Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad

Today was a particularly long and grueling day. I work up late (6:30am)- tossed on some clothes and ran out the door to beat traffic and hopefully find a parking spot at work. About 5 miles down the road I realized that the shirt I thought was black was in fact a dark red... dressing in the dark fail. I got to work and couldn't find a parking spot, ended up in the lot...(boo for $8 less dollars in my pocket). Got called into a meeting before 8am and before I could snag some coffee :(
Taught some kids about the Great Wall - surprisingly not in Canada.
Late to my 3rd period class, kids were atrocious- bonus: got to teach them what the word obnoxious means. Pity glances from the 2nd period teacher who was fleeing the room.
Feeling nauseous, headache coming on - still no coffee.
Sleep walked through an Algebra class- finally lunch- forgot to pack it.
Thinking about just going home. Drop the shades in my office and turn out the lights for a 15 min power nap. Can't sleep.
Email, email, grading, grading, phone calls to parents who don't speak English.
4 more classes to go- I can do this - eat a chocolate and hit the hallways.
Geometry, Living Environments
8th period- kids in rare form- it must be the moon cycle.
Office hours -will this day never end? Extended office hours... happy to help out.
Home...
I'll admit that on the way out of school I got to the top of the stairs and contemplated for a moment just falling down them because I was too tired to walk down them.
Tomorrow can only be better- right? 

Girly Weekend + Nick

 Last weekend I ran away to MD to meet up with my mom and sisters. We went to the topiary gardens and got (almost) eaten by a fox, disappeared into a secret garden, laughed at the burping fish and stopped to smell the roses.

Then we headed to pick apples, they were a little higher than anticipated from 'dwarf' trees. Thankfully Nick was prepared with some great apple picking advice "Lift - Twist - Pull". With those tidbits we filled the basket effortlessly. Notice Ami smiling about all the apples then struggling to carry them all, then my favorite picture of apple picking, Nick making fun of Ami pretending to have trouble carrying the basket.

More things happened, for example my older sis showed up- I have no pictures of her... not a one. My other sister wrote about not taking enough pictures to successfully and satisfactorily capture her weekend. I think the weekend was a compilation of moments created and enjoyed by each of us. We each hold a piece of the weekend both in our hearts and minds and on our memory cards.

First Week

 First day of first grade. Excited to go. Couldn't remember her teacher's name (Ms. Geano) or the name of her 'best friend' she sat next to at lunch. Went to the nurse because her 'belly hurt'. Admited later that she was just feeling uncomfortable and uncertain in her new surroundings. No homework yet, just a whole lot of nothing from her accounts. We'll see what next week brings.

First day of Pre-K. got to school early, met his teachers (he has 5).
Played legos and moved to the 'yellow face' because he was sharing with a little girl but she didn't want to share. He still doesn't know anyone in his class except Gabriella because it was her birthday the second day of school and she brought goodie bags for all the kids. Her, he remembers.

First Day as ESL Coordinator. Got a new office (larger but still no window) Same classroom but doubled in size. Smaller classes (read 3-6 students per class). Schedule mix up meant ELLs were untraceable and lost in the shuffle. Only one melt down in my office and it wasn't me. Burned my arm with a pot of boiling water (2nd degree burns) while trying to do it all as a working mom. Settled for Chinese instead.

(Jimmy not pictured) First day morning duty. Kids were on time, him not so much. Has prepared lunches twice. Traveled on Wed. across the country and arranged for morning childcare superbly.

Overall our year has started off as a success. Only one trip to the Dr. and no tears from anyone unless you count mommy crying when she got hurt.

