Blessings and Joys

God has blessed me with dear friends and family over my life ~~~~but the greatest blessings of all are my daughters.

Emily and I have had great talks this week as she has begun the adventure of teaching 6th graders....She is fully equipped both in education and experience and spiritually to withstand the rigor of keeping one/half step ahead of the kids. After 36 years, sometimes my view gets pretty cloudy, but to hear her excitement and exhaustion.....well, it is refreshing. Keep goin' girl...She is learning quickly to think on her feet and be overly prepared....all the traits that it has taken me a few years to master. All the times she and Molly visited my class room.....must have rubbed off.

Molly has had an 'opportunity' to grow and stretch this week. I so admire the gifts that God has given to her and how she uses these gifts for His plan. She is also fully equipped to be in a 'hot pressure cooker' called an American Military Academy. She is a women, which she has always overcome the prejudice with dignity and strength. She is a God given leader and knows how to motivate others to follow and a teacher to those who can learn to lead.

God has been so gracious and merciful in helping me to raise them. They have turned out to be MORE than I could have imagined for them to be.....THANKS GOD!

Another Week

This is the third full week of school beginning....it is like I have never been away. You just get back up on the 'bike' and start riding.

Today is also the first day of school for Emily. She begins her teaching career at a Charter School in Denver. She will be teaching the Science in a rotation of 4 - 6th grade teachers. She will find out today if she has planned too much, too little or just right. That is a difficulty that all teachers face. Even after 36 years, I will come up short. Most of the time, the bell interrupts me. I usually stop mid-sentence which is amusing to the kids....

I am making plans to visit my other daughter in September at the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York. It will be the first time in a looonnnggg time that I have flown and only the 2nd time I have been to New York. The school is located on the Great Neck and I am looking forward to seeing the sound and school.

There goes the bell..........another day and week begins........

Shorter, More Often

I think I should do shorter blogs and more often......so here goes.

What leader in his RIGHT MIND would schedule a meeting at 7:15 AM on a MONDAY MORNING.....sorta explains many things that goes on at school. Tuesday night was Open House which made my day a 13 hour day. I ate dinner with a group of my teacher friends, which was a very nice break. I had quite a few parents...just a HI and NICE TO MEET YOU thing. I was in bed by 8:40 and did not care if I woke up at 4:30....I was EXHAUSTED. I did wake at 4:30 BUT promptly went back to sleep until 5;30!!!

School has settled into its routine. I have some 6th graders who really immature and low achievers. I want to know what happens to the kids between 5th and 6th.....like they forget EVERYTHING that they have ever learned. YEAR AROUND SCHOOL....that has my vote!!!! No more than 8 weeks off in the summer....i believe that i have all ready voice that opinion in an earlier blog. This may go along with Administrators who have labotomies the summer before they take a Principal/Vice Principal's job......they forget what it is like in the 'trenches'.

OK time for bed.....I get cranky when I am very tired and I am very tired......

This Is How It Goes

Yes, I know...it has been a week. This is how it goes when I teach. This was the first full week of teaching and I am sooooo tired every night I take a nap, eat and then go to bed. It will settle down there in about 3 days and the routine will be easier. The beginning of the semester is all direct teaching...that's me.

At summer camp I learned a song about "Make New Friends, but keep the old. One is Silver and the other is Gold". This has been the summer of connecting with the Gold Friends.

First in June, one of my high school buddies came to Colorado to visit her son and daughter-in-law that now live in Longmont. We were able to meet for dinner and talk, talk, talk.... We had not seen each other since 1977. I am soo glad for Holiday letters and e-mail now. I felt as if I knew her son even with this being the first meeting...It was great, Joyce -- dear friend.

July took me back to Iowa. I left there, after spending most of my life there in 1989. There are less and less people to see BUT 2 of the girls are the other ones I ran around with in high school.
Janice and Dee, YEY! After college, we sorta let the friendships go busy with marriages and children. Then we decided that was dumb: we had gone through the WORST years of our lives (High School) and we had made it....why not keep the relationships going??? I AM SOOO GLAD WE DID..... We just pick up were we left off and e-mails are a great way to continue connections. Dear friends!

I also saw my dearest friend Lynne and her family. They are to be the guardians of the girls, even at this age.... She is such a women of faith and prayer and has give great counsel throughout the years. Dearest Lynne.

Then this weekend I caught up with Erika and her hubby Jeff. Erika and I went through the First Gulf War in Germany together (1989-91). We had NOT seen each other since 1991. It was great to share with her and Jeff.

YES, this has been the SUMMER OF GOLDEN FRIENDS!!! Women who I have and will continue to CHERISH......

