Friday's Letters 7/20/2012

I'm linking up to write some Friday Letters with Ashley.

Dear summer-cable-television-programming,
Will and Grace marathons.
The Hills marathons.
Monk marathons.
Golden Girls marathons.
30 Rock marathons.
How I Met Your Mother marathons.
Law and Order SVU marathons.
Big Bang theory marathons.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I call sabatoge. You are blantantly trying to sabatoge my life and trap me inside.
I will resist.
Well, riiiiiight after I finish just one more episode.
Just one more.

Dear Humidity,
Thank you for leaving. I can finally breathe and spend time outside without melting.


Dear Kindle, 
Man oh man are you tricky! I have already purchsed and almost read 3 books. 3 BOOKS!
It's beeeeeeeen a week.
One push, and boom, you're in my hands. No driving to a bookstore, no ordering online and waiting. Just one push and like a magical book fairy I have another novel to gobble down.
And I can't stop.
I feel like a drug addict. Need more. NEVER ENOUGH.

Except for all of those pesky side effects of a drug addiction like ruining relationships, losing my job, deteriorating my body, etc. Books aren't ruining my life.

Either way, I'm catching on. And once school starts I am not going to be around as much to enjoy all of this free time to read.

Dear life,
There have been quite a few ups and downs this summer.
Don't get me wrong. They weren't huge. All of these ups and downs are in the long run pretty significant but enough to rock my proverbial boat and make me a little  sea sick (metaphorically) for some time. Some were bigger than others, but none were anything that I should actually have spent much time dwelling on at all.
And guess what life? You and I are pretty much where we started at the beginning of the summer now that this metaphorical sea has started to calm.
I thought I wanted some things and didn't want some other things. There has been conflict and resolution. But guess what? I'm okay. Things are okay. And things will continue to be okay. It's nice to finally be in a place where I realize that everything I think I want and need are not always what I want and need. Thank you, for keeping me on my toes and letting the universe that is exponentially bigger than I am do what it does.


Dear gym, 
Yeah I totally used you for your air conditioning last week. I personally see nothing wrong with it. Hey, at least I made it.

Dear Brain, 
Now that I've been busy these past few weeks you're coming up with all of these things that I JUST HAVE TO WRITE ABOUT. Slow it down.
Also, those dreams have been quite vivid and memorable lately. And at times, kind of out of place and odd. Should I be bringing these to a therapist? A doctor? A dream interpreter? A psychic? My dog? Send some sort of sign tonight in my next dream. Or else Bruin is going to continue to get an earful.
 
Dear this upcoming year's curriculum,
Now you're not going to write yourself now are you?
To quote Liz Lemon, blerg.
I'll be getting to you soon I guess.

Dear readers, 
While sparse this week, I did get around to posting a few things.
I posted an easy, and hopefully enlightening tutorial on how to get that "Beachy Hair" you've been trying to perfect all summer. Promise it won't disappoint.
I gave a little recap of my birthday.

And then there's my short post on this high school boy who is more talented in a snuggie than you will ever be. For realisies.

Happy Friday, and stay fabulous!

Thankful Thursday

Am I the only person who thinks it's crazy that it's Thursday?

Not that I've been productive or anything. But I mean, it's gone fast eh?

This week has been sort of, uh, drab. I think I'm suffering from the First Week of August Blues. I literally somehow did NOTHING for like 3 hours yesterday.

I had my computer open but made no progress in vacation searching other than the fact that Fuji is just as pretty as Hawaii (Dave and I are thinking about taking a real honeymoon? We'll see), no blog posts, no planning for school, and no organization, and no vacuuming.

The most worthwhile thing I got done was look at puppies that I can't adopt yet and watch 4 episodes of Ice Loves Coco.

I think this is what some may call a funk. I even missed some of my favorite blog-hops yesterday. Whomp Whomp.

But I shall get out of this Funk. And what better way to do it with a link-up that makes me think about all of the wonderful things I should be thankful for.

