Well, again, not much happening at the moment, but I thought I should post something! I am currently off track for one more week...no, I did not go anywhere this time, so it has kind of been weird. I am pretty sure I am annoying my mother being around all of the time, but on the other hand, I run a LOT of errands for her while she is working away!!!
Regardless, it has been nice just not doing ANYTHING!!! The only thing that I had to do was take a test called the PRAXIS. It is one of the hoops I have to jump through to be a teacher. I have to pass this test within the first 3 years of teaching, so I am hoping I passed! Otherwise I have been sleeping in, reading, running errands, and I started a quilt that I have had the fabric for since my birthday in August. It is VERY cute material and I have it to where I can start sewing it together. As soon as I do that, I will post pictures!
I have also been thinking about going back to school to get a Master's Degree. I wasn't really planning on doing it so soon, but I want to get it done so that I don't forget how to be a student myself!!! I also want more job options as well. I want to be "specialized" in something so I am not doing the same thing my whole life. I was thinking about special education, but now I am thinking more about reading and literacy. I love reading and always have, so I think I would just love to learn more about helping kids to read, especially the struggling ones. I have been researching schools all around the country and have found a few that offer that type of degree online, but all of them are so EXPENSIVE!! So, I am kind of scared to start anything because it is a big commitment to spend that much money. If you know me, I am definitely not a big spender of money and I am not in debt right now, so that is why it is so scary! However, I think it would be worth it in the end! I will have to keep you posted on how all of that turns out.
Anyway, in the meantime, I am just waiting to hear if I am staying where I am at or not for next year. I am pretty sure I have a job, I just don't know what or where yet. My principal said that as of right now, I am in the same grade and on the same track for next year, but they are doing a lot of administrative cuts in the District so that may or may not trickle down to affect me, because some of the administration may go back to being teachers. Ya, lovely, I know. I wish they would just hurry up and make a decision already so I can make plans for sure next year!!! It is pretty stressful at my work because of all of this, so I am glad to not be there at the moment.
Well, 8 weeks and counting starting next week for me and this class I have...yes, I am quite ready to finish this year and pass them along...sad I know, but I can't hide my stress of trying to manage this group anymore!!! They are crazy, but I guess that is better than no personality at all and I have learned quite a lot! :0
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
I'm Back!
Sorry I have been such a slacker lately on blogging! Not much has been going on, just the same old, same old! It seems like March has just FLOWN by, which is crazy because it is APRIL now and it is supposed to be warmer, but it isn't!
Let's see...March...oh yes, Parent/Teacher Conferences were in March and although they were long, I did have EVERY parent show up and it went really well! I am grateful for parents that are supportive with their kids! I am having a hard time with some of my kids that are really good students, but don't get the best grades though. I don't know what to do about them! It is hard to tell a parent why they don't have good grades when that happens, because at the time I teach, it seems that they understand, but their tests and some assignments don't reflect it. ARGGG...it is so frustrating that I don't have enough time to work with these kids to figure it all out and help them! I think my dream teaching job would be no more than 15 students so I could actually teach them!!! Hahaha...what a dream! I WISH!!!
I don't know how many of you have been following the news lately, but Jordan School District was going to lay off 250 of its teachers for next year. AAAANNNDDD you have it right that seniority was how they were going to do it, which put me and many other "newbys" on the chopping block. So I was kinda sick about not having a job next year for a few weeks, but the District got their heads on straight again and said they had enough money after all to cover us. We are still going to lose a lot of our nice aides and other programs for students though. Which means no PE, computer, literacy, copy, and library people to make our jobs a little bit easier. I don't know how they expect us to give the rising generation a great, quality education with all that is happening,but I guess we all just have to "buck it up" and teach!!! Which...I am learning to do, especially this year with the class I have!!
