Bored on Facebook... what else is there?

My students spend a lot of time on facebook, but they often complain that nobody says or posts anything good... that it gets boring...  but that there's nothing else to do...

When I started sharing fun links with them it was a great thing for all of us!  However, that was a couple of years ago.  Since then only a few still have the list...  I thought that I could make a list that would be easier to hang on to!

Math

COOLMATH

XTRAMATH

Typing

These links take you to sites teaching you to type

I recommend this one first

Learn to type

Then you can move on to this one

Learn to type option 2

These links take you to sites where there are games to practice your typing skills.

A list of games! onlinetypinggames.org

now that you've got it, why not take a typing test!

TEST YOURSELF!!! typingtest.com/index.html

Language

https://www.duolingo.com/ YOU NEED AN ACCOUNT!

Just for fun!

skippyjonjones.com/ Click here for SkippyJon Jones!

click on this for Dr. Seuss!

kidsclick.org/topweir.php MYSTERIES

http://www.lumosity.com/ get a free partial account!

http://pbskids.org/ play!

http://www.funbrain.com/ PLAY

Reading 

www.starfall.com play!

www.magickeys.com/BOOKS

Science

http://www.howstuffworks.com/index.htm FUN!

www.discovery.com/

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/ ANIMALS!!!

As I find more I will add them on!!!!

Mother's Day Dance Notes for 6th Graders!!!

Mexico is the land of dance....

There are more festivals and dance parties that a non-dancing American girl like me knows what to do with, but things have a way of working out, most of the time...

We are back in the swing of things again....

We are taking the mother's on a "virtual" cruise... for the Mother's Day dance that is May 10th.  Mother's Day is always May 10th in Mexico.

Here is the song we are dancing to, the 6th Graders are presenting India and Bollywood dance!  The song is called Highway and it is really catchy even though I can't understand a word!

Thank you youtube for making it easier for me to teach them the moves!  Here are some of the key videos that are inspiring us!

and

Finally, the boys will be dressed like the guys in this video!!!

I will post a video later of how it all goes down!

Wings~5th grade's Dance from Spring Festival

Mexico is the land of festivals!  In the USA, I don't remember doing this very often.  I remember a Christmas/Winter program sometimes... but that's it.  Here in Mexico we look for and create reasons to celebrate!  And why not?

My 5th graders make my life easy....  I work with them to do things that we all like, but they are kind, smart, and motivated kids.  The atmosphere in the classroom makes it easy and fun to do my job!

I really like this dance because so many of the kids got to have a ****starring**** role!

Police Please.

Well, I've had two very recent run ins with the police here in Mexico.  Let me say it has been an extremely confusing ordeal.  If you have ever been here in Mexico you may be surprised that there is any police action at all, but I'm getting ahead of myself.... one step at a time....

.... the beginning....  about 5 years ago I came back to Mexico...  to live.... again.  At Christmastime I convinced my mom, dad, and brother to come for a visit.  To make a loooooooooooooong story short, we got pulled over on a trumped up charge... I couldn't find my FM3 resident permission as I was freaking out... driving my non-Spanish speaking family from Cuernavaca to Puerto Escondido...  passing through Acapulco on the way.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that I was driving my mommy van with plates from the good óle USA! So the officer wanted money...  I didn't know how much to give him to "make my problem go away" but I figured about half of a ticket should be good.  In the end the Mexican consensus is that I gave him WAY TO MUCH.  However, it was an experience none of us will ever forget so maybe it was worth the $.  Anyways, an experience none of the Americans will forget... I'm sure the poli (rhymes with rolly, slang for officer of the law) has no recollection of me, my family, nor my mommy van...  Anyways, it was about a week later driving around the city of Oaxaca that my brother said...  "geez, now I know why we have so many rules at home".  Basically driving around the market in that city is just one huge game of chicken.  But we can talk about that in more detail later...

