Busy, Busy, Busy!

Ohmygoodness, time has flown by and I have been so busy that I have not had a chance to post. I have to update you all on Albany, the 1st week of school, CAP weekend, and now the 2nd week of school! I can't believe 2 weeks of school are over already. Here's what's been happening in my life...

August 31 - September 3, 2012

So there is this A-Frame house in Albany, NY that the Christian Brothers own, and all of the LVs from DENA (this year, the 3 sites in NY and us RI girls) went there for Labor Day weekend!! In case you don't know why it's called the A-Frame (I didn't) it's cuz the shape of the house is called an A-frame hah. Here is a photo of the house:

The whole weekend was spent chillin out, maxing, relaxing all cool =p I LOVED spending time with the other LVs and just relaxing before school started!

Things that made me happy this weekend:

• seeing the sign entering New York and it not being good enough to stop and take a picture (lol)


• going to the A-frame


• seeing all of the DENA LVs


• bonfires


• relaxing


• "the Blonde room"


• Jake peeing outside on a tree even though we had a bathroom in the house


• the canoe flipping over (not when I was in it - that would NOT have made me happy)


• Brother Ed's comments


• singing "I'll make a man out of you" from Mulan


• cheesy garlic bread (courtesy of Steph)


• lots of laughs


• road trip adventures

"A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything." - Irish proverb

September 4, 2012

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

It was a weird first day because we started on a Tuesday and I only have 6th grade math on the Tuesday schedule, so I only had to worry about one class! But I was able to get a lot of other stuff done that I needed to so it was good =)

Things that made me happy today:

• Starting school


• Math with the 6th graders


• text from Derek


• coming home to flowers that my family sent

"Those who dare to teach must never cease to learn." - John Cotton Dana

Pics of the rules and rewards charts in the science room...

September 5, 2012

Here is what felt like the official first day since I had all my classes!

Things that made me happy today:

• First day of 7th and 8th grade Science


• the "Just One Word" ice-breaker (kids are hilarious)


• getting a pretty awesome mix CD from Sean in the mail


• Facebook "Getting to Know You" sheets. Here is what they looked like:

And here are some funny responses I got...

And here are some sweet ones =)

 

They are priceless <3

 



"I hope that I realize that a gift of love and peace, of friends and families, of laughter and tears is a gift far greater than I could have ever asked for or ever dreamed of. And I hope I remember to say a simple thank you." - Ashley Merryman

September 6, 2012

Things that made me happy today:

• Students already telling me they wanted me to come back next year


• student saying he liked science


• St. Sebastian's school coming to donate school supplies and spend time with the San Miguel men


• Angela's bday dinner! I cooked fajitas and rice and everybody liked it! (I was nervous.) ALSO, I baked a CAKE FROM SCRATCH!! Now, I don't like cake, but this one was absolutely delicious. It was a Reese's cake... chocolate cake with frosting made with peanut butter and sprinkled with the candy. YUM!

"When you're tempted to lose patience with someone, think how patient God has been with you all the time."

September 7, 2012

Things that made me happy today:

• I sang an "Order of Operations" rap/song with my 6th graders... they LOVED it! They were calling me "Kanye Myrtle" and told me I needed to get a grill. Lyrics? (to the tune of "Umbrella" by Rihanna... lyrics of the chorus credited to someone named Ron Clark)




• I got a little song for you to learn... then all confusion will be gone, and A's you'll earn. You know me... Miss Myrtle at the San Miguel School come to save the day... HEY! We're learning PEMDAS, so come on, get ready, math students, where you at?! When we begin, we begin together // Parenthesis first, now please be clever // Exponents come right next in line // Then Multiply and Divide at the same time // Now Subtraction and Addition // Walk it out with computation // It's the Order of Operations // It's the Order of Operations, ations, ations, eh, eh, eh // Order of Operations, ations, ations, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh!


