What Teachers Make

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DfuBmSbiVXo0%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded&h=601c5

This is a great video.  Thanks to a dear non-teacher friend of ours for finding this and sending it our way.

~Ms. Brown

How much do we forget?

My dad and I love to watch game shows together.  One that we used to watch pretty frequently is Jeff Foxworthy's "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"  My dad has always insisted I should go on the show.  I've always refused. Why? Because I don't have enough confidence in myself to believe I could win if I went on the show, and I obviously don't want to get on the show, stand up there and say, My name is Amy Green.  I'm a middle school teacher, and no, I'm NOT smarter than a fifth grader.   Obviously, I'm smarter than the average fifth grader as far as reasoning, life skills, and basic knowledge.  However, I'm sure that I've forgotten many of the minute details.  Every now and then, a question on the show stumps me.  

Earlier this week, I was spending time with some of my favorite campers.  These are children I met through Camp Happy Days, an organization that provides support to kids with cancer and their siblings.  They're great kids, and I got to spend an entire day hanging out with them while their parents were at work.  We baked and decorated cookies for Santa and our own enjoyment, had a feast of a lunch from Chic-fil-A, watched a movie, hung out, played and talked together, and, most relevant to this blog post, played school. I got to be the teacher.  Not something new to me, but hey, whatever made the kids happy.  The girl I was playing school with is in first grade this year.  We played for well over an hour.  At one point, I was "teaching" math.  We did some basic math problems, but then my "student" asked me to give her some patterns to try.  I did my best.  She pronounced them, "Easy!"  I then asked her to make me some patterns to show me what hard patterns would be like.  Safe to say, I would have failed that first grade math test.  Those patterns kicked my butt!

This really made me think: if I've forgotten so much about patterns and the foundations of my math skills, what else have I forgotten?  How much of what my teachers taught me have I forgotten? Have I remembered the things that are actually important? As a teacher, WHAT are the most important things for me to teach my students?  How often do I forget the little moments that remind me why I teach day after day?  Beyond school, how many things that should be cherished have I completely forgotten about? 


~Ms. Green

The Best Christmas Present Ever!

What I am apparently getting from my children for Christmas:

"Ms. Sox, can I make you a Facebook page for Christmas? That way you can meet a new boyfriend."

"Yeah, Ms. Sox, you won't be lonely anymore, and you will have someone to spend time with on Saturday and Sunday."

What a wonderful Christmas present!  Who knew I was lonely and needed a boyfriend...

The reason I became a teacher...

This was an "award/certificate" that I recieved from one of my students:

Certificate of Achievement

Awarded to

Mrs. Sox

This 11 day of 16 in the year 2010.

Signature:  Harry Soot

Best Teacher

You Rock

This was written on the back:

Mrs. Sox you are the most careing teacher!  you have lesson plans plan out when you could have Been sleeping But you stay up workin.  I give you My word to BE BETTER IN School And not Drop out And get shot By the police (pronounced poe-lease).  So that's why I Harry Soot present this to you.  Best teacher Award of 2010

Love it!

Ms. Sox

P.S. It was news to me that I was married. : )

I've Got Big Balls

Song credit to AC/DC, which plays in my head every time I remember this story.  This happened awhile ago, but what blog about teachers (especially one that is partially written by middle school teachers) doesn't have some perverted stories?

You know those little hair elastics that have the glitter woven into them with the balls that you twist at the end, kind of like a hairbow?  Well, they make big ones. Really big ones.  Like 3 inches in diameter.  Big, three inch in diameter balls.  In beautiful colors like yellow, orange, and brown.  I don't know if those are the only colors they make them in, but they're certainly the only colors I saw them in.

Setting: 8 AM one morning, teacher's feeling a little crabby, and the kids are "wilding out."

I'm wandering the classroom checking homework and the progress of their daily Get Started!, when all of a sudden I hear, "Get off my balls! They'll break!!!"  That grabbed my attention.  I look over and one of my female students has these two big balls in a nice shade of orange in the palm of her hand and is rolling them for "a massage."  Needless to say, many inappropriate comments came from that side of the room for the rest of the period.

