Last week of March

Monday, March 24, 2014 and Tuesday, March 25, 2014 

I was at Rigorous Curriculum Design (RCD) in Carlsbad.  The conference who was directed by Leadership and Learning Center put it on.  The training was based on Larry Ainsworth Book, Rigorous Curriculum Design.  It was a great conference and I learned a lot.  While I had read the book already, it was nice to hear the steps laid out and explained, especially the Priority Standards surrounded by the supporting standards so I truly understood what it is Ainsworth was saying in the book.  The Sheraton Conference Center was beautiful and they the facilities were great.  I drove down on Monday morning and it took about an hour from my apartment.  I stayed the evening and the bed was huge and room was beautiful.  I slept really well and woke to raindrops outside, which is really unusual for CA.  The second day was great as well and I learned a lot.  I love the fact that how I planned my curriculum in the classroom was the same as how Ainsworth suggests.  The only thing that I did not do as deeply as what Ainsworth suggests is as many planned and organized formative assessments.  While I provided them, I did not do them as strategically as Ainsworth suggests.  What I am finding is the most difficult part of using RCD to develop curriculum is the teacher persistence to create.  In developing middle school curriculum and high school curriculum in Laurens, I found many times we got into a "get it done" mindset because of the time and therefore we did not include all the parts required and laid out by RCD.  The really great thing about RCD is that is focuses on the standards and not the textbook.  This allows us to work on really focusing on the standard and using the materials that we have and then filling in the gaps with pieces rather than buying a pre-made curriculum.

When I left Carlsbad, I headed to Ulta in the San Marcos area and then went to eat dinner at one of my most favorite places.  It is a placed called Hungry Bear and it has the absolute best sub sandwiches.  They get very high marks on Yelp and people who I talk to who do not hang out down in the San Marcos area know about this small little sub shop.  They do everything fresh, like the del it that I worked at in Irmo and I love that about the Hungry Bear Restaurant.  YUM!!!!!

Wednesday
Today I had my first explosion panel.  I got there at 8:00 am to be sure that I could read the packet before the panel started and to meet Alex the hearing supervisor.  I was on the panel with Dale who is a principal in the district.  The hearings went well and both students will be able to finish their education and graduate so all is well.  It was interesting to see the process and I am very glad that I did before I have to present a panel on my own.  Seeing one in action and hearing the questions that will be asked was extremely beneficial in the planning stages and why it is so important that the packet be put together correctly.

When I got back to school I had an IEP meeting for a student and then went to do a few observations of some teaches.  Next it was back to the office for parent meetings.  It was a very busy day and apparently there was a lot going on around the school.  We had a teacher act as an admin designee and work on some of the discipline that needed to be done - the regular electronic violations, missed teacher detentions and so on.  Elizabeth got a lot done for all of us and it was great that some of that is taken off the plates of us before Spring Break.

View after school on Wednesday.

I stayed really late trying to put everything together for the next day and get things together and try and get ahead.  I was able to get all the paperwork done for discipline the next day and I tried to watch some of the videos to get ready for SBAC testing.  However, while I get the part of how to get the test started, I still am not sure how to upload students into the system for them to test.   That is where my problem really is!!!!! I am going to meet with Dan next week and see if that will help.

Thursday
So, someone has put something in the water in Riverside and the kids are drinking it.  Today was crazy.  We had one kid after another getting in trouble and being sent to the office.  It was a little nutty.  While I tried to get a lot of the discipline done in the morning it seemed I kept running into road blocks with trying to get things complete.  Between reports of bullying, bringing edibles laced with inappropriate contents and trying to do my normal work, it was basically almost impossible to get anything complete. I was at school pretty late on Thursday as well trying to get things done.  Thursday afternoon was also early release PD with Social Studies and then a meeting at the District Office on creating a Coaches Policy and Procedure manual.  It has been a crazy day!!!!

