In preparing a poster for the Homecoming Poster Contest, we explored the concept of school spirit. I had my students write about what it means to have school spirit and ways people show school spirit. I was thrilled with their ideas. These kids have great things to say!
Click the link below to read.
Over the past years, I’ve had parents ask about the fact that I am an ESL teacher. I’d like to take a few minutes to briefly explain a few things…
1. I am an ESL teacher. I do not teach an ESL class. That simply means that I have a certification that gives me the tools I need to help students who qualify for ESL help.
2. An ESL student is a student who speaks English as a Second Language. That means that they are learning English. It is not the language they acquired from birth.
3. If I were teaching an ESL class, it would be taught in English…ALL English. Only a bilingual class would be taught in two different languages. In a bilingual class, students are taught for part of the day in their native language and the other part in English. *Okay, I said only a bilingual class. That’s not entirely accurrate. Some districts have dual language classes where they intentionally teach students in two different languages with the goal that the students will become bilingual. The students must begin at the primary level (preferably Kinder) in order for this type of system to be successful.
4. The strategies used to teach people who are learning English are the same strategies used to teach beginning and emergent readers. Lots of pictures, graphic organizers, and vocabulary enrichment activities are done to enhance understanding of language. Both ESL classrooms and primary level classrooms (Pre-K – 2nd grades) use these same strategies.
As mentioned earlier, I am an ESL teacher. I am also a GT teacher. I am also a 1st-8th grade teacher. I have certifications to teach all of those. I have tools to reach the students who fall in those categories. That’s everyone. If a student who is learning English as their second language begins to struggle, I use the knowledge I’ve learned to meet that student’s needs. That’s what an ESL teacher does in any classroom. I do the same for all of students. It is my job as an educator to meet the needs of all my students. The more knowledge I have, the better I am able to do that.
Please don’t let titles and certifications worry you about your child’s education. It seems to me, that the more a person has learned about their profession, the more capable they would be of doing that profession well.
Two members of a group called Team Impact visited all the campuses in our district during the school year last year. When they came to Monday Primary, they bent steel bars, crushed cans full of soda with their bare hands, broke baseball bats, and lifted kids over their heads. It was fun and exciting to watch and the kids really got into it. They spoke with our kids about staying in school, staying away from drugs, and making good choices with their lives. I love the way they phrased it…”Kids,” they said, “Be dream makers not dream takers.” They explained how different decisions in their lives could be dream makers or dream takers and that if they wanted their dreams to come true they had to make decisions that helped make those dreams not take them away.
Afterwards the two guys from Team Impact came back to our classroom and visited with us. The students had thought of questions they wanted to ask the guys and so we held two interview sessions – one with Mark and the other with Chris. While Mark’s interview went off without a hitch, Chris’ did not record. So as you click on the links to hear the interviews, know that the one with Big Chris is done in two parts. The first part is where the kids are reasking their questions and then giving the answers they remembered Chris giving and the second part is me interviewing Chris at a later time.
The kids really enjoyed meeting the men from Team Impact. They’re message was clear and hopefully will remain with our kids as they are faced with life’s many challenges.
Wow!!! Most of you know by now that KISD has closed all schools and cancelled all school activities until May 18th. I know this is hard on all of you working parents, but all these school closings are being pushed down from the state level. The Texas Dept. of Health sets the standards and then makes recommendations according to data they receive about confimed diagnosis in the area. There has been one confirmed case in our district.
Please remember these things, the H1N1 virus (swine flu) is just another strain of the flu. Frequent hand washing, especially before eating is a must in keeping your family healthy anytime, regardless of flu outbreaks. Encourage children (and adults) to keep hands and fingers out of mouths, noses, and eye areas. These are the places where germs are generally spread. There has been only one death from this flu and the little boy who died had underlying health issues as well. There is no need to panic. I think in this situation that the idea of “erring on the side of caution” is the ruling thought.
So, if at all possible, enjoy some of this unexpected time together. Take a day or two off and just spend time being a family. Take this opportunity to build deeper relationships with your kids and be sure to tell them you love them and why. We think it, but it’s important to say it too.
I’ll be waiting to see you all again soon. In the meantime, you can find me on the coast of somewhere beautiful (Crystal Beach, TX is beautiful enough!) soaking up some sun and catching up on a few good books I haven’t been able to finish. See you soon!
Tell my kids I miss them and to READ something interesting while they’re away!!!!!!
My class and I went on possibly the greatest field trip ever today.
It all began like this….Every year for the past 4 years my class has written and published together their own book. This year’s book is going to be called, “This Is Our Town”. I wanted the students to get to know some of the more historical sites in Kaufman so the book wouldn’t just be about all the restaurants and stores they know and see today. I wanted the book to have more of a historical value, so I figured a field trip around Kaufman might be a good thing. It was exactly the thing.
I was given the name of a lady named, Jean Anne Ables-Flat who works with the historical commission and she agreed to help me with the trip. Here’s a brief outline of what we did:
1. Mrs. Ables-Flat dressed in traditional clothing (long dress with hoop skirt and bonnet) took us on a tour of Kaufman.
2. Confederate Statue at the courthouse
3. visited an empty courtroom in the courthouse
4. walked around the courthouse and saw the actual cornerstone of the original building and students learned about what a historical marker was and why they were around.
