This and That

I've been really dealing with learning to become stress-free. Which actually is my constant battle every day. However, I will say that most of it has been due to being a mother of four sons. As mothers, you can't just shake things off, even after they are grown up. Sure if you don't think about them, maybe this method would work. At times I find having homeschooled my children a problem. I hate to admit this. I loved on them so much but now it's just hard not to think of them. Maybe if my hard-working husband had been home part of the time to lend a hand I may not feel this way. My husband would work twelve to fourteen-hour shifts most of the time. Which meant, I ran my children to all the sports practices and games myself. They were in fencing, baseball, and soccer. My two oldest were in boy scouts too. Now that I look back, was I crazy? I can't get over how many years I'd feel so exhausted from teaching other children, then my own, keeping the house (I d

As I peeked into the physician's office, it looked like a bedroom. I could vividly see everyone on their knees chanting in Hebrew and praying over their loved one that was very ill. If I had a drawing pad, I could have sketched this scene from the dream I had this week. I suppose it was a result of a Show and Tell item a sweet seven-year-old girl endearingly brought to the classroom. She wanted to share with everyone the special prayer shawl that her papa brought her from Isreal. With her dainty little fingers, she pulled it out of the pillowcase embroidered fabric. She laid it on herself with the Hebrew words that were engraved on the hem. Her gracefulness touched me as I watched her display it. The dream brought a vivid memory of when my neighbor down the street had invited me to Passover at the Hilton hotel. Mind you she wasn't Jewish. But she had friends who belong to the Messianic Jews who had offered her tickets and she chose me to join her that night. I didn

Celebrate with me! I reached my 1000th class on St. Patrick's Day!

Celebrate with me! I reached my 1000th class on St. Patrick's Day!

I had so much fun creating this video. Check out what I found at the flea market that I'm going to use in the classroom. Please like, subscribe and comment below. Interested in teaching English to children in China? Use my referral link! https://t.vipkid.com.cn/?refereeId=2500516&refersourceid=a01

Today as I was scrolling Facebook and noticed an article about how an infant had suddenly died within twenty-four hours due to a series of vaccines, it quickly reminded me of an incident that happened twenty-five years ago. When I used to take my sons to the local city-clinic, it would be an all-day affair. I'd pack a few toys, snacks, drinks and plenty of diapers. This was back when the internet was yet to be in everyone's home. We did have local television viewing. At the time, I enjoyed watching documentaries or just different medical information in the daily news updates. Every month it seemed like I was going to the clinic because I had four sons. So either we were at the dentist or getting medical exams. On one of those days, I was sitting with a young Spanish speaking mom. She had been told that they were going to give her child six vaccines. These nurses were instructed to give parents who brought their babies into the clinic occasionally, to strongly insist tha

Lately, I've been receiving emails from Guidelines for Living a daily Christian devotional on suicide. It's strange because I just finished re-watching "The Goblin" on Dramafever. Although, many Christians may judge me for watching this show. I think it had a beautiful way of letting people know how God dealt with this aspect of suicide. One of the characters in the show happened to be a grim reaper. Unlike the scary type we know as holding a sickle in his hand and wearing a dreary black gown, these were handsome men who dressed in nice suits and wore a black hat that made them invisible. They would walk the Earth just waiting for when someone to reach their time to leave. The writer of this drama was rather creative on how God punished people who committed suicide. He had them become grim reapers. Part of their journey was that they couldn't remember their past. They wondered never knowing what their true identity was.  Their job was to guide the dead souls

Through the years I've learned that you can teach many labs with little of now equipment. I have a mother at a local homeschool co-op who saves lids for me. I actually have bags and bags of them. Lids from bottles of all kids. It's amazing how many lids we through away. Of course now we have recycle bins but frankly, we could reuse them once more before throwing them out. Just the other day I taught a group of elementary school children the food web between plants and animals. We use lids of varying sizes to depict the next food source for that animal. pH

              When I was ten years old, I would stay at my grandma's house after school. I remember those days when I would be in her musty-smelling living room setting up my makeshift classroom. I'd set up a desk and a chair for my students. Who were my students? Why of course, my "primas". My cousins would listen to me lecture or we would make up plays that we could perform. Well, I was also the drama teacher. Now that I think about it maybe I should have entered the Theater as a profession. I don't think so.  I was always teaching something. The thrill has never left.       Even to this day, if I have to prepare for my elementary students, I start looking through Teacher Pay Teachers, YouTube, or Pinterest for ideas. I'll be surfing for hours to see how I can present a lesson or make an experiment happen.       Thirty-five years of teaching have passed and I still get a high when planning a lesson. The only thing slowing me down is my body. After c

What was it like before the  Afghanistan war in 2001?  I remember driving through the military base as though it was part of our neighborhood.  N. New Braunfels street was the quickest way to get to the other side. Now that entrance has been blocked ever since. We have to go about three to five miles out of our way to reach what was just a two-block ride previously due to the high-security alert. I remember we heard so many trains going by constantly because military tanks and other supplies were being sent out quickly. It was a constant deafening sound because I lived by the tracks. The only break I had from that blaring horn was when I went to work. It seems like so long ago that we would drive through the base and visit historical museums. I used to go walking with my boys at the Quadrangle. The place where they kept Geronimo imprisoned. No one would think anything for us to drive in. It was a carefree life that I so do miss. What was it like before the  Feb 21

