Testing, Testing, and Testing


Just a few short months ago I had to undergo rounds and rounds of testing myself.   It all started in April and wasn’t finished until the last day or the school year.   I wasn’t overly worried  about the results but I could tell by the faces of the ones around me that they were scared, anxious and worried.  This went on for hours each and every day…all the while I tried to remain calm so that those around me would have that same calmness.   I couldn’t muster up enough nerve to say that the testing wasn’t a big deal and it would all be over soon and it just didn’t matter that much.    I know the truth… 

It took months and months to get the results…Even then they were not 100 % sure of what was going to be the outcome.  The final results will be revealed soon.  What will it mean?…will it be okay or will we sink into the failure funk…We try so hard to please and we try some preventative measures every month…just hoping that we don’t miss any thing on the diagnostics that will show up on the big test.  If we don’t reach the “A” status we will be disappointed…and the newspaper doesn’t take into account the transient students, Non-English speaking children, the poor, the hungry, the abused, and the mentally and physically challenged kids….If we test enough our scores will surely increase…and if they don’t increase we just don’t know the consequences…But I know that kids are missing the boat on what they know and don’t know because of the testing craze…and that, my friends, is a teacher’s take on standardized testing. 

 Spring Break Reflection


I can't believe a year has passed by and I haven't written one thing...Spring Break..ahhh the time when teachers rest and rejuvenate...HA!!!This holiday takes the cake...we have moved every piece of furniture out into the garage, rolled up the rugs and pads, and taken every piece of decorative glass, china, and what not and put into the garage, workshop, or bathtub...We are getting new flooring in the house that we JUST moved into in December...(that was our Christmas holiday)...In the midst of getting ready for the flooring we decided it would be wise to install a slate backsplash in the kitchen and touch up paint some areas...(it is days and weeks like this that make me wish I was not a lover of fabrics and glassware)  and I also chose this week to rid myself of the awful poison that my doctor prescribed for some hot flashes, moodiness, anxiety, etc... This drug is of the DEVIL!!!    So I can't decide if the fatigue, grumpiness, etc are just withdrawals from the drug or from the hard work or maybe the time change...but I am getting a lot done and will be back to normal(not sure if that is the correct word) by the time I go back to work on Monday...

spring break

Cleaning, Resting, Reading and who knows what else....This semester is flying by....Our school celebrated 3 days of Common Assessments by having some incentives this afternoon... Popcorn, snow cones, music and movies...it was a FUN day...lunch outside on this beautiful day....

Me, Worry?!?!?!

For somebody that never worries, it was certainly a shock to find out that I have a small ulcer...not sure if worry causes this but I have always heard that it does...my blood pressure, cholesterol, heart rate are all fine but according to an endoscopy, I have a small ulcer and need to take a little medicine...no mention of watching what I eat or taking it easy...they also took a biopsy of a couple of things and are testing for that h-pylori/bacteria???...it seems most people have it or maybe they just put everybody on antibiotics just to be safe....The actual procedure was easy...much less crazy than the eye surgeries and a lot quicker to boot... a girl from high school was the nurse and she was also a nurse when my 2nd child was born...now I am just waiting for a colonoscopy since my doctor said I was a little late on getting this done...not sure about this ulcer stuff...just hope the meds make me feel a little better...

