Confessions

Please Excuse

2011-12-08T17:25:00.001-05:00

So..... it's been kinda quiet around these parts for a while.

I've been having a hard time in the classroom this year - I feel like my passion for teaching is dwindling. I do the best I can with what I've been given, but at the end of the day, I just want to...

1. Go home as soon as possible.

2. Turn off my brain.

3. Not talk about it.

4. Not write about it.

5. Not read what other people are saying about their teaching (see number 2).

If I haven't been around to your blog in a while, please don't take it personally! You may not see any posts from me for a bit until I can find wherever I've misplaced my creativity and my passion. Or perhaps it's just time to say goodbye! I've been blogging about teaching for more than FIVE YEARS. Maybe I've run out of things to say?!

In either case, I'm going to take some time to reevaluate my reasons and goals for blogging. Thanks in advance for understanding!!

Those people I'm related to

2011-11-30T18:58:00.000-05:00

My whole family (parents and siblings) were all together for Thanksgiving - it was the first time in THREE YEARS we were all in the same place!!

Here are some highlights:

Going out for gingerbread ice cream (We love Braums!)

We hung out at the Stock Yards

I pretended I had something to do with cooking the Thanksgiving meal (when in reality it was my husband who cooked for 8 hours!!)

And we ate LOTS of turkey!

I hope your time off was STUFFED with good times too!

(haha, see what I did there?)

Turkeytastrophe

2011-11-28T13:29:00.001-05:00

Hello friends, I'm back from a week off from blogging. I had a fabulous Thanksgiving and I'm looking forward to sharing more about it later in the week, but for now I'd like to pick up exactly where I left off.

As you might recall from the previous post, I had some wonderful Thanksgiving activities planned for Friday - mainly the Turkey Tracks recipe. When I got to school that day, I had an email from my principal stating that she needed me to be in an emergency behavior meeting with the parents of one of my first graders. It was good that we had this meeting, but the timing was all wrong. I pull my first graders from 9 to 11. The behavior meeting started at 9 and didn't end until 10:45.

So by the time I got back to my room, there was no time for Turkey Tracks.

But I still had hope for my Kindergarten group in the afternoon. At the last minute, we decided to join my colleague for a Thanksgiving video. I thought it was going to last for 30 minutes, but the movie took a little over an hour to finish. And.... any hope of making Turkey Tracks in the remaining 45 minutes was squashed when I had to do damage control for "Martha". Martha thought it would be great fun to kick me repeatedly in the shins, tear down my calendar board, and pour the ranch dressing from her snack over my table.

It was a very discouraging day. For the first time in seven years, the thing that is keeping me from having fun in the classroom ISN'T the administration, ISN'T the curriculum... it's the kids.

Here's to hoping things will only get better from here.....

My little turkeys

2011-11-18T05:00:00.001-05:00

We are in full turkey mode here at school. And I love it! Doing seasonal stuff with my kindergartners and first graders is such a welcome break from our regularly scheduled programming.

We've read My First Thanksgiving and I'm No Turkey.

We've written a list of things that we're thankful for.

We had our Thanksgiving Music Program on Tuesday. (The kids were both hilarious and adorable!)

And today we're making Turkey Tracks! Except we're making them with peanut butter and straight pretzel sticks (because I'm not sure about how my picky eaters will handle chow mein noodles!)

It should be messy but FUN! I am especially excited because once today is over, I have the WHOLE BLESSED WEEK off for Thanksgiving! Do I hear an Amen? :)

Thanksgiving with Kids

2011-11-16T05:00:00.001-05:00

I've been surfing around on Pinterest and came across so many fun ideas for Thanksgiving with kids!

So I thought I'd share my favorites:

Thanksgiving Placemat (via)

Fun snacks (via)

Printable kids activities (via)

Thanksgiving Skit (via)

Turkey Craft (via)

Fun Kids Decor Printables (via)

that final sound is kinda important

2011-11-14T05:00:00.000-05:00

Last week, I was reading aloud The Stubborn Pumpkin to my first graders. In the story, a farmer tries to pull a stubborn pumpkin off the vine. He enlists the help of many people and animals. First his wife, then his daughter, then the cow, then the dog..... etc.

I paused after the cow came along to help and asked my students who they thought would come next. One little girl, who has trouble with the final "s", shouted:

"A HORE!!!!!!!!"

I knew what she meant. But what she meant and what it sounded like were two very different things, and I had to laugh!

Cue the picture taking

2011-11-11T05:00:00.000-05:00

All week, the kindergartners have been practicing in the auditorium for the Thanksgiving Program. I've been there to help and assist (I'm so glad I'm not in charge of this thing!).

Let me tell you, it is quite a production to get 54 five-year olds to stand in the right place - even with tape. And then getting them to sing loudly, keep smiling, leave their neighbor alone, stop touching the stage curtains, and to watch the lead teacher for their cues.... practically impossible!

This is really one of those times that I have to leave my perfectionism aside and remember that they're going to be adorable - mistakes and all. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that the parents LOVE those cute and funny mistakes.

So on Tuesday when it's time for the Big Show, I'll just take a deep breath.... even when little David has his finger in his nose.

When Kids are blunt

2011-11-09T05:00:00.001-05:00

More than anyone, kids tell it like it is.

Are you sporting a big angry zit today? You can be sure one of your students will ask you what "that big red thing" is on your face.

Wearing a new white necklace? Some kid may tell you that you look like Wilma Flintstone.

But sometimes kids can be quite ego boosting with their comments. Like every time I walk into the general education kindergarten classroom to pick up my kiddos for language arts. Without fail, I will hear a chorus of:

"I like your necklace!!!!!!"
"I like your earrings!!!!!!!"
"I like your boots!!!!!!!!!!"
"I like your shirt!!!!!!!!!!!"

And recently, after the chorus of praises had died down a little, Andrew piped up with:
"YOU LOOK AWESOME!!!!!"

So if you need a little self-esteem boost, go find a kindergarten classroom near you!

A Hopeful Monday

2011-11-07T05:00:00.001-05:00

Friday was an easier day, partly because:

1. Marta punched me in the face on Thursday and was suspended on Friday.
2. My colleagues cheered me up with fresh flowers and a Starbucks gift card (!!)

I'm hoping today goes well. I have a new student starting today (my second in one week!) and a new table arrangement that seems promising for keeping two particular first graders (who like to feed off each other) out of each other's eyesight. I also have a shiny new behavior plan for one of my first graders... with walkie talkies and everything!!

So there's hope. I'm still feeling overwhelmed though. I'm now responsible for 12 students... that's MORE THAN HALF of all the of the students in our hearing impaired program.

I want to be able to do this. Do this well!

A perfectionist in the making

2011-11-04T05:00:00.002-04:00

On Friday, just as I was about to leave, I got a call from the office.

It was 'Julie's' dad, and he wanted to talk about how she was doing since he missed Parent-Teacher Conferences.

Did I mention it was a Friday afternoon?
Did I mention he hadn't called ahead to schedule this?
Did I mention I send home my contact information EVERY week?

I went and talked to him anyway. Julie is my best and brightest. And I don't just mean in comparison to her peers with hearing loss, I mean in comparison to her general education peers. Her language level is very high. She outperformed all of her general education class on the math assessment.

I appreciate so much that her parents are so involved and proactive in working with her. But I sense that there's a lot of pressure on her to succeed. Dad barely heard me when I told her she was ABOVE grade level in language arts. He wanted a laundry list of things to drill her on at home.

When I told dad that when Julie grows up, she is going to SHINE, his only response was:

"She'd better."

Sigh.

student and teacher meltdowns

2011-11-02T05:00:00.001-04:00

I'm having a hard time teaching in the morning. And by that I mean I have a collection of behavior issues in my first grade group that, when thrown in and mixed together, becomes this toxic poison.

Except this poison doesn't kill you, it just makes you want to retire from teaching at age 29.

I had four students in this group. I've recently added a fifth. On "Adam's" first day, Thing One argued with my every direction (or just flat out said "no"). Thing Two loves to feed off of Thing One and thought the whole thing was hysterical. Thing Two shut down when he got some sad face tally marks. Thing One laughed loud and long to show he didn't care about sad faces.

And Adam looked on.

When Thing Two didn't get his first choice of activity for Daily 5, he decided that the best solution was to hide under the table and intermittently shout "NO" .... for an hour!

Folks, this exact same kind of behavior from those two students happened for THREE DAYS IN A ROW. For three days, Thing Two collapsed into a pile of refusal and I had to get another adult in there to entice him to move to his next class. Thing One continued to loudly protest every direction and every activity at every opportunity.

I did my best to teach despite it all.

I ended the week on Friday with Thing Two in full meltdown mode, yelling from his new hiding place:

Tell me ..... where can I hide from first grade?

Where do boogers go?

2011-10-31T05:00:00.001-04:00

When our communication specialist picked up my little group of kindergartners from their general ed. classroom last week, there was a bit of drama.

"Ms. H!! Ms. H!!", little 'Julie' cried. "Maria wiped her burger on my leg!!"

When Ms. H realized that Julie meant BOOGER, she had to take a moment to compose herself. She dealt with the incident, then on her way to her classroom with the kids, she popped in to mine to apprise me of the situation.

I giggled.

I giggled even louder later in the afternoon when I had these same kindergartners listening to the story "Warthogs in the Kitchen." There comes a moment in the middle of the book where they consider adding pickles to the cupcake better.

I paused in my reading. "Pickles?!?" I asked my students dramatically.

"Noooooooooo!" they all replied.

And then Julie added: "And no BURGERS either!!"

Just for you!

2011-10-29T05:00:00.004-04:00

In honor of Halloween, I'd like to offer you a special coupon code good for anything in my shop!

Enter SPOOKY20 for 20% off your order (expires 11/6)! The holidays are right around the corner...

so happy shopping!

Beat up by a nine year old

2011-10-27T17:00:00.000-04:00

It took seven years to happen, but it finally did: I was hit by a student. Repeatedly.

It was last week and Marta was not paying attention to social studies. I was in there for forty five minutes to help with inclusion and my little friend refused to follow even the simplest directions (sit on the carpet). When it was time to lead my group of six students out to my classroom for language arts, she hit me on the butt on her way out the door. Hard.

I said "OH!" in surprise and then took a few deep breaths. I got down to her level as she got her backpack out of her locker: "You may NOT hit a teacher. That is not okay."

