Last Day of School!!!!

Today was the last day of school! Overall, the kids were pretty good. Apparently there was a food fight at lunch and the kids involved got sent home. I would have made them all sit in a room all staring at the corner for the rest of the day. Going home is a blessing, not a punishment. Anyways... I wasn't as sad to see them all go as I thought it would be. It will probably hit me tomorrow when I go back and look at my empty room again and realize they're not coming back. I think it was just too hot today to deal with anything else.

So, I've officially made it through my first year of teaching! Someone asked me today if it was everything I dreamed it would be... I wouldn't say that, but it was a great year. I had great kids and I met some great people in my building who were awesome. Next year will be even better because my co-teacher will be there full time, and I'll know the curriculum! It was a good year. I think I'll keep teaching! :)

Here's to a successful year and a happy summer!

Exciting News!

Ok, so maybe you won't find these three things as exciting as I do, but it's the little things in life that make me happy! :)

1. I got a job at Sylvan tutoring this summer and into next school year! I'm excited because I now have something to do this summer to keep me occupied, and I get to still teach. I'm only working days, so I'll be done at 2 or 3 every day, so that leaves the evenings for fun!

2. I just finished all of the paperwork for my extended learning class. I'm going to mail it off tomorrow and hopefully get all of my grade reports and transcripts and stuff back sooner than later so I can put in for my tuition reimbursement! That means that I'll have 5 graduate credits to my name after my first year of teaching!

3. There are only 3 days of school left! I'm as ready as the students are. I will miss my classes from this year, but I'm ready to be done. I'm not excited about moving my room, but that's all part of the job!

Summer's almost here!

3 Day Weekend!

It was a wonderful Memorial weekend, despite the fact that I didn't go home, or anywhere else for that matter. I didn't really do a whole lot - just dance, watched a few movies, and finished a few books. I went to lunch with a friend yesterday and then went shopping. I also was able to finish the work for my class I'm taking, so all I have to do now is type it all up, get some samples from my class, and mail it in. Then I will have 5 graduate credits to my name!

It was actually a fairly cool weekend, so I'm kind of glad I didn't have a whole lot of outdoor plans. My mom told me that it rained all weekend in Kansas, so I'm not too sad that I didn't get to go home. I probably would have gone home if I didn't have school these next few days, and/or gas wasn't so high. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting, so it all worked out.

Five days of school left! The last thing I'm grading for the school year is due on Thursday, so that shouldn't be too bad. Friday is going to be a post-test and then an activity where they write and illustrate what their favorite thing we did this year was, and then I'm going to use it next year for my bulletin board at the beginning of the year! I suppose I'll also be packing my room up into boxes and labeling it all so it gets to where it needs to be next year.

I can't believe I'm almost done with my first year of teaching! It has gone by so fast. I've had a lot of fun and I've learned a lot. I'm going to miss my students from this year because they were all pretty great, for the most part. I know I'll have new students next year, but I have a feeling these 53 will all hold a special place in my heart.

Tutoring and End of the Year Stuff

I went and helped a lady with business stats tonight. Now, I've never taken business stats, but I have had stats before (they're all really the same, aren't they?) and I can read a textbook and look up information. What seems to be the biggest trouble is that she did not take the time to look at the question and then look through the book to figure out what math needed to be done in order to get the answer. It also helped that she happened to have the answer book. Once I know the answer, I can generally figure out how to get there from the equations and information given to me... I guess that's a skill I need to make sure I teach my students - using your resources! Don't get me wrong, I understand that stats is hard and that the letters can be confusing if you have no idea what they mean. I hope I helped her; she said it made more sense to her.

On another note, we learned today that we have to pack everything up in boxes, including everything in our desks and file cabinets, and put them in boxes and pray they get sent to the right room over the summer. I am not a very happy person. I don't mind moving and putting things in boxes, but I do mind not getting to put textbooks in the room I'm going to be in and having to unload a perfectly good file cabinet that can be easily moved. Ah, the beauracracy of it all! Oh, but I have the "opportunity" to pack everything up and I should be happy that I get new furniture! I am happy, as long as bookshelves are included in that new furniture.

6 days left of school. Tomorrow is an early out day, so it should go by pretty fast. Their children's books are looking pretty good. I had to go buy colored cardstock today for the covers, but that's the expense of an educator. A lot of my own money goes toward my kids, but I really don't mind it that much. If it helps them be successful, or gets them interested in something, it's worth it.

I usually go home for Memorial Day weekend, but I'm not going anywhere this weekend. Gas is too high and I just don't really feel like driving anywhere. I'm more interested in sleeping and getting some stuff caught up.

Have a safe and relaxing weekend!

Zoo Trip!

Today we went to the Omaha zoo. It actually turned out to be a pretty good day, and we didn't have any problems with any students along the way. My group didn't get around to seeing everything because we skipped a whole section, but we managed to see most of it. It's a pretty big zoo, and they have a lot of things, but I still kind of like the Wichita zoo better. The only thing they have that we don't is an aquarium. The aquarium was neat.

I didn't go to school on Friday. Today, when I got back to school, I discovered that the sub had "tidied" my desk. Now, it was a nice gesture, but I can't find anything! My desk may have been a mess, but at least I knew where everything was and everything had its place. This morning, I couldn't find half of my stuff. I didn't have a whole lot of time to look for stuff though. I hope I can find everything I need tomorrow, and get my desk back in the shape I had it (however "messy" it might be...)

We are on the home stretch! We have 9 days of school left. Our final unit of the year is writing children's books. I'm thinking that they are going to be really neat! At least I'm hoping they are. We did some prep work last week, so I hope they have some ideas in their head about what they want to write about.

I'm a little fried from being out in the sun all day, but I think I'm still going to try to go to dance tonight, if for nothing else than to get rid of some of this stress I'm carrying in my back again...

I planted cucumber plants in pots this weekend. I hope they grow! I've never planted them in pots before, so it should be interesting.

I guess I should go get ready to go. I'm going to sleep well tonight - it's been a long day...

HDTV Converter

So, I was a bit skeptical about this whole switch over from regular TV to HD. I was also a bit put out that I had to buy a converter for my TV because it's too old, and I don't have cable. However, I finally got my government coupon the other day and went and bought my converter box. I LOVE IT! I now get more channels than I used to, and they are all easy to watch. I don't have to move my antenna to see a channel better, and I get ABC now, which I wasn't really able to get before. None of the new channels are really that exciting, but hey, now I can watch them all without having to get off my couch and move the antenna.

There are 12 days of school left, and I can tell the students are ready to get out. Honestly, I'm about there as well. We have another unit to get through, but it's kind of fun. They're going to be writing children's books and illustrating them. I think they'll turn out really neat.

