Learning to Teach

Last Day of School!!!!

2008-06-02T20:05:00.002-05:00

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!

2008-05-28T21:33:00.002-05:00

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!

2008-05-26T19:54:00.002-05:00

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

2008-05-22T21:05:00.004-05:00

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!

2008-05-19T18:13:00.003-05:00

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

2008-05-14T18:40:00.002-05:00

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...

2008-05-12T21:16:00.003-05:00

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...

2008-05-08T19:15:00.002-05:00

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!

2008-05-05T22:09:00.002-05:00

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...

2008-04-28T21:34:00.003-05:00

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...

2008-04-24T16:41:00.002-05:00

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

2008-04-21T22:22:00.002-05:00

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

2008-04-17T16:23:00.003-05:00

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!!!!

2008-04-14T21:39:00.002-05:00

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!!!

2008-04-10T19:48:00.002-05:00

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!

2008-04-08T18:26:00.001-05:00

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!

2008-04-07T16:52:00.003-05:00

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

2008-04-03T16:41:00.003-05:00

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...

2008-03-31T16:50:00.003-05:00

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

2008-03-27T19:11:00.002-05:00

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

2008-03-25T19:24:00.002-05:00

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!

2008-03-21T11:34:00.002-05:00

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

2008-03-17T11:23:00.002-05:00

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

2008-03-12T20:11:00.002-05:00

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...

2008-03-10T16:32:00.002-05:00

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

2008-03-06T18:24:00.002-06:00

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...

2008-03-03T16:35:00.002-06:00

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

2008-02-28T19:52:00.002-06:00

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!

2008-02-25T16:47:00.002-06:00

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!

2008-02-19T18:25:00.002-06:00

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!

2008-02-18T17:13:00.002-06:00

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

2008-02-14T19:36:00.002-06:00

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!

2008-02-11T21:55:00.000-06:00

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...

2008-02-07T21:13:00.000-06:00

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...

2008-02-04T23:07:00.000-06:00

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!!!!

2008-01-31T19:29:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-01-28T16:57:00.000-06:00

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!!

2008-01-24T19:52:00.000-06:00

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 :(

2008-01-22T19:50:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-01-18T17:21:00.001-06:00

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!

2008-01-14T17:04:00.001-06:00

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"

2008-01-10T17:30:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-01-07T21:29:00.001-06:00

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!

2008-01-03T17:35:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-01-01T18:16:00.000-06:00

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!

It's almost over! :(

2007-12-29T11:30:00.000-06:00

My break has been really uneventful so far. We got more snow two nights ago, but fortunately not nearly as much as they had originally forcasted. I finally got to go see my godson. He's getting so big! They just moved into their new house, which is very nice and has less stairs! As for me, I finally got my component questions done for the observation I have when I go back to school. I still need to work on the lesson plan a little bit and tweak the actual lesson, but I can do that fairly easily. I've been sleeping a lot, which will probably catch up to me when I actually have to get up and go to work at 7 AM, but it will be ok. I don't know what's on the agenda for today - maybe going furniture shopping with my mom. Our kitchen looks nice though - it's only been 27 years since it's been redone...

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-26T14:08:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I think I may finally be on the downside of the craziness. We had Christmas with both sides of my family on Sunday, since we had a blizzard on Saturday. It was nice to get to see my family and hang out with everyone again. On Monday, we drove down to Stillwater, OK to spend Christmas with my sister, since she was working at the dairy. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting. We had chili Monday night and opened presents, and Tuesday we had roast and just watched Christmas movies. It was nice to just kind of hang out and not do anything.

Only about a week before I head back to Iowa. This break is going to feel entirely too short. I hope I get to see some of my friends before I leave, but I understand that everyone is busy.

It's supposed to snow more this week, I just hope it doesn't snow when I'm trying to get back to Des Moines!

Blizzard!

2007-12-22T23:27:00.000-06:00

I was originally going to come home today, but the weather was supposed to be bad today, so I came home last night after school. That turned out to be a really good idea. When I woke up this morning and looked outside, I saw a blizzard! The snow was blowing so hard that we couldn't see the houses behind us! I don' t think I've ever been in a blizzard - it was very interesting. It was a good day to stay inside and watch movies and grade myths. I have one more class's myths to grade. I was kind of disappointed that the classic Christmas movies, like It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas, weren't on. We had to cancel Christmas with my mom's side of the family, but we are having it tomorrow. However, my sister won't be there because she has to go back to Oklahoma to be at the dairy at 3:30 in the morning. We are going there on Christmas Eve and Christmas to be with her. My friend wasn't able to fly in because of the weather. That makes me sad because I was really excited to get to see her. Maybe we'll find some time at some point...

Have a safe and happy Christmas!

Two More Days!

2007-12-19T17:57:00.000-06:00

Two more days until Christmas Break! I am definitely ready for it. The kids are starting to be a bit crazy, and I'm really not sure what to do about it... I think they need a break from school too.

I spent 3 1/2 hours grading myths Monday night. I'm really glad that my co-teacher took my co-lab class, because there's no way I would have gotten them all finished in time to hand them back so the students could see them and work on them. The final drafts are due tomorrow. They were pretty good for the most part, so I hope I'll see some improvement on the ones I had to do some major fixing on.

I'm going to be in my dance studio's recital! On Sunday I asked Missy and she said she'd find me a part :) I'm excited. I'm not on pointe anymore, so it won't be anything big, but it will still be something...

Break is going to be kind of crazy. I have Christmas with my family on Saturday and Sunday, Monday and Tuesday we'll be in Oklahoma with my sister, Monday and Wednesday I'm going to try to see some of my friends, and then I'll be driving back on Wednesday, the 2nd. I originally had an appointment at 7:30 on Wednesday, but it got cancelled. I guess I won't be seeing that doctor any time soon then.

I still need to wrap my Christmas presents. That's tonight and tomorrow's activity, along with packing.

Christmas Shopping Done!

2007-12-13T21:08:00.000-06:00

I finally have most of my Christmas shopping done! I only have to buy a present for my godson, and he's 2 so he won't really care if I give him something after Christmas. Amazingly, it didn't even really take me that long. I went into the stores knowing exactly what I wanted, I found it, bought it, and was out of there! It probably helped that I went on weeknights pretty much right after school and not on the weekend. Now I just have to wrap them all. That was my plan for tonight, but it didn't happen.

