"I Need A Vacation From My Vacation!"

Have you ever heard that saying? Whew...it's been a busy week! One of you dropped me a comment asking how my vacation is going so I thought I'd update you:

I've been up in the northern tier (Blossburg/Mansfield) for most of the week. Celebrated my niece's 1st birthday on the 23rd with a big bash...of course, she didn't have a clue what was going on!


Came back to Williamsport that night and then headed back up there the next day for Christmas Eve. Went to church and then had a big dinner with the family. Opened presents Christmas morning (I'm going to need one of you to show me how to load songs on my new MP3 player because I just can't seem to figure it out!), had brunch at my brother's while watching the niece open even more presents (their house looked like Toys-r-us!), and then my cousins and god-daughter Heather were up to exchange presents. Heather found out that the big present I had previously put on the blog was a leopard print bean bag chair! Christmas night I slept at my brother's so he and his wife could get a full night's rest...I had baby duty...she did pretty good, just up a few times during the night.

I came back to Williamsport Wednesday afternoon just to catch my breath and check on Joey, the super cat :-) My cousin and her husband picked me up an hour after I got home and we went to the movies to see National Treasure...pretty good/action packed. Then we went to the mall, where I bumped into a few of you, and Wegmans before I finally got home for the night.

I went back up to the northern tier Thursday for a girls' day of shopping at the Arnot Mall in Horseheads, NY and eating out at our favorite spot up there, "Bernie Murray's"! Then visited with my great aunt until bedtime.

Friday morning I visited Ms. Carman, our horticulture teacher, who lives close to my parents. She and her fiance are building their house themselves and are doing a great job! Then I met the family for an afternoon of bowling. I tied my 6 year old god-daughter with a score of 87 on the first game and barely scored over 100 on the second game...but it was fun! Yes, we're all wearing the same shirts...it's a long story...ask me about it in school and I'll give you the scoop.


Met some friends for dinner and then came back to Williamsport Friday night. I need a day of lounging around my house and today just may be the day :-)

Hope you are enjoying your break as much as I am. TELL ME HOW YOUR BREAK IS GOING AND IF YOU GOT ANY COOL GIFTS (please put your name in there so I know who's commenting)!!

Advice From WAHS Grads

Thanks goes out to two of my former students, Naja Thompson and Kirsten Schuyler, who came in today and discussed college life with our Keyboarding & Careers classes. We've been busy researching careers and college options over the past week and felt that hearing from some current college students might be beneficial to our freshmen. Naja & Kirsten did a great job explaining their majors, college life, and more importantly what our high school freshmen need to be doing now and throughout high school to be prepared for their futures.

What I was most proud to hear was that they both felt Williamsport Area High School prepared them very well for the demands of college. They both said that they've seen other college students struggle because they didn't get the level of education that students at our school receive. THIS IS GREAT NEWS FOR US! Many times we, as your teachers, don't hear from our students again once they graduate so we never know if what we do every day makes a difference or not. It's very rewarding when we do hear positive feedback from our graduates or hear that they are doing great things with their lives and for our society.

I couldn't be more proud of these two Millionaire alums. They are set to graduate this spring and you can bet I'll be happy to be there cheering them on as they cross the stage to get their college diplomas. GOOD LUCK to Kirsten as she begins student teaching at Cochran in January and to Naja who will finish up her studies in Communications! THANK YOU LADIES FOR VISITING & SHARING YOUR ADVICE....YOU ARE FINE EXAMPLES OF THE GREAT THINGS WAHS CAN DO FOR THOSE WILLING TO BE ALL THEY CAN BE :-)

Door Decorating Contest

Freshman ELO's were encouraged to decorate their ELO doors in a holiday/winter theme over the past week. The doors were judged today and the winning ELO will be announced tomorrow. I'm hoping my ELO students won (I think they should...AWESOME JOB GUYS/GALS!) because winners get a pizza party on Thursday. GO G202!

Mrs. Baier had a tough time keeping the paper on her door, but I let her borrow my duct tape and then all was well! Her students did a nice job too!


A few other doors that I managed to get pictures of included:
Mrs. Dincher's
Mr. Weaver's
Mrs. Butler's
Miss Saxon's

GREAT JOB EVERYONE....many ELO's participated & your "spirit" is to be commended :-)

It's snowing in Tennessee!

