Great Day!

Today I met with Dr. Morrison our superintendent and Mrs. Evans the assistant superintendent about things that need to be changed to help the 5th grade band program. I called this meeting and had a list of requests including a bus to transport kids to the after school rehearsal at the high school, another rehearsal, time to teach(reading and math blocks) and a laptop computer since I go to 6 schools and have a good computer at one of them. I went in realizing I wasn't going to get everything but really wanted the bus. Both administrators listened to what I had to say and agreed with me. They did not think I was being at all unreasonable in my requests. They said there may be a problem getting a bus at the end of the day though because they may not have enough or something. Then the assistant superintendent said, "Why don't we bus them to the high school in the school day twice a week?" They do that at other schools. That would solve all of these problems. Hallelujah, yes it would! She is meeting with the elementary principals tomorrow and is going to push for it. I am pretty sure the elementary principals will not be for this so I may not get it but I really am excited that they listened to me and are going to try. I believe that some changes will be made. I also heard today that we are down 250 students this year and over million dollars will need to be cut from next year's budget. There goes my job but we will see.

Survived Kindergarten

I made it through the first week of going back to work and 2 days of helping out with kindergarten. Basically what I did was help label the kids supplies and babysit while the regular teacher took kids individually and tested their skills. We had half the class on Thurs and the other half on Fri. I could never teach kindergarten. The first day one boy cried off and on all day. He wouldn't do anything that was asked of him. At least I know Anne won't cry when she goes to kindergarten. She is very independent which is good. I think she will love kindergarten. Yesterday there were no criers in the classroom I was in but next door there was a kid SCREAMING worse than any infant I have heard, all morning. They finally got him calmed down at lunch because they let him sit with his older brother. When his brother took him back to his kindergarten class the screaming started again. That poor teacher, I talked to her before school started on Fri and she said the Thursday group was fabulous. She should not have said that. It is amazing to see the different levels of kids in the room. There were some very smart and well prepared kids and some that couldn't count to 10. How does the teacher deal with that? I have a great admiration for those teachers. The man whose classroom I was in has been teaching for close to 30 years and is very good. I was very impressed.

Better day

Last night I was still upset about the reading/math blocks and having no time for band lessons and I guess I tossed and turned all night. Gerhardt went and slept on the couch. I slept okay but must have been thinking about scheduling. Today was a better day. It started off kind of sad though. Normally if I get Anne out of bed the first thing she says to me is, "ungy" (hungry). If Gerhardt gets her up she says, "Go Mommy". Today I got her up and she said, "Go Jamie's". Jamie is her daycare provider. Gerhardt took her to daycare today and when she gave Mommy a hug and kiss goodbye this morning she did cry a little so I guess she does still love Mommy.
I started off my day at Corse Elementary. This is where the super awesome principal who sings, plays guitar and was an All-State trombone player was. He left the end of July. I had wanted to be assigned that building because of him but wasn't. He was also the music supervisor in charge of all the music staff in the district. The new principal is the old principal from James Madison and I like him a lot too. I really wish I had been assigned that school. The 5th grade teachers are awesome and said take the kids whenever you can. One of the teachers is a pretty cool guy that I taught with at James Madison. He told me, "You can come in my room at anytime and take 10 kids without giving me any notice and I won't get upset." The general music teacher there is a hoot. I think it would be a fun place to be. I may have to schedule some planning time (if I have any) there. I was also able to finally recover all the 5th grade files on the computer and schedule recruiting times and lesson times at North Hill. They were pretty flexible too. Actually the new 5th grade teacher at North Hill told me he plays trombone. I asked if he still could and he said, "Yes I live in Fort Madison and play in the municipal band in the summer." He agreed to help me recruit by bringing his trombone. Pretty cool. I still have lunch duty tomorrow and I am working with Kindergarten. I will survive. At least I am bigger than all of them at the elementary building!
Ted also paid me a huge compliment today. He told me not to worry about getting the numbers up because that will take time but he knew I was going to give the kids a great start. That was really nice.
I am exhausted. I was at school all day and then we had open house from 5-7. The first day is tomorrow!

