How to pass the bread

"The Skin I'm In"

Our Pre-Teen girls are reading and discussing "The Skin I'm In" by Sharon Flake this summer.

"Miss Tameshia is stuck in the computer!"

Over the past few days, I've been dealing with a nasty stomach virus (gastroenteritis) but of course I didn't let that stop us from having Digital Connectors. On Monday and Tuesday, I held class from my couch via Skype.

As Mr. An setup the webcam for Digital Connectors, he allowed some of our After School Academy students to speak to me on Skype. Iesha, was walking in the hallway when she heard my voice. She was completely confused because she hadn't seen me all day and she didn't see my car. She quickly ran into the computer lab (Connect U) to investigate where my voice was coming from. She soon realized that my voice was coming from the computer. Then she grabbed Mr. An and exclaimed "Miss Tameshia is stuck in the computer!" She even offered to jump in and save me.

Soon after, Ta'Kyra and Amaryee (Kindergartners), asked how to spell my name. I quickly spelled it out for them. Within a matter of 3 mins, I saw a piece of paper held up to the camera. Unsure of what it said exactly, I asked Ta'Kyra to read it to me. "Tameshia, I hope you feel better tomorrow!", she said. It wasn't spelled correctly but it's the CARING that counts.

As the Digital Connectors filtered in, I continued to speak to Ta'Kyra and introduced her to my family including the dog. I wanted to sure her even more with Skype, so I had her pose for a picture and then shared my screen with her. I showed her the picture, I had just taken of her. Completely amazed, she asked Shannon (Digital Connector) to help her take a picture of me with their webcam. Mr. Phillip and Mr. An had a hard time pulling them away from Skype.

During our Digital Connectors class, I conducted a scavenger hunt of Web 2.0 tools. I created a video and had the students re-create it. I watched what they did via screen share and answered any questions they had.

Thanks to technology...I was able to conduct classes while I'm at home sick!

Communication is valuable!!!

It amazes me how many of our parents are unaware of the services offered through the school. I know that as parents we receive a student guide for our children, but the reality is how many of us read them and I am not sure if it gives information on resources. I plan to do some research on D.I.S.D. and see if they have helpful resources for parents. I know they have counselors, liaisons and nurses but many parents don't know who they are unless their child has behavior issues or they get sick while at school. When I was growing up everyone knew the counselor and nurse personally, Now days things have shifted, Parents are having to find outside resources themselves. For example, I had a student come to me stating that he was not feeling well, I asked him what was wrong, and he told me his head was hurting plus he had a runny nose, so immediately I thought about the swine flu that is going around and sent him home. Shortly after his grandmother called and asked why he was sent home and I told her that he was not feeling well, she then told me that she had took him to the doctor and the doctor stated that he needed glasses. I asked her have she talked with someone about getting him to an eye doctor and she said no. I knew from the start that she would have difficulties with finding resources because she can not read. I informed her that the nurse at J.W.Ray will be able to give her a referral for eyeglasses because I did the same for my daughter at her school, she was shocked. I told her that they will refer her to an eye clinic on Buckner, and that it will only cost her $40 if she does not have medicaid, but she stated that she did have medicaid and she thanked me with excitement. I really felt good because I know that she struggles with reading. I tend to keep in touch with her to see if she ever contacted them and offer her my time in making sure she understands through my voice. I am not sure if any of his teachers recognized or was even aware of the squishing of his eyes or headaches but it would be interesting to know if they ever thought, maybe this child needs his eyes checked. Whatever the case, I often wonder if the school board would consider asking teachers to be trained on awareness of these problems and others that I have noticed that needs to addressed like behavior, HUMMMM!!!!