This weekend is kind of full. Tomorrow I have a Christmas party right after school, and then Brenda and I are going to see the Rockettes! I've heard the show is really good, so I'm really excited about it! Saturday evening is another school Christmas/Holiday party. Sunday, I have to go to dance since I'll be stuck grading essays on Monday night so the kids can have them back on Tuesday to revamp and revise. Fortunately, next week is going to be fairly easy, minus the grading 52 myths thing.

I'm getting excited for break. I talked to one of my friends today that I haven't seen in forever, and she's going to be home when I'm home! Since my schedule is really crazy, and she's leaving on the 27th, we can really only see each other on the 26th, but as long as we get to catch up for at least a little bit, that will be great!

I have to go make sure I have all of my food and everything ready for tomorrow. It's going to be an interesting weekend!

Snow Day!!!

2007-12-11T14:52:00.000-06:00

I received a call at 5:45 this morning telling me that I did not have to get up and go to school today. I happily turned my alarm clock off and went back to sleep :) I am glad that we did not have to get up and break our cars out of their ice prisons and try to get to school to teach at a decent time. I went out after lunch today to get the ice off of my car, and it took me a good 30 minutes. My car had about 1/4 inch of ice all around it. I couldn't get my driver's side door open - I had to get into the passenger side and force the driver's side open. It was fun. It was very interesting when the ice just came off in sheets...

It only snowed until about 12 today, and then it stopped. When I last looked at the radar, the storm has stayed south of us, so it doesn't look like we'll be getting any more snow tonight. That doesn't bother me a whole lot. I was going to go Christmas shopping today, but I think I'll just stay inside. The roads look like they're pretty clear now, but I just don't want to risk it. That, and I'm perfectly comfortable in my pajama pants and sweatshirt inside my warm apartment. I'll try tomorrow.

Nothing else exciting is going on. I made cookies today and I was going to try to clean my apartment. We'll see how well that goes :)

Christmas is Coming!

2007-12-10T17:53:00.000-06:00

It's only two weeks until Christmas Break. It seems like this year has just kind of flown by - I can't tell you where all of the time has gone! One of the kids told me today that she didn't like break because she didn't get to see her friends. While I understand the sentiment, and kind of feel that way about my friends here, I need a break and I need to go home and be with my family and get some sleep! It will be nice to just be able to sleep and stay in a warm house and not have to go outside if I don't want to. Granted, it will be warmer (I hope!) in Kansas than it is in Iowa, but it will still be nice to be able to stay inside the house.

We're supposed to get nasty weather tonight - ice with snow on top of it. That should be interesting. The kids are convinced we'll have a snow day tomorrow, but I don't really think that's going to happen. If we get a snow day, we have to make it up at the end of the school year in May. I think it's ridiculous that we do not have at least one snow day built into the schedule. Even Kansas has snow days built in! I guess we do get more ice than snow, which is generally more dangerous, but still. Iowa gets a lot more snow than we do, and they don't allow for that potential of school having to be cancelled for the weather...

We are starting to write myths in class this week. I really like it because I don't have papers to grade every day and can focus on getting some other things done after school - like Christmas shopping! I haven't gotten any of that done yet and I have to be ready by the 22nd because of all the Christmases I have in a row with my family and friends. I was going to go tomorrow - we'll just have to see how the weather turns out. Next Monday is going to be interesting with the myths because we are collecting them all and having them ready for them again on Tuesday... Talk about a long long day. I only have 52 students, so I hope it won't take me too long. The other English teacher is going to be a little swamped I think. I hope it isn't too bad.

I went to The Nutcracker on Saturday. It was pretty good. I was surprised that they had their guest dancers do "Snow" instead of being the Cavalier and the Sugar Plum Fairy, but whatever works for those producers. I kind of want to get back on pointe and try out for their Spring Show, but that would be a lot and I can just see myself stressing out. That, and I haven't been on pointe for 5 years. It's going to take more than 3 weeks to get back in shape for that... I do miss performing though. Maybe at some other point in my life will I be able to do that...

Tired!

2007-12-05T17:46:00.001-06:00

The kids are wearing me out! I am just so tired all of a sudden. I'm seriously thinking about taking a "mental health" day sometime soon. I like the routine, but at some points I just feel like I need a break. I can't quite figure out what it is. The kids are starting to break out of the routines we've established and practiced since the beginning of the year. I don't know if it's because they're more comfortable now or if they're just as ready for Christmas break as I am. I don't mind talking and noise in my classroom, but lately it's just really bugged me when they don't do what I ask them to do or they're talking when they're supposed to be reading. Part of it may be the weather - it's colder and darker every day. I guess the thing I have to remember is why I'm there... that, and I really can't think of a good day to take my mental health day! ;)

Our principal told us today that he is retiring in June. That makes me a little sad. I like him a lot. Next year will be interesting because he is retiring and so is one of our deans, so it will be a lot of administrative turnover. It will all turn out o.k., it will just take some adjusting.

I have to make cookies tonight for our holiday get together thing tomorrow. I'm going to try to make them after Advent services tonight. I really just feel like I need to wind down, and church has always done that for me. The cookies I'm making are no-bake cookies, so they shouldn't be too hard to make and shouldn't take that long. I have a meeting at 7 tomorrow morning, so I hope they don't take that long!

It's supposed to snow 3-5 inches tomorrow. That will be fun. I just hope it's a nice snow and the roads aren't too messy.

Band Concert!

2007-12-03T20:43:00.001-06:00

I just got back from the 7th Grade Band Concert. They sounded really good. I think that the gold team did the best, but they all sounded good. I sometimes wish I'd had the opportunity to play an instrument when I was in grade school - I didn't because we didn't have a band program when I was there - but then again, I have to ask myself when I would have found the time to play an instrument, much less practice one between school, soccer, volleyball, and dance. Oh well. My sister played the flute for a few years, but didn't play much after grade school. My mom tried to teach us to play the piano. I can sight read well enough to get a melody out, but once the songs get to where the bottom and the top aren't the same tempo, my fingers and my brain don't want to cooperate. I guess that's why I dance instead - at least I can make all of those limbs go where they are supposed to when they are supposed to!

