Yikes

Until this week, I had never once opened this app (hence the default
stocks). Still, the 2 year curve is morbidly amusing. I mean, I call
it a "curve" cause I'm a math girl, and just can't call it a vertical
line...but, wow, a vertical line. Yikes.

A Serious Question

When did it become bad to be smart?

People -- or, rather, those who aren't boggling in amazement -- are praising Governor Palin's down-to-earth soccer-momness.  When George W. Bush ran the first time, much was made of the fact that he was a regular guy and aspersion was regularly cast upon Gore for being too intellectual.

Prior to the VP debates, a commenter on NPR said the same thing about Joe Biden.

Here's the thing.

I want the president to be smart.

He is the leader of the free world.  I want a smart person to be in charge of the world.

But, seriously, when did intelligence become bad?

I remember being in school and feeling I had to apologize for the grade I'd gotten on an essay.

When I wrote "aspersion" above, I briefly wondered if (1) I should define it or (2) if people would be mad at me for using a word they didn't know.

I don't really have an answer here (as you can probably tell by the semi-incoherent rambling), and I'm not saying that intelligence is the end-all and be-all of the world.  Street smarts count for a lot.  They do.

But if you're going to be running my country, and therefore directly affecting my life, I would really rather you were smart enough to handle it adequately.

I don't get it.

The default "super awesome" jobs that everyone thinks of are "doctor" and "lawyer" -- two jobs which require degrees beyond a bachelor's degree.  Both of which require rigorous training that's not for the faint of heart.

So why do we honor jobs that require intelligence but turn around and complain that the potential vice president is too smart?

I just...don't get it.

I Miss Seattle

Just look at all that beautiful rain.

I Want to be in Barrow, AK

And, yes, Barrow is programmer into my iPhone's weather app. I think
it's fun to know the weather in the mist northern US town (I've seen
the website..."city" is stretching it).

Why It Matters

Last year, during Mr. Voice's IEP-From-the-Dark-Side, his mother was berating me because I'd sent home a social studies homework assignment that said...

...wait for it...

...circle any of these people that you see on the news or in a newspaper.

It was clearly marked as extra credit (as I'm not assuming that anybody has a TV or can afford a newspaper) and...y'know...circle a picture.

"My typical ten-year-old couldn't do that," said the group home representative.

(I boggled.)

"Why does it matter anyway?" asked Mr. Voice's mom.

Well, for one thing, there is not a functioning-level requirement to vote.  Patrick can vote. If she so chooses, and has someone to assist her to do it, Elastigirl will be able to vote.  If you are an adult American who is not a felon, you can vote.

(Note that I'm not sure how guardianship affects that -- but I'm not a fan of guardianship anyway.  I would much rather an adult with disabilities have a specific document detailing where they need assistance and where they are able to make their own decisions.  But I'm weird like that.)

For another, it's only a matter of time before my students, who are already tested on Language Arts, Math, and Science (just like their peers who take STAR testing), will be tested on social studies.  It's probably inevitable.

For a third -- even if it weren't likely to be on a test someday, I believe that it's my responsibility as a teacher to teach as much civic knowledge as I can.  For some, that may simply mean recognizing the Pledge of Allegiance, knowing The Star-Spangled Banner, recognizing America's flag, or knowing that we have a president.

And, for a fourth...for crying out loud, it said to circle anyone you saw on the news.

The News-2-You website says this about teaching current events:

Everyone needs ready access to sources of "new information". It's the content that makes our conversations interesting and meaningful and sparks learning. All individuals have a right to this information, not just for those of us who are able to decipher the content-intensive formats regularly used in newspapers and on newscasts. News-2-You® is universally designed for individuals who need concise, visual concepts. It provides "big picture" news to a population previously denied that information. It provides fun and motivating reading material.

In other words, current events are important.

I'm blessed this year to have kids that pay attention to the world.  After the train crash, several kids came to school the next day asking if we'd read about it for News-2-You.  (Sadly, they did not produce a short World News article on the subject.)  Every single one of them -- Elastigirl excluded, but more on her later -- can name Obama and McCain.

