Fit of Anger

OK-- So I lost my temper. I even swore in front of my own daughter. I was mad. I probably could have dealt with the inconvenience caused by the school, but when I called the district to complain, I spoke with a woman who was quite rude. I am sure that she was sick of parent phone calls by then but THAT IS WHAT SHE GETS PAID TO DO!! Well, I wrote an email- not my best work. We'll see what good it does.
--------------
Dear Superintendent Henshaw and others,

I am writing to tell you of my disappointment and anger at the way the busing failure was handled today. It took me an hour to get my daughter home from American Fork Junior High School. (It is only a 6 minute drive at 25 mph.) Snow was NOT the trouble. The school was the trouble.

• No one from the school contacted us. My daughter was not allowed to use the school phone because there were too many students trying to call home. When I spoke with the personnel at the district office, they assured me that parents were notified by the automated calling system. We have updated home, business and cell phone numbers on record with the school and did not receive a call of any of these numbers. We have current emails on file with the school. We have caller ID and answering machines on all phones. I am frustrated that the district would lie to me. We did not receive any communication from the school. My daughter called me on her cell phone. We bought her a cell phone for real emergencies and fake "emergencies" like this one, even though the district, school and the PTA have fought us all year, trying to ban them from the school.
• The school and the district assured us that they had no choice in the matter. The Utah Highway Patrol supposedly forbid the schools to release any children in the district. However, my 4th grade son walked home in the snow all by himself. I also passed two school zones with children walking home and heard numerous other parents at the jr high complaining that their younger children walked home. Some teachers at the junior high school let students simply leave class, though most did not. (I am also not sure how the Highway Patrol has any authority over the public schools' policies and procedures.)
• American Fork Jr. High was distressingly unprepared to handle this mini-crisis. I shudder to think what could have happed if this had been a true emergency. Their should have been a plan in place for the parents of 2,000+ students to converge and pick up their children at the same time. Traffic was at a standstill from the school, all the way down 100 East and both directions of 300 North leading to 100 East. I am sure that other school routes were congested as well. Inside the school, there were parents, students, and staff everywhere. The intercom was constantly calling off names of students to come down and get picked up. No one was checking IDs or signatures so it wouldn't have mattered who picked up students. The emergency contact info on our student information sheets was worthless. Your current procedures give the surface appearance on paper of being in control but they offer no real protection to students.
• The students were not properly informed of what was happening. I misunderstood and thought that just my daughter's bus route was canceled. (She does have a incompetent bus driver. During the last snowstorm, the bus driver couldn't make it up any of the hills and on one particularly stressful area of snow and ice began screaming "We're all going to die!" My daughter is fairly reliable and had no reason to make that up.) If I had known that all students (including walking students) were going to be held at the school, I would have taken a different route to the school, left my baby at home or arranged for my emergency contact to pick her up.

A few suggestions to get you started:

• Apologize to all of the students and parents in the school district for your mishandling of this situation. Quit trying to justify your actions by saying that you did the best you could. Simply admit your mistakes.
• Require each school to develop and practice a USEABLE plan for situations like this in the future. Make sure that parents are aware of the DETAILS of the procedures. A brief statement of policies in the handbook is not enough. A workable plan is necessary.
• Use technology like cell phones, electronic bulletin boards, websites, and automated calling systems to facilitate communication.

I am a teacher and I want to give public education the benefit of the doubt whenever possible but my confidence in the public school system has been faltering and this event has made it clear to me that Alpine School District does not deserve my support anymore. I have been biting my tongue for the past 7 years but will no longer do so. You can expect me to contact you again in the future with additional concerns.

Math Riddle of the Day

If www.matcheez.com offers T-shirts from their Family Tee Collection in just 30 different colors, how many different combinations of shirts could we purchase for our family IF we have 5 family members? (Remember that order matters since each family member wears a different size.)

HINT
If you can't remember how to do combinations and permutations, try experimenting with just 5 colors and 3 family members then look for the pattern.
Here is an example to get you started:
If the shirt colors are red, blue, yellow, green, orange then Mom can wear 5 different colors of shirts for every shirt that dad can wear. This means that there are 25 different shirt combinations. What happens if we add in a baby who can also wear 5 different colors of shirts for each combination that Mom and Dad can wear?

