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!

Being a teacher is a lot of work

On Friday I went into school knowing it was one of the last days to get stuff together. I started with trying to make the lesson plans for the first few days. This was so hard trying to figure out where to start and what to cover. I was lucky to get a lot of help from my cooperating teacher and she basicaly let me copy her for the first few days until I get the hang of this. The one subject I am on my own with is Science since I teach both sections. I love science so that helps but I dont know what to cover or how fast and stuff so it will be a learning process for sure. Also I want to keep both sections on the same page so the first time we switch I have to get to know the new class and go over my exspectations. This means that I have to come up with a stall day for my class so that they dont pull ahead. I have a feeling I will be doing a lot of on the spot decisions these first couple of days but dont worry I will try to make it look good. :) The rest of the day I worked on the finishing touches for the room. Some of the other teachers were giving me a hard time because I made sure to think of everything and it all has to look just right and match. I even bought blue shiny fabric and made a slip cover for my filing cabnets so they would fit with the water theme. I know kinda dorky but I want to do everything to impress the new parents and students that first day. I think my proudest acomplish is the Job Shark. I was able to hang it and it looks sweet in the corner of the room. If this thing doesnt win over the students then I have no hope cuz I would think I had the coolest teacher if I saw it. But then again I did make it so I could be a little bias. I still have to get some orginazational stuff to put all the cool markers, pens and pencils in but I plan to bring my camera(since i finally found it again) next time i go in and take lots of pictures before the young ones come in and "break it in." Today, which is Saterday, I finally just took a day away from teaching and focused on my life at home. I have been living out of a suitcase so I finally got that unpacked as well as some other orginization done. Tomorrow I will jump back into teacher mode (since teachers have limited time to be human) and make sure all is ready as well as start to prepare for the first full week of school that will be here in no time. Its all about trying to stay ahead and then maybe by Christmas I will be able to breath again. hahahahahaha.....Riiiiiiight Have a good one!!!!!

Sorry its a little late

Ok so last night I was sooo beat that I crashed and didnt make it to the blog. I aplologize and hope this didnt mess with the usuals at the blog. I also need to back up because I left out part of Wednesday. After school I went on my shopping spree with the donations that were raised for me. I was able to get this awsome calender set with different days for each month and one mouth even has penguins! I was also able to get a welcome set with a water theme(which is the theme of my room) so all the students will have fish on thier lockers. The other teachers have seen this stuff and they are already showing envy. Yesterday I had a long day of work in the classroom. It is coming down to all the small things and they seem to never end. I did arrive to find a computer cart outside my room and found out I will have a projector. Right now it is just a barrowed one but they have a brand new one on order. This was a great suprise but it ment that I had to rearrange the desks in the room to accomidate the new furniture. The other major project I had was my job chart. I was given the idea to make it a job shark and the kids could switch the teeth out. I couldnt resist so I made this large great white shark that will have the jobs listed on his gums and then the students all have teeth and will rotate around the mouth. With the shark it fits that I won a shark desk magnet thingy and a rubber shark at the picnic. Both objects are proudly on my desk and I will think of the museum everytime I see them. Also I got an email from the nature center I worked at last fall. They want me back one night a week and also I was choosen to be on the All-Stars team and will be working on a new camp project. The camp will be on a few Saterdays during the year and we will be working with the school system. I am excited about this new opertunity and know it will only add to the crazyness that I am begining to call my life. I have my last full day in the classroom before the meetings and students come back so I have my work cut out for me today as I head in. Have a good one!!!

One Week

Thats right people today was the one week mark until the big first day. I didnt have to eventful of a day except I was all pumped to work on my schedual and it took me forever. After it was all said and done it took about 2.5hrs to complete just a rough draft of the damn thing. Tommorrow I hope to get it finilized and then I have to make lesson plans for the first few days. We did take down this old religous art project that was at the end of my hall because it had finially seen its day after 8ish years of being up. We didnt have the heart to totaly recyle Jesus so we keept his head and it is chillin in my room. I plan on referbishing it and then finding a fun new home for him.....that or the class mascot is going to be the floating Jesus head. However that might not go over great with the administrative staff. O I put out some of the stuff in my basket like my new water mug which I was pumped about and also the teacher pledge. I didn't find a place for the big picture that Gina so nicly put in there of me and my ladies (long story that shouldnt be told) but I am sure I will find a place at home for it. By Friday the room should be totaly finished and I will be able to post some more pictures for you to see the final product before the kids mess it all up. Lastly a cupcake update.....one third is gone and the rest are going fast. Hope you are all doing well and make sure to Have a good one!!!!!!

