Am I really that naive?

Apparently, I'm the only one who couldn't figure out the underlying message here. My Bestest Friend tried to tell me, but then when Pissed Off left me a similar comment, I clicked on the link she provided and spent a good chunk of time reading a series of posts about this whole thing. (Scroll down to July 27). There is now a movement to boycott Donors Choose. I'm not really sure how I feel about this. Up until yesterday, I thought Donors Choose was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Now, I don't know what to think. I don't want to really go into this too deeply, as I'm not looking to debate with anyone, or climb up on a soapbox, but I'm really disappointed.

Pledge Now

Some of you know all about Donors Choose because you've received a grant or two from them. Some of you may remember learning about them here on my blog. I plan to spend some time this weekend putting a grant proposal, or two or three, together. I received an email from them today regarding this movie.



It seems that for every pledge they get, more funding becomes available. To tell the truth, I didn't really read the email very carefully, so I'm not too clear on the details. I just clicked the "pledge" button, then the "post to my blog" button, and called it a day. I suppose I should go back and read it, huh? I do know, however, that you don't have to do anything other than click on the "pledge" button to help, so what the hell, why not do it? And, don't worry, I won't forget to let you know when my proposals are posted so you can make a generous donation! ;-)

**UPDATE***
Ok, holy crap, I just watched the trailer for the movie, and I can not WAIT for this to come out! Do yourself a favor and watch the trailer, especially all my teacher friends. This looks like it's going to be awesome!

Shapes

Square

Triangle
Rectangle
Trapezoid

Circle

Oval

This was so much fun!! These pictures are from yesterday's math lesson. We, obviously, made shapes with our bodies. We made lots of shapes, so that everyone had several turns, and so that we could practice before I took pictures. I wish I had stood on a table to get a better angle. I'm sure the babies will indulge me and do it again if I ask. :) Don't you just LOVE my carpet. I LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!! I got it through one of my Donors Choose grants. I've been thinking about doing another one, so be on the look out for shameless begging in the near future!

Shhhh...I may have some exciting news for you tomorrow. I've been keeping a lid on this, because I wasn't really sure what was going to happen, but now I'm fairly certain that we will FINALLY be getting another kdg. teacher, and that my class will be split again. If all goes as planned, I will drop down to about 22-23 kids. But, I don't want to jinx things, so that's all I'm going to say for now. Please send good thoughts and/or prayers!!

Thank you...

...to whoever the generous donor was who funded my Donors Choose proposal for a new carpet. I actually contemplated not accepting it, because I hope to be out of the Hell-Hole next year. All items donated through Donors Choose must stay with the school, so I technically can't take it to my new school. I hate to leave it there. Although, when I'm not feeling angry and spiteful, it does make me happy that the new teacher will have a new carpet in her room. Oh, who the hell am I kidding!? I'll probably STILL be there next year....

A couple of funnies from today. I was testing the kids on some Dolch Sight Words. One of the babies was really trying hard to sound out some of the words, despite the fact that these are "sight" words. When she came to the word ask she perfectly sounded out /a/ /s/ /k/. Then I said, "say it all together." She said, "aaa...sss...kkk." "Ok, now say it fast!" She cracked me up. In her head, she obviously figured out the word was ask, so naturally she gave me "Aks!"

Another of the babies was also trying to sound out some of the words. His word was with. He gave me /w/ /i/ /th/, and when I told him to put it all together, he gave me www...iii...ttthhh." Then the light bulb went off, and he smiled and proudly said, "Oh, wiff!" tee hee!

I have more stories, but I'm late for my niece's confirmation!

You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance. ---Franklin P. Jones

NA na NA na NA Na

(That was my weak attempt at teasing :-/ )

So, Dori and I, and another coworker, enjoyed a lovely lunch at Pompei today. (Yes, I AM trying to rub it in!!) I couldn't convince them to leave immediately after signing in, but over lunch I was able to corrupt them enough to not go back until it was time to swipe out. Good thing my "work" day was so relaxing, because the rest of the afternoon was a bit nuts. I had to rush home because I somehow managed to schedule an appointment for my son at his pediatrician at the same time as I was supposed to be bringing my dog, Buster, to his vet.

