Thursday, February 27, 2014

Ten Things Thursday

                                       


I have about thirty minutes to share ten pieces of random information with you before it's time for me to start getting ready for work.  It's been a long time since I've done a Ten Things Thursday post, and it's always been pretty difficult for me to get out that many tidbits... but we'll see how we do today.

1.  It's going to be late nights for me both tonight and tomorrow night.  Tonight I'm working the concession stand, along with my 4th grade team, at a basketball game.  Tomorrow, it's Family Night and all teachers are required to attend.  Both events will put me home between 8-9PM.  That makes for very long work days.

2.  Today and tomorrow I also need to get sub plans written for Monday.  I have a common core training I'm attending on Monday, so I have to make sure that everything is taken care of and I have all my ducks in a row before I head out tomorrow night.  Thankfully, being that I have to be at work until the game and Family Night both start, I don't see too much of a problem getting that done.

3.  I HATE having a sub on Monday.  Hate is a strong word, but being gone on Monday is THE worst day to be gone.  It's the day our team does all of our weekly pretests.  Then we always grade them together as a class, so that the kids are fully aware of what information/spelling words/skills they need to hone in on throughout the week.  The kids usually fill out their spelling contracts on Monday, and it's where I usually do all of the introductions to the week's learning.  Leaving that responsibility to someone else just never works out for me.  It won't be the sub's fault, by any means, but it just makes me very nervous to be gone on a Monday.

4.  There's a chance for more winter weather to move in to our area on Sunday and in to Monday morning.  Right now, the weather people are saying there's a good chance of an ice storm. That could mean no school on Monday.  Being out of school because of bad weather would take care of my whole not liking to be gone on Monday situation, but then it would mean another day out of school and another day behind.  But, as the meteorologists keep reminding me, the system is still several days out and a LOT could change between now and then.  Guess it's just going to be another waiting game to see what is in store for us next week.

5.  I am a person that LOVES cold weather, but even I have to admit that after 17 snow days this year, I'm kinda ready for it to warm up a little.  I'm getting a little antsy for spring to get here.  There's pros and cons to that statement.  Spring getting here would mean nicer weather, finally being able to start working on my little flower garden, possibly getting out to walk more, and maybe losing all this winter blubber I've been continuously adding to.  But, spring also means the start of allergy season and me being miserable from seasonal allergies.  Spring is the time of year I most want to be outside, and it's the time of year I should definitely avoid being outside.  Not a great situation to be in.  Summer is always too hot, and hot makes me miserable.  I like warm.  Warm is fine.  But warm with runny nose, coughing, wheezing from the chest, and watery eyes is NOT fine.

6.  My team and I figured out yesterday that we only have twelve more weeks of school.  TWELVE.  That's insane.  Even with all the snow days, we're getting out on May 24th.  That means that our MAP test is only about nine weeks away.  That's not very much time AT ALL.  And a little nerve-wracking.  There's still so much to do.  

7.  My team also came up with a great idea for a new way of teaching science and social studies that I'm really excited about.  The norm up to this point is to teach science and social studies each day.  It's basically what our afternoon consists of.  About 45 minutes for each lesson.  The problem is, the afternoons are pretty hectic times.  We have a computer lab class one afternoon a week, we have kids pulled out four afternoons a week for extra help, I have kids pulled out on Mondays and Wednesday afternoons for speech therapy.  So, we spend a lot of time trying to cram as much in as we can throughout the week to ensure that ALL the students are getting SOME science and social studies.  Well, now we've decided to have a go at teaching only science for a couple of weeks and then switching off to social studies for a couple of weeks.  That would mean we get double the amount of time to just focus on one or the other.  The pull-out kids would get a lot more, the kids that stay would get a lot more, and the teachers would get a lot more.  We have so many great resources such as educational videos, experiments, projects, and such we'd love to do with the kids, but we never usually have the time.  By teaching science and social studies in alternating units, we'd have a lot more opportunity to really broaden the lessons and be a lot more creative with them.  I'm very excited about it.

8.  This weekend, I really need to stay home and get some cleaning done.  I've been pretty busy the last couple of weekends, and my house has been neglected.  I really need to clean, clean, clean and get my house back to the condition I like it.  Being that there's a chance for bad weather on Sunday, we'll probably do our grocery shopping on Saturday, but then I just want to stay inside for the rest of the time.  My house can get some attention, and then my couch can get some attention as I rest and relax.  Plus, I've been working on crocheting the same scarf all week, and it's time to get that finished so I can move on to something else.

9.  I'm thinking that this weekend might be the time I buy a new laptop.  I have a laptop, but the battery is shot and it's about 7 years old.  The screen is also completely messed up, so it will only work when plugged in to a computer monitor.  So, it's kinda just become a place I store all my photos and back up my phone and iPad.  I also use it to pay bills once a month.  When I work, I bring home my laptop from school.  That's also a pain cause the thing is heavy and I don't like carrying it back and forth.  I'd really like a new laptop that I can actually use as a laptop.  Something that's light, can be carried around easily, and something I can sit in the living room with and take care of my work.  I'm also a cheap skate, though, and won't spend a ton of money on a laptop being that I have a sort of functioning laptop and a work laptop.  So, we'll see how my hunt goes.  If I can find a cheapish, decent laptop, I might just buy it.

10.  I actually managed to get out ten things in the thirty minutes I had.  Not exactly the most exciting stuff to read, but when I'm pressed for time and don't really have a whole lot on my mind that I care to write about, it is what it is.  

And what it is is time for me to go and get ready.


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