Warm Fuzzies

I had a parent that has been trying to meet up with me for a few weeks. I was a little bit nervous because I always assume the worst. Here is what she wanted to know... "What MORE can I do at home". This is a dream parent. I wanted to cry a little. Isn't that a beautiful question. I don't know if I will ever hear it again from a parent. It made my day. It was a fabulous way to end my school day.

The weather rolled in today. The wind, the wind, and the wind. Behind the wind was the snow. I am a mean teacher. My kids go outside unless it gets well below freezing. It is better for them than being trapped indoors all day. I discussed with one of my aides the concept of "Nature Deficit Disorder". I don't think my kids are suffering from this. However, it helped her to view going outside to play as something VERY important! Whatever works.

Play practice continues. The songs are ringing through my brain in my sleep. Yuck! They are doing pretty well though. The parents who have come in to help are enjoying it.

Thank you to EVERYONE who helped to raise money for my class fundraiser. We raised quite a bit of money. I can't wait to further plan our field trip. We made enough that this will definitely cover more than one field trip. AWESOME!

Forgetfulness...

I was just sitting here thinking about all the things I forgot I wanted to accomplish before/after school today. I know when I get there in the morning... I will forget what was on my "To-Do" list. Yikes.... When I am there I will think about what is on my "To-Do" list at home. Oh boy...

We have been discussing and creating a list of "Homographs(words spelled the same but sound different), Homophones(words spelled differently but sound the same), contractions, and compound words. We've been creating a "word wall" of those special words. The kids get quite excited when they find a new one to add to the list. Yesterday on their way to recess I said don't forget to go to the bathroom. Then in a sing song voice I said "Bathroom... COMPOUND WORD". Now we have to stop fairly often to say in a sing song voice "Cowboy... COMPOUND WORD". However their favorite compound word is Bathroom. I need to come up with a funny way to remember the difference between a centimeter and an inch. :)

We are continuing to read " Little Britches.. Father and I Were Ranchers" by Ralph Moody. It is such a historically interesting story to read. It also captures those simple funny things in life. I learned from this that a "Rocky Mountain Canary" is a Donkey. I knew what "Rocky Mountain Oysters" were but a canary was new to me. The kids have been let loose with different "Art Projects" while I read the story to them. Yesterday they made "tree toppers" which I will spray paint gold or silver. I drew the backdrop for our Christmas Play after school yesterday and the High School girls were painting it today. Today with our kinders here we picked a simpler activity. They colored their own Christmas Stockings. Since I decorated the foyer with snowflakes, a fireplace, and stockings... the phenomena has grown. The older kids have added some of their own artwork to make it festive. The secretary LOVES all of the decorations.

Our Janitor keeps giving us dark, cranky, sullen, glares. When I was hanging paper chains and disturbing lots of arachnids. I wondered why it bothered her since the wildlife hadn't been disturbed in quite some time. I've never met a janitor who complained so much but had so little to complain about. Our students clean more than she does. Seriously... when I go home over the Holiday's I am picking up a Feather Duster because of the cobwebs and spiders. If this lady had vacuumed the art room at my last job. She'd think she was living the dream now.

I elected to have a "crazy hair" day next week. We shall see how much of a distraction that is :). Oh boy... I have these great ideas then later wonder "what was I thinking?" Well....before I forget...what I wanted to get done quickly at school... I am going to e-mail myself
Goodnight

Thanksgiving...

It was a good Thanksgiving. I spent the day with my classroom aide and her fiance joined us for dinner after work. It was a nice relaxed day. Then Friday I drove to where I lived last year and visited some friends there. It was so much fun to catch up with them. I was able to get some great ideas and resource recommendations for my classrooms. It was good to hear of some of the changes that went into place at the school. The parents are trying to make sure their kids have art, music, library, and even foreign languages at the school. They are making it happen. I thought that was pretty cool. It was soooo relaxing to be there I ended up staying an extra day. It was exactly what I needed to do before heading back home. The next few weeks leading up to Christmas Vacation are going to be CRAZY... but hopefully a good crazy.

Pajama Day....

Wearing fuzzy Pj's to school felt a little strange this morning. Changing out of my Pj's back into another pair of Pj's. It did feel warm and cozy. Slippers and Pj's at work. Doesn't get much better than that. My kiddo's were pretty excited to be in Pj's at school. We had our Normal Morning schedule. In the afternoon we came in from lunch and made "Hand Turkeys". All the kids at all age levels enjoyed making them. It kind of cracked me up how excited they all were. Giving the kindergartners glue and scissors is always interesting. You don't know where the glue is going to go. IT could be the desk, hair, mouth, and an over abundance on the paper. Then scissors....well thank goodness they have safety scissors. I taught the school secretary and another teacher to make a 3-D snowflake, and the secretary taught me how to fold a "German Bell"

Yesterday we started reading Ralph Moody's "Little Britches: Father and I were Ranchers" It is quite a tale. It gets a bit graphic on the dangers of ranching life. However this is a reality my students relate to. I hadn't read it for awhile. A well written book has a rhythm of language. The rhythm sometimes takes a bit to get into. You have to get into the book and understand how the Author "speaks" with written words.

Books, Books, Books! My friends from up north love me enough to dig through the bins at Goodwill looking for some authors my kids enjoy. They did really well. I wish everyone could see how excited my kids get when we get new books at school. They yell with excitement, then they want to see them, then they want to read them, then they want to fight over who gets to read what first! They have time to get over that because I usually have to take them home and level and label them. It is really fun though to have students who LOVE to read. I received a box of 2nd and 3rd grade books from a teacher up north who is near retirement. She is a teaching coach so doesn't have a classroom of her own anymore. What was great about her books is most of them were leveled already. Saved me a lot of time. I brought them home to label them this weekend. I also chatted with one of my cousins about some great books to read to my students. He recommended some they read with their curriculum. I started researching the books. What is awesome is I CAN read them with my class. Some of the books probably would have gotten me into trouble in my former state. I think the families will appreciate me reading these books to their students. So I am pretty excited by finding some new options.

We practiced for our play again this afternoon. I hope it all comes together. Next year I'm going to order a play in July and start practicing in September. I am not going to wait for my colleagues to decide. Sometimes you need to make an executive decision. :) Attempting to be a team player didn't exactly work this year. Sooo... there ya go. One of my students was gone on vacation to Hawaii. She came back with a box of Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts for the class. Yummmmmy! They were enjoyed by all. We also received a letter today from a couple of students who moved because the ranch they were working on sold. They are very much missed so it was great to hear from them. My class had a large yellow manila envelope filled with letters and drawings to send to them. It should be entertaining for them :) and their family. You never know what kids are going to write.

The last couple weekends... there has been someone downstairs in the Cafe/Bar cleaning. The lights were on when I got home from work tonight. I guess that means... it will be a wild weekend. Hmmm. I am spending Thanksgiving Day with my classroom aide... her fiance is working that day. Then Friday I'm driving across the mountains to visit some of my "old" friends from last year. It will be good to catch up and get some ideas from them. It also means a trip to a GROCERY STORE whooo hooo :)! That should get me through to Christmas Break! Actually I could make it till then anyway... but you go to the Grocery Store no MATTER What when you are near one!

Snowflakes....

Snowflakes ruled my world today. The frozen water falling from the sky variety and the hand cut paper kind. I taught my class how to cut paper snowflakes last week. What I have found is the most difficult step to teach is folding paper. Once they get the hang of that it is easy. They caught on pretty quickly though and pretty soon I had a bin full of paper snowflakes. I had been making them myself to hang in the room. I lovvvveeeee making snowflakes. So then today I went into school to meet a student to paint the backdrop. But............

I had forgotten today was some kind of Community Basketball day. I guess a couple of times a year several local informally arranged teams play teams from other towns near and far. It was quite a community event. I had been told a little bit about it but didn't realize that it wasn't just a community event it was an COMMUNITY EVENT!!! I worked on tying fishing line to paperclips so that I could hang the students snowflakes from the ceiling tiles in the foyer. I had hung some before when we made paper bats but they were too long. So I hung those up. Then decided to make some 3 dimensional snowflakes like these HERE! I had a bonding moment with a few of the older students while making them. I don't have a lot of interaction with the older students... so it was a good thing. Then the little ones came in and wanted to make some more snowflakes so we cut out some more. I didn't accomplish much other than hanging blue and white snowflakes in the foyer of the school. By the way the Foyer is also our lunch room. It is the main entrance to the school.

I had to drive up north to participate in a PLC (Professional Learning Community) this Friday. I always have mixed feelings about these events because I feel like sometimes very little learning is accomplished. It was interesting to visit one of the schools and hear about some of the issues that they are dealing with at their school. It makes me realize that even when they drive me batty my kids are VERY well behaved :)! I did get some time talking with some of the teachers at the Kindergarten and 1st grade levels. They gave me some very helpful suggestions and shared some of their resources. That was WONDERFUL. I need to be better about e-mailing them if I find a gap that the kids just aren't getting. For instance this last week it was CONTRACTIONS! WOW... that was torture. :) I told them that we were lazy English Speakers who liked to shorten words by squishing them together, then throwing out one or more letters, then putting an apostrophe in their place. Most of them were getting it after a lot of PRACTICE.... but some... some... oh boy. We'll (contraction) keeping trying. After all we're (contraction) a community of learners.

