Monday, October 27, 2008

It's the Great Pumpkin, Miss Brown!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY LANDON!

Too bad I had to sit through three hours of inservice dealing with literacy development so I didn't get to eat cake and ice cream at your party...

I didn't realize I hadn't posted in so long until I needed to look up something on my blog today. Sorry 'bout that. Lots of stuff has been going on in my neck of the woods. On the 17th, Landon's daycare had a Fall Festival, so I followed the nephews around and took some random photos of them playing at some of the games. Landon was so cute, he ended up in the local paper!

The next day, dad needed to check on a few properties for the bank in some area cities, so mom, Braden, Landon and I hopped into the Tahoe, and off we went. We ended up at a pumpkin patch in Quittman. Very random, but very fun.


My students and I survived my first nine weeks test. I don't think my students appreciated having to take a test in choir, but I did try to give them every opportunity to make a good grade. I did have two students end up with a 113% for the first quarter. At least I'm trying to give students the opportunity to make up points for bad grades. Too bad the only ones that take advantage of that opportunity are the students who don't need the extra help.


I've had to bring all my plants into the house because the weather has turned so cold here. I've lived in NWA for the last several years, and I don't remember it ever being this cold before December. It just seems bitterly cold for so early. My Christmas cacti are blooming in other news...

That's about it for this edition of "Keeping Up with the Boonies." I've got some plans for this Friday night that include two little guys dressed up like a skunk and a monkey. Braden loved his skunk costume so much, he didn't want to take it off! Hopefully, Landon will feel the same way about his monkey suit on Friday.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

It's All About the Control Top.

I've been reading a blog for new teachers. One of the suggestions given was to emphasize the procedures and rules expected in the classroom. I had wanted to do something like that at the beginning of school, but just never sat down and did it. After dealing with the craziness in my classrooms over the last few weeks, I sat myself down and wrote out, in detail, what I expected from anyone coming into my class. Boy did it work! I've had some of the best classes the last few days. The students were required to take the "contract" home and have a parent or guardian sign it and then return it to me. I've even had a couple of parents call me in regards to the contract (it was a good question and not a complaint). Overall, I've learned my lesson and will send these home on the very first day next year!

In other news, I started working on Christmas music. And one of the songs we are doing with the high school is "Silent Night." I've always loved this song. It has special significance to me. My great-grandmother used to sing it, in German, on Christmas Eve. Because of that, I wanted to incorporate a little of my tradition into my Christmas program. One of my students is a foreign exchange student from Germany, so I'm having her teach me and the class to correct pronunciation of the German for the song. It's not that hard and we are learning it by rote. Needless to say, I've had several students complaining over the fact that we are speaking German. One student even came up to me after class yesterday and said that she was uncomfortable singing in German- not because it's difficult for her, but because she believes what her brother says: "We are Americans, we should speak America. And the song is in English, not German." Seriously, that's what she said. I told her we were experiencing a new culture, learning how one of our classmates deals with language barriers everyday, and exploring new ideas of music. Not to mention the song was originally written in German, by a Autstrian monk, music composed by a Austrian guitarist, and what language do they speak in Austria? German. Need I go on? She sang the song today... in German. I love being a teacher!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Tears, Spiders, and Fisticuffs

I did it. I made a kindergartner cry yesterday. I wasn't mean, per say. She just doesn't understand that my family calls me "heartless" and "cold-hearted." Tears are not the way to gain my favor. I have no problem letting a small person cry for hours when he/she does not get his/her way. It doesn't phase me at all. Hopefully, Little Miss Teary-Eyed will learn that she must follow directions in order to get a sticker in my class. 'Nuff said.

I suffered through the toughest breakfast duty I have ever had to deal with today. I walked into the cafeteria and started conversing with students and other teachers. About five minutes later, a seventh grader walked in carrying a small container WITH A GIANT TARANTULA IN IT! My heart began racing, and my flight instinct was totally kicking in. All I wanted to do was leave that room and get as far away from that hairy arachnid as possible. But, I was on duty, with the Agri teacher, so I couldn't leave. But I had to get the kids to calm down, eat their breakfasts, and be as controlled as possible... WITH A GIANT TARANTULA IN THE ROOM! I even had to get within two feet of the thing and almost had to touch the container to get the kids to be in control. I really didn't show my strong teacher side when it came to the GIANT TARANTULA!

Two minutes after dealing with the GIANT TARANTULA, an eighth grader starts yelling at an eleventh grader, jumps over the table, and attacks the poor unsuspecting eleventh grader. Now, the harassed eleventh grader is probably six feet tall and weighs a good 250 pounds. The offended eighth grader is probably five feet six inches, one hundred fifty pounds soaking wet. Clearly the eighth grader did not choose wisely in this fight, and since I was on duty, I was one of the teachers responsible for dealing with the fisticuffs. Yes, me. And the agri teacher. So, Mr. Agri makes headway to the very angry eighth grader, and I decide to stand in between Mr. Eighth Grade and Mr. Eleventh Grade. We get everyone under control and the offending parties are sent to the office to have their punishments dealt out by the principal. After a few minutes, I realize, I was standing in between a volatile temper and the object of his anger. Not too smart. But I did have several students tell me they were very impressed that I jumped right in the middle. Now, if the GIANT TARANTULA had been the object of Mr. Volatility's anger, I might have just let him beat the stupid thing to a pulp!