Bills!

I hate paying bills. It seems like I am suddenly spending more and more money on stuff, and I'm trying to figure out how to stop it. I guess part of it is that I went home last week, and that was extra gas money I don't usually spend. And, it's Christmas season so I have to buy presents. I'm going to see The Nutcracker next weekend and then the Rockettes the weekend after that, so I guess money goes there too. It's a good thing I got a bonus from the teacher quality money. I was going to try to pay off some more of my loans with that extra money, but I think I'll just save it back and hope that I don't have to use it. I will probably pay a bit more this month on my loans than previous months, but not as much as I was originally planning on paying.

It's now officially cold! My room is always freezing as well - so that makes for fun teaching. At least the kids don't really complain too much.

Today I was very impressed with my last class. They were working on a reading, and I had to leave the room. I asked one of the student teachers to just step in while I was gone. The students didn't even realize that someone else was in the room! They were very engaged in their work. I hope it shows in their assignments!

Next week they are going to be teaching fables to their peers. That will be interesting to see how it all turns out.

I'm glad tomorrow is Friday. This week has been a long one.

Back to School

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving Break. Personally, mine felt way too short. Perhaps that is because I spent two days driving and three with my family. It was nice to see everyone again, even though some of them weren't there. I went to see my great-grandma on Friday. She's really not doing well. She's been in the hospital for 4 weeks with pneumonia, and they just moved her into a nursing home/rehabilitation center. I didn't really care much for the place. She's 100 years old. That's what she wanted to make it to. I think she would even tell you that she's ready to go... God's got a plan, I just wish he wouldn't make her suffer much longer...

The kids were really mellow today for the most part. That was nice because it made my day a little easier and a little less hectic. It really doesn't seem like we were gone that long, except when I get my days mixed up and forget when assignments were given. Oh well. We're still reading mythology. They have a test next week, so it should be interesting to see how they do.

Tonight at dance I hit a perfect double pirouette. For once, I felt on balance and felt like I could stay there forever! I wish I could figure out exactly what I did so I can repeat it and don't have to constantly try to re-teach my body what to do every week. If only I had more time and could dance more than once a week...

I feel like I've been spending a lot of money lately, but there are things that need to get done! I need to go get my oil changed and my tires rotated on my car, go get tickets for The Nutcracker and the Rockette's Christmas Show that's coming to Des Moines. Plus, gas is expensive, so going home was not cheap. Oh well, sometimes you have to do those things.

It's starting to get colder and it's supposed to snow on Wednesday. I missed the snow last week, but I don't think I'll be so lucky this time.

Winter is Here!

When I left Des Moines this morning around 8:30, it was definitely snowing. I can't really say that I'm too excited about that. I drove through icy rain, snow, and misty drizzle pretty much the whole six hours. It wasn't the most fun I've had driving home, but it was fine. I just hope the weather is nicer on Sunday when I drive back.

My house looks different. My mom had a bunch of new lights and fans put in, and the kitchen cabinets have mostly been redone. It's strange to think that they've lived in this house for 27 years, and they are just now redoing a lot of this. I guess maybe they're trying to get it looking nice for when they can sell it and move to the farm.

I have Thanksgiving with my dad's side tomorrow, and with my mom's side on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone! I will probably go see my godson as well at some point this weekend, probably Friday.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

It's Almost Thanksgiving!

Only one more day of teaching and then I get to head home for Thanksgiving! I'm really glad that we get Wednesday off - it makes my life much easier, especially since I really don't like driving in the dark. I'm really excited to go home and see my family and eat some home made food.

I went and tried on the bridesmaid dress for Sarah's wedding today. It will look fine. It wasn't my first choice, but it's not about me. I'm definitely going to have to pull the halter part up a bit so I don't fall out of the dress, but that's really nothing new. I should have asked Sarah where the dress is coming in - if it's going to be in Texas or Wichita or what. I really don't mind ordering the dress myself if it means that I'll have it before the day of the wedding. That would be nice. I really don't want to have to have it mailed... We'll see, I'm sure it will all be fine.

My kids are upset with me because I'm making them memorize the helping verbs. It's amazing to me sometimes how little effort they want to put into their school work. One of them asked me who invented school. I really don't know - but I think they've been having school, at least classes in which you go and learn from someone smarter than you, for quite a while. Oh, they're so funny some days. Tomorrow's going to be pretty pointless because it's an early out day, and it's the day before a long holiday. It's a good thing they're just taking a quiz and sharing their projects, otherwise it'd probably be a wasted day.

It's supposed to snow later this week. I hope I get out of here before all of that happens!

Countdown...

Only 4 days until I get to go home for Thanksgiving!!!! I'm ready to go home. I need a break and I want to see my family. Talking to them on the phone or through IM or email just really isn't the same.

School has been going well. Today we started researching for their Greek god and goddess trading cards. I'm excited to see what they come up with, though I am kind of disappointed that the majority of them did Zeus and Hera and didn't want to research any of the other gods. I guess it's just easier to take the easy way out instead of being creative... I guess that's what 7th graders do! I still enjoy seeing them every day, so I guess that's good. I also now have things planned pretty much up until Christmas, so that makes my life easier. I really like knowing what I'm going to do before the day of...

