What She Wore: Grey capris; black, long-sleeve tee; black, beaded mules with no heel. I always get comments when I don’t wear heels.
You may not know. . .
How many people cannot read, or read extremely poorly. The numbers are staggering–around 70% of the kids I work with (not just special ed) read at least three grades below level.
How much a group of seventh graders can enjoy a really good picture book (Today we read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs)
Why students like some teachers and hate others–and why this is usually a group decision.
Why some people can overcome the worst of circumstances and others crumble.
How many children come to school hungry each day (85% of our kids eat breakfast at school).
How little nutrition is monitored in schools (personal soap box).
How much money I spent on shoes this month (and I’ll never tell).
KM
The Barnyard 
OMG, KM. How many years every one says they are on here never bothered me til today. But when I see a comment like "that movie sounds very interesting .. it came out the year I was born" .. that knocks me down some how. Damn. I\’m old. Who I think are my great friends are so very young! My God .. What I am I doing here online? This is so bizarre to me!
I live in Texas and still our high school drop out rate is over 40%. Over half the people I work with cannot read and it is so sad. The further north you go the better the reading is. When we lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota the drop out rate was in the single digits. It just was not acceptable there to not read. You had to learn to read and you had to go to college.
What\’s shocking to me is my oldest son managed to graduate without ever learning to write in cursive. Not only did his teachers miss it, I missed it as well. On the plus side, my sons absolutely LOVED to read and since I\’m an avid reader it was something I encouraged at every opportunity. I would love to compare notes with you one day on $ spent on shoes vs. $ I spend on clothes in a month! I bet it\’d be a hoot.
That is some very interesting information. The stats on reading is very, very sad. I think it has a domino effect on many social aspects such as crime, etc. Moving on to shoes, do you know where (which store) I could get some good cowboy boots at? I had a pair when I lived in Canada and I want to get another pair, but I haven\’t seen any at the stores around here. I checked Dillards and Macy\’s. Would they be at a specialty store?
Reading: Isee this every day with ourstudents…who are 18 y/o and up. We have a number of former mill workers, for example, iwho are int heir late forties, who can netiher read nor write. They have high school diplomas, but when you ask them to point out the verb in a sentence, they will inevitably select at least three non-verbs before coming to the right answer. It\’s the same with a lot of our kids who\’ve come straight from high school, too. We offer remedial reading classes to help prepare them, but it is so, so sad, and sometimes it\’s not enough.
I can\’t come up with anything…..except to be flippant….You play with the cards that are dealt to you….how you play them is your business!!
I am amazed at school systems that think they sucessful becuz a certain percentage score huge on all that testing…..what about that percentage that doesn\’t…..what happens to them??
Just do your part to make your world and the kids that you teach better….that is all any one can do.
Unfortunately I do know about those things, well except maybe how much you\’ll spend on shoes this month. You won\’t even give us a clue????
I am 25 weeks pregnant, according to some, that\’s 6 months, others it\’s 7. So, around there.
take care,
Antonella
I am with Nooner how come you stopped with the shoe pics 🙂 to be totally honest I get a kick out of reading what you wear! I love that feature of your space.
And by the way Will never ask how much you spent on shoes! That question is as bad as some guy asking you your age! LOL
enjoy the rest of the week and have a great weekend!
I am not surprised at how many kids can\’t read, or don\’t read well. I work with 15, 16, 17, 18 year olds who can read at maybe a third grade level. It is sad but true. And my daughters eat breakfast as school everyday, but this is because we are up and out of the house so early that eating breakfast here would require us to get up at least an hour early. And they are cranky enough without making them loose another hour of sleep.
I used to be befuddled when people claimed they didn\’t like to read. Then I tutored at my high school and realized that a lot of kids didn\’t know how to read. Oh what joy they are missing.Back to the shoes, were your feet happier today? I still don\’t understand your comment about how shoes weren\’t suppossed to feel like socks. ; )
it
breaks my heart to think how many kids can\’t read, and how many have never had a
book read to them.
On a
different note…how many pairs of shoes do you actually
have??
Shhhh last time I moved I donated 60 pairs to Goodwill. I think I\’m down to 50 now….but winter is coming…I\’ll need new boots!!!!!
Yes…the BOY was like 12 before he could REALLY read and liked it…very odd…since the GIRL was reading @ 4 and LOVES it. She\’s ahead about 3levels.
hugs to you today!!!
Mercy
Haha about the shoes!!! I have heard some of those statistics, it is sad!!
Hey, I still love picture books! There\’s something about artwork that heightens the impact of the words. I\’ll go to the library and just loiter in the children\’s section, brousing the books.
Yep. Still in Oklahoma. And yes, that is where my son attended school. Sad, isn\’t it?
Most of this entry made me sad, Katy…though I know it is your reality.
HUGS!! 🙂
It is truly sad how children manage to fall through the cracks. I\’ve met many who can\’t hardly read, much less write well. I don\’t believe it\’s so much the individual teachers fault since they are often over burdened with far too many students. I found your space linked on Jeannie\’s space and thought I would come visit. You have alot of interesting entries here. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the info on the cowboy boots. Someone else told me about Cavender\’s so I will check them out. Yeah they are expensive but they last almost a lifetime so they are not a bad investment. I don\’t have a lot of shoes, but when I do purchase them, I do not sacrifice comfort/quality for cost. Hope your weekend is going well.
These statistics and comments are sad to read, but important to know about. Though you, as one individual, cannot wave a magic wand and change everything for the betterment of the kids you work with, you do make a wonderful contribution by bringing love and devotion to them.
I\’m doing one small part of that for one person this weekend. I\’ve been down in Philadelphia for the past couple of days. I am here for a weekend long birthday celebration for my brother with Down Syndrome. I cannot change my little brother\’s mental health .. But what I can do is give him once again a new gift. I bring him a new one everytime I see him. In his case, these gifts last for years and years. It the gift of a wonderful memory. He lives with memories and recounts them to me all the time. Years from now I will have forgotten, but he will be reminding me, of the fun we had this weekend at an aquarium yesterday .. a special dinner we shared .. cousins we visited and what transpired, etc, etc. You, KM, are changing many kids lives. In your caring way, you are making a big impact of many of the kids in your school. We here in blogland see it in your writing. You are devoted to your profession and the children that your profession serves. Some may continue to go hungry in weeks and months to come. Some will continue not to have the reading and writing skills below norms. But many of those you touch will have one additional thing that will last in their minds for a long time, I bet: pleasant memories of a person who reached out to them because she cared.
~Nooner~