Summer has come and gone. I was home by myself only 2 1/2 weeks. No wonder it flew by so fast! I had a nice week in Iowa with my brothers and much of the rest of my family at a reunion. Then much of July spent with Dano and his mom at our house, some of that in the mountains. The last of my vacation I enjoyed with our kids in Connecticut and Boston. What a wonderful time we had together!
Now it's already been 3 weeks back in school! 33 left ! Just like a teacher, already counting the weeks till we get out!! Actually I have a great bunch of kids this year (so far), and I'm enjoying it a lot. BUT, this time of the year, ESL teachers get inundated with paperwork, and I mean COVERED UP! I didn't leave school before 6:00 all last week, except for Friday, when a friend finally forced me to go out for a snack at 4:00. There's light at the end of the tunnel, though, and once I get all the parent letters out, and the files in order for my 85 kids, maybe I'll get to go home earlier. My little Mexicans and Hmong are really sweethearts for the most part :-)
I've now had 3 sales in my Etsy shop - WAAAAY behind Huggermugger and almost everybody else I know in Etsyland. But, it's a nice hobby, anyway. I just don't seem to have time to promote it. I'm having a great time on Facebook - Hey to all of you "Facebookers" who are reading this! I just discovered a new typing game on Facebook, which I may soon become hooked on, along with Farmville (heehaw!)
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Hooray! I've made my first sale!
Of course I'm referring to my Etsy shop. I've had it open since Feb. 1st, and this is my first sale. Wouldn't you know, I haven't actually sold anything that I have already made, it's a special order. But it's a real sale, and that's a beginning!
In addition, something that came as a surprise to both of my children, and to some of my fellow teachers and some of my students, I joined Facebook last weekend! I'm not really sure what came over me, but I just decided to "take the plunge"!!! I think it was because there are several people I would like to keep in contact with this summer and they asked me if I was on Facebook. One of them is a college student who has been working with me as a student teacher all year. She went home to the NC coast for the summer, and we've gotten pretty close. I knew she probably wouldn't email me much, but that she is very active on Facebook. An added benefit has been rediscovering some cousins that I haven't heard from for years, and keeping in contact with some nephews and nieces that I don't hear from regularly.
So, those are the giant steps that I have taken in the past few weeks. This week I will be busy giving End-of-Grade tests to my ESL students, then 1 and 1/2 weeks left of school, and this school year will be history! North Carolina is making huge budget cuts, and no teachers have contracts yet. However, my principal has promised me that my job is secure so I am clinging tightly to that. Many teachers and teachers aides will not be that lucky. We shall see what happens with this declining economy. At the very least, our classrooms will be much more crowded and our supplies will be decidedly limited. For now, that's all we know for sure.
In addition, something that came as a surprise to both of my children, and to some of my fellow teachers and some of my students, I joined Facebook last weekend! I'm not really sure what came over me, but I just decided to "take the plunge"!!! I think it was because there are several people I would like to keep in contact with this summer and they asked me if I was on Facebook. One of them is a college student who has been working with me as a student teacher all year. She went home to the NC coast for the summer, and we've gotten pretty close. I knew she probably wouldn't email me much, but that she is very active on Facebook. An added benefit has been rediscovering some cousins that I haven't heard from for years, and keeping in contact with some nephews and nieces that I don't hear from regularly.
So, those are the giant steps that I have taken in the past few weeks. This week I will be busy giving End-of-Grade tests to my ESL students, then 1 and 1/2 weeks left of school, and this school year will be history! North Carolina is making huge budget cuts, and no teachers have contracts yet. However, my principal has promised me that my job is secure so I am clinging tightly to that. Many teachers and teachers aides will not be that lucky. We shall see what happens with this declining economy. At the very least, our classrooms will be much more crowded and our supplies will be decidedly limited. For now, that's all we know for sure.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Ahhh! Spring Break...
One day gone already of my Spring Break. The time will be over before I know it, and I will have squandered it all away. Actually, I have no BIG plans for this glorious week, except to just relax and enjoy it. And that being said, I guess today was well spent. I did a bit of housework, a bit of reading, a bit of crocheting, a bit of learning on the computer, walked 2 miles on the treadmill, Skyped with my adorable grandson and his mom, and let my hubby take me out to eat to celebrate an accomplishment. So, all in all, I'd say today was just GRAND!!!
