Blog Archives

Erik's Reptile Edventures at TALES!

3/26/2014

Mr. Andy and Erik with the Chameleon!

Christian walked into my room today during breakfast.

"Check out the multi-purpose room. There's animals!" he said

My initial thought was that it must have been some sort of trick. Maybe there would be a dead roach. It wasn't a trick at all. I walked in and saw an alligator in a box. I immediately got excited. "What is this for?!" I went back to ask Mr. L.

1st grade had hired Erik's Reptile Edventures to come in and show the kids all of the cool reptiles from different continents.

I wanted my kids to see them. I wanted to see them. As I went back to the multi-purpose room, Erik was there setting up his exhibit. I asked if my pre-k kids could join. He couldn’t see any reason why they wouldn’t be able to join. I was excited. My search for the principal, Mr. Groff began. He was in the school library, taking a small group of third graders to help them in math. I called the library. Ms. Corrine picked up and I asked her to delivery my message. He told me that we could join if we didn't have to pay any extra.

I asked Erik. He didn't mind at all. You could tell he was truly passionate about his work, loved animals, and enjoyed sharing his passion with kids. He was truly an amazing and kind person. As the time approached 9:30, I got my kids ready and joined the first graders in the multi-purpose room. We sat in the back, trying to be as least intrusive as possible.

See you later, gator!

Look at those pythons, brother!

Erik's Q&A Session

Erik dropping by Pre-K 108 with the Chameleon to say goodbye

Pre-k 108 takes a closer look

Erik was really good with the kids. He told great stories about his experience with animals, great information about the different animals, and was very interactive. The animals were impressive. The first living thing he showed, I could have done without. The Madagascar roaches roaming in his hat grossed me out. I hate roaches. The rest of his show was great. Frogs, alligators, tortoises, pythonsn, chameleons, and giant lizards! I loved them all. If I wasn't a teacher, I think I would have found the same passion doing the same thing Erik did. I loved it!

Erik stopped by our classroom one last time before he left to say goodbye with the beautifully colored chameleon. I had to take a picture! His exhibit will definitely be considered next year for pre-k!

A closer look, Mr. Andy needs!

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We Want Our Hats Back!

3/25/2014

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Today, our class took a break from the All About Me unit we are currently on to appreciate awesome books. The first book we enjoyed was I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen. The kids listened to a story about a bear who has lost his hat and goes around asking different animals about its whereabouts. We get to a point in the story where he realizes he has seen his hat!

They loved the story and a big reason is in its delivery. I love changing voices for different characters. In the Elephant and Piggie series, I have a set voice for each character. It makes the read aloud more enjoyable and helps students follow along with which character is speaking.

Thanks to DonorsChoose.org and the Power of OT, we've added award winning books to our classroom library!

For the bear's voice, I change to a sound that's comparable to Patrick Star from SpongeBob SquarePants. All of the other animals also get their own unique voices.

The story takes a darker turn when the Bear denies having seen the rabbit that may or may not have taken his hat. After getting his hat back, he sits happily. The bear claims that he hasn't eaten any rabbits without anyone asking about the topic. The kids laughed and the adults had a shocked reaction.

Jon Klassen makes a reference to his other book (not yet published when this one was released) about a missing/stolen hat when another animal describes a blue and round hat that he saw.

During centers, art center was very popular since we would be making our own hats. Today, art center had no limit in terms of how many children could join. If you wanted to make a hat, hop on the hat train! Not every child is required to participate in this craft project. Only those who want to, can. As we began to make our hats out of construction paper, other students' curiosities were piqued and they came over to ask if they could make one. Of course, they were allowed to join.

I've noticed that there are regulars who are always interested in any project we may do and there are others that will simply never want to try anything. Some are on the fence and will participate when it's something that interests them and others simply like to observe. I don't want to force any of my students into doing something they don't want to. There are only a few times where the whole class is required to participate in a project, usually the self portraits we do throughout the year.

