Personal Pet Peeve: Popsicle Sticks
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a complete popsicle stick advocate when it comes to classroom and home crafts, or, go figure, for making popsicles. But when these creativity-inspiring, cool-snack-enabling pieces of wood are used for classroom “discipline,” I can’t stand the little buggers.
Discipline: training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character; control gained by enforcing obedience or order; orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior; a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity; a form of punishment.
Have you witnessed a student being told to go “pull a stick” in a classroom after demonstrating behavior that a teacher doesn’t like? Have you heard a student be told by classmates “oooh, you’re gonna have to go pull a stick!” Or “uh oh, if you lose another stick you won’t get to go outside for recess!” Are you a teacher who routinely warns students about their “stick status?” Substitute the words “card” or “face card” for “stick” in any of the above examples- it’s the same concept: using public humiliation as a form of behavioral control. Sadly, popsicle stick discipline pocket charts are popular “classroom management” tools.
Excerpts from “Public Humiliation” at Wikipedia: “Just like painful forms of corporal punishment, it (public humiliation) has parallels in educational and other rather private punishments (but with some audience), in school or domestic disciplinary contexts, and as a rite of passage. Physical forms include being forced to wear some sign such as… a “Dunce Cap”, having to stand, kneel or bend over in a corner, or repeatedly write something on a blackboard (”I will not spread rumors” for example).” “In some cases, pain or at least discomfort is insignificant or rather secondary to the humiliation…” “Even when not strictly public, humiliation can still be a psychologically “painful” aspect of punishment because of the presence of witnessing peers, relatives, staff or other onlookers, or simply because the tormentor witnesses how self-control is broken down. This is also true for punishments in class.”
In my mind, classrooms are not prisons. I am no warden. As a teacher, I am employed to educate, guide, and serve the academic, physical, and emotional needs of my students. To fulfill my job requirements successfully, I take the time at the beginning of each year to build a positive repoire with my students and work with them to establish a safe environment in my classroom. This means I observe my students at length, I interview their parents (personally and in surveys/questionnaires that are sent home), and I constantly model appropriate behaviors and reactions to most, if not all, of our classroom experiences. No yelling, no threats, just explanations, questions, and role playing appropriate reactions for “next time.” Praise, praise, appreciation, and more praise.
“You must feel so good inside. You accidentally spilled the glue, but you told me and helped me clean it up. That’s terrific!”
“Thank you for showing J. what a good friend you can be. You hurt his feelings, but then you apologized. I think he feels better now, I hope you do too.”
” I’m so glad you remembered how to move safely during free center time! You didn’t run, so you didn’t get hurt/hurt others today! Good job!”
“Thank you for letting B. have a turn to talk with me. When I’m done talking with her, your turn will be next. Thank you for waiting nicely, you’re being very polite.”
Perhaps such phrases sound Pollyanna-ish, and I admit, I go home with a sore throat and sore face every day for the first month of school because of how much I verbally communicate and smile with each of my students. It’s become apparent over time that the fact that I actually enjoy talking to and WITH my students has set me apart from some of my colleagues in the past, as have my beliefs about children in general.
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~ Just-turned-five-year-olds are not experts on issues of self-control. Neither are many adults. Ever see an adult burst into tears, “vent” in a less-than-appropriate venue, or behave in publicly embarrassing ways? Of course you have. No one is perfect, though adults have years and years and YEARS of experience built from successes, mistakes, and regrets that young children can’t and won’t possess, no matter how many time outs, cards pulled, or whistles blown that you inflict upon them.
~ First graders tend to be a little more acclimatized to school than kindergarten students are, while second graders demonstrate a bit more familiarity with the choreography of the classroom environment than they did the previous year. No, fifth graders don’t have “it” all mastered, just because they’re older than kindergarten students. No, tenth graders don’t have “it” all mastered just because they’re in high school.
~The need to guide and respond in meaningful ways to our students is so great, but it’s one of those essentials that many teachers and schools ignore because they believe “there isn’t time.” Popsicle sticks are faster. Embarrassing a student is faster. But it’s not better.
~ Too often teachers forget that their students are children, no matter what they wear, how they behave, or what they say. While children aren’t social savants, they are certainly masters of observation, and they have emotional reactions to and an elephant’s memory for interactions, good and bad, with the adults in their lives. You are making an impression on your students, and your treatment of them will determine their reaction and responses to you.
