Random Rainy Saturday Thoughts

I love the weekend.

I love a slow, lazy, rainy day every now and then.

I got to sleep in, get a pedicure with my mom, hang out with some awesome kids, and have a date night with my husband, as well as get a little bit of school work done today.

I'd call that a great day!

This week was another good one. We are wrapping up our first unit so I've spent a lot of my planning time this week diving into our new standards and mapping out our second unit. It's actually been a lot of fun. Planning a unit is very similar to making a serious to do list. You analyze the task at hand, determine the time frame you have to complete it, and make a plan. It's one of those small, tedious, but still very important tasks, that feels rewarding to accomplish. I'm still putting the final touches on it, but I feel much better about where we're headed next. I feel somewhat ahead of the game now. Earlier this week I felt like a lost puppy dog because I had no clue what my next lesson would be after our first test.

Eighth graders transition between classes a couple of times throughout the day when I have class. My classroom is in between the 7th and 8th grade hallway so a lot of them walk past my door during class changes. They love to knock, stare awkwardly through the window at me, and even sometimes open my door and scream hello. One day this week, I saw a former student at my window with a piece of paper held up beside his face. I try really hard to ignore them to discourage them from distracting my class anymore than they already do. But, out of the corner of my eye, I saw what looked like a picture of me. Then, one of my current students said, "I think that was a picture of you." Later that day, the gym teacher came by my room and said, "I saw a picture of you today in the boys' locker room." Now, if I had not already seen this picture and figured out why he had it, I would have been totally creeped out by that statement. The middle school boys' locker room is the last place I want my picture. I learned that the 8th graders, after recently studying Black Beard are making WANTED posters of their 7th grade teachers for a project. Apparently I'm WANTED. If you'll split the reward money with me, I'll let you turn me in!

Because I forgot to post this last week, here is a shot of my student work display area outside of my classroom. The wall looked so bare last year and when I hung stuff up, it always looked so random. So, I made this sign this year.

I've got an appointment to get my hair-cut on Thursday...my annual chop all of my hair off appointment.

In college, goldfish were a staple around our apartment. Stephanie lived on goldfish, chocolate milk, and bagels. You could often find us sitting on Lasandra, watching Friends, and enjoying goldfish and/or chocolate milk with an occasional bagel thrown in as well. How we didn't gain 50 lbs is still a mystery to me. However, recently I've discovered a new kind of goldfish and am even more hooked. Steph, I know you'll never abandon your commitment to regular goldfish, but you and Savva just might enjoy these.

These are my newest obsession. A girl I teach with had them at school for lunch one day and let me try them. They're amazing. They're kind of like teddy grahams, but better because they've got this sugar coating on them that is so tasty. There are several different flavors, but my favorite by far is cookies and cream...vanilla cupcake and fudge brownie fall in 2nd and 3rd place. The bag is the perfect size to fit in my lunch box and they're the perfect snack to quench my sweet craving after lunch. I eat a handful...okay sometimes several handfuls...and then pack them back up for the next day. I highly recommend them. They are usually on sale at Food Lion. I got 4 bags last weekend because Stephen kept getting mad that I took them to school. Now there are 2 at home and 2 at school. I might start gaining that 50 lbs that I didn't gain in college...