Just when we thought we might be saying goodbye to a long wildfire season, another one started this a.m. It grew rather quickly after noon, because the wind picked up speed. People are being evacuated. They are fighting by land and air. The air is smoky once again. When I left school this afternoon after prepping for the coming week I saw other agencies coming in to support our agencies fight the fire. They rally around so quickly.
I feel fairly prepped for this school week. I was able to get quite a bit done. Did I finish my to-do list? Nope! I do need to work on some lesson plans tonight, because most of my time I spent cleaning up from last week, and prepping for this week. Last week was rough having morning duty every single day. Tomorrow we have a staff meeting first thing in the morning. We really do not know what it is about other than our central office is heading the meeting. We shall see !
Tomorrow...October Begins! Here we go!
September 30, 2018
September 27, 2018
2 More
Two more progress reports to complete tonight. I needed a couple of minutes to take a break. I am probably putting WAY too much detail in them for parents, but maybe there will be less surprises at Parent/Teacher Conference time. I will have to go in early tomorrow to get these printed off and put in envelopes. I can do this.
Tomorrow we have our Walk-a-thon to raise funds for a scholarship for students in the area. I don't know how I will do with my allergies and walking in the dust. I'll just have to see. It is Friday lunch and the Specials teachers are providing pizza tomorrow. One less thing to worry about...making lunch.
I am ready for the WEEKEND! One day at a time....
Okay I'm going to finish these!
G'nite
Tomorrow we have our Walk-a-thon to raise funds for a scholarship for students in the area. I don't know how I will do with my allergies and walking in the dust. I'll just have to see. It is Friday lunch and the Specials teachers are providing pizza tomorrow. One less thing to worry about...making lunch.
I am ready for the WEEKEND! One day at a time....
Okay I'm going to finish these!
G'nite
September 22, 2018
Boogers
In non-cold/allergy/asthma related news I've been going to work. My class this year is soooo much better behaved than classes I've had in awhile. Which is amazing. I need this. It makes teaching so much more fun. We completed state testing so I have an idea of where students are in their reading abilities. Which some has me pretty scared. I suspect one has a form of dyslexia. The student does not connect sounds to words in ways that show any phonemic awareness. I will have to do more assessing. I just think how could this student get this far into our school system and no-one has done more for her. I don't know... sometimes parents resist it as well.
I have a couple little challenges this year. One challenge is a pouter, full on, lower lip out, arms over our chest, crocodile tears pouter. It is unusual at this age. I spoke with the parents once and I was told yes they do this at home and if I have any ideas that would help they'd appreciate it. Keep it simple Mom and Dad CONSEQUENCES. Take away the thing they like. UGGH ! Okay anyway so this one has this mastered. I tell the student the action I expect, what will happen if it doesn't stop or start, and walk away. Then I get the pout, the crossed arms, the tears, etc. I finally pulled the student aside for a conversation about how 2nd graders behave and this is NOT it! Welllll it slowed down a little, but hasn't gone away. I guess we all need practice in being corrected. It isn't fun, but life will be much, much, harder if we cannot accept a little correction. This student also appeared to have a pea-sized bladder. I contacted the parents about this as well making sure there wasn't a medical issue (HA!). They were quite apologetic. I did a little recognizance to see if the bathroom was the final destination. The student wandered the hall did a little bounce into lost and found, went into the bathroom, came out 20 seconds later. SO now we are doing bathroom tickets. The student gets two a day. They can also go during lunch or recess without using a ticket. We'll see how this goes.
My other little challenge I am not sure what to think. I got this very weird vibe from the family at back-to-school night. The whole family was all over my classroom...with 6 people it is uncomfortable. I suspect a couple things might have fallen into pockets. Anyhow, this one in my room hasn't really been taught basic behavior. I am not sure how much is naughty and how much is just poor parenting. The other day this student's table-mate comes to me and says "____ wiped __ boogers all over my desk and pencil" I look and gagging inside um yep ____ sure did. I call ___ over to me and ask why ___ did that. " Well it was gross and I didn't want it on MY desk." "It was so GROSS YOU didn't want it on YOUR desk, but you thought it was okay to put on YOUR FRIENDS desk??" " Uhhhh wellll...." "First you are going to clean her desk and yours, and WHAT do WE have in our classroom to put our boogers in?" "Kleenex?" "YES, KLEENEX and you WILL USE IT!"
