Crazy, CRAZY Morning...

I've recently come to the realization that everyday is a crazy day in my classroom. But, today was definitely an exceptionally crazy one...

I went to the office to sign in to find a student (who isn't in my classroom but, as department chair and an all-around nice person, I care about her) marching through the office after scratching her 1:1 paraeducator so badly she was bleeding and trying to run off campus. She told the assitant principal that she wanted to F*@# her up to which my assistant principal calmly replied that she preferred she didn't. I found that hilarious.

At the ned of 1st period, I learned that the student who had bitten me almost a year ago had injured the adaptive p.e. specialist and one of our paraeducators. Apparently, he was upset and was squeezing the APE teachers arms when the paraeductor intervened. The student then pinched the paraeducator's arm so hard that it left a four finger hickey on the upper arm of the para.

During 2nd period, the director of special ed. decided to stop by the room to discuss our caseload overages. Well, my co-teacher and I hadn't realized that we were even over at all! Apparently, our classroom is considered a part of the SH category (severely handicapped) - I had always thought is was part of the M/M category (mild/moderate) as the majority of students have moderate disabilities. M/M classes have a maximum of 18 students each and SH classes have a maximum of 12 students each. The clarification of our classification as SH had recently been made since we just got a new principle who was trying to understand our program. My co-teacher and I have a combined total of 35 students, which means that we are an entire caseload over for SH classes. Instead of hiring another teacher for this school year, our boss offered us each one substitute day each week for us to work in the classroom on IEPs or lesson plans or anything else school related. Sweet! Now, here came the bad news. I have a M/M credential. My boss told me today that, unless I want to go back to school, I may not be able to teach in my classroom again next year!!! Well, I AM in school but I'm working toward a Level II M/M credential and, if I want to get a SH credential, I have to start all over again (like back to ASU days!). We continued our discussion and are going to have many, many more before the year is over but we're thinking that if we strategically place students who are more moderate on my caseload then I should be fine. We'll see... Maybe I'll be looking for a new job next summer! :(

3rd period started with a phone call from a paraeducator who supervises students in the strength and conditioning class informing me that one of my students had hit a girl so hard it left a handprint on her back. He was kicked out of class for the last time and is going to be dropped permanently from it. He came into class, upset of course, and I closed my office door to call his mother to let her know what had happened. My co-teacher was in the classroom. While the door was closed and I was on the phone with the parent, two more of my students decided to get into a physical fight over colored pencils which resulted in the smaller of the two being scratched pretty severely on his neck and the larger of the two planting himself on the floor in front of the refrigerator about ten minutes before snack. UGH!!! I got off the phone with parent #1 who, of course, blames the other student and the teacher for her son making a handprint on the back of a girl half his size and ran up to the nurse's office to take pictures of the scratches for student records and to get an accident report. Returning to the classroom, I made an executive decision to send the scratcher home so I called his parents but got the voicemail (of course!). I then had to call the mother of the scratchee at work to inform her that her child had been assaulted at school and that I was not there to witness the altercation. Not a fun call to make. Luckily, my parents are all pretty awesome and understanding! Meanwhile, administration had gotten involved and the p.e. girl-hitter was suspended for the rest of the day. I took him to the office and while his dad was walking out the door with him, the scratcher's dad walked in the door for his son. We literally had a revolving door for a minute!

The rest of the day went farily smoothly. One student stormed out of the classroom - the student who doesn't talk to me. Another student who has auditory hallucinations came in from lunch looking miserable and complaining of feeling faint and we had to call security to come pick her up. But, that was nothing compared to the first three periods of the day!

All in a day's work, I suppose. ;)

Weekly Weigh In

I lost a pound last week! I feel pretty good about it because I had made Mark a carrot cake from scratch that was absolutely delicious but also that lingered at the house for a few days until we managed to eat the entire thing. Plus, I've really been feeling in a slump lately and I'm just pleased to be moving in the right direction.

Illegal Blogging!

