Book Bonanza

Here are all the books I brought back from the International Literacy Association Convention in St. Louis. Most are chapter books and many are for middle school or high school. I will enjoy reading them then giving them away as door prizes at our reading conference in December.

Free books are not the only reason for attending the ILA convention. Renewal or revival or inspiration-- call it what you will. I heard some great teachers sharing about their successes with students. I wish I could clone myself so I could read with more students on all grade levels.

I especially enjoyed hearing about high school students who began reading for pleasure again or in some cases for the first time. I loved hearing about challenging students who were hooked by a great book. I want that for all students.

Look for more posts about these books.

Visit from some hummingbirds

Overcast day. Saw two hummingbirds zooming around the flowers outside our back windows.

Taking sips from the butterfly bush.

Having a rest on a branch of the Chaste Lilac.

Taken with my camera with no extra lens.

The birds love to come to our little nook. We have 3 bird baths and lots of flowers.

Love summer!

Choosing a favorite quilt book

I know this is not my sewing blog and these are pictures of quilts but...

A request to share a favorite quilt book has been made by the program chair of Jackson Quilters.

All of these quilts were inspired by something in a quilt book.

The plan for these two came from the book SuperStrata Quilts.

They don't look a thing like any quilt in the book.

Some parts of these two came from the book Fat Quarter Fun with a very broad interpretation.

All four of these quilts have been given away. I guess I can share the books without the finished products. We'll see.

What Am I Reading This Summer?

I have gotten hooked  on the China Bayles Mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert. This started a month or so ago when I read a Victorian Mystery written by Albert and her husband. They collaborate on mysteries set in the late 1890s. I read two paperbacks and looked around for more.

I went to Susan's website and printed a list of her China Bayles' mysteries. Then I looked in the online catalog and found that all of her books were in the various branches of my local library. Now I am methodically reading them in order.

These mysteries are set in Texas near Austin. The main character has an herb/tea shop. The chapters give information about the uses of different herbs. Some books have recipes, too. Since I have visited Austin it is easy to visualize the setting and hear the accent of the characters.

So reading these books is like a mental vacation to the Texas hill country. Looking forward to reading the whole series over the summer.

Repurposed doll bed

Had to share these photos of my doll bed planter. Dad had a welder make this bunk bed for my dolls. I don't remember how old I was when I got it. Mom said the same man who made our swing made the doll bed. So it has to be 55+ years old.

I have more photos on my phone and may add them later. 

I used aluminum screening to make the containers. It was very easy to fold and bend into shape.

I bought coconut fiber to line each container and help hold water. 

Plants on the top level are sun lovers and the ones on the bottom like shade.

In the few weeks since planting, the plants on top have grown and flourished. Look for more photos.

Testing, testing, and more testing

So every April for the past several years I have administered an English proficiency test to my students. Usually I have the whole month of April to give 50 to 60 students this test.

Four years ago, I think, we found some students at other schools who also had to be tested and I went to those schools to test another ten students.

Then things got out of hand. My numbers went up and the numbers of students at other schools who needed to be tested went up, too.

So... I trained the counselors at other schools to give the test but I continued to give the speaking part at those schools. The speaking part is the most difficult to score and I wanted to make sure that the students were fairly tested.

Last year increasing numbers prompted me to ask the counselors to take over the whole test. I did not feel it was fair to neglect my students to go to other schools.

This year testing has been completely crazy. The students have been tested to exhaustion. They have been STAR tested in reading and math, Academy of Reading and Math tested, and 9 weeks tested.
They have had 5 days of PARCC testing and face 3 more days of PARCC tests in May. The 3rd graders and kindergartners had state reading tests, too.

The last straw is there have been problems with the test I have to give. We received the tests 17 days late. The wrong grade level was assigned to 38 of my 84 students. Extra tests had to be ordered.

Summer can't come soon enough.

And the answer is 'no'

Sad day today. The answer that I have been waiting for, sure that it was going to be 'yes' since I am eternally an optimist, well, the answer was 'no'. We are going in another direction. We don't want you and your experience, expertise, and opinions.

Really disappointed.

My mind had begun to dream about what fun a new start would be. How great it would be to have a small group of well fed, loved, smart children with whom I would share a year long learning adventure.

It's not that the students I work with now aren't smart or loved, they are. But the testing is out of control, the numbers I work with are ridiculous, and I HATE that trailer classroom.

Now I don't know what to do. I don't see myself in the horrible trailer for another year. Do I check out  other private schools? Look into consultant work? Ask to go back to the regular classroom. Move to another school in the same system? Or take the crumbs from the rejectors and be a substitute or tutor. I don't know.

This is the pre-school I visited in Toronto. So many good ideas in one place.