I am sick of bad weather.
We are coming up on the anniversary of our 1,000 year (or 500 year) flood (it depends on who's talking what year it is), and the city is asking for volunteers to fill sandbags because - SURPRISE! - we're experiencing flooding again.
Within the past week, we've had numerous tornado warnings, storm damage, awful amounts of rain, hail, you name it. Everyone is cranky and irritated (kids and staff included) because we're spending nights in basements, closets and anywhere deemed safe while the tornadoes are popping around, dealing without power, and having to hang out with insurance adjusters as they assess damage.
Let's see...last week we sent kids home early due to power problems throughout the county.
Monday night we had rotten storms again - more power outages - and even more damage than we had last week. School was cancelled. (Smart call). We only lost power at home for 8 hours and I consider myself lucky. Some people still don't have power. One neighbor lost a tree, another lost most of his expensive, not even a year old, vinyl fence. Trees everywhere and power lines down.
Last night more tornadoes, more time in the basement (did not lose power - yeah!) and we delayed school for an hour, and let out today an our early due to flooding. Some teachers didn't make it in (trees in roads, trees through house, flooding, etc.) and a lot of kids stayed home because they were predicting more tornadoes today.
Can we just have some sunshine?
But truly, I'm thanking the Good Lord that it wasn't worse. We're alive, and unharmed, and although tired, and cranky and a bit soggy, we really got lucky. Other folks didn't get so lucky (just look at Alabama for example). My heart goes out to them.
Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, April 04, 2011
Ah Spring
You have to love Spring in The South. The daffodils...the greening of the grass...the Redbud trees and Bradford Pears in bloom.
And of course, we can't forget the tornadoes.
We had a warm weekend - actually hit 82 degrees which is pretty warm for this time of year, and a cold front was headed our way. It was 70 when I got up this morning, and windy, so I knew we were in for a busy day in terms of weather.
And oh my, was it busy.
We got all the way through lunch without anything much than dark, ominous clouds, heavy rain and wind.
It wasn't until 5th period that The Principal came across the loud speaker, told us we were under a tornado warning, and requested that everyone get alongside the interior walls on the floor until further notice. My fifth period is usually pretty good, so they lined up along the walls like they were told and I sat there on the floor and tried to conduct class the best I could. We are, after all, in the midst of reviewing for The Very Big Deal Government Mandated Test, and I need every second of instruction time I can get. So, although we were all on the floor, I did manage to go through a PowerPoint on body systems, did an activity on levels of organization, and, since we hadn't handed out their review books, read to them from their review book about diffusion. It wasn't ideal, but I still got material covered, the kids were kept quiet (sort of) and we managed to make it through the end of the tornado warning.
I may add that the Enforcer, he who is in charge of safety and security, did away with the blaring tornado warning siren. That thing going off for twenty minutes was enough to drive anyone mad. Not only was it noisy and aggravating, but it made it fairly impossible to hear what was going on outside (I have no windows so I can't see anything.) Trust me, if there's a tornado coming, I seriously want to hear about it before it smacks us.
The warning ended, we wrapped up class and headed into sixth period.
Where we had another warning, ended up on the floor, and I did my "teaching from the floor" lessons yet again.
And we had another one seventh period as well. By then I had done more teaching from my spot on the floor against the wall than I had actually standing on my feet this day. This one was a little louder outside, the lights flickered a bit, but we made it through this last warning with flying colors.
Three different periods, three different tornado warnings.
Ah spring!
And of course, we can't forget the tornadoes.
We had a warm weekend - actually hit 82 degrees which is pretty warm for this time of year, and a cold front was headed our way. It was 70 when I got up this morning, and windy, so I knew we were in for a busy day in terms of weather.
And oh my, was it busy.
We got all the way through lunch without anything much than dark, ominous clouds, heavy rain and wind.
