Recent Thoughts

Ready for the randomness?? Here goes!

I just got back from a pilates class with a real-live instructor!! Ha, I have done pilates in the past, but always to a video. This instructor was hardcore too... telling me to squeeze my butt harder or to point my feet or to straighten my back. Oooo I'm going to hurt tomorrow...

Trish and I have decided it's time to do life a bit more independent again, and we found an apartment that's cheaper than living with our families! It's really nice too... we'll each have our own bedroom and bathroom, and there's plenty of room to host Friday night events :). Photos to come once we've moved in...

We also house-sat and babysat this past weekend, and I am once-again reminded how thankful I am that I am not a mother yet. The 3 year-old woke up and cried for what seemed hours both Friday and Saturday night. Sunday morning in church was a bit rough as we were all (Trish, Lindsay 17 years, and me) nodding off a bit during the sermon... Whoops.

I am feeling much better after my bronchitis episode. Thanks to so many for the encouragment to keep resting... Yes, Mom, you were right that I needed to stay in bed.

Until next time!

4th Graders' Writing Journals

Three times a week, we have a ''10 Minute Writing Frenzy'' when the students write and write until the timer goes off. It's always interesting to see what the students come up with.

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Today I saw Lucas seek well... he is a boy bout it doesn't matter he is my friend and when he came to school I was surprised because of his eye and now is 12:56 and were at righting workship and he's writing bout he look like he is really seek and his eye is itching poor Lucas and he said that yesturday he was in a fight and somebody had the purpose to kick his eye really really really poor Lucas and today I feel bad for him bout I know that if I put a prayer request on the tree of pray request that Lucas is seek and that he feels bad Jesus will help his eye and his body to feel well and thats why I want and at recess I want to see Lucas on Monday run and jump and scream and because I say Lucas is my friend and when one friend of mine feels bad I need to help him and that is what Im going to do.

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My nicest dream was to go to Italy and visit the leaning tower of pizza and go to get inside it and visit Venecia and build my own hot dog shop right there.

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''Do you want to visit Tasty World?'' the boy asked me and of course I said yes. So we saild. When suddenly the water turned chocolat milk and all other icecream flavors. So I took a jar and got some tasty water. Then we got to land. The clouds were cotton candy and the house were made of chocolat andd yumy candys. Every thing in that world was candy and things your parents don't whant you to eat.

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Today I had fun. I got to dress up like a G.i. Joe. I wish the G.i. Joes were real. it would be cool. today I learned about how a farmer compare to God's job in chapel. I realy like pumpkin seeds. there fun to eat when there fried. infact, I wish my mom could cook some but we can't grow them hear.

Character Day

Last Friday, we could dress up as our favorite book, movie, or TV character. As Trish and I were discussing how to dress, we impulsively decided to dye her hair to fit in with her Princess Jasmine costume. She had been wanting to do dye it for a long time, so it came as a good excuse. Here we are as Princess Jasmine and Sherlock (or Shirley, if you will :)) Holmes.

4th grade also had ''visitors'' (aka my students) Rapunzel, King Peter, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Molly the American Girl Doll, Pokemon Trainer, Spiderwoman, Jessie the cowgirl, Jo from Little Women, a GI JOE, one of the three musketeers, and Violet from the Incredibles. Too much fun!!

Shout Outs

It's about time for a few shout outs here, so here goes!

Thanks to Joann Blum for another of her amazing packages. This time I ate Skittles and read two of the books she sent while laying in bed recuperating from bronchitis. Thanks, Joann, the package arrived just in time!

Thanks to Grandma Siscoe for photos from Aunt Janna's baby shower. A tiny shout out to the new little Siscoe cousin too!!

Thanks to Danette Cooper for substituting for me today. I appreciate it so much!

And of course, thanks to Mom, who talked on the phone with her bed-ridden daughter almost 2 hours today! Thanks Mom for being the entertainment committee, ha!

The Bronchial Tubes Need More Air!

Alright...

Humble confession.

I'm not always the best at self-diagnosing. My mom has known this my whole life as I used to insist that my stomach ache was from something she fed me... not gas bubbles rumbling around. Or I would be convinced my body simply wasn't hungry, that I would never need to eat again, and I would continue with my creative expeditions in my room (or whatever I was doing) until finally I crawled downstairs, exhausted from no fuel to keep my creativity flowing. Mom was always right... yes, it was gas and yes, I was hungry.

So here I am, a grown woman. I have now learned to diagnose when it's gas bubbles and when I am hungry because I forgot to eat, but new puzzles about my well-being have dawned on the horizon. For example, I am just out-of-breath after walking up the stairs because I haven't worked out in a week, right? Or maybe it's just the San José altitude affecting me again out of nowhere. And maybe the reason I can't sing at church is because I didn't eat very much so now I just don't have very much energy. And maybe the reason I'm coughing up green stuff is just from the cold I had last week... right? And I'm just so exhausted and weak because I've been trying to do too much extra stuff after school... right?

WRONG.

Last year my bronchitis diagnosis came after a neighbor told me to go to the doctor because my coughing was keeping her up at night. This year, the diagnosis came after Blanca told me we should go to the doctor because I felt feverish.

So off we went yesterday to the doctor. Yes, fever. Yes, junk in lungs. Yes, medications.

And then today I took the day off. Is it bad to admit that a day off to do nothing but sleep is actually quite heavenly?? :)

So next time I have bronchitis, I know the symptoms. Quick loss of breath. Cough with the lovely green. Pressure on my chest and upper back. Not being able to sing. And an impending emotional breakdown (right Mom? :)).

Give me a week or so and hopefully I'll be back to my usual creative nonsense.

Classroom Technology

If I were teaching in the States... I would have a telephone in my room. I might have one, if not two, computers. Maybe there would be a television bolted to the wall, or at least one on wheels for my hallway of teachers to share. I would definitely have an overhead, and if the school is researching new forms of technology, I might even have an Elmo (like an overhead, but a computer projector). From what I hear, Smartboards are also the new thing for technology-smart learning environments.

But I'm not teaching in the States. I'm teaching in a 12' by 19' classroom with an 8.5' ceiling. I have 2 whiteboards, about 15 dry-erase markers, 2 lightbulbs, 2 fans, and a huge pile of construction paper. That's about as high-tech as we get here.

We do have 5 computers in the library to use... and my new technology adventure is to take the kids on a YouTube fieldtrip. We'll be traveling to France on Friday. Anyone want to join? :)

I think I'm doing the best with what I have here. I also know that when I return to the States, I will have a serious technology culture shock when my students know more about how to work a Smartboard than I do!!

What Do You Say When...?

Any advice on how to respond to these questions?

''Miss Siscoe, what happens if a dog and a cat have a baby together?''

''Miss Siscoe, do you feel as bad as you look today?''

''Miss Siscoe, is it alright if I plan a class field trip to Europe?''