Link up with Rebecca over at Southern Charm to count your blessings!

So, some things I am Thankful for today:

1. I'm thankful that both of my boys are around to cuddle today!

Well I mean, Bruin's usually pretty easy to pencil in.

But as far as my other man goes, he's a little tougher to find time to spend with. You see,  he's working at a State Park, which is wonderful. But as he tries to climb up the totem pole of conservation and recreation jobs with the government, his hours are less than desirable.

Either way, I have some time before I have to give dairy deliciousness to unnecessarily angry people today to hang out with these sleeping beauties. Loving it!

2. I'm thankful for To-Do Lists.

As aforementioned, I am in a Funk. But I have created a to-do list for the summer. Er, well, a to-do list of things to do before the end of the summer. Like get my act together.

Don't you worry fellow list makers, I put things on there that I absolutely have to do before the end of the summer knowing that I will do them and can at least feel good about crossing them off in case I don't get the other things done.

I'm kind of an expert at both list making and setting myself up for success.

3. I'm thankful for getting a glimpse of my new classroom. 

So this may sound horrible to any of you who are trying to hang onto any glimpse of summer before signing your life back over to whatever job you may hold and have been fortunate enough to get time off from.

Buuuut it is kind of a motivator.  I talked about how the beginning of August signifies the beginning of the end for me as far as vacation goes.

Unfortunately, this is easier said than realized. By August 3rd I was still no where closer to being in school mode. So the hubby and I made a trip to the classroom.

I didn't take a picture, but I have some of how I left my old classroom.

Imagine 30 desks pushed off to the side, 7 (literally 7) bookshelves in the middle of the room, original puke green carpeting from the 70's and all of these boxes to unpack.

YIKES.

Seeing this in person kind of woke this educator up.

Some work is to be done! Especially before I have a couple of professional days next week!

I'm also playing with the idea of possibly putting up some paint on the walls. Any classroom wall paint suggestions? If I get around to it I was thinking maybe a light blue?

4. I'm thankful for family vacation!

With all of this school starting back up stuff, it's nice to know I still have at least one more summer event to look forward to. My family will be spending a whole week on the lake, the week before I head back to school, and I am sooooo happy to still have a glimpse of summer left.

I can bring all my work with me, and I'm actually pretty pumped that it's right after I meet up with my new team members. That way I can kind of get my head on straight as far as what I'll need to get done. And what a better setting to get things done than a cabin on the water.

But do not fret, I will still have LOTS of fun. And take way too many pictures. And blog about it.


5. I'm thankful to have a running partner for this Saturday. 

So this Saturday is the long dreaded 10K that I am in no way prepared for.

I ran 2.5 miles yesterday and I almost died. A 10K is 6. 6 Miles. BLECHY.

Good thing I have the best husband ever.

You see, this stud ran cross country in high school and has run this race I think 3 times?

Either way, despite the fact that he hasn't been training as much as he'd hoped to because of his tiresome work schedule, he would be fine enough to just get up and run the whole thing no problem.

So you could imagine my surprise when he told me he would stay with me all the way. Whether I'm running, walking, or having to make a pit stop in the woods at a porter potty because I have to nervous pee.

I'm pretty self-concious about the fact that I can't run the whole thing while the rest of my sisters will be schooling me, so the fact that he's going to stick with me means a lot to me and is something I think  is worthwhile giving thanks for. 

Happy Thursday!

Below Average Choices

So I've been known to make below average choices.

I want to say bad, or horrible, but I feel like that's too strong.

FOR INSTANCE.

I feel like a horrible choice would be like robbing a bank.

And a bad choice isn't so detrimental to others buuuut maybe more so to yourself. Like riding a horse while drunk, or some other "not completely safe all of the time" activity while inebriated.

I don't think on good faith I can say my choices usually fall under these categories as I'm not hurting myself or others, I'm not going to get thrown in jail, and I'm not going to end up with a hoof on my face. 

But sometimes my choices are below average.