Folding Our Hats!

I.W. prematurely tries on his hat

H.L. and Mr. Andy Poses with their Hats

The leprechaun beard returns to take a picture with our hats

We grabbed construction paper from the art center and I modeled how to make a paper hat. Those who needed help received assistance from me or those who were able to follow my modeling. We used tape to keep pieces together. They decorated their hats afterwards. When they decorations were set, holes were punched, strings were attached, and hats were tied to their heads. The ones who walked away with hats really enjoyed it.

Some kids loved their hats so much, they wore it to outdoor play, lunch, and almost went to sleep with it on. At the end of the day, many came to me and asked for help putting them back on before dismissal.

Pre-K Gets Their Hat Back!

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They're Children, Not Numbers

3/20/2014

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Since becoming a pre-k teacher, I’ve been an advocate of play. There are many benefits of play for a child in their childhood years, yet schools overlook its vital role in a child’s development. I think many people are onboard with keeping play in pre-k, but as students move up in grades, play diminishes rather quickly. When I student taught second grade at P.S. 193Q, many of the teachers stated that pre-k is what kindergarten used to be and kindergarten is the new first grade.

Expectations are being pushed to the lower grades. In many professional development sessions I attend, the presenter usually do not have materials specifically for pre-k. They use kindergarten material and assume that our students can handle what they have to offer in a dumbed down version. Even materials, photos, and work from an actual pre-k classroom do not look like a pre-k classroom. There’s no evidence of real free play. The classroom is filled with charts and displayed work isn’t child initiated.

My second grade group for after school consists of 12 students. My after school session is focused on allowing them to have an authentic free play experience that my pre-k kids have on a daily basis. The goal is to create a comfortable, stress free environment where they can enjoy themselves and socialize. They do not get it enough. For them, a regular school day is all work and almost no play.

2nd Grade After School

There is a student I have in after school that stood out today. I’ve had her little sister last year in my class and her youngest brother in my class this year. In a weird way, I’ve had all of the family’s children as students. All three have different personalities, but there are striking similarities. They are very hesitant to take risks. In this particular case, my definition of risk is being confident in answering questions that have no right or wrong answers. They are always nervous about expressing their opinions, fearing that they may be wrong. They are quiet in class until they become comfortable. They are very bright kids. They are often the first to blurt out the answers to responses that have a definite solution. But when they are asked for their interpretation, they become frustratingly nervous.

I’ve had private talks with both of the younger siblings about being confident in their answers. I make it clear that they are very bright but they have to open up more and not be obsessed about getting the right answer. This has been brought up in parent teacher conferences for both kids. The little sister has opened up much more and is doing very well in kindergarten. The brother has also become more vocal in my class but still has a long way to go.

When I learned that I would be getting the older sister in my after school, I was intrigued by how she would be compared to her younger brother and sister. Right away, her quietness and passiveness in discussions reminded me instantly of her younger siblings. I asked her 2nd grade teacher how she is in her classroom, and she confirmed what I had suspected. I hoped that in a stress free environment, she would become more open and take a more active role.

2nd Grade posing with the LEGO Mindstorms Kit

Our after school enrichment runs on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3:00 to 3:50. That isn’t nearly enough of what’s needed, but we make the best of what we have. I use a lot of the materials received through DonorsChoose.org for my after school group. Through play, this particular student has become more vocal and is able to express herself creatively.

When we received our LEGO Mindstorm robotics kit, I allowed my after school group to get their hands on building it first. My pre-k kids are still too young to follow the complex instructions of building the robot, but I will allow them to command it once it is complete. Still, the kit is intended for ages 10+. I have high expectations for my 8 year old after school kids, and I am very confident they will have no issues completing it.

Using the LEGO Mindstorms Manual on the iPad

Almost half of the 2nd graders wanted to work on building the robot. The nervous student, which I’ll refer to as A.L., was one of them. A.L. was the first to grab the instruction manual and tell the others that they needed to follow it if they wanted complete it. She led by example and began putting together the robot.

