Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!  I'm back in Minnesota now, I actually got back last Friday.  Since then I haven't really done much other than relax & do things around my parents' house.  I did go to a friend's last Saturday for a get together for her 30th birthday.  

I pretty much gave a rundown yesterday on what's new with me.  So instead here are some pictures of Nash, some random pictures from my phone, some funnies, & some classroom ideas & dresses that I like for the next school year.  I've decide that I'm going to pull a Steph & pretty much only wear dresses to work next year.  That is of course unless I can wear jeans.  Jeans I love, dress pants drive me up the wall.

If you have any work appropriate dress suggestions please share!

Linking up with Andrea

Nash

From the Phone

Funnies

Dresses

Floral Print Boho Dress

But in purple...

But again, probably in purple

Tie waist with pockets

In black or navy

Classroom Ideas

I actually want to do this for every day of the week:
Man Crush Monday
(open to suggestions for Tuesday)
Woman Crush Wednesday
Throwback Thursday
Flashback Friday

Thursday Thoughts - What's New With Me

If I had been on top of my shit you would have had a post from me every single day last week.  You also would have had one on Monday.  But life is a thing and last week included the end of the school year, packing up my apartment, moving all of my stuff into storage, & driving 1100 miles between Texas & Minnesota.  So instead you got 1 post, Monday Morning Coffee Vol 13.

That's not to say I didn't have posts drafted, because I did.  I had one drafted for every single day of the week.  Posts I started but never finished included:

-7 Years of Teaching

-What's Up Wednesday

-Summer Goals

-Friday Favorites

-Monday Morning Coffee Vol 14

Now of course if everything goes according to schedule MMC V. 14 will be popping up this coming Monday, but the rest, they probably won't get their own posts.  Well maybe I'll get it together & What's Up Wednesday will make an appearance at the end of this month, I've been saying that for a couple of months though & haven't actually posted one since March.

So instead of individual posts, here are some random thoughts & what I've been up to recently.

**I mentioned it about a week & a half ago, but I had a phone interview for a new job.  The interview was for an 11th grade US History teaching position at a newer high school down near Houston, WITHOUT coaching!  The interview happened on Wednesday May 29th at 9 am.  2 days later while I was somewhere in Missouri I got a call saying that they were still playing phone tag with my assistant principal, & it had to be approved by the board, but they'd like to offer me the position.  Monday morning I got an email from HR saying that I was officially being recommended to the board for employment.  So sometime next week I should be able to officially do my paperwork.**

**Besides family, I have told very few people about this, and other than my assistant principal & athletic coordinator at my current job, only 2 other people I work with even know that I interviewed.  Even though the job is basically mine, I don't want to make a deal about it or tell anyone until it's official.  AKA most people don't know that when I go back to Texas in July I won't be returning to my current job, and won't even be returning to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  So if you're reading this & know me in real life... surprise!**

**I finished Blue Highways & started listening to Where The Crawdads Sing on Audible**

**I chopped my hair off.  I've only been saying I was going to since November**

**Nash & I spent 2 days driving from Texas to Minnesota, with a stop in Wichita, KS.  Since being back in Minnesota we've been enjoying the nice weather & being in the country.  This is the life we were meant for**

**I've been trying to find a roommate, & a place to live for when I move back down to Texas next month.  I'm fairly certain I've found a roommate, but I'm still looking for a place.  Fingers crossed it all comes together!  I've been looking at houses because a)I want a yard for Nash b)I'm tired of sharing apartment walls with other people & c)a 2 bed 2 bath house is less per month than a 2 bed 2 bath apartment**

**I am in need of a new laptop, or will be very shortly.  My personal laptop conveniently died about the time I started my current job in which I got a work laptop.  However, the second I resign from my current job, which will have to be before July 1, I'm going to have to surrender the only laptop I've been using for the past 2 years...  Sooo I have to get a new one ASAP**

Linking up with Kristen.

If I Wasn't A Teacher

This is my 7th year of teaching.  I had wanted to be a teacher since approximately the 1st grade.  Sure there were other things I considered between 1st grade & 12th grade (lawyer, forensic photographer, interior designer, event planner) but ultimately I applied to only one college the summer between my junior & senior year & got in.  

I applied to the top teaching college in the state & went in with a declared education major.  Granted when I started college I went in as an elementary major & graduated with a major in secondary social studies education.  I had even considered changing my major in college with only about a year left, obviously I did not.  I had thought about changing it to travel & tourism but felt that I had come so far that I owed it to myself to see it through since I had come so far.

There have been multiple times since starting my career even that I have considered getting out of education.  I even once called an Air Force recruiter as well as did 3 semesters of grad school in a non-education field.  So what would I do if I wasn't a teacher?

1. Real Estate
Since about my first year of teaching I have considered getting my real estate license and either doing it on the side and/or eventually doing it full time.  I actually plan on getting my license for real over the summer.

2. Athletic Organization

My 3 semesters of grad school were for communications.  I had wanted to do social media/PR/community outreach for an athletic organization.