An accomplishment, you say. What accomplishment? Not to "toot my own horn" as my mother would call it, but last week it was announced at school that my fellow teachers elected me to be our school's Wachovia Outstanding Educator. (Otherwise known as Teacher of the Year) Of course, it's a real honor to be awarded this by my own peers. But it also means some writing and interviews, because now I will go up against other schools' picks to be chosen in our school district. The teacher chosen in our school district will in turn have to then go through a selection process against the three school districts in our county. Hmmmm. I think I should just be satisfied that I was chosen by my school. Anyway, I have some writing to do this week for that - a Project Proposal, because with all of that comes a $1000 check to the winner if their project is chosen.
This spring has been rainy and cool, but the grass is green and the trees are mostly leafed out, so I'm not complaining. The tulips are blooming in a profusion of bright colors; and the dogwood trees are beginning to blossom, as only they can do at Easter time in the South, reminding us of Christ's death and resurrection with their symbolic crosses on their flowers. The aroma of the lilies from church that we brought home yesterday permeates our living room with the perfume of the hope and joy of Easter. To all who read this I want to wish a Blessed and Happy Easter Season!
An accomplishment, you say. What accomplishment? Not to "toot my own horn" as my mother would call it, but last week it was announced at school that my fellow teachers elected me to be our school's Wachovia Outstanding Educator. (Otherwise known as Teacher of the Year) Of course, it's a real honor to be awarded this by my own peers. But it also means some writing and interviews, because now I will go up against other schools' picks to be chosen in our school district. The teacher chosen in our school district will in turn have to then go through a selection process against the three school districts in our county. Hmmmm. I think I should just be satisfied that I was chosen by my school. Anyway, I have some writing to do this week for that - a Project Proposal, because with all of that comes a $1000 check to the winner if their project is chosen.
This spring has been rainy and cool, but the grass is green and the trees are mostly leafed out, so I'm not complaining. The tulips are blooming in a profusion of bright colors; and the dogwood trees are beginning to blossom, as only they can do at Easter time in the South, reminding us of Christ's death and resurrection with their symbolic crosses on their flowers. The aroma of the lilies from church that we brought home yesterday permeates our living room with the perfume of the hope and joy of Easter. To all who read this I want to wish a Blessed and Happy Easter Season!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
I'm Back!
Kinda like a bad penny, I turn up every month or so to compose some more in my Blog. It's been such a busy month, I didn't even realize the month had gone by.
My work has been so busy at school. I've been doing the annual ESL testing, and it's a new test mandated by the state. Since we can only test 22 students at a time this year, and (also new this year) they have to be tested by their ability levels, I had to do 15 different testing sessions of 75 minutes each, singlehandedly. So it has taken me 3 whole weeks to do it. This to the detriment of my regular classes, which were on-again, off-again. I also have had to test each of my 85 ESL students individually on their speech, which takes 15-20 minutes apiece. I still have 2 full days of that. Whew! The students have been tested in reading, listening, writing and speech. I think they'll be happy to get back to their "regularly scheduled programming". I know I sure will.
As you may or may not know, I have started my own ETSY shop. Go to www.thesquaregrammy.etsy.com to see it. I call it TheSquareGrammy in honor of the Grammy Square, oops, I mean the Granny 
Square. But also, mostly in honor of my own sweet grandson who now, I can proudly say DOES call me "Grammy"!!! Here he is playing at the beach in the Bahamas, on a cruise that he and his family and my dearest husband and mother-in-law were able to take. Of course I had to miss it because of my lovely job :-(
Square. But also, mostly in honor of my own sweet grandson who now, I can proudly say DOES call me "Grammy"!!! Here he is playing at the beach in the Bahamas, on a cruise that he and his family and my dearest husband and mother-in-law were able to take. Of course I had to miss it because of my lovely job :-( The weather has made a complete turnaround in NC this week. We had a snow day on Monday, with temperatures in the single digits. And today, Saturday, it's close to 80 degrees!!! People are out in shorts and tank tops mowing their lawns! Daffodills and crocuses are blooming. And the middle school kids at Northview Middle School are getting antsy to be outside instead of cooped up in school all day. I can't say that I blame them, how about you?
By the time I think about writing here again, it'll probably be full-blown springtime! Talk to y'all next time!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
I've been Remiss ...
