Investing in my kids #college #collegefund

I want to state up front that kids don't have to go to college to have a great career.  However, some fields do require that extra push to get a good placement.  That said, when my guys were little, my husband and I started Coverdell savings accounts for them for college.  We didn't invest a lot each month, but it was something.  With rising college costs, I'm really glad we did it.

For both of my kids, they take care of tuition.  Husband and I will do room/board while they're attending.  For my son (at KSU), this has worked out well.  After Hope, his spending account will cover almost all of the tuition he has to pay.  For my daughter (at GCSU), hers won't last quite as long. Primarily because her tuition is a bit higher than her brother's.  She also is receiving the Hope.

Both keep looking for additional scholarships to assist in the fees.  My son is caught in the catch-22 that is you can't get a job without experience, but you can't get experience without a job.  Daughter will have a problem with the job thing as she's a Theater major which means a lot of time spent with rehearsals and such.

At any rate, as a recommendation to friends/family/readers with young ones, invest in the savings account.  Even if they don't go to college they could go to a trade school.  The funds will go a long way to either..

Educator Open House @WorldofCocaCola @Ctr4chr and @GeorgiaAquarium #ad

Each year, World of Coca-Cola, Georgia Aquarium and Center for Civil and Human Rights invite local educators, including homeschool teachers, to visit the attractions for free to learn about educational and field trip opportunities.

  

Attending educators visit the attractions from 8-11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24 and may bring one guest, also free of charge. (They may purchase tickets for additional guests.) Pre-registration is required, so interested educators can register at https://www.georgiaaquarium.org/educator-open-house/. A valid teacher ID is required for entry to the event, and homeschool teachers may bring a copy of their Letter of Intent.

World of Coca-Cola welcomes school field trips throughout the year, and dozens of Georgia Performance Standards can be fulfilled at the attraction. World of Coca-Cola offers a teacher toolkit on its website, which outlines all of those Standards and provides pre- and post-visit activities to assist with lesson planning.

Educator's Day at the @WorldofCoca-Cola #hosted #learn #teacher #student #WorldofCocaCola

I was invited to attend Educator's Day at the World of Coca Cola, Georgia Aquarium, and Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Were you aware that you can take your child (as a home school student) or your school can take your child to the World of Coca-Cola and actually LEARN while they're there?  Admittedly, it's aimed more at 8th-12th grade students, but still.  What better way to learn than hands on while doing something fun?

You can actually do the same thing at the Georgia Aquarium (not as surprising) as well as at the Center for Civil and Human Rights.  All three make great resources to utilize when possible.  The World of Coca-Cola welcomes school field trips throughout the year, and dozens of Georgia Performance Standards can be fulfilled at the attraction. World of Coca-Cola offers a teacher toolkit on its website, which outlines all of those Standards and provides pre- and post-visit activities to assist with lesson planning.

I took my family along with me for the day.   The Coke Museum is always fun, especially to try the sampling floor.  We always end up talking about what the different cultures like in flavors.   Hubs hadn't had Beverly (or at least didn't remember having tried it), so we made sure he did.

 It was my son's and husband's first time visiting the Center for Civil and Human Rights.  They found it very interesting and informative.  It would be fun to go back when they're having a special event to learn something new.

The Aquarium opened up the back education loop for educators.  We were able to see the top side of Tropical Diver, Ocean Voyager, Coldwater Quest (belugas), and River Scout.  Neither of the boys had ever been up there, so they had a blast.  I hadn't had a chance to see the puffins (I stopped volunteering before they were in place), so that was neat to see.

All together, we had a lot of fun.  If my kids were younger, I'd definitely make an effort to include some of the learning points the three facilities provide.  As it is, I recommend it to fellow educators and home school parents to give it a look over.

Educator Day 2018 @WorldofCoca-Cola #GeorgiaAquarium #CenterforCivilandHumanRights #Ad

 Each year, World of Coca-Cola, Georgia Aquarium and Center for Civil and Human Rights invite local educators, including homeschool teachers, to visit the attractions for free to learn about educational and field trip opportunities.

