Arrival

I'm here!

Amazingly, there were no delays or cancellations because of the weather AND my luggage arrived on time. Whaddayaknow? Everything was pretty uneventful, save for the annoying, boozed-up threesome sitting in front of me, flirting with each other and the flight attendant--then subsequently fighting with each other and with the flight attendant. I slept for four hours between the two so I'm not quite sure what happened to cause the change in mood...

As it turns out, I've discovered several things already:

1. It's boring traveling alone. There's no one to carry all my stuff, to sleep on, or to laugh with at other outrageous passengers.
2. It's cold in Syracuse. There's white stuff falling from the sky.
3. I forgot how static-y my hair gets in true winter weather.
4. NorthFace makes the warmest jackets. Hands down.
5. Contrary to popular belief, cardboard boxes can make both lovely and useful nightstands. I credit Rebekah with her frugality and ingenuity!
6. I can eat all the ice cream I want here and no one can hold me in check! Except, technically, my conscience, but I've killed her long ago.
7. I like cable.
8. Lack of boys = nicer smelling apartment. (Burn.)

Tomorrow, I'll miss Max.

One More Day!

It was just one of those days. Not the one where everything goes wrong, but the one with all of the insurmountable stress ... Between trying to set up IEP meeting dates, getting the right paperwork home, planning for a brand new unit on Monday (the Monday we get back from break, that is), finding and/or making the right materials, choosing, copying, and collating the homework packets, getting observed for an hour this morning, and listening to the constant whining and crying of a certain student (who knew paper cuts could be so debilitating?), I really just wanted to scream and run for the hills.

I am very thankful for this next week off. Though the stress won't end until the fat lady sings (on June 22nd in my district), at least I can pause and recuperate for a while--and visit with my sister in New York! Now, if only the snowy weather in the east will hold off until all my planes land, I will be eternally grateful...

Valentine's Day a la Budget

Here are some fool-proof steps for a very fun, cheap-o Valentine's Day.

1. Make home-made valentine's cards for each student.
2. Have a parent bring in the entertainment (in my case, a giant pizza-shaped chocolate chip cookie with bags of icing that the kids can use to decorate the surface)
3. Recycle all boxes of chocolate that the kids give you into a thoughtful gift for your husband (for an added touch, just cross out the "s" in "Mrs."--saving you from making another label, and from wasting precious time)
4. Skip the fancy restaurant and opt for a walk and a trip to Baja Fresh--all on mom and dad's gift card, of course!
5. Top it off with a bowl of ice cream in front of the TV. (Not that we don't do that every night, but add an extra scoop of the good stuff because of the holiday!)

Et voila! What would have made today extra, extra great would have been to skip the two staff meetings, but that was out of the question...

Say What?

One of my students took the cake in terms of inadvertently charming comments today. In every instance, he got it just wrong enough to make me smile...

9:40 AM
I'm teaching my students that "kn" makes the "n" sound because the "k" is silent. I have several examples and several pictures, one of which is a knot. I said "When you tie your shoes, you make a knot". Suddenly I hear said student proclaim in a loud voice, pointing to his feet: "like my SNICKERS!!"

1:30 PM
My students had just come back from the third grade general ed. class next door... we had paired them up with a buddy and they got to ask each other questions (along the lines of "What's your favorite--?"). Then we all went outside and played with a giant parachute. When we got back to class, said student told everyone in the class how happy he was that he had a new "boyfriend". You can imagine my frantic correction that followed!

2:20 PM
I had my students run two laps around the track this afternoon. They were quite exhausted coming around the final bend and into their second lap... I kept shouting: "One more lap!" as they ran by. As he passed by me, said student (panting quite heavily from all the running), replied "But my heart (pant, pant...), it's BROKEN!"

(My) Kids say the darndest things...

A New Look

Yes, don't worry folks, it's still me. I needed a change of scenery--so I changed it!

