Monday May 22

[Shirlv]

Morning All, 67° and sunny. Enjoyed my dinner yesterday but you can not make a little broccoli salad so will take a container to porch friend. We all agree that teachers have a great influence on our lives. There are bad apples in every walk of life and also those who make a positive impact on us. Teachers have a difficult job an it isn’t getting any better. Bless them. Just household chores today and another good dinner of leftovers. Anita, thinking of you. Wishing everyone sunshine and flowers. Be safe

[monik7]

I have a few comments about teaching in schools from yesterday.

I agree with a lot of what Judy said. I also feel children should be allowed to excel if that’s what they want. My daughter was one of those. My children went to a Lutheran elementary school. Reading was presented to the children in kindergarten, but all were allowed to progress at their own speed. My children were exposed to books before starting school, so my daughter just took off in kindergarten. The teacher allowed her to move ahead as fast as she wanted and encouraged her. She also loved every other subject so much so that she ended up skipping first grade. Again, she did this all on her own. I’m thankful she was not made to “tread water” while the other kids moved at a slower pace. She ended up graduating from Stanford University and attended Yale Law School. She’s now a successful attorney.

My point is: I think classrooms/teachers need to be flexible to accommodate all levels and abilities in their classes. Maybe this is asking too much, but I don’t think students who are anxious to learn should be held back to a slower speed of learning to accommodate slower learners. Just my opinion, but my daughter is a good example of what can be accomplished if a child is allowed to learn at her desired speed. I understand the difficulties teachers face today and maybe we were just lucky to be in the right school at the right time when my children started school.
Sandi

[MandysMom]

Sandi, from what my teacher and former /retired teacher friends tell me, these days it's not so much what the teacher wants as the ridiculous constraints new curriculum puts on them and legal requirements. I feel for both students and teachers these days!
Another warm day in Northern Califirnia! Headed towards 95°, so Anne may see 100°, though only 60 or so miles to my north. I need to get ready and go fuel my PT, as the many trips to Chrysler are eating up my fuel! Can't go into Costco to shop (where I get fuel) because I can't lock the car at moment, so over, get fuel and home. Then handyman Sean is picking me up for a Home Depot run, to get supplies he needs for several projects here. Again, i dont want my unlocked car in their lot which is populated by immigrants/day laborers trying to get jobs. Tomorrow is trip 5 or 6 to Chrysler. If it wasn't covered by warranty, I'd have given up. Then Wednesday finally, after a 10 mo wait, I see the pulmonary/sleep Dr hoping to figure out why my airways ate tight every morning and fine rest of time.
Have a good day everyone.
Velda

[Redetotry]

Another nice day here I'm trying not to look at the forecast though because heat and humidity are coming. Yesterday's post made me remember a lot of things from school. Martha I can relate to your experience with home economics. I learned to sew from a neighbor and had been making my own clothes since grade school. The home economic teacher and I did not get along! I thought her techniques were outdated and tried to explain. Needless to say it was not well receiver. Several members of my family are or were school teachers/principals and they blame the fact children are not doing well in school is that they are restricted in how/what they can teach. Also the older ones say when the ability to discipline was stopped that was the beginning of the exodus of teachers. Now the kids are so out of control and are an actual physical threat there is a serious teacher shortage. My friends daughter was assaulted and knocked down by a sixth grade student when she was pregnant. The boy who was involved had been in trouble for prior assaults but they put him back in the classroom. She quit when they refused to remove him. Anita I feel sorry for your daughter and hope she can find a different position that isn't so stressful and dangerous.
I think I hear a nap calling. I hope everyone has a good day.

[BarbaraRose]

Sheila, the term you are looking for is audio-dyslexia. Instead of reading words wrong, they hear words wrong (I am learning a lot by reading about ADHD and other neurodivergent disorders!).

I was thought to have a learning problem when I was young. I couldn't pay attention, couldn't follow directions, I could only handle basic math, etc. When I was around 10, my sister-in-law, who was an English teacher, gave me a test which I worked on a different part every weekend for several weeks. I wasn't told what the test was for but since I loved taking tests, I eagerly agreed to it. After a few weekends, she stopped giving me more tests. Looking back, I am sure it was an IQ test. Nothing more was mentioned about it.

