blah blog #1

I have been trying really hard to be more-or-less upbeat in this blog, but after a measly 2 weeks, I have to post my first "blah" blog (thanks, Susan, for giving me the great title! You're the best 4th grade teacher!!!) :)

Today is a very blah day. After more than a week of beautiful sunshiney warm days, we fell back into the 60s and it has been raining ALL day. And it's a Monday. And there are 30 days left of school. And the kids couldn't go outside for recess. If you are a teacher, you know exactly what all of that means!

I have no idea how many people out there are reading this, but if you are a teacher, I would love to know your thoughts on education. And how your school handles substitutes. Especially if you work in an urban area. It seems that once April hits, the subs all decide they aren't working anymore (or maybe more teachers are out from "desirable" districts). The substitutes that we do get are the bottom of the sub pool. I am not trying to be mean, but c'mon, sitting behind my desk reading all afternoon while my assistant who is only paid $10/hr. and is not certified runs the classroom and you collect the $120 for the day is NOT substitute teaching. I do not spend at least 2 hours writing detailed plans, trying to come up with something that is relatively easy, for the sub to decide not to follow the plans and get the kids ready to go home 45 min. before the bell rings. And is it too much to expect the substitute to NOT go through my desk drawers and to put the classroom in order before she leaves (or get the kids to help put it back in order)? *

So, the majority of the time, the substitutes that my school gets leave something to be desired, but if we don't get a sub for a classroom, that class gets split up between classes! Today, I had 2 first-graders for the entire day, a fifth-grader for the morning, and another first-grader for the morning. For the last month, I have had extra students in my room more times than I can count. The first two weeks, I had extra 3-5 graders (while the rest of their class took the state standardized tests) and the last week or so, an extra first-grader (while the rest of his class took the 1st grade standardized test). Therefore, between the barrage of tests our poor kids have to take (I'll leave that subject for another "blah blog") and teachers being out (and these aren't personal days, people), it has been a crazy month!

Honestly, I am trying to be understanding, cooperative, flexible, etc., but it seems like it is getting out of hand and there HAS to be a better solution!!!! These extra kids aren't huge behavior problems, but they are extra bodies (I feel so bad for the 5th graders stuck in our little chairs) and they are a distraction just because they are there!

And there are just some other annoyances that have built up, and today it just seemed like they became the proverbial straw...

It's been a blah day. Thanks for listening.

*the situations described have either happened to me or to colleagues

one more thing...

So, I went into my friend Krista's blog, clicked on her friend Lynn's blog, who had the following which she got from her friend's blog...

Anyway, I think it is amusing that I am a "German Shepherd" - the breed of dog I want to have someday! Besides the "perfectionist" label, I am not sure how much else is true for me, but hey, it was fun! :)



This is the description:

German Shepherd

The Perfectionist

Doggedly dedicated to getting the job done, you don't let silly little distractions get in the way of putting in a full day's work. And after you come home, chowing down on a little grub and taking a little catnap is all it takes to get you up and at 'em for round two, whatever that may entail. Your dogma emphasizes the importance of hard work, and you swim laps around your dog-paddling, time-wasting co-workers. Your cleverness leads to you often being entrusted with some pretty important tasks, which you are always more than happy to sink your canines into. You really dig being outdoors and love a bit of exercise, but you draw the line at the ridiculous stuff, choosing a game of beach volleyball over Pilates in the park any day.

new stuff

As you can see, I've added some elements to the right. The first is a list of my top rated songs - well, just about all of them! A few of them are linked to youtube, so check those out. Sort of like my list of favorite things, this gives you another glimpse into who I am! :) (and how eclectic my music tastes are!) And, for the record, I liked "hallelujah" before it was on American Idol and became popular again (remember - I've never watched Idol)!

Below that is my Shelfari bookshelf (thanks, Krista, for this idea!). I have literally read thousands of books, and it is amazing how hard it is was for me to start this shelf! But, now my memory is ticking, so more books could be added later. If you move your mouse over the book, a pop-up window will give you the reasons why that particular book is on my shelf (again, an eclectic mix, I know!)

Finally (again from Krista!), there is my Yahoo! avatar. I don't teach at a high school and I am not that thin (I wish!), but the rest is pretty true to form! The avatars are great fun to play around with, so "I" might change from time to time...

Oh, before I go, I wanted to add a few things to my "favorite things" list! :)

28. Volkswagen Jetta TDI (red, especially)
29. iMac
30. bread and other baked goods
31. Costco
32. the color green
33. sitting by a campfire
34. walking barefoot
35. daffodils
36. going to Washington, D.C.
37. old family photographs (as in black & white)

Until next time...

my kiddos

I think that I have the cutest 5 & 6 year olds in my classroom this year. I wish I could show you pictures of them (I catch them doing the funniest things!) but, they are not my kids, and I wouldn't want someone putting pictures of my kid on the internet without my permission...so I had to come up with some other way of showing off their cuteness. So, I decided to give you some examples of their writing. They wrote these stories on their own, and what you gotta know is at the beginning of the year, except for Alex and Priscilla, they did not know how to write their names or the letters of the alphabet, much less know how to write a story! You might see some other random stories posted in future blogs! (click on the picture to get a better view!)
"At home I ate cereal with pieces of strawberry and bananas. It tasted good. My dad ate some, too." What I love about this story is that Alex tried using speech bubbles - something I have never taught! And the words coming out of the speech bubbles are backwards - just like they would if they actually came out of the mouths! "Yous can't eat that." "ok." "I want to eat it" "You can eat." "I agree with Luis."


"When I was sick my mom called my aunt. She took me to get ice cream. It was delicious! Yum!" First of all, Samantha used a "story starter" instead of the typical "I __". She also did a great job using the word delicious (and stretching that word out) and look at the wonderful usage of a punctuation mark!


"I saw a cockroach. It was dead. Mrs. Gibson picked it up and threw it in the trash." True story - except that I used a rake to sweep it outside (the rake was in my room from cleaning the memorial garden). I don't touch the cockroaches in our room - and these aren't your little german cockroaches. No, no, they are the large american cockroaches! Man, I love our old school building!!! :)
This is Priscila's story about voting that she wrote yesterday (PA's primary). Honestly, in my 6 years of teaching kindergarten, she is the first student I have had that has had any inkling about election process! I was totally taken aback as I have not mentioned anything about the elections! This is what it says: "Today is voting day and I am going to be happy. Voting day is to vote for the president of the United (sat of the maricu "states of the America" - written on the back). Her picture is of the voting booths with flags on top of each one! I had to show the story to my colleagues, who gave her the stickers!

Until next time...