Oh Susie Q

I Made It To January...

2009-01-06T17:14:00.000-08:00

The last time I posted was September (my sis brought this to my attention)! I can't believe that I actually survived the first half of my first year of teaching. Wow, it's been a wild ride! My class, although still not NEARLY perfect, has calmed down considerably.

I've also already been married for 5 months! How crazy. I can tell that 2009 is going to be a fantastic year. My New Years Resolution is to workout more (not original, I know) but is definitely an important one...should help get the cholesterol level down. The hardest part is finding a good time to workout. After work, I'm starved and it's so busy at the gym. If I wait til 8ish, then I'm usually wired before bed. Any suggestions? The new season of Biggest Loser just started (I'm currently watching it) and now I'm feeling like I should go workout instead of sitting and blogging on the couch. :)

I'm happy to report...

2008-09-18T15:08:00.000-07:00

that things went a lot better today than they did yesterday. I still dealt with tantrums, fights, and meltdowns but I was in control this time...so nothing I can't handle! We had an assembly about making good choices that the students really liked and it made the afternoon short and sweet. The only thing is that the assembly incorporated yo-yos and they are for sale all next week at school. I can just picture all the drama that that will cause! People always say that God doesn't give you more than you can handle at once and I'm feeling that way right now because if today had been anything like yesterday, I probably would have flipped out. :)

Yesterday after the Worst Day Ever, I came home and did NOTHING for school. Instead, I went and got a haircut. It was just what I needed, but now I have a ton to do tonight...newsletter for tomorrow and all my lesson planning for next week. Ah! I better get on that...

TGI(almost)F!

Seriously??

2008-09-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

That's the thought that popped into my head about 800 times today...the WORST DAY EVER!!!!!! What happened to my group of second graders this week? They have been unruly all week, but today was the first day where I actually felt like I had no control in the classroom. Honestly, the majority of my class is really good...it's the 4-5 boys who ruin things for everyone! One of my students didn't take "the pill that makes him good"...as he put it and his behavior was terrifyingly night and day. I hope NEVER to see that side of him again. In a nice turn of events, the other boys followed his lead and were walking nightmares. Three boys were kicked out of the library class because the poor old nun librarian couldn't take it anymore.

Today made me wonder, what really makes a great teacher? Anyone can stand at the front of the class and shout at kids as I was forced to do today. But how can I make the classroom a meaningful, fun, home away from home atmosphere for these kids...kids who often don't care if they're punished or not...kids who owe no accountability to parents at home...kids who are reading at a kindergarten level in a second grade classroom.

I'm definitely going to have to brainstorm, pump myself up each morning, and focus on the positive to get through my first year of teaching. That along with some air conditioning would be just F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C!

Anyone care to leave a positive comment below? Thanks!!!!!!

What do I need?

2008-09-16T16:55:00.000-07:00

My darling sister read my post about a lack of resources and asked "what do I need?" That got me thinking...what do I ACTUALLY need? As of now, I'm good on the everyday supplies...crayons, pencils, markers, glue, etc. What my classroom REALLY needs is more children's books. Any age really, since I have beginning kindergarten level readers and ready for third grade level readers...I just need more! I did score two huge lots of books from Ebay, obviously retired teacher's old books. They make up the majority of my classroom library right now. I only have one tub of nonfiction books, which is pretty sad. If anyone knows of good sales going on or can find a good deal...let me know and I will reimburse you or come running myself! :)

VENT

2008-09-15T15:20:00.000-07:00

I haven't written in ages...just a little busy with the whole newly married, trip to Mexico, getting a job thing! I may have to rededicate this blog to become a first year teacher's venting arena. This will be helpful for my mental health and will also spare my poor husband from the endless complaints that he hears when I get home. It's not that I want to complain...it's just that...HAVE YOU EVER BEEN WITH A GROUP OF KIDS FOR 7 HOURS A DAY, 5 DAYS A WEEK!?!? Yes, you try to come home without any complaints! :) I am so grateful to finally have things to need to vent about...AKA a job! But it's nice to get everything off my chest.

