The weather is not my favorite today. Boo.

I have to say, I am going to bed A LOT earlier than ever expected. Last night, I was in bed by 9:15. Total opposite than while being in college, that's for sure. My mom says it's because I have a 'real job'. I hardly think it's a job. It's what I love to do and that's why I knock out so early. All day, I am running around-organizing, chatting with teachers, attending meetings, seeing the kiddies, and completing paperwork. As these are not difficult tasks, they can be mentally draining. I wouldn't trade any minute of it. Even though I may come home overwhelmed, I love it!

Funny story: I was testing the kiddies on their reading ability. One of my little guys (2nd grade) was chatting with me and I happen to notice he got a haircut. Of course I mentioned it to him and how it looks nice. He replies "Don't you worry, it will grow back!!!" I thought I was going to fall off the chair laughing. How cute is he?!?!?

Slightly off-topic, yet somewhat related. I have to brag a bit. While in college, I had two really good friends in my major. We did everything together. Ate, worked on projects, hung out, laughed, cried, partied...lol Anyway, neither of them graduated with me in May. They both opted to push graduation back a semester. That being said, they are student-teaching now, while I am working in the real world. Occasionally, I get phone calls with concerns from them- they're scared, nervous, unsure..etc. Of course I reassure them. Today, one of them called slightly panicked. His supervisor observed him today and his evaluation wasn't the best. He was a little down in the dump about it, but after talking awhile, his spirits seemed to be lifting. Toward the end of the conversation, he made a point to mention how proud of me he is and how sad he is that we weren't able to graduate together. He said he's glad that I have always been there to boost him up after a bad day. He especially misses my organizational skills... lol How awesome of a friend is he?!?!?!???!!!!!!!! That made me feel really good today. :-)

This is my second week with the kiddies and I am still loving it. Although I have yet to actually spend time in my classroom with them, I do enjoy bopping into their classroom to say hello. Today we began progress monitoring. Basically, the kiddies from all the grade levels complete reading tasks (reading a passage, saying letter sounds, naming letters...etc..) and we track their progress using a palm pilot. Pretty awesome! We will complete the testing tomorrow. Then, we compile the data and track individual progress, as well as by grade level. This then helps me create goals for the kids. That's my job in a nutshell.

Totally off the subject, I went to the dentist today. I have been having issues with wisdom teeth. Yucky. The dentist took an x-ray and revealed that in fact the pain is from the wisdom teeth, but also three cavities. I have to set up a consultation for the oral surgeon for the wisdom teeth. More than likely, I can wait to have them pulled because of their location. They are not quite through the gums yet, but the way they are positioned, each of them are still by the main nerve. Basically, if the oral surgeon attempts to pull them now, he could mess up the nerve. This will lead to me not having feeling in my mouth. I think MAYBE it's a good idea to deal with the pain I have now, then to not feel anything for the rest of my life. Even trade, I suppose. When I do have them pulled, I have to strategically plan it so that I will have recovery time. Being a first year teacher, I am granted 12 sick days, but I don't think it's a good idea to be taking all of them right away; it's kind of frowned upon. Anyway, good news is that I will survive. Haha.

I feel like I have so much to say (even with the pain in my mouth), but I cannot think of anything else. Oh yes, the weather today? Absolutely wonderful!!!! I should have been laying out, instead of being inside. Speaking of weather (another minor side-note) If anybody has friends or family members living in Louisiana, my thoughts are prayers go out to them. This must be a scary time for all of those people who are in Hurricane Gustav's path. Hang in there, be strong.

I love dollar stores! I just got home from a fantastic shopping day with my grandma and mom. We spent some time at Yorktown mall, and Oakbrook area. I bought some cute 'career' clothes, my grandma accessorized for my brother's wedding, and my mom just came along for the ride. Additionally, I spent a good amount of time at the dollar store. I spent 24 dollars ( tax exempt for being a teacher). For that amount of money, I purchased 7 supplemental activity books, 4 rulers, a set of 50 erasers, one pack of 414 ct Hot Wheels stickers, 1 pack of Tigger stickers, 1 binder, 2 packs of supplemental card games ( 3 games per pack), binder clips, permanent markers, 2 packs of colored index cards and a mini 3-drawer organizer. Can you believe it?!?!? I love being a teacher!!!!! My kids are going to love it all!!!!!! Because I am such a bargain shoppers, I am absolutely in my glory right now. This is fabulous. Also, I stopped into the store The Chalkboard. This store is a 'teacher store'. I spent about 9 dollars there, but again, it's tax-free and all for the kiddies. I enjoy the store, but I would rather go to the dollar store. I cannot tell you how awesome it feels to see resource out there for teachers.

