She captured the years best moments so far.
that face usually describes how I’m feeling.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
A day in the life.
6:30am: my body wakes me up, but I can tell it's too dark for my alarm to go off yet. I usually grab my phone (aka alarm), hold it, and go back to sleep until it goes off.
7:00am: alarm goes off. snooze.
7:10am: snooze.
7:15am: Okay I am seriously getting up now. snooze.
7:20am: Okay I have to get up now.
7:25am: I finally pep talk myself out of bed.
7:30am: staring at my closet for 5 minutes, deciding how to stay the warmest/comfiest while looking professional. I usually decide on multiple pairs of leggings/tights and a long sweater/sweater dress so that I can wear boots. If I don't wear boots with 2 pairs of socks, my feet freeze all day long. I can only wear flats/heels when it's hot. Don't ask me why this is, I live in Southern California where the average is 75 degrees this week. But I do walk to work in the morning when it is 45 degrees and I wear a parka like jacket and a scarf.
7:50am: I have brushed my teeth, washed my face, put foundation on, and done something with my hair. I almost always have my front, short layers out of my face, or they will drive me crazy all day long. My kids get picky and aren't afraid to tell me when I look like crap.
7:55am: I take my 3 vitamins (yes. 3. and I still am sick as a dog). I eat breakfast. My favorite cereal is brown sugar maple frosted mini wheats from Trader Joe's. If I am out of that, I have Special K. Cereal is the easiest for me. I NEVER skip breakfast. I would feel sick if I did, and it gets your metabolism going for the day.
8:05am: I walk to school. I talk with the crossing guard in Spanish. This week we are talking about how I am sick and she was sick last week. She tells me to "cuidense" and I say "y tu tambien."
8:15am: I am in my classroom. I pray for my day, and look over my lessons for the day. Sometimes a parent stops in with something they think they need to tell me. I go online for a few minutes.
8:30am: I go out to get my class. One of my favorite parts of the day. We do our pledges (American flag, Christian flag, Bible) and then pray.
8:45am: chaos. We start calendar. This takes 10 minutes alone for them to figure out what day it is. We count our days in school. We talk about the weather. We practice our memory verse.
9:00am: Bible. Right now we are on Jesus and His disciples. They love Bible time.
9:25am: Prayer and Share time. They can talk about prayer requests but they usually just tell irrelevant stories, which I love.
9:30am: snack time. the snack prayer person prays for snack.
9:35am: I use the bathroom, eat my snack (usually a banana and string cheese). I go online. I get out everything I need for the next lesson.
10:00am. Kids come back in. There are usually 1 or 2 crying after they got hurt or fought with a friend. It's always something new. We start language arts now.
11:15am: LUNCH. It's usually soup, but I allow myself to eat carbs at lunch, because I get so hungry working all day and it's early enough to burn them off. They are one of the only things that really fill me up too. Today I had a spinach salad, cup of pasta, an apple, and hot tea. I go online again, check parent emails, catch up on work and get ready for after lunch.
11:55am: bell rings, I get my class again. This is one of the hardest parts of the day. They are tired or too crazy and complain about everything. I am trying to get kids to finish their worksheet from before lunch and my aide takes her lunch, so it is always chaos and I am alone. They all work at different paces so the kids that are done are causing trouble and I am trying to work with the slow ones so they get to learn everything too. Once we finish that, we do math.
1:00pm. NAP TIME. I usually make some tea and have another snack (eating every 2 hours is the best for your metabolism). I take a walk to fill up my water bottle (I go through 3 water bottles a day. One because it's good for me, and two because my voice needs it.) My aide brings me a mini chocolate bar from the office usually. I write notes home during this time for the trouble makers. I enter grades. I assess/work with kids that need one on one.
2:00pm: Nap time over. We finish whatever we need to, sometimes we have centers, sometimes social studies, sometimes a craft. All of it chaos.
2:40pm: I start calling kids over to write in their folders on how they did. This just started this week. I have a new classroom management plan where their behavior is based on a traffic light. So if they ended on red, I write about their severe behavior. If they ended on green, I get to praise them. The parents get a daily report.
2:55pm. GOODBYE CLASS.
3:00pm: I talk with my aide about whatever crazy things happened that day. I get things cleaned up and ready for tomorrow. The other Kinder teacher calls and complains about something and then usually wants to meet. Today I was stuck there until 5 going over curriculum for next year (we are switching, so everything I am learning this year is pointless because it's all going to be new). I usually eat again after school because I am starving. Usually a bowl of oatmeal.