I made a calculated decision not to dole out any consequences just then. I knew enough about her to know that if I gave her several sad face tally marks right away, she would just escalate and I wouldn't be able to teach anything that afternoon.

So I put on my happy face and taught my little heart out. Marta behaved herself pretty well. But at the end of the day, when it was time to tally our happy faces versus sad faces and earn a penny for the store, things went sour FAST.

I gave everyone a penny except Marta. "I'm sorry Marta, you cannot get a penny today because you hit a teacher."

A dark cloud passed over her face as this sunk in. She took her "bank" (container with 2 pennies in there already) and chucked it across the room. She grabbed her folder and her backpack and made for the door!

I had to go chasing after her and corralled her back in. I got the other students out into the hallway as fast as I could and got down to Marta's level. This she did not like.

Cue the kicking. The hitting. The scratching (she drew blood on my arm through my sweater, and in two small spots on my leg). She was so frustrated she also chucked her hearing aid out of the room.

Eventually she burst into tears, sat on my lap, and cried on my shoulder.

We had both been angry that afternoon, but at that moment in time, I was sorely tempted to cry with her.

Instead I just stroked her hair and told her that it was okay, that I still loved her, that we would try again tomorrow to earn a penny. After a few minutes of repeating this, she wiped her eyes, nodded her head, and joined the line to get on the bus to go home.

*****************************************************

If you're wondering, I had to fill in an incident report and call her mother. We were both baffled as to what could have triggered this kind of behavior. She's always been a bit defiant, but never like this. I talked with our behavior specialist and we now have a plan in place where she can earn something rewarding for following directions.

The only part of this whole incident that I regret is getting into Marta's face right away after I had corralled her back into the classroom. She clearly needed some time to calm down and I could have saved myself some scratches! Otherwise, I think I did right - especially in restoring our relationship at the end there.

*******************************************************

I'm so curious: have you ever been hit by a student?

And then I raided my chocolate stash

2011-10-26T05:00:00.004-04:00

We were starting our personal narratives project by writing a list of important people in our lives. I modeled for my first graders on chart paper, and then supervised as my four students got to work.

I sat very close to Leo, who struggles when it comes to writing (well, everything). He wrote:

Mom

Dad

Mr. B-

And then I stopped him because I realized he was just copying my list. "What about your brother?" I asked. "What's his name?"

Leo: "Ahhh I dunno."

Me (thinking he did know but was confused about the meaning of question): "Let's ask Adam. Adam, what's your brother's name?"

Adam: "He name Marcus."

Me: "See Leo? Adam's brother is Marcus! What's your brother's name?"

Leo: "Ahhhhh... Marcus???"

Me: "Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh."

My Kryptonite

2011-10-24T05:00:00.001-04:00

Last week I shared with you my teaching superpower. Today, it's time to reveal my kryptonite...

... that one thing that brings me to my knees in despair, that elicits the biggest sighs, the most wringing of my hands, the urge to give up and walk away....

Poor memory skills.

You'll see what I mean when I tell you about my first grader Darren. We'd been practicing the same 5 sight words every single day for two weeks: his, of, for, he, to.

Recently, when we sat down to practice, he got them ALL right the first time around. I did a big cheer! He clapped and smiled wide. I decided to go through the words one more time after we were done cheering. This time? Approximately 5.6 seconds later? He only knew two of the words.

ARRRRRGH!

And it's not just for sight words - he just can't remember things from one day to the next.

And this is why it's my kryptonite:

Behavior issues? I've got strategies.
Reading fluency? I've got some tricks up my sleeve.
Vocabulary? I've got you covered.
Decoding? Yes, I can help you there.

But memory skills?!?!? Nope. I've got nothing! I can call your mom and make sure you're getting enough sleep and give you a healthy breakfast at school, but beyond that... it's simply out of my hands!

What about you? Do you feel powerless in your own classroom sometimes?

A new record

2011-10-21T05:00:00.000-04:00

Parent-teacher conferences were last week. I wore a killer cute outfit (if I do say so myself) and had all of my progress reports and work samples ready to go for my first grade and kindergarten parents.

Now. I'm no newbie. I know that my students are part of a regional program and are bused in from up to 40 minutes away. I know that most parents both work. I usually get about a 20 to 30 percent turn out.

This year?

Not. a. single. parent. came.

I stayed at school from 4 to 8pm waiting and working. And I don't know which is more shocking: the fact that no one came, or the fact that I stayed very busy for four hours after school and never ran out of things to do!!

My Teaching superpower

2011-10-19T07:44:00.000-04:00

If there's one thing that I like to brag about being good at, it's making fun activities into educational activities.

(But truthfully, my students' language levels are so low that I can pretty much justify ANYTHING as a "language activity")

This is why I was not worried about leaving my door wide open when I was painting pumpkins with my kindergartners this week!

At the end of our pumpkin painting party, we all chowed down on pumpkin soup and pumpkin seeds as an extension of the book we've been reading (Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper)

These are the kinds of days I live for!

Happy Chaos on the Farm

2011-10-17T05:00:00.001-04:00

On Friday I went on a field trip with my kindergartners to a local petting farm.

(This was a big deal because I normally don't get to go on field trips since I teach two grade levels - but I begged the administration and they were nice enough to get a sub to stay with my first graders!)

The kids (SUCH city kids!) had an absolute blast! Here are some of the highlights:

Petting the baby chicks!

These piglets were so cute, I might never eat bacon again!

Feeding the goats!

Going on a hayride ;)

Each student got to pick out their very own pumpkin!

And this week I'll be having a pumpkin painting party with my small group of kindergartners. I can't wait to show you their masterpieces!

I printed out about 20 pictures of our fun day. We'll be using the pictures to make a classroom book of our experience (and I'll also be tying it in to sequencing!)

read my lips, not my face

2011-10-14T05:00:00.001-04:00

I have an over-sensitive first grader named "Adam."

He has a lot of issues going on at home, so it's easy for me to be compassionate rather than short tempered when he starts talking in his kermit-the-frog voice and when he laughs long and loud at completely inappropriate times.

The problem for me comes whenever I give him a direction. He equates my "teacher" face with an "I'm gonna hurt you" face. I don't yell my directions. I say please and thank you when I give directions. I am not a mean teacher (I promise!). But for whatever reason, he will misinterpret the look I have on my face, point accusingly at me, and say:

"You're MAD at me!"

I've stopped numerous times to explain that I am not mad at him, that this look on my face means that I'm serious - not mad. But he's still not getting it.

I have the guidance counselor working with him (and with me!) about it, so I think there's some hope.

In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to be super conscious of my eyebrows when I give a direction!!

a healthy injustice

2011-10-12T05:00:00.003-04:00

My school got this grant for a fruits and vegetables program. It means that every day, at about 2 o'clock, the lunch ladies visit each classroom and drop off a baggie of cut fruits or veggies for every child as a snack. This happens in each room: pre-k to fifth grade. They are not allowed to bring the food home, they must eat it at school.

via

Oh. Were you concerned that this was maybe disruptive to our teaching? Yes. Yes it is.

However, I have the unique opportunity to capitalize upon this interruption as an excuse for a vocabulary lesson (my general education colleagues aren't this lucky). My students with hearing loss typically have language delays. So we talk about "peeling" and "slices" and "fruit" and "seed" and "sticky".

So for now, it's not too much of a problem - unless you think it's more important to develop good writing skills.

Sigh.

Staff Development Reverse Psychology

2011-10-10T05:00:00.001-04:00

Last week, the principal told us we had a meeting after school about implementing Writer's Workshop in our classrooms.

We all dragged ourselves there despite our stress.

But then a funny thing happened. The principal announced at the beginning of the meeting that we could leave and go home if we felt like we had a handle on Writer's Workshop.

[I don't know if the principal was in a fantastic mood, if she was being compassionate because she knows how stressed we are, of if she was high, but it happened!]

So... I look around the room and no one is making a move. I gather my things like I'm thinking about leaving (because I am: I've actually been following the mini-lessons in the book they gave us at the beginning of the year!) and everyone's eyes are on me!

So I try to play it cool and say with a smile:

"Well, I think I have a handle on it - If I'm wrong I hope you'd tell me to sit right back down!"

Everyone laughs.

I lose my nerve and slowly sit back down.

It was a long meeting.

teachers color too

2011-10-07T05:00:00.001-04:00

Last week, we read "Mice Squeak, We Speak" in Kindergarten. We talked a lot about action words. One or the suggested activities in the curriculum guide was to make paper plate animal masks.

It was the perfect Friday project! The kids had a blast with it, and I forgot how much I love coloring... Most of the kids wanted to be lions, but I chose a mouse!

One little lion boy chased me around the room to eat me! Have I mentioned how much I love teaching Kindergarten?!

a fun countdown book

2011-10-05T05:00:00.004-04:00

As part of our curriculum, we have Ten Dogs in the Window as a big book. Are you familiar with this story? It's absolutely charming!

It's a countdown book (so it has potential for math integration!) and my kids LOVE predicting which dog each person will choose. After a while, they figure out that the people are choosing dogs just like them! I wish we had more time with it because there are a few extension ideas that would be great activities for my first graders:

*Writing: "I would choose this dog because....."
*Adjectives: each dog is so different!
*Write a continuation of the story (there's a bit of a cute twist at the end)
*Vocabulary: hopeful, disappointed, adopted

I really love countdown books. And the kids love the predictable text! Do you have any favorite countdown books?

'tis the season

2011-10-03T05:00:00.001-04:00

No, no ... not for Christmas (despite what giant retail stores would like you to think). It's the season for teacher stress.

Every year, around week four or five or six, teachers start freaking out. We get overwhelmed with the new campus/district wide initiatives we're supposed to be implementing in our classrooms. We're struggling to get all of our students assessed. We're trying to get ready for parent/teacher conferences. We're still dealing with classroom management stuff. We're spending lots of time planning quality lessons. We're TIRED.

And in the midst of all of that, I crave peace and quiet so I can reflect on my year so far - what's working and what's not? What can I tweak to make things run more smoothly? It's this reflection time that gets lost in the shuffle when there are more important things to worry about.

If you're so overwhelmed that you can't remember your own name, I have some advice for you. Make a list of every single thing that's stressing you out in your classroom, as well as all the pressing things you need to get done. Then rewrite your list in order of priority: which items have deadlines? Which items directly impact student learning? Then tackle one at a time. The list will at least alleviate your need to keep it track of it all in your head.

