My Blessed Little Life

Yeah for Friday!  After two more snow days this week on Tuesday and Wednesday , our time in school has been very messed up, to say the least!  It is always hard to get back into the groove after a break, and having two snow days last week and two more this week have not helped with getting back on track very much!  It seemed that everyone at school was a little surly and had completely forgotten everything I've taught.  How is that even possible??  I have to say that although my own kids were driving me a little crazy,  going back to my classroom was not appealing at all this morning when that alarm went off at 4:30am. Sleeping in was a really nice treat! I hope that the weather will decide to play nice and spring will move in soon.  The weatherman was saying that there could be more rain and snow next week, so I hope that the chance of snow lessens, or that they were just wrong!  I'm so over winter right now! Tomorrow I start the Slice of Life challenge, and am going to writ

My husband and I had a woman in our home today to conduct some home business...super exciting stuff! Anyway, as we signed papers we were chatting about nothing in particular. My son mentioned our recent snow days and how he hoped to go back Monday. He asked me if I wanted more snow days (because of the new storm watch for Monday and Tuesday and another 6-10in), and I said no because we are now into Memorial Day as it is...which means summer school plans and the like all get pushed back as well. This woman commented that schools really have too many days off anyway...and do teachers really need all those inservice days? Clearly this woman had no idea she was sitting across from a teacher. Her comment really irritated me, and I was really at a loss for words. I think most teachers would say that we dont get too excited at the thought of 8 hours of sitting in meetings... just like any other profession. I'd agree that I'd like to sometimes see other options for inservice time

After *two* snow days last Thursday and Friday, the friendly KC weatherman just announced that another storm is headed this way with an estimated 6-12in expected on Monday. Say what?? While I love 4 day weekends as much as the next girl, being trapped in the house with my three teen/tweens was a bit painful. There isn't enough wine in this house to make another round bearable either....good thing payday is here cause Mama needs some retail therapy and a trip to the dreaded grocery store.

I recently had a professional development day for my school district and was able to hear Ruth Ayres speak about teaching writing.  She mentioned her blog, Two Writing Teachers, and a challenge that she sponsors every year called the Slice of Life.   To complete the challenge, the idea is to write every day in the month of March.  I was really intrigued by the idea, and began to think about really doing this.  She also mentioned that they were beginning a classroom challenge this year for the first time.  Could I really write every day for a month?  I've had this blog established for quite a while now and sadly have only posted 20 times...so writing every day is a little lot daunting for me to even consider.  But the more I really thought about it, the more intrigued I became.  I really need to practice what I preach I guess, and I should show my students that I am a writer too.  I can't really expect them to do this and then not follow through with my own challenge. So, I

It's a snow day for all of us here in Kansas City. Meteorologists around the area live for this stuff...and have taken over the airwaves to tell us all it's snowing. Common sense tells us to stay home, where it is safe and warm, yet Scout cams are capturing shot after shot of cars stuck in ditches because someone ventured out. Maybe it is the Iowa girl in me, but I love snow. I'm comfortable driving in it...what scares me is driving around everyone else here who white-nuckles the wheel at the sight of the first flake. Whether you love snow or hate it, most love lazy snow days. For me, it is an extra day to get caught up on laundry and cleaning, and hopefully grading too! Enjoy your day and stay warm!

Word on the street is that KC *might* get some snow in a day or two. That must be true...I'm hoping so because my students were hyped up today. Some of that might be the four day weekend they had, but anyone who has worked with kids or animals understands and has experienced the crazy weather behavior that proceeds/ accompanies the storms. They were already planning their snow day activities and snow is not forecasted until late tomorrow. I wish they spent that much time working on my classwork! Calgon, take me away!

Can you believe it is the middle of February?  I sat down with a fellow teacher to plan our next unit and couldn't believe I am planned out to April.  This school year has flown by! I feel like I have joined that group of older adults--the early morning coffee clubbers who sat in the diner near my grandparent's house and complained about prices of everything and the weather.  I'm the one now saying where has the time gone?