Another Week of Testing

Sunday
Easter was great fun!  We dyed Easter eggs with the kids outside to prevent the mess from the colors inside and it was interesting to see how the 3, 5, 10 and 15 year old all reacted differently to the event.  I will say that we did not end up with any brown eggs so that was a feat!

Two sets of dyes.

Dying Eggs

The end result of dyed eggs.  They did not last long.

At the end of the afternoon, we ended up making deviled eggs with the pieces of arts created by the kids.  The left over eggs ended up as egg salad for lunch this week.  This is the bad thing about Easter for me.  I love the eggs and the candy associated with this holiday.  The jelly beans and Reese's Peanut Butter eggs are the downfall of me.

Monday
So today was the Performance Task part of the Smarter Balanced Assessment.  We had students all over the place taking a variety of tests.  11th graders were taking the SBAC test, 10th grades were taking the Science test and the 9th graders were taking the practice CAHSEE tests in order to prepare for the exam next year.  We are going to use the results to help provide interventions for the students and identify students who need more help.  Today was also the first day of Witness Prep for a lawsuit that is getting ready to start.  I have never been involved in one before other than as a juror so it was interesting to see the process.

Tuesday
I am so tired and it is only Tuesday.  It feels like it should be Thursday already.  I can't believe that we have been in school two days this week and I feel like it has been forever!!!!  Today was another day of testing and fun.  I had a doctor's appointment today because I had to finally admit that i might need glasses.  In December when I was working on the PhD, I noticed that i was having trouble reading some of the smaller print articles.  I got a pair of reading glasses from Target but they almost feel too strong.  I made it to Dr. Hart who said that my eyes are just getting old and due to my constant reading and use of computers, my eyes might need some "help," translation - they want to tell me that I am getting old. LOL!!!!  So now I know my eyes are like .50 and .75 and I need my astigmatism fixed.  So needless to say, I am getting some reading glasses.  Of course when I was picking them out I tried on about 25 different pairs and the one pair I like is a bit expensive - Ugh!!  I usually don't have this kind of expensive taste.  Then I come to find out that it is real the lenses that are most expensive for me.  LOL!!!!  Guess I need to pay for the health care vision plan now also.

Wednesday
Ummm….. is it only Wednesday?????  Come on, it has to be Thursday or Friday……  The days have seemed incredibly long this week and I am not sure if it is because I have been so tired or so busy.  We are in our second week of testing and the Science CST's started this week also.  The schedule is a little crazy and yes, I was one of the ones that created it.  I was trying to maximize instructional time!!!!  The schedule is not really the problem, just a lot of testing all together with a lot of moving computer carts around and checking on teachers.  Thank goodness Josh is around to help move the carts!!!  I would be even more whooped!!!  On another note, and I do not know if this is a CA thing or not.  The school is undergoing a hearing for a SPED situation and we are having it at the High School.  A judge from San Diego is coming in to hear the case and the district lawyers and the other lawyers will be here on Thursday for the start of the case.  We used one of the portables that I cleaned out the other week for the hearing (see picture below).  I think this is being done at the school because it is an expedited case but am really unsure.  This did not happen at Laurens or LR5 that I know of.  I find the entire process fascinating and am learning a lot in the process.

I am trying to eat more fruits and vegetables now.  Since I am not making it to the gym as much as I would like and having been eating so poorly I am trying to get back into my good eating habits.  So tonight I made asparagus.  Good think that I got a microwave steamer so it makes cooking the veggies much faster than cooking them in the oven.

