Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Friday, March 26, 2010
Lesson learned...
Never sit down on the job! No, really...I'm not joking! Our kids have a Special Olympics track meet coming up, so we were working with them outside today (which was a lovely day, might I add?). The kids were doing long jump, and practicing landing with two feet. (It's much harder than it sounds.) Anyways, I was off to the side with one of my kids in a wheelchair who was not participating. I rolled him over to the pole vault mat and tried to sit on the edge of the mat. Except apparently it's been raining a lot, when no one was watching, because as I started to sink into the mat, it INSTANTLY formed a big puddle around my 'seat.' I had a long sleeve shirt on, and the wrists of both sleeves were so soaked they were dripping. My jeans and undies were saturated too. It all happened so quickly. The water was freezing, and I was so shocked, but my students were laughing so hard, it was ALMOST worth it. Luckily I had some workout clothes with me at school, so I was able to change after we went inside. It was one of those "laugh-so-you-don't-cry" moments. :)
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Slow Motion
Work has been pretty exhausting lately due to the fact that lots of my students have horrid home lives, which eats me up. I think about them 24/7 and haven't even been sleeping well lately because I feel so burdened with all this. It's just not fair, and the worst part is that the system is faulty, so even when the correct people are notified, nothing changes. It's tragic. We just love on them as much as we can while they are with us, and then pray for them when they get on that bus in the afternoon. It's heart breaking. Needless to say, I am so pumped for Spring Break and I'm ready for the fun and stress-free activities. We aren't doing anything near as cool as we did last year, but we do have some good local stuff planned...
Saturday-going out to eat and downtown (Ft. Worth) with a big group of friends. FUN!!!
Sunday-headed to Ray Roberts Lake State Park to meet my cousins and Uncle for a day of nature and relaxing.
Zac has track practice each morning Monday-Wednesday, but I plan on sleeping late! ;)
Tuesday night we are taking the distance runners (the athletes Zac coaches) out to eat and to bowl. It will be lots of fun and the kids have already been asking about it.
Thursday night Liz, Andy, Madeline and Owen will arrive to stay for the weekend. We are going to hang out and have fun around here Friday, and then Saturday the McKinney cousins and their families are coming down for the day. Yay!
Anyways, doesn't sound like much, but I know the week will FLY by!!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Another page for the book...
(the book that I'm going to write about being a special ed teacher)
Last semester, since I was not only an aide, but a "student teacher" as well, I took over the science curriculum and have taught that since the beginning of the year. We've done some cool units, such as fossils, plate tectonics, and recycling, and we are about to start life cycles. We ordered some stuff to help bring the lesson to life for the kids. Literally! We got a box delivered today that said "open immediately" and I was so excited that it was our science materials. The box had two vials of large red ants (with neon orange "Caution:Ants Bite!" stickers everywhere), and two cups with ten butterfly larvae. The butterflies will become caterpillars, then chrysalis, and then butterflies. (but you probably already knew that). The ants are for an ant farm, and we will discuss living in a community, etc. Okay, I am really drawing this out, so I'll just get to the good part...I carefully opened the first vial of ants and successfully dumped them all into the first ant farm. It was a little stressful. but not too bad. When it was time to put the second vial into that "farm" I dropped the vial and 40 huge ants started crawling all over the place. Luckily most of the kids were in reading, and only three were in the room at the time. I was doing it on a countertop, and two other teachers came to help, so we saved about half of them back (by scooping them up into the vials and then dumping them in their new farm home). Unfortunately lots of them walked right off the counter onto the floor and had to be stepped on. We were worried about them getting away before we could scoop them up, and as much as we sit on the floor in our class, we certainly did not want ants infesting our room. My blood pressure was through the roof and I was squeamishly trying to get everything under control. It was a mess but we laughed soo soo much. One of my coworkers get bitten on the pinky and it hurt really badly. She said it hurt much worse than a normal ant bite. I felt so bad!
Anyways, I always say it, but I love my job. Every single day is a new adventure and it never gets old. I can't think of a better way to spend 8 hours a day than caring for and teaching these kiddos. :)
Last semester, since I was not only an aide, but a "student teacher" as well, I took over the science curriculum and have taught that since the beginning of the year. We've done some cool units, such as fossils, plate tectonics, and recycling, and we are about to start life cycles. We ordered some stuff to help bring the lesson to life for the kids. Literally! We got a box delivered today that said "open immediately" and I was so excited that it was our science materials. The box had two vials of large red ants (with neon orange "Caution:Ants Bite!" stickers everywhere), and two cups with ten butterfly larvae. The butterflies will become caterpillars, then chrysalis, and then butterflies. (but you probably already knew that). The ants are for an ant farm, and we will discuss living in a community, etc. Okay, I am really drawing this out, so I'll just get to the good part...I carefully opened the first vial of ants and successfully dumped them all into the first ant farm. It was a little stressful. but not too bad. When it was time to put the second vial into that "farm" I dropped the vial and 40 huge ants started crawling all over the place. Luckily most of the kids were in reading, and only three were in the room at the time. I was doing it on a countertop, and two other teachers came to help, so we saved about half of them back (by scooping them up into the vials and then dumping them in their new farm home). Unfortunately lots of them walked right off the counter onto the floor and had to be stepped on. We were worried about them getting away before we could scoop them up, and as much as we sit on the floor in our class, we certainly did not want ants infesting our room. My blood pressure was through the roof and I was squeamishly trying to get everything under control. It was a mess but we laughed soo soo much. One of my coworkers get bitten on the pinky and it hurt really badly. She said it hurt much worse than a normal ant bite. I felt so bad!
Anyways, I always say it, but I love my job. Every single day is a new adventure and it never gets old. I can't think of a better way to spend 8 hours a day than caring for and teaching these kiddos. :)
Thursday, January 28, 2010
My afternoon on the football field...
Tuesday at 2:45 pm, two students were absent, six were in resource reading, and four were in the room with me. Two of them were working on touch math, one was in his wheelchair at the computer getting his tube feeding, and one of them was in the shower in the bathroom (with two teachers helping). Suddenly a familiar voice came over the speakers and announced that we were having a fire drill. Jeeze, great timing. My coworker/friend Lisa and I looked at each other like "you have GOT to be kidding...right?" and then started getting the kids to the door. Since I was in charge of "N" at this time, I had to wheel him in his big cumbersome wheelchair AND his IV pole to the door and out in to the hall to leave the building. We thought we were just going out the door and standing there, but a fireman was waiting for us there and sent us to the back of the school. We all had to evacuate to the football field, which meant a long walk all the way around the perimeter of the school with a wheelchair and an IV pole. It's kind of hard to push both at the same time, especially when I'm trying to keep another kid close to me as well.
