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Almost spring break

April 15th, my decision deadline for choosing a grad school, has come and gone, still with no decision. I got an extension until May 1st from Vanderbilt and am still waiting to hear from Delaware about funding. I really, really hope I hear something this week.

My week at school was pretty good. Tuesday morning I had a sub so I could start doing DIBELS testing for the school. I am so tired of DIBELS. I feel likes it's all I've been doing lately! Well, I was excited to have a sub and to play reading specialist for the day. I did the testing in the "art room," which is really the old 2nd grade classroom that has basically become another storage place for junk. When they thought they were going to use it for art, they painted the walls an obnoxiously bright yellow. I don't know what exactly started it, but I got a migraine within an hour of being in that room. I blame the walls. It also could have been that I was staring at tiny numbers all morning and listening to kids read the same passage over and over. But my headache got really bad. In the afternoon when I went back to class I turned off all the lights and kept telling my class to be quiet. Any sound louder than a whisper was driving me crazy. I took some Ibuprofen that I had in my desk, but I don't think it did anything. And then I realized it had expired in 2007. I'm going to finish the DIBELS testing next Tuesday, and I'm already thinking where I could go to avoid the yellow walls again. And I'll bring extra coffee that morning.

Speaking of coffee, I got a Dunkin Donuts card in the ad flyer for free iced coffee every Monday in March and April. I finally used it this week for the first time and stopped before school. Having an iced coffee to sip made my morning seem very nice. Plus it was a beautiful, warm day. Actually, too warm by the end, but I guess I shouldn't complain, considering today is cold and raining and there's a tornado watch.

One of my students yesterday told Miss Deborah, who eats lunch with the class Fridays while I have Bible Study with the teachers, that he saw a poster of Martin Luther King hanging on the wall. He said, "That's Martin Luther King! We learned about him! He died for our sins...oh wait, that was Jesus." I guess I throw a lot of information at them and it can get kinda jumbled in their little brains. But at least they're trying. And the information's in there somewhere.

I've started going to the public library, which is so great. There's one right up the street, and I mostly get kids' books. But I've also started putting holds on things, and today I (finally) got season 4 of Felicity on DVD. I started watching Felicity over a year ago and am finally going to finish it! I also got Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother, and Food Rules by Michael Pollan, in addition to a children's books of prayers and a picture book about yoga for kids. So I'll have some good reading and viewing for a while.

Just four schools days until spring break! I'm looking forward to some time off. I have to finish writing the summer curriculum then, but other than that, I don't have much going on. This week I'll finish DIBELS and compile all the scores (which are interesting so far). A girl from Grove City that I met on the recruiting trip is coming to visit Urban Promise to check out the high school. There's also a work group from a local high school, so I think I'll have a couple students in my classroom helping out. So it'll be a busy week!

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