President Spencer

So back in August (the 08th to be exact) Mark and I got called into the Bishop's office.  I actually sort of look forward to this moment. Always hoping that I will get some new calling that I have never done before.  Silly me. This time I did get a calling I have never had before but it was not the calling I wanted.  I was asked to be the Primary President. I actually really wanted to be the Ward Librarian but no such luck. Not even close. When I think about it I really shouldn't have been too surprised that I got this calling.  I mean the last three-four years I have been in Primary as either a counselor, secretary, chorister, or teacher. Its like I have just been being prepared for it.  Still, when he asked me I had to fight really hard not to cry.  We have only been in the ward since June and I had no idea who anybody was so filling callings has been HARD!.  (I still don't know lots of people but am learning quickly) I had substituted a few times in the Primary and couldn't believe how irreverent it was! Well, yesterday at church 3 different people told me how much more reverent the primary was and how they really liked they way our presidency was approaching and changing things.  It just made my day! I know that next week I could go to church and it could be an awful week but at least things are improving. Lets hope it continues to.  Its so hard to have a calling where you have to rely on so many people to make it work.  I mean we have like 12 teachers and if they don't bother to show up or get a sub its so annoying/stressful. I feel like being the Primary President  is giving me Insomnia.  I lay down at night (Especially on Sundays and Saturdays) and just think of things I need to do for hours!  I have really never had problems falling asleep before but now it takes so much longer. I just can't turn my mind off.  Now my biggest (not my only one but the biggest) problem is figuring out Scouts.  Its so overwhelming.  Luckily we have some really good Scout leaders and the counselor over scouts is amazing and willing to do all she can and learn lots.
 In other news, I am still pretty irritated at District 49.  Friday was Mark's last day at Skyview.  He had students just sobbing that he wouldn't be their teacher anymore.  They made him lots of nice cards and brought him lots of cookies. He was only there for half of the day because that morning Mark and I went over to his new school, Horizon Middle School to set up his classroom.  Unfortunately before we could set up anything we had to clean out the mess that the previous teacher (yes the one who now has Mark's job at Skyview whom I pretty much despise) left. She did not even bother to clean out her desk!! It was full of so much crap.  Then we had to empty out all the cupboards and the huge storage closet.  (Maybe its not huge but quite large and she had it so full of JUNK!!) We filled up three LARGE trashcans.  I mean we threw out broken file holders and like 100 Christmas cards.  Can we say Pack Rat?  And now she is sitting at Skyview teaching Mark's classes.  GRRRR!! She is so lucky that I never met her at Skyview or she would get a piece of my mind and it would be so snotty and mean.  Mark always jokes that I have a really good "filter" and do a  good job keeping unkind thoughts to myself but the filter would have most definitely been turned off for her. 
Here is Mark's new (and much improved compared to what it was) classroom.  He found out that he is teaching 3 classes of 8th grade US History and 1 6th grade Western Hemisphere class. The new school is actually an IB school which is a good thing because most International schools use the IB program so it could actually help Mark get hired above others.  I wonder if we should take that as a sign, that we should do two years at this school then look into international schools.  I think yes.

 Front of room

 

The cupboards/closet we cleaned out.

The amazing Mr. Spencer and his amazing map.

What will be the weekly calendar wall.

Do you see that cart next to the whiteboard?  Mark got to check out an LCD projector to keep in his room and a document camera.  Super nice and conveient  to have in a classroom.  It's so much better then an overhead. So those are some good things about moving schools. He also found out that he will start teaching classes on Thursday so he gets two more days to prepare.  Thank Goodness.

Thumbs down to District 49.

Just a few weeks ago I put up a post about Mark's new classroom.  Well kindly disregard that post please.  Mark found out today that he will be moving to a new middle school here in Colorado Springs and will be teaching not 6th grade Western Hemisphere like he was but 8th grade US History.
For the last week or so "rumors" have been floating around his school that there will be three teachers who have to move to a different school. The amazing (said with heavy sarcasm) school district he works for over estimated the number of students his school would have enrolled for the year. They were off by 140!! How do you misplace 140 students?  At another school in the district they were under by 200 so all those teachers have classes of 40+ students.  So three and 1/2 weeks into the school year they decide that some teachers need to be moved around to help other schools that have a higher enrollment.
Now I understand the need to move teachers around but I don't think they are going about it very well. Mark's (former) school takes each of the core classes (Social Studies, Math, Science, and Language Arts) and assigns one teacher from that core to a "team".  Those 4 teachers then work together with the same group of students.  Most of the teachers in 6th grade at his school are elementary certified which goes through 6th grade so they can teach any subject in 6th grade. So what the admin has decided to do is get rid of the Social Studies teachers who are not elementary certified (ie Mark and 2 other teachers) and just have every 6th grade teacher teach one class of Social Studies.  So every Math, Science, and Language Arts teacher will teach three classes of their subject and one Social Studies class. So now 9 teachers have to redo their schedules (and most of the students) and teach a subject that they have never taught or haven't taught for a long time.  To compound matters the school adopted a new curriculum for Social Studies so no one has taught it and they do not even have a text book.  To me that sounds like 9 frustrated teachers and 370 kids who will not be learning much in Social Studies.  Can we say worksheets every day?  As a history-education major that makes me so sad. History can be so fun if you have a teacher who cares and knows the information. I  personally think its really important for kids to learn about other countries. Especially since our government is so insistent that the US be so involved in solving every countries problems.
Another super annoying thing is that Mark's (former) school had to accept a forced transfer this year. (Meaning someone who a different school didn't want to work at their school anymore but is tenured so can't be fired) from the school Mark is being moved to.  So this woman gets to stay at Skyview in 6th grade (basically take Mark's job) and Mark has to move and go take over her old job.  She was teaching 8th grade US History there and now Mark has to.  So Skyview loses a really good teacher like Mark and has to keep this lady no one else wanted.  (She is the only secondary (6-12th grade) Social Studies teacher in 6th grade now) The teachers and admin at  Skyview have all made it clear that it is their loss and Horizons gain.  I know I am biased but Mark truly is an awesome teacher. He knows the stuff and he enjoys teaching. It's sad because he has really connected well with his students and has been enjoying his classes, more so then last year. The principal let Mark know that if there was a position open at Skyview next year to send a letter of interest and he would basically get it. Its nice to know that they are not happy about losing Mark.
So starting Monday (yep three days to pack up his old classroom, make sure his students have current grades, set up a new classroom, meet new admin, meet new teachers, and develop some lesson plans on  subject he has never taught) Mark will be working at Horizon Middle School. (which is not nearly as nice a school as Skyview) The only benefit is that his school is now only 5 minutes away instead of 10 but really that's not worth much in the long run.

All I can say is that this situation makes international teaching and the State Department look better and better. Mark thinks he will take the State department test this October.

The Blanket

Since we moved into our town home in June I thought it would be a good time to switch the cozy super soft fleece blanket Jared had been using for a lighter weight blanket.  Well, those first two weeks Jared had a really hard time settling down at night and falling asleep. I thought it was just the new room but didn't think it would last that long.  Finally it was a little cooler one night so I grabbed the fleece blanket and he fell asleep instantly.  So the next night I used the same blanket and again he fell asleep right away.  It appears that he is much more attached to that blanket then I thought.  Well as time has shown he loves his fleece blankets.  These pictures don't do justice to how cute he is with them. If it is on the ground sometimes he will stop playing with his toys and go tackle the blanket.  He will cover himself then roll all over the place laughing uncontrollably as he does. Then other times he will just lay down on it for a few seconds then go back to tackling it.  He gets so excited to have it. I don't even encourage him to play with it he just goes for it.  I try not to let the white one leave his crib/room but the other ones are fair game. I love seeing how much fun he has with a blanket!  Just imagine thes pictures as one of those flip books!

Downstairs blanket fun!

The pure joy of a blanket!

I ♥ this kid.

A few of my favorite things

 Actually they are Jared's favorite things (but he is one of my favorites so it works.)

We got him the classic stacking rings when we has six months old and he has yet to play with them as they were originally intended.  Instead he loves to push them in front of himself across the room.  He will take them all over the downstairs and up the stairs too.

He loves to climb up the stairs.  He started climbing or crawling up them before he even started crawling.  Often I put him by the stairs then say "come on up" as I walk up.  It's funny when he is crawling up and doesn't see me at the top waiting so when I say "Nice job" or "thanks for coming up" he gets so surprised.  I love it when he gets startled and then breaks into this big grin when he sees it's me.  This past week he has figured out how to go back down the stairs going backwards which is a relief.  I tried having him slide on his tummy and he liked doing it but I think this is much safer. We can just slide down together for fun.

You can just see the books in front of him.  Lately Jared has been really into certain books.  He will sit in my lap or right by me on the couch and wants me to read the book over and over and over again. Currently its a cute lift the flap book that asks where certain parts of the baby are; the eyes, mouth, hands, feet, etc. I always point to the picture of the part in the book and then put to it on him.  It will be fun when he learns where his eyes, nose, mouth, etc are.

We have been trying to get Jared to listen to our voices when we tell him No and then have him respond appropriately by moving away or choosing something else. I know he is young but why let him get used to playing with things when we will just tell him not to later? He is doing a pretty decent job except on this day he really wasn't listening to Mark.  He was playing by the computer and Mark went over and said "No, not a toy."  Then we typically take him over to where his toys are and say "These are your toys." Well this day Mark just gave him the ball reminded him it was a toy and stuck him in the toy box so he couldn't crawl away.  Jared didn't seem to mind. 

He really is such a sweet boy and is doing a really good job listening.  We would rather have him respond to us then have to take everything out of our living room. We will see how he does tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Mark!

Today is Mark's birthday! He has one more year in his twenties.  Last Friday I went into Mark's classroom and wrote all of the weeks assignments on the board for him and on Monday I drew some balloons by the date since it was his birthday.  So one of his students came up to him today and started singing Happy Birthday to him and gave him a stack of candy bars.  He got 2 Twix's, Reese's Pieces, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  (Last week when they were asking questions to get to know him they asked about his favorite candy)  It was so sweet.  He has two students from last year who are aides in his room and so they wrote Happy Birthday Mr. Spencer on the board so he got lots of birthday wishes from his students.  We celebrated yesterday by having some friends over for a delicious Dairy Queen Blizzard Ice Cream Cake and played some games.

He got all the candles out in one try. 

Hope you had a happy day.

Till next August 08th!

Welcome to Room 313

This is Mark's new classroom. He is really happy with it. It is a bit larger then the other one and has more storage.

Front of the room