Month: May 2013

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Momma’s Day!

During morning walk-about, a young friend stopped to share this conversation:momsday

  • Child:  Hey, Mrs. Van!  I have something to say!
  • Me:  I’m ready; say it!
  • Child:  We’ve been thanking our teacher and the nurse all week, but now it’s time to thank my momma.  Look at my QR code card I made to share with her!  She can scan it and then hear my beautiful voice!
  • Me:  This is amazing!  WOW!  So what’s the best thing about your momma?
  • Child:  Well, she makes me fries with cheese, cuts my apples for my lunch, and tucks my brother into bed each night.
  • Me:  Does she tuck you in too?
  • Child:  I’m too big for that now, silly!  But she does tuck her momma into bed now and helps her do other stuff which means I’ll have to help her like that someday too.  She says to her, “I just don’t know how you did it, momma.”  Really, everyday is momma’s day at our house…   🙂

Three generations living in one home sharing and caring and making memories for the future…what a blessing!  So for all you moms out there, just know that in a small yet powerful way, every day is Momma’s Day for you!  🙂  Celebrate and enJOY!

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School Bells!

Our school’s namesake, Mrs. LaRue Miller, has many beautiful reminders of her 50+ schoolbell2years in the classrooms of Midlothian ISD, one being a stunning collection of bells.  During the architectural phase of creating and building our campus, it became apparent a bell tower would grace the front door complete with a bell and an active carillon system in place.  Once the name was chosen for our school, Mrs. Miller shared her great fondness for school bells (especially the one pictured here) and this clever poem with me:

School Bells!  School Bells!  All the small children and big ones as well;

Pulling their stockings up, snatching their hats, cheeking and running and giving back-chats;

Laughing and quarreling, dropping their things, some at a snail’s pace and others on wings;

Lagging behind a bit or running ahead, waiting at corners for lights to turn red;

Some of them scurrying and others not worrying, carelessly and anxiously hurrying;

All through the streets they are coming pell-mell at the school bell, school bell, school bell!

LMEbadgeMrs. Miller walked to school in MISD until her high school days (when she rode a bus to Waxahachie).  Hearing the school bell was the way to begin “back in the day.”  🙂

When she became a teacher in MISD, ringing the school bell each morning was her way of celebrating her past while successfully focusing on a new school day.  Her students today still talk about the privilege of ringing the bell each morning in her class.  Lucky for us, at LME, we hear School Bell, School Bells every morning as well!  🙂

Note:  Please  join us tomorrow evening for PTO’s popular Denim and Diamonds Event starting @ 6:00 p.m.

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#thankateacher

#thanksA learner brought this poem by my office today; he found it on Twitter (I love learning from our digital natives everyday!):

Words cannot express our thanks for all you do on a daily basis,

Helping students realize they can reach much higher places.

Advocating, motivating, and educating is just part of what you do,

Teaching is an art and each student your canvas too.

It’s not a job just anyone can do and most people don’t understand,

The most crucial part of your job can’t be learned or even properly planned.

The parts of painting on the canvas cannot always be found in a book,

It’s embedded in your heart which is often overlooked.

So today we say “Thank You” ’cause you don’t hear it enough,

The picture your paint today, tomorrow may be worth a million bucks!

Thanks, JD, for sharing this find and reminding all of us to #thankateacher!  🙂

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Teaching with Heart

Thirty years ago on National Teacher Appreciation Day, a young learner gifted me with this precious sign.  teaching_heartHer name was Lydia and she (with the help of her momma) made this treasure with a small scrap of material from Lydia’s favorite shirt…she wanted me “to always have a piece of her as part of each class.”  I still wipe a tear just thinking about this precious memory.  When you turn it over, here’s what you can find written on an index card:

You have the HEART of a great teacher with your JOY (teaching how learning is fun and capturing teachable moments with a smile), your WISDOM (teaching truth, character, and integrity), your KINDNESS (teaching encouragement and how to add value to others), your COMPASSION (teaching how and why we need to reach out to others), your GENEROSITY (teaching and touching lives while always giving), your PATIENCE (teaching ways to find better solutions and never giving up), and your PURPOSE (teaching each child to find the treasures inside).  Thanks for sharing how teaching is a work of HEART this year, and every year.

Through the years, I’ve come to appreciate the fact there is definitely an art and a science to teaching; may we never forget to teach with heart!  Thanks to all the teachers from my past, my present, and my future who continuously plant seeds by teaching with heart!  🙂

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Thank a Teacher!

It’s National Teacher Appreciation Week and we celebrate big around here…well…we celebrate big around here all the time in fact.  In the midst of much celebration though, we pause to reflect on our profession and all thank-a-teacherthat it is today.  Each of us can look back with fondness at school years and find at least ONE teacher who always stands out for us.  Who is it for you?

