Superstar Genius Teacher

We need more practice

2010-11-21T16:50:00.000-08:00

I am enjoying my break and trying to finish a long to-do list. One of the things that I have been thinking about is how prepared my class is for the reading TAKS test. Since the school district has adopted a new reading textbook, we have followed its program. The problem is that the usual way that we taught reading comprehension has taken a backseat to the stories in the textbook. I know my class is nowhere near my previous classes in their reading comprehension due to this. We have time till the TAKS test but it is going to be a lot of work. The class had a reading passage last week and one of the questions on it asked about how a school was different from a pod. The whole article was talking about whales. One student wrote," We go in a bilding and the sea creaters stay in a group." Another wrote," A school is on land." Yeah, that ain't the answer.

10 things

2010-10-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

1. I will never, ever plan another field trip again in all of my life.

2. Why do we have school assemblies and have to provide entertainment for them? Why?

3. If you choose not to work out the problems, you choose to repeat this grade again. Grrr...

4. I don't mind answering your questions, but if talking to you is like talking to one of my kids, I am going to start avoiding you. For reals.

5. I hate this time of year. There is too much going on and not enough time. I have parent conferences coming up and one parent returned the appointment sheet. One. Thanks for nothing guys. I am just going to bombard you with this appointment sheet just like I bombarded you with the field trip permission sheet.

6. I want to take more tests for different certifications but they are so expensive. When I was certified, they had EC-4. They changed it back to EC-6. They may not seem like a big difference until you start looking for jobs. I wish they would have left it alone and let me be certified as EC-6.

7. I love the change in weather.

8. Sit down. You don't need a new pencil. You don't need a tissue. You just went to the bathroom. No, I am not sending you to the nurse. Sit down. Stop humming. Sttttoopppppp! And your mom said she was sending you back to the doctor to get your meds adjusted when?

9. Can you share your meds with some of my other friends? Please?

10. And don't get an attitude about people helping you. We are all busy. You are an adult. Ask again for help. Duh.

So tired and run down

2010-10-08T16:33:00.000-07:00

I am trying to recover from a cold that hasn't fully materialized and hasn't yet gone away yet. Theraflu is my cold drug of choice and I am waiting for the right time tonight to knock myself out.

The class was rowdy today and one student in particular was more out of it than usual. He makes sounds through out the day. "Ow", "Ouch", "Ewwww" are some of his usual utterances. The problem is that his sounds are loud and frequent. I have started having him sit out part of his recess for his frequent outbursts. I have not been told any behavioral issues but the child has them. He can not stay seated not for one minute. He sees any opportunity as an opportunity to talk to me. I can not wait for a parent conference to find out what is going on at home.

Gotta do it but I don't want to

2010-09-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

I already have some friends who I am worried about this year and we haven't finished the first grading period. I have tried to get in contact with my Spanish speaking parents to inform them of my concerns, but I have not been successful. I will keep trying to get in contact with them.

I have an English speaker who has got me very concerned. She is below grade level in reading and is failing math, reading and language arts. I know her family wants me to start tutoring with her and I am dreding starting it. I am going to do it but I really value my after school time. I hope they are good at picking her up and that I can see some improvement in her skills.

So far, the class is good academically and very chatty. I have to keep on top of them, especially my front row. Ah, my front row. I have my three ADD kids in the front row close to me so I can keep track of them. Anytime I work at my big table in the back of the room, I have them move close to me. The good thing about my three is that they are strong academically. The bad thing about my three is that I am always having to deal with them. Taking things from them, telling them to stop touching one another, getting them to focus on the discussion, etc. I feel like I am constantly reprimanding a bad dog.

Maybe I should find check out the Dog Whisperer so I can get some more techniques on how to get my three under control.

Summary of the First Week

2010-08-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

As usual the first week of school was frantically paced, exciting and exhausting. I like my class for the most part and am excited about the new year. I am planning reading this year and am having a hard time trying to figure out how to use the new reading textbook and be sure the kids are learning how to answer reading comprehension questions. I went to bed every night before 9:30 p.m.

I am trying to get to know the two new teachers on the team but one of them is hard to like. She is a brand new teacher who asks a ton of questions. I don't mind someone asking questions but I do mind it when you answer the question and she doesn't listen to your answer. And asks the same question again. And again. I have successfully not rolled my eyes at her but I don't know how much longer I can fight the urge.

I was warned that I have a thief in my class for her previous year's teacher. So far I haven't noticed anything missing but I am always aware of leaving anything tempting around her. But then I was told that she doesn't tend to steal expensive things but cheap knick knacks.

I am about to end this post to laze about for a few more hours and then I will grade the first week's papers. Here's hoping that everyone had a great first week!

The End is Near

2010-08-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

Summer is ending and school is getting back into session quickly. I went up to the school this week and spent just a few hours typing up spelling lists for the upcoming year. This morning I went to a webpage class and thanked God that it was only three hours. I am going to miss my naps, time at the pool and lazy days. I finished supply shopping and picked up some books from Half Price Books. There has been a lot of change at my school and I am real interested in seeing what exactly the climate is going to be.

Why can't we take naps at school? It could be part of the curriculum.

School Supplies

2010-07-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

One of my great joys as a kid was Back to School shopping. New clothes and new school supplies. It was awesome opening up a notebook and pulling out a freshly sharpened pencil and writing the first words in it. And as a teacher I tend to get giddy buying new supplies for my classroom. I always have additional supplies for my students especially since many don't have all of the required supplies when they first arrive. I have never understood why some of my students have all of the required notebooks, several reams of construction and manila paper but don't have a pair of scissors to their name. Or any coloring supplies. Or glue. Or more than a pack of pencils. So during the summer, I pick up whatever is one sale and will set up the additional supplies for students to use during the year. Scissors, glue bottles (not those worthless glue sticks) and real wooden pencils are things I like to pick up. I have enough crayons and markers to skip buying them for this year.

