Saturday, June 4, 2011
VEGAS Road Trip!!
This spring, my sister, Cecilia, our cousin Franchesca, Mom, and Aunt Carla all went to Vegas. We had so much fun. My favorite parts of the trip were shopping at H&M, and just hanging with my cousins. Gotta love Vegas! :) 
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Student Teaching
I am such a lucky girl. I am absolutely LOVING my student teaching experience. I am with two amazing teachers this semester. I started out in first grade and I move over to fifth grade later in February. I learn so much every day from my Cooperating Teacher and other teachers in the school. Uintah Elementary is a great place to student teach. The faculty and staff are so helpful and kind. I feel like they are all on my "team." The students are fabulous and adorable. Next week I am beginning my unit on Antarctica. I will be taking over the whole class. This makes me nervous, but I also feel ready for this challenge.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Meet Marley!
After a year of talking about how much I wanted a dog... While we were at yellowstone last summer, Russell finally gave in and decided I could have a puppy! My cousins, Jessica and Brian, breed Golden Doodles (and Basset Hounds.) I have wanted one for years. So this is all a dream come true for me.
Shortly after the puppies were born, we drove up to Idaho to meet our pup. It took a LONG time to pick out a name (with help from Grandma), finally we decided on Marley. The first movie Russ and I went to together was "Marley and Me." Christmas Day 2008. So I guess we are succors for the sentimental stuff.
Marley is growing bigger every day. He loves going on walks, children, eating time, squeaky toys, his knit elephant, watching Chuck on TV, and playing with Tank, the golden retriever next door.
Friday, November 12, 2010
If you're happy and you know it..
For the past few years I have worked as a group leader at Club Heights After School Program. This year is no exception. I get to work with the Kindergarten again this year. It is a lot of fun. And a lot of work. I get to hang with all the kids most the day, but spend an extra 45 minutes with just these adorable 5 year olds. This week has been especially difficult for Russ and I. We found out on Tuesday that Russ was laid off. I have been trying to have a good attitude and focus on school, work, and church stuff. Thursday I was on the stage (our afterschool classroom)with the kindergarteners. We were making Turkey hats. I was lost in thought thinking about grown up problems when a sweet little boy started singing, "If you're happy and you know it.." Pretty soon all of us were up singing and dancing and laughing. I felt silly for worrying about my grown up problems at work. I decided then and there that work is an opportunity for me to focus on these kids and THEIR needs. That can be very refreshing. I am here right now, surrounded by happy kids at Friday computers. No matter what's going on in the outside world, these kids sure know how to play. :)
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Rethinking Homework by Alfie Kohn
I was doing research for a class and I came upon this helpful and interesting article...
http://www.alfiekohn.org/articles.htm#null
After spending most of the day in school, children are typically given additional assignments to be completed at home. This is a rather curious fact when you stop to think about it, but not as curious as the fact that few people ever stop to think about it.
It becomes even more curious, for that matter, in light of three other facts:
1. The negative effects of homework are well known. They include children’s frustration and exhaustion, lack of time for other activities, and possible loss of interest in learning. Many parents lament the impact of homework on their relationship with their children; they may also resent having to play the role of enforcer and worry that they will be criticized either for not being involved enough with the homework or for becoming too involved.
2. The positive effects of homework are largely mythical. In preparation for a book on the topic, I’ve spent a lot of time sifting through the research. The results are nothing short of stunning. For starters, there is absolutely no evidence of any academic benefit from assigning homework in elementary or middle school. For younger students, in fact, there isn’t even a correlation between whether children do homework (or how much they do) and any meaningful measure of achievement. At the high school level, the correlation is weak and tends to disappear when more sophisticated statistical measures are applied. Meanwhile, no study has ever substantiated the belief that homework builds character or teaches good study habits.
3. More homework is being piled on children despite the absence of its value. Over the last quarter-century the burden has increased most for the youngest children, for whom the evidence of positive effects isn’t just dubious; it’s nonexistent.
It’s not as though most teachers decide now and then that a certain lesson really ought to continue after school is over because meaningful learning is so likely to result from such an assignment that it warrants the intrusion on family time. Homework in most schools isn’t limited to those occasions when it seems appropriate and important. Rather, the point of departure seems to be: “We’ve decided ahead of time that children will have to do something every night (or several times a week). Later on we’ll figure out what to make them do.”
I’ve heard from countless people across the country about the frustration they feel over homework. Parents who watch a torrent of busywork spill out of their children’s backpacks wish they could help teachers understand how the cons overwhelmingly outweigh the pros. And teachers who have long harbored doubts about the value of homework feel pressured by those parents who mistakenly believe that a lack of afterschool assignments reflects an insufficient commitment to academic achievement. Such parents seem to reason that as long as their kids have lots of stuff to do every night, never mind what it is, then learning must be taking place.
