JoJo from Jerz is phenomenal with her turn of every phrase… How she comes up with it all boggles my mind.
I think of creative writing grades 2 and 3 - my context with frequency - and figure if she showed that spunk as a kid, she might’ve had some quiet consultations with her teachers about her creative writing pieces.
I remember a kid, name and all, but to protect his privacy I won’t say… In 2nd grade, he wrote an essay about a James Bond movie, and his teacher was very, very very upset, told his dad he was being exposed to things he should not see. I had his brother in my 3rd grade class and the 2nd grade brother came to me the next year for 3rd. Brilliant kids.
The parents had divorced dramatically. I was friends with each, but always very separately. The mom referred to the divorce as a re-enactment of the movie “War of the Roses,” an outrageous and bitter divorce battle, to quote Wikipedia.
Even yesterday at the surgicenter, I found myself pondering the various people around me as 3rd graders… Every person is so individual! I love it!
And age 8 is fairly pivotal… generally speaking, the brain makes a shift, a leap of development in many forms.
I always love referring to Bloom’s Taxonomy because the stages of development are so reliably accurate so much of the time. Everything from exposure to an idea to then rote repetition with then gradual understanding, etc. There’s a threshold midway, like an equator, when understanding goes into territory of analysis, synthesis, and more… Critical thinking tops the list, but humor is even beyond that. Linguistically… If you understand humor in another language, you’ve reached the peak.
In class, I had a small wooden step ladder labeled with sharpies step-by-step so even the kids were exposed to considering this hierarchy.
Case in point:
Plain as day, our grandkids understood jokes with hilarity when in grade 3, while a year earlier they did not yet get the humor.
A stark example was a talent show held in class one day. I sat, back to the windows along the street and, a rarity for me, the 2nd and 3rd graders were segregated to the left and right. (Generally, I did not segregate them.) So one tall girl, again whose name I remember, but decline to say…was telling jokes. The 3rd graders would laugh while the 2nds looked blank. Put the show on pause : 3rds graders explain the joke to the 2nds; then the performer on stage tells the joke again and we all laugh together!
It could not have been more stark! She was a Jehovah’s Witness and I remember my surprise when she ventured into several jokes that were off color and I had to quietly redirect her. I think she got it, but was just giving it a try. Funny moment.
I’m so glad I did not pursue a career as accountant or secretary because I’m sure I had a whole lot more fun as an educator!
I had my first arguments over politics in second grade, with my best friend, Ralphie, then a Republican. JFK and Nixon were vying for the White House. There's more, but I'm saving it.
I eagerly await… I am older than you, remember these debates in high school, and I eagerly await your next installment. I realize in this moment that as a second grader, you fit what I know in my mind and heart, that developmental stages aren’t all that predictable, that my story was fraught with generalizations. Good for you! Teaching grades two and three together was always my favorite! You could match students by learning style rather than worrying about grade level tracks designed by legislators… (!)
I wanted a winning argument. And I knew I wasn't equipped to think one up, myself. So I asked--probably my mother--for help. I learned the word, smear.. As in, during the 1950 California Senate race, Nixon had smeared his opponent, Helen Gahagan Douglas, by calling her by an epithet that GOPers frequently used against lefties, an epithet that referred to proponents of the Soviet economic system. I remember taking a strong dislike to the sound of the word, smear.
Lordy, the kids were often fun and alternately maddening. Most parents were the “war of the Roses” types with the kids in their sites. I thought about writing a book titled Parenthood: Temporary Insanity. God forbid if it wasn’t temporary. BTW, mattered not if it were a rich or poor district. Just different aspects of the pathologies
Yes, it doesn’t matter, rich or poor… Our school was in the south end of town, less affluent. Very very diverse population. We had lots of rentals so families who came for university study, med. school, etc., meant we had students in class who knew textbook English from their schools back home or maybe had no English, and there was a hearing center on campus with deaf and hard of hearing students - and many of those kids had learning disabilities as well… So while it was challenging, it was extremely gratifying. And many of the parents were so appreciative, wanting to know more about parenting their kids differently from how their culture dictated… It was always a learning curve, very stressful at times but often with wonderful outcomes. I remember one mom coming in January and thanking me for all I had done to fix things about which she had had concerns back in late November, and in truth, with the holiday season, I had done very little if anything other than think about it and plan for the new year… But things took care of themselves. Such a human enterprise in which it might look like we’re herding the kids like sheep, and sheep can all look alike as they crowd toward the gate to funnel through, but even sheep are individual beings. The kids? Oh yes! A work in progress on the continuum of their lives.
