Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Oh Mr. Rogers...I love him. He was probably the best neighbor ever. This weekend I made a frightening discovery. One of my students lives up the street from me. Luckily, this student does not know this information yet...let's hope it stays that way.

When talking about Emperor Qin...
Me: "Qin wanted absolute control and to regulate every aspect of people's lives."
Student: "Just like Kate Gosselin!"

I missed Thursday and Friday last week because I was sick. My students freaked out. When they saw me at school today, you would have thought that I was gone for months. It sure is going to be tough to leave them in three weeks.

One bonus of teaching middle school is that I still have the maturity and mind set of a middle schooler. "That's what she said" goes through my mind at least 50 times a day and I still think farts are funny. Today I had one of those moments when my immaturity got the best of me. We were talking about the Silk Road and the different items that were traded. Each group was assigned an item and had to come up with a commercial. The best line of the day:
Student: "You can keep it in your camel sack!"
It was hilarious and of course the classroom erupted with laughter...good thing I was sitting in the back so hopefully my students didn't see me laughing harder than they were. Oops.

If you want some quality, free entertainment, just have students create a commercial to present to the class. Some other noteworthy moments from their commercials:
Student: advertising perfume "Find a scent that will make people hard for you."

Student: "Glass...nature without the dirt."

One student belted out Rhianna's song Umbrella to advertise an umbrella.

Student: "Hey, wanna play with my abacus?"

Student: "North, east, south, west...that's what a compass does best."

Student: "Buy wool! Everyone wears it."
Student: "I'm a sheep and I even wear wool!"
Overall, it was a great day filled with many good laughs. That's another thing I love about these middle schoolers, they aren't afraid to act goofy in front of others.

Note to self: grown-up teacher clothes do not wash the same way as college t-shirts.

Stranger Danger

The first time my supervisor came to observe, I warned the class so they knew who he was when he walked in. One student asked if it was ok to yell "Stranger danger!" when my supervisor came in. I told him no of course. Now every time my supervisor comes to observe (he sits in the back of the room), that student looks at me and mouths the words "Stranger danger!". It's really hard not to laugh.

Student: "Where do you live?"
Me: "Around the area."
Student: "So you don't live at your school?"
Me: "No, my school is in Wisconsin."
Student: "Ok, so you don't live there?"

During one class we talked all about money and budgeting. For one activity, I had the students write down what they would do if they won $20,000.
Student: "I would by a dog with a mohawk."
Me: "I didn't know you could buy those. What else would you get? You have a whole $20,000!"
Student: "Well those kind of dogs are really expensive, but I guess I would get more mowhawks?"

I have some students that can write...like really write. Some of the assignments they turn in are at a 9th grade level, at least. Sometimes they complete the assignment better than I would have. I don't feel worthy to grade their work!

We've been talking a lot about the history of China. The history nerd in me is coming out. China has such a rich history filled with so much good stuff. What continues to blow my mind is how advanced and ahead of their time they were. But what happened? The Renaissance hit Europe and the Chinese secluded themselves. They didn't want to use ideas from other countries. I keep thinking about what the world would be like if the Renaissance never happened or if China continued to be a leader in advancements and inventions.

An interesting character from China's history is Emperor Qin Shi Huang. This guy is so fascinating. He did so much for China as a whole, but when it came to the people he was crazy. In one class we ended up having an unplanned debate about whether or not he was a good guy or a bad guy. Which turned into a debate on whether or not you can move your country forward if you are harming its people along the way. My students can't remember to bring a pencil to class, but dang they sure are insightful. Anyways, if you are in the mood to Google something, check out good ol' Qin.

On the board, I have some magnets of Avalanche players. One of the magnets is of Anderson, the goalie that was having a terrible season and recently got traded. There is one student that loves hockey and was upset about the recent trades. The student drew a "Circle of Shame" on the board and put Anderson in it.

Four For You Glen Coco! You Go Glen Coco

Today is the one and only Singles Awareness Day...some people might know it as Valentine's Day. The day started off unlike any other. As I left my room, a dart from a dart board fell and stabbed me in the back. If that was Cupid, I have one word for him...rude.

Val-o-Grams were delivered today. Sadly I didn't get any, but I think I'll be ok. I did get a mini bouquet of pencils and heart suckers. As the Val-o-Grams got passes out (Mean Girls was all I could think of) some students were bummed that didn't get any. And then a moment that melted my heart...
Student: "I sent 10 Val-o-Grams."
Me: "Like to your friends?"
Student: "Nope, just to random people. I thought it would be a nice surprise for them."

