Instilling the love

I made a realization today of how important what I do is. I've known teaching is important and I can look back to several teachers and the impressions they made on my life. I'm now realizing the impressions I am making upon my students.

About 3 weeks ago, I introduced my class to my most favorite poet of all time, Shel Silverstein. When I was young, my parents had a tape of him reciting his poems from "Where the Sidewalk Ends". I would fall asleep listening to his gravely voice reciting the most imaginative words I had ever heard. I wanted to share some of this with my students.

I picked 2 or 3 poems from the only Shel Silverstein book I had in my classroom, "Light in the Attic" and read them to my kids. They loved the art and the funny poetry. I didn't think much of it, but the next day my students were asking me to read some more of his poetry, so I picked out a couple more poems.

A few days later, we had library. I told my kids they should check out the other Shel Silverstein books. The first week, there were 2 or 3 kids that chose a Silverstein book. But, there were more requests to read some more of his poetry. Of course, at this point, I realized that "Light in the Attic" is not the most 1st grader friendly book - meaning, some of the humor was over their heads. I told my kids I was looking for a particular poem and it wasn't in my book, so I needed to find it.

The next week, when it was time for library, I'm pretty sure my class checked out every Shel Silverstein book there was. Of course each student wanted to have the book that contained my favorite poem, so they all had to show the book they got to me. As I opened up "Where the Sidewalk Ends", memories came flooding back of my childhood. I remembered the excitement and love of poetry Shel's voice portrayed as he recited his poetry. I'm pretty sure he one of the reasons I write now.

As soon as I saw the poems in the book, I knew immediately this book had my favorite poem. I still repeat parts of this poem in my head on the days I just don't want to get out of bed. It helps me remember that I'm ok and I will have a good day.

SICK

"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay,
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash, and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more--that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut, my eyes are blue--
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke--
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb,
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is---Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

~Shel Silverstein~ 


How could you not smile and go on with your day after that?

OK, back to my "epiphany" - I was talking to a parent of one of my students today and she mentioned how her son came home from school so excited about this new poet he heard about, he told his mom about the funny poems a man named Shel Silverstein wrote and he asked her if she knew of Shel. Of course she did and like many people my age, she had a copy of a couple of his books. He was so excited to show her all the poems he had heard. The next day he brought the 2 books to school for me to borrow to read to the class.

Another student brought me in the book her mom had of "The Giving Tree" and asked me to read it to the class.

As I looked around my room during reading time, I realized something...I had 3 or 4 kids sitting around 1 book of poetry laughing and trying to read with feeling so they could make the poem sound even more interesting. As one student finished with what they wanted to read, another would grab the book up quickly. My students don't want to turn in their Shel Silverstein library books because they like to read the poems over and over again.

The love I have for Shel Silverstein is in my class and it is amazing to see.

This is why I love my job...I am part of making these children who they will become.

Tomorrow on the agenda? I downloaded "Where the Sidewalk Ends" audio with the gravely, exciting Shel Silverstein voice...I can't wait for my kids to hear Shel recite his own poems.

My little worker

Jenna is quite the worker. When she saw Jason outside tearing down the deck, she wanted to help. She donned her apron and safety goggles she got from a Lowe's kids workshop and got to work.

It was quite fun to see her try to figure out how to use her little bit of leverage to pull the nails out of the deck boards. Jason was great at being patient with her. When she was done with that project (after about 6 nails), she started to hammer out some other nails from a board already removed.

At one point, she looked up at me and said, "mom, don't you dare put these on the computer." I told her that her uncle Russell likes to see what she's up to, so she said it was ok under one condition. "Mom, you aren't allowed to put lol on the picture."

I agreed to not put "lol" - and I got the ok to post them.

I'm so glad I have such a hard little worker to help out. I'm paying for my part of taking down the deck, but I think it'll be worth it when it's all taken care of.

Michelle

A shout out

My friend and her husband came up with this design for a gel pen holder for the Cricut (for my non-crafty friends, that's an electronic die cutter). You take out the blade housing and put in their housing with a mini gel pen in it and it draws! Cool, right?

