Rock bottom

I think it's probably good when the worst day of the week is the first day of the week.  Mondays are always the hardest, but then I have the whole week to have better days.

Yesterday was extra.

I had before and after school traffic duty.  Since it was an "orange flag" day and on those days the kids gather in the cafeteria before school, that was a relief because my "traffic duty" was supposed to be keeping the peace in the cafeteria.  Then I was told that one teacher had to be outside at the crosswalk and the one teacher was yours truly.

It was cold, but I had wisely brought my gloves + mittens which are really a game changer.  Layering for the win.

Still, it took up my before and after school time.  

Janelle was gone so her student teacher who was subbing understandably needed a little help.

Inside for both recesses.

No prep time (we don't have specialties on Monday).

We revamped our reading groups so I needed to prep and plan for them.

We made a big change in math so I needed to prep and plan for that.

All this added up to leaving school at 5:30.  Today will be better (colder, but still) and better is better.

Weekend

It's been several weeks since we went out to dinner on Friday, which has been our go to ever since I started teaching full time. Lately, one or both of us is too tired.

So this is to say we are a lot of fun.

Friday, Adam picked up a pizza on his way home and we watched All Creatures Great and Small and he read to me and then I slept for 9 1/2 hours.

Pretty much a perfect Friday evening if you ask me.

Saturday we did all the things + Adam prepared his talk for Sunday when he was speaking in church.  We pulled our bed apart (by we I mean Adam, I'm not much force in heavy lifting) and Adam unplugged my alarm clock to plug in the vacuum to vacuum under the bed.

I asked, "Why didn't you unplug the lamp?"  I am notoriously bad at setting that alarm clock.  I don't know why it is so hard.

He said, "Oh, I should have."  The thoughtless act of a man who doesn't struggle to set the alarm clock.

Saturday evening we picked up Emma and went to the Jazz game.  (Mark had a group of friends over at our house.)

We had a good time at the game, even though we aren't very committed fans.  On the way Emma asked who was playing and I said the Mavericks (because Adam had told me) and she asked where they were from and I said Dallas (because I had asked Adam the same question).  She asked if the Mavericks were any good and I told her I'd tell her in a few hours.

On the way to pick Emma up, I said, "I'm going to tell her she should come and hear her dad speak in church."

Adam said, "She will want to go to her own ward."

I said, "She has 9:00 church."

So I told Emma she should come to our ward.  She said, "Oooh.  Maybe I will.  You have church at noon right?"

So this is to say I know my daughter.

Saturday night, when I was going to sleep, I noticed my clock was still not set properly.  Adam said, "I'll fix it."  I said it was OK, I would just do the math during the night when I wanted to know what time it was.  According to Siri, my clock was about 4 1/2 hours wrong.  When I woke up in the morning, it was 14:00 because it was on the 24 hours setting.

It added a whole new dimension to my math.

I loved having Emma join us for church.  We enjoyed listening to Adam speak.  Emma asked me for a kleenex and I had thought I had some, but I didn't.  We both needed one.  Also, we got a new Relief Society presidency so I was released as counselor.  There are things I will miss about it, but I am not sad about having more time.

We came home and had dinner and played Qwixx which is our new favorite game.  We talked to Braeden's family and just spent a restful day with snow falling outside.

I have traffic duty this week.

So this is to say good things come to an end.

Grateful Friday

There's a low spot all along the back side of the school (outside my door) where the sidewalk meets the pavement.  Water gathers there in a long moat when the snow melts or it rains.  That creates a fun obstacle.  Those who are adventurous try to leap over it (mostly they miss) and those who are timid forlornly wonder how to cross.  (I point out that they can walk around the moat by going down the length of the school.)

Yesterday, the moat was a frozen walkway of ice.  I had recess duty and could see that it was a problem waiting to happen.  I went into the office and asked the secretaries to ask Riley to de-ice.  