I have been frustrated by a couple of things lately. One was that there was an incident on the playground that occurred with one of my students and I was not told for 2 hours that something had happened. Not NOT NOT OKAY!! Another frustration is I have a student with a learning disability. I have done everything I can do with the resources I have. I am fighting literally fighting the powers that be to do more for this kid. I don't want more time to go by without getting he/she more help. It isn't the way it should work. I asked for advice from a couple of different sources lately. I think part of what is getting in the way is that I haven't been teaching for a long time. But I have been working with KIDS for a long time. I know the difference between a student who is learning and struggling to learn to read versus the kid who is making serious processing errors. I personally LOVE to read and it hurts me that I can't help this kid more. I am not giving up though. He/she has made progress... and if I have to fight to get him/her help. I will!! I shouldn't have to but I will.

Only 2 days of school next week. Tuesday is Pajama Day. I got some new jammies for that special event! Slippers are allowed in my room... can you imagine going to school in your Pajama's and slippers? It will be a fun day for the kids. The excitement for the holiday will make learning interesting. Luckily there is a lot of Thanksgiving related schoolwork (that has learning value) that we can do. Wish me luck...

P.S. I am soooo grateful for the books I recieve. The kids get pretty revved up for new books to. Look at the picture to the left and you will see my Christmas Present from my Friends in the Big City who love me enough to dig through the bins at Goodwill!!! YAY!!! THANK YOU.... THANK YOU... THANK YOU...

P.P.S. getting out the peanut butter, special K, chocolate chips.... etc

Wednesday again :)

Wednesday is just that day.... the brain cells short out, the energy dries up, cells are tired, and plans are trashed. It is the day of the week when I think... " Did my students learn anything today?" "Did I accomplish anything today?" " What happened to today?" It was another crazy busy Wednesday. What is encouraging is I realized my kindergartner's are starting to sound out simple words. Many of you probably think "so what they should've long before now". Well we live in a community without a preschool. Most students have had no introduction to letters, letter sounds, numbers, counting, etc. If I am lucky they started the year knowing how to sing their ABC's. So to be at the point where they recognize enough letters and sounds to read simple words. Well that makes me really proud. We've worked really hard to get to that point.

I have a funny from the other day. The aide/lunch lady/sometimes librarian/sped aide/etc etc. Looks at me and says "the voice of authority... is wearing a camouflage jacket... and a Garfield hat". I smiled out loud :). Yep the voice of authority does.... what can I say?

Monday

My brain needed a kick start this morning. That is what happens when you stay up late to continue reading a book. Some of my students were in the same boat. I couldn't really whine about that since I was having trouble too. Our Christmas play came... it is called "Elfis and the sleigh riders". It is a school wide play so I am a bit concerned about how much my class is going to be able to participate. I don't think the kids will necessarily notice the difference..but I will. I decided if they arn't able to contribute much we will be doing A LOT of art projects to decorate the place. I am going to see how it goes this year... if it isn't inclusive... next year the plan will change. Some people who I think love me sent me some $$ to help with the play. We should be able to order some props to reuse and some art supplies. Our school doesn't have much to pull from for art supplies. I can do a lot with a little tissue paper, construction paper, cardboard, and paint! So I really appreciate that help.
My students started learning the basics of the METRIC system today. That was entertaining to compare meters to centimeters. We got out the ruler and the meter stick. They ended up getting it for homework as well. They need a few days on this concept :). Because I don't know anyone who is 165 meters tall. :P hee hee well.. tonight is early to bed... so goodnight

To Town To Town Jiggity Jig....

Or something like that ;)! I decided to make the trek into town today for groceries, a trip to the bank, and a juicy hamburger. I really wanted that hamburger!! I wasn't feeling especially well when I got there so that Hamburger wasn't very appealing after all. Bummer. While shopping though EVERYTHING looked appealing. That is why it IS dangerous not to go shopping more often.It had been almost a month and a half since I visited the grocery store. I avoided the bread because I knew garlic bread would be screaming my name. Usually by the time I get to town it is sold out anyway. I'll just have to make it on my own sometime. I stocked up on groceries... mostly things that needed to be added to my pantry. Then the perishables... milk, bread, green things :). When I left home It looked like we might get snow but on the way back it was clear skies and stars. I know I've mentioned it before but the stars are so phenomenal.... getting away from the light pollution you feel like you could reach out and grab one.

My brother gave me a cell phone booster. It definitely helps where there is a hint of service. I am getting used to talking in spurts. When I drive to town and in town I get my chatting done. The problem is it gets a little challenging texting, talking, and shopping. I can multi-task but... apparently not that well. It was good to get a little bit caught up with a lot of people :)! At home if I twist my head the wrong way while chatting... I get a dropped call.

I just remembered a "funny" from last week. I am reading my kids James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. They are really enjoying it so far. The problem is a couple of them have seen the movie so they think they know the story. UGGGH I hate it when they ruin good books with movies. Anyhow, they are still enjoying it. So we got to the word "perambulator". I was thinking it was a mode of travel... but I had know idea it was the English word for baby carriage. So my students got to see that even grown ups have to use a dictionary once in awhile. So I had all my kids go home and ask there parents if when they were little they were pushed around in a "perambulator".

Then we had another day of "Tucker Signs". The new phoneme introduced was "TH". There was a list of words with the phonemes we have already learned that have contain "TH". Two of the words were "thus and thy". Try explaining "thus" to a room full of kiddos. Thy was easier. They started using "thy" with everything. "I like thy shirt" etc. Then we taught them "Thee". That was an easy one for them to grasp. "THUS" though..... I didn't do such a great job of explaining... perhaps because it has about 5 different definitions. I don't know if my kids went home saying "Thus, Thee, and Thy" but if they did I bet I had some smiling parents.

Night of the First Qtr Awards Assembly.....

I was nervous. You'd think a person who spoke to people all day long would've feel nervous. WRONG!! Because those people are shorter, cuter, and sweeter! :) Anyhow, I tried to be quick and efficient and honor my kids. Anyhow, what is sad but true... is that two of our teachers did not do awards and left that job to others. I was more than a little horrified by that. I spent one whole evening working on creating my own awards. Anyhow, I am just happy that my students are working hard. It was really cute tonight... one of my mom's brings in her preschool age son when she volunteers. When I called all of my students up to the podium he came with them. He really is a member of our class. So he got a little prize as well. A last minute not well thought out prize :) but a prize he received.

So one of the most fun things about this evening is that it was a potluck. Yep yep!! For a person living alone this is like home-cooking heaven! :) There wasn't much in the way of Green Vegetables, or just vegetables period. However it was all tasty. I worked really hard on my dish (ahem a Costco lasagna)! Thank goodness the school has an oven. Right after the kiddos left I popped it in the oven and by the time the crowd had gathered it was ready to serve. The prep time for this dish is what made it ideal! Hee hee! When I went out to one of my students ranch last weekend they served me this lovely, yummy, fantastic, chicken dinner. I got the recipe tonight. It is going to my cook and freeze for later file. It is an easy recipe that doesn't require a trip to town. WHOOO HOOO!

Speaking of a trip to town... I think I may have put it off long enough. We'll see I have to go up north for a training next week. So I may do my grocery shopping there. I am craving a big juicy hamburger.... sigh! From the noise I am hearing from my neighbors this evening.... a few folks have the day off tomorrow. Even if I do go to town this weekend.... IT WILL NOT BE TOMORROW! Tomorrow my brain and body are getting a rest.

Wednesday

Today was an especially nutty day. Usually this is the day the kids lose their minds.... and they did.So The problem was I was pulled for meetings and we didn't have enough help during that time. If this "mandatory" meeting hadn't been sprung on me I would have told them NO NOT TODAY!! I chewed them out though. It can't happen that way. Anyhow the kids get a little nutty when I am gone from the classroom that long. So by the end of the day they were tired, not listening, grumpy, and having crying jags. Tomorrow should be a quiet day in comparison. I was about to leave school then remembered my groceries. A parent went to town this week and picked me up a few things. It was sooo nice and allows me to not go to the grocery store for a bit longer :)! When I went out the door the first time all I was thinking was I'm tired I want to go home and relax. So going back to get what I forgot further irritated me. Then I left school and started to watch the sunset. The colors started out soft pastels and gradually grew more brilliant. It was good for me to stop and enjoy the view. The sunsets here are often very dramatic. It is one of my favorite things about living in this state. I left on-time today... and I was still the last teacher to leave the school. I guess If I didn't have half the school in my room.... I could leave early too :)! Tomorrow night we have our 1st quarter awards assembly. It starts with a "Potluck" dinner. I luckily with that Costco trip bought a pre-made lasagna. So I can pop it in the oven at school... and there ya go. Oh man that just made me think of Garlic bread. When was the last time I had Garlic Bread???? or even FRENCH BREAD....mmmmmm sounds good..... not going to happen though.
Anyhow I had a beautiful finish to a long day.... see Pictures to the left

The Vaccinator....

They gave me a job at branding. I am not sure how efficient or even quick I was but I did enjoy doing it. The speed at which the work was done today was pretty phenomenal. They had more help... but also smaller calves which made a BIG Difference! My chocolate cake tasted pretty good. My guess-timation wasn't too far off :)! We looked at the thermometer and it was about 23 degrees out there branding. I was glad for a warm coat. It was such a nice change to be out there. After I left there I drove to the other side of the Mountain for dinner at another one of my students homes. Their faces were lined up in the window pressed against the glass when I pulled up. It was pretty cute. I had a great time there as well. I was thinking I needed to drive to town tomorrow but... the past few weeks have just been so busy that I think I'd better wait till next weekend. It has only been welll.... it has been over a month since I have been to the grocery store! Seriously.... wow! I knew It had been awhile but WOW! Well....I managed...! My list is getting pretty long... it has everything from shoelaces..... to a Peeler on it :). Well who needs shoelaces when you have baling twine. I had to knock the icicles of my roof before my stairs turned into a skating rink. Ohhh I just remembered I need to throw some de-icer on that. Alright I'm going to do that then go warm up with my electric mattress pad. Good night

I apologize for the stupid ad's showing up on my blog.... when I figure out what button I accidentally pressed to turn them on.... I will reverse it! :)

P.S. There is very little that is funnier to a cowboy that tossing Rocky Mountain Oysters at one another while branding, tieing off cows, roping, vaccinating, etc. Just another reason to move quickly!