When I started, last year, the kids' books regarding the presidential primaries, I said that one of my main motivators was remembering seeing a news segment before the presidential election in 2000, where very few people could name the current VP, name or recognize either of the candidates, and a few who didn't recognize the current president (!).

Another main motivator, I have to admit, is the pride of being able to say, "My kids know more than 30% of the people out there in the real world."  This is also why I drill the world map so hard -- it is insane that so few high schoolers can find America on the map. My fourth, fifth, and sixth graders with moderate to severe disabilities are getting it.  So there.

But there's also the fact that these guys will be living in the real world.  What happens in regards to politics is as important to them -- maybe moreso, given the still-very-relevant issue of in-home supported living versus institutional living -- and knowing something about the political system will help them to be good self-advocates.

None of that matters, though, when confronted with the conversation that happened in my classroom yesterday morning.

For the record, the players involved are Aide T, Earring Twin and Drama Queen (fourth grade girl A).  None of this was prompted.

At all.

Drama Queen:  Is McCain going to the talking thing?

Aide T:  You mean the debate?  We don't know yet.

Drama Queen:  Why not?

Aide T:  Well, there's an important meeting in Washington D.C., and Mr. McCain thinks it's important that he go.

Earring Twin:  Obama's going to the meeting?

Aide T:  We don't know yet.  Mr. Obama thinks it's important that he tell people his ideas.  He wants to have the debate so that he can do that.

Drama Queen:  But McCain wants to go to the Washington meeting?

Earring Twin:  I saw Obama on the TV last night.

Aide T:  Yes.  He thinks it's more important to meet with the other people in Washington D.C.

I would like to point out for the record, given that this is a school, that there were no value judgments inherent in this conversation.

I would also like to point out that I got my kids actively watching the news and then wanting to know more about it.

This is why it matters.

This is why school for kids with moderate to severe disabilities should be more than reading Dick and Jane over and over and over and over until they can finally read that one -- so that -- yay -- they can start the next one.

This is why core content -- even modified core content (you'll note that Aide T kept her explanations very simple) -- is important.

Because they do care.

They are interested.

They might not grasp all the fundamentals and subtleties -- but, really, how many people do? -- but they care.

That is why it matters.

Randomness

*  Next week's homework is done -- yay!

(Well, it's made...not copied, collated, or modified, but still.)

*  Program Specialist SR is probably going to buy the school two copies of the update to Writing With Symbols -- one for SAI Person JW to use with Whiner Girl and one for me to use so that I can make more stuff to help SAI Person JW to use with Whiner Girl.

*  Oak Glen had maple candy this time.  Mmm.

(I was first introduced to it there as a kid, but never really had any more until a couple of years ago when I ordered some from Vermont Country Store.  However, I have been known to sneak a few pinches of brown sugar here and there.)

*  Rode the monorail with Imagineers on vacation yesterday, who mentioned that Tokyo Disney is going to get its own Soarin' Over California.  When I jokingly said, "Do they have to soar over California, or do they get to soar over Japan?" I got a non-disclosure type of "I can't talk about that" response, which suggests that they will, in fact, get to soar over Japan.  This goes nicely with rumors that Soarin' in Florida (I think I read about Disney filing permits) is getting updated.  Nifty.

(I, for one, think it would be really neat to have a movie for each continent, on a random rotation, so you could ride again and again and never know which movie you were going to see.  Of course, that really only works for repeat visitors...maybe a non-random rotation?)

*  One of those Imagineers works under the guy who designed the current fireworks show (Remember...Dreams Come True).  He's working on World of Color, the show coming soon to California Adventure.  What I didn't know was that he also designed Tokyo DisneySea's Mythica, which looks just awesome (like just about everything else at DisneySea, which is the one Disney destination outside of the US that I would kill to see) on the grainy YouTube videos I've seen of it.

*  That same Imagineer took an immediate liking to Patrick (I think she was a little taken aback that a gentleman with Down syndrome knew more than she did about the monorails, including the term (and location) "round house" -- the train and monorail "garage") and asked the conductor if Patrick could blow the horn of the monorail.

