As some of you probably guessed, I've been a little distracted.
Things at my job continued to get more and more stressful leading up to the end of the school year. I went into the summer uncertain if I would be offered a contract for the following year and if I was offered a contract, it would be conditional. So when the summer started I went straight to work on complying with those conditions.
The final decision on whether or not I would be offered a contract was supposed to happen mid-May. It was postponed until mid-June...
At the end of July I received a letter informing me that I would be offered a contract for the 2012-2013 school year as long as the conditions were met but that those conditions would not actually fulfill the requirements of employment. So, if I wanted to be offered a contract for the 2013-2014 school year, I would need to complete the unnecessary conditions as well as the new conditions... AND this all had to be completed before the end of this school year.
So I resigned.
I was not sure what I was going to do but I knew that God was giving me the "ok" to not be yanked around and made to jump through ridiculous hoops in a job that had become way more discouraging and oppressive than it was rewarding.
I received the letter on a Thursday, filled out an online application with LifeTouch on Friday, had a phone interview with them on the following Tuesday, had a live interview on Thursday, and was offered a position on the following Monday.
I said "yes", of course.
I will start training on August 22 and in September I will be an Undergraduate Photographer for LifeTouch. I will also need to become a morning person.
I am so happy! and sooo not stressed!
God is good.
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
I've Never Heard THAT Song.
A couple of my 4th graders wanted to sing a song for me today. It went like this:
O give me a home where the buffalo roam
And the deer and the antelope play
Where solemn is heard and the birds need the Word
And the clouds are just cloudy all day.
O, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where solemn is heard and the birds need the Word
And the clouds are just cloudy all day.
Severe Weather?...Or Not.
Today in my 5th grade Science class, the following exchange happened:
Me: "Each student will choose a type of severe weather..."
T: "I get 'volcano!'"
Me: "Um. A volcano is not weather."
Class: *blank stares*
Me: "When was the last time you looked outside and said, 'hmm....looks like volcanic eruptions today.'?"
N: "Ms. Roach! You tell the funniest jokes!"
Seriously??
Me: "Each student will choose a type of severe weather..."
T: "I get 'volcano!'"
Me: "Um. A volcano is not weather."
Class: *blank stares*
Me: "When was the last time you looked outside and said, 'hmm....looks like volcanic eruptions today.'?"
N: "Ms. Roach! You tell the funniest jokes!"
Seriously??
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Um...EEEWWW!
My fourth and fifth graders are unusually interested in what I eat for lunch. They are often alarmed that I eat characters from Veggie Tales and always concerned that I don't have any ranch dip. (They just don't understand how anyone could like "naked" vegetables.) They are sometimes fascinated, like when I bring a whole green pepper and bite into it just like an apple, and sometimes grossed-out...like today.
There I am, minding my own, enjoying my lunch when I hear, "Ms. Roach! WHAT are you eating?"
Me: "Green beans."
A: "Why are you eating them with your fingers?"
Me: "Because they are raw."
L: "EEEEEEEWWWWW!"
Me: "What do you mean 'ew'? You don't like green beans?"
L: "Not raw! I only like them cooked with mayonnaise on them."
Me: "um.....eeewww!"
Seriously...that can't be normal.
There I am, minding my own, enjoying my lunch when I hear, "Ms. Roach! WHAT are you eating?"
Me: "Green beans."
A: "Why are you eating them with your fingers?"
Me: "Because they are raw."
L: "EEEEEEEWWWWW!"
Me: "What do you mean 'ew'? You don't like green beans?"
L: "Not raw! I only like them cooked with mayonnaise on them."
Me: "um.....eeewww!"
Seriously...that can't be normal.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
How God Answers Prayer...According to 9 Year Olds
The other day we had a lesson on prayer that included what prayer is, who can pray, how to pray and how God answers our prayers. This lesson was followed up by a worksheet for homework. The last question on said worksheet was:
What answers might God give to your prayers?
Here is how my fourth grade students answered that question:
"Yes." "No." "Wait." "Maybe." "You are a very lucky little girl." "OK." "I will think about it." "Give Me some time." "Wait and see." "It's good to be thankful."
Sometimes...they crack me up.
What answers might God give to your prayers?
Here is how my fourth grade students answered that question:
"Yes." "No." "Wait." "Maybe." "You are a very lucky little girl." "OK." "I will think about it." "Give Me some time." "Wait and see." "It's good to be thankful."
Sometimes...they crack me up.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Can I See Some IQ?
A: "Is this class pass or fail?"
Me: "Yep. Leaning more towards fail at the moment..."