So, about a month ago I was driving home after school with my oldest when this "city bus" swiped off my driver's side mirror.  It would appear that the first part of the process is the same everywhere.... make sure the jerk that hit you stops.  Then the crazy Mexican way takes over.  Immediately call the police and your insurance.  If you move the car, you can no longer make a claim...  I did pull over, but most people don't.  Ignore all honking.  Then, you must make sure that you don't leave the other driver alone with the police officer for even a minute, because if you do, a very quick quiet arrangement can be made to make everything suddenly, YOUR fault.  So you stand right next to both of them forever as you wait for the insurance guy to show up. At this point, even if the police officer says it is your fault, the insurance guy will fight for you... ALOT if you have liability. If you don't, I'm not sure that they will care very much.  Anyways, everyone agreed that the bus driver was at fault and they made him pay the cost of having it (the mirror) replaced before the police left.  

What a headache.  Here they are in this picture...  the owner of the bus, because city buses are not owned by the city... but rather independently owned and operated.  Think taxis...  the bus driver, and the police officer whom I imagine is not giving them a fine, but instead accepting a "bite" (mordida) for the infraction the bus driver made.  The motorcycle belongs to the policeman.  The purple car belongs to the insurance guy.  The guy in the light blue shirt is the bus owner.  The picture is horrible because I did not want them to know that I was taking the picture.  By the way, this took about 2.5 hours on my birthday.  

The other truly remarkable thing about the Mexican police is that each police officer is assigned to do a specific job.  I imagine that this is much like the American system, but the strange part is, that if an officer that is in charge of investigations sees you do something wrong when you are driving, THEY CAN'T SAY OR DO ANYTHING.  Isn't that nuts?  

Anyways, part 2 will have to come later because I got some garbage to pick up....  girls... get ready!

Mini Monkeys, Mr. Monkey and Mrs. Mommy Monkey....

There is so much to say about Mexico I don't know that I will ever do it justice.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words so I will  "si" if I can't get a 100,000 or so covered in this blog! 

This is Mexico *the view from my house!!!!  

I took the picture about an hour ago!

and this is Mexico


Click here to go to a youtube video I made a bunch of years ago.....

and this is Mexico... 

and this is Mexico....

and this is Mexico

and this too...

THE BEFORE

There is so much trash along the roads.  Almost all of the roads.  In the school where I teach, many of the kids (and their parents just throw their trash on the ground.)  Now before you think I'm up on my "high horse," I will let you know that I am from up along Lake Erie...  a small town you may have heard of that is right outside of dreary Erie, the mistake by the lake.  We got that horrible reputation because of all of the pollution that hospitals and EVERYBODY else threw into the lake.  One of the rivers that empties into the lake actually caught on fire in the '70's sooooooo.....  

BUT.... then the litterbug campaign got started, and I didn't care.  I threw trash out of my friends' car windows because I guess I thought it was funny...  or cool... or something else equally stupid.  I don't do that any more.  In fact, I was involved in those Adopt a Highway programs and went with my family every 6 months to pick up what had accumulated.

So, sometimes my Mr. Mexican Monkey Husband chastises me for not bringing enough of the USA to our world here. Two weeks ago, I got tired of seeing all the trash piled up in the circle in the middle of a coldasac type thing they call a glorieta.  I told my family every morning, if it is still there on Friday when we pass by, we're going to pick it up on Saturday.  Friday, it was still there.... so Saturday the girls and I went to pick it up.  

THE AFTER

Today was the first day the four of us went.  The plan is that from now on, it will be our regular Sunday night thing....  

Here is a picture of my team!

Way to go Mommy's Monkeys!!!  I'm so proud of you!

Wish us luck that we can follow through with this, and that today is the first Sunday in a million!  More importantly though, wish for me that my girls grow up to make this (or something like it) a habit, a tradition, a part of their lives for the long haul.  

Supporting Monkeys take on the World!

There are always so many people in need, it is hard to know where to start.  Here in Mexico that challenge is even bigger

than what I was familiar with in the USA.

As an ExPat I'm often confronted with the question of 

exactly what it means to be American.  While I may not have an answer that is complete or even true for everyone, I have found some answers that ring true.  I believe Americans are empathetic and caring.  I believe that we, just as all people, get caught up in our day to day, and may not notice everything that is going on in the world.  However, once we are made aware, once we see a problem, we are moved to swift action.

