3.5 days LEFT!

So, it's Monday. My school gets out at 11 am on Thursday. Really, after today, I only have 2.5 days left! Woo-hoooo!!! And, to make things better, I have had one of my best weekends since I've been in Nashville.

First, on Friday I caught up with some of my besties. :) There was way too much time between check-ins, and it was so happy to hear their voices. Then, the roomies and I went to eat Mexican and to see Blindside. It was amazing! I cannot believe it's taken me so long to see it. Sandra Bullock was WONDERFUL.

On Saturday, we did Holiday Cooking at Saturday school. My little bees were precious as we decorated cookies, dipped pretzels, and made Peppermint milkshakes. (sooo good--just holiday peppermint ice cream and milk). Then, I went and had an AMAZING lunch at Puffy Muffin (must get chicken salad or quiche!!) with a lovely friend and the roommates. Finally, Saturday was our teaching holiday party which I got all smoky-eyes and gorgeous for. (Thanks to KB's instruction--and I got 3 individual compliments!)

On Sunday, I went to church and met up with some church friends. We did lunch at McAllister's (sp?), which is one of my new faves. Then, we went to Franklin for this Dickens' Day. There were characters from A Christmas Carol just trolling around downtown. I mean, I watched Tiny Tim crutch on by and almost wept. It was too cool, plus there were all these fun craft vendors with really nice things. O got a PRECIOUS hand-crafted birdhouse for an absolute steal, and L got this amazing beaded-wire glass bowl for her sister-in-law. It was such a happy afternoon, which ended with Christmas worship at Grace. It was cold-chillingly good, and I was way impressed with the children's choir. Maybe it has something to do with growing up in the country music capital of the world, but those little kiddos could SING! I went to bed and got ready for work this morning completely refreshed. What a happy pre-Christmas break weekend!

Hope your weekend was happy, too! Falalalala--it's 11 days till Christmas!

Oh what a day!

Craziness. Well, actually, not that crazy. But definitely a little crazy.

My principal (who is amazing) just popped his head in my office. We had a brief meeting where he told me---MY ENTIRE JOB IS CHANGING. Well, maybe I shouldn't be that dramatic. But the kids I used to work with, I will no longer work with. Well, except a few. I don't really know. All I do know was that I was a little blown away.

I'm still processing for sure...

Still processing...

Okay, well maybe it won't be that bad. The only thing I'm really sad about is the fact that I won't see some of my precious bees on a regular basis anymore. :( That makes me very sad. But, I am totally on board with the changes. It will just be a very different spring.

On a much different note, I am FINISHED Christmas shopping. I haven't received everything yet, but it should all be somewhere in transit. This year I did 80% of my shopping online (up from 50% last year). Online is the way to go! I hate malls, but I especially hate Christmas crowds. What joy that I have not been in a mall since before Thanksgiving!! Thanks to some lovely deals, I almost got everything at a discount and shipped for free. Happy times. I have 4.5 days till Christmas break! Oh, and my 8-10 page paper---FINISHED! Really, I guess I should be celebrating this day. I will just worry about all the rest later.

Hope you are having a good day, too!

I cannot believe it's December!

Happy December! There are officially 24 days until Christmas, and I cannot believe it. This time last year, I was stressing about finals and Christmas parties. I had no idea that I had even gotten TFA. It's crazy to think about how quickly things can change...

Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving break. I had an absolutely WONDERFUL time with family and friends. It was so happy just to do nothing for a few days. Now, I'm paying for it a little. I am putting in some late nights to get caught up, but slowly it's happening. I feel like I am going to blink, and it's going to be Christmas break. We get out the 17th! That's only 16 days away (12 school days--not that I've counted). I am sad because the year will be half over, but I'm also thrilled to get to go home and be with the fam.

I'm so pumped for these next few weeks because they are filled with fun things. Tonight, I'm going to a little ladies get together with my church. This weekend, I am packing the roomies up to Ky for granny's Christmas events :). The week before we get out we have our school Christmas Choir concert and my LAST night class. (PRAISE THE LORD!). I cannot wait for December 17th!!

To celebrate 2010, I have ordered and received my new planner. This is probably the best planner ever, with pages for day-to-day broken down by times. I have used it since freshman year of college. There are lots of fun colors, and you can get your name embossed for a small charge. I encourage anyone seeking a fun planner to check out the website. It may seem expensive, but when you divide the total over 12 months, you can see the value.


http://www.jennibick.com/2005-moderno-planner.html

Hope you all are having a lovely start to December! Love!!

I miss my friends.

For the first time since graduation, I am in that place where I am really missing my UK friends. I'm especially missing the sisters and the Garden Girls.