Friday
Today was a very upsetting day today.  I had a big decision I had to make and I am still not sure that I am sure that I made the right one but I cannot go back and change the decision now.  However, I gave my decision at 8:30 am and by 10:30 am I was regretting my decision.  However, it would not be fair to  go back and change it.  From 10:30 am till the end of the day it just felt as though nothing was going right and every time I tried to sit down and relax to decompress something else would happen to make it worse and fill me with regret.  I kept saying, why did I not wait???  However, I promised my answer in the morning and I felt waiting was inconsiderate.  I came home emotionally drained and did nothing but sit and relax in the evening.

Squeak likes when I am home.

I was sitting at the computer and felt the chair shake and thought to myself what the heck is going on what is up with my chair.  I also heard a strange noise outside but did not really think much of it.  I started to also get woozy and then I realized what was happening.  It was an earthquake.  It seemed to last a fairly long time because my chair kept shaking.  Then I started getting texts from different people to see if I felt it.  However, I was still about 60 miles from it.  It was not a major shake, just enough to make me realize that something was not correct.  It was an interesting feeling as well.

I ended up going to be early and falling asleep quickly.  I did not set any alarms and had the plan to sleep as long as I wanted to on Saturday morning and get as much rest as possible over Spring Break.  I am doing a Staycation to get work on the PhD done, which is one of the things that affected my decision and if that was not hanging over my head I would feel better about things in general.  I am so close that I need to be done but just don't want to do the last parts because I really dislike writing.  Ugh!!!

Saturday
I really woke up this morning not feeling very good.  I decided today would be a "Boxer" day.  Get rest and finish up those tasks around the apartment that are not pressing but take a few minutes to get done.  Some of these including updating the resume, doing the blog, and working on moving some files around.  I did a load of laundry and watched TV.  I also took a NAP!  Yes, I took a NAP.  Anyone who knows me well knows that I do not nap during the day easily.  Squeak and I laid down together on the couch and took a 40 minute nap.  I feel much better now and I halfway wonder if the earthquakes don't make me a little woozy.

Reading with my baby!!

I am going to sign off for two weeks.  Starting tomorrow I am going into PhD mode and will not be doing much but sitting around reading and typing so there will not be much to tell.  I am going to work two days this week because I will be working summer school but that will be for testing purposes and planning for next school year.  So I will see you the second week of April.
  

March 17-22

Well it has been a tough week.  I can't seem to get ahead, more than other weeks.  I am not sure how I am possibly going to make it through the next few weeks.  I know I will but it is going to be a huge task.   On Monday, I was still at ASCD in LA and had a great time.  On Monday, I got back to the apartment and took my car to get cleaned, pick up some groceries and unpack.  I have been gone for three weekends strait and am tired and need to get things done around the apartment such as laundry, some cleaning and play with Squeak.  I halfway wonder if I don't have Mono as tired as I have been lately.  I usually have loads of energy and it is not a problem but this past week I have been struggling.

When I got back to school on Tuesday there was plenty to do and catch up on.  I spent the majority of the day catching up on discipline.  I attended the Riverside State of Education Address and then when to the High School Task Force meeting.  I enjoy attending these meeting but sometimes I feel like they are circular and we has out the same items over and over again.  We did the same thing and are not really anywhere closer to an answer, or so it feels that way.  I did go ahead and relax that evening by going to the Karen Allen Salon for a bit.  I made it home and crashed because I knew it was going to be a tough couple of days.  On Wednesday I set up the Writing portion of the Early Assessment Program the 11th graders are going to take Monday.  Alison helped teach me all the parts that had to be put together but the truth is I need to thank Anita Wilson for all the work she did on testing and taught me because it made making decisions and putting things together easier.   I knew that at some point all that hard work would come through. LOL!!!  I ended up being at school until 8:30 pm working on getting testing together, having parent meeting and trying to get organized.  We also ended up with a student who hurt himself on the track by trying to climb over a fence.  Reports are that he slipped and fell and I got to use my athletic training background.  I miss working with athletes at times and then crazy things like this happen and I remember how athletic training always makes me smile because it is never the same thing all the time, like being an assistant principal.  

