Just the Five of Us

What I'm Doing Lately . . .

After eight years out, I am back in the saddle.

Or classroom :).

11th grade--British literature!

I am SO excited! I have a student teacher in for the next two weeks, and then I take over completely. It's been an easy transition in so far, but I know that will soon end :).

High school will be quite an adjustment after years in middle school, but I'm looking forward to it.

M.Ed.

Go me!

After 10 years and close to $30,000, I finally have a master's degree! I finished my last class this summer in six weeks. My partner and I wrote an article on performance based formative assessment.

It was a busy year--four classes over the school year and the one this summer. It was chaotic, crazy, and amazing to be back . . . although there were times that the demands at home and at school were pretty crazy.

I'm so proud I finished, but I had to laugh when I showed Jake my degree and he said, "That's it?"

Now, I just need to find a job! Students need someone who can work with the system to really teach.

Book Club

I hosted my Book Club tonight, and we plotted out the rest of the year. We'll be reading:

She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb

The Blue Orchard by Jackson Taylor

A Tree Goes in Brooklyn by Bettie Smith

Surviving the Dragon: A Tibetan Lama's Account of 40 Years under Chinese Rule by Arjia Rinpoche

Room by Emma Donaghue

My Lobotomy by Howard Dully

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

My Sister’s Voice by Mary Carter

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

Some of them I've already read, but it's so nice to have friends to talk about books with that I happily read them again. Tonight, we talked about the Kindle--there are quite a few of us on the fence and really thinking about one.

Old School: Why I Teach Seventh Graders

I was procrastinating cleaning out a box out of my closet, and I found an old layout I did about teaching seventh graders. I don't want to keep it, but I want to keep the words--I think it's an interesting look at my thoughts from about ten years ago. Some are sarcastic, some are heartfelt--all are honest.

When I tell people I teach seventh grade, most of them are shocked. They always wonder how I can spend my days with such a "horrible" age group. I always tell them that there are days I wonder the same thing. However, I have found that teaching seventh graders, while incredibly frustrating and infuriating at times, is also extremely rewarding. Even though it is so easy to become burned out, tired, and frustrated, every morning I go in to school excited and ready for another day. This is why I teach seventh grade:

• They teach me patience.
• They keep me on my toes.
• I know all the gel pen colors.
• I am familiar with acronyms like LYLAS, BRB, and GTG.
• I really enjoy repeating directions seven times.
• They are brutally honest.
• They are enthusiastic--even if they hate what we are doing, they're enthusiastic in telling me so.
• Once a month, I get to chaperone dances. These are better than any "Real World" or television drama.
• They have such unique ideas.
• Who else wold listen to my nine million stories about Jake?
• Every time I look at a class of my kids, I know that I am creating the future of our world; that in some small way, I am helping to mold both their futures and mine.
• They are funny.
• They interpret literature in ways I never thought of.
• I can speak preteen slang with the best of them.
• They force me to be creative and find new ways to help them learn.
• When doing debate and persuasive writing, they love to argue.
• When I see them in public, they are excited to see me.
• They teach me to do things like build my computer profile and instant message.

 

Paperwork

The decision to try to go back to work next year has not been an easy one. Nor has been dealing with the Department of Education. I need roughly 12 different items to submit my application and getting them all together is giving me a headache--especially with three kids who keep wanting things like food and attention and clean clothes and car rides constantly. I'm sending Owen to the sitter's tomorrow to tackle it once and for all and finish my application essay.

After this process, transitioning back into teaching shouldn't be too bad!

Just the Five of Us: April

Doug

• was promoted to manager at work and is finally seeing some shorter days after months of long hours
• has no comment on Donovan McNabb being picked up by the Redskins
• loves watching Fringe with me

Jess

• excited to see our new church open this weekend
• having a hard time being patient with Owen's behavior lately, mostly in church or any other place he knows he has to be quiet and calm . . . and intentionally acts the opposite
• have made the decision to try to go back to work next year--am working on filling out my application, gathering all my documents, and trying to work out the issues with my certificate. This process is painful and time consuming--and very frustrating. But I'm ready to go back. If I can't get a full time position, I'll substitute.
• glad winter is over. I had a hard winter, and my mood is improving greatly with the nicer weather and more sun
• am going back to the gym again and trying to get back into shape--have given up processed sugars and flours to detox from a LONG winter

