Month: January 2005

This has been a very very very very stressful month. Did I say very enough. It began very quietly enough and pleasant. Then I went to school on the third. Since that day, between the horrors of paying bills that are still not finished, the extremely busy school schedule, and the reoccurring headaches. I hope I make it to February 1st.
Bill Paying- I spent way too much on Christmas and my taxes are eating me alive. I don’t regret the money for Christmas, but I am furious about the taxes. Of course, Steve said it’s your fault, you voted for the extra tax. Well, that was 3 years ago. This raise in cost is because the new assessor decided we were not being charged enough before. The only bright spot is that my house is old and not new. One of my friends is paying double because they assessed her house for double the price. They kept telling her, “If you moved that house to Abbeville, you could sell it for that price.” She promptly told them. I can’t move it and where it is no one would pay that much! They built it the way they did because it was in a high flood zone. Oh well, such is bureaucracy.
Next School: We were scheduled this month five different visits from people to view what we are doing in our school. We have had to go into hyperspace speed to revamp our rooms while still teaching. I really shouldn’t complain, mine was fine already. But it put a lot of stress on me to be on my toes and do even better with the kids. Of course, I am doing the best I can do, but I was worried it wasn’t good enough. Three down and two to go. We did very well with their evaluations. The state one gave me a very nice review. The other two were not person specific. They were judging the school as a whole. But they did give Sandy and I a good response for the kindergarten. They were excited to see that we were teaching guided reading already and how well the children were reading. Now the next one is next week. It will strictly be during the reading time, and in the classroom. But we will be there during part of this time. So we will be under scrutiny again. This time by the man who wrote the reading program and some people from LSU. So stress elevation time again. Did I mention in between this, we must retest the entire school. The next group will be there on February 4th.
One more thing happened. We were informed in the middle of the week that we were in corrective action. Our grades were incorrectly scored in the beginning, so they did not know we had slipped. The two supervisors who are our DAT team (in english that means our assistants to getting out of this mess) tell us we really don’t have anything to worry about, since we are doing this wonderful reading program. Of course, it means more meetings. What makes this funny is that this is almost a completely different group of kids. Except for those that failed last year.
Last but not least is the headaches. I believe it is allergies, but from what I do not know. I can make guesses, but that is all they are. I take Tylenol Sinus Daytime and I seem to make it better. But once I get off, they come back again. Hopefully, it will get better. (By the way, I am also taking an allergy pill.)
If I make it through the rest of this year, everyone says it will be better. I certainly hope so. I won’t repeat that it can’t get worse, because it could. Until another day.

Well, that’s not true. I did slow down the week before New Year’s Day, and I actually went into hibernation. I have never slept and laid around so much in a long time. It was wonderful. When I arrived back at school Monday, everyone had a wonderful holidays, but did not want to be back. One person said it perfectly. Returning from holidays are the worse, you really know what you are missing. After several weeks, it becomes more normal so that you begin to enjoy the job. Then as it gets close to the next holiday, you begin to wear down. It is definitely a vicious cycle.
We had a wonderful Christmas. It is so scary how much fun we had this year with both Thanksgiving and Christmas. But there goes my pessimistic side looking for the shoe to drop. I refuse to let it go on.
I am so happy that all of us was there. Mary added a very special touch being there also. I think she is becoming use to our crazyness.
We have some wonderful pictures, and everyone must beware. The Bennetts will be sending a picture newsletter this year.
To top off the year, we actually had snow on Christmas Day. After (50”’) years, my wish finally came true. I am so excited for the kids. There are quite a few young people that had never seen or felt snow. If they lived in Abbeville, then they missed out. But if they lived in Pecan Island and Morgan City, they really had a great time. They actually received enough snow to make snowpeople. We had enough to make snowballs. When we went to see Uncle Bud and Aunt Olga, Steve decided to make one and tried to hit me with it.
Well, school wise this year has started off with a bang. We have four scheduled visits this month alone. Our first was today. The lady from the state department came to observe the interventionist, then she went into the classroom to see the reading program in action. I do not know her overall report, but I was very excited about mine. She gave me an excellent report and it made me feel great. But the kids really did an excelent job this morning. So I was lucky that they were in a cooperative mood. Next week, we have another school coming to observe. That should be a trip. Having all those people walking through the room. I am not looking forward to that. Then on the 26th, the author of the reading program we are using will be coming through. It will be interesting to see what he has to say. Hopefully the children will be cooperative that day also. We are excited at how much the children are progressing. They are working hard and I do believe that they will do well. The only problem we have are some of the repeaters in fourth grade. They do not want to pass and could care less. Maybe if we have some motivation for them, then we will get them gung ho. There is only one for sure in my group that needs a big boost to get him serious. Another is having some bad days, but for the most part, he is doing a good job.
I found out that this summer, we may be going back to New Orleans for a refresher course…it is only three days. But the people I talked to about it with are just as excited as I am. I want to go to museums. In fact, one teacher mentioned she would like to walk down Magazine Street. We did not go there last time, but I am ready to go. It has all the art museums on it. I am going to get on the internet and be ready for some museum hopping if I can get her and some others to come. I may go by myself if I have to. I doubt anyone would steal me.