To quote myself

A few of the things I've caught myself saying over the past month ...

-"Please don't cover your ears when I am talking to you."
-"Doing math is not sitting there making animal noises."
-"If you want to stand somewhere, say 'May I please stand there?' Don't just kick her."
-"What's 1 plus 1?" "No, it's not 1."
-(to a little boy) "Batting your eyelashes is not going to get me to change my mind."
-"Four take away 4 is 2? Think a little more."
-"Stop rolling on the floor; do your math."
-"You need to stop playing with fuzz and do your math."
-"Don't say 'na na' while I am talking to you."
-"You will use a pencil that does not have an eraser if you cannot stop spitting them around the room."
-"Just because your hand is in front of your mouth doesn't mean I can't hear you or see you."
-"I didn't give you that paper to chew on."

Back to real life

My break has come and gone, taking me from Tulsa to Arkansas and all the way up to Chicago. I slept on three different couches and drove numerous miles across the country. I even had a flat along the way, making it an official road trip. The trip was just what I needed. I got to be someone other than the teacher of 22 eight-year-olds for a week. I got to visit friends and see new places. I got to sleep in, read, and sit around in the sun drinking milkshakes. Can't get much better than that.

My TAKS scores also came in during the break. Although they were not as good as I would have liked, they were much better than I expected them to be. I flew into Dallas at 10 last night. My kids and I have been yawning an awful lot today.

One down

After weeks of stress and illness, I made it through my first TAKS test. My last student finished yesterday at 5 p.m. I went home exhausted, feeling as if I'd sat for their exam 22 times. I guess I kind of did.

The children were tired and emotional and uncooperative today. I couldn't blame them much; we ought to have the day off after one like yesterday.

One quick story:

Last week we studied geography. When looking at a map of the United States, one little boy asked, "Why is Hannah Montana on here?" I tried to explain that the original Montana was a state, not a teen singer; I'm not sure he understood, though. Thanks a lot, pop culture.