Great day off . . . thank you Sir, may I have another????

Ahhh! A day off is great for the soul! :-)

I did nothing! Yes, you heard correct. Nothing! I stayed in my pajamas all day and Ellie the Cat and I cuddled on the couch and watched movies. I rented the following chick flicks and watched them to my hearts content:
Because I Said So
The Holiday
Catch and Release

With the exceptional of Sunday, I worked the entire weekend. I really could use another day off but I can't afford to take off any time from school since I'm leaving early for my trip to Russia. And, I have all sorts of curriculum to teach.

I know that I need to take care of myself too so I'm trying to eat more fruits and veggies. I'm also trying to go to bed earlier at night.

What do you do to relax and unwind in the evenings????

I'm exhausted and in desperate need of a day off!

The week has been long, don't ya think?

We had MCAS this week (3 hour delay for the students not taking the test and then an abbreviated schedule for the rest of the day which means not being productive in my curriculum) - Math and US History (FYI: Kids already took English Language Arts). I had to proctor the US History - the state must think that the material after the Civil War is more important since the three hour test focused on everything from the Civil War to the present. MCAS is almost over - we still have the Biology and Chemistry tests on June 5th and 6th. Ughy!

I worked on Thursday from 3:15 until 10:00 last night (Don't forget that I'm up at 5:00 am and that I teach from 7:24-2:02). There is lots going on at Paws. The owner has four Dalmatians. Yes, they are VERY adorable! :-) One of them - Jasmine - is really sick and is dying of cancer in her liver and spleen. So, the owner can't work at this store this weekend since she needs to take care of Jasmine. The rest of us are pulling in a ton of hours to help her out. And the fun part of this: Newburyport is having a festival this weekend which will make the store VERY busy! I feel so bad for the owner - she's really having a tough time right now. Plus, she got a phone call last night that her father was rushed to the hospital (he lives down in North Carolina). I'm working a ton of hours tomorrow and Monday. And, I'm on call for tonight.

The Seniors had their last day of school today. Their senior prank was camping out in front of the school entrance in tents and they parked their cars funny in the parking lots so the faculty couldn't park their cars this morning. At 11:00 am, they all got into their cars and drove around the school for 30 minutes honking their horns. Joy! Next week, they have senior week activities (Six Flags, Harbor Cruise in Boston, Barbecue, and graduation on Friday night). I didn't know any of the kids so I won't be attending the ceremony. The seniors at my last school are graduating so I'm going to try and attend that graduation - they were freshman when I had them as students.

Have a good weekend all and if you are bored on Saturday or Monday, come visit me at the doggie store! :-)

I was interviewed by a reporter today for the Fulbright-Hays Grant.

A reporter from our local paper came into school today to interview me for the Fulbright-Hays grant. He also brought with him a photographer to take a few pictures of me. I felt so uncomfortable having my picture taken. The photographer had me leaning up against one of the poles of the entrance of the school (please keep your mind clean). Hopefully the picture they end up using for the article is a nice photo of me.

I really hope that the article receives some positive publicity for my school. Unfortunately, we've received some negative press lately so it would be nice to portray my school in a positive light.

The reporter told me that the article would be in the paper by the end of this week or early part of next week. I'll keep everyone posted.

Happy Birthday Mandy!

Happy Birthday to my little sister!

Hope your day was extra special kiddo!

Sending ya lots of hugs!

Going on weekend #2 of working at second job and no day off!

Yes! You read correctly! I haven't had a day off since I took my personal day on May 7th. The next day off I have will be May 27th.

And, to add more fun - the owner had extended the hours of the store to summer hours so I'm working more hours on top of teaching. Yes - I know I said I needed money for my trip. I have to admit that I'm feeling this "not having a day off" thing. I'm so exhausted right now. I've been working between 15-20 hours at my part-time job per week. Add to that - my 45-60 hours that I put into my teaching job. Ughy! No wonder I'm feeling not having a day off.

The money has been good for my trip but my body is feeling.

Oh, countdown of going to Russia: ONE MONTH!!!! :-)

Congrats to Carla!

My friend Carla just called to tell me that her Thesis Paper was finally approved so she officially has a Masters degree from the University of New Hampshire!!!!

Carla and I used to team teach World Studies at Timberlane. Carla taught the English and I did the History. We used to have so much fun teaching together and making those great connections in History and Literature.

Carla is currently teaching up in Maine and teaches AP English.

Carla's goal is to teach at the college/university level - the next step - her PhD!

I'm so very proud of her! Congratulations Carla!

Go Carla Go!

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

I Love You Mom!
Mom's smiles can brighten any moment, Mom's hugs put joy in all our days, Mom's love will stay with us forever and touch our lives in precious ways...
The values you've taught, the care you've given, and the wonderful love you've shown, have enriched my life in more ways than I can count.
I Love you Mom!

Thank you for being such a great Mom!

PS I think we need to have another picture taken of the two of us. :-)

It's been a longgggggg week!

What can I say??? It's been a long week.

*Took a personal day on Monday. Good thing. Come back to school on Tuesday - found out that a student decided to bring a semiautomatic into the school and was arrested. Bad thing. Administration didn't inform any faculty member about what happened on Monday and all the teachers read about the incident in the newspaper the next morning. Really bad thing.

*One of our senior boys was killed in a car accident. My school hasn't had a death of a student in over 10 years. Speed was the cause. The boy was a very popular kid and well liked so the student population is having a tough time. They had the wake and funeral this week so the emotions were up and down throughout the student population.