I am Thankful for..... and cooking adventures.

I am not sure what you are thankful for this year. My students did a "thankful" writing activity. Here is one of my kindergarten students thankful list: " I am thankful for ice-cream, my nana, papa, and mama". Ice cream was the top of that list :)! Other memorable ones included "my horse Panther", "my puppy" (who the parents have told me they'd like to lose), and their families. They were pretty fun to read. You really never know what the kids are going to say! It makes the day entertaining. The kinder student thankful for ice-cream also said that day that her Nana's name was Grandma :)!! Soo darn cute.

I am thankful for the people in my life who keep a positive attitude and help me to keep one. Negativity can end up being a bad habit. This is why it is fun to work with the little guys. Every day begins fresh and yesterday isn't carried as a burden on their shoulders. It is something to learn from them.

welll.... I finished this post and decided I needed to share my continued adventures in cooking .... I am going out to a ranch again tomorrow for branding and decided I should cook something and take it out there. Sooooo I did my kitchen inventory and played "I have this but not that". I finally went up to the mini-mart and bought cake mix and frosting. Not my most creative cooking endeavor. I had eggs because my parents stopped at Wally-world on there way down here a week ago. I also had water and vegetable oil. The other problem regarding baking was that I don't have any measuring cups in my "furnished" apartment. So I did some classic guess-timation! So far this year I've learned that can openers, paring knives, peelers, mixing bowls, and measuring cups MATTER!! I have all of these things in a box in storage! So we shall see how the cake comes out. Luckily I Have a Hot Chocolate Machine and Hot Chocolate I can contribute as well. We had snow today and a very cool breeze. So Hot Chocolate will be a good thing!

After branding I have an invitation to another ranch for dinner. So I will be doing some driving around tomorrow. Through the boonies further into the boonies I will go. I have my "Duck-hunting" Coat to keep me warm through it all. Then this Sunday I plan to spend some quality time with my blankie and pajamas!

Good Attitude!

Some people have a talent for drop-kicking your positive attitude out the window. As I've gotten older I've gotten more successful and brushing that off and moving forward. However there is always a person or two that just seem to test that positivity at every turn. I did something in an attempt to be nice and inclusive. I FAILED MISERABLY! It bit me in the behind! Then I had to ask myself okay what if I didn't attempt to be nice and inclusive.... yep that would've bit me in the behind as well. Don't we call those "lose-lose" situations. So I decided I need to move forward and let it go. I tried to do the right/nice thing. After awhile with a person like this you really want to quit making the effort. However, because it is a "professional" relationship you have no choice but to make the effort. So my self talk is "be kind, be kind, be kind, be kind." What else can you do?

Tonight was the first night of Parent Teacher conferences. It went pretty well. I hope tomorrow goes just as well. It is a little nerve-wracking. One of my parents who donated the lamb. Brought the raffle tickets to school today. Hopefully we can raise a lot of money and go on a fabulous field trip! Goodnight...

Reading!

I am sooo proud of my kids after looking at their scores for reading the majority of their scores jumped. They jumped UP a lot. I owe it to their parents who read to them every night but they've also made a jump to reading strategy we are using. I learned about it last year from our R.T.I teacher. It is called Tucker Signing Strategies for Reading. For those students who have trouble not bouncing themselves right out of their seat and out the door it works! Because it involves movement it with the letter sounds (phonemes) it helps the brain to make more permanent connections. To become a better reader you have to spend a lot of time reading. This has been a huge focus for my students. Like I said before before, the parents who make a point to read with their kids every day ... well their children do significantly better in reading. So pick up a book and read to a kid in your life or have them read to you. The ability to read well has a HUGE impact in every area of education. Anyhow I am super excited about Tucker Signing. For student who are struggling readers it really builds their confidence in reading. It helps them sound out the words instead of the teacher sounding out the words for them. What is great about it in my classroom is that I can do this strategy with all of my students.

Having strategies that I can use at all levels is something I need more of. It is difficult to find quality products that can be used in this way. Many claim to be differentiated.... but few are!!! Our Basal reader program is TERRIBLE! If I could toss it I would. UGGH! I don't know what to use in its place but it is horribly out of date. Hopefully we can get a new curriculum reading curriculum next year. It is being discussed but.... we shall see.

This Thursday after school and Friday during the day begins Parent Teacher conferences. I think most of my parents are going to show up. This is a VERY good thing! Hopefully, the other parents I can get in to the school. A ranch nearby was sold and the new owner let quality people go and cut pay for those who stayed. Those who stayed are having trouble putting food on the table for their families. This leads to all kinds of stress.

I get such a kick out of reading aloud to my students every day. It is probably my favorite part of the day and I really hate to miss it. I have read several great books to my kids this year. My favorite thing is when I get to the end of the chapter and stop reading.... they say "oooooohhhh one more please one more chapter please"!! It really doesn't get better than that. Right now we are reading James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. What I find fun as well is the kids go find books by the same authors we have read before and ask me to read another one. I am trying to do a variety of different styles of books.

I am probably going to branding again this weekend. It was so fun last weekend that I am considering visiting again. The calves left to do are also smaller so it will frankly ... be less scary to me!

If you have a suggestion for a GREAT BOOK to read aloud to my class please leave a comment.

Branding...

Today I visited a students ranch on one of their many days of branding. They branded about 150 calves today and castrated many. I wasn't sure what to expect just because Branding is usually a social event. Sometimes this involves drinking. So I had my exit strategy planned before I went. This family was more conservative than I realized and only Pepsi tabs were popped open. Anyhow it was a pretty little ranch. Their horse stables was a former Pony Express outpost. It was where they kept their teams of horses. This trail was also part of the Overland Trail. I really was impressed by the quality of the people at this event. I felt very welcome! It is really great to see the values of my students families.

When visiting this state if someone tells you to be careful because there are cows in the road... Take them very seriously. Many of the roads are open range and you are just in the way of the cows. After dark the black cows can be extremely difficult to see. I have the fine white dust on my car and tires that tells anyone who knows this state exactly where I've been. It was a fun day. Tomorrow I am invited to another student's home for dinner. I am a bit apprehensive about it. I feel like if I am invited I should make a point to go. It is important to the kids. That is all I can think of right now.... goodnight

Carnival '11

What a day! It was crazy busy! We had Deputy D. do a Halloween Safety Presentation which the kids really enjoyed. The Sheriff's Department also provided Halloween Goodies...like pencils, reflectors, glow in the dark necklaces, stickers, candy, coloring pages, rulers, and much much more. Our kids were very excited! Then we had a Party for all the kids including some local preschool age kids. It was barely controlled chaos. A parent brought a big pan of decorated Halloween Sugar Cookies. That was fabulous. During school this week the older kids had been setting up the Haunted house and a few other activities. The set up for the little kids carnival games was done in part by Junior high students and us teachers. My parents ... I don't think they were impressed by the quality of our games as how excited the kids were by such simple games. This is the bonus of living in the boonies. The kids are appreciative of simple things. They are easy to please. Every time I do an activity like this I learn something about putting one of these on. This time I had to let go of wanting to manage every detail. I worked with my co-worker on them. Some times people don't want to hear why you know something will work. Instead of fighting for it... I thought well live, learn, and move on. Sometimes we have to stand back and watch others learn from their experiences.

Another thing my parents couldn't quite figure out was "WHY all the security?" I laughed. The sheriff's office was working on some community "P.R.". They sponsored a coloring contest and awarded the winners with some nice gift certificates for local eateries. The local police presence has a difficult job. They tend to follow the "book" to the letter. This should be the way it is always done. They get a lot of criticism from folks who think because they've known them since they were two or three they should get special treatment. What I often hear is " so-and-so would pull over his own mother". Truthfully, so-and-so probably would. They make no exceptions and really it is the only way to be. If they handled things any other way they would open themselves to bigger nightmares.

It was an evening of fundraising a dinner (for senior students), a pie eating contest, a annual "pie-in-face" auction, etc etc. My parents were really impressed how all of the students in our school participated last evening. They said they couldn't see high school students participating in an activity like that. At least not very many would be that willing to do it! It was interesting to me how many people from the community came out of the woodwork. This town isn't by any means large but there were a lot of new faces. At least new faces to me!

Today Mom has been helping me with my annual soup making day. We made potato soup, hamburger soup, and chicken noodle soup. If you've read my blog in the past you know of my favorite egg noodle recipe from Betty Crocker's 1968 cookbook. I also usually use a Rotisserie Chicken I buy from the grocery store for the chicken part of the chicken noodle. Well since the grocery store is much to far to bring a chicken home safely. I used Costco Brand "canned" chicken. I also used an organic "Better than Bouillon" Chicken base. I've never used it before but it's amount of sodium is significantly lower than Chicken Broth or bouillon. So if you're on a low sodium diet you might check it out. It has a nice flavor. It was an entertaining cooking session as we realized that I didn't have any mixing bowls, potato peelers, or stock pots. I had one pot that I tested the limits of it's capacity. Boy would I like to have a complete kitchen again. It makes cooking so much easier. I had to run across the street and borrow a peeler.

After the carnival last night I received invitations to branding, Thanksgiving, dinner, etc.. etc. I am going to try to go to branding tomorrow. I have heard this ranch is quite beautiful. I don't want to miss the opportunity to see it... or my 6 year old barrel-racing-princess ride! Hopefully it all works out and I can visit. I also hope I can make it out there without: 1. Getting lost, 2. Getting a flat tire, 3. Getting lost and having a flat tire. Flat tires are not my favorite thing. I don't know if it is the rocks or the highways around here but this state is hard on tires.