This weekend was pretty uneventful. It iced/snowed on Saturday, making it so that I refused to go anywhere if I had to drive. Sunday was better because the roads were clear and I was able to go to dance. Other than that, I got some grading done and caught up on some reading. I really needed to get some Christmas shopping done, but it didn't happen. I hope I can find some time next weekend to go, because otherwise I don't know when it will get done. I can't believe it's only 3 weeks until Christmas break! I'm sure the time will fly by - it's been a fast 4 months of teaching already.

I haven't heard anything about my great-grandma, so I'm assuming she's doing o.k.

I hope the snow stays away, because then maybe I'll be able to get something taught and my classroom won't implode...

Bills!

2007-11-29T17:46:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-26T21:52:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-11-21T15:23:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-11-19T17:04:00.000-06:00

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...

2007-11-16T16:36:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-13T21:46:00.001-06:00

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

2007-11-10T15:03:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-05T20:37:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-02T17:33:00.000-05:00

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!

Relaxing Weekend!

2007-10-29T17:09:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-25T19:00:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-10-22T17:11:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-10-18T18:07:00.000-05:00

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!!!

2007-10-15T21:24:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-10-13T13:54:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-08T17:00:00.001-05:00

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!

2007-10-04T19:48:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-02T18:17:00.000-05:00

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...

"Reward Day"

2007-09-29T11:17:00.000-05:00

I'm beginning to understand a little more about why my high school teachers were always so upset when there were assemblies and things like that. It definitely takes away from teaching time, and makes it very frustrating because you can't get anything done. We had two early out schedules this week, which meant I lost 80 minutes of instruction time in each class this week. Wednesday was a scheduled early out for professional development stuff, but Friday was an early out schedule so that the kids could have a reward day for PBS. Now, if it was something constructive, or they actually received rewards of some sort, I might have been a little more ok with it, but yesterday was just watching the boys play football and playing in the gym. Just a bunch of free time. The kids that didn't have all of their work in had to sit in study hall for 2 hours... I don't know, I know the kids have to be rewarded for doing what they are supposed to do, but at the same time, it is the loss of my class time. On top of that, we are a SINA school in Reading, so every time we don't have class, is time lost trying to get those scores up. I kind of feel like it's a no-win situation. Oh well. I'm also a little upset about the fire drill that's going to take place next week, during my co-lab class. Yay. Heaven forbid we do it during advisory, when we really aren't learning anything per sey. No, we have to do it during class time and lose a whole class. Blah!

I'm being really negative again. I really do love my job and think that it's wonderful. There are just some things sometimes that don't make a whole lot of sense to me. I guess that's the world of a real job - the people higher up make the decisions, and we have to follow them, regardless of how we feel about it.

But, it's the weekend, time to relax and not stress about school. It will all work out in the end, I'm sure of it :)

Student Loans

2007-09-25T17:01:00.001-05:00

I just got my official student loan repayment schedule today. Let me tell you, it is not exciting. They have me paying loans for 20 years! I'm sorry, but I just really don't see that working for me. I'm definitely going to try to pay over the minimum due each month so that I can get it paid off faster. Also, the first payment is due by October 15. That's a whole month before I thought I'd have to pay! That 6 month grace period suddenly turned to 5. How nice of them. The good thing is that I consolidated in June before rates went up, so my loan is locked in at a fairly low rate. That will help in the long run. I'm just really not that excited about starting to pay this back...

I miss dancing...

2007-09-24T20:35:00.000-05:00

Wow, for someone who hasn't seriously danced in almost 5 years, it's amazing what a little show like "Dancing with the Stars" will do. I miss dancing. I miss performing. I still take ballet classes, but what I miss the most is feeling like I'm actually good at dancing, like I actually do have some technique. Even though I only take one class a week, I can tell that I have improved, and gotten better at certain techniques, though I certainly have lost my ability to turn for some reason. I'd love to take more class, but I can't because of their schedule and mine. It's frustrating when I see girls so much younger than me do so much better than me because they can take multiple times a week, and they've had awesome teachers since they were 5. C'est la vie. Such are the choices we make in life. I never wanted to be a dancer, never thought that life was for me - I wasn't "good" enough when I graduated high school, I wanted to be a teacher. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely happy with my life and the way things turned out. I love my job and where life has taken me. But, that doesn't stop me from wondering how things would have been different if I'd chosen to dance, or at least go to a school that offered dance as a major part of their curriculum. It's all fine. For some reason tonight I just got sentimental about it all. That, and yesterday Emery talked to me like I wasn't at class to work - I always go to dance class and work, I do want to be as good as those girls I see every week. It was just a bit frustrating. Dance is still fun, I just really miss the bigger parts of it.

Planning a Novel

2007-09-23T16:01:00.000-05:00

Who knew that planning a novel would be so time consuming? I spent the better part of yesterday, probably close to 7 hours, planning Adam of the Road. I wrote questions, found vocabulary, and tried to think of exciting activities to do with the chapters. Part of it I think is that I spent a lot of time trying to come up with higher order questions so that I can pass the discussion part of my observation on Tuesday. The other reason I think it took so long is that I have a binder full of stuff for this novel that I have to sift through and find the things that are important and ignore the stuff that isn't, which isn't always easy. I think as soon as I'm done planning, I'm going to throw everything away that I'm not using. It's not helpful to me, and it does no good to just sit in the binder and look pretty. I only have three chapters left, I hope I can finish it today.

It was a pretty uneventful weekend. I went to lunch with Kelly yesterday and then I went to the Drake football game against UNI with Kelly and Liz. It was pretty fun, despite the fact that they lost pretty badly. Today I went to dance. Somedays dance is really frustrating for me because I only take one class a week, and I'm not always consistent in my technique. That's frustrating because at one point in my life, I was actually a decent dancer... Oh well, I can't be everything I suppose.

I should go grocery shopping so I have some food in my apartment. I might actually get to go to the 7th grade boys' football game tomorrow night since I don't have dance and I don't have any meetings!

Finally Friday!