It wasn't until 5th period that The Principal came across the loud speaker, told us we were under a tornado warning, and requested that everyone get alongside the interior walls on the floor until further notice. My fifth period is usually pretty good, so they lined up along the walls like they were told and I sat there on the floor and tried to conduct class the best I could. We are, after all, in the midst of reviewing for The Very Big Deal Government Mandated Test, and I need every second of instruction time I can get. So, although we were all on the floor, I did manage to go through a PowerPoint on body systems, did an activity on levels of organization, and, since we hadn't handed out their review books, read to them from their review book about diffusion. It wasn't ideal, but I still got material covered, the kids were kept quiet (sort of) and we managed to make it through the end of the tornado warning.
I may add that the Enforcer, he who is in charge of safety and security, did away with the blaring tornado warning siren. That thing going off for twenty minutes was enough to drive anyone mad. Not only was it noisy and aggravating, but it made it fairly impossible to hear what was going on outside (I have no windows so I can't see anything.) Trust me, if there's a tornado coming, I seriously want to hear about it before it smacks us.
The warning ended, we wrapped up class and headed into sixth period.
Where we had another warning, ended up on the floor, and I did my "teaching from the floor" lessons yet again.
And we had another one seventh period as well. By then I had done more teaching from my spot on the floor against the wall than I had actually standing on my feet this day. This one was a little louder outside, the lights flickered a bit, but we made it through this last warning with flying colors.
Three different periods, three different tornado warnings.
Ah spring!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Spring Break, or the Era of Yard Work
Spring Break has arrived!
Truth be told, I would have preferred to use a bit of spring break to make up our snow days, but here it is, intact, and as luck would have it, really darn nice in terms of weather. (Although I know better. I remember one spring break where we went from 85 to 18 in one day.)
Actually the week before break was amazingly warm and spring-like, to the point that the kids were wild (ah, the sap rises and so do the hormones). They were excited about break, excited about warm weather, and excited about just about anything aside from doing work. They also were all wacked out about the time change and couldn't quite seem to get with the program this week.
A few highlights...and lowlights.
We had our reward party on Friday for the kids who didn't have a single discipline referral for the previous nine weeks. Basically it was a dance with prizes and food and fun stuff during their 2nd related arts period. One of my darlings got into a tussle with another kid at the REWARD party and managed to end up in ISS (and who knows what else). The irony of kids getting in a fight at a party for being good just kills me.
Dennis the Menace has returned and he's like a new kid. Granted, Mom has him on meds now and he's already learned that he'll be expelled if he screws up, but honestly, I think there's more to it than that. He's matured. He even looks a little different - the greasy hair and acne of a kid who's just been slapped upside the head by Puberty - and he's a lot more calm. He doesn't get pulled into other kids' drama, does his work, follows directions, and is polite and well-mannered and just wonderful. All the teachers on the Team have noticed it and have commented as much to The Principal and to Dennis' mom.
Anyhow, he's been here for about a month (and hasn't had a single write up for ANYTHING) and when the names of kids who couldn't go to the reward party were released, he wasn't on it - which meant he could go. The problem is, he thought he shouldn't be allowed to go because, after all, he had been in alternative school for part of the nine weeks and had had a write-up while there, so as far as he was concerned, he couldn't go.
He's in my homeroom, and sits right in front, so we'd talked a bit and I said I'd find out for sure if he could go or not. Because, this kid, out of all of them deserved to go. So basically, I went to The Principal and said I thought he deserved to go...and she agreed.
The best part of my day on Friday was telling Dennis that he could go to the party. You would have thought I'd given him a winning lottery ticket. His face lit up and he was so happy. And this is the best part - he came back from the party and thanked me for seeing that he could go. (You have got to be kidding...a kid thanking a teacher? How rare is that!?) He told me about the whole thing, what he bought with his reward dollars, the music, and just how much fun it was.
Made my day.
So, for Spring Break I am not doing anything remotely exciting. I went and got Daddy Bird, spent a day at his place cleaning up, and now he's here at our place for a couple of weeks. He can drive (doctor said he could) but I don't think any of us want him driving long distances yet. However, the pacemaker seems to be ticking along just fine and he's doing a great job supervising my yard work.