Well, I don't own a Cricut, I have a Silhouette (which in my opinion is much better because you can do so much more with it, but you do need your computer). I was bummed that I couldn't get my grubby hands on one of these holders, then they went and made one for the Silhouette. I was telling her I couldn't buy one because she didn't have them in pink - even though she had the ones for the Cricut in pink. She said the manufacturer accidentally sent her 1 pink one and I could get it! S-C-O-R-E! 

I got it in the mail within a couple days and ran to Staples to get the mini gel pens. Score #2 - they were one sale over 50% off! 

I had no problems at all with the pen holder and cannot wait to get my hands on the mini sharpie holder...I love me some good smelly Sharpies. Anyway, here's a video of me using the pen with my Silhouette.

You can check out her stuff and her blog with some great ideas at http://amychomas.blogspot.com/

I have been waiting for this night for 4 months...

It's back!!!

Michelle

The best artist in the world!

If you have heard sawing into the wee hours of the morning at my house, at least you can see the final project.

I know I tease Jason a lot (ok, more than a lot) about his art projects, but he is really good at what he does. He never ceases to amaze me with his creations. Even some of the strange things he makes are made with such care and hard work, I just have to say WOW!

Here's Jason's latest sculpture for his class. Each of those green squares is 24"x24" and the angle changes each time by a certain degree. Yup, he even figured that out.

Michelle

Day 1 of Spring Break

There are many reasons I love being a teacher, one of them is getting some time off at the same time Jenna has time off. During the school year, Jenna sees my family more than she sees me. Thankfully, I have an awesome family who takes care of her.

Today is the official first day of our Spring Break and I feel that I actually accomplished some things! I slept in 1 1/2 hrs (but thanks to me running out of some meds, I didn't get to sleep until almost 4am). Jenna had spent the night at Charlotte's house so I had a little time to myself. This is a good thing, as Jason describes it, Jenna and I do not get along in the morning. Neither of us are morning people and when we have to interact, it doesn't turn out well. I'll have to write more about our morning routine another time.

Anyway, my driver's license had expired on my birthday, but I hadn't had time to get in to get it renewed, so that was first on my list of things to do. Thankfully, I had an appointment so I didn't have to wait forever in line. My appointment was at 10:15 and I was out of there by 10:40!

My family had planned to go to Fat Cats, a cool arcade and bowling alley today. I didn't think I would make it, but I am so glad I was able to. I didn't bowl, but I loved to watch Jenna try to bowl. She is definitely my child when it comes to strength. Here's an example of her awesome bowling skills.




At Fat Cats, they started playing Miley Cyrus and we were all jamming out and dancing to the music. It was funny, even Tai, my 10 month old nephew, was getting into it and was kicking his legs. Of course, Landon was trying to be cool and stay out of it. Did I mention how lucky I am to have an awesome family? We help each other out and we really do have fun together. Both of my sisters, my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and 2 nephews and niece were all there and it was just so much fun.

I didn't really want to leave, but I had an appointment for physical therapy at the best place ever! I love that everyone there is so laid back and are fun to joke with. Sure, I'm in pain and I push myself to keep getting my arm better, but I still look forward to going. If you ever need physical therapy and live by me, support the only PT place in the city - you will not be disappointed. They're talking about starting a women's exercise class and I know it'd be a ton of fun.


When I was done with therapy, I came back home and actually did what I said I was going to do! Proud moment for me there. I did the dishes and then I worked on my homework. My goal is to have all my homework done for my ESL endorsement by Weds so that I can have Thursday and Friday with Jenna. I have 5 sections to do and I am now completely done with 2 of them and only have about 7 more assignments left (the portfolio folder is a 3" 3-ring binder - so yeah, it's been a long process). 


Goal for tomorrow: finish dishes (we had 2 loads to do), complete at least 2 more sections of homework, laundry, and get Jenna to clean her room. I would also like to work on my next article, which means I'd need to scrapbook too - darn it :)

Michelle

I am officially a published freelance writer!