Our school supply list ask the students to have several glue sticks and I hate that they are the preferred glue at our school. When did traditional glue bottles get such a bad rap? Yes, they can be messy but parents and previous teacher should have taught kids proper glue ettiquette. Don't use too much, don't eat it, don't put it on your hand and peel it off like dried skin. Bottled glue just works better than glue sticks.

Since the new Target next to me is so close, I am there almost daily. I can't help it, Target rocks. And one of my beloved features is the dollar area they have in the front of the store. It features seasonal items for as low as a dollar. I picked up several garden items this spring for my garden. They have changed out their items to feature school stuff. I have already picked up a gradebook and lesson plan book. Their gradebooks have thinner paper than I would like but I have used them for a couple of years now and they do the job fine. I decided to really plan out my lessons and bought a lesson plan book. If you decided to buy them from their dollar section, be careful. The lesson plan book did not have enough pages for the whole school year. I had to buy a second one to finish the year. They had some really good stamp sets that feature phrases like "no name" on them which can save time if you have frequent no namers in your class.

Have fun supply shopping and hopefully I will catch a great pencil and scissors sale.

Reality TV is My Drug

2010-07-16T18:45:00.001-07:00

Is there anything better to soak up during the summer months then reality tv? Yes, there are scripted shows but there are so few of them that I watch.

My favorite summer reality show is once again back on-Big Brother. Big Brother has several attractive people in a house and basically the last one standing in the winner of half a million dollars. The guests are typically young, dumb and often victims of bad breast enlargement surgeries.

The show is frustrating because CBS has often added twists to this show-people who don't know they are siblings, former lovers, etc. The twists always seem to fall apart and never last the duration of the show.

Well, another twist bit the dust last night. They had a saboteur who was going to harass the other houseguests and basically make their lives miserable. So far the person had locked up their food supply, put mysterious x's on two of the houseguests pictures and put some annoying electronic beepers in the house. No one knew who the jerk was but everyone had multiple suspects in mind. CBS decided to ruin the mystery early and told us the saboteur was a houseguest named Annie. And like all twists on Big Brother it quickly fell apart when she was voted off. A great idea, Big Brother but is there anyway you could do something to have your twists last longer than a couple of weeks? If you are interested in watching the annual summer car wreak that is this show, here is the official website to watch previous episodes http://www.cbs.com/primetime/big_brother/.

July

2010-07-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

I have two staff developments that I need to attend this month. Also, I have to start working on lesson plans for the year. The good thing about the staff developments is that they are in my town and not an hour away. I love not having to wake up at 5:15 in the morning. I love not having to leave my house unless I want to. I love laying out at the pool. Summers off are one of the perks of being a teacher that I just love!

Summer

2010-06-14T19:20:00.001-07:00

What I like about summer

1. Naps
2. Naps
3. Pool
4. Waking up at a respectable hour
5. Going to bed late
6. Naps
7. Working on my garden
8. Reading
9. Watching Netflix
10. Naps

Really?

2010-05-24T16:38:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who for two days in a row has walked out of the classroom for lunch without his lunchbox. I had a friend today who cried three times. I had a friend who farted in class. I had a friend last week who sneezed and farted at the same time. I had a friend last week who just discovered that holding your tongue while saying "ship" sounds just like the s-word. Really?

Uh...Is It Over Yet?

2010-05-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

Everyone is done and my class is no exception. We had a writing test this week and unfortunately everything that we have talked about over the year has apparently flown out of their heads. I. Am. Happy. That was a complete sentence. That was a complete, detailed sentence. No, class that was a hot mess. How many days until summer?

Post TAKS Reality

2010-05-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

It is over. The back to back tests are done. Now we wait for the results. We have 5 more weeks of school and they are filled with activities. It feels like we now have time to work on fun things and not just teach to the test. I have am taking a deep breath and hope for the best results.

Exhausted

2010-04-09T17:20:00.000-07:00

Push for TAKS. Tired. Annoyed with my class today-loud. Was there a full moon last night? 1) Student created a new animal for an adaptation project. The animal's name-Super Pecker. It is a bird that is as big as a rat. That really is a big pecker. 2) Another student had an accident on the playground-she laughed so hard that she peed in her pants. My friends told the recess teachers that her water had broke. Ugh.

The Push

2010-03-31T18:42:00.000-07:00

This week we have Good Friday off and I still feel like I need another day off this week. We have been planning for what we are going to do to get our grade ready for TAKS. I am tired and feel like I need another Spring Break. One of my teammates said that Spring Break was an appetizer for summer. That is so true. I got used to napping and staying up late. I did a lot of running around and doing chores but it was so productive. I just want it to be summer. Now. I applied to Summer School and if I get it-great. If not, I have my whole summer to myself. Now if I can just make to tomorrow....I think I can, I think I can....

Spring Break

2010-03-13T15:34:00.000-08:00

SPRING BREAK!

That is all.

Is it drink o'clock yet?