Dueling....

I found this former Nevada law in a book "A teacher must swear that he or she has never taken part in a duel, either as a principal or as a second , before he or she is allowed to take a teaching post in Nevada." My cousin posted it on his blog and found the actual law book you can view HERE.

I didn't have to solemnly swear that I never ever participated in a duel to get my teaching license. So that water-balloon fight won't alter my current job situation! WHEW!!! The more I thought about it the more I had to wonder about the creation of the law. Perhaps they were just trying to take so called "hot-heads" out of the running! It also makes you think that perhaps there was a lot of dueling occurring in the state. I could picture a couple of miners fighting over a "gold claim". I am not sure why it originated but it sure does get the imagination running.

These last two weeks have been very busy. I feel like I am constantly 10 steps behind. Grading papers...getting ready for Halloween. Having the kids make decorations. Trying to figure out what to have for a classroom party when I haven't been to the grocery store in several weeks. It will work out. I have a feeling parents are going to come to my rescue!! Speaking of parents.. the students at my school are very lucky in their family units. Anyhow one of the parents came to get me after school today. Her family is donating a butchered lamb to raffle off for a fundraiser. It will be wrapped and ready to go. The proceeds will go toward a field trip or two. This news came the day after some friends of mine offered to help with a donation to our Christmas Program. Having this kind of support amazes me! It keeps me going. There is something even more special about it because it was volunteered... not asked for. So BIG HUGS and happy thoughts sent to these folks.

I don't know if people always realize how much you care about their children. I worry about them, want them to be successful, think about how I can make school more meaningful to them and I see their faces when I make plans for school. The hard days... are the days you think you can't save them from something awful. Hopefully school will give them tools to create a different life for their own future. I am glad I am in this rural area because the majority of my students are not exposed to a lot of the heart break you see in urban students.

Two days... till Carnival fun. I have a mountain of laundry, dirty dishes in the sink and an apartment to clean. That has all fallen by the wayside...because I am trying to get prepared for report cards and the carnival. I need to slow down a bit and enjoy the moment. To end on a funny note a Kinder student made a connection today. In a voice that suggested extreme disbelief she said "Miss C... DID YOU KNOW THAT Miss M.... HAS A DAD???? and he is our BUS DRIVER!!!!". I don't know if she was more shocked that Miss M had a Dad.... or that he was the Bus Driver. It cracked me up. You never know. One of my 1st graders is a fantastic Barrel racer. She has won all kinds of cash and trophies. I may not be able to see her compete till next summer but I am excited to watch that. She is a pretty fearless kid but told me that she goes so fast she scares herself. She is a tiny little thing and I can barely picture her doing it. Pretty cool though. Well have a lovely night... and if you ever want to work in the government sector... avoid dueling... unless you are a dueling pianist. That is probably safe :)

Halloween Project

You can see a picture of my Halloween Project to the left of this post! It was a fun way to spend a Saturday. I am pretty excited by how well it came out. I have tried to find a word to describe this object I painted. I wish we had a word to describe it. It is a piece of plywood... Painted by MYSELF, with holes cut out to stick a face in for fabulous photo opportunities! The best terminology I have found online to describe it is "carnival cut-out". Since it will be used for our school carnival I thought it was very appropriate! If you have a better word or words to describe it let me know. I am very proud of this painting project. I really like how it turned out. I probably would've done another one but we are out of plywood. Since I have a LOT of papers to grade that is probably a good thing!!

Tonight I stopped at the gas station for a soda and some unfortunate folks were trying to find an air-compressor to air up their tire. They had already used fix-a-flat and were in a rental car(no spare)! I let them use my mini-compressor that plugs into the cigarette lighter! Hopefully they made it to the next town. This is not the state to have a flat tire in! I am not sure one spare is enough! I cannot believe our Gas Stations do not have an air-compressor! It is plain silly. Chevron or Shell needs to get it together and put one in!

The wildlife in my classroom has been less than thrilling. Lately we have been invaded by giant stink bug beetles. The kids freak out. You can't just stomp on it because they release their STINK!!! So we are running out of plastic bags from picking them up and taking it out! Uggh! Then below the window on the floor we have ants creating a pile. The sand pile grows.... we vacuum and they continue their work again. Daddy long legs are in every single nook and cranny. These are possibly the only spider that doesn't send me shreaking out of the room. I am getting pretty sick of them though!

It was decided that our Holiday Christmas program is going to be a school-wide effort! This is probably a good thing! We have a lot of students leaving early for the holidays! Well.... I had better sign off that's all I know for now....

Plays and Gratefullness

Tonight I went to our Drama Club School Play. The high-school has limited students to draw a talent pool from. So I really admire that all of the student's participated even though... It might not really be their thing. We are also lacking in MALE students so the ladies had to play 'gents for the play. It was a really cute play. We were able to watch a partial dress rehearsal with my whole class this afternoon. It was fun to watch my class respond to it. Much of it was quite over there heads (thank goodness) and they laughed at punchlines that weren't really punch lines!! :) I think it was good for the older kids to start with such a supportive audience!!

I was thinking earlier today how many people help you achieve your goals. If you think you've done it all on your own you are wrong! There are soooo many ways that people help you meet your goals. In little and big ways but all meaningful. For me it has been encouragement, Math-tutoring, jobs, resources passed on to me, a little cash help here and there, kind words, a point in the right direction, ..... Honestly this list could go on and on. It isn't one person... or one thing that helps you achieve your goals. It is many people along the way that help you get there. I was reminded of this today because quite unexpectedly I received a box of books from a teacher I had worked with only once or twice. I didn't even know she knew of my "Book Shortage". Many people have helped me by sending down books to me. If you could see how many books you need for this many grade levels. I think you'd be shocked. I am very appreciative.... but this box that came all leveled and labeled and ready to go from someone I don't really know.... Well it made me stop and think about all the helping hands that have come my way. Just think about something in your life you worked hard to achieve. Then ask yourself if you did ALL of the work to get there!

Anyhow I feel like I am starting to dream paper-grading. I need to evaluate my system a little better to save time. I don't know... anyhow next week is our school carnival, we have a special visitor coming to talk about Halloween safety, at school Halloween Party, Report Cards are due, and what else can I add to my list... there was more but it escapes me right now! Goodnight

Still learning.....

Every week that goes by I feel like I have a better handle on the multi-grade classroom. It is the biggest challenge. When discussing differentiated instruction in school it was more of a discussion about one grade level with kids learning at different levels. Every day is learning. When I'd have conversations with teachers who have done it they couldn't really give me too much advice. I realized this is because a lot of how you plan your day is based on your students. Those completely unique individuals. It also depends on how many students in what grade etc. There is not an easy master plan. It really is a process. Learning who I am as a teacher is a process too. Their isn't a universal cookie-cutter for teachers or students. You both must find your "groove" so to speak.

We have soo much happening in the next couple of weeks my head is spinning a little bit! Somehow we get it done! Some days I feel like I live at school. I have more to write/say but honestly I really can't think!
Goodnight

First...and Second Snow of the season!

