On May 31st, my sister in law is having my niece and nephew's birthday party. Claire will be 4 and Collin will be 10. Claire has already requested Hannah Montana stuff... but I'd kind of like to get her something slightly educational as well. And I have NO idea what to get a 10 year old boy... except I know he likes to read. So here's my question to you El Ed geniuses... what would be good presents (especially books?) for a 4 year old girl and a 10 year boy? Missy, I know you probably have a million book titles to recommend, so bring them on!!!
I also have a cousin graduating from high school, and I'm not sure if I should just give her money or stuff for college. She's a good girl who's going to college for an English Education degree, so I may be a little biased towards her since she's going into education! I was thinking about towels or stuff for her dorm room, but I'm not sure... So here's another question... What was the best graduation gift you got?
Thanks, you guys are the best!!!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Week in Review
I'm SO glad that this week is finally over! The last week of school is always crazy with administrator demands, guidance concerns, insane parents, and hyperactive kids. The mounds of paperwork alone are overwhelming! On Thursday I had a pizza party for my students, which was a fun way to end the year. On the whole for the year, I had 24 students graduate from my alternative program, which is awesome! Last year I had 13, so that's a big increase. Overall, my alternative program increased the Shelbyville High School graduation rate about 10% for the 07-08 school year... which as you all know, in this day and age of accountability and meeting AYP is huge! On Tuesday I start teaching summer school, which lasts until June 20th. In all honesty, I usually complain about doing summer school, but it's not too bad. I've done it every year since I've been teaching, and since the competition for who gets offered the summer school positions is high, I guess I should be a little more grateful. It's only 4 hours a day, but I get paid time and a half, so it works out in my favor! Plus, I'm in the building all summer long to meet with the guidance department, to enroll new students, and to meet with administrators anyway. I keep telling Mr. Zobel that they should give me administrator pay since I work administrator hours.... but he doesn't think that's too funny (then again, he does have a pretty dry sense of humor!).
Friday night we went to Southwestern's graduation. For some reason, it was really nostalgic for me this time. I suppose it was because I knew so many of the kids... either because they were siblings of people I went to school with or through Chris. I guess it just seems weird that we've been out of school 8 years. 8 years seems like a long time but it doesn't really feel like it was that long ago... it's a bit of a conundrum, I suppose.
Saturday was Shelbyville's graduation, which was also fun in a way. It was a rewarding feeling to watch so many of my students get their diplomas... especially since I know not many of them would have been able to graduate had they not entered my alternative program.
Today I'm doing glorious nothing... I'm not doing laundry, or cleaning, or doing yard work... just nothing. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I didn't have a million things to do, so this will be a nice break.
Tomorrow is baseball sectionals. I can't even begin to describe how happy I will be for baseball season to be over. I know Chris loves it, but it's a hard experience to be the coach's wife during baseball season; he'll probably be mad at me for saying that :). He starts with tennis in a few weeks, but that's only a couple days a week... and I like tennis better than baseball anyway. The season is less demanding and the matches are a lot more fun to watch. Plus, the team is smaller so I get to know the kids more. It's nice to spend even a few minutes a week interacting with nice normal students... when all you deal with on a daily basis are alternative students with the attached drama, it's easy to forget what the traditional high school experience can be like. Sometimes it's nice to have a little reminder! This summer I'm also going to get Chris to teach me some tennis skills... last year we did a little, but maybe this year we can do more. Although, it is a little intimidating to learn from him... when he played in high school he was state-ranked! I guess that's what makes him a great coach though!!!
Friday night we went to Southwestern's graduation. For some reason, it was really nostalgic for me this time. I suppose it was because I knew so many of the kids... either because they were siblings of people I went to school with or through Chris. I guess it just seems weird that we've been out of school 8 years. 8 years seems like a long time but it doesn't really feel like it was that long ago... it's a bit of a conundrum, I suppose.
Saturday was Shelbyville's graduation, which was also fun in a way. It was a rewarding feeling to watch so many of my students get their diplomas... especially since I know not many of them would have been able to graduate had they not entered my alternative program.
