Thanksgiving Break

Being a teacher on Thanksgiving Break is pretty much one of the greatest things ever. I've been relaxing since last Tuesday night. It's so nice not having to do anything at all. I told my boyfriend, Scott recently that I couldn't even imagine what it would be like to work year-round. I just can't fathom it because I've been around teachers my whole life and they've always had summers off unless they chose to teach summer school. This break couldn't have come at a better time. October was kinda hard for me in the classroom. I was getting to school really early and staying really late. I was taking a lot of work home. I never felt caught up and I didn't feel like my kids were getting the best instructional time. Because of this I decided to make a lot of changes. I changed their homework. I'm not team teaching anymore. Everything is whole group, as it should be. I've talked to several experienced teachers (my Mom and her best friend Sharon) and they helped me improve everything. So now, I feel good. I'm not stressed. I feel caught up and I feel like the kids are responding better to whole group instruction. So, this break was really nice because I don't feel like I have so much work to do at home anymore, and as a result, I was actually able to relax. In fact, I didn't do any work at all this break. IT WAS SO NICE! I feel ready for this week too.

Anywho, what did I do this break since I didn't do any schoolwork? I watched a lot of Netflixed Entourage, watched more TV altogether than I've watched in the past month probably (I don't watch much TV), bought and decorated my Christmas tree, cooked a meal and some breakfastes(quite an accomplishment for me), shopped, cleaned, watched Role Models (hilarious, by the way) and RELAXED! Did I mention it was nice?

CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS BREAK!

Oh yeah, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUT! LOVE YOU!

Oops.

I forgot the "before" picture of my classroom and I'm too lazy to edit the last post. The coloring is kinda weird because it was taken with the panorama setting on my phone. Anyway, it's 11:37pm, school starts tomorrow and I'm still up. Gotta get to bed- not that I'll sleep, anyway. Night!

Fun, Fun, Fun!

I got a job! I'm teaching kindergarten at Joseph Bonnheim (my student teaching placement). The kids start tomorrow, but I was there all last week setting up my room. I interviewed last Monday and they told me I got the job Monday evening. Tuesday morning, I went in to start setting up/cleaning, and I had no idea how to get started! So, my mom and sister (who are both teachers, too) came to help me out. I'm so lucky to have them. My mom's also been helping me out a lot, financially. She's been buying me a ton of supplies for the classroom. It's coming along nicely. Check out my pictures.

I'm going to measure the kids at both the beginning and end of the year.

My classroom library is pretty bare. That's what happens when you're a beginning teacher. :(

That's Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas in the background. She's a puppet I made.

Our first reading unit is School.

Star Student of the Week!


The kids start tomorrow and I still have a lot of work to do. I had a lot of work to bring home with me this weekend and haven't been able to get to it until today because I've had a busy weekend. I worked my last serving shift at the restaurant Saturday and then they gave me a going away party that night. It was so sweet. They gave me cake, balloons, roses, See's chocolates and gifts. Here's a picture from that.

Since we're talking about the restaurant where I worked (which is called 524 Mexican Restaurant), I'm going to share two stories that happened on my last day. This woman came in alone and ordered lasagne. I said very nicely, "Oh. This is a Mexican restaurant. We only have Mexican food." Then she says, "Well, lasagne is Mexican." So I say (again, very nicely), "No. lasagne is Italian food." She gets this confused look on her face, grabs the menu and says, "Oh! I mean an enchilada." Weird! How do you get those two confused? Also on my last day, this other older woman tried to convince me that tortillas were just a form of Mexican toast because they're made with flour. I just kept thinking to myself, "Is this lady for real?"

Anyway, on another note, another reason why I was busy this weekend was because we gave my soon-to-be sister-in-law her bridal shower. It was beautiful and everyone had a great time. Here are some pictures from that.

The bride-to-be and her mom.

Shelly's bridesmaids

Cupcakes, courtesy of Cupcake Craving.

Well, that's all for now! Wish me luck on my first week of teaching!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

It was supposed to come out in November, but it's been pushed back to July 2009! Sucks! Here's the link to the trailer (which still says it's coming out in November). It's looks so good!!

Waiting to begin my teaching career...

I've applied to several Sac City Unified teaching positions within the past two weeks and I'm waiting for an interview! Some of the postings just closed, so hopefully, I'll get some calls this week. I just want to start teaching the little darlings. I've heard good news about the school where I had my last student teaching placement. The kindergarten position is re-open and the principal called my cooperative teacher (C.T.) to make sure I was in town so I could apply! I'd be so happy to get a job at Joseph Bonnheim. I'd feel comfortable there because I'd be working with my C.T. I'm a little nervous about kindergarten, though. I never worked with the kids at the beginning of the year when they hadn't learned anything yet. On the other hand, it'd be nice being a child's first teacher and hopefully giving them a positive outlook on their schooling years to come. Anyway, I've also applied to postings for 1st-4th. There are good things about all grades. I really miss 3rd grade and the hour-long math lessons. I also liked teaching social studies, which is funny because I hated learning it when I was in school. Also, the kids are old enough to be silly and sarcastic with. I've told some jokes in our kindergarten class and I swear, all you could hear were crickets. :) On the other hand, the younger kids are fun because they're so cute and say fun and innocent things. Also, there's more time for music and art in the younger grades. I don't really mind what grade I get, I just want a job! It's like, you go to school for so long, and then when you're finally finished, there are little or no jobs available. It's okay though. I'm getting my optimism back, since I've seen more and more jobs posted on Sac City's website. We'll see what happens in these next two weeks (school starts September 2nd). Hopefully, I'll get some interviews and a job! WISH ME LUCK!

Babies

So there are pictures of two different kinds of babies in this blog. The first is a picture of my future niece or nephew! My brother, Marco and his fiance, Shelly are having a baby! It's due in January. I can't wait!




Here is a picture of the other kind of baby. They're baby foxes! This guy who was parked next to me at work had them in the back of his truck. Apparently, he rescues wild animals and takes them to an animal services shelter. They were so cute!

Movie Update

I saw two more movies this week. The first was Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Movie (I saw it with my niece). It was super cute and historical. It was about a young girl living during the Great Depression era. It stars Little Miss Sunshine's Abigail Breslin. She looks so old in this movie! Anywho, it's a good one for any of the little darlings in your life.

The second movie I saw was The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale. He is super hot, too! Oh yeah, and this time, Rachel Dawes (Bruce Wayne's love interest) is played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. I think she did a better job than Katie Holmes. OH! I'm missing one of the best things about this film! Heath Ledger as the Joker!! He was so good and creepy. I was sad watching him, thinking it's such a shame he won't get to make great movies anymore. Yes, I loved him in Brokeback Mountain. :) Anywho again...Go see The Dark Knight! You won't be disappointed!

I'll keep you updated on anymore movies I see!
P.S. When did I become such a late night blogger???