I haven't had internet on my computer for awhile... hence one of the reasons for the lack of update.
Anyhoo, this is just a short post saying...
If nothing else, the biggest perk about forking out dues every month to be part of the VEA (teacher union-like organization) is the free-all-expenses-paid mini vacay to a ski resort for the weekend. Yeah, yours truly is headed there this weekend. I do fear for my fellow skiers, trees, and other snow creatures though... I have never skied before, and so there is much to fear when boards are strapped to my feet on an incline. :P
It'll be very interesting since I have a lot of questions to ask while there... especially the legality of some things. And it'll be great to talk to other new teachers.
Another cool thing is that I'm going with Miss P and Mr. M, so VEA is also reimbursing our gas expense! Yay for carpooling! We're totally stopping by Trader Joe's for snacks on the way over. WOO HOO!
Time to don my snow boots, ski bib, and thermal wear!
- Miss Chelsea :)
Friday, February 22, 2008
Saturday, February 09, 2008
New to VA! Statue of Liberty!
I still don't like Benchmark Tests... they are the bane of my educational existence. But we got through the week despite one of the worst days so far in teaching. Whoever thinks that not having recess and enforcing "dead silence" lock-down is a good idea needs to get their head checked.
On Tuesday, K came up to me, holding one of those "4 chocolates in a box" Valentine hearts. It had a cat on the front that said, "You are so cool!" Well, K smiled and said, "This is for you, Miss F! My sister ate the other 3, but I left you one." I opened it to see a grimy milk chocolate in the middle. I smiled all big and thanked him. Cutest thing. Ever. (Disclaimer-- I did not eat the lone chocolate. Sorry to disappoint. ;) )
Well, that Tuesday was the worst day ever, and I was really dreading going to work for the rest of the week. I had to deal with bad attitudes and general whininess all because they couldn't go out to recess (even though Kindergarten and 1st grade could). It was sucky for all of us. I did not have one break all week, and the kids had no "real" break either. The morale of our pod was like opening up your favorite peanut butter jar and finding it empty and scraped clean of all peanuts. My love for my kids and my legally-binding work contract were sadly the only two things keeping me from walking out the door.
I had a bad dream that night, and upon waking to my alarm clock on Wednesday, I wanted to curl up under my comforter and forget my place in the world. After a moment of prayer for a significantly better day, I dragged my feet out of bed and managed to follow through with my morning routines.
Miraculously, the end of the dreariness happened the moment 9am struck. A came running into the room (as he always does) and whipped his backpack off, unzipping it. He pulled a little teddy bear figurine with a heart on his lap that said "I love you" (cutely ironic, it had beady eyes just like him.).
If I had a love language, mine would certainly be words and acts of affirmation. I almost started crying right there when I asked him who the bear was for. "It's for you, Miss F!" Talk about really needing a visible sign of encouragement and getting it. All morning, A was asking if I showed it to the other teachers and what they thought of the bear. The figurine has now taken residence on my desk and has been the talk of C-1.
As for the talk of Valentine's Day, I heard some students talking about wanting to go to China to bring back a panda for me, but they don't know "how to get it over." I've got my kids trained and thinking. ;)
So, moving onto the quote of the week... this one comes from G as he was looking through one of his library books.
There are so many things wrong with that statement, and so it made me laugh pretty hard.
Today, I've been making awards on Scholastic's Printables website for the students who made 1) above a 90% score, 2) most improved score from last time, or 3) improved score to an 80% or better on their Benchmarks. I wanted to do something for everyone, but I really need to be better about not praising "fake mediocrity." They say teachers fall into that trap too much and therefore indirectly encourage weaker work ethics and put up a rose-colored curtain of dishonesty. I agree with it to an extent, especially in regards to the lazy students. But for those who have a low self-esteem/confidence (like S), I feel very strongly about giving encouragement, even if it's for "below mediocre" work. It's just necessary.
