Oprah, Michelle Rhee, The Today Show, & Waiting for Superman

It would take me forever to describe what happened this week on Oprah.  It was absolutely life-changing. Check it out for yourself:

Oprah's Education Page

Things I Want You to Know:

1. Go see the movie, Waiting for Superman, the movie.  It IS the most important movie of the year.
2. Read Oprah's Lessons in Education page and watch the videos.
3. Learn about The Shocking State of Our Schools and find out what Michelle Rhee is doing about it.

NBC's Today Show visited Josh's School last week!  Ann Curry came to visit and do a special taping of a school that is "Doing What Works".  It will be featured next week on the Today Show's Education Nation Week.  Here are some articles from Worcester County Public Schools and Delmarva Now, our local newspaper, highlighting Ann Curry's trip to the eastern shore!

Ann Curry with a few of Josh's students

 

Watch the Today Show on Wednesday to see Josh's School, Pocomoke Middle!

my cold has upgraded...

...to a stomach virus.  I stayed at school all day.  I felt terrible sharp pains in my belly.  I will spare you the rest of the details.  This picture should explain how I feel:

On the VERY bright side, tonight is:  OFFICE.  OFFICE.  OFFICE!!!

Sick and Tired Already...

Yes, it's true.  I am already sick.  And I am so tired.  Compared to last year, this job is about 100X more demanding.  It's like the kids in this city have more energy than in WV!  I don't know why but it's already making me so tired!  It's amazing how much the home life situations take a toll on the behavior and personalities of the children.  I have 10 year olds with 3 year old behaviors.  Those same kids exhibit 20 year old maturity sometimes.  It's crazy.  At this time last year, I was diving head first into deep material with the kids and advanced and mature music!  Not this year.  We are starting from scratch. 

The children are actually very musical.  Their previous teacher had been here for a LONG time and had a great program.  The kids can REALLY read music!  But when it comes to maturity when moving around, or rules with the instruments, we really waste a lot of time. 

I am working on it.

tgif

Today is Friday.  I have my first sickness of the year.  Three weeks of school are finished.  So far I am loving my job... except for being sick.  I am washing my hands a lot--I promise!

We had Tuesday off this week because of Election Day.  I came back to school on Wednesday to hear a Sam's Club representative on the announcements give away $100 gift cards for Teacher Appreciation.  My name was drawn.  Awesome!  They came to give me my gift card and took my picture with my principal.  Coincidentally--before they drew my name from the hat--they asked my principal to nominate a teacher for Teacher of the Year to apply for more hundreds of dollars.  And my principal nominated me!!!  WOW.  He has only known me for a few weeks.  I have my own ideas as to why he chose me... like moving my room and me being a good sport... or something like that.

Also--just a few minutes after this... I get my very first paycheck of the YEAR!!!  And Josh does too!!!  YEAH!

Now it's the weekend.  We are going out to dinner with my aunt and uncle who are in town.  Then I am going to crash because I am tired and sick.

Yay! Gaga: 2010 Video Music Awards

She won every award she was nominated for!  Sometimes I feel crazy for liking her, but, dang is she talented!  Yes, that is a raw meat dress.  It looks so REAL!

What the Eff?

Josh's phone reached its end today.  It has been sputtering about for a few weeks now.  This time it just will not turn back on at all.  We went to at&t (he has a Blackberry) and as soon as we walk in the guy asks what he can do for us.  We say that the phone shut off and won't turn back on.

The guy's exact response: You need to upgrade.
Us: No, sorry, we are not interested in that.
Guy: Why? Huh? Why do you say that? (forcefully)
Us: We really can't afford to do that right now.  Also--the plan doesn't end until December anyway and we hadn't planned to renew it.
Guy: Well you can get one of the two new Blackberry's for either $230 or $300 with a $100 mail-in-rebate.
Us: Is there anyway you can look at the phone to see if there is a mechanical issue?  We would like to see if it can be repaired or if the battery is broken or something...
Guy: Well an average lifetime for a Blackberry is about 2 years, so it's right on track.
Us: Thanks for all your help.

So we left.  Josh currently does not have a working phone at all. We don't know what to do.  We really wanted to switch providers in December when the plan ends because we have had some bad luck with at&t.  But if we get a new phone now, we will need to renew another 2-yr contract.  Crap.  So we are going to sleep on it and go back in tomorrow to see if we can talk with someone who is more helpful.

On the bright side, thanks to Maryland's Election Day, I do not have to work!  And yet another funny quote from today in a kindergarten class:

Me (speaking in an obnoxiously high squeaky voice): Who can tell me if this is a high voice, a low voice, or a whisper voice?
 Little Kindergarten Girl: Necklace?