It’s always our sincerest hope and highest expectation each child finds MORE than one teacher who makes a lifelong impact on them in our learning community.  As educators, we share a common goal:  To see growth and progress in our learners.  As my Granny B. pointed out to me years ago though, “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”   Granny’s right!  Relationships are the key to this growth and progress everyday because learning is a process every single day…and great teachers have to be even better students during the learning process!

I was gifted not long ago with this cute block sign.  It reminds me daily why I do what I choose to do and who it will impact in the process.  We may be viewed in society as “the downstairs maid of all other professions,” (Frank McCourt), but no one, and I mean no one, could do what they do without at least ONE teacher laying a foundation and making an impact.  So, as you’re reading this, which teacher will you thank today?  🙂

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Winter Olympics or Field Day?

fieldday2Welcome to Texas weather in the spring, huh?!  We could not decide this morning during Miller Friday Rally if we were doing the opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics or our annual Field Day Event.  In spite of really low temps and a brisk northern breeze,  we endured and enJOYed the day!  Our learners, classroom leaders, parents, and multiple volunteers rotated inside and outside between 28 stations of activities and traditional events for a truly engaging day of friendly competition.  Special thanks goes out to our super-amazing Coach Rogers, Coach Timm (from Irvin Elementary), Ms. Martin, Ms. Grant, and Mr. Fio who were on campus in the wee hours of the early morn to ensure everything was set up properly.  Thanks to our incredible PTO group for sponsoring all the jump houses this year!  Bravos to our staff who truly live by the motto, “flexible people never get bent out of shape!”  🙂   Most of all, thanks to all who actively participated by joining in the fun, fellowship, and festive spirit of this important day!  Have a safe and fun spring weekend!

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Organized vs. Disorganized, Part VII

Note:  This is the next installment in a series from the book Organizing the Disorganized Child: Simple Strategies to Succeed in School by Martin L. Kutscher and Marcella Moran.

When we left off last (which seems moons ago now), the authors were about organizingto discuss effective test-taking techniques.  So here’s your first question:  Does your child actually know how to take a test?  So many in society today think educators just “teach to the test.”  Here’s a little tidbit about the state assessment system in Texas:  there’s NO WAY to teach to the test.  Teachers, however, do concentrate on strategies to ease anxiety so each learner performs to his or her personal best:

Time management during the test:  Smart test-takers manage their time during the testing period by using techniques like writing down key words, formulas, or dates so these items are not forgotten.  Learners can read through the test to see what’s coming and go back over the directions carefully.  Many of our learners are taught to underline keywords in the directions, the word problem, or the text content to help draw their eye to important items.  They check their answers and watch for mistakes or blanks, and when unsure, make a strong guess.

True/False tests:  Look for clue words.  A false statement includes absolutes, black-or-white words like “every” or “always” or “never.”  Outrageous statements are usually false.  A true statement usually includes qualifying, gray words like “most” or “some” or “usually” or “might.”  A statement is only true if all the parts of it are true.  Don’t read too deeply into the statement, and when in doubt, mark it true.

Multiple Choice questions:  Read the question first and try to answer it first without reading the answer choices.  Cover up answer choices and really work the problem.  Read all the answer choices fully before making a choice.  Cross out silly or incorrect answers remembering that typically the longest, most detailed answers are usually correct.  Test experts note the answer choice “C” is most common for correct multiple choice answers when in doubt.

Fill-in-the-Blank questions:  Read the question and think about the answer.  If there is an “an” before the blank, the answer must start with a vowel.  After writing an answer, read the entire statement to see if it makes sense now.

Essay questions:  Read the question or prompt carefully several times while looking for key words and do what the directions or prompt say to do!  🙂  Brainstorm ideas, create a strong opening sentence, support the idea with details, and remember to write a closing statement.  Edit and revise the essay to check for clear meaning, spelling, grammar, and “flow.”

Math tests:  Know facts, procedures, and formulas (when appropriate) and look for keywords telling what math operation to use.  Solve the easiest problems first to build confidence.  Show the process and steps for working the problem sequentially.  Check the work as each step is done.  The use of graph paper and other graphic organizers is often helpful for those who have difficulty lining up numbers to compute.

These are just some of the many tips to test-taking to try for personal success.  Your child’s teacher has many more and we always encourage you to visit on this important topic.  Asking questions is still the key to effective learning…so ask away!  🙂

WOW…we had a huge LME turnout last night for our Kinder Kamp 2013!  Thanks to all who participated and we certainly look forward to our new Miller friends joining us in August!  🙂