On Thursday I decided that someone has put something in the water around the school.  It was a busy day and I had lots to do and of course nothing went correctly.  We have been having problems with the network at school and when the principal wanted to use the network, of course it was down and we don't get great reception in the MPR so there was issues, of course!!!  From there it was a quick rush to room 323 for the staff meeting and then to 700 for Early Release Professional Development.  Once that was over I was on the way back to the office when I ran into a teacher and angry parent while I still had another appointment waiting on me.  The parent was upset about a situation that occurred after school.  This caused a two hour investigation which involved the police.  While I did not conduct the entire investigation, there were several of us that were involved and I ended up with having to call the parents of one of the students involved.  After that, I was in a meeting for School Site Council, than PTSA which I left at 8:05 pm and they were still meeting.  I went to clean up the rooms I used and then finished up some items in my office.  Needless to say, I did not leave until 9:40 pm and then ended up getting back to the apartment at 10:15 due to construction on the freeway.

On Friday, it was one thing after another with the Spring Assembly and more student reporting issues from the day before with lots of different people now being involved.  We were in meetings this morning and then again in the afternoon since the admin team had not met in awhile.  At the end of school, we had a report of students having things on campus they should not.  While that was being investigated, I had to deal with a parent calling wanting to know what was going on with her child that she came home upset.  I was suppose to meet the Roe's for dinner but that plan got delayed and when I got there it was about time to leave so I went back to school and heard about the investigation.  I got home at 8:30 am after running to Target and ended up cleaning up a bit and laying on the couch and almost falling asleep there the entire night.  I did make it to the bedroom to sleep, which was good so that I got some restful sleep in my comfy bed.  I ended up sleeping till about 7:00 am, which was pretty late for me.  I spent the morning with Squeak curled up next to me working on some reading that I have been trying to do.  It was a relaxing morning and I was able to eat breakfast with a friend before heading to work to get some things done since I am so behind.

I just don't think I will get caught up.  Friday, one of the district instructional specialists sent an email say she needed the work done by Sunday night for our MYP application.  This irritated the fire out of me because all the way back in October, I begged for this not to happen.  I have a PhD to work on, SBAC testing coming up, been out of town and discipline.  I don't have time for a 48 hour deadline!!!!  Especially when there has been 8 months to work on this.  Ugh!!!!  Frustration!!!!!!  So I am signing off with no pictures so I can make sure I get everything done.  Best wishes to everyone!!!!

Week of March 10

Hello My Friends
  I hope you are all doing well as I start this blog.  I will tell you that I am tired, not that everyone else is not, but I am usually don't drag this much.  I think it is the combination of the items last week and this week after the Texas Instruments Conference and getting ready for the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development Conference this weekend.  While I was at the Texas Instruments Conference this quote was put up by one of the presenters and I felt like it was appropriate for some of the situations I have been dealing with this week. Parents, please be your child's advocate, but be that advocate in a way that develops them into mature young adults who can maintain a job, survive in life and be successful.  Their boss will not let you come and advocate for them, they have to learn to be corrected and take advice or they will be fired.  Please let them work through their mistakes now and take their punishments where they have a cushion rather than when they are out on their own.

  As I end this week, I reflect that I stayed at work on Monday and Wednesday late but I left right after the Middle School Task Force on Tuesday.  I decided I deserved to get my nails done and so I left to have a relaxing evening of getting my nails done, playing with Squeak, working from home and packing for ASCD on Tuesday night.  I did go outside the box a little and get orange toenails with white dots.

See how cute they are!!  It made me HAPPY!!!  I even wore open toe shoes on Wednesday to show them off to everyone.  :)  I think I may have taken the polka dots too far though on Thursday.  I knew on Thursday I would be sitting most of the day so I wore my most favorite pair of shoes!  Does anyone know which ones they are????  I always get loads of compliments on them……. You got it….

 So it might be dot overload!!! Especially since I was also carrying a polka-dot bag.  I am really not that girlie and try to match my dots.  It just kinda happened.  I did get a lot of compliments on my shoes and everyone really wanted to know where I got them because they were supper cute!!!


