Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

I have so much to be thankful for.  God’s good grace is the first on my list.  He has given me my family and my health and they're always in my prayers of thankfulness. I thank Him for all that I am, all that I do, and all that I have. With that said, the following list is a little more light-hearted.  Enjoy!

1.  I am thankful for my sense of humor.  I like silly things that play on words.

2. I am thankful for music... including disco.

3. I am thankful for science fiction - and thanks to my book club girls, the opportunity to read any and every genre.

4.  I am thankful for nature and for every time I have the privilege of walking along an ocean.

5.  I am thankful for arts and crafts, even though I'm pretty bad at it, I enjoy the camaraderie of my artsy friends and the creative process.

6.  This year, and every year, I am thankful for The United States of America, the  greatest country on earth.

7. I am thankful for abundance.


Give thanks for all you have.
Ask for strength when you're in need.
Help others.
Be kind to yourself.


Happy Thanksgiving.

~Nadine

Tree Love

Tree Love

We lost a tree this weekend.  Last week we had high winds that blew everything that was not nailed down, far and wide.  Our tree was one of them, although, technically, it was “nailed down.”

The ornamental pear tree in our backyard was small in tree standards, but rather big for an ornamental tree. About a quarter of the tree broke off and landed neatly in our yard between the house and the fence. Thankfully, no damage was done to either structure.  After we cleaned up the downed part of our tree, it was obvious that the rest would have to be taken down as well.  I didn’t want to admit it. We planted that little tree ourselves. I so wanted to keep that tree, but even I could see that in the next big wind event we probably wouldn’t be so lucky.  The house and the fence were likely targets for airborne logs. So, this past weekend, my husband and his buddy (is that the right word? buddy?) took the rest of the tree out with the help of our son-in-law and his buddy (dude friend?).


Sad me looking out at our tree.

Nothing left but a sad stump and some saw dust.

Last week I could look right into the middle branches of that tree from my office window on the second story of our home.  For many, many years I looked out this window at the top of that tree.  Then, in just the blink of an eye, it seems, it suddenly towered over our house!

Today the space behind our house looks so naked.  It’s just stark.  A couple of summers ago we put a swing in that tree for our eldest granddaughter.  (Both granddaughters are waiting for Papa to fix the tree swing, however we don’t have another tree that could support it.) That tree provided great shade for our deck, a home for birds and, much to our dog’s indignation, a jungle gym for squirrels.
Funny how attached you can get to a tree. I don’t think there is any other plant that elicits people’s emotions quite like trees do.

 

Honoring My Vets this Veteran’s Day

I come from a long line of veterans.  I’m proud of that fact.

My grandfather, Wesley V. Hill, as a young man, served as a medic in World War I.  He was a father of four and 35 years old when he enlisted in the Army during World War II. His job was to run supplies to troops through Iran and other areas of the Middle East. 

To say that every American served in WWII would be an understatement. The home-front did more than its fair share.

My Grandfather, W.V. Hill, directly behind the sign.

My dad, Donald J. Hill enlisted in the Air Force and served in the Korean War.  He was a radar man and an electronics genius. 

My dad, Donald J. Hill, at his post.
Written, in his own hand, on the back of this photo:
"Do I look worried?"

My dad has (had) four brothers. They all served in the military.  William Hill, Robert Hill, Vernon Hill.

My uncle Bill (William) Hill on the left, having a beer with his cousin.

And dad’s youngest brother, Terry Hill, was drafted and sent to Viet Nam. My mom’s youngest brother, Jerry Bacon, was also drafted and served in the Viet Nam War.  As a child, I remember sending cassette tapes of our family’s everyday conversations and of us singing songs and telling stories to my uncles.  We wrote letters and sent pictures to them.  We did everything we could to help them know they were always in our minds and hearts.

After the Viet Nam War, we had a short span of “peace.”  Babies born between say, 1969 and 1979ish were free from The Draft and Selective Service Enrollment.  But that “Peace Time” was profoundly short-lived.

August 1990.  I watched the president’s speech on TV as the Gulf War was declared.  I realized then that our sunny life in American was about to change.  It was feasible that my then four-year-old son could possibly, more than likely, have to go to war when he grew up.  Remember, I grew up during the Viet Nam war. It was a twenty year war. I was distraught over this declaration of war. I cried and held tight to my baby boy.

September 11, 2001.  Al-Qaeda. Taliban. Osama BinLadin. War on Terror. The Taliban.

