Thank Goodness for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Vacay started Friday afternoon at 2:21. Big party Friday night; HP Sunday matinee.

Girls home.

Reindeer at the Home Depot.

Temps in the mid 70s.

Love it.

Oh Yes She Did !!!

Prep, with diploma and Bible handed out at graduation. I've never been more proud.

Graduation Weekend!!

• Contracts have come and the powers that be have granted me another year.
• We lost 9 teachers in our building alone.
• Prep marches tomorrow - I've watched Closing Chapel, been to Senior Supper and have been to Communion with the Senior class. I am utterly exhausted and emotionally drained - tomorrow, well, I hope I make it through tomorrow.
• Five more school days for me - four, because I'm not going Monday!!

And Then There Were...

Can I get an AMEN? This atrocious year will finally be over. We'll know this coming Friday whether or not we'll have a job next year. The Friday before Prep graduates. I am so conflicted. But all I can say is WARDAMNEAGLE!!!

I Couldn't Be More Excited

Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for. I asked to be the 5th grade math teacher four and a half weeks ago and our principal said that we couldn't do that because we "compact" math and we aren't allowed to group our kids in all subjects according to ability. Therefore, I was stuck teaching all Language Arts to the entire 5th grade in 45 minute segments.

Our county recently adopted a new Language Arts program and you should see this mother. It says that it needs at least 2 hours per day for it to work. At least.

Hello? I wasn't getting enough time to look those kids in the eye, let alone teach them how to read. (and kids who can't read in the 5th grade perplex me - discuss) I was barely getting in spelling and grammar and some shared reading. And I was ready to quit. It took me three weeks to get in subjects, predicates, fragments and kinds of sentences. And people failed the test.

So, yesterday, our team went to the principal armed with a new schedule for every 5th grader that maintained the integrity of the compacted math classes, and didn't ability group them anywhere else, an email from the teacher of the year at a nearby school who is responsible for teaching all the math (and showed a 13% rate of growth last year) and an agreement from our teammates to each take a section of this hellacious Language Arts program while I take on all the math. After we got the special ed teacher on board, the principal agreed.

So, now, I am responsible for all the math. Go ahead and joke. Who couldn't teach 5th grade math? Some of you need to take a look at the standards. You have to be able to illustrate decimal multiplication and division. You have to be able to do pi. Add and subtract fractions. Volume - three dimensional stuff - that some kids don't always wrap their minds around. And one of the classes I'm taking over is about two weeks behind the others. Because they are the low class. Well, that ends Monday. They are hopping aboard the Teachergirl Express. When I told my homeroom on Friday afternoon what was going to happen on Monday, I heard one of them say, "You'd better hold on. She doesn't play." Thankyouverymuch. I couldn't have asked for a more ringing endorsement.

Roll Tide!!

Prep got her first college acceptance and I am proud. I think my first college letter was a rejection.

And Then There Was....

Yes. The One. The final one. Day 180.

Field day.

Update on the stupid father: He didn't take her to the hospital until this morning. And, of course, her ankle was broken. And when she was casted up and handed a pair of crutches, this moron brought her back to school. I might understand if he was a factory worker and couldn't let her sit by the big machinery. But this guy has a white collar job. With a secretary.

Someone explain this situation to me before I call Child Protective Services and have this guy raked over the coals.

You all know how I feel about field day. I'm going for tequila shots when we're finished. Anyone interested?

And Then.... There Were....

Today... the fifth grade luncheon. The principal needs a new speech. Just saying. I've heard this one a number of times.

I'm a little concerned, however, with a parent who went back to work after the luncheon. His wife is a flight attendant, so he came on over. I've always liked this guy; he's nice, involved, the typical all American Dad. But we went out to play this afternoon and his daughter was playing soccer - hard - because she's a good player who is on a good team. She got hurt - it looked like she might have broken a bone in her ankle.

He told the school nurse and the principal that she should go home on the bus; he'd been at school for two hours and he wasn't coming back. Did I mention that I pushed her to the clinic in the wheelchair? And we thought her ankle might be broken? They refused to put her on the bus because she couldn't walk. So he told them to put her in the afterschool program and he'd get her from there. When I left, she was sitting in the wheelchair, with her foot elevated, in the hallway. She had taken some motrin she had with her, but who knows how long that would last.

Of all the stupid things.

And Then There Were...

No. Not naked women. Three. Three days. I am exhausted. I have a ton of things left to move, but I have cleared out my cabinets and bookshelves. LawyerBoy is coming tomorrow to move boxes. And then the great unpacking occurs. But first, field day, report cards and 5th grade luncheon. Hurry, hurry.

And Then There Were

Seemed appropriate because the next four days are like days from the apocalypse. Have I mentioned that the last day of school is Field Day? And it's supposed to rain? Really? Really.
And when we went to recess yesterday, I had to wear my winter coat. Because it was cold. And I'm talking about wind blowing, teeth chattering cold. Really.

It's time to pull the curtain on this year, people.
(I bet when he wrote this book, he had no idea.)

And Then There Were...

Tomorrow? Packing and moving and lots of thank you notes by fifth graders. Textbook turn-in. Praise be.

(Remind me to post about TI and how he nearly cost me my job. Preview Cupcake's comments.)

Graduation was this afternoon. Officially, Prep has 364 days until she graduates. I am officially panicked.

And Then There Were...

(I don't know what the Seattle Internet Exchange is, but I love the graphic.)

Oh my holy hell. What a day. I stayed until 5PM, packing boxes for the big move. But the big news of the day is that Super Big State Test results are back and every single one of my 5th graders passed English/Language Arts. All my math geniuses scored super high on the math section. We only lost 7 kids to the State Test in 5th grade this year: one in Reading and six in Math. Most will be classified as African Americans who are economically disadvantaged. We've already heard that we need to find a way to meet their needs. I don't know how to meet the needs of an economically disadvantaged child unless I start class with a peanut butter sandwich, a brand new pencil and a notebook. I need some help in this area - I know that I grew up with kids who were economically disadvantaged: the Catholic kids in my neighborhood who had eight brothers and sisters come to mind. One family whose house burned down. And yet they were always in school with homework in hand. Peanut butter sandwich in the other. Education was the most important thing in their home. In all of our homes. So, how do I get that message through to those who struggle the most with this?

Because I saw the 4th grade scores and, seriously, we're in for it next year.

And Then There Were....

But I have used up most of my allotted boxes. So, I sent my wonderful room moms out to the neighborhood liquor stores before school ended today - before my colleagues could get there - to gather up all the boxes to be found. My room is a freaking disaster. My desk - I haven't seen it in two days. My grades - who knew we had to do report cards again? - have to be entered, but first I have to grade something. I've got kids trying to pack my bookcases and closets. I told them to make sure they at least labeled the boxes. The AP told us today that we had to have our textbooks in our new rooms, lined up for an inventory. Really? Not boxed up, but lined up on a table, in a corner. We are trying to get them outside for recess and it has done nothing but rain. Really? Really. This year is coming to a sucking halt, but at least it is ending.

And Then There Were

But we are behind the eight ball. The fifth grade is moving inside the building for the next school year and I have to pack up and move. So, I am working on getting in the last little bits of work, keeping everybody busy, keeping the lid on and PACKING up every little thing I want moved into the building. But who cares? 'Cause I'm down to eight.

And Then There Were Nine

And Then There Were

and counting...

And you know how bad these ten days can be.