Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Sharing

Recently I've been experiencing situations where it's not good to share and where more sharing should be allowed to happen.

For the first situation, the central office is trying an experiment with my class and the class next door in which we have to share a classroom aide. They want us to prove that a classroom aide is needed because they would like to save money by not having classroom aides anymore. On Tuesday, we spent about 2 hours together trying to figure out how we could all get our breaks, that are required legally, as well as have the proper supervision ratio of teachers/students, which is also required. It was pretty much impossible. We figured out a way to do it, if the office would allow the lunch aide who serves both classes to get an extra half an hour added to her time each day so she could be with us when we are outside so we can get our breaks. I'm guessing it got approved, because we went ahead and put our plan into action today, and it went smoothly. If this alone doesn't prove we need them, I don't know what will.

The part that didn't go smoothly as a result of our plan was our actual class schedule. The outside times have to be at certain times in order for us to have the lunch aide there to help us, so we have to adapt our schedule to that. The morning class went okay. We were all a bit frazzled because it was the first day and we are learning by trial and error of what we each need to do to make things work. The afternoon class, however, was a flop. We ended up have an extra hour of time and so we just let the kids play in the classroom. They couldn't sit for more than 5 minutes at the circle, which is expected for 3 year olds, but 4 year olds usually do at least a few minutes longer than that. Granted, it was only the first day, and we understood that. The main problem we have is a huge block of time after outside time that we don't know what to do with the kids when they've already played in the classroom for an hour before outside time. Outside time is already 45 minutes instead of the usual half an hour, so when it gets cold and that is shorter, we will have a lot longer time to fill in the classroom. The schedule feels so disjointed and backwards to me. Part of that is also because we can no longer have a half an hour arrival and pick up time like we used to and kids have to be served food at certain times. Mmmm that's where that extra time came from!

Overall, the first day wasn't that bad. Tomorrow the second half of each class will come and it will feel like Groundhog's Day because we will be doing the same exact things, even down to what we are eating for snacks and lunch. Fun! I'm just a little nervous to have all 16 kids come on Tuesday! It will be absolutely insane. We will handle it, though, I'm sure.

The other aspect of sharing I mentioned was a situation where we should be able to share more. On Tuesday we were told by HR the difference between exempt and non-exempt employees. The teacher is exempt and the assistant teacher is non-exempt. Exempt means that the teachers work until the job is done, whether it takes more than their required 40 hours a week or less.  They do not get paid overtime. Non-exempt means assistant teachers (like myself) are required to work 40 hours a week and they get paid time-and-a-half if they work overtime. HOWEVER, federal regulation for our program says that no part of the federal funding can go toward paying overtime, which means, if assistant teachers work any overtime that is not pre-approved by our director, we will be subject to disciplinary action. Yikes.

What this means in real life is, that as soon as the clock hits 4:30 pm, I HAVE to leave otherwise I am going against the law and could possibly be fired. With that said, I could be helping clean up the classroom or preparing the classroom for the next days activities (which I may be in charge of teaching) or there might be some paper work or other project the teacher needs my help doing and I will HAVE TO leave when my 8 hours are up and leave the rest for the teacher to do. If I do go over, I will have to leave early on Friday, which is my preparation day. This all leaves very little time for the teacher and I to talk to each other about the class or coordinate things on a day to day basis. It also means the teachers get the short end of the stick and have to carry the heavy load of responsibilities all by themselves. It's ridiculous. They also said no "volunteering" my time to help the teacher or working at home. So... when am I supposed to get done what I am supposed to do, like planning? I know it's a legality issue, but if that is the case, why not make assistant teachers exempt? Seriously, because most assistant teachers will most likely "volunteer" their time or work at home anyway and lie on their time sheets anyway. I can't honestly do that myself, but it will be really hard to not be able to help my teacher as much as she needs me to help her. It will also be hard to not have enough time to do what I need to do for my own teaching preparation.

On a more positive note, one of the kids that came today only could remember my name from when we visited her house so she kept calling the other teacher my name. It was cute. Then to have the kids try to say my name is really cute, too. The kids in the afternoon class really wanted to include me in their dramatic play and I absolutely loved it. One little boy wanted to play "house and robots." I was a robot and he fed me lots and lots of "food." Yum.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Chugging Along

I'm not sure how many people actually read my blog, but here's an update on what I'm up to now. This past week my co-teacher and I attempted to visit all 30 of our kids. We are required to visit each child's home before they start school so we can get an idea about the home situation of the child and so they can fill out require paperwork for them to come. Each visit is about half an hour to an hour long. I play games with the kids (the fun part) and take notes while the teacher (Miss Julie) talks with the parent(s). It's exhausting to visit more than 4 families in one day! We got most of the kids, but with class list changes, we will most likely have more home visits to do in the coming weeks.

The other thing we attempted to do was start setting up our classroom. Neither one of us worked in this classroom before, so we have no idea what we have to work with and no time to actually go through. Everyday this week we've swapped furniture or other items from a closed classroom so we have things that are in better condition. Most of the stuff in our classroom is fairly old and ugly. We figured out where we want the different "centers" of the classroom to be, but it still looks like a disaster and there is so much stuff to do and we don't have time to do it unless we work over time. Over time is a big no-no for asst. teachers like me because we are paid hourly, but that puts the load on the teacher and she is super stressed. It's awful. I wouldn't be surprised to find out she worked in the classroom on Saturday....

