The World According to Leslie

About 18 months ago, on June 10, 2015, I did something I didn't really want to do. I walked out of my job for the final time. I had resigned (effective on the last day of school) a few weeks earlier. I didn't want to do it. My flesh was terrified. I'm sure I've shared that here. Tony and I had discussed it and prayed about it. We felt it was the right thing to do. We knew God would supply. He has. We have not gone without anything we have needed since I resigned. When I left the classroom that day, I was leaving a classroom I had been in for 3 years. I had been teaching a total of 4 years. I had a lot of stuff. When I say a lot of stuff, I mean a LOT! I put all my files and notebooks and books in crates and boxes and tubs. It took me 2 loads with the seats laid down in my minivan. For the past 18 months, all of that stuff... all the boxes, all the crates, all the tubs.... have been sitting in my office floor. If I needed something from the office, I had to move 4...

Today, since we are giving new state tests (Common Exams/Measures of Student Learning) in NC, the English teachers at my school are all going to be in one room all day.  (That should be fun!)  We have to grade the tests.    YES!  You read that right!  The teachers are grading the state required tests!    Each test had multiple choice and a written part.  The MC is being sent off to be graded—that’s easy!  Each of the written responses is going to be read by at least TWO teachers today.  Then we will give them a grade.    Does anyone else see an issue here?  I grade differently that other teachers at MY school.  I know that teachers at other schools grade differently than we grade at our school.  So the test results (other than the MC) will be biased/skewed at each school…. or so I fear.    I guess we will see.  I hope that this works the way the state has planned, but we will s...

Today is one of those days where I just can’t seem to think straight.  The bad news is that it is only 5:20am!  Wait….maybe that’s the good news!  Maybe my brain will wake up ASAP!   I think I dreamed up a new seating chart for my classroom last night!  Even the kids in it!   I haven’t written more than about 5 sentences in my book in over a week!  I just can’t seem to get the time or the thoughts.   Yesterday, I had to work the gate for the baseball/softball/soccer games at work.  1 table—1 price—3  games!   I got there a little early and went to watch a little of the JV baseball game!  When I was leaving, I saw Mr. C!  WOW!  Mr. C is the reason I’m an English teacher! When I was in 11th grade, Mr. C told me I could do anything I wanted to.  He re-instilled my love for reading.  He helped me to overcome all the bad that I had faced in previous English classes!  HE is awesome!  Last...

Tearing Down the Walls was excellent on Friday.  I just hope I get to be a part of it next year!  I'm looking forward to it.  (I would love to do a Fall and a Spring version!)  I don't know if the Principal would allow us to have 100 kids out of class twice in a year (meaning 200 total kids!!). Today, I have a guest speaker from a local college coming to the class.  The English department chair set up times.  I chose to have the presentation on Research (since that is what we are working on in class right now!)!! I am so excited!  If everything goes as planned, I will have an easy day!  The speaker will have 1/2 the class time.  We are going to read for 1/2 the class time.  That will be it!  I'm loving it! Now.... if the time change could have just been in the other direction, I would have loved it even more!!!

When I was in 6th grade, and then again in 8th grade, I had an English teacher who called herself "Killer Miller."  At the end of the year, we would get shirts that said, "I survived Killer Miller!"  Yep!  It was bad! However, she taught me a few things that I still us, but never would have thought I'd do again! 1. When you are writing a rough draft, double space (maybe more).  That way you can make corrections "in between the lines".  I still do that, and I have my students do that too. 2. READ!  Read every day!  Never stop reading!  Ok!  So, I may not read as much as I should every day, but I do read SOMETHING every day....texts, emails, blogs, etc.  I should probably read more books, but I'm working on that! 3. If you need to write something, but you can't figure out what to write, start by writing, "I don't know what to write" repeatedly.  If you are writing for 5 minutes, you may fill up 1/2 a page or more with this, ...

So yesterday, 1/2/13, was my 400th post!  I really should keep up with things like that!  Of course, I am hoping that I will almost double (or really double) the number of posts I had (total) by the end of 2013.  Some days, I just feel like there is nothing to write.  Some days I just don't have time to write.  Some days, I feel like if I write what I want to, you will not want to read it.  Anyways.... This year, since we moved, I moved the Princess to a new school.  (I never should have done that!)  However, I did.  We really aren't impressed with the school.  But, it's the district we live in.  So, I guess she will be there ONE more year....next year for 5th grade.  Then she will go to middle school.  (Her middle school has a new principal this year, and I really like her.  I'm hoping she will stick around until Chasity gets there...and is finished there.) The latest problem is that my munchkin has ear inf...

So today, I officially taught my first class. It went really well. Unfortunately, I did what I was told! Wait! Did I say unfortunately? YES! I listened to my University Supervisor (US) and my Cooperating Teacher (CT)! I'm a good student! So what did they tell me? They said plan more than you'll have time for.... so.... I did! I had WAY more in the plan for today than what we actually accomplished. However, Monday is not that far away. I can pick up with the end of today's lesson and carry on from there. Overall impressions? I handled myself really well! :) I think I might be able to do this "teaching thing" after all! Until next time........

