Well, it was a tough first day back at school. Not because of anything that happened but because it was the day back after break and I seriously did not do any school work for 5 days! It was good to see the kids but you could tell the entire school was struggling to get back. It seemed like everyone was moving slow and was saying they were tired.
I left work at 3:30 pm to take my car to the VW dealership because I had a nail in the tire. I was waiting on the car and ended up waiting quite a log time since they had technicians out due to sickness. While I was there I was sitting in the lobby with the TV and the news was announcing a big storm coming. IT was being dubbed the storm of the year in Southern California. Now, in SC when they talk about this, you know it is going to be snow and you must run to the store and get bread and milk. While it is never a lot of snow in SC, you know the state does not keep the equipment to clear the roads so it is literally just safer to be indoors and not leave. However, it has always cracked me up to go into the stores and see no bread and milk. Well, let me tell you, when they say storm here, they are talking about rain. So….rain in SC is not a problem. Here is SolCal it is. The state does not get a lot of rain and like SC does not have equipment to clear roads with snow. SolCal has no drains to handle rain. So, driving becomes dangerous. Not because of the rain itself but because of the large puddles of water that sit all over the place and causes hydroplaning if you are not careful. Well the interesting thing is that people stay home when it rains. LOL!!! There was hardly any traffic on the Interstate on the way to work or the way home. So…the moral of the story is…. Rain in SolCal = Snow in SC.
The other thing about rain is that it keeps students in class. I mean this area is usually filled with students but look at how bare it is right now.
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| John W. North - The Hill during Rain!!! |
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Today consisted of starting the day interviewing Undergraduate students from the University of California, Riverside for some work study positions. It is really interesting to see the differences between Freshman and Seniors at college. Since I spend so much time at high school I do remember and see the differences between 9th and 12th graders but I forgot what the wide range of differences are in the college kids too.
If I have not said this before, let me say it now. I LOVE my Guidance Department. They are so easy to get along with and they want to work with the kids to do what is best for students. I really do enjoy when we have meetings because we get a lot done and we all get along. This year we have been having "food spreads" and everyone is willing to pitch in and volunteer to bring something - even my toughest guidance counselor!!! I am lucky to have such a great group of guidance counselors willing to talk with me, advise me on historical events and help support my crazy plans!!!!
The rain started again around 1:30 pm and did not stop. There was another storm coming through so the rain just keeps coming. It is suppose to move out of the area tonight and the sun is suppose to come out tomorrow. I have enjoyed the rain and overcast weather as a change of pace but it still does not make me homesick for the erratic weather changes in SC.
Thursday, December 4, 2014
The day was a little busy and it was a late night. I met with kids during the day to talk with certain ones about how things are going. I have about 18 students that I meet with at various times during the weeks. Usually I meet with them about once every other week or so about their grades or family issues. In the afternoon we had the Leadership Team meeting with all the department heads to talk about LCAP and where we are going as well as what our goals need to be for the school. LCAP, Local Control Accountability Plan, allows districts to spend money how they would like as long as you are making progress in one of eight areas and you have goals of which you can show progress. At North High School, we have to decide on some goals and what we are going to do to move forward to show success.
After the meeting, I went to dinner with the other Assistant Principals and we had a blast. It is always good to see the other AP's and spend time with them. We met at Cactus Cantina and just hung out and had a great time talking about what was coming up at our schools. Poly has a big football game on Friday night, North has a basketball tournament and things are King and Arlington are finding some changes. Ramona is getting ready for the Gooru training this weekend as well. After dinner I had to drive to Long Beach for a presentation at NSTA (National Science Teachers Association). It was supposed to be on Saturday but got moved to Friday at 8:00 am, which is a terrible time! Rather than drive and get stuck in traffic, I went down on Thursday and let me tell you - it was a odd drive. It went fast but it was dark and I always thought of Long Beach as a little cleaner than what it was but it ended up I think I came through the back end of town which is somewhat strange and dirty! I stayed at Best Western and while I thought it would be a good hotel, it was not great but it was not extremely awful! I was safe and I got there, slept, got dressed and left so it was a short stay. On Friday morning Jeff and Eric got all my equipment over to the room for my presentation, which thank goodness they did. I was at the Renaissance Inn presenting but the main area was at the Long Beach Convention Center. I don't think I would have been able to make it to pick up the items and been in my room ready to start. Thank goodness for Texas Instruments friends!!!! The presentation went well. There were 13 people there and they all stayed. I presented Breathing Peas for the activity and was able to talk with science teachers about the use of Vernier Probeware and TI materials in their classroom. After the presentation, Jeff helped me pack everything up and everything got returned to the TI booth where I got to go and see Eric, Donald and Kelly, who I have not seen in awhile. It was great to see everyone!!! Jeff and I went to breakfast before I left to head back to work.
Friday night I met with April to work on the grant for the Health Science Pathway that we are planning. After that April went to cover the basketball game as the athletic trainer and I finished up some work in my office and around the school before I went and watched a quarter of the game. I left and headed home by 8:00 pm only to get home, unpack, clean up and crash!!!! I was so tired!!!
Saturday, December 6, 2014
This morning I got up and started some laundry, cleaned up the apartment a bit and went to the gym to work out. When I got home I made a smoothie with my early Christmas present (a Ninja). I am getting really good at mixing bananas with other fruits. I have not ventured into the vegetable drinks but it is an easy way to get my fruits in the morning so I don't have to worry about them for the rest of the day since the ones I like tend to need to be refrigerated. I started working on my PhD items and I got a text from a friend who was willing to meet me for lunch. So I went and picked up my shoes from the repair place and headed to lunch with my friend to Sammy's Woodfire Pizza. Now, I have not really hear of this place so this was a new stop for me but OMG, it was super yummy!!!! We split a salad with balsamic vinegar and blue cheese as well as a Margherita pizza and it was SUPER yummy!!!! It is always good to see friends and I do value this particular friendship. I made it home after a quick stop at Loft where I used my $25.00 off cards and got $300.00 worth of clothing for $105.00 with the 40% discount and cards. I even had two cards left over that I was able to provide to two ladies checking out, allowing them to save some money also!
I came home and ended up sitting on the couch for a few minutes to relax and I ended up falling asleep for longer than what I would have liked. Before I knew it time had flown by when I opened my eyes and it was LATE!!! I hate when I do this because then I stay up late at night and my schedule gets screwed up. Ugh!!! I decided to use the time to make my holiday chex mix and put up the few decorations I was going to put up for Christmas. With the new little kitten I am worried that if I put up a tree I will be putting up the tree each day. I am not sure I want to put up a tree 19 days……. Well I decided to give it a try and this is what Husky did within the first 5 minutes of having it up:
So I am hoping that she is going to sleep under it rather than trying to attack it but we will see. It is early and the tree has not been up long so we will see how she does. I spent some time wrapping a few presents tonight also. I don't have many to do but I did have a few. The outdoor kittens are still hanging around. They get fed in the mornings and afternoon. While I can pet them, they are not extremely friendly but they do hang around on my porch a good bit. This is not a great picture but they are hanging out. There are four kittens and momma that are around. Dad comes around also but does not usually stay like these kittens.
I hope everyone has a great week as we move into the holiday season. I know it is a busy time for everyone!!!
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