The script was being written somewhere else...

and even though the sequence made no sense to me or anyone around me, it made sense to a someone somewhere... -Hambone's Book

I am using Josh Hamilton's Beyond Belief tomorrow in class. We are discussing choices and consequences so I couldn't think of a more interesting piece of literature to teach with. So while choosing an expert I came across this quote...and it fits life PERFECTLY for the time being.

I have learned that I am best at living life happily and free spirited. Such as in the pic... school clothes (who says khakis can't be hot, and of course my lovely VB school backpack at an after school Friday night fun event can't be HOTTTT!!! Neely saw the pic, and asked Elaine to change my outfit ASAP. I actually liked it! I mean I am who I am right!!! :) Anyways...I love random road trips, spontaneous hh's, random stories from my kiddos, and most of all being Me. Although I wish I knew my scrip and had it published laying next to my bible...but I DON'T. Last week I had a hard time coming to the realization that my plan is obviously not God's plan, and I am finally learning that the more I trust him and his plan... the more happier I am. God has been so faithful this past week. It is amazing the peace he has giving me at school, cheer, and in my own personal life. I have so much to be thankful for, and I am so thankful for my friends, family, sweet students, not so sweet students, and co-workers.

I will keep you updated on the script as my life continues! Have a wonderful rest of the week!

ps. LSU TIGER football is SOON, and I will be enjoying the game with two of my best Friends!!! (this is actually written in the script ;)

Above All

What an incredible summer I have had. The beach, college world series, vegas, and dad turned 50. I also got the opportunity to teach summer school which was incredibly life changing getting to work with some of our kids who need the most attention and love. It was a wonderful time. Besides waking up early, I was sad when it was over. I also gained a new best friend Lance. I have learned so much about myself through him and his amazing want to work with athletes. His hardwork and determination is pretty amazing. I admire him for that. Football season has started and well our everyday amazing summer has turned into WORK WORK WORK. I am the WORST at change so I can be quite the BRAT... i am sure he would agree witht that...but on the other hand GO VIKINGS! No matter the outcome of our friendship/relationship I am thankful for what I have learned in the few short months from being with someone that has such a passion to work with children.

All that being said, getting back into the groove of things has been an HUGE struggle. If you don't know, our district and state has changed their standards a TON. I started training a few weeks ago, and I became extremely discouraged. Also my mom is not at my school anymore. I will mis her soooo much. Anyways... I see my precious babies that have to meet these almost unattainable goals, and one thing I HATE the most is seeing them struggle and face failure in the classroom. It HURTS! So I have struggled with coming up with a theme for my class this year. I really want to prepare them for success in all areas of their life. So this is something I like to do with my kids because it allows me to build my classroom into a team enviornment.

Sitting in worship at an AdvoCare convention Michael W. Smith starts singing (LIVE) Above All. I immediatly break down and cry. 1. it was played at Gene Marshall's funeral 2. It is an incredible SONG. It really hit home because Above ALL one thing matters in my classroom is me keeping my passion to teach my babies no MATTER what the standard is. I truly believe that with my passion for teaching...no ONE can take that away and TWO my students will come out of my classroom better than better before they walked in. So I am not exactly sure how I am going to use Above All, but I know that God will give me the knowledge I need to make this happen.

So in my own personal life I am going to focus on the theme "Above All" I am going to keep the main things the MAIN THING. Work on myself and finding exactly what I want out of life. This summer was almost surreal it was so AMAZING, and reality has finally set it. I know that Above All my God will take care of me as and LOVES me for who I am...that Being Said I am Jordan Cowen which If i don't say so myself is pretty awesome! (kidding) I have come to the reality that Life is NEVER going to be easy, and you have to FIGHT for what you want (and what is right)
I will get off my soapbox now. I do want all my friends and family to know that I love them dearly, and I am so grateful for the friendships.

Here is to a new school year!


love you all so much!

JC

Never a dull moment

If you don't already know, Neely is done with Grayson and softball. She said goodbye in May to both. She has recently moved to Irving for the summer, started working, and will be going to UNT on academic scholarship in August. She is going to be moving to Denton, and she will start studying sociology just like me! She has not quite decided between teacher or police WOMAN! :) She isn't real sure about the whole uniform thing though... I am so proud of her! I hope she become a teacher (or she likes to say my boss...because she really wants to skip teaching and go straight to being an administrator...) I tell her to keep DREAMING!!!