My God-daughter Heather called this morning from TN so excited she could barely form a sentence. She HAD to tell me that it was snowing there. It was great to hear her excitement...made me not want to be miserable with today's weather here. They don't get a lot of snow and this is the first they've seen a flake this season. She was outside with her snowsuit and boots on with a bucket trying to catch all the snow she could! My cousin said it was only flurrying....however, life according to Heather is a winter wonderland in TN! Can't wait to see them...one week from today they'll be here to celebrate Christmas and I'm sure Heather will insist on building a snowman and sledding if we've still got snow :-) In that case, I don't mind being cold and wet from the snow.

HOW DOES YOUR FAMILY CELEBRATE THE SEASON?

SNOW DAYS!

Don't like them for 2 reasons: (1) we end up losing a scheduled day off where I can actually plan to do something or go somewhere, and (2) I'm stuck shoveling snow and not doing anything else. I HATE BEING COLD!

That being said, last Thursday's day off was ok because I got all of my Christmas cards written and presents wrapped. I really hope we don't have any snow days this week. We have a lot to get done before leaving for break! One thing I've told myself over and over again though is that we can't control the weather so it is what it is :-) What do you do on snow days?

And the trend continues...

I truly think I'm doomed in sports this year...don't feel bad if you don't see me at any of your sporting events cheering you on...I don't want to jinx you!!!

Did you watch any football this weekend? Lots of upsets in college football on Saturday. I watched Boston College, Tennessee, & West Virginia all lose...what a shame :-(
Then, of course, the Eagles couldn't get a victory today! I'm speechless...and winless this weekend!!!

'Tis the Season

The tree is finally lit and decorated...now all I have to do is finish my shopping...that'll have to wait until next weekend!
FA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA :)

I did manage to wrap some presents today. My 6 year old God-daughter, who lives in TN, called tonight as I was wrapping her gift...I told her it was HUGE and of course, she's desperate to know what I got her. It's a good thing she only has 23 days to wait! Here's a picture of it in front of my tree...she won't sleep if she sees this picture (notice Joey the supercat napping on the sofa!):


Which reminds me....last weekend I tried getting a nice picture of my soon-to-be one year old niece Madeline in front of my parent's tree for a sentimental gift for my brother and his wife. Although I did get a couple of good pics, Miss Maddy seems to have a mind of her own and didn't really want to pose...check out this shot:



ARE YOU READY FOR THE HOLIDAYS? Drop me a comment and let me know what your family traditions are.

Good Test Scores!

Nice work on your second test! Here are the results, by class:

Period 1 = 91.6%
Period 2 = 91.6%
Period 4 = 86.0%
Period 5 = 90.4%
Period 7 = 90.7%

A Great Break!

Seems hard to believe it's time to return to school tomorrow...yet, I'm grateful for the time off! My break from school was fun, relaxing, and jam packed. WHAT DID YOU DO OVER VACATION?

Thanksgiving day I went to my parents' house for dinner--it's always good to "go home". My 11-month old niece Maddy ate more than I ever knew a little body like that could hold :)



My mom and I braved the "Black Friday crowd"...or so we thought we would! When we got to the mall, we just kept on driving...didn't even try to find a parking spot...I mean really, WHERE DO ALL THOSE PEOPLE COME FROM? We hit some smaller stores around town and did just fine.

Saturday I did some shopping on my own and met up with my best friend from high school and her family. Her dad, my high school basketball coach, was there so I got the low down on this year's North Penn girls' basketball team....GOOD LUCK LADY PANTHERS!

I tried to get the lights on the Christmas tree on Sunday (still working on that task). DID ANYBODY ELSE GET A LITTLE EXCITED WHEN THE EAGLES ALMOST BEAT THE UNDEFEATED PATRIOTS...wow that game peaked my interest yet again in the BIRDS!

This morning I got up early and went back to Blossburg to hang out with my niece while my brother and dad got in some hunting. Unfortunately, all they got was WET...it was a rough opening day for hunters! I headed home in the late afternoon to tackle some more lights on the tree...still not done...should've bought a pre-lit tree! Kinda reminds me of Chevy Chase's movie...it's a must see this time of year and was the only thing I was laughing at while tangled up in lights and tree branches!

