Robbing Peter to pay Paul....

I have a confession.... I cannot fit everything I want to do into first grade into my day/week/month.  There.  I said it.  I think I said it for all of us.  I was at a professional development meeting on play today (one that I, personally, did not feel I needed because I have an early childhood endorsement and taught kindergarten).  So, trying to make the best out of it- I got a great book (sidebar!)- I went in with an open mind. 

I listened to my co-workers in the district discuss how they wanted to incorporate play into their day (all first grade teachers).  They were stuck.  Many said that they could get it in a few times a week, but that was all they had time for it.  My 6 year-old heart hurt for them.  The 6 year-old inside of me wanted to scream, "Let me run and be joyful!  Let me be creative and make a mess!  Let me experiment with new materials, toys and ideas!  I want to talk loudly with my friends about our play!"  The teacher in me said, "I totally get it- there is a lot of curriculum to cover.  I have assessments that are required (some twice- long story) and academic interventions to do with them.  Sometimes, I feel we have a target on our backs... we can't let anything slide or do any subject at a shallow level.  The expectation is so high at times for our little ones."

Then, my own voice came out, "I serve the WHOLE child, not just the cognitive portion.  I have a duty to do what is best for them.  This is my charge and what parents trust me to do."  This can be a scary thing.  I even found myself admitting it to my peers out loud.  I do not do all of the science or social studies that I could be doing (according to the curriculum- I focus on the state benchmarks for the necessities).  The room was pretty silent.  The presenter called it the "elephant in the room".  How do we do it all?  It's simple... we don't.  I've come to realize in the last few months that the academic portion of my focus is reading, writing and math foundations.  The rest is integrated into the other areas.  The rest of the child MUST be looked at and honored.  I thought I spoke too soon, when my principal stood up and reinforced my commitment and focus.  (Phew!  I'm not in trouble when I go in to school tomorrow!  She is very much aware and supportive of how I teach and run my room.)

In early childhood/ kindergarten rooms, it is very obvious that the teachers are trying to take in account the whole child when creating the learning experience (social, cognitive, physical, and emotional).  This cannot end once they get to first grade (and beyond for that matter!).  I am not perfect- I freely admit it.  I am trying my best to learn everything I can about my little people and what they need.  

So yes, I take them outside every day for another 20 minutes (on top of the lunchtime recess).  I make it work.  When the weather gets too ugly, I'll switch to 2 days inside play and only 3 days outside.  I also have integrated a sense of playfulness into our learning stations for math and literacy.  They are playing games related to our content and learning cooperatively (think self-regulation and social skills).  Is it my ideal?  No.  I wish I had more.  Maybe once I am more experienced at this level, I will find a way.  In the meantime.  I'm not sacrificing the little bit that I have to make a canned holiday craft or an extra science unit (said with respect towards my teaching partner who is an awesome science teacher!).  Here is a sample schedule for a typical week.  I tend to alternate science and social studies (or blend it into something else- like reading non-fiction during a read aloud time).  I will also post it on my TeachersPayTeachers account (free), so it can be downloaded if you like the format. (Please ignore the thumbnail pictures- I did something weird, but the file looks like below).

 

Anyway, I've spent enough time on my soapbox for one night.  I'm off to bed to rest for another day in First Grade :)

PKNA #19 - Absolute Zero

Main story translated by Banker, back-up story translated by Aspargus32.

Megaupload:
PKNA #19 - Absolute Zero
Bonus #19 - Burton LaValle

MediaFire:
PKNA #19 - Absolute Zero
Bonus #19 - Burton LaValle

Big thanks to Banker for continuing to be awesome, and to Aspargus32 for doing the back-up feature. We're still missing back-up features on a lot of the previous issues, so if anyone out there feels like taking them on, I know lots of people will appreciate it.


Also, it only just occurred to me that most of the recent uploads have been CBR-files, and some people might have had trouble opening them. CBR is a format made specifically for reading comics on the computer, and there are are a number of free programs you can use to read them. Me, I use Comical, but I'm sure somebody in the comments can probably make a good argument for any number of the other options.

