Dear Christina, Thank You!

Well, here we are.  X marks the spot.  At midnight I become a private citizen again and you will continue to soldier forward, educating our children, despite a network of leaders who are hellbent on seeing you and your sister districts fail.  I know you won't. But, you have to believe it, too.

Don't listen the reformers.  They try to hide their mission behind soulless rhetoric.  And at even that, they did a lousy job.  We know what they want - your money, but not your children.  Yes, education may be the last of the untapped crude oil, the final get rich quick scheme.  Yes, Race to the Top created the avenues through rich corporate investors were able to wrest funding away from our children under the guise of "consultant" or "data coach."  And, yes, the Gov. may have already sent our children's private and personal data to conglomerates like InBloom Inc. for the purpose of selling it back to us.

But, you, Christina, you are better than that.  You don't need to play games, you need only to do your job with the passion that you first felt when you decided that you wanted to be a part of our children's education.  Easier said than done, yes.  But, we've also been here before, time and again, actually, with every un/under-funded mandate that's been thrown at education, and you've shown your resilience each and every time.

In short order, I will be forgotten to history.  Only my children will revel in the memories of the late nights when mom didn't make it home to tuck them in...  And I will take a few memories away with me, too

1. We saved the Delaware Autism Program residences and in doing so provided the chance that families fractured by autism could potentially be re-united before there is need to render a decision that will send these children to facilities out of state.  We kept them open, functioning as training facilities, for students whose IEPS demanded the services.  And we ended the briefly-enacted practice of co-gendering the residences, which I am certain, despite the wisdom of some experts, is completely inappropriate for children and possibly even adults. 
2. We enacted the first transparency policy in the state that compels the audio recording and online posting of our public monthly meetings.  These actions influenced the state legislature to introduce and pass legislation that requires the State Board of Education record their meetings and make the recordings available online.  
3. We invested in Montessori education, piloting Delaware's first and only public Montessori program, creating locations in  both the Cities of Wilmington and Newark.  Creating Choice where there hasn't been before.
4. We've grown SPA - our nationally recognized credit-recovery last-chance academy for students who've checked out of education.  Countless students have now check back in. (I lie. Dr. Richards, of whom I am awed by her talent and connectedness, can tell you exactly how many children she and her team have saved.)
5. We've re-homed Networks, bringing this best-practice-based, amazing vocational-skill-building program together - every division under one roof - for the first time - to the betterment of the way we deliver on the IEP goals of the students served therein.
6. We created the Christina Early Education Center - centralizing all of our preschool classrooms in Newark into one school that serves children of every need and every ability, providing CSD the opportunity to harness the talent of our pre-school team, administering another nationally recognized model of excellence.
7. We eliminated Zero Tolerance from CSD - a decision that was confirmed to be in the best interest of all of our students by the Office of Civil Rights. Zero Tolerance has been replaced by a jointly therapeutic and punitive code of conduct - and we acknowledge that it will require years of training to fully master. But, it is our springboard to really help our children rather than simply diminish them through disproportionate punishment.  Our funds are far better expended in the school room than in the prison.
8. We implemented a pilot of "therapeutic classrooms" in our quest to create the appropriate environment for each child we serve.  Going into this pilot's second year, our therapeutic classroom program will expand to be available to more students!
9. We listened to our constituents and installed a locally grown and beloved educator as our superintendent rather than engage in an expensive search firm to develop another slate of puddle jumpers who would use our district as stepping stone to the next "big job."
10. We survive the RTTT assault on education.  "Survive" in present tense, not past, b/c it's not over.  RTTT will live on in some ways beyond the grant expiration... And we all wait for the longitudinal data that will declare this devil-in-the-details-mandate the failure that it is.  In the meantime, we take solace in knowing that our non-PZ schools will exit RTTT and some of its many cumbersome mandates one year earlier than our sister districts because we refused to buckle to political pressure.  The disparate treatment extended to our district because we supported our teachers when they told us what they needed to be successful in our most challenging schools was not greater than local might.  We sent the bully back to Dover. 

Well...
In the end,
It's not quite the how I imagined it.
The ceremonious farewell, that final serendipitous right of passage.

Didn't quite happen as we planned.

Thank you for having me.  I am honored to have been of service to you.
             And I shall be a far better person for having known you, loved you, served you.

Carry on.

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{Review}: Koalas, Kites and Kangaroos by David Ridyard

Our School Inspector reminded me of a method of remembering how to spell when I  was in school!! Remember your 'have-a-go' pad? You would ask mum how to spell something, grab your have-a-go pad and try spell it yourself. If you were correct then AWESOME! If it was 'almost right' someone would spell it to you. Did you do that in school? Strangely enough my 'have-a-go' pad was extremely... empty. 

