At Considerable Cost

When I was an Elementary Education major at university, I was asked to serve as a student representative on a committee of the College of Education.   The committee's purpose was to improve practical classroom experience for education majors and to strengthen our relationship with the cooperating classroom teachers who served as our mentors.   The best part of being on that committee was the time before the meetings when I had a chance to speak with two classroom teachers who were also on the committee.   One day, the topic of conversation turned to math instruction.   I was in college when the use of manipulatives was being integrated into instruction to replace rote instruction alone.   It was the first time in my life that math excited me and I wished I could have been taught in that manner.   Topics were introduced through concrete activities, with real-world connections and then paper-and-pencil practice would follow....

Still trying to catch up on blog posts! MORE IN MY KITCHEN LATELY... I'm really enjoying the island in my kitchen.   I have two drawers dedicated to all my baking stuff.   I can store all my baking sheets and pans neatly beneath, along with mixing bowls.   I have about twenty mixing bowls.   And honestly, at holidays, there comes a moment in time where they are all dirty, having been used that day! PRETTY GIRLS & HANDSOME, FUNNY MASTER T C gets stopped in stores all the time, as people ask her if she knows who Shirley Temple is since she looks just like her.   This is her new sailor outfit.   It's not going to do much for making the Shirley Temple references stop.   It's so funny that C is more tomboyish at play, but she prefers dresses.  E is more regal (not just Mama-bias; that's the word people often use when describing her) and lady-like, but while she likes dresses, she prefers wearing...