One Lovely Blog Award!!!

Hello everyone!
I have been awarded my first ever blog award! WOOHOO!! It is called the One Lovely Blog Award : ) I was awarded it by Mimi from her blog: Woven by Words. I have only recently started visiting her blog, but it is very cool! I can't wait to see what else she does on her blog : ) Thank you, thank you, thank you Mimi!!



Above is the actual picture of the award! It's really official, eh?

So, here are the rules to the "One Lovely Blog Award":

Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I don't think that I actually have 15 blogs to give it to, but I can think of a few special ones : )

Craftie Ladies of Romance
Craftie Ladies of Suspense
The Seekers
Squirrel's Treehouse
StrongWomenBraveStories
Life with Missy

That's what I have come up with : ) Thanks to everyone for reading! And a big thank you again to Mimi! Visit Mimi at her blog(I can't get the link working, but here is the url) http://wovenbywords.blogspot.com

News...

Hi everyone...
My sister and I have been experiencing some flu/cold like symptoms since last Friday. These include:
fever,

headache,

and incredibly bad cough.

So, we went to the doctor's office and they think that we both have croup. So, we couldn't go to musical rehearsal tonight, no school tomorrow, and no bonfire tomorrow night either. It is Homecoming week at our school, so the bonfire is tomorrow night. Seniors light it, so I'll be missing that : ( Hopefully, we'll be feeling better by Thursday. If so, Mom'll let us go to the dance : ) Woohoo! Partay! : )

So, that's the news...hopefully I'll get a new post up tomorrow for all you impatient people *cough Lori! cough* Anyway, headed to take a shower and get some sleep probably.
Night!
Hannah

Feeling frazzled...?

THIS is how I feel! : ) I am definitely in the "feeling frazzled" mood. I realized this morning that the next draft of my thesis paper(a.k.a 2 1/2 pages) is due on Wednesday. I still had to finish writing it, have advisor proof it, make changes, and have advisor sign it! Ahhhhh! That's near to impossible! So, I wrote it and proofed it this afternoon in about 2 hours. Then I drove right up to my advisor's house and dropped it off for her to proof tonight! She'll return it tomorrow. I'll make changes tomorrow night. Then, she'll sign it after school on Tuesday, so that Wednesday morning I'm prepared to hand it, the whole while making it look like I have everything under control and that I TOTALLY knew it was due on Wednesday : )

On top of that, I have 2 scholarships due on October 31 and November 2. My first college application is due by November 15! And I still have to check when the official deadline is for one college because it's rolling applications(no set early or regular applications!)....

Frazzled....that's the word for right now....

Have a great Monday!!
Hannah

Top Secret Interview!!!

TOP SECRET INTERVIEW WITH BOTH FIRST GRADE TEACHERS

Today, we have a very special edition for you. Both first grade teacher have agreed to participate in an interview. We will remind you that the teachers are working with Hannah Cerasoli on a hidden topic, maybe they will be able to give us more information. Without any further wait, the interview:

P.J. - Mrs. Langley, Mrs. Ehret, thank you for joining me today.

Mrs. Langley - No problem, P.J.

Mrs. Ehret - Yes, glad to work you in.

P.J. - So, you both know Ms. Hannah Cerasoli.

*Both nod in agreement*

P.J. - Can you tell me about what she is doing?

L - Yes, we can. She is working on a project called Hannah's READ Program(Reading Encourages Academics and Diversity). It is for her high school thesis project. She is working with both of our classes. She comes down once a week, for each classroom, to work with our students and teach them about the culture she has chosen. Right now we're looking at Ireland. It's very interesting!

P.J. - So that's why we saw her going into the school in the middle of the day! I see know... That sounds like a very interesting project she has going.

E - It is really exciting to see it actually get started. She has been to both of our classrooms now, so the kids know that she will be coming and those kinds of things. Mrs. Langley did a nice job of explaining the program, but she left out the fact that the kids who signed up get to take home a book and activity every week! They are all centered around Ireland. Hannah hand picked all the books and created all the activities from scratch, though she told me her sister helped her brainstorm the games!

P.J. - Wow! That's pretty impressive, isn't it? She must have a lot of time invested in this so far. So, how many kids are doing it?

