Booface Goes to School

Today, Slider was signed up for Beginner's Obedience school at Pet'sMart. He is very excited. Mom and Dad - when available - will attend with him every Tuesday night for 8 weeks. These one hour classes will teach Mom and Dad how to teach him to do what they want him to do! His future teacher, Philip, said that by the end of the class everyone plays dog-tick-tack-toe - what fun! This will also help Slider with his newly discovered "issues" with other larger dogs.

I teach Grammar!

So the first week of school i observed. this second week i dove in and am now teaching! Though I'm still just an assistant teacher, my lead teacher and I split the day. So on Monday and Tuesday and Friday I taught Grammar and Omnibus, and Wednesday and Thrusday I've taught Algebra and Writing (Latin on Thursday). I've also stayed late on Wednesday to talk over our lesson plans for the upcoming week. It's been really great. I've learned a lot about teaching already. And I learned really fast how hard it is! It's like putting on a one-man show for 3 hours (or 1 1/2 since I teach half the day). I get home and just want to take a nap! But I run errands, make dinner, and then lesson plan. I'm definitely going to bed a lot earlier now! Thursday afternoons I will be babysitting Maya - I'm really looking forward to that. Grammar has obviously been my favorite part of teaching. We have to teach jingles. (Jenny can sympathize because she is teaching Shurley Grammar as well.)

Ready? Ok!

A sentence, sentence, sentence
is complete, complete, complete
when five simple rules
it meets, meets, meets

It has a subject, subject, subject
and a verb, verb, verb
and makes sense, sense, sense
with every word, word, word

It starts with a capital letter, letter,
and an end mark, mark
now our sentence has all its parts

REMEMBER
Subject, verb, com-plete sense,
capital letter, and an end mark, too
our sentence is complete
and now we're through!

So that's fun to try and get 11-13 year olds to get excited and participate with that. So if teaching grammar is the highlight of my day, algebra is its opposite. (there's a jingle for "the nyms jingle" for hmonyms, synonyms, antonyms, and opposites.) I taught algebra for the first time today. It wasn't even real algebra, it was a review of division. And it was an abysmal. If the kids get any of their homework right, it will only be because some of the answers are in the back of the book. But tomorrow will be better because now I know better how to prepare for it. So i'm not disheartened yet.

Yet.

Okay, i'm going to take a nap now.
<3

August: A Review

Well Dave was gone most of August, on a detachment to blistering El Centro, CA, where he got to drop smurf bombs, AND live bombs and had 15-18 hour days. (Pictures to follow.) I used the time to travel - spending the a weekend with Mary at ECU, and a weekend at home in Arlington, slaving for "Bobbie's Office" project. The day after Dave got back we drove up to Maryland to attend Nate and Cindy's wedding. Since then, things have been quiet. We are spending Labor Day weekend BBQ-hopping, going to the Conklins tonight and the Christain's tomorrow.


While Dave was gone, I received a phone call from the school I would be substituting at notifying me that one of their teachers just found out she's pregnant and they therefore are needing more than just a sub! So I'm now on Tidewater Classical Adademy's payroll, with salary! Horray for bimonthly paychecks! I was warned it would not be much since they had only budgeted for one teacher, but since they received a last minute enrollment they can afford to give me something regular. I will be assistant teaching in the 7&8th grade combined classroom. Since it is a Classical school, there is not an emphasis on individualizing subjects, but rather teaching them together, so that students see how science relates to history which relates to theology which relates to literature, etc. In addition, all students learn Latin and I will be co-teaching Latin I as well... Eek! The whole education system is entirely different than that which I grew up with so it will be a challenge and I'm nervous. I had to present a lesson plan on Friday, and it took me 2 hours to prepare it the night before! To see some more about TCA, check out their website http://www.tidewaterclassical.com/

A "Weekend Project"...

Can you see how much we have to do? Get ready to watch the darkness turn to light.


Tada! Light! Goodbye to you, red carpet!


Goodbye carpet!


Our loading zone, commence furniture chess.


In the 23 years i lived in this house, I have NEVER seen these windows open! It took 30 mintutes with a pizza cutter and a screw driver to pry them open. One should ask Diane how and why they remained closed for so long...... ;)


Good contrast :)


Best buds at their windows :)



Mommy's new office, "Bobbie's Office"



The view in from the main door



The view out the back door. :)