Cha Cha Change

Chapel Glen has been a "looping" school for a while now. While I say it has been looping, not all teachers have actually participated fully in the looping deal. Some teachers really don't like it while others do. I fall into the 'do' category for the most part. I totally agree with some of the negative aspects of looping: double the resources, double the read alouds, having bad kids/parents for two years, double the curriculum map, etc. But I really liked looping last year!

Anywhoodles...we are no longer going to be looping. Also, many teachers are moving around. I, however, am not! I will stay in first grade although I will be moving classrooms. Currently there are 6 teachers on my team but next year there will be 5 (as of now). At CGE, classes are never set until August! We have so many late enrollees/withdrawls that it's hard to know for certain. 

I decided to move classrooms to be next to Emily. We both teach the cluster kids and it will be easier to move kids between the two rooms. We also chat all the time so now there is less room to walk!

I am currently trying to decide if I want to do a robot or owl theme for my classroom next year (or maybe just even polka dots?). I can't get rid of my jungle carpets or read-aloud chair so they will just have to blend in. What do you think?

 Owls?

Robots?

Post #101

I told Lindsay that my 100 day blogathon was supposed to end yesterday (even though I didn't quite follow the full NY resolution). She then asked "Are you going to stop writing then?" Well duh, no!

I will definitely keep blogging! I love looking through my pictures and writing blogs based off of those but it takes forever to scan pics and then save them. Usually I get really into blog writing one night and go at it for a while. So hopefully I will get at least one or two out a week. Especially with summer coming up!

100th Post!

Ok...I didn't quite fulfill my NY resolution. I also slacked quite a bit here in March but I did get 100 blogs written in 100 days! I had to pull some sever double or triple duty in April but I got some good things written! I was hoping to add some new followers but c'est la vie!

Tell me: What was your favorite post that I wrote in the last 100 days?

Fun Zoe Pics

I know I may have posted at least 2 of these before...but I love these pics!!

Zoe doing what she does 2nd best: sleeping.

Oh. Hello large butt.

What are you doing?

"You Know You Teach First Grade When..."

1.   You can decipher and read all kinds of "inventive spelling."
2. You get more excited than the 200 children in the school supply aisle at Walmart in August.
3. You sharpen no less than 10 pencils a day.
4. You get called mom or grandma at least five times a day, and it's not coming from your own flesh and blood children.
5.  You HATE popsicle day at lunch because none of the kids can open them.
6. You LOVE Dollar Tree!
7. You have truly wanted to be a foster parent for a number of your students that are having a rough time at home.
8. You go to the grocery store for milk and bread but come home with craft supplies for school instead.
9. You are constantly wondering if you have head lice, especially after a student yells, "Mrs. Reed _____ has bugs in her hair!" 
10. You can't wait for summer because you want to start planning for next year.

Rat Tail

kindergarten

first grade

When I was in kindergarten I had a short little cute hair cut. For some reason, I thought having short hair would be better. However, I guess I didn't want to get rid of ALL of my longer hair. So, I opted to keep a rat tail. 

 

Why you ask??

I HAVE NO IDEA.

Sports Center

I love sports. Clint does not love sports. How can we be married, you ask? Well, it ain't easy!

Just kidding! 

I know it seems weird that I love sports but Clint does not. He doesn't dislike sports; he played football and wrestled in high school. He likes to watch the Colts and go to baseball games. He just doesn't usually want to watch all of the games nor does he usually choose to watch sports. He does like going to hockey games just not too many. I love the show PTI (pardon the Interruption) and Around the Horn. He hates when those shows are on...but he usually lets me watch :)

I love baseball the most! He dislikes baseball the most because it is long and he says it's boring. I disagree but oh well. I love the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox.

I think my dad is one reason I love sports so much, although my sisters don't like sports pretty much at all. Dad and I would always watch together. He was also my softball coach almost every year I played from 8 years old to 18.

Fort Night!

Last Friday Lindsay and I hung out all afternoon and evening after school. We did some shopping, went to eat, went to the movies, and then came home to build a fort like when we were young.

First we had to gather all the blankets in the house.

We used clothespins to keep all the blankets in place.

We used chairs, tv trays, the vacuum, and lamps to build the frame.

Zoe and I were watching Unstoppable.

Clint came to join us but was fake sleeping.

Just like the old days!

Pet Peeve #3

Pet Peeve #3: Zoe stepping on my toes.

 

Zoe steps on people's feet ALL the time! Part of the problem is that we don't keep her nails short too often, which is totally our fault. However! She doesn't have to go out of her way just to step on my toes! It's just uncalled for!

Karaoke

I am not the next American Idol. I'll just put that out there now. I do however LOVE to sing! I sing in the car all the time. I sing to myself quite a bit too. One time, at grandma's garage sale there was a cd playing. I decided it was time for a new one. While I was switching cd's I continued singing. Lindsay decided to open her big mouth and yell that I needed to switch cds! She didn't realize that I was singing! How rude!