Also? Go home early. Go to bed early. Take a weekend off from anything teacher related. A well rested teacher is a happy teacher. A happy teacher is an effective teacher!

Tell me ... how do you deal with stress?

word work is fun work

2011-09-30T05:00:00.002-04:00

Sometimes I wonder if I like making teaching materials more than actually teaching with them. (Please don't tell me I'm the only teacher who feels that way!!)

I have way too much fun hunting down engaging teaching tools on Pinterest ... and I love putting them together!

I recently made two activities for my "Word Work" Daily 5 center. The first is a clothespin word family activity:

The second is a paint strip word family activity.

I got the (free!) paint strips at Lowe's. They already had that nice little square cut out and they originally come in 3 strips. I just cut them down to one strip, laminated, and then created a laminated strip of cardstock programmed with different onsets to slip through.

And then! I even created this very simple word family recording sheet (the box is for a quick sketch of the word).

If any of you out there would like a copy of the recording sheet, shoot me an email:
untenuredteacher at yahoo dot com

Oh and PS: The kids love these activities!

Target teaching tool

2011-09-28T05:00:00.002-04:00

I picked up these animal action cards in the Target dollar bins over the summer. They're proving to be quite handy for teaching verbs to my kindergartners!! I pulled out a few for our "Action Words" chart:

They really love acting them out!

Understandably, this one is definitely my favorite:

a different kind of day

2011-09-26T05:00:00.001-04:00

We have an all-day professional development meeting today, so that means no kids!!

I kind of relish these days as a welcome break from routine. I'll be honest though... I usually don't look forward to the actual content of the meetings. Unless I'm the one presenting, I rarely get anything out of it.

I have this absolute fantasy that our principal, in a magnanimous gesture, is going to let all of us go work in our classrooms for half the day. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

But in all reality? The most bestest part of a professional development day is ... going out for lunch!

Why lesson plans must be flexible

2011-09-23T09:33:00.001-04:00

Earlier this week, I pulled out a rabbit puppet to use in a mini-lesson about prepositions. My kindergartners were absolutely enthralled, and because I was feeling a little silly that day, I put my hand in the puppet and said: "Hello! My name is Roger Rabbit!"

Amidst squeals of delight, one little kindergartner looked right into the rabbit's little button eyes and replied: "Hello! My name Julie!!!" and finished with an enthusiastic wave.

I totally lost it in a fit of giggles. And because these kinds of social skills are important after all, I decided in the spur of the moment that we could all use a little bit of practice introducing ourselves (especially remembering the "is" in "My name IS ____")!

So thanks, Julie, for the rabbit trail ...

College Week Pretend Photo

2011-09-21T06:27:00.001-04:00

It's college week at my elementary school right now, and there are different ways we're supposed to promote this. (Like wearing your college hat, sporting your college colors, etc.)

This is a problem because I don't own ANYTHING that has the name of my college on it. Yes I was in undergrad for five years. No I didn't like my college very much at the time. (In fact the biggest problem I had with it was that it was in America -- but that's a whole 'nother ~~therapy session~~ blog post.)

Anyways, all the teachers were asked to submit a photo of our college graduation. But here's the thing. I didn't walk. I didn't have family on the same continent at the time, and it just seemed like a lot of hassle for a piece of paper. But I DID attend the graduation ceremony (since the then president of the United States was our speaker!!!!)

Solution?

I took an old college photo of the day I accepted my teaching certificate and "photoshop-ed" (through picnik) a graduation cap on there.

Good enough? I sure hope so!!

Job Hazards for the Kindergarten/First Grade teacher

2011-09-19T21:00:00.000-04:00

From mildly annoying to downright unsafe, here's a brief list of job hazards for the early elementary teacher:

1. Getting the "days of the week" song stuck in your head.

2. Being referred to every once in a while as "mom".

3. Cleaning up the occasional vomit and/or pee.

4. Paper cuts.

5. Bladder infection from holding it too long.

6. Getting covered in glitter and finding it on your person even days later.

7. Getting sick from school germs.

8. Getting the "months of the year" song stuck in your head.

9. Getting your hands covered in various spots of marker.

10. Getting knocked over from a spontaneous (and lovingly violent) hug.

Whaddaya think? Did I miss any?

spending that kindergarten paycheck

2011-09-15T20:41:00.000-04:00

If you're one of the five kindergarteners that sees me for Language Arts, you are always aiming for more happy faces than sad faces.

Each child has a laminated 3x5 card on their desk with two columns: one for happy faces, and one for sad faces. You get a tally mark in the happy face column if you follow directions and follow our rules. I hardly ever give out sad faces except in the case of open defiance.

At the end of our time together, you get one penny for your "bank" if you have more happy faces than sad faces on your tally card. When you have FIVE whole cents, you can pick a prize from our treasure box.

BUT!!

You can save your pennies until you get TEN whole cents. TEN cents will buy you something from the ~~slightly more expensive~~ BIG prize box.

All week, "Karen" has been telling me she's saving her pennies for the BIG prize box. But today she and two other students got their fifth penny.

When I pulled out the small prize box and the other two children picked a prize, Karen was torn. She broke down and picked something from the small prize box (even though she could see the big box right next to it.)

After she handed me all of her five pennies, she solemnly declared:

"Tomorrow, I will wait for a BIG prize!"

In related news, today is my payday. What should I buy?

Spectator Teacher

2011-09-13T18:04:00.000-04:00

For two hours in the morning, I pull my four little first grade darlings into my classroom for Language Arts. For two hours in the afternoon, I do the same with my five adorable kindergartners.

But for that extra hour? I alternate weeks (between K and 1st) helping my students in their general ed classrooms. Every. single. minute. is. torture.

It boils down to this: it's not fun watching someone else teach. Even if the teacher is FANTASTIC! The problem is, I'm typically in there for a social studies or science mini lesson - when the teacher is talking or showing something and the kids aren't exactly doing anything.

Which means my job is to sit there and be bored, or (more commonly) be on the "Sit up and pay attention" patrol. Annoying!

I wish I could keep my students with me all day, but I know that it's much better for them to be with their regular ed peers whenever possible.

Sigh. It's hard to do the right thing.

rules and regulations

2011-09-11T17:11:00.002-04:00

"Gilberto" started on Friday. He was on his best behavior!! Will this trend continue? Let's hope so! He is a cutie patootie and the other first graders are glad to have him back.

Nevertheless, I'll be doing a quick reminder of our rules and reward system tomorrow. ~~Most~~ All kids need to be periodically reminded of our agreed-upon rules. You know, like every day for the first two weeks of school, after Christmas break, Spring break, and like.... the weekend.

stay or go?

2011-09-08T18:48:00.000-04:00

That is the age old question if you're a teacher who's feeling sick: Do I stay home and get some rest so I can recover from this? Or do I go in to work anyway?

via

As teachers, we can sometimes believe that if we stay home and leave our students in the hands of an emergency substitute (no matter how good our sub lesson plans are), THE WORLD WILL END: chaos and mayhem everywhere! True or not, it can be a major hassle to be out sick.

I'm feeling under the weather. Not sick enough to stay home (no fever/stomach ache/headache) but coughing a lot, lethargic, and generally weak. So I soldiered on and went to school.

Today after a particularly loud sneeze of mine, "Brayden" asked: "Why you sneeze?"

"Because I'm sick."

"You should go home," he told me in all of his first grade wisdom.

"But if I go home, who will teach you?"

...

"The GYM teacher!"

There you have it, folks: next time I call in sick, I'll just tell the office to leave my students in P.E all day!

Around Town

2011-09-06T20:47:00.000-04:00

Some things going on around our town these days:

*As of Monday, we're down in the double digits as our highs. After MONTHS of walking the dog in 88 degrees at 6 in the morning - our lows got down to the mid-60's. This must be what heaven feels like.

*I asked the kids what the weather was like today (when we all walked outside to the portable, it was sunny and 80 degrees). All of my kindergartners said COLD!

*I heard a rumor that Starbucks now has pumpkin lattes available for the fall season. Is this true?!? I need to know!

*Max and I are both feeling under the weather. Not sick enough to stay home, just sick enough to be uncomfortable.

*My student "Gilberto" hasn't started back with us yet. Something about enrollment papers and bus transportation issues. I have no idea when he'll show up!

*There are 22 more school days until my next three day weekend!!!

Avoiding Writing Nightmares

2011-09-04T08:01:00.000-04:00

I hate teaching writing.

Don't get me wrong... I love to write, I just can't stand teaching it. This is my seventh year teaching and every single year my goal has always been to be better at teaching writing.

I'm happy to say, this year it might actually happen! We are doing writer's workshop, and here is my little board for that:

Two other things are making it easier for me this year. One: portable word walls/mini offices. I printed out the portable word walls from here and then used ABC stickers on top. I found the concept and resources here. (Ahhh, thank you, internet!). And since I only have nine students, it didn't take me long to make these:

The second thing that's making it easier is my visual rubric of what "good work" looks like. I sat down with the kids and I did three variations on the assignment "write about your house". They helped me label each work sample:

Now it's easy to refer back to when they say "I'm finished!"

What about you? Do you have any tips/tricks for making writing less painful?

Cue the sighing

2011-08-31T17:41:00.000-04:00

.... and cue the behavior plan, the documentation forms, and the PRAYING.

Because today? Today I got the news that Gilberto is coming to our school after all. It turns out that his mom got confused about the zip code and he is still within our district boundaries, even though they've moved.

My colleagues have been saying encouraging things to me all day (after their laughter died down, that is):
"He was so much better at the end of last year!"
"Maybe he'll have matured!"
"I'll pray for him..."

So I guess the Lord is going to give me the strength to teach Gilberto! I've been trying to stay positive about the whole thing - to remind myself that I CAN do this - to accept the situation with grace and professionalism.

But I'll be honest. Part of me wants to throw a little hissy fit.

Teacher = Miracle Worker

2011-08-29T18:11:00.000-04:00

Yep. I'm about at that point where I take stock of the students on my caseload and the learning expectations, and declare that I'm expected to make miracles happen. I mean, how else am I going to get 5 kindergartners and 3 first graders who are at least a year behind grade level up to speed?

It's easy to get overwhelmed - especially when you add all of the other pressures of teaching into the mix.

It's at times like these where I need to slow down and get back the right perspective. Twenty years down the road, my students are not going to remember if they mastered rhyming words in Kindergarten. They won't remember if they got all caught up by the end of the academic year.

