Where in the World Isn't Bob Saget?

[JenniferS]

If only my cats could read

Even if they could, you’d never know. Cats don’t follow rules.

 

[Agent H]

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It’s nice to have real ones but fake ones Last for a very long time and you can just take them out of the garage and put them together.

 

[Figgy1]

If only my cats could read

Picture of squirt bottle

 

[Mr Ferret 75]

 

[Figgy1]

 

[Songbird76]

My two rounds of Fall Parent teacher Conferences are done. I have about 108 students (and the 7th graders twice a day). On Monday night 8 parents showed up and tonight 3 parents showed up. I would have had two more but one mom emailed and said she was at a conference so that was an email conversation. And another mom emailed that she couldn't make it because she had emergency surgery so we emailed for that one too; I give her a lot of credit for that because I know her surgery was a little traumatic and one of her concerns was missing PT conferences.

The conferences I had went well. Every parent thanked me for sending home weekly progress reports. So maybe that is why I didn't have a lot of parents show up, because they can check grades so easily online now and just email with questions at any time. So I'm caught up on grading and have my plans and copies made for next week done. Tomorrow we have off so I can't wait to relax and read my book!

We only went to PT conferences twice for E in junior high/high school. It's completely different over here and you are only allowed to choose 2 teachers per conference. If your child is not doing well, the teachers can request a conference time with you, but if no teacher requests it, you can only meet 2. And since they take 9-16 subjects, there's no way to meet every teacher unless your kid is failing every subject. E never had an insufficient grade, so the only time we were requested was by her mentor teacher in year 4, because he requested every single parent just to meet them all at the beginning of the year. We went in at the requested time, sat down, and he just looked at us like WE were the ones who requested to meet. There was nothing to discuss really because she was doing really well and there were no concerns. It was a complete waste of time. And then the next year, I think that's when my MIL had her stroke and we were trying to get them to move to a care facility because she couldn't take care of herself, and we couldn't be there all the time. So there was a lot of stuff going on and E was struggling a lot with stress, and she got sick and missed a test week, so she had a bunch of tests to make up, so we did go in and talk to the mentor about how to help her get all of the work made up and to let them know if she was tired or not being her normal self, why that might be. And he was super about her getting her teachers notified and getting a schedule set up for makeup work, checked in with her a few times to see how she was doing and if she needed anything, and he got her exempted from the one test so she never had to do that one because it was in his class and he knew that she understood the material. She was one of his best students who was always helping her friends with the material, so he knew she didn't need to take the test to prove she got it, and it was causing her a huge amount of stress trying to figure out when to take that test.

We went to all of A's conferences, and he had great teachers. He was also exempted from a couple of tests from when he was in the hospital for a couple of weeks and missed a ton of school. But we always had to go to conferences for him just because it was a special education school for kids with Autism, and they required the conferences every so often. I always enjoyed going and meeting the teachers and putting a face to the stories. When I was in high school, I remember they just set up tables in the cafeteria for all the teachers and parents just went and sat down with the teacher they wanted to speak to when that teacher was free. And it was the whole school day....there were no classes on conference days. Over here, it's only for a couple of hours in the evening and there are so many parents, they have to have a schedule, and you don't really get to pick the times. If we could have just wandered in to talk to whatever teacher, we would have gone to all of E's, but it was kind of discouraged if you didn't have something specific you needed to discuss and we almost never did, so then you are supposed to leave the appointments for people who actually need it. Kind of sad, really, because there are a lot of teachers that I would really have liked to meet for one reason or the other. We COULD have met 2 every conference, but we never had anything we needed to discuss...it would just be to put a face with the name, and they already had so many parents they had to meet in that 3 hour period. It would have been taking up their time for no reason, so we never did that.