The thing that I'm trying to deal with right now is a lack of resources and supplies in the classroom. It's frustrating. Not to mention the fact that the kids destroy the supplies that I DO have in half a second.

I have my share of "naughty" children in my class, but at least no one in my class has peed on another classmate, which happened in another 2nd grade teacher's class today. BUT there's always tomorrow...

Moving, Getting Married, Going to Mexico...

2008-07-17T06:22:00.000-07:00

I never "blog" anymore...I didn't do it much to begin with, partially because nothing ever happens to me and partially because I never remember. Well! THREE things are happening soon...like, within the next week or so.
#1 I'm MOVING (tomorrow). This is interesting because I have dirty dishes in the sink and laundry all over my bedroom floor. Let's just say my apartment is not quite "moveable" yet. I better get it there fast though because my utilities are being transferred tomorrow. If all goes well, I will be picking up the keys to the new apartment today. I so want to paint the walls when I get there, but that won't happen for a while.
#2 On July 26, I'm getting MARRIED! We are so not prepared for the actual wedding and reception (aka programs, place cards, etc. are still untouched). But we couldn't be more ready to start our marriage after nearly 7 years of dating! It's been fun planning the wedding and now I'm at the point where I don't want to do anything wedding-related EVER AGAIN. This is why marriage lasts forever, no one wants to deal with wedding to-do lists again. We are having a relatively small-ish wedding...we've really stayed right around our original estimate for a guest list and yet there's still sooo much to do. We were (happily) surprised to see how many people wanted/could attend the wedding...we only had a few who could'nt come. I'm excited to actually attend the party that we've spent so long planning. I'm so bad at being patient!
#3 HONEYMOON in Mexico, because let's face it 85 degrees in Michigan is just not hot enough! Haha. We're going to boil. I couldn't be more excited to go on (our first "real") vacation together! I know that fiancé is more than ready for a vacation as well. He's had to work super long hours this week in order to have Friday off so that we can move. You guessed it, we're trying to cram as many life changes and stressful (although exciting) situations into the smallest period of time! I have a feeling that we're both going to be sleeping in the corner at our reception out of sheer exhaustion. Yes, we like a good time!

Stacks of boxes are staring me down so I'm off to go pack some more & maybe wash some dishes...

HONEYMOON!

2008-03-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited because we booked our honeymoon last weekend. Apparently Riviera Maya is a very common honeymoon spot. I know several people who honeymooned there or just had great vacations there. We're going to be spending 7 nights at El Dorado Seaside Suites the week after our wedding. Originally we were going to head up north for a long weekend after the wedding and then take a long honeymoon somewhere warm during the winter. But the lure of a whole week of relaxing and lounging on the beach won out in the end.
Now I have one more thing to add to my list of things that I have to wait patiently for! I'm so bad at that.

Adventures in Babysitting...

2008-03-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

Gil and I had our first babysitting adventure together two weeks ago. It was so fun to hang out with little Kiki! She was so cute and a good little baby! She slept a lot of the time that she was over. We only babysat for a few hours, but let me tell you, we were tired by the time she left! I don't know how her parents manage getting up in the middle of the night to take care of her!

It was fun to see how much she's grown since the last time I saw her. She can hold her head up so well! This makes her a lot easier to hold because she's not so wobbly. When you lay her down, she can rotate herself, so you never know how you'll find her in the crib. I bet it'll be no time at all before she's turning over. I can't wait until she starts crawling and walking and talking. I bet her first word will be "Sue". :)
We were given pizza money for dinner...It felt like high school again. Right when we sat down to eat, Kiki sounded like she was about to wake up. Gil and I both tensed up, willing her to stay asleep. It worked...see, I told you she was a good little baby! I can't wait until we can hang out with Kikster again.