~Ms. Brown

Things I learned today in 8th grade science.

You learn something every day, right?  This is an email I sent to another of my fabulous co-workers today, based on the conversation I had with my 8th grade students walking back from lunch.

1) Apparently I'm pregnant.
2) The baby daddy is either Mr. Wall or Coach Spalding.
3) The odds are leaning towards Coach Spalding.
4) His wife is going to come up to school and snap and pop her neck at me for stealing her man.
5) You're gonna fight me for him.
6) You'll probably win (this I agree with).

I found this rather amusing.  Hope you have a good afternoon!

I'm a softy.. I would never beat you up.... your taller than me
Can you send this to spalding he wanted to see it

Of course I did....oh, the rumors that middle schoolers are capable of creating.  Thank goodness these ones are pretty harmless and change based on which male I'm talking to at any given moment.  In retrospect, no wonder middle school was so awful.  These kids could be seriously damaging if I actually did have a crush on one of these men.


~Ms. Brown

I'm beginning to think I'm a blog-aholic.  It's a great break from work, though. 

Here's to wondeful co-workers.  I have a great team of teachers (Middle School teaches in teams).  One of the teachers I work with is particularly punny and has a bit of a reputation with the kids for making corny jokes.  Nevermind the fact that the majority of his jokes go right over their heads.  Anyway, I was teaching homophones in my english tutorial classes the other day and wanted to insert a few puns.  The lesson started with a reading comprehension exercise "A tale of tails." 

I later sent a message to my coworker, and this is our conversation:

Me: I meant to tell you....I was talking to my tutorials about homophones today and we talked about puns and plays on words, and I told them about you but was completely at a loss for a "punny" comment.

Him: you were "green" with envy

Him: you were too busy using the "amyg-dala" part of the brain

Get it?? Because my last name is green and I'm Amy G....oh, silly.

~Ms. Brown

Take me out to the ball game...I'd really love some peanuts

It's so rewarding to see my students apply something I taught them. I feel like it doesn't happen very often, but lately, I've taught them the meaning of two phrases. The first is, "Can it!" We all know this is a polite way of saying "SHUT UP YOU CRAZY WILD CHILD!" I used it as a last resort yesterday, and that same student was ordered by classmates to can it at least twice this morning. The other example, which I find really amusing, is that I taught them "that's enough from the peanut gallery." I said this during my fifth period class, and the idea that they wouldn't understand this didn't even flit across my mind. When they all looked at me with that student-patented what the heck is that look and began to actually ask, I explained the origin and the meaning of the term. Now, everytime one or more of my students chime in unecessarily during 5th period, at least one of my students retorts with, "That's quite enough from the peanut gallery!" They really do crack me up.
~Ms. Brown

PS- While on car duty yesterday afternoon, I was trying to corral all the kids into one area.  I was the only teacher out there at the time and had quite a number of kids.  Logically, I wanted them all in one space so they'd be easier to monitor.  To get them to go down the hill, I started saying
down, down, everybody down
and motioning with my hands.  One precious sixth grader with a host of issues and Asperger's immediately crouched into the fetal position and hit the ground.  It was so funny in the midst of everything, but also so remarkably sad because that's what he feels he has to do to stay safe.  I apologized to the poor kid at least half a dozen times, but it really did make me laugh to see him so obedient and quick to respond.

Toilet Paper

Thanks Erin for letting me invade the blog!  I felt it was only right to add some stories about my 2nd grade babies into the mix!  This is a Legacy favorite from the first day of school...

All my students were sitting in a circle.  We were getting ready to play the get to know you game where you pass toilet paper around and however many squares you take, that's how many things you have to tell the class about yourself.  Simple, right? WRONG.

For this activity, I literally just grabbed toilet paper from my bathroom.  However, as I explained the activity I was met with a chorus of "Ewwwwww!!!!" Apparently, they didn't trust me enough and thought I was handing them used toilet paper!!! Then as it was being passed around, the students noticed that it was a little different from what they were used to.  One girl raised and her hand and begin to cry because she was so upset that she "broke" her toilet paper.  Needless to say, we had to have a Q&A about TWO PLY!!! None of them had ever experienced this small joy in life!

