Vision

I had an interesting weekend. If you have been reading or have any touch with my life, you will know that last year I moved to a new place to start a new job. I have a new room mate and at Christmas a new Fiance. All of these new things had changed my way of thinking without me knowing it.

I have always been a person with a large imagination and a will to make those things which I imagine come into being. This past year I have lost my imagination and without knowing it I have also lost my vision. This weekend I got some of that back. Christopher and I had an interesting night on Saturday, and we broke through a large communication wall. He helped me see some things that I had been too distracted to see. In being distracted, I had lost the ability to look ahead to the future and see the possibilities there. I was just seeing bleak options and failure in our current location.

Then on Sunday the pastor talked about how Vision is just hope with a Blue Plan. How true that is. I can hope for things, and with a Blue Plan I can make those things happen. With a vision I don't have to get stuck looking at the ground where I am standing. I can look from this place to a place I want to be. That is a wonderful thing.

I Pray,

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

READ THIS!

So,
I have many times said that you should read what bigmama writes, but this time I have a specific audience. It is directed to the female sex, those of us who take the extra time to worry about lots of stuff, those of us who are pondering the future, and those of us who just want some answers.

Read it please and know her heart, and know my heart, and know your own heart.


http://thebigmamablog.com/index.php/2008/03/27/pressing-on/

Misty Morning

This morning we had a staff meeting, which means that there was precipitation today. During the winter, there was always snow on Staff Meeting Mornings. Now that it is FINALLY spring, it is a misty morning. I love the misty mornings though. They are some of my favorites. I love that feeling of the air being cool and fresh. The air is moist enough to drink, but it is not hot enough to feel like a sauna.

Ahhhhh....

I hope that the misty morning is a prediction of a good day.

Off to Kindergarten and the Very Hungry Caterpillar. "He ate through one apple...two..."

Can't find a church

Hi,
Sometime I worry, which is a sin, and it is funny because I worry about stuff like why "We can't find a church."

We have looked high (on the hill) we have looked low (way out on state street) we have looked in the middle (mid central part o town). We have tracked, trodded, tripped, tried, and become tired.

Does this mean that we shouldn't be here?

GRRRR I can't put into words how much I hate that question.

Poop!

The Thoughts in Chuck's Lounge

Tere is refusing to cook all of next week. She says that she has enough left overs to feed an army.

Kathy said that her kindergartners are confused as to why she died her hair.

Megan does not want to eat her lunch, or any other food for that matter. She is already big enough (Megan is having a baby and is looking quite round)

Amanda's personal trainer is writing her up on an exercise plan... She wants to loose 15 lbs and tone the leftovers from pregnancy.

Deanna just wants to make sure that everyone signs the sheet proving that they were at the in service so that they can get paid.

Becca wants the jerk she met a couple of weeks ago to stop texting her.

Gina is sick, and wants to go home.

and:

Shawn is counting down the days left of school. There are 47 including our end of the year work day.

I am wondering if I can send an entire third grade class to Green Land And 2 fifth grade classes to Siberia?

Today I was almost pantsed

Do you remember the fear of getting pants-ed in Gym class. You made sure you tied the drawstring cord very tight in your little uniform PE shorts. Luckily I was never pants-ed in Gym. I was pants-ed in Volleyball, but that was somehow OK because Volleyball is just girls.

Anyway... I was in the hall at school and the Inter Related students (students with severe and multiple disorders) got back from bowling. One fifth grade student stopped me to tell me that he did a good job bowling today. It was hard to understand him because of his mental condition, but I gave him a Hi Five and congratulated him on his personal best. Then he gave me a hug. The hug didn't end there. He went from a hugging position standing to a hugging position around my ankles without letting go. It was something akin to sliding down a wide fire pole. Luckily I had a long undershirt on, and I grabbed my pants as he was on the way down. I saved my butt (literally) by just a few inches.

While he was down around my feet he made some inappropriate motions with his pelvis. (Oh yes... he did... ahem)

I sternly told him that "No, You may NOT do that!" and he got up and went to his classroom.

Little did I know that someone would try to pull down my pants and well... ahem.

Is it Thursday, Because that was certainly inappropriate, but it makes for a good story.

