Have a Merry Christmas and a Safe New Year

I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to all of you all and I hope that it is blessed. Also be safe for the New Year and I wish all of you well. I had a great semester with everyone and even made a few friends. Good luck to you all and take care.

Final is over!

I just wanted to tell everyone to have a good Christmas. I just finished my final, and I done for the semester. I really enjoyed this class, and I learned a lot...but I am also SOO realized it is over! I am sure I will see most of you in future SED or EDF classes!

Good People

I just wanted to give a big shout out to some of the best people I have ever had the pleasure of sharing a classroom with. I do not want to name names but I would hope that the people this is referring to understand what they have meant to me and that they are appreciated.

AmeriCorps

Hey everyone, I just had to tell you a little about AmeriCorps before this class ended. I have been a an AmeriCorps member this year serving at Oak Hill Elementary in Somerset, KY. It is one of the best things I have ever done! It is so challenging, and takes a lot of hours, but the benefits are wonderful. I work with children who need a little extra help in reading and math. It's wonderful to see the "light bulb" go off when the students understand what is being taught. It is great experience in the teaching field. I would recommend it to anyone! EKU has an AmeriCorps program and I hear that it is great. I am serving through The Learning Corps located in Barren County. The only reason I am serving through them is because they hired me first. Both are great people to work for and with. During your service through AmeriCorps you earn a living stipend of around $1100 a month, and if you put in the required hours you get a education scholarship. It really is a great program and I really felt the need to share! If you have anymore questions you can email me at april_bolin8@eku.edu. Thanks!

East Jessamine High School Schedule

Posted below is the link to East Jessamine Boy's Basketball Schedule...... We have more games, but they will not be posted until later.


http://scoreboard.12dt.com/scoreboard/khsaa/kybbk08/?id=28507

Or. . . just click here!

East Jessamine Boy's Basektball Schedule

The One Teacher

In a lifetime you only get the chance to meet someone that is very special to you. From a school stand point you usually have that one teacher that holds that special place in your heart and you would do anything to not disappoint them. You even feel bad when you get a bad grade in their class because you think that they might think you did not put the effort into the work. I had one of those teachers when I was in fifth grade her name was Mrs. Janet Clem. While in fifth grade I was diagnosed with a kidney disease causing me to miss the entire year. But she tutored me all summer so I could pass summer school. She was always around in town telling me to not do certain things such as in a rival game against West Jessamine, which she was the cheerleading coach I gave the crowd the bird after hitting a three pointer while they chanted negative things at me. I ran for this if you wondered. But I went to her house the day after and she told me to stick out my hands and she proceeded smack them. Then she said don't you ever do that again. Mrs. Clem passed away my first year of college and it broke my heart. On the ride home after the last class I was thinking of Mrs. White and how much I felt the same way about her as I did about Mrs. Clem, because of the tough love and never wanting to disappoint her. So Mrs. White you now know what you really mean to me.

Sincere Question - Interested in Your Opinion

Just curious as to your opinion . . . Do you think an instructor/professor should prepare for the class he or she teaches - or come to class and decide upon arrival what to do that day/evening?

Do you think a student should have to PREPARE for a class in order to be able to make a good grade in the class? How much time do you think a student should have to put in to a class OUTSIDE of the class in order to be able to do well? What type of activity do you think is practical or reasonable to expect students to do on a weekly basis to prepare for a class in order to make the class time a richer learning opportunity?

As long as we are posting pretty poems and stories...

This is a very special poem to me. I first read this poem in a packet of notes that my professor had made for an education class at Liberty. I feel so blessed but at the same time I don't. Perhaps that is why I want to teach. To me, the biggest blessing of all is the opportunity to help others, especially children.

We Pray for Children-by Rabbi Susan P. Fendrick

We pray for children who put chocolate fingers everywhere, who like to be tickled, who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants, who sneak popsicles before supper, who erase holds in math workbooks, who never can find their shoes....

And we pray for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers, who never "counted potatoes," who are born in places we wouldn't be caught dead, who never go to the circus, who live in an X-rated world.

We pray for children who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish, who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money, who cover themselves with Band-Aids and sing off key, who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink, who slurp their soup....

And we pray for those who never get dessert, who have no safe blanket to drag behind them, who watch their parents watch them die, who can't find any bread to steal, who don't have any rooms to clean up, who pictures are not on anyone's dresser, whose monsters are real...

We pray for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday, who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick their food, who like ghost stories, who shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub, who love visits from the tooth fairy, who don't like to be kissed in front of the school bus, who squirm in church or temple and scream in the phone....

And we pray for those whose nightmares come in the daytime, who will eat anything, who have never seen a dentist, who aren't spoiled by anybody, who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep, who live and move and have no being.

We pray for children who want to be carried, for those who must, for those we never give up on, and those who will grab the hand of anyone kind enough to offer it.

If You're a Blogger

I know not everyone is a blogger! But, for those of you who enjoy staying in touch, sharing resources, fun ideas, etc. I have created a blog at a different site where ANY ONE can post. This is simply an invitation for those who would like to participate. Perhaps it will continue over the semesters and become a site people can use to network, stay in touch and use in a variety of ways if they need ideas or help in other classes or once they get into their classrooms.

I've not used this other blog site before so it's a totally new learning experience for me. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm really doing so perhaps we can learn together and you may end up having to teach me! So, if you'd like to stay in touch or check it out (nothing there right now except one post to get us started - perhaps you can help with that) visit it at http://ideas4us.wordpress.com/

A Beautiful Poem

I read a beautiful poem online that I would like to share with you. It is written for parents of special needs children, but as a future special education teacher, this poem touched my heart. I hope it touches yours as well!