Our daughter was in her third year of college when she brought home a young man.  Ma’am and Sir were frequently used words in his world. Phil, ROTC at the University of Iowa; he was THE ONE.  When he graduated from college he would be a commissioned Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. He was (and is) a proud American serving his county.  Shortly after he and my daughter were married, he was called up to serve in Afghanistan.  We all breathed easier when he got back home. 

My daughter and her Lt.

My nephew, Jacob served on the front lines Afghanistan.  Our family rallied to make sure he and his family knew they were in our thoughts and prayers the whole time he was deployed. Again, we all breathed easier when he got back home. 

Jacob saying good bye to his wife.

I thank God for my veterans.  I thank my veterans for my county.  God Bless America.

The Bill of Rights
Our legacy. Our fight. Our power.

Below you will find several rights and responsibilities that all citizens should exercise and respect. Some of these responsibilities are legally required of every citizen, but all are important to ensuring that America remains a free and prosperous nation. 

Rights

Responsibilities

·         Freedom to express yourself. ·         Freedom to worship as you wish. ·         Right to a prompt, fair trial by jury. ·         Right to vote in elections for public officials. ·         Right to apply for federal employment requiring U.S. citizenship. ·         Right to run for elected office. ·         Freedom to pursue “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

·         Support and defend the Constitution. ·         Stay informed of the issues affecting your community. ·         Participate in the democratic process. ·         Respect and obey federal, state, and local laws. ·         Respect the rights, beliefs, and opinions of others. ·         Participate in your local community. ·         Pay income and other taxes honestly, and on time, to federal, state, and local authorities. ·         Serve on a jury when called upon. ·         Defend the country if the need should arise.

http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/citizenship-rights-and-responsibilities

Making Curtains- Making Mistakes- Life’s “Do Overs”

 

This past couple of weeks I have updating my fifteen year old bathroom décor.  I’ve been stripping wall paper, washing walls, light fixtures, and switch plates.  I painted everything with two coats of  a soothing foggy gray. (I think it gives the room a spa-ish feel.)  On Saturday, I sat down to make curtains. Yes, you read that correctly.  Me… making curtains.   I’m no Becky Home-Ecky by a long shot.  (No offense to my Becky friends, or my home-ecky ones, either.)  I don’t even own a sewing machine.  I had to borrow one from my daughter, who has two of them.  (I don’t know where she gets her home  ec. talents.)

On a side, but related note, I had planned to do this project last winter.  I went out shopping for new curtains to help me make my paint color decisions.  If you have a bathroom with windows, and you've shopped for curtains, you know how this tale ends.  Bathroom.Curtains.No.Longer.Exist!  So I asked my Facebook friends for advice.  The resounding answer was: “Make your own curtains.”  YIKES!  And that’s how this project didn’t happen last winter…

Anyhow, I am not without skills.  I took the required home economics in seventh grade, so I know some sewing basics.  Also, over the years, I have created a few projects with the use of a sewing machine. This project was not hard, just not my cup of tea.

So, knowing I had to make my own curtains, I went shopping for just the right material. I found a shower curtain that I liked so I purchased two of them for my curtain fabric.  The shower curtain fabric had a horizontal stripe, but I wanted a vertical stripe, so I turned it sideways and got to work. I finished the curtains for the first window; two panels and one valance in just a few hours. 

When I put them on a rod and held them up to the window, I realized that the panels were an inch or two shorter than what I wanted.  Maybe I could just move the curtain rod down a little? Also, I chose to use the “factory hem” instead of doing my own.  That was not the best decision because the factory hem didn’t always follow the grain of the fabric and I had to cheat a little to make it all work. My final problem was that my stripes didn’t match up.  The gray stripe on the valance was on my left, and because I had turned the shower curtain to use its side seam as my hem, the panels had the gray stripe on my right.  This would not do at all!

Life is like making curtains.  Sometimes you screw up.  Sometimes without even realizing it until it’s too late. I thought about running to the store to get another shower curtain so that I could re-make the curtains better.  How much easier would life be if we could have ‘do-overs’?   Like when I’ve said something hurtful, or made a bad decision, or didn’t pay attention when I should have.  But would our lives really be better? Would our relationships stronger? Would we be thoughtful problem solvers?

Would we be less humble and more reckless with our thoughts, our actions, our words?

