I'M BACK! Meet the Teacher Monday: Summer Edition

I needed to take a brief hiatus due to life getting in the way. Hey, it happens to the best of us. Let's get started, shall we? 

First off, is it Monday? I know I am not the only teacher who loses track of time over the summer break. I vowed to myself that I would maintain some semblance of a "normal" (what's normal, right?) schedule so my nights and days would not get mixed up. Last year, my summer "schedule" resembled that of a newborn baby. I typically went to bed around 3 AM or 4 AM, and usually faced the new day around 12 noon. Not this summer! I am making every effort to be productive. If you call productive, slacking and watching Netflix or Amazon Prime all day. Ha ha...

Without further adieu, lets get this party started! Since its been a minute, let me remind everyone of the MTTM instructions:

• Take the time to respond to the questions/prompts on your blog.
• Return to my blog and link up below.
• Check out the blogs of at least two other MTTM participants (...that's if anyone participates. Haha.)
• O, last but not least, HAVE FUN!

Meet the Teacher Monday: Summer Edition

1. What's your summer teacher persona? 

• Slacker Teacher:catching up on every episode of everything you wanted to watch during the school year 
• Mommy-On-The-Go: consumed with your children's extracurricular activities
• Summer Fun Teacher:hanging with friends and traveling the world
• Overachiever Teacher:Making TPT products, proparing your classroom, you never really took a break

My summer persona is, you guessed it...Teacher Slacker. This summer I decided to work the first session of ESYS (Special Education Summer School). Let's just say I earned my money. And for the first time in my teaching career, a student bit me. After those challenging three weeks,  I deserve some much needed Netflix vegging sessions. 

2. It's a sunny day in July. Your schedule is wide open, so you decide to?

Since I am not that keen on being outdoors, I like to spend my time reading. #teachernerd Tomorrow, or one day this week, I plan to make a solo trip to the museum district. I have a hankering to visit the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, or the Holocaust Museum. 

3.What is your favorite summer thirst quencher?

At the beginning of the summer I developed an addiction to Sonic's Slushes. At least 3 days a week between the hours of 2 PM-4 PM, my car could be found parked at a local Sonic for happy hour. And with it being happy hour, of course I ordered a Route 44! I recognized my addiction, and stopped frequenting Sonic. I realized at that rate of consumption, by the end of the summer I would have developed diabeetus and tripled in size.

4. Where will you be soaking up the summer sun? Have you planned any vacations? 

Between my boy's busy dance schedule and recently moving, planning a vacation this summer proved challenging. However, I plan to take a couple of trips this fall. Perhaps Colorado, Seattle, and/or Connecticut. All dance related trips...of course.

5. Any summer reads, professional and personal?

I recently started reading The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (a gift from my Mother). After reading The Four Agreements, I plan to read the Legend trilogy by Marie Lu and then (maybe) Conversations With God by Neale Walsch.

6. What does your summer TV habits consist of?

I usually spend the summer catching up on EVERYTHING thing I missed during the school year.

Currently, I am catching up on Pretty Little Liars. My interest is starting to wan with show. Other shows I am getting brought up to speed on: The Walking Dead, Downton Abbey, and Teen Wolf (Garbage. I know, but the cast is nice to look at). And of course you cannot forget Netflix's summer treats, Orange Is the New Black and Hemlock Grove. 

7. Favorite Summer song of 2014?

Summer by Calvin Harris!!!!

That concludes another thrilling installment of MTTM! Your turn!!

The Three Most Annoying Teachers At Staff Development Meetings

Monday, in my opinion, was by far one of the most productive staff development days...EVER! Rather than sitting through the usual session after session, listening to a parade of education specialists, the Special Education powers-that-be planned our staff development (SD) day as a Make and Take opportunity for the teaching staff to create new learning materials or complete other projects in progress..

Take a peek at the projects my team completed.

Admittedly, I started the SD meeting in a foul mood (It had nothing to do with the fact several school districts celebrated MLK day and my district opted not to) thanks to a lack of seating in a cramped, toasty room. After viewing a brief instructional video (devised to ignite a spark of inspiration), the facilitators provided a quick run down of the itinerary and dismissed the participants. Like ants at a picnic, everyone scurried upstairs to set up camp, so to speak. 

As I walked a lap around the work room looking for some prime "real estate," a stack of paint swatches grabbed my attention. Quickly, I dropped my messenger bag and dashed to a table. Apparently, the same idea popped into the minds of several other teachers. The next thing I knew, hands were grabbing every which-a-way. As I continued to ravage the tables, a couple of colleagues mistakenly grabbed MY new-found materials, which almost kicked-off an all-out no holds barred brawl. Thanks to my ninja skills and quick cat like reflexes, I held on to my new finds. HAA! Check out the cool Popsicle sticks.

I threw this color matching game together with the paint swatches. Perhaps next time I will die-cut the swatches into paint buckets and brushes. 

So, I bet you're waiting to hear about the three most annoying people you'll meet at a staff development meeting. First, a brief psychology refresher. From many years of being gainfully employed, I have learned the following... 

When working with or participating in activities with groups of people, certain annoying personalities emerge. Carl Jung referred to these "personalities," as personas or masks. 

Some individuals use their personas, as a defense mechanism, which allows them to display very little vulnerability when moving in and out of relationships (personal or professionals). The lack of vulnerability often produces people who are arrogant, discourteous,  and  well...just annoying. Okay enough of the psychology lesson (I guess I did learn something in college).

• The EXPERT: This individual knows it ALL...or thinks they do. The EXPERT provides their unsolicited opinion whether they're knowledgeable about the subject...or not. I am more than sure you've run into this type at many professional development meetings. Although they may know it all, their lack of humility and arrogant demeanor makes them annoying, which sometimes creates friction in the professional environment. In my opinion, there's a difference between being knowledgeable and humble versus being knowledgeable and pompous. 

• Chatty McGee: This type comes in all varieties: loud-talker (looking for attention), sidebar talker, gossipy talker, the saying-a-lot-but-saying-nothing talker, etc.  Some of the Chatty McGees hold sidebar conversation, often distracting other participants. When this occurs, I glare at the offenders giving off STHU vibes. Some of us take our professional vocation  seriously, and we want to hear what the presenter has to say. And the fact that I can hear you from across the room telling everyone about your mani-pedi means two things: #1...You talk too damn loud and #2...You are annoying.

• The Comedian (a.k.a The Class Clown): Let me start by saying"You are not funny." This participant's ill timed barbs border on annoying and sometimes sophomoric.  I'm no Mindy Kahling, but I know funny when I see & hear it. 

To the class clowns and wannabe comedians:

A  word of advice, 

"Every silence does not have to be filled with the sound of your voice...or in this case horrific jokes."

What type of people annoy you at staff development meetings?