Boooooo

It sure has been a while and yet I am still just as stressed as last week. Mom coming last weekend really did help though. She got me moving.

I just have to make it till Thanksgiving without having a mental or phyiscal breakdown...and then I will be okay. Three weeks...that's what I keep telling myself it least.

Instead of paying attention in math class, because it's just plain awful, Sabrina, Brenna, Lauren, and I play with our shape blocks. We are suppose to be learning how to use these to teach fractions (for FOUR weeks), but I think we all pretty much know how to do that. So, we play. This took Brenna and I a good fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes that I didn't have to listen to that woman talk. Well worth it...and it's pretty.

Bowen this week was busy. Busy busy busy. Or maybe I was just a bit more tired than usual? Not sure which one. Anyways, nothing out of the ordinary happened. I am starting some intervention work though with two of my students. They are on 1st and 2nd grade level reading. Very behind, poor things. They both have very committed families too. One of them really does need to be tested for special ed, the other just doesn't like to try. Although, the longer I am there the more she likes me. At the end of the day she asks if she can read with me. ....Anyways, I have to document what we do every week. If there isn't any documentation that they need to be tested it won't happen. I'm sure this will be an eye opening experience.

Tomorrow Lauren (the other methods 4th grade teacher) and I are going back to campus (on our lovely Friday morning) to work on our service project. I can't complain though...we are just helping the students make posters on bullying and then displaying them throughout the school. Fairly simple.

Normally I am not just suppppper excited about Halloween, but this year I have to say I am. I will be a bumblebee...it was the least trashy outfit I could find. It's actually pretty cute. It came with a stinger, don't ask me why, but it's one I dont plan on wearing.

The best part about this week .................... time change on Sunday. ONE extra hour of SLEEP!!!

I Was a Teacher!

I was a teacher today!!!!!

As a class, we discussed how reading a sentence can differ if it ends in a period, question mark, or exclammation mark. I paired off all the students, good readers with some that need help, funny with shy, and so on. Each group was given a short two page poem they practiced and then presented to the class. I didn't expect them to enjoy it, but they loved it! Mrs. Cade and I did it before to show them...mabye thats why. We made it look like fun. They did so well though and used expression. We had feet stomping and arms flying in the air. It amazes me how adorable they are. I call them my babies.

I was so nervous though. Mainly because Mrs. Cade was there. She asked me after school what I thought about the lesson. I told her I was actually kind of nervous. She said at one point she could tell I was a little nervous and remembered what that was like. She made sure to tell me that she would never be sitting there just critiquing me or judging me. After the lesson she gave me a little note telling me I did great, how great of connection I have with the students, and how much she appreciates me. I love her. If I dont get to be with her in the spring I will be devastated!!

Mrs. Cade gave me two pictures. One of the girls and one of the boys in the class. I tried to scan them, but it wouldnt work. Next week I will be sure to take my camera. I can't believe I havent taken any yet. Although, some schools wont let you take any without parental permission. Thats why I havent tried. Now I will....I need pictures of my babies!

And the procrastination goes on...and on...and on......

BOOK SALE !!!

While I was writing early this morning I completely forgot to provide a weekend recap. Finally Amber was actually in town!!! We hung out with our usually group of overly silly Aggie boys, along with a few graduates from West Point who are now in the Army living in Oklahoma. All the boys act like ten year olds, which is why they are so much fun! There is never a dull moment, never a smile that recedes ones face, or a laugh that isn't chuckling.





Friday night we all met to watch Josh dunk his ring. He did excellent....29 seconds, surprising us all. In addition to great chugging abilities, he tie dyed his own outfit. A head band and biker shorts....by far, the funniest thing I have seen in weeks!




Saturday all of us got up early. Well, as early as we could that is. ATM vs Tech was actually a bigger fight than expected. Not that I payed any attention....I learned a new game instead. It's called backyard golf. Two golf balls are attatched at the ends of a piece of rope. You throw the rope (by holding one of the golf balls) and try to ring it around one of three pieces of horizontally layed PBC pipe. Who has time to think of these things...Im not sure, but it was definitely fun...and I most defintely sucked at it.




