Emergency Birthday Gifts

Today I had an "oops!" moment...of epic proportions.  Two of the youngest students have birthdays this week, one yesterday and one today, and I forgot to buy a gift for each of them!  I had planned out what I was going to get but forgot to do so.  They knew that today was the day to receive the gifts, as I had a music class with them...

So, what was I to do?  After a bit of clever word-work (in my opinion) convincing them that they needed to wait until the end of the school day, I came up with a Making Kit. 
In each kit (ziploc bag) I put:
rubber bands
scotch tape
electrical tape
a styrofoam ball
a bunch of wooden beads
feathers
paper clips
ornament hooks
popsicle sticks
pipecleaners
a handful of new crayons
a little flower pot (one of those that's not a lot bigger than my thumb)
and a partridge in a pear tree.

Ok, so I left out the partridge.  And the tree.

The note that goes along with the kit says "In this package you will find many things for building monsters, machines, vehicles, or whatever you choose!"

This kind of gift would have been a big hit with my group in PH...we'll see how it goes over here!

Oops!

Here I thought that I'd kept up pretty well with this blog, but then I looked at the "last post" date. 

I had my best day of the year last week when I was subbing in for one of the teachers at my school.  All day as a classroom teacher in a Grade 1-4 class.  A few more days, or even part days, like that, and I might survive this job! Yes, subbing in is different, but she'd left me a very minimal plan for the day (after we'd discussed and agreed on it...not as a nasty surprise!), and I was able to just be the teacher rather than the sub.  It was a beautiful thing.

Next year, between a likely downsizing of the school staff, a maternity leave for one of the teachers, and my own preference for being in a classroom, I may be able to be a classroom teacher again, with only a bit of my time being "administration".  Does it make me a complete sucker for punishment that I'm praying it happens that way?  

You Know It's Monday When...

...you have to log into your own online class as a student, unable to grant speaking/writing privileges to anyone at all...with the user name "Ms. Gerber Can't Get Online.  No Class. Check Your Email."

Dear Week...

Dear Week,

For future reference, late nights + early morning + meetings + many unrelated but stressful events = nasty. 

Week, you are killing me!

Is it Friday yet?

Sincerely,

Shannon

Seven Things...

As I don't know how to properly insert a link to a set of blogs...I'm just not cool like that...I've just copied and pasted the badge...and am taking Michaele Sommerville's (http://kidney-garden.blogspot.com ) request/meme to heart!  Thanks, Michaele!

Here are seven things you may not know about me.

1.  I read Nora Roberts and JD Robb books voraciously...and have been known to hide them behind a layer of more academic texts on my bookcases when the need arises.

2.  I have become hooked on Pinterest, and could spend hours finding exciting projects for which I am never likely to find the time.

3. I love to quilt, and have at least 4 projects on the go at the moment.

4.  I remember my dreams vividly, most of the time.

5.  I am fascinated by anthropology (especially archaeology), and if I ever get the chance to upgrade my anthropology minor, it will be in that field!

6.  I actually do regret the year that I spent in the mission field.  It was a terrible year.  There were wonderful parts to it, but overall it was not a good experience.  Does that make me a bad person?

7. I spend more time planning on a weekly basis for my approximately three hours of teaching each day than I did all of last year when I was teaching full time and not doing any administrative work.

So now, to those of you reading this blog, it's your turn!

Justin Bieber...Rowan Atkinson...The Nylons...Restful Sleep

Three of these things belong together.
Three of these things are kind of the same.
One of these things just doesn't belong here.
Now it's time to play our game...time to play our game!

What do three of these things have in common?  How are three of these things kind of the same?

I woke up this morning remembering vivid dreams of being at an entire Justin Bieber concernt.  Yes, I remember the entire thing.  Don't remember any songs, just teeny-bopper screaming from the adults in the audience.

The concert was at a church.  Yep.

Rowan Atkinson, as Mr. Bean, was the opening act and intermission entertainment.

Justin Bieber got put in the "time out" chairs for being too rowdy during Mr. Bean's performance. 

Yes, that's right.  Time Out chairs, in a church, at a Justin Bieber concert.

The concert ended with the entire audience (again, mostly adults) spontaneously bursting out into a very excellent rendition of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Nylons.

I also dreamed a long dream involving running away (well, driving away) from people who were out to murder all of the dolls that were in my car.  ??????????

This doesn't bode well for lasting through a long day...at the school from 7:00am-9:00pm...

You can't make this stuff up.

Good Morning, World...

As one of my former students says:  "Good Morning, World, and all of it's inhabitants...I'm ready!"

While I may or may not be "ready", things are going well!  I miss having my own class, but am enjoying teaching a wider variety of things.  Next week marks the beginning of my distance learning classes, which will mean that I am teaching students from Grade One to Grade Six online, over the phone, and in the classroom.  Woohoo!