Hermit-mode. That is what I call it. When things happen that I am not prepared for it, I crawl back inside to assess my life. And after today, it is time.
School will be out in 20 days. Don't expect to see me outside of my room. Then I have the summer to work things out, and make decisions about me and teaching and my life. It's time for Jesus and I to stick close and get over the hurt. It's a lot safer when He is the only one I talk to.... and trust.
See you guys in a month or so.
God bless
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tomorrow is THE day!
Today, was the Math TAKS for my darling 7th graders. What a boring day. Do you know what 'actively monitoring' means? It means walking around watching students complete math problems, yet we are 'not allowed' to look at the test, for fear we will remember something about it. We cannot grade papers, read, check email, or prepare for another day's lessons. We can only watch...for four hours...pure agony!! And oh so boring....
And tomorrow is the READING.... my subject. I have already predicted who will pass, who will not, and who has a 'maybe' chance. In May I will see how close I came....and of course, I hope more of them pass than I expect. My students do the absolute best they can, but the dear old NCLB, and state of Texas tell them that is not good enough. If a student has an IQ of 70, do you honestly think he will do as well as one with an IQ of 120? Not likely...so then, that Special Ed student is told, once again, that he is a failure...Yea, that makes sense...let's just continue to hurt them....and expect miracles out of us!
As for my Thomas...another test was run yesterday. This test was to see if he is able to swallow the pill cam....oh fun....
For all you non-teachers out there...count your blessings that TAKS is just something you read about in the paper and not what you live....
And tomorrow is the READING.... my subject. I have already predicted who will pass, who will not, and who has a 'maybe' chance. In May I will see how close I came....and of course, I hope more of them pass than I expect. My students do the absolute best they can, but the dear old NCLB, and state of Texas tell them that is not good enough. If a student has an IQ of 70, do you honestly think he will do as well as one with an IQ of 120? Not likely...so then, that Special Ed student is told, once again, that he is a failure...Yea, that makes sense...let's just continue to hurt them....and expect miracles out of us!
As for my Thomas...another test was run yesterday. This test was to see if he is able to swallow the pill cam....oh fun....
For all you non-teachers out there...count your blessings that TAKS is just something you read about in the paper and not what you live....
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Another day at the doctor
Okay, folks, the mystery of Thomas's missing blood continues. A month ago, I took him to our family doctor to try to figure out why my 19 year old is sleeping all the time. After a CBC, we realized he is VERY anemic. When the Dr. R saw his blood levels, he decided Thomas must be losing blood somewhere. And the logical place is his colon. Two weeks ago Thomas had an endoscopy....last week a colonoscopy. The other Dr. R. (GI doc) found one small place that was bleeding, and zapped it. That one was in Thomas's duodenum....his stomach and colon were clear. So...where is he bleeding?? That is the question....
He has an x-ray Monday morning to check his small intestine....and he went back to our family Dr. R today for another blood test. The good news is....his iron levels are back to normal. (of course he is taking 325 mg of iron 3 times a day!!) The bad news is...family Dr. R saw something weird in his CBC done today, and Thomas had to go BACK and give more blood for more tests.
You know how they tell you something is wrong, but won't tell you anything until all the tests are completed? I remember having a 'bad' pap after Thomas was born, and they didn't explain anything until a week later when I went in for a biopsy..the waiting was rough.....then you have to wait for the result of the biopsy...well, now we are waiting for whatever family Dr. R is looking for....mommies always worry about their kids.
Another baddy for the day. Our youth minister is leaving to go to a church near Ft. Worth. I was on the search committee three years ago, and truly believe he is a great fit for our church. I am sad...
He has an x-ray Monday morning to check his small intestine....and he went back to our family Dr. R today for another blood test. The good news is....his iron levels are back to normal. (of course he is taking 325 mg of iron 3 times a day!!) The bad news is...family Dr. R saw something weird in his CBC done today, and Thomas had to go BACK and give more blood for more tests.
You know how they tell you something is wrong, but won't tell you anything until all the tests are completed? I remember having a 'bad' pap after Thomas was born, and they didn't explain anything until a week later when I went in for a biopsy..the waiting was rough.....then you have to wait for the result of the biopsy...well, now we are waiting for whatever family Dr. R is looking for....mommies always worry about their kids.
Another baddy for the day. Our youth minister is leaving to go to a church near Ft. Worth. I was on the search committee three years ago, and truly believe he is a great fit for our church. I am sad...
Monday, April 21, 2008
Gotta get out!!
Okay, another day in the Special Ed saga....another reason to GET OUT of Special Ed.....Won't go into details here, but just know that God showed me again today that it is time...and I am SO glad I took the ELA test Saturday. Just keep praying I passed it!
Switch gears....Most of you know that my darling youngest son....the one that Kauy will be like when he gets older...totalled his car back in October. "I wasn't going fast, Mom"...yet the frame of the car was bent as he hit the curb spinning at Redbud Park in the 30 mph speed zone. Well, I told Luke he would not get a car until he could buy his own.
For the last 6 or so months, I have been carting my 17 year old around to church, sports, YoungLife, work. And that is hard work for an old 50 year old woman!! I mean, when he gets off work after 10 p.m. I have to get clothes on, and drive across town! Barf!
Luke had saved about $1000 from his job at Cotton Patch. I told him I would take him over to Scott Sim's Freedom Motors, and we would JUST LOOK. You know, let him talk to them and see what kind of car he could get for a certain monthly payment.
We walk in and talk to Ed. Ed tells us that they just got a Honda Accord 99 model that morning. You know the spiel...one owner, little old lady....and they wanted $4995. for it. AREYOUKIDDING!!! Yes, it has 150,000, but it is a HONDA. So, forget the 'just look' and 'just talk about it'....Luke will be picking his car up after school tomorrow.
