Would you ever go out with me?

I found this note folded up on my floor. Bwahahaha

Folded up note

The note is backwards because of the picture, but it says,

"Would you ever go out with me - yes/no"

I showed it to my sister and she said, "They made a country song about that."

Gotta love middle school!

-Ms. Damron-

"How to make a full home made pizza"

In my writing class, we're working on writing various kinds of paragraphs. The last paragraph we wrote was an expository how-to paragraph. As a pre-write, students had to write down the steps of whatever they were giving directions to do. One student, who has a very unique writing style, wrote the following:

How to make a full home made pizza

1. Plow felds with a traktur.
2. Drive to the closest store (or farm.)
3. Find and buy the seeds.
4. drive back to your feld.
5. plant the seeds and wait for nine to ten weeks.
6. cheek your windo and see if there are wheat.
7. Buy the toematoe seeds (Do 4, 5, 6, 8.)
8. Harvest.
9. go to a grinearey with the wheat.
10. Now grind the wheat untile griney.
11. head back.
12. water the flower and add yeast
13. Mend the dogh
14. Drive to buy pigs.
15. head to the your farm then fatten them.
16. mash the toematoes until purryed.
17. take them to the buttree (butcher)
18. after they slotted (slaughtered) the pigs you will get sasiges (sausages)
19. buy the cheeze
20. Shred the chezze.
21. add the sheded chezze and mash toemaytoes (toemaytoes first)
22. Then ad peporne (pepporoni)
23. put the pizza in the oven. for 30 min
24. after cook take out the pizza
25. eat it. (it's good!)

I adore this student and he always asks how I'm doing and his very polite. This was just too good not to share. So creative!

-Ms. Damron-

Sorry I was staring at you...

Another 2nd period story.

Last Friday, December 7th, a student kept looking around the classroom (including looking at me) instead of doing his homework. So I told him to stop staring at me and do his work!

At the end of the period, he came up to me and offered me a pen saying,

"I'm sorry I was staring at you."

He was giving a peace offering for "staring" at me. This kid is so funny! I love him.

He also is extremely apologetic to a fault almost (which you wouldn't think is possible). For example, if I give him one negative mark for talking out of turn, he will bow his head and apologize and say something like, "You should give me two more red points because I talked out."

Another day, I noticed that his science binder was broken and almost useless, so I told him I was going to give him one. He said he couldn't possibly accept something from me. I told him to stop being ridiculous because I was going to give him a binder and that was the end of it. (To give you an idea of how broken his binder was, the binder rings wouldn't open unless both ends were pushed down at the same time. It wouldn't just snap open on its own. I don't know how he ever got anything in or out of it!) He was so gracious, but wouldn't stop saying he was so sorry for taking something of mine. I told him it was OKAY and he needed to move on and just treat this binder well.

He's such a good kid. :)

-Ms. Damron-

So and so asked so and so out and she yelled NO in his face and made him cry.

Wow. Is that title a mouthful, or what? Well it's 100% true. This story happened during 7th period.

Again last Thursday, November 15th, I was talking to a student out in the hall while the rest of my class was working in groups on their posters. I could hear some serious commotion going inside my classroom and I could see through the window that something was going on!

When I got back into the classroom, I was bombarded by the following story: (remember, all names have been changed)

"Ms. Damron! Clyde told Bonnie that he liked her and asked her if she would go out with him and she screamed NO and then he went and cried in the corner. Bonnie broke Clyde's heart!"

Ooookay. I have no idea what actually happened, but it sounds hilarious.

Later on that period, Bonnie and her friend came up and I got this story:

Bonnie: "So sometimes when I get hyper, I get really loud. I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings, but I scream things and then I sound angry and then I hurt people's feelings and I don't mean to..." She said all of this while laughing.
Friend: "No. Let me tell the story. Clyde came over to Bonnie and said, 'I like you. Will you go out with me?' Bonnie turned around and screamed, 'NO' in his face and then Clyde went and cried and we've all been trying to convince Bonnie to apologize to Clyde."

Middle school romance and DRAMA!

That same friend left this note on a sticky note on my desk:

"Friend is just the best student!! To do list: Make Bonnie apologize to Clyde."

Yeah. That happened.

It's still the talk of the class period by the way! Bonnie is a heart breaker apparently.

-Ms. Damron-

2nd period funnies

So, my second period is by far the funniest (and best behaved!) period. Granted, there's only 8 students and they are all well-behaved kids anyhow.

Last Thursday, November 15th, I quickly wrote the following quotes on some sticky notes so that I would not forget them later!

During the lesson, one student raised his hand and said, "Can I tell you my worst fear?" Knowing that just about everything this student says makes me laugh, I said, "Yes please!" He replied, "The Phantom of the Opera." Laughing, I asked why. "Because it's scary."

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out where that random comment came from, but then my para said that maybe it's because we were discussing ballet earlier. It's a little far-fetched, but hey, who knows what goes on in that kid's head!

Speaking of ballet, none of the kids pronounced that word right when we read it in a sentence. They pronounced it "ballot" and were very confused.
In another sentence we read, was the name Barry. That same student who declared his ultimate fear said, "What kind of a name is Barry? No one has that name!"
Well, what are the odds, but there is a student in the very next period with that name! I told him that I knew someone with that name (he doesn't actually go by that name, but still), and so I countered with, "What kind of a name is XXXXX?"
This student quickly retorted, "It's a classic name! It means...well, I don't remember what it means."

Typical.

