Gators, Nachos, and Grading

We spent our Friday night at OUR home, with our friend Sam coming over for a visit, and me falling asleep on the couch around 9/being carried to bed around 11 by my lovely husband and sleeping to 9 the next morning. Oh, it was wonderful. I would have slept longer, but said husband doesn't like to let himself sleep TOO late because he says it makes waking up early on Sunday all the harder, so his alarm went off at 9.

We spent the morning and early afternoon watching Food Network and History Channel, eating cereal (for breakfast,) and omelets (for lunch,) and spending some time cleaning up the house. It's actually gotten pretty messy because of our trip, unpacking, me being sick, and still getting used to my work schedule.

Around 2, we packed up and headed over to see Sam's new place. Not that we haven't seen it before, but that was when it was just his friend's apartment living room. Now that living room is Sam's bedroom and we went to see all of the changes, eat homemade nachos, and watch the SEC championship with his friends.

Have I said lately.....

GO GATORS!

Well, there. I said it. :) 

And now, I am on Sam's computer typing this post, taking a break from my mountains of paper grading. I've been trying to get caught up on these worksheets that are titled the "Fab 40" (because there are 40 of them,) and I have to say, adding the term "fabulous," does not make something more exciting. At all.

Anyways, I better get back to that. And see if I can sweet talk my way into ordering some pizzas. Because, no matter what, nachos is not a meal in my book.

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Gators, Nachos, and Grading

Twilight...

It's been over a month now, but I thought I would fill you in on how I was forced, (well, kind of,) to "read," the book Twilight.

*spoilers ahead*

It's all the rage, you know? That obnoxiously cook book that all the teenage girls were reading and then some college girls, and then some not so college age girls were reading. And then those boys began reading it. You know the type. Different boys. And I know. I worked at a bookstore remember? I sold it to those people in waves, and in THAT particular order.

Anyways. I swore that I wasn't going to read it. I practically took an oath that I, Brittney Michelle Galloway, would, under NO circumstances, read the book Twilight, because it seemed so utterly ridiculous.

Then, we got in the car for girls weekend and Katie and Rachel pulled out matching copies. MATCHING copies!!!!!

I was doomed for sure.

They read to themselves in the book seat, but it wasn't any ordinary reading. There were lots of *gasp!* and *oh my gosh!* and *kiss her kiss her kiss her!* and the other Katie and I were just navigating away, trying to make our way to the Georgia mountains.

Then, the Katie with the book, got overwhelmed with excitement/car sickness and couldn't read to her self anymore, so Rachel debriefed us drivers, then began reading out loud.

What a girly book. It was like, MADE for a sleepover.

Every two or three minutes, one of us would be shrieking, calling out "What?!?" or "Read more!!!!" or, when there was a particularly fulfilling part, there were girlish giggles and anticipatory clapping.

We're talking straight out of the "Sisterhood" books. THat girly.

We read it in the car.

We read it in the cabin.

We read it in bed.

We read it in the parking lot.

And by "we," of course I mean, Rachel read it ALL outloud to us.

And then, on our drive home, going 70 down the interstate (I swear that's the speed limit,) we reached the climax where Bella is thrown against a wall, and she's JUST ABOUT TO DIE, when in comes the hero!

......

There were actual screams.

And flailing of arms.

And somehow my car got put into neutral.

......

But somehow, Bella survived.

And so did we.

It was very exciting.

I am not sure if I will ever read the rest of the books. I liked the first one, but I really think that's because the presentation of the story was so darn cool.

Rachel did voices and everything.

It was amazing.

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Twilight...

My Hands are Full

Both literally and figuratively. Literally, because I spent most of today running around with two glasses of sweet tea in my hands. That is because I JUST found the teacher's lounge and there is free, FREE I say, sweet tea. I was one happy teacher.

Figuratively too, because it's been a really rough week. Here's the story:

On Wednesday, Ian and I hit the road to go to his parent's house. Traffic was horrible, and it took us nearly 3 and a half hours to do our 1 3/4 hours trip. We had a wonderful dinner with his parents, then headed over to my parent's house to hang with my momma for a little, then back to his house for some much needed rest.

