Funnies about School

Two funny student comments worth sharing:

1. An 8th grader asks, "Is Hawaii in the United States?" I emailed her teacher and told him she asked this. His reply: Wow! If she didn't know that, don't tell her Alaska is a state too! She probably couldn't handle the shock! My reply: That IS a lot of information for one day.

2. An 8th grader asks, "What is a swine, anyway? Is it swine flu or swan flu?" My reply: (Picture a "You're kidding me!" look on my face) A swine is a pig and it's swine flu.

We middle school teachers can only laugh or cry!

"C"

Casey- Casey Hill one of my best friends. Casey and I went to school together for 12 years. We even started kindergarden in the same class. My mom listed Casey as one of my "first friends" in my school book. The things I remember most about Casey in school are having great slumber parties at her house, jumping on her trampoline, prank calling WZYP, making the army trenches out of cake and cookies in 11th grade American History, powder puff football practice in her front yard, and Casey crying through the entire graduation ceremony! Even though we went to school together and had a blast, we did not become close until after school. A few years ago some of us decided that we needed to keep in touch better so we started getting together. We started out with several but it fizzled down to me, Casey, Lora, Debra, and Melissa. We were the few who refuse to lose touch and I love them all for that! I feel like Casey and I have a special bond because our little boys are very close in age...they are only two weeks apart. Casey is so funny, she is quirky, and she is a memeber of the coolest book club on the planet!

Christy- Christy is a new friend of mine. I met Christy through Jaime, and I am so blessed that I did. Christy is honestly one of the sweetest, most caring and selfless people I have ever know. She is constantly doing for others and putting herself second. Christy is also quite quirky (I must love quirky people!) and I love all of her little obsessions with Harry Potter, all things scrapbook related, Twilight, etc. She is also a memeber of the infamous book club! I'm so thankful that Christy is a part of my life. I know that in years to come she will still be there.

Cars- I know this is a silly item, but I want to start including one random entry in each letter blog, so I thought I would talk about my dream car! My dream is to have a black (or white, I'm not picky!) Cadillac Escalade. This will never, ever happen, but a girl can dream! I have loved these SUV's since they came out with them.

Camden- I saved the best for last and I do not even know where to begin. Camden is the most important little person in my life. I cannot even begin to describe the love I have for that child! We waited so long to have him, and I still look at him and cannot believe he is here. I have watched him grow and learn so many things in the past 7 months. I just cannot believe how quickly he learns things! I know that every mother thinks that, but when you experience it for yourself, it is truly amazing. Words just cannot express how blessed I am to have him, and how every day I thank God for giving him to me. I know I am truly unworthy to have him in my life. Since I blogged about him a bit in the "b" section, I will not go on and on again!

The Not So Secret Life of "B's"

In continuation of my ABC blog, here are my musings for the letter B:

Boys- Doesn't every woman want a little girl to dress up and put bows in her hair? Of course I did and still do, but I have to say that little boys have an extra special place in my heart. My two favorite people in the whole world are boys! I can't imagine having a little girl instead of Camden. I think little boys are just as sweet as girls. Camden is snuggly and kissy, and from my experience, little boys can be more affectionate than girls. My husband is also a special boy! I can refer to him as a boy because he was just a boy when we met but I have watched him grow into a man who provides for his family and is an awesome father and husband. And speaking of boys, I have to mention one very special little boy who was born yesterday, Noah Mark Emerson. Noah is the baby of one of my bestest friends Jaime. I'm so glad he is here and healthy. I told Jaime I was showing off his pics at the ballfield last night like he was mine!! It's always a blessing to have a new baby around.

Brandi-My friend Brandi is very special to me. She was the first friend I made outside of high school. She got a job working at the clothing store that I worked out. My first impression of her was that she was super sweet and so pretty! We became super close because our husbands were best friends. We all did everything together. We took trips, went out to eat several times a week, and at one time, we all four worked at the same place! I remember the day we came home from our honeymoon, Brandi and Brad came to our apartment and told us that she was going to have a baby! They got married and moved into an apartment complex right down the road from us. I remember those days as some of the happiest of my life. Now we live about 10 minutes apart. I have one child and she is about to have her third. Our lives are very busy and complicated but we still talk to one another almost every day. As with any friendship, there have been times that are trying, but I have always loved Brandi and considered her to be a great friend. Brandi has always been one to lift me up and make me feel good about myself. She never lets me talk myself down.

Book Club- What can I say about book club. It is, by far, the best night of the month for me. I always look so forward to getting together with Lora, Casey, Jaime, Melanie, Amelia, Christy and Shannon. We always have a blast! And now I'm grateful that my friend Melissa has decided to join. Not only are these gals tons of fun, but the club has made me start reading more than ever, and that can never be a bad thing. The more you read, the more you know; the more you know, the more you grow! Yay for book club!! I love you gals!

I think that's all I have to say about B's. If I forgot someone or something, please forgive me. It's late and time for me and Camden to have a bottle and hit the sack!

