yes, it is monday

and my day just kept reminding me of the fact that yes, it is monday

the to-do list just kept getting longer

and more things kept stopping me from crossing anything off

helping a student [not even one of my own]

who had been "forgotten at school" for over two hours

didn't help either

and of course, I'm the ONLY one on campus so it was all up to me

and not to judge, but seriously

you don't know where your pre-teen daughter is for over two hours after the bell rings?

not awarding any certificates anytime soon

by almost five [school's out at 2:20] I was finally student free and in the parking lot

just to have my car start rumbling, smelling of gas, and the trusty check engine light turn on

so, car's in the shop & we had pizza for dinner

and the best part of my monday was surprisingly getting my name sign tagged at school

here's why:

trust me, much better than I've seen this year

and walking by this little one won't be so bad

before I know it I'll be having the janitor take my sign down for me

and having a ton of kids sign it for me as my momento for this year

just another for the collection

sun.

today we enjoyed our town

took an extremely long walk

and didn't do much else

and it was pretty nice

tomorrow it is off to the city to see meg

but as for tonight I think another stroll is in store

and some celebrating with friends to top things off

apparently I am a rule breaker

when it comes to fire codes in my classroom

I was dreading this morning's fire inspection

this is why:

and yes, this is just one corner of my room

but it is pretty much like this in every corner of my room

I was hoping it would be done before I actually got there

no such luck

you should have seen the eyes on the two firemen as they entered my room 

I know they were doing their job, and they were very nice about it

but I'm only supposed to have 25% of my walls covered with paper

and I think I have about 90%

so needless to say they will be back to "reinspect" my room

and I just hope it is after may 10th, open house

needless to say it was an odd way to start the day

and put me in a funky mood that my kids found to be an enjoyable way

to end the week

happy weekend.

civil war in four days...sure, why not?

um, have I mentioned that the spring is the ultimate crunch time?

and especially when you are new to a grade

and you don't really know how long to take on things, like way back in september

sure, in hindsight I most likely would have spent a tad less time on the colonies

and more time on the civil war and reconstruction

but all I can say is I've done my best

so for now, it is all about teaching a pretty ridiculously important war in four days

and obviously reading a 34 page chapter was kind of out of the question

so instead, another new way to take notes

and the use of lots of "real" photos should do the trick

the best part of my day was surely when one of my kids asked where I got this lesson

and I just kind of pointed to my head and smiled

and the student responded: 

"pretty impressive Mrs. Lewis, pretty impressive"

um, biggest compliment ever, well, at least for the week

oh, and getting to use color pencils for note taking

at any age, is kind of the best thing ever

sometimes the littlest change can make everything oh so much better

supplies:

12"x18" paper

colored pencils

pinch of awesomeness

sunday's "so they said"

well, not all children have a.d.d.

but one thing is true

all teenagers love things for a few days, obsess over them

and then move onto the next thing

this has been the case in my classroom all year long

whether it has been a catch phrase, something they have seen in a movie

or just something said at lunch

you hear their trends pretty clear

some I choose to comment on

and when I do 

the kids seem oh so surprised that I, their teacher

may have some idea as to what they are talking about

and that is exactly what happened this week 

when out of nowhere one minute before the bell rang, two of my kids shouted

image here

"we should hardcore parkour during passing"

and after a few smiles and laughs from those in class

I responded by saying

"well, I think to really hardcore parkour I think you need a video camera to document it.  If not, aren't you just jumping around like fools?"

and of course, because being the ripe old age of 27

my kids looked at me with wide eyes that I knew what they were talking about

and yes, due to my recent acquiring of cable this year

fortunately, I did know about the latest tosh.o trend happening this season

and I must admit, my age + cable = me having a clue what teenagers are talking about

of course another student chimed in

"Don't worry Mrs. Lewis, it says that the show is for mature audiences, and we are mature.  Oh, and Daniel Tosh is pretty hot."

well, enough said

and the best part of teaching middle school is I don't have to get all crazy

about telling them they are too young to be watching whatever it is they are at that moment

thankfully, hardcore parkour died out by the next day

but it did make for a pretty entertaining passing period

and hey, nobody was hurt, so just go with it

that's the key to surviving middle school

an awkward way to compromise

this week was what seemed like my first week back to teaching in a while

between being super sick, spring break, and layoff hearings

my poor kids have had SO many subs lately

this week we loved getting out of the textbook

and back into our typical craziness

so we tackled the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Dred Scott Case

the best part was hearing them getting so heated over whether states should become

free or slave states

or what qualifies you as an American citizen

now sure, I had a few students that were very quick to compromise with their group-mates

even if it meant they were getting the short end of the stick

just because they didn't quite care

but, for the most part, it was amazing and fun

and the best part

they had to link pinkies while compromising

and could only let go once they met a compromise

we just referred to it as "awkward compromise time"

and sure it's dorky, but it worked

happy weekend - spring is jumping quickly into summer

in my neck of the woods

time to stock up on sunblock & juice bars

slavery mandalas

some weeks can get kind of tricky with scheduling

and for whatever reason you end up with two days where you are just kind of
"in between"

and what better thing to do than art

and so that's exactly what we did

and hey, since I had to make my very own mandala for my masters class

why not have my students join in the fun?

