Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Grandpa was really sick now, thin like a skeleton.
The last thing I remember him saying was, "Did you bring the little dog?"
We hadn't brought Kip because Grandpa was in a hospice, but the pain-killers made him think he saw the chihuahua at the foot of the bed. Kip had been a faithful friend stationed at the foot of his bed the previous five years at home when Grandpa was bedridden due to cancer.

Melanie, Grandpa and Kip 1962

Technically, Grandpa wasn't our 'real' grandfather. He was our grandmother's second husband. But to me, my sister, and all the many cousins, he was the best grandpa in the whole world. Everyone says that, even over fifty years later. He loved children. He loved us. He spent time talking to us, taking us on walks, teaching us to play the card game 'Casino.' And card tricks, too. All the photos with him showed everyone smiling. He was like that.

I recall watching baseball on television with him. He was a San Francisco Giants' fan. I realized last year that the reason I knew so much about the Giants was because I watched the World Series (1962) with him (the last baseball season Grandpa was at home), before he passed away the following spring. His going left a dark hole in the family.

Literature can ease the stress of a child's serious loss, so the effect doesn't advance to toxic, chronic stress. Literature draws the isolating pain out in the open. We aren't alone in our experiences; universal themes speak to our human condition, too. For me, I somehow found "The Rainy Day," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, probably in my parochial school library. It soothed my heartbroken, prepubescent soul with lines like "Behind the clouds is the sun still shining" and "Into each life some rain must fall, Some days must be dark and dreary." Henry knew how I felt. http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/longfellow/12207

#16 Life Doesn't Frighten Me At All by Ian Lantz

Childhood can be filled with fears, even terrors, real and imagined. We don't need to
describe the traumas kids suffer. Maya Angelou's "Life Doesn't Frighten Me," infers a child's nightmares and possible real terrors; the voice in the poem stands up to her fears. A group discussion of a poem allows a student to absorb the comfort at her own pace and need; she can share her fear or not. But the universal experience of fear is acknowledged. http://www.swaraj.org/shikshantar/life_mayaangelou.htm

Kids can be demeaned, betrayed, bullied. How can a kid handle that? Students, usually middle-schoolers, respond with shock at the opening lines of'

I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?

Someone else knows how it feels? I'm not the only one going through this? When you're born into the caste of the rejects--what's a kid to do? Like Emily Dickinson suggests, reject the insult--its the conformists who are to be ridiculed. To read how the totally unique Emily suggests we do this, go to this link and see all the poem. http://www.online-literature.com/dickinson/448/

Every year I have taught in Southern California, I have students that have had traumatic losses due to violence close to them. Even what we consider to be a cliche can comfort them. Famous sayings and poems aren't famous to kids--its new material. The well known saying from Tennyson's "In Memoriam" is still valid:

I hold it true, whate'er befall;

I feel it, when I sorrow most;

'Tis better to have loved and lost

Than never to have loved at all.

For the rest of the poem,

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174603. I always liked the reference to not wanting to be a 'linnet' (caged bird) that was never free to experience 'the summer wood.' Life has joys and sorrows, and we fly to the first despite the eventual descent into the second.

Our people, our family can uphold us. Langston Hughes' "Mother to Son" speaks a mom's heart.http://allpoetry.com/Mother-To-Son Life's exertion, exhaustion, and unexpected reversals require relentless effort to overcome, often too much for the young person by himself. Whether its a mother to son, grandpa to granddaughter, teacher to student---there are grown-ups reaching out to you. Someone cares. We can navigate you, one step at a time, past the hidden trip-ups. We know where they are-- we've tripped over a few--but let's get up and keep on climbing.

The comfort from the community; poets from even two hundred years ago can be a member of that community. A poem can embrace the sad, frightened, lonely soul of a child.

I thought of Grandpa when his Giants won the Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014. I couldn't share it with him, except in my heart. That's a comforting thought. I learned it from poetry.

Go Outside--Check Out the Clair de Lune

Full Moon

Okay, you must go outside and look at that beautiful moon. Maybe take your guitar, or at least a device to play like James. (see below.)

Clair de lune by Claude Debussy, arranged and performed by guitarist James Edwards, with smalin's graphics. Its just as special as a piano solo. Maybe better, because its easier to play a guitar outside under the moonlight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTJbLei7A2c&feature=relmfu

MzTeachuh's Meditations: The Battle Is The Lord's

I Samuel 17:37 Know that the Lord does not save with the sword or with the spear; for the battle is the Lord’s.”

Yolanda Adams - The Battle Is The Lord's (Live)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snsmn_fEzLw

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Energy and Calm: Change It Up and Calm It Down!

New Study Finds That Most Kids Don’t Think Collective Punishment Is Fair – Here’s What I Do Instead

Bill and Melinda Gates call on high school students to help solve global problems

Ed. Dept. Seeks Standard Approach to Flagging Racial Bias in Special Education

Private Schools and IDEA

Does Education Have A Pinterest Problem?

Study: Classroom-Management Fixes Work Best When Addressing Social-Emotional Needs

Teaching with Tech: How Can Teachers Embrace Technology Tools

Education has evolved from a pen, paper and textbook affair to using iPads, online resources and even mobile apps in the classroom. If you are aiming for a career in education, being able to utilize technology effectively is a crucial skill that you will have to be able to demonstrate.

This article has a great checklist--

Working with an Inattentive Child

Check that Classroom Management

School-Wide Strategies for Managing... OFF-TASK / INATTENTION

Here is A Developmental Checklist

Is It A Learning Disability?

What’s the Difference Between ADD and ADHD?

ADHD and ADD: Differences, Types, Symptoms, and Severity

What is the difference between ADD and ADHD?

Monday, February 22, 2016

Statistic Of The Day: The Older Kids Get, The Less They Want To Go To School

Beware the Bigoted Subtext of Children's Literature

Principals Share Advice on Addressing Racial Bias in Schools

10 Benefits of Teacher Developed Curriculum

Tribes: Agreements for Learning Together

40 Best School Accommodations for Your ADHD Child

Free Handbook

Educating an Original Thinker

Teaching Is Truly a Joyous Profession

Elaborate "aha moments" coupled with the unexpected, makes education a very exciting field to be in. However the day to day of planning and mundane paperwork can take us away from the parts we love most.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Don't Wait: Six Simple Ways to Support Your Struggling Learners Tomorrow

10 Commonly Misdiagnosed ADHD Symptoms

109 Common Core Resources For Teachers By Content Area

How Looking at Student Work Keeps Teachers and Kids on Track

Five Roles in Literature Circles

Study: Too Many Structured Activities May Hinder Children's Executive Functioning

Classroom Instruction Resources Of The Week

If you want to improve your teaching, let students co-plan your lessons

"Getting students to help plan your lessons provides valuable opportunities for student voice and this has a measurable impact on the quality of learning."

Chloe Darracott-Cankovic

I Samuel 17:37 Know that the Lord does not save with the sword or with the spear; for the battle is the Lord’s.”

Yolanda Adams - The Battle Is The Lord's (Live)

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