Just a note that I have finally taken time to explore my blog settings enough to put a bit of each blog post into some of your emails. If you don't want that you will let me know. If you do and you are not getting the emails, please tell me. I can only send emails to 10 people.
I have also given a few of you invitations to become authors of my blog spot. That should make it easier for my family members to blog here.
Have a great day!!!
Friday, June 4, 2010
To My Two Followers
Next I need to brush up on a few things and get my classroom and plans ready for the next school year. I have not yet seen my class roster, so I am anxious to see who I have. I probably know a lot of the students already. Hopefully my resigning principal, Ben Lemons, has the rosters up soon.
I don't know who will be the new principal, but come what may, I will, indeed be the best I can be for those kids and their parents.
Stephen is home and has put all our computers on the LAN, so now Samuel and Carolyn have their own internet access, as do Stephen, Claudia, and myself. We have added two more computers to our network now to create a total of 5 machines online.
Sam has not found a job yet. He still keeps his long bushy beard and mustache combo, looking like an Hasidic Jew or someone straight from the 19th century. We just hope that gets overlooked in the hiring process.
Carolyn is pregnant with her first child!!! In about November or December Claudia and I are expecting to be first-time grandparents!!!
Gabriel finished his first-ever year of preschool yesterday and brought home a Fathers Day card for me, which you can see above. He will repeat preschool next school year. That will give us some time to get more attachment issues under control and hopefully get him potty-trained. He will be 5 on July 21 (Stephen's 31st birthday).
I have a lot to say and more than one place to say it. I will keep you posted as much as possible as the summer progresses. I will be very busy working and earning as much money as possible to try to keep us afloat and pay off some loans. Next school year everyone in our district will suffer a pay cut. Mine is $4000!!! Unless the economy turns around in time for state revenue receipts to increase adequately enough to restore some of our pay.
Our district continues to hire employees but has laid off some as well. We will see what is happening as time goes on.
One thing is for certain--I am not getting any younger. Another thing is for certain--I am losing weight no matter what I have to do to accomplish that. My goal is about 160 lbs. Currently I weigh between 230 and 235.
Years ago Carolyn, as a little girl, asked me if I came across the plains with the pioneers!!! Of course she was too young to understand large time concepts. We think she has now gone full-circle on that. She now refers back to the ancients and 19th century church leaders to argue we need to retrench and be polygamists. Sam and his father and brother are also headed that way. It was Sam who introduced Carolyn to the Parowan Prophet. Last evening Sam was heard to tell a guest of ours that when his father gets his social security he will buy some property in southern Utah and they will set up their own colony there!! Unfortunately the guest was thinking on similar lines regarding polygamy, though not interested in their offer, and has read many of the same questionable materials Sam and his father and younger brother have read. Our guest is also very easily misled.
Claudia and I and Stephen are not even interested in the options they have been selecting for themselves. We have testimonies of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, as taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons). We are members and have been for years, as have Carolyn and Sam and his family.
We are still in some shock regarding their unusual choices, to say the least, after several years of these goings- on. It is amazing that Sam and Carolyn are still members of the LDS church. The LDS church does not countenance polygamy in any form. That practice was abandoned during the 19th century. However, some former church members continue to practice polygamy, believing the LDS church has apostatized.
Well, when life gives you a lemon, make lemonade!!! Only people who work hard make mistakes in their work and in their lives!!!
All my best to you and anyone who has read my post. Please feel free to tell others about my blog.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Summer "Vacation" Is Here!!!??
Well, for next school year we have...Mr. Tigner, 5th grade teacher (instead of counselor). After 16 years as a school counselor, the district that hired me as such is now placing me into a teaching position, thus changing my profession involuntarily. This is done because of the cuts in funding (the economy) and to allow other counselors, most of whom have no other endorsements on their certifications, to remain employed by the district. Unfortunately, the situation begs a question: Why has another counselor with many more years in the district than I been removed from the high school to an elementary school for this past school year and now reassigned to a classroom instead of a counselor position for next school year? I can understand my situation, if that has been explained correctly by the superintendent. I just don't understand the other counselor's situation and why this is happening to her.
Anyway, I am increasingly becoming excited about my assignment for next school year. After all, I have a great relationship with all the kids at the school. I think everything will work out just fine and I will be a great teacher for these kids.
I will miss being the school counselor. I will not miss some of the duties attached to that position, but I could not have ever enjoyed doing anything else more than being a counselor in a school.
Anyway, I am increasingly becoming excited about my assignment for next school year. After all, I have a great relationship with all the kids at the school. I think everything will work out just fine and I will be a great teacher for these kids.
I will miss being the school counselor. I will not miss some of the duties attached to that position, but I could not have ever enjoyed doing anything else more than being a counselor in a school.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Well--Finally Another Post--Wow!!!
I have had very little time online lately. Busy is an understatement of what has happened. Now here I am. I have been transferred out of my counseling position and into a 5th grade teaching position at my school. In addition, our principal and another principal in the district have both quit. I do not know who our principal will be next year, and I do not know how all this will work out for me to teach--especially after 19 years of not having a classroom full of kids to teach all day every day.
