*Yawn* >>Stretch<< Welcome Back!

It is hard to believe that it has been so long since I last posted. On the other hand, it isn't THAT hard to believe because I have been a busy bee!

That being said, I now have 6 or 7 followers and I have neglected you all for too long, LOL!

So, let's get you caught up....

Zack is having another amazing year at The Gow School, which isn't a surprise. He has made honor scroll every marking period, found that he loves wrestling. Doesn't he looks like a skeleton in his singlet?









He also decided to try taking ADD meds for the first time in his life. This is something that we hesitated to do, dating back to his initial diagnosis for Dyslexia. We simply wanted to see how well he could learn to manage it on his own, with help from Gow. However, after two years there, he found that he was limited in his ability to take control, and so he started with meds. We are still working with the doctor to get the dosage right, but Zack reports that he does notice a difference, after our latest change. So, that's good.


Jacob continues to love 7th grade. He has been on the merit roll and honor roll this year and, is discovering that with a little effort, things at school are pretty easy to handle.  He was in the middle school production of "Through the Looking Glass" and thoroughly enjoyed it. He is convinced that he will be a famous actor, living in New York City, with a driver and a maid named Consuela. Oh to be 12 again!

My school year has been an amazing journey and it is hard to believe that it is already March. My students continue to amaze me, daily. I have had some challenges, but there are more days that feel rewarding than those that are challenging, so I'm calling it a win!

I have spoken at a couple of small group events about the Burmese refugees that I deal with and some of the challenges that they face. That talk has opened up some amazing doors for me, in terms of donations for the students. The good people at Ingram Micro donated all of their castoff office supplies and promotional items that they got from vendors. Thanks to Elaine, over at IM, we have behavior incentive prizes for the rest of the school year! We have also gotten a steady stream of donated clothing and household items for the kids and their families who are SO grateful for the kindness of strangers.

I am becoming more and more intrigued by a phenomenon that seems to be limited to our refugee population of students and, more specifically, the Burmese families. We struggle to get our Burmese students to do homework and their families simply do not seem to understand the importance of practicing their skills at home- that there really is a POINT to the homework. Furthermore, I have students who have been here for three years and still don't recognize the letters of the alphabet, despite handstands and back flips by their teachers. If anyone reading this (all 7 of you) has suggestions or connections to researchers on this subject, please share with me! One night, after searching, fruitlessly, on the interwebs, I actually reached out to another blogger, Angela Watson at The Cornerstone for Teachers, to see if she had any suggestions. That led to an invite to write a piece on our refugees, for her blog. I am hoping that sharing my experience will help others, and bring some answers as well!

In closing, I want to share a quick story about my experience with one family at my school. The boy, a fourth grader, who I will call A, arrived here from Iraq two months ago. He is a goofy kid, acting silly all the time, with very limited English skills. He also has quite a "unibrow" that makes him LOOK angry all of the time, but he really is quite happy. He is in a very small ESL group with students of similar abilities. His Dad is very enthusiastic about being in America and is not afraid to speak imperfect English. He is also VERY loud. After meeting him several times, he and his wife came to school one day asking for me. We spoke about their son's progress and they expressed a desire for A to do more homework. This is such a challenge because he cannot do much of the content area homework, and I can't micromanage what the teacher sends home. Anyway, Dad told me that A always speaks so highly of "Mrs. Eluh" (L) and that he loves me. They invited me to their home for a meal and time to talk. Dad then went on to loudly, emphatically, repeatedly, tell me that he loves me, LOL. Now, I know that he was expressing his gratitude for what I am doing for A. However, others who overheard the conversation grew concerned because, as I said, Dad can be loud.  But, it's a happy loud, and that is a good thing. So, long story short, I will be taking my son with me to Saturday school, after which, we will go to the home of these kind people and enjoy a traditional Iraqi/Arabic meal. It will be interesting and strange and fun, all at the same time. It will also serve to reinforce my belief in the importance of the work I do- even if there ARE days that I want to go home and back to bed!

Let's Go Global!

One of the frustrations I have with my job is that my students' parents do not participate in school activities. I believe that this is, largely, because they don't know what is happening around school. A friend recently suggested asking our international school for help with translated documents. Since they have translators on staff, I hoped that they would share- and they did!  I am including the signage for school locations in a link, here, so that anyone who wants can use them! The languages included are Arabic, Somali, Burmese and Karen. I am hoping that I can enlist other parents to supply other languages as well- although we have 26 and that might be tough to squeeze onto an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper!

Translated Signage

Hello, 2012-2013 School Year!

     We have all survived the opening of a new school year- yay! Here's the breakdown:

       Zack:

• He and his roommate are the veterans, and ninth graders in a 7th/8th grade dorm, so he is feeling like the big man on campus. 
• He has so much confidence, has opinions about teaching styles and is excited about the content (well, some of it, anyway.)
• He even ran for 9th grade class representative for the Student Council. He did not win, but the simple fact that he ran speaks volumes!
• Has a new, "old school" teacher for Reconstructive Language. She is making them write in cursive (the physical act of writing the connected letters helps them learn the letter-sounds.) He sent a hand-written letter to us through the mail. YES, people- paper, envelope, stamp- the whole shebang!
• He is getting rave reviews from his teachers, including the following:
• He is attentive to his work, punctual with his assignments, and has adjusted well to my requirements. 
• Few students can ‘see the bigger picture’, but Zack seems to be demonstrating that he understands why we have to work so hard on the ‘details’.  I’m very impressed with his commitment to the work, and hope it continues throughout the year. 

