Random Thoughts and Things.....

We are required to fill out forms at school, telling the new room parents all about ourselves....so the other night, while the rest of the world was asleep, this is what I wrote......



Random thoughts and things you should know about your teacher…….

I want you to know that I will love your children and protect them each day they are at school as if they are my own. Through fieldtrips, fire drills (or the real thing), tornado warnings, bomb threats or whatever the world may throw at us….I will be there, holding on to them as if they were of my own heart…….because in my mind, they are. For the first 7 years of my marriage, “my school children” were the only children in my life …. until we were blessed with the birth and adoption of our son. We are planning to adopt again, sooner rather than later. I think about school stuff all the time, “How can I do this better? What would make this more fun for the children? What new trick can I use to teach this lesson?” I really, really enjoy what I do. Most days, I think…”I get paid to do this!” I have never taught a child who was not in kindergarten or first grade (and barring a catastrophe, I never will!). I believe that play is a child’s work. Commercials make me cry. I spend at least 1 afternoon of most weekends at school for several hours, just to make The Bear Class run more smoothly! I love CSI, Grey’s Anatomy and In Plain Sight. I used to love Jon and Kate Plus Eight, but now I am over them. I discovered Disney World for the first time when our son was 5. It was as magical for me as it was for him. I secretly think I should have been a forensic detective! I love to read. I love to collect perfect children’s books to go with all of my lessons. I love to write. My secret desire is have a children’s book published. I love to do Creative Memories Scrapbooking (I only use CM products….my hubby calls me a scrapbook snob!) I love lots of different music. I love to sing with the children. I love to go to the beach and do nothing except play in the waves and the sand with our son and napping with my hubby. I eat NOTHING from the sea. I love teaching children how to read and add/subtract and do science experiments. I am thrilled when they get excited about their world. Junie B Jones and Ready Freddy are exactly like every little boy and girl I have ever taught. I like flowers and the outdoors and most bugs. I do not like to go camping! I am scared of spiders and suspicious of snakes. I do not like to eat meat with bones still attached. I love caterpillar bulldozers and big equipment. My comfort foods are sweet tea and chicken and dumplings. Fresh cut grass is one of my favorite scents. I believe wholeheartedly that napping is a hobby. I wish I would have invented post-it notes. I love Alabama Football. Walking across the Quad and hearing Denny Chimes ring makes my heart swell up and spill over. I believe that children should be taught to “fish” (if you show them how they can do it themselves). I miss my brother Brandon so intensely that it seems the pain is like a real thing in the room with me that won’t ever leave. I never wanted to be an only (surviving) child. I got to see firsthand that God will surround you with people who will pick you up and carry you, and who will tell you the words, when you have forgotten all that you know, due to personal tragedy (thank you precious parents and children of my 2008-09 class). Children are the reason I can get up and go on with life, even when my heart still aches…. everyday. I love Fall weather, Fall colors, Fall sights, smells and sounds. September 26th is my favorite day of the year. It’s the day I became a Mommy. I love watching birds and deer in the fields near our house. I love to take photos of the children busy at their work. HGTV is my favorite TV channel. I could spend hours in the children’s section of Barnes & Noble. Not a week goes by that I don’t buy at least one or two books. I love to watch thunderstorms but I am fearful of tornados. I am very nostalgic and keep way too much stuff! TiVo is awesome! Germs freak me out. I love Clorox wipes, Lysol Wipes, and Pine-sol! HA! I am the unofficial dentist at Rock Quarry. I am an advocate for children. I believe that being loved, fed, tucked in safe and warm and being read to every night is the undeniable RIGHT of every child and not a privilege of birth. I love room mommies. Recess should be a required subject. In The Bear Class Schedule it’s called Music and Movement, and we’ll go out almost everyday, even if I get in trouble, because I believe that strongly that children NEED.TO.PLAY….One of my favorite places in the whole world is our classroom. I love to host student teachers and teach them how to do what I do and how to love doing what I do. I also tell them that if they don’t just love it they should get out now ‘cause I don’t want them teaching my child or yours either….I’m just honest like that…..My favorite phrase for procrastination is, “straightening chairs on the Titanic!” (I straighten a lot! Ha) I am insanely loyal. I am very calm in serious situations and tend to fall apart later on when I am at home. There is purpose in everything we do in The Bear Class. I believe that each new day is a fresh start. I harbor a not-so-secret desire to go to China to adopt a little girl. I also believe that God will send me the child I am supposed to have. I love playdoh and that new crayon smell. Being called “Teacher Nerd” is a compliment. The sight of new school supplies at Wal-Mart in the summer makes me happy. I believe that if it is good enough for everyday in The Bear Class then it is good enough for “company”. I do not do “dog & pony shows” for visitors. What you see is what you get and in The Bear Class we think every day is an awesome day! Come on in! In the choice of doing what is right for a child or telling a parent what they want to hear to keep them happy, I’ll side with doing what’s right for the child every time. I believe that snow is magical and I wish we could see it more often. Art and Music are very important subjects. Vicki Nevin was my cooperating teacher a bunch of years ago when I was a student at the University of Alabama. One of the greatest privileges I have ever had was to come back to Tuscaloosa to be her teaching partner. The 1st Grade team of teachers at Rock Quarry is – hands down- the best grade level, in any school, in Tuscaloosa. I am honored to be part of this team. Blogging is a fun thing to do. I get grossed out at Go-Gurts and will go to great lengths to NOT open them myself. ..Yuck. Sometimes I teach college girls at The University, but little children are my favorite age to teach…I like Basenjis and Poodles and Labs….We will have fun everyday….I am not a huge fan of homework…….I will teach your children to love to read, read, read….I dislike handheld pencil sharpeners and don’t allow them in the classroom….same goes with mechanical pencils…. I think that as a society, we are taking away the youth and the childhood of our children by pushing too much in regards to test scores and the like. Teaching is not what I “do” it is part of who I am. There is nothing wrong with being a big fish in a small pond. I think making mud pies and fingerpainting and playing with puppets should be part of the curriculum…good manners are required from adults and children alike…… and I really believe that……. childhood should be a journey……..not a race.

Think they'll get a good picture of who I am?