Thank you for the birthday wishes <3

Kat, that's a funny way to learn how to deal with kids, through computer simulation. Wow... how times have changed.
Butthead starts with B. Got it! LOL

Yeah - apparently they began doing it during covid and decided to keep some of it, so the professors could easily see how the students interact with a class or something? But when you don't really get very long, or you don't really understand how it works, its hard to show you can do it well. But I think it MIGHT just be less nerve wracking than having the professor come sit in your class for an hour!!! LOL AND a lot less time for HER!

I think you'll do fine, Kat. You know the stuff and will put the other students to shame with your very high score. :P I have no idea wht the difference is between a college and a university. I figure they're interchangeable? I do know that the college in my town did change itself to a unviversity but never was told why they made the change. Maybe I'll look it up one of these days.

Your simulated class sounds like it would befun to play with. Especially the boy with the b word. 😆 Techinically, he was correct, butthead does start with a b. 😆

He was correct. It does. AND he did a good job apologizing when I reminded him we use kind words with our friends :P I wasn't even going to make him apologize, but just wanted to put out that reminder (LIKE I DO EVERY DAY IN MY REAL CLASS!!! That we use NICE words at school) ALL day yesterday I was doing that sigh "he called me a ..." "he said ...." "she did it first ...." "she said ...." KIND words to your friends at school guys!! ONLY kind words in your mouth!!

NERD is one that is being used lately. I explain to the child being called a nerd that it means they are VERY SMART, and tell them they ARE very smart!! And of course, tell the OTHER child that it is still a name, and people don't like being called names, so just BE KIND!!

WHY DO FOUR AND FIVE YEAR OLDS EVEN KNOW THE WORD NERD????

Happy belated (very belated, now!) birthday !!!

Guys I swear we're never going to get ahead ever in our freaking lives, it's just not possible.

THOUGH.. this was me, I didn't realize it had been 6 weeks since I ordered 100 gallons of heating oil, and we ran out. So just ordered 200 gallons, to the tune of $600. Was hoping the 100 would get through until the tax return, but we all know how THAT went so. :/ But now I need to dig up $600 from somewhere. And then yesterday we also ran out of propane for the stove, and then the smoker/grill wouldn't work.. air fryer to the rescue!

Also.. I don't mind being 35-72 in one day, I'll take 60s and 70s every. single. day.

That being said, it's going back to highs in the low 40s for the next few days after this one, and I'm really sad about it :P

Hmm Yea. I am all in with you on this one. This is how I feel too.

My house is all electric, which I am happy about. My neighbor (the one I play games with) has electric and propane (or some type of heating gas) and she hates when she has to order more. Its for her umm, stove I think? And her central heat/air - which she rarely uses but does when its super cold or super hot.

[edit] 640 And here we go again. Our teacher made a point to tell us we HAD to get online and turn in an assignment that she would put up TODAY only (and for just a few hours at that!) to be counted as having "attended" class tonight. And yet - there is NO WAY to SUBMIT the assignment. I have it all written out (probably not exactly what she wanted but good enough because WTH? I can't plan a whole freaking lesson incorporating the "individual" ways the student avatars (fake kids) learn on my barely begun THEME of "Parks" for which I have a bubble map of ideas only so far!! SHEEEESH

I texted her at least 30mins ago to see how we are to submit the assignment considering there IS NOT A SUBMIT BUTTON!!!! No response as of yet. But she had something to do tonight which is why we did not have a zoom meeting. So who knows! I also have no idea if ANYONE ELSE asked her the same question.

Well, yyou never know, Nerd could turn out to be a kind word just like Geek has. ;) I don't know about the kind words all the time tactic. That denies that the child has any aggresive emotions like anger. How do you handle it when one of those, not-nice, emotions come bubbling up?

I wish you luck with your sudden class assignment. XD

Mieke, I feel your pain even though my house is all electric also. I wish you luck finding the extra 600 for the fuel bill. :)

Oh we have all kinds of strategies for dealing with aggressive emotions. Beginning with learning to remove themselves from the situation (teaching the child to walk away and calm down, take deep breaths, count to 10 etc). I also teach them to use their words. Its ok to be angry, but we can't hit or yell or be mean to others - so we can say "You made me REALLY MAD!" or whatever. I also teach them to use their words when someone is annoying them. So in the case of the nerd thing I would also tell the child being called the name "Did you tell him you don't like to be called names? Tell him "Do not call me a nerd, I don't like it"

It doesn't always work. But since we really aren't supposed to do anything NEGATIVE like time outs or yell at the kids ourselves or even heaven forbid, CONTACT THEIR PARENT about the bad words and misbehavior because you know, its all OUR fault these kids act this way anyway ....

oops, ok sorry rant over.

