Our Own Concert

My kiddo's had a project to build their own instrument to wrap up our sound unit. There were some good ones!! I am always amazed!! Anyway, here they are putting on their concert today ~ comical! It's only 52 seconds of torture! ha!

PS....only one day until SCRAPBOOK RETREAT!! yeehaw!

Wordless Wednesday: PJ Day at School

Almost Monday already?

Time flies!! It can't almost be Monday already! I haven't had a weekend yet!!! Seriously, last week was yuck - way too much going on and my stress was HIGH. I had a full blown migraine by Friday night. But, it is all over now. That week is behind me, AND I got all my work done - masters work - check, all papers graded - check, entered in edline - check, interims printed and complete - check, parent conference forms typed and ready - check! As a result, I refuse to bring ANY work home this week! :-) It all stays at work ~ especially since I have to stay and hold parent conferences all week.

Remember the best way to handle overload? Reward system! heehee! So.....I have my eye on the prize this week...the countdown is ON! I can make it through this week to get to SCRAPBOOK RETREAT WEEKEND! Yee-haw!!

WANTED

One assistant who can...
*answer a steady stream of emails from parents all day
*document the behavior of all students each day
*answer phone calls
*collect money for a Valentine party
*schedule parent conferences and accommodate all parents (even the ones who DON'T follow the directions on the sign-up form you send out)
*grade papers
*enter all grades into edline
*answer MORE emails regarding grades
*print interim reports
*write conference forms
*print conference forms
*write lesson plans
*return MORE emails
*counsel students
*run errands for supplies needed for lessons

If I can find an assistant to have all this completed by Monday, you are hired, and I MIGHT get my assignments done for my Master's class! Oh, and did I mention it doesn't pay....

Kid Talk

Here is a good funny for you ~ I was told that there was some inappropriate conversations taking place in the cafeteria at the table with my class. So, in case, you weren't aware, teachers are also investigators. We have to get to the bottom of all of these situations all while trying to teach...but anyway, I start calling a few kids one at a time into the hall to question them. And here is one of the conversations that made me giggle inside, because I couldn't show my expressions to the kid.

Me to girl student: Did you hear any of the boys talking about inappropriate things at lunch?

girl student: oh, yes ma'am

Me: What did they say?

girl student : well, Ms. J, they were talking about balls. And, not the good kind.

Heehee! Not the good kind!

It's Santa!

I've been traveling Arkansas again since Friday, so I'm going to backtrack and tell you about Friday first! :-)

Friday was a good day!! I had my most successful school Christmas party in 11 years of teaching - awesome room mom this year!! AWESOME! We had a craft station, a game station, and a food station. They rotated through in small groups and PARENTS ran each station - fabulous!! Plus, I got some really good teacher gifts! ha!

At 2:25, I breathed a sigh of relief that I had finally made it to Christmas Break! Woo-hoo! Two weeks off!! I loaded up all my loot and headed out of town. Stop 1 was the Christmas program at John 3:16 Ministries....and guess who was Santa for the kids???

Recognize that face? hee-hee! Kevin made a great Santa!! One kid was in such awe that he just stood in the aisle jumping up and down! ha! It was a great program and a good start to a holiday filled weekend.

After the program, I headed to Mom & Dad's to spend the night...tune in tomorrow to see pics of our Christmas Adventure...and an adventure it was!

What? A free day???

The weather is looking like I may get a free day off tomorrow!!
Not snow though, just ice - bummer! But still, a free day off!
Everyone cross your fingers and toes!! hee-hee!
*updates tomorrow....

Cranky

I am in a funk...a cranky funk...and I am going to let it carry over into tomorrow so I can be a "mean teacher" because my kids were horrible for the sub today! Why am I cranky you ask? Oh, let me count the ways...

1. I suck at crafts. How do people wrap presents with all those cool bows and ribbon? I thought I would try it today. It looks like a 10 year old wrapped my presents!

2. Christmas planning...urgh! It stresses me to even think about it. Usually it isn't such a big ordeal but with Kevin getting to come home for two days (but with restrictions) and me wanting to be where he is, well, it complicates things. Of course, there is the big question of what to do with the dog...you know, my spoiled, rotten, high-maintenance, dog aggressive, separation anxiety, scared of storms dog? Yep, gotta figure out what to do with him....jeez! I know there are those of you that are saying he is just a dog - board him or have someone come over and throw some food his way, but I refer you back to separation anxiety dog. Plus the fact that he is not just a dog to me. He is my only companion in life that has never, ever let me down. So, I try to return the favor.