On Thursday night, I left to go to ASCD for the conference on Friday.  I got t see Robert Marzano present and be in his session about Teacher Evaluation.  This was pretty awesome just because of who he is and what work he has done.  I find that the information he presented we will be seeing in the next 3-5 years so it was great to get the introduction to what will be coming out about teacher evaluation.   He is talking about Teacher Eval being in three categories based on the length of time you teach.  Makes sense - your first year teacher is competent in different ways than your 5th year or 12th year teacher.  Then upon that category there is different cut scores for proficiency in those areas based on the  amount of time they have to grow and develop as a teacher.  It is a great concept and also includes teacher self-reflections, student survey, test scores and a variety of other observations to get a more holistic picture.  It really is what we need to do but would take another two administrators in order to make sure it is done correctly and infused.  I am excited about being in education at this time as we move forward with the idea of Teacher Evaluation Revamping!!!

Robert Marzano

Robert Marzano and Myself - Yes, I am a geek / nerd.  

Megan and I

Kristen Swanson and Megan McGroarty

Jay McTighe

  So on Friday night, my BFAW, Megan and I raced back to Riverside to cover the basketball game on Friday night.  It was very sad that we lost the game and the boys are out of the playoffs.  It was really sad because the game was not closer but it was still a great game to see the fast paced rhythm of the game and the incredible shots that are made by these high school students.  After the game, Megan and I raced back to LA.  I got to drive her 2013 Red Acura and I did not get a ticket!!!!  It drives great!!  I might know what my next car is in 10 years. LOL!!!!

Today, I am attending the conference and am super-excited about all the items that are being introduced to us through this phenomenal conference.  This is the PLACE TO BE right now!!!!  You learn so much about what is coming down the pipeline.  Now that I write that it make me think - who really controls education in US - ASCD!!  LOL!!!

I really am looking forward to next weekend.  I believe I am going to stay home and sleep.  I want to try and get caught up on the laundry and work on the PhD.  I do love the fact that Spring Break is coming up soon - I am staying here and trying to finish all the writing to get it to Michelle, my committee chair!!!!

Week of March 10th - TI3 Conference - Not as long - Been a busy week and I'm tired!!!

Sunday was a busy day with lots of work to be done.  I did not get the one thing done that I wanted to finish – my PhD – chapter 4 but I did get all the work done to be able to go to work and be productive on Monday.  Yeah!!!!  I had dinner at the Roe’s, which is typical and I love.  Jessica made my favorite mean – Spinach Fettuccine Alfredo.  We also had salad and Oreo dessert so it was a good night.  Yum!!!!  I got all the ironing done in the evening and even was able to go to bed by 10:30 pm.  I was very proud of myself.    However, Monday came……Can we say BUSY???  I knew this week was going to be rough because I was only working three days before the Texas Instruments Conference, but WOW!   The three days I worked this week may have pointed out to me how much I still have to learn.   I have been feeling pretty good recently, plugging along, staying busy but still getting it.  After our firecracker ring escapade I felt like, “I got this.”  Guess what, “I don’t have this.”  I know that sounds awful but we are being honest here.   I have not really been trained on how to put in suspensions in the computer.  While I know we use the Assertive Discipline Systems (ADS), I have not had to go in and put together a full packet and do the paperwork.  So, as you know my secretary is out on maternity leave, the other secretary has an audit on Thursday and the last secretary changed positions and there is a new secretary in place who does not know the system.  Well guess what….you got it.  I have not been trained either.  The training I went to was more along the do this…this has changed…and so on…  I never had to put in a full suspension to the expulsion from start to finish on my own.  So this week was a struggle on Monday to get all the paperwork done for our suspensions.  I feel very ill equipped (imagine me with a frown).  Everything was put together and got to where it needed to go but I don’t feel it was done well and as you know I am a over-achiever and a bit OCD so this bothers me. 

