Catching Up

We're heading to Chicago this morning. Stein is sleeping, so I figured this would be a good time to catch up on the blog.

I decided it would be best that I stay home last night and do more work on my project. I was getting the stressed-out feeling that really gets to me, and realized I just needed to plow through the project to get rid of the feeling.

After 3 hours of work, I did get a good chunk of it done and now I feel a lot better. I feel a lot clearer about the project, and know that I have Sunday evening to do more preparations for the week. I was also able to get organized around the house, as the project had taken over the dining room. The dining room table was completely consumed by posters, files, markers, and books. Just cleaning that up helped to clear my mind and made me feel organized.

I start my solo weeks this week. I am looking forward to it with excitement and nervousness. As much as being solo with a sub was nerve wracking, I have to say that it has really helped with my confidence. I know that I can teach for a whole day without Linda in the room. The only difference is that I won't have the sub in the room to be the "heavy" for discipline when I'm trying to teach.

This week we have Tuesday off (the kids are off but we have an in-service meeting) and I also have a workshop on Friday afternoon. This works out just fine for me. I can teach a day, and have a day to regroup and prepare. Then I teach two more days and have the weekend to regroup and prepare. Next week will be a different story. And the following week after that which is the two days before Thanksgiving break? I'm expecting complete chaos. The only consolation? I'll be done with my solo teaching as of Tuesday at 3:42 p.m. that week.

As far as this week, I think it went well. I was solo with Linda in the room. She admits that she has a hard time with this, since she wants to jump in and help/teach/discipline. She did have a hard time, but it was okay. There were learning moments for me, moments that I'm hoping will help me in the coming weeks. Next week she will stay out of the classroom completely.

We went on our field trip to the gravel pit this week. It was a great trip, but completely exhausting! Although we only traveled about a 1/2 hour from the school, the kids definitely reacted to being in the "country". "Horses!" they shouted as we passed a farm with one horse in the field. "We're really far away", said the girl who sat next to me on the bus. These kids are definitely city kids. But the sad thing is, they're city kids who don't get out much. They can't.

Being at the gravel pit was fun. The kids had gallon milk containers to put rocks in, and most of them got on the bus dragging a full container of rocks. "Look at this one, Mrs. Steinhauer!" they would say with excitement. I would give them my most enthusiastic reaction as I looked at the plain brown rock they held in their hand. They weren't rock hunting, they were treasure hunting, and they sure found treasures.

We were outside all day, aside from a trip to the geological museum where the kids created all kinds of chaos. After the museum, we went to the nearby cemetery to see the tombstones and how some stones were more worn than others. They had a seek-and-find kind activity where they learned about some of the symbols and deceased in the cemetery.

The next day we went to the woods that are behind our school. There is a really nice loop trail that weaves through the trees and near a pond. We went with our first-grade buddies. The first grade had the assignment of looking for living and non-living things in the woods. They were able to see ducks, geese, squirrels, a spider egg sac, lots of leaves and a real live salamander! It was a beautiful fall day to be in the woods. Brown, yellow, red, and orange leaves swirled in the air before joining their friends on the ground. I got a mini-science lesson from one of the first graders when he told me that trees hibernate in the winter. We all seem to hibernate in the winter, I thought.

Well, that's all the news that's fit to print at this point. I'll try to write more tomorrow when we get back from Chicago. Have a great weekend!

Keepin' It Short Part 2

Yep, still working on the project. Add going to the woods today to the list of entries to be written...

In the meantime, Stein made 2 great dinners this week. After he made the chili on Sunday, he used some of it to make this recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_37349,00.html

I thought it was great, Stein didn't really like it. He didn't know if it was a texture thing, or what. Give it a try to decide for yourself.

And then the next night he made this recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_27968,00.html

We both loved the saltiness of the prosciutto combined with the rosemary and chicken. Yum.

We're off to Chicago either tomorrow or Saturday. My Mom and Rich are in town, so we're getting together. I'll try to post after that.

Have a great weekend!

Keepin' It Short

Sorry - between it being Halloween and trying to get a project done, I don't have a lot of time to write. Next entry will be all about our field trip to the gravel pit today (with a side trip to the cemetery - for observing erosion with a scary twist!), and maybe some complaining about the people who make up those variety bags of candy.

Happy Halloween Everyone! Stein and I will be dressed as homeowners. Clever, I know.

Can't Wait to Read

Stein and I were just discussing our Thanksgiving plans. While we don't have definite plans yet, we are probably staying here. Last year we were in Chicago for Thanksgiving, so it makes sense that we would be here this year.

As we were talking about it, I said that it would be great to be home because I will have 5 days off in a row. School is closed Wed. - Fri. that week. I will also be done with my solo teaching the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. (After that I phase out of teaching and observe other teachers in the building.)