Today at Bowen was fairly pretty quiet. The best part? Scholastic Book Sale OF COURSE! I got so excited when I walked in this morning to see the doors open, books waiting for me on crisp white shelves. I bought eleven....eleven well deserved and spectacular books that is!

After school I met Amber and Emily to head out on a mini roadtrip. Amber has been dying to get a puppy. She finally found a lady selling three Sheltie pups in Caldwell. We packed in Amber's small white mustang and headed down the highway. Three babes, big sunglasses, and the radio blasting. We make our turn onto private road 1007 and journey down a long narrow gravel road. We are what seems to be near this "puppy farm" house (as Mom calls it) when we see large bumps of unsettled sand and gravel. The road dips and rises. Clearly they didn't see if necessary to level the gravel they had recently placed on the road. Amber slowly drags her low car along the gravel before stopping halfway. We all had realized the cliff of gravel that lied ahead us would be impossible. Thank God for cell phones...she called the lady.

This lady, who must spend all day outside and have smoked for half her life, agrees to meet us where we are stopped. After Amber gets off the phone, she proceeds to try and turn her car around. In the process we manage to get stuck horizontally in this narrow road. We can go no more than a foot in front of or behind us, and our wheels are burried deep in sand. Luckily, the lady arrives quickly as well as the neighbors whose house we are sitting in front of. It took about 15 minutes, but the neighbor and his young son were eventually able to pull us out, but not without sand and dirt flying ten feet in the air....all toward us. .... The pups were adorable and Amber is desperate for one. Don't we all the moment we hold them! If she does end up buying the puppy I think she will be sure not to take her car back to get it!!!

Tomorrow I will be teaching my first actual lesson. Up until now I just helped out or did the daily warm ups for langauge and math. The lesson has to do with fluency and expression when reading. Two students will be paired, each with a set of lines. They will practice together and then present their poem/story to the class using as much expression as possible and reading fluently while doing so. I'm not exactly having to teach anything, it's mostly the students working. Although, I'd much rather be walked into the lesson process than thrown.

I should be Sleeping ~

Do you ever turn off your lights,

Pull up the covers,

Try to fall asleep

But all these thoughts and ideas keep popping up in your mind?

BAM!

Like a kernel to popcorn.

Pop Pop Pop!

You're doing your best to

override the little leeches,

But

They are screaming at you.

Listen to Me!

Whirling around

Like some tornado thats impossible to hide from.

Racing...

Wheels turning

Hundreds

of miles per hour.

Tonight,

My mind did just that.

Future ...Eeek...

What a scary thought.

Schools and Teaching... Goodness...

How Overwhelming.

Money...UGH...

I might just die!

If you had asked me

A day ago,

One week,

Or a month past

I would have told you

"Anywhere, but here."

Take me as far away from this land

of Maroon and White.

I'm in need of some

Blues, and Golds,

and Greens.

Yet,

All of the sudden it doesn't

Look so

Bad.

Currently,

Bowen Elementary has

Only

Three fourth grade teachers

and room for

four.

Whats missing?

Social Studies of course...

I finally realized

That if I was given the

Opportunity

To interview and maybe take

On that position

I would do it

In a Snap!

Snap! Snap! Snap!

Molly is staring at me

Like I'm some

Crazy

Person.

One a.m. and I'm typing

some silly blog.

Shes begging me to turn the lights

Off.

Maybe my mind is at peace now.

It can rest since my thoughts

Have been put down.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

A Love Story

The best part of my day was listening to my fourth grade mentor teachers discuss their love stories. My teacher, Elizabeth, met her husband at the blossoming age of fourteen. They have been inseparable since. They now have two children, one a senior in high school, the other in middle school. She says hes the best man she has ever known.

But here's the real kicker. The story that made my heart jump and flutter. The story that makes you think fairy tales really can come true....depending on your interpretation of a fairy tale that is....

