May Crowning

Deja Vu

Tuesday morning, right in front of my classroom, a student went into cardiac arrest.  My room is in a pretty isolated part of the building.  Luckily I was in the hall when he fell.  I ran to get the nurse.  The nurse and school police officer performed CPR on him until the paramedics arrived.  I am trained in CPR and was next in line if either of them tired.

It was a very intense, scary scene for well over 30 minutes.  He had to be shocked twice as well as receive other life-saving procedures.  It was deja vu in a sense.  I could not stop crying as I watched the paramedics work so hard to save his 19-year-old life.  The school police officer was also equally shook up having lost his own 17-year-old son a few months prior.

He was finally rescuitated and transported to the hospital.  Wednesday he had open heart surgery to repair faulty valves.  If necessary, they may install a pacemaker.

I wondered why I had to bear witness to this trauma.  It brought back so many painful memories.  This was also the day I ran into my SIL’s husband.  And of course, before I went to sleep that night, I saw a commerical on television and the man’s name was the same as my husband’s.

Yesterday on the way home for school Nicholas was telling me that their principal asked them to pray for one of the 8th grader’s brother who had a heart attack at school.  I didn’t go into details but I told him that I was aware of what happened because it happened right in front of me.  He seemed very surprised–and actually I was, too. What a small world we live in.

Neither one of us mentioned my husband, but I’m sure he was thinking about him as I was.

But it also made me appreciate first responders even more.  They are so efficient, composed, and determined to save lives.  I saw this firsthand with my husband as well as with the young man.  I really have a lot of respect and admiration for what they do.  They are as important, if not more so, than doctors.

Our principal announced that this story will be covered by the news.  However, I don’t want to be in the limelight and will make sure I am unavailable when they do come. 

Some say that there is a message in everything, but I have no idea of what it could be in this case.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

I was reading end-of-the-year reflections written by my students and came across this gem.  One line in partcular stood out  in a paper written by Roberto, an ENL student, I don’t regret what I did, I regret what I didn’t do.  How thought-provoking!

Happy Birthday Kierra!!!

Today Kierra turns 15.  She is such the little lady.  I met Kierra about three months before she turned two.  We have grown up together.  I was a fresh 21 then.  (Uh oh…I’m telling my age!)  We connected immediately and I was fortunate to have met her at that stage in her life. 

Last night we went out to eat at Famous Daves to celebrate.  Mmmmmm…..they have the best cornbread muffins!  Ian, Imani, Kierra, and Husband loved tasting the different sauces.  Kierra and Husband got a kick out of the looks on Ian and Imani’s faces when they insisted on tasting the Devil’s Spit sauce.  I tried to warn them that it was really hot.  But these are the same kids that enjoy eating Flaming Hot Cheetos and Flaming Hot Funyuns.  I guess the chips didn’t have a thing on the Devil’s Spit!

On our way home we stopped at Claires to get Kierra a tiara to wear to school today.  She wanted me to help pick it out.   When we got home we discussed possible outfits for her to wear.  This year she is with Christine so we will not see her today.  I told her to send me lots of pictures via her cell phone.

During spring break I scheduled a spa day with her.  My mom and sister-in-law are going along as well.  We are getting massages, manicures, and pedicures.  The Spa we are going to has a resturant so we plan on eating lunch there.   We couldn’t figured out what to get her so I came up with this idea.  Hopefully she has a blast and we all can relax and enjoy being pampered.

I’ll Have a Lemon Mojito, Please

Yesterday my son’s 5th grade class had lunch at Benihana’s.  They won this privilege after donating the most pounds of pasta to Second Helpings.  I asked Nicholas about his experience.  He told me how much he loved seeing the cool tricks performed by the chef. 

Upon entering the restaurant, he noticed an advertisement for a beverage, a Lemon Mojito to be exact.  Used to seeing Trader Joe’s (non-alcoholic) Sparkling Mojito in our fridge, he simply thought it was a lemon version of this same drink.

When it was Nicholas’ turn to order his beverage, “I’ll have a Lemon Mojito, please”  he said.  Amused I  asked what he teacher thought about his premature request.  She said “Well, I don’t think your quite old enough for that drink,” as she explained to him that it contained alcohol!

At least he said “please!”

Snow Day? Okay! #3

Today is another snow day for me, but not for Nicholas.  Even with all the work we did yesterday shoveling snow, I still had a difficult time getting off of our street.  However, I managed to get him to school safely.  Good thing they are not marking tardies today!

Let It Snow: Snow Day #2

We have about 9 inches of snow and are expected to receive more today!  Snow is really pretty when you don’t have to be out in it!  Later I plan to take Jazmine and Nicholas outside to play.

Now I’ve Heard It All!

Yesterday I was dismayed to learn that a couple of guys were robbing children at gun point on bus stops for…lunch money!!!  Is that not the craziest thing you’ve ever heard?  One of the kids was even pistol whipped by the robbers!  They also demanded cell phones, Ipods, and other things of value.

Snow Days Are The Best Days

I don’t even care that we will have to make this day up at the end of the year!  It was such a sweet and unexpected surprise to hear the news anchor report that our school district had no school today!  You have to understand that our superintendent must be vying for the No Snow Day Under My Watch award because he rarely closes down—no matter what the weather conditions are.  But today it happened to be  -27 below.