Still, they were very unorganized when it came to putting everything together. Too many Rick Grimes calling shots and not enough Glens making scavenging runs for the group. There needed to be a leader delegating work, and it was obvious that A.L. was most qualified. But was she up for the challenge? I explained that I needed a leader to be in charge that everyone would follow. Someone who would be telling others what to do so we could get this robot up and running. I asked A.L to step up and take the challenge. She accepted and did an absolutely wonderful job. The other children willingly accepted her as the leader and listened to her instructions.

Too many Ricks Not Enough Glens

There’s a beautiful bliss when children efficiently collaborate with each other to achieve a common goal. As I sat back and passively observed, I couldn’t help but feel proud of them. I only interjected when they were stuck on something that even gave problems.

Their morning teacher passed by our door, getting ready to leave. I invited her in to take a look at what they were doing in after school. You could tell they looked up to their teacher by how eager they were to show her what they were doing. She told me that they were benefiting greatly from being in this comfortable, stress free environment. Many of them were taking more risks in class and were very willing to participate in discussions. It was the exact thing I wanted to bring out in them.

Play is vital in child development. Its benefits do not cease after pre-k. There needs to be a balance of work and play in the school setting. So much focus is placed on how well kids do on standardized tests and assessments, that we neglect the fact that they are still kids. What good does passing a test do? Does it really prove that they will do well in college? There are many other things we need to focus on in education and their emphasis needs to be placed ahead of a child’s score on a test.

A.L. steps into the leadership role

Other roles are assigned by A.L.

2nd graders work together to complete a common goal

This experience would not have been possible without the people who helped fund our Beyond the Block: Commanding Our Construction project. Thank you!

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One Thankful Teacher: The Conclusion of the Challenge

3/19/2014

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This past week has been focused on the DonorsChoose.org friends and family challenge. My goal for this challenge was to get 25 donors to get the $1,000 DonorsChoose gift card. The Sunday before the challenge went live was spent on writing a post, drafting messages, and getting ready for the contest.

I woke up earlier than usual that Monday, March 10th, to post my blog entry, send out the e-mail to my colleagues, shared with friends on Facebook, and donated to my own cause. I used my brother's account to get on the board as well. Two down, 23 to go! At the end of the day, a few coworkers donated, even the principal! I looked on the leader board and noticed a school had already had close to 40 donors. Any hopes of the three grand prizes were shattered. Still, I focused on getting the $1,000 gift card to use for my school's library.

By Friday, my total tally of donors was 21, and I had plenty of time to get the remaining four donors. If time was running out, I would have resorted to donating the rest myself. I decided to ask Offtopic.com, an online forum I subscribed to since the early 2000s. I mainly lurked on the website throughout the years. A lurker is a person who browses the forum but never posts anything. I was a member since, I believe, 2002. At some point, my account was either deleted or my password reset and I was never able to recover it. I created another account in 2005 to continue my lurking ways.

I decided to ask them for help. I stated my cause, the goal I set, and sat back nervously waiting for a reply. The response of the Offtopic community was amazing. All of the posters were very supportive of the cause and teachers. The post was stickied to the front page for everyone to see. The goal of 25 donors was quickly accomplished. But people were still willing to donate.

A new goal to reach that 50 donors mark and claim the $3,000 gift card was set. By Saturday evening, there were 42 donors. So many OTers were willing to donate to a great cause. Old consistent donors were also willing to help. Steven Simpson and Shirley Liang contributed to this contest as they have done many times in the past. We ultimately reached our goal by Sunday. I am absolutely amazed by the generosity of strangers. The "Power of OT" was at its best. Out of the six projects I had posted to prepare for the project, only one remains. The other five have been fully funded and the materials are on its way to our classroom. By the end of the challenge, OT has helped me reach the leader board, helping me achieve 64 donors.

