On 1/18/04 1:40 PM, in article ,
" wrote:

On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 14:04:05 GMT, Cheryl Isaak Lol. Schools are
closed in New England because its cold in the winter.

No, actually, schools are closed to give everyone a four day weekend.
Well, not everyone, just those lucky enough to be off on Monday.
Mainly teachers BSEG
Ann,
That evil little thought crossed my mind too!
Cheryl
As a former teacher, that is an EVIL thought. If we had closed schools every
time the thermometer reached -10 in MN, we would have missed at least half
of January and part of early February.
Hey - want to come teach in NH? We could use you and its warmer here!
Seriously, there a lot of cases of frostbite the previous two days - kids
just weren't dressed properly for the cold and lots of buses ran late 5-10
minutes. I can imagine between that and the heating costs (there is a
constant stream in and out of all the buildings), it was the wiser move.
Kids weren't dressed properly, don't they teach that in school? Some
common sense classes may be in order


I see the parents as being at fault there. Let the kid go out in shorts and
its -10 and 35 mph winds; not even transfusions of common sense would work
there.

Letters did go home on proper dress for winter did go home at least once
this year, three times for the kindergarten.
Cheryl

"MLEBLANCA" wrote in message
...

In all honesty, I don't miss the extreme cold and snow a bit. Getting out
of
northern MN was the best "move" we ever made.

John

Well I did live in the ne Ohio snow belt for 20 years, so I did get
acquainted
with shoveling snow, scraping ice, dead batteries, walking in a blizzard,
and 20 pairs of identical black "galoshes" with no names all sitting
in the hallway dripping snow melt! :^
We had about 3 snow days built in the school calendar, and if we
went over those 3, then days were added on in June.
I was not a bit sad when it came time to move back to California.....
now I can drive 30 miles and play in the snow and come back to dry.
Emilie

There are worse places than Ohio in the winter, but I'm happy you are
enjoying your California home and weather. To be honest, I prefer a four
season climate with occasional snow in the winter that melts in a couple of
days. Our winters gives me a period that I can stay out of the yard and
think about what I want to plant in spring. We did have a couple of
unusually warm days about a week ago (upper 60's) that drove me to clean out
winter weeds from perennial beds. Today we had a high of 42, which allowed
me time to sit in the sunroom and work on seed orders without feeling guilty
about neglecting something outside.

John

"Cheryl Isaak" wrote in message
...

As a former teacher, that is an EVIL thought. If we had closed schools
every
time the thermometer reached -10 in MN, we would have missed at least
half
of January and part of early February.
Hey - want to come teach in NH? We could use you and its warmer here!
Seriously, there a lot of cases of frostbite the previous two days - kids
just weren't dressed properly for the cold and lots of buses ran late 5-10
minutes. I can imagine between that and the heating costs (there is a
constant stream in and out of all the buildings), it was the wiser move.

Thanks for the invitation, but no thanks. I subbed in the school where I
taught for a few years after I retired, but after we moved to our new
location that ended. After thirty-five years in the classroom, I found the
last ten years far less pleasurable than the first twenty-five. This latter
period was when students gained court ordered rights, which meant keeping
students in my class no matter how disruptive they were, and cutbacks in
school funding increased class sizes (35-40). The things that kept me going
were the many great kids with which I worked and the fact that I was never
bored. I guarantee that it wasn't the salary!

It really comes down to proper dress - if you have it you're fine, but
heaven help you if you have no clue.

Cheryl

That definitely is a parental responsibility, and often it's the parents and
the kids who have not clue, particularly in the lower grades. Vanity does
cause frost bite to some kids, particularly junior/senior high girls.

John

On 1/19/04 12:21 AM, in article , "B & J"
bjskeff@removecox-internetcom wrote:

"Cheryl Isaak" wrote in message
...

As a former teacher, that is an EVIL thought. If we had closed schools
every
time the thermometer reached -10 in MN, we would have missed at least
half
of January and part of early February.
Hey - want to come teach in NH? We could use you and its warmer here!
Seriously, there a lot of cases of frostbite the previous two days - kids
just weren't dressed properly for the cold and lots of buses ran late 5-10
minutes. I can imagine between that and the heating costs (there is a
constant stream in and out of all the buildings), it was the wiser move.

