Tag Archives: teachers live at school

>Random thoughts while feeling under the weather

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>Drinks that feel good on my throat:
Cranberry – grapefruit juice. Mmm. So smooth on my raw throat!
Coffee: a dark chocolate-peppermint blend from Harry and David, half and half with regular Folgers.
Peppermint tea from Celestial Seasonings. I ordered a free sample last year and it worked; I’m hooked. This is delicious without being too sweet. It feels wonderful, and has no caffeine to keep me awake.
Water. Cold, refreshing water.
Food that feels good on my throat:
A fresh orange and a bowl of oatmeal. I’m way beyond the need for preventive vitamin C, but it tastes good.
A Nutrigrain bar. Smooth, nothing sharp, slides down my throat without making me cough any more.
Hard boiled (organic) eggs. Husband buys them from a coworker, and they’re delicious. They really do have a richer flavor than store-bought eggs.

Things to do while awake, not napping:
Reread a good book or two. Confessions of Super Mom and SuperMom Saves the World were on my list this week. They made me smile while I was feeling down.
Start a new book: All the Numbers is sitting by my side. Look Me in the Eye is upstairs on my bedside table, too.
Check in on old favorite blogs and new blogs. My trusty old laptop on top of my blankets, pillows propping me up to avoid the coughing fits that happen when I’m horizontal, make the couch a great place to settle.
Watch the Weather Channel. I don’t watch much TV, but I enjoy seeing classic episodes of Storm Stories and watching the updated weather in all parts of the country. It amazes me that our own little state can rate a story on this national and even international station. Madison, WI, has had record snow this year. People who live there seem to be almost matter-of-fact about it. “Well, if we have to shovel and snowblow, we might as well get the satisfaction of scoring one for the record books.” That’s the good Midwestern outlook on life!
Work on simple schoolwork. This is a necessity so I don’t go back feeling totally overwhelmed. I’m feeling fortunate for the way I structure my reading classes and my social studies, due to the major variety of needs in the class. It takes more thought and more work to get a unit up and running, but once it’s up and running, the students almost handle it themselves. It made sub plans easy, too. “Group 1 to station 3, group 3 to station 5” etc. And the kids will know what to do! That’s a relief for me and for the students. Fewer changes, less stress for all of us.
I’ll be well rested (I hope) by next week. I have a training day on Friday, and I’ll reserve judgment on whether I”m well enough for that. It looks valuable.
Watch Ellen. I don’t do this often enough. Ellen Degeneres always makes me smile. She is so creative and spontaneous; she should have been a teacher!

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>Random Encounters of the Educational Kind

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>I was making copies in the school office and gathering my things to go back to my room when I saw a woman come in holding an animal in a blanket. The secretaries and others gathered around, so they must have known her. She started unwrapping the blanket, and as I thought oh, no, here go my allergies the cutest little baby wallaby poked its adorable head out to say hello. At first glance I thought it was a llama, but at second glance there was no doubt. If it wasn’t a wallby, it was a kangaroo, and those aren’t very likely in this area!

Two kids came in from recess today and showed me bruises they’d gotten in an encounter with another classmate. They also mentioned a number of times when their “friend” had bullied kids verbally, teasing them and putting them down. I took my concern to the principal after school and we’ll deal with it. ASAP, if not sooner.

I was teaching math (trying) when one student kept getting out of her seat, coming up to me, and tapping my arm to ask for help. I continually sent her back to her seat, but she didn’t stop. finally, I simply ignored her completely unless she was in her seat with her hand up. She just couldn’t master the concept that there are lots of kids in the class, and she can’t have one on one with the teacher in mid-lesson.

Can my students be “Wordless” on Wednesday? Just once? Please? I just checked the calendar, and the full moon isn’t due for two weeks. So what’s with the constant talk-talk-talka-talka-talktalktalktalktalk?!!!

I’d pound my head on the wall in frustration, but the only thing I’d accomplish would be a sore head. I think I’ll have some M&Ms instead.