Until now, I have been too busy to think about it. But since Halloween (and memories of suuuuper fun date parties and trick-or-treat nights), I am a little blue without them. It's sad to hear M & S talking about eating at Gattitown together (which I have been known to go eat at alone--best salad bar in Lex) and not be there with them. It's sad watching football games/basketball and not being anywhere close. I mean, I was never a diehard fan, but it was so much fun just to be there. I miss running into old friends on campus. I miss always having someone to go eat Cracker Barrell with. I miss stopping by the Pizzle house and seeing the babies and Mom C. I miss going to church on Sunday without J & J. I miss KB and EF and our happy house times together. It was such a wonderful senior year.

Oh boo, I guess I'm just a little blue. :( I need to make some calls.

Friday!!

YAY! This has officially been the fastest week ever. Yesterday went by suuuper quickly even though I had night class till 9pm. I cannot believe it's Friday. I mean, I'm pumped, but I still cannot believe it.

One of my little bees is really pushing it today. I took away her drawing in reading class, and she went ballistic and refused to do anything till I gave it back. Ooooh boy, was she mad at me!?! Then, (as I'm trying to use logic and tell her she can have it back when her work is finished), the lead teacher just took it. I'm so glad. I was about to have to throw it away myself just to show her she couldn't act that way. Luckily, he was the bad guy. Now she's mad at both of us, and for once, I'm kind of enjoying it. She was all singing in the hallway. I said "Be quiet," She looked at me and rolled her eyes and kept singing. The teacher came down and said "Who is talking? They need detention." Old girl stopped, and I said "What did you say Mr. ___, I don't think _______ believes us."

Oooh. If looks could kill. :) Guess who was (at least a little) the bad guy?

Have a great weekend!

My lunch today.

I am sitting here right now with one of my school's most notorious bees. Oh my, he is a mess in class. This little bee is just mean. He calls kids bad names (I mean, things that make kids cry), picks on really sad kids, and is SOO disrespectful to teachers.

Now, he is sitting here and telling me about going home and playing basketball. He is so sweet. He is telling me about his old school and how much he loved it. Apparently, he was kicked out for (guess what?) behavior. He wants to go back. I don't know if that is going to happen. I don't know what his deal is. I'm praying he can turn it around. He is so smart and wasting his brain because he keeps getting kicked out of class.

Poor precious bee.

I'm feeling bad.

Sinus infection. No good. I'm trying to get into the doctor. Apparently, two other teachers have fevers with this and are out of school. That could be me tomorrow. I must get some meds and take care of this.

On a happier note, I had a fantabulous weekend at home. My bees are being good today, and I made it to school on time this morning. I must try to focus on the good.

What I'm really wanting is a diet coke from Sonic. Maybe even a diet coke with vanilla. mmm... I have been off diet coke (and all caffeine) for 12 days now. The withdrawals were brutal (headaches at 3pm everyday!), but I have been feeling better. Now, I have a sinus headache and am just dying for that burn from a DC. Oh well. :( I will stay strong. Hope you're feeling better than I am.

Happy November!

I cannot believe Halloween and October are over! As those of you who know me well can attest, I am a HUGE decorator for holidays. It feels like I just put all my Halloween decs up, and now it's time to take them down. My little house hosted its first Halloween party on Saturday night for a bunch of teachers and friends. I was so excited that Lourdes and JB stopped by! Exciting times.

Yesterday (Sunday) was a HUUUUGELY productive day for me. I did one of my marathon Panera work days. I have not done once since I graduated from UK. It felt so good to get ahead for the first time all year. I even had some time to work on my room last night. I finally carried up some bookshelves and arranged knic-knacs. Very happy.

Must run and teach some bees to read! Hope you're having a happy day! Love to you all!

Joker vs. Batman

So when I interviewed for my teaching job, one of the teachers told me that the hardest part of teaching was having to be the Joker. I laughed it off and moved on. But now, I'm starting to see.

It really stinks having to be the bad cop. Thus far in my life, I have been pretty successful at being the mediator/good guy/Batman. My LEAST favorite part of teaching is having to drop the hammer.

Now when a little bee is being truly bad and deserves a consequence, I have no problem. I can be tough. It's when one of the little bees does something wrong on accident or shows extreme remorse that I struggle. I cannot play favorites or move on--I have to give them a consequence, too. And then they look at you with those puppy eyes, "Miss P, why would you do this to me?" they cry out to me.

