1. When the children of today grow up, what do you think they'll say about this period in time? What do you most hope they remember?
Ooh this is a hard question.... I think they will remember iPads the most. Who knows how out dated they will be then. I remember when I thought a Commodore 64 was awesome...Ha! I hope they remember what heroes we have in our military who have been fighting as long as some of these children have been alive. It seems they accept it as common place, and that is sad to me. I wonder if other generations ever felt like this?
2. National Teacher's Day is celebrated in the US of A on the first Tuesday in May, this year May 7th...share how a particular teacher positively impacted you.
My favorite teacher was my second grade teacher Ms. Schultz. She was so sweet and fun. I remember writing in her class, "When I grow up I want to be a teacher because I like to grade papers and write on the chalkboard. I want to be just like Mrs. Schultz." Ahh... if my younger self only knew I would no longer have a chalkboard and I really don't enjoy grading papers. Thank you Ms. Schultz for inspiring me to be a teacher : )
3. What's a dish your mama made, that if set in front of you today would whisk you right back to childhood?
Chicken and rice....yummy! It wasn't any kind of secret recipe but goodness it was good. The only place I can get something similar is Cracker Barrel on Saturday nights. Yeah that never happens ; ) We never seem to be traveling by a Cracker Barrel on a Saturday night for their chicken and rice special.
4. Mother May I was a game we played when I was growing up...no pieces, parts, or plugs required. What games from childhood do you remember loving that were also pieces, parts, and plug-free?
"Red Rover, Red Rover send Wendy right over." Why did I like this game which caused kids to clothes line other kids? Who knows but we would play it for hours... ahh the good ol' days.
5. Besides your own mother, tell us about a woman who influenced you as a child?
Easy one....my grandmother. She was carefree, energetic, beautiful and fun. I wish she was still around to share in my life. I miss her every day. She got Alzheimer's in her 60's and died at 72. Much too young.
6. Mamma Mia! What's the best play or musical you've ever seen?
In high school and middle school, I took French. My senior year we look a field trip to see Les Mis. I can still remember my excitement. I loved every minute and still sing "On My Own" at the top of my lungs in my car when it comes up on shuffle on my phone.
As an adult though, when I turned 30, my family sent me on a trip to Europe. My best friend and I went to London first. The first night we were there we decided to go see if we could get theater tickets. We ended up seeing Mamma Mia. So much fun and it was the best way to kick off our trip!
7. What are three smells that make you feel nostalgic?
lavender, Thrasher's french fries, and hot dogs on the grill.
8. Insert your own random thought here.
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week everyone! Every year at this time I like to reflect on my career and see how much I've grown as a teacher. I have been amazed how much teaching has changed since I started. One big part--technology. It makes my job SO much easier in so many ways. There are many days lately though that I wish email didn't exist. Parents can now instantaneously shoot off a nasty email without even a seconds thought. At least in my first few years of teaching, in order to tell me they were upset with something, they had to put pen to paper and send it to school. I wish I could create a pop up window that would appear when a parent goes to hit send on an email telling me how unhappy they are. It would read:
Before you send this email, have you counted to 20 and breathed? Do you realize that the person you are sending this to works very hard every day to make sure your child learns something new, succeeds, cares about others, and loves life? Do you realize this person spends more waking hours in the day with your child then you do in an average week? Do you realize this person buys gifts for your child throughout the year with her own money and loves your child as if he/she was her own family? Do you know that this person knows that your child is your whole world? Do you realize you both are working towards the same goal? Do you know that this person has a family and a husband who love her too and that this job isn't her whole world? Do you realize this person chose this career because she loves children and it makes her smile every day to be part of your child's life? If you realize this and still want to send this email, please make sure it is not past 10:00 pm and that you haven't had a glass of wine. And for goodness sake, please check your grammar and spelling. You don't help your cause when you sound illiterate. You just give us teachers something fun to read and laugh about in the teacher's lounge. Have a great day!
