Sunday, June 28, 2009

Tributes

On my TV blog I have posted some videos and video links in tribute to Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Friday, June 26, 2009

Changing the world

Yes, I do! Thanks Brother G! I use to have a poster of this in my office/class. I've been moved around so much lately I'd lost it.I'm going to keep this on my blog.
BTW, I just joined Facebook a couple of weeks ago the suggestion of my brother who lives in another state and my sister. If you're ever on there, look me up!

MsKathyssLogo2.gif picture by mskathy0724

http://www.kathyskids.org

Ms. Kathy's Kids Blog: http://mskathyskids.blogspot.com/



--- On Fri, 6/26/09, GerryKate wrote:
From: GerryKate
Subject: Fw: Changing the world
To: Undisclosed-Recipient@yahoo.com
Date: Friday, June 26, 2009, 11:20 AM

Hi Kathy


thought you might like this one


G




CHILDREN LEARN WHAT THEY LIVE

If a child lives with criticism he/she learns to condemn

If a child lives with hostility he/she learns to fight

If a child lives with ridicule he/she learns to be shy

If a child lives with shame he/she learns to feel guilty

If a child lives with tolerance he/she learns to be patient

If a child lives with encouragement he/she learns confidence

If a child lives with praise he /she learns to appreciate

If a child lives with fairness he/she learns justice

If a child lives with security he/she learns to have faith

If a child lives with approval he/she learns to like themselves

If a child lives with acceptance and friendship he/she learns to find love in the world

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

It's My Hair Story and I'm Sticking to It!


Years ago in several dreams I saw myself in locks . When I started wearing my hair natural, without hot comb or chemical straightening, it felt so right for me--just as I felt it was and just as it was in my dreams. Key phrase: "It felt so right for me." For the last fifteen years or so, I have been so happy with my choice. My hair is now a little past my waist in length and my husband is quick to quote that I am "Nappy and happy."


It becomes a ministry in its own, my hair does. I've explained where locks are mentioned in the Bible when I've had my hair discussion at the beginning of the Girl Scout year with my Brownie Scouts. Yes, I have to have that discussion to get all the little girl hair questions out of the way so we can be about Girl Scout business the rest of the year. "Is that your real hair?" "Why do you wear it like that?" "Will you ever cut it?" "Can you take it loose?"

Mind you, it is an important discussion to have with little girls of African descent with African features. The media still tells them that those Africanesque features are not considered attractive. Before you disagree, take a look at the hair care products that are advertised on TV and in magazines. The "better" looking hair is considered soft, silky, "manageable" and straight. Even for hair coloring products, the African American models most often have chemically altered hair. That and the constant fight to pull, perm and tame the tot's tresses gives her the implicit message that she needs to be made over--that God made some serious mistake that has to be corrected-- before she faces the public. That is the concept I fight and one I take seriously as that implicit negative message has an impact beyond hair texture for children.

My job and my hair's job is to reinforce Psalm 139:14:

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."


This my way to get the children to understand that means God doesn't make garbage and that includes each of them from head to toe.

A person's choice to wear artificially straightened hair--with all the consequences that entails-- is their own choice. Inevitably, I am asked about my hair by different people. Usually Black women who may be described by one of my friends as either Tres ghetto or gauche country or somewhat unenlightened will ask me if it's all mine and how I get my hair like this--as if they really don't know. These are usually women with very hard straightened hair that is partly shellacked with gel to the scalp, bleached copper red on the ends with hard hair ribbons cascading from somewhere on top or from the side of their heads. Yes, Virginia, some people really do wear salad bowls and waterfalls on their heads.Sometimes they have cute short haircuts that are super straight with little rows of not-quite-curled-but-rather bent curls on top.

These ladies will ask, not for an answer from me but to make a statement, which is usually an explanation as to why they would never wear their hair locked. Most often the answer to the unasked question is, "I couldn't wear my hair like that because I like to wear different styles/change my hair style a lot." One lady told me she likes to scratch her scalp and she believes locked hair would prevent that, so she will continue to smear skin-irritating chemical straighteners, which make her scalp itch, onto her head every three weeks just for the pleasure of being able to scratch the chemical induced itch. Stop. Blink twice. Now read on.

