Weekend recap...
Wow was that a much needed three-day break. Sunday's trip to Philly was a success! We started out at the Franklin Institute, where we bought tickets for regular admission plus an iMax show (note to teachers out there - show your ID, you'll get a nice discount!) - we attempted to buy tickets to the King Tut exhibit but they didn't have any for the early showings so we decided against that. We'll go back up again this summer and check it out because it looks pretty good. Now, the general exhibits were rather boring. I guess it's because they are exactly the same from when I attended in elementary school. We did enjoy the iMax movie though - I think it was called Secrets of the Mummies or something like that - it was interesting. Peter was telling me some pretty cool facts about Egypt and the pyramids - he's been there! One day we will definitely have to make that trip together.
Next, we trekked over to the Art Museum where we decided to grab lunch. Because it was Sunday, it was a pay what you wish day, so that definitely made it cheaper. After lunch and walking around the museum for a bit it was time for the Segway tour! That tour was an absolute blast - we had so much fun. Definitely the only way to see a city. Our tour guide was fantastic and I learned a lot more new things about Philly while having fun on the Segway. Peter loved it too which was my definite goal since this was his birthday gift. Funny/odd piece of information: It is not easy to find a cheesteak in Philly if you are in the museum area. In fact it was pretty much impossible. That's why we ended up eating in the Art Museum cafe. However, we did end up having cheesesteaks - from the Pike Creek Wawa - yummy! Afterwards, it was time for Peter to blow out the candles (for the 2nd time today after his candled birthday bagel in the morning) on his special Cold Stone Creamery cake. It was yellow cake, with his favorite blend of ice cream called Cherry Cake Double take - man is that ice cream good (and fattening, no doubt) - it is cake batter ice cream, almonds, cherries, and honey - yum yum.
Monday we headed down to Dover to visit with my parents. I did end up bring a dessert - a very easy Summer Berry Cobbler from the Martha Stewart website - everyone seemed to like it. My parents got Peter some cool gifts - the funniest one is shown in Photo #3 below.
One of the only times we were side-by-side and not moving!
Notice what flag that is in the background?
Maybe we will hang it up in our neighborhood!
Today...
I feel like I've accomplished a lot today. I was up bright and early with the alarm at 5 AM - actually was ok earlier when our cat, Jasmine, decided she was hungry and it was time for me to get up, and began head butting the door and meowing, so much that Peter had to get up and scoot her away. Usually I get up and do that, but I was so tired I pretended I was sleeping. I worked out at the gym before work, and managed to get everything done off my to-do list. Highlights of the day included finishing my senior grades, entering and submitting into the grading system, finishing lesson plans for my final class for the remainder of the school year (only 6 more days to go, not counting final exam days!, calling Adobe and finding out that we were upgraded from Creative Suite 2.3 to CS3 for free! (woohoo! yea!), ordering samples of all of the Classroom in a Book texts, some miscellaneous grading, and making a deposit of funds for my Technology Thursday program.
Tonight we're having another California Pizza Kitchen pizza. We picked two up at Target last night - BBQ chicken, and tonight's offering,Thai Chicken - which is supposedly one of the pizzas they are known for. The BBQ one was FABULOUS!
Peter leaves for his technology conference in Florida way early tomorrow. I think he needs to get up at like 3 AM. Ugh. I'm not sure how we plan on having him wake-up and me not wake up, but still have an alarm for me to wake up later. He'll be packing tonight, and I think I will too since I'm joining him out there Thursday night through Saturday. I'm still trying to figure out all these new airplane regulations in regards to flying with liquids. I think it is a total scan that they won't let you bring water in the airport anymore - that's totally just to make you buy airport water at like 3-4 times the price.
A New Job...
The past few weeks have been incredibly busy! I've accepted a new position at the newest school in my district, St. Georges. I will be starting up the Business Technology program and teaching both of the strands (majors) for the first year - Computer Software Applications and Web Design/Print Media. I am beyond excited because this is the first time that I will get to build everything from the ground up. The schools is absolutely beautiful - big as an airport it seems, and a very nice design. My classrooms are a good size and, in my opinion, one of the best perks is that they have windows. Over the last five years that I have taught in my district, I've gone from no windows for a year, windows for two years (but with a view of a brick wall, haha), to no windows again in my current classroom. While some feel a view of the outside is distracting, I think it's necessary to avoid feeling so closed in.
Tech Ideas: I've already started working with the district tech guys on various ideas. The projectors have been set up in both classrooms. I think they both will have the entire Starboard setup. I've requested that both Office '07 and Vista be installed on all machines. I know they are going to go with the Office request, but they are still thinking about the Vista install. It's not an absolute necessity, but I like the idea of my students learning one operating system as oppose to transitioning to a new one mid-year or later.
Text books: A colleague of mine has suggested using the Adobe Classroom in a Book series for teaching the various software. I hope to get desk copies of all the books I plan on teaching with so as to spend the summer working with them. I am a huge Photoshop fan so this new job is giving me an excuse to learn the Adobe products inside out. Creative Suite 2.3 has been ordered, but as 3.0 has since then been released, I am going to call Adobe next week to request an upgrade - hopefully for free as the licenses haven't been used yet.
Etc...: Fluorescent Light Panels: Another colleague of mine pointed me to this website, where you can buy these for $39.95 a piece. I think they would look fantastic in a classroom! I'm going to have to see if I can convince my new boss about that. There are several options, clouds, Puppies and Kittens (which looks kind of scary), Hot Air Balloon (also an option, I like this one too), Flowering Tree, and Palm Tree.
This weekend
Looks like it's going to be a beautiful three day weekend. To celebrate my hubby's 28th birthday tomorrow, we are heading up to Philly for the day. I am absolutely terrible with surprises and have managed to tell him about our activity (riding Segways with this company), AND about the birthday cake I special ordered for him from Cold Stone Creamery. I just get so excited about stuff that I can't keep it in. Fortunately, he thinks its funny, but I need to work on that. My parents are planning a Birthday Party/Memorial Day Celebration for Peter on Monday so we will head down to Dover for that. I'm thinking about baking a cake to bring down and am searching the Martha Stewart website right now.
The first thing I heard this morning from a student - "Happy Mother's Day, Mrs. Rysavy!" - she said sweetly. I was taken aback for a moment, as I don't have any children, but then I realized that in a way, I do. 80-some odd children in fact. Certainly puts a different perspective on teaching and how interactions take place throughout the day. Something to think about.