Tag Archives: community
What’s New Wednesday #21
17 Oct
Boy it has been a while since one of these!
Let’s See – What’s New….nothing really but why not make it seem like it is new and exciting!
First and foremost – the winner of my Giveaway is: Krista Flores – yes girl – you did it! Send me your address and I will get it to you! So excited!
I am now 13 weeks and 5 days. My energy has hit another low and I think that it is part depression and part baby. The winter is setting in here with snow flurries about every other day and it is so stinking dark in the mornings now I can’t stand it. I was warned about this happening by the doctor and I can really feel it here lately. My husband says I am such a downer – but when you are used to summer 10 months of the year and you really got 2 days this year – You would be a downer as well. I will be buying this thing they call a “Happy Light” in the near future.
I had my first Parent Teacher Conference yesterday. I am going to admit I was a little scared but I now good to go. My daughter is the exact child I thought she was and I am glad that I know her as well as the person who spends most of the day with her. She is only in Kindergarten, but I take her learning very serious. I also take her self-esteem very serious so I was shocked when I was informed about a couple of mean girls in the class. Abby is not part of it, but seems to occasionally get sucked in – more to protect herself from it. I had a feeling this was happening, but I was also glad when it seems that her teacher shared with me that my thoughts were valid. Being a parent to a young child is kind of like being a mind reader!
I am going through some major de-cluttering. My husband irritates me because it doesn’t matter how much stuff he has – but if I have stuff it can’t be seen. UGH! I am so irritated by it that I just want the stuff gone! I am obviously going to keep stuff – but I am going to get rid of the stuff that most seems to bug him and them go through what I do have get rid of the stuff I have been thinking about doing something with. I need to do something or get rid of it. Anyone want crafty stuff?
So that is what I got going on along with class that starts next week. I am excited about that actually. It is 2 hours a night that I can get with no interruption at all. It is exciting to me. How sad, right?
I am still entertaining the idea of a gym membership just so that I can get out of the house and have some me time as every time I sit down to Yoga kids get involved and not in a productive manner!
Mission Possible – Success For All
2 AugI was given the opportunity to read a copy of the book Mission Possible: How The Secrets of The Success Academies Can Work In Any School by Eva Moskowitz and Arin Lavinia and man can I say I have been blessed by this opportunity.
As a parent who has a child going to kindergarten this year the thoughts of quality education came out of nowhere and in full force. How will I know what is good? What can I do to make sure she is pushed? I know I can do some, but will the teachers do the rest? These types of questions times 1,000. Education scares me and it makes me fear for my kids. I know it seems to slip every year and the thought of schools teaching just so state test scores are high – make me sick. I believe everyone deserves a fighting chance at a quality education and it should not matter who they are, where they come from, financial status, social status – NONE of it should matter. We should just want the best for our future contributors to society.
Off my soap box.
This book talks about basically the same thing, Kids need quality education no matter what. Period. Blank. Underline. I also love the fact that they talk about pushing kids. It is kind of like a field of dreams sort of thing – “If you build it, they will come” but in this case it goes something like “If you push them, they will pull through.”
Kids want to learn and will learn if you keep the standards high and support them. Longer hours (which I also think helps keeps kid focused and not distracted by the temptations of life), stronger bonds with educators, parental involvement, and availability are some of the biggest things I fell in love with.
Teachers who get educated more than most and work together through many different platforms (video recordings, round table discussions, and more) to get better so that they can push their kids just as they push themselves. I love the fact that there are still people who actually care so much it hurts to do their job well. It is hard to come by and I hope that this will inspire our next generation.
This book also provides a DVD of video clips to give us an inside look to Success Academies and let me tell you – I wish that my kids get so lucky in their educational endeavors and I will fight for it.
SO I was also asked to respond to the following question:
Stagnation, being unable to accomplish one’s job at a high level, is one of the greatest sources of low teacher morale. Why do you think this country treats teaching so differently than it does other professions?
It is a catch 22 – teachers are held responsible for educating and teaching our youth – yet we pick apart everything they do (right or wrong) and hold them accountable for even things we should be doing. I find that teachers and teaching gets treated differently because they are the easy target for failures since they are head of the classroom. We need to support them and empower them as they cannot do this alone. They need our help and our support and should not be afraid to do anything because of us. We need to give the power back to them and support them – not hinder them. I also think that we treat teaching so differently as that is where it all begins (minus the home and even now, that is not held high anymore) and the professionals are a product of that. I would not want to be a teacher – therefore I support them with everything I can.
- Check out the Mission Possible website HERE – I sincerely encourage you to do so – especially if you have a love of education or a love of your kids!
I can’t say much more without gushing the whole book – so you should put this on your must read book list! Oh wait – why not just win one?? You can do that! How you say? By doing this:
- Tweet about this Opportunity and provide the link to your tweet below
- Comment on what your concerns are for schools today
For an extra two entries – please visit Eva Moskowitz’s links below – and interact with her – she loves her supporters!!
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Moskowitz.Eva
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/MoskowitzEva
Winner will be announced August 9th, 2012 right here!
A lot today I know – but this is something I know will touch anyone who has kids in the education system today!
I was compensated for this post; however, all opinions expressed are my own.
Where Did My Followers Go?
8 JunI had almsot 1200 followers that I thought I worked hard for and now it is saying I have only 310??? What on earth happened? Is it because I had to unconnect and reconnect my Facebook page to get it to actually post??
OH NO – I DON”T KNOW WHAT TO DO!
Any ideas?
Miss Molly 