Best Teacher

I just called all the parents of kids who have As so their parents will know they are awesome.  Every kid wants that kind of hype right before a long weekend, right?

Insomnia

Went to bed early. Woke up at 4:30. 

Accident

This morning my partner teacher got into an accident while biking to school and ended up in the hospital with a broken collar bone. Had to do some running around (and put a lot of things on the back burner) and managed to get sub plans ready for today and tomorrow.  Thankful that he wasn't hurt more seriously and that we have a long weekend so he has more time to recover without trying to rush back. 

Honesty

 Decided not to lie and not to throw anyone else understand the bus and just take the consequences. Right now it looks like I won't get in trouble either. Fingers crossed it stays that way. 

I had 4 meetings today- 2 with admin during planning, 1 with a teacher and 1 with a parent after school. All went extremely well but now I feel like my to do list has grown significantly. Fingers crossed my planning time tomorrow is productive. 

Lots of finger crossing for someone who is touting honesty. 

Moral conundrum

Everyone has been asked to do something difficult in a small amount of time.  A few people were able to get it done by neglecting all other things.  Most other people made up data.  Do I also make up data so I don't get in trouble for not completing the task or should I be honest?  If I lie, I won't get in trouble but admin won't know that what was asked was unreasonable and I might have to imply that others have lied.  Ugh.  No one comments on this blog anymore, but I really need some advice.  

Parties

Today after church we had a back to school party with lunch and an inflatable slide. Then later in the afternoon we had an ice cream social in the neighborhood. We are all partied out after this weekend. We have 5 days to recover and then it's time to celebrate again because Korra turns 6 on Saturday!

Birthday Cakes

Today we had 2 birthday celebrations. One for children that involved s'mores and one for an adult that included tacos and margaritas. Both included cake. So much cake. 

So Mean

I got a really mean text message from a parent after her daughter got detention.  It included an accusation that I am a failure as a teacher, that I stereotype students, that I have a superior attitude.  It was really hurtful, even though I know it's not true.  It's hard to hear things like that when you care so much.  So I'm doing a lot of crying and eating ice cream.  Just extra thankful that it's Friday.  

Kitchen Sink

There is a large fan in our kitchen and we don't know if the sink is fixed. So we went out to dinner. Living so close to so many good restaurants is really nice. 

Bathroom texts

I've received not one but 2 texts from parents today about the middle school bathroom policy.  Someone save me.

Tshirt

I made this t-shirt last night. I've ordered mine and I put it out for other teachers at my school to order. I'm really proud and excited to wear it!  

Ninja Girl Scout

Korra had her first Ninja Tumbling class today. She loved it. Way more than dance. The only Complaints Korra had are: 1) she's the only girl in the class and 2) the boys are too rowdy. 

Korra also had her first Girl Scout meeting today (yes, I am insane for committing to these both on the same day). She enjoyed that too. I enjoyed it way less than I always dreamed I would. It turns out I'm just too tired of children by the end of the day to lead a troop. I hope we'll be able to keep it up, but it's not exactly close to home and back to back activities is hard. 

I didn't get any pictures. Maybe next time. 

Not bad news

Our kitchen sink is leaking and we can't use it. Thankfully we don't own this house so it's someone else's problem :)

Good News

Nate spent 2 hours on the phone with the GA IRS and we're now getting our full refund (from the state at least)!  

Romantic Comedies

I've watched 3 stupid romantic comedies (Like Father, All the Boys I Used to Love, and Leap Year) in the past few days while doing schoolwork and housework (grading papers, emailing parents, redoing our budget, folding laundry). I will now take recommendations for slightly less stupid romantic comedies (available on Netflix or Prime) to watch in the coming weeks. 

IRS Update

Georgia finally issued us our refund- only problem is it's $987 less than what it's supposed to be. The letter states we can submit more documents, but doesn't tell us what documentation they want and it'll take another 2 hour phone call (between the hours of 9am and 5pm on a weekday) just to find out. Ugh. 

Forget the middle

My day started with an episode of Nailed It on the treadmill and is ending with a grilled cheese and Korra enjoying a playdate. 

