Flowers from a Boy

Today was the last day of school! My students are all gone, my room is all cleaned up and put away, and I don't know what I'm going to do with myself...well, I do, just not for the next couple of days.

I got some very beautiful flowers from a boy today.

His name is Jacob. He couldn't go and get the flowers so his mom and little sister picked them out.






















Yeah, Jacob is only 12, but it means a lot to me because he was a difficult student this year and it is really great to see the progress he's made this year. I almost cried when he hugged me today, he usually played that he didn't like me and thought I was out to get him.

Tag, You're IT!

Here's how to play: List 3 joys, 3 of your fears, 3 of your goals, 3 current obsessions/collections and 3 random, surprising facts about yourself. At the end of your post, tag 5 more people.

3 Joys
1. I love to see my students "get it." It's more than a light bulb being turned on, it's more of a flood lamp. It shows them that they can figure things out and also shows them how to figure things out.

2. Giving gifts. I get so much more out of giving gifts when I know it is something that the other person will love and I give it to them because they will enjoy it. If I have to give a gift because it's what's expected without finding the perfect item, it is just a task to complete, but if I can see it as something enjoyable for the other, I can't wait to give it to them. I also prefer to give than to get.

3. Voicemail from my nieces and nephew. Those are the best kind, any type of mail (voice, written, or e-mail) makes me happy, but I'm very excited when I find it's from my nieces and/or nephew. If I could, I would run over to their house and give them big hugs and kisses every time I hear from them. It's a connection to home for me.

3 Fears

1. Failure. I can be quite the perfectionist at times so the thought of something not going right really bothers me. Sometimes I find myself not doing something because I don't want to fail at it. I don't like to do things in front of others because I worry that I won't do it right or completely fail at it.

2. Being alone. Not just left alone in a room or by myself for a few days, but really being alone. I like companionship and knowing that I have someone I can run to or call to just talk or ask questions or advice. It's also hard to get hugs if no one else is there.

3. That I'll lose my keys. I'm always checking my pockets to make sure I have them while I'm walking around. One time I freaked out while I was driving around town because I realized my keys weren't in my pocket and I started trying to figure out where I might have left them and then I remembered that I would have to have turned my car on to be driving around and that my keys were in the ignition. The really sad part is that it's happened twice now.

3 Goals

1. To finish my Masters Degree. I always said that I wouldn't go to grad school and here I am taking classes. It won't take too long, but it will take some time and energy. I should be done at the end of June 2009.

2. To finish the Old Testament in the next month or two. I actually pushed past Isaiah and now I only have 200 pages left.

3. Find Prince Charming or Duke Good Looking, I'm not too picky.

3 Current Obsessions/Collections.

1. I can't stand a stack of cards that aren't stacked neatly, it must be straight.

2. Children's books--I have over 900 titles, I use the excuse that I'm a teacher, but I really don't need and use all of those books, but they're just so good.

3. Bing!

3 Random, Surprising Facts About Myself

1. I like to clean unless I have to. I actually prefer to clean someone else's house than my own. I also use it as an excuse to procrastinate other projects.

2. I don't like watermelon, but I do like black licorice and the orange and black peanut buttery Halloween candies that no one else likes.

3. Technically, my first kiss wasn't Jared, it was some kid in my kindergarten class.

Ok, I tag Pam, Steven, Diane, Jen, and Luis (ok, so there's no Luis, actually, I'm Luis...but I don't know of anyone else that might actually read my blog that hasn't already done this)

Murderer!

I've already killed two plants this week and now I 'm going to end up killing another one. Why do people keep giving me plants to kill? I'm okay if they're in the ground, but potted plants don't do so well at my house. Most of the problem is I have no sunlight in my house, all of the windows face the other building. I could put them on my front porch but it's been too windy lately. I really like this plant, it's a cute yellow Zinnia. I'm going to try really hard not to let Miss Zinnie die.

On Your Mark...Get Set...Go!

Today was the annual Hershey Track Meet for 6th grade in Spanish Fork. As the name suggests, the finals take place in Hershey, Penn., you just have to qualify with your school district, then the region, then state, etc. We've been training and practicing for this day for a couple of months now. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the time we've been using for practice now that the meet is over, maybe we'll still go out and run a bit. Of course this event took place on the hottest day of the year so far, we're just glad it was partly cloudy today so we didn't get as hot as we could have.

Along with the annual track meet comes the annual weird sunburn. Somehow, every year, I manage to sit in just the right way or apply my sunblock in not quite the right way to end up with an interesting sunburn. My first year was white stripes down my arm. Another year was a burned stripe across the top of my knee and a circular burn on one of my ankles. Sorry Laura, there is no weird burn this year, at least I haven't found one yet. I was slightly worried when I realized that I put sunblock everywhere except the front of my neck...I remember being very careful to put sunblock on the back of my neck since my short hair doesn't protect my neck very well, but in doing that, I forgot the front. No worries, it didn't burn!

Camping Trip!

I went camping last night and it was good! I went with Bonnie, Carl, Bekky, and Spencer.