 

[Figgy1]

We only went to PT conferences twice for E in junior high/high school. It's completely different over here and you are only allowed to choose 2 teachers per conference. If your child is not doing well, the teachers can request a conference time with you, but if no teacher requests it, you can only meet 2. And since they take 9-16 subjects, there's no way to meet every teacher unless your kid is failing every subject. E never had an insufficient grade, so the only time we were requested was by her mentor teacher in year 4, because he requested every single parent just to meet them all at the beginning of the year. We went in at the requested time, sat down, and he just looked at us like WE were the ones who requested to meet. There was nothing to discuss really because she was doing really well and there were no concerns. It was a complete waste of time. And then the next year, I think that's when my MIL had her stroke and we were trying to get them to move to a care facility because she couldn't take care of herself, and we couldn't be there all the time. So there was a lot of stuff going on and E was struggling a lot with stress, and she got sick and missed a test week, so she had a bunch of tests to make up, so we did go in and talk to the mentor about how to help her get all of the work made up and to let them know if she was tired or not being her normal self, why that might be. And he was super about her getting her teachers notified and getting a schedule set up for makeup work, checked in with her a few times to see how she was doing and if she needed anything, and he got her exempted from the one test so she never had to do that one because it was in his class and he knew that she understood the material. She was one of his best students who was always helping her friends with the material, so he knew she didn't need to take the test to prove she got it, and it was causing her a huge amount of stress trying to figure out when to take that test.

We went to all of A's conferences, and he had great teachers. He was also exempted from a couple of tests from when he was in the hospital for a couple of weeks and missed a ton of school. But we always had to go to conferences for him just because it was a special education school for kids with Autism, and they required the conferences every so often. I always enjoyed going and meeting the teachers and putting a face to the stories. When I was in high school, I remember they just set up tables in the cafeteria for all the teachers and parents just went and sat down with the teacher they wanted to speak to when that teacher was free. And it was the whole school day....there were no classes on conference days. Over here, it's only for a couple of hours in the evening and there are so many parents, they have to have a schedule, and you don't really get to pick the times. If we could have just wandered in to talk to whatever teacher, we would have gone to all of E's, but it was kind of discouraged if you didn't have something specific you needed to discuss and we almost never did, so then you are supposed to leave the appointments for people who actually need it. Kind of sad, really, because there are a lot of teachers that I would really have liked to meet for one reason or the other. We COULD have met 2 every conference, but we never had anything we needed to discuss...it would just be to put a face with the name, and they already had so many parents they had to meet in that 3 hour period. It would have been taking up their time for no reason, so we never did that.

It was sort of like that for James. Parents went around the school on open house night to put a face to the name and were told we'd get contacted if there were any issues. That said we could request a meeting of we believed there were any issues

 

[Songbird76]

It was sort of like that for James. Parents went around the school on open house night to put a face to the name and were told we'd get contacted if there were any issues. That said we could request a meeting of we believed there were any issues

Yeah, we always had an open house night for that, too, though our town was small. Only 1200 people, and our school had about 250 kids in 7th-12th grade. There were 32 kids in my graduating class, plus 5 exchange students, and 3 or 4 of the kids were actually from the next town over and were bused in every day. They had a problem with overcrowding, but they didn't want to split into 2 schools because they were a powerhouse in sports and didn't want to give that up. They eventually did have to split, but for a while, they just asked for volunteers to be sent to our school. So we had I think 3 kids who were actually from that school in my class, so really there were only like 29 kids in my actual class. So everyone knew everyone and you didn't really need to put a face to a name....everyone already knew all the teachers.

