Window View

This is what it looked like outside my window when I woke up this morning. I'm glad I slept through it. It's disturbing and it's enough.



-- Post From My iPhone

Hate Mail

As I was writing today's vocabulary test yesterday, I came across the following written in the 7th grade vocabulary book:



Aside from the obvious, I was disturbed by the errors in spelling. I mean, I'm a Language Arts teacher. Vocabulary and writing conventions are a part of what I teach. If students are going to express such displeasure, the least they could do is spell correctly.

All the evidence you need attesting to the fact that I'm a middle school teacher is the fact that the conventional writing errors bother me more than the actual message itself. I did not become a teacher to be beloved by my students. Yes, that can be a happy and favorable byproduct of my job, but the occassional hate messages...

I can live with them.

-- Post From My iPhone

Easter

Thus year Easter was spent with family. My brothers who live out of state came to Utah and so the whole family was together, minus a sister-in-law (we missed you April!) and it was lovely. We had good food, celebrated April bdays, and watched the General Conference of the LDS Church.

Hristos a înviat! Christ is risen!

Happy Easter!




















-- Post From My iPhone

Snow IS a 4-lettered word

After a day and a half of non-stop snow showers, it looks more like winter than spring. I hate this weather!






-- Post From My iPhone

Bulletin Boards

Saturday I went to the UMLA (Utah Middle Level Association) conference. There are pros and cons involved in attending a conference. Cons include the loss of time, especially on a Saturday, getting up early, and the possibility that the event is lame. Pros include the gaining of new knowledge, feeling fired up, and new resources and materials.

UMLA's annual conference is actually pretty good. This year was no exception. I learned loads of practical things and came away with lots of new ideas. One of the ideas i got was from a book I purchased at the conference which was authored by one of the keynotes. He suggested making a classroom both the teacher's room and the students' room. As I reflected on this I realized that my classroom definitely belongs to me. So today I changes that. The changes included a bit of rearranging as well as new bulletin boards. One board is about me, that way studets can get to know me. Another is for student use. Another for student work. The last board features the rules and regulations.

I took pictures of two of the boards so there is photographic evidence of the change. I was amazed at what changing the bulletin boards in a room can do.





-- Post From My iPhone

Diversity Week

This week is Diversity Week. My PTSA Reps wanted to spotlight the unique talents and characteristics at SJMS.

This is the week's breakdown:
Black Out Day-blacking out prejudice
Hollywood Day-because we are all stars
Color Day
Twin Day
Team Sports Day-because we are all on the same team.









-- Post From My iPhone

The Plea

I have a substitute today. As always, I worry about my students. I left them a little note. Hopefully they actually read it.



-- Post From My iPhone