{solsc} 10/31 #sol17 I'm Going to Leigh Anne's Favorites Party

I was invited to a party earlier this month--well, actually, we all were. Leigh Anne from A Day in the Life invited us all to a Favorites Party. The idea is to share five of your favorite things with the others. You can read the whole story on her blog.

Anyway, here's what I bring to the Favorites Party...

1. Well, of course, I would have to bring Chloe to any blogging event. She's half the team after all!  And she would definitely keep us all entertained.

2.  Like Leigh Anne, I'd bring favorite pens. I used to be a Flair addict, and I still like them. But my new favorites are Papermate Ink Joy Gel Pens. I bought a couple at the beginning of the school year to try out and absolutely love them. They write so smoothly. Our local Shopko put them on clearance in September and I went a little crazy stocking up.  They come in lots of great colors and that lets me pick colors to match my mood!

3.  I would bring Culver's Concrete Mixers. Because what's a party without ice cream?  Culver's is a a chain out of Wisconsin, but now have stores in the midwest--well, at least Iowa and Minnesota. They actually serve frozen custard and it is to die for. Trust me. You want some.

4.  I think we may have to change the place of the party--or I'd have to have my own, because I would want you all to come to the lake. There isn't a better place in the world to relax and recharge.

The view from our deck

5. And I would have to bring a book. But I'm not sure which one because I keep changing my mind about favorites. I recently read a young adult novel entitled All the Bright Places  by Jennifer Niven. I want to wander with Finch and Violet. But I also liked The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner. Amazing. and it contains my favorite quote (which would technically mean I would be bring six things)---  And isn't it the best quote ever?

“If you're going to live, you might as well do painful, brave, and beautiful things.” 

So there you are. My contributions to Leigh Anne's party. When you need to, join the fun. What would you bring to a favorites party?

{solsc} 9/31 #sol17 This Time Next Week

Saturday is State Speech

Our season is ending

Next week

I won't have to be 

at school

at dawn

or

leave at sunset.

Next week

Kids won't want to practice

during my

"free time"

or 

after track

or during their study hall

but

my class

Next week

There will be

no more 

funny conversations

or serious ones

or prom ones.

There will be 

no more

snacking

noise

laughter

No More.

Ever.

{solsc} 8/31 #sol17 A Last I Will Not Miss

My last Iowa Assessments. My shoes squeak as I walk about the room, making sure everyone bubbles in on the right test. As juniors, they know the drill. They've been joking about making Christmas trees, about not really reading and just guessing. Most won't do any of this, but they can joke about it.

I think back to my own days of bubble testing. I was in second grade the first time I felt like I wasn't smart enough. We got our test scores back. I was in the 98th percentile overall, but a boy, the one I always tried to be better than, got a 99.  Why didn't anyone tell me I was better than my test score?

Throughout my teaching, I have always tried to convince students of this. But it's hard today to convince them they are more than their test score when one of the final things I have to say is, "You must be proficient in the areas of reading, science and math in order to take concurrent classes at the college. If you aren't proficient in reading, you may be required to additional reading classes."

I get it. I do.

But this is a "last" that I will not miss.

{solsc} 7/31 #sol17 Happiness

While he's great at making other people laugh, there's always a sober undercurrent in him when you talk with him.  Not depression or sadness, really, but he's not a happy kid all the time.

But lately, you see, there's this girl.

"Mrs. Day, so L and me, I guess we're kind of a thing."

"You are?"

"Yea, it makes me pretty happy."

"Well, I have been noticing you've been together quite a bit. I wondered about it at Districts."

"We weren't a thing then. This has only been a couple of days."

"Well, you might not have known, but I could see something going on."

"Yea."

He practices his piece with me. Then we talk about prom and their group.

"Yea. I'm pretty happy."

And then she walked into the room. Her grin was as big as his. I'd say she's pretty happy too.

