Countdown to Gravy

It's the first time since I started teaching in January that I was home before 5 p.m. The day ends at 3:30 p.m., but I'm there til 5 p.m. on good days... 7 p.m. on not-so-good days when I delude myself into thinking a better lesson plan will lead to better behavior.

The semester is three-fourths over. The students take state tests when we return from Thanksgiving, so in addition to missing a third of my students every day, they use the hall my classroom is in for testing and all the teachers are displaced. I'm relocated to either the gym or the cafeteria, or if I'm lucky, someone else's room. I'll be in there the following week while they use our classrooms for senior project presentations. We get our rooms back just in time for final exams. In other words, I have one more week to "teach" in my classroom, because after that, as the kids like to say, "Mrs. B's! Why you still teaching? It's ovah!" This Friday, our football team has its first playoff game. School is letting out two hours early to accommodate encourage everyone to make the drive up to Wayne County. So... we better win, since that's wherein lives our educational priorities. And I've got some nerve using "wherein" and football in the same context.  

For those last two weeks, I've got some ideas but I'M ALL EARS for more suggestions. So far, we're making snowflakes to talk about reflections and rotations (maybe, but my colleague said it sounds complicated, so maybe we'll just make snowflakes). I'm having them bring in musical instruments to share their favorite holiday song (since "mathematics is the gateway drug between music and astronomy), and maybe we'll make paper origami ornaments one day. Then, the rest of the time, I want to make a GBread village (purely graham crackers, Watson) and have them measure the surface area and volume. Gotta think that one through with the how and where to keep stuff. Teaching three 90 minute blocks is so very very different than a Saturday workshop with 14 high school girls. Just another delicious serving of humble pie up the ass.

Weather here is gorgeous. Sky could not be "blue-er." Every day is like a perfect day for football, gardening, and bonfires... warm during the day, chilly at night. Sunsets are gradient perfection. And the stars are incredible. This is why people live here. And for the football.