Christmas is Coming!

Missing London

It is hard to get into the Christmas spirit when there is so much work to do. My little friend came back to class from the alternative school on Thursday and was suspended on Friday. It is what it is. Report cards are due the first day back in January, so I'm doing them this week so I won't have to think about it over break.

M has been home about a week. She can't drive any of our cars (VW leasing thing) so that's been unpleasant. However, she has enough friends that she's been able to get out and about some while we're all at school/work.  We are all watching Breaking Bad, and we are all on different episodes. Those further behind get upset when someone tells spoilers. Our family has very unusual bonding habits.

Mr. C is in desperate need of a haircut. Who has the time to take him? He got bubbles at the rowing Christmas party and is infatuated with them. He blows them all over the house, usually on Lizzie. He is sitting next to me right now blowing them at me.

Most of my shopping is done. Yay! There are still a few people I have to buy for, but our tree is pretty full. I would show you, but my camera has completely stopped taking photos and I don't like using my phone camera. The kids are at an age when they have a few, very specific items they want. It makes it easy to shop, but takes a little of the surprise out of Christmas morning.

Tomorrow we are going to see the Metropolitan Bells, which is a local handbell choir. I also am supposed to be staying at school for a PTA meeting, but I'll probably have to cut out of it early. Only a few more days and then I can sleep in!

A Day of Dashing

Today started with the Candy Cane Dash at Mr. C's school. It was a 5K run/walk fundraiser for something or other. Mr. C did very well, finishing 5th overall with a time of 19:15 (Hubby snapped the photo a couple of seconds late). There weren't any prizes, but he did get extra credit for one of his classes. Notice that he lost his hat part way through the race. It was very windy today as a cold front dropped down chasing away our 70+ weather.

Then we dashed off to Knoxville to pick up M from school. I wish I was on Christmas break for the next month, but it's nice just to have her home.

A Great Day!

Do you ever just have one of those really wonderful days where everything goes your way, and even when it doesn't it works out anyway? Yay for today!

I got a new student today who was supposed to be a possible candidate for special ed, and therefore put in my "inclusion" class. That puts me up to 20 students and the other two classes have 19 each. So I was prepared for a rough day. However, my new student is very bright and has wonderful manners. I'm so happy he joined our class!

My student who has been having medication problems apparently got the right dosage today because he had a fantastic day. My student who has a huge "stubbornness" problem was being extremely cooperative today. During writing, all the students were working quietly on a snowflake poem while listening to Christmas music. It was heavenly! (On a hesitant note, my girl who I've had to call an ambulance for twice was not at school today. Her little brother said she "got sick last night and went to the hospital". So hopefully she's okay.)

The rain let up enough for everyone to go out for recess after three days of being indoors. And it was 78 degrees when I left work this afternoon. Did we suddenly skip forward to April? I wish!

We went to Mr. C's choir program at school this evening. I told him he was the best looking kid on the stage. He replied, "Yep. The most attractive." Hubby and I just started laughing. Mr. C said, "What? Weren't you being serious?" Attractive, maybe. Humble, no.
***I feel I need to add some context to the above conversation. We were discussing how hot it was in the auditorium, especially since Mr. C was wearing his Christmas sweater. The Christmas sweater was a minor "teenage rebellion". He wanted the reindeer one, I wanted something else. So he won that battle and he loves that sweater. I think that is more what the "attractive" remark was about than any personal vanity. Still, he is a funny kid.

Well, tomorrow is Friday so that's something to look forward to.

Bad Wolf

Doctor. Who. Is. Awesome!
It's a great day to be a Whovian!

Jumping Off the Train

One day into my new educational adventure and I've decided to call it quits. I read 50 pages of  articles in educational journals on Sunday. I crunched numbers on 15 pages of make-believe teacher assessments in preparation of designing a professional development session on School-wide Positive Behavior Support. I needed to write an original post in APA format (approximately 4 pages) referencing professional publications for a discussion board and respond to two other posts. I also needed to write a summary of the teacher assessments (referencing professional publications in APA format) and prepare a 30 to 60 minute professional development session for those make-believe teachers using a template the college gave me. All that needed to be done by Sunday, when I would start the next assignment.

I love learning new things and collaborating with other teachers. I just don't have the time to do this. I don't see how anyone who is teaching full-time could. I guess I thought the program would be tailored more toward teachers who are working. Maybe I could have handled the coursework in the summer. But right now I think I'll call it quits. And since I'm not making the commitment towards earning a master's, then I don't know if I'll stay in teaching for the long haul. This program was sort of my way of saying I was going to stick with it. Now, who knows?

Odds and Ends

This post features photos I've gotten off my phone. So it's a hodge podge of things. Starting with the Secret City Regatta a few weeks ago at Oak Ridge. The day started cold (20s) and foggy which led to a 3 hour delay in the races.