Eye of the Tiger

Here is the deal,
My town had a teacher induction program much like other districts. Basically it consists of a mentoring program which is good, and a bunch of other mindless paperwork which is not good. Our last meeting is coming up WAHOO, and for this meeting each of the new teachers has to give a positive presentation of what they learned/what happened during their first year of teaching.

There are four new teachers at my school this year, and the beauty of it is that three of us graduated from the same little college and lived together my sophomore year. We know a lot about each other and we decided to work on the project together. We are making a music video for our program, because there is no other cool way to deal with this presentation. We have chosen the song Eye of the Tiger. Filming normal situations in school started about 2 weeks ago, and next Monday we are all going to get our 80's on and do some shots of us "working out" and "teaching our kids." There will be no students involved in this process. We are going to clip in our 80's footage into the regular footage that we already have.

I am wondering... What should I wear? I have an afro, and I know that it's 70's, but seriously... I have an afro.

What else should I wear?

How much does it matter

I am an American Idol fan. As I watched the show last night, I wondered. How much do the judges comments matter in the outcome of the show. Last night's turn out was in complete agreement of the judges thoughts, but in other seasons... that has not been the case.
This has been the hardest season to predict. Normally I can pick out the top 4 or 5 contestents out of the top 20 or so, but this season it is anybody's ball game. I think that the rest of America may feel the same way I do. All of the contestents are differenc and for the most part all of them are extremely gifted.
So, Congradulations Simon Paula and Randy, this is the time when your comments matter the most. Because no one can REALLY judge past those obvious week links who will be "The Next American Idol."

P.S. The new stage is cool, but the intro.... Really? And it cost HOW MUCH?

That's all.

P.P.S. I am totally loving Brook. Not the best singer, but definately one of the better artists.

Shhhhh No TALKING!

Yesterday I had First and Second Grade programs. I was super impressed with my second grader's behavior for both the performance and the dress rehearsal in front of the school.

I was less than impressed with my first grades' behavior for the dress rehearsal. They talked in between songs, and they talked during songs. So after the dress rehearsal I went back to their classrooms and explained to them how important it is to not talk during programs. I finished the speech by having them put their right hands in the air and their left hands on their nose.

"Repeat after me" I said.

"I Promise" - "I Promise"
"That I" - "That I"
"Will not" - "Will not"
"Talk in between songs" - "Talk in between songs"
"and if I do" - "and if I do"
"I will let" - "I will let"
"Miss Music" - "Miss Music"
"Cut my nose off" - "Cut....WHAT!?!?!?!"
That was met by a chorus of "Miss Music are you really going to cut our noses off?"
"Yes." I answered
"Really?" They questioned
"No" I said
"Really?"
"No I am not kidding." I stated
"YOU ARE REALLY GOING TO CUT MY NOSE OFF!?!?!" They exclaimed
"Yes." I said.
"Miss Music, if you cut my nose off will I die?" they wondered.
"No." I stated.

Then I left the room.

Always keep them guessing.... And Lie. It keeps them interested.

High School Again?? O Dear...

Wow,
It was hard to wake up this morning. I was having weird dreams again, two nights in a row. I remember the one from last night. I was forced to go back to high school. It was almost like we all got taken back in time, and we couldn't exactly remember what life was like before we were taken back. I remember coming to school (looking like I did in High school) wearing one of my old favorite pairs of jeans, and remembering that I had to change into a skirt or I would get in trouble. I got a skirt out of my old locker (which always has a combination in my dreams, even though I never had one in high school) and went to the bathroom to change. The entire time I am thinking "I know that I am independent, I live on my own, I have a job, I can't remember that job, but I should not be here." But then I would see someone looking like they looked in High school, and I would think... Hmmm that must have been a dream. (But it was really real life)

I looked for my class with my friend Shauna. We found them in Mr. Loewen's room, but it wasn't Mr. Loewens room. It was Mrs. Kaufman's room, and Mr. Nelson was the teacher there. We had a bunch of food in the room. There was breakfast food, and lunch food, and supper food, and desert. Amy got up and made herself a salad stating, "Well if no one else is going to eat this, I am going to." I got up and got a muffin and a banana. Then I sat back down in a desk that had to be adjusted to my height because my knees wouldn’t fit. I sat down by a couple of guys that could only be known as “the good old boys who never worked on anything in high school…or at least it seemed like that.” My arch nemesis sat on my other side, and within the first minute of me sitting down, he included me in conversation was nice, polite, and friendly. I should have taken that clue that it was a dream.

