Education Uncensored

You all know my desire to help teachers anywhere and every where I can. I deal them enough misery so I might as well help when I can.

As the child of a teacher and a former teacher myself, I have numerous memories of back to school. One that I talk about more is how certain smells remind me of back to school. Like crayons and glue. And, my family still functions on a school calendar, we get new shoes and underwear and socks in August when school start just as a fresh way to start the school year.  Tell me about your memories!

Now, I need you to help me too. You can help me spread the word and here’s how.

Dayspring has partnered with Adopt-A-Classroom to bring needed school supplies to children and classrooms that couldn’t otherwise afford it. Adopt-A-Classroom increases opportunity for student success by empowering teachers with community partners and funds to purchase resources for the classroom.

This Back to School season, DaySpring is celebrating its’ new Back to School products sold at Walmart and their legacy of bringing hope and encouragement every day, everywhere. DaySpring will donate $5,000 to the Adopt-A-Classroom campaign with your help.

 

How can you join? It’s simple:

• Participate in the DaySpring Back to School WithPurpose campaign by creating a blog post about what it means to go Back to School With Purpose with specific rules described here.
• Dayspring will donate up to $5,000 to Adopt-A-Classroom
• You can tag as many people as you wish whom you feel live with purpose.
• The DaySpring Back to School With Purpose campaign will officially begin at 12 AM EST on August 12 and end at 11:59 PM EST on August 21, 2010. Blog posts submitted to us before or after that time period will not be counted for.
• The blog post link has to be submitted to us here for your participation to be counted.
• In addition copy and paste the following text in your blog post:

DAYSPRING’S BACK TO SCHOOL WITH PURPOSE BLOG CAMPAIGN RULES:

• Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.
• Create a blog post about what it means to you to go Back to School WithPurpose and identify others who you feel are Living With Purpose in their lives – you can recognize as many individuals as you want.
• Link back to person who gave you a DaySpring Award
• Let each person you are recognizing know you have recognized them.
• Leave your link at btswithpurpose comment section. You can also find the official rules of this #WithPurpose blog campaign, and more information about Back to School with Purpose with DaySpring there.
• DaySpring is donating $10 for each blog participating in the Virtual Bag It Forward Donation to Adopt-A-Classroom (up to total of $5,000 for blog posts written by August 21, 2010).
• Please note that only one blog post per blog url will count towards the donation

Beth, this one is for you sweetness!  And, one for Nino too!

I a not psychotic but I am excited that school has started. We function better in routine mode or in all out free-for-all mode. We have a hard time with some days we do things one way and other days we do it another. So, school starting back adds to the headache a little at first but then, once everyone is in a groove, it’s all good.

My second grader has homework now and I’m lucky that I can still help him. No, I’m not crazy, I can do math over second grade but you know, some of the things these kids have to do are amazing. If you need help for your kiddos, you can get Math help, Math problems, 3. Homework help and more by using the great resources at Tutornext. 

Once the kids get older and problems start to pop up that are over my head, not that I’m dumb or anything, (haha), but  when he needs Algebra help, I will be handing that one off to someone who can better explain the process than I can. The same goes for Calculus help and really, I made good grades in school but everyone runs into problems every now and again.  You can check the site out and even find Physics help if you need it.

I know that many schools haven’t even started yet. However, our little cherubs went back last week. I had grand plans for those days. Work, sleep, work, sleep, sleep some more, work…

As usual, that’s not how it all panned out. Instead, I got a nasty sinus infection and it has me beat to a pulp.  But I digress…obviously.

As many of you know, I’ve spoken out quite often about my dislike for homework. I am not however crazy, as some folks appear to think I am. I haven’t crossed the prospect of homework off the list of items that I want to wipe out completely, I simply ask for moderation mostly.

My overall goal is the responsibility of the involved players (the student, the teacher, the parent) is met without anyone being too dependent on the other. Did that make any sense at all?

But today, today I have an example of the kind of homework that I don’t mind watching my child do and should be used as an example of using homework for re-enforcement not teaching.  Now, I’ve been lucky for the most part and I know that. Walker catches on easily and I’m certain that makes it less painful for all of us.

But I digress…back to my point….

While I still do not plan to babysit my children while they do homework (and I honestly don’t think the teachers expect parents to), I have for you, the perfect example (or two, oops) of when, what and how the whole purpose of homework can be beneficial.

