My daughter’s school doctor called my husband in the office around noon to say that she is in the clinic with a fever. She had a 38.5 fever when hubby picked her up. Later when I got to my in-laws house where she was left by hubby after he picked me up from my other workplace (We-Speak Clinic), her fever had gone up at 40 degrees. We went home immediately, gave her medication and sponge bath. She slept well but refused to eat though we ordered pizza on our way home to entice her to eat. She really isn’t feeling well but there was only one thing on her mind: her science project. She made a water/liquid displacement project (she is the team leader, I think) and she is worried that there is still a small glitch there. Tomorrow is going to be the day when the Science teachers will rate the projects and give an award to one of them. We told her we will just send the project when the school service comes to pick her up in the morning so a classmate can bring it.

Go girl! Not even a high fever would stop her from doing her responsibility. Ahh..if only most students would do so. To read about children with fever and what to do, click here.

I got an sms yesterday from a dear friend of mine. She said she and another friend talked and that they are both sad. Sad that they are still singles. I remember that I once read an article that talks about the Bermuda Triangle for single women and men too. This begins with Thanksgiving (though we don’t celebrate this in our country), goes through Christmas and ends with Valentine’s Day. During this time of the year, single women, especially those whose biological clock goes tick,tocking feel vulnerable. They feel that with these three family-oriented or relationship-oriented holidays just passed by with them all alone. Though surrounded by families and friends, they feel they are missing something and they feel sad about it. Oh dear..I sure do hope I can help them feel better.

Kathleen Garrett, 50, is facing felony counts. So what? This case is different. She is charged with physically abusing her four students who have autism. As a special ed teacher, I did not know how to react to this article because it made me feel numb. Abuse? Such a heavy word, especially doing this to children with disabilities. Sure, they could be quite a handful, especially those who are bigger physically and/or those who cannot really communicate their needs and wants. They have the tendency to physically hurt others, not really intentionally but accidentally, especially when they are frustrated.

As a preschool teacher during my early years of teaching, we have been told to not physically touch the children to avoid accusations of hurting them. We were shown how to physically hold them, like holding them on their back when walking, not holding the arms to avoid being misinterpreted as pulling. Fast forward to now, my younger students receive cuddles from me, we do lots of high-fives, we hold hands. The older ones too, we do high fives and high tens. Sometimes, I would even touch their arms, whenever I want to convey to them my thoughts or to stress a point, if they did something or tell me they did or their parents tell me they did something not good. I am thinking now if it is best to stop doing this lest I be accused to physical abuse. Hmmm…I hope they would not think as such.

Read the story here and here. Read some reactions here. Read the verdict here.

1. Get Organized. Find out ways how you can organize things around the house. There should be a proper place for everything. After something has been used, it doesn’t hurt to put it back where it came from, to minimize clutter. Spend to weekend to de-clutter your home. (I think I should be doing this ASAP, )
2. Figure out what wastes your time. Do you waste time looking for your house keys? Looking for the bills that needs to be paid? Do you always forget that just one thing when you got back from the supermarket?  Get organized and…
3. Write, write, write. Keep a small notepad in your bag, or use a PDA or use the organizer in your cellphone and use it to write those “A-ha!” thoughts that might occur to you so you won’t have to waste time just trying to remember what it was that you were supposed to remember. This will save you a lot of time, energy and money.
4. Get an organizer. You know why you need an organizer: names, addresses, phone numbers, appointments, things to buy. These are just a few of the things you can put there. Just don’t lose it.
5. Keep a notepad by your phone. Ever had those moments when you frantically look for that piece of paper where you wrote something important that was not easily remembered like a phone number? No need to do that if there is a notepad by your phone where you can write things that needs to be remembered.
6. Schedule your chores. This I do to be able to do the things that needs to be done. I try to stick to my schedule otherwise, we won’t have any clean clothes to wear, cooked food to eat or the house would be very dirty. continue reading this entry »

Dysgraphia? This is also called the disorder of the written expression.

Students are required to write, it is how they do things: copying lessons, writing compositions, takings tests, doing their homeworks, writing down scientific observations, and a host of other tasks related to writing. But there are those who have a difficult time doing all these things. Dysgraphia is one of the learning disabilities which also include dyslexia and discalculia. In this specific learning disability, it is not just bad handwriting that is the issue. It is manifested in poor spelling, poor handwriting and difficulty putting thoughts into writing. These otherwise simple tasks related to writing seem very difficult for them. It is more like having difficulty connecting the input the brain has to the muscles to do their tasks, which in this case, writing. Oftentimes, this writing disorder impairs academic achievement or even activities for daily living.

To read more about dysgraphia and how to help students with this disorder, click here, here and here.

To those who use the net, Google is one of the most widely-used search engine (at least in this household). We use the term “Google this person or that topic” We also say “I’m googling about it.” But what do we really know about this company? I have read some time ago how it gives a lot of perks to its employees, how the office complex is called Google campus (Googleplex) and how young and dynamic the people (Googlers) who work there are.

Of course, I googled this topic. I found out that is number 1 in the 100 Best Companies to Work For of the Fortune Magazine.

Click here and here to read about Google. Click here to know what perks Googlers have.