Day 1, Bells Start

Today went well, despite being VERY tired this morning from the long weekend.

All of my classes went very well, nothing really notable. I did use my ActivBoard for the first time with a real class. My biggest problem is that the USB cable that goes from the board to my laptop isn't really long enough. I had it stretched across the room, which isn't exactly the safest setup. What I need is a USB extension cable, which I am not sure if they even make. And if they do, it is probably pretty expensive.

Right at the end of the day, I got a call from one of my handbell ringers that she won't be ringing for us this year. I don't think I am going to be able to get a replacement anytime soon, since there really isn't a whole lot of interested in the handbell choir. So, after school, I had to rework some of the parts to have stronger members of the bell choir share a bell.

We ate dinner, and then went to bells.

We have a lot of changes this year: We are down a member, and possibly one more. After our October performance, Meggie will not be able to perform anymore. Also, we have a new closet, and new rehearsal space. Despite all of this, we had a very good first rehearsal. It was a little disorganized for my taste, considering the amount of changes and variables.

I didn't plan anything else for the evening, which was really nice. Watched an episode of ST:TNG, and chilled on the couch. I needed an hour of relaxation after a weekend of none.

Quick Post

First off... the shower was a success. I'll let pictures do the talking, so I am dead tired. Check out our newest Picasa web album:

Baby Shower at Mom and Dad's

Sep 24, 2006 - 44 Photos

Also, the pool issue is being solved. After the shower, Mom and Dad came over to help unload all of the stuff we got. My dad looked at it, and noticed a small hole in the liner, right around where the wall and floor liner meet. We ghetto-patched it with some duct tape, and I ordered a vinyl pool repair kit. I started refilling it, but don't have quite enough water in yet to get the filter to successfully prime, so I am giving up on it tonight. I'll finish filling it tomorrow after-school, and get the filter going again.

Okay, I am dead tired. It has been a long weekend, and I've got another week of school coming up. Thank goodness it is a 3-day weekend coming up!

Leaking Pool!

Oh what fun! I woke up to discover 4 inches of water missing from my pool. I am losing water at a rate of 1/4 inch an hour. The good news is I found the leak. The bad news is, I have no idea how to fix it. I just hope it doesn't cost too much...


Yesterday, at about 4 pm, a view of Max and I taking a swim in a pool that was working perfectly fine.


Not even 12 hours later... the same pool. Notice how much lower the water is at the skimmer.


A close-up of the skimmer. I usually try to keep the water above the 2nd screw from the top. I am glad I caught this and turned off the pump. After a few hours, the pump would've been running dry. BTW-I put the piece of electrical tape on the wall at the current water level about an hour before I took this pictures.


If you look closely, you can see the sand billowing out from underneath the pool frame.


Take a good look at the grid pattern. Notice how it is distorted right against the wall? There is a sink-hole about 8 inches long, and about 2-3 inches deep. I actually discovered this yesterday when I was vacuuming. Did the sink-hole cause the leak, or did the leak cause the sink-hole?

Fun Friday, Busy Weekend

Friday was a very good day of school.

First off, I had 8th grade music ensemble in the morning. Last year, this was something I would have dreaded, but I really like my 8th grade band students this morning. They are a fun, enthusiastic group. The only bad thing about the period was the 2nd fire drill of the week, which, for some reason, at my school, takes 15 minutes!

I only had two classes, a 5th grade and an 8th grade. The 5th grade was okay... a little chatty though. The 8th grade was very hyper and chatty, but pretty good for an 8th grade class. This is a pretty good group of kids, who I seem to have a good rapport with. They are just very talkative. I think at this point, the best thing to do with this particular class is work with what I've got. They are still participating, just noisily. Despite the noise, I had fun with this group. That's the first time in a while I've said that about an 8th grade class.

Right after this class, I sat down to check my e-mail, when Arthur, one of the computer support guys stopped by my room. I figured he was going to talk to me about having the yearbook software installed on the computers. Turns out, he told me that the ActivBoard was in, and I could go and get it from the computer lab.

So, I went to the lab with him, got it, installed the ActivStudio software on my computer, and played with it. It is really cool! It is basically a white board that hooks to my laptop. You project whatever is on your computer screen on to it, and then you can digitally "write" and create presentations on the board. There is software that comes with it for doing presentations, which I will use sometimes. The best thing is that the board simply interfaces through the mouse. That means, whatever movements you make on the board can work in any program, just like a mouse. I was running Finale, and entering notes from the board. I think I could do some cool lessons with this with music composition.

The good thing about Day 6 is, after those two classes, I am pretty much done. I have some lessons in the afternoon. However, they are 8th grade lessons, and 8th graders never seem to show up for them. I don't know why--when I was in 8th grade, I would've taken any excuse to get out of class. I am not going to make a big deal out of it, though. I didn't have these kids from the start, so I never really got do doing sequential stuff with them in lessons. None of them have a lesson book or anything like that. We basically just go over band music, which is pretty much redundant to what we do in rehearsals and music ensemble. I mean, every bit of practice helps, but in this case, it isn't completely necessary.

Well, all this free time meant lots of time to play with the ActivBoard. I also took a look at two trumpets that new students brought in, and I got my band schedule for next week posted.

When I got home from school, I started making the shopping list. Meggie had a growth scan at the hospital. I usually go to these, but the latest appointment they have is at 3:30, and there is no way I can make that. I am not really happy with the antenatal testing part of the hospital. They have terrible hours, and kinda gave Meg and attitude when she pointed out how difficult it is for someone who works to schedule things. I guess they figure that health comes first, but when you are trying to bank sick days for post labor, you don't want to waste anything. I can understand taking off work if you have a one-time procedure, like a surgery or something. But Meg needs to go to these things every 3 weeks, and then more frequently later. That will be several sick days used up.

I was further annoyed to find that Meg, after trying to leave the parking lot, had to go all the way back into the hospital to get a parking token. We've been there at least 4 times now, and the gate always lifted when we left the parking lot. Now, apparently you need a token. What is the point of the token anyway?!? Are people really going to abuse the hospital's parking lot?!? I think it is ridiculous that they even have the gates. What is the point!! And everyone (including someone who pulled up behind her and had to back up to let her out) gave her attitude because there is a sign that says you needed a token. We never needed one before! I am glad I wasn't there, because I would've been angry. I usually try to keep my cool and avoid confrontation, but between the crazy scheduling expectations, and the parking situation, I would have lost it. I am sometimes just completely disgusted at the health care system. Between the terrible hours, health insurance, prescription drug prices, and red tape, it is amazing that anyone ever gets help. I find it unbelievable that people who are in the business of healing and curing can make it so difficult. Something needs fixed. And that problem is not with the people who do the healing either. Doctors, nurses, technicians, etc., are generally very friendly, caring, and helpful people. However, call your insurance company or have to deal with a rude receptionist, and suddenly things are quite as helpful. I can't offer a good solution, because I don't completely understand the health care system, but there must be an easier way.

Anyway, despite my annoyance with the hospital, and health care in general, the appointment went well. Baby D is healthy, and growing at the correct rate. Below is an ultrasound of her face. The two dark circles in the top center are her eyes. Kinda creepy looking actually, since all you can really make out is a skull. The first picture is the original ultrasound. The 2nd picture I annotated using ActivStudio. The yellow highlighted areas are her eyes, pink=nose, blue=teeth, green=hands. You can read more about Baby D in an update on her blog.




So, while Meggie and Baby D were getting scanned, I was making the list. The whole Sam's Club experiment definitely isn't going to start working this month. We are going to be well over our limit. But, we ended up buying things we needed this month, that we won't need again for several months, so after a while, we should start to see results.

Meggie got home from school, we made salmon on the grill for dinner, and then went to my parents to drop off some folding chairs for the shower on Sunday. The original plan was to just drop them off, and then go shopping. Well, we ended up hanging around my parents for a while, and by the time we left, we were both too sleepy to go shopping. My parents living room was pretty much ripped apart. They are going all-out on getting ready for the shower. This included a fresh coat of paint in the living room, sanding and repainting the trim, and installing quarter-round. I think this is probably the first time a power-sander was involved in preparing for a shower!

When we finally got home, we pretty much headed straight to bed.

Saturday, September 23

I woke up early this morning, with that awesome feeling you get when you think it is a school morning, and then you suddenly remember it's the weekend. I then went back to sleep, and a combination of Max and the alarm clock woke me up at 9 or so.

I got up, got showered, and made breakfast for us. We then went to Sam's and Wal-Mart for our grocery shopping, came home, had lunch, and then got to work. Cait, meg's mom, and meg's grandmom were all coming today, and we really weren't sure when, and the house desperately needed cleaned. I did the floors, and Meggie straightened. Cait arrived soon after lunch, and offered to help clean by dusting. We also got word that Mom and Grandmom wouldn't be arriving till 5 or so.

After doing the floors, I blew all of the leaves off of the front lawn. Then, Max and I took the last swim of the summer. This was more out of necessity. The pool steps have to come out of the pool when you winterize it. You aren't supposed to winterize the pool till it is cooler out. Well, in mid-October when I go to close the pool, I guarantee that I am not going to want to get in it, and this is the only way to get the steps out.

So, I took Max into the pool, played with him a while, vacuumed (clogging the hose/filter several times with the nine-trillion acorns in the pool), and then removed the steps. It was kinda sad, because we really had a lot of fun with the pool, and it is weird to think that we won't be going in again until next spring. I'm sure Max is even more disappointed. The vacuuming got the filter dirty, so I also had to backwash too. I finished all of this right around five, and then got a shower. While I was in the shower, Grandmom and Mom got here.

Grandmom took us all out to Peter's, where Mom had the servers (and the entire restaraunt) sing to me. Very embarrassing, but I appreciate the effort. Grandmom wanted us to splurge a little, since she was treating, so I got the tortellini alfredo, and I have some leftovers now for tomorrow.

After dinner, we all came back to our house, and we gave Grandmom a tour of the nursery. Cait is staying the night here, and Grandmom and Mom are staying in a hotel up in Mt. Laurel on 73. So, I gave them directions, and they went on there way.

I got my weekend's worth of school work done--band update letters and a calendar for October. I did money stuff, and am currently blogging. Man, this is a long post.

I am sure to have another post tomorrow night on the shower tomorrow. Until then...

Day 5

Pretty much a standard day, not a whole lot to blog about. But, I will want to know a year from now what I was doing on September 21, 2006 (maybe...)

Day 5 is mostly a lesson day for me. All lessons, a self-contained class, and a 6th grade class. All of my lessons went well. Despite yesterday's crappy rehearsal, the kids still seem enthused and all, and some are ACTUALLY practicing. I also had a rehearsal with my advanced band during lunch, and that went very well. I've got a good group of kids, who I seem to have a good rapport with. Last year, I had 4 boys in my advanced band that made my life a living hell, and several 8th grade girls with a generally poor and whiny attitude. I have a small group now, but they are all good kids who seem to want to be there. Let's hope that sticks. I am looking forward to auditioning some more kids into the group. I have several 6th and 5th graders who are ready. I am going to audition at the end of October. This is an experiment for me, but I think it will work. The only thing that concerns me is handling when a student doesn't make it. But I am going to offer a re-audition in January--hoping to motivate some practice and improvement.

The 6th grade class I had was good. I pretty much succumbed to the fact that I would spend the entire period explaining this 'music family tree' project I have. My mind must work differently than everyone else's. I experience this same issue with adults, as well as my students. When I explain/describe something on paper, it seems like a perfectly good explanation to me, but others find it overly complex. I think I try to include too much information, in order to eliminate confusion. This always seems to backfire on me, and cause more confusion!

The rest of the day was uneventful. BBQ chicken on the grill. I also took Max for a walk and got down the fall decorations (I thought fall started today, but apparently it doesn't start till 9/23). Meggie put up the decorations. When I get a chance, I will post some pictures. I spent the rest of the night catching up on reading the forums I follow. The Finale Form (to learn new things about the program), the Pool Help forum (to offer assistance where I can), and the Band Director's form (where I learn that all band directors have the same problems I have, or worse, and how to deal with them). I also did some StumbleUpon for a while, and now, I am heading to bed.





One more comment... TOMORROW'S FRIDAY!!!!

New Shoes

Today was a good school day, but got very frustrating towards the end. I had a day of good lessons, my only 7th grade class was okay, and I finished the day with my 5th grade band students. This is the same group of kids that had an awesome rehearsal yesterday, and they would not shut up today. I tried yelling, and that didn't work, so I did the old, sit-there-angrily-and-wait-for-them-to-figure-it-out, which took about a minute, and then gave them a speech about how I am here to help make them better, and they are wasting their time by talking, and not allowing themselves to be better, and that it will be their fault when the parade comes along and they are not ready. Of course, the bottom line is, if the band does not sound good, it is a reflection on my performance. I am not worried about this, but it seemed like a good idea at the time, to guilt them into being quiet. I hate doing that kind of crap. As much as I admired my HS band director, he was guilty of this kind of tactic, and I was never really a fan of it. I am not sure how to address the issue in a productive way. It is the same issue I have with my 8th grade class. I am not sure how to discipline a whole group. I'd be there all day writing out demerits!

I had a very busy afternoon, as I was expected to be in three places at once. I had duty outside, I had yearbook club, and I had to go to a 'round-robin' (a meeting of all of a student's teacher, and the parent, usually requested by the parent). I switched with the person who had morning duty...that solved that problem. The issue with yearbook was that Rita, the art teacher and co-advisor, works at the other building on Day 4. I figured I would have no problem getting to the round robin, because Rita would be there to get the kids started. I forgot that it takes about a half hour to get from the other building to my school. Well, luckily, Rita got there soon after the start of school (joking that she ran over some kids to get here on time), and I was able to get to the round-robin. After that, I joined the yearbook meeting. We have a pretty good crew this year. I was worried that some trouble-makers would join, but they didn't show up.

Meggie picked me up, and we came home and had ham steak for dinner.

After that, we went to Famous Footwear to get me new shoes. Three years ago, I bought a pair of brown Sketchers dress shoes. They were good shoes, but recently bit the dust, when I noticed that I had completely worn the heels down, and there were actually holes in the bottom of my shoes. So I got a similar pair, Sketchers again, and they look even more durable than the last pair. Only $39.99 too! I have an issue with paying any more than $40.00 for a pair of shoes. They were literally the cheapest pair I found there. Good thing I liked them. I guess I am just used to the Gettysburg Outlet bargain prices.

We came home, and couched it for the rest of the evening. I graded some work, and read my mail and blogs, while watching Star Trek: The Next Generation. My favorite episode of all time was on: the one where the Enterprise gets caught in that time rift, and keeps repeating the events over and over again. They eventually realize this is happening, from feelings of deja vu. Well, I won't get into it all, at a risk of making myself sound even nerdier than I already have.

Okay, Meggie is cutely sleeping on the couch, so I should wake her up so we can go to bed.

B2S Night

So, yesterday was my birthday, which is cool, except for the fact that I spent most of the day at school. I had a fairly good school day, no major issues or anything. I got a few 4th grade permission forms, and hopefully more will come in by the end of the week. I am very interested in seeing what kind of group I will have this year.

So, after a good day at school, I had to come BACK to school at night, for... Back to School Night. I don't really have a problem with B2S night, and I had several productive conversations with parents. But, I would rather not have been at school on the night of my birthday.

Today was not as a good as a day. Actually, the first half was good. I had some extra prep time in the morning, since my 4th grade lessons haven't started yet. And I had a very good 4th grade class. Then, I had an awesome rehearsal with my intermediate band. We got through twice more than I had planned, and they sounded great, for just their second rehearsal.

Then, in the afternoon, I had a 7th grade class--they weren't that badly behaved, but whined the whole time about I project I assigned, a 3rd grade class--which was okay, and an 8th grade class--which pretty much ruined my day. There are a bunch of kids in the class who just can't keep their mouths shut, between talking to other people, and having to comment and question everything I say. And I know they are doing it just to be obnoxious. But, even more annoying, are the kids who I know are good students, who just sit back, and never even bother to participate in class. It's September, and I am already counting the days till this group graduates. That is one nice thing. My first year was hell, last year was a little better, and this year is turning out to be even better. Every 8th grade class gets a little easier, since I have had this group for two years already. Hopefully, I'll get to a point where I actually LIKE the 8th grade class. I am thinking this will happen when this year's 5th graders are in 8th grade, since they are the first class only to have me.

After school, we had quesadillas for dinner. I grilled chicken and some peppers, which turned our really great, and Meg made the quesadillas. I got a little bit of school work done, and spent
the rest of the evening vegging, and watching the top 100 best SNL moments. I also pre-spent some of my birthday money on bulbs for the garden. Yeah, it sounds lame, but all of the yard work I did this summer made me kind of interested in getting the gardens to look nice. Plus, the bulbs will come back every year.

Okay, very tired, after a long two days. Good night!

Birthday Pictures and More

Here are some pictures from today...


My awesome birthday gift from Nick, a new car stereo, with a line input! No more computer speakers in the car!!


