What Gives with Kids programming? June 4, 2008

Ok so I don’t know about all of you parents out there but, as I am getting my sons dinner made and putting a few dishes in the dishwasher, I will but on Noggin for my 9 month old son, Cole.  Most of the programs are pretty good, Blue’s Clue’s, Little Bear, and I can even tolorate the Upside Down Show, however, one show ,that no matter how many times I watch it or it comes on, I will never understand what teh appeal is and how it remains on TV is Yo! Gabba, Gabba!  The show is terrible!   The only person in the show who appears to be having a “good” time is the stupid DJ guy! Even the kids don’t seen to be invested in the show and its attept at making things seem hip and fun!  Ok well enough of that, I am off to play with my son and not let his mind get infected with Yo! Gabba, Gabba! anymore.

A

Kindness! Could it hurt you? May 23, 2008

Have you noticed lately that being kind to someone is like pulling teeth? I don’t really mean from myself to someone else but visa-versa. I don’t know about you, and perhaps it is just me noticing things, but people are either just ignoring others, snapping peoples heads off, or just down right being nasty to one another. I know that on a daily basis I am not innocent of being short with others but I do at least try to do things with a smile, a cheerful voice and a bit of a spring in my step. Being a teacher, and always under the watchful eye of kids, I try to lead by example. However, a select few others seem to do this. My teaching prep and upbringing have taught me that children follow the old motto of “monkey see, monkey do” so in turn if they see a teacher, who is a place of respect and is seen as a leader, being rude, disrespectful and unkind to others they are coming in contact with, then why should they be kind and nice as they know they should be? Some people just seem to have that kind of personality, I guess. I just don’t see how being always rude to others makes you a happy person. If you are always looking for and acting out in unkind and rude ways isn’t that most likely how mostly everyone you come in contact with see you? Aren’t first impressions supposed to be the impression that stays with people. So I say to all of you out there in blogland, try to do a random act of kindness, smile at someone and actually mean it, say things a little less harshly, and I can almost guarantee you that you will feel all the better for it and, who knows, you may have just made someones day.

Smiles and happy salutations. A

Hi, My name is Alison and I am a Food Network addict May 22, 2008

So whenever there is nothing on TV (or in most cases even when there is) I inevidably end up on the Food Network. I will watch just about any show they have to offer. (NOTICE: I said just about any) I have my favorites… Anything involving Alton Brown, Unwrapped, Food Network Challenge, Next Food Network Star, Paula Deen (mmmmmm….butter), Rachel Ray (only if I have any interest in what she is making AND she is refraining from saying “YumO” 65 bazillion times), ok so you see why I have a problem.  On any given day if I even get the remote for a fraction of a second, from my husband, I will turn to FN, and if he even makes a move to take the remote and attempt to change the channel he will get the evil eye (oh come on you all know the look). I will gently remind him that if I have to sit and watch his addiction ( WWII movies and ANY John Wayne movie ever made) then he can sit and watch FN with me and Cole. I will say that I have learned quite a bit from watching FN. I have made some new things that will get made again and I have also made some that I think in my subconcious taste memory I can unfortunatly still taste.  But there is really no point to this, I just wanted to come clean, they say admitting you have a problem is the first step in recovery, but do I want to recover from this addiction? Well ask me that the next time I make a new “family favorite” and end up silently thinking ” so this maybe wasn’t the best thing to make” and then suggest we have ice cream for dinner.  Ok off to get my next FN fix….ohhohooooohhhooooooo “Iron Chef America”

A

20 days until summer vacation….then what?! May 21, 2008

Ok, I guess I am a bit excited for summer vacation to get here. We have the count down figured out  3 more Mondays wake up….4 more Tuesdays….and so on…however, the only things my summer has going for it is an amazing trip to Portugal (soooo excited) and being able to spend a ton more time with my little man. Other than those thing what is it all about?  So I guess I am a bit of a workaholic…if I am not busy doing something then I  go out of my mind!! I need to be kept busy. Some may be saying, “but Alison, isn’t having an infant son going to keep you very busy?” and while the answer is indeed “YES” ,he will be attending daycare through out the summer (ok, Moms don’t go getting all mad and upset at me for putting him in daycare while I will be home, I have my reasons). So while Cole is at daycare, playing with his little friends and flirting with the girls (lol) I will be at home, cleaning, looking for something,anything, to keep me busy. One problem with me not being busy is if I get bored I will go shopping! Again, some may say why is that such a bad thing. Well, for those of you who know me well you all know that finance is not my strong suit.  If I get a buck I find a way to spend it. Thus, this is my difficulty…if I am busy I will not spend $$, but it is my summer vacation so do I really want to work, but on the flip side if I work I will have extra $$ to spend if I want to shop…see the vicious cycle?  So I will do like I do each year…I will clean the house, play with my little love (new this year), perhaps start looking for letterboxes with Matt (I’m in, if your in, buddy ole’ pal). So I guess the “then what” really isn’t a question to be answered but just one to keep me on track and realize that I am one of the few lucky people who get a summer off and have to worry about the “then what’s”!

