The World According to Leslie

Class is finished..... until Summer school starts. I'm just waiting on Financial Aid information to find out if I can take the Summer School classes I need. ;) If I get these two classes out of the way, take two classes in the fall (but they might both be ON campus), and take two classes in the Spring.... I can GRADUATE in May 2012!!! That means that I will have completed my Masters' Degree and will make more money! :) Of course, to make more money, I have to have a job! lol I'm getting more Substituting jobs. I'm working the 2nd 1/2 of tomorrow (from noon-4pm) and all day Wed and Thurs for ONE teacher. I'm guessing she has had an emergency and will have to leave early tomorrow and come back on Friday. I'm surprised because most teachers are working on getting ready for Finals and EOGs and EOCs. So most of them are afraid to miss school right now!! Now... let's just pray that I can get a real job in the fall, can get the money to take these two summer...

Last night, I went to the 3 hour orientation for Graduate Student Teachers. YES! It was REALLY 3 hours! First there were about 200+ people crammed in a room for about 125 people. Then they sent out the Lateral Entry Student Teachers and only those of us who have Cooperating Teachers were left in the room. There still were people sitting on the floor and standing up! TOO MANY PEOPLE! After that session, in which I took lots of notes, we split up with our University Supervisors. Mine is a lady who grew up not far from where I live now. She knows about the area, so I don't have to worry about her getting lost on her way to me for observations and stuff. However, after last night, I'm still scared, but I think I'm ready for this. I think I can do it! :) I'm excited about it! As the Little Engine That Could said, "I think I can! I think I can!" I know I can! Let's do this! Until next time........

Today I found out that I have been placed at A L Brown High School for my Student Teaching. I begin ST on Monday...Jan 11th! I'm excited... ...except for... ...I HATE A L BROWN! Ok! OK! I have never attended there, but they were our rival in high school. So, I have to be very careful not to say anything that will identify me as "the enemy". The rivalry is really bad. People have gotten cut, broken noses, and shot because of the rivalry. I'm just glad that it's not football season. (Football is the biggest rivalry! We have the "Battle for the Bell".) So, I'm going to try to be good so that my car doesn't get keyed or the tires don't get slashed. However, I can NOT under any circumstances wear their school colors. So.... I probably won't get to wear jeans EVER! lol :) I'm just excited to know where I'm going finally. UNCC placed me before Christmas then they changed my placement. So, I only found out today where I will...

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 ...

I can't believe that I haven't blogged in a week! I've been so busy with everything here that I just totally didn't take the time! I had a list of things to do for a "Not Me Monday" post, but I guess they'll have to wait until next Monday! My classes at UNCC start on Monday. This semester, I only have ONE class, and it's online! I don't have to go to campus.... except to do the interview for my Internship Application for Spring semester. I really have to talk to my advisor because in reading over the requirements, I haven't met them. And...there's no way to meet them all before January! Anyways...that's a different story for a different time! Last night, Chasity lost her first tooth. We noticed right before we left for the beach that she had two loose teeth. Both of them were in the middle of the front (on the bottom). She has only played with them a little (because we told her that the Tooth Fairy couldn't find her at the...

So.... all of my classes are finished for the semester! I'm so glad! I don't know what happened to me this semester! However... I did manage to pull all A's out of my classes again! So for all my Graduate work, I have a 4.0 GPA! For all my Undergraduate work (that counts towards my Graduate degree) I have a 3.70 GPA. I still have 2 classes that I have to factor into the Undergraduate classes...they are being transferred into UNCC from RCCC. Next semester, which starts Aug. 17th, is WAY tooooo closs, but I only I ONE class. So I should be able to stay on top of that class better than I did with 3 this semester! I am praying for a job....so if you want to pray with me.... I really need a job teaching High School English.... I need to start in August! :) I have enjoyed this year being about to go to Chasity's school when I wanted to, but I really need a job to finish out my Phase I coursework! So....let's all pray that I get one! Chasity only has a couple mor...