I have tons of yard work to do, it being spring and all. The list will blow your mind. Today was pruning roses day and digging up a rose bush that hasn't bloomed for a few years (you give me nothing but thorns and I'm getting rid of you). I have shrubs to trim back, yard to feed, winter debris to get rid of, early spring veggies to plant, and on and on. I don't know if I'll get it all done, but I'll try.
And then there's taxes to do.
But at least I can sleep in.
Truth be told, I would have preferred to use a bit of spring break to make up our snow days, but here it is, intact, and as luck would have it, really darn nice in terms of weather. (Although I know better. I remember one spring break where we went from 85 to 18 in one day.)
Actually the week before break was amazingly warm and spring-like, to the point that the kids were wild (ah, the sap rises and so do the hormones). They were excited about break, excited about warm weather, and excited about just about anything aside from doing work. They also were all wacked out about the time change and couldn't quite seem to get with the program this week.
A few highlights...and lowlights.
We had our reward party on Friday for the kids who didn't have a single discipline referral for the previous nine weeks. Basically it was a dance with prizes and food and fun stuff during their 2nd related arts period. One of my darlings got into a tussle with another kid at the REWARD party and managed to end up in ISS (and who knows what else). The irony of kids getting in a fight at a party for being good just kills me.
Dennis the Menace has returned and he's like a new kid. Granted, Mom has him on meds now and he's already learned that he'll be expelled if he screws up, but honestly, I think there's more to it than that. He's matured. He even looks a little different - the greasy hair and acne of a kid who's just been slapped upside the head by Puberty - and he's a lot more calm. He doesn't get pulled into other kids' drama, does his work, follows directions, and is polite and well-mannered and just wonderful. All the teachers on the Team have noticed it and have commented as much to The Principal and to Dennis' mom.
Anyhow, he's been here for about a month (and hasn't had a single write up for ANYTHING) and when the names of kids who couldn't go to the reward party were released, he wasn't on it - which meant he could go. The problem is, he thought he shouldn't be allowed to go because, after all, he had been in alternative school for part of the nine weeks and had had a write-up while there, so as far as he was concerned, he couldn't go.
He's in my homeroom, and sits right in front, so we'd talked a bit and I said I'd find out for sure if he could go or not. Because, this kid, out of all of them deserved to go. So basically, I went to The Principal and said I thought he deserved to go...and she agreed.
The best part of my day on Friday was telling Dennis that he could go to the party. You would have thought I'd given him a winning lottery ticket. His face lit up and he was so happy. And this is the best part - he came back from the party and thanked me for seeing that he could go. (You have got to be kidding...a kid thanking a teacher? How rare is that!?) He told me about the whole thing, what he bought with his reward dollars, the music, and just how much fun it was.
Made my day.
So, for Spring Break I am not doing anything remotely exciting. I went and got Daddy Bird, spent a day at his place cleaning up, and now he's here at our place for a couple of weeks. He can drive (doctor said he could) but I don't think any of us want him driving long distances yet. However, the pacemaker seems to be ticking along just fine and he's doing a great job supervising my yard work.
I have tons of yard work to do, it being spring and all. The list will blow your mind. Today was pruning roses day and digging up a rose bush that hasn't bloomed for a few years (you give me nothing but thorns and I'm getting rid of you). I have shrubs to trim back, yard to feed, winter debris to get rid of, early spring veggies to plant, and on and on. I don't know if I'll get it all done, but I'll try.
And then there's taxes to do.
But at least I can sleep in.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Spring Break!
Well, I'm not at the beach.
I'm not skiing.
I'm not on a cruise.
I've actually been - gasp! - at school working. Because, as soon as we get back, the Very Big Deal Government Mandated Tests On Which EVERY FREAKING THING IS BASED will be on the horizon and we need to start our two week review.
And, since over half our our standards changed this year (thank you, oh dear State Department of Education), we've pretty much had to rebuild our entire review program.
So Mrs. Eagle, Mrs. Hummingbird and I have been creating, copying, and generally getting all our ducks in a row so we can hit the ground running on Monday. Honestly, there's just too much to do during our planning periods, but once it's done, next year should be a lot easier. I hope.
At least the weather has been less than ideal. Begin stuck in a building during a gorgeous spring day would just not be a good thing.