Now it's time to rest up for tomorrow's big day back to school! I always feel I need a vacation from my vacation. LET'S GET A LOT DONE IN THE NEXT MONTH BEFORE OUR NEXT BIG BREAK...this is the time of year when some students slip a little on their grades because of all the vacations so stay on top of things and work hard over the next month...then you can truly enjoy the holidays and not worry about school! PROGRESS REPORTS WILL BE OUT IN A FEW SHORT WEEKS...what will yours look like?

"Gobble Gobble..."

“When we are grateful for the good we already have, we attract more good into our life. On the other hand, when we are ungrateful, we tend to shut ourselves off from the good we might otherwise experience.” ~Margaret Stortz

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I wish each of you an awesome vacation full of good times with family & friends. Remember to give thanks for all that you have, tell those you love that you are grateful to have them in your life, stuff your belly with good food, watch some football, go out shopping on "Black Friday" if you dare, and enjoy yourselves.

GOOD LUCK TO THE HUNTERS...bring me a picture of your trophy buck!

I'll see you back in school on Tuesday, November 27....rest up for 3-minute timings and a test on the keys when you return :)

Sorry for your loss Mr. Zangara!

The agony continues for my pal Mr. Z (principal at Curtin). The Eagles beat his winless Dolphins yesterday...I should have bet him! It's ok Mr. Z...the Eagles aren't looking too great either :)

Veteran's Day

DON'T FORGET TO THANK A VETERAN OVER THE WEEKEND....Sunday, November 11 is Veteran's Day! Those who have served, and/or continue to serve, to protect our country and help defend others deserve our gratitude for their courage....regardless of our individual viewpoints on wars. There are 3 great men in my life whom I will mention briefly here in honor of this day:

(1) MY DAD - My dad is a Vietnam Veteran. If you know any veterans, most of them don't necessarily like to talk about their experiences with war and violence. My dad is one of them! He did, however, manage to instill in my brother and I a sense of pride in our great country and respect for our veterans. We've had some great 4th of July parties celebrating the red, white, and blue! Sure, we have our problems in the United States...but, WOW...we also have so many opportunities....opportunities that many people would and have died for! My dad is actively involved with my hometown VFW and American Legion posts so when I go home, I often get to see many veterans at these places and events they hold.

(2) GRANDPA STACHOWSKI - I have the flag that draped his casket at his military funeral 12 years ago...it reminds me daily of the courage he showed to earn a bravery medal during World War II (something he rarely discussed or showed to anyone).

(3) UNCLE ALFRED - I am also blessed to have been given my Great Uncle Alfred's Army ring by his wife upon his death a few years ago. Each day when I open my jewelry box, I see his ring in there (it's like a class ring). It reminds me of his career in the Army and the many years of his life he dedicated to working for his country.

I have many other family members and some friends, as well as former students, who have served or are currently serving our country. I have always tried to support them...just hearing someone say "THANKS" means a lot to them! My dad's card will be in the mail Friday...what are you doing to show your gratitude to a veteran?

Mini-vacation

Just wanted to check in as I promised...Penn State is fun! I'm learning a lot of good stuff at this conference to bring back to you. I've been in touch through e-mail and have heard the majority of you are working hard and behaving for the substitute...THANK YOU! Those who aren't...we'll talk when I return!

Hope you enjoy your upcoming 4 days off...don't forget you're not in school on Thursday and Friday this week! Seeing as though I haven't been in school yesterday or today and won't be back until tomorrow afternoon, you all should be missing me terribly by the time we meet again next Monday, November 12 :) Drop me a comment and let me know how things are going!

AWESOME FIRST MARKING PERIOD!!!

I'm so proud of the hard work you've put in to earn great grades for me this marking period. It's been fun working with all freshmen this year. I must admit, I was a bit apprehensive about not having any upperclassmen this year just because in the past 10 years it's been nice to work with freshmen part of the day and upperclassmen the other part. However, it's been very nice being in one classroom throughout the day as opposed to three and the way we've re-designed Keyboarding & Careers has proved extremely worthwhile as the grades for this marking period reflect.