    Jake:

• After three days, he declared that this has been the "best year ever!"
•  He tried out for modified volleyball and didn't make the team. His attitude has been excellent and he now looks forward to joining in on the musical, which, I think he will really like. 
• He endured the change of routine that comes with going back to school and has taken to it, like a champ!
• He has tackled homework with excitement and his grades have been excellent.
• Joined chorus and is trying out for show choir.

Me:   I arrived back at school to find some exciting changes, as well as some un-welcome ones. 

•  On the first day back, my classroom, which was once half-filled with paper towels, was 3/4 filled with unwanted equipment: overhead projectors, pre-k kitchen furniture, clinic furniture (those nice vinyl "beds," defunct copiers, hard drives, macs, and a big glass case.) Said equipment, mostly, blocked the entrance to the room about 3/4 of the way, and completely obstructed the outside exit. After some nagging, begging, and threats to go up the chain of command, the engineers cleared it all out by my first day of teaching.
• My caseload is higher this year, BUT, I am very fortunate to have reasonably sized groups of students- no more than 12 at a time.
• I am working with one of my favorite classroom teachers, who really understands ESL students- and that makes all the difference!
• I have decided to take the plunge and gone back to school to become an Administrator. This will be funded with student loans that I will be paying off for the rest of my life, however, I have decided that this is the best way to effect change, on a system that is horribly broken, one school at a time!

Pat: Well, I think that Pat is still delighting in having his routine back! He enjoys having us around for the summer, but we really make it hard for him to get anything done. 

So, that's it. We're back to school. We have an extra mortgage-sized payment to make every month, payable to Gow, but with the help of our "village" we have gotten Zack where he needs to be. Our indiegogo account is active for a few more days. We didn't come close to making our goal, but we have more than we started out with, so I am thrilled. If you know anyone who still wants to make a donation, please direct them here: http://www.indiegogo.com/ZackGow  Anything we add to that total will help make that tuition payment every month, so we can still use the help!!

Thank you all!

xoxoxo

Success on Many Levels

We did it! Zack is going back to Gow. In fact, we will drop him off tomorrow and classes start on Monday. Yep, even though it's a holiday, they have classes. For the first marking period, Zack will attend classes from 7am to 2:30pm, with a break for lunch. From 3-5:30 they have athletics. The school does not offer physical education, so all students must participate in a sport, each season.

They shower, have dinner and then report to mandatory study hall at 6:30. This is proctored by various instructors and, if needed, students can make an appointment with a specific teacher during this time. Study hall ends around 8:30 and then the boys get some free time. IF Zack does his job, keeps up with his studies, etc. his instructors can recommend that he participate in dorm study.

Last year, Zack earned dorm study each semester and I don't anticipate it being a problem this year. In fact, last year, when he had some difficulties before exams, he went to study hall to get the help he needed.


So, his day will go from sun up to sun down.... I guess all days do that, eh? He will also go to school on Saturdays, until noon. He will work hard and he WILL succeed!

We want to thank SO many people for their help in getting Zack back to school. It means the world to us that family and friends were willing to help. Thanks to all of you, we were able to pay the bulk of Zack's tuition. We will pay the rest off over the course of the year. If you know anyone who is interested in giving to the indiegogo campaign, it has 29 days left,  so please direct them to the site!!


http://www.indiegogo.com/ZackGow


Thank you all so much. I will be posting updates here for those that are invested in this magnificent child!

It is Better to Give Than to Receive (most of the time, anyway)

Lest you think that I spend my entire life whining and begging...

My writing has been so focused on needs, of late, so I want to let you know that I *do* give in my daily life and I LOVE it! As I have mentioned, I am a teacher with Buffalo Schools. My school has a 94% poverty rate, and the students' needs are tremendous. Like so many, their families are short on time and money. Our school system works hard to limit the financial burdens that they put on families. My school has a uniform policy- students must wear a school shirt (navy polo) and uniform pants (navy.) This might not sound like it eases financial burdens, but the cost of two shirts is about $15 and two pair of pants from Target, about $40. Most families can get away with purchasing those 4 items, saving them money, in the long run.

However, for some families, that is even too much. My students are, almost, all refugees. They come with a couple of trash bags full of "stuff" (clothing, housewares, etc.) from their native countries. Catholic Charities and other refugee services do provide them with some basics, but they rely heavily on the kindness of others.

So, when I started at the school, last Fall,  I had a brainstorm. A co-worker mentioned to me that she tries to make sure that all of the students have winter coats, hats, gloves and boots. This led me to ask my friends and family if they might be willing to donate their "charity-bound" items to my students. Most were happy to do it... and our clothing bank was born. We made sure that every student that needed clothing items got them. At any time, students were able to come to my storage room and find items that they needed. If we didn't have it, we would ask for help from WearNShare, and they always delivered.

When I realized that students did not have toiletry items at home, I started using "super couponing" to get the items that they needed. No, I'm not one of those women you see who get 4,000 TV dinners for $0.12, but I can usually score shampoo, soap, etc for $0.25 and that little bit goes a long way.

The thing about all of this is that I LOVE giving. It probably gives me the same rush that shopping does for others. My dear husband often has to temper my enthusiasm, reminding me that we have serious financial needs of our own. His words don't keep me from giving- they just encourage me to shop even more frugally!

All of this is my way of saying that, yes, I do ask for a lot of the five readers that I have.  However, I am asking only that you share our story with YOUR five readers, and then they share, etc. until our plight gets to the right person. We are eternally grateful to all of those who have helped spread the word thus far. Every hit that we get at indiegogo (not donation, just clicking the link) moves us up the ladder for them to advertise us more frequently. So, Thank you all!