Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas!  Enjoy the last 9 days of vacation!

Two Weeks Left

Wow, the last four weeks have flown by.  I can't believe we only have two weeks left.  Honestly, I've done very little school work during the last four weeks.  Guess I'll need to catch up during the last two weeks.  I have a lot to do.  I've enjoyed the extra hours of sleep.  I will miss that the most.

Last Thursday I was at a Build a Bear store at the Del Amo Mall when I witnessed a truly cute moment.  There was a little boy, probably second grade, and I overheard him talking to his mom about the bear he was building for his teacher.  He was so excited about making the bear and then giving it to his teacher for Christmas.  It was such a smile making moment.  What a special teacher that person must be.  Makes me think back to all the gifts I received when I was a teacher and how special it was to receive those gifts no matter how big or small they were.  It truly was and is the thought that counts. 

L.A. Times

During the last several days, the Times has been running a lot of interesting articles about educational issues.  Today in the paper there is a story reporting how the Mayor of Los Angeles thinks that LAUSD's teachers' union has been an obstacle to reform.  There's also a story about a Gates Foundation study that indicates using value-added is a good tool to measure teachers' effectiveness.  There seems to be more and more stories lately dumping on public schools and public school teachers.  I'm waiting for someone to step up and defend public education. 

Check out the education section of the L.A. Times.

Eight Days

I have gone 8 straight days without doing any school work (except checking/responding to email).  That, my friends, is a record!  During the last 8 days I haven't been anywhere near school.  And I don't feel bad or guilty about it.  I haven't been on any trips (except for today, went to San Diego for lunch and shopping).  I've been sleeping, eating out, and watching a lot of T.V.  Loving the days off!!  The streak will end tomorrow...going in to do some work and planning.  Maybe I'll start a new streak before we have to go back in January.

Article From Today's L.A. Times

Another interesting article from the Times.  It's worth reading.

Getting an A in overcoming the odds

California schools are not as good as they should be, but they are significantly better than their reputation.

new strip mall

This morning I read in the Press Telegram that the closed restaurant by the back patch of grass is going to be torn down and replaced with a mini strip mall.  The mall will have a Coffee Bean, Subway, and an Express Car Wash.  So, if you can't find me at school you know I'll be at the Coffee Bean.

Check out the article.

Things that make you go hmmmmm...

Yesterday a raccoon was run over on Loynes, between Bixby Village Drive and PCH.  Yes, very sad.  Today that raccoon was gone.  I'm assuming Animal Control picked it up.  Now, why does it take almost a week for Animal Control to pick up a dead cat in front of the school and less than 24 hours to pick up a dead raccoon in Bixby Village?  Location, location, location.

Interesting Article

The other day I read an interesting article from an August edition of the L.A. Times.  The gist of the article was that the schools we think are "high performing," the schools with the huge API scores, the schools that parents camp out in front of hoping to get in, actually aren't doing so hot when you take a look at CST growth performance over a span of many years.  Very interesting.  Check it out.

L.A.'s leaders in learning

At some elementary schools, students improve their test scores year after year. At others, they stagnate or fall behind. Data that go unused could offer insights into why.

Celebrity Sighting at Pollys

As I'm walking into Pollys yesterday for a relaxing late morning breakfast, I noticed someone who looked very familiar.  Where have I seen this guy before?  Oh yeah, he was one of the cops on the TV show Third Watch.  Remember Third Watch?  I loved that show.  Coby Bell, the guy who played the rookie cop on Third Watch was at Pollys!  After recognized him, I wondered what was he doing at Pollys?  and what was he doing in Long Beach?  He was with a bunch of people who looked like they might have been his family.  After he left, I went about my business of eating an ABC omelet.  The omelet was pretty good. 

Midnight Madness

This morning I decided to do something I had never done before...go to a mall at midnight.  I decided to participate in Midnight Madness at Lakewood Mall.  It wasn't as mad as I thought it was going to be.  Macy's was crowded, but not insane.  There were long lines at Fredericks and the Disney Store...interesting.  There was a long line at the Starbucks too.  I ended up buying a few things at JCPenny.  There seemed to be a lot of kids at the mall.  When I say "kids" I mean teens.  Shopping at 2:00 A.M. was kid of fun!  I'm not feeling all that great (not sure if I'm suffering from allergies or a cold), so I'm not sure if I'm going to go shopping today.  Be careful if you hit the malls.  I hope you find the deals you're looking for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A very Happy Thanksgiving to you and the ones you love!

My Favorite Things (that I won't be giving away)

Oprah did her favorite things show the other day.  She gave away iPads and Volkswagons.  Not sure I'd want either one of those.  Got me thinking about my favorite things.  So here's my list (part 1):  Trader Joe's Multigrain Savory Thins, my Mom's spaghetti, Youtube, Arturo's Mexican Restaurant, Bombay Saphire Gin, Fossil watches, Tivoli radio, Aquafresh toothpaste, Los Angeles Magazine, Vanity Fair, Anjou pears, It's a Grind House Blend coffee, Curve Wave cologne, Skechers shoes, Icelandic Glacial water, van Heusen jeans, Irish Spring soap, Marri's pizza, chrome barrel Pentel pen, Uncle Sam Whole Wheat Berry Flakes and Flaxseed, Brooks Brothers shirts, lil homies figures, Snoopy stuff, and the Barnes and Noble Nook.  List 2 will be released soon.  Check back often.

Waiting for Superman

Have you seen this movie?  I saw it a couple of weeks ago.  Seemed like a big infomercial for charter schools.  Interesting how the movie chose to showcase the high-achieving charter schools yet failed to showcase any high achieving public schools.  And I didn't notice any low-achieving charter schools being mentioned.  Interesting, isn't it?  Hopefully, someone will make a movie about all the great public schools that are doing amazing things for kids and families. 

Christmas before Thanksgiving

I love Christmas.  I love the music.  I love the smells.  I love the trees and ornaments.  I love the lights.  I love the presents.  I love cool red sleeves It's a Grind puts around my large cup.  I love everything about Christmas.  But, I'm not sure I love Christmas before Thanksgiving.  Today I went to the mall and guess who was there?  Yep, Santa.  Ummm, it's not even Thanksgiving yet.  Why is Santa at the mall????  Even though I love Christmas, can we wait until after Thanksgiving?  Maybe we should move Thanksgiving to November 1?  That will give us almost two whole months to enjoy the festive season of Christmas.  What do you think?

Back for another year...

Can you believe this is year seven?  Me neither.  This year I'm going to try to post more often.  I have lots to say, I've just been so busy and so tired.  The days have been very long.  I just need to get back into the groove of posting.  What are we on, the third week of school?  This has been a very interesting year.  Good interesting and not so good interesting.  I'll tell you more about it next time.

South Gate teacher's suicide sparks test-score pushback

South Gate teacher's suicide sparks test-score pushback