One Week Down

My first week in class with the kids is over. It was an easy one because we only had 7 this week. I will have 17 total. Everyone is doing great with procedures but they are getting so spoiled by being such a small class. My theme for my room is safari and as soon as I can get to it, I'm going to post some pictures. I got some really neat fonts for the newsletter and folders at fontspace.com under the animal category. I finished their take home folders yesterday and I decided to use

Safari

And

Families

Are

Responsible and

Informed

since I teach HeadStart and we're all about family involvement. I thought this one was cute also:

Little

Experts

Organizing

Practicing

And

Remebering

Daily

Skills

I got this from smithsroom.com under Moose acronyms. They have so many cute ones.

I'm trying to take it easy this weekend because my brain is a little mushy but we have to start screening on Monday so I've got to get a few things together plus I need to go through my cd's and make daily ones so I don't have to waste so much time changing cd's all day.

Back to School

This is where I've been for the past few weeks. This was the before picture. I sent this to a friend along with "HELP!!!!" She replied back with "I see potential". It's all coming together and hopefully I will have an after picture to put up here soon. I thank God every day for my job and can't wait to meet my students for the year.

Phone Drama

I'll be jumping back into the iPhone world tomorrow. My poor Blackberry got dropped and stepped on during the Mardi Gras festivities so sadly it will have to be retired. A friend of mine knows someone that refurbishes and sells iPhones so I'll use that until I can upgrade in April.

I'm still out of the classroom but I'm not as scared to go back as I was last week. Hopefully I will be able to start subbing next week and maybe even catch a maternity leave position for the rest of the year. Then there is next year to worry about. I'm just having to trust that I will find the right place for me and I can actually begin to settle in. I do miss my former kiddos and hope that they are safe and well cared for.

Life

Life has been a roller coaster lately. I left the school that I was teaching at. It was a mid-year leave position so there were no consequences. I would rather not reveal the reasons since the powers that be may one day locate this humble blog, but I feel that it was the right decision for me. We are off for Mardi Gras break so I'm hoping to start subbing this week or next. Spring Break is also fast approaching and there's really not much longer until school lets out which means its already time to start thinking about teaching jobs for next year. I think things will be better for me if I'm able to start off fresh with a new year and a new group of kids. Throughout this situation, I've become my own worst critic. I know I can't have everything at once and teaching is a completely new field for me, but I am confident I can find the right place for me next year.

Wal-Mart Finds

I am completely addicted to lip balm. I read on another blog bragging about how good the EOS balm was and when I saw it at Wal-Mart while I was doing my weekly shopping and fighting the Super Bowl crowds of people buying cheese dip and beer. I also picked up two Essie polishes in Merino Cool and Devil's Advocate. I searched for a new bottle of Lincoln Park After Dark but everywhere I went was out of it. I didn't even realize Wal-Mart carried Essie because I avoid that place at all costs most of the time.

Having the 2 days off for weather did wonders for me. We have an inservice tomorrow so it will be a shorter week. I feel like I can face my class again and hopefully they won't be too out of control. I got my house cleaned and clothes washed so I feel a little bit better about myself.

Another Day

I survived another day in the classroom today. Troubled Child had an episode and slapped another student so we had to arrange a time-out. I let TC back in and we had been on the carpet for about 5 minutes when she said, "I need to f-in iron my shirt" and took her jacket off, laid it on the floor and proceeded to kick everyone else out of the way while she pretended to iron her jacket. I relocated her and we had another pencil stabbing incident so she spent the remainder of the day across the hall. Another friend decided he didn't need his pants after using the bathroom and walked out in his uniform jacket and thermal underwear. After redirecting him to the bathroom, another friend decided to pull his pants down, revealing plaid boxers, so the whole episode was recreated yet again. Tomorrow is Wednesday so more than likely I should survive this week with minimal blood pressure spikes.