Our little guy, Gabe is continuing to learn to speak and to understand spoken language. He is getting more into the routines around here and has grown a lot emotionally and academically. Last month we had a transition meeting for him at the school he would be attending if he were promoted to kindergarten. We let them know that he is not in any way ready for kindergarten but they promoted him over our objections. They claimed that they could not get any funding to keep him in the developmental preschool after he reaches 5 years of age (next July 21). A few days later his preschool teacher called Claudia and told her that decision had been revisited and reversed by a school district Special Education consultant and he will remain in preschool.
We are sooooo happy about that! We know he has progressed a lot since he has been with us, but the attachment is so obviously not complete and too many of the control issues are still plaguing him and us.
To top everything off, our daughter, Carolyn, and her husband, Sam, have moved back in with us. They came up from Utah and Sam will be looking for a job up here. Carolyn is now over two months pregnant!! We are going to be grandparents in about November or December. She has not had medical care yet, so we do not have an accurate estimate of her due date.
Sam and Carolyn wore out both of their cars and do not have a car to get around with anymore, so we think they will need to get one as soon as Sam earns some money from somewhere.
A busy month? Oh yes!! This has been a very busy month so far!!!
For those of you whose blogs I am subscribed to or whom I am following somewhere online, I must apologize that I have not been able to check out your blogs for many days and that I have been unable to comment on anyone's buzzes or tweets. I also apologize to those of you who have not seen any blogs coming from me for awhile.
Hopefully I can resume normal online activities now that I have helped promote one PSR client out of PSR services.
Our vegetable garden has now been tilled (Claudia and mostly Clyde) and planted (Claudia, Sam, and Carolyn). We hope we can now get our front planters planted this week.
We are still Gabe-proofing our home. Gabe can now open the doors with the child-proof door handle covers and we are busy installing locking doors on all our rooms as quickly as we possibly can.
He gets into things much less now and is far more responsive to direction now than a year ago. I think his Dubach family members would not experience him as quite the same boy they gave us now. But he still can grab and destroy faster than any child we have ever seen.
We are very thankful for him, though. We love him a lot and are re-learning how to parent young children. He is definitely all boy, as the saying goes.
Everyone have a nice week!!!
Our little guy, Gabe is continuing to learn to speak and to understand spoken language. He is getting more into the routines around here and has grown a lot emotionally and academically. Last month we had a transition meeting for him at the school he would be attending if he were promoted to kindergarten. We let them know that he is not in any way ready for kindergarten but they promoted him over our objections. They claimed that they could not get any funding to keep him in the developmental preschool after he reaches 5 years of age (next July 21). A few days later his preschool teacher called Claudia and told her that decision had been revisited and reversed by a school district Special Education consultant and he will remain in preschool.
We are sooooo happy about that! We know he has progressed a lot since he has been with us, but the attachment is so obviously not complete and too many of the control issues are still plaguing him and us.
To top everything off, our daughter, Carolyn, and her husband, Sam, have moved back in with us. They came up from Utah and Sam will be looking for a job up here. Carolyn is now over two months pregnant!! We are going to be grandparents in about November or December. She has not had medical care yet, so we do not have an accurate estimate of her due date.
Sam and Carolyn wore out both of their cars and do not have a car to get around with anymore, so we think they will need to get one as soon as Sam earns some money from somewhere.
A busy month? Oh yes!! This has been a very busy month so far!!!
For those of you whose blogs I am subscribed to or whom I am following somewhere online, I must apologize that I have not been able to check out your blogs for many days and that I have been unable to comment on anyone's buzzes or tweets. I also apologize to those of you who have not seen any blogs coming from me for awhile.
Hopefully I can resume normal online activities now that I have helped promote one PSR client out of PSR services.
Our vegetable garden has now been tilled (Claudia and mostly Clyde) and planted (Claudia, Sam, and Carolyn). We hope we can now get our front planters planted this week.
We are still Gabe-proofing our home. Gabe can now open the doors with the child-proof door handle covers and we are busy installing locking doors on all our rooms as quickly as we possibly can.
He gets into things much less now and is far more responsive to direction now than a year ago. I think his Dubach family members would not experience him as quite the same boy they gave us now. But he still can grab and destroy faster than any child we have ever seen.
We are very thankful for him, though. We love him a lot and are re-learning how to parent young children. He is definitely all boy, as the saying goes.
Everyone have a nice week!!!
Friday, April 16, 2010
I Think I have lost a lot of my creativity!
We made it through this week!! It was the first week of ISAT (Idaho Standards Achievement Test) for the students at Jefferson Elementary, where I work during the school year. (At least I presently work there--who knows what will happen after all the cuts!) I have been working in this district for no less than 15 years now. If I reach full retirement in the state retirement system, I will have worked for the State of Idaho for approximately 23 years. Presently I am waiting to hear about next school year. No decisions have yet been made by our school board so far as I know.
Life has its twists and turns and can be very difficult to negotiate at times. We are trying to have some humor around here, but the stress is overshadowing everything we try so far. And yet we cannot stay serious all the time. After all not every minute has to be sad. Only some minutes need to be sad so that we can appreciate and know happiness.