So yesterday during school the rain was coming down. On the mountain behind us you could see those drops turn into flakes and snow dusted the mountain. Which basically is town. Town is about 500 feet higher than the school. It felt like it went from Summer to Winter overnight. This morning I woke up and looked at my skylight. It was covered in snow. I knew It was going to be a Cold Day. I picked out a sweater to wear and peeked out to see how much I would have to brush off my car. There was maybe an inch of snow so not bad. Sure is a pretty way to wake up in the morning! There was no wind this morning so not as cold as it can be with the wind. Came to school and the bus would not start. So the majority of my students were over 1 hour late to school. Yesterday... So Never made it back to the computer to finish that post! Drove into town after school and had dinner at the Olive Garden. That was a fun treat. I had dinner with a couple of friends of my aide. I really enjoyed their company it was very relaxed. So that made it fun... we were so relaxed the Manager invited us to stay the night and have lunch with them the next day. :) We decided to go to the Hotel and crash. I did not choose the hotel and I would (by choice) make a repeat visit. It was only one night though. The next morning we started at the DMV. I can hear your shudders from here. It was the most amazing DMV I have ever visited. There was at least 30 stations (all manned) and one station to get a number and make sure you had your paperwork. THEN in the Middle of the place was a Coffee Shop! It was as busy as the DMV. My friend ordered a "mochalattechocotinospressofatfreeskimalotta" or something like that. My number was called before her coffee was finished. We were in and out of the DMV in about 30 minutes! AMAZING!!! I was putting my new plates on my car and I heard a couple discussing me putting them on there. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT AT THE DMV". At first I thought someone was doing something inappropriate in the parking lot. Then I realized they were discussing me putting on my plates. I was thinking wellllll a person would put them on at the DMV so their expired temporary plates didn't get them pulled over by the State Police offices Right NEXT DOOR. Hmmm I am not sure there is a better place to put plates on!! Anyhow... I wanted to choose a really nice plate but then found out there was an extra fee...plus every time I would renew registration they would charge me again for the pretty plates. So I settled for the less pretty ones. Then we hit up Grocery Store Number one! Let me tell you about grocery shopping when you live in the boonies. You go to town with cooler(s). You bring zip lock bags because some things will get soaked and ruined in the cooler. You contemplate the cubic inches of your cooler and decide how much you can actually purchase. So at grocery store number one we got quite a bit. This chain was a new one to me so it was fun to explore it a bit. We hit up the Office Supply store for wonderful things like pens to grade papers with, Post It Notes, and White Board Markers. If you work at a school that supplies all those be grateful. Then we went to a Teacher Store. (a.k.a. The Danger Zone). It is so fun to go in those stores but you really must take your time. Many things look very appealing but don't really have a lot of educational value. Also sometimes the language or set up is so different from your curriculum you think it might be confusing to your students. It just takes a lot of thought. From there we stopped at Trader Joe's. It was a disappointment. All my friends from the north probably wouldn't recognize it in comparison to their Traders. Anyhow, then we stopped at our only "girlie" store filled with clothes and home goods etc. I found a really hideous scarf to add to my Halloween Ensemble. ( the costume I have recycled many many times over). I add to the costume every time I wear it... I figure that refreshes it a bit. Hey the costume is new to my friends here :)! After that we visited COSTCO!! Woot Woot! I have some favorite things from that store and it is a huge disappointment when they are out of them. This time they had some things I couldn't find last time and vice versa. There was one thing I especially hoped to find there and they were out/gone this time. Bummer. I also got a wonderful pair of slippers YAY! I was looking for a good pair to wear in my classroom. I told my students they could bring slippers or slip ons. That is because in the winter they all have big clunky snow boots. This helps save time on shoe changes through-out the day. There is something about wearing slippers at work that makes you feel like you are getting away with something. My classroom is pretty chilly so It feels good to slip them on! I bought some more books for my classroom library. We re-organized our shelves after getting a new shelf brought in. We are supposed to have about 27 books per student per semester at their reading level. For some that isn't even enough. My principal authorized purchasing more books for our school. She authorized a 3,000$ purchase order. This is amazing but when you consider the grade levels we have .... I bet that amount went rather quickly. When you go to purchase books for the younger grade levels it takes time. There is a lot of "junk" books out there. A parent purchased some books and sent their child with them to school to quiz on. We have a rule that the student must read the book once to an adult before taking a quiz. This series based on a popular children's toy was so pointless, dull, and trivial I found it irritating. It lacked depth and imagination. It would be like feeding your child fruit loops every day. Saccharine and little to nothing for the brain, body, or soul. I just thought to myself there are THOUSANDS of AMAZING books out there and this is what you chose?? So she read them and took quizzes on them and I sent them home. I avoided those books when I went shopping today. I don't buy a book for children without skimming it at the very least. Uggh..... still makes me twitch a bit. I leave for training Monday after school then come back on Wednesday evening. I really hope I learn a lot from this training. When the opportunity came up I said YES I would go without really knowing quite what I was volunteering for. At the very least I will meet other teachers who I can learn from. My principal said that our district allows teachers to go observe other teachers to learn from them and the district will provide a substitute. I said "REALLY?... I want to do that!" She asked when and I said "whenever you want me to" "Who?" she said. I said "whomever you think is good" "What grade?" she asked. I said " I don't care if they are good I will learn from them no matter what grade they teach". I am not sure when this will happened but I am excited about it. Even if you go into the classroom of a less than good teacher you learn something. If you go into a GREAT teachers classroom it is ENERGIZING because you can see, hear, and learn while watching the process. This really is one of the best ways to improve as a teacher. Learning from one who is doing the job and doing it well. I don't know why more people don't jump on that opportunity. My principal said that very few people took advantage of that policy. I also noticed my co-teacher did not take the option. She is finishing her Masters Degree and working. I get the vibe from her that she thinks her degree will provide her with everything she needs to know. The degree is more of a "tool" to help you reach your goal. I think much much more is learned from being in the classroom and learning from people working in the field. The trick is to find really great people to mentor you. So next week will be a bit of a whirlwind driving a lot and attending a training. Coming soon is our School Halloween Carnival. I can tell already that a lot is going to be left to me. I hope that we will have a lot of volunteers. If I didn't have an amazing classroom aide I think I would've been in tears many times over by now. She accomplishes so much that she really allows me to focus not on menial things but on my students. She is continuing her own education and I hope she sticks with it because I think she will be a quality teacher. I am sooooooo grateful to have her. I keep coming back to.... a Teacher MUST view learning as being life long. If they don't have that built in and don't have a desire to continue to learn I feel they need to go find something other profession. I feel like I did three days worth of activities in one. I am tired... ! The groceries that needed to go in the fridge or freezer are put away. I even got the car unloaded. We had to take a picture of the car After we hit Wal-mart it was loaded to the gills. Any more and a roof rack would be required. I think I need to go to bed now. Oh by the way..... since it turned to winter here... the Electric Mattress Pad is going on the bed. Total Winter Bliss. Almost as good as a hot fire, warm slippers, and hot chocolate.

Flat Tires

I had two flat tires and this has provided gossip/entertainment for main street. I learned that our gas stations do NOT have air compressors. So luckily I had a little one that I could plug into my cigarette lighter. I got enough air in it to drive home. The next morning I added a bit more air before driving to school. The next time I stopped at the gas station they asked how my flat tire was. I said fine it is holding air. "well you ran that air compressor for like 40 minutes." I was cracking up because I knew exactly how long I ran it because I was on my way to work and didn't want to be late. It was only 8 minutes. Then my old car had a flat tire and every time I saw someone they said " did you know your car has a flat?". I really wanted to answer with a little bit of Bill Engvall styled sarcasm. I managed to respond politely. I finally found someone who would remove the flat and put a spare on and I took it to town to get fixed. One tire had a small nail and one had a bad valve. I ordered a spare for my new car and should pick it up next weekend. Living on main street is kind of a bummer because EVERYBODY knows when you're home, when you're not etc etc. You step out your door and you have visitors. I am looking forward to the weather getting a wee bit colder so they will be indoors more and keeping track of my movements less. Moving out of town sounds better and better. By the end of the school year I will probably be begging to get off main street. Traditions are an interesting thing.Traditions must be considered carefully. If you start a tradition do you want to continue it forever and ever. Will the motivation for the tradition change? If someone decides to carry on the tradition will it be for the right reasons? Who will be stuck with a stupid tradition you started? I can understand there is comfort in traditions and a kind of security. Focus on tradition can also lead people astray from more important things! Anyhow all I am saying is be careful of traditions. Be careful what you start, stop, continue, or be a part of. It is laundry day...I am heading to the city this weekend for Grocery Shopping/shopping extravaganza. Then when I come back I am getting ready to go to a 2 day intervention training.... back in the same town. When you live in this state you quickly get used to everything being a drive. That combined with where I live really makes it a drive. I am hoping this training will be beneficial to me and my students. I am worried it is so heavy on tracking that it is low on hands on intervention. I will be traveling with more experienced teachers though so they can probably give me some new ideas. I am worried we might lose some of our students their families are really struggling financially. It isn't a matter of wanting to leave... it is a matter of needing to. That is a bummer. Hopefully we can hang on to them for a long time! I have been planning my grocery list without the benefit of my recipe box. That is torture!!!! I have not figured out what box contains the box in storage. Sigh!! The weather is predicting some snow for us this week. It looks like it is turning cold quickly. I took the kids up to the field today...wondering how much longer we will be able to play in the green green grass!

Insecurities....

I've been thinking about insecurity today. It is a trap in so many ways. I know we all have it in some way shape or form. It is how we deal with those insecurities that allows us to learn, grow, and move forward. Insecurity kills hope and prevents growth. Working with a person who feels insecure is stressful. You cannot give another person self-esteem. They have to find it within themselves. I have been thinking about what I can do to make a comfortable working environment for this person. The problem is that ... quite unintentionally we can trigger their insecurities. Then it feels like you are walking on a mine field around that person and that doesn't work either. I finally decided... If I do something wrong and I know it... I'll apologize. I'll be kind and stay positive. That is about all I can do. I hope that this person realizes anything I inadvertently do or not do isn't an attack on them. It was a busy week. Progress reports were due today and I about did myself in figuring out the stinking software program that we enter grades into. I need to do more training on this program. I had a heart dropping moment when I got home and realized.... I didn't hit SAVE!!!!!! ACCCK. Sooo I ended up back at school entering in some of the grades again. Luckily I hit save often enough it wasn't all of them missing... just some. I figured out some things that I can do better with teaching this week. That is a good feeling. The worst feeling is knowing you could do better but are not sure how to go about it. I have asked for help and best of all I have been given help! I really love my new principal. She is HIGH energy, a decision maker, and gets business taken care of!! It is such a treat after having someone wishy washy in the past. She isn't a micro-manager either. She helps you to be better at what you do!! I really don't know what more you could ask for. Some of my co-workers are a bit intimidated by her. I know her motivation is to make the school better.. and help me to be a better teacher. Any criticism is truly constructive criticism. I really appreciate that.

HELP!

