This is real....

Happy Halloween Everyone!!!!! Today is a great day in the life of a teacher. So many fun activities that I will blog about when the day is over. Don't worry there will be many pictures!

MIss Hales needs to learn how to prioritize

I guess the title explains it all. I am the worst person ever! I am sorry that the blogging world hasn't seen a post in such a long. I am so tired every night and I am never doing anything for myself. I haven't seen some of my dearest friends in so long- Because I can't figure out when to stop working and when to start having fun. If I have an ounce of free time, I either take a nap or read a book. (Usually a book that I want to read to my kids... and I'm testing it out.)

In my last semester of school they gave us this graph of the high's and low's of teaching. The first two months, are very high and you are excited and then all of the work starts to pile up and you start to fall. I feel like I am entering this stage, even if I don't want to. I love my students so much- I seriously have the best class even if they are being chatty this week. I just feel like I am working constantly and I know I need to find a balance. - Goal, find more Alyse time.

I have a lot of things I want to post about... but time, give me some more time. I will be back later. Lunch Break is over!

Parent Teacher Conferences= Tiring!

I have a couple minutes before school starts. Can I tell you, I have never been so tired in my whole life. And by that I mean since I started teaching-- and by that I mean besides after the first day of school. Last night was the 1st night of Parent Teacher Conferences. I met with 16 students and their parents for 10 minutes each, all in a row. I had to talk so fast to get everything covered and make some goals. Luckily I didn't have too many concerns and was able to stay on track. It is so fun to get to know your students and then meet their parents again. I was so lucky to be able to tell each parent that their child has been great and is doing well in my class. I had some really good grades this term. The book fair is also going on and I have a "wish list". Two of my students bought books for me. I love books!!!! And I love my kids. Well the bell rang, I better let them in.

You know your a teacher.... when your crying.....

How great was conference today? I look forward to conference so much and could not have asked for a better day. I could not help but get teary-eyed every time the Primary choir stood up to sing. It was amazing how strong the spirit was with the young youth of the church singing for their Savior, Jesus Christ. How sweet were their spirits? What a unique opportunity these kids had to be able to be a part of that choir. What a testimony builder these kids were to me. I am so grateful that I have the chance to be around kids each day. They truly are a blessing and I’m sure they teach me as much as I teach them. (I would laugh between the tears when the camera would zoom up on a child and they would have a small panic attack or try not to look in the camera.)

jump ropes.... losing a student.... writing stories

Today was an exciting day for Miss Hales. Not just exciting but an emotional roller coaster. My first story is about my students C. It all started last Friday when she got checked out and hasn't come back since. Apparently the parents were going back and forth with the children and the Dad took the kids this week. For a while no one knew where the kids were, well neither the Mom or Dad would claim they had them and the cops were involved. It was pretty intense and I was didn't know how to feel about the situation. 1. It would be great to have my class size go down. But this girl is on a Kindergarten level and has been moving in and out of schools all her life. She doesn't have that great of a home life and that is why she is so behind. I was in the process of referring her to resource because she was so low. I wanted to keep her in my class so I could help her get up to grade level. I just hope that she gets to stay at her next school for a while and learn. Miss Hales class size went from 32..... to 31.

I have this wild child in my class, she is one of my resource students and she sometimes gives me some trouble. Then I have this little boy who is one of the smartest kids and they all the sudden became friends. I was really excited about it. They went to recess together, after recess my class has Reader's Theater and I have prep. During my prep the principal came in my room and asked where my class was. After I told him, he just left. I was curious so when my kids came back I asked if anything exciting had happened in Reader's Theater. The kids all raised their hands to tell me that the principal had come to talk to those 2 kids. I asked wild child what he said and she said she couldn't remember. ---- ya I'm sure. haha. At lunch I went to the Principal's office and asked him what happened. He said that a parents in the other 3rd grade class came in that morning and said my two kids had been using a junp rope to tie up her son and hit him. Yes, my kids roped a kid, and were hitting him. That is abuse, they are bullies. I am pretty sure that my quiet smart boy was not the genius of this activity. So I guess, I'm going to have to tell their parents when I see them next week at SEP's. Oh great!

We are writing personal narratives during writitng this month. We are going to show our published work to the parents next week at conferences. We have been rushing to get them done in time. I was meeting with the students to check off their work. One girl had written about her baptism. It was so cute, she said that she felt perfect when she came out of the water. She then said that when she came home she ate her favorite food "Grilled Poops" I read it aloud and looked at her with a puzzled face. She told me that's what they are called. But really they are just no bake cookies. I laughed so hard, it was so cute.

Well, tomorrow is Friday and I love my life. I can't wait for this weekend to come. Tomorrow is fun Friday and I may attempt to do some watercolors with the class. May be a problem with the lack of water in my classroom. Haha. I figure that out tonight. Oh and my class is 6 points away from a class pet. What should I get? fish? Gecko? ehhh... I am thinking Fish! haha

I am so excited for conference this weekend, 4 sessions of inspiration! I love conference with all my heart. My parents are in Greece for the next three weeks so I am watching the children on the weekends. I am excited to take on the role of Mom and make some amazing dinner.