3. Then, there is my class. I got a 2 1/2 page email from the sub today. The sub that I made special arrangements to have so they could have a nice day. I should've just left it to the system and let them have any old sub. This sub is a parent of one of my kids and was mortified at their behavior. They were so disrespectful. Oh....they will regret coming to school tomorrow, I promise you that! I can't believe how they acted.

4. And, lastly, let's just be honest for a minute. I didn't play hookie from school today to go Christmas shopping. Today was Kevin's court date for his DWI. I mean, I didn't come out and say to everyone (some knew) that he got arrested for drinking and driving, but I hinted at it. And, you had to know something serious went down for me to finally give him the ultimatum of 'moving out and it's over' or 'going to rehab'. So, today was my first time in a courtroom. I didn't like it and don't ever want to go back. He got a hefty fine, a choice between 10 days in jail or 20 days of community service, a 10 hour class on alcohol and self-help, and 2 year suspended license. Good times! You know I HATE drinking and driving, H.A.T.E. it! And, I am all for consequences for your actions. But my palms were still sweating and I was still nervous for him because I love him. Do I love him enough to drive him around for 2 years? Well, yes, of course I do. As long as he also rides a bike some and walks some! :-) Live and learn.... It could have been so much worse. He could've killed someone that night. That is something he couldn't live with and neither could I.

So there you have it, my very solid reasons to be in a cranky mood. Don't tell me to cheer up...I will tomorrow at 2:25!!

Parents and Teachers...

...check out this cool website a parent uses in my classroom.

www.spellingcity.com

Awesome for practicing spelling words - right?
Tasha, I bet Hannah would love it! :-)

It's all good!

How 'bout the sharing of some good news???!!!

• First, I got not one, but TWO letters from Kevin today! And, one was a love letter!! Gush - Gush! I haven't gotten one of those in years!! I'll give one line from it, but the rest is mine ~ he said, "You brighten my life, my spirits, my emotions." Yep, it was a good letter! I've read it three times already and cried (happy tears) twice! :-)
• My principal observed me earlier this week. Cross that off the list! Whew ~ it's over! I have taught 11 years now and still hate observations. But, I couldn't have paid my kids to be any better! Wow! They were awesome, and I didn't even bribe them! ha! AND, my principal left a sweet note on my desk. She told me I was a doll! It is my week for nice letters!!
• Lastly, I have two good friends who have decided to start their own blogs. Go show them some love if you get a chance. Becca at Happily Ever After is Right Now... (Isn't that a cute blog name?), and Jill at All About Beckett (I couldn't convince her to scrapbook, but I may have her blogging! ha)

Have a great weekend!! I'll update on Sunday after I see Kevin!

T.G.I.F.

Happy it's Friday for several reasons:

**I have my last conference!! Woo-hoo! (even if it is with hip dad)
**It's scrap night! YIPPEE!!! Good food, good company, and scrappin'!!
**After tomorrow, I only have one, yes ONE, class left for this Master's class I am taking. Then, I get my Saturday's back for awhile! Maybe my yard will get mowed...ha!
**Only two days until I get to see Kevin! :-)

Happy Friday!

Yada-Yada

Here's what is going on around LoriLand:

• What did Simba do this week??? Well, you know he did something because he's always in trouble!! This, in my opinion, may be his worst one yet. He brought in a HUGE rat. Yep, you read that correctly. AND, he dropped it in the middle of the living room floor. It wasn't dead. There was A LOT of screaming!! Simba got a spanking so hard that it hurt my hand! ha! And, my neighbor had to come help me get the rat out from under the entertainment center...the big, heavy entertainment center!! Doggie doors are great, unless you have a hunting cat!!!
• Tomorrow we have a field trip at school. I love them, and I hate them. I worry about loosing a kid every time! I count them constantly! ha! We are suppose to have a picnic lunch after, so I hope it doesn't rain....
• It's also red ribbon week at school or Drug Free Week. Here is our bulletin board...I visualized it cuter than it turned out, but it will do! :-) They are suppose to be ghosts...can you tell they are ghosts? You won't hurt my feelings if you can't tell!
• In the news around here (and nationally), one of the local news anchors was brutally attacked in her home earlier in the week. It has just weighed on my mind what this girl has had to endure. She is still in critical condition. When you say your prayers, say a prayer for her and her family. They don't know yet if it was random or if she was targeted because of being on tv, but it has reminded me to be on higher alert and aware of my surroundings. Let's just say my pistol is A LOT closer to me and easier to reach. Don't even think about pulling a prank on me b/c you may get shot!
• Oh, that parent conference with "nice hips" dad isn't until Friday...for all of you inquiring minds! I saved the best (or most awkward) for last! LOL!
• Lastly, SCRAP NIGHT is Friday night!! Woo-hoo!!!!

