Grading: My Mind Altering Journey

I wrote this a year ago, got pregnant, then neglected to edit it and post it, so…  This is really for fellow teachers.  Homeschoolers may find some of the concepts helpful. It’s really a whole post on grading.  So if you don’t teach, I highly recommend not reading it. You will probably be bored, like my husband was when he was editing it.    And yes, passionately writing about grading is very nerdy, I know.

Grading: the death of creativity

If there’s one thing I really hate about the public school system, it’s the focus students have on grades. It creates students who don’t learn because learning is important or interesting; they learn for one goal: grades.

Teachers and parents make threats using grades, schools use grades to get students and parents to do what they want, and students themselves use grades as a status symbol and for most, it’s really the main reason they’re doing anything in class. I feel that all creativity and love of learning is sucked out of the classroom because of grading.  Continue reading »

Givers: A New Baby

First I want to apologize to every friend, family member, or acquaintance who had a baby. I’m sorry I didn’t help you more. My only excuse is that I didn’t know. And the only reason I know now is because of the tremendous amount of support I received after giving birth.

So a much deserved thank-you to all the givers out there! You made the start of my life as a mom so much easier. Continue reading »

Allowing Others to Give

[NOTE: I started this post a while back, so I left it as is and added an update at the end.]

I awoke to the sound of dishes being done downstairs. I thought, as I had in the past (or anytime Scott does something I think of as my responsibility), “I should go downstairs and help him.” But then I thought again about something I realized a while back: sometimes you have to give up control and allow others the opportunity to give. So I had that moment, while still in a sleep fog, where I got to give in a way that actually doesn’t sound so much like giving as like being lazy.

I’ve been thinking about this concept for awhile. Continue reading »

I’m Back! (Sort of…)

So, my year-long challenge to give every day kind of got sidetracked by the selfish desire to wallow in the annoyances of pregnancy. Or if I put a positive spin, giving my complete focus to making a baby. Either way, I didn’t have the energy to keep up with this project — I just wanted to lie down and sleep, all the time.

It’s been so long, I couldn’t remember my password to get on here!

So here I am about a year later, with a beautiful 3-month-old in my arms “typing” this post on my iPhone. Continue reading »

A List

With family stuff, school stuff and a few sick days thrown in for good measure, I have found myself lacking the energy to write…I’ve kept up the giving, but the writing has fallen by the wayside.  So, here’s a list of the titles that would have been:

Day 95 & 96: Doggie Bags and Open Houses

Day 97 & 98: Offering and Keeping My Mouth Shut

Day 99 & 100 & 101: Loads and “the two days I can’t remember because I didn’t write it down”

Day 102 & 103: Not Telling and Shoe Shopping

Day 104 & 105: Taking and Lunch

Day 106 & 107: Constitutionality and Checking

Day 108 & 109 & 110: Music, Talking, and Food

Tantalizing, eh?  Well, I’m back now, so you should be hearing from me again soon!

Lessons Learned:

1.  Even though I may be too busy to write, I can still give.

2. Lists are a lot easier to write than paragraphs.

Clean-Up and Workout (Day 93 & 94)

Tuesday

As part of a government grant, I get paid to go listen to history lectures!  It’s great!  Today was of our meetings, which end at 7:00 p.m.   I knew the two coordinators would be left behind to clean it all up by themselves, so I helped take stuff off the walls, gather up dirty plates people hadn’t thrown away, etc.

Lesson Learned: Many adults don’t throw their own stuff away, offer to help or push in their chairs.

Wednesday

My friend and I went to a workout class today.  At the end of class, everybody gathers their stuff and lines up to put their mats and anything else they borrowed back in a little room.  I was one of the first, so I just started taking stuff from people to make things go faster.  It didn’t.  I think people were just not used to someone helping, so after a few I stopped.  It was more giving to get out of their way at that point.

Lesson Learned: Knowing when to give and when to stop is a skill I am continually working on.