My children ask me all the time, how do you spell ___. They have a go, and if needed I correct it. 

This book is like a have-a-go pad, or... like a beginners dictionary. In alphabetical order, with written words already. What really makes this book is the illustrations and the fact that it is Aussie all the way through, perfect for an Australian Study or to add to an Aussie theme.

Koalas, kites and kangaroos, 

Penguins and possums and pelicans too.

Worm-eating wagtails and wombats at play, 

Surf-riding seas on a hot summer's day. 

Rabbits on roller-skates, lizards on land, 

Card-playing crocodiles, shells on the sand. 

Turn over the pages and take a close look

At this wonderful, colourful alphabet book. 

• Ages 5+
• Much-loved picture book back in print
• Beautifully illustrated alphabet book
• Price $15.99

Humorous illustrations of animals introduce the alphabet with a charming collection of words to read and learn.

David Ridyard is the author of the Grandpa Loves Us, Sometimes I Have To, and Christmas. 

Doreen Gristwood is the author and illustrator of Marzipan, and also illustrated Koalas, Kites and Kangaroos. 


Disclaimer: I am given a copy through Scholastic Australia for this review. 

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Making a Number Roll for Learning

A week or so ago I'd posted about a great tool that children could use for learning words.  It is since then that I've felt inspired to take it further and share with you another learning tool but this time it focuses on number. 

This number roll teaches children about the different ways a 

number can be identified or represented. 

As you can see, this number roll requires children to do a match up. I designed this one to focus on numbers up to 6, however, you can make it to suit your own child's ability and level of understanding. Children simply need to turn the rolls to match a drawn digit with the number of dots (for subitising) and the number name in the written form, which they are required to read. 

How to make number rolls

1. I began by recycling 4 toilet rolls and cutting them various sizes 
2. Adjusted them to slot into each other 
3. Drew an arrow on the largest roll, a digit on the second, the dice representation of the number on the third and the written word on the smallest roll

I personally think that the order I have made is the best for learning. 

It's a great tool that children can use to help develop their understanding of number. Be sure to give it a go today. 

In case you missed it, here are a few word rolls that focus on making words. 

Click this link to see the wonderful learning that can be achieve and how to make them.

_______________________________

Thank you kindly for your interest and support. I hope these help your little ones. 

Kate X

I'd love you to leave me a comment. 

Ah hmmmm are you also following me other ways? 

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Donahue to Leave DOE - How does DSEA feel about it?

Anyone catch this tidbit from June's Personnel Report at the State Board of Education Meeting:

Emily Falcon, Director, Financial Reform Resources, resigned effective June 1, 2013.

Jim Lesko, Director, Early Development and Learning Resources, retiring effective June 30, 2013.

Diane Donahue, Special Assistant, Teacher Leader Effectiveness Unit, retiring effective September 30, 2013.

 

And so it seems that former DSEA president, Diane Donahue, is leaving DOE.  Donahue was appointed by former State Sec. of Education Lowery to her cavernous position in the Townsend building basement shortly after Lowery and team brought home a RTTT win for Delawareans.  Well, Freddy Krueger fans called it a "win."  

Good Luck, Diane, in your next endeavour, and whatever you do - Don't fall asleep!

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Only in Western New York: School Boards that make us go hmmmm...

• When your school board spends hundreds of thousand of dollars in legal fees to obtain the name of an anonymous blogger
• When your school board's attorney serves a cease and desist email addressed to "Concerned Hamburger"
• When your school board actually subpeonas Google... yep, that Google... for the names of anonymous commenters because these commenters criticize the decisions and actions made in their capacity as locally elected officials. 
• When your school board starts suing teachers and/or members of the public for 'secretly taping' executive school board meetings... How on earth this trio got access and camaras in the room is beyond me.
• If you finding yourself opining that the locally elected gang is a school "BOAR" of 'thin-skinned autocrats lavishly spending other people’s money to try and silence their critics."
• Your school board is given the opportunity to extract itself from a lawsuit that seeks to punish bloggers who express their constitutional right to free speech in a public manner and that same school BOAR votes down the motion 3-2.  Yes, now I understand why the bloggers at Hamburg Education Ethics blog call them the school BOAR/BORE.
• Attribution belongs to  http://statelymcdanielmanor.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/the-chicago-way-transplanted-to-new-york/

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Bloggers Beware: They will pursue you with wasteful lawsuits...

and they will loose...

UPDATE:  Link to Blog In Question:  http://hamburgschoolethics.blogspot.com/  Yep, they take blogging to a whole new level up there...  Makes Kilroy's classy!