Anyways, I went karaoking for the first time a few years ago when I worked at Cracker Barrel. There were a few older ladies that I loved!! Well decided to go to Kazablanka's and sing our hearts out! We sang some Sugarland and The Temptations. We were definitely the stars that night! 

I have sang karaoke a couple of other times but most of the people I know are too chicken to do it, so it's a rare but special occurrence!

The good thing about karaoke is that if you put on a good show but don't sing the best, you are still awesome!

Where I Like to Eat

As we all know, I am a plain and picky eater. I can usually eat most places other than very ethnic places because they will most likely have a cheeseburger or some form of chicken. The two things are my safety choices. However, here are a few of my faves:

Denny's - A place that most people don't choose to go. I LOVE their pancakes, bacon, and sausage!! Yummy!

Ponderosa - This one probably makes the top of the list where most people say "Gross!" There aren't very many Ponderosa's around although there is one in Mooresville! I love chicken wings!

Taco Bell - Who doesn't like Taco Bell? I usually get a chili cheese burrito and a plain taco or burrito...sometimes even cinnamon twists! Deeeeelish!

BW3's - Their chili nachos are great and of course the wings are yummy too!

Pizza Hut - I was debating between the Hut and Pizza King and decided that I like Pizza Hut just a tad more. They get the upper edge because PK tends to overcook the pizza every couple times. Pizza Hut is just so yummy and the breadsticks are good too!

Sal's - Another pizza place but a local company! Their pizza is so big and so good! Their bread and breadsticks are scrumptious too. Too bad they're closed on Sundays though.

There are tons of other places I like to eat but now I am hungry!

Pet Peeve #2

Pet Peeve #2 Repeating Myself

I know that I saw 'what?' a lot. It is not because I am not listening, rather I didn't process it. I can completely understand that or if someone couldn't truly hear me because of loud noises or something exciting happening. However, I hate repeating myself. If you don't want to put forth enough attention to hear what I say, then I am not going to give you my extra attention to repeat myself. A majority of the time I don't feel this way. Some certain people do it a lot so I just don't repeat myself around them much. Easier for me!

Sailing

Ha! Tricked you. This is not about sailing as in boats but sailing as in garage sales! My mom has always been an avid garage sale enthusiast. This was passed on to her children. Every summer, the neon signs are hung up and squeaky wheeled turns are made and I know that it is garage sale season! 

Sadly, this summer will be spent finding deals without muzzy. Lindsay will only be here for part of the summer so I guess I must get accustomed to finding the "sails" on my own because Clint has to be in a really good mood to stop for one.

Some of the best memories come from our summer trips! The garage sale special is a big one! There is a neighborhood by mom's old house that always has a block sale. This neighborhood comes out in full force too! I would say at least 75% participate which is awesome! Several years ago we were walking the neighborhood and realized we were getting hungry. All of a sudden we came upon a sale that had a grill out and they were selling a garage sale special! A hot dog, coke, and bag of chips for $2 (or so)! Holy shmokes Batman! Now we are always on the lookout for the G.S.S. It makes the trip worthwile. Over time, we have started to see hot dog selling much more common. The G.S.S. has now morphed into cinnamon rolls at breakfast time...yummy!

I hope to find some one of a kid deals this summer. A couple of my favorite finds:

*my astronaut troll

*dinosaur collection (for indoor recess)

*clothing (in general)

*.10 bag at churches (fill the bag for only a dime...guess you could call it a dime bag)

*exercise equipment (I never buy it...just love to try it out!)

Stuff I don't want to see at a garage sale:

*bras

*underwear

*lingerie

*overpriced crap (it's a garage sale...not a department store!)

Favorite Teachers

Growing up I had several very good teachers. Almost all of my teachers were at least ok; I really only had a couple I did not like. I admit I didn't make it easy on my teachers. I was always very chatty and on my own little path.

Mrs. Boatman - Kindergarten

Now of course I don't remember much about kindergarten except that it was awesome! I remember sitting on the circle, singing songs that had movements, writing and publishing my own books (Scaredy Cat, My Pets - all classics!)., and the Writing to Read Lab! Great times! I also remember on her birthday her husband came in wearing a gorilla costume and the danced around the room. lol

Mrs. Campbell - 7th Grade Geography

I think Mrs. Campbell started my geography love! She was so fun and wacky - my kind of teacher! I was in the GT class and boy were we a bunch of smart alecks!  She put up with us and had fun too.

Mrs. Gramer - HS Precalculus and Calculus

Not many people really liked Mrs. Gramer but I loved her! precal and calculus were definitely not easy, but she was a really good teacher! She was very good at explaining things and showing all the steps. She also had a good sense of humor - she didn't make jokes but we all did and she laughed along with us.

