Friday, February 28, 2014

Corporal Punishment

In North Carolina, teachers are allowed to use corporal punishment on their students. Parents have to sign off on it first. Naturally teachers are not allowed to whip the child. They can hit their bottom if they act up. A teacher told me I should do that if parents signed off in the beginning of the year. I do not feel comfortable doing that even with parent permission. I could still smell a lawsuit coming even if I had proof that the parent was alright with it. I don't want to be known as the teacher who beats his kids. Although that could be a title for my next book! Not really. Anyway, I don't judge people who use corporal punishment in their classrooms. I won't be one of those people.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Panic Attack

About an hour and a half ago, I almost had a really bad panic attack. I was editing my book. I have had the document open on my computer for a long time. It's easier to keep it open rather than to open it up each time I come back to editing it. After each chapter that I make edits, I save it. When I went to do it this time, it didn't work. It said something about it being two different versions of Word. I had to change a setting. I changed the setting and the entire formatting of my book went off. That means I would have had to respace everything I had already spaced. It would have taken forever. I almost freaked out. Then I realized that I only made a few small changes to one chapter. If I closed the document without saving it, and opened it again, it would be fine. I did that, and it still wasn't saving right. I decided to turn off my computer and try again after I ate dinner. I did that, and now the document saves without any issues. I'm absolutely thrilled that it is working properly again. Months of work almost went down the drain and my laptop almost went out the window. I'm so close to being done. I don't need any computer or document issues! I am going to read my book through one more time, then publish it! So close!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

No Voice

I tried something today. I pretended to have no voice during school. I spent the entire morning and a little bit of the afternoon whispering to my kids. The goal in doing that was to get them to be quiet so that could hear me. It kind of worked for a little while. Since they are so young, they believed I had no voice. I even kept the act up when a teacher would come in the room and ask me something. In the afternoon, I had to stop. They needed to hear my real voice yell at them. It was hard to whisper all morning. I was whispering really loudly when I was angry at them. Another teacher saw me standing on a chair talking to the kids today and asked if he should be scared. I told him no. I have been trying my hardest to come up with unique ways to get my kids to focus. Many seem to work for all of 5 minutes. Then they start talking to one another. I am determined to get my students to pay attention to me.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Fight

Each day at work, I fight. I fight to stay awake. I fight to stay calm. I fight to keep my students focused. I fight to get them to learn something. I fight to stay positive. I lose many fights each day. I do stay awake. I never stay calm. My students don't know how to top talking when I tell them to. I never stay positive. I feel useless. I feel like I haven't taught my kids a thing. The struggle will continue the rest of the school year. I have no choice but to keep fighting and attempting to teach my first graders something.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Meals for Under $4

As we all know, food is expensive. Yes, even in North Carolina, food costs a lot of money. The prices of meat make my eyes pop out of my head. I'm still pretty good at keeping my entire dinner under $4. I typically buy packages of meat with three or four pieces in them. It might cost more per pound, but I get two meals out of it. I bought 4 steaks the other day for $4 and change. I'm getting two meals out of it. I made a sweet potato and a side veggie yesterday with my two small steaks. That meal was just under $4. My problem is that I buy a lot of snacks that are way more than $4. If I stopped doing that, I'd probably be saving a lot of money. I also don't get fast food or take out too often. I try to limit myself to less than once per week for take out. That definitely adds up quick. Saving money is the name of the game.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Winter Olympics

Tonight is the end of the Winter Olympics. I didn't really watch too much of them this year. I watched the US hockey game against Russia and against Slovenia. I didn't get to see the semi finals because I was at work. I also watched a little bit of some speed skating. I turned on the Olympics randomly. I much prefer the Summer Olympics than the Winter Olympics. Winter just doesn't catch my attention. I'm just excited that Saturday is March becuase then Madness will begin!

