Tomorrow is Monday, January 6th and we go back to school. It will be a much needed work day to get ready for the troops, but I will likely be in the doctor's office. When I said,"back" I was not referring to returning to school. I was talking about my completely messed up back that has me stuck on the couch.
Yesterday, in a moment of good wifeness, I was bending over to tuck in the bed sheet that my hubby always kicks loose. As I went to stand....OOOOOOWWWWW. At first I wasn't sure what was going on. Cramp, gas, what the heck?!?!? I was running a bath and leaning on the bathroom sink trying to figure it out as I felt a warm (not a good kind of warm) swelling feeling spread across my lower back, around my hip, and down my leg. Okay, not temporary and not gas. I figured the bath would help loosen up anything that seized up on me, and clearly something had.
The bath was great, relaxing, and helped with the pain....that is until I tried to stand up. After much grunting and groaning and maneuvering I was able to get out, dry off, dress (oh that was a trick) and head back downstairs to hubby. After telling him what had happened, he had me on the couch with the rice bag, hot tea (later an adult beverage), and a great football game. He made dinner and did what he could to keep me comfy. He even walked the dog (usually something I do at night).
I dreaded getting out of bed this morning, but finally realized moving was probably a good thing. Maybe in the long run, in the big picture, but in the moment WHOOOOOAAAA! So I've been on the couch for most of the day. Hubby has been a sweetie and taken great care of me. Tomorrow I will go to the doctor's, but if my self-diagnosis is correct I'm in for a bit of a haul. One good thing....and yes, there is always a good thing.....is since it's a work day tomorrow, I will be able to get to the doctor's. Students come on Tuesday and I'm pretty sure I'll still be hobblin' around, but I have no doubt they will help an "old" lady out. They are terrific like that.
Another good thing....with no where to go, I have spent most of the day putting together my first week's lessons for math and health. Now if I can just get in there and get set up, all will be right with the world...pain in the back or no pain in the back.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Friday, January 3, 2014
...and then the computer worked
Seriously!?!? If you haven't read my post, "The Computer Saga," on my other blog, andthenshesaidbreathe.com you will want to before reading this one. It's not a "must," but it will make more sense.
Remember, the second hard drive crashed in less than a week. I flipped out and made the management decision that we would not put anymore money into that lemon of a computer. After researching cheap laptops, I found one and purchased it. Loved it, but it has the freakin' loudest right/left click buttons on the blessed planet. I spent part of a couple of days getting my new computer all set up.
....and then......the other computer started working. I KID YOU NOT!!!! My sweet hubby being ever the stubborn individual that he is started playing around with it and realized that for some reason the hard drive had not been well seated in it's port. (Okay, I'm making that up, but basically it wasn't plugged in all the way.) After messing with it, he turned it on and LAAAAAAAAA, it worked. I wanted to cry. In my haste to not be without a computer over my winter break, I had spent money we definitely did not have to waste.
Luckily for me, my hub is a sweetheart and pointed out that it could crap out again anytime and then I'd be up the proverbial creek. It made me feel a little better.....only a tiny bit. Mostly, I have learned an expensive lesson in patience. Next time I will remember to breathe before jumping off the deep end.
Remember, the second hard drive crashed in less than a week. I flipped out and made the management decision that we would not put anymore money into that lemon of a computer. After researching cheap laptops, I found one and purchased it. Loved it, but it has the freakin' loudest right/left click buttons on the blessed planet. I spent part of a couple of days getting my new computer all set up.
....and then......the other computer started working. I KID YOU NOT!!!! My sweet hubby being ever the stubborn individual that he is started playing around with it and realized that for some reason the hard drive had not been well seated in it's port. (Okay, I'm making that up, but basically it wasn't plugged in all the way.) After messing with it, he turned it on and LAAAAAAAAA, it worked. I wanted to cry. In my haste to not be without a computer over my winter break, I had spent money we definitely did not have to waste.
Luckily for me, my hub is a sweetheart and pointed out that it could crap out again anytime and then I'd be up the proverbial creek. It made me feel a little better.....only a tiny bit. Mostly, I have learned an expensive lesson in patience. Next time I will remember to breathe before jumping off the deep end.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
And Then it Snowed...
So in my last post I mentioned how gorgeously warm and sunny it was....and then it snowed. Yeppers, I walked the dog at 5:30 this morning and then went back to bed. When I got up again, it had snowed. Not a lot, but snow nonetheless. That's Colorado for you, and just one of the many reasons why I love living here.
Now at the beginning of the school year I decided to try something fun with my very old, very cool teacher's desk. I'm not even sure how old this desk is. It was given to me by someone who retired over 15 years ago and would have been thrown out had I not taken it. It is without question one of the coolest teachers' desks out there. It is very heavy, solid wood, and has pull out work boards on both the left and right sides. (A constant source of amazement for my students.) Also, very tricky is the fact that when the middle drawer (your legs sit below it) is pushed all the way in all of the other drawers lock. LOVE IT!!
The only bad part was the finish was starting to peel and chip, so rather than refinish it or get some new fangled metal thing, I decided to cover it. I had purchased dry erase peel-and-stick paper from our wonderful local teachers' store Knowledge Bound (check them out!) the year before and had a bunch of it left, so I got crafty.