More to come!!!

What a fabulous day!!!! Remember when you were in grade school and it was the first day???? I was able to relive those days with the students. Their faces were priceless. It almost brought a tear to my eye to see their eagerness and sparkles in their eyes. It definitely brought me back to my school days.
I cannot wait for the kindergarten students to begin their school days (tomorrow). I cannot express in words how I felt when the hallways and classrooms were filled with smiling faces. Speaking of good moments, I have one to share.

In my building and district there are A LOT of teachers who have been there since the beginning of time. I particularly enjoy this because it means job security for me ...lol jk. On a serious note, it feels like a family among the teachers. As a first year, it is intimidating to start in a building filled with veteran teachers. I am fortunate that if there was anything I needed, I can go to any of the teachers for help. That makes me feel relieved. Anyway, back to the good moment. I was sitting at my table this morning going over some minimal paperwork, when this teacher came in. Now, because it is the beginning of the year, most teachers bop in just to see the room and how it is decorated. This particular teacher did comment on the room but also requested my help in her classroom. MY HELP???!?!!!?! I nearly fell off the chair. I was completely ecstatic and eager to assist. She has students in her classroom that are ESL (english as a second language). She asked for my assistance (being that I am a resource teacher) to help planning her lessons to reach all of her ability levels. Again, as a first year teacher, sometimes it is difficult to earn the respect of veteran teachers so for her to seek me out and ask for my assistance, I truly felt accomplished. This moment, along with seeing the student for the first time, made my day. :-)

I know there will be many more of these great moments, so stay tuned!

Ps- Although is has been extremely sunny, I am a little disappointed with the weather changes. Waking up to a chill in the air and dew on my car is not a good sign. Where's my 90 degree and sunshine weather? Enjoy and smile! :o)

This is the first semester in 3 years I do not have to worry about moving back to school. It's a weird feeling when all of my friends are moving and I am staying at home... I found these pictures in my camera and figured now would be a good time to share them. The people in the pictures are just SOME of my friends from NIU. I am going to miss hanging out with everybody on a weekly(daily) basis. It's crazy all the people I met while in college. Each and every person helped me be the person I am today. I love you Neptune East Even (4th floor love!) I wish all of you a successful semester. I hope it's filled with parties, fun, cramming for tests and great times. I hope all of you know that I am only a phone call away. Please don't forget about me, just because I am an old career lady. Love you guys!!!!

This teacher thing is catchy. I think I will stick with this for awhile... :-)

The kiddies come on Tuesday. Even though we have early release days Tuesday and Wednesday, it will be a joy to see the hallways filled with little ones. Monday we have an institute day and Friday is their first- full day. My principal is amazing! She has helped me out so much thus far. I really fell into good hands. I am glad I followed my intuition, instead of being greedy. ( I am still working on pictures..)

Other than school, things are going well. We just had a bridal shower on Saturday for my brother and his soon-to=be wife. All went well... the usual eat, smile, open gifts, eat cake, go home. The countdown has begun. I believe it's a month and a half.

Enjoy the weather, as it will disappear soon. Yay for sunshine!!!

I am official. I received my badge from the district today. Yippeee!

I was working in my classroom after orientation today and I have to say I wish I had a fairy godmother. My fairy godmother would grant me three wishes. My first wish would be to set up my room so that it is kid-friendly and organized. My second wish would be to have a never-ending wardrobe and my third wish would be for my previous teachers to see me now.
I am sure they would be so proud. Particularly, Ms. Jalove. My fourth grade teacher. She allowed me to be the teacher's helper, grade papers, rearrange the room..etc... She's the reason I am a teacher today. I would love for her to see me now. I am sure she would be proud. If you're out there, please contact me! :-)

Anyway, things are going well. I am overwhelmed with setting up my room because there are boxes and papers everywhere. The file cabinets look like a tornado hit them. Yeeps. Long days and nights at school are foreseen. My mentor teacher is great. She is actually the Speech-Language Pathologist in the school. Wendy and I will be working closely with each other (besides being mentor/protege). We will be sharing kids as apart of the special education field. All will be fine.