So so tired

Meetings from 8 until 12. Teaching all my kids at once for the afternoon. They took every last bit of the energy the boring meetings had left me with. Or so I thought. Then I had a glass of wine and now I'm even more tired. It will be a miracle if I don't fall asleep while reading to Korra. 

Search History

After allowing students to use the brand new laptops today, tomorrow we will have a lesson about search histories. Eek. 

Those 2 Things

There are 2 things on my school to do list I haven't done. And I've been thinking about not doing them. There's too much to do. Those 2 things seem like a waste of time.  Tedious and time consuming and not very useful. But I'm feeling guilty and terrified... I'm going to get in trouble. They're going to say I'm a bad teacher or unprofessional. That I'm not working "smarter" or that I don't have a "growth-mindset."  Which is going to win?  My fear of reprimand or my exhaustion?

This girl

New friends

Had some new friends over tonight for dinner (kebabs and grilled bread), dessert (chocolate pie), and games (JackBox). Kathleen even made me this really amazing bag!  It was a really fun evening and I hope we do it again soon!

Bike Riding

This morning Korra and I went on a bike ride. She rode her bike, I rode my bike with the trailer. We practiced riding to school. It took a long time and there were lots of tears because even though she can ride well, she struggles to get started on her own and gets pretty scared when we go downhill (she does not like to feel out of control- I wonder where she gets that?) Once we got to the school, we locked up her bike and she got in the trailer. I biked another mile or so to this really cool store (Richard's Variety) to pick out a gift for a friend who had a birthday party tomorrow. The ride back was rough for me because it was all uphill while pulling the trailer and then once we got to the school there was a lot more tears because by now Korra was tired and frustrated. It took us over 2 hours to bike 3 miles but I'm hopeful that with more practice we'll be able to come to school before winter!

Smores

Korra and I went to meet her new Girl Scout troop tonight.  We had a little campfire and roasted marshmallows. Korra enjoyed playing tag with the other girls and I enjoyed getting to know the troop leaders. I think Girl Scouts is going to be a fun experience for both of us.

Making It

Finally watched the first episode of Making It (after many recommendations). It was as wonderful as they promised. 

Whole Group

Today I taught all my students at once- 26. In many schools, that would have be considered a small class.  It went really well when you keep in mind these kids aren't used to being with each other like that. The rest of the day was spent planning and in meetings, which was for the most part very productive. Now I just have to contact 26 parents by tomorrow afternoon...

Sharing the Cold

I'm feeling better but Korra's now an snot factory (so much so that she was sent home from school).  We really need her to feel better tomorrow because Nate starts back at school tomorrow. 

The student has become the teacher

3 of my (favorite) former students started their careers as middle school teachers today.  I know about it because they are my Facebook friends. I'm so proud of them and, if I'm being honest, a bit proud of myself for helping them along this path. 

Sick

My throat started hurting yesterday. I drank lots of orange juice. Gargled with salt water. Did a sinus rinse. Took a nap. And still the cold took hold today. I feel awful. Only 4 days into school.  I have so many things to do but all I have energy for is eating tacos and reading Korra a bedtime story. 

Game X

We went to Game X this afternoon with some friends.  It's always so difficult to find thingsto spend our tickets on that we won't hate to take home. Nate got a squishy, Korra got magnetic putty and I got a potato pellet gun. 

Cookies and muffins

This morning I baked blueberry muffins for a friend. Then I tried my first batch of vegan chocolate chip cookies for my partner teacher (they turned out really good!). Cooking and baking is a big stress release for me. Feeling ready for a new week!

4:30 Cooking

I woke up at 4:30. So I made a double batch of blueberry waffles, potato salad, and cucumber salad. Then I took an hour long walk. And then it was still only 9:00. 

Needless to say I took a nap right after lunch. 

I need this weekend

This week has been exhausting and stressful and I am so, so ready for the weekend.  I know it will be better soon (the beginning of the year is always like this), but I need a break to sustain me through this challenging season.  Looking forward to pizza for dinner, going for a walk, watching some tv, and doing some baking.

My Classroom

With my brand-new Promethean Board!

First Day

Today was Korra's first day of 1st grade!

Also,  I found this cell phone shaped hole in a book. 

That pretty much sums up my day.