hooray for Christmas break!

One of my favorite students made me an ornament. It made my day, even more than our in-class Olympic Games and Greek feast to close out our unit on ancient Greece. Still, I need these two weeks off.

a few words on Newtown

After talking to the teachers on my team about the Newtown shootings, some advice for parents:



Make sure you tell your school-age children to follow their teachers' instructions immediately, every single time. 



Imagine if one of the children who survived had walked out of class to go to the bathroom, saying, "My mother told me to walk out when my teacher won't let me go to the bathroom." Or if they heard the commotion in the hallway and ran out hoping to see a fight. Or if they'd refused to stop talking while they hid in the closet.



It sounds melodramatic, but it's true. Please drill into your kids that teachers give them directions to keep them safe and help them learn.