- Miss Chelsea :)
On Tuesday, K came up to me, holding one of those "4 chocolates in a box" Valentine hearts. It had a cat on the front that said, "You are so cool!" Well, K smiled and said, "This is for you, Miss F! My sister ate the other 3, but I left you one." I opened it to see a grimy milk chocolate in the middle. I smiled all big and thanked him. Cutest thing. Ever. (Disclaimer-- I did not eat the lone chocolate. Sorry to disappoint. ;) )
Well, that Tuesday was the worst day ever, and I was really dreading going to work for the rest of the week. I had to deal with bad attitudes and general whininess all because they couldn't go out to recess (even though Kindergarten and 1st grade could). It was sucky for all of us. I did not have one break all week, and the kids had no "real" break either. The morale of our pod was like opening up your favorite peanut butter jar and finding it empty and scraped clean of all peanuts. My love for my kids and my legally-binding work contract were sadly the only two things keeping me from walking out the door.
I had a bad dream that night, and upon waking to my alarm clock on Wednesday, I wanted to curl up under my comforter and forget my place in the world. After a moment of prayer for a significantly better day, I dragged my feet out of bed and managed to follow through with my morning routines.
Miraculously, the end of the dreariness happened the moment 9am struck. A came running into the room (as he always does) and whipped his backpack off, unzipping it. He pulled a little teddy bear figurine with a heart on his lap that said "I love you" (cutely ironic, it had beady eyes just like him.).
If I had a love language, mine would certainly be words and acts of affirmation. I almost started crying right there when I asked him who the bear was for. "It's for you, Miss F!" Talk about really needing a visible sign of encouragement and getting it. All morning, A was asking if I showed it to the other teachers and what they thought of the bear. The figurine has now taken residence on my desk and has been the talk of C-1.
As for the talk of Valentine's Day, I heard some students talking about wanting to go to China to bring back a panda for me, but they don't know "how to get it over." I've got my kids trained and thinking. ;)
So, moving onto the quote of the week... this one comes from G as he was looking through one of his library books.
"Last weekend, I drove for 6 hours in Virginia Beach, and I saw the Statue of Liberty!"
There are so many things wrong with that statement, and so it made me laugh pretty hard.
Today, I've been making awards on Scholastic's Printables website for the students who made 1) above a 90% score, 2) most improved score from last time, or 3) improved score to an 80% or better on their Benchmarks. I wanted to do something for everyone, but I really need to be better about not praising "fake mediocrity." They say teachers fall into that trap too much and therefore indirectly encourage weaker work ethics and put up a rose-colored curtain of dishonesty. I agree with it to an extent, especially in regards to the lazy students. But for those who have a low self-esteem/confidence (like S), I feel very strongly about giving encouragement, even if it's for "below mediocre" work. It's just necessary.
- Miss Chelsea :)
Sunday, February 03, 2008
School Mom.
(Sorry, readers, this won't be as riveting and action-packed as my Anti-FUN Dragon story. Perhaps there will be a sequel in the future... :) )
Even though Tuesday was an early release day and Wednesday was a teacher workday (aka no kids), this week was exhausting. I don't know why exactly. I'm just mentally spent. By Friday, my eyes were overly tired and red. With all sleeping jokes aside, I should probably get checked by a doctor to see if my love of sleep is normal! I think I don't have too much to worry about though if I've been like this since I was a tot. I wonder if the picture of baby Chelsea falling asleep while eating a french fry from her hand is still around... it is the start of many, many blackmail pictures. :P
I received my "final evaluation" from the principals. They're recommending me to be rehired next year... which is a nice thought. On the paper, they said that I do "an excellent job teaching Science to all students." Ms. R got slightly unsettled because she didn't get an extra comment like that on hers... but I tried to reassure her that "trust me, no one even saw me teach a Science lesson," sooo I'm not sure how they would know. I hope she doesn't take it to heart... even though I am pretty excited that they wrote that.
Anyway, there were some cute moments this past week. (Don't know how many will happen this week since it's Benchmark testing... please, God, help my students do well on these tests...)
