Close Reading Lesson

Today I had such a fun time with a lesson that I have to blog about it.

I have played with Close Reading throughout the year. My students have worked on making annotations while reading the text and then how to discuss what their annotations mean. We have also worked on answering text-dependent questions. That is about the extent of my close reading instruction with the class.

Earlier this week, I found a CR resource on Teachers Pay Teachers that looked interesting.  Since I have been treating my classroom like a Common Core exploration lab this year, I decided to try out one of the passages and accompanying review sheets.  I looked over the materials last night to prepare. I also emailed my Reading Guru, Cathe M., to share the resource and to see what her thoughts were. We both thought that the materials looked beautiful. However, Cathe confirmed my thought that the text might too easy for second grade. Also, the resource is set up to use one passage for 4-5 days, with different a different focus for each day. In my mind, it seemed too easy to spread out over a few days. I decided to try it in one day and see what happens.

The Lesson:

The Reading
I started the CR lesson with a review the purpose of a CR. After that, I passed out the text and asked the students to read and annotate the text independently.  This took about 10 minutes.  I read the passage to them for the second read and allowed them to continue making annotations while listening to me. For the third read, we read together as a class. I paused after each sentence to ask if anyone had made any annotations. As usual, I did have to help this process out at the beginning. The first sentence has the word frequent in it. I wasn't sure if most students knew this word so I asked if anyone made a mark by the word.

No one responded.  I then asked what the word meant and no one responded.  Then, I asked "who wants to know what frequent means" and most raised their hands. I reminded them that if they don't know a word to make a note of it so they can look it up in a dictionary or discuss as a class. After that, the rest of the text was easy to discuss. Many students found vocabulary links and content connections to a water cycle unit we did in ELD a few months ago.

Text Dependent Questions
This particular resource has a related page with text dependent questions.  I had the students work in groups of 4 to discuss the questions, to find the answer to the question in the text, and then to write the answer in a complete sentence on the page. This worked out FAR better than I expected. The kids all did their part and they held each other accountable. Phrases I heard were "but WHERE did you find that in the text?", "does that really answer the question?", "we have to add the telling part of the sentence, not just the doing part", and my personal favorite, "That is YOUR opinion. What did the text say? That is what Ms.V wants!"  This simple little activity was a great team opportunity for discussion.

Writing
The resource also includes a page related to the text to write a reflection of the passage. Prior to asking the kids to write though, I had them turn over their text and write: If rain never fell from the sky... I then gave them one minute to list as many reflections to that idea as they could think of. After the minute was up, I gave them 5 minutes to share their ideas with their team.

I told them they could add to their lists, if they wanted to. Then came the independent writing. No one groaned and they were all eager to respond. Why? I think it was because they had so much time to discuss and reflect as a class and with their groups.  Everyone had the background information necessary for the assignment. As far as content goes, all the students did well with that part of the summary. Mechanics and grammar were a bit more challenging for some kids.

Reflection
This lesson gave me far more than I anticipated I would get from it. Yes, the text was on the easy side. I think that the ease of the text though helped move along the discourse. I had far more student discussions with this passage than I have had with others this year. This lesson helped me see the value in using an easier level of text. I wouldn't use it all the time, but I will consider it for lessons where I want the students to have lots of discussion. The writing portion of the lesson was my favorite part. I loved seeing the students so confident at working on this task. The kids knew they had everything they needed in their tool belts to do the job. They seemed proud of their work as they handed it in.

Strike

I have spent the better part of today and some of yesterday working on lesson plans and creating lessons for the Promethean Board to use with my students this coming week.  All of this is done willingly on my part.  I want to be well prepared for my students.  I want to provide good, first instruction for them.  As I was correcting tests this weekend, I was rewarded with pleasant surprises.  The majority of my students are really mastering what is being taught.  My second graders can write!  They are at such a good place now that I can probably go further with them than I can with most classes that I have had.  I even had some funny free response answers on the science test.

This evening, I opened Facebook to see the news of Chicago's Teacher Union Strike.  Now, it seems, that Emanuel is threatening to take legal action.  I made the mistake of reading the comments section. They were just awful, hateful and uninformed.  Once again, teachers are being bashed publicly by people who have no idea as to what happens in the classroom and in the school system.  According to these people, we teachers are lazy, should be damn thankful that we even have a job, don't really work that much, have it easy, etc.  I wonder how many of these commenters work outside of their regular job hours without pay?  How many of them have to run a classroom on little or no supplies, and might have to even (gasp) buy their own materials?  How many of them have to deal with children who are drug babies, work with children (families) in major crisis?  How many of these people are responsible for ensuring a year's growth at grade level regardless of entrance level, language proficiency, learning handicaps, physical handicaps, and more.  How many of these people are evaluated on a weekly, monthly basis, as teachers are?  How many have more work piled on them when their pay is being cut due to budgets?  I could go on and on....