It amuses me when a lady with all of her hair cut near the scalp except for the little bent hairs on top, as mentioned above, tells me she likes to change hair styles when she hardly has any hair.

The other type is the "I'm-too-important-to-reveal-my-natural-hair-texture" woman who knows we all know but acts like we all don't know what we know we know. That type, if she ever does speak to the likes of me, will usually tell someone else in my presence how unprofessional natural hair is as she should know because she would not be in her position if she were not privy to all things professional. Her concept of professionalism usually includes not allowing a certain "ethnic look" to offend those of Euro-ethnicity.

To those women, here's the deal: You must get a life. I am ethnic. You are ethnic--in whatever way you define it. To say that one ethnic look is more professional that another is, to quote Mike Tyson impersonators: "Ludicrous! Simply ludicrous!" My ethnicity doesn't prevent me from enjoying my students and being professional at what I do with them.

Here's what my husband, who is of another ethnicity said he thought when he first saw me: "That hair caught my eye. I said, 'Here is someone who is real from head to toe. She is who she is and not a thing is fake including the texture of her hair.' I thought it was beautiful then and it's beautiful now." So say all my friends of all ethnicities.

To all those ladies: When you ask me about my hair, I tell you just to answer your question. That is all. I am not trying to proselytize you into a religion of natural hair. You do to have to explain to me why you prefer to wear your hair the way you do. You may not believe this but--read my lips--I really do not care. Really! I did not ask about your hair; you asked about mine. Be happy with your choice. I am with mine and I have no regrets and make no excuses for my decision.

Another questioner type are, of course children. Little Black girls are told their hair stops growing and cannot possibly get to be as long as naturally straight hair. Hello, moms! Tell your little girls that the pulling and yanking on hair with implements made for straight hair breaks it off--especially when that hair has been damaged by the chemical straighteners, then plied with greasy hair gook that is supposed to counteract the drying effect of the chemicals.

These children ask me, "Is that your real hair?" They are usually excited and want to play with my hair. Um, no honey. I love children but do you usually allow people you don't know to come up to you and touch your hair? Well, you shouldn't, and neither do I.

Teens and young adults who are starting their locks will ask some upkeep questions. I have to remind them that my hair is not part of a faddish fashion statement for keeping up with my peers. From them I usually get a smile and a "Wow!" or a "Ma'am, I like your dreads! How long you had 'em?" I have to remind them that there is nothing dreadful about locked hair. I prefer not to use the term for cultivated locked hair. In the West Indies, transplanted Africans allowed their hair to lock. Notice I said allowed. Those that escaped slavery to live in the wilderness would sometimes swoop down and attack English colonist who dreaded seeing them coming with their dreaded locks because it meant bad news! Since our hair is usually started or styled to induce locking they are cultivated. That is the difference and why I prefer the terms "Nubian locks" or just "locks." Mine represent my way of life and not a way to stay fashionably in step with peers.

Older White people ask me about my hair also. I'd rather a person ask and know rather than assume and walk around ignorant. So I don't mind answering questions. Sometimes older people ask me about their kids' hair. I tell them that for me the naturally tight curl pattern makes it a natural way to keep my hair. For kids with straight hair there is a different method for achieving locked hair that most parents cannot deal with because it involves lots of beeswax and not washing it for weeks. Ew.

The one question I do not care for is, "Has anyone ever told you that you look like Whoopi Goldberg?" The answer is yes. Someone has said I look like Whoopi Goldberg. Usually it is some well-meaning person of largely European descent who has had limited up-close exposure to Black people of African descent and thus have the perception that all of us with that heretical background not only know each other by name but that we resemble each other most remarkably! My husband who is an American of Italian and Irish background gets far more insulted by that comparison that I and says:."You look nothing like her and she looks nothing like you. How can he say that? Is he blind?"

