Why I Started this Blog

     I never thought that I would be the type of person to have a blog.  I am not very "tech" savy.  In fact, I have trouble remembering to access my email.  I would like to start with a disclaimer.  I am not an expert.  REPEAT!  I am not an expert.  I just have had some wonderful challenges and experiences that have caused me to try different ideas that have worked for me and my family.  I stayed home with my children until I went back to school and recieved my teaching degree three years ago.  I taught third grade for two years then because of budget cuts I was moved to teaching first grade this year.  One parent/teacher conference compelled me even more to start this blog. As two loving parents sat across from me, they expressed their desire to raise a responsible, caring, contibuting member of society.  Their child was, however, having major behavior concerns in my class.  I spoke to them about giving their child choices and consequences.  The mother's response was, "How do I do that?"  My heart went out to these two humble, loving parents.  I then proceeded to give a few examples and suggested a few ideas that might help them.  They have tried those ideas and I have followed up in my classroom and this child's behavior has improved.  This experience and several others throughout the past several months has led me to believe that maybe  others might find some of my simple thoughts helpful.