quote of the day

so does this mean i can start telling people we're together? --my dear sweet george

it's a jolly holiday...

we'll all remember "our place" from high school or middle school, i'm sure.  the place where you & your friends congregated at lunch, in between classes, etc.  i have a group of about 20 students that congregate in the open hallway between mine and the leadership room, right in between two medium sized trees.  there is an 8 foot bench in that area, also.  they all stand around and talk & laugh and yell both obscenities and niceties at each other.  every day.  and i "get" to be a witness to it. 

 

today i walked outside my room, and something was different.  behind that 8 ft bench, there was a poster on the hallway wall, depicting a winter scene, complete with a fireplace, and two windows with snow coming down. and, there were ornaments and streamers and tree garland hung between those two little trees. one of the trunks was dressed in wrapping paper.  and the kids, loud as ever, most wearing santa hats, were there.  laughing and taking group pictures.  the bench was loaded up with gift bags and goodies.  these gems had put together a full on christmas party at lunch. 

 

i wish wish wish i could post pictures of my students.  then maybe i could have rationalized asking them to pose for a picture for me.  but, i didn't ask.  i just walked back into my room.  but trust me.  it was very jolly.   

aspirations.

i have these two students...student one is a senior, but has the reading & writing & critical thinking abilities of a 2nd grader. every day he comes in and tells me his daily paper is lost. and i tell him to look again. and he tells me its still lost because someone took it. and then sometimes i find it for him. sometimes i tell him that things dont disappear, that i don't move the papers, and that he should look harder. (note: this student leaves papers and assignments all over my classroom and kitchen, as if the second something leaves his hand it magically turns up in its appropriate location. if he learns nothing else other than to fill out this paper and return it to its manilla folder, every day, so that he will know where he can find it tomorrow, i will feel as though i have accomplished some sort of great feat.)

student two has the oral comprehension of a wall. don't get me wrong, he's concerned about his grade and is diligent about keeping up and turning in all assigned work, and if give him written instructions and he is good to go. but if i give him verbal isntructions, no matter how clear, short and personally directed they are, he will wait until i am finished speaking and then immediately say..."so......what do i do?"

anyhow, it was student two's turn for his recipe demonstration in front of his peers. 6th period gets a little squirrely, and while they actually do listen while the presenter is speaking, during down time in between steps they turn into chatty cathy's. after student two's demo, they were chatting and giggling and waiting for the school day to end. then student one came up to claim his sample of the dish, and approached student two and said the following: "its aright, bruh. you di good. dem people just be laughin because they dumb. it ain you."

these two students aren't particularly friends. i dont know that they would ever speak to one another outside the class, they are from different places and have different cultural backgrounds. to be honest, i don't know that student two was concerned at all that people were chatting away and laughing as he passed out his sample dish, i wasn't concerned, as the presentation was over. but student one was concerned. and he wanted to make sure student two felt ok about his demonstration.

it was sweet and kind and thoughtful, but so simple. ait was a needed reminder that i should aspire to be a little more like my students.

quotes of the day

MS WORK!!!!!!!!!--dear student as he approached me with outstretched arms.

and

dear student #1: ms. booth....(holding up a bag of yarn & a mini loom)
me: wow.
dear student: i'm making a scarf

a little bit later...

dear student #1:  my scarf is going to be SO sexy.
dear student #2:  that is very disturbing.

and

how was the funeral? --dear student, quietly and earnestly. not so anyone else could hear, just because she wanted to know. (sometimes my students aggravate me and push my buttons in ways that i feel that i may explode if i do not remove myself from the sometimes arrogant, self-centered and inconsiderate nature of teenagers. yet, other times they melt my heart with their humility, concern and kindess. this quote may not illustrate it to anyone else, and that is OK. but this dear student melted my heart today.)

dear grandpa

rest in peace, grandpa. i'm glad you're back with grandma and that you're free of all your bothersome ailments. i sure miss you, already though.

James Don Tygerson

ps--i love both of those pictures of you. so handsome & happy.

pps-tell grandma & brandon hi. love & miss all three of you.

quote of the day

me:  and if you accidentally throw the water out that you boiled the chicken in, or there's not enough, what can you use instead?

dear student #1:  chicken broth

dear student #2:  CHICKEN BREATH???  WHAT????