My retort to the comparison to Whoopi---for which I am far more accustomed than my dear Hunnee-- is that I can understand that mistake seeing that we are close in age, both female, African Americans with locked hair. The big hairy BUT is, that while I deeply admire the Whoopster--which is what I call her on a more personal level, for as you know, we all know each other--- she is the more humorous of the two of us while I am the cuter.

I appreciate the beauty in all these things that God has created in each of us. I can appreciate these differences in my friends. Appreciation means not placing one above or below the other but knowing that the differences in themselves is a beautiful thing. My daughter's hair is nearly black and curly. My Hunnee's hair is wavy and blond. My hair is kinky and brown. It's all good 'cause it's all from God. How boring it would be to be all the same!
This is my hair story and I'm sticking to it!


"Gimme a head with hair Long beautiful hair...

I want it long, straight, curly, fuzzy
Snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty
Oily, greasy, fleecy, shining
Gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen
Knotted, polka-dotted; Twisted, beaded, braided
Powdered, flowered, and confettied
Bangled, tangled, spangled and spaghettied"

~~From Hair the musical


David & Adrianne

It's...So...Hot!!!

It's so hot!!!! It's so hot that
  • I saw a chicken lay a fried egg!
  • energy experts believe sweat is the new oil.
  • It’s like living in the french fry bin at McDonalds.
  • your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
  • Michael Vick is organizing penguin fights.
  • it's noon in July, kids are on summer vacation, and not one person is out on the streets.
  • you actually burn your hand opening the car door.
  • you break a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m. before work.
  • no one would dream of putting vinyl upholstery in a car or not having air conditioning.
  • the birds have to use potholders to pull the worms out of the ground.
  • The weather is 95 and hazy ..kind of like John McCain.
  • It's so hot that I saw two trees fighting over a dog.
  • It was so hot today I saw a funeral procession pull into a Dairy Queen.
  • It was so hot today I saw an Amish guy buying an air conditioner.
  • Potatoes cook underground, so just pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.
  • You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
  • Angelina Jolie is adopting kids from Antartica"
  • you notice the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
  • hot water now comes out of both taps.
  • you can attend any function wearing shorts and a tank top.
  • The 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!
  • you discover that in July, it takes only 2 fingers to drive your car.
  • you can attend any function wearing shorts and a tank top.
  • you've experienced condensation on your butt from the hot water in the toilet bowl.
  • you would give anything to be able to splash cold water on your face.
  • Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Which photo was taken this summer on the hottest day ever!








I am so feeling what a candle must feel like.Yesterday it was 96 degrees outside with a heat index of 106 degrees. The kids at school are nuts from the heat.

I was going to work my little garden after the sun went down but it was still so steamy and I was sooooooo drained.

Daily Encounter ... Strength out of Weakness [Tuesday, June 23, 2009]

I love this!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

1. Strength out of Weakness

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it [my problem] away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."1

In his book, Confidence, Alan Loy McGinnis talks about a famous study entitled "Cradles of Eminence" by Victor and Mildred Goertzel, in which the family backgrounds of 300 highly successful people were studied. Many of the names of those in the study were well known to most of us—including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Helen Keller, Winston Churchill, Albert Schweitzer, Gandhi, Einstein, and Freud, all of whom were brilliant in their fields of expertise.

The results of this study are both surprising and encouraging for many of us who came from a less-than-desirable home life. For example: "Three-quarters of the children were troubled either by poverty, by a broken home, or by rejecting, over- possessive or dominating parents.

"Seventy-four of 85 writers of fiction or drama and 16 of the 20 poets came from homes where, as children, they saw tense psychological drama played out by their parents.

"Physical handicaps such as blindness, deafness, or crippled limbs characterized over one-quarter of the sample."

These people who had confidence in their abilities and put them to creative use all have had more weaknesses and handicaps than many who have a lack of confidence because of low self-esteem. So, what made the difference? Probably by compensating for their weaknesses they excelled in other areas.

