Way to go Jacob!

I have pictures - but in this fading light it's best that I not try to transfer them to computer and end up with a camera memory card in the DVD slot..... again.

Jacob had a great baseball game tonight to start off the pool play week to make the city tournament.  He was 3 for 3 (all doubles) with a total of 4 RBI's.  He also made a double play to end the game by catching a pop fly then tagging 2nd base (the runner had taken off).

Tomorrow they play a much tougher opponent.  That team won their first pool play game 20-1.  Jacob's team did beat the team they play tomorrow in the regular season, but only by 1 run, and there were more than enough close calls / missed calls / narrow escapes that the game could have gone either way.  So.... let's hope Jacob has as good a game tomorrow as he had tonight. 

Of course, we're spending the afternoon at the swimming pool with friends so..... probably not.  lol.

I will say (again) that I'm very happy that we played Jacob in the machine pitch league again this year.  What's kindof cool is that there is nothing particularly remarkable about their team.  They have one "really good" all-around player.  But most of the kids are just.... pretty good.  They've learned to play together as a team.  They've learned how to back up plays and who to throw to.  They've learned how to hit the ball relatively consistently.  They've been coached well by coaches who are also very good but also not outstanding. 

Last year's team was filled with "superstars" who thought they were better than everyone else out there.  Superstars who never got better because they never learned to play together.  Well, they had no practices once the season started in May - so most of them didn't learn anything.  The grapevine (facebook) indicates that more than one of those kids is now ready to quit baseball because they weren't "good" this year.

Jacob's team this year is definitely better than the sum of its parts.  I hope they make it into the tournament, even if their chances of 'winning it all' might be slim.  But even if tomorrow is the end of the road; I'm still really glad this was the season he had. 

Idyllic Summer

So.  I clearly haven't posted in a month because I don't want to make you all jealous at how idyllic our summer is - just like everyone else's.

There's been fruit picking, swimming pools, sprinklers in the yard, and ice cream.  The children have been playing non-stop outside in the sun.... so tired from their 1970's-style fun that they go right to bed at the late hour of 8:30pm.  There have been crafts (Pinterest!), homemade baked goods, and I cannot believe that the children are getting along so well!

There have in no way been tears over mom's strict electonics policy. 

There has certainly not been a girl up at all hours of the night because she's tired of taking melatonin at bedtime.

The cat certainly doesn't smell like Hades due to the sulfur baths.

And if you happen to hear yelling outside the windows - trust me - it's not the kids yelling at each other or me yelling at them - it's this awesome new game we invented to make fun of all the "less idyllic" families out there.

And the USDA recently rewrote the food pyramid to make potato chips a food group, right?

Finally, thank goodness I have the summer "off."  Because there is absolutely no way I'm sitting in front of the computer for hours trying to meet totally arbitrary deadlines for course developments and papers required for tenure.

So there!  This summer rocks!  I knew you'd be jealous!

Last Day of School

 Last Day of School Pictures.  BTW - this was Jacob after he was told to "Look Normal"

Two competing titles..

Two competing titles for this post.

#1 - Making Sense of the Non-Sense
#2 - Why are we shooting for "Proficient"

So - you know it - report card season!

Any assessment for Allison you have to take with a grain of salt.  Good doesn't always mean good and bad sometimes just means she didn't feel like taking a test.  Even so, I think the system is screwy.  Heaven help the teacher whose evals or pay might depend on Allison's mood on testing day.

So - in perfect contradictory form - this is what Allison's report cards plus IEP teacher feedback plus standardized test scores indicate:

Reading:

IEP Feedback - She's made tons of progress in reading!  She advanced something like 5 levels (into the 5th grade reading range) and was integrated into the classroom book clubs.

Report card feedback - she became "partially proficient" in 12 of 15 areas.  The goal is proficient in all 15 areas.  The other 3 - "minimally proficient"

Standardized testing - she scored 3 points lower at the end of the year than she scored at the beginning.  three actual points, not three percentage points - she lost 18 percentage points relative to her peers.  Whoops.

Math:

IEP Feedback - She has made more progress working with the autism teacher and focusing on one or two ways to solve the problems rather than many ways to solve the problems.  She's making steady but not spectacular progress

Report card feedback - "Proficient" in 2/19 areas; "partially proficient" in 13/19 areas; "minimally proficient" in 4/19 areas (though all the minimals were in the math practices area - so things like communicating answers and being efficient).

Standardized testing - she scored 19 points higher at the end of the year - putting her at the 81st percentile.  (top 20%).

Summary:

She's "minimally proficient" in most areas of math but in the top 20th percentile for all 5th graders in the district.  Note - she hates math with a passion.

She gained more than 5 levels in her classroom reading index, and simultaneously became a significantly poorer reader of standardized tests.  But, she loves reading and does it endlessly.

So crazy.

The other things I learned from Allison's report card.... she does not like phys-ed, but all the other specialty areas were fine.

Canoeing addendum

Jacob is back from his canoe trip.  He had a great time.  Tipped the canoe once.  Was rescued by his friend Ian and his dad from the large rock that he'd run into (apparently the water was too deep to touch).  He used his $5 to buy exclusively candy - so he's on quite the sugar high.

Canoeing

Right now - as I type - Jacob is on a canoe trip with his school and I'm trying not to worry (too much).  It's true that either or Brian or I had the opportunity to go along as well, but ultimately Jacob's decision was "Nah, I'd rather canoe with my friends."

I might have influenced that decision with my lukewarm response when the field trip request came home.  (I always feel a bit put-upon at the end of the school year when the kids are taking field trips every other day intermixed with parents-need-to-help at school functions - and I have limited time to finish my work projects before the kids are home for good! - Did I mention my course redesign project and two research papers which are effectively going to be shelved at 3:04pm on Friday?)

Anyway, in hindsight, I should have been more enthusiastic because it's rained the last two days (a LOT) and I'm now convinced that the river is mighty and deadly beast that will eat up my novice canoe-er.  Okay, it's a little dramatic.  But how guilty would I feel if something were to happen?!

Sigh - this is a good thing.  One personal goal I have in 2014 is to let go a little bit with the kids. I'm not always going to be on the canoe trip with them.  If I don't give them a little room to make mistakes now, they won't know how to handle bigger mistakes later.  So.... I hope Jacob is enjoying the canoe trip.  It's a beautiful day.  I got 4 hours of work done.

It gets easier, right?

Waterslide! (Who needs the Dells?)