Retired? But am I?

 I decided to retire as I turned 65.  I retired just before winter break.  It did not seem real as it was break anyway.

We stayed in Tahoe.  Tahoe had six feet snow fall so skiing wasn't in for me. We can back to San Diego and we off to visit my parents.  Mom had come down with cancer (blood) and I wanted to see her at least one more time.  We had a party.  She screamed at me in front of Larry and my dad.  So fun.  Yes I left home at 17 and never lived there again.  I wonder if there was a reason I did that?  It was great to see my brothers, nephews and niece.  I enjoy their company.  We even saw my cousin Jon and his wife Laurie.  The word has great people in it. 

Back to San Diego, SDYC history committee, La Playa Trail committee meeting then Jury Duty.  Ugh.  I was selected as an alternate. Felony and determined guilty.  This led to a delay in our being back in Tahoe.  We were ready to ski again.  This time Becca, Ben, Connor, Seby, Anne and Andrew, and Henry joined us.  I was able to ski with Sierra.  She is four and was being held by her dad with ropes. Whitney joined us in the Bolder lodge.  So fun!! But after they left I had come down with bronchitis.   So sick and my voice was a low bass. 

I was able to sub at Dewey for a teacher out with COVID.  That was so fun until the Tk teacher had to go out and they moved me there.  I do not do well with that age group.  The teacher had worksheets for them to do for the whole day.  Ugh too boring. I made it through the day with lots of help from the YMCA day care people.  At the end of the day while packing up, some boys decided to put their backpacks in the front and were playing bumper boys. I blew my outside whistle inside. I had their attention.  I whispered we don't do that in here.  I was so thankful when the last child was picked up.  Give me special ed 3rd and 4th graders any day.

I subbed for my replacement next at Ocean Beach Elementary.  I was so fun to see everyone.  It was great. I am not into giving tickets for good behavior as I just expect it but we had 'fun' Friday. I supported my co-teacher again.  I missed teaching so much.  I covered one day for my co-teacher and it went well.  It was field day and I did have a student or two dump the tub of water over themselves.  I just made sure the office did not give them dry clothes. That was a simple consequence they could endure.

Then off to Boston for my son's wedding. It was just great.  Anne has a wonderful family. None of my family or friends were able to make the wedding.  Prices have gone up so much.  They made me feel like part of their family.  We made it back and my ear was bothering me in the plane.  Wednesday I took a Covid test and I was positive.  I have been home for a week of Covid.  I am looking forward to feeling well again.  So far 17 people have come down with covid including Anne, Andrew and Henry.

Back in School

 Distance Learning is almost over!  So exciting!  I now work with 3rd and 4th graders in school four days a week for the whole school day.  We have a check-in on Fridays.  Students are supposed to do their work on their own on Fridays.

I never realized how fatiguing zoom teaching was until it was over.  I could hardly walk upstairs after teaching much less go for a walk or bike ride.  Now I am riding to school at least 3 times a week. As we are nearing a month less of school I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

What is amazing is how many students with special needs did better at home than at school.  Those students that struggle with ADHD or ADD were able to concentrate at home and complete their assisgnments. Many of my students improved more than a year in reading and are doing better in math than when they left.  They are shocking me.

Having an online option may be a good opportunity for many students to learn and excel.  But the social thing about school is important also.  

Summer After Distance Learning

Well, a lot has happened since I last wrote.  I am back at Ocean Beach Elementary full time.  Beth decided to retire.  We had a new Ed Specialist Addy who became upset at how some teachers treated her.  (ie they put her under the bus). So Addy left and went back to the charter school she used to work at and we have a new intern Bridget.  I think we work well together.

Distance Learning was abrupt.  We found out at noon we were leaving school not knowing when we would return.  We hastily divided up duties.  I was to support Marie Wright’s 3rd grade room and Cyndie Volpone’s 4th grade classroom.  I was going to continue to meet with my kinder group, 2nd grade group and 4th grade group.

Well - trying to get kinders to meet was hard.  I was only getting 1 at a time to show up.  I have 4 1/2 hour zoom sessions scheduled.  For my second grade group - only 1 at a time showed up for that as well at 4 1/2 sessions per week.  Marie wanted my 3rd grade group to show up after hers but for 3 weeks no one showed up except me.  The 4th grade group did show up and it was fun!!!  But after 3 weeks, I asked Bridget if we could combine groups.  She was already running a K group so I had mine join her.  She was also running a 2nd grade group so mine were to join her.

Overall many students were learning and doing a good job.  I had two real no shows.  I contacted parents often but it did nothing.  I would like to co-teach next year if a teacher is willing to try it.

