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Not all that well, sometimes.
I'll be back in a few days, I hope. Things are crazy around here. Mostly it's just that I am exhausted at the end of every day (students arrived on Monday). But, also, my mother-in-law has received a grim medical diagnosis. I have not asked her permission to share this, so I will leave it there for the moment. And, I'll try to get my classroom pictures up tonight.
See you later.
I am cautiously optimistic that by the end of the day tomorrow I might be able to show you a classroom that is almost ready for students. I have spent the past 3 days sorting through 12 years worth of crap. I am determined to ruthlessly weed out the stuff that I never use.
The stuff I have been HOARDING.
And this is only a very small fraction of the crap in my classroom.
I know I said I wanted to document the process, but I have been having trouble stopping what I am doing to take pictures. I basically emptied the closet, reorganized all the stuff, and filled several trash bags. Items that can be recycled or donated are in my car right now. Many, many items.
In an attempt to trick other teachers into taking my shit, I set up a "Free Stuff" table outside my classroom. It totally worked! They haven't taken everything, but they've taken a bunch of stuff. Teachers are pathetic, I tells ya.
In between my attempts to get organized, I have been attending meetings. The best meeting ever was our team meeting yesterday which was only half over when the building began to shake. And rattle. And sway. Somewhat insistently. We stood up and milled around the room saying things like, "Dude, was that an earthquake?" Then we all whipped out our phones and started checking Facebook and Twitter to see what was what. The meeting kind of petered out after that.
I have more to tell you, but I am so very exhausted and achy from carrying and lifting and sorting that I am on my way to bed after swallowing a couple of Advil.
My ass is kicked.
Although I made it into my classroom 3 days this week, I was only there for a few hours each time. I can't say I got a ton of stuff done, but every little thing I did this week is something I WON'T have to do next week when we go into 10-hours-a-day mode.
Rosie hangs out in the hallway while Loyal Niece Maddy works on the hallway bulletin board.
We hung the curtains. They help to soften our view, which is mostly of the gravel-covered flat roof top of a lower level of the building. Ug-leeeee.
And on Friday...
I did some priming and painting.
I even used a power tool! It looks like I'm just posing and not really doing anything, but appearences are deceiving. I removed the doors to some shelving that I decided would be better as open shelves filled with student supplies. It's a good thing my friend Julie was there to help me, though. I lack certain foundational power tool skills.
Jules did the same thing in her classroom. Shhh. Don't tell our principal that we took such liberties with school property. We'll put those doors back on at the end of the year! If we can find the screws!
What will go on this bulletin board? Probably my word wall. In my school district, kids are expected to leave Kindergarten knowing how to read and write 25 basic sight words. In first grade, we need to teach 125 additional words. Those numbers may be different (higher) this year. I haven't checked the curriculum changes that have been handed down from on high.
It was fun having Rosie in the classroom with me. She was a good girl, very chill, but slightly...
...just a little bit...
...distracting.
Next week: Meetings galore, and more classroom prep.
Summer is over, as far as I'm concerned. I would grieve this sad fact if I were not so busy setting up for the new school year.
Have you civilians ever wondered just what the hell is involved when teachers talk about setting up for the new school year? What is it that we are doing in our classrooms during those "teacher days" the week before the children arrive? And why are some of us in there the week before the teacher days? I mean, what's the big deal? Don't we do this every year? Why does it take so long?
Well, it takes me so long because I am shockingly inefficient. I'm sure YOU could do it much faster.
I thought it might be fun this year to document the process. Or boring. It will be either fun or boring.
This will be a series of posts, because I want to take you all the way up to the first day of school, which is not for 12 more days. Plus, I have a lot of other things we need to discuss.
So, let's look at what has transpired so far, shall we?
This is the week before Teacher Week. Some of us always come in early if we can, while others are still trying to wring out the last golden spasm of summer.
The very first thing I did when I got to school was closet myself in my friend E's room and discuss important, confidential matters. We both have a LOT going on. So, fine, I chit-chatted my first hour away. But after all, I'm not getting paid, so shut the hell up.
I move most of my furniture around by myself, although if someone is handy I will enlist their aid. I have no idea what weakling teachers do, or teachers with back problems.
This first day was kind of soul-crushing, to be honest. I really, really have a problem with cockroaches. I hate the crunch they make when you kill them. I aspire to be like my friend Julie, who was reading a story aloud to a group of 6 year olds during summer school a few weeks ago. When she spied a cockroach out of the corner of her eye, she whipped her hand to the side and killed it with the book she was reading, then continued the story without skipping a beat. I don't think I will ever achieve that level of cool-headed finesse.
Can you find the sign that says No sillybandz at school? Yeah, that's right. The first grade teachers are meeeeeean. Listen, do us a favor and frisk the kids before you send them to school. You have no idea how much trouble those goddamned sillybandz can cause. And for those of you who don't know what sillybandz are, don't worry about it.
I'm kind of impressed with the amount of shit I stuffed in that closet.
Pay attention because I'm schoolin' you here.
I bought that carpet at Lowe's last year because, get this, my old classroom carpet disappeared over the summer. It was yucky and gross, but at least it was something the kids could sit on. I went to the principal, fully expecting her to say that she would find the money to replace it, but she just shrugged and said I would have to go without. Hmmmph. And there went a hundred bucks.
You would think I would put it (and everything else) exactly where I had it last year. Nope. I'm always trying to find the perfect set-up. Every year I tweak it.