Here are the stats and facts from the challenge…
·        64 donors tallied
·        At least $1,280 raised for my classroom
·        $3,000 DonorsChoose.org gift card obtained
·        33 students directly impacted
·        5 out of 6 projects fully funded
                1.      Beyond the Block: Commanding Our Construction
                2.      Keeping Pre-K Eggcited
                3.      "Science Isn't About Why! It's About Why Not!?"
                4.      Establishing An Award Winning Library for Pre-K
                5.      Let There Be Light (Table)!
·        1 project (Move to Improve!) nearly funded
·        1 truly grateful teacher

When I posted my request on Offtopic, my phone blew up with donation notifications throughout the weekend. It was a shocking experience. My mind was filled with so much excitement that it kept me up throughout the night. I obsessively checked my phone every time it vibrated (which was a lot). When I did fall asleep, I had a DonorsChoose dream. It was getting out of hand.

As much as I enjoyed receiving those donation e-mails, I enjoyed reading the kind messages left by the donors on the project page even more. One particular comment was very thought provoking. It made me think about the whole reason of actively participating in the challenge. The message was left by William Wong of California. Here was the exchange below.

William Wong: "Many teachers are not well supported. If it is the community that needs to step in, then so be it. I hope my small donation can combine with others to make a small dent."

Andy Yung: "Thank you, William. The community showing appreciation and supporting teachers and education is one thing, but I think if the whole country show support through this organization, it will open many eyes. People will begin to see what we value as high priority. Your donation, whether it is big or small, will go a long way towards impacting my classroom. But the bigger picture is help change public education. I thank you very much for taking part in this challenge. Not just to help me, but teachers, schools, and children everywhere." Politicians can say that education is important, and that if they are elected, they promise to make great changes. Yet, once elected, nothing happens. Organizations such as DonorsChoose give people the opportunity to take action and show everyone what they consider to be a high priority. Donations, big or small, go a long way to helping teachers and classrooms in need. They are taking part in the challenge of changing public education. I am proud to be a teacher and very fortunate for DonorsChoose and the donors who have supported me through it.

I stated that I was a bit hesitant about posting this request on Offtopic. One of the biggest reasons is probably because of the stories I hear about how teachers are poorly treated and viewed by their administrators, parents, ignorant people, policy makers, and politicians.

The support of my friends, family, colleagues, and the people of OT have proved otherwise. So many people showed appreciation through kind words and actions through this challenge. I feel like a broken record saying this so many times, but it cannot be said enough. Thank you so much! Your appreciation and support means so much to a 2nd year teacher who absolutely loves his career.

The materials from the funded projects have started to arrive, below are the pictures of our kids using them.

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The Challenge of Changing Public Education

3/10/2014

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Dear Family, Friends, and Generous Strangers,

I need your assistance again. I know I've asked many times and so many of you have been so generous to help. I am going to the well once more. DonorsChoose has a challenge for its teachers running from March 10th to March 17th. The challenge is to acquire as many $20 donations as possible. For each donation of $20, a tally will be kept. At the end of the challenge, the three teacher with the most donors will "earn an experience of a lifetime."

I do not know what this "experience" is, but I do wish to participate. Even if I come up short, there are still rewards for the number of $20 donations received. Please help by donating and/or sharing.

This is more than a monetary request. You are helping change public education in more ways than you know. Your donations go towards helping dedicated teachers improve their classrooms for their students. Those donations turn into supplies, resources, technology, field trips, and much more. Every time I have a conversation that's education related with friends reminiscing about the past, the phrase "I don't remember having….. or kids today are so lucky to have………"

The Rewards for the # of $20 Donations a Teacher Receives

These changes in education are made possible because of organizations like DonorsChoose.org. Again, this is much more than a monetary request. This is your opportunity to take part of changing and impacting education. Teachers who want to bring great things to their classroom for their students to experience are usually denied because of restrictions budget or administration issues. By crowd funding through DonorsChoose.org, you have a voice in what you believe needs to be in classrooms. You get to help teachers bring in awesome resources for their students, instead of having to wait for policy makers to deem what's appropriate and what's not. We know our students way better than people in suits with their heads up each others' arses and that are out of touch with education.