Anyway… Nelson gets up to make an announcement. He starts off with, “I know that some of you are confused as to why you are here. It has been a while since you have been here and I won’t waste any time in getting back to….”

That is all that I remember. I think I woke up, possibly screaming because of the thought of having to go through the awkwardness of my sophomore, junior, and senior year because that dream sure zapped me back to the beginning of my sophomore year.

Jesus Works Music Miracles

Even in the music classroom, miracles can happen. I just got an e-mail about a grant I wrote earlier in the year for $2,715.00. I didn't expect to even get half, because well, that is a lot of money in the world of education. The e-mail is as follows:

The Allocations Committee has met and will fund your grant request. Yes, complete funding! We would like for you to put Tuesday, March 25 on your calendar for a reception honoring our new grant recipients and the new LIFT recipients. The reception is from 4-5:00 and the presentation of the grant and LIFT recipients will be made first thing on the BOE’s agenda.

Letters are going in the pony today—but wanted to share the good news with you now. We are excited to sponsor your great project.

HOW AWESOME IS THAT!?!?!

That money is going to make it possible to use Orff instruments in my classroom! I no longer have to have five students per instrument!!! I have enough instruments for a full score orchestration!!! WOW~!

SWEET MUSIC IN THE WORLD OF MISS MUSIC!

Can't make myself work

I can't seem to make myself get stuff done. I am becomming quite the procrastinator. It is not a healthy habbit to be a procrastinator. I have seen at first hand what procrastination can do to a person. STRESS much STRESS.

So, I am going to go enter grades... Yes that is what I will do...

Or I might go check out some blogs.

I AM SO BAD!

Yesterday my head hurt

I had a headache yesterday at 6:20am that got worse and peaked from 4:30-9:15 when I went to sleep. It was possibly the worst headache I have ever had. I woke up this morning and gingerly took my head off of the pillow. It did not hurt and still does not, but I am going to be extremely careful with my actions for the rest of the day.

No Shouting at Children~!

Sub part 2: AS IF THIS SUB THING COULDN’T HAVE GOTTEN ANY WORSE!

I just came back from Chuck’s lounge and found out that my Tuesday sub had also outraged the third graders as well as the fourth graders, and here’s how.

The third graders were playing a review game, and they were split into two sides. She gave the contestants only 15 seconds to answer and then she counted them wrong. She didn’t help them with the material, and to top it all off. SHE GAVE THE WINNING TEAM SUCKERS!!! YES SHE APPARENTLY FOUND THE SUCKERS AND GAVE THEM OUT TO THE THIRD GRADERS WHO WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO GET SUCKERS!!!

When I told this to the teacher I sat with at lunch she told me, “Well she gave my kids suckers.”

WHAT!?>!?!!)(*&#$)(EOF(#)(*#$)(&@#)(*&%)(*#$$

“Yah,” she said “when I came in she said, well team 1 wins and she gave team 1 all suckers.”

Let me show you my sub plans for this class.

RECORDER REVIEW
The students have been playing recorders for a while now, and they have some songs that they can play. Have students choose songs to play from the pages that we have worked on.

The overheads for our pages are located in the red folder under the overhead projector. It says recorder on it.

They may choose songs from pages 6-11. Songs on page 11 are very new.

You will need to count off four beats before the students play.
You will need to snap the steady beat while the students are playing to keep them on track.
You, or other students, may point to the note that is being played with the long black pointer on the ledge of the board. (If you do have a pointer, make sure it is someone who can keep a steady beat and point to the correct note.)

Is there a review game anywhere in sight in those sub plans? Is there mention of a team? Is there mention of ANYTHING LIKE SOMETHING THAT LOOKS LIKE THE WORD SUCKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FOX that is her last name, I don’t know the first name of my sub, but students call her MRS FOX.

