It's almost Christmas!

Despite baking Christmas cakes, going “light-seeing”, listening to Christmas music (both in class and at home), and exchanging gifts, it really hasn’t felt like Christmas time yet. Maybe it has to do with being in school until December 21st. It’s hard to feel the joy of the season when you’ve got papers to grade, lessons to plan, and 12 year olds to babysit. Because that’s pretty much what it felt like this week: babysitting.

Wednesday was an utter waste of time and energy. It was a half-day, which already spells worthless in my book. The kids come to school with the mindset that they won’t do any work, which is evident by their lack of back packs and basic school supplies. This half-day, even the teachers felt the same way. We had a Christmas program scheduled for the first hour or so of the day, and from there it becomes a matter of feeding children and controlling chaos. But of course, nothing went according to schedule, so I had no idea what was going on for pretty much the whole day. And what’s more annoying than not knowing what’s going on? Oh, say, 100 kids asking you what’s going on. By the end of the day, I was practically shoving kids out my door. “See you in 2012!” was my catch phrase as I walked the kids out to the buses. Praise. The. Lord.

Now the fun could really begin. The rest of the evening was stress-free, filled with laughter and conversation that did not revolve around school or students or test scores. The staff went out to eat and exchanged secret Santa gifts, with nothing hanging over our heads except a week and a half of break.

I absolutely love the people I work with. My principal is hard-working, but she is down to earth and never expects more from us than what she herself is willing and able to give. She is real about our “situation” as a low-performing school, and her honesty is refreshing. My fellow teachers are fun-loving and hysterical. But by far my favorite people are the women I work most closely with, the other 7th grade teachers.

Last year, on those mornings when I would rather get hit by a bus than try to manage the chaos that was my 8th period, I got up to go to work because if nothing else, I knew I’d have fun with my coworkers during our common planning time.

This year, I look forward to our unofficial morning meetings in the hallway, where we mingle for maybe a little too long to watch the chaos that is the 8th grade and bask in the glory of our well-behaved (and well-trained) 7th graders. We are a strong team, mostly because we all like each other and work well together. And apparently, we play well together, too. After our staff dinner, the 7th grade team went shopping “on the town”, making trips to Target and Old Navy, and creating a scene along the way. We had so much fun, and it was a great way to kick off break.

Now, all is right in Glen Allen--Amanda and I are both home, and we are currently preparing for happy hour with our parents.

It's beginning to feel a little more like Christmas...

Baby Jackson?

Playing a "literacy" game I call "A to Z"--students must come up with one word for each letter of the alphabet within a certain category. This week's category: Christmas, of course.

Here's what happened when I tried to help one group....


Student: "Miss H--we need somethin that start with a J."

Miss H: "Hmm okay. Here's one. Who was born on Christmas? Baby......"

Student: "Jackson?"




Is it break yet? Two and a half days and counting....

Goodbye Enfield, Hello Orlando!

After a day like today, Florida couldn't sound any better. Nothing more than kids being kids...and driving me crazy. I dropped the bomb yesterday that I would be leaving for the next three days to go to a conference in Orlando, and while many of my kids seemed disappointed, I'm worried about the kids who I know were silently celebrating in their heads. I can hear their mischievous brains working now...

"You thought one day was chaotic, and now you're leaving us for three?"

It's about to get real.

We're about to find out how extraordinary my class really is. We've been working on becoming a class that other people talk about in a good way, since so much of the talk about Enfield is negative. Some of the kids have put everything they have into being the best, into being different than what other people expect when they walk into our classroom. And some of my students are fine being just plain old "ordinary", as we call them. It doesn't seem to bother them. In fact, I fear that they may even take a little joy in being the weakest link, if for no other reason than the attention that it gets them. I fear for those babies and their lives outside of school.

And while I am excited for the trip, there is still so much to be done. I've taken to recording my voice on every slide of my presentations for each of the three days that I"m gone, so that there will be no confusion about my expectations for each assignment. Which takes forever, by the way. And even still, I need to type up my sub plan to avoid things like, "But Miss H always lets us use the bathroom!" (No she doesn't.) Or, "We go to lunch right away." (No we don't.)

So one more late night of working, one more early morning of setting up my classroom, and then it's off for an afternoon flight to Orlando, and 3 and a half days of Floridian winter (and the conference, of course).

I'll be anxious to see my sub report when I get back. Fingers crossed!

If you were the President...

Do Now Assignment:

1. If you were the President of the United States, what is the first change you would make in America?

Student Responses:

"Stop getting AIDS."


"Change the law of passing math."



"I would change the drug dealers their will not be no drugs."


"I would let the people out of jail." (Upon clarification I learned that yes, she meant ALL the people. She would let everyone out of jail.)


I know you missed this.