As I was walking out of the school, there was a student prone, having fallen and clunked his head on the ice.  I gathered him up and took him inside.  (Whenever there's a head injury, a report has to be filed, luckily not by me.)

I walked back outside and Riley was there with his little machine, scattering de-icer.  The students who were having a lot of fun sliding on the ice were horrified.  "No!" they yelled.  "Don't ruin the ice!"

I didn't want Riley to have to take all the blame so I told them I'd asked him to come.

They turned on me.

I was a "destroyer of fun" and had "betrayed" them.

I just shrugged.  I didn't hire on to be fun.

***

Last week, my class earned the reward for 80% of them reaching their goal in iReady.  It was a BIG deal.  They kept asking me what the reward was.  Since it isn't my contest, I didn't know.  They very nearly have achieved the goal for this week and they wanted to know the reward.  I emailed to find out.  They were every bit as appalled as I was about the reward when I told them what it was.

It was 10 minutes of extra recess.  The teacher was in charge of deciding when.

10 minutes of extra recess in January is akin to punishment.  Half of them don't even really want to go to recess at all when it is in the 20s.

I offered that we could vote on a different reward.  They picked donuts, so I stopped at the store last night and bought donuts.

Among other things, I'm grateful today to be Amelia Bedelia.  I can destroy fun and betray everyone, but in the end, I bring a treat and all is forgiven.

That didn't go well

Well, the bill passed the senate.

I had an hour and a half IEP meeting that was pure chaos and wasted time.  It could have been accomplished in about 15 minutes.

I got multiple voice mails throughout the day from the endocrinologist's office urging me to schedule an earlier appointment because they had openings.  (I had an appointment scheduled at 4:40.)

They texted through this weird app that was a multi-step process to access.

I wanted to keep my appointment because I had work (why I scheduled the appointment for then in the first place).

They wondered if I wanted a telemedicine appointment.  I said sure.

They never responded and then I realized that I had failed to click the little icon that maybe in some modern art way resembled a paper airplane so my message hadn't been sent.

I drove to the doctor office.  On the way there, I got a message that we could do the telemed appointment right then.  I texted back that I was on my way.

So I got there and sat for 40 minutes waiting for my appointment.

Then I left.

I told the girl at the counter I was leaving.  She said, "Are you sure? I could reschedule you..."

I was sure.  So if I die of some undiagnosed thyroid situation, you can point to this day:  the day I rage quit the endocrinologist.

I came home and told it all to Mark.  He said, "Good thing you're so patient."

I said, "I'm not that patient."

He said, "Don't you know sarcasm when you hear it?"

It's not for nothing that A Charlie Brown Christmas is his favorite.

Big feelings

There is a bill in Utah that has passed the house and is moving to the state senate.  

It is about school choice and would give $8000 to students to use for a private school.  The state currently spends $4000 per student for public school.  It is a bill that bizarrely couples a raise for teachers with school choice.  (The coupling is there to make it more palatable.)

Let's imagine a scenario.  I don't like the library or want to use it, I'd rather get my books on Amazon.  The library never has the books available that I want.  The hold list is interminable.

So would we pass a bill that people who don't want to use the library (for valid reasons) would get a stipend to use at Amazon?  I could get the exact books I want!  Fast!  

The libraries would suffer if we take the money away to give to the people who want their books from Amazon, but so be it.

That sounds crazy, right?

Here are some things that one of the lobbyist/supporters of the bill, Allison Sorensen, said:

When it comes to school choice, I have taught at a private school, I have homeschooled and I currently teach at a Title 1 school.  I am like Farmers Insurance.

I know a thing or two because I've seen a thing or two.

And I have big feelings about this.

I have students whose families are barely hanging on.  Public schools are one place where they get stability and security.  It is the place where they can hope to break the cycle of poverty.  These students, with their struggling and/or dysfunctional families would not be able to afford or manage private school even if they were given $8000.  (Also, I don't think many private schools would accept the ones who are so far behind.)

