Just How Flexible Do You Need Me To Be? in My Teacher Hat

Wow

Has it been a day, or what?!

Four hours of sleep last night and the night before each (not the fault of my job but other things not to be typed of in this blog post so as to not break off the keys into tiny angry bits of molten plastic) made today particularly interesting but by no means different than any other day.

As teachers we are expected, even encouraged to be "flexible".  This does not mean we have to be able to literally stand on our hands or do back bend walk overs or 3 one and a half roation pike layouts from a dead start.  Instead it means we need to be able to adapt to changes quickly and keep our students engaged even as we are scrambling to re-connect our rapidly firing synapses with the latest twist that has been thrown into our laps.  Normally, this is not really a problem, afterall, I teach Special Education.  Every day for me is a crap shoot as to whether I'm going to be able to teach what I had planned or whether I am going to have to fly by the seat of my pants and go in a completely different direction, based on the kids, the other classes and, sometimes it seems like, the flavor of the day.  Actually, I would never plan these odds becasue 9 times out of 10, I am not teaching what I had planned.  Honestly, I'm not sure why I plan at all some weeks but I still do.  I guess planning is pretty ingrained but just as ingrained is the flexiblity thing.

I would like to share with you the twists, turns, bends and backflips that made up my day today.

Pre - 8:00 (start of the day)
plan:  eat breakfast, read email, change calendar
actual:  talk to 7th grade aid about changes needed in the history test we are giving tomorrow, get called to cover ELA class as the teacher over slept

8:05
plan:  co-teach ELA
actual:  run classroom, make up lesson as I go, have principal come in while I am flying by the belt loop on the seat of my pants, keep going, act like I have a clue about the days plan.  Stop and take 3 sec to converse with him and he asks if he can address the class.  Re-direct, no more making up a lesson on the fly, now we are backing up the 25 "few" minutes chat about bullying he has with the class.

8:55
plan:  review history with the 1 student I have
actual:  walk him to the nurse before he passes out, grab some bubbly caffine, inform the guidance office of the nurse detour, grab my mail, head back up to my room. 
plan:  work on agendas for next year, calendar (which I still hadn't changed), field trip permission form (which I still have to locate on the "shared" drive)
actual:  get call from the nurse, my student is headed back up to me.  She can't get hold of his dad and he says he's feeling better.  Now we will do about half the review for his test tomorrow.  Fortunatelly, he's a pretty bright, if massively scattered, young man so he has a pretty good grasp on the history concept.  Not very worried about his test tomorrow, just his health.

9:35
plan:  get back to the calendar, permission form, agendas, check email, update modification and accomadation sheet, pick any of the 15 piles on my desk and find the bottom...
actual:  again discuss the changes made tot he history test, print off another copy for the 7th grade aid (who is a wonderful, organized woman sho tends to worry waaaaay too much, but she balances me and my lack of worry), go over the weeks schedule, show off the agenda front cover and get (not so great) feed back.. It was deserved, it wasn't a very nice cover.  Discuss the fact that new homeroom lists were in our mailboxes, meaning there would be fire drills today.

10:14
plan:  math class
actual:  math class (that was a relief, it went as planned.  Well, except for the 5 students who were not there and we had to track down, and I brought in a snack for 1 student so she didn't have to go to the nurse, although it turns out that's where she was afterall.)

11:02
plan:  go to science, hang out lang enough to see if I was necessay today, grab a couple of Ipads for students to make up missed work, go back and get busy on the ever growing list of things to do today.
actual:  finally read the emails, decided it would not be a science day.  Based on the email she just shot off, if I went in there, it would be a gripe fest, not a class.  Worked on updating the calendar (finally!), re-read the agends ordering email, realized the deadline was...yesterday.  Sent out email, furiously return to working on the agenda, call the office to get a copy of the calendar for next year for the agendas, find out, it's not done yet, fire off another email

And so my day went.  Not 1 thing went as planned.  I ddin't get the Ipads and had to just study history, which took the whole period anyway.  Defended myself and my kids about not getting the Ipads today, as we had something other than science to do (that might have been a mistake considering her mood but really, I am responsible for more than just 1 class) The aformentioned fire drills happened, ripping into my class time with kids who cannot afford to lose time.