Me: "Yep. Leaning more towards fail at the moment..."
Friday, October 7, 2011
Long Time, No Post...
Hey all,
I'm still here. I'm exhausted...but I'm still here. I underwent a major career shift this summer. It may not seem that way to some but believe me...major shift. Last year I was a teacher. I taught Bible/Christian Worldview and Logic to junior high students. Two subjects I am passionate about to students just slightly younger than the high school students I thoroughly enjoy.
This year I am a teacher. I teach Bible and Science to 4th and 5th graders, Spelling and Handwriting to 4th graders and Math to 5th graders. I am still passionate about Bible but Science?... and Math?...not so much. Spelling was my very worst subject in school and I don't even know how to write in cursive... It's killing me.
The amount of classroom management, procedures, directions, and guidance I need to provide this year has tripled. Last year I was able to take students who had basic knowledge and lead them deeper. This year I have to teach the basic knowledge. I don't know how to do that.
I am spending 70 to 90 hours a week at work so far this year. I am really tired and do not have a lot of time for things like....blogging, let alone things that keep me calm...like photography, reading, or road-tripping. I will try to check in now and again.
On a final note:
4th and 5th grade certainly provide a plethera of blog fodder...if I could just find the time to share...
I'm still here. I'm exhausted...but I'm still here. I underwent a major career shift this summer. It may not seem that way to some but believe me...major shift. Last year I was a teacher. I taught Bible/Christian Worldview and Logic to junior high students. Two subjects I am passionate about to students just slightly younger than the high school students I thoroughly enjoy.
This year I am a teacher. I teach Bible and Science to 4th and 5th graders, Spelling and Handwriting to 4th graders and Math to 5th graders. I am still passionate about Bible but Science?... and Math?...not so much. Spelling was my very worst subject in school and I don't even know how to write in cursive... It's killing me.
The amount of classroom management, procedures, directions, and guidance I need to provide this year has tripled. Last year I was able to take students who had basic knowledge and lead them deeper. This year I have to teach the basic knowledge. I don't know how to do that.
I am spending 70 to 90 hours a week at work so far this year. I am really tired and do not have a lot of time for things like....blogging, let alone things that keep me calm...like photography, reading, or road-tripping. I will try to check in now and again.
On a final note:
4th and 5th grade certainly provide a plethera of blog fodder...if I could just find the time to share...
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Overheard Bits and Pieces
Today in Mrs. E's 7th grade Science class she was asked the following:
T: "If the sun is made up of that much helium...how come it doesn't foat away?"
(My immediate response was, "While saying, 'Bon Voyage" in a high, chipmunky voice...?'")
Sometimes you just have to shake your head and roll your eyes.
T: "If the sun is made up of that much helium...how come it doesn't foat away?"
(My immediate response was, "While saying, 'Bon Voyage" in a high, chipmunky voice...?'")
Sometimes you just have to shake your head and roll your eyes.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The Word of the Day
Today's word-of-the-day is brought to you by my 7th grade Algebra class.
The word is: 22th (pronounced Twenty-tooth)
Out of the Orange Excerpt
*slap* "When you're slapped by a woman you'll take it and you'll like it!" *slap* *slap*
Humphrey Bogart in the Maltese Falcon
Thursday, March 17, 2011
I'm Part Leprechaun...
I know it is not a Monday but I am sharing a memory in honor of St. Patrick's Day.
The students that are currently in my sixth grade class are the same students that were in kindergarten the year I was Mrs. Jackson's (kindergarten) assistant. It was a difficult year for me. Mostly because I have a difficult time teaching foundational knowledge that needs to be learned by rote. Playing and interacting with them was great but teaching them "short vowel sounds" and "counting to one hundred"...not my thing.
On St. Patrick's Day I decided to pull their leg a little...ok...a lot. While Mrs. Jackson took them upstairs to visit the bake sale, I stayed behind to set the stage. First, I locked the door, opened the emergency exit window and knocked over a few chairs. Then I took $5.00 in pennies and scattered them all over the room and put a blue marble in each student's pencil box. Finally, I stood at the door, listening for their return. When I heard them outside the door, I started yelling, "Stop! No! What do you think you are doing? I'm not letting you go! You're mine now! etc." Mrs. Jackson tries to come in and finds the door locked and starts pounding on the door yelling, "Ms. Janet? What's going on? Are you ok?" (She's was always ready to play along with my schemes...plus she had plenty of her own!)
