This week felt insanely long, as if each day just kept getting longer than the one before it. Most days went well for the most part.
Monday was busy. I had a goal setting meeting in the morning with my principal which was very nerve wracking but went better than expected. Teaching that day went well, tests and quizzes galore! After school I had to go over to the other school for Back to School night with the parents there. Oh it was a long day. It went relatively well. I met a handful of parents, most of which seemed supportive so we'll see.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were all pretty typical days, just teaching during the day and planning at night. Luckily Thursday and Friday I was testing in all of my Algebra classes so the fact that I was physically exhausted it was a little easier to get through the day.
Friday night I went to the high school football game with a few friends from school. It was interesting. Our team didn't do very well which was hard to watch since they had been dominating the past few weeks. I was mistaken by a parent for a student which was kind of weird, especially considering that I was standing with a bunch of other teachers, granted we are all young.
Saturday and Sunday I was super lazy!! I stayed home most of the day and just relaxed. My head was bothering me both days significantly more than I'd ever like to deal with. It was great to just watch movies and then football and grade at the same time. I enjoyed some wine at night and just tried to relax as much as possible.
I'm getting to know people here more which is nice. I'm feeling more and more distant from the people at home or originally from home and I'm trying to find a balance with the amount of effort I put into those relationships when people are not returning that effort. This has always been difficult for me. I'm not sure how to balance relationships and the types I have. I have always put other people before me and lately that has lead to me getting hurt. It's been a rough couple of weeks socially based on a number of difficult conversations.
This week is starting new material with kids and then going to the beach with the girls for Columbus Day weekend!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
2 weeks and a lot going on
I try to write once a week, but for some reason last weekend I just didn't get a chance to write. The past 2 weeks have kept me really busy, mainly with work, but there has been some fun mixed in as well.
I made it through my first back to school night with parents on the 10th, and other than it being a very late night, most of the parents were nice and things went well. That whole week just felt never ending because of having such a late night on Monday. In general it was a good week, but busy. I had a few meetings but for the most part it was a typical week.
That weekend I spent Friday night at the high school football game with a few of my friends/coworkers. It was a good time. The team won and did really well and it was nice to be out for a bit. Saturday I spent the morning at the DMV, and pretty much the whole morning. Luckily I had all of the paperwork I needed and everything went smoothly. I had a relaxing weekend and spent the rest of the time at home working on planning and grading and just relaxing and cooking.
This week was busy and for some reason it felt extremely long and stressful. I gave a few of quizzes which meant there was a bit of grading to be done, and that is going to continue into next week as well. I also had a variety of meetings which always makes it interesting. I also found out that I need to take 2 certification exams here in Virginia because New York won't write the memo that Virginia is asking for. All they want is a memo stating how I got one of my certifications, but because they won't do it I now have to take 2 more exams, by mid-November. I'm very frustrated by that whole situations.
The end of the week was tricky. I woke up Thursday with a pretty bad migraine. It got worse throughout the course of the day, because working through pain never helps it go away. By the time I went home I took my medicine hoping it would help, and sadly it didn't. I work up Friday in just as much pain. I drank significantly more caffeine than I should have just to function, but I made it through school, and working with a student afterwards. By the time I got home I ate dinner, enjoyed some wine and crawled into bed early while taking my medicine again hoping it would help this time. Luckily it did. By the time I woke up Saturday morning (I'm sure sleeping in until 7:45 instead of 5:30 helped too) I was back to my normal pain level and no longer sensitive to light and sound. I was glad that it didn't last longer than 2 days.
Saturday I ran a few errands in the morning, got some cleaning and grading done during the day and then went out with some friends and coworkers. It was good to go out around here, and to be out with new people and to get to know them better. Today I had a lazy day, was productive at the same time, but got to watch some football at the same time which was really enjoyable.
This week hold the second back to school night which I'm sure will be interesting. I've got a meeting with my principal to discuss goals for the evaluation process for the year. And I'm giving tests and quizzes in everything. It should be another busy week.
I made it through my first back to school night with parents on the 10th, and other than it being a very late night, most of the parents were nice and things went well. That whole week just felt never ending because of having such a late night on Monday. In general it was a good week, but busy. I had a few meetings but for the most part it was a typical week.