*On Friday, another student brought in a knife and was arrested. This time, my Principal had an emergency faculty meeting to tell us.

*Thought the drama of the Freshman Fling was over. I was wrong. It still continues. Ughy!

As you can see, it's been a roller coaster of a ride the past week in the land of M-Dawg. And, I was actually trying to teach something this week on top of everything else! Imagine that!

The next month or so is my crazy time. Let me apologize ahead of time if I don't email or comment on blogs right away. The end of the school year can be a very stressful and busy time for a teacher. Add to it that I'm working more hours at my part-time job. And, I'm getting ready to leave for Russia (Consult my countdown). :-)

Oh, a reporter from our local newspaper is supposed to be coming in next week to do a story on me and the Fulbright-Hays grant. Cool stuff.

Tell me again why I teach???

Read all about it here.

The administration didn't even tell us about it. We read about it on the front page of our local newspaper!

Ugh!

Healthy reading

I read a lot of blogs. I try to read most of them everyday but I just don't have the time to read every single blog that I have bookmarked in my favorite folder.

Lately, I've been "on the dark side." So, I decided to post a few positive blogs that I enjoy reading.

Here are a few blogs that I find enjoyable:
*Ali Edwards Blog - Ali is the creative editor for Creating Keepsakes, a scrapbooking magazine for those of you that are not familiar with it. Ali's blog is very inspirational. I enjoy reading her blog because she gets me to stop and think about life. As a scrapbooker, I'm always looking for creative and fun ways to express myself and her blog challenges help me to find that extra help that I need to scrapbook.

*The Quaker Agitator - Talk about a great web site trying to get the word out there about and educating folks about the war in Iraq, Darfur, etc. . . . amazing! The human rights issues that are discussed on this blog will blow you away!

*History is Elementary - I wish that all elementary teachers had as much compassion and love of history as this lady does in her classroom. She does an amazing job and I really enjoy reading about the activities and stories in her classroom.

*Ogretmen - This blog is written by a New York City Middle School Science teacher that is living over in Turkey on a year long Fulbright. I've been reading her blog since the beginning of her journey in Turkey (June 2006) and I've learned so much from her. Her photographs of her excursions on breaks are just spectacular! Reading her blog and admiring her pictures makes me want to visit Turkey someday.

*World History Blog - I like this blog because it makes me think about World History. And, since I teach four blocks of World History, this is a good thing. :-) The author always shares great information to use in your classroom.

Are there any favorite and inspirational blogs that you enjoying reading every single day?

Personal Day . . .

I took a personal day today. I had made a Dr's Appt. last month and it's the kind of Dr's appt that you really need to take the whole day off. That's all I'm saying about that. :-(

Here's my To Do List for the Day:
*Get my car inspected.
*Take Ellie the Cat to Petco to get her nails clipped. She won't let me do it and I'll pay the $8.00 to have them deal with it.
*Library.
*Bank.
*Grocery Shopping.
*Do laundry.
*Dr's Appt.
*School work - I'm proud to say I got most of my correcting done last week. I still have my US History -Honors Star Spangled Banner Project to grade. I like to be caught up on my correcting since it can be overwhelming if you wait until the last minute.
*Plan out the rest of the year for my US History -Honors class. I already did my World Studies until the end of the year. World Studies was easy since I've taught the World History curriculum a million times. The US History curriculum is new for me this year. I have to be honest - I don't enjoy the first half of US History. I enjoy the American Revolution and the Civil War - everything else in between just sucks! :-)

I know it's quite a list but I really need to get this stuff done today. And, can I just say it's an absolutely gorgeous day in New England??????? :-)

They finally got over it!

It was a long week last week of drama with the freshman but they finally got over not having their Fling. Yeah!

I stayed at school last week late almost everyday to get stuff done. I always feel like I'm playing catch up with correcting. Plus, I'm trying to get all my curriculum taught that needs to get taught a week earlier than everyone else on the freshman team since I'm leaving for Russia. The Freshman World Studies teachers agreed that we would have to stop at World War II. We have new curriculum this year for World Studies so we were supposed to get to Modern Times such as September 11th or even the war in Iraq. The problem is (like most World History curriculum in the country) is that it's too much curriculum to be taught in one year. And, our state test doesn't even test World History - it only tests US History.

I received permission from my Principal to have my students take their final exams a week a head of time so I could get everything done (grades and correcting of exams). My last day will be June 18th. The students get out of school on June 21st. The last day for teachers is the 22nd.

And silly me . . . . I have two major projects coming in the week before my exams. The World Studies kids have a project on who they think the most influential person in World History would be including a six page research paper and a vision of some sort. My US History kids have a Civil War Scrapbook Project due as well. What the hell was I thinking having these projects due so close to the end of the school year????????? :-)

Plus, I'm picking up more hours at the doggie store for extra money for my trip.

If I don't respond to emails right away or comment on blogs, you can sorta see why . . . .

Mom and Dad's soon-to-be-new-home

This will be Mom and Dad's new home starting next summer. They are sooooo excited about the next adventure in their life!

Here is a picture of Mom and Dad in front of their new home!

The plan will be that they will travel all over the United States. In fact, one of their first big trips will out here in New England (which I'm soooo thrilled). Mom has been making her list of all the places she wants to check out and visit. She's a die hard fan of the Travel Channel so I think that list is growing! :-)