There is a light at the end of our tunnel

Hi Everyone,

I know that I am on maternity leave but today is the first day that I feel like I can stay at home and enjoy my baby. Leah went back to the doctor yesterday and has finally gained up to 6 lbs 8 oz. She is finally starting to gain weight (she is now 1 month old). We don't have to go back to the doctor until January! Her jaundice has cleared and she is now waking on her own to eat. We can now start enjoying our time at home. The pediatrician still doesn't want her to be out of the house until she is two months old so we are still very protective of her. I am so thankful that I don't have to put her in daycare when I return to work.

I also have news about work. I have decided to leave teaching and return to nursing. I have accepted a job as a school nurse at my kid's school. I really enjoyed teaching and may return to it one day but for now this is the best thing I can do for my family. I was at a different school system with an entirely different schedule. I will now be able to take my kids to school, be there all day and bring them back home. We will have the same schedule. Since my husband works 45 minutes away and doesn't get home until 6 pm this will take a lot of burdens off of us and my mother who has been picking them up and keeping them until I get home. She will now only be keeping the baby and won't have to take Leah out to go pick up my other kids. I think God puts us where he wants us and for now I think this is were I belong.

Hi Guys

Hi everyone,
Sorry I haven't kept in touch lately. We have been very busy. We (the baby and I) have had some complications. We have been to the doctor almost everyday. Leah has jaundice and wasn't eating well. Her weight dropped down to 5 lbs 7 oz. She is now up to 5 lbs 14 oz. We go back tomorrow to see if she has gained back to her birth weight. I developed a hematoma underneath my tubal incision and had to have it drained. Hopefully after Tuesday (our last scheduled doctor's appt.) we can settled down and enjoy our time together. It is hard to believe that Leah will be three weeks old tomorrow. Hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Hope to see you all soon. Jamie

3 Weeks and Counting

Hi Guys,
I have three weeks until my due date. I am so ready for the baby to come. I know the Lord has given me the strength to make it through this pregnancy. I think about all that has happened during this pregnancy with school, my family and NTI and it is amazing that I haven't lost my mind. I won't be seeing you all at the Saturday Session this week or on the 17th. . I will try to be back for our last class in Dec. I will be thinking about you all on Saturday.
This week at school has been a good week. I was observed twice in one day, which made me a little nervous. I was observed during 2nd block by our vice-principal and during 3rd block by our principal. When the principal came in during 3rd block, I was thinking, am I doing something wrong and the vice-principal wanted him to observe as well. Later, I realized that they had just realized that I will be leaving on maternity leave soon. They needed to get in my evaluations before I left. I am very thankful for Dr. B and Jessie for putting us through all those observations and classroom presentations. I think it has prepared me for days like this one.
Jamie

Ready for a break

I have been reading the blogs about fall break and I am so jealous. We haven't had a break since labor day and won't until Thanksgiving. They took our fall break away but we get a week off at Thanksgiving. I think I would rather have a few days off in October than a week at Thanksgiving. Again, I have had so much to do this week. Jessie came out on Wednesday and everything went well. My students were ok, they were basically themselves during the observation. I did my video taping of my class last Friday but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. I am feeling the pressure of maternity leave coming up. I had a US yesterday and the baby already weighs around 6 lbs. She may be here before we know it. I really can't wait.

Maternity Leave

This week has been very busy again as usual. I don't know how much longer I will have with my students before I go on maternity leave. My family and I went to Dawsonville last weekend to shop at the outlets and eat out for my husband's birthday. It had been a crazy day. We started out getting our flu shots, going to the grocery store, then I had a baby shower at my church. After all that we headed out for Dawsonville, which is about 1 1/2 hours from home. When we started back home about 10:30 that night, coming across the mountain, I started having contractions about every 5-10 minutes. I had preterm labor with my daughter so I knew what to do. I went home and drank a ton of water and put my feet up. The contractions went away and I haven't had any since. I will be 35 weeks this Saturday. I will see the doctor on Monday. I will keep you all posted. I hope I make it to the Thanksgiving break which starts November 16th. I have started my long-term lesson plans. It is hard to plan for a sub who knows nothing about healthcare. I am trying to do things like effective communication, and human growth and development. She is a certified teacher but her area is middle school math. I am considering putting some medical math into my lesson plans as well. If anyone has any good lesson plans for a long term sub please send them to me. I teach all three levels so I can use anything. Jamie

Observation and Everything Else

Today, I was observed by my principal. He came in unannounced at the beginning of 2nd block. I think everything went well. We will have a post-observation meeting soon to discuss how it went. The students were really great once they realized we were being observed. The only thing that I would change, if I knew ahead of time is the subject. I was teaching on cultures today. That is probably the one subject that I know the least about and feel the most insecure about. However, I think it went okay.
It seems that when it rains it pours. I am having an advisory board meeting tonight from 6-8. I am already anxious about that. Yesterday, we started clinical rotations at the hospital; you want your students to do well and be on their best behavior. I also had a MD appt. right after-school yesterday. I have company at my house this week (my husband's parents). I keep thinking that my life is going to slow down, but being 33 weeks pregnant I don't think that will happen anytime soon. I guess this is the life of a mom, wife, teacher, student etc....