I just went to the doctor for my toe. He really tore it up, so I'm interested to see how badly it hurts when the novacane wears off... I really liked him though, so that's nice. I was a little nervous about finding a doctor up here because I have always had the same doctor since I was born, and I really liked him and felt comfortable with him. I had to get a prescription, and I saw my roommate from last year! I feel like I haven't talked to her since August, which is probably an accurate statement. It was nice to see her, and I hope I get to spend a bit more time with her soon!

My friend that is getting married in July called me last night and told me which bridesmaid dress we are going to get. It wasn't my first choice, but it will be fine. I'm really not that picky. We are supposed to just find silver shoes of our choice - so I should be able to do that in the next 6 months. I'm going to try to go try the dress on tomorrow so I can get the size to her by next week so she can get them ordered. It will be fun!

Conferences X2

Today was the last day of conferences. They went well and I didn't really have any problems. I had one set of parents ask me how their student could raise test scores on a MAP test, a standardized test similar to ITBS... I don't really know what the test looks like, so I unfortunately wasn't much help. I didn't think it should be that big of a deal because the student was at average for the scores, but I'm not the parent. It's always good to try to improve, but I don't put much stock in test scores...

Only one week until Thanksgiving break. I'm definitely ready for it. I think I just need a break from 7 to 4:30 days, students, a thousand decisions being made, colleagues undermining what you say because they don't agree with a decision you made, and just generally feeling wiped out. I love my job, I just need a break.

My classes did really well on a quiz we took today. I was kind of worried about it, since we really haven't talked about inferring, but they did a lot better than I expected. I was happily surprised. We're moving along with Mythology, which is really fun for me and I hope it is for the kids as well.

Conferences

Wednesday and Thursday were conferences, and we have another set on Tuesday. For the most part, mine went pretty well. I didn't have any parents upset at me, at the parents of children that I've been having some issues with in class were really understanding and supportive of what I was doing, and said they would work on the issues. I have a few more "problem" children on Tuesday, but I'm confident that everything will be fine. It's really nice that I only have half the students at conferences, so I can spend a bit more time with them if I need to. Some of my students told me on Friday that their parents told them they thought I was the best teacher they talked to all night - that made me feel really good!

Last night we went to the Drake International Student Association's dance performance because Rohini was dancing. It was neat to see all the different types of dancing. Afterwards, they had international food. Some of it was really good, and some of it was not. I'm not a picky eater, but I'm not an adventurous eater either, so it was a bit out of my comfort zone.

Tonight we're going to eat at the middle school for a fundraiser for the Washington D.C. trip the 7th graders are going on. It's spaghetti, so it should be good.

I spent around $150 today just running errands - contacts, prescriptions, food, gas... it's amazing how it all adds up. I'm not excited about the high gas prices - that makes it a lot more expensive to go home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I need to get some new shoes, but those may have to wait.

We started Mythology this week. So far, the students seem to be really interested in it. I hope they are, because we're going to be working on it until January!

It's about a week and a half until Thanksgiving!!!

Choir Concert

I just got back from the 7th grade choir concert. It was honestly the shortest choir concert I've ever been to. It was maybe 45 minutes long. The kids sounded good, and it was kind of fun to see them after the concert. A few came running up to me, others seemed to avoid me... I went because I felt like I needed to support their extra curricular activities. I went to games and the play, I should go to the concert. I went with two other teachers, so that was nice too.

It's gotten really cold! My heater is definitely on, the flannel sheets on my bed, and today I pulled out the winter coat. It's supposed to maybe warm up for a bit this weekend, but I don't believe it. Weather.com says it's supposed to rain. Blah. I'm not ready for the cold weather, but then again, I never am.

This is my 100th post!!! And, it's only 2.5 weeks until Thanksgiving! Conferences Wednesday, Thursday, and next Tuesday.

Laundromats

Last night was the first and last time I will ever go to a laundromat to do my laundry (I hope). I went there because I had multiple loads - my usual two week load and a bunch of towels and sheets, and the dryer doesn't work well in my apartment. When I got there around 4:30, there wasn't really anyone there. To my annoyance, the washers at the laundromat are just as small as the washer in my apartment building, and they are more expensive! So, I threw my laundry in the washers and went off to find a spot to sit and read. When I went back after about 30 minutes, one washer was done, and one was sitting there with a red light beside "unbalanced load." Of course, it was the washer with the towels and the sheets. I shifted things around, and put the rest of my clothes in a dryer. As soon as I turned around, the load became "unbalanced" again. I literally spent the better part of 45 minutes baby-sitting the washer and "balancing" it every ten seconds. I finally took the sheets out and wrung them out and let the towels finish the whole cycle. Then, of course, I had to wait another 45 minutes for all of that to dry, and spend more money. I was not a happy camper when I got out of there at 6:30. I will hang dry all of my stuff from now on rather than go through all of that again for some clothes.

School's been going well. We are starting mythology next week. I'm really excited about that! Next week is conferences. Those should be interesting. I think I'm going to go to dance tomorrow morning so I can go to the choir concert on Monday. And then, I'm probably going shopping with one of my friends! Not that I really have the money to spend, but oh well!