Hey everyone! I am new here as well. I just happened to stumble across this board yesterday. I am a 7th grade Math teacher in North Carolina. I teach one class of what I like to call AMA (Advanced my ***), one inclusion class and then.........there's fourth period. Too tired to even get into that. I would love to join this thread. My husband and I both have started yet again with a weight loss program and have been walking every night. I've been seeing great results so I'm really excited. The difference this time I think, is that I am really serious about losing weight this time. Everyone on this site seems to be very supportive and encouraging.
I look forward to getting to know you all.
Pam :dizzy:

Welcome Pam! I love your AMA class title. I think you will fit right in with all of us. I teach middle school age multi-handicapped students at a county school district in Southern Ohio. So I know all about being tired mid-day. You have the right mind-set and will success at losing the weight this time. We will help guide you and give you that gentle nudge to find success.
Hi Everyone else! I have great news this evening. You are reading the post of This Week's Biggest Loser for TOPS. I lost 4 1/2 pounds, so I am now at the 200 pound mark. We had an Ocaser Night along with our Open House and I won the award for losing the most weight in my weight division for last year. So I was floating on cloud nine all evening long. This is the year that I am going to shine and thanks to the encouragement that I get from you lovely ladies here I am going to make it! I know that was one long run-on sentence but I am so excited right now I can't stand it.
Well I hope you all had a wonderful day today!
Take care,
Kerry

Snow Day for me!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!! I hope to get to clean some of the house today. So what is the weather like for the rest of you?

Early release day for snow today!
Too bad it didn't come before the huge four girl fight we had during elective change. There was almost a riot. Three hundred screaming seventh graders all trying to get in on the action. The kids were wild for the rest of the day, fourth period was one constant interuption calling students to the office to check out. AHHHHHHH!
I guess there's no walking tonight. My husband complained that his face had gone numb after being dragged into the cold last night. Oh well, such is life.
On the bright side, maybe we'll get a delay tomorrow. :^:
Have a great day!
Pam

Evening Ladies,
I had a wonderful day off. I went to the store and bought some more salad and the fixin's for chili. My bil is to make it for us on Saturday. So I can't go wrong there. Then I came home and washed the sheets on our bed, since my dh complained that they needed it last night as we were going to sleep. I was tempted to tell him to get up and strip the bed then and there and wash them. LoL But I was nice and waited until today. I took my three stepkids and we went for a walk this afternoon in the snow. We had to try out our new snow boots that we got for Christmas. Today was the big snow that we have gotten this year. So we went for a good half hour walk and then I came home got my stuff and went to Curves. They took a nap while I was gone. Then we went to my sdd's basketball pratice. So I had a wonderful day!
Paisley thanks for your kind words. As for the peer pressure from my coworkers, I took the cookies that I put in my purse yesterday and proudly throw they away this morning. It was a big step for me since they were my favorite cookies from Subway. But I made a bet with my dh that I could reach my goal weight by the end of this year and if I do he is going to buy me a leather coat. He doesn't think I will be able to do it, since it took me two years to lose the 60 pounds. But I am going to prove him wrong. I put The Firm 3 in 1 workout set in layway the other day at Wal-mart, so that will be my treat to myself for reaching the 200 mark. I think when I get my money back from the state income tax, I am going to use some of it to buy an ab lounger and some new workout videos. Plus I might be nice and let my dh get an electric dart board. Hope you were able to get your walk in this evening. We know that you wouldn't want to walk in the dark with the wild pigs on the lose. :)
Glad to see you back Pam! Sounds like you had a long exciting day at school. Sorry to hear that your dh wouldn't go for a walk with you tonight. Have you tried any of the Walk Away The Pounds tapes or dvd's? They are really great and you don't even have to go outside your living room to do them. Hope things go better for you tomorrow and the girls are little bit more sedate. :)
Summer, Robyn, Mouse, Ginny, and Elana I hope that your week's are going well for you all. What is your weather like?
Well I need to go make the bed now. I think I might want to go to sleep here shortly after all the excerise I got this afternoon.
Talk to you all later. Have a great Thursday!
Kerry

Morning Ladies,
Hope everyone has a wonderful day at school. Robyn, here is a big hug for you. Hope things are getting better for you.
Talk to you all later this evening. I might be able to put in a full day's work this week at school today. LOL
Kerry

