'Twas a Blast

So, it's officially my last day of summer, even though I've been to staff developments all last week. This week will be filled with campus training with discussions covering things such as discipline, grading, duties, etc. Yay!!!! (I hope you sense the underlying sarcasm.)

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House News: There's a house in Katy (well, technically the address is Richmond, but it's right on the line, so who'll ever tell?) and I put an offer on it, and last weekend the sellers signed the contract accepting it. However, now we're waiting on the bank to approve it because the house was supposed to be a foreclosure. It's hard... waiting. So please pray for me to have patience with this deal. Every day that passes, my patience seems to be wearing thinner and thinner. I know that if it's meant to be... it will happen. :o)

Well, I better get to cleaning my room since I probably won't be motivated to do so when I return to work. Plus, my computer is making me hot from sitting on my lap.

Classroom Photos :o)

Smart Board and my area.

My room is still a mess from unpacking (hence the boxes and schtuff everywhere), but I've got everything pretty much done. Student computer and student work board- it says "Check us out!" I think that sounds like something I would say...

Counter... with loads of junk still on it. But don't you love those colorful crates?? To the right is the make-up work folders.

Make-up work folders, "Bear news"- the border is made out of newspaper, and trays to turn work in. It took me so long to move that table here because I had to take the student computer off of it.

Back of the classroom is where the door is this year... that way the kids won't be distracted by people in the hallway. See, I'm learning. :o)

This is the chalkboard that I covered with butcher paper. So now I'm using it for its magnetic purposes to hold the calendar.

Decided to use the white board for objectives and homework assignments since I have the Smart Board.

My desk area. Not too much changed- I bought that shelf so I won't have stuff stacked on the ground next to my desk. Also, I moved the computer to the other side of that table so my back won't be facing the students. Who knows what they got away with last year! ;o)

I'm starting to get excited about this school year. It's going to be completely different from last year- I'm teaching one prep rather than two (just 7th PreAP); I'm teaching with someone new; there are new people in my hallway (no more TX history people); new teachers in general. I've got my district staff developments tomorrow and Friday. I'm actually presenting one of the sessions- it's going to be all about my group's experience at the Rice University Summer Mathematics Project (RUSMP). Hopefully it goes well and the teachers get something out of it!

Artistic Adventures

Since I only have a few days left of the summer, I've been trying to do things that I wouldn't normally do during the school year. Yesterday's activity? Canvas painting. I have had 2 canvases stored away for probably about 3 years. I bought them when they were on sale one time at Hobby Lobby, and I've always been hesitant to commit to painting them. That sounds strange, doesn't it. I guess I could never pinpoint anything that I wanted to paint. Finally, yesterday with the help of Sammi, I decided to take the plunge and paint them. (Wow, I'm really spontaneous, aren't I??)

This is what we came up with:

Sammi painted this one. We were inspired by another painting we found on Google. Very original, I know.

Our other friend, Megan, inspired this one. Roughly tranlated: Your Grace is Enough in French.

I have to say, we had so much fun doing this. I want to go buy more canvases and start getting the creative juices flowing again!