Summer is Over

School is in on Monday- I got a new office this year- it's larger. I got a new classroom this year it's double the size from last year. I got new students and classes- the count is smaller. (imagine 10 students in a double classroom...)
Nick's school was renovating over the summer and is not quite done from the looks of it- but since no one is answering the phones and there has been no communication home about a delayed start- we still plan to drop him off on Monday morning.
Claire is excited to know who her teacher is- we get the classroom but not the teacher. I was feeling good about it- until I heard that they moved everyone around in the K-1 departments at her school. So that remains to be seen.
Jim is going out of town on business during part of the week- just to keep things interesting. LOVE him...
One last weekend to squeeze in all the fun! gotta run.

Our Summer- Part 2: Nick

Some people make lists of things they want to do over the summer- since we were not that organized this past spring we are making our list of things we did this summer. It is surprisingly rewarding to make a list that you are essentially crossing off immediately in it's entirety. So without further rambling: 

Nick's Super Summer List of Achievement

1. Graduate from Nursery School
2. Play Dress Up
3. Make Popsicle
4. Go to the Beach
5. See GB and Pappi
6. Turn 4 yrs old
7. Hug every aunt he has (even the great ones)
8. Sleep outside (thanks Aunt Minnie and Aunt Sarah for making this happen)
9. Make Smores
10. Ride Bikes
11. Fly a kite (or try- trying counts right?)
12. Visit a new playground
13. Make a new friend
14.Go to a Play (A Squirrel Stole my Underpants)
15. Go to a Mets Game
16. Go for a Hike
17. Make a Maze
18. Go to the Movies (Despicable Me 2 and Turbo)
19. Eat Ice Cream
20. See a Dinosaur (for his birthday)
21. Ride a Train
22. Surprise Daddy at work for Lunch
23. Go to a Jet's game
24. Tailgate (like a pro)

And he's still got 2 more weeks before school officially starts and summer is over. Imagine what we can still add!

Our Summer- Part 1: Glacier

 Our BIG vacation this year was to head west and take in the sights and multiple hugs from the best grandparents in the world. We met up at the lake and kyacked and painted nails and used our binoculars and hugged and hugged and hugged.

 A Good GB will take a few silly shots with you and paint your toenails- she may not however offer you a chair to sit in to do it so you'll need to be flexible.

 Oh and did I mention we saw a few glaciers? cause we did- even had a snowball fight in the summertime. :)

But the best part of all was just being together.

A Little Behind

So today I got a staff memo from the school. This is a signal to panic and try to fit in all that stuff I imagined I would do over the summer into the next three and a half weeks.
I started today by unpacking my office from our dining room. I put away and organized files from January and repacked my school bag so I'm ready to look at it in August 'when I begin planing' for 2013-2014. 
Tomorrow I will probably shave my legs in anticipation of swimsuit season and tackle the linen closet. (sarcastic on all fronts since the linen closet is the least of my cleaning worries)
Is it too late to plant my string beans for the summer?
And as soon as I figure out how to get my lovely husband to make my phone and our 'new' computer talk I will upload pictures and inundate you with a whole summer's worth.
My summer to-do list is not still long because I have not done anything all summer, it is still long because I have had so many unplanned adventures.

I Made It

Schools out! Schools out!
I feel like I crawled across the finish line after a double marathon but I finished.
Ok, that's an exaggeration. I really feel pretty good about how the last 6 months went. I feel that I have learned a lot and grown both personally and professionally.
It was an absolute high to hug and congratulate my Seniors that were graduating on Weds. I'll admit, I cried when I saw them all decked out in their caps and gowns and again when they were handed  their diplomas and I got misty eyed again when one of them translated a thank you from their parents followed but a group hug.
 I am looking forward to what the next years will bring.

PSA

Ok kids just a friendly reminder to think before you put things on the internet. You can't take it back and you never know who will find it and revive it.

Case in Point:


See the ramblings of this woman here.

