Say what?!

"Ms. Won?"

"Yes, Laura?"

"I missed you."

"Oh, ok."

I don't know if she said it just to throw me off into bewilderment or if her little comment sprouted from genuine randomness. All I know is that her cute smile made it impossible for me to reprimand her. Nor can I deny that her words inspired me to spend an hour at Peets, grading poems instead of watching Top Chef episodes. I know...I'm such a sucker. 

All in a day's work

I had my students choose one of the following books to read and then create a fill-in-the-blank quiz about it, using this week's vocab words as their answer choices. I think I was the one who was most excited about this activity. 

Though it took about an hour and a half of squeezing my bum numb in a tiny plastic chair at the children's library, it was a lot of fun choosing the books. It was hard work pumping my saliva dry as I perused through pages with licked fingers, but someone had to do it.  

I found classics like this one ominously titled, "Parts". The boy thinks that he's coming undone as he mistakenly believes that fuzz in his belly button is his cotton stuffing oozing out. 

"Bats at the beach" won me over with its creative plot line around a midnight beach-scapade complete with moon-tan lotion and bugmallows roasting over the bonfire.

OK! Where to? Just name the place and I'll be ready with my oar. 

The heartbreaker. 

Tough love

I got to talking with another teacher about how undeniably mean we are to our kids right now. Every toe stepped out of line is whipped and straightened out. I can only imagine what's going on in the minds of my sweet students as I snap my fingers at select, chronic underachievers, icily telling them to open their books.

Some students are willing to tell you how wonderful you are, like Stacy!

Mrs. H.- "William! With the time and effort it takes you to doodle your agenda, why don't you actually do the work you're supposed to? Or if that's too much for you to handle, we could set you up with a nice little concrete seat outside (90 degrees weather)

William- *grumbles incoherently*

Mrs. H.-(mutters under her breath) "I'm so mean..."

Stacy, a student who overhears, gently whispers to Mrs. H- "Only a little bit..."

"Bouquet of newly sharpened pencils"

By the powers bestowed upon me by LAUSD, I declare September to be NATIONAL PENCIL MONTH. The scratch of a #2 on a blank white sheet of paper is magical and apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so. This is a poem by Violeta, a good friend of mine who used her muse, a pencil, to illustrate the use of metaphors to students. Thanks Vi! 

Survival of a Pencil

I am a pencil
Slender yet shrinking.
I hide myself in the morning.
I am used everyday, sometimes abused
and occasionally I break...
maybe even snap.

All day long I write,
I record.
By the middle of the day
I'm used, worn down.
Slowly I disappear.
All day long,
Right side up, upside down
I have no control.

I learn from my mistakes,
I am valued because I can make mistakes.
Unlike my cousin the pen,
who is bold...exact, permanent.
Some prefer me better.

On days when I'm not at my sharpest
I'm completely ignored.

All in all,
I feel helpful.
And in the end
When I'm down to a bit,
I'll know I spent my life
helping others figure it all out.
I'll know I made a difference.

Help me help you

On a bright yellow paper titled "SURVEY" was question number one-

1. Do you need to sit in a particular area in the classroom?
YES NO

If you you've circled yes, write where you need to sit and why you need to sit there:________________________________

I thoroughly explained that this was a survey where there is no right or wrong answer. Especially for #1, I specified that it was a question geared towards those who needed to sit closer to the board. Look at what my 7th graders wrote:

"Yes, because sitting in a particular seat will make you more focus."

"cuz that's my assigned seat."

"Yes, because the teacher assigned the sits."

"If you cant see well sit in the front so you can pass."

"I need to sit in front of the teacher. I need to sit here because she told me to."

I picture all these students sitting there feeling smug and victorious with their "by the book" answers. Little do they know that they're being blogged about.

#s

120 restrained dollars spent at the teacher's supply store

5:30 am

3 alarm clocks pealing

75 cents for incredulously bad school coffee

380 copies of "getting to know you" surveys

5 minute intro. of myself which was 5 too long

1 sacrificial lamb of a student booted to the time out chair to show that I mean business

30 min. lunch to hunker down in a pencil skirt and scarf down food

154 new names to memorize

The 1st day of school

The Afters

My view of the classroom: Welcome back to Hellfire!

Students' view

                      

My happy place

It's almost complete...

all that's missing are the kids :}

Tell Tale heart

When's the last time that you had an irrational emotional attachment to an inanimate object? Maybe it was a pair of brand new rollerblades, a pog slammer, or a shiny new Nintendo. Whatever the material possession may have been, remember the time when objects went beyond their prices and practicality and actually meant something?

I recall my 9 year old self taking a shoebox to bed with me just so I could have the pleasure of seeing those brand new Reeboks the first thing in the morning. The curvaceous design and even the smell of them was intoxicating. I coveted those sneakers till the colors and tired soles wore out.

It’s been awhile since I’ve attached my heart onto a “thing” but today I purchased this brand new alarm clock.

It's made to fit the retro American style but proudly bears a sticker that says, “Made in China”. I don’t care. This newborn clock with its freshly ticking heart has won me over. It’ll be a friend through weary weekday mornings reminding me that a new day is continually beating.  

Blank Canvas

Two full days left until the deadline date. Armed with construction paper and lots of it. I'm gonna cry if the after picture looks exactly the same.