5:00pm: This is usually the average time I leave and walk home. I call my mom sometimes on my walk home. I get home and do my dishes from the day and I make myself a smoothie to get myself another serving of fruit and to feed my hunger until I make dinner.
6:00pm. I make dinner. I usually know what I am going to make based on what I have. I try to have a lot of lean protein/veggies for dinner, so I will thaw chicken or fish or a turkey burger and marinade and cook it. Last night was my favorite dinner in awhile. Whole grain pita with hummus, mediterranean chicken, lemon, and spinach. Tonight was fish (you LOVE that, Jess Pugh) and rice. My health is a direct result of my eating habits so I only have 1 day a week where I eat whatever I want. All the other days I stay strict and really try to eat good/all natural, because anything artificial or preserved will work against my immune system even more. I really try to think about the food pyramid too and try to get my dairy/whole grains/fruits and veggies in.
7:30pm. Ready to veg online and catch up with friends and television.
9:30pm: I start winding down. I get ready for bed, read my Bible, write in my journal for a few minutes. I try to be asleep by 10:30 but it depends on how I feel.
This is pretty much it, Monday through Friday. Pretty lonely, which is why my weekends are so sacred to me. I am sick right now and hate living in Long Beach, where I don't have anyone to bring me treats or keep me company. It's lonely here a lot. But I'm content. I have a lot of things that keep me busy and a lot of people to talk to. and I know I am doing exactly what God made me to do, which makes me so happy all the time.
7:00am: alarm goes off. snooze.
7:10am: snooze.
7:15am: Okay I am seriously getting up now. snooze.
7:20am: Okay I have to get up now.
7:25am: I finally pep talk myself out of bed.
7:30am: staring at my closet for 5 minutes, deciding how to stay the warmest/comfiest while looking professional. I usually decide on multiple pairs of leggings/tights and a long sweater/sweater dress so that I can wear boots. If I don't wear boots with 2 pairs of socks, my feet freeze all day long. I can only wear flats/heels when it's hot. Don't ask me why this is, I live in Southern California where the average is 75 degrees this week. But I do walk to work in the morning when it is 45 degrees and I wear a parka like jacket and a scarf.
7:50am: I have brushed my teeth, washed my face, put foundation on, and done something with my hair. I almost always have my front, short layers out of my face, or they will drive me crazy all day long. My kids get picky and aren't afraid to tell me when I look like crap.
7:55am: I take my 3 vitamins (yes. 3. and I still am sick as a dog). I eat breakfast. My favorite cereal is brown sugar maple frosted mini wheats from Trader Joe's. If I am out of that, I have Special K. Cereal is the easiest for me. I NEVER skip breakfast. I would feel sick if I did, and it gets your metabolism going for the day.
8:05am: I walk to school. I talk with the crossing guard in Spanish. This week we are talking about how I am sick and she was sick last week. She tells me to "cuidense" and I say "y tu tambien."
8:15am: I am in my classroom. I pray for my day, and look over my lessons for the day. Sometimes a parent stops in with something they think they need to tell me. I go online for a few minutes.
8:30am: I go out to get my class. One of my favorite parts of the day. We do our pledges (American flag, Christian flag, Bible) and then pray.
8:45am: chaos. We start calendar. This takes 10 minutes alone for them to figure out what day it is. We count our days in school. We talk about the weather. We practice our memory verse.
9:00am: Bible. Right now we are on Jesus and His disciples. They love Bible time.
9:25am: Prayer and Share time. They can talk about prayer requests but they usually just tell irrelevant stories, which I love.
9:30am: snack time. the snack prayer person prays for snack.
9:35am: I use the bathroom, eat my snack (usually a banana and string cheese). I go online. I get out everything I need for the next lesson.
10:00am. Kids come back in. There are usually 1 or 2 crying after they got hurt or fought with a friend. It's always something new. We start language arts now.
11:15am: LUNCH. It's usually soup, but I allow myself to eat carbs at lunch, because I get so hungry working all day and it's early enough to burn them off. They are one of the only things that really fill me up too. Today I had a spinach salad, cup of pasta, an apple, and hot tea. I go online again, check parent emails, catch up on work and get ready for after lunch.
11:55am: bell rings, I get my class again. This is one of the hardest parts of the day. They are tired or too crazy and complain about everything. I am trying to get kids to finish their worksheet from before lunch and my aide takes her lunch, so it is always chaos and I am alone. They all work at different paces so the kids that are done are causing trouble and I am trying to work with the slow ones so they get to learn everything too. Once we finish that, we do math.
