It feels like Wednesday

But it is still Tuesday

1. How Do You Know is a really boring, slow movie. It is basically pointless as a movie. But I kept watching it because I like Paul Rudd.

2. TAKS test in on Monday. My first real one. Some days I feel really confident but other times I don't. Today was a confident day. Hopefully it was for the kids too.

3. One my phone I make a list of things I want to write on my blog about. One of the items I have on there is "eating." Just the word "eating." I don't remember what that means. But, I like to eat. Maybe that is what I wanted to tell you. But anyone who knows me already knows that. So I don't really remember.

4. I accidently took a nap from 6:45-7:15 tonight. Which means that Randi will not be able to go to sleep tonight.

5. I decided to give the show Park and Recreations another shot. It isn't as good as The Office, but I like it this time around. As a TV-on-DVD show. Not one to watch every week.

6. My kids are always obsessed with how someone died. Yesterday we were talking about Thomas Edison and they had to know. (He died of complications from diabetes, if you were curious.) Before we talked about John Wilkes Booth and they were just obsessed with him. I don't get it sometimes.

7. And sorry this post was so boring. Should I throw some controversy in here?

Making the bed is stupid.

It feels like Tuesday

But thankfully it is not.

1. The time change was over a week ago. Stop complaining about it. ADJUST.

2. Now it is dark when I wake up. Before if I woke up and it was dark I would think "That is okay, I didn't miss my alarm." Now I freak out and have to check my phone for the time.

3. I am not complaining about the time change. I am complaining that my brain just can't trust that I did things. I obsessively check my alarm to make sure it is on every night.

4. I am trying to introduce my kids to Jimmer as a verb. With the TAKS test in 7 days, I am trying to get them excited to "Jimmer the TAKS test." Just a little boost while our days are spent reviewing. Tomorrow I am going to show them this video.


5. And then Friday I am going to show them this one.



I try to introduce them to new things.

Want to make me upset?

Be an idiot and talk about of both sides of your mouth.

**I realize that The Daily Show is a spoof news show. But even if you ignore everything that John Stewart says and only listen to the clips he shows, you'll see that people are idiots. **

Raising Teachers' Status

** Warning: This post has a lot of thoughts. ** This is what started it. U.S. Urged to Raise Teachers' Status

It seems lately that some people want to wage a war on teachers. If you watched that video I posted below, so people have no respect for teachers. For some reasons, they are the reason why the economy is failing. (In my opinion it is the cut in spending and the "no new taxes" agenda those in power are pushing. Ever heard of Keynesian economics?) (And I am not saying the government should tax you more. Well, not if you aren't in the top 2%)

But I digress. I say "they" because sometimes I have a hard time believing that I am in this fantastic (or what I consider fantastic) group of people. This is not to say that there are teachers out there who don't do their job. I know they exist, I just haven't personally interacted with one yet. All the teachers at my school are dedicated, caring, awesome teachers. They don't teach from their desks, they stay late to tutor, they use their conference periods to tutor, use Saturdays for professional development and we all do everything we can to help our children become better people.

But, there are some who have never set foot in a classroom and stood in front of 20 students who are depending on you for more than a day who have decided that it is an easy, cushy job. I knew that teaching would be hard, but it really is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. (I still love it, but it is hard.) (Here is a trick I use. If I run to someone who maybe makes me a bit upset I imagine how they would react if they were left alone in my classroom to teach a lesson. More likely than not, the image is comical.)

There are some things in education I would definitely change. Honestly, the things I would change is not a small list. And they don't cost money. The might require spending less money on some things, but not more. (Stay tuned for a possible list of things I would change.)

My point is that teaching is hard. Teachers deserve the pay (sometime more) they get. There is no need to take any of the benefits away. There is also harm in demeaning the work that teachers do. And this article basically proves that. So enjoy or get worked up like me.

U.S. Urged to Raise Teachers' Status

Another Tuesday?

1. My kids have their own language. I am slowly learning it. I know not to "mean mug" someone. Last week we were making a poster to advertise a side of the civil war. The students had to come up with a slogan for the side they chose. One girl's was "Fight against slavery because the south is just janky." She came up and asked me with that was okay. I said yes, but then had to catch myself. I couldn't really say yes without knowing what janky was. But it fits, it means to be messed up.

2. On Friday one of my boys asked me if the Egyptians were still building the pyramids when I was born.

3. Want to tell someone to stay out of your business? Instead of saying "This is an A and B conversation" say "Stay out of the Kool-Aid." Which is short for "Stay out of the Kool Aid because you don't know what flavor it is"

4. I ran my face into a large plastic eye today.

5. And I am undecided about a purse. I went shopping yesterday and they are so expensive! I think I will just borrow one from my mother/sister in law. They have dozens each.

My Favorite Lamp

This lamp has lasted me 9 years. It has been though Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. It has taken from high school to college to my career.

And it spends 7 months in a 5th grade classroom and dies. If you shake it, there is something lose in the bottom, which I am sure is from someone dropping it.