Yep, it was a crazy day.  On very little sleep.  Now I get to go home, get my hair done, and start the family conference about the rest of the reason I am so tired today.

Some days I think I need a life line, sometimes, I'd rather have cement shoes.

Monday Morning Music

Good Morning!
It has been waaaaaay too long since I have posted and I am sorry.  I had surgery on my left thumb to release my trigger thumb and it is still recovering.  It's kind of amazing how many times a day I use both thumbs.  I had no idea but I am very appreciative to have them both mostly working again.

So, enough of my excuses, on with the music.  I have been growing fonder and fonder of the music being put out by Dierks Bentley lately and I would like to share one of my absolute favorites right now.  The song is called "Home" and it is a fabulous look at national pride, where we have come from and where we still want to go.  I find I agree with every single thing this song portrays and it has become my favorite shower song.  My only problem is the key is just slightly low and I have a hard time hitting the low notes when I sing along with the radio.  You can bet this one gets cranked up every time it comes on the radio.

Gonna have to look into concert dates.  I think I might need to hear this one in person.  Do yourself a favor and really listen to the words.  We may not be perfect, but we, as Americans, have much to be proud of, as well as much to offer to make our own mark as well.

Monday Morning Music - No Hurry

Good Morning and Happy Monday! 

Hey!  Stop shooting death stares and spit wads! 

I know it's Monday but remember, any day there is music is a good day!

I've had the same song stuck in my head all morning and it is a definite up-lifter to bad moods so I thought it would be the best one to share today.  The Zac Brown Band has exploded on the country scene recently and with good reason, they are a group of highly talented individuals who have a knack for coming up with, recording and passing along songs that speak straight through you.  The lyrics, the inflection, the tone, all phenomenal.  Well done boys!  And I'm really hoping to get to one of their concerts soon.  (I hear they like to cook and sometimes end up feeding the fans who come out to see them at certain venue at their Meet and Eat's.  Yum!)  All food and kidding aside, the song I want to share with you today is called No Hurry.  Give it a listen and see if it doesn't stick with you today.  (Missy, I'm sorry if it gets stuck.)

Thirsty Thursday from my Mixologist Hat

Now I know many of you are expecting some wild, "Rock your world, make the ground swallow you whole then spit you back out, smack me across the buttocks and call me sugar plum" drink.

This is not it.

It is, however, quite tasty, pretty good for you and a quick and easy way to get your day started.

Morning Mango Smoothie

1 Cup skim milk
2/3 Cup nonfat plain yogurt
3/4 Cup frozen mango chunks
1/4 Cup frozen green beans
(don't make that face, they actually give it a pleasant after taste and add nutrients)
1 calorie free drink packet peach mango green tea

Here is the nutritional breakdown (and if you have a website that does this for me when I input my own recipes, that would be awesome...PLEASE SHARE!)

Total Calories:   269
Calories from fat:  7
Total Fat:  Not enough to count
Cholesterol:   8mg
Sodium:  254mg
Total Carbs:  45g
Fiber Carbs:  3
Sugar Carbs:  37
Protein:  18g
Vitamin A:   49%
Vitamin C:   32%
Calcium:  81%
Iron:  8%
Potassium:   388mg

Now, don't get too nickpicky about some of these numbers.  This is as close as I could come and they are fairly accurate but I cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, afterall, I did this with pencil and paper.
 I cannot take full credit for this lovely start to the day.  My bestiest buddy Missy gave me the basic recipe and I have only tweeked in in a minor fashion.  I can send you her email addy if you wish to send her your compliments/complaints.  (Love you Missy!)

I do have another mango drink to share with you another time...and it is one of those tasty, head turning type beverages.  Keep watch, it'll be posted soon.

Addicted to Facebook Games from my Ultra Cool WiFi Enhancing Techie Hat

I am an addict.

I admit it freely.  I am nearly completely addicted. 

My crack?  Facebook games.  

Yep, those pesky little games that keep popping up unwanted and numerous posts on your page for ridiculous achievements like "So and So has just defeated the terrible Snow Cone Beast Yeti!" or some quirky request like "So and So is in desperate need of Sparkly Spackle for their Fairy Castle". 

