Summer Ruminations

--All day yesterday I was singing the "What Time is It?" song from (I'm sad to admit) High School Musical 2...
What time is it?
Summertime!
It's our vacation.
What time is it?
Party time.
That's right, say it loud!

--Today is my first day of SUMMER!!!!!!!!! Woot woot! As we have to pay for Em's preschool/daycare a week at a time, she'll still be going through the end of this week so I can have some much needed ME time. Yippee!

--Part of my "me time" sadly includes some major household cleaning. But I'm trying not to do too much, as I know I can do some cleaning next week (and beyond) when Em is home with me.

--My sister sent me a gift certificate for a massage for my birthday...I wonder if it's too short notice to cash in on it this week? Hmmm....

--There are 40 books in the Scholastic Read180 collection, used in my reading classroom. I've brought the 35 I haven't read yet home with me so that I can read them this summer. This will really help me have "book talks" with my students next year. (And before you freak out, while some of the books are 200+ pages, many "Level 1" books are only 40 pages or so, enabling me to read multiple books in one day. I love to read---but even I wouldn't try to conquer 35 ginormous books in one summer!)

--I'm currently reading the 3rd book of the Gemma Doyle trilogy and am LOVING it. I have enjoyed these three books thoroughly and am eager to find some other great summer reads!

--I think I'll head to Kohl's today. I received a 15% off EVERYTHING in the store coupon in the mail this week. I can't resist! And I could use some new sandals anyway...

--I'm determined to enjoy every moment, as summer always flies by in a whirlwind. Our plans this year:
--June: Em and I will have local excursions---zoo, beach, parks, picnics, hanging out at
home, library, etc.
--July: My sister Laurel will be visiting the first week of the month. Can't wait to see her!
--After she visits with us, Em and I will travel to Ohio with her. Laurel will return to her
apartment, and Em and I will stay at my parents house. (Em touched my heart this week.
I asked her what she most wants to do this summer. She said, "Go to Grandma and
Grandpa's house." Awww!)
--We'll have playdates galore with our Ohio friends and family while we're in Ohio. Yippee!
DH will join us for his 2-week vacation for part of the month. Yea!
--My older sister, Michelle will also visit at some point. (I haven't seen her for several
years and Em has never met her...it will be nice to finally connect!) (She lives in Seattle,
WA. The distance and $$$ make it difficult for us to visit one another.) (She just
finished earning her Ph.D GO, MICHELLE!!! YOU SUPERSTAR! She was hired by Drew
University in New Jersey, so will be moving to the East Coast. Yippee! We can likely
see each other much more often now!)
--August: Em will stay with my parents while I attend a "Girl Power" reunion with my
college gal pals. (Click HERE to view my post about last year's fun Girl Power adventure.)
This year we're going to NYC for an extended weekend. Should be a blast!
--After GP weekend, Em and I will be returning to FL...where we'll only have 2 weeks left
before back-to-school time starts again.
--Whew!

--Ever since I typed the "What Time is It" lyric above, I keep having random summer-y songs pop into my head...
"Summer lovin' had me a blast...summer lovin' happened so fast." (Grease!)

"School's out for summer!" (Alice Cooper)

"It's a cruel ... cruel ... cruel summer. Leaving me here on my own. It's a cruel ... it's a
cruel ... cruel summer. Now you've gone" (Bananarama)

"Summertime, summertime, sum, sum, summertime...." (The Jamies) (I admit, I had
to look the artist up on this one.)

"I got my first real 6-string. Bought it at the 5-and-dime. Played it 'til my fingers bled.
Was the summer of '69." (Bryan Adams)

--Some good 'ole Beach Boys: "We're waxing down our surfboards. We can't wait for
June. We'll all be gone for the summer. We're on safari to stay. Tell the teacher we're
surfin'. Surfin' U.S.A."

--"I remember how you loved me. Time was all we had until the day we said goodbye.
But I remember every moment of those endless summer nights." (Richard Marx)

--"Hot town, summer in the city. Back of my neck getting dirty
and gritty..." (The Lovin' Spoonful) (I had to G.oogle the artist on this one too.)

Cracking myself up here....I'll stop with one of my current favorites:
"And we were tryin' different things. And we were smokin' funny things. Makin' love down by the lake to our favorite song. Sipping whiskey out the bottle. Not thinking 'bout tomorrow. Singin' 'Sweet Home Alabama' all summer long." (LOVE this Kid Rock song. Though I didn't smoke, have sex, or drink in high school...I definitely relate to the "Sweet Home Alabama" and "caught between a boy and man" (girl and woman in my case, of course) that he sings about as he reminisces 1989---my freshman year of high school.

