She said..."CRAP!"

I don't even know if I have any blog followers... I haven't blogged since Feb. 20th, that's a world record for me! Life's been busy and when you get out of the habit... it's just hard to start again, lol.

This school year has been rather interesting to say the least... I have so many stories to share... For starters, I have an EXTREMELY difficult, defiant little rascal in my class this year... all the other teachers feel bad for me... well today he wouldn't do any of his classwork, like most of the days of this school year (he may be smart but his report card is going to have straight N's, aka F's). So today I looked at him and said "I'm not putting up with this crap anymore, you need to do your work." The class went dead silent... I've never used that word or any other "bad" word for that matter in the classroom, it kind of made me chuckle inside. Needless to say all of my students kept on task for the remainder of the hour:).

What Color?

Dialogue Inside a Third Grade Classroom on Inauguration Day!

We colored a picture of Pres. Obama today. All my brown children, excuse my lack of political correctness…well anyway, all of my brown (many nationalities) students started coloring right away. Meanwhile many of my white students hesitated. Then one girl shouted to the class, “what color do I color him?” Another student said “brown.” She responded, “but everyone says he’s the first black president.” A couple students tried to explain that black doesn’t always mean black. Then a kid sitting at another table said, “just look at Austin, he’s from the same country as Obama.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at all of my students as they critiqued their neighbor’s art work and accuracy. I think they spent a good solid minute or so studying Austin’s lips… Austin was a good sport. He is a really quiet kid and usually doesn’t like attention, but he did today. I was impressed in their interest in today’s events, we had some great discussions. I think I have 24 future presidential candidates for 2040’s elections!

Christmas Newsletter.

Dear Friends & Family,

It's Christmas! WOW! My mom was right, time does speed up when you get older! I decided to write this letter despite the fact that anyone who would read this probably already knows everything because they probably read my blog, but non-the-less, I started this tradition last year so here goes :)...

I spent the beginning of last year not eating sugar, but that came to a halt one day in April. It seems that sugar isn't everything and didn't affect my diet too much. I also spent A LOT of time at home and at school working on my capstone project for my masters. I'm glad to announce that I finished that project with flying colors and I am now a proud graduate of SUU, weird!


In May I ventured off, as I sometimes do, to a new land, NEW YORK CITY! Boy was that an adventure! It was so much fun to be with good friends and see some pretty amazing sites! I absolutely loved going to Ellis Island, I could have spent a few days there! I was also pretty impressed by the Empire State Building. WICKED, the musical, was fantastic too!

Then in July after my friend Molly and I finished up with our masters classes, we went on a 2 week road trip from Utah to Wisconsin! It was BLAST! We stopped to see friends and family along the way! After I got home, I turned around and got on another plane, this time headed to Disneyland...I know what you're thinking, this girls needs to stop playing and start working! Don't worry, I do feel guilty, but I also have ants in my pants and can't stop, I figure I should follow the advice of nearly every married friend that I have, which is, "live it up now before you have kids!"

In August, I unpacked all my teaching stuff at Taylorsville Elementary, where I now reside as a third grade teacher in Room 16. I am really liking it! Change is always hard but I think the pro's outway the con's with this one. I love having my very own classroom, none of that rotating business of a year around school. Learning the third grade cirriculumn has kept me busy and on my toes. Third grade feels like my nitch, I hope not to change grades anytime soon. I work with a great staff and wonderful students, the parents are the only disappointing factor...

For my fall break, I went with my mom and sister down to Sacramento and San Francisco. We had a great time! Laughing, gettting lost, yelling at the GPS, and meeting up with friends and family was awesome! We're thinking that we should go on yearly roadtrips from now on!

A couple of weeks ago I went to Chicago and hung out with Molly! We went to all the fancy stores, had the famous Chicago Pizza, and went to the top of the SEARS tower...I think I've been to most of the tallest buildings in the world now...I'll have to think about that one.

I took a balloon art making class this year, my students are quite fond of this new skill;)! My piano lessons have been kind of touch and go lately...between the masters and transitioning to a new school they got a little neglected. I learned a little more about myself this year, that's been good and bad, but mostly good, lol. I've learned that I love the temple and I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm excited to celebrate Christ's birth. I love this time year, where I can reflect on the Saviors life and make an extra effort to become more like him. I wish you all the Most Merry Christmas of them all! Thanks for being great influences in my life!

