2 weeks old

I took Gabrielle for her 2 week checkup yesterday. She now weighs ... (drum roll, please...) 9 pounds, 11 ounces and 21 3/4 inches. She has gained nearly a full pound since she was born. The pediatrician said that at 2 weeks they just expect them to have regained their birth weight and added a couple of ounces. He kept saying what a great baby she is and how well she is doing. And it's true. She is a great baby. She eats well, sleeps well for a newborn and is a sweet baby. She fusses but rarely really cries.

My family is in town now from Arizona. It's so nice to have them here. Since they are here, we will bless Gabrielle on Sunday in sacrament meeting. I'll add some pics of Gabrielle with my family tomorrow, but I need to go feed her and try to get to bed in an hour.

Ella's dancing

Ella loves to dance. (So does Michelle.) There's a song in Spanish that they especially love to sing and dance to. Ella gets really into it, shaking her bum. I wish I had a video, because the pictures don't do it justice. Here she is.

Ella wanted me to include this silly picture of her stuffing her face with chips. It has nothing to do with this post, but it made her happy to have me post it.

first days of kindergarten

Michelle started kindergarten yesterday. School actually started today, but they had a special first day for kindergarten only yesterday. Parents attended with the children (Alfredo went since Gabrielle is only 2 weeks old now). This week school goes from 8:15 -11:00. Next week there is no school so they can do kindergarten testing. Then they will start full day kinder on September 8.

Michelle and Ella before Michelle left for her first day. She looks cute in her school uniform.
showing off her backpack
on the Jackson sign in front of school this morning
lined up ready to go to class... Mom felt a little choked up but so proud!

Michelle made a calendar in kindergarten yesterday. She already knows how to write most, if not all, of her numbers. But her teacher taught them a song about forming letters and she came home and could sing the whole song to me. I was impressed that she had learned the whole song already.

She is so excited about school. I know she will do great. She was expecting to have 2 teachers, Miss Jennifer and Sra. Dahlquist, and was a little surprised/disappointed to have a different teacher Mrs. Pereda (I'm not sure on the spelling). But she likes her. I'm not sure if her teacher will be her teacher all year or is just a sub. But for now, I'm glad that Michelle is happy and enjoying school and excited to learn. We made a "school survival kit" for her teacher (thanks for the idea to Alyson and her friend Darcie!) which Michelle said her teacher loved.

Eight Things (tag)

I wasn't actually tagged by Shannon or Aly, but this looked fun, so here I am doing it.

8 Things I'm Passionate About:
1. My family
2. The church
3. My service and activity in the church
4. Teaching/education
5. My children's education and learning
6. Reading
7. Scrapbooking/recording family memories
8. Learning

8 BOOKS I've read and enjoyed (this is way too hard for me as I read so much, here are just a few I've liked):
1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
2. 3 Cups of Tea
3. Expecting Adam
4. Not My Sister's Keeper
5. The Covenant by Beverly Lewis (and the rest of the series)
6. Twilight series
7. The Covenant by Naomi Ragen
8. A Wrinkle In Time

8 Words/Phrases I say often:
1. I love you.
2. Please stop that.
3. That's enough.
4. You're my angel.
5. I love you more than life.
6. You're silly. That's silly.
7. Calm down.
8. Just a moment. I'm feeding the baby.

8 Things I want to do before I die:
1. Travel with Alfredo
2. Get something published: a book or article(s) for kids.
3. See my children married in the temple, having kids of their own.
4. Get my master's degree (and maybe a doctorate?)
5. Retire with a nice retirement after 25-30 years teaching. (I'll only be 52 after 30 years of teaching! Not bad.)
6. Go on a safari in Africa
7. Learn to speak Spanish fluently
8. Spend time in Costa Rica with my in-laws (I've still never met them)

8 Things I've Learned over the past year:
1. Lots of ways to be a better math teacher.
2. More about World War II and the holocaust (I read a lot about this)
3. I'm not as patient as my mom or as I would like to be.
4. Several new recipes that my family likes... so I can make them ahead and freeze them.
5. I'm learning how to style my daughters' hair better. I'm still not great, but I'm improving.
6. I love blogging!
7. The Lord takes care of us. Things don't always go as planned or hoped for, but if we follow the teachings of Jesus and listen to the Holy Ghost, we will be okay.
8. I'm good at being pregnant and having babies. :) When my body decides it's ready to have a baby, there's no stopping it. LOL!

8 Places I want to see:
1. Costa Rica/El Salvador
2. Hawaii
3. Alaska... on a cruise
4. Africa
5. Tonga
6. Spain (I've been to 8 other countries in Europe, but not to Spain)
7. Italy (again)
8. The rest of the US that I haven't seen

8 things I currently want/need:
1. Alfredo to find a new job
2. a longer maternity leave
3. more sleep
4. for Michelle to love kindergarten
5. to see my family (hooray... my mom, stepdad and sister are coming Wednesday.)
6. a new camcorder
7. to know how to use my camera better
8. to say thanks to all my friends and family for all the kind things/help people have given me and my family at the end of my pregnancy and birth of Gabrielle

8 People to tag:
Anyone who wants to....

math mumblings

Last night we had a barbecue and had some of our good friends over. Alfredo did an awesome job barbecuing and we had a lot of fun. (Thanks Alfredo!!! You worked hard.)