Teaching vs. Stay At Home Dog Parent

Reasons I'd much rather stay at home and be a pet parent to my dogs instead of chasing kindergartners all day long:

1. When I tell my dogs to sit, they sit. They don't say "Oh my God girl you ain't fixin to tell me where to sit!"

2. My dogs have never tried to stab anyone with a pencil.

3. My dogs do not hit or kick me.

4. My dogs go outside to pee. They don't stand there in the middle of the classroom where there is a bathroom 25 feet away and proclaim, "I'm using it" as pee runs all over the floor.

5. My dogs don't try to steal everything that's not nailed down or locked up.

Reasons I can't stay home and be a pet parent my dogs all day long:

1. Bills

2. If I can make a difference in the lives of at least a few in my class, then I've done my job.

Enough said.

Rockin the boat

I sat down to write lesson plans and I got halfway through before I decided to take a break. Reading is always the most tedious to write and it's done so that's good enough for me. I honestly am sick to my stomach dreading going back to school on Tuesday. There are some things going on that are beyond my control and I get no support in dealing with them. I can't really rock the boat with the school board because I need to keep my job so I'm between a rock and a hard place on this one. The school I'm at is not the right place for me but God sent me there for a reason and I have a job to do. It can only go up from here so I'm going to continue to pray that I see some changes really soon.

Survival

I made it through my first week with my new class. Barely. The other teacher apparently hasn't been doing too much with them and it's been a struggle but each day it slowly gets a little better. I have five more days until a little break for MLK day so I'm just going to try and push through this week. This class is unlike anything I've ever seen. It's in an extremely low income area so I've had to deal with cussing and physical fights breaking out. I've stood my ground pretty well and I know this is an adjustment for them so hopefully we can accomplish a lot this week.

I got a job!

In 3 days I'll be heading back to school to teach 24 kindergarten kiddos. I feel unbelievably and completely blessed to have this chance. I went on two interviews, one was at the school I did kindergarten practicum at, and neither one resulted in a job. I got a call late one evening from a principal who wanted to meet with me the next morning. I thought the interview wasn't my best, but she sent me back to spend some time in the classroom. I took about an hour or 2, then came back to meet with her. She asked to see my student teaching portfolio which was still being graded. I met my mom for lunch, went and demanded my portfolio so I could rush it back to school. The principal looked over every inch of it then finally offered me the position. It's a leave position for the rest of the school year and if I land something for the 2011-2012 school year, I won't miss a paycheck.

I got to spend a few days with the class to get a feel for them. Their previous teacher has 3o+ years of experience so I have some big shoes to fill. I'm a little nervous because the school has a lot of older teachers who don't like using technology and operate the same way they did when they started teaching so things might be a little tough for me at first. Taking over a class mid-year is one of the hardest things for a new teacher especially but I'll take it over no job any day.

For now, I'm going to soak up my last few days of freedom. I'm working on getting my house organized and doing all the things that got neglected while I was student teaching.

School

I've been busy busy with my class. My cooperating teacher found out she is pregnant and due at the end of the school year so I have a 6 week leave position in the bag if I don't get a job. This will also make for a few sub days with my usual kiddos. When a door closes, God always opens another or at least a little window.

The first cool snap down here in Louisiana came and went and I'm just sitting here waiting for it to return again. We have a field trip this Friday so that should be interesting. We are going to the aquarium. It's an all day affair that requires charter buses and the kids are mostly excited about watching tv on the bus.

I'm going to miss my kids so much when I have to leave them. There are a few that just crack me up. One in particular, I'll call him Gman always has something interesting to tell me. I try to circulate the room in the mornings and let my talkers get a few things out before we get started so they can stay quiet during lessons. The other day Gman approached me with the most serious face and asked me if I was ok with what he had to say. I said, "of course, whatever you need to tell me will be fine." So, he gets even more serious and says, "are you sure you're ok with this?" I was thinking oh Lord, what now but I told him I'd heard lots of things in my life and whatever he had for me, I would be ok. His face got even more serious (which I totally didn't find possible until then) and he lifted his foot and said, "I have dog poop on my shoe." It was dried up and mostly gone so he informed me that he would stomp his feet on the concrete at recess to get rid of it. Today Gman had a story about a farting pony at a birthday party that apparently was so impressive, it could sneeze and fart at the same time. If only our end of the day language lessons were as impressive as the farting pony.

