Is it really Thursday???

It seems like just yesterday it was Monday!! The weeks seem to be flying by the closer we get to the end of the school year. I guess that this is normal, but then again, it is my first year!! I'm sure my students have said some very clever things the past couple of days, but as the days seem to mush together, I can't think of anything "brilliant" right now. My week started with discovering that one student (who is usually very well-behaved) had decided to scratch a lovely little pattern on the back and seat of his plastic chair using a paper clip! When I saw it, I asked him if he had done it. He gave me the look of, "it seems I've been caught, so I'd better tell the truth, even though I don't really want to". I asked when he did it and he said Friday. (great powers of observation on my part -- I didn't even notice until the day was almost over on Monday! ) I was really curious as to how he did it, so I asked him that, too. His response was great: "I guess it was with a paper clip." I loved that he added "I guess" to the answer. It's like he still didn't quite want to admit to his guilt! He does get some points for honesty, though!

Hopefully it will only get better from here! I'm not sure if uphill or downhill is better: downhill seems like things will cascade and get worse; uphill seem awfully hard! I'm voting for even ground!!

Only 29 more days of school left! (according to the 2nd grade teacher)

Change is a good thing!

Well, I've conformed!! My sisters decided to change their background, so after a little frustration (and reading from the BEGINNING of the instructions - what a novel idea!) I figured out how to do it!

What do you think of the new background?? Did I match colors O.K.?? That's not exactly my strong suit, so any advice would be helpful!

Things have been crazy this week -- I went home over the weekend to my parent's house because my Aunt and Uncle were there with my cousin and her son!! This was the first time to see my "first cousin once removed" (did I get that right, Jeannine??) Since coming back "home," I've felt a little like I'm just trying to play catch-up!! I've really been dragging this week -- I guess I have the weekend to relax! Only 30-something days of school left!! I can't believe it -- my first year is just about over! Not that I want to be rid of my students, the 12 hour days are just getting a little tiresome! Everyone ASSURES me that next year will be better. I DO believe them -- for one thing, I won't be writing History quizzes less than 12 hours before I give them (or 12 minutes sometimes!!) I guess only time will tell!

excitement at home!

I'm home for the weekend!! This is always a nice, relaxing time (other than the hour and a half drive it takes to get here!!) I was met with a beautiful sight:

For those of you who have not been to my parent's house recently (or ever), this may not seem like an odd picture. However, for those of you who know this house fairly well, you will notice something VERY ODD. This is what it looked like a week ago:

What happened to the cars?? (technically cars and truck, but let's not be too picky!) My dad has been advertising one car and one truck in the local Valley Trader since January. This hasn't been going well, including people claiming to be ready to buy, then never showing up! They received a call last week from a man interesed in the truck solely because of the price. After they talked for a while, he told dad that he needs to find 100 cars to crush!! Dad said, "I've got 2 others, do you want them, too??" Dad described the other two cars and the man said, "I'll give you a hundred dollars a piece for them." Dad was thrilled!!!! We were beginning to think that they would only get $25 per car, and now dad was being offered $100!! So, he came on Tuesday of this past week and hauled them away. Here's a video of how they did it!

I have a video that is MUCH larger, but I think it's too big to put on here. Here a few more pictures to give you an idea for how it went!

Really quick -- almanac

So today we started talking about Benjamin Franklin. At the beginning of each chapter, there is a "words/people to know" box which gives some words or people mentioned in the chapter and the meaning of the word, or something which made that person famous. The word in this box for Ben Franklin was "almanac". I read the word, then the definition. On student made the following comment:

"Oh, I thought it was a kind of a nut. . . alma . . maca . . something"

I told him he was very creative, but almonds and macadamia are types of nuts.

Wednesday's What vs. Weekly What

Ok, so the Wednesday's What isn't working out so well. It seems I've posted it on Thursday or Friday more than anything! I think I will re-name it! It will now be called: The Weekly What.

I figure this way if I don't post it on Wednesday, I can still post on the next day without being fussed at by my "readers".

Before I get to that, though, I just wanted to comment on my students. I don't write about them as much as I would like to, so I'm going to make an effort to mention something that has happened recently. For example . . .

Today we were reviewing for a History Quiz tomorrow (which I still need to write -- yikes!!). We reviewed for about 10-15 minutes. It seemed to be getting a little boring and I finished asking all the questions I felt needed to be reviewed. Then I said something like this:

"This quiz on William Penn will be pretty easy. It's basically, he wasn't a Quaker, he became a Quaker. His father wanted him to be an English Navy Admiral, William didn't believe in fighting. The king owed his father money, so he gave William land in the New World. William said, let's name it ;Sylvania'. . . ." Anyway, you get the idea.

I basically summed up the entire chapter in about 60 seconds. When I finished, they did something that surprised me. I knew they were listening pretty well, because they were all looking at me with that, "this is different" look. I walked to the back of the room to set my book down, and they all started clapping! It was really funny. But my revelation came later. I realized just how encouraging my class can be. They may only be in third grade, but they really have a way of saying the right thing, or giving the right picture at just the right time. I only wish I would have realized this several months ago. Oh, well -- I have the next 8 1/2 weeks or so to develop this!!

Weekly What: "What is the most encouraging thing another person has done for you?"