We didn't go too far from home, just up Hobble Creek Canyon (30 min drive at most). We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, but not at the same time.
We hung around the campfire, I cried a lot (poor tree) because the smoke liked me so much and stung my eyes. We slept under the stars. It was all very pretty and fun and good and cold. My problem was that my sleeping bag has a much greater circumference than I do so the top of the bag didn't do a wonderful job keeping the cold out. The solution to the problem: slide down a foot so the ends of the sleeping bag come together and don't let any cold in. Bekky ended up poking me late into the night or early in the morning (not sure) to see where I had gone as the only thing she could see was my sleeping bag with no Julie poking out of it. I got home about 10 am this morning and took a shower and did my laundry to get the smoky smell out of everything (as much as I like the smell of campfire, it can be overwhelming in enclosed spaces).

"It's called a lance, hello" (Name the movie)

Today was the end of our Medieval Times unit in Social Studies. To celebrate we had a banquet of chips, cookies, and soda and then a tournament. Our classes were separated by rank or class determined by how much of an at home assignment they completed (most of my class were still serfs with only a few kings and queens), we ate according to rank/class and the serfs got whatever was left behind by the previous students which was still a good amount. After our feast, we went outside for our mini-tournament. Only those with the status of a knight or above were allowed to participate in the games, the others were just spectators. We jousted using rolling chairs and pool noodles, I almost beat Mr. Andersen. We also had sword fights with plastic, dollar store swords. It was a lot of fun and something we will most definitely do each year.

(I have a few fun pictures, but I don't think I can post pictures of my students, at least, I don't feel right doing it-sorry.)

Blech!

I am just tired of roommates! I don't want to mess with them anymore! Nothing REALLY bad is happening, I'm just tired of having to "train" new ones and I haven't had great roommates in a long time. I've also gotten used to having roommates that have opposite time schedules so I don't ever see them so it's almost like having my own place. I'm real tempted to not get any new roommates after the current ones move out, but I like having the little extra income and also knowing that someone else is around. My house just doesn't smell the same, right now it smells like cheese and dirty gym socks. I want my normalcy back.

Paper bags, Ultimate Frisbee, and Golf in the Hallways

What these things have in common: Games I played today!

Since school is almost over and all of our testing is finished, there really isn't all that much left to do and to keep my sanity and from yelling at my class all day to stop being so excited for summer, we play a lot of games.

The first game of the day involved brown lunch sacks. We pushed all of the desks aside and put the open bags on the floor. The object of the game is to pick up the bag without using your hands and without falling down. After each successful grab, we would cut an inch off. We got down to just the flat bottom of the bag...we basically had to lick it to pick it up...very entertaining. Since all the desks were out of the way, we sprawled out on the floor while I read out loud from "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan ( a VERY good book, I highly recommend it).


The second game was Ultimate Frisbee. We have been running everyday for the last 30 minutes of the day to get the students prepared for a track meet between all the 6th graders in Spanish Fork. On Fridays we like to reward them with a game rather than just running so each class played a game today, ours was Ultimate Frisbee. We only threw it over the fence once.

After school, my fellow 6th grade teachers (Adam and Garrett) invited me to join them in a little game of putting in the hallway. We got adventurous and decided to try and make it into the #10 can at the end of the long hallway by our classrooms. We discovered that the floor is definitely not level but has lots of dips and curves to it. I discovered the best shot was to hit the wall halfway down and bounce it back towards the can rather than try to go through the maze in the floor. We got a 5th grade teacher, a 3rd grade teacher, and our principal to try it too. What else did you think teachers do after school? You should see us when we get together to run in the hallways or race rolling chairs in the gym!

Premature Gray Hairs

I started graying today, I have several gray hairs on the top of my head, well, had. No, I'm not old, I've just been painting a ceiling and some walls and a few baseboards and trim. I definitely got my exercise just going up and down the ladder and moving it around. I've also gotten very good at ladder acrobatics, I should get Steven to take a picture tomorrow when I do it again.

This thought now leads me to something equally important...the spelling of the word "gray." All in all, I don't like it. I think "gray" should be spelled "grey," it just looks better, but the computer does not recognize that spelling. "Grey" just looks more familiar...isn't that how Crayola spells it?

Starting Things Up

So, I thought I should join the blogging world, I don't have a lot going on in my life right now, but I always have strange thoughts and/or adventures that randomly pop up. Besides, everyone else is doing it.

I am currently 15 1/2 school day s away from the end of the school year and anxiously awaiting and dreading the coming of summer. It will be nice to take a break from teaching, but I also have a taxing June. In June I am taking some courses toward a Master's degree of Education (with a math endorsement). Classes will be Monday through Friday from 8 am to 6 pm. A new class will start each Monday and will be finished by Friday so I really can't miss any days. I just spent the most on a tuition bill than I ever had, it's a good thing it only takes two years so I only have to pay that bill one more time. I originally planned that I would not ever get a Masters but I am glad I am actually doing it. The program is easy enough and a pretty good deal. The degree comes through SUU but all of the classes are held in Spanish Fork at my school in the summer and after school during the school year so I can still teach and get paid and getting paid is a very good thing.

You probably won't be able to find me this summer unless you try in the beginning of July what with my classes in June and a few trips in August. I have a science workshop in Cedar City the last week of July. From there, Mom and Dad will pick me up and continue to San Diego. I made the decision tonight that I will then head home to Modesto with my parents for a few days before returning to Provo. I then start all of my meetings for the next school year that week. So, this all means my classroom needs to be put together before I leave for Cedar City...it's a good thing I have three weeks in July.