Our house, with a well manicured lawn


The delicious cake Meggie made me.


My other big birthday gift, the chest freezer!

There's a new clue on our Baby's Blog. Keep guessing!!

If you want more pictures, I have uploaded two more web albums:

House Pictures September 2006

Sep 17, 2006 - 9 Photos

Bob's 26th Birthday

Sep 17, 2006 - 18 Photos

Weekend

Okay, so I got lazy about blogging over the weekend. Here is my weekend so far...

Friday, September 15

A Day 1 at school, I am starting to see all of my students for a second time. Most of my classes were very good. I like Day 1, because I don't have any 7th or 8th grade classes. The big deal of today was the 4th grade instrument demo. Joe, the rep from the Local Music Store that services our school, came and brought the instruments. He is a woodwind player, so he demonstrated the flute, clarinet, and sax (WAY better than I demonstrated the brass). Then, I demonstrated the trumpet and trombone. We decided to leave percussion out of the demonstration, as Joe suggested not to encourage any more 'drummers,' than the usual bunch to sign-up. I am thinking, for next year, of starting anyone who wants to play "Drums," "Percussion," etc. on bells. The Local Music Store offers bell kits that the kids can rent. It would my rehearsal planning much easier, and would weed out the kids that only want to play drums so they can bang on something. Then, later, I would introduce the other percussion instruments (snare drum, bass drum, etc.), since the rhythm-reading and technique skills would already be learned from simply learning the bells. It's too late to try it this year, but I'll definitely do it next year.

Meggie came to pick me up, and then, the WEEKEND officially started! On the way home, I stopped at the bank and deposited my check. It was still the same amount as last year, as our new collective bargaining agreement hasn't been ratified yet. It is also the last time I will have to stop at the bank, as our next paychecks will be direct-deposited (It's about time my district caught up with the 21st century)!

We came home, had a snack, made the shopping list, and headed to Peter's. I got the patty melt, Meggie got the fried chicken platter. It was insanely busy there for some reason, so we had to wait a while, but the wait was worth it. If you are ever on the Black Horse Pike in Williamstown, you NEED to go to this diner.

We then headed up to Wal-Mart, did our shopping, came home, put everything away, and collapsed into bed at 9:30! Some exciting Friday night, huh?

Saturday, September 16

Our living alarm clock, also known as Max, woke us up yesterday morning. We got up and showered, and headed to Meg's school. Since there was construction at her school this summer, and every one's rooms had to be completely cleared up, they decided to open up the school on Saturday this weekend, so teachers could get into their rooms to finish setting up before Monday. Meg brought me along, and I helped by decorating the higher parts of her room. She made it very easy for me, by laying out what had to go where. Meg got her stuff set up for Monday. We ended up staying there for a while, as it took time to complete all of this.

We headed home, and had lunch. Afterwards, Meg ran to Wal-Mart (or at least I thought), to get me some stuff for my birthday. While she was gone, I cleaned up the bedroom, brought the dirty clothes downstairs, and started the laundry. After starting the laundry, I decided to see if I could fix our squeaky dryer. For about the past month or so, our dryer makes this terrible metal-on-metal squeaking noise as it turns. Years ago, my parents had the same problem with their dryer, and temporarily fixed it by rubbing candle wax against the shaft that the drum turns on. I figured I'd give this a try, so I started to take the dryer apart, only to find out that I wouldn't get access to this part of the dryer.

So, here I am , with the dryer in the middle of the laundry room, and my tools out, when I hear Max making all kinds of noise at the front door. It was my parents. So, I let them in, and explained the dryer problem, and my dad started to look at it. Soon after they arrived, Meg came home to find us all in the laundry room, with the dryer half apart. My parents then told me there was something in the van for me. I went out to the van, to find my birthday present, a chest freezer! Now, I was surprised by this. I knew that I was getting a chest freezer for my birthday, but I didn't expect to get it now. Here, Meg had met my parents at Sam's Club, so they could pick up the freezer. Now of course, the freezer's destination was the laundry room, which was now all in pieces. So, I put the dryer back together, and my dad helped me bring the freezer in. They took off, I read the instruction manual, and plugged it in.

Afterwards, I got started on school work. My goal this weekend was to make and print personalized band reminder cards for all of my band students. These cards contain the usual days and times for lessons and rehearsals. I also included this year, a calendar that high-lights the days they need to bring their instrument to school. Using mail-merge, I was able to complete this job.

Meg and I were going to make salmon for dinner, only to discover that the frozen fillets we bought had to be defrosted first, so we ended up doing burgers on the grill. After dinner, I made two copies of a video a fellow teacher had given me about instruments of the orchestra. I made one copy for Meg, and other for myself. While copying these, I kept up with the laundry, and made a CD of upbeat music appropriate for school that another fellow teacher had asked me to make. I am pretty much done my schoolwork now. I just have to fold and sort all of the band cards I printed yesterday.

We went to bed, where I read and sang to Baby D (through Mommy's belly). They said you should do this, as it helps the baby get used to Daddy's voice. We also need to start playing music through headphones for the baby.

Sunday, September 17
Max woke us up again this morning. We had breakfast, then I did money stuff. Now, I am blogging. After this, I will get dressed into work clothes, and mow the front lawn. Tonight, we are going to my parents, and having my birthday dinner. Tomorrow is technically my birthday, however, I have school, then Back-to-School night (yeah, pretty crappy birthday). So, today is kinda like my birthday celebration. Mom is making tortellini for dinner, and Meggie is making me my favorite kind of cake- yellow cake with white icing.

Oh, I have been meaning to post a bunch of pictures. I will try to remember to do this tonight. I'll take one of the freezer, as well as the dresser we got for the nursery. Also, I am sure we will have some fun pictures of my birthday dinner.

Lots to do, gotta go!

Day 6

Today was my first day 6 of the year. Tomorrow the cycle starts over again. I am kind of looking forward to this, as I can start to get into things with my classes. I also get tired of teaching the same thing for 6 days in a row, so it is always a good, fresh start when you get back to day 1.

I talked to the few kids who I thought might be quitting band, and it turns out they are all still going to do it. I had a 5th grade class, and an 8th grade class today, so now I have seen all of the classes. I was worried about the 8th grade class, because last year, I only had 1 general music class on day 6, an 8th grade class, and it was the class from hell! There were five boys in this class that pretty much made my year a lot less pleasant. I am just glad they are off to HS now. And, four of those 5 boys were in band, so I had to see them several times a week. This year is so much easier, simply by not having those boys around. Of course, I can already see who is going to fill those shoes, but I am not going to let them get to me as much as the boys did last year. But anyway, this 8th grade class was nowhere near as bad as the class last year, so I won't fear day 6 like I did before.

I had my first advanced band rehearsal today, which went very well. I have a small group now, because I don't have last year's 8th graders, and I haven't auditioned anyone new yet. They were a little chatty, but we got a lot done.

The rest of my school day was spent planning for tomorrow and the rest of the cycle. I had a lot of kids miss their lessons (it takes a few cycles till the kids get used to the schedule), which basically means more planning time for me.

Meggie and I also carpooled today, which was nice. We save gas, and Meg and I get to have the car ride together. We will try to do this as much as possible this year.

After school, Meggie and I tried our new plan of eating later, which worked well. I made pork on the grill for dinner, marinated with Teriyaki. I had to do a little bit more school work after dinner, and that was my day.

Tomorrow is FRIDAY, thank goodness. This week went really slowly, as it was the first 5 day week. This Friday is also a PETER'S Friday, which I am looking forward to. Speaking of restaurants, we got a $50 gift card to a local restaurant from the new 4th grade teacher at my school. She worked for Meg's school district last year as a long term sub, but was not able to be rehired for this year. Around the same time this happened, I found out that there was a fourth grade teacher opening at my school. I let Meg know, who let her know, and she applied, and got the job. So, she gave Meg and I a gift certificate for helping her get the job. Sweet! Another dinner out.

Okay, Dane Cook is on HBO, and I wanna watch the rest of it.

Lesson Day

Today was another busy day. Will it get easier??

Day 5 is a day of mostly lessons for me. I have 1 class during 8th period, and a self-contained class during 2nd period. The rest of the day is all lessons. This makes for a long day, since I teach two 20 minutes lessons every period. So, three periods of lessons feels more like 6 periods. My lessons went well. A had a lot of kids not come, but it always takes a few weeks till everyone gets used to the schedule. The lessons I did have went well though. Just as I said yesterday, I am very happy with how the 5th grade class is doing. I got most of my permission forms back, and I only lost a few kids from 4th to 5th, and they all still seemed psyched about the year. I am probably losing two of my middle school students, which was a little unexpected. Both are good musicians, who always seemed to enjoy band--I don't know what's up with it. I plan on having a talk with them tomorrow morning and trying to change their mind. But I'll leave it up to them. If they really don't want to be there, then I probably don't want them there anyway. But I will give it a try.