Here's an example of how my pre-k classes needed something, but we couldn't get it because of budget issues or other restrictions. And how DonorsChoose.org helped us get what we needed.

The Need

In my first year of teaching. We told parents to pack a healthy snack for their child. Many of them complied and sent awesome healthy snacks that needed to be refrigerated. Unfortunately, our class did not have a refrigerator. We had to resort to using the other pre-k teacher's refrigerator, one she bought with her own money.

I needed a refrigerator for our class. I was willing to spend my own money but I was told to try DonorsChoose.org and I did.

What We Received with Donors' Help

I created the project "Promoting a Healthier Lifestyle" that requested a refrigerator. Random donors who believed in my need donated and helped fully fund our project and we received our refrigerator!

A.Y. storing milk, juice, and snacks in our new refrigerator!

*Unfortunately, those head up each others' arse policy makers deemed classroom refrigerators to be unsafe and we are no longer allowed to use the refrigerator in our classroom.

The Need

Sticking with my first year of teaching Pre-K, I had came in replacing a teacher who had left that previous year. Our students nap after lunch. They sleep on mats that were purchased four years ago when the school first opened. Every child since, used those mats. Over the years, those mats became worn and torn. Many were ripped and were uncomfortable to sleep on.

I didn't want my students to sleep on most of those ripped mats. I requested administration to purchase new mats. They agreed, but we needed to go through a specific vendor to buy those mats. At the time, those mats were unavailable. I had success with DonorsChoose.org with the refrigerator, could I get 18 sleeping mats to replace our old ones?

What We Received with Donors' Help

The answer was YES! YES! YES! Through "Giving the Healthy Body a Good Rest" we received new mats for our kids to sleep on.

Christmas came early. Old Mats vs. New Mats

Giving the Healthy Body a Good Rest!

Think of the positive change you're making in public education. Imagine the road you'll help pave for your children and future children as they begin to attend school.

With that being said, please consider helping my class. I have a few great projects up that need your assistance.

A Small Donation Will Turn into Something Great.

Science Isn't About Why? It's About Why NOT?!

My kids love science. I've been working on expanding our science center for them to explore. This is the third expansion pack project!

Beyond the Block: Commanding Our Construction

My kids love robots. They're always building them with LEGOs, paper, cardboard, and anything they can get their hands on. I want to introduce them to robotics with LEGO Mindstorm. It's a robotics program that will get their feet wet in learning about coding and programming.

Move to Improve

This fitness project is requesting materials that allow my kids to stay active and moving. Our pre-k classes do not get gym. The pre-k teachers must find ways to keep them active and fit it into our schedule. This project will help us obtain materials that allow us to do so.

Keeping Pre-K Eggcited!

This newly posted project is requesting an incubator to help hatch eggs in my Pre-K class. Our city kids aren't exposed much to animal and farm life. I hope to bring in an incubator so we can hatch chick eggs!

Codeword: 100WOMEN is active and will match your donation!

Establishing an Award Winning Library for Pre-K

After taking courses about the issues in children's literature, I am more aware of the award winning picture books. I want to bring in quality children's literature into my classroom library.

Codeword: 100WOMEN is active and will match your donation!

Please consider donating and helping me take part of this DonorsChoose.org challenge as well as the challenge of changing public education! Click the title of the projects or the corresponding picture below to view my projects. Or you can check out my DonorsChoose.org page!

www.DonorsChoose.org/ayung

Always Grateful,
Mr. Andy

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Mr. Andy Goes to Civil Court

3/6/2014

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No. I did not do anything wrong. I am not suing, nor am I getting sued. I simply have jury duty and would like to write about it in diary format modeled after Sad Cat Diary and Sad Dog Diary.

