My Princess

I am the Daughter of THE King of kings and Lord of lords, and HE calls me HIS princess!


He has recently been addressing me this way...My Princess, this.....My Princess, that.....

Needless to say, I love this which is probably the reason I am hearing Him this way--He NEEDED to get my attention!

My most recent lessons are as follows:

Grow Where You Are Planted:
*He knows I wonder if my life is of any real worth, especially when I am not seaming to get through to my kiddos.
*He assures me that He can and WILL use me to touch the lives around me...if I will just let Him lead. 
*Even if I cannot see the harvest of my work now, people will one day look back and remember my kindness, wisdom and love for them...
        Being the helper bee that I am, I kindly informed Him that we will really have to work on that last one.... :)  He understands and is in for the long hall...


I Will Work Out What's Best for You
*NOTHING happens to me without his knowledge AND permission!
*He sees my disappointment and He is there to walk with me through the hard-times.


I Have Set You Apart: Just Like Queen Esther
(I have often studied Queen Esther hoping to learn from her walk with the Lord, and here He is comparing me to her.....well comparing what I could be to her.  :-P)
*I am UNIQUE.
*I have been given the ability to walk in a way that will make others clearly see I am divinely His!


My Princess--My Chosen One:
*I was chosen before the Earth was created to be HIS Princess!
*I am royalty even when I do not feel like it, AND when I am not treated like it.


Jeremiah 1:5
"Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you, Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you: A prophet to the nations--that's what I had in mind for you."

I am EAGER to see what My King has in store for me.  

Father, 

Keep using me for your work.  Help me to see my children the way you see them.  Help me to have the love, wisdom and peace about me to reach them for you!  I am clearly in need of your help; shape me, mold me, I am an open vessel for your hands.

Your Princess, 
Mrs. ABC   

This year.....

This year has been more than challenging.  The year did not start with my enjoying, or for that matter, even LIKING my students.  I did not know what I was going to do, but the year was not going to go over well.  I took Friday, November 4th off to celebrate my birthday, wound up being sick the entire weekend and went to school not feeling well the following Monday.  But on Tuesday, a crazy thing happened: I found myself smiling while sitting at my desk and watching my second period class.  I held onto "that" moment for days; THRILLED that I finally appeared to be amused by the same kids I could not stand just days before.

My children have shared some insightful things with me this year, though....

After hearing that I have four cats and would have five, except we lost Ghost in February, they call me the "Crazy Cat Lady" and one students says, "Mrs. Clemens you should be the cat whisperer!"  David R. was extremely proud of his comment, and laughed hysterically for about 5 minutes....COMPLETELY disrupting the flow of my lesson....but YET AGAIN....I found this humorous and instead of being annoyed with this disruption, I laughed along with him and the rest of the class.

After teaching the "I before E except AFTER C and in words like weigh and neighbor" rule, I was reviewing my second period class before their weekly test.  I asked, "What is the rule we learned this week?"  M. Doolittle, one of the funniest kids I have taught, says, "I before E except after C and something about a neighborhood..."  I lost it...I was laughing so hard I began crying.  He had no idea why I was laughing, but he was glad he could be the "class clown" again....

Another student just wrecks my nerves DAILY.  He comes from a very sad home life, that I cannot fully comprehend, but most of the time I cannot register that information anyway because he irritates me so much.  He is filthy, unorganized, can vomit on command WITHOUT gagging himself, and attempts to get out of class and leave school by peeing on himself.  Needless to say, God was going to have to get my attention before I could change my attitude about this one...
He did just that.  While praying one day, I finally began truly thinking about this boy.  I was all of the sudden so heartbroken for him.  I wasn't praying for him, he was just slipped into my mind.  About a week later, I was shopping at Mardel, and literally stumbled into a bookshelf with a book called "Minute Motivations for Teachers".  The book lists a quote and then an explanation about a kid/type of kid that would drive teachers crazy, baffle teachers, and wear teachers down.  In that same explanation teachers are told how to walk the Christian walk in the situation.  There is one entry about love.  It simply talks about "that child" who is unlovable and how that is not really the case since God thought "that child" was worth the sacrifice of His own son, Jesus.  I have to think about all the things in this kid's life.  What causes him to come to me like this everyday?  He is a "prisoner of war"--I just have to figure out what that war is...

