are you ready to update????
Last time I checked, I hadn't updated for a while. So, while I have pounds of work waiting to be graded, and piles of dishes waiting to be washed, it seemed an appropriate time to sit and write. Things have been crazy, both at home and at school. Although, to be truthful, things at home are usually just an extension of things at school. We've had a few changes at the high school that have seemed to make things more difficult to make things successful. We have to remediate the students who did not make proficient or advanced on the End of Course tests, plus every student has to have 150 minutes of physical activity each week. So we shortened all seven periods to 45 minutes and we added a remediation/physical activity period. Losing 5 minutes a day doesn't seem like a lot, but for some reason I feel like we aren't getting anything done. Instead of being able to teach a short lesson and have the students practice what we've gone over, I feel like I spend the entire class period giving them vocabulary and going over three examples. There's no time for practice. This past week was ridiculous in terms of interruptions. Monday I stayed home sick. Tuesday we had a bomb threat in the morning. Wednesday we had a faculty meeting in the morning that went into 1st period. Thursday we had another bomb threat before school, and then all the math and English teachers had a meeting where we got torn a new one by the district specialists and our principal. We didn't have school on Friday because we had a staff development day (which was completely worthless, as usual). I only saw 3rd period once last week. I don't even remember what they have gone over and what they haven't.
Somehow this year my brain is more scattered and loopy than ever. I don't know if it's that I'm stressed or just not "into it" this year, or whether I've lost some of my brain cells. I'm always feeling overloaded and ... well, scatter-brained is the only word for it. I need a vacation already, and it's only September.
I've started making plans to move back up to Massachusetts/New York in June. I'm looking into accounting jobs, but I'm also considering going back to school in the fall. I'm not sure my finances are going to support going back to school right now, so it might go on the back burner. Thank goodness for that Americorps education award. It's not a lot, but it's more than I have right now.
Things are going really well with Bill. We've made the reservations to go up to Southborough (my parents' house) for Christmas, and I'll be going up to New York City to visit my sister in November (she's interning at Madison Square Garden!) Bill's super busy with football, but we still find time to just sit together and have some quality time. Speaking of football, our boys won their game last night. It was such a thriller. We had some bad plays, but it came down to the last two minutes, and they stayed in the game, stayed focused, and ended up winning by three points, 44-41. It was so nerve-wracking - the other team got the ball with 1:20 to go, which in football time is plenty of time to make a huge play. But our defense stepped up and stopped the play and our boys were victorious. It was so awesome! Then I high-tailed it home because there were storms just north of where we were, and I had an hour and a half drive south. I made it home okay, but it was 1am by the time I got here. Bill didn't get home until 2 because the team goes to McDonald's after the game to get food. We've both been sleepy all day because we had such a late night.
That's probably it for now. I've been trying to get healthier lately also, but I haven't had much success. When I get stressed, I tend to get lazy and want chocolate. When I lived in Forrest City I would go to the gym when I was stressed, but now that it's a half hour away, I come up with excuses more than I actually go. Every weekend I say "I'm going to do it this week" and then ... I blow it. Maybe today is the day when I can figure out how to motivate myself.
Anyway, things here are crazy but good. If you live in the NYC metro, I'll be in town Nov. 2 through Nov. 5, so email me and we'll get together!!
Somehow this year my brain is more scattered and loopy than ever. I don't know if it's that I'm stressed or just not "into it" this year, or whether I've lost some of my brain cells. I'm always feeling overloaded and ... well, scatter-brained is the only word for it. I need a vacation already, and it's only September.
I've started making plans to move back up to Massachusetts/New York in June. I'm looking into accounting jobs, but I'm also considering going back to school in the fall. I'm not sure my finances are going to support going back to school right now, so it might go on the back burner. Thank goodness for that Americorps education award. It's not a lot, but it's more than I have right now.
Things are going really well with Bill. We've made the reservations to go up to Southborough (my parents' house) for Christmas, and I'll be going up to New York City to visit my sister in November (she's interning at Madison Square Garden!) Bill's super busy with football, but we still find time to just sit together and have some quality time. Speaking of football, our boys won their game last night. It was such a thriller. We had some bad plays, but it came down to the last two minutes, and they stayed in the game, stayed focused, and ended up winning by three points, 44-41. It was so nerve-wracking - the other team got the ball with 1:20 to go, which in football time is plenty of time to make a huge play. But our defense stepped up and stopped the play and our boys were victorious. It was so awesome! Then I high-tailed it home because there were storms just north of where we were, and I had an hour and a half drive south. I made it home okay, but it was 1am by the time I got here. Bill didn't get home until 2 because the team goes to McDonald's after the game to get food. We've both been sleepy all day because we had such a late night.
That's probably it for now. I've been trying to get healthier lately also, but I haven't had much success. When I get stressed, I tend to get lazy and want chocolate. When I lived in Forrest City I would go to the gym when I was stressed, but now that it's a half hour away, I come up with excuses more than I actually go. Every weekend I say "I'm going to do it this week" and then ... I blow it. Maybe today is the day when I can figure out how to motivate myself.
Anyway, things here are crazy but good. If you live in the NYC metro, I'll be in town Nov. 2 through Nov. 5, so email me and we'll get together!!