If you don't want to use any new software, CBR-files can be easily converted to RAR-files, simply by changing the name of the file extension - so you can just change "PKNA19.cbr" to "PKNA19.rar" and it will work.

I'll probably make some RAR-file mirrors one of these days, just to avoid confusion.

A New Chapter

A month or two, amidst all posts about my upcoming wedding, i wrote that Mick and I were hoping for a few positive outcomes in regards to some future plans we were laying. We needed a big " yes ".... and i'm happy to say that we got it. That is, we got a big "yes " to a business loan and, from January, we will be the proud new owners of a small business.


We've been amazingly lucky with out opportunity - Mick's current employers had been looking to sell for a while and were having no luck. After a bit of thinking - and knowing that we are a young family looking for a break - they generously proposed that they loan us two-thirds of the cost of buying a part of their business, as long as we could get the rest of the money from the bank. That is, they would lend us their OWN money ( which we will pay back at a reduced rate of compund interest ) because, as they put it, they love Michael like one of their own family, they believe in him, and they wanted to give us an opportunity to provide a better life for our family.

I was gobsmacked at their generosity, and we hoped against hope that we would be able to secure some finance from the bank..... and we did! We are still working out a bit of the logistics but basically, as of January, we will own our own courier business: Mick will be doing pick ups and deliveries to a town about 2 hrs drive away, 5 days a week, and i will do the book keeping and general paperwork of an evening, after i finish at my own job.

We're not stupid - we KNOW it will be a hard slog for the first 6-12 months. My responsibiliities to our business will be on top of my other job, and as Mick will be our only driver he wont be able to take any sick leave or holidays. There are the small ins and outs of a business that we will have to learn, and ways of doing things that work for us. But, in the long run, we know that owning our business is going to afford our family some amazing opportunities, and a more comfortable lifestyle than we can provide now.

It is still a month away, but there is so much we have to organise and begin learning before then. However, i know we are both looking forward to the challenges that will be thrown at us in the next few months - wish us luck!

(Everybody Needs) Good Neighbours

You often hear the "older " generation say that they remember the days where you talked to your neighbours, where you would hang over the fence and have a chat with the people next door, and you didnt hesitate in trusting them to bring in your mail/feed your dog/water your lawn when you went away. Sadly, these days it seems like a lot of people dont even know what they're neighbours look like, let alone know them enough to stop and chat. You might give each other a small wave as you drive past on your way in and out of the street, but thats about it. But, ladies and gentleman, there is a reason we shouldnt trust our neighbours anymore:


Because they might invite you over for a bbq, be great hosts who supply your very thirsty husband with beer after beer and then..... SHAVE HIS HEAD.

What in the fork has he done to his head?!

Oh yes - the horror. Our previously very wonderful neighbours invited us to a bbq on Saturday night, which we had to decline as we were already going out for dinner. No worries,they said- if you feel like it, pop over when you get home. It was 9pm by the time we got back from dinner and Flynn needed to go to bed, so Mick went over by himself, promising he'd be home by midnight.

4:30am he stumbles in and climbs into bed. Because our neighbours still had their back patio lights on there was a little extra light filtering into our room and I thought there was something a little odd about Mick's shadow. I flick on the bedside lamp ... and there he is, head completely shaved save for a 2x8cm mohawk-like patch in the middle. All i could manage in my bleary-eyed state was " You look f**king ridiculous ", before i rolled back over and went back to sleep.

Now this is one close cropped head i'd like to get close to...

As i said to Mick a bit later that morning at a more appropriate wake up time - he's lucky i love him because, man, did he look stupid. I told him he could leave the fluffy mohawk for the rest of the weekend but convinced him there was no way in the world he was going to work looking like that. He's now sporting a fully shaved head, a stupid grin and a proportionately bigger-looking set of ears, whilst my neighbour will never be trusted with my husband again.

( Except if we're invited to their annual New Years bbq, which we will be at with bells on! )