I know I haven't really been great at keeping up with things, but.... I just updated my other blog-- Poetry by Leslie Jackson . Check it out! Also....Weight Watchers update. Ok...so weight update! For the past 3 weeks, I have stayed at 370. So this week, I was a little busy and didn't really keep up with what I was eating (but kept up with points, if that makes sense) and I gained 8 lbs. I'm back at 378. However, I knew I was going to gain weight, so that was NOT a surprise. I just have to do better THIS week! :) School....I am completely finished (waiting on final grade) in my EDUC class at UNCC. This week is my FINAL WEEK until August! Can you feel the excitement in the air? :) UNFORTUNATELY.... between now and Wednesday, I have two books to read. I also have to check out the other books that we read since the mid-term to refresh on characters! I have that final Wednesday night! In my other online class, I have a final exam, but I have the questions alread...

So... I have two classes left (if I survive the current ones) before I am licensed to teach High School English. So.... what did I hear on the news yesterday? Our wonderfully stupid NC Governor (for whom I did NOT vote) is cutting teacher salaries. To be fair, she's cutting all state employee salaries by something like 5%. So...does that mean SHE is getting a pay cut too????? (Doubt it!) Anyways... I'm just a little aggrivated that NC teachers don't get paid anything close to what they are worth and now the stupid Governor (for whom I did NOT vote) is cutting more money out. Let's just say that I'm looking into other states as an option when I finish my Masters' degree!!! Until next time........

So this week Chasity is on Spring Break. I had mine from my classes back in March, so this is not a vacation for me. I wish schools and universities could have the schedules.... but anyways! So instead of hanging out at home with Chasity for the five school free days, I get to work at the day care to cover for my mom. She and Dad left this morning with a couple other people from our church to go to a church conference in the mountains. It only makes since that my parents go since my daddy is the minister of music! Anyways...... So today I got up at 5:30am! WOW! Haven't done that in a WHILE! So...I got to the daycare to help out at 7am! There was only ONE child there...other than mine (who has to go with me because I am working there! lol)!! Well...FINALLY about 8:30am all the kids started pouring in to the daycare! WOW again! We had 21 kids today! There were 7 kids out! (Some won't come because it is Spring Break, but the others still might show up tomorrow!) We ...

I noticed the other day that I haven't ever really said HELLO to any of my followers! As of this morning, my follower number is at 14! Does anyone else think that's totally cool? I never really started this to have other people read it.... but.... since you guys are here.... THANKS! I appreciate the comments and knowing that you are reading! One day, I will tell you all my story...from the beginning. But...for today, I'll just say THANK YOU for reading my blog and I hope to catch up on some reading after the semester is over! Speaking of the semester, I only have a few more weeks left! I'm so excited! AND...I have registered for next Fall already! I'm even happier about that! My ONLY class will be an ONLINE class. I won't even have to go to the campus...which is 30-45 minutes away (depending on traffic, weather, and stop lights, of course)!! I just wanted to give a quick shout out to you guys/gals for reading! THANKS FOLLOWERS! Until next time........

*Deep Breath In* So I have sort of gotten things back in line. I'm caught up on my homework for my UNCC online class. I am almost caught up on my homework for my RCCC online class. I am desperately trying to catch up on my homework for my UNCC face-to-face class. I have to finish the book I started (was supposed to read for last week) and I have to read the book that was assigned for this week. Then next week, I have two books assigned. I haven't looked at those yet, so I'm hoping they are short books! However, today Chasity has baseball practice, so I might get some reading done there....while she's practicing! It's kind of nice to start catching up. I have less than 8 weeks left before I am DONE for the semester! I'm excited! Until next time........

Sometimes I feel like I'm so far behind that I'll never catch up. For example: Monday night I had a 3 page paper due at 11:30pm. I finished it at 11:28pm and tried to post it to the online forum (also know as UNCC's Blackboard system). The system kept giving me an error message and I finally got it posted at 11:31pm. Now "technically" my paper is LATE! On top of that, I had 4 discussion board posts that I was supposed to do. Since I finished my paper and my child was screaming for me, I went downstairs and opted to leave those until yesterday. Yesterday I realized that I had not done all the reading required for the answers. So FIRST I had to read! Then I had to post. So....I got 3 of the 4 posts completed. I still have work to do for the 4th one...but...here's the kicker....It's WEDNESDAY already! I should have finished this a long time ago! Let's see what else I have going on.... oh yeah...my 1/2 semester class starts online with...