One man reported, "What has influenced my life more than any other single thing has been my stammer. Had I not stammered I would probably have gone to Cambridge as my brothers did, perhaps have become a don and every now and then published a dreary book about French literature." The speaker who stammered until his death was W. Somerset Maugham, as he looked back on his life at age 86.

"By then he had become a world-renowned author of more than 20 books, 30 plays, and scores of essays and short stories."

Speaking personally, I too came from a psychologically distraught, dysfunctional family. What made the difference for me was a deep sense of God's call and my faith in and commitment to Jesus Christ (with a lot of hard work and growth). However, I tremble to think where I would have ended up had it not been for my Christian faith and practice.

It's not what we have or don't have that matters in life but what we do with what we have—and what we do about facing and resolving our issues. It is very important that we don't allow our past to determine our future and that we use what we have to the best of our ability.

As another has wisely said, "I may have been a victim in the past but if I remain a victim, I am now a willing volunteer." And another, "Hope for the future gives us power in the present!" No matter what our background, when we commit and trust our lives daily to God, we can and do have hope for the future. It's up to us what we do in the present to resolve our past and to become what God wants us to be in the future.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, help me to see all that you envision for me to become and do and that, with your help, I can become and do. Help me to realize that I don't have to allow my past to determine my future, and help me to face and resolve every issue in my past that might be holding me back in any way. And above all, I thank you that when I daily commit and trust my life to you, you can help me to turn my weaknesses into strengths. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 (NIV).

<:))))><

Children's Science Exam


MsKathyssLogo2.gif picture by mskathy0724

http://www.kathyskids.org

Ms. Kathy's Kids Blog: http://mskathyskids.blogspot.com/

If you need a good laugh, try reading through these children's science exam answers...

Q: Name the four seasons.
A: Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

Q: Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink.

A: Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists.

Q: How is dew formed?

A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

Q: How can you delay milk turning sour? (Brilliant, love this!)

A: Keep it in the cow.

Q: What causes the tides in the oceans?

A: The tides are a fight between the Earth and the Moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature hates a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.

Q: What are steroids?
A: Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.

Q: What happens to your body as you age?

A: When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental

Q: What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?

A: He says good-bye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery. (The kid gets an A+ for this answer!)

Q: Name a major disease associated with cigarettes.

A: Premature death.

Q: How are the main parts of the body categorized? ( e.g., abdomen)

A: The body is consisted into three parts -- the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium

contains the brain; the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels A, E, I, OF, and UP.

Q: What is the fibula?
A: A small lie.

Q: What does 'varicose' mean? (I do love this one...)

A: Nearby.

Q: Give the meaning of the term 'Caesarian Section.'

A: The Caesarian Section is a district in Rome.

Q: What does the word 'benign' mean?'

A: Benign is what you will be after you be eight.






Monday, June 22, 2009

.* *, ,* *.
* I love *
*. Ya .*
"*,,*"
Pass this HEART to all ur friends. If 3 come back ur n 4 good news

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Somebody sent this to my cell phone. I justa wanted to see if it would show up if I sentrit here

Saturday, June 20, 2009

I Love this story

"Oldie" but "goodie"

MsKathyssLogo2.gif picture by mskathy0724

http://www.kathyskids.org

Ms. Kathy's Kids Blog: http://mskathyskids.blogspot.com/


NEED WASHING??

A little girl had been shopping with her Mom in Target. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Target.

We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in "Mom let's run through the rain," she said.

"What?" Mom asked.

"Lets run through the rain!" She repeated.

"No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mom replied.

This young child waited about another minute and repeated: "Mom, let's run through the rain,"

"We'll get soaked if we do," Mom said.

"No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.

This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?

"Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!"

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes.

Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

"Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.

And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday. To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.

I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them. Send this to the people you'll never forget and remember to also send it to the person who sent it to you. It's a short message to let them know that you'll never forget them.

If you don't send it to anyone, it means you're in a hurry.

Take the time to live!!!

Keep in touch with your loved ones, you never know when you'll need each other -- and don't forget to run in the rain






Friday, June 19, 2009

TGIF!

Over the summer there is no school on Fridays. Yay! I am so tired by Thursday afternoons that I don't know what to do with myself!