Testing

I have 4 out of 21 students here today for 2nd block. We are having 10th grade writing test and senior leadership day. Since I have a blend of 9-12 graders in my classes, any disruption like this interferes with my plans for the day. What do you do with 4 students? If I assign work then 17 students will have to make that up. If I don't assign work then nothing productive occurs and we get behind. Is there a solution for this? This type of disruption seems to happen often for my classes because of the blend of students.
Jamie

Baby, Maternity Leave and Sub

I went to the doctor on Monday. Everything is great with the pregnancy. As my doctor was checking the heartbeat he said that I could have the baby in as early as 4 weeks but it could be up to 8 weeks. When I heard this I went into panic mode. I am not ready yet for this baby. This summer and fall has been so busy that I haven't had time to really think about the baby and preparing for her arrival. I have so much to do to get ready for maternity leave. I need to leave lesson plans for my sub (who knows nothing about healthcare), I need to leave my HOSA officers stuff to do while I am out. I also need to get all the baby stuff together. If anyone has been on Maternity Leave or out for an extended time, how do you do all this? I am so afraid that I am going to end up coming to school during my maternity leave. I only have 1 teacher workday before I go on maternity leave and it is Nov. 6th. I could potential already have a baby by then. Please give me advice on how to do all this.
Jamie

One long week

I am back to being overwhelmed again. I had three meetings during my planning this week. If teachers had time to plan think of what we could accomplish. I have been trying to get HOSA going, getting an advisory committee together, registering students for the FLC, working on monthly logs for extended day and we just got a grant to renovate my classroom and lab. I am taking papers home with me this weekend to grade just so maybe Monday I can get my week planned. When I think about all I need to do at work and at home I just want to cry. Maybe next week won't be so hectic. Jamie

Observation from Jessie

Hi to all,
Jessie came and observed my class yesterday. Everything went smooth. My students were very well behaved. They all stayed on task, even the student who likes to sleep. They all participated and seemed to enjoy the lab. We did a rotation lab for vital signs. I divided them up in to pairs. I put my weakest students with my stronger students. Everything that I have learned from NTI has worked very well in my classes. I am so thankful for all they have taught us.
Jamie

If we can reach one student

I had one of my former students from last year come into my class this morning. She is a senior this year. She was an average student, I had to push her a lot some days. She decided after taking Healthcare III that she would go to the nursing home and get her CNA. She is currently employed with the nursing home now. She has decided after graduation that she will go into the medical field. She was writing on my board before the bell rang. She said as she was leaving "read what I wrote on your board." When I finally looked up and read what she wrote I was amazed. She wrote "Thank you Ms. Thomas for being my inspiration" I thought how sweet this was. You never know who you influence in this life. This was very surprising to me that she thought I was her Inspiration
Jamie

Good Week

Hi to all,
Last week was a very productive week. I think finally I am getting into the groove of things. I got all my papers graded and returned in a timely manner. I also started HOSA stuff. I chose to elect officers first so that they can help with membership and projects. I have been watching how other club sponsors are doing things (You learn alot from observation). Alot of sponsors do things over lunch, they have a working lunch with their officers. Any advice you HOSA sponsors can give me would be great.
I finally got my desk moved to in my classroom. I put in a request at the end of last year to have my desk moved to the back of the room. The way my room is layed out you couldn't see the door or the right side of the lab area from my desk. Now I can see the entire room. I also have privacy and the students can't walk by my desk and look at my computer and papers. I am so excited that the maintenance people and tech people got together to get everything moved.
Jamie

1st Week Blog

Hi to all. This is my post for last week. I am running behind lately. I find myself always a day late and a dollar short everyday. I realized this weekend that I don't have enough time to do everything that I have committed myself to (personal and professional). Even though we did those Classroom Management Plans during the summer I still find myself needed more time to do things. Does anyone have any suggestions how to get everything done in a school day. I don't like taking things home but this weekend I took papers home to grade. I like to get everything graded and returned the next day. I think my biggest difference between this year and last year is that I am teaching 3 different levels of Healthcare Science. Last year, I taught only 2 level each semester ( I had 2 classes of the same level). I have also committed myself to starting HOSA which as been on the back burner until this week. Do any of you Healthcare Science Folks have any suggestions on a good Kick-off for HOSA? I am planning to elect officers this week so I am planning to let them do the kick-off.

1st blog

Today is the first day of Fall semester for NTI. I am enjoying the class but I am also sad because I am missing my son's first football game of the season. My husband is videoing the game and I will watch it tonight but it is not the same as being there.

My school year has started out really well so far. I feel much more prepared this year than last year. I have really great students who all seem interested in Healthcare. I am really excited that this year has started out so great and pray that next semester is as good as this one.
Jamie