Scanners

Some people don’t realize what all is involved in being a teacher. It certainly has changed since I first started teaching school. My college roommate, who is a second grade teacher, said that teaching is a lot harder than it used to be.  I totally agree!
Some teachers have a lot of papers to grade every night, and they might wish they had something like POSGuys, only one designed for teachers, so that they could just scan over the papers quickly to grade them. That would be a teacher’s dream!

This Next Week

I have so much to do this next week. I’m glad I don’t have business to take care of like going to the bank or looking for car title loans pittsburgh.  Focusing on work is one of the things at the top of my list.  Actually, it will be at the top of my list  for the next two and a half weeks.  So it’s good that I don’t have any business to take care of or any extra things on my to-do list.

Menu Plan Monday 10-10-11

The weekend went by so fast!  The best thing about this weekend was all the rain we received in this drought stricken area.  What an answer to many prayers!  It was such a blessing to hear the thunder and the falling rain and to smell the freshness of the air.  And it was so cool today that it reminded me of being in Colorado (if I shut my eyes and imagined the mountains).

What sounds good to eat this week?  Here’s what we have in mind:
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Monday:  Salmon Patties, corn, salad

Tuesday:  Rotisserie Chicken, broccoli, carrots

Wednesday: Homemade chicken vegetable soup using Rotisserie Chicken

Thursday:  Chicken Tacos, black beans, avocado slices

Friday: Pizza, salad

Song Share: Strong Tower

There are so many people hurting emotionally and/or physically right now. So many lost homes and everything in the Texas fires. Hundreds have lost everything in all of the devastating tornadoes plus the hurricanes. There is nothing that we can count on to last in this world…and that’s when we hold on to our faith in God.  He’s our strong tower, our refuge, our Abba (Abba is a term of endearment) Father who loves us!

The band Kutless has a song that means a lot to me.  It’s called Strong Tower.  We all need a place where we can feel safe.  For me, keeping my eyes on God is that safe place, especially when I’m having a hard time.  Please pray for all the many people who are hurting!

Teaching Children With Learning Disabilities: Free Dyslexia & Dyscalculia Tests

As a Special Education teacher starting out teaching in the late seventies, our Resource Room focused on auditory and visual problems that interfered with children’s learning.  These were some of the skills we focused on in our Resource Room:

  • Auditory Memory
  • Auditory Sequencing
  • Visual Memory
  • Visual Sequencing

But after two or three years, there was an emphasis placed on teaching the core subjects of reading, math, writing, and English.   The auditory and visual skills were a small part of those objectives, but not to the extent they once were.

Teachers and parents have utilized activities involving these skills such as listening to a story which requires auditory sequencing (“Brown Bear, Brown Bear”).  And there are memory match-up games (Concentration style) that require visual memory.  But for the child who is deficit in any of the above areas, that may not be enough.  Regular classroom teachers do not have the time to address these deficits in detail, and many home-schooling parents don’t know exactly what to do or what works best.

After teaching in the Resource Room for six years, I became a stay-at-home mom with our first baby, Christi.  I went back to teaching school when she was nearly four, but this time in a first grade classroom.  Through the years, I had children with learning disabilities and wished I had the time to work with them like I did in the Resource Room.  But I didn’t, and so I had to do the best I could.  It takes time and concentrated effect to work on auditory and visual skills.

Talking about auditory and visual skills, I have been given the opportunity to review the online Learning Link Educational Therapy Product which deals with brain retraining, and I am excited to be able to do this.  They deal with the auditory and visual skills that are so often passed over quickly. I have been so overwhelmed with all the work at school, though, that I have not had the time to review their product extensively, but over time I hope to get back to you with more information.  For now, I’ll say that I’m impressed with what I’ve seen so far.

Learning Link Technologies offers a free Dyslexia Test and also free Dyscalculia Testing.  You can print these tests and give them to your child if you have concerns about these areas. These tests are absolutely free, there is no commitment, and they can give you insight into your child’s needs. I think that’s too good an offer to pass up!

 

Friendly Friday 10/7/11

Welcome to Friendly Friday!

Please note – we’ve started having Friendly Friday begin at 8pm Central Thursday nights. This will give you early-to-bed people time to enter too!

Remember, YOU can host the link list on your blog, too! Just get the InLinkz code and copy it directly into your post. The code is different every week, so be sure to get the new code when hosting Friendly Friday on your blog. Hosting the list is a great way to get even more traffic to your blog and make Friendly Friday more beneficial for everyone.

Thanks for joining the Friendly Friday celebration hosted by Christi at Frugal Novice, Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier and Charla at Healthy Home Blog! We invite you to join us every Friday to make more friends in blogville, get more blog followers and follow other great blogs out there.

