In Love

Can I tell you that I am completly mental for these things. I could really sit and eat them all day everyday. i think it goes back to my childhood and always wanting some sort of tasty treat. one thing about working at a high school that helps feed this addiction of mine is the vending machines. i have a TA that i sometimes send to get me one. i always supply the dollar. i convince myself that they arn't so bad because they have 0g fat ... i know that this is a lie but it's a lie i'm willing to tell myself. mmmm LOVE THEM!

Brown Van theory

This my friends is a brown van - no it is not brown in color but it is 'brown'. while in college my dear friend Casey introduced me to the brown van theory. this is the idea that there are cars in the world that are just creepy. that somehow someway there is a very odd old man driving this car and he may jump out and take small children into the night. so the browner the van the more points you get (it's kind of like the if you hit pregnant nun you win the game).

so one day Bren and i were driving around and saw this thing. it's an ice cream truck. that has caution children spray painted on it. not with stencils, not with an artistic flair, but by freehand. i made him get my camera out of my purse and take a picture of it. in part because i couldn't believe my eyes. i had no idea how this thing could make money. i know if i saw that driving around in my neighborhood i wouldn't go near it.

so be on the lookout for brown vans they are always a sight to see.

Teacher fun

today in my last class of the day i lost total control. and normally i don't do that - i am the kind of teacher students hate because i keep them doing things until the very last moment. I'm always telling them that it's my time. and so there we are discussing the beginnings of The Great Gatsby - and outside it's starting to rain, then with the clouds overhead and the rain beginning to fall it happened. the downfall of the class - outside students heard the sound of "the conch" now this class is one of my advanced English classes. so these are the kind of kids who really do want to be at school, and plan on going to college. so they hear this most odd sound of someone blowing into a giant shell and they start to yell - it's the conch !! it's the conch!!! we must go to the meeting !! they are calling for a meeting!!

so you might be wondering what are these strange children talking about. they are making a connection to lord of the flies that they all read last year as sophomores. i almost let them run down the way to the other classroom to prove that when you call a meeting people do show up. but then i thought better of it. but i sat there laughing my butt off thinking that here is this group of 30+ kids all wishing they could act out a book. i adore my little nerds. they do work so hard. so after that moment when i tried to go back to the book it was just too much. so for the last 10 min of class we just sat around and laughed. i do think it's moments like these that make my life so good. not many people get to laugh that hard in a cubicle. :)

That's what she said...

I have a student who is always waiting for a moment to lead the class into the depths of insanity. Sometimes i have to stop myself from laughing with them. today was one of those days. i was showing my students how to use ebsco (an online data base to use for research) and i was using the scroll button to make the screen larger. -if you don't know this trick it's amazing hit ctrl and use the mouse to scroll up and it magnifies the screen- someone from the back of the room shouts "how did you do that" so i tell them about this trick that i think is wonderful. and i happen to say "well you use this button and it gets bigger and bigger" and this student we'll call him CrazyPants McGee says in this very small but still noticeable voice...that's what she said. Normally i would send him out of the room and scold him for being inappropriate. but today.. today i just stopped, looked, and held back a giggle.

it's these moments that i'm so glad that i don't teach 3rd graders.

Oh Happy Day

Yesterday I was able to watch the swearing in of the 44th president of the United States - Barrack H. Obama.

I feel that this moment in history will be something that I talk to my children about.

I almost missed the exact moment when he placed his hand on the bible Abe Lincoln used. This is what happened. My school has the ability to watch cnn live via the computer. So there I am getting ready to watch this moment in history and the sound goes out. So I send a kid across the way to another teachers room. They come back and say that yes the sound is working in the other room. Looking at my class I start shouting go go go! I WILL NOT MISS THIS.

All 30 of us leave my room and run into the other classroom. there are now over 60 people in this one room sitting anywhere there is room. some are on the floor some are sitting on top of desks. but all of them were quiet. it was really amazing. seeing that my 1st period class are some of the loudest children on the planet. then they asked the audience to please stand - and the whole room stood up. (this is where i begin to cry) i couldn't believe how short it really was. and the fact that 12noon is the moment he became the prez and in real life world it wasn't until 12:04 was the moment he took the oath.

it was a very unreal day. i am still trying to remember all of the things that happened. WOW

This weeks lesson plans

Okay - so I teach 11th grade English. This week is going to be the starting point of the amazing, outstanding RESEARCH PAPER!!! Did you hear that noise... children are crying somewhere in the world because of those two words. They are planning ways to come down with a cold or may take to the streets in protest.

But it is a wicked web I weave. This is the plan for the week. Because Today was Dr. King day we had the day off so tomorrow we begin the journey head first.

Tuesday/Wednesday:
- To the Library to pick up the wonderful F451 by Bradbury.
- We come back and pick research topics - we go over all 10 options and students pick what they would like to spend the next 8 weeks learning about.
- 'When they give you ruled paper, write the other way' begin the conversation about the novel we are reading. I love this conversation becuase it shakes some students out of their little world. They can't imagine a world where they don't have structure. mmmm I love opening that can of worms.
- The first paragraph. Students will read the first paragraph and their homework will be to draw the first paragraph - a literal representation of the text.
- Their other piece of homework is to write me a paragraph about why they want to write about their topic and what they hope to learn from it.

Thurs/Fri:
- Turn in Homework
- A quickwrite - The week America Changed - no matter how students felt about the results of the election it is very important for them to reflect on what has happened and how history has changed because of President Barack Obama
- Begin reading the novel - go over the idea of science fiction.
- a couple of journals

add in some jokes about farting and falling down and you pretty much can see what my life is like

Disneyland!

DISNEYLAND!!!! Casey and I spent Saturday at the happiest place on Earth. It doesn't get much better than that.

Tomorrow Tomorrow I love you Tomorrow!

Tomorrow a new day begins, a new American day. A day when we can all take a collective deep breath in hopes that our time has come.

I know that there are things that will not be fixed by President Obama. But it must be a time when all Americans - come together to say that the government must listen to it's people. And it is also time that Americans must let their voices be heard. We can not stand silent any more.

I can't wait for Tomorrow!