176 Days to Go...

My first week of teaching is officially over. It has been the most difficult and exhausting week. I have an extremely challenging class - both behaviorally and academically. But I keep reminding myself, they are MY class. I have been waiting years to get here.

Over half of my class is English as a Second Language. Some children speak no English at all. Some children are deaf and non-verbal. My kids and their families speak Spanish, Arabic, Swahili, Kwai Kwai, Karen, and many others. We also use frequent sign language to help communicate needs. This has all been a challenge for me because I know very little sign, but I am learning.

Thankfully, a good majority of my ESL students do speak Spanish. I can speak moderate Spanish and at least get the main ideas across. Instead of "I love you" these kids get "Te amo." One little girl today said, "Te amo MUCHO" and stretched her arms out wide. They are very sweet and it's very funny to hear them attempt to say Miss Minsterman. Unfortuntely because of the ESL population I have to send all notes home in both English and Spanish (those families who speak other languages must fend for themselves!) This means all my newsletters, reminders, etc. need to be done 2-3 days in advance to allow time for translation.

This week has been filled with laughter, joy, frustration, and exhaustion. And although most of the children in my school suffer from poverty and many do not get enough food at home, they are amazing, resilient kids who love to come to school. This week my goal was to hug each one as they got off the bus, tell them I love them and I'm glad they are here and to hug each one as they leave and tell them I love them and I'll see them soon. This didn't happen on the first day of school and I was devestated. Now that we're into more of a routine the kids are getting the hang of it. 8:10 am and 3:00 pm are my favorite times of the day. I am so happy to see them arrive in the morning and very happy to see them off in the afternoon! I think Christopher and I will hold off on kids for awhile after we get married!!

My favorite moments from the week: one little girl with pigtails that jumps up and down and says, "I come back tomorrow. I come to school! I come to school tomorrow!!!" This is the same child who, during our fire drill discussion this morning, raised her hands and told me she and her mama had seen fireworks too! Oh the language barrier. When asked what we do if the fire alarm sounds (stay together, mouths closed, ears open, eyes on the teacher), one munchkin said, "Keep your shoes on." Solid advice right there. Solid. One little man lost his very first tooth today after school. He carried an envelope around with him all day just in case and it started bleeding at dismissal. His mother emailed me an hour later and said that it had fallen out. What a big week! Another little guy with special needs spent Tuesday morning in the hallway screaming, "I want Miss Minsterman's choo choo train!" Later that day, we found him eating crumbs off the floor in Spanish. He was getting very antsy so I took him into the hallway for a walk. I asked him how he could make better choices and he responded, "When your birthday? I throw you a spiderman birthday party." Sweeeeeet.

I'm sure this year will be filled with stories galore! Hooray! Oh, and pray that I find an abundance of patience.

Room Update

Today was Open House and we had a really great time. Janet and I finished our classroom (well, finished it enough for now) FIVE MINUTES before Open House started. I had just enough time to run to the restroom before kiddies starting filing into my room. We had 16/22 show up - which is a spectacular turnout. Thank goodness the Spanish translator was there because I needed a lot of help with parents. My favorite part of the day was when one little munchkin bopped in, hugged me, and said "I come back tomorrow. I get on bus. Come to school. I come back to school tomorrow!!" I could have just died. I love her... We've got a challenging crew but it'll be a great year. :-)

A few pictures and then I HAVE to get some work finished and get to bed SEMI-early since tomorrow is the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!! WOOHOOO!!!!

Morning meeting area

Manipulatives, ABC center and tables

Guided reading table, library and Ms. Danforth's desk

Writing center :-)

Listening center

Plus Five Overnight

This week has been exhausting. I have been in my classroom every night until 10:00 pm. I was there all day today, and I'm going to need to be there all day tomorrow. It's starting to come together but there is so much extra furniture and "stuff" that it's taking forever. I know that everyone says it doesn't have to be perfect the first day, but honestly I'm not going for perfection. I'm simply hoping my kids can walk across the floor without tripping.

