Way past time...

I haven't posted since February. I profusely apologize to any poor, unfortunate soul who might read this blog, because it's just way past time for a post.

So much has happened since my last post...I'm really not sure where to begin. How about a basic run-down of each month:

March-my math teaching colleagues and I worked hard preparing our students for PASS testing. We were at the point of having to hurry so that we could cover it all. If you remember I also had an intern, Brittany, who was teaching full time by March. Brittany progressed very well throughout her internship. In March I was staying with her a lot, to help her "off the record".

April-an extremely busy month. Spring Break was at the beginning of April, which was very nice. We stayed home and enjoyed our time. Brittany was finishing up her internship at the end of April, so we had lots to do to get her completely finished and ready to graduate. The second week of April, when we got back to school, I had a horrible allergic reaction to something and broke out in hives all over my entire body. It was terrible, and I missed two days of school per doctor's orders. Brittany ended up having to teach for longer than we expected because of the reaction. PASS was bearing down on us, and we were in full swing of getting ready. We also played "The Price Is Right" one day at the end of our probability unit. We combined all our classes and had them play probability games we had designed and created based on some games from the T.V. gameshow. It was so much fun, and the students were able to demonstrate that they understood probability the way we taught it.

My brother and sister-in-law were expecting their first child at the end of April, and we were getting very excited about Bella's arrival. My daughter turned eight on April 26, which was a very happy day for my husband and I!!! Bella, (my neice) was scheduled to arrive on April 30 and I was so excited! My parents and step-parents made plans to go to Knoxville on April 30 to be there when Bella arrived. My own children were performing in the church children's choir musical that night, and I helped direct, so we were unable to go to Knoxville. Just at the end of the musical my husband came to get me...he had been called during the performance and notified that my OTHER brother was in a motorcycle accident in North Carolina. Randy did not survive the accident. As we began to process this devestating news, Ryan and Lindsey's precious baby came into our lives...the same day as Randy died, about 2 hours after his death.

There are so many things that happened during that first week after Randy's death, but there were a few things which made a DEEP and LONG LASTING impression on me...possibly even changed my life. First, when I had no idea what to do or how I could help my parents who were still in Tennessee, my sister Ashley, brother-in-law Kyle, and Ashley's dad Marty DROVE from our hometown to Knoxville AND BACK in one day, to pick up both my parents and drive their vehicles back so that they wouldn't have to do that. My other sister, Becky, demonstrated some amazing thoughtfulness in having people at the house when they arrived who would wrap them in love. She even called me to ask me if I could think of someone who could be there for my mom, as they were all coming back to my dad's house. My step-mom allowed (even encouraged) my mom and step-dad to stay in their house during those few days. This is an amazing family I have and am so grateful for them all!

May-a very blurred month! I do not remember much of what happened in May. Of course, the month began with the funeral for our precious Randy. I missed about one week of school after Randy's death. I know that my students and I completed PASS testing, which I was present for. We finished the year with a unit of study on Mt. Everest and took our students on a trip to Crowder's Mountain where they climbed the mountain (about as close to Everest as we get in these parts) and were able to see an amazing view at the top. The rest of the month was filled with cleaning out lockers, collecting textbooks, signing yearbooks, final exams and grade calculations.

June-just as quickly as we got into the swing of school back in August, we left school for our Summer Break. Two weeks have passed since the beginning of Summer and we are enjoying our break. I hope that this finds each of you who read (do I have any readers?) enjoying the warm weather too!

Sick Day

I stayed home today for only the second day all year. This is so not like me, but I felt really horrible and would be of no use to anyone at my school! See, I love my job. I love teaching so much that today while I've been home I've maintained internet contact with my team, checking on students, notifying some parents of concerns I have about their child, planning for what Brittany and I will do next week. I can't turn it off.

I've had to make myself say no to some things school related this year. I didn't keep score for one single basketball game this season...I didn't even go to one single basketball game this season. My family needs me as much or more than my students. But I would be lying if I said I was good at being a wife and mom at the same time as I'm being a teacher.

Anyway, over the last few weeks I've been thinking about something really great I can post on here. I've decided that I'm going to share with you about my school. We're an IB-MYP school. It's a pretty cool concept for teaching. So if you want to know about IB-MYP before I can post more, google it and let me know what you find out. :)

Snow Day Projects

Occassionally, in education, we encounter these things called "Snow Days". Now, generally, here where I live these are days that we miss due to bad weather...but not neccesarily snow...more likely ice, which is the case with us this weekend. So since I'm from the south, I don't attempt to even get outside when we have ice days like we have this weekend. So I made good use of the time I spent locked in my house...I pulled out the sewing machine and made new curtains for my bathroom. Please know that the frosted sticky paper I put on the windows will be removed and redone in the near future.

Since I had the machine out I went ahead and made a new cover for the head board. I had bought the fabric about a month ago when I was out with my mom one day and hadn't even tried to work on it. It was not nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be and I feel so good about accomplishing this!

