I Got a Present!!

Ok so I guess this blog is turning into a weekly thing. At least until I get the hang of all this down which doesnt look soon. It seems like everytime I try to get a breather there is a billion things to do and get ready. This past weekend I did take some me time. Friday I went to the bars with a friend. We meet up with another friends and her friends. It was fun and there was Kerioke. Since I didnt really know anyone I didnt want to sign. My friends said her boyfriend would sign with me so I said ok and let him pick the song. We ended up signing Summer Loving.....I was the guy at least but it was pretty embarissing. Saterday I was completly hung over. It was bad. My buddy called me up and we went golfing. Well at least he golfed I justed attempted to get the ball near the hole in under 100 strokes. On one of the wholes a couple of kids stopped and watched us. We were a little weired out at first but then found out it was one of my students brothers. I guess it made me realize that I am like a "D-list" celebraty now that will be reconginzed from time to time when I go out. I spent Sunday at school working and getting ready for today. When I got to school one of my students had come back from a vacation to Disney. Like a good student he brought me my first gift!!!! It is a pirates of the Carribean No Tresspassing sign. Its sooo cool and I was excited all day. I love the perks of being a teacher and it shows they know what I like. We also played Science Jepordy today to review for thier test tomorrow. That went over well. I guess the last thing I have to up-date is I have given out a few demerits now and the students are quickly learning about Mr. G's big boy voice. Hopefully that will not have to come out too much. I feel like I am missing out on so much back at the museum and I dont think a day has gone by where I dont talk about how great it is to the students. O and Sharky, my stuffed shark I got at the summer cleaerance sale, is coming to visit school tomorrow to be a model for the art students. I will be coming to Dubs in a few weeks and I count the days til I can see everyone again. Have a great day and I will try to update this whenever I get a chance. Have a good one!

One Week Later

Ok so I guess I got a little side tracked and didnt get to blog for a week so I will update on what happened. Last Wednesday I choose not to blog because once again we had a cryier. Yes for those of you that are keeping count it was day four in a row. Talk about a losing streak. Going into Thursday I wasnt sure what to exspect. Some of the teachers were taking a bets on how long I could keep up my streak. Guess what? I DID IT! I got though a whole day with out a single tear! It was rough but we got through it. On Friday I went to my first staff meeting which was pretty boring. Then I had the day sponsered by the word crazy. We had to go to a flag raising, band trials, and mix in a fire drill. I had to fit in a spelling test as well as anything else I could find time for. At the end of the day I had so much to get ready to send home for the weekend with papers and stuff it is still a blur. All in all I did pretty well...I cant help to think I was well trained after giving 2 hour tours in restricted periods of time with limited avalibility to some areas. The band stuff did bring back some memories because I was in the band when I was in 4th grade. And I am happy to report the same guy is in charge of the band. The kids loved trying the insterments even thou many will not actualy continue into the program. Anyway after this long crazy day I made it to my first big weekend. I spent Saterday orginizing my bedroom and my basement area. I then spent Sunday grading papers all day. This was a little weird because the reality that I am in charge of thier fate set in. I know it is the start of the year but I can already see what kids are going o need help by the "F's" that have appeared in my grade book. :( Monday was a nice day but I of course got stressed out feeling totaly overwhelmed by stuff. Tomorrow I plan on calling a family friend that is in relastate and start my search for my new home. Living with th folks is starting to put a strain on me and I have to get out. I found a nice place on line that fits my budget, has a pool and fitness center and is very close to the school. I hope it turns into somthing but I dont even know what kind of avalibility there is so we will see. Lastly I wanted to mention a student. He makes me smile everytime he talks because he is like the smallest one in the class and has a hard core brooklyn accent. I love the movie Newsies and I just want him to bust out in song like in the movie. But I have a feeling it wouldnt be professonal and I would be suprised if he has even heard of the movie. Ok well I need to head to bed cuz although this is a shorter week I still have my hands full and will need some rest. Have a good one!

And We Have Another One

Ok so I am starting to get the hang of this scedual thing. We ran a little late today but for the most part we pulled it together and got it done. Now if ya didnt figure out what the title might mean I will reveil it now. I am three for three for making kids cry. At this point its getting a little rediculas. Today a girl got a little attitude. I was helping a student fix his crayon box and I told the students to get out thier Science books for class. One of the gilrs turns around and says "Can we get started?" I was speechless. I made a little joke and said well I havnt told you what to do yet thinking this would sole the problem. She then said "I can read"..........what the hell just happened? I got upset at this point about the attitude she was getting and so I sternly exsplained how innaproprate the situation was and how she needs to respect a teacher by doing what they say and not question them. This of course upset her and although I didnt agknowlege her I could she her sniffling out of the courner of my eye. I choose to just continue the lesson and I belive that she and the rest of the class learned a lesson about not upsettin gthe teacher. And dont worry I am not planning on doing a "repeat the threepeat" senereo with all these tears. Yes I pulled that out. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to report a tearless day. Lastly, I am doing better at adjusting to my new scedual but its still painful to get up at 6am everyday. I hope you are all doing well and I miss all of you!!!! Have a good one!