I was told a lot of defeating things; stupid, worthless, dumb, too sensitive, scatterbrained, etc. Now, with learning about ADHD, I can see why I got those labels (not that I deserved any of them even if I was a little confused, etc). Back when I was a kid, ADHD wasn't even a thing. Boys were just unruly and wild. Girls just daydreamed and couldn't concentrate. Later ADHD was thought to just be a young boys issue. It wasn't until decades later, that they figured out girls had it too but expressed it differently (restlessness, distracted, short attention span, etc). It was thought that kids grew out of it at a certain age. Now they know that most have it as adults as well. All these years, I just thought I wasn't smart or was lazy, etc. The more I read about ADHD the more it all makes sense. It is a relief to have a name for it. I kind of blamed it on my disfunctional and abusive childhood for a long time, altho I am sure that didn't help my ADHD issues at all (we don't handle stress well ). When we are young, the labels people put on us, tend to stay with us and we accept them as truth. I wish adults, especially parents and teachers would realize how much words and labels influence us and/or damage us thru our lives.

Kids learn in very different ways. I am a visual learner. I learn thru pictures, diagrams, and hands-on. I don't learn well by being told or by reading. If someone tells me to do A, B, C, and D. I will only remember D and have to ask what A was, then B, etc... Teachers need to understand how each kid learns best. Altho, now their hands are kind of tied due to the teaching restrictions they have now.

Anita, Oppositional Defiant Disorder is often co-existant with ADHD and other neurodivergent disorders. My nephew has ADHD and I think probably also ODD. He was very defiant, aggressive and out of control at times when he was young (he tried to strangle his younger cousin one day! ).

So anyways, still in bed. No phone working so no calls to make or receive. Need to get up and find something constructive to do.

Anita, good luck with the move! I hope you love your new place! I hate moving (which I do a lot of! ) but I love making a new place my own and decorating it.

Have a good day!

[Bethers]

I was lucky with most of my teachers in grade school. But things changed in high school, drastically. Enough that I said, no college for me. But the fall after I graduated from high school I spent a month in the hospital, then a few more home recuperating and decided to try the new junior college near me. That was a good move for me. Even better was one specific professor at the 4 year school I transferred to for my last 2 years. Best teacher I ever had and I took any class he was teaching even a couple I would have run from lol

I took Ty for a walk about an hour ago down to the visitor's center as one worker is celebrating her birthday and made sure to tell me to go down and grab a cupcake. They are lemon/strawberry and it's in my fridge calling to me now. Looks awesome. On the return walk I felt a couple raindrops (supposedly only a 20% chance of rain today. Ha. We barely got inside and the rain came and now it's raining harder with some hail included. Glad we got home first!

Anita, I've been thinking about you and the move all day. I hope things are going smoothly.

[chalet05]

Thanks for the thoughts ladies! Manager wasn’t here as promised! A phone call made and she informed me she left door unlocked. 3 movers were great! Blankets and shrink wrap on everything. Faster than estimate figured so now wishing I would have had them move more! Daughter on the way with carload on a much appreciated cool day.

[Cudedog]

Sheila, the term you are looking for is audio-dyslexia. Instead of reading words wrong, they hear words wrong (I am learning a lot by reading about ADHD and other neurodivergent disorders!).

I was thought to have a learning problem when I was young. I couldn't pay attention, couldn't follow directions, I could only handle basic math, etc. When I was around 10, my sister-in-law, who was an English teacher, gave me a test which I worked on a different part every weekend for several weeks. I wasn't told what the test was for but since I loved taking tests, I eagerly agreed to it. After a few weekends, she stopped giving me more tests. Looking back, I am sure it was an IQ test. Nothing more was mentioned about it.

I was told a lot of defeating things; stupid, worthless, dumb, too sensitive, scatterbrained, etc. Now, with learning about ADHD, I can see why I got those labels (not that I deserved any of them even if I was a little confused, etc). Back when I was a kid, ADHD wasn't even a thing. Boys were just unruly and wild. Girls just daydreamed and couldn't concentrate. Later ADHD was thought to just be a young boys issue. It wasn't until decades later, that they figured out girls had it too but expressed it differently (restlessness, distracted, short attention span, etc). It was thought that kids grew out of it at a certain age. Now they know that most have it as adults as well. All these years, I just thought I wasn't smart or was lazy, etc. The more I read about ADHD the more it all makes sense. It is a relief to have a name for it. I kind of blamed it on my disfunctional and abusive childhood for a long time, altho I am sure that didn't help my ADHD issues at all (we don't handle stress well ). When we are young, the labels people put on us, tend to stay with us and we accept them as truth. I wish adults, especially parents and teachers would realize how much words and labels influence us and/or damage us thru our lives.