Thanks for the invitation, but no thanks. I subbed in the school where I
taught for a few years after I retired, but after we moved to our new
location that ended. After thirty-five years in the classroom, I found the
last ten years far less pleasurable than the first twenty-five. This latter
period was when students gained court ordered rights, which meant keeping
students in my class no matter how disruptive they were, and cutbacks in
school funding increased class sizes (35-40). The things that kept me going
were the many great kids with which I worked and the fact that I was never
bored. I guarantee that it wasn't the salary!
Ah - the entire reason I never chased that Masters in education, the pay
would be ok, but the powerlessness to discipline would have driven me nuts.


It really comes down to proper dress - if you have it you're fine, but
heaven help you if you have no clue.

Cheryl

That definitely is a parental responsibility, and often it's the parents and
the kids who have not clue, particularly in the lower grades. Vanity does
cause frost bite to some kids, particularly junior/senior high girls.

Amen to that. I heard through the grapevine someone had frostbite on her
belly and the piercing there was affected. (man the things that go flying
through town!)

Now - how the parents can have no clue when multiple letters come home via
backpack express and it's on the news and in the paper, it completely beyond
me!
Cheryl

On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 23:21:34 -0600, "B & J"
bjskeff@removecox-internetcom wrote:

Thanks for the invitation, but no thanks. I subbed in the school where I
taught for a few years after I retired, but after we moved to our new
location that ended. After thirty-five years in the classroom, I found the
last ten years far less pleasurable than the first twenty-five. This latter
period was when students gained court ordered rights, which meant keeping
students in my class no matter how disruptive they were, and cutbacks in
school funding increased class sizes (35-40).

Where did you teach? And what level? A friend in Nevada teaches 3rd
grade and says her normal class size is 20-22; this year, due to
transfers, she's down to 16. I swear I remember 28-32 from my (long
ago) public school education.

I had thought that since last winter was so cold and we never got a real
break from the snow that this year it would be different. So far I have
been wrong. How in the world can Long Island have 30 below freezing with
the wind factor? It is LONG ISLAND ZONE 7a! Doesn't it know that!!!

Deep breath... let it out slowly.... Sorry, I'm from CA and just got back
from seeing my family. My Mother felt inclined to rub it in saying "I'm
told you couldn't do without your seasons back there!" (she is a nasty witch
some times... I mean that literally. The woman took all my money in "Spite
and Malaise"... Given that I shuffled and dealt I know she didn't stack the
decks so it had to be witchcraft....

Can you tell that I'm suffering from cabin fever? Last time it was like
this I went out and bought a house. I wonder what is on the markets these
days....

Is it Spring yet?

DKat

"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
...
"madgardener" wrote in :

hmmmmmmmmm well we got our seed display a couple of weeks ago and set
it up last week. Including the seed trays and Jiffy peat pots. Maybe
since it's southern Virginia it's later? But I do hope we get more
seeds because the ones we have will be picked over by the time the
serious seed starters decide to buy their stuff. I gotta remember to
ask about more seeds for February........
madgardener

yeah I feel it was kind odd, because I could have sworn Lowes had stuff
available at the same time last year. maybe it was the screwy weather
messing with my sense of time. But in other news, a barge carrying a
huge
crane ran into a drawbridge some where around here, such that the
drawbridge got stuck open, but not high enough to clear ships and they had
to delay a lot of ships. wouldn't be surprised if it caused truck freight
to get backed up a little too.

I had thought that since last winter was so cold and we never got a real
break from the snow that this year it would be different. So far I have
been wrong. How in the world can Long Island have 30 below freezing with
the wind factor? It is LONG ISLAND ZONE 7a! Doesn't it know that!!!