HEAVEN'S VERY SPECIAL CHILD

A meeting was held quite far from Earth!
It's time again for another birth.
Said the Angels to the LORD above,
This Special Child will need much love.

His progress may be very slow,
Accomplishments he may not show.
And he'll require extra care
From the folks he meets down there.

He may not run or laugh or play,
His thoughts may seem quite far away,
In many ways he won't adapt,
And he'll be known as handicapped.

So let's be careful where he's sent,
We want his life to be content.
Please LORD, find the parents who
Will do a special job for you.

They will not realize right away
The leading role they're asked to play,
But with this child sent from above
Comes stronger faith and richer love.

And soon they'll know the privilege given
In caring for their gift from Heaven.
Their precious charge, so meek and mild,
Is HEAVEN'S VERY SPECIAL CHILD.


By: Edna Massionilla

THANK YOU MRS. WHITE

I truly had a great semester with you and learned a lot. One of the most valuable things that i learned was that as a teacher of special education I need to look at the child as an individual and not as a disability. Because any child can do anything they set their minds to and as an educator I need to support them in any situation that they want to pursue. 

I also had a great time getting to know the people in my class and thank you for making us get out of our comfort zones and try new things because that is what we have to model to our students when we become teachers. Thank you so much for a fruitful semester :D 

I hope that you and everyone from the class has a great Christmas and a happy new year. 

Bethany :D  

Christmas Bird

Future Educators

So . . . sincerely. . . I do hope you'll tuck my contact information away. Feel free to use it if you ever need a reference or help with something. But, definitely do remember me once you're in the classroom. I am always having classroom withdrawl and definitely want to come read to your students.

Thanks to a great group of future educators!!!

This story may be irreverent, but I am thankful for each and every one of you, and I know that our paths will cross again (I heard that!!!)
I just had to share.

I arrived at the address where someone had requested a taxi. I honked but no one came out. I honked again, nothing. So I walked to the door and knocked. Just a minute answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.


There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, and then returned to assist the woman.

She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated'.

'Oh, you're such a good boy', she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?'

'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly.

'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice'.


I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued. 'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.


For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.

We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.


Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.


As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired. Let's go now'

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

'How much do I owe you?' she asked, reaching into her purse.

'Nothing,' I said

'You have to make a living,' she answered.


'There are other passengers,' I responded.


Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said.


'Thank you.'



I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.


I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift?

What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.

But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID, BUT THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.


You won't get any big surprise in 10 days if you send this to ten people. But, you might help make the world a little kinder and more compassionate by sending it on.

Thank you, my friend...



Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance.

Your Opinion

I am interested in your opinion. I am considering having ONE blog for both classes to participate in next semester instead of one per class. The blogs from semester to semester and class to class have been so incredibly different and used in such different ways. Just wondering what YOUR thoughts are about having both classes participate in the same blog.

Any other ideas or suggestions are also welcome as I reflect and prepare to revise for next semester.

Language Project Questions

If you have questions about your Language Project I would encourage you to post them here on the blog. I'd also encourage you to attempt to answer one another's questions. I'll chime in as needed - monitoring the posts.

Also, I will be staying after class on Monday and Wednesday in Wallace 346 to answer questions, work with people on specific issues on their projects, etc. I would still encourage you to post items here that could give you a big jump on next week.

I've seen SEVERAL drafts of projects. They ALL have looked OUTSTANDING! The questions I am getting are EXCELLENT questions and the typical ones we have as we begin to analyze language. Keep them coming via email, blog or phone - all are welcome.

Test

Mrs. White I was just wondering if all the test have been graded because mine hasn't and I was wondering when it would be done. Thanks!

Christmas Wish List

hey,
I was just wondering what everybody was wanting for christmas.
post your top three picks for hoho to bring you. i'll start
1. xbox 360
2. radio flyer wagon for my little girl
3. blu ray version of Dark Knight

Language Project

Hello Everyone (again),
I am thinking about working on my language project over the weekend (as well as the extra credit). I was wondering if anyone would like to get together and make a "study" group. We dont have to be working on the same topic.. I however, am doing form. I would be more then happy to help anyone bounce questions around or come up with questions no one can answer and post them HERE!
If you are interested let me know!
-Lindsay 425-466-9171

Field Trip

Hello Everyone!
I just wanted to start a discussion on last nights field trip. I thought that is was a great yet hectic experiance!! I loved the idea of the next step of the project to put the books to Sign. I think that next semester I am going to look into volenteering twice a month on a Friday. What did everyone else thing oflast night?
-Lindsay

december blogs

How many blogs do we need for the month of december?

Car Pooling

Just in case I posted in the wrong place. I can transport 3 people in my truck if anybodies are interested in leaving from the Wallace building. Just give me a call. 606-620-7506. I should be in town around 5:515. I need to be back by 8:45 to pick up my friend who rides with me from Corbin.

Directions for the Field Trip

Here are the directions for the field trip/class tomorrow. Please post any comments, questions, thoughts, ideas, etc. here in this post.Directions to Bluegrass Technology Center:

• From I-75 take Exit 110 Winchester/Lexington Exit.
• Drive towards Lexington, approximately 1.4 miles to the last traffic light before New Circle Road Exit.
• Turn left at the light onto Fortune Dr.
• Take an immediate right onto Beasley Street.

Bluegrass Technology Center is located in the last building on the left of the Fortune Business Center between the Kentucky Lottery Office and OfficeWare offices.
Bluegrass Technology Center961 Beasley Street Suite 103ALexingotn, KY 40509-4120Phone (800)209-7767(859) 294-4343