It's Not All Flowers and Sausages

I Went Running. What Did You See?

2012-01-16T02:51:00.000-08:00

(If you can name the book that inspired the title of the post, you are definitely an early elementary teacher. And I love you a little bit more than I did two seconds ago.)

Friends, I went running this weekend. Running. Running as in sneakers on, headphones in, Mini napping and work bag idle in a corner running. Running.

I know I keep typing it, but it's like my fingers are in shock. So are my feet. And my legs. And - holy crap - the endorphins! I am awesome right now. AWESOME. Awesome with a capital amaze balls.

Why has it taken me so long to get back on the horse? And, honestly, was I ever really on the horse to begin with? Oh. Wait. I know. I'm an educator and we feel intense guilt whenever we do something for ourselves with time we feel like we should be doing something for our classrooms, or our families, or our friends or all the other individuals who get neglected between the months of ~~Setpember~~ August and June. I doubled down with that guilt a little over a year ago when I became a mommy and, holy shit you guys, the mommy / educator combo is a whole world of guilt I never knew existed! It's like a layer of guilt wrapped up in a you-suck-at-balancing-everything wrap. Mayo on the side of course. (See what I mean? These endorphins have made me insane!)

If you've been reading me for awhile, you know that I am on a constant search for Zen. (Read more posts about my impossible dream here.) And I feel like every teacher friend I have is too. We all lament our inability to go to the gym, to get a pedicure, to sit down and enjoy a book for ourselves. We all make grand promises to fit that stuff in. Because we are teachers, we organize a massive Plan To Do More For Ourselves And Be More Efficient which includes goals that are impossible to meet. Like "go running six days a week" or "only eat dessert twice a month" or "grade papers the same night that I collect them" or "answer every single email I receive within 24 hours." Um, can you say "set yourself up for failure much?"

But you know what I did today? Inspired by ~~my version of a self help book~~ The Happiness Project, I stopped complaining about how I never get to do anything for myself and used that time to actually go and do something for myself. (Effing revolutionary, I know.) I didn't tell myself I was going to run seven miles, I started with one. And then I came home so freaking proud of myself and hopped up on endorphins that I know I will do it again. Sooner rather than later.

And I thought to myself, "Self, maybe we should start a TEACHER's Happiness Project...." In the spirit of continuing to strive for that Zen, that's exactly what I'm going to do. In the spirit of just starting and starting small, let's just keep it to the blog for now. I'll post about what I did to find more balance and be happier and you can respond with what you did (or hope to do) in the comments.

xo,
Mimi

Musings While At the DMV

2012-01-11T10:40:00.000-08:00

I recently had to spend some quality time at the DMV. You see, I have a birthday coming up and as a special gift to me from the universe, my driver's license is set to expire this year. Happy birthday to me! Cut to me standing in a line that was five people and countless inefficiencies deep. After I checked Facey Face, caught up on emails, played a game or two of Scrabble on my phone, read the news headlines and checked the weather (twice), I had some time to stand and think. (Yes, there was time....lots and lots of time. Like endless amounts of time. For reflecting. And death staring.)

Time to think and watch. Watch as the employees at the DMV engaged in an elaborate dance that could be called Ignoring My Responsibilities and All Sense of Customer Service: A Movement Study. After "helping" (servicing? dealing with? tolerating?) an individual tax-paying citizen, one DMV employee in particular would begin her dance. It went something like this:

Take a sip of coffee, exclaim about it's temperature, carry the coffee to the copier under the guise of copying something (although no actual paper was involved), carry the coffee back to her station, check her messages, adjust her station on Pandora, chat with the employee next to her about the last song played, laugh about a comment so hard that laughter deteriorated into a fit of coughing that spewed germs on everything in a ten foot radius, comment on coughing, sigh deeply, roll her eyes at the clock and then, with a strong, undeniable annoyance, end her complex dance by bellowing, "Next!"

"Help" the next individual and repeat.

As performance art goes, I say well done! However, as far as efficiency, customer service and general awareness of how germs are spread goes, I say holy crap this is UNBELIEVABLE!

During my ample time to "reflect," I had a thought. Everyone hates going to the DMV for just this reason. (Apologies to all you rockstars at the DMV....wherever you are hiding.) It seems to be common accepted knowledge that the DMV is chock full of inefficiencies, employees who could give a shit, pointlessly long and redundant paperwork and confusing lines that are impossible to navigate. Even if there was an employee who came in all gung-ho and full of (what's the word?) work ethic, would it matter? Would it make a difference? Would anyone notice? Would that employee be able to sustain his or her commitment to a job well done? Would it be long before the reputation of the DMV became a self-fulfilling prophesy? Before this individual was crushed into submission, bitterness, and fits of coughing by his or her colleagues?

Can you see where I'm going with this yet?

My next thought was, "Will it be long before the same things happens to teachers and education?" I mean, we already take more than our fair share of finger pointing in the media. Just this last week, people (including myself) collectively gasped in horror when we heard about the teacher who had used insanely inappropriate images of slavery in word problem. Granted, girlfriend was wrong with a capital Crazy Pants, but still. Where are the stories of teachers doing amazing things? Teachers inspiring their students? Teachers who are able to make a difference without ruining their marriages, sleeping over at their schools or giving up everything in their lives a la every movie about "good" teachers ever made?

How long is it before the general public assumes we are all lazy bags of hair who collect a paycheck while doing the least amount of work possible because we only got into this profession for the summers off anyway? How long before the general public just accepts that public schools can be equated with failing schools? And how much longer after that before it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy?

In my last school, I always wondered about co-"workers" like the Fanny Pack , the Bacon Hunter and the Big White Guitar . Was there ever a time when they were killing it in their classrooms? Did they start out this way or did the system slowly eat away at their work ethic and commitment to children?

Anyone else feel like a drink?

Just Another Manic Wednesday

2012-01-04T12:42:00.000-08:00

There are days when it feels like the stars have aligned and made you the Goddess of Teaching, teacher of the year, and the woman whose you-know-what doesn't stink because even her shit is made of pure genius all wrapped into one.

Do you ever have those days?

Days when you get through everything in your plans but didn't feel like you were rushing. Days when all your teaching comes together in ways you couldn't imagine. It's just that great. Days when all your friends are pumped about their learning and produce amazing things. Days when that particular friend who ~~drives you batshit crazy~~ is slightly harder to love does something kind and lovely for someone else. Days when the photocopier works, your classroom phone doesn't ring and there are no interruptions at your door. Coats are on their hooks, the pencils are all sharpened and there isn't a scrap of paper on the floor for as far as the eye can see.

Hold on, I'm a little choked up. It's just so beautiful. Give me a moment.

These are the days when you tap into your inner Charlie Sheen and shout, "Winning!" as you high five your colleagues in the hall at the end of the day.

Too far?

Regardless, you know what I'm talking about. We have all had those days. We have all relied on those days to get us through the other days.

Ah, the other days. Today I had one of those other days.

Those days when you can't find your car keys, your wallet is in places unknown and you are ten minutes late to everything. Where the stars don't align, you don't feel productive and while you get things done, you know you could have done way more. You have food in your teeth, there is paper everywhere and where the hell did you leave that pen?! Your friends are snippy, the interruptions are endless and you are starting to feel as if Judith Viorst was writing about you, not some kid named Alexander.

Why is it that those other days always seem to follow up the days when you have rocked it endlessly? Is it the universe sending us a reality check? An ego check?

I think it's just the nature of teaching. When I was getting certified, one of my favorite professors told me that teaching was all about not getting too caught up in the highs and the lows because they are extreme and ever changing.

Someone point me to the wine. After all, tomorrow is another day.

This Year I Promise Not To Over Promise

2012-01-01T19:22:00.001-08:00

Or at least I promise to try not to - that's good, right? I mean, i think it may be genetically impossible for a teacher to not over-commit herself. Just a personal theory.

For the last few days I've been thinking about 2012 and how I'm going to make it even better than 2011. Honestly, in a lot of ways 2011 kicked some serious ass. It was my first full year as a mommy, I finally graduated and became Dr. Mimi, I've been fortunate to have a few rad professional opportunities come my way and overall, I have a pretty happy life. However, in many ways 2011 was tough. I was stressed, I felt pulled in a million directions, not to mention having my own fair share of family drama.

So what to do? How to make things better?

My first reaction was to get my list on. (You knew that was coming, right?) In true teacher-who-can't-say-no-to-anything-and-thinks-she-is-invincible-and-more-productive-than-three-typical-adults-combined fashion, the list was lengthy. Here are some highlights:

* to catch up on my Fave blogs and educational news daily
* to be more informed
* to do hot yoga at least once a week
* to clean a room or area of my house everyday
* to be more organized (I know! But it's possible, even for me.)
* to take more pictures of my work in classrooms
* to blog more
* to read one professional book each month

Sound familiar?

Here are some rezzies from year's past that might strike a chord:
* to correct homework as soon as I receive it
* to communicate more with parents
* to change my outside bulletin board every two weeks
* to integrate more technology into my teaching
* to be at least one week ahead in my plans at all times
* to re-organize my files and keep them up to date
* to stop putting things in piles

Anyone? Anyone??? Bueller?

But on this first day of 2012 I realized that I can't completely control what happens to me, not can I totally control the times will have available for me to be so fabulous. What I'm getting at is rather than set myself up to go do in spectacular flames of failure in mid-February (with the related crying, shame spiraling and ice cream eating), I think this year I'm simply going to try not to over commit. (Which for me means keeping the plate full because I'm a sick sick individual who is more productive when I'm busy, while trying my best to make sure that the plate is filled with more things I love than things I'm not so jazzed about. Assessment, I'm looking at YOU.) I'm going to try not to say I'll do something simply because I'll feel guilty if I don't. I'm going to try to take each week as it comes and do what I can. I'm going to try to be more present in my daily life and think about what I get to do, rather than think in terms of what I have to do.

What about you? How long is your list??? (Come on, I know you have one...)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Year In Review - The Most Popular Posts of 2011

2011-12-31T13:03:00.000-08:00

Hey, y'all. I'm deep into my plan to heavily caffeinate myself in hopes of staying up past midnight. (Sigh) The glory days are over...for now at least. Okay, maybe not over over, but the glory certainly looks different nowadays.

Regardless. 2011 was a year that was pretty light in the way of posting, something I hope to remedy in 2012. But we went through a lot together over here at INAFAS. Learning how to balance mommy-dom and work (Notice I said "learning" not "perfecting." If anyone has "perfected," please email me. On second thought, don't. I don't need to feel bad about myself.), finishing my doctoral work and officially becoming Dr. Mimi, expanding my writing career into magazines and other professional blogs, and, you know, complaining.

Here is the most popular post from each month this year. Remember, you did this to yourselves by commenting furiously on some fairly random topics. And I love you for it.

Now, without further ado (and by "ado," I mean rambling):

January: The Cow Says Moo"
Unwavering in your support, you all listened to me ~~bitch about~~ discuss pumping at work. (Sorry boys!)

February: Bloggers Beware
An open letter to teachers who should have really kept their mouths shut. Blog carefully, lovies.

March: Falling Down the Rabbit Hole
An apology to you, my lovely readers, for my absence during a fit of dissertation panic. Balance, shmalance, Mimi wanted to graduate!

April: Whoops! What happened to April? Can I claim temporary insanity due to lack of sleep? (Mini Mimi, I'm looking at YOU.)

May: Someone Get Me A Cocktail, STAT
In my apparent Year of the Me Monster, yet another post about me. (Although I do love the whole "STAT" bit. You can say those things when you're a doctor you know.)

June: We Are A Group Divided
A celebration of the end of the year.

July: The Wall
A sad moment, when my beloved Barnsey ripped my heart in twain.

August: Facey Face
In which I negate former friends in the interest of not falling victim to Facey Face.

September: The Ugly Side of Multi-Tasking
In which I admit that I have a problem. Constantly having too much on my plate. And loving it. Kind of.

October: I Think It's Called 'Having A Chip On Your Shoulder'
In which I rant about people who talk shiz-nit about teachers in public.

November: An Open Letter to Anna Dewdney
Because, yes, Mini Mimi and I have already done several author studies.

December: We Teachers Have a Sickness
Admit it, we are incapable of sitting still. Must. Have. Project.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe night tonight. Pour out a little champagne for me.

To more posts in 2012!

xo,
Mimi

October:

We Teachers Have a Sickness...

2011-12-28T19:57:00.000-08:00

...I believe it's called Can't Sit the Hell Down and Relax Disease. Or maybe Restless Leg Syndrome. Or possibly we just need to start a group called Over-Producers Anonymous. O.P.A. forever!

Whatever you want to call it, it's definitely a sickness.

Granted the rest of the world prefers to imagine us kicking up our heels in order to better shovel bon bons into our face. (If you have ever uttered something related to, "Teachers have soooo much vacation time! How can they possibly be tired?" please stop reading right now and go punch yourself in the face. For me.) I choose to think it is because said individuals are not strong enough to admit what they don't understand and therefore find it more comfortable to hide their ignorance in unwarranted and completely bullshit commentary.

However, those of us on the inside know that teachers too often look at "vacation" as an opportunity to get SO. MUCH. SHIT. DONE. Wheeeeeee!

Like the rest of you, I have a few days out of schools. Days I believe are intended to be used for myself, for time with my family, for sleeping in, for rejuvenation. Yet I, like the rest of you, seem to have chosen to use this time to clean out closets, write more lesson plans than humanly possibly, read several professional books, catch up on my education blog reading and, you know, save the rainforests. Or whatever. (And that's before Thursday. Watch out weekend!)

It is in these moments that I begin to think there has to be some sort of middle ground. Where we find the time to relax and take a breath from our oh-so-demanding craft while also feeling as if we can go back to work ahead of the game and prepared for the balls-out-all-hands-on-deck push that is January.

And the quest for balance continues...

Lessons From the Little Engine That Could

2011-12-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

You may have to just smile and nod at me through this one, as I realize that my steady diet of nothing but tea and toast (NOTHING....just tea and toast, then toast and more toast and some tea) may be slowly killing my brain cells. That and spending most of my time reading and re-reading the same books to my toddler (who is amazing but DEMANDING when it comes to being read to).

Long story short, stick with me here. I believe I have a point.

This time of year is insane. It's insane. You're little friends are bouncing off the wall, all hopped up on holiday mania and visions of heinously late bedtimes and too much sugar dancing in their heads. You are desperately trying to teach something, anything but secretly (or perhaps not so secretly) want to throw in a movie in and call it a day. Get some filing done. Make some plans for the new year. Breathe.

Believe me, I feel your pain.

I also know that this is a time of wrapping up loose ends in order to have a fresh start in January. So let the list making begin. Stop what you're doing right now. Seriously, stop. Okay, maybe read to the end of this post, add a comment and then stop. Stop and sit down in the middle of your madness and (you guessed it!) make a list. A list that includes everything. Everything. A list that threatens to intimidate every other list you have ever made. Perhaps a color coded list that will be the envy of all your friends - your deeply nerdy friends. And then harness the power of the Little Blue Engine. Just chug your way through it ('I think I can, I think I can...') day after day (I think I can, I think I can) setting goals and rewards for yourself along the way (I think I can, I think I can).

I know you can.

Good luck making it until Friday.

xo,
Mimi

Wait, I'm Supposed To Update This Thing?

2011-12-21T11:20:00.000-08:00

That's right, I have a blooooooggggg. Riiiiight.

Wait, so remind me how this works again? I write something, post it here and then you all read it? And comment? Well that sounds just fabulous! I should do that more often.

HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS IT'S BEEN OVER A MONTH! One of you should have reached out through the interwebs and slapped me! Or punched me! Or at least yelled threatening statements about unfollowing me or something...

So. Where have I been? Where have I been? Ah yes, it's all coming back to me now. Let's see...well, there was Thanksgiving. And then a few mind numbing bouts of random pains that sent me to the emergency room in a puddle that intermittently moaned and shouted, "Do something!" at passing doctors. Hmmm....and then what? Oh, then there was toast. Miles and miles of nothing but toast until the doctors figured out what was wrong with me. (An upside to this "diet"? Losing the last ten baby pounds pre-holidays....cha ching!) (I realize that last statement is all kids of messed up. However, it is also true.) Okay, so after the toast, you're thinking things can't get much worse, right? You would be wrong. Can you say "stomach flu"??????

'Cuz I can!

Rest assured that Mrs. Mimi is slowly but surely getting her (skinny!) (So messed up!) self back together again. Also, rest assured that future posts will not detail my gastrointestinal woes as this does not seem like true educational fodder. However, I felt you all deserved some sort of explanation for my absence.

Hope you are all enjoying the panic and mayhem that has become our holiday season, particularly for those of us working in schools.

xo,
Mimi

An Open Letter To Anna Dewdney

2011-11-16T09:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Ms. Dewdney,

I. Love. Llama Llama.

I was given a copy of Llama Llama Red Pajama at my baby shower. At the time, I thought the book was cute, but had no idea just how huge a presence you and your characters were to have in my life. As a mother to the smartest 17 month old ever, I now have all of your books memorized. If there is ever a Llama Llama emergency, I am your girl and can launch into a mean oral storytelling at a moments notice. Just something to keep in the back of your mind.

Llama Llama Misses Mama is the text that helped my little Mini feel better when Mama had to go to work. I'm telling you, she's making text to self connections already and if that doesn't blow your mind...girlfriend also recognizes your picture and says "Doo-ney!" every time.

Quick question- do you think you could crank out another Llama Llama book? While I LOVE what you've done, I have to admit that reading them one more time might drive me to drink more than I already do.

However, I'm not just writing to tell you that I would throw my arms around you if I ever met you in person. (Which I would.). I'm writing to ask if you want a partnership. Anna...can I call you Anna? Anna, we need to get more parents to read regularly to, with and in front of their children. The most common complaint I get from early childhood teachers is that their students come in with very little language and have limited schema to help them understand new books. Reading does not seem to be a valued part of their home lives. Now I know people are busy and lives are complicated but, can I be honest with you here? Sharing books with my Mini has been one of the greatest joys of my life. Watching her language take off, her eyes light up at a favorite character and having her grab my hand to read in our favorite chair makes my heart sing with nerdy pride.

We need to spread the word. How easy it is. How wonderful it is. How it can change so much.

Thanks for your time and for little Llama,
Mimi

And the Blue Ribbon goes to...

2011-11-15T08:18:00.000-08:00

By now you are probably all pretty familiar with my stance on teachers and capes, right? If you're not, know that I believe whole heartedly that every teacher who is currently ROCKING IT in her (or his) classroom deserves a superhero cape because that is what they truly are. You can wear your cape all Clark Kent style and keep it in the closet, or you can throw it on whenever you want just to make your badass-ness as evident as possible. Your choice.

Well today, friends, Big Mama Mimi is temporarily trading in her superhero teacher cape (Are you really that surprised that I am the spawn of another amazeballs teacher?) for a blue ribbon. Yep, Big Mama Mimi's school is being recognized as a Blue Ribbon School down in Washington DC today.

(As a side note, I gave her clear directions to shake his hand and then punch Arne Duncan straight in the face...I'm fairly certain she will let me down in this respect.)

In all other respects, I could not be more proud of Big Mama. (She totally digs her nick name by the way.) (Sarcasm police!) She was chosen to represent her school alongside her principal because many of her fellow teachers feel that her work, both with students and teachers, is largely responsible for setting the bar so high. She is an example to everyone she works with and works harder than most people I know.

How lovely to think that today there are teachers and schools actually being recognized for the good that they do, rather than demonized for many things that are beyond their control.

Where My Fun At?

2011-11-09T11:49:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, a colleague and I were talking about life in the classroom and she was all, "We have one of the most fun jobs there is!" And I was all, "????" And she was all, "Yeah, remember the fun?" And I was all, "Riiiiiiiiight."

People. It's November. For most of you, that means report cards and possibly conferences. Which means data, data, data, some progress monitoring, and more data. Which means driving yourself insane to find moments to still do actual teaching in the midst of all this ridiculous assessing. Which means piles of paper everywhere. Which means that I-just-want-to-lie-down feeling hits you in the face every time you walk into your classroom and see those piles and think of that data which reminds you of report cards and for-the-love-of-all-things-holy-and-organized how am I going to get it all done?!?

Wait, where's the fun again?

The fun is with the kids. Remember them?

I wish I could take away your To Do List, or at least make it shorter, but I can't. What I CAN do is remind you to focus on your friends, because most of them are probably hilarious and amazingly talented. Maybe re-frame report card time/ parent-teacher conferences as an opportunity to ~~have more than one glass of wine tonight~~ remember what it is that you love about each of your students and the progress each of them has made. Start with that.

Being the ~~nerd~~ Organizational Goddess that I am, I prepared a series of notes on each student for conferences. Nothing crazy fancy, because we all know that Mrs. Mimi hates nothing more than wasted time, just something to help keep me focused through all those meetings. (So. Much. Smiling.) I had a space for each child in which I jotted a few quick bullets about their reading, writing, math, and content area work. I also would make quick notes about behavioral issues (if any...) I wanted to mention and/or quick stats if we had an attendance issue. (I wanted to give out free alarm clocks but The Visionary said no. School starts at 8 every day. Every. Day.) BUT....and here comes the point (finally), the first note was always a reminder about a funny or inspiring classroom moment that involved that child. When I was speaking to the parent of my favey fave friends (because we all have faves, be real with me here...) or the parent of the friend who ~~made me consider that extra glass of wine each night~~ was a bit more challenging, I always led with this anecdote.

I know we need to meet our deadlines and give assessments and be real with parents about the progress their children are or aren't making. And we will. But we also need to make time to remember and enjoy those moments when your friends are hysterically funny, incredibly kind or unbelievably smart.

Because our job is pretty fun.

I Think It's Called "Having A Chip On Your Shoulder"

2011-10-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

Everyone is talking about education lately. Everyone. I'm in a local coffee shop- people are talking about how boring classrooms have become. (Their solution? More photography. I love photography but, wha?). I'm at Whole Foods about to blow my wad on three items with fancy yet irresistible labels- people are talking about report cards and how it's ridiculous that they actually have to go to the school and get them from their child's teacher. I'm waiting in line at the deli (a.k.a. the fourth circle of Hell)- people are talking about the behavior management system in their child's class.

And my gut reaction to all of this? To boldly insert myself into their private conversation and ask what qualifies them to have this conversation, to judge the way we do things.

Think I have a chip on my shoulder?

Don't answer that.

I guess these days I just assume people are going to shit on teachers. I assume they are going to complain without pausing to recognize what is working. I assume they will be all critique and no constructive thought. I assume they're going to blame it all on the teacher.

Jaded much?

Where's the Joy?

2011-10-12T10:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was walking out of a school, high on the fumes of learning (a.k.a. freshly sharpened pencils and glue) and feeling very productive. I stowed my two overflowing bags (because any teacher worth her salt can't leave the classroom without a minimum of three projects) in the back of the car when I heard it.

I heard the laughter of children running around in the beautiful fall sunshine. I stopped to watch two third graders run around the field next to their school attempting to climb a tree. They were laughing and smiling and couldn't have a care in the world other getting up that tree. And I thought to myself,

"This is bullshit."

Seriously. Are you surprised?

In typical MeMonster (phrase coined by my internet BFF, the lovely Dr. Branstetter) fashion, those smiling, laughing faces made me think of myself. They spent an entire day of school working and learning and trying and attending. And now they get to fill their time with tree climbing, coloring, hanging with friends and stories before bedtime. I spent an entire day of school working and learning and trying and attending. And now I get to drive home, do a few loads of laundry, make dinner, write some lesson plans and get my read on because holy-cripes my professional book club meets next week and I haven't even broken the binding on that puppy!

Where is the joy I ask you?

(And if you tell me that you find joy in writing lesson plans, I will cut you.) (Okay, I can find nerdy joy in a beautifully planned week or finding the perfect read aloud or even using a fabulous new teacher pen for the first time.) (All right, and I can find joy in making progress with a little friend or watching a group of kids dig into a project I created.) (And yeeeess, I do find joy in caring for my family...) (I'm starting to see your point. I have a lot of professional joy and home life joy for which I'm very grateful.)

But still.

Mama needs a little joy for herself, don't you think? Some tree climbing? (Maybe not in these heels.) Or a little art project? Perhaps some yoga? Sooooomething.

So, in true Mimi fashion, I began to list Possible Sources of Joy.

Okay. I like art! Let's see, there was that piece of art I started for the Mini that I never finished...where did that thing go?

I also fancy myself a bit of a DIYer. Oh right, I could work on those stockings I started to make for everyone at chez Mimi. They didn't quite make it to the mantle last Christmas so maybe I could work on those...

And I did love that hot yoga class, but it's at 7:30 and that's totally bedtime....hmmmm.

Mr. Mimi gave me that amaze balls camera but since the baby I seem to only take pictures of her, so I wouldn't quite call that a hobby anymore, so that's a no.

Tennis, anyone?

And scene on the list.

I guess at this point, there aren't enough hours in the day. So, instead of climbing a tree, I'm going to enjoy the crap out of blogging. Instead of running around playing tag, I'll savor using my favorite Sharpies. Rather than curl up with a good book, I'll milk story time with the Mini and love every minute. These days schools can be such negative places, I feel like we need to find the joy all on our own.

Confessions of an Uber Nerd

2011-10-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

I read a lot. A lot a lot. We're talking total nerd fest up in here.

One summer, my brother in law could not get over the fact that I spent entire day on the beach reading a book. Five hours. Reading. Same book. In the sun. And all I could think to say in response was, "I'm in heaven."

Nerd alert!

At any given time, you could find a stack of books on my bedside table that include a few professional reads, something Jodi Picoult-esque, an embarrassing amount of chic lit, a humor novel, a memoir, the latest People magazine, back issues of Cooking Light and the newest edition of The Reading Teacher. (Okay, you can also find four or five half empty or totally empty water glasses. It's a phenomenon. They follow me and then can't seem to find their way to the dishwasher. Whatevs. At least I'm hydrated, right?)

Notice I said "could." As in past tense.

Then I got an iPad. I heart my iPad. HEART. Now instead of a pile of books on my nightstand, you'll find a variety of books downloaded on my iPad. (Sorry, Barnsey...I still hit your children's section pretty hard so I don't feel that bad.) I read my magazines on my iPad. I read my fave blogs on my iPad. iPad, iPad, iPad.