For my first education book of the summer, I read “Schooled’ by; Stephanie Jankowski.   This is a great book about what really goes around with teaching.  It made me laugh out loud in some parts.  I recommend it.  Enjoy!

Off to Urgent Care

Of course my husband who has felt bad all day decided after 10 pm he must go to Urgent Care. So I drive and we are at Scripps Green Urgent Care. We get right into a room but it has been over an hour and no one has checked on us. I don’t see any one in the halls. The place does not appear to be busy. I am glad I am not sick here with a fever like when I went to the ER at Kaiser.

We wait. Last time we were here the service was quicker but the service was poor. They gave him an infection and did not give him the proper equipment on Friday,  Luckily he saw his regular Primary care and got antibiotics just in time —Monday

I ran into someone and she said she would have our nurse check in with us.  But another 15 minutes goes by. I found the nurse and they are very busy. They do not check on patients except for every two hours. We have only been here 1 1/2 hour. I didn’t know about not checking for two hours. The nurse said there is a patient in front of him so it could be a few more hours before a Dr sees my husband.

Note to self- don’t go to a Urgent care

12:20 am someone came in to examine him. They found something unusual and want to drain it and look for pus. Dr came back and put lotocaine , Benadryl and something to numb it before the shot.at 12:30 am.

Dr came back with shot and said to wait 5 min.

The night nurse came to do blood pressure.  He was very friendly and nice.  We were finished by 2 am and then left to pick up the drugs at a nearby pharmacy.

Life Happens!

I have not been blogging here in quite some time.  But great things have been happening.  I now work at a school close to me.  I have great students and staff to work with.  I have a new student teacher, Carly.  Next week two first-year students start their journey toward obtaining their special education credential.

I have the opportunity to go into general education classes and set them up with google docs.  I help the teachers and the students become more familiar with it.  I also teach them how to use google read-write extension.

I also am a resource of how to make your iPad work with ST Math.  Students come into my room for help.  I took the plunge this year and wrote a grant on DonorsChoose.org and wow, I have two grants funded already.

My students love their wobble chair and bouncy chair.  I love my new book cart and movable white board.  We have 12 students learning phonics in my room every day.

My tutoring business is still doing well. I currently work 4 hours a week and find that is doable.  I am involved at my church with choir, bells and prayer quilts.  I am involved with the community with La Playa Trail - a historical group in Point Loma.

I have two grandsons, 8 and 4 and another grandchild on the way.  I still enjoy skiing, boogie boarding and walking my dogs.  There never seems to be enough time for everything.  But life is good.

Power of Tiny Distractions

This information comes from an article in the March 3, 2015 Wall Street Journal written by Sue Shellenbarger.  Another name for this article could be "How desk toys help office workers stay  on top of their mental game." Many teachers find some of their students seem to have ADHD or some variation.  They are the students constantly moving.  They can't keep up with you.  They seem to be in their own world focusing on everyone else but not you.

This article is talking about working adults playing with items that might increase creativity, or help with focusing.   So I would like to know if you think any of these manipulators would work with your students.

• Rubber toy/ball which can be squeezed to vent frustration or lighten the mood.  (Would your students throw it?)
• Pen ( could you stand having students clicking a retractable point pen over and over?  This is to help the mind sustain attention through mundane tasks.  (Just imaging over 30 of these pens clicking at one time...)
• Magnets (as long as your students would not swallow them - they are highly toxic.) 
• Sandbox.  "Playing with sand is relaxing and can spark conversation." (I personally would not allow this at each desk.  But sending a child to the sand station might be an option.)
• Smooth stones.  (Again as long as a student would not throw the stones it might work.)  I would recommend they keep in their pocket or in their desk.)
• Clothes  pin.  "randomly attaching a pin to another object, such as a pencil, helps an office worker avoid zoning out when bored."  So this makes me wonder are many students acting out because they are bored?  Are teachers talking too much?  What would happen if you had that distracted student teach the class?
• Slinky (I would avoid this as they are easily broken if pulled.)
• Coat toggle This is a great idea as long as it is cold enough for coats.  I teach in CA so this would only be a good option for a few month.

So the research says that "certain kinds of hand movements have an impact on cognitive functioning, improving focus or sparking fresh thinking or faster learning."  So it might benefit you class to have object to move, click, squeeze, poke, feel...

Valulable Lessons in Learning

I was just browsing the New York Times when I found this article by Tara Parker-Pope.  I am helping a student prepare for the SAT's and found it to have good advice. (Oct 7, 2014)

The author was looking at a book that challenges the notion that high test scores equals true learning.  He feels students need to study smarter.  "How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where and Why It Happens" by B. Carey.

