Inchie Tuesday?

Opps, I forgot to post my inchie yesterday........I'm thinking maybe it's Monday somewhere. This weeks topic was "Endless". After the weekend we had I should have made something that related to homework. But I also worked on our taxes and unfortunately taxes won out.  I used an old receipt for my background and played a bit with my new colormists from http://www.outsidethemargins.com/. Just had to liven up the dreaded taxes somehow. Remember to take a look at all the creative inchies on the inchie blog. There are some great ones this week as always.



my rant for the day

Well, I must say that I'm glad that crazy week is over. In my opinion the exit exams for high school are a huge joke. What a waste of money for a state that is near bankruptcy. The test was relatively easy. Some reading and questions to answer about what you read. Write a persuasive essay. Not too difficult, I could see that it might be hard if writing isn't something you enjoy, but really not too hard. The next day was the dreaded math portion. I really don't think Grace did too badly on it. May have been a couple questions she didn't understand, they were algebra questions and she had missed a huge part of the school both years she took algebra ( 8th & 9th grades), but other than those it was easy. There was actually a question that I'm sure most 3rd grade students would have laughed at. To top it all off you don't even have to score a 70% to pass? What's the point?
I just don't understand why they take an exam that is called an "exit exam" yet you take it 2 years before you plan to exit. You get several more tries just in case you need them, but I think 7 is a bit excessive. If you can meet the requirements to graduate you have far exceeded what is covered on the exam.
Just a huge waste of tax payer money, someone had to write those tests, print them, distribute them, probably training on how to give the tests, they have to be sent somewhere to score them, then mail results to homes and schools. Not to mention the waste of time, and not only the class time of those testing, but also those others in classes that have more sophomores than other grade levels. Doesn't make much sense to teach on test day when you're going to have to re-teach when testing is over. I just think that in the days of huge teacher lay-offs our $$ should be going toward something more important than useless tests. I'll climb off my soapbox now.

exit exams

In our state high school sophomores have their first opportunity to take the high school exit exam. Tomorrow is the first time Grace's class will have to take the test. They start with the English exam which shouldn't be a problem for Grace English comprehension has always been a strong subject for her. Wednesday is the math section, I think she'll do ok, but she's so nervous about it. Anytime she hears math and test together in a sentence she freaks out. All I can tell her is if she blows it there are always more opportunities to take it. How hard can it be to retake a test till you pass? She's a much better student than she gives herself credit for. Just praying for calm nerves and confidence. And  thankful it's not my test to take :)

Dance Inchie Dance

Inchie day....Today's topic is dance.. I think of many things when I think of dancing. I'm not much of a dancer myself, but I met my husband while out dancing. I loved to dance with the preschoolers I taught for so many years. I was even dorky enough to enjoy that weird square dance thing they forced us to do at 6th grade camp. For some reason I thought of a little ladybug dancing in it's own little world. Maybe we all need a little dance in our lives now and then.



Frolic

This Monday's Inchie topic is Frolic (play lightheartedly: to frisk around, behave, or play in a carefree, uninhibited way )
This was a fun inchie I made it when it was dark and stormy. Enjoy all the inchies by clicking on the Every Inchie Monday icon.



The smaller picture

Sometimes I think that as adults we get so caught up in the bigger picture that we've forgotten that our teens have a much smaller picture frame. While we put so much emphasis on grades, colleges, etc. Our kids are just trying to enjoy themselves.
When I think back to HS I don't think much of that I learned, what grades i got or should have gotten. My memories are of the crazy things I did. Who I hung out with, what we did with our time.
 We don't live in the same town as the HS my daughter attends, so about once a week I sit in the van and read a book, text with friends oh OK I'll admit to a lil catnap some days, while Grace hangs out with her friends. Some people think it sounds horrible just waiting a couple of hours for her. But it's not too bad, I want her to have time w/out me right beside her ( I have to be nearby in case she needs me for medical reasons). They are usually at the local sandwich shop, but this week they must have gotten bored and went for a walk. Now I'm not sure exactly what happened, but they came back to the van full of laughter and crazy stories. Hope they didn't harass too many people or manage to do anything that would require them ducking if a police cruiser drove by. Just glad Grace can have these crazy memories in the midst of tests, research papers, & everyday stress.

