Our newest addition

We've been pet-less for awhile now.  For about 10 years.  And the iguana doesn't count as a pet.  Not really anyway.  You can't love on an iguana.  They get testy about that.  And getting hit with an iguana tail is much like getting slapped.  It's not loving in any way.

T has been the most vocal about no pets.  He really hates walking into a house and being able to smell that a pet lives there.  So he's been very adamant about no indoor pets.  We've been focused on dogs for awhile, with our minds set on black labs.  Our minds are still set that way...they are just the coolest dogs.  A black lab named Bo adopted us when we lived in Weatherford in 2000.  It followed T everywhere.  He would walk these four mile treks, and that dog would go everywhere he went, playing in streams as it went.  "Now THAT'S a dog!" he would say.  So if we do get a dog at some point, I believe a black lab is the only thing that will do.  But we need a fence first.  That will take some time.

So it was surprising last week when T brought home a cat.  A young, black and white cat.  And it's been taking over our house every since.  We immediately went out and bought it play things and a litter box.  It was tentative at first, but now, the house is his domain.  We know this, because he's willing to take on anything or anyone that gets in his path.  We walk up the stairs and we get pounced.  Downstairs.  Pounced.  By doors, pounced.  He also goes on little rampages and tears through the house, bouncing off walls, running sideways on the couch.  He plays chase with the boys.  They even gang up on him, with each boy scaring him to different rooms, but he just darts by them, turns around in the room and heads back out again, usually with the boys on their hands and knees laughing too hard to pursue.

The cat is T's baby, too.  I pointed out to T that it's funny that he was the one that was so vocal about not having a pet, and this one has him wrapped around it's little paw-pinky.  T said, "Yeah, but you should thank me.  I held out for the best one!"

So now it's on to naming him.  He's been here a week with no name.  We're not real good at that part.  Our last cat was named Big Kitty.  But she lived 22 years. Maybe we should keep it simple again and name it Cat.  If names are any indication, he'll be with us awhile.  It should be fun.

It takes so little

There's a teacher I admire.  She's been teaching a long time, and is close to retirement, yet she's continually learning and trying new things.  And she has a love and passion for teaching kids.

I got to talk to her at length yesterday, after a district meeting.  As GT teachers, we meet once a month to share ideas, make sure we're all on the same page, and to plan for our summer field trip with our students. Yesterday, the meeting was in my class.  She stayed after, talking about what she was doing in her class, and I always come away with new ideas after talking to her.

But she shared a little more with me yesterday.  She shared her heart.  We were talking about difficult students we've had, and she recently had a moment with one of those students that we teachers only dream about.  Her "difficult" student just got accepted to a University, with scholarships to boot.  She's going to be a missions director.

This student hadn't forgotten my friend, though.  My friend worked with her since kinder, and took time to do little things outside the realm of normal teaching with her.  She walked her from her bus to her class.  She colored with her.  She listened and cared when other teachers didn't.  This teacher saw something in this little girl that no one else did.

So the now-grown-up little girl took my friend to lunch recently.  During the course of the lunch, the "girl" stopped and said, "There's something I need to say to you."  Of course my friend stopped and listened.  "If our paths had never crossed," the girl said, "You would not have changed.  You would be the exact person I'm sitting across today.  I know that.  But..." she continued, "if our paths had never crossed, I would definitely not be the same person sitting across from you today."

Tears.  Lots of them.  And not just between the girl and my friend, but between my friend and me now.

"How many teachers go through their career never really knowing if they made a difference?  You now know!"  I said.  You know what she said to me?  She said, "But that's not what made me cry then or now.  What makes me cry is the fact that it took so little to change the course of her life."

Humble pie.  As always, I took that conversation and made it about our profession, about success as a teacher, about proof that she made a difference.  She on the other hand, saw the real issue at hand.  "How many," she said, "get passed over, without ever having a lifeline.  She was a troubled little girl that didn't fit into our neat little boxes.  How many just get passed over?  It really takes so little."

It was a great question.  One of those life lesson questions that motivates us to do better.  It's the reminder of why we get into teaching.  It's not just about good lessons, great ideas, learning and great questions.  It's about people.  Little people who grow up and become big people.  And those big people can make a difference in this world, good or bad.

Sometimes all they need is a walk.  Or a coloring buddy.

Or someone just to see them.  It makes a difference.

Ends and beginnings

I know I've complained about how hard the rating position was, but wow.  What a learning experience.  I'm glad I was able to rate, even though it meant long hours and a little less sleep.

I've been thinking about getting my Master's for awhile, but I've not been happy with the choices available.  I want to study something I'm passionate about, not just a degree that means more pay.  Enter the Master's of Education with an emphasis in mind, brain and education!  It's a mixture of neuroscience and education and has got me so excited I can hardly stand it!

Apparently this is a new field, and this degree looks at the way the brain learns and matches it with educational strategies so that those in this field can design better curriculum that meets the needs of kids' learning styles whether they have learning disabilities or not.  It's the path I've been on since teaching at the international school in Taiwan.

So...GRE, here I come!

