Rainy Day Bliss...

It started raining today. My favorite weather. I suppose because I get all melancholy and such... The cool crisp air, the scent of the rain on concrete, and a hot cup of orange tea makes my day.

This year so far I am enjoying the few moments I get to sit and breathe without interruption. I know in the future those moments will be few and far between. I treasure the time right now that I have before my life gets into too much of routine that I forget to stop and smell the roses so to say.

Life has been better here where we moved to. The northern part of California tends to move at a slower and less stressful pace. It took some getting used to again for me to slow down. Here I sit during one of those times... The laundry is done... granted not put away yet ;-) But it is finished and I am able to relax for a few minutes before I have the next project to move on to.

The house we have been living in has been partially under construction. We are painting, replacing, and fixing different things around the place. Paint is on most of the walls and now that the rain is here we have to get a few more things fixed before we are able to fully move in all the furniture and unpack all the boxes. I really dislike living out of boxes.

The 36th year...

Today marks my 36th year on this earth... Yes, my birthday is today. And how do I feel now that I am 36, you ask? Hmmm.... a bit like I did yesterday. I feel much loved and cherished. It is the first time I have ever had a student give me a birthday present... (a bag of gummi worms and gummi bears) :) Two of my classes sang Happy Birthday to me and the same student who got me the candy also bought the class mini cupcakes. :) I feel loved! Never before have I had such caring students. What a difference a few hundred miles makes.

Lier, lier, pants on fire...

One of my students decided to lie about his reading score. We do Accelerated Reader and he took the tests all last year and this year. He knew that he wouldn't have to read as much if he scored lower.

Little ole me, a former special education teacher, noticed that he scored higher last year than this year. I did a little investigation and 'Oh my!' I found that he got a really high score last year (not a fluke). He also scored a full grade and a half lower than his last score in May of last year. Hmmmmm... suddenly I saw a red flag. 

When I alerted his mother she asked him about his reading skills. He said he "doesn't like to read, not he doesn't know how to read..." He admitted to his mom that he faked his scores last year and already this year. Tomorrow, the poor little fellow will re-take his reading test a third time this year. Since, he knowingly blew it this year twice. I think some consequences will happen...