2007-09-21T17:28:00.000-05:00

I'm so glad it's Friday! Plus, it's midterm, so I don't have any essays or papers to grade over the weekend! I do have to sit down and plan Adam of the Road, but I'm really not too worried about it. What I am worried about now is the fact that the class I'm having observed is now my worst class at listening, paying attention, and working in groups. I'm going to have to move them yet again and hope that it works and that I don't have the problems I'm having now. The problem is that I have so many that need to be in front and that I need to have access to, and it's hard to get them all there. I already have all of them only a person away from me because of my small classes, and I walk up and down the room all the time, but apparently that's not enough. Perhaps we need to go to a circle. I don't know. All I know is that they are very frustrating and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them to get them to understand that what we're doing is important, and they need to not talk to their friends every second of the day. I may have to just stop doing group work in that class, which hurts those that do well at group work and actually gain something from it. We'll see.

I don't think I'm planning on anything exciting this weekend. The Waukee Homecoming game is tonight, but I'm not going. I don't know anyone playing, and I don't really care to go sit in crowded stands. Maybe I'll get some friends together and we'll go see a movie or something. I'll just have to play it by ear...

My godson's birthday is next Tuesday. I can't believe he's already 2!!!!

Paperwork!

2007-09-18T20:03:00.000-05:00

I will admit, I have been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. I've been busy trying to keep my head above water trying to learn the curriculum and be able to teach it to 7th graders and teach it well so they understand what I'm trying to teach them as well as grading essays and other assignments. On top of that, I have paperwork to do for my observation that's next week. Writing the lesson plan for a lesson that I barely really know what I'm going to do is bad, but I also have five component questions that I have to answer, for which I write what looks like a book. The component questions are things that I feel can be answered by observation, and I also feel like I repeat myself multiple times. I understand that all of the paperwork and stuff is needed for me to get my actual teaching license in Iowa, but sometimes I just feel like it's a big waste of time. I have multiple essays sitting on my desk that need grading that I've had to put off so that I can get my own "assignments" done. I feel like my time could be put to better use, so that I can get assignments back to students in a timely manner, which I'm not doing a very good job of. I could spend my nights grading papers, but who really wants to do that? It will get done, I'm just struggling a bit with getting everything into perspective.

I feel like I've been complaining a lot about teaching. It's actually still very fun and the kids make me laugh everyday. It's all the paperwork and bureaucracy that I don't like and that I get really tired of. Midterm is next week, which is kind of scary! It's interesting to think that 1/8 of the school year is almost over. Tomorrow is "Wacky Wednesday" for Spirit Week since Homecoming is Friday. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to dress up for it, especially since I have a meeting with my principal tomorrow!

The Other Side of Teaching

2007-09-13T18:50:00.000-05:00

This week has definitely been a lesson in the "other side" of teaching. I have definitely had to talk to classes about being responsible and bringing their books, listen to whining because I'm finally giving them homework, and then yesterday I literally yelled at a girl in the hallway because she wasn't participating in class and was talking back to me. I really felt like it was a breaking point for me because I was yelling at her while she sat there and rolled her eyes at me and acted like she could care less what I was saying to her. No one ever told me how awful I would feel after yelling at a student for their misbehavior. I wanted to cry when it was all said and done. I never wanted to be that teacher. I don't think I am, but she just hit a nerve with me. And the thing is, today she came in and told me, "Miss Blasi, today's going to be a good day," and it was. She did her work, participated in class, and did what she was supposed to do. Amazing how they can do a complete 180 on you.

I will admit, I'm beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed with everything right now. I have an observation in a week, and I need to know what I'm teaching. I don't yet. We finally had a productive English meeting yesterday. I have 36 more essays to grade. Tonight. If at all possible because I want to hand them back to them before they write their other essay that's due on Monday. I will admit. I'm tired of grading essays. They take too long for me to do. Plus, now I have grammar exercises and journals to grade. It's going to be a fun Friday.

I'm tired and I'm ready for it to be the weekend to just chill out, though I'm not really sure that's going to happen.

Monday + Rain = Bad

2007-09-10T21:12:00.000-05:00

As much as I love my job, I hate Mondays. Not only because I'm tired from the weekend when I got to sleep in and veg out, but also because the kids don't want to be back at school either. It was cloudy, cold, and rainy all day today, which really didn't help anything. The kids were even more lethargic than usual, and my last class, which is usually my most upbeat class that makes the best of everything and laughs the whole time, was whiny and cranky. I really hope we're all in better moods tomorrow. I know the rain doesn't help anything, believe me, I hate it when it rains, but today really just kind of caught me off guard. I didn't know how to respond to the whining.

They asked why they needed to know how to write essays. How do you explain to a 7th grader that they need to know how to write and communicate to other people, no matter what their job, from a janitor to a CEO? To them, it's boring and useless. Even when you tell them that Science majors write just as much as English majors, they don't care, they'd rather not do anything. Sometimes I pity the students I teach. They don't realize what they have because of where they live. If they lived for a day in the shoes of my students I taught during student teaching, I would hope they wouldn't complain half as much as they do about essays and homework that I'm finally giving them. They would be happy to be at school with their friends where they feel safe and have all the materials and clothes and whatever else they need to be happy.

Wow. I don't know what's gotten into me today. Perhaps it's the weather, just the same as the kids. Today was just a frustrating day for me, kid wise. On the other hand, I did finally get a binder organized so that I can find what I'm looking for in the order I need it, as opposed to having to go through everything to find one piece of paper. That was a bit of a relief.

Tomorrow is another day, and I'm looking forward to getting more stuff planned so I have some idea of what I'm supposed to be doing!

Birthday Weekend!

2007-09-09T21:40:00.000-05:00

Thursday was my birthday! My kids sang to me after lunch and in my 7/8 class and the teachers made me a card/sign and sang to me after school. As it was a Thursday, we didn't really do a whole lot because many of my friends from Drake still have classes. We had a "party," if that's what you want to call it, last night. It was just a bunch of friends hanging out and playing Guitar Hero. I really thought that I would be really bad at that game, but after a bit of practice, I'm actually not. Tonight I went out to dinner with some friends to celebrate my birthday and another girl's birthday, since hers was today.

