can't let this go.  The Tiger Mom intrigues me, what can I say!  (Yes, I am using more big words again that I have trouble spelling.)

The list of no-nos the Tiger Mom has really interests me.  Some of them, I completely understand.  Some of them make no sense at all.  Some of them are just plain un-American.  But I guess that is the point.

Tiger Mom's List of No-Nos     plus my comments
• attend a sleepover     Totally justifiable.  I think children could live their whole lives without this.  It is a  bit harsh, but really, there are a lot of crazies out there, and some of them are disgusted as perfectly normal looking parents.  No big loss here. 
• have a playdate  Sorry, I'm from the sticks I guess.  Who makes dates for their children.  Really?  Send them over to a neighbors house, have the kids come over for a while after school, but don't call it a play date. 
• be in a school play   Don't really understand this one.  Don't understand the evil behind theater arts.  It was my favorite class in school.  You don't want them to be confident, entertaining, and have to memorize long bits of literature.  : P  is all I have to say.
• complain about not being in a school play  All for it!  You shouldn't complain!
• watch TV or play computer games  And now you have brought up your child to be completely out of touch with most other Americans, but that's okay.  You can live without theses too!
• choose their own extracurricular activities   Boo!  Obvious, since they can't even be in a school play, but, of course, parents should approve all these things.
• get any grade less than an A  Yeah, well, I have to say okay to this one.  What happens if they don't?  I worry about the answer.
• not be the No. 1 student in every subject except gym and drama  Shouldn't this depend on the class and the classmates therein.  You can't expect to be best at everything, especially with competition.  What if they were twins?
• play any instrument other than the piano or violin  What exactly is wrong with other instruments.  Many of which are much harder to play.  I like a good trombone solo.
• not play the piano or violin.   Yeah, okay.  Fun times.

Project Green Update

Well, I have now given away 34 bags and made a total of 57 (16 last night). Our trash group actually went to pick up this morning without me reminding them. A step in the right direction. We also have three very full boxes of old plastic bags to take to walmart for recycling. Already had volunteers to help. The recycling group is also working on a contest to see who can bring the most cans for recycling.

Stop Me If You Have Heard This One

This is an old one but it really happened. In fact, I think it has happened more than once, but never to me.

My husband was on playground duty one day. The kids know not to come tattle all the time to him, but if something really bad happens they should let him know. So, one of the more well behaved children comes up to him and says "B said the F-word!" Suddenly, this child has my husband's full attention. This is a pretty big transgression for an elementary student. Before he set the punishment in motion, he wanted to be sure that this student had heard B clearly. After interviewing her for a minute or two he asked her to repeat the word.
"You won't be in trouble," he told her, "I just need to know exactly what B said."
"Well...." the little girl hesitated, "He said fart." After my husband stopped laughing he actually called B over and told him not to say fart again.


BTW: The S-word is shut up!

Elementary Teacher Predictions

You know, when you spend eight hours a day for 138 or more days a year with a group of kids, in your head you start making predictions about what they will be and who they will become. It is inevitable! One year I had a class so wild, so unruly, and so defiant, I could swear that some of them were destined for Huntsville! I kept this to myself of course. I didn't really want to think ill of them. Most of them were sweet souls with no self control at all. Well, I don't know much about what happened to this class. I do know that one of the worst of the bunch is now happily married with....get this....six children! I am so glad he is not in jail. Now, as for the teachers who work in that area....prepare yourselves!

Here We Go Again!

Still only one student. He was late and I was afraid he wasn't coming either. So, I sent him with fifth grade to CEI, got my summative conference done, and now he is going to read to me as soon as he finishes his spelling. He also brought money for me to make a scarfette for his mom. What a sweetie! Anyway....if your reading this, thanks! I hope you have a great day where you are. Best wishes!

Hers will be blue and baby blue, but alot like this.

Today's Craziness

It has been a long year. I'm talking school year. I teach fourth and fifth grades in a very small rural school. Now, when I say very small, I know some people probably think I mean just a few thousand people. No, small to me, since I started the fifth grade myself, is about ten kids per class. My school has a total population of about 130 students, in grades PK to 12. OKay, do you believe me. My fourth grade class started out as the smallest in the school and has now dwindled down to just four students. Luckily, they are all fun, interesting kids.

Now to the crafts. I started watching and shopping etsy last fall, mainly because of some of my favorite sellers from ebay. Poppy and Turtle. I will talk more about my inspirations later. So, I said, I can do this. I am always making stuff, and then it just lays around the house or I end up giving it to someone. So I started making things with the intent of selling them and started my own store. So far, I have sold five items. I am hoping for more though.

Oh, but there has been more to my year. I will talk more about it another day. I wrote a novel in a month. Yes. I wrote over 50,000 words in the month of November, and many of my students wrote novels too!

Let me know if you see and read this. In other words, is there anyone out there?