Love,

Tiffany

Christmas Work Party

Left: Jana & Leslee (2nd Grade) Right: Alisa (Kindergarten)

Left: Aubrey (6th grade) Right: Marcy (Principals wife and old co-worker.)

Marcy (Jon's wife & old co-worker) Susan & Dianne our Awesome secretaries!

Tasha & Becki, these are my third grade teammates! They are so fun to work with!

Our Christmas work party was held at our principals house. It was so nice! All but 2 or 3 people came! It was one of the nicest work parties I've been to! Thanks to our awesome secretaries! I am beginning to really like my new school and the staff.

Finley Funnies!

Finley Funnies is a Column I'm writing here in my blog and is dedicated to the great things kids say!

This week in Camp Finley... (Student's actual names will not be used.)

Darren: "Miss Finley, um, some people think I speak Spanish, but I don't. I'm not a Mexican. I speak Navajo."

Henry: "Can we have a talking time? Because you always say this is a working time, or a reading time, or a listening time, or a taking turns to talk time, but can we just have a talking time?"

Libby: "Miss Finley, do you like your shirt?"

Miss Finley: "Yeah, I like it alright."

Libby: "That's my favorite shirt of yours!"

Ben's classwork: When given the assignment to write two words that when put together, make a new word, otherwise known as a compound word wrote: Bill + Ding = Billding. It took me a minute to figure this one out. He meant BUILDING! What do you think...time to teach the difference between syllables and compounds?

Flashback Funny:

My second year of teaching I had the two funnies kids ever in my class. I really wish I could write their names and pay them tribute to their comedy! Let me paint a picture of these two boys who where best friends. One boy was very small, maybe kindergarten size but in second grade. He had a speech impediment and had a hard time say his "r"s. For privacy, let's call him Larry, and for the sake of painting a picture let's give his code name with two R's because his had two "r"s. Saying his name was obviously not easy for this little guy. The other boy was his best friend! They were inseparable! Let's call him Tanner. He was larger than the other second graders and let's just say most kids would know not to mess with him. Both boys were very intelligent.

Now for the funny story. On Secretaries day I had the kids write letters telling the secretaries how wonderful they were. Tanner wrote a very clever letter, not out of the usual for him. Larry wrote a very simple, get the job done type a letter, also very typical for him. He was very gifted, but smart enough to know that a simple letter would get him the same grade as a very detailed letter. Larry decides to read Tanner's letter. Now remember, Larry can not say his "R's!" As Larry gets to the end of reading this letter where Tanner has written:

"Love Literally, Tanner."

And the rest the conversation goes as follows:

Larry: "You don't literally love the secretaries!"

Tanner: (being the sweet boy he was) "I literally love them!"

Larry: "No you don't, that's not possible!"

Tanner: "I really, literally love them."

Larry: "No, you literally love your mom and dad, but not the secretaries!"

Tanner: "And I literally love the secretaries too."

Larry: "No, you literally love your mom and dad, or your family, but not the secretaries."

Tanner: "I literally love them."

Larry: (as he shouts across the room to me) "Miss Finley, can Tanner literally love the secretaries?"

Miss Finley: "There are different types of love."

Tanner: "See!"

Larry: "Hm, I still don't think you can literally love them."

Introducing Roxy & Rocky!

On Saturday at the Fair on 9th & 9th, I bought my first pets! My very own...this is a big step for me...I am now responsible for two African Dwarf Frogs! They are adorable! I've always wanted a pet frog and I've always wanted to name a pet Roxy, so there you have it! They are going to be class pets too. They met the class yesterday and of course they love them! I named Roxy and then I let the students make suggestions and the majority voted that Rocky would be the other name. Roxy and Rocky will always be smaller than a quarter and live underwater. They eat brine shrimp that sinks to the bottom of the tank. Pray for these frogs...I can't let them die!

Classroom Visiters, You are LOVED!

In all my years of teaching (4 years, hehe) I've never had so many friends/family visit my class! On the first day of school my roommate Niki came to visit and they loved her of course! She even brought them a treat! She shared with them that she is a phlebotomist and now they refer to her as my vampire friend!