Kids learn in very different ways. I am a visual learner. I learn thru pictures, diagrams, and hands-on. I don't learn well by being told or by reading. If someone tells me to do A, B, C, and D. I will only remember D and have to ask what A was, then B, etc... Teachers need to understand how each kid learns best. Altho, now their hands are kind of tied due to the teaching restrictions they have now.

Anita, Oppositional Defiant Disorder is often co-existant with ADHD and other neurodivergent disorders. My nephew has ADHD and I think probably also ODD. He was very defiant, aggressive and out of control at times when he was young (he tried to strangle his younger cousin one day! ).

So anyways, still in bed. No phone working so no calls to make or receive. Need to get up and find something constructive to do.

Anita, good luck with the move! I hope you love your new place! I hate moving (which I do a lot of! ) but I love making a new place my own and decorating it.

Have a good day!

Excellent post, Barbie. Thanks for sharing.

Anne

[SoCalGalcas]

Here. I am! I hate to complain about my health,but,that’s all I have to talk about. On May 1st, I fell OFF my mobility scooter. Fell on a concrete floor landing on my leg. I was leaning over to pick up something and leaned too far and slid off the seat. Of course I am on Eliquis so the blood was pouring. The split on my leg was about 6 inches. With the skin pealed back and the blood pouring, I decided to go to the ER. The waiting time was four hours! After sitting there the blood started dripping on the floor. They came and took me to an examination room and wrapped my leg in about five yarda of gauze. Then back to see the doctor. Many years ago I decided if I came into the hospital I woildn’t tell them I was a nurse and how to treat me. I have been retired for 28 years and things change. The doctor said the skin that was pealed back had to straightened and fastened. I thought it should be debrated. Oh no this was the way to do it. Big bulky dressing on. Long sstory short. The oozing from my leg. Had nowhere to go so large hematomas formed. When I went for a dressing change, the doctor said they had to go. Took scissors and cut into them and nothing ccame out. Now I was sent to wound care. These nurses new what they were doing. I had to go to them every other day for dressing changes and debredment of that piece of skin and getting rid of all the hematomas. It has been a long haul and I got down in thr dump.
The wound is now beginning to heal nicely.
Other than above, I’m doing pretty well . My balance is crappy, I use my cane when I walk any distance.
This is the time of year the college softball teams are competing to get into their World Series. I am enjoying watching these. Games.
I want to comment on some of the interesting subjects we have had on here. I will have to go through all the messages and take notes. My short term memory has arrived.
So that’s it from me for now.
Lyn

[Shirlv]

Lyn, glad for the update and that you are healing nicely.

Anita, did the manager at least give you keys. Geeezzzz

[JudyJB]

Velda makes a good point. Way back when most of us went to school, teachers were assumed to know what they were doing and allowed to teach based on their experience and what they had learned in school. That allowed them to be flexible.

Now, however, the big word is "STANDARDS," and in many school districts (sometimes forced by the state) teachers are judged by how well their students meet the standards that the district and state has determined for their grade. This makes it a lot harder to let a student who is a slow-starter progress at his or her own speed. In other words, some kids are ready to learn to read in kindergarten and some are not--due to age and other times to just how fast the child develops. Forcing the teacher to get her students to meet standards as a requirement of pay increases or continuing employment means she or he has to focus more on the specific skills needed to meet the standards and ignore other skills. This turns both teachers and some students into premature failures. Turning teachers into regulated machines is also one reason why so many of them are quitting.

OK, enough ranting. I am baking bread today and making a chicken and noodle casserole. I am also continuing to sort through stuff, toss and organize. The weather here is strange because I am at 9,200' in elevation, and the campground is surrounded by even higher snow-capped mountains. It rains almost every day in the mountains, so believe it or not, the snow level gets added to as it continues to melt. This means still a lot of water to join rivers and reservoirs. Every river I have seen in NM and CO is crazy--tons of water and even rapids in rivers that are normally calm. Did you know that Lake Powell has been going up 1 foot per day for the last three weeks??? It has also dumped a sudden flood into the Grand Canyon to help create sand bars and make the river healthier. Plus, it is continuing to release water for Lake Mead, which is going up only about 1/3 of a foot per day, but that is better than for the past few years!

