Mr. Mark R. Board

So my students thought that it would be really funny today if they all decided to stop talking to me. They decided they were going to talk to the white marker board behind me instead of actually talking to me.

I played along and drew a face on the board with "Mark R. Board" written above it. (Disclaimer: This was not a name I came up with, but a name from a puppet show thing we had on Friday.) Anyways, I gave them their assignment, and the students were like, "Can we work on this with partners.........Mr. Mark R. Board?

I would look at the board, and then turn around and say, "He says no. Sorry." After a couple more questions with responses from Mr. Mark R. Board, I let them get started on their assignment.

Soon, I hear from the back of the room, "I don't get number 3.......Mark R. Board."

I looked up and smiled, and went back to my grading.

"Yeah, like, how are we supposed to figure out what 3b is?" The students look up at me, and then quickly remember that they decided not to talk to me and turn their heads to the front board. "Mr. Mark R. Board?"

More questions came, but they did not want to ask me. After their assignment they were supposed to work on their art projects that we didn't finish last week.

"Can I do my math instead of art.......Mark R. Board?" Then a glance at me. A smile from me, and then back to my grading.

It was quite hilarious how the students weren't getting the answers they wanted. Hmmmm......maybe they need me a little more than they thought they did.

Another Week

So, two of my kids are out with H1N1. I don't think anyone in the school has it except the kids in my class. Hand sanitizer and Lysol wipes were very popular in my room this week.

It's so weird to have two kids out. We had three kids out sick one day too. It feels like so many kids are missing, especially when three kids equals about a third of the class.

So my kids have been begging me for a new seating arrangement. I said that they could sit wherever they wanted to if they didn't complain the entire day. If they did complain, I would put that person in a new spot. They actually did very well with the no complaining thing, which was very nice for me. There were a couple of eye rolls and loud sighs, but I let them get away with it because the complaints weren't verbal.

We did an art project yesterday with the 1st/2nd graders. Little kids are so fun! They are so much cuter than my 7th and 8th graders! Sometimes I wonder if I should have taught younger grades, but then I remember that they can barely spell their own names and they sometimes can't get their coats zipped up by themselves. Then I realize that I probably made the right decision with teaching junior high kids.

Oh yeah, and we never get sidetracked in my classroom.........oh wait.

Things that were learned in school today....

- Gum will not harm you if you swallow it. Although the body does not digest it, it is still able to run its course. BUT if you swallow a lot of gum, it could lead to constipation and intestinal blockage. One of my 7th graders is worried she's going to die.

- Elvis Presley sang "Blue Suede Shoes" and dances funny. I told the kids that the song "Air Force One" is like modern-day "Blue Suede Shoes" because it made people want to buy that kind of shoe. One kid had heard of that song...which is probably a good thing, because it is not a song that I promote - and I told my kids that. So then I gave them the example of Air Jordans. Better? Yes, I think so.

- There is a new form of a Kindle called the Nook. (These are kind of like ipods for books) I am excited about them, and I think my kids thought they sounded kind of cool.

nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/index.asp?cm_mmc=Google-_-Nook%20-%20Nook%20-%20Exact-_-Nook-_-nook&cm_mmca1=10851528&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Nook_-_Nook_-_Exact&utm_creative=Nook+3484215924&iq_id=10851528&H000000012

- There are also new ear buds that are being marketed. They have bananas, paw prints, and screws on them - it makes them look like they are coming out of your ears. Weirdness.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/21/solid-alliances-new-earbuds-are-crazy-ugly/

- You can buy an application to turn the iPhone into an instrument.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhCJq7EAJJA

- No one in my class had ever heard the Zelda theme song before.

- My students were making the international symbol for "retard" in my classroom today. (Smacking your hand sideways across your chest) I told them that I did not want to see that in my classroom. They were all in awe that I actually knew what that meant.

But they can't get those things past me. I'm so on top of things all the time......

Fridays.....

Wow, so yesterday was DEFINITELY a Friday. The kids were.......energetic yesterday. I suppose that's a good way to put it. The afternoon was definitely worse than the morning.

We had flag football intramurals over lunch, so I don't know if that got them all crazy or what it was. Perhaps it was the mushy chicken alfredo at lunch?