1:00pm. NAP TIME. I usually make some tea and have another snack (eating every 2 hours is the best for your metabolism). I take a walk to fill up my water bottle (I go through 3 water bottles a day. One because it's good for me, and two because my voice needs it.) My aide brings me a mini chocolate bar from the office usually. I write notes home during this time for the trouble makers. I enter grades. I assess/work with kids that need one on one.
2:00pm: Nap time over. We finish whatever we need to, sometimes we have centers, sometimes social studies, sometimes a craft. All of it chaos.
2:40pm: I start calling kids over to write in their folders on how they did. This just started this week. I have a new classroom management plan where their behavior is based on a traffic light. So if they ended on red, I write about their severe behavior. If they ended on green, I get to praise them. The parents get a daily report.
2:55pm. GOODBYE CLASS.
3:00pm: I talk with my aide about whatever crazy things happened that day. I get things cleaned up and ready for tomorrow. The other Kinder teacher calls and complains about something and then usually wants to meet. Today I was stuck there until 5 going over curriculum for next year (we are switching, so everything I am learning this year is pointless because it's all going to be new). I usually eat again after school because I am starving. Usually a bowl of oatmeal.
5:00pm: This is usually the average time I leave and walk home. I call my mom sometimes on my walk home. I get home and do my dishes from the day and I make myself a smoothie to get myself another serving of fruit and to feed my hunger until I make dinner.
6:00pm. I make dinner. I usually know what I am going to make based on what I have. I try to have a lot of lean protein/veggies for dinner, so I will thaw chicken or fish or a turkey burger and marinade and cook it. Last night was my favorite dinner in awhile. Whole grain pita with hummus, mediterranean chicken, lemon, and spinach. Tonight was fish (you LOVE that, Jess Pugh) and rice. My health is a direct result of my eating habits so I only have 1 day a week where I eat whatever I want. All the other days I stay strict and really try to eat good/all natural, because anything artificial or preserved will work against my immune system even more. I really try to think about the food pyramid too and try to get my dairy/whole grains/fruits and veggies in.
7:30pm. Ready to veg online and catch up with friends and television.
9:30pm: I start winding down. I get ready for bed, read my Bible, write in my journal for a few minutes. I try to be asleep by 10:30 but it depends on how I feel.
This is pretty much it, Monday through Friday. Pretty lonely, which is why my weekends are so sacred to me. I am sick right now and hate living in Long Beach, where I don't have anyone to bring me treats or keep me company. It's lonely here a lot. But I'm content. I have a lot of things that keep me busy and a lot of people to talk to. and I know I am doing exactly what God made me to do, which makes me so happy all the time.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Kindergarten for Life.
Haven't updated in awhile for all my friends that have me bookmarked..yes, all 2 of you.
I showed the kids a cartoon movie on Martin Luther King. This resulted in multiple kids crying and saying how mean the white people are. Which meant I had to cancel my lesson and have a discussion time instead about Martin Luther King.
Thursday was Crazy Hair Day. I love dress up days more than when I did as a kid haha. I had blue hair, as seen from this photo:
walking out to get my kids was the best thing ever. Just them screaming and pointing and me pointing back at them.
Friday, Liz came to observe my class and got to see the craziness of it. So fun. Of course everyone and their mom needed me/was looking for me that day. My job is never boring.
Today I sent my first kid to the principal's office. It was hard for me but I had to follow through. He was being violent and I said if he did one more thing, he would go to the principal. He then yelled "I HATE EVERYONE!!!!!!!" so I had to follow through after that haha. It was kind of hilarious. I was laughing behind my hands when he left. My class was HORRIBLE today. They lost recess and library tomorrow and I wrote 3 notes home. After this kid went to the principal, all other eyes were on me and they all looked like deer in headlights. I said "yeah...you all better watch out...or you know where you will end up too..."
Quotes:
"Miss Bechtel is it Crazy Hair Day for you AGAIN?!" (I was asked this today. So the answer is no, I just apparently look like crap and had my crazy scrunched hair because I am lazy).
A boy was sucking his knee on the carpet. I thought he was giving himself a hickey, but not to worry. He explained that he was only "sucking on his boo boo."