I know you all thought better of me but the truth is, I really like them.  I can build my kingdom, cottage, store or zombie hoard in between meetings, appointments, while cooking dinner or relaxing in the evening.  I can ignore the filthy living room while I desperately try to get some small last piece to complete the puzzle so I can unlock the next completely frustrating puzzle and start all over again.  What's not to love about all that?!

They are very clever in creating these games, you must admit.  They lead you through the very colorful world to teach you the basic game (which is very similar to this other game you are playing and the 4 others you no longer play, but have fond memories of, so you feel like a pro very quickly.  That's a good feeling.  Then, you manage to go up at least 1 level while doing the lead through.  Wow, a whole level already?!  This is easy!  And they might even be some pretty colors and smiling characters to share your joy at leveling.  Wow, they must really like me in their world!  Now, along comes a challenge.  Uh-oh, have to think a bit, no wait, they explain all about how to finish off the challenge and then the smiling happy characters come back and another level rolls over!  This is awesome.  Friends?  Of course I could add friends!  I'm sure everyone on my list would LOVE to play this game, it's so awesome!  I know some of them have asked me not to invite them but really, this game is so much better than all the rest that I am sure they would love it if they just gave it a shot.  And the pretty lights suck me in again.

I am trying to manage my addiction.  really, I am.  I only play between 3 and 4 games at any given time and once they start making too complicated, or more importantly, too invasive so I feel uncomfortable continually asking my friends to send me stuff, I typically delete and move on to another game. 

I enjoy the "build your own..." type as well as the puzzles so at least I am getting a variety when I play and there is a bit of educational content involved in some of the games.  Words With Friends was quite challenging as I am a rotten speller (really glad spell check was invented and is now a standard on most machines and applications) so finding words I knew and could spell that would get me any kind of points at all was always a challenge.

I do wish some of the games were a little less pushy about getting more people to sign up and/or spending actual cash on buying tokens, crowns or what have you just so your zoo, farm, treehouse can look extra spiffy.  I do have a firm policy on not ever giving these games real money.  I work too hard for my money to blow it on some silly game that I will not be interested in playing anymore after 3 months.

So, there it is, I have confessed my addiction and I throw myself at your mercy.  I hope you can overlook this small failing in me (as we all know I have many larger one to be more worried about)  Love me, hate me, play games with me!
And if anyone has an Ultra Cool WiFi Enhancing Techie Hat, let me know, cause I'm still looking for one.

Instead of a "stright to my fat hips" Snack - from my Woman's Hat

It is January, late January but January none the less; and we all know that January is when we re-evaluate what is going well in our lives and what would we like to change as well.  Like most people, I tend to think in negatives instead of positives so of course I have focused on the fact that I carry around a few more pounds than I should...Ok, a lot more pounds, and once again I am trying to fix this situation.

My very dear friend, Missy, who is my inspiration, confidant, cheerleader and fellow leave turner, and I have made charts (Ok, Karly made the charts...with glitter pens!) weighed in and set our final goals as well as 2 short term goals.  I found an app (because I LOVE them!) to keep track of my daily calories and such.  We txt and/or talk on a pretty much daily basis to keep each other going and to make plans for how to proceed.  (We talk daily anyway but know we have even more to talk about!) 

All of this is great and I am staying on track (since we weighed in yesterday that means I have been on track for almost 24 hours now...so proud of myself!) but I know that evening if my downfall.  I don't over eat because I am hungry or because my body is craving a specific nutrient.  I am not over eating and fat because of stress (although with a 15 year old in the house, believe me, there is STRESS!), I over eat because I get bored.  Yep, simple and stupid.  TV is boring and I'm just sitting here relaxing...let's find something to stuff in my mouth and make me fatter!  Since I know this is my biggest problem area (ok, that and the fact that I am just sitting on the couch growing like a spud) I decided to make a list of all the things I could do int he evening that do not include stuffing myself with delicious, horrible, high calorie and processed flour fat packing snacks.  Here we go...