Anyways, so our afternoon always starts with DOL (Daily Oral Language), which the kids ALWAYS complain about and ALWAYS ask if they actually have to do it. I tell them that it's called Daily Oral Language for a reason - we do it DAILY. So they had four sentences to copy down and correct. Four. Then they went up to the Smart Board to make the corrections. This usually takes about ten minutes. Well, yesterday it ended up taking about 25 minutes. I think they now view DOL time as "Ask Miss Van Egdom questions" time. I'm starting to wonder if they are trying to make it last as long as possible.....hmmmm....

So after DOL we started science. I had a few demonstrations focusing on states of matter and phase changes. I was going to take two beakers of water - one hot, one cold - and put food coloring in them to see how quickly or slowly they diffuse. Well, I took one of the beakers and put it in the fridge in the morning so it would be cold enough for our experiment. Well, I go to get the beaker, and I realize that I accidentally put it in the freezer. So I have a beaker full of ice which is now cracked. Perfect. I then grabbed another beaker and got cold water from the sink. I am such a fast thinker.

Then we had a little fun with balloons. Our science book says if you take a balloon outside on a cold day, it will shrink. So I gave every 7th and 8th grader their own balloon (bad idea #2). We headed outside and pretty much nothing happened. The balloons were maybe a little more squishy than they were before. I let the kids play with the balloons for about 5 minutes, which they were pretty excited about. But it didn't help that they started playing with their balloons in front of the 1st/2nd grade room window. Oh, their poor teacher.

We headed back to the room and I made all the students put their balloons in their lockers. I threw my balloon behind my desk and ran to the teachers' lounge to make copies while the kids were working on their art project. I come back to a noisy room and everyone looks at me when I enter.

"What happened?"

"Well, we popped your balloon."

"And how exactly did that happen?"

"Well, it was like going through the air and Devin's pencil hit it."

"Hmmm, but as I recall, I put the balloon behind my desk before I left the room. How did it get all the way over here?"

"Ummm......well, my eraser flew across the room, so I had to go get it."

"That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard!"

Laughter ensues.

So yeah, that's my class on Friday afternoons. Needless to say, I'm glad it's the weekend.

Weather-related????

Does anyone know if there is an actual scientific correlation between weather and the hyperactivity of children? I'm going to bet that there is, whether actual research has been done or not.

My kids today were so crazy hyper and random! Wow. It was exhausting, yet hilarious.

Some of the following questions were asked in my classroom today:

"Did you know that Cain has actual descendents? Like people descended from Cain!"

"How did Methuselah die?" My clever answer: "Of old age." hehe
"But does that mean that Methuselah lived longer than his dad?"

And, these questions were not asked during Bible class. We aren't even studying the Old Testament in Bible class. These questions were asked during DOL - yes, daily oral language.

And then we had to make a decision as a class on what the 7th/8th grade favorite meal would be, and then the cook would make it. Yeah, good thing we had some extra time today. That ended up taking about a half hour. You would've thought that World War III was happening in my classroom with the way that the kids were yelling at each other about mandarin oranges and garlic bread and green beans.

And then one girl yells out, "Kiwis are for African Americans!"

ummm.......what? My jaw pretty much dropped and I have no clue where that came from.

Ahh, such is the life of a junior high teacher.

"We have two for-sure adults here..."

So this past Wednesday we went on a field trip to Sioux Falls to tour the Power of Fire house and to do the Fire House. It was a really great experience, and I think the kids really enjoyed it.

There were some crazy things in the Power of Fire house. It's a real trailer house that actually caught fire and now has been preserved. You can see where the fire started and how the smoke damaged the house. You could see the outline of teddy bears that were sitting against the wall. The phone was completely charred and melted, while a paper decoration was fine right below it. You could see the ketchup bottle had started to melt and was leaning towards the source of the fire. Neat stuff!

The funniest part of the day though, was probably where the leader of our tour could not figure out if I was a student or not. During his presentation he kept saying things like, "The two adults in here know that....." or, "If you ask the two adults....." Well, there were three of us. The principal, the 3rd/4th grade teacher, and me. So basically, that's telling me that I look like an 8th grader. Awesome. My kids kind of snickered a little when they realized that he didn't know that I was a teacher.

Later, the man said to me, "So......you are........"

"The seventh and eighth grade teacher," I replied.

"Oh, yeah, I thought you looked a littl to old to be one of the students, but I wasn't really sure."

Wow, really? Oh, well. At least I'll look like I'm 30 when I'm actually 40, right? Ok, maybe not.