~ Students are not sent to school in order to make a teacher’s day brighter, more cheerful, or to feed their ego. It’s amazing to me that a classroom full of children “complying” by sitting in their chairs, completely silent, demonstrating no interactive or inquiry-based behaviors is considered a successful model of classroom management, a successful model of teaching. No questions are being asked, no ideas are being explored, no communication is occurring, but teachers receive atta-boy or atta-girl praise that they enjoy from their administrators and colleages, which reminds me…
~ Children aren’t adults, nor are they robots, no matter how much some teachers and administrators wish they were. Information is exchanged with students, not just dumped into their open skull caps, lips zipped.
For my initial month’s worth of teaching, guidance, and constant communication, my students work in an atmosphere that frankly, throws people for a loop for the remainder of the year. Month after month, observers, parents and colleagues come in and sit at my reading table, just to watch and listen, and take it all in. They hear children, those “uncontrollable and impulsive” kindergartners talking, apologizing, encouraging, laughing, singing, and debating. They witness students approach me with questions, not interrupting, waiting until I’m done speaking to someone else. They hear explanations of feelings, expectations of how someone can help, negotiations between peers, instead of tattles and screams and cries. They hear productive noise, which many had previously felt indicated mayhem, a “lack of control,” a “zoo,” proof that this teacher has no “classroom management skills.” Funny the things visitors hear when they stop to truly listen, what they see, when they truly observe.
Because I’ve listened respectfully, because I’ve shared without force, I’ve modeled and therefore taught kindness instead of humiliation. I’ve appreciated my students for who they are and what they do, and in turn they reciprocate when I indicate it’s time to transition from one activity to another. They respond appropriately, they enable each other, they cooperate. They help me create and maintain a positive learning environment, their ownership and sense of belonging being the essential foundation upon which the rest of our learning is built.
I invest in my students, their feelings, and their potential to learn. I do not believe their first and foremost responsibility is to learn how to comply, Pavlovian in nature. If you can only “control” your students through threats and public humiliation, it’s time to rethink your purpose, teaching philosophy, and moral compass. How would you feel if your principal, administrator, or spouse put you on a popsicle stick chart? Go ahead, imagine it… you talk out of turn, to your grade level partner during inservice (pull a stick!)… you arrive late to a staff meeting because your potty break could only happen as soon as the bell rang and you had bus duty (pull a stick!)…you accidentally forgot to stop at the store and pick up milk (pull a stick!). I’m betting it wouldn’t take long before you’d categorize such behavior as emotionally abusive. How long would you tolerate it? How willing would you be to perform your best? How long could you perform your best while suffering from repeated overdoses of humiliation inducing fight-or-flight adrenalin?
Working with a staff made up of mostly popsicle-stickers can be excruciating. You see your former students squashed into compliance, their new teachers finding fault in their questions, their exuberance, their anxiety, their need to adapt- everything that demonstrates that students are children who require guidance, instruction, experience, and time to reflect on situations that might occur outside of the math or reading curriculum. Relationship-building is seen as a chore, a “touchy-feel-y” approach, instead of as the foundation to which I referred earlier, an essential “safe” zone where students can re-evaluate and recover from natural mistakes. Teachers don’t invest in it because it’s not a quick fix, and it isn’t “done” after a particular grade, though many of them have no problem doing everything possible to ensure that public humiliation goes hand in hand with public education, year after year. Why invest in embarrassment? Invest in reasoning, invest in valuing, invest in fairness, and invest in an attainable and attractive ideal that enables the best kind of learning to take place.
In my classroom you’ll find popsicle sticks in our Creative Construction Zone, math calendar counting chart, or classroom refrigerator, three places they absolutely belong.
That Time of Year…Kindergarten Roundup (Repost)
**The following was originally posted by me at In Practice**
It’s that time of year for kindergarten teachers: planning to meet “next year’s” (August’s) kindergartners. After Easter and spring break, school districts nationwide hold their Kindergarten Roundups, encouraging enthusiastic parents and usually eager-yet-nervous children to start making their immunization, school shopping and pep talk plans in the hopes that the first day/week of kindergarten is emotionally survivable for all involved. I have to admit, I’ve never been able to keep the image of lassoing five-year-olds-that-yes-have-made-the-cut-off-date out of my mind during spring registration, and in fact, several of my former administrators have even suggested that my colleagues and I “troll for kids that look old enough” as we drive through the school’s neighborhoods before work each morning. Each administrator has wanted our numbers to be as close to accurate as we can have them before school staff sizes are re-evaluated over the summer due to increases or decreases in enrollment- very understandable.