These last couple of weeks have been overwhelming. I look at where my students are at and how behind they are and ...... I get completely overwhelmed. I hope I can get them totally caught up so they are not losing more ground every year. Our states have switched the the CC Standards. The expectations for grade levels are much higher than in the past. This is a good thing for our kids. The bar was set pretty low in the past. What is so overwhelming is that...my kids are not even close to doing grade level work at these new standards. I think the lowest grades are going to be okay because they haven't been exposed to the lower standards for an extended period of time. I think they will be okay. When I have 2nd graders who are supposed to be doing multiplication by the end of the year but can't count by 2's, 5's, or tens, and find subtraction virtually impossible.... ACCCKKK! The bar has been raised.. and I have to help them get there. Here is the thing... I am more than willing to ask/beg for help. However, there is one person I don't really want help/advice from. The person who had the job before me. I stop myself once in awhile and ask... "is this my ego talking". Too be honest it might be a little bit of that, but not completely. My predecessor... didn't get them there. She taught the same things the same ways for many many years. Someone approached my Classroom aide today and broached the subject with her. She stood up for me which I really appreciated. You never know if someone sees how hard you are trying and what you are up against. She does/did and let that person pretty much have it. I can't completely get caught in the trap of " the person before me didn't do their job". As one of my college professors once told me " You can't teach to the students you wish you had, you teach to the ones you have." If there parents don't read to them or help them do homework... you can't fight that. You just do what you can with the time you have them. It is such an uphill battle. Parents need to take some responsibility and I need to push forward. I need to make sure I keep asking the right people for help. People who are up to date on researched based teaching methods. People who continue to learn and love learning. I have to push past the scrutiny I am under and continue forward. My Birthday. I had a lovely day. I drove South East to a town about thirty minutes away. I really loved it. It is very quiet and totally different than any place I have been before. The entrance to the town had a cattle guard (to keep them out or in I am not sure). It had a pond, the 1st church of the area (looked like a child's playhouse), a lake (fishing, kayaking, swimming), and all the neighbors were pretty spread out. If I am here next year I am seriously considering moving out there. I loved it! The downside is it is on the other side of our brutally curvy steep summit. It could make winter commutes extremely ummm interesting. However.... I would be able to sit on my porch and not hear/see what my neighbors are up to. The whole town wouldn't know when I was home/away..... etc etc. The quiet part is a big draw for me. It hasn't been too loud in my apartment but... it isn't so much fun being the center of attention on Main Street. So I don't know we shall see what happens. I really like it out there. It is very pretty. Some of you probably don't believe me but Sagebrush grows on you more and more every day. I love the wide open spaces... watching the storms come in.... the amazing sunsets against the mountains... and dry snow. I managed to avoid going to town last weekend but I am going to have to make the DMV Trip. For my friends up north the next time you are at the DMV be grateful. You really have NO IDEA. It is the DMV of the old days down here. There draw a number system is older than the one at the butcher shop. There is seating for at least 50 people and most of it is in use. I have to go to get my new-er car registered and work on getting my Nevada License (hopefully little testing involved)! The week after my classroom aide and I are heading to the Little/Big City for some power shopping. After we come home from the Power Shopping we are coming home to do some Power Cooking to fill our freezers for winter. There is nothing worse than coming home after a long, cold, hard, day than having to cook dinner. You really want a hot meal but cooking it is less than desirable. So I have found the past few years having a weekend of cooking for the freezer saves my mind. Especially when I get that winter cold. When that cold hits in the winter I can look forward to coming home to a nutritional home-made chicken noodle soup. It is a good feeling. The past month has been busy... and the next month looks to be busy and maybe busier. We shall see.... Have a Good Night

My Friday!... the unfinished Post from last week :)

Made it through another week! Whew! The kids were all pretty done in by the end of this week including myself. One of my students this morning forgot her allergy pill. She sneezed about every 15 seconds and was blowing and blowing her nose. Her eyes were watering and bloodshot. I finally ran to the secretary and took her with me. There was no way she could continue like that. The secretary called home and they gave her permission to give her an allergy pill. She felt much better less than an hour later. She was miserable. Poor kiddo. Anyhow I am trying to do some house chores but I am tired too. I had P.E. with my kids today and one girl decided to run around our track. She is a very fast runner. When the boys saw her doing it they wanted to "beat" her. they didn't. So my 2nd grade student ran over 2 miles! Amazing! I think she will probably collapse tonight! She is a natural runner. We've had a few drops of rain here or there mostly there. There has been a little wind but still warm enough to be outside. Hopefully we can continue with outdoor P.E. for quite awhile. I head into town tomorrow for errands. Hopefully it all moves fairly quickly. The only good thing about going to town is getting a milkshake :)

Night of the Back to School!

Today was a busy day! A regular school day plus PLC (Professional Learning Community)( pretty much a nice way to say boring meeting) then back to school night. It was nice to spend more time getting to know the parents better. The majority of the parents that came were elementary parents. It was entertaining to see the kids with their parents. One student locked themselves in a bathroom stall, one split the inside of her lip, and they introduced all of their families to BOB. I met BOB for the first time today. Apparently BOB has been living on the playground for about 4 years. BOB is a little ceramic frog that once upon a time was painted and colorful. Bob has lost his color and is pitted from the elements and rubbing against rocks. (Our playground is gravel) Bob has a very nice living situation and if his house weren't imaginary I'd be his roommate! The parent's and I got quite a kick out of BOB. I think we will be doing some writing about BOB! I just feel really lucky with the co-workers I have this year. Sometimes we feel like we are swimming upstream against a terrible current. However, I think we are helping each other get there. There is a good vibe for the most part. The secretary was the "Lunch Lady" today. I had to answer the phone for her a couple of times. Our phone system is straight out of the seventies. I hadn't paid much attention to it before I had to answer it. I really should take a picture of it. Hysterical. Anyhow the people on the other line would say our secretaries name and I'd say "No she is the lunch lady right now". Everyone is fairly used to our secretary wearing many many hats so it wasn't unusual. The principal told the secretary she could order me a new printer! WHOOO HOOOO! So now maybe I can print stuff off from the classroom without it being a pain in the patootie! I have been to town almost every weekend so far for one reason or another. This weekend is no exception. I have to go in to the DMV (BLECH) and other errands. It isn't too bad of a drive just a little boring. I have an invitation for dinner on Friday with my classroom aide. She has been a life saver so far. I really appreciate all of her help. She really helps me to stay organized... and gives me time to go the bathroom. That is very important. Bathroom breaks without a helper are pretty much non-existent. Well my brain is fried... have a good nite

Resources!

Resources matter. You need the right resources, complete resources, quality resources, and researched based resources. I feel like I am lacking all of the above in much of my curriculum. I think I have a plan then realize ooh ummm I don't have enough for all the students, or all the students in that grade level, or I don't have the teachers manual. Then I think ooh this will work and realize oops is missing a chunk of important information. UGGH. I am beginning to see why my predecessor reached for workbooks. Somehow gaps have to be filled in. I am trying to do this in creative ways. I can't worksheet my students to death. Started teaching 2nd grade and up Typing today. Through Dance Mat Type this free typing program can be found on BBC Schools. You find resources in the strangest places. I have found that 1st grade hands just are too tiny for keyboards. Second grade and up their hands can usually fit without a lot of stretching to reach the keys. They have other programs for reading, science etc, but I have not tested them yet so I can't say whether or not they are quality. Learning to type helps the kids with online testing, research, running software and more. What Is cool with this typing software is the kids really get into it. It is fun so it works for kids. I really hope that I can fill in some of the gaps in my resources with free resources. Then I can figure out how to build upon the resources that I do have. I just want my students to be successful. After many of the assessments I did this week I realized that my students lost a lot of ground over the summer. This has a lot to do with parents not doing simple things with their kids like reading with/to them every day. Doing a little bit of math simple addition and subtraction. Also, letter recognition, shapes, and numbers. On the most basic level. I wish more parents worked with their kids even for a short time every day. Read to them... is that really hard?? I can almost immediately tell the first week of school what parents read to their kids. If they are read to they can write complete sentences, write multiple sentences, and read easily. Anyhow... I am soo pooped tonight. We did get a lot done today. I owe my friend a thanks for teaching me about P.E. Central I found some really fun P.E. games to do with multi-grades. We had P.E. today up on the grassy field. The kids love to take their shoes off on the grass... so I let them. Today we played Spiders and Flies. They got a big kick out of it. I discovered I am missing a WHISTLE! I need a whistle. Oooh progress today on the technology front. I have an e-mail login for school, and I can login to my own desktop now. WHOOOO HOOOO! We have more to do in the technology area but I accept any amount of progress! Another Sonic Boom today... after school. It scared one of our Kinder's and she fell over. Mean ole Navy Pilots!! Sheesh :) Gooodniiigghhht!

" You can't always get what you want"

Welll like the song says " You can't always get what you want..." and I can't get them to quit singing live music across the street from my apartment. Nope nope. I don't have the power. Siggh... and like most live music the longer it plays....the less wonderful it becomes. Hmmmm I miss that short break they took... I wonder if they could take another one... tilll a weekend I am out of town. It has been a busy weekend. Made it out of town to the next town.... where the car died. Not sure yet but I think it was a permanent death. Soooo got a new-er car and am getting used to driving something bigger. It feels good to have something newer with fewer miles on it. Ma & Pa were there to help me with all of that so that was good. They headed back today and I went to school and worked on lesson plans and organization for the week. I managed to plan Tuesday... :) So Obviously I need to plan the rest of the week! We are finishing up assessments so hopefully we can get those all done this week. They are time consuming but they also wear the kids out.... Soooo thank goodness I have one more day in the week to figure it out. I hope my student that lives behind the Saloon gets to go to bed before to long... and I hope he/she is safe tonight. Goodnight

Obfuscate

Ahhh... week 1! The week that I knew would go by quickly, but at moments thought would never end. We ended today with recess up in the grassy area surrounded by the track. The grass is well watered and pretty enjoyable for the kids to run around on. We will be heading up there again. I have some work to do this weekend to re-re-re-re-re-plan the plan :)! Everyday I learn a little more. I didn't think it would be easy but it got a bit overwhelming realizing the amount I am teaching. This week we had a couple absentee children. I am told they are in and out of school. However, they are supposed to be back next week. It will be interesting to see how this impacts the dynamics of the classroom. I have to spend some time this weekend working at school and planning. I need to get more familiar with some of the curriculum. We managed to get some of our sign ins for assessments so we were able to assess some students this week. We still can't log in to our computers, and our brand new ones are still in boxes, but hey progress counts. My name is even up in the lobby now. I feel official! This summer I discovered a British Mystery Television Show. I like the British Mysteries... for some reason... maybe it is a little less gory. They use words like "Obfuscate" which challenges my brain a bit and I have to go look it up. Obfuscate means to muddle or cloud. The opposite would be to clarify. Anyhow, so tonight I am rewarding myself with the show "Midsomer Murders".

