Ibu Kucing - The Next Chapter in Learning

  I am not a Supermom. I won’t claim to even be a great mom. I hope, in the end, I’ll at least be considered a good mom - most of the time.  I’ve had my failures.  But I do thing I have a positive relationship with my teen and young adult children.  They are all pretty amazing in their own ways - even as some of them struggle to adjust to adult life. One of my less-than-shining points as a parent came in the wake of Covid.  Prior to the pandemic we had limits on the amount of screen time the kids had. (Sure, they were sneaky and got a little more when they weren't supposed to - I know more than they think I know!) However, as the pandemic and virtual learning drew out, It became harder and harder to control the screen exposure. Then they were getting older and requesting more autonomy. My own mental health was shaky and I eventually threw up my hands.  There were a few times we tried things to reel it in again, but it rarely lasted. Now only two of our kids...

I have yet to talk to a veteran teacher of more than 5 years that hasn’t agreed that teaching has changed in the last several years. It has felt as though it has gotten more stressful, more challenging, and overwhelming.  Many have left teaching due to burn out or frustration.  Many others find themselves asking, “Is it worth it?” I do feel like it was my calling to be a teacher. I resisted it as a teen and young adult as nearly everyone in my family is/was a teacher.  Grandpa was an assistant principal and coach of multiple sports. Grandma was an English teacher and school Librarian. Aunt was a history teacher-turned lawyer-turned Law professor. One Uncle was an art teacher. Another Uncle was an engineering professor. Dad was in business education. Mom was a preschool teacher and parent educator. One Brother is head of a school of engineering. Other Brother teaches middle school math and history. The list goes on…. What kept calling me back was the joy I got from working...

      Years ago, I had to spend some time on bed rest. I needed to keep my hands and mind busy so that I didn’t lose my wits so I got a video from the library and learned to knit.  I continued to hone my skills with videos and books.  A few years later, while living overseas, I met a fellow expat who taught me to crochet by showing me face to face.  Again, I continued to learn more by watching videos and reading books after we moved apart.      One of the exciting things about living in another country is the chance to learn and experience another culture and language. I enjoy trying new foods, going to different religious and cultural events and learning about the history of the host country. On the other hand, expatriate life does have its challenges.  Having an expat community helps individuals navigate these challenges by creating a network of resources to help with things such as where to shop, places to go, and sometimes just...

  The other day I had two of my children play a review game for me so I could see if it worked the way I wanted it to.  I had used several variations over the years, but I wanted to actually write it down to share.  My daughter, who is a senior this year, later reflected, “You know Mom, Bingo review games seem like such an obvious choice but you are the only one of my teachers to have us do it.”   Really?  The game I was having my kids test out for me was on a bingo board, but we called it “5-in-a-row” and in my classroom we played a similar review game and called it “Team Bingo”.  The concept is simple and is easy to adapt to any subject.  Start with a 5x5 grid; it can be on paper, drawn on a board or using index cards. You need at least 25 “questions” (24 if you give them a free space). The questions can be vocabulary, math questions, comprehension questions, or anything pertaining to the content. You can have them written on the board/note card...

I’ve been meaning to write this for some time, and it isn’t going to be quick for me. This is my personal story. It is a much different story than others with dyslexia but perhaps it may help someone else in some way. The more I learn about dyslexia and how the brain works, and looking back to my early years, I suppose there were signs.  My Grandma may have been the first to notice anything.  She was a librarian in a middle school and sometimes I would get to go with her to work and help out in the library.  One time, I don’t remember how old I was, she gave me the task of helping to retrieve books off the shelves. She wrote the call numbers on a slip of paper and sent me to find them. More than once I came back saying the book wasn’t there. After a couple times of going through the shelves with me, she realized I was transposing the numbers and looking in the wrong place.  She spent time with me trying different strategies, covering the numbers with my finger and un...

I love my students. I really do; however sometimes they don’t make the best choices. While other teachers liked to use Kahoot and Booklet to do reviews, I had a couple students who lost their Chromebook privileges. Playing in teams wasn’t the best solution, and I wanted to keep them engaged. So I needed a low-tech review activity and fast. About this time I came across a Bingo game I had made for my kids when we were homeschooling to review Greek letters.  Bingo! Perfect!   So I made up just enough bingo boards for my class, and used our note cards we had been making in class to call out definitions and we reviewed our Latin roots. The kids enjoyed it so much they asked to do it again.     During the review I realized how some of my students were really   visual processors. They kept asking me to repeat what I was saying.   Later in the day I was going to have several of them again for math, so   during planning I made a mul...