The best part is that my students got attached to the toilet paper.
 "It's so soft Ms. Bennett!"
"Where did you get this?!?!"
One of my students in particular LOVED it.  He began to rub it up and down his arms and when that wasn't enough, he scrubbed it across his face and any exposed part of his body VERY hard.  Imagine someone scrubbing clothes against a washboard...then substitute a small boy and toilet paper! I was rolling!  To this day, if you offer him toilet paper, we will gladly take it and go about his business slowly rubbing it across his body!

So if you ever visit my room, PLEASE bring 2 ply toilet paper...you won't regret it.

Apparently it's cool to be a teen mom

I guess I should have taken my cue from those tv shows "16 and pregnant" or "teen mom."  Apparently, my students (and many other students at the school) think it's a fantastic amount of fun to be a mommy.  Don't get me wrong; I am looking forward to the day I become a mommy, but somehow I just don't think all-nighters and constant feeding and poop changing is going to be a ton of fun. 

My students, however, are excited to be mamas.  The new trend is to swaddle a teddy bear or some similar stuffed animal and carry it around as if it were a newborn.  This morning, I got yelled at because I was holding the door open for the students and one of my girls' babies "got too cold."  This may have been rude, but I literally laughed at her.   Another of my students uses her jacket as a baby.  These "babies" supposedly require changing in the bathroom, constant attention and affection, and even extra warmth from blankets and jackets.  As a team, we've decided to sotp the baby epidemic, and I've started a collection.  Anybody want a stuffed animal or a teenagers' jacket???

~Ms. Brown

Quote of the day...Dec. 6

In after school tutoring an African American student of mine made a comment about his skin getting "whiter." I held out my arm to his and said "I don't know, looks like you've got a little way to go." They laughed and I said that's pretty funny because "I want to be darker, I lost my tan." A different, very vocal, African American child then said

...."Man I can't lay out in the sun, I turn into a Krispy Kreme Doughnut." 
Not sure what that means but this was after they passed lotion around my room. That's how we got on this crazy topic.

PS- 9 SCHOOL DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!!!!!


- Ms. Boland

Much Needed Breather/ Time of Thankful Reflection

After a WONDERFUL (and I'm sure all of us can say that it was) week off, I'm missing my kids.  While we're not terribly ready to go back to work full-time tomorrow, the Thanksgiving break was definitely something to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for my students.  I am.  That sounds much less meaningful than it is.  I am so ready to see my kids and hear all about their breaks.  I know many of them got to see family they don't frequently see, and some even got to go on vacations.  One student, J, was so excited for the break because it meant she got to travel and see her dad in jail.  She doesn't have any memories of her dad before he was sentenced, and she's hoping he'll be released sometime next year for good behavior.  At any rate, she adores her dad and carries around a picture of the two of them in her bookbag.  I hope her visit was good, and not too painful.

I'm thankful that I got to spend time with my family this holiday.  Many of my friends (especially those serving overseas) did not get such a wonderful time to reunite with family and friends.

Most of all, I'm thankful that there are ONLY THREE WEEKS until Winter Break!!  At least in our house, the countdown is on and a plethora of Christmas movies is waiting to be watched.  I know that our three weeks will be tough getting back into the swing of school and then the whole week leading up to Winter Break, but I'm confident that we'll make it and that our spirits (and those of our students) will be high.

Erin, Heather, and I will be starting a new adventure this week.  Monday thru Thursday, we'll be tutoring a small class from 3-4 and another from 4-5.  We'll be working with the students who are performing significantly below grade level on their MAP tests.  This will be interesting because our students will be grouped based on their ability level, and not their grade.  On the plus side, no more crazy homework club and no more dance for Erin and Heather.  Wish us luck and patience!

My family has found our perfect Christmas tree and started decorating to get in the spirit.  Best wishes for your search for trees and decorations.

~Ms. Brown

Our First Holiday Apart...