Finally it cleared up and Mr. C's 8 got a 3rd place. His only medal of the fall season! We took V up with us and picked M up at her dorm. It was nice to see both of them again.

My class dressed as Paddington for the annual Trick or Read and won first place for K-2. They really love Paddington. I took some marmalade for them to try and they love that too.

The Auburn-UT game last weekend brought S and K to town for the weekend. They stayed here Friday and Saturday night and drove up for the game. I have a really great picture of M and S that M sent my phone. But I don't know how to get it from the message to this blog. Too bad.

 

And if you haven't seen Mr. C in awhile, say the last week or so, then this photo gives you an idea of just how big he's getting. And still growing.

End of Fall Season

My camera is really not working, which makes me very frustrated. I thought it was just one of my lenses, but now the other lens is not focusing either which makes me think it is the camera itself. That is the back story of why I just haven't been taking and posting pictures lately.
Here are the ones I got at the Hooch before it just completely quit shooting altogether (I can hold the button down and nothing happens).

I think everyone in the world was at the Hooch. You were probably there, but I didn't see you because everyone else got in the way.

It was windy on Saturday. Which means the water was pretty bad. Mr. C didn't row until Sunday when the weather was a little better.

Doing some jumping jacks before launching. Mr. C is in the black pants and jacket. He rowed in the youth novice mixed 8+. That means there were boys and girls.

Carrying the boat down to launch. You can kind of get an idea of the amount of planning and orchestration it takes to get all these boats in the water. All the boats in this shot are 8s, which means they are over 50 feet long. That could cause a pretty bad traffic jam, but volunteers kept everything flowing nicely.

Once the boats are in the water they have to circle around by the bridge and then row 5K upriver to the start. Then they sit and wait their turn. (My camera quit after this shot. I have some actual rowing pictures in my phone, but we aren't getting along right now. Two nights ago, my phone decided to join the Central time zone in the middle of the night and as a result I overslept an hour. Stupid phone.)

Mr. C's bow number was 1999. There were 2045 boats entered in the regatta--tied for biggest in the country with the Head of the Charles this year! Anyway. We waited for Mr. C's boat to come down during his race. We knew they were supposed to be the fourth boat in their race, so we were hoping they would come across the finish line 4th or earlier. After the 6th boat, we found one of the coaches to see what was going on. She told us that the axle on one of their seats broke and they were replacing it at the start. When they fixed it they were allowed to race. Since it's a head race you can race at anytime, you are just trying for the best time. They finally came down the river, with all the launch boats right behind--they were the very last boat of the entire regatta! Once they got their time they placed 9th out of 20-something.

Sorry if this account is confusing. I could probably explain head races better, but I have in the past and I figure you either understand or don't care. Plus, I had a training session after school and so I worked about 12 hours today and I'm just soooooo tired! But I know that some of you were probably wondering how Mr. C finished out the fall rowing season.

Back to School

This is the pub where the condemned went for one last drink before facing the gallows, located in the square out front. The pub is still functioning, the gallows are now gone. Old Town, Edinburgh

For better or worse, I am going back to school. I have gone back and forth and can't stop thinking about it, so I decided to just go for it. Tonight I applied, signed away my life, and am just waiting for ISU to send an official transcript. I get started November 18 and will finish with a Master's in Education in April of 2015. It will be totally on-line, which I'm a bit apprehensive about, but I'm trying to embrace this brave new world of ours.
I made Hubby promise to give me plenty of "get out of jail free" cards. I'm sure things are about to get very hectic for the next 18 months.

A Wee Taste of Edinburgh

Welcome to Scotland! Today I'm taking you on a very quick tour of Edinburgh Castle.

The entryway. As an American I had an idea that castles were all just one building. However, the ones we saw were more like little villages.

Edinburgh Castle sits high atop a rocky hill, overlooking the city. In the distance you can see the sea. I think this body of water has a lovely name that rolls off the locals' tongues; Firth of Forth on Fife. Say that five times fast.

Inside this building cameras are not allowed, so I can't show you the Stone of Destiny, or the Stone of Scone. I mentioned it earlier when I shared photos of Westminster Abbey. The Coronation Chair in the abbey was built to sit atop the Stone of Destiny. The stone was captured in 1296 and removed from Scotland to England and all the subsequent rulers sat on this stone. It is a very big deal. In 1996, Queen Elizabeth returned the stone to Scotland with the stipulation that it would be returned for all future coronations. The reason this stone is so very important is that, according to legend, it is the stone that Jacob slept on when he had his vision from God. Well, I can tell you it is a rather nondescript rectangular stone. It doesn't look like it would make a very comfortable pillow. However, the British claim that anyone who sits atop this stone at coronation will be the ruler of not only England, but Scotland as well. I'm putting all this in a nutshell, and probably butchering centuries of history in the process.

