Babysitting on a Friday Night

Tonight I had the pleasure of babysitting two wonderful little girls whom I have known since they were very little.  This is how it went down:

At 7:00 p.m. they were like this:

At 8:00 p.m. they were like this:

At 9:00 p.m. they were like this:

At 10:00 p.m. I felt like this:

       And they were STILL like this:

After playing catch with their dog Daisey, a few rounds of Headbands and Apple To Apples, baking cookies, decorating cookies, cleaning the kitchen, and playing the Wii I was exhausted.  Yet they seemed to still be bouncing off the walls looking for the next fun activity for us to do.  I wish I still had that much energy but right now all I want to do is crawl and sleep forever.

I Believe

Hanging next to the window in my bedroom, in a white frame, outlined in pink, is this quote:

I truly believe in everything listed in this quote.  There are some parts that I take to heart.

1. I really love the color pink.  One of the walls in my room is pink, my bedspread has pink flowers on it, the background of my computer is pink, and sitting on my dresser is a bouquet of pink gerbera daisies. I believe that this color makes me genuinely happy when I see it.

2. Who doesn’t want laughing to be the best calorie burner? Come on.

3. Smiling is an attractive feature for everyone.  Lucky for me I have a classroom full of students that make me smile every day.  (Of course they also make me shoot looks that can stop them in their tracks too, but I try to keep those to a minimum.)  Happy people are just attractive people.  Everyone wants to be around happy people who smile.

4. Tomorrow IS another day.  Every day that we wake up we have another chance to get things right and to do the things that make us happy. J

5. Miracles. I believe that truly extraordinary, unexplainable things happen every day. I have another little sign in my room that says, “all you need is faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust” –Peter Pan.  Magical things can happen. 

Teachers PAY Teachers...??

Over a year ago, as I was carefully looking over the latest educational posts on pinterest, I stumbled across the website www.teacherspayteachers.com.  Ever since that day I have spent countless hours reading and downloading educational materials that REAL teachers are doing in their classrooms.  I cannot begin to tell you the number of downloads I have accumulated from this one site over the past year.

Teachers Pay Teachers brands themselves as an open marketplace for educators where teachers buy, sell, and share original teaching resources. Through this website I have not only found resources but also teachers from around the United States who absolutely inspire me.  I read their short biographies on their website, I visit their blogs frequently, and I am always excited when they share a new free resource.  

Now, I’m not saying that I download and use everything that is available on this site.  There are certainly resources that I have found more useful than others.  Any teacher that uses this site should look at each resource with a critical lens and decide for himself or herself whether or not it would be appropriate for their students. However, I do think it is an amazing resource that all teachers should know is out there!

One day I hope to have enough original ideas and resources to have my own page on this site.  I really hope that if that day ever comes I will inspire a few teachers of my own.  

Chapter 2: Realistic Fiction Story

As Olivia approached the old wooden bench she took one last deep breath before turning to sit.  For a warm spring night in Virginia, the seat felt fairly cold to her skin as she sat, crossing her right leg over her left.  Sam slowly took the seat next to her.  Originally sitting a bit too close for Olivia’s liking but he slid back a few inches before turning to look up at her.

“Do you remember the first night we found this spot?” Sam asked.  Olivia searched his face to see whether or not he was genuinely unsure if she remembered. It upset her that he could actually think, for even one second, that she didn’t remember that night. If she wanted to she could tell him that he was wearing a navy blue hooded sweatshirt and his white baseball cap turned backwards.  She could tell him that his face had burned slightly from standing in the sun during his lacrosse game.  She could even tell him that she could still picture the exact  smile he gave to her when he finished carving their names into the tree.  

She didn’t tell him that though. 

Sticking with her short but stern replies she simply answered, “I do”.  She could see a flicker of pain in his eyes at her impassive answer but her face remained fixed.  “What about it?” she asked.

Inhaling deeply, he turned away for a moment to look back at the tree.  “When I was carving those letters, I knew that I loved you.  I tried to tell you that night but I couldn’t”.  Sam turned back to look at Olivia’s face as she sat there motionless.  Continuing on, this time with his eyes towards the ground, “I always thought this was it. You and me.  I want you to know that.”  Clearing his throat, he looked up, straight into her eyes this time,  “I want you to know that for a long time every time I passed this tree I thought about that night and how happy you made me”.

Olivia felt her eyes beginning to fill with water.  She quickly battered her eyelashes, holding back the tears she knew would come later and hoping that Sam hadn’t noticed the internal struggle she had just briefly went through.

Finally, she broke her silence. 

Guilty Pleasures...

Tonight I will be indulging in one of my biggest guilty pleasures; The Bachelor.  I have been watching for WEEKS as bachelor Sean has traveled the world as he tries to decide who his future wife will be.  Sean started his journey with over a dozen different women.  Over the weeks, he has (for lack of a better term) weeded his way through them all. This evening our bachelor will be choosing between Lindsay and Catherine to decide which one he will be giving the last and final rose to. Not to mention a very large and gorgeous diamond!   