On the school front, we are finally done with essays, at least for the moment. Their final drafts are due on Tuesday. I will admit, I was a little frustrated with some of them because they acted like they had no idea what they were supposed to do, after we'd spent the better part of two weeks going over how to read for understanding, highlight important points, write an essay map, and then turn it into an essay. I guess we'll see how well their essays turn out. I attempted to explain "Special Person" to them on Friday as well. The main reason I'm special is because I hadn't given them homework until that day. Guess I've made some sort of impression... We are starting Short Stories and Grammar this week. We'll see how it goes.

Part of me is a little nervous because I haven't had any of this since my own days as a middle school student. I have to reteach myself before I can teach the students. On the other hand, I know that I know it, I just have to find a way to make it relevant and exciting for all. It's hard being a new teacher because I don't really know from day to day what I'm going to do or what I'm supposed to be teaching. I have to rely on the other teachers in the English department to tell me what they're doing, and go from there. I feel like it's even harder for me because the other English teacher on my team does things her own way and doesn't try to stay where the other 7th English teachers are, which makes it hard for me to plan during common planning time or really to know if my kids are at a similar place. I know it will be fine, I just need to get into the swing of things and be confident in myself.

It's starting to cool down quite a bit now. I don't think I'll ever get used to how fast it gets chilly up here.

Fun Weekend!

2007-09-04T17:09:00.000-05:00

This weekend was really fun. I went home since it was Labor Day and I haven't seen my family since the end of July. I was able to leave right after school on Friday, so I got home around 10. My sister and her friend were there so we chatted for awhile. It was midnight by the time I was able to go to bed, so I was really tired, since I'd been up for 18 hours! Saturday was Zenda Days. It was the 120th celebration of the town's existence. There were actually quite a few people there and a lot of stuff going on. My dad's air force buddies came up from Lousiana and Oklahoma for it. Then we just went to the farm and camped out and celebrated my cousin Catie's birthday and mine. Sunday we just shot at targets and at clay pigeons and played in the water. It was actually a really nice weekend for camping, with a nice breeze. I still managed to get sunburned - fortunately it didn't hurt too much. I got back last night around 7. It still amazes me that I don't find the drive too boring. Sure, there are some moments when it's bad, but there are plenty of places to stop and get out and stretch. I'm kind of sad I won't be going home until Thanksgiving.

I am such a homebody. Part of me is very surprised that I chose to take a job so far away from my family and all that's familiar, but at the same time I guess I am familiar with the Des Moines area. This is kind of my second home, and I guess now it really is my second home. It's weird, but I'm glad I ended up in the school district I did, and am still able to be close to my friends.

School's going well. I tried three different methods today to get kids to grasp a concept I wanted them to grasp. I still don't know what works. We're going to try to finish the essay tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. I think I'm getting sick. This part is not fun.

How Lucky I Am

2007-08-28T21:32:00.001-05:00

I was reading a fellow Drake blogger's post just a few minutes ago. I believe he is currently doing Teach America or something similar to that. I know that I am very fortunate to have a job at Waukee, which is worlds away from my student teaching experience in Des Moines, where I have students who care and parents who care about what their students are learning. I am even more fortunate that my kids come to school everyday with the supplies they need, and are for the most part compliant with directions and things asked of them. So far, the worst thing I've had to deal with is the fact that students consistently "forget" things in their lockers or choose not to listen to instructions in class, and therefore ask me repeatedly what they are supposed to do. I have all the resources I need, and if I don't have something I think I need, I can talk to the office and they will get it for me. What a wonderful way for a teacher to start out!

School has been great! I'm slowly getting into a routine, and figuring out where I need to be during my planning times so I can actually get things done since other teachers and classes are in my room at all hours of the day. I "graded" my first batch of papers today. They aren't even for a real grade, they are "baseline" writing samples so we can see where the students start and where they are at the end of the year. I must say, for the most part I'm pretty happy with them. Perhaps it is because I'm grading based on the 6+1 traits of writing, and those are pretty broad categories. But, that's good because it helps me grade based on what that student can do, differentiation, rather than what I think the paper should look like, and I'm not focusing so much on spelling and grammar, which is what I tend to do a lot.

I do have some very needy students in some of my classes, so I'm going to have to figure out how to scaffold and build their knowledge from the ground up, so that all can succeed. It will be a bit challenging, but I believe that it will all work out, and I have some awesome teachers around me to support me in figuring out what to teach and how to teach it.

Staff meeting tomorrow and school pictures on Thursday. I'm not going to lie, I'm excited about the "long" weekend.

First Week of School!

2007-08-25T12:35:00.000-05:00

Ok, so technically it was only 3 days of school, but it still felt like a week. Not that it was a bad week, just kind of exhausting. I had a lot of fun and I get the feeling that the majority of the students really like me. We'll see how they feel about me when I start giving them homework ;). Overall, though, it was really fun and I had a good time. However, I can see myself being there every night till at least 4 or so. We'll just have to see how everything works out.

I'm really excited that people are starting to come back. Drake starts Monday, so all of my Pharmacy friends have to be back!

My little sister has already had a full week of college. She's already thinking about changing the focus of her major because she's not sure she can get into Veterinary school. I told her to just wait and talk to a lot of other people before she makes that decision. I guess she's having a good time though!

The sun finally came back out today, which is really exciting!

First Days of School

2007-08-23T16:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the first day of school! It actually went pretty well. I didn't really have any glitches with schedules or anything like that. Some students are still having trouble with their lockers, so that's making some of them late, but that's really ok. I have really good kids in my classes and so far it's been a lot of fun. Each class definitely has a different personality though. My morning class is very very quiet, while my last class of the day is very talkative. My lunch class is in between. I think some of them are still getting used to me. It's been a lot of fun so far!

I still feel like I need another week or so to just sit down and go through all of the files that the last teacher left me. I have so much stuff and it's in an order that doesn't really make sense to me, and I can't really find anything, so it's been kind of a mess. I hope I can use my planning time in the next few weeks to sift through all of that, otherwise I'm going to be spending even more time after school than I already am! I'll get it figured out.

I am amazed at how nice and helpful all of the staff at Waukee are. Anytime I need anything, I just have to ask the person that's right beside me and I will get help! It's wonderful! I'm slowly learning the ins and outs of things.

I'm really looking forward to this school year! I think we're going to have a lot of fun and hopefully I'll be able to teach them something :)

First Week!