3. Travel

I don't know exactly what this one would be but something involving travel.  Getting paid to blog/travel, working for a travel agency, I pitched to my cousin that we should start a company that plans surprise trips for people (they would pick how they wanted to travel/how long/and a general region -- we'd do the rest.)

4. Economically Disadvantaged

The longer I'm gone the more I realize how much I loved working with my kids in Houston.  I don't particularly love working in the classroom anymore though.  I would love to work with children who come from economically disadvantaged families & help them.  Whether that be getting into college, finding a career path, getting them into a better life.

5. Planning/Organizing

This one is also vague ha.  I love organizing & planning things.  So this could fall under pretty much any & all of the categories in different ways.

If you could do anything, what would you do?  Are you currently working in your dream job?

Linking up with Andrea @ Momfessionals

Another School Year Comes To An End

Today marks the end of another school year.  My 6th as a teacher & my 25th overall.  At 1 PM Central Time the last bell of the 2017-2018 school year will ring & summer vacation will FINALLY begin.  Bring on the freedom!  

This will be my first summer since moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth area that I can also fully relax knowing I have a job next year.  This will be my first summer since graduating college that I'm not applying for teaching jobs in general.  Even though I stayed in Houston teaching at the same school district for 3 years, I still applied every year in hopes of getting out.  When I did finally get out, I moved up to the DFW area.  And in my 3 years up here I have worked in 3 different school districts.

But no more!  While my drive sucks, and there are certain aspects of my job I wish were different, for the most part I genuinely like where I work, who I work with, & who I work for.  So rather than spending my summer filling out countless applications, crossing my fingers for interviews, & praying that I get a new teaching job, this summer I just get to sit back & relax.

Teacher & Nurse Appreciation Week

It's here!  It's Friday!  Actually despite being a really weird week, the week really flew by.  It was teacher appreciation week which meant a lot of free food from admin & the PTA.  It was also state testing week which meant a lot of disruption from normal routine.  Because this was such a weird, fast flying week, this is going to be mostly a phone dump of a post.

To all of my fellow teachers, Happy Teacher Appreciation Week.  And to all of the nurses out there, Happy Nurses Appreciation Week as well!

Linking up with Amanda.

On The Blog

This week on the blog I shared my entertainment preferences as well as recapped my trip with Kayla to Waco, to Lindale, & what we did around the DFW area while she came to visit me last weekend.

Nash

Funnies

And that's all she wrote folks!  There are just 14 days left of school so I'm basically just trying to stay afloat.  Between making sure kids are ready for their finals, all assignments are getting turned in/grades completed, wrapping up softball, ramping up for volleyball, & somehow managing to schedule dates for the only days I do have free... I am ready for June 1 to get here!

Case in point:

Something's Gotta Give

This was going to be a different post.  I was originally going to talk about my upcoming blogiversary and how to move forward after 8 years.

Also originally I was never going to talk about Parkland, I'm still not really going to,  but in light of events that happened at my job yesterday, I'm going to simply share my Facebook status from last night instead.

...

I was in the 1st grade when I decided I wanted to be a teacher.

I was in the 4th grade when Columbine happened.

I was in the 10th grade when Rocori happened.

I was in the 12th grade when VA Tech happened.

I was 23 when I got my first teaching job.

Despite the countless school shootings that have happened in my life time, never did I think that at 29 I would witness a student get arrested for making threats to shoot up the school I work in while having to escort other students out of their classes so their parents could take them home.

And luckily it was just that, a threat, a "joke" they thought would be a funny prank.  But something needs to give.  And I still say it's not so much gun laws as it is precautions in schools to prevent this, parenting, and the media.

The First Week of School

A blur.  That's what the first week of school was.  

I planned on having this be a fun little post recapping each day, almost in a "day in the life" style.  I can tell you right now that's not how this post is going to go.

The first week of school felt like it went on & on and yet flew by at the exact same time.  I am loving the way my schedule is set up because the individual days do go by really fast.  Rather than block like my last district, we have 7 50 minute classes.  And because I'm a coach I only teach 4.  Granted that also means my day starts at 7:15 rather than 9.

7:15-9:50 Volleyball
9:55-10:45 9th Grade World Geography

10:50-11:50 ESL World Geography
11:55-1:25 12th Grade Economics (with lunch thrown in right in the middle of my class)

1:30-2:20 Department Planning

2:25-3:15 12th Grade Economics

3:20-4:10 Off Period

I have a pretty sweet schedule I'm not even gonna lie.  Even though I haven't taught it since my first year, my economics classes are my favorite so far just because they're seniors & that's what I prefer.  I've also never taught a full ESL class in my life, even though I am certified & have been since my first year of teaching, so that class is a big learning curve for me.  Especially because the class started with 7 kids on the first day of school & was up to 29 as of yesterday.

Another learning curve for me this year, not having my own classroom.  There are more teachers than classrooms so I don't have my own room.  I don't even share a room.  I'm in a different classroom for each of my 4 classes.  Luckily I was able to find desk space in one of the coaching offices.  Also, luckily as of this coming Friday we'll be going 1:1 & all students will be getting Chromebooks so I didn't have to get textbooks to lug around with me all day, & won't really have any paperwork to lug around with me either.