We have always been taught that we can and must make a difference. One starfish at a time! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star_Thrower

It is our obligation and our delight to find a need and take steps to fill it.  It makes me proud to be an American.  Unfortunately, most of my European and Mexican friends don't know this about us.  I guess it is because they pay more attention to the loud mouth spring breakers or the news about other less than sparkling accounts of what we are, or what we aren't.  Many of those stories are true, but I am going to imagine that the reason that they don't know about all the good things we do is the same reason that we don't know all of the good things our neighbors do.   We are busy and that news, and it most certainly doesn't grow taller as it moves down the line, in fact it doesn't even make it to the line to get passed down.

Well, these hard~working generous souls quietly go about their lives lending a hand when they find one in need.  They rarely mention these acts to anyone else.

My mom's family has always been on top of this in a major way!  I'm so proud of them and I am so proud of all my monkeys for caring about their fellow human beings.

Last year (I taught 3rd and 4th grade) we read about public service projects and they started planning to collect and donate things to kids at a low~income special needs pre~school here in Cuernavaca.

Unfortunately, we were in a situation where the school no longer wanted to take on the responsibility of taking our kids on field trips because of the safety concerns here in Mexico.

The moment things settled down my kids sprang to action.

The had 3 weeks to collect what they could.  They started making beaded bracelets, friendship bracelets, and other small items to sell in exchange for a donation.  This is

not a very common thing to do here in Mexico.  No one can trust that those who say they will donate the money will not actually pocket any cash they get their hands on....

My kids raked in $500 pesos.  Which is a BIG DEAL! $45 may not seem like much, but $500 pesos, which is roughly the equivalent, is!  They kept the records, they did the math, they gave change... they did it all!

The class preside took the money, bought some class supplies, and brought back the reciept.  (open books is another rather new concept)

Here they are with the things that they purchased!

They also collected clothes, shoes, food and toys from the rest of the school.

On Thursday we took the donations to the preschool across town and had the chance to stay and play with the class for an hour or so.

It was beautiful to watch my monkeys bond and enjoy playing with the little ones. 

 They would ask questions about why the children had different things going on.... but accepted the children very easily.  Most of mine got close very quickly to one of the smaller children and took responsibility for getting them water or taking them to the bathroom.  It was so sweet.  They were so happy, and I am so proud of them!

The two groups of children were lovely and happy.

My students also commented on the fact that many of the children have some sort of orthodontic work done.  The reason why is because this Mexican Orthodontist donates his time to visit the school once a month or so in order to help these kids and their families with something that would otherwise not be a priority.

So congrats to my monkeys!  I love them very much and I am soooooo proud!

Many Mumbling Mice are Making Midnight Music in the Moonlight Mighty Nice

I had the chance to go to a teacher's conference in Mexico City this weekend and because of that, I am absolutely pooped!

I will just make this short and sweet because I have a confession to make....

I have lived an hour away from Mexico City for about 8 years of my life and the only time I really "chilled out" there was when I was 17 years old visiting Mexico for the first time when I was on a high-school trip.  I'm not really sure why I don't visit more often.

It is quite beautiful.

Quite modern, and I have yet to see a donkey there, just in case you were wondering.  

I have seen many donkeys around my house though.  Not that you asked.

I walked out of the hotel to find this lady working.

and selling her wares....

and I remembered for about the millionth time, that Mexico is a magical place.  

Whereever you are you can get caught up in the day to day.... sometimes you need to break out of the  routine to remember that whoever we are, whereever we are, there is most likely something magical around the corner, we just sometimes forget to look for it.

Sometimes we forget that we have magic inside of us.  I quoted Dr. Seuss because I remembered that I like to rhyme and write poems and read these kinds of books with my students and it is thanks to a very talented speaker and author that I met at the conference that I am on a quest to find even more magic....

What is Going on? Topic 1 Job or not a Job

Mexico's got its own Monkey business going on


I imagine that there are tons of things that go on in the United States that are pretty strange for foreigners.  Things that we take for granted.  Things that we think are common everywhere.  But I bet they're not.  When my mom put rice in our salt shakers, I thought that it was something only my family did.  Then I saw salt in restaurants, so I thought it was something we did in my town....  as my world got bigger, so did my realization that pretty much everybody puts rice in their salt shakers, pretty much everywhere in the world, no matter where they are.

