Halloween

This was my Halloween costume for school and we were having a little bit of fun with the camera. I think the shorter curly hair makes me look a lot younger sometimes. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not.

I went to a Halloween Party tonight and had a great time. We had some great chili, made some gourmet candy apples, played "trick or treat" and one of our favorites, scum. Here are some pictures from the party. I love all these guys. We have such a great time together. I decided the witch costume was too cumbersome for a party.

The Hand

Check this out!

A parent and her son brought this to me this morning before class. Freaky, huh!?! It weirded a lot of the kids outs (not as many as I thought, though). I guess this family makes a lot of these kinds of things for Halloween. I know they also do a heart (not the Valentine type heart). I'm glad I got the hand.

It also freaked out a lot of teachers. It was so real looking. They informed me it was edible. They made it out of peach jello. Many of my kids tried it. By then end of the day, all of the fingers and thumb were gone.

Funny Kid Stories!

Never throw a note from the Teacher out the bus window!

I didn't find out about this story until later . . . from the Mom at Parent/Teacher Conferences. Earlier this year I sent a note home with one of my students. He threw it out the bus window. A child in another neighborhood picked it up and gave it to his mom. This mom recognized the name, called the Mom from my class, to let her know she found a note that she thought was for her son. Sure enough, it was for her son. How do you think THAT conversation went?

Pocket Knife

Last Friday, our class went on a field to Thanksgiving Point and got to visit all the animals at the farm and make a "living" necklace. It was lots of fun. One student even got "bit" by a horse. (not really - his hand grazed the tooth of the horse - still, not fun for that child) Anyhow, I digress. As we came back to the school on the bus, many of my students informed me that one boy had a pocket knife. I went back to investigate, found out he did indeed have a pocket knife and had shown the blade to the other students. (The blade wasn't very sharp, but it still was a pocket knife) I confiscated the knife and informed him that if he wanted it back, his parents could pick it up in person for him. I informed the parents through email to let them know. I received an email back. The Dad informed me that he DID NOT give him permission to take the knife to school and because of his actions he was not getting the knife back. He let me know I could throw it away. Don't cross Dad.

Bee

On the same field trip, on the bus ride over, several students in the back of the bus were screaming and yelling. I went back to investigate. There was a bee flying around. I definitely wouldn't have liked that. I'm not a fan of buzzing bees in my space. :) One boy decided to take care of it. He reached out his foot and smashed it dead. One less bee to worry about and no more screaming kids, . . . at least not because of a bee.

Focus Bingo

Who knew a behavior chart could be so much fun? I have a student I am working with on his behavior. I have tried many things and have to keep changing my strategies for him. Well, today I had a "brilliant" idea on the spot. Many of my "brilliant" ideas come in this fashion. I think it's a little help from above. I've wanted to work with him on one thing, but there are so many things to work on, so I asked him what he wanted to work on. He wanted to work on focus. I was thrilled!!!! Focus covers everything!!! :) We have a signal for poor focus and another signal for good focus. His goal is to get bingo with good focus and stickers by the end of the day. It doesn't matter how many times he has poor focus, as long as he can get bingo with his stickers. It focuses on the positive, but still reflects his other decisions. We both win!!! Yeah! I'm hoping it will keep working for a long time. He was really excited about it today.

The funniest part was when I asked him what our signal for good focus should be. He thought I should put my finger on my nose and wiggle back and forth. I suppose that would work . . .if I was Samantha from Bewitched. I suggested a thumb's up. Fortunately, he thought that was a great idea!

Hair cut

Before . . . long and curly

After . . . straightenedAfter . . . curlyThis is the kind of curly that I always wanted growing up. I got perms and spent hours for dances curling it. Either I didn't know what to do with what I had . . . or . . . my hair has gotten curlier over the years. All I did this morning was put some curling gel and spray gel, scrunch it up where I wanted it, and let it dry by itself. This is great!!!

I tried to do a self- portrait with my camera, but my arm just isn't long enough. lol I had to use the timer and the flash was too much. I went to try again and the battery was too low for live view. I figured it wasn't worth it and just put what I had up. :)

So . . .which do you like? Long? Shorter? Curly or straight?

Life Upgrade . . . of sorts!

This week is a week of upgrades in my life. It started yesterday on Sunday with a fast. I've been thinking a lot about faith and trust and decided I really need more in my life.

Tonight, I met with my financial advisor, and feel like I'm on my way with that aspect of my life.