Lauren's mentor, Nona, had her fair share of failed relationships. She dated the bad, the ugly, and the worse. Sometimes all in one as she will say. After quite some time she took advice from her mother. Her mother began to tell her an interesting story of her own that has stuck with her to this day. When her mother was younger she wrote down everything she wanted in a man...kind, giving, respectful...you get the drift. She placed the list in her Bible and exactly a year later from that date she met Nona's father. Nona thought What the Heck! What do I have to lose? She thus set out to create her very own list of qualities she thought she deserved from a man, actually knew she deserved

On July 16 she placed the list in her Bible and forgot about it. ....Time went by and she continued to work at the vet's office as a receptionist. One day a man walked in, one she described as a "big guy" carrying a kitten. His kitten was treated, he was friendly with her, and went on his way. That night she received a call from the handsome kitten man... at home, somehow he had tracked her home number. He played it off well, stating he had with a question about the cat's medicine. He asked her out on a date and since then, well, the rest is history. They have twin daughters in first grade and a younger daughter as well. .............And do you know the exact date he walked into that clinic...Yes, it was July 16th. A year from the date in which she scribbled down everything she wanted in a man. She said later on she went to the checklist and saw the date. She then went down every item...he got a check for all!

<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

Needless to say, I have made my list and its tucked tight in my Bible.

Snakes and Lizerds

I made up my mystery absence on Friday. Mrs. Cade told me all the students were wondering where I was. Even students came up to me asking where I was Wednesday and if I felt better....guilt trip or what!!! Now I can never miss again.

Friday was pretty easy. The students had an award assembly in the morning so the day went by fairly quickly. At lunch the tattoo parlor closed...for good. Another parlor started up and the fights began. Bad for business the original parlor said. A fight ensued, thus foreclosure took place. None of them were very happy.

The best part of Friday was as school was letting out. The girls always come up and give me hugs, not the boys though. One boy in particular, the round black boy I wanted to draw a few weeks ago during testing, is very shy and doesnt like to be touched much (Itleast thats what Mrs. Cade says). So in the past I've made sure just to pat him on the back or give encouragement through words. But Friday afternoon as the bell was ringing, he came and hugged me. I got the biggest smile on my face. Thats when you know youre doing something worthwhile!

This weekend was very relaxed. Saturday I didnt get out of pajamas till 5...it was great. Actually I can say the same for today...its 4 p.m. and I am in pajamas. LAZY!!!

These are pictures some of the girls have drawn for me. I especially like the t-shirt drawing. Lizerds....how cute is that!! Those drawings make my day :)

A Shady Tree To Learn Under

My morning did not begin well. The alarm clock did not bang, it did not ring, it didn't even whisper a soothing melody. My eyes opened as school began this morning at 7:30 a.m. I was then forced to call in and give an excuse (a.k.a a lie) for not being able to go. Mine was a sore throat and congestion. That'll do right? I have NEVER missed an observation day in my life. Of course it happens with the teacher I love the most! I plan to make up Friday....my day to sleep in. Whoever invited alarms is stupid in my opinion. All it has done is create havoc. What happened to the days when we were simply woken up by God's sunlight and began our day then???

I can't say much took place today. Ran a couple errands, went to the gym, worked on a little project I have due in a couple weeks, walked with Holly, and then read countless pages out of my pointless math book. I'm pretty much screwed tomorrow. I read most of the stuff, not all though. I dont have time to read 6 chapters. I read a good 3, the chapters that we were quizzed on. Although I'm not sure my brain retained much of it. It's all just kind of jambled and scattered in there....floating in wide open space. But a space that causes it to disorient itself and makes that sound when you come to a radio station that doesn't exist...SHHHHHHHHHHH

Tomorrow will undoubtedly be one of the longest days ever. Yes I am being dramatic. Thursdays just really suck. I wish we could learn outside under a shady tree or take a walk, but instead we are stuck in a classroom with few, if any, windows and flourescent lighting. I know how the kiddies feel. And instead of learning of helpful websites, how to read TAKS scores, or creating unique units....we are playing with base ten blocks. Sticks and little cubes. As you can tell, I'm rather bitter about this semester. I'm still waiting for the fun to come.