As of Thursday night I had 17 kids in my class. Friday morning I found that had gone to 22. That is a lot of kindergartners. Those of you who have taught in the primary grades understand that 22 five-year-olds are very different than 22 eight-year-olds or ten-year-olds. Everything is new, they have to be taught how to line up, how to use the restroom, how to hang their backpacks, etc. It is definitely a journey. A good majority of my class does not speak English as a first language and I have three special needs students. I'm excited to be able to help a really diverse population, but if I'm this tired now, can you imagine how I'm going to feel this time next week?!?!?

Monday is open house and school begins on Tuesday. I'll be sure to take some more pictures soon of the classroom as we slowly find the floor. Wedding planning has come to a sudden and immediate HALT as I am completely absorbed with work. I suppose that's why God gave me AK and Julie. :-)

Thanks to Suzie, Christopher and Stephanye who have all pitched in and helped me scour, organize and move a classroom full of materials. (The oldest thing we have found so far was published in 1962... Sweet).

How Sweet It Is...

Finally -recognition on the web.

It's sad when you don't TRULY believe you have a job until you see your name posted on the City Schools website. Too bad that e-mail address isn't functioning yet. Oh well - ONE THING AT A TIME! Off to professional development for the day and then back into my classroom for the rest of the night.

Happy first day back to my girl Suzie Q who is a middle school Spanish teacher. :-)

Hello Mr. Recycling Man

Seriously?!?! I attempt to clean out the closet and pennies come flying off the shelves?!?! Where are the hundred dollar bills when you need them??

The closet. Can't even BEGIN to think of how I'll get through this.

This will be a short post since it is 9:20 at night and I just got home a few minutes ago. Today I met the faculty at my new school and got to work with my assistant for a little bit. I'm still slaving away and although I don't think it looks much better, everyone else says I'm getting there.

Room as of 9:00 pm Monday night.

I did have some success today. We went through two tall bookshelves and a few shelves in the teacher's closet and recycled 99% of what we found. The "litmus" test was - if it was made before I was born, PITCH IT. Let me tell you - most of it was.

Bookcase #1 - empty, Cloroxed, moved and ready to roll.

Bookcase #2 - most of the stuff on here went to recycling. So therapeutic.

This is going bye-bye. Along with 2 of those filing cabinets. The stuff that WAS on here is now on my floor. Oops!

Semi-success. Got a few shelves done. I'm hoping to only use these and the few behind my desk for my things so the rest of the room belongs to the kids.

I'm staring to get really excited to start school. I need some furniture removed from the room and can't even BEGIN to think about curriculum yet, but I got my class list today -- hooray! It's bound to change but right now I can only pronounce 1 name. Oh boy....

Adventures in Sewing

This week has been a whirlwind of emotions and activities. New teacher orientation was really nice - I met a lot of transfer teachers from other areas (new friends!) and started to get a little settled in my new job. Thursday night I was in my classroom until 9:15 pm and Friday I went over for about three hours before Bubby came to see me. :-) It is still VERY overwhelming; I have brought a ton of stuff home with me to sift through and recycle and some curriculum resources to peruse as I start to plan out the first few days of school.

Because my room has zero natural light, I have been working really hard to make it a happy, colorful place for my new kindergartners. I must admit, I am very jealous of my friends in the county with nice furniture and resources - but you know what? We'll make do, it just may take a little longer. I'm merging the safari theme idea with stick figure kids to get lots of primary colors and happiness to my brick walls.

One thing I have wanted to do for awhile is learn how to sew. I wanted to make pillows for the reading corner that coordinated with the theme and gave the kids somewhere soft to go. As mentioned in an earlier post, I went and got lots of fabric and mama brought down her sewing machine for me to use. I had no clue what I was doing and had to read the manual step by step to learn how to thread the darn thing.

I ended up making two pillows last week before I even knew I had a job. I must say, I am extremely proud of myself - I even put zippers in so I can take the covers off and wash away the kindergarten boogers! The zippers were really hard but I got them in nonetheless!

Safari pillow.

Zipper skills.

Yesterday I went and bought some more fabric - 2 yards - that matched my patchwork safari fabric but is white. The only window in my room looks into the special education hallway and I've determined would be MUCH too distracting for my little ones. I wanted to make a curtain that would still let in a little bit of light - hence the white fabric.

Pinning a hem - go me.

It definitely is not a professional job, but I have to say that I am SO proud of myself. If only sewing was one large mathematical program it would have been simple, but I am not what you would call "domestic." Hip hip hooray! More photos to come once everything is up in my room. This week we're all working in our classrooms so hopefully a little order will come to room 10.