Most days start out sunny or cloudy, but the rain comes in late afternoon or evening. It is also chilly with highs only in low 60s. I put my hummingbird feeder out yesterday, and at least one black-chinned hummingbird has found it. They are funny birds because they are constantly trilling as they fly away, so you can tell when they are around.

[BirdbyBird]

Another historical fact. I started teaching children with special needs in our county program shuck over the years has changed names and titles. At the time it was the MRDD Board. It started teaching in 1975, the year that the Federal IDEA law went into effect. In many states and here in Ohio, if at 5 years of age the local board of education determined that a child wasn’t a candidate or formal education they we give a green car that said they were ex empty from school. The System of county run program came about pre 1975 as a result of parents creating their only options for some sort of schooling. I will say in all honesty that of the 14 students in that first class of mine all but maybe two of them would never have seen the inside of a county program 30 years last. By 2005 the public school had been forced by law and the advocacy of parents and some educators (and the ADA and Leave No Child Behind Laws) to figure out how to better serve a diverse range of children with a wide range of learning challenges….. Just a reminder that the classrooms we attended back in the 40’s 50’s and 60’s were made up a much more homogeneous group of learners tha are now expected to be included in classrooms. I was a witness to most all those changes, as both an educator and as an administrator. And I watched the public schoolteacher’s struggle to face students with disabilities both physical and mental and emotional that few were every trained to educate or understand. Tina

[JudyJB]

I had two boy cousins who were about ten years younger than me. One was considered "trainable" and the other never got language, although he could understand some instructions. They were denied any kind of schooling in the early 1960s, so their mother and some other parents found an old one-room school and put their own school together. It was about ten kids taught by parents, no support from the school. I used to babysit the two once a week so their parents could get out and go bowling.

They were off and on sent to residential schools, but never for very long, so they ended up at home with no special education services their entire lives. When they were in their late 20s, they got into a sheltered home, but ended up back home again. My aunt passed away at age 40 after a bad reaction to getting a shot for stress and anxiety, so boys/end ended up living with stepmother and then sister who was younger than them by 12 years. They are now in a group home, thankfully, but when they were home, they did nothing but sit in front of TV. Father did not want them separated or leaving home.

Thankfully, there are services available now, but back then, there was nothing, which was very sad.

[chalet05]

Lyn, sorry for your injury but sounds like you are healing well. I can give you a list of doctors who didn’t know what they were doing.

Shirl, she did come finally hand me keys. My refrigerator was to have the door switched to open the other way. She told me to go into the portal and make a maintenance request. This is the same portal last place used so I’m familiar and this one has no maintenance category! I know I’m picking on her. Found the parts in a drawer so will probably do it myself. Kids were a tremendous help and made several trips with stuff. Think I’m done for the day!

Movers wrapped each piece of furniture in a blanket followed with shrink wrap! Outstanding job!

[Acadianmom]

Oh Lyn, so sorry you fell. Glad you are on the mend. I'm afraid the medical profession like the teaching profession has not improved with age.

When my son, with ADD, was in the 3rd grade his teacher was a perfectionist. It would take him forever to do a page of work and I agree it was messy. His teacher would want him to do it over. I told him that it was the law, he had to go to school. He wanted to know if he went to jail would he have to go to school. He said he wanted to die and you know what a can of worms that opened up. The school would evaluate him sometime between the start of school and Christmas. I would get the results about February and they would do nothing. One year the counselor said that he said he had one friend. If he had said he had no friends then he would have been eligible for counseling. I hauled him for tutoring and counseling for years with us paying of course. The perfectionist teacher had some health issue after about a month and left. The school hired a retired teacher that had taught in the black school. She though my son was fine and he loved her. For as long as she was at that school he would hug her every time he met her in the hall. I'm so glad I didn't want to be a teacher. The government is so involved with their stupid standards. Our governor has been trying for 8 years to get teachers a pay raise. The legislators just tried to vote themselves a pay raise and I'm pretty sure the governor vetoed it.

Beth, on the 6:00 news and weather it looked like your area was getting bad weather.

My neighbor is going to Lafayette tomorrow so ask her for a ride back from the RV shop. My appointment is not until Thursday but have to go when I can get a ride.

Martha