I am actually looking forward to going to school tomorrow. Each day that goes by this week brings me closer and closer to my trip to New York this Saturday to see my sister. Yea! I just really hope that the days don't crawl by... But there are a lot of events going on to keep me on my toes, so it should be fine. In the same week, there's the 100th day of school celebration, the Valentine's day party, an assembly, and an all-day district science training. I'm looking forward to the science training--I like the break from my normal routine, plus the assistant superintendent of the district is taking me out to lunch that day. Ha! I guess that's what happens when your parents have friends in high places. I don't even think I'll rush back to the training after lunch, because if I'm a little late, I can say "Oh, am I late? I was out to lunch with the assistant superintendent and we lost track of time!" Yes, I would get a kick out of that.

Sick and Tired

Well, my body finally quit on me. I managed to hold out until my IEP meeting late this afternoon... then I called the sub system, threw some plans together and bolted for home. I'll spare you the details, but I sound like a deep-throated, coughing pre-pubescent teenager with an achy body. The symptoms were bad enough to justify missing the afternoon staff meeting.
So tomorrow my goal is to recover so I can be there for the kids and Fun Day Friday.

In other news, 40% of my students got into trouble and had to see the principal today (yes, folks, four of my ten!). Apparently, they thought it would be appropriate to gang up and tackle a fourth grade girl (who they probably liked but couldn't quite express it) to the ground and pull her hair. They really should have been suspended, but our strict administrator was out sick today, so instead all they got was lunch detention from the principal. Don't worry, I made sure they got the riot act from me. Ironically, they were all able to tell the principal that the rule is to "respect other people" and "keep your hands to yourself"--why they chose not to follow it is another story altogether. If my kids keep this up, my classroom is going to look like this !

Back to the Future

The trip to the Centennial Heritage Museum (the 100 year old house/museum for those of you slow on the uptake) was a success. The kids enjoyed themselves, and my stress levels were kept to a minimum. Now, I realize that my parents' house and my in-laws' house are both over one hundred years old, but what was special about this house/museum, is that the original furniture, clothes, and appliances are still there. Though we couldn't sit on the furniture, we did get to use the ancient telephone, play the pump organ, make butter in the kitchen, wash rags on a washboard then put them through the wringer, and try on Victorian style clothes (no, not the originals) for pictures. Our tour guide was very nervous when I told her that my kids are deaf/hard-of-hearing--she kept asking if they all wore hearing aids and I kept reassuring her that the only thing she needed to do was to talk in basic terms, like you would to a five-year-old, and not a third grader. She got the hang of it quickly and made the presentation very understandable, which I am so thankful for.


Unfortunately, the only picture that I can include (with no kids in view) is of a counter in the kitchen. Do you recognize anything? ;) Can you find the: rug beater, potato masher, butter churner, iron, flour sifter, coffee grind, scale, and ice tongs? How did people get by without microwaves? I never would have survived back in the day.... I'm way too much of a wuss!

V is for Victory

Monday went by mercifully quickly. Never mind that my sister and my father-in-law got to stay home from school on account of the weather--I had my victories too.

Victory #1: The district's official review is finally over; months of agony and paperwork came to a close. The "team" spent a total of three minutes in my room, rifled through my orderly box of paperwork, checked my walls for items to check off on their list, and left. One unexpected conversation occurred when the former vice principal here (who I'd never met) informed me that she was in the room when I had my phone interview; she expressed how glad she was to have me here. I thought that was nice of her...

Victory #2: I managed NOT to strangle the one student whose impulsiveness has been driving me up the wall lately.

Victory #3: There were free goodies in the lounge! I'm a sucker for free food...

Victory #4: I don't know how or why, but I'm finally getting excited about our field trip tomorrow. It may have something to do with the pure joy on my kids' faces as they talk about it, or it may have something to do with the fact that I just remembered that it's only a half-day affair and not a whole one. Either way, it feels better to look forward to something instead of dreading it, doesn't it?

Victory #5: My chicken tetrazzini turned out wonderfully (why yes, I do occasionally cook). Bon appetit!

