Friday, August 26, 2011

Public Education stats you can believe in

This is why teachers are tired:

46 students in my classes
8 English as a Second Language Learners
5 students reading below a 2nd grade level
5 students reading below 3rd grade level
3 major discipline issues
5 languages other than English spoken by my students
27 boys in my classes
19 girls in my classes
10 students who wear glasses
7 identified gifted and talented students
9 economically disadvantaged students
6 SEE ME notes from last years' teachers
5 parent emails questioning a student's conduct mark received since school started Monday
3 students receiving speech services
1 student receiving special education support
30 minutes per day I have an aide available to help students
2 students receiving in school tutorials
1 student identified with dyslexia
3 students exhibiting signs of dyslexia
4 students exhibiting signs of ADHD
2 parents who assure me herbal supplements are helping their child control themselves
8 students with medical issues (asthma/ADD/seizures) noted
2 alcoholic beverages I have consumed this week
2 times I have laughed until I cried
2 times I have cried until I laughed
17, 392 (approximate) times I have asked students to sit down and raise their hand to get my attention this week
611 forms I have processed
722 sheets of paper I have photocopied this week
2 hours spent trying to remember how to do online lesson plans
3 hours spent trying to make a sheet of labels from Open Office
59 days until I leave on my cruise

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Summer Days

Here's a picture salute to the highlights of a great summer, one of the best in memory... not in chronological order.

Glorieta for camp was a great chance to start the summer with a great focus.



This was a wicked game of duck-duck-goose!



 We met Meg Riser, our newest friend!





Girls' Weekend accomplished adding to the national economy and some really pretty toes!

Time on the farm provided a lot of entertainment. Mom and Dad got to burn the lien on their farm because it is PAID OFF!


 And the cousins got to practice their mean faces.
 Ryan went to Preteen camp.

The family trip to NASA was fun. Future astronauts in the making.


The World Changers cleaned up our backyard and helped rebuild our fence.


Mommy and Josh got to explore the Woodlands and eat gourmet cupcakes.



 The boys took me to see the final Harry Potter movie.

See ya next summer!






Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Deep thoughts from Labyrinth

As we were eating lunch today, I was looking for TV alternatives to SpongeBob and Avatar and ran across a modern classic.. Labyrinth. It was the age of muppet technology and weird thoughts, but is a truly delightful/slightly creepy fairy tale.   So the boys had some thought throughtout that need to be shared.


J - He looks like a girl


As David Bowie twirls the bubble balls..
R - Fushigi balls, really? How lame. Oh, bubbles, I guess that's better.

For reference.. these are real fushigi balls
During the dance hallucination scene:
J - That's really awkward
R - Don't forget distubing.
J - Yeah, that too.

When Sara is walking through the castle trying to get to her brother......
J - That's a hard puzzle. Hope she figures it out. And how does he walk on the ceiling?

 J - So wait, he was an owl the whole time?

After the movie Josh and I had a little talk about all the how's and why's of the movie. I don't think he understood, but at least he was thinking. I love sharing classics with my kids!

Grumpy morning

I haven't posted in a while. And I will share more tales of fun and joy from our Summer Adventures. But this morning, I just can't make it to the Happy Place. Here is my morning:

6:30 - alarm starts going off for The Man to get up
7:00 - I gently remind The Man that it is, indeed, 7 am and ask if he is getting up.
7:05 - The Man gets up to shower and I sink back into dreaming twilight
7:10 - The Man needs my eyes to find out where the shower is leaking because the floor is nothin but a puddle
7:15 - I discern that the shower is leaking from hitting the back wall and trickling down the outside of the tub. At this point I decide to get up, but realize the children are still asleep in bed. Not one to waste an opportunity, I get back in bed with optimistic hope of a few more minutes of rest.
7:30 - The Man gets out of the shower and gets dressed, and "wakes" me to kiss me goodbye.
7:40 - The Man drives off, the dog starts scratching outside my door
7:42 - I give up and push the dog downstairs to go out and run into Purple. "I thought ya'll had all left. Sorry about not getting the dog."

"No problem. None at all. I was up anyway."