Dancing Nancy.

[Anonymous]

Hi all, just got back from work. I’ve had this song by Dave Matthews stuck in my head for the past few weeks. I’m actually going to see them live in June, anyway this is my favourite song by DMB. I don’t think I’ve ever had a song sum up exactly how I feel. Perhaps Dave Matthews is a little ADHD too.

Could I have been

A parking lot attendant

Could I have been

A millionaire in Bel Air

Could I have been Lost somewhere in Paris

Could I have been

Your little brother

Could I have been

Anyone other than me

Could I have been

Anyone other than me

Could I have been

Anyone other than me

Could I have been

Anyone

He stands touch his hair his shoes untied

Tongue gaping stare

Could I have been a magnet for money?

Could I have been anyone other than me?

Twenty three and so tired of life

Such a shame to throw it all away

The images grow darker still

Could I have been anyone other than me? Then I

Look up at the sky

My mouth is open wide, lick and taste

What’s the use in worrying, what’s the use in hurrying

Turn, turn we almost become dizzy

Iam who I am who I am who am I

Requesting some enlightenment

Could I have been anyone other than me?

Sing and dance I’ll play for you tonight

And thrill at it all

Dark clouds may hang on me sometimes

But I’ll work it out then I

Look up at the sky

My mouth is open wide, lick and taste

What’s the use in worrying, what’s the use in hurrying

Turn, turn we almost become dizzy

Falling out of a world of lies

Could I have been dancing nancy

Could I have been anyone other than me?

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[Rick Green – Founder of TotallyADD]

Brilliant:

Here are the lyrics from “How Do You Handle A Problem Like Maria?” from The Sound of Music.

Note that Maria is only a problem to a bunch of uptight, rigid, identically dressed, tradition loving, Austrian nuns who live a life of routine, routine, routine. To the Von Trappe kids she’s not a problem at all.

She climbs a tree and scrapes her knee

Her dress has got a tear

She waltzes on her way to Mass

And whistles on the stair

And underneath her wimple

She has curlers in her hair

I even heard her singing in the abbey

She’s always late for chapel

But her penitence is real

She’s always late for everything

Except for every meal

I hate to have to say it

But I very firmly feel

Maria’s not an asset to the abbey

I’d like to say a word in her behalf

Maria makes me laugh

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?

How do you find a word that means Maria?

A flibbertijibbet! A will-o’-the wisp! A clown!

Many a thing you know you’d like to tell her

Many a thing she ought to understand

But how do you make her stay

And listen to all you say

How do you keep a wave upon the sand

Oh, how do you solve a problem like Maria?

How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?

When I’m with her I’m confused

Out of focus and bemused

And I never know exactly where I am

Unpredictable as weather

She’s as flighty as a feather

She’s a darling! She’s a demon! She’s a lamb!

She’d outpester any pest

Drive a hornet from its nest

She could throw a whirling dervish out of whirl

She is gentle! She is wild!

She’s a riddle! She’s a child!

She’s a headache! She’s an angel!

She’s a girl!

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?

How do you find a word that means Maria?

A flibbertijibbet! A will-o’-the wisp! A clown!

Many a thing you know you’d like to tell her

Many a thing she ought to understand

But how do you make her stay

And listen to all you say

How do you keep a wave upon the sand

Oh, how do you solve a problem like Maria?

How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?

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[Monika]

A great thread of inspiring songs,

here’s one that touches my heart about a boy with ADD hoping this year will be a good school year. I bet if more teachers heard that some children’s lives would be easier.

What You See

It’s the first day of school, and I can hardly wait

to meet my teachers for the year.

I wonder if they’ve heard what I was like before,

What kind of stories did they hear?

Cuz I’ve had a lot of problems

with some of my teachers in the past.

But this is gonna be a great year. At least I hope it is at last!

And when I finally meet my teachers,

when that school bell rings today

I’m gonna ask them just one question

And I wonder what they’ll say…

“Teacher, tell me what you see…

Won’t you tell me what you see?

Teacher, tell me what you see … in Me !”

Well I’m the first kid at the school, cuz I can hardly wait

To meet my teachers for the year.

I wonder if they know about what I was like before,

or am I finally in the clear?

Cuz I’ve had a lot of problems

With some of my teachers in the past

But this is gonna be my best year

At least I hope it is at last !

And when I finally meet my teachers

When that school bell rings today

I’m gonna ask them for a favor

And I wonder what they’ll say,

“Teacher, tell me what you see…

Won’t you tell me what you see?