I will be shopping for a new comforter for the bed soon, but I just wanted to show the world that I can do something besides teach! :)

Introducing Brittany

Last week I posted about having my second good intern. Brittany has really shown me what she's made of...she's still very quiet, but I think she will do really great when it's time for her to take my classes full time.

She's a beautiful girl who has allowed me to use a photo of her on here...please welcome Brittany to my classroom! :)

I'm doubly blessed

So if you have been reading my blog for at least a year, you will remember that last year I had an intern named Shannon. Shannon and I had the best time teaching together. She was a wonderful teacher and I was so blessed to have her in my classroom, and to get to know her and be her friend. Shannon was so successful, and did get a job teaching, and is currently doing just that, and being a great mentor to her students!

This year I have another intern. Her name is Brittany. Brittany has been with me for two days, now. At first, Brittany appeared to be very quiet. But I have learned very quickly that she is not afraid to speak her mind...it's more like she only talks when she has something important to say. Not necessarily quiet, just thoughtful. On her first day with me, I told Brittany I was going to the restroom (SO nice to have an intern and finally be able to do that), and when I came back, she had already figured out how to use the flipchart I created for the lesson, and was encouraging the students to work the problems! She was using a really great teacher voice and was interacting with my students! Already! That is so awesome!

When we get back to school on Tuesday I will ask Brittany to write a letter introducing herself to the parents of our students, and she'll start doing other things like taking attendance, going over warm-ups, etc. The girl already graded 4 sets of papers! I'm telling you...I don't know how I've been so blessed to have two great interns, in two successive years!

I'm doubly blessed!

My head meets the wall...

We've all said this at some point in our teaching career: "I feel like I'm beating my head against the wall!!! What more can I do to help them understand this concept?!" Well, this week I think this statement has become my theme. I have taught my students how to simplify fractions (which they learned well), how to convert improper fractions to mixed numbers in simplest form, and vice versa. Then I began teaching them to add and subtract fractions. That beginning was about 4 weeks ago. This week, I began the daily torture of waking up at 6:00 a.m., preparing myself for my job, dressing professionally, putting on a happy face, and coming into the school simply to endure the pain of my head meeting the wall for 60 minute periods, four consecutive periods a day! My students have an exam on these concepts...TOMORROW!!! I have taught these precious children a myriad of ways to solve these math problems. I have given them fraction burgers, fraction tiles, fraction circles and had them make their own fractional doolollies so that they can hold and maneuver the fractions we're working with. I have put interactive fraction games on my big Promethean board and had them play these games. I have given them homework, checked it, worked problems from it, brought apples into my classroom and cut them into fractions, had them count beans, had them color blocks...I think you understand what I've done in order to try to be sure that my precious students understand fractions.

Today, I gave them the last practice problems before the exam on a piece of paper. I told them to work on them on their own. I walked to my desk to begin grading some papers I have had stacked for about a month. One of my precious students raised his hand. I acknowledged him and he asked if he could come ask me a question. I said yes. He walked over to my desk with his practice problems and pencil in hand and said............................................................................




"Can you show me how I'm supposed to do this?"





Once again...my head and the wall have become good friends!

Twenty Ten

I couldn't bring myself to write "Happy New Year" as my title. It's just a little too cliche for this hip woman. Tee Hee!

My family and I went to the home of some dear friends last night for a wonderful celebration of the bringing in of the New Year/New Decade. Honestly, I'm a little amazed at how many decades I've lived through. I wonder why it never struck me like this until this year? Who knows...maybe it's because when I was a child I never thought I'd live to see the 21st Century at all. I was not being morbid or thinking I would die young; it was just that it seemed impossible that I would ever be old enough to see this century (remember...this was when I was a child).

Now, on the other side of those thoughts, I'm certainly glad that I DID live through the first decade of the 21st Century, and hope that I live to see at least four more decades before I leave.

ANYWAY...I'm so excited to be a part of this world, doing what I'm doing for 2010. Just the thought that I have the opportunity (because of my profession) to change someone's life is overwhelming! I know lots of other teachers who are changing lives and I hope they know it and believe in what they're doing. Take my sister, Ashley. She teaches kindergarten in my hometown...she's in her 3rd year of teaching and she is AMAZING! I only wish that my children experience a teacher who loves them like Ashley loves her students. Or my sister-in-law, Lindsey. She teaches third grade in TN and is an amazing teacher...she writes grants, and touches those students in her class! Or my mom, Judy. She teaches math in a program here in our school district for students who need an alternative learning environment. Her students LOVE her...she gives them her phone number and you would be amazed at the number of calls she receives.

The only resolution I'm setting for 2010 is to be like one of these teachers I've mentioned above, to my students AND to my own children...a teacher who's students know beyond doubt that she loves them and believes in them and pushes them hard enough to get their very best!

Happy New Year!