Yes, they are still quite the stinkers, with bullying problems and what not, but I am learning to be a little bit tougher this year I think. I did end up losing one of my students last month that moved to another fourth grade class, but apparently it wasn't me, it was the kids in my class. Anyway, to make a long story short, he was one of my more difficult kids and I was RELIEVED to have one of them gone. I am so ashamed of saying that, but it cut my stress level a little bit, not to mention the work load of one less student!! I am now down to 27...oh how I envy my student teaching days of 22 students!! :0
Well, to end with, my class finally earned the 30 class points they needed since the beginning of the school year to get a class pet. They have wanted one so bad!! So, we voted on a couple of different animals to get, like a snake (I was TOTALLY against that one!) and a turtle. Well, it turns out that a parent of one of my kids told me about her son's hermit crabs and how easy they were to take care of, so YEP, you guessed it, that's what we got! I took them home last weekend, just to see what they were like, and they are the some of the strangest and captivating things ever! I could have watched them all day, every day. So meet Rocky, Stitch, and Stacy, the newest members of Miss Lloyd's 4th Grade Class!!! :)
This is their home. Even though there are only 3 of them, there are a lot of empty shells in there so they can "shell shop" if they want to. They usually do it when they molt and become bigger. You can't see any of them in this picture because they are hiding in the mulch, under the water dishes!
This one is Rocky. His shell isn't painted, so it is hard to find him sometimes! He has been by far one of the most active ones (even though it doesn't look like it here!)
The one in the red shell is Stitch. He likes to hide a lot too...but he has since moved into a yellow shell that has a race car number on it (my kind of crab!!).
This is Stacy...she was quite shy! We still are not sure she is a girl, but we think she is because she is in a shell with flowers on it!
We are having fun with them so far, but I will have to let you know how it all turns out! I seriously hope they survive to the summer with this class! LOVE IT! :)
Let's see...March...oh yes, Parent/Teacher Conferences were in March and although they were long, I did have EVERY parent show up and it went really well! I am grateful for parents that are supportive with their kids! I am having a hard time with some of my kids that are really good students, but don't get the best grades though. I don't know what to do about them! It is hard to tell a parent why they don't have good grades when that happens, because at the time I teach, it seems that they understand, but their tests and some assignments don't reflect it. ARGGG...it is so frustrating that I don't have enough time to work with these kids to figure it all out and help them! I think my dream teaching job would be no more than 15 students so I could actually teach them!!! Hahaha...what a dream! I WISH!!!
I don't know how many of you have been following the news lately, but Jordan School District was going to lay off 250 of its teachers for next year. AAAANNNDDD you have it right that seniority was how they were going to do it, which put me and many other "newbys" on the chopping block. So I was kinda sick about not having a job next year for a few weeks, but the District got their heads on straight again and said they had enough money after all to cover us. We are still going to lose a lot of our nice aides and other programs for students though. Which means no PE, computer, literacy, copy, and library people to make our jobs a little bit easier. I don't know how they expect us to give the rising generation a great, quality education with all that is happening,but I guess we all just have to "buck it up" and teach!!! Which...I am learning to do, especially this year with the class I have!!
Yes, they are still quite the stinkers, with bullying problems and what not, but I am learning to be a little bit tougher this year I think. I did end up losing one of my students last month that moved to another fourth grade class, but apparently it wasn't me, it was the kids in my class. Anyway, to make a long story short, he was one of my more difficult kids and I was RELIEVED to have one of them gone. I am so ashamed of saying that, but it cut my stress level a little bit, not to mention the work load of one less student!! I am now down to 27...oh how I envy my student teaching days of 22 students!! :0
Well, to end with, my class finally earned the 30 class points they needed since the beginning of the school year to get a class pet. They have wanted one so bad!! So, we voted on a couple of different animals to get, like a snake (I was TOTALLY against that one!) and a turtle. Well, it turns out that a parent of one of my kids told me about her son's hermit crabs and how easy they were to take care of, so YEP, you guessed it, that's what we got! I took them home last weekend, just to see what they were like, and they are the some of the strangest and captivating things ever! I could have watched them all day, every day. So meet Rocky, Stitch, and Stacy, the newest members of Miss Lloyd's 4th Grade Class!!! :)
This is their home. Even though there are only 3 of them, there are a lot of empty shells in there so they can "shell shop" if they want to. They usually do it when they molt and become bigger. You can't see any of them in this picture because they are hiding in the mulch, under the water dishes!