I'm getting to bed early with the hopes of getting up early and exercising. It didn't happen this morning. Fortunately, I woke up with enough time to get ready to be on time to work. I guess my body needed the sleep.

I'm working harder to read my scriptures at a time when I won't fall asleep. Right before bedtime has definitely NOT been the most effective! lol.

I've lost over 60 pounds in the last few years and have still been working at it to get to my goal. I've had less than 10 pounds to go for a long time now. I've been going to LA Weight Loss. The closed the local office in Provo and so now I get to travel to Draper. I'm going to use this as an opportunity to really work hard, follow any advice and so forth, and get to my goal weight once and for all!!! I went in the other day for the 1st time and felt a little more motivated than I have for awhile. If anyone needs encouragement, give me a call!

Tomorrow I have a class after school . . .classroom management . . . trying to upgrade my management. Heehee. My students won't know what "hit" them. Afterwards, it's off for bridesmaid dress shopping. Who doesn't want to shop for a new red dress. I'll have to look for ways to wear it after the wedding, too. Anyone want to help me with that? :)

I'm trying to get in for a hair appt. Anyone have any ideas? I want to get some length cut off , but not go short. I don't know that I want to straighten it everyday, either. . . so it will have to be able to be cute curly or straight.

I have Thursday and Friday off. Thursday, I'm going clothes shopping with a friend. That will be an upgrade for my wardrobe. It needs a little help. I don't go shopping very often.

Friday, my Mom is helping me out at school. I have a student teacher this year and she will be here next month for 3 weeks. I need to give my classroom a little "upgrade", but never want to go spend extra time there. So, Mom and I will have a little bonding time in my classroom.

Saturday, I have another appt. for laser hair removal. Yeah! It's a great thing, but somewhat a pain in the process of it all.

I also have a few dates, so we'll see how those go.

The week wraps up on Saturday evening at the Temple working. It doesn't get much better than that!!!

I think that covers most every aspect of my life right now.

I Survived!!!!

I did it!

It was parent/teacher conferences last night and tonight and I survived! Yeah!!! I didn't really doubt it, but it sure makes for long days after 12 hours 2 days in a row.

I really enjoy meeting with parents. It gives lots of perspective on my students. I also love the support that I get from them.

I'm exhausted, but it's a great feeling and a couple of days well spent.

Short glimpses . . . Big discoveries.

This is a year of discovery for me!

Today, I discovered that one of my "challenges" in class this year absolutely loves recess. I kept him in today to finish some assignments and he was chomping at the bit to get outside. This is a fantastic discovery . . . finding out that he'll do a great deal to keep his recesses. I've been racking my brain and trying different things to help him in class. He doesn't socially know what is appropriate and I believe his spirit is bigger than his little body and just has to move and do weird things sometimes. Yesterday, I discovered him with his hand cupped up to another students ear while he yelled into the cupped ear. He informed me that this other boy liked it. It seemed so simple to him. These types of things are happening constantly both inside the classroom and at recess. I now have a sign for him. When I give the sign (pull on one ear), he knows that his behavior is inappropriate for the situation. Then I put a tally mark on a sticky note. He misses one minute of recess. This may sound harsh, but we have tried so many things and he will work hard to keep his recess. Today was a success. He did great! He only got 2 tally marks. I'm hoping it will last. Tomorrow night, I get to talk with his parents at parent/teacher conferences. We'll see how it goes. I have a feeling I'm going to have to come up with new ideas on a regular basis for the whole year. Whew! Exhausting, but exciting at the same time.

I've also made some strides with my little tantrum guy. We are a "gold medal" school, which means we are trying to get in 90 minutes of exercise during school, including them walking or running a mile each week. So . . . we go out and walk the track once each afternoon. My rule is that the students can run or walk, but have to be ahead of me or walk(run) with me. They may not be behind me. (This way they are all there when I get there and we can go straight inside.) My tantrum guy waits for me when we go out and walks with me everyday and we talk. It's his choice. I feel like we are establishing a relationship of trust. I'm learning to "distract" him, work to prevent tantrums, reprove with a group (he can't handle it on his own), ignore some behaviors, keep the mood light with humor, praise as much as I can, and give him lots of opportunities to express himself in positive ways. I had a great talk with his mom tonight. I'm hoping that he will continue to love school and learn to not be so hard on himself. When he gets himself into a tantrum, he feels like he is no good and that nobody likes him (in fact, everyone hates him). I hope this year will be a positive one for him and that he can work through his anger and insecurities.

Every day . . . short glimpses into the mind and spirit of a child . . . big discoveries as a teacher.