21 Second Graders Will Wear You Out!

2008-03-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

I started my long-term sub position in a second grade classroom about two weeks ago. Let me tell you...I'm exhausted!!! I'm having so much fun and love the kids, but am finding out all the pressures that are placed on the classroom teacher! I'm starting to get into a better routine, but still find myself staying until around 6:30 each night and coming in early! There's always so much to do and something else to prep. The district that I'm teaching in has lots and lots of parent involvement, which is awesome. The not-so-awesome part is that when two or three parents come in each day, guess who has more prep to do and lessons to plan for them?! The other thing that I struggle with is providing extensions for kids who need an extra challenge, while meeting the needs of kids at and below grade level. Luckily, the other second grade teachers at the school are awesome. We have been lesson planning together, trading tips and ideas, and they make me feel like I'm not the only one who is overwhelmed. It's nice to have company. If only there were three or four more of me, then I think I'd have things completely under control! I guess I just need to give it more time and things will all come together.

Winter Wonderland

2008-01-27T12:16:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, we went to the Plymouth Ice Festival which they hold downtown each year. It was so fun and sooo cold! The weather was perfect for an ice festival...it snowed the whole time we were there. There were lots of cute families, with kids being pulled in sleds and they had carnival food booths set up so everywhere we went, the air smelled like roasted cinnamon almonds...delicious! We had dinner downtown before we went to explore the sculptures. There was one area where artists were actually creating the sculptures in front of us. Pretty cool. After walking around a while, we were freezing so we went to Panera to get hot chocolate. We sat and soaked up the warm, chatting before we drove back home. It was a really fun night!

2008-01-24T17:22:00.001-08:00

I was just thinking about how nice it will be not to have to check the AESOP system for sub jobs for approximately 12 weeks. Thank goodness for long term positions! What am I going to do with all my time? :) Even though I haven't even started the long term yet, it makes me feel even more determined to get a "real" job for next school year! Hopefully the job fairs will be more successful this spring (I'll have to get a sub of my own to go...!). At least it won't be so overwhelming because I've done it once before.
In my apartment, I have a closet that has taken on a life of its own. It's really large, which is great, but that means it can hold quite a mess. When I first moved in, it was really organized. It held boxes of things that I wanted to keep, but didn't need to unpack (school supplies mostly). As time went on, I would need something out of a box so I would dig through them and as you guessed, a mess ensued. Now that I'm going to have a classroom, I want to see what kind of supplies I still have. I've been putting off tackling it, but I think the time has come. I can see it staring at me, waiting...Think there are any spiders in there?
I bought a lesson planning book today from a teacher's store (which was really difficult to find)! Why don't they have more of those?? So now I'm really excited to start planning in it!
I wish I could figure out how to put pictures onto the computer...I'd show you the closet.

" Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little course, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let it snow...

2008-01-22T09:37:00.000-08:00

The snow outside is GORGEOUS! It's the beautiful, fat, fluffy, kind of snow that I love. It's falling hard...which I also love! I can say this because I don't have to go drive in it today. A pretty bright red cardinal keeps flying by...easy to spot against the snow! It feels like the perfect kind of day.

Today I talked to the principal at my favorite elementary school to sub at and she offered me a 2nd grade long term sub position that I interviewed for last week. Of course I took it! I'm going to start after mid-winter break and then I should be there until about three weeks before school is out. Awesome! :)

Baby-palooza...

2007-12-07T16:58:00.000-08:00

After LOTS of waiting...I am now the proud aunt of the CUTEST BABY EVER! I can't believe she is finally here. How exciting! I can't wait to see her more soon, especially once she's out of the hospital. What a good end to the week!

Aqua & Red...

2007-12-02T12:12:00.000-08:00

I never posted pictures of churches...couldn't get it to work! Oh well. We still haven't made any progress in that area. It's hard to get things done from this side of the state. I may have to make a trip to the West side soon so we can actually have a wedding. :)
We have made a few decisions about the color palette of our wedding that's helping me focus a little bit. I think we're going to use Aqua & Red as our wedding colors. I'm sort of surprised by that because I would've expected more "earth tones" from me. I think we'll use aqua as the primary color (bridesmaids dresses, candles at the reception, etc.) and red will be designated for flowers and a few other details. I saw this combination on Martha Stewart's website and something about it grabbed me. I think it will be pretty & the fiancé seems to like it too. If I can, I'll post pictures of decorative items as we get them. I think IKEA may be a helpful store for decorating our reception. I love that store!
We still have a LOT of planning to do...cake, flowers, dj, caterer, etc. For some reason I haven't been stressing out about it. A little stress could probably be helpful in motivating me to get stuff done. But for now it all feels pretty far off!

