My New blog is up and running!!! I am super excited about it! Its a teaching blog so that I can post things that I have made for my classroom and just made for fun! Please come on over and see what fun stuff I have! Right now there isn't much because it just went live last night and I haven't had that much time to play around with it!!!
I am super excited about this!!!!
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
It's coming down to the wire
Well here in South Texas we have 21 days left in the school year!!! With that being said it is also the scariest time of the school year. With a new school opening up and my current principal opening this school. She was able to take a few teachers with her to help her open the new school... I put in to go with her but knew that if I went it was going to be a last minute thing... Since I am still a probationary teacher (in my first three years of teaching) it is really hard for her to just up and say I WANT HER!! I did put in for a transfer to two other school over by where I live on the other side of the district. The district that I work for covers over 100 square miles!! (did i mention its in the hill country?) I currently drive from one city to another city to work, and have about a 45 minute drive to work and then about a 55 minute drive back home (more traffic in the afternoons) Well the other two school that I put in to transfer to I originally thought that they were filled so I had put that though out of my mind and also since I hadn't heard anything yet from my principal I assumed that I was just going to be staying at my current school and I would probably stay EA (which is our version of elementary life skills). So the two other teachers and I started planning out how WE wanted our three classrooms to be divided up with all the kids and were working on writing a proposal to present to our Principal and New Principal for next year! That was going all fine and dandy until WEDNESDAY of this week!! When we found out that I would NOT be an EA teacher for next year and that another teacher on campus was going to be switching positions and was coming to take my spot on the team!!! I was sad/mad all at the same time!!! Why was that not my position?!?!?! Then I had a little chat with our VP and left that meeting feeling like they didn't believe in my teaching abilities and the only place for me was either Behavior (which I DO NOT WANT) or Inclusion Support (Better but still not what I wanted to do for next year) but those were my ONLY choices... I couldn't switch to Gen. Ed like I thought I was going to be able to do. So yesterday I was in lets say a pissy mood for the morning hours of my day... Well I decided that I wasn't going to let it get me down! So I changed my attitude and actually had a pretty good day!
So after school a group of teachers do the Insanity workout together in the Music room (KILLER) While we were working out our Principal poked her head in and said to come talk to her before I left for the day... Uh-OH is what went thru my mind... Well our talk consisted of she has picked the staff that she was going to take with her for sure and I was not currently one of them. Bummer but what I expected. She did say however that she still had a few openings on her staff but was told to keep them open for the time being because they were still working on placements for other staff members around the district. She also said that my #1 School that I really wanted to teach at (it is literally IN my neighborhood) well their Principal was asking about me and what I wanted to teach if I was able to come over to her school!!!! WOW!!! She was asking about ME?!?!?! Originally this school needed to LOOSE 3 teachers and now for whatever reason things have changed and there is STILL a chance that I could switch closer to home!!!
incredibly
As happy as I would be to leave the campus I am at and work closer to home I would also be sad about leaving... My BEST friend works two doors down from me and I would do anything to stay with her... So here comes my problem... Do I stay here at my current school, and teach something that I really don't want to teach, but I'll be with people that I know and Love; OR do I move schools, go back into Gen. Ed and try to make new friends ALL over again?!?!
OH WELL, the choice is not really up to me at this point... All I know is that I will have a job in the district (because I signed my contract a month ago) and I will be teaching SOMETHING!!! I just don't know what or where at this point!!! As scary as that thought is and the fact that after my meeting I still didn't have any answers to my questions about what or where I was going to be next year, I still felt like it was a good talk. I felt like I hadn't been forgotten and all the right people knew my name and knew what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be.
So in the end I told my Principal that if it was best for the kids that I stay here at my current school and be placed in either the Behavior units or be the Inclusion Support teacher I would do what I was asked to teach and would do my best to be what those students needed next year... And if I do get to switch schools and become a Gen. Ed teacher well that would be AWESOME as well!
Just thought I'd pop on and let you know what has been happening in my life here lately!!