To join in the Friendly Friday celebration, include your family-friendly link in our list, follow the hostesses in the first 3 spots and then start blog hopping! Visit other blogs on the list and comment to give them some blog love. Then take a minute to follow them through Google Friend Connect – this is a good way to keep up with other blogs, but also lets us show support to each other! Please DO NOT list your giveaways here, links must be to either your homepage or your Friday posting with your blog title. All others will be deleted.

When people comment on your blog and let you know they’re a part of Friendly Friday, return the favor and follow them back. This way everyone gets traffic and followers out of participating, and it’s a win-win situation. We would love for you to also grab our Friendly Friday button and post it on your blog and/or in a post – the more bloggers that find out about Friendly Friday and participate, the better!

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Spotlight on Friendly Friday Followers! We love your participation and want to show it! In addition to gaining followers, each week we’ll select a blog at random and will feature a link and a write-up for that blog in the content of next week’s Friendly Friday post. There are so many seriously wonderful blogs out there, and this will be a great way to highlight one of those each week. Say hello to the lucky one for this week (and feel free to stop by and give them a little extra love):
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Taryn @ It’s the Thought that Counts is a creative, artsy stay-at-home mom of four kids which includes twins. She left her accounting job when they had their first baby which left her free to develop her creativity through PictureIt Creations and selling her handmade items on Etsy.  Taryn started blogging to promote her business and others in the handmade community, and she shares about other artists she has discovered.  On top of being a mom, wife, business owner and homemaker, she also attends school at New York Institute of Photography.

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Now that you know about this wonderful blog, it’s time for you to join in! Add your family-friendly link below and we’ll see you back here every Friday! And don’t forget, you can get the InLinkz code to share Friendly Friday on your blog!
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All three hostesses appreciate followers through GFC and Twitter, and we’ll follow you back – be sure to leave a comment with your URL and/or Twitter username. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Don’t forget – Friendly Friday now begins at 8pm Central on Thursday nights!
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Foam Mattresses

I came home from work yesterday not feeling so well. I took my temperature and found that it was over 100 degrees. Chills soon set in so I headed to our comfy bed with a foam mattress plus a memory foam topper to make it extra soft.  I was so thankful to have a soft, comfortable bed to sleep in when I felt bad.

Some people might like foambymail latex mattresses which provide support and pressure relief.  Many people find the foam mattresses to be superior to the regular mattresses they have slept on before.  I definitely do!

Menu Plan Monday 10-3-11

We went out of town and had a wonderful time with our kids and grandkids this past weekend celebrating our daughter’s 30th birthay.  Now, it’s time to think about the work week and it’s time to think about food. Here’s our simple menu for this week:
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Monday: Rotisserie Chicken, corn, salad

Tuesday: Chef Salad with fresh veggies and leftover Rotisserie Chicken

Wednesday: Homemade chicken vegetable soup

Thursday: Italian Chicken Pasta (Barilla Plus Pasta) and salad

Friday: Pizza, salad

Friendly Friday 9/30/11

Welcome to Friendly Friday!

Please note – we’ve started having Friendly Friday begin at 8pm Central Thursday nights. This will give you early-to-bed people time to enter too!

Remember, YOU can host the link list on your blog, too! Just get the InLinkz code and copy it directly into your post. The code is different every week, so be sure to get the new code when hosting Friendly Friday on your blog. Hosting the list is a great way to get even more traffic to your blog and make Friendly Friday more beneficial for everyone.

Thanks for joining the Friendly Friday celebration hosted by Christi at Frugal Novice, Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier and Charla at Healthy Home Blog! We invite you to join us every Friday to make more friends in blogville, get more blog followers and follow other great blogs out there.

To join in the Friendly Friday celebration, include your family-friendly link in our list, follow the hostesses in the first 3 spots and then start blog hopping! Visit other blogs on the list and comment to give them some blog love. Then take a minute to follow them through Google Friend Connect – this is a good way to keep up with other blogs, but also lets us show support to each other! Please DO NOT list your giveaways here, links must be to either your homepage or your Friday posting with your blog title. All others will be deleted.

When people comment on your blog and let you know they’re a part of Friendly Friday, return the favor and follow them back. This way everyone gets traffic and followers out of participating, and it’s a win-win situation. We would love for you to also grab our Friendly Friday button and post it on your blog and/or in a post – the more bloggers that find out about Friendly Friday and participate, the better!

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Spotlight on Friendly Friday Followers! We love your participation and want to show it! In addition to gaining followers, each week we’ll select a blog at random and will feature a link and a write-up for that blog in the content of next week’s Friendly Friday post. There are so many seriously wonderful blogs out there, and this will be a great way to highlight one of those each week. Say hello to the lucky one for this week (and feel free to stop by and give them a little extra love):
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.Jade from “Hey, It’s Jade” (wonder where she got her blog name?) is a Stay-At-Home-Mom of two boys. She blogs about her family and uses her blog as a diary that she can look back on. She recently started homeschooling and posts weekly about their lessons and activities. You’ll also find random musings, funny anecdotes, special deals or frugal findings along with product or service reviews, and the occasional giveaway as well. You’ll love reading about her sweet family, and getting ideas for activities to do with your kids whether you homeschool or not!