A

Blast from the past: Part Deux May 20, 2008

Strange how things all seem to happen in threes…..
1. I get on Facebook from an invite from an old friend
2. Begin to reconnect with classmates from HS (Good ole’ class of West Side ‘95′)
3. One of my oldest friends (not in age but years known) contacts me through Facebook

Ahhhh…and then again the memories come flooding back to me……(imagine wavy lines and some cool flashback music playing softly)
Picture this….Boys & Girls Club mid to late 80’s, a group of kids sits clumped together on the first day of summer camp. We are of all kinds of backgrounds and no one seems to know the other. I am a pretty awkward kid (in my mind at least). I am sitting amongst a group of kids I do not know, at a place I have never been before, wondering what we will be doing. The counselor comes out and begins to call roll…..(I don’t remember names really so I am just using random ones to make the point)

Timmy….here
Sean….here
Mary….here
Susie…here
Alison…..here….here (now I am thinking “hey, that’s my name”) so the counselor clarifies by calling last names and we each respond “here” when we hear our respective last name, but from that moment on we were bonded, this other Alison and I.
So after roll we go to our assigned area for the morning and the “other” and I drift over towards one another. We both say “Hi” and act awkward and uncomfortable then one of us (not sure which as my mind has faded over the years) says to the other, “so how do youspell your name?” The other replies ” A..L..I..S..O..N…” a look of WOW crosses ones face as she realizes that this girl spells her name the same exact way (now to many this may not be so wonderful, but when you grow up with a name that EVERYONE misspells and you can find no cool little trinkets with your name on them, this is like winning the lottery) So the next inevitable question of course in “what is your middle name” (why this was such a big deal as kids I never quite understood) in reply “Marie.” NO WAY, same middle name too! Then we both figure out that our last names are 1 letter off from each other.
Needless to say from that day on we were known as Ali and Alison (me being Alison as my mother would NEVER allow for me to be called by a nickname). We did everything together that summer and from then on.
As we grew up we still hung out with each other, had sleep overs, talked on the phone for hours about boys, music, school, you know all the usual stuff. But along came graduation and college…Ali went down to Florida for school, I took a year off…she came home that first year, then her parents moved down there…I started at AIC in Springfield…essentially we lost touch.
We did reconnect for a bit again and I went down to visit her in Florida and had the grand idea of transferring to a school down there…but that didn’t happen…then we lost touch again…until she did a search of my name on Facebook and PRESTO!!!…there I was! Now we chat online, we have spoken on the phone once (and ,yes, it was for hours) and we are re-learning about each other again while still holding on to what and who we were those many years ago. So, Hello Alison, same middle name, do you want to be my friend?

:)A

Frustration!!!! May 19, 2008

Ok, so being a teacher is everything I thought it would be and more however….one problem I have is the ever loved (previous 2 words dripping with sarcasm) MCAS Test! This is one of the few things in my life that make me feel helpless! I feel like a rotten teacher when a students asks for help with a word or problem and I have to outright refuse them for fear of losing my job! For those of you who are reading this and don’t know what the MCAS is it is a standardized test that all students grades 3-10 must take. It is supposed to be an accurate measure of what the students have learned in the year however, if you get to see the test like I do, you will notice that it has many flaws, from how the questions are worded to how they determine what material is on the test. This gets me thinking of another frustrating thing for me but I will save that nugget for another blog! This year I am currently working with 3rd graders with varying learning disabilities so it is my nature to want to help these kids and take advantage of any possible teachable moment. Well along comes the MCAS and and this year I happen to be working 1:1 with a youngster who gets the test (Math this round) read aloud to her as well a scribed for her, on any question requiring her to write and not just fill in bubbles. So she is taking the test and along the way she asks me to explain a question, this is how the conversation went…
Student: ” Ms. Martins what do they mean? I don’t get what they want me to do!”
Me: ” I’m sorry I can’t help you. All I can do is read you the question again.”
Student: ” How come you can’t help me? You help me in class. I don’t need the answer I just don’t get the question.”
Me: I’m sorry I can’t help you. All I can do is read the question to you again.”

Sooo… do you see my frustration? I am in the business of helping kids. The whole fiber of my being wanted to help her. All she was seeking was a clarification of the question not the answer. But NOOOOOO ( again dripping with sarcasm) I had to sound like a broken record and refuse her. The look of defeat on her face was one to break my heart a thousand times. Why is it that when kids need their teachers most is the moment we are deemed by DOE law that we can’t help them? Why is that people say our schools are failing our students when perhaps it is that our hands are tied so often that we can only do what we can? I know this blog i going nowhere really, and that it is turning into a rant but I can’t help it! I hate to see my students struggle…they try so hard to get the right answer but all because they couldn’t understand one word or phrase they are 1 point off in the answer. GRRRRRRR…..ok, ok, deep breaths, in….out….in….out…..

Ok, sorry folks I lost the whole point of where I was going with this but what it all comes down to it I guess I just want to be able to teach my students as best as I can, I will continue to say “I am sorry I can’t help you”, and I hope that they don’t hold it against me, and when the test is through maybe I will sit with them to do a question like the one they didn’t understand and hope that too little isn’t too
late.

