Fireflies and Candlelight

There is nothing I love more at the end of the day than relaxing outside. Putting my feet up as I lie back in the big red chair that goes without being used most days. Listening to the crickets chirp as the cool breeze blows...bliss. I love Mississippi this time of year. In a word...beautiful!

Moving on, I recently made a few new purchase for my room....

I found the blue mason jar at a local antique store in my hometown. Antiquing has always been a hobby of my mom's but recently I have gotten into it. The dark bule jar is actually a coffee jar. However, I turned both of them into candle holders. Like I needed any more candles in my room. I already had five. Five plus the two new ones brings us to a grand total of seven. Wow. I say it's a little crazy, but Emily assures me that I'm just being resourceful and conserving electricity.

While we are on the subject of roommates can i just tell you that I love them! Lauren, Emily, and I all went for a walk last night around our apartment complex. It was so nice just to be able to relax and talk with friends. I really don't know what I would do without them. Tonight Alicia and I have share stories about our classrooms with each other. I am so blessed to live with three student teachers who can all relate to what I am going through.

Thirty three more days of student teaching left to go. It's a bit bitter sweet. I am excited to be moving on and graduating. I am so looking forward to next year when I can have a classroom of my own. However, I really love my kids. It is going to be very hard to leave them. I think they have taught me just as much, or maybe more than I have taught them. It is amazing the things kids can teach you.

Tonight has been a great night to relax with friends and let the stress of today drift away. Sometimes in life I think that we should all take time to go outside and watch the fireflies.

A good teacher is like a candle ~ it consumes itself to light the way for others.

-Author Unknown

Countdown and Life Lessons

Only four more days until Spring Break! This student teacher is super excited. The next four days can not go by fast enough.

This week we are giving nine weeks test. Gross. On tops of that, as if it wasn't bad enough, I am finishing up my ten day. Also only four more days left to go on it.

I don't really have anything planned to do durning my week off and that's the beauty of it all. I am so excited to have the opportunity to lounge around all day in my pajamas. WooHoo!

I plan on doing nothing for the first few days, then I think I will try to become productive around Wednesday. ha. I will let you know how all of that works out.

Four more days!!!

Moving on to a totally different topic...

Last Friday three of my students got into trouble for doing something that the had no business doing. I will not talk about what they were doing, let's just say they all knew better.

I had a heart to heart with one of the girls who knew that what she was doing was wrong. She allowed one of her "friends" to pressure her into doing it. I talked with her about how we have to make wise choices about the people we surround ourselves with. We were both in tears by the end of the conversation. This morning she came in a told me , "Ms. Holley, I talked with my mama about what you told me Friday and she said that she agreed with you. I think you are both pretty smart ladies".

It's times like these that reminds what is important. It is important that I teach my kids all of the "school" things they need to know, but I feel it is more important for me to teach my kids life lessons. They may not remember how the respiratory and circulatory systems work together, but the life lessons they learn will stick with them the rest of their lives. I have the best job in the world! I get the wake up everyday and go make a difference in the lives of 40 kids. One word: Awesome!

What Vegetable is Used to Make Sauerkraut?

Oh the things a fourth grader will say....

Today we had a few minutes to spare before changing classes, so Mrs. Smith and I decided to play brain quest with the kids. For those of you who are unfamiliar with brain quest I will explain. Brain quest comes with a deck of cards, on the front side is a list of grade appropriate questions and the answers are on the back. We usually go around the room and ask each student a question, if they provide the right answer they get a piece of candy. This question happened to come up today.

What vegetable is used to make sauerkraut? The correct answer was cabbage.

This was the answer one of my fourth graders gave, "Mrs. Smith, I don't even know what sour crap is".

It was all I could do to not bust out laughing. My kids defiantly keep the days interesting.