Nothing. That's what I have been coming up with. I can't come up with anything to write. So I'm writing about my nothing. When I was in 6th and 8th grade my English teacher (I had the same teacher both years) had us to write stuff all the time. She would tell us that if we were writing and could not come up with anything to write, we should write "I can't think of anything to write" until we thought of something else to write. As funny as that sounds, it actually works. So, not only have I written something today (not that you really wanted to know it), I have thought about something I need to tell my students in the future! (I might even use it in Student Teaching in the Spring.) Until next time........

You know how the military goes above and beyond the call of duty? You know, if you're a teacher, that you really want the students to go "above and beyond" so they gain a better understanding. Well, because my mind is all over the place this semester (and especially the past 2 months), I continue to read my assignments incorrectly. For example, this week, the last week of the semester, we have a final reflection due about the UNIT we just wrote for our current/future classroom. We also had some readings to do about "new literacies". Under the reading assignments, it said, "REFLECTION" and proceeded to give me things to "THINK" about. Well, being the absolutely confused student that I am right now, I just went "above and beyond". I wrote a 3-page reflection just on the readings. lol NOW... I'm getting ready to do my FINAL assignment for the course. I start reading the directions and in the reflection I'm going to write ...

Ever have one of those days where you feel like you're rounding third to get home? Today is one of those days for me. I feel like I'm about to slide into home plate. Yesterday, I receieved an email from my English professor. She said that all my work was due today. Obviously, I had NO IDEA seeing as though the end of the semester is still a week away. Then today, she sends out an email telling the whole class that everything is due no later than tomorrow so that she can get things graded and see if we are missing anything. OMG! I only got 4 hours of sleep last night because I was trying to get all my stuff written up. So, today, while I was in the Emergency Room with my Grandmother (she has a bad UTI and they are keeping her) me and my computer worked on another assignment. Now, I only have TWO to finish! Since I started with FOUR at the beginning of the day, I definitely feel like I'm rounding third. I might not slide, but I might fall over from exhaustion when I re...

Thanksgiving was wonderful. My siblings and our families all got together at my sister's house. Lisa and Joe had just come in the day before from their Cruise to Mexico, so they were a little tired, but they still cooked a great turkey! Donnie and I cooked/brough the other stuff to go with it! Mom and Dad came home on Saturday! Tony, Lisa, Joe, Chasity, and I all went to their house for pizza Saturday night! We stayed there WAY too late! lol Sunday, Dad had to run the sound at church because Joe was sick! :( BUT.... it was great! That's the first time Dad has done that since his wreck! I'm glad he's feeling some better. However, he's very tired from doing that yesterday. Today, however, is starting off a little rough. My mother has already called 3 times for me to bring the copy of the daycare bank deposit to the daycare. (I did!) Chasity's school called to tell me that I needed to come see some boxes that were in the work room. (I did! I told them...

You know how when you eat ice cream too fast your brain "freezes"? Well, I have brain freeze (in a manner of speaking) today, and I haven't been eating ice cream. :( I have to write 5 lesson plans for my online English class at UNCC. I am having problems doing that. As you can tell from my post, I am not having "writer's block". I can write. I just can't plan. So is that "planner's block"? I can only hope that I get them done soon. I have to email them in by 5pm today! :( WOW! Usually I can work under pressure. Today not even THAT is helping me. Here I go to plan away..... Until next time........

Ever since school started on August 25, 2008, my friends/family/random people that I talk to have been asking me how I get everything done. For those of you who do not know, Aug. 25, 2008, is the date that Chasity started Kindergarten and I started Graduate School. Other than School and normal family stuff (laundry, dishes, meals, etc.) I am also a member of the PTO board at Chasity's school. I am her Girl Scout Troop leader. I am on the Service Unit (area) Team for Girl Scouts. I am on the Praise and Worship team at church. Chasity has dance. In the Spring, if she wants to again, Chasity has baseball. When I tell people everything we do, their first question is "How do you get it all done?". My answer is always simple.... CALENDARS! lol I have a calendar that I carry with me (datebook--it's cute too!). I have one that goes on my desk here at the house. The desk one is small/thin enough that I can throw it in a notebook or backpack to add stuff to when I...

According to my Dashboard, I have 16 followers currently! (Yippee!!) So now I need your help! I have to create a blog (using Blogger/Blogspot) for my English Class. YES! It's an assignment! I'm trying to come up with a catchy name, but everything I come up with is taken. I've tried: englishenthusiast literallyliterate loveoflanguage so PLEASE help me! I'll be forever grateful! Thank you so much! Until next time........

I'm working on it! I'm getting there! Nothing is going to stop me now! lol (How many cliches do I really need to get me finished with this semester?) So I have 4 papers, a 300-word essay, and 4 responses to other students' 300-word essays online that I have to do before midnight on Saturday night! I WILL have it finished and I WILL not ever wait this long again! However, I do know what I'm writing for 2 of the 4 papers....and they are only 2-pages each, so it's not really all that much! lol However, I still have 2 answers for the final exam that I can NOT find. So tomorrow I have to go back through all that to find them! Wonder if I can do that at the ball game tomorrow??? I am waking up in about 7 hours, so I guess I need to get to bed! I will post as the need to procrastinate hits me, but hopefully NOT too hard!!!! Until next time........