It's our very first holiday separated from our students and as wonderful and needed as this break is, I miss my kids. Don't get me wrong, I definitely need 5 more days away so that I can get my life together and regain my patience but I do miss those crazy kids. As I was reflecting on what they might be doing on their days off (hopefully not gangs or drugs, not kidding) I began to think of how thankful I am this Thanksgiving. So here is my school Thanksgiving list for 2010:

1) I am thankful for a job. As difficult as it is, working at a first year charter school,  I regret complaining all the time. I am so thankful to have a job.

2)  I am thankful for working with such great people.  The plus to working at a first year charter school is that there are a lot of first year teachers so this is to Terrence, Heather, Meg, Katherine, Carmen, Kalena, Betsy and adopted Jennifer. I definitely would not be surviving this year without you!

3)  I am thankful for first year roomies! What would we do if we could not throw open the door, grab a beer, sit down, and vent?? I am so thankful that whether it's a high day or a low day, my roomies understand every frustration and usually have a funny comparing story to go with it.  So many thanks to Amy and Sallie!!

4) I am thankful for food and family.  My students are constant reminders that I had/have an amazing life growing up. A student this week wrote her journal on how she was worried because her mom has had trouble with money and they didn't know how they were going to get food to eat this week. Talk about breaking your heart. Terrence and I did something for her but still...the fear that child must hold over food and wondering if she'll have dinner that night. I am blessed.

5)  I am thankful for my amazing team. In middle school you teach in teams and this was probably one of my top fears for getting a teaching job.  Thankfully, I work with three males. One, how awesome to have that many on just one team and two, they are fantastic! Terrence (history) is a first year but he's 28 with a family. Chuck and Steve are veterans and most often total opposites. They keep me laughing all the time while supporting me in every move. Chuck is my school dad, Terrence is my school husband, and Steve, well Steve and I talk about drinking. haha Love them all! ...and thanks to the 5th grade team for providing female interactions.

6) I am thankful for laughter. I love middle school aged kids but yes they can get obnoxious. I was thinking about a student in particular and even though he drives me absolutely up the wall, at least three days a week, he also makes me laugh constantly. Most of the time it's because I'm at my wit's end but that laughter is medicine.

7) I am thankful for little moments.  I love Heather's blog from the other day because those moments where you feel like you taught something and got through to a difficult child are priceless. Also, Amy's blog because the days where you have to laugh at goof off's is just middle school and those are priceless too.

8) I'm thankful for stupid questions. Yes there is such a thing. I tell my kids there are none but it's a lie. Example: "Ms. Boland, why are we numbering our paper? Do we have a test today?"...yes, I'm going to pretend you didn't ask that and you studied all night. As absolutely frustrating as stupid questions are they let you know who you need to help focus the most.

9) I'm thankful for kids who care.  A lot of my students do not grow up in households that stress grades. My kids could care less about failing every test, quiz, studying, etc. The few that have that inner competitiveness....God Bless them. They make me keep going and help me try to help those who don't want to help themselves.

10) I'm thankful for school. As broken as our education system might be I'm thankful that I have an opportunity to do what I was born to do.  Nothing else has ever felt like a good fit so I'm very thankful...

Sorry it's a long one...again. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!!

The Small Things

I have to post something inspiring today.  I would go through all the stressful and frustrating moments just to have one of these moments over and over again...


I have a child that is a struggle at the least.  I feel like I am always worrying about behavior with him and not academics because he cannot even sit in his seat long enough to write one word nonetheless a paragraph.  But today, we had a moment.  Yesterday, I taught some vocabulary words, and then we read a story that had those words in them.  One of the words was gleam.  This was a very complicated word for my students to grasp, and we spent a while discussing it until I felt like they understood the word.  Today, the student that is continuously a struggle and behavior problem was cleaning my white board for me for community service.  He comes running up to me and says, "Ms. Sox, Ms. Sox!!! There is a GLEAM on the white board from the sun!"  I responded with the most high pitched, excited voice, "YES THERE IS!!!!"  I couldn't get the smile off my face.  


This seems so small and trivial, but you would be surprised how much of an impact these moments have on my morale and passion to continue to be a teacher.  


Ms. Sox

Words of wisdom...or not.

Here's a nugget of information for all you first year/ soon-to-be teachers: middle schoolers, particularly seventh graders are weird.

