Parent-Teacher Conferences

It's Night Side with Damn Way on WBZY Boston's news video.

Emma, thank you very much for giving me an intro. Hope everybody is comfortable.

Maybe that top button of your jeans is open, because after all you wait today, you need to be able to breathe more freely.

I'm Morgan White Junior.

Been a part of Beasy Broadcasting since nineteen ninety six. I was here last night. I'll be here obviously tonight, tomorrow night and Saturday when I do my show, The Morgan Show. I've got a nice show planned for you tonight and once Thanksgiving has come and gone and it only has, you know, roughly three hours and fifty minutes left to celebrate Thanksgiving, It's Christmas season now.

Some of your.

Moms and dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles really don't know what to get for the kid or kids in your life. Your old buddy Morgan is here to help you. I got a woman who's been a participant of my shows plural I'm buz off and on over the past fifteen twenty years. I have her here tonight because she's a teacher, and she overhears the conversations that kids have when they

Get your kids.

So please everybody welcome my buddy teacher Terry.

Hello Teacher Terry, and a.

Happy Thanksgiving too. I hope everyone had a wonderful day today, and you remember to wear elastic pants so you are now comfortably sitting. I am plunged out someplace and quite happy with your day.

I am.

I was quite happy with my day and my evening consists of talking to thirty eight states in Canada. For what more can I be happy?

Exactly? What more could you ask for?

There you go, and before we get started, I want to send the message to two of my regulars. One to Florence AND's family. I think she was not going to be able to call in for Thanksgiving issues, so I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving.

Florence.

And a caller who's been on my side for decades, Janet Forbes, I hope things are doing well with you and I want you to know you're in my thoughts, so I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving. Now, what's the scuttle button?

With the kids.

Now you second grade teach or third grade teacher, because you've done both.

I've done both. I'm presently I work with I work a little bit through from third through seventh. But I have to say that and some of the ideas that I have are definitely you know, it will work across all of those ages. Some of them are directed more towards the younger group, but yeah, they're all over the place a bit. That's I am. Presently. I'm working as a reading interventionist, so I spend a lot of time in a lot of different classrooms.

Well let me.

Say this twelve months ago, at this time, coming off the success of the Summer movie of twenty twenty three, Barbie, Barbie, her Friends, the Automobiles, the Home, everything Barbie was I can't miss.

Yes, everything Barbie, everything, the color pink.

Yeah, is that still trending?

No, not as much, not as much. But you'll notice that movies definitely come out around the holiday. So Malwana too just came out. So there are you know, some things that go around the Disney things like that. I haven't had an opportunity to see it, but I believe it's called Hot to the one with Dwayne Johnson as Santa Claus.

You missed by one digit. It's called Red.

One, Red One Boy or any one.

And there's another one movie out there, Transformers one.

Uh huh.

They've had easily eight, nine, ten Transformers movies, so why calling it one? I think it's they've gone back to the original storyline. That's why they're saying Transformers one. And I guarantee you there are toys for that.

I guarantee you that any of these holidays or any of these holiday movies that you know came out between November and now are going to be huge hits with kids, and they're definitely going to want the latest greatest toy that came with that. So go ahead, you say, yeah, that is definitely you know, that is always whatever is, whatever is in the media catches the kids. They're you know, we are definitely in a digital age, and so whatever comes up on media is definitely what you know drives

Okay, and.

Do not answer this question yet because I'm going to take a break, but I want you to think about this question. From what you know, and I know the era of your kids being in that age has long passed, But do you recommend ordering something through the phone or going to a big box store. Don't say a word. We'll pick that up when we come back. Anybody wants to join our conversation six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty or eight eight, eight, nine to nine, ten thirty.

Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World night Side Studios.

On WBZ News Radio. Welcome back to Morgan filling in for Dan. I'll be here till midnight. Hope we can stay as long as possible.

This first hour, we're talking about what toys to get the kids. And I've got a woman who's been a teacher and I'm going to cactually say this for decades and decades.