Hooray for summer!

Perfect Moment Monday--Tea Party

Today was one of two post-planning teacher work days at my school. (I'm FREE for summer after tomorrow---hurrah!)

I left work at 4 o'clock. This is very early, as during the school year the school day is over at 4:15 and I typically stick around for an hour or so each day after school is out. I picked Em up ("Mommy! You're early today!") and brought her home for a tea party in our living room.

We made lemonade for "tea," and set up a card table in the living room with my wedding China and favorite teapot. We had a variety of snacks (including cookies, of course!) We "dressed up" in Em's dress up clothes and play jewelry. She LOVED it! I had a blast watching her have such fun. She was very tickled that I allowed her to pour the "tea" all by herself. She drank nearly the entire pot because she was thrilled to repeatedly refill her teacup. What a fun time...how I love our summer adventures! :)


My pink lemonade tea is delicious!



Notice nearly every necklace from her dress up box? And her lacy-tutu-type dress (a gift from Grandma.)



Jasmine headband, Valentine heart clip-on earrings, a lace shawl, and many necklaces...gotta love dress-up time!

Check out other blogger's "perfect moments" HERE.

End of the School Year Reflection

Today marks the last full-day for students for the 2008-09 school year. It is bittersweet in so many ways...

--This is my 1st year teaching 8th grade. It's different emotionally at the end of this year than my prior 7th grade teaching years. I know that when my students leave tomorrow, I will likely never see most of them again. In the past, I'd see my students in the hall the following school year. Or hear about them "through the grapevine" from other teachers. Some would make it a point to seek out my classroom and visit to update me how their year was going. This year, my students will venture on to high school...

--I grew up in a small Ohio community. There were only 3 high schools in the entire county. All of the students who attended my middle school filtered into the same high school I attended. We had 7 years (or more for those who knew each other from the various elementary schools) of friendships by the time we graduated our senior year.

--My teaching community is the total opposite. Duval County has 30 middle schools and 20 high schools. My students this week have been excited at the prospect of beginning high school, but also slightly disheartened that they will be separated from their friends, as they will not all be attending the same high school next year.

--My principal announced yesterday that he will be leaving our school at the end of the month. The county opted to "switch" him and another principal. I don't understand why, as our school and the school he is going to are both "A" schools. (Usually our county swaps "A" principals with "C" or "D" principals in an attempt to raise the school grade.) He stated at our faculty meeting that he does not want to go, but that in this economy he is grateful to have a job and will go wherever the county places him.

--Mr. N is the best principal I've had in my 6 years of teaching. He is a goal-oriented team player. He is approachable and wonderful to work with. The faculty is all a little "on edge" as we are now anxious about the incoming principal... Though not fair to pre-judge her, it seems impossible for anyone to adequately fill our current principal's shoes. Sighs.

--On a totally-doesn't-relate to anything note: This year I wrote a Haiku during the time my students were working on poetry projects. I really like it, so am going to type it here. (Haikus are Japanese poetry in which the first and third lines have 5 syllables, and the middle line has 7 syllables.)
Bubbles
Shiny, big, round, clear
Blow them on a sunny day,
Floating, falling, POP!

What do you think? :)

--All in all I've had a good year. I still LOVE the students here, especially as compared to my prior school. They are much better behaved and more respectful. (I wasn't called a "bitch" once this year...at my old school students cursed at the teachers on a frequent basis!)

--I do miss my prior faculty. Moving from a school with a teaching team of 40 to a team of 100...I lost the "family feel." However, I've made some teacher friends. The reading department has bonded and I feel connected with the other 3 reading teachers.

--I eagerly look forward to next year when I will be teaching only READING! (No more language arts and reading combo--hooray!) Reading is my passion, and I am pleased I will once again have more time to devote to the curriculum and to differentiating instruction in order to meet the needs of my students.

--But first...the last day of school. Hugs. Tears. And then summer!