*  I am baffled that people think it's news that some Americans -- even (gasp) some Democrats -- have deep-seated prejudice that might affect who they would vote for in the election.  Um...we didn't really think that Barack Obama's race didn't matter at all, did we?  If Hillary Clinton were the candidate, we'd be doing polls on deep-seated misogyny, after all.

*  Peter David, one of my favorite Star Trek authors, got to go to George Takei's wedding.  Walter Koenig was best man and Nichelle Nichols matron of honor.  Congrats to George and Brad.  :-)

*  Maybe it's because I'm reading the last book of Stephen Baxter's Time's Tapestry tetralogy, but I've become fascinated with ancient Roman technology.  They had indoor plumbing, municipal water systems, roads created more or less the same way we create roads today, indoor heating (by way of heated water pumped through pipes in walls), air conditioning (by way of sheets of water in strategic places)...imagine what life would have been if the Romans had just discovered electricity?  Or the internal combustion engine?

*  And, finally, it is very difficult to find videos of hurricanes that don't have profanity in them.

You Keep Using That Word...I Do Not Think it Means What You Think it Means

That is one of my favorite quotes from The Princess Bride -- delivered by Inigo after hearing "Inconceivable!" one too many times.

I found this today.

I just...sugarless Peeps.

Think that through.

Sugar-free Peeps.

The illogic...it burns.

I had the same reaction when I first saw sugar-free caramel sauce.

I mean, caramel is basically sugar, water, and milk.  "Caramelized," or the darkening that happens when you cook things, is mostly 'cause you've messed with the sugars in something.

Sugar-free caramel.

(For the record, neither is really sugar-free.  They are simply different forms of sugar.)

A Big Moment

Disclaimer:  Bodily functions ahead.

This may not strike anyone but Cat as a momentous occasion, but there you have it.

Elastigirl has had the stomach flu for the past three days.

She was not at school on Wednesday.

Yesterday, she came and had diarrhea twice within an hour, but although we called home, she was not picked up.

Today, when she got off the bus, she went to sit down and wait for the rest of the kids.

After a few minutes, she kinda rolled down onto her belly.

After that, she would not sit down.

She got up on her knees, and I noticed a tell-tale mark on her clothes.  She'd had a little diarrhea again but had mostly urinated.

But here's the kicker.

She was uncomfortable because of it.

In other words, she was aware of being wet and made uncomfortable by it.

Elastigirl has, for years, been able to communicate having had a BM (in a...um...less than conventional and less than...pleasurable...way), but the real obstacle to any kind of toilet training was that she just didn't seem to notice or care if she was wet.

Today, she cared.

Yee-haw.  :-)

Show, Don't Tell

That's an axiom in writing -- and one that I still sometimes struggle with (I tend to information-dump).

But if you read these lyrics, you have the perfect example of the concept.

The tents grew smaller as we rode away
On earth that tells of many passing days
The months of peace and all the years of war
The lives of love and all the lives of fears

There...that?

That is "show, don't tell."

I could spend five verses talking about the sad history of the place the caravan was traveling through, but a master lyricist can condense it all down to one line:  "The months of peace and all the years of war."

I am so jealous...I wish I could make words do that.

Playing Catch-Up

I know, I know.  I've been rather silent around here these days.

The fact of the matter is, the group of kids I have this year is keeping me on my toes -- and not in the drama-filled, losing-children kind of way of this time last year.  They are pushing me to create new activities to teach things I've never taught to a class before -- what a noun is, for example.

So until I get "caught up," you might do well to follow me on Twitter, where I'll post a few little updates each day.

Birthday Weirdness

So, just for fun, I often check the birthdays on imdb.com.  One of the birthdays today was Bruce Gray, whose face I kinda recognized from the picture.

A quick check of his page confirms that he was Ian's dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding (a.k.a. the quiet lawyer dad, not the roasting-lamb-in-the-yard dad).