Empty or Overflowing? Your Choice.

My classroom - sort of...

Today was my first day of work for the city. We had a long day of orientation (benefits, network accounts, etc.) and also got to go on a bus tour of the city to see where our kids live. I have probably the highest poverty school in the district and it is super diverse. At least 20% of the children are English as a second language learners!

After district happenings, a nice woman I met at orientation and I went over to school so I could see my room. She is now a fourth grade teacher at the school but has volunteered and worked as an assistant (I believe) for many years. She'll be a great resource (and we have the same name!) My school is old - it was the first school in the city to purposely be desegregated. I don't have fancy furniture or materials. But I do have a lot of STUFF. The teacher who had my room before had worked for TWENTY-SEVEN years in kindergarten. Isn't that amazing?!?! The patience required is incredible.

The empty portion of the room... windowless with some old furniture!

Holy cow, Batman! There are at least five bookshelves that look like this. YIKES!

But, after twenty-seven years you tend to accumulate a lot of materials. Anything purchased with school money belongs to the school and was left behind. Along with twelve filing cabinet drawers full of papers. To say the least - I was TOTALLY overwhelmed. Half of the room was empty and the other half packed with furniture stacked on top of furniture. The main furniture already has a home, but I want to move some things around to better suit my personality and teaching style. It will be a challenge. I have no clue how I am going to have this room ready for a bunch of kindergartners in less than two weeks. Lots of nights I suppose! I am thankful I have so many materials, but I have no idea what is where. I just sat and stared... And then I came home to be with Christopher. :-) He has to work tomorrow so I can labor on my room then!

I got fingerprinted today and the man was rolling my left ring finger and said, "WHOA! Congratulations! Wooowee, ma'am, he must have worked a lot of overtime to buy something that pretty." I love strangers. :-D

More orientation tomorrow - benefits (hooray) and blah blah blah. We also have district orientation next week too so very little time for classroom work! I have procured Steph's help for the long haul. Hehe.

BUBBY COMES TO VISIT FRIDAY NIGHT!!

EMPLOYED!!

Break out the 5-year-old-kid cake!
It's kindergarten time!

Hip hip hooray! I am finally employed! I got the call at 5:15 this evening that I am Charlottesville City's newest kindergarten teacher. I am SO excited, but also exhausted. The stress of the entire summer has fallen upon me and when the weight was finally lifted I just felt TIRED. I did drive down to Christopher's restaurant to tell him in person though. :-)

New teacher orientation starts on Wednesday so I officially have ONE day of summer left (in which I'll probably have to go to HR and fill out forms). I can't believe God decided to wait this long! But I got a job that I am hopefully going to LOVE in a school where I am really needed.

Thank you to everyone who prayed so hard for me to find the perfect teaching position. This has been many years in the making and I cannot wait to get started. HOORAY!! :-D

Holy Guest List Batman!

Current Head Count: 204

This is the not-so-fun part of the wedding planning process... Creating the guest list. Yes, I am super organized. Yes, I am trying to get everyone the information that they need and get information I need from them. Is this an easy task? NO.

Even with Facebook and e-mail it's difficult to find the addresses of those whom you wish to invite. It's even more difficult when you don't know the people and have to pry "formal names" and hotel preferences out of those helping you.

The worst part? Having to cut people because there's no room. Actually making a decision that someone can't come to your special day because the church only seats 185 is a horrible horrible decision to make. I knew this wedding would be large (my mother is Irish Catholic), but the fact that I can't invite a lot of my friends is difficult. Plus, collaboration with several different people has proven extremely difficult.

It will get done. I will get everything I need. And until then I will just try to keep making it easy for everyone else involved. :-)

Bridesmaids Gifts - Check

In the midst of all the job searching and pail making, I found the cutest gifts for my bridesmaids. I know this is probably something the bride shouldn't do until the week before the wedding, but I just could NOT pass this up.

Yes, I may have purchased one for myself as well. I COULDN'T HELP IT - I NEEDED IT.