E - She has 7 out of 11 kids taking part in my classroom, I'm not sure about Mrs. Langley's room though. I wish the count could have been a bit higher for her, but I think she's pleased with the turnout.

L - Yes, I agree, Mrs. Ehret. I have 10 out of 12 participating. The kids all seemed very excited when she came yesterday.

P.J. - I can imagine so! If I was a kid, I would have been all over this! So how are you feeling about it thus far? Any last thoughts?

E - I think that Hannah is well on her way...she seems on top of the project and excited herself. I think that it is a great experience for her to be able to have. I'm excited to see what else she has up her sleeves!

P.J. - Thank you Mrs. Ehret. It sounds like Ms. Cerasoli is doing well with the whole thing.

L - She is, as far as I can tell. I was glad to see how well the kids responded to her. They seemed happy about the project and excited to be meeting someone new and doing something different than the regular routine of things. I, too, can't wait to see what else is coming!

P.J. - Thank you both very much for taking the time to meet with me. It has been an enlightening experience.

I am still trying to get ahold of Ms. Cerasoli for an interview. We now know what was in the crate, but there are still some unanswered questions. I will give another update when I have another update. If anyone has any information that might help me find Ms. Cerasoli, please let me know.

Stay tuned for my next post where I'll tell you what I found in one of the infamous crates that Ms. Cerasoli has. Remember, we still do not know exactly what she has in them!

P.J. - private investigator

News flash!

HANNAH CERASOLI SEEN AT THE WHITE RIVER SCHOOL

The news is in, folks. The notorious Hannah Cerasoli was seen entering the White River School earlier today. She was seen carrying a blue crate with a plastic bag covering it, probably so the paparazzi could not get a glimpse of what was held in the crate.

We followed her into the school, in hopes of seeing where she was going and what she was doing, but she lost us before we could figure it all out. Our next step was to try and get an interview, which might give us some new clues in this, now, investigation.

The secretary for the school, we'll call her Mrs. Smith(name changed for privacy reasons), told us that she knew Ms. Cerasoli was heading to Mrs. Langley's first grade classroom. This was her first day of 5 working with Mrs. Langley's first graders. However, she did not know what the purposes of Ms. Cerasoli are at this time.

Mrs. Smith did give us two leads, though. She told us that Mrs. Langley was probably willing to give an interview and that Ms. Cerasoli will be back tomorrow(October 14) again. Maybe we'll catch up with her then.

In the meantime, stay tuned for our special top secret interview with Mrs. Langley - first grade teacher. What is Ms. Cerasoli up to? Why is she trying to hide it? Stay tuned to find out in this newly opened investigation.

P.J. - private investigator

Ready....Get set....GO!!!!

My title is in honor of the START of Hannah's READ Program!

I am starting tomorrow and Wednesday. Mrs. Langley's class is tomorrow and Mrs. Ehret's is on Wednesday. Mrs. Langley is at 11:15am and Mrs. Ehret's at 9am. You all can be thinking of me!

I'm almost completely ready. I have my lesson basically planned and finished for the next two days. I have everything copied. I have to finish "stuffing" the kid's folders, so they're ready to hand out tomorrow.

I think that I'm most worried that the parent's and kid's won't like it. I don't want to fail this...I have so much invested in it and I am very passionate about it succeeding. Mrs. Haynes was trying to reassure me that it's going to be great and everyone will love it. I think that this next week is going to be the slowest week of my life though! Having to wait for all the first feedback forms to come back *bites lip in anticipation already!* We'll have to see I guess....

A HUGE thank you shout out to everyone who has supported me up to this point in the process. It's been a long, challenging road, but it's going somewhere now! So:




Hannah

I am so drained....

Yes, I am! I have been working for a couple hours, pretty much straight, on making my activities. I have 3 of the direction sheets typed up. And I have a TON of copying. Luckily, I can do that on WRS's copier...lol! However, that meant that I needed to have everything done for tomorrow to copy! AHHH! : O If I don't, I would be doing it on Monday and I start TUESDAY...so that idea's out I'd say! : )

Anyway, just wanted to tell everyone that I am definitely still working hard on this...
Hannah

"It's slowly climbing!"

