Found this idea on  babbling abby who got it from I Teach for a Living…
from Murdock’s Mama.
Outside my window.. sunny and warm – not too hot
The time is: 1:20

I am feeling: sad that summer is over and I didn’t get to the beach.

I am thinking: How will this school year go?

At the moment, I am thankful..that I had a long summer break
I am going.. nowhere today, but later I may clean/do laundry.
I am wearing.. pajamas
I wish.. I could do more to fix the problems in th world

I am reading..nothing at this moment really, but a stack awaits
I am working on.. painting
I am hoping.. that my students will not be drama filled ghetto rats
I am hearing.. meow, meow
I bet you didn’t know.. I am a loner and pretty shy
One of my favorite…things is to read about court cases and unsolved murders
My weekend plans include.. finishing the bathroom, doing laundry, going to painting class, making spaghetti, probably going out to breakfast and reading the Sunday Post.

babbling abby
is doing teacher week, so here is my first entry, and hopefully more to come.
Ten things about me as a teacher
1. I really became a teacher because I believe in the notion that having an educated public leads to a better nation and society. Really.
2. I have a dry sense of humor and can be sarcastic, and blunt. Don’t take it personally.
3. I’ve been teaching for 15 years. I think I kind of have the hang of it mostly. I still like to learn and try new things, though.
4. Parents can be soooo dumb. If I hear, “he said you don’t give any homework” “he says he does his homework at school” I will scream. Also, if your kid was a behavior problem before, don’t act surprised that your kid is still one. And, if he/she has never been one, and is suddenly now doing stuff to act out – pay attention! Oh, and don’t criticize my teaching to your kid, it prevents a good relationship. I mean, I don’t bitch about your stupidity to your kid….although I’d like to sometimes.
5. I loathe grading papers. I try, (and am going to try more) things to minimize this task. I wish I had an assistant who would do it for me, and then show me the papers for me to review and note where I need to reteach, teach better, etc. I just don’t have the energy or desire to do both.
6. I really want to have fun during the day. I don’t want to sit through boring drudgery, so I like to find ways to make it fun. BUT…if I have to expend energy on kid’s stupid adolescent drama, other teachers’ stupid adolescent drama, and ridiculous meetings, I don’t feel like taking the time to find fun stuff. I fall into this trap every year, and last year I never got out of it. I’m gonna work real hard to stop that from happening.
7. I love to have a neat organized classroom that is decorated in a cute way. But, I hate taking the time to keep up with it….
8. This time of year, I plan bulletin boards, and fun lessons, and cute outfits to wear, and get so excited! By Thursday after Labor Day, I am over it.
9. I know how a great principal can make the school so wonderful. I have begun many sentences with “If I were principal…” But, I have very little desire to actually be a principal.
10. I have these weird urges in school buildings: pull the fire alarm, tell people what I REALLY think, paint the walls in my room (oh! if I could I would!), and burn candles. OH, and smoke. LOL.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I work in a snake pit. **disclaimer: I have nothing against snakes themselves, and am using hyperbole and stereotypical characteristics of snakes.

In discussing my last school year I realized that it was like being in a snake pit. If I planned and executed a good lesson or unit, the kids were less than enthusiastic and it would flop. If they did well, learned and made progress, then it was someone else in the building that had to snipe, bite or stab at something I may or may not have said or done. So, if it wasn’t the kids, it could be the upper echelon.

Then, there were the co-workers. Now, I have a small circle of co-workers who are a real team and who have my back, and I have theirs, this does not apply to them and they know who they are. The rest, literally all the rest, are not trustable. They are not in education to be educators, but are there, in my opinion because they can have a schedule that is compatible with their kids’. Or, perhaps, they got into teaching, and although don’t like it, they stay and stay and stay. These people deflate my enthusiasm. They are toxic. And, their toxicity is damaging to the profession, and to the students.

I long to leave the snake pit. But, what good will that do? It will still be there, and in good conscience, I don’t want to see others have to endure that pit of vipers. So, somehow I must change things. How? I have no idea.

I feel like I should write a mission statement or something about this. That won’t do much good however. I want to stand up at the first faculty meeting and say something like this:

I and many of you are in this profession because of a profound belief that a good education is vital to our society and country. Some, if not most, of our students don’t have that belief instilled in them at home, so we must take that on here ourselves. To do that we must be dedicated to it, in word, and in deed. If you are not feeling that profound belief, if you are here for other reasons, I will no longer stand silently by and say nothing. I will point out when you don’t enforce the rules, don’t demand dedication and excellence from students. I will also insist that you allow for student success. All students don’t learn the same way. If you are losing their work, grading too harshly, giving pointless assignments, setting them up to fail, I will also point it out and demand you do better. If you mock students, tease them, bully them, and scare them, I will block you. If you are complaining that you are being dinged for not having enriching lessons, and you fail to reflect on ways you can positively change, and instead whine and moan and insist you are doing it right, I will point out to you that we all need to renew and refresh our styles from time to time. And, finally, if I am guilty of any of the above, I expect you to call me on it, and demand I get my shit together.