I got a call the other day from Sylvan about a summer job, but I haven't really heard back yet. I hope that it works out. I don't want to work because I need the money, but I do want something to do over the summer. Otherwise, I'll just spend all of my money... We'll see. I hope it works out.

So tired...

I don't know if it's the not going to bed until midnight or later and then getting up at 6 for three nights straight or the fact that I've actually taken more than one dance class a week for two weeks straight, but I am really really tired all of a sudden. I just feel like I'm dragging. The sore throat and all of the stuff I know I need to get done doesn't really help either... Oh well.

14 days left of school. I have a lot to get done in those 14 days, but I am about as ready as the students are to get out of school. I think we all need a break from one another. This week they are writing an in-class essay (I don't want to deal with the fiasco from the last essay) and starting to brainstorm for their children's books they are going to be writing the next two weeks. I think those are going to be really fun. I think they'll be glad to finally get to write something that they want to.

We found out last week that they are taking away our Accelerated Reader program next year. We're all a little upset because we were told that they would support it one more year while we did our curriculum audit and figured out if there was something better to do. Granted, I can find other things to do with that 20 minutes at the beginning of class that is supposed to be devoted to reading, but it's kind of a nice break and then I know the kids are reading at least an hour and 20 minutes a week. Oh well. I have lots of ideas for what we can do differently with that time. I'm disappointed about AR, but kind of excited about what else we can do with it!

Last weekend I went to Kansas City. It was really nice to see my friends and hang out with them and not have to worry about anything. I also got to see my godson, which was cool. He's talking in more complete sentences now. They taught him how to say, "How you doin'?" like Joey from Friends. He's so cute! I will be really excited if Jon gets the teaching job there - then they will only be 3 hours away from me and I will be able to see them more easily and more often!

I guess I should go make sure I have things ready for tomorrow and then I think I'm going to bed. It's a bit early, but I need the sleep...

I Didn't Know Bibliographies Were So Hard...

I didn't know that bibliographies were so hard to write, but apparently, to a 7th grader, they are one of the 7 wonders of the world. OK, perhaps I'm exagerating a bit, but you'd think that I'd never gone over how to do a bibliography from the ones I received today. They've been working on their World's Fair projects for quite awhile, and we've been working on bibliographies for about that long. Therefore, I don't really get it.

One class told me today that they didn't understand it and didn't know what to do with it. I pretty much chewed them out. If they didn't "get it," they should have come and talked to me before today. One student did,and I even went over it with him, and he still claimed he didn't understand. Other students think that just because they chose to skip school the day of their presentation, that that gives them the right to not turn anything in. Being gone from school only excuses you from work that was done the day before, not work you've known about for over two weeks...

They're just getting really frustrating as of late. I've all of a sudden had late work right and left, and then they turn in something that looks like we never talked about it. How hard is it to alphabetize something? Especially when I wrote it on your rough draft, and I also wrote it on the board and went over it. I think we need to turn our listening ears back on. I realize that we only have about 17 days left of school, but that's no excuse. We have a lot to do in those 17 days.

It's going to be interesting.

I'm going to Kansas City this weekend, which I am very excited about. I get to see one of my best friends and I'm staying with another one! I am just going down on Friday and coming back on Friday, but it will still be a nice break from Des Moines. Everybody is studying this weekend for finals anyways...

Spring is finally here!

Late Work!

I am really really tired of late work! I have so many students that have all of a sudden decided that they don't need to turn work in on time. Every day it seems that I have a new list of students that need to turn work in. I don't know what their deal is. I haven't had a problem with late work all year, and all of a sudden the problem has exploded! Maybe it's because it's finally spring and warm. I don't really know...

Today was interesting. We had a tornado drill and a fire drill during first period, which got the kids riled up and very very talkative. We were still able to get things done, but it wasn't quite the great discussion I was hoping for. Oh well. Such is life with 7th graders.

It finally warmed up! It was like 77 today! I'm really excited about the warmer weather. The flannel sheets finally came off my bed. I just hope it continues to stay warm.

I should go to bed. I do have to be up to teach tomorrow!

And it just keeps coming...

I graded my 8 inch stack of papers this weekend. It really didn't take me that long, it was just a tedious task. That, and the essays really really disappointed me. I was really kind of upset because I put a lot of work into proofing their essays and telling them what they needed to do to get a better grade. Many of them just took their rough drafts home and typed them. It's like they didn't even look at all of my red comments across their papers. I know it's not my fault, but it still really frustrates me. I gave them the opportunity to redo it for a better grade, but the stipulation is that they have to conference with me before they rewrite it. That way I know that they are actually going to put some effort into changing the essay. Ah, I hope they turn out better.

Now I just have assignments coming in every day, so I'm constantly grading. I don't really have a problem with it, it's just that I feel kind of swamped all of a sudden. I won't be done with this cycle until the middle of May when we're done with the Pigman unit. I guess it boosts their grades if they're doing what they are supposed to.

I can't believe May is almost here! This year has just flown by. I just wish the weather would realize it's almost May. I had frost on my windows this morning...

Well, I should go get some bibliographies graded. At least these aren't as bad as I thought they were going to be (so far...)

Grading Homework...

So, I have a lot of papers to grade. I wasn't at school yesterday because I took a personal day, and it probably doesn't help that I collected three assignments today. On top of that, I have essays coming in tomorrow. Oh fun stuff. I was going to work on them today after school, but we had "rehearsal" for the talent show and then I was burning up. I meant to do some work at home. We'll see. Maybe I'll work on some of it after I get back from excercising. It wouldn't normally be that big of a deal, but midterms are due at 3 PM tomorrow. I don't think these grades are really going to affect them that much, but you never know. Oh well. They'll get graded when they get graded.

This weekend is Relays at Drake. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to try to head down or not. It was always easy to go to Relays when I lived on or around campus, but now I just have the feeling that it's going to be a bit difficult to find parking. Plus, it's going to rain this weekend so I really don't have any desire to go sit in the rain to watch a track meet. I've done enough of that in my lifetime.

I cannot believe how expensive gas is. It got to be $3.44 today, and that's the subsidized ethanol stuff. I don't really think that gas needs to be as high as it is. The oil companies do not need to be making millions of dollars in profits. I think they can take a profit hit in order to make gas more accessible for the common people. If this keeps up, I'm definitely not going back to Kansas for Labor Day, or anywhere else for that matter. Blah. Maybe it will go down...

The weather has been gorgeous! I couldn't have picked a better day for a personal day than yesterday. The sun shone all day and it was just perfect. It looks like there are some storms coming in tonight and it's only supposed to be in the high 50's to low 60's the rest of next week. It's almost May, I think it's time for some nice weather that lasts longer than 2 weeks.