We (that’s my and Ditto Boy and well, Boy Genius too part of the time) are in second grade. We (that’s me and Boy Genius) were and still are a bit nervous about how the whole year will progress but what an awesome start we’ve had!!!!!!!!!

I could ramble on forever but here are a few facts..I call them facts because I believe them to be true, thus they are indeed facts…

• Homework has it’s place in a child’s life.
• Teachers should (and most do) teach during the day thus busy work is not needed.
• More than 10 minutes of homework per grade level is logical.

With that, I’m getting to my examples:

Example 1:

The homework for last night involved 15 spelling words. Fifteen words that he was familiar with when he arrived home. He couldn’t spell everyone of them, but it was more than obvious that he had heard the words numerous times through-out the day.

Thus, someone (his teacher I’m going to assume) did her job, she introduced my son to the words and obviously they had some discussion about how to spell them. I can’t be for sure, but I do know that my son did not come home blindly with a list of spelling words that he was clueless about.

Example two:

My second grader also came home with a list of vocabulary words. As soon as the words were mentioned, he spouted off definition. We went through them once, reinforced what he already knew and went on our merry way.

We moved on to Social Studies words and definitions which rendered the same ending. We had to help a bit with this one a little more but the words were

calendars, route, neighborhood, neighbors, community, city, suburb, town, transportation

and obviously some of them build on one another and can be confusing.

Nine words, that’s it. Yes, I know, it’s just week 2 but that is not my point here. My point here is this, I have offended many teachers in my time over my disregard for homework. However, as I’ve tried to explain time and time again, it isn’t homework I am opposed to my child doing, I just expect that he has been taught the information at school and homework is merely a method of reinforcement. Homework is for him to do, not me. I am not here to babysit him and over look his every move. It’s his homework and as long as it is reasonable, I have no intention of considering this “our homework” as I hear so many parents do.

In my sweet humble little opinion, how could you ask for more?  Teacher teaches, child learns, child uses a few minutes to reinforce what was learned, child plays, eats dinner, baths, goes to bed and the learning process kick starts one more time.

P.S. It is Day 2 here and as we talk about the social study words and vocabulary words, it is obvious these are well discussed during the day as Walker gives me examples that I know he would not otherwise even know about.

PSS He didn’t misspell any of his spelling words nor did he miss the definition of any of his social study or vocabulary words.

Teacher taught, kid learned, parent reinforced and we have the rest of the day to just chill and be kids…all of us, ha!

I didn’t even mention the math, so simple, no need for me to oversee it, just reminded him of the directions and the kid was on his way.  Awesome stuff wouldn’t you say?

Elmer’s will donate up to $10,000 to Adopt-A-Classroom with your participation. Join now!

The Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward is charity blog meme, bloggers are able to raise $10 per blog post for Adopt-A-Classroom by writing a blog post or Facebook note and donating a virtual bag of school supplies . Elmer’s will donate $10 per each post written for Adopt-A-Classroom, up to $10,000.

HOW CAN YOU JOIN? It’s easy.

• Participate in the Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward by giving away a virtual bag of school supplies and creating a blog post or Facebook note with specific rules described below.
• Elmer’s will donate up to $10,000 to Adopt-A-Classroom.
• You can give as many virtual bags as you want.
• The Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward will officially begin at 12 AM EST on July 22, 2010 and end at 12 PM EST on August 12, 2010. Blog posts submitted to us before or after that time period will not be counted.
• The blog post link has to be submitted in the comment section below for your participation to be counted.
• In addition copy and paste the following text into your blog post:

ELMER’S VIRTUAL BAG IT FORWARD RULES

• Copy and paste these rules into your blog post or Facebook note.
• Create a post giving a “virtual bag of school supplies” to other bloggers or write about your Back to School shopping trip at Walmart.
• Link back to the person who gave you a bag of school supplies.
• Let each person you are giving a virtual bag of school supplies know you have given them a bag.
• Leave your link in the Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward comment section. You can also find the official rules of this virtual #bagitforward program there.
• Elmer’s is donating $10 for each blog participating in the Virtual Bag It Forward Donation to Adopt-A-Classroom (up to total of $10,000 for blog posts written by August 12, 2010).
• Please note that only one blog post per blog url will count towards the donation.

Here is the photo you can use for your virtual bag or create your own!

