The Shi-Loh Down Week 3

The Shi-Loh Down

For an explanation of my social experiment, click here.

For a recap of week one and two, click here and here.

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Week Three

OK, this is hard. The problem I'm encountering is NOT meeting men; rather the problem is finding out enough information about them to make it worth the meet and giving them enough information about me to make them interested. It's easy enough to say hi and introduce yourself. It's a whole other story to really get to know each other. I would say I DID meet five new guys this week, but only one of those qualified under the rules I have set.

Tim: This is another guy that I've seen around since last April, but I didn't actually talk to him until Friday. Tim is a student teacher at Chatfield, but he was teaching at the school last semester, so I saw him around. I've never actually gone up to talk to him, so at a Happy Hour on Friday I approached him and introduced myself. We talked for about five minutes, and I found him very pleasant. Today, he ate in the teacher lounge with me and five other ladies, but we were the first two to arrive, so we were able to chat one on one for a few minutes. I have my eye on him, and I plan on pursuing my friendship with him.

Beau: Believe it or not, I met ANOTHER Beau this weekend. Beau from week one was talking to this new Beau, so I approached to join the conversation. Beau Two asked me where I was from. I said NE. Beau Two tilted his head to show me his hat, and he was wearing a NE hat! He's from P-A-V-I-L-L-I-O-N (yes, he spelled it out in a song). We chatted for several minutes...and then he introduced me to his wife.

Bobby: What's really funny about Bobby is I have a picture with him, but he doesn't really qualify. I talked to him for a total for two minutes (which included time to take a picture), but I didn't find anything out about him and he doesn't know a thing about me. The only positive is he is roommates with a friend, so Bobby might show up in the future. _________________________________

On a funny note, the Chatfield teachers met Friday after school for a Happy Hour. Most of the lady teachers know about my experiment, so they are always asking how it's going. We arrived at Rox and got seated. There were about seven ladies at the table, and then Eric and Dennis from week one were sitting there. One of the teachers asked me how my experiment was going. Eric and Dennis both heard this question, so then they wanted to know what my experiment was. With a super red face, I tried to give as little detail as possible, but then the ladies chirped in and told them what I was doing. I was so embarrassed. As we were playing pool, my friend made sure to tell Dennis that he was part of my experiment. He was a good sport and laughed along. Today, Eric asked me how my experiment went over the weekend. He also asked me if I had met anyone today since it was a new week.

Finally, I'm sure you're interested in what Beau One looks like. I do have a picture of him (hugging another guy), but it at least gives you an idea of what he looks like...

Beau is on the right in the black shirt.

My Classroom

Good news! I get my classroom to myself. I don't have to share, and I don't have to travel anymore. They found a solution to our problem! I am so excited to present to you my very first classroom. This is when you first walk in the door. On the right are the calendars

for each grade level with due dates.

These are the calendars, and the door to the hallway is on the right side of this picture.

This is my desk.

This is looking from my desk to the class.

This is also from my desk. Eventually, the bulletin boards in the back will have student work on them.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but all the things on the walls are M&M posters. My entire room is decorated in M&M's, which are my favorite candy, of course!

The Shi-Loh Down Week 2

The Shi-Loh Down

For an explanation of my social experiment, click here.

For a recap of week one, click here.

Week Two

This week was a little bit of a let down, especially compared to last week. I didn't fulfill my goal of meeting five new guys, and I blame that on being my first week of school and being just plain busy and lazy.

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Keith: I started my week off strong last Monday by meeting Keith. He's the security officer, scratch that-Police Officer, here at Chatfield. The other police officer is named Rob (what's with that name?), and Rob is married to my friend Jeanne, who worked at Chatfield last school year. She had a baby this summer and decided to sub this year instead of teach full time, so she graciously offered to loan me some of her lesson plans to help me out. She sent them with Rob, since we work in the same building. Rob came to find me, and Keith tagged along. They didn't quite know where to find me, so they started asking everyone they saw if they knew where my classroom was. Let me explain, these Police Officers are real Police Men. They wear a full uniform, complete with handcuffs and a loaded gun. So to see these two guys walk into my room was a big intimidating. I introduced myself to Keith, noticed he did not have a ring on, and made a mental note to get to know him. After they left my room, I had two different teachers come and ask me if I was in trouble. They saw that two Police Officers with guns were looking for me and assumed I had done something wrong. The next day, Keith was in my friend's room helping her fix a broken drawer, so I made an effort to walk down and talk to him. I found out this is his first time working in a school (he's coming from the Court System). We chatted for a few minutes, but then he had to go. My friend nudged me and said, "He's cute. You'll have to get to know him." I agreed. I discovered later in the week that he's married with two kids. Again, what's with not wearing a ring?!?!