Therefore, thank you in advance to AK, Morgan, Lindsey, Joey, and Robin. I have gotten you all a little something to thank you for the hard work I am forcing upon you during the next 8 months. Now you have a little incentive to work EXTRA hard. :-) You'll get a reward at the rehearsal dinner - he he. I think Christopher is making me more impulsive. Seriously, I am SO on the ball with this wedding!! Planning makes perfect!!

Wow, I'm a dork.

Pail of Flowers

Flower girl perfection - in ballet pink

My "vision" for this wedding is a laid back garden feel with a little bit of elegance. Instead of carrying a basket of flowers, I wanted Sadie to be able to carry a pail. I looked all over for small pails but none of them seemed worthy enough to carry her flowers. And then I found these ADORABLE white pails at a local craft shop. (On sale for $1.75 each - just saying...)

I loved the distressed look of the pails and the cute flower border - I thought it made an ordinary pail a little more "pretty." Sadie's dress is ivory (to match mine) and I thought carrying a white pail would be a little bland. So I decided to paint the pails pink using some spray paint I got for $3.00 at Michaels. (I'm not sure what I will use the other pails for yet - but you can't pass up $1.75).

LOVE anything named "ballet slipper"

The finished product!

This was such a super easy thing to do and will bring a little more color into the day. I may tie green ribbons from the side - not quite sure yet. My only concern was if the "distressed" look would show through the spray paint and sure enough it did! They are PERFECT!

Sisterly Love

Friendship bracelets from Morgan

"K - I know, I know, you're already trying to think of all the places you can wear these so very versatile Chinese staircase (not to mention fine) pieces of jewelry. Anyway - at camp I was thinking of you and decided to join the girls in making friendship bracelets so I'm just sending you some love from the 'Morgan inside' that is still in 6th grade. Love you - M"

How can you not love these?!? All week - all month - all summer I've been struggling each and everyday with my lack of employment. I have tried everything to get my mind off my worries and look what arrives in the mail. Is she not the best?? I think I'm going to wear them everywhere. I love, love, love that she made them in the wedding colors. I'm impressed she even remembers HOW to make these!! Mo - you totally just made my life. You're the best fake sister a girl could ever hope for.

Along other wedding-related lines, we're currently in the process of perfecting the save the date cards - woohoo! I've been doing some research on where and how to print them, where to get envelopes, compiling Christopher's half of the guest list (or 1/4...) etc. It has been a lot of fun and it's exciting to be marrying a graphic designer who can just "voila!" and make exactly what you want. I love him. :-)

Yesterday we met with the wedding coordinator for the ceremony - this sweet little old lady named Betty. We got a lot of things taken care of and learned more about the rehearsal and who will stand where and do what. She also made it very clear that aisle runners are a HAZARD and I will most likely kill myself. Good to know. There went THAT idea... We are also trying to work something out with regards to our pre-cana lessons. The diocese of Richmond requires that we attend a weekend retreat before receiving the sacrament of marriage. Problem is that 1) it's very expensive, 2) Christopher works weekends, and 3) see the first two. Hopefully we'll be able to take some weekly classes in Fluvanna or something.

Keep the prayers coming - this is the last week of summer before new teachers start orientation and I would really like to secure a job! I've been reading daily devotionals, which have helped, and am trying to trust that God has my best interest in mind -- but yikes it is hard! Time to take a break and stop staring at my e-mail; I've done everything I can.

P.S. Morgan, I love you.

Thank you, Bridesmaids!

Look what came in the mail...

Hooray is right!
$50 bucks at J.Crew!

Everyone knows my favorite store is J.Crew. I love love love love everything about it. It's uber-preppy and comfortable and their clothes have always fit me really well. Since they offer a 15% discount for students and teachers and have some fabulous dresses, we decided to order the bridesmaids' attire from there.

All brides say, "oh isn't this dress great? You can totally shorten it and wear it again." (Seen 27 Dresses?) I really wanted this to be true for my girls so I got their input on the dress, the color, and asked if they really would wear them again. I got a resounding YES and we determined that flip flops and a cardigan would take you to a garden party (oh Charlottesville) while fancy jewelry and heels would carry you to a more formal affair.

I decided that I would order all the dresses on my J.Crew credit card. Once I hit a certain number of "points" I get rewards in the form of gift cards. The girls' dresses turned out to be a REALLY reasonable price and basically need no alterations besides a snap or stitch here and there. Crew will ship the dresses to different addresses (FOR FREE) so we couldn't get a better deal at David's Bridal - seriously.