My sister and brother invited me to join Facebook so I was on it last night for about an hour or so before I went to sleep with my baby laptop on. I woke up to it shining in my face and some weird movie was on my TV on a channel that I didn't put it on. My daughter thinks it's funny to change the TV station if I should fall asleep on the sofa. She says she wants me sleeping to quality TV and not trash.

Anyway, this morning i was determined to get out into the garden before the sun started blazing. We have had 96 degree days here lately and it truly zaps the energy. besides that, after having chemo, I'm not s'posed to deal with the sun so much. I can understand why. It truly zaps the energy more so. So I put another zucchini plant and a cucumber plant in the ground. I'm turning up a small area next to the patio so I won't go too far and have such a large area to work with. Something easy to take care of this summer . I put one of the miniature rose bushes in the ground next to the utility room door.

When the sweat started pouring like a fountain that was my signal to move inside. I'm cooling off on baby laptop by posting here and checking a few emails before I get in the shower.

My French e-pal has not IM-ed me this morning. I really, REALLY need to have my car serviced and cleaned out--not necessarily in that order. If this sounds scattered--such are the thoughts in the land of ADD!!{:^D}

Ahh! The roofer guys are finally here to replace those missing shingles blown off during Hurricane Gustav. Yay! Gotta go!

Code Amber Alert!

Please scroll down near the bottom of this page and look at the Code Amber Alert for our friends in Canada!
I hope that everyone reading this will post both the US and Canadian Amber alert ticker on their blogs and web sites.

Make this Father's Day special for our troops in harm's way



MsKathyssLogo2.gif picture by mskathy0724

http://www.kathyskids.org

Ms. Kathy's Kids Blog: http://mskathyskids.blogspot.com/



--- On Thu, 6/18/09, USO <newsletter@uso.org> wrote:

From: USO <newsletter@uso.org>
Subject: Make this Father's Day special for our troops in harm's way
To: mskathy
Date: Thursday, June 18, 2009, 11:20 PM

Support Our Troops This Father's Day

It's Father's Day. You've just come back from a long patrol. You're drenched in sweat and coated in dust. All day long, you've carried one image in your mind: your beautiful baby girl. She was just 14-months old when you left. Will she still recognize her Daddy? Will she know your voice?

This Father's Day, our troops overseas want – desperately – to be with their families. You can help.

On Sunday, June 21st, the USO will make a special effort to help soldiers "join" their family celebrations from overseas. For Father's Day, we'll distribute thousands of pre-paid phone cards, so GIs can call home from any phone, anywhere. Dad may not be sitting at the kitchen table, or unwrapping a tie, but he can talk to the kid he hasn't seen in months. And fathers back home, with sons and daughters serving on the front lines, can hear the one voice that proves their child is alive and well.

It doesn't take much to make a huge difference in the lives of soldiers far from home on Father's Day, or any day. Your donation will give them the magic of a child's voice, a spouse's laughter, a father's words of encouragement – all priceless gifts that will help carry them through the difficult days and weeks to come.




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Help Support The USO - Forward this email to a friend.



Wednesday, June 17, 2009

CEC SmartBrief article from: mskathy

Ms. Kathy thought you might be interested in checking out an excerpt from CEC SmartBrief.

This includes blind children with learning differences accompanying their blindness. I've seen "systems" ignore these differences in this same manner and the children are blamed year after year. Sometimes it's the same kids and sometimes it's different kids. This fall was an excellent example. Shame.

Teach the way kids learn rather than how you want them to learn!! Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.


Designed specifically for special education professionals, CEC SmartBrief is a FREE daily e-mail newsletter. It provides the latest education news and information you need to stay on top of issues that are important to you.

SIGN UP TODAY to receive CEC SmartBrief.


Children with learning disabilities are often not given adequate help
Children with learning disabilities may be unfairly labeled as lazy, writes Susan N. Schriber Orloff, an occupational therapist who works with such students. Students with such disabilities often fall through the cracks, going unnoticed until it's often too late to get them back on track, she writes. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (6/15)

Monday, June 15, 2009

Past Expiry



Click


Courtesy of Past Expiry Cartoon



BTW, I opened a Facebook account this weekend.