Attending educators visit the attractions from 8-11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8 and may bring one guest, also free of charge. (They may purchase tickets for additional guests.) Preregistration is required, and space is limited, so interested educators should register as soon as possible at https://www.georgiaaquarium.org/experience/learn/educator-open-house.  A valid teacher ID is required for entry to the event, and home school teachers may bring a copy of their Letter of Intent.

World of Coca-Cola welcomes school field trips throughout the year, and dozens of Georgia Performance Standards can be fulfilled at the attraction. World of Coca-Cola offers a teacher toolkit on its website, which outlines all of those Standards and provides pre- and post-visit activities to assist with lesson planning.

Georgia Agritourism - fun and learning done right #hosted #GAagritourism #ExploreGeorgia

I was given the opportunity last week to travel with some fellow bloggers and influencers to find out more about Georgia Agritourism and some of the farms that participate.  I've known for a long time that there are a lot of farms that open their doors to the public to allow them to pick their own berries and other garden products.  I wasn't, though, aware of just the variety that was available and some of the OTHER things they offer not only to the schools willing/able to travel, but to the general public as well.  Most of the farms aren't currently open to the general public.  The average opening date is end of September (Sept. 30).

Over the next week or so, I'll share some of what I learned as well as what I saw.  I'll also try to share some of their upcoming events and give information about how to find out more and to get there.  The picture below is just a sampling of 4 of the farms we toured.  It was an awesome experience and I look forward to taking my own kids out to visit again.

In the meantime, check out my instagram and twitter feeds for other pictures from my trip.  Many have already been posted for you to preview.

Georgia Aquarium #EducatorsDay #hosted

As part of Educator's Day over the weekend, my daughter and I were able to go to the Georgia Aquarium as well.  We got there just in time to watch the whale sharks be fed.  Fortunately, we were able to get to the top of the exhibit to watch it from. 

We toured the Aquarium's Education loop, where classes for both brick and mortar schools are held, as well as home school opportunities.  Their programs are geared toward age levels.  IE: 1st & 2nd grade, 3rd & 4th grade, etc.  With tools and tours geared appropriately.  You can find more information about their education programs on the Georgia Aquarium web site.

Educator's Day at the #WorldofCocaCola #EducatorsDay #hosted

My daughter and I were hosted over the weekend as part of Educator's Day by the World of Coca Cola.  As usual, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.   Our favorite part of visiting the museum would probably be the Vault.  The place where the real formula is kept.  Of course, there's always sampling the varieties of drinks from around the world.

There's more to the museum than just being a guest, though.  The World of Coca-Cola offers educators tools that will help students learn as well as an enjoyable field trip opportunity.  From their educator's tool kit :

Explore connections between what students experience at World of Coca-Cola and fulfillment
of core educational standards. Our Teacher Toolkit provides educators with the necessary tools to
ensure class field trips are educational as well as entertaining.

The Toolkit provides links to:

• Social Studies
• English/Language Arts
• African American History Month
• Green Guide

If you get the chance as either a home school educator or as a public school educator, it's worth checking out.

Reading Rainbow comes out with Skybrary School @readingrainbow @levarburton #SkybrarySchool

LeVar Burton & Reading Rainbow introduce SKYBRARY SCHOOL, a digital library for K-3 educators & students. Lean more today! http://bit.ly/1W64ocQ 

Tomorrow we vote on Gwinnett County BOE SPLOST #vote #recruit

So, tomorrow you can vote on Gwinnett County Board of Educations' SPLOST .  It's a special election and should be a slow day, but it's worth your effort to get out and let your voice be heard.  Click the link to find out more information.

For those with teens interested in working the polls, here's a bit of interesting information.  They'll start recruiting as soon as possible for the elections next year.

Thoughts for Thursday - Gwinnett education

I attended the District V meeting for the Gwinnett Board of Education this past Tuesday.   For the most part it seemed to be testimonies to how good Gwinnett is for public education.  I'll admit that I appreciated the boys that spoke, especially the young man from GIVE West and his mom.  I was not, though, expecting that.  I'm not sure what I *did* expect, it just wasn't that.

