TAYLOR MALI....WHAT TEACHER'S MAKE

I JUST DON'T CARE!

Elizabeth, at CONFESSIONS FROM A WORK-AT-HOME MOM, got me thinking about things that I don't care about anymore, now that I am a mommy.

Dust: This used to bother me a lot, but now unless I have a stay over guest, it's obscuring the picture on the t.v. or Sam finds the duster....it's just not happening.

Cat hair:  I have three cats. I vacuum three times a week. I doesn't matter...it is always there. I should put it in bags and sell it. I could have made millions over the last 11 years.

Shaving my legs: I'm blond and it's not noticeable, it takes forever to grow and I cut my shins EVERY time. So, ya know what? Once a month, maybe, is about all it's going to happen.....unless there is a special event in there, like a vacation to Maui, or my anniversary.

Wrinkles: Who has time??? I do make sure that I take my clothes out of the dryer immediately, which helps immensely, but again unless it's a special occasion, you're going to catch me a little wrinkled.  The facial ones don't bother me either. It gives you character, right? It's cute on this guy....why can't it work for me!?

MAKE ME FEEL BETTER....LEAVE A COMMENT...WHAT THINGS DO YOU NO LONGER CARE ABOUT!?

BACHELORETTE 2011...week 9

Ashley Hebert with the Bachelores to Fiji this week.

First, I need to say...I WAS RIGHT! Ryan is the one who showed up again. He flew all the way to Fiji hoping that Ashley would regret her decision and give him another chance......she made him wait two days for an answer and then sent him packing....AGAIN! I think he is vying to be the next Bachelor!

Ben got the first date this week. They went out on a yacht snorkeling. There was a lot of chemistry, they did stay in the FANTASY SUITE, but he couldn't bring himself to say, "THE I LOVE YOU THING," as he put it. Ashley thinks they have the most in common.

Constantine was next. They took a helicopter ride to a waterfall, but they both admitted there wasn't any chemistry and things were moving too slow. He was the one to say it was the "end of the road." I give the man a lot of credit for being honest.

JP was last. They took a seat plane to a private island. TONS OF PASSION and yes they shared the FANTASY SUITE!

Next week they are staying in Fiji, where the guys will meet Ashley's family. I like JP the most, but I think Ashley will choose Ben, but first on Sunday is the reunion show. This should be interesting, especially with Bentley along for the ride.

POOLS, AU PAIRS AND PLAY!

My brother, Mark, his wife, Connie and their twin girls, Abigail and Mae came to visit from California. They brought Connie's niece, Megan too. We fooled my sister, Genie, into believing she was their Au Pair.

This is Megan with the twins....they fell in love with the cat.

Here are Daddy and Mark discussing how to solve the nations debt problems.

Mom and Connie conversing about how the kids are growing up so fast!

Aunt Genie was playing games with the twins.

Then we went to the pool.

I love this picture of Richard and Sam.

My two gorgeous men!

What kind of trouble is he getting into now?

The girls were playing "Keep Away" from Richard.

Sammy is having an indepth conversation with Aunt Connie about the days events.

Finally, we got the cousins to sit down together for one last shot.

We played a lot of card games, had some great food and lots of laughs. I only wish it could happen more often.

BACHELORETTE 2011...week 8

Sorry I am VERY late in posting this, but my Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday have been crazy this week.

Ashley Hebert went to the Bachelores' hometowns this week.

Constantine was first. This was the best part of the show. He has a huge Greek/Italian family. They danced, joked around and were just extremely welcoming. His parents have been married 30 years and are very close and loving to him. I think he is her only shot at even a chance of this ending up in a marriage.

Ames was the second hometown. His father died when he was 10 and then his step-father died from cancer and that has definitely had an impact on him. He is very slow and steady, more bohemian and a "let's look at the pretty roses," type of guy. There wasn't a real spark there. He's a cutey and has a great smile, but not a love connection.

