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??

Ever wonder what you would do in an emergency?

Alternately titled... the scariest thing that has happened in my classroom so far.

Today I was teaching away, much like any other day. We just started our sex ed unit, so it is a pretty fun time in my classroom. It was 5th period (the end of my day) and there was about 5 minutes or so left. I was up in the front, reading and answering question box questions when a girl in the front of the room falls out of her chair. The class kind of giggles, and I look down and realize she is not moving.

I ask if she is okay, and then the class gets silent. She still isn't moving. At that moment about a million things flew through my mind.
*Let me remind you all that my classroom is not inside the regular building. I am in a trailer building in the back of the parking lot*
I have a class of 32 kids looking at me, and one girl not moving, face down on the floor. At first I think we should get the teacher next door, but I decide that there isn't much she could do. I then hear the voice of our school police officer ringing through my head "In an emergency, your job is to keep your students safe and to keep them calm." After I tap on her shoulder, I ask again if she is okay. I see her back is moving (she was breathing.) I quietly ask one student to get me the phone from the back of the room, and ask the rest of the class to go outside. (At this point she had started to move a bit and I was concerned she was having a seizure and would wet herself in front of everyone.) As the kids leave, and I call the main office. The girl starts to sit up (thank the Lord!)

It turns out she hadn't eaten lunch or breakfast. She said she had eaten some dinner the night before. I made her eat a Cliff bar that I had brought for my after school snack. Luckily, my prep period is 6th period, because I don't know how I would have taught the next class. I was so shaky  from the adrenaline!

I had always wondered what I would do in an emergency, and it turns out I did pretty well, however, I hope I never have to do anything like that again!

Have you ever had to deal with an emergency?

The First 6 weeks.

If you are not a teacher you probably don't realize this, but classes have personalities. Obviously individual 8th graders have personalities, but each period I teach has its own distinct personality, as well as the 8th grade class as whole (all 300+ of them). The first 2 weeks back to school is the "honeymoon period." Everybody is happy to be back, and excited to see each other, and every student is going to make it the best year ever.

Then reality kicks in. And everyone is back into the reality of school.

This is week 6 of the school year, and the end of the grading period. I can honestly say I am loving this school year. After my mom died last year at the beginning of the year, I just felt like I was just trying to catch up. Then things were always just a bit off. The year before the 8th grade class was kind of stinkers, and the year before that, both my uncle and my grandma passed away. This year, I haven't had any personal tragedies, and as a whole, this 8th grade class is super fun. Each of my 4 8th grade health classes has really strong leaders, and they are leading the students in a good way. We are having some pretty intelligent discussions, and they all pretty much understand the when it's okay to be funny/goofy and when they need to buckle down and get after it.

My leadership class is also a ton of fun. I am super lucky to be able to start my morning with a group of hand picked awesome kids. Yes, there is tons of extra work with being an activities director but I think it is worth it to hand pick a class and not have official standards to teach :)

My leadership class had a mini reflection assignment around the Fable of the Porcupine. I showed them pictures of baby porcupines because they are the cutest things ever.

Trust me, every minute of every day isn't sunshine and unicorns, I teach middle school after all, but overall things are going fantastic so far!

Other reasons why this year is going so well:
*I have a student teacher. He is really good too. Unfortunately in middle school, half the battle is if the kids like you, and let me tell you... they think he is the bees knees :) He also is pretty good in front of the class as well. He has been teaching 1-2 periods a day since the second day of school.

* Did you just see that last one? My student teacher is doing about 1/2 of my job :)

*Craig's "new" job. Last spring he left his job at the paper (where he was working 50-60 hours a week) and took a part time job with the state of Oregon. He is home around 3ish every day, and has Fridays off. I love seeing him more often and he is way less stressed out. All of that makes a much happier home life.

*I am taking care of me. This is huge! I am at the gym 4-5 times a week, I am watching what I am eating, and when I was sick, I stayed home. I need to be healthy & happy in order to be my best in the classroom.

How is everything going with you?

The real reason I teach middle school

Today is my last day of work for a while. (Well, that's not entirely true. Tuesday I am going to a 2 day training on critical reading skills for non-fiction text, so that's a hoot.) For the last week or so of school, my students have been working on a final project, so there was a lot of them working and talking, and a lot of me listening in on their conversations. Here are some gems.

"Suck it Amy." (about how to cut paper)

Boy: "Is it hard to wear high heels?"

