There are many other pieces listed on my website www.MELodesigns.etsy.com. Go check them out! Here's a sneak peek...
Blue Moon
Break Out of Your Shell
Thursday, November 13, 2008
First Sale
I sold my first piece of jewelry today! It was one of my favorites that was for sale and I'm glad someone bought it and will enjoy wearing it. I really enjoy making jewelry and wearing my own creations. Hopefully, more people will find my designs attractive and will find joy in them as well. Here is Black Rain, the one that found a new home today...
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Pilgrims and Indians
I know I'm a week late, but think back to Halloween...
For Halloween, my Principal wanted the teachers to dress up. For the last several years we have taken our students on a field trip to the Dallas Arboretum to the Texas Pioneer Adventure and we are doing the same thing this year. Prior to the field trip we take a couple of weeks to study the Pioneers so the kids will be able to impress the docent with their extensive knowledge. We typically do our field trip around Thanksgiving so we can study the Pilgrims as well and do a comparison of the Pilgrims and the Pioneers. If you don't know the difference, those we typically call the Pilgrims are those that came over on the Mayflower in 1620 and settled at Plymouth and had the first "Thanksgiving," which they called a Harvest Feast, with the Indians, to celebrate a successful first harvest. By comparison, the Pioneers were people that were part of westward expansion - think of those traveling west to California and Oregon to find gold in the early to mid 1800's.
Anyway, we were getting ready to start our Pilgrims and Pioneer unit as soon as the Election was over, so our 2nd grade team decided to dress up as Pilgrims/Pioneers and Indians. Mr. Watts was a Pilgrim, I was a Pioneer and our two bilingual teachers, Mrs. McAfee and Ms. Cordero were the Indians. We had our own little "Thanksgiving" feast in the teachers lounge at lunch.
The kids were really excited about our costumes and are looking forward to the next couple weeks as we study Pilgrims and Pioneers and get ready for our December 2nd field trip.
Ms. Cordero, Mrs. McAfee, Me, Mr. Watts
Me - in the school library
For Halloween, my Principal wanted the teachers to dress up. For the last several years we have taken our students on a field trip to the Dallas Arboretum to the Texas Pioneer Adventure and we are doing the same thing this year. Prior to the field trip we take a couple of weeks to study the Pioneers so the kids will be able to impress the docent with their extensive knowledge. We typically do our field trip around Thanksgiving so we can study the Pilgrims as well and do a comparison of the Pilgrims and the Pioneers. If you don't know the difference, those we typically call the Pilgrims are those that came over on the Mayflower in 1620 and settled at Plymouth and had the first "Thanksgiving," which they called a Harvest Feast, with the Indians, to celebrate a successful first harvest. By comparison, the Pioneers were people that were part of westward expansion - think of those traveling west to California and Oregon to find gold in the early to mid 1800's.
Anyway, we were getting ready to start our Pilgrims and Pioneer unit as soon as the Election was over, so our 2nd grade team decided to dress up as Pilgrims/Pioneers and Indians. Mr. Watts was a Pilgrim, I was a Pioneer and our two bilingual teachers, Mrs. McAfee and Ms. Cordero were the Indians. We had our own little "Thanksgiving" feast in the teachers lounge at lunch.
The kids were really excited about our costumes and are looking forward to the next couple weeks as we study Pilgrims and Pioneers and get ready for our December 2nd field trip.
Ms. Cordero, Mrs. McAfee, Me, Mr. Watts
Me - in the school library
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Learning Restraint...
I choked my principal the other day. I pulled her hair, kicked her and threw a punch. Do you believe it? Well, none of it was for real, but I wasn't nearly as nervous when I had to sit down with her for a meeting on Friday.
My principal and I and 3 others from my campus took a restraint training last week and my principal was my partner when it came time to practice the blocks and releases, so we took turns punching, kicking, choking and pulling.
It was a training I was required to take because of potential circumstances I face at school. It was the Nonviolent Crisis Invervention Training Program through the Crisis Prevention Institute. The purpose of the program is to focus on the care, welfare, safety and security of the student. It is definitely a training I would recommend to other teachers, even if you don't have a student you may potentially need to restrain. We worked to understand that restraint is a LAST RESORT option to be used only when the student is a danger to him/herself, others or destructive to property.
I don't see myself necessarily needing to use the restraint procedures, but you just never know what will happen in the classroom, so the information is handy to have. It would have been helpful to have a few years ago when I had an especially challenging student who was a runner and I found myself grabbing for her far too often because her favorite route was for the outside doors and toward the streets - she once made it as far as the street corner of a major intersection.
However, the restraint I find myself needing more often, lies within myself. I need to restrain myself because I become impatient...with people in general. I get impatient when I have to wait for people, especially when it was a set appointment; and I get impatient with my students when they are playing instead of paying attention. I need to rely on God to give me patience, to take a few deep breaths and just relax.
My principal and I and 3 others from my campus took a restraint training last week and my principal was my partner when it came time to practice the blocks and releases, so we took turns punching, kicking, choking and pulling.
It was a training I was required to take because of potential circumstances I face at school. It was the Nonviolent Crisis Invervention Training Program through the Crisis Prevention Institute. The purpose of the program is to focus on the care, welfare, safety and security of the student. It is definitely a training I would recommend to other teachers, even if you don't have a student you may potentially need to restrain. We worked to understand that restraint is a LAST RESORT option to be used only when the student is a danger to him/herself, others or destructive to property.
I don't see myself necessarily needing to use the restraint procedures, but you just never know what will happen in the classroom, so the information is handy to have. It would have been helpful to have a few years ago when I had an especially challenging student who was a runner and I found myself grabbing for her far too often because her favorite route was for the outside doors and toward the streets - she once made it as far as the street corner of a major intersection.