~Michaela~
So after school a group of teachers do the Insanity workout together in the Music room (KILLER) While we were working out our Principal poked her head in and said to come talk to her before I left for the day... Uh-OH is what went thru my mind... Well our talk consisted of she has picked the staff that she was going to take with her for sure and I was not currently one of them. Bummer but what I expected. She did say however that she still had a few openings on her staff but was told to keep them open for the time being because they were still working on placements for other staff members around the district. She also said that my #1 School that I really wanted to teach at (it is literally IN my neighborhood) well their Principal was asking about me and what I wanted to teach if I was able to come over to her school!!!! WOW!!! She was asking about ME?!?!?! Originally this school needed to LOOSE 3 teachers and now for whatever reason things have changed and there is STILL a chance that I could switch closer to home!!!
incredibly
As happy as I would be to leave the campus I am at and work closer to home I would also be sad about leaving... My BEST friend works two doors down from me and I would do anything to stay with her... So here comes my problem... Do I stay here at my current school, and teach something that I really don't want to teach, but I'll be with people that I know and Love; OR do I move schools, go back into Gen. Ed and try to make new friends ALL over again?!?!
OH WELL, the choice is not really up to me at this point... All I know is that I will have a job in the district (because I signed my contract a month ago) and I will be teaching SOMETHING!!! I just don't know what or where at this point!!! As scary as that thought is and the fact that after my meeting I still didn't have any answers to my questions about what or where I was going to be next year, I still felt like it was a good talk. I felt like I hadn't been forgotten and all the right people knew my name and knew what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be.
So in the end I told my Principal that if it was best for the kids that I stay here at my current school and be placed in either the Behavior units or be the Inclusion Support teacher I would do what I was asked to teach and would do my best to be what those students needed next year... And if I do get to switch schools and become a Gen. Ed teacher well that would be AWESOME as well!
Just thought I'd pop on and let you know what has been happening in my life here lately!!
~Michaela~
Friday, December 16, 2011
Pulling at my Heart Strings
I have gone back and forth on if I wanted to post anything about this but couldn't come up with the right words to express how sick it made me feel. After thinking about it for a few days I really don't care what words I use to express how I am feeling I am just going to get it out. So this is going to be a very wordy and LONG post so if you don't really care then that red X at the top right is for you. So here goes... Let me first say that there are many similarities between myself and the person that this horrible thing happened to. 1: We came from the same High School and Transferred to the Same school. The difference I transferred Freshman year and still didn't fit in after 4 years. This person transferred about a month ago their senior year. SO here it goes...
My mom who is a High School Senior Teacher at my old High School had a new student transfer in from the same High School that I transferred from. When my mom told me this I don't know why I got really excited. I have never met this kid, I don't even know their name... All I know is that they came from my HOME school and transferred to the School that I actually graduated from. Well this student is deaf and wears two hearing aids. My mom says that this student is very bright and smart and is a very very sweet kid. They were never wanting any special treatment because they came in the middle of the nine weeks and would have been behind on all the work. They were going to do all the work with no extra time, that's how dedicated this student was to fitting in right away. Well my mom had mentioned that this student hadn't been to class in a while and was going to call their counselor to double check to make sure everything was OK. On the same day that my mom was going to ask about this student their counselor came up to my mom with a withdrawal form for this student. My mom said, "Oh no, So and So withdrew? That's sad, they were such a sweet kid. Is everything alright?" This is what my mom was told by the counselor.
NO. The student was going off campus with two other students under the rouse that they were all going to smoke some pot. So they all went off campus to some woods (there is a park not to far from the school). When they got to the park the two kids decided that they were going to beat the SHIT out of this student with a CROWBAR!!!!
They really did a number on this poor defenseless CHILD. (I am crying just typing it here) Granted it was probably not a smart choice to leave school and go smoke pot but when you are new to a school that has such life long clicks, and you are trying to fit in and these people approach you and act like they are going to befriend you then beat the living shit out of you. WTF!!! Well needless to say the two baby boys that did this to the other student are no longer at the school, they were expelled completely, if you ask me they should be rotting in prison for a hate crime. OH did I mention the only reason they did this was to pick on the DEAF kid?!?!?!? Keep in mind that he spoke almost perfectly, there were only a few words that you could really tell he was deaf, he also wore two hearing aids. This student's mom didn't feel that he was safe at that school any more so she withdrew him and transferred him back to the school that he came from.