"My dad is Pablo Escabar."

Ben: "Will you adopt me?"
Me: "I don't think my husband would like that."
Ben: "Why? He doesn't like Islanders?"
Me: "No, he just doesn't like middle schoolers."
Ben: "I get that."

Student 1: "Have you ever heard of a red panda?"
Student 2: "Is it a bloody panda?"

"I don't have life insurance. I hope I don't die."

@ 10:07: "What time do we get out?"
Me: "10:17"
"Cool, we have a half hour left."

Finally I will leave you with two conversations that were brought up in my leadership class. To preface this first one, you have to know that I teach in a very ethnically diverse school. Many times I am the only white person in the room.

A few weeks ago I jokingly asked the class whose mom was making me tamales. A few kids said they would bring some in when the one Caucasian boy in the room asked what a tamale was. This sent the majority of the class into a little frenzy describing what they were and then asking him if he had other types of Mexican food (carne asada, carnitas etc.) One of the other boys looked at him in all seriousness and asked, "What do white people eat?"
"Chicken. We eat lots of chicken."
Me: "Meatloaf." Then a girl raised her hand and asked this gem of a question: "Mrs. Coleman, don't white people eat a lot of pasta?"

This next one I had to sit back and laugh during the whole conversation:
Boy 1 raises his hand: "Do girls check out guys butts?"
Girl 1: "Sort of but its not like we turn all the way around like you boys do when you look at girls."
Girl 2: "But we can't really see anything because you guys always sag."
Girl 1: "Except when you wear basketball shorts."
Boy 1: "So are basketball shorts like yoga pants?"

I have always said that one reason I love my job is that it makes me laugh everyday. My job is pretty stressful, but its conversations like these that get me through the tough parts.

To the Class of 2017

Last year I wrote a letter to the class of 2016 (it's still one of my favorite posts!) . Today is the last day of school for my kiddos. If I were to speak at promotion, (8th grade graduation) I would try to tell them something like this

To the Class of 2017:
You have the power to change the world. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise.
Do not let fear stop you from trying something. If it sounds like fun, go for it. Even if none of your friends are doing it.
Take risks.
Be silly. Don't grow up to fast. Enjoy this time. You will want to relive (parts of it) this time later.

Get outside and explore. The Internet can only show you so much. You need to experience it.
While you are outside, stop texting!
On that same line of thought, try talking with your parents and siblings more.
Pictures on Snapchat are not secrets. Don't be dumb.

Class of 2017, the next four years have the power to shape your future either way. Don't forget that. You will make mistakes, but what you do from those mistakes will show what kind of adult you are becoming. This is the start to the next chapter in your lives.

What advice would you give to any of the graduates this season?

The Worst Advice I Was Ever Given

I was 23 when I first started teaching. (That in itself is crazy to think about.) I was fresh out of college when I got my first teaching job. I finished college in December and by the end of January I was hired to finish out the school year for a teacher on maternity leave. In college, my advisers in the teaching program all said the same thing: learn from the teachers around you, ask for help, and listen to their advice. And be nice to the secretaries. That was all good advice.

My first job was a 5th-8th grade PE teacher. Most PE jobs have a female teacher (me) and a male teacher for locker room supervision duties. While I was licensed to teach PE, and I had done some student teaching in PE, I didn't feel 100% comfortable with teaching PE. I turned to the male PE teacher (Eric) for guidance and advice, just like my college professors had told us to.

Eric was a great teacher. The kids loved him, he had great management, and had inventive games to teach the sport skills we were working on. I learned a lot from him about teaching PE (and honestly, teaching in general.) But Eric also gave me the worst advice I was ever given. One day we were talking after school about whatever and he told me this: "don't be friends with the people you work with."

Don't be friends with people you work with.

I think the idea behind this piece of advice is have a life outside of school. That I 100% agree with, but really, don't be friends with the people you work with? At the end of that school year, I left that school and ended up taking another middle school PE job in a different district. I remembered that advice, and tried to implement it. I was nice with my other staff members, and again I learned a lot from my fellow PE teacher, but I wasn't friends with them. That was a miserable school year. I was extremely unhappy and I almost left the profession entirely. At the end of the year, I left that district and was hired into my current job.