Tomorrow is day 6, meaning after tomorrow, I will have had all of my classes once. Geeze, the first cycle went slowly. Only 29 to go! Things will get easier as I get into the routine. And the weeks/cycles will go faster. I hope so anyway. I am sure looking forward to the weekend. Tomorrow's Thursday, which is almost Friday, which means=weekend!!

After school, Meggie and I had dinner, apparently too early, because, by 7, we were starving again! We ended up ordering some more food out. Dinner also was a bit of a (failed) experiment, lemon chicken. It was a little too lemony. Making it was a group effort by Meg and I, and apparently, we need to read up on making lemon chicken. Well, after an early and unsatisfying meal, Meggie and I were really hungry. She got wings, and I got a cheesesteak from Bella Vita. We felt a little guilty about it, but Meggie had some extra money for it, and we are going to try to eat dinner a little later (like 6 instead of 4:30), so we don't get hungrier later.

I got some organizing done with my planbook, and then blogged. Kind of a busy-blah day. Alright, time for bed!

1st band rehearsal, OB Appointment

Very sleepily got up this morning, since I went to bed a little to late last night.

Despite the 4 periods of prep time I had today, I was very busy. In addition to weekly rehearsals during lunch, I meet with each grade of band kids during one period of the 6-day cycle. This program won't start till next week, so I have these periods off this week. Not that this helped.

I got a lot more permission forms in today, which meant I spent a lot of time processing these. I also had my first band rehearsal, which I had to set up for beforehand. The rehearsal went VERY well. I still had an issue with talking. I am not sure how to address this... it's the same thing I was talking about yesterday: when most everyone is talking, I don't know how to effectively discipline the group. I can yell and scream, I can lecture, but that just wastes more time, and usually the talking resumes in a few minutes. I am not sure how to fix this, but I need to find a way. On the good side, the kids (all 5th graders in this group, plus a few 6th graders) played really well for their first rehearsal of the year. Many of the kids admitted during their individual lessons that they didn't practice a whole lot this summer. I was expecting to have to review over notes and stuff, but they remembered everything, and I got right into teaching the music for the parade. They also seem psyched about the year. I really need to keep these 5th graders into it. They are the first class that didn't have the guy before me for band ever. I feel that with the 6th graders and up, their band experience with me will never be the same as it was with the old guy. It doesn't bother me. I do what I can. But I need to focus on these 5th graders, and the new crop of 4th graders that will start this year, and begin shaping an outstanding band program with this group. I think it will take several years before I get the program to my full expectations, but I am up for it (unless an equal paying job, in a good district, with NO general music comes up).

Speaking of general music, today was easier, as I only had one GM class. A 7th grade class. I had similar issues with this class as I did with the 8th graders I had yesterday. I was able to maintain more control though. I also COMPLETELY FOLLOWED THROUGH on a discipline issue. A kid in this 7th grade class, got two warnings, then the demerit, and then, he actually got to the phone-call home stage. After I had the class, I pulled the kids number, called home, and spoke to dad. So, even before he gets home, his parents already know what happens. dad felt his child's behavior was unacceptable, and said he would discuss it with him. I hope word of this spreads to the other kids--I WILL CALL HOME, and will see what happens.

Tomorrow is another insanely busy day. 5 periods of lessons, a self-contained class, and a 6th grade class. At least I get my lunch off tomorrow.

I rushed out of school at the end of the day, and just made it in time to our OB appointment. I met Meg at the OB's office. Good news. Baby D is very healthy and normal at this time, and Meggie is also healthy. You can get a more complete update on this post from Baby D's Blog.

After the appointment, we had tacos for dinner, and then I helped Meggie load her school stuff into the car. Today was unfortunately her last day of summer, since she has to be back at school tomorrow for a faculty meeting. So I dug her stuff out the crawlspace, and helped her load it all in the car. I spent the rest of the evening, doing my teacher homework (grading papers, re-updating the band schedule with the permission forms I got today), playing with Max, watching TV, reading news & blogs, and of course, blogging.

Gotta get a good night sleep tonight... busy day tomorrow!

Busy Monday

Whew, first Monday of the school year...

Got up this morning, had breakfast, and left for school. I was feeling quite prepared for the day, thanks for all of my list-making and planning. So far, I am doing well with that kind of stuff this year, of course, it was only the third day of school.

My main goal for the day (besides teaching), was to stuff the band folders with the Halloween Parade music, and collect band permission slips from students, which I received a pitiful amount of--I am hoping a lot of them just forgot. So, I'll spend tomorrow chasing after kids to get the forms in. I also did get all of the folders stuffed.

My classes went well, for the most part. I am realizing, despite the fact that when I was in college I thought I wanted to teach HS, that I enjoy myself MUCH more when teaching elementary students. I had a 3rd grade class today, and had a blast teaching them the lesson I had. Elementary students are always so well behaved, and actually find what I plan to be fun and entertaining (not that entertaining is my job, I would have become a DJ if that were the case, but it is rewarding to see students enjoying your lessons). Where as, in the middle school, I get a lot of eye rolls, and just plain-out bad behavior. The change seems to occur in the middle of 6th grade, so right now, my 7th and 8th grade classes are my only real problems.

The 8th grade class I had today did not go well. I did not feel like I had control of the class. I am good with discipline when most of the kids are good, and a few are bad. That I can handle. But I have a problem with the opposite, when most of the kids are talking, calling out, etc., and a few are being good. My normal discipline code of 1st warning, 2nd warning, demerit, doesn't work here, because I can't 'warn' that many kids that fast, and don't have time to write out that many demerit slips. I am going to seek the advice of one of my colleagues for help with this.

I did feel good because of the way I handled a discipline issue I had on Friday. I have an 8th grade student who constantly calls out. Last year, he received many demerits from me. He started the year with a demerit on his first class--for calling out. I honestly think it is a matter of impulse with this kid. He gets very argumentative when he is disciplined, which leads me to believe that in his mind, he can't understand what he did wrong. So, I played phone tag with his mom today, and finally got a hold of her at the end of the day. We discussed working out a positive reward system for NOT calling out in class. I am going to meet with the kid tomorrow, and come up with some kind of plan. I am glad I am addressing this behavior problem early, and coming up with a constructive solution. Last year, I would not have gone this far, and would have continued to give him a demerit every class. Well see how it goes.

I headed home at the end of the day, and picked up Meggie when I got to the house. We went over to my parents to put some stuff in the deep freezer, since our freezer is overflowing. We ended up staying there a while and talking to my parents. The name game is driving my mom mad. She had all of these working lists of possible names, and was crossing things off as they were eliminated. It was very amusing (is it okay to take joy in someone else's madness?).

We left my parents, came home, had dinner, and then I spent the next 40 minutes on the phone with my grandpop. Apparently he was at the DMV today to get a new license, and they wouldn't give him one because his social security card was "too old." What?!? Since when do social security cards expire? Well, I helped him print an application off the website, which involved a bunch of unnecessary steps because the form wouldn't print right on his computer. We eventually got it straightened out, though.

I spent the rest of the night on school work. I hope the load lessens as the week continues (it should). I brought home all of the band folders I stuffed, and printed labels with the students names and instruments and stuff. I only labeled the folders for kids who actually turned in their permission forms, so I don't end up wasting a folder.

Well, it is 17 minutes past my bedtime. Good night!

More Yard Work, Parents Over

Very tired now... I felt like I never stopped moving all day.

I got up around 8:30 or so, had breakfast, watched TV, and did my morning news, mail, and blogs. I also finally started to get my blinkies up-and-running again. We switched to Verizon a few months ago, but still had been using our Comcast web storage space. Well, apparently the space expired, and we lost everything we had stored there, including the blinkie I made myself. :-( So, Meg went on a hunt for new blinkies for me, and I just got everything up again the way it was before.

After my usual morning routine, I got started on the yard work, which took pretty much the entire day. I...

• Raked up the bigger sticks on the front lawn.
• Mowed the front lawn.
• Weedwhacked the front lawn, trimming the edges of the sidewalk, driveway, and curb in the process.
• Started by blowing as many grass clippings off the lawn as I could, but gave up and decided it was easier to do with a rake.
• Cleaned up the sidewalks and driveway with the leaf blower.
• Watered the front lawn.
• Mowed the back yard.
• Weedwhacked the back yard.
• Cleaned off both decks with the leaf blower.
• Cleaned off (with bleach) one of the extra patio chairs, since it was all grey and gross.
• Re-filled the Tiki torch oil, and replaced wicks where needed.