Long story short, there was a gas leak down the road and we had to evacuate so they could check the gas levels in the school. While we were out there, one of my girls said "if you don't let me in the school, the principal's gonna FIRE YOU!" It was disrespectful, and I definitely explained to her that she can't talk to me that way, but it was a little funny too. Haha, can you just picture her 'pulling some strings' and getting me fired because I wouldn't let her go to her locker? ;) We were outside for half an hour when they discovered that the levels were low enough to let the kids get their books and backpacks to go home. So not only did we evacuate 1000 students, we also let them back into the school (quickly!!) and then back out to the football field again. It could have been SOO messy, but luckily it was very organized and even though no principals or anyone could have ever predicted or planned this, it went very smoothly. News helicopters even flew over to get footage, which was very exciting to most students, but increased anxiety and fear for our kids. The Nurse had to run in and get supplies to flush my student's tube feed line. His bag had emptied, so we had to finish the tube feed and get him ready to go home. That part was kind of stressful. Anyways, after the kids were back on the field with their backpacks, we were just waiting for the city officials and fire department to open the roads near our school again so the busses and parents could come pick the kids up. Our school gets out at 3:40 on a normal day, and the last kids left around 4:30, so that's not too bad if you ask me. I helped direct traffic, since parents had to pick kids up in back of school (rather than in front). Most parents were pretty pleasant considering they'd been waiting for roads to open and stuck in lines, and having to reroute and whatnot, but not one mom...I got SCREAMED at. I'm not sure why she chose me, but she blocked traffic coming and going and got out of her car to start yelling at how she didn't appreciate her kids having to stand outside. (Um, for the record it was a BEAUTIFUL sunny day, the weather was gorgeous and they weren't outside more than an hour!) Luckily my principal saw it happening and jogged over. He had to literally scream at her to get in her car and she still wouldn't. What an idiot. She finally got in her car, but promised we'd be hearing from her. My principal told me later that he called her that night and explained that if everyone acted the way that she had, there would have been complete chaos. It's true, but of course she didn't back down. Luckily most parents just appreciated the measures we took to ensure the safety of their children. It ended up being okay and we were all laughing when it was over that it was a day we'd NEVER forget, but at the time it was pretty crazy.
We had a fieldtrip on Wednesday. We purposely planned it on that day, because we had been notified that there would be a lockdown that day, and in our class, that's a big deal. It's easier to just plan to be gone. Anyways, we found out Tuesday that the lockdown would be postponed to next week. Go figure, right? :) We still went to the Science Center at Fair Park and had lunch at Cotton Patch, and it was a blast, but I can puh-romise you that I will have another interesting story next after our lockdown drill. It's supposed to happen during lunch, and the people at admin want to video tape it, to find weaknesses and whatnot, so it's gonna be crazy. We are in the gym during 4th period, so we will have to hideout in a locker room. I took one of our kids in there today just to get him familiar with it. He was very cute, and whispered and seemed to know that if we were in there it was serious. Hopefully next week when it really does go down, he will be that calm and easy going. Boy oh boy, I love my job...there is ALWAYS a new adventure! :) I think I'm going to write a book one day about being a special ed teacher!
Long story short, there was a gas leak down the road and we had to evacuate so they could check the gas levels in the school. While we were out there, one of my girls said "if you don't let me in the school, the principal's gonna FIRE YOU!" It was disrespectful, and I definitely explained to her that she can't talk to me that way, but it was a little funny too. Haha, can you just picture her 'pulling some strings' and getting me fired because I wouldn't let her go to her locker? ;) We were outside for half an hour when they discovered that the levels were low enough to let the kids get their books and backpacks to go home. So not only did we evacuate 1000 students, we also let them back into the school (quickly!!) and then back out to the football field again. It could have been SOO messy, but luckily it was very organized and even though no principals or anyone could have ever predicted or planned this, it went very smoothly. News helicopters even flew over to get footage, which was very exciting to most students, but increased anxiety and fear for our kids. The Nurse had to run in and get supplies to flush my student's tube feed line. His bag had emptied, so we had to finish the tube feed and get him ready to go home. That part was kind of stressful. Anyways, after the kids were back on the field with their backpacks, we were just waiting for the city officials and fire department to open the roads near our school again so the busses and parents could come pick the kids up. Our school gets out at 3:40 on a normal day, and the last kids left around 4:30, so that's not too bad if you ask me. I helped direct traffic, since parents had to pick kids up in back of school (rather than in front). Most parents were pretty pleasant considering they'd been waiting for roads to open and stuck in lines, and having to reroute and whatnot, but not one mom...I got SCREAMED at. I'm not sure why she chose me, but she blocked traffic coming and going and got out of her car to start yelling at how she didn't appreciate her kids having to stand outside. (Um, for the record it was a BEAUTIFUL sunny day, the weather was gorgeous and they weren't outside more than an hour!) Luckily my principal saw it happening and jogged over. He had to literally scream at her to get in her car and she still wouldn't. What an idiot. She finally got in her car, but promised we'd be hearing from her. My principal told me later that he called her that night and explained that if everyone acted the way that she had, there would have been complete chaos. It's true, but of course she didn't back down. Luckily most parents just appreciated the measures we took to ensure the safety of their children. It ended up being okay and we were all laughing when it was over that it was a day we'd NEVER forget, but at the time it was pretty crazy.
We had a fieldtrip on Wednesday. We purposely planned it on that day, because we had been notified that there would be a lockdown that day, and in our class, that's a big deal. It's easier to just plan to be gone. Anyways, we found out Tuesday that the lockdown would be postponed to next week. Go figure, right? :) We still went to the Science Center at Fair Park and had lunch at Cotton Patch, and it was a blast, but I can puh-romise you that I will have another interesting story next after our lockdown drill. It's supposed to happen during lunch, and the people at admin want to video tape it, to find weaknesses and whatnot, so it's gonna be crazy. We are in the gym during 4th period, so we will have to hideout in a locker room. I took one of our kids in there today just to get him familiar with it. He was very cute, and whispered and seemed to know that if we were in there it was serious. Hopefully next week when it really does go down, he will be that calm and easy going. Boy oh boy, I love my job...there is ALWAYS a new adventure! :) I think I'm going to write a book one day about being a special ed teacher!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Food, Fat, and Groceries Galore...
