Just saw this Hokie Football secret on PostSecret, which was late today due to a power outage in Germantown, MD. (stupid snow!)

This Secret makes me die on the inside a little bit, seeing as Hokie Football is a HUGE part of my life

Who didn’t love a good theme song to a great Nickelodeon show?

(this is mostly for Ajay, who says that Game Theory is boring)

Having a full quarter of teaching under my belt, and getting a good grasp on which of my kids will chat with each other when placed shoulder to shoulder or at the same table of 4, I’m having a hell of a time trying to come up with new seating charts that will a) keep the kids at the front who want/ need to be at the front, and b) keeping the chatters as far away from each other as possible.

I know that no matter what I do there will be some chatty pairs that I haven’t anticipated, but I’m trying like crazy to minimize the distractions in my room.

I had my first Teacher Workday experience on Friday. It was AMAZING. I got everything all set for this week (an entire 4 days worth! go me!), we had a school-wide Chili Cookoff at noon (14 different types, it was FANTASTIC), I had a much-needed meeting with a student, his mother, an assistant principal, and a guidance counselor, and then I went outdoor learning-lab site-searching with the other three 7th grade science teachers.

My best day of being a teacher so far and there was no teaching involved. And I feel zero guilt whatsoever over it.

I’m watching the most amazing No Reservations that I’ve see to date. Bourdain is standing in the market in the square in the town that I went to when I spent a week in Brittany in 2006. It looks just as amazing on TV as it did in person.

Some of the best meals I’ve ever had were in Brittany: a buckwheat galette in this little restaurant in Dinard and a meal of mussels risotto overlooking the Viaduct in Dinan.

Oh god I wanna go back.

I got my Provisional License in the mail this week. Go me. It means I am provisionally licensed between now and June 30, 2012. If I want to keep teaching after that I must obtain a 5 year Renewable License. To get the full license I have to take 18 credits of graduate level education courses before June 30, 2012.

Basically, if I want to go into teaching 3 years from now, I have to start taking Ed courses right now. How the hell am I supposed to know what I want to do 3 years from now???? I don’t even know what I want to take for lunch this week.

HOW DO I MAKE THIS DECISION?

I love teaching, but this really blows. This is the 3rd crappy cold (that I’m sure will turn into a sinus infection given a few more days) that I’ve had since I started teaching 7th grade back in early November.

I’m doing everything I can think of to keep myself from getting sick. This week I’m going to add “Take at least 300% of my daily allowance of Vitamin C before going to school” to the list.

Ugh.

Every year my parents go to this super fancy shindig (yes, I said shindig) here in DC. One of my dad’s biggest clients hosts it at some super fancy muckity-muck hotel, and my dad, knowing that all of the people at the company rely on him for their financial security, sucks it up and puts on a tux and woos my mom into dressing up and accompanying him.

My absolute favorite part of the night is this: every single year there is bad weather predicted for the night of the party. EVERY SINGLE YEAR. My mom and I have been keeping track of it since 1997. It doesn’t matter what week in January or February the company schedules the party, it doesn’t matter what day of the week.

Weather forecast for tomorrow night (the night of this year’s party): Rain, changing to Sleet/ Ice, changing to snow on Friday morning.

I love a good coincidence

For the most part, my students are extremely mature. They (er, 99% of them) know that when the bell rings, it’s time for school and not gossip or play time. We’re starting our unit on Genetics, and the questions my kids ask me in class show a very deep level of thinking that shows they are thinking above and beyond their own little self-centered world.

When I assigned this silly ‘dragon genetics’ drawing homework assignment I expected my kids to roll their eyes and do a half-assed job. I gave the kids about 10 minutes at the end of the class to get started on their drawings, and they LOOOOOOOOVED it. I was kind of flummoxed by this reaction; these 12 and 13 year olds are trying so desperately to be treated with more maturity and responsibility, I thought they would take the assignment as a joke.

It was really nice to see that my kids are still KIDS, and not completely rejecting their inner 5-year old.

When do we lose that?

I can’t believe I’m watching this crap. I mean, I know there’s nothing on TV and I’m done grading projects for the day, but it was either High School Musical 3 or Vertical Limit, which I think know holds the title of The Worst Movie Ever Made.