A Wu.F. j" -l-ke, t,ife,.

October 24-30, 2(f10.

Inspired by Ali Edwards' "Week in tha..Lite" project, Mama invited Ms. Valine and me-to join her iF! documenting this- week with words andpictures.

Flip through the pages and take a look at my week ...

Even after going to bed at 8:45 last night, we slee!__ until 9:00 this morning. I guess we n~~ded that rest. Sunday tradition. is bagels for..breakfast, so we drove, to.ithe nearby Einstein's Bagels, listening-to .our avorite UAcoustic Sunrise" r~dio-show~Qn Dave FM. My order: one sesame seed bagel and one cinnamon sugar bagel, both toasted with butter.

Sundays are also made for laundry. Sorting. .. washing ... drying ... folding. And, then they sit on the living room couch all week until we put them away.

As usual.J stiJLhad lots of schoolwork.to do ... Three-more-days-Ieft.to plan for nextweek. =fwo different preps te-thlnk-about, Not to mention- papers to gradw (SPOILER ALERT: I gave up before I go-to the grading!)

tempted me with the promise ot 1:1 Polio Loco

nch, so I put away schoolwork for the afternoon 10 down into Atlanta. I took the opportunity to the seat back, cover up with my jacket, and a twenty-mrnute nap as we headea south the city. A "pollo bowl combo" filled my oelly nd satisfied me as I endured Rob's browsing at ance Bikes. Although he came for a couple of bike computer magnets, we walked through.the stor.e looking at blkes, helmets.. sunglasses, erseys ... pretty much the whole-inventory.

We came back home to finish laundry, finish lesson watch---Up in the Air trorn Nettllx, and eat Lucky Charms for-dinner.

nd 7pm, we took a break to walk around the neighborhood. Three times aroun~ makes for 5K .

.-------. We played a silly game as we walked,

. SU~ trying to ush each -other off the

sidewalk. Qf course the fules--got-more complicated (antHn---Rob's favor) as we continued on. Sometimes it looked mote like a wrestling match than a walk.

Mondays are-my-morning tutoffng-day at school, so I was up early .. Brea~ast o! oiltrn_~aL l?a_cQnL §lJ:uice~ accompanied by a couple of articles in this week'sTime- magaline .. Does the good ..

; got into school around 7:40. As I would be spending

. e whole school day in a-meeting, l-was trying to get ievervnr '"g together for my substitute, includiingdirections, worksheets, answer keys,etc. By-S:3nl fIve gfrls for tutoring and my suohaa arrived, so

lle the ~i~ls sat down with whiteboards and d!y markers to review Qne-§~~ equations, :1 quickly briefe.d my s_ub on the day.

My ln-service meeting was held upstairs on the Peach Hall. I was one-of three "students" for tile-

d of two· SlOP training days. We spent the .... "'., . .--OD.'I reviewrng a powerpoint presentation -ab6ut how to ESOL stude-nts. [et's just say I diClnTtTearnanything. didn't already know. ifsaU common education. Do 1 do everything as well ~I cO!llg? N_o ..... but I know that I'm syp'po~ed to. It was

ntce to be out of tile classroom though.

tl\Q~. weidcol Uldk tat ke-a-hbathmom breld~tk'kwe

00 a our p ones,-we-cou. -- a e-a

forty-five minute lun-ch in-si lence. Most of the aftemoon was spent writing our EtL Mod plans & planning lessons.

When I arrived back fo my classroom, I found a note from the sub that said C!!though all classes were chatty (big surprisel), only a couple students in- first period gave-her attitude. Since they're the same students who gi'V'e-ali tWus attitude, raoonsiaer that

L=:po=========::=:==--a pretty good day.

Radio ads have been guilting me into +protectlng" ose I love by getti ng a flu-shot. Rob joined in on the trip, 'so foday I left school irn mediately to stop at ; e Walgreen's clinic. $29 and one shot In the arm fater, I was protected (and Rob was, foof)Tsaw that ey h~~ ~eart-shaeed stickers that read "I goJ a 'fuJ_ for ... ", but they didn't Qtf~r meone ..

eng with our mesquite chicken, we had veggie

penne pasta, mixed vegetables, and rolls .• The first me I'v_e actually cooked a real meal.in weeks! And, ,-------., there was enough pasta leftover to save

for I.unch tomorrow. Rob accused me-of '__,;"".." .. mng &-cleaning the-kitchen just te. document it for this week, but to be honest, whtle food ts cooking, l-adl1ally

have time to clean, too.

came home with energy to actually cook a real eal. While the chicken marinated, Rob and I went r a walk around the neighborhood. We went round onlyiwo times, but itwas such a nice way to catch up with each other and justiJnwrna.