Jake

• Due to financial constraints, he is not doing Johns Hopkins this spring. We hope to get him back in in the fall. In the meantime, I bought him two algebra workbooks to work on in his spare time. I need to request a meeting with his teacher and principal for next year . . . he's going to need more challenges than I can give him.
• Is loving track.
• Obsessed with myths and mythology. I'm reserving books for him, and he's requested both the Iliad and the Odyssey. I'm interested to see if he stays interested in them . . . they'll definitely be a summer project.
• Is thinking of being an alter server next year.
• Knows the truth about the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy.
• His attitude is improving . . . kind of.
• Addicted to Mario Kart Wii. I let him play more than I should, but I play with him . . . I take my bonding where I can get it.
• allergies are bugging him so he prefers to be inside--but loves making s'mores at the fire pit
• 
  

Emma

• happy to be playing soccer again
• thriving in kindergarten. She's one of the dominant kids that the others look up to--this is good for her since Jake is such a dominant force at home.
• is so sweet and caring to Owen and almost always happy to play with him.
• draws and makes stories all the time--totally covered the fridge this weekend
• 
• rarely plays with toys anymore
• is patiently growing out her bangs
• sleeps with Wolfie, her stuffed wolf, every night
• simply glows when we give her one on one attention
• shows compassion and empathy to her friends . . . almost too much at times. She's very in tune with how people are feeling.
• though we obviously have a bias, we think she is one of the sweetest and most adorable six year olds we have ever met--she is so vibrant and full of life and enthusiastic about everything she does
• 
  

Owen

• still obsessed with whales, dolphins, and sharks. Collects books and animals and figures and carries them around with him in his backpack all day.
• would live outside if I let him--knows to take off his sneakers and put on his mud boots if he wants to play in the dirt
• more and more verbal every day--tells us exactly what he wants and when he wants it
• likes to go places and be with friends though he still sometimes plays on his own. Plays well with Cayden and Owen.
• still very into music--and knows most of his favorite songs by heart
• goes to bed very well--we kiss him, hug him, tuck him in and walk away. But it must be dark--he'll only go to bed if it's nighttime. Likes to sleep with his blue whale, his hard right whale, his hard orca, and a metal plane.
• totally potty trained but still wears a diaper at night--he wakes up dry a lot. But he still says he "needs" help every time he goes to the bathroom
• will use his manners when reminded
• better about sitting at the table
• is getting the hang of the Wii--he can drive Mario Kart for a bit but loses interest pretty quickly
• 
• going through a hitting and kicking phase . . . most of it is not malicious, but Emma and Jake are rarely expecting it so it can be painful
• still refuses to comply when it's time to be quiet/calm for any amount of time . . . and we're not sure what to do about that. Still throws tanturms.
• 
• loves to give hugs and kisses

On the Mend

So everyone is pretty much better. Some coughing and fatigue, but that may linger. Owen is eating again and his tummy has settled down . . . he's actually eating like a horse to make up for almost a week of not eating much and losing even more. Both kids are illness free and bouncing off the walls and fighting like crazy--back to normal.

My fever peaked on Sunday at 102.5 and crashed within a half hour to normal and never went up again. That was was a weird experience. I was very happy to be done with fever! Jake missed school Monday and Tuesday and drove me nuts each day . . . and he was VERY unhappy to miss school and Sr. Maureen's visit on Monday. We had no idea she was coming, and I'm glad of it. If he had known, he probably would have crawled to school, hacking cough and all, just to see her. Monday was a rough day with Owen . . . he was very listless and unresponsive and slept most of the day. At one point, the doctor told me to call 911 if he didn't respond to juice--they feared low blood sugar would cause seizures. Thankfully, a couple cups of juice did the trick and he even ate some Cheerios that day.

My favorite part of our illnesses? On Sunday night, we all sat in the living room and watched the end of Happy Feet togehter. Emma and Owen were on the chair and Jake and I were on the couch. My fever was so high my eyes were burning, but the kids were all happy and at one point, we were all laughing so hard at the movie and no one was fighting and it was wonderful and I didn't care if I never felt better because we haven't had enough moments like that around here lately. We've had such a hard time foserting family unity lately with the kids all going in differnent directions and being so far apart in age . . . it's nice that we could all connect somehow.

American Idol Top 8

Danny Gokey--wasn't crazy about his song choice last night, but he still sounded great. Still one of my favorites.

Anoop Desai--needs to go home. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors," and I was not thrilled to hear him sing it.

Kris Allen--did so well last week, and I thought he fell flat last night.

Lil' Rounds--Tina Turner is one of those artists that I think is hard to cover. She did okay, but it just wasn't good enough. Every week the judges tell her the same thing, and she gives them the same response. I wonder why she's never in the bottom three . . . I think her weeks are numbered, though. I just don't think she has the artistic talent the judges think she does. She didn't yell as much last night, though--that was good.