2010-02-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

Three things

1. I had about 10 students not put their names on their math homework. I lit into the class because this is second semester. I have told them again and again that I am not the FBI or CSI and therefore I will not investigate whose work is whose. So all of my friends who did not put their name on their work went to study hall. Their assignment was to write the sentence, " I will write my name on all of my work" until their piece of paper was filled. I told them what they were to do and that no other assignments were to be done. They were to only do lines. The study hall teacher pulled me aside and explained that one of my friends has caused a ruckus in the room. All of the students from my class told him that he had not done the assignment correctly. He argued and continued to color another assignment. Then the teacher showed me the work he did. He literally had drawn lines all over the paper. Arghhhhhhh!

2. Immediately afterwards, the study hall teacher pointed out that another of my friends had finished writing lines. I went to see what he had done. He had written an apology letter. I told him I appreciated the sentiment but that is not what he was supposed to do! Arghhhhhhh!

3. Later on, I had pulled several students aside who did not understand the concept of half past, quarter till and quarter after. One student had completely gotten the assignment wrong when she reversed all of the minute hands with the hour hands. Then she argued with me that her mother had told her how to get the answer, even though she was wrong. Another friend (who had drawn the lines on the paper, really?) wrote down on the paper that it was half past thirteen. Show me where there is a thirteen on a clock! Thirteen!! Arghhhhhhh!

After work, I went to a nearby bar and ate fattening foods and drank two beers. I am so over this day, it ain't even funny.

Sit, I Said Sit!!!

2010-02-19T18:47:00.000-08:00

We apparently got a bad case of Spring Break-itis around the school because the kids are unable to follow basic instructions such as stop, turn it into math, write your name on your work, etc. I am finally having to stop what we are doing and talk about appropriate behavior, something I did all of last year (because that class was evil). My kids are now complaining about having to work (Really? Did you think think this was Disney World?) and have been extra talkative. I have even lined them up and done "Direction Tests". They consist of me telling them to sit, stand, turn around and basically do what I ask of them without trying to go to their cubbies or getting pencils or asking if we are going to go outside.

The only positive about this is I know my class is mild in its misbehavior. My teammates' have classes where the students constantly ask questions (because they didn't listen the first time and haven't problem solved at all) and/or have "issues" (immature and babied by parents). We all need a break, students and teachers, asap.

Exhausted

2010-01-29T21:00:00.001-08:00

Busy. Tired. Completed reading level assessments. Reading and Math tests, finished. Reading results good. Math results suck. Walked around the room monitoring about a million times. Cold weather. Rainy weather. When is Spring Break again? About to go to bed. I went to bed at nine o'clock yesterday. I feel like I could sleep for days.

Wha???

2010-01-22T17:18:00.001-08:00

It seems after the break my class needed some additional time for their brains to readjust to school. They have been extra chatty and a lot less able to comprehend simple instructions. If I say do the page, do the page, do the page...don't then ask me what page. If the directions say to make a simple paragraph, why did most of my class fail a sequencing worksheet about Washington and Lincoln? This always happens about Christmas Break and it always makes me miss the class I had before we left for break.

Back to School

2010-01-10T12:02:00.001-08:00

It has been awhile since the last post. We came back to school January 4 and had a teacher workday. Staff Development was on the fifth. Finally we school resumed on Wednesday, January 6. Then the crappy winter of 09-10 continued to inflict drama into everyone's lives and school was canceled due to ice. I normally love a good ice day but we had just had a two week break. I celebrated the day off by sleeping. We had school on Friday and I was amazed at how far behind we were due to the ice day. I am already behind and the new semester just started.

It's the thought that counts

2009-12-16T17:50:00.000-08:00

So it is near the end of the semester and the days on dragging on forever. Students are bringing me gifts which are great because they thought about me but not so great when I actually see what is in the bag.

If you are going to go to Dollar General or Dollar Store or anyplace that has a dollar in it, just save your money.

If you are going to grab used items and wrap them in a mysterious ash substance, don't waste your time. (Is it crack in the bag? Did you give me crack?)

If you are going to create an art project that consists of toothpicks, feathers, pom poms, paint and the words "You rock", uh...thanks?

If you were to bring me books for my classroom library, gift cards to Kroger, the movies or Target or you were to give me a quilt that has the names of all the people in my class so that I can forever remember that year with your child (best teacher gift of all, second best was a gift card to the movies), I would appreciate it forever!

Xmas (I mean, "Winter Holiday") Party News

2009-12-09T18:09:00.000-08:00

So, in the middle of this lengthy period of testing and grading that I have been stuck in, I have been trying to set up stuff for next week including the Winter Holiday party. I sent notes last week discussing the items we will need. So far I have about 4 students who will be bringing store bought cookies, 2 juice boxes (hopefully enough for the whole class), napkins and plates and crackers. What about the fruit, veggies, dip, sandwich meat and cheese that I asked for? Who knows....apparently that stuff is too much effort for my parents.

I am not doing any gift exchanges because last year was so abyssmal. Students were asked to bring in books so we could exchange them. First, there was not enough books. Second, some students brought in already used books. Third, some of the books brought in were actually books for babies. Fourth: Some brought in books that were not wrapped, another pain in my butt. Lesson: I will never be in charge of that in my class again. Instead, Christmas bingo, coloring books as gifts from me (thank you Dollar Tree) and fingers crossed, no parents. It is very hard to discipline a kid when there parent is not doing their job. I hate any deviation from my schedule and despise classroom parties, so please pray that we will get other types of food and will not have any parents showing up.

Thanksgiving Break...The End is Near

2009-11-29T11:41:00.000-08:00

This has been a relaxing break, a week of nothing...no homework issues, no entering grades, no worrying about students...it was just spent on me. Today is the last day before Monday and why is that a normal work week goes so slow yet a week off goes by way too fast? The next coming weeks will be busy with Benchmark testing, Holiday parties and the hustle and bustle of the holdays. I hope the class does better then I expect on the Benchmark testing. I really hope they are just waiting to show me what they can really do.

