School Begins, Again

 

We survived the craziest week! It was a busy, busy week for everyone. Monday was busy with grocery shopping, hair cuts for the little girls and I, Everett starting Cross Country, and all the other things. I was barely home 15 minutes all day except for after dinner. Everett came home flushed from running in 105 degree heat, what luck the week we started school was the hottest week of the year. I planned to meet up with Sister Braden to get to know each other better, she is my ministering sister! We had ice cream bars at her home then chatted for a good hour. I finally went to the school around 4 with the little girls to bring stuff from home to my computer lab. The girls love playing on the incredible digital screen with the drawing program. All the classrooms now have a view board instead of dry erase boards. I just puttered about decorating a bit here and there, need to fancy the place up a smidge. 

My first day of work was officially Tuesday the 15th for orientation and lots of paperwork. I "somehow" did not set a reminder to complete my new employee paperwork by 01 August. I got it all turned in before end of day on the 10th, next day I managed to get my drug testing completed as well. Phew, even with the forgetfulness I had it all filled out properly so got to leave for lunch an hour early. Basically, orientation was all about benefits, getting fingerprinted, photos taken for ID cards, and using the time clock app. It went quickly, my frozen toes were grateful to unthaw in the hot truck. It was freezing cold on the front row right in front of the air conditioner. I sat next to the other new para starting at Ronald Reagan! I went home and caught Phillip and Josie watching TV without their chores or music practice completed. Oooooo, baby! I was excited. Phillip lost his phone and entertainment privileges for the day, he actually started crying because he couldn't even listen to an audio book. He wanted to veg in front of the TV for the two days before school. Darn those consequences. I worked feverishly on a poster and handout for the Open House at Reagan starting at 5 pm. I was grateful for the extra lunch hour to get that done. Evelyn was quite whiney when I had to leave for the afternoon session at the technology center. The second half of the day was spent logging in with our new credentials, accessing all the important district sites, and how to get help when needed. I got my own macbook so went into a different area to set up the mac with the new classroom view boards. We finished early! I rushed home to finish the crockpot dinner and grab the little girls for Open House. Evelyn is thrilled she has Mrs Curtis, she is a really funny lady with an intuitive sense for when children are struggling. Josie has Mrs Adamson, her youngest Ainsley is one of Josie's besties! They are in the same grade and had the same Kinder teacher. Mrs Adamson also attends the 34th ward. Of course Evelyn spent a good chunk of time helping Ms Gingerich. Everett came along to see Mrs Douglas his favorite teacher at Reagan, he was very surprised she is now teaching 4th grade instead of 5th. I popped into my classroom with a few more item and set up my easel and handouts for MakerSpace. 

I had no idea if I was supposed to work on Wednesday. The district calendar I got showed my contracted days started on Thursday. I emailed the Principal and VP while I was at training but got no answer. So...I enjoyed sleeping in a bit. The little girls had a couple items on their school list we did not have at home, so back to Walmart for quart-sized bags, boxes of new crayons and pencils, and more glue sticks. Mr Obert finally emailed back giving me permission to work a couple hours on Wednesday! Yay! The littles came with me to arrange chairs, put carpet dots down, and play while I worked on the finishing touches to a lovely powerpoint presentation. Basically, the first lesson plan will be introductions, a fun game, and learning the rules, procedures, and expectations in the computer lab. One plus is that one lesson plan lasts an entire week! I was highly curious how the first day would go, no one had any ideas or answers for me. Once again, just a page of what my duties are and where I need to be for the day would suffice! Driving me nuts that simple steps are so hard to get down on paper. The YM had baptisms planned for 4 pm?! Good idea. Everett could not find his shoes nor his recommend, I even had him pack a bag with his church clothes the night before. He asked where his scripture case was...in the hall closet...opened the door but did not look. His shoes? On the floor next to a bookcase. He was helpless without me, even though he was supposed to have it all ready the night before. No one wanted to start back to school, so Justin put on Spiderman. Bad move for a school night. 

