The day is done!

I don't even know how to process this day. There are some things that teacher school can never prepare you for. You have to do the best you can and hope you had the right words at the right time. I think man the things I learn 10 minutes before school starts. Then I have to put on a smile and say good morning, even though my brain is whirling and I am trying to figure out if I said the right thing, did the right thing, and what I need to do next. People are dealing with a lot and even the grown-ups are coming to school looking for support. 

I have the crock-pot cooking a roast. Mom and dad are on their way and I still need to make their bed!  Tomorrow is another day.

Almost there

The students had a busy day. They didn't cancel recess despite a couple of sprinkles here and there. Rain here sends our recess lunch duty ladies indoors. They really like to cancel recess. I don't really mind recess duty most of the time because I am outside. Now if it is blowing dust I really don't like it. The school day was interrupted this morning for the students to watch the 4th graders practice their program. Tomorrow many of the students will participate in the "Turkey Trot" a run they attend at the middle school.

I bought ketchup and extra butter. I think I am prepared for the parents visit. I have a little more cleaning to do for their visit and they might want sheets on the bed. I have a roast to put in the crock-pot for their arrival. Hopefully they have nice weather on their drive. 

I was coughing tonight quite a lot. I got up to make a cup of herbal tea and then I hope for smooth sleeping the rest of the evening. I have a meeting after school tomorrow that I am hoping won't take too much time. 

G'nite

Update: almost to bed...when I remembered...you forgot to print  your pilgrims for the STEM challenge tomorrow. Printing pilgrims, laminating pilgrims, and then off to sleep. I HOPE!

Winter☃⛇

Started to act like winter around here. Got a little snow from above, a lot of rain, and dropped temperatures. I was happy for it. I may have been alone in that feeling. It has been a busy couple of weeks. I haven't been feeling all that fabulous so that added an element of fun. My challenging student has been excelling at being challenging. I received a little extra help this week and I hope I will continue to receive it. This one needs more help than what we can provide. It is exhausting.

I babysat my little buddy this morning. He updated me on his age. I told him he was growing to fast and he needed to stop. I was informed very seriously that he "Sha I have to grow up." Okay then.  I have been tackling my mountain of laundry the dirty and the clean, and cleaning house a bit. I ran to the  Wal-Mart tonight. I thought about going earlier today, but I saw the parking lot and really didn't need to go then. It wasn't packed tonight and they were stocking shelves. It is nice to go then because you can usually find what you are looking for.  For most of my purchases I avoid the Wal-mart but there is some things I can get there cheaper. I just hate going there. I didn't run into any thieves tonight. I didn't have to wait in a long line, and I was able to get everything on my list. A couple of times I have tried their in store pick-up. It works well and you can avoid the lines. Some purchases I feel need to be made in person.

I will have to run to the grocery store tomorrow and pick up a few things for Thanksgiving as well as my lunch for this week. I am so glad we are close to Thanksgiving break. I am ready.

Let it snow...please!

If you're going to grow up to be an engineer. Don't grow up to be a package designer. No one says nice things about you as they are trying to break in to their FLONASE package. Then if they can't find scissors at that moment it is more unkind words. If you have a choice find another route. There are many beautiful things engineers design. Creating a better toilet paper roll holder would be better than package designer.

I don't know if I am fighting a cold or allergies again. I just know they are back with a vengeance. I doubled up on my allergy pills. I am doing all of my sinus related tricks that have been known to help me. I might be alone on this, well I am most likely alone on this, but I cannot wait for snow. I breathe easier and my sinus activity is reduced. LET IT SNOW.

We are supposed to get some rain soon which will help. I spent about 5 hours at school yesterday prepping for this week, catching up, and getsting a wee bit done for weeks ahead. I could've spent 5 more hours and wouldn't be done yet. I just keep on keeping on.

My upstairs neighbor I call Fred Flintstone. He walks with heavy feet, he is heavy handed in everything he does. He slams all doors. I really don't know how he manages so much heavy-handedness but he excels at it. I am thinking he would not be a good hunter. The whole forest would be alerted to his presence before he even entered it. I am glad we have similar working hours or he'd wake me up all the time.  My snoring neighbor moved and he is not missed.