This bill would just take money away from a group of people who need it the most.  Also, the whole reason we have public schools is because we have decided that educating the general public is better for everyone.  Everyone.  Widening the gap between the haves and have nots isn't better for anyone.

And I also have big feelings about teachers unions.  I get so tired of the rhetoric that is batted around in politics about the big bad teachers union who is only there for a money grab and doesn't care about students, but rather is out to hurt students.

I am part of the teachers union.  The teachers union isn't some inanimate evil entity.  It is teachers.

Here's what the union does:  1) send me notices that I can sign up for life insurance 2) advocate for teachers in the government.

I know all the teachers at my school who are part of the teachers union.  I can 100% guarantee that we are not in it for the money, or even the damn money.

Janelle and I were talking after school about this.  She said, "We know and they know we aren't going to strike.  We care too much about the students.  We wouldn't want to hurt our students."

I wish Allison Sorensen, delightful woman that she seems to be, would come to my school.

I would like her to see the teachers who bring food from home and drop off clothing and gloves and hats for the wellness room.  I would like her to see that every car is in the parking lot well after our contract hours are up.

I would like her to see us sharing ideas to try harder to reach them.  I would like her to see that we don't just say every student is our student.  We actually mean it.

I would like her to see us crying at times because our hearts are breaking over their tough lives that we can't fix.

I would like her to see the smiles on our faces when we welcome them to school.  

Then I would like her to tell me again that we don't care.

Baby it's cold outside

Inside recess yesterday and I am pretty sure that will be happening more this week.  When it is colder than 20 degrees, we are inside.

Yesterday during inside recess I had boys arguing about if Bob the Builder is a Yankees fan, which is to say, we really need outside recess.

Adam is in Mexico.  He ate dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings the other night which was disappointing to him. He likes an adventure.

I don't really like an adventure.  I wimped out on walking with Clarissa because I had been cold all day and I couldn't summon the courage to walk.  My classroom was 59 degrees when I walked in yesterday morning and by the time I was leaving and the sun was streaming in, it finally got up to 70.  It is always either as hot as a thousand burning suns or...not.

It's January and we just need to ride it out.

Weekend

Sometimes I come home from school with my shoulders up around my ears from stress.  Sometimes I come home with shoulders drooping in defeat.

I think this school year just needs to be endured.

Here's something though.  We have this contest thing going for passed lessons on iReady (which is our math program).  The previous week 6 students in my class reached their goal of four passed lessons.  The other third grades each had around 12.

My class struggles so hard.

Last week, we reached our goal of 16 students getting 4 lessons passed!  Kind of.  Five of my students passed 8 lessons and I counted it.  So I actually only had 11 students pass 4 lessons, but we still celebrated!

Another great thing that happened is that I met Clarissa for our walk and it was light!  It's only going to get better.

Otherwise, the weekend was quiet.  We did the quiet Saturday things.  We got more snow.  Adam left for a business trip to Mexico.  I cross-stitched and watered my plants and baked gluten free carrot cake breakfast cookies.  I'm on a quest to get Mark healthier.

The cookies were OK.  You would think the carrots would have made them sweeter, but they weren't really sweet at all.  They weren't much of anything except the powdery taste of gluten free flour. (I was hoping the oats would counteract that, but alas.)  I watched Mark try one.  I said, "They don't have a taste."

He said, "Weird.  You're right."

I said, "They're not bad."

He said, "No, they're not."

I said, "But, they're not good."

He said, "No, they're not."

Mark and I made beef bulgogi (with gluten free soy sauce) for dinner.  Since he'd had a stomach-ache all weekend, I told him that kimchi was a probiotic and would be good for him.

He said, "No."

He said, "Anything pickled is just a different rotten."

We liked the bulgogi though (and I had a little kimchi, which I think is actually fermented rather than pickled, but I don't think that would have changed Mark's mind).

We had stake conference, which was wonderful.  I felt inspired to do better and be better.  I felt encouraged.

It was the kind of restorative weekend that I need to pull up my boots and get back at it on a Monday.