The Box is out the door. We had until 5:00 tonight to get it out tonight at the UPS store. It's gone. I watched it go out the door on the hand truck. I'm not quite sure what to do with myself now. Guess I'll need to learn how to relax a little bit this week, no? Right now, though, I'm on the verge of tears with the release of getting it all finished and out the door.
We're celebrating tonight with pizza and a movie.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Getting closer!
I have what I feel are good, solid working drafts of all of my entries. Now it's time for major reflection and revision where necessary. Then I have to take out the questions (easily identified by italics), print, and pack the box! I have sent Entries 1 and 3 to a friend to be looked at. Hopefully I'll have those back by the end of the weekend. I'm very excited because I have a baby shower I was hoping to go to today as well as dinner with some friends from out of town tonight. I'll also be able to enjoy Easter tomorrow!
I can't believe this project is finally almost done! It's been such a major part of my life for the last year almost, that I might not know what to do with myself after it's done.
I can't believe this project is finally almost done! It's been such a major part of my life for the last year almost, that I might not know what to do with myself after it's done.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
one week to go
Well, here we are. In the final week. I have my final release day tomorrow. I had a sub, who is a good friend of mine. She called me last night to say that she had to back out because she's very sick and was told to lay low by her doctor. She sounded awful. Poor thing! I don't have sub yet for tomorrow. That's going to make some people upset, but I've done what I needed to do. I'm sorry there's not a sub, but I'm not working tomorrow at school. I need to be at home working on my boards.
I have my videos for all of my entries now. I just have to get my last one finalized and put onto the DVD. I can do that next week. Luckily, it's a short one. It won't be any longer than 6 minutes long.
I have a good weekend for working. I need to get most of it done by Sunday night. I'm planning on taking my computer to my in-laws on Sunday so I can work before dinner time.
I have my videos for all of my entries now. I just have to get my last one finalized and put onto the DVD. I can do that next week. Luckily, it's a short one. It won't be any longer than 6 minutes long.
I have a good weekend for working. I need to get most of it done by Sunday night. I'm planning on taking my computer to my in-laws on Sunday so I can work before dinner time.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Down to the Wire
Two weeks until everything needs to be postmarked. I'm parked at the dining room table to write and write and write this weekend. My reward tonight for getting good work done is going to the PBR with J and O. These last two weeks are going to be made extra-tricky by the fact that I am not supposed to be sitting for more than 30 minutes at a time due to multiple sprains in my back. That's actually why I'm out in the open at the table instead of locked away in my room on the bed. There's too much bending and stooping in there.
Right now my focus is Entry 3. I'm working on getting a good draft going. After last weekend's workshop, I have a better idea of what I need to do so I think that my writing time will be more efficient now. That's good. I'm glad I went. $35 well spent. :-)
Friday will be my last release day. I'll be doing loads of writing on Entry 1, since I'm finishing up the video taping for that on Wednesday. A friend of mine is subbing for me. That makes my life easier. I can leave basic lesson plans for her and know that my kids will be in great hands and have a good day. I'll need to talk with her about covering for me in May when we go to Omaha for my sister's med school graduation.
Right now my focus is Entry 3. I'm working on getting a good draft going. After last weekend's workshop, I have a better idea of what I need to do so I think that my writing time will be more efficient now. That's good. I'm glad I went. $35 well spent. :-)
Friday will be my last release day. I'll be doing loads of writing on Entry 1, since I'm finishing up the video taping for that on Wednesday. A friend of mine is subbing for me. That makes my life easier. I can leave basic lesson plans for her and know that my kids will be in great hands and have a good day. I'll need to talk with her about covering for me in May when we go to Omaha for my sister's med school graduation.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Home Stretch
Today was Home Stretch. It went from 9:15-4:30 at one of the high schools in my district. How nice to be able to get up and get out the door at a reasonable hour! People were there from all over the western side of Washington. I saw some friends there I hadn't seen in years. One in particular whose wife and b-i-l played in my wedding. It was great to see him!
My box isn't due until the end of the month (postmarked by March 31, actually), but today was a wonderful day. Two weeks ago, when I was sick for three days in a row, I sent in my really rough draft of Entry 2 to a colleague who is already certified. She read and critiqued it as much as she could within the ethics rules of NB. Her comments gave me some excellent direction for the rest of this entry as well as my other three.
The morning session today focused on the Assessment Center. I know have some really good ideas for helping myself get prepared for that in May. We went through each of the assessments I'll be doing, including doing two retired prompts. I have a better idea now of what I need to work on and what I can only touch on during my studying. That, however, won't start until spring break, which is the first week of April. I'll have homework, but it will be good stuff to do and I'm guessing I'll enjoy doing it.
What was really nice today was being in a group of other EMC Music people. I'm the only music person in my district so far who is (or has) going through the boards process. It's cool to be the trailblazer, but tough as well because noone in the district has been where I am. Things are very different between music and the other areas. For starters, people in other areas only have to video tape two of their entries, I have to do three (Entry 1 is showcasing student work. Since music is performance-based, not pencil and paper-based, my student work is shown on video.) The good thing is that I have far fewer standards to learn than others (8 as opposed to 16 or more in some areas).
My portfolio is slowly coming together. Things will be ready to go on March 28, when I'll be putting my box in the mail. There's not a choice in that. I'll be glad when this part is done. It's been a great experience, but it's really coming down to crunch time now. I will be spending most of the weekend before the 28th working really hard. I'll have a couple of big rewards for hard work, though. I have a release day (my last one) on March 21. That night, the three of us are going to see the Wiggles here in town. The next day, there is a baby shower for one of Jeff's cousins for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I'm hoping to be able to use that as a reward for hard work. I'll need a break anyway at that point. Time to lock myself in the bedroom and start pounding out entries!
My box isn't due until the end of the month (postmarked by March 31, actually), but today was a wonderful day. Two weeks ago, when I was sick for three days in a row, I sent in my really rough draft of Entry 2 to a colleague who is already certified. She read and critiqued it as much as she could within the ethics rules of NB. Her comments gave me some excellent direction for the rest of this entry as well as my other three.
The morning session today focused on the Assessment Center. I know have some really good ideas for helping myself get prepared for that in May. We went through each of the assessments I'll be doing, including doing two retired prompts. I have a better idea now of what I need to work on and what I can only touch on during my studying. That, however, won't start until spring break, which is the first week of April. I'll have homework, but it will be good stuff to do and I'm guessing I'll enjoy doing it.
What was really nice today was being in a group of other EMC Music people. I'm the only music person in my district so far who is (or has) going through the boards process. It's cool to be the trailblazer, but tough as well because noone in the district has been where I am. Things are very different between music and the other areas. For starters, people in other areas only have to video tape two of their entries, I have to do three (Entry 1 is showcasing student work. Since music is performance-based, not pencil and paper-based, my student work is shown on video.) The good thing is that I have far fewer standards to learn than others (8 as opposed to 16 or more in some areas).
My portfolio is slowly coming together. Things will be ready to go on March 28, when I'll be putting my box in the mail. There's not a choice in that. I'll be glad when this part is done. It's been a great experience, but it's really coming down to crunch time now. I will be spending most of the weekend before the 28th working really hard. I'll have a couple of big rewards for hard work, though. I have a release day (my last one) on March 21. That night, the three of us are going to see the Wiggles here in town. The next day, there is a baby shower for one of Jeff's cousins for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I'm hoping to be able to use that as a reward for hard work. I'll need a break anyway at that point. Time to lock myself in the bedroom and start pounding out entries!
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