What a CRAZY DAY AT SCHOOL!!!

With a thick sheet of ice on all highways around here. School started 2 hours late. Teachers were to be there at 9:30. Students came at 10 am. Second graders go to lunch at 11:00 am, so we didn't have much time to get rolling when it was time to get ready for lunch. Then, about 10:45 the electricity flickers 2-3 times and we have no electricity. Now it's time to go to restr
oom and wash hands. Well our restrooms are VERY VERY dark without electricity and you can't see a thing, so lets get out the Germ X and we're ready for lunch. After returning back down the hall to start eating my lunch, hear from the office that it is a major power outage and we might not have power before 2:oo pm. The office starts to call parents to come and get kids. Then about 11:25 am the electricity comes on. But since calls have already been made, we will go ahead and dismiss at 12:30.

What mass confusion today!!! Now tomorrow we are scheduled an early dismissal for the Stock Show. This week has been a crazy one!!! Let's get back to some normalism (don't believe that is a word). I've only got about 80 days to get these kids ready for third grade!!!

GinGin's Second Grade

Surfing to Second. My class bulletin board is a beach fun theme. My kids got to design and decorate their own surfboards.

Students can sit and read beside the pool or palm tree during special reading time.

We work in groups on many projects.

Here's our first science project of observing bean seeds and then planting to see the parts of plants.

Spanish Speaking Student

On the third day of school I received word from a teaching partner that I was getting a new student this morning, and no hablo ingles! Oh, dear. Si. Okay I go to meet him in the cafeteria and he has a gigantic, very ornery smile, looks at me and doesn't seem to understand a word I say. Well, we go to the classroom and try to get him situated. I have space beside the two only other hispanic students I have. I tell them to help him as much as they can. Of course they are not fluent spanish speakers, but they do understand) They are doing a pretty good job and I'm using the limited spanish that I have from 6th grade, 35 years ago to try and talk to him. I do find out his name, and I can say SI and NO. Well, we begin our math meeting and several kids say Ms. B we need Juan's birthday for our birthday graph. I ask my little hispanic helper how do you say birthday in spanish, he shrugs his shoulders and says, "I DON'T KNOW MS. B, I JUST SAY PINATA!!!!!! OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES. SO PRECIOUS, I LAUGH AND TELL EVERYONE ABOUT IT ALL DAY. SO CUTE AND SWEET.

More to come on Juan soon, I'm sure---

Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Last Week of Freedom-will I ever make it to next summer

School, School, School, School, School

That's all there is everywhere I turn!!!!!! I keep running into these parents in the store who look at their children running wild and say " I can't wait for school to start, only 1 more week." I just reply, "Oh, me neither, I'm a teacher." HAHA I really can wait, but in a way I am getting ready for the big day. I don't know if it is really because I have no choice, or I am ready to see my new little group of rug rats and to get started on all the wonderful things that we will learn together this year. I have many wonderful ideas and I am always excited to start the new year with a fresh bunch of elementary minds. I made it to school for one whole day this past week and I accomplished most of what I went there for. I set up all of the desks and put my bulletin board up in the hall and got my "mind" and desk ready. I still have a lot of things to do next week and all the while that I am in those STUPID inservice meetings, I will be thinking of everything I could be doing in my classroom!! Anyway, ready or not, HERE I COME!!!

Now to add a sad note. Walking down the school supply aisle at the local Wally World, that I hate, I'm having very mixed emotions. No one at my house will be needing any of this junk for public school anymore, man is that a relief, or is it?, my little Holly bug will just be going back to college and learning all the neat tricks to cosmetology, so that she can go out and make all of us beautiful!!! I'm just hoping she does not chop her hair off again at the beginning of class. Just kidding , isn't she beautiful!!

So back to those feelings, you know, the sad ones when your youngest child is getting ready to leave the nest and the extremely happy ones, those of great accomplishment when your youngest child graduates from high school. OMG, these are really weird feelings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Life is so amazing.