This week I overheard an interesting argument with regard to basing teacher pay on test scores.  Someone asked if we should start basing doctor pay on patient status.  How many doctors can ensure that their patients won't be overweight, diabetic, etc?  Doctors are in control over very little of what their patients do with their lives when they leave their offices.  Teachers have very little control on outside factors as well.

 If I were to get 20 English only students all from stable homes of literate families that were all performing at grade level, I could move them all to at least the next grade level by the end of the year.  If I don't, I am doing something wrong.  (By the way, I am lucky because I only have 20.  Most teachers these days are at 30)  My class roster has never looked like that though.  I usually have at least 75% English learners across the spectrum in language proficiency.  At least 3 or 4 have some kind of learning handicap which has most likely not yet been identified so I have to struggle with the system to get them in for help.  All of the students in my class are living in poverty but a handful are in serious poverty.  Then there are the drug families, the gang families, the kids that move around from school to school due work or legal status, etc. It is tough. I work hard for each of these kids though and I do my best to get them all up a year in growth from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

I guess I could go to an easier school, one on the "good" part of town.  That would be a bit easier.  I would still have to deal with the sometimes tough district demands but I would have students that were, for the most part, at grade level and without as many issues.  I choose however to stay at my school.  I choose the needy kids.  These are the kids that need a lot of attention.  These are the kids, and families, that are, for the most part, so very thankful for any kind of help or little treat I might give them.  This is the place where I can feel like I make a difference, even if it doesn't always show up on a state test score.

So...back to the strike in Chicago.  I will need to remember to not let the comments from those against the strike get me down.  I stand with the teachers in Chicago.  Good luck to them.  Good luck to all of us teachers who are facing our own battles, even if we are not on the front lines, as our brothers and sisters in Chicago are.  Si se puede!

Spirit and Change

I never really felt like I fit in when I was in high school.  I remember having friends, going to football games, etc but I don't remember feeling excited to be in high school.

My 14 year old started high school last month.  I worried for her.  I worried that she would go through the same teenage adjustments I went through.  The first two weeks were challenging, but now, she seems to really enjoy herself.

Yesterday afternoon i got a fast and furious text from the girl asking me if she could hang out with some girls and make spirit tutus for the rally on Friday.  My first thought was "tutus?"  This from a girl who hates to wear girly stuff?  My second thought was anything to make her feel like she fits in.  So, after $30 of sparkly tulle and other necessary items were purchased, I took her to hang out with the girls.  She had a blast.  Today, she was nervous to go to school in her spirit gear so she brought it along to change in to , just in case the other kids didn't wear theirs.  As we pulled up to school we saw lots of spirit!

This evening, she has a friend over spending the night.  For the first hour or so that I was home, the only thing I heard around the house was fight songs.  The girls were dancing and singing and still full of spirit from the school rally.  I took the girls on a quick trip to the grocery store where they continued their cheers and dances.  It was a hoot!

I am so glad that my daughter has found her way.  I am so glad that she is confident, happy and well adjusted.  I am glad that she is not the quiet, unsure, worried mouse that I was in high school.

I am a happy mom.

Prayer in School

Every morning I like to visually check in with each of my 20 students. I can get so busy with teaching, paperwork and whatever else I need to attend to that sometimes, I may not get to check in with each child. It is really important to check in with each kid. Doing this allows me to get to know each child a bit more and it alerts me to problems/issues I may need to address concerning that child. (vision, home problems, test anxiety, etc.)

Today was the first day of state testing. Before the kids took the test today I passed out "brain food" and let the kids talk with their neighbors and relax a bit. As they ate and chatted, I scanned the room to check in with them. As most of my students were laughing, talking and comparing snacks, one of my boys was in a quiet trance staring at his hands. I was curious as to what he was looking at in his hands. This student performs very high on all academic tasks and I wondered if he had written a list of things he wanted to make sure to remember for the test.

I walked up behind him and I saw that he had three tiny cards in his hands. They were prayer cards. One was a prayer for the day. Another was a prayer for school. The third card, the one he was intently reading was a prayer for students. I watched the student until he looked as if he was done with his prayer (he was reading silently) and then I talked to him about it. He told me that his parents gave them to him and he wanted to make sure that he prayed before the test.
The student then put the cards away in his backpack, opened up his snack and joined the rest of the group in conversation and pre-test giggles.