Moving on. This ugly gun is the One O'Clock Gun. In the old days a gun was fired at one o'clock so everyone could set their clocks and watches. The reason it wasn't fired at 12 noon, is that it would have cost more money for all those extra shells. Gotta love the economics! It is still fired daily,  although I didn't hear it while we were there. Of course, since it just fires once you probably have to be listening for it.

This is the Tower of Argyle. I just liked this window. The Earl of Argyle spent the night here before his execution.

This is looking back toward the entrance. Each August there is a Tattoo and a special stadium is set up for spectators. I imagine it is pretty amazing to experience, but I wasn't too fond of the ugly bleachers.

Rowing, Take Two

Last year we became involved with the rowing community through M's sudden passion for the sport. This year we are back, only watching Mr. C instead. Last week was his first regatta. In typical boy fashion he got the information mixed up and thought he raced in the afternoon instead of in the morning. By the time I got to the boathouse, he was done. "Why didn't you call or text me?" I asked. "It never occured to me," was the response. UGG!
Today I woke up at 4:45am. We left at 6:30 for Huntsville, AL and I saw everything. Here are a few highlights.

Pulling away from the dock in the 4 as R watches on.This was his first race of the day. The course was shortened from 5K to about 4K.

Carrying the 8 down to the water. This boat is longer than a semi. Mr. C is only visible in this shot as the black feet at the very far left of the boat (in front of the lady in jean shorts).

Here they come around the bend.

And then they are off to the finish. I thought they looked great. Remember that they are just novices. All of them are 8th-10th graders (I think). If they stick with it they will be really good in a few years.

When He Talks

Having a conversation with Mr. C is like talking to a wall. He responds to most questions with a barely audible grunt. But when he does decide to talk it's usually pretty interesting.
From this evening.
Mr. C: Did you know Publix has liquid nitrogen?
Me: What would you do with liquid nitrogen?
Mr. C: It's liquid nitrogen! What wouldn't I do with it?
Daddy: Publix has dry ice, not liquid nitrogen.
Then Mr. C went into some explanation of how you could make a superconductor, or particle something-or-other.
Boys is boys!

Tired Teachers - What TN teachers really think about new evaluations

 Most of you won't watch this whole thing. I know Grandma M. would be especially interested in how things are trending in education nowadays, and watch and then discuss all of it in detail. Miss her a lot.
This really hits home in terms of what is weighing me down lately. And yes, I'm frequently in tears. And I have texted Hubby during the day more than once to say I'm going to quit; I just can't take any more.
But then I get up each morning and head back in.

           

Ta-da!

I have almost completed the breakfast room. I still want to put a blind in the window before the leaves come off the trees. For the time being I'm finished. We put up bead board, painted, changed the light switches and outlets from brown to white, hung some new curtains, and put in a new chandelier. I really like it!

A Request

Ok. I need to post more often as one of my little birds has requested from her new nest.

What's up here in Chattanooga? Last week was Wine Over Water. My favorite day of the year. You can see it was just as crowded as usual.  It's a great time to raise money for a great cause. (Cornerstones saves and restores historic buildings around town. Their first project was the Walnut Street Bridge.)

My life is totally consumed with school. I have the sweetest little class you could ask for. One of my boys has moved to an alternative school for a few weeks, which helps a lot. I get so frustrated with all the paperwork and administrative side of things, but then I get all the hugs and coloring pages you could ever want. So it's pretty good. My student teacher finishes her solo teaching Friday. It's been very hard for a control freak like me to let go of my class for two weeks. I actually didn't ever turn it all over. I didn't feel comfortable with someone else teaching my Intervention kids. I did reading benchmarks this week and all my kids made gains. Some of them went up 4 levels in two months! Now if we can just keep that momentum going.

No pictures of rowing, but Mr. C has been busy this fall. His time is now faster than M's. Since he's a boy he still needs to keep working on it. Chattanooga Head Race is October 12.

We have been making progress with the breakfast nook. My next post with be the big reveal!

Do any of you watch Midsomer Murders? That is my new go-to show for when I want a break from life. My reading choice is A Feast for Crows, the fourth book in A Song of Ice and Fire (aka Game of Thrones). The fifth book comes out in paperback this month. I started reading them the end of May and I don't know what I'll do when it's all over. The show still has at least two more seasons, but the books are better. 

Well,  keep up with your homework if you have any!

