Yahoooooo School Has Started

Austin's first day was Aug 13, mine was Aug 18th and students on the 19th. I have gotten much of the paper work done that I needed to finish. Now I have to begin actually teaching. So far I have been having a great time. The smartboard final connections were made today and the last class for the day got to write on it. They were soooooo excited. Some kids from earlier in the day came in and they started protesting because the others used it first. I invited the football coach to use some space in my room since they changed his teaching assignment he did not have a desk any more because he became a floater. I got the computer network set up in my room today. He came in and told me he was so glad he had a techy to share rooms with and that he knew that things would get done for him when needed. I showed him the football interactive part and how he can show plays using the smartboard. He is now really excited. He uses DVDs to show the games so he is excited about my wide screen. It is as big as a chalkboard. My students so far are really great. I got a new one from North Ridge. He at first was nervous, a little I am going to be bad... however the students that were in the room at the time let him know real quick that it was okay to be COOL in my room and that I was their favorite teacher. He let up and by the end of the class we had him laughing and participating in doing math problems with us. Things will be okay I believe with him now. I gave myself the largest case load. Of course some of the kids only see me and not one of the other two. I gave our newbee the easiest case load. I just feel it is only fair to start her off easy. If we change programs again this year I will be sitting in front of the computer trying to do paper work data entery for hours again. I hope not. I am going to go to the meeting to voice my opinion. I feel they need to either hire someone to enter this data or pay use overtime. If we have to enter this data I will approach the boss lady for either subs so we can work on entering data or pay us overtime. Since I make close to $375.00 per day I don't think they will want to pay me overtime.
Casi seems to be doing well. I have not heard from her for the past couple of days. I missed Lara's call this morning because my phone was at home on charge. I will talk to her in the morning. I am going to finish showing the movie 13 going on 30 for the STEP class. The boys seem to be enjoying it. We are discussing the movie - looking through the eyes of a child in an adult world. I really am not sure I am describing it exactly. However I do know the discussing that I have planned for when we end the movie.
In English class we are starting out reading Phantom Tollbooth. Tim said he felt like it is written about him. I that is good. Milo is alot like time that is why I chose the book.
It is getting late so I think I shall go to bed. Tomorrow is Friday. I need to call my Mum as a relative of her's contacted me by email. It is one of her Aunt Lizzie grandchildren. I know she will be excited as they are the ones she did not keep good contact with as adults. I hope it is another one of Zelva's children. Or who knows which one it might. be. Talk later.

Yipers school is ready to start.

I have a training class tomorrow. ALL DAY! Oh well such is life. I know it will be fun and I know that I agreed to it if I were to get the grant for a smart board. Well I got the grant. I have yet to see the smart board. Ed, the greatest maintenance person in the district (we are a little biased at the high school), is going to take the dry erase boards down tomorrow. The smart boards should be here next Monday. My room is taking shape. Ashley and Chelsey have been coming out to help me get things ready. Ed built me a new bookcase. I designed a desk for Nichole and Ed is going to finish building it Wed or Thur. (I knew someday I would use that mechanical drafting class.) Sometimes I wish I would have stayed in engineering and other days I am glad I am teaching. With engineering I would not have all this time in the summer to spend with my family. That is the greatest benefit of teaching.
Casi and the boys are here again. We are getting ready for a rummage sale. It is Saturday. I need to get things out of the attic. I need to call the people that collect the stuff left over as I plan to not carry one item back to my attic.
Really not a whole lot to say tonight. I posted my pictures of my garden at the family site.
By the way Kristina Austin wants to thank you for Toby. They have played together for hours now. Austin has taken him on 3 long walks. Both are being good. Austin is beginning to think about Santa's arrival. He is hoping he has been good enough.
Time for bed. Have to be up early tomorrow.

Austin

Austin called all excited because his picture was in the newspaper with his diamond. He had no idea it was going to be in the paper. What a kid. Doesn't he just make you laugh. Devon was hungry while I was trying to talk to Casi so I will call her back later. I want her to scan the article and post it to our family site.

What a GREAT FAMILY I have!!!!!

Honesty, is important. Not hiding for fear someone will find out the truth, what a way to live. That is what I love about my family... HONESTY!!!! Doesn't it feel good to know that when you go to bed at night you have been honest with yourself and with others. Not having to hide things because you have TOLD LIES to others and do not want them to be found out. Especially if you believe they can be used as proof that you are not honest or that people may get together and the real truth be found out. One thing we have always taught in our home is honesty. The truth will always come out in the end. BE PROUD OF YOUR GOOD CHARACTER!!!!
Check out my pictures of the backyard on the family site. I have not learned all I need to know about this one, and I don't seem to have much time at the present.
I have to decide if I want to attend another workshop that goes along with being the department head. I probably will since it is one about new changes. Yee gads as long as I have been doing this job you would think we could stick to the same rules for a few years.
I have a new special needs teacher this year to train. The computer I hope will not frighten her. I am now in my new classroom as we hired a new English/History teacher this year. So I moved to a room even larger than my last one and it has air conditioning.
Dad and I are loving the new car. It seems so different to drive a smaller car since I have been driving the Tahoe. I miss it in ways, however I do not miss it on fill ups. LOL
Lara is in charge of planning the family trip for 2010. I am not planning a trip for next year except with mom. Since we want to visit some of the older relatives, we have to say older only because they will all be 90+ by next summer. However they all still drive, go where they please, take care of themselves and are just a great group of people to hang with. Do you think I can get Mom to Disney again?
Marianne's scare turned out to be nothing major, so all is good again. Lara and I are taking the boys to Indiana Beach on the 12th, the day of Casi's surgery. Also Austin will be in kindergarten on the 13th... His very first day of school. I will take pictures, just like the others first day and first bus ride. You know he could just run across the field and he is at school, school policy... He must ride the bus.
Talk later.

Up date --- backyard

It is almost finished. Well at least for this year. Except you know I will have to weed it. My goal of July 4 seems.... wow! It looks good when you look out the upstairs bedrooms windows. Well I am going for now. I have another 10 hours of work tomorrow. Talk at you later.

Okay Lara I will update quickly

As you all know I have been pretty busy. Being the head of the department means extra work for little pay. I have had meeting to attend, paper work for the state, and I have been invited to be a guest presenter for two conferences. I have been working in the yard alot. I have almost finished the monumental task of the backyard. But you know dedicated flower garden people... it never ends. I am preparing to depart to go to Casi's home and pick her and boys up. She wants to sew... however I need to get things done here so she and the boys have been coming here. Only 4 weeks till we head off to Arkansas and seems I have gotten very little done. I will add to this later as I need to hurry and get the LOVE of my life his lunch. It seem stange fixing a lunch at 10 am however that is when his is scheduled. I know I am probably the only person in the world that reads what I write... except my wonderful daughter Lara... Lara you have been a blessing since the day you were born. And by the way Rachel is ready for a photo shoot she told me. I guess maybe Kristina told her you thought she is turning into a beautiful young lady. I have to agree... It is my great genes you know... My family has that look. I think her hair helps alot also. Ashley is missing dance class. I told her this year I was going to have her go to a dance studio that does not compete... Well that didn't go over very well .... she liked being on the stage... go figure. All for now. tahtaa

It has been to long ago!

It has been a while since I last posted. With the changes in Special Education paper work I have been busy at the computer keying in information. All of my annuals will be finished next week. This is the first year in a long time I have had this many underclass IEPs to do. 19 of them. I will survive. Thank goodness administrators are so wonderful and like the way I do my job. Next year I am the head of the department. Yeah. Once again I will be setting the case loada for everyone else. It sometimes is a challenge to keep up with all of the changes in the laws. It seems that we are writing a book for each student.
It is Mother's Day and Ashley made fudge for her Mommy while she was here. Lara and Chris came and spent the night. We all took my Mum out to eat - Covered Bridge in Eugene, Indiana. Lara and I shared the ham steak. I will add a few pictures of Ashley making her fudge.

Spring Where Are You?

Where is spring? I wish it would arrive on the weekends not during the week. I look out the window upstairs and dream of all the beautiful colors that will soon be there. I walked around the yard the other day to see if any plants were ready to sprout. Sure enough there are a few. I am planning the newest addition to the pond areas. A water fall. It floats around in my mind, so I need to get it out and on paper soon. I called around today trying to get some dirt. However there only seems to be some at a place that wants 180.00 for it. NO way am I spending that kind of money. I will wait until the city can get to theirs or watch the paper for someplace that has some. I was looking through the catalog of seeds and plants. My wants are too costly for this year, however I will start small and keep adding. I keep saying start only one project and then go to the next. I can't wait. Well all for now. Have a great day. Pray for good weather. Pray for America.

