We Got Snow...I Got Sick!

Greetings friend!

Well, I will to keep this short and sweet today.

This morning I woke up to blustering winds rattling the house. I looked outside and only saw a dusting of snow on the ground. I checked the weather report and the school closings...we were on schedule for today. I get in my car and head to work. About 5 minutes into my drive, I get a text message from my principal stating we were on a 2-hour delay. This meant they were concerned, and it gives the administration time to make a decision to close or not to close. I get to work about 45 minutes later (ran a few errands since I had extra time today). As I am walking in the office, I get another text from the principal stating schools have officially closed for the day. I was most certainly not happy. We are out of snow days to use. Any additional days taken off will be added to the end of the calendar school year. I do not want to end up going to school during the first week of June. No thanks!

Well, I set around my classroom for about an hour trying to get some work done. (papers graded, lesson plans for next week, copy requests made, email, etc) As I sat there I could feel a headache coming on, and it was coming on fast and strong. I took some meds to try and head it off. It was then I decided to head home.

I got home and hit the couch to catch up on some much needed sleep. The headache was getting worse too, so I needed to try and sleep it off. I woke up about an hour ago and the headache is now pounding. It is pounding so bad that I can sometimes see my vision pulse with my head. BIZARRE! To top it off, I find I also have a sore throat.

If I have contracted the flu (for which I had a virus shot for a couple months ago) or strep, I will be really ticked off. I don't have time to be sick and out of school. My students need to be learning. State tests are coming up in 7 - 8 weeks. We need to teach more and review from the entire year. I hate state testing.

I would love to know which of my little "darlings" gave me this bug?

Let's just say that I will be spending the rest of my day resting and medicating myself.

It sucks that I am on an extra day off, and I cannot really enjoy it due to this darned illness.

I will stop ranting now. Thanks for listening. Talk to you all soon.

Take care,
- JC

Sometime You Just Got to Dance

I think I have mentioned this before, but about 10 - 12 years ago I was on a country dance show. It was called Club Dance, and it was on the Nashville Network (now it is Spike TV). The entire premise of the show was a bunch of people country line dancing and couples dancing. It sounds hilarious now, but it was the thing to do at the time. We had a blast.

Well, I find myself missing the line dancing days. I rarely get to go out and dance (especially line dancing) anymore. There just aren't any places to do that around my town. I have to go to some bigger city to find a place where we can dance. It is one of the reasons I love Nashville so much...plenty of country music and places to dance to it!

Below are some of the dances that are just fun to do. I find it hilarious that many of the line dances have moved on to pop and hip-hop music. So here you go...

Just something fun for the day. This is what started it all...

Stark Reality

Greetings from the Atlanta International Airport. It is now after 10 pm and I am stuck here until my flight leaves at 11 pm. Ugh! This means that I will not get home until well after midnight tonight. It hasbeen a long and tiring weekend.

Today, as i wandered the streets of downtown Little Rock I came to a stark realization...I am very much alone. It became very evident when I was sitting in the hotel lobby going through my phone's contact list and I did not have anyone I truly felt I could call. It was a horrible feeling and I truly almost cried in the lobby.

I am certainly not asking anyone to feel sorry for me. It was just something that hit me! I don't really know what to do about it. It was just a realization that I don't have that missing piece in my life... A significant other to call home to when I needed them.

What does that mean for me?

What am I going to do to rectify this situation?

In truth, probably nothing right now.

Okay, I am going to run. We will hopefully begin boarding our plane soon.

Take care of yourselves and those significant others in your lives! I hope you know how truly lucky you are.

- JC

At a Crossroads...Which Way Do I Go?

Where to begin?

How about just a simple "Hey" to all my friends out there who have been keeping a check on me. I appreciate each message, text, chat, email, etc.

Some of you really need to get a Skype account so I can talk to you face to face. Yes, I recently discovered my love of Skype. I have had the account for about a year, but never really used it. I had originally gotten it so I could talk to my cousin who was deployed in Iraq. The only problem was the awful time difference. Ugh. Then about a month ago my best friend, Jen, got an account and we began to Skype. It was awesome to see my friend. I miss having her around here, but being able to talk to her "face to face" was tons better than talking on the phone. Now if I could only get my family onto Skype. I guarantee that will not be happening. Oh well.

As the title of this post says, I find myself at a crossroads in my life. I am going to lay this out here, and forgive me for the rambling that is about to ensue. Those of you that know me or have been reading this blog know that I am hardly ever at a shortage for words. So here we go.  

First, I am at a crossroads in my future career decision. As many of you may recall, I have applied for a supervisor's position with the state teachers' union. I got word a week ago that they will be making a decision at the beginning of March. From what I was told, there is an excellent chance I will be chosen for one of the two positions that remain. Now, the decision must be made soon on what I need to do.

On the one hand, I have been looking for a way out of my current job teaching in my school. I have been quite unhappy this year with the administration and how things have been handled and how people are being treated. It has caused quite a bit of stress in my life, even some bits of depression. But, I am a fighter and have been working to make the best of a bad situation.