I started out my first year with the same approach. One day in November I was asked to go out after work for happy hour. I honestly didn't have a reason not to go, so I said okay. And it was fun. :) I decided Eric's advice was full of crap, and started doing more social things with the staff members. Since then I have been to numerous happy hours, bowling, golfing, been to tie-dye parties, and more. This school year I am in a monthly Bunco group. When my mom died at the beginning of the school year, it was those same people that covered my classes, came up with lessons and made it so I didn't have to worry about what was going on. Several also called/texted to see how I was doing. A woman I had known for 3 weeks left the most thoughtful card in my box when I came back.

There is so much that I love about my job. I love my students, I love the subject I teach, and I really do love (most of) the staff I work with. If I were to give advice today to a new staff member I would echo a lot of what I learned in college: learn from the people around you and ask for help. I would add, get to know your coworkers outside of school. And be nice to the secretaries.

Have you ever gotten really bad advice?

From the Mouths of 8th graders

Stuff heard in my classroom:
J: "Mrs. C. Can I get permission to hit this foo' with a ruler?"
Me: "No, Juan. You cannot hit that fool with a ruler."
J:"You're lucky she didn't give me permission."
not even 5 minutes later...
J: "Mrs. C, can I please get permission to hit this foo' upside the head with this ruler? He aint be doin nothing for our project!"
Me:"No, Juan. You cannot hit him upside the head with the ruler. Bryan, I think if you don't start working, Juan will stop asking permission."

"Why I got a D in this class? My mom be trippin!"

"What fool don't know how it spell bipolar?"

"Justin Bieber is just under a lot of stress with the paparazzi. They just need to realize he's only 19!"

"Did you hear that Justin Timberlake is a singer now?"

While looking at my New Kids on the Block poster:

"Those guys are like from the 70's or something."
"Why does he have girls jeans on?" (because of the ripped jeans)
"He is the only cute one." (Pointing at Jordan of course)
"So was this like One Direction before there was One Direction?"

We Reached

Today is the first day of our Winter Break. Due to budget cuts and furlough days, we get 3 whole weeks off. To be honest, I need them. This is one of the busiest times of year for me at work. At my school I am the student activities coordinator. I plan dances, assemblies and other school wide events. This year I decided to resurrect an old tradition at my school known as Waldo Reaches Out. (Waldo is the name of my school. Please don't stalk me or be a creeper.) Basically I coordinated 6 or so different service projects for all 930+ of my little babies.

My students are awesome. I mean yes, they are in middle school, so they have that going against them, but overall I really like them. My students/school kind of has a reputation of being rough or a bunch of little gangsters. Yes, we have some punks, and yes most of my students are low income, but overall they are awesome.  I have found that they really like to give and help others. They just need the opportunity to help. Waldo Reaches Out gives them that opportunity and also helps to show the community a different side than what our reputation is.

We did a number of service projects for WRO.
Annual Food Drive

We collected about 1000 pounds of food.

Dog Biscuits for the Humane Society

The cooking classes baked up 18 batches of dog treats that will be given to the Humane Society.

Alphabet and Number Books for local Head Start classrooms

These are some of the pages the students made today. I think in total we had 50 completed number books and at least that many alphabet books!

Holiday Cards and ornaments for Seniors

The sewing classes made the ornaments. The cards were made in several classes as well.

Toothbrush Kits

The special ed class did a hygiene unit and then collected money and created these dental hygiene kits that will be given out at homeless outreach events.

Cards and Letters for the troops

We created a ton of Thank You cards that will be sent to soldiers stationed overseas. Some of them were really good. I should have gotten a picture! Some were also really funny :) I encouraged them to write jokes inside to help bring a smile to our soldiers. Earlier this year my leadership class ran candy donation drive after Halloween and we sent 50 pounds of Halloween candy to one of our teachers who is currently deployed.

Also our wood shop classes made and donated around 400 wooden toys, we put together 300 journals for Headstart, sorted 1200 books and so much more. My students are amazing!

What Would You Do? Teacher Conferences Edition

Next week is our first set of conferences for the year. That means I get two 12 hour work days in a row. The payoff? Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off.

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I'm going to share with you a few things that actually happened to me during previous years parent teacher conferences. What do you think you would do in each of these situations? (I totally stole this idea from Bonnie. She is a much better blogger than I am.)

1. Let me set the stage for you. I was 24 and teaching PE in a pretty affluent school. A mom of a 6th grade girl came up to me during conferences so upset that her daughter had recieved an F. I was confused, since I was pretty sure her daughter was getting an A. She proceeded to tell me that her daughter got a 2/5 on her football throwing test (an F in the gradebook.) She then went on to tell me what a horrible teacher I was and how I was going to ruin her daughter's educational future and how it was going to be detrimental to her self esteem.