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

We slept in, woke up to a rainy Sunday morning, watched on-demand TV, and had bacon, eggs, and coffee for breakfast. So far, a really good day.

Catching Up

Geez, it has been two weeks since I have blogged.  AND it has been two weeks since school started.  WOW.  Now is a good time because the Mountaineers are losing terribly and I would rather be in the computer room alone that sitting with stressed-out-Josh.

So far, I am really enjoying my school.  I have Pre-K for the first time ever and was VERY scared.  I have never taught 3 or 4 year olds in a classroom setting.  I got some advice, tried it, and so far it is working very well.  I REALLY like my schedule.  I usually teach around 9-10 classes per day, which seems like a lot, but... I will admit I kind of have it easy.  I get plenty of planning time, free coffee all day long, and NO DUTIES.  I am the ONLY teacher in my school who sees all 636 students every 4 days... so I get a bit of a break.

Oh yeah, until I found out on Thursday that my beautiful new, spacious, perfect classroom is being taken away from me.  We are inheriting a new Pre-K class and they need my room.  I AM being moved to another classroom, which is nice, but the move is a little stressful.  I need to do it all next week.  My new room is bigger.  It has a mounted LCD projector with a beautiful sound system.  But it is connected to the cafeteria by a collapsible wall... which means it will be very noisy during lunch hours.  Last year I had ZERO rooms and traveled on a cart.  This year I get to set up and decorate TWO rooms. Not bad.

A cute story to leave you with: Yesterday I got a new Kindergarten student.  He was Middle Eastern and after I introduced myself to him, I asked his name.  He told me a number of times and I could NOT understand him... poor kid.  Instead of embarrassing us both, I just asked him to spell his name for me so that I could write it down on my class list.  He replies:  A...  b.... c.... d.... e.... f...

Last Weekend of Freedom...

...And I am spending it doing school projects.  Of course.

School officially starts on Monday for both of us.  I am super excited to meet all of my cute little kids.  I have a very diverse population at Pemberton Elementary School.

Population: 650 students.  Ages: 3-11.  Ethnicity(in order): African-American, Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic, and... other.  Large Special Ed Program: Blind students, deaf students, many with down's syndrome, autism, behavior disorders, learning disabilities, and things that they can't seem to diagnose.  Oh, and did I mention that a surprising number of our students are homeless?  Oh, and there is a magnet program attached to my school, too.  Which means that the students in my county who have the highest test scores come to my school to have special 'magnet' schooling (separate from the rest of the kids).


Needless to say, I have a lot going through my mind right now.  Although my school is VERY diverse, their previous test scores and behavior charts seem to be great!  I am excited to work in this school.  Here are a few photos of MY HUGE classroom:

I also started a class website.  I have heard that the parents at my school, especially magnet parents, are very involved and love reading about what's going on.  So, I am giving it a try to see how many parents actually read it:  http://pembertonmusic.blogspot.com/

Busy, Busy, Busy

Last week Josh and I both started our new jobs!  We had some in services and meetings to go to, but more importantly, we both got to start setting up our classrooms!  Neither of us have ever had our own classroom before so we are both equally excited to get them finished and get kids in them! (Pictures later this week).

This past weekend Josh's parents came for a visit.  It was a lot of fun.  Friday we went to an all-you-can-eat crab restaurant on the Chesapeake Bay... awesome.  Saturday we spent the day at the beach on Assateague Island and went to Ocean City at The Sunset Grille for dinner and drink on the harbor while watching the sun go down and listening to a live band outside...  Wow.  That was a fun day.

This week Josh and I have more in service time and have the rest of the week to prepare our classrooms.  The kiddies come on Monday the 30th.  I am SOOO excited!  My school is part magnet and part traditional.  Students in the county who score very high on their standardized tests are shipped in to my school for the magnet program.  Then I have the traditional programs as well.  My school is VERY diverse and I am really excited to teach in a new environment.  The good thing about being a teacher (other than changing the lives of children, summer vacations, winter, fall, and spring breaks) is that we get a fresh start each year.  It  seems like it won't really get old this way... which is great!

I am also starting to look into grad schools.  I am required to have my master's in 10 years, but the sooner I get it, the sooner I get paid more!  I would love to be in this online program at WVU for Special Education... it seems PERFECT!  I just have to apply and take some tests and figure out some financial stuff first.  But I really hope it works out!  Ideally, I would still be a music teacher.  I would just have this special ed background to improve my teaching for all students.  Maybe I could be a special ed teacher for a summer job?