Just out of curiosity, do students go to the conferences with their parents? I know we didn't in elementary school, but we did in high school. And over here, they don't in elementary school until 5th grade when they start getting advice about which high school they will be eligible for, so then they have to be there. And then in high school it varies. For the first 2 years, there were no real parent teacher conferences, but there were meetings with the mentor that were mandatory just to make sure the kids were on track because it's such a different set up. The kids don't get homework in elementary school, and they don't get grades as such. The reports are based on the tests that they do 3 times a year. It's a standardized test that all the kids in the Netherlands do, and they aren't grades, just a test to see if you know the things that you are supposed to know at that point. If you don't score well, they start looking at what is needed to help, and if you do really well, they give you more challenging material so you don't get bored. The problem is when kids get to secondary school, they aren't used to doing homework and having tests regularly to make sure they've mastered the material. And a lot of them don't know how to study or manage their time because they've never had to. So they have these meetings with the mentor to see how they are coping with a completely new set up, etc. After that, conferences are completely voluntary unless the teacher requests a meeting because of some issue. Then you are required to go, but the kids don't always have to.

E had a friend who was failing almost every class already at the end of year 2, I think, but that was Covid year....schools were locked down and a lot of kids struggled to keep up with remote learning. My two were both very lucky that they thrived in that environment. They didn't need the instruction and could work at a faster pace and not have to wait for everyone else to catch up. They both loved remote learning because they were done by noon and had the whole day to do whatever they wanted at home. But LOTS of kids were failing. That first year, which was E's 8th grade year, they gave all the kids the benefit of the doubt and let them move on to 9th grade, even if they were failing some classes. Then that next year, a lot of the kids still hadn't caught up. They didn't have the foundation in things like Math, so they were still behind, but they let the kids move on to 10th grade, but they had to have a plan on how they were going to get back on track and keep up. But E had one friend who never should have moved on from the first year. If it hadn't been for Covid, she'd have been held back that year and had to redo it. So she lucked out. And then at the end of 9th grade, they had to choose their profile, and this girl had always said she was going to do the Social Studies and Economics profile because she wanted to be a police woman. But she was failing almost every class, and she got negative advice from every one of her teachers....Teachers had to give every student a plus or minus as to whether they thought the student could handle the work in sophomore year in that subject. There are 3 different levels of math starting in sophomore year. This girl got a minus for even the easier math. So she decided to take the science and technology profile like E and their friend Dimphy did, because then they'd be able to help her in her classes. Only she had gotten a minus from every one of those teachers....they all said she couldn't do the work. She did it anyway. And by the first conference in like....October, she was already failing so spectacularly that they allowed her to change her profile, which is a HUGE exception. In general, once you've chosen your profile, you can't change it. They made an exception because she was doing so poorly. I remember her mom had the appointment right before ours....that was the year the mentor requested an appointment with every parent. And the girl wasn't at that meeting with her mom. I saw some parents there alone, some with their kids, so it was I guess up to the teachers and parents. E always went with us if we actually had a meeting, but that was only twice. A never came with us for his.

 

[donaldtoo]

Hadn’t had any appreciable rain in several weeks, then yesterday mornin’ about 12:45a the deluge came. Was still rainin’ when I checked about 5:30a.
It was sunny and warm all day, after that.
Then, another deluge came in about 8p last night, and lasted for a coupla’ hours. Lord knows we needed the rain, and there was no flooding, that I know of, ‘cause everything’s been so dry.
All that bein’ said, our temps are still pretty warm for the end of October, and tomorrow’s supposed to be “MUCH WARMER“ than today…???!!!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

My two rounds of Fall Parent teacher Conferences are done. I have about 108 students (and the 7th graders twice a day). On Monday night 8 parents showed up and tonight 3 parents showed up. I would have had two more but one mom emailed and said she was at a conference so that was an email conversation. And another mom emailed that she couldn't make it because she had emergency surgery so we emailed for that one too; I give her a lot of credit for that because I know her surgery was a little traumatic and one of her concerns was missing PT conferences.

The conferences I had went well. Every parent thanked me for sending home weekly progress reports. So maybe that is why I didn't have a lot of parents show up, because they can check grades so easily online now and just email with questions at any time. So I'm caught up on grading and have my plans and copies made for next week done. Tomorrow we have off so I can't wait to relax and read my book!

Glad to hear the conferences went well…!!!

