The mornings that I awake earlier than usual, are the worst mornings. Not because I have lost sleep, no, no, no that's not it at all. But because I end up lolly-gagging around more than I usually do. Take, for example, this morning: I awoke a half hour earlier than my alarm had been programmed. I am amped by my early wake-up and the fact that today is my last day with the kids before two+ weeks of winter break so I take Whoopi for an extended walk. When I get back to the house I decide I will order my dad's last birthday/anniversary/Christmas gift. I log onto EBay (NEVER a good idea). I pay for the auction I won last night, and change my shipping address to D&D's and allow myself 10 minutes to browse. The 10 minutes of browsing turns into 30 minutes and I end up with a Minnesota state lottery loon and am in the running for some Pyrex dishes (I will lose because my bid is low).
After showering and getting my hair dry, I decide I had better blog about it. Mainly because I am out of deodorant and body wash-- which I found to be great timing as I am returning to east river tomorrow evening.
Now, rather than arriving to school extra early, I will arrive right on time, if not a few minutes late.
Ahh, the life of a first year teacher whose classroom is in her backyard!
Happy Thursday, ya'll!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
More Than That...
TCHS More Than That
Please click on the link above.
This is a video made by students at Todd County High School. They made the video in an effort to show America that Native Americans are more than what was portrayed on Diane Sawyer's 20/20 episode, Children of the Plains which aired in October. In this episode, Sawyer interviewed and camera's followed children of the Pine Ridge Reservation, showcasing the hardships children face on reservations. Though these situations may be more real than we would like to admit, I found the response video to be inspiring. That these students, found it important to share with the world that they feel they have a chance and are worth "More Than That."
I have read through numerous Facebook posts by teachers from TCHS that the class who made this video is hoping for 50,000+ views. Please, take the time to watch it. Send it out in a forward for all to see--rather than a political or racist jab, send thoughts of hope and inspiration. Show these kids, they have been heard and have people who believe in them enough to pass their message on.
Please click on the link above.
This is a video made by students at Todd County High School. They made the video in an effort to show America that Native Americans are more than what was portrayed on Diane Sawyer's 20/20 episode, Children of the Plains which aired in October. In this episode, Sawyer interviewed and camera's followed children of the Pine Ridge Reservation, showcasing the hardships children face on reservations. Though these situations may be more real than we would like to admit, I found the response video to be inspiring. That these students, found it important to share with the world that they feel they have a chance and are worth "More Than That."
I have read through numerous Facebook posts by teachers from TCHS that the class who made this video is hoping for 50,000+ views. Please, take the time to watch it. Send it out in a forward for all to see--rather than a political or racist jab, send thoughts of hope and inspiration. Show these kids, they have been heard and have people who believe in them enough to pass their message on.
Monday, December 5, 2011
It's getting cold!
The past week flew by so fast, I hardly realized the weekend had arrived!
Whoop and I took our morning walk during the 7°F sunrise. It was a frigid sight to see :)
School has been keeping me very busy. I am trying to get as many learning objectives completed before Christmas break as humanly possible. I am worried about the two week gap--will the kids retain any of the information taught thus far?! I feel as though it is difficult coming back after a three day weekend... this should be interesting!
A couple of funny things have happened over the past couple of days:
When covering words that end with -it we made a list. One of my brightest students raises his hand, points directly at my forehead and exclaims, "ZZZ- i- T, zit!" Truth be told, I most definitely had a zit on my forehead but I got out of it by saying that Whoopi and I were jumping on my bed, I fell off so my mom called the doctor and the doctor said no more Miss. Smidt's jumping on the bed. Oh my goodness, if they weren't giggling they were concerned about the stability of my state of mind. "Your mom called the doctor?!?! Up here at IHS or the clinic in Mission?! Did you have to go all the way to Pierre?!" I thought my para was going to lose it!
I cut my hair. 7+ inches are gone. The first day back to school, one of my boys says, "You look like you're from the 80's." So I responded with, "It just so happens that I am. I am from 1986." Big mistake on my part. Now half of my class calls me "eighty-six". Humorous, but not too great.
After three weekends in a row of having company, this past weekend was spent relaxing with Whoopi. Saturday evening I went to Mission to watch a movie and play cards with some friends, but other than that we laid pretty low and enjoyed every second of it.
I am working on training Whoop to walk on a leash without pulling and to "sit". I am too much of a softie to train him, so I'm thinking I may leave it up to my daddy, the dog whisperer.
Christmas is indeed coming!!! The only gifts I am going to buy (minus one that I must buy in Vermillion) have been purchased and are wrapped or en route via the interweb. May I just say (10 years late) that eBay is addicting and no one, I mean NO ONE, should have an account. I spent half of Sunday making and watching bids. Wowzas!
Well, I suppose I should really get to going over my lessons for tomorrow. We will be making snowman ornaments in our classroom for our class tree that will be displayed in the gym. Most other classes paid to order ornaments through Oriental Trading, I however saw this as an Art Integration activity. As someone who lacks artistic ability, I am excited to see how it all turns out and will keep you updated.
Whoop and I took our morning walk during the 7°F sunrise. It was a frigid sight to see :)
School has been keeping me very busy. I am trying to get as many learning objectives completed before Christmas break as humanly possible. I am worried about the two week gap--will the kids retain any of the information taught thus far?! I feel as though it is difficult coming back after a three day weekend... this should be interesting!
A couple of funny things have happened over the past couple of days:
When covering words that end with -it we made a list. One of my brightest students raises his hand, points directly at my forehead and exclaims, "ZZZ- i- T, zit!" Truth be told, I most definitely had a zit on my forehead but I got out of it by saying that Whoopi and I were jumping on my bed, I fell off so my mom called the doctor and the doctor said no more Miss. Smidt's jumping on the bed. Oh my goodness, if they weren't giggling they were concerned about the stability of my state of mind. "Your mom called the doctor?!?! Up here at IHS or the clinic in Mission?! Did you have to go all the way to Pierre?!" I thought my para was going to lose it!
I cut my hair. 7+ inches are gone. The first day back to school, one of my boys says, "You look like you're from the 80's." So I responded with, "It just so happens that I am. I am from 1986." Big mistake on my part. Now half of my class calls me "eighty-six". Humorous, but not too great.
After three weekends in a row of having company, this past weekend was spent relaxing with Whoopi. Saturday evening I went to Mission to watch a movie and play cards with some friends, but other than that we laid pretty low and enjoyed every second of it.
I am working on training Whoop to walk on a leash without pulling and to "sit". I am too much of a softie to train him, so I'm thinking I may leave it up to my daddy, the dog whisperer.
Christmas is indeed coming!!! The only gifts I am going to buy (minus one that I must buy in Vermillion) have been purchased and are wrapped or en route via the interweb. May I just say (10 years late) that eBay is addicting and no one, I mean NO ONE, should have an account. I spent half of Sunday making and watching bids. Wowzas!
Well, I suppose I should really get to going over my lessons for tomorrow. We will be making snowman ornaments in our classroom for our class tree that will be displayed in the gym. Most other classes paid to order ornaments through Oriental Trading, I however saw this as an Art Integration activity. As someone who lacks artistic ability, I am excited to see how it all turns out and will keep you updated.
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