BOOM!

After school the world shared many joys with us. The mouse trap was effective. Now a reset is in order. The navy was testing my nerves w/ a quick flyover BOOOM! Shook the whole school. I thought it was an earthquake. Nope apparently my nerves haven't been tested enough with fire alarms and late night visits from the sheriff's department. We have sonic booms to add to the mix! I guess it is a fairly common occurrence here. So I guess I won't jump quite as high the next round.

I was so happy to see the mouse-trap was effective. Although I am not a fan of being the one to empty the trap. It was a pretty healthy mouse. I was just glad I wasn't around when it snapped. I hate that noise. UGGH! Well little feet scurrying around isn't so great either. We are resetting a trap so hopefully he doesn't have any friends running about.

I am soo pooped from this first week I feel like my brain needs a kick start... the sonic boom didn't work though.... so Perhaps I just need a good nights sleep.

Air-Conditioning

The stuff dreams are made of! The Math/ Shop teacher installed an A.C. In my room this afternoon!! I may have to make brownies or something. The kids couldn't drink enough water yesterday. I had the first day of Kinders! I am very overwhelmed right now the amount of curriculum I need to think of is quite overwhelming. I need to change the way I think about school and organization. It just won't work the way I am attempting to do it! Thank goodness I have experienced people to call upon. When you think about 5 grades and 20 students and the standards that must be covered. I go HEEEELLLLLPPPPPPPP! This is survivor week. I need to put more time into planning next week. Especially now that I know the students a little more and can see their needs.

2 White Rocks, a Marker, and 30 cents

I survived... I think! You know how they say you can never be too prepared? They are right...and I don't think I was. We made it through the day. Everyone survived! Whooo hooo Anyhow, I came home to cool off... I don't know how hot it was in the school this afternoon... but we were all melting. Brains don't work well in those kinds of temperatures. One 2nd grader sat up and told me Miss C. my chair is sweating. Hee hee... I just said "ooh man".

I came home to cool off get a bit of dinner and go plan and re-plan the plan! No air conditioning in our school. The sun hits my room perfectly for maximum sun exposure. yay. The secretary has a plan to get a window a.c. in my room. Here is hoping she is successful!

We still can't access e-mail, or our software programs. I am thinking we are probably not going to be able to do our assessments before the first round of state testing. That is just plain ridiculous! GRRRR..

So today I had 15 kiddos and tomorrow I have the little ones. My post title is what was in my pocket when I came home today.


P.S. We have an unwanted, unwelcome classroom pet. A mouse. A trap has been set. UGGH I only screeched a little when I saw it. These kids have been known to stomp them on the playground. I apparently wore the wrong shoes to school.

P.P.S: MISERABLY HOT TODAY 96 outside I don't even want to know what it was inside. NO AIR-CONDITIONING!

Technology!

I am ready to throw the school technology out the window! To start with we cannot log on to any computer because the Tech Guy hasn't entered us into the network. So we log in under an old teachers name. Then we can't log into our school e-mail because that has not been set up yet. We can't log into the software program where all of our student information is stored because that isn't set up yet. Our students won't be able to get online to do assessments because we can't log in yet. I can only get on one computer with the previous teachers name. Then the printer that was hooked up to that computer died. The previous teacher told me that it didn't work and she didn't know why but she never bothered to tell anyone. So I can't print. I couldn't install another printer on that computer because there isn't enough memory to install the driver. I can print to the Secretary's printer....if it decides to work. Its feed isn't picking up the papers too often these days. I am irritated! Our brand new Teacher computers are still sitting in boxes unopened. UGGH! Even if I could print the computer is soooooo slow it is torture! It is like being on Dial-up. It is like the early 90's technology. It is miserable.

The fire alarm went off at school again today. I jumped but not as high :)! Now I know how to silence it. The power went off because of thunderstorms we had today which triggered the fire alarm. If they don't get that fixed it could be an entertaining first few weeks of school.

Tonight I met a local who does "garbage service" WOOT WOOT! Everyone has been telling me that they aren't sure my care would make it to the dump in the winter. It would save me time as well. Tomorrow they start building a geo-thermal plant here it has brought in quite a few temporary laborers. So that is good for the town. Well I had better go I have a lot to do tomorrow.

ALARMED!!!!

Another Night... at School... allllll by myself. Luckily I went in to start the laminator and realized my co-teacher had forgotten to turn it off. That could've ended up a bad bad deal. So then I started Laminating, Laminating, Laminating... and more Laminating. Then I jammed up the Laminator. I kicked myself a couple of times... couldn't figure out how to fix it so decided to leave it till tomorrow until I had some help in fixing it. I only ended up losing two things to Lamination Hell. So that wasn't too bad. So I started cutting out what I finished laminating... cleaned up my classroom... started making another list of things I still need to get done! It is quite a list.

It had been a fairly quiet night at school. I had my fan running so I didn't hear any pack-rats, or wildlife of any sort. I felt like I was getting something done. Which is a very good thing.

Next thing I know...

there is a LOUD BUZZING NOISE GOING THROUGH THE SCHOOL... I JUMP OUT OF MY SKIN... HEART PALPITATIONS.... IT IS THE FIRE ALARM. WHAT HAVE I DONE???? AM I GOING TO MEET THE FIRE DEPARTMENT TONIGHT?? WHO CAN I CALL???? I finally remember I have the secretaries number in my cell phone. I call her... and she comes down. We can't figure out what zone is setting the fire alarm off. She helps me un-jamb the laminator and I decided I've risked enough for the evening. No firefighters at school... just the secretary and I to figure it out. I calm down fairly slowly. I decide maybe I am not meant to be at school by myself at night.

Tomorrow is the beginning of three days of meetings. Happy Happy joy joy... NOT SO MUCH!! Hopefully, I learn some good stuff. Something other than how to turn off a fire-alarm and jam a laminator.

Big Dipper

Last night was dark and the stars were bright. I felt like I could reach out and grab one or two. That is the major upside to living in the boonies. There is no light pollution and the stargazing opportunities are spectacular.

Housing: well here is the good and the bad news. For now I get to stay where I am and and not move into a dump that the Landlord proclaimed was "CLEAN" I guess clean means spiders, bugs, cobwebs, and who knows what imbedded in the carpet. So as long as my current landlords do not lease the Saloon out to someone I am staying. Hopefully this will carry me through the school year. If I intend to stay next year... well I think I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

I've been working in my room a lot the past few days getting it organized and everything in its place. I am at war with the computers which are phenomenally old and sllllllooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwww. They did get a new computer for each of us teachers but.... we have to wait upon the computer dude to make us a priority and set them up. I can't even look at the box. It is torture because I KNOW I CAN set up a computer. Policies and procedures... blah blah blah .... must be followed! Siggh. We often are playing the waiting game hoping that when our maintenance guys, computer dude, come down to see us we get done what we need done. I don't even have a school email and can't login to a computer under my name. So I have to use someone elses login but I can't print under their user name. I also can only login to one computer. That stuff just goes on and on. I am trying to be patient because the Computer dude is new. I think he is playing a lot of catch-up.

Sitting at my computer the other day while waiting for something to load, I looked out the window in front of me. There sat a jack-rabbit not even 3 feet away. That was kind of fun. I'd much rather gaze out upon that view of sagebrush, and jack-rabbits, than parking lots, and cars.

Things get kind of interesting at school, after dark, by yourself. I am not the type to get spooked very easily. (unless you come around a corner when I am not expecting you ha ha). Okay no really, I guess with all the house-sitting I've done and living other places... I just don't get spooked. Buildings make noises at night. So while cutting out a gazillion things to be laminated I decided to watch a "who-done-it" mystery program on my Smart Board. Maybe not the best Idea in a big building by oneself, without Brit or Carmen (the best of dogs those two) to alert me to possible intruders.I hear rattling..pause... more rattling...it goes on and on. I think well possibly it is a pack-rat. I guess not too long ago our secretary had to kill one that had moved into the building. (She is a woman of many talents). I kept hearing the rattling but refused to give into my fears and go check it out. I moved into the hallway then listening to my "who-done-it" more than watching it. I was hanging paper on a bulletin board when the back door handle is jiggled and someone knocks. My head pops up, heart skips a beat, I probably turned a whiter shade of pale, and......... it was one of our local sheriffs checking the building they make sure every door is locked. They do this every night I believe. Anyhow, so I met him and we had a nice chat. I didn't even wet my pants... just had a heart palpitation or five.

My neighbors are saloons. While I live over a saloon it is quiet because it is not in use right now. On each side of me, and across the street are more... saloons. So this can get a bit interesting coming home in the evening. I have very thick walls... so I rarely hear them. However, I do get invited for a drink quite often by interesting characters. Interesting might be too kind of a word. Oh well. When you live over a saloon and next to saloons... you're very glad to have a steep flight of stairs that the sloshed folks couldn't make their way up without personal injury.

Last week I was lucky to go visit a cousin at a Lake a few hours away. It was really nice to get to see her, water, and tall trees. Really a cabin on a lake up in the mountains, I'm not sure it gets better than that. It was the perfect little break before going back to reality. I am very grateful I was invited and had a little time away.

Tomorrow is my last personal "prep" day. Wednesday we start with trainings then drive north Thursday morning for trainings the rest of the week. I am trying to decide if I have enough groceries for the first week of school, or if I need to drive to town this weekend. There was a few things I did not have room for the last trip. Speaking of that. Anyone know of a fantastic, amazing, spectacular, cooler?? I am going to make a serious investment in one. It will make those trips to Costco or the grocery store much more beneficial.

