We just had the Call 2014 Christmas gathering. The food was excellent and the company even better. I know that we missed a few people this year, so for those of you that were not able to attend; here is Grandpa (and Uncle Glen) sharing some great stories about our family. Sorry about the auto focus problem, I'm still learning to run my new camera. I saw Aunt Jen filming as well; I hope her version is better. 

Middle of the Night

Reposted from my school blog:  http://thecallhall.weebly.com/1/post/2013/12/middle-of-the-night.html

 

Whenever my children are sick at home in the middle of the night, it's usually me who wakes up to tend the child and clean up the mess.  I sometimes think that my husband could sleep through a nuclear explosion.  (Okay, maybe that's exaggerating just a little bit.)  Well, last night, I learned that my husband can be awoken in the event of an emergency.

So, it's around midnight, and everyone in my house is deep asleep.  All of a sudden, there's a loud "Thump, Thump, Thump, *Pop*".  My husband sits up and shouts in an authoritative tone "Who's there?" while I mumble "What?  Shhhh...It's okay."  He goes in search of the noise wondering about the possibly an intruder, while I stumble into the children's rooms to calm them down.

Turns out the noise was caused by a couple of helium balloons getting caught in our ceiling fan.  But it's nice to know that in the event of an emergency, I can count on my husband to be alert and take care of us.

Cyber Monday Sale

I'm having a sale on my teacher stuff on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Just thought I'd advertise it here as well as on Facebook.  Hopefully, some profits come from it!

Christmas Advent

So I remembered to buy some chocolate Advent calendars for the kids this year before we left on vacation.  Only problem is...how does chocolate relate to the true meaning of Christmas (besides the fact that it often helps Mommy be nicer and calm down from rough days.)

But serious, I feel like I need to incorporate something more with this commercialization of counting down until Christmas.  Enter...the scripture chain.  After browsing Pinterest, I came across this blog:  http://www.thethingsilovemost.blogspot.com/2011/11/our-other-traditions.html that had a list of scriptures from both the Book of Mormon and the Bible relating to Christ.  The scriptures are super short, unlike other scripture chains out there, which really will make it palatable for my children while they wait anxiously to devour their chocolate for the day.

Let's see how it goes.

*Happy Holidays to Everyone!*

Sunday in Paradise

Someday I would love to know why it is that Sundays in my favorite vacation spot are always beautiful.  Is it so I can enjoy the beauty of the world, or is to tempt me because we choose not to indulge on the Sabbath?  Look at that sky.  There's barely a cloud present.  I think I'll go check the weather forecast for the rest of the week.

The backyard of the condo offers beauty, too.  The entire bird-of-paradise plant is in bloom right now.

Writing on a new blog

Just so you know, I've blogged 7 weeks in a row on my school blog:  http://thecallhall.weebly.com/blog.html.  Go me!

Now back to your regularly scheduled blog silence...

Educational Differences

Can something be learned if it's already been experienced but just not written down?  I hope so, because that is part of what I've learned this week.

I finished up a two-day professional development yesterday on interdisciplinary teaming.  Day 1 was incredible.  Our team worked hard to develop it's name, logo, common themes, etc.  Each activity edified, each story intrigued, and everyone seemed to leave excited for the future.  Then there was day two.  We were barraged with personal stories that left one wondering what the point was, we felt coerced into completing tasks that offered no deeper application, and we were held captive with nothing to do for two hours in order to receive our payment for the previous six hours.  I love how the facilitator  of Day 1 presented her information.  I respect the facilitator of Day 2, but it just wasn't her best teaching moment.  I guess, the whole point of this story is that "actions speak louder than words".  In order for me to NOT fall into the same trap as Day 2 facilitator I need to be aware of the ratio of actions/words that I require of my students.  I do NOT want my students coming home and telling their parents that they were held captive by their teacher...unless it's because I'm teaching something that is truly captivating. 

So, I might have bitten off something bigger than I can chew.  I decided to start this year with "standards based grading".  What is that you ask?  Or isn't that what you complained about so much last year?   (Okay, maybe I didn't complain on this blog...but if you'd been around when I finished reading some books for school, or happen to be my friend on Good Reads, you'd know that I haven't been a fan.)  Well, standards based grading is grading students entirely on the standards that you teach.  Sounds simplify enough, I know...but it isn't.  This means that a grade can NOT be lowered because of absences or tardies.   Late work and extra credit aren't allowed either.    I read 2 books last spring on Standards Based Grading and hated everything about it.

So, why do it this year?  Well, my principal gave me a new book for summer reading and the approach is completely different.  Instead of "everything you've ever done for grading is WRONG" like in one of the spring time books, this book is "tweak a few things and you're there."  So, I tweaked.  This year instead of having categories for tests, homework, participation, etc for my grades, the categories will be Number Sense, Proportional Relationships, Executive Functioning Skills, etc.  I will still give the same homework and tests as before, I'll just group them differently.  I don't know if it's truly Standard Based Grading, but that's what I'm doing.  So, here goes.  Wish me luck!  (I'm sure there will be more posts in the future on how it works/doesn't work.)