Fall Back

2009-11-03T18:10:00.000-08:00

I love falling back and getting an hour back. It has only been a couple of days but I bounced out of bed without feeling drowsy. Today was a day of talking to colleagues-one who seems perfectly content not to incorporate the writing program the district uses (which I agree stinks and is not creative but it is the district wide program) and another who was complaining about issues with behavior involving last year's friends. The first talk was one where you left thinking the other person is not going to change their ways. The second talk had me once againg thanking God that I do not have the class from last year anymore. Last year was a year long nightmare that didn't end until the day they were finally out of my class. My only advice to my colleague-count the days until it is over and pray.

Hey man, you ain't even in my class!

2009-10-21T17:36:00.000-07:00

So I have the once beloved but now hated duty of study hall teacher. I supervise students who are finishing work during their recess time. I have seen the same bunch of yahoos since the first day of school. There is the boy whose hair is never combed who has a special place next to me on the floor so he won't distract neighbors, just me. There is the other boy who has a special place on the other side of the room on the floor so I won't strangle him when he starts talking to himself (which he will do and he seems to have conversations with himself as well).

Well, one of the characters, lazy boy, showed up today in study hall. He usually just sits there and never finishes an assignment. Today, he decided to switch things up. He had to use the bathroom (yeah right). He talked to his friend from across the room. He decided he needed to take his neighbor's eraser. I called him out on all of his offenses and he continued to not lift a pencil on his assignment. Finally, he began to swing his feet wildly under his desk almost hitting the person right across from him. After I threatened him with a visit to the office, he finally calmed down. And didn't finish his assignment.

I haven't had that much drama in my class in months and it was caused by a twerp who isn't even in my class.

I got my grades in!

2009-10-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

I couldn't get into the school grading system over the weekend. I had to wait for Monday. Then I printed out missing grades through the system and saw missing assignments that I know I had put into my gradebook. What happened? The system had "lost" the grades I entered in the day before. My precious beautiful grades. The grades that took an hour to put into the stupid gradebook. So I did what any rushed and frantic teacher would do...I gave the kids an assignment to keep them busy and put in grades. I can't answer your question....I can't help you....I don't know...let me put these grades in, class. The grades are officially finished for the grading period and now I have a weekend to enjoy the beautiful weather.

The Neverending Pile of Papers

2009-10-04T15:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend I did some much needed clothes shopping and tackled grading papers. The grades are overall not good. I keep asking myself-is it me or is it the class? The class behaves great but seems low academically. They apparently do not know how to add or subtract (what is this "adding" thing you keep referring to, teacher), never heard of place value and do not know how to round (what do you mean, where are your strategies). The same people in the class continue to fail work and continue to fall behind in class. It doesn't seem we have a lot of time to stay on a topic and must move on quickly, I keep trying to reteach but at the same time have to keep up with my teaching. So I continue to see a neverending pile of papers with crappy grades. Last year was the year of won't do and this year is the year of can't do.

Nice try

2009-09-25T19:12:00.001-07:00

We took another test today and many of my students struggled. I graded the tests and saw that one of the students did not pick A,B,C or D. They wrote E and the answer they thought should have been on the test. Really?

I laughed and called her over and just had her make a guess on what the answer was.

Messy and Distracted Student

2009-09-24T18:07:00.001-07:00

So we take a test today. A long test. Most of the class finishes. I grade the tests that I picked up after school. I know one student is still working on it. However, I am shocked when another student is missing their test. Wasn't that student working on other work and didn't they go outside for recess? I look in his desk and there I discover missing assignments, trash, loose papers and lo and behold-the missing test. This student is frequently distracted and rarely pays attention. I can literally be in front of this student giving directions repeatedly and this student will look at me with blank stare and a open mouth. Ugh. Now, tomorrow is test day and we already have tests planned tomorrow and I need this student to finish this test asap. Ugh.

Feel Like I am Running a Marathon

2009-09-10T17:55:00.000-07:00

This has been a very busy time-trying to meet all of the begininning of the year deadlines, grading papers, trying to make the schedule work for me and attending all of the school events that are occuring right now. I always have loved the perk of getting home by 4:oo. Yeah, I may have to wake up at 5:30 a.m. but to be able to catch Oprah just makes me happy. This whole week I have stayed late. And yet I still feel that I am running in a marathon and the race is not even half way through. Do I feel student A is just getting back into the swing of things or are they struggling? Am I off of the class schedule because it isn't working or because I am still teaching procedures? Will student B be here tomorrow lice free? I am still very happy with the group of kids I have but I have to yet to adjust to the school routine.

End of the First Week

2009-08-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

At the end of the first day of school last year, I went to one of my teammates and asked her, " Is there anything wrong with your class?" My class was unable to follow simple directions, talkative and already had problems with basic school rules. By the end of that week, I knew it would be a long and draining year. It didn't realize how bad it would be but I knew that the class would be my most challenging.
This year, I was shocked and pleased by the class. First day, they came in quietly. They were able to sit in groups without excessive talking, something I gave up on last year by the third month of school. This is a class full of students with life and personality and not full of disrespect and disinterest. I have walked around with a smile on my face and full of ideas and excitement. Now I can focus on incorporating all of the things in classroom I usually do without fear of chaos and pandomonium breaking out all over.
At the end of this week, I had done more group activities then I was able to do all of last year.

I love this crew and I hope they continue to remain a great group.

I don't really have plans for this weekend just to sleep in and plant some more pots on my balcony. I just feel awesome.