We finished up in time for our favorite Monday night come_gy shows on CBS, inciuding_How I Met Your Mather, Rules of Engagement, and Two and a

-Half Men. While Rob surfed the-internet (mostly eraigslist) looking for bikes, I finished graoingpapers and worked on a graphic design project for Debbie's Journey of Sisters

that Rob _was on his way home, and I hadn't used the-bathroom all day- .. However, what was supposed-to- be a quick trip turned lrrto $85 worth of cereal, lunch stuff; milk, juice, & candy for tomorrow's school activity.

got to schooLearly to up the- desks for I had a few girls in early for tutorlng.-and because of their I let them retake their quiz for a higher They all did better this time aroundll

a quick review, all four classes tested today. e-step equations for the first three Standard math classes and fun.cJjQ_!_ls 19J the Accelerated math cJass. At the end of the day I ran.the scantrons -I-U:lroIAe.11 the machine. Of course,~the--key I made had he first answer lncorrect, so I had to go back and -fix

that on ever-ybody's paper. Of course, I was glad though, because all but two students trad actually chosen (tie correct answer!!

I ran to the grocery store on the way home. And, I almost literally ran. It was about to storm, I knew

As we lay in bed readying for sleep Rob and I played a couple rounds.cf "Wmds with Friends" between our iPbones. He eventually WOIl the game. I was left wittl a only Q and no U available on the board.

picked up- McDonald~ on his way home from and had it waiting on the-table for me when I home. McNuggets, french fries, and more opoly pieces to add to our coltector's board, Unfortunately we've been to McDonald's so often in the last two weeks, tfiat we already had each of fhe pieces already. Now we're just waiting on the one in a million prize pieces.

We contemplated a bike ride on the trainer, but neither of us were really feeling it. So, we-went upstairs to relax with Snakes on a Plane and papers to grade. I spread the tests-out on the floor to grade-

answer questions, but dtdn't have enough energy to total the scores. I guess ttiey'li have to wait one more day to get their scores back.

Woke up on Wednesday to oatmeal, bacon & orange juice, accompanied by a oouple-of articles in Time

~~~~~==~~=~ magazine:-It never gets old.

"sssssshhtnng" students for twenty minutes to the weekly Big 2U progress check, we started our next unit on two-step equations, with an introduction ala candy equatlons., They

...... A.IA moved the candies around to balance

... \t:~V1"\U

'(II"'"" the equetlcns and solve-fol' x. Hopefully

they'll be able to-make-the conneetlon tomorrow when we work the-sameequations on paper.

sitting in the parking lot at school thisng playing a quick round of Words with

I listened to the-last few minutes of my on cd, Bee Season. I'm officially a fan of-the uthor Myla Goldberg.

y goal thls morning before school was to get Big 20 scores inputted into the gradebook and to catch up my notebook to match what the students had in heirs. I was abJe to get that much done, but not eh more. It's crazy bow fast that hour flies by~

Next thing I know, the.s.oo bell is ringing and kias---Hld re-streaming in my classroom door.

weather and fall leaves inspired rnetojnake

beans and rice withgadicbread for dinner. After ourselves, we-headed upstai~s to-search ;rale,Sllst (Rob) and -te search- fer danceteem (me) while S3ven played in the background. Until it became difficult to even keep my eyes open.

debriefing the day with my co II. eagues , I spent my plam"ling period grading papers and reviewing testing medification plans for my ESOL students. I graded-all. of the tests and surprisingly, the averages aren't bad. Lots of"iOO%'s. Several failures, to-a, but sffioents who don't complete ffieir work and don't pay attention, so I guess fhat makes sense.

Today felt like a skirt day, so I pulled my brown knit skirt out of the closet. Paired with a breakfast of oatmeal, bacon, orange juice, and a couple of articles in this week's_Time m< .... <017in"" I was..unstoppable.

me,eating peanut butter sandwiches as worked. Luckily it was-quiet-and all but two were able to- complete-their asstgnmettts. If I could just get the other students to turn in thelr study guide.

this morning in the cafeteria. ISllrnri!':inP"lv there was aetually positive news this ! We actually increased our school-weighted 1Al':ll'r~I~!':1"1npl't score by 6.5 pOints!! Of course this leave me in a tailspin, bVtne time back to my classroom, I already had udents walking in for homeroom .

. oday I taught part two of tile two·s.tep equations esson . .-We talked through u.undoi.ng':....t.he order of perations, and most seemed to get it. I had observers from the elementary school during second period; thank goodness most students were on task and paying attention.

Given the number of tests and quizzes that needed be made up, I took today as my Lunch & Learn

,-------. oPP.ortunity. I had 9 students stay. with

.~~

We had a quick team meetmg at tfle ena of the day and I had a chance to print new _grades to haIl~ for tomorrow __ HuLl had to head out by 5, in

i-h" I order to make it to

