Got some nice feedback

Today was just one of those days. It's been a long week. I've worked every day and 4 of them at the same school. And today I had the toughest kinder groups in the school. Both the am and pm groups are challenging but the afternoon class has an extremely challenging child who should not even be there in a mainstream class as his main goal is to stay in the room (I won't say anymore than that).

But it was so nice to have some feedback on me. One of the 4 kinder teachers loved how I handled them outside. She said it was refreshing to see a sub be not all sweet and gooey (I used to be like that all the time) but instead was large and in charge (sweet and gooey had to be pushed aside for most of the day). She gave me props for that.

And then I had my co-kinder partner who does the Spanish part, she said I was a sub that the could truly enjoy working with. That she doesn't mind talking with.

I tell you, after a long, hard day (and week!) both of those ladies warmed my hearts :) I knew I was doing pretty good. I know I am a good substitute...and a great teacher. But to get validation like that and from two people in one day, well it was just what I needed to get me through the rest of the day.

And little boy was not there today thank goodness. Whew! I don't know how I would have managed, though I know I would have been able to :)

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Laughter makes the day better

So here I was complaining that yesterday was boring and today was the COMPLETE opposite. Talk about an exhausting day lol. I had first grade and I know them, but boy they were hyper. The whole first grade team was out so when they went to ELD/SLD almost first thing in the morning, they also had a sub.

Though I did laugh at some cute things they said, which made my exhausting times worth it. And sending the kid to the office (he kept screaming for no reason and had been warned twice by my assistant) and a kid to their table.

Lunch time was worth it. I dropped off my kiddos and one side of the room errupted with "Ms. T!!!"s and then another teacher had me come to her table because her kids would not eat until they said hi to me. And then a third class had to say hello. Mind you they are all kinders hehehe.

The lunch ladies said it perfectly how I was feeling when they said that they'd swear there was a celebrity in the cafeteria lol. And mind you I think I was the first sub for all of them too lol.

So on  a hard day, find something to laugh about and it helps wipe away the bad stuff  :)

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Slow day

Whether because it was Monday or not, it's been a slow and long day.

Well I get to my assignment job and there are no plans. Turns out that the teacher, or rather the counselor, doesn't really teach guidance classes at the moment and I was basically there to babysit a wild child socially impaired child whose main goal is to not leave the class. Forget work or production, just watch him.

The teaching guardian angels wer eon my side as he was not here today. So instead I got to do lots of prep and copying all day. ALL day. Very boring day but easy money.

Friday I have that kiddo...is it bad I hope he's gone then too? I know he won't be though lol.

Tomorrow is first grade, then Wed/Thursday back to the school I was at today for a different first grade, then Friday same school for kinder.

From what I've seen, my friends all had a bad Monday. Here's hoping all of yours was better!

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Yesterday was a long day!

Still have a bit of a cold. Mostly just sneezing and a bit of a snuffly nose.

Yesterday was a long but fun day. I went to the annual grapestomping festitvities at a local winery. Saved two tables because there were a lot of my friends coming and also my parents. My dad entered the grape stomping contest and they picked his name and he actually won his stomping heat. They draw a guy name and a girl name and they stomp while the German band plays music.

The band was here last week for the Oktoberfest and they come to this winery for the stomping which was yesterday and today.  I also love going to the winery for the best sauerkraut ever! My mom is from Germany and she says it is authentic. The owner's wife makes it and they are from Hungary/Germany.

One of my friends wanted to go on a winery tour so I went with her and it was fun to learn about the winery, one of the first in Oregon and to find out about wine and grapes and the process of what they go through.

After being there for 5 and 1/2 hours and eating bratwurst and sauerkraut and singing and dancing to the German music, we (my parents and I and one of my friends there ) had a party to go to celebrating several birthdays.

I made my famous peanut butter bars and they are always gone. I always take home an empty plate lol. Had  fun there.

And then on the way home I stopped at another friend's house (10 pm at this point) because a college football game (DUCKS!!!) was going on and I had made a spare plate of the peanut krispies just for them because they always love it and knocking on their door at 10 pm was fun lol. They were SOOOO happy I stopped by and also happy I had the peanut butter bars.

