Back to work tomorrow

[Happy Valley]

We have staff meetings all day tomorrow. BLECH. Rather have teeth pulled, I think. The students come back Tuesday, and that will make it better. I like the kids. It's the day of LOOOOONG BOOOOORING meetings that I can do without. I'd much rather be working in my classroom.

I really enjoy having days off, but man it ruins me for going back. I'm going to miss spending so much time with my horses and family, and I won't get to be online except in the evenings again, while Kayla has her bath. I've gotten spoiled.

Lets see....there's MLK day in Jan, then President's day in Feb, then March brings SPRING BREAK, April is Easter, nothing then until the end of May, then graduation. I think I can make it.

For everyone, teacher and student alike, returning to the classroom tomorrow, I hope the rest of the school year goes as quickly as the first half has!

 

[minih]

I am the bookkeeper at the local school district, I have been dreading tomorrow all day long. Trying to avoid that tomorrow brings, w-2's, 1099's, payroll week next week, and calender year end!

This will be my co worker and I tomorrow, since we will both be in bad moods. Thank goodness we are also very good friends and know it is just that---a bad day.

 

[Jill]

I know teachers dread it, too. My little sister is a teacher (reading specialist). She is so good with the kids and loves them, but just the same, is dreading going back after winter break. When there are snow days and school is cancelled, she is just as happy as the kids!

 

[Happy Valley]

Wow Karla, you sound busy, too! I get up at 4:30, but I go on in to school early too, to gather my thoughts. My students are incredulous that I go to bed at 8:00, but I need 8 hours.

I have to drive 25 miles to school, which actually isn't so bad, cause I get to spend time catching up with my kids each way.

We get home about 4:00, too, and stay out with the horses until dark, which is not long these days. I love daylight saving time!

I don't bring home work either. If I do, it sits by the door until the next AM.

And Jill, if you sister is a reading specialist, then bless her heart! Kids need reading very much, and she has her work cut out for her.

I'm glad I'm not the book-keeper. Ours is perpetually happy and cheerful, and I wonder if she has a valium lick in her office!

Stacye

 

[Kim Rule]

Yup, school starts for us tomorrow. We will have students then too. I'm a special ed teacher, and I went in to school just one day this week to do lesson plans, bulletin board, and PAPER WORK!!

If it weren't for the students, my job wouldn't be worth doing.

I always approach the end of a break with mixed feelings. I love being with the students again, and having them fresh, and ready to learn. But I miss being with the horses, and at home...I really am a home body after all. But this break has been different. It has rained practically the whole time, and it's WAY too muddy to do anything with them. I've been mostly feeding, scratching, and mucking out the shed...though I have to say it is very fun when they come in to help!!!

I hope everyone had a fun holiday...now it's time to go back to work!!! (though right now I could use a vacation from my holiday!)

Kim R.

 

[Happy Valley]

Amen! Can we have just one more day off, please?

 

[runamuk]

thank you all that is right in the world.....ok one of my kids goes back tomorrow and the other on tuesday...I opted for monday off ...wooohoo almost a day with hubby and no kids

our kids do not go to school without a day or 1/2 day off in any month...gee I would love a work schedule like that...and two months off every summer......sorry no sympathy here

 

[Songcatcher]

thank you all that is right in the world.....ok one of my kids goes back tomorrow and the other on tuesday...I opted for monday off ...wooohoo almost a day with hubby and no kids

 

  our kids do not go to school without a day or 1/2 day off in any month...gee I would love a work schedule like that...and two months off every summer......sorry no sympathy here

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Not asking for your sympathy, but a little understanding would be nice. On those days that the kids are out of school, the teachers often have to work. Some teachers manage to take care of all of their work at school (often by spending 10 hours there), but many take work home and work several hours on it there. Two months off in the Summer??? Maybe. Often teachers take more classes in the summer. Two months paid vacation??? NO WAY!!! Teachers are paid for a certain number of days per year. That salary is usually divided up into twelve months in order to help with budgeting, but they are not getting paid for those two months off. For the last 15 years, I have finished a full quarter of my contract before I got my second monthly check.

Not asking for sympathy. We chose this. A little understanding would be nice though.