So disgusting... SOOO Disgusting. I let the other person throw their pencil away and get a new one. Because who wants that really. UGGH. Conversations you can't imagine ever having. I also moved the table-mate away from this student. This student has been annoying enough to classmates I have a limited pool of friends willing to tolerate it. We have a lot of conversations about how we treat people. Siggh.... Parent's if you could do this at home... I could spend more time teaching reading.
Then I had to consider carefully how to log parent contact in our software we use to track student information. I asked my colleagues for advice and finally settled on one. "Poor choices with bodily fluids."
Since testing is completing I have to do AMP plans for all the students that fall below the measure we use required by our state. This is always a chore. I also have to complete progress reports by Friday. It is halfway through the first quarter and I feel like I haven't been teaching, just assessing. It is hard to keep up with my "To-Do" list. Especially when I haven't been feeling very good.
I had a special guest come to our classroom this week! This week in our reading was all about pets and why they are important. I had a local bring in a trained therapy dog to meet the students. It was a HUGE ten year old mastiff named Solomon. Sweetest gentle giant you'd ever meet. He was perfect for the kids. Also as a bonus his owner is a juvenile probation officer. When we asked her where she took him she mentioned she worked at "Kid Jail" and she would take him there to meet the kids who were not making good choices. That was the first time most of my students had heard of "Kid Jail" and their eyes got huge. I might have good behavior for awhile.
I have a couple little challenges this year. One challenge is a pouter, full on, lower lip out, arms over our chest, crocodile tears pouter. It is unusual at this age. I spoke with the parents once and I was told yes they do this at home and if I have any ideas that would help they'd appreciate it. Keep it simple Mom and Dad CONSEQUENCES. Take away the thing they like. UGGH ! Okay anyway so this one has this mastered. I tell the student the action I expect, what will happen if it doesn't stop or start, and walk away. Then I get the pout, the crossed arms, the tears, etc. I finally pulled the student aside for a conversation about how 2nd graders behave and this is NOT it! Welllll it slowed down a little, but hasn't gone away. I guess we all need practice in being corrected. It isn't fun, but life will be much, much, harder if we cannot accept a little correction. This student also appeared to have a pea-sized bladder. I contacted the parents about this as well making sure there wasn't a medical issue (HA!). They were quite apologetic. I did a little recognizance to see if the bathroom was the final destination. The student wandered the hall did a little bounce into lost and found, went into the bathroom, came out 20 seconds later. SO now we are doing bathroom tickets. The student gets two a day. They can also go during lunch or recess without using a ticket. We'll see how this goes.
My other little challenge I am not sure what to think. I got this very weird vibe from the family at back-to-school night. The whole family was all over my classroom...with 6 people it is uncomfortable. I suspect a couple things might have fallen into pockets. Anyhow, this one in my room hasn't really been taught basic behavior. I am not sure how much is naughty and how much is just poor parenting. The other day this student's table-mate comes to me and says "____ wiped __ boogers all over my desk and pencil" I look and gagging inside um yep ____ sure did. I call ___ over to me and ask why ___ did that. " Well it was gross and I didn't want it on MY desk." "It was so GROSS YOU didn't want it on YOUR desk, but you thought it was okay to put on YOUR FRIENDS desk??" " Uhhhh wellll...." "First you are going to clean her desk and yours, and WHAT do WE have in our classroom to put our boogers in?" "Kleenex?" "YES, KLEENEX and you WILL USE IT!"
So disgusting... SOOO Disgusting. I let the other person throw their pencil away and get a new one. Because who wants that really. UGGH. Conversations you can't imagine ever having. I also moved the table-mate away from this student. This student has been annoying enough to classmates I have a limited pool of friends willing to tolerate it. We have a lot of conversations about how we treat people. Siggh.... Parent's if you could do this at home... I could spend more time teaching reading.
Then I had to consider carefully how to log parent contact in our software we use to track student information. I asked my colleagues for advice and finally settled on one. "Poor choices with bodily fluids."