Snow - early out

The storm has arrived and we are got out early. Took mom out to eat, Marianne joined us. We each had individual pizzas. Rachel (and Ashley) is waiting on her tadpole/frogs to arrive for her science project. This will be an exciting experiment for her. She will be taking pictures and notes of the different stages of the frog development. The science fair isn't required, however she is very into science. Of course I think she is just plain ole into learning, not school, but learning.
If I wasn't still working I would home school she and Ashley. They would be much happier. Ashley doesn't like having to get up in the mornings. I have been thinking about starting an internet school. I think that would be fun. I have my plan and it just might happen soon. Well I am going to go do somethings around the house. So much to do before spring break.

IT"S FRIDAY!

Wow were does time go? I ordered Rachel's science fair project. She is going to raise frogs from tadpoles. Well the kit I ordered comes with different stages of the frog, so there will be a tadpole, a hind legs developed, a front legs developed, and a fully developed frog. Each frog can be seen through and she will be able to observe the inner workings of the frog without dissection. That will be cool for her to watch. We plan to allow her classroom to enjoy them after the science fair. Rachel has her camera ready and the display board also. I guess when we go on our trip we will be taking them along. I am excited about this project also as I love frogs.
Our trip seems so close. Actually it is really close. Just 19 days, counting weekends till spring break. I know the girls dad will try to see them over the break, however he will be lucky if he gets to. I don't think the judge is very happy with all the lies he has told, or the fact he has neglected to pay his child support, and to pay the settlement money he owed. Some people will never learn and they think they can get by with anything they want.
My class is making robots. They have completed their designs, gathering their materials, and making the cuts. Now it is time to build them. This activity will probably take us through spring break. My math group is playing monopoly. They are so excited that they come to class and start setting up the game from where they left off the day before. Right now the girls are ruling. Maybe those miserly boys will get the hint they need to purchase a few properties in order to have more money. They keep having to just pay the girls as they are buying up properties like they are gold. My American History class is doing a webquest on Reconstruction Era. It should be completed next week. The STEP classes have been involved in the testing this week so they are on hold until Monday. Our project will be starting a week behind schedule. I hope we can finish before spring break. Life skills is finishing their power points. We will be previewing them on Monday or Tuesday. Yeah. It is so great to complete a project.
Well I had better get off as my free time is finished and it is almost time to go home. James will post sometime. So long for now.

A Great Weekend

A few weeks ago two of my daughters, one of my daughters' husband, my granddaughters, and my grandsons and I went to the science central. It is a great place for kids to go and learn about science. Each of them were fasinated with all of the various displays and the interaction. They learned about broadcasting the news, electricity, force, walking on the moon, rocks, water animals, bubbles and much more. These kinds of adventures bring to life family sharing. As a family we have a tendency to go and enjoy things together. The next week-end we all headed to the dance competition. After the girls performed we met up at the local Chuck-E-Cheese. The kids played (even the big ones) 500 tokens spent, well almost, One grandson likes to hored his so he only spent a few, and we were ready to head to the kids favorite pizza place. Since my one daughter's husband had to work and miss the other activities he met us there. Filled with pizza, bread sticks, and drinks we all headed in our own directions home. One had a 2 hour drive northeast, one had a 2 hour drive northwest and I had a 2 hour drive southwest. These drives are well worth it as we can all spend time together, laughter is abundent, smiles glow, and everyone looks forward to the next time we will all met again.

The Weather and Just Stuff

The weather is suppose to be bad this weekend. Not to worry though I do have lots to do. I am looking into finding a place to start practicing my newest schooling skills. I don't know exactly what I am looking for, except I know what I expect it to do.
I am just about finished with scanning all of the pictures of the family that I own. If any of my family members need me to help them let me know.
The family tree information is just about all back in the tree. I will never ever get a new computer and forget to get the information saved. This has been a long journey, however the end is in sight. I have new information to enter into it. Thanks to my wonderful relatives in Wales and England I am gathering more information on my mother's family.
I hope to be able to create a new recipe this weekend and to try one that I have found for a candy my children really love. If we get the weather like they think, then I will only be staying in this weekend.
Okay I know you are wondering when will I get to the family advice... I am ready for another tidbit right now.
What is a family day? It is a day when only your family spends time together. Plan games, art projects, cooking but stay away from the TV and computer. Be creative and concentrate on only the family. The TV and computer take time away from them. While my children were growing up, we each had our own deck of playing cards. Then we would play war. We made the jokers the most powerful card of the deck. Many times we went to the park and went hiking or fishing. The grandchildren love this also. The only problem was my husband's work schedule. He could only go with us or share this time once in a great while. However he did make up this time when he was at home and so were the children.
By spending time this way with your family you create a bond of togetherness. Think back to the early days of this country, how much time was spent doing things with the family? Most of your time was spent with your family if you were not working.
I challege you to turn off the TV and computer one day per week, maybe not all day if you really "have to" watch or play on the computer. I know that many people have jobs that require the use of their computer, however can't you turn it off for a few hours and spend them with your children. Those card games we great, the fishing trips - even if we didn't catch one fish - are rememberable, and all days we spent going to parks and on small trips - memories float in your brain of happy times. I love my family. The time we spent together and still spend together means more than anything else in the whole world. Money can't buy anything like the good times. I wish everyone in the world could enjoy life with their family - without hurt or worry.
All for tonight.