Warning...this is a super boring post. I was even bored typing it, so I'm confident you will be bored reading it. Sorry. Check back soon for a fun post about my awesome weekend in McKinney with Ellen and Amy and their families! :)
My work is having a competition called Biggest Loser. We weighed in when we got back from Christmas break, and we will weigh in every Thursday until Spring Break, when the winner will be announced. If you participate, you get to wear jeans on Thursday (in addition to Friday!) so I decided that even if I don't do well, it's worth joining, just to get two jean days per week! :)Everyone who wanted to participate put $10 in the pot. 55 people joined in, so the winner will receive $550...pretty good incentive, huh? Anyways, the school nurse sends an email out on Fridays to the people in the "Biggest Loser" group and let's us know how we're doing. The competition is who can lose the most body weight by percentage, which I think is very fair. If Janie weighs 100 pounds and loses ten, and Sally weighs 200 pounds and loses 15, Janie wins...even though she lost fewer pounds, she lost more of her body weight in percentage...make sense? Anyways, we are starting week three tomorrow. The first week I lost 2.04% and last week I lost 2.18% (total, not in addition to week one). Anyways, my goal is to lose ten pounds, so I don't really know what percentage that is. I am trying some, but it's been pretty half-hearted so far. All my co-wokers are borderline obnoxious about watching what they eat and talking about it all the time, but all that does is make me want food more, so I've been trying to just be sensible and cut back a little here and there. This entire past week was hard because I've been on antibiotics and that's been messing up my tummy, so hopefully future weeks will be easier.
Last week Zac and I rented Food, Inc. and that was an eye opener too. If you haven't seen it, I would reccommend it, disturbing as it was. At least there is hope...I like how they compared tacking these huge food companies to "big tobacco."
Zac and I went grocery shopping together tonight. We hadn't been to the grocery store in a very long time, and our pantry and fridge were so bare. We only have a Brookshire's and a Wal-Mart in town. The Wal-Mart is new, and because there isn't really competition, it's very expensive. I hate going to both of the stores in town. Since we knew that this was going to be a big trip (spending alot and wanting to buy alot) we drove to Waxahachie, about ten minutes away, to go to HEB. I forgot how much I love shopping at HEB. Not only was it super cheap, but they have more selection, and I love their brands like Hill Country Fair and stuff. Sounds dumb to get excited about, but it's been years since I actually LIKED grocery shopping, and tonight I did. Also, we got lots of healthy choices, so I was excited about that. We got ground turkey instead of beef, anytime we had the choice for whole wheat we did that instead. I really do not like wheat macaroni or spaghetti as much, but I thought if I could train myself to only eat it, maybe I'll start liking it more. I mean, I don't hate it, I just prefer the unhealthy kind, haha. Oh well...at least we got the healthier items. We also got fruit and veggies and hope to eat more fresh produce.
Okay, there isn't really a point to this post, except that I'm trying to be healthier, and maybe that will also in turn help me become my school's "Biggest Loser." Tomorrow I am officially going to start trying "whole heartedy" and maybe I'll get better results. I'll let you know how it goes...
My work is having a competition called Biggest Loser. We weighed in when we got back from Christmas break, and we will weigh in every Thursday until Spring Break, when the winner will be announced. If you participate, you get to wear jeans on Thursday (in addition to Friday!) so I decided that even if I don't do well, it's worth joining, just to get two jean days per week! :)Everyone who wanted to participate put $10 in the pot. 55 people joined in, so the winner will receive $550...pretty good incentive, huh? Anyways, the school nurse sends an email out on Fridays to the people in the "Biggest Loser" group and let's us know how we're doing. The competition is who can lose the most body weight by percentage, which I think is very fair. If Janie weighs 100 pounds and loses ten, and Sally weighs 200 pounds and loses 15, Janie wins...even though she lost fewer pounds, she lost more of her body weight in percentage...make sense? Anyways, we are starting week three tomorrow. The first week I lost 2.04% and last week I lost 2.18% (total, not in addition to week one). Anyways, my goal is to lose ten pounds, so I don't really know what percentage that is. I am trying some, but it's been pretty half-hearted so far. All my co-wokers are borderline obnoxious about watching what they eat and talking about it all the time, but all that does is make me want food more, so I've been trying to just be sensible and cut back a little here and there. This entire past week was hard because I've been on antibiotics and that's been messing up my tummy, so hopefully future weeks will be easier.
Last week Zac and I rented Food, Inc. and that was an eye opener too. If you haven't seen it, I would reccommend it, disturbing as it was. At least there is hope...I like how they compared tacking these huge food companies to "big tobacco."
Zac and I went grocery shopping together tonight. We hadn't been to the grocery store in a very long time, and our pantry and fridge were so bare. We only have a Brookshire's and a Wal-Mart in town. The Wal-Mart is new, and because there isn't really competition, it's very expensive. I hate going to both of the stores in town. Since we knew that this was going to be a big trip (spending alot and wanting to buy alot) we drove to Waxahachie, about ten minutes away, to go to HEB. I forgot how much I love shopping at HEB. Not only was it super cheap, but they have more selection, and I love their brands like Hill Country Fair and stuff. Sounds dumb to get excited about, but it's been years since I actually LIKED grocery shopping, and tonight I did. Also, we got lots of healthy choices, so I was excited about that. We got ground turkey instead of beef, anytime we had the choice for whole wheat we did that instead. I really do not like wheat macaroni or spaghetti as much, but I thought if I could train myself to only eat it, maybe I'll start liking it more. I mean, I don't hate it, I just prefer the unhealthy kind, haha. Oh well...at least we got the healthier items. We also got fruit and veggies and hope to eat more fresh produce.
Okay, there isn't really a point to this post, except that I'm trying to be healthier, and maybe that will also in turn help me become my school's "Biggest Loser." Tomorrow I am officially going to start trying "whole heartedy" and maybe I'll get better results. I'll let you know how it goes...
Friday, January 15, 2010
Sick Students=Sick Teachers
Yep, you guessed it! I am sick. One of our sweeties came to school Monday morning coughing and asking to go home. We called his mom and she let us know that he has a doctor appointment scheduled...Thursday! Okay, it's one thing if it's a sprained wrist or something, but in my (smart) opinion, you don't wait three days to go to the doctor when it's a cold. Anyways, he was in school all week coughing all over us (yeah, he never covers his mouth, but instead leans towards you when he needs to cough). Thankfully he is somewhat secluded from the other kids for various reasons, so he was mostly around teachers and not others kids. Anyways, he comes this morning, looking AWFUL and saying his head's on fire. One of my coworkers (who was also not feeling great, like myself this morning) walked him to the office and sure enough he had a 102 fever. We called the mom and she said "yeah, we went to the doctor yesterday and they said that he has a sinus infection AND bronchitis...I was hoping he'd be better today." Really? She sent him to school the very day after he was diagnosed with both of those things? Needless to say, we had her come pick him up. We really like this mom a lot, and I know that some people have a hard time missing work, but I feel so bad that her poor child was miserable and sick all week and still having to go to school, AND exposing all of us to whatever he had too!!