I won't keep you in suspense....AMES IS THE ONE THAT GETS BOOTED THIS WEEK!

Ben F. was next. He runs a vineyard and makes wine. His family is close too, but it is obvious that she would have to relocate to him because he is not going anywhere away from the family or the business. His dad died recently and that has brought the family even closer. They had a nice dinner, but it was very low key.

JP was last. He took Ashley roller skating. It was very cute. He too has a small family. They were very nice, but very protective. He's had his heart broken before and that has put everyone on the defensive.

Next week they will be in Fiji for the overnight dates. The preview shows "someone" coming back. I hope to God it's not Bentley. I think it might be this guy.....

....Ryan. Remember he left crying.

I got a lot of crap for not getting this post out right away....gosh...I didn't realize there were so many of you reading my blog and waiting for this post each week. It also exposed the true Bachelorette Fans! It's ok...you can come out of the closet now!

TIME TO MOVE ON....

Remember on July 14 when I posted THE MAKINGS OF A CLASSROOM and how I spent all day being really productive getting my classroom, at MAB Elementary School, organized...well a lot can happen in 7 short days.

On July 14 I was a 5th grade elementary school teacher and this is the way my classroom looked:

......and today I am a middle school teacher with a couple weeks left on my summer vacation....and this is how my classroom looked when I was saying goodbye today.

As I said, a lot can happen in a week.

So, to catch you up:

Thursday, July 14th: I set up my classroom at MAB and I am feeling excited for the new year.

Monday, July 18th: I am busy making copies and I get a phone call from a principal, Mr. L, at GMS who got my name from human resources (HR) and wanted to know if I was interested in interviewing for a position at his middle school. My mouth dropped. I was in no way dressed for an interview so I asked him if I could meet him that afternoon. He said that would be fine. So, I stopped making copies and ran home to change.

I felt it was a great interview and apparently Mr. L did too because he said he wanted to have me work at his school. As I sat there, he emailed HR requesting me and told me to inform my principal that I wanted this position.

Now I need to inform you of how complicated this whole process can be.

The steps to a transfer:
1. Teacher applies for position
2. Teacher is asked to interview
3. New Principal requests teacher from HR
4. Teacher informs Present Principal that she will be accepting a new position
5. HR has to get approval for the transfer
6. HR calls teacher to formally accept position
7. Teacher contacts principal to let them know they have accepted a transfer
8. HR emails Present Principal to let them know a transfer will be made
9. If this happens on or after the first contract day Present Principal has the right to NOT release you for the first 20 days (They do this so that school aren't left without a teacher at the last minute.) and if you wish to transfer after the first 20 days Present Principal can hold you until the marking period is over.

Because my contract year for MAB ends on July 19 and a new contract year begins on July 20, if HR couldn't get this transfer completed in 24 hours, then my principal at MAB could hold up my transfer.

The other problem with this is Mr. L needs me to attend 3 trainings this summer (one, for the math program (Connected Math) they use and 2 trainings for the intervention program they use (Math Navigator: which is a modular intervention that targets and fills critical gaps and clears up misconceptions in mathematics understanding to help students catch up.) and America's Choice.) and if I have to stay at MAB for the first 20 days then I can't take the trainings and thus can't take this new position.

Bob, at HR was amazing! I called him after the interview and after explaining my issues he said he would talk to the right people and hurry this along for me. I went home Monday, not too excited because normally a transfer can take 48 to 72 hours for all the steps to be accomplished.

Tuesday, July 19: I got to school to organize and kind of just hang out in the hopes that I will hear something from HR and can start packing.  At 8:30 a.m. Jen, from HR calls me and says that Bob has spoken to her, she understands the urgency and for me to call her back at 9:30 a.m. Now she has to send it on for approval. At exactly 9:30 a.m. I call her back and she asks me to formally accept the position, which I do.  Before she hangs up she says, "Don't you worry. We'll get this done. I have faith this will go through. You can contact your principal now and let her know that today is your last day." 