With all that good, comes a little bad. I am a bit stressed about some work relationships. The other Kinder teacher I have to work very closely with stresses me out, complains about everything and yesterday was in my room, practically in tears about being stressed and how we shouldn't do all these things the administration asks us too. It's really not a big deal (she is computer challenged and her problems wouldn't exist if she used the computer). The only part I get stressed about is when she complains about all of it. So she has been using the word "we" (as in her and me) a lot...saying "next time, we just aren't going to do it. We have had it. We need to confront so and so..." and I have never spoken the words she has so I just don't want to get caught up in this ugly situation. I don't want to be grouped in with her when she is complaining to others about everything, but I also can't sit there and tell her "it's really not something to stress about" when she is crying about everything to me in my room. There is just a lot going on with that. I am not really letting it get to me though. I wake up everyday, super excited about my job and about the fact that I haven't been sick in a month and I haven't had a headache in awhile!! That's all I need to be happy right now.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Good week back in Kindergarten.
I have a diva 5 year old who started singing Adele and Lady Antebelllum in class. We had a conversation about it:
“Gracie…are you singing Adele?!”
“uh huh, she is my favorite. Do you think at our next concert you can have me do a solo and I can sing an Adele song? And you could ask Adele to come sing with me on stage? I am a really good singer…”
“Well, we will see if we have another concert, okay?”
next day she was singing Lady Antebellum. I started singing along with her and the look on her face was priceless. “How do YOU know this song?!”
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My autistic student (aka one of my favorites) decided to straddle my leg and bounce on it while yelling “giddy up!”. He did this in the middle of me reading a book. He got in trouble but I laughed a little first.
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One of my other favorites always is upset about something. He is all attitude. It’s kind of hilarious. I can’t even explain him, but he says stuff like this every day:
“ohhh I NEVER get picked to come up to the board.”
“ohhhh I NEVER get picked to run in the relay” (even though I said a million times they would each have a turn).
“ohhhhh I NEVER get to win a prize” (I explained a million times how a raffle works).
“ohhh I NEVER get to buy lunch.”
“ohhhh I ALWAYS have to pay a ticket.”
“ohhh I NEVER get to see my mom.” (his mom teaches at our school).
The best part is when you remind him how none of this is true, he says “OKAY” in a sobbing voice, but continues to pout about it for 10 minutes.
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When I tell Bible stories, they get SO into it. I told the story of Joseph this week and they had looks of utter terror when he was thrown into the pit. Literally gasping and hands on their faces. It’s the BEST.
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Quotes:
-“Miss Bechtel, you look really pretty today!”
“thanks!”
“Yeah! Different than you usually do!”
-“I like your necklace! What does it say?”
“Oh yeah, it says ‘cool women are cool’”
( It definitely said “Our God reigns” )
-“Dear Jesus, please help the kids that don’t have any arms and legs. And bless God. and in OUR name we pray, amen.”
-me: “Richard, are you talking?”
”I’m not! I’m bothering her!” (he meant ignoring).
Sunday, January 1, 2012
2011: visually.
Dear Self:
This is your most life changing year yet. You started it off by searching for a real job in not only a horrible economic time, but for teaching jobs no less. You did not take the easy way out and move home. You refused to give up until you were almost out of money and out of answers. You made countless phone calls, filled out probably hundreds of applications, went on a few interviews, and felt rejection over and over again. You learned so much about yourself and your faith during that 6 month of job searching and I couldn’t be prouder of how much you relied on God through it all. You were blessed with the best job of all time that had been prepared for you 50 years in advance and it couldn’t be clearer that God had a plan for you all this time. You strengthened new friendships that are important to you and you let the old destructive ones die. Even though you get lonely at times, I know you won’t settle for less than you deserve. You are confident in who you are, you are independent, you are doing the best you can. You aren’t perfect, so don’t take it too personally when you mess up. I cannot wait to see how 2012 will shape you. My resolution this year is to make God my priority…we say that He is but how many times do I put my devotions off until after my favorite show or after this or after that…it’s time to put Him first, for real.
Thanks for an awesome year. With the bad, came a lot more good to be thankful for.
**If you would like to see the full versions of these photos, go to my Tumblr (link at the top of my blog), because honestly I am way too lazy to upload them individually again on here.
goodbye Poner house days.
moving.
being an adult.
oved my roommate.
saying sad goodbyes to friends that moved away for a bit.
did not regret this night and our hilarious shirts.
getting tweets back from practically all my favorites.
some of my favorites surprised us and we hung out all week. It was magical.
lots of babysitting.
Portland!
Abby visited AGAIN!
weddings and graduations.
summer.
and of course:
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