Deep breath... let it out slowly.... Sorry, I'm from CA and just got back
from seeing my family. My Mother felt inclined to rub it in saying "I'm
told you couldn't do without your seasons back there!" (she is a nasty witch
some times... I mean that literally. The woman took all my money in "Spite
and Malaise"... Given that I shuffled and dealt I know she didn't stack the
decks so it had to be witchcraft....

Can you tell that I'm suffering from cabin fever? Last time it was like
this I went out and bought a house. I wonder what is on the markets these
days....

Is it Spring yet?

DKat

"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
...
"madgardener" wrote in :

hmmmmmmmmm well we got our seed display a couple of weeks ago and set
it up last week. Including the seed trays and Jiffy peat pots. Maybe
since it's southern Virginia it's later? But I do hope we get more
seeds because the ones we have will be picked over by the time the
serious seed starters decide to buy their stuff. I gotta remember to
ask about more seeds for February........
madgardener

yeah I feel it was kind odd, because I could have sworn Lowes had stuff
available at the same time last year. maybe it was the screwy weather
messing with my sense of time. But in other news, a barge carrying a
huge
crane ran into a drawbridge some where around here, such that the
drawbridge got stuck open, but not high enough to clear ships and they had
to delay a lot of ships. wouldn't be surprised if it caused truck freight
to get backed up a little too.

It's not the schools - it is the parents. You have to have training and
get a licence for just about everything except for what is most important to
our society - being a parent. I was appalled a couple of years ago to see a
young girl (at most 7 years old), standing outside in sub freezing weather
waiting for the bus wearing a short skirt with light tights and shaking with
the cold. The mother was watching warmly from inside the house. They had
recently moved in next door and had lived in Florida. What do you do at
moments like that? Pull over (was driving to work) and say "this isn't
Florida and your child needs winter clothing you idiot"?
DKat


wrote in message
...
On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 14:04:05 GMT, Cheryl Isaak Lol. Schools are
closed in New England because its cold in the winter.

No, actually, schools are closed to give everyone a four day weekend.
Well, not everyone, just those lucky enough to be off on Monday.
Mainly teachers BSEG
Ann,
That evil little thought crossed my mind too!
Cheryl
As a former teacher, that is an EVIL thought. If we had closed schools
every
time the thermometer reached -10 in MN, we would have missed at least
half
of January and part of early February.
Hey - want to come teach in NH? We could use you and its warmer here!
Seriously, there a lot of cases of frostbite the previous two days - kids
just weren't dressed properly for the cold and lots of buses ran late
5-10
minutes. I can imagine between that and the heating costs (there is a
constant stream in and out of all the buildings), it was the wiser move.
Kids weren't dressed properly, don't they teach that in school? Some
common sense classes may be in order

Swyck

Where in Nevada? Las Vegas has a great deal of money and the rest of the
state is very rural where class sizes are still small. Most of the U.S. has
serious problems right now with class size. My son a couple of years ago
had his home room in a closet. Literally - no joke. Most classes now have
30-40 students in them. What we are expecting out of our teachers is
criminal. It doesn't help at all that the W education bill on manditory
testing requires schools to spend $500/student when they are only given
~$90/student. This has meant our already very high property taxes have to
be raise and many of the things our students previously had have been cut.
It is well known that a 2nd language must be taught before the age of 12,
that music taught at an early age helps develop the brain to enable it to do
higher math later on, that the best thing you can do for a childs education
is to keep classes below 12 children/teacher. These are the first things to
go now. It is such a crying shame. I have never seen such irresponsible
spending by any Federal administration in my lifetime and I'm 55.

D Kat
"Frogleg" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 23:21:34 -0600, "B & J"
bjskeff@removecox-internetcom wrote:

Thanks for the invitation, but no thanks. I subbed in the school where I
taught for a few years after I retired, but after we moved to our new
location that ended. After thirty-five years in the classroom, I found
the
last ten years far less pleasurable than the first twenty-five. This
latter
period was when students gained court ordered rights, which meant keeping
students in my class no matter how disruptive they were, and cutbacks in
school funding increased class sizes (35-40).

Where did you teach? And what level? A friend in Nevada teaches 3rd
grade and says her normal class size is 20-22; this year, due to
transfers, she's down to 16. I swear I remember 28-32 from my (long
ago) public school education.

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 15:10:21 GMT, "D Kat" wrote:
It's not the schools - it is the parents. You have to have training and
get a licence for just about everything except for what is most important to
our society - being a parent. I was appalled a couple of years ago to see a
young girl (at most 7 years old), standing outside in sub freezing weather
waiting for the bus wearing a short skirt with light tights and shaking with
the cold. The mother was watching warmly from inside the house. They had
recently moved in next door and had lived in Florida. What do you do at
moments like that? Pull over (was driving to work) and say "this isn't
Florida and your child needs winter clothing you idiot"?
Precisely why schools need to teach things like this. There are
classes on having a baby, but after that parents are on their own. If
they didn't learn something from their parents, or haven't learned it
on their own, how are they going to pass it on to their kids? I agree
that parents should teach their kids, but they can't teach them
something they don't know.

This also gets to a discussion on what's the purpose of a school and
an education. If its just to study academic courses (read'n rit'n 'n
rithmetic) then it doesn't belong. However, I've heard that the point
of a school is to prepare kids for life. In that case, teaching kids
how to prepare for a bitterly cold day in New England is in scope. A
lot more useful and practical then memorizing what year Columbus
sailed the ocean blue.

snip
Seriously, there a lot of cases of frostbite the previous two days - kids
just weren't dressed properly for the cold and lots of buses ran late
5-10
minutes. I can imagine between that and the heating costs (there is a
constant stream in and out of all the buildings), it was the wiser move.
Kids weren't dressed properly, don't they teach that in school? Some
common sense classes may be in order

Swyck

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 15:10:21 GMT, "D Kat" wrote:
It's not the schools - it is the parents. You have to have training and
get a licence for just about everything except for what is most important to
our society - being a parent. I was appalled a couple of years ago to see a
young girl (at most 7 years old), standing outside in sub freezing weather
waiting for the bus wearing a short skirt with light tights and shaking with
the cold. The mother was watching warmly from inside the house. They had
recently moved in next door and had lived in Florida. What do you do at
moments like that? Pull over (was driving to work) and say "this isn't
Florida and your child needs winter clothing you idiot"?
Precisely why schools need to teach things like this. There are
classes on having a baby, but after that parents are on their own. If
they didn't learn something from their parents, or haven't learned it
on their own, how are they going to pass it on to their kids? I agree
that parents should teach their kids, but they can't teach them
something they don't know.

This also gets to a discussion on what's the purpose of a school and
an education. If its just to study academic courses (read'n rit'n 'n
rithmetic) then it doesn't belong. However, I've heard that the point
of a school is to prepare kids for life. In that case, teaching kids
how to prepare for a bitterly cold day in New England is in scope. A
lot more useful and practical then memorizing what year Columbus
sailed the ocean blue.

snip
Seriously, there a lot of cases of frostbite the previous two days - kids
just weren't dressed properly for the cold and lots of buses ran late
5-10
minutes. I can imagine between that and the heating costs (there is a
constant stream in and out of all the buildings), it was the wiser move.
Kids weren't dressed properly, don't they teach that in school? Some
common sense classes may be in order

Swyck

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 15:21:28 GMT, "D Kat" wrote:


"Frogleg" wrot

On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 23:21:34 -0600, "B & J"
bjskeff@removecox-internetcom wrote:

Thanks for the invitation, but no thanks. I subbed in the school where I
taught for a few years after I retired, but after we moved to our new
location that ended. After thirty-five years in the classroom, I found
the
last ten years far less pleasurable than the first twenty-five. This
latter
period was when students gained court ordered rights, which meant keeping
students in my class no matter how disruptive they were, and cutbacks in
school funding increased class sizes (35-40).

Where did you teach? And what level? A friend in Nevada teaches 3rd
grade and says her normal class size is 20-22; this year, due to
transfers, she's down to 16. I swear I remember 28-32 from my (long
ago) public school education.