Some of you may have read my crazed rant after our last visit to the pediatrician. Well, I wanted to make sure that wasn't going to happen again, so I called the doctor's office as soon as I got home from work at 3:00. I explained that I had to get the dog to the vet, and asked if perhaps they had someone cancel an earlier appointment so I could come in early. The receptionist proceeds to tell me that I can come in early if I'd like, because they're not running behind today. OK, great. "Let's go!" I yell to my son.

Well, luckily, my son is smarter than I am (which is another post all by itself for when I have some time!) and he said we should still take Buster to the vet first, so that he wouldn't have to sit in the car waiting while we were at the doctor's office. Thank God I listened to him. We went straight to the vet, dropped off the puppy, then went to the doctor's, where we arrived at 4:00. The waiting room, however, was almost as full as it was the last time. I had a bad feeling about things. We weren't called into a room until 5:05. Now, I realize that our appointment was for 4:30, so that's only 30 minutes later than our appointment time. But, we still waited a total of over an hour, despite being told we could come in early. I guess I'm being petty, but that's an hour of my life I'm never getting back! Plus, I would have been really upset if the dog had to sit in the car for over an hour! On a positive note, though, my son finished all his homework, and had a 30 minute phone conversation with his best friend while we waited. I'm sure time flew by for him. I, on the other hand, once again sat on an unbelievably uncomfortable hard, wooden, kitchen chair, and stewed.

Now, on the upside, we actually got some good news from the doctor. All my son's blood work results were good. His bad cholesterol is low, his good cholesterol is high, blood sugar is fine, all is well! Yay!

I suppose some of you (specifically Laura and KBL) are wondering what's wrong with Buster. Without going on and on with the whole story, he's been suffering with chronic ear infections for years, and now one of his ear canals is calcified, so he's having surgery tomorrow to cut all that calcification out and repair the ear canal. He's also having his annual "tune-up." Dental cleaning, ear cleaning, nail trim, shots, the works. My vet, God bless him, decided to do it all in one day to save me from having to pay for anesthesia twice. I love my vet, and he and his staff are just wonderful. I have a standing bi-weekly (sometimes weekly!) appointment for this darn dog, so I see them quite often. They go out of their way to do nice things for me, like putting extra medication in the bottles, or not charging me for ointments and such. I don't have the time to explain what I've had to go through with this dog over the past few years, but let me just say, I've spent my son's entire college tuition on this mutt, so he'd better get a scholarship or something! (Let me just point out to my two aforementioned dog-loving friends that as much as I bitch and moan about Buster, and my claims of NOT being a dog person, he is well taken care of. He may not sleep with me, and he isn't spoiled like your furbabies with baskets of toys and homemade goodies, but in my own way, he's given all the love he needs. OK, maybe not ALL the love he needs, but certainly more than I let on.)

A few pictures for the girls....

He looks so regal in this picture

Napping on the back steps

"Why must I be so darn cute?"

Wow, for a day that I wasn't even at school, this is one long post! Sorry. For those of you that care, I'll update Buster's condition tomorrow :)

Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms." ---George Elliot

Only one day to go...

Well, today was a goofy day. If you read Friday's post, you know that our field trip was cancelled for today, but I managed to get the trip to come to us. Usually when we have a field trip, those students who aren't attending the trip must stay home because there isn't anyone at school to supervise them. Of course, we always have parents who try to ignore that rule, and send their kids to school anyway. I had about 5 kids come today that were supposed to stay home. I was actually surprised I had that many because I really played up the fact that those kids would have a 4-day weekend, since we were off yesterday. I immediately called all their houses, and managed to get all but 2 picked up.

Nelson Gill was wonderful! We had such a good time. The babies had a blast, singing and dancing with him. Dori and I are discussing having him come back and do a show for PreK-1st. It would be great.

I'm so happy that I don't have to go to school tomorrow. Or Friday, for that matter. It's going to make for a much less stressful week. I really only have to work Thursday, as far as I'm concerned. I did, however, stay until almost 5 tonight to set things up for the sub for tomorrow. Let's just hope the sub actually uses the plans I left. History dictates, sadly, that he won't. Oh well, I know I did what I was supposed to, and that's all I can do.

