Reflection on Identity Day

As I reflect upon this year, I am very thankful for all that life has brought me to and through.  This year has been a whirlwind of activities.   I've kept busy organizing meetings, dealing with situations, completing necessary paperwork, then teaching, presenting at meetings and conferences, and serving as an officer of our Professional Development Committee. Some days I feel like I am not performing to the best of my abilities... but don't we all feel that way sometimes?

This time last year, our assistant principal implemented Identity Day.  The premise of the activity was to depict yourself in a display that showed others how you identify yourself and your passions. I created a poster with pictures of my various art projects: pencil portraits, paintings, jewelry, knitted scarves and hats, costumes, etc.  These are some of my passions, but not really my identity.  My identity is much deeper and makes me who I am as an adult.

The idea of identity was further compounded by a required Poverty Simulation put on by our district. The simulation brought back many memories from my life and caused me to truly reflect on who I am and why I am... my identity.

I believe if we all take a little time to get to know each other (as well as our students) we might look at them in a different light.  This follows right along with the idea of the Single Story that I have shared at various trainings and conferences. I want to share a little about who I am and what has led me to become who I am as a person and educator.


I was born in Caldwell, Idaho to a mother who was just barely 16 (July to October) and a father who had just turned 17.  Mom was the middle child of nine - 7 girls and 2 boys.  My father was the middle child of three boys.  I was unexpected and unwanted, but in those days, you did the honorable thing and married.  My mother's family was very poor, they had lived much of their lives as migrant farm workers or sharecroppers.  My father's family were farmers.  For mom, marriage was an escape from a life of great hardship.

My parents moved into my father's family home.  We stayed with them while dad finished high school. After graduating, dad got a job and we moved into a housing complex.  One of my first memories was of my grandma stopping by our apartment (in the 1960s) and becoming very irate because she found me and our neighbor, a little black girl, sitting in the wading pool she had gotten me.  I remember crying and telling her I didn't care if she was not white like me, she was my friend. Not long afterward, dad and I moved to Missouri with my grandparents.  My mother joined us soon after.

In Missouri, my parents worked the migrant farm circuit.  Dad harvested crops and mom worked in the kitchens.  We did this for several years.  I spent many of my days in the kitchen with other younger children.  Grandma had bought me a set of magnetic letters and I would make words on the refrigerator and play school with the other kids.  By the time I started kindergarten, I was already reading and writing, but my teachers did not know this.  We moved about ten times during that school year.  By the time I would start to fit in, it was time to move on.  It is hard to make connections and build relationships when you know you won't be there long.  I learned how to be alone.

We were extremely poor.  I remember going to the camp store with my mother one day and seeing cases upon cases of dog food.  I saw one of my friends and her family buying dog food and was excited thinking they had gotten a dog.  When I asked my mom she told me that it was not for a dog, it was for them.  I am fairly certain this was the nasty meat in the hash dish momma often cooked for us.

My mother made our clothes.  Back in those days, flour and other things came in bags and some of them had pretty prints on them.  Many of these bags became my dresses.  Grandma would buy me shoes and socks, on birthdays and other such holidays.  I remember having to wear shoes to kindergarten that were too small and my feet hurting.  I was, however, always clean and well-kept.

When I was in first grade my family settled in a small town.  My parents worked in restaurants as a cook and waitress while my father also attended the police academy.  He later became a police officer, a profession he embraced for over 30 years.  My mother got a job in the town's liquor store which she eventually owned several years later.  We became a 'real' family.

As a child, you do not always understand the dynamics of what is going on in your family.  My mother and father worked a lot.  My mother's sister moved in and lived with us.  I recall they went out dancing and socialized often in the evenings.  I remember watching television shows like The Brady Bunch and Leave it to Beaver and wondering if families were actually like that.  Ours was not a home filled with such conversation and laughter.

The summer before I started second grade, the neighbor children were at our house playing.  We were playing hide and seek, chasing each other through the downstairs in and out of the many doors.  My mother was in the kitchen frying chicken for dinner.  She had yelled several times for us to stop running through the house, but being kids, we didn't.  Just as she was carrying a bowl of fresh from the pan steaming hot chicken gravy from the kitchen to the table, I ran in front of the door.  My mom threw the bowl into the air. The bowl overturned above me dumping its contents down my front.