Buried under work...

Four days without students! Tomorrow is Teacher Record Day and boy do I have records to work on!! I have to put stuff back on walls from the painters AND finish up grades, enter them in the computer, print grade reports and a few other reports, fill out report cards, fill out parent conference forms, fill out AIP's, get organized for next week, AND fill out paperwork and plan a lesson for an observation by my principal. Think I can get all that done in the 4 hours I am on contract tomorrow? No...probably not. I am betting it will be tomorrow ALL day and some of Saturday. It will get done though, and I will be ready for my parent conferences Monday!! (except for maybe that one - see post below!) ha!

Have I done anything for my Master's class that is Saturday? NO! I have been catching up on grading papers and entering grades in the computer all week. Who the heck has time to read chapters? I hope I can flub my way through...surely I can! :-)

I am going to visit Kevin again on Sunday, so that is my shining, happy moment for the workload lately.

Seriously???

An actual conversation in my classroom today:

Student: Ms. J, my daddy said he thinks you are cute.

Me: That's nice. Compliments are always nice.

Student: He thinks you are real cute.

Me: Ok. Now, let's get on task.

Student: My daddy said you have nice hips too.

REALLY???? Who SAYS that to their child about his TEACHER???? Give me a break!!
Now, how am I suppose to conference with this man next week? Jeez!
Is it just me or is this highly inappropriate???

Did I tell you?

**My classroom was painted, and I had to put EVERYTHING in the middle of the room...Friday was miserable! Today, the kids helped me put it back together and tomorrow things should be back to normal. That being said, I still smell paint, and I've been home for HOURS!

**My niece, Tayhlor is spending the week with me. My Bubby is out of town. I get to practice this mom thing and send her home at the end of the week. Ha! So far, so good. Although, I don't think she was impressed with my chili dogs tonight. :-)

**My midterm is Saturday...already!

**Only 6 more days, and I finally get to see Kevin! Yee-haw!

I'm not even making this up!

Just a sneak peak into my day ~ keep in mind ALL the following events at school happened BEFORE noon!

**Within the first 5 minutes, I had to send a student to the nurse because his head was STILL bleeding from getting hit with a belt buckle. Urghh!! He ended up having to leave school and go to the doctor. It was that bad! I am not even going to go on my rant about the services that are suppose to be in place to help these kids...

**By 9:30 am, I had a student throw up in the floor. Bless her heart! I had just called mom to come pick her up too. Some kids you can just tell when they don't feel good. She didn't have fever but I knew she looked miserable and then....wham! Clean up on aisle 3!

**As that happens, my "slightly off balance" child starts to have a panic attack because there is vomit in the floor. I put a stop to that real quick. Ms. J ain't playing these days guys!

**And, here is an actual conversation in my room that I overheard while we were lining up to go to the restroom.

Student 1: X humps his dad at night.

X: No I don't! I don't even have a dad!

Student 1: Everybody has a dad.

X: Then why haven't I ever seen mine?

(Jeez! This conversation is wrong on SO many levels! Of course, we had the big "go out in the hallway boys" talk.)

**Oh, and let me not forget one of my sweet girls getting called fat by one of the boys on the way to lunch. Wonder if she ate?

That is my day. That didn't even include cleaning up from having a sub yesterday, getting the interim reports ready that were due today, answering a billion emails, documenting all the extra drama that happened today, and trying to set up for tomorrow. Yep, work definitely takes the mind off things! HA!

Then, I got home and started scrubbing the kitchen. Every night I am tackling a different room. The kitchen may take a few nights. That was one of Kevin's main areas! ha! As I am cleaning, I am on the phone with Sandy, one of my BFF's and she says "hey, go look on your front porch." And look what I found:

My friends are the BEST! She even got the right flavor of poptarts. You all did know there is only flavor that counts right? I am covered now in the poptarts and Dr. Pepper area!!! Thanks Sandy! I loved it!!! :-)

Give me the weekend please!