Exhibit 1: I got married in February. Dave and I JUST went through all of my photos and picked the 60-80 (we only whittled it down to 100 whoops) photos for the album. The website where they are displayed shuts down in 7 days for our photos, so it was important that we get it done. But it really hadn't been a priority for us. Procrastination much? Below average choice.

Exhibit 2: After Exhibit 1 literally took us all morning, once 2:30 rolled around I realized I needed to be at work in an hour and a half and I had planned on making it to the gym. Especially after the previous night's fudgsicle fiasco . I had to do some physical activity so I didn't feel like poop. I asked Dave to go on a run with me. In the mid-afternoon, 70+ degree, muggy heat. Below average choice.

I haven't gone for a run for some time as I've been hitting different machines at the gym. I told Dave I wanted to go for a few minutes longer that I had in the past, fully knowing that it was gross out and I hadn't run for a couple of weeks. Below average choice.

All of these below average choices resulted in me getting home 30 minutes before serving custard, red in the face, upset with what I was able to do and upset with myself for signing up for a 10k in August that I don't know if I will be able to do. Oh but I don't have time for all of this I must shower and look pretty so I get tips. Gah.

I officially received a high D in choice making yesterday.

I headed off to work, where, because of my emotional pitfalls I knew I would make a below average choice in custard eating decisions.

While I was at work I decided to ask Dave to buy this for when I came home:

Yes that's a scale. Yes how very 90's of us I know.

Dave texted me right after he got it with the weight of the dog. Of course.

Because I've heard everyone say it all, "Oh just watch your portions you'll be fine" and "Don't weigh yourself, it's just a number. You'll know how it feels in your jeans."

Well yeah, I do feel it in my jeans Mr. Unsolicited advice. That's the issue. And because I have been making below average choices I know that if I don't have some solid number to cling on to, a set goal to reach, then I am going to continue down the same path. What I've been doing hasn't been working. I need a little more accountability.

So on the ride home I thought of the most horrific number that I could find on the scale when I got home. No not like 1000 pounds, but a number that I thought would be actually possible and horrible to find.

When I arrived home Dave told me what he weighed and when I cited my unsure-ity he told me not to step on until I was absolutely ready, and that I shouldn't pressure myself unless I felt like that was what I had to do. He supports me no matter what. Damn I love this guy.

When I stepped on the looming black thing in my bathroom,  I didn't find that number, it was lower, but still higher than the number I saw in high school and college.

But, because it's lower than that number that I psyched myself out about, it is manageable.

No mental breakdown today.

And because I now have a number, something tangible, not just a feeling, and something to measure myself by and hold myself accountable with, I  think my choices are going to start being below average, and start reaching above.

Moving On and Upwards.

I was just on my phone and realized I'd taken some pictures of my classroom that I'd meant to share here. I also then came to the realization that I never posted about the last day of school Wednesday. So all of these things I shall share.

As mentioned in a long drawn out post about my emotional attachment to my work, I was expecting to shed a couple of tears and try to hold it back on Wednesday afternoon.

I was doing fine. Hugging the kids, signing yearbooks, wishing well, warning them to stay out of trouble so I don't have to come find them and give them a talking to. I had a frog in my throat thinking of the fact that I wouldn't have a few of these shining and sure faces in my classroom, but was okay.

I stepped out in the hall to touch base with the science teacher on my team before they called the first round of buses. You see we teach in teams, and the woman who teaches science down the hall has been one of the driving forces to me almost keeping my sanity throughout my first two years of teaching. Almost.

She was hired onto this team the same time as I was. And while the teacher that she replaced wasn't as so vehemently loved as the one that I had come in for, she went through similar struggles with last year's 8th graders. She then, therefore had a similar bond with last years seventh graders, whom at the moment we were now sending off to the high school. (P.S. Am I the only one who wants high school to be one word EVERY TIME?????) This wife and mother of three gifted young cherubs herself was also always right there to to put things into perspective when I was overwhelmed and stressing myself out: It's really not the end of the world, and remember this is just a job.

So when I stepped out in the hall to visit, I saw it. She was teary. Her eyes were red, and she had a tissue in her hand that she continued to bring up to her eyes and officially verklempt. She hugged one of our students, and then I saw it. He had clearly been crying. This 13 year old boy who rough-housed, refused to do homework, and muttered "That's What She Said" jokes during class loud enough for me to hear, was emotional. I walked over, he hugged me, put down his head and said, "I guess I'll miss you. Okay, I will miss you" And with a grin he then hugged me again.

Well. Well Then. I guess I'll blubber like a little baby next to my friend here because I guess I'll miss you guys too. And everyone who wanted one got a hug. Some held on longer than others, which is okay, because they're not little adults like they'd like you to believe. They are still just kids who need a little bit of guidance from time to time. Which, for the last two years I was more than happy to provide. Seventh and Eighth graders alike.

I'm excited for them. Each and every one. I just hope that the hard work that we've put in on knowledge of the solar systems, the revolutionary war, the quadratic formula, and importance of setting in historical fiction will help them out as they try to scrabble their way through their next four years.

And if they haven't remembered any of that, then I hope that in moments of crisis or when they have to make a choice they remember to respect one another, always persevere, show compassion, say please and thank you, and understand that everyone is fighting a harder battle than you are. Most importantly I hope they remember that they have learned that they are capable of doing anything, especially changing the world.

After they left, my team and I had a "final team lunch", packed up our rooms for the new changes, and you better believe that I went out and celebrated a fantastic year with a couple of favorite colleagues. ;)

Speaking of packing. Ever wonder what two years of making myself at home in classroom and then packing it up looks like in boxes?

 

Goodbye my first classroom. I will miss your vicinity to the photocopier and staff bathroom, as well as your window that peeks right out to the traffic circle where I could be nosey and see all the comings and goings of the school...

 

Thank goodness I'm just going right upstairs, where my noseyness will still be obliged, just at a birds eye view. :)

On a completely unrelated note, I shall leave you with a message brought to you this morning from my Peach "YogiTea".
I could not take a picture of my personal tea with my phone because it refuses to cooperate for the greater good of blogging, but someone on flickr had managed to take a picture of the same exact quote on their tea. So I shall use theirs.

via

Enjoy your weekend, and relax. You might paint the Mona Lisa. Or something.

Somewhere Between Denial and Acceptance

I went to a gym for the first time in years today, and it felt good. But not as great as I'd hoped it would.

You see, there's a problem that I am not quite uncomfortable with.
 
I have gained weight.

There, I've said it on the internet, which makes it real. Like posting your relationship on Facebook.

Not a lot. But enough to notice.

Throughout this last year, staying healthy has been hard for me.

On occasions when I find that I am a combination of stressed out and being forced to eat my lunch at 10:30 in 20 minutes, when I finally do get home I eat my feelings. Which is bad news when I like goldfish, potatoes, nachos, chocolate. You name the food that is not allowed on a fad diet, I enjoy it and make up for my stress by enjoying bad food. Too much of it.

When I've been walking around all day and only got 5 hours of sleep the night before and then sat at my desk and read essays with horrible grammar for two hours before I head home after school, I tend to be tired.

Most recently when I got home at the end of the school year the very last thing I want to do is go for a run. Between my fixed pair of sneakers being two years old* , and my running options being  limited because I live in a part of the city where one street is suburbia, and the next one over I might get mugged (And when I say might I mean will.) it makes things difficult motivation wise.
* Let me explain this fixed thing before we get too far. I have one leg slightly longer than the other. Which means any pair of shoes I get have to be "fixed" with a 3/4 inch. Moral of the story is every pair of shoes costs be 30 more dollars and can't be word right after they're bought.*

Now all of these might come off as excuses to my cyberspace readers. And as I tell my students, excuses are like bellybuttons. Everyone has them, but they don't do much good. I guess I don't mean all of these things as excuses. By writing it here I think I'm trying to sort out how I got to where I am. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not like bed ridden or have health problems or have been effected at work or whatever because of my weight. But I am in the worst "physically fit" shape I've ever been in. Which for me, as a 23 year old woman who is newly married and has her life ahead of her is NOT where I was looking to be. 