That's it. They're weird.  Some amusing examples to follow.

1) The darkest child in the seventh grade wearing a t-shirt that said "I'm the original blonde."

2) Fill in the blank test question: J.J. Thomson discovered electrons through his __science___ experiments.  Good answer, kid, good answer. I marked it correct.  I didn't have the heart to mark it wrong.  I mean, it IS true.

3)Student: "Ms. Green, wanna know what all the students say about you?"
Me: A little nervous, but curious "Sure."
Student: "You have a really big butt.  Like, you have a donk. Insert lyrics, tune, and dance moves to 'she's got a donk'."
Me: "Okay then. Moving on..."
The rest of that class was interesting.

More to come.  Sorry for any grammatical errors to the ELA teachers out there.  I've got a running list, just can't remember them all now.
~Ms. Brown

PS- Today, one of my students took the stickers off his Axe deoderant and stuck them across the bridge of his glasses/ his nose.  I was teaching, and when he answered his question, I looked at him and cracked up.  I did get a picture, so hopefully you'll be able to get a good laugh.

Words of Wisdom

We do a lot of journaling in my class (5th grade English).  Sometimes I allow my kids to "free write," which means that they get to write about anything they would like to write about as long as they are writing for the entire 10 minutes.  After this time, the students are allowed to share their journal entry with the class if they want to.  Naturally, several of my students like to write raps or funny stories; therefore, it is safe to say that this is always a very interesting time in my class.  This entry is not a rap, but I will forever believe that it is one of the most classic pieces of writing I have and will ever read...

Ms. Sox's Glasses

Ms. Sox got new glasses. They are so FRESH.  They are black,gold, and clear.  She got them from Sansbury.  I love Ms. Sox's new glasses.  (I wish that I could insert the very high pitched accent that this was spoken in).

This entry is coming from the same child that shouted, "Pickle on my dickle," in class and compliments me by saying, "Ms. Sox, you look untacky today."  Talk about trying to keep a straight face...

Short but hope you enjoy it!

Ms. Sox

Thank you Jesus...

So we're not very good at this blogging thing yet, but we'll get there. I did feel the need to write today to share my excitement.


Tomorrow is my last day teaching dance with Heather Sox. As much as we love dance and teaching together, we were not prepared for what we signed up for. Every week I dread 4-5 on Mondays and Wednesdays. You would think two eager teachers teaching the art of dance (aka hip hop because that's all our kids want to do and these two un-cultured skinny white girls can't step) to kids who have had little to no dance experience would be fun. We did too. Quickly, we realized a random group of 5-9 graders (many our own students) did not necessarily sign on for a dance education. They chose dance because they did not want to learn Spanish, Drama, Art, or do Fitness Club. They just want social hour with their friends. Our own students are well aware of the fact that we are dead by 4:00 and I'm pretty sure they thought about that when signing up. So instead of dancing we spend the first ten minutes trying to get them to shut up which continues into the gym. After four months, twice a week, you would think they could come in and get in lines and start stretching but no. Thus, we continue to scream to be heard over the noise (silent treatment does not work with our kids so don't judge).  Pretty much dance consists of screaming, more screaming, yelling while stretching, kicking kids out to stand or sit around the gym, to practicing the dance 3 times through. Then it's time to go. Yes, pretty much NO dancing. Out of the now 35ish kids in dance about 10 actually behave and try.  That's right, 35 crazy middle schoolers vs. 2 teachers. INSANE. Earlier in the year we had less kids but now we have tons of kids that don't want to be there because their after school teacher quit. Great. 