At any rate, I did come away with a little bit of use.  Mr. Wilbanks spoke with a presentation about the initiatives that Gwinnett has in place.  IE: Core Curriculum (put into terms I could understand), eClass (which my son won't benefit from while he's in HS), and the teacher evaluations.  Most of the audience were faculty/staff from the area, so I'm certain they're primary interest was in the last item.

Mixed in there, though, was information about changes coming to CRCT testing.   Similar to Gateway, instead of straight out multiple choice, the kids will have essays and short answer.  This will allow the kids to show that they know the material even if they get the answers incorrect.  As much as I don't care for over testing students, I do prefer this type of testing to the other.

I was also able to view the preliminary budget that was approved by the board.  Not a lot of big changes there, as a parent I don't see anything that I will complain about.  They're dropping the furlough days, though teachers won't get a cost of living increase.  I'm sure that there will be a lot of words about that.

That was effectively my take away from the meeting.  Not a lot for 2 hours of time, but I won't call it a waste of time either.  I'd rather have gone and come away with what I did, then to have not gone.

#WW Positive Thinking through #ChoiKwangDo

Not so wordless this time. When my son was having so many problems last semester with school, I was looking for any way I could positively affect his manner. I attended EdCamp Atlanta and there I talked with several teachers who emphasized positive work areas. So, after much thought on the matter, I came up with this. It is proudly framed over his desk and he loves it. It's him at his ee-dan testing. I videoed the test and managed to snag this one shot of him in action. I found a free poster maker app online and created the poster with the Principles on it. I can't say it's definitely influenced him, but it certainly hasn't hurt.

Monday Musings

This school year has been a major struggle for us. We got off on the wrong foot with my son and had to play a major catch up game. By mid-terms we found out that my daughter had slipped as well. We caught up and thought we'd get the second half of the semester off to a good start only to hit another road bump. I won't call it major, but it seemed so at the time. My kids aren't monitoring their work well and apparently I'm inept at following up. A couple of the teachers are good at giving me a quick heads up on issues, but others not so much. It's to the point where I'm contemplating if it's all worth the effort.

We moved from GCA last year for a couple of reasons. One being that I wasn't able to support my son's accelerated math curriculum. Another that I had started work (part time) and I found it hard to juggle both. A third, and rather major one, was that I plan to have my kids attend a regular brick and mortar high school. This was to be a transition especially for my son back to that point. I've had it pointed out to me that maybe the transition is as much for me to relearn how to deal with "regular" teachers and schools as it is for the kids.

So, I'm working on my research into our options. I've plugged in with the cluster superintendent and the local HS principal to get information about the zoned HS. I've plugged in with a mom I haven't spoken to in a while who has students attending our zoned MS. So far she's been pleased with the programs they've been offered and has had no problems. Since I unplugged as a substitute teacher, I'm trying to work on reconnecting to other sources as well. Maybe our area is improving enough where I can actually consider sending my daughter to the local MS next year. I don't know. It's all very fluid at this point.

Voting - Know your Candidates!

There's more to this November's ballot than the president's race. There are local elections as well. It's your responsibility to make sure you know who is running and what they stand for. It's apathy on our part that puts people in positions of power that shouldn't be there. Gwinnett County Board of Education reps are facing challengers. You can see an article about it from the AJC here.

If you don't know who's running in your district, you can check out the state's elections page and it will tell you: http://mvp.sos.state.ga.us/

Do your research and when you go to the polls in November, maybe we can get things fixed around here!

Appreciative Inquiry from #EdCampATL

One session from last Saturday was actually titled "AI Discover, Dream, Design, Destiny", led by Dr. Stan Johnson. I wasn't sure exactly what it was referring to (my technical brain immediately changed AI -> Artificial Intelligence), though I was sure my initial thought was wrong. I was correct that I was wrong.

The general idea was called "Pollyanna-ish" even by the person presenting it. The basic idea is to change your thought from "fixing what's broken" to instead looking for the strengths already there to build from. It's very much a "look on the positive side" approach.

