'IGNORAMI' of the world...

[PrincessKsMom]

Ok I'm stepping off my soapbox too! On to a different subject: what a beautiful day here in NYC. Warm temps, cool breezes, absolutely beautiful if you don't mind all the construction they're doing in the neighborhood.

Tonight is Back to School night, so I'll get to meet all DD's teachers and have them tell me what a joy she is. If they only knew.

 

[SCHBR'smom]

Tonight is Back to School night, so I'll get to meet all DD's teachers and have them tell me what a joy she is. If they only knew.

My children's teacher rarely says that.

 

[wickey's friend]

Poor kid. My oldest has ADHD, and is also incredibly disorganized. She had to miss out on part of recess in 3rd grade because she didn't have me sign a paper. It was about fire safety, her route for getting out of the house. She showed us and we went over it, but she didn't mention that I needed to sign it. I felt so bad for her because she did all she was supposed to do, but didn't have my signature.

I know -- my heart breaks for my little guy. He's pretty much okay with it now, but at first he was asking "Why did I get dyslexia?" The teachers for the most part have been okay, but sometimes I just have to shake my head at some of the things they ask and do.

Ok I'm stepping off my soapbox too! On to a different subject: what a beautiful day here in NYC. Warm temps, cool breezes, absolutely beautiful if you don't mind all the construction they're doing in the neighborhood.

Tonight is Back to School night, so I'll get to meet all DD's teachers and have them tell me what a joy she is. If they only knew.

Sounds like great weather -- it's been nice here the last couple of days. Not a sauna for a change.

I'm sure Princess K is an angel.

My children's teacher rarely says that.

 

[SCHBR'smom]

I also don't talk to myself. I have parent/teacher conferences.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

MORE SCHOOL DAY STUFF AHEAD: IGNORE NOW BEFORE THERE'S NO TURNING BACK

I hear SCHB&R's teacher is fantastic! They're lucky to have her.

Wickey, I can't imagine how hard it is when kids get a new teacher every year. Having to start over and wait until the teacher "gets it" and waiting for the kids to pick up on the new expectations of each teacher. I hope your son is blessed with kind, understanding, patient teachers throughout his school years.

And Wick, PK is an angel in school. Her biggest problem is her chatty mouth -- just like her mommy. However, she can be very charming, likeable and funny, so she very rarely gets in trouble for it. At home, however, -- again just like her mommy. I always tell people it's not that the apple didn't fall far from the tree, it's that the apple never left the tree.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

It was a tough one between Margaret Cho and "The Hoff". Blech! He is so nasty and really believes his own hype. Margaret next week for sure!

Kimmar, thankfully World History is the only class DD used the interactive notebook for. I personally find it ridiculous as it's telling them how exactly to take notes in a normal multi-subject notebook. It's supposed to help the kids keep better notes, but I think it just adds to the stress, i.e.,

You MUST have your name on the upper right hand corner (fine);
You MUST have the date immediately below your name (fine);
Your MUST use pages 1 and 2 of your notebook as a Table of Contents for the notebook, each line being numbered;
You MUST not write on the back of the pages (do the students want the teacher to go blind trying to read it?) -- yes that's what he said;
You MUST begin note taking on page 11 in your notebook; should you begin on any other page you will receive a failing grade;
Should you need more than one page to take notes during class you MUST NOT use the following page, rather you should write on pages from the back of the notebook, then rip them out and staple them to the first page of your notes...

You get the idea. Oh, and their notebooks are collected and graded based on how well they are following his rules. As I said, I find it completely ridiculous. Her notebook looks like crap already from all the staples, ripped out pages, etc. I'm sorry but if my kid has managed to get accepted to all four honors classes, I think she knows how to take notes and keep a hold of what she needs in order to study. Just saying.

Oh, and just for the record, DD does not know my feelings about this. I tell her it's his rules and his class, he gets to set the tone and she needs to play nice in his class. LOL

it almost sounds like the book is designed to give them some skills in piecing together multi-source long term projects and management skills. not to mention note taking skills, and maybe a bit of time management.

a good set of skills to have when entering college. (and the workforce)

 

[snapppyd]

it almost sounds like the book is designed to give them some skills in piecing together multi-source long term projects and management skills. not to mention note taking skills, and maybe a bit of time management.

a good set of skills to have when entering college. (and the workforce)

Who said that? I feel like I'm in an alternate universe!

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Who said that? I feel like I'm in an alternate universe!

I think GP might have put down the RUM and posted sober. Or else when he YAGE's we'll get the excuse that someone was posting under his screen name.

GP, I'm sure DD will learn from this new experience. It just seems like a whole lot of work geared toward "how to keep a notebook" instead of World History. I tend to be wary of the next greatest teaching method. I can remember a number of years ago when they were teaching kids that spelling phonetically was fine -- no need to actually be able to spell anything correctly. Glad that fell by the wayside. Actually DD has picked it up relatively quickly, considering there were teachers who used this method in public grammar school and she was never taught this method. Apparently some of the kids from public grammar school still haven't caught on and have been asking DD questions.

 

[snapppyd]

Yesterday was Green Day and today is School Day.

I know nothing about either subject.

I'll just continue to stay in ignore mode.

We can make tomorrow beer and wine day! I love a good wheat beer with a piece of lemon. I also love a good cabernat!

