injustice

q. what happens if a lawyer, doctor, accountant, business person or any other professional, does not perform well at their job after repeated help and support from the companies that employee them????

a. they get fired!!!!

q. what happens if a teacher does not perform well at their job after repeated help and support from the schools that employee them?????

a. they continue teaching.

as a future school administrator this is one of the issues that frustrates me more than anything. yesterday i attended a workshop on school law and we spent the majority of the session learning how to navigate the many laws that protect teachers from being fired. and then there are teachers who have tenure. tenure is granted to teachers who have worked 5 years as a teacher. once a teacher has tenure they are virtually impossible to get rid of.

the problem is that we can NOT afford to have poor, or even mediocre teachers in our schools. american education has fallen so far behind other competing countries and our achievement gap is not getting any smaller. the simple solution to this problem is to have quality, motivated, strong teachers in each classroom.

studies have shown that if a student has 2 really bad teachers during their years in school they may not be able to recover! do you see how serious this problem can be?????

in order to fire a teacher i have to do the following:
-collect TONS of data on them (classroom observations, walk throughs, etc.)
-put them on an action plan-this involves TONS of work on the part of the administrator.
-stay in constant communication with human resources to make sure you are crossing all your Ts and dotting all your Is.
-hold multiple meetings with the teacher and try to work on the action plan.

this process can take at least 2 years-and sometimes more. in the meantime that teacher is still teaching and having a negative impact on students. if this is not an injustice, i don't know what is.

some school administrators have a hard time going through this process and they decide to just let it be...well that will NOT be the case when i take the helm. i would not be able to sleep at night knowing that i am letting my students suffer at the hand of a bad teacher. so watch out bad teachers...i'm coming your way.

i'd trade it all

i will be the first to admit how much i enjoy being single. i love sleeping in on the weekends, watching what i want on tv, going places at the drop of a hat and not having to tell anyone where i'm going or trying to find a babysitter. that's just a short list of the things that i enjoy about being single. i try to embrace those things when i'm feeling down about being single. my friends that are married with kids always tell me that they are jealous (in a friendly way) of all these things that i get to do. for example, i'm going on a cruise next week and last week when i had veteran's day off i stayed in my pjs all day and didn't leave the house. i love these things, i really do. BUT...i would trade it all for the desires of my heart; a husband to share my life with and kids to love and adore. so you may be jealous of the little, fun things i get to do being single, but i'm jealous of what you have. so when i gloat about these little things, its only because i'm trying to make myself feel better about the things i don't have yet. bare with me.....

Summer time and new beginings

i can't believe i haven't posted since may. the summer has gone by so fast-but that's okay because its been a pretty good one! from june 1st-August 1 i babysat for a 6 and 8 year old. they are pretty good kids, but i was with them for 50 hours a week and it got old real fast. i'm so glad that's over! i've also decided to "retire" from babysitting. i've been babysitting since i was 10 years old-more than half my life and i can't take it anymore! don't get me wrong-i LOVE kids, but i'm tired of watching other people's kids :)
in summers past i've always tried to take at least one or two trips to the beach. wrightsville beach is only 2 hours away so its not a bad drive. this summer my parents have made day trips to the beach a regular thing. we've gone every other weekend since the summer started and its been so much fun! we've been to wilmington, southport and topsail island. this coming weekend we are headed to carolina beach. day trips are not as hard as you may think. we pack coolers with sandwiches, snacks and drinks and load the car with beach chairs, towels and umbrellas...and that's it! we leave around 8 am and arrive at the beach by 10. we stay till be are sunburned and water logged and then we rinse off in the showers and grab a bite to eat on the way home. its a mini vacation that always feel like more a day trip, with the big bonus of sleeping in my own bed at night!
yesterday i stared my internship at eastway elementary school. i'm so excited to be there! i will post more on the details soon.
and to put the icing on the summer cake-my bestest friend in the whole wide world is coming to visit me next week! this will be her first trip here since i moved here 6 years ago! i haven't seen her in almost 2 years! i'm so excited to see her and show her my life here. i realize this post is a big jumble of info, but i wanted to give you something! bye for now!

today i went back to my old stomping grounds to proctor for EOGs. i've been back there several times since i left last year, but i never get to see all the people i want to because of varying schedules and a big building. since i was there for several hours today i got to see some former students that i haven't seen in ages. the kids that taught my first year (2003-2004) are now in fourth grade! and it just so happens that i was proctoring in fourth grade. i saw several of my former students and they are SO big now! they are no longer sweet, innocent kindergartners. they are pre-teens with hormones and boyfriends/girlfriends. one of the students i had my first year of teaching was victor. victor came from a rough neighborhood and had a very unstable home life. we had a long, hard year working on his behavior, academics and social skills. i saw him today for the first time in a year. he was SO surprised to see me. he came over to me and said "what up ms. halsey!" and he attempted to give me "a pound". i was like-no way, you are hugging me! i spoke with his teacher who told me that he is doing so well and is super smart. that made my heart so happy!