As this these folks in Western, NY found out the hard way:

Hamburg superintendent steps down

Updated: Thursday, 27 Jun 2013, 6:04 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 27 Jun 2013, 6:04 PM EDT

• Luke Smith
• Posted by: Eli George

HAMBURG, N.Y. (WIVB) - The superintendent of the Hamburg Central School District is stepping down....Achramovitch and the district had been pursuing a lawsuit to try and identify an anonymous blogger who was critical of him and the school board. A judge threw that lawsuit out...

Learn More Here:   http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/erie/hamburg-superintendent-steps-down

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Judge Orders Ed-Reformer Paul Vallas Out of Connecticut Superindentency...

Paul Vallas,  a "superstar" in education reform (deform) in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, has been ordered to vacate his latest superintendency in Bridgeport Connecticut because he fails to hold the state's certification as required by Conn. law. 

Vallas came into Bridgeport by way of that state's Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor and was welcomed with open arms by the city's mayor and formally hired by the district's school board.  Pryor and Vallas had previously worked together rebuilding the school system in Haiti.  Vallas has friends in lots of high places, but apparently not in Conn's adjudicate...

Vallas has been ordered to step down because he did not complete a state-mandated leadership program, the Connecticut Post reports.

The independent-study program, at the University of Connecticut's Neag School of Education, was created specially for Vallas. Connecticut's law requires superintendents to have a certification that Vallas, who was appointed by state education commissioner Stefan Pryor, had not obtained.
The Post reports that in arguments, the course was described to the judge as requiring between a week and ten days of work for Vallas. Vallas apparently got an A. Other superintendents in the state were required to take a 13-month course at the NEAG school. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/District_Dossier/2013/06/conn_judge_paul_vallas_must_st.html

 On Monday, Bridgeport's school board voted to ask the state to waive some of the state's requirements for superintendent, the Post reports. But this decision overrides that vote.

The ruling comes after a lawsuit was filed regarding whether his credentials were compliant with the law. Conn's teachers union had previously filed complaints with Pryor over whether or not Vallas was violating other state laws that required him to seek imput from constituencies such as teachers and parents.  Earlier this month, Pryor dismissed those complaints claiming that the union had not attempted to solve the program through the local board and thus did not yet rise to his jurisdiction.  Vallas has also been criticized because he supports privatizing education.

Meanwhile, supporters are citing a lack of longitudinal data as the reason they can't say whether or not Vallas time in the Conn district has been beneficial. 

And all of this matters to us in Delaware b/c Vallas was one of the players behind Chicago's ed reform efforts that became the road map for Race to the Top and the reform models that the PZ school's were forced to implement upon being named failed schools. 

It's likely that Vallas and team will appeal today's ruling.

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School Nutrition Update - New Rules for Vending Machine for 2014-15

From Edweek:  http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rulesforengagement/2013/06/rules_for_school_vending_machines_snacks_unveiled.html

UPDATED
Long-awaited rules that regulate the fat, salt, sugar, and calories in snacks and vending machine foods sold in schools were finally released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture today.
The rules take effect during the 2014-15 school year. Nutrition advocates have been pressing the USDA to issue the rules this month. Any later, and they wouldn't have taken effect until the 2015-16 school year.
The new rules are the first update to school snack regulations since the 1970s. The existing rules only limited "foods of minimal nutritional value," which didn't keep candy bars, snack cakes, and sugary, vitamin-fortified sports drinks, from being regulated, said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Despite some high hopes for the rules, which come on the heels of strict rules for school lunches, they won't completely wipe out sodas, chips, or sweets from schools. But they will make a dent.

 
Some specifics:

• All snacks and vending machine foods must be either a fruit, a vegetable, a dairy product, a protein food, whole-grain-rich or a combination food that includes at least a quarter cup of fruits or vegetables.
• For the first two years after the standards take effect, foods qualify if the items contain at least 10 percent of a nutrient designated as public health concern for children. These include calcium, potassium, vitamin D, and fiber. That means after two years, items fortified with these nutrients won't be allowed, Wootan said. "Companies won't be able to just fortify snacks with cheap nutrients to qualify them as healthy; all school foods will have to contain food―some fruit, vegetables, whole grains, or another healthy food component," she said.
• Any snack or side dish would be limited to 200 calories. Entrées sold individually would be limited to 350 calories.
• Snacks could have no more than 230 milligrams of sodium, and that cap would drop to 200 milligrams of sodium for the 2016-17 school year. Entrée items must have no more than 480 milligrams of sodium, unless these items are already part of regular school meals.
• Items can get no more than 35 percent of their calories from fat and no more than 10 percent of their calories from saturated fat. Trans fats are banned. There are exceptions to the fat limits on some items, such as reduced-fat cheeses and nuts.
• Total sugar must be no more than 35 percent by weight, with exemptions for dried fruits or vegetables.
• Items sold as entrees in school lunches wouldn't have to meet these rules—which was a concern for some school nutrition advocates.
• All schools can sell water, carbonated water, plain low-fat milk, flavored or unflavored fat-free milk and soy milk, and juices made only of fruits and vegetables.
• High schools can sell all of those drinks as well as caffeinated sodas as large as 12 ounces, but they cannot have more than 60 calories. Full-calorie sports drinks won't be allowed. They can also sell flavored and carbonated water as long as these items have less than five calories per eight-ounce serving.
• After reviewing comments the USDA decided it won't allow side dishes, such as french fries or chips served as part of a regular school meal, to be sold a la carte unless they meet all of the requirements listed here.
• As originally proposed, the standards wouldn't apply to occasional school fund raising events or during evening and afterschool activities. States get to decide what that means.