Any who...this afternoon I couldn't bear it anymore, so I went ahead and scheduled an appointment for myself. It turns out that I have a sinus infection (what a coincidence!!!) and an upper respitory infection. I have NEVER once had a sinus infection, but it's not much fun. My whole head hurts (nose, throat, the usual) but my ears hurt a lot, and my doctor said there's lots of fluid in them. Okay, I have a question for those with sinus experience...is it normal for the doctor to turn off the lights and hold a light up to your cheekbone? I've never experienced this, but it is what she did right before she said "you definitely have a sinus infection." I guess she could see the fluid through my skin or something? Hmm...weird. Anyways, I guess I was more sick than I thought I was...she gave me a cortisone shot and an antibiotic shot. Anyone ever had a shot of rocephin? It is probably the most painful shot ever! I had it once when I was a freshmen in college for tonsilitis, and I could hardly walk up the stairs to my dorm for a week because my hip hurt so badly. Luckily my doctor today mixed the rocephin with lidocaine, which made it not feel like she was injecting fireants directly into my blood stream, like it did last time I had roephin. Okay, so two shots is enough, right? Nope...she also gave me an inhaler to help with the upper respitory infection (my chest burns to breathe), a weeks worth of antibiotic pills (which I start tomorrow) and tussionex, which is cough syrup with codene in it. I took some of that earlier because of my achiness, which may be one reason why I am so long winded and wordy in this blog. I'm gonna blame it on the tus-tus-tus-tus-tus tussonex. (get it? like the song?) Anyways (I feel like I've said that a lot today, have I? Oh well, anyways) I am sure that you just learned more than you ever wanted to know about my current health status, and I am quite confident I came across as a little whiny. Sorry. Guess I'll be watching lots of movies this weekend...hopefully I'll be feeling better by Monday. Blah..............
To end on a good note...Molly is feeling MUCH better. She is completely back to her old self! :)
Any who...this afternoon I couldn't bear it anymore, so I went ahead and scheduled an appointment for myself. It turns out that I have a sinus infection (what a coincidence!!!) and an upper respitory infection. I have NEVER once had a sinus infection, but it's not much fun. My whole head hurts (nose, throat, the usual) but my ears hurt a lot, and my doctor said there's lots of fluid in them. Okay, I have a question for those with sinus experience...is it normal for the doctor to turn off the lights and hold a light up to your cheekbone? I've never experienced this, but it is what she did right before she said "you definitely have a sinus infection." I guess she could see the fluid through my skin or something? Hmm...weird. Anyways, I guess I was more sick than I thought I was...she gave me a cortisone shot and an antibiotic shot. Anyone ever had a shot of rocephin? It is probably the most painful shot ever! I had it once when I was a freshmen in college for tonsilitis, and I could hardly walk up the stairs to my dorm for a week because my hip hurt so badly. Luckily my doctor today mixed the rocephin with lidocaine, which made it not feel like she was injecting fireants directly into my blood stream, like it did last time I had roephin. Okay, so two shots is enough, right? Nope...she also gave me an inhaler to help with the upper respitory infection (my chest burns to breathe), a weeks worth of antibiotic pills (which I start tomorrow) and tussionex, which is cough syrup with codene in it. I took some of that earlier because of my achiness, which may be one reason why I am so long winded and wordy in this blog. I'm gonna blame it on the tus-tus-tus-tus-tus tussonex. (get it? like the song?) Anyways (I feel like I've said that a lot today, have I? Oh well, anyways) I am sure that you just learned more than you ever wanted to know about my current health status, and I am quite confident I came across as a little whiny. Sorry. Guess I'll be watching lots of movies this weekend...hopefully I'll be feeling better by Monday. Blah..............
To end on a good note...Molly is feeling MUCH better. She is completely back to her old self! :)
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Test...Success
I found out Tuesday (at school) that I passed my "EC-4 Generalist" test!! (This certifies people to be able to teach early childhood up to fourth grade, and questions cover content as well as situations and how to approach problems, design lessons, and teach material.) The magic number to pass is 240, and the best you can get is 300. I got a 276, and I was VERY happy with that! It is actually a tough test, and it's very lengthy. (You are allowed five hours, but I took just a little over two...but that is still a long time to have to focus so hard, and it is a lot of reading.
When I got my results back and finished jumping up and down, my teacher left and went to Sonic to get us all drinks to celebrate! They were so happy for me, and with me...it was a great feeling! In fact, we all went to dinner together tonight. I am so lucky to love my coworkers!
The next test I take is called the PPR. It stands for Pedagogy and Professional Responsibility. Whereas the last test is more about the "what" of teaching, this is geared to the ethics and laws and "rules" of teaching. I am not as worried about this one. Everyone says "don't imagine what you'd do in a real classroom, but instead think of the "ideal world." I will be taking this test in the next few weeks.
Those are the only 2 tests that I am required to take for my degree in Elementary Education. Since I KNOW that I don't want to teach elementary, I plan on taking a few more tests after I graduate. I will FOR SURE take the Special Ed. test, and most likely I will take the Bilingual or ESL test. The only problem is that these tests cost $120 each, plus a lot of stress, and a huge chunk of time. I know it is worth it though, and make me that much more marketable. The more certifications I have, the more people will want to hire me, and the more I will be able to do. :)
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This has nothing to do with state tests, but on the subject of education, I had my formal observation today, by my University Supervisor. She is so sweet and everything went really well. The kids were awesome, and I felt like it was smooth. When we were going over my evaluation, she said "well, I tried as hard as I could to think of three suggestions or areas to improve, but I could not come up with any, so I just wrote three extra compliments in that section." :) This has been a good week!
When I got my results back and finished jumping up and down, my teacher left and went to Sonic to get us all drinks to celebrate! They were so happy for me, and with me...it was a great feeling! In fact, we all went to dinner together tonight. I am so lucky to love my coworkers!
The next test I take is called the PPR. It stands for Pedagogy and Professional Responsibility. Whereas the last test is more about the "what" of teaching, this is geared to the ethics and laws and "rules" of teaching. I am not as worried about this one. Everyone says "don't imagine what you'd do in a real classroom, but instead think of the "ideal world." I will be taking this test in the next few weeks.
Those are the only 2 tests that I am required to take for my degree in Elementary Education. Since I KNOW that I don't want to teach elementary, I plan on taking a few more tests after I graduate. I will FOR SURE take the Special Ed. test, and most likely I will take the Bilingual or ESL test. The only problem is that these tests cost $120 each, plus a lot of stress, and a huge chunk of time. I know it is worth it though, and make me that much more marketable. The more certifications I have, the more people will want to hire me, and the more I will be able to do. :)
--------
This has nothing to do with state tests, but on the subject of education, I had my formal observation today, by my University Supervisor. She is so sweet and everything went really well. The kids were awesome, and I felt like it was smooth. When we were going over my evaluation, she said "well, I tried as hard as I could to think of three suggestions or areas to improve, but I could not come up with any, so I just wrote three extra compliments in that section." :) This has been a good week!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Quickie
-We had to get a new latop. Ours would not turn on, we took it in, and the motherboard was out. It costs like $500 to replace that, and you can get a new laptop for $500, sooooo...this is my first post from the new computer. It's an Asus, and is supposed to be amazing. I had never heard of this brand before but the super friendly, smart, and helpful guy at Best Buy swore it was great. Plus we got an amazing deal on it. Windows 7 is about to come out, and this has Windows XP, so it was cheap...AND we get to upgrade to Windows 7 for free when it is available. He hooked us up...it was nice. What is not nice is dropping $700 on a random Monday. (After we bought the insurance and paid to get our stuff off the old laptop's hard drive, it was a bit expensive.) Oh well...we are both in school and we both NEED a laptop, so it's not like it was really an option. At least we got a sleek computer with nice specs. OH-Oh-0h! I can't believe that the first thing I said wasn't that we have a camera on our laptop now! I didn't even realize it when we bought it, but tonight when we were picking it up from Best Buy I accidentally turned it on. Guess who gets to Skype their awesome cousins living in Paris, London, and Edinburgh now? It's ME!!!