I received first and second-degree burns to my face as the gravy slid down to my chest.  The gravy that rested on my chest and thigh caused second and third-degree burns.  I screamed with pain.  My mother stood there scolding me for running in the house.  My father came running from the other room, ripped off my gravy-covered clothes, and told mom to call 911.  The ambulance was taking too long, so, my dad rushed me to the city hospital in our family car.

At the hospital, the nurses were insistent about filling out paperwork and took far too long.  Then it was discovered that a doctor was not available.  My dad had an ambulance rush me to a hospital in a larger nearby city.  By this time, I was in shock.  I remember flashes of doctors and bandages and severe pain.  When I next woke, I was at my grandma's house.  I stayed there for several weeks while the situation was evaluated by family services.

When I first looked in a mirror I cried, and the salt of my tears made the pain even worse.  I slept a lot.  I smelled awful.  I felt ugly.  Eventually, the bandages came off, but the scars remained, both inward and outward.  I did not want to be seen.  We discovered that I had keloid scars.  My body produces excess scar tissue that causes raised purplish scars.  I began monthly treatments which involved a series of thirty to forty shots into the scar itself to help it shrink.

As a young adult, I was very conscious of the scars.  I felt that I would never be wanted or as pretty as other girls.  It was also during this time that my parents divorced.  It was a terrible divorce.  My parents fought bitterly and my brother, sister, and I suffered because of it.  I withdrew into books and devoted myself to my studies.  School was my escape.  When not at school, I was home caring for my brother and sister while my mother worked.

I excelled in school.  I loved learning.  In the summers I made weekly trips to the library to learn even more. I found that questions about everything from maturing to dealing with divorce could be answered in books. I also discovered that I could escape to other worlds in a book and did so often.  My mother, in the meantime, had retreated into depression and sought comfort in drugs and alcohol. Her temper was short.  She frequently told me that I looked too much like my father and she couldn't stand to see me.  So, I chose to read in my room when she was at home.

My mother remarried, they had two sons and mom miscarried a girl.  My stepfather was not a nice man and they divorced after a few years.  Before they divorced, my stepdad decided that I should stop seeing my boyfriend and date one of his friends.  My mother gave me an ultimatum- date who they felt I should, go live with my father, or get married.  I chose to get married, and she chose to stop speaking to me.  I was married my entire senior year of high school.  Eventually, my brother and sister came to stay with me before graduating and moving out on their own.

I was married for 22 years.  The first years were good, but later his true self was revealed.  He suffered from bipolar disorder.  As a high school student, he was athletic, but as he grew older, he gained quite a bit of weight and became insecure, suspicious, and abusive.  He was raised to believe that women were created to serve their husbands and keep their homes.  I did not mind caring for a home and later a family, but his insecurities caused him to isolate us from the world outside of the church.  After I became a teacher, he became jealous of my obligations at school and even more abusive.  When his abuse carried over to our children, I knew I needed to be strong enough to end it and we divorced.

I was alone for several years before meeting my current husband.  It is difficult to meet new people when you don't know how.  A couple of years after we married, my husband discovered that he was diabetic.  His doctor at that time told him that he had ten years to live if he lived carefully, that was fifteen years ago.  He is now a type 1 diabetic and does not like being alone. We spend our available time together watching movies, playing games, and enjoying the time we have.  He is usually asleep by 9:00 each evening so I devote my evenings to social media and schoolwork.

My husband says I am a kid magnet because they seem to seek me out when we are in public. I have never had trouble talking to children.  It feels like I have always been a teacher.  I am honestly most at home working with my students.  However, life has made me an introvert around other adults.  I have to make an intentional effort to have conversations with my peers.

My online presence has allowed me to connect with peers, an opportunity I never had before.  Because of this, I am becoming more comfortable sharing and communicating with others.  Because of this, I have shared with you part of my story.

Am I shy?