Nee isn't a lover of many things, but she does have a love for dogs with the exception of precious LEO. He is special, and well Neely doesn't always have patience for those who don't mind!

Neely has been wanting a puppy to take with her to school. So this last weekend. My mom, Neely, Reed, and Jake went to McKinney Trade Days. They found a miniature Schnauzer AKA Mr. Chow, Dudley, Nolan, Drake. We had not decided a name quite yet. She of course picked a dog like our Mol Mol's aka MOLLY! She brought the puppy home. He was precious. We all fell in love with him. Starting on Monday my parents thought the puppy might be sick. They took him to the vet, and the Dr. said that he was just scared to be in his new environment. The puppy came back home. Brit and I went to see him after Cheer. He still seemed a little sluggish to me, but I just thought that he was just sleepy. Puppies are like babies and like to Sleep a lot...right...that is what I was thinking! Last night the puppy became really sick. Nee went to work this morning, and my mom watched the puppy. Mom said he cried like a little baby, and she could tell he was in a ton of pain. My mom and dad took the puppy back to the doctor. He was diagnosed with parvo, and he is now being put to sleep. We have found out that the puppy has come from a puppy mill in Hope, Arkansas. Not only does this puppy have parvo, but all the other puppies he was with has them too. Neely said there was at least 10 dogs with him at the trade days. So those babies have parvo too.

Day 2 of our project: Chapters 3

Today my students had to answer the following questions about their families for chapter 3 here is my example!

Chapter 3- Crazy Cowen's


1.How your mom and dad meet: NHS... those are some romantic halls... I tell ya!
2.Where is your family from? How did they get to the US?- My kids have laughed at this all day...my mom has some Irish in her and my dad has some American Indian...that is all I know.
3.Do you have any interesting family members: Yes... Dee-the one who had the aneurysm. She tends to wear her fur coat with tennis shoes, walk to LMS with her Ranger Hat on (tag and all), She does not LIKE GIRLS, and she thinks our dogs are prettier than her grandchildren
4.How many immediate family members do you have? What are their names and how old are they? Mr. Cowen- 49 Mrs. Cowen- 49 Miss Cowen 24 Mr. Cowen 22 Neely 20 Reed 15
5.What is your favorite family tradition- my favorite family tradition is Christmas Eve. I love watching everyone opening gifts and I love my SANTA sack!
6.What is your culture and ethnic heritage: This one is hard for me because when I think of culture and heritage and my family...I think AMERICAN! All I can say is that we are a true American family who loves sports, family time, and food :)

Autobiography Project in Ms. C's Class- Chapters 1 and 2

Chapter 1: About the Marvelous Ms. Cowen


1.Full Name: Jordan Bailey Cowen
2.Favorite Color: PURPLE
3.Favorite Subject: READING DUHHHH
4.Favorite Singer/Band: John Mayer, Chris Tomlin, and, Jason Aldean of course Lil Wayne (I like a little of it all)
5.Favorite Quote: this is the best i have right now..."Life 's a beach and I am just playing in the sand"
6.Favorite Hobby: Coaching Cheer, Shopping, Pedi's Mani's, TEXTING and READING!!!
7.Favorite Sport/sports team: Cheer of course/ Rangers, Cowboys and Mavs
8.Favorite thing to do on the weekends: hang out with my AMAZING group of friends, watch Neely play ball, and hang with my fam!
9.Favorite thing about 6th grade: I love reading out loud to my kiddos!!!!
10.Favorite BOOK: Well this year Sorta Like a Rockstar (it is a YA book, but I loooooveeed it)

Chapter 2:
Cowen's Timeline of important EVENTS
•Re write them in complete sentences and use descriptive words. They need to be in time order (chronological order)