In one week, there has been a DRASTIC, MIRACULOUS change in this child's work ethic and the relationship we have.  I am to be used where I am.

One of my favorite shows is NCIS, and Gibbs was the leader of this Navy Investigation Team....Whenever a character was being "stupid" he would "Gibbs Slap" them....meaning Gibbs would slap the "stupid" person in the back of the head.

God gets the privilege of "Gibbs Slapping" me WAAAAAY TOO OFTEN!  He simply says, "Grow where you are planted!"  and "I will work out what's best for you."  and my favorite, "My princess, I have set you apart!"

These are the wonderful things God is teaching me through this BEYOND trying year.  IF God brings you to--he WILL take you through!!!!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 2011-2012

Tonight is the 4th FDOS eve I have experienced as a teacher.

There are numerous challenges coming head on to my life at school this year. 
1) I am team leader

2) I have a new teacher on the 7th grade English Dept.

3) The other one of my 7th grade English teachers has yet to step on campus this CALENDAR year.

4) The STAAR test is coming to replace the TAKS test...neither of which are any good.

5) I have a student fighting cancer.

6) I have a student who is mute.

But there are a MULTITUDE of blessing in my life as well.

1) I have a job that I enjoy

2) I have a new teacher that is proficient in English and classroom management

3) I have a curriculum to follow so I am held accountable to my students, parents, and fellow teachers

4) I have a love for teaching

5) I have a fabulous team backing me as I embark on being team lead this year

6) I have a great Inclusion Specialists to help me teach and reach my students 

7) I have a student who is FIGHTING cancer!  

8) I have a student who is mute--maybe he will sign....

9) I HAVE A JOB!

10) I have the favor of my God going before me into ANY situation I may walk into, stumble into, or get thrown into.  

I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I pray:

Heavenly Father, 

May I have all the love and wisdom I need to be successful in my kiddos' lives. Let your light shine through me. Help me be able to motivate, encourage and build each child up this year.

 

Thanks,

Mrs. ABC, M.Ed  :)  Still loving that I am a MASTER!!!  

Mrs. ABC, M.Ed

I just doesn't seem real.  I am finally DONE with school, for a very long time!

It might be a good thing that I will have a break.  I took four classes this summer.  That is the SAME amount of classwork and studying that you would do in a full 15 week semester.  I had two classes in June and two in July.  So each month, I was made to complete the same coursework and homework that all other students are made to finish in 15 weeks.  That is A LOT of work. 

At the end of the June classes I was made to complete two 10 page papers for both of my classes and for one an exam, too.  Everything was due by July 5th at 5 p.m.

I was told that at the beginning of July, my Masters Exam would be sent to me via email.  I would be given 6 prompts and I would have to write three 10 page papers with at least 6 references a piece.  These would be due at the end of July.  MUCH to my surprise, that did not end up being the case.  THE email was sent out on Monday, June 20th, and something went wrong with my email inbox.  I did not get the email until the following Sunday, June 26th.  BUT the weird thing is that it listed the sent date as the 20th....but it was sitting in my inbox on top of June 25th emails.  The exam email said I would have until 5p.m. on July 5th.  So where everyone else had--had two weeks to complete the assignment I only had ONE.  Not to mention I had two other research papers and an exam all due on the same day at the same time.  I did not sleep, I cried and prayed all the way through it, I do not know how I did it, but it got done.  I passed both classes with an A....AND......passed all three of my exam papers, too.


During the second summer session in July, it was very apparent to me that I desperately needed a beak from school.   I was lucky enough to get an assignment for one of my classes completed early, and I send it in to my professor to be graded.  I was supposed to place it in a discussion posting online for my group to read and critique.....so I did that.......or so I thought.......I kept waiting for my group to post their assignments and respond to mine, but it NEVER happened....on the day the assignment was due I really started to panic, and my mind made me look at the class I posted it in....I do not know why.....BUT it turned out to be a good thing because I had posted the assignment in the WRONG CLASS.....so just minutes before it was due in the discussion, I posted it in the right place and the right class and my group was able to comment...of course, I told them about my very bazaar story.