But what they will remember? Me.

Was I the stressed out teacher who didn't have time to smile? The teacher who gave them an endless stream of worksheet packets? The teacher who often raised her voice in frustration?

Or was I the teacher who showed them I cared? Did I smile and laugh and slow down enough to follow their tangents sometimes? Did I go the extra mile to make a dry curriculum fun and engaging? Did I let them know they were loved?

via

I'm still striving to be the caring teacher, as overwhelmed as I feel sometimes!!

The jumble in my brain

2011-08-26T05:00:00.004-04:00

Week One with the kiddos and here's what I think so far:

*My five kindergartners are so adorable. I literally could take them home with me!

*Grade Level Chair, member of the RTI team (which meets often), and Sunshine committee chair.... um, hopefully this isn't too much on my plate!

*Getting back into the school routine isn't easy. Going from 0 responsibilities to LOTS of them throws me for a loop!

*My teacher desk is already a war zone. Never mind all of my good intentions of keeping it clean...

*The bus situation has been handled and everyone is at school!

*Forget 40 minutes.... I need about 3 hours of planning to cross off my daily to-do list!

*I'm tired. Yesterday I almost used my foundation as deodorant!

*It's going to be a super busy year (what with teaching out of the kindergarten AND the first grade Language Arts curriculum), but... a GOOD one!

the miracle on my first day of school

2011-08-24T13:41:00.001-04:00

I've been repressing something all summer. It's true. I knew I was going to have a first grader this year ("Gilberto") with a LOT of discipline problems. I know he has issues because I saw them first-hand last year.

Like his daily tantrums.

Like the time he punched another kid.

Like the time he whacked the principal with some bulletin board paper trim.

And his teacher would marvel at all the TEACHING she could get done whenever he was absent from school.

But I didn't let it weigh me down. I thought "I'll deal with this when I get back to school." And then (miracle of miracles!) I actually forgot all about him and had a terrific summer!

Then Monday came: the first day the kids came to school. And as I drove to work, I thought "Gilbertooooooooooooooo". Then I sighed. Then I prayed:

"Lord, please give me YOUR strength to deal with Gilberto and all his behaviors... or else remove the problem completely."

So you can picture my utter shock and relief upon learning later that morning that Gilberto and his family had moved away to a different part of Texas!! I imagine God knew exactly what I would be able to handle and what I wouldn't!!!!

New (school) year resolutions

2011-08-22T05:00:00.003-04:00

{source}

I don't know about you, but I'm not one for setting New Year's Resolution goals come December 31st. Never have been!

But!

At the start of every SCHOOL year? I definitely set resolutions and goals for myself. So in honor of the first official day of school today, here are a few that I'm working on:

* Sending home a weekly newsletter. I especially feel this is important for my kindergarteners. I plan on using the free (and super cute) newsletter templates from The Mailbox. To access them for yourself, sign up for their "my mailbox" program for free!

* Writer's workshop. I hate teaching writing - I'm too easily overwhelmed by it. I'm hoping that organized mini-lessons and conferencing one-on-one will make it easier to handle!

* Daily 5 and CAFE. (This is a reading program structure.) I've done Daily 5 for the past two years and now it's time to add the CAFE component. Lucky me there are so many resources online to help me get good at it!

* Social- emotional vocabulary. This year we have a 15 minute window scheduled in for morning meeting. This will be a great opportunity for language learning for my students with hearing loss!

What about you? Any goals this year?

Oh no!! Where did all the kids go?

2011-08-20T07:52:00.000-04:00

Picture this: It's your first day of Kindergarten. You have your backpack all ready to go; you've eaten a great breakfast, and you are wearing your shiny new clothes. You're waiting at the bus stop.

{source via Pinterest}

Except.... the bus never comes.

This is going to be a reality for my students with hearing loss come Monday. We changed IEP software systems over the summer and not everyone's transportation information got switched over. And since we're a regional program, my kids are bused in from up to 30 miles away... which means if mom and dad both work, they can't just swing by the school to drop off their child!

We've been on the phone with transportation (who've been inundated with similar calls across the district) all week and still everything is up in the air. They don't have a timeline for when everyone's info will be switched to the new system.

Which means: not only is there a good chance that none of my nine kiddos will show up on Monday, they may not even show up the whole first week!!

Congratulations and Condolences

2011-08-17T08:06:00.000-04:00

Congratulations and Condolences: This is what my husband had to give me last night when I told him what had happened.

That morning, I had been called into the principal's office. That always makes me want to pee my pants...

She started off telling me what an excellent teacher I was. Something about my "good ideas", and "organization". I was feeling really nervous at this point. When someone starts out by praising you, it's either because you're in trouble, or there's bad news, or they need something from you.

Sure enough, then she asked me if I would be the Kindergarten Grade Level Chair.

The Grade Level Chair (GLC) has to attend a monthly meeting and is responsible for communicating directives from the administration to grade level team members. The GLC also has to coordinate things like field trips and other affairs.

I said I would do it (although I didn't really have much of a choice!), even though I'm a deaf education teacher who is split between Kindergarten AND First grade. Apparently my principal thought I would be better suited for this job than my three other Kindergarten colleagues.

So I'm flattered that she thought I was worthy! But I despair over the extra responsibility!

In honor of my first day back

2011-08-15T05:00:00.003-04:00

Today is my first day back to school for my seventh year as a teacher. (I have a week of professional development meetings before the kids arrive.) Although I like my job and am happy with my career choice, I just have to say.... NOT working is always more fun than working!

I very much enjoyed my summer (how is it over already? I blinked and then it was gone!), but I couldn't resist creating this graph to represent how my summer seems to go. I pretty much stole the idea from something my husband said!

Whaddaya think? Is this you? Or are you better about living in the moment?

lots of fun between 33 hours of driving

2011-08-14T05:00:00.006-04:00

For the past three weeks, we've been visiting family in New Jersey and Maine. Yes, we drove from Texas. Yes, we are insane! I took 406 pictures and wanted to share just a few with you here:

Chocolate covered bacon - YUM

A Princeton campus tour

At Otto's Pizza - it was amazing!

Ice cream in downtown Portland, ME

Hot dogs around the campfire with my brother and sister

Mom and Dad: we took this picture especially for you. Doesn't this bring back memories?

Only this time we're not fighting back there!!

The whole gang

School starts tomorrow. I'm so glad I have such fun memories to look back on!!

what to say for back-to-school, a list of do's and don'ts

2011-08-12T05:00:00.002-04:00

If there's a teacher in your life who's going back to school very soon, here's a little list of things to say, and things better left unsaid.

Things to say:

1. It'll be okay.
2. You'll be fine once you get in your routine.
3. The kids will be so happy to see you!
4. Are you having fun going back-to-school shopping?
5. It's so great that you got all that time to rest and recuperate!
6. I hope you have a great year and a great class!
7. Wow, where did the summer go?
8. It'll be okay.

Things NOT to say:

1. Welcome back to the real world of work.
2. It's about time you got off the couch!
3. So... you'll start actually earning that paycheck now?
4. It's about time!
5. Don't be such a baby.
6. Aren't you soooooo excited to go back to school?
7. My kids have been wild! I can't wait to send them back to school!
8. Only 180 more school days to go until next summer!

Well? Did I leave anything out?

It all started with a cake fight

2011-08-10T05:00:00.005-04:00

Nine years ago today, I married my honey! Here's the cake fight that started it all:

(If you want more of our love story, read here!)

It was definitely a magic moment! If it weren't for this cake fight, we may never have gotten married! I love everything about this picture: the joy, the fun, the utter candidness. I'm so lucky to have married my best friend!

advice for a new teacher

2011-08-08T05:00:00.002-04:00

I had a new reader recently email me to ask for advice for "hopeful special education teachers-to-be". It made me think about my six years in various special education placements.

It really boils down to ~~two~~ three important pieces of advice:

1. A happy and healthy teacher is a more effective teacher.
You will quickly find out that you could spend 24/7 in your classroom and STILL not get everything done that you wanted to do. There's always something you could be doing better. Do yourself a favor and set boundaries on your time. During my first year of teaching, I came home at 5 PM everyday (kids were dismissed at 3) whether I was "done" with my work or not. It saved my sanity, and it may well have saved my marriage. The workload gets slightly easier after the first few years, but maintaining balance is always crucial.

2. Always remember: you are teaching children, not curriculum!
Good ol' Mr. Rogers said it best:

It's easy to convince people that children need to learn the alphabet and numbers. How do we help people to realize that what matters is how a person's inner life finally puts together the alphabet and numbers of his outer life?

What really matters is whether he uses the alphabet for the declaration of war or the description of a sunrise, and his numbers for the final count in Buchenwald or for the specifics of a new bridge.

3. Hang in there!
There are going to be days that you are going to wonder "Why in the world am I doing this? I did NOT sign up for this!!". There are going to be days where you are so tired, you won't remember how to spell your last name. Days when it feels like the whole world is against you: parents, students, colleagues, administrators, President of the United States. Days when you've made 4,000 decisions and don't have it in you to answer a simple yes-or-no question at the dinner table. On those days remember: "I am choosing to make a difference in the lives of children society would rather forget. However hard, however stressful, however tiring, it is worth it. The kids are worth it."

What important piece of advice would you give a new teacher?

(mis)adventures with my sewing machine

2011-08-06T05:00:00.000-04:00

I made this half apron (from a tutorial using two pillowcases) as a little hostess gift for my sister:

It's a good thing it's not something you wear outside of the house because the stitching is anything but straight (I even had to glue down a section in the back). Oh and the pocket flaps are frayed because I forgot to fold it under before sewing. Um, and the pockets may be slightly uneven.

But other than that, totally cute! Plus she's my sister so she has to like it...

School is the new "s" word

2011-08-05T13:42:00.000-04:00

I'm trying VERY hard to live in denial that this upcoming week is my last week of summer vacation. (I am unashamedly greedy about my time off!)

We've been having a fabulous time with my sister and her husband in New Jersey. They complain it's hot here, but it's a full 20 degrees cooler than what we left behind in Texas! I have lots and lots of pictures to share as soon as I get them off my camera... So for now, words will have to do:

We've been...

eating out
playing pool
going to the beach (yay Jersey shores!)
shopping
cooking fantastic meals
crafting the day away
visiting with old high school friends passing through town
walking around New York City
eating homemade ice cream

And tomorrow the four of us will drive up to Maine to visit my younger brother. I haven't seen him in TWO YEARS!!! So I'm excited. It will also be my first time tent camping. (Wish me luck!)

