Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Some Wisdom from a Substitute Teacher


Now that things have calmed down a bit here I've started accepting a few substitute jobs again.  I subbed for a very well behaved second grade class last Friday as well as a great third grade class yesterday.  This coming Friday I have a different third grade class and yet another (different) third grade class in early May.  Are you noticing a pattern?

While it's a sub's prerogative to be choosy, it's not something I've always done. I have so many teacher friends and I'm a sucker for trying to help them out, even when I know it's going to be a long, hard day for me.  (Just imagine how they feel everyday!)  However with my new role as Granny Nanny, I have much less free time of my own and I definitely don't want to spend it wrangling a few naughty kids.  (It only takes one per classroom to ruin your day.)  Now that I'm back to work, I am exercising my right to be super selective and at the elementary school level, that pretty much means limiting myself to third grade.  

Why third graders?  Well my experience has shown that by this age most students have grown out of the "needy" stage but have yet to reach the "let's see how much we can get away with" stage.  They've matured beyond the "she says she's not inviting me to her birthday party"... and "he says he's not going to be my friend anymore" phases.  (Trust me, it goes on ALL day.  *sigh*)  They also understand the concept of working independently and can acknowledge the consequences of bad behavior.  Besides that, it's just a really great age and I have yet to have a bad day with a third grade class.

So, if you're planning to sub elementary school...or wish to become a teacher....take my advice and stick to third grade.  :-)  They pretty much ROCK!




Thursday, April 21, 2016

Field Trip with Fin


Colleen invited me to tag along with her and Fin to a wildlife sanctuary located just a bit south of here.  I'd heard of it but for some unknown reason, had not been there myself.  (How I missed this with Meg, I'll never know.)  Given that it's a hospital/sanctuary and not a zoo, we were both pleasantly surprised at the size and variety of animals on the property.

We arrived in time for story time.




The kids were allowed to touch a baby alligator...



as well as a opossum.



After that we roamed the grounds to look at the animals.  They had two Florida black bears, three Florida panthers, a few Florida deer, bobcats, and foxes as well as lots of gators and turtles but Fin's favorite were definitely the birds. (pronounced "bur" by my little 16 month old grandson)





There were lots of burs.








The little guy was equally excited to see bird signs.   :-)  It's really hard to get a photo of him looking at the camera so I was really happy with this one.




As an added bonus I got a really nice photo of Fin and Mommy.  I cropped a random lady out of the left side but plan to do some creative photoshopping to get a true 4x6 size.





We had a great morning and I have a feeling that Fin and Fam will be spending lots of time at this great little pocket of Florida nature.





Monday, April 18, 2016

A Lesson for Meg....


You will probably be able to guess when I have Fin based on the frequency of my blog posts. :-)   Yes, he was here quite a bit this past week and weekend. Lest you feel I've neglected only you, please rest assured that pretty much everything gets neglected when he's here, except for him, and trust me, he is one very busy guy.  He keeps me on my toes but it's always a fun time.

Today's photo share is basically my way of getting back at Meg.  I bought a new point and shoot camera last week (for our upcoming trip this summer) and of course wanted to try it out.  Meg, being the stubborn teen that she can be at times, absolutely refused to pose for me.  So what's a mom to do? Ummm....selfies.  :-)







After a couple of shots I heard giggling.

















And finally my personal favorite...





I plan to show her this post when she gets home from school today.  Someday she's bound to learn that it would be so much easier (and less embarrassing) if she'd just let me take one nice photo.





Monday, April 11, 2016

Around Here

Things have gotten a bit back to normal around here.  I haven't had any time for subbing but do hope to squeeze in a few more days before school lets out. (Waiting for work schedules from Jay and Colleen.)  I did find time to do a bit of proctoring for the state exams last week so I got in some elementary school loving from "my kids" while there.

Meg's schedule continues to keep me busy after school lets out.  Every Monday she gets tutored in math, Tuesday she has cheer practice, and Wednesday she volunteers for the local Big Brothers Big Sister program which is immediately followed by another two hours of cheer practice.  Usually also thrown in the mix are baseball or lacrosse games that she and her girlfriends enjoy attending.

Jay & Fam have settled into their new place as well as their new jobs.  Fin had his first official "Grandma Day" last Friday/Saturday.  (Because they leave for work so danged early, Grandma Days consist of a sleepover the night before.) Meg and I took him over to the elementary school playground Saturday morning before his nap.

I shared this first set of photos on Instagram.  I've dubbed him the Official Equipment Inspector. In the hour that we were there, I don't think there was a single spindle left unturned.





And trust me, there's a LOT of spindles to inspect.





This playground is located at the elementary school where I sub.  It's only about a year old and is really, really fabulous.  Given that it's only 5 minutes away, I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time there on the weekends.









What kid doesn't walk up the slide?





We spent the majority of our time in the "tot lot" and this ramp was definitely his favorite.





Our next Grandma Day(s) are coming up on Wednesday evening.  Mommy and Daddy both work Thursday and Friday so it will be a 48 hour stay this time around.  He's such a good little guy and I'm already looking forward to our time together.





Monday, April 4, 2016

Congrats Meg!


Last week was especially hectic for yet another reason, one that I purposely kept to myself.   It was tryout week for next year's football cheer squad.  You may recall me saying that her school holds separate tryouts for football and basketball.  (Weird, I know.)  Football is definitely the most popular and therefore also the most competitive.  She didn't try out for the football squad last year but did, as you know, make the basketball squad.  Well after a very stressful (and yes, tearful) week I am so happy to report that Meg will be a member of the 2016 JV Football Cheerleading Team.  (Insert "very relieved mom emoticon" here.)

Between that good news and her bright new smile, I had little problem getting her to pose for a photo last night.




On a side note....aren't our bougainvillea gorgeous right now?  We planted these two bushes (the pink and the purple) years ago as tiny little 1 lb pots. They were basically just sticks and now look at what an amazing backdrop they make for photos!  I may have to charge the neighbors for photo shoots.  :-)