However, as I page-downed my way through the page, my eye caught the usual filmed-in-Canada stuff (Outer Limits, Stargate, etc.) -- which is, incidentally, where MBFGW was filmed.

Anyway, I'm paging down, and I see Star Trek: Enterprise.

I stop.

I boggle.

Surak?

Ian's dad = Surak of Vulcan, Father of All They Now....

SURAK?

That is almost...almost...as bad as Winona Ryder playing Amanda.

Or...oh, good Lord, I can't stop looking....

Weepy Girl (Cameron?) from House playing Kirk's mom, conveniently enough named Winona Kirk?

And we've already ranted about McCoy-Leonard-McCoy.

(Why I'm stuck on him being Caesar-Julius-Caesar and not Eomer, I don't know, but there you have it.)

And, explain to me Bruce Greenwood as Chris Pike.  Chris wasn't that much older than Kirk and company....

And we're not even going to get into Zachary Quinto saying that Sylar and Spock have some things in common, 'cause he doesn't think about good or evil when he plays a character.  Dude, sociopath-emotionless so does not equal Vulcan-Passion's-Mastery.

Seriously.

However, to give credit where it's due, it's nice that Christopher Doohan gets a cameo.

Neat

Forget all the other changes for iTunes 8 -- I'm digging one simple one:

"Play Genre."

I know there were ways to do this before, but this is neat and simple.  I like it.

And, why, yes, I do have 72 albums of Celtic music.

Still Here

Just a quick post.

1.  I am still here.

2.  I am coughing up a lung at the moment, thanks to either the cough/cold that Sixth Grade Teacher JT caught or to the gunk from moving causing an allergy attack, or both.

3.  The class is still (knock on wood) doing fairly well.  Smiley was a bit grumpy today and Drama Queen (Fourth Grade Girl A) had one moment Friday, but so far, so good.

Reminder to Self

That whole "allergy-induced asthma" thing?

You experienced it first in Thousand Oaks.  In September.

It is now September.

You were in Thousand Oaks.

Next time you go to Thousand Oaks in September, take a freaking Zyrtec or bring some Primatene, okay, dummy?

Data, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

I love my iMac.  I really do.  99% of the time, it behaves flawlessly.

Tonight, however, it has refused to print and connect to the Internet at the same time (which, I presume, has something to do with a tweak to my network printer that I made last night to try to get Lore to use it to print).

It has somehow permanently hidden Final Cut, where I lost...oh, about five hours' worth of work for a video I was making.  FIVE HOURS.  I don't usually work THAT long on videos I make for the kids (this was for our Olympics paper), but I like the Olympics, and was having fun.  FIVE HOURS.

And now, it's not printing with the laser printer at all, no matter how many times I re-set the router, and I still have social studies stuff to make.

Knock on Wood

"Hey, SpooWriter," said Fourth Grade Teacher K at recess on the first day of school, "How's your class this year?"

"Knock on wood for me," I said.

"How's it going?" asked Principal SDF before our emergency staff meeting.

"Please knock on wood for me," I said.

"How's your class this year?" asked Former OT E.

"Knock on wood repeatedly for me," I said.

Sense a pattern here?

Everyone kept insisting that my four new kids -- six, really, if you count the upcoming fourth graders from Teacher M's class -- were lovely.  Teacher M's girl has some truly difficult family stuff going on, but during the 90% of the time that she's able to get past that, she does very well.

When I found out about the twins, and read their IEPs, I realized that they sounded a lot like Fourth Grade Girl A and Bart (Fourth Grade Boy P, based on his backpack).  Very good listening comprehension but poor reading skills.

But, that meant I'd have five kids -- because of PH -- that are in the same boat: I must balance teaching them basic reading and writing with providing them with the rich grade-level content they can access by listening.

Angel's brother is a total charmer.  I haven't quite worked out yet what he knows and what he doesn't -- partly because despite not being listed as having autism, he sure looks more like he has autism than a cognitive delay of some sort.