But I don't wanna....

2009-08-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

I didn't go to my school today. I didn't complete my bulletin board in the hallway that fits with this year's theme. I didn't clean all of the gunk that was not cleaned up over the summer. I didn't make copies. I didn't 'cause I just couldn't do that on my last free Friday before school starts. I slept. I worked on my garden. I watched trashy television. Next week will be brutal not because I don't like my job but because I really I have enjoyed my summer of doing nothing.

10 Things for August

2009-08-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

1. Trying to wake up again at 5:30 a.m. is hard. I can wake up at that time but I just can not get out of the bed.

2. I am waiting for payday and it is only August 11th.

3. I am excited about my balcony garden and what I am going to plant for fall.

4. Oh yeah, I am excited about school. (Stares at computer blankly and rolls eyes.)

5. I am worried about the added traffic that will be around the area I work. How much longer will my drive to and from work be now?

6. I have got to see Inglorious Basterds (misspelled the way Quentin Tarantino has it) when it comes out this month.

7. I need to work on the format of this blog.

8. I need to get some John Hughes films for my dvd collection. R.I.P. John.

9. I plan on signing up for a debt negotiation agency by the end of this month.

10. I hope to work on losing a couple of pounds. Not working during the summer leads to pounds gained for me.

Why does it cost so much to have a car?

2009-08-08T12:08:00.000-07:00

1. Tune up
2. Oil change
3. Insurance
4. Gas

Ugh. No wonder I don't have any money this month. I will have to do any serious back to school shopping for myself after payday. I have a couple of more days of summer left and I am trying to get back at my regular work morning time of waking up at the butt crack of dawn. So far, I am failing miserably. Now, I have to go back to counting pennies.

Tuesday

2009-07-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long seen I posted here. Had a great July 4th with friends where I saw fireworks at the lake. Uh, I have taken about 10 naps, spent dozens of hours outside on the balcony where I have some flowers blooming and I have read two books and several magazines. The Wind Done Gone is a great take on Gone With The Wind where the half sister of Scarlett tells her story at Ta-Ta. It is a reworking on the events and people and adds a lot to the story. I also read Middlesex, a Pulitzer prize winning novel about a hermaphodite and her family's history. It was another great novel that I didn't want to put down.

Not much going on, I am hoping my skin clears up so I can go to the pool, see a movie and maybe go to the mall (where I try on clothes and make plans on what I need for school). I have never been so relaxed over the summer. It is a joy not to work and I love being a teacher.

Summertime

2009-06-26T17:40:00.000-07:00

Payday happened yesterday and may I say, Thank God! I am so happy to have bills paid and money in the bank. I am desperately trying to keep my plants alive and trying to stay cool inside my apartment.

Yesterday was a sad day....Farrah Fawcett died and then Michael Jackson died unexpectantly. It hit me that this man had been around my whole life, providing the soundtrack. In no way do I forgive what he did to those boys but the music was and is amazing. I spent the better part of Thursday youtubing his music. I had forgotten what an amazing performer he was.

My plans for the weekend are to get my car washed, get stools for my apartment, see a movie, go to the mall and to the library. I also need to clean my bathroom, read and put away my clean clothes. I want to also get a couple of new plants for the balcony because the ones I have are looking a little raggedy due to the intense heat.

My Blog List

2009-06-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

By the way, I just wanted to explain the seemingly random blogs on here. I teach so there are a few teaching blogs. It is hard to find teaching blogs where the writer is not all rainbows and unicorns. Teaching is hard work and at times the kids are not fun and you don't feel like anything inspiring is happening in the classroom. It isn't that I don't love teaching, I can't imagine not doing it but I can't handle blogs where the writer never writes about the frustrations of teaching...or of the small paychecks that one receives on a monthly basis.

I feature the personal finance blogs on here because I have learned that I must budget and be wise with my money, I am still not always in the black but I try.

I also feature food blogs that talk about Bento lunches. These are Japenese style lunches that just look cool. At times I have been lazy with my lunches and when I have opened up by lunch bag and stared at the mess I brought, I have sighed with disappointment. I now try to fix tasty lunches and make them visually appealing because I want to be happy during my lunch.

Finally, I have fashion blogs on here that talk about dressing for less. My first year teaching I have a lousy wardrobe and I looked like crap. Why? Because I did not have a professional wardrobe. I have slowly put together a wardrobe but I always need inspiration about what looks good with what and how to wear what I have in my closet.

Oh, I have Photoshop Disasters on here because it is funny!

I realized my blog list was random and I just had to say why.

Summer: AKA Free At Last!

2009-06-18T19:36:00.001-07:00

So far the break has gone the way most breaks go, my skin has flared and I am now currently waiting for everything to clear up. As usual, I am dead broke and I am counting the minutes to the next paycheck. I opted out of summer school at the last minute due to needing a mental break and I have been enjoying not having to deal with smart ass kids. I have napped, watched several hours of crap tv and basically enjoyed not having to do anything.

Unfortunately, my balcony plants are dying a quick death in the summer heat and I pray that we get more rain soon. I have spent a couple of hundred dollars on my balcony and it would be nice that it wasn't all in vain.

I look forward to seeing as many summer movies as possible. So far I have seen Wolverine, Terminator: Salvation and Star Trek. Wolverine was disappointing-how can you screw up a movie with Hugh Jackman?-by not having any kind of plausible script. Yup, even in comic book movies the script must be reasonable. I loved Terminator and especially the touches they added for fans, including a scene with Arnie!!! I just saw Star Trek and it was good but not as good as everyone has said. You still need to know a little about the Star Trek universe to get all of the jokes about characters and it had a semi-confusing script about space travel and its effect on future events. There is to be no heavy thinking during the summer, Hollywood.