After all of this, I went inside, and did the upstairs floors with the Floormate, and vacuumed our room and the nursery. Meg took care of cleaning the rest of the house, and going back to Wal-Mart to get the stuff we lost when we forgot to take one of our bags on Friday.

I finished the floors pretty much in time to shower, then my parents, Nick, and Scamp got here for dinner. Meggie had marinated London broil this morning, so I cooked it on the grill. This was a first for me, doing beef on the grill. At first I thought I didn't cook it enough, but I let it sit for a while after I carved it (I did let it 'rest' before carving too), and it looked better. It tasted delicious--very tender, and good flavor. We also had mashed potatoes, corn, salad, and beer bread. We had dinner out on the patio, which was nice, but it got a little chilly towards the end of dinner when it got dark. For dessert, my parents brought water ice from the Water Ice Factory, and a Friendly's Tiramasu roll.

I asked my parents to bring Scamp along, because the two dogs play, and it tires both of them out. It is good for Max to get some interaction with another dog from time to time. Sometimes they both ignore each other, but most of the time, they are chasing each other around the backyard, or wrestling, as seen below:

Dinner was fun, although I am exhausted, and probably won't remember much of the evening (good thing for this blog). After my parents and Nick left, Meg and I gave our next clue to Baby D's name. Check out the clue, and keep on guessing!

Piece of Summer

Ahhh, the weekend--a little bit of summer does exist! The weather was great today, which helped too.

The day started off well, with getting up at 9 AM, which is late for us. Of course, things went downhill when I felt that my back was hurting worse than it was yesterday. I got up, had breakfast, was about to get ready to do some yardwork, and just needed to lie down. I felt like an old man, with my back hurting and all. I hate not being able to do stuff. So, I laid down in the bed, used some pillows to get my comfy, and relaxed for a while, reading my news, mail, and blogs in the meantime.

My back was still hurting, even laying down. I finally decided that since I felt no worse laying down than standing up, that I would get up and do some yardwork--after lunch, of course. Meggie made some leftover cheesesteaks for lunch, and then I went out to do yardwork.

My goal was to have both lawns mowed, but I didn't get to either. Instead, I backwashed the filter, since now I have a hose long enough to get me to at least our driveway. Then, I raked up all of the leaves and sticks in the backyard. I was planning on mowing, but was hot, tired, and thirsty, and REALLY wanted to get in the pool. I decided to put off mowing till tomorrow morning, and go in the pool. We took Max with us, of course, and cooled off.

After the pool, I got showered, laid down some more, and then got started on the sauce. I decided to make a double batch this time, to yield more leftovers. This was a little challenging, because the sauce pot isn't quite big enough. I ended up having to cook some of the sauce in a smaller pot. No big deal, though, we got six meals out of the whole thing. We had a delicious pasta dinner, and then I got to work on my goals for the evening: school work, and money stuff. I got my list of stuff I made yesterday at school done (so now, I don't have to worry about school the rest of the weekend), and I also finished the money stuff. I don't think our grocery scheme is going to exactly work out this month. We budgeted $500 for the month ($100 per Saturday), and we are already at $367. That leaves only $133 for three more shopping trips (about $45 each). This might be difficult to do, but, we bought a lot of stuff this month that will last us at least 2 months, meaning it'll even out eventually (I hope so anyway!)

Okay, gonna get to bed now, so I can get up early and mow the lawns.

Oh So Tired

Whew... All I can say is that next week is going to be a LONG week... not because school is going badly or something, but just because I am tired after only 2 days of school!

The schedule always takes some getting used to in the beginning of the year. Yesterday, my feet were killing me at the end of the day. Today, it is my back, for some reason. It just keeps hurting more and more as the day goes on. Right now, I have one of those heating patch things on it now, and I just took some ibuprofen, so hopefully that will help.

Today was also a good day at school. I got a lot done, and had my first 7th and 8th grade classes of the year. The 8th graders are going to be a challenge once again, but I am starting strict. I dove right into assigning seats and explaining my rules and expectations. They didn't seem happy about it, but who really likes rules. I don't care anyway, it's my class, my rules. I am not going to have my class turn into the attention show from certain students like last year. I already had to give one demerit. I gave it to someone who received several from me last year. Every time he gets one, he argues with me, and I would argue back. This time, I just ignored his arguing, which made life a lot easier, and I kept my cool. I plan on keeping this up--I think it will make a much easier year.

The rest of my classes were good too--no major problems. The nicest thing so far about the start of school is my car rides. Having the Zen has allowed me to listen to stuff that I haven't heard in years. In the beginning of the week, I was doing a "random play all" from all 3500 songs. At one point, I was listening to the stupid Queen Latifa (sp?) version of "Cell Block Tango" from Chicago. That inspired me to listen to the soundtrack from the movie, which put me in a showtunes mood. So, I've been spending the last few days listening to the complete Les Miserables. 3 CD's worth, so it took some time to get through it all. I was obsessed with the show when I was in high school, but I don't think I completely got the story line, so it was neat to hear it again. The only problem was, I don't think I've ever cried so much from listening to music. I forgot that most of the major characters in the show die tragically. And setting a sad death to music just makes it worse. I'm driving to/from school bawling when Fantine... Eponine... Gavrosche... Javert... Val Jean (I think I got them all) die--hoping none of the passing motorists notice. I gotta find something more upbeat to listen to next week.

After getting home from school, Meggie and I had a delicious dinner... homemade cheesesteaks with sauteed mushrooms. Then, we stopped by my parents, so I could endorse the loan check for my sister, and then went to Sam's (had to pick up a couple of things), and then Wal-Mart. We ran into Cathy (a friend of Meg's), and her husband, John, who is a band director at a local high school. He has a small staff, and needs help, so he invited me to come and help out if I was feeling like I wanted to do some band stuff one night or two. I might take him up on it. Right now, I am definitely NOT missing marching band. If I were doing band, I would still be at a football game right now. I would not have come home from school, and I'd probably have a practice and/or a competition tomorrow. I never had any problem with this schedule in high school/college, but now that I am getting older, it is definitely not for me. It's funny, because I always wanted to be a marching band director. I think that is because, in my high school, marching band was the pinnacle organization of the music department. It made sense to me that marching band-directing was a high-ranking position. I have since learned that people can have meaningful, successful careers as middle and elementary school band directors. And, you can do this, and still get to have weekends. But, if I get bored, I might call up John and ask if he needs help. It would be neat to be the extra guy that comes in to offer advice.

So, after talking to Cathy and John, we finished up our shopping, and then got home. After this, I'm going to bed. zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

1st Day with Students

Today was the first day with students--a good first day, although, I had no voice by the end of it.

Meggie was very nice and made me a breakfast sandwich this morning before I left for school. I got there a little earlier, to make sure I had enough time to make sure everything was set-up. Then, the kids came in, and the day started.

I taught 5 classes today, and had some extra prep time, since the pull-out instrument lesson program won't start till Tuesday. I used this extra time to finish my seating charts, hand in forms I had to fill out, make some more copies, and make copies of my band handbook (Joan got it back to me first thing in the morning--she approved all of my changes... YAY, I have administrative support!). The rest of my day was spent teaching.

I had a 5th grade, a 6th grade, a 3rd grade, and two 4th grades to teach today. All of the students I had were good, and many seemed happy to see me again. It makes you feel good when a student sees you and says "Hey, Mr. !!! How was your summer?" The neat thing about the beginning of the year, is that you forget that all of the kids have been promoted. And the general rule of thumb (for me, anyway), is you have more behavior problems as the kids get older. For example, I had a 6th grade class today. When I think "6th grade," I think of last year's 6th graders, some of who were a big pain by the end of last year. So, that's who I was thinking off when planning this class. When a class walked in, I saw them as the 5th graders I had last year, which are a lot less threatening. This same psychology applies basically to all of my classes. The only classes which are a challenge now are 3rd grade, because these kids are all new to me, which means about 60 names to learn. I'll get them all by the end of the year!

After school, I was nowhere near as busy, and felt like I have had my first break from school since the in-services started. I still had quite a project--I had to fill out this form indicating when the student's band lesson would be (60 of these!), and attach each one to the band handbook. I will give these to the homeroom teachers tomorrow so they can distribute them to the previous year's band students. I really hope I don't have too many quit. I have this bad feeling for some reason that I am going to lose a lot of students. I hope I'm wrong.

