Arlene Pitts
Stories (11/0)
TEACHING DURING THE PANDEMIC
I am a semi retired teacher with 16 plus years of experience. I have taught elementary grades kindergarten through eighth grade in public and private schools. I have taught in a regular classroom, special education classroom and mixed. I have substituted long and short term. I have also taught online, long distance learning. I have taught in the midwest and i have taught in the West. I tutor all over the country. I can conclude that none of it is easy, but ALL of it is rewarding.
By Arlene Pitts4 years ago in Education
QUARANTINE
Quarantine -- Just what does that mean? Apparently, it means different things to different people!! WEBSTER: (qua ran tine) a state, period, or place of isolation in which people or animals that have arrived from elsewhere or been exposed to infectious or contagious disease are placed.
By Arlene Pitts4 years ago in Longevity
It Started on a Country Road and Ended with a Lifetime full Rocky Mountain Highs
I fell in love with John Denver the first time I heard "Country Roads" on the radio. The imagery struck me direct in the heart, and I wanted to be where he was, to see what he saw, feel what he felt and know that global perspective and respect for the environment. When I first saw that big smile, and heard his boyish laugh under those granny glasses, I couldn't help but feel the joy and laugh along. When he sang, I couldn't help but sing along. Heard only once, the words were there to stay forever. The imagery he painted was so inviting to this urban girl. I'd lay in bed at night, my transister radio plugged into my ear, under the blankets, imagining what he sang, that I was there, in the mountains, in the hills, laying in the meadows, sunshine and warmth all around me. It was a stark difference to my reality.
By Arlene Pitts4 years ago in Beat
HOW CAN THEY ADJOURN?
I don't get it. I really don't! I'm a United States citizen, worked for 60 some years, disabled now and struggling to keep healthy and alive. Never in the history of my life time has there been a time such as this. People are sick with Covid 19 by the thousands and millions more have died of the coronavirus. Nothing can be trusted as fact. What we know today changes tomorrow or in a few hours. Chaos, confusion, fake news, lies, censorship of medical professionals on the front lines. There may be a drug, but its in short supply. There is no vaccine. "They" are testing a vaccine. No one is sure if it is safe. Distance at three feet, six feet, twelve feet, no sixteen feet! Wear a mask. No don't wear that kind of mask. Wear a shield. Wear gloves, don't wear gloves. Use sanitizer, but make sure it is chemically safe. Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds, a minute, a minute 30 seconds. You may have the virus if you have a headache, a fever, no taste, no smell, purple toes, a cough, a stuffy nose, fatigue. It lasts 14 days, but there are some that experience organ failure a few weeks later. You can carry it but show no symptoms. You CAN get it again. Good Lord! If ever we were in CRISIS it is NOW, TODAY! It will even be worse by September 7th or 14th or whenever congress comes back in session. Then the little they were going to send is going to be too little, too late! It's not that the money is going to cure everything. It is that the stimulus is going to make things a little better to deal with as well as help turn some parts of the economy around.
By Arlene Pitts4 years ago in The Swamp
I Have Angels in My Life
I have always believed in a spiritual realm, a place where those from our heavenly home reach out to us in one way or another. Through my sixty decades on Earth, I have met a few of them. No, let me say it this way, I have UNDENIABLY encountered a presence, a spirit and angel, a more than helpful essence in my moments of greatest fear or need or sadness and even in moments of great overwhelming joy and happiness. They have been invisible, and they have been in human and animal form.
By Arlene Pitts4 years ago in Humans
WHAT'S A CRYSTAL FOR?
When I was teaching hands-on science, we also gave "prompts" to our students to write and practice their science research projects and write ups. After the writing was over, science teachers from all over the city, gathered together to score the students with predetermined rubric. I will never forget one student's research. The scientific method was impeccable as well as the method to record the results. Even the conclusion was well researched and written to argue her point. The only thing is that further research or even different wording of the prompt may have lead her to an altogether different method and conclusion.
By Arlene Pitts4 years ago in Education
STRANGE COMMENTS FROM STUDENTS' PARENTS
It is really something that some teacher, parent, student exchanges stay with you for the rest of your teaching career. Some are awesomely uplifting. Other incidents that transpire haunt and annoy for years, like Fred Flintstone's little alien, "The Great Gazoo". He was a wise-ass, little green man, that although helpful and wisdom-filled ET at certain moments, he could undermine and confuse Fred's best intentions, hilariously, at other times..
By Arlene Pitts4 years ago in Education
When Does a Student Become YOUR Problem?
When I was a first year teacher, I vowed to myself, that no matter how busy I was, I would always take the time to call parents and tell them something "good" their child has done and to call to share any problems I was having with a child. In one instance, I was totally taken by surprise by the response I received from a parent.
By Arlene Pitts4 years ago in Education
Can You Say, "A W K W A R D"?
I'd like to share three experiences where a former teacher did something that made me feel uncomfortable. In high school, a young physical education teacher asked us to dress in the school’s required black one piece swim suit and walk in front of our female classmates. I was short, fat and under-developed. We were asked to critique each other’s physical attributes. Can you say “awkward”!! After the first few classes went through this process, there was a parent uproar and the process was stopped. Thank God! I have never gotten over that humiliating squid in my stomach.
By Arlene Pitts4 years ago in Education