The countdown begins... ;)

I love countdowns, and I just want to have something that keeps track of how many days until the wedding for me.  Sorry this is a boring post, but it's mostly for my benefit. :)

Also, today we got to go to Piece pizzeria for the first time ever, and it lives up to the hype. I would go out on a limb and say that this is the best pizza I've had in my entire life! Delicious.

STRIKE!!

So, here it's supposed to be my students' second full week of school, and instead of greeting them at the classroom door at 7:45 this morning, instead I slept in until 9:30 this morning... Under other circumstances I would probably be happy about this, because who would really rather be working instead of relaxing at home?...However, the reason I am at home and not teaching is because the Chicago Teachers Union is on strike until further notice.

They gave their walk-out notice last night at 10pm...

Here is what the CPS School Board President, David Vitale had to say about negotiations:
http://www.wbez.org/news/education/video-chicago-school-board-president-david-vitale-says-best-offer-table-102297

...and here is what Karen Lewis, head of Chicago Teachers Union had to say:
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=8804275

So, I am at home until further notice! If the strike continues through Wednesday, then on Wednesday I will go to National Louis to continue my Master's coursework. If not, I will be back in school teaching!

I am just glad that AUSL made the decision for us to not have to cross the picket lines to teach.  I would rather stand in solidarity with the Chicago Teachers Union than to go against them, and I do believe in the demands they are making.  Teachers deserve respect!! It's just sad that it has to come to this, but something has to be done about it!

All sorts of grown-up moments

Tomorrow is a big day, a grown-up day. Tomorrow, I meet twenty-three little second graders who I will be spending the whole year with!  Tomorrow, I get completely inducted to the AUSL "way."  Apparently, the first week is extremely tense and all the staff is extremely hard on the kids.  This will be a lot different than what I am used to with suburban kids from Indiana!

Last week was the professional development week for Curtis School of Excellence, so I got to meet  all the staff and kind of learn the ropes on the school.  I'm glad that we had it, but I really think that we could have had two days of professional development instead of a whole week.  Half of the time we were just working in our classrooms, and my mentor already had her room set up for the most part.  But I am just SO excited to get started with the kids tomorrow! I don't know how much time I will actually have to write about it this week, but as soon as I can, I will put an update on here! :)

I also had a grown-up weekend! Letteer and I set a wedding date--June 22, 2013! :) Last week I got started on booking appointments to look for a reception site in Indiana.  Over the weekend, I went to several places and I think we found the place! :) Unless I find another place between now and then, we will be having our reception in the Rinehart Gathering Barn in Burlington, Indiana! It is where Letteer's sister had her wedding reception, and it is gorgeous! Let me just say that I already think that wedding plan is super fun, but also super overrated, mostly because it is expensive!!