Sunday, November 25, 2012

Things to Remember in Our 20s

at 9:43 PM 1 comments
So the base idea for my blog is this feeling of being in Limbo. That we haven't yet started real life. I try to keep non-craft or -education related life experiences out of this blog, but this is relevant.

Christmas Card Holder Wreath

at 9:04 PM 0 comments
Christmas is coming! And I LOVE Christmas cards! But the problem is always finding a way to display them all.

Growing up we hung them on the wall with tape around the door way between the living room to the kitchen. As we moved, trying to find a place on the wall that had enough space got challenging. And in our new place, the tape and paint kept having fights. The paint won. We've also tried various cardboard and metal card holders from those catalog sales they send out in elementary school. Nothing worked well!

So when I saw this awesome idea, I got excited! I first got the idea from Pinterest, but the link lead to a photo. Good thing I'm creative.

Harley Quinn

at 8:41 PM 0 comments

 

Way back in April I got the idea to be Harley Quinn for Halloween this year. For those of you who don't know who that is, she's the Joker's girlfriend in the old Batman Cartoons from when I was a kid.


Now, I absolutely love her, and I really loved the idea of her, but I did not want to wear a full on jumper suit, like she does in the cartoons.


I googled some costume ideas of her, and saw some pre-made costumes that were really ugly. But they did give me some ideas.


Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Dreaded Parent Phone Call

at 6:58 PM 0 comments
Recently I changed my Consequence Chart. First check is a warning, second check is letter copying... Those stayed the same. Third check was originally phone call home, but has now become "Break Buddies" (owe me time at break) and fourth check changed from "Office" to "referral" (basically the same thing, but now I have the option to send them out or keep them in and write the referral later).

Why did I take phone call home off, you ask?

A couple reasons.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Preparing Little Humans

at 6:45 PM 0 comments

Thought I'd share the sentiment.  The poster says it so well!
Saw this on Pinterest with a broken link. Tried to find the real site, but was unable to.
If you know the real source, please let me know! 


Dream Job: Wendy's!

at 6:28 PM 0 comments
Now, we all get students complaining about what we teach, questioning the relevance, and coming up with ridiculous ways to get out of doing work...

I have a student who has been doing all of the above lately. And I thought I had set her straight with the "You're learning skills like following directions and formats, and problem solving" speech.

Today as we were working on creating foldables for Compare and Contrast Essay Formats, she said that she didn't need to do this and announced that her dream job was to work at Wendy's.


Monday, October 29, 2012

Paragraph Pessimism

at 7:26 PM 1 comments
Woke up in a surprisingly good mood for a Monday after I messed with my sleep schedule. But teaching is tiring. Don't let anyone tell you different. If it's not tiring, you aren't really teaching. And now, it's only Monday and I'm already drained...


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Yarn Letter

at 8:29 PM 0 comments

                                    

I recently attended a birthday party for a 6 year old. I wracked my brain on what to get her. I usually get her art projects, but I know that they've been busy lately, and might not have time. I also wasn't sure what else a 6 year old would like. So I decided to make something for her wall!


Autumn Projects

at 8:17 PM 0 comments

 I love Fall! It's my favorite season. However, living in California leaves me with a serious lack of awesome leaves.  

Hot Peppers... and other Vignettes.

at 7:42 PM 0 comments
As my students were working on their warm up and writing in their agendas, I hear a disturbance coming from the right side of my classroom. Now, generally, when I hear my loudest girl's voice, a simple "quiet down" restores the peace. This is my best class.


Sunday, August 26, 2012

Pinterest-aholic!

at 9:15 AM 0 comments
If you're reading this right now, you're probably one of my friends and therefore you know just how much I'm on Pinterest... The fact that there's an iPhone app just makes it more accessible.

BUT I feel fully justified in being on there because I'm actually utilizing ideas I get from there.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Craft: Drawstring Bags!

at 6:54 PM 0 comments
Before leaving for my new job, I wanted to make a present for my summer coworkers and staff. Since nobody had agreed on a sweatshirt design for the summer, I thought it would be cute to have something that matched and said their names on it for the annual over-nighter. The week I left was that week, so I spent a Sunday creating these cute bags for them.

Materials:
Cloth (varies depending on size)
Cord (3.5 yds)
Puff Paint! 
(Possibly a sewing machine...)


When it rains, it pours.

at 5:26 PM 0 comments
While working my beloved job of camp director, I was still constantly scanning the job postings and sending in applications for a teaching position, knowing that recreation cannot afford me a living.
Then, all at once, I had three interviews in, like, a week. Woah.


Sunday, July 22, 2012

Summer Beginings; Year-End Projects

at 6:38 PM 2 comments

Sorry for the hiatus! I was working on finishing up one job, starting another, going on vacation, crafting like mad, moving, and job hunting for the fall.

On top of all that, my entire life plan changed in the course of a month.

But this is not the blog where I'll get into that.

So on to the year-end projects I crafted up for my coworkers I was leaving! After a year working closely with a staff of 10, we did become fairly close. It was bittersweet to leave them, but in the end I think I made the right decision. I've been provided with some new and exciting possibilities (more on that later) and three other coworkers have left the school as well. When you work that close with so few others, any changes would just stretch my already-stretched ability to deal with change. Might as well shake it all up and start from scratch!

...(if you know me only slightly, you'll think that doesn't make any sense with how I really am... But if you know me really well, you will know that's how I deal with change. I start over)...

 The final product looked like this!:



Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The Yearbook Experience

at 9:45 AM 0 comments
During my student teaching, I was able to help with a jr. high yearbook class who used HerfJones (who has a wonderful online program for the kids to utilize). While volunteering prior to my student teaching, I helped a teacher at a high school start up a journalism/yearbook combo class.
I majored in journalism, and was involved in yearbook class in jr. high; I was close friends with the yearbook editors at my high school. 