I run with this new found hope and start packing. At 2:00 p.m. she calls me back and says that everything is taken care of and I am not required to attend the first day of class at MAB the next day.

By 3:30 p.m. I have a great portion of my stuff packed in my CRV and another teacher even volunteers to follow me home with my bookshelf in her car.

Wednesday, July 20: My husband and I arrive and pack up the last remaining things in my CRV and his Civic. I say good-bye to many friends, stop by the gym, one more time, to say goodbye to Janice, turn in my classroom key and by 11:30 Richard and I are unpacking all my stuff into the garage.

My 20 years at MAB has come to a close. WOW!

My new middle school position will be teaching 6th and 7th grade math. I AM OVER THE MOON!!!

There are only 350 kids in the entire school. My old school was close to 1000!

This new school is a little closer to home too.

I can get into the new school to set up my room on August 1st, the trainings will happen on the the 8th and 9th, August 10th and 11th there are meetings in the morning and planning time in the afternoon, the 12th is district professional development, the 15th is a day to work in our classrooms and the 16th is the first day with kids.

The first bell rings at 8:15 a.m. and the last bell is at 3:05 p.m.

Everyone eats lunch from 11:00-11:30. I only mention this because at my old school, there were so many kids that we had to rotate kids through by starting lunch at 10:00 and we didn't finish until 12:15.

There are 5 periods during the day: one is a 45 minute intervention period, one is a 75 minute meeting/prep period, one I teach a class of 6th graders and the other two, I teach 2 different groups of 7th graders.

I LOVE MAB AND WILL MISS HER VERY MUCH!!!!!! TONS OF GREAT MEMORIES AND GREAT FRIENDS. I AM SO EXCITED (AND NERVOUS) TO START THIS NEW JOURNEY. PRAY FOR ME....12-14 YEAR OLD KIDS ARE A LITTLE SCARY!!!

As I lay me down to sleep....

When I lay Sam down he starts out with his head on the pillow on the right. How does this happen? This make me laugh so hard! Sometimes when I go in to check on him, he is flush up against the crib bars. I am nervous to give him a big boy bed in fear that he will sleep like this and roll out!

TEN BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ!

A friend of mine wanted me to review the books I've read this year. Since getting my Kindle at Christmas I have read 35 books. What I have liked is the $2.00-$9.00 books that I might have missed had I not had my Kindle. Some are not well known, but I have enjoyed them a lot. I enjoy fiction over nonfiction, but I also read a lot of historical nonfiction. Book series also catch my attention.

Let's look at the two book series that I have read.

Paul Clayton is the author of a three-book historical series on the Spanish Conquest of Florida. The three books are Calling Crow, Flight of the Crow and Calling Crow Nation.

The second series that I really got into was The Ark Chronicles. This is a series of four books that takes you all the way from Noah building the Ark to the Tower of Babel being destroyed. The four books written by Vaughn Heppner were: People of the Ark, People of the Flood, People of Babel and People of the Tower.

Of the other 28 books I have read, here are my top ten:

#1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett: A young white woman in the early 1960s in Mississippi who becomes interested in the plight of the black maids that every white family has working for them. She writes their stories about mistreatment, abuse and heartbreaks of working in white families' homes, just before the Civil Rights revolution. I can't wait to see the movie.

#2. The Concubine's Daughter by Pai Kit Fai: In 1906 China, newborn Li is nearly murdered by her father because she is a girl. After she rebels against having her feet bound, she is sold on her eighth birthday to a silk merchant. Capt. Devereaux rescues and marries her. Li is then stalked by an enemy of her husband, and fearing for her baby girl, she has the child taken to safety in the mountains. The little girl learns about her family and returns to face her own troubles, as WWII is about to begin.