Luckily Nicholas had a snow day as well!

I was able to sleep in for some much needed rest.  I have no idea how I will “seize” the rest of the day.  No worries, I will find a way!

Parents, Stay “In Touch”

A few weeks ago my school held Parents-in-Touch night.  I have a 150 students.  I only met with 22 parents.  In my seven years of teaching, I’ve come to find that many parents are really not “in touch” with their children.  They are quite clueless as to who their children are.  Anything revealed at a conference should not be news to the parent.

Some of the parents I conferenced with had no idea that their child was failing one or more classes.  One memorable parent staunchly defended her son’s poor work and study habits.  She informed me that it was my job to call her when he missed an assignment.  “He know I’m crazy!” (I didn’t disagree with her on that self-assessment), she passionately cried to explain why his low grade had to be my fault.

I attempted to show her his many zeros, but she was not very interested.  Apparently I was more to blame than he.  She never mentioned the fact that I had contacted her earlier in the school year to warn her that he was not doing any work.  Or that midterms serve as a warning as well.  Nevermind the talking to your child part.

Part of our job as parents is to know the kids we are raising.  By knowing them, we are staying in touch with them.  When you know them, you don’t waste valuable time playing the blame game because you already know the score.

I even wonder from time to time if the parent and I are referencing the same child.  Teachers often see a side to children that the parents might not necessarily see.  Not because of bad parenting per say because it could be a myraid of things.

Last year Nicholas gave me a note from his teacher that said he was playing in the bathroom with another student.  After reading it, I asked him why he was playing around.  Intially he attempted to say that he was not.  But because I know my child, I knew well enough that he was.  Nicholas can be too playful at times.  And sometimes that’s just what nine-year-olds do.  Had I had the attitude “my child can do no wrong” I would have lost a valuable teaching moment to remind him about how he is to behave at school.

Teachers do not enjoy being the bearer of bad news, trust me.  If we could report only good news about your child, we would!

Here are a few ways that parents can stay in touch with their children and have a productive parent/teacher conference:

Spend real time with your kids: This might sound like a no brainer, but it isn’t always easy to do.  I am often with Nicholas, but not really spending time with him for various reasons.  Therefore I try to incorporate him into things such as helping me cook.  In this time I am able to kill two birds with one stone by doing something I have to do (cooking) with something that I love to do (spending time with Nicholas).  Sometimes I will even have him read the newspaper to me while I fold laundry or load the dishwasher.  These times make for interesting conversation.

Get to know their friends:  Nicholas loves to see me interact with his friends and their parents.  It might not be for an extended period of time, but it shows him that I care about who is interested in.  I think this also helps him choose freinds wisely because he knows that we are paying attention.

Realize that all kids have strengths and weaknesses:  As much as we love our little ones, they are still human.  I know that Nicholas can be very talkative, is a bit immature at times, and will rush through his work if not monitored.  On the otherhand, he is extremely articulate, fun-loving, and always in pursuit of adventure.  Notice that these are the same traits just worded differently.  I never tell him that he talks too much because I want him to use that skill in a more positive light.  But nevertheless, I am aware of his limitations.

Volunteer at their school:  Almost everyone at Nicholas’ school knows me as “Nicholas’ mom or Mrs. Morocco.”  When I have time off of work I make sure to pop in for a visit or to volunteer for a few hours.   I try to do most of my “volunteering” at home because of my work hours.  I collect box tops, donate for school events, and help organize field trips.  When Ethan’s science class conducted an experiment using Diet Coke, I happily contributed.  I am currently saving paper towel rolls for a future project for that particular class.

Show support: One simple way to do this is by attending school functions.  Even if your children are not involved in a particular sport or activity, you can still attend school events to express your school spirit as a parent and help foster your child’s.  Next week we have a Math Family Night that we are all looking forward to attending at Nicholas’ school.

Be aware of academic ability:  It’s important for you to know your child’s academic strengths and weaknesses.  I have always been very strong in English and very weak in math.  Fortunately Nicholas is balanced in all areas.  However, if you know this ahead of time, you can suppplement the weak areas with tutoring, extra practice, or monitoring the progress being made in that particular subject area.  It’s true, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 

Teach Good Study Habits:  Because Nicholas makes excellent grades he feels that this exempts him from studying.  Therefore, I have spent a lot of time teaching him the importance of having good study skills.  I try to point out that he won’t know everything all of the time.  I have also taught him how to break studying down into more digestable parts.  Cramming is such a bad, bad practice!

Work with, not against: In most cases issues with the teacher can be resolved.  If you receive bad news about your child, don’t immediatedly get defensive.  I like when parents are proactive and ask what we (student, parent, teacher) can do to remedy the situation.  It makes no sense to report a problem without brainstorming a soluton.  We are not the enemy or out to “get” your child.  Working together works.

Teach Self-advocacy:  Many students are afraid to ask questions when they are confused about the material and they shouldn’t be!  Encourage your children to speak up for themselves.  I like to tell my kids that I have many talents but mind reading is not one of them!  I can’t always look at a child and immediatedly know if they need help–especially so when you ask and they decline.  Let your children know that it is perfectly okay to need assistance!