(and of course in the case of bad words to contact parents about, I don't mean nerd, i mean like F bombs and stuff)

EDIT 345pm SO I get home from work and check my school email (I did not look at it this morning) .... and there is an email at 1045 PM (I am in bed sound asleep at this point) That the submit button for my assignment is now working. She dang well better NOT count my assignment as late or not turned in because I DID turn it in, albeit in an UNUSUAL manner, but I did what I could. I will go turn it in again I guess.

omg, the number of times I was called by the teacher, pulled aside when I picked my son up from school, or had conferences with the teacher and principal about my oldest son's behavior are numerous. I actually can't remember hhow many times they contacted us. 😆 He acted up so much and disrupted class so many times that the teacher deemed him unready for school and held him back a year. Of course it was our fault because we were "badd" parents. rolls eyes I understand that the parents and home environment have a part in how the child acts but I honestly didn't know what to do with him regarding all the complaints. He was just rambunktious. So, I understand where you're coming frrom on the parent issue. I actually told the teachers to put him in time out or send him to the principal. Nothing worked except holding him back. Turned out he was just too immature to handle a classroom setting. I've tried the ways you described to get my kids to be nice, behave, and work through their anger or other emotions. Sometimes they worked, sometime they didn't. It really depended on thekid, their mood, me and what mood I was in because I know that I contributed to their deliquencies too. 😆 School really has changed in 25 years (which is when my 30 year old son went to kindergarten.) I don't think I could handle modern schools as they are so different from the ones I went to or that my older kids went to. Kudos to you for being able to work there with little imps that probably make you wonder about humanity sometimes. 😆 :P

Did you ever get to submit your assignment? :D

Thanks ! <3

Got the same weather as you... well I think it's more in the 50's, which I guess is more average for March around SW Ohio. We just got so spoiled with the nicer days, especially an entire week of it just a little bit ago! It looks like next week is going to be a complete washout, though. So sick of the muddy ground... and so are the chickens! lol It makes for some very dirty eggs.

Buying oil sucks, especially since you have to pay for it in a lump sum. My dad had to do it all the time for his house b/c the electric central air only made it so warm and then just quit. Some years he would just by about half a tank, just b/c it was all he could afford at that point in time, and then later, depending on how cold the winter was, get more in the latter half of the season.
I have gas heating, so I pay for the electric and gas. That means I keep it around 67, although in the living room it shows 62-64 most days during this past winter, and I swear I was cold the entire season. The only way I've been able to get ahead is by being the sole resident of this house now, aside from the kitties. Less food, less electric, less water.
I'm sorry you have to deal with all that shit at once.

LMAO at "little imps that probably make you wonder about humanity sometimes" Yep! I am SO glad my kids are out of school, as it was already becoming hedonism towards the end of high school. And I gotta say, I especially hate how little girls are allowed to dress. High school girls to me are still little girls.

Yes, I know some parents really do try their best to work with the teachers and their child's behavior -when we finally DO contact them about it because its gotten too much to be ignored or cannot be worked on anymore by us - but a lot of them now are all "MY child? No way, my baby is a perfect angel. I don't know why he would do that, what did you do to him/what did another child do?" or whatever similar statement they use....and then you see them in walmart or at a school event (think, fall festival) and the kid is running riot and the mom/dad are totally ignoring it as "perfectly" normal. Which, to them, I guess it is. But it is NOT acceptable for a classroom of 20 kids OR any type of learning environment or even a public function! And you are SO RIGHT - MANY of these behaviors are due to the kids being too young or immature for a classroom environment and being held back a year would be beneficial (my twins this year for example. July birthdays. Would have been better to wait until next year for PreK! My other problem child however, is more like your son, just ADHD and has to move and is talkative and loses his temper waaaay too fast - we have learned how to get him calmed down pretty quickly tho by now! but still not much improvement on his self control with talking when he's not supposed to or staying with the group for group activities - for example, he'd rather RUN around the entire classroom instead of running/dancing in place during a movement video - which we can't allow because if they all did it, they'd all end up injured running into tables or each other!)

- sometimes I seriously think about getting a tiny home to reduce my expenses. Except, getting it in the first place would cost money I don't have. So. Eh. Because like you said, reduced expenses by being the only one in the home - plus a smaller space should cost less in electricity to heat or cool. Nathan is still living with me tho....so I keep the whole house open. - My other option I've thought about was to shut off the ductwork to all the rooms except mine, shut off the main breakers to the spare bedrooms/bathroom, and put a mini fridge, microwave and food cabinet, as well as a recliner in my bedroom and BOOM I have a mini studio apartment in my bedroom - since its huge enough. Plus the walk in closet and bathroom are attached AND I have a door to the outside. Maybe one day I might do that to reduce expenses if Nathan ever moves out.

