The calendar officially says that it's fall, as does the weather. Had to go out early this morning to start the car so that it could warm up, and the frost could melt. This is my favorite time of the year. There's enough of a chill in the air that bundling up is wonderful, but it's not completely and totally frigid every time you walk outside. The leaves are ablaze with color (making me miss Houghton more and less at the same time), and driving around time makes me remember why I love fall. It is truly my favorite season.
Updates on the rest of life...
This past Sunday marked 6 months for Ben and me. The momentous holiday was celebrated with my Packers winning (and his Seahawks), pizza, and watching Big Bang Theory on DVD. In general, a very relaxing day, mostly because I've been sick. I actually went to the doctor yesterday, and she did not make much sense ("I think it's viral, so here's an antibiotic"), but I am hoping that I got the right stuff that will help me kick whatever this is. Here's to hoping!
School's going pretty darn well. We're three weeks out from the first concert, and the students are sufficiently worried to practice all weekend (and really sufficiently prepared that we will be fine). My Beginning Band can now play 5 notes, though the true test will be next Thursday - we'll see how much they can accomplish on their own. It's going to become very important, because I see them on Thursday and Friday every week, which gives them plenty of time to either practice or forget. We'll see...
Physical Science has done three labs so far, and we have our first test on Tuesday. I have to make up a review worksheet this weekend, but the test is already done. Thankfully the worksheet shouldn't take too long - I'll get that done on Sunday after my Packers destroy the Broncos.
In short, other than being sick, things are going pretty darn well. It's a good year, and I'm working to try to keep up a social life on top of all the classes (oh yeah, and the biggest Drama, Debate and Forensics team in a while... with a tournament 3 weeks from today). Yay for being busy!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Fall is in the air!
The temperature is starting to drop and the leaves are starting to change - fall just may be my favorite season. It's nice to be able to wear sweaters and watch movies nestled under blankets. There's a chill in the air, although I have to say that the afternoons and early evenings are still warm enough that I tend to leave my jacket behind.
Things seem to be settling down into a routine as everything gets going. I started 5th and 6th grade band at one of the elementary schools this week, and it's going pretty well so far. Parents may not like me so much - all we learned this week was how to squeak/squawk/siren on our mouthpieces (depending on the instrument), however on Thursday we'll learn how to put all of our instruments together. Then they'll be making all sorts of wonderful other noises for their parents to love.
In other band news, my middle school and high school bands are amazing me. My 7th graders played through an entire song yesterday, so we're moving onto harder music this week. My 8th graders have played through (at slow tempos) two of the songs we're going to do for the concert. My high schoolers read through two songs that are grade 4 or so that we may end up doing for the concert, we'll see. I'm so proud of the work that they've put in to get to where they are.
Physical Science is going pretty well. This week is "Adopt-An-Element", which also means that I'll have more planning time with my co-teacher while the students are working on the computer. I'm excited for all of the different things that I'm going to be able to do with this class, and having more planning time will definitely be nice.
Drama, Debate and Forensics looks like it's going to be a great year. I've got to make up a few more information packets - the 25 that I copied to begin with are gone and I've had others ask questions about getting the packets, so I need to copy those. It's going to be a big team this year, which means that it's going to be a lot of fun. Crazy, and super busy, but fun.
I don't have much of a life other than that, at the moment. Spending time relaxing when I'm able, but I do like staying pretty busy. Supposedly, it keeps me out of trouble.
Things seem to be settling down into a routine as everything gets going. I started 5th and 6th grade band at one of the elementary schools this week, and it's going pretty well so far. Parents may not like me so much - all we learned this week was how to squeak/squawk/siren on our mouthpieces (depending on the instrument), however on Thursday we'll learn how to put all of our instruments together. Then they'll be making all sorts of wonderful other noises for their parents to love.
In other band news, my middle school and high school bands are amazing me. My 7th graders played through an entire song yesterday, so we're moving onto harder music this week. My 8th graders have played through (at slow tempos) two of the songs we're going to do for the concert. My high schoolers read through two songs that are grade 4 or so that we may end up doing for the concert, we'll see. I'm so proud of the work that they've put in to get to where they are.
