September 23, 2014

I'll start with something that I keep forgetting to mention. The other day at my grandma's house we were all standing around the kitchen so my dad could bring us up to date. That ended up being fairly pointless because there wasn't much to tell. But, at one point my dad said “Now, if there's anything I'm supposed to get and you're interested in it, we can negotiate. You just have to be nice to me for a week and you can have it.” While my dad was saying this my brother was off in the living room doing whatever but after my dad says the negotiating bit my brother chimes in with “Well, I'm not getting shit.” It was probably the funniest thing my brother has ever said.

Last night when I got home I could hear a cricket inside the house. I knew it was inside the house because it got louder when I entered the house and shut the door, and it continued to get louder the farther I made it downstairs. I then noticed two dark spots on the carpet about halfway down the hallway. I put my stuff down, grabbed a cup, and turned on the lights. And there were in fact two crickets just hanging out in the hallway. I actually saw one of them shaking or vibrating its legs to make the cricket sound. I don't know that I've ever seen that in real life so that was pretty cool. I don't know the mating habits of crickets but in my mind they just got done doing the deed because they both seemed a bit lethargic. Only after I put the cup over one of them did it start to jump around a little. But the other one, which was less than six inches away, just sat there while I caught the first one, so I slowly slid the cup over and caught that one under the cup, too. Then I slid something under the cup so I could pick it up and go outside. I walked to the edge of the patio and then chucked the crickets as far as I could into the yard. I didn't want them getting back inside the house or creeping up right next to the house under my window. Crickets don't create a sound that is known for lulling people to sleep.

This morning the sixth graders took their second MAP test and more of them finished than I was expecting. Including the girl who took several hours to finish one of her tests last year, which included falling asleep and sitting on the floor. I teacher is gone this week so I sent an email to the principal about trying to have the kids come in tomorrow to work on the tests they haven't finished so we aren't leaving it until the last day. But I never heard back so I guess we're just going to cross our fingers. I think at least one kid didn't make it halfway through either test, a couple others probably didn't make it halfway through the Reading test and one of those kids was absent today so he'll also have to take the Math test. If they don't end up coming in tomorrow I am foreseeing a very long day of testing on Thursday. I can't wait.

After the sixth graders test one of the first grade classes came in so they could finish up their tests. More than half of the kids needed to finish at least one part of a test, some of them two parts, but everyone managed to finish. Minus the kid who is apparently gone all week. He only managed to finish the first part of each test so he won't actually be getting a full score on either test. Oh well. He'll have two more chances to take MAP tests this year.

In my downtime today when I wasn't working on my spreadsheet, I continued work on the bingo game for one of the resource teachers. I also started on working on another game for her. Half of the page has a picture on it with really tiny words on it, an the other side of the page has spaces to fill in the words that the kids find (words with long e, bossy r, oi & oy, and whatever else). This is a game because the kids get to use a magnifying glass to find the words. It's actually a pretty cool idea. Today I had time to make the sheets for each set of words and get the picture in. Now I just need to go through and put the tiny words on the pictures. I'm using clip art animals and stuff but I'm also making at least one extra one with a TARDIS and maybe a couple with a jigsaw puzzle and a maze. I might be able to finish tomorrow but the bingo game is still going to be awhile.

I heard back from the university librarian today. He said because he is an assistant dean most of his days are filled with meetings and other administrative stuff so he wanted to know if I wanted him to get me in touch with a librarian who actually works with patrons. I said I would because that would give me a better sense of what my first job after school might be like, but I still wanted to interview him to get the administrator perspective as well. I've never really been interested in being the boss and dealing with all of the office politics. That is where the money is in most jobs but it doesn't seem to be my thing. But, I would like to see what drew him to that position. Maybe I'll find out that it is actually an interesting job. I want to be a librarian so I can be a librarian and help people, not be a boss, but maybe being a boss is fun, too. So, now I have sent him the interview questions and I am waiting to hear back from the other librarian to see if he wants to schedule an in-person interview or if it would be more convenient for me to email him the questions. I am shocked at how on schedule I am with this. The paper I have to write isn't even due until October sixth.

After work and for the rest of the night, I accomplished nothing. Not even a little something. I have yet to write my reflective journal and that is really going to bite me. I need to knock one out so the professor can read it and steer me in the right direction, and the longer I wait the more obvious it is going to be that I am way behind with my entries. We have Friday off from work and I don't get to sleep in because I scheduled a dentist appointment for seven o'clock because a month or two ago when I scheduled it I wasn't aware of the school schedule. So, that would give me all day to knock out at least one of my entries. I'm going to have to re-read the chapters for a third or fourth time but it will be worth it if I can just get that first entry done. He gave us a long list of sentence starters and I think I'm just going to pick one at random to get a paragraph going. That sounds like a good plan. I just need to do it.

Now it is nearly ten o'clock and I am going to head back to the new house. Last night I went to bed way too late. Tonight I will do better. I also want to read a little. Something not behind the cover a textbook.