 

[runamuk]

thank you all that is right in the world.....ok one of my kids goes back tomorrow and the other on tuesday...I opted for monday off ...wooohoo almost a day with hubby and no kids

 

  our kids do not go to school without a day or 1/2 day off in any month...gee I would love a work schedule like that...and two months off every summer......sorry no sympathy here

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Not asking for your sympathy, but a little understanding would be nice. On those days that the kids are out of school, the teachers often have to work. Some teachers manage to take care of all of their work at school (often by spending 10 hours there), but many take work home and work several hours on it there. Two months off in the Summer??? Maybe. Often teachers take more classes in the summer. Two months paid vacation??? NO WAY!!! Teachers are paid for a certain number of days per year. That salary is usually divided up into twelve months in order to help with budgeting, but they are not getting paid for those two months off. For the last 15 years, I have finished a full quarter of my contract before I got my second monthly check.

Not asking for sympathy. We chose this. A little understanding would be nice though.

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Actually here in Idaho very few teachers spend their summers taking courses......not a whole lot of requirements to be a teacher in this state

and in my eyes if you get an annual salary split over 12 months and you don't actually work even one of those months...well yeah it is like a paid vacation......not teacher bashing just glad my kids are back in school after 2 weeks of a nightmare trying to find them daycare while I am at work......

 

[runamuk]

Happy Valley, my biggest problem is that I don't usually go to bed until 10-10:30.  Crazy, huh?
Once the time changed I was yawning too much through the afternoon, so I added a cup of coffee to my day, just before I pick up the little darlings from lunch. Patience in a cup! 

Once I get home I holler hello to horses, then head inside to change and chat with my 2 legged kids. 

  After about 30 minutes I head out.  If the weather's yucky, I make beds and put them in for dinner.  If it's nice I bring the mares and Jazz up to front pastures so I can see them better, and leave them out another hour.  Then I head in to do mom/teacher/wife stuff, then it's one more run to the barn about 9-9:30, to clean any deposits, and toss in another handful of hay to get them through the night.  And treats! 

Bet they're all sleeping tomorrow when I turn the lights on early!   

Oh, for runamuk...whenever someone hints at a teacher's easy life/schedule, I always tell them he/she could have been teacher, too! 

  Hubby sure understands, since he sees it first hand.  A retired friend told me a doctor said it takes teachers two years to settle down into retirement because they're always "on."  It takes me 3 days to stop running before I can settle enough to even read a book on vacations. 

A field placement student was observing me working with kids a few weeks ago, with all their questions and energy and comments...and planning everything to run smoothly...and keeping on high energy through it all...she just shook her head and said "I don't know how you do it!"  She notieced not 30 seconds was ever wasted in our day.  She's good though...she'll get it. 

It's not an easy profession, but for those of us lucky enough to love it, and have a job, those vacations are necessary for mental health.  A cousin, teacher turned banker, said when she was a teacher she needed every day she got and it wasn't enough; as a banker, 2-3 weeks is all she needs.

barnbum

PS  Happy Valley!  Here's our crazy January idea:  I always want to keep things interesting so the students never want to miss a day, so I've been telling them for the past months that we'll have a big idea in January, but I couldn't tell them until the day before Christmas break.  I tell them to wear mismatched socks every day they can in January! I do it too!  They we chart the fraction and percentage of how many wore mismatched, and we see how high a percentage we can get.  It's fun and practices those darn fractions to percents.  They're very good at it by the end of January. 

  The parents aren't fond of the sock thing in the wash though.  Oh well.  And on the last day of January we roll our pants up and walk every where showing them off! 

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I wasn't saying I would ever want to be a teacher way too many kids in one room for me... I was mainly comparing that while the kids and teachers get breaks I don't and most others don't either......at this point I would prefer to stay home and home school my one son...but I would never want to teach other than one on one or very small groups.....I know some wonderful teachers .....not knocking teachers just comparing their work week/month/year with mine.....

Now for your sock idea...that sounds fun and might even encourage my son to wear socks

he has a very bad sock thing and it has to be darn cold to get him to wear any......we are lucky to get him to wear shoes

 

[Happy Valley]

PS Happy Valley! Here's our crazy January idea: I always want to keep things interesting so the students never want to miss a day, so I've been telling them for the past months that we'll have a big idea in January, but I couldn't tell them until the day before Christmas break. I tell them to wear mismatched socks every day they can in January! I do it too! They we chart the fraction and percentage of how many wore mismatched, and we see how high a percentage we can get. It's fun and practices those darn fractions to percents. They're very good at it by the end of January.  The parents aren't fond of the sock thing in the wash though. Oh well. And on the last day of January we roll our pants up and walk every where showing them off! 

