The lifespan of things in a Kindergarten classroom

Freshly sharpened pencils: 20 minutes (then they become chewed on, broken in half, or shoved through the holes in the shelving units)

Glue sticks: 1 hour

8 oz bottle of hand sanitizer in the midst of the swine flu scare: 3 days

markers: 1 week (until entire package has dried up because the kids leave the caps off)

Dry erase markers: 2 weeks

Teacher: ??? I'm still alive, but just barely

my patience: 10 minutes (until I get tired of hearing "teacher! teacher! teacher!)

$15 date stamper: 8 months (one of them broke this a few weeks ago). Little monsters...

wooden dollhouse: 4 months

wooden rocking chair: 5 months

wooden barn: 2 days... Read More

wooden dry erase board: 8 months

seating chart: 2 weeks

my passion for teaching: 3 months

my sanity: 9 months

25 things

1. I can’t eat ANYTHING without spilling.
2. I have hated the taste of milk ever since I was a kid.
3. I procrastinate terribly.
4. I have an amazing memory for song lyrics.
5. I am a really fast reader.
6. I have had pets (mostly cats) in my family for as long as I can remember.
7. I had never ridden on a plane until I was 14 and went to Washington D.C. with my school.
8. I love to eat lemon slices straight.
9. I say “like” a lot. I feel it makes me sound less intelligent than I am but I can’t help it!
10. I am very particular about the types of pens I use.
11. I love notebooks! I have about 14 blank ones right now, just waiting to be filled, and yet when I see a cute one, I want to buy it!
12. I love children’s books! It’s my new love language.
13. I love stuffed animals and can’t have enough even now that I’m an adult.
14. I am a proud Aunt. I see my 2 nephews and 2 nieces at least once a week.
15. I have been questioning God’s purpose for my life since I was 14. Now that I am 23, I’m still not sure what it is.
16. I love reading books that transport me to another world.
17. I am an idealist, striving for peace, equality, freedom, and love. At the same time, I am quite pessimistic, knowing that most of these things are hard if not impossible to achieve.
18. I love to be outdoors, though I don’t get to often enough.
19. I LOVE word games!
20. When I was a kid, after I would watch a movie, and then for weeks pretend I was the protagonist in the movie. I still do that now, only in my mind.
21. I like trying to find the perfect gift for someone and then surprising them with it.
22. I wish we could do church they way they did in Acts- simple faith, sharing with one another, loving others, and worshiping Jesus in everything we do.
23. I have a terrible sense of direction.
24. I process things with my heart much more than my head.
25. This list has been surprisingly hard to compile.

Stormcloud

In 1989, we had a black cat named Licorice. She had kittens, and we kept them, later naming one Stormcloud. Stormcloud has been a part of our family ever since, purring on our laps, eating our ice cream, sleeping on our heads. He has been a shoulder to cry on and a faithful companion.

Over the last year, he has gone from being handsome and healthy to sick and malnourished. We found out he had a thyroid condition which caused him to lose weight, which we kept under control by giving him a daily prescription. But then, he got an infection in his mouth which made it hard for him to eat. Now he is down to skin and bones, wasting away and hungry all the time. He still eats a little, and purrs, and sleeps a lot.

We are thinking of having him put to sleep. :( I always wanted him to live forever or be cloned, but I know this in not realistic. I would rather he go peacefully on his own at home. And strangely, I feel I want to be there for him. If you could, pray that we do the right thing for him in the last days of his life.

For those of you who don't know

I got into a car accident last Thursday! I had run to the store after work to get some stuff for the kids, and I was coming home around 5:00. Traffic was horrible. I was going west on 19, approaching the intersection at Schaumburg road. It was a green light, but everyone was breaking because of traffic. I slowed down and stopped behind a car, towards the intersection. Just as I was thinking "ok I stopped in time, and I'm in the intersection but it's still a green light so I'm ok" everything went *CRASH!!!!!* The person behind me must not have been watching and slammed, into me, causing me to hit the car in from of me. All together, there were five cars in the accident. None of them were moving except the one who hit me. I don’t know how fast he was going, but he caused me to hit the car in front of me, and that car to hit another car, and that car to hit another car! I looked up to see my airbags had gone off and smoke was coming out of them. I began to freak out thinking "what just happened?!?" I looked down and my left hand was dripping blood, and I freaked out more!!! I had pain in my hands and right arm and was sure I broke a bone. I began breathing heavily. I couldn't move my arms. "Help!!" I called, "Help!!!!" I saw the cross hanging from my rearview mirror; KLOVE was playing on the radio. I asked God for help. A man came up to my window and asked if I needed an ambulance. I said yes. He saw my hand bleeding, and called for help. I then asked if he would call my family, and was able to give him my home number. Meanwhile, a lady saw I was bleeding and have me her sweater. Minutes later, a woman came up to the other side of my car, asking if I was ok. She opened the door, saw my distress and began comforting me. Another woman sat next to me, quietly speaking Spanish. "Are you praying?" I asked. "I don't speak English," she replied. "Dios?" I said (God in Spanish). "Yes, yes, God is with you. Jesus loves you," she said. Finally, some sort of emergency worker came and began asking me questions. It was the first of at least 20 times I would answer: what is my name, birth date, address, phone #, what happened, what hurts, etc. etc. He assured me help was on its way, but that I needed to calm down because I was hyperventilating. My entire body was tingling as I breathed hard and cried, and my hands felt frozen. More workers came and told me to slow my breathing. At last, an ambulance arrived. The paramedics came and looked me over. When they tried to move my arms, I cried out “they’re broken!!” They gave me some gauze to stop the bleeding, and put a neck brace on me just in case. Then they put braces on my arms. They helped me onto a stretcher. Meanwhile, blood had soaked my khakis, so they covered me with a blanket. They brought me into an ambulance and I began calming down. My mom had arrived on the scene and they let her see me, as long as she stayed calm. Then we drove to the hospital. They took my pulse and blood pressure. At the hospital, all the rooms were full and I had to wait in the hallway. More people came to question me. At last, they gave me some pain medication, which my nurse Terry helped me take and fed me crackers so it wouldn’t upset my stomach. (I still couldn’t move my hands). They took me to get x-rayed. I hate x-rays because they make you move around the parts of your body that could be broken which HURTS. My Dad arrived at the hospital. Finally, they told us nothing was broken and I began to move my fingers. The nurse came to clean my hand. It was cut between my pinky and ring finger. No one could figure out what I cut it on, but it is pretty deep and in a bad spot. A doctor came and shot my hand up to numb it, then sewed it up with 12 stitches. Finally, I could go home. I was exhausted. I am glad I’m ok, and that it wasn’t worse. I am glad to be alive! But cars (and life in general) is so scary in the way it can change in an instant!!! God was with me the whole time though!

