Mango Minds

The Year of the Dragon: In With a Mighty Roar! I’m partial to signs. I make an effort to follow them and to encourage children to do the same. After all, they are there for a reason.   From traffic signs to store signs to product labels or billboards, we are surrounded by signs.   In language development, we call these signs environmental print , and they are often the first words that children learn to read. Stop.   El Rey. Animal Crossing. Signs also come in other forms, somewhat more symbolic, mystical or suggested. Body language is an essential sign, and if you have ever not paid attention to its importance, you know what a mistake that was.   Cloudy- grey skies: sure looks like it’s going to rain.    Finding lost coins can be a sign, though somewhat difficult to act upon:   Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you’ll have good luck; find a penny, let it lie, all your troubles pass you by.   I’ve always struggled with weighing better...

I took a jewelry making class when I was sixteen. I began the class making a simple silver ring, but ended it making elaborate bracelets, rings, and key chains.   I won an award, fed my ego, kept my favorite pieces and completely forgot about the first ring that I had ever made, which I had given to my Nan as she had been visiting us during the time I was taking the class. I was sixteen, and that silver ring was out of my mind probably two minutes after I gave it to Nan.   I am named after my grandmother, Helen, but I always called her Nan.   Though she was forced to drop out of school after fourth grade during the Great Depression in the United States, Nan was usually the wisest person in the room.   Her sense, along with her capacity to laugh and enjoy life despite the heartache, came from her tremendous ability to keep her ego at bay, live in the present, and to lead a spiritual life.   She summarized it in her motto: we’re all just here on a visit. ...

This week, at least 3 girls approached me to share their latest woven-wares: self-create, handmade adornments:  bracelets, necklaces, and Barbie-sized scarves.  You can imagine that I was delighted to see their work, as well as the canvas bag full of yarn that they carried to be able to continue working on their craft during recess. One student took the time to show me how to crochet by looping yarn around my finger, a technique that I shall have to practice in order to master.  The appearance at school of students weaving and crocheting coincided with my return from Guatemala,  where I had been to meet with the other Elementary Principals of the Central American region, and so I was likely the most enthusiastic observer of the girls’ recent exploration into weaving, having renewed my appreciation for the amazing hand-woven textiles of Guatemala.  The Embera–Wounaan tribes of Panama also have an impor...

When I began teaching  in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA,  we conducted home- visit conferences with all students and families as our initial parent-teacher conference. I went to each of the 28 homes of my homeroom students to meet the families and talk about how the child was doing in school.    “La teacher is HEEEEERE!” shouted one father when he opened the door to find me standing there.   It was an aggressive approach towards establishing more collaborative relationships between teachers and parents, in some cases helping teachers to better understand the whole child and in others, it was a way to insist that parents become more involved in their child’s education.   The main premise: parents and teachers need to talk and work together. Next week, we will hold our parent-teacher conferences here at school; we will not be visiting your homes.  Though we do not visit your home, our purpose is the same: collaborative relationships be...

Dad recently sent me this photo that my Aunt Lucy scanned in from THE family photo album.  In the middle is my grandmother Agnes, surrounded by my uncle, aunt and Dad.  Being that photography was not as accessible at that time, there is one album of family pictures from my dad’s family. The whole family: one album. Each picture: a treasure; there are so few.  So many stories we have had to recreate with our own images. I have about a thousand pictures of my children, of course thanks to digital photography. They have also taken quite a few on their own, playing around with the camera or phone, and some of these are fabulous.  With so many pictures, it’s hard to identify or come up with one that is a great treasure-we love looking at them all; but I invite you and your children to go through the many, many pictures and pick out one to share with us in our upcoming 3rd Annual Elementary Photo Exhibit: Our Community, Our Friends: Belonging