This one is Rocky. His shell isn't painted, so it is hard to find him sometimes! He has been by far one of the most active ones (even though it doesn't look like it here!)
The one in the red shell is Stitch. He likes to hide a lot too...but he has since moved into a yellow shell that has a race car number on it (my kind of crab!!).
This is Stacy...she was quite shy! We still are not sure she is a girl, but we think she is because she is in a shell with flowers on it!
We are having fun with them so far, but I will have to let you know how it all turns out! I seriously hope they survive to the summer with this class! LOVE IT! :)
Saturday, February 13, 2010
CRUISE!!!
Sadly, these last 3 weeks have gone by WAAAYYY too fast! Time flies when you are having fun I guess!! Last week I got home from my cruise to the Carribean. 3 words... SO MUCH FUN!!! I have been on a cruise before, but this one took the cake! Here are a bunch of pictures of the trip.
Getting on the ship!
The Miami Shore line when we were first sailing away. Yes, it was VERY windy and stormy the first day!
This is in the theater where all of the shows were performed every night.
Yes, we did "kick up our heels" and do a little dancing! It didn't last for very long, but here is our proof!
Formal Night!!
These were our dinner table partners every night. No one else ever came to sit at our big table, but these guys were so much fun! They were from Toronto, Canada and they were married, yes, married! Let's just say we had a "gay" time! :)
Our first stop of the cruise was at Grand Cayman Islands. Our excursion here was to go to Stingray City and see dolphins at this Dolphin Cove place. At Stingray City, the water was only about 4 feet deep and all of these stingrays were swimming all around us. Our guides would grab a stingray and show us how to hold it, then have us kiss it and give us a back rub! It was freaky when the stingrays would swim RIGHT next to you and touch you when you weren't paying attention...but it was absolutely GORGEOUS and AMAZING!
Then we were taken back to the Dolphin Cove and got to watch, touch, and kiss a dolphin. That was AMAZING as well! I didn't get many pictures because we had to leave our cameras in our bags, but I did buy one of the dolphin kissing me...I just didn't scan it to put on here.
On our way to get to our boat that would take us to Stingray City, they took us through this "jungley" place to see some exotic birds!
One of the cute Carribean guides! :)
Our dolphin friends in the Dolphin Cove!
This is on our way to Stingray City in our AWESOME lifejackets!
On the way back from Stingray City, one of our guides dove into the water and pulled up a lobster, starfish, and seashell! Neat!
Our second stop was at Isla Roatan, Honduras. At first look I remember thinking "This place is really GREEN!" It was totally filled with trees and bushes spilling over on these "mountains" (I guess that is what you call them, but they were nothing compared to Utah mountains!). My second thought, as we were riding along on our bus that would take us to the beach, was "Wow, these people live a lot different than I do!" We passed TONS of houses as we rode along the coast that were just TINY and were actually built on tall poles with no foundations. I know I have seen these types of homes on movies or in books, but to see it in REAL life was definately a shocker!
Anyway, once we got through with our twisty, windy, and bumpy bus ride, we finally made it to Tabyana Beach. We spent a good afternoon there under the sun, soaking it in, along with the salt water!
This lady was really begging me to get my hair done in braids, so I said yes. Then she kept bugging Sally, so she got roped into it too...
And TADA...this was the result!! I didn't think I would leave mine in for long, but I actually did leave them for the rest of the trip. It made it a lot easier to do my hair! We didn't like the beads though, so I took them out and put the elastics in, but Sally just plain took hers out. :)
Candyce took this GREAT picture of Isla Roatan at sunset back on the ship when we were about to pull away from port. BEAUTIFUL!