New Boy Fifth Grade A -- Angel's brother's friend -- reminds me a lot of Scissor Girl.  (Except not with the scissors.)  Even down to the ginormous puddle of glue that erupted when he had to glue something into his agenda book.  Seriously, though, he reads beautifully -- he will be getting the text-only version of News-2-You -- but his comprehension lags a fair bit behind that.  He will fit in well with Boy J next year.

Anyway, New Boy A has trouble coming up with answers to questions -- which we will have to work on, considering how much of a part of CAPA it was -- so I gave him a question with three verbal options.  He still floundered.  When I scribbled them out on a scrap of paper -- bingo -- right answer every time.

Now, as to the knocking on wood.

Let me paint a picture.

It is eight o'clock in the morning on Friday.  The third day of school.  Of 11 students, 6 are new.

I have led my line -- my LINE...not my clump or my carefully-spaced-out-to-prevent-drama straggle -- into the classroom.  They sit at their desks and take out their journals, and start working.

I get the lunch count stuff and pass it around.  The kids keep working.

I have to ask them to stop working when we take our practice spelling test -- which everybody but Angel's Brother V aced, incidentally (I gave everybody the most difficult level just to see what would happen).  So, with aides either standing away or sitting silently next to the kids, everyone takes their spelling test.

Then they work on their journals.

For...

...get ready for it...

...an hour and a half.

Now, as I had so many new kids, I made the journals deliberately long so as to have some work left over for the new kids when we worked in small groups.

But they were all working so well, I just couldn't stop them.

The ones that finished went over to the quiet/library corner, selected books and...

...get ready for it...

talked to each other about the books.

Then we take out our books (The Chocolate Touch).  One of the things we have been talking about is that it's a re-telling of an ancient myth -- namely, "King Midas and the Golden Touch," so that was actually what we were reading on Friday.

When I hand out the pages, Bart raises his hand.  "I thought we were reading about the chocolate kid?" he says, pointing to the picture of John (the main character in TCT) on the wall.

I am staggered.

Floored.

Someone actually noticed -- not only that we were reading a story with different characters, but remembers what the story was about before we've even read it.

So, I go through the story, reading it once -- which one of the Twins goes to use the restroom.  I figure, hey, that's not fair....

So when she gets back, I tell the kids that we're going to practice the listening activity we do once per chapter -- namely, listen for a key word and mark on a paper when you hear it.  Only in this case, it was, "Raise your hand when you hear 'King Midas.'"

Last year, if I had attempted the same thing, it would have gone like this....

Me:  "Okay, is everybody ready?"

Angel and The Boss say yes.

Me:  Once, long ago, . . . . (long pause) KING MIDAS . . . . (long pause) was walking in the garden.

Three kids put an X on their paper.

This time, it went like this:

Me:  "Ready?"

Kids:  (loud chorus of "yes!")

Me:  (hmmm)  "Once, long ago, King Midas -- "

Ten sets of hands raise.  Elastigirl, noticing this, raises her hands.  I exchange stunned glances with Aide T.  I did not pause nor emphasize the word at all.

This is way too good to be true, I think.  So I keep reading.  Up they go.  All of them.  Every single time.  I even read faster and faster to see what happens.  11 sets of hands go up each and every time.

I am...floored.

When we finish the chapter, I and my group of five kids who are doing the more difficult (that is, open-ended versus multiple choice) questions go back to the back table.  As is typical, the kids doing the multiple choice versions finish first.  So what do they do?

Well, Bulldozer puts his Spongebob piece on his token board and starts to draw.  The others get books from the library, sit at their desks, and read them.

Quietly.

I am...flummoxed, and running out of synonyms.

They go out to recess.  The new ones have already figured out the system and know whose day it is to ride the bike.

They come back in from recess, and we take a few minutes to hand out paper work -- since there's no wall space for lockers (aka wire mesh thingies), so the kids have been hanging their backpacks on the backs of their chairs.

Then we take out News-2-You.

Let me paint another picture.

Me:  Okay, take out this paper and put your name on it.  (I hold up a sample.)

11 papers are taken out and 11 names written.

Me:  Now, Twin G1, can you find the flag on the top of the paper?