I woke up at 4:45 on Thanksgiving morning to take my momma to the airport (to see my daddy,) and I was feeling kind of off, but I figured it was the early morning thing. Came back home, crawled into bed and slept for several more hours. Only to feel even worse when I woke up. Thanksgiving morning was fun though, hanging with the in-laws and one of my new "brothers," cooking and just relaxing. Around noon I decided to lay down for a little because I SERIOUSLY wasn't feeling good, and as I snuggled into bed, I took notice of what kind of pillow I had been sleeping on all night. A feather pillow. And then it dawned on me. It was my allergies!

Well, by that night (during our watching of the movie "Australia,") my throat was closing up and my breathing very labored and raspy. Everything went to my lungs, which I am not sure it has ever done before. I spent the next 48 hours in medically drugged haze as I recovered, but I had lost my voice, energy, and all will to eat, and gained a raspy cough.

We headed home on Saturday night because I desperately wanted my own bed, and spent all of Sunday recuperating for Monday's work.

Monday was not fun because I had no voice and just wanted to sleep, but we (including my students) made it through, and these past two days have been me on the mend and school is finally falling into a pattern.

Well, expect more from me the next couple of weeks, because I still want to reach my 100 post goal, by the end of this year.

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My Hands are Full

Gator Game 2008

Yesterday, our friend Sam got Ian and I tickets to the last home game for the 2008 season. Though we were positive it was going to be a blow out game, (and it was,) we went and had a wonderful time!

On our walk to the stadium, which was between 2-3 miles long, a limo pulled up next to us and offered to drive us the rest of the way for 20 bucks. Sam plopped down the 20 and we hopped into the limo, and arrived at the stadium in style!


I spent some of the time playing around with my camera, testing out the "action" mode, and working on focusing on objects near or far, so some of the shots may not be very interesting, but they were just me having some fun!

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Gator Game 2008

As promised....

Pictures of my classroom- post clean up! Click here to see the pictures of the classroom Pre cleanup.

My school, the front office!

From car line, into the school.

The outside of my quad, my room is right betwen the trees.

The field that I let my kiddos run in whenever they seem like they have too much energy. It's right outside of my door.

Small group reading center- where the magic happens. Or, the learning, whatever.

My Lesson Prep table, with all of the materials I will need for then ext day or two. We're starting a chemical testing lab and it requires quite a bit of set up.

The desks, grouped in sixes, except for the middle table, which has an empty 7th desk on it.

The beautifully clean book cases, wiith all of the book spines facing one way. That empty counter/top of book case, will be our "science center," with plants and rocks and magnifying glasses eventually.
The bookcase nearest my desk, with all of my children's books I have collected over the years.

The front of my desk, with their incentives sheet. Right now, they are getting a sticker for each night they have their planner signed.
My chair and calendar behind my desk. I'm still working on my pictures back there. Since I don't have a printer I had to take what I already had printed. A picture of Katie R and I in England, and a picture of the Alderman children (minus Foofy) after ice skating. If anyone asks, I say/fib that they are my cousins. It's just easier that way. ;)

My file next to my desk. Each child has 3 different files that things have to be placed under, so having it by my desk instead of in the filing cabinent, is alot handier.

My desk, with a desk calendar (for 2009,) my plan book, open to this week's plan, my basket of miscellaneous items, a picture of Ian and I, until I get my wedding pictures printed, and, best of all, my bell.

The bulletin board behind my desk with the monkey cut outs for the jobs around the classroom. They haven't gotten very good at them yet.

Spelling words, "the land of G" paper (for gallon/quart/pint/cup conversion) and my beloved whiteboard. I am a little "anti chalkboard" because of my allergies and my student's allergies. So, during the day, I use the whiteboard, and only write on the chalkboard what is staying up there for awhile.

The alphabet line, with V W X, Y Z added, finally. The employee at the teacher supply store gave my husband a discount once he heard the story, haha.

My board, with the overhead projector semipermanently unplugged. I have never heard of using a projector with 3rd graders. It's so odd. I will use it for somethings, but not often. Also, our rotation/grouping charts, my stool, and the yellow behavior chart.

In the reading corner, the pillows to sit on, and the bookshelf with some thirdgrade appropriate books. These kids aren't the best readers and most of them are nowhere near reading a chapter book. Sad, I know.

The reading corner, with the big blue chair, and my rocking chair. Also the filing cabinent which we use because it is magnetised.

The chalkboard in the reading center where we do a graph of somesort every day. Monday is a Venn Diagram asking them which food they will have on Thanksgiving, Ham, or Turkey. They each have a red circle with their name on it and a magnent on the back, and will have a chance to come up and place it in the appropriate place.My Falling Into Reading bulletin board. Each time they get a 100 on their Accelerated Reader test (a program that creates 5-10 question quizzes on books from the library) they get their name and book title on a leaf. These are all just from this week!