It's hard because I'm all trying to shape them into productive citizens, help develop their moral code, and be tough but fair (blah, blah, blah). I really just want to scoop them up and tell them I love them and buy them ice cream so they won't be mad at me. I mean, it's really hard to go from people pleaser to stern disciplinarian. I can tell stories where I'm all hardcore, but that's when I'm working with a bee that I really love that I struggle. :(

Anywho, these past two days have been a little blue just because I've had to be really tough with my little precious ones. Oh, and my new night class started, and it's much harder than anticipated. I am trying to focus on the positive FB glow, but it's rapidly fading. Say a prayer than I can handle the pressure of being Joker. Sleep well!

Back to School!

Wasn't fall break happy? Wasn't it blissful? I CANNOT Believe it is over.

I know, I know. Most people do not get a FB at all. I do not know how I survived before this. It was absolutely wonderful.

However, now I'm back to school. Things are happy. I really did miss my little bees. They are being very good today. I'm showing them how much they've grown in reading during the short time that we've been working together. So far, they are thrilled. By far the best part of my teaching so far came before fall break when I called a grandparent and told them their grandson had moved up two whole letters in their reading level. Seeing his face as I bragged on him was just the most wonderful blessing a person could ask for.

Happy times. FB was good, but I'm glad to be back. Happy Monday!!

Where has October gone?

I cannot believe it's October 14th! LL's birthday has come and gone on the 12th. (Happy 18th!!) I feel like it was October 1st just the other day. Don't even get me started on how fast this week has gone by. Geezle. It's ridiculous.

Now, I'm two days away from Fall Break (Our last day with the bees is Thursday!) and nowhere near being ready. I still have at least 10 more kids to test, and I have a 4.5 page paper due tomorrow for my night class.

However, this does mean that I'm getting verra verra excited for all the glorious time off. I am still trying to decide if I am going to go anywhere. I would love to do a little 3 day trip with the granster and mom. Who knows if that will happen??

It's raining here, and I love rainy days. Hope you're having a happy day, too!

So far, so good!

Happy weekend with the fam! Lots of good Nashville eating (J. Alexanders, Dotson's, Vittles) and lots of exploration (the Hermitage, downtown Franklin, Henry Horton state park). All happy times, especially a special family experience on Sunday... :)

My dad's favorite part was the Hermitage (which was Andrew Jackson's home). He's a total history buff and was full of Old Hickory trivia. For mom, LL, and me trudging through the extensive farm/slave quarters/garden in the rain in church shoes was not the most fun. However, we have to make pops happy.

Mom and LL loved Franklin. The precious shops and restaurants. I visited Natticakes, which needs to be on anyone's list of Franklin-musts. Also, see Bathos, Shoppe on Main, and Lulu's. Sooo cute. My cousin (who lives there) even agreed it's almost creepy how cute it is.

Now, I'm back to school. All of the sickly teachers have returned, and things are back to normal. I am so thankful--I really missed them last week. My first group went SMASHINGLY, so here's hoping it's a happy week. Hope your Monday is going well, too!

FLU + sick teachers = CRAZO bees

Flu has struck my school. I did my part by staying home for a WEEK, but somehow it has still made it. Major bummer since two core teachers are absent today. At my school, we don't do subs. Ever. Which means, crazo day for the teachers that are here. It's like the bees can pick up on the stress of the grown-ups and start acting like a hot. busted. mess. Hm...

They are pretty out of control today. I've valiantly tried to act normal and keep up the routines. But it's NOT working. They still are trying to get away with any and everything. SO, I've decided to hide for a little while. Poor sick teachers...poor well teachers.

On a happier note, I had leftover pizza and salad for lunch. It was scrumptious. I highly recommend Jet's Pizza on Nipper's Corner. Mmm! Wait, I'm teaching the kids to avoid forms of "be" in their writing. So, try again--My leftover pizza and salad tasted scrumptious. Better.

Happy Monday!

I am so tough. I totally was mean today, and my kids totally went for it. I even called a parent tonight just to let her know about her busy bee. I mean, I'm still not the toughest teacher out there, but I'm starting to be more assertive and actually believe the bees will follow my directions. Victory!

Now, I'm watching House. Still haven't planted my mums or cleaned my bathroom. However, things are looking up. Oh, and my youngest sister ROCKED her thingy on Saturday. She was a star, and I'm so proud of her. Yesterday (Sunday) was one of the happiest ever. Amazing (and challenging) sermon and then complete relaxation with the fam. Then, I made it back in great time to school.

Let's all pray it's a happy week. I'm so blessed!

Thoughtful Thursday

I am feeling good today.

I mean, yes, my room recently flooded and books are everywhere. Yes, my busy bees are COMPLETELY insane. And yes, I still do not have one single picture, mirror, etc. hanging in my bedroom. However, I am still feeling good.

