Time Flies!

Whoa. I thought I had barely updated my blog a few days ago and as it turns out it's been more like a few weeks. I don't have a whole lot to report, but I'll try to think of some stuff anyway. Stuff #1) My dad is the bomb dot com. I was whining to him the other day after my car gifted me a big fatty "REJECTED" stamp on my safety and emissions test. It wasn't a gigantic fix, however it started me noticing all the imperfections in little Trudy (that's her name.) I would like to have fixed. My daddy loves to tinker with cars and decided to trade me for a couple of weeks to get it in better shape. Here is a list of the awesome things he helped me with:
- New Bumper! (I knocked a hole in it about 3 weeks after buying it...sad story for another day)
- Glued my "Civic" sign back on
- Fixed my back drivers side door so it now opens from the inside and the outside
- New Spark plugs
- Painted my windshield wiper arms
- New wipers
- New Windshield
- Tightened the oil pan
- Changed the oil
- Replaced sadly torn weather strip on the drivers side window
- Replaced the viser hook-thing that I busted due to an adrenaline rush after being smashed in the eye by a water balloon almost ripping my cornea (yet again, a story for another time...)
- And lastly, cleaned inside and out!

It's wonderful to see how the fixing the little details on an old car like mine could make such a difference. My dad is by far my favorite. I was able to pay for all the repairs, but I wouldn't have known where to take it or how to get the best deals - so for this I thank you dad!

Stuff #2) My principal is a funny guy. I was on a hike Saturday afternoon when suddenly a gray haired man with a big ole camera comes sauntering up the trail. I realized as he passed that it was my boss! I quickly yelled a friendly hello. Pretty sure he didn't even know who I was. Oh well - I'm still new to the school. Then, today at work, he comes wondering into my classroom. It was the tiniest bit awkward, but he proceeded to tell me how weird it was to see me outside of class. He said that it was like when our students see us in real life and think, "Hey! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?" Ya, I had a good laugh. Maybe it's just me. It is nice to think that other people actually do see me as a for-real teacher though! haha - it was weird. The End.

I was Robbed!

My car has been with my wonderful daddy this past week so he could give it a look over and price out parts I need to get it in better shape. He called me this morning to inform me that he was very sorry, he had left the drivers side door open last night. As he got in the car this morning, he noticed that my sunglasses had been moved and some papers had been rifled through. Someone had been in my car! He looked around the car, opened the glove box, checked the back seats to discover what had been stolen - and to our great humor the only thing gone was.........a bag of BBQ potato chips! hahaha - thanks robber, for making my day!

Students Say the Darndest Things...

This is a conversation I observed with two second graders in my classroom the other day:

Me: Sam, did you take my timer?

Sam: No I didn't

Isaac: He's lying! Don't lie Sam. Satan is a liar!

Sam: I'm not lying.

Isaac: Satan is a liar. Jesus loves us. Jesus doesn't lie. You need to be like Jesus.

*giggle* They continued this discussion for a moment before I finally composed myself and redirected the conversation. Even if they don't learn a darn thing with me, at least some parents are teaching them correct principles at home, eh?

A New Year! School year that is...

First week of school is officially over! It has been a successful beginning in my eyes. I have about 18 students that I work with - ranging in grades 2 through 6. Ability levels ranging from about 1st to 6th. Most I only see for 30 minutes daily and a few others anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours a day. Scheduling is always a beast but I think I got it figured out! And it only took me a few days! Just so you know what scheduling involves I must take into account these things before grouping students in half hour blocks throughout the day: recess, PE, specialty classes, General Ed. teacher preferences, student ability level, student peer/age groups (don't want to group a 2nd with a 6th!), what they are serviced for (reading, writing, math), how long they are with me a day, IEP goals... and I think that's it.... haha. Pretty crazy right? Why did I go into this field!

I have fantastic students this year, though. I'm at a new school, new staff, new students - I'm very excited to get going with the curriculem and actually teaching! For these first few days we have only reviewed rules and routined of the classroom - necessary. Boring, but very necessary! So far I have yet to see any behaviors that I can't manage which puts a HUGE smile on my face. I have a lot of hope for a great year!!

I need to take some pictures or my quaint, cute room - hopefully soon. But, to give you an idea - the theme is "Flying High" using hot air balloons :) Love it!

Nothing else new to report really. Mostly my life as of late has been consumed with school preparations, testing, scheduling etc... That said, I actually have been a lot less stressed about everything than I expected! (so far... hope I didn't just curse myself... blast...) I can do my school work at school, do a little bit at home when neccessary and then have time for myself in the evening. It's fantastic!