~~~~~f;;(/1;~"'::::O'f=='=====' ========~ Sylvan-by 6:30.

taught two girls the first hour, working with

rth grader on reading a nct-rrel pi ng-the-sixth der study for her WWI quiz. The fourth grader scheduled for three flours today, so by fhe time :00 rolled around she had lost all motivation. She ended up running around, quizzing me on her social studies material. Do )tou know who Metacomet isJ

I picked up Chipotle on my way home. I think that chicken burritos with rice, black beans=corn, and a little-bit of the green salsa is my favorite meal in the-world, espe-cially when accompanied by fresh la chips. We ate the burritos upstairs as we watched this week's episode of Big Bang Theory.

We found y_outube and facebook music clips of our friends' new hluegrasa.hand; The Rusty Boys. That left us reminiscing about pasta capella concerts S planningto attend their concert next weekend!

Rob slept in late with me tb morning; he was going to buy doughnuts for his work guys, Qf_ course he convincedjjje to jump back in bed with him.for a little bit, too, But, a breakfast of oatmeal,-bacon, mange juice, and a couple of articles in -this week's-l'ime magazine was enough 10 jumP-stBirtl1e cay.

~=======:;;

ith it being the last school day before.Halloween, I new it was going to be a crazy day. Luekily.,it out with an Untted Way fund raiser party during the advisement period. Party-time in the old AKa, a bunch -of seventh and eighth graders around listening to top 40's hfts.

morning started with a parent-teacher 1r.I',nf,~r"'nr.·'" at-8:30 with-the-parents of one of our students. As we continued to remind1he rents that we were dealing with pretty normal acoiescent behavior, they continued-tol:llame-usfor

ot telling them sooner or to ask us to analyze the tions behind her behavior. Don't think much

I tried a "centers" activity with my standard ,.-------. math classes, If only I could motivate the students.zo continue-working after I've walked to the other side of-the-recrn, Hopefully the quick-ten minutes J had to work with the small groups on two-step equations was beneficial to them.

The day flew by though, and soon I was grading Ulzzes during my afternoon duty. One of my favori' <=--1'.11 of the day is watching the school buses leave

at the end of the day. Not necessarily because the

udents are leaving for the day (although that's d, toot), but because it reminds me that.these. students arrive.each morning from different houses, different families, for their minds to-be molded and . And each afternoon, they return. Our time

them is so limited, yet so influential.

Rob and T met up at fhe house, and then grabbed for dinner. I ~ot my usual: Kickin' Chicken ndwich Meal with the sauce on the side .. 1 even opted for a coke, given that it was Friday," ln.hanar of weekend, we watched Rob Zombie's Halloween. Rob thought it was funny to-scare me a realistic clown mask. Haha. Not funny,

e Rob met up with his GlC-group-in Bethlehem, GA for a SD-mite--bi.ke ride, I made some pancakes and -settled myself upstairs to plan lessons for-the . I had Project Runway episodes playing on the Mac, whlleT creaTea Iesson pla ns about slope.

e grabbed lunch at McDonald's. We were snort on both time and imagination, but bi.g on-hunger .. T ordered a McNugget meal, whire-Rob used some Monopoly coupons to get a free sandwich,

celebrate autumn, Rob and I headed over to codstock; G_A to Ashley Sellers' family farm, the B~rry e_atch Farms. !\s_hley painted my face with. a ek-e-lantern while we chatted about her boyfriend

nd.the latest goings-on. R-oband-I-wal.ked-over toe pumpkin patch, looking -for the perfect one.

we headed down to East POi.nt-,-GA -where the Dick L-ane Velodrome was hosting the- annual "Psychocross" cyclocross race. We-had never seen an event, so we were excited to watch both the 8 and A races, The cyclists weaved back and forth on the course, climbing hills & jumping over barriers. To add to the fun, man~_ of thecycUsts were dressed in HaHoween costumes: Mario, evil nurse, ninja turtle, a miner, etc,_Madfuny painted tace,

m a little less out.otplace..

These dark nights before Daylight's Savings ends-had us-feeling exhausted 9 pm~We have few obligations these days, so we headed to bed .. And,-fast asleep- we fell until 9.:80 the next morning ... when the week be-gi'ns again.