Saturday, February 22, 2014

My 1st UNC Game

Last week, I was trying to get a ticket for the Pitt at UNC game last Saturday. I had many opportunities but tried to hold out for a cheaper ticket on Stubhub. I didn't get one. It's hard to get a ticket for one person. They typically sell 2 or 4 tickets at a time. Last night, I had an opportunity to get a ticket but waited for cheaper. They never came. I ended up paying $2 more than I did for the Billy Joel concert. However, I sat at center court! Of course I was upper deck, but only row G. The seat was great. The arena was loud. I had an outstanding time even though UNC won by 33 points. It was a much better atmosphere than a Siena game. Siena is my former local college basketball team that I still root for. I hope to go back to another game next season.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Bad Teacher

I just finished watching the movie Bad Teacher. I also saw it in theaters when it came out in June 2011. My book, The Teacher That Didn't Teach came out a month later. I promise you I did not copy my book off of the movie. It's fairly similar. In the movie, Cameron Diaz is the bad teacher in a middle school. She shows movies all day. About halfway through the year, she learns that if her classes get the highest scores on the state tests, she will get a large money bonus. She started teaching and her class got the best scores. Of course there are a few facts that are different but my book and the movie are eerily similar. I remember back in 2011 seeing the previews for the movie and immediately thinking that it was similar to my book. Once I hit it big, I hope no one accuses me of stealing the idea! I think Bad Teacher got the idea from me. Haha, right!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Duke vs. UNC

Duke vs. UNC is the biggest rivalry in men's college basketball. I've always been a fan of North Carolina, not just because I live here now. This game was supposed to take place last Wednesday at 9. I was so excited for it because I knew I didn't have school the next due to snow. I knew I could stay up for it and not worry about what time I had to get up the next day. It was then postponed because of the dangerous snowy conditions in Raleigh. This game will take place at 9 tonight, in 25 minutes. Now I have to stay up way past my bedtime to watch it. I hope it will be worth it with a UNC victory!

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Throw Up

I know I've written about this before. I am not good when it comes to seeing people puke. I don't like puking (who does?) and I can't stand seeing people puke. I need to get used to it because a lot of kids in this school throw up. I don't know why. Yesterday, I had a student tell me she doesn't feel good. Then I see her at the garbage can and I see what's coming out. I turn around and tell her to take the garbage can outside and finish that up. Today, a kid who lies a lot told me he doesn't feel good. Neither the aide nor I believed him. His grandma didn't believe him this morning either. He proved us wrong. I stepped out of the room to walk another kid to the bathroom. On my walk back, I see the kid who isn't feeling good coming towards the bathroom. He didn't make it. He threw up all over the floor. I had to dump some powder on it. Gross! Kids get sick. I need to man up and get used to it!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

iPad

I've always wanted an iPad just because I thought it would be cool to have. I never wanted to buy one because they are very expensive and I don't see myself using it all of the time. I just got one the other day from work. I was supposed to get two when I started: one for me and one for student use. They were stolen before I started so they only got me one. I was excited to get it. The thrill of getting it is over with though. For me, it's just a larger iPhone. I don't do anything differently with the iPad than I do with my iPhone. I don't see me using it nonstop like everyone else does. I'm pretty sure that when I'm out of this district and return my iPad, I won't be sad and I won't be buying my own. I'm not saying I hate the iPad. I'm just saying I have no need or desire for it.

Monday, February 17, 2014

My Fault!

A couple of weeks ago, I got a bill from the electric company. Once I had money in my bank account, I went to the electric company's website and put in my routing and bank account number and paid the bill. A few days later, I checked my bank account and the money hadn't come out yet. I found it strange, but didn't think anything of it. Last Monday, I got an email from my electric company saying that the payment was returned from my bank, meaning it didn't go through. I called my bank and they said it should have worked, but that I should pay for it through the bank's website. I did and that worked. I then got a letter in the mail Saturday from the electric company saying that they are charging me $5 since the money didn't go through the first time. I called the company today and they said there was nothing they could do about the fee. I called the bank and they said there was nothing they could do about the fee. The lady from the bank called my electric company so they could figure out what happened. The electric lady asked me to read my bank account number and I did. The bank lady stopped me and said that I had it wrong. I was missing a number. I wrote down the wrong number on my account book! I looked on my banks website and the correct number was listed. I didn't even think that that was the problem. I thought that the bank messed something up. I was so apologetic and embarrassed because I accused the bank of doing something wrong when in fact it was my stupidity. I grudgingly paid the $5 fee. I'm lucky it wasn't more. The water company rejected my pay too and now I know why. I hope they don't charge me with an extra fee. If they do, I will pay that too since it was my fault. At least I am man enough to admit to my mistakes. A lot of people don't admit when they are wrong. I need to pay closer attention to my bank account numbers next time! I gave my mom the wrong number for taxes. Now instead of them giving me direct deposit soon, I will have to wait for a check in the mail in a month or two. That's what I get for not writing down the correct account number...