Well, it's bedtime. I gotta back up my stuff, and get ready for bed. Hey, you known what's cool? Tomorrow's FRIDAY! (which means I get to wear jeans!!)

Day 2, Good Day, Late Night, Quick Post

The title says it all. It's now 45 minutes past bed time.

Good things about today:

• Union meeting-contract was very good (good pay raise, benefits, and other stuff)
• New superintendent seems really good.
• Got lots of work done in my classroom today (see below)

Things I did today:

• Put up all posters and bulletin boards in classroom.
• Cleaned up all papers, got somewhat organized for the first day with kids tomorrow.
• Mom brought Scamp over to play with Max, and also brought over dresser for nursery. I brought up the dresser, and Meg set it up.
  
• Went through all IEPs and made a chart of modifications that I need in place for each kid.
  
• I made seating charts for the classes I have tomorrow.

On tomorrow's to-do list:

• Finish all of the seating charts
• Figure out if I am teaching self-contained.
• Re-copy a worksheet that I messed up.
• Edit and print final copy of band handbook.
• Hand in paperwork that is due.
• Start the year off great with my day 1 classes.

Why a late post?

• Going through IEPs took A LONG TIME.
• Seating charts needed done for tomorrow.

Good night!

1st Day

Today was the first day of in-services.

I got up promptly at 6 AM. Meggie got up with me. We had breakfast, and watched some of the Early Show on CBS. Then, I left for school.

Now, this blog is for me to journal about my feelings on my everyday life. However, I have not yet felt as though I can be honest about my school situation. I have taken precautions to keep me from being Googleable by students, parents or administration, however, if someone where to come across my blog, through random browsing (highly unlikely, mind you), they could easily link drfinale, the author of this blog, to who I actually am. The pictures alone would do it. Plus, if you read, you can put all of the circumstantial information together, and it would be pretty obvious who I am. But I feel fairly safe in being honest, as long as I give facts, that in no way could get me into trouble. You can assume, that when I do mention something negative about school, that I most likely feel stronger about it than it actually appears. That being said, let's move on to my day... (and forget you read that last paragraph)

I got to school to find my principal, who I will call Joan. I e-mailed her my band handbook last week, to get her to check out some of the changes in policies I made, and have her give the okay, so that if an issue with a parent comes up, I've got her support. Well, she said she never got the e-mail (I think she just missed it in her inbox), so I had to quick reprint the handbook, highlight the changes, and get a copy to her. I also re-sent the e-mail (including the original date that I sent it). The issue here is that I want to get this thing out to the kids, at the latest, on Friday, and I have doubts that it will get the OK and copied by then. We'll see...

There was breakfast in the cafeteria, where we got to meet our new superintendent, Mr. Martin. He seemed very nice, and made a promise to stay with the district for a while, which is good, because we have not had a long-standing superintendent in a while. He seemed funny and personable, and in no way intimidating. We'll have to see how this goes, but I got a good feeling about him.

I had the next 3 hours off to work in my room. I caught up with Rita, the art teacher, who co-advises the yearbook with me. We opened up our yearbook kit, and did a little bit of brainstorming for this year's yearbook. Then, I got to work on my bulletin boards. I tore down the old paper, put up new stuff, as well as the borders. I spent the next hour laminating a bunch of stuff, and then had lunch.

At 12:15, I started the 1st of three meetings which weren't very helpful.

The first meeting was for IEPs, with Donna, the head of the child study team. This meeting was frustrating, because, as a related arts teacher, I always seemed to be left out of the loop. IEPs are a big deal. They are legal documents, agreed upon by the CST, the parent, and the teachers. If an IEP isn't followed the school/teacher can be sued. I've actually heard commercials for so called "special ed. lawyers" who specialize in just this. That being said, I take the IEPs seriously. But, there is barely ever any information about what modifications I need to make as a music teacher. Everything is directed to the core subjects. A few IEPs actually had something about related arts classes, but most didn't. I think they assume all we do is sing and play instruments. Maybe some music teachers do, but I teach a subject. I give tests, projects, and assignments like all of the other subjects. I need to know how to modify these things. I am going to have to meet with Donna to address this issue, because I don't want to get myself in trouble.

The next meeting was a training session for our new student data system: eSchool. I was very excited about this, as I am always wanting to embrace new technology. The new system posted online handling of attendance, gradebook, lesson plans, IEPs, etc. At the old district I used to work at, we had something similar, and I loved it. Well, I was disappointed to find out, that initially, it will only be used for homeroom teachers taking attendance. Well, since I don't have a homeroom, the program is currently useless to me. Upon finding that out, I spent the rest of the session updating my class websites.

The final meeting was a middle-school teachers faculty meeting. I did get my lesson plan book, which I was waiting for. But most of the meeting was all stuff that doesn't apply to related arts. The main thing I had hoped to get was my class lists, as my plan was to set up my grading book tonight. Well, we were told that the class lists weren't ready yet (what! School starts in two days!). Bummed about this, I decided to rearrange my schedule and stay late to finish my bulletin boards, that way I could get my gradebook set up during the school day tomorrow. I wasn't happy about this, because I wanted to get home.

I was complaining to Rita about this situation, and she said she'd call the secretary over at the other school and have her send lists over tomorrow if we didn't get them. She went to the CST office to use the phone, and Helen, the secretary there said that she had received the lists via e-mail, and would print out a copy for us. Even better, she forwarded me the e-mail, so all I had to do was copy and paste the students names into my grading program. With all of this, i was able to go home!!

I came home, took out the garbage (in pouring rain). Meggie made pork loin for dinner, and then I got to work on setting up my gradebook and my lesson plan book. Tomorrow my goals at school are to:

• Finish the bulletin boards
• Copy all materials needed for the 1st cycle.
• Make my seating charts
• Get my materials set up for the 1st day of school.

Well, I've got 25 minutes till my 'bedtime.' I'm gonna pack up, have a snack, and relax. I hope I can stay ahead, so not every school night is as busy as tonight was.

Let's hope tomorrow is a little more productive.

The Last Day of Summer

Today, was a very good day, and as of 9:30 PM, I am not bummed. I hope not to be at all.

I actually decided to sleep in this morning, getting up around 9 AM, instead of 6, like it has been the past week. Meggie and I got up, and had breakfast, then did computer stuff. I ended up ordering $125 worth of pool stuff. I really didn't want to put more money into anything, since our summer spending was so high, but there were things I needed to close the pool. Max put a hole in the air pillow (for under the cover) that I bought last year. I also needed a new backwash hose, since the old one exploded. I had been getting away with just backwashing into the yard, but when I close the pool, I will have to drain several inches out of the pool. It's probably not a good idea to drain it all into the yard, so I ordered a 100ft of hose, which, in combination with the shorter hose I have, should get me out to the street. I also ordered a winterizing chemical kit, another bottle of test strips, and two types of chemicals that I needed.

After that, Meg and I brainstormed an idea we got from one of my aunt's at Crab Day yesterday. We were talking about baby stuff, and names, and all, and she told us this story about this friend she had that kept the name a secret, but gave very vague clues every week. I kinda thought this was a cool idea, so Meg and I drafted a list of clues that wouldn't give away the name, but would give people something to think about. Then, since we are the e-generation, we set up a blog for our daughter. Yes, she is still in the womb, and she is on the web. I love the age we live in. Well, anyway, the link is on the sidebar, but you can check it out here. We've already posted one clue, so leave a comment on that blog and put in your guess. On the side bar of that page, you can see all of the guesses we have so far.

Setting this up took most of the morning, so after that, we had lunch, while watching some more of Seinfeld, Season 6, including a featurette documentary about the making of an episode. Very interesting and informative. Meggie then took a nap, and while she was napping, I broke my rule about schoolwork. I sat down, and started to update my school web page. I got a little done on that, and then woke up Meggie, and we headed out to the pool.

We kept Max crated at first, because the pool was really messy, and needed vacuumed. I set up the vacuum for Meg, and she got to work. I put on goggles, and did a little bit of deep sea diving to get all of the leaves off of the bottom. You would've thought an entire tree had dropped leaves into the pool. I took a while, but we got everything cleaned out, and we then let Max in for a while.

Meggie made dinner, pasta & sauce, and we ate out on the deck, because it was beautiful. We spent the rest of the evening, enjoying our last day of summer, and watching 3 more episodes of Seinfeld.

Now, I wrap my night up with blogging, and some end-of-summer thoughts.

