Friday, February 27, 2009

Yep!

It's the weekend! We made it through another week and it's almost March, and the sun was out today! :) It didn't hurt that we had a late start so I got to sleep in for about an hour and a half.

I can't believe it's almost March. I've made it through six months of my first year; three months to go! and it's going to be a busy, hectic, crazy spring... I have a feeling that before I know it, my seniors will only be a memory and I'll be looking back at all of my notes from the whole year trying to figure out the best way to do it all over again.

Have a great weekend!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Had to take a picture

A couple of sights from my classroom.

This one is from one of my artistic students... a class was gone on a field trip and it left two people for one of my US History classes on Friday, so I told the two students they could do other homework. They didn't have any, so this is what they did instead


I don't have much time to clean up my space in my classroom, so when I did this weekend, I HAD to take a picture! I think this is the cleanest/most organized my desk has been since the day I walked in the door for the first time. It makes me smile just looking at it!

The piles in the front there are my sub plans for tomorrow. :S and yep, that's Abe holding up my books.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Zippety

I had a pretty unproductive day today and it felt GOOD!!!

Busy week coming up as usual, so it felt good to just take it easy. I have a substitute coming in for a day this week, next week, and for three days two weeks later. Having a sub is like double the work of doing it yourself, so I'm "looking forward to" all the extra work. Yep. It'll be good to see how they are without me there. I still don't like leaving them, but it's a lot easier than that first time back in September. I remember being nervous about that day... someone else coming in to my classroom, seeing how I do things, judging me, having an opinion on how I am as a teacher based on how the students behaved... it was scary! Maybe this means I'm controlling? but I like being the one in control of my class. :)

Couple of things: some students were wondering if I own any jeans. They notice when I get new clothes. Or when I do my hair (differently). Or if I have different shoes on. When I laugh, they get a little nervous and don't know what to do -- join in and laugh with me or pretend like they don't notice. My room is really electrically-charged. Everything shocks me (and some other students). The chalkboard, plants, the lightswitch, students (when I'm passing out papers)... know any remedies to this? Some of the shocks are strong! Especially on the board - you can actually see the spark.

This month's almost history ~~~ we're making it through the winter!! Hope you're all finding good, positive ways to pass your days!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Just some randoms

  • Sometimes it dawns on me that I'm a teacher and I have to stop and think "wow... this is really my life..." then I realize I don't have time to reflect and I get back to work.
  • If you've known me awhile, then you know I don't have the best track record when it comes to sleeping at night. Not the best at all. Here's an example. I woke up this morning and thought to text my sister to say Happy Birthday. So I got my phone out... and noticed that I had already sent her one. at 2:04am. and what it said... I don't talk like that at all. I was flabbergasted!! I have absolutely no memory of sending this message. :S That's not all, by a long shot, but it's just a little taste...
  • I'm a looking-forward kind of person. I always have something in my mind that I'm looking forward to. I do try to enjoy the moment, enjoy today, etc. but sometimes what gets me through a long day or week is knowing what's coming up. Now: Monday the (February) 23rd I have a workshop, March 18th through 21st I'm going to Nashville, then April 3rd through the 12th I'm going to NYC, CT, New Hampshire, and to visit my sister and brother-in-law at the other end of the state. It's really helping to pass this longest/hardest first year of teaching.
  • Anyone been to Nashville? Ideas on what we have got to see when we're there?
  • My mom and dad are in Florida visiting my aunt and uncle, and my mom has been sending photos of the beach/ocean/AWESOME scenery every day. It's nice, but I'm getting a little jealous. It was 4 degrees on my way home from work, with negative 15 windchill. Yum.
  • Stay warm!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sis :)



Happy 22nd Birthday to my dear little sister


Kristin Jean :)


Hope you have a wonderful day!!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

sleeeeping, summer, shades

Whew! I'm completely exhausted and it's only 7:45 on Thursday night. What a week - I haven't had a free minute to sit and take a deep breath and relax. The 3:27 bell rings and I look up and realize I haven't eaten lunch, taken a full breath, checked my (school) email or my calendar all day. and the kids are gone and all of a sudden I look up and it's 6:00... or 7:00 and I wanted to leave by 4:30. I think that is just a dream. seeing the sun or having an evening. Because when I get home by 6:30 or 7:30, it's just enough time to eat dinner, grade some papers, and get to sleep.
On the plus side, my pile of papers to be graded is a lot smaller than my pile of papers to be recorded, which is even smaller than the combined piles to be returned. That accomplishment makes me smile!