this picture shows the look that i got from about 20 former students. they were just so surprised to see me. it was so nice to be reminded of how much i was loved!

memories of lemonade

on my way to a babysitting job today i noticed three kids on the side of the road desperately trying to flag down cars. they were selling lemonade. i always try to stop at lemonade stands. nothing is better than seeing young, innocent children jump for joy when you pull over and buy a cup of their 25 cent lukewarm lemonade. ryan and i use to have lemonade stands during the long, summer days on long island. growing up we lived on a very quiet residential street that outlined the edge of a beautiful farm. it was a dead end so we really got very little traffic. but when a car did come down the road we would jump up and down and wave our arms in hopes that the passing car would stop. and if they did we frantically worked to pour them the lemonade and collect their money. it was such a simple, pure joy to complete a sale!
peter jennings, who was an abc news anchor, had a summer/weekend house at the end of our street. as little kids we thought it was soooooo cool that a "celebrity" lived on our street. we always knew when he passed by becuase he traveled to and from the city in a black limousine. during one of our lemonade stands we saw his limo coming up the road. as usual we frantically waved and tried to convince the car to stop. we must have made an impression that day because peter jenning's limo stopped! he got out and bought a cup of country time lemonade from us and flashed his famous smile! it was great! and even greater was going to school the next day and telling all my friends! sometimes i wish i could go back to those days.

pretty at the gym?!?!?!!!!

when i go to the gym to workout...i'm there to do just that. workout. i do not go to socialize, i do not go to impress anyone, and i certainly don't go there to pick-up guys. so when i go to the gym i do NOT look cute. i wear one of two pairs of old, cotton, drawstring pants, a tee shirt and usually a hat. (hopefully my hair will soon be long enough to get into a ponytail so i can lose the hat!) i don't wear makeup because i sweat like a pig and because i'm there to workout. i also don't fool around at the gym because i really can't afford to. i have a lot of work to do and a lot of weight to lose, so i can't just go there to hang out. well, a few weeks ago i was working my butt off when i noticed a girl strolling around the gym. she was dressed very nice...she had on true workout pants(like nike or adidas-not target brand like mine), brand new sneakers and a see through shirt that you probably would where out on a friday night. she also had her hair blown out perfectly and a complete make-up job. now i must confess-on bad morning i will throw on some cover up and bronzer just so i don't scare people at the gym. but i never put on a full face like this girl...she had eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara, foundation, bronzer, the whole nine yards. i'll admit that i'm jealous of girls like this. she was very pretty and didn't even need to be at the gym. so all this was okay with me until i got on a machine next to her. that's when i got mad. she was sitting on a machine but she wasn't really using it. she was sitting on it and playing solitaire on her iphone! seriously?!?!? you came to the gym to sit on a machine and play solitaire?!??! couldn't she do that at home?!?!? it really made me mad! there i am sweating my *&@ off and she is chillin', playing a game. ugh! i'll admit that some, or most, or my anger is the result of being jealous...but really?!??! come on now. yes i wish i could be her-she doesn't even need to workout. but i just felt like her being there was rubbing it in my face.

that's it. no fun or meaningful ending to this post...it was just a good way for me to vent!

3/5/09

2 years ago today a miracle took place in my dining room. God stepped into my apartment and touched my brother’s heart. Ryan was instantly healed…but we did not know that for several months. What took place on that March afternoon was a result of God’s unfailing love, grace and mercy…but also 6 years of P.U.S.H. If you are not familiar with P.U.S.H. it stands for Pray Until Something Happens.




My family, my friends, my relatives, my church and perfect strangers prayed for Ryan’s healing…for 6 long years. God proved to be faithful to our prayers on March 5, 2007 and we will forever be grateful for that.

If you are dealing with pain and suffering and you feel like God is ignoring you…don’t give up! Keep the faith and keep P.U.S.H.ing! God will rescue you. Remember Ryan’s story when you get discouraged. If God can heal him, he can certainly heal you too!

Today is a great day for me. I would go so far as to say that there might not be another sister in this world that is more proud of her brother. J

my ring

a few weeks ago i read a great book about being single. i normally can't stand these kind of books...i feel like i've already heard it all. you have to trust god, he will provide, don't put your life on hold, etc. etc. etc. my mom gave me this book a long time ago and i just rolled my eyes (sorry mom) and put it on my bookshelf. well recently i felt led to read it and i'm glad i did. it was refreshing. so to make a long story short the book said that if you see a piece of jewelry that you like-buy it! don't think that you have to wait till you get married to have "nice jewelry". so i was telling my family about the book and how i had seen a pretty ring in kohls that i wanted to buy. i briefly described it by saying; its round and has some diamonds on it. that is all i said-never mentioned it again. well, on my birthday i was opening my gifts and i was SO surprised to see the ring! i was TRULY surprised. so much so that i started to cry..i couldn't believe they remembered what i said and then went and bought it. i have to tell you-it is VERY hard to surprise me. i am very good at figuring out what i am getting for my birthday, christmas, etc. i actually can't remember the last time i was actually surprised by a gift before the ring. that is not to say i don't love my gifts...i just know in advance what i'm getting. so this ring was a true surprise and a true blessing. i have a great family!