I hate to complain but...

I'm thinking that maybe I should've just gone to hair school. I'm having some issues with my cooperating teacher and it's making my student teaching experience miserable. She is very controlling, it's mostly her way or no way and she interrupts me in the middle of my lessons constantly. I've tried talking to her about it but she seems to get her feelings hurt really easily an doesn't want to see anyone else's point of view. I've heard horror stories about cooperating teachers and I've been pretty lucky up until now. Tomorrow, I have to attend an inservice that no other student teachers have to go to because she insists that I be there. On my birthday no less. I'm trying to make the best of it because I only have a few months left. The only solution I have so far is to keep kissing ass and move on.

Student Teaching

So I'm student teaching and working at the house of beer and sports for another 3 months. I started last week so I've gotten all of my bitching out of the way. I love my cooperating teacher and I was placed at the elementary school I attended (which btw is flip flop friendly as long as they're a little dressy) so I can't really complain too much. I got the class to myself for a few hours on Thursday and had a sub Friday so I've really gotten to know the students well. We have 23 which is a pretty big class and it's gonna make for an interesting 3 months.

I'm gonna get back to some regular posting for the whole 2 folks that read this. I just need to get caught up on life for a bit.

Faith

I can't help but to feel jealous of the all the teachers who are setting up their classrooms right now or attending an inservice. I have several friends that are complaining about long inservice days when I would give anything to be there with them. It's not over yet, and I don't know what the next few weeks will bring but the uncertainty is killing me. As each day goes by, I loosen up a little and gather a little more faith.

Tonight was an especially hard night at work. Whatever could go wrong went wrong and I had to remind myself to be thankful I have a job at all. I also realized that this is the end of the carefree and reckless days of being a student.

I have a picture on the wall of my living room that says, "faith is not believing that God can-It is knowing that he will". When I was going through the Spring semester, I lived by this picture and it became my mantra. I took it with me in my heart when I taught a lesson or took a Praxis test.

It went with me to a tattoo shop after work with some friends who just decided to get a tattoo on a whim after a stressful shift. I wanted something but I didn't know what.

A little of everything

I know summer is not over yet, but I'm ready for the fall and darker nail colors. I pretty much have to keep my hands dark because of my busted thumb and these are my go to OPI colors. I've finally made peace with their thicker brushes and painting before a bath definitely helps. The colors are: Lincoln Park After Dark, Vodka and Caviar and You Don't Know Jacques. Next on the list to purchase are: I'm Suzi and I'm a Chocoholic (from Fall/Winter Swiss Collection) and Dulce De Leche.


I'm down to the wire with the teaching job situation. I may end up student teaching, which I'm trying to talk myself into a little each day. I'm still slinging drinks at night and the bills are getting paid, so I feel pretty thankful.

I started a reading plan to read the Bible in 90 days. So far, I'm staying about a day ahead of my scheduled readings. I can read at home or on my Blackberry so that makes it much easier to keep track of. It breaks down to about 12 smaller readings a day and my goal is to finish in 45-60 days. I wish I could keep on a blogging schedule and become more involved in this "blog world" but I just can't seem to stick to it plus I'm such a random and all over the place person it just doesn't work.

Weekend, sweet weekend

I didn't do much this weekend, reading clinic starts Monday and I got a 1st grader which makes me very happy. Anything over 3rd grade freaks me out for some reason but I guess everyone has their preference. I know some of my classmates wouldn't teach K if it was the only job they were offered.

I hit the children's book lottery tonight though. I went over to my mom's and dug in the garage to start gathering books. I had no idea that she had that many. If I do K or 1st I won't have to get anything before school starts and I can just order Scholastic a few times throughout the year.