Of course the dress we chose (Sophia style in clover green) fits differently than all their other dresses so there was a lot of returning to the local store and reordering. Months later we finally have all five dresses delivered to all five bridesmaids, all fitting marvelously. And me? Well I got a $50 card out of the deal. I'm thinking if Crew comes out with some super sweet pink kitten heels I may use it toward my wedding shoes.

So thank you to my bridesmaids for... well - buying the dresses! And thank you to J.Crew of Charlottesville who saw me a little more than usual the past few weeks. :-)

More DIY projects are in the mix and soon to come on the blog. Tonight was date night - hooray - and now I'm off to prep for a part-time job interview tomorrow morning. Part-time is better than no-time I suppose! Then Christopher and I are meeting with the wedding coordinator from the church so I'm sure we'll have updates tomorrow!!

If they weren't $300 and I could walk in shoes without an ankle strap (stupid high instep and bowed legs), these Stuart Weitzmans would totally be mine...

Dresses, Puppies, and Bodos

So this weekend was CRAZY - we had six people in the house (me, Christopher, Steph, Regev, AK, and Mike) and two dogs (Rosie and puppy Hayden). It was a madhouse but superfun to see everyone. Here's a little recap...

Hayden loves to be near feet.

We had the distinct pleasure of puppy sitting for Hayden this weekend. God love her, she is just the cutest little bundle of 25 lbs. But, she is a PUPPY. She likes to bite (puppy teeth are sharp!) and she's really sassy! Steph was a huge help and Hayden just loved Rosie. Wherever Rosie went Hayden was sure to go. :-)

On the lawn at UVA

AK and Mike arrived a little after lunchtime on Friday and we had tons of fun. They were only here for about 24 hours but it was relaxing and we got a lot done! They saw a tour of the house and then we went directly to Bodos (for non-Charlottesville residents, the best bagels in the world) for lunch. Afterwards we gave Mike a little tour of UVA and I captured the above supercute shot of the lovebirds on the lawn. I also was able to show AK the inside of the church and reception hall so she has a better idea of what we're working with.

We met our friend Jocelyn for dinner at the Local and then headed home for margaritas (I found out I did not get the job I wanted). A few of us had sleepless nights (myself included, obviously) and then Saturday morning Joey popped over to take care of some wedding related details. AK had gotten MORE bagels in the morning - delicious! - so we had food for thought. I was able to show them the online tools I've been working with, we discussed who we could cut from the guest list, and hashed out the responsibilities of the bridal party members. It was a really productive hour and a half and I'm thankful Jo could come for a little (she moved this weekend!).

A walk and a few showers later and it was time to head up to Gainsville for the big event....

Blush in Gainsville

Most importantly - MY DRESS ARRIVED!! Months and months of waiting and it is finally here. Lucky for me it arrived on the weekend my maid of honor just happened to be in town for a day and a half. Her and Mike were heading back up toward DC anyhow so I just followed them and she got to be there for the first time I put on my own dress!!

It's SO much better than I remember. Plus, it's a good thing I ordered a size bigger than they told me to because the puppy fits like a glove. It shouldn't need that many alterations (besides a HUGE hem... seriously - who is this tall??) which is great for the budget. Currently it is hanging in the closet of my office and I have been able to show it to Matty ("well that's nice"), Steph ("SO pretty, I love it") and Suzie ("oh.my.gosh. So much more gorgeous in person). Soon it will make its way to either Suzie or Robin's for save keeping.

Standing outside the bridal salon after getting my gown!

After trying on my dress, AK, Mike and I went to grab some dinner at Pizzeria Uno. Good thing we did that AFTER the dress or we definitely would not have been able to zip it up. Mike was a real sport in the salon - he said I looked really really pretty and when I said "yay! Look Mike, I have a butt!" I even got a whistle. :-) I think he was a lot happier once we were outside and gorging on deep dish starch.

AK and Mike as they leave me to head to DC. :-(

Overall, it was a nice weekend filled with lots of activities and friends. Job news is normally bad news but we'll just keep praying. New teachers start next week so my belly is in a constant knot. :-( Good thing I have the wedding to distract me!