 

[SCHBR'smom]

We can make tomorrow beer and wine day! I love a good wheat beer with a piece of lemon. I also love a good cabernat!

Can we add something I can discuss since I can't drink? Ok, I can, but it isn't recommended.

 

[snapppyd]

Can we add something I can discuss since I can't drink? Ok, I can, but it isn't recommended.

How about a virgin pina colada?

 

[SCHBR'smom]

How about a virgin pina colada?

That'll work!

 

[PrincessKsMom]

My favorite -- a Pina Colava from CBR! Sorry AlphaMom it has alcohol, but maybe they can make you one without?

 

[snapppyd]

Don't tell Billie Joe, but my "inner redneck" is waiting to buy tickets to see Toby Keith in November. Tickets go on sale today!

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Don't tell Billie Joe, but my "inner redneck" is waiting to buy tickets to see Toby Keith in November. Tickets go on sale today!

Good luck Snap.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Well I survived my first Back to School night. Can't say it went as well for the principal . Yep, I'm one of those parents. We chatted for a little while after the initial presentation. Don't think I'm on his Christmas list, but that's okay, he won't be on mine.

Teachers were wonderful. Didn't like the History teacher much though. Each teacher had 8 minutes to explain the course to us. He came 2 minutes late, spent another 2 minutes setting up his Powerpoint presentation and then proceeded to tell us (in slide format) what he allows the children to call him, where he went to school, what he used to do for a living before teaching, where he got his B.A.... We had about 1 minute to cover the coursework.

Was disappointed to learn that PrincessK has failed two tests so far. Not happy but not freaking out either. All Honors teachers said basically the same thing: these kids that come into honors haven't really had to work too hard in grammar school, but that changes NOW. They said it's not uncommon for the year to get off to a bumpy start, and that we need to stress that the kids will actually have to work toward good grades. I'm actually glad she didn't do well -- nothing like a reality check to change perspective. Oh, and I also took her cell phone. Too much time texting. My job is to remove distractions.

Got her English Honors reading list:
here is just a small sample: Dante's Inferno, Beowulf, The Iliad, Oedipus Rex, Julius Caesar, The Bible as in Literature, Antigone, Becket, the Lion in Winter...the list truly does go on and on -- many poems, legends, ballads, excerpts, etc. in addition to Sumerian, Egyptian and Hebrew literature. Please, pray for my child. The only thing on the list I ever read was Tristan and Iseult and Beowulf. And all the crazy notes I said were for her interactive notebook -- my mistake, those are the requirements of the English teacher. The interactive notebook is something entirely different with its own list of requirements. I honestly feel if she gets through 4 years of high school, she'll have college in the palm of her hand. Again, all prayers, pixie dust and good thoughts should be sent to PK, c/o PK'sMom.

 

[kimmar067]

We can make tomorrow beer and wine day! I love a good wheat beer with a piece of lemon. I also love a good cabernat!

...you would have LOVED spending last weekend with me - on Saturday we went to two places and sampled different wines. On Sunday we visited 2 breweries to taste various beers....

 

[kimmar067]

Well I survived my first Back to School night. Can't say it went as well for the principal . Yep, I'm one of those parents. We chatted for a little while after the initial presentation. Don't think I'm on his Christmas list, but that's okay, he won't be on mine.

...THAT thar is FU-nny....

Teachers were wonderful. Didn't like the History teacher much though. Each teacher had 8 minutes to explain the course to us. He came 2 minutes late, spent another 2 minutes setting up his Powerpoint presentation and then proceeded to tell us (in slide format) what he allows the children to call him, where he went to school, what he used to do for a living before teaching, where he got his B.A.... We had about 1 minute to cover the coursework.

....which doesn't make sense to ME either - I just basically tell the parents how many years I've been teaching and my total continuing education experience - THAT'S IT!! I spend the rest of the time explaining the requirements of the class and what we will be covering, which is really what the parents want to know...

Got her English Honors reading list:
here is just a small sample: Dante's Inferno, Beowulf, The Iliad, Oedipus Rex, Julius Caesar, The Bible as in Literature, Antigone, Becket, the Lion in Winter...the list truly does go on and on -- many poems, legends, ballads, excerpts, etc. in addition to Sumerian, Egyptian and Hebrew literature. Please, pray for my child. The only thing on the list I ever read was Tristan and Iseult and Beowulf....

...wow, I wasn't in any Honors LIT. classes, but we had to read almost everything you mentioned.... (including Beowulf )

 

[SCHBR'smom]

PK, I was in all honors in high school and we didn't read all of those books. Of course, I went to school in a small town and that might make a difference. I breezed through high school, graduated valedictorian of a class of around 200, and finally got my reality check in college. I was sitting at a table with 4 others, 3 of which were their valedictorians and the 4th was in the top ten of a class of 1000. I was no longer top dog and finally had to work HARD for a grade. I should have had that reality check in high school.

 

[kimmar067]

PK, I was in all honors in high school and we didn't read all of those books. Of course, I went to school in a small town and that might make a difference. I breezed through high school, graduated valedictorian of a class of around 200, and finally got my reality check in college. I was sitting at a table with 4 others, 3 of which were their valedictorians and the 4th was in the top ten of a class of 1000. I was no longer top dog and finally had to work HARD for a grade. I should have had that reality check in high school.

.... well, THAT explains the whole 'alphabet thing'.....