Day 4: Monkey Bread

Ever since I've moved to Colorado I have avoided cooking.  Instead I do real quick recipes that you can make from a box.  That is until about a month ago.  I friend of mine had me over for dinner and watching her cook and bake inspired me I guess.  Last night I made this monkey bread for my school potluck (well Karie and I got into half of it ;).  It was amazingly easy I couldn't even believe it...almost too easy!

Day 3 - Sunday Funday

Sunday night after church some of our small group went out of pizza.  It was great fun to be with friends to kick off summer!  This is Erin (photo credit Lauren Kerr) who has become a great friend! I'm going to miss her dearly when I'm home for a month, but I'm excited to be back in Iowa for a while.

Day 2: Moving Day

Double pictures today - well really from yesterday!  We helped friends move from the Denver Seminary to the Highlands neighborhood.  Claire (on the right) is almost 7 months pregnant so was taking it easy by wheeling herself from room to room on the dolly. ;)  Lauren, below, decided it would be great to wear a sword for the day.  Many poises were attempted before this one seemed just right.

Day 1: Year of Pictures and Last day of school

So I was looking at a friend who did a year of pictures on her blog...everyday one picture with a caption.  I liked the idea so I'm going to try it for two reasons: 1. I'm not good a taking pictures...I just forget 2. It's my first day of summer so I need something to work on.  I realize I will probably fail pretty fast but I'm excited none the less to try this task and see how I do.  So here goes nothing....

Here is 3/4ths of the 5th grade team and two of my favorite people in the world!  Michelle is on the left in black and has been an amazing mentor this year for me!  Kate has been my sidekick when she wasn't on maternity leave...sad to say we won't be struggling through year 2 together but I'm excited for here to experience a whole new world of teaching in Colorado Springs!  These two have been more than just co-workers they are good friends!

Ps. My face is bright red because we took a field trip to the park yesterday and I got BURNT...this Colorado sun!

I miss this little boy

This little guy is who I spent all summer with...I took this video the weekend before I left for Colorado...just before he turned 2 years old.  Try to guess what his favorite word is!  At least it can be used against him later in life. ; )

Journal from Wednesday

October 19, 2011

            Ah, Wednesdays!  Today my goal was to leave work by 4:30.  I left work laughing because I honestly couldn’t believe what happened after school today.  My students were terrible today.  The whole school had junior achievement all day.  That poor shmuck that got placed in my room not only had to put up with my kids but he also was the only one who didn’t have a teaching partner.

            I had big plans for this day without having to teach.  Did I get anything done? No I didn’t!  My plans for getting ahead came down getting 4 slides done for vocabulary tomorrow.  If only my students didn’t have to constantly be babysat.

            During one of the afternoon sessions I was walking around and noticed one of them kept sticking his head in his sweatshirt and his arms weren’t in his arm holes.  He saw me and put his shirt on right.  Then I noticed that there was something in the front of his jacket.  I asked him what it was.  “Nothing Miss.”  “Boy, I can see there is something in your shirt give it to me.”  He pulls out his PSP.  “Really?  Really?  You are playing video games while we have a guest speaker?”  I wrote him a referral.  No electronics are allowed in school.

            My students aren’t allowed to sit in groups.  I tried it for a week and it was a nightmare!  However, for Junior Achievement they had to be in groups to do the activities.  While they were supposed to be playing a game I have a boy pull me in hall and tell me two other boys are calling him gay.  So I pull them ALL out into the hall to get to the end of it.  Neither will confess, each one says it was the other one.  I’ve got nothing.  I end up splitting up the three boys into different groups.

            I finally get a break from my kids at the end of the day and have a half hour to call a parent so that I can keep one of my students for 15 minutes after school and fill out 25 behavior sheets to send home.  Also I’m expected to sign their certificates for the day.  Not going to happen.  On top of it all it is also one of my students’ birthdays and so there is cake waiting for my horribly behaved students.  This all has to be passed out in the 3 minutes after specials…yeah right!

