In Awe

Last week we had a full moon. One morning when I was driving into work, the moon had almost completely set, but was still high enough for me to see. Although this picture is courtesy of Google images, this is about what I saw.

It was more orange than this and absolutely breathtaking. I'm not a morning person...especially these mornings when it is pitch black outside. However, I am beginning to appreciate these dark mornings because I get to enjoy the beauty of the Lord's creation. 

Since it is dark when I get to school, I get to watch the sunrise each morning. It peaks over the trees much like it is in the picture below. Each morning we have a literacy class. My day starts out with 20 minutes of silent reading. My students and I all read individually for 20 minutes. It's great! To monitor the class and still get to read myself, I sit on my counter at the front of the room. This puts me in the perfect spot to watch the sun come up over the trees. I love to see and experience God's creation and how beautiful it is. Everyday He amazed me with His creation when I lived in Boone. The sunrise each morning is quickly becoming one of my favorite times of the day as I get to sit and marvel at His awesomeness! I like to think it's His way of saying good morning to me each day. Sunrises on days when it's cloudy are even better because the sun creates all of these magnificent colors among the clouds. It's a great start to my often crazy days!

We studied coordinate planes last week. I love the picture graphs and was so excited to introduce these to my students. Most of them loved them too and wanted to keep doing them every free moment they had. So, to brag on them, I thought I would show you some of their work. Some classes got to do an ACC graph of either Duke, Carolina, NC State, or Wake Forest. I had many more Carolina graphs than Duke graphs. As much as it pained me to hang these on my wall, I did what I had to...

Quote of the Week:
From a boy: "What happens if I'm in the bathroom...you know...on the toilet...when the fire alarm goes off?"

Me: "Finish up as quickly as possible and get outside."
Him: "What if you know it's going to be a while and you can't just finish up?"
Me: "Then I guess you'll just burn up."

Picture of the Week:
To top that conversation: Please notice the picture graph below. I didn't see this until I was hanging it on my wall. And, yes, it is proudly hanging in my classroom right now. Please see that this boy's dog is drooling and has pooped! And, I might add, the dog seems very happy with himself with a smile on his face. haha

Fowl Play

A bird flew into my classroom window this week and killed itself.

I was helping a student with some work when I saw this white thing hit my window. Some students were in a group playing a game so they were facing the window and saw it. When I asked what it was, they informed me it was a bird. I thought someone was outside throwing something at my window. I still didn't really believe it was a bird...do birds really fly into windows?? So, I went over to look expecting to see a shoe or something laying outside my window. Sure enough, laying on its back, dead as a door nail was a bird. Of course, everyone had to come see. I went back and checked on several times throughout the day thinking maybe it had just knocked itself out. Nope. All day it laid there on its back, unmoving. My window isn't even clean! I don't know what made it decide to take a flight into the wall of a school. I'm just thankful my windows weren't open, which they usually are that time of day. Although, that might have made for a funnier story. I don't handle birds being inside too well...they freak me out when they are scared and frantically flying all over the place.

On another note, I love how I can instantly tell when a student has done something wrong. All I have to do is look up when I hear something and inevitably someone will have a guilty look on his/her face. Crime solved. However, there are some students who can keep their face stone cold and lie until they are blue in the face about what they did. Lucky for me, they are the ones who do things right in front of you and then still deny it. "I wasn't talking." "I didn't do it." Me: "I saw you." "I saw your lips moving." Them: "But, I wasn't talking." "It wasn't me." "I didn't do it." Why is it one extreme or the other? Do they learn how to lie like that because it seems the majority of them are really bad liars? Why do they feel like they need to lie? Oh the workings of a 7th grade brain...I have two degrees in middle grades education and they still puzzle me on a daily basis.

Wedding planning is moving right along thanks to my mom and sister. They seem to have more time to think about and research it. I think I'll let them handle it all and just give my opinion as needed. I did buy this big wedding organizer/planner this weekend. I love to have things organized so finding that was super exciting! Allyson is making me an inspiration notebook right now with all the pictures I have saved the past few months of things I like. I am meeting with a photographer this week and we hope to have the date set by the end of this week. Stephen is coming home this weekend for fall break. Yay!! We are going to sit down with our families and really get the ball rolling on some of the details Saturday. Happy wedding planning to us!

20 Questions...

...and then some

As requested, here are some of the questions that came flooding out of my mouth in the seconds and minutes after Stephen and I got engaged. I wish I could remember the order of them, but it all happened so quickly that in my mind they are all clumped together as one huge moment of curiosity. And, who better else to answer them other than my fiance himself. Please welcome guest blogger and my fiance, Stephen Snyder. His answers, straight from him, are in italics.

Stephen, is this for real?
Yes!  I'm for real this time.