And writing it down is a little embarrassing. But then again, so is not fitting into your summer clothing as nicely as I'd like to. They still fit, but it takes a little more effort than it did last year.

So I don't know if any of you got the memo, but running gets harder the more you weigh. Especially when I already have a bad ankle due to that whole aforementioned silly leg differential not being discovered until high school. So as I started finding time I discovered that going for a run was not the best option for my old sneakers and slightly more full-figured body. I could only really comfortably go for a 20 minute run. This is a problem when I've signed up to run a 10K THIS AUGUST.

No you did not read that incorrectly, this ex-rugby girl who could run for 80 minutes straight while being tackled, tackling, and lifting others; whose body aches after a measely mile and a half is going to attempt to run 6.3 miles in 2 months.

Houston, we've got some issues.

With all of this said, about two weeks ago, when I had actually gained the strength to look in the mirror for more than 5 minutes and actually make the first step to admit to myself that I had gained weight, I decided I was going to have to go about this a different way.

While in the "off season" during both college and highschool, I had to find ways to stay in shape. I went for runs, but unfortunately, unlike my 3 rail thing sisters, it didn't always come easily to me. So during those seasons I also went to the gym. In college this was easy enough as they forced you to pay for it so it was kind of a waste not to go. And it was BRAND NEW AND GORGEOUS. I got spoiled.

   {via}

Once I realized I was visiting the river of denial about my weight (as mentioned above) a couple of weeks ago, I knew I needed to find a plan B, because running was literally getting me nowhere.

As soon as I got out of school from my staff day Thursday, I signed up at the closest gym. I knew I needed another option in order to get fit. They offer lower impact options that I can do for longer without being affected like the stair stepper and elliptical.

Some of you may be thinking "Well that's all fine and dandy but you're not stair stepping 6 miles in August, you're running them."
First off, you seem sassy, which I like. Secondly I agree. But I think I need to loose some inches off of my new spare tire before I can do so comfortably.

This means nutrition will ALSO have to play a role.

The only time in my life when I actively tried to loose weight was when I moved home to student teach for 8 weeks. I would get home without any grading, parent worries, adult problems, etc, work out on my parent's elliptical for an hour, and also was counting my calories with an online tool.

I tried picking this back up when I was coming to the realization that I maybe might have gained some weight before my wedding. I've tried to do it 4 times since then, and it hasn't stuck. I guess I've been too busy...getting by. In my profession, in my new marriage, in life.

Now that I have been presented with the opportunity of time aka summer vacation, I am going to try again. And I am hoping I'll be able to make a more steadfast commitment to doing this. I more than hope, I have to. It's what I know works, and I need to get healthier.

So when I went to the gym today for the first time since college , ( since I was under the impression that everyone can just pick up running and enjoy it no matter who they are RIGHT?) it felt good.

But man those mirrors don't lie.

So it didn't feel great to go on the elliptical for 45 minutes and lift some arm weights next to people with 3% body fat. Just good.

Which is okay, because I'm just at the start of what I'm hoping to be a successful journey.

Don't worry, I'm not going to only blog from here on out about my count for the day, or how many pints of sweat I sweat at the gym, or the weight that I've lost. I might update in part of a post about whether I'm feeling good or not, or some meal I've made that was delicious and nutritious. But do not fret. Most of the content here will be on stupid faces my dog makes, how much my husband does for me, how wonderful my friends are, and how much of a struggle my daily life tends to be. This post is not a turning point, but more of a preface on some parts of posts or advice I might seek later.

Thank you ahead of time to those whom I know will give me a warm and fuzzy internet hug and support me when I insert a sentence here and there on how I overate or skipped the gym or made my goal or have had a little success.

