Day 1: Morning

This picture is of what I see every morning while I get ready during the week. I get up at 5:45am. I slowly get myself ready for the day. While I do that, I open my girls' bedroom doors and hopefully they'll hear me moving around and wake up "on their own." That's a much better alternative to my waking them up. I hate that they have to get up so early, but I unfortunately have no choice. So, this is my morning view of my girls' opened bedroom doors.

October Photo Challenge!

I saw on Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans that they started an October, photo-a-day challenge. I thought that'd be the perfect way to get me posting here more regularly! So, check out my next post for day 1 of the challenge. Also, I encourage all of you to participate, too!!

Fall Traditions

Five years ago, Brian, myself, and our friends brought Emily apple-picking. It is one of my most treasured moments. Over the past few years the tradition has grown to include more friends and many more children. I have some of the most amazing pictures from our apple-picking outings, and there are memories I'll never forget. For example, the time we went and it was rainy and cold. As we sat on a porch, our friend was actually ringing out her socks. We always must get our apple doughnuts and sit on the back porch and enjoy them. We always sit at the exact same place, every single year. No matter how packed with people the place gets, there us always room for us at "our" spot.
I am a person that thrives on tradition. I love the consistency that having yearly traditions provide. It is almost a way of having yearly built-in memories. Most of our traditions either happen in the Fall, or during the holiday season. Trick-or-treating at the grandparents' house with all the cousins, having my family gathering together on Christmas Eve, enjoying the Brumbaugh family Christmas at Aunt Florence's, and ringing in the new year with best friends are all the best traditions that I love and cherish.
This picture shows how far we've come over the past five years. The original group was four adults, and one 1-year-old. Now, look how far we've come! Our group today has expanded to 7 adults and six kids. Time just flies by, and I'm sure our group will only grow throughout the years, and eventually I'll bring my grandkids here. Traditions just make me feel so happy. I felt very blessed and content today as I enjoyed making new memories with my hubby & girls, my favorite kids, and my best friends.

Three Weeks In..

I'm really disappointed that I haven't written as regularly as I'd hoped for this month. Perhaps I didn't realize exactly how hard is be working this year. Now, teaching always has its challenges, but this year seems to be driving me nuts. I'm stressed about curriculum, behavior, duties, planning, prepping, and balancing my life between home and school. It's been interesting to say the least.

So, this week I've been working hard on behavior in my classroom. I have a group of kids that always do what they're asked, a group that seem to never do what I ask, and the rest that pick and choose when they want to listen. So, I've been focusing on getting that middle group to fall in line. I find myself thinking back to something one of the best teachers I know said, "They have awful behavior until October. Expect that. Then something happens and all your hard works comes together at the end of October." Karen said that to me once, and that has kept me going all week. I'm just going to keep pressing on, stay focused, and pray everything will come together.

I stumbled across this picture on Pinterest the other day, and thought I'd post it here. This pretty much sums up how my week went. I had this face at least 5 times every day! LOL I hope you all enjoy your weekend. I sure will!!

Tomorrow is Another Day

Yes, my friends... This is the kind of day that I had today. I think this glass explains it all, really.  Have you ever seen Kindergarten Cop?  (One of my favs!)  Remember the scene where Arnold was looking around, the room was chaos, and he was going to lose it?  Yeah... I felt exactly like that at one point this afternoon.  I had one kid refusing to to anything I asked, I had 5 kids randomly come up to ask to go to the bathroom; 6 more kids come up individually to tattle on another student, and the noise level was totally unacceptable.  It felt like I had lost control of the classroom (something that rarely ever happens), and I got totally overwhelmed for a minute.  It was one if those days where as a teacher, you doubt yourself. Things you were confident in before, now has you wondering, "Am I as good as I think I am?"  Now, don't get me wrong, I have my teaching weaknesses and some areas where I could improve, but I always felt that I have great, solid classroom management.  Until today... 