This scenario from my classroom made me think of the people who are fighting for prayer to be a mandated part of the school day. One of their biggest arguments is that prayer has been taken away from the children. I say prayer has always been in school and will continue for those who choose to do it. My student proved this today. He felt the need to pray, he did so without disturbing anyone else, he didn't ask anyone to join him and then he went on about his business.

I am not one to pray in public. Truth be told, I am not really one to pray in private either. What I saw my student do today though touched me deeply. I thought it was a very sweet thing to do, it was very meaningful to my student and I knew it set him off on the right foot for his test and for the day.

Random Notes on a Roster

Been a long time since I have blogged....sigh...Facebook has taken over my internet life!

School starts on Tuesday. Right now I should be setting up my classroom. Instead, I am studying my class roster. I can learn a great many things from this simple list. I classify the notes into good news, possibly challenging news and "hmm". Here are some of those things:

Good news:
1) I have 20 students. This is great because i will start out with a full class. If I am lucky, I will keep the same 20 throughout the year.

2) 9 girls, 11 boys. Pretty even.

3) 18 out of my 20 are 7 or 8 yrs old. WOO HOO! 2 are still 6. What a difference it makes to have kids start second grade at 7 yrs. I am already exhaling. YES!

4) Only one of my students has a "behavior record."

5) 4 of my new students are siblings of former students. I think I have held them all as babies when they were born. How many teachers can say that about their students? How cool is that? I love working at a school for a long period of time. You get to know the familes, form relationships with them and watch the children grow and flourish. Very, very rewarding!

Possible Challenges:
1) 13 English Learners. 7 of those at the intermediate level, 4 at beginning or early intermediate and one ad early advanced. a little bit of a spread but for the most part close together in english proficiency. This year i have 7 English Only kids. This is the largest group I have ever had. They are the biggest challenge. Despite the fact that they are labeled English Only, you can never assume that they are truly proficient in English. These kids are usually the ones who are low readers or are really English Learners but their parents have not identified them as such, so legally, they don't get the specialized services.

2) One student has a chronic lice problem. Aside from the health issues, lice problems = attendance problems. I will have to handle that right away. Educate the parents.

3) One of my students has a behavior record. LOTS of hitting and kicking and toilet flooding. I will have to take care of that one RIGHT AWAY!

Hmmm:
1) I have a Sabina in my class. She will probably be my first and last Sabina ever!

I think this will be a good year. Three cheers for the 2009/2010 school year!

Last Day Thoughts

Yesterday was the last day of school. Here are some thoughts on the day.

1) Sick Child: A, one of my angels, has been sick. She didn't make it to school on Thursday because she was running a fever. Yesterday, when I took attendance, she was not there. I was so sad to miss seeing her on the last day. Ten minutes later, she showed up at the door with her mom, crying. Her mom asked me for help with A. She said that A was still running a slight fever but that she was begging her to come to school since it was the last day. I told the mom that I would keep A for a bit and if we needed to, we would call her to pick A up. A gave me a big germy hug and took a seat. Another 30 minutes later, I saw tears welling up in A's eyes. I came over to check in on her and this is what she said :"Ms.V., I no feel good. My tummick (stomach) hurts." I told her that I was so happy to see her but that it was time for her to go home. I sent her off to the nurse's office with a hug and a few party goodies in a bag. She started to walk away but then turned around and ran back to give me a hug and a big kiss on the cheek. She said "I lub you Ms.V. I will miss you!" That girl just melts my heart!!!

2) JUNK food : Once again, the food vs. academic achievement test produced the same results. The higher the class is academically, the smaller the feast. When the class is overall lower in academic acheivement, we have a plethora of junk food. Yesterday's feast was disgustingly large. I think we had 10 bags of chips, 2 cakes, 3 bags of cookies, 3 bottles of juice, 4 boxes of juice boxes and more. I sent most of it home. Just looking at it made me gain a few pounds! I love those kids but I think we needed to work on nutrition a little more than we did.

3) Confession: One of my boys, A, has ADHD. There is talk of him possibly having Asperger's as well. He is a very bright young man but is challenged behaviorally. He takes no medicine and sees no specialist for his challenges. This makes life tough for him. I try my best to make accomodations for him because I know that the problems that arise as a result of his issues are totally out of his control. It makes my work exhausting but it is necessary for him to be successful. I am always redirecting him and trying to find something positive and motivating to say to him to keep him on track. Yesterday, on our way back from lunch, he was a mess in the lunch line. Jumping up and down, flying around in circles kicking the air... yikes! So, I did my usual routine of walking up to him and pretending to completely ignore the behavior and ask him if he could escort me to the classroom because I wasn't sure how to get there. (This is my little game that I play with him to redirect his behavior and to help him save face in front of his peers)
A snapped out of it and took my arm and began his tour guide routine to escort me to the room. He walked very nicely to class and was quite the gentleman. When we got to the class, he waited outside as everyone filed inside. Then, when we were alone outside, he said "Ms. V. I am sorry. I just can't calm myself down sometimes. I will try to do better." I gave him the biggest hug ever. I told him that it was no problem and that I would be happy to walk him to class next year if he needed help calming down. He melts my heart too!

4) English!!!: J, is a newcomer from Mexico. He has been here for 2 months. He has learned a substantial amount of English in the short time he has been here but would rather speak in Spanish. In academic situations, I pushed the English but for social situations, I let him use Spanish. These last two weeks though, I tried pushing the English with him for everything. Basically, he would ask me in Spanish and then I would translate in English and have him repeat it to me. The most common phrase was, of course, the bathroom request. Right before school let out yesterday, J came rushing up to me with an urgency in his eyes that told me what he needed to do before he even asked. He started to ask in Spanish and then with a sparkle in his eye and a heavy accent said "May I go to the bathroom please?" Love it! Never too late!!!

My First Invitation

Every year that I have been teaching, I have always talked up the importance of going to school, working hard and going to college. Additionally, I ask my students to invite me to their high school and college graduations. I have been teaching for 14 years now and not once have I had a student take me up on that until this year.

E was in the first class that I taught in public school. He was a stocky little guy, good kid, a bit shy and timid. He was a hard working student academically and had a good foundation at home to keep him straight.

I haven't seen E in years. 10, to be exact. During Open House, a few weeks ago, he popped in to say hi. He looked great! He is in great shape, is well spoken, seems very self assured and happy. He asked how I was doing and also asked about my daughter. E shared his after high school plans with me. He will be attending UC Merced and then hopes to transfer to Cal in two years. I was so excited for him and I gave him a great big hug.

E came by with his parents. They thanked me for helping him the year that he was with me. They also thanked me for helping them to work with him. They knew very little English and were not sure if they would be able to give him the support that he needed. E is living proof that they could and that they did.

Then came the best surprise of all. E and his parents asked me if I would come to his high school graduation. YAY! I got a bit weepy and of course said "YES!"

Friday night is the last day of school. On the last day of school I like to run home and begin my long vacation right away. This year, I will hold out for a few hours. I will stay in town and proudly watch one of my former students make his walk across the stage to receive his diploma. I am so proud of him.

I don't think anything can top this except, of course, if he invites me to his college graduation!

Fan Mail

One of the things I love about my job are the sweet letters I get from my students. I call them my fan mail. Depending on the group, I can get several of them a week. This year, I have two girls in particular who like to write to me. One is very clever with the method of delivery. She strategically places them in spots where I am sure to find them.

I, of course, have to turn this into a teachable moment. She has mastered the 2nd grade friendly letter format so I am working on building vocabulary with her. As an English learner, she can use the help with descriptive language. I told her that we could turn her letter writing into a game of hide and seek. She is to hide the letter and then give me descriptive clues to find it. We are having lots of fun with it and she is learning at the same time.

Typed below is today’s fan mail installment. I typed it just as it was written, spelling mistakes and all. It is a keeper. It will be added to my bulging envelope of similarly sweet letters from students from years past.

5/20/09

Dear, Mrs. V,

How have you been? You are the best teacher in the world! You are nice with us. You are funny! You are good at arts and crafts. I love the movies you put. I relly like Arthur movies. Could we see them all this week or before we end school? I hope we could see ech other when I’m in 3rd grade. You are cute.
sincirally,

A

Whew! I've Still Got It!

Created by Train Horns

Clothes That Fit

This week I cleaned out Sabi's drawers and closet. I took out all of the clothing that was too small and took inventory of what she would need for the summer. Due to the fact that she grows like a weed, I had a HUGE stack of clothing to get rid of. Two big bags full to be exact.

I usually give my clothing to Goodwill. With Sabi's clothes, I like to give them to friends of hers or to my students. This time I decided to give them to one of my students. Now Sabi is a 5th grader and I teach 2nd graders. Sabi is also a very tall girl. That being said, I have one student who is very stocky who I thought might be able to use the clothing. I was actually afraid the clothing might be too small but I thought I would give it a shot anyway.

The girl I wanted to give the clothing to, N, never wears clothing that fits. As I mentioned, she is stocky and short. There is nothing her size in the girls department. Everything she wears is at least 10 times too small. The waist is always very low, exposing her backside and her tummy hangs over everything. The poor thing looks like her clothes are painted on sometimes. This being said, I have never met a child so happy with themselves and with such a great self image.

The clothes I wanted to give away were girls plus clothes. (Did you know they make those?) They have been a blessing for Sabi. She is so tall and is cursed with my hips and smaller waist. The problem with the plus size pants for Sabi is that the waist/tummy section is too big. They fit in the hips though so I make them fit on her by tucking them in on the sides and make her use a belt. It isn't perfect, but it is comfy! I was hoping that these clothes would be a good match for N. I knew that she had never had anything fit her before and hopefully, these would not be too tight for her.

I gave the clothes to N on Tuesday. On Wednesday, she came to school in one of the shorts I gave her. She told me that the clothes were too big for her but that she could grow into them. She was pleased as punch to have them on and told everyone that I gave them to her. I watched her walk around the room to see how they fit. They were a perfect fit! I talked to her about the clothes and she told me again how they were too big. It was then that I realized that she doesn't know what a perfect fit is. She is so used to being hugged and squeezed into tight clothing that she doesn't know the difference! Poor baby! She is all of 7 years old and thinks that is how clothing is supposed to fit.

N wore more of the hand me downs for the remainder of the week. She was happy to be in them and I was happy to see her happy. Other teachers told me that something was different with N, that she looked different but they weren't sure what it was. I just smiled.

I am glad Sabi's clothes went to a good home.

A Ray of Sunshine

This school year is quite stressful. I have so many things that I could blog (rant) about. I won't though. It is depressing enough to have to live though it. Why relive it in this blog. Instead I will write about my ray of sunshine in my class.

A is a doll. I was really worried about her at the beginning of the school year. We had an IEP on her within the first few weeks of school starting. Her scores were SO low but die to the fact that she had no discrepancy, she remained in my room. I was quite angry about that because I thought it wasa huge disservice to her. However, I kept my happy face on and worked hard with A. She worked even harder. She amazed us all by making great gains academically. Since August, she has jumped from being a non reader to reading at almost a 2nd grade level. Wow!

Math is much harder for her. She has never quite understood what we were doing. I work with here every day to try and help out but she is always many steps behind. Never once has she given up or complained though. I admire her so much for this. Right now, we are working on one the hardest concepts of the entire year, 3 digit addition with regrouping. She brought me her page to check it. I was amazed because it was complete. I was even more shocked to find that all of the answers were correct. I asked her who helped her with it. She told me that she did it on her own. I told her that I wanted to watch her do it myself. I didn't believe her. So then, A smiles up at me, knowing that I don't believe her and says, "ok Ms. V., watch me!" I did and was blown away. SHE GETS IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hugged her, apologized and did the happy dance with her.

A has so many issues that the rest of the kids don't have to deal with. That being said, A is not going to let any of her issues stand in her way for success. She proves to herself, to me, her parents and the rest of our class that she is a hard worker and part of the group. I wish that the rest of the class had her drive.

Favorite Concert

Wow! It has been over a month since I last blogged. I have to admit, I have been playing on Facebook and have neglected this site. Sorry folks!

So...Question of the Week:
What is the best concert that you have been to?

Aside from the great jams I am privileged to hear in my living room when my aunt, uncle and Sabi play, the best concert I have experienced was a Oscar D'Leon and Celia Cruz. It was my first time seeing both performers. I went to the concert in SF and wasn't sure what to expect. There was seating around tables but mainly there was open floor for dancing. I was at the very front and had a great view of everything. Oscar D'Leon and his group played for over 2 hours I think. They were amazing. Celia Cruz's flight was delayed so she didn't arrive until sometime after 11. She was hot! Celia performed for over an hour. I was so amazed at her too. The music was great, the people in the audience were fabulous and spirits were high. It was an unforgettable night.

Question?

What is your favorite vacation spot? Why do you like it?

On a Happier Note

Today I got a new student. She is wonderful. This young lady can read at grade level, is polite, kind, friendly and most importantly, a risk taker. What is even better is that I can tell that this is not "honeymoon" behavior. What a great addition to the classroom. Yay!

