Viva Las Vegas

My mom has been asking me on almost a weekly basis, "So when are we going to Vegas this year?" since we've gone at least once every year since I graduated college. After looking at the Vacations Hawaii site for the last couple of months, I've found that the package prices have skyrocketed, so I've been really hesitant about booking anything. Today, my mom received some type of rewards thing that gives her $200 off the package price. I teased her that it was because she spent so much at the casinos. I hadn't received anything from VH regarding a discount or anything, but then again, I don't gamble as much as she does. So, once I walked into the house after Jazzercise, she announced that we needed to go ASAP because the coupon expires in May.

We decided to book a trip during the first week in Spring Break, so I'm looking forward to going. Hopefully they'll have some good "spring" sales at Ann Taylor Loft and Bath and Body Works. I'm also hoping to squeeze in some time at JCPenny's, Trader Joe's, and Olive Garden. I'm going to bug my mom to rent a car...we'll see what happens. At least now I have something really look forward to for next month. On the downside though, I'll only be able to spend one week with BFC since he'll be back for Spring Break...oh well, I know I'll get over it. LoL

Rotations and Refractions

The days seem to just be flying by.  I think there is little over a month left before Spring Break.  I've been looking at the different benchmarks and trying to figure out when I'm going to teach each one.  In the beginning of the new year, I was trying to be good and correct my papers the night I get them, but that lasted for about a week or so.  I found myself procrastinating as usual.  I'm happy to say though that my piles are not as huge as they were before, so I guess that's a plus.

Today I tried doing definition maps with my students with some Science terms.  They were excited to do something different.  I had written various terms on scraps of paper and thrown them into a shoebox.  Then I had each student pick a term and find its definition in their Science books.  Then they had to write the definition in their own words and create an illustration for their definition.  They were supposed to share their work as well, but they all got done at different times, so I decided to let them share later tomorrow.  It's been a while since I've seen them so into their work.  They were so animated about the definitions and their drawings.  

On another Science note, I told them that we would be doing a research paper on something within the solar system.  I'm debating how to do this.  I'm thinking of having begin with doing an article review or something like that before going into a full-blown paper.  I figure they could take a small step first.  I need to go and reread that section in "Strategies That Work."  

I cannot wait for the weekend and am counting down the days.  I've been looking forward to seeing BFC for a long time and am really looking forward to spending time with him again.

Everybody's Working for the Weekend

I rolled out of bed this morning not wanting to go to work, but dragged myself to do so. I can't believe it's already February! BFC called in sick today and spent the day running errands while I worked hard for my money. I called him during my lunch break to see what he was doing and he was leisurely buying his lunch. I had to rush to get off the phone with him to eat my salad in the workroom before the kids lined up.

I will be going to the Big Island in about a week and a half. I've been having major cravings for Ken's House of Pancakes. You know, the past two times I've gone up to Hilo, and the two times we've gone to Ken's, I've never eaten their pancakes. I was bored this evening and instead of doing my work, I ended up looking at the KHOP's website and tried to make a mental list of what I want to eat when we go there this time around. I definitely want to try the coconut pancakes with the coconut syrup. I'll be happy to be off my semi-diet as well and just indulge in eating crappy food. I just have to work hard for a few weeks at Jazzercise to make it up.

This weekend is Christy's wedding! I can't believe how quickly time has passed! I'm really looking forward to the whole event. Hopefully my dress still fits....

When's the next break?

The days really seem to be dragging, but my saving grace (I guess you could call it that) are my parent-teacher conferences. Out of my original 31 students, only 18 of the parents wanted another conference. The only good thing about this is the 1:00 dismissal. Tomorrow I only have 1 conference, so I can scurry home early, head out to my online class orientation, then off to Jazzercise.

I found out that extrinsic rewards work really well with this group of kids. I've never had to offer a movie lunch thing with any of my other students in order for them to turn in their homework. I'm glad I thought of it though since homework is no longer a real problem. Some are getting more eager by completing the following night's assignments beforehand. I gave them a lecture about how when they get older, they wouldn't be able to tell their boss, "Oh I had to go to a party last night so I couldn't finish the project." They would get their butt fired from their job. I know it's hard for them to really comprehend that actually happening, but hopefully my sticker incentive charts continue to push them to complete their assignments.

I'll be going up to see BFC in a few weeks. I guess that's partly why the days are just dragging by...

Freedom!

All the Oahu public schools and the majority of private schools are closed today due to a storm that is possibly heading our way, which meant I have a 4-day weekend! I was so elated yesterday when I heard the news from my mother, the television, and my GLC. This meant one extra day to catch up on my work, plan for next week, and simply veg out. The weather doesn't look too bad right now, but I noticed the clouds were moving quickly across the sky.

I called BFC once I heard the news yesterday and he seemed surprised. All schools on the other islands are closed as well except for those on the Big Island. He said it wouldn't be too bad though since they had an assembly today and he wouldn't really have to teach one of his PE periods.

I was actually surprised about the schools closing because I had joked with others about how there could be bombs exploding in the sky and we'd still have school. This thought goes back to several occasions where there was a blackout or huge storm while I was teaching and school was never cancelled. This is a pretty big thing for all schools to close. Maybe all businesses will be closed early or something due to the weather as well. My brother and I are planning on having a holo holo day (weather permitting). I wonder where we should go...

I'm off to the morning Jazzercise class to exercise since tonight's class got cancelled. I also have to run to the bank...

Honeymoon Stage

Today was the first day back from Winter break. Having those 8 students out of the room made a HUGE difference. The majority of the class was able to finish the morning business and we even got through everything I had planned for the Reading block before first recess. To make things better, we had an artic day today, so the kids were off at resource classes until lunch.

Got our quarterly assessment results from last quarter and it really opened my eyes to a bigger picture. I need to get off my butt and plan better lessons. I should be doing that right now, but where am I? I'm staring at the test prep books next to my computer and deciding what to do with them. I brought them home for a reason....

Work Day

Today was the first day officially back to work. I had to take my car in this morning to get serviced and to get my air conditioning fixed. Not having a car was not too good since I couldn't leave early like some of the other teachers did and was stuck at school. Fortunately I had tons of stuff to do and I left my room messy (but what's new?).

I'm hoping to do more hands-on activities with the students this quarter since I have a smaller class size now. I've never had this small of an amount of kids to work with, so I'm going to make the most of it. I also realize I need to take more time to plan out my lessons rather than just winging it like I've been the past semester. I'm going to try my best...hopefully I won't get too burnt out...