Since testing is completing I have to do AMP plans for all the students that fall below the measure we use required by our state. This is always a chore. I also have to complete progress reports by Friday. It is halfway through the first quarter and I feel like I haven't been teaching, just assessing. It is hard to keep up with my "To-Do" list. Especially when I haven't been feeling very good.
I had a special guest come to our classroom this week! This week in our reading was all about pets and why they are important. I had a local bring in a trained therapy dog to meet the students. It was a HUGE ten year old mastiff named Solomon. Sweetest gentle giant you'd ever meet. He was perfect for the kids. Also as a bonus his owner is a juvenile probation officer. When we asked her where she took him she mentioned she worked at "Kid Jail" and she would take him there to meet the kids who were not making good choices. That was the first time most of my students had heard of "Kid Jail" and their eyes got huge. I might have good behavior for awhile.
It's all about the COUGH!
I've been trying to get over whatever plagues is bugging me. I think I have a combination of inflammation from being in wildfire smoke all summer, fall allergies, and perhaps a cold. I've been eating A LOT of soup. A LOT. I only want hot soup or ice cold drinks and Italian Ice. Anything that causes the slightest bit of phlegm is out the door. The part that is driving me the most crazy is NOT SLEEPING! I wake up hacking and coughing nightly. Then I have a terrible time going back to sleep. I've been tracking my oxygen levels and it has improved. I think my lungs are doing better. I just need to end this coughing and phlegm. Since I haven't been sleeping well it just makes working a lot more difficult. I've just been doing one day at a time and not getting ahead of anything. Which is NOT the way to do it.
I decided to go spend some quality time in the cold and flu aisle to see if there was something I could take that would help the mucus and give me a good nights sleep. That aisle is daunting. There's nighttime, daytime, 24 hour, 8 hour, 4 hour, no-hours or days mentioned. Then there is for cough, for mucus, for fever, for congestion, for aches, for blah blah blah. This isn't even reaching in to the Allergy part of the aisle. Multi-symptom, cough and cold, cold and flu, sinus, sinus and cold, throat and chest, cough suppressant, and on and on. Then there is different strengths maximum strength, regular strength, severe etc. Then you have to decide do I want a syrup, a capsule, a tablet, wait their are lozenges. Sigh......Then you think okay maybe I'll try this because it says nighttime and I want to sleep. However, it comes with daytime and you can't get it without daytime. Also there are 24 daytime capsules and 8 nighttime capsules. WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO BE SO COMPLICATED!!!!!
Okay so fine I finally surrender pick something and go home to eat dinner.
Before bed I take the nighttime stuff that should help me. I still woke up coughing, but did fall back to sleep. I also woke up to use the bathroom several times and then went back to sleep. I haven't been able to do the fall back to sleep part. It did not remove any phlegm going on. What it did do was allow me to sleep, and sleeeep, and slllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeppppp. I couldn't wake myself up long enough to accomplish anything. Perhaps the maximum strength was too much for me. This aisle is way to much for people who don't feel well. UGGH
I decided to go spend some quality time in the cold and flu aisle to see if there was something I could take that would help the mucus and give me a good nights sleep. That aisle is daunting. There's nighttime, daytime, 24 hour, 8 hour, 4 hour, no-hours or days mentioned. Then there is for cough, for mucus, for fever, for congestion, for aches, for blah blah blah. This isn't even reaching in to the Allergy part of the aisle. Multi-symptom, cough and cold, cold and flu, sinus, sinus and cold, throat and chest, cough suppressant, and on and on. Then there is different strengths maximum strength, regular strength, severe etc. Then you have to decide do I want a syrup, a capsule, a tablet, wait their are lozenges. Sigh......Then you think okay maybe I'll try this because it says nighttime and I want to sleep. However, it comes with daytime and you can't get it without daytime. Also there are 24 daytime capsules and 8 nighttime capsules. WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO BE SO COMPLICATED!!!!!
Okay so fine I finally surrender pick something and go home to eat dinner.