Hope you're all enjoying what's left of your summer!!

10 steps to a happy September

2011-08-03T05:22:00.000-04:00

Ten Steps to a happy September (or August if you go back early like us Texas teachers):

1. Develop short term amnesia: forget about all of that summer fun, it's all behind you now. It's over. Pretend it never happened.

2. Prepare your classroom ahead of time.

3. Find an organizational system that works for you, and then USE IT!

4. Remember to go to bed early, as in before it even gets dark.

5. Refrain from working 14 hour days, even though the temptation is there.

6. Remind yourself of all of those great activities you found over the summer that you were going to try this year. Do at least one!

7. Drill those routines and procedures into your students until you're blue in the face!

8. Suck up to your principal, the school secretaries, and the janitorial staff.

9. Remind yourself of all the happy parts of teaching. Focus on those. Smile.

10. Refrain from counting down until the next summer break!!

Interchangeable headbands

2011-07-31T05:00:00.009-04:00

Summer is the perfect time to dust off my sewing machine! I'm still a beginner in so many ways, but I caught sight of this tutorial for interchangeable ruffle headbands and I fell in love...

Here are the eight I made (I kind of couldn't stop once I got started...)

How about I model one for you?

I think they look totally cute. Max isn't so sure...

What projects have you tackled recently?

Oh how pinteresting!

2011-07-28T05:00:00.024-04:00

If you haven't yet discovered Pinterest for yourself, let me introduce you! It's a way to virtually pin your favorite finds around the internet - you can use it to organize favorite recipes, decorate your home, plan your wedding, inspire your classroom decor, etc.

You can create different boards, and follow other people to browse what they've pinned. Here's a screenshot of my profile:

And here's a sneak peek at some things I've pinned to inspire me for school:

Perfect for a classroom economy (source)

Paint bag spelling words (source)

Encourage writing adjectives (source)

Back to school party (source)

If you'd like to join Pinterest, shoot me an email at untenuredteacher [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll send you an invite!!

Lemonade Pie

2011-07-25T05:00:00.001-04:00

I made this a while back for our Fourth of July festivities, and it was a hit! And I realized later that this recipe can easily become Lime Pie! Or Pina Colada Pie! You just have to substitute the lemonade concentrate and the lemon pudding for whichever flavor floats your boat!

Here's the recipe (originally found in an old copy of Southern Living):

Ingredients:

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk

2 (3.4 oz) pkgs lemon instant pudding mix

1 Tbsp lemon zest (optional, really)

2 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 (12 oz can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

1 (9 inch) ready made graham cracker pie crust

optional: whipped topping

Directions:

1. Whisk together evaporated milk and next 2 ingredients in a bowl 2 minutes or until thickened.

2. Beat cream cheese and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy.

3. Add lemonade concentrate, beating until smooth; add milk mixture and beat until blended.

4. Pour into crust. Cover and chill 8 hours or until firm.

5. Enjoy (and try not to devour all in one sitting!)

Road trip coping mechanism

2011-07-23T05:00:00.000-04:00

Today is the second day of our long trek from Texas to New Jersey. Twenty-five hours in the car! Normally we try to get it all over with in one miserable day (like the 20 hours from here to Michigan). But this time, we stopped midway.

Why are taking this trip? To see my sister and brother-in-law (who we haven't seen since Christmas) and to see my brother (who we haven't seen in TWO YEARS!!!). We'll be gone for few weeks so posting will be light. I am SO EXCITED for all the fun we'll have!

Any end-of-the-summer plans for you?

(accidentally) free starbucks

2011-07-21T17:59:00.000-04:00

It all started on the last day of school. My cooperating general education teacher gave me a $10 Starbucks gift card to thank me for all of my help this year. It was totally sweet and unexpected!

However, when I went to use it a week or two later, the card reader said the gift card was EMPTY! I protested, said it must have been a mistake, that I had just gotten this as a gift!

The barista felt sorry for me and gave me my iced coffee for free. Score! But I felt sad about the empty gift card. It would have been too awkward to ask the gift-giver to reload it.

So a week or so later I went to a different Starbucks, hoping beyond hope that the last time was just a card reader mistake.

Nope. It happened again. The card came up empty. This time, although I did express my disappointment, I had my credit card ready in my other hand to pay for my drink just in case. But the nice barista behind the counter just waved it off, and said "Don't worry about it, it's on the house!"

WELL. Imagine my surprise when I cleaned out my purse today and found a different Starbucks card. When I looked up the balance online, I was pretty shocked to see that it had $10 on it!!!

Oops.

I guess I had mistaken an old, expired card for my new gift card and had been trying to pay with that. (And getting free coffee in the meantime, ahem.)

Sooooo, anyone want to meet me at Starbucks?

Swimsuit score

2011-07-19T17:07:00.000-04:00

We're taking a trip to New Jersey later this week to visit my sister and brother-in-law. On the phone, she told me to make sure I packed my swimsuit.

Unfortunately, the only swimsuit I have is from 2005. It's a bit outdated. All summer I've been on the lookout for cute swimsuits. It kind of made me sick to my stomach that the cheapest one I could find was $36. Dropping that kind of cash on something I won't wear that often is out of the question!

So I waited.

Every once in a while, I would pop into a store only to get discouraged by styles, price tags, or both.

UNTIL! Until today I went to Old Navy on a whim (it was right next to Joann Fabrics, my original destination). We leave on Friday, so today was going to be my last ditch attempt.

And I scored big time! They were having an end-of-season swimsuit clearance - all swimsuits just SIX DOLLARS!! I found this super cute one similar to this (the picture is from a seller on ebay since I couldn't find it at Old Navy online):

It looks way better on me than on the mannequin if I don't say so myself... Can't wait to wear it with my sister at the beach!

Kitchen remodel

2011-07-16T14:48:00.001-04:00

When we first moved into this house two years ago, we were totally in love with everything... except for the kitchen. While it had brand new appliances, the wallpaper was very, um, vintage (and not in the cool way). We hated the border, and half of the cabinets had knobs missing.

We talked about remodeling it someday, but I always thought it was just one of those things we were going to talk about but never do.

Then one day in May (during my husband's one week break between classes) I came home to find that Max has taken off all of the kitchen cabinets. SURPRISE! We're redecorating.

What started off as a one week project turned into about three weeks. Max didn't realize that it would take two 12-hour days just to peel off the 45 year old wall paper. Since we were repainting the cabinets, there was a lot of sanding to be done. In fact, there were lots and LOTS of tedious steps. Here's just a snippet:

And (because I know my parents are wondering), our three cats and our dog did just fine during the remodel. Occasionally, Mrs. Huffepuff even tried to help:

The final touches were just finished up this morning (it took me the longest time to get the right curtains - thanks IKEA!). So I'd like to give you the grand tour of our new and improved kitchen:

The view coming into the kitchen through the hallway (teapot print from Laura Amiss)

Light blue and white

Our trusty deep freezer

Original watercolors from Blue Egg Watercolors.

IKEA curtains

Rug and dishtowels from Target

My trusty recipe box. I should really cook more...

Every time I walk into my "new" kitchen, it makes me smile. Especially with the new curtains!

(P.S The winner of the "Awakened" giveaway is Sharlene!)

A classroom tour

2011-07-14T10:39:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my classroom! Come on in and take a peek:

Student names will be written on the frogs before the first day of school!

Language Arts area: where all the magic happens

Calendar: with a high focus on vocabulary (PS: don't you love that rug?)

Command central: where I conquer the paperwork

And my back counter and shelf space underneath is used for storage. For two years, the clutter had been bothering me. Plus, it's too tempting for wandering little eyes:

So I decided to install some curtains. I sewed the fabric myself! (Aren't you proud of me?) I think it turned out much better:

And now, I can enjoy my last month of summer vacation completely STRESS FREE!!

(PS: have you entered my giveaway yet? Today is your last chance!)

Mooooooo for free food

2011-07-11T05:00:00.001-04:00

Last Friday was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A. For those of you who don't have a Chick-Fil-A in your state, you have my condolences. It's the best fast food ever.

Anyways, if you dressed up like a cow, you could get a free MEAL (yes, with delicious waffle fries and pop to boot!). So guess who went out for a free lunch?

The expression on Max's face just about sums up how he felt about the whole ordeal. Mixed feelings.

We pulled up to our local restaurant and saw that it was packed -- and besides the employees, we were the only ones dressed up!!

But then we got thirteen dollars worth of food - for FREE.

I said to Max: "Look at all this food we got for FREE!"

He said: "Well minus the social cost...." (as he looked nervously around the restaurant.)

Me: "Honey, all these people could have gotten a free meal. Guess who's the idiot, now?"

Him: "I know exactly who the idiot is."

Near the end of our meal, a gaggle of giggling girls walked in. They were the only other ones dressed up like cows. As we walked by them on our way out the door, one of them said: "See we're not the only ones who did it!"

And to make Max feel even better, on the way out to our car, a guy standing in the parking lot with a group of friends hollered: "Hey, man, so did it work?"

YES! Yes we got our free food. And by the end of it, even my husband was feeling good about it.

What's the craziest thing you've ever done to score free food?

is it ever really over?

2011-07-09T05:00:00.002-04:00

You may remember from a few posts ago that I've already started setting up my classroom for the new year (teachers report 8/15). As sad as this makes me, I know I'll be glad when I'm not worrying about school during our three week vacation in late July/early August.

As you may expect, NO ONE is at school yet, besides the janitorial staff.

The other day, our custodian walked by my classroom and looked at me in surprise. "Back already?" he said, "What is there for you to do here?!"

[Insert crazy maniacal laughing here!]

Here was my list:

Four and a half hours later, here was my list.... all but one checked off. Not bad, huh?

Then I hit Target and scored some major loot for my classroom in the dollar bin section. I also bought a rug for my calendar area (this was not in the dollar section by the way, but not bad at $30!)

When everything is exactly to my liking, I'll give you the grand tour - it's froggy themed this year!!

PS: Have you entered my giveaway yet?

Shabby Apple SALE!!

2011-07-08T11:20:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to let you know that one of my favorite online clothing companies- Shabby Apple - is having a summer sale! Just enter SUMMER20 at checkout for 20% off. This even includes their sale items and their Practically Perfect section!