This ring is real?
Nope, it's fake.  This is another joke. (Sarcasm)

You're serious right now?
Yes, I'm serious.

Did you ask my parents?
Do you think I'm stupid?  Of course I did.

When did you do that?
When I was in town for your Grand Dad's memorial service.

When did you get the ring?
Labor Day weekend.  The night you, Allyson, Michael Wilson, and I went to dinner at Chili's.  That's why we kept trying to push the time back and Michael and I were so late.

So, Michael Wilson knows?
Yep, I hung out with him last night when I went to Durham to get the ring.

Who else knows?
Everyone.

What do you mean everyone knows?
I told them.

Have they all seen the ring too?
No, just a hand full of people have seen it.  

You were in Durham last night?
Yep and thanks for telling me where you were going to eat dinner last night so I knew not to go there with my mom.

Does Steph know?
No, I haven't seen her.

Can we go tell her?
Sure.  But I thought you were hungry.

Can we go eat now? I'm starving.
Yes.

Does your mom know?
Yeah she does and she's ready to tell everyone.

Has your mom seen the ring?
Yeah, it's been sitting at our house for a few days.

This is really for real?
Yes.

We're actually going to get married?
Yes!

When?
When do you want to get married?

How did you ask my parents without me knowing?
I was at your house and you went to bed around 8:00. [Erin here. I did not go to bed at 8. It was probably more like 8:30 :) ]  I stayed over and watched the football game with your dad.  So after you went to bed, I asked them.

Does Allyson know?
She knows I have the ring, but doesn't know I was proposing tonight.

Has she seen the ring?
No.

So, when we get back to your apartment, everyone is going to know that we're engaged?
Yes.  There might even be a cake waiting for us.

How long have you had this planned?
I was planning on doing it later this month, but then earlier this week I found out I was planning on doing it on fall break so that wasn't going to work.  So I made plans to do it tonight. 

Typical boy answers...short and sweet. :) Stevo's not all into the mushy gushy. I hope you enjoyed hearing a little from his point of view. Kel, just because I wrote a post about this doesn't mean we don't need to get dinner soon. EKAD date soon??

Engagement Tree

So, because of all the excitement and my starvation, we forgot to take a picture of the tree we watched the sunset in. Well, lucky for us, this site is a favorite hang out spot among our friends. I found some pictures of the tree on facebook today and thought I would share.

 I love black and white pictures...especially of trees. This tree would make a perfect black and white image! So, that made this location even more perfect for me!

Coming Soon...A post about all the questions I had for Stephen after he proposed.

PS Go me for a mid-week post. Yea, I'm procrastinating when I should be grading papers, planning for next week, and getting about 100,000,000 other things done. But, this is more fun.

Not Me Monday

My desk drawers do not look like this:

I always keep things super organized and would NEVER throw things randomly in my drawers like this:

My room does not look like this right now

That is not a drawer full of clothes on my bed with other clothes thrown all around the room. I always pick my outfits out at night and never make myself late because I can't decide what to wear.


I did not eat a nice healthy grilled chicken salad for dinner last week and then have a huge snickers ice cream bar for dessert after going to the gym two days in a row. That just wouldn't make sense.

Firsts

This week started out uneventful and led into a week full of firsts. I got to write my first kids up this week and attended my first middle school dance. Eventful week for a first year teacher.

Two of my boys got in a fight in the cafeteria Thursday after lunch.  One of my boys was crying over something that happened at lunch. When I realized he was crying, I went over to see what was going on. Then, the other boy decided he needed to run his mouth about the other one crying. Well, a "tough," crying 7th grader is already embarrassed. So, when someone started making fun of him, he felt he needed to prove how "tough" he really was. He slammed his tray on the ground and everything! It was quite comedic as both of them barely come up to my shoulders. I was right there when it happened and just pushed them apart after they barely shoved each other. Luckily, my class was the only one left in the cafeteria so hundreds of middle school students didn't come running to flock around and watch. The SRO officer came up and asked me if I wanted him to take them. I told him they were all his and we went back to class. Even though it was a minor fight, it did get my adrenaline pumping as it could have quickly escalated into something more.

My week ended with me chaperoning a dance. I never went to any dances when I was in middle school so this was a first in many ways. Middle school dances are so eye-opening. I got to see a different side of my students that I would never see in the classroom or even guess they had. One of my girls who is very quiet in class was breaking it down on the dance floor! She had some sweet moves! I was very surprised at how many of them danced. Granted, there were only two slow songs played and the rest didn't require a partner. However, they all mingled and didn't separate themselves by gender along the walls like I thought they would.  A couple times throughout the night a song would come on that was before my day. It was interesting to watch the dance floor clear when a song came on that they didn't know. However, the second a more recent, popular song came on, they all came running back in. And, I got to see what jerking is.  It was very cool to watch and made me thankful all over again that it is a dance!

