Working for the Weekend

Working for the weekend is a phrase I never really understood until this year.  It is not that I don’t like my job, but M-F 7:00 am to about 7:00 pm I am thinking about chemistry, and lesson plans, and omg what am I going to do to help these kids pass the dreaded TAKS?!?  My blissfully student-free Saturdays and Sundays are usually spent with the fam back in Marble.  However, once a month, my best friends all get together for GIRLS WEEKEND!    Time spent with these girls is always a blast and there is never a shortage of laughter or memories!  This Halloween weekend we are all gathering in College Station to watch the Aggies BTHO ttu.  Well….we’ll play it by ear, but it will be great to get back to Aggieland for the weekend.  Planned stops in C-Stat:  Wings, Potato Shack, Laynes, Mi Cocina, Fish Daddy’s, NG, Callaway House, Kyle Field, Rosenthal Meat Store, and Koldus.  My parents bought me a brick for graduation on campus, and I love seeing it in person.   I have a lot of restaurants on that list.  Can you tell that I miss the food? 

We are working on Ionic and Covalent Bonding in school.  I’m having a really tough time convincing my students that chemistry is fun and interesting!  How could you not be sitting at the edge of your seats in anticipation for the next lesson in Ionic and Covalent Bonding?  My kids look at me as if I’m teaching them in Japanese.  Barkley gives me the same look when I don’t put any goodies in his food bowl. Utter disgust mixed with confusion. 

I am slowly coming out of the first two phases of your first year.  The first being “idealism” and the second being “survival”.  They say that this stage of your first year is called the “disillusionment phase”.  Scary.  I am feeling better to know that most first year teachers go through this phase though.   I question myself everyday...  Am I failing them as a teacher?  Should I be doing this?  Do they respond to what I am teaching?  Is failing assignments normal?  What can I do to help them?  Why do they think this is boring?  What if they all fail the TAKS?  What can I do to be the best teacher possible?  Am I getting through to them?  Are they learning?  Crap, are they even listening?   My students are ready for a break too.  I can see that they are overworked and beginning to become burnt out.  Bad combination.  Upside?  Friday is snack day at school.  All the teachers make Halloween goodies and leave them in the workroom. 

Caramel Puffs-treat that I am making!

Golden Meatloaf news:  Barks is still refusing to eat dog food without any people food in it.  I strongly believe this is due to his GRANDPA!  My dad makes two sandwiches at lunch time.  He eats one himself and then tosses the other to the bulldog.  Barkley does not enjoy Lampasas much because he misses Jet and Meg.  He does enjoy going on walks and barking at the guineas in the neighborhood.  We have a flock of guineas here.  There is about 12 of them and they just hang out in people’s yards.  Barkley does not like it when they are in his yard.  My 30 pound guard dog. 

 Happy Halloween!! 

This is the true story of a bulldog and a teacher, picked to live together and have their lives blogged.  Find out what happens when people stop being polite, and start getting real. 
The Real World Lampasas



First post: Welcome to my life as a first year teacher!

In early August, Barks and I (loaded with a trailer full of furniture that my family graciously donated to me and my best friends, Jessica and Travis for muscle) headed to the big city: Lampasas, TX.  I found out in July that I would be teaching tenth grade chemistry.  Crazy, right?  Especially since I had to take organic chemistry twice and biochemistry four times!  Oops.  Thanks Mom and Dad for all those tuition dollars- I promise I tried REALLY hard in those classes-it was seriously the professor!   Lampasas is a small town that feels even smaller.  Everybody knows your name and your business, and is willing to tell anyone who asks!  People here are great though.  The teachers at my school have all been extremely helpful, and are incredibly kind and always willing to listen or give much needed advice.  My mom graduated from LHS a few years ago, so I have big shoes to fill in this town.  Most everyone remembers her, but everyone ALWAYS remember Gram and Pap.  They were just as popular in Lampasas as they are in Marble. 

It is now the 9^th week of school.  I can hardly believe it.  At the same time, I find myself counting down the days until Thanksgiving break.  (28 days)  However, I am FINALLY finding my groove in school and things are starting to slow down, so I wanted to keep a blog to remember my first year.  Today, I had a student leave me a note on my desk.  My students think I am the most evil teacher to walk the halls of Lampasas High School, so I was expecting a hatred filled letter telling me how I was ruining her life.  I was extremely surprised to find what this sweet girl had to say.  She wrote me a letter thanking me for my work and telling me how much she enjoyed me as a teacher.  She apologized for the “people who treated me like crap” and told me how much she was learning in my class.  Made Ms. Hoff cry-cry!   After the hell-week I had last week, I really needed some small sign that I was getting through to these little teenage turds!! 

Out of school, I am finding paying for bills, insurance, cable, internship fees, and groceries leaving my bank account EXHAUSTED.  The advice from my dad, “Court, it never stops.”  Haha Thanks DAD!  In all seriousness, a very special thanks to my family and friends for getting me to this point in my life.  Mom, Dad- couldn’t have ever done it without you.  Thanks for all you do.  Love you. 

Still new to the blogging world, so cut me some slack on my first few boring entries. 

This is the true story of a bulldog and a teacher, picked to live together and have their lives taped.  Find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real. 
The Real World Lampasas