Testing Woes

So much happened during this first week back!
But, it seemed to drag on FOREVER!
Did anyone else feel this way?
It was slow, and it was tedious.

I expected to have more issues with my kiddos getting back into the routines, but they came in and did what they needed to do like we had never had a break (for the most part). I was proud of them!

I took my first Zumba classes!!
I LUH-VE it!!
On Wednesday, I felt like I was constantly checking the clock because I was so excited to get to the studio!
I can't wait for my classes this week!

Found this picture floating around Pinterest - if anyone knows the original source, please let me know! But boy, is it the truth!!

By the time Friday rolled around, I was starting to get sick.
My throat was sore and my body just felt... heavy.
With every few minutes that passed, it got worse and worse.
And by the time school was over, I thought I was going to pass out at my desk.

This was a HUGE problem because I have to cover everything in my room and re-arrange my desks.

Why?

Because we have testing in this upcoming week.
ALL week.
It's terrible and I hate it!
Seriously, I feel like I'm torturing my kids.

Monday we have to somehow take both Language Arts and Reading six weeks tests,
followed by four days of benchmark testing.
Waaaaah!!

I don't like testing so much, I feel like all we do is test.
It's really an issue I feel deeply about for many reasons.
I think this infographic is pretty interesting, if you want to check it out.

Anyways, so I came home on Friday evening and went to sleep.
My wonderful husband brought me some Tom Kha (the best Thai Soup around!!), so I woke up to eat that.
Then, I went back to sleep.

So, I have basically been sleeping since Friday.
No lie.
This is the first time all weekend I've been sitting up.
All of my work I needed to get done to prepare for the end of the six weeks?
Yeah, right.
I'll get as much done as I can today, but I'm just going to have to realize that I probably wont finish.

So, how did everyone else enjoy their first days back at school?
I hope no one got as sick as I did!

New Year, New Resolutions, and January Currently

Good morning, 2013!

I know. It has been months since I blogged.
I did not anticipate how drained I would be after the teaching day.
Not really tired-drained, more of a I-don't-want-to-do-anything-except-veg-out-drained.

Or, of course, grade papers.
Mountains and mountains of papers - yikes!

The first half of my first year has gone pretty well, and I'm excited to make the last half even better!

So, along with a new year of course comes new resolutions! So, I am linking up with The Teacher's Cauldron to share my resolutions!

Personal Resolutions

• Budget, budget, budget! My husband and I are planning an exciting year with (hopefully) exciting things to come, so that means that I have to take it very easy on the wallet and save, save, save!

• Fitness! Ya'll, since I started teaching, I have gained 15 pounds. 15! And it's all from stress eating at night. So instead of stress eating, I'm joining a wonderful dance studio and will take Zumba classes along with some others. I need to get this weight off and get fit, and this is the year to do it!

Blogging Resolutions

• I have been a TERRIBLE blogger since August. I want to change that - I love to blog and I love to reflect on my teaching! So, I resolve to blog at least once a week! More than likely, that day will be Saturday mornings. :)

Well, there you have it!

I could have written TONS more, but I want to keep it simple this year in terms of the "biggies".

Because what's the use of having goals if  there are too many to focus on?!

Just like I tell my kids - simple, focused goals will get you to where you need to be!

And finally... my January Currently!

Don't you love the OLW bit? I love it! Head over to Oh Boy 4th Grade to link up!

By the way... look who we kept:

He is a TOTAL pain, but he fits right in. We named him Fry. :)

Holy Moley!

As I sit here and reflect on my two weeks of training, I'm contemplating if I'm really feeling ready.
Honestly, the answer is no.
Not because of my room, that's pretty much completely ready.
Boy, was that the easy part.

Lesson planning.
Where do I start?
We have a new superintendent, and he wants a specific lesson plan.
The problem is that it's very difference from what teachers have done in the past.
So when I ask for guidance, most of them are also in the dark on how to work it.