Today I'm doing glorious nothing... I'm not doing laundry, or cleaning, or doing yard work... just nothing. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I didn't have a million things to do, so this will be a nice break.
Tomorrow is baseball sectionals. I can't even begin to describe how happy I will be for baseball season to be over. I know Chris loves it, but it's a hard experience to be the coach's wife during baseball season; he'll probably be mad at me for saying that :). He starts with tennis in a few weeks, but that's only a couple days a week... and I like tennis better than baseball anyway. The season is less demanding and the matches are a lot more fun to watch. Plus, the team is smaller so I get to know the kids more. It's nice to spend even a few minutes a week interacting with nice normal students... when all you deal with on a daily basis are alternative students with the attached drama, it's easy to forget what the traditional high school experience can be like. Sometimes it's nice to have a little reminder! This summer I'm also going to get Chris to teach me some tennis skills... last year we did a little, but maybe this year we can do more. Although, it is a little intimidating to learn from him... when he played in high school he was state-ranked! I guess that's what makes him a great coach though!!!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Almost summer!
Sorry it's been so long since my last post... things have been a little crazy around the Lakes household lately. With school coming to a close and baseball season winding down, it's just really busy for Chris and I. Work is especially crazy for me right now, because I also teach summer school. So that means that for these last few weeks of school I not only have to do my regular teaching duties, I also have to preparation for my summer school class. Couple all that with my master's classes, and it's just a little overwhelming. Let's just say I'm really looking foward to June 20th, which is the last day of summer school and the first official day of my summer vacation. Chris is also really looking forward to the end of school, and especially the end of baseball season. He'll start tennis season with nonmandatory practices the first week of June, so it's not like he gets much of a break either, but tennis is less demanding than baseball. Okay, off to some homework. Have a great week!
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Chris' Debut!!!
Yesterday Chris got a most unusual phone call from one of the state ISTA officers. Apparently, Hillary Clinton will be on the "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" show on ABC Sunday morning. It's going to be a roundtable discussion live from Indiana; I think the ultimate goal is to make a hard push to get more voters before the Indiana Primary on Tuesday. So anyway, to make a long story short, the National Educators Association contacted ISTA because Clinton wants to have about 10 teachers from Indiana to sit on the roundtable and ask questions. And Chris is one of the 10 teachers that have been selected!!! It's soooooo cool! So tomorrow morning he has to go to the Conrad hotel in downtown Indy, where he will not only get to meet Hillary Clinton, he will also be on national TV! My little superstar!!!
He's supposed to be sitting in the front row, and since there will only be about 20-30 people in the room (all of the others are NEA big wigs), he will definitely be visible. We're not sure if his question will be selected (apparently, NEA writes the questions and gives them to Clinton's advisors in advance, and then she selects the questions she wants to answer. If your question is picked then you get to ask it on TV), so I don't know if he will actually speak or not. But you'll definitely be able to see him!
It's really ironic because we were just talking the other day about what he would have wanted to do if he hadn't gone into teaching. And guess what his selection was: Broadcast Journalism!!!
So for those of you that want to tune in, it will be the "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" show on ABC Sunday at 11:00. For those of you in different states, you might check the time. Here's the link to the shows website for more information... http://blogs.abcnews.com/thisweek/2008/05/coming-up-a-spe.html
He's supposed to be sitting in the front row, and since there will only be about 20-30 people in the room (all of the others are NEA big wigs), he will definitely be visible. We're not sure if his question will be selected (apparently, NEA writes the questions and gives them to Clinton's advisors in advance, and then she selects the questions she wants to answer. If your question is picked then you get to ask it on TV), so I don't know if he will actually speak or not. But you'll definitely be able to see him!
It's really ironic because we were just talking the other day about what he would have wanted to do if he hadn't gone into teaching. And guess what his selection was: Broadcast Journalism!!!
So for those of you that want to tune in, it will be the "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" show on ABC Sunday at 11:00. For those of you in different states, you might check the time. Here's the link to the shows website for more information... http://blogs.abcnews.com/thisweek/2008/05/coming-up-a-spe.html
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