i think she really means it…

Just a Thought

Friday, October 23rd, 2009 | Random Thoughts | No Comments

One of my best friends just had her first baby. I have decided that I’m in desperate need of one of those myself.

The Business of Being Born

Thursday, August 27th, 2009 | Random Thoughts | 3 Comments

I did it.  I caved.  I’ve heard about the documentary “The Business of Being Born” but wrote it off as propaganda and sensationalization.  However, as we consider starting a family, my curiosity was piqued.  I’ve been learning more about natural birth and midwifery.  Our current insurance doesn’t cover it, and it all kinda sounded a little “hippie” to me.  Yet, as I think about becoming a mommy in the future, I realize that I definitely have some hopes and expectations about childbirth.

I won’t go into detail about the film as it surely isn’t for everyone.  However, it has made me certain that I want a natural birth (except in the case of emergency, of course).  I want to experience the birthing process and reach the lowest and darkest moment in my life thus far (labor) to experience the ultimate, highest point in life (having a baby).  I know my body can do it.  It’s scares me to death (and I am not exaggerating…some of the labor scenes did have me considering forgetting childbirth altogether!!), but it’s an experience I want.

Someday…

What I Did Over My Summer Vacation…

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 | Random Thoughts | No Comments

It has been a relaxing summer indeed!  What a joy!

I spent a weekend at my Grandma’s house with my cousin in June.  And enjoyed the entire month of July with my love, Nate.  He was on sabbatical.  It was quite wonderful to spend the days together.  We spent the first 2 weeks of the month in Germany.  What a trip!  We got to see our friends, Dan and Sandra, visit Amsterdam, Salzburg, Nuremberg, Dachau, the Rhine Valley, Rothenburg, and a lot more!  We blogged daily about our many adventures. It was truly a trip of a lifetime.

We spent a nice long weekend in San Jose with Nate’s family where we enjoyed good food and the Marin Headlands.  Its always relaxing to spend time with Mom and Dad Jones.  At the end of July, my sister-in-law and two nieces took the Metrolink to the city for the day.  We ate at Clifton’s Cafeteria, spent a good two hours in the children’s room of the Los Angeles Public Library, visited Olvera Street, and had dinner in North Hollywood with cousin Emily.

At the beginning of August, Nate headed back to work and I went to my classroom.  I’ve been asked to move classrooms this year to accomodate for the larger class sizes I’ll be teaching (twice as many students!).  I will also be teaching 3 different classes; I’ve always taught 5 sections of the same class, Introduction to Algebra.  Needless to say, this is going to be a challenging year for Mrs. Jones.  Surprisingly, I’m not too anxious about it.  After reading my previous post, I think I may be ready for a different challenge in the classroom.  I’ll have 3 classes of Introduction to Algebra, 1 class of ELD Math with 6th and 7th graders, and 1 class of regular 8th grade math.  Is it weird to actually be excited about the new challenge?  Last time I did something crazy (go from teaching 1st grade to 8th grade), I fell in love with it.  I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I think this will be a good year.

As I was saying, at the beginning of August, I moved my classroom from Room 303 to Room 225.  A new room for a new year!  Last week I sat on an interview panel for a new vice principal for our school.  I was the only teacher in the group (2 principals, 3 vice principals, 2 administrative assitants, and 1 teacher).  It was quite an honor.  The experience was a good one and I’m grateful for our new VP.

This past weekend we spent some time with the Wallace family.  It’s always fun to go shopping with my mom while Nate hangs out at home on the computer with my dad.  I’m glad they enjoy each others’ company.

In addition to all of this, I’ve also spent a lot of time on Facebook, playing my DS, going for runs, and taking care of our home.

It’s been a good summer.

A Tough Year

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 | Sara the Teacher | No Comments

It’s finally over, the 2008-2009 school year.  For some reason this was one of the toughest years of my teaching career. The students last year (2007-2008) were a sweet bunch.  Perhaps I expected the same from this year’s class.  The 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 groups were challenging due to behavior issues.  This group, however, was quite different. 

I noticed right away how immature they all seemed in September.  They were also quite naive, which was a surprise for an 8th grade teacher.  But the characteristic that set them a part from all other students I have taught is that they were LAZY!  It was really discouraging.  I have never had so many students simply not do anything.  I would have preferred a little 8th grade attitude, but these kids gave me nothing.  I am used to students who hate math and don’t understand basic concepts.  That’s one of the reasons I enjoy my job so much.  When you start to unlock the mystery of mathematics, most students begin to find success.  Success is addicting and many students begin to enjoy the subject and put forth more effort.  Not so with this year’s class.  Too many of them worked far below their potential.  They weren’t motivated to do anything.  I care so deeply for my kids and put my best foot forward everyday I enter my classroom.  I pray God will use me in the lives of my students and depend on Him to renew my strength everyday. God is faithful and I know He gave me the motivation everyday to go back into a classroom full of unmotivated students.  For that I am grateful.

Yet, as the school year drew to a close, I found myself checked out.  I just didn’t really care anymore.  I was so burned out I began feeling quite cynical (of course the talk of “pay reductions” next year didn’t help matters!).

That’s not me!

I am a “glass is half full” kind of girl.  I love making “lemonade”…I took on 8th graders for goodness sake!  But my heart is sad.  My passion has fizzled a bit and I’m discouraged when I look at today’s youth.  It breaks my heart to think of what the future holds for this year’s students.  Even if most of them do graduate from high school, no one is going to want to hire a young adult who doesn’t care about working hard and thinks they deserve good things. 

