May 10, 2008 Ship of Thieves! Stealing the Magic..AGAIN!!! Panama Canal FL to CA!!! Part 4

[endkaos]

Send your "Thank You" letters to GWB, and Congress, under the heading of No Child Left Behind.

I disagree. I had to chime in on this one. One of my children attends a private school for learning disabled, paid for by the public school, because they were able to get a grant through No Child Left Behind. Why, because they were 'leaving MY child behind."

I don't like Bush, but I do like No Child Left Behind.

Standardized testing has been around longer than the Bush Administrations. The previous test was called the Stanford 9 which is owned by the London based publisher Reed Elsevier. RE choose to rarely update the Stanford 9 and yet increasily required more money each year from the school districts. Arizona led the way by creating their own state based standardized testing called the Arizona Instrustment for Means (AIMs). This was developed under Lisa Graham-Keegan who went on to Dept of Ed under the Bush Administration (goodby Stanford 9). She came back 4 years ago and is now the Board President for the private school for learning disabled that my oldest son attends. No Child Left Behind has nothing to do with the creation of Standardized Testing, but it does have to do with funding mandates and penalities.

Ask me about the six degrees of separation on this one.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

So my cell phone rings earlier today and I'm thinking the worst....something happened to mom. I answer it and it's John's son John who is petsitting for us while we're away. It seems the dog knocked over my plant stand and it's a mess. The kid (DS John) doesn't think any of my plants are going to survive. He asks, what should I do? I said, call your sister. So I hung up with him and called John's daughter, Sandi. She has a green thumb and loves to garden. She said she'll go over to my house and fix the mess. Thank Goodness for little girls, who grow up to be great women. She rescued all my plants, repotted them, watered them and they're going to be ok.

I just laughed, the poor kid almost didn't want to tell me about it, he was in such a panic. But all's well that ends well!

 

[endkaos]

Definitely look in to this with your district. Actually, the school office staff should have all the forms and information you need. Our district calls it an "independent study contract."

If you know you'll be out five or more days, then the teacher puts together packets of work that your child finishes before returning to school. The first day back, the packet is turned in, the sheet signed off, and then the district gets the money for your child, just like they would have had he or she been there. My child even qualified for perfect attendance, even though he wasn't there for 6 days.

Just FYI, this is a lot of work for the teachers, so I usually bring them back a nice gift from wherever we've traveled. And sometimes the teacher can get very creative and make the assignments match the destination you're going to, which makes the work easier for the child.

Oh, I'm saving this post. What wonderfully useful information.

 

[HollyTyler]

So my cell phone rings earlier today and I'm thinking the worst....something happened to mom. I answer it and it's John's son John who is petsitting for us while we're away. It seems the dog knocked over my plant stand and it's a mess. The kid (DS John) doesn't think any of my plants are going to survive. He asks, what should I do? I said, call your sister. So I hung up with him and called John's daughter, Sandi. She has a green thumb and loves to garden. She said she'll go over to my house and fix the mess. Thank Goodness for little girls, who grow up to be great women. She rescued all my plants, repotted them, watered them and they're going to be ok.

I just laughed, the poor kid almost didn't want to tell me about it, he was in such a panic. But all's well that ends well!

Back to my comment about how cute Angel looks....I guess looks can be deceiving, huh?!

 

[HollyTyler]

Acckkkk! Trying to get some zoo pics from today on here, but my Kodak Easy Share program just took a dump on me. I can't even open it. Grrrrrrr! I'll play around a bit more and may just have to give up. Maybe it's telling me, "Stop! Can't handle any more pictures!" It's a wonder my computer runs at all with all the pics I have on there. I desperately need to take the time to dump them off onto a disk or memory stick or upload them or something. Laziness.....sheesh....such a pain sometimes!

 

[endkaos]

The photos are awesome. I don't care what they say, I love looking at other people's pictures.

And who could get made at the cute little Angel as I look adoringly at my male corgi who ate my COUCH!

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Deb, Angel is SO cute! I'm not even a dog person, but I just want to pick her up and hug her!

And she would jump right into your lap too, which we are trying to discourage. It's cute now, but when she's fully grown and 120 lbs. it won't be so cute anymore.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Back to my comment about how cute Angel looks....I guess looks can be deceiving, huh?!

Yup, she's a wild one...very strong willed and very fiesty. She still has to learn that she is NOT the boss!

 

[LiserAnn]

I'm wondering about the same thing. I don't know if it will be the same time this year but STAR testing ends on May 10th this year. One of my friends said if you are out for more then a week you can home school for that time and the school will still get the money. Does anyone know about this?