-Kids are dropping like flies at my school. I think that there were 100 people absent Monday, and 140 absent yesterday. There have been 60+ confirmed cases of flu. My district offers flu shots at the very end of October, but I don't think I'm going to wait that long. I think I might go ahead and try to get one this weekend. Geeze, just all this talk is making me feel germy. Since I am in a contained classroom, it's even a little worse. We have had two out with flu, and there are only 12 in our room. Yikes! I am taking Vitamin C though, and drinking Emer-gen-C, and using Germ-X like it's nobody's business, so hopefully these things will help protect me. Hopefully!!
-Do any of you have twitter? I love it. I didn't like it at first, but now I get on a lot. Let me know if you have it, so we can follow each others tweets.
-Y'all my good friend Michelle (from Burnet, who also lives here), her father passed away last weekend. He is two years younger than my dad and died of heart stuff. Life is so so precious. And death is so so final. Please pray for Michelle and her family. What a rough and unexpected loss! I can't even imagine.
-Zac's birthday is coming up. Yay! That's all! :)
-Kids are dropping like flies at my school. I think that there were 100 people absent Monday, and 140 absent yesterday. There have been 60+ confirmed cases of flu. My district offers flu shots at the very end of October, but I don't think I'm going to wait that long. I think I might go ahead and try to get one this weekend. Geeze, just all this talk is making me feel germy. Since I am in a contained classroom, it's even a little worse. We have had two out with flu, and there are only 12 in our room. Yikes! I am taking Vitamin C though, and drinking Emer-gen-C, and using Germ-X like it's nobody's business, so hopefully these things will help protect me. Hopefully!!
-Do any of you have twitter? I love it. I didn't like it at first, but now I get on a lot. Let me know if you have it, so we can follow each others tweets.
-Y'all my good friend Michelle (from Burnet, who also lives here), her father passed away last weekend. He is two years younger than my dad and died of heart stuff. Life is so so precious. And death is so so final. Please pray for Michelle and her family. What a rough and unexpected loss! I can't even imagine.
-Zac's birthday is coming up. Yay! That's all! :)
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Catching Up...
It has been way way way too long! Since I last posted, I have completed five weeks of a new job, (a month of school), and had a somewhat serious surgery. Obviously I don't have enough time to cover it all, but here are a few quick things I will say...
-I love my job. Love it. I have 11 kids in my class and every single one of them has touched me in one way or another. I feel blessed to be in an atmosphere that has so much love and caring, every single day! We tell our class we are like a family, and we really are. I love my co-workers, and I feel like Zac probably knows the kids too, since I talk about them so much.
-As much as I love the kids and the "work" I do, I am so exhausted at the end of each day. (It doesn't help that I had surgery the second week of school, and have not quite felt myself since then, but that is getting better.) I stand ALL DAY LONG, which I have gotten used to, but it seems that I am more "emotionally" exhausted than physically exhausted everyday. Some of our kids have rough lives and I just want to bring most of them home with me. It's sad to see these kids have to persevere through so much. They are amazing, and never seem to complain, but part of that is because they don't know any different. I do, though. One of the kids came up to me this week, and whispered a simple three-word sentence, but it made me tear up. He said "You're so loving."
-I think about blogging all the time. I will hear a song or read about something and think "oh, I wanna blog about that" but then I don't get around to it. Hmph, another thing I have learned about having a full time job, is that the evenings are so precious. I am having a hard time balancing work and "me time." I think I am getting better at it, but for awhile it was kinda discouraging. I am someone who needs LOTS of sleep, but since I'd get home from work at five, and then Zac would get home around 6, we'd eat dinner and visit and watch our shows or whatever, I didn't really have alone time (which I used to have all day long, every day). So instead of going to bed early, like I should have, I would stay up and play online or read, or watch a show or something to unwind. I know that it's impossible to ask anyone to sympathize for me, since most of my friends and fam have had full-time jobs for years now, and they have had to figure out this balance long ago, but I'm just saying that I am just now getting the hang of it. I guess I got used to having lots of "me" time, so I was sacrificing sleep to have some. I am better now, but gosh, it sucks having to get things done in the evening and weekends. I like getting things done during the day (which I can't do anymore, since I'm at work now) and just relaxing on the weekends and evenings. I have class every other Tuesday from 4:30-10, and then every Thursday and Friday, I try to go to Zac's football games. It's busy. I know, I probably sound bratty. Sorry. I'll stop, but I do hope you know what I mean. It's just challenging, that's all. I can't even imagine being a working mom. How do you do anything, and when do you sleep? I have SO much admiration for working moms. Truly! I really don't know how they do it! I fear I am making myself sound weak or whiny, but I'm just being honest. I think I am transitioning fine now, but I'll admit I love my alone time. It's a good thing I LOVE my job!!
-Last, but not least...I graduate DECEMBER 19th! That is exactly three months from today! I can't believe it! I am so excited! Now...I just have to get through 6 more hours of classes, projects, and two big state tests.
**I know that this post was very poorly written, I'm just too lazy to change it. Forgive me? Okay, now here is a video to make you forget about my "stream of consciousness" writing. Wouldn't it be fun for this to be Zac and our future daughter? :)
-I love my job. Love it. I have 11 kids in my class and every single one of them has touched me in one way or another. I feel blessed to be in an atmosphere that has so much love and caring, every single day! We tell our class we are like a family, and we really are. I love my co-workers, and I feel like Zac probably knows the kids too, since I talk about them so much.
-As much as I love the kids and the "work" I do, I am so exhausted at the end of each day. (It doesn't help that I had surgery the second week of school, and have not quite felt myself since then, but that is getting better.) I stand ALL DAY LONG, which I have gotten used to, but it seems that I am more "emotionally" exhausted than physically exhausted everyday. Some of our kids have rough lives and I just want to bring most of them home with me. It's sad to see these kids have to persevere through so much. They are amazing, and never seem to complain, but part of that is because they don't know any different. I do, though. One of the kids came up to me this week, and whispered a simple three-word sentence, but it made me tear up. He said "You're so loving."