Well, just as this is true about so many things, the opposite is also true.  Things we think are really normal are maybe, well, not.

I have lived here in Mexico for long enough to notice some pretty strange things happening.  Things that to a Mexican may seem perfectly normal.  However, to me, a full fledged American girl, it made me wonder what in the heck was going on. 

TOPIC 1 
THAT'S A JOB? The Viene Viene

Literally translated a viene viene is a come come.  What a come come does is work in a parking lot, (or sometimes on the street.)  They wait for you to come out of the grocery store and ask if you want help putting your things in the car.  They take your cart, and then stand behind your car saying come come come when it is "safe" to pull out.

At this point it is customary to hand over a tip.  The amount depends on many things.  Did s/he take your cart?  Did s/he move your things into the trunk.  Do you think this is a useful service?  Is the come come extremely old.  Is it possible that this person stopped someone from breaking your window and stealing your radio.  If you answered yes to any of these questions you should probably hand over something.

What do you think?  Is this a job.

Something Fishy Going On.....

So many incredible ideas out there...

so many creative people sharing the things they do...  

i have no recollection of where i first saw this, 

but i am ecstatic to say that i finally put it 

together and the smaller of my

smalls is already having

a blast

soooo....

maybe you don´t

need a blow by blow description

of how i went about this, but maybe one

or two tips will make it easier.  step one... gather the supplies.  if you are anything like me, this will be by far the most time consuming part of the process.... ok, find an ignored wooden puzzle among your wee one´s 

forgotten treasures... dust it off.  now the hard 

part... find pictures that you like. of the 

family, friends, pets, really anything

you decide....  i love the idea of

distant relatives if you happen

to have any of those.

the tricky part

is being

flexible about 

your picture choices.

our fish puzzle has 11 pieces

so i had about 

• 25 picture possibilities.  

once 

you have done this, 90% of the work is over!  collect 

• glue
•  scissors
•  pen... 

you are almost done! simply grab a piece of the puzzle, put it over the picture and if it fits well enough to see the face, trace it!

 if you like what you see, start to cut... word

to the wise... cut inside the line by...

well, a bit... i can´t be more

specific, it depends 

on how much of 

a perfectionist

you are!

 since i don´t get weighed down

by things needing to look

nice, i just did a trial

and error attempt

for a bit... some

turned out 

better

then

others, but

generally about

a 1/10 of an inch should 

be good... try it, if it fits, glue it in!

big strange hand in the forefront, mine.  your  welcome

if it didn´t fit, don´t worry

give it another whirl.

it will the next

time

then do the glueing business!

yippee!!!

my 2 year old has started naming the fish

papi fish (her papi is behind that

one!)  mommy-grampy fish

i but you can guess

who´s behind 

that one

and 

so on 

sooooo... i

do plan to take this one

step farther by sticking another pic

on the back of the piece.. to do this, flip

the puzzle piece over so that it is backwards before

you trace it.  once that is done, you can say something like

put mommy with papi, or cousin timmy with cousin adam!

you get the picture...  yes, that pun was intended too..

the great thing about this business is that you

can bring new excitement to an old toy

and keep reviewing everyone´s

name and face with

the tiny ones!

have fun, any variations on this, take a pic and tell me about

it!

Mucho Monkeying

This week has been a wild one!

Many of us never consider what a bunch of Americans might do 

if they found themselves in a new world.

In this case Mexico!

I lived here in Cuernavaca for about three years before I found ¨them¨  the ExPats....I found them through my desperation 

for an American style library.  My daughter asked

me (about 2 months after moving to Mexico)

¨mommy, where are all the

libraries?¨ My heart

broke.

Had I made a mistake 

coming back here?  She was

six and she was accustomed to infrastructure.

What an important word that has become to me.

Well.....  finally after several years of searching I found

the ¨American style library¨ my words, not theirs!  From there

I got on the list serve and another world opened up 

to me....  who knew?  So just a word...  before I 

share what I just posted on the listserve...