Physical Science is going pretty well. This week is "Adopt-An-Element", which also means that I'll have more planning time with my co-teacher while the students are working on the computer. I'm excited for all of the different things that I'm going to be able to do with this class, and having more planning time will definitely be nice.
Drama, Debate and Forensics looks like it's going to be a great year. I've got to make up a few more information packets - the 25 that I copied to begin with are gone and I've had others ask questions about getting the packets, so I need to copy those. It's going to be a big team this year, which means that it's going to be a lot of fun. Crazy, and super busy, but fun.
I don't have much of a life other than that, at the moment. Spending time relaxing when I'm able, but I do like staying pretty busy. Supposedly, it keeps me out of trouble.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Year 3!
So, it's onto Year 3 of teaching. And here... we... go.
Though first, I suppose I should recap the summer. At some point, I'll likely find my camera cord and then I can upload pictures for the stories, but until then, words shall have to do. The summer started off with a blast. I got to spend two weeks up in Kenai going to an Orff Schulwerk Music Training. Orff is a way of teaching music (starts in elementary, but can be applied to secondary as well) that utilizes speech and movement and improvisation, as well as the "traditional" ways of teaching music. We got to do all sorts of crazy things, and it was such a blast to be with people who have the same passions I do.
Next, my parents came up for a week. It was a rather jam-packed week - Farmer's Market, exploring all over Homer, Seward Glacier Cruise, a bit of time in Anchorage - a total blast. It was really great to get them up here and see how amazing it all is. They also got to meet Ben (who I'm not sure I wrote about before, but it's been 5.5 months now, so I think it's safe to say that he's a pretty awesome guy) as well as Ben's parents. It was a lot of fun to have them up here, and I know that they also enjoyed it.
After they left, I had about a week and a half and then I headed back to the Midwest. I had 6 weeks Outside (of Alaska) but only spent 17 days in Houghton. I went to Door County and Green Bay with Mom, Downstate with Dad (one of the Michigan Volleyball Coaches of the Year, got to watch him coach at the All-State Clinic), to Peoria with Mom to visit Jenn (and the family friends that she lives with), out to Los Angeles for 5 days, to Seattle for 2, and then back to Alaska. It was a pretty whirlwind trip, but I had a lot of fun. I did nanny just a little bit - was good to see the kiddos (though they're not so much kiddos anymore, as Alex is entering his junior year of high school on Tuesday).
I've been back in Alaska for a little under three weeks. I got back just in time to start my inservices, and then head off into teaching! This year my schedule is a bit different. It goes a little something like this.
0: HS Jazz Band (aka before school starts)
1: Physical Science
3: 8th Grade Band
4: 7th Grade Band
6: HS Symphonic Band
7 (2 days a week): 5/6 Grade Band
Add Drama, Debate and Forensics (parent meeting next Tuesday!) and extra help lessons on top of that, as well as possibly the community band, and it's going to be a pretty crazy school year for me. I'm excited about it, once I get it all figured out - especially the Physical Science.
Yep, teaching that. There weren't tons of kids who signed up for drama, and the Chemistry classes were gigantic, so I'm taking a Physical Science class from the teacher, and he's going to get to teach an extra Chemistry class that way. Thank goodness for my dad and Mr. Schwaller, who I'm sure are going to come in handy while I'm prepping for all of my classes. Thankfully we're starting with the Chemistry-portion of Physical Science, so I think I'm pretty set for that. I'm excited to see if I'm good at this - I want these kids to really enjoy science and see all of the fun that they can have with it.
It's Labor Day weekend - so that means I must labor, right? ;-) I know I'm going to be at the school for a bit this weekend, especially since Ben is off hunting for moose near Fairbanks. There's also HHS football tomorrow (though no pep band), going out to see a play at Pier One, and trying to be relatively social. I'm working to find just the right balance of me and work, though I love my job so it's okay for me to spend some time there.