I look forward to my next paycheck and hopefully by next month will be able to do some of the school things I need to do to get ready for next year.

Summer

2009-06-05T15:23:00.000-07:00

It is so close that I can taste it. Today was the last day with the kids and it was wonderful. I started to decorate my classroom for next year. It looks so much better and actually feels like a permanent place and not a temporary place. I was much more excited about the decorating than with the class. They finished the year as they began-out of control, argumentative and lazy. It is a joy to be done with the year and to focus on the next one. Did I have tears for my friends as they left? Sure, tears of joy-it's over. Thank Jebus, it is over.

Poof of smoke

2009-05-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

Did you see that poof of smoke that was in front of my classroom? It was me. I ran off with piles of papers left to grade and end of year checklists not checked off. I am done. I have never felt so drained at the end of the school year. My plans over this much needed break is spending a little bit of money (possibly on my latest obsession-balcony gardening) going to see the new Terminator movie and eating bbq at a friend's house. Have a great break!

Will it be over soon?

2009-05-16T16:29:00.000-07:00

These last couple of weeks seem to be moving very slow. I have tons of paperwork that I have to complete, several fun days that I have to go to and still have to maintain control of my class. I have brought home paperwork to fill out so that I will not be so behind. Today has been hard to get motivated to do anything though....the weather is rainy, cloudy and cool...perfect to fall asleep and pretend that I have nothing better to do with my time.

10 Things

2009-05-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

1. Taking a walk in the neighborhood is just one of the many reasons why I love where I live.
2. Thinking about my finances as I walked and I realize that I am stuck in between a rock and a hard place, I have two credit cards-one I am still current on paying on and the other in collections-I hate not paying bills and when I have called collections they offered wonderful solutions. They have said I should just get the money-10,000 dollars- from my family. Oh, if only you knew what a craptactular solution that is. I am going to call one of these debt solution places and hope to God they are not a scam. I am too po' to scam, I have nothing to take.
3. Sixty bucks out of my bank account will have to go to the two doctors that I have to see this month. I haven't even added in money for drugs-prescription not illegal.
4. I checked my bank account online today. Am I the only one that closes my eyes and peek at what my balance is? I pray that I am still in the black everytime.
5. This will be a long month and a long time until the next paycheck.
6. I am sure the plants I put outside are cussing me out. &*#@$ Full sun, my ass. I am apologize. It has rained for almost two weeks now.
7.What am I going to have for dinner?
8. I am hoping that the class will have an awakening now that we are introducing fourth grade material and realize that they really do need to pay attention and study, next year will not be a joke. Many of my academically strong students had a difficult time today, which I think is a good thing. If you don't pay attention, don't write in your notebook and don't study, then of course you are not going to understand the topic.
9. One of my students clearly has not been studying his times table. Despite the lectures, despite the work we have done all year, despite it all.....frustrated sigh here.
10. I just wish it was sunny.

Be quiet!!!

2009-04-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

There is a smattering of students in my grade level still testing. The grade next to us are testing until Thursday. Do you know how hard it is to keep my group of hooligans quiet on a testing day when they are no longer testing???? Threats, evil looks, walking next to them, taking future events away from are just jibber jabber to my crew. I just want it to be over so I don't have to be worried about my class getting me in trouble. Yes, I know its boring. Yes, I know you are bored. But, you still have to be quiet!!!

Sick of being Sick

2009-04-18T09:13:00.001-07:00

I took off two days from work. I have lost my voice, I have pink eye and my left ear is plugged up. I had planned on taking off Friday but I needed Thursday to finish making my plans for next week. Ugh.

Hey, maybe you can lose the attitude

2009-04-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

My class has been the class from Hell and one of the little devils continues to get under my skin. He is openly defiant, refuses to do work, starts problems with the other students and never accepts responsibility for his actions. He is much smarter than what he shows and occasionally flashes of his intelligence shine through his facade of douchebaggery. Today, I was forced to look at writing samples and he decided to show out with the sub and not do anything. He was taken out of the room by a neighboring teacher where I am sure he did nothing but stink up the place. What is the point of the attitude? What is the point of failing every subject? What is the point of acting this way? Ugh.

Very Important Question During Very Important Test

2009-03-03T16:56:00.001-08:00

Q: When will we eat snacks?

Response: Evil look at the three friends who asked this today.

Seriously?

Grades, Smades

2009-03-02T18:28:00.001-08:00

Just entered grades into the online gradebook and I can't believe the amounts of F's I see in it. Not just high F's, low one's like in the twenties. Why are the grades this miserable? Well, my friends apparently think I am joking when I say that they have to do assignments. Maybe they think I will forget about the work. I hope parents see the grades and have a fit. I hope they get mad. Then I hope they talk to their children. I am tired of being the only one in my class concerned about grades. The apathy this class has is sickening.

Payday Funday

2009-02-28T09:46:00.000-08:00

Payday is always a funday for me because it means I can indulge in things most people with money can do such as buy food, go shopping and do things that are not free. So far my Payday Weekend has been good. I have bought 190 dollars worth of groceries. Yea food! I ordered off of Amazon a bra, a blue jean skirt and a Daft Punk cd. I can justify the bra...after a horrifying professionally done bra fitting, I now know what my bra size is and need to restock all of the bras I had before. The jean skirt I realize I need in my wardrobe because the one I had before is woefully too tight on me and I used to wear it all of the time. The Daft Punk cd I just wanted. I did my Payday errands and will do my car maintenance errands next Saturday. I also need to buy a 3 year boy a birthday present this week and get ready to administer the reading TAKS test to my class this Tuesday.