Jury Duty: Episode I - Shattered Hope

Dear Diary,

I received a letter not too long ago informing me of a civic responsibility I have as an American citizen. It was a juror summons. I was on telephone standby. I've received these before but was never needed to come in. I hope the same occurs for this yellow and white paper of doom. I will update you soon.

Dear Diary,

I called in on the day I was informed to call and luckily, my services are not needed. Yet I am still required to call the next business day, Monday. I anxiously wait for the prerecorded demon to tell me that my soul is no longer needed for sacrifice. I shall update you Monday.

Dear Diary,

I regret to inform you that my number (these monsters don't even have the decency to call me by my name) has been selected for the democratic Hunger Games, also known as Jury Duty. I am to report to the arena tomorrow at 9AM. I will leave my children with a vile woman who looks to overthrow my pre-k throne and tear away the love of my supporters. Things look grim. I'll write soon.

Jury Duty: Episode II - A Lost Hope

Dear Diary,

I arrived at the Civil court house at 8:45 to shocking line outside the building that wraps around two blocks. Is this the line to hell? If there isn't a line, I have metaphorically found it.

A kind woman in a similar predicament joined me on the line answer struck up a nice conversation. We spoke of where we would be of we weren't imprisoned here. As we moved closer to the entrance, we parted ways to be searched by the authorities' hounds. I felt so violated. Am I the criminal here? I passed their test, but at what cost?

Never have I seem a worse collection of scum and villainy. These potential jury of peers are one step away from being criminal defendants themselves. I fear for my life, if not my life, than the purity of my soul. What have I done to deserve this?

The authorities have chosen to serve the foul creatures who attempt to avoid this cesspool of degenerates. Why do they prioritize them? I patiently wait.

Dear Diary,

A servant of the dark system has begun to call names. Among the first twenty four, my name has been drawn. We were instructed to write a number on our identification ballot and were given a destination to go to. 383..is this the new numerical replacement for 666? I do not know.

Dear Diary,

We marched into a simple white room. Chairs for us subhuman, a table and thrones on wheels for the men in suits. They used a random way to select the first six people to interrogate. The interrogation went on for hours. There were private discussion taking place outside of the room. The inconsiderate person next to me made the unpleasant situation even more unpleasant. He spread his leg out enough to qualify as a Chinese acrobat. When he wasn't stretching, his legs were quivering as if his entire right leg was a shake weight.

The woman to my other side was studying a textbook. She may as well have treated her book as a coloring page due to the amount of highlighting she did per page. If the entire textbook was that important, why not spare the life of the highlighter? There is not justice in this place.

Jury Duty: Episode III - A New Hope

Dear Diary,

The longer I spend in this institution, the more I believe my work is in the classroom, helping children to not become the people in this hell. They've let us go for now, only to demand that we come back tomorrow. When will this suffering end?

Dear Diary,

I've reported back to 383 at the time they asked us to. Yet, the three suited men have not arrived. After being 10 minutes late, they've arrived. Again, the process of selecting a jury begins. Our numbers dwindle down. When will they select me? The man who describes himself as a taxi cab driver doesn't seem to understand what they are telling him. Yet, he still nods his head in agreement. I believe this is how the devil collects his souls. After a few more potential jurors go up, I am among the last four. I step outside with the suited men to plead my case. It is as if I were guilty of a crime. I told him I am needed more in my rightful place than I am here. They agreed and asked me to sit in just to not make it look suspicious. After a couple of minutes, two of the four remaining are selected and I am sent back down. I have been tricked…

Dear Diary,

I am back where I started in the beginning. This must be a sadistic joke. More people are called up to different holding cells. I pray I am not one of them. After an hour, the dark servant of the system tells the new blood that they are free to go to eat but must report back within an hour. Those that fall under my category are instructed to stay and we will not be able to feast. Salt to the wound….