And for the record, for all those nitwits (the folks that write nasty letters to the editor and comment on-line) who seem to think that teachers do no work outside of official school hours....be thankful you can read. A teacher saw to that.
So there.
I'm not skiing.
I'm not on a cruise.
I've actually been - gasp! - at school working. Because, as soon as we get back, the Very Big Deal Government Mandated Tests On Which EVERY FREAKING THING IS BASED will be on the horizon and we need to start our two week review.
And, since over half our our standards changed this year (thank you, oh dear State Department of Education), we've pretty much had to rebuild our entire review program.
So Mrs. Eagle, Mrs. Hummingbird and I have been creating, copying, and generally getting all our ducks in a row so we can hit the ground running on Monday. Honestly, there's just too much to do during our planning periods, but once it's done, next year should be a lot easier. I hope.
At least the weather has been less than ideal. Begin stuck in a building during a gorgeous spring day would just not be a good thing.
And for the record, for all those nitwits (the folks that write nasty letters to the editor and comment on-line) who seem to think that teachers do no work outside of official school hours....be thankful you can read. A teacher saw to that.
So there.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Spring Break
I don't know when I've looked forward to spring break with such anticipation.
I'm not doing anything exciting, really. Hubby and I went to a conference in Nashville on Saturday, then went to Louisville on Sunday and pretty much the rest of the week I'll be home doing yard work, knitting, reading, cleaning house, maybe some painting, and possibly cleaning out the garage (that depends on the weather). We may catch a movie or two, or just sit and get caught up on the DVD's. I'm also grading homework packets, but that's just what teachers do, I suppose.
But I'm so glad it's here.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the kids, who, as you well know, haven't been the best crop of seventh graders to come down the line are insane.
Maybe it has to do with the fact that the kids all lost their minds - even the normally good classes were horrid - after lunch on Friday. Since we eat lunch relatively early, it made for a rough day. A really rough day. Even Coach Math was at his wit's end.
Maybe it had to do with the fact that we had a fight in the hall fifteen minutes before the end of the day when kids were moving to their afternoon homerooms, and it involved a split lip, blood, and two morons who quite honestly need to learn to shut the hell up and stop calling people names, especially each other.
Maybe we all just need a break from each other.
I'm not doing anything exciting, really. Hubby and I went to a conference in Nashville on Saturday, then went to Louisville on Sunday and pretty much the rest of the week I'll be home doing yard work, knitting, reading, cleaning house, maybe some painting, and possibly cleaning out the garage (that depends on the weather). We may catch a movie or two, or just sit and get caught up on the DVD's. I'm also grading homework packets, but that's just what teachers do, I suppose.
But I'm so glad it's here.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the kids, who, as you well know, haven't been the best crop of seventh graders to come down the line are insane.
Maybe it has to do with the fact that the kids all lost their minds - even the normally good classes were horrid - after lunch on Friday. Since we eat lunch relatively early, it made for a rough day. A really rough day. Even Coach Math was at his wit's end.
Maybe it had to do with the fact that we had a fight in the hall fifteen minutes before the end of the day when kids were moving to their afternoon homerooms, and it involved a split lip, blood, and two morons who quite honestly need to learn to shut the hell up and stop calling people names, especially each other.
Maybe we all just need a break from each other.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Southern Spring
This past Friday we had a snow day due to the two inches of white stuff that fell the night before.
Today it's 78 and gorgeous.
Trees are budding out, the forsythia are doing their thing and it's spring here in the South.
However, I'm not naive. Mother Nature isn't finished with winter yet. I still remember the spring break a few years ago when it went from 85 to 18 in one day.
I won't believe it's truly spring until about, oh, the 20th of April.
But I'm going to enjoy the day or two we get here and there.
Today it's 78 and gorgeous.
Trees are budding out, the forsythia are doing their thing and it's spring here in the South.
However, I'm not naive. Mother Nature isn't finished with winter yet. I still remember the spring break a few years ago when it went from 85 to 18 in one day.
I won't believe it's truly spring until about, oh, the 20th of April.
But I'm going to enjoy the day or two we get here and there.
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