Text Message 6/15/09

Back to school this morning.Traffic is light. I left my lesson plan forms at home.Welcome, Monday.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Name Card for Practice in Writing


This is the name card I wrote about earlier. I prefer to use Print Shop Deluxe but my desk top computer, which is where PSD is installed, is working like molasses in winter. Thus I had to use my baby laptop and MS Word with Word Art. Blah. I prefer my old school PDS but one cannot be choosy in a pinch--and I was in a pinch this time!

Before you start, get some card stock instead of regular printing paper. I have a tabletop laminating machine which I use with the 8.5 inch by 11 inch laminating film. The film is thicker than the film on the large
laminating machine used in most schools. This with the card stock will make a far sturdier card.

You may need a black marker if you're using MS Word or MS Works which is why I prefer
PSD. But you probably can't find PSD anymore. So I will continue as if you're working in what most people already have on their computers.

Depending on the level of the student, I will use just the first name or first and last name. After opening a blank document, on the tool bar go to "FILE." In "page set up" choose "landscape.

Now go to "INSERT" on your tool bar. Choose "PICTURE" and slide over to "Word Art." In Word Art" find the hollow, colorless letters (which may be style 7 in Windows
XP you will see if you roll the cursor over it). Click on this style and a dialogue box will pop up.

At the top left of this box in the gray area you will see the word "Font." Choose "Comic Sans." This is important. This font looks more like a beginner hand writer's font. Consistency in font is very important for beginning readers and writers. Also use a capital letter for the first letter of the first and last names only. Reading matter for beginners should keep this form as word shape also aids in reading. If you use all caps all words have the same rectangular shape. Besides it is better for the children to get used to writing their name using initial caps with lowercase which is more natural.

Once you type the name(s) in the dialogue box, click "OK" in the dialogue box. The hollow letters should appear on your document. You can drag the corners to stretch
it or shrink it. I like to place a few lines underneath for practice in writing on lines. I didn't do that on this one because I wasn't sure the students would be that advanced yet

I had to look on line for the hollow shapes to place beneath the lines. In
PSD they were in the graphics collection.

Before laminating, I had to go over the lines in the name with a black felt tip pen.

On the photo you can see where the student used a red dry erase marker to trace his name inside the hollow letters and to trace the shapes. At the end of practice each child wipes the marker off with a paper towel so the card is ready for the next day's practice. Make sure ONLY dry erase markers are available for the students to write with on these cards.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Speeding

MsKathyssLogo2.gif picture by mskathy0724

http://www.kathyskids.org


How's this One For A Speeding Ticket


Two California Highway

Patrol Officers were conducting speeding enforcement on I-15, just north of the Marine Corps Air Station at Miramar . One of the officers was using a hand held radar device to check speeding vehicles approaching the crest of a hill. The officers were suddenly surprised when the radar gun began reading 300 miles per hour.. The officer attempted to reset the radar gun, but it would not reset and then turned off.

Just then a deafening roar over the treetops revealed that the radar had in fact locked on to a USMC F/A-18 Hornet which was engaged in a low flying exercise near the location.

Back at the CHP Headquarters the Patrol Captain fired off a complaint to the USMC Base Commander. The reply came back in true USMC style:

Thank you for your letter. We can now complete the file on this incident.

You may be interested to know that the tactical computer in the Hornet had detected the presence of, and subsequently locked on to your hostile radar equipment and automatically sent a jamming signal back to it, which is why it shut down.

Furthermore, an Air-to-Ground missile aboard the fully armed aircraft had also automatically locked on to your equipment location.

Fortunately, the Marine Pilot flying the Hornet recognized the situation for what it was, quickly responded to the missile system alert status and was able to override the automated defense system before the missile was launched to destroy the hostile radar position.

The pilot also suggests you cover your mouths when cussing at them, since the video systems on these jets are very high tech.