Jaded

This whole working this is overrated. In the beginning it was fun and exciting, the kids were quirky and I felt like I was kind of on top of things in my life. Fast forward about 5 months and working is no fun, too full of excitement (and not the good kind). The kids aren't quirky anymore they are just strange delinquents and I feel like a failure in every aspect of my life. I fight with my husband, my house is one day away from a feature on hoarders and I may have ordered new underwear and socks for my kids and shipped them two day express instead of doing the laundry I am so far behind on. The end of June can't come fast enough.
And while all of that is true it does still feel good to get notes from my students saying "Think you for all the hrd work you do" and encouraging words from administrators about how smoothly thing are going even when I feel like I'm trying to build a house of cards in a tornado.
Is it Memorial Day yet?

Face palm

Thank you C for waking me at 3am to tell me that the scrape you got yesterday was healed. 

Say What?

An odd moment today during my office hours. Several students in my office gathered around a computer watching cartoons- in Japanese- none of them speak Japanese. They speak French, Spanish and some Native English speakers. I am counting their subtitle reading as an activity. no?

Head Over Heels

 Claire started gymnastics about two weeks ago. She really likes doing something 'just the girls'. (I sit and watch, and read) (it's nothing like dance moms in our viewing area)

She likes the balance beam, adores the trampoline and was so excited to learn to 'carton wheel' last week. :)

She's also getting to be a pro at forward rolls.











Next week we tackle the uneven bars. Wish us luck.

House Guest

This weekend daddy went to camp with the big boys. None of us were invited. So we invited our own guest.

She's pretty awesome. We like her a lot.

Fact Check

Embarrassing moment at school this week.
On Monday I got a new student, well not new to the school just new to my class. He told me his schedule was changed and I welcomed him and moved on with the class. He was a little disruptive (not much more than other students in my class) and he came on time and was completing work. Overall, things were going well. Until Wed. when he came to class high as a kite and being extremely disruptive, I had him removed from my class, by the assistant principal; who later encouraged me to make a call home to let them know what was going on.
Some back story here: This week was especially busy with meetings and conflicts and requests and so I put off doing my official attendance until Thursday.
When I went to get this student's home contact info I glanced at his schedule and realized much to my shock that he was in fact- NOT in my class. Lesson 4: Believe the best in your students but always check their facts. So now I am imagining how this phone call home will go; "Hello, this is Ms - from your son's school. I am unfortunately calling to inform you that you son had to be removed from my class today because of his behavior. Is he in my class?, well no. He's been cutting his 1st and 2nd period classes in my room for the past week. Am I an idiot?, well no sir, but I sure feel like one now."
Later that same day this student came to me to apologize for his behavior and assure me that he'd be on time and better behaved tomorrow. I let him know that I had seen his schedule and knew he wasn't in my class and that he should go to science instead. "Ok Miss, I'll see you tomorrow" and off he went in the opposite direction of the class I knew he should be in.

By Grabthar's Hammer...

I had my first 'altercation' with a student today. She wasn't even one of mine. Just some random student in the halls. I serve hall duty for one period a day and my sole purpose is to herd students to out of the halls and into their classrooms. It has aptly been described to me 'it's like herding cats'. Since I can not physically touch any of them my only recourse is to annoy them into going to class. By constantly reminding them to 'get to class' 'you are now late to class' 'you belong in a classroom and this is not a classroom' (you get the picture). So yesterday I was moving kids out of the hallway and one girl just got pushed too far and pushed back. She turned, got in my face and started shouting and cursing at me. I flinched at the suddenness of the loud noise and then tried to calm her and defuse the situation. Several other staff members got involved and she finally went to class. (She came back later and apologized) For some reason everyone on staff thought I'd quit on the spot- I spent the rest of the day assuring them that I was 'ok' and 'it wasn't a big deal'. Like I told my mentor, 'I have kids at home, I am used to having a little hate tossed my way'.  Lesson 3: don't give up, don't back down.
Then today I had to call out to take care of Nick (ironic since I actually said to someone yesterday 'don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow') and it all hit me, the stress and the feelings of failing at everything I'm trying to do. And I cried. Over stupid nothing and infuriating everything. I have an observation tomorrow that I am unprepared for and I just want to curl up and pretend the world doesn't exist outside of my front door. Here is where I take my own advice and refuse to give up or back down from this daunting task.
Lets hope it's good advice, otherwise you'll find me with a box of Kleenex curled in the fetal position under my bed this time tomorrow.