That weekend I spent Friday night at the high school football game with a few of my friends/coworkers. It was a good time. The team won and did really well and it was nice to be out for a bit. Saturday I spent the morning at the DMV, and pretty much the whole morning. Luckily I had all of the paperwork I needed and everything went smoothly. I had a relaxing weekend and spent the rest of the time at home working on planning and grading and just relaxing and cooking.
This week was busy and for some reason it felt extremely long and stressful. I gave a few of quizzes which meant there was a bit of grading to be done, and that is going to continue into next week as well. I also had a variety of meetings which always makes it interesting. I also found out that I need to take 2 certification exams here in Virginia because New York won't write the memo that Virginia is asking for. All they want is a memo stating how I got one of my certifications, but because they won't do it I now have to take 2 more exams, by mid-November. I'm very frustrated by that whole situations.
The end of the week was tricky. I woke up Thursday with a pretty bad migraine. It got worse throughout the course of the day, because working through pain never helps it go away. By the time I went home I took my medicine hoping it would help, and sadly it didn't. I work up Friday in just as much pain. I drank significantly more caffeine than I should have just to function, but I made it through school, and working with a student afterwards. By the time I got home I ate dinner, enjoyed some wine and crawled into bed early while taking my medicine again hoping it would help this time. Luckily it did. By the time I woke up Saturday morning (I'm sure sleeping in until 7:45 instead of 5:30 helped too) I was back to my normal pain level and no longer sensitive to light and sound. I was glad that it didn't last longer than 2 days.
Saturday I ran a few errands in the morning, got some cleaning and grading done during the day and then went out with some friends and coworkers. It was good to go out around here, and to be out with new people and to get to know them better. Today I had a lazy day, was productive at the same time, but got to watch some football at the same time which was really enjoyable.
This week hold the second back to school night which I'm sure will be interesting. I've got a meeting with my principal to discuss goals for the evaluation process for the year. And I'm giving tests and quizzes in everything. It should be another busy week.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Another week of school and another year older...
I made it through another week of school and I celebrated my 25th birthday right along with it. So much gets packed into each day that everything seems to blend together. It was honestly a pretty stressful week because I didn't feel nearly as prepared as I wanted to be going into it.
Tuesday at school went well, nothing really out of the ordinary, but I had to drop my car off at the shop to get some work done about an hour after school ended which meant that I didn't get to stay for my normal few hours of planning at night. That just threw me off a little bit, I was able to plan once I got home, but I quickly realized that I plan a lot better at school and that I'm just more successful and more focused there.
Wednesday I thought I was going to be able to pick my car up after school but it turns out they found more things that needed to be fixed (as usual) so I had to wait until Thursday. Classes and everything went smoothly though. I gave my first quiz and got everything graded quickly which felt like an accomplishment.
Thursday I had a bit of a melt down after school. I'm so thankful for good coworkers and friends to support me. Before I get into that I have to say that my coworkers rocked my birthday! They got my a great card, a beautiful picture frame, some fun colored pens, and 2 pretty bracelets. Not to mention delicious flourless chocolate cake!! We had to celebrate early since I wouldn't be there on my birthday but at the other school, but I felt so welcomed and part of the team! Classes went well with the exception of my last period which was just talkative but still got their work done and was manageable to an extent. But then I found out that I would have to wait another day and pay even more money for car stuff because it needed even more work, which just stressed me out. And I was feeling very on edge about some of my plans. I felt behind, which I wasn't, I just wasn't as ahead as I wanted to be. I had been fighting a migraine all day and I was dealing with a bit of sleep deprivation because of a screaming child somewhere near my apartment which woke me up at 3am and I couldn't fall back asleep. My minor break down happened when all of it culminated and I just felt lost, mainly because of the car stuff making me frustrated. I just went into my friends classroom and cried and vented for a few minutes. She listened, teased me, and gave me ideas for my lessons and I felt so much better. It was like I instantly knew I could handle the situation again.
Friday was really good as well. I was at the other school and classes again went well. They got me a hilarious card and cake. It's nice to feel included. My car was finally done so after school I was able to pick it up (and pay an obscene amount of money for the repairs). And when I realized I forgot my flash drive at school I drove back there to get it, and then finally went home quickly before going out to dinner with a friend to celebrate my birthday. It was a low key night but it was a nice way to celebrate the end of our second week teaching and my birthday.
