TAKS Results

We heard today that our school had 96% passing on the Math TAKS test!  67% of those kids were commended too, which means they missed fewer than five questions on the test.

AND...only ONE of my seventy-five students failed!!!  Yeah!

33 days of school left, and once I get caught up, the rest of the year will be such a breeze.

Last Volleyball Tournament

This weekend I traveled to Dallas with my friend, Coach Niestradt, to take my 14s pink volleyball team to the Lonestar National Qualifier tournament.  It's a huge volleyball tournament held in the convention center, where about 100 courts are set up and played on for three days straight.  It is the most amazing thing to see!  One of my parents described it very well: Imagine one of those toys that toddlers have - the one with the plastic dome over the top, where, when you push it around, little colored balls pop up and bounce around.  That's what it is like when you walk into the gym - only it's HUGE and there are hundreds of people too!  So, Niestradt and I drove up to Dallas on Thursday night (late, just like always) and got ready to coach the teams on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

My team had its ups and downs, but overall, they played the best that I have ever seen them play since the beginning of the season.  I was really proud of them!  We ended up coming in second place in the silver bracket, which ranked us 8th out of the 24 teams in our division.  All of my girls are going to be trying out for their high school teams in the fall, so I hope they keep up the great work and keep playing over the summer.  I was excited for them, as we had had our struggles throughout the season.  I was really glad to see them play so well.  I also had the chance to see some of my kids from last year play on the 13s team - it was soo fun to see how much they had grown and how much they had improved in the sport!!  I also had the chance to fill all my parents from last year in on the engagement and my plans for the wedding!  All in all, it was a good weekend.

Here's a picture of my team from earlier in the season:

This will probably be my last volleyball team to coach for while, at least until I can figure out what the city of Del Rio might need!  I don't want to coach on the school team in Del Rio that is probably going to require a lot of travel time outside of the city, and there aren't any club teams in Del Rio.  I'm thinking it might be nice to just spend some time with Travis instead!

So here are the final countdowns that remain:

TAKS test - check! (scores come out in  a week!)

Track season - over! (2nd place in the district!)

Volleyball season - over!

33 days until the end of the school year

96 days until the wedding

A quiet evening

Here's my sweet little kitty cat laying in my lap this afternoon.  He was sleeping soundly, but the sound of the camera woke him up.

I'm heading to the Dallas convention center this weekend for a huge, three day volleyball tournament.  My team should do well in the pool we are in.  I'm hoping we can end the season on a positive note!  We will be playing all afternoon Friday and Saturday, so it will be a busy weekend!

Mr. Ed is exhausted!

Usually, in the mornings, Mr. Ed is up and roaming and ready to roll.  He walks all over me, meows, and rubs his wet nose all over my face.  I usually have to push him off of me at least three times before I am ready to get up.  So, it is pretty clear this morning that my little kitty is exhausted!  He was sound asleep on my pillow/head this morning when my alarm went off.  When I got out of bed, he was still sounds asleep, and it took him about ten minutes to finally get up and join me.  Even then, he was dragging around, wondering why I was awake.  As soon as I sat down to eat breakfast, he went right back to sleep on the couch!!  I guess all that travel this weekend was pretty tough for him!!

Faculty vs. Students

On Friday night, we had our third annual Rumble at the Ridge at school.  It started out as just a basketball game between the faculty and the students, but now it had turned into so much more!

This year, we did the Rumble on the same week as the March Madness basketball games.  We made the entire week "college appreciation week," so we had college paraphernalia all over the school.  One class made pennants for the college teams that were part of the March Madness.  We also had a huge bracket in the hallway, keeping track of all the games that were going on and which teams were winning, all the way down to the final four.  All the teachers were asked to participate by wearing their college shirts and decorating their doors with answers to survey questions made by the student council.  We were also asked to talk about our college experience one day in class: where we went, what we majored in, where we lived, etc.  Then, on Friday, a few randomly selected students were involved in a Jeopardy game during lunch in the cafeteria.  The game was centered around the answers the teachers had put on their doors, so it was pretty fun!  As long as the kids had read the things we had posted, they would know the answers!  It was pretty fun for everyone, and it was fun to represent TCU at a school full of teachers from A&M and UT.  There is one other teacher who works there who went to TCU, so we had some fun sporting our purple and talking about horned frogs.

Then, the big event is the faculty vs. students basketball game on Friday afternoon.  Everyone at the school is invited, and the information is sent out by the PTA as well, so we always have a huge crowd.  The gym is packed every year with parents, elementary school students, and our own students.  I have played on the basketball team for three years now, and the faculty remain undefeated.  The kids are pretty good; they are the kids from the 7th and 8th grade basketball teams.  Unfortunately for them, though, we have some pretty awesome coaches and faculty members who can really move the ball around.  I am pretty good on defense and rebounding, but I rarely score any points.  The guy coaches take care of that for our team!

This year, Officer Dan played on our team with us.  He is this huge, six foot five cop who patrols our school everyday.  He is a great guy, and the kids all love him.  The student referee of the game had so much fun throwing him out of the game.  All in jest, of course, but they made a big performance out of it.  It wasn't really Officer's fault, though.  He was just so much bigger than all the kids that when they ran into him, they would just fall over!

The cheerleaders also do a huge routine, and the dance team puts on a great performance as well.  And, for those teachers who have no desire to play basketball, there is also a faculty dance performance.  Always awesome, always amazing.  This year, they did a line dance taught to them by the students.  Everyone was dressed in baggy pants, oversized shirts, major bling and sunglasses, and hats, tilted to the side of course.  It was so fun to watch.