I felt all stream-liney and tech saavy.

And you know what? Last week, I realized that I actually read LESS.

Because now I can click over to my email and answer just one more, switch to Evernote and work just a little bit more, spend another second tweaking the page I put in Dropbox, and then shame spiral my way onto Facey Face before my little eyes start to droop and ultimately my iPad smacks me in the face as I fall asleep. (Seriously.)

So, methinks I'm off to the bookstore tomorrow to remedy my little situation. Once a nerd, always a nerd.

The Ugly Side of Multi-Tasking

2011-09-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

Ah, multi-tasking. It sounds so productive, doesn't it? So efficient? I can practically see The Powers That Be, kicking back with their checklist of Tasks Teachers Should Complete To Be Effective and drooling over the power of getting just that much more out of their all mighty buck.

Any teacher worth her actual salt (What does that mean anyway?) can get more done in fifteen minutes than most people can do in an entire day. Give me fifteen free minutes before my little friends walk in the room and I could answer a bunch of emails, prep a math lesson, put a poem up on chart paper, sweep the floor, bake a few cupcakes, write a short story and probably give myself a freaking pedicure. On a good day.

On a bad day. Oh, ON A BAD DAY, it's a totally different story.

Let me clarify. I don't mean you're typical teaching bad day wherein the children are bananas, staring out windows, picking their noses and generally more interested in the sounds one can make with one's armpit. No. I mean a Teacher Bad Day wherein said teacher can not get focused because there are so many To Dos that all need to get done yesterday, most of which are partially completed but none of which have been crossed off the list because she has been multi-tasking rather than getting anything done. Feels busy. But in terms of actually getting stuff done? Not so much.

Isn't crossing something off your To Do list the most wonderful feeling in the world? Like Christmas, the last day before a vacation and your birthday all wrapped up in a warm cupcake with cream cheese frosting?

What were we talking about?

Right. Teacher Bad Days. On those sorts of days, give us fifteen minutes and we will partially complete many things, move around a bunch of piles that don't seem to ever disappear and maybe reheat our coffee. We will then spend the rest of the day moping about those wasted 15 minutes and what we coulda, woulda and shoulda done if we could just get focused.

Friends, I am having one of those days.

Seriously, I've written three partial blog posts, read a bunch of stuff on my Google Reader, clicked around the internet, read half a chapter of a professional book, gone to Staples, organized some files, called some principals and sent out a bunch of emails but in all that STUFF, nothing has gotten crossed off the list. In some sick twist of fate, I am my most productive when I have an absolutely mind-blowing, soul-crushing amount of work to do. When I have a manageable list in front of me...well, it's an ugly display of looking busy under the guise of "multi-tasking" but really? I'm getting nothing done.

Cry me a river, right?

So I guess I'm off to find more stuff to do so I can actually get something done. We teachers are sick, sick people, no?

The Weekly Wrap Up

2011-09-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

Helllloooo lovely readers! I know it's Saturday, but we're going to do the Weekly Wrap Up today - in all honesty, Mrs. Mimi spent the day yesterday totally nerding out with colleagues, so apologies for the delay.

Before we get into it, I want to announce the winner of the F in Exams giveaway. Who will it be? Can you stand the suspense?

And the winner is....

Lawn Mower Queen!!! (Email me your info at itsnotallflowersandsausages at gmail dot com so I can get your prize sent to you.)

Thanks again to everyone for reading and entering. Now that the giveaway madness is over, we'll get back to business next week.

The Friday Four

: The Beauty of Mistakes

I don't know about y'all, but I have had some friends who freak their freak when they make a mistake. Cue the end of the world!! I mean, I have seen children not only erase a hole in their paper but look like they're trying to erase a hole through their desk and into the floor so that they crawl into it and cry about making one teeny tiny error that is no big deal. Sound familiar? This Friday Five is dedicated to those friends - here are some fabulous books about the beauty we can find in our mistakes.

Ish by Peter H. Reynolds

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg

The OK Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Other Bits of Fabulous From Around the Web:

Here's a lovely tribute to teachers in the NY Times. Although in all honesty...sometimes I want to say, "Enough heart warming tributes and let's start make some real change!!!" But maybe I just need another cup of coffee.

School Book is a new website that tracks what's going on in NYC Schools.

You know Mrs. Mimi likes an active classroom where our little friends can get their inquiry on. Here's a more practical piece with some suggestions for improving your student's abilities to ask questions.

Memories...What Mrs. Mimi Was Ranting About Way Back When

2009:
You know that feeling you get at the beginning of the year when you're Teacher MoJo kicks back in? Me too.

2008:
Some love for the Naughty Boys!

2007:
More Naughty Boy fabulousness!
You know that feeling you get at the beginning of the year when you're given a list of assessments a mile long that must be completed with each child by the end of the week and you're thinking, "When the hell am I going to get to start teaching?" Yeah. I know that one too.

Have a wonderful weekend and an even better week ahead!

xo,
Mimi

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Zen Giveaway Winner Announced!

2011-09-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

And the signed copy of Awakened: Change Your Mindset To Transform Your Teaching goes to...

#12!! Also known as Alison H!!! Congratulations!! (Alison - email me your mailing address to itsnotallflowersandsausages at gmail dot com and I'll get your copy in the mail asap!)

AAANNNNNNDDD....because Angela is a ROCKSTAR and a lover of all you in Mimi Nation, she is offering a special discount (only $4.99!!) for any INAFaS reader who would like to download the ebook version of her work. Use this link and enter the code MIMI. The book comes in the following formats: ePUB, PDF and Kindle.

I don't know about you, but buying things on sale always makes me feel zen.

Happy Back To School everyone!!!

xo,
Mimi

Avery Giveaway Winner....

2011-09-05T16:57:00.000-07:00

...can I have a drumroll please?

The winner of the Avery school supplies giveaway is lucky # 19!!

Congratulations to MarieMent!!! MarieMent, email me (at itsnotallflowersandsausages at gmail dot come) and I'll make sure your prize is sent out to you.

Everyone else - thanks as always for reading and entering! I was totes overwhelmed by the response and will do my best to dig around for others willing to donate a giveaway to our cause.

Just because I'm an Uber Nerd, I whipped out my fave Sharpie and compiled a bit of a listy poo of what you feel are your most necessary school supplies. I mean, did you really expect me to pass up this chance to make a color coded list of office supplies?? YOU GUYS TOTALLY KNOW ME BETTER THAN THAT!

Here's the scoop- according to you, my dear readers, these are the top 20 MUST HAVE school supplies for 2011:

20. Bins, jars, crates and all things storage

19. Glue sticks

18. Stickers

17. Construction paper

16. Binders (and all things created to organize said binders) (*chills*)

15. Colored pencils

14. 2-pocket folders

13. Lesson planner and/or teacher notebook

12. Note cards or index cards

11. Crayons (Crayola only, please)

10. Notebooks (although there is a great divide between the Spiral Notebook peeps and the Composition Notebook peeps...do I smell a Sharks and Jets number?)

9. Packing tape

8. Markers (Mr. Sketch is a popular man...)

7. Name tags/ labels

6. Pencils (Ticonderoga #2 only)

5. Clorox wipes

4. Dry erase markers

3. Fabulous teacher pens (Flair, gel, clicky...whatever gets you going!)

2. Post It notes of all shapes, sizes and colors

And, the most popular school supply, the thing we simply cannot live without, the item we fork over our hard earned and too few dollars for??

You guessed it.

1. SHARPIES!!!!

I knew our connection was solid. I've never been so proud.

Enjoy your Tuesdays, my lovelies! (And to my NYC peeps - a special shout out to you as you go back to where the magic happens...)

xo,

Mimi

The Weekly Wrap Up (Great Reading for the Cocktail Hour...or Hours)

2011-09-02T06:54:00.000-07:00

I hope that where ever you are, your family is warm, dry and able to plug stuff in. If you're not, I certainly hope that all those things are on their way. I know for many of you, it's been a rough few days - complete with delayed openings. Can you imagine starting off the year with a few "snow" days?? Ugh.

I'm still in Back To School mode, and this week I have names on the brain.

The Friday Five: Five Fab Picture Books About Names
(Click images and/or titles for links)

A Porcupine Named Fluffy by Helen Lester
I have this puppy memorized and do it as an oral storytelling. Pretty sweet to have some of those in your back pocket to mix it up!

My Name Is Elizabeth by Annika Dunklee
This is a new book that's reviewed over here.

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi
I remember having the rare opportunity to watch another adult (our beloved librarian) read this story out loud to my little friends. Talk about captivated. And talk about being able to milk some good book talk out of this one.

My Name Is Yoon by Helen Recorvits

The Old Woman Who Named Things by Cynthia Rylant

Other Bits of Fabulous From Around the Web:
Ah, the beginning of the school year...time to whip our little friends into shape. And that means getting them to LISTEN. I saw this over at EdWeek and thought some of their tips were super practical.

The conversation about social media in the classroom continues.

One former teacher chronicles his horrific time in the classroom. Can you say "yikes"?

Memories...What Mimi Was Ranting About Way Back When:

In 2010:

Off To A Positive Start? More ruminations on my quest for Zen.

Can I Get An Om Up In Here? Yep, still working on that Zen...

Childrens Book Reading Extravagnaza 2010: Picture Books # 26- 22

In 2009:

So. Much. Sweating. Mrs. Mimi poses for her close up. Cue the sweating.

Today I Saw Myself At the Bookstore

In 2008:

This Just In The Seat Sack Crisis of 2008 or what I like to refer to as the year Sans Sack.

In 2007:

How's YOUR Karma? Remember the fun that was the all faculty retreat?

Just Some Poop And Me...Or So I Thought A special visit from a very skilled furry friend. Yeah, there were mice in my classroom, what else is new?

What A Difference A Year Makes A few thoughts on my switch from teaching first to second grade.

The Funnier Side of Testing? A GIVEAWAY!!

2011-09-01T07:32:00.000-07:00

Ah, testing. IS there a funnier side of testing? I say there has to be, or we have to try to find it, because if we don't, I think we may all poke ourselves in the eye by December. I may have written about testing a time or two before (like here, here, here and here)

Friends, I may have found the funny. It's a new book called F in Exams. I'm sure you've gotten those email forwards where someone sends you a bunch of funny answers kids have written to various test questions? (And, upon receiving said email forward, I'm sure you either a) chuckled to yourself and sent it on, b) deleted it immediately because, seriously?? Email forwards are the worst, especially the ones with five or six FWDs in the subject, or c) sent a WTF email to your friend reminding them to cool it with the funny cat pics and inspirational poems.) Regardless, this is a light hearted fun book that you can turn to for a good laugh at home or in the teacher's room over PB and Js. (Come on, you know you eat them...)

Mr. Mimi and I spent some time this weekend flipping through this book and had a few laughs. (Man, we sound LAME, but it was funny stuff!) In between shaking our head with concern about the future of our country, here were some of our faves:

I mean, can you imagine being the teacher who sees this stuff? Can you imagine the amount of cocktails needed to erase this sort of ridiculousness from your brain and regain your Teacher MoJo?

And now I shall tell you my own story of test taking ridiculousness:

I was teaching my second grade friends a unit on geography. We were totally jamming with our dry erase maps and globes - everyone was loving geography! Groups were pumped on their 3D maps of the school and neighborhood, there was dried macaroni and yarn everywhere and yes, they could name all seven continents. Boo ya! Mid-way through the unit, I decided to do a little Check In and give a quick 10 minute quiz. (Wait, what? A quick assessment designed by a teacher to inform her instruction?? Where's the manual? Where's the Scan Tron? Where's the accountability?!?!) (If I could, I would join my internet BFF over at Notes From the School Psychologist and invent a sarcastic font. Please tell me you felt the sarcasm oozing from the screen? If not, this blog may not be for you...I'm just sayin')

I collect my quizzes and take them home to grade. I have my favorite Flair pen (in a lovely shade of magenta), a glass of wine and some Post It notes. I am ready to correct, to analyze and to adjust my plans. I breeze through the first few - check, check, check, these rock! My friends rock! I rock! And then...

I get to Muppet's paper. The first question reads: Name the four cardinal directions on the map. Mind you, we had a compass taped to the floor in the middle of our classroom, had been circling the directions on maps for weeks, had songs about north, south, east and west, you name it. I basically lobbed this one up for them to ease them into the whole quiz business. And yet...

Muppet wrote the following: Frank, Sam, Ben and Chub.

Chub?!?

And while I was tempted to ~~start doing shots~~ bang my head into the wall, I laughed and simply made a note to spend some extra time with my little friend working on these directions.

I should have saved his paper and sent it in for this book, no?

Anyhow, the lovely people over at Chronicle Books have been kind enough to provide me with a copy of F in Exams to give away to one lucky reader. PLUS...they've also generously offered a special 25% discount (plus free shipping) on all their products just for INAFaS readers! Just click on over to the Chronicle Books website and enter the code: FINEXAMS. The discount is good for items purchased between 8/29 and 9/9, so get clicking!

To enter the giveaway, you can:
1. Leave a comment on this post, telling us your testing tales of hilarity or woe - you choose.
2. "Like" Mrs. Mimi over on Facey Face and then come back here and let me know you've joined our FB party in the comments.
3. All of the above.

You can enter as many times as you would like starting today. The contest will run through next Thursday, September 8th at midnight. I'll use a rando number generator to choose and announce the winner on Friday, August 9th.

Good luck, y'all!!

P.S. - For another review of this book, head on over to http://www.thenerdyteacher.com/">The Nerdy Teacher tomorrow!

My Quest for Zen: A GIVEAWAY

2011-08-30T07:31:00.001-07:00

Yes, not only does my quest for Zen continue, but so does this week of giveaways! I mean,

Let's see, my quest for Zen started here and then continued on it's journey to here and here among other places.

I think it's fair to say that I struggle with the Zen. Some might even say that Mrs. Mimi can be a wee bit negative.

Shut the front door!

I know, I know, but really? It's true. I can be a complainer.

There were a few years in my teaching career where I was angry more than I was anything else. (Remember those?) I have always loved my students and the challenge of pushing them academically, but I have also always struggled with difficult colleagues, ridiculous administrators and the drama that is today's educational system.

So maybe I've got an issue with anger or a predisposition to throw around the word "douche". Who knows?

For me, this blog was a life saver. Instead of stewing for ~~hours~~ ~~days~~ ~~weeks~~ too long over the most recent feat of You Have GOT To Be Kidding Me, I would reframe my thinking to turn the situation into a nice juicy post. Very turn my frown upside down kind of stuff. I would get home, blog it out and move on. I feel like I should pay all of YOU for listening.

I know some of you are struggling with the same thing- you love your job, you love your students, but holy shitballs do you work with some doozies! And, seriously? No one ordered pencils this year?! Wait. You want me to "progress monitor" my friends how often???

What I'm saying is I know I'm not alone in having these feelings.

Enter Angela Watson (from The Cornerstone) and her new book Awakened: Change Your Mindset To Transform Your Teaching. Ta da! In this book, Angela takes on the destructive mental habits that many of us share and puts the power in the hands of teachers to change. What's that you say? Power to the teachers? Yes, please.

Check out some of these heavy hitting destructive habits straight from the old Table of Contents:

Taking things personally
Explaining setbacks in a negative way
Ruminating needlessly
Making presumptive judgements

Sound familiar? Come on, we're all friends here. You can be honest with Mimi.

Or what about these more positive habits, all covered in this book:

Separate practical and emotional problems
Train yourself to be difficult to offend
Accept that you'll never get it ALL right
Decide ahead of time how you're going to act

Sound like a recipe for a bit more Zen. I thought so.

Angela speaks candidly about her own journey, which was very spiritual in nature. However, this book is written from a very practical place and filled with concrete examples that will have you thinking, "I totally sound like that!" While written for educators, I definitely plan on re-reading portions of this book to help me be more positive in general. (But don't worry too much, Mrs. Mimi will still get her rant on when necessary.)

Don't get me wrong- there is a place for our frustration, our demands and our negativity, but we all know that place is NOT in our classrooms. So during this time when so much control of our day to day work lives is being ripped out of our fingers, let's embrace the idea that somethings are still in our control.

Angela has given Mrs. Mimi a signed copy of her book to giveaway to one fabulous reader in need of some more Zen. What a fabulous time to retrain your thinking and rediscover what you love about this truly special job.

To enter, let's take the first step toward releasing ourselves of some stress. In the comments section, share some aspect of your work that you'd like to change your thoughts about. What frown do YOU want to turn upside down? The giveaway starts today and runs through Monday, September 5th. I'll use a rando number generator to choose the winner and will announce the identity of the lucky reader on Tuesday, September 6th. Enter as often as you like and don't forget to enter the Avery school supplies giveaway too! Good luck, duckies!

Spending Spree 2011 - A GIVEAWAY

2011-08-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all! Maybe you're already back and maybe you've got a few more precious days to sip cocktails and watch Golden Girls re-runs, but either way, it is time to get our shop on. Despite all the teacher bashing and lack of adequate salary, I'm sure all of you out there will continue to purchase much needed supplies for your little friends. Because you are amazing.

Each year, I would return to my classroom, all amped and ready to go, only to be greeted by a big pile of shit and a whole lotta mouse poo. Furniture would be haphazardly stacked in the center of the room, old pencils would litter the floor and my closets would be a disgusting mess. Welcome back to school, eh?

So what did I do? Did I bitch and moan? Yes. But what else did I do? I rolled up my sleeves, changed into my crappy clothes (because sadly, this was exactly what I expected) and got my hard work on. Because I am amazing and so are you.

At some point during the day, a box of "supplies" would be delivered to my room. Allegedly, these "supplies" were deemed to be all I needed to work my magic (read: teach a room full of children how to read, write, add, subtract, know basic geography and be good people who are inquisitive citizens of the world...or bubble in stuff?). I would poke through the pile of rubber bands, googly eyes, crappy glue sticks that dry up in three seconds and have caps that mysteriously disappear, the cheapest construction paper this side of the Mississippi and some clay.

I know what you're thinking - only the finest for NYC's brightest, right?

Uh, no.

When the day was done, I would head off to my beloved Staples, with whom I have had a long standing love/hate relationship, and get my shop on. Now that I had seen the most recent score, there was fadeless paper to buy, borders to pick out, construction paper for fun projects, a door to decorate, name tags to buy and money to be spent. And spent. And spent. Because someone had to spruce the place up and make it a joyful place for children.

Wait. What? Get to the freaking giveaway already? You've had a long day of moving furniture and setting up your class room and don't have time for my ramblings? You're covered in mouse poo and just want me to get to the point?

For you? Anything. First, Avery is sponsoring a Back To School Promotion! Click here to check it out, but in a nutshell - all you need to do is vote for your favorite school. The top five vote getting schools will receive $10,000 worth of Avery School Supplies, 10,000 Bonus Box Top coupons and $1,000 worth of gift cards. The top 25 runner-up schools will win 5,000 Bonus Box Top coupons. Can you say "cha-ching" and "show me the good construction paper?" So, go get your click on and pimp out your school. Shamelessly. Do it for the good glue sticks.

And here's THE GIVEAWAY! Because INAFaS readers are the bomb diggity, Avery is generously offering a Back To School gift bag for one loyal reader. This gift bag will come stocked with Avery Glue Stics, Hi-liters, NoteTabs and dry erase markers. Whoo hoo! That will help to erase the memories of all that mouse poo, eh?

Okay. How to enter? Simply leave a comment on this post sharing a few of your Must Have back to school supplies. You can enter as many times as you like. As. Many. Times. The contest starts now and will go through Sunday, September 4th. I'll announce the winner on Monday, September 5th. Because fair is fair, I'll use a rando number generator to choose the winner.

Good luck, y'all!!

My Experience With Irene:Catastrophic::Most Classroom Observations:Effective

2011-08-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: To those of you readers out there who suffered through a terrible weekend, I hope you and your families are now safe, drying out and cleaning up. The images I saw of the storm as it hit the Southern portions of the East Coast looked awful. Up in Mimi country, however, the storm turned out to be one big waste of a weekend.

The coverage of "Hurricane" Irene was brilliant. I mean, they had dramatic introductory graphics prior to each broadcast. I found myself glued to the screen as wind tunnels crisscrossed before my eyes and waves crashed into a giant red sign announcing the arrival of Irene. Ominous music played as broadcasters went live to their colleagues who clearly drew the short straw and were made to stand outside and think of forty different ways to say, "Yup, it's raining and windy."

Because I am a teacher, we were prepared at Chez Mimi. We're talking patio furniture moved to the garage, candles at the ready, batteries newly purchased, flashlights in convenient locations, coolers filled with ice, non-perishable goods (read: piles of carbohydrates that I normally keep away from), and more cat food and diapers than you can shake a stick at. We were all, "Irene, get your storm on!" And for what? Hour after hour after hour, we watched weather maps colored with fifteen different paths that Irene might take. Fifteen? Yes, Mini Mimi could have literally drawn them with a crayon herself and called herself a meteorologist. They were that accurate. I say that because the consensus of those fifteen potential paths all converged on Mimi Country and yet I found myself repeatedly asking, "Was that it? Has it hit yet?"

By Sunday midday, the sun had come out, there was virtually no sign that it had rained at all and we went for a walk. Again, for those of you that are currently cleaning up and surviving without power (or worse), I'm sorry. I know we are the lucky ones.

As I waited for something that looked like more than a passing shower, I had a strange feeling of deja vu. Why, this was almost exactly like waiting around for The Weave to conduct my formal observation for the year! The parallels were uncanny! Observations were always proceeded by several ~~hormonal~~ ~~unnecessarily bitchy~~ assertive emails that announced their arrival and what one had to do in preparation for The Big Event. Then there was the actual preparation. Oh, the preparations! Instead of waiting in endless lines at various grocery stores buying food I normally wouldn't but was told to, I would spend hours crafting a lesson plan that fit into The Weave's narrow vision of what she wanted to see that day. Just like I wasn't shopping from my authentic, usual grocery list, my annual formal classroom observation demonstrated very little of my normal interaction with my little friends. Rather, it represented my ability conform to whatever buzzword bullshit was hot in education that The Weave had latched on to and decided was the only way to determine if I was effective or not.

Then there was the waiting. The waiting always feels the same. And I'm so not good at it. We would schedule a date and nothing. I would re-write the lesson, schedule a new date and nothing. New date. More nothing. Until one day she would just show up, look through my work folders rather than watch me actually teach and then write up some mystical version of what she thought she saw complete with little to no constructive feedback. Ah, yes, the accountability was impressive, my friends.

So while I think that basing teachers' ratings on the tests students take is ridiculous, I am very well aware that our current system is flawed. Kind of like those weather maps.

The Weekly Wrap Up (Great Reading for the Cocktail Hour...or Hours)

2011-08-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

In my spare time (read: when I should be doing other stuff during the Mini's naptime), I like to check out The Bloggess for a few laughs. Granted, her humor is not for everyone, but I love the idea behind her weekly wrap up, so I thought I'd try one over here at INAFaS. What do you think? Yay or nay?

The Friday Five: Five Back To School Picture Book Winners (click images for links)

Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney
Little Llama is sad about his first day of pre-school - he doesn't want his mama to leave. (Cut to me tearing up at the very thought of my Mini going off to school someday!!) Of course the story has a happy ending (can you imagine a back to school story that didn't?) and all of Llama's new friends show him how fab school can be. Personally, I heart the Llama series. Heart the rhyme, heart the drama, heart the illustrations. So much potential.

First Day Jitters by J. Danneberg
Sarah doesn't want to get out of bed to go to school on the first day - she is too nervous! She is forced to get out of bed, eat breakfast and is driven to school. When she gets there, the principal greets her and takes her to her new class and guess what? Sarah is the TEACHER! Okay. Total. Surprise. Ending. I mean, it totally got me and I'm not afraid to admit it. Now THIS is a book that takes the nervous teacher angle and rocks it. Plus there is some super vocab and great places to stop and have a conversation.

I Am Too Absolutely Small For School by Lauren Child
Lola and Charlie are an adorable sis and bro. While the story line is predictable (Girl afraid of school. Girl doesn't want to go to school. Boy helps girl see how great school really is. Girl has happy ending.) The bonus about this book - cutey cute illustrations and it's a series. Do I smell a character study for our smallest of small fries?

Skippy Jon Jones Class Action by Judy Schachner
I love me some Skippy Jon Jones! When the Mini was super mini, we'd snuggle up and read Skippy Jon and it would make her laugh and laugh. I haven't read this one yet myself, but how can sharing an inevitable laugh with your new friends be a bad thing?

David Goes To School by David Shannon
I mean, how could I not include David. I think during those first few days of school, coming together to share a book and laugh is about the best community building you can do.

Other Rad Stuff From Around the Web:

Steve Job's speech at Stanford - Wouldn't it be wonderful if schools allowed people (teachers AND children) to follow what they are passionate about instead of bubble shit in on a test? Here's one of my favorite parts:

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

A fun video about the power of positivity - Couldn't we all use a little positivity to get our school year off to the right start?

In light of our recent blogversation (That's conversation but bloggified.) (Yes, I am taking liberties with the English language today...call it Hurrican Fever.) about the use of Facey Face and expanding the definition of what it means to be literate as well as what we consider to be valid text, I found this USA Today article pretty interesting.

Well, that's it for me, my friends. I'd say "See you Monday," but I'm afraid I might blow away over the weekend. Okay, I'm fairly certain I won't blow a way, but I have a feeling my internet connection will. I hope you're all safe and dry where you are!

xox,
Mimi

PS - Don't be shy - share your thoughts about this new Wrap Up idea. Help me help you. Kisses!

Facey Face

2011-08-24T11:57:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I became the ultimate Me Monster and started a Facey Face page for Mrs. Mimi.(That's Facebook for most of you...thank you Rebecca, my internet BFF, for the genius term "Facey Face".) I love me some Facey Face. Talk about the ultimate tool for Procrastination. I also have my own personal Facebook page that I use for virtual eavesdropping - seriously, people post some insane stuff as a status update. While I don't always understand why we need to know you had a flat tire on the highway today, I usually find these updates to be pretty entertaining and/or a great distraction from my pile of work.