Stayin' Alive

Getting to the end of the school day on Friday was a bit like finally coming up for air. I'd been running around all week trying to stay one step ahead and always falling one step behind. By the time the final bell rang, I was anxious to go home so I could sit and stare at the wall.

And, basically, that's all I've done. Well, technically, I did do some reading (I finished my book "The Memory Keeper's Daughter"--it was both overwritten and sad), and some watching (general TV, as well as the movie "Goal", which I enjoyed).

And now it's almost time to hold my breath and dive into another week. It's a big week for me. Tomorrow is D-day as our school gets reviewed by the district (to prepare us in the case of an actual state audit)--weeks and months spent agonizing over whether our paperwork is perfect will finally come to fruition. A team of questionably qualified people will check to see if my affairs are in order and that I've carefully documented evidence that I am a "good" teacher (which, according to them, would be a teacher who does nothing but paperwork, but what do I know?). I can't wait till it's over!

Tuesday is our first field trip of the year. We're going to the Centennial Heritage Museum (aka: the Kellogg house). I'm a little stressed out about it because 1) I have two parent volunteers coming and I don't know what to expect, and 2) some of my students are quite impulsive and may require leashes. Also, I'm really hoping we get a better tour guide this year: last year, our guide was so inappropriate...

Wednesday is my next IEP meeting, which I am NOT ready for. More paperwork. More stress. Yea!

My goal is to make it alive to Thursday. Can you tell I am just counting down the days until our February week break? I can't wait to see my sister in New York!

Trained....and Ready?

Today, I spent the day at the district office, learning all about this awesome program ("Reading Naturally") to build fluency and comprehension. The presenter was excellent and the information was relevant. In short, I can't wait to use it in my own classroom! As I was sitting in the training, however, it occurred to me that there's a lot of stuff that they DON'T tell you in any given in-service.

What they do tell you:

• "Here's how to implement the steps of this awesome program"
  

What they don't tell you:

• "Here's how to convince your site administrator to buy the program and the materials"
• "Here's how to get creative with your time management so that you can fit this program into your day"
• "Here's what to throw out in your day so you can make room for this program in your schedule"
• "Here's how to squeeze extra physical space and storage space into your already too-packed classroom so you can run the program"
  

In fact, as I sat there thinking, it also occurred to me that some people in the room might not go to all the trouble of running the program (even though it would be so beneficial), because it's just too much extra work. So our real choices were: 1) put up with the hassle for your students' sake, or 2) be a lousy teacher and don't sleep well at night. Hmmmmm. Guess which one I choose? Hooray!

Paper, Work

Tomorrow brings a long awaited break in my routine: I'll be attending an all-day Read Naturally training at the district with one of my colleagues/friends. It's going to be awesome; I'll be interacting with ADULTS, nobody will whine my name, I'll get to go OUT to lunch, I'll miss the Wednesday staff meeting, I'll get to sleep in for a whole twenty minutes, and with any luck, I'll be inspired again.

Lately, I've been really short on inspiration and motivation in the classroom. There is just something about district-induced loads of paperwork (with deadlines all too near) and pending IEP's looming on the horizon that just sucks the energy right out of me. You know it's a bad sign when you feel that the kids are getting in the way of your job. Shouldn't the kids BE my job? Apparently the district never got the memo...

In the meantime, this is what I'll look like for the next few weeks.

From the Funny Farm

In the last five minutes of the school day today, we practiced spelling our "words of the week". I usually like to do something really corny as we spell each word (makes it a game instead of a drill). Today I told the kids we were going to lasso each letter with invisible rope. At the end of the spelling, we shout the word and bring in the cow. The kids were excellent cowboys.

As we lined up outside for the bus, one of my students said: "I gonna eat my cow!". Another student turned to him with a look of utter disgust and said: "We no eat cow!". I told this second student that whenever you eat a hamburger, you're eating cow. He replied: "but milk?". You should have seen his look of amazement when he realized that both milk and meat come from cows. The first student suddenly exclaimed: "I eat sheep too!"

