Endings

It is Saturday, July 30th.  This morning was officially my last day to sleep in before I return to school on Monday.  Why is it that I get this sad feeling at the end of every summer?  Sometimes I sit and think about the things I wish I had done, like eat at our favorite breakfast place in Atlanta or take a day trip to the lake.  Then I sit and think some more, but now about how much work it is to be a teacher.  In case you don't know, it's a lot of work.

Don't get me wrong.  I love teaching.  I love seeing "my" kids every day.  I am excited to get big hugs from prior students and hear their first impressions of their new teachers.

All of those things are well and good, but I will miss summer. I will miss the sense of feeling relaxed and like I do not have to rush to accomplish my tasks.

But typing that last sentence, I had to stop and think.  Did I really feel that way this summer?  Did I ever truly feel relaxed?  Maybe a little bit, at my most delusional.  All summer, no- all year, there has been this dark cloud hanging over my head: grad school.  It is a hard feeling to describe.  Even when I'm out with family or watching a show on Netflix, there is still the looming thought of the latest paper or discussion post I need to write.  Right now I'm putting off writing a ridiculously long lesson plan that requires me to find nine different books on the same topic for three different reading levels.  No big.

I think that if other people were to read my previous post and this one, they would think I was a big complainer.  "Abby," they'd say, "you are lucky to be in grad school and learn more about your profession."  Why yes, I agree.  I am lucky.  But does it make sense that right now I don't feel lucky?  I feel like I am dragging my feet across the finish line.  I feel like a marathoner who ran out of gas and is literally hobbling towards the finish covered in blood, sweat, and tears.  Well, maybe not the blood, but definitely the other two.

Long story short, I will miss summer.  I will not miss grad school.  Twenty-two days and counting...feels like forever, but I will be done before I know it.
  

Work Work Work

I feel like I'm at a point in my life where it's all about work.  Other than spending time with Mr. Biz and going to church, work monopolizes all of my time.  Now, I'm not saying that this is necessarily a good or a bad thing.  I'm truly not sure.  When else in my life will I have this much time and energy?  I see the working moms I teach with and I honestly have no idea how they make it work.  When I have children will I even want to continue teaching?  I guess we'll wait and see.

Right now, I am in my third year teaching first grade at CES.  The amount of growth I've made in the past few years is astounding.  After college graduation in 2010, I thought I was completely prepared to teach.  Needless to say, I was wrong.  I'm sure when I look back on my current teaching in five years I'll see much more growth.  I do enjoy my job, but the amount of time, effort, and mental sharpness that is required is already beginning to wear me down.  Can anyone make it 30 years in teaching anymore?  Standards continue rising and accelerating.  The kids are the same, but we are expecting so much more.  Is that fair to them?  To us?

I don't think so.

Yet here I am, pushing on, pushing my students to succeed.  Mostly loving it, but sometimes not so much.  Here's to the teachers.  Keep on keeping on.

New Adventure!

Hi guys! 

Today I am so excited to tell you about my new adventure: I am officially a "real" teacher!  This week is my third week in this new position and I am loving it.  I have prayed and waited so long for my own classroom, and it is exciting to see this dream coming true. 

Along with my job, I decided to create a new blog.  I will still blog here, but it will mainly be about my personal life and thoughts not related to school.  My new blog, Teacher "Extraordinaire" (see a pattern in my blog titles? haha), will be all of the teaching stuff I don't want to bog you guys down with. 

I would be honored if you guys would check out my teaching blog and give me feedback--maybe even follow me there!  Obviously it is all about teaching, so non-teachers might not find it interesting.  :]  Also, you can read this post to find out about my journey to this job over the past couple months. 

Happy Tuesday!

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Well guys, once again, I have another big change in my life.  I counted last night, and this change marks my fourth *new* adventure for 2011.  That's a pretty big number for a 23 year old who is supposed (by the world's standards) to be settled in a job. 

Abby's Career Adventures of 2011
1. teaching art for 15 weeks at RS (January-May)
2. 3rd grade camp counselor in Tennessee (May-July)
3. SpEd parapro at RS

4. ??? Read to find out!

I had no idea that I could be embarking on a new adventure until the Friday before Thanksgiving.  On that day, Jamie and I were informed that there was a chance that I might be displaced and moved to another school.  The next three weeks passed, and it seemed like I would be staying.  