Before bed I take the nighttime stuff that should help me. I still woke up coughing, but did fall back to sleep. I also woke up to use the bathroom several times and then went back to sleep. I haven't been able to do the fall back to sleep part. It did not remove any phlegm going on. What it did do was allow me to sleep, and sleeeep, and slllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeppppp. I couldn't wake myself up long enough to accomplish anything. Perhaps the maximum strength was too much for me. This aisle is way to much for people who don't feel well. UGGH
September 10, 2018
Early
Perhaps I should've slept in. Instead I got up at my regular time, ate some breakfast, nebulized, took my medication, and tried to remember what I forgot on the sub plans. I think I forgot to upload a file. Luckily my teammate is checking for me. I don't know what I did before I had colleagues that would step in and help. It must've been really hard.
I usually get sleepy after I nebulize. It seems to open me up and then I relax. I should have been nebulizing sooner. I don't know why I thought things would improve. Especially after having the wildfire smoke well about three months now. We had a few teaser blue sky days, but it is back.
I was supposed to do my second state test on my students today. I think I might be able to trade times with a colleague. Otherwise, I will just have to figure something else out. I think having today to rest and get some meds in me was a good idea.
Well... I don't know anything else....
Good Morning
I usually get sleepy after I nebulize. It seems to open me up and then I relax. I should have been nebulizing sooner. I don't know why I thought things would improve. Especially after having the wildfire smoke well about three months now. We had a few teaser blue sky days, but it is back.
I was supposed to do my second state test on my students today. I think I might be able to trade times with a colleague. Otherwise, I will just have to figure something else out. I think having today to rest and get some meds in me was a good idea.
Well... I don't know anything else....
Good Morning
September 9, 2018
Feeling bleh
I got up early and went to urgent care this morning. The doctor has seen me quite often with all of my allergies and asthma issues. She said my lungs sound really tight and wants me to use my nebulizer with more frequency until I clear up. She also gave me antibiotics for a sinus infection. The pharmacy wasn't open when I left the office, so I attempted a nap. I woke up from that nap with a pounding headache. I ran and picked up my prescriptions and now I am contemplating tomorrow.
Do I want to attempt work? Should I stay home and get some antibiotics in me? Based on how I feel right now I don't feel up for chasing 2nd Graders. However, that does mean I have to go lesson plan for a sub. Which is different than lesson planning for oneself.
In the meantime I received a message from my grade level team that we had been put on a different duty schedule. We aren't sure if the person who sent it was soooo confused by the duty schedule that they made a clerical error, or if it is changed again. This duty schedule was made so complex everyone is stressed trying to figure out where they are supposed to be, when they are supposed to be there, and what week it is because it rotates. It is a very inefficient system. I hope they didn't change it because I just put the entire schedule for the year in my lesson plans.
Well, I am off to eat some soup...
Do I want to attempt work? Should I stay home and get some antibiotics in me? Based on how I feel right now I don't feel up for chasing 2nd Graders. However, that does mean I have to go lesson plan for a sub. Which is different than lesson planning for oneself.
In the meantime I received a message from my grade level team that we had been put on a different duty schedule. We aren't sure if the person who sent it was soooo confused by the duty schedule that they made a clerical error, or if it is changed again. This duty schedule was made so complex everyone is stressed trying to figure out where they are supposed to be, when they are supposed to be there, and what week it is because it rotates. It is a very inefficient system. I hope they didn't change it because I just put the entire schedule for the year in my lesson plans.
Well, I am off to eat some soup...
September 8, 2018
update
Well... my sinuses have not improved and I am quite irritable. One might even describe my general demeanor and attitude as cranky. The smoke from fires has not helped my sinuses or lungs for that matter. I am considering going to urgent care in the a.m. It is too early in the school year to be taking time off.
Somehow at the end of the school year and over the summer I have misplaced some of my slacks I wear to work. I have one spot in the closet to hang them and if I hang them dry they are in the laundry room. I can only conclude I did something wacky with them. I started cleaning my bedroom and bathroom this evening. I have a bag to deliver to a local thrift shop. I probably would have more, but I ran out of steam... and haven't found the slacks yet.
