A Bad Day

I have a highly gifted student in my Journalism class. He has a very high IQ, and his memory is impeccable. He never has to take notes because he remembers everything. I’ve witnessed this first hand. He’s scored almost 100% on every single test I’ve given, and he does not take notes or study for his tests. He’s brilliant, literally. He is a sophomore now, but he’s so smart he’s going to skip his junior year, so he’ll be a senior next year. He’ll be in college by the time he’s 17.

Since today is Halloween, I came up with two fun games for my Journalism students to play rather than start a new topic. As his classmates began to play, this boy is sobbing in the back corner. I am not exaggerating, he was uncontrollably crying. His shoulders were shaking and I could hear him trying to gasp for breath. All the other students were looking at him, and I was completely caught off guard. I went over to him, and he refused to talk to me. He said he didn’t want to talk about it. I asked if he wanted to leave the room for a bit, but he wanted to sit at his desk and cry.

He literally cried through the entire 50 minute class. The other kids were playing games, so they didn’t really notice. Once the bell rang, I asked him to stay behind. He was finally ready to talk. He had just come from math class, and he thinks he failed his Advance Formulas and Trigonometry test. He said he just went blank during his test, and this is the first test he’s ever failed. He was devastated. I didn’t quite know what to say to him. I encouraged him to talk to his teacher and to let me know if there’s anything I could do to help. I told him one failed test wasn’t going to ruin his grade, but he wasn’t quite so positive. His entire day is ruined because of this test.

Random Thoughts

*Some kid threw up in the hallway outside my classroom today. I had to "control" the situation and make sure no one stepped in it until the janitor came to clean it up.

*My car door is broken. In order to get out of my car, I have to roll down the window and open it from the outside or crawl over the console and go out the passenger side door.

*I think I have the best sister and brother-in-law in the world.

*One of my students came in for help yesterday during his study hall. He saw a kid out in the hallway, so he yelled, "Hey, toad!" I asked my student why he called that kid toad. He said, "I don't even know his real name. One day he came to hockey practice with a green shirt and brown pants. He had really bad acne on his face, so he looked like a toad. We started calling him toad after that." I was laughing so hard I had tears coming out of my eyes. Kids come up with the darndest things.

*I have to go to the dentist tonight, and I'm not looking forward to it. I have a chipped tooth due to grinding my teeth, so I'm going to have to go back in to get that fixed. Grrrr...

*There's a new guy working in the Enterprise office connected to my office. He's cute. I'm going to go "get some water" so I have an excuse to see him.

*I think someone stole my contacts. Ok, well, I guess I ran out of contacts, which is totally not me because I'm a planner and a thinker aheader. I usually have a two month supply minimum. Now I have to wear my glasses until my order comes in.

*I made a teacher laugh today. He's a very clever guy and always has a smart, witty remark to everything. I beat him to a punch line today, and he thought I was pretty funny.

*This very same teacher and I were trying to figure out a word that has two a's, i's or u's in a row. There's words such as meet and booth, but is there any word that has "aa" or "ii" or "uu" in a row? If so, leave a comment.

*There's only one number between 1 and 100 that is spelled in alphabetical order. I figured it out in about two minutes. This same teacher took about 20 minutes. What is the number and how long did it take you to figure it out?

My Smile

Last week in class, we talked about interviewing for a teaching position. My teacher went around the room one by one and told us her observations of each one of us and what we would have to "overcome" during an interview.


For example, one of my classmates is a jock. He played semi-pro basketball in college, and while he's a very smart guy, he doesn't exactly come across as very bright when you first meet him. My teacher told him he's going to have to overcome his "dumb jock" stereotype.


One of the ladies in my class, is 45 and has four kids, but she's very small (5'0", 110 pounds) and has a very quiet, sweet voice. She's going to have to prove that she can handle a room full of 30 high school students.


Then it was my turn. Imagine my surprise when my teacher said, "Shiloh...All you have to do is smile and you can win over an entire room full of people. You won't have any problems getting a job if you just smile the entire time." I was quite flattered, to say the least.

I Made a Mistake

I can't believe I forgot to tell you this story. I gave my Journalism students a test last week. I was quite proud of myself. It was a fill-in-the-blank test with 30 questions on it and a word bank with 30 answers. If my students studied and listened on review day, I knew they were going to do great.