With that, I am going to relax and do some laundry. I have a pretty easy day tomorrow. More orientation but we have more time to spend in the classroom. Hopefully I will get some pictures posted soon.

Dear Blog,

I deeply apologize for neglecting you for so long. I wish I had a good excuse as to why my last post was almost a year ago. Shame on me. I swear it was a combination of factors like time, inspiration, time..did I mention time??? Please forgive me and allow me to provide an update.

Congratulations to me! I graduated!!!!! Hooray. I begin teaching in a couple weeks. I have been moving into my classroom all week. The feeling is surreal. I continuously remind myself all of this hard work has payed off. When I first walked into my room, there was furniture everywhere. My eyes fell out of my head. Luckily, I am sharing the room with the ESL (english as a second language) teacher. This is her first year in the district, as well as my first year teaching. We are going to make a good team, I feel it. Her and I worked our tails off to set the classroom up so it actually appears to be an environment of learning instead of storage closet. The resource teacher before me left boxes upon boxes of stuff. I feel like it's Christmas. I opened almost every box to see what's inside. I have never been so excited about posters, staplers, markers, and books. I love it all!!!! :-) As I was going through the boxes of student books and papers, I came to the conclusion that I have not a clue as to what I am doing. I am sure this is a typical response for first-year teachers ( I hope...). My principal is outstanding. I cannot wait to begin this year.

On another note, I did a bit of traveling this summer. In May, I visited Montreal and Quebec City. Very beautiful. I also took a road trip to California. My friend Heather got a job in Victorville so we drove out there. We went through Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizonia, Nevada, and California. Total it took us four days of driving to reach our destination. Such an awesome trip! I love road trips. Maybe next time I will go to the east coast....

One more thing. My brother is getting married in a couple months. This has been a long journey. Makes me want to run down the aisle tomorrow ( sarcasm).

Overall, things have been busy since the last post. I promise to be more diligent about posting. Thanks to all of those people who have reminded me about my inactive blog. It really inspired me to find time to post. I miss it and certainly enjoy sharing my thoughts.

Until next time... Smile! :-)

If there is one thing most people need to know about me is that I love Tigger. I have a whole collection of Tigger paraphernalia. I know that I can always count on him to put a smile on my face. I am still a kid at heart and nobody can ever take that away from me. :-) Happy Living!

Here it is in all its glory, the Golden Gate Bridge. For those of you who do not know, I just returned from a week's stay in San Francisco. What a wonderful city. I traveled there with my grandmother and we enjoyed ourselves completely. The only thing I wish I would've done was to hang out at a local cafe and people watch. I like to observe people and their behavior, especially when trying to learn about a culture in a different city. Boy, I wonder what people would say about Chicago-ians. In any event, I hiked up and down the hills of the city, visited Alcatraz, rode the cable cars, and walked Pier 39. Simply amazing. It was refreshing to be out of Illinois and across the country for a bit. I must say, one of the main observations was the price of food. I became very familiar with the Denny's and noticed that prices were almost doubled in San Francisco, than here in Illinois. For two people, we were spending an average of anywhere 25 to 30 dollars a meal... at DENNY'S! I was shocked.The gas prices were about the same.. 3.25 per gallon, for the unleaded. The city is great, but not my cup of tea in terms of permanent residence. I am hoping to retrieve the pictures off of my camera phone soon. When (if) this happens, I will be sure to post them for all to see. It is times like this I wish I had a digital camera. I am behind the times in terms of technology; we'll save that for another post.
I hope all is well in the cyber- blogging world. Enjoy what is left of the summer, it sure is flying by!

