The 25th Hour ~karenjcardoza.com~

Look what happened, overnight!

It’s been a very long time since I’ve posted and it’s because I’ve been very busy with school things and real life. My time online has really been dwindling and I jump on and off to check email, Twitter, and Facebook statuses but I’ve been doing a lot of reading and trying to get outside to take the girls for walks. (I even ran Lincoln Woods last weekend so I’ve been getting back into that as well.)

This is the final week that I can work on the State Alternate Assessment for my kids and I’ve been going full force since April vacation. I’ve literally been going in early every day, staying late, and working through EVERY prep period and planning period for the last month. It’ll be close but I need to have it ready for pickup Wednesday night when I leave school.  This week is going to be hairy as I already know that I’ll be alone tomorrow ( Assistant is sick…) so I’ll have to keep my kids and won’t have a prep to work on it because they can’t go to gym and music alone. I have quite a few medical appointments to attend as well, so there won’t be much after school time available. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to eek it out.

It was a busy weekend with going out to dinner and to  see Foreigner (blast from the past!) last night with friends and spending today at the Special Olympics with my kids. This is the first time I’ve been online for more than 30 seconds today so I dropped this quick post at the last minute. I’m really hoping that with the end of the Assessment comes time to get back to more social media interacting and new media creation.  Until then… see you on Twitter or Facebook and wish me luck!

There was no school today for the students due to parent/teacher conferences so I’ve been here most of the day and evening with a quiet room and lots of time to get things done. (I have a small class and since I communicate daily with my parents via a communication journal I didn’t expect many to come in.)  I was able to get some lessons planned for the next few weeks, worked on the students’  (ILP) Individual Literacy Plans and I’ve been digging in to the Assessment project for this year. It’s still very difficult, especially since they’ve eliminated some of the available goals that I used last year so I’m reinventing the wheel once again. At least I’m HERE doing it though and I’m not doing it at home on the weekend or at night.

I’m getting really excited about Thursday’s game vs. the Jets and I’m chomping at the bit. I do have something else on my mind as well though,  and it’s really occupying my thoughts too. So, my stomach is full of butterflies right now, and tomorrow can’t get here fast enough.

Nothing but smiles from me!

By this time tomorrow, I will be an extremely happy and relieved girl!

I am so in need of a vacation and to get away from it all…

So, while I’m still sad about the Patriots loss, I’m getting over it and moving on. I’m sure these kids are thrilled but I must say , it pains me to see it!

Patriot Nation is reeling this week but not because of living in the past, rather, over the 10% – 51% ticket price increase for the upcoming season. Folks are feeling that WE are paying for those fines incurred as the result of Spygate. Speaking of which, someone on the Rams filed a 100 million dollar lawsuit against the Pats for taping their Superbowl 36 walk through. Sigh… I so hate drama and unfortunately I think there will be more before it finally gets put to bed.

On a happier note, I’m now on February vacation and will be out of school all next week. And while I’m not going away or doing anything fun, I’m glad to be home. I’ve got lots to do and NEED this week to get them done. So here’s the game plan:

• Catch up on Alternate Assessment portfolios for my students. (This is the biggie.)
• Go back to square one and diligently housebreak Chloe and get rid of the pee pads now that she’s older and the weather is warming up. (I’ll be washing all of my floors then going strictly by the book in terms of taking her out then not letting her roam free to play with Bella unless she’s just gone. It’s hard for me to keep her crated when I’m home but I’ll have to do it for the week so that she doesn’t have any accidents.
• Drive my son back and forth to daily wrestling practice.
• Get lesson plans done for 2 weeks and set up outline for the rest of March.
• Exercise daily.
• Read a book or two. (Currently reading The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell. I saw the movie and loved it so I’m enjoying reading the book which is a collection of the actual kids’ essays.) And Fluff reading: The 6th Target by James Patterson. I’ve got a stack of mags that I’d like to whittle away too.)
• If I didn’t have so much school stuff to do, I would love to paint my bathroom but it will likely have to wait unti April vacation.
• Of course, the usual weekly chores, errands, and stuff needs to get done as well.

So, while “a whole week off” sounds like a long time, it really isn’t and will fly by. I definitely have no choice about getting the Alternate Assessment done so I’ll be jumping right in and unplugging to get it done as it’s priority #1.

Wish me luck!!