Oh yes, public school takes what walks in the doors, charter schools pick and choose. Ben Franklin spinning in his grave. “Even sheep are individual beings.” Sounds so simple…
Oh my, these things touch a nerve… I remember one mom who showed up and raked me over the coals… Grade 2… Her son broke his leg bigtime and was at home but I sent lessons for him, at her request. I asked him to write about someone he admires and she attacked me that someone his age wouldn’t even understand the concept of admiration. Really? When she finally left, I could not hold back the tears and then, calculated? A knock at the door and it turns out she forgot her keys, so she saw me in my state of distress. Oh well… The boy and I generally had a good year together, and when I bid him goodbye at the end of the school year, he literally said to me, “Well, you’re done with her, but I have her for the rest of my life…”There was a divorce and the dad remarried, a delightful gal who was very active in PTA and she let me know things really were no different between the kids and their mom… I even heard about the family when the boy and his sister were in their 20s and… There you go. But I’ll never forget him saying that to me because I had said nothing to him, but I guess his mother really had plenty to say about me, and he was aware of the deep schism. But I think she must’ve had a moat around her 360°, a circular schism, isolating her from …just healthy living…?
Do I remember his name? Of course! Makes me think of the poster where the kid raises his hand and says, “My brain is full. May I be excused? “
That’s an amazing story. So many children are so trapped, and more or less helpless. I did notice that (boys mostly) had a good handle on FLAWED parents in 9th grade, but by 11th grade exhibited the same characteristics. Sort of shocking, but there were several that I remember. They are just little sponges who desperately need a sane example somewhere in their youth. Some grands fill the bill and serve as place holders, which can be life changing. I think often of the ones I knew as teens who are now middle age plus. Some are just older, not wiser. But I have a limited sample. We miss opportunities to make a difference with teens when it would matter more. Our group counseling was sometimes heart-breaking, but so effective. Not always the case.
I'm quite puzzled that so many are so surprised at each revelation that comes out about Trump and Epstein and guys of their ilk with money and power. They think they're entitled to break the rules/laws by virtue of their status and because they see one another get away with reckless adventures, including the sexual kind. Trump gave away the game and so did Leona Helmsley several years ago when she proclaimed that "taxes are only paid by the little people." I'm sure Trump thought his conduct would secure him a place in the pantheon of penis princes. What a bunch of skeeves, the whole lot of them.
Nice to see her eloquent perspective pop up anywhere and everywhere. You know what they say, “Dont fukk with Jersey Girls, they will eat you and your lunch as a snack”.
Right now its gonna be all EPSTEIN through 2026 or the cankles take over the besotten host body.
In case anyone has forgotten republiCons indeed suck and deserve to be destroyed for defending PEDOPHILES !
See, he's doing the same thing he did in Unterm One. Naming "Acting" heads of agencies so they don't have to go through Senate confirmation. The Commodious Dotard (H/T Lucian Truscott IV) is a master at 'acting.'
I love JoJofromJerz! She has a persuasive view of events!
She certainly has a way with words.
Took the words right out of my mouth 😀
She's great. (sorry, Tom. So are you *ducks*)
JoJo from Jerz is phenomenal with her turn of every phrase… How she comes up with it all boggles my mind.
I think of creative writing grades 2 and 3 - my context with frequency - and figure if she showed that spunk as a kid, she might’ve had some quiet consultations with her teachers about her creative writing pieces.
I remember a kid, name and all, but to protect his privacy I won’t say… In 2nd grade, he wrote an essay about a James Bond movie, and his teacher was very, very very upset, told his dad he was being exposed to things he should not see. I had his brother in my 3rd grade class and the 2nd grade brother came to me the next year for 3rd. Brilliant kids.
The parents had divorced dramatically. I was friends with each, but always very separately. The mom referred to the divorce as a re-enactment of the movie “War of the Roses,” an outrageous and bitter divorce battle, to quote Wikipedia.
Even yesterday at the surgicenter, I found myself pondering the various people around me as 3rd graders… Every person is so individual! I love it!
And age 8 is fairly pivotal… generally speaking, the brain makes a shift, a leap of development in many forms.
I always love referring to Bloom’s Taxonomy because the stages of development are so reliably accurate so much of the time. Everything from exposure to an idea to then rote repetition with then gradual understanding, etc. There’s a threshold midway, like an equator, when understanding goes into territory of analysis, synthesis, and more… Critical thinking tops the list, but humor is even beyond that. Linguistically… If you understand humor in another language, you’ve reached the peak.
In class, I had a small wooden step ladder labeled with sharpies step-by-step so even the kids were exposed to considering this hierarchy.
Case in point:
Plain as day, our grandkids understood jokes with hilarity when in grade 3, while a year earlier they did not yet get the humor.
A stark example was a talent show held in class one day. I sat, back to the windows along the street and, a rarity for me, the 2nd and 3rd graders were segregated to the left and right. (Generally, I did not segregate them.) So one tall girl, again whose name I remember, but decline to say…was telling jokes. The 3rd graders would laugh while the 2nds looked blank. Put the show on pause : 3rds graders explain the joke to the 2nds; then the performer on stage tells the joke again and we all laugh together!
It could not have been more stark! She was a Jehovah’s Witness and I remember my surprise when she ventured into several jokes that were off color and I had to quietly redirect her. I think she got it, but was just giving it a try. Funny moment.
I’m so glad I did not pursue a career as accountant or secretary because I’m sure I had a whole lot more fun as an educator!
I had my first arguments over politics in second grade, with my best friend, Ralphie, then a Republican. JFK and Nixon were vying for the White House. There's more, but I'm saving it.
