Thanks Mr. Card!

I am indebted to Bill Card for my current employment status!!  He asked me - many years ago - if I'd taken the CBEST.  When I said no, he told me to take it, and he'd get me work subbing.  So I did, and he did, and a few years later he offered me the job I currently have at Clifton.

What a guy!!

A quiet weekend -

Except for the chaos of "springing forward," there was not too much action around here. On Sunday I drove out with Greg and his son Jacob, and we went to church with Mom and Donna. We visited afterwards and then had a nice lunch. It is great to get to know Greg and his family better.

Saturday I hosted a little retirement luncheon for Eleanor Esqueda. Several people had conflicts, so several of the "old guard" were not there. But those of us who were had a fine time together.

I made the Weight Watcher's potato soup recipe - it was yummy - go for it!

Hope the week ahead is as quiet as the weekend - I had "prepared" for the time change, so I felt like that went well too. And I had a lovely facial on Friday after school - maybe that's what made it all so "mellow!!"

What's been going on around here!!

Lots has been going on around here - school ended with the announcement that Anna May is retiring!! We were pretty much taken by surprise - and we will certainly miss her. I'm actually not sure how I'm going to get along without her!!

Jan has been reassigned also - but is going to apply for Anna May's job - we hope she gets it - might make it possible to get along without Anna May.

Eleanor Esqueda is retiring also.

And Arabelle Aguirre is going to a school in San Jose. Traci and I are staying though!!

I bought this cunning little "alstromeria vase" as a going away gift for Jan - then loved it so much I bought two for myself!! I think I will get lots of use out of them - they seem perfect for a school teacher's desk, don't you think?

I am off to Virginia tomorrow to tend to Eliza and brood - especially little Lars - can't wait to meet him. Alice was here this weekend, school ended, we had Ward Conference, I'm getting ready to leave - I don't think it could get more hectic - so I'm going to go in and finish an apron - this one is for me, so I can granny in style!!

I may or may not get some posting done while I'm gone - we will wait and see. If I don't get any done, you will know that I am gainfully employed!!

School is out - almost!!

Tomorrow is the last full day of school - Friday is a minimum day, and then we are home free until the 25th of August.

I got a 15 year pin!! I will put it with my 5 year and 10 year pins - looks like I'm amassing quite a collection!!

I am ready for school to be out. It will be a busy summer - but busy at work and busy in the summer are two different kinds of busy!!

Alice is in town - said she'd come out Friday and help me finish packing up my room. The start and end of the school year are a lot like moving - packing, unpacking, sorting, purging, cleaning!!

Alice is good at all that too!!

Testing, testing!!

We are wrapping up our testing week here at Clifton. I actually enjoy it, because the students are engaged and silent for 2 hours every morning for 4 days - and they are minimum days at that!! I can read, work, sort through files, do all kinds of work that never seems to get done at any other time. And for some reason, the students "respect" the notion of silence!!

I remember testing as a kid. I'm not sure how often it was done - perhaps all my memories have telescoped into one big memory.

We took the Iowa Tests. And I distinctly remember the questions where they showed you a picture of a hand or a foot and asked if it was the right or left! And I always had to surreptitiously salute the flag so I'd know which was my right hand or foot!! I did that for a lot of years - and have been known to do it a time for two or five as an adult!!

I'm definitely spatially challenged!

Some things never change!

"Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Coldstone's we go . . ."

There was a "Grub With the Cubs" fundraiser at Coldstone's today and tonight - and Marcie wrangled Kyle and me to join in dishing up ice cream for an hour, from 4 to 5.

It turned out to be fun - if someone put a tip in the tip jar, we had to sing them a song - it was pretty hilarious - they provided some clever lyrics for us - "sprinkle, sprinkle, little star" for starters!

Marcie wore her tap shoes and did some soft shoe and tap routines for the folks too!!

On a sad note, about half way through the power went out - even the theater next door had to send patrons home and refund their money!!

But the ice cream was still safe to eat when our shift was over - not sure how long that lasted!!

Fortunately the power outage did not extend to our neck of the woods!

Open House at Clifton

I didn't know that if I googled "Clifton Middle School Open House" I would get this!!

Takes some of you back, doesn't it??

"The play's the thing."

For the last 5 years, we have taken the Clifton 8th graders to see a Shakespeare "sampler" at the Glendale Center Theater. It's a "play within a play" about a troupe of actors who are shipwrecked on an island. Prospero comes and tells them to prove the "virtue, civility and mystery of love" or else he will keep them forever on the island.

They start out with some sonnets, but Prospero is not satisfied. So they do scenes from Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Taming of the Shrew, and Hamlet. In the end, Prospero tells them it's all been a dream - they have been home all the time.

It's a pretty lively performance - most of the kids enjoy it. Some do not - and some are even a bit rude - like the young lady behind me who kept repeating, "This is so boring." I finally turned around and told her I'd take her out if she didn't stop. She seemed to believe me, so she at least stopped saying it. I'm pretty sure she didn't appreciate it! After the show, the 8th grade chairman said, "This makes me think we need to start exposing kids to Shakespeare in Kindergarten!!"

We were not the only school in attendance, but the other schools were private schools. For a number of reasons, those kids were better behaved and more appreciative.

I have often noticed that many students have not been taught about appropriate behavior for different settings. We almost can't condemn them, since they may not know better.

But we did give them instructions before we left. Not following instructions may be something they learned at home however, so once again condemnation is not the answer.

So we keep instructing them at school - in lots of things!

Monday morning - coming around again!!

I was out of school for 2 days, taking care of Noah - or at least his meals and his laundry - and so there was a little bit of "culture shock" to go back to school today. However, like riding a bike, it all comes back pretty quickly.

It wasn't too chaotic, because I had the kids watch movies - they were related to what we have been studying, and the students have to write paragraphs about them - so at least there weren't a ton of papers strewn about the room - as there often is when a sub is there.

But the file cabinet drawer where all the IEP's are kept wouldn't close. So I transferred all the IEP's to another file drawer. And there were about 20 emails to answer. And tests to correct - in addition to a movie, the classes all had their regular Friday spelling and vocabulary tests. And I usually do the Interactive Reader in the collaborative science class I'm doing, and I had done it a week ago - but my science is really rusty - especially the physics variety - so I felt like I was standing up there speaking a foreign language. Thankfully the students are not always very awake first period, so I don't think anyone noticed. Finally, there was a new laptop for a student of mine that Beth and I had to figure out. It's not strictly a laptop, but a "notepad" computer - but not an iBook!

And Harry dropped me off because we had to take my car in for new tires.

A real Monday if you ask me!

Friday Fun In The Lunchroom

Fridays are "spirit" days at Clifton. There is a theme, and you are supposed to dress to the theme. When you do, your grade level wins spirit points. At the end of each semester, the grade level with the most spirit points gets to spend a day at Knott's Berry Farm (the kids pay their own way though - it's not in the budget any other way.) My good friend Marcie, aka Mrs. Hoopes, is a big supporter of spirit days. If it's pajama day, she will wear pajamas to school. If it's crazy hair day, she will tease and spray her hair all over the place. I, on the other hand, hardly ever pay attention to spirit wear. I don't even have a Clifton Cubs tee shirt!

But every year on "twin wear day" Marcie always suggests that we be twins. One year we both wore our hot pink sweater sets. Another year we bought matching monkey tee shirts. This week, as we were eating lunch, Marcie suggested that we be twins. I said, "Well, what shall we wear?" And then she said, "Maybe we should come as Kyle. We all have chinos don't we?" And I said, since Kyle was wearing a blue button down shirt, "I even have a blue shirt almost the same shade as Kyle's." So Marcie said, "We can be triplets!! That ought to be worth triple points!"

Fortunately we all remembered the conversation, and we all three showed up pretty close to triplets, don't you agree?? Kyle said he even had to get up early and iron his shirt!!

Marcie teaches all 8th graders. Kyle teaches 7th and 8th. I teach 6th, 7th, and 8th.

I'm not sure who got the points!

Just another manic Thursday!!

Actually it was a pretty mellow day at Clifton. It was the Founder's Day assembly at the end of the day, so every period was 10 minutes shorter than usual, and there was no SSR.

Bill Card as principal at Clifton circa 1996.

Marcie got the Golden Apple award, and I was the presenter - so that was fun. It was also MJ's b-day, so I stopped by the homestead - it's always good to be with the girlfriends.

But I did deal with a rude parent. I hate that. I wish I could just say, "What is the matter? Why am I at fault for your bad day? Can I help you?" Instead I have to measure my words carefully so that none of them can be misconstrued.

It won't be the kids who drive me into retirement. It will be the adults.

Super Bowl Friday

I'm not sure when the tradition began, but for many years there has been a Super Bowl Friday at Clifton Middle School. It used to be a much bigger deal than it is now. For starters, the In 'n Out truck used to come, and we had a two hour lunch. Then the 8th grade boys played the faculty - and the faculty always won!! Cheerleaders, tall flags, mascot, drill team - the - pardon the pun - whole 9 yards!

Now it's just an assembly schedule - all classes are shortened to 47 minutes instead of 55 - and it's a regular lunch, and at the end of 7th period it's 2:oo instead of 3:00 - and then the teachers take their classes out to the field, the drill team marches around a bit, and the teachers play the 8th grade boys. The teachers still seem to win.

It's not my favorite day. I'm not a fan of the Super Bowl or football for that matter. And I positively hate monitoring 8th graders on the field outside. (They are supposed to stay with their class.) Especially 8th graders who'd rather run away from me to be with their friends.

Maybe the 8th graders will win this year - I'll let you know. I know you are waiting with bated breath.

I'm just waiting for it to be over for another year!!

"A rose by any other name . . ."

Much of my life seems to revolve around school. Not so odd really, since I spend 5 days a week, 8 to 10 hours a day there for about 9 months out of each year.

This is a photo from 2 1/2 years ago - I look much thinner. Probably because I was much thinner. Maybe this will inspire me! Or not.

But I can only remember the girl next to Beth, not her name. And the girl next to me doesn't even look vaguely familiar. Maybe she was not a student of mine and just got in the picture.

I see former students all the time around here. And it's always "Hi Mrs. Terrill," while I just say, "Hi!" with as much emphasis as possible so they don't notice that I'm not saying their name. And I think that maybe I should have kept a log or a journal or something so that I could review former students occasionally. (I could buy a yearbook, but they are up to $45 now!!)

Dad feels that way about all the missionaries that have come through over the many years that he has been Ward Mission Leader. We should have set up a log or chart or something with a picture and their name under it. (We have lots of pictures, but not all of them are identified!!) We get wedding invites and baby announcements and Christmas cards. Elder Thomas has a ring to it that doesn't seem to mesh with "Hi Nathan!!" It feels like they will always be missionaries.

We had Sister Keller here for three weeks and I called her Sister Keller the whole time. I felt like I was breaking a rule calling her Julie Ann! But then Julie Bourgeous Sears still calls me Sister Terrill whenever she sees me.

Funny how that works.

What I do, where I go, who I work with!!

Another staff photo to add to my collection. The first few years I worked, I would put them all up on a bulletin board - but after awhile, I thought the emphasis was misunderstood by students, as in "You've been here that long!!"

I've been teaching since 1996. I've been at Clifton since the 1997-98 school year. I guess I have been here that long!!

Most days I'm happy to go to work. Lately I haven't been as happy - some "political" issues have "sapped my energy." But I always love the kids - and I have some great kids this year. We are also continuing with a program of collaboration that I spear-headed, and I'm proud of the progress we are making.

So I will stick it out! Retirement probably has some bad days too!

"A Beggar's Banquet"

For those of you who may be unaware of such information, school teachers, in California anyway, are only paid ten months out of the year. This is not so bad, since we only really work 9 1/2 months out of the year. But it does mean that you go from June 30th to September 30th without a paycheck.

You also may be unaware of the fact that at my school, we have a monthly or maybe every 6 weeks or so potluck lunch in the staff room. My good friend Marcie (who is a member of my ward in addition to being a teacher) usually spearheads things and gets out a flyer. And being the creative woman that she is, she always comes up with a theme. I usually provide the tablecloths and a pretty good main dish - at least it always gets snarfed up first. (That occurrence is more to be attributed to the fact that Marcie and I are the only ones who really "cook" - the rest just "fix food" - than to any superiority of my cooking. But I do have some specialties that are certainly "passing fair.")

So this month we had a "Beggar's Banquet," where we were supposed to come up with whatever we could out of our cupboards and freezers. Marcie made fudge. I made Shepherd's Pie. And there was a lot of chips and salsa too! Some of them must manage their money better, because there were a couple of buckets of chicken - and they hadn't made them themselves! And instead of buying flowers for centerpieces, I wandered around the campus classrooms and offices and borrowed plants !

This little exercise got me thinking, and I decided to see how long I could subsist on what was in my cupboards and freezer. I did go to the store for fresh produce, milk, yogurt, and bread, but I haven't really bought "groceries" for a couple of weeks now. It is somewhat liberating too. I even put on Sunday dinner last Sunday without going to the store (there was a lot of sour cream in the fridge so we had stroganoff.)

We are scraping bottom now though, so I hope I can get out of my meetings in a timely manner tomorrow so I can go to the store before dinner!