Well, let me tell you a thing or two MRS FOX. I agonize over my sub plans. I stare at them for 45 minutes after I have taken 4 hours to write them just so that they will be easy to understand and work with. I was a sub. I know that a sub needs good plans, and goll darn it my plans are good. If you,,, O HIGH AND MIGHTY ONE SENT TO ME FROM RUBY AT THE BOARD OFFICE have a problem with the fact that I LIKE TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON IN MY CLASSROOM, then LET ME KNOW IN A NOTE!!! I am bossy by nature, THAT IS WHY I AM A TEACHER!!!! Don’t give my students candy with peanuts that could CAUSE THEM TO SWELL BEYOND RECOGNITION. And don’t MAKE UP FOR A STUPID MISTAKE BY FEADIN MY STUDENTS THE SUCKERS THAT YOU WERE TWO IMPOTENT TO FIND IN THE FIRST PLACE. AND DON’T LET 3RD GRADERS TALK YOU INTO GIVING YOU CANDY!!! IT IS STUPID. And most importantly DON’T MAKE EVERY LESSON INTO A REVIEW GAME JUST BECAUSE IT IS EASY TO CLASSROOM MANAGE THEM!!!!!

I am going to ask my fourth graders what happened in class with MRS FOX and I may write another post for the day.

I have already have requested that MRS FOX not come to my classroom AGAIN.

Beware subs, my students tattle.

Beware subs, my students will tell.

I just got back from a two day sick/two day conference week, which meant I was at school on Wednesday last week, which explains my absence from posting. How’s that for a long sentence with terrible structure???

Anyway, One of my fifth grade classes came into the room today, and a student (Cody) who normally gives me no end of grief asked me,

“Miss Music, Where were you last week???”

I said, “Well, I had the flue on Monday and Tuesday and then I worked on Wednesday and then had a conference on Thursday and Friday.” I went on to talk a little bit about how I was sorry that they had not gotten a chance to teach the lessons they have been working on, and a student raised their hand and said,

“We had to do a lot of boring stuff.”

I thought to myself, I liked music bingo when I was little…I still like bingo. Heck people of all ages like bingo… do children of this day really think that bingo is boring?

Cody piped up, “Yah and the sub was MEAN! I got a bingo, and I tried to read it back to her, and I forgot what the bass clef was called so she told me that NOPE I couldn’t get the candy for the bingo, and that I couldn’t get another bingo! And I didn’t even want the candy because it was in her hand, and her hand was sweaty and it made the candy soggy and it was Gross!”

This was met by a chorus of loud affirmations from the rest of Cody’s indignant class members.

I was more than a little confused, How can sweaty palms make suckers soggy?

Another student said, “And she only did give out like four M&M’s when she did give candy!”

HOLD IT, HOLD ON, WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT M&M’S I thought. I had suckers. The lesson plan said suckers. The apple on my desk with the sticky note on it that says SUCKERS is full of SUCKERS!!!

“Where did she get the M&M’s?” I asked them…

Irving proudly walked over to my desk corner (where he is not aloud) and opened my middle drawer (which he is not supposed to do) and removed my emergency stash of dark chocolate peanut M&M’s. “FROM HERE!!!” he nearly shouted.

“She was supposed to give you suckers!” I exclaimed. “This apple is full of suckers, and that was supposed to be when you got a bingo, and I didn’t tell her that you had to read them all back correctly… She was supposed to help you and teach you when you forgot something, not take away your bingo! I am so sorry that it was so terrible.”

In my head I am thinking: WHAT THE CRAP!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT SHE GAVE THEM M&M’S WITH PEANUTS IN THEM!!! HAS SHE EVER BEEN IN A SCHOOL BUILDING BEFORE!?!?! WE CANT EVEN SERVE PEANUTBUTTER SANDWICHES IN THE LUNCH ROOM BECAUSE OF ALLERGIES! WE HAVE SUNBUTTER SANDWITCHES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. AND NOW MY SUB IS HANDING OUT PEANUT CANDY!!! AM I GONNA GET SUED???

The thought that followed was as urgent as this.

EMERGENCY M&M STASH IS GONE!!!

Cody raised his hand to call me back to earth and said, “All that I have to say is… we are glad you’re back.”

Suddenly it didn’t matter so much that all of my M&M’s were gone. Maybe this fifth grade class will appreciate me more now that they see that the alternative could be much worse.