Turning Point

Well today was a good day! It started off slow with a meeting about benifits for all the new staff. I was only a min late but it had already started and so I had to quietly sneak in and sit with some people I didn't know. Akward! During the break it got better cuz I met up with two other Loras grads that were starting thier teaching career in the area too. It was kinda funny because the three of us were the last three presidents of the Loras education club. After the meeting I went home for lunch and had a cupcake(and there is like a third gone already :) hehehehe) and then it was off to school for the afternoon. New crates had arrived so that my students could keep thier books in them along the wall because the desks arnt big enough. After they were in I learned about the security system and voicemail. Before I could go back down to my room I was called to the computer lab to learn about my email and teacher program we use. I finally got back down to my room and started getting stuff ready when it was time to go home. I made a fun pasta dinner with brat chunks that was amazing. After I digested it I ran to Wal-mart to buy some contact paper and fabric(I will have to exsplain with pictures later). The last event of the night was to get fingerprinted down at the public safty office. This was an adventure because I dont go downtown much so I ended up getting lost but it was ok cuz by dumb luck I pulled up right next to the building. When I got home I took a deep breath and analized how I am doing. It turns out that I am basically on track and feel less stress. It probably helped that the friends I had talked about eirlier havnt even seen thier rooms yet so I am ahead of the game. O and I got to brag to everyone today about all the new cool stuff that I recived this weekend and they were super jelous!!!!!! Thanks again everyone!!!!! I plan to take a little shopping trip later this week to the teacher store and get some last essentails now that I can afford them. I do feel I have hit a turning point and will enjoy the next few days leading up to the first day....or at least for now I feel good about everything. Until tommorrow....Have a good one!!!!

Complete Happiness

This weekend was totaly amazing!!!! I was relaxed and got to just let go and have fun one last time before jumping back into the real world. It was very clear that when I left I was going to be missed and felt the love and support from all those people that help me become what I am today. Unfountunalty I have tons to do and get ready but I wanted to throw up a quick message this morning before my meeting. I will make sure to post a more detailed account of the weekend and todays activities later tonight when I have a little more time. Have a good one!!!!

Huston We Have a Problem

Well I am almost through my first week and boy has it been a lot of work. Once again I was at the school orginizing stuff and hanging posters. I did have museum flashbacks today. As books and supplies arrive they deliver them to the class and I get to open them up and discover whats inside. It was like I was working in the gift shop except I didnt have fun crazy ladys working with me or any educators peeking in to see whats new. I even put on some New Orleans music to complete the happiness. All was well until the unthinkable happened. All this week I have been feeling a little out of the weather and guess why...........did ya guess?.......ok well aparently there was mold in the room which I am apparently allergic too. Yea imagine that a teacher that is allergic to a classroom. With help from the princeipal and the janatorial staff we were able to work it out and hopefuly I will be able to recover and make it through this. On a better note I might get a projector for my room as well as a create system for the students to store thier books in. I will get more information tomorrow. Its kinda nice being a young teacher in a older dominated school because I can get spoiled with the tecnology and money in the budget that the older teacher dont want or need. I dont know if I will get a blog in tommorow and then I will be spending the weekend in Dubs so there isnt a need then either. I apologize for the long wait for another blog but I promise I will keep it up when I return next week because the stories have only started. Have a good one!!!!

Here ya go, some pics but even these were after a day of cleaning and orginizing.......

Little People Watching Me

Hey All!

Ok so today I had to pull my self out of bed and make it to work. I meet with my teaching partner(the other 4th grade teacher) and we talked a little about the basics of the classes. It was nice to get some insight and I have a feeling I will be talking to her a lot over the next few weeks. Also today the school had the used uniform sale. This ment of course that children would be hanging around. Since my room is off the beaten path I was able to avoid most of it but there were a few that had to investigate the new male in the building. The first group sounded like boys and although my door was shut I could hear them talking in the hall. "He's in there! I can see him in there!" One of the older ones did finally open the door and introduced himself quick before running off. It turns out I will have his brother in my class. Then came a group a girls. O boy I think we can all guess where this is going. They knocked and so I went over and introduced myself. There was 2 4th grade girls and 3 7th grade girls. They talked to me for a while and told me about how they are in choir and band and about thier families. It was pretty crazy and of course the whole time they had huge smiles on thier faces. I felt a little weird that I was wearing a Loras t-shirt and camo shorts but o well. The moms ended up coming back too to check out the new meat and they seemed nice. Not sure what was going through thier minds but hopefuly nothing bad. I spent the afternoon taking a well needed nap (tonight I go to bed early) and then I worked on making student files. The room is coming along and I will post the pictures after I load them tonight. I have a bunch of little things left to get in the room like a calender and stuff so I feel good about the room but I still have lots of work to do as far as lessons. Tommorrow the princepal comes back from vacation so hopefuly he is plesently suprised at my progress. Thank you for all the comments you have left they make me smile! I can add up to ten email addresses and it will email you when I post. SO if you want to be a superfan just send me an email and I will add it. Otherwise Have a good one! (I was working on a tag line to always end with and that is a possibility...tune in for further details)