Me making dinner wasn't in the cards. I contemplated it. I decided that by the time I did make it my cranky demeanor would be upgraded to downright cantankerous. I opted to order a sandwich from Jimmy Johns. After eating dinner if I get a spurt of energy I am going to make a pot of soup in my instant pot. I did complete a few loads of laundry today and did my dishes. I MUST go to school tomorrow to plan for my week, so I hope I can get a little help to feel up to snuff.
There is something new this year at school. Every school in the nation is required to have NARCAN on the premises. This spray is to treat an overdose. Apparently at a school event somewhere in our nation a parent died of an overdose. The president has ordered this to be so. It is sad that we are at this point.
Well I am going to snuggle with my humidifier....
LET IT SNOW!!! ⛄⛄
Somehow at the end of the school year and over the summer I have misplaced some of my slacks I wear to work. I have one spot in the closet to hang them and if I hang them dry they are in the laundry room. I can only conclude I did something wacky with them. I started cleaning my bedroom and bathroom this evening. I have a bag to deliver to a local thrift shop. I probably would have more, but I ran out of steam... and haven't found the slacks yet.
Me making dinner wasn't in the cards. I contemplated it. I decided that by the time I did make it my cranky demeanor would be upgraded to downright cantankerous. I opted to order a sandwich from Jimmy Johns. After eating dinner if I get a spurt of energy I am going to make a pot of soup in my instant pot. I did complete a few loads of laundry today and did my dishes. I MUST go to school tomorrow to plan for my week, so I hope I can get a little help to feel up to snuff.
There is something new this year at school. Every school in the nation is required to have NARCAN on the premises. This spray is to treat an overdose. Apparently at a school event somewhere in our nation a parent died of an overdose. The president has ordered this to be so. It is sad that we are at this point.
Well I am going to snuggle with my humidifier....
LET IT SNOW!!! ⛄⛄
September 7, 2018
Irritating Chrysothamnus
Well... My plan to decide on my course of medication went terribly wrong. Before I could do anything my body decided to expel everything. That night was a terribly short night. I did feel a bit better afterwards, but still had terrible drainage. I think the drainage was causing some acid reflux. Okay yeah... you wanted to know all this. I managed to work the next day. I was hopeful that last night I would get a little more rest. I did get a LITTLE more. It was more pleasant rest because I didn't feel nearly as bad. I hope this weekend I can give myself rest and a boost. Maybe I can move on from this. I am doing everything I can. I think I may have found the irritating culprit causing all of this irritation. Rabbitbrush is in bloom here. Have I mentioned I can't wait for snow?
I made it through Friday and even managed to teach the students a few things in between assessments. I forget how busy the beginning of the year is with assessing. We were told we had to do it ourselves. I don't know how we can do it all and teach. We can't use a retired teacher even to help. I don't think our new admin realizes how long this can take for each individual student. While we do these assessments our classes are given sorts of "busy work" so we can do this. We can't give them something that might cause them to be loud or we won't be able to hear the student we are working with. I don't know... seems there must always be something that adds another challenge to the day.
Speaking of challenges. I have seen my challenge almost daily this year. Since traveling to the city and getting help from a child psychologist and medication there seems to be a huge improvement. This will be a lifelong battle for this one. I hope that feeling more present will be enough to keep the student on the right track. It is terrible to see mental illness in one so young. The outcome is just a huge unknown.
I don't know if I will accomplish half of what I want to this weekend. One step at a time. If you have a cure for fall allergies let me know. If you could send some snow my way that would be even better. In the meantime I either want hot soup or icy cold treats. I have always found that a little lemon can help with the drainage. As long as this isn't eaten right before resting for the night. This is my favorite lemony treat...
It's cool and refreshing. The cup is not full above the brim as shown in the photo. It has a seal on it like a yogurt cup.It does have more sugar than I'd like. The ice and the lemon sure make a difference on some irritated passages. Once this passes, I will forget about it for awhile.
I made it through Friday and even managed to teach the students a few things in between assessments. I forget how busy the beginning of the year is with assessing. We were told we had to do it ourselves. I don't know how we can do it all and teach. We can't use a retired teacher even to help. I don't think our new admin realizes how long this can take for each individual student. While we do these assessments our classes are given sorts of "busy work" so we can do this. We can't give them something that might cause them to be loud or we won't be able to hear the student we are working with. I don't know... seems there must always be something that adds another challenge to the day.
