What a great day!

I had such a great day today. My kiddos were so good today! They really came to learn today! I love days like this. Makes my job easy and it makes you want to keep teaching.

This weekend was so great. CATS was amazing!!! We had a blast. We were stuck behind some nasty people that couldn't keep their hands off of each other which was making my father really mad. He was ready to slap these people. They wouldn't stop talking, he was sucking on her fingers, she wore a bluetooth the entire time that was blinking....it was bad. I hate people like that.

Well my conferences were great. The first mother was a nut. She didn't want anything on her sones permanant record which makes me laugh. Its not like this record goes anywhere with him. She declined everything that we wanted to use to help this poor child learn math. I really hate people like htis. She wants a weekly progress report because she wants to know what he needs help on and what he is still lacking in. I just wish she would see that something is not right.

The second conference was great. He was very supportive and really wanted to help his daughter. Everything he said to her was the same tihngs I said to her. It really made me feel better and helping her.

Well this week starts the begining week of ALP. I am a fool for doing it two times each week but we needed the money and its hard not to do. I am just going to get so tired. No complaing though. We will have to see!!

What are they thinking!!!!!

Ok so today I had a little young lady come to me and start to tell me that she is leaving our school. She started to cry as she told me which made me cry. She was telling me that her mom is moving them. Come to find out she is being kicked out of their appartment because her mom can't pay. It makes me so mad that these parents aren't making better choices. I am so sad for this little girl because the teachers at Millbrook love her so much!!! It breaks my heart!! This is the part of the job people don't tell you about. They don't tell you that your heart melts each time you walk in and that student that was there is gone and how that feels. I still say the name of another student who is gone because the same reason. Because she is being kicked out and that means she is homeless she can stay at our school but I don't know what is going to happen. I am sooooo sad.

To build off the title, what are they thinking. Parents again AMAZE me. So tomorrow I have TWO parent teacher conferences. One in the morning and one after school. The one before school I am ready for. I have all the ammo ready and I am ready to fire! This woman is more worried about his permanant record then helping her son. The one after school wants to talk about her and how she is making poor choices. I am more woried about the afternoon one because I think he is going to get defensive. I really wish parents would think about the way they speak to teachers. I will update you later about these two conferences.

On a lighter note this weekend my parents are coming to see CATS with Matt and I. I LOVE broadway and musicals. I am sooo excited. My parents bought us tickets so this weekend should be lots of fun.

FOR SALE!!!!

Well its final....the house is on the market!! Its an odd feeling. I think I am happier now because we have started the process but its also hard because I want to know things and I want to know when we will sell the house and when we will move. I am a planner. You can't plan selling your house. It just happens. So we spent the entire day cleaning organizing and getting rid of things we don't need. It was stressful because I had work to do and I didn't want to clean. I wanted to spend my day off laying around the house, but my dearest husband wouldn't let me. Its ok though because we listed the house and hopefully we will get a bite. Please pray that someone out there wants our little house and wants to pay us what we want. I am excited now that we have the process started, but it is scary. Also if we sell our house quickly then we can move into a cheaper appartment which will help because we can save the money for when we move to Richmond. So lets pray that our house will sell and the Lord will provide us with a good offer.

Oh sweet Raleigh NC!!!

Ok so this past week has been fun! The news is so funny! On Wed. the news started to talk about snow and wintery mix. So people start freaking out! The county calls for a two hour delay on Thursday and we all wake up to NOTHING!!! It was so funny. Parents were so mad at us for the delay because they had to get to work and nothing happened. No snow or sleet or ice, nothing! So we get to school and these parents are dropping their kids off early and leaving and we have kids waiting outside the school because their parents are gone and they dropped them off to early. It amazed me that these parents would leave their kids to wait out in the cold.

So the news makes me laugh again! So Friday rolls around and the news calls for another snow fall of 1-3 inches. They say this one is coming and that people need to be prepared. So we all braced as this winter storm comes through NC. Saturday morning comes and it is raining. They say the rain will turn to snow at 10. 10 comes and go no snow. They say 12. 12 comes and goes, no snow. They say 2. 2 comes and goes and no snow. So around 2:45 it starts to snow itty bitty snow flakes. We laughed so hard. It kept snowing. We went to the movies got out at 8:30 and it was still snowing, nothing was really sticking but it snowed. Now remember everybody and their momma cancelled eveything on SUnday because the the huge snow storm we were having!! DOn't you love NC!!!