Okay, so I guess I've been so busy I kinda stopped blogging for awhile. So that makes me remiss, or amiss or in "remission"? ... Anyway, I missed it and all of a sudden I come back and find I have 3, count them, 3 followers now instead of my 1 (okay, so she's my daughter :-)
Welcome to my two new followers, and welcome to anybody else who wants to read these blatherings. I know what I write is probably only interesting to me, but, oh whell!
Do you realize how much we all affect each other? I was just thinking about that. You know how much we as parents affect our children, and of course spouses affect each other. It goes without saying that we teachers hope that we have positive effects on our students. I have been affected a lot by my own children, and of course my sweet grandson. I have been changed by my colleagues at school and my students, as well. Even in subtle ways, we can be affected by those we are with for even short times. If the grocery clerk smiles or snaps at you, you're affected for the rest of the day. But for the long term, it's just important to know that what you do or say can be making a difference in the lives of many others around you, not just yourself. You are affecting your spouse, your children, your parents, your co-workers, your students, your pets???, the clerks you buy things from, the other drivers on the road, in short, everyone around you. Wow! What an awesome responsibility when you think about it!
Welcome to my two new followers, and welcome to anybody else who wants to read these blatherings. I know what I write is probably only interesting to me, but, oh whell!
Do you realize how much we all affect each other? I was just thinking about that. You know how much we as parents affect our children, and of course spouses affect each other. It goes without saying that we teachers hope that we have positive effects on our students. I have been affected a lot by my own children, and of course my sweet grandson. I have been changed by my colleagues at school and my students, as well. Even in subtle ways, we can be affected by those we are with for even short times. If the grocery clerk smiles or snaps at you, you're affected for the rest of the day. But for the long term, it's just important to know that what you do or say can be making a difference in the lives of many others around you, not just yourself. You are affecting your spouse, your children, your parents, your co-workers, your students, your pets???, the clerks you buy things from, the other drivers on the road, in short, everyone around you. Wow! What an awesome responsibility when you think about it!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Back Home = Back to School
Home again, Home again, Jiggety-Jig!
I've been back home for awhile now. The nursery rhymes I sang to Dano are just a distant memory - a very, very good memory. I had a wonderful Christmas with my sweetest of all grandsons, and my most wonderful daughter and son-in-law. I really miss them. But now it's time to gear up for my job.
How nice it has been to just relax, kick back, crochet, read some good fiction - the Jodi Picoult book was NOT a disappointment (I finished it just as my plane landed back in good old NC). It was good to be able to ease back into ordinary life - put away Christmas, clean the house, catch up on old friends through Christmas letters, etc. But now the inevitable has arrived.
Yesterday I started doing some research on new theories in teaching ESL students. Since it's a relatively new field, methods for ESL teaching are evolving. Now there is yet another method arriving on the scene that I'm learning about. The trick will be trying to share it with my principal and the other teachers in my school. But, you know what? At 56 it seems to be taking longer and longer for me to grasp what I read. Wonder why that is?
Regardless of my age, today is lesson-planning day. I can no longer avoid it. I plan to "hole up" in my room with my computer and my planbook; my Celine Dion cds and my flavored coffee; and plan next week's lessons. Who knows? Maybe I'll get really inspired, and "knock the socks off" those kids with some really great lessons! Hey! It could happen!
Sooooo - Let the day begin....
I've been back home for awhile now. The nursery rhymes I sang to Dano are just a distant memory - a very, very good memory. I had a wonderful Christmas with my sweetest of all grandsons, and my most wonderful daughter and son-in-law. I really miss them. But now it's time to gear up for my job.
How nice it has been to just relax, kick back, crochet, read some good fiction - the Jodi Picoult book was NOT a disappointment (I finished it just as my plane landed back in good old NC). It was good to be able to ease back into ordinary life - put away Christmas, clean the house, catch up on old friends through Christmas letters, etc. But now the inevitable has arrived.
Yesterday I started doing some research on new theories in teaching ESL students. Since it's a relatively new field, methods for ESL teaching are evolving. Now there is yet another method arriving on the scene that I'm learning about. The trick will be trying to share it with my principal and the other teachers in my school. But, you know what? At 56 it seems to be taking longer and longer for me to grasp what I read. Wonder why that is?
Regardless of my age, today is lesson-planning day. I can no longer avoid it. I plan to "hole up" in my room with my computer and my planbook; my Celine Dion cds and my flavored coffee; and plan next week's lessons. Who knows? Maybe I'll get really inspired, and "knock the socks off" those kids with some really great lessons! Hey! It could happen!
Sooooo - Let the day begin....
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