Two days after school gets out I will be setting out for Nice, France with just a bike and a backpack. I will be meeting my sister-in-law, Patricia Andrews, there to begin our journey across France. Through an organization called WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities for Organic Farmers) we will be staying and helping on four organic farms along our route from Nice to Bordeaux. The stay at each farm is about a week at a time, so we will be immersed in the French culture and learning the skills of each farm from fruits & vegetables to vineyards and dairy. After our stay on the farm we will bike to the next destination, only occasionally taking a bus or a train. All in all it will be about 800 miles in 50 days! I am very excited to take what I learn from these self-sustaining farms, and share it with my friends, family, students, and you!

So now the training begins! I have maps to look over, French to speak, and a bike to ride. I have 34 days to go until my departure and my nerves feel every passing day. I appreciate any prayers and support because we will also be raising money for Bikes for Humanity, an organization aimed at providing unwanted bicycles for developing countries where a bicycle could be the only means of  getting to a job, school, or a doctor.

Patricia is an amazing photojournalist and will be capturing and blogging about our adventure along the way. More information about ”The Tour de Farm,” cleverly named by Patricia since our bike trip is during the Tour de France, can be found at Facebook.com/TheTourDeFarm.

Post by Leah of Your Dime Your Time

“Reading daily with your child is critical to their development in many ways. There is no better way to increase vocabulary, teach literacy fundamentals, and expose your child to images and words to which they would otherwise not be exposed.

However, just saying the words on the page, while giving some benefits to your child, will not make the experience as productive as possible. By adding just a few small changes to your read-aloud time, you will be greatly increasing your child’s reading preparedness. Here are seven suggestions to make read-alouds the best learning experience possible every time you read together:

1. Read the Title, Author’s Name, and Illustrator’s Name-It’s important for children to become familiar with what these three things mean. Explain what author and illustrator mean. It’s also great for them to understand that every book is written and illustrated by real people.
2. Ask Your Child to Make Predictions-Read the title and look at the cover, then ask your child to tell you what they think might happen in the book. Most children will be quite uncomfortable with this in the beginning since they don’t know the answer, and they want to please you by saying only correct answers. Encourage them by saying that there is no wrong answer, but rather you just want them to take a guess. Ask them again in the middle of the book to make a prediction about how the story will end, and you could even make your own prediction and sometimes model that it’s okay to make an incorrect prediction.
3. Ask Your Child What Is Happening In the Pictures-It may not seem like pictures are as significant of a learning tool as the words, but when your child examines what is happening in a picture and explains it, it develops their inference skills. Just make sure not to do it with EVERY picture. Once or twice during a book will give them a chance to practice without completely interrupting the flow of the book.
4. Move Your Finger as You Read-By moving your finger underneath the words as you read, your child understands that you read left to right and top to bottom. It also helps children from a very young age to understand that the words you are saying are those written on the page, not just your own thoughts. However, this one takes a fine balance. Please don’t move your finger under every word on every page in every book. As a matter of fact, you should probably read most books without doing this at all. But every couple of days, use this trick on a page or two just so that your child will begin to take notice of some very important literacy fundamentals.
5. Ask Questions-Again, this involves a balancing act. Please don’t ask your child three questions per page. As a matter of fact, don’t even ask them one question per page. I think that asking a question every few pages is frequent enough to check your child’s understanding without breaking the flow of the story. You can ask basic recall questions, like “What did Mom say she needed at the store?” as well as reasoning questions like “How do you think Mom will get to the store?” and you can also throw in expansion questions like “What would you buy at the store to cook for dinner?”. The goal is to engage your child in the story, but beware that if you stop too often you will turn your child off to reading with you altogether because it will become a frustrating situation to them.
6. Reread the same books again…and again…(and again)-Most adults like to read a book once, and unless it’s a favorite, they will move on to another one. However, children like to read the same books over and over again. This helps them to make permanent in their mind the words and concepts that their brain is understanding. Regardless of the repetition, it is helping your child learn when you happily read and re-read books.
7. Really enjoy the book with your child-It really doesn’t matter if you follow each of these rules, AND establish a 1,000 book collection for your child, AND take them to the library twice a week. If you don’t take time to truly enjoy a book with your child, the likelihood of them enjoying it greatly decreases. Some of my children’s favorite books have been my favorite books, and I think it’s because my enthusiasm for the book shows. Enjoy the book and enjoy the time, because both are over much too soon.”

“Redshirting” is the term commonly known in the sports world to indicate a college athlete who sits out a year in their sport  giving them one more year of eligibility to play.   Parents of  kindergarteners face  a similar decision when enrolling their children in school.  They may decide  to “redshirt” their kindergartener to help them be more successful in their education.