Evening Ladies,
Hope all is well with you fine ladies. How was school today? My kids were very good today. Even with my aides both out and two subs in the room. The kids were very helpful and it was nice after being off school for five days. But we are getting the snow now. I think we might be off school tomorrow. So I brought home some work to do if so.
Well I need to go and get some stuff done before I go ride my excerise bike. Talk to you all later.
Kerry

Hi, all.
I guess I went missing again. All I've wanted to do this week is sleep. I haven't gone to the gym once this week, and it looks like I'm going to have to go to the grocery store tomorrow after work instead of the gym... because of the pending snow storm on Saturday and Sunday. We had a 2 hour delay today, but I was still dragging with the extra sleep (highly unusual for me, let me tell you: I normally get up, stay up, and even go in early!).
I'm also freezing... doesn't matter what I wear, how many layers, I'm always cold.
Which is making the thought of getting in the swimming pool really bad, and even the thought of showering, because I know I'll be even colder after I'm done!
We went to meet Alton Brown on Tuesday, and the trip went really well. The restaurant did a good job, the kids were good (though we need to work on table manners in some cases). Parents picked up on time, we didn't hit traffic. Wow.
The one hitch was this: we got to Borders on time, parked, waited... got on the elevator, and the elevator got STUCK! Yes, you read that. We got STUCK. I managed to get a cell phone signal, and so was able to call my local friend and she called the store. Nobody was answering the emergency call buttons in the elevator. The store called the Fairfax County fire department and they got us out, fortunately. My friend also called the events manager for the store, and so we were met at the elevator by the store manager, who ushered us through the crowd and upstairs to meet with Alton. He spent a good 25 minutes with the kids, and had to be told that he had to wrap it up. He even signed books, personalized, for staff or people who wanted them (I let my local friend and her husband tag along because I left my camera in the van, and she had a camera phone. Besides, she deserved it for getting us out of the elevator!). He is really a great guy. So the trip was a definite success, and I got a personal note from one of the administrators thanking me for my efforts and giving me comp time hours. I'm now over 40 hours of comp time. I tried to use some on Wednesday to leave early, but they dismissed staff at 1:00 because of the snow.
I tried to use some tomorrow, but people cut up a huge fuss at my either not coming in or leaving early because of the fun day. :shrug:
Sorry I'm not personal, but I'm going to eat and go to bed. I keep thinking if I just went to bed earlier, I'd be better off... but I'm not positive about that. I need to get back to the gym... I know that would make me feel better, too, but ....

:mouse:

Snow day for me!! Yeah I get to go play in the snow with my kiddo's once they finally make it to our house. They are spending the weekend with us. So we are going to have a fun weekend! My dh got the phone call this morning that the basketball games for this weekend are cancelled. So my sdd is going to be disappointed.
Mouse glad to hear that you had a such a wonderful fieldtrip. Even though you got stuck in an elevator. Glad that your friend was able to come to your rescue. Where you shocked by the thank you note you got with your comp. time notice? You will get back into the swing of things with the gym here in no time.
Hello to everyone else! Hope all is well with you.
Had a wake-call last night about my weight. We walked down to the store at the end of our street and bought two 25 pound bags of salt for the sideways. My dh carried one and I carried the other one home up the hill. I was fine until I got to the front porch. That was when it hit me that it was really heavy. Dang know wonder I feel really good right now and light. That when I had the extra 60 pounds on, I was weighted down and tired all the time. I felt and looked like crap. Now I just look like crap!LOL So that is my motivation to really drop the pounds off by the end of this year now.
Well I better go and workout before my kiddo's come over and want to play outside. I promised them yesterday that I would do that with them today.
Take care,
Kerry

Friday-Friday-Bo-Biday, Banana-Fana-Fo-Fiday, Friday!
 

Hi Paisley,
Have fun tonight going out dancing. I am still waiting on my stepkids to get here. I was looking forward to being a kid again for the day and playing in the snow with them. I did get my two mile walking video in and am dressed to make a trek into Curves. Plus I have to go to Wal-mart to get some batteries and toliet paper just to be prepared for the nasty weather we are to get this weekend. I have three more bags of salt I would like to get rid of. So I guess we will work on it together. :)
Have an awesome evening out.
Take care,
Kerry

Tgif!
 