Wednesday Night Asparagus Dinner

Thursday
Laurens 55 (LD55) has Senior Project.  John W. North has Senior Exhibition.  They both are the same thing with a little different twist.  Both Senior Project and Senior Exhibition involve students working on a project throughout the school year and presenting to a panel.  North only requires a 5 minute presentation while LD55 has 15 minutes.  North also has all students present in one afternoon between 1:45 - 4:00 pm while LD55 does it over three days twice a year due to the 4x4 schedule.  Both are fabulous opportunities for students and they do a great job. We had a big BBQ for the panel members who got to sit and talk with each other.  Many of the panelists have connections to North in the form of community members or alumni so it is nice for them to make connections and re-connect.  In addition, this year USL (student government) fed all the seniors after their presentation so it was great to see the start of the end of the school year for the seniors.  This was their first event as they get ready for graduation on June 12.  In order to get this done, we dismissed kids after testing so all students were off campus by 12:15 as panel members came on campus.

Friday
Today was a regular scheduled day and busy at that.  We had the admin meeting this morning and we got to look at my pretty colored calendars I did on Wednesday night and hung in the conference room.  Don't you love my cute little post-it notes that are on every month to let us know what we have planned!  I am sure this will keep us more organized - LOL!!!!

The afternoon was filled with the summer school issues affectionately known as the Summer School Draft where the schools who are hosting summer school get to pick which teachers will be teaching.  I was told that in the past years it could get a little "ugly" because of trying to get your teachers into summer school for the extra money.  This year however, I was told it went well and was pleasant,  I am going to credit that to the BFAW's.  We all get along so well that it was nice to hang out with everyone and learn all about how Summer School is done in RUSD.  We even ended the afternoon with our group pic!!  We are missing some of us but these are my AP BFAW's of RUSD.  It is not the Back Porch Girls at Colleen's but we have a GREAT time!!!

AP BFAW's of RUSD

Friday night after the draft pick Megan dropped me off back at the school and I got some technology work done.  I was able to move a few things around and Mike and I hung the LCD projector in a classroom.  Well, Mike hung it and I supervised?!?!  We had to replace the LCD projector as opposed to purchasing a new bulb because the bulb was going to be 425.00 and a new projector is 490.00.  This was more of a project because the LCD projectors were different so therefore the mount had to be "refitted."  At least it is done!!!!

Saturday
So today is Prom Day!!!  I know the students are excited and so am I.  DeEtte, Megan and I are going to lunch, get mani-pedi's and work on Master Schedule.  LOL!!!  So here are my cute toes for Prom.  This is pretty amazing because I told Tony, the guy that did my toes, that I was wearing teal shoes and for him to pick a color for me and he used this color which matched my shoes perfectly - no, I did not take the shoes.

Prom Toes!

Megan and I - Pre-Prom

So Megan and I got dressed at her house and we went to dinner at Spaghetti Factory for Prom. This is Megan's favorite place to eat and the food was yummy.  I had pasta with mushrooms and cheese.

Starbucks - To Stay Awake!!!

Before the Students Arrived

The Prom was called "A Formal Affair" and it was packed at the golf course banquet hall.  While this picture above does not contain students this venue was small and we had so many kids there it ended up being hard to move.  The kids are here and lined up to get in at 7:45 pm and they stayed until the very end 12:00 am until the very last song.  In fact we had to chase some of them out!!!   While LD55 has their Prom at school and transforms the entire commons area, we have no place large enough on campus and the schools here go to hotels and other venues.  This place was about 30 minutes from the school.  The kids looked fantastic and had the same dresses as the kids in the Southeast do and the same dress problems!!!

Gatsby Inspired! 

Two Students who Visit me Often - They clean up nice. 

 The kids really did have a lot of fun!  One of the campus supervisors rapped at the dance.  There was a prop photo booth the students really enjoyed and the teacher that were present had a great time!  Megan and I got to the car at 12:30 am after looking for missing shoes for one of the students.  I walked in the apartment at 1:23 am after Megan dropped me off at my car and I drove home.  I walked in, changed clothes and climbed into bed where I stayed until 9:00 am with Squeak on Sunday morning.   I had a lot of fun and it was great to get text messages and pictures from LD55 during the night since there Prom was the same and this was the first time I had not been at the LD55 Prom since 1999.  Wow - that makes me sound old!!!  LOL!!!!