Today I plan on relaxing and catching up on my DVR'd shows. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

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Chop stick fun

So in all the excitement of me getting my first cold of the season *insert sarcastic laugh* (although it's just a little stuffed today, not too bad), I forgot to talk about a cool thing I saw my class on Thursday use.

Well it was time for them to use their Reading Street books. They all pulled them out (can I tell you how wonderful this class is? They are a dream!) Two students got up and went over to the front teacher table and grabbed a jar I hadn't even noticed and passed out what looked like little wands at first glance until I realized it was chopsticks.

Curious, I stood up front, watching them and then it dawned on me, they were reading sticks! Sure enough, the kids started reading silently, using the chopsticks as pointers to follow the words. Of course I heard a few  wingardium leviosa's from a few kids' mouths (yep I love Harry Potter) and tried not to chuckle.

So the next time you eat out in a restaurant with chopsticks...don't use them to eat, take them for your class so they can read! I mean one packet will be two pointers...so if you have a class of 26, you only have to eat out 13 times, lol. That's a good reason right?

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Ick...

I am sick :( Woke up this morning to a lovely scratchy throat (not too bad), a stuffy nose, itchy eyes, and slight headache. Thank goodness I had no job lined up and I waited for a call but none came and by 7, I blocked myself as I just wasn't feel so hot.

A few muli-vitamins, a few vitamin c pills, and a cup of tea later, I was feeling good enough to go grocery shopping. Came home and sucked on a cold-eeze.

Now, counting back 3 days or so, it was when I was lovely kinders. And that school had a case of flu stuff going around.

And tomorrow I am going to a grapestomping festival (best sauerkraut ever!) and then a birthday party. I HAVE to be well. Hopefully when I wake up tomorrow....*crosses fingers*

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Oh kids!

Oh my word I had a lively class today, but in a good way :) They are 3rd graders and very sweet. Only 2 were a handful. They did their work like I asked but they said some funny stuff.

I stopped after lunch to take them to the bathroom and most were finishing up. I heard a kid shrieking and a boy in line goes, "That's "A", you can tell because of the pitchy yell."

Oh goodness, at least they used some nice vocabulary heehee. 

And then ***warning, bathroom humor ahead, so if you are eating, you are warned!***

We are all working on math and since we had already stopped for the bathroom, she said I shouldn't let anyone go. Well this kid asked like 5 times to go and I had to firmly, but politely tell him no you know the rules...and he comes up again and I'm just about to lose my patience and hands me a note.  So I'm thinking he's written it down because I told him I didn't want to hear it anymore and it says, "I have to go poop!"

Oh my word I about burst out laughing, but feeling sympathy allowed him to go. I understand how he feels.

So this week has been 4 days so far and next week are 4 (all requests by the way!) and the 4 next week are all the same school, different teachers hehe.

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T and Tutus

I meant to blog yesterday but with a crazy day and a meeting at 5:30 and a party at 6:30-8:00 and then Glee (yes I am a Gleek!), I really didn't have time.

Yesterday turned to be a bit of a frazzling day. I was scheduled to work a 1/2 day as a roving sub. During my first rove out of three, the secretary came to my room and asked if I could sub in the afternoon for a teacher feeling ill. She offered this to me over the other 3 subs in the building, and I can always use the extra money and it was for a class I enjoy, so I said yes. This also meant I now had to buy school lunch, and thankfully I carry $3 in my name tag holder in case of emergency like this.

My options were pizza or yogurt and a bagel, and I opted for the latter and also made a large salad.

Now my roving was fun. I had 2 kinders and 1 5th. The first kinders were really cute except I had a cryer and a kid that needs lots of direction. Like you have to shut the door or he may go out, kind of direction lol.

My second kinder class was prepped for me, they knew I was coming. Their teacher is my friend so she told them about me. As I was helping a group, I swore I heard a kid say something about 'T' (well he could have been talking about tea, lol). Then I heard another. The silly kiddos had dropped the Ms. and were just calling me T! Haahaha. So one kiddo goes, "Hey T! Can I have some help please?" Oh how cute.