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>Notes to self as family brings in the germs

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>Amigo was mildly ill last week. Now Husband is down for the count with similar symptoms: cough, cold, achiness, exhaustion. At school, one student was out sick today and two others should have stayed home.
At times like this, all of my germ-phobic tendencies start shouting at me.
No, don’t touch that kid’s computer mouse!
What do you think you’re doing, testing the keyboard connections yourself?
Now you’re headed for touching your nose — uh-uh! No, no, no!
Wash your hands.
Don’t touch that kid’s pencil. Use your own to revise and make notes on his paper.
Wash your hands.
The doorknob? Germ factory!
Wash your hands.

After school I went to the quickie pharmacy-convenience store and stocked up on all the goodies that Husband had requested. Cold/flu meds in both non-drowsy and drowsy, cough drops, Nyquil (by brand name, not generic, must be cherry flavor) and more. I spent $50.
Oh, okay, I also bought enough Valentine pencils for my entire class, anti-snore strips for me, and two paperback books. Note to self: always have a good stock of reading material on hand in case of sick day for yourself or as caretaker.
I made a trip to the grocery store on Sunday to buy lemon tea and honey for Husband’s sore throat, so Husband already had good hot beverages available. Note to self: start keeping this in stock as part of the standard pantry supplies.
And…I bought two different kinds of hand sanitizer. One is a nice lavendar scented bottle that I can keep in my desk; the other is a small purse-sized spray to carry with me in my, well, in my purse. Note to self; good move. “Be prepared” is the Girl Scout motto.
On that note, it’s time to pack tomorrow’s lunch with my daily orange. The vitamin C can only help.

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>But will it grow?

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>Winter, lovely winter. The snow softly drifting across the yard, the sounds of power snowblowers muffled by the television news announcing school closings (in my dreams, at least), and the crashing of icicles falling from the eaves.
Or the dripping of icicles from the eaves followed by the vision of puddles frozen solid on the steps and front porch, making getting to the school bus a dangerous escapade.
After Amigo survived the adventure mentioned above, I made my way back to the garage to look for rock salt or other ice-melting compounds. I was fairly certain we had run out after the last storm, so when I dug into a big bucket of sand and lo and behold, found a familiar looking white bag with red lettering. I dug in my mittened hands, grabbed a fistful, and scattered it all over the front porch and steps.
Later that day, I emailed Husband at work and asked him if we had a bucket we could keep on the front porch with a little rock salt in it. He said sure, but we were out of the stuff, so he’d stop on the way home and stock up. Until then, I should use the biodegradable kitty litter that would absorb excess moisture and provide some texture to the ice, giving us a little traction in the process.
Out of it? I replied. Then what’s in the bag that’s on top of the gray sand bucket?
He didn’t know. Neither did I.
After school, I checked on the front porch so that Amigo could get in the house without slipping. What was this stuff? It looked like — birdseed? Curiosity got the best of me, and I went looking in the garage. With the benefit of wakefulness and a full day’s worth of caffeine, I took a good look at the white bag with red print. Then I laughed out loud.
It was lawn fertilizer — an old bag of a product we don’t even use any more.
That’s what happens when I try to be efficient pre-caffeine on an early Monday morning.

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>I’ll take care of me, in one way or another

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>Standard advice on grocery shopping tells us not to go to the store hungry.
I would add to that the following: don’t go to the store when you’re hungry for pleasure reading material.

A few days ago I went to the local discount store pharmacy for a prescription refill. While the pharmacists were filling it, I wandered the store and picked up a few things we needed. Shampoo, conditioner, bandaids, and the rest of my short list took only a few minutes of the allotted quarter hour. That’s when the danger began.