:~ A

Blast from the past May 19, 2008

So I got an email from my junior high, early high school best friend. Talk about a blast from the past! It is strange though how suddenly someone from so long ago can evoke such strong memories! Music tends to do the samething to me. In fact, I was listening to my ipod the other day and a Chris Isaak song came on, oh you know the one…”what a wicked game you play, to make me feel this way”…yada yada…, annnyyyway, whenever Chris Isaak comes on I think of Maryclaire, my old friend, and I think of how young we were, how serious we thought we were, how much fun we used to have. Now, we are both married with children, living a grown up lives, but are we all that different from our younger selves? Let’s compare memory lane to grown-up street…. (at least my lane and my street)

Then…Watched a T.V. show where the main character was a vampire in love with a human (Dark Shadows)

Now…Watch a T.V. show where the main character is a vampire and is in love with a human ( Moonlight)

Then…New Kids On the Block were “Hangin’ Tough”

Now…New Kids On the Block are…well…ummmm..”Hangin’ Tough”
Then…Collecting autographs of who I thought was “BIG”
Now…Still trying to collect autographs of who I think is “BIG”
Well you get the idea…so how much have we really changed? Grown? Do we all just suddenly one day turn the switch from who we were as teens to adults? I believe that we will always be who we liked ourselves best as, who we felt we really were. Me, I will always in my mind be that silly, young girl with a crush on a TV character, sining along to her fave music, collecting autographs. The only difference is that I know what my life holds and I am happy with it how it has turned out. I no longer have that uncertainness hanging over my head.
So for all of you out there afraid to make contact with someone from your past for fear of seeing who your old self was, perhaps your old self never left, but just got a few grays and the tempo of the music changed.

A

Oh the joys of motherhood…no, really! May 15, 2008

YAWN…!!!! OK, so you ask yourself, what could be so joyful about motherhood when the first word you write is YAWN? Well, at the moment, through the tired haze that is my mind, and the caffeine induced coma I am putting myself in, nothing is joyful about it. However, after reading a blog written recently by my good friend Matt, I have decided to change my view of thinking, from one of resentment and exhaustion, to one of being thankful, but still exhausted, for the wonderful gift Chris and I have been given in the form of our son, Cole. Yes, he did keep us up most of the night, but he wasn’t crying, as most of you may think, he was babbling, cooing and uttering, in his oh so cute babyease, dadadadadada and making raspberry sounds. As frustrating as it may have been and as much as I wanted to pull the covers up tight and put my pillow over my face, I went in to see if he was OK and the look of happiness that came across his face, each time I checked on him I might add it was 4 times, was one of pure joy for him and me! I would pick him up and sway with him, as he hugged my neck and tickled my shoulder with his little fingers, trying to get him lulled back into sleep. But deep down I didn’t want that moment to end. In my subconscious, yes, here I go getting Freudian on you all, I think I feel that I need to treasure each frustrating night of getting up. I know that I am, in all actuality, being rewarded with his unconditional love and that I should not take this time for granted or with frustration. I need to cherish it as he is a gift, as is this time, because this is the only time he will be this age and I will never be able to get this time back no matter how I try. So to all of you mothers and fathers out there, that may stumble upon this rambling blog, keep that in mind the next time your child(ren) get on your every last nerve and instead of complaining about it relish it as it is a gift, however small or frustrating, and try to smile and thank God that you have been blessed with that gift.

Our Gift! Cole

Bubbler Fish?? May 9, 2008

So ok I like a good story just about as much as the next person but this one made my day…..

In an attempt to get a group of Kindergarten students to return to class, and not gather around the bubbler, a teacher tells them to “save some water for the fish”. The children stop almost at once and look at the teacher with wonder, “what fish?”, the students ask. The teacher prpceeds to tell them that fish live in the bubbler and need to have water too. The students ask how she knows this and he tells them that is where she got her fish from. The children ask to see the “bubbler fish” which the teacher shows them immediatly. Since that day this group of students continues to look in the bubblers around the school hoping to see and catch their own “bubbler fish”. Each day they are unsuccessful or have had a “sighting” they go to see the teacher at the end of the day and to see her “bubbler fish”.

Today when I saw this group of students enter her class and ask about the “bubbler fish” and to say they alomst caught one, I must have had a look of confusion on my face and the teacher proceded to tell me the above story of the “bubble fish”. No sooner had I left her room did I come upon the group of students standing at a bubble letting the cool water run down the drain. When I asked them what they were doing they told me they were giving the “bubbler fish” enough water for the weekend so he didn’t get hungry.

Oh to be a child again and to have that sense and belief that a fish can appear out of a bubbler!

Good luck to you all in your quest for your “bubbler fish” what ever you make it out to be! A

Hello world! May 9, 2008

Ok well here I am on the WWW. blogging…I have someone I would like to thank for this new “adventure” that I am embarking on so THANKS MATT!!!!

So this will be me and my world. Welcome to it!