I eagerly await… I am older than you, remember these debates in high school, and I eagerly await your next installment. I realize in this moment that as a second grader, you fit what I know in my mind and heart, that developmental stages aren’t all that predictable, that my story was fraught with generalizations. Good for you! Teaching grades two and three together was always my favorite! You could match students by learning style rather than worrying about grade level tracks designed by legislators… (!)
I wanted a winning argument. And I knew I wasn't equipped to think one up, myself. So I asked--probably my mother--for help. I learned the word, smear.. As in, during the 1950 California Senate race, Nixon had smeared his opponent, Helen Gahagan Douglas, by calling her by an epithet that GOPers frequently used against lefties, an epithet that referred to proponents of the Soviet economic system. I remember taking a strong dislike to the sound of the word, smear.
The rest will have to wait.
Lordy, the kids were often fun and alternately maddening. Most parents were the “war of the Roses” types with the kids in their sites. I thought about writing a book titled Parenthood: Temporary Insanity. God forbid if it wasn’t temporary. BTW, mattered not if it were a rich or poor district. Just different aspects of the pathologies
Yes, it doesn’t matter, rich or poor… Our school was in the south end of town, less affluent. Very very diverse population. We had lots of rentals so families who came for university study, med. school, etc., meant we had students in class who knew textbook English from their schools back home or maybe had no English, and there was a hearing center on campus with deaf and hard of hearing students - and many of those kids had learning disabilities as well… So while it was challenging, it was extremely gratifying. And many of the parents were so appreciative, wanting to know more about parenting their kids differently from how their culture dictated… It was always a learning curve, very stressful at times but often with wonderful outcomes. I remember one mom coming in January and thanking me for all I had done to fix things about which she had had concerns back in late November, and in truth, with the holiday season, I had done very little if anything other than think about it and plan for the new year… But things took care of themselves. Such a human enterprise in which it might look like we’re herding the kids like sheep, and sheep can all look alike as they crowd toward the gate to funnel through, but even sheep are individual beings. The kids? Oh yes! A work in progress on the continuum of their lives.
Oh yes, public school takes what walks in the doors, charter schools pick and choose. Ben Franklin spinning in his grave. “Even sheep are individual beings.” Sounds so simple…
Oh my, these things touch a nerve… I remember one mom who showed up and raked me over the coals… Grade 2… Her son broke his leg bigtime and was at home but I sent lessons for him, at her request. I asked him to write about someone he admires and she attacked me that someone his age wouldn’t even understand the concept of admiration. Really? When she finally left, I could not hold back the tears and then, calculated? A knock at the door and it turns out she forgot her keys, so she saw me in my state of distress. Oh well… The boy and I generally had a good year together, and when I bid him goodbye at the end of the school year, he literally said to me, “Well, you’re done with her, but I have her for the rest of my life…”There was a divorce and the dad remarried, a delightful gal who was very active in PTA and she let me know things really were no different between the kids and their mom… I even heard about the family when the boy and his sister were in their 20s and… There you go. But I’ll never forget him saying that to me because I had said nothing to him, but I guess his mother really had plenty to say about me, and he was aware of the deep schism. But I think she must’ve had a moat around her 360°, a circular schism, isolating her from …just healthy living…?
Do I remember his name? Of course! Makes me think of the poster where the kid raises his hand and says, “My brain is full. May I be excused? “
That’s an amazing story. So many children are so trapped, and more or less helpless. I did notice that (boys mostly) had a good handle on FLAWED parents in 9th grade, but by 11th grade exhibited the same characteristics. Sort of shocking, but there were several that I remember. They are just little sponges who desperately need a sane example somewhere in their youth. Some grands fill the bill and serve as place holders, which can be life changing. I think often of the ones I knew as teens who are now middle age plus. Some are just older, not wiser. But I have a limited sample. We miss opportunities to make a difference with teens when it would matter more. Our group counseling was sometimes heart-breaking, but so effective. Not always the case.
I'm quite puzzled that so many are so surprised at each revelation that comes out about Trump and Epstein and guys of their ilk with money and power. They think they're entitled to break the rules/laws by virtue of their status and because they see one another get away with reckless adventures, including the sexual kind. Trump gave away the game and so did Leona Helmsley several years ago when she proclaimed that "taxes are only paid by the little people." I'm sure Trump thought his conduct would secure him a place in the pantheon of penis princes. What a bunch of skeeves, the whole lot of them.
JoJo in the house !
Nice to see her eloquent perspective pop up anywhere and everywhere. You know what they say, “Dont fukk with Jersey Girls, they will eat you and your lunch as a snack”.
Right now its gonna be all EPSTEIN through 2026 or the cankles take over the besotten host body.
In case anyone has forgotten republiCons indeed suck and deserve to be destroyed for defending PEDOPHILES !
EpsteinEPSTEIN ePsTeIN !
The phrase “hoist by his own petard” comes to mind.
See, he's doing the same thing he did in Unterm One. Naming "Acting" heads of agencies so they don't have to go through Senate confirmation. The Commodious Dotard (H/T Lucian Truscott IV) is a master at 'acting.'