The snack and junk food department (okay, they call it “groceries”) was right next to Health and Beauty Aids. I dropped a Hershey’s bar with almonds (on sale!) into my basket, followed by a small bag of Hershey’s Kissables in Special Dark (also on special, of course). I did not buy coffee, and they didn’t have the kind of tea I was craving, so I left the area.
For the book section.
Pleasure reading for me can include anything from Time magazine to paperback romantic novels. I usually buy my books used, but sometimes I just have to have something new. Call it guilt (writers have to make a living!), impulse (oh, this looks good!), or just laziness (The second hand bookstore means yet another trip out of the house) and you’d be right on all counts.
I bought three books. Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter, Dear John by Nicholas Sparks, and Jennifer Weiner’s The Guy not Taken.
I really don’t have much time for pleasure reading right now. I’m finishing progress reports, planning a new geography unit for Social Studies, and pulling myself out of the near-depressive deep blue funk that comes with a major Green Bay Packer loss. Who has time to curl up and read?
When I start thinking along those lines, it means I really need to take a mental health break. It’s time to set up the heating pad in the rocking chair, brew a pot of my favorite coffee, gather a small dish full of chocolate and a good book and settle down for a long winter’s, well, rest.
This ought to hold me for a while.

This post was written for Jordan’s latest Group Writing Project. You can acess the entry page at MamaBlogga or read her regular blog, including an updated list of entries.

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>Trash vs. Treasure, or the Great White Elephant Chase

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>In my workplace, a public school, we work hard. We throw ourselves wholeheartedly into teaching and planning, assessing and managing, disciplining and rewarding. We work hard, and we play hard, too.
Happy Hour after report card writing day.
Ordering in a simple lunch on Fridays.
And — the annual holiday party, complete with White Elephant gift exchange.
The party was last night. Husband and I attended, carrying our BYOB (New Glarus Spotted Cow, Wild Berry wine cooler, Diet Coke for the driver) and our two gag gifts: the ugliest ceramic piggy bank ever and a pair of media passes to a defunct Milwaukee Brewers playoff game.
Giftees were allowed to either choose a new gift or “steal” a coveted item from some who had opened it earlier. As the night went on, two or three gifts got passed around so much that at times no one knew who had them! A bird made of a broken golf club, with a golf ball head and a golf tee beak, traveled through at least six people, some of them several times. A poorly made ceramic Buddha was also in demand. They were, in fact, moving too quickly for me to take pictures! When all was said and done, no beer was spilled, no tears were spilled, and Husband and I managed to come home with something useful!
We are now the proud (okay, laughing) owners of a small squishy lumbar pillow in bright orange and a sachet/ herbal heating pad created from an old pillowcase. I actually heated it in the microwave this morning and tried it out, and it works!
I can’t wait until next year.

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>Shoulds are bogus or What a Week it Was

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>The Packers should be headed to the Super Bowl.
Reality: They lost.
End result: They’re heading on home to watch the Bowl on TV like the rest of us.

Bitter cold weather should result in a day off from school.
Reality: Our new superintendent is a tough guy and thinks everyone else should tough it out, too.
End result: No day off, or even a two hour delay, despite the double digit below zero wind chills.

Students should behave when reminded, if not sooner.
Reality: Sometimes they argue with the teacher instead of shaping up.
End result: Certain individuals in my class are wondering why I contacted their parents regarding their inappropriate behavior.

I should be finished with my progress reports and feeling refreshed upon starting a new semester.
Reality: Dealing with the large numbers of students with unmedicated ADHD and the undiagnosed who-knows- what that permeates my classroom is, frankly, exhausting.
End result: I’m going to be working on my progress reports this weekend, since I had no energy to finish them earlier this week.

I should be mad at Buttercup for scratching me this morning.
Reality: Well, really, I shouldn’t have picked her up when she wasn’t eager to snuggle.
End result: She’s still my sweet bunny, and the scratch is fine now. In fact, you can find a Buttercup Portrait here. Yes, she’s a character.

I should rest this weekend.
Reality: It’s Trivia Weekend!
End result: I’ll spend too much time listening to the webcast and helping Amigo answer questions during the contest, and I’ll thoroughly enjoy the 50 hours. Well, I’ll thoroughly enjoy as much of the 50 hours as I experience, since I’m much too wise (or old) to stay up the whole time.

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>The Minimalist or a Talk in the Teacher’s Lounge

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>”We’ll just red-flag him in case he needs interventions later.”