Quotes of the Week:
"I want to go to MIT because 4 out of the 11 dorms allow you to have a cat...oh yeah and because of their technology program."

Me: "Get out a sheet of paper for your exit slip today, which you will turn into me as you leave class today."
Student: "Do you want us to put our names on this?"
Me with a straight face (I couldn't help myself): "No, I want to try and guess who's is who's."
Student: "Really? How are you going to do that?"
Another Student: "She's using sarcasm!"
Another Student to Me: "That was good sarcasm!"
[I'm glad some of them can pick up on the sarcasm. I try to limit my sarcasm so I don't make them feel stupid, but I just couldn't resist in that moment]

Engaged

Little did I know that I would be following my 4-year post with this. Stephen and I are engaged...for real this time. Many of you know that Stephen found it quite humorous to fake propose to me or pretend on facebook to be engaged. On April 1st, he broke into my facebook account and changed our relationship status to engaged. Steph and I were in the middle of a p90x work out when my phone began to go crazy. I didn't know what had happened, but knew something was up. Needless to say we did not finish that work out with so many people calling to say congratulations.
After all the jokes and fake proposals, it took a lot of convincing for people to believe that we actually are engaged now...myself included. Let me start at the beginning...

Wednesday was mine and Stephen's four year anniversary. Since we had to be at Grandma's on Saturday for Pa's birthday, I decided it would be a perfect opportunity to make a trip to Boone. On the way up the mountain, Steph and I discussed the possibility of me and Stephen getting engaged that night. And, I had a feeling it was going to happen...a feeling to the point I knew I would be disappointed if it didn't happen this weekend. So, I spent a lot of the time driving trying to talk myself out of being disappointed if it didn't happen because I had no legitimate reason to be disappointed.

When I got to Boone, I knew something was up. You see, Stephen is a one track mind kind of guy. He gets flustered if he has to focus on too many things at once. When I got there, he jumped off the couch, gave me a quick hug, put his jacket on, and rushed me out the door. His excuse was that he didn't want to miss the sunset. I knew something was going on because he was very distracted. He was distracted to the point that me making conversation on the way to the parkway was annoying him. I told you he can't think about too many things at once. Me wanting to talk his ear off on the nice drive out to the parkway was too distracting from all the thoughts and nervousness running through his mind. So, I had to stop talking. :)

(Man! I miss this place!)

We get to the parkway and there were several other cars parked near where we entered to hike up the hill. He was not happy about that and was scared people would be in the spot he wanted. So, we walked up to the top of a hill that overlooks the back of Grandfather Mountain. On top of the hill was this huge tree with massive branches.  We had to walk up this stick propped against the trunk to get up in the tree. I learned that I have a new fear of heights, I think. I was very shaky and nervous in the tree. We watched the sunset and took some pictures.

I had been hungry since 4 o'clock that afternoon and like I said, I was shaky being up in the tree in fear one of us was going to fall. So, after a few minutes, I was ready to go. I was starving!! By this point, I had decided he probably wasn't going to propose. On the way to the parkway, I was checking out his pockets to see if he had a ring box and he didn't. And, we had been in the tree plenty long enough that if he was going to, he already would have. So, I was ready to go eat!

We slowly made our way day...Well, I was slow because I was still scared. :) Then, we stood there a little while talking. Remember, I'm starving. But, I can tell he is stalling. So, I knew something was up. He gives me this big hug. And, in the span of about 2.5 seconds, I press my face up against his chest, feel his heart pounding, feel him do something behind his back that felt like he opened a box, and he drops on one knee. Actually, first he showed me the ring, then got on one knee, and said, "Will you marry me?" It happened so fast I wasn't sure he was being for real this time. Granted he had a ring, but still I wasn't convinced. After several minutes of convincing me, I said, "Yes!" Still in shock, I began to ask a million questions. I asked so many questions that he couldn't even finish answering one before I was asking another. I finally got complete answers to all of my questions several hours later.
(Our first picture as an engaged couple)

Remember, I'm still starving, but on an adrenaline rush, and still in complete shock. So, as much as I want to go get dinner, the first thing I had to do was go to the apartment to tell Steph. On the way there, we called our parents and siblings. I was scared Steph wasn't going to be there because she told me earlier she was going to Savva's to eat dinner. When I saw her car and his mustang in the parking lot, I ran up the stairs leaving Stephen in the dust. They had already figured it out, but I was so excited to see her and show her the ring, which by the way is B-E-A-utiful! She cried...Several times. :)

We called a few more people. Then, finally got some food. By the time I sat down to eat, I took about 5 bites and wasn't hungry anymore. I was starving, but too excited to eat. I woke up REALLY STARVING the next morning. After dinner, we got to hang out with some awesome friends in Boone and spent the rest of the night on the phone with family and friends. Polk and Sabrina made us an engagement cake, Head decorated it was candles, and we had a little party. It was fun to celebrate and SO nice to see all of them.