Anyway, it's almost bed time. For those of you who knew me in college, it's crazy - I've turned into an "early to bed" person. I start getting tired at about 10, and if I'm not in bed by 11, I really shouldn't be operating a car (or really doing much of anything). I'd promise to update more, but I'd hate to break the promise if it doesn't work out, so we'll go with I shall try to update more about what's going on, and get better about taking pictures (and finding my camera cord) so that you all can see the absolutely amazing place that I live in!
Though first, I suppose I should recap the summer. At some point, I'll likely find my camera cord and then I can upload pictures for the stories, but until then, words shall have to do. The summer started off with a blast. I got to spend two weeks up in Kenai going to an Orff Schulwerk Music Training. Orff is a way of teaching music (starts in elementary, but can be applied to secondary as well) that utilizes speech and movement and improvisation, as well as the "traditional" ways of teaching music. We got to do all sorts of crazy things, and it was such a blast to be with people who have the same passions I do.
Next, my parents came up for a week. It was a rather jam-packed week - Farmer's Market, exploring all over Homer, Seward Glacier Cruise, a bit of time in Anchorage - a total blast. It was really great to get them up here and see how amazing it all is. They also got to meet Ben (who I'm not sure I wrote about before, but it's been 5.5 months now, so I think it's safe to say that he's a pretty awesome guy) as well as Ben's parents. It was a lot of fun to have them up here, and I know that they also enjoyed it.
After they left, I had about a week and a half and then I headed back to the Midwest. I had 6 weeks Outside (of Alaska) but only spent 17 days in Houghton. I went to Door County and Green Bay with Mom, Downstate with Dad (one of the Michigan Volleyball Coaches of the Year, got to watch him coach at the All-State Clinic), to Peoria with Mom to visit Jenn (and the family friends that she lives with), out to Los Angeles for 5 days, to Seattle for 2, and then back to Alaska. It was a pretty whirlwind trip, but I had a lot of fun. I did nanny just a little bit - was good to see the kiddos (though they're not so much kiddos anymore, as Alex is entering his junior year of high school on Tuesday).
I've been back in Alaska for a little under three weeks. I got back just in time to start my inservices, and then head off into teaching! This year my schedule is a bit different. It goes a little something like this.
0: HS Jazz Band (aka before school starts)
1: Physical Science
3: 8th Grade Band
4: 7th Grade Band
6: HS Symphonic Band
7 (2 days a week): 5/6 Grade Band
Add Drama, Debate and Forensics (parent meeting next Tuesday!) and extra help lessons on top of that, as well as possibly the community band, and it's going to be a pretty crazy school year for me. I'm excited about it, once I get it all figured out - especially the Physical Science.
Yep, teaching that. There weren't tons of kids who signed up for drama, and the Chemistry classes were gigantic, so I'm taking a Physical Science class from the teacher, and he's going to get to teach an extra Chemistry class that way. Thank goodness for my dad and Mr. Schwaller, who I'm sure are going to come in handy while I'm prepping for all of my classes. Thankfully we're starting with the Chemistry-portion of Physical Science, so I think I'm pretty set for that. I'm excited to see if I'm good at this - I want these kids to really enjoy science and see all of the fun that they can have with it.
It's Labor Day weekend - so that means I must labor, right? ;-) I know I'm going to be at the school for a bit this weekend, especially since Ben is off hunting for moose near Fairbanks. There's also HHS football tomorrow (though no pep band), going out to see a play at Pier One, and trying to be relatively social. I'm working to find just the right balance of me and work, though I love my job so it's okay for me to spend some time there.
Anyway, it's almost bed time. For those of you who knew me in college, it's crazy - I've turned into an "early to bed" person. I start getting tired at about 10, and if I'm not in bed by 11, I really shouldn't be operating a car (or really doing much of anything). I'd promise to update more, but I'd hate to break the promise if it doesn't work out, so we'll go with I shall try to update more about what's going on, and get better about taking pictures (and finding my camera cord) so that you all can see the absolutely amazing place that I live in!
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