Quotes from my classroom

It is the end of the semester at school. My students are busy finishing up two large projects, so there is a lot of work time and not much "teaching" from me. I thought this is a good time to share a collection of what my students have been talking about among themselves.

"Twerking is my passion."~ I'm pretty sure she was joking. But she said it with such a straight face that I am not quite sure.

"Rumors are like farts. They spread around fast and no one likes them."~ This was the slogan one group came up with for their anti-bullying campaign. Here is the video that they made if you want to check it out. (they are all published to youtube, this one is just my favorite)


"Mrs. C, my Hulk strength keeps breaking these hole punchers." (seriously, this kid broke two of them in a row. I don't really understand how.

The school needed these sets of laminated cards sorted, organized, hole punched and put onto rings. There were over 100 sets that needed to be put together. My leadership kids are usually asked to do stuff like this, I mean 28 kids can do stuff like this way faster than one or two adults, or students aides. I told them it was a race to see which group could make the most. One super competitive girl was taking charge in her table when I over heard this (K is a boy, M is the girl):
K: My thumbs are starting to hurt. (he was opening and closing the rings)
M: K-you are slacking on your job! Keep going!
K: I think they are swelling.
M: You want to win don't you? Suck it up!
There was no prize for the first place team.

"Do you like my uterus? There's a baby in it."~ She was drawing a picture for her alphabet book they are creating.

"Can I live tweet your class today? I want to get you trending on twitter."

"I've never kissed a boy, but I'm not scared. I know I will be good at it." ~ This makes me happy. We have an 8th grade girl at the school who is pregnant, so I am always happy when I hear the more innocent ones.

"Mrs. C, do you have road flares or an orange cone in your car?"
"No A, I do not."
"If you get in a car crash, you are pretty much dead with out those things."
His end of the year speech was on what to do in a car crash. Apparently I can't survive without those.

"In conclusion, you need to have a spare tire, a cell phone and a screwdriver in your car in case of emergencies."~ This student's speech was on what happens after you get your drivers license. I had no idea how crucial a screwdriver was.

Me- "I'm pretty sure I spelled license wrong. I always do. How is it spelled?" (Seriously, I cannot spell that word without spell check or looking it up. Even here I get the red squiggly line under it.)
A- "Don't forget the silent Q at the end."

Student- "Mrs. C, does this drawing look like Drake or Jesus?"
Me- "Um... Honestly I don't know what Drake looks like, but that drawing kind of looks like the pictures of Jesus at church."
Student- "Hmm... well I love Drake and Jesus, so I guess it's okay."

 

I can see how those two might get confused. :)

There has also been rumors floating around school about me being pregnant. I already decided that I am not going to do a big announcement for my classes about it, I mean, they'll figure it out eventually right? But, I also decided that I won't lie if a kid asks me. So far one girl has asked, but no one else has. I have had a few kids come up to me and say " I have a question for you." When I ask what it is, they get all giggly and say never mind. 

I love that I have a job that makes me laugh everyday. What is the best part of your job??

Reverse bucket list

Disclaimer: Rachel did this post first. I thought it was genius. So I thought I would try it out.

With all the focus this time of year on what we want to accomplish, sometimes I think we tend to forget about the cool things we have already done. Obviously I am not trying to brag or say how great my life has been, this has just been a good reminder that I have done some pretty amazing things.

In no particular order: things I can cross off my bucket list.
1. Get a Masters Degree.

2. Marry an amazing guy.

3. Run a marathon.
4. Go to Hawaii.

5. Hike a volcano

It was super windy on top of the volcano. And super foggy :(

6. Travel by myself in a foreign country.
**I actually got pretty lost in Germany. There were two other Americans on the same train I was on that were also lost. Turns out they were from my home town and we knew some of the same people. Small world!
7. Bungee Jump
8. Buy a house.
9. Go to the World Cup

Germany 2006

10. Visit a concentration camp

11. Vegas at Christmas time

12. Hike in the Grand Canyon
13. Hitchhike
14. Snorkel
15. Have a career that I love and that makes a difference

I

16. Set a high score on an arcade game

17. Adopt a pet from a shelter (two of them actually!)

18. Be snowed in.
19. Pay off my student loans :)
**I just sent off the last payment this week. Good riddance Sallie Mae!

What can you cross off your bucket list?

Bring 2014

There are two big trends I see happening in blog world right now. The first one is the  year-end review. I do enjoy reading those posts, and I did it last year. I really liked writing that post too. I wasn't the most consistent at keeping up with my blog this year, and that makes the year end post much more difficult to write. The other thing I am seeing is people choosing a word for the year. I like this idea. I have been trying to think of my own word since I first saw these posts about a week and a half ago. Each new post I read makes me go "darn! Why didn't I think of that word?" One of these words I read has stuck with me now for almost a week. So I am also going to adopt it as my word for the year.

I really don't remember who picked this first. Was it you?

I have never done well with change. I like routine. For the last couple of years we have had some major life changes. Some of them are not so great. In fact, many of them haven't been. But we have an amazing change coming up for our family, and with that will be a change in our routines. I know that I need to and should embrace those changes. But I also want to embrace the time that Craig and I have as just our own little family of two.

Are you coming up with a word for the year? How do you deal with change?

A mix of emotions

Thank you all for the congratulations and the condolences. This should be a really exciting time for us, and it is, but it is still overshadowed by the loss of Craig's mom. Her services were just a couple days before Christmas, and it was one of the first times for us to see his extended family since they found out about the baby. It was a weird mix of "congrats" and "sorry for your loss." It was standing room only in the church for her funeral mass, and the smaller rosary the night before also filled the funeral home to capacity. All of this made for a very low key holiday for us. Craig went back to work this week, and I go back on Monday.

Diana (Craig's mom) was so excited about becoming a Grandma. We had told her the same weekend that we found out (back in October) by giving her a little onesie that said Grandma's Little Peanut. When she opened it she started crying and screaming "I'm going to be a Grandma!" Followed by, "I have to call Eva!" (One of her sisters). Honestly, I am surprised that y'all couldn't hear her. As much as I wanted to tell her to wait to tell people, I didn't. And I am glad I didn't. It made her so happy. Like I said, she was so excited, and she made short work of letting her (giant) family know the good news. Before she passed away, we were able to show her our 12 week ultrasound pictures that showed a pretty clear facial profile and some cute little feet. During the last few weeks Diana kept saying that she had to wait until June before she could go. It really does break my heart that she will never meet her grandchild.

I am hoping to be back to more regular posting soon. I know I haven't been around much, but I do have a few posts started, and now that things are getting back to our new normal, I think I should be able to finish a few.