The model that we were given had 4 parts that overlapped in the middle for the end result. The first part was Discovery. This is Appreciating or the "Best of what is". This is how you find the strengths to start from. Second came the Dream, or envisioning "what could be". What are you working toward/for? Then is Design, or co-constructing, "what should be". This is also the implementation of your plan. Last is Destiny, to create "what will be".

The start to the whole process is to change the language. Instead of trying to "fix" what is broken, try to build what is going right. For example, if someone isn't sure of their strengths, try changing their resume from timeline format to an abilities based format. Then what the CAN do is listed in an easy form to see.

Once you know what your big goal is, set a reasonable time line for the actions to happen. Work from a small win in the first few days, to the next win. When you get stuck, try to imagine who you know that is successful doing this? Then look to their design to strengthen what you want to happen. If an answer to a question comes back with "I don't know", try asking "What would it look (or feel) like if you DID know?"

The key to all of it may be the ability to adapt. By teaching positive or reinforcing positive strengths, you will find that you will adapt to what is the new position. If you are guiding someone, build in small blocks to reinforce the behavior you want. They will eventually provide the way on their own to get to the point they should be.

Of course, this is all very good in theory. We'll have to see if I can actually implement it on anything.

#EdCampAtl It's all about the Learning..

I went to EdCampAtlanta this past Saturday to see what I could see. I didn't have a lot of expectations for me specifically since I'm not a 'teacher', though I do have my kids at home during school. I wanted to know what an un-conference was, and I wanted to know what I could do to help out both my kids and the kids/families I work with. What I came away with will keep me busy chewing for a while.

The day started with individuals electing to 'lead' discussions on various topics. Several spoke of things they'd recently discovered, some shared what they've been working on. I rolled the dice for the most part as to what I actually went to and have to say I came up pretty well.

Having two kids in a virtual charter school and myself working for a different virtual charter, I'm aware of a lot of what's possible. What I didn't know was what the teachers were doing to take advantage of those things. Brick and mortar doesn't operate the same way, in general, so it was interesting to find out what has changed in some schools. There are still quite a few, though, that are behind what other would consider the 'norm'.

To find out that some schools (middle/high) have the kids actually utilizing their cell phones as part of their lessons was spellbinding. I love that! They're going to use them any way, why not take advantage of it? These same teachers are starting to use twitter to get conversations going among their students both in and outside of their classrooms. Wonderful! They're also utilizing a multitude of sites to get the kids to collaborate on projects and research.

What was really cool, though, was sharing the ways and means of getting the kids involved. To get the teachers connected, use what the kids use and to keep it flowing. I'd love to see more schools start encouraging this interaction among the teachers AND the students and then see what we can ALL learn in the process.

The Educator's Room @educatorsroom

For the past couple of months, I've been writing/creating articles for a new web site/magazine called The Educator's Room. My articles are written from a parent perspective since I'm not a teacher. The articles that are hosted are written by educators and others involved in the education of our children from around the nation.

My most recent article is Virtual Schools: An alternative choice for parents. This being our third year using a virtual school for our kids, I wanted to make sure that more parents realize it IS a choice for them to make.

I've also been helping to work on the Pinterest pages for the group. It's been a lot of fun finding new information that may be useful to teachers or to parents who teach at home (whether using home school curriculum, purchased online curriculum, or public virtual school). With parents realizing they have to be more involved in their child's education, it makes a wonderful resource.

I highly recommend checking it out. Not just because I contribute, though I'd love for you to check out my articles and provide useful feedback, but because I believe it's a valuable resource. You can find us on facebook as well: https://www.facebook.com/TheEducatorsRoom

Mission Possible Stagnation in our Schools #readmissionpossible @MoskowitzEva

When looking at our education system, especially here in Atlanta, most people immediately look at our teachers. They see teachers who have stopped raising the bar for their students. Teachers that have very low morale, who have stopped enjoying their jobs, are a symptom of a broken system. We teach to the test and when the students don't pass, they take the easy way to fixing the problem. If you look at other countries, the US is far behind sixteen other countries in math and reading. What are we doing wrong? Why are our teachers (and schools) failing our children?