The Sunday of Summer Ends
My analogy for the weekend works well, but usually, I am not looking forward to a Monday, as I am the start of the school year. We'll have to see how I feel on 'Monday morning,' which doesn't technically happen till this Thursday. Tomorrow and Wednesday are both in-services. They don't really count as school starting, because there are no kids, and there is time to get your room set up and stuff. It is very low key. It all really starts on Thursday, when the kids get in, and the teaching starts.

What I Accomplished This Summer
This is the first summer in a long time, that I really feel like I got a lot of stuff accomplished. I mean, other summers have been very important, but usually, they are so busy, that at the end, you say, "Where did the time go?" I don't have that feeling this year. I am a list-maker, so here is my list of what I accomplished this summer:

• Built the deck
• Got the pool up-and-running, with balanced water and all.
• Kept the property looking good.
• Re-did the nursery
• Installed a new light in the laundry room
• Reorganized my music collection
• Actually used this blog
• Completely explored the various tools that Google has to offer
• Got a new toy, my Zen.
• Revamped our grocery-shopping situation, and set up a stock room in the laundry room.
• Visited family in Gettysburg.
• Had several house guests here: Brenda, Caitlin, Meg's mom, and Meg's dad
• Helped in throwing a kick-a** party for my dad.
• Was supportive as Meggie 'gestated.'
• Watched two seasons of Seinfeld
• Read several books (although have given up on the last one I started, maybe I'll pick it up again some day)
• Wrote curriculum maps for all grades.
• Made every worksheet that I need for the entire first marking period.
• Updated my band handbook.
• Got a major head start on my room setup.
• Attended the ActivBoard workshop
• Switched the handbell closets
• Ordered and picked handbell music for this season, and made up the schedule.

I might have missed some things, but I think it is a pretty good list.

What I want to accomplish this 'Monday, and the rest of the week' (school year)

• Always know what I am teaching. That is, have good lesson plans with clear objectives, and all materials ready. No more scrambling the night or morning before to make a copy a worksheet, or 'winging-it' when the class comes in.
• Stay ahead: on everything, but mainly on grading. I need to be organized from the beginning. My goal is to take a student's approach. Write down my 'homework' for the night, do it when I get home, and relax the rest of the night. I am not going to let the grading pile up, and then spend an entire weekend getting caught up. Also, as far as staying ahead, I plan to keep up the planning-ahead that I started this summer. In other words, I can spend the entire 1st marking period preparing all of my worksheets and materials for the 2nd marking period.
• Get better at discipline: this has been my weakest area every year I have taught. On one hand, I let too much stuff slide to avoid confrontation. I am inconsistent with discipline. I also don't yet think like a middle-schooler (I didn't even when I was IN middle school), and therefore, I have trouble understanding, and dealing with, some of the behavior problems I have. On the other hand, I let the kids get the better of me. I give a kid a demerit, and he/she argues with me. I argue back, and then get angry. The kid gets a kick out of the fact that it makes me mad, and then that makes me madder. I need to take the emotion out of discipline. I need to stop arguing with them. I'll never win. I also had a problem with drawing too much attention to my discipline system. I used to use a 'name and check on the board' system. Some kids LOVED seeing their name up there, and they enjoyed getting a demerit in front of the whole class. I am going to use a much more discrete system, and not let my class turn into the 'Demerit show.'
• Be a better, more motivating band director. I am not going to get into situations that make band a crappy experience. I am going to keep my cool when getting close to performance time. I am not going to let a few bad seeds ruin it for the good kids. I am not going to let a few bad seeds join the band, simply to annoy me. I am going to run better rehearsals, and be more prepared. I am actually going to take a look at the scores, and plan out my rehearsals. I going to put on a performance that I can feel confident about, and not crossing my fingers that it won't fall apart.
• I am not going to let school/work run my life. When I think back to last school year, it was like "Home is that place I go when I am not at school." I can't let it get that way. My job is a job. It's a good job that I like doing (most of the time). I do the job, so that I have money to live my life. By living my life, I mean, being with Meg, Max, and my future daughter. My enjoying time at home, blogging, going out (cheap, of course), and basically doing what I did all summer. I guess before I was still under college ideal that school is life. It really is for four years. You live at school; everyone you deal with is associated with school. You are immersed in the college experience. When you get into the real world, that's all you know how to do. Then, you get married, buy a house, get a dog, and have a kid, and the college model doesn't work there. This can be a major problem for some people, and it's not going to happen to me. I am done with college, and am living the life of a working adult, soon to be a family man. This person cannot revolve their life around school/work. I can still be a great music teacher/band director, and a family guy. I don't see why not.

Another pretty good list.

Well, it's 15 minutes past my bedtime, and I actually can't sleep in tomorrow. I have to pack up my laptop, and get my school paperwork ready to go, and then it is off to bed... the first 'school night.' of the summer. The 'Monday of Summer,' here I come!

Crab Day 2006

So, today was the infamous crab day, one of the odder Mom's Family-side traditions.

So, what is crab day, you ask?

Traditionally, it is the Sunday before Labor Day, generally the last celebration before school starts. I always think of it as the opposite of the Family Picnic, which usually marks the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. It is the last major family gathering before the holidays. It's a Mom's-Side family gathering, which means a lot of people. The party is hosted by my Mommom and Poppop at their house. Our family, and the families of my mom's two brothers and sister attend. The main feature of the day is (you guessed it), crabs! Poppop buys a bunch of crabs, and you break them up and eat them. For those who are grossed out by 'sea spiders,' as Meg calls them, there are also burgers and dogs, corn-on-the-cob, and various side dishes.

Another major part of crab day is the beginning of another family tradition: The Christmas Pollyanna. As you can gather, my family is quite big. In total, just on my mom's side, I have 9 cousins, 2 cousin-in-laws, 2 1st cousins-once-removed, 3 aunts, 3 uncles, and 2 grandparents. Almost all where in attendance today, along with my immediate family. Well, anyway, years ago, my family realized that it was a real hassle to buy Christmas gifts for all of those people. So, every year at Crab Day, we fill out a piece of paper with your name, and a list of $20 gift suggestions. Everyone puts their name in a basket, and then chooses another one. If you get someone in your immediate family, you put it back and draw again (because you would be getting them a gift anyway). Also, my Mommom and Poppop do not participate, as everyone gets them a gift too. Once you draw a name, you have to keep it secret, and remember to hold on to it until you do your Christmas shopping. (This was a problem for us last year).

This crab day was like most other. Laura and Sean were moving back to college today, so they weren't around, which was a bit of a bummer at first, but entertained we were. It's been a bit of a baby-boom around here. Or little kid, at least. First, you have my adopted cousins Ronny and Erica. Ronny turns 6 this month, and Erica is 5. Then, you have my cousin Shannon's daughter Chrstin--she's 2. My other cousin Mike has a daughter named Gabby, who will be 1 around the time our baby is due. We also found out today, the Mike, and his wife Sam, are expecting again around March. So, there will be TWO more babies at next year's crab day.

Other than that, we ate a lot, took pictures, got caught up, and like usual with my family, laughed a lot. And like that, another crab day has passed, another school year begins. At this point, I am trying not to let it hit me, but it does seem a little weird that tomorrow is my last day of summer. It's just so weird, because you look SO forward to summer in June. You get this, "last time for this class, last time to get up early, last time to drive to work" idea, which is really not right. It seems like summer will last forever, and then when it ends, you realize how fast it went. As I unpacked my school stuff, the memories of last school year didn't seem that far away. It was hard to imagine that a long, relaxing and productive summer occurred between now and then. I suppose this gets easier as you teach longer and years and summers pass by. But for now, it is still a little weird. But I am not gonna let it get me down this year. My first year teaching, at my old school, I was nervous about starting teaching, and therefore was dreading the start of the school year. The next year, I was starting at a new school, was nervous about that, and therefore dreading the start of the school year. I had such a bad year, that last summer, I was dreading having to go back. This past year went much better. It's my third year there, I am prepared, I know the kids, I am getting better at dealing with behavior problems, so I have no reason to be nervous. This makes starting the school year much easier.

As for my last day of summer, I am not sure how I will spend it. Hopefully the weather is nice, so I can spend sometime outside. I refuse to do anything school-related tomorrow, except for to pack my school bag at night, and go over the agenda for the in-services. I don't wanna do too much house work, nor do I want to waste the day away on the computer. Perhaps I'll spend the day with Meg. The worse part about school is that, for 7 hours a day, I am not with Meg. Yeah, yeah, you probably think it is really cheesy and sappy, but that is how I feel. It is even harder at the beginning of the school year, because in the summer, Meg and I spend pretty much every minute together. When school starts, I really miss having her around. I feel even worse for her, because she doesn't start till 9/14. At least I'll be at school, and occupying my time there. Meg will be at home alone with Max--he's still good company though.

