Michelle Sings Good-Bye to my Mom

One of my mom's really good friends wrote and sang this song for her. It touched my heart and soul and I hope it does you too...

Saying Good-Bye to my Mom

I'm cutting and pasting the post my sister just wrote about what's been going on in the last week because I just don't have the strength to write about it myself. I hope you all send some thoughts our way as this is the hardest, but most peaceful, thing I've ever had to do. Please click here to get the full story.

50th in the Nation

I'm starting out this post with this sobering news for teachers that was released recently:

...And just this week, Education Week released the Quality Counts report that provides snapshots of nationwide school finance data. Again reported in Great Education Colorado, the news is bad for our state:

We're continuing "the Colorado trajectory" -- falling farther behind the nation and other states that are competing with us for jobs, economic development opportunities and educators.

Here's a comparison of the 2008, 2009, and 2010 Quality Counts data (note that because of the lag in available data, the new statistics are based on 2007 expenditures -- that is, before the current recession):

Per pupil funding, adjusted for regional cost differences:

2008: 38th nationally

2009: 40th

2010: 42nd

Per pupil spending (adjusted for regional cost differences) compared to U.S. Average:

2008: $1,034 below the national average

2009: $1,449 below the national average

2010: $1,919 below the national average

Rank in teacher pay parity (i.e., how teacher salaries compare to salaries in comparable professions):

2008: 43rd

2010: 50th

That's the context for the current legislative session -- where cuts of at least an average $440 per pupil are virtually certain for the coming school year.

~ Great Education Colorado, January 26

So...pretty depressing news for those of us who have dedicated our professional lives to trying to improve public education in a way that we believe would best serve our kiddos. Colorado is projected to be 50th in the nation in terms of paying teachers a comparable salary to other people with the same amount of education. That is just awesome.

It's always interesting to me when schools try to get taxpayers to give them more money by putting a two or three cent tax increase on every $10 spent. These tax increases usually fail and a lot of the reasons that are cited for this is; "Schools suck anyway...more money isn't going to help" or "I don't have kids so I don't need to help pay for my neighborhood schools" or my favorite, "Schools have all the money they need...they're just mismanaged."

I'll tell you something about my school. We had to cut two full-time teachers this year making our 5th grade class sizes insane. There are about 35 kids in each of the 5th grade classes making for a classroom management nightmare. I have 28 kids in my 2nd grade class right now and I'd like you to imagine the amount of individual attention each one of them gets. It's not a whole lot. We've cut technology services so it takes about 2 months for any computer issue to be resolved. Imagine how often the kids get computer time with that issue. There are no after-school programs anymore, no new equipment, no field trips this year due to budget cuts. The high school alone has lost 15 professional teachers (that means teachers who have been teaching for 5 years or more) to other professions due to being overworked and underpaid. The high school had to scramble to fill those positions and they are staffed with whoever they could get. There are many other examples, but this post would be way too long.

So for those of you here in Colorado that constantly are complaining about the quality of public education, who talk about how you're going to send your kids to private schools or charters, who make jokes about how teachers just hang out in schools and don't do anything due to tenure...

I have a phrase for you: "You get what you pay for."

Thank You for the Christmas Gifts!

This post is shockingly late, but not for lack of appreciation. The only thing I can claim is life got in the way of my sending you a proper and prompt "Thank You" from the bottom of my heart for all you did to help my kiddos for Christmas. Here is a bit from the letters:

"...thank you for the scool suppliz! now mi mom and me can do mi homework!"

"...thank you for the shoes and glovs becuz my hands wont get cold playing in the sno."

"...I really needed a coat and gloves and now I have them and I want to thank you so much because I really needed them and socks too so thank you! It was the nicest day in all of the days."

"...I was so excited to get the toys and gloves and hats and shirts and books and crayons and all the other things because I needed those things like really really bad. my friends needed them too and now we have them and it was my best and favorite day."

"...I neded the soesz bekuz my toz stuk out of my old soesz."

"..it was my best day when we got the prezents and my mom cryed when she saw the prezents."

So to all of you who forwarded my email, sent a check or a gift card, or sent supplies, books, or just a card, we now have 110 very happy 2nd graders due to your spirit, generosity, and love. Words can't express how grateful we are to all of you so hopefully some of the attached pictures might. Please forward this post on to anyone who I may have missed.

Happy New Year to all of you!

Maelin Sings to Baby Omari

We got to help babysit our friend's 3 month old little boy last night and Maelin is totally in love with him. Here is a quick video of her singing to him...

Still Here

So this has probably been the longest I have ever gone between posting something so I just wanted to let you all know that I'm still here. We've been having quite a few weeks between having lots of family come to visit for the holidays to me coming down with strep throat to crazy times getting back to work to some issues that have taken all of us out of commission for a while.

Suffice it to say, we are all fine and still kicking. I will be back at it soon and I promise to post about the gifts that my kids received, about Christmas, our wonderful visitors, the latest happenings at school, and a few other stories. Until then, thanks for checking back and happy 2010!