Perhaps I should go look at the papers. No guarantee I'm going to get any of them graded...

7th Graders and Essays

Apparently if you don't make a 7th grader write an essay every week (and even if you did I'm afraid), they forget everything you ever taught them, especially opening statements and to NEVER use "I" in a formal paper. I've only proofread maybe half of them and I'm seriously about ready to blow up. I don't think it matters how many times you tell them and remind them about everything they've ever learned about essay writing; they're just going to forget it anyway. They don't care. I know I really shouldn't either, but it's frustrating. It's even more frustrating that I don't have them all.

It's amazing how many printers break and siblings steal essays when it comes time for an essay or project to be due. I love the "I'm done but I forgot it at home" excuse as well. I threatened to make them stay with me today to get it done, but I really didn't want to deal with kids today after school. Tomorrow, however, they will be staying after school because I have to have them proofread so they can have them back on Wednesday to finish the final draft by Friday. Ah!

I'm taking a personal day on Wednesday. I need it. The kids are starting to get crazy since the weather is nicer and they don't want to be inside. I understand, but that doesn't mean we don't still have school. It'll be interesting.

Here's to warm weather and Spring that finally decided to show up in Iowa! (And to getting the rest of my essays graded by tomorrow afternoon...)

Subjects and Verbs

Apparently 7th graders forget what a subject looks like and what a verb looks like after 3 months. This is despite the fact that we find the subjects and verbs every other day in our DOLs... I was just a little frustrated today. I didn't think the assignment was that hard. We were talking about simple and compound sentences, and all they had to do today was find the subjects and verbs in each. I didn't think it was that hard, but apparently we have forgotten everything we knew. For one class I had to go through a sentence and label every part of speech in it for us to remember what a subject was and what a verb was! Ah! I hope they have figured it out by tomorrow. It should be review.

Students are really starting to frustrate me. I guess I should say 2 of them are. One consistently misses my class but can somehow make it to school for the rest of the day. We made him go to another English class at the end of the day today. I'm tired of playing that game. Another one just refuses to do work for anyone, doesn't want help from any teacher, and lies about it when I ask him what homework he has. I know it's not my responsiblity to worry about them the way I do, or to get upset with them for their lack of responsibility and work ethic, but it bothers me. I think it's more because they make extra work for me to take care of because I have to reteach and keep bugging them to make sure they get their work in. It's just annoying. I know I shouldn't let it get to me, but I do.

We practiced today for our skit for the talent show next Friday. It's going to be fun! We're doing a version of the "Evolution of Dance" that's flying around youtube. I think the kids will enjoy it.

I'm going to use my weekend to plan The Pigman I think. I need to figure out exactly what I'm going to do with it. I have some ideas, I just need to find time to sort through the binder and put things down on paper. I need to do it this weekend because I'm going to have essays and multiple other assignments next week that need to get graded and taken care of.

The school year is winding down, but we still have a lot to do. I'm just glad the weather's been nicer - though this rain isn't really any fun.

Sunshine!!!!

I think Spring might actually be here!!! It's supposed to be 67 tomorrow and 70 on Wednesday! Yay!!! I'm not excited about the rain on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but I'll take it as long as it's as gorgeous as they claim it's going to be!

I'm getting a bit nervous about the character sketches my students are going to be writing this week. I hope I'm setting them up correctly for it. It's just that there's so much information and they have so many choices. It might be easier to just give them a character, but then that doesn't give them any freedom. We'll see. I'm sure they'll be fine.

I was at school till around 4:30 today working on stuff for Pigman by Paul Zindel. I feel pretty good about it and I think it will be interesting for the kids. I also think they'll like the activites we do with the book. Now, I wish we could figure out something fun for Adam of the Road. Maybe I'll work on revising that unit this summer. Hey, it'll give me something to do!

I'm going to be a snake charmer in my dance studio's production of La Bayadere. I get to work with the 3 and 4 year olds in their snake dance. I'm really excited about it! I'm not going to do a whole lot - mostly just do the dance with them so they don't forget the steps, but it'll still be fun. At least I get to perform on stage again!

I should go to bed. I've been really tired lately and I don't really know why. Maybe it's because I actually have to get up on Saturday mornings now to go rehearse with the little ones, and I don't get to sleep in. Who knows.

I'm excited about sunny days and warm weather!

Thunderstorm!!!

I like thunderstorms. There's something about the pelting rain, the booming thunder, and the incessant lightening that is just amazing. Of course, I like being inside when they happen. I was out running errands today and happened to walk into my apartment a mere 15 minutes before the sky unleased and rain came down in buckets (ooooh, look at that figurative language!). Then, 15 minutes later, it was over. Fortunately, we were not in the really bad part of the storm and there were no tornadoes near me. Then, the sun came out. We haven't seen the sun since Monday, but it was gorgeous after the storm.

School's been pretty uneventful. Tomorrow I'm going to plan Pigman with one of the other teachers. That will make me feel much more confident about two weeks from now. Right now, I have no idea what I'm doing with that novel.

It's supposed to snow tomorrow and Saturday. Blah. However, next week is supposed to be sunny and in the 60's! I'll believe it when I see it.

That's all for now. CSI is on in 5 minutes!

I hate computers!

I know my post yesterday was practically last Thursday's post. I apologize. Here's a new one...

I hate computers.

My printer and I have been fighting for over an hour. I thought I finally got it to work, but alas, it has decided to still act stupid. I am hoping I can figure it out so I can print pictures from the poetry cafe. I guess we'll see.

Wish me luck.

Poetry Tests!

I really feel like I actually did something correct and worthwhile with this last poetry unit. We had a test last week, and I'll be honest, I was a little worried that my kids didn't "get" it. However, all three of my classes had an average of 42 out of 45 points! Therefore, I can conclude that my students actually learned something, and I actually taught them something. Now I just need to find time to sit down and figure out what I did in order for me to repeat my successes next year. Yay for me and for my students!

We're starting clauses (basically sentence writing, again) and character sketches this week. They seemed to get the clauses today, so I hope they do ok with the next stuff that's coming up. The character sketch stuff should be interesting. Their final project with it is an essay analyzing one of the characters. I'm still trying to figure out the logistics of writing the essay and then having time to rewrite another draft. I know some students will have no problem with finishing it in one day and then being bored with it on day 2, but then I have the problem of me having time to grade them and then get it back to them to do another draft. It wouldn't be so much of a problem except I took a personal day on that Wednesday, which just kind of messes things up. Oh well. I'm sure it will all work out. No use in worrying about it now.