What parents and teachers need is support from administrators who are willing to challenge the conventional wisdom. They need principals who question the slogans that pass for arguments: that homework creates a link between school and family (as if there weren’t more constructive ways to make that connection!), or that it “reinforces” what students were taught in class (a word that denotes the repetition of rote behaviors, not the development of understanding), or that it teaches children self-discipline and responsibility (a claim for which absolutely no evidence exists).
Above all, principals need to help their faculties see that the most important criterion for judging decisions about homework (or other policies, for that matter) is the impact they’re likely to have on students’ attitudes about what they’re doing. “Most of what homework is doing is driving kids away from learning,” says education professor Harvey Daniels. Let’s face it: Most children dread homework, or at best see it as something to be gotten through. Thus, even if it did provide other benefits, they would have to be weighed against its likely effect on kids’ love of learning.
*** The article continues, along with bibliography
http://www.alfiekohn.org/articles.htm#null
After spending most of the day in school, children are typically given additional assignments to be completed at home. This is a rather curious fact when you stop to think about it, but not as curious as the fact that few people ever stop to think about it.
It becomes even more curious, for that matter, in light of three other facts:
1. The negative effects of homework are well known. They include children’s frustration and exhaustion, lack of time for other activities, and possible loss of interest in learning. Many parents lament the impact of homework on their relationship with their children; they may also resent having to play the role of enforcer and worry that they will be criticized either for not being involved enough with the homework or for becoming too involved.
2. The positive effects of homework are largely mythical. In preparation for a book on the topic, I’ve spent a lot of time sifting through the research. The results are nothing short of stunning. For starters, there is absolutely no evidence of any academic benefit from assigning homework in elementary or middle school. For younger students, in fact, there isn’t even a correlation between whether children do homework (or how much they do) and any meaningful measure of achievement. At the high school level, the correlation is weak and tends to disappear when more sophisticated statistical measures are applied. Meanwhile, no study has ever substantiated the belief that homework builds character or teaches good study habits.
3. More homework is being piled on children despite the absence of its value. Over the last quarter-century the burden has increased most for the youngest children, for whom the evidence of positive effects isn’t just dubious; it’s nonexistent.
It’s not as though most teachers decide now and then that a certain lesson really ought to continue after school is over because meaningful learning is so likely to result from such an assignment that it warrants the intrusion on family time. Homework in most schools isn’t limited to those occasions when it seems appropriate and important. Rather, the point of departure seems to be: “We’ve decided ahead of time that children will have to do something every night (or several times a week). Later on we’ll figure out what to make them do.”
I’ve heard from countless people across the country about the frustration they feel over homework. Parents who watch a torrent of busywork spill out of their children’s backpacks wish they could help teachers understand how the cons overwhelmingly outweigh the pros. And teachers who have long harbored doubts about the value of homework feel pressured by those parents who mistakenly believe that a lack of afterschool assignments reflects an insufficient commitment to academic achievement. Such parents seem to reason that as long as their kids have lots of stuff to do every night, never mind what it is, then learning must be taking place.
What parents and teachers need is support from administrators who are willing to challenge the conventional wisdom. They need principals who question the slogans that pass for arguments: that homework creates a link between school and family (as if there weren’t more constructive ways to make that connection!), or that it “reinforces” what students were taught in class (a word that denotes the repetition of rote behaviors, not the development of understanding), or that it teaches children self-discipline and responsibility (a claim for which absolutely no evidence exists).
Above all, principals need to help their faculties see that the most important criterion for judging decisions about homework (or other policies, for that matter) is the impact they’re likely to have on students’ attitudes about what they’re doing. “Most of what homework is doing is driving kids away from learning,” says education professor Harvey Daniels. Let’s face it: Most children dread homework, or at best see it as something to be gotten through. Thus, even if it did provide other benefits, they would have to be weighed against its likely effect on kids’ love of learning.
*** The article continues, along with bibliography
Friday, July 2, 2010
i work at wal-mart
So, my official job title... somewhere along the lines of "gate keeper." Sounds like something from the "Lord of the Rings." I sit at the back door of this Wal-mart super center. My job is to make sure the sub-contractors get checked into our computer system as they come to work and checked out as they leave. When they hired me, the man said, "You need a hobby. Do you knit?" He was right. I bought crayons and am almost done with a Chelsea Handler book. I do not often have access to the internet, but there are other things to do. I get to type up the boys' notes from their meetings. And often, I chat with the wal-mart associates. (That is the correct term.) Wal-mart has a policy that wherever there is an open door, there must be an associate. These people are there to make sure the contractors (and me) do not steal anything. They check receipts if we buy anything.. stuff like that. My favorite two associates are Carla and Kel. Even though my job is pretty simple, I sometimes get jealous of the wal-mart associates. They get breaks and lunches. And even a walkie talkie...
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