On test day, I handed out the test, and since I hadn't made an answer KEY yet, I thought it would be the perfect time to make it as my students took the test. I had my word bank beside me, so I started filling in the answers. After I filled in two or three answers, I realized that the answers were in order!!! Let me first explain that the day before, I had designed a game for the students to play. In order to save me some time and energy, the test was actually the game. But, I had forgotten to mix up the answers from the game.

So I looked at my students to see if anyone realized what I had done. I could see a few people smiling, and I knew they had figured out the pattern. Others were skipping questions and not doing the test in order. I didn't know what to do, so I just let them take the test. I figured this was a freebie for the entire 30 students.

Once everyone had the test turned in, I decided we'd grade the test in class (in order to save me more time and energy). I don't do this often. In fact, it was the first time I had done this, but I figured if everyone figured out the pattern, they had done okay on the test. One of the students raised her hand and said, "Ms. N. Did you know the answers were in order?"

I started to laugh. Another student said, "That's not very nice to do."
Another student said, "What? I didn't know the answers were in order!"
Another student said, "Sweet, I got 100%."
I explained to them that I didn't realize the answers were in order until I had already handed out the test. We graded the test together, and 25 out of 30 students realized the pattern and got 100%. The other five weren't as quick and didn't do so well on the test.

It was a first-year teacher mistake, and I'll never do that again. :)

Five Day Weekend

I had a great five day weekend. We were on fall break, so I didn't have school Wednesday-Friday. It's going to be hard to go back to school tomorrow. I was able to get some homework done, grade some papers, update my gradebook, and most importantly, read a book and watch a movie. Two movies, actually. I also had lunch with Katie on Thursday and Megan on Friday.

Wednesday night, Sonya, Amanda, Amy, Kari, Nikki, and I had dinner at Pei Wei and then went shopping at Colorado Mills. I also attended a substitute meeting in the afternoon, so I'm officially hired to work at Chatfield next semester.

Thursday night, Kari invited me over for dinner. She made a fabulous BBQ Chicken Salad, and Kari, Amy and I watched The Office, SNL, and Grey's Anatomy.

Friday night, Kari, Amanda, Amy and I went to dinner at Chick-Fil-A (our favorite fast food place) and then went to see Mamma Mia. It's a super cute movie, and I recommend it to anyone who likes a fun movie.

Saturday, Kari, Amy, Megan and I went for a 24 mile bike ride. I got home from the ride around noon and watched the Huskers game with mom and dad. Huskers won!!! Saturday night, I was home alone, so I made a fabulous meal (I made it up and it was delish and gluten free). I rented the movie 21, so I ate popcorn and watched a movie. This is also a good flick, if you need something to rent. Then I played on the internet for a few hours.

Today, I went to church, then Kari, Amy and I went for a 15 mile bike ride. I also got my new pedals for my bike, which doesn't mean much to anyone who doesn't ride, but if you know what I'm talking about, I'm super excited. My new pedals and shoes will help me go faster without using so much energy. It will be perfect for the MS150 next year. Now I'm finishing up my book and watching the Steelers game. A nice end to a great long weekend.

All right, now that I've bored you with my weekend, I'll say goodbye for now.

Natural Inclinations vs. What God Wants

I have recently encountered several situations where I had to turn to God for the right answer. I knew what I wanted. I knew what I desired. I knew what choice I wanted to make. But I also knew that I wouldn't find peace with MY desire until I knew it was Christ's desire, as well.

Rick warren writes: “On one occasion my application was to work on the quality of sensitivity. It took several months for God to build that into my life. I needed to see how this quality related to all areas of my life. He kept putting me into situations where I was tempted to do the opposite—to be insensitive. He may do the same with you. God may teach you to love others by putting you in the midst of unlovely people. You may have to learn patience while experiencing irritations, and learn peace in the midst of chaos. You are then discovering how to have joy even in times of sorrow and testing.

You must realize that when God wants to build a positive quality into your life, He must allow you to encounter situations where you chose to do the right thing instead of following your natural inclinations. The real test is, 'How will applying this Scripture to my situation help me become more like Jesus?'”

I feel peace knowing I did the right thing in my situations rather than following my natural inclinations. It's not easy, but when you follow God's heard rather than your own emotions, the blessings are sure to come.

I encourage you to take a look at your life. In what area is God wanting you to follow His ways rather than your own?