It's finally starting to get warmer, although it's still supposed to be rainy and yucky the majority of this week. Spring is slowly on its way.

One of my students today told me he actually enjoyed coming to English class this year. That's what makes it all worthwhile. :)

Snow and Poetry

The last time I checked, it was April. I don't think you should get snow in April. I know some states do and it's just a fact of life, but in Iowa, I don't think you should. I'm tired of snow. I'm ready for Spring and green stuff and sunshine and birds chirping. This snow stuff needs to go away. Of course, it's the heavy wet snow that soaks everything you are wearing and leaves you freezing cold. Blah. I think it may have stopped by now, but that doesn't make things any better when it comes to my frozen feet. I hope it all melts away by tomorrow...

On a brighter note, all but 5 of my 55 students did very well on the figurative language test today! It seems that the majority of them finally understand what similes, metaphors, onomatapoeia, hyperbole, and alliteration are! Yay! It makes me feel good that they actually learned something!

We're starting character sketches next week where they have to find character traits and show the strenghts and weaknesses and motivation of the character. We're also going to be working on dependent and subordinate clauses, as well as simple, compound, and complex sentences. Oh yay. We'll see how all of that goes.

Tomorrow is our poetry cafe! Students will bring in food and drink and then share their two favorite poems with the class. They will have an assignment with it, of course, but it should be fun. My co-teacher came up with it. I think it's a great way of celebrating the end of the unit!

We got new computers for our computer carts today too! Yay for us. Unfortunately, the first class that got to use them didn't really have a chance because the internet went down. :( Tomorrow I hope they will all work!

Here's hoping for no more snow!

Rain...

I woke up this morning to my bed shaking due to the thunder. That was a very interesting feeling. On the way into work, my pants got soaked. Needless to say, it was a great way to start out a Monday.

Fortunately, the day did not turn out that bad, despite the fact that all I wanted to do all day was take a nap. Most of the students had their poems finished, and we had a pretty good time with the poems we were working on today. They were supposed to write an alphabet alliteration poem - in which every line has to have an adjective, noun, and verb that begin with the same letter. They were coming up with some pretty crazy lines, but it was very fun! My principal came in 8th period for a "walk through," in which I was just going around and helping students, so we'll see what he thought of that. I'm sure it was fine. I feel bad because I don't have a lot of student work up on the walls right now, but we haven't really done anything lately that required poster work. Oh well.

I'm going to be sad when poetry is over. I'm not really looking forward to doing character sketches and sentence writing. I know they need it. I just need to be more positive about it. I know it will turn out fine!

I'm supposed to take tickets for the HS track meet tomorrow. It's supposed to be cold. I hope I don't freeze.

More Snow

I really dislike snow.

Perhaps I should say I really dislike snow when it's at the end of March and I've just been through a winter where it snowed every other day and was bitterly cold. I've had enough snow and I'm ready for Spring to be here. It hailed this morning and then snowed all day. It looks like it's stopped now and it may actually be melting off the cars, but I'm still tired of it. I think we're supposed to get more yucky weather this weekend as well. Blah!

On a lighter note, this week at school has not been too bad at all. Of course, it's only been 3 days back, but the kids have been really good. We had a guest speaker who talked to them about figurative language in poetry and did a really good job of pointing out examples and making it clear what the imagery in the poem is. I hope the kids got something out of it.

I'm going to be sad when the poetry unit is over. This is the one unit I feel really confident about and I really like because I actually know what I'm doing! I always just feel like I'm playing "catch-up" with the other units. Next year will be better because I'll be more comfortable with everything.

As much as this week has been good, I am ready for the weekend. I really look forward to the weekends when I can just sleep in and not really worry about anything. I really love the weekends when I have nothing to grade!

Here's hoping for warmer weather!

Back in Iowa and Back to Teaching

I must say, it was very nice to have yesterday off, and very difficult to get up this morning and go back to school. I really enjoyed my days of sleeping in and not really having anything to do. That said, it wasn't too bad of a day. The kids were fairly well behaved, and for once I only had two students gone, instead of the five to ten I had last week on a daily basis. It was nice and sunny out today. Overall, not a bad day back from a long Spring Break.

I brought a lot of stuff back from home, and now I have to find a place for it all. It's a little disconcerting to say the least. Part of me feels like I should have just left most of it at home since I don't really need it here and it just makes for more stuff I have to move again when I move out of this apartment. On the other hand, some of it is nice to have here with me in the event that I would need it. Oh well. I'm a big packrat, so a lot of it is stuff I probably don't really need but have here anyway. I have been better at throwing things away, but not as good as I should be I guess.

We're working on poetry right now. I love poetry, but I really feel like we're squishing it all into two weeks. Really, poetry could go on for a long time, but I guess for now I have to do what the English team is doing. I went and looked at my new room today. It's nice. I'm excited to have it. However, it's again on a NW corner, so we'll see how warm it is!

I'm looking forward to it being warm for good. I think we have at least another two or three weeks of "cool" however.

Spring Break!

Well, it hasn't been a very exciting Spring Break. I have been able to move things out of my room and into boxes at least. My mom made the mistake of telling me I didn't have to get rid of anything, just put it all into boxes for later. It just needed to be "out of the way." So, that's where it all is. Out of the way in boxes for me to have to go through later. Great.

I went to see my godson on Tuesday. I was there pretty much the whole day. He remembered my name, which I think is impressive because I haven't seen him since Christmas. He's so cute.

I went shopping on Wednesday and found pretty much everything I needed to find. I found shoes for my friend's wedding in San Antonio this summer, and I found a shirt for my friend's wedding in September. It's very casual, so we can pretty much wear whatever we want, as long as it's green. All in all, it was a successful day.

I'm going fishing with my dad, my sister, and her boyfriend today. We usually go on Easter, but it's supposed to be cold and rainy this weekend, so we're going today when it's at least kind of nice. I'm kind of sad because it's supposed to be REALLY nice next week here - like 70s all week. Oh well. Maybe Iowa will have a warming trend as well.

Only 3 days left of Spring Break. I'm glad I have Monday off too.

Back in Kansas

I'm back in Kansas. I have to tell you, I am a bit disappointed. The weather was nice on Saturday when I got here, but since then it's been cold and rainy. Blah. I was looking forward to some nicer weather while I was home. I just hope it decides to warm up at some point this weekend.

Nothing very exciting has happened. We had a birthday party for my 16-year-old cousin on Saturday when I got back. Yesterday, we just kind of hung out on the couch and watched basketball games. We also went to see The Bucket List. It was a pretty cute movie, and it definitely had some "laugh out loud" parts in it. Yes, perhaps it was a bit cheesy, but aren't most "feel good" movies?