I can fit 6 kids comfortable at each table. 7, if I have to. They are seldom all at their tables at the same time, because I will usually have a group at my reading/math table. First graders have to work independently at centers for at least a part of every day, because that's the only way a teacher can meet with small groups and differentiate the work to meet the needs of all the students.
That's all I can take on my first soul-crushing day back.
Gotta remember to email the building service manager about those cockroaches.
In our next post: Favorite Niece Maddy comes in to help, we put up curtains and cover bulletin boards, and Rosie provides pleasant distraction.
Miz S here, reporting in from the Outer Banks. The 22nd annual 3-generation Silver-Man family beach vacation is almost over. So far, there has been no police involvement.
It occured to me as I wrote that sentence that my life is awfully goddamned predictable. Some of you have been reading this blog since 2005, which makes this the SEVENTH family beach vacation entry. I generally like to make a few jokes about family fights (oh, there have been some doozies in the past), but I can only make those jokes if we are not actually having any conflicts. As of this writing, the ice is verrrrry thin.
And you know what comes after the beach vacation, right? Angst about the approaching school year, followed by grumbling about the pre-service week, then an entry or two about how fucking overwhelmed I feel, etc. Dudes, I need to change things up. Maybe go to Clown College or something.
* * * * *
Rosie and Sasha watching the sunset in Duck, North Carolina a couple of days ago.
My friend Karen (karenth in the comments) sent me a message last night wondering how Rosie is doing. As you probably remember, Rosie was diagnosed with stage 5 lymphoma a couple of months ago.
Rosie being snuggled by favorite niece Maddy at the beach house.
Rosie is being treated with daily doses of prednisone which relieves some of the swelling of the lymph nodes and just generally makes her feel peppy. Average survival time for a canine lymphoma patient on prednisone is 60 days.
Rosie is having the best 60 days ever.
Okay, I'm not sure she enjoyed the taste of sand and salty water that much, but she liked all the attention she was getting. The photo is courtesy of favorite niece Maddy.
She was slated to be left at home with a dog-sitter, but we decided to take her with us to this dog-friendly beach house. Her cousins, Thor and Edgar Allen Poo are here as well.
Which one is the cutest?
Thor thinks Rosie is sex-ay and keeps trying to sniff her butt and play with her. She has haughtily rebuffed his attention, but I suspect she secretly enjoys it. You know how us wimmins are.
How awesome is this picture, taken by my brother-in-law? SUPER AWESOME!
During the day Rosie hangs out in the living room unless the whole group is at the beach, in which case she spends a couple of hours in a crate where she makes mournful noises for a short time, then goes to sleep. If we go for ice cream in the evening, Rosie goes with us. When we play Trivial Pursuit, she is curled up at our feet. Her tail thumps whenever she hears her name. And she slumbers comfortably in our bed with us at night. Her appetite is still good, although her energy is low. All things considered, she is doing beautifully.
A gull hanging out at Lake Coeur d'Alene.
It pains me to tell you this: I have to finish up my Idaho vacation posts while on another vacation at the beach. It's an embarrassment of riches.
Not a thing I can do about it, though, so let's just soldier on, shall we?
Our last big adventure in Idaho was a 30 mile bike ride on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes. There is not too much to tell you about this expedition except that the scenery was breathtaking and the ride was easy. The trail is beautifully paved and satisfyingly remote. We rode from Harrison, Idaho to Plummer, Idaho. Most of the trail was flat, except for the 5 mile hill right before you get into Plummer. But the rise in elevation is gradual enough that you don't start noticing the slope until maybe the last 2 miles.
The only thing worth mentioning is maybe the weather which was damp and cold.
Watch me pedalling determinedly along, while announcing that I am "freezing my ass off."
Josh responds predictably.
This funny little spotted sandpiper was flustered by our attention. Her nest was likely right there near the water, and she attempted to distract us by skittering back and forth on that log and chirping in alarm. I took 12 pictures but only managed to get 1 that was focused. Here's a piece of advice: Don't buy a new camera right before you go on vacation and then try to learn how to use it while you are on vacation. You're welcome.
We probably could have biked those 30 miles in half the time if I didn't stop and play with my camera every 100 yards or so.
It was a serene and misty lakescape.
The section of the trail that we were on goes through the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation, and ends in Plummer, Idaho. The Indians have erected this monument to their veterans of war.
There wasn't a whole lot of other stuff to look at. Silly, east-coast me had expected a sweet little restaurant at the end of the trail, and maybe some cute antique shops. Instead, we found a gritty highway with a meager collection of businesses: a diner, a cigarette market, some gas stations, a casino, and a reservation health clinic. It seemed a little bleak to me, honestly, but hey, I'm sure lots of people love living there.
We ate lunch at the diner and then pedaled our way back to Harrison, Idaho where our car was waiting for us.
The next day we left Idaho and flew east to Maryland.
I had a week to loll around at home, re0rganize, and spend time with my parents. The week after that we had houseguests from Niagara Falls (Aunt Craaaazy!). And then we left for the annual beach vacation with Josh's family.
So now we are all up-to-date, yes? I swear, I will try harder to update this fucker in real time. I am exasperated with my lack of posting.
Love you guys. Thanks for stopping by. Tell me what you have been up to this summer. Can you believe the timer has almost run out on us? Why is summer so fleet of foot?