So as I was driving to work this morning, I heard on the news that we were to get out and vote. Ugh, was what I thought. I even battled with the thought, what's one time that I don't vote. Frankly, I can't help but be human here. Regardless, after an hour swimming and shopping at HEB, I went to pick up mom at the center. I said, "Mom, did you know today is voting?" She had the same expression. Ugh. Yet, it was around the corner and so we stopped in to vote. Mom being handicapped was brought the ballot to the van. So at 6:00 p.m., I'm sitting at dinner with my youngest son. He asks, "Mom, what did you do today?" I went down my list and then I said grandma and I voted. Being 6:25 p.m., dad walks in exhausted from a long day's haul. My youngest son says what time do they close? I said 7 p.m. They both went to vote! I was so proud of them. My second son was the smartest one of us all. He did his early voting

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! I've been creating some Youtube videos for teachers. This is one I did to commemorate, Dr. Seuss Birthday. I've learned how to create them using WeVideo. It has been fun learning how to make videos. I hope you enjoy. Like, Comment and Subscribe. https://youtu.be/NBpiJz_2dag

THE WORLD IS MY OYSTER News Flash! Our company is testing to teach English not only to children in China but to students in Vietnam and Korea now! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd be teaching children from across the world. After teaching thirty plus years, I still love to teach. As I'm aging, I know I won't have many options to be able to be home and do what you love. This window of opportunity has been the biggest blessing ever. I'm excited to continue doing what I do till I can't do it at all. If you are interested in teaching English to children around the world, feel free to click my link. You do not have to have a teacher's certification but you do need one year working with children in any capacity and a degree.  https://t.vipkid.com.cn/activity/popup?refereeId=2500516&refersourceid=a01

        I've been watching K-dramas for over three years now. Of course, I don't speak Korean but I've come to grasp a few words here and there. I'm now able to greet my corner store owner in Korean. Mr. Kim's face always lights up when I do. Our neighborhood is predominantly Hispanic, so to look up and see one speak a word in your language brings a smile. Well after viewing so many dramas I've decided that  my favorite Korean word is "cronica" If you read this word as though you were reading it in Spanish, that's what it sounds like. This word means "so" or "then" in Korean.  This got me thinking how this word sounds like "chronological". So I looked it up online. The Greek word chronos, meaning “time,” gives us the root chron.  So my question is how did the Koreans get that word? Languages are amazing.  Oops, my geekiness is showing. LOL

Stubborn Mule Today I acted like a stubborn mule. I have to go swimming twice a week because my right knee suffers from bursitis; plus, I also have fibromyalgia. In order to keep walking and feeling less pain, I head to the pool. I even have a medical document from my doctor that states I get to swim free at our local city natatorium. Today when I arrived at the pool there were people on the side alotted for us with medical issues, scuba diving. They were taking lessons. Being we were told that is the side we must use, I just walked passed them in the pool to the other end where another fellow medical swimmer was at. I asked him, "So how long have they been here?" He said, "They are going to be here till two or three o'clock. You are going to have to swim on this side. So I did a few laps swimming the width of the pool. Then I noticed no one was swimming the last lane of the pool so I ventured to swim the length of the pool. Being I'm blind as a bat w

                                 About eight years back, all I did was sit at a computer and play Farmville. I loved that game so much that I would diligently work that farm for hours. I would go plant the seed, water and then harvest. I'd earn tractors and tillers to get the job done faster. I had farms of all kinds. Farms in Japan, Australia, Hawaii, El Dorado, Tuscany, Maine, Enchanted Forest and so many other places in the world. It was like going to places that I had never dreamed of but must have subconsciously wanted to visit because I did this for five years.             If you asked me to learn something new, I'd scrunch my face and say, "No, way!"            See there was a period in my life that I would just zone out. I had a husband who worked constantly and then my four sons were coming of age as men. For years I cared for everyone. Because I homeschooled them, I was always concerned if they were learning something. Those years had passed and

Yesterday mom and I headed out to go see "Mikado" a comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan. It was put on by a high school group. Some of my students were there. When we sat down, I realized everyone in the audience was elderly. I told mom, "We must have come on a senior night." The grey-haired lady with the cane, on my left, would make some remarks and then mom would say something too. I was between them and the play was going on. I was rather embarrassed because of course, it's a play. I just wanted them both to listen quietly but it was funny at the same time. I asked the lady did she know anyone in the production, she said no that their director of the center had bought them tickets. Awe, I thought that was nice of her. The costumes were so beautiful. I laughed so much. I would smother my mouth with a napkin so I wasn't so noisy. But I sure could have brought the house down with a resonating laughter since my

                    Yesterday my heart sank. My heart goes out to families who have lost their loved ones through this tragedy. When the Columbine shooting of 2012, I think we all were shocked but thought this was an isolated incident. Yet, more and more episodes like this are happening. It occurred to me, I've been teaching thirty years and now this Florida shooting has alerted every school nationwide and has alerted even private sectors of education.            I am a contracted teacher and was approached today to attend a teacher meeting at the location I teach on Fridays. The topic was how are we going to prepare if a shooting should occur on our campus? What?            We meet at a local church since we are a private group of instructors that convene once a week. However, the Sutherland, Tx incident that happened only a few miles away from our city, made us all realize that churches are no exception.            My husband travels to work and passes this town every da

Why didn't I think of this?

During my very first Cousera Course that I took, this was the one tip that really changed my life.  If you would are interested in this course, you can audit it for no credit or pay for the course. If you choose to purchase it, make sure you use Ebates to get cash back for taking it. Sign up and start getting paid to learn online! https://www.ebates.com/r/LEAPIN120?eeid=29041&utm_source=extension&utm_medium=raf_link Coursera: Get It Together Teacher https://www.coursera.org/learn/together-teacher I happen to be a mentor for this course. Feel free to leave questions in the discussion forum. Find me and other teachers on  https://www.facebook.com/groups/freeteacherstuff/

Do I love to shop at thrift stores? This video is how I save money in the classroom by purchasing items from thrift stores. Please share how you save on your supplies in the comments below. Why of course!