Join a Mailring at the
Teacher Mailring Center
http://www.teachers.net/mailrings/
Darcy - is there a topic for this chat, Carol?
Carol/pre K/WI - I don't think so anything on your mind
Paulie - The notice from Kathleen does not say there is a topic
Darcy - do either of you know about the $250 tax credit for teachers on the fed income tax in April?
Carol/pre K/WI - No I haven't heard about it
Barbie/K/WI - I don't Darcy
Paulie - u need receipts to prove that deduction and I beyt you have to say where u r employed
Barbie/K/WI - wow, that is about time
Paulie - school before 2002 ends because all working educators are eligible for it but u got to have the receipts and proof of being employed
Barbie/K/WI - I have never been able to claim things on my taxes like that
Darcy - Well, I got the info from the AFT newsletter. It says it's for teachers in k-12. I have been asking lots of people whether pre-k would be eligible. God knows I can spend that much easily.
Darcy - you can claim this without having to itemize
Carol/pre K/WI - I think we all do in prek
Paulie - Barbie this si the first year and uy don't even need to itemize
Darcy - you think, Paulie?
Barbie/K/WI - I will definately look into it
Barbie/K/WI - how long have you been teaching?
Darcy - 4 1/2 years certified
Paulie - I subbed 8 long years and had my own class 6 years so far
Darcy - A week and a half til vacation, la la la la
Carol/pre K/WI - and then two weeks vacation rest and relaxation
Paulie - fied 18 years
Barbie/K/WI - does anyone have any easy party games for my winter party?
Barbie/K/WI - baby is sick, laying on the floor watching Baby Doolittle, waiting for Daddy to bring Motrin, so I'm not staying long
Carol/pre K/WI - pin the nose on the snowman
Barbie/K/WI - cute
Paulie - of course Dec 25th might not have been the real birthdate of Jesus . . . just a date contrived to make a pagan holiday less to celebrate. . . no one knows the real birth date of Jesus
Darcy - Want to hear something kinda sad? I was making a letter "g" list today and trying to get the kids to say "garden." None of them have ever heard he word. They did give me "gutter" though. lol
Paulie - instead of pinning could u velcro it (ouch!)
Carol/pre K/WI - out of the mouths of babes
Barbie/K/WI - or tape
Darcy - heh heh, Carol. I like that.
Carol/pre K/WI - actually I use tape and not pins
Paulie - could toss a wreath over a post ring toss thingie
Barbie/K/WI - good!
Darcy - How about Santa hoop shots? I have a stuffed Santa and a box decorated with brick pattern paper. The kids try to throw him into the chimmney.
Barbie/K/WI - or on a reindeers antlers
Barbie/K/WI - oh, you guys are so good!
Paulie - Barbie that is cute
Barbie/K/WI - my aide is very crafty too, she will love me when I tell her she has to
Carol/pre K/WI - what do they say about two heads being better than one
Barbie/K/WI - make a reindeer
Barbie/K/WI - oh, my, gotta go, baby is crying
Paulie - could pin the ornament on the tree (decorate it) flat tree with evelcro ornaments to hook onto velcro lines on tree
Barbie/K/WI - FLU TIME IN MY HOUSE!
Tina/pre-K/TX - Oh...that's neat
Barbie/K/WI - thank you everyone
Reanalee - Anyone sick of paperwork about now?
Carol/pre K/WI - Good luck with the flu
Carol/pre K/WI - been sick of paperwork back in Sept
Reanalee - We have arelatively new computerized IEP software
Reanalee - according to Central Office flawless!!!
heather/2/CA - there's so much.. never realized how much
Reanalee - I have been teaching 20 and this is the most paperwork ive ever seen
heather/2/CA - this is my first year
Paulie - brb gonna change my "dress"
Carol/pre K/WI - computer programs are wonderful
Reanalee - Central office compliance people are splitting hairs even making us reword IEPS to their liking
Darcy - Yeah, I have to take role 3 different ways each day.
heather/2/CA - wow
Reanalee - Computer programs are wonderful except for the flaws and the anal Compliance people
Reanalee - It is such a joke that our EC program won some kind of award the Director of EC bragged about how his Ec teachers have less paperwork!!!
