Dipped in Gold

Tried out a new nail technique

well...this look requires no skill at all really

Start with a base coat of any color

Dab a little bit of glitter to the tip and there you go

The more un-even the better

//I used\\

China Glaze in Ingrid

Sephora by OPI in Looks Like Rain, Dear

Why be Punctual?

Well Mr. President gave his yearly speech to students today.

Which was fifteen minutes late...so we waited in limbo for him to grace us with his presence that lasted twenty two minutes and nine seconds.

//This is what was discussed\\

students are the future so make it a good one

stay determined and perserver

being the best of the best

troubled economic times
facebook/twitter drama

taking risks

//Here is my issue\\

Obama encouraged students to further their education after school by attending some sort of college. Going to any  college is not an option for everyone...especially for my students. He stated that more than 60% of jobs in the future will require a degree higher than a high school diploma. Well my students will most likely graduate with a special diploma and will be turned away from furthering their education...so what is their option? Take the 40% of jobs that require less than a high school diploma? There has to be other options!



//All in all I have heard better\\

No Marry Poppins Here

I am a firm believer in separation of work and home. I tend not to bring any school work home...unless I have a lot of IEP work to do that I was not able to complete at work.

 I try to avoid the whole Marry Poppins bag where I can pull endless amount of stuff out of it. This Fossil bag allows me to limit what I take and bring home everyday.

Since it was the weekend I did bring home my academic plans binder and my lesson plans/seating chart binder as well as my calendar.

 I manage to squeeze in this clutch that holds everyday necessities.

The clutch holds mainly lip gloss, wallet, purple pens and some gift cards.

//Linking with Inspired Apple\\

Big letters

Last week, in class we learned some of the many capitalization rules there are out there in the world. I narrowed down the rules to nine...the ones they use most often in writing.

Students were given a piece of paper with strips

One strip with the nine rules

The other strip with two sentences for each of the rules.

They lined up the nine capitalization rules in order

Then by themselves they determined which one of the sentences went with each of the capitalization rules. We discussed each of the rules before they matched the sentences with the rules.

Once they correctly placed and glued each sentence with the rule they flipped the paper over and wrote their own sentence to the nine rules. All in all the lesson went well. I enjoy watching my students apply what they just learned and this activity allowed me to do so!

I also imported these pictures in a Power Point so students could see what they needed to do each step of the activity. By doing so eliminated a lot of questions.

Teacher Desk

Here is a snap-shot of my desk this past week

1. Literary elements research

2. nail polish

3. morning coffee

4. vocab test dates post-it

5. hummus snack

6. a story's 5 senses notes prep

//click the pic to enlarge\\

Tear Jerker

The county that I work in has a program called Golden Apple where individuals can nominate outstanding teachers for this award.

Well, yesterday one of my adorable 8th graders wrote a nomination for me, which he said not to read, I of course read what he said after school and as I read tears started to form in my eyes.

My goal as an ESE teacher is to have as many of my students moved to general education classes so they have an option to have a standard diploma. Well, this student has worked very hard and is in the process of being moved out of his ESE classes.

This is what he wrote.

Ms. Hall has been a good teacher. She has taught me a lot of new stuff. She made me go from intensive to regular Language Arts class. If it wasn't for her I would still be stuck in ESE classes. I give her a big thank you.

From L.V

Funny story about last years Golden Apples. One of my 8th graders was in the process of filling out a G.A for me and unfortunately she had gum in her mouth, which equals a citation. After she signed her citation she marched back to her desk and tore my G.A nomination up and threw it in the trash. I of course found this situation very amusing...she obviously did not.

Can'ts Won'ts and Doesn'ts

ESE 101

 Never ever tell a student with a disability that they cannot, will not or does not have the ability to perform an educational task.

With that being said...May I say that Glee had some classic disability lines for their opening show this past week.

Sugar Mata's "I have self-diagnosed aspergers and I can pretty much say whatever I want."

Santana and Becky in Sues office "Let me tell you how it is when I look at a person I do not see a person that looks a certain way or has this or that amount of chromosomes I just see someone I may or may not have to destroy."

Becky has Down Syndrome...chromosome disorder

September Birchbox

September's birchbox was finally delivered

//yea\\

This box celebrates Birchbox first anniversary

This box represents every aspect of Birchbox

CRAFTY-PRACTICAL-PREPARED-ADVENTUROUS-TREAT

TREAT

Birchbox Friendship Bracelet

ADVENTUROUS

Nail Polish Applique

CRAFT

Face Nourish

PRACTICAL

Lip enhance

PREPARED

Moisturizing hand sanitizer

all in all another great Birchbox

The form that started it all

While I was nearing the end of my time at USF my cohort was asked to write a personal reflection on how we decided to major in varrying exceptionalities. A lot of what I wrote can be read in the "My journey" portion of the blog. In my paper I refrenced a test that identified me as having a specific learning disability.

