I get to draw on the whiteboard.
Who didn’t love to do that when you were in school?!
We’re doing a “one-pager” assignment for The Outsiders, and during my prep period, I drew this example for the kiddos.
Not bad for 20 minutes or so!
Sep23
Author Archives: Elisabeth
Sep9
Celebrate the small things!
Like the fact my Nissan became an old lady today.
She officially hit 100,000 miles today as I was driving home from work.
I have a pic of her 99,998 mark, but as I was driving for the 99,999 & 100,000 miles, you’ll just have to take my word for it.
Way to go, lil’ ole Nissan.
Aug28
Mockingjay
On a slightly unrelated side note to the last post, this week also was when the final installation to The Hunger Games series came out.
I was blown away by The Hunger Games, and even though I felt Catching Fire was not maybe as clear and well written as it’s predecessor, I have been eagerly awaiting Mockingjay (not mistaken for Mockingbird– as those familiar with the series know) pretty much since I finished Catching Fire.
Of course, a cruel twist of fate made it so that Mockingjay was released my first week of teaching this year, and so I wasn’t able to do my “all-nighter” sort of thing to go get it, then read it til my heart desired to stop. But then again, once I did finish it Thursday, maybe that was all right after all.
Because, even after a couple of days, I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about the end. I’m not saying “HORRIBLE!” I’m also not saying “GREAT!” I’m not even saying “Neutral” because the emotions left in me are NOT anything that could be shrugged off.
I need some of my fellow book nerds to talk this out so I don’t ruin anything for those of you who are planning on reading it!
Aug28
The Third First Week of School
I think that the first week of school is always kind of awkward.
Teachers don’t really know their students yet, so in order to get to know the new kids, the teachers don’t get a chance to teach the new students much. And it’s the time to start team-building in classes, set the tone for the year, set the expectations of the year, etc.
This year feels more like my first, maybe even a little more complex and difficult, because the school is so new, everyone, teachers AND students, are new. We are all trying to figure out the expectations of the administration, of each other, etc. It’s not bad, but it’s just different. Established schools have established teachers, admin, supplies, expectations, etc. We are missing several supplies (which isn’t good when you ordered 120 copies of The Outsiders and only 40 are in, and 4 different teachers need to use it in the next 4 weeks). We didn’t even get copy codes until a couple of days before school started, so that was kind of crazy to try and get copies started up for the first couple of days.
Despite all the stress of the newness of everything, it was a good first week. The students are awesome, and I love how the demographics of the classroom have changed, become more diverse. That always leads to deeper, more thoughtful, classroom discussions of topics and helps the kids help each other. Truly, most of my kids are going to be fantastic, and I’m excited to see what the year will bring!
All the staff is happy to be there, and despite initial confusion of what Admin wants, we really enjoy our new principal and admin team. Everyone is making a bigger effort to make this school be a better place, a happier place. Many of us came from my last school, and everyone I know that was there previously seems so much happier here. It’s a fascinating thing to watch the transition of some of these people I’ve known for the past two years in this new environment.
To conclude, what it it all boils down to is this: This year has the potential of being the most incredible year yet.
Aug22
Summer flies by yet again.
I really don’t know where my summer went.
Good things about the summer:
1. Went on a Caribbean cruise over my birthday and got to go to Jamaica, Grand Cayman Island, and Cozumel, Mexico. Which, by the way, was fantastic.
2. Got an all-expense paid training in Dallas for a week that was a great learning opportunity.
3. Set up my NEW classroom in my brand-new school.
4. Getting to work with some awesome faculty/staff members at the new school.
5. Got a lot of writing and planning done for this next school year.
6. Got a brand new, darling dog to compliment my other darling dog.
Some not so great things about summer-
1. I had nearly 4 weeks of trainings for school. While some of those trainings were good, it was just a lot.
2. I didn’t get to read any of the books on my want list (though, Mockingjay doesn’t come out quite yet, so that doesn’t count against me!)
3. I didn’t get to do much housework, like painting or major yard work. And I had a big list of “would likes”.
Over all, I would have to say it was a good and productive summer, even if there was still a lot I would have liked to accomplish. I did a lot of trainings and activities that I think will make me a better person and teacher.
Despite how the summer flew by, I am excited to greet this new school year and the new opportunities that will be coming with it. I also will be able to try my hand at being the Student Council Adviser, and I think that will be a lot of fun and a good new challenge. It’s going to be so much smaller (not the class sizes, but just the overall amount of people there at the school) and that will be fun to see how that goes.
Everything starts tomorrow…. Fare thee well, summer days.