2007-08-18T12:59:00.000-05:00

Well, I made it through my first official week of work. It actually wasn't too bad. Fortunately, my part of the building is air-conditioned, so it wasn't so bad to move desks around and get things put how I want them. I was very fortunate to be able to move 8 desks out of my room, so I have more space to put children! We have open house on Monday, so that should be interesting. I'm very interested in getting the plans for the first few weeks of school so that I know what I'm doing. I feel a little lost at the moment. I know it will all work out, it's just a little overwhelming at the moment.

I'm ready for the kids to get to school. I'll have a little more to do this week since I have class lists and my computer and am going to go get more posters today for my walls.

Nothing else real exciting. Drake people are supposed to be coming back this week too, so that'll be fun. One of my friends is leaving today for her job in Colorado Springs. That's exciting for her, but it's kind of far away. It'll be good. Then we can visit her!

I guess I should go attempt to get stuff done around my apartment. I just really have no motivation to do so.

Moved In!

2007-08-16T17:05:00.000-05:00

I think I am officially moved into my classroom. I have my desks set up and some posters up and everything! Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, I don't have that much stuff, so it doesn't take that long to get things done. I did finally get my class list today, and my biggest class is only 19!!!! That's way exciting! Tomorrow is "Data Day," whatever that is. I think I'm going to go buy some more posters this weekend from The Learning Post, then I'll have a few more things on my walls.

Nothing else real exciting. I went to see Becoming Jane last night. It was actually a pretty good movie. I didn't know a whole lot about Jane Austen's life, I just knew I don't really like her book, Emma, though I've never read any of her other books. I may have to. It was a nice break from school stuff.

One more day and then the weekend. I'm not sure what the weekend is going to bring, but at least I won't be moving desks around and cleaning!

Officially an Iowan

2007-08-13T22:10:00.000-05:00

I am officially an Iowa resident! I went and got my driver's license changed, and I got my new tags and title. It was actually a very easy process, and I didn't even know all of the paperwork that I thought I would! Transferring the car to my name was surprisingly easy. It was probably the fastest I've ever gotten anything done at the DMV, and everyone was really helpful and nice. I even got my new tags today and was able to put them on my car! It's kind of a weird feeling.

Tomorrow is the first day of inservice stuff for new teachers. I think we're going to try to get into the building to at least see my room, and apparently my end's air-conditioning is working, so that's a big plus! It sounds like we have a lot of cleaning to do before school starts, but I know everything will work out in the end. I got to meet a lot of people tonight at the school picnic, so that was nice. Not that I'll remember everyone's name, but it's a good start.

I'm excited to finally have something to fill my days. And I'm excited that people are going to start coming back so I have something to do and people to hang out with!

Apartment Pictures!

2007-08-11T16:27:00.001-05:00

Here are some pictures of my apartment!

This is my porch.

This is my living room.
This is my kitchen.

My bedroom.
My closet.

My bedroom again.

My bathroom.
My office.

One of these days I will figure out how to put captions by my pictures without causing a huge headache for myself. Until then, please use your powers of deduction to figure out which caption goes with which picture!

I went to the Iowa State Fair last night. I will say, it was much different than my previous trips to the fair. At home, it was always a day long event, in which we went in the morning and had to go through every building before we could even think about riding the rides at night. And we got to play one game - the duck game, in which we were guaranteed to win at least a little stuffed animal prize... I really want to go during the day sometime, but I don't see that happening because I have to go try to get my Iowa driver's license and my tags on Monday, and if I can't do it then, I'm going to have to take a personal day to get it all taken care of because I am a teacher and work 8 to 4, which is conveniently the hours of the DMV...

Finally!

2007-08-10T15:51:00.000-05:00

I finally have my internet up and running. It's taken 2 extra days and many hours on the phone with the tech support people, but today, magically, my computer recognizes the modem and the internet works, not just the DSL connection!!!! Needless to say, I've been attempting to get a lot of other things taken care of on the internet (emails to people, letting people know of new address and phone number, paying bills, etc.) that I haven't been able to do for over a week!

I moved in to my new apartment last weekend. It actually didn't turn out to be too much of a hassle. My parents and my sister came up and moved me in. We actually ended up moving a lot of in over the porch so we didn't have to carry so much up the stairs. It worked pretty well. I decided when I move out I'm just going to knock the back of the porch off and make a ramp, and take things out that way!! ;)

I pretty much got everything unpacked and put where I want it. I need to buy curtains so my rooms don't get so hot in the afternoon, and bookcases for my books, but other than that...

Monday I had orientation for new teachers. It was ok. We had a lot of paperwork to fill out. One thing, when you graduate, make sure your parents go over all of the tax paperwork and whatnot you'll have to fill out when you get a real job so you know what to put in the little boxes. I thought I knew, but then all of that stuff got in front of me and it was just a little overwhelming!

Monday afternoon I spent my time calling and changing my address and phone number for loan people and electricity and getting new car insurance and all sorts of other fun stuff. It's really not that exciting being an adult and having to take care of all of that.

I had a workshop on co-teaching yesterday and today. It was pretty useful, I hope it helps me when I finally meet my co-teacher and am able to get into my classroom!!!! My building's under construction right now, so it's been a little crazy.

All of this moving and changing stuff has been a little nuts, but it's all a learning experience!!!

I'll have pictures of my apartment in the next few days!!!

Back in Iowa!

2007-08-02T23:31:00.000-05:00

I had quite a time driving back to Iowa, due to construction and the fact that I hate driving at night, but I did make it to everywhere I needed to be. The ISEA Summer Conference was really fun. We had Governor Culver, Senator Hillary Clinton, and Senator Obama's wife as speakers. We went to the water park in Storm Lake today because my roommate got free tickets. It was pretty fun. I finally made it to Des Moines and got my apartment keys. I get to move in tomorrow!!!!! That's about all that's exciting. School stuff starts next week!

Last Day in Kansas

2007-07-29T21:41:00.000-05:00

This weekend was pretty fun. I went to the farm on Friday and camped out with my dad and his friends. Saturday, we had a pig roast and a bunch of people came. Not as many as we were expecting, but it was a pretty good crowd. Today we got everything put away and then we went fishing. It was a slow day for fishing. I only caught 2 fish, and my dad only caught one, which means it was a really bad fishing day!!! There was practically no wind this weekend, which is very very weird for Kansas.

