theinfamousmissbeth

No, I am not making a trip to Finland, nor have I recently traveled to Finland. The one word answer of "Finland" was in response to my husband asking me what I thought would help "fix", "improve", "make better", (pick your favorite), the education system in our local town. The subject of school improvement has been on the radar for years and years now. It seems that a lot of people, apparently, feel like the education system in the United States is "broken", "poor", " not as good as other countries around the world" (once again pick your favorite). I, for one, and this is just my opinion, find basically three things wrong with the school system in my town and in districts around the country and they are as follows: 1. Standardized testing 2. Standardized testing 3. Wait for it, Standardized testing. I recently read Teach Like Finland , written by Timothy D. Walker, an American educator who spent two y...

Not the real Fatima, but a good look-a-like. The following is a true story. When I was around 10 years old, I began riding horses. Almost every week-end, my cousin and I would go to a riding stable and enjoy each other's company as well as practice our riding skills. Then when I was 12 or 13 I began "pestering" my parents. I wanted a horse of my own! Of course, the initial answer was "no".  I'm pretty sure the next 20 or so answers were also "no".  However, I kept pestering  , begging, pleading , okay, I admit, whining, and as the saying goes,  persistence pays off.  I was finally going to get a horse! There was a pasture for rent right up the street from my house.  My horse was going to be only 3 blocks away!   It couldn't get any better than this, now could it? Wellll..... I quickly grew tired of carrying buckets, (very heavy buckets) of feed and water the three blocks from my house to the pasture. Since there wasn't a bar...

When you are retired it sort of feels like you are on permanent vacation. Not that I am trying to rub it in or anything. In reality, retired people also have things to do, responsibilities to family, etc, so planned vacation time is still essential to a person's well being. That being said, I took three trips this summer that offered not only the good but also the bad and the ugly. The first trip was to Fairhope, Alabama and then on to Gulf Shores. Who doesn't love the beach? Using Airbnb  accommodations that allowed pets was a bonus and we set off with the two pups and high hopes! Traveling went well and we arrived at our vintage Airstream trailer all in one piece. Unfortunately, the Airstream was not all in one piece as evidenced by the use of duct tape. Duct tape, people, around the windows, on the door handle (what there was of it) and holding the screen door together. Let me go on to say, I am not anti-duct tape, so please save your indignant comments. But, reall...

You know what I mean. It's that time of the year. It's time to hold that new box of crayons up to your nose and take a big sniff and think "all is right with the world." Okay, that's probably only me, but I'm sure everyone has their own special school memory. Today I would like to speak to teachers of young children. I have some tips that I think (hope) you will find helpful as you and your little ones begin the new year. First, remember since you are an adult the frontal lobe of your brain is developed and you have higher order thinking skills. This should give you a slight edge over the children. With that being said, remember that you are outnumbered, probably by about 10 to 1 at least. So, just remember when you are facing an angry mob that you are the adult, you are in charge, and you have got this. (Smiley face). Second, what ever you do, keep moving. I am talking the whole time that class is in session. Believe me, the children will b...

I recently read an article from the New York Times  written by Dana Goldstein that dealt with the results of a new study regarding the use of a more rigorous curriculum in preschool classrooms. The study suggested that preschools do not mix enough "fiber" into their curriculum and therefore might be doing their young children a disservice. The article told the story of a teacher doing a group geometry lesson extolling the attributes of a square. I have talked about group lessons before and I will do so again. When you sit all your little children down together in a small confined space, such as "the rug" and proceed to "lecture" to them with a flat paper object of some kind as an example, you most likely will not achieve the outcome you are hoping for! Dollars to donuts, at least one child will have their hand down their pants the entire time, another will have their shirt over their head, and of course, there is always one with their finger stuck in...

It has been one year since I began this little adventure called retirement. During this time, I have continued to complete part time assignments for my employer, take care of my aging dad, and have been trying to answer the question, "what exactly do you do when you retire?" I stopped to talk with a neighbor the other day. We did some catching up and then she asked, "So what do you do now that you have retired?"  I answered, "Well, I walk the dogs."  (I'm sure she had already deduced that since they were slobbering all over her feet at the time). Then for some unknown reason I added, "and I vacuum a lot". What? Seriously? That's all I could come up with? Surely I have accomplished something! I later remembered that I could have told her that I am studying to be a Tai Chi master. However, that's a bit of a stretch since I am beginning to wonder if the class I am in (there are three), is the remedial class. The instructor s...

On a recent very early morning flight, a couple with two small children in tow struggled down the aisle towards me. The man resembled a pack animal of some sort and held the hand of a blond headed little girl. The woman had a diaper bag over one arm and carried a blond headed little boy in the other.  They all collapsed into the seats in the row behind me. They lived in Vermont and had spent the previous night with Grandma in Connecticut (they already missed her) and were on the way to Mexico for a family vacation. The little girl was Lily and the baby brother was Waylon. I know all of this because, with the exception of about three minutes , two minutes  one minute (of the two hour and 6 minute flight), when Lily enjoyed a juice box, she chattered non-stop.  As we waited to taxi out to the runway, Lily asked her mom if she could have the phone. I'm not sure what a 3 year old was going to do with the phone, but apparently very young children using phones is a "thing"...