"In a world where prosperity is almost entirely driven by brains, not brawn, we are losing the education race." Mission Possible


The bar for our children is set low so that the poorest performing student can jump it. Expectations for a class is set by what is expected by the community the students are coming from. If the community is poor, they expect the children to be poor and perform low. What explains the affluent? What would happen if we raised the bar for ALL of the children and taught to the smartest? Who says the lowest can't have the bar raised and actually accomplish MORE if we only expect it and let them know they CAN do better? Rather than saying "you won't do well", what if we said "we know you're better than that"?

Could it be if we reteach our teachers to expect the most out of all of the students (and themselves) that they would again show pride in their work? Would they be able to improve our student's performance if we give them the tools to rebuild what our children know, so that they have the skills to learn? What if we actually taught them CRITICAL THINKING?

If we parents can be more involved in our child's education. If we challenge an administrator to give the teacher the tools they need to help not just teach, but CHANGE, a child. If the teacher can take pride in their work, take the student and hold onto them, show them how to THINK about a problem and how to solve it quickly. If we challenge the teachers to raise the bar for themselves, thus raising the bar for the children. If we're all willing to be accountable for the system, we may stand a chance to compete in a world that's out educating our children.

I read the book "Mission Possible, How the Secrets of the Success Academies can work in any school" by Eva Moskowitz and Arin Lavinia. It shows a breakdown of the questions I asked and how they have been addressed by a series of charter schools in Harlem and other areas. Mission Possible shows that given the right tools, training and structure, teachers CAN change the way our children learn. Adminstrators that are involved in how the teachers teach can make a difference in the way teachers work with their students. It shows that we really CAN turn things around. The authors even demonstrate how they've implemented the changes for their faculty and staff and how it works with their children. It is a wonderful point to jump from in making a change.

Disclaimer: I was compensated for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.

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Charter Schools & Legislation

Given my support of charter schools (especially since my kids attend one), I have to speak out against HB 797 (which has already passed, but is pursuant to the constitutional amendment for charter schools being passed) and HR 1162. I'm not sure that those that support the bill have thoroughly read it through or thought about the implications.

"(b) The commission shall be appointed by the State Board of Education and shall be composed of a total of seven members and made up of three appointees recommended by the Governor, two appointees recommended by the President of the Senate, and two appointees recommended by the Speaker of the House of Representatives."

If I'm going to have a commission that oversees part my child's education, I want them elected, not appointed. It's too easy for posts to be given as a political favor, or for it to be divided on political lines. We live in a democracy which has too much bad bureaucracy already. Adding in this is not a good idea. We are having enough issues with making sure our kids are properly educated without having to worry about a commission that doesn't have to be transparent or be held accountable by their constituents.

I'm all for charter schools and would love to see more created. There has to be, though, a point where the people in a district have a voice in when/where/what for their schools. What most don't realize, though, is that the state ALREADY has the right to create 'special charter schools'. There is no need for a constitutional amendment to create a charter commission. --

Ga. Const. Art. VIII, § V, Para. VII

PARAGRAPH VII. Special schools


(a) The General Assembly may provide by law for the creation of special schools in such areas as may require them and may provide for the participation of local boards of education in the establishment of such schools under such terms and conditions as it may provide; but no bonded indebtedness may be incurred nor a school tax levied for the support of special schools without the approval of a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon in each of the systems affected. Any special schools shall be operated in conformity with regulations of the State Board of Education pursuant to provisions of law. The state is authorized to expend funds for the support and maintenance of special schools in such amount and manner as may be provided by law.

(b) Nothing contained herein shall be construed to affect the authority of local boards of education or of the state to support and maintain special schools created prior to June 30, 1983.

So, why is it that we need a commission to handle what's already there? So, in effect, HR1162 is just proposing a change to something that doesn't need to be changed.

Then there's always the question of finance. The economy is bad, we all know that. Just look at DeKalb and what they're going through because of bad management of money. I could wish there were an easy way to settle that issue, but there's not. In the mean time, we don't need to fix something that isn't necessarily broken. It just needs to be utilized appropriately.

So, I won't be voting to change the constitution of our state. I'd hope that you'd consider the above, as well as fully read both HB 797 and HR1162 before you vote next week on the democratic straw poll. Vote on the amendment is in November.