Fingers and Lights and Reading

You know when your principal is observing you and you're torn between doing the scripted phonics program you're supposed to be doing that you and all the kids have had enough of by May or by doing something new and exciting to prove that you're The Best Teacher Ever?

Yeah.

That conundrum.

While this was in the back of my mind, I was in Party City looking for prizes for our treasure box and I came across these nifty little finger lights.  They were a bit pricey for the budget I'd set for prizes, but I thought maybe I could use them in a lesson somehow, so I purchased them.

One of my ongoing challenges is getting my students to finger track.  Many of them are English Learners and struggle with reading for many reasons, so simply losing track would be an easy fix if they'd just follow along.  I've tried using different tools and strategies but they're just not interested.  It's especially unappealing when they have to follow along when someone else is reading. 

At some point it occurred to me to see if the lights would work to help track.  I took them out of the package and played around with them to see what the throw was like.

Then I thought I might as well try it.  Before I showed the kids, we talked about the difference between a tool and a toy and how I was bringing in a new tool to help them read.  Then I showed them one light and went down a list of what not to do, mostly for that one student who may or may not have taken my warnings as a list of new ideas. 

We don't shine them in our eyes.
We don't wave them in our friends' faces.
We take whatever color we're given.
We turn them off when we're finished.

After passing them out, we read our story and I have to admit, every single student was engaged from beginning to end.  Everyone knew where we were when it was their turn to read.  Nobody misused the tool.  Nobody complained about the color.  It was amazing!

The shine can wear off a new penny very quickly with first graders, so I made this a surprise tool that we weren't going to see every day with reading.  I did incorporate it into my observation lesson and my principal mentioned that she liked it and had never seen anyone do that before, so that pleased me.  The students really want them to go in the treasure box so they can take them home, but I'm resisting that right now.

Amazon has them in a larger quantity.  I think you can buy a box of 40 for about six dollars.  These were two dollars for each package of three.  With the observation looming, it was easier just to get a bunch at Party City than to worry about delivery dates.  I will probably buy more for next year.  They're marked on my Amazon wish list right now.

Until then, I think I'll keep stalking Party City for instructional aids!

Tinker Bell Half Marathon 2016 Race Report

The fifth Tinker Bell Half Marathon was its usual brand of fun.

The night before the run I got the chance to have dinner with Jac and Mel.  Good times and lots of laughs!  On the morning of the race, I was early.  I woke before my alarm went off and lollygagged around at home.  Naturally, I hung around too long and ended up getting to Disneyland just in the nick of time.  When I was walking toward the corrals, I could hear the National Anthem.  By the time I got there, Corral A had already gone off and B and C were moving up.  Somewhere in my subconscious, I think I time Disney races this way intentionally so I'm not hanging around outside waiting for the race to start.  Unfortunately, this meant there was no chance of finding my friends in the madness. I just hopped in at the back of C and went for a little run.

I'd been thinking of a Mickey Mouse Club costume for a while.  I was going to wait for a time when I was part of a group to do it, but I really put off creating anything until the last minute for this one.  It seemed the simplest plan would be to just iron some stuff on a shirt and go with that.

When I was looking through hashtags for race weekend, I saw that someone posted a picture of these socks and said they'd found them at Target.  One trip down the street to find them and I was set!

The construction for the new Star Wars land meant that the race was re-routed.  No complaints, but we didn't get to go through the rear backstage area were the parade floats are parked.  That was kind of a bummer.  On the other hand, we entered through a new backstage area in the front of the park and found that the cast members have their own Starbucks.  No real surprise there, is there?

In my last few Disney races, I've noticed a serious reduction in the amount of characters out on the course for photo opportunities.  I thought with Avengers and Star Wars it may have just been because the race themes were relatively limited, but there have always been a lot of characters out at Tink in the past.  I have a series of Princess photos from one year, and there were a lot of Pixar characters out the first year of the race.  I suspect Disney is trying to move the people along.  Fewer photo stops mean more movement through the parks.  It's kind of a bummer considering the price keeps going up while the effort on their part seems to be declining.

This time I didn't stop for any character pictures.  Tinker Bell and some fairies were out.  I saw the Lost Boys running around on the carousel, but not much more.  As I was at the end of the path through California Adventure, I saw a line for characters, but couldn't see who it was until I was too far past to turn back.  It was Chip and Dale.  I briefly thought about fighting the tide to head back, but decided it wasn't necessary.

Once out of the park and into the nearby residential area, there was a log of noise from birds squacking.  At first I thought it was some weird kind of crow, but looking up at the power lines and palm trees, I could see a bunch of green parrots.  Maybe twenty years ago, I used to hear people talk about the flock of wild parrots that roamed around Pasadena.  I had no idea there was a flock in Anaheim.

Another highlight of the race was the Red Hat Ladies downtown.  In the past, they've been on a driveway in between the Disneyland Hotel and Downtown Disney.  The rerouting of the race relocated them to what was a much better place from my personal perspective, although they probably missed the shade from the trees.  The ladies were out in full-force.  Someone reported that there were 700 of them.  It was a pretty emotional few moments seeing all of those women out there cheering. 

Tink Five was a great time.  I achieved an official Legacy status, meaning I've done the race all five years it has existed.  This really is my favorite of the Disneyland races, and I intend to keep doing it as long as I'm able.  I like the route and the time of year is good. 

There was an interesting surprise when I got home.  The ink on my transfer ran.  I've never done iron-on transfers via my computer, so this was an experiment from the beginning.  It turns out, sweat creates some issues.  I haven't washed the shirt yet, so I'm not sure if is permanent.  I'm glad the shirt was inexpensive, since it may turn out to be a disposable costume!

Confessions

The blog is titled "Confessions," right?  So I guess I should confess a few things.

I am finding my little children's book library lacks quite a few things, specifically books for the special days that are not quite so in-your-face.

I confess I don't have any Earth Day books. 

Okay, this is not entirely true, since in cleaning out a closet I did find one book that could be used around Earth Day.  Unfortunately I found it in May and Earth Day was in April.

I confess Cinco de Mayo is another day where I come up short in book selections.  I have Manana Iguana, but I used it earlier in the year to compare to Little Red Hen.  Yes, we read books more than once, but it was a pretty recent read.

This week when my kids were screeching at each other -  over Santa Claus of all things - I realized I don't have any books on friendship,or getting along, or treating others kindly. We're at the time of year when they're all just over each other and every little comment or look or elbow on your neighbor's desk causes bickering that doesn't stop.  I need to address these behaviors, I came up with a plan, and realized I don't have any books to use as a catalyst.

Ugh. 

I confess I may be spending some time on Amazon.com.