A big weight off my shoulders

It's amazing how much things can change in two days. I just posted about how much I had to do this week. Whew. At this point, most of it is done. I feel a lot better. I have some small assignments to grade this weekend and then final drafts of the research paper are due Monday.

Our Rock the Arts Festival is tomorrow. This is our first year for it and we've worked hard. I'm sure it'll turn out great. I'm in charge of the Dino dig in the morning and the ring toss in the afternoon. I also have several students reading their own poetry in front of an audience. Some of them wrote about very personal subjects that really surprised me. We're selling booklets of the poetry and I found it hard to believe they'd want everyone else to read what they've written.

Jennifer posted about the Summer of Socks at Jessica's blog, and I thought it sounded like a great idea. I like to do knitalong sort of things but don't like to feel rushed in my knitting. It starts to feel like a chore. This is just my speed (slow--ha ha). And like many knitters, I have a lot of sock yarn in my stash that I can use.

Maybe I can get a head start on some Christmas presents. I have a couple of patterns I'd like to try. I can't wait!!

I'm drowning

in a sea of school work, that is.

To do this week:
1. Proofread 138 research papers
2. Sort and deliver all 98 Rock the Arts t-shirts to our school plus our 3 elementaries
3. Put together the Rock the Arts poetry book (40 pages back to back) and make 50 copies
4. Meet with others in my department to choose materials for next year's new reading class
5. Make sure all grades are up to date for interims reports due tonight
6. Stay one step ahead of my students

Can I say that I'm a little stressed?? No time for blogging!!

Something I forgot

in last night's post, which I just read and it sounds like I'm really complaining, is that three other teachers and I have signed on to be theater advisors. We're not having a Drama Club per se, but our district does have money set aside for theater productions. There are three schools in our county and our kids have participated in the other schools' plays because we didn't have them. None of us even knew this money was there.

I am really excited about this. We've picked a play for this fall called "Frumpled Fairy Tales." It's a kids' production that has "Rumplestilskin," "Rapunzel," and "Little Red Riding Hood." I can't wait. We're going to have a meeting before school is out this year to see how many are interested.

If any of you have done theater and have suggestions, please feel free to contact me!!

Has it been almost a month?

Time goes by fast. I've been so busy at school that I haven't had time to do much blogging.

G1 is having his first sleepover tonight. His 10th birthday is next week. 10. A decade. Where have the years gone? More about that next week.

I don't expect to get much sleep tonight. So far the activities have included football, cornhole, wrestling, pizza, more wrestling, a Guitar Hero battle (complete with a bracket), American Idol singoffs, cake, and indoor flashlight tag (it's raining). These boys are definitely not quiet about anything they've done. G1 is having a blast, though, so I don't mind. I am tired. It's 11:12. About an hour past my weekend bedtime.

I got my yarn in to finish my Boogie vest. I've only worked on it a little. Too many papers to grade.

I've had a lot of trouble keeping images in my sidebar. They keep disappearing and a box with an X shows up in their place. I don't know what to do!!

What's that you say? You actually finished something?

Yes, I did. I did indeed. I finished my Tweedy Vest. I think I must be the slowest knitter on the face of the earth. Some people crank out sweaters in what seems to be a month. I can barely do a vest in a year. The vest looks really good when I'm not wearing it. I had to stand very straight for this picture because the vest clings in places I really don't like. I don't know how to do shaping of any kind or if shaping would even solve that problem.

I started my waterfall rib socks over with the Cherry Tree Hill yarn. I wasn't happy with my inability to do short-row heels nor the length of the cuff. I don't like anklet-type socks. I either want footies or a 7 or 8 inch cuff. The cuff was just too short for me.

The kids and I had a good Easter break. Thursday the kids went to Granny's to color eggs with their cousins. Granny has them over every year and then the three families split the eggs.

Here's G1:


Here's G2:


Here are all the cousins together:

Friday we went to Columbus to the Ohio Historical Society Museum. The kids liked it a lot. Then we went to Build-A-Bear where G2 goes when he has some money burning a hole in his pocket. He is crazy for stuffed animals. The choice of animal this time was the Happy Chick for Easter. We had lunch at my brother and dad's favorite pizza place Massey's.

The break was short. We didn't get to see "Horton Hears a Who." Maybe next weekend.

Seven weird things about me

This meme has been going around. I guess it's my turn now. Some of these things aren't exactly weird, just interesting.

1. I was born in Australia but moved to the US when I was six months old. My dad was stationed in the Navy there.
2. I am terrified of insects, especially beetles and anything that flies like moths, cicadas, grasshoppers, butterflies, etc. If I go outside at night, porch lights have to be turned off. If porch lights are on and moths have gathered, I'll find another door to go in. If I go camping, I will not stay still too long in one spot with the flashlight.
3. It really bothers me when a toothpaste tube is squeezed in the middle. I have to start from the bottom and work up the tube.
4. It also really bothers me when people put a roll of toilet paper or paper towels on so that the paper comes out the bottom instead of over the top. The pattern is on one side for a reason.
5. I can bend my arms backwards a little at the elbow. I can also twist my arms so that the elbows are turned all the way out.
6. I've been to France three times. I lived in Tours for four months while studying abroad. I love France and the French language.
7. I hate clothing that has any ruffles, eyelets, embroidery, appliques, or anything else old womany. Add to that polyester pants.
8. When I sleep, I absolutely cannot sleep on my back. I have to sleep on my side with one knee up to my chest.


We took the kids to see a local high school production of "Fiddler on the Roof." Two of my students were in it. One student was G2's teacher's son. The other was my kids' babysitter. It was very good. The lead actor had a full beard and an accent. We could tell he really practiced for the part. My kids did very well. The play was two and a half hours long. They got a little restless toward the end. However, this being their first play, they did a great job.

Early Intervention for Failing Students

We're starting a committee at my school to come up with a process to prevent kids from failing. Possibilities are regular phone calls home and a student-teacher contract. One of our assistant prinicipals asked any interested teachers to participate. Only 4 out of about 45 responded.

Does anyone out there have some sort of schoolwide process in place to prevent student failures? Our administration encourages us more and more to make sure all of our students pass. Trust me, that IS my goal. However, obstacles prevent that from happening. Obstacles such as laziness, stubbornness (SP?), lack of caring, etc. I printed out lists of missing work for all of my students and gave them some time in class to work on them. None did. They told me that as long as they are passing, they don't care what their grades are. Two of them are only passing because I round a 69.5% up. What are we teachers supposed to do about students like that?

In other school news, we only have one more day of the OGT left. The reading test is Monday because school was cancelled this past Monday. I think the break over the weekend will be good for the students because today's social studies test seemed long. I heard many times how tired the kids and teachers were today. One boy I had in my room during the test actually fell asleep!