Where Was The Weekend?

Ok so I apologize that there wasnt a new post after the weekend. So much happened that I was unable to get to the computer. Friday was OK minus the fact I was late to the first all school mass. Dont worry it hadnt started yet but we were the last and it was obvious but o well. O yea and I made a girl cry. Before you label me a horrible person I can kinda exsplane. THey made word searches and before they started I exsplained they would pass them out randomly the next day and other people would do thiers. Well this one girl put in hers, "I love bubby" Not thinking anything of it and knowing she knew it was going to be viewed by others I said somthing when I saw it. Yea huge mistake. She claimed that bubby was her brother and she was just laughing so hard she was crying but in my opion she didnt look happy. The good news is that we were able to change the subject and all is well now. When I got home that night I was so spent I basically just went to bed. Saterday was a big day cuz I had to go to a friends wedding. This was fun but took up the whole day and just left me thinking. It was almost hard to see her up on the alter because we had been such good friends in High School and College. I couldn't help to think if I would make it up there someday or find the right girl for me. For the most part I just put on a smile and keept going. Then Sunday I got to sleep in but after that it was game on again. The day was spent doing lesson planning for this week and sealing the patio for my parents. As I worked on the plans I was playing music and trying to come up with a children friendly playlist for the classroom(no small feat). A song came on by ZOX that made me stop for a min. When I used to room with my buddy last year we would often go to bed to either the TV or on nights with adult activities before(not how it sounds i mean drinking) we would put on music. One of the songs that I always remeber cuz it was like the first one on the list was the one that came on as I worked. It made me miss my buddy and all the amazing times we had living together. I pushed it to the back of my mind and continued. After I was finished I saw the tail end of Olymipics closing and headed to bed. I couldnt sleep right away because I just keept thinking about the wedding and my buddy. I had doubts come to my mind like what have you done. I had everything I needed in Dubs. I had my friends, a great job(although it wasnt like a gold mine) and a town I felt comfertable in as well as at home. Now I am in a place with basicaly no friends, I feel lost in the size of the area and feeling uncertian about living at home again. In a way its like i took two steps forward and one step back. Yea I got the job I at least think I want(at least for now) but I sacrificed a job that had become my life, an amazing network of friends I could hang out with anytime and a house that I finally felt at home in like made it. I supose these are thoughts that anyone gets and they will come and go all year but this weekend they just hit a little harder then others. Today we had our first Monday and boy was it nuts. It started out great and I thought that hey I must have done ok cuz all seemed good....too good. We had made it to study period at the end of the day when the power went out. Now this might not seem too bad but my room is in the basement with small windows. THe students thought it was a drill........ummm right.........I was like "Why would we practice a power out?" this just put the room into a flurry that I had to contain. It was a little challenging but we got through it. We had to use flashlights to find our lockers cuz the hall was totaly black and then I walked the group to the stairwell. It wasnt until I opened the door to the stairs that I reilized how bright the rest of the school was with all thier windows. I guess we just got to have more fun. It was all good until I went back to my room and was greated by a crying child.......ok really two for two now? Turns out he was scard of the dark and since he takes a little longer he was left by himself even though I was like one classroom away the whole time. I quickly ran and got a flashlight. Together we got his stuffed together and he calmed down. I walked him by flashlight to the stairs and he was fine. Wow ok that was more then I needed. O and wouldnt ya guess like 5min later the power was restored. After all this I then had to go to a meeting about computers and get a science lab ready for tomorrow. When I returned home I took the night to relax a little before more lesson planning tomorrow and meetings later this week. I am now going to head to bed at a record 9:30 because I just need sleep at this point. Until tomorrow...Have a good one!!

O My Lanta!!!!!!

It was the first full day today and with it came a whole new adventure. It was a challenge to juggle everything and make the best use of time. Some of the lessons went long and others ended to quick. I am not too worried cuz I know it will all work out after a few trial runs. The big highlight of the day was teaching them some new phrases. I couldnt resist teaching them the new phrases that have become close to my heart. If you havnt guessed the phrases are "oopsie doodles", "foiled" and of course "O my lanta!" This is when I wish I had a video camera. When we looked through our text books they were told to look for "O my lanta" moments. The whole room just filled with kids getting into it and reciting the phrase when they saw somthing cool. It was amazing and I couldnt stop smiling. It was a long night tonight working on lesson plans so I need to head to bed but I will write more this weekend about how things are going. Have a good one!