I knew I missed Boone, but being there reminded me how much I miss that place! It was a gorgeous weekend and I didn't want to leave.

Currently, Stephen and I are taking turns being freaked out with the reality of marriage. I was freaked out for a while Friday night and wasn't too comfortable with him calling me his fiance yet. Today, he got freaked out when I called him to set the date. We're aiming to get married this summer and I want to get a good photographer. So, we are going to have to book soon. That scared him a little bit. We're both gradually getting used to the reality of all this, but super excited as we embark on this new part of our lives...together.

Meet the future Mr. and Mrs. Snyder...Yea that's still weird to say. :)

Okay...for real now...

Please notice this is posting at 9:17 p.m. Seventeen minutes past my bed time. Go me! And, I'm not even cranky yet! Stephen, maybe there is hope for you getting to hang out with me at night once we're married...maybe.

Easier Said Than Done

It's been two weeks since I've blogged about school. I have a long list of excuses, but no need to go through those! Let's get back on track!

Let me preface this post by saying this is not a "Woe is me. Tell Erin how awesome she is" kind of post. I want to record my first year of teaching, both the successes and lessons learned...even if they are learned the hard way.

I have learned in the past couple of weeks what they (experienced educators) mean by, "Don't smile before Christmas" "Crack down early because once you loose them, it's harder to get them back." Many first year teachers say that they struggle with classroom management. Entering this year, I was a little nervous about it, but at the same time, over-confident in my classroom management skills. I made a 7th grader cry in one of my internships; I had years of experience at summer camp; clearly, I knew what I was doing. Ha!

I have to say that teaching is one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had. I am used to being really good at everything I do. I expected to prance into my first year of teaching and blow it out of the water. Boy did I have another thing coming. There are many days I leave school feeling like the worst teacher ever either because the kids were out of control or because I wasn't able to get them to understand what I was teaching. I'm not going to lie, it's hard. 

These 7th graders are quick. And, I have not done a good job of enforcing my expectations. As a result, my classes get very talkative. With so much going on, it's easier for me (at the present moment) to keep saying, "Stop talking. Stop talking. Stop talking" However, when I don't follow through on consequences or threats, my threats and consequences quickly loose meaning and take with them my authority. And, they're right, it is much harder to enforce expectations later rather than sooner. So, I'm struggling with that right now. But, I refuse to give up on them already.

Last week, I gave students the opportunity to choose their own groups. I realized that I need to do this in the first few days of school. It gave me great insight to who was friends with who. When I made my original seating chart, it was alphabetical. When I made my second seating chart, I knew who to separate, but didn't realize the other social groups I was putting together. So, allowing them to show me who they are friends with from the beginning will help me out a lot next year!

It really freaks students out when you give them an answer to a question on a test. I realized when I got ready to give my first test, there was a question on a topic I had skipped because it is not in the 7th grade curriculum anymore. So, instead of making all new copies, I just gave them the answer to that question. I should have just allowed them to answer it because giving them the answer blew their minds. It was also amazing how many of them missed it after saying 890,875,908 times, "I have already circled the answer to number 21; all you need to do is bubble it in."

I've quickly learned that I can not assume that they know anything about the concepts I teach. I'm not saying they're stupid because they aren't. I'm just saying that assuming they already know something only hurts them. I came in with very high expectations of their prior knowledge about math and how to act. That was a mistake. I'm not saying that they can't rise to my expectations. What I'm saying, is they can't unless I teach them. Just because I understand the math quickly and feel like I am repeating myself 1,000,000 times a day, it still isn't enough. It is taking lots of patience on my part.

I'm learning. I might have some of these issues figured out by Christmas and the rest by the end of the year. It has definitely been a challenge and so very humbling.

Quotes from the past few weeks:
At the end of the day, I was letting the students pack up and chat a little before the announcements came on. You know those moments where you're talking at the same volume level as the rest of the crowd, but at the second you speak everyone else seems to stop speaking and everyone hears what you say? Well, that was what happened when I heard one of my 7th grade boys excitedly proclaim, "I have leg hair!" Everyone kind of smirked and then looked at me to see my reaction. All I could do was laugh. I started to tell them I did too, but thought that would freak them out too much.

With a hop in his step and a lift of his fake top hat, I was greeted by one of my boys one morning with an excited, "Top of the morning to ya, mate!"

You would think after 2 weeks I would have a long list of quotes of the week. I told Allyson this past weekend that I might be getting too used to the randomness of 7th grade students. I'll try harder this week to listen for and remember their crazy comments.

We had a teacher work day today and it was AMAZING to have the whole day to myself to get things done! I am so thankful for that time!

Engagement post coming soon!