Saturday was when the real celebrating happened! I went out with a few girls from school and it was a blast! We were planning on going to a festival but it got rained out, so we just hung out at one of their apartments for a while before getting dinner out and going to a really fun store with super cute and cheap jewelry. After that we went back and played board games and just hung out. It was an awesome night.
This morning we got breakfast and then did a little shopping. Then I came home and lesson planned. We've got back to school night with the parents tomorrow night and then a full week with the kids. It's nice to feel a little bit ahead of the game. We'll see how long it lasts.
Now for those of you who remember, or who don't know I'll fill you in. Last year right before my birthday I made a list of 25 things I wanted to do before I turned 25. I didn't accomplish it all but I'll copy and paste it below and update what I did end up doing. My new comments are in italics.
Tuesday at school went well, nothing really out of the ordinary, but I had to drop my car off at the shop to get some work done about an hour after school ended which meant that I didn't get to stay for my normal few hours of planning at night. That just threw me off a little bit, I was able to plan once I got home, but I quickly realized that I plan a lot better at school and that I'm just more successful and more focused there.
Wednesday I thought I was going to be able to pick my car up after school but it turns out they found more things that needed to be fixed (as usual) so I had to wait until Thursday. Classes and everything went smoothly though. I gave my first quiz and got everything graded quickly which felt like an accomplishment.
Thursday I had a bit of a melt down after school. I'm so thankful for good coworkers and friends to support me. Before I get into that I have to say that my coworkers rocked my birthday! They got my a great card, a beautiful picture frame, some fun colored pens, and 2 pretty bracelets. Not to mention delicious flourless chocolate cake!! We had to celebrate early since I wouldn't be there on my birthday but at the other school, but I felt so welcomed and part of the team! Classes went well with the exception of my last period which was just talkative but still got their work done and was manageable to an extent. But then I found out that I would have to wait another day and pay even more money for car stuff because it needed even more work, which just stressed me out. And I was feeling very on edge about some of my plans. I felt behind, which I wasn't, I just wasn't as ahead as I wanted to be. I had been fighting a migraine all day and I was dealing with a bit of sleep deprivation because of a screaming child somewhere near my apartment which woke me up at 3am and I couldn't fall back asleep. My minor break down happened when all of it culminated and I just felt lost, mainly because of the car stuff making me frustrated. I just went into my friends classroom and cried and vented for a few minutes. She listened, teased me, and gave me ideas for my lessons and I felt so much better. It was like I instantly knew I could handle the situation again.
Friday was really good as well. I was at the other school and classes again went well. They got me a hilarious card and cake. It's nice to feel included. My car was finally done so after school I was able to pick it up (and pay an obscene amount of money for the repairs). And when I realized I forgot my flash drive at school I drove back there to get it, and then finally went home quickly before going out to dinner with a friend to celebrate my birthday. It was a low key night but it was a nice way to celebrate the end of our second week teaching and my birthday.
Saturday was when the real celebrating happened! I went out with a few girls from school and it was a blast! We were planning on going to a festival but it got rained out, so we just hung out at one of their apartments for a while before getting dinner out and going to a really fun store with super cute and cheap jewelry. After that we went back and played board games and just hung out. It was an awesome night.
This morning we got breakfast and then did a little shopping. Then I came home and lesson planned. We've got back to school night with the parents tomorrow night and then a full week with the kids. It's nice to feel a little bit ahead of the game. We'll see how long it lasts.
Now for those of you who remember, or who don't know I'll fill you in. Last year right before my birthday I made a list of 25 things I wanted to do before I turned 25. I didn't accomplish it all but I'll copy and paste it below and update what I did end up doing. My new comments are in italics.
1.) Make something new (food, crafts, etc.) at least twice a month. - I will say that I tried to do this but I don't think I actually got two things in each month. It was a bit of a lofty goal.
2.) Read for fun a little everyday.- I would say that I read about 75% of the time. Not great but better than what I was doing before.
3.) Take a vacation- just for fun!- This I can say with certainty I did. I spent a weekend in Boston with some great people, just on a whim for the heck of it. I also just went to the shore with my parents over Labor Day for fun.
4.) Write letters consistently to friends out of town.- While it is still a goal of mine to get better and stay on top of this, especially now that more of my friends are further away from me, I have stayed in touch with a good number of people through snail mail and I love it!