Dori and I are already planning what we're going to do tomorrow when we ditch the boring, waste-of-time workshop. We're thinking of going to Pompei for lunch. Yum! (I hope I'm making my friends who've defected a little jealous ;-) )

My little darling decided to stay at his grandma's again tonight, so I think I'm going to take advantage of some "me" time and fill my tub. Nothing like watching Dancing with the Stars from a hot bubble bath. Thank you, Grandma! This one's for you....

Never have children, only grandchildren. ---Gore Vidal

Thank you!

I was just doing my daily Donors Choose check, and I see that one of my proposals has been fully funded! Yay!! Who was the generous soul who did this? I'm still waiting to find out who made the last donation. Unfortunately, Donors Choose only gives the names of those who donate $100 or more, so I won't get the names from them. Please, if it was you, let me know, so I can properly express my gratitude. Thank you, whoever you are!!

Happy Birthday, My Baby Boy!

There's this completely bizarre phenomenon that happens to me every year on my son's birthday. I wake up at 4am, which was a pretty pivotal point during his birth. I don't really mind, because then I'm awake to give him his "birthday minute kiss," but it's just so weird. I always just wake up completely on my own, without the aid of an alarm. This morning, I woke up out of a dead sleep at 4, and then could not fall back asleep. Then, at 4:46, I went in his room, kissed his little forehead, drank in his face, and went back to bed. (OK, I actually went and kissed him when I first woke up at 4, but that didn't count!) I was then finally able to drift back to sleep until my alarm went off at 6.

Dori and I were talking about this this morning at school, and she decided it must be from the trauma of his birth. It's almost like my body is having a flashback! There might be something to that theory....

Those of you who are moms can relate, I'm sure, to how your babies are always your "babies" no matter how old they are. I swear, when I watch my son sleep, he looks exactly the same to me as he did when I watched him sleep as an infant. There are no words to explain the unbelievable love you feel for your child. It's immeasurable. Sometimes, it's hard to even fathom that you can actually feel that much love.

I've wandered away from school stuff again, although that was partially intentional. It was another day from hell today. Here's the latest B.S. we've been handed. At lunch today, (you know, where we are expected to babysit, and give up our own lunch!!) when it was getting close to our time to go, the lunchroom manager had the gall to come over and tell me that I had to dump the trays and wash the tables!!! I'm sorry, WHAT?!?!? So I said, "You want my kids to wash the tables?" and she replied, "Well, someone's gotta wash 'em." So, naturally, I said, "I'M not gonna do it! If you want a kid to do it, that's fine. It's NOT my job."

What the hell?!?! If I wanted to dump trays and wash tables, I would have saved myself many years of schooling, and tens of thousands of dollars, and not worked hard to become a professional educator. I'd just like to know when maintaining the lunchroom became my damn responsibility, instead of the lunchroom staff's.

OK, I really don't want to get going on a rant, cuz Lord knows, I could go on and on, but I don't want to put myself in a cranky mood on my baby's birthday. I'm gonna just let it go for now... We're leaving soon to meet Grandma, Papa, Uncle, Auntie and Cousins, and (his other) Grandma for a birthday dinner.

One last thing...some wonderful soul made a donation toward one of my Donors Choose proposals, but I don't know who it was! Unfortunately, that information is kept confidential, but I want to know who to thank. So, if it was you, please leave me a comment and let me know :)

Every child born into the world is a new thought of God, an ever fresh and radiant possibility. ---Kate Douglas Wiggin

[There was an interesting notation about the author of this quote, so let me share - American children's author and educator who led the kindergarten education movement in the United States. Cool!]

Feeling generous?

Thanks to my good friend, E.S., one of my proposals is now almost half-way to being funded! Thank you, Girlfriend!! Feel free to check out the proposal, and maybe even give it your own little "bump" toward completion ;-)

By the way...

I guess I should have checked first, before the last post, but I just saw that my second proposal posted to Donors Choose. Like I said, this one is a small one, so I hope it gets funded quickly. Please pass the word on to friends and family about Donors Choose.

OK, that wasn't so bad...