Teaching in schools with larger student and family populations that fall within lower socio-economic levels means that I have had my share of hosting kindergarten “sneak peeks” involving myself, my students, future students, and their preschool or Head Start teachers, and not the students’ parents. Typically, preschool teachers contact me and my colleagues in advance, asking us to look at calendar dates to find a morning or two when they can bring their students over to see what kindergarten is all about. They ask to sit in on storytime, centers, and participate in snack and possibly recess. I of course, give my Super Stars the heads up that younger visitors will be spending time with us during the week, and each year we inevitably agree that we should do what we can to help them feel comfortable during their stay.
Three or four students per preschool teacher arrive for their sneak peek, usually wide-eyed, and not at all reluctant. I purposely revisit old standby stories such as Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See or Green Eggs and Ham for storytime, and my Super Stars teach their guests the motions to our fingerplays, “Two Little Sausages,” “Once There Lived a Quiet Mouse,” and songs like Shake My Sillies Out. The preschoolers visit the learning centers they are most interested in, and can tour the classroom and its materials on their own, with a friend, or with one of their teachers. Painting, playing with blocks, dressing up in the pretend center, counting/sorting/classifying with math manipulatives, pounding and rolling clay, putting puzzles together, working on the computer, playing musical instruments, or quietly looking at books…are some of the activities that I will watch my future students exploring during their visit. *
Why am I watching instead of putting myself front and center, vying for their attention? For one, I might not be their teacher in August. Two, I feel it’s important that the children make this transition successfully in their own way(s) and in their own time. It’s not important that students *like me* when they first meet me, it’s important that they feel welcome, and that they feel safe. And finally, yes… I’m taking mental notes, sometimes scribbling thoughts and observations down about each of the children as they familiarize themselves with their future environment.
~Does the child wear glasses? Hearing aids? Appear to have physical limitations that differ from his/her peers? What is the child’s size, and how does s/he use physical space? Does the child squint, or say “huh” or ask for directions to be repeated again?
~ I listen to them speak…is there an accent? Is the child bi-lingual? Is only English spoken in the home? Does the child speak English at all? Understand it without speaking it? Are there pronunciation issues separate from language comprehension and expression? Regardless of oral language, does the child prefer to use sign language of some sort, gestures, to communicate rather than speaking?
~ Does the child interact with others? Others of the same gender? Opposite gender? Does the student only demonstrate parallel play? Does the child recognize and choose to acknowledge and cooperate with transitions?
~ Is the child passive or aggressive? How about passively aggressive (that one usually takes time to observe once the new school year has started, unless parents, a previous teacher or daycare provider tells me in advance)? Allergic to anything?
~ Is the student a watcher or a do-er? A little of both? How long does it take him/her to come out of a comfortable shell?
~ Is the student aware of his/her own needs and wants, and is s/he capable and willing to be in control of belongings, potty issues, and sharing resources? Does the student ask for help?
~ Left handed? Right handed? Ambidextrous? Knows how to cut, hold a pencil or crayon, and move objects and materials from hand to hand smoothly?
~ How does the child move? Running? Jumping? Climbing? Walking, skipping? Does s/he have good balance?
~ Does the student appear well nourished, clean, wearing clothes that fit? Does s/he appear well rested? Is the child lethargic, or a bundle of excess energy?
~ Does the child like to complete one task before moving on to another, or does s/he flit and float, moving between activities and projects, dabbling a little bit here, a little bit there?
~ Are hands and kleenexes used when the child sneezes, or are sneezes wide open and shared with the classroom? Does the child still put objects like toys, pencils, crayons, rulers, scissors in his/her mouth?
~ I also listen to our guests, what I call “professional eavesdropping.” Do my students shout out “Hey, we have that book at our house!” Do they question what paint or clay is? I can learn a lot about my future students’ prior schema just by listening in on their stories and interactions while they’re in my room.