Our third stop was in Belize. On this excursion, we got in a little boat and rode for a couple of hours on the River Wallace (the main river in Belize). Our guide would stop the boat at various places and point out the wild life and plants of Belize. We saw all sorts of things like crocodiles, bats, iguanas, and even a monkey!
After the boat ride, we got off and ate lunch at this little resort place on the river and took an hour or so VERY BUMPY bus ride to Altun Ha Mayan Ruins. Once there, our tour guide told us about the history and we walked up one of them. It was way neat to be there and think about ancient people living there and maybe even Christ, visiting when he was on the Earth. I would have loved to have had a historian from our Church talk about it in terms of our Church's history!
Here are a few of our animal friends we saw along the river:
Can you guess what all of these are?
Can you see what and where our friends were in these 2 pictures?
Our final stop was at Cozumel, Mexico. It was probably the prettiest place we stopped and the one we had the most fun at too! We started out our excursion getting our very own red and shiny BEACH BUGGY for the day! We then followed, in a big, long line of beach buggies along the BEAUTIFUL coast to our snorkeling destination.
We spent about an hour snorkeling there (pictures getting developed from my underwater Kodak camera as of now). I could have spent ALL day!!! It seemed like I was just getting used to not getting ocean water in my mouth and down my throat and not hyperventilating in my snorkel gear, when it was time to get out and embark upon the next part of our journey!
We got back in our buggies and went down the coast some more to our lunch destination. I wish we would have taken a picture of the food, but we had some REAL, authentic Mexican food that wasn't too bad! I have to say I was a little nervous about eating it, but it turned out great. We then got to lay out on the GORGEOUS beach there for a little while (Again, I could have stayed all day!), until we were wisked away again!
The final place our guide took us was a light house and crocodile "pit". The views from on top of the light house were breathtaking as we looked out over the ocean! The crocodile "pit" was...well a crocodile "pit"! We saw about 4 or 5 of them just chilling around in the water. Pretty creepy if you ask me!
Just as we were about to get back on the ship in Cozumel, this big, black storm cloud started coming in! It actually delayed us from getting out of the port for about 2 hours!
More ship activities! Yes, we did BINGO! Sally was really close to winning the $1000 blackout one, but came up 2 numbers short! Shucks!
One night we watched The Proposal on the outdoor theater they had on the ship. FUN, FUN, FUN!!
This is on the main lobby of the ship. What cute girls we are!!!
All in all it was a great trip! I am sad that my "tan" will quickly fade away in the cold Utah climate, but I am hoping summer will come soon here!! For now it is BACK TO WORK!!! :)
Getting on the ship!
The Miami Shore line when we were first sailing away. Yes, it was VERY windy and stormy the first day!
This is in the theater where all of the shows were performed every night.
Yes, we did "kick up our heels" and do a little dancing! It didn't last for very long, but here is our proof!
Formal Night!!
These were our dinner table partners every night. No one else ever came to sit at our big table, but these guys were so much fun! They were from Toronto, Canada and they were married, yes, married! Let's just say we had a "gay" time! :)
Our first stop of the cruise was at Grand Cayman Islands. Our excursion here was to go to Stingray City and see dolphins at this Dolphin Cove place. At Stingray City, the water was only about 4 feet deep and all of these stingrays were swimming all around us. Our guides would grab a stingray and show us how to hold it, then have us kiss it and give us a back rub! It was freaky when the stingrays would swim RIGHT next to you and touch you when you weren't paying attention...but it was absolutely GORGEOUS and AMAZING!
Then we were taken back to the Dolphin Cove and got to watch, touch, and kiss a dolphin. That was AMAZING as well! I didn't get many pictures because we had to leave our cameras in our bags, but I did buy one of the dolphin kissing me...I just didn't scan it to put on here.
On our way to get to our boat that would take us to Stingray City, they took us through this "jungley" place to see some exotic birds!
One of the cute Carribean guides! :)
Our dolphin friends in the Dolphin Cove!
