Life has gotten so busy that I have ceased to blog, facebook, respond to emails, and write! Work is taking up a lot of my time. I’ve been working on lesson plans, making tests, and grading until 10 PM.

On a good note, I get a three-day weekend – woo hoo! And both jobs are going well. I have taught my comm. college class twice now, and can I say I love college students?! They stay in their seat, they listen, they don’t smart off, they act interested, and they do the work I ask them to do! Quite a contrast to some of my high school kids! My “regular” job is going well, though. I got observed yesterday, and I think it went well. I found a new blog to follow written by an ESL teacher. He had a great game to review comparative adjectives which I used for my lesson.

I still have two kids failing Algebra due to not understanding. I’m still puzzling over what to do with them. Both kids have a limited Math background – can’t add, subtract, multiply, or divide without a calculator. And both are non-speakers of English. I’ve been working with them one-on-one, but it has not helped much. However, I have another student that is overall a mediocre student who is maintaining an A and is doing very well. Math must be his strength.

My own children seem to be doing well and have adjusted back to school schedule after having the summer off. Ephraim barely says goodbye to me when I drop him off. He loves school. I keep trying to get him to tell me more about what he does at school every day. I feel like being the second child he doesn’t get as much personal interaction with me as Madeleine did. His vocabulary continues to develop and he is speaking in longer sentences vs. short phrases. He LOVES construction equipment, all of which he calls tractors (ever since we visited my great-uncle’s farm and got to ride his tractor!). His second love right now is dinosaurs. We found some cheap dinosaurs in the dollar bins at Target for him. As far as potty training, he still refuses to sit on the potty! Everyone says boys are harder, so I’m not worrying about it too much, but he does have to be potty trained before moving to the three year old class next year.

Madeleine is as wonderful and as sassy as ever! She continues to blossom and learn so much. She really wants to read. She knows all her letters and sounds, but she still has trouble blending the sounds. She’s close, though. She has also started soccer, which she loves. She continues to love to write (that’s my girl!). She likes to copy words and sentences from books, and I’m hoping that will turn into writing her own words. Her exuberant personality continues to charm us and everyone she meets. However, the “Frustrating Fours” are definitely alive and well. She fights for her independence (aka refuses to do what is asked of her) on a regular basis. She’s a red-head, which doesn’t help matters! 🙂

And right now my son wants me to get off and play. Gotta run.