And that goes for the cafeteria, too. Make some healthy food that tastes good! I am sometimes too focused on teaching and all those duties to pack a good lunch, or breakfast, and it would be nice to have a healthy alternative, instead of being so tired/stressed that I opt for the easy way out and eat that garbage.

And library, look, it’s not personal, but you should be a haven for students who love to read, and an inspiration to those that don’t. Book Clubs, author visits, Literary Cafe, all of these should be going on. Book Talks monthly, coordinating with content areas, should be going on. Let’s GO!

Focusing on the positive is another area I want to improve at our school. We have a ton of great stuff going on, and an email here and there saying good job isn’t enough recognition. I want to see posters of the pics and collages in celebration, and announcements on the all-day power point, and the principals on the TV proclaiming the Raider Pride!

Steel band, step team, sports teams, music department (no one really knows what they do), the P.E. dept. –some areas where we do a lot of good things. And more can be done! If there were more emphasis on appreciating the extra things, then more extra things would be done, and more
positive to focus on!

I want the admin to own the building and be a visible presence. Encourage the kids to care for their school and the environment of the school. Back the teachers up – give us guidelines – and make us adhere to them. It is not micromanagement to communicate and enforce expectations, it is just management. To state expectations and then walk away is not really having expectations. I want community involvement, Quantico, Ft. Belvoir, the businesses and services of the county visible in the school. Our population doesn’t (yet) have a sense of pride in their community – rather they cling to the countries of their parents’ origin and don’t assimilate into America. We are the ones who have to help with that! Their parents need to be a part of our building whether they speak English or not.

Whew! I could write more, as this just all came spilling out, but I’ll stop there.

-haven’t felt like writing
-been doing lots of reading: Lincoln b David Herbert Donald; Hoot, The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo; Under the War Torn Sky; various blogs, the Wapo, and the People mag
-started fixing up the bathroom, but waiting until the showering two move out (tomorrow!) seriously 2 showers a day each?
-redesigned bedroom, but need cash
-plans for kitchen but see above
-plans to maybe go to river w/a friend !!
-plans to go to my parents’ place for a few
-two day class that starts tomorrow
-and a painting class!
-in a foul mood today
-Pioneer Woman was in person exactly as she is online: boots, smile, dimples, long red hair, sweet as honey….
-I’m intrigued by Abraham Lincoln, and also, I’ve been reading the letters of R.E. Lee since they were a free download for iPhone
-cleaned up the porch, but need a fan out there, and some lights, and a few plants
-I fail at tomato plants
-the rosemary is growing!
-I killed a hosta

I’m looking forward to next school year which is crazy considering the last one, but oh well.

Summer. today i don’t have to go in to school at all, I finished my room! So far, I am still in my jammies, and have watched trashy TV and surfed the web. I also am playing solitaire. How boring! But, I love it. I will do more stuff at some point, but I may do nothing today. In other news:

My tomato plant has no tomatoe and no flowers, nothing.
My dog is shedding a lot. Tons of hair everywhere. He is a collie, so go figure.
I made tamale pie last night, delicious. I had another piece just now.
I seem to bake at night while I am asleep and wake up very hot and sweaty. Yuck.
We have ants. Lots of them.
I am shocked at my students’ lack of brains on their facebooks…..I mean to have your profile pic be of yourself smoking what looks like a joint?
I spend way too much time thinking about Real Housewives….

I’m going to try to blog more and better.

So, everyone is talking about their plans, but I don’t have any. I mean, I have house stuff to do, and we *might* go camping, but that is it. I am wondering if I should get a job or something to do so I don’t get too bored.

A student asked me if I would cry on the last day of school. I wanted to reply “Hell NO!” But I said heck instead. I am so glad this year is ending. It has been one of the worst school years ever. Although 98.5% passed their SOL, so academically I did see some results. It is just the attitudes and the lack of visible administration and some of the other teachers. I know I am being sabotaged on the upcoming field trip, so I am going to outsmart them.

Rambling boring post. Sorry. Nobody reads this anyway! Ha!

Ok, doing this by way of: http://www.pinklemonadeblog.blogspot.com/
and…. http://www.mannland5.com/
The questions.. (I’m answering before reading anyone elses so as to be authentic)

1. Do you have a fetish?
If defining fetish in a sexual way, then no. If defining it as something I obsessively like, then maybe: food.

2. Do you sing in the shower? Not really, but in the car, I belt it out like nobody’s business. And, I ‘m good.

3. Who was your first crush? Jimmy Clark, first grade.

4. What do you think is the best manly trait a guy could have?
Physically: biceps. They might be a fetish.. Oops
Personality wise: being able to make me and others laugh.

5. Do you sleep naked? No, with all these rolls and folds and stuff, I need absorbancy. Too much info? As usual.

6. What do you do when (you think) no one is looking? Pick my hair, fart, make faces, roll my eyes, and flip the bird. (not really on the last one)

7. What’s the first thing you do when you go online?
Lately, facebook.

8. Summer is…..?
Delicious, lazy, the best part of my job, hot, sometimes boring, and way, way too short.

Ok, so I am a big fan. I know she probably doesn’t have the same political views, and I know she is filthy rich, but I still like her. Today, I bought her book, and on Tuesday I am going to get her to sign it. What should I ask her? What should I say? What should I wear? Will we become instant friends and someday I’ll be rolling up to the lodge to be a guest? Will she take one look at me, fake smile, sign the book, and then start eyeing the person behind me?