Then this past Tuesday my friend Tyler came to volunteer. He pulled kids out and read with at least half of them. They loved it! It's so nice to have another person around helping the kids become better readers! (It takes a village to raise a child...I really believe that!)

Kristy (my BFF since we were 4!) also came on Tuesday! I was shocked! She's never been to my class before in "all" my years of teaching...it made my heart do a little square dance! I was so glad she came. They asked her all sorts of questions about me, like what kid of student I was, if I ever got in trouble, and what kinds of things I liked to do when I was a kid. It was a riot!

Lastly, my mom came YESTERDAY! Go mom! She came to my Kindergarten classroom back when I had no teaching skills...hopefully she'll think I've improved since...ha! The kids thought she looked young enough to be my sister...even some of the teachers thought that! It was pretty funny. I'm crossing my fingers for the same genes! My mom brought them all a sucker and boy did she win their hearts over! Mom helped some of them with their graphing work, again, it's always so nice to have another person helping out in the classroom!

So thanks friends and mom!!!!!!!

PS If any of you readers want to come get warm fuzzy in my class, come on over! They're eight, they don't bite, they will absolutely adore you!

Cookie Dough...Breakfast of Champians...Or Teacher's Choice...

So today as I was walking with Tasha to get my students to start the day, I turned to her and said "Guess what I had for breakfast?" At the same time we turn, look at each other and say "cookie dough!" First of all, creepy! Secondly, who eats cookie dough for breakfast!?!!? Breakfast for champions (aka teachers) I tell you! Both of us have kind of had a rough week, dealing with IECSD (Internal Emotionally Confused Singleness Disorder). But have no fear, I calculated the points of the cookie dough into my daily allowance...no serious damage should occur;).

PS I'm not sure if I've mentioned that I'm doing Weight Watchers (WW)... Seriously, I love this "diet," I mean new way of life!

Camp Finley is Back in Business! Now Located in Taylorsville!

So, so, soooo much to say… I started teaching at Taylorsville Elementary School two weeks ago! New school, new district, new grade! Talk about a whirl wind of changes!



THE PERKS:

My students are ADORABLE!

I love my team and my principal!

It only takes me 12 minutes to get to my new school!

I get paid a couple thousand more a year!

Insurance is an awesome price!

Did I mention I love my team!



The Kidos:

I think I’m really going to like third grade! I love that the kids are older and are able to do so many more things and understand bigger concepts.

We had parent teacher conferences the first week of school and that was a little strange…I looked up their test scores from the year before and to help me and the parents make goals for the upcoming year. Meeting the parents is always interesting...entertaining, frightnining, and a lot of "ah ha" moments:)!

One set of parents argued about the custody their child right in front of me! A few parents needed translators. Something I never had at my last school... One family is from Somlia, Africa and we didn’t have any translators for them, so the fourth grade son translated and did a pretty good job (I’m assuming).

Another event from this kid involved slapping, punching, black eyes, and in school suspension!
This kid hates school and thinks everyone is an “ediat” spelled by him…

So needless to say, my new school is going to have it’s challenges…oh, and did I mention their reading levels, I have students who barely know their letter sounds up to kids who can read at a sixth grade level! I have my work cut out for me…but I feel empowered, knowing I am teaching children who really need it and appreciate it! Bring it on!

M. Ed. Master Educator...I am still pinching myself!

Molly, Justin, Me

The 3 Musketeers...we started together and finished together! Molly and Justin are phenomial teachers, I'm so glad that I was able to learn from them and be inspired to become better!

Molly and I became best friends in the midst of this program! Not only did I get a master's degree, I got a best friend out of it! Man what a blast! Sadly she moved to Wisconsin:(. PS, she doesn't love silly poses...I forced her into to this one:).

Molly and Me...the serious pose! Oh and if you look close you can see my shinny red nails...Molly took me to get my nails and toes done for my birthday, thanks Molly, you're awesome!

This is us on our last day working away...actually I'm pretending to work...hehehe! Fooled ya huh!

