Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Almost the End of the Year

As the school year finally winds down I find myself thinking of the positives and negatives of the last school year. I think the biggest change in my life was moving so far out into the country. While I love my home and location, the extra 15 minute drive ended up being more of a challenge than I thought. I'm not sure if it's worth it or not because when I drive home I think of how I could be home already if I hadn't moved, but when I get home and see the beautiful natural surroundings I think it's well worth it. So, I guess the verdict is still out on that.

Teaching wise this year started out rough. Our school for some reason decided we needed to change the way we did lesson plans. Never mind that the last 8 years I've worked for this school we've managed just fine without objectives, TAKS, TEKS, and the assessment labeled. We were told all we need to know is what you did or or what you plan to do and our TAKS scores were great. Isn't that all that matters?? LOL This year we added all that extra stuff which is really just a time eater.  For someone with two preps, one being a brand new prep and being kicked out of her classroom during her conference period, that was hard. I found myself doing a lot of grading/curriculum writing and planning at home. While I understand that sometimes everyone takes work home, I was taking home 8-10 hours of work most weekends for a while there. I finally got a handle on it and still take things home 4 or 5 days, but not 8 hours worth

 I discovered I don't like Junior English. I just can't get excited about the literature(American) . The age is ok. I think though that I still prefer the younger students (9th grade) who still have a bit of innocence about them.  I will miss my 9th graders this summer. I miss their energy and how they bounce back from everything that happens to them so quickly. I like how they get so in to what I'm telling them as long as I make it interesting!!!  ( My juniors look at me like I'm from Mars...sigh :) ) I also like the variety of literature that is read in the 9th grade. I feel like the end of the year is like having a baby. You tend to forget all that was bad, and just remember the good. The result is a beautiful baby you can take home.

School is my baby and I just need to get home.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Long Time No See


Wow..it's been ages since I've written here. My life is filled with work and Parker's activities and what little time I have for myself is consumed with chores and house maintenance stuff. I like the busyness  though, but I miss the down time that I desperately need. Luckily with teaching I get a couple of months off in the summer and can return to a calmer state of mind!  In the meantime I'm counting off the days until school is out!! 23 an counting!