they created their mandalas on slavery

before working on their finals they did brainstorm their eight symbols to represent

different aspects of life, culture, and experiences

having the center of the mandala being the most significant symbol

we also found folding the final draft paper into fours 

helped the students create a circular design

they also included a key on the back of the mandala

 to explain each symbol

overall, this art project knocked my socks off

can't wait to hang them up in the room

wedding night out

last night the mr. and I enjoyed a night out

at our friend's wedding

and when a couple just happened to meet at the very same place 

the husband and I met

[the grocery store where we all worked]

well, that just makes it a little extra special

not a bad way to spend a Saturday night

no "so they said" this week

unfortunately, kind of, I spent almost the whole week out of the classroom

for layoff hearings

the bad part, besides having a sub in my room again

of course would be the whole being laid off again

but the nice part included mornings that start at 9 instead of 7

and lunches that go at least an hour and a half, instead of 30 minutes

so tomorrow it is back to work for real tomorrow

and now it is time to enjoy these final weeks with these kids

welcoming spring

yes it is true

it has been spring for a while now

but last sunday my family

[sans the husband & sister]

soaked up the sun

and officially welcomed spring to our little corner of the world

we enjoyed cake pops that I had the opportunity to make with my cousin the day before

an easter egg hunt where the age of the participants ranged from 16-27

that's how we do in our family

you should have seen the four of us trying to find the last two eggs in our grandma's yard

sure there was $20 in the egg

but all the same, it was pretty entertaining

I got to open my easter basket that had some surprises I'll be sharing here soon

and let's just say I was pretty sugared out by 5p.m.

sunday's "so they said"

I must admit

some weeks I just can't remember anything that my kids have said

and I know there is always something that completely cracks me up

and this "so they said" in fact came back to me while watching an Ellen episode this week

probably a good month or so after the actual classroom quote occurred

needless to say

teaching middle school has gotten my brain to go to the less than innocent place 

sometimes

and that is exactly what happened a few weeks back when I found a note 

left behind after class

I open it to find in big writing

"Your pen is so awesome, I love everything about it."

The only problem was, when they wrote this little note to their friend

their spacing was not quite where it needed to be

so instead, this is what I saw

"Your penis is so awesome, I love everything about it."

Needless to say, I freaked just a tad.

Even pulled a few of the kids aside the next day to try to figure out who exactly wrote it

only to realize I was about to put my foot in my mouth

when one of my kids kindly pointed out

as we looked at the pretty glitter pen note

"Mrs. Lewis, I think so and so wrote it, and why do you care so much who wrote it, she is just talking about her friend's pen."

Yes, I could have died

right there on the spot

and due to the nature of this post
I sure hope I don't get any weird google searches
oh well, I'll risk it
because I think I should
and I can always just blame Ellen

art for the classroom, probably not mine, maybe yours

this past weekend I finished out my fourth masters class

even though my masters is in art integration

this was our first real "art" class

I enjoyed it

got a few new ideas

but unfortunately, being an 8th grade history teacher this year

I'm not seeing these lessons jumping into my plans real soon

especially with the standardized test crunch time being upon me

however, they are worth sharing

many were lessons I had done in the past, but with a new twist

which I always love

lesson #1 paper weaving

done this in the past

but mostly for holidays

and just with color construction paper

loved getting to paint first and then come back later and do the paper weaving

we painted with everything

vegetables, sponges, cut cardboard, pasta, just about anything

I had done "vegetable" painting before

I'm thinking it must have somehow connected in with our language arts story of the week

but then you get these funky paintings

with little directions, and what do you do with them

well, take one of those papers, fold in half

cut long slits in the paper

then take a second work of art and chop it into half-inch strips

and start weaving away

love the final product

lesson #2 found object painting

this lesson again is great for elementary teachers

really any age level depending on how you want to spin the focus

my art above was created with everything from chopsticks to marshmallows

and the black & white piece - potatoes and my chopstick wrapper

obviously elements of art, design, and color mixing could be the focus

or it could be a lesson on re-cycling objects around the house 

previously thought of us "trash"

and the best part of this art project

if the students don't create a piece they love "as is"

turn it into paper weaving as seen above and all is well again in the world

and even though these lessons won't be finding their way into my room this next week

another art project will

and I will be sharing those just as soon as I can

stay-cation [spring break]

well after numerous hours on the internet

with no luck

we decided for a little vacation at home

I'm starting to realize how jaded and ridiculously spoiled I am

to feel like there is just no place I want to see within a couple hour drive of my home

san francisco

eh, been there, done that, oh, and it might rain

lake tahoe

I only like the snow there when I'm snuggled in a cabin

which wasn't going to be happening for a single night away

so we stayed home

enjoyed a day of our favorite antique spots

with unfortunately no treasures finding their way home with us

but it still was a great little date day for us

and we topped the evening out with some happy hour

where we ordered enough for at least four people

but hey, now we have enough for the husband's midnight snack