John Wesley Home and Chapel

Any Methodist can tell you who John Wesley is, but for those outside the denomination he started Methodism. While in London I got a chance to look inside Wesley Chapel and tour his home. I had planned on just taking a quick peek, but then T and I somehow ended up on a private tour with a very old and knowledgeable man. How do you skip out on that? Of course the entire time we were trying to speed things along, as we had left Sis and Aunt in the Underground station.

Here are the highlights with captions.

Inside the chapel hang flags from countries with Methodist congregations.There is the US flag on the right.

You can pull out these extra wooden seats when there's a crowd.

This is the home. It is just to the right of the church and it is only two windows wide, but 5 stories including the basement.

The most impressive thing, to me, in John Wesley's study was the electric shock machine in the corner. He invented it himself and used to administer shock treatments to people suffering from depression, or melancholy. It supposedly created a sense of euphoria. WooHoo!

This was my favorite room in the house. It is the prayer room, or closet, just off John Wesley's bedroom. He used to get up and pray at 4 am every morning. I asked if there was a view out the window when the house was built and our guide said the adjacent building was already there, so no distractions.

This is just a group of partyers on a peddle bike that we passed on our way back to the Underground.

That is the grand tour. If you're ever in the neighborhood, you should check it out. It's free!

Home and Work

Work consumes my life. I try to push it back on the weekends and concentrate on home. Two weeks ago I got up and told Hubby we were going to do some home improvement. I decided on beadboard for the breakfast room.

Before.

And during. I still haven't got to the after. Probably next week. You can see our new windows here. Aren't they nice? The day we had them installed it stormed afterward. We didn't even notice until we happened to see the trees swaying outside. With the old windows you could hear everything outside. These are very nice and I hope to start seeing an improvement in our energy bills. Yippee!

S came for a visit last weekend. Daddy fixed her car up with an oil change, air filter, etc. *Advertisement for Toyota here: 195,000 miles and going strong!!! I took her shopping for a business suit. In the dressing room she said, "I look so grown up." I said,"You look like you're playing dress-up." Where does the time go?

Mr. C is rowing and enjoying it. He is making friends in his own way, which means he keeps it to himself and doesn't share much with me. So much different than the girls. Chattanooga Head Race is October 12 if anyone wants to come see him race. I think the Hooch is the first weekend in November.
And how am I doing? This week one of my sweet girls had a seizure in class. There was no history and I didn't even know what was happening at the time, except that she fell and then acted strange. I knew something was wrong. I picked her up and ran her to the nurse (thank God we have a nurse at school). She became totally unresponsive and couldn't move before the ambulance arrived. I have never been so scared in my life. I wasn't allowed to go to the hospital with her, but went after school and spent about an hour with her and her mom. She was talking and coloring and reading a book. She found my name in the book. It was reassuring. But I kept thinking of all the "What ifs". What if I'd sent her out to recess with the other kids and no one had noticed her strange behavior. What if I hadn't worn my tennis shoes (which I never wear to school) that day and been unable to move as quickly as I did. What if she had hit her head when she fell in the classroom and been seriously injured. What if.... Hubby said to stop. None of those things happened and she's going to be fine. Just breathe.

And We Dance

Happy Friday! (That's my student teacher. I'm a great mentor, huh?)

Thanks! I needed that!

In Other News

If you're looking on here you probably want to know how life is going. So here are a few snapshots.
We went to Beaufort, South Carolina for Labor Day. (It is pronounced BU-fort in South Carolina, BO-fort in North Carolina) We found some promising properties but weren't sure if we'd fit in with the local demographics.
Back home, Mr. C is rowing this fall. He is much more blase about the whole experience than M was. A month from now we'll be starting the fall regattas and that will consume our lives for about a month. Sorry, no rowing pictures right now.

We studied the water cycle today!

My life revolves around school. Big surprise! I could bitch and moan for 1,000s of words about work. Let me just put in a few. Last year our school dropped from a score of 5 (the highest) to a 1 (the lowest) and now we are a "Watch School". This means TONS of paperwork, consultants in every week to observe, advise, and basically wreak havoc in our classrooms, very stringent rules about how to write up lesson plans (which I am totally thumbing my nose at and will probably get in HUGE trouble for at some point).

Post those public records and exemplar student work!

On top of that I am the grade level chair this year, I am co-leading the math and science cadre, I am the inclusion teacher for First Grade, I am required to attend all the district after-school literacy and math supplemental training sessions, and I have a child in my class who has been officially suspended twice already and sent home because of behavior issues countless times. And today was only Day 25 of 180. Lord, have mercy!

Would you look at that! I've been at school for almost 11 hours again today! I should send this to the smart ass teacher who made some comment to me last week about "some teachers put in more than 7 hours a day" when I was wondering when I was supposed to do some gargantuan task that had just been handed to me.

At least you'll know why I'm not updating very much this year.