Library To The Rescuuuuuuue!

So.  Like I said.

I'm back in school.

But it's spring break! 

Wooooo!!!

However, I'm not spending it boozing or showing off my bosoms.

Instead, I'm catching up on my blog!

Woooooo!!

Anyhoo, today I'm talking about teaching.

Specifically, teaching supplies.

A lovely new teacher came to one of my teaching classes last week,

and explained that when she got to her brand-new classroom 

at the beginning of the year?

It was empty.

And when I say "empty," I mean
e-m-p-t-y.

She wasn't just in charge of getting cutesy stuff for her bulletin boards...

...she also had to somehow wrangle her own dictionaries.

She told us how she's been getting items through Donor's Choose,

but that's crazy, right?

Having to depend on the kindness of strangers
for basic teaching supplies?

Let me tell you,
when folks say that education's problems can't be solve by

 "throwing money at it,"

I roll my eyes Liz Lemon-style so hard it's a wonder they don't

fall out of my head.

So, yeah.  I've started amassing supplies now for my future classroom.

I hit the sales and dollar bin at Target,

but the best source of classroom books?

The used bookstore in my local library!

Just look at what I've found!

I found some sweet Golden Books for my Little Free Library...

... some nonfiction, poetry, and a cool dragon "handbook"...

... Calvin and Hobbes! Yay!!!

Both old friends...

... and new.

  
Crazy bargains, like these books on tape for FIFTY CENTS EACH...

... and these pristine, hardback copies of the My Father's Dragon trilogy.

The one on the right?
One dollar.
The one on the left?

FIFTY CENTS.

Look what they originally cost!

And yep, I even found some class dictionaries in excellent condition,
ranging in price from fifty cents to a measly three dollars.

SCORE!!

Bottom line:  I don't have the patience to spend my weekends
 combing yard sales for bargains for my house.

But when it comes to my future classroom?
I'm happy to visit the library used bookstore weekly.
Because, as any teacher knows:

The Power of (Used) Books

As I said in my last entry,

I've headed back to school.

Which means, I might not have as much time to post on this blog.

Because, aaarrgh, look at my homework for last week!

Holy cats, but I had a BUTTLOAD of reading to do.

And it was just the second week!

Anyhoo, I'll post shorty entries when I can.

For example, I've been collecting book inscriptions for awhile!

I have posted of my love of used books before. 

I love their history.  I love their smudges. I love that they were loved.

Something else I love is if a used book has an inscription in it.

 Awww...

This was in the front of Horton Hears A Who.

What a nice present for someone with a rambunctious boy:

a copy of Calvin and Hobbes.

I think of these like messages in a bottle,

and was surprised when I realized I knew both the bottle-sender

and the bottle-receiver.

This one is my favorite.  Alyssa has nicely summed up 

The Wish, a book that turned my own Girl into an enthusiastic reader.

I love new books,

but there's something really special about finding one of these

messages in a bottle in an old book.

Taking The CSETs

It's been awhile since my last entry, right?

That's because I've gone back to schooool!

It's been... interesting... 

because I'm quite the grown-up compared to most of my classmates.

Sometimes, when those youngsters are talking,

 I'll catch myself staring at their smooth skin and bright hair.

But then I'll remind myself:

Anyhoo, before I could start my classroom journey, though,

I had to take a test.

Or rather, three tests.

Three BIG tests.

The CSETs are for prospective teachers,

and are on everything, and I mean

EVERYTHING.

I had to study English,

social studies and history from the ancient world to modern times,

science from the atoms to the stars,

algebra and geometry,

PE, dance, and art,

the visual and performing arts,

music,

and

child development.

Phew!!

Well, since I did a Google search of "passing the CSETs"

and got some good info, I thought I'd return the favor.

You're welcome, internet.

First off, don't wait till the last minute to study.

Look at that list above again.

I started about two weeks before, 

and it would have been a lot less stressful if I had given myself a month.

I bought this book...

... and even though it was the most boring book

in the history of the wooooorld, the practice tests were helpful.

I made notes in a notebook of the areas I was weaker in.

I would go back through the notebook

 instead of that brick of a book to review.

Something that was invaluable was these three books
which I checked out of my local library:

Since they were written with preteens in mind,

the writing was clear and pretty engaging.

It REALLY helped me with history to go through these books.

For math, I used the online Khan Academy:

I cannot praise this website enough.

If you've got a kid struggling with math,

 I really recommend you check it out.

One other resource I used?

The Animaniacs!

I defy anyone to forget Magellan's fate 

after watching Yakko, Wakko, and Dot's

tuneful rendition of The Ballad of Magellan.

The day of the tests, I felt... ready-ish.

But I got myself psyched up, and then it was 

Eye of the Tiger time!!

The test wasn't super-hard, but I gotta say:

taking all three at the same time is grueling.

It was five hours straight, no breaks,

staring at a computer screen.

I would have a hard time doing something I liked

for that long!

(Thank you for that joke, Rita Rudner.)

So, how did I do?

I PASSED!!!

So now I can just focus on studying for my classes.

Cuuuuute!

I bought some super-cute fabric from CawaiiMart, 

an Etsy shop based in Japan:

Adorable, right?

But check out the stamps that were on the package!

Close-up!

As Cute Overload is fond of saying,

Japan kicks our butt in Cute Technology.

Adventure Time, C'mon Grab Your Friends

I am a huge fan of Adventure Time.

So for Christmas, the talented Girl whipped up some cross-stitched

Adventure Time for me.

When I unwrapped it, I made about the same face that Cake made

when she got the catnip from Lord Monochrome:

Sweet Babies! indeed.

Toy Story!

I love the Toy Story trilogy.

Looooove it.

Toy Story 2 is, no lie, my second favorite movie of ALL TIME.

So when I started decorating my new guest room/sewing area,

Toy Story seemed a natural fit for a theme.

I have four cool boxes of Toy Story Duplos, 

MIB, but my adult kids are horrified that I'm displaying them as such.

"That's against the whole MESSAGE of Toy Story!"

they argue, and they're right.

(Oh, Jessie.  "When She Loved Me" kills me DEAD.)

So I figured out a way to solve the problem.

I gave one of my Woody dolls a tiny pair of scissors...

... and set him up near the boxes.

There!

I'm sure Woody will spring his pals when I'm not around.