Sometimes we need to count our blessings and enjoy the beauty and humor surrounding us in life. Every day of work I have bouncy, happy, little ones all around me!! How could I be more blessed?! Our little 4-year-old is a magnificent blessing in and of himself. And when I go to work at the school there are 630+ just like him, many of them running up to me each day to tell me about something they did, when their birthdays are, what they got or are getting on their birthdays, their teeth that are wiggling loose and what the tooth fairy brings, what they can do on the bars or the slide or the glider, how their favorite professional team or their own peewee team won a game, how they did on the state tests, and many other wonderful things in their lives. Sometimes I sit down with a student and we visit about how life is working out for them. Often they come to me for help in solving a problem with another child or other children.
Sometimes their parents call me to ask for help with their student. "I just don't know what to do!" I am often told by a frustrated mother. "Can you help my child do better in class? on the playground?" a parent asks me. I am simply humbled by the faith and confidence placed in me at times by both the children and the parents. I often ask myself, "Can I really do this?" And yet somehow I usually manage to help that child and/or parent in some way--even when I don't think (and maybe they don't think) I am doing so.
Over the years I have been a school counselor I have been thanked many times by grateful and gracious parents and children. I have also been criticized by some of the same--even after working intensely with the student and risking my credibility (i.e. sticking my neck out) for that student and even for those parents.
But all of the bad stuff pales in comparison with the joy of seeing a child happy and full of excitement over life's great moments.There is nothing more wonderful than that!!
Life has its twists and turns and can be very difficult to negotiate at times. We are trying to have some humor around here, but the stress is overshadowing everything we try so far. And yet we cannot stay serious all the time. After all not every minute has to be sad. Only some minutes need to be sad so that we can appreciate and know happiness.
Sometimes we need to count our blessings and enjoy the beauty and humor surrounding us in life. Every day of work I have bouncy, happy, little ones all around me!! How could I be more blessed?! Our little 4-year-old is a magnificent blessing in and of himself. And when I go to work at the school there are 630+ just like him, many of them running up to me each day to tell me about something they did, when their birthdays are, what they got or are getting on their birthdays, their teeth that are wiggling loose and what the tooth fairy brings, what they can do on the bars or the slide or the glider, how their favorite professional team or their own peewee team won a game, how they did on the state tests, and many other wonderful things in their lives. Sometimes I sit down with a student and we visit about how life is working out for them. Often they come to me for help in solving a problem with another child or other children.
Sometimes their parents call me to ask for help with their student. "I just don't know what to do!" I am often told by a frustrated mother. "Can you help my child do better in class? on the playground?" a parent asks me. I am simply humbled by the faith and confidence placed in me at times by both the children and the parents. I often ask myself, "Can I really do this?" And yet somehow I usually manage to help that child and/or parent in some way--even when I don't think (and maybe they don't think) I am doing so.
Over the years I have been a school counselor I have been thanked many times by grateful and gracious parents and children. I have also been criticized by some of the same--even after working intensely with the student and risking my credibility (i.e. sticking my neck out) for that student and even for those parents.
But all of the bad stuff pales in comparison with the joy of seeing a child happy and full of excitement over life's great moments.There is nothing more wonderful than that!!
Friday, April 2, 2010
LDS.org - Family Chapter Detail - The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles
All our friends:
To find out more about what Easter is please use the following link:
Easter, a Sacred Time of Year
Easter--Is is not about eggs and bunnies and Easter baskets. Those are fun and nice and come from pagan rituals. It is about the atonement. It is about our Savior, Jesus Christ's and Heavenly Father's love for us. Easter is a very important time of our year when we remind ourselves of His mortal ministry and that we really cannot comprehend that sacred something he did for us. He suffered for our sins in Gethsemane. He suffered and died on the cross and was resurrected and brought us the resurrection. He has taken away the sting of death and the victory of the grave. After we leave this life, we can then be resurrected and live again with Him.
This life is a time for us to prepare to meet God and to perform our labors and serve Him. We will never be perfect (complete) in this life. When we leave this life it won't matter how close to perfection we are. What will matter is which direction we are headed. As an apostle of the Lord once said, it just doesn't matter how far up the "ladder" we are, so long as we are headed up and not down or some other way. We will be saved in the celestial kingdom of God so long as we are going in the correct direction.
I am so thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and his love and sacrifice for us!! I have made sacred covenants to live as He would have me live. May I so do!!
Of the truth of these things I testify in His name, even Jesus Christ. Amen.
For more information to to www.mormon.org or www.lds.org
This life is a time for us to prepare to meet God and to perform our labors and serve Him. We will never be perfect (complete) in this life. When we leave this life it won't matter how close to perfection we are. What will matter is which direction we are headed. As an apostle of the Lord once said, it just doesn't matter how far up the "ladder" we are, so long as we are headed up and not down or some other way. We will be saved in the celestial kingdom of God so long as we are going in the correct direction.
I am so thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and his love and sacrifice for us!! I have made sacred covenants to live as He would have me live. May I so do!!
Of the truth of these things I testify in His name, even Jesus Christ. Amen.
For more information to to www.mormon.org or www.lds.org
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