Rainbows

The Storm has passed! Rainbows in the sky!

The rain has washed all things clean and defused this volcano. Actually, it's left me speechless...literally folks...I HAVE NO VOICE!! haha I guess this was God's way of saying ~Shut up! It's not that bad! I had a voice most of the day and not once did I feel the horrible rumbling that I felt yesterday. A tickle in my throat is all I felt but it didn't mean much to me and I figured it was just allergies. Once my munchkins left for the day the voice was cracking. Then it changed from sounding like a boy going through puberty, to sounding like a 1-900 operator! haha! to almost nothing now!!

My munchkins are going to get a kick out of this tomorrow! Thank goodness tomorrow is early release which is a half day for them and they're off on Friday too!!! We'll be having inservices and they'll be home frustrating their parents or whomever is caring for them. Heehee! I think we both need a little break from one another to regroup! Sometimes I wish we were like other districts which give them 2 weeks in October as a break! I have Columbus Day off so...woohoo! haha!

I could have finished that wonderful test today but the last munchkin I have left to test has been out for 3 days already. I hope she comes tomorrow, but I have a feeling she may not come just for half a day. Oh well, she'll just have to be tested when she returns and I'm not worrying about it. Next week will be the Math assessment and that won't be too bad...I think?! haha


Before the end of the day, the storm hit hard at work. No, I didn't blow my top again...heehee...it was an actual rain storm and it was beautiful! We almost were going to run out into the downpour of rain but I knew I'd have some parent complain. The kids wanted to go out and run around in it but it was really pouring hard. For a brief moment I thought of making them trash bag raincoats...haha! I've used trash bags for a half marathon and it kept me warm and dry but nah...I knew one of them would probably put his face in the bag and then I'd really be in trouble! haha Instead we went to go watch the rain. Our school has some patio areas that are set up perfectly. Their little faces were pressed up against the glass as they looked out as they ooooo'd and ahhhh'd. ~A river! ~I can smell the rain! ~Can we run out real quick, my mom won't get mad? ~No, no, no, you'll look and smell like wet puppies and mommy's won't like it! ~My mommy likes puppies!...Haha!! After that last comment how could I not take them out! haha I had a munchkin go back to the room to get the umbrella. Yes, I took them out in the rain, but a few at a time under the umbrella! Another coworker had the same idea so she snapped some pictures.

Back in the room a little girl was carrying my umbrella and read a tag which said ~made in China. This lead to ~Is it raining in China too? ~Why would you ask that? ~It says right there made in China. Is it raining in Chinese. I had to giggle. ~No baby it's not Chinese it's China. ~Oh...so is it raining there too? ~Do you know where that is baby?? ~By Horizon, I've seen one! BAHAHAHA!!! I couldn't help but laugh and of course they all laughed too but I don't think they knew why they were laughing. Of course this was a quick teachable moment on geography! haha I got my little inflatable globe and showed them where they lived and where China was and explained how it was already morning the next day in China! Their puzzled faces were sweet. It took me awhile to explain how that worked...a few understood but the others just stared probably thinking about splashing in the puddles! haha Some kept saying ~wow that's far! Again I heard ~so is it raining their too? Thank goodness for technology and the internet!! After finding a site that wasn't blocked we were able to check the weather and at that time it showed it was cloudy. ~We're sending them the rain huh Ms. Buddé? ~Maybe sweetie. I showed them some other pictures and that's when they all started talking about how much they love Chinese food! haha!

After work was the area High School Homecoming parade that I volunteered to dress up and do. With the rain I was praying it would be canceled and now that I had no voice I really didn't feel up to it. ~Nope, not canceled! Somehow we missed the remaining part of the storm as we sat on the trailer and waved. In all honesty I was glad I did it! So many kids and it was actually fun...I got to practice my pageant wave...even though I was never in one! haha I was actually able to see some of my 1st babies that I ever taught! Beautiful munchkins who have grown into beautiful young adults! They are my first class and will be graduating this year! Gosh I feel old! Heehee
Rain makes a bad hair day! heehee

Love the smell of the desert air when it rains and love the smell of my wet little puppies! ;) The storm is over and the munchkins are gone tomorrow and Friday so let's see what type of inservices we'll have. Maybe it's a good thing I don't have a voice! heehee
Stay tuned for more adventures in our world...
XOXO's

Ps...I tried to add pictures to this post but for some strange reason my personal laptop is not picking up my camera or the usb ports aren't working... UH OH!!!! I'm not going to freak out, counting to 1000!!!....Holy Moly Guacamole! I'll add the pictures tomorrow from another computer and pray mine is not sicky poo!!
XOXO's

The Storm is Coming!

Who needs weathermen??!!!

Boy, oh boy... the monsters, I mean munchkins...heehee were wild creatures today!! ~Sheesh!!! The weather is changing right??...~Yup, as I look out...it's raining! When I first started teaching I never believed it but boy were they right when they said these munchkins were like walking barometers!! They either sense it or watch the weather channel and decide to make teachers lives miserable right before a storm or change in weather. Right before the weather changes, for some reason, the munchkins turn into some other type of creatures! When talking to my other coworkers, they too were pulling their hair out today ...munchkins gone wild!!!! Imagine that on DVD! heehee The pressure in the classroom, whether it was atmospheric or not was intense! Not only were the munchkins little monsters, the teacher was about to blow her top!!!! I felt it coming up just like molten lava starts to oooooze up...I tried counting to 1000!!!...I tried to stop it... then... AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! ~Ok...I'm not a fibber, so...YES, I blew my top!! ~Holy Moly Guacamole! Think the earth shook too!! There was absolute silence in the class!!!