5.) Go at least one day without unnecessarily saying "I'm Sorry" (as many of you know this will be harder for me than it sounds.)- I have gotten significantly better about not apologizing for things that I do no need to actually apologize for. While I haven't consciously paid attention to whether I've made it through a full day, I'd like to think I have. I know that I have stopped apologizing for others as much.
6.) Do logic puzzles or challenging word problems regularly (I have to keep my mind sharp somehow)- I love my logic puzzle book, and I am now teaching math so I've got plenty of word problems to keep me busy! I did spend the past year doing logic puzzles regularly for fun. I know I'm weird!
7.)Watch all 6 Star Wars movies in one weekend (Anyone have these that I could borrow, and want to join me for this adventure?)- I sadly did not watch all of them in one weekend. I do now own them all, and I watched 3 out of the 6 while at my parents over Christmas vacation, so do I get partial credit?
8.) Learn to cook on a grill- I totally failed on this one! I still don't know how to do this one, so hopefully I can learn sometime.
9.) Cook for friends once a month (can we say dinner parties with me cooking!! Who wants in?!)- This one I did relatively well at. I only missed 2 months, January and August. We all seemed to be busy January for some reason, and August I moved and started a new job and didn't know anyone to cook for yet.
10.) Play new board games (this one I can't do alone!)- I have played lots of new board games, thanks for all the help on this one!
11.) Hike a mountain (or two or three...)- Sadly in the last year I haven't done this... another fail.
12.) Go at least one day without complaining (about anything, and hopefully more than one day)- Again, not sure if I was conscious of actually going a full day, but I'd like to think that I've done this at least once. I know that I've stopped letting my headaches rule everything in my life completely and I do my best not to complain vocally about them as much.
13.) Take a gymnastics/Pilates/yoga class- Another fail, I haven't done this within the past year.
14.) Find a church community I feel comfortable in- I have visited a few churches since getting here in Virginia and there was one that I went to which I enjoyed, but I've only gone once, so it will take more time for me to make the leap to say I'm comfortable there.
15.) Go one month without buying anything materialistic that I don't need to survive (ie. food)- I did do this. Granted I picked February because it was the shortest month, but I went the whole month only paying my bills, and for food and gas and the necessities to keep me alive. I didn't buy clothing or anything "fun". It was quite a learning experience.
16.) Read some of the "classics" - I got sucked into more of the "fun" new books lately, another fail
17.) Talk to my family (immediate and distant) more often- I've gotten better at this, and now that I am busier I make it a priority and it feels better.
18.) Go to a wine tasting- Another fail, but some friends here want to do this, so I'm hoping it happens because I really want to go!!
19.) Lose 15 pounds- Did this one, and more than just 15, partially because my medicine makes me not hungry, but I've also eaten better lately.
20.) Go one full day without technology (phone, computer, tv etc.)- Another fail, which is sad, considering I spent a couple summers working in the woods. I wish this was easier to do.
21.) Not let my headache get in the way of being social or doing something I want to do.- I've gotten better at this, mainly because I just say "screw it" and deal with the consequences of the pain later.
22.) Go out dancing or to a club (I have never done this and it kind of scares me, so someone please drag me with you and promise not to leave me!)- Thank you to my friends who brought me out oh so many months ago! I had a lot of fun!
23.) Create and stick to a monthly budget (someday I have to be an adult)- Not done yet but I am working on it, it's changing drastically with this new job.
24.) Pay for someones coffee behind me in the drive-thru- I did this just the other day. It was a fun surprise, even the lady at the drive-thru smiled.
25.) Blog about these goals as I accomplish them.- I guess I didn't blog about them right as I accomplished them, but since I'm doing it now it has to count for something right?!
So in the grand scheme of things I only missed 6-8 depending on how you count the partial credit! Haha yes I'm a teacher and I'm being generous to myself! It was a fun experience, much better than a new years resolution, and a lot easier to maintain. Not to mention I had a few people to help me along the way. Thanks for all the support!
Monday, September 3, 2012
Surviving (and Thriving) Through the First Week and then Relaxing by the Beach!
This week was a blur! It was great but it sped by quickly and each day just blended into the next one.
The first days of school at both schools went well. I was super nervous as students came in and had to change things a little bit to adapt to time constraints and other changes in schedule but for the most part things went well.