The problem:
DOLs.
Demonstrations of Learning.
Sounds easy enough.
Except he wants to see something like this:
"Given five math problems, the student will answer 3 out of 5 correctly."
He wants it super black and white.
But when you teach things like reading comprehension, that can be difficult.

So, I'm kind of... faking it.
I'm not following the format he wants, but I'm coming up with good, quick DOLs.
I'm hoping that will be good enough for my administration, but we'll see.

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In other news, my teaching team is so great.
I only have 15 kids in my homeroom and 17 kids in my second class (woo hoo!).
The whole school is super nice and supportive.
Despite the stress over lesson plans, I couldn't be happier!!

But I'm still not ready!
CRAZY NERVOUS!
Oh well.... ready or not, kids come on MONDAY!

MIA and Classroom Completion

Hey everyone!
I have been MIA from bloggy-land.
There's a reason for that.
Here is one of them:

Yep, he's still with us.
He sure found a pair of suckers to take him in, I'll tell you what.

I know. He's super cute.
And he's super sweet.
He has some separation anxiety, so he barks himself hoarse all day.
It breaks my heart.
But he is crazy happy to see us when we get home.


We really want to keep him, but we don't think we can.
He's still a little puppy who can't wait to go potty for longer than 7 hours.
And we have jobs that keep us away from home for 10 to 12 hours at a time.
This little one needs more time, attention, and walks than we are able to provide.


Fritz, my number one pup, couldn't care less that we are gone for those long stretches.
He's a total loner dog who just wants to be left alone under the couch.
He's pretty much the perfect dog for us, he's just like us in every way.

Anyways, we are still working to find Fry a home.
Any takers?

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Here is reason number 2:

Completed classroom, WA HOO!!!!
The wonderful hubby took four days off to help me put my room together.
Isn't he the best?!
I sure caught a good one!

Check it out:

Please please PLEASE excuse all the stuff on the right of this picture (orange chair, huge boards, shelf like thing, TV with table cloth...)! The custodians will remove it from my room next week, but I was impatient for pictures!

I had no where else to put my hanging buckets. This will work, haha.

View from behind my desk. Doesn't the paper put some life into that terrible desk?!

View from my projector. I'm in love with that rug, I think I might go buy another.

I still have to put title on all of my bulletin boards, but I want to laminate the letters.
So, I will have to scramble to do that next week.
I'm pleased with it, I love all the bright colors.
Especially all of the orange.  :)

I'm excited to start, but I have to be honest.
I'm super nervous about the first day of school.
I'm kind of freaking out.

So, I'm off for the night to rest up.
I have to be in training tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM.
Holy moly!

Good Samaritan Venting

Ok ya'll, remember how I said it was hot in my neck of the woods?
Like, seriously hot.
The temperature hasn't fallen below 100 in what feels like forever.
That includes at night!
Way too hot to leave any animal outside for an extended period of time.



Well, yesterday, I was sleeping in while the hubby took our pup, Fritz, for a walk.

My sweet boy!

Anyways, hubby comes in after the walk, calling for me to get out of bed because he needs help.
Naturally, I think the worst... like Fritz has fallen into a hole and broken his leg or something.
I rush into the front room to see hubby, Fritz and his waggly tail, and...
A puppy in hubby's arms.

We are calling him Phillip J. Fry, Fry for short.

I pose this question: how does this always happen to us?
Last year, we found two kittens under the pool deck.

Tiny little things, they were so sweet.

It took a few weeks, but we were able to find them a great home.

And this year, we find a puppy.
A puppy who is a healthy male and not neutered.
A puppy who is super sweet, but very very energetic.
A puppy who needs to go outside almost every two hours.

And I start work in one week.
Fabulous.

We have posted a sign on the notice board of our complex.
We are going to wait a week to see if anyone calls, then go from there.
He's sweet, but I don't think we will end up keeping him.
We'll probably foster him until we can find him a good home.
But right now is just not a great time for a puppy.

Sigh.
I got virtually no work done this weekend, as you can imagine.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful, productive/relaxing weekend!