I think I am all packed. I need to do some laundry tomorrow, but I will most likely do my dorm/apartment trick of just throwing everything into one load and washing it in order to save myself some time. I still need to figure out how to get all of those clothes into a bag or suitcase to take with me to Waukee.

I'm leaving tomorrow around 4 I think. I'm going to go visit my friend and his baby, then to my cousins' in Lincoln. Tuesday, I'll head to Storm Lake for my ISEA conference, and then on Thursday I will head back to the Des Moines area. I get to move into my apartment on Friday! I still have to call and get my electricity turned on and then I'll have to get my P.O. Box # and a new phone # all on Friday as well. It should be interesting. Then, full steam ahead for the next few weeks. It's hard to believe I'll be teaching in less than a month.

I hope for safe travels!!!!

Last few days in Wichita

2007-07-26T15:43:00.000-05:00

It's been a pretty uneventful week. I've just been working and packing and seeing friends off. It's really hard to believe that I will be leaving next Monday for "good." That is, I'm going to become an official citizen of another state and move the majority of my belongings there. It's all just kind of weird.

My best friend and her husband left for Green Bay on Tuesday morning. I did pretty well until Monday night, and then I was in tears. All day Tuesday was pretty bad too. I don't know why. It's not like we can't keep in touch and keep each other informed about what's going on. Maybe it's that I probably won't see her on as many breaks, since she has to be there the majority of her time. This is no longer college where we can come home when we feel like it.

We're having a pig roast this weekend at our farm. It should be pretty fun. On Sunday, my dad and I are going fishing, and we may take my friend that moved here from Chicago. That would be interesting!!!! The farm is the once place I'm not looking forward to leaving. I'm not really looking forward to leaving my house and family either, but I will really miss the farm and my extended family. Now I'll probably only see them on holidays, or when I come back in the summer... This is going to take some getting used to.

I think I'm pretty much packed. All I need to finish packing is my clothes. I still have a few odds and ends and trinkets to pack up, but hopefully that won't take too long. I got a TV from my friends that moved to Green Bay, and I'm getting a table and chairs "on loan" for awhile. So, I have pretty much all the major furniture I need, it will just be purchasing the little furniture, kitchen things, and food that will be a major feat when I get back to the Des Moines area.

Lots to do in just a few days...

Summer Safari and Harry Potter!

2007-07-23T11:39:00.000-05:00

So Summer Safari went really well. The tye-dye bandanas went over really well and turned out really pretty. I had tons of extra dye so I made bed sheets for my bed, and they turned out really awesome!!! The kids weren't too bad, just the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders were kind of crazy at times, but that's to be expected. Overall, I think it went really well.

I finished the Harry Potter book on Saturday. I was very happy with the book. But, I'm not going to tell the ending because that would be making a lot of people angry!!!

Today is my last day of snowcones. You have no idea how happy I am about that, it's been exhausting this year for some reason. Maybe it's because I get upset about the state of the stand every time I step into a new one because of how sticky it is. Oh well.

We're having our pig roast/camp out this weekend. It should be really fun, and I really hope to get some fishing in before I leave on Monday.

I will try to post more this week before I leave next week.

Harry Potter!

2007-07-15T19:59:00.001-05:00

I finally went to see the movie the other night with my sister and my cousin. We went to the drive-in. Since the pickup's back window doesn't open, we had to use the speakers available, so we missed some of it, but it was still pretty good. I felt like the director just rushed through the book though, and hit the highlights. I guess that's what you're supposed to do, but it was a little disappointing that he changed some things just to get through the plot. Also, for some reason this director likes to make Neville a hero, when in fact, much of what he does in the movies is actually done by Dobby the house-elf. This is what I get for just finishing re-reading all of the books.

I finally pre-ordered my copy of the 7th book that comes out on Friday. Unfortunately, I will be teaching VBS that day, so I will not have a chance to read it until probably after 5, and then Adria is coming back in town, so I may not get to it until later. That, or I'll stay up all night reading it...

VBS this week. While I think some of the crafts are going to be kind of boring, I guess it will be fine. I feel much more relaxed about the whole thing this year. Mainly because they are all middle school age and don't want to listen anyway. They can do what they want, I'm not going to try as hard to control them this year. (Ask me at the end of the week how that went.)

Only 2 weeks till I move back to Iowa! I suppose I need to try to do some more packing!

3 Weeks!!!

2007-07-09T14:45:00.000-05:00

In three weeks I will be returning to Iowa. While part of me is a little sad to be leaving "for good," the other part of me is really excited to see what life brings! The other day a friend of a friend asked me what I do, and I replied, "I'm a teacher." Let me tell you, that was weird. Usually I say, "I'm studying to be a teacher" or something like that. But this time, I actually have a profession! I am an adult. Kind of a scary thought.

I have decided that I'm not going to try to buy a new car right now. There's really nothing wrong with the one I have now. Plus, I don't want to over commit myself to payments when I'm not sure about everything I will need to pay for on my own, especially on a teacher's salary. I could get by, I just don't know that I want to cut things that close. As long as my current car works and gets me where I need to be, I will trust it for a little longer.

The snowcone stand hasn't been too bad. I'm definitely working tomorrow, Wednesday, and Sunday, and the rest of the week I'm kind of "on call." Next week I will be teaching Arts and Crafts at Summer Safari, a VBS for students in grades 5-8, so I won't be working, which really doesn't bother me all that much.

I didn't get to go out and harvest this weekend because I got stuck at work :( It's ok though, because they got stuck because it was still a little wet. Although, my parents did go fishing without me, and that made me very sad...

Harvest!!

2007-07-07T10:45:00.000-05:00

It has finally stopped raining long enough for my family to finish harvesting. This is a good thing, but I honestly don't know if they're going to get any good crops. We'll just have to wait, pray, and see what comes out of this. I think I'm going to try to go out there tonight after I get off work, but I don't know yet. Gas is high again (thanks to the flooding and destroying of an oil refinery close to here), and I have to be back by 4 tomorrow to work. I'll just have to see what I feel like later today.