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Extreme Cheapskates

I was bored and watching TV today. I know, you're shocked that I was bored on my 6th day off in a row. I am actually excited to get back to work tomorrow, well, sort of. Anyway, I came across the show Extreme Cheapskates. The show was so ridiculous that I couldn't turn it off. No one who knows me can call me cheap after they watch this show. They showed one couple who shower together and only shower for two minutes to save water. That's not all, the guy uses the suds of his girlfriends shampoo to wash his hair. Weird, right? It gets worse... They use the same toothbrush so that they don't have to buy another toothbrush. They use the same piece of dental floss! They keep a tally chart of how many times they each flush the toilet. Whoever flushes the most, has to pay a little bit more for the water bill. They went to a funeral home and asked for one casket and that whoever dies second will just go in the same casket as the other person. They already prepaid for the funeral to save money. I watched another episode where this family used road kill for fur to make presents and even had rabbit soup with the roadkill. People are nuts! All of the above stuff is absolutely disgusting! I don't care how poor I am, I will never ever, ever do anything that I saw on that show!

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Alone Again

I just looked back at my post I wrote about a month ago called "Alone". I said that I see a lot of TV watching in my future when I live on my own. I was right. I've done pretty much nothing but watch TV since Monday night since I have had 4 snow days. Today has been tough for me. I have felt pretty lonely. Being holed up in my apartment since Monday night minus a few trips out yesterday and today is tough. I have no interaction with anyone besides text messages. I am actually excited to get back to work Monday just so that I can interact with people. I have a feeling I'm going to struggle next Tuesday-Friday because that's when I was supposed to be going to Las Vegas. Instead, I made the adult decision to take a job. I know Vegas will be there when I'm ready. At the rate I keep spending my money, I will never have enough to go to Vegas.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Milk and Bread

I finally got out of my apartment today. I'm pretty sure we could have had school today. It was sunny and the roads were clear. At least the main roads were clear. I don't know about the side roads. The snow is literally pretty much all melted. The south is so strange! It's going to be 70 on Tuesday and 77 on Wednesday! Anyway, I got out and went to the gym and then went to Target to get a few things. I didn't need bread or milk. I happened to be in that aisle anyway and there were only a few gallons of milk and a little bit of bread left. You always hear that whenever there's a storm you should get milk and bread. I never really thought about it. It was hilarious to actually see hardly any milk and bread after the big storm. I'm glad I wasn't in a desperate need for either!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Cabin Fever

Tomorrow will be my 4th snow day in a row. I had 3 snow days and a half day teacher work day at the end of January. Now I have 4 snow days in a row. I have worked with the kids 9 days and had 8 school days without them. Unreal. I am definitely getting cabin fever. I haven't gone anywhere since Tuesday morning. I didn't leave my apartment yesterday. I went outside today to clean off my car and that was it. Tomorrow, I'm going to drive around just to get out. I have a few things to buy because I haven't spent enough money yet. I hope I don't end up buying a bunch of things I don't need like I typically do. I just need to get out of my apartment to change up the scenery!

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

What's Worse?