What would you do?
A. Get defensive about how PE is a class, just like math. (I didn't get an A in math for showing up with my pencil did I?)
B. Stammer "she has an A" until the vice principal shows up and whisks the parent away.
C. Change the kids grade to make the parent happy.
D. Other.

I went with B. After the fact, I was "A"ing all over the place. By the way, her kid seemed unphased with the 2/5 score on the one test and was pleased with the A in the class. She also went on to get a 5/5 on her volleyball bump test. We can't all be a quarterback, can we?
Lesson to learn from this: Look at the big picture

2.  After explaining that this year in health we will be talking about puberty (among other units) a parent started to tell me that she was glad I was teaching that because her son (who is in 8th grade) was starting to grow hair "down there" and he was getting erections in the house. Please note that her son was sitting right next to her.

What would you do?
A. Say something like "this is the age for that."
B. Turn bright red
C. Say something like, "this is not an appropriate conversation."
D. Other

Pretty sure B is impossible not to do, but I also tried to brush it off with A. I wanted to run away from the conference with my fingers in my ears yelling "la la la! I can't hear you." (And it almost came to that when the lady wouldn't stop talking about it.)

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Take away lesson: Try not to embarrass your son/daughter. No need to bring up their growing bodies. 

3. I believe this was an IEP meeting, or a meeting to see if a student could qualify for special ed services and there were several of his teachers there, as well as a vice principal and the kids parents who were in the middle of a divorce (or recently divorced.) The dad started yelling at the mom about how it was her fault that we were all in this meeting. He continued on this rant in front of his son.

What would you do?
A. Step in and defend the mom.
B. Take the kid away from the situation.
C. Sit there in shock
D. Other

I totally just sat there in shock. I really had no idea what to do. The V.P. (who was a collegiate wrestler and had tried out for the Olympics) stood up and put a stop to the dad. The dad actually lunged at the VP, who didn't step down, and then he sat down.
Take away lesson: Leave the domestic issues out of the meeting. We are all there to do what's best for your son/daughter.

4. After explaining that our next unit of study would be drugs and alcohol, a father starts saying that his son should be really good at that unit. And starts to ask me if I watch Cheech and Chong.

What would you do?
A. Act clueless to the Cheech and Chong reference and try to end the conference as quickly as possible.
B. Begin to recite lines from Pineapple Express.
C. Continue talking about the student's progress.
D. Other

I  went the clueless route. The kid was a stellar student so I felt no need to continue with the conversation. I was uncomfortable and wanted the dad to leave me alone.

Take away lesson: Your kid's teacher is not your friend or your buddy. Let's keep the conversation kid centered, 'k thanks.

One more little "gripe" how come all the parents I see are the one's whose kids have A's? Where are the parents I really want to talk to?
So, what would you have done?

An Election Story

A little election story for you all. Today, I had to run mock elections for my classes today. (8th graders have social studies for half the year and health the other half...) Unfortunately I am admittedly not the most informed person when it comes to this sort of stuff. I have opinions, I pay attention to those issues that are of great importance to me, but I don't want to share those views with my students. I remain neutral. Like the grey states on the map. Or Switzerland.

Outside the library, where I dropped my ballot off today

Any who, one of the social studies teachers printed up a comparison of the two major candidates (sorry Rocky you weren't included) on some of the big points: health care, global warming, gay rights, Twitter followers etc. That way the kids who didn't have social studies would have a bit of a background before they voted. One student walked into my class shouting "Obama for President!" Knowing this student, I know he has some pretty conservative views (especially on abortion and gay rights which he states loudly without being asked...) so I was interested to see what he would do as we went through the comparison chart. He was very much pro-Obama at first: he is younger, has "hot daughters" more Facebook likes and Twitter followers... then we got to the big issues. I saw this student's face get less excited when he saw Obama supported civil unions and gay rights. It fell even more when he saw that Obama is pro-choice and Romney is anti-abortion. After the vote, I overheard him telling another student (quietly) that he voted for Romney.  I think that kid learned a lesson about becoming an informed voter.

In other election news... I think I joined Twitter two days too early. I should have waited until after all this election stuff. Follow me. Maybe I will tweet something. @caseysadventures

I hope you had a great election day!