I thought this amusing incident was over, but about two minutes later as we approached the school gate, the first student said: "What do chicken make". I told him: "Well... chicken is chicken". He looked puzzled, so I added: "you know, like chicken nuggets!"

"Oh.... COOL!"

Meeting Etiquette

Some tips I thought I'd pass along in case you ever need to attend a meeting, or hold a meeting:

1. Don't ask questions you already know the answer to.
2. Never whine about decisions that have already been made.
3. Don't ask hypothetical questions in order to find a loophole.
4. Don't call a meeting if emailing the meeting agenda would be just as effective.
5. Don't call a meeting to tell people what they already know.
   
6. Don't ask questions that are answered in the meeting agenda.
7. Don't hog the chips.
8. Maintain a positive attitude (or fake one if you have to): remember that you're not the only one who doesn't like meetings.
   
9. NEVER waste everyone's time by asking personal questions that only apply to you.
10. (Have I left anything out?)
    

It turns out, common sense isn't so common.

Reading will be the end of me

Yesterday, I got myself sent to the doctor for pink eye (again). I could have laid low and flown under the radar, but I'm getting a bit worried about the persisten redness, and I didn't have time after school any day this week, so I opted to leave at 9:30. My doctor referred me to an opthalmalogist (that is how you spell it; I checked) and told me that I might be contagious and not to go back to school that day (nevermind that I've been teaching with red-ish eyes since Jan. 8th... today could be the day I infect someone). I couldn't really enjoy my impromptu holiday as I felt very guilty for dumping my kiddos off on two of my colleagues, and I felt bad that I couldn't take care of the increasing mounds of paperwork from home. So I putzed around and bothered Max.

Near the end of the day, I picked up a novel from the library and started reading it. It proved to be a mistake. There's a reason why I don't read for fun during the school year, and I knowingly shoved it to the back of my mind and read anyway. I got so into the novel (I'm on page 233) that I literally fought with Max about going to bed. Suddenly I was in seventh grade again and arguing with my parents saying things like: "One more chapter!" "Just one more page", or "Give me ten minutes, I'll go to bed after that I PROMISE". Max put his foot down "for my own good". I read for fifteen more minutes, then struggled with him for control of the book. He finally got me to close it, but I managed to grab it and read while I was brushing my teeth. Well, at least I didn't get a flashlight and read under the covers like when I was younger. I am hopeless.

And the worst part is that I have a much anticipated book on hold, waiting for me at the library with my name on it. The struggle isn't over yet... why do I do this to myself?

My Life as a Soap Opera

The opera I went to on Thursday night must have been a magical opera--the kind of magic that makes the drama on stage spill over into real life. Ever since yesterday morning, events have transpired which have evoked strong feelings on my part. Since it's Friday night and I have nothing better to do, I'll take the time to recap here:

Paranoia and Fear

What innocently began as a cough that my aide caught in October has turned out to be a case of "our portable is falling apart and the district is going to cover it up until we sue them". I realize that's quite a conclusion to reach but 1) her cough has persisted, 2) it flares up when the vent kicks on (yet she feels fine at home), 3) the kids have been coming down with coughs and mysterious nose bleeds (one girl in particular has been coughing all year long), and 4) my aide wipes down all surfaces with Clorox at the end of every school day (without fail) and recently has been finding suspicious black particles covering all surfaces. All of this combined caused her to urgently ask me to complain at the office and have someone check our vent filters. She even saved the clorox wipes with the black particles as evidence.
When I reported all of this to the office manager, she was very alarmed and promised she would fill out a work order right away. I thought I had heard the last of the hoopla, as work orders in our district take at least three months to be acted upon. But surprise! Two hours later, there were two men with ladders in my classroom (yes, as I was teaching!) inspecting my vents. They reported no mold but are (supposedly) going to install finer filters to determine what's coming through there.

Bottom line: it could be nothing, or we could all die early.