I have been to two of the grocery stores in the town 2 hours away. The selection wasn't fabulous. However, they did have green Kleenex. WHY???? I didn't even know they made colored Kleenex anymore. I didn't even realize that it was colored Kleenex till I brought it home and opened it. Yeah... I am taking that to school. The kids will probably love blowing their boogers into green Kleenex. You didn't want that mental image did you?

Okay well last but not least on the latest and greatest is......
I now have 19 students. YIKES!!! 19!!! This is good for the school... for me it is a bit more stressful. I started with 11 students... so this will be interesting. My co-teacher has 6 but she is going to take my 4th graders for Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies... at least some of the time. We are working that out still. Oh yeah... forgot to tell you. I ran out of student desks. Imagine running out of desks! They are hopefully bringing us some from our district headquarters.

Well, I'd better get off to bed. My Cricut (die-cutting machine) has been getting a work-out. Luckily last trip to WallyWorld they had some cartridges on sale for 20$! Oh one more thing. My co-teacher spent some time with a Teaching Coach from another district. She helped us with pacing.. and many other things. She also gave us a great idea. I have thought of doing this but not quite in this way. So what we are doing is a Focus Wall. On the focus wall, we have Language Arts and Math, the standard we are teaching, and the objective for the lesson. (other subjects will be integrated under those headings). So the students will know... this is what we are learning about to day. A parent, administrator, anyone can walk into the classroom and know what we are working on immediately. It will help me to maintain the objective of what I want the students to be learning as well. I think It is a great idea. After we have it up and running I will try to take a photo... maybe I am the only goof who finds that interesting though :).

I said "last but not least" a couple of paragraphs ago. Hmmmm... I think that means I am rambling... off to sleep.

Goodnight!

Expectations

Expectations are a funny thing. You think you've set the bar pretty low... you have it in your head that the bar couldn't be much lower than that. Then you're proven wrong. I had to take a look at the place I may have to move to. I wanted to cry. The work that would have to be done to make it liveable is simply overwhelming. The gas leak was an unexpected bonus... the trips to the dump required. I just keep thinking how can I do all of this and get ready for school. I haven't even prepared my classroom because I have been cleaning it. I need a plumber/electrician/carpenter all rolled into one who would work for peanuts... maybe even peanut M & M's. You know you've hit that wall when your brain can't come up with a plausible solution. Most of my solutions in my head right now are totally unrealistic. REALITY on the other hand is OVERWHELMING!

Expectations... bite you in the behind

Urge to Curse!

There is only a certain amount of time that going through 30 years of educational materials can be considered fun,entertaining, or at least interesting. I passed that allotted time days ago. I am sooooo over it. Today I found a bag of baby bottles in the back of the cupboard. While others wanted to speculate as to the "why" of it all. I wanted to say a few bad words... LOUDLY!! Has ANYONE EVER ATTEMPTED TO CLEAN HOUSE?? Uggh! I really want to be done with purging my room of junk and move on to organizing my class for the year! Maybe even do a little scheduling, lesson planning, or reading of curriculum! I doubt the backs of these cupboards have been seen in years!!! I have 3 filing cabinets and 2 cupboards to go. Cupboards isn't the right word either. They are probably 7 feet tall and 2 feet deep. They were PACKED FULL! At a certain point I think I am going to just have to stop and hope to go through it later. I do know where the important stuff is. I also have a handle on what curriculum is available. I also know where to find every math manipulative ever made. I also have pretty much every educational game, flash card, and resource made. I may be exaggerating slightly. I am at the point I am downright unmerciful on throwing stuff out.
My co-teacher came in and was like oh look at this cool stuff.... etc etc. I was at the point that I couldn't see anything "cool" about any of it. JUST because you CAN purchase something. Doesn't mean you SHOULD purchase something. Oh yikes!! We also need Bill Gates or Steve Jobs to come in and give us new computers! This school is neglected in the computer area. We do have Smart Boards. Yee Haw. The computers are pretty sad though. I think they are still running Windows XP. Anyhow, while I continue to kill spiders and eliminate dust, I am quite irritated with the continuing purging of my classroom. It is headache inducing to see how money was wasted. There was someone at some point who was buying without researching. So that is where I am at. I am sick and tired of cleaning out junk.
Okay in more exciting news. I may be moving out of my apartment over the saloon soon and into a real apartment...! I met the lady who cleans the apartments... and I am a bit scared. I may have some serious cleaning to do there as well. Anyhow, I get to go see it this weekend and perhaps it will be better than I think! I can only hope! Also we are getting a delightful preview of Hot August Nights with old cars going through town. That is a nice change from Harleys. Alrighty. That's what is new... or maybe it is the same ole same ole. It is what is happening though. Ooh and I get to go see my cousin(s) at the lake soon! It will be my last time to chill before school madness begins. Whoo HOO!

Progress

I am getting more done in my classroom. I have scared spiders and eradicated dust. I could have made a fascinating Diorama of education in the last 30 years. I have filled trash bags and moved stuff to storage. I've found brand new packages of never opened curriculum, books, materials, consumables, manipulatives, and more. I feel like I've made A LOT of progress but then there is much much more to go. This classroom needed some serious purging. I do have concerns about where there are gaps. For instance I have no assessments for kindergarten. I will have to figure this out so I can level them and check them for progress. I don't have a writing curriculum for all grades. What are they supposed to start writing in 5th grade and magically know how?? Sheesh. Anyhow. I am also STILL leveling and labeling books. I think that may never end! It all seems a bit daunting at times. Then I make more progress and think I can do this!! Our student numbers keep changing. I was at 11 then 15 then 16 then today maybe 14 so I don't know till I know :). I have two, four drawer filing cabinets to go through and four or five tall two door cabinets to go through. Oh yes and my desk. I also haven't un-boxed any of my own teaching supplies. I told our secretary if I came asking her to buy math manipulatives she needed to tell me to go and look again. If there is a math manipulative to be had... I have it!

So I've learned we have Self-garbage service.. you haul it to the dump. Our Special Education Aide is also the lunch lady, a classroom aide, a fill in secretary, school nurse, and much much more! Amazing. Let's see what else. Some of our kids have a 45 minute drive to school on good roads. Oh and guess what... our school does NOT HAVE.... AIR CONDITIONING! Gasp!!! Well I had better go.

Saturday Night and the town is HOPPIN' ...... NOT

We got quite a few things out of storage so now I can dress a bit more professionally at work! It was steamy in the storage unit, but it was fairly cool in comparison to just a day or two before. So could've been much much worse. I am going to have to go back to the grocery store soon. I forgot a few things and didn't really plan very well. That's what happens when you don't make a list. Oh well. We got to town here and probably a third of it noted our arrival.. and that was just the obvious ones. I told Ma & Pa I didn't want to unload everything because notes would be taken on what I arrived with. Well the self proclaimed "Village Idiot" came to "help". He said he was in the running for it last year but thought he'd probably make it this year. I'd been warned about Mr. Curiosity. He sits at another saloon alllllllll dayyyyyy lonnnnng. Watching the world go by. He told me I don't do nuthing. I just live behind the saloon. He does not live behind "my" saloon but another saloon up the street. Anyhow, He's a good reason to look forward to cooler weather. Unless he has a table by the window. Hmmmmm

Other than that it is veryyyyy quiet. Occasionally a truck drives up or down the road. That's about all you hear in the evening. Certain times of year I am told this place is "hoppin". I didn't get anything more done at school this weekend. Maybe tomorrow after Ma & Pa head back north of the border. This state can be down right unpleasant with heat this time of year. I am glad to be at a higher elevation.

Totally off topic but today Pa asked me what a " Kway-so-dill-a" is. I then had to explain what a Quesadilla is. I had a good laugh over that one! Well goodnight

In my new pad!

Well... It has a nice size living room/ dining area kitchen, 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom with a shower and claw foot tub! It is long and narrow just as you would imagine an old western style building being built. Balcony on the front overlooking the highway/ main street. It is nice and cool despite the hot day so either it is well insulated or that thermostat I haven't figured out yet is actually regulating the temperature! The entrance is in the front via a long narrow flight of stairs! Out the back is a small patio/ deck with the hill rising behind it and then a street and more homes. The hill is high enough there is quite a bit of privacy back there. The main bedroom has sky lights which is pretty cool. I am glad to have landed for a bit. Hopefully my next place will be less temporary.

I am testing out my wireless broadband. Found one place that I can get two bars on it. I will tweak and see if I can up that. It is just enough to get on the internet though! So that is what I wanted. I will finish unloading my car this afternoon/evening and then tomorrow will head down to the school for some more cleaning. I did go visit my storage unit today and was able to find my step ladder and a couple of my totes of clothing. My wardrobe has expanded. I went to the grocery store before heading back here and I realized in the store I was getting a little carried away. The car was pretty full... and I was optimistic about what I could fit. So I got the basics managed to get it all in there (creatively) and left for home.

I found out that 2 of the people we interviewed were the spouses of the other teachers. yikeseroni. We did not end up hiring them so hopefully there are not hurt feelings. Small town life. Somebody ain't gonna be happy!!! I have found more that is missing from the curriculum... need to decide what to do about this. Hopefully my principal will work this out for me. I don't think I have ever had a secretary as educated as our current secretary. The secretary is always the squeaky wheel but this one is phenomenal. She has educated herself so if she gets education related questions, concerns, etc. she can answer them. She also took a course on how to do standards based report cards. I am just amazed at the extra MILES... she goes to be of service to the school, students, and families. It is awesome!

Well I'd better go
Have a great day