I am so excited. I got to go and interview Julie Comstock, the owner of Cosmo Cricket - what an awesome woman! Not to mention Cosmo Cricket has amazing scrapbooking product!

http://scrapjazz.com/topics/Miscellaneous/Interviews/2672.php

Michelle

7 years ago

7 years ago I was having a funny feeling in my womb. I had been to the doctor earlier in the day and the non-stress test didn't show any signs of contractions. Not to mention I wasn't due until April 19th. I had been begging my midwife since week 30 that I wanted her to be born, but alas, when there wasn't enough fluid at week 34 for an amniocentesis, I was told I was stuck with her until at least week 38. 

Those of you who knew me during my pregnancy with this beautiful little girl, know how rough it was on me. I was in physical therapy before I was showing because my sciatic nerve was being pinched. I couldn't eat and was having to take an anti-nausea pill that they prescribe to chemo patients. I was miserable. 

Earlier that week, 7 years ago, I had an ultrasound. To add to everything else, she was breech. We knew from probably the first trimester that she would be a C-Section baby and I was just fine with that. I watched my sister go through a miserable labor, only to end up with a c-section and a blood transfusion. I was not going to go that route. I also had the luxury of short term disability insurance to help pay for me while I was out of work.

On March 27, 2003 at about 9 pm, I called my midwife because something wasn't quite right. Since I had been in her office earlier in the day, she told me to call her in the morning and she would get me right in.

At about 10:30, my water broke. At least, that's what I found out it was. There wasn't much there, so instead of waking up Jason, I called my mom and asked her if I had just peed my pants. She said no and that I needed to wake up Jason...it was time. Did I mention I hadn't packed my hospital bag yet? 

Quickest delivery ever. We made it to the hospital around 11:30. The nurse checked me, said yup, my water had broke. Called the midwife and she said she would come on in that night and she called the dr on duty to perform the c-section. By the time our parents had arrived, I was being prepped for surgery. I don't remember much about the c-section...3 things stick out in my mind:

1 - the anesthesiologist telling me in 5 seconds I wouldn't be able to feel my feet, then my legs, etc. Then he thought he was funny when he told me to put my feet up on the table (I had been sitting up for the spinal block)

2 - Hearing the dr or nurse say, "where's her feet? I can't see her feet." Followed by me thinking for a moment, "I know I saw her feet on the ultrasound." Come to find out, not only was she breech, she had pulled her legs up over and behind her head. (Her legs stayed up like that for quite a long time).

3 - Hearing, "it's a girl!" Followed by Jason looking up over the surgery drape to see Jenna...which led to him having to go outside of the room for a minute to lay down so he didn't pass out. He was brave and waiting until they get a quick pic with the 3 of us in the OR. 

 At about 1:10 am on March 28, my baby girl was brought into this world. 6 lbs, 6 ozs.

Now, 7 years later, my life has been completely changed. Every day she keeps us laughing. She is, after all, a teenager in a 7-year-old's body. From her "stalker" on her pretend Princess cell phone to her telling us about her rough day, she is the best thing we could ever ask for and I am so proud she is mine.

Michelle

With a little bit of magic...

I stole this off of one of my former co-workers, but for this purpose, I am totally taking credit for it! I cannot wait to see my student's faces when they see what happened to their leprechaun traps they made.

I gave each student a plain styrofoam cup and had them decorate them to be leprechaun traps. I told them when the cup is sitting up normally, the leprechauns will get curious and will want to get a closer look. Sadly, leprechauns can't get out of these types of cups so then they are stuck. Before they left school, they made sure they all left their chairs down to make sure the leprechauns could make it up to their desk. Smart kids. Anyway, here's the cool thing...




Sorry the video quality isn't the best, I was shooting through an oven door after all. I put the cups in the oven for about 1 minute and then pulled them out to fix any shape problem that may happen as they fall. The oven was on 350 degrees. My friend said she did hers on 250 degrees for 6-12 minutes. You put them in for the smaller you want them to be. I'm wondering if the shape would have turned out better doing them for the longer time at a lower temp. Guess I'll experiment more next year :)

The poem that goes along with it says:

If you be lookin' for us leprechauns,

We never will be found.

We turned your traps into hats,

And then we danced around.

Here's a pic of the hats after:

I'll take some pictures tomorrow of the setup...it includes a Keebler elf cookie! Can't wait.

Michelle

Why are there so many songs about rainbows?