AHHHHH SATURDAY!

Got to sleep in today....and have been relaxing, doing wash and no where to go or to be..SIGH! (with a smile here.)

I am soo glad there were only 2 days of school with the kiddos this week. I am alway soo exhausted. The first day was the worst.....there was no air conditioning in my wing or room. By 3rd hour, there were all ready stinky kids....then after lunch!!!....Well, needless to say I gave them my 'it's time to use deoderant/or start to use it' and 'do the stinky test'. The stinky test is to hold up you arm under your nose and smell.....yep, time for a bath.

At 8:45 AM on Friday I was typing at the computer and suddenly had a chill......walked away from the fan blowing at high, and did my happy dance in every class the rest of the day. It went from 84 to 68 when I left at 4:15.....COLD, GLORIOUS COLD. Hopefully Monday, it will still be on!! Never a guarentee!

Now the routine sets in and another year of learning begins.....WHAHOOO!

180 Days

HERE WE GO..................... Tomorrow will be the first day of school for District 8. Being on a Military Base, so many of our kids will be new. Then there are the 6th graders...actually they don't mature until January....that will be scared to death with a bigger school and moving to 6 different teachers, let alone finding the lunch room. 7th will think they are 'way cool', be loud and throw their weight around. 8th are just 'too cool' so they will just be cool, unless they have to be the one to announce to this world that they are cool. (They aren't if they have to announce it. It's fun to remind them of this fact.)

Hopefully, there will be no first or second day fights.....keeping the fingers crossed on that one. It depends if they settled stuff this summer or they decide to bring it to school for an audience. We are about 82% minority children so we have 'much culture' that goes on in the hallways. This is the 2nd year for our new building so there will be quite a bit of reminding: "Does this look like the ghetto??? This is not the barrio, folks. Not here at school...settle it at home with your parents watching." The guy just finished installing video camera's on second floor today. We hope that will take care of the incidents in the halls/bathrooms during classes. Cell phones will be a big issue, as always....'turn them off...into the book bag....no texting........pick it up from the Principal.'

This is the 36th year of education for me.....i will have the same butterflies that the kids will have, I usually do in the morning. So, now there are only 180 days of school left. LOL I won't keep track any more until May.

I am glad that you stopped by.....

Sharon

Land of Perpetual Saturdays

This is the last of the perpetual Saturdays.....summer vacation is now officially over.....there will be quick vacations here and there during the school year. I have found working in Middle School there is more of an mental and emotional drain on me. Do you remember when you had to keep at least one step ahead of your 6, 7 or 8th grader???? (That's 11-14 yr. olds) I remember every day...LOL

I came to Middle School the year my oldest daughter went into 6th grade. I am most sure that it saved her and her sisters life seeing these behaviors are 'normal' and I had best deal with them. Now both of them are well out of that age, but God has now 'called' me to an age that I can most be a role model and influence.

My oldest daughter has begun her teaching career in a Charter School. She had an excellent student teaching experience and I am sure that she will be very successful her first year. She will be teaming with 3 others in 6th grade. It is a new school, so at least 1 member of each team is a veteran teacher. She will be in training for the next 2 1/2 weeks and then her kiddos come August 27. At this time, they will have 15 students in each class. (Teacher friends: Are you drooling???) This school will also have Day Care from birth to 6th grade. Next year they will add 7 and 8th grade. This school is sponsored by the Cerebral Palsy Association....I had the wrong association as i have talked to many of you.

My youngest daughter is off on the adventure of a life time. She is beginning her first year at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. She reported July 5th and has made it through INDOC (initial first 2 weeks). She has now begun her first trimester of classes. the attending of an US Service Academy has been a goal of hers since Middle School or before. It had been a wonder to see God's path for her.

I have chosen you to come to my blog. I know you will be interested in my girls and my life. Please add comments as you want......

Blessings.........

Last Day of Summer

Can it be???? Yes, it is the last day of summer and I begin teacher meetings on Monday and the kiddos come on Thursday. This weeks go by soo fast and I end up wondering what all was accomplished.

I would really like my District to go to a modified year around.....1 or 2 weeks off in Oct., 3 weeks at Christmas, 2 weeks in March and then only have 6-8 weeks off in the summer. Since the District's goal is higher test scores....how about less time away from the classroom???? 12 weeks is WAY TO LONG to be gone. Pass objections have been that teachers can't attend summer school.....we can get classes Online. Parents take long vacations in the summer....who can afford that anymore???? Most of our student population take vacations whenever parents come back from Iraq, usually 2 weeks long spread throughout the year.

I believe the data would actively support less time away from instruction...better performance on State testing.