-I think about blogging all the time. I will hear a song or read about something and think "oh, I wanna blog about that" but then I don't get around to it. Hmph, another thing I have learned about having a full time job, is that the evenings are so precious. I am having a hard time balancing work and "me time." I think I am getting better at it, but for awhile it was kinda discouraging. I am someone who needs LOTS of sleep, but since I'd get home from work at five, and then Zac would get home around 6, we'd eat dinner and visit and watch our shows or whatever, I didn't really have alone time (which I used to have all day long, every day). So instead of going to bed early, like I should have, I would stay up and play online or read, or watch a show or something to unwind. I know that it's impossible to ask anyone to sympathize for me, since most of my friends and fam have had full-time jobs for years now, and they have had to figure out this balance long ago, but I'm just saying that I am just now getting the hang of it. I guess I got used to having lots of "me" time, so I was sacrificing sleep to have some. I am better now, but gosh, it sucks having to get things done in the evening and weekends. I like getting things done during the day (which I can't do anymore, since I'm at work now) and just relaxing on the weekends and evenings. I have class every other Tuesday from 4:30-10, and then every Thursday and Friday, I try to go to Zac's football games. It's busy. I know, I probably sound bratty. Sorry. I'll stop, but I do hope you know what I mean. It's just challenging, that's all. I can't even imagine being a working mom. How do you do anything, and when do you sleep? I have SO much admiration for working moms. Truly! I really don't know how they do it! I fear I am making myself sound weak or whiny, but I'm just being honest. I think I am transitioning fine now, but I'll admit I love my alone time. It's a good thing I LOVE my job!!
-Last, but not least...I graduate DECEMBER 19th! That is exactly three months from today! I can't believe it! I am so excited! Now...I just have to get through 6 more hours of classes, projects, and two big state tests.
**I know that this post was very poorly written, I'm just too lazy to change it. Forgive me? Okay, now here is a video to make you forget about my "stream of consciousness" writing. Wouldn't it be fun for this to be Zac and our future daughter? :)
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Imagine Leadership...
This week I am doing teacher inservice for my new job. I am SO excited about my new job and the people I will be working with! (That's a whole other post though!)
The video below was shown at one of our meetings, and I thought it was blog-worthy. It's only six minutes, and offers some pretty good food for thought! I know I'M ready to be a better person and leader! :) Enjoy...
The video below was shown at one of our meetings, and I thought it was blog-worthy. It's only six minutes, and offers some pretty good food for thought! I know I'M ready to be a better person and leader! :) Enjoy...
Friday, June 12, 2009
Summer School Stinks
Smells like liver and onions, to be exact! I am taking Biology I this summer session and I am not so much enjoying myself. We "examined" onions under a microscope, which was stinky, and I HATE onions. We also studied oxidation with hydrogen peroxide and liver. (which smells awful...how do people eat that? Do any of y'all like that?) So when I say it stinks, I mean that figuratively AND literally! Being in school in the summer is just not fun. The school I usually attend runs it's classes like masters programs, and we meet once a week for three hours. This spring I took 15 hours, but we only met on Monday's from 4-9. It's nice to have it condensed. Going every morning from 8-12 is not fun, and especially because it's summer and I'm supposed to be having fun and staying up late and being carefree. The good thing about my class is that we don't have homework. We do have a test once a week (I made an 89 on the first one, and a 90 on the second) but that hasn't been too bad. The good thing about testing weekly, is that the material is still somewhat fresh on the brain. But enough about school!
I have so many exciting things to share with y'all! Sorry I have been so bad at blogging lately. I really and truly am going to try to be better about it! I hope y'all are having a nice summer so far. Also, thanks to those of you who comment! :) I love it.
SIX months until I graduate from college! Finally!
I wish my commencement speaker was this awesome...
I have so many exciting things to share with y'all! Sorry I have been so bad at blogging lately. I really and truly am going to try to be better about it! I hope y'all are having a nice summer so far. Also, thanks to those of you who comment! :) I love it.
SIX months until I graduate from college! Finally!
I wish my commencement speaker was this awesome...
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Drip Drop
Tuesday I got to school and received several compliments about my hair from the ladies in the office. I thought the kids would think it was cool Icut my hair too, but when I got to the classroom, they all just kind of looked at me funny. One little boy finally said "Mrs. Oldham, you were way much better with long hair." Haha, I just laughed, it did not bother me in the least. Then several of the other boys chimed in "yeah, it was best long" but thank goodness for sweet little girls..."you look pretty ALL the time Mrs. Oldham" (or some variation of that name, depending on who was the one speaking).
Kelly Clarkson's new CD is AWESOME! It is like her Breakaway album...very fun and catchy. Even the slower songs are amazing! I love when an artist I like releases a new CD, because you get to see them everywhere! (Ellen, Jay Leno, David Letterman, etc) Well, Kelly was on American Idol last night and she was great. I will say she has gained weight, but who cares? She is a great singer, and I have heard she is pretty down to earth. She has a house in Mansfield, which is like 20 minutes from us, so lots of people around here know her.
Speaking of American Idol...YES! I like the top 11 remaining contestants. I still have not decided who is my absolute favorite, but I like Alexis and Megan alot. I like girls with a little punk edge to them...haha, maybe it's because I always wanted to have one, but was too scared to not be mainstream? Shame on me! I also love Lil Rounds because she reminds me of Mary J. Blige. My two favorite guys are Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert, but part of me wants Anoop to go far too. As you can see...I like ALOT of them! :) I'm going to pick one video a week to post though, and it's hard to decide which, but this week my favorite performance award goes out to ALEXIS GRACE! (even though I have never heard the song "Dirty Diana")
I already devoted an entire post to Dancing With The Stars, but I will just say again...I'm a fan! Go Melissa!
Eli sent me a link to this amazing video. It is a fun little pop song, but the video is a treat for the eyes. :) Definitely worth watching!!! "I wanna see you drip drop, drip drop, drip drop!" Also, some of the dance mixes to it are really fun too...makes me wanna go dancing with Eli! :)
Post about my last day of Kindergarten coming soon! :)
Kelly Clarkson's new CD is AWESOME! It is like her Breakaway album...very fun and catchy. Even the slower songs are amazing! I love when an artist I like releases a new CD, because you get to see them everywhere! (Ellen, Jay Leno, David Letterman, etc) Well, Kelly was on American Idol last night and she was great. I will say she has gained weight, but who cares? She is a great singer, and I have heard she is pretty down to earth. She has a house in Mansfield, which is like 20 minutes from us, so lots of people around here know her.
