Being Emergency Prepared

School Children being evacuated during WWII

September is National Preparedness Month. This is the one time of year that I even think of the what ifs.

What if there is an earthquake? What would I do? Where would I be when it happens? How would I handle myself? How would I get in touch with my husband, family, or friends?
What if our house sets on fire while we are sleeping?
What if a Tsunami threatens our neighborhood?
What if....
What if....
What if....

Now that I'm not a classroom teacher the stress I feel is alleviated. If there was to be a disaster while school was in session I'd be the sole comfort and control in those little kid's minds. I knew that practicing our emergency drills once a week would never pan out as planned in a real emergency.
It's also this time of year that your family should come up with a plan. Answer all those "what ifs" as a family. Draw out an escape route in case of a emergency in your home. Discuss with your child what you will do if something happens and you are away from her/him/them. A great way to give your child comfort if there is an emergency and they are in school is to have a letter and picture from you put into your child's school emergency kit.

Here are some fun links for kids to learn and play games about emergency preparedness:

preschoolers- Let's Get Ready! Sesame Street (find the videos on the right)
Kinders-6th graders- FEMA For Kids
Know what 2 do kids! (They have fun printable activities)
Discovery Education

Back to School: Ready...Set...Go

Orange County schools are up and running today. Exhausted parents, refreshed teachers, and eager students with new shoes await at the doors of the 2010-2011 school year.

Here is a great craft from Little Birdie Secrets for you to do now that your nest is empty for the next 6 hours. All you need is an old clipboard, a page of scrap booking paper, decorative ribbon, chalk, and chalk board paint. If you don't have chalkboard paint run over to Home Depot and pick up a quart can of chalk board paint for $9. They even have chalkboard paint in fun, cute tints instead of your plain black variety. Just visit Little Birdie Secrets and follow her tutorial to get a great back to school gift for your successful schooler.

New and Renewed

I'm starting a blog for mothers, fathers, families, educators, mentors, and the curious so they have an elementary education network to discover and explore fun tools and activities, crafts, community happenings, to increase the educational level of your child, grandchild, niece or nephew, client, or friend. I am an educator with a new small one-on-one in home tutoring business located in Newport Beach. My story took me through the public school roller coaster but has given me the opportunity to do what I am passionate about....educating children.

After slaving in college for 6 years, getting my bachelor's degree in Liberal Studies and Children's Art and receiving my Elementary Teaching Credential I began a great job at Dixie Canyon Avenue Elementary in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
I worked as a 2nd grade teacher there for two years. During those two years I accomplished many of my own career goals in such a short time. I immersed myself in the school life, its community, took many extra facility positions and genuinely grew as an educator by collaborating with teachers, principals, parents, and paraprofessionals, and discovered my own teaching style that is best for all of my students. My life with Los Angeles Unified was short lived because of dramatic budget cuts in California's school systems and this particular school district's wasted money and poor leadership. I was laid off in June of 2009 not because my performance but because of my low seniority.
I knew there had to be better opportunities out there to expand my teaching experiences. I was left with a garage filled with cardboard boxes that carried my career in them, my books, children's books, manipulatives, plastic trays, paint brushes, crafts, puzzles, balls, globes, sanitary wipes, crayons, colored copy paper......you get the idea. Filled with crushed dreams, tears, and sweet memories of classroom managment, decorative bulletin boards, and happy students I closed the door to Mrs. Cannon's class in room 7 behind me.
Then, the question was, what now? I have a college degree, beyond extrorandory letters of reference, and an extensive elementary education resume. I have the knowledge to lead grade level meetings, run effective lessons, manage 30 eager students, and so much more. I decided after I couldn't find the right fit in a private school that the simplest way to continue doing what I do best is to tutor. As I began to gain clients and work consistently I received a call from a good teacher friend who needed me to take her class for the 2009/2010 school year. Teach another 2nd grade class? Why not? This class changed my teaching philosophy for the better. I learned that all children navigate their learning in ways that logically work for them. This is when I learned that a differentiated class can and does work. I began to incorporate many techniques I was using in the classroom to my tutoring lessons.
I spent another school end with the same questions I walked away with the previous year. This time it knew I didn't belong in the public school system and decided to continue the tutoring company I had begun a year ago. I have a renewed sense of self that this, tutoring and educating children, is what I need to be focusing my career goals on. I am beginning a network in Orange County as well as continuing my company in the San Fernando Valley.
With the past behind me and the present so bright I look forward to these new experiences that I love to call Live, Learn, Grow Tutoring Co.