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