I keep pinching myself, I just can't believe it...the years just keep flying by. I've decided it's all about enduring and believing even when you think you can't do it anymore or that you're not good enough. Let me tell you, there were some dark nights staying up 'til 4 in the morning for a brief nap...I remember pleading with the Lord to just help me make it through it and to love myself no matter what grade I got:). I also remember thinking getting a Masters was a breeze (hard to believe, huh, even for myself). Those days were very few, they were the days when I had all my readings done, assignments in order and when I felt like I was becoming a master teacher and applying new things in the classroom.

My dad asked me when I was going to get my PhD and I said "NEVER!" I really don't think I will, really. Then I again, I also almost dropped out after my second year of college. My friend Kristy's mom called me and convinced me to stick with it and I'd be grateful, thanks Shirlene!

I believe in being a life-long learner (not necessarily college) but I want to keep taking professional development classes and being the best teacher I can, but also taking fun community classes like art and balloon making, maybe some Spanish classes.

Well there you have it!

"Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game!"

"Dreams DO come true, everyday!"

Goodbye Foothills Elementary...

The picture above is from the beginning of the year! Each student is holding either a life skill that I teach or something to go along with our camping theme! Below is a picture of us on our field trip at Cabella's!

This picture is like where's Waldo, but where is Miss Finley!?!?

I've been meaning to blog about this for ages...July 1st was my last day at Foothills Elementary and in Jordan District. It was so hard to say goodbye because I work with some really amazing people and I've come to know a lot students and people in the community... One of my darling little students mailed me a letter today and it just flooded the great memories! I love being a teacher! Of course there are good days and bad days, but I feel truly happy when I'm right there working with students helping them master skills that they will use for the rest of their lives! I'll stop with the mushy stuff, I just had to say goodbye to Foothills, it's time to start a new:).

Packin' UP CaMp...SAD...

I decided that now that I'm moving out, I better put up some pictures!

Thanks to my friend Amy Cady...I have this lovely sign to greet my students!

Left: Tissue paper butterflies...yay for the life cycle of a butterfly! Right: Word Wall: All of the words have been falling off, yikes! Time to move...

Left: "The Forest" aka Camp Library Right: Pattern Kites

Left: Packin' up! (If you look closely you can see my really awesome chair pockets that a mom made for me last year!) Right: It's CRT time, basically, end of the year testing...so we had some "brain food" and I tried to take a cool picture...

Oh and here are the life skills I'm always talking about...

Man, my blog is so BORING lately. Sorry friends! It won't be this way forever, I promise! I've been consumed by school lately because of a project I'm working on for my masters and then I'm also moving schools, so I've been packing up. I haven't been able to sleep lately either...I should take a picture of my right eye...it is fiery red because of stress, oh my! Some of my co-workers thought it was pink eye, but no worries, it's just stress. And don't worry about my stress...it's the good kind. I'm getting lots of stuff done and feel like I'm somewhat on top of it:). So the no sleep results in doing more homework and blogging because I get sick of doing homework. I'm also planning on publishing this blog at the end of the year so that I can have a journal of 2008, so I guess it's good that I write the boring stuff too, for posterity and all... I don't want them thinking life doesn't have it's ups and downs! And sometimes what seems like the downs are really just the runway for the ups!

"Remember not to..."

I found this note on the floor after school the other day, it made me laugh out loud! For those of you who have trouble reading second grade writing it says

"Dear _____,

We can probably make bracelets. Those will be our sun and moon because we are the real sun and moon. Remember not to use your magic unless you need to!"

ROCKS!

Igneous * Sedimentary * Metamorphic

So pretty much my class rocks! We've been learning about actual rocks the past few weeks too! We've learned that there are 3 classes: Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic. So this week we tied in a little bit of writing with our rock unit and came of with these poems! And a HUGE shout out to Molly who has inspired the poet within me these days! You really should click on her name and check out her students' poems! Obviously my students all used the same format, but it's kind of fun to see what they came up with...if this is just a proud teacher moment and this really just bores all of the non-teachers out there, just glaze over this post, no offense taken! HA! Tell me which number poem you like and I'll give them a prize! HA!