Twin G1 points to the flag.  I decide to reinforce a concept I had taught yesterday.  Just for giggles.

Me:  Is that the flag of the United States?

9 or 10 voices chorus confidently, "No!"

Me:  (wow)  Okay, so, is our story happening in America?

Kids:  No!

Me:  (oh my frelling God they remembered)  (I decide to reinforce something I mentioned in passing Thursday.)  Now, what are America's neighbors?

Kid 1:  M...Mexico?

Me:  (oh...good Lord)  Absolutely right.  And the other one?

Kid 2:  C-C-C....

Me:  (*#*$*#*#**$*)  Caaaan.....

Kid 2:  Canada!

Me:  (What alternate universe have I stumbled into?)  Does this paper say Mexico or Canada?

Kids:  No!

Me:  So is this story close to us?

Kids:  Far away!

Me:  .....  (At this point, I figure...why not...)  Can anyone read where the story happened?

There is a moment of silence.  Then, Twin G1 raises her hand tentatively.

Twin G1:  Ch-ch...China!

Me:  (there are no words)

So, this procedure repeats through the rest of our News-2-You articles, and before I know it, it's lunch time.

As in, this group of children just sat through an hour-long group lesson.

Did I mention that two different aides took lunches in this time, and at one point, it was basically me, and an aide for Elastigirl?

Okay, so, they all go to lunch.  Before they go, I gird my philosophical loins and tell them (expecting the dismayed reaction that the announcement got last  year) that after we do a little work with the nifty new writing programs Program Specialist SBS sent (two pages from each), we will spend our Friday afternoon playing games.

(Note:  Limited googling has failed to find them, but when I do, I'll post links, in case any of y'all would like to work on writing with your kids.)

I get a chorus of cheers.

So, lunch comes and goes, and my line -- MY LINE!!! -- walks back to class.  Bulldozer makes it all the way inside without any drama whatsoever.

I hand out their writing folders.

The first program -- which I swear has apple in the name, but of course googling that comes up with writing software for Macs -- starts with some direction-following exercises.

The first page is fairly simple -- it's simply "circle the.....".  I tell the kids I will only tell them once -- so when someone misses it, their neighbors tell them.

The second page is a little more complicated.  It starts with, "Color the hat black."

As soon as I say that, there is a flurry of grabbing for the crayon buckets.  I eye the table to my left in particular, where PH and Bart are facing off over the crayon bucket.

"Ladies and gentlemen," I say, "Let me remind you that you can only earn gold tickets by being nice to your friends.  Grabbing things from each other isn't nice."

A moment later, I hear a swarm of comments along the lines of, "Here, do you need a black crayon?" and "You can have this."

So, we go through the rest of the exercises -- the last of which is "color the ball purple, pink, and orange."  The kids keep reminding each other of what they are supposed to be doing.

So, we start the first page of the other program, which focuses more on sentence structure.

I have M read the first sentence -- "The boy is walking."  After that, it says, "The boy ___ walking."  I have M read that too.

"What's missing?" I ask.

Kids:  Is!

Me:  (Oh, good Lord....)

We proceed thusly until it's time to clean up for games.  I hand out different Memory games to each table, where the kids proceed to play together, interact with each other, encourage each other, and have fun together.

I am in the Twilight Zone, I kid you not.

Now...please keep knocking on wood for me, okay?

Another Pet Peeve

Sight = seeing stuff

Because of my lousy sight, I must wear glasses.

I could hardly believe the sight that greeted me when I opened the door.

Site = a place (physical or "web...")

Sacramento will be the site of the next National Down Syndrome Congress conference.


The webmaster completed his total redesign of the site in under three weeks.


Cite = refer to

The judges cited three precedents in the text of their ruling.


If you do not cite your references, you will be accused of plagiarism.

Knock on Wood

Well, all four new kids did well today.  In fact, the whole class did very well (hence the title).  Aside from the usual disruptions from Bulldozer (one medium sized and one very minor one), the class was very responsive and interactive.  We even had discussions.

Multiple ones.

