I won $5000.00

It's true. No kidding. I actually won and award. Best Buy liked how I use technology to teach Spanish so they gave me money to go on a shopping spree and get more stuff. VERY Cool. My school wrote an article about it and has just sent it to a bunch of magazines and the local papers. Below is a copy of the pictures taken, and the article written by the Director of Communications of The John Cooper School. I don't usually blog about myself, just my kids, but they insisted that I include this one in the family blog.

The Headmaster of JCS (Mr. Maher) presenting me the award. Too bad this picture was taken in the Spring, right after I won the award and before I lost 30 pounds!

Best Buy Award to Enrich 'Inspired Spanish'
Classroom for 2009-10 School Year

Spanish teacher Millicent Yanko is looking forward to beginning her third year as a foreign language teacher in The John Cooper Lower School with a little help from Best Buy. As the recipient of a $5,000 Best Buy Teach Award, Yanko is excited about the 2009-10 school year, and the ability to extend a pilot program she initiated last year.

Spanish is taught at all grade levels at Cooper, from Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12. Yanko's pilot program, titled "Inspired Spanish Classroom," incorporates technology into her curriculum to create just what the title suggests.

“I took Spanish, and even though I was a native speaker, I just remember how boring it was,” Yanko said. “So much of learning a language is motivation and addressing learning styles. By adding technology you’re really reaching more children. It’s just the way of the future. You have to teach them in a way they can relate.”

When the computers she used to launch the successful program last year needed replacing, Yanko decided to pursue the teaching award and her work was recognized with a Best Buy Teach Award in the maximum amount for a Lower School – $5,000. The funds are to be used to integrate interactive technology into the classroom. Fourteen laptop computers were purchased with the award money.

Yanko doesn’t deny the value of the basics. “We conjugate verbs together the old-fashioned way – with pencils, paper and charts – but I reinforce it through technology. You just have to balance.”

The "Inspired Spanish Classroom" program uses five centers to engage students and address individual learning styles. The "listening center" is equipped with iPods. Students listen to conversations recorded by sixth graders and answer questions about what they've heard. “They can listen to it as many times as they need to, so it encourages them to figure it out.”

The new laptops are used in the "pronunciation" and "speaking and writing" centers. The computers are equipped with headsets and microphones. Students get immediate feedback as they speak so they can keep trying to improve.

“One of the best things is that now I can actually sit down now with three or four students and we can speak Spanish together while others are learning in the centers." Yanko’s award was one of 460 awarded by Best Buy to educators nationwide.

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Picture of my students using the new laptops to practice their pronunciation using USB headsets with microphones. The pronunciation meter tells them how well they did. If they make it to the "green zone" they get their picture posted in the Pronunciation Hall of Fame.

Belly Dancing at the Olive Oil

So we decided to try out a new restaurant with friends.  We new it was Greek, we knew there would be good music and belly dancing, but we didn't know WE'd be dancing.  Katja and the girls in our party were some of the first volunteers.  Each girl was given a wrap-around skirt with jiggling coins sewn to it to borrow so they could get into the spirit of the dance.  They did.

The actual belly dancer danced on top of a table and around the restaurant.

At this point in the evening, Robbie and his friend (George) were enjoying each other's company laughing at the girls as they watched them dancing, and blushing with embarrassment when the belly dancer got too close to their table.  They were most definitely NOT impressed by her charms.  Girls are not on their radar for a long while yet.  For that, I am presently thankful.  They did think it cool that patrons were encouraged to break plates by smashing them on the floor (at $3 a plate).  Needless to say they each got to enjoy that particular treat first hand.

However, soon enough they gave up being only spectators and joined in the fun.  This was a surprise to me.  I guess the fact that two of the dancers were VERY talented (performing manly dances with acrobatics) and rather good-looking helped convince them that they would not look too "sissy" if they participated.

The boys were slow to start, 

but they quickly got into the fun

(Stacey, please forgive me for posting your picture below but I just couldn't help myself!)

Jack was an angel all night.  He loved the music (best part of the entertainment) and the dancing.  He would dance in the aisles at times.  At others, he would grab my hand and take me away from the table saying, "come on, mama" so he could get a better view of the dancing.  He lasted until 10p.m. without ever fussing.  God knew I needed a low maintenance child after raising Robbie (whom I love and adore and would not change for the world), so he gave me Jack.  It is amazing to me how I can have three children and they are all so vastly unique.

  

Sophia, Caitlin, and Katja pose with their little skirts on.  They were bummed that they did not get to keep them.

Jack was recharging his batteries.  My friend Olga and her husband Kenny discovered the little restaurant.  Thank you Olga for making all the reservations for our large party and calling everybody.  It was nice to just show up, catch up with old friends and enjoy the evening.  I like alternating "girls only outing" with "family night out".  Great idea!

Too bad we can't go bowling for a family night out.  I still can't believe I'm such good friends with two (Stacey & Olga) "germ-o-phobics".  What if we buy you your own personal bowling balls that no one else's grubby fingers will touch?  Can we bowl then?

Arrrgh! Captain Jack loves to party!

Jack had fun at a friend's birthday party a week ago.   Pirates and princesses of all ages attended.  I love watching kids all dressed in costumes.  There's just something about it that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and happy.  Maybe it just reminds me of the days when my imagination took me to magical places where every story had a happy ending.  

A big THANK YOU goes to grandma for re-making an old Robbie costume into a pirate one for Jack almost overnight after the one I ordered online arrived in the wrong size. Now I better appreciate the value of keeping all those old fabric remnants!  I will never tell Jack that his vest was made from leftover curtain fabric and his shirt with lace leftover from Katja's old costume dresses.  Though he will think it cool that the Mickey Mouse pirate hat was actually Robbie's from a trip to Disney when he was three!  

He wore the entire costume for a whole 10 minutes.  The hat was the first thing to go, then the sword, and finally the head-scarf.  The rest he didn't seem to mind, a fact he will question with incredulity when he is older.  Below is one of the few pictures I was able to get of him completely garbed. How cute is he?!?

Speaking of cute...  Robbie was mortified (he's at that "easy-to-embarrass" stage) by our friend John's antics.  He tried to act cool, like he was ignoring John, but the flushed cheeks and wide grin gave him away.  We can always count on John for a good laugh....  

"Princess" Reese, our friends' little girl, reminds me so much of Katja when she was little.  She is SOoooo friggin adorable!!!!!  Only at this age is a female's chubbiness and "waddle" walk celebrated and remarked upon with fondness.  I used to call Katja my "Michellin Baby" at this age because her arms and legs resembled those of that company's mascot.  Her Nana Yanko would indulgently refer to her fat rolls as "baby bracelets"....

Happy 3rd birthday, Anna!  Thanks for letting us be part of your special day.

Paco and I with our little pirates

After helping some of the children with their "tiara" craft activities, Katja crowned grandma and declared her to be the "Queen Mother".  I guess that makes me the queen and her the princess?!?  Unbelievably, after five grandchildren, and with the sixth on the way (via Paco & Kerrie), Katja still remains the only granddaughter.  Every time we find out that an impending pregnancy in the family will result in another grandson she exclaims, "I'm still the Princess!!!." And so she is.

Pirates LOVE birthday cake!!!  Don't you know?

After all the plundering, pillaging, and looting, my little pirate was all tuckered out.  Almost as soon as he was buckled in his car seat for the ride home he fell asleep exhausted after all the revelry.  

And he slept peacefully ever after....