Then this Wednesday morning they did an all-call for Jamie, and I knew what was coming.  About ten minutes later when I went to talk to Jamie, my fears were confirmed: I was being displaced. 

Man.  What a bummer. 

I love love love the school I've been working at.  Honestly, it is my dream school.  I've wanted to work there for a very long time--the long term art position was a step in the door and getting the parapro position was awesome.  The people I work with are great, which is important when you're in sped because so much of it is collaboration and communication.  And the kids?  They make me laugh, smile, and I've learned so much from them.  I will miss their little faces so much. 



So yeah, the past few days have been difficult.  Many tears have been shed by myself and some of the other teachers.  I know that next week at the new school and then the following weeks after Christmas break will be incredibly challenging.  I'll still be in sped, but it is a different level, so the kids are completely different.  I'm guessing that I will have a steep learning curve!

I say that many tears have been shed, and that is entirely true.  But those tears were not shed out of a spirit of despair.  I am sad to leave, yes, but I am so glad to know that God has a bigger plan than I.  Already I've seen the ways He's been working in the past 17 weeks--reasons why I was at this school for this long.  He had me there as long as He needed me, and now I'm moving on to something different.  His plans are unknown to me, but I have hope because I know He's got it all figured out.  The sadness has been tempered by the understanding of knowing how God works.  Mr. Biz pointed this verse out to me after I found out the news and I think it speaks to how I should enter this next season of my life in particular:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him

and He will make your paths straight.
-Proverbs 3:5-6

I'm trusting in the Lord with the joy of knowing that He has ordained my path.  How can I go wrong when I am following the Lord?

P.S.- If you are so inclined, please keep my in your prayers this next week as I make this transition into a brand new school (to me) with people and students I don't know.  Pray specifically that I would be a humble and quick learner, and also that I would be given a super fantastic memory to remember everything!  :]

I have this quote laminated and taped on the wall by my desk:
Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day.

These past few days at work have been a little bit less than stellar, for some pretty minor, not-so-important reasons.  Nothing that should really bother me, but you know how it goes--a bunch of little frustrations can gang up on you to become a big frustration.  That's where this quote comes into play.  I could be sitting there thinking "woe is me" and then I glance over there to that little yellow sticky note.  "Duh," I think.  And then I think through my day and decide on the one good thing.

Someone listening to a direction the first time. 

Running and playing in the sensory room.

A child using their talker in a new and novel way.  

Sharing a smile with a student or friend. 

All of these are "good things."  Remembering these small moments can take a day from "bad" to "better" or even "great."  I challenge you to remember to take a few seconds during your day to focus your own small moments.

My Thought Process Re: The First Day of School

Hey, everybody!

I'm super excited for the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL on Monday!

I mean, there will be some tough things, but I think it will be great...

Right?  I mean, nothing awful is gonna happen on the first day, right?!?

OH NO! What if something terrible is happens and I'm not prepared at all?!?

Wait...duh, Abby.  God is with you and he has everthing under control.  Whew.

YAY SCHOOL!

So long, farewell...

Tomorrow.

Is my last day.

Everyone keeps saying, "oh, you must be so excited to be done!"

No.

I'm not really that excited to leave.

I love the kids, I love my co-workers, and I love the school.  

That's the hard thing about subbing.  Once you get attached you have to move on. 

Sigh, what a great four months it has been.

Sad, sad Abby.

My Amateur Artists

"Every artist was first an amateur." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

     Today I want to catch you up on what my favorite amateur artists are up to.  We have lots of fun things going on in the art room right now and it's up in the air whether or not we'll finish before school gets out for summer.  Wish us luck!  ;]  But for now, enjoy a snapshot of what we do every day. 

