Apparently I was not clear on my rules to my students on using silly putty….

Silly putty does not belong up your nose!

Some of you may or may not know, but I grew up playing the flute. I started in sixth grade and was in band until my sophomore year in high school. In middle school, band was fun and I even played with a flute ensemble. When I got to high school, band was ‘not so cool’ and I ended up just taking the class for the easy A. It was also due to the fact that our band was small, was not very good and we didn’t do marching. In fact, my mom called us the ’sitting band.’

On Saturday, out of the depths of my guest room closet, I pulled out my flute and started to play. The dogs seemed to be confused by the strange sound coming from this long metallic instrument. As I began to play, I could tell the flute was out tune, badly dirty and had a dent in it from who knows what. So, I decided to take it in for a ‘tune up’….get it? Tune up! (I know you all love my bad/phunny jokes). When I took it in, I was thinking it would be a few days. Well, since every middle school and high school band student is having their instruments fixed, I have to wait two weeks to get my flute back. Good thing I am not in a hurry to play!

Why this sudden motivation you may ask? The credit goes to Adam and his secret talent…playing the piano. Okay, it’s not a super secret talent, but something I think is pretty awesome. He has been trying to get back into playing more and this has inspired me to pick up my flute again. There is even some talk about some flute and piano duets together. But don’t look for us at Carnegie Hall…for now our performances will be in Adam’s living room.

- You believe the playground should be equipped with a Ritalin salt lick

- You want to slap the next person who says, “Must be nice to work 8AM till 4PM and have summers off.”

- It is difficult to name your own child because there’s no name you can come up with that doesn’t raise your blood pressure as it is uttered.

- You can tell it’s a full moon without ever looking outside.

-You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, “Gee, the kids sure are mellow today.”

- You believe “shallow gene pool” should have its own box on a report card.

- When out in public you feel the urge to snap your fingers at children you do not know and correct their behavior.

- You have no social life between August and May.

- You think people should have a government permit before being able to reproduce.

- You wonder how some parents MANAGED to reproduce!

- You laugh uncontrollably when people refer to the staff room as the “lounge”.

- You encourage obnoxious parents to look into charter school or home schooling.

- You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.

- Meeting a child’s parent instantly answers the question: “Why is this kid LIKE this?”

So after a busy first week of school, I was hoping for a relaxing weekend…but that wasn’t the case. Alas, it was still a fun weekend!

Friday after work I decompressed from my first week. Then Adam and I headed over for some Wii action with my friend Clair. After working up a sweat playing Wii Sports, we spent way too much time watching her cat play with plastic and paper bags. It’s amazing how some animals can be entertained by the simplest things!

Saturday was a Duck game once again. This time the Ducks were playing Utah State…who are not a ranked team so a blow out was expected. And that’s what happened. The final score was 66-24. We actually stayed until the end of the game, not sure why, but it was fun! Our tickets on about two rows up from the field on the end zone, so when the teams are down on the east end, we are right there for all the action. The only downside is when the teams are at the other end of the field. However, being so close that you can hear the action and see the players sweat, is worth it. Adam and I both game back with nice sunburns, despite sunscreen!

We finished off Saturday with Sushi Domo with Dylan and Susan, then walked to Sweet Life to share a dessert! It was a busy Saturday, but a fun one.

Sunday we got up and headed out to Coburg for the Antique Fair. Adam’s mom, who is also a fabulous artist (see her work here), was selling some of her antiques. I was surprised to see how many people were at the fair. True the mean age was about 70, but it was a great crowd and Deanna had already made a nice profit by noon.

The latter half of the afternoon was spent at a 4+ hour meeting in a stuff house regarding greek life stuff. Pretty boring you my readers, so I will spare you on this one.

The night ended with my women’s outdoor soccer game. It has been a few weeks since playing soccer and I was excited to get back into the action. I have not played on a women’s team since indoor season and I forgot how much I love it. The game was fun, and it also helped that we won too!

So now it’s off to bed to start another week….

I survived the first day of work. Actually, it wasn’t bad at all. My students did well and it was nice to have 2/3 of my class returning to my class this year. Still today was filled with lots of teaching…like how to use the bathroom appropriately, how to walk in line, how to line up for lunch, etc. It’s amazing how we often go through routines and not think about the processes that they entail.

So with the day survived without too much craziness, I will celebrate today with a yummy piece of cheesecake from Sweet Life….mmmmmm!

Tuesday begins my third year of teaching. It is hard to believe that just a few years ago I was learning to be a teacher, and now I feel I am a confident, professional, strong and energetic teacher. I have learned many lessons, both good and bad, over the past two years, and I feel ready for this year more than ever. I am not nervous, just a few butterflies of anticipation in my stomach for the first day. Overall, I feel excited to get back to school, as you know that my job is my passion. I can’t wait to see the growth of my students since June, and see what my new students will bring to the classroom.

Every year, I have set a goal to help me improve as a teacher. This year my goal is to connect more with the students on the emotional level. The past few years, I am really good at really with the behavior, but sometimes I do not pay enough attention to the emotions and feelings behind the behaviors. Students often act out because they are feeling scared, frustrated, nervous, angry, etc. and don’t know how to express it, which is why it can come out inappropriately. My goal is to work with my students more on an emotional level and helping them identify their feelings, so that behaviors can be reduced.

I had the best summer of my life this past year…I guess most of it might be falling in love. My summer was filled with relaxation, vacation, laziness and a little work. It was a great summer, and now I am ready to head back to the classroom.