And I Was Doing So Well...

...on blogging consistently that is.

The truth is I got deathly sick. Okay, not so much deathly, just sick. But the thought of sitting upright when I could be laying down wasn't kosher with me. Sorry 'bout that. At some point in my illness I was delirious. Jamie alleges (since I don't remember) that I was scared of the "blue men trying to sit on my head and suffocate me" and that when Jamie told me there were no blue men, I was convinced that he was tryin to kill me and started crying.

Weird. I wish I remembered that.

Anyway, I'm all better now. Thanksgiving break makes it even better. We had a successful night last night -- Jamie's brother and his girlfriend are here for the week and I attempted my first Thanksgiving dinner. All in all it was a success! Yummy turkey, (tofurky for Jamie), stuffing and gravy, sweet potatoes, corn bread, cranberry sauce, stuffed mushrooms, brie and brown sugar, candied walnut and apple salad, and of course pumpkin pie. And no disasters. Sweet.

Also, the kiddies were AMAZING on Wednesday. I was bracing myself for the worst -- supposedly the day before break is always the worst -- but they were incredible. They were respectful. There were times when you could hear a pin drop in my classroom because they were so busy working on a creative writing. All around lovely.

Now, I must try and survive the mountains of work that piled up when I was sick from school for two days. Boo.

Will post again soon.

The Other Shoe.

Of course, the day after I have the "I-love-my-job" moment, I have the worst day yet. Honestly, everything was chaos today.

The guest reader showed up twenty minutes late -- two seconds after I decided that the reader would not be showing up and therefore had began my lesson.

Alexis.

I got called out of my class to attend an IEP meeting (for a special ed kid) -- right as I sit down to read our comprehension story to my kids. We are already behind two days in reading comp. As I walk down the hall, I pass my Johns Hopkins advisor who did not get my message about said meeting and was on her way in to do my official observation. She was not pleased.

Came in all flustered because the meeting was chaotic. Did not know where to pick up with my kids who had been left in the hands of a substitute. Botched the rest of my observation.

Missed my lunch because I was busy lecturing children about respect. Made three students burst out crying when I told the class that "it hurt my heart that they could be so disrespectful to each other and to me after I work so hard for them". Missed my planning period because I was busy holding resource detention and calling parents. Am hungry. One grandparent comes to my classroom and proceeds to beat his grandson's ass in the boys bathroom across the hall. I finally shed a tear on schoolgrounds.

I now have no voice whatsoever and a fever. Any pipe dreams of skipping work tomorrow are out the window as another teacher just walked out of her classroom today and quit. We had no substitutes before...we have negative substitutes now. Those kids are going to be dispersed among different classrooms until we get one. Not looking forward to having 1st graders sitting in the back of my classroom tomorrow.

I have to redo several report cards now.

P.S. Isn't it funny how I assumed I would be too busy to post on this, the day of my blog's birthday, a few days ago. I have no faith. Happy birthday blog.

What is This? A Freshman Dorm??

There is the slight possibility that I have strep throat...and I am not happy about it. For serious.

I have decided that I really like teaching science. I really wish we had more than a 20-minute period to teach it. Also, it kind of gets shit on for being the last 20 minutes of the day.

Today wasn't a particularly good day -- but it wasn't a bad day either. On the way to a meeting for TFA...I actually stopped and thought to myself: I really love what I'm doing. I love being a teacher. I love being one of the most important adults in the lives of my students right now (aside from family of course). I love that a smile from me, or a pat on the head from me can make their faces light up. The job that I have right now is a really good one.

It's too bad it's kicking my ass most of the time.

Munday.

This is going to be a pretty crap week. I'll post if I survive it.

On today's agenda:

-Turning in Report Cards
-Being Observed by the Assistant Principal
-Visit from the Superintendent and the State Senator
-Meetings until 8pm
-My students bouncing off the walls and fighting

Goody.

Happy Birthday.

Officially, I know it hasn't been a year. But I also know that come the 16th, I will be so busy with planning and what-have-you, that I will not have the time to give a proper post. Therefore, I would like to commemorate the 1st birthday of this blog a couple days early.

So, to prepare for this post, I checked out some of my first posts ever. I can say that I am sufficiently embarrassed. If this were a paper journal I would have impulsively ripped out and burned those pages (at least that's what precedent would suggest). But, I will grin and bear it.

It's pretty great to see how much things have changed in a single year. A year ago, I was complaining about a 5-minute mini lesson that I would have to give in front of 12 "students". Now, I have 8 hours of that every. single. day. And in front of 20 bipolaresque hooligans.

It's also nice to see how my life hasn't changed. I still cannot sit down and do work without a little bit of procrastination. Seriously. I need help. And I'm still pretty fond of:


...this guy.

Anyway, that guy just came into remind me that I have to figure out and record 20 report cards for tomorrow (of which I have not officially graded a single thing -- all year) and that I should procrastinate no further. Boo.