Getting everything planned after school and making sure it is ready for the next day has been the biggest task. Most things don't take too long. I've made it home most nights between 6 and 8 and actually feel prepared for the next day, no matter which school I'm walking into. It does help that what I do on A days I repeat on B days, so if something doesn't work well I can tweak it before doing it again. I'm slowly starting to pick up on a few students names, I need to get better about that, but the seating chart is helping for sure.
I have found which class with be my challenge, and I'm hoping that they will becoming easier. They are going to need more structure and possibly different seats than what they have now.
I've also made some friends which is nice! I got coffee with a teacher I met at orientation on Wednesday just to catch up about how our weeks had been so far. And then on Friday night I went out with three girls from one of the schools I work at. We were celebrating one of their birthdays and the fact that we made it through the first week! It was a blast!! They knew each other previously but welcomed me in and it was nice to have people my age to hang out with. We went out for a late dinner and then out to a few bars for drinks! I hadn't stayed up that late in quite a while, and we all commented on how hard it was to go out on a Friday night because we were so used to going to bed early during the week. It was worth it though! We are planning to do it again next weekend for a festival going on.
The next morning I drove to my parents house. I got there and sat down for a few minutes while my parents finished packing a few things up and then we went to their friends shore house about an hour away. It was so nice! It wasn't too hot but still sunny. We spent a few hours out on their boat and then relaxing on their deck. I even got a little bit of a tan. The next day we went to the beach for a few hours before having an early dinner and then driving back to my parents place for the night. I had a lazy morning at their place today and then drove home so that I could do laundry and get ready for the week.
I can't really believe we have another week of school. This weekend flew by so quickly, probably because I spent so much of it in the car and not at home, but it was really nice to relax and not think about school and lesson planning and all of the details that go with it.
I'll be back to the grind tomorrow. I have to bring my car to the shop tomorrow night and then pick it up the following evening, hopefully everything goes smoothly and nothing else gets added to the one part that they need to fix for the emissions inspection (that just came in after being ordered). If I'm lucky I can get everything taken care of with my car and maybe even get to the dmv sometime this week.
The first days of school at both schools went well. I was super nervous as students came in and had to change things a little bit to adapt to time constraints and other changes in schedule but for the most part things went well.
Getting everything planned after school and making sure it is ready for the next day has been the biggest task. Most things don't take too long. I've made it home most nights between 6 and 8 and actually feel prepared for the next day, no matter which school I'm walking into. It does help that what I do on A days I repeat on B days, so if something doesn't work well I can tweak it before doing it again. I'm slowly starting to pick up on a few students names, I need to get better about that, but the seating chart is helping for sure.
I have found which class with be my challenge, and I'm hoping that they will becoming easier. They are going to need more structure and possibly different seats than what they have now.
I've also made some friends which is nice! I got coffee with a teacher I met at orientation on Wednesday just to catch up about how our weeks had been so far. And then on Friday night I went out with three girls from one of the schools I work at. We were celebrating one of their birthdays and the fact that we made it through the first week! It was a blast!! They knew each other previously but welcomed me in and it was nice to have people my age to hang out with. We went out for a late dinner and then out to a few bars for drinks! I hadn't stayed up that late in quite a while, and we all commented on how hard it was to go out on a Friday night because we were so used to going to bed early during the week. It was worth it though! We are planning to do it again next weekend for a festival going on.
The next morning I drove to my parents house. I got there and sat down for a few minutes while my parents finished packing a few things up and then we went to their friends shore house about an hour away. It was so nice! It wasn't too hot but still sunny. We spent a few hours out on their boat and then relaxing on their deck. I even got a little bit of a tan. The next day we went to the beach for a few hours before having an early dinner and then driving back to my parents place for the night. I had a lazy morning at their place today and then drove home so that I could do laundry and get ready for the week.
I can't really believe we have another week of school. This weekend flew by so quickly, probably because I spent so much of it in the car and not at home, but it was really nice to relax and not think about school and lesson planning and all of the details that go with it.
I'll be back to the grind tomorrow. I have to bring my car to the shop tomorrow night and then pick it up the following evening, hopefully everything goes smoothly and nothing else gets added to the one part that they need to fix for the emissions inspection (that just came in after being ordered). If I'm lucky I can get everything taken care of with my car and maybe even get to the dmv sometime this week.
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