End of the School Year Blues

It's that time of year again. The time when a teacher realizes that it's too late in the school year to make changes. The kids who are going to fail will fail. The kids who do not follow the rules will continue not to do so. The teaching strategies that they have hated all year are not going to appeal to them in the last six weeks of school. So inevitably, the teacher throws up her hands, surrenders to the overwhelming feeling of failure, and does the only thing she can do...plan for a better "next year." Honestly, I thought I was the only one who went through this process every year, but today I learned that I have at least one companion in these end of the year blues ;). Personally, in my four years of teaching, I have never ended a school year thinking, "Wow! What a great year I've had!" But every year, I feel like I have worn myself out more and more trying to teach. I have beat myself up for this over and over again. I have convinced myself that I'm a terrible, unimaginative teacher with no classroom management skills. This may be a horrible thing to say, but I believe that I am becoming a bad teacher. I have let my unmotivated, unsupported, misbehaving, apathetic students to drag me down with them instead of me pulling them up. I do feel helpless because I feel like I don't know how to do this. Fooey on all the theory garbage I learned in college because that mess doesn't work! I have tried to present my students with: interesting novels, power point presentations, literature they can relate to, different approaches to grammar beyond workbooks and textbooks, projects in lieu of tests, tests in lieu of projects, study guides to tests, reading guides, movies related to literature, graphic organizers to enhance vocabulary skills, reading literature in class rather than home for discussion and understanding...I could go on forever. I think these all seem like great teaching practices, but would you believe that my students complain about every single one of these items. I have students that literally do not want to do anything! They would rather sit and stare at one another for 50 minutes than read a Sharon Draper novel. I don't understand. I don't know how to motivate these students any longer. I've been at this school for four years, and I'm exhausted from trying to teach them. I find the apathy getting worse and worse every year. I love teaching...or I did love teaching. I do not want another career. At the beginning of each school year, I am so anxious to get back to work. Melanie, Jaime, and I spend the whole summer shopping and planning for the next school year. We bounce ideas off one another. We plan for success, and it seems like we get shot down by our students every year. I am always so excited about my new ideas and lessons, and they always hate them! How do I fix this? How do I get to my students? How do I get that better "next year" that I've been planning for at the end of every school year?

"A" is for Alana

Ok, so I love the ABC blogs, so I had to copy :)

My first part of my "A" blog is about my niece Alana. Alana is one of my favorite people in the whole world! She was born in May of 1999 when I was a Senior in high-school thinking that graduation was the most important thing in the world. I remember the day she was born. We went to the hospital at 11 the night before. We stayed awake all night waiting for her. My sister's blood pressure was so high during labor, we were not allowed to see her the entire time. I remember the first time I held her. I was so scared, but I thought she was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. Her first outing was to my graduation. I have always felt like we had a special bond because of that. We also both have the same first and middle initials: Amanda Beth and Alana Brooke. Alana was the first grandchild for my parents and my first niece or nephew, so she ruled our whole world. At the time I worked at a clothing store and I would spend most of my tiny paychecks on her! I loved to buy clothes for her. She was the funniest baby and so smart! To this day, she is still the smartest, prettiest little girl I know. She is about to be ten, and I can't believe the time has gone by so quickly. Alana is also the most sensitive, loving person I have ever met. She desperately wants to make people happy, and she hates for people to disapprove of her. She is completely selfless. Alana has recently taken up one of my favorite hobbies-scrapbooking! I have promised her that she can scrapbook one day with me and my girls and she is soooo excited! She will never let me forget that, but I'm also looking forward to it, so I know I won't. Because of Alana, I know that if God never blesses me with a baby girl, I can be perfectly content knowing that I have her in my life and that I have been blessed by watching her grow up and being a part of her life.

The next "A" for my blog is: Alabama. I know that a lot of people look down on our state, but I am so proud to live here, and I would never want to live anywhere else. I love the South and the fact that we still value the things that are important in life. I love that all of my family is here...and in addition to all those things, I love Alabama football!

My last "A" is for Amelia. Amelia is a new friend of mine that I met through Jaime. I think Amelia is one of the neatest people I have met in a long time. Amelia is very funny and always seems to be happy and in a good mood. She also has good taste in clothes and accessories which I really appreciate! I do hate her for being so pretty and thin, (jk!) but we have lots of things in common. We both like a lot of the same tv shows so that gives us lots to chat about. We both have little boys who are very close to the same age. We are also in the same book club. I'm so glad that I met Amelia and I hope that we will be friends for a long time.

Something about this ABC blog terrifies me...I'm afraid that I am going to leave something very important out of the blog that begins with the particular letter!!

The Picture of Dorian "Gay"

I've started two blogs and deleted them both already. I remember why I quit blogging for so long: as busy as my life is, it is incredibly dull, and I always feel like I have to be all witty and clever when writing so people will actually read my mess....it's exhausting! I feel like I need to evoke the muse or something to give me some creative inspiration. Anywho, here goes...

• My baby turned 6 months old today. Boy how the time flies! I'm looking forward to what the next few months will bring. He's starting to scoot, sit on his own for a few seconds, and hold his own cup for a few seconds. We bought him a jump-jump today for his six month birthday. As soon as we put him in it, he cried. I'll try again in a few days.
• Only seven more weeks of work until summer break! I will welcome it with open arms and hope that I can motivate myself to go on to the 2nd round with this group of 8th graders!
• Today I purchased my book club book, Flowers in the Attic, as well as Wicked. I'm looking forward to reading them both.
• This week I read The Picture of Dorian Gray. I liked it...not my fave or anything, but it was good. I was disappointed that we did not discuss it in class. Instead, the professor opted to show us a movie, which can only be described as porn, about the life of Oscar Wilde. Now, I love Jude Law as much as the next girl, but I will never look at him the same.

Tune in next week for more ramblings from me!