I thought I was fully prepared for teaching a yearbook journalism class.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Definitely an Experience

at 2:37 PM 0 comments
My current school is a very interesting school, no doubt about it. Not only have we switched classrooms a total of six times this school year, we've also been located at three different sites, and have effectively built our school from the ground up.

We started the year out at two different sites. When I came for the interview, I saw where the school would be located. It was an old goat barn, and four portable buildings.

However, when I accepted the job and came out on the day before classes started, the directions I was given completely confused me ...until I realized that classes wouldn't be held at the school site.
Nope, we started the year out at the local Baptist church, who was kind enough to lend us rooms free of charge. And I say "we" meaning the high school and junior high school. We're a k-12 charter school in the middle of ranch country near the foothills. Our elementary school was located about 10 miles ago, back next to the school site, at the local home owners association building (who did charge us to be there).

And our principal? She was located at the office about 1.5 miles away from our high school, next to the local pizza shop.
That's right... You try having an irate parent, a troublesome kid, or an emergency when the principal is 1.5 miles down the road. Those first few months were FUN. *rolls eyes*

Monday, May 28, 2012

Craft: Magnets!

at 7:32 PM 0 comments
I originally learned this at an Arts and Crafts Faire in run by one of my bosses and her friends in Niles, about 3 years ago. The exhibition of the craft used things like modge podge and UV lighting to dry it, and had a tool to bend the metal of the bottle caps to look cool. I've made some modifications, in the name of cheapness and laziness.

You'll notice that I'll do a lot of different types of crafting... but I don't modify metals, mess with glass, or cut wood. I prefer things that involve paper, cloth, or glue. I love glue. Like, seriously love glue. And stickers. And glitter.

...and this craft uses all three (glue, stickers, and glitter) !!!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Craft!: May Day Flower Wreath

at 9:43 PM 0 comments
My favorite holiday is coming soon! May Day! I'm taking about the traditionally Celtic holiday, not the International Workers Day. I love this holiday for many reasons. Foremost of which coincides with my love of Elizabeth I, historically. Even she was known to enjoy going "Maying" (dropping bouquets of flowers on people's doorsteps) as a child. And of course, the absolute lack of Hallmark around this holiday continues to fuel my love of this holiday.

So in honor or May Day I decided to make a beautiful flower wreath out of paper!

Purple Cupcake Fiasco!

at 9:10 PM 0 comments
So I went to make my friend Gabrielle some cupcakes. She really loves the Pink Champagne Cupcake recipe I found in a Betty Crocker cookbook. And her favorite color is purple.
So I set about making a batch of purple champagne cupcakes.

All was going well, until I went to put the second tray of cupcakes into the oven. My kitchen is fairly small, and so I only opened the oven door half-way. As I was putting the tray in, the oven door started to close. I let go of the tray to catch the falling door... The door closed anyway, my finger was slightly burnt, and, well... the cupcake tray went upside down into the oven.

  

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Craft: Wall Art!

at 6:56 PM 0 comments
Here are some easy and cheap ways to decorate your walls, and make them your own! It seems that art these days, even from places like Walmart and Target, is so expensive! And to top it off, it's unoriginal! They have at least 20 pieces exactly the same at the store you're in, and who knows how many people have them hanging on their walls already!
So... here are a couple of ways to remedy that!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Middle of Nowhere

at 3:57 PM 0 comments
To reiterate just how much in the middle of nowhere I am, here are some pictures of my campus...

Limericks [With pictures!]

at 3:25 PM 0 comments
It's almost St. Patrick's Day! This year our school is having a shindig that lands on the holiday and includes an open house, so I decided to have the students do something special I can put on display for parents. The CAHSEE (California High School Exit Exam) happens to be the week before St. Patrick's Day this year, too. That means the schedule will be messed up and that sophomores (the bulk of our high school) will be missing from classes for two days. So, putting other lessons on hold, I came up with a plan.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

California Charter School Conference 2012

at 3:26 PM 0 comments
Last week we went to the California Charter School Conference in Sacramento.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Craft: Picture Holder

at 4:59 PM 1 comments
During the summer I work as a director at a day camp. I've worked with some of my staff for almost 6 years now and I wanted to do something nice for them at the end of summer. I decided to make picture holders and fill them with photos from the summer.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Many Faces of Me

at 5:34 PM 0 comments



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This is me

An Interview!

at 5:17 PM 0 comments
I got an e-mail from a school I hadn't even applied to. They wanted a .5 RLA teacher. Their other interviewees had found the area too rural. They had a 9/10 English class, an 11/12 English class, Drama and yearbook/journalism classes available. How 4 classes counted as .5 I have no idea. Most of the schools I'd heard of before had 6 periods a day. I'd make 18,000 a year with benefits. All this was in the e-mail they sent me. I read desperation between the lines. I almost said no! I was looking for a full-time job.

Mom said I should agree to the interview, at least for practice.

Who am I?

at 3:43 PM 0 comments
Hello. My name is Nyssa.

I'm a lot of things, and I've been a lot of different things in my life. I tend to relate to different parts of my upbringing at different times, so I won't even get into that right now.

What this blog is about is ...the middle of nowhere.

This past September I got a part-time job teaching in the middle of nowhere (or as near to there as makes no matter).

I'll start by backtracking and telling the story as it happened. I'll also post about lessons, classroom management, and the random musings I get while driving my hour commute to and from school every day.
I may also post things that happen in my life out here, crafts I make, or books I read.

Enjoy!
 

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