 As for everyone else reading...well...here's an internet hug. Because no one likes a scrooge, especially in June.

Sometimes It's Okay To Be Emotionally Involved In Work

I woke up this morning with a cold sore.

I know, ew. Gross. The kissing disease, so sketch.

But I've been getting these puppies since before I was kissed.

So riddle me that cold-sore haters.

I usually only get cold sores when I am either:
a) tired
b) stressed
c) sick
d) all of the above

Usually it is a mixture of two, and I often can feel them coming for days.

But WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA'AM the one I woke up with this morning came with no warning at all AND I didn't fit into any of the above categories.

I did mention in a previous post that I had  major stress last week, but overcame my stress levels by Sunday afternoon with some school work and good old fashion relaxation.

So the big mystery remained as I drove to my half packed classroom this morning, why I had an alien invasion on my face.

Fast-forward through a fun and relaxing day at school to me putting in my end of the year comments in for report cards tonight. I did my two current seventh grade classes first. Easy enough.

When I moved onto my two 8th grade classes, both of whom I have had for two years, I wanted to really take my time and make sure I gave them thoughtful and special comments.

Much to my astonishment, as I reached the end of the 5th one, I was having a hard time reading the screen because I was tearing up.

Over report card comments for 13 year olds.

You must think I'm silly. Which I will agree with. But maybe not on this one. Let me explain myself.

Last year was my first year teaching. I was hired 2 weeks into the school year to replace one of the most loved teachers not just in the school but the school district. She could do no wrong in the eyes of the students, other teachers, or parents.

The position was teaching 7th and 8th grade. The 8th graders had her the year before and connected deeply, and many of the 7th graders were excited to have this teacher as many of them had her in early elementary school.

As you could imagine I had an angry brood of children on my hands. Especially the 8th graders. One of them even came up to me telling me that they tried to make the sub right before me cry and succeeded and were planning on doing the same for me.

As I walked into this minefield of hurt teenagers, big personalities, and bitter attitudes I always had solace and a sort of  "break" during my day.

My 7th grade classes.

Don't get me wrong, they weren't always perfect. And last year's 8th grade ended up turning into a great group of kids. But more often than not my 7th grade was a group of students who were excited to see me, wanted to have fun, and most importantly weren't afraid to let me build relationships. We studied hard, had inside jokes, took secret recesses and stumbled made it through our "first year of 7th grade" together.

They came back this past fall and not only had they grown physically, but their personalities and brains had gone through a spurt as well. Again, they weren't always perfect. No students are. But they already knew the ropes as far as requirements, assignments and expectations, and were able to get learning quickly because they were familiar with my classroom. They discussed, they read, they wrote, they debated, and I was able to watch them mature to these wonderful young men and women over the last two years.

When you're in your first years of teaching you are busy developing curriculum, having meetings with parents, having meetings with teachers, having meetings with students,  changing your classroom, grading, rearranging, and defending what you're doing. You put in long weeks and super long hours that all snowball into each other and ultimately are just for those precious 45 minutes you have with each group each day.

As you can imagine, when you're putting in such long hours for minimum pay it's obviously because you love what you do. And I hands down would not have loved what I do, as much as I do, if it weren't for this specific group of students that I have watched grow over the past two years.

I think another part of it is that when you're working so hard and so passionately to teach a group of students, if you want to do it effectively and have all of your hard way to pay off you need to make connections. That way, their wins become your wins. Their bad quizzes become your bad quizzes.

So as I started writing my parting comments to students tonight, whom after this Wednesday I may not see for months, years, or even ever again,  I made myself really reflect on how far they'd come from Fall 2009 to Spring 2011.

And they had all come far. Let's face it WE had come far. I think it's safe to say I have learned almost as much from this group of students about who I need to be as a teacher as they have hopefully learned from me.

And I reflected on the fact that I now have a new hybrid of coldsore. One that pops up when you're anxious about a group of 30 people that you have hung out with every day for the last two years. But I digress.