I am attempting to catch up on my laundry and do a little house cleaning. I have also been working on my Christmas present for my class. I bought clipboards for my entire class and have been personalizing them with their names.  We also have student presents we make every year for parents. I am not making the one we did last year. We are talking about some kind of candy cane ornament and probably something else. Not quite sure yet.

I was watching an Scottish Parliament Committee on phonics. It is interesting to me because  it seems to be like we are doing a disservice in teacher education schools across the world. We should all be teaching synthetic phonics.  It is research based. It makes sense. It works.  Drives me crazy we do not give teachers the tools to teach phonics. I found it interesting, you may not. If nothing else you get to hear some fun accents!

Jellyfish

I'm meeting with my colleagues this afternoon to create our Halloween Costumes. I am slightly more excited about this years costume than I was about last years. I really, really, hated last years. We are dressing up like Jellyfish. Something like this...



The team decided we needed to add giant googly eyes and colored lights. I am the green jelly fish. The good part is I am not wearing a head-ache inducing wig all day long. Another silver lining is that it is impossible to walk around with a giant plastic umbrella all day so it will be set to the side. I just try to tell myself that they had worse suggestions before the jellyfish....yes indeed.

I am very frustrated with the meeting I must attend Tuesday morning. I can see the principal has her own plan, thoughts, and ideas. She just is not communicating them very well. Not at all. It is dumb. Not sure where we have been not sure where we are going. I'm not even sure what the end goal is at this point. I just want to be done. However, it seems like we just end every meeting, by planning another meeting. If I thought we'd made some progress, I might quit the whining. NO PROGRESS.  It is also extremely awkward because the principal and our vice-principal have had some kind of falling out. The vice-principal is very respectful and kind. The principal shuts her down and shuts her up in a way that has the rest of us wincing. I don't know what has happened there. It just leaves everyone feeling a little tense.

I need to go throw another load of clothes in the laundry....

I survived

I made it through conferences. Had one not show up, I've tried to reschedule and we shall see. Conferences are very interesting it helps put pieces together.  It is very tiring.  What is awful though is that it is hard to rest afterwards, even though you are very tired. Did I say everything I needed to say? Etc. I have one rescheduled next week for sure. It will be a challenge.

I am glad to have tomorrow off to get a little rest. I will be in to school this weekend to finish preparing for next week and do some organizing. I colleague had a parent make copies for me but I haven't had a chance to put them all away. I must work on this. 

I feel bad because one of my friends has called me several times in the last couple of weeks. Every time I have been yawning after a long day. Today I was yawning with a voice that was rapidly disappearing. My throat really didn't enjoy all the talking the last couple of days. Now I have three days to recover so I will speak softly and speak little.

P/T Conferences

I am parent-teacher conference exhausted. This is a different kind of exhausted. It is the I had to talk more than my voice allows kind of tired. It is also mentally draining. You want every parent to understand exactly what their student's educational needs are. I appreciate the parents who not only listen to you, but you can tell they are going to take your advice. Maybe even take a little ownership and responsibility in their child's education.

 Every single year I have a parent(s) who tell me  all the reasons why I am wrong about where their child is academically.  I have a lot of data to back up my claim.  I have a lot of evidence to back up my claim. I am very wrong though. What is unfortunate is that their child may miss out on getting some much needed help and support. What is worse is when you know the previous two teachers gave the parents the same feedback. Now you know they've had three years with three different people giving them similar insights. Maybe...just maybe... I'm not all wrong?  Nawww.... I'm wrong :)

Then there is the glad handing parent. They nod and agree with you. No matter what you say just nod and agree. You ask them to practice a couple of things at home. They nod and agree. Smile, Nod, Agree...while inside their head they are thinking "No plans to do any of this!" 

I had one co-worker that said one year. I wish we could give parents grades. Teachers are assessed. Our students are assessed. Why not parents?  I don't think pain-in-the-ass can be described in enough terms to give a precise grade. Hmmm someone should work on that.

Every time conferences roll around I can't explain how grateful I am to the parents that are engaged in positive ways. The parents that provide a stable home life. The parents that expect their child to have manners, respect, and most of all kindness. Kindness is huge. The parents that are providers to their child's emotional needs. Those parents I am so thankful for. Even if their child isn't right where they should be, they are more importantly raising a good person.