I am thinking way too much about this.

Oh, well, it is taking my mind off this school year, which btw, they are adding 10 minutes to each day. Seriously? Just add one more freaking day (so I can use it as a personal day) because 10 more minutes with the kids will kill me. Although, if they add it at the end, it won’t really effect me, unless they add it core 4, which is my 2nd most challenging class. As mom always says, time will tell.

I am really looking forward to this school year being over. I usually look forward to summer, duh, who doesn’t? But this year, I don’t have that feeling of melancholy that I usually get thinking of missing some of my favorite students.

This year, I guess it could be the grade level, or it could be the changes in the administration or it could be me, has been rough. I’ve never experienced the defiance from kids that I have this year. Kids usually don’t like being disciplined or corrected, but this year they have gone a step further and gotten angry and gone over the top when they are corrected. They run to whine to who ever in the building will hear them. And, the culture in the building has changed so that who ever hears their complaints actually encourages them to complain more and even make stuff up. I have had coworkers in the past who didn’t love me, and one a long time ago who tried to sabotage me, but this year the one coworker I am speaking of has been truly hateful.

It has seriously made me consider leaving. Walking away from the retirement and the friends I have in teaching, and doing something else. I don’t have that luxury, however, as debts and living expenses require my salary, and I don’t have any other marketable skills. I wish I could write well enough to have a marketable blog and make a living from that like pioneer woman or dooce….

Teaching is a wonderful thing, it can be fulfilling, enlightening, rewarding, exhausting and fun. It just isn’t any of those things right now. Except exhausting.

Well, this is a depressing post.

So, I have a warped and romanticized view of camping. I picture hot dogs on a stick and a glowing camp fire and a relaxing time soaking in fresh air and stars. I have been camping in a tent exactly once, and it was so long ago, and in a time in my life that I have amnesia (selective?) about. My other camping experiences are weird, to say the least.

Let me start by saying that my constant nagging at my husband that I want to go camping -be away from the internet, tv, and other electronic distratctions – led him to make our spring break vacay into a camping trip. We don’t vacation every year, in fact, it is probably considered rare in our lives. Money, time, and motivation or responsibilities have become obstacles. So this year, some very generous friends have offered up their time share in New Orleans for spring break, and I jumped on it. Scott, who is from NO, has not been back since before we were married, and I know he misses it, and since he brought me back to my beloved Carmel after a several year (decade?) absence, I felt it fitting.

Then he got all frugal and such, and decided to combine my desire for a camping trip – which is ill advised, and not in my nature even though I dream about it, come on, I have fake nails, and am sort of high maintenance!! It reminds me of…..

Fontana Village. Time: Somewhere in the 1970′s. Who: me, my two teen sisters (I was like 10 or so) my mom, and dad. So my mom finds this resort (?) in the Smoky Mountains somewhere and decides that based on the glossy brochures of happy families in the glistening aqua pool, green green mini golf course, and the lovely mountain hiking and horse back trails, not to mention the gorgeous lake created by Fontana Dam we should go and have a family vacation.

Up until then, we had quasi vacations: Seeing historical or nature site while in transit during a move required by the Navy; European tours which were held while I was still in diapers and have no memory.

So, the Buick was loaded and we left. Upon our arrival, several nauseous hours later ( I get car sick) we arrive to our “resort” Up on a hillside a duplex, screened cabin awaited. We spent little time there. It was awful.

Day One: Dad discovers that this place resides in a county that is a “dry” county. DT’s anyone?
Day Two: Mini Golf, in a temper tantrum, my attempt at a long drive involves hitting my fragile sister in the head with a golf club. It was an accident, but to this day at any holiday gathering it is mentioned, and I am not forgiven, and not believed about it being an accident. Sorry.
Day Three: Horse back riding in a group on a trail. Having been used to horses via our previous adventure owning a pony (a disastrous experience to be chronicled later) we were unenthusiastic. I got a rogue horse who had to be right behind the trail leader. Only one rearing up and bucking sent me into spasms. Nightmares about that day are still frequent.
Day Four: Dad takes us out in a motor boat on a lake. In which he reminds us of the drive in and how we saw the super tall dam and we were on the other side, and there were these big spinning pools of water in which we could get sucked in and all drown. And, then he would pretend we were getting sucked in there and ha ha ha ha isn’t that funny kids??
Day Five: My sisters either got a night to themselves or there was a “teen” event, I don’t know, but my parents took me to a movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066181/

Day Six: A really long drive, straight through, in near silence, back home.

The end of our “family vacation” attempts. Lesson learned.

Except: 2010, I attempt to do it again. Camp (in cabins) on the way to and from New Orleans. My goal: to convince my husband to spend the extra money on airfare, rental cars, and hotels…..at least while he is married into this family.