I hope and pray that this summer will be relaxing.  I pray that God will renew my passion for middle schoolers and help me see the good in them.  I refuse to become the kind of person who “can’t believe what this world is coming to.”  I will not shake my head and say, “Kids these days…”  I will look at our community of 8th graders through God’s eyes, with a heart of compassion.

Just a Thought

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 | Random Thoughts | No Comments

If I stayed at work every night until 6:00, would I get more done, or would I simply find more to do? I thought I was through my first couple years of teaching!

Exhausted!

Friday, May 22nd, 2009 | Random Thoughts | 1 Comment

Between training for another crazy marathon, CST testing at school, celebrating the life of Nate’s beautiful grandma, celebrating my dad’s graduation and an absolutely amazing field trip, I’ve been a little busy lately. Life is so good! I have so many posts running around in my head, I just haven’t had a chance to write any of them down. I will get them down…eventually…
…and the first one will probably be an ode to my faithful friend, the double tall, nonfat, extra hot, vanilla latte, without whom, I don’t think I would have made it through these last two months!

Unless you, uh, have a limerick right now…

Friday, April 3rd, 2009 | Random Thoughts | 1 Comment

We had dinner at Islands on Pico tonight.  The guy sitting at the booth across the aisle from us looked so familiar.  It took but a minute or two to realize it was Steve Ireland, Mr. Zelner, Rachel’s boss at Ralph Lauren!  Pretty funny!  He was having an early dinner with a lady and four children (his family?).

I’m sure we rub shoulders with TV characters all the time, but I never recognize any of them.  I thought this was pretty cool.

March Madness

Friday, April 3rd, 2009 | Random Thoughts | No Comments

Whew!  What a month!  It’s the first month I didn’t get a single post up on my blog.  I’m trying not to feel too guilty about it.  The past month has been crazy!  Where do I begin?… › Continue reading

10 Happy Things

Friday, February 27th, 2009 | Sara the Teacher | No Comments

As mentioned in my previous post, this is a tough time of year in the classroom.  I am weary and I find myself focusing on the negative things that happen each day with my students.  Today during lunch, however, I had a change of heart and realized that there are many, many wonderful things happening in my classroom these days.  So, here are 10 things, in no particular order:

1.  I have 10 boys and 2 girls who hang out in my classroom every day during lunch.  They are a sweet bunch of kids.  As of late, the boys (8th graders, by the way) have been building forts and other structures with my “linking cube”  and other math manipulatives.  The have brought their little lego guys and made up whole story lines.  It is pure bliss (and quite funny) to listen to them “playing.”

2.  My special student (from a previous entry) has had a fabulous past 2 days.  She has been rational, quiet, and cooperative.  I like that side of her.

3.  The spinner puzzles project was a hit.  I taught my students about probability using spinner puzzles (think “Twister”) this week.  The last 2 days have been spent making up a puzzle of their own.  The puzzles now look fabulous hanging on the back wall of my classroom.

4.  I got a great review from my Vice Principal this week.  She observed me teach my students a lesson about interest last week.  I taught them all about buying a car and how interest rates vary according to your credit score.  I proceeded to give them a dose of reality by giving them a credit score based on their current grade in my class.  She said she *loved* it and was especially impressed that not one student asked to leave the classroom to get a drink  or go to the restroom during the entire 90 minutes!

5.  My lesson plans are made through the next two weeks (I guess you have to be a teacher to appreciate that one).

6.  Some of my students are really taking their goal-setting journals seriously.  It’s encouraging to see them reflect on their responsibility and hold themselves accountable for their work habits and behavior each week.

7.  I’ve had several students call me this week for help on their homework (I give them a special number to call me directly when they need help).  It’s taken a while, but I’m convincing them that teachers really do want to help them learn…they just have to be responsible and make the effort to ask.

8.  Open House is next Thursday and my room is pretty much ready (again, you kinda have to be a teacher to appreciate such a thing).

9.  I’m not on the list of teachers who will probably loose their jobs at the end of the school year.  I’ve been at CCMS for 4 years and have “tenure” status.  I am so grateful for my job.

10.  It’s Friday!  And…I don’t have any homework this weekend.

A Tough Time of Year

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 | Random Thoughts | 2 Comments

We are beginning one of the most challenging times of the school year.  And this year seems to be worse than ever.  This is the time of year where math gets hard…fractions, decimals, percents, multi-step problems.  I teach a group of students who don’t like math and really, really struggle with general math concepts.  Most of them have very little number sense and can’t understand that 1/4, 0.25, and 25% are all the same.  The lessons this time of year are fun (I think) as they seem to relate a lot more to real life than most math lessons.  We just did an activity last week where the students discovered what proportion of their day they spent sleeping, going to school, doing homework, and playing with their electronics.  Yesterday, I taught them how to find percent increases and decreases and we did a “shopping” activity.  Next week, I will show them how to get a loan for a car, what an interest rate is all about, and they will be given credit scores based on their performance in my class.   It’s all very interesting stuff, but the kids this year just seem so uninterested.  Many of them don’t put much effort into their learning and it’s very discouraging as their teacher.  Poor Nate, he’s gotten quite an earful these days.  He’s such a supportive husband.

I guess I’m just feeling so discouraged.  I really care about my students, and I go out of my way to modify lessons, make them interesting and appropriate to “real life,” and offer my time to help students outside of class.  I’m just not getting much in return right now.  And with talks about budget cuts, no “cost-of-living” raises for another 3 years, and larger class sizes, it’s quite demoralizing being a teacher!

Yet, I am so grateful for my job.  I really do love being a teacher.  I care deeply about my 8th graders and wonderful things happen daily.  I want to focus on the positive.  Perhaps a 4-day weekend will help rekindle my spirit and renew my energy for this time of year.