The greatest obstacle here is that we only are given another 1/2 day to set up the classroom between now and when class is to start. All the other time we are in training all day long. It's going to be a really rough and stressful next few weeks.

On a more positive note, I love living only 8 minutes from the center I work at. It's awesome! I am really excited to work with Julie. She has a bear theme that she does things with all year long, which it perfect because I love bears! She and I get along well. If all goes like it should next year, we should be working together again next year, which right now sounds great! She worries and stresses more than I do, so sometimes she stresses me out even more, but it will be okay.

I work a full day and then M-F each night I have church activities that I go to. Thursday night I try to be home and spend time with my grandma. The most difficult task is getting to bed when I need to. I have to be in bed no later than 10 PM so I can wake up at 6 AM to get ready for work. That means leaving activities at 8:30 or so, which is a big bummer when that is the only social time I have during the week. I'm getting used to it though, so I should be okay.

So, I'm keeping very busy trying to do the same ol' same ol' balancing of life and things. My grandma is doing pretty good right now, too.

School starts August 31st and then I get my implant on Sept. 2nd! Should be great!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

No Pressure!

There was an article in the BYU Alumni magazine about Brian Crane, the creator of the comic strip called Pickles. I read this one and it made my family history nerd happy. I couldn't find it online so I have to just type what it says. Enjoy!

Grandfather: Have you been a good by lately, Nelson?
Nelson: Yeah, I guess.
Grandfather: Good. A lot of people are counting on you.
 Nelson: Like who?
Grandfather: Let me put it this way... You have two parents, each of them had two parents, and they had a total of four parents. Those are you grandparents, of which I am one.

Then there were eight great-grandparents, sixteen great-great grandparents, and thirty-two great-great-great grandparents.

If you figure twenty five years between generations, only five hundred years ago there were, let's see...
... One million, forty eight thousand, five hundred and seventy-six people all involved in the creation of YOU.

That's a lot of folks counting on you to make something of yourself, boy. So... DON'T LET US DOWN!

Nelson: Geez! Peer pressure is nothing compared to ancestor pressure!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Dear Tooth Fairy...

Dear Tooth Fairy,
Remember about a year ago when I lost that tooth when that dumb guy was climbing down the side of the mountain letting down rocks and one hit me? Well, that tooth was shattered into a million little pieces, so it was impossible for me to put the tooth under my pillow for you to come and exchange it for money. You still do that right? Since I'm older now, and I lost the tooth in such a traumatic experience, I think that I should get a bit more money than most other people get when you come. I've been a good girl, haven't I? Oh wait, that's Santa Clause. Anyway, I'm anxiously awaiting your reply.

Michelle

PS If you could let me know in the next 3 weeks (by September 2nd to be exact), that would be great! That's when I'm getting the FAKE tooth put in to replace the one that was shattered.

PPS You can write me a check if you don't have that much cash on you, just so you know. :)

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

And so it begins...

Today was my first day back to work after a very short, but eventful and enjoyable summer. I am still working as a preschool teacher, but this year I will be working in Pleasant Grove! I'm very excited to work at a new location with some really great teachers. These first few weeks are training. We have a new director who has made many really great changes to our program, but that means we have to be trained on all the changes. Although the changes are really great, I noticed about half way through the training today that my neck and shoulders are ALREADY tightening up. I love my job, but I realized today how much stress it gives me. I've come to ignore the stress and just work through it, but my body doesn't ignore it, ever. It just tightens up and causes neck pain and encourages stress eating. I gained a lot of weight while working here mainly because of stress eating, so it's my goal this year to not give into it like I have in the past. Instead I need to exercise and drink more water. I hope that solution helps!

But with all that said... anyone want to give me a free neck/shoulder massage?

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Bless Your Soul!

I can actually hold a baseball bat right and hit and hit the ball! Who knew, right? I haven't hit a ball that good... ever! A friend actually complimented me and said that I was good and coordinated...that's the first time I've gotten that compliment. I've always struggled, especially with hitting a ball. Depth perception and coordination are usually my weak spots, but not today! My mommy would be proud!

So, about 14 or so fellow Nauvoo pageant-ians got together this afternoon to play baseball. The goal was to teach one of them who is from England how to play because she'd never played it before. Once we taught her, she said it was something similar to a game called Rounders that they have. So, maybe baseball isn't an American sport after all..... I had a lot of fun playing. We stopped for a rest at the seventh inning and ended up not playing again because we had fun visiting and sitting on the chigger-free grass! Yes! And the title "bless your soul," I'm not even sure where it came from, but pageant peoples were saying it a lot and it was awesome.

Now I'm off to visit my old stomping grounds in Provo with my previous roommates. They've finally got new couches and I have to check them out and approve of them, of course!

Friday, August 5, 2011

Move Along, Move Along

Go ahead as you waste your days with thinking
When you fall everyone stands
Another day and you've had your fill of sinking
With the life held in your
Hands are shaking cold
These hands are meant to hold

Speak to me, when all you got to keep is strong
Move along, move along like I know you do
And even when your hope is gone
Move along, move along just to make it through
Move along
Move along

All American Rejects

It's what I have to do...