Speaking of American Idol...YES! I like the top 11 remaining contestants. I still have not decided who is my absolute favorite, but I like Alexis and Megan alot. I like girls with a little punk edge to them...haha, maybe it's because I always wanted to have one, but was too scared to not be mainstream? Shame on me! I also love Lil Rounds because she reminds me of Mary J. Blige. My two favorite guys are Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert, but part of me wants Anoop to go far too. As you can see...I like ALOT of them! :) I'm going to pick one video a week to post though, and it's hard to decide which, but this week my favorite performance award goes out to ALEXIS GRACE! (even though I have never heard the song "Dirty Diana")
I already devoted an entire post to Dancing With The Stars, but I will just say again...I'm a fan! Go Melissa!
Eli sent me a link to this amazing video. It is a fun little pop song, but the video is a treat for the eyes. :) Definitely worth watching!!! "I wanna see you drip drop, drip drop, drip drop!" Also, some of the dance mixes to it are really fun too...makes me wanna go dancing with Eli! :)
Post about my last day of Kindergarten coming soon! :)
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
1 semester down...only 2 more to go!
I got my grades today and I made 3 A's and 2 B's. I am normally a perfectionist with grades, but considering everything I went through this past semester, I was very happy with what I made. I am also very glad this semester is over! It was probably the toughest semester I have ever been through, emotionally, and I am glad it is behind me!
I got an email from my advisor yesterday, with my assignment for my internship! I start in January. This entails me having class every Monday from 4:30-10 and then being in an elementary school every Tuesday and Wednesday from 7-3:30. I know which school it is, and even which teachers will be over me. I do not know either of them, but I have heard they are both phenomenal! :) I hope they like me! (Who couldn't? haha, just kidding!)
So, after internship is residency, which means in August 09 I start my student teaching, and then graduate in December 2009!!! The light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer, and I am so happy and relieved. I am ready to be done with school! I wanna be a Mom, and our deal was that I only do one at a time. So, as soon as school is out of the way...motherhood, here I come! hehe.
I got an email from my advisor yesterday, with my assignment for my internship! I start in January. This entails me having class every Monday from 4:30-10 and then being in an elementary school every Tuesday and Wednesday from 7-3:30. I know which school it is, and even which teachers will be over me. I do not know either of them, but I have heard they are both phenomenal! :) I hope they like me! (Who couldn't? haha, just kidding!)
So, after internship is residency, which means in August 09 I start my student teaching, and then graduate in December 2009!!! The light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer, and I am so happy and relieved. I am ready to be done with school! I wanna be a Mom, and our deal was that I only do one at a time. So, as soon as school is out of the way...motherhood, here I come! hehe.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
UT Hex Rally
Obviously I am SUPER late in posting this, since today is Saturday and I started it Monday night. I didn't post it, since I wanted to add more, but I have too much to blog about to catch up for the past week, so I'm just posting it half finished. I think you will forgive me, and I mean, who says you even care? This might be more than you ever wanted to know about it anyways, haha! :)
In 1923, the Longhorns had been unable to win a game at Kyle Field in 18 years. Desperate to break the College Station "jinx," UT students consulted Madam Agusta Hipple, a local fortune teller. She instructed the students to burn red candles the week before the game as a way of "hexing" the Aggies and putting a stop to the jinx. Through the week of Thanksgiving, Austin shops found it difficult to keep red candles in stock. Candles were burned in store windows along the Drag, in the fraternity and sorority houses of west campus, in the lounges of University residence halls, and in the windows of houses of Austin’s neighborhoods. Madam Hipple knew what she was doing. By uniting the football team and its fans with such a visible show of support, how could the Longhorns fail? They didn’t. Texas went to College Station, defeated the no. 2 ranked Aggies 23 - 0, ended the 18-year jinx, and restored their pride.
This little girl was totally me when I was little! I was in a cheerleading outfit, on my dad's shoulders, so excited and in awe, staring at the cheerleaders and dancers! :)
Mom and me with our Hex candles.
Pops, Zac and Mom before the rallly started.
This is a new mural on the drag and mom wanted to take a picture of it, so I volunteered to be a dork and do a lib in front of it. ("lib" is a liberty, a name for this particular stunt, except a guy is supposed to be hold you in the air when you do it. haha, not on flat ground!)
This is the UT Pom squad dancing. I was so pumped when their song came on and it was the Ashlee Simpson/Missy Elliot remix of L.O.V.E! :) For those of you (ahem, Zac) who enjoy stomping, you will be pleased to see that the frat joins them on stage and they do a little step routine. I felt weird because I have not been to a hex rally since I was in high school, and all the college kids were older than me. Tonight, I was older than them, and wondered if it was wierd that in a way, I still look up to the cheerleaders and dancers, even though I am older than them. Then I decided that maybe it wasn't that weird, because there are men in their 30s, 40s, and 50s and older, who look up to college football players. Right?
In 1923, the Longhorns had been unable to win a game at Kyle Field in 18 years. Desperate to break the College Station "jinx," UT students consulted Madam Agusta Hipple, a local fortune teller. She instructed the students to burn red candles the week before the game as a way of "hexing" the Aggies and putting a stop to the jinx. Through the week of Thanksgiving, Austin shops found it difficult to keep red candles in stock. Candles were burned in store windows along the Drag, in the fraternity and sorority houses of west campus, in the lounges of University residence halls, and in the windows of houses of Austin’s neighborhoods. Madam Hipple knew what she was doing. By uniting the football team and its fans with such a visible show of support, how could the Longhorns fail? They didn’t. Texas went to College Station, defeated the no. 2 ranked Aggies 23 - 0, ended the 18-year jinx, and restored their pride.
This little girl was totally me when I was little! I was in a cheerleading outfit, on my dad's shoulders, so excited and in awe, staring at the cheerleaders and dancers! :)
Mom and me with our Hex candles.
Pops, Zac and Mom before the rallly started.
This is a new mural on the drag and mom wanted to take a picture of it, so I volunteered to be a dork and do a lib in front of it. ("lib" is a liberty, a name for this particular stunt, except a guy is supposed to be hold you in the air when you do it. haha, not on flat ground!)
This is the UT Pom squad dancing. I was so pumped when their song came on and it was the Ashlee Simpson/Missy Elliot remix of L.O.V.E! :) For those of you (ahem, Zac) who enjoy stomping, you will be pleased to see that the frat joins them on stage and they do a little step routine. I felt weird because I have not been to a hex rally since I was in high school, and all the college kids were older than me. Tonight, I was older than them, and wondered if it was wierd that in a way, I still look up to the cheerleaders and dancers, even though I am older than them. Then I decided that maybe it wasn't that weird, because there are men in their 30s, 40s, and 50s and older, who look up to college football players. Right?
The cheerleaders were mixed in with the crowd, throwing stunts and whatnot, so I didnt get any pics or vids of them, but this is second best...it's a video I took of the UT Pom doing a dance I used to have memorized. No joke...I knew every move! At basketball games, I would scoot out to the stairs and do the dance from the aisle when they would do it during timeouts. Ahh...memories!