Anger and Embarrassment

I had an IEP meeting (they happen once annually for all of my students--usually means testing and lots of paperwork) after school for one of my second graders. By law, a general education 2nd grade teacher had to sit in at the meeting. Since the general education 2nd grade is located in a different school across the street, I had contacted their principal to send someone over. I didn't hear back from said principal, so I emailed once again, informing them that I expected a 2nd grade rep at such-and-such a room at such-and-such time. When all of the team members had sat down with the child's parent to start the meeting, there was no 2nd grade representative to be found. This caused two things to happen: 1) we looked bad in front of a key out-of-district team member, and 2) I had to call the third grade rep from our campus to sit in on a long meeting at a moment's notice. I felt terrible; the 3rd grade rep is a friend of mine and clearly had 500 other things to do than to sit in on some meeting she shouldn't have been responsible for just because some unprofessional principal had dropped the ball and downright broken the law. It irks me when things aren't fair. I admit I was rather furious about the whole situation--but it looks like I might have my vengeance as our principal is going to go have a "talk" with their principal.

Bottom line: I hope that never happens again.

Exasperation and Disappointment

Both of my girls were home sick today (along with my aide), so I was left to fend for myself with a pack of wild boys... two of which were suspended for bringing toy guns to school (they looked quite real).

Bottom line: It's better they learn early that guns aren't toys.

Well, I didn't mean to write a novel in this post, but if you want concise, it's usually better to visit Max's blog than mine :).
Have a good weekend, everyone! I, for one, am looking forward to lots of dull moments free of drama...

Save the Drama for your Lama

Last night's production of "Don Giovanni" was superb. I don't know how else to describe it-- I wish I had pictures to post, but cameras were strictly prohibited. I learned several things as a result of my opera venture with grandma:
1) There was sexual harassment even in Mozart's day.
2) There seems to be more and more younger people attending the opera.
3) It turns out, I really like "Good and Plenty" candy (never thought I liked that stuff).
4) I get my candy smuggling tendencies from grandma.
5) Soap operas are just really long, drawn out operas.
6) I can sleep with my eyes open (I loved every minute of the performance, but I had been up since six that morning, so I had a right to be tired--back off).
In all, it was definitely an experience.

I thought I was going to have a really hard day today from going to bed so late, but I was okay. I managed to get seven hours of sleep last night, and there was enough DRAMA in my room to keep me alert. I won't elaborate right now, but let's just say my day involved possibly deadly air particles, sick children, persistent black dirt, ladders, illegal actions, major-ly inconveniencing colleagues, district maintenance, marshmallows and toothpicks, and an unprofessional principal at the next school over. I'll let you wonder until I have more time to flesh out the ongoing saga of my daily life :)

Back in Full Swing

It was a wonderful three day weekend! I did lots of little nothings. Max and I played Taboo with some friends. I laid on the couch. I read a book. I played computer games. The only price I paid was four hours at my school desk on Saturday to catch up on some work. It was worth it for the relative calm I feel now on my first day back!
I felt surprisingly awake today, considering. I know the feeling won't last, though. Tomorrow night I'll be staying up WAY past my bedtime because I'm going to see Don Giovanni at the opera with my grandma tomorrow night. I know it will be a lot of fun, but I'm sure my eyes will struggle to focus by the last act ;).
Between getting ready for the district's official review of our school in early February (aka: extra mountains of paperwork), rushing to finish testing kids and writing IEP's, lesson planning, running copies, attending useless meetings, and, oh yeah, teaching, I've been distracting myself by planning my trip to Syracuse, NY to see my sister in February. Five more weeks! We've already booked a great deal through Travelzoo at the Marriott hotel in Niagra Falls. Spa treatments, breakfast, and dinner all included. Yea!

To Teach or Not to Teach?

Not to teach.