And then same class, we had snack. The school provides it and yesterday was cauliflower.  So I asked the kids what they thought it was. I had guesses and answers from broccoli to grapes!!!!!!! All of them tried it and a few asked for more.

And I also finished my tutu!! I finished it the same day I started hehe. I didn't take step by step pics but I can explain it too (plus videos on youtube). Oh and it is NO SEW!

You'll need ribbon or elastic band for the waist (I picked ribbon), at least 5 yds in tulle any color (I had 3 yds of 4 colors but then again I'm not a small kiddo hehe), and scissors and measuring tape/ruler.

I took the ribbon and measured around my waist. Where it met, both sides got a knot. Leave some ribbon hanging past the knot too, just in case, like a few inches.

Take the tulle you want and roll it long, don't fold, just roll so it's like a tube. Easiest thing to do it on is teh floor, but a table works. Cut off the ends so they are even.

I did that in the above photo. Then I cut every 4 inches. Once you have cut the whole thing. You can do one of two things. If you want a long tutu like I did, don't cut anything else. If you want a shorter tutu, like above the knee, then take your strips you just cut, and cut them in 1/2.

Then you take your strips and you tie them on your band. This is hard for me to explain in text kind of lol. You take your strip, fold it in 1/2 so you have a hole on top, put it on the band/ribbon to the left of your knot, and pull the tails through the hole and pull so you have a knot.

Repeat with the rest of the strips. If you have different colors, do at least 3 of one color before switching to the next. That way it stands out more. Do this until either your waist band is full or if you do the ribbon, that your ribbon is filled knot to knot.

Here are my colors:

Red, black, white, and pink

I also choose to embelish a bit and I used ribbon between my color switches. So I took 3 pink tulle strips, then a purple ribbon, 3 black tulle strips, a purple ribbon, etc. After I did 4 colors, I put a pink ribbon to switch things up. Online, I've seen tutus with ribbons, rhinestones, stars, bows, etc. I like how the ribbon adds to it.

And here is the finished product:

I know it looks like a big thing of tulle lol. But you can see the red, black, white and kind of pink. I also chose not to trim the ends of my finished tutu. I like that some strips are longer/shorter, but you can do what you like. I'll try to get a pic of it on me, but you at least get an idea from here.

I love it! It's poofy, it's fun, colorful, and best of all, I made it myself! I also left the ribbon hang about 3 inches of each side of the knot so I can tie to make a cute bow. I picked just a white satin ribbon for my waistband.

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Crafty...

So my whole today and tomorrow got cut to a 1/2 day each. Which is better than getting scrapped altogether. And I was in a roving job, 3 classes today. 2 kinder and 1 4th grade. The kinders were so cute, as I was their first sub. And how embarrassing was it when my cell rang? I forgot to turn it off. Thankfully my main tune is ABC, 123 (school related :)) and they all giggled.

So after work, I was able to run to the store. I bought my tulle and ribbon. I went a bit crazy with ribbon and bought one for the waist and 3 for the dangling for more accessory. The main one was 2 bucks and the 3 small were 97 cents.

Then I got four kinds of tulle: black, white, red, and pink. And 3 yards of each came to a total of 14 dollars. So yes, my total was about 20 bucks. Now the cheapest tutu online was 20 bucks, not including shipping. And mine will be the length I want, the colors I want, and how I want. Plus I'll have the satisfaction of making it. So I have save a lot of money truly, considering the 60-80 dollar tutus.

Plus I'll have ribbon left over for other stuff yay. And as I looked at the tulle, a lightbulb went off. I've seen those tent stuff that teachers have in their library area that I think they got from Ikea. But you could totally make one yourself! Get the tulle you want, wooden hoop frame that you use for sewing, and then little decals or whatever you want to add. How cute would that be?

I promise I'll post pics as I make my tutu with instructions. If I have enough left over, I may make my friend one for her little girl who is OBSESSED with 'baway' (ballet). She'll even do a little pose for you if you ask hehe :D

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Oooh la la!