I encourage all of you to view Pink's video for the song, Dear Mr. President.
If this isn't the truth, I don't know what is. Thank you, Pink.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm5AO4S04r4&NR=1

I heard the most fascinating statement not too long ago. Someone stated that in order to make God laugh, tell him your plans. At first I got a little kick out of it because it seemed so vague. Then, I realized that I was really thinking about the statement for the rest of the day. By the end of the day I came to the conclusion that it's true. I mean, who would have thought that my Dad would be an Orthodox priest? He was born Catholic and he had a great job at the Federal Reserve Bank. Ironic, but very true. God does have a plan for everybody, whether people choose to accept it or not. Yes, I am going to Northern to become a special educator, but who knows where life is going to take me? Sooner or later I will find what God has in store for me. As my Dad mentioned in his sermon yesterday, all I can do is open my heart and pray.

The sun is my best friend. I found this picture and could not resist adding it to the blog. Isn't it cute? Haha. I had an awesome weekend of spending time with the family. There really is no place like home. I certianly use it as a release of my day-to-day routine. I am glad I was able to hang out with my parents. They're the coolest! I can't wait to be home for the summer.. only a few more days of this craziness.
I only have three semesters left of college- two academic and one student teaching. Where does the time go? I have made a ton of great friends and memories. I would not have it any other way.
I hope everyone has a chance to relax and enjoy some of this sunshine. We have so much to be thankful for. Why not add sunshine and great days to our list??

What an amazingly relaxing day it has been. I literally did nothing today. Well, actually I had a great dinner this fine evening. I had great company too. I am bummed that the weather wasn't a little better. I hear it is supposed to be in the seventies. I can't wait. This rain is great and all, but this girl needs some sunshine.

I am taking one of many certification tests tomorrow afternoon. This exam is the Learning Behavior Specialist certification. Basically, this is what the major is all about. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I have a great support behind me so I know that no matter what happens, I am going to do my best.

Okay, so I have been invited to go to a Cubs game. My family are Sox fans. Choices choices. Hmm..... The game isn't until July so I guess I have some time to deliberate.

Until then, I hope everybody is enjoying what is left of April because it's going to be over before we know it. Lots of Love!

Isn't it amazing how a cell phone can be the best invention ever and an evil enemy the next? I also say that about the WheatThins box. It was great because they are soo tasty, but not so great when I happen to get a box-cut. If you don't know what a box cut is, imagine a paper cut and multiply then pain by three. Ouch!
Back to the cell phone thing. You see, I just switched carriers from Sprint to Cingular. Yay for me! I like my new phone and all, but I am having problems figuring some things out. I suppose it will give me something to do during class. Also, did you notice that with phones, the wrong person always happens to call and the person you want to call, doesn't? We have all been there. I am not going into detail about it, but just know that I am going through that now. Grumble.

Wow, another beautiful day. I celebrated the weather by taking the little boys I babysit for to the park for almost two hours today. They had such a good time and that made me happy.

Enjoy this weather and remember to smile. After all, smiles are contagious! :)

What a beautiful day! I truly enjoy these days when the sun is shining bright and there is not a cloud in the sky. I feel like a kid, wanting to go and play at the park. Anybody want to join? :)

I certainly cannot await for the flowers to bloom. My favorite flower is the Gerbera Daisy. I love this type because of the vibrancy of the flower. They come in any color or size. They are simply unique in their own way.

Well, I hope that everyone can stop and smell the roses every once in awhile. Enjoy the sunshine!

Could this really be spring? With all of that snowy weather we had not too long ago, I almost forgot what nice weather was like.

Just an update: I am well into my last clinical of my college career. This clinical consists of working with students with developmental disabilities. In other words, these students are extremely low-functioning. I was hesitant at first, but I am coming around to like it. I still would not choose this level to teach, but I am glad to have experience. I feel like I am learning a lot.

My parents have moved, again. Now, when I speak of my family, I refer to us as the nomads. Seriously, we need to stop moving. We just moved to Wheaton about two and a half years ago from Orland Park (Orland Hills). Now, we moved in the same complex, just different apartment. This is a lot of moves. Keep in mind that I still have to move to-and-from school every semester. What a hectic lifestyle! haha. It does keep things interesting though.

I certainly hope this weather hangs around for awhile. I, myself really enjoy feeling a slight breeze and the sun warming my skin. Enjoy!