After all that talking today my voice was exhausted. I have more conferences tomorrow, but with  a few more breaks. Friday we have a day off to celebrate our statehood. This means I can rest. Hurrah!
Next week I have an early morning before work hours meeting on Halloween. Halloween!!! Yeah.... that will be a doozy. I have a lot of parents bringing treats in that day. It might be way more chaotic than I would like.

October Challenge.

After another busy week the weekend rolls around and I am trying to find the energy/motivation to get to work. I have almost finished assessments for the end of quarter and have to finish putting grades in.  We survived school-wide picture day, staff pictures, class, student pictures,  earthquake drill, and evacuation drill. A colleague of mine had a student lose complete control of their bowels during the class photo. That wasn't a great start to her day. A colleague also went to a training on our state assessments we are required to do. I had some answers to questions and verification on thoughts I'd had about the assessments. I sense some more changes going on based on her other training. I hope it leads to positive changes and not more work that I can't keep up with. When you try to change everything at once it leads to a lot of stress.

My challenge this year was absent for several days due to a death in the family. I think the students and I all kind of breathed a sigh of relief. I caught a student allowing another student to cheat off their paper. I had to ask the student to have a chat. I asked the student why this was  a problem the response "Because it won't help his/her brain grow if he/she doesn't do it him/herself."  I said "YES!" We chatted a bit more and I hope this doesn't occur again. I've talked to the students about how our brains grow and make new connections when we struggle through something. Even if it is hard it is good for our brain.  I wasn't sure that lesson had sunk in, but apparently it had.

Parent teacher conferences are the challenge of  October. You think you know who will be a problem and who will not be. Usually I am wrong. It is a stressful time. Then you have to reboot every 15 minutes and get ready for the next parent. It isn't easy.  The high school FBLA is doing another fall fundraiser by making us dinner for a fee and delivering it on parent/teacher conference week. It is  worth every penny! Friday is a day off of school for our state. It is in celebration of our Statehood. It is nice to have a day off after the marathon of conferences.  The week after conferences is Halloween Week. This means a lot of sugar highs and sugar lows.

Most of our team met at a colleagues last night for a taco dinner. We all brought ingredients. It was really fun and relaxing to hang out together. It was a great way to finish the week.

Weekend

Our half-day Friday provided all of the teachers with some much needed time to get caught up. Although I don't think  we are caught up I think we are farther ahead than we once were. It gave us a little bit of breathing room. The copier still isn't working correctly. We've heard rumors, talk, and promises of a new copier. I will believe when I see.

I presented the paperwork I was required to present on Friday. I couldn't quite see what the point of it was, other than perhaps making sure we did what was required of us. There were not really questions asked. Just listening. Maybe it is because I understood what was asked of me that it seemed simple. I am not sure. That is step 1 complete for this paperwork. It will be added to throughout the year.

I went to school for about 5 hours yesterday. I'd hope to complete the copies I need for just this week. No such luck. I will attempt to do a couple on the office copier in the morning. I did complete a lot of tasks that I hadn't had time to. My "to-do" list is still as long as ever. Many things were crossed off it and more added to it. So it goes.

After visiting urgent care earlier in the week I wasn't feeling better and even a little worse. I went back in this morning and this time they put my on antibiotics. I hope to get a little energy back. I have kept taking my vitamins and eating my fruits and veggies (MOM). Perhaps it would have been worse had I not done so. I thought I'd be able to get more done at home today. My energy reserves are low. I did get a little laundry completed, my floor mopped, dishes are washed, and the trash is waiting by the door to be taken out. I made a little progress there.

I hope I have enough fight in me for this week. We have a field trip on Tuesday to a local reservoir to learn about the water cycle. On Wednesday we have our annual Fire Safety Week visit to the Firehouse. On Thursday the school nurse is coming in to do vision screenings. Then the counselor comes in for a "How to get along with others" lesson. I hope it sinks in. It will be a busy week.

Sniffs, Sneezes, and Paperwork

I finally gave up the fight. My sinuses were winning and all of my cures were losing. Not sleeping and using up multiple boxes of tissue wasn't working for me. I went in and it was as I thought, fall allergies. They put me on steroids. The Dr. wanted to give me a steroid shot but I decided to go for the pills instead. I was concerned the shot would have me awake alllllll niiiiggghttt long. Some of these 7 year old children are quite taxing on ones energy reserves.  I hope this whacks me back into working order quickly.