Monkey's, The Cricket, and Cowboys

This weekend was a pretty low key weekend, the kind I like best. I didn't have a ton of homework, nor did I have any lesson plans to create, so I took some time to relax and enjoy the most perfect weekend in CO history. Well, I might be exaggerating a tad, but it was incredible weather and a great reminder of why I love CO so much. I watched Case Friday night so Shan and Jeff could go on a double date with their friends, Nathan and Vali. Saturday, Shan, Jeff, Case, Katie and I went to Free Day at the Denver Zoo. The zoo, quite literally, was a zoo. Every person with a kid and stroller was there because, well, it was free.

Saturday night, I went to dinner with Kari, Katie, Kari's cousin Amy, and Amy's husband Adam. Amy and Adam were in town from MN, so we had to show them a good time in Denver. We ate at the Cherry Cricket, which is known for some fabulous burgers. Fabulous they were! Then we went to the Rio for margarita's, where we met up with Sonya, Joseph and Mike. We couldn't let the night go by without putting on our dancing shoes, so we ended our night at The Cowboy Lounge.

WHY?

I attend Denver Community Church (DCC), which I love. Week after week, Michael, our pastor, delivers a powerful sermon. I never leave a Sunday service without REALLY thinking about what God is trying to teach me. Today was no different. Michael spoke about Revelation 2:8-11, which is a letter from Jesus to the Church of Smyrna. To summarize, Jesus tells the church that they are going to experience very hard times. The church at Smyrna was a suffering church. It was warned about an impending persecution and that some of its members would experience martyrdom. The church in Smyrna would soon be persecuted and martyred by Jews and heathens. This would happen for ten days.

Sounds rather gloomy, which is it, but Jesus states, "These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty." What does this mean? It means that Jesus has suffered and died, but he also overcame death. He KNOWS what it feels like to persecuted. He KNOWS what it means to be martyred for his faith. He KNOWS what it means to suffer.

Often times when we suffer hard times, we ask the question WHY? People are quick to give their answer. "It happened because..." Michael spoke of Job, who suffered severe pain. Satan killed his family and took everything from Job, and yet Job continued to follow Christ. Job's friends try to "help" Job and give their two sense of WHY this was happening to Job. At the end of the book of Job, God says to Job, "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me" (Job 38:2-3).

God continues to question Job. "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food? Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!"

Job replies, "I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer—twice, but I will say no more."

God says, "Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like God's, and can your voice thunder like his? Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty."

Job replies, "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. "You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

Job realizes the advice of his friends was opposite of what God was trying to teach him, so once Job prays for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. The question of WHY was never answered, and yet Job realized that God is God.

The answer of WHY usually isn't answered in our own lives. Why do people die? Why is there so much pain? Why do people have cancer? Why must a family member be diagnosed with MS? Why? Why? Why? Because we are human, we will always ask that question. But because God is God, we may never know that answer, but what we do know is that God has suffered. God has endured persecution. God has died. But God has risen again. He's right beside us through the pain. We can find comfort knowing that Christ overcame, and he'll help us overcome our pain, too.

Job or No Job?

I got the phone call...And, they offered me the job! I have a teaching job as soon as I graduate. Praise God. Chatfield High School, here I come!

Now I have to figure out how to teach Honors English. These kids are probably smarter than I am. Booo!!!

Waiting for a Phone Call

My interview went well. I think they liked me and I have a good feeling about it. When I walked in, there was a really cute guy sitting at the table (no ring). He was the English department head. He didn't say much or give me any reaction, but he would make it fun to go to work each day.

There are two ladies going on maternity leave at two different times, so the job is pretty much the entire semester. The first lady leaves in December during break, so I would start the semester with her classes. She teaches three freshman English classes and two sophomore honors English classes. They asked me how I felt teaching honors and I told them I was up for the challenge and confident I could do it (even though I'm not!).

The second lady leaves in March through the end of the school year. She teaches freshman English, Intro to Journalism, and newspaper. So other than the 10th grade honors English, I would be doing everything I'm doing now. She said the May edition of the newspaper sucks b/c it's the senior edition and it takes a lot of time and energy, so she said I would be very busy in May (long days), but otherwise it's 6:50-2:50 every day.

They said they would call me, so I'm just sitting here waiting.

My First Teaching Interview

I have an interview tomorrow for a long term sub job next semester. I'm glad it's short notice because it doesn't give me time to think about it too much. I got a call from the Assistant Principal at Chatfield High School (Jeffco) today asking me to come in tomorrow at 2:30 for an interview. As of 1pm today, I did not have a resume of any sort put together. Now, at 4 pm, I have a pretty good resume. It's amazing what a kick in the pants can do for a person.