I am going to make a tutu! Yes a tutu!

I need one for my Halloween outfit for my friend's annual party. It'll complete my outfit...which will be a secret until the party and then I'll let you all know hehe (though I highly doubt any of you show up to the party hahaha). I've got bits and pieces for the costume and now have the top, make up, shoes, accessories...I'm so excited!

Oh I've got so many ideas going in my head now. I'll have to decide on what color(s) for the tutu. I'm leaning toward black and red...maybe white....or red, white, and pink...ahhhhhh so many choices lol.

But I watched a video online and it's sooo easy to make. Just need ribbon or elastic band for the waist, scissors, measuring tape, and tulle. That's seriously it. And to think I was about to shell out at least $20 for a tutu when I can make one for cheaper. Some tutus are selling on etsy for up to $80! I know I won't spend more than $20 so I'm saving money no matter what, plus it'll be my design and size exactly!

Oh gosh I'm so excited I want to go shopping for ribbon and tulle right now lol. I see a trip to the Dollar Tree (for ribbon) and Wal-mart (for tulle) in my VERY near future. This week for sure.

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Applie pie gum is yum!

I love, love, love Extra Dessert Delight's Apple Pie gum! Seriously tastes like apple pie in my mouth :D
They have other flavors. Chocolate chip mint is pretty good and strawberry shortcake. They have key lime, but I'm not a huge fan.

Here's a little thing I whipped up that you can put in your sub folder/binder. I know for me it's helpful when I get this info. I love knowing if there are special signals the teacher uses, the helpful students, and the students I need to keep a closer eye on. I'm not going to instantly assume they are 'bad' but just know they may need more of my attention. Knowing that has helped me in the past.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Q4jZZ9YgNS18ktPFWjIUBC5mIdnyUOF7lNmVPOIoDfs/edit?hl=en_US

Still don't know how to do the darn pic for it instead of the ugly link hehe.

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Friday :)

Yay it's Friday!  I don't know why I say it like that since I only worked 2 days this week lol. But today's class, land sakes, was nuts. Well actually it was during SLD/ELD time. So technically not my kids. But I had 30, and they were 2nd and 3rd grade and loud.

What made me smile was throughout the day I saw students I subbed for from the last few years and a few came up to hug me.  One remembered a book I read last year, down to the characters. Wow, must have made an impression on that little one lol. That makes me glad I bring my own books, ones the teacher might not necessarily have.

 And one other kiddo was part of a set of triplets. All 3 were then together and excited to see me. Wow they have grown. And yes, they are all identical and they all wear the same clothing. Talk about a nightmare. I remember in kinder they each had a colored necklace they had to wear.

Oktoberfest too this weekend. It's a big deal here. I think we are the largest this side of the Mississippi. Trying to think of what I should do for a freebie....it's been awhile since I've done one and I'm due for it. Just still have to figure out how to put a pic of the document too lol. I'm thinking something sub related....

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The Waiting Game

This is my least favorite part of being a sub, the waiting for a phone call. Yes, I get up every morning, whether or not I have a job lined up or not. I try to get ready as if I have a job, though like today, I haven't hadn't had breakfast yet or gotten dressed, still in pajamas lol. (I've had breakfast now though!)

I love it when I already have jobs lined up because then I know and don't have to sit there, wondering, feeling anxious. It makes me laugh though when I think about a conversation I had with a sub last year. She said that if she hasn't been called for the next day by the night before, she shuts off her phone and sleeps in. That may be fine for her, but honestly, she's missing out on a ton of work. Last year, I would have to say half my work was made by being called in the morning. So far, this year, it's all been requests which I much prefer because I know in advance. But by her limiting herself that much, almost makes me wonder if she would rather stay home than work.

Or maybe she doesn't work that much any way. I just know that the last 4 years, I've been incredibly busy. I can remember looking at my calendar and had a full month. I think there was a point where I almost had 2 full months. I don't mean to knock her down at all in anyway, it just astonished me when she told me that.