This new reference of redshiritng kindergarten students means that the student is being placed  in a grade younger than their age level in school voluntarily. Parents believe that it will give their students an advantage with athletics , maturity, socialization and of course academics.   USA Today, Life Science, New York Times and others have written their ideas about this “trend” in American education. They have all kinds of data and numbers, which find interesting but that was not my approach when I was faced with this decision.

I can speak from the voice of experience. I did this very thing with my youngest daughter, Tiffany, the co-author of our book and this website. Academically my daughter was at or above grade level. I was not concerned about that at all. Being a teacher myself, I am aware  that social skills and friendships make for great memories and positive educational experiences. I could see  that the friends she connected with the best, including a cousin, and her now husband, were in the grade one year younger than her age group. She was more interactive, verbal, and just more comfortable with that particular class. It was a good fit.  When with her age level grade, they were older children and  she became less verbal and watched rather than interacted as she did with her other grade level.  I could see that it was in her best interest to be with the grade level one year younger.  As a result, she was on the older end of her class all the way through school. I found it to be extremely positive. She did too when she was the first one to get her driver’s license in high school. I never felt her academics or talents suffered.

Parents know their children the best. I think it is an intiuitive decision on behalf of your child. Take into consideration the enitre child-their socialization, their academic pace and their personality. Talk with other parents that you know that have done with their children.  It does give them that extra year of development and maturity mentally and physically if that is a concern for a parent.  My concern was her social interaction  and I have always felt it was the right decision; however, at the time, I didn’t realize I was “redshirting” my kindergartener.

L-Listen. Listeners are learners. Remind your children to listen in the classroom. To check if he/she is listening have them summarize their school day for you. Ask them, “In one or two words what did you learn about in ___ today?”

O-Obey the class rules. When students follow directions “the instructional time will flow better and learning takes place in a more efficient manner than when a teacher must stop instructional time to deal with a behavior issue.” (Sincerely, The Teacher) Now that we’ve been in school for about 110 days, it’s a good time to review the classroom rules. If your child is failing to follow the rules, set consequences at home to show that you support what happens at school.

V-Volunteer. Choose one time this month to volunteer in your child’s classroom. It will not only support the teacher but it will show your child that you think school is a priority. Being in the classroom will also give you a chance to see what your child encounters on a day-to-day basis and be a more informed parent because of it.

E-Encourage. A word of encouragement to your child’s teacher is simple and free. A note, e-mail or phone call can make a world of difference in the day of a teacher. With all of the pressure, stress, and exhaustion that comes with teaching, ”the compliment that you gave your child’s teacher could have been just what the teacher needed to make it through the day.” (Sincerely, The Teacher)

Happy Valentine’s Day and don’t forget to give some L-O-V-E this month!

In an ongoing effort to stay up with increasing progress of technology and its impact in our world and the future of students, the Hybrid Education model was created as one way to answer the explosion of technology.  It is not widely recognized among educators and school systems at this time but it is on its way to be a household word.

What is Hybrid Education? It is a blend of the traditional classroom with on-line instruction. This type of learning model conducts the lesson partially in a classroom with a significant portion of learning activities moved online.  Hybrid education allows the student to work at their own pace on a daily basis in or out of the classroom. Students have one laptop with two teachers; one traditional teacher and a virtual teacher. The Hybrid Model forces the traditional teacher to redesign their lecture and lab content of the lesson to a new online learning activity such as case studies, tutorials, and online group collaborations. It is a student driven way of learning. For example, if a student cannot understand a concept in the classroom, they have the opportunity to go online and use the blended lessons  to help them understand.

I have noticed that my own students often prefer technology and online work versus hard copy paper work.  They continue to do very well with hands on instruction and kinesthetic learning activities where no technology is involved at all. Times have changed and techology must be part of the educational process. How we incorporate it into our curriculum and classrooms must be handled carefully with each educator asking how it will enhance the learning process for their students. We all want to optimize each student’s success. We don’t want to get caught up in any gimmicks, latest and greatest theories, and of course expensive purchases that don’t work. Hybrid Education, e-learning, or flexible learning are methods out there to answer the technology interest of our students.  There are many other things learned in the traditional classroom setting when students are interacting with one another, the teacher and verbally engaged in the lesson of the day. I know  iPads, Nooks and Kindles are here to stay, but I will always be a fan of the face-to-face teaching with online options used only when necessary.

Well, it’s back to school soon then; back to the last half of a school year; and back to a group of “nearly 3rd graders.” This is my favorite part of the school year because it is when things start to “click” for the students who have been struggling. This is when they finally start to “get it,” and this is when I get to see a result from what I have been teaching all year. So, although I am anxious, I am also quite excited!

(From left to right)

1. Thanks a Latte: With a few materials like scrapbook paper, a coffee sleeve, and a Starbucks gift card you can create an adorable gift for your child’s teacher. See more details and download the image from Skip to My Lou blog.