This AP has interviewed several people for the job and has turned them down because none of them have any Journalism experience. The job is to teach a Journalism class (doing that right now), be the newspaper advisor (doing that right now) and teach honors English (teaching freshman English right now). The honors part of that sentence is a little scary, but hey, I'm just a sub. I can wing it, right? They have already emailed several teachers I'm working with this semester to ask for a referral, so hopefully they say good things about me!

I guess I should get back to preparing for my interview, but wish me luck! This would be huge to get this job for next semester because often times someone leaving for maternity leave doesn't come back AND it would help me meet some people at a different school. Chatfield is a lot like Columbine, so I should have good students and it's pretty close to my house. Yay!

Things I Adore and One Thing I Abhor

I ADORE my nephews. They are so unique. Carson is brilliant. Kye is funny. Case is a cuddler (he fell asleep in my arms last night). I also ADORE my unborn niece. I haven't met her yet, but I am counting down the days until I can see her and hold her and spoil her.

I ADORE peanut M&M's, but you already knew that if you know anything about me.

I ADORE jewelry. Again, if you know me, you already know that. I have over 30 necklaces (at least), 20 bracelets and 20 pairs of earrings.

I ADORE teaching. I'm actually doing something that I've wanted to do for a long time. I have incredible students, and I learn something new every day.

I ADORE Denver. I have no idea why anyone would want to live anywhere other than Colorado. I love the mountains, I love the weather, I love the sunny days, I love the cold, I love the aspens changing colors, I love Littleton, I love the Rockies, I love the Broncos, I love going downtown.

I ADORE shopping. I haven't been shopping in a while because I'm unemployed, but I love buying new clothes.

I ADORE Target. They just opened a new Target by my house and it's amazing. LOVE it!

I ADORE reading. I would read all the time if I could. I haven't read a book in a long time (other than To Kill a Mockingbird because I just taught it), but I can't wait to complete my Master's so I can read all winter long.

I ADORE biking. This is my new hobby, and I actually get jealous when I see people riding a bike. I enjoy being on the seat making my legs do all the work. I love working my lungs. And I especially love going up a long hill because I know that when I get to the top, there is always a down.

I ADORE Shirley Temple Vodka's, which I just found out are called Dirty Shirley's. They taste just like a Shirley Temple (duh).

I ADORE food. It's a wonder I ever lost 50 pounds in the past year and a half because I love to eat. Asian food is my all time favorite, but Italian comes in at a close second.

I ADORE Cold Stone, where I order Mud Pie Mojo. Oh my goodness, if I died eating that ice cream, I would go straight to heaven.

I ADORE my Jesus (speaking of heaven). I screw up every day, I make huge mistakes, I hurt people, but He's always by my side holding my hand. I find comfort knowing that He's not going to call someday and say, "You're a great person. I really like you. BUT, we're just not meant to be together."

I ABHOR dating. All too often, I get a phone call like the one above, and it sucks to be considered so great, "But let's just be 'friends.'"

Go Broncos

Collin and Carson are at the Broncos game right now. I'm pretty jealous, but I'm also glad Carson got to go. He was pretty excited this morning. I was trying to talk him into giving me his ticket, but he finally told me he would only give it to me if I paid him $200. That quieted me. Collin and Carson both had on their Bronco gear, so I dressed up for the occasion, too, and took an opportunity to take a few pictures (shocker).
As they were leaving for the game, Carson made a point to tell us who to cheer for. He said, "Only cheer for the guys daddy likes, ok?" I told him I would look for him on TV, so I guess I should pay attention to the game.

Fall in the Rockies

As I previously mentionded, Abby came to visit last weekend from Wichita. Kari, Abby, Sonya and I headed up I70 west toward the Rockies. If you haven't been to the mountains in the fall, I highly recommend it. The Aspens are full-on changing colors, so we got some great pictures. We went on a beautiful hike and, of course, took a ton of pictures. Then we went to Silverthorne and hit up the outlet shopping mall. We came back to Denver that evening and had a lovely dinner at Chili's. It was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. Us girls are pretty silly, and we had a blast laughing, sharing stories, hearing about Abby's honeymoon, looking at her wedding pictures, singing and dancing.



The great thing about the mountains is you can be loud and there isn't a soul around to tell you to be quiet. Us girls were singing and dancing up the mountain, and it was amazing to praise God while enjoying His beauty. I love my Denver girls, and Abbs, we sure do miss you!

