Relaxing Weekend!

I had a really great weekend. I went to Lincoln, NE after school on Friday to visit my cousins. I really just needed to get away and not have to worry about anything or deal with any drama. I had enough of that last week. Friday night we didn't really do a whole lot - just watched T.V. and chatted. On Saturday, we went to Omaha for MaKayla's soccer game. It was a horribly refereed game, but they still ended up tieing the undefeated team in their league. They played really well. Then we went to Dave and Buster's. It was actually a pretty fun place. We pooled all of our tickets together and got some mini prizes... Sunday we went to church and Sunday school, and then we ate lunch. I played Mario Kart with Karstin, and lost horribly, and then I headed back. I went shopping and then just kind of hung out. It was really nice to just get away.

Today was the start of the second quarter. I'm just glad that I don't have new kids or have to switch around schedules. We're still on short stories, but next week we will be starting mythology, which I'm really excited about! I had some cheating instances on the final Adam of the Road tests last week, so that wasn't fun to deal with. I want to have a "no tolerance" policy, but then I feel bad. Also, everyone tells me to tell parents. Well, if they admit it, do I really have to? For the one instance, yes, for the other... I don't know. Oh well, I guess all of that "learning" on my part comes with time.

It's gorgeous here! I love these Indian Summers. I may even wear a skirt tomorrow, since it's so nice outside. I think this is the last of it though. It's supposed to get into the 40's next week, which I am not excited about at all.

3 1/2 weeks until Thanksgiving.

Pictures of Projects

Here are some pictures of the projects my students made for Adam of the Road. They turned out really well. Most of them made castles or posters explaining the history of Nursery Rhymes. It was actually quite interesting.
Yesterday was their final essay of the quarter and today was the final test over Adam of the Road. I am happy to say that I did finish grading everything last night and today, so tomorrow I can work on planning with my co-teacher and getting some other information I need to get on the students.
I am going to Nebraska this weekend. I really feel like I just need a break, since I didn't get Fall Break and get to go home. I also really miss just being around my family. It will also give me something to do this weekend other than sit around at watch T.V.
It's getting cold. I haven't turned my heater on yet, per my science and math teachers' requests, but it's getting close. They told me I had to wait until November. 7 days and counting...
I can't believe first quarter is already over! It seems like it's flown by. I guess that's a good thing. I'm not dreading going to work everyday. I actually had a parent email me and tell me her son said he didn't want to miss my class anymore - that made me feel really good!
Enjoy the pictures. The castles and posters are going to "live" in my room for a few weeks. Students always spend so much time on these projects - the least I can do is hang them up for everyone to enjoy for a little bit :)

Projects!

I love projects. I love having students do them. I really like them because the students are doing the teaching, I can grade them on the spot for the most part, and it makes students interested and excited about something. For once I don't have to hear, "Miss Blasi, why are we doing this? This is boring," and so on and so forth. I have some really awesome castles coming in. I will have to remember to take my camera to school so I can get some pictures.

Grades are due on Monday. It's amazing that the first quarter will be finished on Thursday. I am hoping I will be able to finish grading the majority of the essays Wednesday and Thursday night, and perhaps get the tests graded Thursday, or Friday at the very latest. I am a little apprehensive about the essays since I won't be there on Thursday for half of my classes because I have professional development, but I think they will be ok. We are playing a Jeopardy review game tomorrow, so that should be fun.

I'm thinking about going to see my cousins in Nebraska this weekend. I will probably decide by Thursday night. On one hand, I don't really have time to drive 6 hours total just to get out of Iowa, but on the other hand, I haven't seen any of my family in about two months, and that's getting a little excessive. That, and I really just kind of need to get out of Waukee/Des Moines. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do next year when all of my friends are on rotations - I'll be really bored... I'll figure it out I'm sure, right now I just feel like I need to get away for a weekend.

It's cold now, and I'm really not excited about it. I haven't put my flannel sheets on my bed yet, or turned the heater on, but it's definitely coming - sooner than later.

So Tired of the Rain!

I am so tired of the rain. It's been raining for pretty much a week straight, and I am really starting to get cranky. It's maybe supposed to stop this weekend, but then it looks like it's just supposed to start all over again next week... blah.

I was kind of cranky with my kids today, and that's really not how it should be. Part of it is the rain, and part of it is that I feel like I'm down to the wire trying to finish stuff with this novel, and I don't feel like I have time to get it all done! Tomorrow is the day we finish reading the novel!!! Yay!!!! I hope I can get everything in that I need to get in - I'm definitely going to have to shorten AR time so I can get everything in. Monday is the last quiz and projects, and then we have review, an essay on Wednesday, and the final test on Thursday. Grades are due the next Monday, so I'm going to have a really fun time next weekend trying to get everything graded, especially the essays. Oh well. I did it to myself - planning everything down to the wire this way. It will all get done.

We had a new teacher meeting today. It was actually interesting - got to talk to the principals about conferences, and then our superintendent talked about what not to do as a teacher. The other plus was that we got out early!

Tonight I have to find stuff for the scavenger hunt, so hopefully my advisory will have some sort of points. They didn't do very well with the trivia questions, so I hope they start participating a bit more. I'm going to take a bunch of stuff in, but I hope some remember to bring things. I also hope they remember to wear purple or gold so that we get those points. We'll see. Sometimes I feel like 7th graders just don't care all that much...