While we were all visiting, talk turned to school and even to the math program used by the local elementary school. Teaching math has changed a lot since any of us were in school and I know that many parents are surprised and even sometimes upset by some of the changes. I tried to explain the reasoning behind some of the changes. Even after the barbecue, thoughts kept tumbling in my head about teaching math (as I've mentioned before, I am passionate about teaching and bringing up education is one way to get me going... I try to shut up before I drive everyone crazy, but don't always succeed). So here are a few random thoughts about teaching math.

First, since our nation is so caught up in multiple choice testing right now, here's a little multiple choice test for each of you readers to take.

1. How did you feel about math as a kid?
a. I hated it.
b. I tolerated it.
c. I loved it!

2. How well did you do in math as a kid?
a. It was my worst subject. I was terrible at math.
b. I did pretty well, but I didn't REALLY understand it or like it.
c. I was a straight A student in math and I totally got it.

3. When you got to high school or college, how many math classes did you take?
a. I couldn't even pass basic algebra or geometry.
b. I took the bare minimum to graduate/get my degree.
c. I took as many math classes as I could.

4. When you reached higher level math classes (advanced algebra, trig, calculus), how did you feel/do?
a. It felt like I had accidentally walked into a third year Russian class, and had never taken Russian before.
b. I did okay, but I had to spend hours and hours studying and get some extra help.
c. I loved the challenge and did well.

So, I would guess that most people picked A's and B's. My mom was a math major in college and taught high school math for several years. I always did well in math because I was good at plugging in the formula or memorizing and using the algorithm. But honestly, despite my mom's background and my good grades, I really didn't understand math. I was just good at following the rules. Then I took AP Calculus and it felt like a foreign language. I didn't have a good enough understanding in why math worked to do well in calculus.

Today, the emphasis in teaching math has changed from learning one algorithm and solving a thousand problems using that algorithm to understanding how math works and finding a way to solve problems that works/makes sense to you. Most of my students end up loving math.

NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) has done a ton of research on what works and have developed a five strand approach to teaching math: Understanding, Computation, Application, Reasoning, and Engagement. Good teaching does all of these things. It DOES teach computation and kids should learn their facts. But it ALSO helps kids (adults) to understand how and why math works, to be engaged in difficult math problems, to be able to articulate their thinking and apply math to real life. Someone said that their child's teacher said "It isn't about getting the right answer." I would amend that to "It isn't JUST about getting the right answer."

A few more thoughts:
1. Of course, kids need to be able to do basic (and advanced) computation... +, -, x, and division. But if a child can do 15 problems correctly, is it really a good use of time to make them do another 45? And if a child CAN'T do 15 problems correctly, are they suddenly going to if you give them 45 more? (NO! If they get it, they get it. If not, they need to be retaught.) So today you'll usually see less problems on worksheets.
2. There is a stronger emphasis on rounding and estimating. I think this is good. How often do you REALLY, in real life, have to do long division or add up a bunch of multi-digit numbers without a calculator? Yet, I"m always estimating. As I grocery shop, I estimate how much I'm spending. As I get ready, I'm estimating how long it will take me to get to a certain place and what time I need to leave. I sometimes even estimate when I cook (although usually i follow recipes carefully). If I need to figure out an exact answer, I usually use a calculator. I can Add or divide but I rarely do. If I need to know what 472 x 31 is, I'll either grab a calculator or I'll think well, 500 x 30 =15,000 and 450 x 30= 13,500. So it's between there, about 14, 250.
3. If kids love math as young kids (or science or reading or whatever) they are more likely to be willing to put in hard work and keep trying when problems are difficult. Engagement (in any activity) is a huge part of people's willingness to put in an effort to succeed.
4. Most of us were taught one standard algorithm how to add or subtract. That is just the algorithm that someone decided should be taught. It is not always the easiest, fastest, or most accurate. In fact, other algorithms are taught and have been for years in other countries. Teaching kids more than one way to solve a problem helps more kids to find success. I shared this last night, but the standard way we were taught to subtract with regrouping has 52 ways you can make an error. But there are other ways that are less error prone and work just as well.
5. Programs are only as good as the teachers who use them. NOOO program out there is fail proof or can make up for poor teachers. But poor programs and some school's/district's insistence on using them can seriously hinder good teachers.
6. Again, facts are important, but they are less important, in my opinion than critical thinking skills, reasoning skills, etc. I would rather have a child be able to explain why his way of solving a problem works or be able to see how a skill learned in school is applicable to his life at home than have him be able to do 100 multiplication facts in 5 minutes, but not really understand what it means. (That was me as a child!)

I hope and believe that if math is taught well using these newer methods, then most kids would answer my multiple choice test with C's and B's, not A's and B's. That has been my experience.


SORRY... probably most of you could care less about all these ramblings about math. :) But at least getting them down, gets them out of my head so I can think about other things.

my beautiful girls

Just have to say how much I love my three beautiful girls!!!

sleeping beauty.... aka alfredo's twisted sense of humor

I've been trying to get the girls back into a school sleeping schedule the last couple of days. Yesterday, I got them both up early. Ella played hard all day and never took a nap. So last night when we were eating dinner her eyes were looking glazed and she was chewing pretty slowly. Suddenly her head fell forward and she was OUT! With a potato chip still in her hand. That is the sleeping beauty part. I told Alfredo we needed to get a picture of this. So with his twisted sense of humor, he decided it would be funny to get a beer and make it look like she'd been drinking. He ran across the street and borrowed a bottle from our neighbor (since we don't drink and don't have beer) and snapped a couple of shots. Of course, Ella WAS NOT drinking, just tired. But that's my husband for you. Quirky, strange sense of humor. But I must admit, it did lead to a couple of funny photos.