Baby Sign Language

One of the hottest trends in child development is teaching your baby Sign Language. The popularity is new but the concept is not. My dad taught me to fingerspell and to count in ASL before I went to Kindergarten. Although he has been partially deaf in both ears since he was a teenager, his hearing loss is generally unnoticed by those around him. I do remember attending church services for the Deaf. My dad wanted to expose us to Deaf culture and give us opportunities to practice using American Sign Language. When I later became a teacher, I frequently used fingerspelling to help beginning readers who were struggling with their letters and older readers who were struggling with spelling. I found that the kinesthetic experience of using Sign Language improved their memory and the hand signs for each letter gave them a visual connection between the "alphabet song" and the printed letters on a page.

When my oldest child was a baby, I read a wonderful article in the Spring 1995 issue of Mothering Magazine about using Sign Language to communicate with your baby. I was inspired and taught my daughter a few basic signs including "more," "milk," and "mom." She first used signs at 7 months old and began forming simple sentences at 12 months. This was helpful because although she jabbered constantly, none of the words made sense. Sign Language helped alleviate much of the frustration we might have otherwise experienced during this stage of child development.

When my second child was born, I was given a book called Signing is Fun by Mickey Flodin. It is a pocket size paperback book with great drawings. I had forgotten many of the signs I learned as a child and this little book served as a nice reference that I carried in my purse.

More recently, at a family reunion, my cousin's 18 month old daughter was demonstrating the various American Sign Language signs that she had learned. I was impressed that she knew over a hundred signs rather than the 15 or so that I had taught my children as toddlers. She had learned sign language from watching a program called Signing Time. I decided to purchase a set of Signing Time DVDs for my 1 year old son as a Christmas gift. We love the songs and the simple animation is cute. The Signing Time DVDs are wonderful because they include an explanation and demonstration of each sign followed by children, toddlers and even babies demonstrating the sign. My son loved to watch the other children sign and began imitating them immediately after watching the first program.

Learning new signs is easy. I sit my baby on my lap and we watch the Signing Time DVDs together. We listen to the CD in the car and practice the signs while we drive and sing. My older children enjoy learning the signs along with the baby. The Signing Time web site offers games to improve signing skills along with resources for parents and caregivers. Our family's signing abilities are improving as we use signs to communicate with each other daily. I can quietly talk to my children in church without disturbing others. I even use Sign Language to talk to my husband across the grocery store. My oldest child once used fingerspelling to send me messages while she was in the dentist chair and unable to speak.

My youngest is growing quickly. As his oral speech becomes clearer, he has begun to express a desire to learn more signs. He sometimes invents his own signs for words he does not know. This gives us an excellent opportunity to look up the actual signs. We use a terrific online dictionary provided by the Michigan State University Communication Technology Laboratory.

Unfortunately, I have had well intentioned family members forcefully voice their concern that my children's abilities to communicate in English would be hampered by using sign language. I have never known quite how to gently explain to these individuals that quite the opposite is true. Our family's experience with Sign Language has been overwhelmingly positive. Scientific
research shows that children who use Sign Language have earlier language development than their peers. Teaching American Sign Language has never been shown to hinder speech or vocalization. Children who use signs have larger vocabularies and higher IQs. They also have fewer tantrums (presumably because they can ask for what they need and want.)

Try using a few signs with your own children or grandchildren. The time it takes is minimal and the benefits are outstanding. You might find, as we did, that your toddler is trying talk to you but you simply aren't understanding the words he is using. Signing gives young children a "voice" with which to communicate their feelings and needs. Once you experience the fun of teaching your Baby Sign Language, the practicality of signing with your children and the joy of communicating with your toddler in a language you can both understand, you too will want to share the magic of Baby Sign Language with other parents.

Educational Shows Worth Watching

Not all "educational" shows are worth the airtime that they occupy. Here are a few of my favorite math shows:

Cyberchase
http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/
This PBS show does name Hacker as the "bad guy" but aside from that, it is an excellent show. National math standards are addressed. Concepts are clearly presented. Ideas build from the simple to the complex. Real-life connections are included at the end of each episode. Besides it's a cartoon and it's FUN!

Math Monsters
http://www.mathmonsters.com/
This is my favorite educational show. It is a cartoon series produced with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. This is reflected in its goals, teaching methods and concept presentation. My children love to watch it over and over. Appropriate for ages 3-9.

Mathematics is Elementary
http://www.ait.net/products/mathematics/
A good series for home-school students as a supplementation for a basic program.

The Number Crew
http://www.thenumbercrew.us/
This series is a claymation show for very young children and focuses on basic number concepts.

Ms. Math
http://www.cptv.org/msmathhome.html
This series is intended for parents and teachers who wish to help their children understand the beuaty of mathematics. On demand video is available.

Check your local public TV station to see times and airdates.