Happy Happy Birthday

Little Man is One Today!!

Paula is currently having to go in every .5 seconds because he apparently doesn't want his big day to end..

Celebrate Good Times.. C'mon

Party over here..

My semester is pretty much to its close. I have two eight page papers to write this weekend and I am dunzo.. Just have to attend classes until that last week in May to get participation and attendance grades.. WHOOHOOO!!!!!!!!!

Very close to Baby Girl Moyer’s Arrival – Her aunties in Michigan cannot wait to meet her!!

Just applied for two scholarships through our Dean - wish me luck..

Here are some new but old pictures of Landon-- All four of us in this house are loving this warm weather.. Hope you all have a nice weekend!!

Tiresome Tuesday

1. For a class we have to write expository text – stories from prompts.. and I need your help..Pretty Pretty Please.. I need 5 writing prompts in which I take two of the five to create two small papers… I have to also submit all five of the prompts which I am not allowed to pick for myself.. so remember professor will see them all..
   
   Much Appreciated –
   
   Hope everyone has a wonderful St. Patty’s Day – For myself – I am babysitting the little guy.
   
   
   
   What I learned recently in the classroom –

1. Cloud Paint.. Oh So Much Fun – Shaving Cream, Glue, and Food Coloring.. We put the mixture/creation on paper plates, paper, and bags. Unique is the texture and how it dries.. the kids love it!

2. Hunts – With the thought of Easter Egg Hunts.. I created cut outs like cars, stars, fruit, bikes..etc.. and put little scavenger hunt problems on each of them.. The kids all 18 of them.. are each given their own cutout.. They have to find theirs and we go over the rules as how if they see someone else’s they ignore it unless that individual is asking for help. Depending on what it says determines what happens next – clues to go to certain parts of the room, some have math problems or spelling words the kids currently have to be able to move on.. and while one teacher hides them all.. the kids each pick out a book and we buddy up.. Which if your not sure of is our School Agers Read with our Wrap Around and they love it.. They get good quality reading time, which some of them sadly do not get outside of school at all… We also do egg hunts.. but since we can’t do “Holidays” we try to save those for Winter so “I” do not get in trouble.

3. Sticker Walk – Remember Musical Chairs or Cake Walks?? Same generalization.. just a little different – We set up the chairs and tape numbers on the back..We also put copies of the numbers into a basket. We play music and we skip, hop, glide, march, rotate, and walk while it is playing and when it is done we have a seat. Someone draws a number without looking and that person gets a sticker. We do not remove any chairs or that would lead to a catastrophe or crying and we play everal rounds.. The person with the most stickers gets to be line leader or something like sweeper at clean up (the most highly regarded job for some reason to them).. just something small in the classroom which to them is a huge deal.. We have been playing this once a week for the past three weeks and they always ask.. do we get to play Sticker walk today.. try it.. school or home.. its fun.. even the teachers do it with the kids!!

Checking In

Tomorrow I have a literacy conference and will be gone the entire day. That leaves a ton of homework to finish tonight for the beginning of two crazy weeks. Once these two weeks are over.. all will be good again.. and the semester will pretty much be over for me even though finals are not until May.

Here are some pictures I took of Landito this afternoon.

Hope everyone had a good weekend

Over It

This semester that is. I am sick of professors using cooperative learning and getting stuck with people who do not care about their grades. I am sick of creating PowerPoint presentations every week, (I have to create three for Tuesday) sick of wasting paper and printing 32 pages a week for handouts, and getting online filler assignments.

I am up in Traverse City right now; I have class from 9-3 today. With my luck, the night before we had an ice storm, so the seasonal roads to get here were nice and slick. To make my weekend even better I get to sit in class today alternating between coughing and blowing my nose. Ugh.

So that pretty is much is what I do, day after day, 5 days a week, 15 weeks during the semester. Homework galore. I can’t wait for this one in particular to be over. Plus when it is over.. I get to fly out to see Baby Girl Moyer!!

With All The Power

Here at Ferris we register for classes the previous semester. So way back yonder in last semester, I registered for EDLA Writer’s Workshop, my planned professor had to drop due to family illness, they replaced another professor, who had time constraints, they tried to plan another professor, but schedules were all full so for the College of Education – Human Services, the Dean of Education took on the class. The dean of freaking education -- the one will all the power.

So in class in the beginning of the semester, she tells all 40 of us in the class that she will pay for us to go to a conference, the Bridges to Lifelong Literacy, in Grand Rapids, MI. Its 1 hour away people. Some teachers have to fly, some drive for days, some for 8 hours, we are a merely 45-55 minutes away and I am the only one signed up for the conference.

The dean told me that since I am going, I do not have to do two of the scheduled assignments! So the one who signs my diploma I am now on great standing with!!

She emails my student account about every other day with excellent teaching links. I get to attend a conference that will help every aspect of my degree/career, and I don’t even have to pay for it!

That’s America People –

I am off to do crazy amounts of homework like always – One 7 pg Paper on Tibet, A reader’s Theater 30 minute presentation that we have to perform in a local school, start of 60 minute presentation on the culture and folktales of China, and read up on the Bypassed East.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend –