Play Place Police

I has been raining off and on for a few days and has kept it just wet enough outside so the kids can't play there. Ken is home with them this week until Kenny starts school. They were driving him crazy (imagine that) and so he took them to a Burger King play place to get the wiggles out.

Being the scholar that he is, Kenny dutifully read the rules regarding the indoor playground. Once well versed he took it upon himself to make sure all the other kids were following the rules.

(Walking up to strange kids) "Are you under 4 feet tall?" "You can't have shoes on and you need socks."

This Acronym Thing Is Getting Ridiculous

All career fields have their jargon. And education LOVES acronyms. To the point that it is getting ridiculous. I sat through a training today where my co-worker and I circled all the different acronyms on the handout. Eight.

Let me show you...

I know a few of you will actually understand most of this.

I am a ECE teacher (early childhood). I work in Texas teaching the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge Skills) in order for my students to pass the state mandated TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) test and the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills). Every nine weeks, I administer the K-Tips in order to score my students for their report card. I also administer the TPRI (Texas something Reading Inventory). If a student is an ESL (English Second Language) learner I also administer the TELPAS (I have no idea what this stands for). We do all this testing in compliance with the federal NCLB (No Child Left Behind) act. The government gives TEA (Texas Education Agency)guidelines to score each district and give them an AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) number based on test scores.

My training today focused on the new TEA mandated curriculum for all grade levels called the ELPS (English Language Proficiency Standards). The ELPS are for the LEP (Limited English Proficiency) and ELL (English Language Learners) students, but will benefit all kids. The ELPS focus on taking students from using the BICS (basic interpersonal communicative skills) to the CALPS (cognitive academic language proficiency skills). Essentially, getting students out of the informal, social language and using more vocabulary in the academic, formal register. I need to note my use of the ELPS in my lesson plans as a formal TLWBAT (the learner will be able to) followed by the specific language objective I wish them to obtain. How well I implement the ELPS will be reflected on my PDAS (Professional Development and Appraisal System) evaluation.

Now, aren't you glad you read this.

And people, this is just the tip of the acronym iceburg in education jargon.

Back To The Grind

I returned to work today. No kids yet. Just meetings...and more meetings...and more meetings. Starting a school year is always a little bittersweet. Always a little exciting. but I miss my kids terribly. Unfortunately, I have a bit of a cold. Not the best timing. James still wakes up A LOT during the night whinpering or sobbing for a minute or so. I can't sleep through it so I am very tired. And now I have an alarm going off at 5:45 every morning. Oh well. Such is life. At least I have a job that puts food on the table and a roof over our heads. I have a lot to be grateful for.

A Little of This and a Little of That...

"That's right Mom. I am one step closer to crawling. Ha Ha!"

We got bored one night, so I found a few plain cotton shirts in the boys drawers, supplied them with a variety of fabric paints, and went to watch a movie while the boys expanded thier creative minds. What a great mom.

James and I took some self-portraits. This was the only one I deemed moderately okay for internet distribution. Of course James looks amazing in all the pictures, but he is a super-model baby!

We really know how to kick it up 'round here!

Rainy Day Fun

This was our project for the day. I found these on a dollar rack at JoAnn's fabric. I still need to get them hung up outside. The boys had a great time painting them. They painted a background, let it dry, and put in the foreground (terminology according to Kenny). The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and cleaning floors. Not nearly as fun as painting birdhouses.

Night Time Wanderings

Last week I was sleeping on the couch in a futile attempt to ignore James' all night crying sessions. I woke up to the sound of a crunch in my ear. I pried an eye open to see little Nathan standing over me in the dark eating an apple. I asked him if he was okay and he replied, "I hungry." Then he just stood there, staring at me and eating his apple. I told him to go upstairs and get Daddy if he needed something.

The next morning Ken told me he woke up to a 'Crunch...chomp...chomp...chomp...Crunch...chomp...chomp...chomp..." He looked over and there was Nathan, on my side of the bed with an apple in one hand and a bag of jelly beans in the other.

Just last night Ken fell asleep downstairs watching t.v. and I woke up at 3 in the morning with a little boy, wearing different pjs, and covered in chocolate in bed with me. Somehow, without making a sound, Nathan got up, changed his clothes, went downstairs, helped himself to some M&Ms, wnet back upstairs, got his pillow and blanket, moved into my bed, and went fast asleep.

He can move with stealth. It's a bit creepy.

My Favorite Outfit!

He is just TOO CUTE for words!!

He finally figured out how to eat a whole rice puff and use his sippy cup. Now He's trying to pick up his puffs on his own, but his doesn't have the pincher thing down. It's so sweet to watch him grab a puff in his fist and try to shove his fist in his mouth.