What else can I say other than, "At least I'm going back in the morning."  I think that's what makes teachers in general amazing people.  They can get so much stress piled on them, and have the crappiest of days, and yet we still come back ready to go and try something different in the morning.  We don't say "forget this", we try to fix it. In all my years of working as a teacher or an assistant, I've never had a class that broke me, and that's NOT going to happen now.  They got close today, but that's the closest they'll ever get again.  I know it might sound like a mind game to some people, and honestly, it is sometimes.  In the beginning of the school year, kids will want to see what they can and can't get away with.  They will test your sanity their limits, and push you as far as you can go.  They pushed me today, and I had a human moment where I had to take a few deep breaths.  I am human and I have very human emotions that I try hard to keep in check while in the classroom, but sometimes it's hard to keep them suppressed.  On this note, I'll leave you with one thing that made me smile this afternoon: 

During my self-imposed time out, one sweet girl came up to me and knew I was getting upset.  She said to me, "You know what I learned in my Sunday bible class, Mrs. Brumbaugh?  That it's not good to hold your anger inside.  If you do, it will make you explode, and I don't want to see you explode like a pumpkin.  That's why you should let your anger out."  She then hugged me and said, "I love you".  Such a sweetheart, and she had no idea how much better she made me feel.

No More Megans Jumping on the Bed!

"One little Megan, jumping on the bed. She fell off and bumped her head. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,  'no mire megans jumping on the bed'". This is our story tonight. Basically, Megan did a live reenactment of this famous song, except she bumped her (split it, actually), and mama took her to the immediate care rather than just call.

It is just the worst feeling when your little ones are hurt and in pain. You just wish you could bear it for them, and take their pain away. I am not a stranger to the ER, but I also don't run there over any little thing, either. No matter how many times I've been through it, each time sucks.

Megan was jumping on her sister's bed, and fell off of it. When she fell, she hit her ear on the bed frame. She came out crying, and when I saw her ear, I though "uh oh. This thing is going to need stitches." The bleeding stopped, but it looked awful, so we took her to the immediate care center.

They were really nice at the center, and her doctor was wonderful. She was so calm and caring for our little Meggie. She was so patient and understanding. Megan did great up until that damn numbing shot. It was awful! My heart broke when I saw her in such pain. It's awful for any parent to go through because you have to hide your emotions so that your child doesn't get even more worried. Unfortunately, the numbing stuff doesn't usually work on me, and it wasn't working too well on her either. Eventually it kicked in enough for the doctor to put in 5 stitches. After she was done, Megan perked up a bit, and was happy to get her ice cream. Here is a picture of the little darling after it was all done. She went through terrible pain, and still gave a small smile for a picture. Needless to say, I can't wait to go to bed and end this day. The doctor recommened I call the plastic surgeon tomorrow to have him check on her ear tomorrow or Thursday. Hopefully everything will all work out. Good night all, and give your little ones an extra hug and kiss tonight.

Caring...

Today was an interesting day. Let me backtrack to last week. Last Wednesday, my grade level had our curriculum night. This is where parents can show their interest in the school, the classroom, and what their child will be learning. I had been talking about this night with students for the past few days and how important it is for their parents to come. Out of 28 students, I had only 4 kids' parents come. I was shocked! I couldn't believe that so little parents showed up. Don't they care about their child's education and success?? I understand things come up, but really?! Isn't part of being a parent to take an interest in and support your child's schooling? One would think... To me, it just comes across as these parents just didn't care enough to come.

I decided that while the parents should have come in at night, I arranged two afterschool parent meetings. Today's was ok... I had 4 more parents attend. That's a grand total of 8/28 parents I've touched base with. Fingers crossed for more tomorrow.

Then there's this one student that has had a very tough time adjusting to classroom rules and expectations. At times, he flat out refuses to follow directions, won't listen when people are talking, and becomes argumentative when his behavior is corrected. At the end of the day, I asked him to step out into the hallway to talk with me. I feel as though I've always been good at building relationships with my students. They realize I am there to help them no matter what, as long as they care and want help in order to improve. We were talking a bit and at one point I asked him if he cares about school and learning. He couldn't answer, other than "I guess". Then, he said he didn't think that I cared (because he got in trouble for not listening). That stung... I've never ever been told it doesn't seem like I care! Nothing could be farther from the truth! I explained to him that if I didn't care, I wouldn't bother with talking with him. I would let him do whatever he wanted and not try to problem-solve. That's what it would look like if I didn't care. At the end of the day, we both agreed to come tomorrow ready to start over and work together.