Speaking of challenges. I have seen my challenge almost daily this year. Since traveling to the city and getting help from a child psychologist and medication there seems to be a huge improvement. This will be a lifelong battle for this one. I hope that feeling more present will be enough to keep the student on the right track. It is terrible to see mental illness in one so young. The outcome is just a huge unknown.
I don't know if I will accomplish half of what I want to this weekend. One step at a time. If you have a cure for fall allergies let me know. If you could send some snow my way that would be even better. In the meantime I either want hot soup or icy cold treats. I have always found that a little lemon can help with the drainage. As long as this isn't eaten right before resting for the night. This is my favorite lemony treat...
It's cool and refreshing. The cup is not full above the brim as shown in the photo. It has a seal on it like a yogurt cup.It does have more sugar than I'd like. The ice and the lemon sure make a difference on some irritated passages. Once this passes, I will forget about it for awhile.
September 5, 2018
Week 2
Week two. One wildfire contained another starts. Not as smoky as most of the summer, but there is still a haze in the air. It seems as though this fire season will not come to a close.
My sinuses decided they don't really care for this new snap of the fall air. While I am enjoying a bit of crispiness in my morning my sinuses said "NO THANK YOU!" Hmmm probably without the polite thank you....!They have begun their Autumnal draining. This disgusting mucus leads to coughing. Full body from the ground up coughing. Coughing with such force I will either throw up or pee my pants. Coughing hard enough that I am concerned about inhaling again. This is all super enjoyable as you attempt to teach small people things. Post Nasal drip is REAL folks! Uggh...Since this occurs to me in the Fall and Spring and once and awhile in between with the change in the weather, I looked up Home Remedies. What do you know... The cure involved Apple Cider Vinegar. It ALWAYS involves Apple Cider Vinegar. I can't add insult to injury! I just can't do it. I did temporarily slow the cough down with a spoonful of honey. I took my nasal decongestant. That gave me about two very pleasant hours of sleep.
I have about another 30 minutes where I can either attempt more of that OR....! I can go for the OLD Fashioned Cure shared with me by an Elder. Well, that is sort of the story. You'll have to ask Merle for the "Rest of the Story!" Anyhow good old fashioned whiskey. If it could give me a few more hours of peaceful slumber, I might try it. However, I have other concerns about this cure. The dosage is never on the bottle for one thing. What is too much? What is not enough? I don't know my limitations on this product because I don't imbibe. I don't think it has decongestant properties either. Hmmm What to do...What to do!
We had our first staff meeting of the year. It was brief. Amazingly BRIEF. It has been quite awhile since I experienced such efficiency. YAY!
We have been retraining parents that they MUST sign in at the office before wandering the halls and should pick up their kids in front of the school. This has been met by resistance from a few. For every rule there is someone who feels like they should be the exception to the rule. Even if it is for their own child's safety. Which is interesting. I think they'd probably be yelling the loudest if something dangerous occurred. So these "Lawnmower" parents or "Hovercraft" parents meet your requests to sign in at the office with a little hostility. It is very interesting to be the recipient of their hostility for a simple safety measure. Your child can make it to the front of the school without your help. If they cannot because they are a Special Needs child, they will have someone walking them out anyway. Please don't turn your child into a Special Needs child because of your neediness. Our principal has had our back 100% on this. It is still very interesting to observe and feel the anger for making sure they are a person that should be in the building.
We started some of our assessments last week to give us insight into our students strengths and weaknesses. Today my students had their first state required standardized test. I was pretty discouraged by the scores coming back. I only had one student that hurried through the test like a rabid squirrel. The majority really took their time. They often drop a lot from 1st to 2nd grade on this test because they go from having Audio Support to Zero Audio support. The students who are poor readers rely on that audio to inference what they need to do. When that is taking away and they are simply required to read directions and answer questions they cannot do it. Some students will quickly make the adjustments and be up to grade level in no time. Some students it is just too great of a leap to make the jump. It is difficult to decrease that gap.