Here are some of the ones I'm currently drooling over:

The Red Fir Dress

The Jody Maxman PP

Le Soleil

Treat yourself to a back-to-school dress!

And don't forget to enter my giveaway!

"awakened" review and giveaway!!

2011-07-07T09:58:00.000-04:00

Is this how you feel about your teaching job?

If so, you're in luck! Angela Watson (of The Cornerstone For Teachers) has written a new book where she addresses how to avoid cynicism, discouragement, and burn-out by having a positive mindset.

I was so thankful to have the opportunity to review Awakened. It came at a good time: my summer is halfway over (sigh...), and I've been super apprehensive about this fall. I'll be teaching Kindergarten for the first time, and I'll be partnered with a general education teacher who is less than competent.

And, if I'm going to be honest, I've had a lot of the negative thoughts throughout my six years of teaching that Angela outlines in the book. I've been a worry-er. I've jumped to pessimistic conclusions. I've taken things personally. I've stressed out about the what-ifs.

But all that can change! Angela shows that through positive self-talk and reframing, you can transform your mindset! She takes you through step by step in an easy-to-read, relate-able, and relevant way. This book is valuable to every teacher, no matter where they are in their journey!

Would you like to win a copy? I thought so!

Mandatory entry: Tell me one positive thing you are looking forward to about this upcoming school year!

EXTRA entries:

for one extra entry, follow my blog

for one extra entry, subscribe to Angela's blog via email

for two extra entries, blog about this giveaway

Important: leave a separate comment for each entry (so for example, if you do all the entries, you'll leave 5 separate comments!)

Open to USA and Canada. Giveaway ends 7/14 at 11:59 PM. Winner will be drawn and announced the following day. Good luck!!

Jumping on the bandwagon

2011-07-04T05:00:00.002-04:00

Have you jumped on the Greek yogurt bandwagon? Greek yogurt is basically regular yogurt with much less sugar and much more protein.

I bought some at Kroger the other day because they were on sale and I wanted to know what all the fuss is about (I know, I'm so late to the game....). It's pretty good! It was even better when I sliced up some fresh strawberries and mixed it in.

You know who else is a big fan of Greek yogurt? Barney:

What about you? Are you a fan?

that'll teach me to be optimistic

2011-07-01T09:03:00.000-04:00

One of the summer's necessary evils is Teacher Professional Development. In my district, you have to do 14 hours of it - 2 days over the summer (this is in addition to the week-long professional development we sit through the week before school starts).

I was hopeful about my training this summer. During the last month of school, my principal came to find me and gave me a special catalog of courses to choose from because I was a "Master Teacher". I'm not really sure what the qualifications are for being a Master Teacher, but I was flattered she considered me to be one!

So I showed up kind of excited on the first day. I had chosen something titled "Closing the achievement gap" by a visiting professor from Michigan State. Unfortunately, the speaker didn't show up and the powerpoint slides were read by a district staff member. Boo.

I was cautiously optimistic on my next training day. But the title implied some pop-psychology drivel ("The power of the Empowerment Dynamic"). Sure enough the first FULL seven minutes, the speaker turned off all the lights and led us into some "centering" activity. We were supposed to close our eyes, breathe deeply and put all of our troubles in this imaginary box. Then we were supposed to pretend we were on a beach.

I was highly uncomfortable with this whole thing. The lady next to me fell asleep. Twice. But mostly people seemed to be enjoying it. Except me with my eyes wide open, as well as the rather large gentleman swirling his straw through the ice in his cup.

If this was what the "Master Teachers" got to learn about, I would just hate to know what kind of training the other teachers got....

broke teachers

2011-06-29T08:42:00.000-04:00

I've been working on my classroom already, getting it set up for next year. Usually, I would wait until the week or two before school starts, but we'll be out of town on vacation and I do NOT want that trip to be spoiled thinking about my bare walls and empty classroom.

So I'm being proactive about it! I went to the teacher store last week and handed over ~~my soul~~ ~~an arm and a leg~~ lots of money and got some much needed supplies. All in froggy theme!! My door is going to say: "Hop in to Kindergarten and First grade". Cuteness! I'll show you pictures when it's all said and done.

I'm really sweating it in terms of using my own money for my classroom this year. Because of the budget crisis, they took away our $250 stipend for materials! Sadness. But at least I still have a job!

If you're hard up for cash too (and who isn't?), go check out Erica's Elementary Excitement. She's giving away a $50 gift card to Lakeshore and a $25 gift card to Target!

Learning the hard way

2011-06-25T08:50:00.000-04:00

It was the first night of our mini-vacation in Michigan. We were all still in the living room at ten o'clock but we were thinking about heading to bed.

We decided to let our dog Barney out one more time to pee before bedtime. I opened the back door to the deck and he sprinted around the corner. It was pretty dark, and I followed, calling his name.

Just then I saw him out by the barn, jumping, leaping and frolicking with what seems to be a black cat with a white tail. As he heard me calling his name, though, he ran towards me.

And as he was running towards me, I realized a few things instantly:

1. Barney was blinking a lot.
2. He was trying to paw his own face.
3. An invisible cloud of powerful, concentrated stink was following him.

Poor doggy had just been sprayed in the FACE by a skunk! And in my panic at his distress, I foolishly picked him up and carried him toward the house. I cracked open the back door and yelled for help!

And if you're wondering, 1 quart peroxide mixed with 1 quarter cup baking soda and 1 spoonful of soap got most of the stink out of his fur.

Lesson(s) learned: Barney now knows that not every creature is friendly. And I now know not to pick up the dog when he's covered in overwhelming stink.

Collagical vacation

2011-06-23T13:32:00.000-04:00

We spent a too-short week with my in-laws in Michigan. It was heavenly! It was great being with family again, plus, nothing (and I mean NOTHING) beats Michigan in the summertime. It's simply gorgeous.

Here's a recap, collage-style:

We played mini golf!

We hung out with my nephew!

We played in the pond behind the house!

And, of course, we went out to dinner!

Hope you're having a lovely summer as well :)

I got a boo-boo

2011-06-21T11:00:00.000-04:00

Kids want band-aids for everything. Every bump, scrape, bruise, or imaginary injury needs a band-aid STAT. I can't count the number of times a student will come up to me to show me their boo-boo... I often have to get out the magnifying glass.

Most students wear their band-aids proudly, a testament to conquered monkey bars, or imaginary enemies defeated. Sometimes the reason behind a band-aid is a little embarrassing: tripped over shoe laces, perhaps, or even walked into a door.

I found the PERFECT conversation piece at Urban Outfitters:

No explanation necessary. "Dance-off" says it all!

home is where the hearts are

2011-06-19T05:00:00.002-04:00

We're in Michigan this week for a mini-vacation with my husband's family! We've been having a lovely time, and I can't wait to show you pictures later on. But for now I thought I'd share a crafty little project I did to spruce up our dining area:

I cut out silhouettes of all the places we've lived, then glued down hearts in our specific cities:

Then I framed them in a display!

Now, when someone asks me where I'm from, I can just point to the wall!

making my mouth water

2011-06-17T08:00:00.001-04:00

There are a gazillion recipes I'd like to try and make this summer. I made this chocolate chip cookie dough dip recently and I was happy with the way it turned out!

Next on the list:

Red Velvet Cookies

Stuffed Zucchini

Herbed Summer Squash and Potato Torte

Roasted Tomatoes with Shrimp and Feta

Sweetie Pies

Have you made anything delicious lately?

Summer reading

2011-06-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

Besides crafting, I have a list of books I'd like to read this summer.

source

I recently finished Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore (LOVED it!), and next up:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland
Bossypants by Tina Fey

Anything I should add to the list? What are you reading this summer?

My summer to-do list

2011-06-13T13:00:00.001-04:00

I'm a list-maker, even in the summer time. I can't help it! Here are some crafty projects I've been meaning to sink my teeth into:

Ruffle Headband from Funky Polka Dot Giraffe

World Map from 30 Days

Flower ring from V and Co

Fabric tape from Sunshine and Carousels

Ruffle Bracelet from Craft Snob

What's on your summer to-do list?

who let the cat out of the bag?

2011-06-11T14:51:00.000-04:00

What's a teacher-blogger to do when school is out for the summer?! I'm forced to blog about my cats!

I was going through some pictures the other day, and I realized that Mrs. Hufflepuff has a soft spot for tight places:

If I had any creative energy in me right now, I'd caption these for LOLcatz!

Forced amnesia

2011-06-09T10:48:00.001-04:00

On Wednesday of last week, while we were still in school, I had a really hard time falling asleep. I was worried about next school year. I was stressing over being paired two general education teachers that I don't get along with. (One who doesn't pull her weight in the classroom, the other one who talks nonstop.) I was worried about teaching Kindergarten for the first time. I was dreading the fall.

I woke up so groggy and so tired. When I told Max why I didn't sleep well, he said:

"You had better enjoy your summer vacation because you've been talking about nothing else for the last 8 months!"

I'm pretty sure that was a slight exaggeration on his part, but whatever. Message received.

And I'm happy to say that I've crammed a lot of enjoyment into my summer break and it hasn't even been a full week yet!

STOMP was mind-blowingly awesome! I have no pictures (against the rules at the concert hall) so you'll just have to take my word for it! Those performers are crazy talented - the show was so cool and surprisingly funny too! Go see it if you can. Trust me!

Then yesterday we went to see the Rangers play the Tigers with some friends. Sadly the Tigers lost, but at least I got some hotdogs and a frozen lemonade out of the deal! Nothing says summer like a warm night at a baseball game, right? I feel so American.

Today I'll be crafting away for my little store, and tomorrow I'll be meeting up with some bloggy friends at a local Mexican restaurant! Ahhhhh the life of a teacher....

Stomping the summer off to a great start!

2011-06-07T11:22:00.000-04:00

Today is Tuesday. It is also the Best Day Ever.

Why?

Because today I'm crossing the number one item off of my life list: I'm going to see STOMP!

Last week, Max randomly surprised me with really good tickets to see the show. I didn't know they were going to be in town. I didn't know Max was planning to do anything special! But he wanted to celebrate the beginning of my summer! Isn't that sweet?

I've only been talking about seeing STOMP for, I don't know, like the last ten years! I can't wait to get all dressed up for it tonight! Hopefully I'll have some pictures for you later this week!

