Personal Childhood Web

Growing up there were several people who supported me and shaped me into who I am today.

1. My dad- supported and raised my three siblings and me.  He worked full time and still found ways to make us special.  He supported us in whatever we chose to do.
As an adult my dad still supports me and the choices that I make.  He will listen to any problem that I had, or any change I make in my life he will always support.  Even though he is 2,000 miles away he supports me.

2. My step mom-supported and raised my three siblings and me.  She was the most amazing person that I had ever met and provided me with many phenomenal experiences in school, life and family.  Sadly, my step mom passed away four years ago, but she supported me with everything up until she passed.

3. My cousin-she came a little later in life, but my cousin is my best friend.  She has been extremely important in how my life has turned out.  She has shaped and molded me into the adult that I am today and I cannot be more thankful.  As an adult, she listens to me when I cry, we laugh together and we share everything.  Unfortunately she too is 2,000 miles away so I cannot see her.

4. My mom- even though my parents divorced at an early age my mom still stayed a part of my life.  I did not live with her, but she was involved with everything that I did.  She and my step mom made a pact to get along for us kids.  She did what she could to stay involved with us as much as possible.  As an adult my mom calls everyday to make sure that I am doing well.  She plays a more important role in my life now as an adult than when I was a child.

5. My grandma-every holiday and birthday event was with grandma.  She always would help me with everything that I needed as a child.  As an adult I still talk with my grandma.  We have actually grown closer as an adult.

Pictures That Make a DIFFERENCE

This is a picture that one of my students drew for me when I was student teaching.  It is part of a book entitled You Filled Our Buckets Miss Tenerovich.  This student in particular loved to swing.  Every day he and I would swing the entire recess.  He did not talk much so we always did our singing silence. I did not know it was such a big deal to him, we both just enjoyed swinging.  It was not until I read and saw this book that I realized how much I had touched this student.

Stories from the Heart

This story is one that will stick with my forever.  John*(name changed) is a heavily medicated ADHD child who has been struggling through school for years.  Each year John would not do his homework, fall behind, not do his class work or have a behavior issue.  The consequence is that the teacher would take away recess.  Every day this would happen and it sunk John into a depression and hatred for school.  The school he was at expected every child to be cookie cutter and fit into a mold of sit at your desk and not talk or move.  Obviously that was unrealistic for John.  Until this year.  John entered my room and many parents said to me "oh watch out for that one.  He is a handful".  Then I met John.  He shook my hand and proceeded to tell me many facts about our universe.  After ten minutes John's mom came up to me and apologized and I was shocked.  Her son had done nothing wrong and she was apologizing.  She stated how John hated school and that many teachers did not take the time to listen to him the way that I just had.  I insisted that was my job and I enjoyed or discussion.  The year progressed and John's mom sent me an email  stating how thankful she was I was John's teacher.  Not only had John started doing better in school, but he actually loved being in school and was excited about coming.  Even when he was sick, John would beg to go to school.  He was filled with enthusiasm everyday and was always sharing his great ideas with the class.  John succeed in my class and I will never forget the smile on his face the first time that I met him and he told me about the Universe.

Quotes

Handprints

Original Author: Unknown

Sometimes I get all dirty As I run and play. And I leave my handprints All along the way. But with each day I grow a bit, And one day I'll be tall. And all my dirty handprints Will be cleaned off the wall. So here are some for you to keep To help you to recall, Exactly what my hands looked like When I was very small

I especially love this quote for making parent gifts at Christmas time, especially in the younger grades. Children grow up way to fast and family gets caught up in the whirlwind.  I think it is important to take a moment from life and realize that children will not be small forever and leave tiny marks in our world. One day the children will leave big marks in the real world.

Favorite Children's Book

Lily's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes is by far one of my favorite children's books.  Kevin Henkes has actually written many amazing children's books that affect lives.  One of the best parts of Kevin Henkes books is that he uses animals as his characters.  Not only do children loves these books but so do adults. People of all ages can relate to the small creatures as the share their worries and concerns for the school days.  Lily's Purple Plastic Purse is an exceptional book because I feel that children of all ages have felt at one point or another that there teacher didn't like them, or the child did something big to the teacher without realizing the consequences.  This book puts into perspective the thoughts of a child who is upset at school.  I share this book every year with my children and we discuss it.

Welcome

Welcome all to my blog!  This is new for me, so any notes and opinions are greatly appreciated on how to make this blog the best it can be.