And the Fun Begins

Today was the big day but before we talk about it lets do some backing up. You might have noticed that I didnt blog last night. What happened is after a nice long day I was all set to do a blog however when I took a quick break to clear my mind after the long day things went down hill. I had planned to make this big huge cute "Twas the night before school" thing but alas I passed out. No joke I slept like a rock and just couldnt muster up the energy. Some highlights of the day were I did basicaly finish the room(at least enought to pass the first day) at a decent time. I didnt have to worry about car stuff and Atwood(outdoor ed) is just going to mail me the paperwork cuz I had like no time to get out there. After work yesterday I did get a good stress relief because my puppy came home to me. (YAY!!!) She was in Michagan with my mommy so I finally got to see her again and cuddle with her. I have learned that I need cuddly stuff to survive like puppies and stuffed animals. After a long day I always get my stuffed husky named Bowsefus and always feel better. I also have my stuffed shark (Sharky) on my bed that I got from the summer sale at the museum. I am a little worried that my puppy is getting older(she is 11 now) and getting some health issues. I only hope she hangs in there cuz I dont think I could handle losing her right now on top of everything else. When I went to bed last night I set 3 alarms. Now I know that sounds rediculas but let me exsplain why. When I went to bed my main alarm clock was an hour later. It is one of those that hooks to a satilite so I was confused how it could be off. As a back-up I set my second one for the same time. THis one also hooks up to a satilite but it was displaying the right time. At this point I freak out that the second one will get messed up because of some satilite issue so I grab my phone and set that for a little later so I have some time to disable it if all goes ok. Well this morning guess what happens........would you believe all three were messed up?.........Well if ya did you are way off. (hehehe) Like clockwork(bad pun) the two went off in unison and confused the hell out of me cuz I couldnt turn off the beeping thinking only one was set. I got ready and put on my new tie for the first day. Dont worry my mom took a picture before I went out the door like I was 5 again but thats what moms do i guess. It was thn time for me to start my teaching career. The parents slowly appeared in the room and I was able to meet them as well as my first students. It was kinda funny cuz parents would be like "Hi I am so and so's parent," like I knew who the hell they were talking about. I just keept a big smile on my face and went with it. After the bell rang I had to take a deep breath cuz thre was no turning back. I spent the morning getting stuff put away and going over rules and stuff. Every now and then we got side tracked and learned a little about each other. I won HUGE brownie points when I mentioned that I had some webkinz. Also they were mesmerized by the Davey Jones treasure chest. O and I cant forget how they druled over the Job shark(YES IT WORKED!!!!!) As they were leaving at the end of the day I hd lots of comments like your the best and cant wait till tommorrow, so at least for the first day I am the coolest 4th grade teacher. Althought the students had a half day, I had to spend the rest of the day in meetings and ended up being there til after 4 working on my school web page. Tonight I am so beat I had to take a night to relax and I am going to bed by 10:30(I havnt done that in a long time) and tommorrow I will have my first full day and the first day really of teaching and subjects. One down and many many more to go. Have a good one!

Can we add more hours to the day??

Today was a little bit of a change of pace. It was the first of two insitute days to start the year. The theme today was all about spiritual reflection. Since I am working at a private school there is the added factor of religion and today was just a reminder of why and what makes us different. All in all I was bored out of my mind but I guess I will grow more over the year. At least that is what they tell me. After it was over I worked more on my room trying to tie up lose ends. Of course I ran out of time because in no time I had to head out to the first annual start of the year BBQ for all the familys. It was kinda fun meeting familys and I was the buns boy. Thats right get out the giggles but I was in charge of giving you your buns and I was damn good too. Finally I was able to make it home by 8. O did I mention my day started at 6:30am? Yea so we are talking way to long of a day and of course it wasnt long enough. Tomorrow I get to spend the day in another insitute and then my stress level gets to rise. I am suposed to get paper work from the enviromental ed job by 4 and also find time to scedual tow or our cars to have a hitch removd and put on my car cuz the lease is up on the one. This of course needs to be done ASAP cuz it has to be turned in on Thurs. and still needs a good cleaning. Also I am suposed to seal our patio cuz it is being power washed and needs to be seal ASAP before it gets dirty again or the leaves start to fall. If this wasnt enough it is the last time I can be in my room trying to get stuff ready. I only get one shot at a good first impression so I am feeling the pressure and really want things to be just right. Hopefuly I will turn into super man, or Micheal Phelps depending on who you think is better, or magically the day will get longer so I can just fit it all in. I however dont think that is going to happen so I will just have to bust my ass to get as much as possible ready and just be happy with it no matter what. I am now going to bed and waking up early to try to get some stuff done before the insitute tomorrow morning. Have a good one!