Read more about Adopt-A-Classroom

This bag is for you Wayne

I wrote an article this morning regarding CNN’s coverage of the Craig’s List issue regarding pimping young girls. Quickly, I just want to say, it isn’t Craig’s place necessarily to do this, it is the responsibility of the people raising the people who turn to this type of behavior.

That leads me to what I want to discuss here. I’ll try to be brief but please understand how utterly disgusting this entire subject is to me. If I get out of hand, I’ll reign myself in and continue on another post. So, let’s get started.

I do want to also preface this story with the fact that I have a college degree. For that matter, I have a few college degrees including a graduate degree. And where does that leave me?  Well, I can guarantee you that neither of those pieces of paper have ever allowed me to make the kind of money these young girls on CNN are making by serving as call girls, prostitutes or whatever you want to call them.

Look at it this way, do you know what Pamela Anderson’s* claim to fame was?  If you don’t, I’ll let you Google it and find out. Do you know what Paris Hilton*, Nicole Ritchie* and Lindsey Lohan* did to become famous? Again, you can find that for yourself. What about Kim Kardashian*? See, I’m sure you know how at least one of those folks came to belong in the ranks of super-star celebrity status.

If not, check it out and come back.

As I had a conversation with someone on Monday who just happens to be a man but is equally disgusted by the whole issue as I am. The discussion started when I read about someone that I know who didn’t finish high school, got pregnant at 15, married and is now seen as a huge icon online. She is being pursued by various networks for promotion of their products. Another person with a bit of a different background, yet folks all over her for some reason or another that I have yet to understand.

With that, what I have to say is this, all of those people, the call girl, the prostitute, the two TV network ladies, all those celebrities, they make more money in one year that I’ve made in my lifetime. This is not one of those whiney why me post either.

This is point blank some truth here.

Later the conversation with my friend went like this…

me: oh yea, screw some piece of paper that says I am educated, heck, get another one that says I"m over-educated, geeez why bother

him: a college educated redneck I see?  well don’t forget, this is the age where Kim Kardashian gets paid $10,000 a tweet because she released a sex tape

me: stupid me, not filming any of that wild stuff, geez

him: LOL, ya could have been rich! tsk tsk tsk

me: crap no, I had my head in a book not a.. never mind

That’s how the conversation went and you know what is so sad about it, I bet that conversation is being had by hundreds of folks all over the place right now. A college education in 2010 is worthless. A piece of paper that says I studied for 4, 6, 8 or 12 years and I busted my butt to get this crappy piece of paper and now I’m $500,000 in debt means nothing.

What makes it even worse is this, if me, that person with 3 degrees and an astronomical amount of debt wanted to get rid of the debt quickly, I could have chosen two routes,

1.  I could have skipped the borrowing of money in student loans and moonlighted as a prostitute, call girl or put out some sex tapes of my self and paid my way through college without a hitch.

2.  I could say, forget about the paper, I have to get out of debt, so I’m going to go pimp, prostitute, make sex tapes, whatever I gotta do to get out of debt, then I’ll use my education.

Sadly, by the time I paid that debt off, my papers wouldn’t be worth anything.  Nothing! Even though the opportunity to make way more money by prostituting or making sex tapes would bring more money, those degrees don’t stay valid if you don’t use them.

You know, that brings me to this, just exactly which paper is more important right now, one that says, “I am a college graduate and I’m educated and I am willing to work because I had to work to get this degree in the first place” or a piece of paper that says, “I’m in the country legally but since I’m uneducated, the only way I have for earning money is to work for a pimp and prostitute myself out.”

I am so sorry if I offended you. But, as I warned you, this is not one of my favorite topics and I avoid it often. And, I may revisit it soon. But for now, I’m going to go take a nap because I’m completely hacked off.

* Look I made it easy to see what these folks did to make into the realm of  the celebrity life.

What happened to this guy?

Is this not the most awesome day ever!

If you haven’t completed your back to school shopping, let me make a few recommendations. I know you are dying to know my opinion anyway.

First of all, if you live in Alabama (like me), Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee or Virginia…you need to go shop on this Tax Free Weekend.

This tax free shopping started this morning and goes through Sunday night at 11:59 PM.  Here are a few of the guidelines…

in North Carolina:

• clothing, footwear and school supplies under $100
• sports and recreation equipment under $50
• computers under $3,500
• computer equipment under $250

Other states have different guidelines along with other states having tax free sales at other times of the year, this is definitely one way to rack up some savings. For instance, in North Carolina, if you buy a new laptop computer for $1,000, you will save $75 this weekend that you would otherwise have paid in sales tax.