I am SO at work right now but it's a time of day called SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) and the whole school is to be reading for 15-20 minutes. This is when I check up on everyone's blogs! Hey, that's reading! :) I haven't written anything in awhile and I intend to do so soon. A quick run down of the last several days: my softball team won despite my first strike out fo the season, I gained weight last week (talk about yo-yo!) but feel that I'm doing really well so far this week, Mark's 32nd birthday was great! (filled with delicious dinner and homemade cake and fun at Oktoberfest), I'm working on the 2nd IEP of the week... Well, there's the timer. Suppose I should actually work right now, that IS why I get paid the big bucks! ;)

Spider Season

I HATE spiders! Hate, hate, HATE them!!! And, they are EVERYWHERE right now. The daddy long-legs that like to hide out in the corners of our house and in the shower (eeek!) I can handle. But, this afternoon, I walked out the front door and the beginnings of an enormous web caught my eye. Upon further investigation, I saw the biggest, furriest spider that I have ever seen not in a cage. I tried to take a picture with my phone but, of course, couldn't get close enough. When I returned home, the web was finished and, like I anticipated, enormous. It makes my toes curl just thinking about it!

I'm brilliant!!!

Well, not really, but I scored 19/20 on my first exam in my Tuesday night class and I am quite pleased with myself to say the least. I was really quite anxious about it and studied very hard in order to be successful. At this point, I'm averaging a 4.0 in both of my classes but I still have some major assignments and several exams before the semester is over...

A Grown Up Decision & A Heartbreaking Loss

As many of you know, Mark and I went to a Dodgers playoff game on Sunday (we won!) and, while there, were given two tickets for Monday's game as well with the idea that we would pay the guy who gave them to us the next time we saw him. Well, Monday afternoon I really wasn't feeling well plus I had reading to do for my classes this week plus it would have been an additional $160. So, we made a grown up decision and sold the tickets and watched the game from home instead. I read during the commercial breaks, took some NyQuil, and hit the hay early.

Later this week, my boys in blue ended their season. Mark's parents were complaining that they were playing so badly (like one of our best players getting 3 errors in one inning!) but I say they simply lost to a superior team. Only 5 more months 'til only day!!!

Sending Happy Thoughts!

My Aunt Nancy Bogosian, my Godmother, has been in the hospital since last Tuesday for surgery on her colon. I talked with Uncle Memo on Wednesday and he said that the surgery went well and that she'd be in the hospital until at least Sunday. I just got off the phone with her, though, and she is happily recovering at home this evening. She said that she feels really good. A little sore, but MUCH better than she thought she would feel. When thinking happy thoughts, please send some her way!

Friday Inferno

My softball team lost last night. I didn't do so hot with only 1 walk, 2 ground outs, and 1 foul out. Plus, being in the outfield again, I totally missed a ball that was hit to me. I looked like a complete idiot floundering out there. Oh well. I really enjoy being on the team and I am the exact opposite of competitive when it comes to sports. Give me a board game anyday and I will kick your @#% though!

Whew! What a week...

Last Sunday's to do list included the following:
-Midterm exam on Tuesday night (that's the biggest stresser at this point)
-Final research project outline due on Wednesday night
-Readings for Wednesday night
-Department Chair meeting on Monday after school
-Start the 5 IEPs due this month at work
-Pay October's bills
-End the week with a departmental happy hour on Friday afternoon

Progress so far:
-I think I did pretty well on my midterm. After studying all weekend, Mark quizzed me and was really amazed at my brilliance! :) He said his brain hurt after we were done.
-Research project outline done. I realized it wasn't graded but merely to give my professor an idea of what I will be working on so I did my best with hopes of feedback from him.
-Yeah, my readings didn't get done. We did, however, have a quickwrite in class which meant that I was supposed to cite authors and their opinions in response to a question when given only 20 minutes. Luckily, before the quickwrite, we got into groups to discuss the readings pretty thoroughly. I think I did okay considering I didn't read a thing for class! Bad, Melissa.
-No sweat for the department chair meeting, just an hour out of my day.
-Started my IEPs Individualized Educational Programs - each student in special ed. has one - they average about 12 pages each and include all the goals for the next year, we have to meet annually to discuss progress. I think 5 in one month is the most I've ever had to complete! The meetings all start on Tuesday. I have a meeting on the 14, 16, 21, 23, and 28!
-October bills are paid.
-Happy hour was enjoyed and very much needed.

On top of my anticipated list of things to deal with, some other highlights of my week include a fire drill at school (kids with Autism HATE fire drills), the most disgusting bloody nose I've ever had to deal with (let's just say that that kid did some serious digging for gold!), a City of Cerritos (where my school is at) Council meeting in support of a motion to increase funding for adaptive programs in the city (it passed!), and FINALLY receiving a compliment from a parent who has spent the last 3 years telling me what I'm doing wrong and exactly how I should be teaching her son.