Last night I made the mistake of deciding to completely change my lesson around 11:00. Not my brightest idea. Since I went to bed later than my bedtime, I decided today would be a perfect day to stop at Starbucks on my way to school. One of my students was there. Fast forward to at school...
Student: "I saw you at Starbucks this morning!"
Me: "And you didn't even say hi?!"
Student: "I don't want people to know I know you."
Me: "In that case, the next time I see you in public I'm going to yell your name really loud and run up and give you a high five so that way everyone knows we know each other."

Today's music trivia was Dude Looks Like a Lady by Aerosmith. My favorite guess was "Do Me Like a Lady". It was so hard not to laugh.

In each class, students are in teams. They can win and lose points for their teams for different things and the team with the most points at the end of the trimester wins homemade cupcakes. I had each team come up with a different name. Here are some of my favorite names they came up with:
-Team Octomom and Friends (one student's nick name is Octomom)
-Team Carlos (after the baby in the Hangover)
-Team Purple Squirrels

One bonus of state standardized testing is the sweet free bracelet they give to all the teachers. This year's bracelet says "Read It! Write It! Rock It!". The students get pretty jealous of it. When they ask why they don't get one, I just tell them the bracelets are for the cool kids.

I haven't had any Golden Nuggets lately, so here's one...216 people have died on Everest. 120 of those people are still on the mountain. So if you ever climb Everest, there is a good chance you'll see a frozen body.

When Students Surprise You

Sometimes I can be a bit of a space cadet...maybe more than sometimes. Today was one of those days. On my drive to school, I actually remembered my sunglasses. When I put them on something seemed a little strange, but I figured it was just because I normally don't wear sunglasses so I just wasn't used to them. I got to school and as I reached for my bag, I saw a lens on the passenger's seat. Turns out, I drove all the way to school with one lens in my sunglasses. I don't know which is worse: driving with one lens or the fact that I never realized it until I parked.
In the front of the room are some cords that connect the projector, etc. Everyday I somehow manage to trip on them, even though I always know they are there. When I tripped today I was hoping that no one saw...I was wrong.
Student: "I saw that."
Me: "I don't know what you're talking about."
Student: "Miss C, you trip on those cords everyday!"
Me: "I know I know! I don't know what my deal is."
Student: "And they're covered in bright yellow tape!"
Tomorrow's goal: Don't trip on the cords covered in bright yellow tape.

I somehow managed to pull off my Expedition Everest lesson. Just for the record, it was a pain in the butt to plan. Students were put in teams and assigned a role. The game lasted 6 rounds and each round teams had to solve a challenge/problem. My favorite round was when we acclimatized. I made my students run in place for a minute and they were only allowed to breathe through a straw. My cooperating teacher wants a copy of it to use next year...I guess that's a sign it went ok.

One of my students almost made me cry today...but in a good way. This particular student is one of those kids. The one that you secretly wish won't show up to school that day. The one that haunts your dreams. The one that takes chunks of your sanity on a daily basis. Since being at this school, I haven't been able to make any connection with this student. No matter how hard I try, this student is always very short with me and seems to not want anything to do with me. It's a battle to get this student to do anything besides sit there and pick his nose. I haven't given up on this student and each day I give the student a blank slate, pushing aside whatever happened the day before.
Today was this student's first day back after being suspended. Today was also the day my supervisor came. Of course, my supervisor would come to class with that student. Needless to say, I was nervous. However, this student surprised me. For one, this student actually participated! Every time I called out for students' attention, this student got on the others about getting quiet. Once class was over, I sat down with my cooperating teacher and supervisor to discuss the lesson. My cooperating teacher shared this story of something the student told him:
"X and Y won't stop talking and listen! That man is here to rate her as a teacher. She's a great teacher and he needs to see that. But he can't if they don't stop talking and let her teach!"
I officially have a new favorite moment of student teaching and I'm so glad I never gave up on this student.

My supervisor is coming again tomorrow. This time he'll be in during a different class period so today I warned my students that he is coming.
Student: "Ok so do you want us to dress up?"
I was so tempted to say yes and see how many of them would actually do it, but I decided to be good.

Today a local cupcake shop brought in free cupcakes for the staff! What a great day.

For students, today was a half day. Once the crazies left, the staff was lucky enough to get to go to meetings! One meeting was about safety, more specifically about school shootings. Even though it is a scary topic, it's reality. The committee is working with the fire department to change the number of fire drills in order to increase the number of lock-down drills, since school shootings are more common than school fires. As the speaker put it, "We used to teach students what to do if they were on fire. Now we need to teach them what to do if they are under fire." In this particular community, school shootings are occurring about every 2.7 years. If that trend keeps up, we're only 1.7 years away from the next shooting. The speaker even mentioned that they started lock-down drills with 3-year olds at preschools so that way what to do in a shooting situation is ingrained in their heads. It's sad. How did we get to this point? But more importantly, how do we change it?