The pressure of getting all this testing done is CRAZY!!!! They need to hire someone just to test students! Getting through this 1st Grade test take approx 30-40 minutes each child. This is when I wish I was back in Kinder or 2nd Grade. It didn't take that long to do but for some reason 1st Grade has extra components to this test! Even the Spanish version is shorter!!! ~Can I say BOO!!!!! My munchkins would probably pass the Spanish version! haha! Based on this test, our munchkins are classified as AT RISK if they don't pass all components. ~Ummmm...HELLO...none of them can pass all components!! So yes my entire class will be labeled AT RISK...might as well label the teacher too!! I'm AT RISK of pouting, kicking, punching, and screaming!!! It's the same story every year and it's ok, because if it kills me, which this year might!!...most, if not all my munchkins will be leaving ready for 2nd Grade on the level they need to be or better!!! Or else!... ~Hmmm...or else what smarty pants?? I'll...I'll..I'll kick my own booty! heehee

The less a child knows the worse the test is!!! You would think if a munchkin fails the early components of the test like knowing letters/sounds and reading vocabulary words, blending sounds together to form words, the test would stop there, but NO...why on earth would they think they'd be able to go through a billion other components AND be asked to read 2 reading passages and answer comprehension questions with a passing score??????? ~Oh but we can use this data to know our students...blah, blah, blah!! I just smile and TRIED to let the pressure go. I know my munchkins better than any test, that's for sure! I think the gasket blew, the volcano erupted, the poop hit the fan when I was testing and someone, I'm not going to say who...haha...came into my class, looked at me testing and asked ~Have you given the Math test yet?? ~No, we're still trying to finish this test because they had tons of problems with the website and they're still having problems with it. Instead of this person getting what they needed and leaving, I was then asked ~Didn't the testing window start on Monday for the Math test? ~Umm...probably...this is when I thought I was talking in another language because she looked at me with such bewilderment!! ~Now why would I start one test without finishing another, is what I wanted to answer but didn't. Then it was like a light switch and she said, ~Oh I feel your pain! ~Wow, thanks, but she doesn't have to test a regular class!!! I mentioned we haven't been given the Math test and I wasn't going to go asking for it either. Well....!!!!!...when checking our school email at the end of the day, guess what was there? Yes, she sent a reminder on the Math testing window and that we could make our own copies of the test for our class!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! On top of this, munchkins talking back, not doing their work, etc...well, it all lead to the eruption of the Mt.Buddé Volcano. When the walls shook and the lava started to cool off, is when I realized how silly this was!! I let it beat me!!! Frickity frack! I almost made my eyeballs pop out plus a close call for a heart attack!!! It's SO not worth it!! The munchkins are but not the craziness that comes with testing!!

Who remembers the old show the Electric Company with Morgan Freeman?? Now that was some good TV! heehee Well, one part that they did on that show is a big part of this silly test!!! Parents sit with your child and pretend your Morgan Freeman and break up words and have your child figure out what the word is. Click here to watch what I mean, or go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg6zfiydTkc
or hear Morgan sing the /sh/ sound..heehee at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kuKcX8QrOM

Tomorrow will be a crazy long day only because I was asked to dress up for our feeder pattern High School Homecoming parade!! I tried finding every excuse to get out of it but was given the guilt trip and fell for it! haha! The theme is Disney so sure enough they came to me because stupid me dressed up as Belle from Beauty and The Beast a few years ago!! I actually made my own costume and should have lied and said I got rid of it! ~Nope, couldn't lie! So, tomorrow I'll be dressed in gold and doing the parade wave next to Chip the Teapot, Snow White, and Cinderella. I actually wanted to go and take pictures because my first class of Kinder munchkins are seniors this year but instead I'll be riding the back of a trailer! haha The weatherman and my munchkins predicted 50% of rain showers so this Belle will probably end up soaked and looking like the beast when it's all over! haha I can't get over the fact that my first babies ever will be graduating seniors!!! Wow! Many of them still come and see me from time to time and boy do I feel old and SHORT! Two are taller than me, they're all so smart, and turned out to be beautiful munchkins inside and out! So proud of them and I know I'll be bawling when they cross that stage at the end of the year!!

The great thing about all this craziness was, today after work, we had a two hour training for our NEW laptop! No, sorry the two hour training wasn't that exciting, getting the NEW Mac laptop and playing with it was the fun part! I'm a Mac girl...~Once you go Mac, you never go back!! heehee I love saying that! haha My own personal laptop is a Mac too!! Even before my technology master's I loved tinkering with technology and getting anything new is always fun! The not so fun part is transferring info from the old to the new before turning in the old laptop in two weeks. A weekend project ahead of me for sure!


Well, I hope the weather and the little barometers start to predict brighter days so Mt. Buddé Volcano never erupts again! heehee!
Stay tuned for more adventures...
XOXO's