Rocks here, rocks there,
Rocks, rocks everywhere.
Cool rocks rolling.
Shinny rocks laughing.
Heavy rocks clapping.
Rough rocks shooting.
Rocks are formed by fire.
Rocks move by water.
Rocks are great!
Rocks are shinny.
Rocks here, rocks there,
Rocks, rocks everywhere!
ROCKS, ROCKS, ROCKS!


Rocks here, rocks there,
Rocks, rocks everywhere.
Pointy rocks shooting.
Bright rocks hiking.
Shinny rocks driving.
Red rocks talking.
Rocks that I love.
Rocks are pretty.
Rocks are flying.
Rocks are landing.
Rocks here, rocks there,
Rocks, rocks everywhere!
ROCKS, ROCKS, ROCKS!


Rocks here, rocks there,
Rocks, rocks everywhere.
Smooth rocks shooting.
Red rocks hiking.
Shinny rocks rolling.
Rocks are cool.
Rocks are awesome.
Rocks are sweet.
Rocks are nice.
Rocks here, rocks there,
Rocks, rocks everywhere!
ROCKS, ROCKS, ROCKS!


Rocks here, rocks there,
Rocks, rocks everywhere.
Colorful rocks dancing.
Shinny rocks rolling.
Hard rocks running.
Layered rocks blinking.
Rocks are rough.
Rocks are friendly.
Rocks are cool.
Rocks are formed by heat.
Rocks here, rocks there,
Rocks, rocks everywhere!
ROCKS, ROCKS, ROCKS!

Goodbye Jordan...

I wrote this letter a little while back...it was so hard for me to type each word...it was especially hard to sign the hard copy! I love teaching at my school. I love my principal, my fellow teacher friends, my students, and boy have a learned a lot!

To Whom It May Concern:

I would like to inform you that I am resigning from my position as an educator for Jordan School District, effective July 2, 2008.

Thank you for the opportunities for professional and personal development that you have provided me during the last three years.

I have enjoyed working for the district and appreciate the support provided me during my time with the district. If the opportunity presented itself, I'd like to return.

If I can be of any help during this transition, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Tiffany

I've decided to move to a school near where I live because of the commute and the price of gas these days! I am currently commuting 35 minutes one way right now. It's ridiculous...and man has my wallet noticed the past couple of months!

There are a few other benefits to moving to the district I live in. I will be teaching at a traditional school, which means, SUMMERS OFF! Although, honestly I think I like year around better because of the breaks and the traveling... The even better part of being traditional is that I won't have to rotate classrooms every 9 weeks! Hallelujah! Man, that alone is enough to move schools! I will actually have my very own classroom, no more packing up and taking down, putting up bulletin boards and cleaning out desks, then finding those odds and ends every move. However, moving every 9 weeks has kept me very organized and keeps me pretty level headed about what I need to keep around and what I can do without:). Another benefit of moving is that I'll get paid more and the insurance for my new district is much cheaper. There are a lot of pros and cons and I could go on forever, but yep, there you have it! I'm changing districts!

Oh, how could I forget, I am going to be teaching 3rd grade! I know I will already love my principal because he taught in Jordan for years and I he did his internship at my school.

Boy, I've decided that I love change! I've now taught fifth grade (student teaching), Kindergarten, Second Grade, and now THIRD! I have some studying to do...I need to get up to par on my cursive skills, the phases of the moon, multiplication, South America, oh sheesh, there is just so much...I better stop blogging and get studying! My new school is adopting a new reading program and a new math program. I'm glad that I won't be the only one learning a new curriculum!

YOU, yes YOU can make a DIFFERENCE!

My dear friend Molly is a middle school teacher in Wisconson. She has been teaching her students about writing poetry. All of her students are learning English as a Second Language, so it's impressive that they can rhyme so well!

Molly needs our help encouraging her students to continue writing poetry. They have only made it through basic rhyme schemes and patterns. Next, they will be focusing on things like rhythm (the blues!), descriptive voices (thinking abstractly), telling stories or ballads, and then they'll break the mold with their own unique forms of poetry. All of these forms of poetry will be very challenging for her students.

This is where she needs your help. She has a blog where she posts every single poem that her students write. They check it religiously for comments. She would forever appreciate it if you could take some time out of your busy schedules and check out their blog. If her students knew that people outside of their classroom community were reading and responding to their poetry, then they'd really turn up the heat!