Not sure how, or if, our old ISD does PTCs these days, but they were in person back when our 3 kiddos were in school. I can definitely understand not making them because of extenuating circumstances like family emergencies.
Carolyn and I were fortunate to not ever have any issues with making them together, along with all of Matthew’s end of year ARD meetings.
We always tried to be as involved as was reasonably possible…!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

We have had her for almost a year. We got her on November 7, 2024. She was 9 months old when we got her. The family she was with said they didn't have time for her. They had 4 other dogs, some cats, and kids. Their loss is our gain. She is very sweet but a pushy gal. She doesn't really have any personal boundaries. She and Baxter are only about a year apart in age and get along really well.

(a recent picture, she is stalking me while I was in the bath. I'm pretty sure she was thinking about jumping in.)
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As I was scrolling back through the thread, she’s so beautiful, but I just couldn’t resist…!!!!!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

As I was scrolling back through the thread, she’s so beautiful, but I just couldn’t resist…!!!!!

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That's funny! She'll be even more beautiful in a couple days, she and her brother are getting groomed on Tuesday. She is really gy and her brother is a little puff ball of fur. And come this Friday they can stalk me in the bath again.

 

[donaldtoo]

We’re (Carolyn ) really goin’ more all out this year with the Halloween decorations than we have in years past (Christmas will definitely be even better than last year, as well), as we recently added these guys outside…!!!!!



I don’t know how well this door banner showed up in my previous pics, but here it is…again…!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

Went out to make a TSSFFBR just a few minutes ago, so got a shot of Phineas, Ezra and Gus, fully lit up, on my way back in the house…!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

 

[FutureCEO]

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That would be me if I was ever a waiter

 

[donaldtoo]

Hey, @MinnieM123 …
I’m currently wrapping up watching an episode of Iron Resurrection on Motor Trend, where they are “restoring”/ hot rodding (in quotes because it was already in decent shape) a ‘63 Chevy Impala with a 409.
The really fun part about it is that the car is owned by a car dealer friend of ours that used to go to our church. We bought our ‘90 Jeep Cherokee Laredo and our ‘01 Dodge Grand Caravan from him. He now owns several dealerships in Central Texas. His name is Nyle Maxwell.
Haven’t seen him in a few years, as they moved and now go to a different church, and we haven’t bought any vehicles from him in a while, but still pretty darn cool…!!!
It’s season 3, episode 3, and you can find it on YouTube, if you’re interested…!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

That would be me if I was ever a waiter

Yea, I never sought employment in the food and beverage service industry.
I hear the tips can be great, but then there’s putting up with a lot of crap, and, of course, what happened in that gif…!!!!!

 

[MinnieM123]

Hey, @MinnieM123 …
I’m currently wrapping up watching an episode of Iron Resurrection on Motor Trend, where they are “restoring”/ hot rodding (in quotes because it was already in decent shape) a ‘63 Chevy Impala with a 409.
The really fun part about it is that the car is owned by a car dealer friend of ours that used to go to our church. We bought our ‘90 Jeep Cherokee Laredo and our ‘01 Dodge Grand Caravan from him. He now owns several dealerships in Central Texas. His name is Nyle Maxwell.
Haven’t seen him in a few years, as they moved and now go to a different church, and we haven’t bought any vehicles from him in a while, but still pretty darn cool…!!!
It’s season 3, episode 3, and you can find it on YouTube, if you’re interested…!!!

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Thanks for the tip -- I will look it up on Motor Trend and/or YouTube.

Watching (the last few minutes NOW, on Motor Trend (season 3, episode 3)!! Love the red interior with the black outside!

 

[donaldtoo]

Thanks for the tip -- I will look it up on Motor Trend and/or YouTube.

Watching (the last few minutes NOW, on Motor Trend (season 3, episode 3)!! Love the red interior with the black

No problem…!!!
Yea, I loved his reaction to the whole thing…!!!
He’s also a really good guy and heavily into philanthropy, so that made even more fun to see…!!!