However, due to some really poor decision making, Facebook has meant the end of some teachers' careers. I know some peeps are on the up and up when they friend current or former students - they want to stay in touch and hear how former friends are flourishing. I get it. Buuuuutttt....methinks it's a slippery slope and pretty much a bad idea.

My recent dilemma:

Several former students from The Best Class Any Teacher Has Ever Had EVER friend requested (is that really a verb now?) on Facebook recently. I LOVED these kids. LOVED. Like take them home and keep them forever love. I wanted to friend them (seriously, I can't believe I'm repeatedly using "friend" as a verb), I wanted to see their pics, read their statuses, make sure they were okay and being responsible consumers of social media, but there was something holding me back from clicking "accept." A feeling in the pit of my stomach, kind of like when I eat too many wings...

I didn't accept their request. But for the next few days, the whole thing bothered me. Am I virtually rejecting them? They were so important to me and I'd like to think I was important to them, important enough to friend request at least for whatever that's worth. All that being said, I still didn't want them to have access to a picture of me with a glass of wine or see something that someone wrote on my wall that may stray from appropriate. These kids are still not adults. Clearly The Mimi is cool and hip and all that with social media, but this territory feels foreign with my little friends.

I know some teachers have separate Facebook accounts for their teacher selves that they tightly control, but frankly, I don't need another social outlet or alternative self to monitor. So what did I do? I accepted their friend request to get access to their email address. I sent them an email explaining why I felt uncomfortable being friends with them on Facebook and gave them my personal email address so that we could stay in touch. Then I promptly unfriended (defriended?) them. I'm so hoping they'll email.

I think there are so many possibilities to use various social media and other online resources in our classrooms. Actually, I think there is a NEED to do that, so we can create and develop responsible and digitally literate little friends. (Granted, this means having computers in your classroom that are NOT loaded with Logo Turtle and, you know, actually turn on.) And I'm someone who embraces these tools for my work with adults, but with kids....I go back to having that too-many-wings feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Maybe this is a topic we can take on as a little community. Discuss and share ways to incorporate these new tools rather than shun them. Think about how we can set up ground rules that not only make these tools truly useful, but also teach our friends how to be critical users as well. I know there are some of you out there who don't have enough pencils, books or even desks...so what do we do? How do we move forward and stay current?

Can I Get A WTF?!

2011-08-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

Pardon the language, friends, but I hope you appreciate my restraint in using an acronym. No? I guarantee that once you read this, you'll be throwing around your own "WTF" or any other incredulous statement of choice. Trust me.

Recently, a reader (who wishes to remain anonymous) emailed moi about some disturbing new happenings going down at her school. When our fellow Super Colleague returned to work, she learned that her school would be putting surveillance cameras in every classroom, the hallways, and the parking lot. She was informed that not only would the school office be able to watch it, but that Central Office will be able to see it as well.

I know. Take a deep breath.

I'm totally on board with the parking lot thing. It gets dark crazy early in the winter and in general, I think parking lots are shady. We won't even get into my somewhat irrational fear of parking garages but, honestly? No good can come in those shadowy, creepy places.

I'm on the fence about cameras in the hallways. Some schools are bananas in between classes and maybe cameras would help with security and/or be Big Brothery enough to dissuade sticky fingers and nasty mouths.

But cameras in the classrooms?

Yikes.

My first thought? I have former Super Colleagues who have PUMPED on their preps in their locked classrooms (while simultaneously correcting papers or checking email because we are awesome with a capital Kick Some Ass). Who wants to see that? I take that question back. I don't what to know who wants to see that. But still. Pumping is an act that cannot be unseen.

My next thoughts? Holy crap, what are they thinking?? What is the purpose behind these cameras? Is this the ultimate in "accountability"? Has the Teacher Bashing gone so far that we now want to watch teachers every single move? Because we're all raging morons who hit kids, pick our noses and talk on our cell phones while all hell breaks loose as soon as no one is looking?

COME ON!

As if morale wasn't low enough in our profession, this teacher clearly feels violated and resentful of the presence of cameras in her classroom. She asks:

How is the district affording this when they have laid off a large number employees this summer?

Are the administrators going to have cameras in their offices and let us watch them pick their noses, too?

Is it 1984? I thought that was just a book scenario.

Do they really hate us this much???

It's that last one that really gets to me. How many other teachers are entering their school year thinking that their own administration hates them? What kind of culture are we creating for teachers as professionals??

And who is watching these cameras? Did this district hire an entirely different group of drones to sit in front of TV screens while simultaneously firing classroom teachers due to budgetary issues? Are we going to have cameras to watch the cameras to make sure those individuals are also held accountable? Are we going to have cameras in the homes of our students to make sure their parents feed them a reasonable breakfast, help with homework, read to their children, feed them a nutritious dinner and put them to bed at a decent hour?

Riddle me that, Batman.

I second Angela over at The Cornerstone when I say that my classroom was my sanctuary. It was my home away from home. It was (hopefully) my friends' home away from home. And that meant that sometimes we were sitting together in a circle discussing a behavioral issue instead of working on math, and sometimes we lost ourselves in the joy of a story and began science a little later than planned and sometimes we were just plain being silly in the way that only seven and eight year olds can. If these cameras are a mechanism for "increasing efficiency and accountability" and making sure that teachers stick to a rigid schedule in the name of covering more material and pushing pushing pushing, then today is a sad day.

Thoughts??? I know you have them...

Oldies But Goodies...

2011-08-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

...or at least I think so.

Friends, I promise a new post tomorrow, but for today I am sending you my most positive Back To School vibes via these old Back To School themed post.

If today was your first day back (as it was for Big Mama Mimi), grab a glass of wine, put your feet up and know it will all get done. You deserve a break and a laugh.

If this isn't your first day back, grab a glass of wine, put your feet up and know it will all get done. You deserve a break and a laugh.

Are you seeing a theme?

Off To a Positive Start??? - My attempt to start things off in my most Zen like state (read: now with less gossip).

Ready, Set, SHOP - A back to school shopping list like no other. Be sure to check out the comments for things that Mrs. Mimi missed.

The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of - More Back To School shopping porn...pics from a jaunt through the aisles of Staples.

My Biological Teacher Clock is A'Tickin' - Can't you just feel Back To School season in your bones??? I believe it's one of our many gifts.

An Open Letter To Staples - My love/hate relationship with this popular office supply chain continues. Oh, how Back To School season challenges our tenuous relationship!

What A Difference A Year Makes - Memories from the first day of school in 2007.

Just Some Poop and Me - Nothing says Back To School like cleaning up old mouse poo, am I right?

Adventures In Planning - Despite our best efforts, Back To School season seems to come earlier and earlier each year, doesn't it? Can you say "caught off guard"?

Hope these (and the wine) help make your Back To School as fabulous as possible.

xo,
Mimi

Your Child's Writing Life Giveaway Winner

2011-08-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

Yahooooooo! I know I'm late with the big news, but can we say LOOOOONG FLIGHT HOME?!

The winner is #35!!!

Congratulations to Edris Goolsby Harrell, Ph.D.!!! Please email me your information (itsnotallflowersandsausages at gmail dot com) and I will have the publisher send you your copy asap. Enjoy!

Thank you to everyone who entered- I thoroughly enjoyed all your responses. Totally pick up a copy over here to jump start your year.

Annnnnnnd, Mrs. Mimi has more to give away - four more fabulous new titles and a Back To School gift pack from Avery Office supplies. Stay tuuuuuned!!

xo,
Mimi

Pardon The Interruption

2011-08-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

As I think about Back To School (cue the ominous music here, please), I always try to mentally prepare myself for each aspect of my day, perhaps invent a new and improved system that may make that part of the day flow better than ever. As a teacher, the one part of the day I could never quite conquer was the morning announcements.

Is it just me, or do most teachers, upon hearing these three little words, often turn to the intercom with a look on their face that screams, "Oh yeah? Well, pardon this!" and you can almost see them imagining themselves flipping off said interruption with a big old middle finger?

Or maybe that was just my reaction. My bad.

I have been to visit some schools where the morning announcements are not an assault on one's senses. (Yes, they exist!) I've seen pairs of children literally skip down to the office and grin ear to ear when the principal hands them the microphone. They dutifully make their way through the pledge and remind everyone about a bake sale, or book sale or some other after school wonder and then sign off with a jaunty yet original goodbye that you just know took them hours to come up with. When I'm in schools during these moments, I half expect Mr. Rogers to appear from around the corner and burst into song as all the other children file into the hallway to hold hands and sway in rhythm to the music. (And yes, I'm aware that Mr. Rogers is no longer with us, but if anything could channel him back from the beyond, it is moments like these.)

HOWEVER, I have also been to schools where the announcements are not just part of the morning routine. They are a constant presence. Kind of like that fly that keeps buzzing around your picnic, except imagine a really relentless and angry fly with just a hint of bitterness. These sorts of announcements usually pertain to a) hallway sweeps where presumably serial wanderers are "swept up" only to be disposed of? returned to where they belong? subjected to listen to a reel of announcements to learn their lesson? b) tickets to a dance c) the behavior yesterday when it snowed and everyone went batshit crazy d) hallway behavior e) cafeteria behavior f) auditorium behavior and, my personal favorite, e) angry reminders to turn in a stack of forms that could have nicely been handled in an email.

Does that disconnected voice located in a land far far away (aka The Office) not realize what a terrible tone these types of interruptions are to our day? Do they not have email accounts or a bulletin board or some other less public and more quiet vehicle for their rants?

Your Child's Writing Life - A GIVEAWAY

2011-08-12T19:17:00.001-07:00

In need of some Back To School inspiration? A little motivation? A little mojo for your flojo! (Don't ask about that last one, I thought I had a thing going...)

I recently previewed a copy of Pam Allyn's latest book Your Child's Writing Life and while it is written primarily for parents, it is just the ticket to start your teacher engines. Plus, there's a ton of great information and ideas about how to get your newest little friends totally jazzed about writing. (I'm talking about some ideas to sharpen up your current workshop, some tools to help you remember what's truly important when it comes to the teaching of writing - here's a hint: it's not all about passing The Test - plus some great titles you may want to add to your repertoire. Can you say "jackpot"?)

As I was reading this book, I couldn't help but think of my own writing life. I didn't always love to write. Back in my school days, we rarely wrote except to answer comprehension questions or respond to a very structured prompt. Some day remind me to tell you about the first time I was asked to truly WRITE something in high school. It may have involved some shoe throwing, a temper tantrum and Big Mama Mimi having to Lay Down The Law. But look at me now! Blogger, author, frequent user of the term "douche bag"! I mean, could Big Mama Mimi be any more proud? The point is, I did not know what it was like to truly experience the joy of writing the written word. Cut to my student teaching experience. The teacher had children freely creating and writing their own stories. About whatever they wanted. And I was all, "Where do the five paragraphs go? You mean these kids are totally free balling it? That's madness?!" And then I realized...it was genius.

A few years later, in my own classroom, there was no formal writing curriculum. Wait, there was no writing curriculum. So what did The Mimi do? The Mimi squeezed in a Writer's Workshop every day, closed the door and kept her mouth shut. We just went with it, writing what came to us and learning along the way. To this day, the freedom and love of writing I experienced with those kids are some of my greatest teaching memories. Ten years later, when I was still in the same classroom teaching Writer's Workshop, a former student from that year came back to visit me. He had been one of my most favorite (and most infamous) Naughty Boys. Seriously, boyfriend had some crazy frenetic energy! Except during writing- when we wrote he channeled all that energy into his work. Granted, his toes were usually tapping, bit he was definitely into it. During his visit, he gave me a CD filled with his own original rap music. He wrote the music, he wrote the words, he did it all himself. One track in particular was like a thank you letter to me for teaching him to love writing and tell his life in his own words.

Um, ARE YOU CRYING YET?!

I had this friend in my head and my heart as I read Pam's book. If you like my story, you'll love the stories that pepper Pam's book. She shares beautiful and touching moments from her own classroom as well as from the classrooms has visited around the country and around the globe.

A quote from Pam's book that's going on my cork board at home:

"Let us influence our children to fall so in love with words and stories and ideas that they can't help but want to put them somewhere, like little treasures."

Isn't this what we all want for our little friends? Isn't this what learning to write is all about? Isn't this so much more inspiring than focusing on some test as the end goal? And won't our friends be better writers, citizens of the world and, yes, better test takers, if we allow them the time and space to just write?

I'm lucky enough to be able to giveaway a copy of this fabulous book to one of you lovely readers. Ready for the rules?

* The giveaway begins today and runs through next Friday, August 19th.
* You can enter the giveaway as many times as your heart desires.
* To enter, simply respond in the comments section to one of these creative prompts pulled right from Pam's book:

Write about the safest place in the world to soothe scaredness.

Write about one of your favorite recipes, maybe with a description of the food.

What do you most want to change in the world? What is one thing you could do toward this?

Your entries don't have to be long, just long enough to flex those creative writing muscles! A sentence or two will do or you can really let her rip.

I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner to be fair.

On your marks, get set, WRITE!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Be Still My Nerdy Little Heart

2011-08-12T11:40:00.001-07:00

Holy crap, you guys. I am going to wave my nerd flag today and I'm going to wave it proud. Seriously, where is that flag? Did I forget to pack it?

The Mimi family is currently living it up West coast style while visiting family. (To my East coast self, "living it up West coast style" involves waking at 5 am, eating many avocados, always wearing flip flops and peppering my conversation with language such as "dude" and "stoked". Other than that, methinks I stand out like a sore NYC thumb. Must be all the grit....)

Anyhow, we are in CA which means we recently survived a five and a half hour flight with a mobile and increasingly opinionated 14 month old. (Read: worked like dogs to keep the Mini entertained, fantasizes about wine post bedtime and were asleep by 9.). In true Mimi fashion, the list making began weeks ago. What To Pack lists, Food To Bring lists, Quiet But Entertaining Toys That Fit In An Overhead Compartment Sized Bag lists. At the top of that last list? BOOKS. My girl loves her some books. Literally,Where Is The Green Sheep is worn to bits and I have several of Sandra Boynton's greatest hits now committed to memory for the rest of my life. (Seriously, I do a mean oral story telling of But Not the Hippopotamus. Kills every time. Every. Time.)

Needless to say, we brought all her faves including Cat, which is big, but, if you ask Mini Mimi, is pure genius. Odyssey Shmodyssey. (Click here if you have a toddler and want a few minutes of happy page flipping. ANY momma/teacher worth her salt can, at the very least, clean a bathroom, start dinner, check her email and make a work call during those fleeting moments. We are like the most productive beings on the planet. On crack.)

Also in our arsenal was a lift-the-flap book filled with babies doing various baby things. One picture shows a little boy playing peekaboo with his Blankie. Mind you, we have looked at this book three hojillion times and never has this happened before. Never.

Are you ready for this?

My girl made a text to self connection!!!

Nerd alert!

Granted, it was not the deepest of connections, but it was a start, people. Basically, she stared at the page for a long time. Then she pointed at the baby's Blankie and looked at me. Then she pointed at her Blankie and looked at me. Then the baby's Blankie. Then her Blankie. Baby's Blankie. Her Blankie.

Here's my imagined version of what went down:

Mini: Hey mama, look! That baby has a Blankie and I have a Blankie!
Me: You're right, sweetheart. You do both have a Blankie.
Mini: That baby's Blankie must make the little boy feel safe, because my Blankie makes me feel safe and happy.
Me: (tearing up) Yes, honey, I bet it does.

What really went down:
Me: Mr. Mimi! Oh my God! I think she just made her first text to self connection.
Mr. Mimi: Her what?
Me: Text to self connection....it's when a reader notices something in a text...are you even listening?
Mr. Mimi:
Me: Hello?
Mr. Mimi: You're a dork.
Me: Um, noted. But this is HUGE.
Mr. Mimi: Just tell me what she did in non-teacher talk.
Me: She pointed at the baby's Blankie and then pointed at her Blankie.
Mr. Mimi: Genius.

I'm chalking his reaction up to a long flight.

Regardless, be still my nerdy little heart.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Happy National Book Lovers Day!

2011-08-09T12:41:00.000-07:00

Alternative Title for this post - A Day That Fuels My Addiction To Children's Books: A Co-Dependent Celebration

I think I have truly earned the title of Book Lover. In fact, becoming a mommy to the Mini has taught me just how much I love books. Not only does my heart sing when I see her spending time in books, I never anticipated how much I would miss reading books myself. (Can you say "bye bye" to free time?) I find myself actually clamoring for ways to spend time in a book, catching up on my blogs, checking out a mag...anything!

A small story.

I'm in my local Barnsey. I'm with Mini Mimi who loves books but is also All. Over. The. Place. Luxuriously browsing? Uh, no.

As I take my little friend out of her stroller to check out some books together, I notice a gorgeous display of new picture books. I crane to see some titles while unstrapping. I push my never-the-same mommy brain to remember said titles. I squint to see the books on the bottom shelf as I watch Mini Mimi begin to move farther and farther down the aisle.

Damn.

I scoop up my friend, swallow that inner voice that is telling me I am flying my Freak Flag waaaaay too prominently, take out my phone and take several pictures of all the shelves so that I can look them up online while Mini is sleeping.

True story. Aside from a few strange glances, can I just say, "winning?"

I hear a lot of people poo poo the e-reader. (Yes, I just said "poo poo.") They say that there's nothing like the feel of a book. Well, as someone who has no time for anything, I can say that in my world there's nothing like the time or luxury of reading, no matter what it's on. Seriously - I'd read the latest Jennifer Weiner if it was printed on baby wipes! (New business idea for moms??) Do I love the feel of a brand new, shiny picture book? CLEARLY! Do I like the look of my beloved books stacked neatly in bookshelves? SO MUCH THAT I FANTASIZE ABOUT BUILT IN BOOK SHELVES IN MY DREAM HOUSE!

But when it gets right down to it, do I just love to read? Yes. Do I want Mini Mimi to love to read? Do I care if my students are reading a magazine, a take out menu, a graphic novel or a piece of non-fiction? No. I care if they love reading and can really DO reading, if you know what I mean.

I think it will be a long time before schools do away with books. I work in some schools that don't have enough books - why would anyone think they would suddenly have the funds for an e-reader for each and every child? (I mean, if schools buy e-readers for kids before they buy pencils, I just might scream, so there's that.)

In honor of this fabulous day (in the midst of so many gloomy ones for us educators...can you even stand to watch the news these days?), let's share a title or two to kick of the new year. Any faves? Books you can't live without? Books you want to celebrate? (Pssst...I procrastinated for a solid 20 minutes and created this board over at Pinterest. Also a true story.)

We've Lost Our Way

2011-08-08T11:08:00.000-07:00

I want to pull my hair out. I want to scream and stomp my feet. I want people to stop asking me what I think about "those terrible cheating teachers" and do I think that's "typical behavior?"

I mean, a girl can only take so much before a girl punches the next person who asks her in the throat.

I used to be a waitress. Back in my early 20s, cocktail waitressing brought in some serious cha-ching for a budding shoe obsession. If you've ever worked in a bar, you know that there is this weird little subculture of bar folk. (Ever read Waiter Rant?) At the time, I was working on my master's degree and, therefore, well aware of life outside of this particular bar. Yet, before long, filling the ketchups became the bain of my existence, the atypical lunch rush was worth talking about for days and Oh. My. God. Did you hear about how the brunch staff totally shorted the bus boys when it came time to tip people out?! What bar tender worked my shifts, and who made more tips than whom quickly became the center of my universe. More tips meant I was good at my job. More tips meant that I had a certain level of value. More tables meant more tips. Over seating my own section to get more table to get more tips no longer bothered me and the new girl can just suck it. Sneaking in a gratuity charge and not mentioning it to the table in the hopes that they would end up double tipping? No biggie. Who cares? I ended up with more tips, didn't I?

Am I not drawing a clear enough parallel? When you narrow the definition of success and then incentivize people and/or scare the shit out of people by threats of mass firings and nasty labels all of which are connected to this narrow little definition people will do jacked up things. Friends, I lost track of the bigger picture when I was slinging drinks...ya think it could happen to people who are doing their best to educate children in some crazy constricting circumstances?

In a nutshell - stop blaming the teachers! Should the teachers of Atlanta and Lord knows where else have erased children's answers? No. Should we tolerate that sort of behavior? No. But taking a very surface-y stance to this problem is NOT AN OPTION. If you think those teachers were doing their students a disservice by changing their answers, than imagine the disservice that may be done to the education system if the buck stops there.

From the Huffington Post - "The Atlanta report's conclusion that cheating resulted from a culture of fear, one spurred by rising test-score targets, fuels the argument that policies determined by test scores provide perverse incentives that are not in the best interests of students."

Can you imagine the conditions these poor teachers were working under? Can you imagine what it must have been like to drive people to do something like this?

Also from the Huffington Post - "'To be sure, there are lessons to be learned from these jarring incidents, but the existence of cheating says nothing about the merits of testing,' Duncan wrote in an op-ed for the Washington Post."

It's says nothing about the merits of testing because THERE ARE NO MERITS TO TEST THAT ARE THIS HIGH STAKES.

Can I throw a "dumb ass" on the end of that last statement or is that too much?

ENOUGH WITH THE TESTING! The thought that these situations have come to light and there are still people who are waving around those freaking ScanTron sheets shouting about the integrity of their precious data makes me want to poke myself in the eye, quit education and go get a job naming nail polish colors.

What about the integrity of education? What about the integrity of the work of teachers? It's amazing to me that politicians can set standards, impose insane amounts of testing in the name of accountability, tell us how to do our jobs and then when it all falls apart, still claim that their way was the right way and take no responsibility.

Is ignorance really that blissful?

One Of My Few Regrets...

2011-08-01T09:20:00.000-07:00

Friends, Mrs. Mimi tends to say it like it is. Or at least, I say it how I see it. And, so far, I don't have many regrets. UNTIL....the Save Our Schools march came along.

(sigh)

You may have noticed that posting around here has been pretty sparse, sometimes bordering on non-existent. These periods of silence are usually followed up with long rambly posts in which I apologize and promise to do better. Cue a few more weeks with no posting and there you have it- my own personal shame spiral.

Few things mean more to me than the welfare of teachers and their ability to create dynamic, nourishing environments for their students. I will support the shit out of you for the rest of my blogging days because, at my core, I AM A TEACHER. Teaching has always come first for me....my little beloved friends, my Super Colleagues, my work in classrooms. And then I had a baby.

Holy that-kicked-my-ass, Batman!

Mini Mimi is amazing. But with her came the adjustment of a lifetime. Within the last year(ish) I became Mommy Mimi, Dr. Mimi and ventured out of the classroom to work more closely with teachers. Can you say, "Too many balls in the air?" Okay, maybe not too many balls, really just too many NEW balls combined with a host of old ones. (Did anyone else just hear me compare blogging to "old balls?" Was that out loud? I think you know what I mean though.) Clearly, it has taken me awhile to get all the pieces to fit together in a way that doesn't have me routinely screaming into my pillow and/or lying on the floor paralyzed by my giant and multifaceted (albeit organized and color coded) To Do List.

This is a long way of saying I totally missed out on the Save Our Schools March and DAMN! Was that shit up my alley! I heard about it, read a bit about it but was so overwhelmed that I guess it just never went in. And then, when I decided to scroll through old emails (and realized that one should really never let one's email go because then one is assaulted by an inbox so full that it really could merit a place on The Biggest Loser), I saw it. My email invitation to join the movement, to speak, to promote, to be a part of this amazing event.

*$(#!

But it was already too late. I had a new ball that dropped when I wasn't even looking. I feel like I've let you all down.

Thank goodness for people with their shite together (such as Valerie Strauss) who posted about the event here. Word on the street is Matt Damon brought down the house. While he is not an educator, he is a lover of educators and because he is crazy famous, maybe someone will listen to him. Plus, he's not so hard on the eyes. Even bald. You can watch him speak here or read a transcript of his speech here. I'm going to be trying desperately to catch up on ALL THAT I MISSED, so stay tuned via my Facey page or Twitter for more.

In my heart, I am hoping against hope that it is not too late for me to find a place within this amazing, inspirational movement of brilliant educators. No regrets, right?

The Wall

2011-07-12T11:27:00.001-07:00

Fresh from my Barnsey Ban (a.k.a. Are You Insane? We Don't Need Any More Books! or shouts that sounded vaguely something like that...), Mini Mimi and I headed straight for the air-conditioned love that is the Children's section. However, we stopped dead in our gift card toting tracks when we saw the back wall. The wall that had always been covered in shiny, delicious, new picture book titles. Llama, Llama, Red Pajama, Olivia, Click Clack Moo...so many of my favorite titles have spent time on that very wall. The wall that has tempted me with new titles, new authors, new ways to spend money...the same wall that strikes fear into Mr. Mimi's ~~wallet~~ heart. Today friends, that wall was covered on chapter books while the new picture books were relegated to a small stand off to the side.

Maybe this has been going on for some time, but please remember, I have been on a Barnsey Ban- perhaps a bit of a 12 step program to curb my little addiction. Regardless, WTF?!

Now, Mimi loves her a good chapter book. When I moved to teach second grade, I discovered some amaze balls new characters and re-discovered some old friends from the olden days when I was in school. (I'll have to tell tales of yore to the Mini someday...you know, "yore"? Also known as "before iPads and e readers"?) However, I worry.

I worry that in the craze to push their children to move forward, do better, score higher and get into Princeton, parents may abruptly abandon the picture book in favor of the chapter book. Remember this little rant? Sharing a picture book with the Mini brings me nothing but joy. Girlfriend may be just over a year, but she is full of opinions and in addition to hating chicken, she has stories that are her favorites, that make her laugh and smile. Going into classrooms and sharing a picture book with kids in first grade and kids in fifth grade is also high on the list of My Fave Things To Do (along with needing out, blogging and shoe shopping).