We’ve all had moments when we wished we could just have a do over.  For the most part we can’t.  And really, as much as it may burn, this is one way we grow and learn and become a better person. Right?

As for the curtains, well.  They’re just going to be a little too short. And, because I learned from my mistakes, I made sure the curtains I made for the second window flip-flopped in pattern.  Now the valance of the first set of curtains match the panels of the second set of curtains and vice versa.  I’ve created matching sets – although not matching curtains. Such is life. Now it’s time to hang  ‘em up and move on.

The Negotiator

My granddaughters are the light of my life.  For some time now, my husband and I have called our oldest granddaughter The Negotiator, and this is why. 

Like many good parents, our daughter and son-in-law give their children opportunities to make choices.  Typically, they’re given two choices:  Do you want to have water or milk for lunch?  Would you like to wear jeans of leggings today? We can go to Grammy and Papa's after nap.  Like that.

However, Miss Negotiator has her own ideas:  I want juice for lunch.  I would like to wear a dress today. I can take a nap AT Grammy and Papa's.  This just cracks me up. 

Typically, given two choices, kiddos will actually choose one of the options suggested.  But not this little three year old sweetie.  She has her own ideas and she’s not afraid to share them!

 Sometimes her negotiating skills wear her parents out, I know.  But in the long run, for me it’s satisfying to know that she can think on her feet, come up with creative solutions, and go for what she wants.   I hope she never changes.

Navigating Standardized Tests: Helping your kiddo thrive

In my last post I lamented my woes of administering standardized tests to my students.  Some of you may have thought, “Well, I took the Iowa Assessments back in the day, and I survived…”  And that is true.  I too, took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills way back -old school- back- in the day.  But there is a difference now.  The difference is this: NCLB.

School districts are now required to supply scores, from a specific number of tests to their state’s Department of Education.  The state DOE requires this by assertion of NCLB.

So, back when you and I took THE Big Test, that was it. Done til next year. (Whew, I made it!)  Not now.  Oh, no. Far from it.

Students are required to take many tests.  These tests are above and beyond the weekly spelling tests or end of unit tests in math, reading, social studies, and science. Or the weekly progress monitoring (a test) of reading skills required by the Iowa Core. In my school district, students completed a battery of tests over the school year.

ü  NWEA Assessments were given 3 times a year.  One for math and one for reading. The tests, Measures of Academic Progress, although high-stakes, are not considered “standardized” because as the student ‘clicked’ his/her multiple choice answer on the computer, the program generated its next question for that particular student. The next question would be easier if the answer was incorrect and harder if the answer was correct.  Each session of this test took 60-90 minutes to complete.

ü  Iowa Assessments are given yearly, starting in first grade.  This test is a Standardized Test.  Which means that all kids, no matter what their background, get the exact same test.  (My first grade students always failed the vocabulary word ‘auditorium’… I often wondered how the kids whose schools had auds fared on this question.)

ü  CogAt or Cognitive Abilities Test was given to selected grades annually.  Third grade (my grade) was one of them.  Reasoning and problem solving skills were assessed.  School districts often use this test to aide in gifted education placement.  Really? Waste.Of.Time.  Hashtag: letsmakethekidstotallyhateschool

So, it’s a pretty bleak outlook- no matter what school district you’re in.  What’s a parent to do?  Well, the options are slim.  You could homeschool your child.  Maybe they could go to private school. Or to a charter school. But it’s still not a guarantee that these institutions won’t or don’t over test their students, too. And that’s what this blog is all about- how to deal with over testing. So, here is my advice.  It comes from years of observing families who are not only successful in school, but who thrive.

1.    Talk TO your child. Have conversations. Ask him/her what they think about something.  Tell them what you think.  In this hustle bustle world we live in, it’s easy to get stuck in a habit of just telling your child what to do and where to go.  (I have found that some of my best conversations with my kids have been in the car.)

2.    Unplug.  I know, it’s hard.  But do it.  For half an hour, make your phone wait.  You have more important things to do. Make sure the kiddos are unplugged to, otherwise you’ll be having a convo with a little brick wall.

3.    Number 3 actually goes with 1 and 2. Read to your kids. Have them read to you.  In the car, standing at the kitchen counter making dinner, while you’re waiting in line or at another siblings practice.  Stay off the phone for a little while and teach your child how to have a back-and-forth conversation.