How I Make My $$

I teach middle school health. That is my day job, and it is a job that I love and have dreamed about. Some might use the phrase "livin' the dream."

That "dream" includes teaching 13 and 14 year -olds about the birds and the bees. Before I finish, what the heck does that phrase "birds and the bees" mean? So today I started every 8th graders favorite unit: Human Sexuality.

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There are lots of opinions on schools teaching sex education. Let me put it all out there: 8th graders need it. I wish it was a different way, but when I have 8th grade girls getting pregnant telling them to "just say no" doesn't cut it. I teach what is called an "abstinence-based" curriculum. In a nut shell, that means I tell my students that abstinence is the safest, healthiest choice but that there are options out there that can greatly reduce the risk of pregnancy and STD.

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Soap box time: Before you get upset about me teaching about condoms and birth control pills, I want to share a little bit of research. Students who are in an abstinence only sex ed class are no less likely to have sex than their peers in an abstinence based curriculum. And students in the "only" group are more likely to have unprotected sex, because they either don't know where to get condoms OR think that they don't work so what's the point.  Research also shows that students need to learn about this information 3 years before they are participating in high risk behaviors. Unfortunately for many of my students, I am a little late.

I try to run my class in a comfortable way. I want to be an adult that my students trust and will turn to when they have questions that need to be answered. I start off this unit with this story. A few years ago I had to use one of the student bathrooms and I over heard some girls talking. One girl was telling her friends that there was no way you could get pregnant the first time you have sex. She made some pretty smart sounding arguments and used phrases about hormones and what not. If I was a middle school kid, I probably would have believed her. When I came out of the stall to wash my hands, the girls looked mortified that a teacher was in there. (I didn't know the girls.) I just told them that they were not in trouble for what they were talking about but what she was saying wasn't true. I point out to my students that conversations like that are super common, and totally normal to have, but it is important to have a place to ask questions where they know they will not be judged for the question, and will get the correct information. That is where my class comes in.

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All my students write down a question anonymously, and they are all allowed to ask questions out loud as well. I answer every question out loud (except for personal questions).  I know that sometimes questions are written to see if I will answer them, but the funny usually goes away once they realize that I take every question seriously. (Now if they saw me when I first read through the questions, I am usually laughing and sometimes a little shocked.)

Today I got to talk about: periods, penis length, how twins are developed, how tampons work, hermaphrodites and "what is masturbating." I do this all with a straight face. The hardest are the questions that are asked out loud. I also hate the new slang terms that I haven't learned. Then I have to look it up, and it can be bad. Sometimes I wonder what their parents would say if they knew their kids were asking some of these questions, but the parents are aware that they are in the sex ed unit.  My principal is also well aware of what goes on in my classroom. I always give her a copy of the written down questions and a heads up on any controversial topics that are brought up out loud just in case a parent complains or questions what I am teaching.

Do you remember middle school health class?

High Five, It's Friday

As you know I have been having a rough few weeks, but I thought I would look at those things that have made me smile this past week.

1

My leadership students got me these flowers when I came back to work last week. Yes, it was last week but they smell SO good. I kept them in my classroom because 8th grade boys do not smell good.

2

This. Is. Amazing. 

I found this etsy shop while blog stalking here.

I think Allison would look smashing in a little bowler hat.

3

My big blog win from Angi. Yes, I already posted about it, but that Alaska mug was perfect for my Delux Kraft mac and cheese last night. And the head band is fantastic.

4

Dutch Bros. is an Oregon based coffee chain and they give away their stickers for free. I have never wanted one, but this one was way to cute to pass up. It's their breast cancer awareness sticker and I love it. I think it will go on my water bottle but I haven't decided yet.

5 

And the big one... I was in a flash mob during an assembly at school yesterday. Well, I guess technically I organized, choreographed and then danced in a flash mob at school yesterday. I was so freaking exhausted after wards.

If I get a better video, I might post it later, but this is the first one that hit facebook.

Have you ever been in a flash mob? Ever wanted to be in one? Which hat should I buy for my cat?

Back at it

Yesterday was my first day back to work. Who decided that 5 days is what you get when someone dies? I don't know if I'm ready for life to go back, but I know sitting at home being sad doesn't help me. The truth is, laughing at fart noises is good for me. And I did start to miss some of those little buggers.  I did leave this note up on the white board as a nice reminder to the students.