     Since we spoke last (about art, that is), I finished grading this huge pile of papers and some.  I had underestimated the amount of grading needed to provide 7-9 grades each for 450 students, which led to me waiting to enter grades a week before they were due.  Definitely not making that mistake again!  I'm already entering grades for the 4th (and last) quarter of the school year.

~~~

     This is the project I've been working on with my autistic class (six boys in grades K-2).  I found the idea on a message board somewhere and adapted it for my students.  The original idea was to tape a tarp over a table, put pieces of paper on top of it, put spoonfuls of paint on top of the paper, and then tape another tarp tightly over the whole thing.  Then let the kids go nuts pushing the paint around.  I decided that the set-up for that was a little time consuming, especially considering that I couldn't do it in my room and I didn't want to tear their room apart for it.  So, I decided to use the same idea, but instead of tarps, put the papers in ziplock bags.  I cut 9x12 pieces of white drawing paper down to 9x10 so they fit nicely in the bags.  After putting the papers in the bag, I placed three teaspoon fulls of paint in different places around the paper.  I made sure to tape the bags securely to the table, because I know those boys, and I know they'd find a way to tear open the baggies.  For most of them I taped the top and the bottom, but I taped all four sides for the more "spirited" boy.  We brought them to the table and sat them down with the direction to "push down."  They loved it.  We're doing it again next week with cool colors since it was such a big hit.  A word of caution: watch to make sure they don't scrape their fingernails against the bag, because that turns this clean activity into a very messy activity.

     Cut the bag open to get to the paper more easily.  Then remember to wash off your scissors.  Waiting a day to wash them is strongly discouraged.  ;]

Here are two of the finished products!  I love how you can see the marks from their fingers moving the paint.

     Next time I wouldn't use posterboard, which is what I did for them.  My example I did with drawing paper, and even though it got super soggy, it dried much nicer.  The top later of their posterboard kept peeling off, which is why there are some white spots in the middle.

Materials: gallon size ziplock bags, 9x10 white drawing paper, tempera paint, packing tape

~~~

     My first class of the day is 1st grade and they are all dolls.  Seriously, I teach some fantastic 1st graders.  Right now we are having a lot of fun with cave paintings (all credit for this lesson goes to my amazing co-art teacher and friend, Kym).  On day one we did a virtual tour of the Lascaux caves in France, which can be found here (warning: the page is in French).  We talked about how old the paintings are, and how many of the pictures tell stories.  Then we took brown pieces of 18x12 paper, ripped the edges, and drew our story pictures (showing beginning, middle, and end).  But did we sit at our seats like normal?  No way!  That's boring!  We turned off the lights and drew in our caves (a.k.a. under the tables).  It was a blast.  They loved it.  On day two we watched a cartoon about some kids who go back in time to the caves, and then colored our pictures using natural colors. 

~~~

     At 9:15, my adorable Kindergarteners stop by (actually, they run, skip, and laugh their way into my classroom).  We're having a ton of fun making our own wild things, inspired by some of our favorite creatures in Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.  On the first day we read the book and talked about some of the features we can put on our creatures (e.g. terrible eyes, terrible claws, horns, ears, arms, feet, tail, nose, etc.).  On day two we talked about how we can show how things feel by how we draw.  Once we'd decided the texture we wanted to use, we drew our own wild thing.  Next week we are going to paint paper with tempura paint (either a "day sky" or a "night sky") and then tear brown/green paper to make trees.  I'm excited to see how this is going to turn out. 

This is one of our example wild things.  Notice all the different textures, as well as all the awesome features.  ;]

~~~

     Wow, that's just three of my classes.  I guess I was a bit long winded on one of them...oops!  I'll try to write about 2nd-5th in the next couple of days.  In the meantime, have a happy Easter!  :]

When a Teacher Feels Cruddy...

     Today was not my best day.  As I told my mom this evening, "I feel cruddy."  The hard thing about teaching is that if you feel cruddy, you can't just hole up in your cubicle with your Ibuprofen, tissues, and coffee...you've gotta perform!

Yep, that's me on a typical school day.

     Today as I was trying my gosh-darned best to be "perky" and engaging, I came across one precious 5th grade boy.  He said to me, not once, twice, or even three times, but FIVE times: "Ms. S, you look tired."  Why yes, 11 year old boy, I am tired, thanks for pointing it out (it's great to know that I look the same way I feel).  And thanks for asking, but no, I cannot take a nap during my lunch or planning period.  As much as I might like to today.

     Don't kids just make you feel great about yourself sometimes?  ;]

Don't worry, I still love teaching.  Today was just a blah day.  I'm not hopping off the teaching train just yet.  :]

Picture from here.