This is on our way to Stingray City in our AWESOME lifejackets!
On the way back from Stingray City, one of our guides dove into the water and pulled up a lobster, starfish, and seashell! Neat!
Our second stop was at Isla Roatan, Honduras. At first look I remember thinking "This place is really GREEN!" It was totally filled with trees and bushes spilling over on these "mountains" (I guess that is what you call them, but they were nothing compared to Utah mountains!). My second thought, as we were riding along on our bus that would take us to the beach, was "Wow, these people live a lot different than I do!" We passed TONS of houses as we rode along the coast that were just TINY and were actually built on tall poles with no foundations. I know I have seen these types of homes on movies or in books, but to see it in REAL life was definately a shocker!
Anyway, once we got through with our twisty, windy, and bumpy bus ride, we finally made it to Tabyana Beach. We spent a good afternoon there under the sun, soaking it in, along with the salt water!
This lady was really begging me to get my hair done in braids, so I said yes. Then she kept bugging Sally, so she got roped into it too...
And TADA...this was the result!! I didn't think I would leave mine in for long, but I actually did leave them for the rest of the trip. It made it a lot easier to do my hair! We didn't like the beads though, so I took them out and put the elastics in, but Sally just plain took hers out. :)
Candyce took this GREAT picture of Isla Roatan at sunset back on the ship when we were about to pull away from port. BEAUTIFUL!
Our third stop was in Belize. On this excursion, we got in a little boat and rode for a couple of hours on the River Wallace (the main river in Belize). Our guide would stop the boat at various places and point out the wild life and plants of Belize. We saw all sorts of things like crocodiles, bats, iguanas, and even a monkey!
After the boat ride, we got off and ate lunch at this little resort place on the river and took an hour or so VERY BUMPY bus ride to Altun Ha Mayan Ruins. Once there, our tour guide told us about the history and we walked up one of them. It was way neat to be there and think about ancient people living there and maybe even Christ, visiting when he was on the Earth. I would have loved to have had a historian from our Church talk about it in terms of our Church's history!
Here are a few of our animal friends we saw along the river:
Can you guess what all of these are?
Can you see what and where our friends were in these 2 pictures?
Our final stop was at Cozumel, Mexico. It was probably the prettiest place we stopped and the one we had the most fun at too! We started out our excursion getting our very own red and shiny BEACH BUGGY for the day! We then followed, in a big, long line of beach buggies along the BEAUTIFUL coast to our snorkeling destination.
We spent about an hour snorkeling there (pictures getting developed from my underwater Kodak camera as of now). I could have spent ALL day!!! It seemed like I was just getting used to not getting ocean water in my mouth and down my throat and not hyperventilating in my snorkel gear, when it was time to get out and embark upon the next part of our journey!
We got back in our buggies and went down the coast some more to our lunch destination. I wish we would have taken a picture of the food, but we had some REAL, authentic Mexican food that wasn't too bad! I have to say I was a little nervous about eating it, but it turned out great. We then got to lay out on the GORGEOUS beach there for a little while (Again, I could have stayed all day!), until we were wisked away again!
The final place our guide took us was a light house and crocodile "pit". The views from on top of the light house were breathtaking as we looked out over the ocean! The crocodile "pit" was...well a crocodile "pit"! We saw about 4 or 5 of them just chilling around in the water. Pretty creepy if you ask me!
Just as we were about to get back on the ship in Cozumel, this big, black storm cloud started coming in! It actually delayed us from getting out of the port for about 2 hours!
More ship activities! Yes, we did BINGO! Sally was really close to winning the $1000 blackout one, but came up 2 numbers short! Shucks!
One night we watched The Proposal on the outdoor theater they had on the ship. FUN, FUN, FUN!!
This is on the main lobby of the ship. What cute girls we are!!!
All in all it was a great trip! I am sad that my "tan" will quickly fade away in the cold Utah climate, but I am hoping summer will come soon here!! For now it is BACK TO WORK!!! :)
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