Are you doing anything special to kick off the summer?

Pam Allyn's "best books for boys" (and my "aha" moment)

2011-06-06T05:00:00.000-04:00

I recently had the opportunity to review this fabulous book by Pam Allyn:

It's a quick read, with most of it a helpful annotated list of great reads for boys.

At the beginning of the book, Pam spends time explaining why we need to focus on boys' reading behavior. She shares some startling statistics: girls outperform boys in reading throughout elementary, middle, and high school. Boys are less likely to take the SATs, apply for college, and earn a degree. Boys are less confident that they will achieve their goals for the future. Boys are not as passionate about their education and don't see themselves as readers and writers!

Then Pam shares what we need to do to ensure that our boys become lifelong readers. She explains in depth that Ritual, Environment, Access, and Dialogue will encourage boys to read without making it feel like an obligation.

One part of the book really stuck with me. Pam says on page 25:

We must allow our boys to read above their levels, too (...) There are plenty of times that our boys want to peruse a topic and can glean a great deal just by browsing, especially if they are deeply interested in something.

When I read this, I had visions of "Miguel," my lowest reader, who time and again would ask me if he could read the Police Car book. And every time I said "No" because the book was so far above his level. I may have dampened his enthusiasm for reading! I'll definitely be taking a different approach next year after reading what Pam had to say.

If you have boys in your classroom, or if you are raising sons, I highly recommend this book. It will be a valuable resource to you as you seek to create life-long learners!

*Note: I was not compensated for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I just like to share great resources with my readers!!

No tomorrow

2011-06-03T07:46:00.000-04:00

Yesterday (Thursday) was the last day of school for the kids. (The teachers will be back today to clean out our rooms and such).

It was Picnic Day, which is really like Field Day but with less supervision. The kids were running around outside, eating their hot dogs, dripping their popsicles, and riding ponies. YES! I'm not even kidding: I looked up at one point and the older sibling of one of our children had brought in two ponies for the kids to ride. A happy chaos ensued.

It was getting to be in the high nineties after lunch so we brought them in for a movie. It ended just as it was time to line up for the bus (for the final time - yay!).

I stood at the head of the line, and one of my first graders asked me, looking pensive, who was going to be the leader tomorrow. No doubt he was hoping that it was his turn to be at the head of the line next.

I smiled. "Nobody! School is over for the year -- there is no tomorrow!"

I can't tell if he looked disappointed or happy!

time is on my side

2011-05-31T20:34:00.000-04:00

You know when you ask your class a question and a bunch of little hands shoot up in the air, all eager to share their answer? You know when you call on one of them, and the kiddo just sits there and ummmms and aahhhhs, and finally says "I forgot" rather sheepishly?

Well that's what happened to my little blog recently. "I forgot."

Actually, it was more of a too-tired-after-field-day, got-sick-over-Memorial-Day, just-started-reading-a-good-book kinda thing.

And I'm checking in only to say that time feels like it's moving like this:

source

With three days of school left, the work is piled high (that detailed end-of-year checklist!), the kids are driving me CUH-RAZY, and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to focus on anything longer than 2.3 seconds.

But summer break? Thinking about that can hold my attention for slightly longer than 2.3 seconds....

at least i can squirt some kids

2011-05-26T17:37:00.001-04:00

Is it just me, or does time move more slowly nearing the last day of school? We've been "busy" with extra long recesses, awards ceremonies, career day, and cleaning out classrooms.

Technically the last day of school is next Thursday, but full-on babysitting mode has already begun! Tomorrow is our campus wide Field Day. Field Day is basically a few hundred kids running around in the sweltering heat while the teachers "supervise" their stations. The upside? We get to carry around squirt guns and spray the kids!!

Here's a picture of me during last year's Field Day. It was 98 degrees out there:

Tomorrow it's *only* supposed to be 95 and sunny. If you don't hear from me this weekend, it's because I've MELTED!

field trip massacre

2011-05-22T15:53:00.000-04:00

We took 41 first graders to the nature center on Friday. We spent the morning talking about habitats and food chains and protecting the environment. We did plenty of hands-on activities and got to see some pretty cool creatures.

And then? The field trip massacre.

It was right after lunch, and we were lined up outside to start our thirty minute guided hike. One of my deaf education kiddos, "Sherry" was at the the front of the line with some other girls. I suddenly heard a commotion and I turned around to someone crying "IT'S A BUG!!!"

Without a second's thought, Sherry brought her foot up as high as she could, and with all of her seven-year-old might, she slammed it down on top of the small beetle.

I gasped. Our tour guide gasped. Hadn't we been talking about protecting the environment and the creatures who live here?

"OH NO!" I said to Sherry. I didn't want to make her feel too bad (it's instinct after all, isn't it?), but I did give her a short lecture.

Our tour guide addressed the other 40 first graders and explained how we would be walking around any bugs that came across our path instead of on top of them.

She came back to Sherry and glanced down at the offending bug.

"I guess you should put it out of its' misery and finish him off...."

Friday Confessional

2011-05-20T07:31:00.000-04:00

I confess...

That in the last two weeks I've spent more time on the internet than lesson planning during my designated lesson planning time.

I confess...

That I truly felt appreciative of our principal on Bosses' Day! This is a foreign feeling.

I confess...

That I've been taking Max's cooking for granted! I need to cook more. Can't wait until we're done remodeling/redecorating our kitchen!

Sneak Peek: More pictures to follow!

I confess...

That $53.70 is the most I've ever spent on a pair of shoes. I bought a pair online yesterday (but that's a whole 'nother blog post!)

I confess...

That I'm kinda glad we're staying put for most of the summer. Gives me lots of time to craft!

I confess...

That I'm DREADING going in to school today. Taking 21 first graders to a local nature center in the pouring rain is not my idea of fun!

I confess...

That this is the FIRST meme I've ever done in five years of blogging! Click on the button to link up your Friday confessional!

A teacher's perspective, in graph form

2011-05-18T07:35:00.000-04:00

For all of you non-teachers out there, I've created a visual representation of the year. Pay particular attention to the month of May if you want to know how things are going these days!

Here's what's going on with the kids:

Here's what's going on with the teachers:

Getting there faster

2011-05-16T11:00:00.000-04:00

If you've ever walked a line of young children down the hall towards the doors that lead to a playground, then this post is going to make perfect sense to you.

It starts off well. You've ~~barked at~~ reminded the children to use their hallway manners and your line is looking pretty decent. Hands behind the back. Mouths closed (for the most part). Low speed.

Halfway down the hall and suddenly 24 pairs of arms are at their sides and the pace has quickened. Children are also talking to each other.

As you get nearer and nearer to the doors that lead outside, suddenly the children start hurrying, actually sprinting, towards freedom. The boys take the three steps that lead down to the doors all in one leap. They start whooping and hollering at the top of their lungs just as they come upon the threshold.

They know that the quicker they hurry, the faster they're going to be outside.

Friends. If only Time worked like that too. I would be teaching in speedy-mode, rushing to get to the end of the school year. I would be running to and fro. I would be typing my lesson plans at 100 wpm. I would be talking a mile a minute.

But there's nothing I can do except to make the most of the 13 days of school we have left!

the classroom discussions i live for

2011-05-13T21:30:00.000-04:00

I was with my deaf ed bunch one afternoon, and we were reading a Big Book called "I Swam with a Seal". In the book, a little girl goes to play with various animals and the animals wonder why she doesn't look like them.

Let me try to recreate a particularly interesting page that started an incident that had me laughing all the way home. (Note: blah blah blah = I don't remember the words)

"I bothered a beaver,

who was building a dam,

blah blah blah,

and away he swam.

Where is your strong tail,

you funny beaver?"

I know what you're all thinking: "Uh oh, some kid noticed the "dam" in the sentence and misunderstood!" Nope! Here's what happened:

I finished reading the page, and my second grader stops the class and says "Wait, wait, wait". He is looking pretty confused. Then he asked: "Beaver have tail?"

At least, that's what I thought he said, so I said: "Yes, beavers have tails!" I even pointed at the picture for emphasis.

He looked alarmed, and then said: "What? Justin Bieber have a TAIL?!?"

And then I giggled. A lot. Because "Beiber" and "beaver" sound very similar. So I wrote some things down on the board and drew some stick figures just to make sure that he didn't go home thinking his favorite superstar had a tail!

Teacher Appreciation Week

2011-05-10T05:00:00.001-04:00

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week and my school had a theme for it (because we like to go overboard like that): "We're WILD about our teachers!"

Monday we had to wear our zebra prints (and when hardly anyone did because who has zebra prints in their wardrobe, the principal had a good talking to with everyone.)

Tuesday we wore leopard prints. Yes, I had to go out and buy a special shirt for that one!

Wednesday was "bear your feet" day and we all got to wear flip flops (YESSSSS!)

Thursday was "Monkey see- Monkey Do" (twin day)

Friday was "wild mane day" (crazy hair)

I had a bit of fun on Friday, and this is what I looked like.

The kids kept raising their hands to tell me I had pink in my hair!

Anyways, breakfast was provided for us on the first two days and lunch was provided for the next three. The benefits of working in a mostly Hispanic school? When the parents get together to cook for you, it's better than ANYTHING you'll ever eat at a Mexican restaurant!

Teacher Appreciation Week was very yummy, but not so good for my waistline....

I hope all you teachers out there got spoiled, too!!

a mother's day story I wish was fictional

2011-05-08T07:14:00.000-04:00

When I announced to my small group of first and second graders that we were going to make chocolate covered pretzels for a Mother's Day gift on Friday, "Thomas" had a strange reaction. His usually smiling face fell into a dark scowl.

"I. Don't. Want to." he declared.

I was almost surprised until I remembered his family situation. Thomas was adopted from a land far away into a very rich couple's home. Yes, they knew he was deaf. But the rumor is, the couple wanted to save their marriage and an adopted kid seemed like just the thing.

A few years went by and the marriage dissolved anyway. Now little Thomas is raised by an aging grandfather and an elderly nanny that mom hired so she can live at her workplace.

From what I've observed, the mother treats him like he should be behaving like a forty year old man: grown up and mature already instead of the seven year old child that he is. It's hard to watch.

His nanny (who's been with him for most of his life) is the one who brings him to school, who drives over his lunch or his homework when he forgets it, and who communicates to his teachers.