Matt Giraud--Did well. Not one of my favorites, but he improved over last week.

Allison Iraheta--interesting song choice for her, given the subject matter. I think she did a great job, and I still predict she's going to be in the top three even though she was in the bottom three last week.

Scott Macintyre--I think he may be going home tonight. I didn't like his performance . . . I thought the electric guitar was not a good accompaniment and he seemed to be trying too hard to be something other than what he is . . . an excellent pianist, a good singer--but not an American Idol.

Adam Lambert--Last night's performance of "Mad World" was amazing. I actually bought the Gary Jules version on iTunes today (as well as his cover of "Ring of Fire," which I am really liking), and I'm waiting to download his version as well. I think he's going to take it all the way . . . and now that he's toning down the goth/emo thing, I think he will continue to appeal to more people.

35

Yesterday, I turned 35. I don't feel 35 . . . I still don't feel like I'm old enough to have three children, one of whom will be ten this year. At least not mentally . . . physically, I feel a little older. I'm going to be working on that.

Had a very nice day. We had playgroup in the morning, and I brought two cakes so Carolina and I could celebrate our birthdays. Stopped at Costco to do some shopping for school and then came home to crash for a bit. Doug came home early, and when Jake came home, we went to the duck pond to play.

The kids spent a lot of time throwing rocks into the water, and Jake was allowed to use his pocket knife to cut sticks. He made it through one. We have to open it for him, but he can use it pretty well and close it. I admit to being a tad nervous when he closes it, but he needs to learn to do these kinds of things. Then we went for a walk on the path. Owen ran the length of it with Doug (probably close to a quarter mile), while the kids and I looked under logs for salamanders. We found three of them, and they were so excited. I told them how Aunt Cris and I used to look for them at our grandparents'. They were pretty impressed with my salamander finding skills.

We wanted to go to Fuddruckers for dinner, but a bus was unloading as we pulled in. We went to Hoss's instead, and Owen actually did a pretty good job at the table, falling to the floor only once. We didn't get home until almost 8:00, so we showered the kids assembly line and let them watch most of American Idol with us. My thoughts:

Adam Lambert. Did a decent job. Not a fan of his bizarre dancing, and I think he's trying to hard with the goth/glam/emo/gothic look he's trying. But I think he'll make it to the final 2-3. He definitely is interesting and puts a lot (sometimes too much) into his perfomance.

Allison Iraheta. One of my favorites. I agreed with the judges last night that she was trying too hard, but I still love to hear her sing. I think she'll go very far.

Anoop Desai. I am just not a fan of Anoop. I think he has a decent voice, but I think he's an awkward performer. I think his days are numbered.

Danny Gokey. Hands down, my favorite. Last night's performace actually almost brought me to tears. I LOVE that song when performed by Rascal Flatts, and Danny was fantastic. I think he'll be battling for the Idol position at the end.

Kris Allen. Never really did too much for me before last night. He'd sing. Play guitar. Do the cute guy thing. Last night he really kicked it up a notch, and I think he took the judges advice and really delivered. I think he's going to do better than I thought if he keeps it up.

Lil Rounds. Needs to go. Used to like her, but I feel like she's just yelling every song. We turn it down a bit when she sings, and sometimes I can't wait for it to be over.

Matt Giraud. I thought last night was okay . . . agreed with the judges that he was trying a little too hard. I think he's having a hard time being himself, and I wonder if that's going to hurt him.

Megan Joy. Used to like her. Needs to go. At first, I thought her voice had an interesting quality. Now, I think it just sounds bad. Would not be surprised if she goes tonight.

Scott Macintyre. Okay. Kind of the same thing week after week . . . I have a feeling he'll be going in the next few weeks.

Well, I Guess That Bit Me in the Ass

Years ago, I made up a song to the tune of Joy to the World about the end of Mass. I shared it with Jake.That was my mistake. While he may have a fairly sophisticated sense of humor, he's still nine.

Jake shared with with Sr. who told him to share it with the other teachers . . . and Jake has informed me that they may or may not have shared that with their students.

"But lots of kids know it now," Jake intoned. "In fact, I think the whole school probably knows! Well, I'm just guessing at that. But almost my whole class knows it."

Fantastic. I wish he would share with everyone that the song came about after sitting through many Masses with crazed toddlers.

For those as depraved as I, the lyrics are as follows:
Joy to the world.
The Mass is done.
And we can all go home!
The priest is walking down the aisle.
I hope it doesn't take a while.
Then we can all go home.
Then we can all go home.
Then we can all go home.