Although I still heart my Barnsey, I hope that this change is just a reflection of a need for a new look and not a sign of things to come.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

No One Likes A Cheater...Although I Think No One Likes The Tests Either

2011-07-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

This article was sent to me via email today. In a nutshell, it discusses an investigation of the Atlanta public schools in which it was discovered there was rampant cheating on standardized tests. They say at least 178 teachers and principals, most of whom have confessed, were involved in the cheating. Here's a quote from the article, "A culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation existed in the district, which led to a conspiracy of silence, he said in a prepared statement. “There will be consequences,” Mr. Deal said." (Mr. Deal is the governor of Atlanta.) Consequences like dismissals and maybe criminal charges. And, if I may be so bold as to make a bit of a prediction here, teacher bashing. I mean, it's open season on us teachers lately, no?

Granted, these people should not have been cheating. Cheating blows. I hate cheating. I hated dealing with cheating in my classroom. All the long discussions about losing gracefully and being a good sport and blah blah blah...which I totally know is beneficial but really I just wanted to say, "Cheating is a waste of time and energy and it always catches up to you, so just go sit over there and stop playing if you're going to ruin our fun." Whether it's little friends cheating at a math game to win, well, to win nothing, or adults cheating on standardized tests, I think we can all agree it's just wrong.

But just like I had to squelch my desire to simply stick cheaters off to the side and deal with the larger problem, so do these adults responsible for educating Atlanta's youth. We can't just bash the teachers and the principals. (Although clearly many are tempted to grab flaming torches and beat us when we're down.) We have to look at the larger problem. What about this culture of fear that has been created for adults working in schools? What about this obsession with quantitative data and test scores and seemingly nothing else? What about all the studies that negate the usefulness of this data when it is abused as we so love abusing it today? What about all that?

As I sit here typing this blog, I'm almost sick of myself for just engaging in this debate. I am so sick of test scores. I am so sick of the blame. Most of all, I'm so sick of bitching about all of it. (Okay, I secretly love bitching about many things, but even I have my limits.) Instead of continuing to talk and talk and talk about test scores and graphs and standardized tests, why don't we just change the conversation? Yes, I mean us, we, teachers, THE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY HAVE AN IMPACT ON CHILDREN EACH AND EVERY DAY...let's just change it. Stop talking about the tests. Yes, they exist. Yes, they are being abused. Yes, they are out of control. So let's just move on and talk about something else like how we want our classrooms to be run, what we want our little friends to get out of their time with us, what we feel are the true purposes of school and how we can achieve those.

What do you think? Easier said than done? Has the pressure and fear consumed us all?

A Meeting of the Minds (Now With Cocktails!)

2011-07-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago (when I was at the end of my doctoral time warp), a very exciting thing happened. Something for which I was planning the perfect outfit for WEEKS.

Are you ready?

I met my internet BFF (and blogging sensation) in person. IN PERSON! That's right, Dr. Rebecca Branstetter of Notes From the School Psychologist and I (and her fabulous husband and Mini Mimi) had lunch together. Face to face.

It was very east meets west. Very Julie/Julia. Very modern day Thelma and Louise minus the long drive and that bit at the end. Long story short, it was very fabulous.

Friends, this woman is even more phenomenal in person. PHE. NOM.

Now, you may not know this about Mrs. Mimi, but I have a history of serious nerves before meeting education-related idols. I mean, remember when I met Bryan Collier?? Can you say "stammering idiot"? At the time, I probably couldn't, but now? Um, yes. Yes I was.

Then there was the time I was invited to Diane Ravitch's book release soiree. Okay. Maybe "invited" is a strong word. It was more like a friend of mine actually got an invitation and figured it would be kosher to ~~sneak me in~~ have me show up at the door with a big smile on my face. Being fabulous, Ms. Ravitch was nothing short of lovely. Me on the other hand? Well, I was about a zillion months pregnant (complete with bloat-y face that some people refer to as a "glow") and wearing my only truly decent book-launch-party-with-your-idols-and-other-genius-people outfit. (Read: sweating like I've never sweat in my life, like the ride in the elevator was not pleasantly temperature controlled but actually forty flights of stairs, like...well, like a pregnant person at a crowded party. Ladies, am I right?) Not only was I Sweaty VonPitstains, my friend and I were also The First Ones There. Cut to me trying to sound intelligent as I gave the nutshell version of my dissertation that I had yet to perfect. Not amazeballs, people, not amazeballs. But again, Ms. Ravitch WAS amazing and shortly we were engaged in a very interesting conversation during which I kept thinking to myself, "Holy crap! I am talking education with Diane Ravitch and a mocktail...how is this happening?!" I won't even go into when she introduced me to Deborah Meier...let's just say I managed to hold my own...somehow.

Should I have called, "nerd alert" before forcing you to read that last paragraph? Perhaps.

Anyhow, in true form, I was sweating like crazy (except this time it was that my-stroller-seems-enormous-in-New-York-City-restaurants-but-I'm-trying-to-seem-casual-with-all-my-baby-gear-and-heels) when I met Rebecca. Of course, she ooohed and ahhhed over the Mini and we had some initial standard conversation. And then. AND THEN...let the education banter begin. (I felt a bit sorry for her husband who could not have been nicer but probably was o.v.e.r. the school talk.) Suddenly, it was like we had been brunching for years. Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye. As I drove away, I felt really thankful for this blog, for my readers and the opportunity to make (and meet!) such special people like Rebecca.

BARNSEY ALERT - There's A New Book Out There And It's Just For Those Naughty Boys!

2011-06-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

Okay. Perhaps said book is not intended just for those fabulous naughty boys and their devilish smiles (click here, here and here for some archived fave naughty boy wonderful-ness) but for ALL the boys in your class who are struggling to get engaged in their reading.

Um, sound familiar? Bring a precious little face or two to your mind?

I thought as much.

I'm talking about Pam Allyn's new book Best Books For Boys. (Say whaaaa? Yes, a book JUST to help you think deeply and come up with realistic ways to get your toughest friends to love reading.)

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of Pam's book - friends, this one is worth the trip to Barnsey. (Although, really, I take any excuse to go to my own personal candy-land. Nerd alert!)

Pam's love for reading is evident. Her passion for working with the boys at The Children's Village is inspiring. Pam begins by introducing us to the severity of the struggle to engage many boys in a love of reading - a struggle with which many of us are very familiar. I mean, how many of us have run out to the library to borrow every last book they have on sharks just because a little friend mentioned that just maybe he might like to think about reading some more books on that topic? I know I can't be alone in my heinous overdue fees...

Pam proposes and explains four essential elements to creating a reading life: Ritual, Environment, Access and Dialogue (READ). She then continues to answer some extremely poignant questions about boys, reading and our classrooms. I mean, take a gander at some of these heavy hitters:

How can we make boys more comfortable with reading?
How does school affect boys as readers?
What if the boys are highly active and don’t love to sit still to read? (Um, hello! Sound like anyone you know?)
How can I choose books that build reading confidence in boys?

Finally, Pam includes a thoughtful and extensive list of titles (broken down by genre and level) aimed at getting our boys more excited about reading. Actual titles, people! Clearly, this is an amazeballs section and I've already run out to the library to check out many of these titles. (Mr. Mimi has put me on Barnsey lock-down for the time being. There was a bit of an intervention. I have to admit, it was a long time coming...)

Overall, what I loved about Pam's book was that it pushed my thinking about my own practice and what I consider to be acceptable reading practices in the classroom. Even though I consider myself a bit of a Rockstar, even I can get stuck in a rut. I think all of us, without being aware of it, start to accept old definitions of familiar practices because they feel comfortable. Pam's book urges us to push the boundaries and redefine what reading looks like in our classrooms - and to her I say, "Work it, girlfriend!"

Because I am one of the luckiest bloggers in the blogosphere (Dorkiest. Word. Ever.), I was able to do a quick Q&A with Pam to find out more about her newest book. (High fives all around, no?)

(Quick side note: I included Pam's responses in all caps to distinguish them because they are rad, not because she was yelling. Ha!)

Me: What inspired you to tackle this topic?

Pam: THE BOYS I WORK WITH ASKED ME TO WRITE THIS BOOK! THEY KEEP WONDERING WHY TEACHERS DON'T OFFER THEM THE BOOKS THEY REALLY LOVE TO READ. AND I AM HAUNTED BY THE SHEER NUMBERS OF BOYS WHO ARE STANDING OUTSIDE THE DOOR OF A WORLD OF READING. THEY DON'T FEEL LIKE THEY ARE BEING INVITED IN. I HAVE SPENT MANY YEARS LEARNING FROM THE BOYS OF CHILDREN'S VILLAGE, A RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE. THEY ARE BOYS WHO HAVE BEEN THROUGH A LOT, BUT WHAT I'VE FOUND IS THAT A GOOD STORY WILL SHED AWAY YEARS OF RESISTANCE. THEY ARE TOUGH ON THE OUTSIDE BUT TENDER ON THE INSIDE. AND BOOKS AND POEMS GO A LONG WAY TO THAWING THE HARDNESS THAT'S GATHERED AROUND THEM. SEEING HOW MANY TIMES BOOKS HAVE WORKED ON THIS LEVEL MAKES ME FEEL THAT WELCOMING BOYS INTO A WORLD OF READING IS NOT JUST ABOUT ACADEMIC SUCCESS (ALTHOUGH IT IS THAT TOO) BUT ALSO ABOUT BECOMING A SOCIALLY AND EMOTIONALLY OPEN PERSON ABLE TO TAKE GOOD RISKS TO BECOME A LEARNER IN THIS 21ST CENTURY.

Me: As you may already know, Mrs. Mimi loves her some naughty boys. Do you have a fabulous story about any deliciously naughty boys from all your experiences in schools?

Pam: OF COURSE! I TOO LOVE NAUGHTY BOYS! THAT SPARKLE IN THEIR EYES AS THEY SHARPEN THEIR PENCIL FOR HOURS WHILE YOU ARE TRYING TO START WRITING WORKSHOP! TUMBLING AROUND THE PLAYGROUND, OR DASHING OUT OF THEIR SEATS TO LOOK AT THE FIRST SNOWFALL. BUT I THINK IF WE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION, THEY ARE TEACHING US SOME THINGS TOO. ONE OF MY FAVORITE STORIES IS ABOUT MY STUDENT WAYNE WHO SO LOVED ANIMALS. HE SPENT MOST OF THE YEAR TAKING CARE OF THE FROGS IN OUR CLASSROOM. HE WAS AN OLDER STRUGGLING LEARNER. BUT WHEN HE STARTED MAKING SIGNS AND STORIES ABOUT THE FROGS I KNEW WE WERE HAVING A BREAKTHROUGH. I WILL NEVER FORGET HIM. HE TOOK HIS OWN PATH AND I AM GLAD I WAS PATIENCE TO SEE HIS BLOSSOMING.

Me: What would you say to a teacher who is looking for some inspiration?

Pam: THE CHILDREN ARE ALWAYS OUR BEST INSPIRATION. STOP WORRYING SO MUCH, AND SIT DOWN AND READ ALOUD FROM YOUR FAVORITE SELECTIONS. LET YOUR BOYS TELL YOU WHAT THEY LOVE. LISTEN CAREFULLY TO THEM AND FOLLOW THEIR PASSIONS. THE INSPIRATION HAS BEEN RIGHT THERE ALL ALONG.

Me: What are your summer reading plans?

Pam: WELL, I LOVE THAT QUESTION! I HAVE A TON OF BOOKS UPLOADED ALREADY ON MY IPAD (WHICH I LOVE LOVE LOVE). ONE IS THE STORY OF HOW ELEANOR ROOSEVELT CAME TO CREATE THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS. I HAVE ALREADY STARTED IT AND I CAN'T STOP READING. SHE IS MY TRUE HERO. AND THEN I HAVE READY TO READ A BOOK MY DAUGHTER CHARLOTTE RECOMMENDED TO ME CALLED SUPER SAD TRUE LOVE STORY; SHE SAID IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS SHE'D EVER READ AND I TOTALLY TRUST HER, AND THE THIRD ONE I CAN'T WAIT TO READ IS THE NEW MYSTERY BY MY OLD COLLEGE CHUM HARLAN COBEN. HIS BOOKS ALWAYS GET MY HEART POUNDING. I DON'T KNOW HOW HE DOES IT, EVERY TIME.

Me: Can you share the titles of a couple of your favorite read alouds with us?

Pam: LATELY MY FAVES ARE THE BOSS BABY, BY MARLA FRAZEE AND CITY DOG, COUNTRY FROG BY MO WILLEMS. YOU CAN'T GO WRONG.

So, clearly you are adding this to your reading list for the summer, yes? I'm thinking feet up, coffee in hand and a little Pam Allyn for your summer professional development pleasure...cha-ching.

We Are A Group Divided

2011-06-18T08:35:00.000-07:00

It is that time of year, my friends. We are a group divided. On one hand, we have those that are currently sipping their coffee, checking their fave blogs (and thinking, "MY GOD! She's NOT dead! She just hasn't finished her school year yet...") - basically, those who are in the midst of relaxing because they are finished with their school year and HOLY CRAP the end was brutal so don't look at me like that when I hit snooze on my alarm clock.

And to those friends, I say, "Yea you!" And, "Can you pass me a little liquid encouragement to end the year with a BANG instead of a sad, scrambling mess?"

So, yes, there are those friends and then there's the rest of us. Those of us who aren't quite done yet, but the end is in sight. Like a glimmering light at the end of a long tunnel or a really fantastic shoe sale that's two weeks away but you already have a pair all picked out.

No matter which group you fall into, the end of the year is brutal. Bru-tal with a capital "are-you-freaking-kidding-me?" There are portfolios to be organized, grades to be calculated, report cards to be filled out, classes to be reconfigured, classrooms to be cleaned and put to bed for the summer, cumulative files to be dealt with and, wait, what's that other thing? Hold on, it will come to me....oh, right! The kids. There are kids who still need to be taught.

Combine that with all the special end-of-the-year events (Field Day! Surprise Assemblies! Awards Ceremonies! Field Trips! Just Poke Me In the Eye Day!) (Sidenote: Mini Mimi recently just poked mommy in the eye and it sucks. Note to self- must stop making that joke as it seems to be a self-fulfilling prophesy of sorts.)

No matter how organized you are or how on-top-of-your-shiznit you claim to be, the end is a race (a drag out, full on dead heat) to the finish. I hope that in all the chaos and frantic list making that you remembered to savor those last few moments with your friends, that you all found the time to reflect on your time together and all that you have learned and that (even if you were faking it) ended your year with a BANG and not a poke to the eye.

You Have GOT To Be Freaking Kidding Me

2011-05-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

Did you ever have a student who really struggled with a concept? I mean really struggled. We're talking this child pushed you to explain things more ways than you knew was possible, asked you for example after example, spent countless hours practicing over and over and over with you cheering them on from the sidelines and then looked up at you day and said, "Huh?" Yes, that child.

It happens. We cover some tough stuff in elementary school and some friends are bound to struggle, right?

Of course, that's normal. That's to be expected. That's what we signed up for.

I had a student (okay, several students) who had a tough time distinguishing and using the hour hand and the minute hand on an analog clock. Throw in the cluster f*ck that NONE of the clocks in their homes were analog and therefore they had no true real word connection or purpose for this learning except to draw little crooked hands on a worksheet/test and you've got yourself one little educational conundrum. We practiced and practiced and they still didn't understand why the two hands weren't interchangeable.

"Why can't you use the short hand to tell the minute again, Mrs. Mimi?"
"Because it just doesn't measure the minute, honey. It shows us the hour."
"Why?"
"Well, that's just the way it is. The minute hand shows us the minute and the hour hand tells us the hour."

Eventually, these friends figured it out. They learned that the short hand is the hour hand and it shows us the hour. It's related to it's friend the minute hand, but it looks slightly different and serves a different purpose.

Kind of like standardized tests and evaluating teacher performance. They sound similar and yes, they are in fact related to each other but ONE DOES NOT MEASURE THE OTHER. Teacher performance is teacher performance and it doesn't tell us absolutely how a child is going to perform on a standardized test. And standardized tests are standardized tests and they don't truly indicate the how well a teacher did his or her job with said student.

Now if my little friends can grasp a concept as abstract as telling time on an analog clock, certainly well educated adults can understand the difference between a test that was designed to measure student's ability in one narrow aspect of their learning and the complicated task that is evaluating a teacher's performance across an entire school year.

Right?

Right?!?

Um, evidently not. Yesterday I saw this little piece of a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/la-times-rates-teachers-again-unfortunately/2011/05/09/AFA2TNZG_blog.html#pagebreak">unfortunate bullshit floating around the internet. Okay, the article itself is not bullshit, but the fact that the LA Times has YET AGAIN published teacher effectiveness scores based on some crap filled formula that THEY DEVELOPED (because OF COURSE they can do the impossible...which is turn complete ridiculousness into truth by putting it in print) despite the fact that a) standardized tests are not designed to measure TEACHER performance b) standardized tests don't even accurately measure a STUDENT's true ability c) many smart people have demonstrated that this math simply does not add up and d) it is unbelievably irresponsible and will bring nothing but trouble upon educators who are trying their damndest to teach in some of the most constraining conditions in history.

Now I'm not saying that teachers shouldn't be evaluated at all. That's insane. Of course we should be held accountable for our work and of course we should have a formal evaluation process. However, when are the Powers That Be going to stop talking out of both sides of their mouths? Publicly, they say things like, "We have respect of teachers," and "Teachers are responsible for our future. It's a big job," and blah blah blah but then, THEN. Then, behind closed doors they devise plans so quick and dirty, so disrespectful, so illogical like tying a teacher's evaluation (and possibly PAY) to the score a student receives on a test!

Are we educators or are we test prep tutors? Do the Powers That Be REALLY have any respect or understanding of the scope of what we do? EVERY DAY. Because if the Powers That Be did have a shred of respect for us or possess an ounce of understanding, I'd like to think they'd take the time to design a system of evaluation that honored the complexity of our work and the context in which we do this work.

This Idea May Knock Your Fabulous Peep Toe Pumps Off!

2011-05-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

Friends. Mrs. Mimi has been around the block. (An observation which should not be taken out of context, you dirty birds!).

Because I will literally beg, borrow, and steal to get new ideas from colleagues, I have a lot of tricks in my back pocket. I mean, let's be honest. Teachers, in addition to being a little hoard-y...not TLC hoard-y, but pack ratty...are scavengers. We are constantly on the look out for a great trick, a hot little tip, a new idea to try, and, you know, maybe a little acknowledgment, but that's a conversation for another day.

(Teacher Appreciation Week Alert!!! That means let's get the ball rolling by appreciating ourselves- find a Super Colleague who has rocked your educational world and give them a thank you, a high five, some chocolate- we are all whores for chocolate come 2:00, no?)

Back to the issue at hand. Basically, what I'm saying is that Rockstar Teachers are always on the lookout for something fabulous they can use. And, being the personal horn tooter that I am, I consider myself to be fairly Rockstar. That's not to say I know it all, however, far from it. Because last week, last week, I heard an idea so fabulously simple, useful and seemingly obvious that I nearly passed out from all the screaming and high-fiving. I did manage to pull myself together in time to run (and I can move in heels, people) to the nearest office supply store before they closed.

(On some level, you had to know this would involve a trip to Staples, right? If only just to visit the Sharpie aisle?)

Have I kept you waiting long enough? I hope my revelation isn't too much of a let down after all this waxing and waning...I have always struggled with knowing when to reign it in, particularly when we are talking innovations in organization.

Ahem.

So, this new idea, this revolution is related to getting our little friends to use the high frequency word wall when writing. Or when encouraging them to refer to the flarking editing checklist you have been talking about for the last hojillion months. Or when you have the anchor chart to end all anchor charts filled with strategies that would make their lives SO MUCH EASIER if they would just turn their heads thirty degrees and look at the flipping thing.

Yea, this idea is for then.

You need writing folders that have those little brad thingamajiggies in them and sheet protectors with binder holes along the side. Then, you shrink down your word wall, checklist, strategy chart to a standard 8 1/2 by 11 page and slide it into the sheet protector you've secured I the middle of their folder. You can even insert several of the aforementioned bits of genius into their folders and really teach the crap out of them.

KA BOOM!

Did I just drop some organizational knowledge or what?!

I kind of want to drop the mike and walk away or something, what with my flair for drama and all.

OK. Maybe this idea will not solve the world's problems (or get your friends to spell "beautiful" correctly) but all we can do is lead the horse to water, right?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

SOMEONE GET ME A COCKTAIL....STAT!

2011-05-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

I can totally shout things like, "Stat!" now because ...

(drumroll please)

I am officially Dr. Mimi! (And doctors get to say stuff like "stat" which makes the years of schooling and hojillions of dollars in tuition totally worth it, right? RIGHT?)

Let me say that again, just for ha has.

I AM OFFICIALLY DR. MIMI!!

To be totally honest, it's actually been about 16 days (but who's counting?) since it became official. Those of you who follow me over on Facey heard first hand as soon as my oral defense was over. (See what you're missing if you're not cyber stalking The Mimi?) It's taken me a few days to write a post about this because I have literally spent the last 16 days crying tears of relief, feverishly making minor revisions and clearing up formatting issues and sleeping the sleep of the dead (minus nightly interruptions from you-know-who...Mini Mimi, mommy is looking at YOU!)

But now it's turned in. It's over. O.V.E.R.

Seven years ago, an envelope arrived that changed my life. In my usual overly-dramatic fashion, I refused to open it and insisted that Mr. Mimi do the unveiling (although he was just Boyfriend Mimi back then...it's been a loooooong time, people). In those days, Mr. Mimi had just moved to NYC, had yet to find a job and I was trying to support myself in a fabulous apartment on a teacher's salary. (Translation: We was po.) He barely got out the words, "You got in," before I started screaminig. After much high-fiving, hugging, and some more screaming, we went out to celebrate. We went to a cute bistro around the corner and, after pooling our resources, realized we had enough to split one cheeseburger and get one drink. Clearly, I drank the whole cocktail myself...it was the most delicious bellini I think I've ever had. (Don't ask why I chose a bellini...they were probably drinking them on SATC at the time and I can be a bit impressionable.)

In the last seven years, I have spent countless nights reading articles, writing papers, preparing for study groups, going to class and banging my head against the wall. (Bet you didn't know that was part of the process, did you? Well, it is. A very big part, in fact.) Boyfriend Mimi turned into Mr. Mimi and friends, that man deserves a medal. He has brought me more dinners, talked me off more ledges and supported me more completely than I could ever ask for.

Sixteen days ago, he came with me and sat outside in the hallway, while I defended myself and my dissertation. He stood by me as we waited for The Decision. And before I had a chance to barf in a nearby trashcan (again, the drama friends, the drama), the door opened and I heard the words, "Congratulations."

(Cue more hugging and crying. I managed to hold it together and not scream. Snaps for me, right?) After thanking my amaze balls committee, Mr. Mimi and I headed back to that same bistro and ordered TWO cheeseburgers and TWO bellinis. And can I just say: Best. Burger. Ever.

So, while I may make you all call me Dr. Mimi for a little while, I think I'll stick with Mrs. Mimi. Because even though I am a fancy-pants DOCTOR now, I always have been and always will be a TEACHER and Mrs. Mimi just seems to fit, doesn't it?

Thanks for all the cyber support and understanding. It's meant more than I can say.

xo,
Mimi

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week?

2011-05-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

(Notice the question mark, friends. It is very intentionally placed.)

If I could, I would personally appreciate the sh*t out of each and every one of you!

In years past, I have noted that this WEEK LONG EXTRAVAGANZA often goes unnoticed in many schools. Seriously, non-teachers, at least show some appreciation on one day, a morning, or an afternoon maybe...something!

Now I get to spend my time in a lot of different schools, I get to see the full spectrum of celebration. From schools that throw full blown luncheons complete with bottles of water, macaroni salad that does not resemble a soup thanks to a generous portion of mayonnaise, and cookies (the soft ones!)
to schools who not only have lost their manners, but have managed to become all out abusive.

I googled "teacher appreciate week" and half expected the screen to say, "Are you serious? Um, zero matches, sucker." Instead, I found these:

* A chance to win $5000 - cha ching! - sponsored by Febreze. (Can they smell my classroom from their corporate head quarters?)

* A chance to win a gift card for the food of our people (a.k.a. coffee) from Starbucks. I think the $30 may get you two and half drinks with names that last longer than teacher appreciation week.

* A discount for you to buy more stuff for your classroom because, contrary to popular belief, we are not all lazy SOBs.

* A discount for Mecca (a.k.a. The Container Store) so you can organize until you are grinning from ear to ear.

And if you're still feeling unappreciated this week, if you're one of those teachers who received a rape whistle, a chance at a ream of paper or a glance in the hallway....here's a little something to lift your spirits.

I appreciate you. For what it's worth.

xo,
Mimi

Falling Down the Rabbit Hole

2011-03-20T08:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, I realize I've been a bit on the absent side lately. And yes, I realize that much has been going on in the world of schools. And yes, I probably should be commenting on said events however my life is currently made up of the following tasks: sleeping, eating, parenting, working, and...dissertating. Friends, I have fallen down the rabbit hole that is March. You know, when you realize that spring is springing and holy-crap-there-is-so-much-to-do-before-the-school-year-is-over! Are you all down here at the bottom with me?

Welcome!

Can I just say that I miss blogging? I miss it a LOT. Last year at this time I was blogging every day. Every. Day. (sigh) I miss those days.

But things are a' brewing, my lovely readers. They are a' brewin'. I will keep you posted but in the meantime, know this:

Mrs. Mimi sees a bright light at the end of her dissertative tunnel. And I am walking toward the light, my friends. There is an oral defense on my horizon and then after making you call me Dr. Mimi for maybe a week or so, I'LL BE BACK. Because suddenly, there are going to be more hours in my day.

Thank you for all of your support through this long, grueling and panic attack inducing process.

xo,
Mimi

Bloggers Beware.

2011-02-17T10:58:00.000-08:00

Dear fellow teacher bloggers,

First of all, high fives all around for sharing your experiences, your struggles and your voices. Too often teachers are seen and not heard, so I commend you for dusting off the old soap box and telling it like it is.

Howeverrrrrr......

(ahem)

A word of caution when blogging about one's classroom:

Don't be an idiot.

(Was that too blunt?)

You know me. I'm not exactly one to be gentle with my words. Unless I'm talking to little friends, and then, somehow, I am able to sugar coat. Occasionally.