It was a really sad day. You wouldn't think I would be this sad about my lamp dying, but it effected me.

Now I have to get one of these too.

Frozen Yogurt

Chris and I found the best frozen yogurt place the other night. And I might have gone a bit overboard. 

You pay by the ounce and you serve yourself. There were like 10 different kinds of yogurt and then every topping you can think of. I got cheesecake bites, cookie dough bites, walnuts, yogurt chips, snowcaps, chocolate syrup and probably something else. With red velvet, cookies and cream, and vanilla ice cream. It was a bit much. Next time I'll only get like 3 toppings. 

I could choose from things like Nerds, Cap'n Crunch, some weird Japanese fruit thing, other fruit, brownie bites. So much, something for everyone!

Next week it is spring break and I will most definitely make sure to go back at least twice. 

Purse

I have decided that I am old enough now to start carrying a purse. The though kind of just popped into my mind, like when I want to get a haircut.

Anyways, I started thinking "How awesome would it be if I just had everything I wanted in my purse? Like chapstick, my phone, keys, a camera, a pen, a water bottle, a book..." You get the idea. It would probably get messy and heavy really fast.

Anyways, since it will be my first grown-up purse, I have to make sure it is the right purse.

So I have narrowed it down to a purse that looks like one of these two. But I am sure I'll change my mind. I might not be able to make up my mind so much that I don't even choose one. I'll let ya'll know.

Talking Tuesday

1. Whenever I watch 24 and a time comes up, I briefly feel how tired I would be at that time. For example, if the time is 10pm-11pm I would think "It is time for bed." 3am-4am? "Why am I not sleeping, I am so tired! "5pm-6pm" I just need a quick nap after work.

2. Chris and I both work in Navasota now so we can carpool to work. We are saving like $60 a week on gas. Maybe more since gas prices are so high now. It is really awesome.

3. I am super-duper excited for spring break, but even more excited for summer. I love teaching, but it is exhausting! Chris told me once "Summer is a teacher's way of getting back at parents."

4. I recently realized that as long as I stay a teacher, I will never have to work a Christmas break. And I never had so far. I have always been able to ask off for work or find someone to cover my shift. Those are my benefits.

How true this is.

Leaving Children Behind

I really wish that the people in charge would understand what not funding education will do to the future of our country. Who do they think will be running the country 30 years from now?

I love this article about it.  Well, love/hate it. Because it tells the truth, but the truth ain't pretty.

There is a rally in Austin, Texas on March 12. There are ways that the government can spend more money on education, but they are not even considering those options. What is more important? Pleasing the few rich people who donate to your campaign, or the millions of Texas school children who aren't getting the education they will need to be competitive in the future? Unfortunately, they have the wrong answer to that question. And they may say one thing, but their actions tell the true story.

I didn't vote for Rick Perry.

Education in America

The Daily Show
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

If you have been living in a cave, or if you are just not surround by education all the time, you might not know that education in America is suffering. American children are behind the rest of the world in test scores. Have any of the politicians thought about the future of our country? Because it is in the hands of the  children that sit in our classroom right now.

There is a part in this video that really makes me mad. Can you guess what it is? I would like someone to follow me around for a day and tell me that my job is only part-time. That I am done by 2:30. I usually don't leave the school until around 5pm after getting there before 7:30.

I already know that if I have a job next year (because no one has been guaranteed one yet), there will be no raise based on experience or based on inflation.

Anyways, I'll post later on what you can do in Texas if you would like to help.

Comin'-At-You Tuesday

Miss me? Here is a new segment on this blog here. I don't have a better name for it. I shortened it from "I don't have a real blog post, but I like lists so I'll make lists here instead of blog posts." Make sense?

1. Brandon Davies got kicked off the BYU Basketball team for an honor code violation. Really? That "really" is not for BYU, but for Davies. You had a chance to go to the NCAA finals. Why mess that up with an honor code violation. Have no idea what he did, or when he did it. But hello? It's not like the honor code was a surprise. I guess we'll see how BYU plays tomorrow night.

2. I found a cheap bribe for my students. Ice. They love it. Yesterday I had some in class to practice reading thermometers. And they just begged and begged me for some. Finally I made a deal that if they worked quietly, I would let them have some. And it worked. Don't think I could try it too many times though. 

 3. We got a new lunch menu yesterday and today was Stuffed Pizza sticks! I had some like a month ago and they were so good. I've been waiting that long to have them again. I was so excited for lunch today. I took one picture without the banana. I figured I should add it so you could see I had something healthy.

4. This is the fad in school this week. And they are already starting to die out; I am a little behind the times. I have picked up so many of these in class the last two weeks. My drawers are full of colored plastic string. The thing is, you really have to have patience to do these. Why can't they have that kind of focus on math?

5. I said Crap in front of my students yesterday. It wasn't my best moment, but I had messed up something. And some of my students freaked out. It was funny for about 20 seconds.