School Days, school days

I'm not even sure that anyone actually reads my posts, but here is a brief update of whats going on anyway!!

I got back from a fantastic vacation to Saipan a couple of weeks ago. My trip included para sailing, snorkeling, laying on the beach, collecting seashells and eating great food! It was much needed - it was hard to come back to real life. Which brings me to the 'what's going on in real life' segment of my post.... School! I will begin teaching at Hillcrest Elementary school on August 17 so I have been preparing by attending all sorts of meetings! I went to Core Academny for three days of curriculum training in Math which was a lot of fun/gave me good ideas. Then I moved on to the New Teacher training provided by the district. Soo great! It took a lot of time and energy (8:30-3:30 for 7 days) but I was happy for the great training! I'm feeling a lot better about taking over the resource class at my new school and confident that I will be well prepared....or at least as well prepared as a first-and-a-half year teacher can be!
I have been in my classroom preparing for the past few days, but I still have a ton of things to do! I'm now down to about 10 days, so I hope I can squeeze in everything I need to!

I will be going on a campout in St. George this weekend with some friends - so I do get on last hoorah before hitting it hard in the classroom.

Well - I didn't promise anything exciting to say, so I hope no one is dissapointed! I'll try to post some pictures next time, or change my font, or something.....you know... to keep all my readers coming back for more... haha.

Pictures!

Saipan continues to be sunny, beautiful and so relaxing! Yesterday I saw the biggest blow fish I've seen yet! He was about the size of a football. He came lumbering out of the coral, took a lazy look around and after deciding there was nothing worth seeing, floated back into his hole. I also saw another bright blue star fish hugging on for dear life to the top of a spiny orange coral. All five arms were wrapped tightly around it as if the waves were going to sweep him away at any minute. Snorkeling is my favorite part of the vacation thus far! I wish I could take pictures of the things I see underwater. Here are some pictures of everything above the water!

Coral Shark swimming in the pond at the resort

The Palms Resort where we're starying

Palm tree :)

Boonie dogs (wild dogs) live all over the island

Heather and I at Tank Beach

Mom, Heather and I got manicures

The Saipanda! Not sure why the panda has a banana for a nose...

We went to a street market to get yummy island food and buy fun things

There's a lizard in there...

View from my beach chair... this is the life!

Can you believe that I'm at the beach everyday and I'm still this white? Ya, me too.

View of the island from it's highest point, Mt. Topachau

Heather, me and Aaron on Mt. Topachau

Sorry the pictures are small and kind of fuzzy... I couldn't get it to work right... I'll try to fix it.

I'm here!!

I finally made it to Saipan! Getting on the dang plane was a mess - but I managed (with the help of a feisty older sister with a baby) to get my ticket switched and I have been here now for a few days! For a brief recap of what happened at the airport: Got to the bag check-in 1 1/2 hours before scheduled flight, waited in line for a looong time (as airline was waayy understaffed), talked with bag check-in lady who didn't know what to do with my Northwest international flight due to recent merge with Delta, waited some more until she finally re-directed us back to the kiosk, got to the kiosk to scan ticket - was 2 minutes late and the system wouldn't check me in, talk to lady-who-knew-nothing again, redirected to first class where we were told "someone" could get me through, waited more, talked to super defensive ornery old guy, redirected again, missed my flight, rebooked with nice tongan lady (finally someone helpful!), got new tickets for the next day, cost me an extra $250. Whew...sorry that was probably a pain to read - but I didn't feel like rehashing the whole story. It was a blessing I had my big sister with me to help fight with the staff and get me where I needed to go! I couldn't believe how unhelpful everyone was. I only missed the check in by 2 minutes and wouldn't have missed it had the first lady known what she was doing. I guess what matters now is that I am here in Saipan safe and sound.

I don't have my camera to post pictures yet, but I will have some up soon. This place is beautiful! We are at The Palms Resort which has a botanical garden/jungle, tons of fish in a stream surrounding the resort, hibiscus/plumeria/fire tree flowers galore, and a big smimming pool all resting on the edge of the ocean shore. It could not get more perfect than this! I went snorkeling for the first time yesterday and saw soo many mutli-colored fish! There are also an abundance of sea slugs - my goal is to not step on one while I'm here. So far, so good! Today while snorkling my favorite was a whole school of tiny vibrant blue fish that floated out and in from the coral like a synchronized swimming act. Soo neat! There are also as many hermit crabs as there are grains of sand. Every shell I pick up to add to my collection must first be examined - 80% of the time there is a tiny crab still living inside.

We have mainly stayed at the resort so far - but soon we will go to other beaches and check out more of the island. Next time I will post pictures - promise!