Where Should We Get Married?

2007-11-18T13:35:00.001-08:00

Last weekend, we looked at several churches to get married at. We still haven't decided on one, but we really need to get on that. We did book a reception venue...St. Cecelia's downtown and I'm excited about that! So now we have a reception venue, a photographer, and I have my dress. Some of the major things are checked off the list. Also, we are now two weeks into our 6 week long pre-marriage classes. They've been good so far.
It was fun going to look at churches downtown. We have lots of beautiful choices (assuming our date is still open)! Pictures to follow...

Miscellaneous

2007-10-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

First things first, kids are FUNNY. I taught first grade today (I've been doing a lot of that lately) and the kids were cracking me up all day. It wasn't just the things they said, but they have great comic delivery without even knowing it. It's enough to make my job better than most. During Writer's Workshop today, one of the cutest little boys came up to me (and by the way, first graders are TINY...I think he barely reached my knees) to tell me that he remembered to check to make sure that all his sentences had a "pyramid" at the end. During math time, we were learning about the nickel. I asked if anyone knew who's face was on the nickel and one little girl gave it her best effort...George Clooney. You can't make that stuff up. Tomorrow I'll be teaching fourth grade and I'm sure those kids will come up with something funny to say.
Now I just want to take a minute to address the wedding industry and their ridiculous pricing. Shouldn't one be able to get married...with a cake, and pictures, and flowers, etc. and still hope to purchase, let's say, a car or a house in the distant future? Apparently not! I just want someone to take decent pictures of our wedding...not for thousands of dollars and not someone who will make us do cheesy poses. What I've found so far?...Impossible. Also, the idea of spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a dress that I will wear ONCE makes me crazy. I'm going to have to do some more investigating because I just refuse to spend our life savings on ONE day (even if it is a really important one)!

Sisters!

2007-08-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

I finally put my clothes away! It's one of those things that I have to force myself to do. When I do laundry, often times I just live out of the laundry basket until it's time to do laundry again. It's a time saver, right? Well, I think I would have gone on living out of boxes if I hadn't put my foot down and decided to actually hang up all of my clothes today. It actually feels pretty good to have boxes put away, even though it was a hassle to do it! I feel a lot more settled in my little apartment. The Boyfriend moved on Saturday and has been getting settled since then, but he has to work and I'm still on summer vacation (bored out of my mind!), so I've been volunteering for chores to do while he's at the office. Today I washed all the dishes since his past roommates were slobs and left them pretty gross. I lined the cupboards, did some laundry, ran an errand to Meijer for him, and made dinner. I felt fairly productive.
I also had an interview this morning that was AWFUL. Let's just say that I went into it thinking it would be for an elementary position and it WASN'T! I have practically no experience with middle schoolers so my mind was blank for answering questions related to middle school. Yikes. It kind of makes me wonder why they wanted to interview me for that position, even though I have the necessary endorsement. All my experience has been K-5! Anyways...that's all over now...Sigh of relief.
I'm super excited because on Thursday, I get to see my sisters for lunch!!! Yay, they're my favorites. It will be fun. It's rare that the three of us get together. I think there will be a little baby shower planning going on after lunch (shhh). :)

The time has come...

2007-08-15T19:49:00.001-07:00

for me to move on out of GR and onto Wixom. I've spent a few days at the beach, seen my friends off to various parts of the country, and now I'm ready to move. It will feel really good to get settled in my apartment and not have to wonder where that pair of shoes went or if I have those jeans here! All my stuff will be in one place. I have mixed feelings about moving. On one hand, I'm excited to have my apartment, to try a new place out, and to be near the boyfriend. On the other hand, I was hoping to have a steady teaching job by the time I moved. It will be a new experience, either way.
I'm thinking about training for another race (maybe just a 10K this time) just so that I have something to do. Training takes up time and I'll most likely have plenty of that. I need to stay occupied or I'll just drive myself crazy, like I've been doing the last couple of days with no job. That's one thing I've learned about myself: I need a goal/job/project to be working on at all times or I go crazy. I can handle approximately two vacation days and that's it. I never really thought that'd be true about me. I think it's just that I can really enjoy vacation after I've done some hard work to earn it!