Here's a recent picture of our little one with my cousin Peter who was visiting for New Years. I promise more of Christmas, my classroom and all sorts of stuff coming soon!

THANK YOU for the Christmas Help!

On the eve of the "Big Gift Day", I just wanted to quickly say THANK YOU to everyone who sent a gift card, sent clothes, mailed cash and even dropped off supplies and gifts without even leaving me a name so I could thank you personally. Thanks to your generosity, your kindness, your activism, and your spirit, over 100 kids will be having a day tomorrow that they'll never forget. We were able to get over 100 kids the following items:

Hats, Gloves, Scarfs
Socks
Shoes
Blankets
Toys
Books
School Supplies
Coats
Playground Equipment
Sweatshirts/Hoodies/Sweaters

We even have enough funds left over to get a set of flash cards for each kiddo to take home with them. Words aren't going to be able to describe the joy on their faces tomorrow when Sgt. Alex and his unit from the Air Force arrive to give us all these gifts and they open all of the donated items, so be on the lookout for the pictures.

You all are proof that even in this economy, angels are alive and well and the other 2nd grade teachers and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Merry Christmas!

Mara

Christmas Time Comes But Once A Year...

...and thank goodness for it. I'm so crazed...trying to organize the holiday gift drive for the entire 2nd grade, working, dealing with Mae and the terrible two's, and just life in general has got me totally exhausted. So...hence the lack of recent posts to this site.

Here a few pictures of the holiday happenings as of today. I'm sure we'll have more to post soon (as as soon as xmas break rolls around, I'll have more time to do it) so keep checking back!

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What I Am Thankful For...

My wordless Thanksgiving post...

"I Don't Need Anything, Except Some Shoes."

Those of you who have been following this blog for a while probably remember the amazing, heartwarming story last Christmas of the outpouring of generosity and love I received for the students in my class. If you don't remember, or you're a new reader, click here for the rundown of what happened last year.

I decided I wasn't going to sit back and watch my kids go through another holiday season receiving absolutely nothing. I was going to try to make a difference (it's why I do what I do, after all) and at least try to do something about it.

And it worked. Oh my gosh, it worked. That day last year in my classroom will forever go down as one of the greatest days in my life.

Well, here we are again. This year might even be more desperate than last year due to the economy and budget cuts everywhere you turn. In a nutshell: I work in a very impoverished school district. Over 95% of our kiddos qualify for the free and reduced lunch program. We have a huge homeless population and have many kids who only eat at school every day. I had been tossing around the idea of trying to organize this whole gift thing again and the thought of it was a bit exhausting. It was so much work last year (totally worth it), and I just didn't know if I had it in me again this time around.

However, two things happened that changed my mind. The first is my wonderful friend Sgt. Alex contacted me and said he and his base wants to contribute this year again to my students...but they want to make it bigger! They want to get gifts to the entire 2nd grade! When he called me and told me that, I thought if he is willing to go to all that trouble for kiddos he's never even met, then I can surely do my part as well. The second thing that changed my mind is what follows: we had our 2nd graders write some letters to Santa asking for what they would like for Christmas. If it's even possible, they are even sadder this year than they were last. Here are a few excerpts from them: (I'm not going to edit anything they say...typos and all)

"I nide food for my famli beause my dad has a boss woo doesnt want him to work anymor."

"...a penciles and an eraser because I have none."

"...two pair of shoos because my are ripet on the botom. I also need a bed because I never had one."

"...I would like some pencils because I am allmost done and I only hav the one pencil. I want a cote and a good life. It is hard."

"...I don't want nothing but my sider needs a coat."

"...a Hannah Montana doll because it is fun to play with dolls and I've always wanted one but only mi sister has a doll and when I wanted a doll mi mom said we didn't have enuf money yet for a doll."

"...I neeb food and socks becaue my socks all have holls."

"......I need some new sock and shoes because mine sock are riped back at home."

"...and I want a good book to read at my house."

"...I want to hav shoes and cluz for my sister and me."

"...I would please like to have some more frute and some glofs because I did not have some before."

"...I don't need anything but please get my teacher Mssis Corzine some books for the classroom because we ripped her books."

Now this is just a few of the replies. Imagine 110 letters...almost every single one of them is just like this. I've actually got tears in my eyes as I sit here in my nice warm house, working on my laptop, tripping over all of Maelin's toys and I can't even fathom what it would be like as a parent to not be able to afford fruit for my child. Or shoes. Or a pencil. Or socks. Or not be able to bundle them up in a coat when it's cold outside. To watch them trudge away in ripped socks, holey shoes and no coat when it's 20 degrees outside.

So again, I'm making my passionate plea to all of you: you were so incredibly generous last year and I'm hoping we can get even a fraction of that again this year. Here's the deal: We'll take anything EXCEPT cash/checks. Gift cards to Wal-Mart would be the most helpful because we could trade them in for gifts and the Wal-Mart here in Commerce City gives us tax-exempt status. We'd also love any chapter books, school supplies, etc. I will take care of making sure every child in the entire 2nd grade will get something new this Christmas.