My plan for this week, other than sleeping as much as I possibly can, is to continue moving out of my old room since my mother has made it a storage closet,go shopping, and go see my godson and my friend's new baby. That should keep me occupied. Sunday is Easter, so I'll be out with my family. I hope we get to go fishing, but it looks like the weather may be bad...

I just finished reading Uglies by Scott Westerfield. While it's written for 7th graders, I really liked it. I need to go get the other two books to finish the series.

The Triangle of Students, Teachers, and Parents

I believe in a previous post that I may have stated that one should always believe a teacher over a student, or at least find out what really happened before you start saying that a teacher has done something to that student or that the teacher was wrong. Well, I may have to edit said statement. One of my advisees received yet another check today (he's on his 8th one, 3rd in a week) due to an incident in the locker room. His story didn't sound "check worthy," so I emailed the teacher to get his side. Perhaps it was the response that I received that made me a bit wary of what really happened - "As far as I am concerned there is only one side of the story when it is between a student and a teacher. I hope this clears things up." Ok now, there's usually two sides to every story - what one person perceives to be truth is different than what another person perceives to be truth. No, whether or not the "truth" is really the truth is what needs to be determined.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say that the teacher is lying, or that the student isn't giving me some story to try to stay out of trouble. It's just interesting to me because he came to me directly after lunch to tell me about the check, instead of waiting until I caught him and reprimanded him for it like he usually does. I'm just saying that the two stories are at the opposite ends of extreme, and I've never had cause to assume this child is lying to me. Either way, I know it will be taken care of at home, which is more than I can say for many of my students who may be in the same situation.

In talking to the parent, he asked me why I believed the student over the teacher. I don't know. It's just that something about the whole situation doesn't really match up. The student may very well have been showing off and causing a commotion as he sometimes tends to do, but just the fact that he came to me and told me kind of puts a warning sign in my mind. Also, I guess I just really didn't appreciate the response the teacher gave me. To me, it almost says, "I really didn't need to give him the check, but I did, so this is what I'm going to say happened so that you and parents will punish him the way I think he should be since I have a chip on my shoulder about this particular student." Maybe not. I don't know what this teacher thinks about this student since I don't really work with him, but I do know some teachers tend to rag on certain students more than others. I know that I myself am guilty of that. I try to check myself and make sure I'm not always picking on those particular students or always showing my frustration, but that's not always easy either.

Either way, I'm sure it will all get worked out. I'm sure I'll get a report from the student tomorrow.

2 days until Spring Break (and only 50 projects to grade by Friday).

Sick of being sick...

I'm so tired of being sick. We are at 3 weeks, and it's starting to drive me a bit crazy. I was feeling a lot better, and then BAM! something hit me Friday night and has not gone away. What really irks me is that I was on antibiotics. Apparently, they weren't strong enough, so the doctor put me on something else. I really hope it works. I hate being miserable. It doesn't help with teaching either.

They always said you would get the sickest your first year of teaching because you're around so many germs all the time, and you're under a lot more stress. I thought I was going to be one of the lucky ones since I didn't get sick during student teaching, but obviously I was wrong. It takes 3 quarters to get to you, not just a semester...

At least this week is kind of a "down" week. I have stuff to grade, but teaching and assignments aren't really that bad. That's good, because grades are due at 3:00 PM Friday before we leave for Spring Break. I'm so excited about that. I'm not really doing anything exciting, but at least I'll get to sleep in and take a break from everything. I also get to be where it's warmer, so that's really exciting too!

I hope everyone else is feeling healthy. I'm going to go take a nap.

Reflections

So, I was thinking the other day. I decided that I would be a much better teacher if I actually felt like I knew what I was doing from day to day. Right now, I'm just trying to keep my head above water with the everyday assignments. Other English teachers tell me what they did and report what they're doing with their students, and all I can think is, "Wow, that sounds really neat. I should try that." The thing is, I don't have the time or the energy to do what they do on a daily basis. I sometimes feel like I'm cutting corners or not being the best teacher I can be because I'm not doing all of this stuff that other teachers are doing. However, the other English teacher on my team told me that a professor once told her it took 3 years to really get things figured out and be a really good teacher. That makes me feel a little better, but I still don't like feeling like I'm cheating my students. I want them to get the best learning experience they can, and I want them to feel like they actually learned something in English. I don't want them to feel like it was a waste of time, nor do I want them to go to 8th grade and have their teachers ask who their teacher was because it appears that they know nothing... I know we all have our own styles and expertise. I just hope I'm actually teaching my students something...

Despite all of that, I still love my job. I think the students are hilarious, even the ones that drive me crazy on a daily basis. With teaching, there's always something new and exciting going on. There's never a dull moment. The students always have some story to tell or something to relate to. It's quite refreshing, especially when they can make a real connection to something we're doing in class.

We're almost done with our Holocaust unit. I am a little sad about it because I love the book we're reading and the students are very interested in the book and the topic, but I'm also ready to move on to something else. I want to do some poetry when we get back from Spring Break, but I'm not actually sure what we have planned for when we get back.

I'm ready for some warmer weather. For me, March means soccer practice and rain and warm weather, not snow. I realize this is Iowa, but the snow can go away.

You know you live in Iowa when...

You know you live in Iowa when it is 65 degrees in the morning and then you get ice and 2 inches of snow that night. This weekend was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was out, the wind was a warm breeze, and you could almost go outside with just a sweater on. By about 3:00 Sunday afternoon, it'd turned cloudy and cold, and by 9, it was pelting down freezing rain and snowing. What a blast. I am definitely ready for winter to be over. It's supposed to be 45 this weekend, so maybe, just maybe it will warm up.

I finally went to the doctor last Friday. I had been so tired and my symptoms just kept changing and getting worse. The antibiotics seem be helping a bit, but I'm still really tired. Maybe that's just needing a break. I'm glad I only have to get through 2 more weeks.

All of a sudden my students have started deciding to not do their work on time. I hate late work with a passion. It doesn't make any sense to me that things don't get turned in on time when I give them plenty of work time in class. Oh well. It's their grade, not mine. I just have the headache of trying to make sure who has and hasn't turned stuff in and then grading it.

At least the sun is out. Perhaps that will get me out of this weird slump I'm in...

Visitor in the Classroom

Today my friend, Naomi, came and talked to my classes about Judaism and the questions they had about the book we are reading that I did not have the answer for. I thought it went really well, and I think the kids learned a lot from her. I learned a lot too because they asked the questions that I never really thought to ask her. They were really good too.

I always think it's fun to have a speaker come in and talk to the kids, as long as the kids are interested and actually pay attention. They can learn so much from someone who actually has more than just surface knowledge about the topic they are studying.