Just don't get it

I must repeat myself when I say I am appalled at the way teens talk to each other. They call each other filthy names,say they wish they'd drop dead, ensure each other of how stupid they are, and it's all in fun?
 Honestly they talk to their best friends this way. I just don't get it! Can't figure out if they have no respect for themselves, their friends, or anyone. It crosses gender too, it's not just guys being crude to guys. Girls are just as vile to both sexes. I'm sure I must stand around with my mouth hanging open in awe of this trend.
I can assure you if any friend of mine tries to talk to me in this manner I'll be friendless before the day is over. So there I'll be: the friendless woman, standing around with drool falling off her chin just wondering what the heck is going on!!!!!!!!

cosmic

So, it's Monday, no school but an inchie. this week was Cosmic. Now I love pics of nebulas and decided to try and make my own, I got the dish soap and food color out, and made the background, but it wasn't quite what i had in mind. I decided maybe the big dipper would be fun. My sister, Wendy helped me with the dipper shape, and it looked great until I glued the "stars" on, then it was just a mess. Oh well, guess there's a reason I wasn't the one who hung the stars in the sky. Take a peek at the other inchies they're fun this week.

Nook

A couple of weeks ago a friend gave Grace a wonderful surprise. The staff at Grace's old elementary school pooled their money and gave her a gift certificate to buy a Nook. We finally made it to Barnes & Noble Friday and Grace is in LOVE!!!!!!!!

 I didn't realize how much she missed casual reading. Grace read at a young age and has always loved books.She used to always have at least one book lying around that she was into. In middle school the students had to read a certain number of books which took a lot of Grace's time, but she loved it.
In high school she's pretty much only read the books assigned to her and we've read them together since holding a book has gotten hard for her to handle for long periods of time. She also has trouble with positioning a book so she can see it well enough to read comfortably. Her spine has been fused and bending to get closer to a page is now impossible. We've gotten a few large print books, but that means the book is then wayyyy to heavy for her to maneuver. Forget trying to hold a bible!
I feel badly that she has been without a way to read on her own. The Nook is a bit heavy for her , but she can prop it up on things and lay in bed with it. It has a tough screen which takes care of the other problem we've faced. If we managed to get a book in a good position for Grace we then had the problem of how does she turn the pages on her own. Usually whatever we had holding the book would prevent page turning. Now there are expensive get ups that hold books, light them and automatically turn pages for a person with limited movement, but they're heavy , and as I said expensive. 
Can't wait to see what other functions the Nook has, I found games on it, but prying it away from Grace to play will be difficult. Guess I better start saving for my own Nook. I think the only way I'll get a chance to use hers is if we manage to get textbooks loaded on it.
Thanks so much to all those staff members that love my girl. You have blessed her in ways you'll never imagine.

Another One

Another week is finished. Grace has a four day weekend that will be full of schoolwork. Has a book to finish reading, some math, history ,biology  and research for an English paper to work on. She also needs to practice a monologue for drama. I think Photo is the only class she doesn't have work for. But tomorrow we're going to a movie that we've been looking forward to and maybe squeeze in some shopping. Gotta play a little before all that work!

Fishy Inchie

Happy Valentine Inchie Monday
It's Inchie Monday but not a Valentine theme a fish theme. I have to explain mine as it's not what my first idea was. You see my daughter's gold fish died, so naturally I tried to figure out how to use that dead fish for my inchie. Not to worry: I didn't glue it on anything, was too big :)  I love SpongeBob Squarepants and was watching the other night/early morning when i was suffering from insomnia and decided to do my own take on the JellyFish on that cartoon. Looks nothing like an actual Jelly, but I had fun making it.



Is it Friday yet?

Wonder why some weeks seem ssssssssooooooooooooo long. Didn't even go to school yesterday, which is probably why today seemed so much longer. Grace had an appointment with her pulmonologist yesterday; was a good appointment. Doesn't have to return for 6 months.
Have to say that Grace is blessed with understanding people in her life. She has a sub in math, (her teacher is out with a new baby.) She asked today for some help with concepts she missed last week, and the sub spent time w/ her one-on-one explaining them to her. I thought that was very nice, especially from a substitute.
Her photog/yearbook teacher is always understanding about her absences, he lets her do work from home and has even come up with different work for her to do when she's out for several days. He gives Grace his class time to make up tests or work on assignments from other classes whenever she needs.
Her drama teacher let her have extra time out of class today to work on math assignments she missed last week.
There are many others at her school that bend for her and do more than their share to meet her needs and more.
When Grace was in 8th grade she wasn't too happy about going to this high school, as there is one closer to us but in a different district. I'll have to say she's happy at this school and it would be quite a battle to get her to leave. Guess there's always a lesson to learn when you're placed somewhere you didn't plan to be. :)