Unanswered Prayer/Waiting

Well, I will share the good news first. Last week, my son made the middle school baseball team at school. He was one of only 2 sixth graders selected. I'm proud of him. I love baseball season. I haven't always been a fan, but have enjoyed watching him play for the past 6 years. This is the time of year that I look forward to... longer days, warmer days, and just enjoying being outside in the warmth.

I have been praying (as well as Amber) for Jim's work hours to change for over a year and a half now. He has been on night shift. He had been very involved in coaching Josh up until that time. We have missed not being able to see him at night. Well, about a month ago, he started talking about his hours possibly changing. The day that we were supposed to find out about the change was 2 weeks ago tomorrow. Argh!! I am impatient. I know God is teaching me something through this, and Jim is an awesome help to us in the morning, but we hardly get to see him during the week. Also, he has missed out on seeing Josh (and Amber) play ball. He told me yesterday that now the word is they are supposed to find out in 2 more weeks. Josh's games start next week. As if life isn't hectic enough, he is playing through a rec. league too (and Amber). So, it's like I have 3 kids (3 different sports commitments), a full-time job, and being a mom. I am definitely outnumbered. I guess this too shall pass would be a good thing to remember.

Good Teaching Day

I felt good about today and lately there have been a lot of teaching days where I have gotten down on myself (I feel rushed and maybe I didn't get to do centers or Social Studies or something else that I feel is important). Today, we got to everything. Reading groups are going well and I got to listen to all three of my groups while the students did some independent work and went to their centers. I've only incorporated the centers somewhat consistently since January, so it's been trial and error. I need to just bottle up whatever happened today and try and capture it for the rest of this week- or better yet, the rest of the year:-) I know that's being unrealistic! Anyway, I have wanted to do centers since the fall, but I felt overwhelmed of how to organize it. I must say that I've started small. The important thing for me to remember is to take small "baby" steps. I know that I've made progress in the past year of teaching and I can look forward to continuing to learn and grow as a teacher. I am more excited about having more flexibility in my teaching these days. Only 16 more school days until Spring Break- Yeah!

Amber's 6th Birthday

Amber turned 6 on Thursday. That's hard to believe that she is getting older. We took her out to eat at one of her favorite restaurants (Bob Evans) that night. Also, we took her a cookie cake to share at school. We made the decision to have her first "big" party. She has been talking about doing a Build a Bear party for quite some time. We invited the girls in her class and a couple of other children. I think that the party turned out great- it was a little overwhelming having 7 excited little girls in the house (we had cake here before the party). My family also came into town, so it has been a crazy day. Overall, I'd say that I would consider doing a party at Build a Bear again someday because the kids loved it. I know that I would have loved Build a Bear when I was a child, but they didn't have anything as cool as that when I was little.

Valentine's Day

Hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day yesterday. Jim got me roses and had my favorite Starbuck's coffee when I woke up for school yesterday morning. That was sweet. I love Starbuck's peppermint mocha coffee. They started selling it right before Christmas, but I'm hooked because it is not strong like some of their coffees are. They said they may run out of the peppermint soon (it was just for the holidays), but I'm hoping that they will keep it:-)

I've had the flu going around my class. One had it last week and now 3 had it this week. I'm hoping my family stays clear of that. I've never had the flu, and I didn't get the flu shot. I always debate about whether to get it for myself and the kids, but I took a chance this year.

A friend offered to watch the kids for us tomorrow night so that Jim and I can go out. He works nights, so we weren't able to go out for Valentine's Day. We rarely ever get to go out on "date" nights anymore (minus the kids). I think this is something we need to start doing maybe once a month. I guess that's about all for now. I'm looking forward to having a long weekend (we don't work Monday):-)

Pet Peeves

What are your pet peeves? Here are my top peeves:

1. The toilet paper being put on the wrong side (I like it going over the top, not under).
2. When you go to wash clothes (which I don't do much of anymore) and the shirt has one sleeve that is inside out (the same with pants).
3. In school, if the students don't give the other kids time to think through an answer (and just give it to them). I tell the kids that God gave each one of them a brain and they can sound out the word (or figure it out). It just takes some a little longer than others.
4. Also related to school: If I have more than one child calling out my name or trying to talk to me (also crowding around me). This overwhelms me.
5. Having to ask my child to study:-) Or, do his homework for that matter. I feel like he should be responsible enough to know what needs to be done.

Well, I guess those are my top 5 for now. I know I have an "anal" personality about some things. I need to learn to let go.

Teaching is Hard

I promise to not try to be too down today, but it was a rough day. I had a parent confrontation in the cafeteria as we were about to line up to leave lunch. Lunch time is a stressful time all on its own, but add an angry parent and things got dramatic!

I'm o.k. now. I know what I did was right and I think it will all work out, but it was a difficult position to be in. The lunch room is definitely not the most appropriate time to be having a conversation (friendly or not). I'm really not sure why God placed me in that position today, but I do know that I am standing up to this student and making this child be accountable for their actions. I can rest knowing that I'm trying to be fair and love this child.

I think some parents think that their child will think that they aren't loved if they have to discipline them. But the Bible says that we are spoiling our children if we don't discipline them. I feel like the "bad guy" a lot of times and it's very uncomfortable for me. I just pray that tomorrow is a better day. I will try to be more upbeat. Meanwhile, I still want to post pictures, but my computer won't cooperate.

The post that wouldn't post

This is my third attempt at this post. For some reason, I wanted to post some pictures from our new camera, but my computer has been doing weird things when I try to do this. My computer would disconnect from the internet and we have roadrunner (which means we're supposed to be connected all the time, right?)

I'm not a computer guru, but this has confused me. I think our computer is on it's last leg. We've had it for quite some time so I guess it's time for it to die. I just can't figure out why I can't get the picture to upload without my computer losing connection when it's supposed to stay connected 24 hours.

Onto another topic: Our first field trip is tomorrow to Latta Plantation. I've never been so I am looking forward to going and maybe learning something new tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be bad, but maybe it will hold out for us:-)

I would like to try to post some pictures, but I'm afraid to push my luck- I may try in a separate post.

A Small Vent

I don't really like to write about my students that much (I guess out of fear of someone's eyes seeing this and being offended), but I feel the need to write about what continues to puzzle me every day about kids.

I teach at a private, Christian school and am amazed at the lack of respect, manners and just kids being downright disobedient. Each week, at least one student is sent down to the office. I'm a pretty nice person most of the time, but I don't feel that way at school a lot of the time! Today, I had yet another conflict with a student that continues to have problems doing what they are supposed to be doing. I would have sent this child to the office today but the principal was out and has been for most of the week. So, I called the child's mom and told the mom to come pick the child up because this student wasn't listening to me! I'm not going to continue to deal with someone not obeying and doing what they are supposed to be doing.

I really think that the problem with kids today is the lack of discipline in the home and the amount of media that children are bombarded with- this alone can't be helping the raising of our precious children. I talked with another teacher this morning that agreed that the t.v. has become our children's "babysitter". That's pretty sad, but true. I know it hits hard for me because I like to watch my favorite shows (American Idol), but I've started trying to implement quiet times in the evenings with my own children.

So, what do I do? I guess I'll keep fighting this battle and discipline in my classroom like I believe God is leading. I don't know how it's going to work when nothing is being done at home- I'm fighting a losing battle in some instances. Sorry to be so negative, but I really wish we were doing a better job parenting our kids these days. I know when I was growing up we didn't have these kinds of problems with children in the classroom.