I got my hair cut today. It's a bit shorter than I thought it was going to be when I told her how much to take off. I'm not upset about it or anything; it will just take some getting used to. My ponytail has much less substance to it!!!

We got more snow Monday night. I couldn't get into my car Tuesday morning, so I had to have someone take me to school and bring me home. That was fun. The last conferences of the year are over! Yay!!! It's always interesting meeting the parents, but those are long days.

I'm glad tomorrow is Friday. I'm just worn out from these past two weeks with ITBS, conferences, multiple shortened schedules, and meetings galore. Two weeks till Spring Break!

I have a voice!

After a week of no voice and having to pantomime and whisper instructions to students to repeat, I finally have my voice back! It isn't quite back to normal, and I'm still coughing and dealing with that stuff, but at least I can talk and give directions. I realized how much I take talking for granted. I talk a lot throughout the day. I'm glad that my co-teacher was there all day Tuesday and Wednesday because she could teach my other two classes.

I actually ended up taking a sick day on Wednesday to try to get my voice back. It didn't work. I had conferences on Thursday. That was a lot of fun. I had to whisper because my voice kept cracking. I hope the parents got something out of it. We have conferences tomorrow and Wednesday as well. At least they end on a "short" day this time around.

It's snowing. Again. I think we're supposed to get between 2 and 4 inches. I'm ready for the snow to be done. The other day I was really excited because it was almost March, but then I realized that this is Iowa and it's probably going to be cold until April, at the earliest.

I was hoping to get to go to dance tonight. I haven't exercised in over a week and I'm really starting to feel it. But, I was sick and I really didn't have the energy to go anywhere or do anything. That's how it is I suppose.

Stay safe and warm. 3 weeks until Spring Break!

No Voice!

So, it's a little difficult to teach if you don't have a voice, as I discovered today. The only reason I went in, really, was because we had ITBS tests today, and I really felt like I needed to be there to make sure my kids were comfortable and felt at ease. I don't know if it actually did any good, but... Fortunately, my co-teacher was at school all day, so she was able to teach the rest of my classes. I would have been able to "teach,", but it's a little difficult to give directions and clarify things if you can't speak loudly. I do have a bit of a voice, but it's not a very good one. If someone tried to talk to me on the phone, it would probably be a disaster...

I'm still going to try to go to the Holocaust survivor speaker tonight. I'll just try not to sit by anybody! I kind of hope it doesn't go too long. That way I can come home and go to bed.

I hate being sick.

It Got Me!

It finally got me. I have been very fortunate and able to stay away from all of it, but the cold bug has finally gotten me. I lost my voice halfway through my 5th period today, which made life very fun for the rest of the day.

These next two weeks are the worst weeks to be sick. We have ITBS MWR, conferences on R and then next TW, and we're at the beginning of our novel that I have to explain. Being sick, unfortunately, really isn't an option. Blah. It'd be one thing if it was sneezing and sniffling and all of that, but the lost voice thing is really bad for a teacher. It's really no fun.

I was supposed to go watch the boys play basketball tonight, but that got scratched. So much for dance as well, since I barely feel well enough to move around my apartment. I must admit though, I'm not too sad about not going back out in this weather right now. It's just downright nasty with blowing snow and FREEZING temperatures. My apartment looks like a nice place to me :)

I hope I feel well enough to go to the kick-off for the Big Read tomorrow night, where we're going to have a Holocaust survivor speaking. That should be awesome!

I'm going to go find some chicken soup and a couch with a blanket.

Teenagers Amaze Me

Teenagers amaze me, they really do. The stories they come up with as excuses and how they stretch the truth so that there's really no truth left in it is really quite a sight to behold. What's even more amazing to me is that parents believe these stories! Apparently, I have been making fun of a student. I didn't know that telling students that they need to get out of bed on time and get to class was making fun of them, but apparently, in some of their eyes, that constitutes making fun of them. Amazing how that happens when they don't want to be told that what they're doing is wrong. I'm sorry, but when you are late or miss 9 out of 12 days for one class, that is a bit excessive. You can give me all the excuses in the world, but it doesn't excuse the fact that you are only missing my class, it is a chronic problem, and I am tired of having to catch you up on the stuff you missed. Teaching and learning is generally done DURING class, not after it. Sorry parents for trying to do my JOB and make sure that your students succeed, in my class and in future classes. That's why they pay me the big bucks...

We're starting our novel tomorrow! The kids have actually been very engaged and very interested in this unit. They have a lot of questions and are starting to make some connections. It's very exciting! I'm just glad that I know quite a bit about the Holocaust and WWII, otherwise I wouldn't be able to answer all of their questions.

Happy Valentine's Day! (Or, as one of my teachers put it, Happy Singles Awareness Day!) :)

Tired of Winter!

Winter can be over now. I don't need to see any more snow, and I'd really like the weather to warm up so that it's not below freezing and I can actually stand to be outside for more than 10 seconds. This is definitely one of the coldest and snowiest winters I've ever experienced. It's a good thing that I pretty much got to stay inside the whole weekend.

On a more positive note, we officially started our Holocaust unit today. I'm very interested to see how the students react to the things we're learning and the book we're reading. Again, I hope it impacts them as much as I feel like it's impacted me. I spent some time to get some more background knowledge on Passover and how to pronounce the Yiddish words with one of my friends who is Jewish. It's always interesting to get another perspective on a historical event.

I did two pirouettes that stopped on balance tonight at dance. The teacher didn't see me because he was explaining something. That's generally how it works - I can't ever seem to do anything when he's watching, but the moment he's not paying attention, I can do something amazing... Oh well. At least I know I was able to do it, and that's what really counts.

I guess the Drake Dance team may be dancing at one of the basketball games next Tuesday. I'd really like to go watch them, but we have the kick off for the Big Read here in Waukee, and they're having an actual Holocaust survivor speak. I think that may be more important to be at. It's a decision that I'll have to make, but I don't actually think it's going to be that hard.

The days after a sub...

So, I had to have a talk with my 4/5 class today due to their behavior with the substitute on Tuesday. Apparently, they refused to answer her questions when she was trying to teach them a strategy, and then when the early out announcement came over the intercom they went out of control. I didn't expect them to necessarily be perfect, but I didn't expect them to be horrible either. They got a lecture, and not one student said a word about how it was unfair or anything like that. I will say, they were glad to have me back.

Tuesday was cold and rainy. We didn't even go out to the gravesite because of the weather. It snowed like 4 inches in Wichita and all the way up to Des Moines. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get back to Des Moines by today, but eventually the roads cleared up enough that I was able to get out and get back. The roads weren't even really that bad last night; they were all cleared off by the time I got to them, which was really nice.