I finally come and open the door and I stand there, disheveled and gasping for air. I had never seen that class so quiet or their eyes so huge. They didn't say anything. Mrs. Jackson asks me what happened and I gasp out, "There...(gasp)...was a...(gasp)...Leprechaun...(gasp)"
The kids came into the room...sort of (they pretty much stayed by the door at first) and I told them what happened. "I was going with you to the bake sale but I heard a noise in the classroom so I went back and there he was...just standing there...a Leprechaun. I knew that if I could catch him he would have to give me his gold so I locked the door and chased him around the room. He kept tripping over the chairs so I was able to grab him as he was trying to go out the emergency window. But then he got loose. He got away but I tore a hole in his money bag and his gold spilled all over the room!"
The kids still haven't said a word.
"You can keep whatever you can find..." They still don't say anything but they do start scrambing around collecting pennies.
Finally, one boy asks, "What was he doing here?"
"I don't know," I said, "but I saw him messing with some pencil boxes."
They all make a run for their pencil boxes and discover little blue balls of glass. "He left us this."
I gasp loudly and then, in my best "hushed-whisper-of-awe" voice I say, "Do....you....know...what...that...is?? That is an Imagination Ball! The legends say that as long as you have an Imagination Ball you will have an ammmmmaaaaazzzzzing imagination!"
Soft "oohs" and "aahs" from the kids.
Now, I probably should have stopped here. But no. One of the kids says, "How do you know about the Imagination Ball?"
"I'm part Leprechaun. Because my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather was a Leprechaun."
"No, he wasn't."
"Yes, he was. His name was Littleberry Roach...and if that's not a Leprechaun name, I don't know what is."
"You mean your great-grandpa was green?!"
"Real Leprechauns aren't green...that's just in the movies. Real Leprechauns look just like everybody else...they just have special skills."
"Do you have special skills?"
"Yes. I can tell good stories and I can make people laugh."
GASP "It's true you guys!! She tells good stories!"
The students that are currently in my sixth grade class are the same students that were in kindergarten the year I was Mrs. Jackson's (kindergarten) assistant. It was a difficult year for me. Mostly because I have a difficult time teaching foundational knowledge that needs to be learned by rote. Playing and interacting with them was great but teaching them "short vowel sounds" and "counting to one hundred"...not my thing.
On St. Patrick's Day I decided to pull their leg a little...ok...a lot. While Mrs. Jackson took them upstairs to visit the bake sale, I stayed behind to set the stage. First, I locked the door, opened the emergency exit window and knocked over a few chairs. Then I took $5.00 in pennies and scattered them all over the room and put a blue marble in each student's pencil box. Finally, I stood at the door, listening for their return. When I heard them outside the door, I started yelling, "Stop! No! What do you think you are doing? I'm not letting you go! You're mine now! etc." Mrs. Jackson tries to come in and finds the door locked and starts pounding on the door yelling, "Ms. Janet? What's going on? Are you ok?" (She's was always ready to play along with my schemes...plus she had plenty of her own!)
I finally come and open the door and I stand there, disheveled and gasping for air. I had never seen that class so quiet or their eyes so huge. They didn't say anything. Mrs. Jackson asks me what happened and I gasp out, "There...(gasp)...was a...(gasp)...Leprechaun...(gasp)"
The kids came into the room...sort of (they pretty much stayed by the door at first) and I told them what happened. "I was going with you to the bake sale but I heard a noise in the classroom so I went back and there he was...just standing there...a Leprechaun. I knew that if I could catch him he would have to give me his gold so I locked the door and chased him around the room. He kept tripping over the chairs so I was able to grab him as he was trying to go out the emergency window. But then he got loose. He got away but I tore a hole in his money bag and his gold spilled all over the room!"
The kids still haven't said a word.
"You can keep whatever you can find..." They still don't say anything but they do start scrambing around collecting pennies.
Finally, one boy asks, "What was he doing here?"
"I don't know," I said, "but I saw him messing with some pencil boxes."
They all make a run for their pencil boxes and discover little blue balls of glass. "He left us this."
I gasp loudly and then, in my best "hushed-whisper-of-awe" voice I say, "Do....you....know...what...that...is?? That is an Imagination Ball! The legends say that as long as you have an Imagination Ball you will have an ammmmmaaaaazzzzzing imagination!"
Soft "oohs" and "aahs" from the kids.
Now, I probably should have stopped here. But no. One of the kids says, "How do you know about the Imagination Ball?"
"I'm part Leprechaun. Because my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather was a Leprechaun."
"No, he wasn't."
"Yes, he was. His name was Littleberry Roach...and if that's not a Leprechaun name, I don't know what is."
"You mean your great-grandpa was green?!"