Sergeant Johnson, the officer holding the radar gun, should get his dentist to check his left rear molar. It appears the filling is loose. Also, the snap is broken on his holster.

Thank you for your concern.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

World Superhero Registry

Adrianne sent this to me. It is a list everyone should have.
ICE (In Case of Emergency)

MsKathyssLogo2.gif picture by mskathy0724

http://www.kathyskids.org

Ms. Kathy's Kids Blog: http://mskathyskids.blogspot.com/



--- On Mon, 6/8/09, Adrianne wrote:

From: Adrianne
Subject: World Superhero Registry
To:
Date: Monday, June 8, 2009, 10:07 PM

http://www.worldsuperheroregistry.com/world_superhero_registry_gallery.htm

Monday, June 8, 2009

Defending albinos' rights to life

This document has been forwarded from the ReliefWeb site.

Sender: Ms. Kathy

Comment from Ms. Kathy:

Source: IFRC

Date: 08 Jun 2009

By Andrei Engstrand-Neacsu in Nairobi



Superstition has led to the killing of

more than 60 albinos in Burundi and

Tanzania. The Red Cross Red Crescent is

backing government efforts to protect

them, and defends their right to a life in

dignity.



As the trial of 11 Burundians accused of

involvement in the killing of albinos and

the selling of their body parts continues

in Ruyigi, the Red Cross Red Crescent has

made the protection of the most vulnerable

and promotion of respect for humanitarian

values like non-discrimination and respect

for diversity its highest priority.



More than 60 lives were lost in a recent

spate of albino killings in Eastern

Africa.



"The killings of albinos must stop and

their dignity restored," says Anseleme

Katyunguruza, Secretary General of the

Burundi Red Cross, which is providing

humanitarian aid to 48 albino children and

adults sheltered by authorities in the

township of Ruyigi.



At least 12 albinos have been murdered in

Burundi and 50 in Tanzania during the past

few months. Although some 200 people were

arrested last year on suspicion of murder

in Tanzania, none have been convicted. In

Burundi last November, however, two men

were jailed for life for killing albinos.



Greed, superstition and murder



Katyunguruza talks about a "phenomenon of

albino hunting" that started in August

last year. The demand came from

neighbouring Tanzania and is closely

linked to the economic boom in the fishing

and gold mining industries along the

shores of the Lake Victoria.



This has turned into a deadly business,

with killers reportedly being paid between

200 and 5,000 US dollars for their

crime."In search for profit, witch doctors

revived an old superstition that the limbs

and genitals of an albino can bring

quicker and better results to one's

enterprise. We are condemning and fighting

this horrible form of discrimination," he

adds.



Red Cross volunteers have been helping the

bereaved families with the burials of the

mutilated bodies of family members. Things

are so serious that volunteers often have

to pour concrete over the tombs to prevent

albino corpses from being exhumed at night

by people in search of the 'magical

organs'.



Family betrayal



Many volunteers have taken the risk of

sheltering in their own houses people with

albinism, some of whom have even been

threatened by members of their own

families. Red Cross volunteers are driven

by a firm commitment to respect human

dignity and protect people from suffering

and violence. The Red Cross strongly

believes that all humans are equal and are

not to be discriminated on the basis of

criteria such as race, gender or living

with albinism.



"We are two albinos in our family - my

younger brother and I. One day our older

brother came back from Tanzania with

strangers. At nightfall, they hovered

around our house as they watched us. Then

they caught my brother and killed him,"

one albino child, on the verge of tears,

told a Burundi Red Cross volunteer.



His dead brother's body parts were then

sold off for 300,000 Burundian francs

(about 250 US dollars). "We alerted the

police, even though we were threatened.

The authorities arrested [our older

brother] but, for some reason, he was

released shortly after. Now he is in

hiding in Tanzania," he added.



The areas worst affected are the communes

of Bweru, Nyabitsinda, Kinyinya, Gisuru,

Butaganzwa around the town of Ruyigi, not

far from the Tanzanian border. The

killings occur regularly in Tanzania as

well. The body parts are at high demand

among miners and fisherman around the Lake

Victoria regions of Mwanza, Shinyanga,

Kigoma and Mara.