Regardless, when you decide to blog about your life as a teacher, you need to be responsible. That means no blogging about the kiddos in ways that are negative, offensive or revealing!!! No using names or other identifiable features of anyone you work with. (Bonus- coming up with nicknames can be amaze balls. Um, "The Weave?" Best. Nickname. Ever.) Why am I writing about this today?

Funny you should ask...

I was checking my email and saw something from my uncle who pointed me in the direction of a new teacher blog. As I was on Mommy Duty, I added checking out this blog to my List of Things To Do During Nap Time (a list that is offensive in length, by the way). Later, during nap time, I checked my email once again only to receive a link to this article which describes how the very same blogger my uncle told me about has been suspended for making inappropriate comments about her students.

In one entry, she writes, “My students are out of control. They are rude, disengaged, lazy whiners. They curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about everything, fancy themselves entitled to whatever they desire, and are just generally annoying.”

Oh my.

While this this woman may have had a bad day, this was a baaaaad idea. Sister friend, there are just some things you need to keep between you and your cocktail. I know we all have rough days where we don't see the point of working so hard or we feel like everyone, including our students, is working against us, HOWEVER, that does not mean that, as teachers, we should go on record and in print bashing our students. We have a responsibility to protect our students and, in my opinion, be their advocates and champions. It is our job to find something to love about them, find their strength and encourage their success.

Calling your colleagues lazy, whiny and annoying? Probably not the best idea although (cough cough) I've been known to do that in the past (WITH NICK NAMES!). Calling your students lazy, whiny and annoying? Uh, no. Just no.

When we, as teachers, speak our truth through our blogs, we are adding our voices to the conversation. It is a wonderful thing and can be a powerful tool to share ideas, frustrations, opinions and resources. HOWEVER, we need to be guardians of that voice (and our children). There are too many haters out there just LOOKING for a reason to point a finger, fire our asses or call us incompetent. This is a volatile time in education, we don't need to go looking for trouble, my friends.

xo,
Mimi

Save the Date - World Read Aloud Day!!!!!!

2011-02-09T08:15:00.000-08:00

Oh, friends! It's like a holiday created for all us nerdy nerds who love to dork out with a fab picture book. Talk about Christmas in March, right?

World Read Aloud Day is March 9th

So grab your favorite pen and mark it on your calendars!! I'm reaching for my Sharpie as we speak, because there is no way I'm erasing this puppy!

For the next month, in addition to bringing you all sorts of fabulousness about life in the world of education, Mrs. Mimi will be bringing you all kinds of World Read Aloud day related goodness. So check the blog, check Twitter, check Facey and get your game faces on!

It's go time!

For more about World Read Aloud Day, check out LitWorld's website.

The Cow Says Moo...

2011-01-30T08:38:00.000-08:00

(Disclaimer for the lovely male readers of this blog: While I know that I routinely refer to high heels, I try to make this blog for all teachers, not just us fabulous lady teachers. However, today's post is a bit personal, a bit lady-centric and a bit...well, it's about pumping. So, read on or check back tomorrow...thanks for reading! The world needs more fab male teachers!!)

I know I've been on this personal blogging kick lately where it's all about me, but I promise you, I am not turning into a mommy blogger. Not that there's anything wrong with mommy blogging - I read a few myself - but I will forever be a teacher blogger. After I get this off my chest.

For a profession filled, BRIMMING really, with women, why does finding the time and place to pump feel like I'm trying to climb Mount Everest with nothing but a guide book and my best smile? Other people have offices with doors that lock or lovely bathrooms with plugs or, in the fanciest of family friendly work places, whole ROOMS dedicated to pumping related needs.

It is the stuff of a new mom's dreams.

And not only do I have to figure this out once, I have to figure it out in every. single. school. That means having the semi-uncomfortable conversation over and over and over.

Me: So, I have a seven month old baby at home and... (indicating pump with a brief but casual nod)
Them: Yes?
Me: I need toooo....(more forceful glance at my Medela-desperately-trying-to-masquerade-as-a-handbag-but-really-is-fooling-no-one)
Them: (kind smile)
Me: If you have a bathroom with a plug, I need to...
Them: Yes?
Me: Pump. I need to pump my breasts.

Okay, so maybe I leave off that last part, but MAN! AWK-WARD!

And while every administrator has been extremely accommodating and lovely, I feel like this conversation presents a new problem for them to solve. How is this possible with so many women? I can't be the only educator to pump.

(It's like at my old school - when someone would need maternity coverage. There was no plan in place and every pregnancy seemed to be treated as if it was this new and unexpected obstacle in a building filled with women in their late twenties and early thirties.)

I have found myself in many an interesting place trying to balance a pump, bottles, my lady parts and all the other necessary accoutrement in between rushing to classrooms.

Cut to me in a supply closet pumping by the light of the microwave oven.

Or to me pumping in the copy room, squatting next to the photo copier because the only available outlet is behind said copier and the cord on my pump will only reach so far all while praying that the chair I wedged underneath the doorknob with no lock will stall any individual with copying needs long enough for me to put it all away.

Or to me running out to my car, hoping against hope that the windows are tinted enough to protect the innocent eyes of any little friends arriving late to school.

Teachers and mommies. We are rockstars.

Transitions...No, Not the Lenses

2011-01-29T07:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I wrote about my work putting together classroom libraries. And many of you wrote saying things such as, "Seriously, woman, what the heck are you doing these days??" Perhaps not in those words, but I hear you loud and clear. I have been a bit vague on that front.

I'm vague because it's hard.

I find change to be difficult. Overwhelming. Holy-shit-I-have-to-make-a-list-right-now-before-I-have-a-full-blown-panic-attack hard. Okay, maybe not change itself, but the transition part that comes in between. That is what sends me into a tizzy. (Can you tell I'm desperately trying to clean up my language? A resolution I may soon abandon.)

I wrote about leaving the classroom and how devastating it was to realize that I wouldn't have a group of friends smiling at me every morning and really, without that, a huge chunk of who I am felt like it was just gone. (And for what it's worth, I received an overwhelming amount of support from all of you that I can never thank you enough for.)

Last year I threw myself into finishing my dissertation, writing, staying up to date on education news and ripping it to shreds on the blog, thinking about what the heck I was going to do next and, oh right. And having a baby.

So. Many. Transitions.

Right before Mini Mimi came along, I was given the fabulous opportunity to work with an amazing group of people as a literacy consultant. I get to think about curriculum, see a million different classrooms, build relationships with teachers who are excited about growing, work with children who are excited about their learning and think with a group of women who I have grown to admire and aspire to.

Pretty sweet, right?

But, oh! The transitioning! Learning how to balance being a mommy, figuring out a new job, finishing up the old dissertation (yes, it is still lurking), finding time to blog, and every once in a while have time for myself or Mr. Mimi has rocked my high heeled wearing self to my very core.

So much re-prioritizing, so much transitioning, so much list making.

I am feeling much more like myself these days. (Um, only took me what? FIVE MONTHS to get my shit together?) But there are always days when I feel so scattered and pulled in a million directions that I'd like to take Mini Mimi and just lay down.

Now it's less about transitioning into a set of new roles and more about transitioning from role to role during the course of a week. Leaving Mini Mimi to go to a school makes me feel physically ill. Like someone cut my leg off or something. I spend the entire drive trying to talk myself off the ledge and psych myself up for the day - because if I'm going to be away from her, I've got to make it count, right?

Then I get to the school, jump in and find myself actively thinking how lucky I am. I love my work. It's challenging, yes (Cut to me putting Band Aids on my ten ho-jillion paper cuts after endlessly dotting book after book after book...I know, I'm still trying to get over it). But I am so engaged in my work that when it's time to go, I find the transition just as difficult. I spend the drive home with my mind racing about next steps, what I need to get done after bedtime and trying to transition back into being mommy.

And yesterday, I realized. It's not all the change. It's the transition that's hard. The in between time when I have to leave one thing I leave to dive in with something else that I love but feels so very different and comes with a whole new set of demands and challenges.

Are all you parents out there just shaking your heads and thinking, "We told you this would happen?"

Anyway, thanks for letting me vent. Time to take off my Mrs. Mimi hat and put on my mommy hat.

(Again, what's with me and the hat references?)

Let's try this - off to take off Mrs. Mimi's fabulous heels and rock my mommy flats. (Yea, I said flats. I know, change is hard.)

Blood, Sweat, Tears and Many, Many, MANY Dots

2011-01-28T07:51:00.000-08:00

Of all the non-teachers in my life, Mr. Mimi really does seem to understand the life of a teacher as well as any non-teacher can. The ups! The downs! The rants, the raves, the late nights, the so not 8-3 and summers off life that we live as teachers. I really believe that spouses of teachers....wait supportive spouses of teachers deserve a trophy, a medal, some sort of bonus - anything for being the sounding boards that they are. Seriously, Mr. Mimi is a troooooooper.

And then this happened:

Me: Ugh!
Him: (continues to read his email)
Me: UGH!
Him: (still reading email)
Me: (clearing throat to maximize volume) UGGGGHHHHH!
Him: Something wrong?
Me: Oh, what? With me? Where did you get that?
Him: Seriously?
Me: Well, since you asked. I am exhausted! I have spent the last few days trapped in a room putting together classroom libraries.
Him: You love books.
Me: Yeah, but...I mean, this is intense! Box after box after box...and they all have to be checked in, leveled, labeled, sorted...it's insane!
Him: You love organizing.
Me: True. But this was A LOT even for me.
Him: You almost have a doctorate and find putting dots on a bunch of books challenging?
Me: Wait, I'm not sure you understand. We're talking about at least a thousand books. Every single book has to get a dot, every single dot needs to have a piece of packing tape put over it so the kids don't pick it off. Every. Single. Book. Do you see my fingers? I have literally bled all over that room!
Him: It still doesn't sound like a hard day...
Me: We need to stop talking now.

People can sympathize with the behavioral issues. They can sympathize with the hours of grading papers. They can try and understand how unappreciated teachers are. They can feel for our early wake up times. They can.

But I don't think any non-teacher will truly understand how much time and energy teachers spend organizing, cleaning, lifting, moving, hanging, stapling, taping, cutting, running, bending, wiping and basically doing anything and everything that needs to be done. Whether it feels professional, in our job description or even clean. We just roll up our sleeves and get it done.

So, to all my teacher peeps who are not only killing it every day in front of their friends and then doing more behind the scenes work than a group of four eager interns who are literally working for their next meal, I take my hat off to you.

Although I don't really do hats...

Can I salute you with a fabulous high heel?

We're All Winners...

2011-01-23T16:47:00.000-08:00

...I mean, look at all this brilliant cocktail party small talk!

If you don't know of what I speak, you should probably be reading the blog more regularly. (Oh, no she di-n't!) (Oh, yes she did!) Last week, I reviewed a killer book annnndddd because the peeps over at Little Pickle Press are amazing, I was able to give a book away to one of my fabulous readers!

But, really? Even if you aren't the big winner, I think we can all consider ourselves winners because of the heaps of deliciously random information you all generously shared in the comments section.

Seriously, you need to get yourself a glass of something interesting and snuggle up with these comments. If you're having one of those weeks, Mrs. Mimi's got your back. Here are a few highlights, some of my faves, in no particular order:

* Did you know that wombat poop is shaped like a cube? (You know I had to go with a bodily function-related one, right?)

* It has been said that when you die, your hair will still continue to grow for a couple of months. (This one totally creeped me out and made me want to get a hair cut all at the same time...)

* The cleft between your nose and top lip is called a philtrum. (I love odd words that have the potential to make people blush because they sound a little naughty.)

* Goose poop every six minutes. ('Nuff said. You will be the life of the party.)

* Caterpillar poo is called "frass". (Many poop related fun facts...it's like you guys know me or something.)

* A blue whale's heart is the size of a Volkswagon bug.

* Baby puffins learn how to fly by throwing themselves off of a cliff over the ocean. If they fly, great. If not, they just plunge into the ocean, swim back to shore, and try again later. (And I have had friends who are afraid to try a new vegetable. They would make terrible puffins.)

So you see, we have all won some brilliant cocktail party conversation stoppers. Yay, us!

However, if you are iteachthereforeiam, CONGRATULATIONS! You entered random comment #36 which was the lucky number pulled up on the random number generator! (I've been trying to link the stupid image of the random number thingy for the last ten minutes with no success, so you're just going to have to trust me, dear readers!)

iteachthereforeiam, please email me (itsnotallflowersandsausages (at) gmail (dot) com) your information so we can send that book out asap!

Drinks all around!

What Do Cocktails, Brain Power and a Give Away All Have In Common?

2011-01-17T08:05:00.000-08:00

Being an elementary school teacher means having a lot of random knowledge about fairly odd topics. Topics that most adults know little to nothing about, since they haven't really thought about these topics since, well....since they were in elementary school. In other words, teachers make for pretty rad guests at a cocktail party - we are small talk machines!

Scene - A holiday cocktail party. A fire is lit, drinks are flowing and, natch, I have on fabulous heels.
Me: Did I hear you all mention the beautiful snowfall we just had? Well, funny thing about snowflakes...

(10 minutes later. Same party.)
Me: Did you say you're going diving while on vacation? How fun! You know, an octopus is able to camouflage itself to blend in with it's surroundings, so be careful for those!

(10 minutes later. Same party)
Me: What have I been reading lately? Hmmmm....does Mo Willems count? I just finished his Elephant and Piggy series - genius!

Okay, so maybe not the coolest party talk ever. But, if the crowd is a sucker for pee jokes or a good fart story - man, talk about my wheel house! I don't know a teacher who doesn't have a good bodily fluids story on hand at all times.

I was just thinking the same thing! We are a fun bunch.

I don't think we can help it. After teaching about the ocean, or seasonal change or soil for so many years, these facts and ideas become ingrained in our brains and it's almost impossible to hold them in. I guess you have to be a bit of a Nerdy McLikesToReadToLearn to be a teacher.

Speaking of reading to learn....

(Cue the pimping!!)

Little Pickle Press has a fab new non-fiction text for all of you out there who want to refresh those non-fiction libraries, integrate a new book into your teaching repertoire or just expand their cocktail party conversation.

It's Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak of The Deak Group. I checked out an advanced copy of this puppy and really enjoyed it.

In a nutshell, it teaches children that their brains control what they think, do, feel and remember. Not only does the book diagram and explain various parts of the brain, it encourages children to be brave, practice, learn from their mistakes and make connections. Um, hello, lover!

Obvi, one could integrate this book into a study on the brain, the human body, etc. That's a no-brainer! (Pun SO intended.) However, I think teachers could also use portions of this text to discuss the importance of being comfortable with making mistakes in school, practicing a difficult skill to improve or being brave enough to try something that feels scary at first. All very important lessons and this book could absolutely be a great conversation starter.

Get ready for a give away!!!

(drum roll, please)

Little Pickle Press is giving Mrs. Mimi a copy of Your Fantastic Elastic Brain to give away to a lucky reader! Cha-ching, people, cha-ching. Sooooo....here's how to enter to win a copy:

* In the comments section, post the most random fact you know (and sometimes bring out at cocktail parties) as a result of your time in the classroom.
** I'll use a random number generator (fair is fair) to pick the winner!
***You have until Friday, January 21st to enter! I'll announce the winner on Monday, January 24th.
****Be random!

If you simply can't wait for the contest winner to be announced, head over to the Little Pickle Press Book Store and enter code BBTMIMI for 25% off this book. (Can I get a high five, or what?)

And, if you want to double down, click over to the Little Pickle Press Blog to enter to win a whole bag of amazing books for your classroom. Fab titles, my friends, fab titles.

Scene - a cocktail party. Again, the heels are amaze balls.

Me: Speaking of headaches, do you know where your amygdala is? 'Cuz I do.

Life of the party people, life of the party.

Perhaps We've Confused "Innovation" With "Insanity"

2011-01-11T18:17:00.000-08:00

When I saw this item in the paper this morning, I thought it was a joke. A tongue in cheek commentary on education innovation. And then I had another sip of my coffee and realized this is no joke...some (Pardon me.) ass clown (He may be a lovely person, but c'mon!!!) thought it was a great idea to stick 60 small children in one classroom with four teachers.

I mean, WHAT?! Not only does the idea of 60 first graders running rampant in a 2,000 square foot classroom make me want to poke myself in the eye, it kind of makes me angry. Because OF COURSE this "little experiment" is taking place in a low-income neighborhood with a high population of children with physical, emotional and learning issues. OF COURSE IT IS. You know, because those are totally the kids who have a year or two to spare in their learning.

Again, WHAT?!

I think this little friend, who was quoted in the article, summed it up best when she said, "We don't know what we are supposed to be doing, but we are learning about math." Girlfriend doesn't know what to do because her poor teacher is running around like a chicken with it's head cut off just trying to keep order, much less do any actual instructing. Do you just want to run to this school, scoop this child up and teach her how to tell time?? (And maybe hand the teacher a big old drink?)

What is the logic behind this insanity?

Evidently, Mr. Waronker (I'm envisioning suit guy with a power tie...maybe a clip board...) says his "inspiration" (How can I NOT put it in air quotes?) was an elite boarding high school in New Hampshire where students work collaboratively in small classes.

Um, how did we get from an elite group of high school students working in small groups to a whole shitload of primary grade children in a high poverty neighborhood running around all Lord of the Flies style?

I imagine this is how the conversation went:

Mr W: I'm feeling innovative today. This tie really brings out my innovative side.
Some other guy: What are you thinking?
Mr. W.: Well, I'm thinking why listen to all the research on small class size? Why consider the effectiveness of small group instruction that is differentiated to meet a student's needs? Why worry about the sanity or potential efficacy of teachers?
Some other guy: I'm listening....
Mr. W: Okay, okay, I'm just spit balling here, but if small collaborative groups work in elite private high schools, then why wouldn't it work if we put like 100 kindergarten children from a high poverty neighborhood in one room with four teachers?
Some other guy: Make it 60 kids and I think you've got yourself an innovation!
(high fiving)

Notice a teacher was not present in my imaginary conversation.

Mr. Waronker believes that this style of education values "student independence over teacher-led lessons, inquiry over memorization, freedom and self-expression." But really, who knows if they are expressing themselves? Who knows if they are active inquirers? Who knows if some of them are in the bathroom? HOW ARE TEACHERS SUPPOSED TO KEEP TRACK OF ANYTHING?!

And I know there are four teachers which yields a ratio of 15:1 which is smaller than almost every city classroom but (and it's a big BUT) I'm not sure this is even a valid argument when they are ALL IN THE SAME ROOM.

Another facet of this innovation, according to Mr. Waronker, is the idea is that teachers and students will collaborate. He feels that having teachers' struggles out in the open allows their colleagues in the same room to offer advice. (Pssssstttt....we do that anyway, even when we're NOT in the same room with a ba-jillion little people milling about.) And really? Does he really think that the other teachers have a spare second to take their eyes off the chaos that is happening in front of them? From the 60 5-year olds trying to quickly and quietly transition to another part of their gigantic classroom turned circus. If they can hear one another over all the screaming and penny shaking that is.

Get this little gem from the article. "Eight weeks into the year, the only student work visible on the blue-painted walls was a poster with finger-painted hand prints and the words "Hands Are Not for Hitting." Ah, yes, feel the learning, people. Feel the joy and celebration of student success. Feel the sarcasm, dripping from these words.

The reporter says that there have been some improvements since September. For example, one student chose to play with pencils rather than do his work but at least this time he was in his seat. Are we thinking hooray for small victories or holy shit, it's January and this is what we're calling progress????

I want to hug those teachers. And those kids. And then I want to build them some walls.

With My Hand Over My Heart...Today, I Will Judge

2010-12-31T11:00:00.001-08:00

Well, friends, it's that time of year again. The time to make false promises to ourselves that this year, we will leave our classrooms early to get to the gym.This year we will be totally on top of all our paperwork. This year we will greet our little friends with a smile and a positive attitude every day. Yes, I said every day...even those days when you accidentally leave your coffee untouched on the kitchen counter and must forge on sans caffeine. I mean, talk about a resolution!

My infamous resolution is to "be more positive in (insert year here)." So far it's been negativity 4, Mrs. Mimi 0, but who's counting?

What can I say? A solid dose of negativity combined with a dash of snarky is the way of my people. That and an unreal love of all things cheese. My sister and I try to be better people. We raise our hands to our hearts and pledge, "today, I will not judge.". Again, so far we've only got the pledging part down, but baby steps, my peeps, baby steps.

However, this year THIS YEAR, Mrs. Mimi is feeling a little crazy. I'm all, "Let's mix it up this year, eh?".

Friends, today I will judge.

Ta dah! Quite the resolution, no?

I am going to judge what is best for teachers and, ultimately, what is best for children. Because, in my humble albeit outspoken and in your face opinion, what nurtures the souls and minds of gifted teachers will nurture the souls and minds of children. It's not all about the kids and it's not all about the teachers. It's all about the culture of the school and relationships.

I am going to judge others when they make remarks about my job as they awkwardly straighten their ties, realizing that they have no business speaking with their lack of classroom experience but refusing to keep their mouths shut all the same.

I am going to judge the new-fangled snap-your-fingers-and-everyone-learns approach to teaching. If it dumbs down my work, it's a no go. If it makes me feel like I'm a trained seal? That's a no too. And if it makes learning about as interesting as watching paint dry, I'm going to have to pass on that too.

Finally, I'm going to judge teachers. Who is rocking it in their classrooms and who is just getting by? Who is bringing us down with their "but my contract says" and their refusal to work hard (and therefore should be ashamed of themselves)? And who could use a helping hand because this work is balls out HARD?

So, welcome to the judgement zone, my lovely readers. Somehow, I think this is going to be a banner year for resolutions....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Mother-effing blogs on a mother-effing plane! (Sorry, I had to.)

When Is This Horse Going To Die?

2010-12-27T07:30:00.001-08:00

...because, honestly? Aren't we all sick of beating it?

But before we get started here...Yes, I know I've been gone fo-eva, I know I should probably explain myself and I know I owe many of you an apology. All of this is coming, friends, but Mrs. Mimi has to deal with this pesky piece-of-shit fly first.

What is so major that it snapped me out of my funk? Got me to dust off the old soap box? Shine up the fabulous boots for a little butt kicking?

Using student standardized test scores to evaluate, judge, compensate and, yes, sometimes publicly humiliate teachers, that's what.

I mean, what the deuce, Powers That Be? Why won't you let this one go?

A Super Colleague sent me a link to a piece in the NY Times this morning. After reading just the first few opening sentences, I could feel my old blog finger twitching. (For those of you who are non-bloggers, that's similar to a trigger finger, but with a lot less ammo and a lot more snarky.)

Here's the link. Take a moment. Soak in the ridiculous. I'll still be here fuming when you finish.

Why do city officials insist on using standardized test scores for EVERYTHING?! Is it because reducing something SO COMPLEX such as teacher effectiveness to a bunch of numbers feels easier, faster, neater? More science-y and fitting with your power ties, expensive lunches and big charts with graphs?

I guess from where city officials are standing (hint: it's not in a school), abusing standardized test data is the new rage in excessive back patting.

Why shouldn't we use said data to evaluate their job performance and determine their pay? Oh, because they can't be held directly responsible for something that depends on such a wide variety of factors?

Well then, NEITHER SHOULD TEACHERS.

I feel like it goes without saying, but I will say it again because that is the way of my people. The score a student receives on a test is not just a measure of his teacher's ability to teach. It is also a reflection of his parents, his entire school, the neighborhood he lives in, if he ate a decent breakfast and if he speaks proficient English. It's complicated, can we just agree on that?

And then did you read the part about how really these scores might
say something about the top 10 percent and the bottom 10 percent but really tell us next to nothing about the remaining 80 percent of teachers. Do I even need to throw in the reality that many teachers don't even test a subject or grade level that is tested?!

May I take a moment to make it very clear that my last statement was in no way an invitation to create another battery of tests. I know, I got the Powers That Be all worked up for a second there. Perhaps they need a cold, number free shower or something.

Let's just boil it down to this.

Stop saying that you respect teachers, that you think we have a difficult job, that you think we are so important to the future and then simultaneously reduce our jobs to a series of numbers and scores that are largely irrelevant and, in many ways, out of our control. Stop pointing fingers, trying to publicly humiliate us and pin the blame for failing schools on us alone and then wonder why the best and brightest don't jump at the chance to have a career in teaching.

Just stop.

The horse is dead. Put down your stick and walk away.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I Am A Teacher, Hear Me Roar?

2010-11-26T08:30:00.001-08:00

Alternative title: Where My Balls At?

I know, somewhere Big Mama Mimi is reading that last line, shaking her head and wondering where it all went wrong. Sorry, mom! But hey, sometimes a girl's gotta say what a girl's gotta say.

Let me get to the point. You all know how I'm not afraid to say that there really are some plain old sucky teachers out there, right? I mean, it's true. (Granted, there are many of us out there who rock endlessly and yet the media loves to look the other way unless we are clad entirely in leather, essentially living in our classrooms and come with our hip hop soundtrack that magically follows us everywhere.). If you are a regular reader of the old Blog, you may also know that I often wonder whether these not-so-hot teachers blew when they first started their careers. Have they always sucked eggs or where they broken down by a system that constantly puts their needs and expertise at the bottom? Have their voices been silenced and their skills sabotaged by years of being told what to do, when to do it and how they will be punished if they do not follow through?

I don't know. Maybe it's a little bit of both. I know I spent nine years in a school where I learned a tremendous amount and was able to truly improve my practice. But there also came a time at this same school where I grew sick of the drama, the "speak when spoken to," the disregard of my knowledge. (And just like that, a snarky blog was born!)

Let me get to the point. I think education today is a dangerous business. It is easy to get wrapped up in the whole top-down hierarchy thing that seems to be our situation du jour. And it is even easier to lose your sense of self, what attracted you to the classroom in the first place, and your confidence in your own abilities and knowledge.

I know this is true for at least some of us, because it happened to me. Yes, Mrs. Mimi, she who is unafraid of saying pretty much anything, sometimes loses her mojo.

I have been a bit vague as to exactly what it is I do in classrooms these days. I am lucky enough to work for a visionary company that provides professional development to teachers. I am learning so much about the teaching of reading and writing, about how to work with adults (we can be difficult) and about myself as an educator.