Prof. Olmer - Physics for Elementary teachers IUB

I took enriched physics in high school and somehow got a C- the first semester. I think Wally took pity on me. So I decided to move to regular physics for the second semester. I was a senior and didn't need no stinkin stress! I got an A in regular but did not enjoy physics. When I was in college, I found out that I had to take physics again! I was seriously worried! Well my teacher, who also worked at Wonderlab in Bloomington, was a total physics geek! Even though I had her in huge lecture with a couple hundred people, I still really liked her. Again, she explained things so well that it wasn't hard! She was totally old school but loved physics so much that it made her job fun probably.

Pet Peeve #1

I have been wanting to write a blog post about my pet peeves, but everytime I think about the list I forget what I was going to write! So I will just randomly list them.

Pet Peeve #1: Squeaky Windshield Wipers

 

 

I cannot stand when I am in the car and the windshield wipers go back and forth SQUEAKING! Lindsay and Clint already know this and are aware of the noise now. How they didn't notice it before I told them how annoying it was is beyond me!

Time Capsule

I know I'm kind of on a roll about childhood stories...but hey? I had a great childhood!

When I was about 8 we talked about time capsules at school. I thought this idea was awesome so I went home and made my own time capsule. I had a round clear plastic ball somehow and put a bunch of stuff in it. I don't remember what was in it other than a dollar. I decided to bury it in the backyard in front of the swingset. 

About 2 years later I tried to find it again. I decided I didn't want to wait for someone to find. I wanted to find it! Well...I never found it.

Favorite Authors

I love to read. I especially love to read books from the same author. If you like something, don't you want more? I like several kinds of books but I don't branch out much either, which is why Lindsay and I are doing our book club (anyone still want to join??). I of course love children's books in addition to mysteries, history, and young adult. 

A few of my favorite authors:

Of course I like other authors but these are some of my faves!

Jokes

 

When I worked at Cracker Barrel, I worked with this older lady named Linda. She was hilarious! We had a great friendship but we loved to play tricks on each other! One day she decided to put a nasty red onion slice on my shoulder when I wasn't looking! I walked around and even took orders with that on my shoulder! Little did she know that she started a war!

Onions were so easy to throw on anyone's shoulder because they can't feel them and you can even do it from kind of far away because they will just stick! Well, onions got old so we moved onto putting spoons and straws in the back belt loop of people's pants! That was hilarious! It was also more of a challenge because you had to stand right behind them and try to make sure they didn't feel it.

Finally, my antics caught up to me and I got in trouble by the managers. Not all the managers didn't like it-I had once even got an onion on the GM! The best part? I didn't even DO the trick I got in trouble for. I guess I got it because I was the ring leader!

Barbies

When us three were younger we had the largest collection of Barbies on the westside! Not only did we have a HUGE rubbermaid full of barbies and another rubbermaid full of clothes and accessories, we had these:

the Barbie Jeep Grand Cherokee

Barbie kitchen set that made noises

a Barbie pool

a Barbie speedboat

 We also had a Barbie limo and motorcycle but I can't find pictures.

My favorite Barbie doll near the end of my doll days was actually the Kira doll. She was asian-like and way cooler! I even had the rollerblade Barbies! 3 of them to be exact! They were the coolest of the cool! I almost played with the rollerblades more than the Barbie because it sparked like a lighter!

Line Dancing

 

Several years ago when I worked at Cracker Barrel, the same friend who took me karaoking, told me that she used to line dance at 8 Seconds Saloon. I of course was intrigued! I love to dance and I love country music! Well, she decided to put her boots back on and go dancing! Every Thursday (now Wednesdays) they gave a free (now $3 admission) line dance lesson. We started going every week for quite a while. I learned several dances and even made some old people friends! I got Jessica to go with me and I even introduced Mike and Betsy at 8 Seconds!

I stopped going after about a year because I started teaching at CGE and didn't have the time. Then after several months I started going again. Then I took another break and then started going again with Nicki. Now I haven't been in a few months and I am getting the itch to go again! Winter months is my rest time I guess. 

A few years ago we even went to 8 Seconds for NYE! They had the mechanical bull going which Clint had to do! Amy and George joined us and we had a great time. Amy of course walked in and was like WTH? Like Cloverdale doesn't look like 8 Seconds all the time?!

Time to get my boots ready so I can go boot scootin! Who's with me?

Apartment

 

When Hilary and I were younger we would play "apartment" as opposed to "house." Why we called it this, I don't know? Anyways, we played this in our bathroom. I got to live on top of the washer and dryer by the window. Hilary got to live in the bathtub. 

Ok. Breathe from laughter.

We brought in all our blankets and pillows and snacks and would pretend we lived there. Dad of course would never let us actually sleep in there. What a drag!