Which was good, because one of the new people hired didn't show this morning.  (Turns out her paperwork isn't completely processed, but I guess the office didn't know that.)  So, independent, well-mannered workers was a plus.

Meanwhile, and totally unrelated except that I was on a Loreena McKennitt kick while getting my classroom ready, I have realized that somehow -- despite being quite a fan of European history -- I missed the extent to which the Vikings were involved in British history.

The notion was sparked while reading Stephen Baxter's Time's Tapestry series (awesome books, btw).

Ironically, very soon thereafter, I something clicked while listening to Loreena McKennitt's "Bonny Portmore" (which is on an earlier album -- The Visit, I think).  As she says in Nights From the Alhambra, the song is a lament about the fact that a beautiful tree has been cut down.

"For it stood on your shores for many's the long day
Till the longboats from Antrim came to float it away."

Yeah, somehow I missed the reference to "longboats" every one of the hundreds of times I've listened to the song.  D'oh.

Yay for Anonymity

You may have noticed that there are no references here to my last name, the town or school where I teach, other teachers' names (especially last names), kids' names....

Basically, there's no identifying information.  It allows me to share some of my funnier stories, as well as some of my dramas, without fear of compromising my kids' privacy.

And, today, it allows me to make a comment regarding last spring's CAPA testing.

Apparently, most kids in our district did well.  I saw a few of my kids' scores, and they all held even from prior years (which, given how much harder the test got, is a more impressive feat than it sounds like it should be), and a couple of kids improved.  Bulldozer improved from either Below Basic or Far Below Basic to Basic.

In MATH.

CAPA was really, really hard this year.  There were things like addition problems with calculators and manipulatives, identifying two-digit numbers, graphing, and identifying parts of a cube (face, vertex, etc.).

Bulldozer is lucky to count to three.

This is actually an improvement for him, as he came to me counting to two, lost that skill when he stopped having to bring two $1 bills to buy lunch, and regained it slowly and painfully.

However.

I gave him that test.  I gave all the kids' their tests.  I talked to the other teachers who gave the test.

I have concluded that the whole thing was either curved (by state, district, school...who knows) or the threshold levels for each score were lowered from previous years.

(For the record, there is Far Below Basic, Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced.  I'm fairly certain No Child Left Behind requires everyone to score proficient or advanced at some point, which means those are technically "passing" scores.)

There's just no other explanation.

I am pleased, on the one hand, and slightly boggled on the other.

However, this does not change the additions I have already added to the kids' journals heavily emphasizing certain skill sets on the CAPA.  I don't believe in teaching to the tests -- the rest of their day will be math, reading, etc., as usual -- but this daily practice should help.

Seriously.  Counts to three and scored Basic on the math section of the CAPA.  I frelling kid you not.

I will be very disappointed if The Boss, who came to me counting to three and ended the year counting to nine, scored anything less than proficient.

Also, very confused.

Happy Nerd

Okay, without getting into what filk is -- other than "music SpooWriter likes" (except that I seem to like "classic" stuff rather than current stuff) -- can I just say that this makes me happy?

(At one point, I could accurately -- as in, know the words -- sing along to all 13 minutes of the song...of course, I can't do it alone -- as in, sitting in my room and singing without "accompanying" somebody.)

Also, the fact that "The Dark is Rising" is being considered too is just icing on the cake.

And, the detail-oriented nerd in me is excited that they will probably make sure that Julia doesn't swiftly cover almost singing the regular chorus instead of the last verse chorus.

(In other words, the regular chorus is:

"I'll never wear red robes
I'll never wear a blue stone
The ruined tower stands abandoned and alone
etc."

The last chorus is:

"I'll never wear red robes
I'll never wear a blue stone
The ancient tower stands no longer quite alone
etc."

In the recording here, Julia starts to say "ruined" and switches quickly to "ancient," and it ends up sounding like "ru-ancient."

(Don't take this as criticism...if I sang a 13 minute song live to an audience, I'd get caught up in the repetitions of the chorus too and probably forget to switch it.  It'll just be nice to have it the right way.)

In short: happy nerd!