What goes up must come down

Ok so today was an interesting day to say the least. It started by going to the teacher party where there was a bunch of give aways. It was cool but so overwhelming to be surrounded by so much classroom stuff and not know what I needed. When I got back it was time to clean more and I discovered that I have a ton of work to do. This seemed good but alas life has to come in and kick ya in the ass. Basicaly I flat broke and will remain that way until I get paid in a few weeks but I need stuff for the room and school starts in two weeks. Also I got news that my puppy is getting really sick. Right now she is in Michigan with my mom and is acting weird. It just made me stop and think how much I miss her and havnt had a chance to see her in months. After dinner I went back to school to get my mind off things and worked on bulletin boards until 10pm. It was a long day and I feel there is still a million things to still do. Tomorrow I meet with the other 4th grade teacher and go over the cirriculum and class basics. I can only stay a half day tomorrow so I know I will be under the crunch and stressed. I should have some pictures up by tomorrow so you can start to get an idea of how it is coming along. Have a good night/day depending when you read this and I will write again soon.

New guy in the building

Today was my first day in the building as a teacher. I have to say my first reaction was a little weird. The last time I had really walked the halls was when I was a student there but now I could go all the places I wasnt suposed to like the teachers launge. Which by the way is a lot cooler in its rumors as a student. There was no hot tub or McDonalds hidden in there just a boring old room with tables and a mini frige. Anyway back to the story, I recived my keys and a ton of paperwork and then it was off to see my new room for the first time with everyting in it. I got to see it during the interview but it was empty for cleaning at the time. Holy Cow was it overwhelming. There was so much stuff in filing cabnets and closets that I have no idea what it is for or if I am going to need it or not. I even had boxes on my desk of supplies that were ordered for me by the previous teacher. There is another teacher there that I meet through a freind in college and she talked to me for quite a while about the ins and outs of the school cuz it was here second year. It was a little anoying cuz I had other things on my mind like how to arrange the room and what all these mystery boxes and supplies were for. I had only intended to stay for an hour or so today so I could make a list of what I needed and be ready for tomorrow but I got cought up in it and stayed for several hours working. I wanted to take pictures of the bare room but alas I can't find my camera after the move so just hang in there and I promise I will put some up as soon as I can. Tomorrow should be a big day cuz we are going on a teacher feild trip! I guess the teacher store here is having a party for educators and so a bunch of the teachers are going. There is going to be door prizes and stuff so it should be fun. I am also bringing a bunch of stuff I bought at the museum store like games and puzzles along the way tomorrow too so I will always think of you guys and gals. Speaking of which I smiled and thought of Dubs today when I was unpacking books. Our reading book, I think it is, is definatly a McGraw Hill publication!!!!! Which means I will have to brag about us and how I got to party in the parking lot or somthing like that. O and lastly I guess that there is a teacher conference every year that I could go to and this year its in CA. How sweet is that????? I can't wait but I can already feel the pressure of the year. I am sure I am leaving stuff out but I promise I will write it tomorrow if I remeber anything else. Have a great day and remeber I will be back in just a few days to visit and share stories!!!!!

Night One

Well this is it. It is the last night before I am offically under contract for the first time. I am getting a little stressed out because I dont know what I am getting myself into. Its overwhelming to have all my stuff in a pile and not knowin where stuff is after moving back. I am already missing Dubuque and I know it is going to be hard to move on right away and start a life here by finding new friends and stuff to do in my downtime. I can't wait til the end of the week already knowing that I will get to head back and work one last time at the museum. I think I am going to go read a little because now that I am a grown up I guess I should act like it. I will make sure to give updates all week as things evolve. Have a good one!!!!