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The pain of beauty

So I have these incredibly cute flats and I think I've only worn them once. Now I remember why. They hurt my feet. Thank goodness I only subbed a half day. I do have two blisters now, one on each heel. I guess I can only wear those if I have socks, not nylons on. But darn it they are cute! I guess we suffer to look cute/pretty/beautiful ;)

My little guy in class (the prostitute teacher kiddo *see last blog or last 2 blogs lol*) was so excited this morning. He told me I'm his first sub ever and he was so ecstatic. Pretty easy morning. They write and draw 3 pages. First page they wrote what a bird eats, what all birds have, and what they live in and drew a simple, but cute bird. Second page they did the who, what, where ,when, why and made a sentence and drew a bird again. The last page they wrote why birds have nests and drew a bird in a tree and a nest. It comes from some book the teacher has. I do one everyone time I sub for her lol.  Off the top of my head I've done a truck, robot, elephant, dog, cat, and now this.

I also had specials and then lunch but I was going to eat at home for lunch since it was  a half day and went to the office to see if they needed me. They didn't but said to go out to recess duty. So I watched the kinders. One hugged me and I've never seen her before ever lol.

I also got a 2 day roving job for Monday and Tuesday and a requested 3rd grade job next Thursday (from a teacher I've never subbed for!) so 3 days next week. Last week was all booked, this week one day so far, next week is three days, and two the week after that. Slowly but surely, my calendar is starting to fill up!

 Sometimes I wonder how teachers request me if I've never subbed for them but one time, last year, a new teacher told me she asked around the school and no matter who she asked, they all said me. That just warms my insides all up hehehe :D

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Productive day so far...

It's been a productive Monday so far and not even noon (for me) yet! Of course getting up super early in case I get a job helps too. I did get a job request for tomorrow and tried not to laugh. It's in the class where my friend's foster son said he was going to have a prostitute teacher. I bet the teacher was preparing them last week! Can't wait til I see the look on his face when he recognizes me.

Also I went to the district office and showed them my renewed teacher's license and so I'm officially all clear and good to go. Stopped by the library and dropped off my books and got some new ones. Though I'm in the middle of one I bought and also am reading a chapter a day from Ron Clark's The End of Molasses Classes. When I finish that, it's on to The Book Whisperer...if I can find where I put it after I brought it with me camping and didn't get a chance to read lol.

Managed to clean a bit of the house to. So yes, not even noon and very productive!

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Saturday Family Time

Well today was our bi-yearly clean up for the city my dad used to work for and the city I sub in. We cleaned up a stretch of the highway. And just like in March, I was not disappointed with the 'finds'. I found a shirt, 2 different socks, metal art that was broken, a metal fork, plastic utensils, a condom, an empty condom box, and a dead squirrel. Which I told the public works dudes to pick up lol.

We have to watch a video before going out. If there is 'icky stuff' aka dead animals, diapers, condoms, and drug stuff, the public works people deal with it. We just flag it lol.

Also I have a funny story. My friend Liz has a foster kiddo. He's cute and very blunt. No filter on mouth. So she told me yesterday that he comes home from school (new school for him and he's second grade) kind of excited. So Liz asks him about his day. And he says, "Well our teacher said some day we might get a prostitute teacher!"

Oh my goodness! I just about burst out laughing and I'm sure Liz had to hold hit back as she told the little dude that it is a subsitute, not prostitute. That's one thing I've never been called before!

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Friday, Friday!

I survived my 3 days in the same class :) It helped that in the afternoon, one of my highly spirited kids who gets the others going, was absent. Makes a WORLD of difference.

I do have to say, before I go any further, that at that school, there are some very awesome and polite students. Three days in a row kiddos held open the door for me into the main building, sometimes up to 3 kids a day! And I held one open for a kiddo and they thanked me! Talk about awesome kiddos. Wish I would have had an Eagle Feather on hand (PBIS) to give out.

Today in the afternoon, while they were munching on their afternoon snack (school grant, every class has fresh fruit or veggie for a snack each day for the year) of apples, I did an art lesson the teacher wanted me to. And they voted between a fish and a dragon and dragon barely won by 2 points.  And I must say mine was not too shabby and theirs turned out so cute.