The Week in Art

     It has been quite a week in art class.  We've been super busy getting ready for the art show, so I've been happy with our "low-maintenance" art lessons.  I didn't come up with these lessons, but I did tweak most of them for my liking.  I hope you enjoy hearing about what we're doing!  :]

~~~

Kindergarten: Up in the Air

     I'm loving this fun activity we're doing in Kindergarten.  It's so simple, but the results are just darling so far.  We've cut out our balloons, drew lines with oil pastels, painted with watercolors, and did texture rubbings on our baskets.  I've been really impressed with some of the lines the kids are coming up with! 

1st Grade: Sunflowers and Swirls

     In 1st grade we've been studying two of Van Gogh's paintings: Sunflowers and Starry Night.  On the first day we painted our sunflowers using only three colors and no water (we cleaned our brushes across the bottom of our papers to create the grass).  On the second day we created our "swirly" skies using dashes, swirls, and curvy lines.  I've seen some super cute, creative results so far!

2nd Grade: Tessellations

     At first I was very nervous about this project, but once I understood how to make a tessellation it was a lot of fun.  We made our own shapes, traced them on white paper, outlined with black marker, and now we're coloring using either warm or cool colors.  We've also been focusing on coloring with colored pencils like a whisper.  ;]

3rd Grade: Op Art

     My 3rd graders have been studying optical illusions, so we've been creating these complimentary color pieces of op art.  On 12"x12" sheets of white paper drew our lines and either circles or rectangles.  Then, the kids picked a set of complimentary colors and colored in their patterns.  The only issue is that we had to stop using markers because they run out so fast.  I'm officially not a fan of markers. 

4th Grade: Georgia O'Keefe

     The 4th graders have learned about O'Keefe and her signature flower paintings.  After studying pictures of flowers, we drew our close-ups on a piece of black construction paper.  Then we traced over our pencils lines with Elmer's glue.  After the glue dried, we colored our flowers by blending multiple colors of oil pastels.

5th Grade: Up Close Portraits

     This projects is one of my favorites we're doing right now.  After studying Chuck Close and his particular method of drawing portraits, we began enlarging our own pictures.  First, I printed off pictures of the kids and cut them to exactly 4"x5".  We discussed how to make a 1/2" grid on our pictures, and then a 1" grid on pieces of 8"x10" white drawing paper.  Using small viewfinders that help us to only view one 1/2" at a time, we are transferring/enlarging our portraits to the larger paper.  We just started sketching on Friday, so I'm excited to see how they turn out!  :]

~~~

     So, in a (rather large) nutshell, that's what we're doing in art class these days!  Next week we are going to start new projects in K-4; I'll share those with you once I decide what we're going to be doing.  Currently I have no idea what we're doing next!  Any ideas about what you would like to do?  I'd like to do a batik with one or more grades.  What do you think?

Quotes of the Week

     Ya'll, working with >450 students a week means I encounter lots of interesting moments. This week gave me these two gems (along with three cupcakes and a doughnut):

Quote 1:
Context: On Tuesday, I wore a long, floor length dress, a grey sweater, and I put my hair up in a bun.
3rd grade girl: Ms. S, I know you're an art teacher, but from behind you look like Susan B. Anthony.

That's me!

Quote 2:

Kindergarten girl (as I was writing on the whiteboard): Ms. S, your "t" looks like the cross Jesus died on!  (Apparently I have holy handwriting...har har har.)

Oh, the things you hear in an elementary school.  Did you get any good quotes this week?

Seeing a Bit of the "Big Picture"

     No WIWW post today...I didn't take pictures of any of my outfits this week.  Don't worry: you aren't missing out on much.  I've been working in the severe autism class since last Wednesday, so my clothing choices have been very practical (i.e. they're quite boring).  I'll try harder next week, I (kinda) promise.  :]

     Speaking of autism (like I did on Saturday), I bought a new book today.  See?

The book is Overcoming Autism by Lynn Kern Koegel, PhD, and Claire LaZebnik.  I'm super excited to start reading it.  Can I just interject for a minute that God is amazing?  Because He is.  A year ago I never EVER EVER expected that I would be working with autistic kids.  I'd had one difficult, scary, and frustrating experience with an autistic child, so I the idea of working with autistic kids as a living never occurred to me.

     Here is the amazing God part: I didn't get a job after graduation.  Instead, I have spent my first year out of college subbing.  One day in October I got the call go sub in an autistic classroom; I asked if it was severe, moderate, or mild, and I was told it was a mild class.  When I showed up in the classroom the next morning I realized that it was not a mild class...this was definitely a class full of little boys with severe autism.  Needless to say, I was terrified.

I was terrified of the unknown, and now I know that I have nothing to be afraid of.

     The days I spend subbing in the autistic classes are my favorite days of subbing.  I have found nothing but love for these precious children.  Yes, there are the temper tantrums, running, and pinching, but there are also sweet smiles, little voices calling out "tickle!", and the joy when someone finally says "water."  God really knew what He was doing when I didn't get a "real" teaching job for this school year.  Now I realize what I would have missed out on.  It's days like today that I remember that God has the bigger picture...why do I ever doubt Him? 

[source]

     Has God revealed any "big pictures" to you lately?

Fill in the Blanks: Random-ness

     Hey, everybody!  Tomorrow I owe you a "for-real" post that's not linking up for anything, but today I'm coming to you with the Fill in the Blanks Friday linky from the little things we do.  You should go link up, too!  And I know this is a Friday party, but I'm being a rebel and doing it on Saturday.  ;]



1. I am having a kinda "blah" day.  I woke up feeling sick and sad.  My best friend's dad passed yesterday morning, so my heart has been heavy for her.  All of those things led to me going to Publix at 10:30am to buy chocolate ice cream.  Yep.

2. The bravest thing I've ever done was jump off a cliff into a river.  Ok, so it was only 10-ish feet high, but I am terrified of heights, so it was really brave for me.

Yep, that's me jumping into a river with Chacos on.

3. I feel prettiest when I'm wearing a favorite outfit and hanging out with my friends.  Also, when a guy tells me I look nice.  I can't help it: I love compliments as much as the next girl.

4. Something that keeps me awake at night is mulling over conversations.  If I had an important conversation I tend to think through it over and over and over again.  Not healthy for my psyche, but I can't help it.

5. My favorite meal in the entire world is a #1 with sweet tea (and Polynesian sauce) from Chick-fil-A.  No lie.  I'm a simple girl.

6. The way to my heart is through a cup of coffee and heartfelt conversation.  Every week before Tuesday night church I meet up with some friends at Starbucks and it's probably my favorite hour of the week.

Some of my favorite amigas!

7. I would like to get my master's in special education with a focus on emotional/behavioral disorders.  Subbing has shown me that I have a passion for working with special needs students (specifically children with autism), which is the last thing I thought I had a passion for.  Guys, I love these kids so much.  On Friday, one boy looked in my eyes and said, very clearly, "water" because he was thirsty.  Literally the highlight of my week.

[source]

I really liked the open-ness of this week's questions.  Head on over to your own blog and answer them, too!  What was the highlight of your week?

Why yes, I AM an artist.

     Guess what, guys?  As of today I am officially an artist.

     Ok, ok.  Really I'm pretending to be an artist while I sub long-term for an elementary school art teacher.  I wish I were good at art and stuff like my friend Jordyn, but alas...

     Anyways, these next several months are going to be full of researching guys like Chuck Close and Piet Mondrian, who I'd honestly never heard of until a few days ago.  Good thing the kids I'm teaching are only elementary schoolers, so they won't know the difference.  Although, I am afraid a few in 3rd grade are getting wise--they snickered when I drew a stick figure on the board.  I'd better save that particular art-form for K-2. 

     What are you doing these days that is stretching you? 

 

P.S.- I know all of ya'll out there in blog-land are more cultured than me, but here's some stuff by Close and Mondrian, just for fun.  ;]

by Chuck Close

 

by Piet Mondrian

A Wonderful Blogger and Our Educational System

     There is an incredible blogger out there named Annie.  Her writing is seriously some of the best writing I've ever read...it never seems forced or coerced, but only like something someone incredibly wise would say.  Part of the reason I love reading her blog is because we've gone to the same church since forEVER so I know she's an honestly good person in real life, too. 

     Anyways, today Annie brought up two documentaries about the state of our educational system.  I know I have some fellow teacher friends on here, so I thought you'd like to read what she said.

Lastly, does anyone out there know much about Waiting for Superman or Race to Nowhere? I’m interested to know if they are credible, and whether or not anyone’s seen them. After a couple of days in Tim and Becky’s ‘hood, where apparently there are 5th graders who have never been taught to read, my interest in the educational system of our country is heightened. Seems to me that there are a few changes to be made.

I went to those websites and watched the trailers.  *Wow* they echoed so much of what I've been thinking.  Check out those documentaries, and while you're at it, check out Annie's 20th Year Project.

     I'd love to hear about a blog you love to read, so make sure you share in the comments!  :]

P.S.- I got to see two of my friends from college this weekend!  Here I am with my dear friend Michaela.  She's new to blogging, so make sure to check her out and give her some love!

 

I'm still her friend even though she wore that heinous shirt. ;]