Colleagues at each of the schools I’ve worked have asked me if I can tell with just one visit which students have had prior exposure to a school-type setting or structured learning environment, if I can tell which students have been read to nightly at home, which students have experienced hands-on learning, which students have made mudpies with real dirt and water and which have only made them by drawing or painting them with a computer program.
Yep. I can. While I hope that Kindergarten Roundup leaves each preschooler with a good feeling and anticipation about the upcoming kindergarten experience, it gives *me* my own sneak peek, providing me with vital information that I feel better about having long before the DIBELS test booklets arrive in the building in the fall. Recognizing and appreciating the wondrous diversity, strengths, needs, and potential that each new class represents makes essential relationship-building happen more smoothly and naturally for our youngest learners.
Welcome to kindergarten! Bienvenido!
* Yes, some schools include preliminary formal assessments for incoming kindergarten students during Roundup . I’ve worked at one that did, and two that did not. My own preference is to refrain from putting barely-five-year-olds through additional performance stress on a day that should be about discovery, bravery, inspiration, anticipation, and belonging. Of course, that’s just me.
Childish Clothing/Hostess With the Mostess
Remember when I told you that I had won a 500$ giveaway from Childish Clothing via Hostess With the Mostess?
Guess what arrived today:
I’ll post a slideshow at the end of this blog so you can see my toddler sorting through all of his cool, new, funky fashions, but here are some close-ups for you:
It was like Christmas (or a fashion-filled birthday!) in April when we unwrapped all of the goodies, and the timing couldn’t have been better, considering the toddler just went through a huge growth spurt:
“Big boy” underwear…
Some of the coolest tee’s out there (they say “My Dad is My Hero” and “My Dad is Cooler than Your Dad”…
The softest shorts and pants (t-shirt soft!), swim trunks too:
And big boy flip flops (we’re still working on keeping these on our feet):
Go, go, go check out Childish Clothing (we ordered for our son, but yes, they have girl and mommy-to-be items…great gift items too!)-
…and see if you can tell which shirt ended up being our toddler’s favorite:
THANK YOU Childish Clothing and Hostess With the Mostess!
Friday Family Funnies
Friday’s chores: go grocery shopping, check. Put groceries away, check. Clean house, check. Excavate desk, check. Peruse some newly discovered blogs, check. Return to the “cleaning” theme and sort through digital photos that have been collecting virtual dust in a “deal with it later” file on the desktop…check!
Grandpa loves these photos, being a “boots” kind of guy himself. Over the last two years, guests to our home have often complimented us on the “distressed” look of our furniture.
Umm…. it wasn’t always “distressed:”
Yep, that IS the toddler doing a little stompy dance… on top of our coffee table!
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In case you were wondering, why *yes,* I do know Santa (having lived in North Pole, Alaska):
**In fact, I know him so well that I’ll let you in on a little secret…he likes Harleys (and little stompy boys)!**
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This is our cat:
This is our cat getting ready to go into stalk-mode because the neighbors have a teeny tiny little yipper dog (see her intently watching the neighbor who is carrying said prey?):
One of these mornings, when the timing is *just right* and the neighbor puts the dog down and turns away, I’m guessing our cat will make a run for the wall, sail into their yard, and then freak out because she hadn’t thought of what to do next!
She’s kind of a …wuss.
~ThinkGeek is featuring an item that could be my new favorite never-be-without-it item, an electronic bubble wrap keychain
~ Creature Comforts found some femme reusable grocery bags that make it easier to go green (I want the girly ones!)~ For those of living in zones where spring flowers are in short supply, why not make them? Making tissue paper flowers is one of my favorite crafts in late April (especially years where May 1 falls on a school day so my students can deliver May Day bouquets and posies to other classrooms) and there are some gorgeous colored and patterned papers out there that could be layered to beautiful effect!
~ Finally, I thought THESE were flowers when I first saw the photo pop onto my screen while reading Smitten Kitchen’s blog, but noooooo….they’re taters!
I hope you are enjoying a fun, fabulous Friday!
Show and Share Thursday: Bear With Me
Thankfully, these don’t growl:
I mentioned in a previous Show and Share Thursday post that my husband has a thing for bears. Consequently, so do I!
