Saturday, October 25, 2008

Workin at the car wash...

Today we had our 4th grade car wash. We were trying to raise money to pay for the school buses for a field trip to Mission San Juan Bautista. It is the greatest field trip, and I was really disappointed that we wouldn't be able to go because of money. We worked hard, the kids worked hard, the parents worked hard, and we raise $350! Our goal was $450...so we were close! It was a lot of fun, but I have been exhausted all day. The rest of the day was spent catching up on tv (since we got TIVO) and on Netflix movies. FYI The Happening...don't watch it. It's scary and lame! (I only watched it for the Mark Wahlbergness). Hope you had a great Saturday!














Friday, October 24, 2008

Comfort Zones

I am officially in my comfort zone, and I don't like it. I am the type of person who loves to build relationships, but needs challenges to stay strong in the Lord. I don't feel close to the Lord, at all. I feel the farthest away that I have ever been. I think a big part of it is that I'm too comfortable. I am not feeling encouraged to go out and be bold. I love my friends and I love Santa Cruz. This has nothing to do with my friends or any people here. I have been feeling pulled to take on a new challenge., so that I can become excited about the Lord, again. Usually when I am reluctant to follow a "pull" it is something I am supposed to be doing. I have some ideas about what this may look like, but in the meantime, I am praying and saving money.

How do you get out of your comfort zone?



P.S. On a TOTALLY different note, I saw High School Musical 3 tonight. It was so much fun! The movie was very cute and all the teenage girls in the theater mad eit a hilarious experience.


Tuesday, October 21, 2008

40 years later...

Happy 40th birthday Tim!! Hope you had a great day. Becareful when you walk, your body is getting a lil old. :)

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Out on the town!

Last night we got to go out for a fun night to watch The Wild Rovers play. (our friend, Dan, is the drummer). We went out for drinks at The 515 and then headed to an Irish pub for the music. It was SO much fun.

I tried a new church today. It was good. It was SO refreshing to get out and try something new. :)





Friday, October 17, 2008

Twilight Movie

New trailer:

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810010670/video/10181404

Anyone else as excited as me????

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Prayer

Something I definitely do not do enough of. Well, I'm asking for some this time. I have made the big decision, after 2 awesome years at Santa Cruz Bible, that it is no longer the place for me. So, begins the church hunting again. A few friends just moved into town and are working at another church. I'm going to try that one out and go from there. This process stinks, so I figured you prayer warriors can help me along. If you are my friend in Santa Cruz and know me from church, I will be seeing you just as much, I promise.

And two pictures, just because they are cute and I miss them.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Traveling...

Christy's postings on her blog about her mission trip to Texas for hurricane relief has got me thinking. I'm yearning to get out there and go on one. For those who don't know, I was 1 week away from a trip to Kenya in 2007, when the doctor told me it wouldn't be a great idea to go because of back problems. It was devestating. I had prepared for 7 months for a trip I would never get to experience. God used me while I was home, in other ways. I really don't think I ever recovered from the dissapointment. I remember turning off my phone on the day they left for the trip and got back from the trip, so that I wouldn't have to face it. It sounds dramatic, but i was sure God wanted me in those schools, teaching about abstinence and AIDS prevention. He thought otherwise, and that is sometimes SO hard to get over. I am finally starting to come around again. Our church isn't going on trips because of the hardships they are going through. I am praying on it, and keeping my eyes open for somewhere I can be used!

Other musings on traveling: I started a "Christal's trip to Greece fund." I'm sure it will grow very slowly, but I'll eventually make it there! With or without traveling pants. ;)

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Pictures for Christy

Here's some of the pictures promised from Christy's blog. Check out her blog from my blog list.





