nix six

if you don't live in florida or know a teacher then you probably don't know about the madness surrounding teachers and public education. there is a bill that has been passed that will base teacher's pay on how their students do on the fcat, which is a standardized test in florida. this is the craziest thing i've ever heard. one thing that i have learned this year as a teacher is that if the parents don't care about how their kid is doing there is a 99% chance that the kid won't care, no matter how amazing of a teacher you may be. i can't tell you how many letters and phone calls i've made to certain parents and they just don't care and neither does their child, so is it fair for me to be penalized? not only that but teachers in low income schools don't get nearly enough resources like a teacher in a high income school would get. a teacher can seriously only do so much on their own. 

for a kid to have the best chance at being successful they need a good teacher, caring parents, and a good school that is providing the child with the appropriate resources to learn. if one of those components are missing it's going to be rough. sometimes you do get those kids that come from horrible parents and horrible schools and they do amazing things but come one, thats the exception, not the rule.

i think the main factor is parenting, i know i did well in school because my parents demanded it. i remember getting a "c" for the first time and i was terrified to come home.

people don't realize how hard it is and unless you're a teacher you never will. this year has changed my whole view on teaching. i came in with that idealistic view of changing kids' lives and although i still believe that to a certain degree, it's not as easy as i envisioned it.

i think i am a very positive influence in my student's lives but i do see that no matter how hard i try some kids just don't care. and i get it, i work in a very poor neighborhood and some of these kids have it very rough, so school is at the bottom of their list of worries.

 i can't tell you how many days i've come home crying. but even so i still love teaching. i love my students and every now and then you have moments with them that make everything worth it.

but will most of these kids kick ass on the fcat, probably not. not only do i have to deal with uncaring parents but i get no support from my school. anything i need for my classroom or for my students for lessons i have to buy it with my money. i still don't have basic things like dictionaries and math manipualtives so lets not even talk about technology, like a class computer.

and now the state wants to punish teachers like me instead of help us.

another bad thing is that they will not be paying teachers more for higher education degrees. which is so dumb to me. shouldn't you be encouraging educators to be the most educated! 

well i will not be one of those people who complains and does nothing about it so monday i attended a protest which other teachers from dade county. it was nice to see so much support and so many people standing up for what they believe in.

kill the bill!

this is what my master's degree will be worth, garbage!

thank God for good co-workers!

there is still hope though, governor crist has until friday to veto this bill.
pray hard.

see, told you i was back!

slowly but surely easing my way back into blogging.

i really want to share a little bit about my easter weekend.

easter might be my favorite holiday and not because of chocolate bunnies and easter eggs but because of what it represents. it always reminds me and blows my mind how much God loves us. it is so humbling and words can not express how thankful i am to serve such a wonderful savior. 

my mother got me the best easter gift...

 this beautiful cross necklace. but thats not even the greatest part....

the message on the back is so beautiful and has a double meaning for me. it'll always remind me of my mom's eternal love for me as well as God's:)

here's to our heroes

wow it has been a while lovies.
i don't really have a good reason for being m.i.a., just that life has been wonderful and i've been keeping it all to myself. but now i am ready to return to the blogging world.

what really motivated me to post is a special surprise i received in the mail. if you don't know micaela from dolce vita well then you are missing out because her blog is just lovely and so is she and she has a super awesome brother.
a while back micaela asked if anyone wanted to send her brother a birthday card because he was in iraq. i jumped at the chance because those men and women are risking their lives for our country, for us, and that is the least i could do.
well today i received a package in the mail and it was from micaela's brother. i was very surprised because i wasn't expecting anything in return but this is the coolest thing ever! it's an american flag that was flown over iraq on a blackhawk! how many people have one of these?

a million thanks to ssg lechuga not only for this awesome piece of history but for what you've done and continue to do for our country.

bee mine...

i have been a terrible blogger and i think my blog feels very neglected.

my social calendar has been quite empty the past few weeks and all of a sudden everyone wants to hang out. so that is what has been keeping me away from my dear little blog.

well lets go back to valentine's day shall we?

my valentine's day was truly delightful. although i don't have a special someone in my life i was determined to not be one of those people who hates valentine's day just because they're single. there are so many other people in my life who i love and care about and who love and care about me. and i definitely felt loved and appreciated on v-day.

my students spoiled me the most.

then my dear friend, amie, left me these.

i have the best friends.

fill in the blank fun

1. I am hoping my Valentine's day this year includes,   a boy would be nice, not going to lie lol  .

2. My biggest guilty pleasure is   watching the disney channel, i love it  .

3. I am most proud of   how much i've grown and matured in just the past year .

4. If I could choose one outfit to live in it would be   a cute dress, tights, and heels  .

5. People are  very inspiring. the more people i come across in this blogging community the more amazed i become at all the talent and creativity  .