Is that safe enough, Terry.

For a while? Yes? Indeed?

Okay, Well, as.

You were talking earlier, I was like, you don't have to bring up really how long I've known you? Do you?

Well? There you go.

It has been a while though, that is indeed true.

We have known each other for years. I think we even knew each other during the bush A ministry the first one.

Yeah, that's entirely possible.

That's entirely possible. So I gave you a question to think about. You are an advocate of ordering it by phone and having one of the delivery companies bring the presence to the house, or getting in the car, shoving the key and the ignition, going to the mall with a list and doing.

The best you can.

I don't. I think that's just that to me, that is a very personal thing. People figure out whether or not this is you know, do I have the time? Do I have the resources to be able to do that? You know, for better or worse, technology has given us this ability to be able to do many things from our homes and personally, people like me.

I'm doing the show from my home.

And first people, that is a tremendous life saver. Like me, I do my job from home, and so, you know, it really does. It's much more of a an individual preference. It doesn't really matter one way or the other. You can get you can get the same type of deals whether you're doing it in person or or online, many of the same things are available. So it's not like, you know, with the exception of the door busters that that you'll get going to overnight tonight.

As doors open, uh, Cyber Monday, Black Friday, tomorrow.

Yes, yes, yeah, So you know, with the exception of the things that are are and they really are doorbuster things because they're the things they want to pull you in to the store, and so they're offering deals that are bigger than anything else you'll get if you wait. And the same is true with the Cyber Monday. They're offering bigger deals online then. But there are so many things. I just heard on one of the morning news stations

Oh? Yeah, that's nice.

So as an example of my daughter who's almost thirty now, she last year we decided that we were going to attend a pink concert together, and so we got tickets and a hotel and we actually went to Philadelphia to see it, even though she was in Foxborough. We did the extra trip to just make it an extra special weekend.

I'm speaking with teacher Terry, a contributor to me in the radio for a while, a long while, and you mentioned you and your daughter. I'm not going to say your name, you and your daughter doing a joint trip. I can still remember the day you brought your newborn young girl, maybe a week old, to my house so my grandmother could see your baby. Yeah that good grief is thirty yard years ago.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, wow, we came over to see Nana.

Yep.

Anyway, uh, I got three minutes before news. Give me a good suggestion for a boys' toy elementary school age and if this time before the news, I'll have you give me a girl toy.

Let's do boys first.

Well, as you said, the Transformer movie is out, there's a new one out. Any car type Transformer type very much into video games as another thing. But there are some games that have a bit of an educational or they can have not always. I don't want to tout one as being specifically educational, but there are some games like The Fortnight or Roadblocks, and they're coming out with

What are skins?

Well, that's a very good question. I listened, but my son could tell me, well, he's not here. But he's not here, so, oh you know what.

My producer Dan said, they like different costumes.

There you go.

So is that an accurate description?

Yeah, I think that. I think that's very true. And so they have new costumes that the characters can put on and things, so they you know, anytime they make updates like that, that becomes something that the the kids can get back into, even if they weren't as interested, you know, like, oh, I'm kind of bored with this. They come up with something new and they go, oh, okay, well I can go back and check that out.

I'm old fashioned. I found out just yesterday that Bruce Wayne is no longer Batman. It's his son.

Oh.

That came from a union between raz Ogul's daughter and Bruce Wayne. I didn't know any of this. Well, I feel old.

Yeah, it gets to all of us. Huh.

No one tells me these things. Let me take my news break. I'll bring you back in about three or four minutes. Anyone else wants to call in. If you know of a great gift to give an elementary school age child that's basically first grade through sixth grade.

Give me a call. Six one, seven, two, five, four, ten, thirty eight, eight, eight.

Nine to nineteen thirty. This is night Side, also known as Dan Ray's Show. Here, I'm busy with the time and temperature is eight thirty forty two degrees.

You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.