'Tis the month of March and with the month of March comes talks of rainbows. Last week, my class wrote a poem using the colors of the rainbow, that was fun. But, that's nothing compared to the fun we had today. First, rookie moment, I didn't have my kids put on smocks when they did their water colors. It's washable and thankfully the one child who got paint on her shirt has an awesome mom who understands. Anyway, my 2 cohorts had their kids paint rainbows earlier this week, so I decided to follow suit.

Yesterday I planned to have my kids paint today, I set aside an hour for the activity and got everything I needed ready. I got home and got on my computer to do some blog stalking when I went to the Cosmo Cricket blog. Julie (and her crew) always have such great ideas and yesterday was no difference. She wrote about using salt on water color paintings to make a certain effect. I saw it and thought, "perfect, it looks like rain."

So, this morning I stopped by the store on my way to work to pick up some salt shakers and got ready to show my kids the magic powers of salt. I gave them the directions just like Julie did, "wetter is better" and told them to go at it. When they were done, they brought their painting to me and I showered their paintings with salt. They were so excited to see what would happen next...and were amazed I knew a magic trick.


Here are my student's masterpieces. (Notice the one original vertical page - love the creativity).

You can't really see the effect from far away, so I've also included a close up of one. Rainbows truly are more magical when you add a little rain to them.











Thanks Julie and Cosmo Cricket for letting me stalk you.

I also have discovered my talent for making up and telling stories to my class - today it was the story of Roy G Biv and his gift from the rainbow. Hopefully that'll be on here soon.

Michelle

Why one is a good number for us

Sometimes I feel bad that Jenna does not have any siblings. I wonder if she'll ever even know that she's missing out on sibling rivalry or the love of siblings covering up for each other. Looking further (way further) down the line, what happens every other Thanksgiving when she has to go to her spouse's family's house? Will Jason and I be lonely? My mom suggested we save up for a cruise on those years. I have a great mom :)

Anyway, this weekend, I got to get a glimpse as to why one isn't always the loneliest number (you're welcome for getting that song stuck in your head). Jason and I decided on starting Jenna on an allowance, and as an "only child" we don't have to even out what we give her with other children. Jenna has the opportunity to earn $5/week. Here's her chore list:

$1 - clean room
(this was her room before allowance started)

$1 - clean play room (because we don't need another bedroom)
$1 - clean bathroom (she gets her own bathroom)
$1 - cleaning out the dishwasher
$1 - not pretending to be sick and obeying us

She gives 10% to tithing and then 10% to savings, then she has the extra $4 to do with as she wishes.

It was so much fun to go to Walmart this weekend with her and have her ask us how many weeks it would take for her to buy something. And, yup, made me feel like a stellar parent. She also went out to eat at her choice of restaurant, Golden Corral. I'm not a big fan of anything there but their rolls and desert bar. Jenna tried steak! And she actually liked it! Proud mom moment - she's such a picky eater.

Jenna was concerned because she was going roller skating with my family on Saturday and she can't skate very well. She had used her friend's scooter the last time she went skating, but she didn't have her own. Jason and I talked and decided to take her to get one. We checked the DI first, but they didn't have any, so we decided to take her to Walmart to get her own. Jason and I were talking about how in our families each sibling would've had to of been compensated for 1 getting something...with Jenna, that's not a problem.

Sure, we're worried about "only-child syndrome" and if she'll be able to deal with sibling squabbles of her future spouse. We hope to help her become a well-rounded child who will be able to handle not being the "one and only". I still wonder when I'm teaching if the way my student's act is based on the number (or lack thereof) of siblings has something to do with it. Jason has 2 brothers, I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters, and Jenna has neither - yet we all seem to be coping.

We are blessed to have her and as we get ready to enter her birthday month, I am so lucky to be blessed with such a beautiful, smart, and giving daughter. She's more than any mom could ever ask for

Michelle

Beautiful Song

I love this song. I happened to catch the end of Oprah when these guys performed and I'm so glad I waited to buy a version I liked, because they do a great job with it. I'm not a big Celine Dion Fan, but I like that she came out and surprised them. The version I got doesn't have her in it (she adds a little too much diva for me). I also wasn't a big fan of the KD Lange version during the opening ceremonies. But...the Canadian Tenors totally rock this song!