Most will say that what I have just said is reason enough to get out now. However, there is one underlying fact that I want to stay...the kids! I know that as a teacher I have been able to make a difference in the lives of my kids. We always talk about making the connections with our children. I will stand here and tell you that I make connections with our kids everyday. I have kids that walk into my classroom each morning just to make sure I am in the classroom and to give me a hug. I have students that consistently come back to visit me to let me know how they are doing in school and in life. Believe me when I tell you there is nothing better than the unconditional love of children. They simply are glad to see you and to know that you love and care for them. The idea of leaving my students and their families is burning a hole in my heart. I get torn up just thinking about it.

However, looking at this new job prospect excites me at the same time. I will have the unique opportunity to work with a number of local teacher unions in our state. I would be the liaison between the local unions and the state/national unions. I would be the go-to guy for these locals. I also have the opportunity to lobby our state & national legislators on all things education. I love education and I love politics, so it seems a perfect fit. I would be the voice for the teachers who so often feel that they don't have one.

Okay, another perk to contend with...if I do get one specific position with the union, I would need to move. Although it was not the move I originally wanted (sorry MNJ & MH), there are some good perks. First, I would be living in the same city as my mother. For those of you that do not know, I had absolutely no relationship or contact with my mother from age 5 to 18. Our relationship has been building ever since, and the idea of living near her is exciting. Also, she has a lake house in the town that she does not use very often. The reason for that is that my mother and step-father built a house in town in which they could retire. So they uprooted their life and moved 60 miles to this town where their lake house already was. I have the possibility of living there for a bit. Plus, I would be close to one of my favorite cities in the state. I would be in a place where there is actually life to live.

So where do I go...I simply don't know. I am continuing to weigh all the options. I also continue to pray for guidance and some sort of sign to help me make this decision. I will keep you posted as I find out.

There is more to this post, but I find myself literally shaking as I type this. That is a signal that I need to stop right now, but I have much more to write about and to tell you. I will post the rest later. Thanks to all of you for listening.

- JC

All is Quiet (& Crazy)

It has been a few days since I have really had a chance to get on my blog. Just thought I would give you a rundown of my week thus far.

Monday began a very insane week. My students were wild. Was there a full moon? I ended up tutoring one of my former students after school on Monday. His mother sends me emails from time to time to keep me updated and to ask for help when her son is not doing so well in math. Have I mentioned that I teach math? This mother is also one of the best gift-givers I have ever met. (For Christmas last year she had spent about $300 on my Christmas gift...and I am just a teacher. This year, when her son is not even in my class, she has sent gifts for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.) When this mom came to pick up her son, she handed me a thank you card. Inside was a VISA gift card. That's right, I am going shopping soon. I told her I didn't want anything for tutoring her son. I am just glad to help. Honestly though, I will not turn down the gift card. LOL!

Anyway, after tutoring, I attended the monthly school board meeting. It lasted well over 3 hours...almost 4. There was a lot of political grandstanding, and that ticked me off beyond belief. Yes, I had to be there for the meeting. Remember, I am the president of our teachers' union for our school district. I work very closely with the  school board and director. After that meeting, I am convinced that come election time, I am working to endorse a new candidate just to help oust the board member who was grandstanding that night. He obviously is looking to be in a bigger political office soon, and I don't like him using the school board as his platform.

Monday ended up being a very long day. I left my house at 4:45 AM and did not return home until almost 10:00 PM. I hit the couch and passed out until the next morn.

The rest of this week has seen my students being absolutely crazy. I have never had a group that were this rambunctious. It has been a challenge all year. I was talking with another teacher who gets my kids during specials classes, and he was telling me how rough my kids are. I just laughed. Thus is my life.

Trying to get these kids focused is like pulling teeth, but I will forge ahead. This week has also been a big review week for the unit exam on Friday. I told my students that I will not be at school on Friday to help them with questions during the test, so they better ask now and study hard. I don't like giving tests while I am away. The kids never do as well when I am there. (No, it is not because I am giving answers. I don't answer questions during a test except to clarify a question...that's it.) I am nervous to see the results of the unit exam when I return on Monday.

In addition to my teaching duties, my union duties as president have kicked into high gear this week. I am dealing with a handful of teachers in one of our schools requesting to cancel their membership. It is not normal to have this many cancelling their membership. Something is going on at that school, and I have to play detective and peacemaker at the school. This is new territory for us, so it will be an interesting experience.

I am also now watching over three different situations happening in our school district that affect three different teachers. If anything is done against the contract or illegally, I will be on the phone to have our 4 state education attorneys make their way to our district. Everything will be done justly and in a polite and respectful manner. That is what I teach my students, and I expect nothing less from our administration.

I am being pulled in ten different directions on a daily basis...I LOVE IT!

I am heading out of town on Friday morning. I am attending a teacher leadership conference out of state over the weekend. They are paying for travel and the swanky hotel. I would be crazy not to go. Our first stop on Friday afternoon will be visiting the presidential library in the city where the conference is being held. More on that when I return.

Turns out that my weekend calendar is quickly filling up. I will be traveling out of town every weekend in February and most of March. Plus, I will be taking 5 school days off over the next two months for other obligations. It is a very busy time of year.

Will I ever find time to rest? Perhaps at the end of my life, but I don't see a slowing pace anytime soon. I am perfectly okay with that.

Hope everyone is doing well. I feel like I have just rambled on and on, so forgive me for that!

Have a great night.
- JC