When my mom handed down all of my files I found the test evaluation that was mentioned in my personal reflection. For years I thought this form had been lost or never made it into my files.

As I was reviewing my files I finally found the form that started it all! A wave of relief came over me as I began to realize that what I remembered early on in first grade actually did take place. I find it amazing that I remember very little about my early education, but can vividly recall being identified as having a disability.

 

On the first page the evaluator gave refrence as of why I was reffered for testing. Apparently, I was having difficulty in my learning environment. I could not stay on task or concentrate to save my life and following directions was almost impossible in reading. Due to being frustrated beyond belief in the classroom I took to scribbling on my papers and withdrawling from classroom activities. Clearly, my teacher and parents did what was needed by having me tested for a disability.

If you would like to learn more about my journey to become a special education teacher than travel on over to "my journey" section of the blog.



Out of my mind

I have to be honest with you. The only reason I picked up this book was because of the cover art. I have been known to judge a book by its cover on more than one occasion. If a book has an ugly cover than I will not give it a second chance. However, if a book has a eye appealing cover I pick it up.

Well Out Of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper is a picker upper for sure without the cute cover art!

Now I realize this book is geared for young readers, but these pages had me laughing out loud, shedding a tear or two and is a very fast easy read.

The story takes you through the life of Melody who happens to have cerebral palsey. Melody has a list of cannots longer than the typical person. She cannot read, write, talk, feed herself and has difficulty holding a toy. She is dependent on others around her.

Those that care for Melody including her parents are unaware that Melody is smarter than she appears.

 Here is a little snip-it

//I am pretty sure this breaks some sort of copyright rule\\

Oh Well

...When people look at me, I guess they see a girl with short, dark, curly hair strapped into a pink wheelchair. By the way, there is nothing cute about a pink wheelchair. Pink doesn't change a thing. They'd see a girl with dark brown eyes that are full of curiosity. But one of them is slightly out of whack. Her head wobbles a little. Sometimes she drools. She's really tiny for a girl who is age ten and three quarters. Her legs are very thin, probably because they've never been used. Her body tends to move on its own agenda, with feet sometimes kicking out unexpectedly and arms occasionally flailing, connecting with whatever is close by- a stack of CDs, a bowl of soup, a vase of roses. Not a whole lot of control. After folks got finished making a list of my problems, they might take time to notice that I have a fairly nice smile and deep dimples--I think my dimples are cool. I wear tiny gold earrings. Sometimes people never even ask my name, like it's not important or something. It is. My name is Melody...

I love love love this book and I am not even done reading it

This book is a MUST for ANY classroom library!

Paper doll

This is the paper version of me.  Just add water and I spring up!

 

A while ago my mom gathered a majority of my school papers and passed them along to me. Not knowing what to do with the files they sat in my closet for a month or two. While I was re-organizing the closet, that was already organized, I decided to create a more permanent home for these papers. Before placing them in there new home I browsed through what was written about me oh so many years ago.

Truth be told I tend to avoid reading any of my files because my eyes typically get a little watery. Memories and feelings that I have buried for years resurface and usually have an interesting affect on me.

My files new home...ten times prettier than a file folder

The Journey portion of this blog is coming together and will be ready by the end of the week. Hopefully, this post will motivate me to complete it.

My IEPs are old school all hand written
I am so grateful that IEPs are now computer generated for the ones I complete

10 on 10

I "pictured" my first ten on ten going a little differently. I would of liked to of gone to the beach, but this ever so wonderful cold had other plans in mind.

9 A.M

10 A.M

11 A.M

12 P.M

1 P.M

2 P.M

3 P.M

4 P.M

5 P.M

6 P.M

 

morning ritual-makeup brush cleaning-laundry-movie selection-brunch/lunch-cold necessities-nap time-picture day selection-nail polish organization-so long fever

I moved slower than a slug today, but hopefully by Monday I will rid myself of this cold

Haunted leg

At this point having a haunted leg would be more entertaining than the common cold

I blame the children for this illness...obviously no amount of lysoling desks and chairs could prevent this from happening.

My new BFF is a box of Kleenex

T-shirt time

I do not know about you, but I love soft comfortable t-shirts. Well I found my perfect comfy tee at Walmart!

 This is what I came across the logo for Special Olympics neatly folded hiding the rest of the t-shirt. Now knowing this shirt is at Wal-mart I was a little concerned what was going to be below the logo. I know I should not judge!

 Thankfully, there was nothing negative about Special Olympics below the logo! I even made sure everything was spelled correctly!

 To make me feel even worse about assuming the worst...the purchase of the this shirt goes to benefiting Special Olympics. So, if you are looking for a comfy tee stop by your local men's section to pick up a tee that not only feels good, but does good!