• One of the staff members telling me I'm going to be a great teacher and that I "should have seen their faces" when I was rapping/singing


• One of the students hugging me good-bye

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds." Matthew 5: 14-16

September 7-9, 2012

CAP Weekend! For those of you non-LVs, this is the "Community Annual Planning" weekend that happens in all Christian Brothers' communities. All those who will be living in the community talk about the rules and schedules and blah. SO the Pawtucket Palace residents went down to Narragansett, RI to have our weekend. It was good =)

The backyard of Noble House:

Things that made me happy this weekend:

• "The great poop mystery" (don't ask... hahahah)


• slumber party! (us 3 girls stayed in 1 room)


• the ocean view

• watching the movie 50/50 as a community


• COOKIES!


• coming home to a care package my mom sent =]


• Brother Ed calling to me to see how I was doing

"The only disability in life is a bad attitude." - Scott Hamilton

September 10, 2012


Things that made me happy today:

• One of my 8th graders saying "I like these activities"


• A student saying "heeeeell yeah!" when he got an answer right (I had to pretend I didn't hear it)


• Golf starting! (I am one of the "coaches" of the Golf team... aka I just have to be there and help supervise because I know absolutely nothing about golf.) Here's a lovely picture of me in my shnazzy golf polo!


• recording a dialogue with Angela for one of her friends who teaches ESL


• getting a new teacher bag!

"Just keep swimming..." - Finding Nemo
 
 
 
 
September 11, 2012
 
Things that made me happy today:

• September 11th ceremony in the garden at school
• One of my 8th graders saying science is the most fun class
• My mentor telling me I'm doing a good job
• Skyping with Kristen!!

"Every day may not be good... but there's something good in every day."
 
September 12, 2012
 
Things that made me happy today:

• doing the "Cell Rap" for the 8th graders (In case your interested, here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zafJKbMPA8) I showed the video but rapped myself because I had to change "6th graders" to "8th graders"... plus I'm sure they appreciated my voice more than this one. =p and they will now never forget that cells cells are made of organelles!
• Earlier in the day the 8th graders had asked me if we were doing something fun in science. I told them I think so, but we'll see how you feel about it. After my rap when they were working, one of them said, "It WAS fun!" and then later ended up hugging me good-bye
• community dinner talk (we are hilarious)

"Nothing GREAT was ever achieved without enthusiasm." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

September 13, 2012

Things that made me happy today:

• This conversation... 8th grade student: "Science is the most fun! All of our other classes are boring." (other students say things to agree to this) Me: "Oh no, I'm sorry. I'm glad you like my class though." Student: "Yeah, it's the best one." Me: "Well, any class that I would teach you would be the best class. ... Just kidding!" Student: "THAT'S TRUE THOUGH!" =D
• Getting new running shoes finally!!!! (reminder... donate, donate, donate! https://lasallianvolunteers.myetap.org/fundraiser/lvsrun/individual.do?participationRef=3889.0.315784262)
• Glee season premeire!

"Having somebody help you doesn't mean that you fail, it just means that you're not in it alone."

September 14, 2012

Things that made me happy today:

• Singing the "Order of Operations" song at assembly
• starting the cell models in 8th grade with Jello and candy
• one of the 7th graders farting and then raising his hand to apologize for it (I probably shouldn't have found this funny, but I couldn't help it.)
• one of the 6th graders: (talking to the principal about me) "Can you keep her?!"
• going to Chili's for dinner with the community

So when I got home from school yesterday after finishing my second week of school, I was thinking about how much I love San Miguel, my students, Rhode Island, being an LV... everything. Don't get me wrong, of course I miss home and all of my family and friends, but I'm happy here. Then I was thinking back to December when I was just beginning to fill out my LV application. I was having a conversation with one of my best friends, Christopher Hueg, who was halfway through his first year as an LV and was definitely applying for a second year. We were talking about placements and he said something to the effect of, "There's going to be an opening at a middle school in Rhode Island..." And I distinctly remember making a face and saying something like, "I don't want to go to Rhode Island. Plus, I don't want to be in a middle school." Five months later, after turning in my application, interviewing, and a lot of waiting, I got a call telling me they wanted me at the San Miguel School in Providence, Rhode Island. A few weeks later, I was on a plane coming to visit. And three months after that, I was officially here and starting work. It is funny how things don't always go how you planned, isn't it?

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I've ended up where I needed to be." - Douglas Adams

♥♥♥