Out of 88 students, 79 passed with a C average or better! AWESOME JOB STUDENTS :) Here's the breakdown:
A's = 26
B's = 32
C's = 21
D's = 6
F's = 3

Averages for each class:
Period 1 = 90.1%
Period 2 = 86.8%
Period 4 = 88.6%
Period 5 = 83.2%
Period 7 = 88.3%

I HOPE YOU DID THIS WELL IN ALL OF YOUR CLASSES...I'LL BE ASKING YOU ABOUT THE OTHER GRADES ON YOUR REPORT CARDS ONCE THEY'RE DISTRIBUTED!!!

Congrats Bo-Sox Fans!

Boston swept the World Series! Congratulations to all their fans, including my good friend Trace....he's a die-hard :) Watch out for my Mets next year!

Hmmmmm......

They won! Wonder if I should stop watching???

Eagles Experiment

OK...it's Sunday morning and the Eagles play at 1:00 today. I'm going to experiment here...let's see if it works! My mom is coming to visit today, so we'll be headed out for some shopping and eating out. Therefore, I'll not be tuning in to today's game. Let's see if it's me jinxing my teams this year...if I don't watch, cheer, and stress out, will the Eagles win???

Ugly Teacher Contest

Our Interact Club is sponsoring an Ugly Teacher Contest this week and boy do we have some ugly ones! I wish I could be creative enough to join in on the fun, but I can barely crawl out of bed and arrive to school on time in the morning. So I'll play the role of photographer and will try to add some more pictures throughout the week of our UGLY TEACHERS! Did you recognize Mr. Speight a.k.a. "Lil Jon" in the picture above? I think his gold teeth need some dental attention :)

OH MY....the close up is scary:

New Teacher?

My cousin Carolyn and her daughter Heather are visiting from Tennessee. Schools there are closed this week for Fall break....how nice would that be? They stopped in after school today on the way to their family's home in Mansfield. Heather, like all of you, just LOVED my cool chair...check her out "playing teacher" in our classroom!

Un"bear"able...

The Eagles are killing me! It is clearly not a good year for my sports teams. Today's game didn't look great, but I was excited with under 2 minutes to go that we'd get a win out of it....or so I thought! Our defense let the Bears go 97 yards quickly and score a touchdown with 9 seconds remaining---GIVING Chicago a 19-16 win. UGHHHHHHHHHHH....what more can I say?!?

"STRAWS? What are we doing with straws?"

That was the question of the day as students entered class and read the chalkboard for the day's game plan. After giving a test of what keys we've learned so far this year, Mrs. Getz and I decided to put in a little teambuilding activity.

Each student was given a straw and then in groups, they formed circles and held the straws around their circle by fingertips. Then, without talking, they had to perform various movements without dropping any straws. I have to say students, you did better than I thought you would! It was a lot of fun to see how students communicated to each other without talking to keep their team in the game. Circles moved left, right, forward, backwards, down on one knee, all the way sitting down, hopping, eyes closed....ALL WITHOUT DROPPING THEIR STRAWS AND NO TALKING! Well...at least for a little while the straws didn't drop!

Most impressive was at the end of the activity, students discussed the adjustments they realized their team had to make in order to overcome problems they encountered and they found ways to work better together. What an excellent life lesson....GOOD JOB TEAMS!

Watch Your TECHNIQUE!

Technique grades are out! Most of you are doing a great job (see pictures below of a few students caught in good technique form). A few of you aren't happy and have asked me to re-grade your technique, which I'm happy to do after reading what you intend to improve. I'll be re-grading technique between now and the end of the month for those of you that requested me to watch you again so please REMEMBER...sit up straight, feet flat on the floor, fingers on home row, eyes on copy, wrists parallel to the keyboard, elbows relaxed at your sides, and practice good ethics throughout class! Check out these good techniques...

Progress Reports

Not much happening on the sports scene for me, the Mets are done and the Eagles had a bye week! Although, my cousin and her 2 sons are attending tonight's Monday night football game in Buffalo so I'll be tuning in to see if I can find them on tv!

Just reminding you that progress reports are out and you should be receiving them in the mail if you haven't already.

PARENTS: if you haven't seen any reports and are wondering how your student is doing, don't hesitate to contact specific teachers or guidance counselors (323-8411). We are more than happy to discuss our students' progress with parents and look forward to hearing from you.