The computer center that my lovely husband cleaned up for me, it was a mess before, trust me!

The built in that is still the messiest part of the room, but I don't really have a place to put all of her things that she left, so there it is.

The social studies center, their favorite, yay! Each day they get their folder out of the blue box on the left, and a book (which I have checked out of the library and layed out) on a particular state, they read for 10 minutes on that state, then they write 3 facts and draw a picture. They have learned so much! We learned about Florida, Georgia, and Alabama this week. Also, each morning we read and correct sentences about a president, this week it was George Washington and John Adams.

Again the social studies center, with the MASSIVE purple boxes with all of the supplies for just this chapter of science.

The back counter, still a work in progress......

But it looks MUCH better doesn't it?

Pile of junk mainly, except for my AWESOME math addition cards that my Daddy found for me at a Garage Sale. We use those almost every day. Thanks daddy!

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As promised....

You better Sit your bottom down....

because this could be a long post!

Or, that could be my favorite new catch phrase.

That, and "What? I am SURE no one is talking to me or asking me questions while I am in line! No way is anyone doing that!" which is repeated about 2 dozen times a day.

That's right, I am officially a teacher.

I know alot of people wanted to read my first day account of what happened, but, honestly, I can't remember much. I remember that the kids were shocked to see their room rearranged and dust free (shocker!) and that there was alot of "but that's not how Mrs. xxxx does it!" but other than that, nope. Not much of a memory.

The past four days have been quite an adventure. I have had to follow through with plans that were left for me and integrate my own into the curriculum. I have had to establish rules and routines that the kids need to follow. Sure, there have been alot of tears (by the kids, not me. Wait, I don't know if that's better or worse), but, only four days in, and my kids were nearly angels today. They seem to have really grasped onto how I am running things.

I will tell you, my biggest concern is homework. These kids, they just don't do it! AND their parents send in lame excuses for why their child didn't do homework. Since when is saying "My child did not do their homework because I had to take his sister to cheerleading practice," an acceptable excuse!?! Or, my favorite "My child does not have his homework because I threw it away." What? Really? You threw your kids homework away. hmmm. Sounds like johnny didn't do his homework, you forgot to ask, and by the time you realized, you were driving johnny to school. So lame.

I don't even give that much homework either. It's usually about 15 minutes of spelling practice a night. That's it. All I have to say is, when they fail their spelling test tomorrow, I WILL be sending a note home saying "Gee. Looks like your laziness has paid off."

Or, maybe not.

Maybe something more politically correct like "Johnny has failed his spelling test, please sign and return acknowledging that you have reviewed the test, and his study habits with him. Also, according to my records, Johnny did 1 out of his 4 assigned homeworks. Perhaps this explains the low test score. Please encourage Johnny to complete his homework nightly."

Yeah, that sounds better.

Anyways.

I have so much more to tell you, but, since I am trying to reach my 100 posts goal, I will save those for later.

Pictures to come tomorrow!

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You better Sit your bottom down....

How About Some Nervous Energy?

Tomorrow, is the big day.

I mean, the BIG day.

I finally have my own classroom.

And my own class.

I certainly did not expect things to turn out this way.

I certainly did not WANT things to turn out this way.

Certainly not.

But they did.

And God has blessed me now with a classroom, after a lot of tears and prayers and "Why God's?"

I still do not know "why," but that is alright.

_____________________________________________

Ian and I spent the afternoon up at the school cleaning and rearranging. And by cleaning, I mean making it an actual livable space.

When Ian cleaned the blinds, it looked like a magna doodle, the difference between the clean and the dirty part. Disgusting.

Dead bugs were found in all sorts of intersting places. Gross.

And then, when Ian was hanging my alphabet line above the chalkboard, he dropped U, V, and W behind the chalkboard. Tragic.

I told him he could buy me a new one. And he will.

So the room is Kind of ready for tomorrow. The back three tables are littered with things that still need to be organized and put away, but if you stand in front of those and look forward, the room looks GORGEOUS.

But, sad to say, I won't post pictures until it's all the way done, which will probably be at the end of this week.
_________________________________________

So, I am going to use up my nervous energy around the house, which, despite some people's opinion, is sadly neglected. It's the truth.

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How About Some Nervous Energy?