Where in Nevada?

Elko. Small, but not a one-school town.

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 15:21:28 GMT, "D Kat" wrote:


"Frogleg" wrot

On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 23:21:34 -0600, "B & J"
bjskeff@removecox-internetcom wrote:

Thanks for the invitation, but no thanks. I subbed in the school where I
taught for a few years after I retired, but after we moved to our new
location that ended. After thirty-five years in the classroom, I found
the
last ten years far less pleasurable than the first twenty-five. This
latter
period was when students gained court ordered rights, which meant keeping
students in my class no matter how disruptive they were, and cutbacks in
school funding increased class sizes (35-40).

Where did you teach? And what level? A friend in Nevada teaches 3rd
grade and says her normal class size is 20-22; this year, due to
transfers, she's down to 16. I swear I remember 28-32 from my (long
ago) public school education.

Where in Nevada?

Elko. Small, but not a one-school town.

I sure would have been tempted to stop!
Cheryl


On 1/19/04 10:10 AM, in article
, "D Kat"
wrote:

It's not the schools - it is the parents. You have to have training and
get a licence for just about everything except for what is most important to
our society - being a parent. I was appalled a couple of years ago to see a
young girl (at most 7 years old), standing outside in sub freezing weather
waiting for the bus wearing a short skirt with light tights and shaking with
the cold. The mother was watching warmly from inside the house. They had
recently moved in next door and had lived in Florida. What do you do at
moments like that? Pull over (was driving to work) and say "this isn't
Florida and your child needs winter clothing you idiot"?
DKat


wrote in message
...
On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 14:04:05 GMT, Cheryl Isaak Lol. Schools are
closed in New England because its cold in the winter.

No, actually, schools are closed to give everyone a four day weekend.
Well, not everyone, just those lucky enough to be off on Monday.
Mainly teachers BSEG
Ann,
That evil little thought crossed my mind too!
Cheryl
As a former teacher, that is an EVIL thought. If we had closed schools
every
time the thermometer reached -10 in MN, we would have missed at least
half
of January and part of early February.
Hey - want to come teach in NH? We could use you and its warmer here!
Seriously, there a lot of cases of frostbite the previous two days - kids
just weren't dressed properly for the cold and lots of buses ran late
5-10
minutes. I can imagine between that and the heating costs (there is a
constant stream in and out of all the buildings), it was the wiser move.
Kids weren't dressed properly, don't they teach that in school? Some
common sense classes may be in order

Swyck

I sure would have been tempted to stop!
Cheryl


On 1/19/04 10:10 AM, in article
, "D Kat"
wrote:

It's not the schools - it is the parents. You have to have training and
get a licence for just about everything except for what is most important to
our society - being a parent. I was appalled a couple of years ago to see a
young girl (at most 7 years old), standing outside in sub freezing weather
waiting for the bus wearing a short skirt with light tights and shaking with
the cold. The mother was watching warmly from inside the house. They had
recently moved in next door and had lived in Florida. What do you do at
moments like that? Pull over (was driving to work) and say "this isn't
Florida and your child needs winter clothing you idiot"?
DKat


wrote in message
...
On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 14:04:05 GMT, Cheryl Isaak Lol. Schools are
closed in New England because its cold in the winter.

No, actually, schools are closed to give everyone a four day weekend.
Well, not everyone, just those lucky enough to be off on Monday.
Mainly teachers BSEG
Ann,
That evil little thought crossed my mind too!
Cheryl
As a former teacher, that is an EVIL thought. If we had closed schools
every
time the thermometer reached -10 in MN, we would have missed at least
half
of January and part of early February.
Hey - want to come teach in NH? We could use you and its warmer here!
Seriously, there a lot of cases of frostbite the previous two days - kids
just weren't dressed properly for the cold and lots of buses ran late
5-10
minutes. I can imagine between that and the heating costs (there is a
constant stream in and out of all the buildings), it was the wiser move.
Kids weren't dressed properly, don't they teach that in school? Some
common sense classes may be in order

Swyck