Normally I would be stressing about the sudden addition to and subtraction from my bank account but I just submitted my taxes online and will be getting my direct deposit refund around the start of my Spring Break. For me that is unheard of....to have acutal money to spend during a major school break. I won't go crazy with the refund, I will pay down some bills but I definitely will enjoy myself.

Week Before the TAKS test

2009-02-25T16:08:00.000-08:00

Drill and kill Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Math Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Specials Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Telpas Writing Samples are due Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Grade some papers Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Send TAKS info to parents Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Attend hour meeting about TAKS Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Math Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Make banner for TAKS assembly Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Give spelling test Drill and Kill Give reading vocabulary test Drill and Kill Give math CBA(content based assessment) over probability Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Send report cards home Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Yell at kids for all of the missing assignments Drill and Kill Drill and Kill Check homework Pray for payday and prepare for the next week.

Gigantic Kiss

2009-02-20T14:33:00.000-08:00

The Valentine's gifts I received from my class last week were very unimpressive-stuff from Dollar General and The Dollar Store. I kept two gifts-one a teddy bear and the other a gigantic Hershey Kiss. Have you ever seen one of these? They are the size of a hand and impossible to eat. I have gnawed on the bottom like a mouse. If I can get it small enough I can take a knife to it. That is way too much work for a piece of candy.

Countdown to Payday

2009-02-17T18:25:00.000-08:00

I am living on a wing and a prayer until payday which is next Friday. I just filled up the tank and have some cash for gas next week. Foodwise, I have plenty of ramen noodles. My entertainment options will have to be free. If I can just get to payday and then I will do my taxes and oh, I would have extra money for March. This is when it is tough to teach when you are waiting for your one paycheck for the month. I have worked part-time jobs while teaching and really I can't stand them. When I, a 31 year old, am the oldest at the jobs, it just sucks the life out of me. I don't want to stand on my feet for any additional minutes and no I don't want to have anything to do with customers. That is why I hope I get summer school this year. Last summer I didn't get it and gained ten pounds.

Valentine's Day Weekend

2009-02-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

The end of the school week had the Valentine's Day party and the kids did pull through and bring treats and drinks. On Saturday, I went to the store and to the lovely library. In my brokeness I have found the library to be one of the treats I can give myself on a regular basis and this time I got a good haul of goodies. I checked out 4 DVDs- It's Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 3, Gone Baby Gone, Atonement, Waitress and three books. I would love to go to the actual movie theatre but I am broke until the end of the month. I then went to the store and spent 15 bucks. I would like to say to the self service cashier that it was totally unnecessary to rest your hand on my cart and stare at me as if I was stealing. I have never liked the self service line and once again, it bit me in the butt.

Then in the afternoon, I went to my friend's house for a birthday party. It was postponed due to the flu and I was finally able to have some Eggplant Parmesan. The day wasn't so bad as a singleton but it would be nice to have a day with someone special. I would love to have someone buy me flowers and send it to my workplace. How about some jewelry? How about a romantic dinner out?

Vday Party with Tons of Plates and No Food?

2009-02-12T17:54:00.000-08:00

Our Valentine's Day party is tomorrow in the afternoon and I wonder what the kids will bring for food and drinks. My contribution will be my sparkling personality and various Valentine's themed worksheets. (I am dead broke, if you don't believe me check out my fridge and pantry.)So far their contribution are three packs of plates and napkins, two large bags of chips and one small bag of chips. No drinks. No other food. I am waiting for a last minute hail mary from my class. If not, we will have the world's worst Valentine's Day party. Fingers crossed for my friends to bring in the food.

I hate my class, I hate my class

2009-02-11T17:36:00.000-08:00

Today was a day where I could only stand in disbelief at the friends I have this year. For bellwork, the class walk around the room and talk to their friends. This is a daily occurence where I chase down these wanderers and herd them to their desks. Then I have a reprieve due to specials.

This morning the principal came down to third grade to talk to all of the classes about responsibility, using strategies, etc. It was great...I actually thought for a second she was getting to them. But she left and they went back their usual antics. I pulled my must pass the TAKS friends but couldn't hear them. My act-a-fool friend flipped the bird to some girls during lunch. Another friend I kicked out of my room because he was just sitting there as if he was done with all of his work. Really? Pull it out and show me. "I can't find it but I know I turned it in." I escorted him out of room and gave him another worksheet.

Everyday I am disrespected by the students in my class. Everyday I lecture the class about turning in their work. I am not counting down to the weekend. Nor Spring Break. I am counting down to the end of the year. I want out and away from this group of friends. I want to start over with a class that cares.

How did my day end? After I finished my afterschool duty, I went to my room and sat at my desk. I didn't even turn on the lights.

Blah....blah...blah

2009-02-09T19:04:00.001-08:00

Today was a Staff development day-TAKS info, discussion about test security, TELPAS information, lots of abbreviations. I had a doctor's appointment with Dr. Ray where I spent 10 minutes traveling to, 20 minutes waiting and less than 10 minutes for the actual doctor consultation. Give me my scripts and let me go already. I am now going down to two Neoral per week. Let's hope my skin doesn't react negatively. Tuesday will be worse-an assembly by a bunch of positive message body builders, choir practice for third and fourth grades and then a long night spent waiting for the performance by choir for the PTA meeting. I already want to not be there. How come I gotta go??? Did you just hear that...I whined like a dog. But I don't wanna go.