So back to Friday. Not even after several encouraging prompts could I get Thomas to make a gift for his mother. It was only once I promised him that he could make two gifts - one for his mother, one for his nanny - that he changed his mind and decided to participate.

It broke my heart right down the middle.

Mom? Thank you SO much for not only doing the job yourself, but for having done such a terrific job to boot! I love you: you're the best!!

family planning according to a 3rd grader

2011-05-06T08:49:00.001-04:00

I was chatting with one of my third grade students in the deaf ed program. She asked me: "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No," I said, "I have a husband! I'm married!"

"Oh. Do you have kids?"

"No," I answered, "No kids yet!"

"Ohhhhh," she said in a knowing way, "wait until you're taller!"

Calendar place value

2011-05-04T06:00:00.000-04:00

I meant to share this about a hundred school days ago but better late than never! This is what we do in first grade to count days we've been in school.

I like this method in particular because you can show the separation of the ones, and then create a group of ten with a chain. Very visual!

Of course, I have a different kind of school day tracker on my desk (21 more days to go!!!!!!!!!!)

Birthday Weekend

2011-05-02T05:00:00.002-04:00

I turn 29 today!! Or as I like to say: "I'm turning 29 for the first time!" (HA!)

I had a wonderful birthday weekend! Camping fell through, but Plan B was pretty amazing! Max and I enjoyed eating out for breakfast, then we headed to the zoo! Here are some highlights:

This is my favorite shot of the day (if you look closely, it looks like a reptile is on my head!):

After the zoo, we headed to a frozen yogurt bar. I had a big cup of root beer frozen yogurt with white yogurt chips. Birthdays are delicious!

Shabby Apple Dress WINNER!

2011-05-01T07:52:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Heather R, who was comment number #144! The winner has been notified via email and has 48 hours to respond, or another winner will be chosen!

Plan B

2011-04-30T08:24:00.000-04:00

We were going to camping this weekend for my birthday, but plans fell through because Mother Nature forgot the world revolves around me today. Stormy and windy weather everywhere within a reasonable driving distance!

I've only been "camping" once. I have to use quotation marks here because we didn't sleep in a tent, we slept in the back of a Saturn Vue as we drove from Michigan to California (we stopped at TEN National Parks along the way!!)

Taken in 2005 at Zion National Park - I look so young here!

It was fun, but I was looking forward to go camping for reals in a tent and everything!

So plan B is going out for breakfast (I LOVE eating breakfast out, don't you?) and then visiting the local zoo. I'm excited!! I hope to have some pictures for you soon!

brought to you by charlie sheen

2011-04-27T07:26:00.000-04:00

Here are a few glimpses of Monday's pep rally. This was hanging in the auditorium.

"To exemplary and beyond" is our school motto this year. "Failure is not an option" is also written on the back of our special TAKS t-shirts and is oddly reminiscent of Charlie Sheen's Torpedo of Truth/Defeat is Not an Option tour. Hmmmm.

Also? Failure is always an option!! That's real life folks. We have to wear our special TAKS shirts for three days this week and it pains me to be walking around with a lie written across my back. So I've taken to wearing a sweater.

We enjoyed several performances as well: such (rewritten) classics as "I Will Survive" (performed by teachers in 70's disco attire), and "Baby got back" with motivational lyrics.

The kids loved it all! Now all we need to do is get through the actual testing, then we can all breathe a little easier...

because no one needs to see me dance

2011-04-25T07:38:00.000-04:00

As I write this, a local principal is addressing the local media to give last minute TAKS test-taking strategies to any kids watching, and reassuring parents that the teachers have done their best to prepare the students for the test.

Yes. The madness is upon us.

For those of you who are blissfully unaware of how Texas does state testing, TAKS is for grades 3-5 (at the elementary level - they take it again in middle school and high school) and comes around every April.

Texas is different from the two other states I've taught in because they've decided that they're going to label schools based on TAKS performance. That way, the whole community will know if a certain elementary school is unacceptable, acceptable, recognized, or commended.

As you can imagine, this causes a very unhealthy level of pressure from any Texas principal. The atmosphere in our school these last two months has been steadily approaching outright hysteria:

Countdown to the TAKS test on every white board.
Two hours of after school tutoring every Tuesday and Thursday. (Since October!)
Semi-mandatory Saturday school for under performing students. (Since January!)

Since the TAKS test starts tomorrow, the school has organized a pep rally today. The lower grades will perform cheers for the upper grades. The teachers are going to do motivational raps.

Somehow, I got out of doing any performing today. If anyone from the administration questions my loyalty to this school or to our 3rd-5th graders, I'm going to whip out my heavy duty camera and proclaim myself the official photographer of all this hoopla.

Cure for summer fever

2011-04-21T07:54:00.000-04:00

Let's face it: with just a smidge over six weeks until summer vacation, the kids (and staff) have Summer Fever.

It hit early this year. That could be because of the super nice weather, or the early onslaught of testing, or simply because we're all tired. But whatever the reason, it's here in full force.

For all of you non-teachers out there, here's what I mean by Summer Fever:

*The kids have gotten exponentially wigglier, so the whole classroom almost seems to vibrate with energy, buzz, and movement.

*The kids who used to be best of friends are at each other's throats. Think siblings who have been stuck in the back of a car for too long.

*The giant vat of patience that the teachers started with at the beginning of the year is now empty.

*More people stare out the windows.

*Countdowns are on every white board in the school, with staff giving each other regular updates for encouragement.

*Homework packets are getting thinner.

*The kids have completely forgotten all the rules and procedures we've been following since the beginning of the year.

There is no known cure for Summer Fever. We are still waiting for someone to develop a remote control for life. Until that time, here's what we've done to try to counteract the symptoms:

*Add an extra 20 minute recess every day.

*Bribe the kids for good behavior.

*Threaten to take away Field Day for bad behavior.

*Drink exponentially more caffeine.

*Leave the school building as soon as is humanly possible at the end of each day.

*Cling to our routines like the mast of a sinking ship.

WISH US LUCK!

Testing my patience

2011-04-18T06:11:00.000-04:00

"Attention: The last seven weeks of school are officially canceled due to lack of interest."

This is what I would like to say if I could get my hands on the P.A system. It's true for the kids (I've noticed an exponential increase in wiggly-ness lately) and for the teachers.

Don't get me wrong, I still like teaching. But for the next seven weeks all we'll be doing is testing.

First, there's TPRI reading inventory. This takes 10 to 15 minutes per child. Then there's M-Class math, which takes 20 minutes per child. Then there's DRA (another reading test) which takes about 30 minutes per child.

All of these tests must be administered individually. So I go through the test (times 24) until I can recite it in my sleep, until I feel and sound like a robot.

Once that round of testing is over, we've got the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills), which is a real doozy.

If someone could just give me the remote control, I'll do us all a favor and fast forward to June 3rd.

Shabby Apple Dress Giveaway CLOSED

2011-04-16T09:20:00.001-04:00

A long time ago, when I was studying to be a teacher, I vowed never to dress like one. You know what I mean: themed clothing with pumpkins/apples/reindeer/school busses embroidered onto a teacher vest.

No thanks, not for me! Instead, I've always tried to be stylish and comfortable when I dress for work.

Enter Shabby Apple. If you haven't heard of them before, you're in for a real treat! They sell beautiful women's dresses, girl's dresses, and even maternity dresses! I've long been a fan of their vintage inspired clothing.

They recently launched their Roamin Line: I'm just drooling over dresses like these!

The Casanova

The Trevi Fountain

The Tiber

Aren't they pretty? Shabby Apple has generously offered to give away the following dress (in your size) to one lucky Confessions reader. Ladies, meet The Amethyst:

What a gorgeous color, and perfect for the office or for a night out on the town! Drooling yet? Here's what you need to do to win this loveliness:

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Head over to Shabby Apple and leave me a comment here with the name of your favorite dress. Please include your email address in your comment!

EXTRA ENTRIES (optional):

+1 Like Shabby Apple on Facebook and leave your username.

+1 Become a public follower of this blog (current followers count, too!)

Please leave a separate comment for each entry to increase your odds of winning!

This giveaway ends 4/30 and the winner will be drawn the following day and notified via email. Open to US residents only. There are no exchanges for the winning dress.

PS: Do you want a Shabby Apple dress right now?! You're in luck! Use coupon code untenuredteacher10off for 10% off your order! (Bonus: 5% of all their sales go to help women worldwide!)

no laughing matter

2011-04-14T07:15:00.001-04:00

It was the end of a particularly bad day for Tammy. She had been defiant, she had been out of her seat more than not, and she stuck out her tongue at her classroom teacher.

At the end of the day, she asked me if she was going to get a sticker ("ticker?"). I sat down with her at my teacher table while my other students were reading quietly. I pulled out her behavior chart just as one of my colleagues showed up at the door. He stood in the doorway and watched us for a minute.

I counted the smiley faces for "I will follow directions". Two.
I counted the sad faces for following directions. Eight.

"Oh no, Tammy!" And as I started to debrief with her, I noticed my colleague at the door is laughing quietly. "You have more sad faces today! You did not follow directions. You did not stay in your chair. You stuck your tongue out at the teacher! No sticker for you today. Let's try again tomorrow."

Out of the corner of my eye, one of my other students was mouthing to my colleague at the door: "Stop laughing! It's not funny!" Her serious scolding made him laugh even harder, so he left our doorway.

I'm so glad the rest of my kids think bad behavior is no laughing matter!!

Father knows best

2011-04-11T06:10:00.001-04:00

There's a first grader I work with in the general education setting. Let's call him "Doug". He is highly distractable and often impulsive. On Thursday, though, he decided to add shouting and outright defiance to the mix.

It wasn't long before his behavior chart went from green, to yellow, to orange, to blue, to the dreaded RED.

My mild-mannered co-teacher got out her red pen and wrote his father a note with exclamation points! Serious trouble indeed.

On Friday, we got a note back from dad that simply said: "He's just being a kid." [Hold on a minute while I catch my breath in the face of such overwhelming parent support....]

In addition, he sent a strip of paper to school with Doug. It had two words written in green marker:

LISTEN

BEHAVE

He told Doug to put the paper inside his desk, that way it would help remind him to have good behavior.

OOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!! YOU MEAN THAT'S ALL WE HAD TO DO? A SLIP OF PAPER IS ALL HE NEEDS TO CURE HIS BEHAVIOR?!?! WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THAT?

My co-teacher and I looked at each other and wondered whether we should laugh or cry.....