STUDENTS: we have less than 4 weeks to go in the first marking period....19 days to be exact! Get moving and get caught up if you're behind...now's the time to dig in and get yourself off to a good start with your grades for this school year! Talk to your teachers, ask for help, and be willing to put forth the effort....I guarantee good results if you choose to focus on that. HOW ARE YOU DOING IN ALL OF YOUR CLASSES? LET ME KNOW IF I CAN HELP!

NASCAR #25 Visits WAHS

Some WAHS students had the opportunity to see a real NASCAR vehicle up close. Mr. Dixon, automotive teacher, arranged for the National Guard to bring Casey Mears' car #25 to our school yesterday. Mrs. Getz and I took our Keyboarding & Careers students who were passing out to see the car. The National Guard gave us some facts about the car (did you know the fuel they use in these cars costs $9.00 per gallon?) and answered any questions students had about the car and/or the National Guard. Everyone jumped, and some people ran, when they started the car up...now I know why people say being at an actual race is LOUD!

The Agony is OVER!!!

I figured I might as well acknowledge my Mets misery right now before I actually see any of you this week! I wasn't even home from my weekend getaway before the first phone call came from a "friend" harassing me about the Mets being DONE for the year, and I'm sure there's more harassing to come :( It's ok...I can take it...in fact, I'm used to it being a Mets fan! Three points I'll make and then be done: (1) the Mets don't deserve to be in the playoffs the way they've played in the month of September---even though the rest of their season was pretty darn good, (2) my heart thanks them because I won't have the agony of playoff stress, and (3) THERE'S ALWAYS NEXT YEAR...a favorite saying of a diehard Mets fan!
P.S. Baseball is not over for me until the World Series ends. I will now root for the Phillies and whoever is playing the Yankees...of course wearing my Mets shirt and actually RELAXING on the sofa :)

Morgantown, WV

3 of you guessed it...Nik, Sabrina, and Alex---I owe you!
I spent my weekend in Morgantown, WV home of West Virginia University! My mom, aunt, and I meet my cousin, Carolyn, and her 6 year old daughter, Heather, twice a year in Morgantown. Carolyn and her husband, Rob, are graduates of WVU and lived there for many years, before moving to Knoxville, TN so Morgantown is now a middle point for us to meet for what we call "girls' weekends"! Check out the crazy wigs we discovered in a WVU bookstore:

I Gotta Get Out of Here!

WOW! The Mets are looking PATHETIC. This week seems to have tired me out and I'm leaving town this weekend to revive myself. Try to guess what town I'll be in by the hints below. Post your guesses and I'll give the winners a souvenir from there on Monday :) Have a good weekend and don't forget NEXT WEEK IS SPIRIT WEEK!!! Monday-black & white day, Tuesday-Hawaiian day, Wednesday-mix & match, Thursday-sports team, Friday-cherry (red) & white...pep rally!

HINTS FOR MY WEEKEND LOCATION:
1 - south of Pennsylvania
2 - the town has a big university (school colors = blue & gold, mascot = mountaineers)
3 - John Denver sang "Take Me Home Country Roads"

Guess My Career!

Today, with the help of our career counselor Mrs. Becker, my students competed against Mrs. Getz's students in a game we call "Guess My Career". A student from one side would pick a card and on that card would be the title of a career, gross monthly salary, description, education and skills needed, etc. The student could then choose whether to act it out like charades or draw it like Pictionary and their classmates had to try to guess that career. Afterwards, the student had to choose three facts that were listed on the card about that career and tell the rest of the class so that we could become more knowledgeable about a variety of careers. Like the Mets these days, I'm sad to report that my classes suffered the most defeats and Mrs. Getz came away with the overall best record for the day. THAT'S OK....WE'LL GET 'EM NEXT TIME GUYS!

Why We Love Chad Foster...

Logan from 1st period: "I like Chad's book TEENAGERS PREPARING FOR THE REAL WORLD because it gives out great advice for my future and he tells it in a really cool way."



Miss Youmans: "I met Chad Foster this summer at a conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. I've used his book TEENAGERS PREPARING FOR THE REAL WORLD in the past with juniors and now with our freshmen. As a teacher, I enjoy reading and discussing the book with students because they seem to 'get' what he's saying. Chad Foster's honesty and straightforward ability to connect to young people is what I admire most about his work!"