            I go and pick up my kids.  The mom I had called during specials shows up to talk to me.  As my kids are getting cake I turn around to find 2 of my students smacking each other.  My first fight as a teacher and it occurs in the classroom.  All at once I am ordering kids to sit down.  One of the students that owed me time after class leaves.  I run outside and yell for him to get back here!  A parent is waiting to talk to me.  I have to keep the two fighters apart and fill out two red referrals for fighting.  My two fighters are handling it totally different.  One is bawling and asking if I can give him another chance. I will now refer to him as the crying fighter.  “No I can’t give you another chance!  Punching is not allowed!”  My other one is asking if he can go home.  “NO you cannot go home!  YOU JUST GOT INTO A FIGHT!  Are you serious?!  You aren’t going anywhere!”

            I couldn’t even think there was so much going on around me!  Kate my teammate heard my yelling, came into my room, and asked if there was anything she could do.  I told her just to stand at the door and don’t leave me.  Jesse, another teammate, came in and asked if he could take anyone.  I had him take my crying fighter.  I quickly shooed the rest of the children out of my class so that I could talk to the parent and deal with my fighters.

            I talked to the parent, who only speaks Spanish.  I mostly spoke to the older son who then translated for his mother.  I explained that I had to redirect her son too much during the day so he owed me time.  It’s a standard consequence.  She asked to speak to our assistant principal.  So I walked down with her taking my fleeing fighter with me.  I walked into the office.  My principal is standing there and I hand her the two red referrals.

            She sends my fleeing fighter on his way with directions to report to the office in the morning for in school suspension. (This was his second fight in 2 days.  YIKES!)  I begin to cry out of frustration and being just plain overwhelmed by what just occurred in my classroom and now in the office.

In the mean time the mother I had talked to and my assistant principal walk into the office.  My vice principal explains that the mother wants her son to be moved to a different class.  There have been about 10 request from students and parents in my class for this already.  My principal will not budge on this issue.  They are just going to have to put up with me, whether they like it or not. 

The mother claims her son has not had behavior problems until now.  My principal tells her that’s a lie and he was sent back to Central from another school because he was too much a behavior issue.  I go through the day with this boy as my principal counts how many redirections I had to give him…we get to twelve.  Finally the parents admit they need help with him and we end the meeting by signing him up for counseling.

In the meantime my fleeing fighter and his grandmother appear outside of the office waiting their turn for a chance at me.  Begin round two!  So grandma and grandson come in.  Grandma points her finger at me and begins to say, “She doesn’t know that while the sub was there that crying fighter threw scissors at fleeing fighter and he had a cut on his face!”  WHOA! Who knew it was ok to revenge fight?  This lady obviously!  Then my vice principal steps in and informs the grandma that his is a different boy by the same first name.  So grandma settles down.

While my principals are talking to her, the crying fighter’s mom shows up.  We have her wait outside of the office while I go and find her child.  I left him with Jesse and haven’t seen him since.  I go to Jesse’s room and he is sitting at a desk.  I thank Jesse for his help and inform crying fighter that his mother is there and he can come down to the office with me. 

We get to the office.  He and his mother sit outside as we finish up with Grandma and fleeing fighter.  They finally leave and so begins round 3 for the evening.  Crying fighter recounts the fight events where he claims he didn’t hit fleeing fighter.  “Crying Fighter, I…saw…you…hit…fleeing fighter…back!  You and I both know you have trouble owning your behavior!”  He also gets in school suspension for the next day.

I walk back to my classroom in disbelief of what just went down.  I just went three rounds with parents.  It’s after 5 o’clock and I’ve been in the office dealing with parents for an hour and a half.  I am suppose to be home by now!  So I pack up and head out before round four can come my way!

Teaching the teacher

So if you haven't heard....
1. I got a job.
2. I moved to Colorado.
3. It's the most challenging thing I've ever done!

So on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 I had an interview for a 5th grade position in Commerce City, Colorado.  I had already interviewed with the principal and didn't really think I would get the job so I had taken a sub job that whole day and got home 20 minutes before my interview started! AH!  Anyway, they must have been impressed with something I said because on Thursday, September 22, 2011 I got a call that I got the job and prepared to move to Denver, Colorado!

On Saturday, September 24th I packed up my Ford Escape and escaped to Colorado!  I am now living in a spare room with very gracious, newly married friends in Englewood (which is a suburb of Denver) and making the 20 minute to 1 hour commute to Commerce City and back. My life lately has been full of changes and challenges.

