Well, it's been more than a week since my last posting. I've been to D.C. and back and I have to say that this trip seemed longer than any other I've been on.
After standing in the parking lot of the Tri-Rail station for over an hour and a half we boarded the train at 1:00 pm. By 9:30 we were only in Jacksonville! By then the kids were overdue for dinner. At least we were able to get them to go to sleep after that. I actually slept pretty well on the train (sleeping pills are a gift from God!).
We must have made up a lot of ground during the night because we got into D.C. by 12:30 which is the earliest time ever. For once we were able to get into the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for a tour. The kids loved seeing how money was made. Afterwards we walked to the Holocaust Museum and then headed over to Arlington National Cemetery to see the changing of the guard. After eating dinner (at the worst restaurant of the 3 possible) we went to the hotel. By 10:00 we had the kids locked in their rooms for the night. By the end of the day I'd walked over 8 miles so needless to say I slept like a baby.
More to follow......
1.17.2007
1.07.2007
Time to go back to work......
Well, it's been a nice two week break from work but tomorrow it's time to go back to work. The kids don't come back until Tuesday but tomorrow we have a "workday" that consists of a three hour training, ugh. On the bright side(positive attitude at work here) we leave for Washington on Thursday morning.
Between preparing the kids for FCAT in March and 5th grade Exhibition, the next two months are going to be brutal! Each fifth grade class in my school participates in Exhibition projects. The Exhibition projects consists of groups of students that are studying a global issue in depth. Each group had to come up with 8 key questions about their topic. The questions serve the purpose of driving their inquiry. Each student is responsible for researching the answer to 2 of the key questions. Their answers are about 1 page typed (double spaced). They were due before the break but some kids needed some more time so I changed the due date to the 10th. What I'm getting at is that I have 50 pages of reading/editing ahead of me and two weeks to get it back to the kids so they can type their final copy.
Then there's FCAT related stuff like test prep, assessments and achievement meetings. We're going to attempt covering the entire Science textbook in 2 months. My kids and I are in for an intense couple of months. Lucky for me(positive attitude) I have a great class of well behaved and motivated students, my challenge will be to keep them from freaking out and cracking under the pressure. From my point of view whatever will be, will be. That doesn't mean I'm not putting any extra effort into my teaching, but I'm not going to completely stress myself out either.
Being back at school also means family life will be kicked into high gear. My daughter is on her high school softball team so that means practices and games 5 days a week. My son is in the Boy Scouts and they're in the middle of their biggest fundraiser-the Spaghetti Dinner. That involves meetings, ticket sales and a lot of prep work. I have a feeling I'm going to blink it it will be the end of February!
Well, it's getting late and I still have a set of papers to grade. I got a lot of that done over the break but there are still some piles lingering here and there. If I want to get to bed at a decent hour I'd better wrap things up.
Between preparing the kids for FCAT in March and 5th grade Exhibition, the next two months are going to be brutal! Each fifth grade class in my school participates in Exhibition projects. The Exhibition projects consists of groups of students that are studying a global issue in depth. Each group had to come up with 8 key questions about their topic. The questions serve the purpose of driving their inquiry. Each student is responsible for researching the answer to 2 of the key questions. Their answers are about 1 page typed (double spaced). They were due before the break but some kids needed some more time so I changed the due date to the 10th. What I'm getting at is that I have 50 pages of reading/editing ahead of me and two weeks to get it back to the kids so they can type their final copy.
Then there's FCAT related stuff like test prep, assessments and achievement meetings. We're going to attempt covering the entire Science textbook in 2 months. My kids and I are in for an intense couple of months. Lucky for me(positive attitude) I have a great class of well behaved and motivated students, my challenge will be to keep them from freaking out and cracking under the pressure. From my point of view whatever will be, will be. That doesn't mean I'm not putting any extra effort into my teaching, but I'm not going to completely stress myself out either.
Being back at school also means family life will be kicked into high gear. My daughter is on her high school softball team so that means practices and games 5 days a week. My son is in the Boy Scouts and they're in the middle of their biggest fundraiser-the Spaghetti Dinner. That involves meetings, ticket sales and a lot of prep work. I have a feeling I'm going to blink it it will be the end of February!
Well, it's getting late and I still have a set of papers to grade. I got a lot of that done over the break but there are still some piles lingering here and there. If I want to get to bed at a decent hour I'd better wrap things up.
1.01.2007
Happy New Year!!
It's hard to believe that it's 2007!
I can't say that I have "resolutions", I'd rather call them goals. So among other things, I've decided to start a "Life List". Check out the link to set one up for yourself. It's free and easy to do. They have plenty ideas to help you get started and you can contact other members to get input on how to achieve your goals.
My first goal is to be more positive. Anyone that knows me well can tell you that I tend to be somewhat negative. So one thing I'm trying to work on is making an effort to focus on the positive. From what I'm told there's plenty of positive things in my life; thank God for my husband because he's always able to point out the things that are going well. Sometimes I need that kick in the pants to adjust my attitude.
My second goal is to do a better job of managing my finances. I know I nickel and dime myself to death with stupid little purchases(mostly from CVS). I'm thinking about giving myself an allowance and seeing if I can make it last from one paycheck to another. One thing that will help me get all this under control is to make myself sit down and plan a menu for the week. That way we won't be as tempted to order out or make a nightly run to the grocery store to pick up "something quick". Lastly, I should probably increase the amount I put into my retirement account.
My final goal(for now anyway) for 2007 is to be more patient with everyone. That's another big one for me. I think that for the most part I am a nice and decent human being. However, I do tend to get impatient with a variety of people-other drivers on the road, the "winter residents" of my area, and my family. I'm not a complete tyrant, but if I can increase my patience and try to have a more positive attitude I know my family and friends will feel a difference.
In a nutshell that's about it for now. Hopefully I'll make some progress on those graded papers this week. So far I am doing pretty well, almost halfway through.
Happy New Year!!
I can't say that I have "resolutions", I'd rather call them goals. So among other things, I've decided to start a "Life List". Check out the link to set one up for yourself. It's free and easy to do. They have plenty ideas to help you get started and you can contact other members to get input on how to achieve your goals.
My first goal is to be more positive. Anyone that knows me well can tell you that I tend to be somewhat negative. So one thing I'm trying to work on is making an effort to focus on the positive. From what I'm told there's plenty of positive things in my life; thank God for my husband because he's always able to point out the things that are going well. Sometimes I need that kick in the pants to adjust my attitude.
My second goal is to do a better job of managing my finances. I know I nickel and dime myself to death with stupid little purchases(mostly from CVS). I'm thinking about giving myself an allowance and seeing if I can make it last from one paycheck to another. One thing that will help me get all this under control is to make myself sit down and plan a menu for the week. That way we won't be as tempted to order out or make a nightly run to the grocery store to pick up "something quick". Lastly, I should probably increase the amount I put into my retirement account.
My final goal(for now anyway) for 2007 is to be more patient with everyone. That's another big one for me. I think that for the most part I am a nice and decent human being. However, I do tend to get impatient with a variety of people-other drivers on the road, the "winter residents" of my area, and my family. I'm not a complete tyrant, but if I can increase my patience and try to have a more positive attitude I know my family and friends will feel a difference.
In a nutshell that's about it for now. Hopefully I'll make some progress on those graded papers this week. So far I am doing pretty well, almost halfway through.
Happy New Year!!
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