Tomorrow will be our 7th snow day in 14 school days. Unreal. They already came up with makeup dates for the first three days. We will have to have longer school days by 10 minutes and they are adding three days to the end of the school year. They talked about having school on Saturdays to make up time. We also have school on Presidents' Day instead of a teacher work day like it was originally going to be. That's not so bad. Having school on a Saturday would be awful. Adding school to the end of the year stinks too. I guess it's not so bad since as of now, we are still getting out earlier than I would have in New York. I don't know if they plan on making up the three days we have had off this week. I am also predicting no school for the kids Friday but a teacher work day for us. That's exactly what we had two weeks ago when it snowed 3 inches. This storm has been worse though. We have had about 6 inches of snow and a lot of ice. I didn't want to bring the snow with me from New York!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Saving Resources

Now that I live on my own, I am very conscious that I have to pay for everything. Everyone says that everything is cheaper in North Carolina. That is wrong! My rent and gas for the car are cheaper. Food is about the same and there's a tax on it that New York doesn't have. I won't even begin to complain about how much I paid yesterday to get my car registered in North Carolina, a title, and license plates. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I pay very close attention to the lights being on, water I use, and everything in between. It adds up very quickly. I use a lot of electricity during all of these snow days I have since there really isn't much more I can do. I kept my heat on at 60° for the longest time and didn't touch it to save money. I had to change that today since I was freezing even with a hoodie on. You really don't realize how much it's going to cost to live on your own until you actually live on your own. All I can say is that thank God I had some money saved up for this. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do it.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Billy Joel Times 3

Yesterday was my third time seeing Billy Joel perform. I would go see him every single day if given the opportunity. He's almost 65 years old, but he can still put on a show! He performed for almost 2 hours. I didn't get home until 12:45 this morning. I am insanely tired but it was absolutely worth it. He played many of my favorite songs. However, since he has so many amazing songs, he left out many of my favorite songs. One notable song he didn't sing was "New York State of Mind". I'm guessing he doesn't sing that song when he isn't performing in New York. I wonder why? He normally finishes with Piano Man. Last night, his last song before his encore was Piano Man. His final song of the night was Only the Good Die Young. He played 22 songs! There were a few songs I didn't recognize and a few that were not his most popular hits. I told one of the workers today that I went to see Billy Joel and she had no idea who he was until I started singing Piano Man to her. She is probably in her 50's. I was shocked she didn't recognize the name right away. Billy Joel is one of the most popular singers of all time. I'd see him again in a heart beat!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Life Without Internet

I know I've written about this before, but now I have a different story. I got home from work Friday and went to the computer. The Internet didn't work. I did what any normal person would do. I turned off the outlet that the cable/Internet was plugged into and then turned it on. That didn't work. I then unplugged the modem and router, that didn't work. I called Time Warner and they told me to do exactly the same thing I already did. It still didn't work. I called them back and they said someone would come Saturday between 3-4. I didn't think my cable was working either. I would have to go a day without Internet and cable. I gave up on Internet and worked on fixing cable. I realized cable worked so at least I had TV to watch. The TWC guy came yesterday and said the wiring through the walls to my apartment was awful and he couldn't fix it. He was downstairs working on something for over an hour. He came back up and said that he fixed the poor wires because it was in a spot he could reach and that I shouldn't have any problems anymore. He is a life saver. It's amazing how much we rely on TV and Internet. I would have no idea what I would have done without either for any period of time. I'd probably work on editing my book, which I keep putting off again. That's why I didn't write in my blog Friday. I had no Internet and I had already used a lot of data on my phone and I was running out. Thank God for the TWC guy.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Spontaneity

I am rarely a person who is spontaneous. I am normally not predictable. Then again, no one, not even myself, expected me to apply for a job in North Carolina, fly down two days after the principal contacted me, and then take the job. Ever since then, I've decided to be as adventurous as possible. Billy Joel is coming to Raleigh, NC tomorrow (tonight since it's already Sunday). Today, I looked at prices for the concert. I was shocked there were still seats available since he sells out shows at MSG in under 5 minutes. The price I paid even after the garbage fees was well under $100. My friend and I decided to buy the tickets. It's about an hour and 15 minutes from me. The show starts at 8. I won't be home until very late and then I have to get up early for work Monday morning. That will not be fun, but it will be worth it because Billy Joel is one of the best artists of all time. Then another friend messaged me on Facebook at 11 tonight to see if I wanted to meet her and some friends at the bar. Normally I wouldn't have gone. Again, I decided to be adventurous and go. Being spontaneous is fun. It takes away from the predictable routine that I typically live.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Driving

I got used to driving a lot more than usual very quickly after moving to North Carolina. My school is 20 miles away instead of 3 like it used to be. I just finished my 4th and final first year training session. That place was 40 miles away. There is practically nothing close. The grocery store and liquor store are both less than a mile from me. The liquor store being so close is amazing. Even Wal Mart is about 5 miles from me. I've gotten used to driving a lot more often and in the dark. I don't like driving in the dark because it's um, dark, and harder to see. I've had my car for 2 and a half years. It only has 15,000 miles on it. However, I've driven over 1,500 miles between the move and now. I will definitely be putting a lot of miles in my car from now on.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Me Time

I'm starting to realize how important and valuable "me" time is for me. I know that I live all alone and that I always have me time. What I mean is I need time to myself where I don't do anything but watch TV or a movie. I try not to think about what's going to happen in the classroom the next day. I focus on trying to relax my mind. This is my first time having a full time teaching job. I get home at night and I am drained! If I don't set time aside to relax, I will go nuts. My blood pressure will go through the roof. I had a doctors appointment two days after I moved. I had to have one for my job. I was shocked when the doctor told me my blood pressure was only about 113/68 or something like that. That's extremely low for me! I thought it would be a lot higher because of the stress of moving. I also joined a gym almost immediately. I will be going at least three times a week so that I can run or lift my stress away. Taking time out to do what you love instead of the things you "need" to do is just as important as accomplishing the things on your to do list.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

More Hugs

As a teacher, you aren't supposed to touch kids at all. There are too many things that could go wrong. It seems as though parents are waiting for teachers to do something wrong so that they can slap you with a lawsuit. I typically high-five kids or give them fist bumps. However, the kids in my new school all need hugs. They will randomly come up to me and hug me. I'll yell at them for bad behavior, then they will hug me. Today, the class saw the substitute who had my class before I came. They all went up ad hugged her, including the new boy who started yesterday and didn't even know her. It's nice that the kids want to be hugged but it's also sad because they might not be getting those hugs at home. As frustrating as teaching can be at times, kids are what brighten up my day and they just need all of the attention and energy I can bring them.

Monday, February 3, 2014

3rd Floor

I used to laugh at customers who came in the grocery store and needed large items bagged. So many of them said that they lived on the 3rd floor and that it was easier to carry in a bag. I typically didn't want to bag the large item because it was a waste of a bag. Now that I live on the third floor, I completely understand where these customers are coming from! Unfortunately I've been shopping a lot since I've been here. It's a lot easier to grab a handful of bags with the handles rather than picking up large items that aren't in a bag. I try to make as few trips as possible when going from my car to the apartment. I will never roll my eyes at someone when they say they want certain items bagged ever again.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Little Ceaser's

My friend and I ordered pizza from Little Ceasar's today. We went to pick it up and the total was $8.64. I took out cash to pay. However, the cashier hands me the receipt and a gift card back and tells us to have a great day. I was very confused. We walked out and my friend see's my confused look. He thought maybe I gave her a gift card. I didn't. We drop the pizza off in the car and go back because we basically stole food. We go back in and the cashier said she thought I handed her the gift card, which I didn't. The customer before me gave her the gift card saying he didn't want it anymore. He must have thought there was nothing left on it. There must have been at least $8.64 on it because it came off when she swiped it for my bill. Long story short, she was able to put the money back on the card and I paid cash. Hopefully the person who gave her the gift card will come back for it. I walked out of the place the first time feeling like I stole from them. I could not have lived with myself if I drove home with a gift card and a free pizza. I am happy I went back in and was honest about what happened. Now I can sleep well tonight. Oh wait, I never sleep well anyway. At least I did the right thing.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Railroad Crossing

I pass a lot of train tracks when driving around the area. They are exactly like speed bumps. You can't go over them quickly or it will wreck your car. You can't go over them slowly or it will wreck your car. I wish that cars didn't ever have to go over them. They should have made train tracks so that they never cross over roads. There's a train track right at the stop light of a busy intersection that I go over all of the time because it's less than a mile from where I live. I'm guessing no trains go over that track anymore because I haven't been there when a train has gone by. That doesn't make sense to put a train track there though. Oh well, nothing I can do about the numerous tracks.