What I am most looking forward to during that time is reading. For pleasure. I have spent the past two years reading textbooks, with the occasional break that has let me read the 5th Harry Potter book. (Yes, I still have to read the 6th and 7th.) Actually, my mind really hasn't had the attention span for more than a magazine lately. I feel like there's always something to prepare, something to research, lessons to write. I am giddy with the thought of having the free time and nothing else to do with it but read.

Books have been stacking up, that's for sure. I have all kinds of children's novels that I want to read (including Harry Potter). And then there are books that friends have recommended. Books like the Kite Runner (and the one following that), a new one by Anita Shreve, another one by Alice Lebold, and more by John Grisham. I still haven't read Angels and Demons, even though it is somewhat of the prequel to The DaVinci Code, which I already read.

I am dreaming of reading. What a luxury it will be. I can't wait.

Sunday Night Feeling

I'm sitting here with a slight Sunday night feeling. You know, that dreadful feeling that you get on Sunday nights when you have to go to work or school? For me, it usually starts around 6 or 7. Growing up, the minute I would hear the "tick, tick, tick" before 60 Minutes began, I would instantly get that feeling.

But like I said, tonight's feeling is just a slight Sunday night feeling. I feel prepared for tomorrow and most of the week (this is my "solo" week with Linda in the room), and I was really productive today. I got a lot of work done on my big project. It's a science unit of lessons on eating healthy. I'll probably start teaching it next week, during my official solo week (without Linda in the room).

The only regret I have about today is that I didn't get out to enjoy the weather. In fact, I didn't really get outside at all. The weather was a typical fall day - cool, with a crispness to the air and the leaves, with the warmth of the sun to cut the edge. The leaves on the trees are about at their peak colors, and many of them are on the ground from the windy days we had last week. Now they're just waiting for feet to kick them up or crunch them beneath, or for kids to gather them in a pile and jump in them.

My advisor told us to do the projects we have to do on Saturday and then enjoy the weather on Sunday. Good advice, in theory. Yesterday's weather was the other kind of typical fall day, but to the other extreme - cold, cloudy and rainy. The kind of weather that makes the leaves on the ground clump together and makes them slick.

But what my advisor didn't know was that I had the U-M football game to go to Saturday afternoon, and had to get things done around the house before that. So that only left today to get my work done, which I did. But I'm feeling a little "jipped" that I lost out on enjoying the day outside. Stein and I originally had plans to go to brunch at Zukey Lake Tavern for brunch (the place we had lunch for our end of summer Sunday) but I didn't want to cut it close with the amount of work I had to do. Stein did get out, though. He went to the cider mill to visit my brother and sister-n-law and pick up pies for me to bring to school tomorrow. He also went to see another one of Ben's hockey games.

My only consolation right now is a belly full of chili that Stein made for dinner tonight, and I can smell the apple pie that's baking in the oven. (At the cider mill you can buy pies either already baked or frozen to bake at home. We obviously bought the latter.)

All is well that ends well. I think chili and an apple pie is a good end to a good fall weekend.

Thank You, Boredom

Even though Stein has been really sick this past week, he still managed to make it to the store yesterday and then make dinner for us. He was bored, he said. My stomach and I thank him for his boredom. He made this really yummy casserole:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_30585,00.html

While it's obviously labor intensive, it can be made ahead of time and put in the freezer. We had it right when he made it, and it was great. Another comforting dinner for a fall day. And it makes a lot - enough for a couple days of leftovers for two people.

By the way, he's on the mend. He got some medicine from the doctor on Monday, and it seems to be helping.

Mid-Semester Review

I got my mid-semester reviews from Linda and my advisor today. They were really good, I have to say. You know I don't like to boast, but I have to say that I was pleased. And a little relieved if you want the truth! I mean, I've been getting positive feedback all along, but you never know when something may pop up at an evaluation.

In my past career(s), inevitably I would get through most of a review with flying colors, only to be stopped short at one or two points. "Oh, and this is what you need to work on," my boss would say in a quick, quiet voice. I don't mind criticism, so I always laughed to myself when this would happen. She or he would be sitting on the other side of the table feeling worse than I was, thinking he or she was offending me.

Today we talked about some areas I need to work on, but these are things that will be learned as I go. There are some things that will just get better with practice and other things that I just haven't had the opportunity to learn. And learn I will. In just a week and 1/2, I'm going to be solo teaching, meaning that I will be the only teacher in the room for 10 days. Gulp. When that happens, my evaluation will be done by the students. I will be able to read how I'm doing by watching their expressions, monitoring their behavior, and checking to see if I'm still standing at the end of the 10 days. Double Gulp.