On Monday, I got to eat dinner with my education friend and catch up on what is going on then returned to work to get organized for the next day since things were so crazy.  On Tuesday I had the High School Task force meeting where we are discussing different types of diplomas for students and then went back to work for the track meet.  I was sad as well because the Boy’s Basketball team, who are so good, lost their games to a team ranked #4 in the nation.  Now, the positive side of me is, “Well if you have to lose to a team, better to lose to someone that great,” but man, it sucks to lose!!!  I know the kids were bummed but the other admin at the game continued to send me updates as the night went on so that I could keep up to date on the score.   I was bad and had one of my favorite meals that night – Del Taco.  I know I know, what is special about a bean burrito, but for some reason I love them and they are soooooo good.  The crinkle cut fries that are so bad for you are good as well.  I got home around 9:35 pm and finished getting items together to leave from work to go to the conference in Vegas.  Yes, I did say Vegas.  A lot of people are telling me how much fun I am going to have and how lucky I am and while I do agree I am lucky and will have fun.  My time in Vegas is all about learning about the TI Nspire and iPad App for TI.  They have it set up so that we are doing all kinds of PD and interactions with others so there is very little time to “do Vegas.”  I am okay with that since I was just there with the girls this summer.  My favorite part is old Vegas but mainly because I like the lights and entertainment on the street.

So here I am in the Ontario Airport that is easy to get in and out of, surprisingly, after a long day of work and I am about to fall asleep.  It is only an hour flight but I am worried about staying awake now to get on the plane. LOL!!!   It will be good to see all my TI friends and friends from District 5 who are coming.  I know it is only two of them, Leza and Yarah but it will be nice to see them!! 

On a side note:  To the two MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL players in the two rows behind me.  No one on this plane cares you are a MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL players.  No one on the plane wanted your autograph and no one cares who you know.  You ruined the flight for the people in the 10 rows in front of you because you talked so loudly and would not sit next to one another on the place, which had open seating!!!  Please notice how polite everyone else was and did not say anything to you but shot you the dirtiest looks I have ever seen.  For these two BOYS who are pushing 37, you need to get a clue and grow up.  We don’t need to hear your stories!!!

I made it to Vegas safely and without killing the guys behind me in the airplane.  I found my friend Howard who I was able to ride to the hotel with and we ate dinner together.  Howard is always fun because he is so talkative and open.  He has been a great friend / mentor to me

Thursday

So I am at the T3 Conference and I just got an absolutely great quote about why we need to have Essential Questions and Agendas in the classroom, at meetings, and for things we do.

         “It is not enough that the teacher knows where the students are headed, the students much also know where they are headed; and both teacher and students must be moving in the same direction.”

I LOVE the above quote and this is my thought from it…..Kids want and need to know where we are doing and where we are doing with their learning.  There is so much going on in their lives and they are connected to the world.   Students must pick and choose what they “attend to” cognitively.  We have to make the hidden visible for students and what is commonplace for the professional educator, may not be for the student. 

Saturday

The past three days, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, have been a whirlwind of activity, so much so it has been hard to breath figuratively and literally.  While Las Vegas may be fun for some, I have only been here for conferences and I think Las Vegas is lost on me a little.  I like Old Vegas because of the lights and entertainment on the streets.  I guess if I was here to dress up, gamble and party I would view it in a different light.  Instead, I have been at meetings every morning by 7:00 am until 8:00 pm at night along with sessions each day.  It has been a great time and I have learned a lot, met a lot of new people and brainstormed ideas with many across the United States, Canada and Australia but it is time to get some sleep – of which I lose an hour tonight due to the time change. 

Thanks to my breakfast crew, Donald, Erick, Jeff for two great breakfasts.  I truly enjoyed sharing time with you and talking.  Still cannot believe all the great food we had.  Sorry I did not get pictures of the second breakfast because the waffles and french toast were amazing also!!!

Jeff's Pancake

Leann's Vegetarian Option

Erick - What were you thinking - Pancakes and eggs!!!  

The conference has been phenomenal so far.  I have met so many wonderful TI3 people who I am able to catch up with and make new friends through them.  It is a social butterflies paradise because everyone is willing to talk and make connections.  There is just not enough time to talk with everyone!!!!  

Cat and I - Cat is the one that got me involved with TI - She is FANTASTIC!!!!

Howard and I - We knew each other from DonorsChoose.org online and actually met through TI.