Chicken Sausage and Independent Work (Day 91 & 92)

Lesson Plans and A Sleepover (Day 89 & 90)

Friday

My classroom neighbor, who also happens to teach the same subject and level as I do, is going to be gone for a week to visit her mother.  She needed some lesson plans that allow for the kids to do some independent work.  I perfected some I’d used in the past, and gave them to her.

Lesson Learned:I often write “teh” instead of “the”, and I never notice.

Saturday

Although I was unprepared, I said of course to our friend who wanted to spend the night.  Fortunately, he’s young and a guy, so he wouldn’t care about the dirty dishes in the sink.  But, the sheets did need to be changed.  I put them out, so he could do it.

Lesson Learned: There’s a fine line between giving of yourself, allowing others to help and not feeling resentful because you have to do it all.

Baby Clothes and More Baby Clothes (Day 87 & 88)

I need to preface these two days with a little background detail.  I have no children, but my siblings (birth, step-, and in-law) all have kids.  Through the years, they have passed on many, many, many clothes (boys’ and girls’) and other baby stuff.  So throughout the years, I’ve gone through them and kept only things that I absolutely love.  Then I go through it all again, remembering I don’t have children, hearing my mom’s voice, “What if you don’t have a girl, but you have all these girl clothes?”, “I’ll buy you baby clothes!”, and “Someone who actually has children could use these.”  At one point, I had 10 large storage tubs of baby/kid clothes! Continue reading »

Driving and Bowie (Day 85 & 86)

Monday

I let various people in front of me when I was driving. (I could make this a lot more boring by explaining exactly how I did this, but I’ll be giving and leave it as is.)

Lesson Learned: I’m finding some days I have tons of things to write about, and I choose the most entertaining.  Other days, I’m struggling to find something to do.  I need to make sure I have more of the former than the latter.

Tuesday

We went on a drive to go look at a house that we thought we might buy (we aren’t…it was going to be too much work).  But our friends who are also looking at houses tagged along.  We often go look at houses.  Continue reading »

Pictures and No Dessert (Day 83 & 84)

Saturday

During our trip, we took tons of photos, quite a few of them were of the kids that attended.  So, I spent a portion of my morning emailing the kid pictures to the various moms.  I’m pretty sure they were too busy doing mom stuff to take a lot of pictures.

Lesson Learned: These kids have never had to wait for film to be developed to see the picture…they always want to see the pictures right away.

Sunday

We had friends over for dinner.  I’d made a delicious Lemon Tea Cake last night.  Continue reading »

Givers: A Convention

We recently went away for our yearly fall convention.  This year we went to Austria.  The amazing thing about these yearly trips is how many people freely give of their time and their talents to make sure that everything runs smoothly and everyone enjoys themselves.  So, I’d like to throw out a few thanks to all who helped make our stay truly wonderful. Continue reading »

Jumper Cables and Rubber Duckies (Day 81 & 82)

Thursday

Scott noticed this morning that our neighbor’s car had been broken into last night and the door of the car was left ajar.  (Did anyone think, “that rhymes”? Anybody say in their head, “You’re a poet and you didn’t know it?” I think I hang out with middle schoolers too much.)

Anyway, we went and told the guy, then stayed around, jumper cables ready, to see if his car had died since his door was open for hours.  It hadn’t.  But, I’m sure he appreciated that we were willing.

Lesson Learned: Sometimes giving is just letting someone know you’re willing to help. Continue reading »

Tide and Bison Chili (Day 79 & 80)

Tuesday

Today was one of the few days where it’s cloudy and raining in California.  I drove to the grocery store, and it wasn’t raining when I got there, so I left my rarely used (and very pretty) umbrella in the car.  I went into the store, got my stuff and checked out.  Is it just me or does anybody else use self-checkout because then you don’t have to talk to anyone?  I feel slightly terrible every time I do it. Continue reading »

Aisle Seats and Flashcards (Day 77 & 78)

Sunday

We got on our flight home.  I’d booked two aisles seats with two empty seats in between.  I know!  It was definitely a gamble.  And it did not pay off.  The flight was really full (except for the row right in front of us, nobody was sitting in the two seats there…I did give those seats the stink eye). Continue reading »