On another note, we went to the movies last night and saw "27 Dresses"! It was so good!!! Matt and I laughed so hard!! It was a great chic flic. Those movies always make me feel warm and fuzzy!! I want to find a new love story book and curl up on the couch and read, but I can't. We have to start cleaning our house so we can sell it!!!!

just wanted to brag a little

Ok so a few posts ago I told you about this amazing site DonorsChoose.org and how it is a site for teachers to put a grant and hopefully somebody will fund it. Well today I got the sweet little email that said somebody funded my grants. This will make 12 now that I have had funded!! It is amazing that people still care and ask nothing in return!!! I couldn't belive that I got two more today!! My children are so excited and they also couldn't belive that somebody would spend so much money on them. It is amazing!! Today I recieved two third grade libraries of books in spanish for those students who speak spanish. I also recived tons of math manipulatives and games for test prep and review!!! I can't wait to get it all in the mail!! It really makes your day when you see that email!!!

Another note is that today was a good day with my kids. Latley it has been hard and if you read the post before this one you will see that teaching is fading fast for me because of this move. I really want to still love this job but with those crazy parents and this move it gets harder and harder each day!! I love being a TEACHER it really is my calling and I think I am pretty good but there are days like yesterday where I go home and ask God what am I doing!!! We also today got a new reading seires to help us with guided reading!! When we got the boxes I was sooo excited because it has tons of resources for me as a teacher and for my children who struggle!! I love days like this, truely makes teaching easy and worthwhile!

Also just another little praise, I had seven level FOURS today on our math test!! That makes me sooo happy, ecsp with a class of five learning disabled children! I was so excited for my class. I only had four that got level twos which means the rest of them passed!! The past few tests haven't been like that. Hopefully this is starting a trend for the other test!!!

one step forward, two steps back :(

Ok so we drove up to Richmond this past Sunday to see what it's like. Matt has been twice so he knew the area a little but I had never been. I was really excited because I knew this trip would make me think about Richmond as a place and not a move. I wanted to get a feel for the area and see the different schools in the area. We had gone with an address of Matts work and townhome complex that we wanted to look at. Matts mother bought us a TOM TOM for Christmas which was a blessing because we were able to use that to take us everywhere. So we drove up and found his office building and then went to the townhome complex. They were closed till one so we went and got lunch. We found this area where there was every store you could imagine. The area is called Short Pump which we hear from everywhere is the place to be. After eating we went back to the townhome and talked with them. They showed us a three bedroom home which was really nice (alot smaller then our house now, but alot bigger then our first appartment). I really hated the idea of renting a place for the amount they were asking because it is just being thrown away but we can't buy another place right now since we don't know our plan. After we talked with them we cliked on the TOM TOM to find all the schools. The really nice thing about this place is there is a school 4oo yards from the entrance so that would be amazing!! I could leave the house two minutes before I needed to be there!! We looked at five schools and then drove around to look at other appartments. The nice thing about the first one is that is is a townhome and not appartment. I really like it because it is three stories and it feels more like a home. Overall I left VA feeling alot better about the move and I am excited about our new adventure.

Now you are probably wondering why in the title I said one step forward two steps back, that leads to today's events. Today I was researching the steps I need to take to get my license in VA. I talked with the HR lady and found out some things that make me sad. Since I haven't taught in NC for three years I have to start at the beg as if I was just graduating college. I have to take four assessments and fill out all the paperwork to get my license. If I had taught in NC for three years I wouldn't be dealing with all this. That makes me the maddest. Ontop of all that VA doesn't post their teaching positions so I have no idea what schools have openings. This whole thing is getting harder and harder. There isn't really anyone to contact or a plan of action. I KNEW there were going to be hoops to hop through, but i didn't think there would be flame all around them. Please pray for me that I can keep my sanity as well as still keep the hope that this is the move best for our family.