The kids were actually really sweet. They knew why I was gone, and some gave me hugs, some said sorry for your loss, but most just were happy to see me. It feels good to be liked. My leadership kiddos all brought money and got me these lovelies

Pretty sweet for 8th graders. They smell really good too. So I am keeping them in my classroom. Because 8th grade boys stink.

Thank you all for your sweet words. Things still feel kind of surreal, but I know that slowly things will become a new normal.

Weekend Adventures #8

First off, thank you for all of your Instagram hints that you left me on my last post. If you started following me on the IG (as all of us cool, hip kids call it) then you would have seen me hashtagging up a storm this weekend. One thing that I am loving about Instagram is all the bloggy people on it, and that I am interacting with more of you now. LOVE it! And if you get around to it, check me out on Instagram @caseys_adventures

And now, this weekend.
To start, a little story about what happened in class on Friday (I realize me being at work pretty much means it's not the weekend, but it's a good story.) So here we are, having a discussion in class about bullying when all the sudden *prrfft* NO joke, I just Googled how to spell out fart noise. A kid ripped one in class. He cut the cheese. He tooted. Not surprisingly, the other students started laughing. What was surprising, was his reaction. "Awww, my stomach. I'm not supposed to have milk, but I had cocoa crispies for breakfast and I didn't take my pill. I was trying to hold it until after class." I asked him if he needed to go outside, he said, yes and out the door he went. He went outside, and came back a couple minutes later, saying that he felt better. Apparently he told his other teachers that he farted in my class too.  I have had students fart in class before, but never with this reaction. The kids were laughing, but not really at him, more at his reaction.

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Saturday:
The Mister and I headed over to Mt. Angel for the annual Oktoberfest. Mt. Angel is a small community, that has quite the German heritage. Oktoberfest brings it out, and there is leiderhosen, sausage and beer everywhere. And wiener dogs. Seriously, it seemed like every daschund in the Willamette Valley was there for the races, or just to look stinking cute.

Clock tower at the Glockenspeil, right before it went off. 

I would be lying if I didn't admit that my favorite part of Oktoberfest is the food.

This was my culinary sampling for the day. Strawberry shortcake, cheese fondue, Bud Light Lime-a-Rita (8% alcohol. What??) and delicious spaetzle. (Spaetzle is a German pasta. Here's the recipe I use for homemade spaetzle if you are interested.)

Sunday: 

Last Sunday I made a dozen breakfast burritos. (BTW, they. are. awesome.) This week, I tackled the bounty of jalapenos in my garden and made some easy pickled peppers.

I Googled quite a few recipes for refrigerator peppers, and this post was mentioned in almost every one I read. And less than an hour later:

We'll see in a couple weeks if they are any good. I don't think the Mister is holding out hope for them. I have visions of nachos.

After I was done being domestic, I decided to pretend it wasn't going to be in the 90's this week, and bought a new pair of boots for the fall. I do have one small problem with boots: I have what I like to call "power calves." This makes finding boots that fit kind of a pain. I ended up with a pair of scrunchie boots.

Famous Footwear

I really want a pair of Frye boots, but my hubby would divorce me I just can't spend $350 on one pair of shoes. I ended my Sunday with laundry and I started rewatching season 1 of Gilmore Girls. (Have you gone back and rewatched the early seasons? They talk so SLOW compared to the later years.)

How was your weekend? Ever been to an Oktoberfest? Do you have power calves? What boots work for you?

Pinterest in My Classsroom

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I was a busy bee this summer. I was pinning all kinds of classroom goodies. I thought I would share with you things I am doing (not just pinning!) from Pinterest this school year!

First up, Printables:

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I have the teal/black version

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This is a review game, and she has printable "zap" cards on her blog.

Organization:

Use an old CD holder to organize die-cut letters:

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Use the side of a filing cabinet as a magnet board:

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Post-it note lesson plan book:

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I have never had a lesson plan book. I always use a piece of notebook paper and write out each day of the 6 week grading period, but I think this is a super good idea, and maybe it just might work for me.

Dish rack as a folder-holder:

Pin on the left, mine on the right

Lesson Ideas:

Hula Hoops for a giant Venn Diagram.

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Paper Slide Video- I am already working this in as my performance based assessment for my first major unit of the year. 

3-2-1 Exit Slip- I think this would be great during the first week of a unit.

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There is so much more! Check out my classroom board to see what else I am pinning! 

Do you pin teaching stuff? How many pins have you completed off your boards?