Recently, I came to a sad realization about myself that made my super hero cape sag and shook my confidence. I had a particular plan for a school, knew it would work for teachers and believed in the process we were about to engage in together. But when that plan was questioned, I caved. Did what I was told. Lost my voice.

Nobody involved had bad intentions for teachers. The sad part isn't that my plan was questioned, or even that it was altered- the sad part was how quickly I lost confidence in my own knowledge, how I forgot to present my side, that I forgot about what I believe in if only for a moment.

Teaching can be brutal. I think that I am still recovering from some of my past experiences and still trying to find the voice that is so easily expressed here, but sometimes gets lost in the chaos.

So....I am now on a personal quest to build myself back up. To stop apologizing and to start trusting my teacher instincts again. Do I smell a New Year's Resolution in the making??

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Size Matters.

2010-11-18T16:23:00.000-08:00

Ladies, am I right??

Okay, you dirty birds, Mrs. Mimi is talking about CLASS size not...well...sizes of other things. Ahem. Yes, class size. We'll just go with that, shall we?

So word on the street is that Secretary I've-Never-Taught-Before-And-Therefore-Don't-Know-My-Class-Size-From-My-Elbow Duncan is suggesting that schools make some "hard choices" in these "difficult economic times." I guess he's just realizing that tax dollars don't grow on trees and OF COURSE when you need to cut back on something, education is the first place you should look. I mean, duh! It's only our future generation, right?

Basically, The Dunks thinks that rather than cut art and music or other things that "directly impact the classroom," schools should opt to make "targeted increases" in class size. (You guys, he even said that he would be willing to send his hypothetical children to a class of 26 children if there was an excellent teacher in place...I mean, if that's not an endorsement...) A few problems with his line of thinking:

(My soapbox, please!)

1. Um, Mr. Duncan? Mr. Secretary of EDUCATION? When was the last time you were actually IN a classroom? Because, guess what? No, go ahead. Guess. No ideas? Well, my friend, it's just that many schools ALREADY have class sizes of 25 and 26. Are you imagining the jump to 30 students as being no big deal? That means a teacher gets to spend less than 15 minutes with each child.

2. What makes Duncan think that increasing class size is a decision that has no direct impact on the classroom? I can't think of many other things that have a BIGGER impact on the classroom. Um, logic much?

3. Oh, and I guess being a Power That Be means possessing the magical ability to ignore massive amounts of data supporting small class size. Are book burnings back in style? Is data burning all the rage?

The Dunks also goes on to say that school districts should rethink pay scales that give teachers additional pay for advanced degrees. Instead, he suggests that the most effective teachers should be paid between $80,000 and $125,000 a year. Now. Not that I don't agree that the Rock Stars of Education should be paid some serious Benjamins, HOWEVER, where is this imaginary money going to come from if we have to make "tough decisions" such as increasing class size because we are in tough economic times. Again, my friend, you are not making the sense. But I guess when you are in charge, you don't have to.

Note: Due to lack of sleep and the reality that I can't put enormous amounts of bullsh*t out into the universe and just expect people to swallow it like some people I know, my fingers are crossed that this post is coherent.

Remember Me?

2010-11-18T15:47:00.000-08:00

Annnnnnnnd I'm back. For now.

My peeps, I apologize for my absence. Basically, Mrs. Mimi is drowning with a capital Not Enough Sleep. I have been dissertation station every spare second of every day and, you know, working in classrooms, taking care of my Mini Mimi, writing articles for various other websites, holiday shopping and generally pulling my hair out the rest of the time.

Um, balance much?

So, no. I'm not so good with the whole keeping my responsibilities down to a minimum thing. I think it's the Teacher Gene. We love to pile things on that plate. But hey, at least I'M in control of my own plate...because we all know that there are plenty of OTHER PEOPLE (Powers That Be, we're looking at YOU) who LOVE to get their pile on.

I'm thinking about doing NaBloPoMo for December. Which, for you non-blog-geeks, means posting every day in the month of December.

Shut the front door! I KNOW! It's like all or nothing with me, but I figure if I don't go balls out, I may never post at all.

Thoughts?

Change.

2010-11-04T10:58:00.000-07:00

So, all of you out there who are sick of hearing phrases such as the following:

"Teachers are resistant to change."
"Teachers are refusing to change because they don't want to have to work any harder."
"We're trying to change the schools, but the teachers don't want to change."

please put your hands up in the air.

Now wave them like you just don't care.

Except, contrary to this popular belief, we do care.

Change is hard. For everyone. Last week I was on the phone with Mini Mimi's pediatrician and the nurse who answered was clearly having a hard time adapting to the change in their phone system. When I stopped by one of my favorite restaurants to pick up a falafel (I HEART me some chickpeas), the person ringing me up complained about the change in registers. And when I was at the hospital five months ago having Mini Mimi? Guess what? You got it! The nurses were complaining about the change in diapers.

Did you see these individuals on the news being blamed for the failure of their respective businesses? Probably not. I'm sure the nurse was given adequate time to figure out the phones, the lady at the falafel place was given adequate support from her co-workers as she mastered the new register and the nurses? Well, I bet someone actually listened to them because I hear they are now using different diapers.

Do you see where I'm going with this, friends?

Personally, I don't think teachers are resistant to change because we are hell bent on making sure schools fail, because, hey, who cares, we get summers off and oh by the way we need to walk out the door at 3. I think some teachers are resistant to change because they know that in twenty minutes or two weeks or two months or two years it's all going to CHANGE AGAIN. And again. And again. And one more time just for ha has and/or to possibly mess with our heads. The Powers That Be can be crazy like that.

An example.

In my first year of teaching we used a scripted reading program, a games based math program, no particular writing curriculum and kind of made up science and social studies as we pleased. (I know, it's probably OUR FAULT that no writing curriculum was purchased at the district or school level and that science and social studies were basically an after thought. THAT'S why we spent so much time after school trying desperately to fill those gaps...)

In my second year of teaching, we used a balanced literacy approach to reading and writing, began a brand new word study program and implemented a totally new math curriculum. Oh, and then the standards changed and we had to re-write all our science and social studies lessons.

In my third year of teaching, we actually kept the same reading, writing and math curricula but, don't you worry! No stability here, folks! We totally changed word study programs and (you know it!) the science and social studies scope and sequence went through another overhaul which meant more time writing new units.

In my fourth year of teaching, we adopted yet another word study program (third times a charm?), instituted a battery of new tests and began to work in committees.

In my fifth year of teaching, things stayed the same. I got a taste of what it felt like to reflect upon the previous year and to thoughtfully improve my instruction. I began to experience what it was like to push myself professionally, to feel confident which in turn pushed me to work even harder. I started to....

Oh wait. Then I was asked to switch grade levels. Sorry professional upswing, time to start over!

On some level, because I am a sick and twisted individual who thrives on things moving at warp speed, I felt like I learned a lot by being exposed to so many different curricula, programs and philosophies. But my teaching? Well, that kept getting the rug pulled out from under it. I was left to feel like I was constantly treading water, waiting to drown at any moment. Let me just say that feeling like you are drowning does not do wonders for your professional confidence.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Does this woman ever stop complaining? Doesn't she ever speak up and advocate for herself or her students?"

In fact, yes. Yes I did. Yes I DO. But, with very few people other than my fellow Super Colleagues listening and supporting me, speaking up was a bit like pissing into the wind.
(Yes, I went there.)

Maybe if I had been listened to. Maybe if I had been given the chance to achieve some sort of balance. Maybe if I had been asked what I think, what I need, what is working. Maybe if someone realized that constant change isn't always a good thing and that perhaps by following every single trend that comes along, we've in fact crippled teachers, made them unable to adapt or see the value in changes that are made to their practice without their consideration.

Maybe sometimes change IS bad. And maybe, just maybe, sometimes it's NOT the teacher's fault.

My Plate Runneth Over

2010-10-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

If I could propose a buzzword du jour, I think it would be "balance."

I suck at balance.

I think I suck at balance because I have the chronic problem of trying to balance too many things at once. Which, now that I think about it, becomes a much larger (and much more delicate) balance between me and The Edge. Lately, I feel a bit like I'm staring over said Edge...I'm basically holding on by my fabulous heels. (Yes, Mommy Mimi is back in her heels and LOVING IT!)

As teachers, we have So. Much. To. Balance. (Secretly, I think we'd all be really good at juggling plates or flaming batons...comes with the territory.) We have to balance what we've learned in our latest professional development with what we think (and know) works for our friends. We have to balance what we are passionate about with what is mandated. We have to balance bathroom breaks with learning time. We have to balance our desire to stop and look at a topic deeply and the constant administrative drive to move on, move on, cover everything, don't stop, don't pass go and (for the love of God) DON'T collect $200, are you crazy? Teachers are overpaid and get summers off!

See? That last bit? That little sarcastic rant? It's those moments when I think The Edge just may be winning.

In Mrs. Mimi's world, the compulsion to pile things onto my proverbial plate bleeds into my personal life as well. Actually, if I'm honest with you (which I always am, my lovely readers), I think I function better when I have a lot going on. When my plate gets too empty, suddenly I find myself in front of the TV watching hours of Golden Girls re-runs and wondering where my afternoon went. Again, though, it's all about balance. How much can I pile on so that I stay productive and don't tip the scales over to Crazed Whirlwind of Activity Yet Actually Finish Nothing Town. That place blows.

I'm currently working with teachers. I heart me some teachers. And I'm watching these teachers struggle with balance as well (which is what leads me to think it's one of our occupational hazards). I'm trying to help them balance new, purposeful strategies for teaching with what they feel comfortable doing in their classrooms. And I'm seeing them trying to balance new ideas that they are excited about with how much change they realistically think they can handle.

Friends, I think I have had a revelation.

The more we push on teachers, asking them to reshuffle their already very delicate balance, the more resistant teachers are going to become. And can you blame them? Forget about having a healthy work-life balance...most teachers are just trying to balance the demands of their work life enough to get through the day without feeling like they just went into battle. Yet instead of respecting that balance, acknowledging that balance, being real about the balance, what happens? More and more and MORE gets put on the teachers plate and then, that finger gets pointed when the teacher fails to achieve the perfect balance. Does it feel like a finger-pointing set up to anyone else?

If we want things to change, and I think all of us do, the first step may be toward acknowledging what a teacher ALREADY HAS on her plate. Then, wouldn't it make much more sense to strategically remove some of those responsibilities before adding on even more? Don't we want teachers to be able to focus their energies and achieve a successful balance? Because right now, it feels like The Powers That Be are just looking for a plate to dump all their problems on.

I don't know about you, but my plate is full. Grab a fork and help me if you want...

Think Carefully Before You Point That Finger

2010-10-24T05:22:00.000-07:00

This whole "let's blame everything on bad teachers" business has really got me steamed. I'm not sure why tearing teachers apart is suddenly a trendy thing to do - personally I think it's one of those trends that is about as stylish and hot as those shirts that changed color with your body heat. Remember those? I think they were called Hypercolor Ts or something ridiculous like that? At the time, some may have thought they were cool, but now...NOW I am hoping those same people are looking back at pictures of their past, shaking their heads and thinking about how LAME that particular trend really was. How it lead them down a road of fashion don'ts. How it was a waste of time and money.

Here's to hoping that all of this finger pointing goes the way of Hypercolor shirts. Years from now, with any luck, the people behind those self-righteous digits will be thinking back on their past, shaking their heads and thinking about how LAME this particular trend really was. How it lead our schools down a road of overly standardized don'ts. How it was a waste of time and money.

Friends, my point is (Yes, I have one.) that sometimes doing what is trendy is nothing but a waste of time. I liken our schools to the closets of individuals who have fallen victim to too many passing trends. Disorganized, costly and with no true focus.

But hey, let's totally blame the teachers for all that mess. You know, since they have so much say over what they do in their classrooms...

What a minute.

May I share a little story with you? A story about what I see when I am in classrooms? A story about what is actually going on in our schools despite all of the finger pointing, all of the negativity, all of the buzzwords that never seem to really go anywhere?

I recently spent time with an early childhood teacher. She is a veteran teacher who has been working with the small fries for many years. Her classroom is adorable. I sat down to read to the group and immediately noticed how wonderfully they were all sitting on the carpet. Except for one friend. This one friend would call out comments about the book despite all of her classmates modeling quiet listening behavior. She threw her body around the rug, taking out several similarly small fries in the process. I watched as these other students simply dusted themselves off, smiled and continued to listen. As I continued to read (Mrs. Mimi is determined. Must. Read. Out. Loud.), this friend ran over to her teacher's desk, grabbing a handful of stickers. When the stickers were taken away, she grabbed at a nearby chart. When the chart was taken away, she went for a marker. I think you get my point.

Girlfriend was beyond disruptive. But instead of appearing to be malicious in her movements, this little girl truly seemed to have no control.

After my read aloud (which still managed to ROCK, thank you very much), I sat with the teacher. She was honest with me regarding her struggles with this particular student. She told me how frustrated she felt at times. She told me how difficult it was to help this girl to understand how to keep her hands to herself.

And then she told me how bright this little girl is. How much she craves individual attention. How far she's come in just a few short weeks. How she is committed to helping this girl, survivor of the earthquake in Haiti, learn as much as possible.

During our conversation I heard no blame. I heard no excuses. I heard nothing but the honesty of a gifted teacher as she acknowledged the struggle and considered solutions.

So, Powers That Be? Perhaps you should pause, look inside an actual classroom and see what you can see. And then maybe you can put those blame-ridden, trend-loving fingers away and get down to work like the rest of us.

Just Shoot Me

2010-10-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

I think my love of all things Barnsy is pretty well established at this point, don't you? I don't know how many times Mr. Mimi has joined me in my beloved Barnsy, gotten separated from me and found me spread out on the floor with a pile of new picture book titles and a gleam in my eye that says, "I'm gearing up to spend heinous amounts of money on these bad boys" as my debit card begins to vibrate with anticipation.

I also think that I speak openly of my addiction to picture books in general, no? I mean, we're talking about a woman who, in her third trimester, waddled around several public libraries tracking down 100 different titles just so that she could blog about them. And fantasize about reading them out loud to Mini Mimi who is one lucky little cookie because, let's face it, Mommy does a mean read aloud.

I think picture books are amazing. A. MAZ. ING.

What would I do without Birdie's Shoes? or The Paperbag Princess or The Other Side or Oink?! or The Dot or Strega Nona or....

Do I really need to go on?

So you can understand how this article in the New York Times felt like a slap in my Barnsy loving face.

Basically, the article talks about how picture books are collecting dust on the shelves of bookstores as more and more parents push their children to read picture books at an earlier and earlier age. Presumably because they are crazed by test scores and some sort of psychotic need to outdo the neighbors kids. Or whatever.

I will now attempt to restrain myself from running to Barnsey and violently shaking any parent of a child who is incapable of doing little more than word call the words on the page of their look-at-what-my-kid-can-do chapter book. Perhaps for their next trick, said child could jump through a flaming hoop...

Okay. (deep breath) It sounds like I'm hating on chapter books, which I'm totally not. Mrs. Mimi loves her some Pinky and Rex, some Junie B. Jones, some Judy Moody...I know I kind of let my review of children's novels fall by the wayside but that really had more to do with the insatiable need of a new mom to read all things breast feeding and sleep scheduling.

What really has my proverbial panties in a knot is that abandoning picture books in favor of chapter books before your child is ready is LUDACRIS! First of all, I'm not totally convinced that all those small fries out there toting around huge awe-inspiring sized volumes can do more than simply say the words on the page. Meaning, helloooooooo, comprehension? Ever heard of it? It's relatively important to, oh I don't know, reading and all, but whatever.

Second of all, shame on everyone who overlooks the beauty of a picture book. Many of the themes handled in these little gems are very sophisticated, lending themselves to interesting book talk and challenging thoughts. Just because a book has chapters, doesn't necessarily mean that it is more difficult in content or in text than a picture book. Ironically, that sort of limited thinking is called "judging a book by it's cover.".

Third, there is nothing quite like the image of a classroom full of children sitting on the rug, staring open mouthed at their teacher as she reads from an enchanting, wonderful, irreplaceable picture book. Nothing! I think that image is more powerful than a ScanTron sheet full of correctly bubbled bubbles. So for the love of all things literate, stop thinking about those freaking tests for just one second, one picture book lengthed second.

In a nutshell, let children be children and let those children love books, no matter how thick or thin they are.

And The "Can't Dos" Have It

2010-10-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

I am really getting sick of everyone starting off sentences with "Teachers can't...." or "Teachers don't know how to..." Evidently, America's favorite past time has become filling in that blank and preparing their finger for some extensive pointing.

WHEN IS SOMEONE GOING TO REALIZE THAT ALL THIS BLAMING OF THE TEACHERS IS REALLY A BIG SMOKESCREEN ELABORATELY CONSTRUCTED TO AVOID LOOKING DEEPLY AT WHAT IS REALLY WRONG IN SCHOOLS?

Now, Mrs. Mimi has worked with some suckity suck suck teachers as colleagues. I know they are out there. But once I left my former classroom and the rage started to settle, I began to wonder if they all were always that terrible or perhaps (insert glimmer in my eye here) they had been beaten into submission by a system that is broken and hellbent on standardizing us down to how many pencils to sharpen and when. No sharper! More point! You're doing it all wrong!

Teaching is hard. Teaching well is even harder. Combine that with all of the demands that are placed on us (ahem - collecting, recording and interpreting data, writing lessons, planning assemblies, communicating with parents, dealing with fights, social development, social justice, raising test scores, meeting standards, charting standards, filing paperwork, creating portfolios....need I continue?) and all of the fads that are simply dumped in a heap in the middle of our classrooms (oh, I don't know, like Smart boards for one?). Tell me. How do you expect a person who already doesn't have enough hours in the day to magically incorporate new technology into his or her teaching with little to no professional support in said technology?

Or are teachers really getting fancy shmancy new things just so that we can continue to say, "Teachers don't know how to integrate technology."

I wonder. What if we focused on what teachers CAN do. What if we looked at individual teachers' strengths and then held them up as examples and resources to the remainder of the staff. Someone probably rocks the Smart board and could hook their other peeps up with some practical and related knowledge. Someone probably WORKS their data in ways that inform their instruction like you wouldn't believe. That person could probably give the rest of the staff some pointers.

Oh yeah. I'm going there. I'm suggesting that perhaps we utilize the amazing teachers that everyone admits are out there but no one wants to point a finger at unless they are dressed entirely in leather and/or spending 18 out of 24 hours in their classrooms which is totally ridiculous....wait, where was I? Oh yes, USING OUR EXISTING EXCELLENT TEACHERS AS RESOURCES. REAL RESOURCES. And not just resources for raising test scores.

I say to all those finger pointers who have crafted quite the distraction, "Step out from behind the curtain! It's time for the show to be over."

Your hot air balloon and actual progress are waiting.

sigh

2010-10-04T05:43:00.000-07:00

I think it's been a very sad week for education. We began the week with all sorts of excitement over the highly-promoted Education Nation over on NBC. How naive...

I sit here blogging now, thinking back on last Saturday afternoon. I had worked myself into a frenzy of DVR madness as I attempted to record every last minute.

I was ready to soak up all the dialogue.
I was ready to see teachers take a stand.
I was ready to see complicated issues tackled...things like the impact of poverty, standardized testing, RTTT, the common core standards, accountability, teacher evaluations...holding my breath with nerdy anticipation.

I was foolish.

How could I not smell the dog and pony show a mile away?

Then, a lovely reader directed my attention to the absolute ridiculousness that is happening in the LA Times. I mean, how many times can it be said that using test scores to measure the overall effectiveness of a teacher makes about as much sense as tits on a bull? (Pardon the expression, but honestly? At this point, there's no other way to slice it. It's just ridiculous and has to stop.)

No sooner did I step down off my soap box, fresh from my latest rant on the bullsh*t that is publicly humiliating teachers and calling it reform, then I found out that a teacher mentioned in this LA Times assault on teachers committed suicide.

Now, we don't know if this particular gentleman had other problems in his life, however, I am fairly certain that being publicly labeled as "ineffective" did absolutely nothing to help. I am sick over this. Sick. First of all, using test scores alone to label teaching in some of the hardest school districts as "ineffective" without considering any other contextual factors is irresponsible and disgusting. Tell me, HOW does this type of behavior help teachers? Help children? Help anyone but the people trying to sell newspapers?

So ENOUGH with the public shaming of teachers. Hard working teachers are the LAST people who should be ashamed over the state of our public schools. And in this situation, we have NOTHING to be ashamed about. If I see one more finger pointed at us, I'm telling you, I'm going to reach across the internet and Snap. It. Off.

Childrens Book Reading Extravaganza 2010: Picture Book Party #s 6-2

2010-10-01T05:17:00.000-07:00

Are you getting excited??? We are just one post away from PICTURE BOOK NUMBER ONE!! (Hollllaaaaaa!!!!!) Friends, it's been a long ride, but I have loved every minute of reading the Top 100 Picture Books and sharing my strange little thoughts with you. My wallet? Well, let's just say it's recovering.

I can barely contain myself, so let's get started.

Starting us off at #6 this morning is Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, another Caldecott Award winner. I remember Big Mama Mimi reading me this one (and maybe even had it on record too...yes, again, I said I had it "on record"...on vinyl...whatevs. I had it Fisher Price style).

(Click on the images if you want to shop 'til you drop, nerdy style.)

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard decide to make a home on the Charles River in Boston, close to the bread throwing tourists in the Public Gardens. Mrs. Mallard soon has eight ducklings, who she tries to take out on the town. Suddenly the family finds itself in the middle of a busy intersection until Michael, a police officer the Mallards had befriended, rushes to their rescue. The ducks continue on their way (with a police escort of course) down Beacon Street toward the Public Gardens where Mr. Mallard is waiting as promised.

This book is such a classic that it's almost a crime NOT to read it. Despite my whole need-to-make-every-read-aloud-super-purposeful thing, I would suggest this one as a Let's Just Enjoy Reading Together book, or even (gasp - this may be sacrilegious) as a substitute/emergency read aloud. I think our friends in kindergarten and first grade would enjoy this one the most...coming in at a Level L it would also probably make a lovely independent reading book for second grade friends as well.

At #5 is another appearance from my boy, Mo Willems. (I seriously can NOT get enough of his books.) Have you guys ever read this one? Believe it or not, a three year old totally introduced me to it and I have loved it ever since. It's Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

The genius begins with a bus driver asking us to watch the bus for a minute and reminding us to not let the pigeon drive. From there, the pigeon proceeds to make a very convincing argument as to why he SHOULD be allowed to drive the bus. Sounds strange, but in reality, is hilarious. There's rationalizing, begging, yelling...seriously, it's fantastic. Like watching one of your little friends beg you for the extra donut hole after your writing celebration when you know full well that a snowball will sooner have a chance in hell than they will to get that last munchkin but, dammit, they are going to try every trick they have in their back pocket. In the end, the pigeon does not get to drive, the bus driver returns and we see the pigeon move on to fantasizing about driving a big old truck.

I know it doesn't sound all that fabulous when you're reading my meanderings here, but take my word for it, it's pretty great. The illustrations are simple, the text is simple, the story is simple, but put them all together? Fabulous. I can see myself using this with the small fries for pure enjoyment or as a humorous introduction to a (not so successful) piece of persuasive writing.

We have a classic book coming in at #4 which is The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. Another Caldecott winner, y'all.

Although I totally don't get this kid's snowsuit, do you? What's with the pointy hood? Anyhow, this book is about Peter's day out in the snow. He does all the things a kid does in the snow...make snow angels, check out footprints, think about throwing snowballs. He even puts a snowball in his pocket to save, but after his bath, he discovers it melted. He dreams that the sun came out and melted all the snow away but happily discovers in the morning that even more snow has fallen.

Another total classic. I think it works really well with your kindergarten and first grade friends as part of a study on winter. However, if you want to take it up a notch, Ezra Jack Keats is great for a study on author's craft - there are sound effects to check out and the interesting ways that he uses just a few words to stretch out actions we might otherwise breeze by.

Number 3 is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I think by this point, my love for Mr. Carle has been established.

I'm thinking there is no summary necessary with this one. The hungry caterpillar eats a bunch of stuff and turns into a butterfly. The genius comes in the brilliant illustrations. Brilliant. Use this one to spice up a unit on insects with your kindergarten or first grade friends OR (my personal choice) use this one to inspire some really fabulous collage art projects!!

(drum roll please)

In position #2 is Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise. I think Mini Mimi already has five copies of this one, but hey, can't go wrong with a classic, right?

Ah, Goodnight Moon. Shall I recite it to you from memory? Because I have read it EVERY SINGLE NIGHT since my little friend was born. And have loved every single reading. I have always imagined this as a mommy read aloud and less of a classroom read aloud, but you know I'm open to hear how you all have used it in your rooms. Thoughts?

Speaking of Mini Mimi, I think we're off to read some Elephant and Piggie. I seriously have love for those two characters. Is it wrong that I laugh every time I read them and, now that I am familiar with the stories, have taken my read aloud to dramatic new heights? We're talking dramatic pauses, voices, hand gestures...the works.

I hope you can contain yourselves until next week....it's NUMBER ONE, NUMERO UNO....the big cheese.

Try to hold it together.

xo,
Mimi

My Head Hurts...

2010-09-29T10:57:00.000-07:00

I was under the impression that NBC planned on dedicating an entire week to this big Education Nation business, which, you know, made sense that it would be at least a week since there is so much to talk about.

Wait. What?

It seems to have ended yesterday?

There aren't any other scheduled interviews or panels? No other non-teachers to talk to? Brad Pitt wasn't available for comment? The local barista at Starbucks? No?

I was all set for a week's worth of blogging, venting and yelling at my television. I had popcorn and everything.

Fortunately, a lovely reader (Thanks Laura Swain!) dropped this little 'ol bomb on me and bingo! I'm all fired up again.

Evidently the LA Times has taken it upon themselves to do some value added analysis of ten years worth of standardized test scores in order to determine each teacher's general effectiveness and then (You guessed it!) point some fingers. Very public fingers. With pictures.

(I will pause for you to at least read the beginning of the article linked above.)

(I will pause some more for you to finish yelling and maybe shaking your fist at the computer.)

(It's no problem, I totally get it.)