I'm back working at the snowcone stand. I had to train a new girl yesterday and re-train one of the other employees because the stand I'm at was in ridiculous shape when I got there on Thursday. Although it wasn't her fault entirely that it was like that, she did need some re-training. I felt like I was stepping on toes all day though - it's hard to tell someone they're doing something wrong when they've been doing it that way all summer... I at least have a semi-schedule until next Friday, which is a plus.

Only 3 weeks till I leave! I guess I need to work on packing the rest of my stuff up. I'm also debating if I really need a new car at this point in time. I haven't heard back from Erin yet, so I don't know if I'm sharing an apartment with her or not, and that is kind of what will be the determinant, at least in my opinion. I will have enough money to buy a new car, but I don't know if I want to cut my budget that close. I need to do some more thinking on that one.

The sun is out!!!!! Maybe only for a few days since it's supposed to rain again this coming week, but for now, it's out and wonderful!

I am a pack rat

2007-07-03T14:15:00.000-05:00

I have got to be one of the biggest pack rats I know. I partially blame this on my mother, who never throws anything away. The other day, I threw out bank statements, credit card statements, direct deposit slips, and canceled paychecks that I have had for probably 4 years. I asked my mom if I needed them, and she said, "I guess not, but it's hard for me to tell you you don't since I still have everything." Geeze. The only thing I need receipts and all of that stuff for are big things that have a warranty and may break. And those things are definitely not things I generally buy with my credit card.

I just spent the better part of 2 hours going through all of the cards and letters I have saved, and that was part 2 of the process. While it did inspire me to catch up with an old friend on Facebook, the majority of it all went into the recycle bin. I did keep some things - letters from really good friends, notes from my great-grandmother who never spells my name right two times in a a row, a few love letters from way back when, and postcards. I know one of these days I'll have another 3 shoeboxes full of things like this, and I'll have to go through all of them again, but....

The one thing I did realize as I was going through all of my letters and stuff was that I was an awesome pen pal. I really kind of miss writing letters back and forth to people, and waiting for them in the mail. I think email kind of killed it all. With letters, you have time to think about what you want to tell people and there's a bit of anticipation. With email, it's instant. Of course, you can always take the time to think about your answer back, but it also loses some of its personality and being authentic to the author. (I can't think of the right word for it... it'll come to me eventually).

Anyways, the sun has finally decided to show in the past few days. I hope it dries out enough that my uncles can finish wheat harvest. They were able to get our fields cut, but then it started raining. Most of it is on the ground anyway, so I don't know how good of a crop they are going to get. I would hate to be a farmer and put my whole livlihood in the fate of the weather....

I officially have an apartment in Waukee! The lady called me yesterday, and she's mailing me the paperwork to sign and send her money. I've also been looking at new cars. I was thinking about the New Beetle, but I realized I wanted 4 doors. Now I'm looking at the VW Rabbit or a Saturn Ion-2. There's quite a price difference, and I guess I'll know more what I can get when I find out if my friend wants to room with me or not. Maybe Mom and Dad will help out a bit too. We'll just have to see.

I'm still working on packing my room up. It's not a very fun process...

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

2007-06-30T16:49:00.000-05:00

Ok, ok, so it's a little cheesy... However, there's got to be sun somewhere. It's been raining since Monday, and I'm about to go a little crazy. I also haven't worked since Wednesday, so I'm a little stir-crazy. I've been trying to get things out of my room and at least box them up, but I haven't been able to properly motivate myself to do such a thing. I have too much stuff and am not sure I'm going to have the shelf space for all of it when I move in August.

I was really excited to have a whole apartment to myself, a bedroom and an office-space of some sort, but one of my friends suggested yesterday that maybe we could room together. I honestly hadn't thought about having a roommate this year, partially because all of my friends got jobs on different sides of town, so none of us were close to each other. This friend, however, has a job in West Des Moines, which is like 5 minutes from Waukee. There are ups and downs to having a roommate. I was excited about not having to work around anyone else's schedule and habits. However, I did get kind of lonely last year when I was the only one home because my roommate was always gone. It would be nice to have someone else at home to talk to after a bad (or awesome) day at work with 7th graders. This friend is also a teacher, so we'd definitely have something to talk about. Also, the biggest plus side is only having to pay half the rent and half the utilities, which would definitely save us money, and I'd be able to pay off my loans a little faster. I have to do some more thinking about it, and talk to the landlord people when they call this week with whether or not I actually have an apartment. Although I'm pretty sure I do.

I just want to see some sunshine. Sometimes I feel like a plant. I get kind of droopy when I haven't seen the sun. Maybe more like a flower, because our cucumber plants are thriving in this rainy weather...

CATS

2007-06-29T11:30:00.000-05:00

My mom and I went to see Music Theatre for Young People's production of CATS last night. I must say, I was much more impressed with their version than with the actual "Broadway" version that came through a couple of years ago. We could actually hear what the actors were saying, and the dancing was much much much better than what the "professionals" that I saw did. So I say, BRAVO to those "amateurs" who did such a wonderful job last night. At least I wasn't disappointed in them. Maybe it was because I kind of knew what to expect (i.e. no plot line), but I also think they actually cared about what they were doing, unlike the others. I kind of agree with my mom though. Part of me doesn't really understand why that show is such a big deal. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that it's people dressed as animals acting like people, if that makes any sense. The one thing I will say was "better" with the Broadway production was that the actors actually looked like cats - real slinky and sneaky and all of that, but that's their lives, the people that performed last night had only been doing it for two weeks. I can definitely forgive that.

I worked at the snowcone stand Tuesday and Wednesday, and I finished three books. Tells you how busy I was... Oh well. It's a job, it's money, and it's something to do other than sitting around my house and staring at the wall. I could be packing more stuff up, but I'm not really sure where to start, or what I even want to take with me. I suppose I should figure that out sooner or later.

One of my really good friends from high school had a baby last weekend. I need to go up and see him, I just need to figure out when. :)

On another, not so exciting but yes note, I consolidated my loans the other day, so I got the absolutely lowest rate I could get! I'm still going to end up paying thousands in interest, but this way it's a little less, and I'm going to try to pay it off earlier than they have planned for me. My mom and I worked out my "budget." I hate bills. I need a new car, but don't really want to get one because that's one more thing I will have to pay for. Oh well. That's part of being an adult I guess...