Canadian Tenors

Michelle

Freedom!

Freedom never felt so great! Sure, my arm hurts to move, but it's free!  The nurse told me I should use the sling as a doorstop. A very big one, might I add. I told her I have a collection, so I'll add it to the collection. Now for the physical therapy to start.

Michelle

It's been awhile since I've had an attack story

I know, you've missed my attack posts, so I have one to add today.

I've been fairly good about wearing my new accessory. I know a lot of people have been asking where they might get one of their own. It's the newest model and I got it in black, because, well, black is slimming. I like to think of it as a medical front fanny pack because it has pockets to hold things and doubles as a torture device to hold my left arm out at a 90 degree angle (elbow bent, lower arm straight out). I've worn it for almost 5 weeks, I get to wear it for a total of 6. Got the picture?

Well, said "accessory" has a nice "comfortable" place to store my lower arm from just below the elbow to the wrist. Thankfully I'm not getting any sun or that would be one bad tan line. This "comfortable" place is hooked on to said accessory using a piece of long velcro. But, as velcro goes, after it's been done up and undone so many times, it's not the best at holding. This is why the manufacturer also installed a sewn on 1" wide piece of fabric to hold up my hand (at just below the thumb). This piece of fabric kills my hand, so I (being the college educated person I am), usually don't put my hand in it.

I was walking back to the cafeteria from the faculty room today talking to my good friend/co-worker. Feeling pretty strong, my unused left hand was holding my full water bottle. (it holds 16 oz). I usually remind myself not to hold things with this hand, just because after a minute, it hurts my arm.

I think my water bottle has become quite fond of only being held in my right hand, because it and my new accessory decided they didn't like each other. The accessory figured the best way to get away quickly was to use that quick release velcro to, well, quick release. Again, my hand was not in the safety harness. So, down went my arm, with the weight of the full water bottle. My arm obviously revolted. Asking why, at this time, would I decide to drop my arm and add a weight a long with it. Remember - my arm has not held weight or been pushed straight for 4 1/2 weeks.
So, yes, I grounded the water bottle and it was not allowed to come home with me tonight. It can spend a cold weekend by itself in my classroom. As for me, a good ice pack and a little help from "my friends" and I'm doing ok.


ps - I'll see if J can get a pic of me in this lovely accessory tomorrow to add so you can all be jealous that you don't have this cool accessory.

Michelle

Where have I been?

Well, I ran out of spoons...and dropping typing my thoughts for a little bit gave me one back :) In the meantime, here's a picture from Alia's Make-A-Wish


Yes, the second one on the left is my mom! - The furthest left is my sister (Alia's mom)

Michelle

Hope your Christmas is wonderful!

Michelle

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Memories in Black and White

Although these pictures are not pictures of my memories, they must have been very important to take pictures of, especially before the days of digital cameras, or even cheap 35 mm. My dad's mom lent this book to my mom and she asked Jason to scan some pictures in. Every time I look at the album, I find new things.

(my Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma, Lawrence & Zella Sessions)

This is my heritage, my history. 

(My Great-Grandma, Zella Sessions)

Pictures of many people I don't know, 
and some who I know and love. 

(My Grandpa, Dean (left), and my Great-Grandma, Zella. I did not know my grandpa loved photography)

Some I've heard stories about, 
others I have now asked about. 

(Look at all of these happy faces, and awesome swimwear)

They look so young, 
younger than I've ever known them. 

(My Grandpa Dean and Grandma Anna Sessions a.k.a. Ann)

They make me proud. 

(My Grandpa Sessions)

(My Grandma Sessions)

I'm proud of my heritage.

(The family store in Clearfield, Utah)

Michelle

Thursday dance outfits

I have decided to let Jenna somewhat pick out her outfits for dance. The last time I did it was so much fun. She even let me take these pics with my phone. Of course she had to pose and then approve them.

Michelle

Merry "Fish"mas!

Thanks mom for the cute idea for my outside bulletin board!
Thanks Jason for digitally drawing the Santa Hats!
Thanks Silhouette machine for cutting so smoothly!

Michelle