Happy Halloween!

We are enjoying a nice and relaxing evening at home. I could not talk Austin into going out because their was "too much good football on". So I dressed up and handed out candy. We had about 8 trick or treaters...which was 8 more than last year. Our neighborhood has either really young couples (a few having kids) or really old people. I was hell bent on getting a picture of our "family". Poor Connery was not having it. I had to chase him all over the house like we do when he's about to get a bath. After much hissing, he sat nicely beside our pumpkin. Too bad we didn't have anyone that could take our picture so Aust and I could be in one together...oh well!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween! With Clemson whipping CC and Carolina losing to UT, this is shaping up to be a wonderful evening!! :-)

chill pill

Or maybe some prozac! I don't know what has been up with me lately, but I have been majorly stressed out. Nevermind that, I know exactly what has been up with me...I just need to learn to let things go. As soon as I leave that parking lot in the afternoon, I have to push all things school out of my mind- no matter what it may be. I left my report cards sitting on my desk rather than in my administrators box- oh well. I have a parent that sent me a note correcting something I messed up on their child's paper- oh well ( It's not like she won't still have a 99 average!). My kids can't measure for crap- oh well!!

I've come to realize, thanks to my wonderfully supportive, yet sometimes brutally honest husband, that I've been a beast to live with the past two weeks (and probably longer!). I haven't come home with anything nice to say and hardly have cracked a smile. Certainly not the person I like to be. I may not like the way things are going at school. I may want to make a change after this May, but I need to make a decision to change the way I look at things right now so I don't make my life and my husbands life horrible for the rest of the year.

I'm only one person and can only do so much. No need to waste my extra time worrying about things I can't control.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can;and wisdom to know the difference.

"I don't appreciate..."

These three words are some of the worst words a teacher can hear coming from a parent. Immediately, it lets me know that they are upset with something I have done and they are going to let me catch hell from them. This also makes any kind of contact or meeting with this parent basically uncomfortable from then on.

Most of the time the parent using this phrase is upset because their angel child has done something wrong that I am informing them about. This is a wonderful way to deflect the problem at hand and turn anything else into my fault. When their child kicks someone or knees another student in the butt while they are drinking from the water fountain, it only makes sense to say to the teacher, "I don't appreciate you not letting me know this has happened before." Apparently they forgot the infraction sheet they signed a couple weeks ago with a similar behavior. So glad I've kept that on file. :-)

Maybe she should come in and watch me with my class. I might be able to win her over. She might realize that she should appreciate me being consistent with her child and his behavior. Or appreciate me giving him praise or a pat on the back when he makes a good decision. Appreciate the patience I have with him when he veers from the correct path. Or the high expectations I have for him because he has great potential. What about the hug I give him as he leaves my room for the day? Or the hours I spend weekly, preparing what I do in class, coming up with fun activities and different ways to teach the same old standards so his butt will be ready for third grade. I guess those things don't need to be appreciated- probably because that's what I'm expected to do.

If only I ran the world and could tell parents what I really think, because I would then say back, "I don't appreciate you letting your child stay up until 10 o'clock and come dragging into my room late, without breakfast and tired this morning. I don't appreciate you initialing his homework messenger letting me know he's completed his homework, when in fact he didn't. I don't appreciate you modeling a bad attitude, where he thinks he can treat others badly and defy anyone in charge. I don't appreciate you sending him into school with a head full of adult lice running all over his scalp."

Too bad I don't run the world and I can't say those things. I guess it's because that's what PARENTS are EXPECTED to do.

And I appreciate those who do it!

New York City

I've never been to NYC and Austin has always promised that he would take me. There have been talks about us going previously, but nothing has ever panned out. He says we might go this Christmas, which would be an amazing time to go...the lights, the decorations, the weather...Normally I would hate the weather and wish I could only go in fall or spring. However, I was just watching something filmed in NYC (Yes, it is the trashy tv show Gossip Girl-if you read my earlier post, you know!).It made me want to go to NYC during the winter so badly. How wonderful would it be to walk in Central Park as the first few flakes were falling! I think we need to have a picture of the snow falling in our hair somewhere in famous NYC...just a thought!! :-)

Trashy TV

There is just something about horrible, terrible, trashy tv that I LOVE! Austin and I have this tradition (I'm stuck on trying to make traditions that he and I can call our own) of watching any stupid tv shows on VH1 and MTV. I don't know if it's the plot lines or the horrible characters in ALL of them that I love!!.
There is one show, however, that I do not watch with Aust. Gossip Girl is a dirtier version of 90210 that I could have ever hoped for. And Austin refuses to watch it with me. I don't ever catch it on tv, because we're always watching other trashy shows at the same time its on. So I always watch the DVD's when it comes out.
I've just rented disc 6 and 7 of season 2 tonight. I can't help but sit through all of them nonstop. OHHHHHHHHHH it's so addicting. I'll be finishing season 2 tomorrow. I certainly don't have ADD- I can sit through hours of tv. :-)

How Cute!

Two of our friends, Jessica and Bri, dropped by one night this week with this adorable cupcake they found at Harris Teeter! When they saw all the tiger paws of course they thought of us, I mean I do live with Mr. Clemson. I had to snap a quick picture before Austin devoured it! Thanks girls! :-)

OHHHHHHHHH back to school...

So, it's that time of year again. The time when parents dump their darling kids (wink, wink) on the unsuspecting, yet knowingly apprehensive teachers for a new year. This is my third year at my school, fifth year teaching second grade...I'd like to think it should be a piece of cake- I should know better.

Lots of changes are being made. Budgets are being cut, and it seems more important now than ever to make sure we're reaching each and everyone of our students, giving them 100% of ourselves everyday, all day. We keep adding expectations for teachers and never taking anything off our plates. I like to pretend I can do it all and I'm super woman, but I know i'm really not.

My district has adopted a new math program...and all I have to say is when I plan I want to shoot myself. We teach one to three lessons in one chapter and then jump to another chapter. When I teach it, I end up taking 50 minutes for a 35 minute lesson. Quite frustrating. On top of this, I'm team leader to a group who has been sent out into the "learning cottages" and who is known for being, how should I say it? Outspoken. (I love all of them, I fit in so well- I can definitely be outspoken too so I'm not complaining). So anything new, confusing, or wrong ends up filling my inbox. I feel like I'm constantly doing secretarial work on top of trying to be the best teacher I can possibly be for my children who, by the way, desperately need me. Did I mention I've been told more than a few times this certainly isn't my class from last year. UGH. Was there some kind of airborne virus that infected these mothers the year they were born???

Enough ranting. On the brighter side, I'm excited that I'm kind of "in charge" of my team. I hope I can be a good leader to them and for them. This is also going to really help pad my resume if we do end up moving after this year. :-) I do have some super sweet kids that I really do already love. I'm sure I will learn to love the others- they certainly won't learn much from me until I do connect with them.

I hope the exhaustion of all that is going on will pass or I'll get used to it. The beginning of the year always is crazy busy. I know I can handle it, I always do. I'm just really thankful I have such a wonderful husband that will listen to my whining (at least for a little while), let me wake him up at 6 a.m. to say good morning, good bye and to ask if I look alright, and won't mind going out for dinner on a night like tonight when I'm worn out and don't even want to think about cooking. Not to mention the many other wonderful things he does to make my life easier. I'm just lucky! :-)

Good luck to all those other teachers out there who have recently started or about to start back. May your year be filled with good students, good parents, and lots of fun learning!