You'll have to check with your district. My school said they do nothing for 10 days or less missed...beyond that then you have to do an independent study contract. Again this policy varies by district. Typically the schools do the STAR testing at the same time they did it the year before, so odds are your testing will be done next year on May 9th, so you should be OK there.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Acckkkk! Trying to get some zoo pics from today on here, but my Kodak Easy Share program just took a dump on me. I can't even open it. Grrrrrrr! I'll play around a bit more and may just have to give up. Maybe it's telling me, "Stop! Can't handle any more pictures!" It's a wonder my computer runs at all with all the pics I have on there. I desperately need to take the time to dump them off onto a disk or memory stick or upload them or something. Laziness.....sheesh....such a pain sometimes!

Ohhh, I hope you get it working...I LOVE seeing pics of Tyler...he is just one cool and cute dude. I love his pics. I hope it works for you.

 

[Jhalkias]

Okay, guys, I have to post Prom pictures from Friday night.

John I think it is just awesome that you work the prom in your HS!! How awesome is that....and good PR for a school board member!!

Daniel had a great time. I told youguys he has not dated very much ("girls are too much trouble and too expensive!!") but his date was a long time friend and they had a great time!!

What a nice looking group of kids . . .

Our son, Alex, had a girlfriend all through HS - same one from when they were freshman. They broke up last year - I think for the same reason, and he was too focused on school. Of course during their years of HS, it was on my dime whenever he neeed money to go out.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

The photos are awesome. I don't care what they say, I love looking at other people's pictures.

Me Too!!! The more, the merrier!

And who could get made at the cute little Angel as I look adoringly at my male corgi who ate my COUCH!

Yup, hard to get mad when they're so cute, but gotta teach them to behave.

 

[LiserAnn]

Deb and Lisa - thanks for posting the pics!

Deb-that's great you got to meet Lisa!!!

Lisa-the prom pics are great...the kids look so happy (and what an attractive bunch of young people)!!!!

 

[Jhalkias]

I disagree. I had to chime in on this one. One of my children attends a private school for learning disabled, paid for by the public school, because they were able to get a grant through No Child Left Behind. Why, because they were 'leaving MY child behind."

I don't like Bush, but I do like No Child Left Behind.

Standardized testing has been around longer than the Bush Administrations. The previous test was called the Stanford 9 which is owned by the London based publisher Reed Elsevier. RE choose to rarely update the Stanford 9 and yet increasily required more money each year from the school districts. Arizona led the way by creating their own state based standardized testing called the Arizona Instrustment for Means (AIMs). This was developed under Lisa Graham-Keegan who went on to Dept of Ed under the Bush Administration (goodby Stanford 9). She came back 4 years ago and is now the Board President for the private school for learning disabled that my oldest son attends. No Child Left Behind has nothing to do with the creation of Standardized Testing, but it does have to do with funding mandates and penalities.

Ask me about the six degrees of separation on this one.

I congradulate you if you have a success story due to this law, but I would tell you that stories like yours are the exception rather than the rule. While standardized testing has been around forever (well, at least as long as I have been around which feels like forever) the stakes have never been so high since NCLB.

The question here is not accountability, or serving all kids, it is the nature of the "one size fits all" type of accountability that NCLB mandates, and the teaching to the tests that happens now all over America instead of real education.

The goal of NCLB is a noble one - and sometimes it works - great. But a bit of common sense needs to be injected into the discussion, and I believe that is now happening with the change in Congress.

 

[HollyTyler]

The photos are awesome. I don't care what they say, I love looking at other people's pictures.

And who could get made at the cute little Angel as I look adoringly at my male corgi who ate my COUCH!

Oh my gosh!

 

[HollyTyler]

And she would jump right into your lap too, which we are trying to discourage. It's cute now, but when she's fully grown and 120 lbs. it won't be so cute anymore.

Very true....my dad and stepmom are going through exactly the same issue with their 4 month old German Shepherd.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Deb and Lisa - thanks for posting the pics!You are welcome! I love the pics.

Deb-that's great you got to meet Lisa!!!

It was really nice, we had a good time. Next I get to meet Lucy/lwilliam and Bob in just two more weeks. I love meeting everyone in person, it makes being a part of the DISers so much more real and getting a head start when everyone meets together on the cruise.

Lisa-the prom pics are great...the kids look so happy (and what an attractive bunch of young people)!!!!

I Agree!!!

 

[HollyTyler]

Alrighty....got everything working now. Here are pics from the Detroit Zoo today.

Tyler's patiently waiting his turn to sit on a turtle statue in front of the reptile house:

New friend:

I couldn't help but wonder how many other kids have kissed the turtle!

Tyler was pretty amused when this peacock joined us for lunch and was eating crumbs that had fallen under the table from previous guests.

Polar bear statue at the entrance to the arctic exhibit:

 

[kimerinc]

Hi All, Just got back from Chicago Yesterday. The ice show is over and I have 10 days until my next trip! I have no idea how far behind I am. I will try to catch up, but I wanted to say hi to everyone!

Kim

 

[Jhalkias]

OK, my turn for some photos . . .

Here are some pictures of the new lights I put up . . . ON the house . . .

Front . . . .

And on the deck . . .