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Now that you know about this wonderful blog, it’s time for you to join in! Add your family-friendly link below and we’ll see you back here every Friday! And don’t forget, you can get the InLinkz code to share Friendly Friday on your blog!
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All three hostesses appreciate followers through GFC and Twitter, and we’ll follow you back – be sure to leave a comment with your URL and/or Twitter username. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Don’t forget – Friendly Friday now begins at 8pm Central on Thursday nights!
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Menu Plan Monday 9-26-11

It’s Sunday evening again and time to think about this week’s menu.  Seems like I just did last week’s…the week flew by!  This week is going to be super crazy for me!  My husband will be making the salmon patties, and he has gotten quite good at making them since I got this teaching job!
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Here’s our simple menu for this week:
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MondaySalmon Patties (one of our very favorite recipes), corn, green beans

Tuesday:  Leftover Salmon Patties, baby lima beans, tomatoes & carrots

Wednesday: Rotisserie Chicken, leftover baby lima beans, salad

Thursday:  Leftover Rotisserie Chicken, broccoli, corn

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Shopping Season

It’s nearly October! The weeks are flying by! Some people are already getting their Christmas shopping done, buying decorations, and probably even planning meals. Whether they need a doll for their niece or acid cigars online for their uncle, they have it all planned.
I haven’t even thought about Christmas much except for a fleeting thought here and there. School keeps me too busy. But I know that in another month, I really do need to start thinking seriously about it because I don’t like to do last minute shopping.
I’m looking forward to Black Friday shopping with our son. Our daughter got me started shopping on Black Friday, and we had so much fun! It’s kind of like being on a scavenger hunt plus the fun of shopping in the wee hours of the morning while it’s dark and then going to get breakfast. So, check back in another month and Christmas planning will probably have started around here.

Friendly Friday 9/23/11

Welcome to Friendly Friday!

Please note – we’ve started having Friendly Friday begin at 8pm Central Thursday nights. This will give you early-to-bed people time to enter too!

Remember, YOU can host the link list on your blog, too! Just get the InLinkz code and copy it directly into your post. The code is different every week, so be sure to get the new code when hosting Friendly Friday on your blog. Hosting the list is a great way to get even more traffic to your blog and make Friendly Friday more beneficial for everyone.

Thanks for joining the Friendly Friday celebration hosted by Christi at Frugal Novice, Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier and Charla at Healthy Home Blog! We invite you to join us every Friday to make more friends in blogville, get more blog followers and follow other great blogs out there.

To join in the Friendly Friday celebration, include your family-friendly link in our list, follow the hostesses in the first 3 spots and then start blog hopping! Visit other blogs on the list and comment to give them some blog love. Then take a minute to follow them through Google Friend Connect – this is a good way to keep up with other blogs, but also lets us show support to each other! Please DO NOT list your giveaways here, links must be to either your homepage or your Friday posting with your blog title. All others will be deleted.

When people comment on your blog and let you know they’re a part of Friendly Friday, return the favor and follow them back. This way everyone gets traffic and followers out of participating, and it’s a win-win situation. We would love for you to also grab our Friendly Friday button and post it on your blog and/or in a post – the more bloggers that find out about Friendly Friday and participate, the better!

.
Spotlight on Friendly Friday Followers! We love your participation and want to show it! In addition to gaining followers, each week we’ll select a blog at random and will feature a link and a write-up for that blog in the content of next week’s Friendly Friday post. There are so many seriously wonderful blogs out there, and this will be a great way to highlight one of those each week. Say hello to the lucky one for this week (and feel free to stop by and give them a little extra love):
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A mix of Latin and Western influence, Apron Senorita brings together Yoli’s collection of recipes, decor, clothing, pop culture, her Etsy shop, faith and more. Loving her life in texas, this Christian single mother has two wonderful teenage children and is in what she calls “an enchanting love with God.” Sharing her “Apron Senorita” life is about opening her heart in faith and trust and celebrating life and sharing stories about their blessings. Stop by and be ready to be inspired!

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Now that you know about this wonderful blog, it’s time for you to join in! Add your family-friendly link below and we’ll see you back here every Friday! And don’t forget, you can get the InLinkz code to share Friendly Friday on your blog!
.
All three hostesses appreciate followers through GFC and Twitter, and we’ll follow you back – be sure to leave a comment with your URL and/or Twitter username. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Don’t forget – Friendly Friday now begins at 8pm Central on Thursday nights!
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