I'll post it as soon as Snapfish recieves it... well who knows how long as it's been a few minutes and I really want my ice cream lol. I'll edit my post later to include it because I think it turned out great and for my first time too!

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Is it Friday yet?

Sheesh I'm pooped. I don't know if it's the extra 1/2 hour I have to be there, the full day of work and not lounging, my wild   spirited children I'm subbing for, or the getting up early, but I've been exhausted this week.

Today was interesting. Mind you I'm in second grade for three days, so that's always interesting lol. I had one kid cry because someone wouldn't share. I had another kddo sing 'Party Rock' but only sang the 'Everyday I'm shufflin'" verse. I had a girl come in from outside recess (we have 90 degree weather, not normal for us this time of year) and she said, "Ah the classroom feels so refreshing". All us teachers are thankful for the A/C!

I also had to put someone on the wall outside at recess for a few minutes. When asking him why did he think I  put him there, "Because you just did" was my response. I chatted with him about how I don't place kids on the wall for no reason and finally he said, "I was bad" and I said well what did you do to be on the wall. Finally he said, "Well I was loud, rude, and threw something." Now that would have been so much easier to say in the first place!

Now I don't know if it is because it is the second week, or that the teacher hasn't had much time, or because she was in kinder and now in second but the room is sparse! Not much color. And the CAFE wall is a bit blah, not to be rude. The teacher next door was trying to spruce hers up so I recommended some blogging sites :D She got so excited, she hadn't thought about that at all.

Now one activity this teacher did I love. She had the kiddos cut their names out of magazines, or rather the letters for their names.

Aren't they cute? The make adorable name tags. You can use them for all sorts of things like their desks, or drawing names to call on students. I don't know how the teacher will use them, but I know that personally, I'd use these to put with their work or art work that is displayed on the walls. 

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Whew

Whew for I am tired and whew for it's hot! 90's all week. Now summer decided to come lol. So my 'kindergarteners' turned out to be second graders. That was good/bad. Good because this would only be their 3rd full day of kinder (they split the classes 3 days last week and Friday was the first full day). And good because they'd still be crying, lost, and helpless. Bad because I love kinders. And I love teaching kinder.

My kids today were good. Well it was also late start *every Wednesday* and so my morning class was only an hour and half or so. They were cute... "We heard you are here for 3 weeks!" Well sorry to dissapoint, it's only 3 days lol. And one kid was ecstatic because he transferred schools and said he knew me from his old school.

My afternoon class is squirrely. They are going to drive me nuts the next two days. I'll have to figure out how to reward them for good behavior til Friday...

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I survived!

Well I got a call this morning for a half day. It was for a Resource teacher and I had lunch duty, a first grade class, and lots of copies and writing letters to do. Now I have to prepare myself for a kinder class for the rest of the week. The poor teacher's mother died and she said she only trusts me with her kids.

I'm scared as this was the kinders first real day of school. T/W/Thurs last week they were split up and Friday they all came together. She warned me they are squirelly and has bribes treats for me to hand out in case. And she said I can use them all. My bag is loaded up with stickers and I'll grab a few books. Plus they have PBIS (positive behavior interventions and support) and they have special one papers for subs as it's on golden paper. They are the Eagles and so they are called Eagle Feathers. Regular teachers have white ones but subs give out golden ones so they are more special.

Wish me luck (I'll need it!)

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Vacation over...

I just got back from camping. Awesome weather! Sun and sun and more sun! And 90 degree weather.

I went boating and swimming. First day in the lake and wiped out my knee so I didn't go tubing, which is a bit of a bummer but everyone that went tubing rubbed their arms raw so that is maybe a good thing I didn't go.

My favorite time was at night, around the campfire with all my friends. I got lots of snuggle time with my friends' 2 year old who is blonde and blue eyed and a silly girl.

And now, while laundry is going and I unpacked, I'm trying to catch up with my 60 (eek!) e-mails, Facebook and blogs and saw I was named as a top 10 blogs on the Sub Hub blog! I'm so thrilled and honored! Thanks :)

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