{solsc} 6/31 #sol17 The Purge Begins

"Ewww! Is that hair in your closet?"

I laughed and pulled the blond wig off the top shelf.

"Why do you have a mullet wig in your room?"

Like many odd things in my room, it was left by a student. This particular wig (yes, there have been others) was used by a young woman showing us the proper technique for straightening your hair.

The wig has had a long life. It gets pulled out of the closet for any type of skit or activity. And sometimes, it just gets worn for the heck of it.

It sits upon a rag doll used last year in a speech commercial for "Ginger B Gone". The doll is creepy. I won't lie to you, as it moves about my room, it always seems to find a place to sit and stare at me.  But the doll also gets used for class activities. This year it appeared in a lip synch during Drama class. I keep trying to get her owner to take it home, but so far, no luck.

The whisper phones have had a long life. Made for me by a former principal, they have been used to read aloud, to practice speeches, and to read writing while editing and revising. They also seem to be as fun as Legos, since more than once, students have taken them apart and created sculptures with them.  They've been nabbed by the choir teacher.

Do you see the screwdriver in front of my computer?  The thing is huge. It came with my desk and I have no idea how long it has been there. I have great fun with it because anytime a student ask me for something weird (and it happens a lot), I say, "No. But I have a screwdriver." and then pull this out.  I've decided it stays with my desk when I leave.

There is an unwritten rule with my speech kids that if you are late for practice you owe me chocolate. This year one of my senior boys was late to improv. This is what he brought me. Chocolate syrup.

If nothing else, it's a great conversation starter.  And it will get used at our speech awards banquet later this month.

Well, that's all for this installment of "The Purge". Stay tuned. There's more weirdness where this came from.

{solsc} 5/31 #sol17 A Silly Moment

I love the randomness of teenagers. The things they just pop in my room to tell me.  My favorite moment this week happened on Wednesday.

Our girls basketball team played in the state tournament on Tuesday afternoon, so school was let out for the day.

On Wednesday, a senior boy bounced into my classroom.

"Mrs. Day!  Mrs. Day!  I got a girl's phone number yesterday!

The response from the guy sitting just inside the door?

                                                 "What? Did your mom get a new phone?"

{solsc} 4/31 #sol17 Celebrate

My favorite part of the week. Celebrations.

I've been celebrating my week for a long time, almost as long as I've written my blog.  It helps keep me positive and focused on the right things in my life. I keep track of them through the week on a post-it in my bullet journal. And Twitter. If something makes me smile during the school day, I often tweet it out.

Waiting for the bus

I've done quite a bit of tweeting this week (you know that if you follow me at @mrsday75). On Saturday, my Speech kids performed at district competition. They did great. We've sixteen events moving on to state next weekend. My favorite part of individual speech competition is giving my phone to the kids and telling them to take a selfie.  Then, as they perform and receive ratings, I can share out the results using our school hashtag. People follow along all day and congratulate the kids.

I turned in my Early Retirement papers this week. It still doesn't seem real---in my head I keep thinking, "Next year I'll..." and then remember, there won't be a next year in teaching or in speech (although I'll sub and volunteer with speech). Weird. But I'm looking forward to this new chapter.

Other good things this week:

• I received copies of Passenger and Wayfarer from Alexandra Bracken this week. She had tweeted out she would send copies to classrooms if teachers tweeted her, so I did.  I have several kids who will love this series
• Our girls basketball team played in the state tournament on Tuesday. They didn't win, but a smaller school from a few miles away did. They ended up runner-up. I loved how many of our kids went to their games and cheered them on. When you live in a small rural area, everyone is friends.
• Last practices with my speech kids. These last two weeks of rehearsal time is precious to me. I just love hanging out with these guys.
• A friend started a new food blog. This woman is a great cook and she decided to start a blog and share the recipes she trying. You can check her out at The Pinterest Foodie

Well, that's about it this week. Hope your week was wonderful!