The website is http://cragunsplace.blogspot.com (also a link on the side of my blog). You can write a short and sweet comment by selecting anonymous, and then publishing the comment. It would be nice if you included your name under your comment so they don't think it's just Molly. There are only 38 student poems, but there will be many more by this time next week!

Welcome to Earth!

My friend Allison at work (and my reunited 2nd grade friend) had a couple of babies on Tuesday! It was so neat to hold these precious little guys and to know that it was their first day here! Alden Jeffrey arrived at 3:32 a.m. and Ammon Zachary at 3:36 a.m. Both boys weighed 5 lbs. 5 oz. and are 18 1/2" long.

Allison & Ammon (I think:))

Adam, Allison, Ammon, & Alden (the "A" team!)

Mrs. Redd (Natalie) & Mrs. Peterson (Danielle)

Me & the boys!

I'm HAPPY on the inside!

2 ten page papers, 3 nights of 4ish hours of sleep, 22 report cards, 22 parent teacher conferences, 1 forgetful moment of leaving my purse at school and having to borrow money to put gas in my car, 1 morning of getting the apartment ready for the carpet to be cleaned, 1 fun night of LOST watching, 1 Friday night of class from 5-10PM and 1 Saturday of class from 8-4PM later...I'm alive! It's been a long week, but I've made it!!!!!!!! I'm actually in class right now, ssssssshhhhhhhhh:).

You know it's been a very long week, but it hasn't been as bad as I would have imagined. I feel blessed to have great friends who have supported me each day! Thanks for listening to me rant!

DiD YoU FeeL ThE LovE?

One more single awareness day down, how many more to go? Haha, jk! So yesterday was an interesting day to say the least. The weather was horrendous! On my drive to school I received a text from my 16 year old bro. saying that all the schools in the district were having a delayed start due to weather conditions. Since I was already on my way, I got there way early and had extra planning time!!! Yay! I love being in my classroom! The kiddies loved it too! Only 10 kids in the whole school showed up at the regular start time. In a district not to far from here, about 60 kids had to sleep at the school because of the roads. People on four wheelers brought food to them. A bunch of teachers at my school were so greatful that didn’t happen to us. I told them that I would have welcomed the emergency! A sleepover with a bunch kids in snowstorm would have been a blast! Imagine all the games you could play and all the stories to tell and what a funny memory to have! Oh, when I was in the office, one of the secretaries was teasing that because of the two hour delay I would have to stay an extra 2 hours and I said “just because I have no one to love doesn’t mean I don’t want to love myself!” She started laughing☺.


Our class Valentine party consisted of Valentine Bingo, cookie decorating, and passing out our valentine goodies. To the left is a pic of the most creative valentine.... attached to the note is a bag of popcorn! The kids had a blast, they were so wound up! They were precious though, I love how kids can love so much! Today a little boy who’s been a bit stubborn with me lately gave me a hug…man, hugs make my job so worth while, even the rough kids have a heart, if only all adults had one☺, lol!

I went and saw the fam at night. Niki came too! We brought my family 2 liters each of their favorite sodas! Then we went to Niki’s fam. From there we went to a Valentine party, we only played spin the bottle for 20 minutes…just kidding! So how did the rest of you celebrate? Any romantic dinners? Creative ideas to share? I've always liked the day...regardless of circumstances...how about you, do you like this love honoring day?

Do you know anyone with a booger problem?

I’ve got quite the solution to this terrible bad habit! On Wednesday, one of my students came up to me and said (I’ll be using fake names to protect the kidos) “Miss Finley, Jane won’t let me play with her snap bracelet.” I replied, “why is that?” Very angrily he responded, “because she says I pick my nose and she doesn’t want me to touch it.” I simply told him I agree with her, I wouldn’t want someone playing with something of mine if they picked their nose all the time…he pouted for a little bit and then I told him to wash his hands and maybe she’d let him see it.

The next morning, he came in, walked straight to my desk and pointing at his fingers said, “look at my fingers!” I looked and saw Band-Aids on every finger! He told me that they would keep him from picking his nose! Go mom! What a great idea! So if you know anyone with the same problem, spread the good idea! LOL!