School Quotes...

Student: Why do I have two periods of your class and my friend only has one? That's not fair!

Me: I agree! It isn't fair that your friend only gets to spend one period a day with me and you get to spend two periods with me. I guess you are lucky. That's what you meant...right...(sarcastic smirk).

Student: No.

Me: It should have been!

Student 1: I don't understand #2.

Me: We are studying proper nouns and on this page you are writing the names of people you know in the blanks. Names are capitalized because they are proper nouns. The sentence says "________ is the kindest person I know".

Student 1: What does kindest mean?

Me: Nicest.

Student 1: Oh...(student writes Mrs. Rogers in the blank).

Student 2: That's not true! He just wants to be your favorite.

Me: Well it is working! He knows who grades his work. You should try harder!

Me: (Attempting to tell my new non-English and non-Spanish speaker about taking the bus to and from school...I was frustrated and she was confused.)

Student: I saw her yesterday. She got beat up. (Referring to the student I was talking to.)

Me: She couldn't have gotten beat up! I walked her to all her classes yesterday and out to her mom at the end of the day.

Student: She did! She got beat up! I saw her!

Me: Beat up!?!?!

Student: Picked up...by her mom after school! I saw her!

Me: Picked up?

Student: Yes! Her mom picked her up in her car!

Me: (Sigh and head shake...note to self to spend more time teaching pronunciation.)

Sniffles...

Every year as summer starts to become autumn I get a cold. I suppose it is probably allergies related to the changing season. It really hasn't been too bad. I have had a runny nose, scratchy throat, cough, and sinus pressure on and off. I sound sick but I feel mostly normal. I'm glad I don't have whatever illness has been going around school. Mike has been very sweet. He even made a special trip to the grocery store to get ingredients to make homemade Japanese chicken soup. He also did all the chores last weekend so I could rest.

The letter Y...

Students: Do we have to practice today?

Mike: You have to practice everyday of the week that ends in "y".

Students: (Long pause and thoughtful looks.) Everyday ends in "y".

End Of Summer...

Since Labor Day marks the end of summer I figured I should put up the last of my summer pictures. This post is short and random.

As Mike and I were completing our last minute preparations for our weekend guests we found this guest making his way up the driveway. I'm not a huge fan of bugs but it was kind of cool to see this one up close. I made Mike take pictures of it because I didn't want to get close enough for it to jump on me. The praying mantis is now residing in one of the shrubs by the garage.

Sometime late in the summer Mike and I tried the frozen yogurt at Fresh Berry in the Vintage Park shopping center and really liked it. They also have smoothies and frozen pops. The shop is probably too small for a Starting Point social gathering but you could visit in smaller groups.

Band Ninjas!!!

As always the beginning of school is filled with teaching rules and procedures. It is very important to Mike that his students students enter the band hall, get their instruments, and are in their seats ready to play when they bell rings. This year he is encouraging his students to enter the band hall as if they are ninjas...silent but deadly. The older students find it funny and have improved significantly but the sixth graders have taken it to a whole new level. They really think they are band ninjas. The bassoon and oboe players have to go to the water fountain at the beginning of each class because they need water to soak their reeds. As they make their way down the hallway they are careful to not be seen by the ninja hating art teacher who might attack them. Typically one will make sure the coast is clear before they pass her room. I haven't witnessed this yet but I have heard it is quite comical!

School Starts Tomorrow...

School starts tomorrow and we are as ready as we are going to be. Even if we accomplished everything we wanted there would always be more to do. Honestly it'll be nice to get back into a regular routine. I meant to take pictures of my room to go with this post but I was too busy and didn't remember until I was already on my way home. Mike and I took Sadie to a back to school picnic and she got plenty of affection from the people I work with and their family members. This year I am going to try to be better about sharing funny things the students say.

I figured I would start the year with a quote from Mike. We were driving past Splashtown the other day and saw all the children in line for the rides.

Mike: "Splash while you can kiddies! School starts Monday!"

San Antonio, Austin, & Houston!

We were really busy last week!

We were up early on Monday to drive to San Antonio so Mike could attend a band director conference. We left the house at 4 am! Starbucks wasn't even open yet!

I usually don't go to band director conferences but I went this time because I didn't want to drive to Austin by myself later in the week.

This was the view from our hotel room in San Antonio. I did a lot of back to school clothes shopping while Mike was working.

The night view was quite lovely! We went out to dinner with band director friends and had a great time.

Once Mike was finished we drove to Austin on Tuesday. The view wasn't worth sharing but I was glad we stayed at a hotel that was very close to where my training was.

My time in Austin was really not exciting at all. This is pretty much what I saw all day. We didn't even get to leave for lunch. The Texas Education Agency trainers were as engaging as anyone can be when the topic is state testing. I'm not really sure what Mike did all day. I think he spent a lot of time at a Starbucks getting work done.

Moo!!! After a long day we drove back to Houston. We were very excited to see Sadie! The Saliks took great care of her and loved her while we were gone. Thanks Saliks!

This is my favorite giant roadside rooster! We have seen each other a lot lately. I saw him going to and from Brenham a few weeks ago, on the way home from Austin, and to and from Brenham going to meet up with Christine and Alex.

I was so glad Christine and Alex came down to Houston! We had a lot of fun spending time with them!

Mr. & Mrs. Walther for 2 1/2 years! (Many of us are currently trying to convince Christine to join the blogging world.)

Mr. & Mrs. Rogers for 2 years! (Sorry...I don't wear makeup very often during the summer.) Shout out to my Aunt Pam! She prints out my blog to show my grandpa and that takes a lot of paper and ink. Thanks Aunt Pam!