Please send what you can to:

Alsup Elementary School
c/o Mara Corzine
7101 Birch Street
Commerce City, CO 80022

I'll need everything in the school by December 14 so I can have time to wrap and distribute. Again, thank you for caring about these kids. Anything you can send us will be greatly appreciated!! Let's show these kids that people do care about them and that they matter!!

Halloween 2009...Our Cranky Little Witch

Halloween has come and gone again this year...and again, Maelin was pretty sick for it. If you'll remember Halloween last year, she did not feel good for most of it but was able to rally enough to enjoy trick-or-treating like the little trooper that she is. Exactly the same thing this year. The poor little thing had come down with a double ear infection and general fever/grumpiness. It was so sad. Plus...we were hit with a pretty big snowstorm about 3 days before so it was pretty chilly.

Nonetheless...armed with Auntie Kat, Uncle Jeff, Elmo and our handmade-by-Grandma Lea-Witch-Costume, we headed out to trick-or-treat. Honestly, Mae didn't care that much about knocking on doors and getting candy. She was much more excited about being allowed to walk in the street. Naturally, we never let her do that so it was a pretty big deal for her. We knocked on exactly 2 doors before she got so feisty about the whole business, we just gave up and walked around the block. Then we got home and tried to stop Uncle from stealing all of Maelin's candy (one of the pics of this is below...she's like, "Dude..stop stealing my candy!")

The biggest thing I want to remember about Halloween is how much fun each holiday is becoming. We're slowly creating our own traditions with our little one and she's starting to understand what's going on so much better. Every day it seems she's changed a bit more, learned something new, and responds so much better to what's going on around her. She's the absolute light of my life and I'm so excited for what's next...except I wish she'd slow down the growing up just a bit.

PTA: Not For Parents Anymore

All the research proves it and you don't have to go far to find it. I'm talking about the fact that the number one factor in whether or not kids succeed in school is the amount of parental involvement.

According to researchers Karen Smith Conway (professor of economics at the University of New Hampshire) and Andrew Houtenville (senior research associate at New Editions Consulting), parental involvement has a strong, positive effect on student achievement.

“Parental effort is consistently associated with higher levels of achievement, and the magnitude of the effect of parental effort is substantial,” Conway said. “We found that schools would need to increase per-pupil spending by more than $1,000 in order to achieve the same results that are gained with parental involvement.”

(Click here for an excellent article by the Michigan Department of Education on the research-based benefits of strong parental involvement in schools.)

So after spending thousands of dollars and over 9 years attaining my BA and MA in Education and Psychology, after spending countless hours in workshops, classes and professional development seminars, and after spending days, weeks, months, years and my heart and soul teaching kids, I found myself at my school's monthly PTA (Parent-Teacher Association) meeting tonight. I am one of the teachers delegated to be a representative and I believe strongly in the positive affects that a strong PTA can have on a community. Especially one of our social-economic status.

I was exhausted: I've worked all day and Maelin has been having a hard time lately. There's been extra drama we've all been dealing with and she's been going through a "Mommy Stage" lately. Sandra literally had to yank her off of me this morning so I could get to work on time. She was grabbing my neck and screaming, "Momma...Momma...don't leave you!" and sobbing hysterically. Needless to say, I cried all the way to work.

But I digress. So there I was at the PTA meeting with 2 other teachers, the principal, the school secretary and the assistant principal. We have been advertising this meeting for weeks: it's on the school marquee sign, it's in the monthly and weekly newsletters, we put stickers on each kid on the day of the meeting to remind the parents and we send home PTA brochures in English and in Spanish at least 3 times a year inviting everyone and anyone to please come join us.

We have a school population of about 595. Guess how many parents were at the PTA tonight?

Three. There were 3 parents there. The President, the Secretary and the Treasurer. That's it folks. Not a single parent came besides the officers. Not a one.

Oh, there's many reasons for this. Lots of our parents work 2, 3, or even 4 jobs. We offer free baby-sitting so the parents know they could bring the kids and we'll watch them for you, so that's not the issue. Some parents don't have transportation to get there...but our school is smack-dab in the middle of a ton of houses where I know for a fact our kiddos live, so it's not that far of a walk. We also provide translation services so if a Spanish-speaking parent wanted to come, everything would be translated.

So what's the problem? I wish I knew.

It's really hard to get behind the government's push to create better schools, hire better teachers, raise test scores when I KNOW that if we could just get the darn parents to support their child and the school, our scores would skyrocket! There's nothing I can do about that...except to continue to provide food for the PTA meetings.

And then bring all the uneaten leftovers to the teacher's lounge for lunch the next day because even though we hoped and hoped that at least a couple of parents will show up...the teachers are the only ones there. That's right. We care about your child's education. We're there till 8pm even if you're not. We will continue to hope that maybe one day...all that food will be eaten.