What are they thinking?

Ok so let me start off by saying that yesterday was a monumental day!! Nancy, Rhonda, Erin and I went to shelly lake for a quick run. The loop is two miles and I was so close to making it all the way around. I wanted to quit and they wouldn't let me. Nancy was amazing!! She made it all the way around with not complaint!! It was great she def. motivated me. Can't wait to do it next week.

Ok so onto why I wrote the title I did. This week has been a little stressful. I have this parent who has been trying to meet with me for about a month now but she hasn't made a great effort to get ahold of me and it bothers me that she is blaming me. Parents amaze me these days. She knows there are issues with her child but yet she has declined any help that we want to give. She never turns things in on time but yet she plays the concerned parent card. It blows my mind!!! The hard part is I am still learnng and crap like this ruins my day! I get the note in the morning and all I want to do is scream and I can't. My poor children get the end of the stick and I hate it. I feel horrible and then on top of it all her kid is just so hard to figure out. I can't decide what is making him so out of it. WE have been in school for this long and he still doesn't know how to get his spelling list aligned and his words where they need to go. It frusterates me!!!! I just can't belive there are parents out there that don't want thier children to succeed!

ANother one of my students is also having a hard week. So his mom wanted us to fix him so we started a contract with him. We created it for home and school. He as doing so GREAT!! Our AP went to his belt thing on satruday to support him, and this student got all his checks and he chose to spend time with mr. clark. His mom was all weirded out about why in the world would her son pick spending time with him. She made this student feel bad about it and it makes me so mad! I was so excited about hs progress and now there isn't any. He was horrible this week!! Parents amaze me!!

www.donorschoose.org

Ok so this is take two of this post. I probably wont go into as much detail as the first because I am pissed that the post didn't work. I was typing and it just all deleted. So from the title you can see that I am steping up on a soap box once again. As a teacher you want what is best for your students. You want to bring them the best education you can. Being in America is amazing but when it comes to teaching I don't think people value it as much as they should. Does a doctor have to pay for his scaple or bandages that he uses....of course not!!! They why do teachers have to buy the things they need? This aspect of my job blows my mind. So one day I was watching MTV and I saw this commercial for www.donorschoose.org. This is a website for teachers to write grants for items they need and for people with money to buy the items for them. This website is a blessing!!! It started in NY by people who care about education and saw that teacers weren't being paid enough and weren't being supplied the things they need. This website allows for teachers to ask for things they can't afford or for things they would NEVER buy themselves. For example I needed an electric pencil sharpener and a huge hole puncher. I didn't have the money to buy a nice one so I wrote a grant and someone filled it for me. I asked for books on tape which will help my students read better and allow them to listen to a story and not have to worry about the words. This is something that I don't have to have but it is great to have it. I would never buy them myself because they are exp. and I can't afford it. I have had seven grants filled so far. The latest one was a 5 foot skeleton for my science lessons. The other one that was jsut filled was a problem solving kits to help my children get better at test taking and getting used to the words and what the questions are asking them. This website has made teaching so much easier and better. Please get the word out about this website!! It is amazing that people I have never met care about my children and want to fill these grants for us!!!

My movie moment

Ok so in the Whisenant household things have been crazy. We are trying to work out this whole move thing so things have beem tense. We just have to sit in this waiting game and see what happens. Well after Christmas we have been trying to save for this move to make sure we can make the best decision. So this weekend I asked Matt to take me to the movies. Yesterday we sat around and napped all day and I really wanted to go see P.S. I love you because I read the book in college and it was one of the better books I have read. The story was so sweet. He didn't want to see is but I really wanted to. So all day I kept asking and he kept avoiding me and it got to be late. So at 6 he said lets go. I was so excited. We got our tickits and Matt kept reminding me that the movie probably wont be like the book. He tells me this because I get very sad when I read a book and the movie is nothing like the book. The nice thing about this was that I read the book years ago so I don't remember all the details. Matt was being so cute. We were all cuddly and holding hands. If you know me you know that my love language is not touchy feely, but Matts is. So there are times I really try to hold his hand and hug him.