I need the three day weekend coming up just to get caught up. I have stayed late everyday. There is so much to do at the beginning of the school year. It is crazy!! See, there is a reason we get the summer off - to stay sane from all the running the rest of the year. Unlike other jobs, all of our stuff has to wait until after school or the weekend b/c we can't do it while we have kids in the room (at least not if you are a good teacher and actually TEACHING). But anyway, I could get way off topic with that.

There was a reason I had nightmares before I got my class this year...they are somewhat true. What a group!! I had one have crying, screaming melt-down today. Wow! What a fit! Haven't seen one of those in awhile. Funny thing - the parents are not returning my calls....hmmmm??

I am ready for the weekend, and Autumn's horse show. I think all of us adults are as excited as she is...I just finished making her sign for her stall with her horses name on it. I hot glued his name in rope onto a board I spray painted red. It looks cute but I burned the heck out of my finger on the hot glue. OUCH!! Here is the sign though...Kevin says I should be proud ~ what cha think Mom?

Everyone have a good, safe weekend! I plan to family and nap it up! hee-hee!

I love the reward system!

It was the first week of school ~ new kids, alarm clock, getting organized...so much work and stress. Of course, I had to reward myself at the end of it! If there were no rewards waiting for me, how could I get through it? hee-hee!

So, on my way home Friday, I stopped at Pier 1 and splurged on this director's chair. I have been wanting for my classroom. Two of my teaching buddies have one, and I love them! Becca's is denim and has her name embroidered...very cool! But here it is...yep, my first reward! ($75 dollars that I really didn't have but oh well, every now and then, you gotta go off-budget to stay sane!)

(I don't have it pushed down all the way b/c I have to fold it back up to put in the car.) Then, Saturday, me and my peeps (Peggy and Sandy) took one of our 'field trips'. Peggy got on-line and searched for scrapbook stores in Arkansas. We decided to visit the one in White Hall. It was awesome!! She had renovated an old house and had it set up in there with antiques for sale too. We also found a neat sandwich place for lunch with yummy desserts. Girls days are the BEST! (and it's a bonus when scrappin' enters the picture somehow)
Then, today after church, Kevin made us lunch. That boy can COOK! You gotta give him that!

Tune in tomorrow for more on our church search and....drum roll....Kevin's hair cut!! woo-hoo!

This week FLEW by...

I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already!!! The first week of school is almost behind me ~ crazy! It's been quite a week too. My class is an interesting group. Right now, I am just having to be a lot more strict than I like to be, but I know it will pay off in the end. When I have time to breathe, I will fill you in on some of our "issues"....I may need some advice from some of you Momma's and teachers out there! ha!

I definitely need a reward tomorrow. I am going to stop at Pier 1 on the way home and see if they have one of those tall director's chairs for my room. I want one BAD! Then, on Saturday, I have a girls afternoon planned complete with a trip to a new scrapbook store! woo-hoo!!

I'll leave you with this ~ I made hallway passes this year out of clothespins. I thought it was a great idea. It was cheap for when they lose them (which they will), easy b/c I just spray painted them and wrote hall pass on them with a sharpie. Done! The best part was that I told them to pin them to their shirt or collar ~ that way they would never touch the nasty bathroom floor. Passes always end up on the nasty bathroom floor. Then, I never want to touch them! Well, today, one of my children clipped it to the inside of his nose ~ ewwww!! and ouch! (LOL!)

**I will catch up on blog reading this weekend ~ promise! :-)

First Day of School

First day is over, and I am one tired teacher! I love the excitement of the first day and the nervous feeling, but it sure is a draining day! My feet are killing me! ha! I can honestly say this is an interesting group...there weren't many first day jitters...as in, how to put this? They certainly weren't shy and quiet like kids normally are on the first day. I think I have a talk-a-lot group! I have 21 on my roll now and out of that 21, only 10 were at this school last year. That says a lot. Some will have a rude awakening when they realize how strict this school is compared to others. Don't get me wrong, I have some quiet ones...they just got lost in the talkers. And, teachers kids...that doesn't mean best behaved. Hmmm...are teacher's kids like preacher's kids? I hope not! ha!

Tomorrow, I have to be more strict. Today I wanted everyone to have a good first day. (Oh, for those that haven't seen me in the classroom, I am NOT good at mean, strict teacher...it just doesn't work for me! ha!) Here are my new kiddo's ~

The Boys

The Girls