School Days

*Today I had a kid who smelled awful! Just pungent and spicy B.O. Ew. Nice kid, but smelly. I'm calling home. That's it.

*I gave a test recently on a book we read as a class: There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom. In a nutshell- it's the story of a boy who is the "no-good, trouble maker" turned socialized and happy after some coming of age. On the test, the students had to make a Story Map (setting, characters, conflict, plot events, resolution) and talk about the theme of the story.

• One student was clearly having trouble coming up with a sixth plot event. He wrote: "No one died". Awesome.
• Another student wrote that the theme of the story was: "If you do bad things, but then turn good, you won't get caught or get in too much trouble." Um, okay.
• And of course, another student decided the most poignant theme was: "Don't go in the girl's bathroom".

*Yesterday we went on a great field trip to Starved Rock (which I will probably blog about later, because there was some pretty great moments) and we had a kid puke all over during the tour of an adorable one room school house and then all over the bus.

Same old, same old.

Why??

Trying to teach a class of 30 5th grade students while you are in pain is like trying to run a marathon wearing a down snow suit: its highly uncomfortable and distracting. Two things that should never be paired together.

I had a terrible pain in my gum above my left incisor (my left, your right). My gum was swollen and inflamed. I haven't had very many dental "run ins" (in fact, I've never even had a cavity) so I was taken off guard by the whole situation. My thoughts raced: Do I have an abscess? Do I have some sort of cancer of the mouth? Is my tooth going to fall out? Is it possible to get a zit in your mouth? Was my previously absorbed-in-utero twin coming back to haunt me? Is there such a thing as swine flu of the gums?? And on top of my over-reacting, I was embarrassed that I had some sort of painful growth in my mouth; so I didn't want to tell anyone. Which meant I was on my own, for the time being, to figure this thing out.

After 3 days of a swollen gum, having Robbie look in my mouth with a flashlight and little WebMD I called the dentist. I didn't know what it was, but it was going to get fixed- now!

I was laying the bed the next morning and pressing on the little swollen lump in mouth with my tongue (is that too graphic?) and then "TA-DA!!" a tiny popcorn kernel slipped out of my gum. Finally! Damn you, popcorn!

I mean, why does this happen? When I die, one of my top questions to ask Our Creator is why He invented popcorn kernels to fit perfectly inside our gums (right behind why He invented farting- I'll never get that one). Those dang kernels fit like a glove! Is it a trick? Popcorn is SO scrumptious, and pretty healthy without all the crazy butter and salt . . . and this is the risk I have to run for a low-fat, tasty snack? It's so saddening.

Look how harmless this little guy is (but don't let him fool you!):

The next night I watched a movie with Robbie and enjoyed some delicious Smart Pop popcorn. I guess I'll never learn.

BYU Article

The fundraiser to provide updated technology for my classroom and students is featured in BYU's October Education Newsletter. Fun, right? Pledge My Ride has truly been a great success. The donation link is still open, and we have raised over $6,000- I'm really excited for all the opportunities this will afford my students (and our school). Hooray!

Click here for: Link to BYU article

(As a side note, look at these guys . . . they look pretty cute. I really like the school uniform policy. Not only does it require students to look professional for school- which hopefully translates into more professional behavior - but it also cuts out gang colors and other inappropriate clothing, as well as the cattiness and materialism that develops from the school hallway fashion shows. Its kind of like "dressing for the job you want". Every time my students are walking in the hall, in their two lines, I always think of how nice they look. I know school uniforms in some school and communities are controversial, but let me voice my opinion that I am 100% for uniforms at any school. Bring it on.)

And so it begins . . .

My fall break is over. OVER! So that means that "real" life starts tomorrow. I wrote this 100% original poem about my feelings on returning to work:

Back to school,

Back to books,

Back to giving dirty looks.

It's not that I don't like teaching. I do! I really enjoy my job and am grateful that I can honestly say: "I love my job". However, having a two week break: galavanting off to the beach, just taking the afternoon to go to the gym and then walk around and window shop, driving home for a visit with the fam, having time to go grocery shopping, reading, getting my graduate work done before 1AM and enjoying countless other luxuries makes going back to work . . . well . . . wah, wah, wahhh.

P.S. I don't give that many dirty looks when I teach--- but I do give them.

What to wear, what to wear . . .

Halloween has been a joyous past time since I can remember.

(Me as Dorothy, family friend Kristin as a cat or Ninja . . . or maybe both,

and JoAnna as a lovable, yet relatively disheveled bunny)

This is me as Dorothy, by the way, before you could buy mass produced, pre-made

Dorothy dresses and ruby red slippers. We searched high and low,

but in the end, my awesome, resourceful Mom glittered up some keds

Which I still own! (pictured below)

And then I found the perfect couple's costume partner:

Miss America and the MC (perhaps, a young Adam West??)

Robbie really loved throwing all the penalty flags this year:

And then a trip to Disneyland, 2o bucks and a impulse decision produced this:

Which inspired this:

So now the question is, where do we go from here? Halloween is just around the corner!

Superman and Lois Lane? Devil and Angel? Fred and Wilma? Gomez and Morticia?

Chip and Dale? (Vegas style, not the wimpy cartoon)

So many options . . .