Silly Season...Teacher Style

Allen always laughs at me when I call ESY and OAAP time Silly Season.  Secretly I think he's proud that I used the NASCAR term the right way.  Well, it is Silly Season!! Everyone is trying to get everything done for testing, and get summer school paperwork done in time, and get things wrapped up for the year.  All in about ten weeks or so.  I can't believe that the school year is almost over.  I think we have 54 days left.  This is exciting and scary and overwhelming all at the same time.  Exciting because summer is a'comin', scary and overwhelming because I have a ton of things to do in those 54 days. This is what is scary--

ESY, otherwise known as extended school year, or summer school, is the easiest one of the bunch.  I am actually getting that knocked out pretty quick.  Each student that goes needs a meeting to go over if it's imperative or not.

Last of the IEPs and Re-evals are next on the oh-my list.  I've done quite a bit of them this year already, but I have a few left, and those re-evals keep popping up! I think I've done three or four already this year.  These happen annually or every three years.  Normal stuff, but they take time.

OAAPs are the biggie.  This is the Oklahoma Alternative Assessment Program, or portfolio testing. Woohoo!! (not really).  I don't mind spending the time working with my students, in fact, I look forward to it.  They tend to either impress me beyond measure, or I realize I need to change my approach for things.  Last year's OAAPs were impressive.  I was so excited when we got the scores back because they did so well.  I am very proud of my boys.  This year, though, I am afraid of what I will find when I do the last bit of them.  I have been teaching them these skills all year long, but when put in a specific situation with a camera on them, things can go a little bit astray. We'll see how they do.  I've got five of them to do this year.

Other than that, we are on the downward slope.  Hold on tight!

So there is my Silly Season!  Bring it on!! (and don't forget the Dr. Pepper--I'll need it.)  

Versus

There was a TV show on Fox called the Finder.  It was about this man who lived in the Florida Keys who could find anything you asked him to, even though sometimes it brought more than you bargained for.  The girls and I loved the show!  It starred Geoff Stults and the late Michael Clark Duncan.  It was cancelled shortly before Duncan passed.  We were sad to see only one season of this show.  It was quirky and fun.

One of the things they did in their down time was have discussions using a chalkboard.  The topics were presented in the vs. style-honor vs. duty, bravery vs. courage, Mozart vs. Bach, etc.  They had some lively discussions over these topics!

While the show was on, we began our own vs. board on the fridge.  We've done lots of topics, ranging from very simple to silly.  We haven't done any in-depth topics because we are still children!  And, we tend to just write our initials on the board by the one we vote on.  Here are some of our topics:

• waffles vs. pancakes
• tulips vs. roses
• cookies vs. brownies
• summer vs. winter
• soda vs. soda stream
• netflix vs. apple tv

It has been lots of fun and has started some great conversations.  I can't wait until the girls are a little bit older to do some harder ones.  This is what is up right now.

I personally like both, but I think I like Elsa a little bit better.  Even though she was the one who accidentally hurt her sister, she was also the one who saved her.  She also overcame her fears and learned to control her power.

What would be on your versus board?

The Crazy Train

Lots of people see the new year as a clean slate, a fresh start.  Time to make changes to how we approach everything.  I am no exception.  I'm not going to be like so many people that vow to exercise and diet. I am trying to do these things already.  This year I'm gonna stop the crazy train.

This school year has eaten my lunch--quite literally.  It has been very difficult for me on many levels.  Lots of responsibility, paperwork, and events I will not get into have made it probably the hardest year I've ever had.  I also feel like all the other places I've been and the classes I've taught has been getting me ready for this.  I feel very blessed to have a family who is supportive and patient and an amazing faculty that sticks with it everyday, with me.  This is the Crazy Train.

I am going to try my best to decrease the "crazy" in my life.  Some of it I have no control of whatsoever.  The other part of it, I most certainly can help it.  It will take some time to get things streamlined, but I know that I if I can get the paperwork easier, the Crazy Train will start slowing down into the station.  That is my resolution.

Forty is the New Thirty

In September, I hit it.  I wanted to hit it with a bang and all my friends, but frankly, I was way too tired!  So on September 30, 2013, I quietly turned forty.  Well, I guess I really can't say it was quiet.

The actual day fell on a Monday, so as a family we celebrated the weekend before.  Since I didn't have the giddy-up to host a party, my family just did whatever I wanted to do.  We started on Friday night with Macaroni Grill, including Italian soda,

 and a trip to the Guitar Center where I picked out my present:

a ukulele!!  I have wanted one for a long time, and so we just picked it out!  It was under $100, so I felt pretty good about spending it.  I have enjoyed messing around with it.  For the rest of the weekend we ran errands and hung out.  I didn't get to do everything I wanted to, which was mostly relaxing, vegging out at home and doing a little crafting, but it was good.  No school work done that weekend for the exception of the required.

On my actual birthday, I was quite honored.  I work with some wonderful people!  They snuck in getting the kids to sign a card for me, which they did right under my nose, and treated me with cupcakes, a gift certificate, and a big 'ol Dr. Pepper.  They spoil me rotten!  Then, at lunch, the entire 3rd and 4th grades sang Happy Birthday.  What a treat!  I was so surprised.  My sisters sent me flowers, balloons, and wax chips for the scentsy pot to school too.  It was wonderful.

When I got home, the girls made me a cake and I cracked open a bottle of Cupcake wine that I picked out.

 We stayed home and enjoyed being together.  It was a great way to begin my 40s.

The Bride of Frankenstein

So it's been a while.  School and life has happened!  Life is full and busy.  One of the highlights of the past few months was Halloween.  When I asked the girls what they wanted to be, Anna wanted to wear her red cape that she loves, so she was red riding hood.  Lauren, on the other hand, had big ideas.  She wanted to be the bride of Frankenstein!  The first thing I asked her was if she even knew what the Bride of Frankenstein was about.  She had no idea...none of us did!  So, for fall break, we found it on Netflix.  Here is a pic of Elsa Lanchester as the Bride.

In it's time, this movie was a horror flick.  It was completely tame compared to what is out there now.  The girls and I were quite surprised.  Part of it was funny even.  After we watched it, we figured out her costume.  We got some simple white fabric from Hobby Lobby and I made a tube skirt for her to wear.  Easy!  Now, the hair.  That was the hard part. We searched You Tube for tutorials, and there were many.  This is how we did it.

First, I curled her hair in ringlets.  I sprayed the fire out of them, hoping it would hold.  As curly as Lauren's hair is, it doesn't hold a curl when we do curl it.

After that, we took a cut coke bottle and bobby pinned it to the crown of her head.  I made it good and secure.

Oh and I forgot to mention that I put a hair net around the bottle before I put it on her head.  That way we could bobby pin hair to the bottle, which is the next step.  Leave down two pieces of hair (one on each side) for the white pieces.

Once we got the hair good and secure, we hair sprayed her hair black.  That was messy and stinky!

It took the entire can of black to cover those blond curls!  We then colored the two pieces left over white, which you couldn't tell very well they were white.  We pinned them up with the rest, and voila! The Bride of Frankenstein!

 

And, to top it off, we were in Petsmart the other day and found--wait for it--a Frankenstein costume just for Hagrid!!

It was the cutest Halloween costume we've done, except for this: