Second Quarter...Here We Come!

Sup Playas! ;)

Well it is already time to head back for second quarter! This was some break ;) Those of you who are privy to all of the wonders of my life, know that this break has been a crazy one! I am definitely ready to get back into a new routine and work it out at school!

I am now working two jobs! I am of course teaching, and now also helping teach dance 2 days at week at U Can Danz Dance Company! I am excited to get back into dance and to have a job that I can do on the side for extra money that doesn't ask for too much more of my time. Plus I get to work on my flexibility :)

I have SO many things planned for second quarter. I just hope that I can keep up my stamina to get through it all and get through it WELL! I felt that I didn't truly do as well as I could have last quarter. I had a LOT of new stuff on my plate, and I felt a bit stretched so that nothing got done to the VERY best that it could be. (Including crap DDI scores) I am hoping to improve that this quarter and make it the WHOLE quarter with guns blazin and my best teaching happening!

We are hitting up a whole mess of stuff this quarter! Poetry and Debate in 7th and The Crucible and 12th Night for 8th! SO much cool stuff! I just hope I do all the great literature I FINALLY get to do justice ;)

I am also SOO thrilled that I will again get to work with my AMAZIN coworkers :) You know who you are, and I HEART you all! Glitter Unicorns and Flowers!!!

Students Blogging

So today I had my 8th graders create their own blogs that they are using to post their poetry this quarter.
It has been super funny watching them fretting over the "best" URL to choose, and how many followers they will have. It is also interesting to see how many of them already HAVE blogs and emails.
Back in MY dea (so very long ago haha) we used AIM. That was our source of intereaction via the internet; and it was good. My first "real" boyfriend eventually broke up with me using AIM...ohh Jon..you never knew what you had ;)

I am hoping that this project doesn't become a total burden for my not so tech saavy students, but if all goes according to plan, these could be some pretty legit blogs :)

End of the Year

There are only 3 days left in my first full year of teaching...wow. There were some days that I thought the year would never end, and now I am filled with this weird feeling of both sadness and excitement.
I am SO excited to start next year. I will now be the lead language arts teacher for 7/8th grade and will also have a leadership position as the lead teacher for 6-8 team. I am SO excited to play such a huge role in my team, but also a little nervous. I know that this will be a TON more work than I had this year, and even less time to do it in, yet I still can't help but smile and feel a little giddy about getting all of these things that I have wanted for so long.
I am excited and nervous to send my current 8th graders off into the world of high school. I know that I have done my best with some, but others I was unable to work with because of scheduling so I wonder what will happen to them. I hope to keep it together at graduation and not get emotional saying goodbye to my first group of students. I will miss them...but also I know that I will love the breather from some of their behaviors :)

So here's to next year! New opportunities, new students, new responsibilities, new technology, and a new Ms. Simon :)

New Phone

So...I had an AMAZING thing happen to me last night...
The beautiful Droid Incredible 2 was brought into my life. I am beyond excited and confused with this new little piece of technology, and it got me thinking. The students that I work with think this type of technology is the norm. They think it's what they are SUPPOSED to have. A right. Not a priveledge. Being 25 years old and this being my FIRST smart phone, I guess I am a little behind my generation in gaining this techie wizard of a device. I am yes, a newb. However, when I brought it in to my classroom and TOTALLY bragged it up, just ask my kids; all day. They knew exactly what brand, what version, and how to do many things on it.
WOW. I am 25 and already feeling old and behind the times on this technology thing. And I thought I was pretty savvy.
Looks like I have to step up my game :)

I HEART MY COWORKERS

So I just want to say that my coworkers are the BEST!!
If I didn't already brag about this, I got to spend EIGHT (more like 9 ha) days in Arizona with 4 of my most AWESOME coworkers! We had a blast, and it was a great way to rejuvenate before heading back to school!

I also have a great 6-8 team that totally GETS me and are there for complain, brag, joke, and laugh with. It makes me excited to have meetings because I get to interact with this cool group of individuals.

I am jazzed that next year I will have MY OWN CLASSROOM! I get to arrange it, run it, plan it, DO IT! I am excited to take on this new responsibility and be back to making those big decisions. Keep our fingers crossed I don't lose my mind :)

Apparently it's not just ME the kids are silly with :)

Heyo

So today we had a congressman and other directors from charter schools come to our school. Don't ask my why, because honestly I don't know..but apparently it was important.

Anyway, so of COURSE the guy comes in to look at my room. Thank goodness I wore my fancy pants! So he comes in and I act uber professional and smiley. Note* The kids are silently reading at this point* So we are just chatting and I am explaining what we are doing. The Mr. congress guy goes "Well hey kids!" and opened up a small can of worms. They were all like "Hey! Hi! How are you! Blah blah blah!"

Finally one of my little out spoken ladies goes "Hi! I'm____. I like your pants!" I literally almost went "Oh for pete sake!" outloud but refrained haha just smiled and said something like "Ohh thats our_____she is just so shy." haha

THIS IS WHY I LOVE MIDDLE SCHOOL!

Have I Lost My Mind??

Soo0o0o somewhere between becoming a teacher, getting my first full time position, and wanting to BE THE ONE, I decided to take on the daunting task of planning a trip to Chicago for my 7/8th graders from SCRATCH... I mean literally..no one had ANY idea how to do this and I, being the newb, and wanting to leave my mark, said "Hells YEAH I will do that!"


Don't get me wrong, I am STOKED to head out on this trip, but the logistics of the entire process get me down sometimes. How do I make sure they all pack the right stuff? Bring their meds? Don't lose their phones? Get to sleep? Get down to breakfast? Don't wander off down the wrong side of Chi Town and get sold into child slavery? I mean the list goes on...

I have stressed over these things more than once over the last few months, and oddly enough a sense of calm has come over me with only 5 DAYS until we leave. I guess at this point I have accepted that if we run out of money...we will deal. If the kids run out of money...they can beg their friends. and if someone screws up...I will lay down the law and deal.

I only wish that I had enough money to take one of my favorite students with me. I know that he isn't EVERYONE'S favorite student because his behavior doesn't lend itself well to that, but I adore this kid and deep down he deserves to go on this trip. If anyone wants to quick give me $286 that would rock :)