The First Day!

This is my first day of school outfit...I was bummed that my roomie cut my red shoes out of the picture! Oh well! We each took pics of each other today on our first days of school...we figured the fams would enjoy the shots! (By the way if you look closely you can see our living room furniture in the background!) The day went great and very quick too. Before I knew it it was lunch time already and I only had one class period left to teach! I had a little discrepency though in one period because two students couldn't understand a word I was saying. I'm going to see if I can get those students transfered into another class.

I butchered a lot of the student's names today felt bad about it but there are just so many hispanic names! I have like 15 Joses and Pedros, and have to learn how to roll my r's in order to survive here. Get this...I have a student named Pablo Picazo! When he told me his name my reaction was "seriously?" I asked to see his schedule because I didn't believe him! Oh and believe it or not, I can already pick out who the trouble makers are going to be in a few of the classes. I'm hoping that the rest of the week goes just as well as today did.

HMOs, PPOs, Elmos and Margaritas

So I haven't blogged in a while and here's why...

On Monday and Tuesday I had an all day training at Palm Springs HS for standards based lesson planning. After that I went to school until about 5ish to get work done. Then on Wednesday there was a new teacher breakfast and you would never believe how many people were at this thing! I think there are over 125 new teachers in my school district!! I had no idea how big this district was and how many schools it includes. Then there was a new teacher roundtable meeting with my principal and literacy coach, which proved to be quite helpful.

Thursday and Friday were the two most frustrating days simply because I was on information overload by that time. Thursday I worked in my room, then had a department meeting. The department chair is very nice and has been helping me out big time with little things here and there about school and science stuff. I got my technology stuff on Thursday though and this is so neat! I get an LCD projector (which basically transmits projections to a big screen so that all my students can see it.) This will work from my laptop, TV or my Elmo (which is an overhead projector that doesn't need transparencies). I also got my laptop finally!! My laser printer was delivered Friday and my laptop will be set up to print to this wirelessly!! Oh, and I forgot to mention that my building has wireless internet!! I'm so excited to learn how all of these things work and apply them to my classroom instruction!

Thursday did happen to get worse though due to a benefits meeting that evening. It was in a huge lecture room where they disseminate the benefit coverage to all new staff memebers, it was chaos. I had no idea which things to chose and found myself sitting by the "adults" of the room just so I could ask them questions! I finally called my mom to ask her about HMOs and PPOs and the differences. I finally figured out what I thought was best for me at this time in my life and went with it. The only problem was that by the time I was done with all the paperwork the turn in line was out the door. I waited for a long time with my new teachers friends and then we decided our time could be better spent at Margaritas next door. So, we headed over to happy hour and waited for the line to taper off.

Friday was the district kick off, Zangle training (attendance and gradebook program) and the almighty staff meeting! This was the longest day EVER! After the staff meeting I thought I was going to die because of all the policies and procedures and information that I had to take in and retain! I've decided to just focus on getting through the first day and not dwell on all the other stuff, however this is mighty difficult! The big day is tomorrow so expect a blog explaining about how I butchered the names of all my Juans, Joses, and Luz de Maries! Oh, and I've attached my "Meet Ms. Forgacs" Board in my classroom. I'll send more pictures of the classroom soon as I have added many new things!!

The Third Roommate

Today I cooked myself some Ramen noodles for dinner. (Yes, I am aware that this not what people eat when they have a "real" job and are not in college anymore, but I like them). Anyway, I was cleaning up, doing the dishes, etc. when I opened up the cupboard under the sink (that has our trash can in it) to throw away my napkin. To my surprise there was this HUGE cockroach crawling around in there. My first reaction was of course to scream and my trusty roommate John came to my rescue. He took the liberty of killing this bad boy for me, and after sometime chasing after it with a paper towel, we succeeded in kicking out the third roommate!

Oh, I'm also hooked on a new TV show courtesy of John and my friend Lisa. It is called "Prison Break" on Monday at 8pm Fox...great show, and there also happens to be a hot guy in it, I highly recommend it!

The New and Improved MELIS-SATINI

So, I awoke this morning (ok so it was really 11am!) to the people below my apartment screaming at one another. Normally this would really annoy me but I came to the realization that I am living in BEAUTIFUL, SUNNY, Palm Springs, CA! Check out my apartment view...I think that is worth putting up with a screaming family once in a while! Anyway, last night I hung out with my friend Lisa, she is from the Chicago area and is teaching math at my school. We had a great time just chatting it up and I found that we both share the same love for the HBO series Sex & the City!! We played a modified version of the trivia game while sipping my latest and greatest drink creation....the new and improved MELIS-SATINI. For those of you wondering, it contains my alltime favorite juice, White Cranberry Peach, Grey Goose Vodka (is there any other kind?!) and a splash of Fresca all shaken in a martini shaker. It is delish!!