Pause.
“When ‘just’ and ‘red flag’ are both in the same sentence, I know I must be at (insert name of school here). Nowhere else would a red flag be a relief.”
“Teachers in my former school didn’t have a clue as to what needy and poor students are like.”
“Not at all?”
“No, they kept saying that their school should have all the programs for the poor and the lower class sizes that go with it. And in the next breath they’d mention that they had no free or reduced lunch families in their classes, and there was a stay-at-home mom volunteering all the time while her husband was ‘taking depositions’.”
Snort in response. “No clue.”
“None.”
“And do you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is a great school with great kids and really neat families.”

Unwrapping of lunches, tea bags dropped into mugs of water and placed in microwaves

“Which students go to the Talented and Gifted class with you today?”
“Susan, Ron, Jorge, and Jerome.”
“I thought there were five. Um…Hans! Isn’t Hans in the program?”
“He chose not to participate.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. He’s so bright. He learns so quickly, and seems to pick up new concepts out of thin air.”
“I remember his brothers. They were the same way — minimalists. Nothing but the bare minimum effort to get by.”
“Oh, that’s so sad. So much ability, and so little motivation.”

Beeping of microwave, setting up of plastic forks and spoons, as teachers inhale a little lunch

“None of us are minimalists.”
“Hmm?”
“None of us put a bare minimum of effort into our teaching. If we only wanted that, we wouldn’t teach here.”
General laughter and nods.
“Hey, all. Isn’t this an awesome school?”
General chorus of “Yeah, all right, you bet!”
And off we went into the wild blue yonder of trying to tame and teach our young unpredictable charges in a diverse, largely low-income school, while the weather outside was frightful and there was a full moon on the way.

And no, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

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>Are you smarter than a fourth grader?

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>

Actual answers on a recent Social Studies activity:

What part of Michigan borders Wisconsin and separates Lake Superior and Lake Michigan?
Pennsylvania

What state has more Great Lakes coastline than any other?
Pennsylvania

Fortunately, most of the class got these questions right. But this kid? I’m more than a little bit worried about him. I think it’s time to make sure he learns how to read a map and can tell the word Peninsula (as in Da U.P der hey) from Pennsylvania.

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>SMART goals — or, something to take my mind off of the playoffs

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>I read the BlogHer Good Health-a-thon post about New Year’s Resolution vs. SMART goals. It reminded me a lot of writing Individual Education Plans for special needs students, where we write their goals for the academic year. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. With those thoughts in mind, here I go.

Back pain was a major issue in 2007. The problems have been developing gradually for a few years, but the doctor finally said “No more muscle relaxants. We need to deal with the root cause of this,” in 2007. So I started physical therapy.

The short version: it worked. Or more accurately, it’s working. PT loosened up muscles I hadn’t used properly in years, revealed some bad habits that were causing more pain, and started me on a long-term stretching and strengthening regimen that can only help. Now, instead of being stiff most of the time and in excruciating pain now and then, I’m feeling sore all the time. But it is much less severe pain than I had pre-PT.

My objective: deal with the back problem to strengthen the area and lessen the pain.

Specific: Continue exercise regimen. Practice good posture, replace bending with sitting or squatting. Use lumbar pillow when at the computer or at my desk.
Measurable: Exercise daily (as possible), evaluate pain level on 1-10 scale at least once a week.
Realistic: Take anti-inflammatories when pain is worse. Ask for help with heavy or awkward details at school (this will be difficult for me). Bring small lumbar pillow to school for desk chair.
Timely: Start now. Continue at least five days a week with a goal of 7 whenever possible, and contact doctor if progress is slow.

There are a few items I need to put in place to make success more likely. I need a new, better quality heating pad. Mine is about to give up. A smaller, more usable lumbar pillow will be good, too. Maybe even a new pillow for the bed; if it helps my spinal alignment, it’ll help minimize the back pain. Pillow shopping, here I go!

Since Husband doesn’t have to travel to Phoenix after all (Sniff, Sob), at least I won’t have to shovel or run the snowblower. Darn it.

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