Sunday Tid-Bits

-School is still going great.  However, the students (7th graders) are realizing they have to set priorities if they want to pass, and play sports/band/choir, etc.  We are in the 3rd week of the 6 weeks and I have way too many kids that are failing or just barely passing.  They aren't turning in their work and then not serving the detentions to make up for the late work.  Grrr!  I call about 10 parents everyday, let coaches know, but these kids are something special this year.  They don't want to do anything; and its not just homework but in class work too!  I bet some of them wouldn't even turn in their homework if I gave them a dollar.   In a few weeks I'll be assigning a year long project but I'm afraid to do so.  This year it will be more work on me than the students.

-I had a former student commit suicide this week.  He was a junior in high school.  This is the 3rd suicide of a former student from the school I teach at.  That's hard to deal with and accept.  

-I learned that 80% of our 7th graders can only read at a 2nd grade level and only a handful of them can read on grade level. 

-I have a new student who is 16 and in the 7th grade.  He has only had maybe 2 years of formal education.  According to state standards, this kid is expected to pass all of the tests next year so he can go on to high school.  The district has a learning center for students who are a few years behind and want to graduate on time, for students who want to graduate early, for teenage moms, but there aren't any services for teenagers who are illiterate in both English and their native language.  

-Running is going great!  I'm so glad I joined another RunOn class and I'm planning on signing up for the 201 class.  I'm okay with the fact that I can do 2 miles in 20 minutes on an easy run.  I'm looking forward to actual race day!

-I want to take piano lessons. I haven't started yet but I've already been through 3 teachers.  When I signed up online I had to write about my music experience.  Apparently nobody reads the survey.  Once I am able to schedule a time for lessons the teacher tells me that they'll buy the books and I'll pay them back.  I reply back with I'm not a beginner; I received piano scholarships, and I started taking lessons before I could read, and I want to be able to play and memorize these certain songs.  2 teachers replied back letting me know that I have more experience than they do and the other one said that she wouldn't be the right match for me.  Sooooo frustrating!  

-I'm getting homesick.  I'm ready to go home and spend time with family.  Next weekend will be that time!  I'm headed home for Nessa's baby shower :)  I think I'll get somewhat homesick over the fall and holidays.  My family does a lot of stuff together at this time (we have a lot of family birthdays that we like to celebrate together).  Matthew's parents live only an hour away but we haven't spent time together since last Christmas.  I try to act like their actions/ways don't bother me, but it does, sometimes.

-I love the surfer guys on Amazing Race.  I don't have an opinion on the other people.  Usually they always put a couple on there that I can't stand but that hasn't been the case so far.  

-Today's sermon was really good.  It was about work ethic. (Taken from two different passages in Proverbs).  More details on that to come.

I'm Calling Myself A Runner

I'm officially calling myself a runner.  6 weeks ago I signed up for the Running 101 at RunOn.  I am so thankful that I did.  I met some great people and made some friends and running buddies!  To "graduate" from our running class we ran in the Mary Kay 5k this weekend.  The weather was PERFECT.  It's finally starting to feel like fall down here.  My goal was to run the whole time and to finish between 10-11 minutes miles.  I met those goals!  I wasn't sure if I could really do it but I did.  Well, I did walk through the water stations.  My final time was 32 minutes 20 seconds and I felt pretty great after the run.  I wasn't dying for air or water.  Now that I know I can run 3.1 miles without walking and I can set new goals for myself.  That's what makes me feel like a runner.
Today, Matthew and I both signed up for the Turkey Trot classes.  He'll be training for the 5k and I'm not sure if I'll train for the 8 mile or a faster 5k.  I would like to finish a 5k in 30 minutes or less.  For the 8 mile class, they do their long runs on Sunday mornings at 6am and I'm not sure if I'm willing to commit to that right now.
I thought I would get a little skinnier with all of this running.  I lost about 5 lbs; yay!!  but my butt got bigger.  Not really the result I was looking for.  :p

Best Job Ever!

Gee whiz!  Time flies by when you're having fun!
Life is pretty perfect right now.  I absolutely love my job.  Instead of dreading Monday I actually look forward to it.  My students have kept me pretty busy.  They're really sweet (for the most part, they are 7th graders) but my goodness are they LAZY or maybe I should say uninspired.  I've never had a problem with getting stations going in my classes but the majority of these kids aren't mature enough or motivated enough to work in groups on their own without me babysitting them.  It gets a little frustrating at times.  It would be a lot easier if they had just a little bit of initiative.  Hopefully we'll get there.  They will be starting a new project this next 6 weeks in which they have to create their own videos of modeling math and then they have to upload it on our class blog.  I'm hoping that will get them working on their own without being so stinkin' needy.
I'm working with the world's greatest 7th grade teachers.  I love them.  It's so nice having people to plan with that are organized, hard workers, and know what they're doing.  Also, planning for only one grade is so much better than planning for 3.  I don't do work over the weekend and that is super nice.
I work for the most incredible boss.  He's already done my PDAS evaluation and it wasn't nerve racking at all.  In the past I would watch my evaluator make facial expressions that I didn't know how to read which made me super nervous.  The new boss man had his laptop up doing my PDAS but for the most part he was on his iphone texting and reading e-mails.  Its so great knowing that he trusts us and he only wants what is best for the kiddos and he knows that what we want.
The first 6 weeks have been pretty busy getting all the lesson plans, technology stuff, and just school stuff in place.  I think the rest of the semester should be pretty smooth.
I'm so glad I'm back at my "home" school.  Of course there will always be drama and crazy coworkers but those are now few and far between.