Beyond the adjusting to a different district, a couple different classes than I've taught recently, & the whole traveling around all day, there was/is also volleyball.  The first week of school we had an away game on Tuesday.  We lost.  I was also battling a cold & wound up taking Nyquil the 2 nights I was actually home at a decent time & going to bed at 8.

Despite the blur of it all, & the busyness, & the learning curves, I'm still really loving my new district.  I love my coworkers, I love my admin, I love my schedule, I love the kids.  Fingers crossed that the rest of the year goes just as well and I return next year, & the year after that, & the year after that, & so on.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

When You Wish Upon A STAAR

Yesterday we had our English 1 STAAR test.  Because I teach freshmen & the test if for freshmen, I had to proctor the test.  English 2 is on Thursday but luckily I don't have to do anything for that.  I should be in the clear until the end of the month when the Algebra test rolls around.  So because I had absolutely nothing to do other than stare at children while they tested for 5 hours I figured...why not share my thoughts with you.  My thoughts last year were a lot funnier... this year I was pretty much just tired & hungry.

Hour 1

It's that time of year again!

Please don't let any of these kids nap until they're done...

I'm not sure what's longer, the first hour or the last

At least this school is a whole lot less uptight than my last one

Hour 2

1 hour down & 0 kids done

First hour flies when they give you your break 30 min in...

DJ KAHLID!! ALL I DO IS WIN WIN WIN NO MATTER WHAT GOT MONEY ON MY MIND I CAN NEVER GET IT ENOUGH & EVERY TIME I STEP INTO THE BUILDING EVERYBODY'S HANDS GO UP & THEY STAY THERE!

Kids are napping.  Why?!  The faster we get done the faster we have freedom!

There is a girl trying to dance & dab in her desk.  Bored much?  I am!

I'm hungry too.  Why didn't I eat on my break?!

I want meatballs.  I blame Andrea.

Why do I keep getting DJ Kahlid in my head?

The upside to testing is I get to wear jeans 3 times this week

The nappers have awoken!

9:29 the fist kid is done...only 3.5 hours & 22 kids to go

OOO a goody bag for me!

Stomach is starting to speak.

2 kids done!

Thank God I brought a FiberOne bar because the pretzels they just brought me are too noisy to eat in here

2 hours down...3 kids done!

Hour 3

Only 15 left!  They're all starting to finish at once

Still hungry.  Strawberries or pretzels?  Strawberries or pretzels?

Date tonight & I really don't want to go...I'm just over it.  Already bailed on him once though...free food at least?

Do these kids get lunch?? I feel like last year they got lunch.

I want elementary school lunch.  Like white bun, cheap lunch meat, mayo, & those shoestring potato chips to add to it for crunch...

10:20 & half the class is now done!

Down to the single digits & only half way through the 5 hours...5 hours is way too long

I wish testing was every day.  Just kidding I just wish they were always this quiet

High levels of boredom have set in

I want pizza...and lobster.  Lobster pizza?

I love watching kids read & trying not to laugh

Hour 4

2 hours to go...6 kids left

I really need to paint my nails...they're disgustingly short

One hour until my lunch...can't wait for my...salad...

5 kids left.  If they could finish before my lunch that'd be great

My lack of sleep is kicking in

These last 5 kids might just take the whole damn 5 hours...at least they'll be quiet...

Come on children this is why we don't nap until we're done

The AC up here has got to quit kicking in I forgot my pullover

30 min til lunch...now I want a juicy burger

30 min til lunch & 3 people left...on second thought if the last person could finish while I'm at lunch that'd be better

I need a bloody mary...strong & spicy

I miss my old kids...& seniors...teaching seniors was the best

At the start of hour 5 my 30 min lunch break started & when I returned the last kid had finished so I really only had to do testing for 4 hours...

Saturday School Thoughts

I am literally the only adult here

Did Saturday school get cancelled & no one informed me

Oh thank God another teacher

Yes!  I love that teacher!  We're in this together

Still no administrator...

Oh good we just set the alarms off & we can't get to the key pad

Soon it'll just be 2 teachers, 3 students, & the cops...

And we're in

Maybe no kids will show up for history & I can go home

1 kid...alright if I have to be here for 4 hours I better have more than 1 kid

Yay! A kid I know & love.

4 kids & only 1 came prepared...crap gotta improvise

Test!  I'll make them take last year's test!

Ugh why are state tests so long...it's too quiet!

1 hour down!

Might as well do my lesson plans while I'm here

State testing all week you say?  Movies all week I say

At least I'm getting paid today

What in the world am I going to do with these kids once they're done with the test & we've gone over it??

I a little bit hate the US History teacher right now for not leaving me the materials he said he would

Oh thank goodness 2 of them are done..good enough for me.

Game time!

1 hour left...now what...

Movie, we'll watch a movie...

PIZZA TIME!

Phew...finally I can go home...

#TeacherProblems

Sorry, it's another Pinterest dominated post.  My boards are insane y'all & I want them to go away!  These are all pins from my Teaching board that I can't actually use in the classroom...