Tomorrow's a work day, so I had to teach one day this week! Next week will probably feel like an eternity, but I suppose I'll live. I'm glad I have time to work tomorrow and plan for next week, because I really don't know what I'm doing quite yet... I know it's more Holocaust stuff, but it's really the book, The Devil's Arithmetic, that I'm not so sure about. It will all be great, I'm sure!

It's so much easier to just be there...

It's so much easier to just be at school and be able to "wing" things and get papers cut and things taken care of. My great-grandmother died on Friday, so I had to come back to Kansas for the funeral, which is tomorrow. In order to make sure I didn't completely stress myself out, I took today through Wednesday off, so that I had plenty of time to get here and back since the weather is a bit unpredictable. However, since I did decide to do that, I had to go in yesterday to make sure that I had all of my plans, handouts, projects, etc. ready to go for the next three days. I spent 2 1/2 hours writing lesson plans. I could have been there a lot longer making sure that everything was perfect, but I was burnt out. I was tired of staring at the computer screen, and it was snowing. I guess I also didn't really expect my students to be able to get through everything, so I left the paper cutting up to my co-lab teacher and the sub. If the students really need the paper, they know where to find it.

We are right at the beginning of our poety/Holocaust unit. I think I kind of had them end on a "down" note on Friday because I modeled what they are supposed to do with their butterfly poems. They are going to read and analyze a poem written by a Jewish child during the Holocaust. We are then going to put the poems on butterflies, and hang them around the room. They will then share their poem - if their writer lives, we'll keep the butterfly on the ceiling. If their writer dies, the butterfly will come down and we'll put it on the bulletin board. I think that this will be a powerful visual to help them really "see" what happened during the Holocaust. I hope this unit is as powerful for them as it is for me. I guess we'll see.

Today was gorgeous, once I got into Kansas City. I think it was like 60 degrees, and it was sunny without a cloud in the sky! It was a nice way to end the drive home; esp. since I'd left Des Moines with ice pellets and lots of fog. I just hope I have fairly nice weather on my way back on Wednesday.

Tomorrow's going to be a solemn day. I know my great-grandma is in a better place, and that she was ready to go at 100 years old, but it's still hard to say good-bye.

It's Almost Friday!!!!

I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday. Today was just a really long day. It wasn't long because of the kids; it was long because of some of the people I have to work with. I am going to be so happy when I have my own room next year instead of having to share my room with people who don't respect other people's property and can't control their students. Blah. I had go talk to my principal, which was a little intimidating, but I think it's all going to turn out ok.

We are finished with the "Cinderella" unit and moving onto poetry. It's hard sometimes to figure out how to teach something that comes so naturally to me. That's one of the hard parts about teaching - figuring out how to speak in 7th grade language so it makes sense. The other day we were going over how to break down words and use context clues to figure out what the word means, one of my students said, "Wow, that helps things make sense, usually I just skip over them." It made me feel like I was making a difference for at least one student. :)

I'm almost done grading tests, projects, and study guides. That will be a great relief when it's all over!

Have a good weekend, and enjoy the SuperBowl commercials!

Warm Weather!

I think it's really sad when I think that 40 degrees is warm, but that's how it is when you live in a nice cold state. The sun is out, the snow is melting, people are out washing their cars and walking their dogs. Unfortunately, it's supposed to be cold again tomorrow with snow. It was a nice 3 days...

Some days I think that the most exhausting days are the days when I don't really do anything - like when the students are working on a project or a paper. I don't really have papers to grade or anything, but I feel like I'm just kind of wiped out. I also feel like I'm running around a bit more too - trying to make sure everyone understands what he/she is supposed to be doing and making sure that they are on task.

I have a bunch of projects coming in tomorrow. We've worked on them in class for three days, so I hope that they are of decent quality. We have a test on Wednesday and then we are going to start our Holocaust unit. It will be interesting to see how and even if that unit impacts my students. I really hope it does because it's already a hard unit for me to go over and figure out how I'm going to teach it. I hope that they "get it" and really take something home from it.

I suppose I should go make dinner before I go to dance tonight.

COLD!!

It's currently 2 degrees outside. That's how it's been for the past few days. Tomorrow's supposed to be 27, which will definately feel like a heat wave!!!

I think I have decided for now that I am just going to keep my old phone that I had before I killed my new one. AT&T won't give me a new one because my contract is too new - which is very unfortunate. I looked on ebay, but I don't really know how all of that works. My old phone works fine, and I already have a car charger for it and an ear piece, so I guess I'll just live with it until it too dies...

Tomorrow's Friday! We planned until 5:00 tonight... at least we got something done!

I've been going to the Y. My abs are going to hate me tomorrow, but I do feel a lot better since I have been doing something active. I like the classes so far. Two of my students were in the classes I tried Tuesday night and tonight, but they left because "it was embarrassing." I suppose, but I don't pay any attention to them really. I'm there to work out, not to worry about my students!

One of my friends from Drake is coming back this weekend, so I hope I get to spend some time with her!

Dead Phone :(

I'm pretty sure I just killed my cell phone. I was in a hurry to get to the Y tonight (yes, I finally joined on Saturday) and I guess I didn't get my water bottle all the way closed. I wondered why my shoes were wet, but I decided it was just because of the fact that the swim team had just finished practicing. When I went back to get my water bottle, I realized it wasn't full, but I was in a hurry to get back to class, so I didn't think to get my phone out of the water - not that it would have helped a whole lot. I know how water and phones work... So, it's fried. I'm glad I have my old cell phone with me so that I can put the SIM card in it and have a phone, but it's frustrating. I've already spent more money than I can really afford to this month on something that I needed for my overall health, and now I'm going to add this to it. I suppose that's why I have savings, but I really hate dipping into it.

I'm really tired of being an adult and paying bills. I'm pretty sure I haven't spent money on anything "fun" this month, and yet I've spent a lot of it. And I have more stuff coming up that I will have to pay for. We were thinking about going to Vegas in June, but I don't know if I can now, especially since I have to pay for a bridesmaid dress and get down to San Antonio as well. AAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!! It's all just a little overwhelming right now. And with teaching, it's not like you can work overtime to get some extra money. We work overtime for free.

I think I'm going to go curl up in some chocolate. I hope tomorrow is less frustrating.

It's Friday!

Even though it was a short week since we had a work day on Monday, and we had a 2 hour delay yesterday because of snow, I am glad that it's Friday and I have two days to "rest." I say "rest" because I have to go to dance at some point this weekend because I have a focus group thing Monday after school, and I told one of my students that I'd go to his swim meet on Saturday. Normally, this wouldn't be such a big deal, but it's supposed to only get to be like 5 degrees on Saturday, and it's supposed to feel a whole lot colder! I hate winter. I'm ready for spring and warm weather.