- ewwww... Chickens plus mud equal a huge, stinky mess. My adoptive parents raised chickens and I was in charge of them while growing up and I hated it. The chicken yard and coop were always a horrible mess and I had to clean it and put fresh hay down so the chicken's feet wouldn't rot from the moisture. I was so happy when I was able to move out and no longer had to deal with that mess.

Kat - I hear you. My son is now 30 and he still acts like he did when he was 5. When my youngest reached school age I saw the same signs in him that I did in his older brother. It was a huge motivator that helped me decide to homeschool him. He did exceptionally well in the 1on 1 environment and soaked up the lessons. Sometimes I just couldn't keep up with his growing brain. 😆 And, Taarna, I agree about the way some teens dress, sometimes even the pre-adolecent kids dress objectionalbly also. I really wanted my kids to have to wear uniforms but I was in the minority with that idea. :/

Guys I had the worst dream last night. So I was just hanging out inside, and then my neighbor ran over and was using the hose outside so I went to see what for, and she's putting out a fire that was spreading in my grass...guess in my dream the boys had decided to have a bonfire or something. And then I noticed there was a fire in the back yard too so I ran back there to use the hose, and then spent the next few minutes of the dream running around putting out fires in the yard and grill area....during all this my neighbor pointed at my roof and I looked up to see a HUGE hole in the roof, the rafters exposed, and part of the wall in the front/kitchen area gone as well - I am like :o what the heck, how did I not notice this from when the storm was here the other day? And then I look into the back yard again and see across the forest behind me a huge wall of flames - so I scream out "NATHAN KAITLYN!!! GET THE DOGS AND CATS AND GET IN THE CAR" and then I woke up SHEEEEESH

What a mess that dream was. I wonder if it was because I was talking about the "national fire weather alert" I've been getting on my phone yesterday LOL And we had tornado watches last weekend, plus a TON of wind, lots of branches down, plus a pine tree fell in the backyard area that is really my neighbors land but we call our middle ground (because neither of us uses it, both of us will mow it and its just .... back there lol)

Other than the expense of buying uniforms as well as regular clothes (which I think I would have adjusted to) I rather like the idea of uniforms in school. And not to "make everyone the same" but just because then you don't have to worry about a dress code or people wearing inappropriate things. Some kids do really great being homeschooled (I seriously thought about it for Shane and decided I couldn't do it) - its great you were able to do it and do it well! (I've heard horror stories about those who do not do it well) and the 1 to 1 environment REALLY helps some kids. Even at school, if I take a kid aside, they often do a lot better than if they are in the whole group, or they'll do better in the small group than they do in large group. I hate when we have a behavior issue and they TAKE THE KID OUT of the room to "test" or "observe" them - um excuuuuuse me but that is NOT the environment he is having a problem in and you need to see him how he NORMALLY acts IN MY ROOM. I get taking them out to help them concentrate when you are testing for speech or other language or learning issues - but when its behavioral? NO!!

Holy heck, Kat, that was an awful dream. I'm betting it was conjured up by your brain in response to the fire and tornado issues in your area. Think of happier things before you go to sleep tonight!

Yeah, I was lucky to get to homeschool. I was also lucky that he took to it so well. I've heard some of the horror stories, the ones of indoctrination and no actual schooling being given at all. It makes me wonder what people think when they make those decisions. :/

Do you tell them that they need to observe the child in the group environment? With language and speech I can see one on one testing but not behavioral. That's a whole different world.

Did you ever get your assignment turned in? :D

I'm not the one in charge of that....the people who come in to observe are the ones who pull them out eyeroll you think the professionals would know better.... but eh. Also it is not my job to speak up to them, that would be the lead teacher -and I WILL do so, even if it doesn't do any good, when I have my own classroom. I get they might want to work with the child alone, but they REALLY do need to observe the child in the environment as well!

No, but I did get it re-done right (I think) and am going to turn it in tonight when I get on to work on tonights stuff, since its class night, but again, no zoom meeting for this class. Just online work. (Which isn't due until NEXT Sunday night but eh whatever, I'll do all I can tonight).

Oh wait did you mean the one where it had to be turned in that night but wasn't a link to do so? Yes, I did. She opened the link at like 1035pm (I was asleep) and left it open for 24hrs. So I turned it in PROPERLY the next morning when I saw that it was open to do so. I had already "turned it in" with another assignment anyway hahaha but still.