So, the one good thing about posting this late is that I can write that THE HEX WORKED! Hook 'Em Horns, and way to go!!! :) Pooooooor Ag-gies!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Move over, Regina George!
In case you do not know who "Regina George" is...she's the main "Plastic" from the movie Mean Girls. Shame on you, if you didn't already know that...every person in the America should see that movie, as it has a universal message, not to mention it is hilarious. (It's not just for teenagers!)
Anyways, as I said...forget about Regina! If you know me well, you know that people with special needs (both children and adults alike)have always been near and dear to my heart! (After all, I want to teach Special Education!) I have an extra special connection and love for those with Down Syndrome, Autism, and Asperger's Syndrome. You can imagine how happy I was to see the following video about a girl with DS from Texas, actually just up the road from me!
Click HERE to read the rest of the story about Kristen.
***Every time I say/hear "the rest of the story" I think about Paul Harvey, and my mom picking me up from school every day in high school and listening to him in the car on the radio, during the drive home! Do y'all know what I'm talking about? My parents love him! He closes every segment with "Now you know...The REST of the Story!" haha
Friday, August 29, 2008
My Week
Here is my new FALL schedule:
I have cheerleading practice every day from 2:30-4, plus...
Monday- Math in Waxahachie 11-12:20, Intro to Ed. (which I already took at McMurry, but A&M Commerce will not transfer this class from other schools because they want you to take it through them. Boo!) is from 4:30-7:20, plus over the semester I will have to do 30 hours worth of observations.
Tuesday-Class from 4:30-10pm
Wednesday- Math in Wax. from 11-12:20
So that is four classes. My other two are online classes, so I will have to squeeze those in sometime.
Thursday-Freshmen football games
Friday- Pep Rallies/Varsity football game/Coaches Social
If I am posting less, I apologize. As you can see...this is going to be a busy go-go-go kind of semester for me. Poor Zac's is not much better with teaching two different subjects, coaching football, and taking his online Masters courses. We joke that we are just strangers who happen to sleep in the same bed. Oh well, hopefully when we get into a routine, everything will settle down and we can find little pieces of time to spend together!
I have cheerleading practice every day from 2:30-4, plus...
Monday- Math in Waxahachie 11-12:20, Intro to Ed. (which I already took at McMurry, but A&M Commerce will not transfer this class from other schools because they want you to take it through them. Boo!) is from 4:30-7:20, plus over the semester I will have to do 30 hours worth of observations.
Tuesday-Class from 4:30-10pm
Wednesday- Math in Wax. from 11-12:20
So that is four classes. My other two are online classes, so I will have to squeeze those in sometime.
Thursday-Freshmen football games
Friday- Pep Rallies/Varsity football game/Coaches Social
If I am posting less, I apologize. As you can see...this is going to be a busy go-go-go kind of semester for me. Poor Zac's is not much better with teaching two different subjects, coaching football, and taking his online Masters courses. We joke that we are just strangers who happen to sleep in the same bed. Oh well, hopefully when we get into a routine, everything will settle down and we can find little pieces of time to spend together!
80's Day
Don't you miss those high school days when you would get to dress up on Friday? I DO...bigtime! Im not sure why schools have theme days, or what exactly that does for the football team, but I am certainly all about it. I love school spirit, and if looking like Debbie Gibson helps the home team, sign me up. Today was our first dress up day of the year, and it seemed to be a success. (Especially considering we didn't even have a pep rally today, and the game isn't until tomorrow!) Here are a few of my favorite pics that I took when I got to the school for seventh period cheerleading class. 
Coach Russell (Ramsi) & Coach Harris (Tonya)
All of the cheerleaders 7th period, before they dressed out for class...aren't they cute? I'm sad because some of the best ones are in the back, and you can't see them. There were tutus over legging with heels and socks...it was the most beautifully tacky sight ever! :)
Doesn't this make you want to be in High School again? Next week is Hawaiian Day...I will post pics!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Teacher Friends...
How was the first day of school? I have several friends who this is your first year teaching (ahem, Stacy and Amy!)...how was it? I hope yall are all having a wonderful day. Leave me a story about your first day teaching or your kids first day of school or something. I want to hear from all of you!!!!!!!!!!!! Click on Comments, and start writing!!!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Locker Room Madness
This entire summer, the other two cheerleading coaches and myself have been working on our cheerleading locker room. We worked so hard painting, getting furniture and accessories and cleaning. This room was disgusting before we got ahold of it! The girls did not know that they were even getting a locker room, much less that we would make it the CUTEST locker room in the history of America. Haha, at least it is in my opinion...see for yourself!
The jerseys on the lockers were also a gift that we surprised them with. We had some unexpected money from a fundraiser and decided to get each girl a jersey with their name and graduation year on it. They LOVED them. The coaches got one too, so I am sure you will see a pic of me wearing mine sometime over the next 10 weeks. :) Here is a video I took of the girls as they were walking in the room for the first time. It was priceless! My heart was pounding and I was actually shaking a little bit. It felt so great, and made all the hard work so worthwhile! Check out the screams and squeels... (Let's hope this is the wildest it ever gets in there! HA!)
The jerseys on the lockers were also a gift that we surprised them with. We had some unexpected money from a fundraiser and decided to get each girl a jersey with their name and graduation year on it. They LOVED them. The coaches got one too, so I am sure you will see a pic of me wearing mine sometime over the next 10 weeks. :) Here is a video I took of the girls as they were walking in the room for the first time. It was priceless! My heart was pounding and I was actually shaking a little bit. It felt so great, and made all the hard work so worthwhile! Check out the screams and squeels... (Let's hope this is the wildest it ever gets in there! HA!)Oh, and we also had cupcakes (and balloons, but I am sure you saw those in the above pics. They are the pink circles all over the floor) to celebrate the "opening ceremony" of the locker room. Look how cute they are...they matched. And aren't we clever, we made them spell out MHS!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Brag Avenue
Not to boast or anything (actually that's exactly what I'm doing) but I just got my most recent report card (summer II) and it had two more A's!! Which means that in the 9 classes (27 hours) I have taken since January, I've received 8 A's and only 1 B. Yippee!!
After I got a certificate in the mail, Zac (who has a "unique" sense of humor) sent me this image via email, that I thought was too funny to not share:
For the record, I have no tattoos, although this one was tempting, haha! The website where he made it, has all sorts of fun things to create. Check it out: http://www.imagechef.com/
Okay, I will now try to return to a humble person. :)
After I got a certificate in the mail, Zac (who has a "unique" sense of humor) sent me this image via email, that I thought was too funny to not share:
For the record, I have no tattoos, although this one was tempting, haha! The website where he made it, has all sorts of fun things to create. Check it out: http://www.imagechef.com/
Okay, I will now try to return to a humble person. :)
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