Amelia drove the van to school on Thursday dropping the boys off at East Valley. They are excited for 10 more minutes of sleep and avoiding the bus crowd. I changed my alarm sound because it was not waking me up, I was seriously worried about sleeping in. We got off to school, walked the entire block over. Mr Obert said to be at school by 8:15, Brooke the office manager said 7:45. I went with 7:45 just in case. The girls were excited to play in the school with their school friends whose mothers also work there. I got my laptop connected to the viewboard. It's a slick set up. At 8:25 I was called over the radio, where are you? Where am I? In my office. I was needed up front. I ran out front! Where is the stop sign? Uhhhh, ok! Grab stop sign shoved in a corner of the classroom. Race outside. Now stand there and help kids cross. Got it. I started my own schedule, so I can pass that down. Crosswalk duty lasts until 8:50, my first class comes at 8:55. The first class I ever taught at RR was a 5th grade class! Surprisingly, the 5th grade is the smallest class in the school. Keeping Alpha mode on all day is draining. Some classes were loud, some very silly, others chatty, the last was tired. All in all it was a good first day. I have lunch duty over the 5th graders with Mrs Harp the librarian. I still do not have any student usernames or passwords, that could make next week challenging. Mr Obert said I only need one lesson plan per week...he forgot to mention that all of Friday's classes are the same students I teach on Monday, doesn't that mean two lessons plans? Things you could've mentioned last week. The girls came in my classroom after school while I monitored the crosswalks and helped a group of students cross the big road. I can clock out at 4:15, then end of my first day. Talk about a whirlwind. Gingerich was walking down the hall with her hair all frizzed out, dazed look on her face. I connected the dots that the one class with 31 students was her class! Can you even imagine 31 students in your classroom?! Holy heck. I stumbled home, tired as a dog. I enjoyed chatting with Evelyn and Josie about their first day. Evelyn whispered that she might actually like Mrs Curtis better than Gingerich. Well, that is good! At home it was time to start dinner as soon as I hugged the older kids. Dishes, clean up, devotional, and bedtime. Strange day. There is no time nor brain energy for anything else. Amelia, Phillip, and Everett all had a great first day! Amelia is thrilled she got all the classes she wanted this school year. 

Friday went a little easier! I have a few students that will try the patience of veteran teachers. One little guy escaped 3 times, when he was in the classroom he was tearing cables out from the computers and crawling under the desk. Keeping him in check meant the rest of the class missed out on most of the instruction. He even picked his nose until it was bloody just to escape to the nurses office. He was in Josie's class last year so I've seen him in action. He had the entire office staff running after him 5-7 times during the first and second days of school, he ran home and off school grounds more than once. Phew! Everett had a rough last period at school. A few boys in his WIN class were making fun of his music. They were messing with his laptop controls, taking his headphones, and generally treating him badly. The teacher was busy, he chose not to let her know. He was crying during Cross Country, so did not make varsity. He was in the depths of despair! Justin had him in the office figuring out what went on when I came home. We wrote an email to his WIN teacher just so she knew what was going on during class. He needs to advocate better for himself when classmates are acting rude. I volunteered to clean the temple last month on a Monday morning, I traded with another gal for Friday night from 9-midnight. Oh my goodness. The entire family was parked on the couches moaning about fatigue...me included. I took a nap from 6-7 pm just for a flash of energy to get me through the evening. Surprise! Jessica Digiacomo (Josie's violin teacher) was sitting in the devotional room. It was nice to visit for a while before starting our assignments. I volunteered to clean the bathroom area. My BYU custodial skills kicked right in, got that bathroom spic and span. I also got to clean the initiatory and parts of the veil corridor. I quite enjoy cleaning a clean space. 

Saturday is now grocery shopping day, it was another early start in order to avoid the crowds. The kids cleaned up the loft and their chores. I helped the little girls clean their room. Justin and I dropped of the van for yet another set of tires, this time with tire rotation receipts in order to qualify for the stupid warranty. I got tires last August?! Evelyn flashed Josie's undies to the world, Josie was understandably quite upset. Evelyn made her bed as a way to make up with Josie. Justin and Phillip put together a PVC bottle rocket assembly for the family reunion! The house smelled like PVC glue, gave us all nasty headaches. The flipside? Water rockets are really fun to launch! After building the device according to plan the bottles were leaking. It's taken quite some time to get the bottles launched properly. I did score some free schrader valves at Les Schwab! Never hurts to ask. My tomatoes are not prolific this year. Only 3-4 large heirloom tomatoes managed to ripen, the best way to celebrate garden tomatoes is eating BLTs for dinner. Delicious.