I have no shame in saying that I am emotionally attached to these students and will probably choke up when I'm saying goodbye on Wednesday. Probably like I am right now.

I don't have children yet. And I will never claim to know what it feels like to be a parent before I am one. But these students whom I have had the joy of teaching for the last two years are the closest I've ever had to my own kids other than my dog.

And even then, they were the ones that voted to actually name him Bruin's in the first place. So yeah, I'd say they're up there.

They'll leave on Wednesday to go home and enjoy their summer with their families, and move onto their 9th grade year. I'll get new students, and I'll build relationships and have a blast teaching them about parts of speech and genre. They'll get new teachers (and possibly even hide under desks when they leave the room for a second too) and learn exciting new things and love highschool more than they could ever know.

They might remember be as their Language Arts teacher who moved her hands a lot, or could never find her coffee, or who always had a joke, didn't have enough photocopies, taught them the most, or who knows, maybe even taught them the least. I'll never know.

But I do know that I'll always remember them as my first group that I got to loop with.  That I will always look fondly on, appreciate, remember, laugh about,  and in a way wish I could have had for longer but am so happy to see move on to their next step: high school. They will always be my "firsts", my "babies", my "kids".

And that, my friends, I think I'm allowed to get a little emotional about.

News, Royal Stuttering, and a Female Comedian

So now that I've spent my morning catching up on all of my required reading in my dashboard, while catching up on retro R. Kelly music videos on BET (P.S. did any one else realize that he was super creepy before all of those scandals came out? Because I just did. Uck.) I'm ready to do a post of my own.

It's Saturday morning, and as I look at all of my blog posts I've done in the past (all 19 I know) I always seem to drop off between Tuesday and Saturday. Any advice on keeping up on posting during the latter part of the week when it just seems impossible?

For my news. I mentioned in an earlier post I made last week that now that the school budget went through we had to wait on a city vote to figure out what jobs will stay, crossing our fingers that it would pass. And then after that we'd be receiving our new "places" or "roles" in the school.

WELL ON TUESDAY THE BUDGET PASSED! Was it the most wonderful and plentiful budget that we could've asked for as a district? No. But is my job accounted for? Yes!

We got the news on Thursday from our principal that we'd be hearing about what teams we are on Friday afternoon. Needless to say, when other coworkers texted me that the email came out Friday afternoon and I was still at track practice, I encouraged the other coaches to let me speed on home because I wanted to read this email alone. I needed to be able to have whatever reaction I needed to have without worrying about censoring myself.

Before I share, let me explain how things are set up now.

Each team has 4 core teachers: Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, Science. We also have special education teachers associated with our team, and each one looks different, whether the students are mainstreamed for all, some, or no classes. Also, some teachers teach only 7th or 8th and don't "loop" up. Other teams have both 7th and 8th graders in their classroom who they stay with. Other teams have both grades but teach them separately not all together, these are looping teams as well.

The past two years I have taught Language Arts on one of the looping teams that has 2 classes of 7th grade, and 2 classes of 8th. A.K.A. The 8th graders that I teach this year are the 7th graders I had last year, and I was planning on having my now 7th graders as my 8th graders, and getting new ones.  I teach English/Language Arts because that's what I'm "highly qualified" to teach. I can teach K-8, and my specialty that I chose in college was Language Arts.

 Following?

So we're making changes as we as a middle school move onto expeditionary learning, which is a model of learning that includes all of the teachers working together for one common unit twice a year for eight weeks. It's the coolest model of teaching I've ever seen.  As we move onto new changes we're revisiting and refreshing who's on what team and making everyone loop with just one grade at a time.

Also, because the district decided not to fill a few positions where people retired (budget cuts, surprise!), two of the teams only have three teachers instead of four. The language arts and social studies class is taught by just one person, teaching a combined version of the two at the same time called "Humanities".

So where did I find myself after the big reveal?

First off, I found myself on a three person team. That's right, the one where one teacher teaches two subjects smooshed together. And I'm that teacher! AHHHH! So excited!

