THE LAST DAY BEFORE BREAK

Hello! I don't want to keep anyone waiting over the holidays, so I will satisfy your desires and give you a little something to chew on over the break.

I substituted for two elementary schools this week, on Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday I asked a 4th grade student to move seats because he was getting to distracted by his peers around him and this is what he told me: "I'm not gonna move."

What?!

"I'm not going over there."

I was shocked; stunned. What do I say to that? I either play the ultimate power move and send him to the office, or I give up. Well guess what, ladies and gentlemen? I gave up. I didn't want to send him to the office. He wasn't being that bad, really. I just asked him to move his seat, but the situation quickly escalated into something far worse than I could have anticipated (read: Iraq). So I said very sternly:

"Ok, this is the last warning. If I have to come over here again, you are going to the office. Alright? That's it."

And it more or less worked. I hate giving in. It goes against all models of teaching, training, incentive, etc.

THE SECOND GRADERS

Yesterday I substituted for some hellish 2nd graders. These are two separate notes I confiscated from two separate kids:

"Adriana just took u furt"

"Sarina smells like a skunk"

I think the first one is supposed to say "Adriana just took a fart" Boys were writing these and giving them to the girls named in the notes. Sarina does not smell like a skunk, I assure you this. I cannot confirm or deny the first note, however.

THE SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK VIDEO

Today I had the fantastic privilege of partaking in the goodness of Schoolhouse Rock. I substituted for an English teacher at Dos Pueblos who teaches an ELD class (English Language Development). These are students who are learning English for the first time, who cannot function in a mainstream class yet. So we learned about Pronouns.

I don't know why, but I never had the opportunity to watch a Schoolhouse Rock video. Ever. I knew what the program was, had even heard people sing parts of songs from the show, but I had never witnessed firsthand the joy of 70s style music crafted to promote the finer aspects of English grammar.

This was my favorite episode that we watched. View it twice--it's catchy.

THE DAYS FLY BY

Last week I subbed for two elementary schools and two different high schools (Dos Pueblos and San Marcos). In one of the elementary schools I got to hold a leopard gecko and we learned about fish. Also, during PE a fifth grade girl screamed every single time someone made a basket, whether or not they were on her team. She would hold both arms straight down at her sides, fists clenched, eyes closed, little ears sticking out through her hair, and scream like a little girl. Which she was.

At the other elementary school the students asked me to be their teacher for FOREVER after I did some magic tricks for them. I made a ring disappear and pulled it out of the air. I also took my thumb clean off of my hand! Boy, did that hurt. And I solved the rubik's cube in about 50 seconds for them.

At San Marcos I subbed for a teacher that I play poker with every other Friday. I asked the kids if they knew their teacher played poker. They did not know it, and I hoped it was ok to share that personal information. Got two or three kids solving the rubik's cube.

At Dos Pueblos we had four people solving the rubik's cube in my class at lunch. It was beautiful.