what just happened?

Nothing good ever comes from a week that starts off with an almost fight in your classroom. Never.

Tuesday, my car stopped working. The ignition switch stopped working, has to be replaced and won't be fixed until the middle of this week.

Wednesday was overwhelming because everyone had an opinion on my car, but none of them were the correct one. Shannon saved us by giving us a ride out to the school so we could try something. It didn't end up working, but it did reveal the real problem with the car.

Thursday was a faculty meeting with the addition of a budget of doom meeting. Salaries are getting cut, days off without pay and possible teacher cuts. Geez.

Friday was wrapped up the week with two girls quitting the step team, a long, awkward meeting at the end of a long day and no answer at the car place, which meant no car for the weekend.

In all negatives, there are positives:

+Carpooling with Jen will become more frequent, saving us both miles and gas. I also now have numbers of a few people who will help me get to school and back if I'm ever stranded again.

+Shannon helping us out so much! We couldn't have gotten through this week without her help!

+Lots of laughter, especially from 7th period. Nothing beats a kid waiting for everyone to get back to working, then drop a bomb like "So-n-so picks his zits and then eats them!" into the silence. I laughed so hard I almost cried. Good comedic timing, kid.

+Playing Rock Band and watching Doctor Who

+We are now more serious about looking for a new car. I'm really leaning towards the Ford Fusion or Focus, but it all depends on how it feels when I drive the car.

+I now know who to call if my car ever dies out in the country.

I would usually do the list of books I read this year, but I don't feel like it. I didn't get to 50, but David claims I read more pages than previous years. That may be true.

Yesterday I set up an Amazon wish list for my classroom. I've heard of other teachers doing this and with the school facing another $1.5 million to be cut, I figured it'd be a way I could help cover the supply cost and books for my classroom library (a success, btw). I put a link in the side bar and I'm putting on up on my digital gradebook and classroom website.

I finally uploaded pictures off of my camera AND a few videos from when we first got our Flip camera. They're up on my flickr account.

in which I refer you to my flickr photostream...

Pictures of our apartment with stuff in it are up on my flickr.
You'll also find a few (no, really, like less than 5) pictures from Tye's visit. We went to a really cute place called Comfort, but my camera's battery was dying, so I didn't take a lot of pictures.
(picture taken by Leanne's wonderful camera. I am trying not to laugh at the guy taking the picture, who said "You look like ducks!" or something along those lines, because we were in a V formation. Also, a prize to the first person that notices what's different about this picture. Here's a hint: I learned a valuable lesson this week about keeping track of how long I use one pair of contacts.)
You'll also find really blurry, hard to understand pictures from the night I went out with Leanne, Diana, Shannon and Rebecca and had a ridiculous amount of fun. My camera was on its last little bit of energy, but I tried to take a few good pictures (uhh, they're "artsy"??).

There is a hilarious story behind this picture. I wish I could tell you, but 1) it's really Diana's story and 2) it's probably one of those "you had to be there (especially after a few cucumber mojitos)" stories.
There are also pictures (and videos) of when David and I went to the Gone to the Birds festival to see the Purple Martins. It was crazy to see! The picture above is a shot of the huge flock we saw first.
This hawk snatched a Purple Martin out of the air, plucked it, tenderized it with its claws and then ate it whole. Someone in the crowd called it a Republican, which got a lot of laughs. It then flew into a tree full of Martins to try and get another. What a jerk.

i'm so hood

I don't feel like editing my other entry and this is much too embarassing/special of a moment to not have its own entry.

I take my 8th bell on a bathroom break. It's the end of the day, I have a co-teacher, I always have to write 10 billion bathroom passes, and they are super hyper and energetic (or coming down off of the super hyper and falling asleep). So, we take them on water fountain/bathroom breaks. We were about to start the last chapter of Lord of the Flies, so I tell them it's time for the break.
At the bathrooms, one of my students was playing with this hat and placed it on his head for a second. Another teacher (always a stickler for the rules) starts freaking out about his hat being on his head and blah blah blah. He starts telling her, "it's not that serious!", but before he can finish, I butt in and say, "Jevon, do me a favor and give me your hat before you say something stupid". He gives me his hat, but still wants to tell the other teacher to stop taking hats so seriously, so I have to butt in again and say, "do me another favor and head back to the classroom. Thank you." He easily obliges and heads back down the hallway. I round up the other kids and start heading back. I ask Jevon, "you want your hat back or can I keep it?" Then I put his hat on and zip my black hoodie all the way up, putting the hood up over the hat. Jevon responds with, "UH OH!! Mrs. P's going hood y'all!". The other kids start laughing and I do my impression of some of their walks. Simone stops me before going into the classroom and says, "Wait wait! You should be the last person in the classroom! I'm going to announce you!". We wait for everyone to go in, all of us laughing and giggling, then she yells into the classroom, "Class, class! We have a new teacher with us today... I give you the new, improved... Ghetto Mrs. Alison P!" I walk in, throw some deuces, do my walk and we all laugh for a good 5 or 10 minutes.
Seriously. Best moment of the year for this class. It was nice to have them all laugh together. I had a few tears come out, I was laughing so hard. It was good.

upcoming, up & coming, coming up...

I've been making a mental list of things to write about, all that deal with school. I may put some of the belief essays I wrote along with my 11th graders up, just to break up all the teaching-related stuff. What can I say? My life doesn't consist of much else right now.

Here are a few:
Support System = Success (I would say 'parents', but a lot of my students don't live with a parent, which is a whole other topic)
Student Parents
Teachers who are also Hypocrites
Should I Really Be Doing This? (The question every [esp new] teacher asks at least once a week, I swear!)

I would start this now, but I am super tired & sore. I went to my new dance class last night and it kicked my ass. I worked it hard and now my hips, butt and upper thigh mucles are hurting.

I'll leave you with this moment that gave me my laugh for the day yesterday:
(Lawrence is a boy in one of my 10th grade who is very helpful and is always cheerful. I love having him in class.)
Lawrence: Mrs. P, I can't find that PSAT practice workbook you said was in here.
Me: Like I said, you have to shake the workbook.
Lawrence: [shakes it] Seeee?
Me: [takes book and shakes it] Hmm...
Lawrence: [picks up PSAT workbook FROM THE FLOOR and grins] Heehee. I made you shake it.

That cracked me up! But it's probably more of a 'you had to be there' moment.