Voiceless teaching...

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to teach without a voice? Everyone has a voice, and it is our job as teachers to teach and demonstrate voice, when you lose it, it changes your perspective...completely. I had that happen yesterday. I am still struggling to recover my voice after a cold has settled in (for what feels like a long haul). I learned several things yesterday:
~ you NEED your voice (it is really hard to be me and not talk...VERY challenging, some of you are probably really thankful)
~ I sound super sexy...according to my husband
~ my students will talk as loud as I do, this was a blessing...my decibel was so low and they mimicked it.
~ my students can be super independent...I could only give the directions once and then it was fend for yourself...they were amazing!
This blog entry has turned out to be rather boring but I like writing and there is someone out there that will read it.
On the dog training front...she is great on walks and enjoys the guest bathroom (well by enjoy I mean she does not get out and has not eaten anything). Our trainer recommended that we attach her leash to a piece of furniture when we need her to settle down or stay in a specific place. It is all about letting her know that we are boss and she does what we want her too (that is so comical :)). Putting her leash around the coffee table was a great idea and worked, until she chewed through her leash! I just laugh now! She is so freaking cute and has such a personality that I just can't be mad. She will get better...I say that now since I have been up with her since 6:30. I guess this makes us ready for parenthood...yeah, not quite!
Have a great weekend blogger friends...

Puppy training class...

We had our first training class with Wrigley. We got there a little bit early because we had a few questions for the trainer. Well, there are no other dogs in our class, (this proves to be a good thing). The trainer brings her dog, but other than that there are no others. Patrick and I were so worried about getting kicked out...well that can't happen when you are the only ones. Had there been other dogs, she would have recommended private lessons! Private lessons! That means my dog is BAD! This comes as no surprise since Wrigley ate Patrick's memory foam pillow today...I know. But we bought a bunch of new toys and treats so maybe tomorrow she will stay occupied. We are going to try the guest bathroom tomorrow. We have guests coming this weekend so hopefully they will have a bathroom...

We were ready to give up today...but, she is so darn cute we just can't! Pray for us...I hope that things get better. On a better note, we bought this Gentle Leader collar and Patrick said it was the best walk ever! That is a huge step!

Cuteness can be deceiving...

I know my dog is adorable but let me assure you that looks can be deceiving. She is a terror at the moment! I have read article after article about crate training..."your dog will like its crate, dogs are den animals, crate training is highly successful" blah, blah, blah! Wrigley, hates her crate. I know I mentioned this before but it has not gotten better. I of course made the mistake of praying for patience...are you kidding me! Don't get me wrong, we love Wrigley and she has been an amazing addition to our family. I am just ready for training to start and some positive changes.

Here is your dose of puppy love for the week...

We left her in our bathroom last Friday and she did a great job! So we try again on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Well, the other three days she got out of the bathroom and had free roam of a bedroom, no problem (we are getting excited now). Tuesday, the bedroom door was left open and she had free rain of the house, nothing was even so much as out of place.

Wednesdays we volunteer at the church so we came home briefly and then Patrick put her back in our room...you know what happens next. We came home and there was paper from one end of the bedroom to the other. She tore up every magazine and my leather Bible! There were pages of Genesis and Romans (must have thrashed the book around) all over the place! Did I mention that it has been raining here for a week straight and she has not been outside to play? I could only really laugh at the situation and it is even funnier today!

Back to her crate she went...yesterday she broke the plastic liner of her crate and tore up the carpet remnant that her crate sits on. Today, she bent the base of her crate! Are you serious!

If there is anyone out there in cyber blog world that has ever trained a dog to be in a crate or behave for that matter, please send any and all advice our way. Puppy training begins on Tuesday, we will update and let you know how it goes!

We love our puppy very much despite the training challenges. Here are a few pictures...she is stinking adorable!

An attempt at training...ineffective

This bone takes less than a week...it looks huge but she is a lab afterall!

Absolutely true stories...

I promise I will not bore you with a really long post about my not so interesting life. I have one dog story and a few from the start of the year...

Wrigley has decided that she does not like to sleep through the night anymore. Last night, we are still hoping it was the full moon, she decided at 11:30 (we had been a sleep for over an hour - come on now we are teachers!) to bark and wake us up! It took some cajoling (thank you Gooney Bird Green - more later) but finally after about 30 minutes of attention she went back in her crate and went bed. I guess this is why people say that getting a dog is great parent practice. I have to say I was no more tired than usual!

The school year is off to a great start! I love my job and I love teachable moments. Last week I read my favorite book, Gooney Bird Green to my class. It is about a 2nd grade class and one student in particular who tells "only absolutely true stories". My kids LOVED it! I wanted them to write about themselves so I had them write an absolutely true story about them. It was awesome what they produced! And this my friends...is why I teach!