Parent Teacher Conferences

I think it's great to start every Parent meeting by screaming.

"Ahhh! Oh hi, I'm Mrs. Thomson. Sorry, that cow startled me."

Yes, that's right. A cow startled me at parent teacher conferences.

See that cow? See that big, long line? That's for the teacher next to me. See the empty chairs? That's where zero parents are waiting to talk to me. It's nice; I have lots of breaks to do productive things like blog and take pictures.

Thank you, parents, for not coming to parent teacher conferences night (I jest). Also, thank you, cow, for coming and making me scream at a parent (who did not appreciate it).

Last year, I couldn't stop saying things like, "She's as sharp as a tack!" So, I think I'm doing okay this year if all I'm doing is screaming...right?

Lunch Bag Traditions

I have sort of a tradition...

I like to draw on our lunch bags.

I've become quite famous at school for my lunch art work. So, tonight I thought I'd show it off.

This one is Kelly's lunch. His sandwich is rooting for him. GO KELLY! (I like animated food)

This one is my lunch. Can you guess what's inside!? Sometimes I like to give people clues as to what's inside my lunch bag...

I guess now that I'm an artist, I'll post more of my art to impress you. (get ready for lots of pictures of food with legs)

8th Graders and Pauly Shore

I feel so lucky to have a mother who was part of Beatlemania. She instilled in me a love for those 4 men, and I in turn stole all of her Beatles records.

Kelly and I now have a nice little collection of records and this sweet turn table that I bought at a St. Vincent DePaul in Kentucky for 3 dollars 10 years ago.

So, when teaching setting to my 8th graders this week, I brought in my record player and some Beatles records to get us in the 60s mood for The Outsiders.

The lights were off because we were taking notes from a PowerPoint and I said, "Let's go back in time... It's 1965 and ya'll just came over to my house to hang out. 'Hey guys, wanna sit around and listen to my new Beatles record?!'" At this point the students were held in suspense as I picked up an actual Beatles record and pulled it out of its case in front of them:

Gasps.

WHAT IS THAT?!

IS THAT A RECORD?!

IS THAT REAL?!

HOLY CRAP!

I had to shush them, "Calm down, guys. Yes it's real. Do you want to listen to it?"

Of course they did.

Their eyes were huge the whole time the record was playing and questions were sporadically yelled out, "How does it work?" "Is there only one song?" "That's huge!"

I had no idea showing 8th graders a record would be so much like Encino Man.

They totally made that face. And I was totally Pauly Shore.

It was a dream come true.

How Many Raspberries Can You Eat in 5 Seconds?

Sometimes I say things when I get really excited about how good something tastes like, "Oh man! This is so good. I bet I could eat this whole thing in 2 minutes." Kelly usually gets this mischievous smile on his face and says, "Let's try..." And I just laugh.

Just yesterday he challenged me to eat a half gallon of Double Fudge Brownie ice cream in 5 minutes. I declined because that's what Jennifer Hudson told me to do.

Tonight at the store, we passed by the raspberries and I said, "I love raspberries. I could probably eat that whole thing in 5 seconds."

Kelly responded instantly, "Do it."

"Should I?"

"Yes. We can only buy these if you eat them all in 5 seconds. But whatever you don't eat in 5 seconds, you can't have. I get to eat the rest."

"Okay....," I said confused. But they ended up in our cart and once we got home... Well... I should have given myself 10 seconds.

A Teacher's Dream moment...

Great moment for a teacher today:

After discussing the flashback in chapter 2 of The Outsiders, it's purpose and effect on the story, I ask, "Is there anything else you'd like to discuss about chapter 2 before we move on?"

A boy raises his hand and asks, "Can I make a text-to-world connection?"

CAN YOU!?!?!?!?!, I wanted to scream with excitement and joy.

"You bet you can! Go for it!" is what I actually said.

He furrowed his brow and said solemnly, "There are real Socs in the world."

"Explain..." I responded with one eyebrow higher than the other, not wanting to spoil this PERFECT moment of some real cogs turning.

"Well," he continued, "there are rich people in the world who think they are better than everyone else because they are rich."

Then we had a brief discussion on the true worth of a person.

It was a beautiful moment! It would be a dream come true if more students raised their hands to ask if they can make a connection. I LOVED IT. I should have given him 100 dollars for making that comment.

Mostly when kids raise their hands it's to say something like, "This is unrelated but...what does that sign on the wall mean?" and they point to something in my room that has NOTHING to do with the lesson and is CLEARLY off topic.

To those questions I respond loudly, "IRRELEVANT! Anyone else?"

Teaching: Year 2

Sometimes I want to blog. Then I read everyone else's blogs and they're fun and funny and cool and interesting....and I don't want to blog anymore.

But I'll do it anyway. Fine.

School has started so once again my life is consumed by 7th and 8th graders.

(My "reading corner" I'm attempting)

I've instated a zero tolerance for negativity expectation in my classroom. It's interesting to see how they respond to it because I think it's ingrained into all adolescents to think everything sucks. They're not allowed to groan, complain, or say any negative words to themselves or others, even as a joke. And if they do, I'm on it in a heartbeat. You see, after graduation and becoming a teacher they give you hawk ears (hawks have good ears, right?). I hear everything. So, when I hear a negative anything, I make them back track and find a positive way to say whatever they are feeling. They struggle with this but I give them some ideas such as: if they hate JB, they can just say, "Justin Bieber is a singer." Or, "You're reading Twilight? I like other books."

We're working on it...

This happened last year:

So I'm attempting to be more strict. (that picture happened the very last day of school. It was orchestrated with my teacher-friend across the hall) This year, these kids ain't getting away with shiz. But I'm taking the positive angle. Being disrespectful isn't very positive. Are you talking while I'm talking?! You should't be! Are you throwing toilet paper across the classroom!? You shouldn't be!

It's already been a week and no vandalism! Also, I'm starting to learn some interesting things about my students. Here are a few examples:

Innocence or Ignorance?

The class had to make alliteration name tags. One girl, Kortney, wanted to find a really cool word, "Not 'kind' or something like that," she said. So, while looking through the dictionary she came across the word "kinky." "Oh! What does that word mean? (reading the definition)...out of the ordinary...? I like that word!" So, her name tag said "Kinky Kortney". I didn't have the heart to tell her...

Strange Interests

While going around, presenting name tags: "I'm Legit Luke. I like football and moose."

Incidental Hilariousness

Introducing herself to a fellow classmate: "I'm Katrina. But I was born before the hurricane."

Fanatics

One boy told the class he knew how to speak Ardalambion (a language from Lord of the Rings). Pretty sure that kid rules.

And now... a list of interesting names I've come across so far this year (In case you're looking for that perfect baby name):

Griffin (Gryffindor)

Rush (as in that band I don't really care for)

Jagger (as in Mc?)

Jaycie (I have 2 girls named this. Is this a real name now?)

Fetatusi (Tongan. Cool name.)

Bronston (the T is silent)

Kirk (as in Captain)

Maizen (as in Corn Maizen)

Dayton (as in Ohio)

Caysen (as in Casey wasn't good enough)

Aniston (guessing the mom was a Friends fan?)

Ivory (I'm hoping she has a sister named Ebony)

Dallas (girl name)

In other news, Kelly and I watched a thunder and lightning storm from our back porch tonight. It was breathtaking. I only captured one of the many fascinating lightning moments. Enjoy:

Well, bloggers and stalkers, here I am. Back to tell you about my life.

So, life has been picking up the pace recently:

School starts in 20 days

Doug gets married in 11 days

Kelly and I move to Sandy in 2 days

I'm already bored of blogging.

I'll never write a book.