Classes went well this week for the most part. I had a new student on Tuesday. That's really hard because I don't know what background he has, and I have to move on with my plans and my curriculum. I really don't have time to sit down with him and figure out what he does and does not know. I feel bad, but I would go crazy if I really sat down and tried to figure it all out. I want to be an effective teacher for him, but... I suppose it will all work out one way or another.

I think I'm going to go ahead and join the Y this weekend. I'm not excited about spending even more money, but at least it will get me out of the house and doing some sort of physical activity. I hope the classes are fun and the people are nice. That's always what I'm worried about. I'm such an introvert that sometimes it's hard for me to get up the nerve to go try new things because I'm nervous about meeting new people. Nothing bad has ever happened, but that doesn't necessarily make things any easier for me. I will have to be brave though - it will most likely be fun and everything will turn out for the best.

Stay warm!

First Semester Down!

I am officially finished with my first semester of teaching! I finalized grades today and put a comment for each student. For the most part, students did fairly well this semester. I am a bit disappointed that some of them that didn't do so well last quarter had a high enough grade first quarter that their grades weren't really adversely affected. It's not that I wanted them to get a "bad" grade in my class, but I wish their final grade was a "true" reflection of the type of effort they've put in since October. First quarter was fairly easy - mostly introductory stuff and essays. Second quarter was built on more substantial assignments. To me, second quarter is the true indication of work effort and ability. Granted, I had some students who vastly improved, and I was very happy with their effort and how they have come along in class. I just hope that they continue to work hard this next semester.

I am getting a new student in my class tomorrow. Apparently he didn't do so well at his last school, so I hope I can reach him in my class. I feel kind of bad because he's coming in in the middle of a unit, but I'm sure I'll be able to catch him up. I may have to adjust the final test for this unit for him, but other than that, I'm sure he'll be fine. At least I hope he'll be fine.

We started planning for our Holocaust unit. I am very excited about it. I think the Holocaust is fascinating. Yes, it's terrible and I pray that it never happens again, but the kids need to know about it. They need to know how it started and where it can lead and how even one person can make a difference. I hope it impacts them the way it should. It kind of scares me because the older I get, the more kids are removed from that era of our history. I know I wasn't there, but my grandparents did live through it - theirs didn't necessarily. Scary scary thought.

I'm thinking about joining the Y, but I'm not sure if I want to pay the money to belong. I feel like I need to do something during the week other than lieing on my couch and watching T.V. At least the Y has classes that I can take and would motivate me to go work out more than if I had to go work on machines by myself - that's never worked very well for me. We'll see.

It's very very cold here, though we haven't gotten any new snow. I'm ready for spring!

"Cinderella"

Did you know there are over 340 different versions of "Cinderella"? I personally find that fascinating. It's also very interesting to be because they all say something about the culture, they try to teach some sort of lesson, and each lesson is similiar but different, if that makes any sense at all. I think it's cool - not so sure about my kids...

I had my second and last observation of the year on Wednesday. It went really well and my principal really liked my lesson. I am so glad to be finished with observations for the year. They are just a lot of paperwork and a lot of time. I always feel like I have to be extra prepared. I know I should be prepared at all times, which for the most part, I am, but observations are something else entirely. These observations are to ensure that I get my standard license and keep my job! Aaah - talk about pressure! At least I wasn't as nervous this time, that helped a lot too.

It snowed a bit today, but nothing like they were saying we were supposed to get. I'm not too sad - I'm not a big fan of it snowing when I have to be driving in it.

Since I couldn't make an appointment with a specialist in Wichita over break, I thought I was going to have to go to Bettendorf, IA (almost 3 hours away), but I just found one in Ankeny (30 minutes!) which makes life a whole lot easier. I need to try to call them tomorrow, but I hope they can meet with me and fix my mouthpiece so these weird headaches go away!

Only 10 days until my friends have to be back at Drake for school! Maybe some of them will come back early so I have something to do :)

Weekend and back to school!

This weekend was not nearly as boring as I was expecting it to be. I went to see P.S. I Love You on Saturday with some of my friends. I really liked the movie, while one didn't really like it, and I'm not sure about the other. I thought it was cute. At least it had some originality to it. Then we went to eat at Applebee's. It was kind of nice to just catch up and not have to worry about anything. Sunday I went to church, and then went to a Drake women's basketball game. They beat Wichita State by quite a bit. I know WSU is my "hometown" team, but Drake is my alma mater - go Bulldogs!!! I finished a book and that was about it.

Today I had my pre-observation conference for my second observation that will be on Wednesday. I'm not nearly as nervous about this observation as I was about the first one. My principal loves my differentiated lesson that I've created, and I believe today he told me I was "phenomenal." :) Yay!!!

My roommate from last year is engaged! They got engaged on New Year's Eve. She said they won't be getting married until at least 2009, but it's still exciting!

Friday is the last day of the quarter. Let's hope we all survive!!! I can't believe the first semester is over! The school year has flown by!

First Day Back!

Today was the first day back to school after the winter break. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - the kids weren't too wound up, but I am glad that we only have two days back and then a weekend. Apparently, they turned the power off over break. That's fine, but our whole wing of the building was freezing! My room is normally cold, but today definitely took the cake on excessively cold. I wore my coat all day and even moved my 1/2 class to another room so we didn't freeze and could actually get some work done. I even had a fairly heavy sweater on! I just hope tomorrow is warmer!

I don't know what I'm going to do this weekend since many of my friends are still away because
Drake doesn't start school until the 22nd. Perhaps it will give me a chance to catch up with some of my other teacher friends that are here!

Tonight, I think I'm just going to curl up with a book and a blanket and try to stay warm!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2008 to everyone!

I'm back in Des Moines and it's really really cold. Maybe I should have stayed in Wichita for another day. I'm going to find out if my electric blanket works tonight!

One more day of "freedom," if that's what you want to call it, and then back to school on Thursday. It will be interesting to see how the kids are on Thursday - happy to be back or upset that they have to come back to school for only two days.

I think tomorrow will just be a "get everything back together" day. I'm sure my mail has piled up, I need to go grocery shopping, and I'm putting off the unpacking until tomorrow as well. Driving kind of wears me out.

I was able to see one of my best friends today on my way back, so that was nice. I actually got to see a few people over break. At least I wasn't stuck at home with just my parents the whole break...

Nothing else too exciting. Enjoy the rest of your break, or good luck with work and life in the new year!