2. We Need S’more Teachers Like You: So easy and cute! I’m actually going to do this for my coworkers except I’m going to add a Timberwick candle (only $2.99 from Publix) with it. The candle smells like a fireplace and crackles like it too, and I thought that would go perfectly with the S’more!  See more details and download the image from Tip Junkie blog.

3. Post-It Present: I can never get enough sticky notes! Clear frames, scrapbook paper, post-it notes, and ribbon is all you need for this adorable gift. Just cut the paper to fit the frame, attach the post it notes on the front, embellish with ribbon and you’re done! Picture from Paper Wings blog.

4. Crayon Letter Shadow Box: I love how this gift helps personalize the classroom in a stylish way. Print out the initial you would like to trace on card stock. Arrange your crayons accordingly, glue the crayons with tacky glue, let dry, and place in a shadow box! See more details at Well, How Nice blog.

5. Pringles can for cookies: Every teacher loves a great snack and this is an adorable way to give my favorite snack…cookies! Wrap a Pringles can with scrapbook paper, fill with your choice of cookies, tie with a ribbon and you’re all set! Yum! Picture from Jen Grant Morris blog.

Stay focused since time is limited. During conference week teachers are working overtime. It takes about 40 minutes or more to prepare for each conference, then each conference takes about 30 minutes, multiply that by 25 students, and you have a lot of late nights and exhausted teachers! Please respect the little time the teacher has by arriving on time to your conference and staying on topic while you’re there. The parent who’s conference is after yours will appreciate it too!

Keep an open-mind about what the teacher has to say. “When children are in the classroom setting, they face many more factors than they do at home. In many cases, these factors can affect a child’s temperament, behavior, and personality” (Sincerely, The Teacher). What the teacher tells you may not sound like your child but teachers can only describe what they see in the classroom. I’ve had so many parents say after conferences, “Are we talking about the same child?”  It is the same child but it is that child in two completely different settings. It is so easy to ignore what the teacher says if it is “not like” your child. Trust that the teacher just wants to help, listen to what he sees in the classroom, and use it to further understand your child.

Look through your child’s work before conferences. The school day is filled with lessons, tests, and activities (not to mention lunch and recess).  Consequently, there is just not enough time during the day for teachers to e-mail parents weekly to tell how a child is doing in various subjects. Therefore, the graded papers that are sent home in your child’s folder are teachers’ way of communicating how your child is doing in the classroom. If you spend time looking through these papers before conferences it should lessen any surprises that you see on your child’s report card.

Write down your questions beforehand and order them by importance. Oftentimes teachers will answer the questions that you have but if you’ve been wondering about something…ask it! It’s important to order the questions by importance since there might not be time to get through all of them. Some great questions I’ve been asked are:
“What do you think is my child’s strength/weakness?”
“What can I do at home to improve my child’s ability to ____.”
“At home my child does ___, do you see that in the classroom?”
“My child has complained about ____ who sits next to her in the classroom. Do you see a problem or is it something my child could handle on her own?”

Listen to cues. “Teachers are not allowed to diagnose students with ADD, ADHD, Autism or anything of the kind. We are not doctors and can get in grave legal trouble if we tell parents their child has a learning disability. What you can do as a parent is listen to what the teacher says during the conference” (Sincerely, The Teacher). If multiple teachers in a row of have noticed the same behaviors in your child, and the behaviors are known symptoms, then take the initiative and bring your child to see the pediatrician for their advice as well.

Above all else know that you and your child’s teacher are on the same team. Also, a little bit of patience and grace will make any conference a good conference!

President Obama cannot end the law of No Child Left Behind.  Congress would need to address the issue legislatively. Lawmakers have been asked to review the NCLB Act and make changes.  They have not been able to formulate a solution.  President Obama sensed the urgency to make a decision to do something to give states more flexibility in dealing with the provisions of NCLB. He  recently announced that states now have the option to request a waiver from NCLB provided they can prove they have a plan for measuring progress and pursuing reform for their state.

One of the first states to make a request for  a waiver is the state of Georgia. State Superintendant John Barge, along with Senator Johnny Isakson have presented an alternative plan for Georgia’s schools called “Georgia’s College and Career Ready Performance Index.” CCRPI will measure the extent to which a school, school district and state are successfully making progress on a number of accountability indicators such as mastery, student attendance, ACT and SAT scores, and next level of preparation. Instead of one test given on one day of the school year, CCRPI takes a comprehensive look at the things that go into making successful elementary, middle and high schools.

Waivers are a good place to start. This action is long overdue and it gives educators some hope and breathing room to implement what they knew all along was better for our classrooms. I am thrilled about this waiver option and would like us to move on from NCLB. Who knows best what needs to happen in the classroom than the teachers? As these changes are taking place, hopefully each of our 50 states will place a high value on teacher input and listen to their suggestions and turn them into policy. Teachers have dedicated their life career to produce successful students. It would be a dream come true if state policy would help them make it happen.

What teachers really want to tell parents.