[edit] 725pm Well I did everything I can think of to do in my classes that is currently due - except one last thing that looks to be a pain in the butt (but isn't due until Sunday night). I am going to work some on my powerpoint for my big project in the practicum class (and I am NOT sure I'm doing that correct but so far it seems to be "do SOMETHING and you pass") anyway :P ANYWAY. I also re-uploaded the assignment I was unsure of plus the extra bit I redid with a note. STILL not sure I did what was wanted but eh. AND I just realized and wonder, if maybe I wasn't supposed to do the 1s 10s and 100s activity, because that one is due the day I go for in person class ? Maybe I'm supposed to do it in person? No idea. I'll bring those items to class JUUUUUUST in case. Or maybe I'm supposed to work on the addition with value blocks thing (which is the next activity) in my in person class NO CLUE! So confusing as to what is what and am I supposed to do the online stuff as well or no? (I mean, it does say "in person and EVERYONE ELSE does the online modules" ... eh I'll find out later I guess).

ANYWAY again.... off I go to work on the powerpoint

Well, that makes sense but it's also I yhink yhry dhoulfobserve the kid in the environment.

Yes, I meant the one where there was no link to turn it in until you were asleep.

XD XD Your assignments are confusing but so long as you know what you need to do and when it's due, it's all good. 😆

I'm off to watch Battlestar Galactica. :D

Hey guys.

Kat, that dream does sound awful!

Also.. I hate school uniforms, I think they're awful. BUT.. I DO think that if there is a dress code 1- it should make sense and 2- it should be followed.. for everyone. I don't want to see belly buttons at school that's silly.

OK here I run again.. Christmas market meeting!

Hi guys Christmas Market already? wowee

I am trying my best to keep up with and turn things in on time (and correctly but eh!)

MAIL FIASCO still happening. ARGH Did I ever get into that? I made Shane and Anna (well asked them to) do the mail forwarding for their mail down to their new house. They did a WHOLE HOUSEHOLD MAIL FORWARD!!! ARRRRRGGGHH I canceled that. They did individual ones. My mail box has been empty ALL WEEK. Today my mail showed up forwarded to thier house sigh I went to the post office. The dude spent 20mins in the back on a computer (supposedly) to come out and show me a paper that had KATIES name and forwarding address on it from like, back in December!!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHH YES! That is correct. She is my daughter, she moved there. I am here about the mail going to THOMASTON TO SHANE AND ANNA Oh! Well um, let me look again. he says as he looks down at Katies paper. Comes back out, says the cancellation was not quite two weeks ago, and it takes "At least 10 business days" to process and if I don't get my mail in my mailbox by the end of next week, to come back and they'll help me work out what to do Because its not just ME that is affected. Nathans mail will be - and Ryans too - and the bills that are MINE that are in Ryans name ARRRRGGGGHHHHH (I did finally get THAT across to him, that THREE of us will be affected by this if my mail doesn't start showing up because he was all like, well you can just go forward your mail from thomaston back again to here - uuuuh ok but what about Nathans mail? And Ryans? "Oh" he says "Do they all have the same last name too?" YES YOU IDIOT! WHY ELSE WOULD I BE HERE FREAKING OUT ABOUT MAIL FOR "THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY" to begin with when I did the cancellation??? ARRRRRGGGHHHHHH No I did not call him an idiot. That was said in my own head. I was kind and thanked him for his help and said I'd be back if I didn't get any mail next week sigh

You didn't talk about that!

But oh gosh what an absolutely disaster! I'd be annoyed, too.

Hopefully it works and you get your mail soon!

ALSO.. yeah, we had our first meeting in January and we've had a two hour meeting monthly since.. plus subcommittee meetings.. of which I'm on 3. headdesk

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Mieke I need that quote again

Nathan called me like an hour into class - said the car is making noises SERIOUSLY? I JUST FREAKING GOT INSURANCE AND THE TAG FOR IT IN MY NAME!!! So he managed to get home with help from my neighbor, getting him water and talking on phone to uncle E (brother who fixes my cars) AND ERIC SAID DON'T DRIVE IT HOW THE H E DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS AM I TO GET TO WORK??? AND HOME??

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH

Sorry sorry sorry I'm screaming in my head right now and feel soooooo stressed and I don't even know if I can go to sleep and I NEED TO SLEEEP

CLASS was stressful and annoying and confusing as heck (and not just to me, the two ladies I connected with who go to the Henry campus with me both are also stressed annoyed and confused by class) - but we'll figure it out. I plan to spend 90S% of my weekend working on two assignments for this one class. AGAIN with the AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

Anway. I AM GOING TO BED NOW TO HIBERNATE AND HIDE FROM THE WORLD (will that work? please let that work)