Update: My car is indeed totaled, and I am working on getting insurance money to buy a new one. God is totally providing me with transportation in the meantime. My hand is healing nicely and the pain is so much better now!!! I went back to work Monday.

Yay!

Well, first things first! Though it's not set in stone yet, I was offered a job today!!!! It is at the school I student taught at, Woodland Heights in Streamwood. I will be teaching full-day Kindergarten! I am really excited! It is a 1 year position for a teacher taking maternity leave.

It's funny how these things work out. Initially, I didn't think I wanted to teach in district U-46. Then I didn't think I could student teach there since I went to high school in the district, but since the district is so big, they made an exception. After I was done with student teaching, there were no positions available at the school. At NIU's job fair, I my very 1st interview was with a guy from U-46, and I pretty much botched it. I was just reaching the point of frustration with the job search. I had done 3 interviews. People told me "it's all about who you know" but my connections did not seem to be panning out. Everyone told me not to worry, and that I would find something, but I was worried. Finally, I got an unexpected call from U-46 for a pre-k special ed position, which was not my first choice. But this led to the mention of all-day kindergarten, which seemed ideal.

I loved pre-K but the kids are so little. Plus they are only there for 2 1/2 hours, which is a short time to cram everything in. I loved first grade, but it is much more scripted and academic (lots of pressure to have them READ!) With full-day Kindergarten, the children are there all day, allowing for more time to have play-based learning as well as more structured activities. The children are young and can do learning centers but also real curriculum-based stuff as well (Everday math).

As soon as Human Resources contacts me, I can go see and set up my classroom! I am excited but also anxious! School starts August 25!!!!

~

My nephew Joey got baptized on Sunday!!'


I have waited too long to update, I forgot what else I wanted to say...

I started a blog!

Well, I was having a sophisticated internal dialogue with myself, which I often do, and I thought to myself, why don't I share these wonderful musings with the world? So, here we go!

~

A guy who I used to know has been married for a little over a year, and he and his wife just had a baby. It's wonderful for them, but crazy! He is younger than me! These days it seems everyone I know is getting engaged, married, and starting a family. And as much as I want all that, it is beginning to seem a bit cliche.

~

The job search process is incredibly draining! It may seem stupid, but here is the interview question I hate the most: "What makes you the best candidate for this position?" I always end up saying something dumb. In reality, the first year of teaching seems really intimidating right now and I can't promise to be the best thing since sliced bread, but I know I will try my best. Here is what I want to say: I am going to be an amazing teacher because I have 3 boxes in my room full of children's books, 2 Rubbermaid tubs of craft supplies, 2 boxes of books and notes from my education classes, 1 box of free teaching resources, 1 Rubbermaid tub of stuffed animals, animal pillows for my reading center, a car rug in case I teach preschool and need it for the block area, materials (including a real hornet's nest) for the science center, math center, and bins with pencils and letters for the writing table. I love collecting teaching supplies and am so excited to use them. I can't go somewhere without buying new children's books. I read the Magic Tree House before I go to bed because it is interesting and I want to make sure I give my kids quality literature. I refer to former students I've student taught as "my kids." I remember their names, faces, and personalities. When kids tell me stories, I listen and I care. I love teachable moments. I love funny kid stories. I have helped kids who struggled in math and reading. I have taught kids in Kenya who lived in extreme poverty, some of which spoke little English. When children first meet me, they can sense that I am warm and caring. Teaching has become my life. And that is why you should hire me.

~

I visited a Hindu temple on Monday. It was amazing! the entire Mandir, as it is called, was made from hand-carved marble, limestone, and wood. The labor, time, and expense that went into this building are phenomenal. There were men working inside the temple to maintain it and offer food and sacrifices to the gods. The devotion of these people really struck me. As Christians, do we display this kind of reverence and devotion for God and for the place of worship?

I will leave you with this thought:

"A little less conversation, a little more action please; All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me"
-- Elvis Presley