not making this up

I actually found this on the floor in the classroom today. Kick me signs? Come on, kids. Something more original is in order.

note-taker/note-taker

Here are some notes I've taken recently from things I've heard people say:

When I had to follow a student around all day one day, I took these notes in my lesson plan book on things that teachers either sid to students or posted up as signs in their rooms. Click to enlarge.

Interesting stuff to check out, I'm told.

Someone said this to my students, and I wrote it down because sometimes writing things that I think are ridiculous helps me to move on from them. Passive-aggressive, I know. Whatever.

And here are some notes I've found and then put into my pocket, thereby taking them:

today's highlights

(6:10 am - 6:11 am)

While waiting for my friend to pick me up for school this morning, I sat on the porch and watched, I kid you not, a squirrel holding a cupcake with pink frosting run across the street. Which was awesome.

(7:30 pm - 9:00 pm)
Dr. Julian Burger, Coordinator of the Indigenous and Minorities Unit at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights based in Geneva, gave a lecture on the UN's recent declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples. Also, awesome. My notes are below.

yessssss

I stopped by the English Building last night to work on my portfolio in the computer lab. The lab was closed, but as I was exiting the building, I happened upon about 25 high-school-looking kids playing D and D in the lounge. I couldn't have been more happy to see them; because, that is hilarious.

best email I've received this week

Here's a closer look (click to enlarge):

one of my students, on poetry:

"If it rhymes and sounds good then it is tight. If the words don't go with what you are saying then it is whack."

Simple as that.

I just rediscovered my interest in the police blotter.

I think it'd be cool to check out archives of police blotter with students, doing close readings of word choice and sort of tracing the rhetorical patterns of this stuff. In the photo above, I especially like the shout-out to the handwritten note (left box), and the $15.50 check (right box).

overheard

As I was walking across the quad towards home last night, enjoying the gorgeousness that was going on up in there, I overheard two women sitting on a bench underneath a tree by the Foreign Languages Building. They work for Facilities & Services, and seemed to be relishing a break from cleaning up after us rats. One said to the other, "When we were young, we used to climb trees..."

I've been exploring spoken-word poetry with my students this week, and I was struck by how much the scene sounded like poetry.

Sappy, I know. Shut the F up.

lucky lady

Reasons my weekend was great:

I took Friday off of work, but the students were off, too, so I didn't miss a day of teaching.

I experienced my first earthquake, and to my knowledge, no one was injured.

I stopped by the school I'm teaching at next year, and got to see some of my former students.

I went on a fabulous coffee/walk date.

I picked out a new apartment with my sweet new roommate for next year.

I took the bus to ISU, and caught up with a friend from grammar school who happened to be taking the same bus.

I went to a hilarious birthday party for Moe on Friday night, and got to hang out with the coolest women to ever hit Bloomington-Normal.

I read poetry in Carle Park on Saturday night in 70 degree weather. Yeah. How English major is that. I still got it.

I woke up early and walked to the grocery store to get food for lunch for the week.

I decided to try staying this vegetarian course I've been on for the past few weeks.

I planned my lessons through Thursday.

I graded my students' fabulous human rights PowerPoint projects.

The Student Board at the Y finally finished its recommendations for changes to the by-laws, which has been a year-long project.

The Student Board had another successful service day.
I re-watched one of my favorite documentaries.

I made measurable progress on my electronic portfolio.

no way

When I woke up at 4:40 am last night, I thought it was just evidence of the conditioning of my internal clock to waking up and driving an hour to Decatur every morning to teach. "The whole house couldn't be shaking," I thought to myself, "Weird dream." Oh no, self, the whole house most definitely was shaking.

more sweet stuff

Thank you, KBros:

Okay this is freaking sweet,

but I don't have time or energy to comment thoughtfully on it:
Graffiti 2.0: Gone By Morning

Call to Freedom

This is not a joke. This is an actual 7th grade social studies textbook.

I wish the sheen of the goldleaf had come out better on the scanner.
I'd be fucking pissed.

Seriously? What an interesting question!

Another thought-provoking one.

8th-graders are just funnier than non-8th-graders.

So everyday in class, we've been using these graphic organizers to help us focus. Students use them to record our objective, their daily bell work, their notes, and their thoughts on why (or why not) this is important, why we're bothering to learn this stuff. They also have the option of writing me a quick note to keep me abreast (a word I could never use in my classroom) of what's going on with them. Here's a note I got today:

the incident in the shoe department

I've been missing my blog, so yes I've entered thrice this hour.

Seriously.

found photo

I found this on the ground outside on my way to the post office this weekend.

dealing with a hater

I've got this one student who's been giving me shit all week, and nothing I've said or done has helped him focus. But today, kind of accidentally, I had him teach the class. I'd just whisper in his ear what the activity was that the class was supposed to do, and he orchestrated it. Beautifully, I might add.

At one point, a kid in the call screamed some string of "fuck"s and "bitch"es, and the whole class started laughing. Before I could say anything, he put his hand up (our signal for "Hey, I need your attention!"), walked over and closed the door -- not before yelling (jokingly) firmly, "We're learning in here!" When the "fuck" kid in the hall yelled back, he shook his head (again, satirically), and remarked, "Just started teachin, and already dealin with the haters. Everybody be hatin on teachers, man"

I mean seriously? How hilarious and awesome is that.