Author Archives: Elisabeth

About Elisabeth

The joyous and sometimes odd adventures of a former English teacher and her trusty sidekicks, Jared the Hottie Husband and her two Italian Greyhounds, Stinky Stevie and Bonnie Boo. Recently the adorable baby, Princess Evelyn, has joined the clan to shake things up!

I do like teaching, you know…*edit*

I do like teaching, you know…*edit*

Though, I will be honest that I never grew up saying “My dream job is to be a seventh grade language arts teacher! WATCH OUT, WORLD!”

I kind of fell into teaching. Looking back, I think that part of me knew it a long, long time ago, probably when I started high school. I really saved so much of my English stuff- you know, that stuff you’ll NEVER SEE AGAIN but for whatever reason you can’t let it go?

Hey, look- there’s my project of a travel brochure for 8th grade that I made of southern France  for my French class- 8th grade! Throw it away? No, never? Why not?! BECAUSE IT MIGHT BE NEEDED SOMEDAY! Don’t try to argue with the logic of a packrat.

So, by process of elimination, I kind of realized that teaching was something that just felt… right.

It’s not easy. It’s not, heaven forbid, always fun.

But as things have happened, I have enjoyed teaching seventh grade immensely more than I thought could be possible. It truly is one of the most difficult times of our society, and I’d like to think I help kids make it through this trying period of their lives (I hope, at least… I’m sure some of them would disagree!).

To be honest, I would be thrilled to be in a high school. That’s what I’ve truly wanted since I decided to be a teacher. I’m one of those nuts that gets excited about Shakespeare and mythology. I love the ageless messages and questions about humanity posed by Shakespeare’s works, like Hamlet, Othello, The Tempest. I love how much of our society has founded itself based on the mythology of a culture nearly 3000 years ago, and how you can understand more about marketing and products, about themes and history, if you know your Greek/Roman/Norse/miscellaneous mythology. The Western Civilization culture is fascinating.

But I know that I am where I am for a reason. I’m going to the new school for a reason. It’s not always what I want, but it’s amazing to see how things like this, which originally feel like you are being held back from what you desire, end up being a good thing in the end.

I’ve learned a lot about the Texas education system. I’ve learned a lot about writing and the insane state testing here. I’ve learned more of the expectations for students this way that I would have missed before. I’ve met some neat and wonderful people because of this walk of life.

So it’s not always easy. I do get upset and frustrated. Students can be complete and utter morons sometimes. They can do stupid things that hurt us as teachers. But they can also be amazingly sweet, and impress you that somebody of that age is capable of that sort of maturity.

I may not get the positions I want any time soon. But all I can do is continue to do the best job humanly possible and hope that it proves my talents and capabilities.

***Edit: This is supposed to be a metaphor of my previous thoughts. I was informed how random it seemed, but it made sense in my head. Basically, life seems to give us the ugly cacti… but good things can come from seemingly worthless ones.***

The landscape in Texas can be ugly at times. I hate cactus (pural, cacti?). I think they are ugly, odd, and painful little plants. But even the ugliest things can become beautiful…

cacti     cacti Rose

Just in case I haven’t said it before….

Just in case I haven’t said it before….

Seventh graders can be so weird.

Events of today that prove my point.

We are doing Greek mythology hand in hand with The Lightening Thief. A couple of days ago we were doing background information on the gods, and then had a short quiz.

Demeter/Ceres: Goddess of Agriculture

Student put Demeter: Goddess of parking meters, as in “put a quarta in da meter.”

He tried to get points for creativity or for being funny. It was tempting…

Second example….

Student A: “Can I go to the bathroom to get more ’tissues’ [paper towels since we’re out of tissues] for the class?”

Student B: “NO! Mrs. Boothe, let me go! He got to go yesterday!”

Student A: “No, I asked first!”

I never realized how exciting going to the bathroom to get paper towels for class could be.

I then caught a student coming into the classroom on their knees. She just needed a drink of water, but apparently she didn’t feel like walking back into the class.

Then there is the quirky things they try to do… having to pick up the electric pencil sharpener to sharpen their pencils, having to “blow their noses” together with their friends (AKA trying to chat in a not so sneaky way…)

I guess I better adjust, since I’m gonna be here awhile….

Work Transfers

Work Transfers

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, I recently found out that I am going to be going to the new middle school that is opening up in the school district. I tried once again to go to a high school, but had no luck with my attempt. It was a rather frustrating process, but I think that the move to a different school will be a nice change of scenery.

I like several of the teachers that I know that will be moving over soon, which is good, and the school is going to be significantly smaller than my current one. I will be teaching the same grade and stuff again, but I will be the only teacher at the school with previous experience on the writing TAKS test that happens during middle school (just 7th grade), so they actually needed me to be there to help. That’s kind of complimentary, to be needed! I definitely am not listed in a similar position at my current school.

I also will have lots of opportunities for growth and extra trainings. I was invited today to think about being part of a team that can go to Dallas for a week long training, paid for, that has a lot of cool strategies. I am excited about the new opportunities that are coming up. I will miss those I have been working with, but I have a good feeling about going over to the new school, all in all.

It also doesn’t hurt when my kids who are being zoned to the new school keep on asking me to try and teach their 8th grade LA classes… 🙂 It makes me feel like maybe I am not the Grinch I have to pretend to be sometimes.

