I can now empathize...

With Brendon and Ann. Either my new upstairs neighbor runs across the apartment to work out or they have a lot of friends over or they are really really fat and like to walk really hard. Either way, they might be getting a broom handle, that is if I had a broom! :)

Things that make me rise and shout!

So everyone who reads this should know that I am a die hard BYU fan. My parents both went there and I came out of the womb wearing BYU clothes so it just makes sense that I got my degree from there and love to watch the football team in motion. Yesterday was no exception especially since it was rivalry week. I am glad my cougs pulled through and won and I am proud of them.

I also posted Georgia because this win made me happy too. I love watching all the rivalry games during rivalry week and I especially love when the under dog wins (another trait inherited from my dad). So to see Georgia do so well made my heart happy.

Then I went and saw Blind Side and it just topped off an amazing day filled with football!

Things that make me happy part 3!

It is so hard to be happy when you are away from your family on holidays and this holiday in particular makes me extra homesick. I just wanted to be home doing our traditions. This family pictured here did a great job of filling in for my family! The food was great and so was the company so that is why they make me happy!

Things that make me happy part 2!

Today my students make me happy. Most days they do. We have only had a couple days where we just don't like being with each other all day. They are so full of life and they just make me smile!

New Series!

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY!

I decided to do a series of things that make me happy. There are so many things and Thanksgiving is a perfect time to think about the things that make you happy. Today's thing is trivial, but it still did the trick. In and Out has come to Utah and is in Draper which is really close to my school. It just ended my day in a perfectly unhealthy way! ;)

If you are thinking about...

becoming a substitute teacher, here are a few pointers for you from a teacher.

1. Don't touch the teachers stuff and don't put your feet up on the desk.

2. Don't fall asleep while "watching" the kids.

3. Know how to read and do basic math.

4. Follow the lesson plans that the teacher gives you so that she does not have to try to fit two days of instruction into one on the next day.

5. Please don't let the kids do whatever they want such as, but not limited to, wrestling on the floor, drawing on the board, jumping off their desks, making lists of who is on team edward or team jacob.

6. Also don't let the girls write their names as so and so Black on their math packets.

If you can not follow these simple rules, please don't be a substitute teacher. I hear that there are other places that are hiring!


p.s. funny quote of the day from one of my die hard Ute fans in my class. "Ms. Jones, I have to like BYU a little because Brigham Young was a prophet." Now that is great logic!

I'm back!

Sorry about my absence. I have been setting up my classroom blog and website and it has been consuming all my time...oh and the 8 hours of teaching I do everyday;) So a funny quote of the week. One of my students, in the middle of them working quietly, looks up at me and says, "Ms. Jones, did you know that Austin is Asian?" It made me chuckle because he is definitely Asian. I just love how kids don't measure each other by their different skin colors or their different family situations. They are so cute!

They make it their business to know...

EVERYTHING! One thing I have learned so far is that the students talk to each other about everything. I will move someone's desk while they are gone and they will walk into the classroom the next day already knowing where their new seat is. Also, this week I have had bus duty and so I stand and make the kids walk and stay away from the street when they come in the morning and when they leave in the afternoon. Random students that I have never seen before in my life walk up and say, "Hi Ms. Jones!" as if I were their best friend or their teacher. One first grader came and said, "I want you to be my teacher in 4th grade!" I just replied with a smile. Who knows? Maybe I will be!

Perfect weekend

I found the perfect cute little one bedroom apartment in Murray. I will be taking over the lease for a young married couple. I will be moving in right before Christmas. Yay! I am so excited. I also had an amazing visit from a cute boy last night so I would say this weekend was pretty close to perfect! Pictures of the apartment will come when I move in and get settled. If anyone has any kitchen stuff they want to get rid of, I would love to take it off your hands. I also need a bed and pretty much any furniture so just let me know!

High self esteem.

So today are my first parent teacher conferences and, just my luck, I am sick. So I woke up feeling nasty and threw on a skirt and button up shirt to look professional for the parents. As I walked out to let the students in this morning, a boy from another class looked at me and said, "Ms. Jones, you look fabulous today." Not only did that make my day, but it boosted my self esteem just enough to make it through these next 12 two 12 hour days.

I'm not 5 (only mom and dad will appreciate this title)

So today I decided that maybe sometimes I do act a little immature. We had a class election today for election day and we talked about voting and democracy and we even voted for a class president and vice president. I was explaining what the jobs entailed and I said that the vice president would be responsible for helping the president perform his duties. When I said the word duties, the kids all started cracking up. Once I realized why they were laughing, I could not contain myself. I had a little chuckle about it too. Then we re focused and moved on with social studies. Immature? Yes. Fun? Absolutely YES!

My book is coming along!

So I have new quotes to add to my book! My students are hilarious. This story also happened in my 3rd grade student teaching class, but a little different. Today for our self starter they had to tell me how old Thomas Edison was when he died and he died in a different century than he was born in and this was hard for them. They were all born in 2001 or 2000 so it is easy for them to do the math. Since they already knew my age, I put my dad's age. So I wrote 2009-1957 on the board. They all gasped and one kid, said, "Ms. Jones, you are lying to us. There is no way your dad could have been born in that year." After doing the math, they all realized that, in fact, my dad was born in 1957. They insisted on doing my mom too and they thought it was so funny. It made me chuckle and it was fun to watch the light bulbs turn on when they realized that my parents are not that old.

I also had a funny one liner today. The office has been pulling out kids for testing today and they call them and then they don't come back. So the kids asked me where they were taking the kids and I said I didn't know. One of my kids looked at me and said, "I think they are calling us down one at a time to kill us."