LOVE IT

I teach Biology I, Anatomy & Physiology, Chemistry, and Physics, and the core curriculum objectives for all of them require that they be able to read and interpret graphs, and produce graphs. I will be doing this with all my high schoolers and will let you know how it goes. I think it will really brighten up January!

We do a trash week. Everyone throws all their trash (paper only) in the floor for a week. I don't sweep the whole week. It get ankle deep, really! By the end of the week no one can stand it, our nerves are a little ragged from all the paper to wade through, and cleanup day is a celebration! After that everyone is a little more concious of litter. I only require a small paragraph of how this made them feel and how they can change one small thing about their littering habits.

We also celebrate Mole Day in Chemistry. I don't know if that pertains to anyone here, but if it does, I'd love to swap ideas.

I love my job and I love my students. Each year brings a challenge and it is hard work, but I am happy with it, extra work and all.

Stacye

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

Thank goodness school starts tomorrow YIPPEE and the kids are happy to.

I knwo how much work a GOOD TEACHER does-(and how little a bad one can do) i spend alot of time in the classroom being the only parent volunteer for well all but once year since raven started kindergarten. I grade papers, do weekly reading well i guess fluency tests is what they are, help the kids that are a bit behind and she even lends me out to the many rooms with no parent helpers at all

I actually like being at the school and LOVE her teacher this year and have to say so far with the exception of one teacher she has had some great ones here in ID so I have been very lucky.

 

[Happy Valley]

Lisa, my hat's off to you! Any teacher would be proud to have a parent volunteer. I don't know if we have ANY that go to the lengths you do. I see some parents over in the elementary sometimes, but I've not heard any of our elementary teachers talk about someone as dedicated as you helping out.

Karla, Loved the fighting hairs! I only have six in my Chemistry class, and I will have to wait until the very last day to do it, cause they WILL get me back! Gosh, they're all juniors, too, so they'll be back next year, probably taking Physics, and they won't forget. LOL

Here's my mean trick:

When I was doing my student teaching, I was showing the class the properties of liquid nitrogen. One of my students had a tank with some in it from storing bull semen. (Eww) I did the usual, froze a bell pepper and dropped it and watched it shatter like glass, froze a banana and hammered on the desk with it, but I had placed weiners in the fingers of a rubber glove, and while they were looking at something I'd frozed I slipped the glove over my closed fist, with the weiners where my fingers should be, and let them slip into the liguid Nitrogen. After a few seconds I let my eyes get wide and hollered Oh MY FINGERS, and slapped those frozen weiners on the edge of the table and of course they broke off and went flying. Everyone looked absolutely horrified and one poor girl screamed. I couldn't keep a straight face after that. I've never done it again, because of the look on the poor girl's face that screamed.

Gotta go shower now.

Y'all have a super day, Moms especially!

Stacye

 

[Happy Valley]

Oh my goodness, I just reread my last post and noticed some pretty silly spelling errors. Sorry. I get in a hurry and I don't type too well and since my time is so limited I just go too fast!

Trash week has officially started. I don't know if I can stand it, but I decided to do it now since it is a short week. Looks HORRIBLE already.

Karla I have never heard of jigsawing. What is it? I love trying new things.

First day with the kids went great! I was so happy to see them all!

Stacye

 

[Happy Valley]

Karla,

I use a rubric very similar to yours for group work, and I do the poetry and creative writing, and sometimes even raps! I have some ninth grade Biology I students on fifth, fourth and even a couple on third grade level as far as reading goes, and if you'd like to fix up some "care packages" of ideas and resources, I'd love to swap. PM or email me and we'll swap information.

Stacye

 

[Leeana]

We went back yesterday

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It took all my strenght to get out of bed. But luckly i now have this cold and got the day off school today. Lucky Me ...im feeling better though so looks like class tommarow.

Leeana

 

[Happy Valley]

"Trash Week" is in full swing. They are tearing up waste paper in little bitty tee-ninsie bits, and having a great time throwing the confetti around, but I haven't told them that they have to pick it up by HAND on Friday. HAHAHAHA.

I am going to take some pix and if it is not too difficult I'l post them. Do I need photobucket, or can I post from my computer?

Leeana, I hope you feel better!

Stacye

Edited to spell Leeana right.