I am for the first time ever in almost 8 years since I graduated High School completely ashamed to say that I graduated from Churchill High School. I know first hand how the kids there bully you around, won't invite you into their clicks, look at you like you are a walking plague, and no matter how long you are there and what activities you are involved in the "popular" kids still won't accept you into their little group of people. From the day I transferred I only had a few friends, I wouldn't have traded them for anything, I would have liked to expand my circle of friends to the other girls that I cheered with for Four years. Every year when tryouts came around I had to stay away from all the other girls (accept my true friends) because they would try to get into my head and tell me I wasn't good enough to make the team again, or that they hoped I'd fall and break something, or that I didn't deserve to be on the team because I wasn't a true Churchill person. WTF? What is a true Churchill person? I understand that you grew up with all the same people for years but did it never occur to you that being a nice person to new people will help you grow as a person?? Anyway this is not about me...
I can relate to the hatred that some of the students expressed to anyone that was NEW... Although I never got beaten up or anything I know what it was like to be bullied for being "different" at Churchill.
I hope that if you are reading this you understand what HATE CRIMES are going on right here in our own little area. We need to BUMP up the efforts to help kids see that the 4 years they spend at a high school they are still nobodies... When they get out into the real world or go off to college NO ONE is going to GIVE A RATS ASS if you were in the popular group at your high school. And when you graduate from College NO ONE IS GOING TO GIVE A RATS ASS who you were in College either (unless you are a BAD ASS football player). When I graduated from High school I wanted to get as far away from everyone I knew at that school (accept for my few friends and my now husband), granted we have lost touch of a few people along the way because of where our lives have taken us but some of us are starting to find each other again. Now here I am back in the same area Teaching Special Ed to "Different" students, some of which I hope never get picked on for being a little different. I am also going back to school to get my masters degree in Special ED because I want to grow in my future and help more and more kids.
I truly don't understand how there can be that much hatred in a person at such a young age to think oh lets lure this deaf kid out to the woods and beat him with a CROWBAR!!!! What has this world come to when 17/18 year old kids are almost killing other kids their same age?? This area that the school is in is NOT know to have Gangs or anything like that, it's in a nice part of town, granted not everyone there has rich parents but no one is joining gangs to keep "safe" from a rival gang in the area. It was just two stupid kids being mean to another helpless child!!!
I don't know what else to say about any of this, Just that I am still sick to my stomach about what happened to this poor kid. I want to go and find this kid and tell them I am truly sorry for everything that has happened to them and I love them (yes love them; without even knowing who they are) I understand the need to fit in and hang out with other kids who you think are your friends, not to have people talk behind your backs and beat you up both physically and emotionally.
To the students who did the beating... I hope that you get the same treatment wherever you go in life. I hope that you are sitting in a prison being some mans slave and never getting a break from the HATE CRIME that you two committed!!!
My mom who is a High School Senior Teacher at my old High School had a new student transfer in from the same High School that I transferred from. When my mom told me this I don't know why I got really excited. I have never met this kid, I don't even know their name... All I know is that they came from my HOME school and transferred to the School that I actually graduated from. Well this student is deaf and wears two hearing aids. My mom says that this student is very bright and smart and is a very very sweet kid. They were never wanting any special treatment because they came in the middle of the nine weeks and would have been behind on all the work. They were going to do all the work with no extra time, that's how dedicated this student was to fitting in right away. Well my mom had mentioned that this student hadn't been to class in a while and was going to call their counselor to double check to make sure everything was OK. On the same day that my mom was going to ask about this student their counselor came up to my mom with a withdrawal form for this student. My mom said, "Oh no, So and So withdrew? That's sad, they were such a sweet kid. Is everything alright?" This is what my mom was told by the counselor.
NO. The student was going off campus with two other students under the rouse that they were all going to smoke some pot. So they all went off campus to some woods (there is a park not to far from the school). When they got to the park the two kids decided that they were going to beat the SHIT out of this student with a CROWBAR!!!!
They really did a number on this poor defenseless CHILD. (I am crying just typing it here) Granted it was probably not a smart choice to leave school and go smoke pot but when you are new to a school that has such life long clicks, and you are trying to fit in and these people approach you and act like they are going to befriend you then beat the living shit out of you. WTF!!! Well needless to say the two baby boys that did this to the other student are no longer at the school, they were expelled completely, if you ask me they should be rotting in prison for a hate crime. OH did I mention the only reason they did this was to pick on the DEAF kid?!?!?!? Keep in mind that he spoke almost perfectly, there were only a few words that you could really tell he was deaf, he also wore two hearing aids. This student's mom didn't feel that he was safe at that school any more so she withdrew him and transferred him back to the school that he came from.
I am for the first time ever in almost 8 years since I graduated High School completely ashamed to say that I graduated from Churchill High School. I know first hand how the kids there bully you around, won't invite you into their clicks, look at you like you are a walking plague, and no matter how long you are there and what activities you are involved in the "popular" kids still won't accept you into their little group of people. From the day I transferred I only had a few friends, I wouldn't have traded them for anything, I would have liked to expand my circle of friends to the other girls that I cheered with for Four years. Every year when tryouts came around I had to stay away from all the other girls (accept my true friends) because they would try to get into my head and tell me I wasn't good enough to make the team again, or that they hoped I'd fall and break something, or that I didn't deserve to be on the team because I wasn't a true Churchill person. WTF? What is a true Churchill person? I understand that you grew up with all the same people for years but did it never occur to you that being a nice person to new people will help you grow as a person?? Anyway this is not about me...
I can relate to the hatred that some of the students expressed to anyone that was NEW... Although I never got beaten up or anything I know what it was like to be bullied for being "different" at Churchill.
I hope that if you are reading this you understand what HATE CRIMES are going on right here in our own little area. We need to BUMP up the efforts to help kids see that the 4 years they spend at a high school they are still nobodies... When they get out into the real world or go off to college NO ONE is going to GIVE A RATS ASS if you were in the popular group at your high school. And when you graduate from College NO ONE IS GOING TO GIVE A RATS ASS who you were in College either (unless you are a BAD ASS football player). When I graduated from High school I wanted to get as far away from everyone I knew at that school (accept for my few friends and my now husband), granted we have lost touch of a few people along the way because of where our lives have taken us but some of us are starting to find each other again. Now here I am back in the same area Teaching Special Ed to "Different" students, some of which I hope never get picked on for being a little different. I am also going back to school to get my masters degree in Special ED because I want to grow in my future and help more and more kids.
I truly don't understand how there can be that much hatred in a person at such a young age to think oh lets lure this deaf kid out to the woods and beat him with a CROWBAR!!!! What has this world come to when 17/18 year old kids are almost killing other kids their same age?? This area that the school is in is NOT know to have Gangs or anything like that, it's in a nice part of town, granted not everyone there has rich parents but no one is joining gangs to keep "safe" from a rival gang in the area. It was just two stupid kids being mean to another helpless child!!!
I don't know what else to say about any of this, Just that I am still sick to my stomach about what happened to this poor kid. I want to go and find this kid and tell them I am truly sorry for everything that has happened to them and I love them (yes love them; without even knowing who they are) I understand the need to fit in and hang out with other kids who you think are your friends, not to have people talk behind your backs and beat you up both physically and emotionally.
To the students who did the beating... I hope that you get the same treatment wherever you go in life. I hope that you are sitting in a prison being some mans slave and never getting a break from the HATE CRIME that you two committed!!!
Thursday, December 8, 2011
I'm Going Back
Well I have officially applied to Grad school!!! I have been talking about wanting to do it for a little bit but could never decide what I wanted my masters in. I wanted it to be something that I could use later on in my teaching career. I didn't want a pointless masters degree just to say that I had one. So after some consideration and hard time sitting in front of my computer at school looking at 25 different options I decided that I would go back to UTSA and get my masters in Special Education. With that being said I have also applied for different grants and scholarships to help me get thru the two or three years that it will take me to obtain my masters. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I really hope that I get accepted, I don't see why I wouldn't but the thought still crosses my mind. I am also nervous about being able to keep up with all the readings and classwork because I will have a two and a half year old by then. I applied to start in the Fall of 2012, just because I didn't think I would be ready to start in Jan/Feb. Who knows if I hear back soon I might start in the summer of '12. My "sister" is getting her masters in counseling and it really hit me that I probably didn't want to stay the same and not be able to move up in my career. Also if I start next year or the following year I won't have to take the GRE because my GPA was high enough and it was within the 5 year limits. Jack is very supportive of me right now with wanting to continue my education and supports me in what I am doing. Hopefully he will continue to support me when I tell him I need him to watch Jackson because I have to get my paper finished or I have to get stuff done for my classroom. I am sure that he will help me out as much as he can, since he owns his own business he has a little more flexibility in how his schedule is set but it is also hard once it is set to change it because of his clients. We will manage like everyone else who has gone thru with this process. Just thought I'd share with you.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Back to School
So I realize that it is still mid July but the fact that we start back to work at school the second week of August (less than a month from now), with workshops and being able to get into our rooms and set things up the way that we want them to be; I have decided that I am going to decorate my first classroom!!! The overall theme of the classroom is going to be Owls; so most of the classroom things will have Owls on them. I have decided to make (or decorate) most of the different things that will be actual decorations (non-educational). The first thing that I have finished decorating is the bulletin board that will go on the wall behind my desk!! There will be two but I ran out of ribbon before I could finish the second one so I only have pictures of the first one but the 2nd one will look exactly the same except there will be an elephant on the other corner of the board.
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Some of the other crafts that I am going to make will be my name "Mrs. May" that will be covered with different fabrics or paper or ribbon and with fabric flowers that match the bulletin boards. Then I am going to make different wreaths or hangers for my door that will change as the seasons or holidays change. So for the beginning of the year I am making a wreath that is a "welcome back to school" wreath that will be covered with ribbon and then different "school" items all around it. Then I found the cutest hanger that says "Welcome Fall" with owls on it (I have to say it is really cute!!) Next is my FAVORITE holiday Halloween!!! So I bought three letters BOO that I am going to paint, then cover with paper and stickers and then attach them with ribbon to hang down from my door. Then I will have a Christmas/Winter Wonderland wreath that will hang thru January. This is as far as I have bought things for. For second semester I have ideas for Valentines day, St. Patrick's day, Easter, and a Spring wreath (which I know what I am going to do for this one).
I will post pictures as I finish things for my classroom!!! I am super excited and am trying to find as much time to finish all these projects before school starts because I know time will be tight when school starts. I try to work when the baby is sleeping and when I take him to daycare some days that I have nothing to do I will come back and work on all these things.
Until next time!!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Finally some good news!!!
Well I went on my 3rd job interview since I graduated in 2008. My first interview I was led to believe that the principal liked to hire first year teachers and help them grow, so I thought that I had a pretty good chance at getting this job; come to find out a few days later that he hired a teacher with 3 years experience, so much for that speech. My second job interview was for the job that I had this school year as an aide at an elementary school in New Braunfels. My 3rd interview was for a TEACHING POSITION at the same school that I have been working at for 7 months!!! I went in for an interview for a special ed classroom and got the call a few days later that they were going to recommend me for the position (the way it works is if they like you they will let HR know that you are who they wanted to hire then HR will call you and have you do all the paperwork and contracts and stuff) so for the 2011-2012 school year I will finally be a teacher!!! Finally all of my school work and hard work last school year has paid off and I have finally have the job that I went to school for!!! It is such a nice feeling knowing that I am going to be a teacher!!! For several years I was wondering if this was meant for me; if I was ever going to get a break and become a teacher; what was wrong with me that i couldn't get a teaching position. But I stayed positive and kept my head up and put in my hard work and it finally paid off!!!
So today I went to Lakeshore Learning Store (a teacher supply shop in San Antonio) and spent nearly an hour and a half wandering around and looking at everything that i wanted for my classroom for next year. Let me tell you I was in HEAVEN!!!! I am super excited to buy everything for my room for next year!!! So in a few weeks I am going to start going thru all the things that I have at home for my room and getting things in boxes to take to school in August. Then in July they are having a big sale on all of their items so my mom and I and maybe a few other teacher friends are going to go and shop to get new items for our different rooms for next year!!!
Also I can't wait until my birthday this year. Even if it will be a no firework birthday... BOO to the no rain... So July 4th this year will come and go without a BANG!! I will be 25 thought!!!! Yeah to half way to 50!!! HAHAHA I have so much to be thankful for in my (almost) 25 years of life!!! My HUSBAND of 1.5 years; my beautiful 1 year old SON; both of my PARENTS who are always there to help us out when we need it; and my FRIENDS who are always there for me to talk to and have fun with!!!
Much love and enjoy your summer!!!!
So today I went to Lakeshore Learning Store (a teacher supply shop in San Antonio) and spent nearly an hour and a half wandering around and looking at everything that i wanted for my classroom for next year. Let me tell you I was in HEAVEN!!!! I am super excited to buy everything for my room for next year!!! So in a few weeks I am going to start going thru all the things that I have at home for my room and getting things in boxes to take to school in August. Then in July they are having a big sale on all of their items so my mom and I and maybe a few other teacher friends are going to go and shop to get new items for our different rooms for next year!!!
Also I can't wait until my birthday this year. Even if it will be a no firework birthday... BOO to the no rain... So July 4th this year will come and go without a BANG!! I will be 25 thought!!!! Yeah to half way to 50!!! HAHAHA I have so much to be thankful for in my (almost) 25 years of life!!! My HUSBAND of 1.5 years; my beautiful 1 year old SON; both of my PARENTS who are always there to help us out when we need it; and my FRIENDS who are always there for me to talk to and have fun with!!!
Much love and enjoy your summer!!!!
Monday, February 28, 2011
I PASSED; Saturday
WELL it is official I passed my Special ED EC-12 Exam!!!! That is very exciting news for me and my family. I am working very hard at what I do and am trying everything possible to be a better teacher!!!! The next test on my list is ESL which I will take on March 26. Luckily this study guide is only about 100 pages (practice test and answers included) where as my other study guide wat about 300 pages!! This next test I am less worried about for some reason. The SPED test just was a scary test for me. I guess because so many people that I have talked to about it couldn't remember the types of questions that were asked. I don't really know how to describe it other than I was just really scared. But that anxious feeling has passed and now I can focus on Jackson's 1st birthday which is coming up on Saturday!!!!
Saturday
On a happier note Jackson will turn 1 on Saturday!!! I can't believe that a year ago I was giving birth to him and he made our lives complete. There are so many things that I still need to get done
Saturday
On a happier note Jackson will turn 1 on Saturday!!! I can't believe that a year ago I was giving birth to him and he made our lives complete. There are so many things that I still need to get done
- clean the downstairs and green room and make sure the grill is cleaned
- set up all the decorations and put away anything that I don't like or want to be ruined by all the other people that will be at our house Saturday.
- Make the cupcakes and horse cake and decorate them the way that I want
- Prepair all the gift bags and make sure that everything is set our properly and makes sense for the way I want the party to go.
Waiting
Ok is it just me or when you are told that your test results will be available in one to three days don't you expect them to really be ready in on to three days??? Yes??? Ok so it's not just me?!?!?!?!!? Well on Thursday I took a test for my Special Ed certification and they told me that my results would be available in that time frame... It's now Monday, which is day 4 and my results STILL aren't up!!!! So my brain starts to wonder and starts thinking that well I guess I must have missed so many questions that I failed otherwise my results should have come up in about 1 day... So now I am all kinds of nervous and cringing whenever I open the website to see if my scores are available... GEEZ I hate waiting!!!!!!!
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