Sunday

Today was the last day of the conference in Vegas!!!  This morning, I saw an excellent presentation on the changes to the AP Science Tests which shed a lot of light on items in the AP World.  I am excited to take the info back and share it with the teachers at my school.  One of the presenters is the nice lady who shared a cab with me to the airport last year and it was nice to re-connect with her.  The closing session was amazing.  The speaker was David Saltzberg, who is the Science Technical Advisor for The Big Bang Theory TV Show.  He was so funny and showed us clips from the show and told us about items he worked on as well as his job and what he must do.  He says it was funny to teach the guys on the show who had no science background about science.  He mentioned he was happy with Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) joined the show because she really does have a science background and she helps to answer the biology questions since he is an astrophysicist.  I really did enjoy his talk and it was a great way to end the conference.

David Salzberg, The Big Bang Theory Technical Advisor for Science

Dr. Steven Schlozman - Dr. Zombie - works with Max Brooks and helped to write the STEM Behind Hollywood Zombie Apocalypse program.

I cannot believe how much I need the Internet for to get things done.  I am so far behind because I only had my phone the past four days for Internet access and I don't get as much done on my phone as I would like.  It makes me want to get wi-fi on my iPad but honestly, I am too cheap to do it because I don't have that many times when I don't have access.  However, when I don't it is a pain.  So I am sitting at the Las Vegas airport, which has free wi-fi working to get things done so that I can get home and unpack and begin to repack for the ASCD conference this week.  Yes, you heard me.  I am gone again this weekend to LA.  Squeak is going to be so made at me!!!  

Last Week of Februars

February 24

Well, it occurred to me this week that I have been here about 6 months.  I really do love it and am having a great time with my job.  Yes, I do miss my friends in SC and some of the things that I did but I love this new adventure and always learning.  And let me tell you….this has been a learning week.  One of the other assistant principals is out of town.  His daughter got married and family from all over the world was coming in so he took some time off.  It has been crazy because I have taken his discipline along with my own for the most part and it has been hard to get anything done but discipline. I thank Trevor for splitting it all up between Megan, Rich and I after this week but I also feel for my friends like Victor who do nothing but discipline all day.  So on Monday I decided to knock out as much as I possibly could, which resulted in meeting with kids all morning on Monday.  On top of that, it was so busy with everything going on that I did not get the 25 students I needed to into SSR (Supervised Study Room) / ISS.  Oops!!  My secretary is out on maternity leave and Ms. Sonia is filling in for her but Jaque does so much without me asking / remembering or that I just plain don't know about that she makes my life easier.  Needless to say, Sonia and I have been laughing all week at the craziness of the week and what we are figuring out together.  So, I got through the majority of the referrals from the previous week and then low and behold guess what I found, more referrals!!!  A lot of them were electronic violations.  Now, electronics violations are not hard to do, the kids used their phones or something incorrectly.  It just takes a little time to go through the paperwork and get the items done.  So I decided Tuesday was going to be assembly line electronics violations.  Hee Hee Hee!!!  Monday afternoon was our dress code committee meeting, which went very well.  There were a few suggestions and  some changes but overall it went well and there was no major issues with the teachers. Now we are presenting this to some of the student groups for their feedback and we will move forward from there.  I am a little nervous about this part of the process.  It is a fair policy with clear cut guidelines but when you go from nothing to something I know the kids are going to feel suppressed.  Honestly, we just want them to cover their underwear, not have anything hanging out, and watch the vulgarity, nudity and profanity on the shirts as well as the drug references.

Monday night I made it to the gym after work.  I walked with Megan at the track and then at Gold's on the treadmill.  I have gained some weight due to the lack of teaching 3-4 Zumba classes a week and my erratic schedule.  On top of that, my diet has been awful.  I have got to stop eating the chocolate and chips that is laying around the school for us and make better choices.  I did really well at the beginning of the week with my apple slices and food choices but at the end of the week it got nutty!