Patio Perfect

Although I do enjoy the Evans Street Station Patio, I have to admit the patio in my apartment is quite enjoyable. Thanks grandma and grandpa T for the furniture! I've been making a conscious effort to go out there in the evening and read. For some reason I've been on this book kick, not sure why, but I feel compelled to begin reading all the classics. I think it might have been my brother Matt who inspired this desire, but anyways I think I'm going to make it a goal of mine. So, back to the patio... I really like it out there. I think this may be my paper grading place once it cools down a bit. You'll notice the grill...no it is not mine! My roommate is surprisingly Chef Boyardee! The other night he made us an awesome steak dinner!! I of course made a salad and cleaned up because I am not a cook. That is unless you are a fan of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup!

Reciprocal What?

Training today actually proved to be a great experience. I learned all about the process of Reciprocal Teaching. The facilitator was awesome and kept us engaged the entire time. I even won some of the guide cards for my students to use because I answered a question correctly!! I really loved all the strategies I learned and will most definately implement them in my classroom. I'm starting to get more excited now for school to begin so that I can use all this great stuff! I'll try to attach another picture from my classroom that has some of the RT stuff hanging up. I have been having some internet issues...so I'll do my best!!

I also met some more nice people today. One of the teachers at my building who is new as well is from Montana. Her and I seem to have a lot in common. She said that downtown Palm Springs on Thursday nights they close down the main street and have street vendors and music and such. We are planning to go and check it out next week.

The Classroom

I know that many of you are anxious to see the much anticipated classroom shots...so here they are. In retrospect, I should have taken a before and after shot so that you could see how much I have truly accomplished in the past week. Just picture the last day of school when 8th graders run out of the building singing the song, "Schools Out for Summer." This then leaves behind a disaster area of dittos and "Current Science" magazines not to mention a thick coating of dust and dirt for Melissa to clean up when she arrives at her room for the first time! Needless to say this has been a project.

I'm almost finished with my tidy standards based classroom. I still have an array of writing posters that need to be hung up along with a word wall...yeah! I do have some good ideas for tackling these last two items though. I'm planning to make the word wall interactive so that it will actually serve a purpose in the classroom and then put all the 500 writing posters that were given to me on rings so that it forms a flip chart for easy storage and less clutter.

Oh, and I need to mention that my classroom is from the 70's check out the light blue walls with the burnt orange lab tables...gotta love it! I tried to go with a bright colored theme to distract from the horrible decor. Yes, and all those desks you see are all necessary. I am going to have 6 sections of 8th grade physical science with anywhere from 29-42 students per class!! YIKES! I might be eaten alive by all those 8th graders!

I know you can't see them, but I made the cutest little numbers to number the lab tables in my room. I spent at least an hour meticulously cutting out the numbers on different colored paper and mounting them on black paper and then finally laminating them for durability, I realize this is very nerdy! Ok, last thing, I know this is long. My dad would be so proud of me today because I actually hung something up on my own and had to use tools. Yes that is right folks, Melissa using actual tools and pretending to be handy! I hung up these hooks in the back of my room so that my green lantern could hang from the celing. I'm pretty proud of myself! Dad, I also used the tape measure you purchased for me too!

Under Construction

I of course went to school all day today in effort to make my "standards based classroom." Yes, that is right, I am required to hang up certain posters and other various paraphenalia to promote a "common language" at my school. I'm sure it is a good theory, but it does take away from some things that I wanted to put up in my room. I also don't care for unneccessary clutter as most of you all know!

For those of you who don't know, the school I am working at is in a period of new growth. In the past it has had poor leadership and poor student performance. The good part is that I get to be one of 22 new teachers and help this school get to a positive place! As a result of this growth period the school is being revamped and is a complete and utter mess right now. I'm going to try to attach a few pictures of the surrounding area. You tell me if this will be done in less than two weeks!?

Anyway, I worked til about 11 and then went to a new teacher meeting and lunch with all the new teachers at Applebees. This was compliments of our principal Terri. We had a great time and I met some very nice people and many of them are in their first year of teaching just like me. Afterwards we came back to school to continue the work. The school is also an open campus set up where students walk from building to building, kind of like college. As a few of us are walking to the 100 building (where my classroom is) a giant construction truck almost runs us over and then out of no where starts shooting water out of the back of the truck. I of course get soaked and have to continue walking through mounds of mud and sand to get back to my room. It would have been ok except for I was wearing a skirt and flip flops...not conducive wear for trudging through a construction zone!!! Tomorrow I'm going to wear snow boots!!

APT #94

This is my first ever blog posting, so bare with me on this! Thanks to Heidi I decided that this might be a good way to keep friends and family abreast of my new life in sunny Palm Springs, CA. Plus I plan to put a few pictures on here so that everyone can see my apartment, the area, and of course my classroom!

Things are going very well thus far. My dad and I arrived out here after a 36hour drive, and only stopped for 2hours somewhere in Oaklahoma to sleep. All in all it was a great time for my dad and I to spend time together. He helped me get moved in, purchase some bedroom furniture, and get a bank. This was quite the learning experience for me!

My roommate is great, very nice, picks up after himself, and is an all around helpful guy. The only downfall is that his living room furniture is...um...lets just say, not my style! This is why when I attach the photos, you will notice there are none of the living room! I guess if you want to see it that bad you'll have to come visit me!