Darcy - I've beening j/king that next year, there is going to be a category in our anecdotal records about how many times a child goes to the toilet in a day and what they did. We log everything else right? lol.
heather/2/CA - heehee
Reanalee - LOL good one Darcy
Darcy - no pun intended
Carol/pre K/WI - I think we will be measuring food in take soon also
Reanalee - the compliance people are just trying to protect thier jobs they could care less about teachers or state policy
Carol/pre K/WI - needs to go in before it can come out
Paulie - and how many breaths each one takes. . .
Darcy - ...if I could just get the boys to not moon everyone when they are at the urinals, I'll be happy.
heather/2/CA - I find it amazing how that I'm up to my eyes doing lesson plans, behavior contracts, paperwork, etc. and certain people still think I have enough time to call the parents every week
Carol/pre K/WI - when you figure that one out please share it
Reanalee - so true Heather
Reanalee - thats why the state of NC has a hrd time keeping EC teachers
heather/2/CA - EC?
Reanalee - most of the Ec teachers are just warm bodies
Reanalee - EC- Exceptional Children
Darcy - We do that to some extent now. We have exact proportions of food that each child gets on their plates. Wobegone if the child gets one ounce less.
heather/2/CA - ahhh
heather/2/CA - is that like special ed?
Reanalee - that is special ed
Darcy - EC - Early Childhood also
Reanalee - yes but in North Carolina EC means Special Education
heather/2/CA - aha
Darcy - ahhhh
Reanalee - I am a behavior specialist
heather/2/CA - Reanalee, can I ask your opinion about what you might do with a child?
Reanalee - Yes
heather/2/CA - well, he won't pay attention, makes disruptive noises sometimes and will not do his work. He cannot concentrate
heather/2/CA - today I even blocked out about 3 lines of his journal and said if he got that done, he would get a treat
heather/2/CA - but he didn't do a thing
heather/2/CA - his behavior contract is not working
Reanalee - has he be tested for ADHD or ADD?
Reanalee - thats been
heather/2/CA - i don't think so. That';s kind of a touchy area in ca
heather/2/CA - the counselors don't like to recommend students get tested for ANYTHING
Reanalee - touchy or not ADD must be ruled out
heather/2/CA - I agree
Paulie - it wasn't touch when I taught in CA for 6 years
heather/2/CA - I will talk to the counselor again
heather/2/CA - maybe it;s just my school, I don't know
Reanalee - in order to meet the needs of Special children we must get to the root cause otherwise its just lip service and a band-aid .
heather/2/CA - true
Darcy - Before I go, I want to share an awesome book I just bought. It's from Scholastic and called, "Help! What do I do about... Biting, Tantrums, and 47 other everyday problems." by Grace Mitchell. It's the best book I've seen on pre-k behavior in a long time
Darcy - night!
heather/2/CA - bye Darcy!
Reanalee - look up some material on ADD and ADHD take it to the IEP committee or the committe your school has that address needs of children
heather/2/CA - I'm still kind of trying to figure out exactly how my school works this.
Reanalee - the guidance counselor depending on her school of thought might help you
heather/2/CA - I have taken him to family support team which our school has before we take him to instructional study team
heather/2/CA - I'm kind of frustrated. Seems to take a LONG time to get help for these kids
Sarah/3/CA - I also believe it is the responsibility of every teacher to find out the child's learning style....I have a 3rd grader who is definitely a visual learner and I have had to adjust my whole curriculum for him
Reanalee - unfortunately if the counselor is a bleeding heart they might say just work with it
heather/2/CA - I try to teach to all the styles as best I can
Paulie - How did he make it to 2nd gr without intervention?
heather/2/CA - well, I'm not sure. He moved around a lot. He just came here from Ohio and we haven't been able to get anything from them
Reanalee - that attitude does not get to the root of the problem and to add to Sarahs paragraph learning styles is very important you can do a learning styles inventory to see what this childs learning style is
heather/2/CA - ok, my screen just ent blank
heather/2/CA - where can i get a learning style inventroy?
heather/2/CA - tory
Paulie - my screen is having trouble too but what is new last week I left because I was so fed up with it
Carol/pre K/WI - learning styles or multi intelligences is the new buzz words in the field
Paulie - MI has been around 4 awhile I use it a lot
Sarah/3/CA - Try http://www.gigglepotz.com/mistudent.htm
Sarah/3/CA - There is a downloadable Student survey
Paulie - Is no one talking or is my computer not working?
Carol/pre K/WI - Good night to all; have a good week
