I went shopping...

So since I didn't hear back about the teaching position I interviewed for before the holiday, I decided yesterday to do a little retail therapy. It all started with Bonus time at Clinique at Lord and Taylor. And I must confess... I had never been to a L&T before. I feel in love instantly. I love their shoe department and I found the Clinique counter to be friendly and extremely helpful! I had to buy more mild facial cleanser and Take The Day Off makeup remover, which put me over the minimum for the Bonus. Here is my review:

Lipstick (Honeynut): A flattering neutral color; Could work as an emergency lipcolor or a banging around the house color

Repairwear: Not sure yet; I will try it out and get back to you

Rinse-Off Foaming Cleanser: Looks good; Says to follow with Clinique Three Step line so why use this in the first place????

Fresh Bloom All Over Colour in Peony: Again, not sure; Need a brush for it so I'll let you know

I think there was more, but that's all I can remember right now. The bags are cute, but remind me of the Bonus bags from the Fall? The green and white one. Oh well, they are great for travel so I'll throw another one with my luggage.

After L&T, I went for a quick walk in the mall (since I've become a couch potatoe as of late and feel gross about it) and saw my mecca, J.Crew. They were having a huge sale so I wanted to stop in really quickly (telling myself that I didn't need anything and to make it quick). I walked out with a beautiful green halter dress, a green and pink polo, and a cute pair of green and pink flip flops for a grand total of 33.00!!!! Isn't that amazing!!! Everything was on sale, plus an extra 25% off that they were offering, plus the 10% student id discount. It was amazing.

My digital camera is dead so I won't be able to post pictures of the clothes but I promise to get them up.

That's pretty much it. I've been spending my days applying to teaching jobs and reading chick lit (I love Emily Giffin so I spent this week re-reading all her books, including the new one, "Love the One You're With") and now I'm starting a historical fiction novel called "The Lost Constitution" by William Martin. First, I love historical fiction (I'm a huge dork, I know) and it has to do with New England so that combination is a deadly one. I bought it for the husband since this is the first book in ages he has shown interest in but he is taking too long so I'm stealing it ;-)

Anyways, hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday. I promise to update soon, as long as something exciting happens!

Stole this!

My ex... is my ex for a reason.

Maybe I should... do the dishes :-)

I love... new school supplies and books each Fall.

People would say... I need more confidence.

I don't understand...a lot. I'm always asking questions or clarifying.

When I wake up in the morning... I'm very grumpy and need a few seconds to get going.

I lost... my favorite pairs of earrings and its very sad. St. Anthony, please help!

Life is full of... surprises.

My past is something... I wish I could re-live so I could change a lot of things.

I get annoyed when... people don't follow the rules.

Parties are... stressful. All those people I don't know!!!

I wish... I had my first teaching job already!

Dogs... are the best. I love my bulldog.

Cats... are mean!

Tomorrow... I'm going to my mom's and we have dinner and a movie at the Seeds.

I have a low tolerance for... stupid drivers.

If I had a million dollars... I'd buy a house and travel abroad :-)

I'm totally terrified of... my interview Tuesday!

Feel free to STEAL for your posting pleasure!

Stupid rain

Since its so crappy out and there isn't much to do, I figured I would write an update. This week has been really slow on the teaching applications so I've been entertaining myself in other ways. I've been reading chick lit all week and took some time to go shopping yesterday. I bought this cute dress from Banana for my upcoming wedding this weekend (it looks better on me than in this picture):

I also picked up a pair of cute shorts (seersucker) for Lake George next weekend:

Also, I went golfing last weekend with Dougie and my MIL to Green Meadow. It was only my second time using the new clubs and my first time at this course, but it went really well. My chips were solid and my putting has improved a bit. Now I need to get used to my irons off the tee and in the fairway. I find I'm pushing to the right so I need to work on that before our trip to Queensbury CC at when we are on vaca.

Anyway, just wanted everyone to know I'm still alive and if any interesting happens, I'll let you know!

I made it!!!!!

Just in case people were wondering, I did survive student teaching. I actually came out feeling pretty good, although it was so much work and I cried almost every night. And I even miss it, which is crazy to think.