As for health- I remain about the same. There seems to be no benefit from the nerve block shots, and I didn’t have good, caring vibes from the doctor, so I won’t be going back. I have yet to take the next step, but I will be trying to get an appointment with an endocrinologist to try a different approach to the problem.

I have much that I have to prepare for next year, and to finish out this year. I am trying to look to a new beginning with this school, a new chance, to grow and become a better teacher and person.

Bad results?

Bad results?

So, I just had the second nerve-block shot for my head yesterday.

My experience between the two shots has been terrible.

Last week,  a day after my first shot, my head was tender to touch and overall, more painful than before the shot. This and persistent nausea persisted for about 4 days.

Last night, I couldn’t sleep because I was freezing- but every time I woke up, I was covered with sweat. Sorry for the not-so-pretty image. Don’t dwell on it. It’s just like my body lost its ability to maintain temperature control.

Same sort of head pain and nausea, plus just overall exhausted by the lack of sleep.

I am very worried that I am not going in the right direction. One thing that people have hinted at is a potential thyroid problem.

Shout out to my blood relatives- any of you know of someone in the family with migraine or thyroid issues?

On a happier note, I found a snake in the house this morning. I think he’s an Eastern Worm Snake, but generally they are found in Southern Carolina. Apparently, NOT ANY MORE!!  This is the third one I have come across (the others were outside, thankfully) which I think helped me NOT flip out as I saw it slither it’s 5 inch body across my tile floor.

Snake

Kinda cute, for a snake. Apparently they only grow up to 15 inches long and are harmless to humans.

I think he’s growing on me. Maybe Jared will let me keep him and call him Pinky. 😉

The head, the yard, and Misc…

The head, the yard, and Misc…

1) The Head:

I finally went to see a specialist yesterday for my headache issues. I figured since I had been to three previous doctors and still had the problem, it was time.

It was okay, except for the part where after consultation, I had to get a shot. IN MY HEAD.

Basically, I think he told me that I have some version of occipital neuralgia (according to Wikipedia: Occipital neuralgia is a medical condition characterized by chronic pain in the upper neck, back of the head and behind the eyes. These areas correspond to the locations of the lesser and greater occipital nerves.) He’s guessing that this is causing most of the every day issues- except for the occasional TRUE migraines. And the best treatment? Nerve blocker shots.

Here’s a diagram, because I know you’d love it.

Nerve Block pic

Oh! Did you NOT notice that needle thing before you clicked on the picture? Sorry… Anyways, he added a little local anesthetic that lasted a whopping 45 minutes, and the whole right side of my head been hurting WORSE ever since! Is that what should happen? I didn’t think so…

If it’s still bothering me tomorrow morning, I’ll be giving them a phone call. Hopefully though it’s a little pain now, a lot less pain in the future!

2) The yard.

Jared and I are finally tackling our yard. I have some pics I took with my cell phone- they aren’t perfect, but they aren’t too bad either. I am really happy with how things are progressing, especially due to the condition the yard was in when we FIRST got the house.

I’m not complaining… the yard being less than great knocked a good $10,000 or so off the overall price of the house, helping us GET the house. It wasn’t like a messy yard was going to intimidate US though.

So, here’s some small things that I’ve been doing to whip the yard into shape. And we have had a lot of rain too. Good teamwork is happening between Jared, the rain, and I. 🙂

The front:

Front Flowers     Front Flowers 2

All of that was dead. Except the bushes. So all the pretty colorful stuff was either 1) non-existent or 2) died from the lack of water last year. Those bushes are prolific growers though… I have to trim them every couple of weeks! The little tree in the front will be really pretty soon- crepe myrtle is amazing when it blooms!

Then the backyard:

Autumn Sage     Roses

The first picture there is autumn sage and our little fountain. It’s really gorgeous right now. The second pic is of a rosebush and these pretty purple flowers (Irises?) that just popped up. Didn’t plant them, but we’re glad they’re there anyway!

The biggest thing in waging our battle against the chaos of the yard are The Oak Trees. Live Oak trees. And their pollen, which is causing KILLER allergies. If they aren’t shedding leaves, they are blanketing the ground with yellow little pods that cover cars and anything else outside with a fine yellow dusting.

The weather people say it should only go on to May. Only. Not like we’ve been dealing with it since the beginning of March or anything. Though, for all you Utahns and cold weather people are probably WISHING for the weather that tempts the Oaks into spreading their pollenific joy with the world!

Got to count the blessings, I guess.

 3) The Miscellaneous

A)  I get to teach The Lightning Thief and mythology in the final weeks of school! I mean, I am getting around to it this year, and my dream job would be to teach mythology classes at a high school year around! 🙂 I am stoked, and a lot of the kids love the book, so it should be kinda a “Fun” way to end the year.

Which leads us to

B) I’m on the home stretch for year TWO! I am SO loving life right now when I think that I made it this far. I know that part of me is panicking that I ONLY have seven more weeks with these kids… but then I think… SEVEN MORE WEEKS TIL SUMMER!

C) I hate filing taxes. Why would anyone even want that kind of job, where you deal with other people’s finances all the time? Yuck.

D) I can’t wait for summer so I can do more yard and house projects. I don’t know if that just reflects on how pitiful my life is that I am excited to have a break from work to work on my house and yard?

Anyways, that’s what’s up with my life in a nutshell. Gets more exciting, but I won’t bore you with the details.

Told you it was the miscellaneous section, right?