The first bear figurine to mark our relationship was the one with our favorite animal posed at a computer desk. The reason I purchased it was because one of the first photos I’d ever seen of my husband had been of him sitting, leg crossed over, at his computer:
One of the first holidays we celebrated together was Christmas (in Alaska), so naturally the snow globe had to join our technically proficient bear.
When we married, we wanted a bear family that matched our own (little did we know that cub number 4, our toddler, would arrive two years after we were wed!), so we adopted the bear couple, a standing bear for my stepson, the pair of bears playing (it’s actually a napkin ring!) for my two children, and the extra bear because he was too cute to leave at the store (it’s probably what guaranteed the toddler’s addition to the family!):
My husband had this bear tucked away in his bachelor belongings:
…and we purchased this bear family on the road trip from Oz to the Bordertown last summer:
We hadn’t found a new bear to add to our collection for quite a few months, and then lo and behold, Polly sent us the cutest coaster set/figurine that I’ve turned into a candleholder:
We are always on the lookout for a new bear to add to our collection~ yes, we’re “beary” happy when we find just the right one!
~Sky Manor shares a recipe for Teddy Bear Bread
~ Author Jez Alborough has written some of my favorite teddy bear books (kids love them too!):
~ Here are the lyrics to The Teddy Bear’s Picnic
~ What are polar bears called when they’re caught in the rain? Drizzly Bears!
~ Bear activities for kids at DLTK’s Growing Together
Posted at In Practice
I’ve posted over at In Practice again- this time about Kindergarten Roundup. I’ve included a list of topics I contemplate as I make observations of the preschool students that visit my classroom each spring as an introduction to what kindergarten is all about. If you’re a new kindergarten teacher who is interested in what kinds of information to be gathering during preschool visits or if you’re a parent who is enrolling your child at your school’s upcoming Roundup and you’d like to know what we teachers are looking for or quickly assessing when we meet your child, check it out!
Back to the Dark Side
Oh, how I wish I was referring to chocolate, cookies, anything other than teaching. I’ve been a bit torn lately in fact, because I’ve found I’ve been spending more and more time reflecting upon home, family, creativity, emotions, and craft explorations than I have on teaching as our year-long stay in the Bordertown stretches on. Totally natural, I’m sure, but I’m going to have to dive head-first back into the Land of Public Education when I return to teaching kindergarten (hopefully this fall), and that means I’ll be back to inservices, professional development days, collegial groups, and trying to pep-talk myself into demonstrating a rah-rah mood about the new learning community to which I will belong. School number four, back in Oz. Which hopefully will be pro-student, and pro-teaching, not pro-Kill-and-Drill-for-the-State-Assessments.
Baby steps, baby steps. So I’ve gone back to listening to podcasts related to education, visiting the blogs of some of my favorite teachers (their moods don’t help, most are bummed out, burnt out, sick and tired), exploring web sites and blogs featuring actual kindergarten classrooms, and trying to leave meaningful comments at the posts that speak to my inner-teacher. Staying on top of my game requires that I continue my own education, formally and/or informally. This year, podcasts, online essays, e-books, and visits to Barnes and Noble to follow up on recommended reading suggestions have been the affordable way to go,and have kept me from having to choose a subject of study for a Master’s program.
With NCLB and the attacks on students, teachers, and public education as a whole, I cringe at the thought of one day growing up to be a principal… of being a curriculum coordinator whose job it is merely to buy the the sole program and products approved by the government-approved corporations that have no scientific basis for their claims to fame and success…or the education professor at a university rehashing this whole nightmare for future generations of teachers. Nope, sorry, I’d rather do crafts. Make wreaths. Figure out how to read stories to blog visitors via podcasts. Learn more about digital photography. Lose myself in an antique store or flea market. Or wow, just TEACH.
I’d like to introduce my students to new forms of expression, to new authors, new voices. Encourage them to sing, to question, to discover, and to help others. To take chances, to forgive, to problem-solve. To laugh at knock-knock jokes, to encourage their friends, to persevere when an answer doesn’t come easily. To try something new, to enjoy something not-so-new. To paint, to plant, to pretend. To read, to write, to communicate with a diverse group of people, to know they have value. It’s wonderful when students realize that LMNOP is really “L-M-N-O-P,” five letters, not one. It’s even more rewarding when my students help one another celebrate an accomplishment like learning how to tie one’s shoes, writing both first and last names, or reading a story. Sharing wonderful stories with parents about those moments they miss as a result of allowing me to spend so much time with their children is something I’m happy to do. Offering longer conferences, sending silly emails, keeping parents in the loop, inviting them to spend time with us.