To be fair, I am a little worried about a couple of things. I'm worried about my friend in Spain. I have not even heard if her flight landed safely. I am a little worried about my youngest sister this weekend because she has to get up on stage and sing in front of lots of people. I am a little worried because I have night class at 5:30 and am always late. Finally, I'm a little worried because I'm not sure if I'm actually teaching my kids anything...

However, I am still feeling good. Hope you're feeling good, too!

It's been a good day.

Every day is a challenge, but every day good things happen. It's sometimes hard to remember all the good things but today I was reminded how important that is.

Last night, I woke up at 4 am with a horrible nightmare. I could not go back to sleep and stayed awake for over an hour. At some point, I must have gone back to sleep because that alarm scared me to death. It was a terrible dream about trying to escape and having no way to leave. None of the cars had gas, some had flat tires, etc. It was super weird and super realistic. I don't usually remember my dreams, so maybe it was the taco bell I had for dinner.

Anyway, my day started off a little fuzzy just because I didn't get enough sleep. Then, my precious busy bees were crazy as usual. I did get a little bit of "love" at breakfast from a few sleepy kids. However, for the most part, they were pretty crazo. Then, in one class, a student made a TRULY remarkable personal connection to a challenging text we were reading. I was so blown away (and almost in tears). It was a special moment and really helped to shape the classroom culture.

After that, my groups and the other classes were pretty chaotic. And tonight, I am probably going to be at school until 7pm. But I will stay positive and remember that comment all day. It was wonderful.

Oh and P.S. Another one of my little bees wrote in the comment section of the student survey "Why can't I go to recess?!?" :Z Good question.

Back to School!

After being out an entire week, I am headed back to school tomorrow. I feel like I'm starting a new job. A week is a long time to miss work, and I feel super out of the loop. Plus, I was feeling TERRIBLE!! This means I accomplished nothing so now feel super stressed AND super behind.

Please pray for me as I go back.

Plus, it's also the first day for me as far as working with small groups. I am starting that tomorrow. Oh my!

Oh happy day!

Sometimes our kids just blow me away. Today I asked a student to visualize a fight we read about in a book. I first got just a repeat of what the book said. Then I asked the student what the characters looked like. He proceeded to give me an exact description of each person, each gang member's outfit, shade of skin, and hairstyle. I was blown away. I asked him about what was going on. He said one of the gang members pushed the main character into a mailbox and that's how the fight started. Was there a mailox in the book? Absolutely not.

Whoa. Just a happy reminder that we are actually accomplishing something. Closing the AG one precious child at a time!

Oh me, oh my!

I was here till 7pm last night, and it's looking like another late one. I have a meeting that goes from 3:20-4 and another team meeting from 4-??. This is all well and good except for that one extra meeting I have beginning at 6pm tonight. Weekend, can you get here any faster?

Pray for peace and serenity...

Miraculous Monday?

Is it just me or our kids being really good today? I think there are record lows in our ISOlation Room. Maybe they are finally getting settled and becoming okay with the schedule. I definitely love our kiddos but they can be absolutely CRAZO sometimes.

Today was the first day I am actually following my pre-lunch schedule of push-ins. The first day went well but it was long. I thinking all those impromptu breaks I was taking are things of the past. We also had our first fire drill and it was so pretty outside that I didn't want to come back in.

Sometimes I feel bad that our kids don't get to go outside more often, especially on days like this where it's beautiful. Maybe I'm just happy because I had a lovely weekend at home, including swimming, time with the fam and friends, and lots of good food. That's making me thing of next weekend, which is going to be even better. Here's looking forward to a week from today---LABOR Day!!

TGIF!

I am feeling it today! Last night's class went ALLLLLLL the way till 9:30. :( That meant I didn't get home till 10ish and to bed till 11ish. Today, I feel like I'm in a fog.

HOWEVER, I'm going home today, which is very very happy. This weekend looks like sleeping in and swimming and visiting with the family. Hmm... Just four more hours!

Longgggg days...

Night class begins tonight. This means my all ready incredibly long day (6:30 leaving my house) to 5pm student dismissal turns into an even longer day with class going from 5:30-9:30. Oh my. I'm trying to be healthy and pack carrots and apples for snack but I may have to head for a route 44 Diet Coke in order to make it. All those who really know me know diet coke is a staple. However, I all ready had a large one from McDonald's this morning.

That is a lot of diet coke. I think I need more. Maybe I should see if there are stock options. I am headed home tomorrow, and that is keeping me SUPER pumped. I'm excited to see the fam!

Welcome to the world of blogging!

I cannot believe I am officially a blogger! Get excited for more new posts to come as I share with all my family and friends about my teaching experience!