Hey everyone and HAPPY FRIDAY!
I really had an easy week this week relatively speaking anyway. Off Monday, early release Wednesday, snow day Thursday (although the snow was gone and the roads clear by 10 am.) and two hour delay today. My coworkers and I are thanking our lucky stars that we were not one of the hundreds of teachers in Raleigh who ended up having to spend the night at school with their students!
Does anyone have any suggestions for motivating L.D. students? I do a raffle for good grades, homework, participation, etc... at the end of each six weeks. For every three stickers you get, you earn a raffle ticket. However, I have a group of students who don't want to turn in anything. My co-teacher and I are going insane. HELP!
The last time I posted I was disappointed because I wasn't going to be able to walk because of bad weather. Well, I decided that night to just walk around my living while I was watching television. The dog kept following me, and tripping me and I was making myself dizzy so I gave up. Trying to excercise with my dog in the room is insane. You do a sit up, she licks your face. So, you get the added benefit of excercise and a face washing at the same time. Thought I'd try out Taebo. Ha! I look like a dancing bear. I don't think I'm coordinated enough to do all of that. :D Hope everyone had a great day today.
Out into the cold. Let me go nudge the guys. I get out the leash and our dog practically does back flips. Atleast she is excited.
Take care!
Pam

Good evening everybody. TGIF!!!!!!!!! Oh, boy am I glad its Friday!
Kerry: Yea, I was pretty shocked. But, it was from the person who is filling is as interim director until the one they hired to replace ours starts in February. I was actually more shocked because I received double comp slips: there are times I wish I weren't so honest... I gave the extra 8 hours back.
Paisley: The week hasn't been terrible, just dragging. I know the exercise will help. Swimming is really the only thing I can do other than upper body weights. I have nerve damage in my ankle, so it hurts to walk, and I have to either use a cane (I have too much vanity to use a real one, so I bought a huge walking stick back in December!), or run my hand along the wall so I can keep my balance. I can't feel anything on the left side from my little toe to about mid-calf from a fall I took before I gained the weight. Enjoy your dancing!!!
Pam: I had to do the night (well, we got 'em all out by 7:30) at school with kids because of snow my first year teaching! We got socked in by a huge snow storm, and Baltimore City didn't do anything because the majority of their kids walk or take MTA/Light Rail. Only problem was with schools like ours that were all special ed, and used buses because we were city-wide. The parents had to get MTA or if they could find them, cabs, or try to drive to pick the kids up. After that, our principal got permission to dismiss early if conditions got bad during the day, but while he had it he still had to get clearance from the division office... AND the parents had to be home or have somebody there because our kids couldn't be by themselves. It was a nightmare!
Motivating for LD students: Some of them need daily rewards. Maybe a daily raffle for a small prize like a healthy snack or 10 minutes of listening to music or using the computer? We vary our rewards, but most of the kids seem to prefer food rewards, or a lot of them really like stickers even though theyd on't want to admit it. WE bought stickers for our lowest functioning group of kids with autism and moderate MR... But we've wound up giving them to other kids too at times. We also have schoolwide commendation forms that we can give out that earns them 3 bonus points on their point sheets and a small treat of their choice.
A lot of the teachers use classroom money and the kids can buy stuff from a store they maintain. I don't do this because I flat refuse to give them soda or chips or junk. There is only one group that I do give unhealthy junk to is my 4th period class of boys. They are in our most severe program for kids with the worst emotional/behavioral issues. The ONLY thing they respond to well is potato chips or pretzels. We have drawn the line at sodas and candy, but my TA and I spend a small fortune on potato chips at times. They don't even behave well for a reward video or time in the student lounge (we had a foose table donated, air-hockey, a DonkeyKong game, jukebox, etc and some nice furniture). We tend to teach them in blocks: 10-15 minutes of written work, and then 25 minutes of a video relating to the topic. I don't like it, but they seem to learn more that way than with anything else. We're going to try a hands-on activity of them building a small basketball game with plastic spoons and cardboard. The other classes made wooden dog houses at the end of our construction unit, but my TA and I were horrified at the thought of putting sticks of wood in the hands of some of these kids.
Well, I went to the grocery store today before I came home... tomorrow is our huge snow storm. I'd like to fast-forward to Monday: to see what happens in terms of school. I'll be spending my weekend writing an op-ed piece with a friend of mine that we hope to publish in the Wall Street Journal. Its in repsonse to a piece they ran about teacher's unions.
:mouse: