The Break is coming! I am Thankful

****JOB/SCHOOL HIGH-JACK OF THREAD***
As I have mentioned before, I am in grad school for my doctorate in Education Curriculum and Iinstruction. I am enjoying my work so far, and am pondering research realms and paper topics. I am interested in examining student apathy/motivation in "failing" schools. We are one such school- but we do not have a long history of "failing" per say, we are in rebound mode and have been for the past 4 years- and are making ok progress. We made big gains in 2008, but our principal left (to work for the district) and there seems to be some issues with test scores specifically now. Although i adore our *new* principal. I absolutely, with all my being, can not stand standardized testing as the end-all-be-all for determining if a school (students and teachers progress depend on this) is "failing" or not. We have nine months in school, do not judge our 9 months of progress on less than three days of tests. PLUS this style of testing only applies to one learning style, and is generally only prepped well for one learning style. So of course our students have apathy and little motivation when they do well in a class only to have the test shut them down. I have seen it year after year with my 10th and 11th graders, and I teach advanced students (as well as regular/on grade level)-
Students see most teachers as only being focused on the test, teaching with just "drill" notes/ and work sheets and book work, and nothing engaging,- that leads to apathy and lack of motivation....plus the teachers feel stunted as well- thus more apathy and lack of motivation on their part.
I am in the midst of a large literature review/meta analysis of curriculum & teaching techniques that have been identified as helping end student apathy and motivate/engage them more......
i could study this all day, read and ponder...write and evaluate. I can tell you , I have changed my style of teaching over the years- and it has done me wonders.... i had some of the highest US History EOC scores last year and very rarely gave notes for the test and such- but we did have practice quizzes online, games done with test questions from the practice benchmarks- use of essential vocabulary in their projects/papers and analysis of several primary source historical documents....this year I am starting with 9th grade, some of the hardest students to engage and motivate. It does seem like a circus some days- with the antics my students bring in with them...but i have 7 to 10  kids stay for tutoring twice a week, more come in at lunch. My activities are mixed with traditional and more complex- my desks are in a big U and i sit with my students 90% of the time as they do their work.....i have all these little stools and hidden chairs around the room, so i can actually just sit by any desk in my class to discuss what they are doing- see progress, answer questions or just be the *presence* near them to keep them on track. I think we are doing well
 I am having to deal with several that just don't seem to give a damn....so i show up at their practices, where they hangout at lunch and call home *on the weekends* when I can engage both them and their parent/guardian....it feels like extra work some days- and I am lucky to have a TA and an intern..... so that's where i am diverting my attention while we wait on more info about S and the adoption

anxious and distracted

Maybe I do too much....i rarely take a day off just for me....so i tried to take off 24 hours from 5pm Saturday to 5pm today (Sunday) to just do stuff fun for me. I wanted to watch a show with John, have brunch, maybe lounge around the house some, go to the mall and maybe even buy S and Gabe something (early xmas?) but the more i tried to turn my mind *off* from work, and school and adoption stuff the more i just felt uneasy. I am just so anxious about money and grades and work and the house...and how much could this stress out my marriage. We aren't having any issues, so don't get worried, i just know that at some point its gotta give. Not to mention the 12 pounds if have gained....well maybe like 10....it WAS 20+ but i have lost 10....whew....but still.
I still am too scared about trying to take off next year, like i wanted to. I want more time with my boys and doggies and for school work towards my doctorate....but i fear the lack of $ will stress me out more than the lack of time with family will stress me out should I work.... its a catch 22.
Maybe I will get an adjunct position or PT at the university- thats what I am hoping for....so i will have some money coming in.
There is also a possibility, actually a pretty good one, that john will be getting a promotion/raise- but not until after the first of the year. That would be so amazing...and i hope he will like his job/new responsibilities more.
So i tried to take time for me...wandered around the mall...that just makes me more annoyed and frustrated- with all the crowds. But i did go to the newish Bareminerals store and get my face done and get a starter kit. I have always wanted to get their line- I already get the knock off stuff at Target (probably just as good?) But i had a little promo card for $10 off the starter kit....still $55 is expensive...but i did get new brushes, and can use all three products for foundation, concealer and bronzer/blush.
Yet here it is, not even 5pm (remember it was supposed to be 24 hours for ME)   I am at Panera Bread grading papers- which very much need to be done. Tomorrow i will have my intern and TA help me with more grading and catch up with all that....i am not too far backed up. I think i will feel less anxious when we get Johns $ from his 401K (we are borrowing a little from that) and we get an update on S.
Actually making the trips to Ethiopia and finally having him here just feels so far removed from reality- that its upsetting me. It just feels like we have so far to go and we are stuck in neutral.

The waiting game

I can be frustrated and annoyed but I wont (its been since July that any medical check-up was done and the doctor is now "on leave")....since its November and the time to be thankful, (well, thats really any time)- I am going to be thankful- Thankful we have already seen little man S's face and never spent a day on the wait list (we went right through the WC program), thankful our dossier has been been sent to Ethiopia, thankful that the prices I am researching for February flights are cheap (really, this looks to be a great time to fly, even if its 2 months later than I thought we would go), thankful that I have an amazing husband that does so much around the house so I can work two jobs and go to school (this will change when S gets here....but its my reality right now), thankful I have an amazing 6 year old who will be 7 in just three weeks- and he is just the smartest, most inquisitive child i have yet to meet (and I am a teacher), thankful that the money is almost all together- after a grant I get in January we will have all our travel money; thankful for Thanksgiving break and Winterbreak coming up- of which i never have to worry about taking time off b/c I am in education !

...i am just hoping for a court date and update soon......
Little Man S has club feet and has had at least two surgeries and is supposed to be in casts/braces. I have yet to see these braces in any picture which has me concerned. So during the holiday break I shall be researching this big time, and hope to have some sort of medical update to go from. The one I got in August (which was actually done in July) says he is walking and such...mentions the "pop-casts" he is wearing, but no pictures show those....I did get actual pictures of his feet in September (her was sitting on a baby potty- yay, potty training).... so those are what we are going with now....
I have found a OT therapy place, that also helps with sensory issues and Autism/aspergers etc - so its a great place for motor as well as some emotional/social issues

A long weekend

We have been busy...the last of our agency fees are due this month so that we can get submitted to court after the translation of all our documents. We also got a letter stating that all our visa materials were already sent to Ethiopia....fun fun
I went to Washington DC for the Rally for Sanity and had a blast. I ate Ethiopian foodin Adams Morgan at the very same place I first ate ET food nearly 10 years ago....how amazing what 10 years does!
We are still waiting more updates on S, Its been over 3 months and it has becone upsetting. Gabe and John hit the neighborhood and had a great time tirck or treating...i think there were some tricks!

IMMIGRATION FORMS ARE ALLIN!

Just when i was starting to scour my emails tofind the immigration case worker- we got our I17H! Our dossier was officially accepted by Holt on October 12th and now this completes everything! All we do now is wait, work , plan, save and get one more round of shots....oh wait, and buy airline tickets (of course that wont be until we get the email/call about a court date)
Whew....it feels like such a long time, but really its just been since May- 6 months of compiling paperwork,interviews, committee meetings and forms upon forms to be notarized. I am hiping for an update on S soon. We havent seen new pictures since mid July...ugh

Dossier is on its way!!!

This evening we finally got the dossier, and copy off to HOLT. I finally feel like we have everything we need in...whew....now we just wait and wait...and plan :) Our family book will, hopefully, soon get to Little Man S. We haven't gotten any updates since mid July though :( I am hoping for one any day now. School and work has been busy and stressful. However, I did get a 97.5% on my first paper this semester! Gabe and John have been doing cubscout stuff, very cute.

progress and more!

Well well in the last two weeks we have made progress...fingerprints in, immunizations started, dossier set to go- and it shall be sent out tomorrow/Monday. I am waiting for my social workers notarized liscense...they gave me unnotarized copies which did me no good- I was told i could not get them notarized as pertaining to me b/c my signature wasn't on them. Ugh....needless to say the agency is an hour and a half away. They are being overnighted to me...so once they are here (tomorrow) they shall be copies and then put in our big dossier package and OFF IT WILL GO!! sosos happy finally to get it out...HAPPY OCTOBER! Its my favorite month of the year, and not ponly because of my name heheh.
Also our fundraising shirts are on the way :) plus more coffee....the next thing we are getting ready for is our Halloweenie Roast!