Goldie The Rescued Dog Update

I’m happy to report that after 6 days in her new home, Emma (Goldie) sleeps on the bed with my nieces, she licks B.’s hand, and yesterday she rolled on her back and loved the attention she got when B. rubbed her belly.

Here's Emma on Day two.

Check out my friend Sara’s blog: Sara In Vermont. Every Friday, she’ll post a dog that needs rescuing.

Saving Goldie The Dog

I have a story to share that’s not about teaching. It’s about dogs. Actually one dog in particular - Goldie.

Back in July, I was on Facebook reading the status updates. Mary, my friend from Lake Tahoe, Ca. posted a photo of Goldie, a dog up for adoption at the Rhea County Animal Shelter in Tennessee.
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Goldie’s face in the photo captured my heart. I went to the site, Save a Dog and posted Goldie’s information to my Facebook page. The shelter had to euthanize dogs because they had too many. Goldie’s time was limited. She had a family that loved her, but they lost their house and had nowhere to live. They sadly left Goldie at the shelter.

Two months later, Mary again posted Goldie’s photo on her Facebook page with the caption,

“Goldie’s still here! Hurry, someone get her before it's too late!”

I reposted Goldie to my Facebook page. This time, my sister in Southern California and my friend Paige in Lake Tahoe, both saw it.

My sister, B., and her family decided they had to have Goldie. Through phone calls and e-mails, dog lovers from California to Tennessee plotted how to get Goldie to California. My flight attendant friend, Paige, contacted B. through Facebook. (They’d never met before) and offered help in getting Goldie to California. She provided valuable information and offered to fly to Tennessee, get Goldie on a plane and fly to Orange County with her! (Paige is now on the dog-sitting list.)

The Rhea County Animal Shelter’s volunteers and veterinarian, Ashley, worked with B. and got Goldie ready. They picked up a traveling crate, made sure she had food and water for her flight, had her travel papers ready and drove three hours to the Atlanta Airport to put Goldie on a Delta flight to Orange County, CA.

The day Goldie flew to California, I was so excited I couldn't think of anything else. I called Mary, my mom, and my sister. I texted my nieces at school. (I'm so sorry teachers!) I tracked her flight online. My sister, my brother-in-law, my two nieces and my parents met Goldie at the airport.

A scared Goldie hid under the table when she arrived at her new home, but she slowly let my nieces (ages 12 and 14) pet her. They sat very still on the sofa and quietly waited for Goldie to come to them.

Goldie has a new home and was saved from euthanasia!

Thank you Facebook, Save A Dog, my animal-loving friends, the Rhea County Animal Shelter, Delta Airlines and my sister!

Goldie’s new name is Emma. Here she is hiding under the table that first night.

Weekends are made for...?

Boy, do I love spending the WHOLE weekend working on school work!
Lindee E. Tahoe City, Ca

Work, Work, Work...

Worked 4 hours in my classroom. Now I'm taking a little break before starting up again with more work I took home...there's always something!
Tiburon, Ca

Small, But Powerful

Emma, a small 4-year-old in my K/1 combo class, did one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I was working with a small group when I looked over at Emma's group and saw all five kids sitting perfectly still in their desks with everything cleaned up - and I mean EVERYTHING clean: every white board was spotless, every marker was capped, every eraser was perfectly lined up. I asked what was going on and the BIG first grader said, "Emma was tired and finished and she told us to clean up"... and THEY DID. She is FOUR!!!
Anonymous

Does Jack know this?

I asked my ESL Spanish-speaking students where they ate last night. They answered, "Yak and the Box." (The "j" in Spanish sounds like an English "y".)
Anonymous, Ca

What If the Principal and You Don't Agree?

I got this from a teacher:

Last year, I had a student in my third grade class who was not meeting any grade level standards. His parents spoke Spanish, but since he moved here at 4 years old and had been to three different schools, he didn’t really speak English or Spanish. During his SST meeting, the principal decided he was a candidate for Special Day class. I argued with her that it was because he had never been taught consistently, he had switched schools so often that he had gone from English immersion to Spanish instruction to ESL/mainstream class. His language issue was preventing him from achieving grade level standards, not because he needed to go to Special Day.
The principal looked at me while I was explaining this and with her look she let me know that she wanted this student out of the school because he was a drain on our resources and he was bringing the test scores down and that I shouldn’t mess up her plan.

I thought about the right thing to do. I knew she’d make my year more difficult. This would affect all my other students. But letting this child go to Special Day when he needed other resources was wrong. It doomed the child. I looked at the parents who knew nothing of what was transpiring at the table. Their child’s future was in my hands.
I told the parents that their son was not a candidate for Special Day, that he needed other help that was available at our school.
The parents were ultimately convinced by the principal (at a separate meeting where I was not invited) to send their child to Special Day. For the rest of the year, my class was discriminated against. My class never got the new math workbooks. “There wasn’t enough for each class.” I was told.
We never won any awards, never were included in special programs – all things that hurt the rest of my students.
I care about ALL my students. What do I do next time? Do what I know is the right thing in my professional opinion or make my life easier and better for my class by going along with the principal?


What would you do? Please post your comments. (Anonymously if you wish.)

Free T-shirts!

Through No Excuses University,
Laurel Golden's 4th/5th grade class chose the University of Southern California.
As a member of the USC Alumni Club of the North Bay, I walked into her class yesterday with a box of USC t-shirts (donated by the USC Alumni Assoc.) for her students. They jumped up, put the t-shirts on over their clothes and entertained us with a So-Cal Spellout and fingers in the air and chants of "Fight On".
They are wearing their shirts at the all-school assembly today.
Teaching, USC and getting to write about it - my three passions come together!
Fight On!