At least, that's what I've managed to do all day. Actually, I take that back, I taught for fifteen minutes early this morning. Then, it was off to library and computers, then after that it was an hour-long assembly until lunch. After lunch, five of my kids went off to science (science is a pullout at my school); two kids were absent, so that left three kids to work with my aide at phonemic awareness games. And that left me free to do exactly twenty minutes of testing, and an hour of paperwork. Then recess, pack up and go home. Oddly, I managed to be tired at the end of the day anyway!

Even when I'm not teaching, there's all the managing of little bodies. And those little bodies can get on your nerves when you're trying to get paperwork done. We've been studying Martin Luther King Jr in honor of his holiday on Monday. We've been talking about fairness and respect, and how MLK Jr made the world a better place by using his words. But it seems that the only thing my kids can remember about his life (or want to talk about) is that he was shot. At the library this morning, they all wanted books about MLK Jr. I was proud of them for their interest... but for the rest of the day, they didn't at all try to read the words on the page, they just kept flipping to the end of the book, pointing to the pictures and saying "He die right?". Again and again, my paperwork would get interrupted by little voices coming up to me "Mrs. B, Mrs. B, he die right?" I thought I was going to lose it. Finally I said (and this is pretty much verbatim) "YES, I KNOW, I TOLD YOU THAT. Now go back to your seats and read QUIETLY. Silent reading means QUIET, remember? Remember?".

Despite the capital letters, I didn't actually yell, but I think my voice must have had an edge to it because they scrambled back to their desks. Finally.

But I love my kids, I really do. I love how excited they get over nothing--like when it was overcast today, or when they got to take home miniature police badges after the assembly this morning, or when they're actually disappointed there's no school this Monday ;). Ha!

To-do or not to-do? (The inevitable final bell question)

Sigh. The kids are finally gone for the day. It's been a good two days, but it's felt long. I keep thinking that it should be Friday already but it isn't! Yesterday the kids were as mellow and as laid back as wet noodles so it was a calm and quiet transition back to school. Today they were a little more peppy, but I'm glad it's not the same "pre-Christmas" energy :). Unfortunately, none of my students has done anything interesting or cutesy to blog about...
Nothing very exciting is happening at all these days. Right now I'm sitting at my desk deliberating between checking off some items on my way-too-long to-do list, or giving up and going home.
I'll leave you to decide which I ended up doing :)

Back to Reality

Surprise! I'm back to my blogging. Vacation is officially over.
And I can't believe it's all over. I have the unfortunate knack of always looking forward; either I'm counting the days until my next vacation or Event, or I'm dreading the return to "normal" for hours/days/weeks ahead of time. It's always been hard for me to enjoy the moment without taking all past moments into consideration and without looking forward (or dreading, as the case may be) to future moments. At this present moment in time, I have precisely two hours and eleven minutes until I need to be in bed so I can get up early tomorrow morning. I already know what will happen. I'll lie awake for at least an hour, thinking about tomorrow, then I'll realize how much sleep I've already lost, then I'll become stressed about being sleep-deprived which will inevitably lead to actual sleep-deprivation, all culminating in a very tired person staggering out of bed at butt o'clock tomorrow morning.

It's always hard going back after a great vacation. We've done a lot of fun things these past two weeks. We've gone out to eat, watched movies, played cards, opened gifts (all of which we are still enjoying--thank you everyone!), gone shopping, gone to the zoo, and generally had a good time all around. Oh, and my butterflies all hatched around Christmas day. They are good butterflies, and I've enjoyed hearing them flit around in their house. I tried to release them into nature ("nature" being off of our balcony) last Monday but they would have none of it. Two of them cowered on the floor of the house, and one ventured out only to discover that his wings hadn't developed properly and he couldn't fly. I took pity on them and they've become our permanent pets until the end of their short lives. I can't blame them for not wanting to venture into Real Life where they need to worry about getting eaten by birds, procreating, and surviving on whatever flowers they can find. I'm not too keen on returning to Real Life either :).
But it will be nice to see all of my colleagues again, and there's always February break to look forward to... I know, I'm so spoiled...