P.S. Happy Real Birthday to Scott: the best little brother I never had.

What Happens When You Have...

...two recent college grads, living in an apartment together, one of whom goes to law school full-time, and the other who makes a meager living by being an elementary school teacher at an area 3 school, over a week's (more like three) worth of laundry, and washing and drying machines that cost $1.50 per load (I know, ludicrous)?

You get this:


Laundry Explosion!

In My Thoughts.

Today I learned that a friend of mine lost her arm in a bus accident yesterday and it gave me another one of those "life is so fragile" feelings. She is a beautiful and strong human being and I know that she will survive this with so much grace and positivity, but I cannot help but be so angry at how unfair life can be.

Fridays are so good.

The quarter is up. I cannot believe how fast it went! Although I feel like I have been teaching forever...every minute in the classroom is on fast forward, and every week speeds by. Report cards are due and I feel like I'm just now getting the hang of things. Sad.

I do think this bodes well for the rest of the school year. I've been told that the first stretch of school is the hardest and that if you can survive through Thanksgiving you're in the clear. Let's hope this next week doesn't completely crush me.

P.S. I'm taking the camera to school with me tomorrow -- you should be seeing some lovely picture of the classroom (sans kids, of course).

Hotness in a Pink Jumpsuit.

I know I promised (or at least implied) a bunch of pictures from this weekend. Sadly, I am a pooface and forgot to bring my camera to each and every outing. I remembered to pack it in my bag and took it with me to Massachusetts, mind you...I just never took it out that last mile from the hotel in which I stayed to Williams. Lame, I know.

BUT, I did have a great time seeing my friends -- it was incredible to me to see just how many '04 alum actually came back! I managed to see most everyone that I had aimed to see, but since I was only there for a little over a day (arrived late on Friday and left early Sunday) I didn't really get to see anybody as much as I would have liked. It felt so rushed. Still it was great (and surreal) to see what everyone was up to.

If anything it made me realize that I need to do a better job keeping in touch with people...

New Strong Bad. I mention it because it has an awesome homage to a childhood pasttime of mine. Actually, more of a childhood pasttime for my brothers -- I was always the lame little sibling who watched the big kids play video games rather than actually play them. I'm including it because I know Dave will appreciate it. (Wait 'til the paper comes down and then click on "Strong Bad"...it's awesome).

On the Ups...

Today would have been a great day if it weren't for the last five minutes of class. My students were learning, they were quiet and well-behaved. They were respectful and all around lovely.

Then, Alexis decided to leave school early and shit hit the fan. It ended with her mother calling the assistant principal some bad bad words. Wah.

The good news is that tomorrow I will be heading to Williamstown for the much awaited Zero Year Reunion and Homecoming...and more importantly, to see my beloved friends who I miss dearly. Many good stories (I'm sure) and pictures to come! For now I must de-snot my nose and lesson plan. Oh and pack for the trip!

UNLESS

Not feeling the Johns Hopkins love tonight. Head is full of snot and is also pounding. Not happy that I just got home and that I have five lesson plans to write. Boo.

Also not feeling America right now. Seriously, if I am going to be spending my time teaching it...

So this morning I woke up with half a voice. I decided to tough it out at school and pleaded pathetically to my children to not make Ms. U raise her voice. They were sweet and caring for the first 25 minutes of school. Then all hell broke loose. I realized that if I do lose my voice what I end up with is a horrible wheezy, raspy, animal-like, screeching noise that actually does a good job of getting their attention. I have to make a note of that.

Snot Monster.

I am seriously checking the polls every two seconds. My stomach is in knots. (Help!)

Today was a pretty unproductive day (of course). I did little to advance myself along in my lesson planning. Instead I sat around feeling sorry for myself and blowing my nose. I am playing with the idea of taking a sick day tomorrow -- but I am of the "boy-who-cried-wolf" paranoids who thinks that if I take a sick day tomorrow, next week I will be stricken with a severe case of almost death and will lack the chutzpah and the sick days to take a day off.

Plus, I'm thinking of taking a half-day on Friday so that I might be able to take off at a reasonable hour for the 7-hour road trip to Williamstown. Homecoming! Friends! Nostalgia!

Therefore, I must grin and bear it. Hopefully, my kids will take pity on my non-voice and runny nose. Unlikely, I know.

Democrats Vote on Tuesday. Republicans Vote on Wednesday.

My throat is so sore. With each swallow I am dying a little bit inside. Luckily, I have tomorrow off so I get to sleep in and basically feel sorry for myself allllllll day. Oh...and maybe some lesson planning.

My stomach is in knots about this whole election business. Although, after living with Jamie (who's life has been almost completely consumed by the elections) I feel like I've been relatively blase about the whole thing. Right now, he's driving to Philly to help protect voter's rights -- like the good little citizen that he is. I, on the other hand, am just watching movie after movie and drinking hot tea. Oh, and I'm really hoping that Kerry will win.

Kerry would want me to be healthy.