Tuesday

Well today I picked up bagels for the campus supervisors who we met with on Tuesday morning to remind them to be in their areas and double check their lunch schedules and time.  This is something that Rich does but that I picked up while he was gone and it has been interesting working with these seven adults to get coverage for events and try and make sure that everyone is where they are suppose to be when they are here as well as if we have coverage for them when they are gone.  We have had a couple out this week for various reasons and therefore we have to move people around due to supervision in the locker rooms as well.  It has not been hard, just something else to consider. :)  

So today was mass electronic violation day.  I put up a sign with three Saturday schools they could choose from, sent out all 46 violations and went to the Multi-Purpose Room to wait for the little darlings to show up.  They started trickling in and I explained what was going on and they could choose one of the three dates, fill out the paper completely, sign and date it and then to read and sign the rules. I signed the forms, stapled them together and sent them back to class.  It went well and I think I counted 32 of them out of the 46.  The others I recognize as kids who are absent a lot, don't come when asked or I am hoping they got lost along the way.  Needless to say, I kept Sonia busy with paperwork today.

I can tell teachers are having difficulty with their classes and we are in the tired stretch.  This is that stretch where the only thing now to look forward to is Spring Break.  However, from now until April there are no holidays or breaks since we just got out of January with Christmas and MLK day.  This is the time of the year where you look for a conference to go to so that you have some kind of break from the kids and the kids from the teacher.  I am getting more referrals for things like, will not sit in his seat, will not do work, will not do…, refuses to ….. and the kids are tired and comfortable with the teachers. They are starting to drop some inappropriate language with them and talk with the teachers too casually as well as with one another and it is beginning to cause some problems.  I had a stream of students in and out of my office today with a variety of issues and wouldn't you know, they never do anything and it is always the teachers fault.  LOL!!!  It is interesting to see their perception of what they do verses the teachers perception.

Tuesday afternoon was our Response To Intervention (RtI) / Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) meeting to get ready for next week.  We met and decided what we what to plan for so that we could create a strategic plan for moving forward.  I will not be at the district meeting and am trying to get everything put together for the team so they can work and make progress with the intervention plan.  Tuesday evening I spent some "me" time at the Karen Allen Salon trying to relax a bit and taking a break from the craziness!

Wednesday
Today I met my new dentist.  I was suppose to have a dentist appointment in January and realized that I obviously had to find a dentist here in CA.  Since insurance is so different out here I had to pick one from a list.  I went with a dentist that is near school since the office is usually not open on Saturdays so it is easier for me to go before school or after school when it is close by.  My dentists is a nice guy and his favorite color is yellow as well.  The hygienist was very nice and had a gentle touch but she was not Megan, who was my hygienist in SC.  The really cool thing is they do their x-rays digitally so they took 18 photos fairly quickly and I got to see them as well.  Pretty cool.

Today was a pretty busy day.  Lots of students needed attention.  I also got to meet with the Promethean Board guy about our Active Votes and to take a look at some of our boards and find out what year they are.  We actually have about 5 different types of boards in the school and each one has a little something different about them and will only work with certain things.  While I get they were bought at different times, it is irritating the materials (Activotes) don't work with all of them.  UGH!!!!  On top of that, the representative and I got started talking about projectors that have a replacement bulb cycle so schools are not paying for extra bulbs at the tune of $400 each when they go out.  You can never know how many you will need each year and we have so many different projectors that we do not order and warehouse the bulbs so we end up with teachers who do not have a LCD projector until the bulb comes in.  This other type of projector would allow us to keep a bulb or two on hand because the company has a lifetime replacement cycle.

Wednesday evening I had the honor of supervising the Choir Concert.  It was fantastic to see the kids sing.  What I really like about these performances is the kids sing as a group but then there are individual performances from students and the performance ends with the groups singing again. It is really nice to see the kids sing items they are interested in.  The concert ended at 9:20 and I got home at 10:15 after I waited for a number of the students to leave.  Getting home so late this week is causing me to have a bad attitude at times and to get ready to snap at students without thinking.  Ugh!!  I need to get some sleep.  Squeak kept talking to me the entire night and let me tell you she can talk and keep you up.  I love her but she was getting on my nerves since I really needed to go to bed.