Tonight is pretty much just laundry and curling up on my couch and watching T.V. It's definitely a good way to spend a rainy evening.

Another Engagement!!!

My friend Sarah just called and she is engaged!!!! The wedding will be next July 5th. That's really exciting, and was news that completely made my day. It's really exciting. It's much better news than I've had lately...

It's been raining all weekend - definitely starting to feel a bit depressed because I hate this weather. Oh well...

Another wedding to look forward to!

Thank Goodness It's the Weekend!

It's been a long week on the education end of my life. We've had SINA discussions and non-discussions, if you will. There's a tiny part of me that is very frustrated with the non-support from my immediate team, but I know that the administration, my English team, and much of the school is behind me. I cannot help students become better readers by myself! I know it will figure itself out, that doesn't make it any easier.

My mentor asked me to try to remember WHY I became a teacher. It's because I want to make a difference in my students' lives. I want them to learn something they can take away and use over and over again. I want them to feel confident that they can do something to change the world. I want them to become better writers and readers. I became a teacher because I truly believe that all students can learn and succeed if given the tools and the support that they need. If I remember all of that, then I can get through all the beauracracy that comes with teaching...

It's going to be kind of a lazy weekend. Most people have gone home for Fall Break. Perhaps that is a good thing, I might have a better feeling about it on Tuesday when people get back. Last night I went to dinner and a movie with some of my teacher friends. It was kind of nice to just get away and have some fun with my colleagues! It's cloudy and cold, which definitely makes me just want to stay inside and watch movies or read, not really do anything productive. Perhaps I will go to church tomorrow, since I haven't been there since the middle of August.

I'm hoping that my friend, Adria, will stop by on her way back from Seward tomorrow. It would be nice to see her, though I don't know what her plans are since she hasn't called me back. I also have a Silpada party with some of the teachers tomorrow afternoon, so that should be fun.

We're almost done with Adam of the Road, which makes me really excited! The projects are coming up, which should be neat, and then we move on to some scary stories just in time for Halloween :)

I should go get some errands run. Just what I need, to spend more money!

Being an Adult

I decided I really don't like it that all of my friends that I spend a lot of time with are still in school. I mainly feel this way because I get really bored on the weekends. Sometimes I have papers to grade or a book to plan or something like that, but I no longer have the homework to do or the tests to study for like everyone else does. I want to go out and do something, while everyone else needs to stay in and get stuff done. On one hand, it's kind of nice - a whole weekend to do nothing! On the other hand, if I at least had stuff to do, I wouldn't feel so bored. I can only watch so much T.V. and read so many books and sleep so late before I start going a little stir crazy. I guess I shouldn't complain - next year really won't be any fun when no one's here and they're all on rotations...

This coming weekend is Fall Break for those that are still at Drake. I'm going to miss having those two extra days off. Alas, I now have a real job and have to go to work. It's not really that big of a deal, it's just that I won't be going home until Thanksgiving, and that's still a long way off, at least in my brain. I realize it's only about 6 weeks away, but...

I just found out that my friend in Green Bay will be going back to Nebraska this weekend, which means she might stop by and see me on Sunday on their way back! Yay!!!! This gives me something to look forward to, since everyone else is leaving for Fall Break.

School has been great lately. I got my evaluation back, and I received "Proficient" or "Distinguised" on everything! This makes me really happy. I do have some things to work on, but it will all be fine. I was happy with it, and my principal sounded happy with everything as well.

I should go do something productive... maybe.

First Time Sub!

Today I had my first ever sub in my classroom. I had a SINA meeting this afternoon, so I had to have a sub. I'm not sure how it went. I guess I'll find out tomorrow!

The meeting was interesting. We really really need to focus on good Reading strategies for all of our students, but especially the ones that were targeted. This means that we walk away from direct grammar instruction and hide it in other stuff. That should be interesting. I have mixed feelings about that. I feel that grammar is important and they should know it, but I also understand that we need to get away from that and focus on Reading. I also believe there are other ways to teach grammar other than from the horribly laid out grammar book we currently have. We'll see how all of that goes. It may be a bit more work in the beginning, but I definitely think it will help in the long run. Plus, on the ITBS tests, "grammar" really consists of proofreading - we can teach that!

I'm taking tickets for the Waukee vs. Valley football game tomorrow night. That should be interesting, if not a little crazy!

Essays

I really hate grading essays. As much as I think they are important, and definitely think that students need to write them and be able to write them well, I really don't like grading them. I guess what makes me really not want to read them is when they are horrible because the student(s) either didn't listen to directions and/or have written about something completely unrelated to the topic, haven't changed their writing since the first essay which means they haven't read a single comment you've written and/or didn't listen to directions, or look like they did them in Advisory that morning and didn't spend any time over the weekend working on it. I understand they are busy and have things to do, but school is their job. If I did things the way they do, I'd lose my job. Oh well. I'm hoping I can help them become better writers, sometimes I just feel like I don't have the time.

We're into Adam of the Road now at least. I like doing novels because once I have them planned, I just have to adjust by class period and day, I don't really have to figure out what I'm doing the next day. That will definitely help for Thursday when I have a sub in the afternoon.

At least they still make me smile and laugh. If I ever get to the point where I don't want to go to school and be with the kids, regardless of what else is going on, then I don't need to be teaching anymore...