Coaching Update & Big Moon (13 Days to go...)

Today, I found out that there was a pizza party for the UIL participants, coaches and parents. So, even though I am somewhat sick, I showed up since I didn't for the awards ceremony.

Megan was so happy to see me, we gave each other a hug and I was so happy for her that I twirled her around!

This is what I found out from the two teacher coordinators about UIL and how the Ready Writing category is judged:

1. This year, 7 schools competed, including us
2. The other 6, all had the 3 maximum kids competing in their teams.
3. Our school had no money for UIL because they weren't sure if they were going to compete.
4. The judges chose the best 6 out of all the competitors, so Megan's was the best out of 19 essays!

Megan couldn't believe her ears when we told her that she beat out 18 kids! She thought that each category was judged per school, and since she was the only one from our school, she thought that it was for that. She was so happy to know that her writing won because it was the best!

Some of the PTA moms and the coordinators were very proud of the both of us, and encouraged both of us to "team up" again.

You know, I just might agree to that... :D

Tonight, because of my Math finals, we only had time to fetch some new Christmas lights and watch the movie Elf.

Activity: Be together and watch a Christmas movie of your choice

(Elf, the movie)
Oh, yeah, have you seen the moon tonight? It was 14% bigger since it was closer to the earth. Right outside our door, its beam created a massive ring that feathered out at the bottom. It was an awesome sight!
(Can you see the ring and the feathering?)

My 1st coaching stint... (15 Days to go...)

(this is their elementary school symbol)
Hello to all of you, I just had to share this good, no, great news!

In my kids' elementary school, I signed up to be a UIL (University Interscholastic League) coach for the Ready Writing category. This is basically a category where you are asked to write a whole article, letter, or essay out of two prompts to choose from, as long as you want. Well, I was given the 3rd grade level team and I started out with 3 kids, one boy, two girls. During a few weeks, schedule conflicts resulted in one contender to bring to the competition, the most shy out of the three, but I didn't let that stop me from teaching them what I've learned from my own English teachers, and the techniques that I've used to critique my children's school papers.

The day of the UIL competition, held at a local middle school, we sat next to another team of three "well prepared" bubbly girls, a coach with a Master's degree in English, coming from a school that have sponsored and competed consecutively for this category. My pupil and I felt a little bummed but I ensured her that what we've done is just as effective as what the other coach was reviewing with her team. There were 2 other schools that competed with multiple people in their team, and their coaching packets were thicker than my arm's vertical profile!

I felt very disadvantaged as a coach, we had only 30-minute meets, two sheets of paper of rules and very simple prompts to go by. But I didn't let on to my pupil. I just told her to do her best, write about what she knows, write until she feels that her story is finished, make it interesting and most of all, have fun writing! Even after all the competitors lined up to leave into their respective rooms, and the coaches or parents can come back, I promised her that I'll stay to support her. Yes, I stayed behind to inquire of how the other schools "prepared" for this category. As suspected, we had barely 10% of what they had to work with. All I had with me was my purse! (I was screaming, "yikes!" in my head while I talked with these coaches, particularly the one from Pennsylvania with a Master's degree in English. I thought I was gonna faint!)

Well, each participant from every category gets ribbons, and medals for those that won from their respective categories- done in their respective schools a few days after getting the results. I was supposed to be there since I was a coach, but Ian is very sick so I had to miss it. My pupil's mom attended for the both of us. This is what she emailed me a few minutes ago:

Carolyn, you won't believe it!!!!! Megan won FIRST place!!!!!!

Thank you so much for all your great coaching!!! We had several students win up to 6th place, but I think Meg's the only one who got first from our school!!

Good job!

Isn't that amazing?! Megan worked so hard to practice all the techniques I showed her, both during our meets and at home. Plus, she truly loves to write about anything, so coupled with the stress of competition, her true level in this talent shone brightly and blew away the judges! Yay, Megan!!!

I'll post her picture (with me, of course) soon!

http://www.uil.utexas.edu/policy/constitution/index.html

Thanks for reading; hope to hear from all of you soon!