What is New?

School: I have gained and lost several students in the past month. It has been very troubling.

Child #1:
I have been fighting for testing since the first day of school. We finally had the SST, I advocated strongly for testing and the team decided to go ahead and test. The next day, he moved! The poor child is bouncing his way through the system and can't read, or write his name to save his life. I HOPE he gets someone who will keep fighting for him.

Child #2: Lots of ups and downs with this one. He started off with behavioral problems but we then worked them out with behavior mod. He started slipping Mid December. He has not been at school for the past 3 weeks. I have an emergency SST for him this week. I am not sure what will happen with him but I can only hope for the best.

Child #3: I had this one for one week and then he was gone. There was apparently a custody battle going on with the parents. I just received notice that he would be back tomorrow. Now, the parents are back together. In the meantime, this child has been bouncing around between schools for about 3 months. he isn't a child who can afford to miss even 1 day of school. Due to the fact that school is a challenge for him, he is easily distracted and enjoys playing the class clown. Fun!

Child #4: This one was gone for 4 weeks. She made her First Communion in Mexico and was there for Christmas. She had a wonderful time with her family but she definitely could not afford to miss out on classwork. She is now back but struggling. It is going to take a long time to get her back on track.

I have 15 more kids that all come with their own baggage. This job is really challenging sometimes.
*sigh*

What they don't have in Hawaii

I just finished watching my novela and it brought me back to something that happened to me when we were in Hawaii last month.

One night I was in the hotel room flipping through the channels and trying to find something to watch. I found nothing but kept flipping through the channels as if something I wanted to watch would miraculously appear on the screen. I did find several channels in Japanese. That was interesting for a few minutes but after the novelty wore off, I turned off the tv.

The next night I did the same thing. I flipped through the channels again. I knew that I was missing something and then it hit me...there were no stations in Spanish! I am so used to (dependent upon) my Spanish channels. I like to watch the evening news on Univision, I like to watch Despierta America in the morning. I like to watch old novelas on Telefutura. I enjoy picking up stray novelas on other channels like TV Azteca and Galavision. None of these channels were in the lineup in Hawaii. AAUGH!!!

As it turns out, I did survive without Spanish tv. Hawaii has many wonderful things to offer. It was just interesting to see how different it was.

The Newest Addition to My Blogroll

Today, after receiving an e-mail from Jewish Voice for Peace, I added Rabbi Brant's blog to my blogroll. Check it out: Shalom Rav

Have a good week everyone!

iPod vs. CD's

I am considering taking my iPod to school to use there permanently. I have had so many problems in the past few years with orgainzing all of my CD's or having them skip. I also have CD player problems. The machines that the school buys don't seem to last very long.

My thought is that I could bring in my iPOd and load all of the CD's that I need for work on there. I wouldn't have to worry about finding CD's, they would all be there.

This if course means that I would need to get a new iPod for myself. :-)

If you are a teacher reading this post, what do you do???

God's Gang

The school I work at is on the West side of town. It is in the poorest section of town. There is also a higher incidence of crime and gang activity in the neighborhood.

There is a faith based organization within a few blocks of the school. The organization has a lot of activities going on at their site for families and children. Most of the kids at the school know of this organization. I have some issues with the way the organization operates but it does do many good things for the community. Most recently, they organized coat drive and everyone who needed a coat in the neighborhood got one.

The FB organization has an after school club for kids. I don't know the exact extent of activities that they offer to the children but I do know that they offer homework assistance, there are computers available for use, day care and snacks. What bothers me about this service is their logo, "God's Gang." Many of our kids come to school in t-shirts and sweatshirts with this logo on it. I think it is just irresponsible for them to use this as their logo. I take issue with the phrase God's Gang. It is catchy but what is it trying to say? I especially take issue with the fact that they would use this as the logo in our Gang infested neighborhood. I am sure that the people running the program would tell me that the kids are already familiar with gangs and that they are trying to use familiar language to help them see a more positive light. My thought is that kids should be taught that gangs are bad period. We have sure a bad problem with gangs in our neighborhood that all 5th and 6th grade students receive gang awareness instruction built into the regular school day.

I would love to be able to express my opinion to the organization but I have a feeling that my thoughts would fall on deaf ears.
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Resolution

I don't have any resolutions this year. I hate making them only to break them. I will just try to do a better job of being a better mother, daughter, sister, teacher, co-worker and human being.

Yeah I will try to eat better and exercise more too.

The end!