Now for my audit.  Texas A&M did not start graduation audits until 11p.m. the NIGHT BEFORE graduation!!!!!!!  So I was not sure what my grades for my classes were, I didn't know if I passed, I didn't know if I would really be getting my diploma when I walked across the stage.  I was pretty sure I didn't have anything to worry about, BUT I just didn't know for sure.

So come graduation day, I anxiously awaited to grab my diploma tube and open it up.  There was NO green dot which was great!!!!!  As I was shaking the president's hand, I was looking for the photographer.....I could NOT find him.  They did not tell us where he would be and he was NOT in the same place as when I graduated last time.  I am sure it will just be terrible.  haha....

No matter......I did it.  I am done....I have CRAZY stories to share and a beautiful graduate diploma to frame!  I am so blessed!

Master of Education

I will be graduating this August with my Masters degree of Education in Curriculum and Instruction.  My hope and desire is to be able to create a curriculum that is literacy centered where students are made to read day in and day out in all subjects from the time they learn to read in Kindergarten and 1st grade.  The statistics are impressively awful...they will knock the breath out of you.

For example:

Did you know that based on the 4th grade reading levels of the students within each state, the state government determines how many more or less jail/prison cells they will need in the future for that particular group/generation of children.  SHOCKING!  It makes me so sad, that someone that cannot read well, is that much more likely to be in our prisons.

Now, this fix is NOT easy.  Students have to have  a STRONG ORAL language base.  Most children, especially those coming from low socio-economic homes, do not have this base. Linguistically "poor" first graders know approximately 5,000 words; whereas, they should be closer to 20,000 words like the linguistically "rich" children.  Unfortunately the words rich and poor here generally translate into their actual monetary lifestyles too, not just their linguistic abilities. 

We as educators need to help this growing trend of inefficiency come to a screeching halt.  As I said, it will be harder than it really seems.  BUT....if the students have to read day in and day out all different types of literature in ALL of their classes, they will have a better chance of learning to read properly and learning to enjoy SOME TYPE of reading.  This could more easily translate into them WANTING to read at home.

Therefore, as a Master of Education, ;)  I want to be able to create this literacy based program starting with the early years, and walked it up with the kids.  We cannot just start EVERY grade level doing this program when the children in those grades have NO IDEA what to do with all of this reading that they have NEVER been able to do or enjoy.  They will fail and I do not want that.  So we will start with Kindergarten and then move to 1st grade, then 2nd and 3rd and so on....until every level of students is doing the literacy centered programs in school. 

Of course, I do not want to send the kids that have not had this training to failure, so there will be a change in their curriculum as well, but it will not be so crammed with literature.  If they cannot read, we need to make sure they graduate high school with that ability, which MAY mean that the students need to stop and learn to read in the 7th or 8th or 10th grades.  The teachers would have to sell it like a bill of goods and they would have to make it fun....Learning to read at the grade is seemingly impossible.  There are too many walls and frustrations of failure blocking any possible progress.

Anyway, enough blabbing.  This is what I want to be able to do with my degree.  I certainly hope that I can make this happen.  I cannot do it alone; I will need a team, but I have to be able to do the research and presentations somewhere.

Please keep this idea in your thoughts and prayers along with my influence and abilities.

As my heading says....May I have all the LOVE and WISDOM I need.......to be the best I can be for these children!  THIS DESIRE IS WHY I TEACH!

Sincerely,
Mrs. ABC

Bittersweet

Today will forever be remembered as bittersweet. The last day of school is always filled with emotion and excitement, but this year, it really hurt.  This group of kids is special!  I have NEVER had a group like them, and it will be hard for any group to fill their shoes or match their awesomeness. 

It still has not hit that school is over, but seeing the kids dressed up today for the awards ceremony really made me reflect on how much they have grown with me this year.  They were such babies when they came to me in August, and now they are nearly grown.


This group has taught me more than I believe I will ever completely realize!  They have made me a better teacher, and the kids coming behind them will be forever bettered because of this group.