For a Monday, today wasn't so horrible. As a matter of fact, my babies ended up earning some free time, and were able to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" at the end of the day. And by "earning it", I mean that I had work to do and didn't want to stay after school to do it. OK, that's not entirely true. The babies actually were pretty good today. It helped that I had one student transfer out today, and 4 others were absent, so I didn't have a full house. What a difference only 5 students can make! My day was so much less stressful than usual. We were able to get all of our work finished, so they legitimately earned the Halloween movie.


My good friend, D.J. was my only snafu for the day, and even that wasn't bad. I had to keep him back from gym because his hands just couldn't keep themselves off of other people. I put him to work helping me make the homework packets. He's actually a very good helper, when he isn't making me want to smack the crap out of him!!


Tomorrow is going to be a long day because we have a meeting after school for the new after school program. It's going to be a lloonngg day. The meeting is from 3-5. But, then I'm supposed to meet a friend for dinner, so the day will end on a high note.

Kind of a funny story about today - over the weekend, it was unseasonably warm here in Chicago. I think it hit 80 yesterday. But, right now, as I type, it's about 45. Needless to say, quite a discrepancy from yesterday. However, since I'm always hot, I dress to be comfortable. At the end of the day, I was talking to Mrs. J. and I suddenly started laughing because I realized that she was wearing boots, plaid wool pants, and a turtleneck sweater, and she was complaining about being cold, while I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, capri pants and flip-flops!

My classroom is directly over the boiler, and it's always way too hot in my room. I keep the windows open all year. There have been mornings when I've come in and the thermometer in my room (which I bought exactly for this reason) has read 110. No, I'm NOT kidding, I'm completely serious. I think I finally found I way to stay cool - my flip-flops!! I can totally regulate my body temperature through my feet. Sounds goofy, I know, but it's true. If I'm cold, all I have to do is slip on socks. If I'm too hot, I go barefoot, or at least sockless. I'm going to just have to keep flip-flops at school to change into, and I think this will be the first year I'll actually be comfortable all year.


Jeez, how did I get on this goofy tangent? Over the weekend, I submitted another proposal to Donors Choose, so I'll let you all know when it posts. This is a really small one, only $150, so I hope it gets funded pretty quickly. OK, I'm off to soak in my nice, hot bubblebath. My son is with his dad, and I have the night to myself. I plan to watch Dancing with the Stars from my tub. Ah, that's the life!

Remember that our nation's first great leaders were also our first great scholars. ---John F. Kennedy

Woo Hoo!!

My proposal finally posted on Donors Choose!!! Yay! Please check it out, and check out the site, if you haven't already. Please, remember to spread the word! :)

Is it Friday yet?

Whenever we have a three-day weekend, it makes the rest of the week seem so much longer. I know that sounds weird, but it's true. Today was such a long, crappy day. And, it wasn't just me. Everyone around me was having a bad day.

Mrs. M. across the hall missed her prep today because she thought it was Monday. Keep in mind, however, that her prep was Library, and the library is literally next to her room. One would think the librarian would have stuck her head in to say, "Hey, you're missing your prep." But, no, that's not how things are done at our school. Instead, the librarian just took an extra free period for herself. Can you even believe that? Talk about looking out for each other.

Today, at snack time, I watched the two assistants, who are supposed to watch our kids, walk right out of the cafeteria as we were coming down the hall. Hello!! Who's supposed to watch the kids?! Well, I sent them right in anyway. The lunch lady came out to tell me how to pass out the snack, and I just looked at her like she had three heads. I asked her why she was telling me, since it's not my job to do snack, and she said nobody was in there with them. Duh! So, I played dumb and went to the office, and I told them to page the two assistants. When I went back 10 minutes later to pick up the kids, I found out nobody ever came, and the kids were left alone to have a free-for-all. I'm so completely irritated! At the end of the day, I found out that the assistants are supposed to start pulling kids out of classrooms to work with them, and for some reason, they're doing it at 1:30 now. At least that's what they're supposed to do. I didn't realize there were children outside that needed help, cuz that's where the two of them were headed!