Casey: I met Casey this weekend while working at Enterprise. He, also, works for Enterprise at the office down the street, and we've talked on phone but never met face to face until this weekend. He was a let-down. No personality and he wasn't all that pretty to look at. Let's just say we didn't click.

Todd: I don't know if this counts because I've met Todd in the past, but this weekend I took a moment to really talk to him. Todd works for one of the body shops where Enterprise gets their cars fixed. He was working (unofficially) Saturday morning, so I ran into him when I was staging a car at the shop. It was a casual conversation, and I found him interesting, so I'll keep my eye on him.

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However, I had a date with Beau.

Beau took the initiative and got my number from Brandi. We've been chatting via email, phone and text since last week. He called Saturday and asked if I'd be interested in doing something with him Sunday afternoon. We originally made plans to go to the Aquarium, but time ran out, so I ended up going to his place to watch a movie. We ended up talking more than watching the movie, so I got to know a few things about him. We had a really good time, and he asked if I would want to do something more official this week sometime. I said that would be great, so it looks like I might have another date this week. I continually like what I discover about him, so this is fun.

This is the first time in a long time where I actually felt like myself. If you didn't know already, I'm a huge dork (I admit that). Beau has already seen my dorky side, and he likes it!

I made the mistake of telling him I like to write. He asked what kind of writing, and I told him about my blog. He laughed and laughed. He thinks it's the dorkiest thing he's ever heard, and he wanted me to give him my link. To which I replied, "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" I would be mortified if he ever caught wind of this column.

A Picture Story

Two weekends ago, Kari, Steve and I volunteered at Heaven Fest. Our motives were a bit selfish to volunteer, as we wanted to see Third Day without having to pay, so we signed up to help the North East India Project booth. We worked from 2-6 in the booth, and then Third Day came onto the stage around 7. Here are some pictures from our day.

Waiting for Mac to come onstage.

Mac is behind me by the bright light. I took this pic for Shan.

This is Mac, the lead singer of Third Day. He kind of looks like Jeff, and Shan has a crush on him. Jeff is aware of the crush.
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The following evening, we went to Jazz at City Park.

So Much To Learn

Before the fire alarm went off Friday afternoon, there was one section of freshman who entered into my classroom. They have study hall in my room, and another teacher is in control of the class, but I was sitting at my computer doing some work so I was half paying attention to what was going on. One boy in particular caught my attention. He was with a para, so I knew he was probably part of the special education program.

The teacher in charge of the study hall was going over some rules for study hall, and somehow they veered onto the topic of school dances. Ms. Frisbee announced to the freshman that Homecoming had been changed to Saturday, September 26. This particular boy raised his hand.

He asked, "Can freshman go to Homecoming?"

Ms. Frisbee replied, "Yes, freshman can go to all dances expect Prom."

He raised his hand again. "Can boys dance with girls at the dances?"

The other kids chuckled, and Ms. Frisbee and I did everything in our power not to laugh. She nicely replied, "Yes, boys can dance with girls at the dances."

This boy turned to his neighbor, tapped him on his shoulder and said, "Did you hear that? Boys can dance with girls at the dance! I am so excited to go!"

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I fully understand that by telling you this next story I am going to come across as a little snob!

My parents got me a Tiffany necklace for my graduation. I adore this necklace, and I've worn it every single day since receiving it. Thanks mom and dad! I love it!

I was wearing it Friday when the study hall students started filtering into my room. A young girl came up to me and said, "Hey! We have the same necklace!"

I looked at her necklace. It was a similar necklace, but hers was from Claire's and cost about $8. I smiled politely, and agreed with her, but on the inside I was thinking, "Honey, Tiffany made my necklace. Claire made your necklace. They are NOTHING alike."

I Wasn't Expecting This!