Thursday
The rain has started!  While this is not a big thing for me it seems to be for a lot of other people in CA.  It really does not rain here and therefore people get very worried when there is talk of rain.  The schools were canceling events this week and there seemed to be less cars on the road.  We also had a number of students miss school as well.  I mean, really, it is just some water.  However, I did notice the roads are not set up to drain as well as they are in the Southeast - because they don't get rain that often.

We did another assembly line electronics violation discipline line today.  Letting the kids determine which day they want and filling out the paperwork seems to be a great way to handle these since we have so many at this point and have worked with the students so much in the fall when we first started school.  It is our repeat offenders and they always want to tell me their mom was calling, or they were just checking the time but not using it.  But the teachers get to set up their own policy for electronics so we have to follow our consequences.

Thursday night I went to the ASCA for the Women's Leadership Symposium.  It was fun and great to touch base with some different people and see some that I met back in October.  Megan, Dee and I went together so it was nice to be there with others and I met some really cool people.  Very excited and looking forward to keeping in touch with them and seeing them again soon.  However, it was another late night for me and therefore I knew that Friday was going to be hard.


Friday
Meeting at 7:30 am at Child Registration Services, Admin Meeting when I walk back on campus, three kids sent out of class for me to work with, and lunch duty.  Not a single chance to sit down.  At lunch a Hooka Pen with all three boys providing information but trying to get out of trouble.  Then a Fireworks ring with 7 students who are all trying to stay out of trouble.   These lovely students put some fireworks in the bathroom, in an apple and threw it and also in a bottle and put it in the trashcan, therefore causing it to smoke.  The problem is all these individuals could have caused a major injury to any student and damage to the school.  There was a lot of interviewing that happened, a lot of written statements and a lot of questions asked.  Basically a student brought them on campus and began to hand them out to a variety of people who then set them off and were busted.  Ugh!!!  They don't seem to understand the damage that could have occurred to themselves or anyone else.  We had to take home one of the students because his dad would not answer the phone.  After this visit we were on our way back to the school but we had to do a Starbucks run in hopes to get something to keep us up for the basketball playoff game.

The game did not start until 7:00 pm and we had sold 400 tickets, the opposing team sold 400 tickets and we only had 200 at the door.  We rearranged the entire gym and what we had been doing with basketball to get more people in the gym.  It was a completely packed madhouse and trust me, our gym is smaller than any other gym I have seen.  It actually compares to a middle school gym in SC.  Just kinds of surprising considering how good JW North is in Basketball, it seems that maybe there would be some additional bleachers that were added at some point.  We have no-where on campus, not even the stadium that could fit all students for a presentation.  The game was much closer than I like.  It was tied at a variety of times during the game and was a nail-bitter.  I am including some pictures here so you can see.  It was much closer than these pictures reveal but here is some ideas.

Huskies Win!!!

Saturday
I work up several times throughout the morning due to the fabulous rain.  I love having the window open and listening to the rain.  I had a wonderful morning.  I got a lot of stress relieved and got some things done around the apartment.  Laundry was started, clothes put away and some packing for the conference this week.  I had to be at work at 12:00 today for Open House but when I got there it was still raining and all activities were moved into the gym and the theater.  There was not a lot of people that came.  One of the reasons is that so many of our students walk and the parents would walk but with the rain, I can see where they would not want to go outside.  The event was fun and I loved seeing the performances.  One of the songs performed back in November was done again.  I love the song and the dance that goes with it.  I have posted it below for this of you that would like to see it.

Leaving North, I ran a few errands in hopes to get things for this upcoming week.  It has rained pretty much all evening which made running the errands a little unpleasant.  Of course, when I get to the apartment, it decides to stop - always the way!!!  I tried a new recipe tonight.  Couscous stuffed peppers with mushrooms and pico.  It was pretty good.  Stuffed peppers are harder to eat than you think, they fall apart very easy since you have to cut them and all the stuffing comes out. :(   They were still good and I am excited to find something new, even if I made up the recipe.  :)

We really do have some talented students at North.  This is from a performance in November but I love this song and the performance itself.  The guy in this video wrote the song and performed it as well as had it choreographed.  The kids are fantastic!!!  I tried to embed the video here but if it does not work, you can see it on YouTube here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXtu0gxAX7M&feature=share...