Dear Diary,

There is light at the end of the tunnel! They have informed us that we are free. There is hope after all! They informed us that we have served our time and are free from this for another four years. I collected my documents proving my rites of passage and head home. Freedom never felt so good.

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Like Mother, Like Son

3/4/2014

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I see a lot of my younger self in my students. Mostly it's because of our similar family background. My parents immigrated to the United States in 1981 from China, the same year she was pregnant with my brother, Felix. She was a working mom who worked day and night and weekends to support my brother and me. She wanted the best for her two sons and knew that working hard was the only way we would have a chance. Whatever money she saved, she'd used to put me into summer school to make sure I didn't slack off. I hated it then and looking back, I still hate it but I appreciate the reasons why she did it.

My Mom and Brother Sometime in the 80s

Aha! The Awesome Son Comes to Existence

I can't imagine how hard it must have been for her to leave her entire family behind. She grew up in Wenzhou, China, the shoe capital of the world. This is a fact I learned from Annie's boss, Joe Sokol. He's a businessman who has probably traveled to and knows more about my mom's home land than I do. I honestly thought he was blowing smoke, until I went home and wikipediaed it. Turns out he was right.

When my mom and father came from China, most of my father's family came and all of my mom's side stayed behind. It must've been hard coming to a country not knowing anyone. She was the middle child in a family of seven children. Five daughters and two sons. My two uncles from my mother's side are the youngest. This proves how much the Chinese valued sons, they wouldn't stop until they got one or two.

My Maternal Grandparents

My mom was really close to her sisters, so not seeing them on a regular basis was probably very difficult. She would often reminisce about the past and tell stories about when she was younger. Stories about how she would pull shenanigans on her younger sister and would often mock how clueless my aunt was. There's one tale she will always tell and it never failed to make her laugh. I've heard it enough times to retell it as if I was there.

The Chen Clan, Mom in the Middle

My mother grew up in a very poor part of China in the 50s. Things were tough and food was scarce. My grandfather would buy boiled salted duck eggs for his family, enough so that each person would get their own egg for the day. That one egg was supposed to last breakfast, lunch, and dinner. After each meal, everyone was responsible for their own egg. If you ate all of your rations in one meal, you were out of luck for the entire day. Everyone scurried to find the best hiding place for their egg. My mom would always know where her youngest sister kept her egg, in the rice basket. It was an obvious spot. Maybe it wasn't so obvious but obvious for a mischievous little girl up to no good, up to SHENANIGANS!

When her sister hid her egg and left it unattended, that would be the queue for my mother to strike. She'd sneak her hand into the rice bin and snatch the egg. She would proceed to take scoops of my aunt's duck egg. My mom would describe how delicious the yolk was and how she would end up eating all of the orange goodness. When the crime was done, she'd discretly place the egg back into the bin as if no ill doings had been committed.

When her sister discovered the heinous crime, she would scream and cry for her dad. My grandfather, knowing his daughters very well, knew it was my mischievous mother. He'd begin to yell and scream for her and that was her signal to flee the scene.

Grandpa Lookin' Majestic

My mom knew she couldn't hide from her father's wrath forever. She'd just have to wait it out. She would wait until he had enough drinks in him to pass out and forget all about it. That's exactly what she did. When she tells this story, she would always laugh at my aunt's misery and mockingly imitate her little sister's whining. She always ended the story by praising how smart she was. Now I know where my shenanigans and smarts comes from.

Like Mother, Like Son

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The Tales of 108

Erik's Reptile Edventures at TALES!

We Want Our Hats Back!

They're Children, Not Numbers

One Thankful Teacher: The Conclusion of the Challenge

The Challenge of Changing Public Education

Mr. Andy Goes to Civil Court

Jury Duty: Episode I - Shattered Hope

Jury Duty: Episode II - A Lost Hope

Jury Duty: Episode III - A New Hope

Like Mother, Like Son

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