1.  Craft.  I know how to crochet so I'm thinking that many people in my life might just have to suck it up and deal with hand made scarfs, hats, scrubbies and anything else I can find a pattern for.  I found a terrific website for patterns.  If you are a knitter (a skill that is beyond my abilities) you can find patterns for those here.  Other crafts are options as well of course, like scrapbooking, photoshopping, cross stich or others.  If I start talking about doing plastic canvas, shoot me in the head.

2.  Exercise.  I plan on finding the yoga on demand so I can ease in to the whole exercising thing.  Once I get a little stamina and strength I can work my way up to more strenuous stuff like aerobics, quick walking, weights and my favorite, kickboxing.  I also have a Pussycat dancing DVD I'm pretty stoked about trying after I'm able to exercise some without passing out or drowning in my own sweat.

3.  Read.  This one should be easy and hard at the same time.  Easy:  I LOVE to read.  Give me a few hours and a book and leave me the heck alone, I will devour that sucker.  Unfortunately because this is a long time habit (one I'm NOT willing to break) it has in the past gone hand in hand with snacking.  I'm gonna keep reading, I just have to get in the habit of reading without eating.

4.  Write.  Since I have to use my hands to write/type, this will be a wonderful, for me, way to stop the snacking.  Too bad for all of you (all 6 of you) that it means more posts you have to wade through or at least pretend to wade through.  I appreciate your sacrifice.

5.  Dreaming about Girl's Night! (contributed from the Fabulous Missy).  Since we get to celebrate the small victories on the way to the grand slam, our first benchmark of 5% of our body weight will be marked with a Girl's Night Out.  Dancing, laughing, drink, shot water and the hubby (of hers) to hold our purses and make sure we get home.  (Thanks Todd)  Shakin' our bootys all over the town, oh yea!  The best part is shakin' it with my bestie but ranking pretty high on the pleasure scale is embarrassing the crap out of my daughter, who thinks I dance really badly, so we dance with her as often as we can, lol.

6.  Clean.  This is pretty far down on the list for a really good reason...I hate to clean.  However, if I can't get my head around any of the other ideas, I could do this.  Added bonus, clean house.  Besides, cleaning dishes and cleaning the kitchen will make me not want to snack so I don't have to clean it all over again.  Besides, I could be a serious hottie cleaning and scrubbing and I could play loud music and dance while I clean, AND, I could make my daughter help with the cleaning.  That's a triple bonus!  House clean, my svelte and daughter embarrassed!

7.  Do My Nails.  Point 1, can't snack and paint your nails.  Point 2, can't snack with wet nails.  Point 3, pretty nails.  This is what we call a win, win, win!

8.  Smoke.  I don't recommend this one but since I will be switching over to the electronic cigarettes again I think I can use it as a snacking deterrent.  No bad breath, kick the smoking habit and lose weight.  It's all good.

9.  Chew gum.  It's not really snaking but maybe I can fool my mouth into thinking it is.  Besides, it will exercise my jaw muscles (not that they need it) and it's good for your teeth after dinner (the sugar free kind of course).

I think that's pretty good start to a "No Snacking" plan.  If you have any suggestions, I would welcome your input.

Monday Morning Music (OK, it's not morning, but I did have the day off afterall)

So, I was listening to some of my niece's music while she was working on a paper (that is due tomorrow) and one of the song's was "Stay" by Sugarland.  While I enjoy some of Sugarland's stuff, I find I am not overly happy with this one.  I am offended by the wishy washy woman hoping the phone doesn't ring calling her married lover back to his wife.  I am morally opposed to women allowing themselves to be used and thrown away whether they are the wife or the other woman.  So I was inspired to find music that shows women as strong and independent beings who take crap from no one.  These are the type of women I look up to and they type I strive to be.  Please do not thisnk that this means I hate men or think they a re all without worth.  On the contrary, I have had the opportunity to many quite a few real men who are strong, loyal and true.  Men who deserve and stay with these type of strong women.  So, here are just a few of the songs I came across about strong, take-no-crap women.  Enjoy!

Aaron Tippen - Kiss This

Miranda Lambert - White Liar

Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats

Laura Bell Bundy - Giddy On Up