Anneliese's birthday

Anne had a fun time at daycare again today and the Elmo cupcakes I took were a hit. I stopped by at lunch to take pictures. She didn't even eat hers but her little friend Gavin was covered with red frosting so I took pictures of him. She cried when I took her home. We celebrated her birthday by getting a balloon at the grocery store, having a picnic in the park and playing and the "Stuff" at the park. When we got home we had cupcakes and a bath. She was out like a light. She is doing well at daycare other than not wanting to nap. I think there is just too much stimulation for her to sleep. She will get used to it. It is time for me to sleep too.

What I do does not matter

Today I ran around to all my schools and of course my badge didn't work to get me into to ANY of them. The elementary buildings at least knew I was assigned there but the High School people were very confused. Trying to schedule elementary lessons will be interesting as many schools have started reading and math blocks. This is a time when EVERYONE teaches reading or math. This means no band lessons. When all the schools do this at the same time it makes my life difficult. I have one school to go to but 3 of them want all the lessons in the afternoon. Only one school has said morning is fine. In order to make this work I will have to put kids in larger groups and not have much to do in the morning. I can help out at the high school but why did they keep the 5th grade position if they won't let me do my job? I was very disheartened today. My phone kind of works. I can call out and receive calls but my voice mail doesn't work. My computer also kind of works. It works but my access to the proper district stuff is denied. I do not have a computer at 3 of my buildings. Have I mentioned how much I love the Burlington School District?

First day back to work

Where to start? First of all packing the bag for daycare and actually putting Anne in her car seat to go to daycare this morning was pretty difficult. When we got there she was very excited to see all the toys and the other kids. She sat in her chair and ate breakfast and didn't really care that Mommy was leaving her. I did okay walking away. If she had cried I would have but I held it together pretty well. Then I went to the Memorial Auditorium for the big District Rah Rah beginning of the year speech. At this point I am excited about my new job, new building and NO lunch duty. Our new superintendent could not be more boring. Our old one at least gave an entertaining first day speech. When that was finally over I went to North Hill for more meetings. Last week when I was in my room there was a desk, chair, 3 computers, flag, US map, World Map and a globe. Today there were NO computers, no phone, no piano. I did have my desk, chair, maps, flag, and my wonderful globe. For a while all I could do was rearrange my desk and chair and spin my globe. By the end of the day I had located a computer and phone and gotten them hooked up. Of course neither of them work but maybe tomorrow. The meeting at my new home school was great because my home school is the only school in our district to meet all the NCLB goals so it was a happy speech. Later we went through the handbooks and I noticed the Duty roster. You won't believe it. Yes, you guessed it, I was assigned LUNCH DUTY! I almost screamed. I tried to explain to my principal that I shouldn't have lunch duty as I will only be at that building one day a week. There were other teachers around and I don't think he understands my schedule. He asked, "how many schools are you going to?" I answered, "SIX" He looked surprised but said well, "When you are here you will have duty". I just sent him a lengthy email with a copy of the person who had my job last year's schedule explaining to him that she had no extra duties and ever other teacher in the district traveling to 3 or more schools does not have extra duties. Let's hope that makes a change. I did offer to help out for the first couple weeks until I start 5th grade lessons. I also found out the first couple of days when I thought I would have work time (which I need since my computer doesn't work NOW) I will be helping with kindergarten. I don't know what that means and am a little frightened.
I went to Anne's daycare over my lunch break. She didn't care that I was there. She did eventually bring me a book and sat in my lap to read. 3 other girls came and sat in front of me while I read. Anne got up to get another book when I was done with the first one and a little boy sat in my lap. She didn't seem to care. I scooted him over and put them both in my lap. Then the boy got bored and wandered off. I read another book and Anne went to play with other toys. Another little girl sat in my lap and I read to her for probably 5 minutes. When I needed to go back she gave me a hug but I couldn't get one from Anne. She didn't want to go home today either. I am glad she likes it there. I have to go back tomorrow at least I don't have lunch duty tomorrow.