The foreigners in Cuernavaca

are known as wild (spring 

breakers) to many.

However,

we are also known

as a charitable, generouos

caring, and thoughtful people.  In a

time where everyone is always repeating how

much Americans are despised everywhere we go, I 

want to say that I don´t think that this is true, or at least not

a complete picture.  Many people do seem to have a love-hate relationship with us....  but even that ¨haters¨ seem to recognize

the excellent things we (Americans) do when they are pressed.

So, I for one, am attempting to carry on this tradition with 

what I think is a pretty incredible project with 

my 5th and 6th grade monkeys...  I 

simply copied and 

pasted!

oh, and a heads up... a barranca is a ravine, and 

a tope is a speed bump....

Hello Community,

My name is Lucy  and I have been living and working as a teacher here in Cuernavaca (this time) since 2008.

I have 5th and 6th grade at Excelencia Bicultural in the Pradera.  I have always been proud of the Ex-Pat reputation at places like the Salvation Army.  Our community is known for continueing the traditions of volunteering and giving outside of our home countries.  I have always wondered why more people here don´t lend a hand.  So over the years my students and I have tried different ideas... clean up the barranca (too much work) donate to Haiti... success....  I have seen my students really get motivated to help others... many of the kids and their families simply don´t know how or where to start.  Until now.

My 5th graders identified a federal school for children with special needs whose famililes don´t have even the most basic supplies.  My students decided to go along with the SEP (secretary of public education) calender´s value of the month which is generousity. They are accepting donations of all kinds and with the goal of going to the school at the end of February to donate the items and to play with the children.  My students are also making friendship bracelets and keychains to collect money to buy school supplies.  It is incredible to watch as I have put the project in their hands and simply guide when the hit the proverbial tope!

My 5th and 6th graders are starting an ongoing campaign of ¨adopting a classroom.¨ The director at my school is also a teacher in a federal school.  He has identified 3 families whose children often miss class because they are searching for cardboard in the trash in order to get a few pesos to buy food.  My students are attempting to provide these 3 families in particular with some food each week.  As well as donating toys, school supplies, clothes, shoes, etc. to the children and their families in a 5th grade class at the same school.

I am writing to invite all of you to make donations at my school for the same purpose!  I know my kids will do a great job but as my great aunt always says ¨many hands lighten the load!¨  

Fruit from your trees, items from your homes that are in good condition, yet no longer useful to you.  Really, these families are in need of everything.  However, I do not feel comfortable with cash donations. If this is your intent, maybe ordering basic staples from a grocery store that delivers could be an option?

The office at Excelencia Bicultural is awaiting your donations between 7:30 and 3:30.  I apologize in advance that I am unable to make pick ups, but honestly I am spread rather thin as it is.  I am taking this project on with my students for as long as possible....  maybe years?

In the interest of clarifying, I don´t believe in enabling people, but I personally don´t feel like that is what we are doing.  I feel that these kids need help and that they don´t have a way to get what they need without someone stepping in.  When I asked my bosses for permission to contact all of you, I was quite proud to feel that I had back up from so many people, even though I don´t personally know many of you.  If you are able to stop by my school, please consider asking for me so I can introduce you to my students.  They would LOVE to speak to you in English, and I would love for them to see that we have a strong community here as well.  Not to be redundant, but fruit from your trees as well as anything else you can spare will be greatly appreciated.  I plan to post pictures of the kids in action so you can see the  ¨fruits of their labor¨ (yes, the pun was intended)!

Thanks for all you do! So what do you think?

Who's Making All That Racket?

Monkey business is my middle name.  I used to be 

surprised that there was monkey business 

going on whereverver I went, but then I 

came to realize that had more to 

do with me than where 

I went.

My monkey business mostly takes place south of the 

border these days.  I am an American living, 

working, and playing in Mexico.  

I have 2 main monkeys (my girls 12 and 2) yes, 

you read that right.....

and I have about 35 supporting monkeys.  These

are my 5th and 6th graders here in 

Cuernavaca.

These guys are so incredible that I just have 

tell someone what they do, what 

we do, and what I do!

The problem I have is one you

probably have too...

Just when

you 

get started

it's already time to stop.