I've been thinking about quitting for about 10 reasons but to me the schedule and not getting paid for dance was the main issue. Thankfully, DANCE will be no more. Starting next Monday we will have after school tutoring to help students with low MAP scores. Heather and I will both be tutoring for $20 every day M-Th. HOLLA!! Our days will go till 5 and we'll still have to work out 3 days a week for 30 minutes but at least I won't have to lose my voice by Monday night, scream for an hour straight, deal with girl fights, kids missing, drama, etc. every other day OH and how could I forget....CAR LINE aka duty. I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE car line. I almost cried doing it on Monday. Maybe it was because I knew I was so close to never doing it again but I about lost it. Due to basketball try outs I was working car line by myself with students (last name A -M). I had to chase after 5 kids who were being rude and ignoring me (nothing new with the 8th graders), take a belt from a 5th grader who was hitting people with it (it was "P" boy actually, haha), make 2 of my 6th graders sit separately after lecturing them, talk to 2 parents in their vehicles about how their child isn't doing crap in my class or any of his/her other classes, and it just went on from there. Oh and at 5:15 we take the "left-over kids" to the office where we sit with them until someone comes to get them. It's usually 5:35 around then and then we have to go workout for 30 minutes (part of our charter/contract).  Keep in mind please this is was the morning that I woke up 30 minutes late, got stuck behind the train, got a nose bleed on the way, and then passed a flipped SUV and had to call 911. MONDAY SUCKED. 


So here is to tomorrow being my VERY LAST day of dance and car line by myself. Hooray!! Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday and if it's 4-5:30 .... say a prayer for us.


Much love - Ms. B

The "P" Story

I was thinking about what story should start off our blog. It only took about 5 seconds before I remembered the story that started this blog idea in the first place.  It was only the 2nd or 3rd week of school and I was sucking up car line duty outside.  I was with about three other teachers but we were spread out across our terribly designed campus.  I looked to my right and saw students gathering in a circle. I immediately thought and was listening for "FIGHT!" Now 3 months in I have learned this means 1 of 2 things...fight or someone is having a mental/emotional breakdown. Thankfully it was the second.  I recognized the hysterical 5th grader (we'll call him Robby) but didn't know his name yet.  I managed to break through the crowd and shoo them away to ask Robby what was wrong. I definitely had no idea that that one question would lead to possibly one of our top 5 stories of the year. 

Me: "What's wrong honey?" 

Robby: (HYSTERICAL) "sldk gsksgnowein sdogskdfnwoeks sdokfhoww"

Me: "Ok, ok, I can't understand you until you calm down. Breath and tell me what's wrong."

Robby: (Deep breath) "???? was making fun of me."

ME: "Who was making fun of you and what for?"

Robby: "Mike (?) was making fun of me. He said I have a small penis (ME: jaw begins to drop and threats of what you are NOT allowed to say as female teacher start flashing in my head. Then he made me loose it..) 

"...and I DO but...."

Thank God I had sunglasses on so the child could not see the laughter in my eyes. I felt so bad for him until he said after a long pause "...and I DO BUT.." It took all my strength not to laugh in Robby's face.  

Me: "You know honey sometimes...." (Scanning for MALE teacher)

Attempt 2: "Boys just...." (Again, scanning for a MALE angel to rescue me)

Attempt 3: "At your age boys....." (now realizing I could end up saying something real inappropriate and could get fired)

Attempt 4: "Sometimes boys....okay let's just walk this way"

After failing to calm the child down and find a male teacher to handle this situation I began to walk him to the office. I ended up passing him off to one our high school coaches who looked at me with a "you've got to be kidding" face. Thankfully (after laughing in Robby's face when he told him what he told me) he was able to calm him down. I hope this story reads as funny as it was in reality but pauses and tone are hard to type out. Anyways, many more to come. 

Have a great week!

 Love - those who are ever thankful for no school on Tuesday (GO VOTE!)

FINALLY a BLOG!

Welcome to our first year teachers blog! We have talked about this for the past 3 months and it is finally here. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" is a great movie and reminds me of my students so I decided to use it as our blog name. We have hilarious, frustrating, and creative stories from our students on a daily basis so we wanted somewhere to put them before we begin to forget. Luckily, we work in a school with other first year teachers so we'll have plenty to share and to vent about. No student teacher, professor, family member, or friend can prepare you for your first year teaching, or just being a grown up, but thankfully we have each other to lean on. Here is our reality...

We = 
me, Erin Boland - 6th grade English 
Ms. Brown
Ms. Wham - K-5
Ms. Sox - 5th grade English 
Ms. Hsu - 4th grade 
Ms. Bennett - 2nd grade