Of course I knew this was a possibility going to be happening, my principal wouldn't put me somewhere without my knowing. But now everyone else in the school knows for sure, whereas before it was speculation as to who was going to fill into the new roles. It also feels a little more real now that it's been "announced" and is in writing somewhere for the whole school to see.

As far as the subject, I'm a little nervous but excited for a few reasons. I've obviously developed curriculum that I really enjoy over my first couple of years in Language Arts, and having to do something new is scary. I'll miss my old units, but since I do still have to cover that content I'm hoping to be able to roll some of my old stuff in with my new.

Also, covering standards for two subject matters is going to be a lot of planning and hard work the first two years of the program. Like I said, I loop with the kids, so one grade one year, one grade the next. I have my work cut out for me. And don't get me wrong, I'M REALLY EXCITED! In my opinion teaching humanities will go along very nicely with expeditionary learning. I'm allowed to be a little anxious while totally in love with the idea as I get started right?

So, if any of you bloggers out there teach and either are familiar with humanities in middle school or the idea of it in general and have any tips/resources HOLLA ATTA GIRL AIGHT?

Now the reason I'm not totally distraught over the idea of teaching such a big and broad topic area is because of the team members. Now I enjoyed working on the team I've been working with for the past couple of years, and am sad to see my team break apart. BUT.

My new team members?

Let's just say I couldn't put together a better team.

Don't get me wrong, our principal did a bang up job putting every single team of people together, and I don't envy what he had to do one bit.  I would be willing to work with anyone in the building.

But as far as what our team is going to have to do with the humanities piece being involved, he couldn't have put a better group of people together.

The science teacher on my team has been teaching for years and has literally taught EVERYTHING including humanities. Also the way that she interacts with the students is empowering. You can put any "type" of kid in her classroom and they will learn. She's a wonderful human being and I can't wait to work with her. I'm hoping she can show me the way as far as this new course goes, and I'm also hoping that maybe some of the awesomeness that she emulates will somehow seep into me and my teaching.

The math teacher is also in his second year of teaching like me. We actually went to college together.
And it wasn't like "we would occasionally bump into eachother on campus went to college together". Like, "he played on the men's rugby team and I played on the women's rugby team and would pass notes to eachother during class" went to college together.  The fact that we were hired in the same school was cool enough for me. If I had to name the top ten funniest people I've ever met in person, he would be on that list. He's also a really great teacher. The kids love him, and he cares about what he does.

I haven't quite worked or been able to get to know the special education teacher, but from my interactions with her, SHE IS A SAINT.  She is also very experienced and someone who knows what she's doing. As we start mainstreaming all students into the classroom eventually, I know that she will be really great and a team player as well.

Now the big question is, when/what can we tell the kids?

I know the "name" of my team. I know the grade of my team. But can we tell the kids now or do we have to wait until the end? We don't even know where what kids are going to go, are they going to be shuffled around just a little to make them one grade or a lot?

I guess I'll just have to wait to see on Monday what "the boss" says, and what other teachers are doing. One thing's for sure, I don't want to be the one to "spill the beans".

So, though it may not seem that exciting for any of you, and I wasn't able to insert too many funny anecdotes or stupid puns, it's super exciting for me.


In other news, the rest of my Friday was fantastic after that news. Dave took out champagne last night to celebrate as we watched The King's Speech.  For those of you unfamiliar, it is the movie about Prince Albert, later to be King George and his struggles with his stuttering, which he had to overcome as he was forced onto the throne. (This guy is the father of the current queen, to put it in perspective.)

Which this movie confirmed 2 two things I already knew:
1. Colin Firth is adorable, and a really great actor.
2. Winston Churchill was a total BADASS.  His role was small in the movie, but I mean still a total badass.

So after that movie was over I put myself to bed with a little of this:

My first "summer novel".

I LOVE Chelsea Handler.

And no it's not summer for me yet, I have 20ish days.

But a girl can dream.

Happy Weekend!