#3. The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch:  A midwife is accused of witchcraft and murder. Jakob must legally torture her for the guilty verdict the village council wants. However, Jakob doesn't believe she's guilty, and takes it upon himself to find the real murderer.

#4. The Centurion's Wife by Janette Oke: This is biblical fiction focused around a minor character in the Bible, a Roman soldier whose young servant was healed by Jesus. The centurion, Alban, seeks advancement in the Roman government and an unwilling bride, Leah, whose family's economic problems have forced her into servitude in Pilate's household, who has recently condemned Jesus to death.

#5. Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Mora: Centers around the children of Marc Antony and Cleopatra, twins Alexander and Selene and younger brother Ptolemy. They are in great danger, left to the mercy of their father's greatest rival, Octavian Caesar. However, Caesar does not kill them, but takes them to Rome to be paraded around as part of his triumphant return and to demonstrate his power. They grow into adulthood in Rome.

#6. Traitor's Wife by Susan Hgginbotham:  The story of Eleanor le Despenser, niece of Edward II and wife of Hugh le Despenser. As lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabella, Eleanor enjoys her privileged position in the English court until doubts about her uncle and his relationship with her husband begin.

#7. White Seed by Paul Clayton: Is historical fiction about seventeen year old Maggie Hagger, who is indentured for four years to John White, to care for his pregnant daughter as they cross the Atlantic and settle in America. She expects the Virginia Colony to be a paradise, which she soon discovers it is not.

#8. Room by Emma Donoghue: This disturbing story is told from the perspective of a five-year-boy, Jack, who is being held captive in a small room along with his mother.

#9. The Damascus Way by Davis Bunn: Julia has everything except for acceptance by either the Gentiles or the Jews. Her Greek father already has a family, leaving Julia and her Hebrew mother miserable as second-class citizens until they are introduced to followers of The Way. The second main character, Jacob, is attempting to discover his own place as a Christian. He is concerned that being serious about his faith means trading away the excitement of being a caravan guard. Jacob also passes letters and messages between various communities of believers and is shocked to find Julia is also a messenger.

#10. Rebekah's Journey by Ann Bell: Due to traumatic family circumstances, Rebekah Bradford is forced to sign an indentured servant contract, leave London and work for a Philadelphia Quaker family. Rebecca is obsesses with avenging her father's death, while saving money to care for her dying mother and providing an education for her brothers back in England.

Let me know what you think I should add to the other 40 books waiting on my wish list, which includes: The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War by Michael Shaara, The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff, Washington's Lady (Ladies of History Series), The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker and Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick, just to name a few.

THE MAKINGS OF A CLASSROOM

I like to have one day just to set up the classroom environment.

At the end of the year we have to move all the furniture away from the walls and off the tile, so the janitors can vacuum and wax the floors. This is what met me at 8:15 this morning.

An hour later, not much visible progress, but I did get a lot of wiping down surfaces done....the yellow bulletin board will be for the calendar and next to it are the the cubbies where I store scissors, crayons, markers and such.

It's now 10:10 and I've decided to switch the layout and have the kids face a different wall then they did last year.

The table on the right will be for reading groups and the sheet in the foreground covers the computers that are in front of my desk.

Having the kids face this directions gives me more room to spread desks out and they wont be distracted when other kids are on the computers. The blue bulletin board will be for data and the yellow will be for Social Studies (Hopefully, I will be switching with another teacher and she will do the Science component.). The dry erase board on the left will be the homework board and my main teaching board will be in front of the overhead that is on the blue shelf.

This picture was taken just before I left at about 1:00 pm.

This picture was taken from the opposite wall and is facing back toward my desk in the corner. The computers also have to be in that corner for Internet access. The blackboard and white bulletin board on that side will be my math area. The yellow bulletin board will be for reading. I have a round table near my desk for working in small study groups. I got a lot done, which is a good thing. I want to spend next Monday and Tuesday making copies and finishing my planning and then Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are all training days.

Now I'm starting to get excited for the new year!