Cindy!

A pretty good idea, Abi. In our family we have a code word...no matter who they are or what uniform they wear or what sob story they give about something happening to Mom ... without the code word, my children not only do not go with them...but run SCREAMING to a safe place and dial 911.

Yeah, I'm gonna hit spencers when I get a chance. Am swamped now with writing curriculum for my dept., doing the web page for the school, presenting at in-service days, training faculty on computer stuff, honor roll dinner, six flags trip planning...oh...and did I mention teaching??? busy, busy, busy The up side is...it will be summer BEFORE I'm ready for it!!!!!

Steve had a great time at dinner with Belle yesterday! He sent me a picture of her, but I haven't asked her if I can post it. He comes home tonight...yayyyyy!!!!!

Thanks for all the great poems...I've included a lot of them in my poetry exploration unit!!!

Thanks for all the ideas!!! Sharon...I keep meaning to email you and keep getting sidetracked! I'm going to check out as many of these suggestions as I can.

Thanks for all the input! LindaZ - am looking for posters and tableclothes, already have the stool, can't do blacklights due to student issues, can't do chianti bottles or candles cuz of school rules Radar - peace symbols....absolutely!!!! would love lava lamps if I can find them, but cannot do incense at school...again due to student issues dmiller...would LOVE that poster!!!!!send it on...maybe I'll have it laminated by my school so it'll last!!! ex10 - definitely keeping it simple...can't do the black lights and if I come across some psych stuff, I'll use it...but not looking hard for it mj412 - lookin on ebay for bead curtains!!!!! onion...no hemp, no how...no way, not in a public school WhiteDove...thanks for the link!

ror...this is exactly what I am looking for.

Thanks Linda...but I still need to find decorations and such....any help there???

I am ending the school year with a sixties style coffee house (complete with snapping) in my classroom. I need to find and get 60's style decorations. My students will be performing the poetry they have written this year. We will have snacks, groovy decorations and hopefully a small drum (if I can find one) Can anyone help with decorations or suggestions???? I want to make this as fun for my students as I can!

That's a real shame. I knew Ed years ago and he was such a decent person with a very loving heart. What a wonderful person he was, I will always have fond memories of him. I hope he wises up and leaves with his wife and his loving heart as whole as possible.

Song...think you've had too much holy communion...say a few hail !'s n then go sleep it off

You shoulda seen it in the original.

How does that make you feel, Groucho?

Here's to fishnets!!! oh...wait....

Whether you are in a cult, a bad marriage, a nutty family....whatever...when you leave abuse it can get lonely. That's the *dirty* side that needs to be talked about. Your family and friends for YEARS are built around this social construct. When you leave...you have no friends anymore. It can be unsettling. But relax...it's ok, and it's normal. When you are isolated from society by a cult, marriage, family...whatever....it can be scary and lonely. That is A LOT of the reason most of us at Greasespot Cafe are here. We've been there...we KNOW how scary and lonely it is....am I right, GSpotters???

Congrats, Aaron!!! Way to go!!!!!

Whitedove...I know. :)-->

I KNOW this is going to offend you and I apologize...but I will NEVER "counsel" my children in this minimalist manner. My children are thinking, feeling, logical, questioning beings that deserve to be heard, understood, validated, and allowed their own path for finding the 'truth'. Prayer is powerful...reading is good...ministering is good...but effective communication and interactive listening is essential to proper formation of adolescents. If I sit around wondering 'if' they will make it...then I haven't done my job as a parent very well, have I? I ENCOURAGE my children to question EVERYTHING. What is there to be afraid of? Nadda God is strong enough, loving enough, and aware enough to still be there throughout the path my children take. If I am motivated by the fear that they will 'trespass against god' .... what statement does that make about how REAL god is (or how real I am) My god is real enough to be proof through whatever. (

Whitedove....tried that link but didn't get into any message board...as I suppose most would not if they were not registered with that particular site. I can understand being sick and not being able to mail Stanley. When I am sick my priority sure isn't the mail. However...Jim reported that he mailed Stanley out before the end of February. That is two months ago. Maybe it doesn't matter to Jim because it is a little kid....or rather a whole classroom of little kids. There may or may not be a good reason for the delay or the fabrication of Stanley being mailed by Jim. Nevertheless, to post NOTHING...in two months? That is just wrong.

I SOOO agree, ex10. Friends.....MUCH more important than social pressure and religion.

I just read this in my nea magazine (that's a magazine for teachers). In response to a previous article on gays in education, it said: 'Your April article "Teaching Tolerance" was obscene. Tolerance means willfully enduring something unpleasant. Teachers should not "tolerate" gay students any more than they should "tolerate" African-American students. Tolerance is not what gay students need; respect and dignity are. Nothing else is acceptable.' Amen.

In middle and high school, the term being used by kids to express that something is bad, unpopular, boring, wrong style, etc... is "gay" I don't allow it in my classroom and when my students ask why, I tell them that it is a phrase born of ignorance and encouraged by fear and the same kind of no-brain thinking that civil rights was about. (and kids today think racial prejudice is 'stupid') If/when MOST people meet/become friends with someone who is gay, they realize that all the cr*p family, church, or whomever told them is based on nothing real. Ex, tell your very bright young lady that it is the same thing as being against having purple hair and making it part of your religion because you don't like it, are a bit afraid of it (maybe because you're not sure you DON'T want purple hair) and you decide to play god and treat anyone with purple hair as a sinner going to hell. Ain't God's fault when people act like fools. A phrase that goes around in my mind when I see those who lack tolerance and stick to fundamentalist dogma is: "Lord, save me from your followers." I always have to remember that there are many more people who don't act like they live in an Arthur Miller play.

Identifying a problem is not blame. Unless the process stops there. I mean, that's just logical, isn't it? You have to know the problem to reach a solution. I am in no way saying that there isn't blame...what I am saying is that if you stop at "so and so is to blame" then you solve nothing. If, on the other hand, you know your rights, know the problem, have researched solutions you will not stop at the blame. You will proceed until there is a solution that works. This is in NO WAY excusing anyone at blame...this is going beyond that to unify as a team to fix (or at least begin to fix) the problem. Some problems cannot be fixed quickly and do require lots of time, patience, and stubbornness (i.e. "fight").

Why does blame need to be placed AT ALL???? I have never seen a blame-fest help solve any problems. I think this is the case in many many situations inside and outside of school. Folks get so busy tossing blame around that time is wasted that could have been used to work TOGETHER to reach a solution. I have a son with severe adhd, who when in the classroom of a teacher who did not handle him well, would run out of the school and up and down the street. His behavior was bordering on opositional defiant. I was called to the school a number of times to "handle" my son. They wanted to throw blame at whoever they could to "deal" with this situation. I told them I was not playing the blame game. There IS a solution, and if they would care to work together, it would be reached. After that...we found a behavior plan that worked and the problems "disappeared." We don't need blame for teachers, parents, doctors, etc. We need to have an attitude to work together to help the PERSON, not help the problem.

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