That’s $75 you can spend on anything else.  As for other states, their dates and guidelines, here’s a bit more

Alabama’s Tax Free Weekend: Aug. 6-8, 2010
Applies to:

* Clothing under $100
* School supplies under $50
* Books under $30
* Computers/computer equipment under $750

Connecticut’s Tax Free Week: Aug. 15-21, 2010
Applies to:

* Clothing under $300
* Shoes under $300

Florida’s Tax Free Weekend: August 13-15, 2010
Applies to:

* Books, clothing, and footwear ($50 or less)
* School supplies ($10 or less)

Iowa’s Tax Free Weekend: Aug. 6-7, 2010
Applies to:

* Clothing under $100
* Shoes under $100

Louisiana’s Sales Tax Holiday: August 6-7, 2010
Applies to:

* Purchases under $2,500
* Excludes the purchase of taxable services, automobiles, and meals

Maryland’s Tax Free Week 2010:
The State of Maryland has a whole tax free shopping week in 2010, beginning on Aug. 8, 2010, and ending on Aug. 14, 2010.

Mississippi’s Tax Free Weekend: Jul 30-31, 2010
Applies to:

* Clothing under $100
* Shoes under $100

Missouri’s Tax Free Weekend: Aug. 6-8, 2010 (not all cities)
Applies to:

* Clothing under $100
* School supplies under $50
* Computer software under $350
* Computers/computer equipment under $3,500

New Mexico’s Tax Free Weekend: Aug. 6-8, 2010
Applies to:

* All clothing and shoes under $100
* School supplies under $15
* Computers under $1,000
* Computer equipment under $500

New York Tax Free
Applies to:

* 365 day tax exemption on clothing and footwear under $110

Oklahoma’s Tax Free Weekend: August 6-8, 2010
Applies to:

* Clothing and shoes
* Priced under $100

South Carolina’s Tax Free Weekend: Aug. 6-8, 2010
Applies to:

* Clothing
* Accessories
* Footwear
* School supplies
* Computers
* Computer equipment

Tennessee’s Tax Free Weekend: Aug. 6-8, 2010
Applies to:

* Clothing under $100
* School supplies under $100
* Computers under $1500

Texas’ Tax Free Weekend: Aug. 20-22, 2010
Applies to:

* Clothing and footwear under $100
* Includes backpacks under $100 for elementary and secondary students
* Includes layaway items

Vermont’s Tax-Free Shopping Day: March 6, 2010
Applies to:

* The sale of personal property items costing less than $2,000
* Does not apply to food, beverages, or hotel rooms

Virginia’s Tax-Free Shopping Weekend: Aug. 6-8, 2010
Applies to:

* Clothing and footwear under $100
* School supplies under $20

West Virginia’s 2010 Energy Star Sales Tax Holiday: September 1-November 30, 2010
Apples to:

* Energy Star products
* Limited to items that cost $5,000 or less
* Must be purchased for noncommercial, home use only

Now, while you are out there, remember that Elmer’s Glue has a great project #bagitforward going if you want to take part in that as well.  Here is the virtual Bag it Forward bag and site where you can get the information you need.  I was able to buy supplies for a child at a school nearby and it felt really good.  Join in and don’t miss out on the tax free sales.

Here’s a photo of Jace and his bag along with the bag we donated…

Here’s what was inside his bags….

This is the crate of supplies we sent to the teachers as well…..

Yes, I was compensated for this particular shopping trip but true to form, when I get involved in educational projects, I end up spending all the funds on the giveaway. For this one, I used the money from Elmer’s Glue to purchase the items for the child and the supplies in the crate above for the teachers. I then bought both of my kids their supplies just as I normally would.  Obviously that’s not exactly how the program is designed to work but it sure makes us feel good.

Robin is putting together another one of her big Virtual Blog Hop bashes…..you don’t wanna miss out….just keep your eyes wide open, no party is complete without a good party!

I had no clue that Morton Salt made all kinds of other salt products.

And, if you check the widget out right here or in my sidebar, you can get yourself a handy little coupon for various Morton products.

Season-All is one of many products you can find at Morton and you can order online! Woohooo

Get yourself a coupon too, don’t forget!