Rating is...

SOOOO  HAAARD!  I'm glad I'm doing it, but....IT'S SO HARD!

Healing the Blind Spots

Have you ever been in a situation for a prolonged period of time, then come out of it only to be left with residual effects? 

Well, I've had the realization this week that that is what I'm dealing with, and I'm finally able to let go.  It also tells me just how unhealthy things were for me for so long.

My husband and I worked in an environment overseas that was very competitive, and not in a healthy way.  Sad, because there was no reason for it to be, but there it is.  I'm not sure why it was, but there was a need for those we worked with in our region to compete and vie for positions.  T and I didn't think like that, so it was disheartening to have it happen.  We just wanted to put our heads down and do our work.  We didn't want to be part of the politics.  In my opinion, people who do their work from the standpoint of personal agendas are not people I want to work with.  There is always a questioning of motives, or an inability to speak freely because of others who want to discredit or take credit for the work.

It wasn't the recognition that we wanted.  T and I both are background people.  We don't like the spotlight, and would rather someone else take it.  It was more about stealing.  The stealing of ideas to present as their own, the stealing of words (hearing your own words coming out of someone else's mouth), or even the stealing of joy.  I was glad to be rid of it all when the time came.  I figured those people, the ones who behaved in this way, deserved each other.  I'm not sure what goes on now, but I can imagine things eventually get very lonely, because you can only undermine those close to you for so long before people get sick of it.  I imagine there are many serial friendships rather than long-lasting deep friendships. 

But I realized lately that the actions of those few had a great impact on me.  I became hypersensitive to making sure credit was given where credit was due.  And I was probably a bit too harsh with folks who tried to steal the spotlight from someone else, instead of letting them enjoy their moment.  (Harsh in my mind and my opinion of them, not openly)

I've had the privilege the last few years of working with people who are selfless, who don't care about the spotlight.  Their "Do Whatever It Takes" attitudes have no egos.  They may get accolades, they may not.  It doesn't matter.  It's the kind of attitude I had when I first went overseas...before I became jaded.  It's sad that I found that in secular work.

But now, I'm OK with those needing to take credit that isn't theirs.  I realize they must need it, and it really doesn't matter to me. It's a little sad to me, but I'm at a healthier point in my life and can truthfully say that if someone needs the spotlight, I'm OK if they take it.  I'll still give credit where credit is due, because that's fair.

And in the end, as I'm coming to realize, it's all fair.  The good and the bad of it.  Because eventually each person gets the credit they deserve. For the right reasons.  

Oh no, I'm not busy enough...

You would think I'd learned my lesson last year in terms of being busy during the school year.  But no.  I didn't.  Teaching at two schools isn't enough. Neither is testing at both of those schools.  And never mind the fact that this is Timo's senior year and all that that implies.  I had to add rater to my list of duties.

It's a good deal, mind you.  And it will look good on a resume should I ever need it again.  But still.  Adding additional hours to these weeks is....not well thought out? 

But for now, I'm enjoying the experience.  I really am glad I did it. 

Really.

TAGT and me - YIKES!

I've had this passion in my educational life the past few years.  It started in Taiwan, when I was teaching at the international school there.  I was trying to figure out how to reach a handful of students within that community.  They struggled in the classroom, but they were obviously smart and talented.  Teachers were beginning to give up on them.

I noticed that these students were mainly students who were ADD, ADHD or ultra-creative in the way they expressed themselves.  They HATED to be told the steps to do things.  Rather, they liked to figure out steps on their own.  They loved problem solving, and in fact, that's where they got their energy from.  Telling these students how to do things sucked the life right out of them.  However, if I put a problem on the board with the answer, and asked them how I got the answer, their eyes immediately lit up, and they were involved.  I had them hook, line and sinker.  Once they learned the steps in this way, they had them forever.  No skill and practice was needed at all.

I didn't come up with these initial ideas on my own.  I found a website constructed by a woman named Dr. Linda Kreger Silverman.  She had been studying these types of students since the 70's, and had even coined the term that we use to describe them to this day:  the Visual Spatial learner.  I studied just about everything Dr. Silverman published on this type of student, and I've become a huge advocate for this type of learner at my schools.  I've found that these students are huge assets in any classroom, and have amazing learning abilities, even though they learn quite differently from the way we teach in a regular classroom.  They struggle desperately in the early years, and if not caught early, these learners can become so beaten down that they lose all interest in school and eventually drop out.

I happen to be married to a visual spatial learner, and I'm one myself.  As a result, two of my children also learn in this manner.  So you can see the amount of personal interest I have in the topic, and why, after no thought whatsoever, I submitted this topic as one I would be willing to present at the Texas Association of Gifted and Talented conference, held in Austin this year.  It's a state conference, and GT teachers from all over the state attend to learn more about the students we hope to inspire.  I never thought my topic would be accepted.  It was.

So now I'm presenting about visual spatial learners to teachers from all over the state this November.  And to make it even more nerve wrecking, Dr. Linda Kruger Silverman is one of the keynote speakers. 

What was I thinking????  Better get my game on!