Time spent actually teaching and guiding is a gift, not a chore to tolerate or endure. But the careful activism that seems to be required right now, advocating for my students, advocating for their future, advocating for their parents, advocating for my own children, advocating for my colleagues, and frankly, advocating for my job is a heavy burden. They’re worth it, we’re worth it, I’m worth it, but it is difficult. Unpleasant. And it takes away from what I feel I should be doing: opening finger paints, helping cut yarn, vacuuming sand out of the carpet from our sand table…whatever it takes to give my students an environment rich in kinesthetic, emotion-imprinting discoveries and inspirations.
Here’s what I’ve been reading- some of them are lengthy, in-depth… all provide important information and viewpoints of which more parents should be aware…of which more new teachers should read up on if they ever hope to be “real” teachers and not just script readers and assessment administrators:
Drop Out Explosion: Wonder How Come:
“…teachers and principals are blamed and held “accountable,” which reinvigorates all over again the inhumane and immoral practices that the Bush kind of tough-love exacts from educators turned into brutal bureaucrats. In order to keep their schools from being shut down or taken over by charter outfits or EMOs, the just-following-orders educators make sure the losers are shoved out, encouraged out, and pushed out in order to avoid their negative effect on school test performance.”
A Nation at Risk: Burn in He** (outlines the scare tactic that has been used to great success to destroy public education):
“From an irrational faith in the ability of standardized tests to inspire greater learning, and from an unwillingness to finance more expensive tests that would sample critical thinking as well as basic skills, we’ve again narrowed the curriculum to “minimum competency,” precisely the 1970s standard that A Nation at Risk denounced. From a belief that an alleged decline in student achievement must be attributable to a decline in teacher quality, at best, or to malfeasance (‘low expectations’) of teachers, at worst, many districts have attempted to overcome this teacher incompetence by implementing scripted, or nearly so, curricula. We’ve attempted to focus teachers’ attention by a testing regime so rigid that it threatens to destroy teachers’ intrinsic motivation and their ability to address the full range of student difficulties that can only be diagnosed by creative teachers, student-by-student.
Again, this does not suggest that teachers are as well trained as they should be, as well-motivated as we would like them to be, or as student-oriented as they must be. But it is hard to defend the proposition that teachers, especially those of minority and disadvantaged children, have been sitting around making excuses for poor performance when these children have gained a full standard deviation in test score improvement in a single generation.”
Mike in Texas posted “Get Those Test Scores Up or I’ll Kill You” at his blog, Education in Texas (and oh yes, I left a comment):
“Of course, it had to have happened in Texas, where the drive to destroy public education began via high-stakes testing. A principal has threatened ‘I will kill you all and kill myself.’ if TAKS science scores don’t improve.”
(What galls me is that parents decided to pooh-pooh the teachers, when those same parents would have been the first to worry about and report the incident if it had happened in their own workplaces, or if their child had come home and told them that another student had made a similar threat. )
Endure. Teach in spite of the ever-increasing-list of obstacles. The students need me. Their parents need me.
I’m going to need a LOT of coffee.
Tulle Time/Americana/Think
What to do with leftover tulle, red and blue fabric, and red polka-dotted ribbon?
Make a new wreath to go with my updated patriotic decor, of course!
I had enough fabric and tulle left over to make a mini-wreath as well:
It’s small enough to fit inside the opening on the larger wreath, but it looks a bit overkill on the tulle, if you ask me (so no, they won’t be kept like this):
SallyJean has posted her April Celebration List...CakeSpy posts a tribute (with history) to one of my favorite treats, the macaroon cookie (what do you mean it’s “ugly?”)…
mbartdesign has some cute altered art charm bracelets (patriotic even!)
Linda Bertino at Charming Trinkets also has too-many-charms-are-never-enough jewelry that include brooches and barrettes, sorted by category: Patriotic; Tea/Java Joy; Fish and Sea Life; and many more. Though many of her pieces are marked “sold,” it appears she takes custom orders and can come close to duplicating what you might find on her site.
And if you want to immerse yourself in Americana decor, try The Country Porch...