"Real Leprechauns aren't green...that's just in the movies. Real Leprechauns look just like everybody else...they just have special skills."
"Do you have special skills?"
"Yes. I can tell good stories and I can make people laugh."
Friday, March 4, 2011
Overheard Bits and Pieces
Yesterday in 7th grade Bible class I am teaching about Israel's captivity to Assyria and Judah's captivity to Babylon with this result:
Me: Nebuchadnezzar captures King Zedekiah, pokes his eyes out and drags him to Babylon to be a slave.
T: Eeeewwww! They poked his eyes out??! But wouldn't his eyes bleed to death?
R: (dramatic sigh) He was already dead!
Me (to T): That's not the right way to use that phrase...
Me (to R): He wasn't dead. They took him to Babylon to be a slave.
K: What's he going to do?? He's BLIND! He can't do anything.
R: (dramatic sigh) He can talk!
Me (in my head): Yeah. They capture the king of Judah and take him to Babylon to serve as a talker.
O: But how did he grow his eyes back?!
K (to O): You can't grow eyes! You can get new eyes today but they didn't have that technology back then.
O: But...then what did they do...with like...the holes?
Me: Probably nothing.
T: Eeeewwww! They didn't even put like...rocks or something in them???
Don't you wish you had my job?
Me: Nebuchadnezzar captures King Zedekiah, pokes his eyes out and drags him to Babylon to be a slave.
T: Eeeewwww! They poked his eyes out??! But wouldn't his eyes bleed to death?
R: (dramatic sigh) He was already dead!
Me (to T): That's not the right way to use that phrase...
Me (to R): He wasn't dead. They took him to Babylon to be a slave.
K: What's he going to do?? He's BLIND! He can't do anything.
R: (dramatic sigh) He can talk!
Me (in my head): Yeah. They capture the king of Judah and take him to Babylon to serve as a talker.
O: But how did he grow his eyes back?!
K (to O): You can't grow eyes! You can get new eyes today but they didn't have that technology back then.
O: But...then what did they do...with like...the holes?
Me: Probably nothing.
T: Eeeewwww! They didn't even put like...rocks or something in them???
Don't you wish you had my job?
Monday, February 7, 2011
You Know Those "Search Overload" Commercials?
This is part of my Bits 'N Pieces series...
You know those "search overload" commercials where someone asks an innocent question and suddenly everyone around them is offering random, meaningless information?...that is my 7th grade class.
T: It would be a lot more interesting if they dropped a super ball off the building on New Year's Eve instead of a ball on a stick...
C: When people fall off buildings they go like this (followed by mad flailing in his seat)...
R: Why do they always dance like that in Bollywood movies?...
G: Did anyone see Indian Terminator?
I am so glad that their words do not have actual mass...I would come home with a concussion on a daily basis.
R: Why do you want to know who was burping in Justin's face?...
T: I said G was talking about reproducing in space...
G: No. I asked if you could produce food in outer space...
Somebody just shoot me now.
You know those "search overload" commercials where someone asks an innocent question and suddenly everyone around them is offering random, meaningless information?...that is my 7th grade class.
T: It would be a lot more interesting if they dropped a super ball off the building on New Year's Eve instead of a ball on a stick...
C: When people fall off buildings they go like this (followed by mad flailing in his seat)...
R: Why do they always dance like that in Bollywood movies?...
G: Did anyone see Indian Terminator?
I am so glad that their words do not have actual mass...I would come home with a concussion on a daily basis.
R: Why do you want to know who was burping in Justin's face?...
T: I said G was talking about reproducing in space...
G: No. I asked if you could produce food in outer space...
Somebody just shoot me now.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Overheard Bits & Pieces
Overheard in my math class today as the wind beat against the building...
R7: "Wow. Sounds like the Abdominal Slowman is out there...I mean Snowman...wait...what?"
R7: "Wow. Sounds like the Abdominal Slowman is out there...I mean Snowman...wait...what?"
Friday, November 5, 2010
One Down...Three to Go
That's right. 1st quarter of school done. I still have some grading to do... And I have to compile the report cards... But still.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Bits & Pieces
Here it is...the beginning of week two. Now that I am back in school I have the opportunity to share with you the bits and pieces of conversation that I overhear from my middle school students.
O (7): "When is my birthday this year?"...
T (7): "When was your birthday last year?"
O (7): "It was on one of the days of the week."
Yeah...that narrows it down...
A (8): "Where's her face?! I just had her face!"
I can't even begin to explain that...
...or this....
K (6): "Ooh...Turtles wearing scarves. Now I get it."
