What's Uuuuuuupppppp?!

Hi everybody,
Been busy teaching school and just living day to day. I had such a crummy day one day this week (I think it was Tuesday) so I just crawled into bed around 7:30 and didn't get back up until 6:00 the next morning. That's one of my escapes - just sleep. Today was nice because I visited the Center for Inquiry which is a great K-5 school that emphasizes community and inquiry. I used to go there when I was an MAT student in 1997-98 and I'm so pleased that it has grown. I think it's true that students do lead the curriculum if we are teaching the way we should be. We have such an emphasis on following a certain order when teaching the standards but as long as we cover the standards and do it in a way that makes sense (like scaffolding, modeling, mentoring, reading, writing, math workshops, etc.), then the teachers should be treated as professionals so let them and the students decide where to go next in what they're learning. Let me get off my soapbox.

I got back to school around 1:00, after the Center for Inquiry Consortium meeting, and my sub was reading a Christmas book to my kids and they were so mesmerized. She was reading about Santa and the jobs that the elves do. They are so sweet. Then the students wrote about colonial days - what they've learned so far (that's our unit in Soc. Studies) and I was really impressed. They used books we had used for resources and they looked in their notes - all without me having to tell them. Most of them did a concise job of rewording the main points they wanted to get across which is so refreshing because I used to tell them that you can't just copy things - you have to put stuff in your own words. They are using what they've learned from reading and writing workshop because I've told them that in order to write about something you have to immerse yourself in reading whatever you're writing about to understand the writer's craft (in this case non-fiction writing). They put sub-titles and chapters and drew pictures. I even had the sub tell me I had a great class.

I left around 3:30 then came back to school at 6:00 for a chorus concert. If anyone ever doubts what Christmas is about should attend a children's Holiday Concert. It takes you back in time. For that hour I could feel that innocence once felt.

Then I came home for good and opened to the door to a horrible smell in the house. I think there is a dead rat in the attic. We kept hearing something between the walls and in the attic for about a month or so and finally I called an exterminator. They sprayed all through the house and put out rat poison in the attic (I had the full extermination for bugs and rodents). The exterminator said they couldn't do anything about the smell when the rat dies. I feel like sleeping with one of those pine tree air fresheners taped under my nose. If John was here I wouldn't be able to smell it quite as bad if he had been wrestling or running for several hours and he hasn't taken a shower yet...just kidding John...you know I love you and always will. But you know you were ripe sometimes after working out. You'd be proud of me because I went to the gym yesterday evening. I need to go everyday and hopefully I can work up to at least 3-5 days.
I better get in bed. Thanks to all those who have read this. YOU know I appreciate you.
Nancy