Teacher, tell me what you see … in Me !”

http://jerrymills.com/ss_ur4.html

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[Anonymous]

Oh,…….please be kind to teachers! We really do our best. :o)

Just try to imagine that you have:

– an administrator breathing down your neck re: non-stop internal (not even govt. mandated) testing

– the regular good ol’ provincial testing

-add to that the OFIP programs (DON’T EVEN ask…..just a load more paperwork comprising more pre-tests, post- tests, and data walls all courtesy of your Ministry of Education)

-add in an ADHD ASD student, 4 more ADHD students (one who I’ve NEVER yet seen the likes of yet and I’ve seen a number of the years (Did I mention only 1 of the 5 of them are medicated? *eyes opened WIDE*

– now let’s add on our other ‘regular’ plain old LD kids who are not ADHD, just the ones who still struggle to be able to remember the names of the alphabet, read a number (and I’m just talking numbers just past 10.

-but wait, we’ve forgotten all our Stage 1 ESL kiddies (That’s right! Not even the moms or dads speak English.) Oh no! Our test scores are ‘drooping’ and something MUST be done!! Now!

Do I still have ANY room left for a just a vanilla ‘kid’? Well, there are a few seats left and yes, we found seats in the classroom for them, too.

I’m sure you appreciate that MOST teachers are trying their hardest to teach and reach everyone of their individual needs. Even those ADHD kids.

My beef? More and more demands for improved performance on our part (the teachers, whoops! I should say in this case the ADHD teacher) and needier children.

Personally, I’m stunned at what I’m seeing walking in my classroom doorway these days. My heart goes out to these children since many of them walk in with the deck stacked against them all due to less than adequate parenting or parental support.

I’m dismayed at how I’ve had to ‘ignore’ many of my vanilla students so that I could give the rest of the class (yes, the needy majority that I just listed) half a hope that they will understand ANY of what they are expected to learn each year. Have you any idea how we feel about that?

Some days I go home and tell myself to just let the needy ones ‘sink’ because I need to do more for the others than to just call their name out when I do my attendance.

I plan and plan looking for the just the right combination of teaching/structure so that every child comes out a winner but I’m still searching. I’m in my 50s now and haven’t given up yet. :o) But some days…… oh, some days…..giving up has indeed crossed my radar.

By tomorrow I’m sure I’ll have found just the perfect words to make life easier for that little boy or girl who asks me,

“Teacher, tell me what you see…

Won’t you tell me what you see?

Teacher, tell me what you see … in Me !”

A few bad teachers have allowed the majority to all be painted with the same brush. Most teachers are in the profession because we really want to make life easier for our students. We want to provide them with the skills and knowledge that will give them the key to that ‘easier’ life. *sigh* Is it Friday yet? *frazzled look*

Can you tell it was Open House for parents today and I was bombarded with a billion questions from parents about how to ‘raise’ little Johnny all while I tried to teach little Johnny?

The bottom line? I love my group of students and I do my best to ensue that I get other people to see the good qualites that keep me coming back for ‘more’ fun and games each day. My 5 ADHD students? They are all very affected because of it but compared to my other LD students they are truly lucky to be ADHD.

BTW, thank-you for sharing the poem. I did enjoy it. The teachers I know and work with would enjoy it, too.

Too long, time to end this.

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[Monika]

You know what Zsazsa? I owe you an apology. I’m so sorry that my post made it look like I have no respect for teachers nor any knowledge of the daily heroics you perform. Students would eat my lunch if I stepped into a classroom. I am in awe of you and all teachers.

I read somewhere that communication is 60% body language, 30% tone and only 10% words. Being bound to only 10% (words), posts often appear harsh and are vulnerable to misunderstanding.

So thank you so much for writing and reminding me of that.

And PLEASE forgive me?

Just one more note about the song, if I may? Jerry Mills was a student with ADD who didn’t know he had it until he became a teacher and met a student name Michael with ADD and he was just like him. When he sings this song in his motivational speeches he’ll change the words so the teacher is singing “Child, tell me what you see…in Me?”

And if you do accept my apology, may I tell you about two free websites that may help some of your students with managing themselves in the classroom?

http://www.flylady.net has a student control journal (and she also has a teacher’s control journal)

and

http://www.BehaviorDoctor.org has tons of researched-based, valuable and functional and easy interventions. You can write to her with questions and she also has some http://www.blogtalkradio.com shows some on behavior, ADD, non-compliant behavior and more.

I love the three stars and a wish intervention and the compliment board.

Thanks so much for your patience with me,

M

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[Anonymous]

This an 80s classic from The Ramones I thought I`d post here.

I think it speaks to the chaos that goes on inside the ADHD brain.

“I Wanna Be Sedated”

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated

Nothin’ to do and no where to go-o-oh I wanna be sedated

Just get me to the airport put me on a plane

Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane

I can’t control my fingers I can’t control my brain

Oh no no no no no

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go….

Just put me in a wheelchair, get me on a plane

Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane

I can’t control my fingers I can’t control my brain

Oh no no no no no

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated

Nothin’ to do and no where to go-o-o I wanna be sedated

Just put me in a wheelchair get me to the show

Hurry hurry hurry before I go loco

I can’t control my fingers I can’t control my toes

Oh no no no no no

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go…

Just put me in a wheelchair…

Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated

Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated

Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated

Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated

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[Author]

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