But my favorite...
Starting my car to go to work this morning I hear the very last line of a story before the newscaster moves on to the next one...
"The musician known as "Bongo Jesus" was finally tazered into submission."
...and after sharing that sentence at work one of my co-workers offered this bit:
"Sounds like he was a little too bongo and not enough Jesus."
O (7): "When is my birthday this year?"...
T (7): "When was your birthday last year?"
O (7): "It was on one of the days of the week."
Yeah...that narrows it down...
A (8): "Where's her face?! I just had her face!"
I can't even begin to explain that...
...or this....
K (6): "Ooh...Turtles wearing scarves. Now I get it."
But my favorite...
Starting my car to go to work this morning I hear the very last line of a story before the newscaster moves on to the next one...
"The musician known as "Bongo Jesus" was finally tazered into submission."
...and after sharing that sentence at work one of my co-workers offered this bit:
"Sounds like he was a little too bongo and not enough Jesus."
Monday, August 30, 2010
Then Why Am I Still Sitting Here?
So today was the day that teachers went back to school. We don't see students until next Tuesday but I got up early this morning...packed my lunch and got out of the door exactly on time.
I take the Parkway to work. It's not as bad as it sounds because as everyone is trying to get into DC I am trying to get out. This usually makes for a pleasant drive...usually. See, even though the Parkway is a "scenic drive" most people treat it like it's the Autobahn...and when maniacs drive...accidents happen.
Anyway, I hit traffic and turn to the radio station that is going to tell me what and where the delay is so I can choose an alternate route if needed. Six minutes later I am completely stopped (with the car in park) as I listen to the traffic report. The northbound freeway (parallel to where I am...) is shutdown...all lanes...due to a truck dumping a load of wood and the parkway is slow (I'm thinking, "I want to be on that part of the parkway") due to an accident just two exits ahead of me so I decide to stay put. Now, ten minutes later, when the next traffic report comes on, I am in the exact same place...I have not moved...and the lady says, "All northbound lanes on the freeway have been shutdown and you would be better off taking the parkway as the earlier accident is gone." And I'm thinking, "Gone? Where did it go? And why am I still sitting here? Did anyone bother to tell the two guys in front that when the accident disappeared they could continue commuting?"
It was a full three minutes more before I could put my car in gear and continue on my way to work...Nothing like showing up late on the first day...
I take the Parkway to work. It's not as bad as it sounds because as everyone is trying to get into DC I am trying to get out. This usually makes for a pleasant drive...usually. See, even though the Parkway is a "scenic drive" most people treat it like it's the Autobahn...and when maniacs drive...accidents happen.
Anyway, I hit traffic and turn to the radio station that is going to tell me what and where the delay is so I can choose an alternate route if needed. Six minutes later I am completely stopped (with the car in park) as I listen to the traffic report. The northbound freeway (parallel to where I am...) is shutdown...all lanes...due to a truck dumping a load of wood and the parkway is slow (I'm thinking, "I want to be on that part of the parkway") due to an accident just two exits ahead of me so I decide to stay put. Now, ten minutes later, when the next traffic report comes on, I am in the exact same place...I have not moved...and the lady says, "All northbound lanes on the freeway have been shutdown and you would be better off taking the parkway as the earlier accident is gone." And I'm thinking, "Gone? Where did it go? And why am I still sitting here? Did anyone bother to tell the two guys in front that when the accident disappeared they could continue commuting?"
It was a full three minutes more before I could put my car in gear and continue on my way to work...Nothing like showing up late on the first day...
Monday, August 16, 2010
Um...Slow Down!
Ok. Here it is mid-August and...well...nothing. Usually my summers are filled with adventure and...you know...blog fodder. However, this summer not so much. First of all, I got sick on the last day of school and was sick for more than a month. Then I spent a couple weeks doing some cleaning and organizing (I would love to do a total makeover of my living quarters before the end of September...). Then I left for my brother and sister-in-laws (which is where I am as I write this) which has been wonderful...
I'm not going to say "but"...I'm not.
It did, however, dawn on me today that I only have a week left before I head home and then only two weeks before school starts. I ONLY HAVE THREE WEEKS BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS!!! I am not ready for school to start. Not physically. Not emotionally. I. Am. Not. Ready.
Oh, boy.
I'm not going to say "but"...I'm not.
It did, however, dawn on me today that I only have a week left before I head home and then only two weeks before school starts. I ONLY HAVE THREE WEEKS BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS!!! I am not ready for school to start. Not physically. Not emotionally. I. Am. Not. Ready.
Oh, boy.
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