11/11/17

Why are you so shy? Growing up I was asked this question a lot.  I guess I was always a little shy.  Moreover, I think I was just a quiet person.  I preferred to sit and listen to what others were saying.  I liked to absorb and learn.

One-on-one, I loved to talk.  In a large group though, the thought of talking was overwhelming.  We moved a lot and I was often the new kid- an outsider looking in.  I remember wishing I were more extroverted and part of the crowd.

As I got older and excelled in school, I found myself feeling more isolated.  In visiting with former classmates at our 25-year class reunion, I discovered that others were somewhat intimidated by me in school.  They told me I was always so smart they weren't sure what to say around me.  Then there were others that felt I was somewhat of a snob because I never talked to them.  If they, and I, had only known.

Being this quiet person through much of my childhood meant that I was always observing, thinking about, and analyzing my surroundings.  I grew up thinking differently and eventually following a different path than many of my peers.  I married and started a family.  When raising my own children, I did my best to ensure they were at ease talking with their peers and allowed them ample opportunities to do so.  I am happy to say that they are all leaders in our community and enjoy many deep friendships.  That brings joy to my heart.

Eventually, I studied and became a teacher.  I found that I relate to students and have great empathy for their stories.  Talking with them comes easily.  For the last 17 years, I have taught English language learners.  Many of them come here silent and afraid.  It is very rewarding to provide them with the means to communicate with those around them.

After nearly 30 years as an educator, it is sometimes difficult to tell that I am an introvert.  I have presented at conferences and have been a guest speaker at several gatherings.  I have conducted trainings in our school district and have acted as a mentor to new teachers.  Despite these things, I still find myself retreating into isolation.  Extroversion does not come naturally; however, I know I must step outside of my comfort zone.

Surprisingly, I have become more extroverted over the past year.  I attribute this to social media.  This avenue has helped me to find my own voice and the courage to share my thoughts and feelings.  Sharing my voice has been the first step, however, real growth came from having others respond.  It has been the power of feedback that has brought me out of isolation and into the world.

This knowledge has helped me to see the benefit of social media for my students.  English language learners, in particular, need an opportunity to interact with others.  Social media is the first in a series of baby steps to accomplish this goal.  After all, talking to someone via the internet is much less intimidating than speaking face-to-face.

I introduce my students to blogging early in the year.  Our first blog shares who we are and our journey to the present.  For some students, I utilize speech-to-text resources because they are not yet able to write in English.  For other students, I have them dictate to me what they want to have written.  In either case, we create a presence.  The next step is responding to each other's blogs.

This year, we discovered Flipgrid which has enabled us to create verbal messages and receive verbal responses.  Speaking is becoming increasingly easy for the students.  We are discovering that the journey is not always comfortable, but we are getting there together.

I am reposting this from one of my previous posts.  I come back to its powerful message often.  We all have a story unique to ourselves.

This video of a TED talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie still says so very much.  It is my challenge to you to look at your students, their families, your colleagues, and others you should meet with new eyes.  Don't fall for the danger of a single story.

A Busy Start to the Year!

10/25/2016

What a busy beginning of the year this has been!  I can finally breathe enough to stop and add to my blog.  I hope everyone has a great start to their year.

I started this school year with 130 ELLs at my primary building.  Thankfully we have hired a second ESL teacher to help me this year. She is wonderful!  She works primarily with third and fourth graders with higher proficiency.  I am working with the lower grades and low proficiency/newcomer students.  I am also traveling again this year and work at a second school with only 19 ELLs.  My caseload is right at 70.... last year I had 119.  I almost feel like I am slacking... almost.

I attended the Missouri Federal Programs Conference in September to learn more about my new position as ESL Coordinator for our district.  I learned that I have much to learn. : ) I also discovered that ESSA brings with it many changes for our ESL programs.  More about that as I sift through it.

The next weekend I attended and presented at Mid-TESOL in Kansas City.  What a honor that was!  Over 100 people attended my session on teaching thematically.  Many thanks to Marti Jones, a co-worker, who helped me present.  While at the conference I got to meet Sonia Nazario and Stephen Krashen... in person!  They were both wonderful speakers with great messages.  The sessions on the legal rights of immigrants and ELLs presented by Roger Rosenthal were great as well.  Overall, it was a terrific weekend of learning.