Power of Teaching

Last night, my mentor teacher, Cynthia, came over for dinner. I don't get to work with her anymore, since I am out of the induction program. We had an awesome time chatting and catching up. She knows me too well and knows that I am up for trying just about anything in my teaching practice. So...she showed me these You tube videos. The teacher created this classroom management program based on engagement and response. I laughed a lot when I watched it, and then, of course, I HAD to try it today. My class now does Claasss? Yesss? and Teach-Ok. You'll know what they are if you watch the video. It is amazing how great it works. I was skeptical, but the kids love it. I know this is teacher talk, but today was my first fun day of work, in a long time. I give the credit to the power of teaching. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBeWEgvGm2Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhvaDFwmfBY

Speaking of engagement: my lovely roommate got engaged this weekend!

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Being a teacher...

Christy, my friend Ashley and I went out to PF Changs last night. Christy and I decided I need to write on my blog more often.



This year of teaching has been my hardest, by far. I have an extremely emotionally disturbed student, who has just about used all the energy and will power I have left. We are in the process of moving him into a special ed class. I have another student who is so incredibly spoiled, it is impossible to give him a punishment that works, mostly because he doesn't care. His parents didn't show up for a parent conference yesterday, because they decided they didn't want to. I proceeded to leave a 3 minute message about how their son would miss every recess until they showed up for a conference. If that didn't work, my next step was suspension. His current behavior cannot continue. SO frustrating. I'm at the end of my rope. The majority of my parents are great and supportive. This is the first time I have ever had to leave a message like that. So frustrating. How can people not take responsibility for their own children? I understand we are not perfect, but we can only do so much. So, from this experience, I have composed a list of things I love and don't love about teaching.



Things I love:

1) The kids--they are amazing
2) The opportunities I have for witnessing
3) Watching a student finally understand a concept
4) Getting fun letters and drawings
5) Having students tell me how much they love me...direct quote "Ms. A, you're the best teacher ever. And that's for real."
6)Learning from my students
7) Learning how to teach the "Why do we do this?"
8) Field trips
9) Co-workers
10) Collaborating and helping other teachers out



Things I don't love as much:
1) Some parents
2)the limitations of curriculum
3)No child left behind
4)All of the 239487 meetings I go to a week (ok, exageration, but it's true)
5)Limits on how much you can invest into a child's life
6)The special education process
7)budget cuts

Ok, so that sounded like whining, but it isn't really. Good for you if you're still reading. :)

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Power of Teaching

Last night, my mentor teacher, Cynthia, came over for dinner. I don't get to work with her anymore, since I am out of the induction program. We had an awesome time chatting and catching up. She knows me too well and knows that I am up for trying just about anything in my teaching practice. So...she showed me these You tube videos. The teacher created this classroom management program based on engagement and response. I laughed a lot when I watched it, and then, of course, I HAD to try it today. My class now does Claasss? Yesss? and Teach-Ok. You'll know what they are if you watch the video. It is amazing how great it works. I was skeptical, but the kids love it. I know this is teacher talk, but today was my first fun day of work, in a long time. I give the credit to the power of teaching. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBeWEgvGm2Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhvaDFwmfBY

Speaking of engagement: my lovely roommate got engaged this weekend!

Visiting my SLO/OC? family and LOTS of scrapbooking

This past Thursday, I flew down to Orange County to visit my favorite family (besides my own, of course). It had been WAY too long since I had seen them. My boys were so much bigger! Enjoy some pictures from my short visit. :) Love you guys!





On Friday, Katie, Christy, Jen Clark and Katie's cousin Sophia, all went out to Ontario to stay in a hotel all weekend and scrapbook. We scrapbooked all night Saturday, most of the day saturday (until 2:30 am) and until 1 pm on Sunday. It was hardcore and SO fun. I finished about 36 pages. I worked on my Santa Cruz album and a lot of my "life book." I started putting all my pictures from my younger years in an album too! It was such a fun weekend. I am still recovering, and went to bed at 6 pm on Tuesday night!! My mom and gma also came out to visit and we had lunch. It was fun to see them and they brought me my new Wii Fit! More on that later, my body is too sore to type. :)