Sleeeeeeeping: I have a student who cannot stay awake during class. and it has an adverse effect on me and the rest of the class. I get cranky and the other students think they can sleep too. It's an issue I've been working on with this student and the principal, but the solution we came up with makes more work for me. I want to be the teacher that helps all of my students succeed (and I'm working my hardest!), but if he chooses to sleep and misses material, is it really my job to teach him later (on his terms)??!

This week is homecoming for our school, and I finally participated in one of the dress days today... the theme was Summer in February, so it was fun and easy. :) The kids were pumped to see me "dressed up." And I wore my sweetest sunglasses - got some interesting comments about them... Do you wear those for real? Are those yours? Really, Miss H?

The big game's tomorrow night!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Have you checked your lights lately?

So I went out of town for the night on Friday with Liz and Kelly... Driving along, minding our own business and we got pulled over. (Yes, it was in Wisconsin. Something about the cops in Wisconsin.) We had no idea what for because I wasn't speeding. Not even 56 mph. So he came to the window.


Where are you going? (A.ton)
Why? (shopping)
Shopping for what? (scrapbook stuff...)
Isn't that pretty far to go for scrapbooking stuff? (no, we had to get away)
Where are you staying? (our hotel name)
Where? (repeat)
Huh. I've never heard of that one.

Can I see your license and registration?
Are you still living at ....?

Well, Karen, the reason I pulled you over is because the light that illuminates your license plate is out.

What?!!
Me: Uhhhh. Okay?

So when he went back to the car with my information, we burst out laughing. Seriously? I got pulled over for that?

Seriously?!

After about ten minutes (waaaaay longer than usual, and with us girls pretty much incredulous the whole time) he came back and said

Well, when you get home, have someone take a look at that. Have a good weekend shopping!

So, folks, if you're planning any trips to (or through) Wisconsin, make sure the light that illuminates your license plate is working.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

P.S. One of my escapes

Yea! The Wings just won! Watching/Following them is one of my escapes from work and school and being on task.





You can see why ;)

Frustrating!

This is kind of last minute, but it's something I've been working on for awhile. I just should've asked sooner. We just got done studying the French Revolution, and for a long time I've been looking for a good movie to watch about it in class. and I just keep striking out!! Ergh! There are so many movies out there about so many (useless) things - why can't there be a good one about the French Revolution? Marie Antoinette is sort of about it... but I don't consider that a good movie, and I don't want to waste two days on that. If the plot was better, it'd be good. It'd be good for the students to see the clothing and Versailles, and some of the basic things, but it's not worth two class periods.

Any ideas anyone?

Maybe I just have to work harder at finding a good one. I just don't know movies very well, and I've asked my students for help, to no avail.

Okay, that's pretty random. Just thought I'd throw it out there...

Some of my students in US History are putting together a play for a World War II project. They're doing the Battle of Stalingrad, and they're getting pretty excited about it, making props in wood shop and finding quotes from generals. They're doing a run-through tomorrow, and it's due Friday... I'm hoping for a good show!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

5:30am phone calls

Who likes phone calls at 5:30am? I do, I do!!! It means one thing: a late start or no school... so I've appreciated my phone ringing at 5:30 both yesterday and today. This morning's call

Me: "Hello?"
Ms. K. "Guess what?"

uhhhh....

Me: "What?"
Ms. K. "School is delayed! Go back to sleep!"

Then when I saw her during class today she apologized... and said what else would she be calling about at 5:30am.

Yesterday the snow was coming down like crazy. By the time I left school at 7:00, I couldn't open the doors of my car because the snow was piled up over them. I've never seen something like that before - that much snow during the day. Good thing I was wearing my snowpants! It took me about half an hour to uncover it and get out of the snowbank.