Confessions of a Grandma

I have no idea why I picked up this book, but I am in the middle of reading the joy of less: a minimalist living guide (how to declutter, organize, and simplify your life) by Francine Jay.  So far I have not lerarned one new thing.  In fact, I should have written this book myself. There was an article in the Burlington Free Press the other day about Vermont high schools that are actively recruiting tuition paying students from China.  Resourceful way to address budget pinching.  Once, after hearing yet another harangue about running schools more like a business, I had thought of of sending our students to be educated in China.  You know, the outsourcing thing that businesses do. Seriously?? Donald Trump for president?  Of the United States? And really...what's with the duck mouth?  This is an unattractive man.  I mean, I have more substantive objections to his politics, but shallow attracts shallow.

This is for all the educators--retired or still in the business--a referral to this letter to a superintendent . I really felt the need to retire (special education teacher at a middle school) when I realized that after 33 years the job was just not getting any easier with the help of experience.  It just kept getting harder and more demanding--like any other job at the time--do more with less. I don't know if all states have a wellness program for teachers.  We do in Vermont and retirees are eligible to join in as well.  It is a good program that provides information and incentives for healthier lifestyles.  The thing is, it has only been since I retired that I could fully participate. For one thing participation involves a bit of paperwork--just not something I could add to my plate while I was working.  There is also a lot of emphasis on good nutrition--all stuff I knew anyway--but honestly, when I was dragging myself home in the dead dark of eveni...

All I can say to this is: You go, girl!   What a positive statement about aging. I don't know what to say about this either, except that it is pretty negative of statement about something.  I read in the paper about a high school boy who was seriously injured at his tech. center, in the electrical lab.  He attached an electrical cable of some sort to one of his nipples.  A second student attached another cable to the first's other nipple.  A third of these rocket science scholars plugged it into an electrical socket.  The resulting shock was enough to stop the boy's heart.  The boy and his parents are now suing the the teacher, the school, and the school district because the teacher did not adequately warn the boys about the dangers of electricity.  Good grief.  Kids can do some stupid things and sometimes they get hurt.  Still, I'm inclined to believe that if my kid did something like this, I'd want to keep it quiet rather than m...

I thought that I had a small two day job as I had agreed to help with the New England Comprehensive Assessment Program (NECAP) science testing at an area technical center. While I was there this morning, the woman I had substituted for last fall learned that her daughter in New Hampshire, who was due to deliver her second baby around June 10th, had gone into labor. So now I get another week of substituting. The group I dealt with last fall were just delightful and I enjoyed the couple of weeks with them a great deal, but this is a different grouping. They say it is a really rough crowd who have been eating another substitute alive. Gulp. I'm off to practice my "mean teacher voice" and my death stare before tomorrow morning.

Yeah!! Friday!! Tomorrow is Saturday--no alarm clock...no morning drive through traffic. And I'm exhausted. All that hands-on learning, much of it in the fresh autumn outdoors' air is active stuff that wears an older body down a bit. I'll be ready come Monday for another go round, though. It's so good to see these "at risk" kids so involved and productive. I really have to rethink the differentiated instruction concept and how it gets carried out. I'll bet this is the first time some of the kids in my group have felt anything close to successful in a school setting. ELEN So it's no longer "vocational education," but "technical." I'm very brave for doing this because any thing technical is out of my comfort level. I hope that's an example for students...willingness to take risks, life-long learning.

There was an appropriate piece in the Burlington Free Press yesterday, the Chris Bohjelian column. He told about the elementary school in his small town of Lincoln, VT. The entire school walks to the town cemetery for a Memorial Day observance. Students can find graves marked with GAR, soldiers who had fought in the Civil War. In a small town there are many connections between the past and present and this struck me as such a fitting way to honor that. Reflection can sometimes be overlooked in education's current focus on meeting test standards. In Flanders fields the poppies blow (1) Between the crosses, row on row That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with u...