In the spirit of being Zen in 2010 (I mean, it rhymes so i HAVE to do it!), I shall start with the (relatively few) points with which I agree and/or find interesting without being inflamatory.

Well, okay. Let's see. The author FINALLY recognizes that urban schools are not pits of teacher waste, brimming with irresponsible adults hell-bent on widening the achievement gap. I know that WE knew that, but the media just loves to harp on that one, don't they? (Nor are we all clad in leather.) (Michelle Pfeiffer, I'm looking at YOU!) If we consider the very contraversial statistical analysis of the LA Times to be remotely telling, this is one thing I'm happy has been brought to light. Teachers in urban areas kick ass. Teachers in suburban areas kick ass. Teachers in rural kick ass. And you know what? The crappy ones are EVERYWHERE! (Which is probably part of the problem, but I digress.)

I also found it interesting that the author would suggest that the teacher a child is assigned contributes more to that student's overall academic success than the school itself. See above. Pretty obvious if you ask me. We are one of the MOST IMPORTANT PIECES TO THE PUZZLE YET ARE CONSTANTLY IGNORED.

Dude, we just want a place at the table. Just give us a say and I will totally stop with the all caps.

I think this article (no matter how ridiculous it is to rely on these numbers to tell such a HUGE AND COMPLEX story) brings to light an interesting question for us all to ponder regarding student engagement too. If there is teaching, by no learning is happening, is there really any teaching going on? Very if a tree falls in the woods, very chicken and egg. I'm going to go ahead and say no, there is no teaching going on if all the students are disengaged. But I would also like to suggest the following mental cluster f*ck for your pondering pleasure: If "reform" and mandates abound, but no real progress is made, is it really reform?

Boo yah!

And now, on with the venting.

ARE THESE PEOPLE AT THE LA TIMES ABSOLUTELY INSANE?!?!? THEY ARE GOING TO PUBLICLY HUMILIATE TEACHERS BY PUBLISHING THEIR TEST RESULTS IN THIS MANNER? THIS IS HOW WE GO ABOUT REWARDING THE BEST TEACHERS? BY PUBLISHING THE NAMES AND PICTURES OF THE BAD ONES?

I mean, can you imagine the aftermath of this puppy? Parents running to the school to insist their children be removed from certain classes? Students deciding to totally check out because their teacher was written up as ineffective by a newspaper reporter? Administrators giving jaded feedback because they read the morning paper too?

Ah, sweet, sweet accountability.

Now, I'm not saying that ineffective teachers should remain in the classroom or be quietly shuffled to another district to become their problem. No, No, No. HOWEVER, I do not see how this type of jaded, anti-teacher, anti-progress, inflammatory reporting is going to make anything better. Yes, ineffective teachers need to be dealt with. But no, they do not need to be publicly humiliated nor does their existence need to be spread all throughout the media masquerading as accountability when we can all see it's just another attempt to shit all over us.

And for the love of Somebody With A Brain, when are we going to stop making test scores the be all and end all? When are we going to actually use this data in ways that make sense? When are we going to realize that the tests were not designed to measure teacher effectiveness and therefore should not be used to measure teacher effectiveness? When are we going to stop minimizing the goal of schooling?

Um, hellooooooo? TEST SCORES ARE NOT EVERYTHING.

They are convenient. You know what else is convenient? Nursing bras. But you don't see me trying to remove a hot casserole from the oven with my nursing bra just because it is convenient in another context, do you?

But perhaps the saddest bit to this article? The brief section where a teacher admitted that being held up as a successful teacher often makes you an outcast amongst your peers.

It's sad. And kinda true. At least it is where I used to teach. It's like if an administrator says anything positive about one teacher, there's another group of teachers that assumes this compliment means something negative about them. And aren't we all supposed to be in this together?

Oh, my friends. My head hurts. Can't we just all get along?

Education Nation: The Latest Forum For No-Duh Sound Bites and Finger Pointing

2010-09-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

With it being an election year and all, education is suddenly a topic everyone wants to talk about again. And when I say "talk about," I guess I really mean "spread around statements full of bull shit and buzzwords" or "finger point." It has been a loooooooooooong time since Mrs. Mimi has actually seen anyone on the old television have a constructive dialogue about education and even longer (read: never) since Mrs. Mimi has seen an actual teacher who is currently working in the classroom get a place at the proverbial table.

Last night, there was a special segment (part of Education Nation) that discussed the issues covered in the new documentary Waiting For Superman. Guess who was on the panel? The one assembled to talk about the state of education in our country. No, really, guess.

Okay, let me give you some choices:
a) a film maker

b) a teacher
c) a singer/song writer
d) a fairly inarticulate union president who needs to work on her snappy come backs
e) a school chancellor who has been known to fire teachers on film
f) the founder of a successful charter school
g) a, c, d, e and f but NOT b. I mean, NO WAY to b. Including b would be absolutely ridiculous! Ha ha ha ha haaaaa.....

Wait.

Yes friends, you read correctly, John Legend got to weigh in on education in this country. I know, I know, he did GO to school at one point in his life and evidently that qualifies one to open one's mouth.

Wait.

So if we're following that line of logic, I guess the next time John Legend is working on a new song for a hot new album, he's going to talk to a teacher about harmony? A chorus? Hot new dance moves?

Wait.

I think it's great that a movie such as Waiting For Superman can trigger so much national discussion about an issue as serious as education. For real. HOWEVER, I do take issue with the fact that this movie (and all the subsequent discussions) choose to only highlight successful charter schools while simultaneously spitting on all public schools, implying that going to a neighborhood public school is equivalent to flushing one's future down the toilet or something. I mean, let's take a deep breath and think before we speak, shall we? Let's not take the whole super hero, good vs. evil thing too far and draw an overly simplistic picture of what is actually happening...let's not pit charter schools and neighborhood public schools against one another and call it "competition"....let's not talk about test scores alone when discussing desirable outcomes for children...let's not be so quick to ignore the brilliance that is happening in public schools across our country.

This is Mrs. Mimi's year of zen and frankly, all this finger pointing is making me feel decidedly UN-zen. In fact, it's making me want to dust off the old soap box and start throwing around the word "douche bag" again....

Then President Obama gets on television this morning and is all, "we need great teachers", "teachers are the unsung heroes of this nation" and "we need to reward excellent teaching" which (duh!) no one is going to argue with. He talks about removing inadequate teachers which (duh!) no one is going to argue with. He talks about having high standards for students which (duh!) no one is going to argue with. He talks about raising respect for teachers and professionalizing the career which (duh!) no one is going to argue with. It is like watching a train of buzz words fly by in a flurry of amazing sound bites just waiting to be snapped up by the evening news.

Where is the substance? HOW are we going to determine the good from the bad? (And please don't say test scores...or else I'm reaching for the soapbox.) HOW are we going to have high standards for students when our only measure of achievement seems to be a number on a test? HOW are we going to encourage excellent teachers when tying their hands through mind numbing standardization is slowly killing their creativity?

Take a stand. Say something. Or maybe, ASK A TEACHER.

Wanna know what I think?

I think we need to start at the source. Make it more difficult for people to be accepted into ed schools. Make teacher preparation more rigorous, theory IS important to the development of one's overall philosophy of education. Make student teachers spend more time in the classroom observing and watching expert teachers, not just any old teacher who signs up for the free credits. Make new teachers work side by side with outstanding mentors at their same school and give those partnerships the time and resources to actually make a difference. Make professional development for all teachers relevant and differentiated by speaking to teachers instead of planning for them. Make a professional career ladder for people who stay in teaching - don't assume or imply that "moving up" means moving out of the classroom. Make a place at the policy table and the school decision making table for excellent teachers - don't assume ONE rep actually represents us all. Actually DO one or more of these things instead of talking about them or doing them in insultingly superficial ways.

This whole education nation thing so far? My hopes are feeling a bit dashed....but I'll keep watching. What about you?

Childrens Book Reading Extravaganza 2010: Picture Book Party #s 11-7

2010-09-24T05:16:00.000-07:00

Watch out, friends!! We've only got two more posts to go and we're done reviewing the list of Top 100 Children's Books....I have to admit. I have some mixed feelings about all this. I think the peeps at my local library are breathing a sigh of relief (since I'm THAT JERK who reserves them all over the internet and then just breezes in to pick them up which was cool when I was pregnant times and essentially on bed rest but now I'm just...well, I'm a fan of the service, let's just leave it at that).

Here we go with number 11 which is The Story of Ferdinand by Monro Leaf. I've never read this one personally but totes remember it from the movie "The Blind Side" and so feel like I love it already.

(As usual, click on the images for links to online picture book shopping paradise!!)

This story takes place in Spain, so I love it right off the bat. (Did I ever tell you guys about how I met Mr. Mimi in Spain?? No? It's a good one...remind me sometime.) However, I will continue to sum it up for you here. (You're welcome.) Ferdinand is not like the other bulls. He likes to sit under the trees and smell flowers. He's the introspective type, I guess. All the other bulls are running around in a macho pissing match trying to get picked to fight in Madrid. Ferdinand could care less, but...sits on a bee and (who can blame him) jumps up and runs around like a bull possessed. Clearly, he gets taken to the bullfight and everyone thinks he is so ferocious that they are scared you-know-what-less. HOWEVER, Ferdinand sees all the flowers in ladies' hair, sits down in the middle of the ring and just smells. Infuriated, the matadors have no choice but to take him home where he promptly sits down under his fave tree again.

Awwwwwwww!

I love it. I mean, I love it when characters break traditional stereotypes and show that it's okay to be your own person. (Am I getting to deep with a children's book here? I have a smidge of a tendency to read into things.) Basically, this book has a great story that will keep your little friends (perf for first and second grades) interested, simple text and lovely black and white illustrations. I think there is a lot of potential for great follow up discussion about this meaty little lesson Mr. Leaf has tossed up for us. All in all....heart it.

At #10 is Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by the man, the myth, the legend...Mo Willems. My love for his books is pretty intense, people. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book. LOVE. L. O. V. E. I. T. The only issue I have is with it's pronunciation...Similar to the whole "Henkes" debacle, I have heard "Knuffle" pronounced two distinct ways. It's like an inner battle between the teacher inside me, who wants desperately to have "kn" always say "n", and the other part of me who, deep in her heart, thinks it's pronounced quite the opposite.

For those of you who know I love kitties...I was pumped to see the following title at #9. It's Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag. Bonus, this is also a Caldecott book. Kitties and awards...I mean, how good can it get?

An old man and old woman are lonely. The woman wants a cat to keep them company. (Can you blame her?) So, the old man sets out to find her one. He comes upon this hill filled with millions of cats. He tries to pick out the prettiest cat, but every time he turns around, he sees another one she might like. (Picture me at the shelter trying to pick out my kitty...Not. Easy.) He ends up bringing them all home. Clearly the one who thinks ahead in this relationship, the old woman asks how they are going to feed all these cats. The old man suggests he lets the cats fight it out and choose which one of them they should keep. While not graphic at all, I don't condone kitty violence, so this part bugged a little...I mean, all the cats are fighting each other to determine who is the prettiest. In the end, all the cats ate each other up, except for one very homely cat that none of the other cats bothered with. They take him in, feed him well and give him a bath and soon he is a lovely little cat too.

Minus the cat fight part, I think this is a sweet book. I love the whole ugly duckling twist on things too. It has fairly simple black and white drawings, and I bet your friends could come up with some really creative, colorful and fabulous drawings on their own too. I'm trying to imagine where you could fit this into your day to get the most out of it, and I think that it may be one of those books you hang on to for those emergency five minutes and/or put on the sub plan pile. (Because don't you hate it when a last minute sub reads one of your faves that you have been saving forever?? )

Although I totes think they spelled it the wrong way (one of my BFFs spells it the truly French way with the extra "e"), #8 is the Caldecott Award winning Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans.

Do I really need to summarize this one? I don't want anyone to feel left out if I don't and they haven't read it, so I'll keep it short. Madeline evidently goes to boarding school and has to have her appendix taken out. She's scared, but, of course, everything ends up being okay and all the other little girls from boarding school come to visit her. When they see all her fab gifts, they all want to have their appendix out too.

Very cute, very simple, very basic story. HOWEVER, totes a classic AND totes has a rhyming pattern. And you know how Mrs. Mimi loves that word study connection to a read aloud. LOVE IT! As an added bonus, famous landmarks from all over Paris are included in the illustrations...*sigh*...making me want to be in Paris right now. I can practically taste the chocolate croissant...

For our last book this morning, we have #7 which is the always popular Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. *sigh* I do love children who can spend a whole afternoon crafting arts and farts projects all on their own.

Um, classic titles much? I heart this little boy's imagination. Harold and his trusty purple crayon draw themselves all sorts of adventures including landmarks so they don't get lost. Would I love Mini Mimi to take a crayon and draw herself silly? Um, yes please.

I love this story. Love, love, love. Talk about a wonderful story to share with your little friends, especially if you are an arts and farts lover like myself.

All right kiddies, that does it for this week. Mrs. Mimi is going to go treat herself to a nice cup of tea - watch out - I'll be back to cocktails before you know it!

Have a fabulous weekend...did you notice that we're basically done with September already?? I thought being a teacher made time fly, I didn't realize becoming a parent would multiply that by a ho-jillion.

xo,
Mimi

Childrens Book Reading Extravaganza 2010: Picture Book Party #s 16-12

2010-09-17T05:19:00.000-07:00

All right, all right! Happy weekend! We only have a few books to go on our list of Top 100 Picture Books - we're almost done!!! By the by - how is everything going? Are your little friends everything you'd hoped they'd be? Are you deep into your most favorite read alludes? You have to let me know if any of these made the cut!

All right, September means no one has time for my ramblings...so on with the list! #16 is a total classic. It's the Caldecott Award winning Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. Yet another text that I used frequently in my classroom, but always felt that I could have used better. I worked hard to make sure my read alouds felt purposeful, you know what I mean? And I just felt like this one didn't quite hit the mark...and I knew it was me.

Enough of my ramblings...

If you haven't read it before, Owl Moon is about a boy who goes owling with his father in the woods. They wait quietly, walking deeper and deeper into the woods. His father makes owl calls and finally, one answers back. They catch a glimpse of the owl in their flashlight before the it flies away. The father and son have shared an important moment, one that you can feel is some sort of right of passage in this family.

I mean, the language in this book is absolutely beautiful. I did use it during our poetry study to talk about how to create a strong mental image...the shadows, the quiet, the anticipation are all describe fabulously by Yolen. I have also used this text during units on winter and family, although I felt like those readings were slightly less successful. My first grade friends never really dug this one, but I think second, third and maybe even fourth graders would enjoy and appreciate it more. The illustrations in this text are also gorgeous - especially the one with the owl.

#15 is one of my favorite books of all time...FAVE! I love the story, I love the characters, I love the illustrations, I love the author! Any guesses? It's another Kevin Henkes book - Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse!!! This Lilly is just one of the coolest female characters around - at least in my opinion.

I love Lilly. Love her. Love her spunk, love her boots, love her attitude about school. In a nutshell, Lilly gets some fabulous glasses, a great new purse and bunch of quarters and is dying to show them to all her friends at school. She just can't wait until share time and whips them out, distracting her friends and getting her precious possessions taken away by the teacher. Lilly always loved her teacher, but now she is angry. She writes a nasty note (complete with nasty picture) and sticks it in her teacher's bag! (Can you imagine?) At the end of the day, Lilly's teacher gives her things back along with a special snack to take home. Needless to say, Lilly feels like crap. She writes her teacher a lovely apology, gets her family to help her make some special snacks and...all is forgiven.

Have I already told you that I love this book? LOVE! I used this one every year at the beginning of the year (to establish read aloud routines), when we studied strong female characters (you know we did) and as part of our Kevin Henkes author study (Connections across texts much?). Downright fabulous on a stick.

Ack! What a fabulous piece of the list we've got on our hands this morning! At #14 is a book I discovered a little late, but loved to pieces! It's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka. Talk about hilarious and imaginative!

#13 brings a nice twist to today's books...a bit of a classic edge, if you will. Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey (remember Make Way for Ducklings?) is another book that I had in my library, liked but never felt like I used very well in my classroom.

And last but not least this morning, is a book that I give every single friend of mine when ever they have a baby. You KNOW Mini Mimi has a copy on her overflowing bookshelf! I think this book is fabulous for all friends, young and old! It's Good Night Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann.

The only text in this book is made up of the zookeeper saying good night to all the animals as he locks up the zoo for the evening. What he DOESN'T see is the super cute little gorilla sneaking his keys off his pants! The little gorilla then proceeds to let out all the other animals who all follow the zoo keeper home. The zookeeper's wife says good night to the zookeeper and all the animals answer her back. She opens her eyes to see the gorilla, and then walks all the animals back to the zoo. What SHE doesn't see is that fabulous little gorilla has taken the keys once again...

I am really digging these texts with very few words! I think they are fabulous opportunities for oral story telling practice with picture support or possibly inspiration for sharedvwriting with the small fries.

Guess what today is? It's Mini Mimi's first official trip to Barnsey!!! I know! A very big day....I only hope she loves books as much as crazy Barnsey-loving mother does.

Have wonderful weekends, my dear readers!

xo,
Mimi

Spam!

2010-09-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

Friends. I have come to hate the hotmail. No offense to any of you out there who are totally digging the hotmail, but seriously? My hotmail accounts have brought me nothing but annoyance, the occasional virus and pleas for me to buy a penis enlarging device. Basically, hotmail is like a bad boyfriend. And so, we are breaking up.

Currently, my personal hotmail account is sending out millions of bogus emails a day to everyone in my inbox offering free iPads, various penis related accoutrement, and a whole lot of computer heart ache. I fear that it is only a matter of time before the same happens with this account...unless it's happening already and you've been too afraid to tell me.

Tell me!

So, in the future, when you want to reach out, email me at itsnotallflowersandsausages (at) gmail (dot) com. I know. Could I have picked a longer name? The answer is no. However, mrsmimi was already taken. Thems the breaks, people.

(PS - I do love getting email from you all and try my hardest to respond in somewhat of a timely and helpful manner. For reals.)

Happy Friday!!
xo,
Mimi

Childrens Book Reading Extravaganza 2010: Picture Book Party #s 21-17

2010-09-10T06:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, my friends, it is officially back to school season for all of us, yes? Some of us went back WAY before Labor Day and some of us are just getting into it, however I'm sure we are all EXHAUSTED! Hopefully some Picture Book Love (fresh from the list of Top 100 Picture book over at the School Library Journal blog), will make you smile. Or run to Barnsey. Both are good in my book.

Getting this party started today at #21 is Bark, George by Jules Feiffer. Seriously, the number of new titles I have come across never ceases to amaze me (or my debit card).

(Click on the images for links or...if you are so bold...just run to Barnsey.)

Super cute! I mean SUPER CUTE! George's mother wants him to bark, but all poor George can say are things such as "meow," "oink" and "moo." Clearly not dog talk. Concerned, his mother takes him to the vet. The vet reaches in George's mouth and pulls out a cat, a duck, a pig AND a cow. All of a sudden George says, "arf!" Thrilled, his mother takes him home and along the way, wants George to show off his new found skill to all the people on the street. But this time when he opens his mouth, all that comes out is, "Hello."

I mean, awwwwwwwww, right? Probably better suited for the small fry version of our friends, this book would make a fun read aloud. I'm thinking preschool when you work on animal sounds and even to tackle a bit of predicting what might come next.

Watch out, because #20 is one of my absolute faves. FAVES!!! As in, I used this book every year and still love it FAVES. It's George and Martha by James Marshall. Ta-dah!!!!

George and Martha are perfect for a character study. PERF! I used to always use these babies in my mini lessons for modeling and thinking aloud because they are amazingly short and memorable. Oh, and totally HI-larious.

Number 19 is Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. I'm ashamed to admit that this book was in my classroom library (the one given to me, not the purchased one) for years and I always breezed right by it. No time like the present to get this one under my belt, I guess. I mean, girlfriend DID score an American Book Award for this one.

I'm totally digging this book and regretting not reading it sooner. It's like I had a billion stacks of papers to deal with or something for eight long years.

Anyhow, the narrator is Miss Rumphius' grand-nephew (??). He tells us that when Miss Rumphius was a little girl, her grandfather would tell her stories about all sorts of far away places, prompting Miss Rumphius to someday want to travel herself. However, he tells her that it is also important to do something in her lifetime to make the world more beautiful. Miss Rumphius grows up, becomes a librarian, travels the world and finally settles down in her house by the sea. She isn't sure what to do to make the world more beautiful and before she can decide, she gets very sick. She admires the flowers she can see out her window, lupines she planted the previous spring and hopes that she will be able to plant a garden again the next year. After being sick for quite awhile, Miss Rumphius begins to feel better and discovers the seeds from her lupines have spread to another hill. This gives her an idea! She buys as many lupine seeds as she can and spends her days walking everywhere, sowing lupine seeds to make the world more beautiful. Now very old, the children call her the Lupine Lady. Her grand-nephew listens to her stories, wanting to go visit faraway places. Of course, Miss Rumphius tells him that he must also do something to make the world more beautiful.

Sorry for the long summary, friends! But I think that book deserved it! It's a lovely story that can be used in so many ways in your classroom. I'm thinking Earth Day off the top of my head, but also if you were talking about the idea of giving back to a community or even about what children want to do when they grow up. This is a sweet story with an important lesson, making it a perf read aloud for friends in first through third grades. For sure.

At number 18, we have another book by the genius Maurice Sendak. It's called In the Night Kitchen.

Okay, honestly? First impression? There's a mini little penis on page five. The little boy falls out of his clothes and into this mysterious kitchen in the middle of the night and yes, it is full frontal. Full. Frontal. I know that personally, I was not ready, willing or able to deal with this in my classroom so I may choose not to use this one. Am I being too judgey?

As the story continues, these bakers bake the boy into a cake, he turns some dough into a plane and flies into a giant bottle of milk. ANNNNNDDDD...then there's more full frontal. (No joke.) Full frontal once? Shame on you. Full frontal twice? Shame on me. And we're just going to move along.

And at the end of our list today, at #17 is Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. A classic, but one I was never sure I was using well or in the right way. Does that ever happen to you? You know everyone loves it, you feel like you should use it but somehow, it always seems to not be what you thought it would be. Oh well, let's give it a fresh look, shall we?

Evidently this book is a folk tale (according to the info on the inside flap). And since most of you have read this one before, we'll do a quick summary. A peddler has a bunch of caps that he sells. One day, no one buys any caps, so he walks to the country, sits under a tree and takes a nap. When he wakes up, he sees that a bunch of monkeys have stolen his caps and begins to freak out. As he is about to walk away, the monkeys give him back his hats and on he goes with his day.

I guess this book is funny? Or funny to a five year old? The thing I do see in this book is the simple, mostly repetitive text. I think it would be great to work with readers on being careful as they read, since one or two words changes on each page in certain sections. Definitely best suited for first grade friends, I can imagine using this book to teach various reading strategies...especially if I had it in big book form. Maybe if they were shoes, I would feel more connected to this text....

Okay my fellow book nerds! That'll do it for this week! (And August!) Here's to soaking up every last drop of summer!!

xo,
Mimi

Brown Baggin' It + A Little Flair

2010-09-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

Let's face it. Most of us choke down our lunches in exactly 4.7 minutes, usually while correcting something, filing something, or organizing something. Rarely do we sit down and enjoy a leisurely 45 minute lunch break. In my experience, 45 minute lunches usually happened when some major S-H-I-T had gone down and the gossip was just too good to get through in 4.7 minutes...

However, this is the Year of My Zen Self, My More Professional Self, My More Positive Self and therefore, avoiding gossip in the teacher's lounge/classroom in which you eat is paramount! (Although still deliciously necessary from time to time.) (Will I ever change?)

So, what are we going to do to spice up our lunch hour sans gossip? Because, honestly? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches can be da bomb, but not on day #105 of having nothing else in your refrigerator that you can throw together at the last minute.

Can I tell you a secret? For YEARS Mr. Mimi would pack my lunch for me the night before.

All together now!

Aaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwww!

(Total. Keeper.)

However, then Mr. Mimi started to travel a ton for work and poor Mrs. Mimi was forced to pack her own lunch.

All together now!

Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh!

(No sympathy?)

Regardless, it was during that time of lonely lunch making that I realized brown bag lunches can totally start to blow. Yes, they save us money. Yes, they can be a much healthier choice. And no, I can't imagine having the time to actually GO OUT for lunch. But come on! Day after day after day can get b.o.r.i.n.g with a capital Sucks.

In those moments, I would get creative and pack left over Thai food from the night before. Then I would totally stink up the room of a fellow colleague as I microwaved my yellow Thai curry with tofu. I would then proceed to shovel it down my throat, alternating between burning my mouth and severe stomach cramps. All in all, it was not fabulous. And the subsequent 2 pm food coma? Definitely did not help put a smile on my face.

The point? I was always looking for some ideas to keep it fresh and thought I would share some of them with you!

Like getting a much more fabulous bag to tote your lunch. I used to shove my things into a Ziplock bag that I would reuse until it absolutely begged to be thrown out. When I could have just bought one of these from Pottery Barn.

And paired it with these other lunch accessories from Pottery Barn Kids:

Or, if Pottery Barn is too everyone-has-that for you, try this little Dutch number.

Or any of these from Built NY:

Here are a few from Amazon too (click for links):

Bon appetit, my friends! And, in the midst of your daily multi-tasking, perhaps try to take a moment, just once a week, to slow down and actually chew your food.

xo,
Mimi

Childrens Book Reading Extravaganza 2010: Picture Book Party #s 26-22

2010-09-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

Sooooooo....someone skipped a week or two with the old countdown. Someone may be finding it a bit more difficult to fit it all in. Someone might get everything figured out and then suddenly a certain smaller someone decides to change things up.

Good thing that someone spent many years working in a public school which basically trains one to "be flexible" to the point of being a semi-pro contortionist.

Regardless, someone is back. Until everything changes again.

I guess I should start stretching....

On with the books!

#26 is Corduroy by Donald Freeman...a total classic.

(This may seem obvious at this point, but click on the image for links.) (Proceed at your own risk - with your credit card that is.)