Here’s an idea…Why not visit the presidential candidates’ official web sites instead of listening to biased pundits, talk-show hosts, spin doctors, and celebrities who would like to do your thinking for you? I know the sites are professionally produced as well, but for those of us who won’t be able to meet (much less chat with) the candidates in person, this might just be the best way to get as close to each horses’ mouth as possible. Review their ideas, check their voting record, listen to their messages and form your own opinion:
A Visitor
Scene: Sunday morning. At home. Sister still asleep, Daddy working in the garage. Toddler gasps after entering the living room, looking toward the window.
Me: (following his gaze) Oh! Look! A visitor! It looks like a grasshopper!
Toddler: No Mommy. No hopper. Ucky Bug.
Me: Honey, that’s a grasshopper. What’s he doing on our screen?
Toddler: Mommy! NO HOPPER! UCKY BUG!
Me: Sigh. Okay, you can call the grasshopper “ucky bug” if you want. Do you want to see it?
Toddler: (nods) Aunt (”want”) ucky bug. Yook (”look”)!
Apparently it’s easier to get closer to the “ucky bug” if you’re inside the house, on the other side of the glass. If, however, you choose to go outside and join the ucky bug in the fresh air, your bravery will be greatly increased if your ducky blankie accompanies you.
Thanks to ZoomSchool.com for the following image (I enlarged it and turned it into a coloring page for the boy):
Catching My Eye
It’s been a mish-mash kind of week: domestic goddess duties at home; the start of our relocation planning; strange encounters with rude people; filling out teaching applications; juicy news from friends and family; photo-journalism at home; longing for the same types of proof that spring has arrived that my favorite blogs have been publishing (alas, we get flowering shrubs here in the desert, not tulips or crocus or snowdrops); and a return to watching what I eat and making time to get on the treadmill.
I’ve been able to do a bit of exploring as well and have found some ideas and items to add to the online version of my Inspiration Binder. Here’s some of what you’ll find in the “flagged” column on my read feed:
(Art by Tammy-Fleetwood-Moody)
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I thought I was good at patriotic decor influences until I came across Karnas Hus. Nope, I don’t understand a word of it, but thanks to the author’s photographs, I “get it.” Interesting to see our nation’s colors and symbols used so beautifully in a country style cottage home… in someone else’s country.
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Casa Sugar did a quick review on the following book:
and I want it!
Not just because it has a wonderful illustration of “nasty urchins” on the cover (though that is certainly what grabbed my attention first) but because I love trying to identify flora I’ve not encountered before when we move to each new state. What are “nasty urchins?” Nasturtiums, of course, though I’ve had several kindergarten students throughout the years ask me “Teacher, teacher, when do we get to take the nasty urchins home to give to our moms?” at the end of our Seeds/Things Grow units. Nasty urchins go home right before Mother’s Day, by the way, just so you know.
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I’d like to go shopping at The Cottage. Soon. Here’s their blog with close up photos. I’m liking vintage looking (and truly vintage) furniture more and more…probably has something to do with the movers “giving our furniture character” each time we relocate.
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Di at Designer’s Block featured a beautiful French getaway recently, so I followed along, and found my own dream getaway-girls’-only cottage (sorry Honey!). Rock walls, clean lines, simple furnishings, twinkle lights…I can feel my stress melting away. I’m not entirely sold on the pink walls though, but there are some nicely photographed decor ideas to tuck away for future inspiration…
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I don’t like green beans. Never have. Ask my mother. She’ll tell you all about how I would constantly try to mask the flavor and texture and smell and existence of said beans with mounds of catsup as a child. It never worked of course, insert dramatic gagging followed with tons of eye-watering begging please-don’t-make-me-eat-this here. As a result, I didn’t like anything that remotely LOOKED like green beans…. meaning *asparagus*. Then Smitten Kitchen goes and writes up (and photographs) a Spring Panzanella, and my goodness… I might have to be brave… risk revisiting the childhood trauma/drama for a taste…or two, or three… It looks THAT delicious.
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Scribbit reminded me that I’m missing break up again this year. Remember folks, I’m an Alaska Girl…
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Inspire Company has a new online magazine- once you get there, keep clicking “next” to see each wonderful, crafty feature! I’m going to find some time this weekend to make a cake like the one outlined in the Creativity Journal (number 6).
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What’s been catching *your* eye lately?
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