Weekly Weigh-In

I'm down 1.8 pounds this week! I did (almost) everything that I didn't do last week. I logged everything I ate, EVERYTHING. I drank lots and lots of water (In my opinion, the only "miracle weight loss" serum in the world). I went to my meeting. Again, my new leader is great and I am looking forward to continuing my weight loss journey with her guiding me along the way.

Busy, busy, busy...

Many of you have created a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days and I had every intention of creating one for myself, I just never did. As I do every Sunday, I am getting ready for another crazy week of work and school. Some major things to check off my list this week are:

-Midterm exam on Tuesday night (that's the biggest stresser at this point)
-Final research project outline due on Wednesday night
-Readings for Wednesday night
-Department Chair meeting on Monday after school
-Start the 5 IEPs due this month at work
-Pay October's bills
-End the week with a departmental happy hour on Friday afternoon

I just gotta get through my exam on Tuesday and I know I will feel better about the week...

Cupcakes and a Clinch

I spent a good portion of the day yesterday creating these beautiful cupcakes for Mark's staff at the restaurant. I baked and hand decorated a grand total of 75 and everyone loved them, of course.

Last night, we had tickets for the Dodgers first home game of the NLDS (the first round of World Series playoffs). They had been in Chicago earlier last week and outscored the Cubs 17-5 in the first two games of the series. To say that Mark and I love the Dodgers is an understatement. Like I text to many of you last night, I have never felt so strongly toward any team, institution, or public figure before in my life. You can imagine our excitement simply to be at a playoff game. But, when we WON, it was craziness!!! Mark literally lost his voice and I, of course, cried. :) There was just such an insane energy in the stadium, it was an amazing night.

OK, Fine!

After my Aunt Robin responded to my post about my weekly weigh in, I felt supported, motivated, and a little bit guilty. So, I dragged myself out of bed early this morning and went to a meeting. Of the 2.2 lbs that I lost last week, I gained back 2. Not a good week, but I knew it hadn't been. Sometimes, though, the leader seems to be speaking right to me and the topic of the week seems to be written just for my circumstance. Of course, I know that's not the case but the topic of this week was about learning from past mistakes in order to be successful now and in the future. The leader ended with the thought that it's ok not to be perfect and it's ok to have bad weeks. It's even ok to gain once in awhile if you are learning from your mistakes. She said that it's our nature to come to meetings when we know we've done well but the moment that we feel that we've "been bad" is when we skip a meeting or two. She said that that's when we need to be there the most. I seriously had tears in my eyes, she really hit a chord. Needless to say, I'm so happy that I went to the meeting this morning. I've decided to make Saturday morning my regular meeting from now on - she was just so great! Thanks Aunt Robin!

Friday Inferno

I had my first softball game tonight! Well, it's my team's (Inferno) second game of the season but I didn't go to the first because we had Dodgers tix (which we ended up not using and I spent the weekend sick in bed instead).

We won tonight: 17-10! I walked all four times that I was at bat but I scored 2 runs and 1 more as a pinch runner. I played in the outfield - Right/Center/Rover but boy was I a target out there. The ball was smashed to me a couple of times (hence the other team's 10 runs rather than 5 or 6) but my team was cool with it. I kept telling them that was why I'm normally behind the plate!

Let's Go Dodgers!!!

Our boys in blue are on their way to being up 2-1 in the National League Division Series against the Cubs. We are going to the game on Saturday and can't wait! Hopefully, we will witness the clinch!

Weekly Weigh In

Things I did wrong this week:

1) I did not write down one single thing that I ate.
2) I had more than a couple "splurge" meals.
3) I didn't follow my routine. I didn't eat much all day only to return home starving and overdoing it.
4) I skipped my meeting...

Well, I'm thinking that I am going to switch to Monday evenings. If I do decide to do that, then I will go to a meeting this coming Monday. If I decide not to, I'll return to a meeting next Thursday.

At least I can identify where I went wrong so that I can start fresh again tomorrow.

A New Addition

We have a new little niece! Becky gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Ruby Ann, on Wednesday, October 1st at 6:28 p.m. (Dallas Time) Baby and Mommy are doing well and planning on heading home tomorrow. Congratulations Becky & Matt - we can't wait to meet her!