Summer Lovin'

2007-08-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

I am officially done working at the park for this summer and avoided going on the field trip today that would've lasted from 5:30 am to 11:00 pm with a bus full of kindergarteners-eighth graders. No thanks! Luckily, my best friend's wedding rehearsal got me out of that one.
It feels good to be done with my summer job and it's nice that now I can concentrate on relaxing, job searching, and interviewing! As I've been looking for jobs lately, I've been happily surprised by the postings I've seen. Not that the elementary postings are overwhelming, but I have seen SOME. That's enough to give me hope! I have an interview on Thursday that I'm excited about. It would be a fantastic district, from what I can tell. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!...

"Pressure Pushing Down on Me"...

2007-07-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

I've known that I'm going to be moving on Sunday for a little while now. Why then, I ask you, have I not packed more than four boxes!? I must really like to work under a time line. There's really no other explanation other than my inherent laziness...so we'll go with me liking a deadline.
In reality, I find it difficult to pack while trying to maintain my everyday routine. Inevitably, anything that I decide to pack, I will end up needing with a desperation never seen before. Par example, my three whole punch. I hadn't used that baby in a good two months. The moment it found itself at the bottom of a tightly stuffed box, I suddenly HAD to three whole punch a stack of papers for work. Sigh. So any progress that I've made packing a box here or there is undone in an instant as I frantically search for white out, my 8th grade yearbook, mittens, the list could go on...
In the meantime, I will just have to accept that my neatly packed boxes are going to be ripped open at some point, my stacks of books will be shuffled around, and clothes I haven't worn in a year will be pulled out of their boxes before the Sunday move. I might have to accept my life as chaos for just a little while...

You Wixom, You lose some...

2007-07-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

I headed back to Pontiac for my second interview today and I would say that it was less than average. I wonder what percentage of the population actually leaves an interview thinking, "Man, I rocked that...that job is SOOO mine"! I certainly wasn't left with that feeling this morning. Oh well. At least I (probably) found an apartment to live in. I do have to say that today left me feeling very much like a grown up, walking around in my cute BCBG suit and pointy toed heels, organizing my life...I only had to call my mom for help a couple of times! :)

Patience, Patience...

2007-07-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

Perhaps I have been a little hasty in my annoyance with the job market, as I scored a second interview with the school in Pontiac. I'm not going to get my hopes up because then I'll start planning my classroom in frantic excitement...but I am writing this with a hint of happiness. Since I don't know a ton about the school, I don't feel super invested in getting a job there. But on the whole, I am super invested in getting ANY job. So this would be GOOD. Now I have to figure out what someone posing as a competent second grade teacher would say in a second interview...

Back in the day...

2007-07-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

Whatever happened to the "Anne of Green Gables" days when you could so easily become the school teacher for the cute local one room school house?I went to a four year university, became certified to teach, and have worked with kids every summer, but I can't even find job postings for an elementary job! It doesn't seem fair. Even if I couldn't get a job, but at least saw postings in public schools, I would feel slightly encouraged. Just a little ranting...

On the Road Again...

2007-07-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I'm heading off to Pontiac bright and early for a job interview. While I'm there, I'm also going to check out some cheap-o apartments in Wixom. Let's hope for a new job and a cute new place to live. When I get back home, I start golf lessons in the evening. It's going to be a day filled with lots of new-ness. Wish me luck!

The More the Merrier...

2007-07-08T15:54:00.000-07:00

Today at my cousin's baby shower, I was realizing how many of my family members have blogs and I was starting to feel left out. Since I'm going to be moving soon and I'm going to be experiencing many life changes, I thought that it would be fun to start documenting it all. Now I just need to get a camera that will take more than one picture before all the life is sucked out of the batteries, so I can add pictures. For now, you'll have to use your imagination: Picture a few shots of me rubbing my preggo sister's belly and me eating lots of desserts and you've summed up the major parts of the day...