Is there anyone who doesn't love this story? Corduroy is a bear who lives at a department store. He is spied by a little girl one day, but her mother says she can't buy him that day plus he has a missing button. That evening, Corduroy goes searching for his missing button around the department store, but is discovered by a night watchman and put back with the toys. The next day, the girl comes back to buy Corduroy - she's counted all the money in her piggy bank and realizes she has enough. She takes Corduroy home, fixes him up and Corduroy realizes what friendship is all about.

This book is just adorable. With a little adventure, a little imagination and a lot of friendship, this story would make a fab read aloud with friends in kindergarten or first grade. It's got a basic, easy-to-follow story line, great pics and a wonderful message. You know I've been brewing with ideas for a unit on unlikely friendships - this one would totes fit the bill!

Coming in at #25 is The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton. I mean, talk about a string of old school classics lately on the old list, huh?

The Little House on the hill is bought by a family who intends to never sell it and keep it the same forever. The Little House watches the seasons change and is happy although she wonders what it would be like to live in the city. Soon enough, houses are built up around The Little House, and before long she finds herself surrounded by a new city. She misses the country because now everything seems so fast and the seasons seem the same. One day, a girl, the great-great-granddaughter of the dude that bought the house stops and recognizes The Little House. The girl hires some movers and takes the Little House out of the city and back to the country where she is happy.

This book would make a very sweet and basic introduction to seasonal change or the difference between rural, suburban and urban communities for our favorite small fry friends. It's an old classic (originally published in 1942) and who can't respect that?

We were just given #24 for Mini Mimi and can not WAIT to read it with her. Um, she is SO going to have a word wall in her room as soon as she starts talking. (Somewhere Mr. Mimi is sighing and shaking his head at me.) It's Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault.

Can I just say that girlfriend totally hearts this one! I love the colors and simple illustrations for super duper small fries and clearly the whole alphabet connection is amazing. Throw in a cute story line and a fab rhyming scheme and viola! We've got a winner!

Oooooo! #23 is one of my absolute faves when I was a kid! I think it represents a period in my life in which I became more technologically savvy, because I had this one....wait for it....on TAPE! Ha ha! No more Fisher Price records for me...I was movin' on up. Just like the Jeffersons.... *stares off into space for a moment*

Sorry. Let's get on with it. #23 is Bread and Jam by Frances and Russell Hoban. Seriously, I listened to this bad boy on repeat...and was fascinated by the whole idea of eggs in that little cup...I know. I so needed a hobby. Or more friends.

Anyhow. Frances is a fairly picky eater. She will only eat (you guessed it!) bread and jam. Girlfriend is evidently unafraid to carbo-load. Her parents try to get her to eat eggs, veal cutlets, string beans, you name it, but Frances is all jam all the time. Her parents, who are clearly total geniuses, pull the old reverse psychology bit on Frances and give her nothing BUT bread and jam while they eat all sorts of other fabulousness. Soon enough, Frances is all jammed out and concedes to eating spaghetti and meatballs. (A good choice if you ask me.) The next day she brings quite the lunch to school, complete with a vase of violets (Um, my mom SO dropped the ball on that one. I never had fresh flowers in my lunch box. The injustice!), lobster salad (Say wha?), plums, cherries and vanilla pudding.

This book is just fantastic. I know, I'm jaded, but deal with it. It's easy for friends to read on their own, coming in at a level K (according to this book list which I totally dig)...which is perf for smarties in first grade or friends in second grade. OR, you could totally use this as a read aloud with kindergarten and first grade small fries. There are great moments to encourage whole class discussions and a super lesson about eating healthy. (I want to scream when I see my kids drink that blue juice at lunch....ugh! I can practically feel the sugar crash coming.)

Annnnnnd at #22 is The Monster At The End Of This Book by Jon Stone . Totally intrigued by the title and pumped to check this one out.

Totally couldn't find it anywhere! And I loves me some Grover. Bummer.

Happy Friday!!!!!!!! If there was ever time for a cocktail (or seven)!

Can I Get An "Om" Up In Here?

2010-09-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of being all zen and positive and whatnot, I thought this post would be crazy appropriate for today. You know as we all kick off the year and are full of the necessary energy required to bite our tongues when confronted by totally asinine behavior and/or ridiculous displays of incompetence on the part of some of the "adults" working in our midst?

As you are probably well aware, Mrs. Mimi loves to get her complain on. I will wave my bitch flag whenever I feel appropriate HOWEVER, I am also beginning to recognize the need to chill the F out and find a little zen. To focus on my work, what is important and what I can do to change my situation, rather than scrutinize the crap in which others seem to enjoy wading about.

That's growth, people.

Let's blame it on motherhood, shall we?

Check out this gem of a quote that I discovered over at The Happiness Project back in July:

(Yes, I've been holding on to this baby for a rainy day...)

“A lifetime can well be spent correcting and improving one’s own faults without bothering about others.”
-- Edward Weston

I shall pause so that you can soak that in. And possibly re-read it because I didn't quite get it at first.

Pausing.
Paaauuuussssing.

This bit of shiny zen is in sharp contrast to the plaque I currently have gracing my kitchen window sill. That one goes a little bit like this:

"If you don't have something nice to say, sit here next to me."

So you can see that I am making great strides. I think this particular idea is extremely important as we start off our new years full of shiny pencils, polite students (they're still tired from the early morning alarm...just you wait!) and new Sharpies. Perhaps it would be a good idea to look at ourselves and our own flaws and consider ways to improve upon them instead of focusing on how much everyone else sucks.

Gasp!

I'll go first.

I can be a touch judgemental.

(Say it ain't so!)

No, really. I can. So maybe this year I can focus more on giving people the benefit of the doubt. When I feel myself judging, I can try my best to find something else about that person which is positive.

My turn again.

I am too quick to say "no" when faced with something new. I am also quick to list all the reasons that something WON'T work instead of thinking about how I can MAKE something work.

(Is anyone else exhausted?) (Being positive really takes it out of me.)

Clearly, I have some work to do this year. What about you? What are your goals for this upcoming school year? Any fatal flaws you want to own up to and try to change?

I'm off to do a yoga pose or something else painfully upbeat.

xo,
Mimi

PS- Does this mean that I will never again complain? That I will never again poke fun at the ridiculousness that is all around us? Um, no. It just means that those precious moments will be sprinkled with a bit of sunshine and rainbows.

Off To A Positive Start???

2010-08-31T19:31:00.000-07:00

First days of school are happening like crazy right now! Every time I sit down to catch up on my fave teacher blogs, I find myself reading about someone else's beginning. So, is everyone totally exhausted yet?

I mean, what with all the organizing, the cleaning, the BTS shopping, the planning, the thinking, the worrying, the decorating, the reading, the alarm clock setting....ugh! I'm worn out just typing all that. (Plus, the old blogging muscle -along with *cough* my thighs- is out of shape these days.)(My two goals for September by the by? Blog more and lose ~~fifteen~~ ten pounds.)

So I think we've established that the beginning of the year is brutal, yes? However, it is also insanely exciting. Your classroom is all picture perfect with (nerd alert!) everything color coded and at perfect ninety degree angles. You can practically smell fresh Sharpie from all that recent labeling lingering in the air. (Does anyone else have goose bumps?). And then, at the pinnacle of your exhaustion, the kids come...

And it's frightening.
And anxiety inducing.
And wonderful.

Every year, after selecting the perfect first day outfit and coordinating heels, I am a nervous wreck. Fast forward less than 24 hours to that moment when my new friends are on their way home and I'm totally exhilarated. Still exhausted, but totally, nerdily and completely ready for the new challenge.

If only I could take that positivity with me for the rest of the year.

But let's be honest my lovelies, those smiles, helping hands and pleasant good mornings fade fast and before you know it, the same old bullish*t is hitting the proverbial fan and spraying all over you and your positive attitude. (And if you haven't guessed by now, that bullish*t? Oh it's all on the part of the other ADULTS....)

Recently I read a post from one of my fave blogs (Penelope Loves Lists) with some words of wisdom that might help us hold onto our positive attitudes when the sh*t is blowing our way. Because really? We can't control how ridiculously lazy and mind numbingly thoughtless some d-bags can be but we CAN control how we react to said behaviors of those particular ass hats if we follow Penelope's sage advice:

1.We can reframe our thoughts.. Instead of thinking to yourself, "How stupid can that (insert relevant name of notorious school slacker here) be? I mean, do I really have to do THEIR job too?" while contemplating punching them in the neck try taking a moment to be grateful. (Yes, you read correctly, I said "be grateful.") (Has motherhood changed me?) (Don't worry...I haven't put away my soap box yet.) Be grateful that you have a job you care about SO MUCH that you want everyone around you to be great. Be grateful that you do not wander through your days in a clueless fog because really? It must suck to be that useless. Be grateful that you are able to contribute, even if it's in a small way, each and every day to the learning of one of your friends.

2. We can decide to be in a good mood. We can plaster a smile on our faces, grab our fave read aloud and push the bullish*t aside. These were the moments when I scrapped my plans, pulled out the paint brushes and got messy with my friends. They deserve it- so figure out what DOES put you in a good mood and cling to it for dear life when having one of THOSE days. Or just man up and order pizza for lunch. Mrs. Mimi + cheese -crappy PB&J from home = better mood.

3. We can keep our mouths shut. Gasp! Did I really just type that? Why yes I did. Believe it or not, sometimes I kept my big mouth shut because botching can often beget a bitchy mood. So, before you open the old pie hole, think if a venting session is really what you need. (Because when it IS, a good closed-door rant with your fellow Super Colleagues can be total amaze-balls.) Sometimes, I know I just need to go back to my room, turn up the Pandora and throw myself into crossing things off one of my five running To Do lists. (And then run home to blog about it.)

I'm feeling very zen, like I should close this post with a "namaste" or something. However, for now, let me just say that I hope the beginning of your year is rocking and that you have a big bottle of wine waiting for you when you get home!

Winners All Around

2010-08-23T11:29:00.000-07:00

Hi friends! I'm still in Mimi-in-law Land, so will keep this one short and sweet. (Also, apologies for being late with some of the giveaway announcements...can I chalk it up to a time change, lots of family time and too much food??)

Aaaannnnnddd because I'm in Mimi-in-law Land, I'm not writing on my own computer and therefore have no clue how to include a screen shot of the random number generator I used to ensure that these giveaways were fair. So, you're just going to have to trust me. I mean, teachers are honest folk, so I think we're all good. Rest assured that I am dilligent in my rule following.

Okay, on with the winners!!

The winner of the Bob Books Sight Word Giveaway is.....

Katie Wilson!!!!! Wheeeee!!

Hold on though, friends. We've got another announcement! The winner of a SIGNED COPY of The Teachable Moment written by my internet BFF with an original essay by MOI is....

Can you stand the tension?

Are you just DYING?!

Debbie!!!!

High fives all around! I hope you are all having a lovely Monday. Wish me luck as I fly my way home with Mini Mimi today (insert panicky expression here although she did great on the way over...). I promise we'll be back in full swing next week once I've fully recovered and finished the nine jillion loads of laundry we seemed to have created during our time away. I'm living the dream, people, living the dream.

Katie Wilson and Debbie - congrats again and don't forget to email me with your info so that you can get your prizes asap!

xo,
Mimi

Her Pet Peeves Giveaway Winners

2010-08-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all. Mrs. Mimi is going to keep this one short and sweet. Mr. Mimi, Mini Mimi and I are away visiting family, but don't you worry. More fabulousness to come next week! The giveaways are wrapping up too, so we can get back to ~~bitching~~ business as usual.

Sooooooo, without further ado, the winners of the Her Pet Peeves iPhone app giveaway are...

Allison
Emily and Steven
Books That Heal Kids
Patty N.
jenn
Oh, Snapp!

Email me at meemerdo at hotmail dot com and I'll reply with the codes to download your boot-ay.

Don't forget to enter the other fabulous giveaways in the top right hand corner of the blog! (How's that for lazy?!)

xox,
Mimi

Got Pet Peeves? Well, Then Enter THIS Giveaway!

2010-08-16T03:08:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I said, "giveaway." Another one!

I know! Shut the front door, right?

This month we (meaning all of us over here at F&S) are getting HOOKED UP! The Back To School Giveaway madness continues with this totally fun new app for the iPhone that may just save you from punching someone in the neck on one of those days.

The app is called Her Pet Peeves and already you're nodding your head and thinking, "I have some of those."

Come onnnn....I know you do.

It's kind of like Whack-A-Mole, except you're popping bubbles that fly by on your screen. Some of the bubbles have "preening studs" which in my mind translates to "self-absorbed douche bags." Other bubbles have a symbol for bad dates. But the best part, THE BEST PART is that you get to enter your OWN PET PEEVES.

Translation: you can very easily and quickly take or upload photos of your own pet peeves and have them also float by on the screen in bubbles just waiting to be popped. Seriously, they are calling your name and just asking for it. Asking. For. It.

Immediately, I uploaded photos of several choice individuals who are featured here on this blog, took a photo of the copy machine, another picture of my cluttered desk (GASP!), another picture of an overflowing garbage can (GAK!) and another picture of (deep breath) a pile of dried up pens.

As the images of my pet peeves flew by on the screen, I tap tap tapped my way to a good mood. I even found myself talking at the screen...you know, a few well placed, "take thats" and "suck its." It may sound silly, but it works. And it won't get you in trouble, but punching someone in the neck will.

Here's some info about the app:

"Know someone at work who  thinks they're super important, when all they really do is make  everyone's life more difficult? How about a boss that decides to dump  work on you the Friday before a 3-day weekend? Now you can burst their bubble by  playing Her Pet Peeves™! Pop away too much work, your annoying boss and  much more! Cartoon-style animals represent the types of people who annoy  you and the goal is to burst their bubble before time runs out. You can  also go back and re-visit previous stages as many times as you like  either for fun, or to beat your previous scores. You can even upload  images of your personal peeves and they become a part of the game!"

Wanna get Her Pet Peeves for free? Wanna win it in a giveaway? 'Cuz Mrs. Mimi has five free apps to give away....YOU get an app and YOU get an app and YOU get an app and YOU get an app and YOU get an app!

Four Different Ways To Enter:
1. Leave a comment here about your school related pet peeves. I'll use a random number generator to pick TWO winners!
2. Follow Mrs. Mimi on Twitter AND AND AND tweet about this giveaway. (Don't forget the @MrsMimiTeaches!). I'll use a random number generator (AGAIN!) to pick the tweet that wins.
3. Sign up on my Facebook fanpage and join the discussion about school related pet peeves...most creative or interesting pet peeve WINS!
4. Become a follower of my blog and then email me to let me know that you are an official subscriber...then we'll put the old random number generator to work again. (By the by, my email is meemerdo at hotmail dot com.)

Enter once, twice or four times to win this fun little distraction. Get in on all the August Giveaway Madness!!

And the Little Pickle Press Giveaway Winner Is....

2010-08-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

It's giveaway time people! I'm assuming that since we are all adults here I don't need to give my patent-pending speech entitled "Not Everyone Can Win Every Time But We Should Always Be Happy For The Winner: The Anti-Party Pooper Edition. Right?

I'll keep this short and sweet! The first winner of the LPP fabulousness is (insert drum roll here).....

Are you excited?

The winner is comment #35 from futureflstar!! Wheeeeee!!!

Just to prove I'm on the up on up:

So, futureflstar, email me (meemerdo at hotmail dot com) your info to claim your oh-so-wonderful prize!

Childrens Book Reading Extravaganza 2010: Picture Books # 31-27

2010-08-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

We are rounding the bend, friends, rounding the bend and entering the home stretch on this list of Top 100 Picture Books! I say high-fives all around!

This week, at #31 is No David by David Shannon. One of my faves although the space between this little boy's teeth totally tweaks me out. But, loose teeth (and really teeth in general) have that effect on me.

(Click on the image for links...and shop, shop, shop your hearts out!)

David is hilarious and you can totally see why this book went all Caldecott times, right? Basically, the whole book depicts a variety of scenes in which David is being super naughty with very simple text...usually along the lines of "No David!" or "No! No! NO!" We're talking mega-naughty...tracking mud into the house, running down the street naked (guaranteed to get a hearty laugh from your friends), and playing with his food. Eventually, his mom has had enough and sends David to his room. Clearly, he goes bullshit in there too. In the end, David finally cries and his mom gives him a big hug and reminds him that she loves him.

The illustrations in this book are fantastic - David has a very distinct look and the pictures say more than the simple text ever could! I used to use these books to help my friends practice stretching out their description of action (we did it orally or as a Shared Writing). Plus, if you look at the David books collectively, your friends should be able to pick up on a pattern to the stories, giving you the perfect opportunity to discuss author's craft or looking for trends across a series of books about one character. Clearly best for friends in the lower grades, this book is fabulous.

In position #30 we have a re-appearance by the illustrating genius Eric Carle. (Did you know they have a whole MUSEUM about his fabulousness?? I so need to go to there.) It's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr.

I don't think there's a need to summarize this puppy. It's a repetitive text which asks a bunch of different animals what they see. With a predictable pattern and strong images, this text is totally perf for your friends who are new to this whole reading thing. I mean, PreK, K and even early first grade friends who are struggling with love this book. I used this in big book form to work on strategies like picture and first sound, using the pattern in a book to help you read and practicing intonation with a question mark. Why, hello, possibilities, you're looking quite endless today...

Be still my beating childhood heart, #29 is Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig. I. Heart. This. Book. Intensely. Big Mama Mimi is also a huge fan, so you know it's a must-have for your classroom library.

I think most of you know this story, but to sum it up quickly...Sylvester finds a magic pebble which grants wishes. One day, while picnicking, he is frightened by a lion and wishes he could turn to stone. Poof! Boyfriend is stone. The pebble rolls away (he needs to be holding it for it to work) and therefore, no more wishes. His parents are very upset (natch) and eventually assume he will never come home again. Seasons pass. Then, one day when his parents are picnicking on the very same hill, they set up their lunch on Sylvester!! The dad finds the pebble, puts it on the rock and Poof! Sylvester is back! Can you say, "be careful what you wish for" or what?

This book is fabulous five ways til Tuesday. (Note: I have NO IDEA what that means, just know that this book is BEYOND!) There are some wonderful places to stop and think with your friends, places to try to make connections with your friends and places to discuss the lessons that Sylvester learned with your friends. It is the sort of read aloud that is perf for initiating and practicing the difficult skill of holding a focused whole class conversation that is more than just a smattering of popcorn like ideas that are really all over the place. And YOU KNOW that Big Mama Mimi and I will be sharing this one with Mini Mimi asap.

Oh and #28 is another classic as well. It's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. I mean, haven't we all felt like Alexander...spilled our coffee, come in to realize all our posters have lost their stick and fallen off the walls, we've lost our preps and then AND THEN find out that we need to go to a meeting about nothing after school...c'mon. We've all been there.

I'm not sure you all really need a summary for this one either. It is certainly a gem, but definitely not hidden. I mean, Alexander has a bitch of a day...and I think we've all been there. His morning sucks, school sucks, after school sucks, his friends suck....suckity suck suck. And in the end, Alexander learns that some days are just like that. (Amen to that, right?)

With black and white drawings and funny text, this book will totally hold your friends' attention, even if it's not their first reading. Plus, it is FULL of places for them to practice making text-to-self connections as well as inferring how the character is feeling. So, this is a no brainer.

And, at #27 is The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. Another oldy but goody. I had this book, and a bunch of others, in the real tiny form on my shelf for YEARS!

If it's been awhile since you've read this classic...Mrs. Rabbit warns her four children not to wander into Mr. McGregor's yard. Peter, who is a bit cheeky, goes ahead and hits up Mr. McGregor's garden for some lettuce when he gets caught! This reminds me of a younger version of myself. My mom (aka Big Mama Mimi) told me not to go in our neighbor's yard. I then made it my goal to play in said yard and was caught eating strawberries right out of his garden. Cut to me standing in a corner.

Anyhow, it's a wonderful story with a well drawn sibling rivalry that will be easy for your friends to relate to. (Hello, text-to-self connection, nice to meet you.) Clearly a better choice of read aloud (or independent text) for your small fries. I can even envision a read aloud study of classic children's texts that, because of their publication date, might not be at the top of your friends' lists. Or a Beatrix Potter author study = HOT.

My friends, we are half way through August. Some of you are already back at it. Throw a little Bailey's in your coffee and enjoy the morning - you deserve it!

xo,
Mimi

Childrens Book Reading Extravaganza 2010: Novel #86

2010-08-13T05:53:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I feel i've cheated a bit with this list. You see, those two times I didn't finish the book (despite trying pretty hard to get into it) made me feel pretty guilty. I am not a person who abandons books. I am a person who embraces books. Who reads during every spare moment. Who has multiple books going at the same time. I am a person who regularly reads at least two books while on a vacation.

But now...

I am a person with a baby.

So now, those multiple books I've got going? Let's see...there's Moo Baa La La La by the great Sandra Boynton, The Very Hungry Catepillar by the brilliant Eric Carle and, of course, Pat the Bunny in the name of always reading a classic.

Oh and like a zillion books on sleep habits.

Sounds like a literary party, no?

So, I did not read novel number 86. Recently. I did read it. And loved it. And highly recommend it to the two people on this planet who haven't read it.

Yes friends, I speak of Harry Potter. Novel # 86 is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

I read these early books as a young graduate student. Ah the good old days when all I had to do was go to class....and then wait tables until 3am. Maybe it wasn't so fabulous.

Anyhow, I read most of this book ~~when I should have been finishing my reading for class~~ whilst riding NYC transit to and from school. It was my first foray into reading children's books in public and I went to great lengths to conceal the cover and title. I'm not sure what I thought was going to happen if someone saw me reading this particular book. After all, I was in a city that fully embraces public urination and boasts a Naked Cowboy with a guitar in Times Square.

These days I proudly show off my love for children's books. (Read: I spend heinous amounts of money at Barnsey and am proud of it.).

Anyhow, you can probably guess by now that I'm not going to summarize this uber-popular text which is why I feel like I'm cheating a bit). I think these books are wonderful and can totally spark a Childs love of reading. I'm not sure they would make the best read alludes as they are fairly lengthy, but let me know if some of you out there have rocked this read aloud style. I will offer a word of caution though. My small fries were always jonesing to read impressive looking books. And by impressive, they meant thick and way above their independent level. Harry Potter books were of extreme temptation and I had a few kids even lug that sucker back and forth to school to "read" it. Couldn't understand a damn thing that was happening but hey! Look at how many pages!

So while we want to encourage our friends to push themselves, we have to find a way to gently remind the. That actually understanding what we read, not just saying all the words, is our goal.

That's all, my fellow book worms! Enjoy those weekends!

xoxo,
Mimi

The Giveaways Just. Keep. Coming! Enter To Win THIS Bit of Genius!

2010-08-12T05:59:00.000-07:00

As we all gear up for this school year (and word on the street is some of you have already STARTED!), I think we need to take a moment and think some positive thoughts. Try to find something that will keep us motivated when times get tough (read: the classroom phone won't stop ringing, your friends are busy picking their noses and/or there's a last minute assembly and you're late).

Clearly, today I am feeling very zen.

But I know I'm right. Because no matter how difficult one day in our classroom is, we have to go back the next day and do it all over again. With a smile on our face.

Friends, I have found a bit of inspiration to help you smile when all you want to do is hide under the covers with a cocktail and perhaps burn your planner. Lucky for us, this inspiration comes straight from my internet BFF, Rebecca Branstetter (PhD - ha cha cha!) who writes the brilliant blog, Notes from the School Psychologist. And while her blog is also all sorts of wonderful, today I'm talking about something Rebecca has given us that we can take with us under the covers along with that cocktail.

Yes, girlfriend has written a book and it is fabulous.

The Teachable Moment is a collection of essays (edited by the wonderful Dr. Branstetter) written by real teachers about real moments that are not sugar coated or glossed up for the movies. (I'm looking at YOU Michelle Pfeiffer!)

This book begins with a wonderful introduction written by Rebecca herself. She very candidly tells us about one of her first (and most difficult) moments as a school psychologist. (Imagine telling a whole class of sixth graders that their friend's father has recently been shot and killed ANNNNDDD their teacher was arrested for sleeping with a student...yeah, THAT kind of difficult.) Armed mainly with good intentions and a whole lot of graduate school readings, Rebecca learns to seize the moment and take what could have been a disaster and turn it into a learning opportunity for herself and the children.

Now don't get it twisted. You know Mrs. Mimi is pretty anti-tying everything up with a neat little bow. But that's not what this book is about at all. As you continue to read these stories, written by real teachers far, far away from a Hollywood sound stage, you can hear the truth behind their words. You get sucked into the moments they cherish as the reasons why they continue to teach. And you feel inspired and ready to face another day.

With my love of Naughty Boys well established, you know I focused on stories of moments with this particular batch of challenging student. I read about Carlos and his teacher's struggle to get him to cut the comedy and recognize his own abilities. I read about Ryan, a child suffering from Fragile X syndrome who challenged his teacher in so many ways yet, many years later, thanked her for all her work in a way that brought tears to my eyes. And I read about Max. A little boy who actually BIT AN ADULT'S ANKLE, but still found a way to work his way into her heart.

Read them all at once, or save them to read one by one on the days when you really need a pick me up.

These are the real moments that make teaching worthwhile. (And, you'll notice that I contributed my own moment to this fab anthology! A never-been-told-before moment between me and my sweet little Muppet.)

How excited are you? I mean, are you grabbing your keys and running out the door to Barnsey yet?

Well, today is your lucky day!! YOU can enter to win a SIGNED copy of The Teachable Moment right here!!! (August just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?)

Three ways to enter:
1. Leave a comment on this post. Fabulousness welcome.
2. Scoot on over to Rebecca's blog, check it out, and then leave a comment HERE telling us what you love about her. (It will be hard to narrow down, I promise.)
3. Join the Notes From The School Psychologist Facebook fan page. Leave a comment on her wall or email me and tell me you've signed up for the fabulousness. (Remember, the comment/email part is required or else how am I supposed to know you've been over there??)

I'll put all your entries together, assign them a number and, using my trusty random number generator, I'll pick a winner. The contest starts TODAY and runs through Sunday, August 22nd. I'll announce the winner on the old blog on Monday, August 23rd!

Good luck!