I was reading the directions on scoring one of our benchmark assessments required by our district. I had the directions that the company that provides this assessment gave us. I thought I had a misconception on how to score it so I went and read the directions again. A colleague came in and asked me to remind her how to score hers. I told her and mentioned I just re-read the directions. She didn't think I was correct so she went to the school "expert" on this assessment and they told her I was wrong. I said well then ask what this means and handed her the page with the directions. Turns out I CAN READ AND FOLLOW directions, well as long as they aren't provided by IKEA.
Well I am going to drink some more water, decide on my medicine of choice, and attempt a view more hours of upright sleeping. G'nite
My sinuses decided they don't really care for this new snap of the fall air. While I am enjoying a bit of crispiness in my morning my sinuses said "NO THANK YOU!" Hmmm probably without the polite thank you....!They have begun their Autumnal draining. This disgusting mucus leads to coughing. Full body from the ground up coughing. Coughing with such force I will either throw up or pee my pants. Coughing hard enough that I am concerned about inhaling again. This is all super enjoyable as you attempt to teach small people things. Post Nasal drip is REAL folks! Uggh...Since this occurs to me in the Fall and Spring and once and awhile in between with the change in the weather, I looked up Home Remedies. What do you know... The cure involved Apple Cider Vinegar. It ALWAYS involves Apple Cider Vinegar. I can't add insult to injury! I just can't do it. I did temporarily slow the cough down with a spoonful of honey. I took my nasal decongestant. That gave me about two very pleasant hours of sleep.
I have about another 30 minutes where I can either attempt more of that OR....! I can go for the OLD Fashioned Cure shared with me by an Elder. Well, that is sort of the story. You'll have to ask Merle for the "Rest of the Story!" Anyhow good old fashioned whiskey. If it could give me a few more hours of peaceful slumber, I might try it. However, I have other concerns about this cure. The dosage is never on the bottle for one thing. What is too much? What is not enough? I don't know my limitations on this product because I don't imbibe. I don't think it has decongestant properties either. Hmmm What to do...What to do!
We had our first staff meeting of the year. It was brief. Amazingly BRIEF. It has been quite awhile since I experienced such efficiency. YAY!
We have been retraining parents that they MUST sign in at the office before wandering the halls and should pick up their kids in front of the school. This has been met by resistance from a few. For every rule there is someone who feels like they should be the exception to the rule. Even if it is for their own child's safety. Which is interesting. I think they'd probably be yelling the loudest if something dangerous occurred. So these "Lawnmower" parents or "Hovercraft" parents meet your requests to sign in at the office with a little hostility. It is very interesting to be the recipient of their hostility for a simple safety measure. Your child can make it to the front of the school without your help. If they cannot because they are a Special Needs child, they will have someone walking them out anyway. Please don't turn your child into a Special Needs child because of your neediness. Our principal has had our back 100% on this. It is still very interesting to observe and feel the anger for making sure they are a person that should be in the building.
We started some of our assessments last week to give us insight into our students strengths and weaknesses. Today my students had their first state required standardized test. I was pretty discouraged by the scores coming back. I only had one student that hurried through the test like a rabid squirrel. The majority really took their time. They often drop a lot from 1st to 2nd grade on this test because they go from having Audio Support to Zero Audio support. The students who are poor readers rely on that audio to inference what they need to do. When that is taking away and they are simply required to read directions and answer questions they cannot do it. Some students will quickly make the adjustments and be up to grade level in no time. Some students it is just too great of a leap to make the jump. It is difficult to decrease that gap.
I was reading the directions on scoring one of our benchmark assessments required by our district. I had the directions that the company that provides this assessment gave us. I thought I had a misconception on how to score it so I went and read the directions again. A colleague came in and asked me to remind her how to score hers. I told her and mentioned I just re-read the directions. She didn't think I was correct so she went to the school "expert" on this assessment and they told her I was wrong. I said well then ask what this means and handed her the page with the directions. Turns out I CAN READ AND FOLLOW directions, well as long as they aren't provided by IKEA.
Well I am going to drink some more water, decide on my medicine of choice, and attempt a view more hours of upright sleeping. G'nite
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)