Anneliese's second birthday party

Yesterday we had Anneliese's 2nd birthday party. Her birthday is not until the 18th but that is a Tuesday and I will be back at school. It was also Grandpa Borchardt's birthday on Saturday so we celebrated both. Grandma and Grandpa Borchardt came from St. Ansgar, Cousin Karen came from LeClaire and Great Aunt Karla and Cousin Emily came from Cedar Rapids. The Burlington Lachnitts were also there: Grandpa Mike, Georgia, Great Aunt Marilyn, and Great Great Aunt Mary. Great Grandma Lachnitt fell the day before and is still in the hospital with a possible broken tailbone. Great Aunt Leeanne stayed with her at the hospital. We missed them but understood and hope Grandma feels better soon. We had a nice picnic lunch with Gerhardt at the grill. Anneliese had a blast and got so many wonderful gifts. She loves them all! Last night she didn't know what to play with. She rode her Tricycle for quite a while with Emily pushing. She hasn't gotten the hang of pedaling yet but she is trying. She slept with her doll last night and this morning told me the doll was "ungy" and needed her bottle. She loves the Elmo doll and the books! Last night she played with all her puzzles. She can do the shapes one pretty well but has some work on the others to get them mastered. Last night she opened her gift from Great Grandma at the hospital, a tea set. She came home and sorted out the dishes and Gerhardt got his first taste of pretend tea. This morning she insisted on feeding her stuffed animals plastic food and even put some on her own tray. She has annoyed us by playing with the See and Say that uses Elmo's voice. Gerhardt keeps asking me why I bought that thing. I was thinking it would help her learn her shapes and colors but didn't realize it would be so annoying. It was a great day and she had a lot of fun. Oh yes and Aunt Lisa and Uncle Chris couldn't come because little Ethan is not ready to travel yet. They sent an inflatable Elmo in their place. I think she was a little scared of it though. I am going to take it to daycare on Tuesday, her actual birthday and I think the kids will like it a lot. Thank you everyone for celebrating with us! She is an awesome little girl. We are so blessed. Tomorrow I go back to school which will be difficult to leave her at daycare. She has a wonderful daycare provider though and I know she will be well taken care of. I am excited about my new job teaching 5th grade band. It will not be as much time and I think a lot of fun.

She got messier than this but we didn't take enough pictures!
Yummy Cake!
I got her the most annoying gift. It is a See and Say. When she puts the shapes in the right places Elmo talks and he gives directions. What was I thinking? She loves it though!
Grandpa Borchardt got a present too, a remote control John Deere Tractor. It was actually his birthday. Anneliese's birthday is not until Tuesday, the 18th. We celebrated both.

Tricycle Dolly ELMO!
Elmo books

Anne wasn't too excited about getting her picture taken with the cake. She just wanted to eat it!
The finished product. My frosting was too runny but it worked.
It took 2 bottles of red food coloring to make Elmo red.
Decorating the cake

Anneliese in her new room after it was painted and the new carpet put in. It now has furniture and cute decals on the walls.

New Room

I spent a lot of time last week cleaning out my former music room and painting it for a new room for Anne. She has much more room now for her big girl bed. She is not quite ready for it yet but I thought I needed to get things ready before school started.

strange actions of Anne

Last night Anne insisted on putting a diaper, shirt and shoes on her bear. Once the bear was dressed she picked it up by the head and shook it and said, "Sorry, Bear" ????
I bought her some plastic pants to go over her training pants at daycare. I bought the smallest size I could find but they are WAY too big. I ended up ordering some custom made online. The big ones are sitting on the changing table and Anne decided they made a good hat. She put them on her head last night and it looks like a chef's hat. I didn't know where the camera was but when she does it again I will have to take a picture.