There's been lots going on lately, and my blog has gotten kind of neglected in the busyness. But I am back with some highlights from the past few busy weeks. So here we go...
1. I got into all the grad schools I applied to and now am waiting to hear about financial aid. I'm really hoping I get some information this week, because April 15th (when I have to let schools know my decision) is getting closer and closer. It seems like the more information I get from schools, the more complicated things get. I'm getting partial scholarships and ideas about campus jobs I could apply for, and trying to figure out what each school would actually cost is not proving to be easy.
2. Kaitlin came to visit! It was so great to see her and fun to have her at school for a couple days. We went to some of our favorite places, including the park, Five Guys, Target (twice), and Border Cafe. I know her former students and everyone at Urban Promise loved seeing her too. I'm hoping I'll be able to go out to Missouri sometime this summer to visit her.
3. Urban Promise's first Silent Auction (separate from the annual banquet) was a success. For a while there it was looking like it might not turn out so great, but we had lots of items and a good turnout and raised some money. There was a live auction too which was fun to watch. I accidentally raised my hand during that part while I was talking to some friends and telling them a story about school, and I almost placed a bid!! Luckily, the auctioneer didn't see me!
4. My class can read! There are a couple exceptions to this, but overall, they are doing great with their reading and love to practice it. I've been having a lot of fun with them lately, and honestly everything is going well. I've even been able to show off their skills to our principal a little bit which is fun. I pretended a leprechaun visited our classroom on St. Patrick's Day and then they had to write about how they'd trap the leprechaun, and the writing turned out great, so I showed it to Catherine. I'm hoping to invite her to see my class doing the Daily 5 soon.
5. We had the Urban Promise annual staff retreat in Avalon, NJ at a beautiful house right on the beach. The weather was better than last year, so it was warm enough to be outside and walk on the beach and stuff. The food was wonderful as always, and I had fun playing games and revealing my competitive side with my co-workers. And I once again refused to play in the annual soccer game, in which multiple people got injured and someone even had to get eye surgery afterwards. There was also some nice quiet time to reflect and pray and journal. It was a very good weekend. On the van ride home we listened to Backstreet Boys and got free Rita's for the first day of spring.
I think those are the major highlights. Oh, and I dyed my hair black just yesterday, so I'm still getting used to that. I think I like it though. We'll see how my students respond. Ethan might be really mad at me, because he hates when I look different. My sleep schedule is all messed up from Kaitlin's visit. I'm pretty tired, so I should probably try to go to bed so I'm not too cranky tomorrow. The class earned a movie party for filling up the jewel jar (after I forgot to even use the jewel jar since before Christmas, so they've really earned it) so that should be fun.
1. I got into all the grad schools I applied to and now am waiting to hear about financial aid. I'm really hoping I get some information this week, because April 15th (when I have to let schools know my decision) is getting closer and closer. It seems like the more information I get from schools, the more complicated things get. I'm getting partial scholarships and ideas about campus jobs I could apply for, and trying to figure out what each school would actually cost is not proving to be easy.
2. Kaitlin came to visit! It was so great to see her and fun to have her at school for a couple days. We went to some of our favorite places, including the park, Five Guys, Target (twice), and Border Cafe. I know her former students and everyone at Urban Promise loved seeing her too. I'm hoping I'll be able to go out to Missouri sometime this summer to visit her.
3. Urban Promise's first Silent Auction (separate from the annual banquet) was a success. For a while there it was looking like it might not turn out so great, but we had lots of items and a good turnout and raised some money. There was a live auction too which was fun to watch. I accidentally raised my hand during that part while I was talking to some friends and telling them a story about school, and I almost placed a bid!! Luckily, the auctioneer didn't see me!
4. My class can read! There are a couple exceptions to this, but overall, they are doing great with their reading and love to practice it. I've been having a lot of fun with them lately, and honestly everything is going well. I've even been able to show off their skills to our principal a little bit which is fun. I pretended a leprechaun visited our classroom on St. Patrick's Day and then they had to write about how they'd trap the leprechaun, and the writing turned out great, so I showed it to Catherine. I'm hoping to invite her to see my class doing the Daily 5 soon.
5. We had the Urban Promise annual staff retreat in Avalon, NJ at a beautiful house right on the beach. The weather was better than last year, so it was warm enough to be outside and walk on the beach and stuff. The food was wonderful as always, and I had fun playing games and revealing my competitive side with my co-workers. And I once again refused to play in the annual soccer game, in which multiple people got injured and someone even had to get eye surgery afterwards. There was also some nice quiet time to reflect and pray and journal. It was a very good weekend. On the van ride home we listened to Backstreet Boys and got free Rita's for the first day of spring.
I think those are the major highlights. Oh, and I dyed my hair black just yesterday, so I'm still getting used to that. I think I like it though. We'll see how my students respond. Ethan might be really mad at me, because he hates when I look different. My sleep schedule is all messed up from Kaitlin's visit. I'm pretty tired, so I should probably try to go to bed so I'm not too cranky tomorrow. The class earned a movie party for filling up the jewel jar (after I forgot to even use the jewel jar since before Christmas, so they've really earned it) so that should be fun.
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