Making Oprah Proud

Back in the day when I used to watch Oprah, she always mentioned "Ah Ha! Moments." Today was the best Ah Ha Moment. I could see the light bulbs turn on. That's my nerdy teacher moment for the day. Its such a great feeling when your students get something and you watch it click with them.

If you give a student your email, they'll send you the weirdest messages.
-"Dear Miss C,
Do you have a Facebook? If you do, you should really add me."
-"You're great, you'll be a great teacher."
-"Hi. Is this your real email? And what does carthage mean?"

For Valentine's Day (or Singles Awareness Day), the school is selling Val-o-Grams.
Student: "I feel so special, I got a Val-o-Gram!"
Me: "Oooo, is it from someone you love?"
Student: "Well, I bought it for myself!"

Student: "Last night I came up with the best plan."
Me: "And what plan is it?"
Student: "You need to get a job at ____ High School so that way you can be our teacher again!"

I caught my first note passers today! Actually, it was pretty easy. The student stood up, with the note in hand, and started walking to another desk while saying, "This is not a note, this is not a note." Nice try buddy, but next time at least make an effort to be discreet.

I love middle school more and more each day. Maybe finding a job in a middle school is a bigger possibility.

A Slightly Boring Monday

Today I felt like I was at summer camp again. A pair of boy's boxers was left in the boys' bathroom and eventually made its way into the hallway. It's a little more disturbing in middle school than it is at summer camp.

Student: "You're cool, like the girl version of 50 Cent."


Student: "What gifts do you have for us today?"
Me: "I don't have any, I thought you guys were bringing me gifts today."
Student: "Ok, my gift to you is my face!"

Student: "Do I get anything for finishing?"
Me: "You mean finishing the work you were supposed to do?"
Student: "Yeah."
Me: "Umm...how about a high five?"
Student: "Ok!"

One student was saying the craziest, most ridiculous things.
Me: "You're killin' me!"
Student: "Oh are we playing movie trivia?! Don't tell me, I know this one...Daddy Day Care!"

This week we have testing. The state standardized test is in March, but this test is to predict how the school will score on the standardized test. A little ridiculous? I think so.

Someone came to the door, opened it, then closed it (they must have gone to the wrong room).
Student: "That was weird, no one is there."
Me: "Maybe it was a ghost."
Student: "Don't mess with me like that! I believe in that stuff and it freaks me out!"

TGIF

Turns out today was "Test Miss C's Patience Day". Unfortunately, I didn't get the memo until it was too late. My students got to see my extra mean side today. One class had to stay 3 minutes after the bell because that's how long it took them to get quiet...not ok. Another class lost in-class work time for next week's assignments. Lucky for them, its the weekend so I have a couple days to cool off. However, on Monday I will be having a nice chat with them.

Today was one of those days when I wish it was socially acceptable in the teaching world to yell "Sit down and shut the heck up!" (replace 'heck' with a different word).

On a brighter note, we took a Superbowl poll today and the majority of the team wants the Packers to win.

A moment that made me feel old:
Student: "The last time the Broncos won the Superbowl, we were only 2 years old."

One good thing that came out of today's frustrations was the awesome run I went on after school. And I still love my students, we just had a really off day.

Chickity China the Chinese Chicken, You Have a Drumstick and Your Brain Stops Tickin'

After two snow days...make that cold days (CO needs to toughen up), we went back to school today. I'm still trying to decide who it was harder for, the students or the teachers.

Today I started reading the rough drafts of their China essays. Some of the students definitely had their brains stop tickin'. One student wrote about Egypt...we've been talking about China for over a month! Luckily we have one more work day in class so there is still hope.

Student: "You remind me of Mrs. Frizzle, except you have normal clothes."

Student: "You are the funniest, weirdest teacher we've had in a long time."
I wasn't really sure how to respond to that but I think it was supposed to be a compliment.

A lady came in to class to deliver some fliers. After she left...
Student: "Who was that?! Ow ow!"
Student: "Dude, that was my mom!"
Things got awkward after that.

The other night I was talking to a friend about middle schoolers and how weird they can be. Then we talked about if we were that weird at that age. It got me thinking...if I'm this weird now, I can't imagine the weirdness added with hormones and the awkwardness of being a middle schooler. That is a time of my life I will conveniently block out. On the bright side, I still had friends.

Me: "Today is our latitude and longitude quiz!"
Student: "Dang it! You should have invited me to your latitude and longitude party!"