It's events like this that make me realize just how much I love working at CRMS.  We are definitely serious and work hard, but we also sure know how to have a good time!

And countdown updates:

2 days until the TAKS test

5 days until track season is over

2 weeks until volleyball season is over

9 weeks until school is out for summer

111 days until the wedding!

Quote of the day

While working on a probability unit, I asked my students in class today to determine the probability of picking a boy randomly in the class.  We counted the students (25) and we counted the boys (5), and we determined the probability to be five out of twenty-five or 1/5.

I then had a male student comment: "Actually, Ms. Kinley, it's only 4/25 because I'm not a boy; I'm a man."

Awesome.

Finally, a weekend at home!

This weekend has been so nice...spending time at home, catching up on sleep and cleaning.  Travis is spending his last weekend in San Antonio packing and getting ready to head back to Del Rio.  He will be moving back to Del Rio on Monday - he is all finished with his instructor training course!  So while he was busy with all of that, I stayed in Austin.

Friday night was rockin.  I made it my goal to get all my work done, so I graded papers all afternoon and evening.  I also caught up on all my shows that I dvr-ed over spring break.  While I was sitting there working, I got a phone call from a realtor who wanted to show my house on Saturday.  So, once I finished my work, then I had to clean up my house.  Nothing like vacuuming at 10pm on a Friday night!  Whoo!

Then, up at 5:45am on Saturday morning to get to the volleyball tournament out by Dripping Springs.  Miserable experience - the other coaches were out of control while I was reffing and completely ruined my time there.  I was already nervous about having to ref the games, and their comments and screams were so unhelpful.  My kids played well, but for some reason, we can't win games.  I have a couple of girls whose attitudes are bringing the team down, and the rest of my kids are so quiet and shy that they can't stand up for the team.  So the second we start to lose, the girls get mad and get quiet; and then we lose the game.  Only two tournaments left until the end of club volleyball.  I'm not enjoying it as much as I have in the past.  (I think I am just overwhelmed with so much to do that I just can't devote as much of myself to it as usual!)

After the tournament, I couldn't go home because the realtor was coming by, so I went to Target.  And, by the time I left Target, I was in a much better mood!  I bought new makeup, a new hairdryer, new pillow, and even a few treats for Mr. Ed.  I shopped around for other things and found all sorts of new things to try - face wash, deodorant, toothpaste, etc.  I haven't updated all that stuff in a while, so it was fun to shop!  I went home and slept the rest of the afternoon!

And this afternoon, I am going to the mall to hang out with a couple of friends and their babies.   I am looking forward to seeing them!  And an afternoon at the mall is never a bad thing!

Updates on other stuff:

My house selling is going well.  I have had several people coming through to look at the house, and I have another open house today (Sunday) from 1-4pm.  My house is clean ALL the time.  The feedback I am getting is positive, so I am hopeful that the right person will come along soon!  One of my friends in Austin has offered me a room in her house if my house does sell before the end of the school year, so I am not concerned at all.  I know everything will happen at the right time!

School is as busy as ever.  The TAKS math test is coming up in one week (April 7th) so we are all in high gear getting the kids ready.  And sadly, I talked with my principal and signed my resignation letter.  It was really sad to have to sign the letter and tell Susan that I was leaving, but the reasons for leaving are so positive that I can't really complain.  I will miss the school and all the people there; I have worked there for four years, and so much has happened during that time that has brought me so close to all the people I work with.  They have been so supportive of me while I have learned how to teach, what not to do, how to deal with grief, how to deal with success and failure in the classroom, and so many other things that have made me who I am now.  I will miss everyone so much, but I am looking forward to starting the next chapter in my life with Travis.

My hurdlers are doing a great job at the meets and are really standing out and making great times in the races.  I am really proud of myself for the work I am doing with them this year!  We have two more track meets, and I have a few kids who may be able to break the school records, so we will be training hard the next few weeks.

My last volleyball tournament will be at the Dallas Convention Center over the April 17th weekend.  My friend and I are going to be driving up there together, and I am excited to spend some time with her.  We used to coach together, but this year, I haven't seen her at all!  Our teams are on entirely different schedules, so we rarely cross paths.  Also, I have entered my team into a division where I think we might actually do well, so hopefully we can end on a positive note.

Mr. Ed is just as cute and snuggly as ever.  He has been such a trooper through all the changes happening around him.  I had to pack away all of his toys and his bed, so all he has in the house is food and a litter box.  He spends the days with strangers in the house as people are coming through to look at the house.  I am never home because I am so busy, and when I do come home, all I do is sleep.  He still loves me though, and will snuggle with me at night and help me grade papers when he can.  He is currently curled up in my lap, enjoying the fact that I have been home for almost 14 hours straight!

And of course....wedding planning.  Everything is going really well.  My mom has been so helpful in organizing and getting everything together, so it is all moving along smoothly.  I spent my spring break in Houston, and we had some fun and accomplished so much!  There is still a lot to do, but we made some serious progress.

Now, I'm off to clean up the house again to get ready for the open house in *gasp* one hour!!!  Where did the time go??   (That's the story of my life right now!!)

And the countdowns:

1 week until the TAKS test.

2 weeks until track season is over.

3 weeks until volleyball season is over.

10 weeks until school is over!!

17 weeks until the wedding! (118 days!)