However, the restraint I find myself needing more often, lies within myself. I need to restrain myself because I become impatient...with people in general. I get impatient when I have to wait for people, especially when it was a set appointment; and I get impatient with my students when they are playing instead of paying attention. I need to rely on God to give me patience, to take a few deep breaths and just relax.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Yes, I do...
Yes, thankfully, I do still have a job. After a very stressful week, I will continue going to work and teaching my students. For the next two weeks, we are studying the presidential election. Hopefully it will help me decide who I want to vote for. Even if it doesn't, my kids are really enjoying it.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Yes I have a job, No I don't...
It's kind of like he loves me, he loves me not, but on a much more serious note. Dallas ISD is facing an 84 million dollar budget shortfall and it's teachers are taking a BIG hit. Unfortunately, this hasn't been a quick process. It has been a long, drawn-out, painful, stressful process. The "higher ups" keep pushing back the decisions deadline. First, it was the deadline about what they were actually going to do. On October 2, they decided they were going to have to let 550 teachers go. In effort to avoid firing that many teachers, they opened up a time for voluntary resignations. Finally, this past Monday, we were told that Wednesday, tomorrow, was the day that teachers would be getting pink slips.
Mind you, we have been going about our daily lifes, teaching and just plain living, with bated breathe for more than a month now. We have been expected to act like nothing is happening; like we aren't in danger of losing our jobs at the next turn. Every single teacher is worried about whether or not he or she will have a job tomorrow. "They" say every delay is to make sure they are making the best decisions for everyone involved, but I have a hard time believing that letting us hang for weeks, going on months on end is good for us. We are expected to continue teaching our kids when at any moment our principal could walk in with that dreaded piece of paper that says "Sorry, you are no longer employed by Dallas ISD. Please pack your belongings and vacate the premises."
Well, it's stressful enough thinking that tomorrow is the dreaded day, but then I get an email saying that because of a meeting that HE had with the principal's, they are pushing it back one more day, JUST TO MAKE SURE. So it won't be until Thursday. I read that email and I just wanted to scream. I don't want to lose my job, and until Sunday/Monday I had done a really good job keeping my focus elsewhere and not worrying about it.
At this point, the decisions have already been made. The principals know who is going to go, so they just need to get on with telling people - so that everyone can breathe a little easier. Even if it is me, I just want to know...I don't want it hanging over my head any more.
Mind you, we have been going about our daily lifes, teaching and just plain living, with bated breathe for more than a month now. We have been expected to act like nothing is happening; like we aren't in danger of losing our jobs at the next turn. Every single teacher is worried about whether or not he or she will have a job tomorrow. "They" say every delay is to make sure they are making the best decisions for everyone involved, but I have a hard time believing that letting us hang for weeks, going on months on end is good for us. We are expected to continue teaching our kids when at any moment our principal could walk in with that dreaded piece of paper that says "Sorry, you are no longer employed by Dallas ISD. Please pack your belongings and vacate the premises."
Well, it's stressful enough thinking that tomorrow is the dreaded day, but then I get an email saying that because of a meeting that HE had with the principal's, they are pushing it back one more day, JUST TO MAKE SURE. So it won't be until Thursday. I read that email and I just wanted to scream. I don't want to lose my job, and until Sunday/Monday I had done a really good job keeping my focus elsewhere and not worrying about it.
At this point, the decisions have already been made. The principals know who is going to go, so they just need to get on with telling people - so that everyone can breathe a little easier. Even if it is me, I just want to know...I don't want it hanging over my head any more.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Come see me...
A few years ago my mom started making jewelry. She has time for fun little projects like that since she had to retire from work - jewelry, quilting, etc. Once she started making jewelry, she got me into it and I really enjoy the creativity of figuring out how different beads work together to make a necklace, bracelet or pair of earrings. We have made jewelry for ourselves and given it away to family and friends, but it would be nice to make some extra cash from our little hobby. A friend mentioned a website called etsy.com over the summer so I finally looked into it and got a store set up.
Come and see me (and my mom) and my (our) designs at www.MELodesigns.etsy.com.
Come and see me (and my mom) and my (our) designs at www.MELodesigns.etsy.com.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
$55 million
The other day I was listening to the radio and I heard that Johnny Depp had agreed to do a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie for a mere $55 million dollars and I thought..."Wow, why does he get $55 million for a few months of filming a movie (yeah I know its a lot of stunts and stuff) and I only gross in the mid $40K's per year for teaching those who hold the future in their hands?" How is that fair...I know...life's not fair, but I don't have to like it. And now, on top of everything else, Dallas ISD is in the midst of an $84+ million budget shortfall and on Thursday they decided that 550 teachers will be fired. So every teacher has to go to school and continue doing their job while sitting on the edge of their chair wondering if the next time their classroom door opens it will be the principal telling them to pack up their desk and go home...
The Dallas budget crisis somewhat mirrors the national crisis, which I can't pretend to understand because I still sit at home counting pennies hoping against hope that I can stretch until the end of the month, until the next paycheck, until I finally have all my debt paid off and can breathe again. I'm down to about 20 months if all goes well, I get to keep my job and I don't breathe too deeply...
The Dallas budget crisis somewhat mirrors the national crisis, which I can't pretend to understand because I still sit at home counting pennies hoping against hope that I can stretch until the end of the month, until the next paycheck, until I finally have all my debt paid off and can breathe again. I'm down to about 20 months if all goes well, I get to keep my job and I don't breathe too deeply...
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