I summarize these as follows:

1. Change your study environment time to time. Desk, kitchen table, Starbucks, etc.
2. Talk about your learning to either yourself or study mates.
3. Review the information one to two days after learning it the first time.
4. Sleep better ie: foreign language test go to be early and wake up to review.  Math test study late and then sleep as long as possible.

It is amazing what the brain can do if you just change the way you study...

Interesting News on Brain Synapses and Autism

In the article "Study Finds That Brains With Autism Fail to Trim Synapses as they Develop" by Pam Belluck in the New York Times 8/22/14, scientists discovered an effect inform studying brains of children with autism.

They found, "malfunctions in the system of clearing out old and degraded cells, a process called autophagy".  A child is born with many  synapses or connectivity in the brain.  As a child grows, the brain lowers these synapses.  Scientist found that children with autism had too many synapses.  This could be causing the noise sensitivity, flapping, etc.

"If all parts of the brain  talk to all parts of the brain, all you will get is noise."  This might be one of the causes of autism.

Now the real research begins as what we can do to intervene help reduce the synapses.

Almost the 4th of July

Life was very busy for the last six months.  I started two other blogs.  One for parents on how to help with their child has trouble learning.  I also wrote a blog for teachers on teaching in 2013.  I see I need to update the title.

I was busy about six hours a week.  Other students came in and out for help on an as needed basis.  My student who had trouble learning to read now likes reading.  My high school students still can not do math.  Mainly because they won't study, do homework, or show up to school on a regular basis.  Tutoring once or twice a week cannot overcome an attitude that says "I can't".

When a student tries, I can make a difference.  Trying to learn math in three sessions because a student is confused is still difficult.

I do make math interesting and fun.  I combine technology and repetition.  I purchased math books because many students today say their teacher does not use a book.  They only have worksheets to work with.  I am old school.  I like a book to look through.  I like to see examples.  I do google things often.  I have trouble learning from videos though.  So not every student can look at a video and understand.

I am enjoying a small summer break but plan to start tutoring again in August so students can feel empowered for the new school year and keep on track.

I bill once a month.  That keeps down on the paper work.  Next year I will try to sub more.  It is a great way to see what is going on in the classroom.

November - Giving Thanks

Working with six students is so much fun.  I need to decide when I have enough students to no longer sub.  I do like subbing though.  It keeps me current and updated to what is going on in our schools.  I would love to see some input about San Diego Unified Schools…

I do need to set policies about canceling a tutoring session.  I understand when a student is sick but I would like them to reschedule not just drop me for the week without notice.  But that is something to work on later.

I attended my first meeting as a member of the board for Point Loma Association.  7:30 am is early in the morning.  If I could have a job at 9 am I would take it but the two that called were 7:20 am and 8:20 am.

I enjoyed taking the class Digital Literacy's 2 though the district.  I learned some cool things.  I made my first pod cast.  I like it.  I also made this video using screencast-0-matic, You Tube and Caption tube.

It Takes Time to Build a Busines

All summer I had only one student as my customer base.  I worked twice a week with him.  In one week I now have five more students.  I am excited about all the new students.  I am working with three students for 7th grade math and one student in pre-calculus. I also want to sub in the local school district.  It is a way to see how the material is being taught.  I like to make relationships with the teachers to supplement what they are doing in the classroom.

I have joined a few local organizations to make contacts- The Point Loma Assembly and the Point Loma Association.  I also attend the La Playa Trail Association meetings.  I enjoy learning about the community where I live.  I also like to learn.  I think I bring the love of learning into to my tutoring business.

I still have not purchased the Woodcock-Johnson general intelligence test because of its $1,600.00 cost. I would like to purchase a portable printer to bring on the road with me at students' houses.  My home computers seem to run slower and slower so I need to remember I will have to replace my technology equipment on a regular basis.

I set up a new and separate checking account and credit card account.  I hope to keep my records in better order.  I paid my business tax online so I am set up for another year.  I still have a lot of work to do on my web site.  I am enrolled in a technology course through San Diego Unified.  This is helping me set up more technology for my business.  I have Google+ for Point Loma Tutor as well as a facebook page.  I learned how to do a screenshot and sent a lesson to one of my clients when he was away on vacation.

So I am making progress but it still seems slow.

Web Site

I thought I was taking it easy by hiring someone to set up my web page.  But she got a real job!!  I would like to have the admin password so I can finish my web site.

Check out my site at www.pointlomatutor.com  Please offer any comments on how to make it better. I am using word press to make my site.  I have found some good videos on you tube on how to do a word press website.  But I am stopped as I never received the admin password.

So far I have been emailing her each day asking for some response.  Ok it has only been three days but it is breaking my determination to complete my web page.  I guess I should work on the things I can change and pray I will receive the admin password soon.

I have a few comments to add from happy clients.  I am going to a business swap next Tuesday so it would be great to make some major work done on the site.  It will take discipline to finish but I need to do it.

My dad just got an iphone.  I am so excited.  I hope to teach him how to use it.  The phones are free now at the AT&T or Verizon stores if you want the 4S version.

Summer Tutoring

So far I only have one student but three others are interested.  Now I just need to find times that work for the others.  I thought 1/2 hour would be enough for a seven year old students.  But one hour flies by.  I break each 15 minutes into interesting segments.

For example today we started working with sight words.  We do ten every session.  First the student writes them on three by five cards.  We read them together.  I use them in a sentence.  We review them.  Next we worked on phonics.  We are practicing short vowel sounds.  It is so hard to tell the different sounds with the contestants.   It was getting hard and then the time was up.  We switched to blocks with the short vowel sounds to make words.  We worked on rhyming words,  We wrote the words down.  Next we started to write a story about what the student wanted to do for the rest of the summer.  Tutoring was not on the list.  We will work on the story, add pictures, and then add words from our sight word lists.  I am enjoying the time.

I still need to have my web site finished.  I emailed Irene who is helping me to complete this project but so far no response.  I thought being housebound for a month I would have completed the web page but that did not happen.  So it is still a work in progress.

Another Month Gone

I subbed one day in May at Dana Middle School.  It was a fun day.  I helped each group go to the auditorium to have spring pictures taken.  I was team teaching so I just hung out in classrooms and listened to the regular teacher teach.  It is interesting how San Diego Unified meets the needs of the Special needs students.

I also tutored a sixth grader on percents, decimals and fractions.  I only had two sessions to review material with her.  I loved working with her but her grade was not good.  I tutored Wednesday and Thursday and her test was Friday.  She might also have test anxiety.  I hope to work with her over the summer.

Big plans- I have started to work on my web site again.  I actually met with my web designed once.  I then picked out pictures to use for my site.  Now I could write the text.  So it is up to me to push the web page on.

I had foot surgery on Wednesday, June 5th.  My foot has not been right since Dec 5th when I went out to visit Becca.  At that time the ball of my foot hurt.  I just wore thick socks and sneakers and I could hobble easily.  When I returned and made it through Christmas, I saw my doctor who ordered an x-ray.  Then I saw a podiatrist.  He felt it was a naroma so he gave me a shot of cortisone.

Well the shot really didn't help. In fact I could see a white line growing up my leg.  So after a month I went back to the podiatrist. My second toe was curling.  My foot hurt when walking far.  My doctor said to wear Birkenstock sandals. the podiatrist said this was all due to my bunion.

So I scheduled surgery.  Then I was scared so I asked for a second opinion from an orthopedic at UCSD who specializes in feet.  She said to wait a month and come back so she could check it out.  She said I would need full bunion surgery.  My podiatrist felt shaving off the bunion and then using a metal strip to tie the first and second toe bones together would work.

So now I have two weeks of just putting my foot up.   No real walking, shopping, exercising, etc.  So I think I will be able to finish my web page because I can't do much else.

I finished the Day of Service and we had around 500 people in our church and community participate.  I will also try to write up a summary about that while I am relaxing.

It is May and There is Work to be Done!

Today I am meeting with my web designer again finally.  I want to get my new web site up and running.  I have been checking out jobs at the nearby universities but nothing has caught my eye.

I enjoyed working with a new student.  She is in 6th grade and was having some troubles with percentages and fractions and decimals.  I only had two sessions before she took her test,  The results were not good.  I think she may have some test anxiety as well.  I would love to work with her over the summer to see if I could prepare her for 7th grade math.

I have another student to prep for 8th grade math.  It might make sense to run some math clinics over certain weeks in the summer and have three to four students come at a time.  I feel students learn much better with others around.

So I hope in May to

1. finish my web page
2. find a tax accountant
3. work on the start of a marketing program
4. advertise in local newspapers
5. advertise on craigs list.

Article from Vanderbilt on Autism

Humanoid robot helps train children with autism.

This story explains that children with autism are able to follow the humanoid robot better than a person.  Drs. see this as a start or an additional support for children with autism spectrum disorder.