God is amazing. If we had gone in Friday, or tomorrow, the cheapest car they had was $10,000 and no way could he afford that! God is good...God is great...God is AWESOME!!
And his payments are $144. for three years....Whoosh!! I wish!!
When you open your eyes to God's work in your life, it is right there smack dab in front of you....there are NO coincidences!!
Switch gears....Most of you know that my darling youngest son....the one that Kauy will be like when he gets older...totalled his car back in October. "I wasn't going fast, Mom"...yet the frame of the car was bent as he hit the curb spinning at Redbud Park in the 30 mph speed zone. Well, I told Luke he would not get a car until he could buy his own.
For the last 6 or so months, I have been carting my 17 year old around to church, sports, YoungLife, work. And that is hard work for an old 50 year old woman!! I mean, when he gets off work after 10 p.m. I have to get clothes on, and drive across town! Barf!
Luke had saved about $1000 from his job at Cotton Patch. I told him I would take him over to Scott Sim's Freedom Motors, and we would JUST LOOK. You know, let him talk to them and see what kind of car he could get for a certain monthly payment.
We walk in and talk to Ed. Ed tells us that they just got a Honda Accord 99 model that morning. You know the spiel...one owner, little old lady....and they wanted $4995. for it. AREYOUKIDDING!!! Yes, it has 150,000, but it is a HONDA. So, forget the 'just look' and 'just talk about it'....Luke will be picking his car up after school tomorrow.
God is amazing. If we had gone in Friday, or tomorrow, the cheapest car they had was $10,000 and no way could he afford that! God is good...God is great...God is AWESOME!!
And his payments are $144. for three years....Whoosh!! I wish!!
When you open your eyes to God's work in your life, it is right there smack dab in front of you....there are NO coincidences!!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Tech Showcase
It's been MONTHS since I've been here...life has been wild...sorry!
Wow!! What a day!! Today was the 1st Annual AISD Technology Showcase. I had GREAT doubts that anyone would show up. I mean, this is Abilene...not exactly the Technology Center of the Texas. But we worked our behinds off preparing for it, anyway.
I was asked on Thursday to teach, "What is a Wiki, a Blog, and a Podcast". Okay, I understand the blogs (obviously) and the podcast (couldn't run without my 70's music on my Shuffle...course my sons say it is not really running, it is shuffling...but at least I am moving!), but what the heck is a 'wiki'? We, teachers, all hate Wikipedia, since it is edited by anyone and everyone.
So, I admit, Thursday afternoon and Friday, I was not the best teacher in the world. I mean, I had to make up a presentation about something I had no clue about. But, yes, God was with me once again. Finished it about 3:30 on Friday, right before I went to Craig to set up for the Showcase. Had a blast working with Marion and the four ITs transforming a middle school into a tech mecca. Called Thomas to come over at 7 p.m. to take Sonic food orders. And, bless his heart, he did. Two of the ITs were his teachers in his middle school and high school years, so it was reunion time. I think we left Craig about 7:45.....
And a mere 12 hours later, we were back. And what a morning it was!! People started arriving at 8:00 and between my four classes, I saw more and more people coming in. Mark, our beloved CTO, told us Friday night that even if only the families of the participants show up, then it will be a successful first year event.
I have NO idea how many hundreds of people showed up, but the $26,000 big doorprizes will probably bring them back for the 2nd annual showcase!! Yes, you heard me right, Marion and others went out and asked for donations. AMAZING!!
THEN, I took an English Language Arts and Reading 4-8 certification test at 1:30....don't even ask me how I did....during some questions, I heard myself saying, "I am bombing this", then "wow, that answer was easy".....I'll let you know after May 9th if I succeeded.
Wow!! What a day!! Today was the 1st Annual AISD Technology Showcase. I had GREAT doubts that anyone would show up. I mean, this is Abilene...not exactly the Technology Center of the Texas. But we worked our behinds off preparing for it, anyway.
I was asked on Thursday to teach, "What is a Wiki, a Blog, and a Podcast". Okay, I understand the blogs (obviously) and the podcast (couldn't run without my 70's music on my Shuffle...course my sons say it is not really running, it is shuffling...but at least I am moving!), but what the heck is a 'wiki'? We, teachers, all hate Wikipedia, since it is edited by anyone and everyone.
So, I admit, Thursday afternoon and Friday, I was not the best teacher in the world. I mean, I had to make up a presentation about something I had no clue about. But, yes, God was with me once again. Finished it about 3:30 on Friday, right before I went to Craig to set up for the Showcase. Had a blast working with Marion and the four ITs transforming a middle school into a tech mecca. Called Thomas to come over at 7 p.m. to take Sonic food orders. And, bless his heart, he did. Two of the ITs were his teachers in his middle school and high school years, so it was reunion time. I think we left Craig about 7:45.....
And a mere 12 hours later, we were back. And what a morning it was!! People started arriving at 8:00 and between my four classes, I saw more and more people coming in. Mark, our beloved CTO, told us Friday night that even if only the families of the participants show up, then it will be a successful first year event.
I have NO idea how many hundreds of people showed up, but the $26,000 big doorprizes will probably bring them back for the 2nd annual showcase!! Yes, you heard me right, Marion and others went out and asked for donations. AMAZING!!
THEN, I took an English Language Arts and Reading 4-8 certification test at 1:30....don't even ask me how I did....during some questions, I heard myself saying, "I am bombing this", then "wow, that answer was easy".....I'll let you know after May 9th if I succeeded.
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