I am Morgan White Junior. I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving. Let's do the best we can too. If you're driving, be extra careful out there. We don't want you to become a Thanksgiving statistic to the negative. Anyway, I have a guest teacher, Terry, who's on. She knows what kids want for Christmas. She said to share that information to you, moms and dads, aunts and uncles, grandparents, even next door neighbors.

So we've talked about boys. What well a young girl of let's say eight nine years old hope to get.

Well? As they said, Uh Mawana has a new movie out there. You know, there's always the movie Pinch around. But squash mellows are still big. They're still popping up around my classrooms. So those are just extra squishy stuffed animals, and they are. They are still a hot commodity among the younger students, the younger excuse me, the younger people.

Right, And I need to make an apology. It's not an apology per se, but I've been saying Christmas.

There are a.

Variety of holidays in December obviously hanukah ill also, yes, Kwanza. I'll even say for the fictional holidays festive us for the rest of us. So if there's if there's a child who you want to put a big smile on their face for the holidays, you should be taking notes. And now, what are the squeezable animal toys called squash mellows squish mellows. I take out the word marsh mellow, take out marsh and put in squish And what is a squish mellow.

It's just an extra squishy stuffed animal type. They all have. One of the things that they have done that kids really really love is when you get a toy like a squish mellow and it comes with its own name. Build a Bear has these kind of things where you can go in and build stuff, you know, build your stuffed animal. And you know, if you have a lot

I remember my son who's now forty one, forty two years old, he was seventy nine, ten years old during the craze of the teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Yes, they themself have had five incarnations of fading out, coming back, fading out, and they did a smart thing and it was echoed by other toys of the era. There were one hundred and fifty friends, the same.

With Pokemon correct, same with Pokemon.

And fifty friends. And once you get all one.

Fifty, which there were people who did another new one fifty.

Now we're making at three hundred Pokemon.

Friends and enemies of the teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Are there any toys of the using that concept right now.

I don't think any that have that expansive, you know, I mean to some extent. I mean, Pokemon is still there. You know, they have managed they're not you know, it's not even a card deck as anymore, as much as it is an online game. Pokemon Go also kind of grew up with the you know, with their people, and so they have big festivals and things like that. So you know, they will sell tickets to a Pokemon Go festival in New York City and you go and this is where you can get You can walk around and

I've got another This is an off subject. It's not a toy, but a lot of families plan to go away during the I'll say Christmas because that week it's a Christmas vacation. Kids who are out of school, yes, and a lot of families plan like a Disney trip or Universal Studios trip, even a cruise. Do you hear if that sort of approach is popular among the kids that you teach.

Oh, absolutely, anytime that you can plan a trip away with your children and plan something that you have as a family that you will do together. Any you could go and visit any city and check out different things and take them on events throughout the day. So anytime you can plan trips like that, you're not only doing a vacation, but there's there can be so much educational especially cultural learning that takes place of different areas. And

To Sturbridge for Oldbridge Village forms plantation.

Exactly, they're great day trips right there.

Exactly. They don't have to be you don't have to get into on an airplane and fly anywhere. They're you know, fortunately we have access to all of that right within Massachusetts, and there are day trips that are both educational and

I am at the break time. We still have about another ten twelve minutes with you and I but I'm going to take a break and we'll take a call from San Francisco and anyone else wants to call in and carment on this six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty or eight eight, eight, nine to nine, ten thirty. And I meant to do this for you young lady. You were talking about family before. I want to send

Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World Nice Sight Studios on WBZ News Radio.

Talking with teacher Terry helping you with Christmas shopping because she has first tan knowledge of what the kids at school are talking about that they hope they get for the holiday gift. And Terry, let me introduce you to one of the Bezy regulars. He's in San Francisco. Terry, Meet David. David say hello to Terry.