This year, I focused on GROWTH instead of passing or failing skills/objective/assignments.  This group of students came to me as 18 Dyslexic students, 26 Special Education students, 6 Limited English Proficient students (which is a lower number than normal), 6 complete turds (also a MUCH lower number than usual), and the rest "regular" education students.

My students came to me, almost all of them, regardless of their educational label, writing Zeros and Ones for their essay scores.  The essay scores are based on a holistic rubric ranging from 0-4.  Zero and One are failing scores, 2 is equivalent to about a 75, a 3 is about 85 and the lowest score one can get to be commended on the TAKS test, and 4 is the best paper, but, as I tell my students, there is no way to have a "perfect" paper so the highest grade is equal to a 95.  As for the perfect paper, I say they don't exist because their is ALWAYS a way to better it through revision and editing.

By the time my TAKS test came around on March 1st, my students were worn out from writing, and I was beginning to wonder if they had listened to anything I had taught and modeled from August to February 28.  We had to wait until May 23rd for our scores to be returned, and then it was the 24th before we could see their scores broken down, and I could see what grade they made on the grammar questions and what score they made on the essay.  They must PASS BOTH sections of my test in order to PASS the test. 

Many of my Dyslexic students and Special Education students did not pass the TAKS test, and they were distraught when they found out.  I was heartbroken to tell them.  BUT when I told them....I focused in on the GROWTH they have had this year.  They were asked to look back at their first essays of the year, and compare the early scores with the TAKS scores...ALL of them....ALL OF THEM....improved by 2 scores!!!!!!!  They came to me writing zeros and they wrote a 2 on the TAKS essay.  I cannot even begin to tell you how impressive an improvement this is for these children.

They finally bought the goods I was selling and began to be excited for their accomplishments this year.

ONE of my severely dyslexic students was writing zeros when he came to me, this year.  On TAKS day, he stayed until he was done which was 6:30p.m.  The next day, he came to me and said that he looked up EVERY word that he wrote, to make sure that it was spelled correctly, so the essay graders would be able to read his essay without struggling.  My heart broke!  I was so worried.  I stopped right then and there and prayed that God would allow him to pass.  Silly prayer?  Maybe....but IT WORKED, as well as my teaching and his learning.  HE PASSED!!!  Not only did he pass, but he was COMMENDED!!!!!!! I cried when I saw his score, and I am NOT a crier.  When he heard that he passed and was commended, he thought that I was joking.  He didn't even think he was capable of passing, and this broke my heart all over again.  I thought, "What did I do wrong this year?  He has NO confidence in his abilities." BUT when he realized that I was serious, he up so high I believe he could have touched the hallway ceiling, and then lunged toward me in a full-on frontal hug....we do not give front hugs!  But he was just so happy.....he teared up and had to call his mom and dad to tell them the news. 

The irony in his story, is that, the ONE word that he COULD NOT find in the dictionary was dyslexia and he was writing about the challenging of learning with the challenge of dyslexia!   He said I was looking in the DIs and then the DEs and he couldn't find it, SO he asked his dad when he got in the car after turning in his test, and his dad helped him see that is was spelled DYslexia....he laughed and laughed about that.....

After looking at ALL the scores and improvements overall, I got even happier.  This year, as challenging as it was, was SPECTACULAR!  My kiddos DID listen and learn from what I taught, and growth and learning took place! 

I could not be a more proud mama!  Without this group I would not have found all of the wonderful ways to teach Writing to ANY learner, ANY seventh grader, ANY "labeled" or not labeled child.  I cannot wait to see what next year brings. 

I wish the best of luck to my sweet lovelies!  I miss you all already!  Good Luck in 8th grade!

~Mrs. ABC

Vocabulary Tests

Did you know that:


DRONING means... sinking in water until you die???


Did you know that:


TRANSGRESSION has TWO very different meanings? 
1) An aggression that changes

MY FAVORITE: DRUM ROLL PLEASE...
2) THAT part of a car



Did you know that:

DISPOSITION has NOTHING to do with the character or demeanor of a person, but that it means something that has been displaced?


Again....

The joys of teaching 7th grade!