That’s it.  Three easy steps (in theory) but oh, so hard to practice. I promise: If you talk to your kids about what they’re doing and thinking, they WILL be less stressed about school assessments.  And you will too.  Know why?  Because you’ll realize what a cool person your kid is.  No test can measure that.

It’s Testing Season Again

It comes around every year. Parents are encouraged to make sure their children get a good night’s sleep and a filling breakfast. (As if they shouldn’t every day!!—But that’s another story…) Students come to school excited and nervous with two brand new #2 pencils, ready to sharpen. (Or not...again, another story..)

Standardized testing* is a way of life in public education. No getting around it. My experiences as a teacher with standardized testing have been far from stellar. 

When I taught first grade, my school district required first graders to take the Iowa Assessments. (Many other school districts wait until students are in third grade before giving The Test.) Since first graders are basically non-readers, the test was read to them by me, their classroom teacher.  Each first grader got a test booklet to mark in. They were to circle the correct multiple choice picture answer after the question/problem was read out loud.  Part of my job was to make sure all 20 to 24 students were ‘on the right problem, on the right page’.  Can you imagine trying to keep 20 some kids on the same page?  Well, that was the easy part.

A really big part of first grade is learning as a team.  Six year olds don’t understand when the teacher they’ve come to trust unconditionally says, “I’m sorry, I can’t help you.  Try your best.”  At the very minimum, the student expects his/her teacher to give clues or ask questions that will help guide their thinking toward the correct answer.  (Cuz that’s what teachers do!) There were many tears in first grade over what I felt, was the students’ feelings of betrayal on my part and perhaps hopelessness at their inability on their part.  It was a sorry sight to be sure.  Just writing about it today – a good eight years later- gives me a gut ache. I’m not kidding. I have a stomach ache right now. 

It was a tedious process.  Read the question-twice- no more. Give the students time to circle the best picture answer.  I remember one picture answer was of a car going into a skid.  I think skid was the vocabulary word, I can’t remember for sure.  But what I do remember is my kiddos asking me what that particular picture was.  I couldn’t even tell them that.  It would have been considered helping. Helping equals cheating in the eyes of the State.  

And of course, if two pictures were circled, that answer was automatically incorrect.  Did you know first graders sometimes have a hard time with a black-and-white world?  Two answers may seem reasonable to them. 

Oftentimes in the first couple of days of testing, before they understood not to, students would blurt out answers.  You can be sure that every kid in the class circled that answer, whether it was right or wrong. By the end of the week we were all just mentally exhausted.

When I taught third grade testing sessions were somewhat better, but also held their own set of problems. Third graders can feel the tension in the air even more so than first graders can.  This causes a number of reactions.  Some kids get so tense they can’t think.  Other kids just shut down.  There are an equal number of kids who give it their all, so all is not lost.  We teachers spend a lot of time during testing week being cheerleaders for these children.

Third graders, for the first time, read the whole test silently to themselves from a test booklet and fill in bubbles on a separate answer sheet. (Second grade has a blend of first and third testing procedures.)  In third grade, the students are given a specific amount of time to answer a specific number of questions. (You’re cringing now, aren’t you?  You remember, don't you?)  I would always write the time to start, the half-way time and the stop time on the board.  I also wrote the half way problem number next to the half-way time in an attempt to keep kids from going too fast.  Because that’s what they do.  The timer freaks them out, no matter how much you practice and try to prepare them for it.  Most of my students completed the tests in half of the allotted time.  We would just sit and wait quietly for the timer to beep.  Before testing season began I would spend  time teaching them how to go back over answers to check for accuracy.   Either they’re not developmentally ready for that kind of a task, or it’s just too daunting because they pretty much didn’t do it.

Oh, and the test results you ask?  Well they arrive at the school some two to three months later.  We analyze and data troll and discuss how to ‘do better’.  In the end, classroom teachers know exactly what they knew about their students the day before the testing began.  We know who’s at  the top of the class. We know who will struggle or cry or shut down or freak out.  We know who will work their little selves to death to try to be successful.  That’s because we’ve already been helping them all grow and learn and extend themselves since August.  And now in January a test is supposed to tell us how to teach them?  Give me a break.  I’m fed up with this crazy system. 

But what’s  a parent to do?  There are few alternatives.  In my next blog I will talk about what parents and kids can do to survive and thrive in this test-taking-madness that has gripped public education.

*Standarized tests are test that are all the same in content and difficulty given to a certain grade (in school) of students over a huge demographic region.