What happens if schools don't comply? Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he hopes schools do, though there aren't explicit penalties if they don't, unlike rules for the school lunch and breakfast programs.
"It's not about carrots and sticks," Vilsack said, then paused. "Well I guess it is about carrots."

Can you hear the chorus of high schools belly ach'n?  Read the rest of the story here at edweek.org.

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Summer Bucket List

At last the Summer is here officially. I love summer time so much. I can hear the song Summertime as I type. I love everything about summer even the heat and humidity. I love the lazy days of summer when days blend one into another and you can't remember what you did yesterday. But before you know it summer will be over. I like that my daughter will be home from school and we can weave warm memories of summer. 

I like to simplify things in summer. Make easy, no cook meals, use less technology, spend more time outdoors, shop less, do creative projects with my daughter and just be...With this notion in mind I am going to launch a mini project on my blog. 

More to come. 

I plan on sharing simple, no cook, fresh and easy recipes, home design ideas, activities for kids, places to go locally and more. So, stay tuned. 

How do you spend your summer? Are you a list maker or a spontaneous spirit? Or a little bit of both, like me. This year I put together a Summer bucket list with pictures and I hope it will be inspirational for you to get the most out of your summer. This is what I plan on doing this summer but mostly...relaxing and enjoying the warm days. 

I have such fun memories of summer. I used to spend my summer vacation at my Grandma's with my cousins. So many vidid and warm memories and many adventures...Summer for me associates with fresh smell of newly cut grass, cucumbers and dill. We used to play outside ALL DAY LONG, lie in grass and feel the sun on our faces, catch fireflies and make up stories. Also, catching up with summer reading list. But mostly...just playing. 

It is vitally important for me to make summer fun for my family. Summer is a time for bonding, love, closeness, healing and relaxation. With this notion in mind I want to invite you to join me in my Summer Bucket List 2013 challenge. 

It's really simple. Sign up via email so we know how many families are taking the challenge. Create your unique list. It doesn't have to be crazy. It could be as simple as post its on the kitchen wall or word document on your fridge. Share your progress via instragram or other social media source and if you mark off everything off of your list you will have a chance to win a great prize at the end of summer. The challenge ends on Labor Day. So, giddy up you all for an awesome summer! It will be over before you know it. 

Say yes to simple and tech free summer. Simplicity and creativity are key. 

Enter your email below and join us! 

Summer 2013 Bucket List Challenge

 

Here are some tips on creating your summer bucket list. You are welcome to borrow ideas from ours but really it should be about you. 

• involve your whole family in the decision making process to be fair
• listen to kids'ideas-they are sometimes the best ones
• keep it low budget or free
• keep it simple
• realistic activities easy to plan and carry out
• most importantly focus on fun together as a family

Here is my list with photos some from pinterest and some of my own. Enjoy!

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As you can see a lot of items are food related. I think food is such an essential part of building a happy family. To me food is not a mean of conquering hunger or a mere sustenance-it's more than that. It's meaningful. Food brings us together. I love cooking for my family and friends. 

Jersey Shore 2012

Turtle Back Zoo 2013. One thing off from our summer bucket list. 

If you live in Central New Jersey you have to go to this awesome Sprinkler Park in Monroe. The best part about it-it's free. 

Our favorite kids rock band-Starfish! 

Based in New Jersey Starfish is a rock band for kids, well and their parents. They usually have free and fun outdoor concerts all over New Jersey all summer long. Check out their tour schedule for a concert near you. Get ready to ROCK! 

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Soak up the sun and enjoy the summer colors. 

And don't forget to enjoy a bowl of sweet cherries. Have a great summer! 

It's the simple things that make me happy, like my yellow coffee mug, the quietness of an early morning, the walk in the park or the smell of a homemade dish...

How do you savor summer? What are your summer memories? Do you like summer? 

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