Tomorrow we start the mountain of paperwork we are required to do by the state. When we finished our mountains of assessments some might have thought we were done. Nope. Just getting started. On our normal early out tomorrow we will begin this lengthy process. It is so lengthy that they actually are doing a half day on Friday to give us time to complete these documents. Then they have to be approved by a team.

I have a challenge this year. A student who steals, has no remorse, hoards food, and has some very odd behaviors that I struggle to describe. It is a process to keep this one on task making good choices.  I have support which makes all the difference. From day to day I have no idea what "new" thing will pop up. I am scared for this child's future.

I am going to attempt some sleep now... G'night

Restored

A little faith in humanity was restored. Wednesday I received a phone call that my wallet had been in the safe of the restaurant I left it in this entire time. Even though I'd called the place a few million times the General Manager was never there. She locked it in the safe and hadn't been in. She discovered my teacher I.D. and finally called the school. It was over-nighted to  me and my amazing landlord signed for it.   That was a relief. A month later, but I have it all back.

I finally hit my wall. My sinuses made it difficult to breathe. Difficulty breathing made sleep impossible. I called in a sub for the day and stayed home. I crashed hard. I still woke up not being able to breathe, but there was relief in knowing that I didn't have to  be up early. I knew my patience for the demands of the little humans wouldn't be very good.

Speaking of patience. Most of the time my apartment building is very quiet. We have miners, officers, casino employees, and much more. What this means is that Schedules may vary a lot. Many people are on swing shifts or night shifts. I don't have that schedule but I try to respect it. Tonight one of my neighbors kept telling her kids off right outside my window. I could hear the whole thing. The problem was she was standing in the stairwell hollering at them. They were by the car. After the 15th direction I finally poked my head out and asked them to  please be quiet. One of the kids said "okay." It did quiet down after that. I  think people forget to consider others sometimes. When I with my plugged up ears and nose can hear your entire conversation...I imagine most of the building can. 

This year has been a roller coaster not with ups and downs just with endless speed. Just when I think I can get off the train, we are given a new set of challenges. I am trying really really hard to stay positive and I love my colleagues, but it is really tough. I even really like my administration. This level of intensity I can't keep up.   I'm cracking and I am not alone.

I just want a nap

My Cousin shared this with me today...

It is nice to be appreciated. I wish this lady could truth bomb a few of my parents. I want to do more for your kids...Just get me a copier that works and about 20 more hours in a day! The technician was in working on our copier and today dead again. We are wasting a lot of paper when it jams...and jams....and jams...

Printers, Copiers, Sleep...

My sinuses are super congested right now. I do okay for a few days then I just get super tired. I get super tired because I can't sleep. What do I do when I can't sleep? I get up and work on stuff for school. It is not good. I need sleep. I  went to bed early and attempted to rest. I did sleep for a couple hours then was up again.

I worked on setting up a new printer. I didn't complete the process but that will happen soon. I was close. My home printer decided it didn't need to recognize that paper was indeed in the paper tray. It absolutely refused to believe it. After trying all of the troubleshooting processes. I decided to say goodbye to the printer. It has been a terrible printer. I think the new one is heavy duty and can stand up to the amount of printing I do.

I had meetings before and after school today. I am running out of time to get done what I need to get done. I feel like I am sinking. Not swimming, not treading water, just sinking. I keep thinking this will improve, but so far not so much.  I have one of the lowest classes I have ever had in my teaching career. There is no middle ground. I have over 50% of my students well below proficiency. Then I have about 30% that are very high.  The other 20 percent are barely proficient. They are barely reading. I cannot believe these students made it this far without some major concern about where they are in reading. It boggles my mind.

I have a lot to do before Friday. I  really just need to sleep. I had a parent that wanted to come in and help make copies but the copier was broken...Again! Then the parent decided she is coming in anyway. I have so much to do that I hope she doesn't decide to take up my prep time. Well, tomorrow is another day. Here goes my 2nd attempt at rest....