(I wanted the students to be able to recognize and be on the look out for them as they are driving all around this summer with their families. I think they are now “officials” at finding them, because they can spot them a mile away now. I will try to upload pics and possibly video soon of them all crowded around one at the Poor Farm reading it aloud together. It was greatness! And parents, be prepared to stop when you come across any historical markers this summer. 
5. Pioneer Cemetary – Learned a little of the history of Kaufman and the people who were influential in it’s history, saw old pics. of King’s Fort and some of the indians who hunted in our area, saw very old tombstones and learned about respecting things of historical value, made rubbings of some of the tombstones
6. Library – Here we saw very old pics of Kaufman….students were able to recognize places they see today and how they as well as life was different years ago…also saw Pioneer Wall.
7. Poor Farm – learned, watched, and helped churn butter, tasted as well…yum, ate lunch on hay bales set out for us (under beautiful old oaks), made corn husk dolls and learned of their historical significance, went on a tour of the grounds….saw things like an old drying shed, storm cellar, a silo, a chicken coop, and even toured an old jail.
8. Veteran’s Memorial – stud. learned of it’s importance historically and did rubbings here as well….students looked for familiar names or names the same as their mom’s maiden names or their last names..several found some from their families
The most rewarding parts of this trip is that I saw my students actively engage in the learning process and make connections across all subject areas and life areas as well. After each place we visited, I had the students write in their journels about their thoughts, what they learned, or anything they found interesting. They were begging to take them home to read to their parents. They were reading historical markers, captions on old photographs, signs on old buildings, etc, etc. We connected life years ago with life now and how back then people were better stewards of the land. They used everything….we’ve been learning about recycling, reusing, and reducing our trash. What an obvious connection. We’ve also been learning about 3D shapes and connected that to the silo….the list goes on. Reading, writing, math, social aspects, character building, citizenship, history it was all there. It was free and it was exciting for all of us. The kids loved it and I loved that they were getting their hands, not just their ears and eyes, on history.
I can honestly say this WAS the greatest field trip ever for me as a teacher.
Thank you Mrs. Ables-Flat for a wonderful experience!
Two weeks ago our school had a special guest, Rhythm. Rhythm is a yellow lab who goes into schools and hospitals. She is a therapy dog and the kids LOVE her. Her owner, Mrs. Mills, raises and trains puppies to become guide dogs for the blind or to help people who are handicapped in some way. You may see her around Kaufman occassionally as she is our very own Mrs. Kotwitz’ mother.
After Rhythm and Mrs. Mills talked with all of our first and second grade students, they came to our classroom to visit. The students were very interested and asked some really great questions. Then they each got to play Hide ‘n’ Seek with Rhythm. One student would cover Rhythm’s eyes (so she couldn’t peek) while the other hid her toy. Then she would go around the room sniffing and looking until she found it!
Listen closely to the beginning and hear Jailene and Rhythm sing “Happy Birthday”.
http://www.kaufmanisd.net/~karrington/FOV1-0001F0EA/Rhythym.mp3?FCItemID=S014013ED&Plugin=Loft
We are finally back and even with our lapse in time, the kids are better than ever. I am amazed at how easy this is becoming for them and how much faster they are able to read and record their parts. Some even memorize them and most parts are written by the students themselves. Well, enjoy this podcast and be sure to leave a comment to let us know what you think. The kids love hearing your thoughts!http://www.kaufmanisd.net/~karrington/FOV1-0001F0EA/episode%204.mp3?FCItemID=S013F96D2&Plugin=Loft
It has been a rough few weeks for me both personally and professionally. The week before spring break I lost my Aunt Sherry. She was 60 and the closest thing I’ve ever had to a sister. She had two boys of her own and I represented the only girl on that side of our family. Both she and my grandmother lavished girlish affections on me from the beginning.
My aunt was a strong woman with a very strong will. She was a single mom raising two boys and worked two jobs to pay the bills until a car accident made it too difficult. Still she worked, but times were tough.
As an adult in her late forties Aunt Sherry went back to school to get her degree in education. She became a teacher and she was a very good one. She reached far beyond the classroom and deep into the hearts of her “kids”.
I had the honor of organizing a memorial service for her the Friday after her death. It was a difficult task, something I’d never done before, and yet one that has moved and inspired me beyond what I could have imagined.
I have a personal blog where I’ve posted just a glimpse of how her students honored her in the days after her death. Teachers – read it and know how very possible it is to be light in a world of darkness. Parents – read it and know that we, teachers, care more about our student’s lives and character than we do about TAKS and benchmark scores. Also know that we, teachers, are just like you…we are single parents trying to pull it together, we have hard times, we get diseases as do our loved ones…we are you. Our lives are just intertwined with the lives of our students as we seek to shape and impact them in positive ways.
Sorry we missed a week, but we’re back and even better before. I am loving getting to see my kids take on new roles. And better still, they are taking on roles that challenge them! Way to go TEAM ARRINGTON! You Rock!!! Click on the link to hear episode 3. http://www.kaufmanisd.net/~karrington/FOV1-0001F0EA/Arrington%20on%20the%20Air%20-%20wk3.mp3?FCItemID=S01387EBF&Plugin=Loft
Mrs. Arrington, Roxana, Clarissa, and Bo
We now have a class pet, Snoopy!!! Snoopy gets to go home with every child in our class. After spending the night with a child, Snoopy, with the help of your child, writes in his diary about the experience. Click the link above to see the first four posts in Snoopy’s Diary.