J commented the other night that I was out of beer and how unusual that was. Like any good Louisiana girl, there is always a Bud Light or 2 in the fridge and most likely something from Abita as well. On a good day, I've also got wine for the none beer drinkers. As far as drinking goes, I don't discriminate. If it's got alcohol in it, it's fine by me. Even though college is over, a good Natty Light or Keystone doesn't bother me. I decide tonight to go to the store and I get my 12 pack and a bottle of Cab. As always, I whip my ID out before they ask. I worked in the service industry and I know how annoying it is to stand there and wait while someone digs for ID. Store Clerk Man stands there staring at me and the ID for a good 2 minutes before I start rattling off the info on my license. He says, "ooh honey you lost weight". I reply, "no, I just had a terrible haircut that made my face look fat." Just ring me up for my damn beer so I can get out of here.

First Day of Summer Class

The summer semester is going to be tough. On the first day, we were given 2 assignments. The reading clinic hours are going to work into the specified class time so it's nothing extra thank goodness. I finished my first assignment but I had to stop and watch The Hills and The City. I've always loved The Hills but I do think it's getting time to wrap things up. Speaking of my guilty t.v. pleasures, Housewives wasn't the drama fest I expected. Things were rather calm when Danielle showed up at the benefit.


I've mentioned before that we take a canoe trip or 2 each summer. I've always wanted to go tubing in New Braunfels but found a closer alternative that sounds pretty fun. It's called Tiki Tubing and seems much more relaxing than having to paddle. It's about two hours away from here and it's another hour from New Orleans so that would be a perfect start to a four day weekend. I'm not going to be able to take a major vacay this summer so I'm trying to cram as many little weekend getaways as I can. The planning takes away some of the stress of the fact that I still don't know about a job for next year. I'm not going to allow myself to mention it here anymore, because I truly feel like I have to "let go and let God".

And so it ends again

Like an afternoon summer storm, my little break is over. I start summer class tomorrow. This is the last class before I start teaching and we're going to be working with a summer reading program and focusing on RTI and remedial reading tools. We start a week earlier than regular university classes, so the first week is lecture on the diagnostic tools we'll be using. This is the part I don't care for, I love the students and working with them but 8:55-11:35 each day of lecture time is not going to make my happy. I got a lot of the things done around the house that I needed to do so that is a blessing but I feel like another week would do wonders for me.

It's Over

Tomorrow, I go for my final check-out in what was the hardest semester ever. I've spent the past 4 months having God and everybody watch me teach, jumping through whatever hoops I've been asked to jump through, all while maintaining a smile on my face when I wanted to cry. I made nothing less than a B, have managed to impress every single one of my professors, and have done a great job of proving myself. It was a crazy ride. Some days I would teach K lessons at one school, then teach 3rd grade that afternoon.

Now the hand-holding is over. I've gone through this journey with a support group behind me but when that door shuts on the first day of school, I'll have to rely on myself and what I've learned in order to make it work in my classroom.

For now, I'm not going to stress over having a job next year. I know the economy is bad and there are going to be cuts. I won't know anything most likely until mere days before school starts and worst case scenario, I get called in after school begins. At this point, I have to let go and let God. I can't spend my entire summer worrying about something I can't control.

Tomorrow after check out, I'm going to the nearest drive thru daiquiri place and ordering the largest, quad shot of whatever I want. Then, I'm going to put on my bathing suit and not care that it doesn't look as good on as last year. I'm going to sit by the pool until it gets dark.

What Spring Break

It's officially the first night of Spring Break and here I sit with a frozen pizza, chocolate milk and the Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum in front of me. I've already created one flipchart so I might as well write the lesson plan to go with it. My philosophy is that I will take an actual vacation after I've got my first year of teaching under my belt.

The students were pretty typical today, full of candy and ready to go home. I had a few asking if it was time to go home at 9:30. We were able to hide eggs on the playground even though it had been raining. We attempted to watch a movie in the afternoon but gave up and went outside again. It was a pretty good day and nothing too terrible happened. I'm exhausted from my drive to Texas so I may end up going to bed fairly soon.