Humor in Grading Papers

I have a student who has the imagination of Dr. Seuss. We’ve been reading To Kill a Mockingbird, and he hasn’t been doing very well on his quizzes because he hasn’t been reading the book. Rather than leave his answers blank, he makes up some pretty creative answers. Here are his responses on a few questions compared to the real answer:

Why does Jem think Boo Radley stays inside?
His answer: He’s a sunaphobic (afraid of the sun).
Real answer: Because he wants to.

Name something that alarms the city of Maycomb.
His answer: The town gets infested with ants.
Real answer: Someone tries to break into Judge Taylor’s house.

Why is Halloween banned in Maycomb?
His answer: Because people were scared of the costumes.
Real answer: Because kids were pulling pranks on people in the town.

What did Mr. Underwood compare Tom’s death to?
His answer: Killing a fly.
Another student: Oreo Cookies
Real answer: The death of a mockingbird.


Needless to say, I’m quite amused by his answers and always look forward to grading his papers.

Australian Wanna Be

I am down to six more weeks of classes to complete my Master's degree. My professor, Susan, is also teaching three other classes at night besides my group. My group meets on Tuesday nights, so last night whe was telling us about her Monday night class. She said they are WEIRD. She doesn't like that class because they all are a little strange. For example, she has taught this group of soon-to-be teachers for four and a half months. One guy is from Australia. He has an accent and told her this long eleborate story of how he was born and raised in Australia and recently moved to America to get his Master's. Up until this past week, she believed him. But, she just found out that it's a total lie. He's American. Born in America. Has lived in America. Has a fake Australian accent. Has never lived anywhere else other than America. He's been lying the entire time! She's was freaked out by this guy and is considering filing a complaint against him.

So today, I had a guy observe me. Come to find out, he's a student at the same University as me, so I asked him if he knows Susan. Sure enough, he has her as a teacher right now. I asked him what night he has classes, and he said he attends classes on Monday night. He's in the class that Susan doesn't like! I ALMOST asked him whether he talked in an Australian accent, but I didn't want him to know that Susan was talking about his class. I'm curious, though. Is this the same weird guy? He was a little creepy.

My Biopoem

Shiloh J
Smart, funny, crazy, outgoing
Sister of Shannon and Collin
Daughter of Doug and Sally
Lover of ice cream, my friends, my family and my blog
Feel stressed, excited and overwhelmed
Need to pee, need more time, need more money
Fear of never finding the love of my life, fear of being unemployed, fear of not being good enough
I give my time, I give my advice, I give myself
I would like to see April cancer free forever, I would like to see my nephews succeed in life, I would like to see a cure for MS, I would like to see Africa
Resident of Littleton, CO
Nichols

Things I Need Today...

M-Money
O-Omnipotence
N-Nap
D-Dark Chocolate
A-Abby
Y-You

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my weekends. They are my one time per week where I can relax a little and let loose. I usually spend Saturdays doing NOTHING. I guess I shouldn't say "nothing" because I'm always doing something, but I try really hard to not think about school or homework or grading papers. I spend Saturdays having fun and relaxing. Sunday is my day for church and getting ready for the next week. I always have homework to do, papers to grade and lessons to plan. And of course, I watch football.

Yesterday was one of the best Saturdays I've had in a long time. I'll write more about it later (have to wait for the pictures), but Abby came to visit us girls (she moved to Witchita a month ago), so we took a trip up the mountains for the day. We hiked, took a ton of pictures, shopped and enjoyed fall in the mountains. Again, as soon as I get those pictures, I'll tell you all about our fabulous day.

Today, Kari, Sonya and I went to the 11am church service, then Kari and I hopped on our bike for a short 22 mile ride. It's almost 5pm, so I'll spend the rest of the evening doing homework and getting ready for the week.

All in all, it's been a great weekend. I have seven more weeks of classes, and then I graduate with my Masters degree. Seven more weeks! You have no idea how excited I am to be done. While the past year and a half has gone really fast in some respects, I'm also DONE mentally with school and homework. I can't wait to be able to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas without having to worry about homework.

Broncos are going to win this game today. It is a home game, and Kari and I rode by the stadium on our ride, so we were able to see the jets fly over, the fireworks when Denver scored and hear the crowd cheer. I love fall in CO.

Those are my random thoughts for the day.