My Current Favorite Photo and Other Randomness

As of today at 12:17 p.m. CST, this is my favorite photo of the peeps. I took it April 4 during a celebration for my dad's birthday. I am simultaneously happy and sad that my baby girls are now little girls. Sigh.

I finished up my long-term sub job and my master's class on the same day. That was almost two weeks ago. I check the school district web sites and other related employment resources almost everyday. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. The only lead I have right now is a rumor that a teacher at the school in which I subbed is going to retire on June 1. Guess that means I will be contacting the principal of that school on June 2! I stopped in on my last day to thank him for the opportunity. He said he'd be sure to call if anything opened up over the summer. I won't hold my breath because I know how the world works, but you never know.

In the meantime, I'm hanging with the peeps. We're reading books, playing cars, playing house, throwing objects to the sky and watching them fall back to Earth, watering our garden and our flowers, taking field trips to the grocery store, and watching a little (maybe a lot) of TV. I've also been researching activities and crafts for toddlers. I have a couple of ideas that might use up, oh, about 15 minutes of our day.

When the peeps are napping, I try to work in some professional development. I have a list of new and/or award-winning YA lit books that I am plowing through. My goal is to read one a week. So far, so good. I've read two and started a third last night. There are so many talented writers! I found a site that lets people review the books. For every 15 reviews I submit, I can earn a free book. So, my goal is 15 reviews. I'm also reading my favorite professional journal, The Reading Teacher, and thinking of how I can put those ideas to work in my own classroom. And, of course, the master's program continues this summer with two classes. One is an eight-day, two-week workshop on teaching reading to linguistically diverse students. I'm really excited about that class! The other is an assessment and evaluation course. One night a week for eight weeks. Whoop De Doo.

That's about it from this corner of the world.