Now that school is out and I've graduated from the teaching program, I'm focusing on finding a job. So far its been a tough go. I heard from two schools but they are on the edge of my commuting area so I turned those opportunities down. I expanded my search to private schools, including Catholic high schools, so we'll see how that works. I'm trying to stay positive, but it is so hard to when some of my classmates already have positions. I'm happy for them, but at the same time, I feel jealous and bitter. I did so well academically that I figured I would have a job by now. Instead I've applied to 24 schools and I still haven't interviewed anywhere.

Dougie has been great about this whole thing. He wants me to focus on me right now and lean on my faith, which I pretty much put on the back burner this whole year. So today I went to the Shrine in Lowell for confession and Mass and did feel better. And I just need to remember to trust in the Lord and that whatever His will is, it will work out for the best.

I've been spending most days reading (for fun!!!) and spending time with Rosie, who I missed so much when I was in school. It is nice to return to everyday life.. taking care of the house and making dinner.

Anyway, its a lame update, but I figured some people would want to know I'm still here and that I made it. Thanks for checking in!

Almost half way...

So everyone... I'm such a bad blogger. I wish I could say its just out of sheer laziness, but its because student teaching has been kicking my butt. I've never experienced something so challenging, so time consuming, and yet so rewarding.

I've taken over my two classes, English 10 and Critical Writing. In English 10, we have about three weeks left of our poetry unit where I've been teaching students how to explicate poetry by using the TYPCASTT method. It's an easier way to go through a poem to mark tone, shifts, theme, connotation, and analyze the title. It has been a challenging unit because each student is required to TYPCASTT a poem and present it to the class. Some students choose not to do it or they are only looking at the literal level so they are having a hard time finding theme. And since this is in preparation for the MCAS test, I'm a little nervous that they won't do well.

In my Critical Writing class, I finished the teacher's unit on The Merchant of Venice this past Monday and started a unit on Brave New World which I developed myself. I used the same routine as my SP (supervising teacher) but created my own pace, my own study and discussion questions, and sprinkled in a few activities that go along with the text.

The next class I take over is Lit and Film at the end of March. I'll be starting the unit on The Color Purple so that should be fun.

The most challenging part of this whole semester for me was taking over the correcting from the teachers since they have more experience correcting and know what they are doing. But as the weeks pass, I've become more comfortable with correcting vocabulary, essays, and other assignments. Another issue I've been dealing with is classroom management. One class in particular hasn't liked the idea of me taking over and there seems to be an issue each week. This past week I had two girls playing sudoku during a student's presentation and I had to ask them three times to put it away. Looking back at the situation, I should have given them detention. Instead I had them stay after class and talked to them about their behavior. My SP's goal is for me to give a detention next week to show the class that I'm serious about holding them accountable. We'll see what happens.

Anyway, that's it for right now. I've started applying for jobs, but it will be a while before I hear about interviews. Keep your fingers crossed!

First, please take a look at this blog I came across about readers:

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/book_whisperer/2008/01/have_you_praised_a_reader_toda.html

Second, today I ventured in a giant teacher store and I had a blast. It's called Teacher's Pet and its located on the Lawrence/ North Andover line and I've wanted to go there since I was a little girl. It was a bit overwhelming since its a huge place (I'm talking bigger than Dave and our apartment combined twice). I picked up a few literature guides for Macbeth and Animal Farm since I'll be teaching them this semester and had them place an order for Brave New World. These guides are going to be very helpful this semester. They include vocabulary, discussion questions, activities, paper topics, quizzes and/or tests, and anything else you might need.

Anyway, diving into Merchant of Venice. I can't believe I have to finish teaching it next week!!!!

Life Memoir in Six Words

I originally heard about this on NPR but was reminded of it by one of the new blogs I've been reading: Classical Bookworm (see links on the right hand side).

The point is to write, in six words, your biography and an image that goes along with it. While mine has more to do with the present, I think those who really know me understand how this has to do with my past and future:

Student teacher, so much to learn.

Feel free to post your six word memoir in your blog or if you don't have a blog (Doug), post yours in the comment box!