Red Cross protection and assistance



Authorities in both countries have offered

protection to dozens of albinos in

shelters safeguarded constantly by the

police. In Ruyigi, there is tight security

at the shelters where the Red Cross is

distributing food, digging latrines and

providing other essential services.



"We have collected money and take turns to

visit our (albino) fellow Burundians. We

bring beer and share it with them since

this is sign of acceptance and

solidarity," says one volunteer, adding

that the Red Cross also encourages

communities to help vulnerable albinos

returning home by reconstructing houses

and labouring their fields.



Activities encouraging respect for

humanitarian principles and values have

intensified in communities across the

affected areas. Further assistance

includes advocacy with local authorities

in order to sensitize them to the plight

of the albino. Schools have also been

approached to ensure that albino children

can continue their studies in the town of

Ruyigi and the town's hospital has been

asked to allow free of charge medical care

for albino people in need.



Across the border, the Kabanga public

school for the disabled, near the town of

Kigoma, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika,

provides refuge for some 50 Tanzanian

albino children youngsters and single

mothers.



Many have just escaped their villages with

their lives and tell harrowing stories of

killing and mutilation.



One small boy talks about his non-albino

mother's hand was severed by albino

hunters armed with machetes after she

tried to prevent them seizing him.



The school has now completely run out of

space, but vulnerable albinos are still

being brought in by the police from as far

as 200 kilometres away.



The Tanzanian Red Cross has been able to

provide sunblock cream as well as

blankets, mosquito nets, soap and

mattresses left over from its programme to

assist Burundian and Congolese refugees in

camps nearby, including personal

contributions from volunteers.



Changing minds, saving lives



While eagerly waiting to hear about the

outcome of the Ruyigi trial, some

displaced people with albinism are already

thinking of returning to their villages.

When the time is right, Red Cross

volunteers will accompany them every step

of the way and ensure that additional

discussions aimed at stemming

discrimination are being organized.



A series of training sessions focusing on

the reintegration of albinos into their

communities has already taken place and

volunteers have tested not only the

acceptance but also the readiness of

communities to protect those who decide to

return.



"The results were satisfactory but

communities remain divided over the

issue," says Evariste Nhimirimana of the

Burundi Red Cross. "We need to continue

our work … we cannot expect that

superstitions will be easily eradicated."



The Red Cross plans to use cultural

gatherings to explain to the most

suspicious that there is nothing

supernatural about albinism; that in fact

it is a health condition that cannot

entirely be treated. Focusing on dropping

bias, critical thinking and non-violent

communication will be key to influence

behavioural change in the community.



Nshimirimana's concerns are echoed by his

Tanzanian colleague Julius Kejo, who says:

"We need to change minds in order to save

lives."



Case study: Claiming back dignity



In Tanzania's Pwani village, one man with

albinism is making history. Driven by a

passion to help disabled people in his

society, Hamis Ngomella took on special

education training in a college and

graduated as a teacher of children with

special needs. He is among the few in his

village to make it to college.



Hamis is the chairman of the albino

association and represents the Red Cross

in a regional disaster management

committee.



The 40-year-old is one of the 170,000

people living with albinism in Tanzania.

But Hamis refuses to live in fear. The

second born in a family of three, he is

the only albino, and feels lucky to be

accepted and loved by his parents and

siblings.



"When I was born, my mother tells me that

the traditional midwife made a grimace

when she saw me. No one welcomed the

arrival of a strange baby. But my mother

protected and kept me," he says.



Hamis faced constant discrimination

throughout his childhood: society didn't

accept him and schoolmates called him

names like "Mzungu" which means "white

man" in Swahili. Some people even

suspected his mother of having slept with

white people, as if this was a shame.



"Disability is simply our own invention -

the hardship, things difficult to

understand. Is a socio-political issue

rather than a matter of health," Hamis

told his colleague Stella Marialle.



"We need to claim back our dignity," he

says.















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