Thursday, April 30, 2009
"Don't touch me! You have swine flu!"
Posted by Katie at 8:45 PM 2 comments
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
No School
Posted by Katie at 8:19 AM 2 comments
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Ok, So Maybe I Want to Teach 8th Grade Now...
Did I mention that I have a job?
Heck yes.
Not a real-life grown-up job, but a long-term sub job. (We're working on the grown-up one...)
I get to teach science to 8th graders!!! Their teacher is sick or something (been out for 2 weeks already... could be gone all year, who knows. Could be gone forever... = possible job?!?!)
Anyways, today was my second day. It is going great so far! I love the kids and they are already begging me to stay and be their teacher from now on. I guess that's a good sign. :-)
I got the job because I subbed at the middle school last week and asked about jobs for next year. They said they didn't have any openings at that moment but were looking for a long term sub and asked me if I had a lot of experience teaching science.
Oh, did I.
I sent in my resume that afternoon after meeting the principal and assistant principal (and it just so happened that I was subbing for the science department head that day... so I met her, too). The next morning, I got a call telling me they wanted me to be the long-term sub! They actually wanted me to start last Wednesday (the day I got the call) but I still had other sub jobs for the rest of the week. So I started yesterday.
It's a new school with great teachers and kids bored out of their minds (well, the class I am taking over anyways)!! Today we made a model of a chunk of land and cut it in half so we could model the three different types of faults. I was absolutely shocked because the kids LOVED it - they told me they had never done anything that fun before!
Are you kidding me? These poor students!!! Apparently their teacher just made them read from the textbook. I wanted to cry when I heard that.
I can't take the credit for the fun activity, though. We have a science specialist in the school who has been planning all their lessons. According to the students and two teachers, they really haven't learnt anything all year and are at risk of failing the TAKS.
I am so glad that God has given me this opportunity. I can't wait to get to know the students better.
Oh and one random thing - after I introduced myself yesterday and told a brief summary of my life story, a student came up to me at the end of class. She told me that she was born in England and lived there until 2 years ago! I asked her where she lived and she said Leicestershire. I about died because NO ONE seems to know about that area! She lived in Oadby, only 3.5 miles from the center of Leicester, where I used to shop and attend church. Her house was about an 18 minute drive from where I used to live.
Imagine that!?!
She had even heard of my junior high/high school.
I wanted to hug her. :-)
It's a small world.
-Katie
Posted by Katie at 5:02 PM 2 comments
Sunday, April 19, 2009
He's Not Finished With Me Yet...
Posted by Katie at 4:41 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Hey Honey, I'm Home!
Well, folks, I'm still here. I've been subbing a lot, which I guess is good. At one school a lady told me that her principal noticed me and told her to make sure that I didn't leave without giving them my name and number. That's a good thing, right? The school even called me today to see if I could sub tomorrow. I already have another job, though.
About a week and a half ago I went on a women's retreat through my church. I normally get kinda shy when stuff like that comes up and so I never apply for them. However, it was Austin who first heard about it and encouraged me to go. I found some more girls from our "honeymooners" Bible study and we all signed up. I had a wonderful time. The theme was "Why We Need Girlfriends" and was focused around the story of Mary and Elizabeth in Luke 1. I had heard their story so many times but this time my eyes were opened to the beautiful friendship that these two women shared. Elizabeth was elderly and had been through so much pain and shame in her life because she was barren. Mary was a teenager and had yet to experience pain and shame because of her pregnancy. Because Elizabeth remained faithful to God, despite the fact that she could never have children, God was able to bless her and use her. In His timing, Elizabeth became pregnant. Mary and Elizabeth were able to comfort each other as they carried the babies of perhaps the two (at least one) most important men in the Bible.
Houston is so different because it is so new. I don't have a lot of friends yet, but I trust that God is going to show me women with whom I can bond and have a deep friendship. He has already blessed me with some girls that I meet with every Thursday night. I think I mentioned that two of my friends from college, Stacie and Haley, are living on the west side of Houston. Haley literally lives less than 10 minutes away from me! None of us are from Houston, but we all ended up here. At my wedding, Haley and Stacie actually talked about how they didn't know any girls and needed that fellowship... So the week after they started meeting. Now I get to be a part of the group and we are loving it!
This week we are starting The Names of God by Ann Spangler. There are 52 different names of God that the Bible uses, and we will start studying one each week. I can't wait to grow and learn more about the characteristics of God with these girls! They are such a blessing to me!
So my friend Catlin mentioned that she uses Google Analytics for her website. I decided to try it out, too. Yes, that's right people.... I'm tracking you! It's so much fun. I'm actually surprised that so many people visit my site when I don't even update. No wonder they only spend an average of less than a minute on my page... :-/ Well, so I think it's really interesting. I know that I have readers in Texas (surprise surprise), Florida (Erin I assume!), California (who are you!?) and Colorado (Lauren!). But I also have a reader in Wales and one in China. I am global, ladies and gentlemen! Haha. But seriously, I think it's interesting. I wonder who they are!
I know that I read many blogs regularly of people who don't know me at all. I've been tempted to email them or comment on their blog, but I don't since I think it might creep them out. I love random comments, though... so if you want to introduce yourself... :-)
Ok, enough about my blog.
How about someone else's blog? My mom told me about this newlywed's blog and so I have decided to write about it.
I am not a fantastic chef but I want to learn. This website has helped me! Elizabeth, the blogger, loves to cook and try out recipes, and she takes pictures of her creations. But better than that, she takes pictures at each step of the food-making process. I love that! Go check out her site. Yesterday I made the tamale casserole. It was yummy!
Well kiddos, this girl is hungry for the brownies that she made last night (also on the website mentioned above... except that I didn't cook them long enough). I'm gonna go eat one.
Peace out!
-Katie
Posted by Katie at 5:44 PM 9 comments