I covered the entire top with the dry erase paper and then decorated the edges with colorful duct tape. The front part that shows (some is hidden by the file cabinet) and the end that shows have graph paper and a fun border. I love it. My students love writing on it when we are working through a problem together. And best of all, it brought new life to an old, well-loved desk.
Now at the beginning of the school year I decided to try something fun with my very old, very cool teacher's desk. I'm not even sure how old this desk is. It was given to me by someone who retired over 15 years ago and would have been thrown out had I not taken it. It is without question one of the coolest teachers' desks out there. It is very heavy, solid wood, and has pull out work boards on both the left and right sides. (A constant source of amazement for my students.) Also, very tricky is the fact that when the middle drawer (your legs sit below it) is pushed all the way in all of the other drawers lock. LOVE IT!!
The only bad part was the finish was starting to peel and chip, so rather than refinish it or get some new fangled metal thing, I decided to cover it. I had purchased dry erase peel-and-stick paper from our wonderful local teachers' store Knowledge Bound (check them out!) the year before and had a bunch of it left, so I got crafty.
I covered the entire top with the dry erase paper and then decorated the edges with colorful duct tape. The front part that shows (some is hidden by the file cabinet) and the end that shows have graph paper and a fun border. I love it. My students love writing on it when we are working through a problem together. And best of all, it brought new life to an old, well-loved desk.
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Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Crazy Days
Crazy as it sounds, I'm sitting outside on an amazingly warm New Year's Eve day in Colorado. The warmth of the sun hitting my face is intoxicating and reminds me of my summer break spent reading book after book in front of my favorite Starbucks. Hard to believe it is winter and almost 2014.
As I start thinking about the second half of the school year, I get a little panicky. I have finally relaxed into this break and yet I know it's time to start planning the next math unit and my second go round with a health class.
The new math standards have my head swimming. There have been several times when I have felt like a first year teacher. My first year - of course. The last time I switched buildings, because I was also moving from elementary school to middle school, we were starting standards based grading, and going from a junior high model to a middle school model. Yes, ALL of that in one year.
And here I am again with that same scrambling to stay on top of things first year teacher feeling. I have not moved schools, or rooms, or changed content, or even grade levels. However, my team and I have taken on the challenge of implementing the new Common Core State Standards.
I am not new to standards. I helped write my district's first run at math standards about 18 years ago. I have helped with updates, creating rubrics (state, district, building), and have done training for other teachers at the state and regional math conferences, but this is a major shift.
Let me say that again - This is a MAJOR shift. Teachers need to spend a lot of quality time getting to know these standards if they are going to be expected to teach them. (I do know there are places that will not be adopting them.) In our district we were told that we could continue with the old standards and curriculum for one more year, take on the new standards (with no aligned curriculum, but resources), or a combination of the two. Next year we move full steam ahead. My grade level team chose to take a deep breath and dive right in. Honestly, in hindsight we had no clue what we were doing - and I'm saying this about a group of three teachers with 45 combined years of experience. We are not newbies....and yet, here we are.
I will not go into the details of the standards here, but what I do want to say is this....if you are going to have to teach them PUSH for training. PUSH for support. PUSH for resources and/or curriculum that is in fact common core aligned. READ the Publishers document. Spend MORE TIME than you ever have planning ahead. And then remember to BREATHE because it will take more than one shot at it to get it "right."
As I start thinking about the second half of the school year, I get a little panicky. I have finally relaxed into this break and yet I know it's time to start planning the next math unit and my second go round with a health class.
The new math standards have my head swimming. There have been several times when I have felt like a first year teacher. My first year - of course. The last time I switched buildings, because I was also moving from elementary school to middle school, we were starting standards based grading, and going from a junior high model to a middle school model. Yes, ALL of that in one year.
And here I am again with that same scrambling to stay on top of things first year teacher feeling. I have not moved schools, or rooms, or changed content, or even grade levels. However, my team and I have taken on the challenge of implementing the new Common Core State Standards.
I am not new to standards. I helped write my district's first run at math standards about 18 years ago. I have helped with updates, creating rubrics (state, district, building), and have done training for other teachers at the state and regional math conferences, but this is a major shift.
Let me say that again - This is a MAJOR shift. Teachers need to spend a lot of quality time getting to know these standards if they are going to be expected to teach them. (I do know there are places that will not be adopting them.) In our district we were told that we could continue with the old standards and curriculum for one more year, take on the new standards (with no aligned curriculum, but resources), or a combination of the two. Next year we move full steam ahead. My grade level team chose to take a deep breath and dive right in. Honestly, in hindsight we had no clue what we were doing - and I'm saying this about a group of three teachers with 45 combined years of experience. We are not newbies....and yet, here we are.
I will not go into the details of the standards here, but what I do want to say is this....if you are going to have to teach them PUSH for training. PUSH for support. PUSH for resources and/or curriculum that is in fact common core aligned. READ the Publishers document. Spend MORE TIME than you ever have planning ahead. And then remember to BREATHE because it will take more than one shot at it to get it "right."
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