Hello Terry, Hello Morgan, Nancy, Oh Gray, Tony, and Ohio. Please Happy Thanksgiving to everybody Boston. My suggestion for a gift for Christmas or whenever is Whatler Girl is Two spiral notebooks and two ballpoint tens. Use one spiral notebook for writing in print print letters and one spiral notebook for writing in cursive. Because we're losing that, we're losing that ability to write. I just think it's important that you keep that as a basic tool for are you know writing?

I you agree, and Terry, do you teach cursive No?

No, we do not teach cursive in in in the schools most I won't say all, but most public schools do not. There is a So here's the thing. Something has to give, And because we teach so much with technology, curse, it is not a priority. There certainly is handwriting, and there certainly is you know, those components that we add into this. So there's handwriting that all students do, but

Do kids learn how to sign their name?

They don't necessarily learn. I mean that is something that at some point they will you know, people will turn and say you have to be able to sign your name, and they will either come up with the letters. I mean, I certainly have shared with students this is what cursive writing looks like. And these are the letters that you were you would use if this were what you wanted to how you wanted to write. But it is not a skill that is taught.

See you're easy, Terry. You have a line that goes east west. You have a line that goes north south. That is the standard T, and you know, go whichever way you want to the E and the R and the eye. But I just know that I learned how to sign my name in third fourth grade.

So I can I can tell you of a personal story around this, and that is that I tried to get my son to write in cursive and he said, what do I need it for? And I said, you need to be able to sign your name, so I would like you to learn this so you can sign your name. And he laughed at me and said, but a signature isn't doesn't have anything to do with what your name is. Your signature can be anything you like.

I sign his name for me one day, just to see what you're talking about.

You will absolutely have to do that. And he said the best argument that he had for that was looking at his mother's signature. And therefore I had nothing more I could say about it.

I signature standard.

I can make. I can write my name, but if I am writing my signature, it is the letter T and the letter.

K okay uh, David, anything else you want to bring up, that's a very good suggestion.

There's two before. I have a question for Morgan, but anyhow, looked us up. But you know the comedian Patton Oswald.

I've heard of him.

Look him up. He does a very very funny routine on cursive writing. Morgan with anybody, what is your favorite interview or most interesting interview?

Easy?

DAWs Butler, who was a myriad of animated voices, primarily for Hanna Barbara, but he also did voices for Walter Lance, the Woody would Pecker person and Disney. I was supposed to uh Gracie Lance, missus. Walter Lance did Woody Woodpecker, He did Chili Willy and a few of the other ancillary. But I was supposed to interview him a Saturday afternoon for one hour.

He stayed for three hours. Oh my god, that was my favorite interview and.

Oh thank you. Well, yeah, because you've done some money and for some money, and.

I can still almost forty over forty years later, I'm gonna retell a story he told about where he got the inspiration for Huckleberry Hound. He grew up in the South, he does butler, and his mailman was a very nice gentleman, and his mail man spoke with a drawl, and that's where he got the voice for Huckleberry Hound. David, I gotta let you go because we got one more caller to get on.

And want to be fair to Chris.

Well, if you were talking doing everybody, thank.

You David, Happy Thanksgiving to you, Chris and Jelmsford. You got about a minute and a half to make your point.

Well, I'll be a real fen lady was talking about day trips, about the from any age to about the JFK Library.

Yes, that would be a fantastic, fantastic trip, a day trip and something that anytime i'm you as your enthusiasm for something and anytime you know something about it, but you want to learn more the person that the children that you're with are going to absolutely love seeing your enthusiasm and they're going to want to learn more about it as well. These are fantastic things that you can give as gifts that give you something as well as the child.

Chris, thank you for your call.

Is I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving and a great weekend.

To you, Terry, thank you for coming on. You can tell that you did some some good and made some good suggestions and I will be in touch.

Absolutely, have a great evening.

Tell your husband I said hello.

I will do that all right.

You have a great evening and a great holiday weekend. Bye bye bye bye. Next hour. You know you know somebody who's a little depressed, which happens this time of year. I've got doctor Ronda Goodell and we'll talk about holiday depression here on night side time and temperature eight fifty seven forty two degrees