6. I would rather    receive valentine's from my students     than   receive them from some dumb boy  .

7. I love my    family    more than   anything  .

more hours in a day please

i really do need more hours in a day when it comes to weekdays. i feel like i never have time for anything. after work i run, shower, eat dinner and then i have maybe an hour before i need to get to bed. during that hour i should be doing important stuff like studying for the gkt, working on my application for grad school, or reading my daily devotional but i'm so tired from the day that i just do nothing. then i also want extra time to do non-important things like watch tv, read my book or write a new post for my blog. right now i should actually be in bed instead of writing this but oh well.

anyone else have this problem?

in other news i finally found what i will be sending my person for the knick knack exchange! i'm so happy because i was kind of stressing out about it. i'm not the most creative person in the world so it takes awhile for things to come to me. i think i found the perfect knick knack though because it really shows a big part of me and i love it so i hope she will too.

also krissa received the book i sent  her! she was my person for the book swap.

you can read all about it in her cute blog randomness. 

can't wait to receive my book, i'm so curious:)


{photo credit}

leaving so soon weekend...

this weekend went by too fast. but i guess you could say that about every weekend.

on saturday i spent the day with my mom and we did some shopping, and then we went to see "dear john". the movie was ok, but i actually prefer the book even though at first i didn't care for it much.

on sunday i set out for a seven mile run and i ended up doing an eight mile run! and it was fairly easy for me so that really gave me the confidence to think i'm going to kick butt in the half marathon. 

then at church they had former miami dolphins player, glenn blackwood, as a speaker and he was very inspirational. i love hearing people share their love for God and what He means to them.

of course i also watched the super bowl. i was cheering for the saints, so yay saints! i think its funny how when i was a cheerleader in highschool i had no idea what was going on during football games but after attending a dolphins game last year i have a new love for the game.

so now after talking about football i'm going to be a total girly girl and tell you about the cutest shoes i bought this weekend. they were a steal, regular price $100 and i got them for $23! don't you just love that.

my mom says she thinks i have way too many shoes. i say you can never have enough shoes.

it's the little things

i just need to tell you about the amazingness that is sally hansen insta-dri nail polishes. i love painted nails but i absolutely hate painting them myself and then waiting for them to dry. i also hate when you think they're finally dry and you do something and you smudge a nail and have to do it all over again. but with sally hansen insta-dri my problems are solved! they dry in less than a minute and with only one coat the color looks great. oh sally hansen i love you so!

it's the little things in life sometimes i tell ya!

{photo credit}

dear john

just finished reading "dear john" and i must admit i'm very disappointed. the previews of the movie made it seem so promising, it even brought tears to my eyes (no joke i cry over anything even slightly sentimental). but the book just didn't do it for me. anyone else read the book? thoughts?

of course i will still be going to see the movie this weekend if nothing else but to stare at this gorgeous gentleman.

darn you bug!

hello blog world, so nice to be back!

i've been very sick the past few days which is why i've been slacking on the posting. last week a few of my students had been absent due to a stomach bug and on friday i thought i had done a good job of steering clear from it. saturday i felt so good i even ran 6 miles. yes 6 miles! but then that night my stomach started to feel a little funny and sunday that bug officially caught me:(

 i finally feel better today and i got back to my running(and blogging). 

now that i'm back in blogging mode i want to make a pretty blog header and katie from color me katie (who i think happens to be one of the most creative and inspiring people ever) is being so kind and letting me use one of her amazing photos.

what do you think?

now i just have to figure out how to do it:/

i also must tell you i just started reading "dear john" and i must finish before this weekend so i'll be m.i.a. again for a few days starting... now!

weekend update

i had such a lovely weekend.

this weekend i...

• visited my second home orlando. sometimes it feels more like my first home bc i've lived most of my adult life there and all my wonderful friends are there.
• went to a bridal shower for the fabulous emily who is such a dear friend, i couldn't be more happier for her. she is the epitamy of a sweet southern girl from alabama. gosh i love her!
• ran 4 miles, yay!
• went to viv's going away party. she's moving to the lonestar state. so glad i was able to be there and say goodbye to an awesome friend.
• got to spend time with my old roomie and very good friend, michelle, who i haven't seen in so long it was really making me sad. good thing we changed that!
• had a night of girl talk and wine with aimee and sara, two of my other very dear friends.

i feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends. i just wish i was able to see them whenever i wanted to. 

on my quest for gold, disney princess gold

my run today put me in such a wonderful mood. i did 3 miles today no problemo! i could've done more but i didn't want to push myself too much. i know its just 3 miles but it was such an uplifting 3 miles.

last friday i ran 2 miles and it was cake. so saturday i wanted to go for 4 but for some reason after the first half mile i was dying out. i only did 2 miles and it was the hardest 2 miles. it was so frustrating and i couldn't understand why it was so hard when the previous day it was so easy. i  just wanted to cry and give up.

thats why i am so happy about today because i see progress! my hope has been restored and i know if i push myself a little everyday i'll make it. i was also praying the whole way to the lake before i started my run and He always comes through.

when i get home after a run i just lay on my floor and stare up at the ceiling for awhile. its calming.

live love laugh

i noticed some of my favorite words on my word wall in my classroom.

nice little reminder.

knick knack exchange

i'm joining this knick knack exchange and i'm really excited about it. there's this whole big blogging community out there and this is a great way to meet some fellow bloggers out there. it's a pretty neat idea, everyone who joins is going to get someone and they have to send their person a little knick knack that tells them a little bit about themselves along with a handwritten note. sounds fun and really who doesn't love snail mail?!

i heart headbands

i love this heart headband from ban.do. it would be so cute to wear on valentine's day.