Somethings I Have Learned as a Parent

Some of the things I have learned as a parent are that it doesn't pay to worry about small stuff. A great book is "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff." I use it in my classroom when I have students that seem to fix on something and cannot get over it. I apply much of its suggestions in my own life.
Another thing I learned while raising my great (most parents believe they have great kids) is that limit your rules to the important things. While at work one day I was sitting there think what to do about the fact when I get home I had become the neighborhood babysitter later and later into the evening. When my kids had lessons of some kind or a game we needed to go to the other parents didn't seem to be around for their kids to go home to. Yes I did like the fact I knew where my kids were and what was going on, however it was becoming a challenge for us to be a family. I sat there and wrote some rules. (1.) all kids that did not belong to me would be going home at 6 PM, or when we needed to leave. (2.) Homework needed to be completed by 8:30 PM
(3.) Sundays were family days and no-one was going with us or going to be at our home...only family. These were the only rules. My one child, the one most likely to protest these rules went to her room to think them over. Soon she returned and said, "Mom we need to talk about these rules." I told her fine, but they probably wouldn't change. She then preceeded to state her case. She did not believe that 6 PM was early enough for everyone to leave. She just didn't believe she could get everything done if people were around after 5 PM. I called the other kids in to the family room and told them what she had proposed. They agreed that 5 PM was better than 6. We did change that one rule. When she became an adult I asked her why she wanted the time change. To my surprise it was a relief to her to not have others at our home so many hours each day. She didn't have to ask or tell people she didn't want to play any more because she had homework, but Mom got to send everyone home and then she was the "bad guy." We did allow one little boy to spend more time with us since we were more of a family to him than his own. When he graduated from high school he thanked me for being such a good parent to him.
All for today. Good night.

Just what am I thinking?

Here I sit in front of this computer. I have been teaching for 30 years. My students and I have discussed the No Child Left Behind act. They are of the thought that the composers of this bill do not understand education and that they do not understand that NOONE can make them learn if they don't want to.
I know many great teachers and I know many young people that woud be great teachers, however faced with an act such as NCLB education cannot recruit qualified people to take on the task of educating our students.
You see not everyone in the United States is going to college, nor do they have the desire to go. Without individuals to cook and serve food, we would need to close all McDonalds, Pizza Huts, Papa John's, Red Lobster's, and every other food service business as everyone would be over educated to want to work these lower paying jobs. That would mean that women or maybe men, will need to stay at home and COOK. That wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact the cost of goods and services, electric, gas, water, etc. keeps increasing in cost, which means one earner families cannot survive.
Further more I ask each member of congress that passed this act..."How would you like for your job as congress be judged by a test given to the American public as to what you are doing in Congress?" It is a matter of just how well you can educate the American public of what you are doing. When I watch c-span I notice that most congressional members are not there participating in discussions, not are they listening while another person is talking. I watch as the camera pans the room and notice all of the empty seats. This leads most to believe you are overpaid and much underworked. If you really want to help education, pass an act that holds the students accountable and not the teachers. You are using teachers to get elected into office because it is easy to not like teachers because of the institution they work in.
Parents how can you help your student? First become actively involved in what your child is doing in school. Require them to do their homework. Provide them with a home life that will show them you care what they are doing. Too many times I have had students tell me about being in the Walmart parking lot at 2 AM visiting with their friends on a school night. How can they come to school and be successful if they are out at 2 AM? How much can they learn in school the next day when all they can do is function enough to move from class to class. Sleep comes to them during the school day. If you don't believe this I am sure you can pick up just about any school in this country's yearbook and you will find many pictures of kids sleeping during class.
Enough of my rantings for tonight. Good night.