The Shadow

We have a new classroom pet.  A black cat puppet.  We voted for her name, so she is now Shadow.  I walked around with Shadow during writing time because she loves to be part of writing workshop. She wants to see what the Thirdlanders are writing.  She taps their papers and pencils with her paws and utters approving meows in their ears.  

At the end of the day, Shadow came with us through the school during dismissal.  One Thirdlander, who had already spent a full day with Shadow perched atop my hand asked me, "Is Shadow a real cat?"
"No, she's just a puppet cat," I told him.  He gave Shadow a last pat and walked out the door to his bus.

Is Shadow a real cat?  It's an amazing question, but one that I like.  I wish I had told him, "She's a puppet cat, but she turns real at midnight and roams around our school." That's clearly what he wanted me to say.  That exchange would have made for a fun conversation with his parents tomorrow night at Open House.  Missed opportunity.  I'll do better next time.

The Jumble

We've lived in Thirdland for nearly 3 weeks. It all feels like a jumble, to be honest.  We've wrapped seeds in wet paper towels and sat out in the garden with our notebooks and played some math games and we've sung some songs. We've taken hideous tests on the tablets and written about horses, teeth, sword fights and broken windows.  We've made brains out of play doh and hamburgers out of newsprint.  Parents have sent in crackers for snack and a very few aren't too happy that there will be no weekly spelling test and others want to volunteer in the room as soon as possible.  Harriet the Tarantula has been photographed and tapped at and blown upon and has 25 new fans.

Open House is coming up this Thursday.  25 people will ask me, "How's he/she doing?"  I wish I could be honest and say, "Not really sure.  It all feels like a jumble right now. Your kid seems to be a fun little person for the most part. I enjoy spending time with him/her. As far as the reading and math, I really can't say, but I'll keep you posted."

The Flu

I was in the drugstore last night picking up one of my dumb prescriptions when the pharmacist said, "How 'bout a flu shot?"

It seemed so inviting, like "How 'bout some dessert?"  or "Can I get you another glass of wine?"

So I said, "Yeah, let's do it."

He was so spontaneous with his question that I assumed he was going to pull the shot right out of his pocket and jab it in my arm from across the counter, but this was not the case. I had to stand around for 30 minutes while the pharmacist prepared the flu shot event.  That put me in a bit of a bad mood, to be honest.  So many times I thought about just running from the store to freedom.

In the end, though, I did get the shot and I'm glad about that. It may seem early to get the flu shot, but there's no time like the present to do the right thing for your health.  People die from the flu every year.

The Assessments

I was at car duty on Friday and a little kiddo came bopping out of school with a big smile on his face.  His mom said, "Hey Buddy, how was your day?"

He said, "Good. We did another assessment."

The mom and I looked at each other.  "That's a little sad," I told her, "but I admire his upbeat attitude."

This week the Thirdlanders are going to have some assessments.  I hope they enjoy them, but I also hope these assessments don't stand out as highlights.

The New Blue

Our home is being painted.  I love this new blue.  It used to all be the red brickish color of the deck as shown above.  For various reasons we can't get the deck painted blue and we're sick of the brickish, so we're going with a dark grey.  We went with a light grey, but we don't like it.  So more stuff with the house paint, but the good news is... we like the blue.

As for Thirdland, I have another great group.  We are getting to know each other and easing into the school year.  More on my peeps later.  They are a bit too loud, but other than that, I'm enjoying them heartily.  Bon temps in Room 200 yet again.

The Supplies

I've been going back and forth for a few days on the important issue of whether or not I want to purchase a small area rug for the classroom.  Don't really need it, but why not get it anyway?  Could add a little snap and pop to my entryway.

I decided to go for it, so we ventured over to the everything store this very evening.  I got the rug and then decided I needed some new markers.  The school supply section was packed with peeps.

The atmosphere was fun, but somewhat tense over there as I heard a mom say to her kiddo,  "Just look at the supply list and focus.  Please.  Look at each item and focus on getting that item.  Please."

I decided to leave markers for another day.  These kids are coming my way this week.  I'll be talking about focus and task commitment with many of them. It's going to rock.

The Euchre

We play euchre now.  John and Patricia taught us.  I'm okay at euchre.  Not saying I'm amazing or anything, but I'm passable. I've been known to take a trick or two here or there.

 There are parts of the game that I still don't quite understand.  Husbandman is surprised by this.  Today he said, "You've played 5 times."  Then he started to explain the bidding process again.  After awhile, I said, "I'm not really listening to you."

I'm on a need to know basis with euchre.  This is the last day of summer vacation. Euchre was my main accomplishment of the summer, in terms of learning new things.

The Job

Husbandman and I have enjoyed a long summer of traveling and eating lunches together and solving difficult crossword puzzles.  Yesterday I headed in to the compound to start getting the classroom ready.  Husbandman said, "Well I guess I won't see you until late tonight?"
        I wryly replied, "In reality, you won't see me until late May."
        It was kind of funny, but also not so funny.
        I spent a long time at school yesterday and truth be told I didn't get much done.  I needed to keep the big picture in mind and stop getting distracted with small details like should I rearrange all the chapter books.  Today will be better.