It is conference time in our district this week.  I thought I would share with you how we conduct our conferences for parents in need of interpreters.

First, I send out a note to parents notifying them of the dates and times for conferences.  We offer one evening and one daytime session.

Second, I secure interpreters.  We have K-4 in our building and 4-5 teachers at each grade level.  I set up 7 tables in our library and assigned an interpreter to each table.  I also have interpreters to assist us with greeting parents as they arrive.

Parents are invited by grade level to a time frame.  Times are based on the numbers needed at each grade level.  For this year our times were: Kg 4:00-5:00; 1st grade 5:00-5:40; 2nd grade 5:40-6:20; 3rd grade 6:20-7:00 and 4th grade 7:00-7:30.

On conference day, teachers come to the library at their allotted time.  We greet parents, sign them in, and have them wait in the cafeteria with snacks, activities, and books to read with their children. When the teachers are ready, we take parents, one at a time, to the teacher in the library. The extra tables with interpreters allow us to go ahead and start the next group of teachers should one teacher run long. The night runs very smoothly, and all of our parents are able to meet and visit with their child's teachers with the help of the interpreters.

I also prepare dinner and snacks for our interpreters as a thank you for their helping us.


Before I sign off for today want to share a great website I found for working on Sight Words.  The sight is called

100+ SIGHT WORD ACTIVITIES

It has some really fun ways to practice and learn.

What I Believe

07/19/2016

Effective teachers need to create an environment that promotes maximum learning. I believe a teacher MUST challenge and inspire a positive learning attitude, one that will continue into life.  Teachers must pique students’ interest by using innovative lessons and techniques that breed discovery, creativity, and tolerance.  The teacher MUST thoroughly love this profession and realize that enthusiasm for education begins at the top!  I believe that it is important and empowering to be consciously aware of the theory behind what I teach and to be able to reflect those theories in my teaching approach.

Since beginning my teaching career in 1988, my experience as an educator has been multifaceted.  My teaching experiences include ESL K-4 instructor and lead teacher (since 2001), 5th-grade teacher (5 years), K-5 Remedial Reading instructor (8 years), state ESL curriculum development writer, state testing development panel, new teacher mentor, teacher technology trainer (2 years), and CLIMBS facilitator.  I have also been a well-received presenter at several state and regional conferences on the topics of ESL and technology.

I love sharing what I learn with others.  Through this blog, I hope to do just that.  I am a firm believer in not reinventing the wheel.  I plan to share many of the things I find along the way... a little of this and that... and some ESL too!

A Science Site

I love science!  Today I came across a very nice site for teachers and best of all, it is FREE!

http://msnucleus.org/membership/index.html

Educators or parents may use the copyrighted material in their classroom at no cost.  In return, they would like to receive your email, so they may send update alerts. You may unsubscribe at any time.  (If you prefer, you may still access the material without giving them your email.) 

You will have access to both the elementary and secondary curriculum with over 6000 pages of reference material based on research with children.  

On the website under Catalog, you can view the materials by content. Prices are subject to change so please look at online catalog for up-to-date prices.   These are not printable. Teachers or parents  may want to consider purchasing a copy of the material on CD if they have slow internet access.  It will allow easy use of the material in the classroom.  

If you are interested in customization they offer consultant services.  You may click the link here look at an example of customization done for Fremont Unified School District. 

A glimpse Into what it is like to be a Language Learner

Are you interested in what the language of the Pacific Islands looks like? I found this site a while back that offers a glimpse into their alphabet and reading curriculum.  Take a look!  Check out the rest of the site as well.

http://prel.org/resources/island-alphabet-books-2/

Photo strips to use with your Instagram or other photos.

I found a really cute idea on another post of how to make those photostrips from the booths.  I decided to make some of my own.
Here is the original blog site: http://www.thecollegeprepster.com/2012/01/tutorial-instagram-photostrips.html#comment-form


Here is my template. The first column is white frames. If you would like the photoshop file let me know.  This blog program does not seem to let you attach that type of file.