M: Momma---- ahh, I mean Miss F! [nervous laugh]
Me: [laugh]
M: Well, you're like a mom. A mom at school!
T: Yeah, she's our School Mom!
T: Miss F, you're the best school mom EVER!
You don't even have to know me that personally to know that made me smile.
Another was on Thursday...
Me: The Ancient Egyptians had to wear very light clothing because it was so hot! Boys wore skirt-like things [teacher stare to prevent incessant giggling] since pants would be terribly yuck! Girls wore dresses. [drawing of the boy Egyptian] So here's the boy and probably what he wore... and here's the girl. [drawing of girl]
TB: That's great, Miss F!
Me: Oops, probably should give her some hair.
TB: NOooo, I like her bald! Leave her bald!
Our new place is officially a home now. Last night, I broke in the oven with the first batch of chocolate chip cookies. Everything is finally coming together; it's a new chapter in my life that I'm eager to read.
I woke up this morning to the sounds of a mourning dove; it was very close if I could hear it that clearly (we know my hearing isn't the most fabulous--- don't tell my students that though! I still have them trained that I can hear an ant walk AND see with my 15 eyes). This made me incredibly overjoyed. It's going to be a good day. :)
I want to go buy a bird feeder, so some birds can hang out on our patio... especially now that I know that mourning doves are pretty close around here. I bet Home Depot could hook me up! ;)
Breakfast time now.
- Miss Chelsea :)
Even though Tuesday was an early release day and Wednesday was a teacher workday (aka no kids), this week was exhausting. I don't know why exactly. I'm just mentally spent. By Friday, my eyes were overly tired and red. With all sleeping jokes aside, I should probably get checked by a doctor to see if my love of sleep is normal! I think I don't have too much to worry about though if I've been like this since I was a tot. I wonder if the picture of baby Chelsea falling asleep while eating a french fry from her hand is still around... it is the start of many, many blackmail pictures. :P
I received my "final evaluation" from the principals. They're recommending me to be rehired next year... which is a nice thought. On the paper, they said that I do "an excellent job teaching Science to all students." Ms. R got slightly unsettled because she didn't get an extra comment like that on hers... but I tried to reassure her that "trust me, no one even saw me teach a Science lesson," sooo I'm not sure how they would know. I hope she doesn't take it to heart... even though I am pretty excited that they wrote that.
Anyway, there were some cute moments this past week. (Don't know how many will happen this week since it's Benchmark testing... please, God, help my students do well on these tests...)
M: Momma---- ahh, I mean Miss F! [nervous laugh]
Me: [laugh]
M: Well, you're like a mom. A mom at school!
T: Yeah, she's our School Mom!
T: Miss F, you're the best school mom EVER!
You don't even have to know me that personally to know that made me smile.
Another was on Thursday...
Me: The Ancient Egyptians had to wear very light clothing because it was so hot! Boys wore skirt-like things [teacher stare to prevent incessant giggling] since pants would be terribly yuck! Girls wore dresses. [drawing of the boy Egyptian] So here's the boy and probably what he wore... and here's the girl. [drawing of girl]
TB: That's great, Miss F!
Me: Oops, probably should give her some hair.
TB: NOooo, I like her bald! Leave her bald!
Our new place is officially a home now. Last night, I broke in the oven with the first batch of chocolate chip cookies. Everything is finally coming together; it's a new chapter in my life that I'm eager to read.
I woke up this morning to the sounds of a mourning dove; it was very close if I could hear it that clearly (we know my hearing isn't the most fabulous--- don't tell my students that though! I still have them trained that I can hear an ant walk AND see with my 15 eyes). This made me incredibly overjoyed. It's going to be a good day. :)
I want to go buy a bird feeder, so some birds can hang out on our patio... especially now that I know that mourning doves are pretty close around here. I bet Home Depot could hook me up! ;)
Breakfast time now.
- Miss Chelsea :)
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