Lol! The title of my post is a quote from Mrs. Haynes this afternoon when I told her this good news....

I recieved 2 more contracts today!!!!

I have told the teachers that I will literally accept any kids who want to participate at any time. The deadline was for my organizational purposes and for my sanitys sake! Lol...However, if I go into the classroom and they have fun. They can still get their parent/guardian to sign the contract and I will fix them up a folder. Pretty simple I think!

So now, my count is a little different. Not only did I find out I had 2 more today, but also that one of Mrs. Langley's kids are moving next week, so that's why they couldn't do it. : ( So the official count now is... 16/23 participants!!! I personally am so happy with this! Mrs. Langley has 3 not participating and Mrs. Ehret 5. I'd say that's pretty good : )

I also figured out times now. Mrs. Langley's class is Tuesdays at 11:20am. Mrs. Ehret is Wednesdays at 9:05am. Please keep us in mind at those times! I'll be needing all the help I can get I'm sure : O

Anyway, sorry to talk your ear off, but I just wanted to update you again!
Thanks, the support means so much!
Hannah

The OFFICIAL Count(at least for now)!

I'm here to report that I have 14/24 students/families participating in Hannah's READ Program.

There are currently a few timing complications, but other than that I'm really excited!

Just a nice short post for you all!
Hannah

Activities!!!

Hi everyone!

I'm soooo excited! This weekend Alicia helped me create all 4 of my activities that I will be using for the program, at least on paper. They still need to be "made", but that won't be too difficult. They go as follows:
- Coloring Irish designs to go with A Fine St. Patrick's Day
- A game involving fake potatoes, "buckets", and a spinner : ) to go with Fiona's Luck
- A personalized board game where you are trying to learn/practice your Irish Step dancing before the big show like in Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Samantha and Lola
- And finally a writing activity. There will be 2 questions, Is there anything in your family that has been passed down from generation to generation? If YOU could pass something down, what would it be and why? Or something along the lines of those questions. Goes with the book The Saint Patrick's Day Shillaelegh

I don't know if any of that actually makes sense, but they should be great!

I recieved one more contract from Mrs. Langley today and did not have time to check in with Mrs. Ehret, so I don't know if she got anymore.
Thanks!
Hannah

Another update!

Hi!
I just got home from play rehearsal. They let us out almost a half hour early! Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Samantha and Lola came in tonight! So, I officially have all 4 Ireland books and 3/4 Mexico books! I am so excited! Lol....

This weekend my goal is to try and get all my ideas for activities down on paper. Then I will know what materials I need to put them together.

I will also be emailing Mr. Ashley next week to give him a quick update of the project before PTA meeting on Thursday. Hopefully, he will be willing to read it to them so that they also stay informed on what is going on. I should be able to give him a final count of participants by then too. I did tell him today how many I have.

Tonight I was able to make my Feedback Form. It is completed and ready to print out. Just like the contracts, I will print them out in a different color for each class(since I will include the day they need to return the materials, which are different for each class). I also got an official list of the participants so far typed up. I will continue adding to this until Tuesday, then give a typed copy to Mrs. Ehret and Mrs. Langley for their records.

The official count so far is....12(classes combined) families! Mrs. Langley and Mrs. Ehret are actually split even down the middle with 6 in each class.
I just wanted to update you semi quickly!
Hannah

Just a Quick Update....

I just wanted to let everyone know, quickly, that I now have 5 kids/families officially signed up for the Hannah's READ Program! : )

I am getting so excited now! It really seems like it's taking on some shape. From the people who have signed up, I have heard that they are all very excited about the program and I know the teachers are too.

Also, the other night Mom helped me order the book Celebrate Saint Patrick's Day with Samantha and Lola from Barnes and Noble over the phone. They should be in sometime at the beginning of next week probably. I am, also, looking into different Mexico books to use as my 4th Mexico book. Saturday Market is still backordered at Borders. This makes around 2 months of waiting for it. Plus, it's only one copy! So, I need to find something else to use. Luckily, I will not be starting the Mexico session until January.

It's coming together, people!!
Hannah