Me and Brooke Shields

My eye check up for June was re-scheduled for August 11th...the first weekend after the kids came back to school...thought this would be a good day to get some paperwork done while I waited to see the doctor...each time i have been to see dr. meyers, it takes 5-6 hours to actually see him.   I have been using bromday drops (steroid) for about a year and just didn't think that was a good thing to be doing...On saturday I expected him to stop the bromday drops, brag on my delicate retina, and send me on my way...a free woman... Little did I know that the first test they did indicated a higher pressure in my bad eye than usual...I have never had that problem so i was a little taken aback...the nurse didn't mention it and by the time the doc comes in and says that I need to use some new drops to decrease the pressure he was gone...no mention of glaucoma, eye disease or anything else...just a slight elevation in the pressure...after searching on the internet i found a few causes of this pressure change...drops, trauma, glaucoma...since i have two of the three i will just go with the drops and trauma being the culprits...my new drops, lumigan,  are applied at night...just one drop to the bad eye...the only thing is that if they burn or make my eye red i will need to get a milder type of drop.  my eye is slightly pink and i can feel the drop for just a few seconds after it hits the eyeball..not really burning but just a slight irritant... i will give them a few more days and if my eyes don't itch i will continue with them until my next appt. in november...and if you see someone that is looking like brooke shields,,, it could be me..except i will only have long lashes on my bad eye...that is another side effect of the lumigan....

Old dog learning new tricks...

I have always taught regular education classes but really enjoyed teaching the kids that just weren't  on the level they should have been on... you can see more growth in them and can see it in their eyes when they have learned something new...the draw back to this is that you have to always have paperwork before, during and after the learning...the paperwork is killing most teachers...anyway that wasn't the entire reason for a job change...sometimes you just need to step out of your comfort zone to make you appreciate what you had or to see how much better things can really be...not sure which one is true for me...i had a great school, principal, friends, and once inside the school i didn't have to go outside to get to anything but recess...
The new school has several buildings, steps, gates and locked doors...the parking is also a little inconvenient...I do have some very sweet and caring cohorts  in the challenge program at my school...they are about my age and are being great mentors...i now have a number for the copier, know where the drink machine is, have been in the cafeteria, have experienced morning and afternoon duty, have been to a staff meeting and grade level meeting, and put things in the courier box...everything is beginning to come together...There has been a big adjustment in the fact that I don't have kids the moment i get to school, I don't have to take attendance or do a lunch count, or worry about how my students are getting home...it really gives me a little time to plan, prepare, pray and get ready for the kids...the class size is smaller and it seems more like a family than a class...i get to do the same lesson for 5 days before i have to change things...in the regular classroom things changed daily...So you can tell by the post that this old dog is learning some new tricks...just hope the rain isn't bad today and my room floods...i guess the sandbags will be up when I get to school today...

technology, scammers, accents and frustrations

I am once again sitting on the couch using my laptop...this probably seems like a normal thing for most people but for the past 2-3 weeks i have had nothing but  TROUBLE with technology...one of my least favorite things (besides exercise and eating right ) would be talking to ATT or Belkin...i hate computerized phone calls...and i especially hate speaking to people with accents...that means anyone that doesn't speak red neck or southern...Speaking "technology" is so hard to do on the phone...especially when it concerns technology, problems and accents...and that leads to another topic on technology which would be how these scammers are calling us on both cell phones and our home phones about an account/debit card at Bancorp South that we don't even possess.  Oh well, you would think someone could stop those scammers since they are very persistent with their calls.  Back to the Belkin Router business...I think the router wouldn't work properly because ATT needed to update our modem but just failed to notify us...today after dealing with S-L-O-W service for 2-3 days I defragmented, cleaned out temporary files, cleaned out the trash and cleaned out anything else that Microsoft and I deemed unimportant...probably got rid of stuff I needed but during the purging of the computer I didn't seem to care...just wanted the internet connected  and wanted it to connect sometime during my waking hours.    Now that I have complained about ATT, Belkin, and BancorpSouth scammers, i guess i can now mention Direct TV...Our HD receiever only comes on when it wants to...at least 3 days a week we cut on the tv and have no video service...they tell us to unplug, count to a certain number, and reset the box...that sounds pretty simple but by the time that is done we have missed the beginning of the news or a show...again it is so hard to call them, talk to a human and understand their accent...I was on the verge of disconnecting all services today...getting back to basics...talking to people in person, reading the paper, and just enjoying being outside in the sunshine...but just in the nick of time an update notice appeared when I reset the modem and this  put the computer, modem and router all back on track...the tv will be another problem for another day...