During the movie I was crying through the whole movie. This movie was one of the best chic flicks I have seen in years. It got low ratings but the movie was great. It made me cry a happy cry. I love the feeling you get when you watch a true love story. It makes you think about all those great things in your life. When we got out of the movie I was ovwhelmed with this feeling of love and joy. Matt asked if I wanted to go to starbucks and hang I said sure. We got our coffee and sat outside and talked about VA. It was one of those moments that you want to freeze in your head and remember. As were driving home I had thise moment that I have never had before. I was sitting in the car thinking about Matt and us. It was crazy how much I love this man who loves me completly. I was thinking in my head how God is amazing and how I am so lucky. People say that all the time but I truely mean it. I never thought I would get married then I went to college and met Matt. I haven't gone through what alot of women do. I wasn't hurt by a guy or went through thousands of relationships. I really hadn't dated anyone when I met Matt. I was telling Matt last night that I never have the fear that he would ever leave me. In my heart I truely know that he loves me unconditionally and that we are meant to be. It was a moment that I don't want to forget. That is why I titled this my movie moment because matt and i just fit and that makes me think I am living my fairy tale movie!!

just another week

So another week has gone by and I am tired! I have only been in school three days and it felt like an entire month. Well we met with anothe relator. This has been a hard part of moving. We have to meet with two and pick one. Well the first was great I thought there is no way anyone could sawy me to not pick her and then last night happened. The two people came a married couple and they were the sweetest. Very down to earth and sweet. They were very energetic and seemed to really want to help us. After they left Matt and I were stuck. I told him to pick because he does all that stuff but he couldn't decide either. We liked them both for such different reasons.

It is so odd to me that one day I can be super excited about moving to a new place and meeting new people and then the very next minute be super super sad and want to cry and not think about moving. I want to be supportive but it can be hard since in my heart I want to stay here with these amazing people and my school. I know God has a plan for us and what we may want may not be his plan so I am going to keep my head held high.

Today is school it was very eventful. So in the middle of word study time we see a police car fly down millbrook road. Now this happens alot since we have an entire wall of windows that face a very busy road. WE usually just ignore it and move on. Well today another police car flew by. Then another and another. These cars had lights and sirens as well as being ummarked. Now I was little curiouse since we had seen at least five now. Then five more flew by. There was a total of ten police cars. After they flew by two ambulences flew by. My kids were all excited now and they were brainstorming what could have happened. So a few minutes later I got on WRAL and found out that a deputy had been shot. Right after I read that online the two ambulences came fying down the other way towards the hospital. That is all they knew at the time. Then about thirty minutes later I got on again and saw that they were doing an alcohol drug sting at a house right at the corner of the road my school is on. They said they had called on 12 police officers to do the sting (we saw 10):) needless to say I didn't tell my children what had happened but it was fun to hear them brainstorm. About an hour later we had to walk to lunch and when we got outside we saw the TV choppers hovering over the house that the police were at. My kids were so excited. Its moments like this that amaze me about these children. Listening to them brainstorm and come up with ideas about what had happened is so neat. I love being a teacher because you get to see their little minds work.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! 2008

Wow this year has flown by. Many great things happened this year. We have grown so much together and with our family. I can tell 2008 has many things to offer as well. We will be moving to VA in the summer which is a huge move for us. We will be selling the house and find a new home.

Here are me resolutions for the new year:

1. work out at least three times a week: I started this two weeks ago and have been really good. I got an ipod for Christmas so that will help. I also got a new gym back which I am really excited about.

2. Find a new church family and read from the bible: This is one I know that I need but it seems like an ovwhelming task for me. I just don't know where to begin.

3. Have at least one date night a week: With all our busy time we need this night for us. Video games and computers turned off and quality time spent together.

4. Keeped the house picked up: Ok this is the worst for me. We don't pick up after ouselves and so when the weekend rolls around we have to REALLY clean. If we would just pick up little by little we woulnd't have spend all saturdya cleaning.

So here are four that I really want to stick with. I have other small ones that pertain to my job and things but those are ones that I would let go as long as these four stick. I hope this new year brings many joys and happiness to everyone.

Here is a video my mom sent me. Thought it would inspire you all.