So that's decided, I'm spending time doing things with Meggie tomorrow, because that is what I'll miss the most about the school year.

Oh, here's some pictures of Crab Day...



Gabby, Erica, and Christin: 3 members of the Baby Boom


Ronny, opening up his gift from us (oh, I forgot to mention, Crab Day is also Ronny's family birthday party)

See more pictures on our Picasa Web Album:

Crab Day/Ronny's Birthday 2006

Sep 3, 2006 - 49 Photos

Max August Pictures Online

Check out the latest pictures of Max...

Max August 2006

Aug 31, 2006 - 33 Photos

Sam's Club Run

Okay, so I am done my schoolwork now! Woo-Hoo! I was almost finished last night at 10, so I figured I would stay up as late as I needed to get the rest of it done. Now I can relax these last two days before the in-services.

Yesterday, I overslept a bit, waking up at 6:45. I ended up staying in bed until a little after 7 or so. I got up, had breakfast, read my news, blogged, and then decided with Meg that we would postpone our Sam's Club trip until after lunch, since the weather was really crappy.

I spent part of the morning outside, in the rain, backwashing the pool, because it was overfilled again. I emptied the skimmer basket, and in the process, almost clogged the filter. There was so much stuff in the basket, than when I pulled it out, half the stuff came out of the basket, and went down the hose to the filter, blocking the suction. Luckily, all I had to do was jiggle the hose to clear the clog. Good thing, because last time that happened, I had to disconnect the hose to clean it out. I wasn't ready to do this in the rain.

Our backyard is a disaster now--branches and leaves everywhere. That on top of the fact that Max seems to have forgotten where he goes to the bathroom. It looks like we are going to have to retrain him. Once things dry out a little bit, and it gets a little warmer, I'll go out there and clean it up. Probably a first-weekend-of-the-school-year project.

After lunch, we headed to Sam's Club for part II of grocery shopping. There is something fun and satisfying about wholesale club shopping. We left the store having spent $250 dollars, and enough meat for a month plus, along with other supplies we needed. After we got home, I spent the next hour repacking all of the meat into freezer bags. Meg took the dry goods and put them in our new 'store' downstairs.

I spent the rest of the day/evening working on school work, finishing everything! I think the things that I did not do were things like: "Write the November band newsletter." That can wait.

My plan was to get up at 6 again this morning... however, I went to bed later last night, and I was kinda hyper anyway, so I didn't fall asleep till well after 11. When 6 rolled around this morning, I decided to make it 7.

I got up at 7, showered, had breakfast, started the laundry, and read my news. After blogging, I'll relax some more. Meg and I will probably take Max for a walk, since he is going to have a lot of crate time today.

Today is our annual crab day. I'll blog about crab day, it's history, and how this year's crab day went tonight. Until then...

Done!!!

Quick post here... it is past my bedtime. I'll write more about today tomorrow morning:

That is... I have made all of the materials I need for the 1st marking period, or all grades!!!

Plus, most of the things I need for band. Some I am going to wait on till I am at school, as I need to use method books as resources. But other than that... I'm ready for the school year (worksheet-wise)!

Money Woes

Much of yesterday morning was spent worrying about money... again. This topic seems to come up a lot.

After getting up at 6, I had breakfast, and then got down to money stuff. I put in all of the receipts, printed out our category spending report, and then plugged everything into our budget. I discovered that, once again, we were over-budget, WAY over-budget for the month of August. I began to ask myself "why?," since it always feels like we are saving, but on paper, we are not.

Well, first off, I was expecting my stipend for writing the band show for the HS band I write for. I usually get it in August, but it didn't come yet. I'll have to e-mail the director, to find out what the deal is. The other thing was, and here's where the guilt comes in... my Zen. I was depending on that money to buy the Zen. Well, I bought it, and then the money never came in the month. So I went, "okay, let's pretend I did get the money--how would the budget work out then?" No better, we were still in the hole for the month. Just a little bit over here and there on a bunch of categories, but enough to break the budget for the month.

I took a deep breath, and said, "Okay, we just gotta be more careful in September." Then I remembered that I have been saying this a lot lately. Then, I actually took a look at how much we had saved this summer. It was a little bit, but nowhere near the amount of savings we need to live while Meg is home. And, it doesn't look like we are going to be able to save a whole lot more.

I felt like I had failed. I felt so optimistic about all of this working out months ago when I planned it. Then, I began to ask, "where did the money go?" And it was pretty easy to figure out. Our beautiful deck came with a price tag of $2,300. It never felt like that much, because we were buying things for it slowly, but when you add up all of those Home Depot receipts, that's the grand total. We overspent on groceries and food this summer, although we are already in the process of fixing that. I poured a lot of money into the pool. We poured money here and there into stuff for the house. It was very obvious what had happened. We made a budget, didn't follow it, and now we have to come up with plan B.

I broke this bad news to Meg, and after the initial shock, began to brainstorm. Meg thought of the idea of just going back a month early, but this probably isn't possible, since her sub has already been hired. We decided to put an ultimatum on spending. Only buy what is absolutely needed. Nothing more. If we're bored, we'll find something free to do. We also learned that we have a tax credit coming our way, just for having a kid this year. That will help. And if things get really bad, we can always dip into our summer pay savings, and repay that money with the stipends we earn at the end of next school year. That means sacrificing any home improvement projects for next summer, and the possible vacation with my family to OCNJ for the week.

We also resurrected the idea of starting our lesson studio. We tried it at the end of last school year, but only half-heartedly. I had one student, a kid of one of the people in the handbell choir. We kept up lessons for a while, but ours and their schedule were so busy, we had to keep canceling lessons. I think we might have actually had maybe 5 or 6 lessons or so.

But, we figured out, that if we can actually get some students and maintain them, that it could bring in some extra money... to use for the fun stuff that we wouldn't otherwise get to do. Here is our plan. A going rate for lessons is $15/half hour. We figured we would charge $50 for a month's-worth of lessons. That equals out to about $12.50 a lesson ($10 if the month has five lessons in it). $50 a month sounded like a lot to me (we could never afford that), but anyone who had the money for lessons should find the rate competitive. If we each get 1 student, that's and extra $100 a month. Enough for a few dinners out. If we each get 2 students, that's $200, and you can do the math for anymore. It sounds great, but I am not that optimistic that we will get even that many students. We live in a blue-collar community, and I don't see many people having an extra $50 a month. But, hopefully a few will. Meg made posters, and we are going to put them up everywhere we are allowed. Meg is also going to call the local band directors, and send a letter with some business cards. It would be nice if this works, to actually have money outside of our tightly budgeted income.

Feeling better about money stuff, we had lunch, and then I got to work on more school stuff. I got a bunch more done, but not enough to satisfy me. I decided today would be my last day to do school work this summer. Hurricane Ernesto is making its though the Delaware Valley, and therefore the weather is crappy. It's a good day to stay in and work on school stuff. The weather is supposed to be a little nicer on Sunday and Monday, so I will relax those days, before the school routine starts again on Tuesday (still not bummed yet for some reason... I hope it stays that way).

After the school work yesterday, Meg and I went to Peter's for dinner. The great thing about a diner is that you can eat a good meal for relatively cheap. And and Peter's, you really get your money's-worth. I had soup, a cheeseteak, fries, and a cannoli--Meg had fried chicken, a baked potato, salad, onion rings, and coleslaw. The total for all of this was $20. Our waitress was really good though, so I gave her a bigger tip than usual-- $6. I am a firm believer in the minimum of 20%, unless you have really crappy service (in which case, I leave the standard 15%). 20% is easy to figure out. Just move the decimal point over, and then double. Like this: let's say your bill came to $25.72. To figure out the tip you'd: (1) move the decimal point over: $2.57, and (2) multiply by 2: 5.14. Then I usually round up to the nearest dollar, so in this case, $6. It always pays to leave good tips at a restaurant you go to a lot, because, chances are, you'll have them again. And as a former waitress, Meg will tell you that this will make a difference.

After Peter's, we went to Wal-Mart, to do the first half of our new shopping system. We got out of Wal-Mart only having spent $50. Today, we are going to do the Sam's part of the shopping. This will be an expensive trip, but it will be a lot of stuff that will last us for a month or longer. We won't know until the end of the month whether this new shopping strategy will make a difference, but I sure hope it does.

After shopping, I was going to get more schoolwork done, but ended up watching 2 episodes of Star Trek: TNG, and surfing the web on my laptop. Ah, the summer has ended... let the procrastinating begin!!!