First Day of First Grade

Good day #1. 20 first graders "rode" the Fredericks train to room 14 today - including a train whistle and all. We got off to a good start. They are all very cute, of course. :-) We even had a classroom "visitor" - a dragon fly decided to take up residence in our room for the day. Talk about a distraction! Oh, those teachable moments: Do dragon flies bite, Mrs. Fredericks? What do they eat? Will it land on my desk? Can we catch it?

We made a jigsaw puzzle together - they were delighted each time we found a piece that fit. I'll post a picture when I take one.

Tonight was back-to-school night. 13 of the families were there (out of 20). Everyone seemed very friendly. They just didn't want to sit in those small chairs. :-)

I am looking forward to a long weekend, even though I will spend some of it at school. I just need to catch my breath and get some plans in my head. Thank you all for prayers and support from afar as this has been an extreme step out of my comfort zone.

Unexpected opportunity

School began a week ago.

A little background: I had a "rough" year last year. I struggled for a while as to what I should do at the end of the year - Should I retire? Should I change grade levels? Should I come back as a 6th grade teacher and tough it out another year? There was going to be an opening at my school for a 1st grade teacher - this would have been a dramatic change (I have taught over 20 years in the 6th grade) - but I thought maybe I needed that drastic of a change to work things out. After much prayer and talking with my principal it was determined I would stay in 6th grade, have a teaching partner ( I was the lone 6th grade teacher last year), and have a class of about 25.

I began this year with excitement. I had already established a good working relationship with my new partner, as we took a week's training together this summer. We began last Monday. I only had 21 students show up the first day, but knew more would come as we were the "overflow" site for 6th grade. My partner was at 20. I must say, it was "heaven" to have only 21 6th grade bodies for the week! Class size is usually between 30 - 32. By Thursday I was rejoicing in the decision to keep me in 6th grade. I was bonding with my new students and they with me. Mike, my partner, and I were excited about the plans we were developing for shared teaching units, etc. I shred with Bill that evening how blessed I was feeling......

Friday at lunch the principal called me into her office. With all the compassion she could offer, she informed me that the District was over staffed in 6th grade and we we directed to collapse my class. 12 students from the 6th grades would be transferred to another school and the rest of my students would join the other 6th grade class. I would get to stay at my school, but I would be teaching a 1st grade class! Even if you are not in the teaching field, I know you can appreciate many of the differences between 11 year olds and 6 year olds! This will be a dramatic paradigm shift for me!

The weekend has been spent moving out of my "old"classroom and moving into my new one. I have until Thursday to get the room set up. I'll meet my new students on Thursday. I really am vacillating between feeling overwhelmed, a bit sad, and excited. I know that God is in control and goes before me and with me wherever my path lies. "Fear not. I will be with you wherever you go."

By God's grace I press on .... more to come.

First Day of School, etc

I love the first day of school. Here I can enjoy the class being totally cooperative, smiles on their faces, eager to please, etc. This "honeymoon" period varies in length from year to year. I am hoping for at least a week. :-) Truly amazing - I had 21 students in my classroom. That's all that have enrolled so far. Last spring I was told they would max me at 25 --- I'll believe that when it really happens (our max is ususlly 32). I have a godly man as a teaching partner for the other 6th grade class. We have another Christian man teaching 5th grade as well. It looks to be a blessed year from that stand point.

Construction is continuing on the home front. Carpet installed today. Electrician will come tomorrow, finishing the wiring in the back part of the house. Then we should be able to move back in to our normal bedroom. We take the wall paper off the kitchen walls tomorrow evening. Then the following week the painters will return for the front part of the house. Little by little.....

construction dilemma

Note to self: Next time we have cabinets stained in the house, get a motel room! Especially if it occurs on the hottest day of the summer! Dilemma: open windows to "air out" vs keep closed with AC on to try and keep house under 80 for sleeping...We opted for a compromise - opened the family room up and closed the door to shut it off from the rest of the house. We were still warm and the odor lingered, but I finally fell asleep. (Thank goodness for Tylenol PM!)



Today they will lacquer all the wood. The painter told me this a less smelly, but very dusty. Our good friends, Rich and Ginger, are letting us have dinner and spend the evening with them. They would let us spend the night too, but with their cats in the house, I don't do well after about 5 hours. Here's hoping for a better nights sleep.



By the way - the cabinets are looking gorgeous and I start school today.

Remodel Saga continues. Today the painters are staining all of the cabinets which were installed yesterday. As providence would have it, this is the hottest day of the month - 104 - on a day that the house needs to stay open due to the obnoxious odor of the staining process. We have set fans for the workers and have a large jug of iced tea for them. I will escape and work in my classroom. Bill will go to the club to play racquetball. Hopefully we can sleep in here tonight. We have moved our sleeping bed for the third time - out of the office and back in the front bedroom where there are no cabinets to stain. :-)

This is the unfinished cabinet in the living room.

Picture to the left is in our master bedroom. Upper right photo is in the office.

This is how we found our bedroom when we returned from Oregon. The texture guys were not the neatest workers in the world. We slept in the front bedroom after some major cleaning there and have since moved into the office. Our "mobile" bedroom is determined by what work is being done that day.

Our "storage" room (aka, living room). There will be some built in oak shelves and cabinets on the back wall. Our mess doesn't prevent watching the Cubs! :-)

Our temporary bedroom set up in the office. There will be some oak cabinets and a work area built onto the wall you see and the one nezt to the lamp (our old computer desk area).

Remodel Day 9

The cabinets are to be installed today. They will be stained tomorrow. I understand that is a stinky process. It's going to be a stinky, hot day - so choice: keep windows open and melt or close house with air conditioning running and pass out from smells. I think I will work in my classroom at school and get out of this palce. :-)

Remodel vs Moving

I'm not sure which is more work - living in the middle of remodeling or just moving! :-)

birthdays

Last Thursday was my 57th birthday. I remember a time when that sounded so old - closing in on 60 you know! Talking with a friend last week I recalled how important marking my age with fraction was - "I'm 6 and 1/2!" or "12 and 3/4" ! Now, if I'm asked how old I am (how rude!) I actually have to do the math - "1951 subtracted from 2008....." to remember how old I am. What's up with that? Signs of aging are creeping in - can't quite recall those all important details - thank goodness for Outlook calendars! Aching feet and finger joints hint of approaching arthritis. We won't take about the middle age spread....! Yet hopefully God is granting some wisdom along with the camouflaged gray hairs. I am excited for the future - getting nearer to the end of my teaching career, wondering what God has for me next, and enjoying having Bill, my loving husband, by my side always! Hello, year 58 - let's keep going...the best is yet to come.

I've Just Begun!

Okay - friends. Here I go. I will try to be a faithful blogger!

Our house is a construction zone. As with most remodeling - the timeline is not where it should me (my time line). However all the inside walls in the back of the house were painted yesterday. Once I got "used" to the paint smell, I could enjoy the clean look. Now we are waiting for the new cabinetry to be delivered on Monday, then they will stain them (another odorous experience I am sure.). Carpet is to arrive a week from Friday - my first day of school. What timing. Fortunately Bill doesn't begin for another week after that, so he'll be "in charge."