AuburnChick's Adventures

Hola people!  It’s Wednesday, and that means it’s time for the Hodgepodge!  Link up with Joyce to have a little bit of fun!

1.  What’s the last job you did that required elbow grease?

I was going to say shaving my legs after a winter of being hairy, but I didn’t want to make you throw up.

Oops.

Too late.

heehee

Seriously though.  I think that I last used a bit of elbow grease when I had to clean up my classroom to make room for the new technology we just got.

2.  March Madness, aka the men’s Division I basketball championship, is nearing an end. What sort of ‘madness’ has your house seen this month?

With the kids getting older, the madness has slowed down a bit.  However, Chicky did surprise me with a visit home last weekend.  Sunday was a little crazy as we got Rooster ready to escort Dancing Girl to a pageant, take pictures, and then see Chicky off as she went back to school.  It was a bit crazy that day.

3.  What’s your favorite shop for browsing?

I’m not much of a browser.  I only like to shop when I know I’m buying something.  With that said, my favorite shop for buying (ahem) would be a yarn store.  😀

4.  Is there ever a time when giving up makes sense?

Gosh.  This is hard!  I don’t know about you, but I’ve been in situations where constantly being nice to a person just never seemed to pay off.  No matter what I did, that person did not reciprocate my efforts, and after a while, I just gave up.  I think that when you constantly give and give and give and either receive crap or nothing in return, it’s probably time to give up simply so you stop wasting your energy on what would seem to be a hopeless situation.

5.  What’s a song you love that contains the name of a city, state or country in its title?

Last week, I taught a lesson on comparing tone.  To illustrate, I played two songs.  One of the songs was Proud to be an American by Lee Greenwood.  It mentions the names of several states.  I can’t help but be moved every time I hear this song.

6.  When did you first begin using a computer?

I began using a computer when I was young.  My first one was an IBM that only had DOS.  I really had no idea what to do with it except put in simple commands.  When I was in high school, we got our first computer lab, and I learned how to write programs.  Computers have been a part of my life ever since that time.

7.  Did you buy girl scout cookies this year? What’s your favorite?

I, personally, did not buy cookies this year, nor did I eat any.  In the past, my favorite flavor has been Thin Mint, stuck in the freezer of course.

8.  My Random Thought

I have two funny teaching stories to share.

First, on Monday, I walked into a coworker’s class to get her students started on their work.  She had a sub that day, but the sub didn’t show, so other subs were coming in during their planning to cover.  The sub for second period (my planning when I went in there), had to go potty, so I stayed for a few minutes.  I gathered money from one student for a field trip and promised to return with her change.  When I got back ten or fifteen minutes later, a couple of the kids called me over to them.  “Mrs. AuburnChick,” they said, “Please don’t leave us.  Our substitute is mean.”

“Oh, you don’t know me.  I’m mean too,” I said.

“Oh, you’re much nicer than this crazy lady,” they said.  I felt so badly for them as I left…almost like a mama whose children were holding onto her legs.  Still, it made me feel good.

My second story…

One of my students just finished reading the book Split, which I’d read and given a recommendation for.  He loved the book so much (please remember that I teach struggling readers) that he talked about it to his friends who, in turn, are reading the book.

Yesterday when he came into my class, he went on and on about the book, so I offered to let him share his thoughts with his classmates.  I even handed him the microphone that came with the new technology I just got in my classroom.

Oh boy.

Open mike.

This student was a riot!

He talked about how there was good action, love, and cursing in the book.  He told the kids that there was even the “F” word int he book, and he turned to me and said, “Mrs. AuburnChick, I was shocked that you thought this book was good even though it had cussing.”  I explained that almost every young adult book has something in it (isn’t this sad?????).

He told the class how there was one thing in this book that he would never do…hit a girl.

He recommended that everyone read the book.

As a reading teacher, my heart soared.  It’s a teacher’s dream to inspire students.

I will not take the credit.

God gets the glory.

I am only His tool.

Filed under: Teaching, This-n-That | Tagged: teaching, Wednesday Hodgepodge |