TheAndrew.net

Set up a website for the CHS Business Department.  Hopefully in the future our whole curriculum (or most of it at least) can be put on the web and so on…

My high school FBLA advisor inspired the Centralia FBLA chapter to trick-or-treat for canned good this evening.

It was a great success and if I had her number, which I might find and call her this weekend, I’d call Gay and let her know she inspired me to try trick-or-treating with my students like she did with her students for many years.

Thanks Gay!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, so here we are.

Had a meeting with my principal today to talk about this past year and this coming year.  It went well.  Just a couple things I need to work on, mostly not being a smart ass every once and a while.
Almost every day I’ll say something and maybe include a gesture that I shouldn’t.  About 5 seconds after I’ll wonder why the hell I did such a thing.  I don’t know if I’ve ever come up with a reason other than wanting to show how smart I am at the expense of others.
This especially happens with Em…so sorry Em!

Towards the end of last year I decided that if I could not teach without the aide of drugs I didn’t want to do it at all.  I survived the last couple of weeks without drugs and the summer of huge ups and downs (engaged to a wonderful gal vs. that wonderful gal’s father passing away) until TODAY.

After my meeting with the principal I met with the other business teacher for a little while to talk about the advisory committee we’re putting together and the upcoming business education conference.  While doing all of this I started to feel the anxiety building up like it did at the beginning of this past school year.
Thinking about: what to do in the advisory meeting, what I’ll do that day between the first practice of cross country season (and what to do for practice, and what time) and the advisory meeting, if I’m going to have clothes that will fit for the conference in a couple weeks, if I can get student aid for my Masters program at UCM, and so on.

So I did what I did at the beginning of last school year.  Came home and curled up on my bed.  Em went home yesterday so I sent her a message and talked with her a little bit.

I guess we’ll see what happens and if I can start the year off without the need of anti-anxiety medication.

My book came in Thursday evening, which was a suprise as I didn’t expect it until Friday. Unfortunately didn’t get to take a look at it until Friday as I had to get up at 4:30am Friday to head to school, pick up a school bus, and drive to Macon for my school bus drivers exam.

It’s the most nevervous I’ve been in a long long time, but I passed.  [A bus pre-trip inspection is a pain in the @ss!]  In order to get my CDL license I was given the opportunity to pay the state $70!  Good thing school is reinbursing me!

I got back from the test, paid the state it’s money, and had a few minutes to take a look at the book, Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology by Resier and Dempsey.  Then I packed up and headed to Em’s house for her step-sister Cassi’s wedding on Saturday.

Em, Christy, and Carol did much more work then they should of had to.  But I suppose that’s the joy of having a wedding at someone’s home.

Got back to Columbia a few hours ago and finished reading the chapters I was supposed to for this past week and posted a couple items on Blackboard .

This just in:  I wasn’t quick enough to buy the course book…Barnes & Noble didn’t have it and neither did the Mizzou bookstore!  That’s what Amazon.com is for I suppose.

It’ll be here on Friday!

Since it’s been almost 6 years since I’ve posted to this blog, here are some updates:

1.  I’ve got a new (used) vehicle.  A SWEET ‘07 Ford Escape (copper, or as Em likes to call it…rust colored).  I’ll post some pics up sometime.  Put a bike rack on top an a 7-inch touch screen DVD player head unit in it…so it better last me a while!

2.  I’m coaching cross country this coming school year.  Starting this past monday runners were supposed to be running on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 11am.  I was here today (Wednesday) at 11 and nobody left for a run.  Slackers.

3.  Just found out I was accepted into the University of Central Missouri’s (forever called CMSU by yours truly) Educational Technology program.
Classes started 2 days ago, and I officially go enrolled in a class today, so it’s time to get to work

I vividly remember an evening in high school when mom came home and I told her she had the wrong sleeping bag dry cleaned for me.

She said, "I just can’t do anything right can I?" with a quiver in her voice, went into her bedroom, shut the door and went to bed.

I believe I can understand how she felt.

Today was one of those days where I spent half of the day trying to figure out if it would be worth teaching another year.  Until school let out and I was able to vent a little bit to the other business teacher my answer was almost a loud "hell no, it’s not worth the shit you have to put up with from students and how little money you’re paid for it".

Today students were terrible, I got no break, and there was no network/internet connection in the Ag/Science Building.  Apparantly the head I.T. guy thinks a mouse chewed through the wires.  I highly doubt it….but there’s a good chance we won’t have any connection until after school is out…which means I have to figure out what to do for year end finals for six classes in the next day….everything I had planned means using a computer…which most likely will not be possible.

In the words of Sean Connery, suck it Trebek.

Yesterday was terrible.  Students were aweful.  No break.

Bad day to stop taking my medicine.

I’m ready for this first year of teaching to be over.

I don’t understand how, but it seems like I’ve got more stuff going on now than I did when I was coaching.

Overall, I’d say this year was a great success.  There’s tons to work on for next year, but I think I’m off to a good start.
I’ve also talked to a couple young ladies the past couple days about joining the cross country team next year and they just might do it!

On a different note, Grand Theft Auto IV rocks!

Having no break in a day is possibly the worst idea ever.

I’ve got much to grade, and no plan period today to do it.
For my plan period yesterday, I spend most of the time filling out an FV-4 (money for Vocational Education) trying to get a couple digital cameras, a couple video cameras, etc (including a digital rebel and a hi definition video camera).

When I wasn’t spending time researching prices for equipment I was also getting together FBLA materials for state, including a parent permission form and other stuff I can’t even think of right now.

In Entrepreneurship class [going on right now] I had the students research a section of the current chapter we’re on and develop a presentation that the other students will watch and takes notes from….instead of me taking the time to read the chapter and create the notes myself, which can take more than an hour depending on the topic/chapter.