I know this sounds pretty bad. Trust me. I am well aware.  It’s just that sometimes I need to completely zone out into the world that is The Bachelor. A world where one man dates twelve different women at once and gives them roses each week if he decides he likes them enough.  Sometimes you need to live in someone else’s world for a little. 

That is exactly what I am going to do right now…. I’ll worry about my life later because right now Sean needs to choose his wife! 

Day 5: Sleepless Nights

When my head hits the pillow

Very late at night

I just know

My eyes, will put up a fight

I can’t help but wonder

About every little thing

My piece is torn asunder

As my mind is in full swing

As the to-do list starts to grow

Anxiety is the status quo 

Saint Patrick's Day Parade!

Today is the Stamford St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  I have always absolutely loved St. Patrick’s Day.  I think one of the reasons I have such fond memories of celebrating this day is because of my dad.  For as long as I can remember my dad has been involved in running one parade or another in the month of March. 

 

When I was much younger, my dad was somewhat involved in the Yonkers St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  The only thing I really remember about parade days was that my mom would get my sister and I all dressed up.  We would wear big wool sweaters and our hair would be up in pigtails with yards of green and white ribbon tied neatly into bows.  Then, we would meet my dad’s family at a predetermined spot and wave and cheer in anticipation for him to walk by with his shillelagh.

When we would finally see him turn the street corner with the Sons of St. Patrick, the cheering and clapping would get that much louder.  Every year, he would stop to take a picture with us and then take my sister and I to finish walking the rest of the parade route with him.  Walking next to my dad in the parade always made me feel so special.  The crowds of people would cheer and wave and sometimes my dad would even carry me on his shoulders.  After years of doing this, it is a feeling that I will never forget.

Today I will not be marching with my dad.  Sometime around middle school I got a little too embarrassed for it. Even though I have, on occasion, jumped in midway through with some of my friends, this year I will be clapping for my dad from the sidelines as he walks by with his shillelagh. 

Seven-Year-Olds Give Good Advice

Yesterday, one of my students told me her foolproof method for getting a snow day.  This is what she said:

1.     Throw an ice cube into the toilet while doing a snow dance

2.    Sleep with your pajamas inside out

3.    Sleep with a spoon under your pillow

Now you better believe that I did all of those things last night.  It might sound pretty silly to everyone else but it WORKED. 

After I got home yesterday, I really felt like I needed a day. My mom would always call them mental health days when I was younger.  Just a little extra time to work on my grad school projects, do some reading, finish work for school, do the laundry, and sleep.  It was a lovely day.

Next time you want a snow day, I suggest following the advice above from one smart seven-year old. 

Are You Wondering Something?

 

I am absolutely in LOVE with http://wonderopolis.org right now.  I think the site and the idea behind it is absolutely amazing!  Over the past few weeks, I have been using some of the articles on the website with a student I am tutoring and he loves them almost as much as I do.

As I’ve spent more time exploring the website I’ve found more and more reasons to love on it. First of all, each article is accompanied with a video.  I’ve used the video, as I’m sure many teachers have, to build background knowledge and motivate my student to read the article.  So far it is working wonders!  I have also recently discovered the “still wondering?” section. From what I’ve seen, when you post a comment to this section, an administrator of the website answers you. Earlier this week, my student and I brainstormed something we were still wondering about the article we had just read about roller coasters.   He was VERY impressed after seeing his name pop up on the site.  

         Isaac wanted to ask the question: “Which roller coaster delivers the most g-force”.  I cannot wait to show him the response he got!  The writers at wonderopolis wrote back almost immediately and complimented him on his great question!  I know how much this will mean to him and how much it will help me get him to keep responding to articles. 

         A BIG thank you to the writers at Wonderopolis.org for making my life a little easier.  Also, for helping a very reluctant reader begin to develop a joy for reading and giving him a place to learn about writing for an audience.  

AH-HA! Moments

 

One of the ABSOLUTE BEST moments for a teacher is when a student FINALLY understands something.  The crazy thing is that it really is an exact moment.  You can literally see it on their face when a light finally goes off in their head and you know they’ve got it.

         I encountered one of these much too rare moments today during my math class.  While practicing subtraction with touch points, I was working with one of my students on the question 5-5=___.   He has a tough time counting backwards so I thought I would give him a little break by explaining to him why he didn’t even have to count backwards for this problem! 

Counting out five fingers I showed him that if I have a total of five and then I take five away I am left with nothing.  He stared at my hand for a bit longer than usual, turned to look up at me with wide eyes and said, “that is actually true” (like I’ve been lying to him for the past six months?).  I said “YES and now you’ve got it!”.  He looked so genuinely satisfied with himself that I couldn’t help but feel so happy.  I was glad that I finally said it in a way that got through to him (or just the magic number of times it took for it to actually sick) but also incredibly happy for him.

These are the moments that keep me going!