lent

so i gave up facebook for lent. this was not my original plan. my original plan was to add something for lent and not give anything up. i was going to add consistent daily quiet time to each day during lent and hopefully carry that on into the future. but as ash wednesday approached i felt god prompting me to give up facebook. so i decided to go for it. on tuesday my status declared that i was giving up facebook for lent. as soon as i posted that status i panicked. now i really have to do it! i can't get out of it now because i just told everyone! so tuesday night around 11pm i signed on for the last time for fourty days. i logged off and let out a big sigh. well today is day 4 and i'm still alive :) i actually haven't missed it that much. however-i now realize how much we rely on facebook to communicate. i've already been unaware of several things that are happening because i'm not on facebook. i've had a few phone conversations that led to "oh that right! you're not on facebook..."
but right now i want to communicate with god more than anyone else (no offense to my peeps!) so i think this will be a very positive thing. i also haven't had any trouble finding time for quiet time with god...this is not surprising!

i hope you all are enjoying the season of lent as well!

its my birthday!

i can't believe that another year has come and gone. its amazing how fast time goes by when you are having FUN! and that is the truth. my life is so much fun right now. i'm happier and more content than i've ever been and i'm living in excited anticipation of what god has in store for this coming year. i suspect that its going to be a great one.

top 10 reasons why its great to be me!
10. i'm getting in shape and losing weight-it feels great.
9. i'm pursuing my dream of being a school administrator.
8. i am unemployed and loving it!!
7. i have an amazing church and an amazing church family
6. i have great friends that i adore.
5. within the next few months my entire immediate family will all be living in nc and most of my extended family too. no more traveling for the holidays and having to go long periods of time without seeing each other!
4. i'm single and that has allowed me to pursue my dreams without anything holding me back.
3. i will not be single much longer-god is so faithful and i know he has an amazing man in store for me!!!!
2. i finally know myself-its only taken 28 years for me to figure "me" out!
1. god is my savior and best friend.

Sam & Libby

until a year ago i claimed to be an animal lover/happy pet owner. however, i began to realize that i really don't like pets. being the neat freak that i am pets don't fit into my idea of clean. the fur, the smells, the bad breathe, etc. i felt good once i finally admitted it. it was as if finally was able to stop lying to people about how i felt about animals. and i'm finally not afraid to say that i'm not an animal lover. i really don't think it makes me a bad person either. i don't mistreat animals, i just don't like them. at all.

well, with god's great sense of humor i am now housing not one, but TWO cats! i still can't believe it. my parents are in the process of moving here from NY, but they are still taking lots of trips back and forth. so, my mom and dad approached me about taking care of their two cats. i want to do everything that i can to help my parents, so i said yes. it wasn't easy to do though!

so sam and libby have been living here since december 24th. they are about 7 years old and they are brother and sister. cute names right?!?! they sleep a lot and like to go outside a few times a day. libby loves to cuddle on the couch and sam likes to sleep at the foot of my bed. they eat twice a day and use the liter box very well. they actually prefer to go outside and use the bathroom so that is a plus.

so, as much as i hate to admit it, i really don't mind having them here! i can't believe i just said that. so maybe i'm not as much of non-animal person as i thought. the jury is still out on dogs though.

sadness

so its been a rough couple of weeks for me. i hesitate to even say that because none of the sadness is directly related to me...yet i'm really feeling the pain. last week baby beau passed away. i didn't know him well, but i did have the privilege of watching him a few times when he was in the step-down unit of the hospital. beau was born with congenital heart failure and has struggled throughout the 16 months of his life. however, he was able to overcome so many obstacles and survived 6 major surgeries. he recently began to show a lot of progress and was learning to sit up on his own. then he had a brain aneurysm on december 26th and was pronounced brain dead. on sunday, december 28th he passed away. it was his mom's birthday that day. i struggle to understand this tragic situation. i attended beau's memorial service this sunday and listened to my pastor talk about beau and his life. he talked about how god grieves with us when things like this happen and that it is NOT god's will when things like this happen. this really made me think because i always thought that god was able to control life and death. i was one of the people that use to say "it was god's will" or "god must need him in heaven more than he needs him on earth." but my pastor really challenged my thinking and said that because we have free will things like this happen. as i try to wrap my brain around all of this i get more sad news today. one of my best friends sister is in the final stages of cancer, she is only 28. my friend just has a baby 3 weeks ago and now she has to say goodbye to her sister. i'm not sure i can understand all of this. my heart is heavy. i know this is were my faith needs to take over...but my mind is just trying really hard to figure it all out. sigh.