Books are Priceless and the price will continue to go UP

Went to an auction and there were boxes of old books.  Well the price ended up being $5 a box of books.  Really?! They were old books, some smelled old, some were abused and well read, and one was a bible.  I could not say no.  Bought the books and took them home and put them in my garage.  My eleven year old son came in with a few of the books and put them on the end table and told me that one was from 1879 and that we should read it.  I started yesterday and I am almost done. It is Kavanaugh by Longfellow.  Worth reading but not an easy read.
So is this a recommendation for a book?  NO!  I have aghast at the idea that books are worthless and people can't even give them away.  Was it so long ago that only the rich could have books, then libraries made it possible for all to have books, now no one wants them.  I think  and have heard that other countries do not take books for granted but with technology maybe paperless is what everyone wants.  I don't, I loved opening that old book and smelling the age, feeling the paper, enjoyed holding it in my hands, really enjoyed the handwritten message inside.  I foresee a future when books will slowly become so rare that  only the rich will be able to own them.  They will be on "Road Show Antiques" and discussed as being a rare find.  Until then I will continue to buy books , just need a library to store them.

Administrative Focus or lack of...

I really try to focus, work on a task or problem, give it my all, and then feel a huge amount of accomplishment.
I find it next to impossible as an assistant principal/curriculum director/teacher/family person/individual.
Just to illustrate the above this is a list of what I have worked on this weekend....
Two 5th grade basket ball games
Babysitting twins
Shopping for groceries
Menards for house repair supplies
Making dinner
Cleaning the house
Repair an Anderson Window that was broken and rehang
Caulk the front door and window
Replace siding that was rotten, repaint, and caulk
Laundry
Church and Sunday School/Christmas Program Practice
Watch a DVD with my family
More house cleaning
Read the paper
Read two chapters in my new book ('One Thousand White Women' really good!!!)
Work on Site Visit Documents
Update my calendar and respond to emails
Favorite 'Smarter Balance' test site and read more about the entire testing system
Update my blog, oh yeah this one and the PVELART site that I just started
Review Iowa Assessment information and updates
Help my son with homework
Clean up after the dogs
OKAY STOP!!!!
How is it possible to do all that in two days and stay focused???????
Well my answer at this point is stay up late.  I also am going to hire a personal assistant that will work for free and be rewarded with the joy of just being around me.
SO HOW DO YOU FOCUS?  ANY GREAT TIPS WOULD BE APPRECIATED JUST COMMENT AND I WILL READ IT AROUND 11:30PM OR LATER.

Elementary Students Elect the Next President of the United States of America!

What a great day of learning.  The 5th grade staff completed a unit about elections with a school wide election on the same day as the national elections for president.  Now I know that this has been done before,  but I will say the Prairie Valley Elementary 5th grade staff and students did it WELL!  After the background work in the classroom; investigating elections, past elections, student prior knowledge, and introducing new concepts , students created election posters (applicable to the Preschool- 6th grade students and staff), registered all voters, set up precincts, voting booths, public announcements, trained poll workers, and set up schedules for voting.  It went very well and the school was updated on results throughout the day precinct by precinct.  One of the requirements for registering to vote was that the student or staff donate a non-perishable food item.  If the students forgot to bring one extras were brought in by all. 
I got to assist with some of the younger student precincts and helped read the names under the candidate pictures.  It was a joy to see how many five and six year old students knew the names, identified the faces, and were anxious to vote. 
A five year old student that I assisted tried to come back to the voting booth. I told her the rule was that it was a private voting booth and she had already voted.  She then declared that she wanted her can back so she could vote for the other guy since that would only be fair. 
At the end of the day I reminded the students as they went to the bus to watch the election results to see who the nation picked for president. One student said, "We have voted and it would be nice if the nation would let us elect the president like we did today, just the kids in this school, or just the kids all over."
What an IDEA and after the day I experienced;caring, patience, excitement, interest, and fairness, I would trust the kids to elect the next president, and it would make sense. 
Someday they will....

Quit spitting on me!

I was out at recess duty today,(yes I am assistant principal at an elementary) and a student raised his hand and told me the boy behind him in line was spitting on him.  I watched for a second and did not see the boy spit but the other student yelled, "He did it again, make him stop". Okay I admit the boy standing behind was a spitter, spit on others before, probably wanted to spit, BUT I WATCHED AND HE DID NOT SPIT!  I noted that it felt like I was being spit on and of course, it was almost raining.  I told the student and all was good.  So what is this blog all about?
Well sometimes you get spit on so often by the same source you can't see that the spitting is coming from somewhere else.  It is difficult to look around and notice where else a negative situation might be coming from when it always has come from the same source.  It pays to look around once in awhile and get another point of view. 
Kids lead my thoughts to analogies and revelations. 
Enjoy (blog pack of one always does)

Uncreative students...what's up with that?

Okay was sent this article because I am an art teacher/administrator.  Found aspects of it very interesting.  I don't agree with a lot of it.  The Freedom aspect is a little out there for me.  I also don't  agree with the reason the creativity has dropped since the 90's.  I would say it is more about what toys children have that make them not need to push the creativity button.  Part of the article talking about boredom plays a role in creativity in children I do agree with.  I also believe that system wide testing does not test for creativity and should.
Another thought what part of the 'Iowa Core' works with creativity?  How is creativity taught in the classroom (Art and Music are not the only places it should be taught and have a standard or benchmark for creativity).
Read the article and comment.

As Children’s Freedom Has Declined, So Has Their Creativity

New research suggests that American schoolchildren are becoming less creative.

Published on September 17, 2012 by Peter Gray in Freedom to Learn

 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/em/106391        

Curriculum and Assessment What?

Well thought last year was busier than the year before.

Well thought this year would be interesting and less stressed.

Well seriously what was I thinking!

I am now the new district Assessment Coordinator ....

and wait for it....

Curriculum Director.

So what did I give up.... nothing. 

Still teaching Art, Math Support, and Assistant Principal.

Sounds like I am bragging ... if you think so go with that....

Instead I would like to know what other

Assessment Coordinators and Curriculum Directors do

and if the same people have other job titles and or teach. 

 I need some guidance in time management. 

So Someone give me their wonderful guidance...I will be happy to reciprocate when I can.

Assistant Principal/Teacher

Assistant Principal/ Teacher...of course all administrators are teachers...not always so and the degree is so much different.  Due to a change of contract (less administrator more teaching) I am teaching Art in an elementary setting and filling out my contract with administrative duties.  Not what I thought I would be doing, not what I planned on doing, but hey everyone is adapting to the the rural decline of educational budgets.  So happy to have a job and still have some administrative duties.  So what is the blog about? 
I am being convinced that teaching an actual class is very beneficial to the principal job.  Why?  Well the last couple of years when working with students I usually knew the few that were in the office all the time, tried to know the others, but with the amount of students many were nameless smiling faces. This year I will know each and every one.  They are all in my classroom at least one out of six days.  Why is this beneficial?  I have one to one conversations with them.  Each student seems very aware of who I am and how much I enjoy teaching.  They also are fine with my other role as assistant principal and all that comes with it.  I also have first hand experiences to relate if or when I need to communicate with parents, staff, or administration (other than myself).  When a teacher indicates there is a problem with a students learning or behavior, they know that I also have first hand knowledge. As an administrator I am able to recommend behaviors that work for me or help develop a plan that I can assist with in the classroom.  I also get to work with the grading procedures , see how the schedules are working, and discover the joy of recess (not on demand or last minute fill in) every day. 
Now what is the flip side?  It is very difficult running and managing a schedule that puts me in a classroom at least two to three times a day, recess duty,and then working in my office on bus discipline, testing, and administrative duties.  Staff are often unsure of what my role details when visiting their classrooms. (is she wanting my students to bring glue to art or is she doing a drop by evaluation).  Parents are not sure of my role so I assume the community is not sure exactly what I am doing.  (Just had a student who said her dad wanted to know what my job was. She told him I do everything. )
So to conclude I think the positive outweighs the flip side.  I hope to always have a classroom with students in every role I have as an administrator.  Still have not figured out the meeting and schedule problem but with skype and technology I know it is possible.  I will always remember that I am a teacher first and I went into administration because I love to teach.
So it there anyone else who can share the experience I am involved in this year. 
(Thought this was going to be a year of making lemonade out of lemons and finding out with a little lemon juice you can make an incredible educational punch! )