Today there are more children than ever diagnosed with ASD.  The resources to help them all is limited so this humanoid robot might be a break through to helping more children.

Vanderbilt engineers help design and make this robot.  Children wear a special hat which has sensors to see their head movements in response to commands from the robot.

Children spend more time viewing the robot that looking at a person's face.  So the designers of this robot hope that it can be a tool to speed up the process for ASD children to gain social skills.

Need my Web Page Finished

I have not worked hard on finding clients because my web page is still not complete.  I need to coordinate with Irene on a time that works for both of us to complete this web site.

Irene now has a full time job.  I have been doing a lot of traveling and having company.  But now is the time to complete this project.

I think emailing back and forth is hard.  Sometime what you say in an email is not how the other reads it or understands it.

I had the opportunity to have Stephanie Bettman and Luke Halpin stay for two nights. I love their music.

My daughter and family came out for eight days.  Both she and her husband were sick so I had fun with my grandson Connor. I also had fun holding Sebastian.  Andrew came down from San Fransico for Easter and we had a good time.  He had to sleep on the couch.  I was out of beds.  Sebastian had the library for his room.

The day Becca and Ben left, my friend Debbie Baker came with her boyfriend.  They were here to dance but we had great times together.

Dyslexia Workarounds

Yesterday there was  a great article written by Melinda Beck, "Dyslexia Workarounds: Creativity Without a Lot of Reading".  (April 2, New York Times.) Many people have dyslexia up to one in five.  Of course there are various degrees of dyslexia.  It seems the people with higher mental capacity have the option of working around this disability.  Dyslexia just means the person has trouble with reading.  It really has nothing to do with intelligence.  Some people listen to their books on audio.  Some students memorize everything.

Dyslexia runs in families.  My husband has it as well as my oldest son.  My son never understood phonics.  For a few grades he did quite well in spelling.  He just remembered the order of letters his teacher felt were important.  He did not understand the sound letters make or how the blends work.  He finally read in fourth grade.  His fifth grade teacher said his writing was not very good.  When I explained he learned to read last year, the teacher was shocked.  While in college, he never missed a class, attended every study session, and read as little as possible.  He became a very good writer but still would rather watch a show than read a book.

As Melinda states in her article, Dyslexia can't be cured, but programs that help children learn sequential sound-letter relationships can help.  I have a special program to help dyslexic students to read and would love to help students over the summer.  In fact Henry Winkler, the guy who played Fonzie on "Happy Days" has written a book about a fourth grader who has dyslexia.

Remember as an adult, there are no more timed reading tests.

Too Busy?

I have a student to tutor but  keep going out of town.  This time we left for Denver.  Here we helped clean Marion and Dave's apartment.  Marion is recovering from a broken pelvis.  She spent one month in rehap center.  She is doing well but uses a walker for additional support.  We cleaned their carpets, found there were leaks in the apt. so we hired a plumber and left for skiing. 

We spent Friday - Monday skiing at Beaver Creek.  There was fresh snow every day.  Sunday was a bit like a white out but I skied anyway.  Monday was the best and more families were out on the sloops.  We left early around 2 pm to head back to Denver.  We had pizza with the entire Smith clan.  Bill and Rebecca's family keep Kosher so they ordered a specialty pizza without the bacon.  Their daughter is engaged.  Her finance is going to basic training next month.  They hope to marry when he finishes then go to his first assignment together.  She is 17. but will turn 18 in a few months.   She has no plans to go to college.  She was home-schooled all her life.  It will be interesting to see if she never pursues higher education.

I met with the principal of Cabrillo Elementary School.  I was shown four projects the Day of Service might complete for him.  He would like us to deep clean 5 classrooms, clean the carpet in the auditorium, clean up two garden areas, and remove staples left up on the wall, (floor to ceiling). We are hoping to have sign ups from the community after Easter.

I picked up my daughter and her family in the afternoon.  I have been playing with Connor who is almost four.  I love holding the baby who is four months old.  He cries.  So far Connors, favorite toy is the pirate boat by Playmobile.  He also likes the Fisher Price house.  These are all toys I saved from my children.  We are down in the grandma room.  Josie has decided she does not like the airplane.  (also by Fisher Price)  I knew there was a reason I kept some of my children's toys.

Web Site questions

So why am I having trouble finding clients?  I need to get my cards out in the community.  I need to finish my web site.

Here is my old one: https://sites.google.com/site/pointlomatutor/

Below is the design for my new site.  I realize I need a much better picture for the home page.  Please offer advice!!  It should be on the site Pointlomatutor.com  soon. :)