They are the exception, not the rule

2009-02-07T16:11:00.000-08:00

Went to the matinee showing of "He's Just Not That Into You" with my Meetup group. I typically shy away from chick flicks but I wanted to see this one because of all the star power in it. It dragged in parts and wasn't as funny as one would think, but it wasn't bad. My question goes out to the parents of the pre-teen girls in front of me-what were you thinking? This movie is a strong PG-13 and if you bring your kids with you, prepare to be embarrassed. And there is nothing worse than not looking at the screen when people are having sex. (Oh and I had a coupon for a small popcorn for free! Hell yeah, I used that coupon.)

Afterwards, we went out to eat at Abuelo's and had a great lunch. Had lots of fun talking to the chicks in the group and can't wait to join the group again. The highlight of the group was a hilarious realtor who discussed her trials and tribulations in the dating scene. A friend was having his birthday today and unfortuanately the plans for the party were cancelled due to many dealing with the flu. Too bad I didn't find out about the cancellation until I had pulled up in front of the house and questioned where everyone's cars were. I called L. and she said the party had been cancelled. Oh well, it didn't sting too bad because I had gone out earlier in the day. But I will miss having the eggplant parmesean. In fact, I wipe a tear of sadness off of my face because of it.

What to eat when the eating ain't good

2009-02-06T15:19:00.000-08:00

I want a burger and fries. That will cost money that I don't have. I can heat up some chicken. Or some ramen noodles. Or make a salad. But I would rather have a burger and fries. My burger craving increases when my bank account decreases. So I am having maximum burger cravings right now. I will wait and if I must have a burger, I will go to McDonald's. Must have burger.

Saved by a former parent!

2009-02-05T17:11:00.000-08:00

Today was a long day where it seemed that we acheived nothing but get on my nerves. We had a performance today by a children's opera company that lasted an hour. My class was scheduled for vision and hearing testing today. Then in the afternoon, the music teacher wanted to work with the third and fourth graders to practice for an upcoming performance. Let's just say the performance was a joke of epic proportions. Kids shoving, jammed on the risers, sitting down, doing all types of weird things with their hands. Basically, it was laughable. We teachers will have to be there for the performance.

Afterschool tutoring was today was from 2:45-4:30 and the bus actually came close to that time. That is when the fun really began....just a couple of miles from the school, my tire blew out. I don't have AAA anymore and I wouldn't know how to change a tire if Mr. Goodyear himself showed me how. So, I called my friend L. and she gave me the numbers of anyone who was in the area. No one answered and I don't blame them, I don't answer phone calls from strange numbers. As I talked to L., a truck pulled over in front of me with a little girl yelling my name. Her father came up to me, said he would help and eventually put the spare on. (Sidenote: Does anyone have a PT Cruiser and do they have the tire under the car? He had to get another tool just to get to the spare. Way too much work.) He said my tires were low and told me to follow him to the house where he had an air compressor. (Second sidenote: father noticed that my hubcaps were placed so that one could not get to the air valves on the tires. Thanks Discount Tire for your crap work.) Thank god I work in the flippin' country where people have random machinery like that. My former student told me all about her and her brothers tendency to hurt themselves and I silently thanked God that I was saved by this parent.

After I got the air put in the tires, I drove all through creation back to the main road and straight to Discount Tire. Which was closed. At six. I yelled at one of the employees if there was anyplace else I could go. He said Wal-Mart. I drove straight to Wally World and they sold me a new tire for 90 bucks. I have slacked off on car maintenance due to living in brokedom and I see now why it is so important. I can get an oil change, tire rotation, hell another tire after my next paycheck. Sweet baby Jesus, I can't handle stress like this again.

Silence is golden

2009-02-04T16:26:00.000-08:00

We are gearing up to the TAKS test in March and there is tutoring, small group work, computer work, etc. The problem with my class this year is that they can not be quiet. Period. I take away recess. I sign agendas. I give them my mad face. I pile on the work. Nothing. When we try to do fun stuff, they get out of control. When we do the required classwork, they get out of control. This year, my class has taken the fun out of teaching. To sum it up, the small group work was interrupted by LOUD TALKING. Maybe tomorrow, I can do the small group work going over reading passages...who am I kidding, it will be more of the same.

Woo hoo! I's rich!

2009-02-03T17:39:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend, I joined a group of friends on a trip to Winstar Casino in Oklahoma. And yes, some of us sang the song. I brought 50 bucks and very quickly found that I had no luck. Every penny machine I touched turned to crap. I couldn't find the awesome Star Wars slots and became slightly depressed. I just wanted to find a machine that would let me play for awhile. I went to the atm to get another 20 bucks to that would hopefully last the rest of the night. I grabbed the twenty, prayed to sweet baby Jesus and spied a wonderful sight, "Jambalya Jackpot". It just rolls off the tongue. I started to play and very quickly my 5 bucks grew to a wonderful amount....$115 dollars! This is my fun money, this is my Dr. Ray money, this is my emergency gas money....this is awesome. I didn't win a million or a thousand but I am so flippin' happy.

Longtime Lurker, First Time Blogger

2009-01-28T09:20:00.000-08:00

I am an avid follower of several blogs and I attempted to set up my own blog last year. That lasted about a week. I recently noticed how long I was spending reading my favorite blogs and thought I have gotta try this again. Hopefully, this time it will stick. They say it takes 12 times for something to become a habit, if I can get past 12 posts then I will addicted to writing for my blog. What will I write about....being a teacher, coping with post-college life, being single, trying to climb out of debt, saving money, having psoriasis, the world of pop culture and the fact that the life I am living does not seem as cool as the girls on The Hills.