Goodnight

Role Models

I was talking with a colleague who was quite upset about athletes kneeling during the national anthem. Her grandfather served in World War II, an uncle served in Vietnam, the list went on. She felt it was very disrespectful to them. She was sad that her son who loves football was watching this spectacle. She had a discussion with him. He was so disappointed he turned the game off. She was in tears over this. I looked at her and said "Athletes are not role models." She told me "They should be."

We've put ourselves and our children in dangerous spaces by idolizing athletes. I really don't see any parents spending much time discussing the athletes character. They discuss their skills, abilities, talents, and athleticism.  Athletes are not role models. They are desired for their abilities. Their character has to have a major flaw before anyone takes note and they are removed. Their character comes second. That is why we see disrespect from them. They've been taught it doesn't matter how they behave as long as they perform.

I have a suggestion. Find some role models. You might have one in your house, on your street, in your town. I think you might even find a couple biblical role models (ahem). There are many amazing people throughout history that are role models of note. Mother Theresa, George Műller, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Anne Frank, Corrie Ten Boom, Gladys Aylward, Helen Keller, Harriet Tubman to name a few perhaps. Even these amazing folks had some character flaws. That can open an amazing discussion. However,  their character came first.

I'd love to see more attention given to the people who need help. Puerto Ricans still recovering from the hurricanes, Mexicans recovering from earthquakes, flooded out Texans. There are some folks with some big hearts doing the right thing for their neighbors and families. Just quietly going about doing the right thing.

Simply put. Quit worshiping at the altar of sports.

First 15 days

Fell asleep early. Then woke up in the middle of the night to read a chapter of a book we are required to read for a staff meeting tomorrow. I read the book and become more frustrated than ever. I am part of a system that is broken. We have all the research to tell us what best practices are and what works and does not work. What do we do? The same things. Yes, teachers are part of the problem. The administrators are part of the problem. The districts, the state, the feds, the parents, and society are all part of the problem.  Uggh. I read these books we are required to read and then I think "Why am I doing this?"  This job. So many hands involved that all think that they know best. Then what happens? A mess is made. There is no clear direction or we try to do everything at once. I've been here before. What you end up with is terrible moral and overwhelmed, over worked teachers. That is where we are.

I had a parent in today making demands of me that I can't fulfill at the moment. We have a broken copier. I don't have access to what she feels I should have access to. I simply don't. I'm not delaying or putting her off. I was asked the same question 50 different ways. I was getting really frustrated. I can't. It isn't that I am unwilling, don't want to, or will not. I can't. I am just as frustrated as you lady, but 15 days into the school year I am doing the best I can. I understand parents want the best for their child, but they often forget I am not just teaching their child.  She asked again and again. I said as soon as I can I will help you. This parent has another child in another grade and is driving that teacher crazy as well.

I am doing the best I can right now. I'm feeling that it isn't my best though. I need to filter out some of the noise and find my focus. What is interesting is this weekend I had a conversation about teacher retention this weekend. I am watching a lot of first year teachers ready to implode because of the demands placed on them. Experienced teachers feel like they are drowning. I can't imagine this being a first year teachers experience. This isn't the way to retain teachers.

I don't like the way I am feeling about my job right now. It is difficult to stay positive. It makes me feel like I need another plan. I've had great success and my test scores reflect that. However, I feel more and more like I am not doing what is right. It is becoming a moral issue for me.  I've had a lot of strange experiences in my profession. These first 15 days of school are being added to the list.

Pushing Forward

What these few weeks feel like... Well i tried to upload the link but it isn't working. It is a woman attempting to push the waves back at the ocean. What do you know the waves keep coming...

One day at a time...

Sunday Night...

Safety!

Are you feeling bored? If so you can join me in watching super exciting videos about staying safe in schools. I lost count of how many there are. We are required to watch them every year online. What was frustrating is that we already took a couple of these but somehow the school nurse in charge of this didn't remove them for us. Sigh.  Then when your unreliable internet goes out in the middle of this excitement you might miss the following exciting facts.