My Job
I am taking over for a teacher who quit a month in to accept a position with the Denver Fire Department.  He didn't get paid for his last 2 weeks of school because he broke is contract.  So beside the fact that this district is a hard place to serve, my students haven't really had a teacher for 3 1/2 weeks.  (They had subs for 1 1/2 weeks.  I say subs because the first sub they had quite :S)  Anyway my kids haven't had much in the way of structure, rules, consequences for their actions/disrespect, etc, etc, etc.

My job is hard.  I came into a mess...and have felt the effects deeply.  I have been putting in 12-14 hour days to set up my classroom, figure out the school expectations of teachers, and figure out ways to best serve my kids.  I have gotten notes from my kids that say things like: "To Ms. McCasland, WE ALL HATE YOU!"  I have had parents tell me I'm not as personable as their child's last teacher and I am just plain strict. I have been told by my students they are moving classrooms because they don't like me.  I have to point out to them that every other 5th grade classroom has the same expectations as ours does.

It's been exhausting emotionally and physically.  It's hard to go to work when you know that the 25 little people that you spend all day with are going to test you in every way that they can.  There have been points in the last week and a half that I have just been sitting in my classroom asking myself, "How did I get here?  Why in the world did I take this job?  Can I really survive until tomorrow?! Until May?"

THE TRUTH!
My first day of my job I threw up because of altitude sickness, my first day with kids I cried from about 2:50 when I dropped my kids off at specials to about 6:00pm.  On my own I can't survive the day or the week or the month or the year!  There would be no way! The truth is that I have to give God control of my life, of my classroom, of everything! God had definitely orchestrated this experience for me and has put so many blessings into this situation.

My Team
The other 5th grade teachers are such a blessing and I really don't know that I would be able to come to work without them.  They are so willing to help me whenever they can and we get along so great!  I am so, so encouraged and grateful for them everyday! They have been so patient with me as I cry, ask what am I suppose to do now?, and just need so much support!

My Roomies
Ha! Sky and Abbey have taken me in and let me sleep on their air mattress until I find somewhere else to hunker down.  So funny that it took until after Abbey was married and moved to Colorado for us to be roommates.  Sky is also so great and really should win an award because Abbey works in the same district as me and if I don't come home crying she does.  A living in the same house as stressed, emotion women award...goes to...Sky Paxton.  With so many things that is ALL NEW it is so nice to have such good friends.

Church
So after I had interviewed for a job out here the first time Abbey had texted me and told me they had found a church they absolutely LOVED and thought I would love too!  So coming out I had thought about it and really was feeling excited about going to this church but unsure if it was ok to just go to a church and not look around first.

My first night at Park Church I knew it was for me!  Awesome message and just wonderful people who wanted to invite me into the community that was being established.  ALSO, I know 2 other couples BESIDES Abbey & Sky/Lauren & Stephen that go to this church.  They were team leaders at Snow Mountain Ranch (Navigator Summer Training Program) when I was a team member.  I was blown away!

Community Group
So through Park Church they do what's called Community Groups.  Pretty much it is a small group that meets to eat dinner, talk about the sermon the weekend before and share our lives.  It has been the biggest blessing and have felt so cared for by these people who I've known for a meager 2 weeks!  I reallly believe that God had set up this community for me to come into because he knew I would need it, He knew I would need to be encouraged!

What God's Been Teaching me Lately:
So in church we have been going through Hebrews.  Last week we talked about Hebrews 3:1-6 and how Jesus is the builder of all things.  I'm going to give the short version but after communion on Sunday our pastor got back up and asked "What are you putting your confidence in? Is it Jesus or is it anything else?"  The truth is that my confidence has been going down, down, down lately.  I lived at home all summer and school started and I hadn't even had a call for an interview!  Not much to boost confidence in yourself.  Then tack on a job where you have no control and you have some low confidence.
After my first day with kids I was praying on my way to school about my kids.  Not really having the confidence that God would answer my prayers.  I ended up having a great Thursday and Friday.  I've been realizing it's not bad to have no confidence in myself because I forces me to have confidence in Jesus.  It forces me to recognize his rule in my life and even if the don't know it, my students' lives.

 I praise God for he has placed me in a situation of growth, a situation of total reliance on Him!