Ps did you get the reference in the title?

A Lesson in Wanting

Week 2 almost complete. I started the week by getting a new classroom, yes, I have already been through two classrooms before even meeting 1 student. When I arrived in my newly assigned classroom on my first day of teaching I realized quite quickly that there was a problem. My roster said 22 students, my quick count of the desks came up at 16.... students to arrive in T minus 5 min. I did not panic. Something I am very proud about. I simply scavenged some extra chairs, put the desks I did have into table configurations and put as many chairs as would fit around them and called it done. My saving grace is that I teach in a high school where coming to first period is not cool, so I had only 13 students on my first day, and everyone had a desk.
Another adventure in high needs, low budget school teaching this week is that I have no textbooks. OK I have one textbook... everyone kept assuring me the rest of them were in the book room, a mysterious place where books hide, it backs up to the technology closet and is kept just about as organized. But once I finally got someone to accompany me to the book room to show me where the books were hiding, they quickly caved and admitted that they were liars!- ok, they really said 'I thought they were here, maybe we don't have any other copies of that one'. (not a complete admission of lying but close enough for me) SO... maybe they can scrounge up some cash in the mid year budget to get me some books for my kids... maybe (meaning 'fat chance' based on the tone in which it was presented to me).
 Lesson 2: be a squeeky wheel.
Today I got a key to the teacher's lounge, a file number, access to the supply closet where they keep things like paper and whiteboard markers and added 4 desks to my classroom (and a promise for more to arrive over the weekend). All because I have been bugging the crap out of just about everyone. I do not recommend an all out onslaught of annoying whining at your new job, it is not the best way to win friends and influence people. However a sweet email and a reminder daily that you still can not access your lunch or that your kids don't have a place to sit if they come to class goes a long way. Redundancy is key, speak to people and then send an email anyway, talk to the principal AND the vice principal. Eventually someone will listen and you will WIN!
Random happy:
I taught a class how to play Go Fish today. :)

And the Adventure Begins

I stated last week.
On my first day I was introduced to a HUGE faculty handbook and then taken on a tour of the school. I got an office. Don't get too excited it is full of mouse droppings and has no window and is the size of your closet (if you have the kind that is NOT a walk-in). Then I got to go to the 'technology closet', which is apparently where computer's go to die. It is a closet full of working and mostly not working computer towers and monitors and more jummbled up, knotted up cables than you can imagine go to the pile of screens and towers available. It houses keyboards with not all of their keys and mice with no tails. And from there I was tasked with building a desktop computer for my new office. It took me several trial and error combinations and a few calls home to my handsome IT guy to get a setup that would power on. (I did almost cry) When I said I knew how to set up a desktop I assumed all the parts would be given to me and I'd have to figure out where they go- lesson 1: Be specific in your skill set-ask before agreeing to anything.
I spent the rest of the day trying to get the internet turned on in my office and planning lessons.
The next day, I met the technology guy (who was out the day before). He informed me that the faulty internet was the fault of my lovingly assembled desktop and promptly took it away with the prognosis that it would run just as slowly when he returned it, but it might connect to the internet. (Day 1 wasted.)
The rest of my week followed in suit, emails that seemed vague and like I was missing key facts needed to decode them; and locked doors... so many locked doors.
But the bright side is that the rest of the faculty seem genuinely nice and supportive.
Next week I meet the kids... and the adventure begins.

And They're Off

Today was Nick's first Backpack day! 

C's Day at the Zoo

My amazing husband along with C chronicled our most recent trip to the zoo.

All moving footage by J, narration and 'still shots' by C. 

I love them both.