So, today's thoughts revolved around caring and how do we show that we care. I'm sitting here tonight replaying the past two weeks of school. I want to be sure that I'm showing my students I care about each and every one of them. I also want to be sure I'm a caring parent and giving my girls the time and attention they need and deserve.

Where were you?

Where were you 12 years ago today? I've been told that everyone can remember what they were doing the day President Kennedy was shot. I know the same is true for September 11, 2001.

I was working as a multi-needs classroom assistant at Westmore School. It was a typical day and I was helping a student calm down after a meltdown. I was in the back corner of the classroom, giving the student time to himself in the "Zen den". I can picture it exactly if I close my eyes, right down to the green and yellow beanbag chairs and the blue padded gym mats on the floor. Angela, another assistant, came into the classroom with a weird look on her face. She said, "Joanna, something's happened. Go into the lounge and look on the tv." So, I went and saw the news breaking that a tower was hit. At that point, they didn't realize it was an attack. The district was placed on a soft lockdown (no recess, students don't leave the building, but teachers could).

I went home for lunch, and my grandma had the TV turned on. I glanced at the news report and was stunned to see footage of a second plane hitting. I watched live news coverage of the incredible devastation that was happening. The gray ash that was blanketing New York City, people crying and bleeding. Then, I watched footage of the tower collapsing. My heart started pounding, and it broke for those people, those kids, those officers, those Americans.

I had to go back to work and I filled them in on everything I'd seen. Every teacher I passed in the hallway had a grim, heartbroken, worried expression. We knew what was happening, but we wanted to spare our students. We didn't want to scare or upset them, so we held it together. Barely...

I went home after work. My mom came home, and my brothers came by the house. We all just sat there, watching, crying, hugging... Just a feeling of utter devastation. I remember hearing my brothers tell me they heard gas would go up to $5/gal, so I'd better go fill up now! I went to get gas, driving in a daze, and apparently they weren't the only ones that heard about the price hike. I waited for 15 minutes in line for gas before filling up, then heading to my boyfriend's house.
I will never forget- I couldn't even if I tried. I will also never forget seeing the heroes step forward to help one another. The sense of unity, pride, and patriotism was incredible on September 12 and the days to follow. I pray that those families that lost a loved one are able to find peace through God's grace, and I pray that my children will never have to experience a national tragedy such as September 11, 2001.

Pretty Muddy 5K 2013

Remember how I talked about my bucket list?  Well, one of the items on it was to run in a mud run.  Since I know I'm not really the most fit person alive, I figured that I really would never be able to do one.  Until my fitness buddy emailed me last spring saying that I needed to sign up for this all-women mud run 5K with her.  I figured, "Sure, what the hell?" and I signed up.  Well, this last Saturday was the big day!!  I was really nervous in the morning.  I really didn't know what to expect and I was really anxious thinking about what would I do if I wasn't able to do one of the obstacles?  I was doing this Pretty Muddy with 14 other teachers from work, and my pride would never have let me skip an obstacle while everyone else did it.  So, I would just have to keep up.  And... I did!!  I started jogging the first little bit, but then I remembered that I'm not really a runner, and I quickly let that go.  I may not run, but I can power-walk like it's nobody's business!  So, I walked my ass all through that 5K course, climbed up and over walls and a cargo net, crawled under things in a deep pit of mud, tore my knees up scooting through tunnels, and slid down an inflatable slide.  I got incredibly dirty and had a blast doing it!!  My goal was to finish it, and I DID!!!