1986- Jordan Cowen was born (with a slight cone head...sorry mom)
1988- Alex Cowen was born (he made up my nick name that my dad and papa still call me Juju)
1991- Neely Cowe was born (crazy nee... I love her to death and I can't imagine not having a sister)
1993- I started Kindergarten and I had the most amazing teacher Ms. Green. I cried when we had a sub. I still remember being in her class
1995- Ms. Mayberry made me sign the book 5 times in one day because I didn't write my name on my papers. I cried and was devastated. I believe that is why on the last day of school i threw up everywhere in her classroom
1995- My little brother Reeders was born. I thought he was my own child for a while :) he is awesome
1995- Dee had her aneurysm. Our lives were changed forever
1999- I was in the top ten in my 7th grade class at Lamar (the only time i have ever been in the top 10 of anything!!)
2001- I started Nimitz and was extremely scared
2003- I finally became a high school cheerleader... talk about good times, tears, and my laughs! My best friends dad died as well...our lives were changed again forever
2004- Momma diagnosed with Breast Cancer
2005- Graduated from NHS and went to Texas A&M
2007- Transferred to UNT and started studying sociology (best decision ever)
2009- Graduated with a degree from UNT, Started my first teaching job and fell in love and found my true passion
2010- Started teaching 6th grade reading and now I teach some of the most AMAZING 6th graders EVER... they are sweet! I also get to see my Momma everyday!

Fact or Opinion...I mean REALLY

Tomorrow is TAKS review of course because we only have 2 weeks left until TAKS testing!!! I was looking at objective that my students are struggling with and to my surprise...it was FACT and OPINION. I thought I had learned this in maybe 3rd grade, but my sweet babies just don't get it. So tomorrow I am teaching FACT and OPINION. They have a HARD time understanding that it does not mean it is an OPINION if it stated in the story. I got this alll day long, "but Ms. it says it in the story...it HAS to be a FACT." So today after school I started to get my lesson ready. I came up with a sweeet fact and opinion game...made and assessment then I started to make my Prezi (it is better than a power point I promise). I work backwards... crazy i know, but I am CRAZZZYYY these days. As I started to make my prezi... I started to explain the difference between fact and opinion. I kept changing my wording around because it was even HARD for me to really understand a fact and opinion. Our society has set such NORMS we as humans have a hard time distinguishing between a FACT and OPINION. This topic i guess has been so relevant in my life lately...and i mean in dealing with people. It amazes me how deceitful people can be. I used to care what other thought and not speak what was on my mind, but in my "older days"... i guess you could say...that has all changed!!! My mom asked me about a year ago if I was ever going to find my filter... i told her NO!!! I am WHO I AM and there is not much more too it. Hate me love me...I don't always CARE! :) Anyways... It it sometimes hard to distinguish between (FACT PERSON) and a fake person (I guess we can call them an OPINION person). As a sorta naive person...this has been hard for me to grasp lately. I just don't get it... it takes so much more energy to be mean than nice. P.S. I am working on not being mean as well..although I am not deciteful! What you see is what you GET with this GIRL!!! All that being said... i know...I am wordy tonight... I am so THANKFUL and BLESSED that God has shown me lately who the FACT people are in my life. It is so nice to lean on my sweet friends and family. God is truly faithful, and I am so ever grateful for that! Life is much more sweet with out those opinion people!!! ;) Love you all, JC

Talk about falling on your face!

This has def. been the most TRYING week of my entire life. I have cried, laughed, yelled, argued, and the list goes on. I have had my own share of pity parties in my life. This week was def. an eye opener for me. I always have thought I was sad or hurt...but now i know the feeling f a broken heart! I have learned so much in the past week about myself and people in general... here are 10 things i learned this week...

1. I am in LOVE with teaching. I mean i have always known that, but this week I found out how much I truly love what I do

2. I have learned the true meaning of HURT

3. I have learned that my family will always be there to support me NO matter what

4. I have been blessed with the best friends in the entire world

5. I am one pretty tough girl...and i am working on not caring what others think about me, and not letting others try to tell me how to run my life. I am 24 now...i think i can handle it!!! ;)

6. Neely is one awesome ball player even with a torn whatever she has

7. It is okay to have a change of <333

8. Laughing until you cry is the BEST

9. I truly treasure read aloud time with my kiddos

10. I have a true and faithful God