Wait, it gets better! When I questioned our Lead Literacy Teacher (LLT), who is supposed to be in charge of the assistants, about what was going on, she's the one that told me they were going to start pulling kids at 1:30. I told her that won't work since that's our snack time, and she said the Big Cheese decided that if we wanted snack time, we were going to have to sit with our kids!! He's such a complete asshole!! Gee, do you think he could have run that past US first?! No mention of it to us, just don't have any adults there with the kids today. No wonder our school is such a cluster fuck!!

We're having a meeting tomorrow afternoon, and all this crap is going to be addressed. Dori and I were talking after school about all this crap, and we were saying that if he wants us to stay during snack time, then he absolutely has to get rid of the sign-out policy for kindergarten. Dori and I haven't really made a big deal about staying after school, since we got that couple of extra minutes without the kids at snack time. But, he can't have it both ways. Luckily, our LLT completely disagrees with the stupid signing out thing, and keeps saying she's going to tell him we have to get rid of it. Unfortunately, she also disagrees with snack time. She can't seem to understand that our babies eat lunch at 10:30 in the morning. They simply can not go until 3:00 (when they get home) without eating something. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how the meeting goes tomorrow.

Dori and I were supposed to go to a "cocktail reception" tonight at the Museum of Science and Industry. Sadly, we both had such crappy days, we decided to just skip it. The museum was kicking off their new "Star Wars" exhibit. I wish I could have taken my son, because he would have really enjoyed it. Too bad for him, the reception was only for educators. The invitation specifically said, "no spouses or children." So instead of the reception, Dori, my son and I went to one of my favorite restaurants, Los Comales, for Mexican food. Yum. I haven't had horchata in ages. It really hit the spot, and was exactly the thing I needed after such a shit day.

I hope the rest of the week goes by quickly. Tomorrow, like I said, we're having a meeting (from 3:00-5:00! ugh!) and then I have a hair appointment. You may remember, after my last appointment, that I mentioned those are always LATE nights. I'm already getting sleepy just thinking about it. That's going to make Thursday a long day :( Hopefully, Friday will go smoothly. I may go to a meeting Friday afternoon for the Big Cheese. I'm not going so much for him, but more just to get the hell out of school for a couple of hours.

If any of you have been trying to find my proposal on Donors Choose, I don't think it's posted yet. I'm so stupid. I didn't realize it was going to take so long to get it posted. PLEASE keep checking back. I'm going to leave you with the quote for today:

Many public-school children seem to know only two
dates--1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either occasion. ---Mark Twain

I need your help

Hey, guys, I need your help. There is a wonderful organization called Donors Choose out there whose sole purpose is to help teachers get the things they need to teach! Please click on the link and check out their website. I also put the link on the list to the right (Check Out...) In a nutshell, teachers post proposals on the site, and the public can pick and choose which proposals they want to help fund. You can give as much or as little as you'd like. (You do not have to fund the entire project.) Once a teacher's proposal is funded, Donors Choose sends the requested materials. Easy as pie!

After years of saying I was going to do it, I finally posted a proposal on Donors Choose! Yay me! It took me long enough. My son's not going to be able to go to Harvard now because I've spent his entire college tuition on my classroom over the years. Twice!!

Anyway, the name of my proposal is "Snug as a Bug in a Rug." I'm pretty sure you can put the name in the search engine and it will take you straight there. [ok, crap. I suppose I should have checked this out before, but apparently there are several proposals with that name. Damn. I tried to edit the name, but I can't. The first sentence of mine mentions that my school is on the southside of Chicago, so try to look for it. Sorry! Also, I just realized that it takes a few days before the proposals go through the proper channels, and get approved and posted, so maybe wait a few days before you look for mine :( ] As much as I would appreciate you funding the proposal, what would be really great is if you could spread the word about Donors Choose to everyone you know. Tell your friends and family. Teach your own children about the joy of giving by funding someones proposal. Maybe your company would like to be a corporate sponsor for someones proposal. Every little bit helps. Like I said, you do not have to fund an entire proposal, just give what you can comfortably afford.

If you'd like to get your feet wet by starting with my proposal, I'm not going to argue ;-) I started very small, only requesting a carpet. Now that I've got the ball rolling, I'm going to work on larger proposals that will really benefit my kids. Be sure to spread the word :)