May Books

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen. 4 out of 5. This novel tells of a modern day Jewish teenager, Hannah, who doesn't really comprehend or respect her heritage. Hannah ends up "time travelling" unknowingly, and arrives in a small Jewish town in 1942. She's able to view first-hand some of her elderly relatives during their youth. And then, the devastation of the 1940's occurs. Hannah and the entire Jewish village are taken to a Nazi concentration camp. I've read many teen-lit Holocaust related novels. I appreciated this novel's description of the families being shoved into the train cars like cattle...barely able to breathe, and some dying en route to the camps because they were overcrowded on the railway cars. This novel made the horror of the Holocaust real, but at a level my 8th graders could comprehend and respect. There is a particularly gut-wrenching scene in the novel where some men (who tried to escape) are executed in front of the entire camp. A woman leaves her spot in the line of prisoners to run to her beloved who is about to be executed...of course she ends up being shot as well. However, she made the choice: to die with her love, instead of living in Hell-on-Earth without him. I liked the way the author differentiated between "Hannah" the modern day teen and "Chaya" her 1942 persona. I don't want to ruin any more plot details----but I will say that the description near the end of the novel of what "The Devil's Arithmetic" means is a fitting depiction of the horror of the Holocaust.

The Film: On a side note, I also viewed "The Devil's Arithmetic" film, staring Kirsten Dunst. I thought the film did a better job portraying Hannah's difficulty understanding the Holocaust as a modern teen, than the novel did. However, the bulk of the book---the wonderful characters of Gitl and Shmuel (Hannah's aunt and uncle whom she stays with after "landing in" 1942) were not even in the film! In addition, my favorite part---the gut wrenching part I mentioned earlier, wherein Fayge leaves the camp to die with her love---this part didn't make the movie either. Overall, it was a good film for teens to understand the Holocaust. However, for adults..."Life is Beautiful" or "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" are better in my opinion.

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare This sequel to the City of Bones book I read in April was a good read. I'd give it a 3 out of 5. I enjoyed the continued journey of Clary, as she learned more about her Shadowhunter abilities. Clary's imperfection made her interesting. However, the book contained an incestuous relationship (no sex, just kissing!) throughout the book that makes it an especially intriguing read. I wanted to find out what happened---would the characters "hook up," or would they decide not to pursue their relationship...

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare. 5 out of 5. The last book in the "Mortal Instruments Trilogy" was my favorite of the 3. The question of whether or not Clary and Jace's relationship is or isn't incestuous is answered. There is a final battle between Valentine and the Shadowhunters. Much of the book describes the big decision as to if the werewolves, vampires, and other "underworlders" will be permitted to help in the battle against Valentine. I stayed up late reading to reach the conclusion of this book, and I was not disappointed! Great action scenes. Steamy romance. I was pleased with the conclusion and happy with the way things turned out for the major characters. Great read!

Twilight: Director's Notebook: The Story of How We Made the Movie Based on the Novel by Stephenie Meyer by Catherine Hardwicke 4 out of 5. Neat book that contains photos of on-set and behind-the-scenes items used in the filming of the "Twilight" movie. I especially enjoyed the way Hardwicke explained the way different shots were arranged. I also got a kick out of the 2-page layout showing photos and explanations of all the items she carried around with her daily on the set. Fun read for any fan of the film. :)

Because I Said So by Dawn Meehan. 4 out of 5. I LOVE Dawn's Blog about her life as a very busy stay-at-home-mom of 6 children. Her blog is realistic, yet has much humor. When I learned she had written a book about parenting, I jumped on the bandwagon. It was a fun book full of vignettes of her motherhood experiences. The humor I love from her blog was prevalent throughout the book. A fun read!

Dragon's Bait by Vivian Vande Velde 4 out of 5. My mom introduced me to the Vande Velde books at her Ohio library last summer. I've been hooked ever since. This teen lit author gets right to the fast-paced action and doesn't disappoint! Dragon's Bait is about a teenage girl who is accused of being a witch. Rather than drowning her or burning her at the stake, her fellow villagers decide to leave her on a mountaintop as bait for a dragon. However, the girl ends up befriending the dragon. The rest of the book depicts her turmoil as she faces decisions regarding whether or not she wants the dragon to help her seek revenge against the village. Great story!

Summer will be here soon....happy reading one and all! :)

Yippee!

What rhymes with 'geek?' GREEK! As in goddess! Visit Geek by Marriage 's blog sometime when you get a chance. She always has interesting things to view/read. And being the blogging guru that she is...SHE SAVED MY BLOG! Did you notice the lovely 3-column design? I'd love to claim credit....I got it half way there and then repeatedly botched the whole thing up! Geek fixed it all for me. I am SOOOOO happy!

Tomorrow I'll arrange my sidebar columns. But for now, I'm thrilled to have a 3-column layout. YIPPEE!

Off to rest now...

THANKS, Heather. You are wonderful!