Did you know that peanuts are legumes and not nuts? This is why someone can be allergic to tree nuts and not peanuts and vice versa.  Epi-pens may only work for about 15 minutes after application. This is why you must call 911 if you administer an Epinephrine Auto-Injector. An allergy is an abnormal immune response to exposure to an allergen. Ingestion, contact, or inhalation are the manners in which you can be exposed to an allergen. Did you know pencil erasers can be made of latex? Fires are classified by the type of fuel! Class A solids that are not metal, Class B Flammable Liquids, Class C Electrical Fires, Class D Metals, Class K Kitchen Fires. Fire extinguishers have a symbol on it that tells what type of fire it will put out. All fire extinguishers need to be inspected by an outside company. Visual inspections must be completed monthly. P.A.S.S.- Pull, Aim, Squeeze, and Sweep. Know your escape route! There are 12 videos ranging from 12 minutes to 27 minutes. I'd share what I know about Diabetes, Blood born pathogens, and much more...but I'm worried I've already bored you.

I gave myself a time limit for my visit to school today. I set the timer only when I've arrived in my classroom. I only went over by 20 minutes. I didn't think that was too bad.  I completed the copies that I forgot to do Friday. I did some laminating. I sent a couple e-mails. I organized my copies for the week. I made folders for my copies. I have a crate that I keep my copies in for the week. It helps me to pull out what I need when I need it. They are labeled and then highlighted. The color highlighted matches the day of the week.  One hour and 20 minutes for all of that. I was busy the whole time and it flew by. I am trying to stay ahead of the papers, but they quickly take over. I re-checked my "To-Do" list and was able to cross off a few more things. We shall see how far I get tonight.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday To ME! What did I do today? Not much! I did a little laundry took a nap and basically recovered from my week. I almost feel like I am attempting to get a cold. Hopefully, it is just being tired. I went to dinner at my little buddies house. We share a birthday. His family bought me a bag of chocolates for my birthday. He has always been resistant to foods that are not close to their original form every since he started eating. No baby food for him. He didn't want mashed anything. Well he finally tried mashed potatoes and he liked them. I said "Oh no does that mean I have to share mashed potatoes with you and your sister?" (His sister loves them!) He said "No you eat them at your house!" My understanding was that he would not be sharing and if I wanted some I had to make them at my own house! It was fun to hang out for awhile.

I will probably have to go in to school tomorrow but I did get rest today. If I go in I've promised myself to set a  time limit. Otherwise I could end up there all day. Think positive thoughts that Bob Marley our ever jammin' copier is fixed this week. Apparently they called in a specialist. I am not sure what it takes to get it replaced. It is NOT the right time of year for these issues.

My brother's birthday gifts for me are unpredictable. This year I received some vitamins, driving gloves, and a box of red pens. I am prepared for a cold, winter, and a lot of graded papers.

Walking around our school right now there is a lot of stress. I hope that things will mellow a little bit, but I do not think they will be.  

Busy Week

Well week 3 is in the books. I am so pooped. A couple of us stayed at work till about 9:40 tonight getting ready for next week. Since our copier (which we print to) is STILL  not working we've had to use the little slow copier in the office. It made for an evening of many many copies. Just enough copies to get through one more week. I realized on my way out I'd forgotten a couple of things. I had a to-do list that had 29 items on it. I was able to check a few off the list. I brought a little work home. Will I have to go back to work this weekend. Yeah...I will!  I just don't want to feel like I am drowning next week.

 Parents have been asking all of us a lot of questions when is this or that going to start. It's been hard because things that normally start earlier have been put off for testing. There isn't much we can do. There is also things we haven't been able to set up things and get them in place because of not being able to print.

We had to rush to get our assessing done so we could divide all 2nd grade students into groups and put them in interventions or extended learning based on their reading needs. I have the low group. It is a disturbingly large group. It is disappointing to have so many students so low in reading at the beginning of second grade. Now some will move up and out of this group quickly and will be ready for the next group. Some have some serious delays in reading and there is more going on there. Some parents are realistic about where there students are and some are not. It is difficult to make big changes if parents do not see the need.

I came home last night and saw the pile of laundry. It was a little discouraging. I ran a couple of loads through just to make myself feel like I accomplished something at home. I hope I can get enough done for work that I can work on my home stuff. It has totally fallen by the wayside. It has been hard for all of us teachers to keep are chin up this fall and keep going. It isn't just me it is ALL of us at the school. The demands with testing and new curricula is making it hard to maintain the pace. The upside is although it has been rough I work with really good people. We work together well and everyone tries to do their part. That makes a huge difference.