I was finally going to meet my students today. It was the first day for freshman, and I have four sections of 9th graders, so I was SOOO looking forward to introducing myself as their first high school English teacher. There was one minute (literally) until the bell ran for my students to come to my room, and the fire alarm went off.

Someone must have pulled the alarm, I thought to myself, so I put my cell phone down on my desk, thought about taking my purse with me, and walked out of my room, leaving everything behind.

I helped usher the kids out, doing my teacher duty. Once outside, I found a friend and said, "Was this planned? Did I miss the memo?"

She looked at me and said, "Umm...There is something wrong. This isn't a drill."

My heart started pounding.

The Principal's gathered the staff together and told us we needed to account for all the kids. So we started rounding kids up, calling out numbers and names. After about half an hour, we figured we had rounded everyone up. Next it was time to account for all the teachers. We gathered together by departments, and the English department discovered we were missing five people. We eventually found three (they had left for lunch), and discovered the other two had been taken away to be evaluated because they were both pregnant (no one knew one of them was pregnant-cat's out of the bag, now!)

By this time, an hour had passed and no one knew what was going on. They gathered the staff together again to let us know that there was some type of chemical or gas in the air that was causing people to get sick. One girl even passed out. Rumor has it that an AP was gasping for breath and no one knew what she was trying to say until they figured out she couldn't breathe. That's when they pulled the alarm. They took all the pregnant ladies (three of them had not told anyone they were pregnant-now everyone knows) to the hospital to check them out. Several students were decontaminated, which means they had to take off their clothes and be sprayed down with water before being taken to the hospital.

To make a very, very long story kind of short, we eventually got all the kids home around 2pm. I had to talk to three parents to ask permission if their child could walk home. Once all the kids were gone, they released the teachers. However, most of us had all our stuff still in our rooms, but they weren't letting us back into the school.

I had Shannon's number memorized, so I called her and she said she'd come pick me up. I had to wait almost an hour for her to come, but in the meantime, the fire fighters and police were trying to figure out what the heck was going on in the school. They had no idea what the smell was or where it was coming from. They said that when the vents were off, everything was OK, but when they turned them back on, even some firefighters were getting sick.

Shan finally arrived about three hours after this entire ordeal started. I was ticked off that I had to leave my purse, phone and keys inside, but they weren't allowing anyone back in the building.

Tonight, Shan and Jeff took me back to my car so I at least could drive around (I had a spare at home). There was a police officer guarding the front door, but I decided to ask him if by chance he'd let me inside to get my stuff. Just by pure luck he said the principal was on his way and once he arrived, they would let us in for five minutes to get our stuff. Talk about perfect timing. The principal showed up about five minutes after I did, so I was able to go get my stuff. Yay!

At this point, they still don't know what the odor was that was causing people to become sick (or if they do, they haven't told us). They are doing tests all weekend and airing the building out. They will notify us Sunday afternoon to let us know if school is cancelled Monday.

Click here or here to read the story.

Needless to say, I still haven't met my students yet :(

And I learned a very valuable lesson. NEVER, EVER leave my phone and purse in the room in case of an emergency or fire drill. I never knew it could be so hard to be away from my phone for seven hours. I am well loved, though. I had 13 texts from friends asking if I was OK. Some were freaking out since I wasn't answering my phone, but I am A-OK!

How's that for a first day of school? And it's officially my first day of teaching as a first year teacher. Who knew high school could be so exciting? Can anyone beat that story for their first day of teaching and/or high school? These poor freshman. Hope they show up Monday for school!

Challenge One

I found out yesterday I am going to have a deaf student. She has a mentor/tudor who will take notes of everything I say (as well as what her classmates are saying). She has hearing aids, which help her and I will have to wear a microphone (it's not really a mic as in it amplifies everything I say to the entire class-rather, it only amplifies my voice into her ear). With those two hearing devices, she will be able to function in my classroom, but there will also be some challenges associated with teaching her. It will be interesting.

I had to go to special training yesterday to learn about her and learn some techniques I can follow to help her thrive in the classroom.

I was warned to make sure I mute my mic if I have to go to the bathroom or if I have a private conversation with a student or teacher. She can hear all of that.

I'm ready for the challenge. I'll meet her tomorrow.