Elementary Methods Management Blog

I am posting here to show my elementary methods management class peers that I have a space for blogs.  I used this site to discuss my thoughts and sentiments about pleasure reading I do.  This is reading that is done for fun and enjoyment not for a grade or research.  I could share these thoughts about books to read with my students and their parents when I have my own classroom.

Literature McDougal Littel (8th grade)

This week I read for 40 minutes each day (Monday through Friday) with my eighth grade students from their language arts book as a whole group.  We read a number of different stories, but the one that stuck out the most to me was called "Raymond's Run".
Raymond's Run was a story of a little girl, Squeek,  that is very confident about being the fastest runner in her neighborhood.  She is practicing for a big race that her neighborhood holds annually. She is the youngest sibling in her home, and her mother assigned her the job of watching over her older brother Raymond, that is mentally challenged.  Raymond is all over the place and has been known to offend other passersby because he does things that are not socially acceptable.  The people that know him and his family excuse his behavior. He is in the way of Squeek's training session and getting on her last nerve because this year she is up against a girl that may give her a run for her money.  During the race, out of nowhere, Raymond starts running with the runners on the other side of the fence.  Squeek was proud to see her brother, and she started running with him so fast that she wins the race and kept running way past the finish line.  She ended up the undefeated champ yet again, with a new found respect for her brother.

Breast lump research

This week I spent over two hours reading information and visiting sites that gave information on what to do and what it could mean being that I felt a uge lump in my right breast when I woke up Wednesday morning.  I have been breastfeeding my baby for the past 5 months, and he's my third baby that I ever breastfed.  I never had this problem before, so when I woke up with that lump I was alarmed and automatically thought I had breast cancer; I was livid!
The sites I visited were very informative though.  I learned that breastfeeding in a sense protects you from getting breast cancer; only a extremely small percentage of women hae ever been diagnosed with breast cancer while nursing.   I researched enough to discover that I was suffering from a clogged milk duct because my lump was hard but movable and got smaller each day until it was no longer there.  Cancerous lumps are hard and fixed and they will not go away over time, they actually get larger and more hard and painful over time.  I am safe now, and comfortable, but I think it will be good to follow up with my doctor when I have time.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/113566-causes-painful-lump-breast-breastfeeding/
http://www.ivillage.com/breast-lump-while-breastfeeding-should-you-wait-evaluate/6-n-137260
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Breast-Cancer/painful-lumps-and-breastfeeding/show/261230
http://www.livestrong.com/article/152526-a-hard-lump-in-breast-and-breastfeeding/
http://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/articles/breast-infections-and-plugged-ducts

Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs (The Buried Bones Mystery)

This week I read 20 minutes each day from Thursday, November 15- Monday, November 19 for a total of 100 minutes.
I finished reading the Ziggy and the Black Dionsaurs book. The boys were in the clubhouse, and they had all pitched in to bring snacks and stay the night there in hopes of cathcing Mr.Greene or who ever is the mystery bone burier.  The all had theeir weapons ready to take action just in case anything "fishy" happend.  The night was getting spookier by the minute with a storm coming.  It was tundering and lightening and taking on the look of a horror movie.  That is when they heard rustling outside the camphouse.  They set traps outside to help them catch any perpetrators.  There was a rope that caught the villians feet and Ziggy flashed a bright flashlight in their eyes so they couldn't see, and the others lit firecrackers around the person's ankles so they would think they were beign shot at.  Come to find out, it WAS Mr. Greene, and he was so afraid he cried.  The boys sat him in the middle of the floor, and Mr.Greene tole the story of how those bones got there. They were remains from old slaves, and the burial ground had been built over.  He also helped the boys solve the mystery of who cut down the basketball poles.  He had captured pictures of Mr.Burke's hired help cutting them down in an effort to make it look like a high crime area so Mr. Burke could by the land for cheaper.  They kept the pictures to turn into the police and get Mr.Burke captured.

Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs (The Buried Bones)

This week my students and I read chapters five through eight in the Ziggy book; we read for thirty minutes each day Monday through Friday.
Chapters five through eight were about the boys Rico, Rashawn, Ziggy and Jerome deciding on what to make the password to enter their new clubhouse.  The had their first club meeting, and decided to start looking for their first order of business.  During their play time while they were digging to bury their so called treasure they accidentally stumbled upon an old beat up box deep in the ground.  They were all extemely curious to know what was inside the box, but afraid to open it.  Ziggy was the braze soul that opened it, and they discovered it had bones inside.  Now they need to investigate what type of bones they are and how they got there, who buried those bones there.  They decided to began their search by figuring out what type of bones they were.  They also suspect a man named Mr.Greene that they overheard looking for graveyard books when they were at the library trying to get every book about bones they could get their hands on.  They had another serious club meeting; the were all afraid and uneasy about their thoughts of Mr.Greene and the mysterious bones. They all agreed that they will stay up in shifts in hopes of catching Mr.Greene doing something that would indicate he is guilty of burying the bones.

Ziggy and the ZBlack Dinosaurs (The Buried Bones Mystery)

This week I read Monday October 29th through November 2nd for twenty minutes each day.  I told my middle school students that we should read another Ziggy book together, so they picked The Buried Bones Mystery and we read the first four chapters.  I read aloud while they followed along, and I stopped several times during reading to ask them vocabulary questions and clarifying questions that answer who, what, where, when wht and how.
Chapters one through four were about Ziggy, Rashawn, Jerome and Rico looking for something fun to occupy their time during their summer vacation. They all agreed to go to the park and play basketball, but when they got there some one had cut all the basketball poles down with a chainsaw. They had to find a new activity.  The swimming pools were closed because kids kept jumping the fence at night and one even drowned, and there were no malls or arcades in walking distance.  they came up with the idea for a club house. They decided to build it in Ziggy's backyard since it was the largest.  They completed the 10 by 12 feet building.  They also made their rules, chose a club name and a secret password.

Why is my scalp itchy and hair shedding

This week I used my reading time to investigate a problem that I have been suffering from to say the least.  I spent over two hours on the web looking through site that explained why the scalp can become itchy and cause shedding.  The sites were stories of people who have been through this issue before and what shampoos, treatments and remedies worked for them. 
I found out that certain factors contribute to hair shedding such as it being a natural process to get rid of an increased amount of dead skin cells, the season changing, post partum hormone changes (after giving birth), stress, change in diet and change in routine.  I believe that mine may have alot to do with the fact that I just had a baby, so my hormones are getting back to normal.  I also think that I have a very dry scalp since the season has began to change. I took the advice of one columnist and greased my scalp, and it still itches just not as much.  I also noticed that I did not lose as many hairs this morning in my brush and on the sink.  Ironically scientists say that research suggests that healthy hair naturally sheds 50-100 strands each day anyway.  The time to panic and call a dermatologist is when it exceeds 50-100 strands, or hair lose is so sever that it causes balding.  Here are the links to the sites that I visited:
http://voices.yahoo.com/hair-care-shedding-breakage-understanding-difference-405173.html?cat=69
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070407123026AA332bf
http://thebeautybrains.com/2008/07/10/flat-iron-or-relaxing-which-damages-your-hair-more/
http://ezinearticles.com/?My-Hair-is-Shedding---What-Can-I-Do-to-Stop-It?&id=3869786
http://curlynikki.forumotion.com/t5831-hair-is-shedding-and-scalp-is-itchy