As much as I hated being covered in all that mud (and I really did hate it), I couldn't be happier with myself.  Granted this run wasn't nearly as intense as others I've seen people do, but that's ok with me.  I am so proud of myself for accomplishing this task.  I think there are few things that feel as good as crossing off an item from your bucket list.  I'm so happy, I've been smiling since Saturday!

Let the new year begin!!

Hello!!  I promise, I haven't dropped off the face of the Earth.  I'm trying my best to balance going back to work, being a mom, and getting everything done (work & home stuff)! 

I've started a new grade this year- 2nd!  I taught kindergarten for two years, first grade for two years, and 6th for two years.  This year, I couldn't be happier to be back with the little ones!  Are the exhausting? Yes!  Are the funny? Yes!  Are they frustrating? Yes!  But, I love them.  My two years of teaching 6th graders gave me a huge insight into another side of teaching, and allowed me to be a different teacher.  Still the same at the core, but just different.  I had some wonderful kids that I know I'm going to keep wondering about one day.  I know that I had a couple that will do something great to change lives.  I can just tell.  They have that certain spark.  While I loved most of my older kids, I still missed and craved working with the little ones.  I was thrilled when my principal offered me the switch!!  I had heard warnings stories of the class that I'd be getting, and I felt excited.  I love a challenge with kids.  I love working with them, molding them, supporting them, and seeing how far they come.  I think it's an amazing feeling taking that difficult class and turning them around.

So, today was the first day of school.  I was excited to meet my new class.  We spent a while sorting through supplies (which are still sitting on my counter right now), getting settled, and talking with one another.  Honestly, I didn't do all too much academic, and I'm OK with that.  I'm building our classroom community.  I'm helping them develop a relationship with myself, and with each other.  I want them to understand that this classroom is a fun, engaging place that they should be excited to come to!  I am totally confident that if I just take a little extra time to form these bonds, the academics will come.  They will feel comfortable to take risks with me as I guide and push them, and these risks are what will lead them to true gains.  I'm not saying that we didn't do any academics, just not as much as I would do in a typical school day.  There will be time for that.  Sure, they'll be tough times during the year, and they definitely need to build up their stamina, but we'll get there.   I can't wait!!

Here's the smile of the day: Once we had put our supplies away and gotten settled, we were transitioning to read aloud time.  One girl felt the need to tell me, "Teacher, I broke my arm and I can't do anything heavy." Seeing that there was no cast on her arm, I simply smiled and said, "I'll be sure to remember that.  Now, come join the group."  Apparently the "broken arms" were spreading, and three other students throughout the day decided to tell me that they, too, had broken their arms and couldn't lift anything heavy.  Maybe the medical field has come a long way and developed invisible casts??  Ahhh... it's these types of things that I truly missed over the past 2 years.  I love the random, left-field stories, and they make me chuckle inside.

New Month, Renewed Attitude

I love when a new month starts! It just have such a natural feeling of a fresh start. Last month, I committed to not weighing myself, regular blogging, and doing the August ab challenge. Well... The ab thing didn't last too long. However, I did become a regular at Zumba. I continue to blog fairly regularly. No, it's not every day like it was, but I try to not let it go too long without posting. The one thing I did great with was not weighing myself. I'm not saying I didn't gain anything (because I'm pretty sure I did), but I use my clothes to judge that. I intend to keep with not weighing myself for September.

Due to the clothes that seem to have shrunk in the wash (that's what I'm telling myself, anyway), I've decided to throw myself into a fitness/food program. Myfitnesspal helped in the beginning, but the novelty wore off. So, I found the app Noom. So far, it seems great, and i'll keep everyone updayed. I'll commit to it for the month of September and see how it goes. Wish me luck!

I'm putting my September goals out there to hold myself accountable:
1) no weighing myself
2) commit daily to the Noom program
3) have a positive and happy classroom demeanor each day. Less raising my voice/yelling, and smile until my cheeks hurt.
4) let no more than 1 day go by without going to the gym. This one will be the most challenging once school starts, but I'm up for the challenge.

How about you? Put your goals out there to hold yourself accountable, and get some support from friends. Many of you encourage and support me, and I'd love to return the favor!