Later on during that same period, that same student was working with a partner and they said something ridiculous and extreme, so I responded with mock shock saying, "Shut the door!"
That killed everything that had been going on and simultaneously they said,

"Wait...what?"
"The door is already shut..."

I then had to explain that "shut the door" is an expression for something like "Oh my gosh! You're kidding?!" Then they understood.
Their blank and confused expressions were so funny though!

Have I mentioned how much I love my job?

-Ms. Damron-

Goat boy?

This conversation happened yesterday:

"Ms. Damron! Billy* was making goat noises in the bathroom!"

Billy's response: "I was born with a goat voice." He then proceeded to make his goat noise.

Too funny!

-Ms. Damron-

*Name has been changed, but I chose Billy on purpose - can you guess why? (Okay - I'll just tell you - Billy...goat?!)

"My favorite food is creeps."

Can I just complain for a minute?! Last week was the week from H-E-double hockey sticks and that week was longer than seven days! It just barely ended today. (That would make it eight or nine horrible days.)
Why was it so horrible you might ask? Because of the paperwork involved in Special Ed! These are the  times I have left work lately:

Monday (10/29) - 6:45 pm
Tuesday (10/30) - 6:15 pm
Wednesday (10/31) - 5:30 pm
Thursday (11/01) - 4:00 pm (I just couldn't take it anymore!)
Friday (11/02) - 4:45 pm (And that was because my dad was in town!)

Saturday (11/03) - I put in three hours of work and still had tons to do!

Monday (11/05) - 7:35 pm (Leslie and I stayed and worked on progress reports.)
Tuesday - today - It's currently 5:05 pm. I finally feel like I got stuff organized. I still haven't planned lessons, but I had so much to organize and grade and sort through. I can't focus well when there is disorder...particularly my desk.

Anyway, progress reports AND the IEPs and re-evals that I had to do last week are finally over and done with. Man it was rough though. I'm just glad I can get back to my normal routine. And when progress reports come around next term, I will be ready!

Anyway, I was grading something from my writing skills class, and I saw this. It made me laugh out loud, so I thought you would enjoy it:

"My favorite food is creeps."

This dear student meant "crepes," but it was too good not to share. Here's to being done with progress reports!!!

-Ms. Damron-

Happy Halloween!

I was a little nervous about the craziness of the students today, but things actually went better than usual! Granted, I showed a movie in four out of six of my classes. Don't worry though, the movie had academic reasoning.

A couple of weeks ago I saw the movie The Halloween Tree with some friends. I thought that it would be perfect for my students! So Sunday night I made a worksheet to go with the movie. The movie is only 70 minutes long, but there were about 50 questions. Bwahahaha My students went into a panic when they saw it.

The movie teaches about some Halloween traditions and it has a good plot line. I only showed it in my study skills classes and I taught them how to take notes/fill out a worksheet while watching a movie. I never realized what an important skill this is! A lot of my students freak out when they miss a question, so they miss several questions after. They also don't know to read ahead so as to be ready for the next question. You would think that these things would be common sense, but it isn't! It really was a brilliant activity if I do say so. I think I'll do a few more movie activities through out the year.

We started the movie yesterday, and we finished it in three out of the four classes that watched the movie.

I felt kind of bad, because yesterday several students in my 6th period writing class came in expecting to watch a movie because the teacher next door told them we were watching a movie. I don't know exactly how he explained that we were watching a movie, but when I informed my writing class that we would not be watching a movie, they felt quite cheated. Poor kids. Too bad they didn't ask ME what we were doing.



I loved seeing the kids dress up. There were some very creative costumes! I dressed up as an owl, and because of my mask, I had to wear contacts. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but you better believe that as soon as school was over, I took those suckers out. (I used "suckers" on purpose - they really do suck the juice from my eyeballs! Don't be wigged out by that statement.)
The teacher across the hall (Erin Radandt) blasted Halloween music from Pandora in between classes. It was so funny. She dressed up as a spider. Here were are:

It was a good Halloween. I've been leaving work super late the past couple of days because I have two IEPs and three-year re-evaluations due tomorrow ALONG with progress reports for the students that I'm in charge of. Yikes-a-rama this week is insane. I left around 5:30 pm today, which wasn't too bad. I'm so tired I've been sitting on the couch since I got home!

That being said, I'm going back to my couch-potato-ness. Happy Halloween!

-Ms. Damron-

I work with some of the BEST people.

So here I am studying for the GRE, and I think to myself, "It's about time I wrote another blog entry." (Ironic how I teach a study skills class, yet my capacity for studying is very small right now. Or maybe I'm using good study skills by knowing when to take breaks. I'm studying while being totally exhausted though, so maybe I'm not using good study skills...)

Anyway, I just had to write and say how much I love the people I work with. If I could keep Centennial just the way it is right now (I do miss Lisa Fisher and Kenyon Christen from last year though), I would be very happy. (Give or take a few exceptions. haha)

Anyway, I get together with a few co-workers once or twice a month. We have game nights, movie nights, dinner nights, whatever. It's absolutely fantastic and I love it. About a month ago we got together on one of our dear group member's birthday weekends. We took some pictures, and although they would HATE me putting them up on my blog, I caught some wonderfully candid moments, and I have to share them.

Aren't you happy just looking at this last picture?
And a huge reason for the top picture is so you can see what kind of movie nights we have (ice cream, cake, cookies, candy, etc.).

Anyway, I was talking to some friends and telling them that I hang out with my co-workers on a regular basis and I would gladly spend several hours just talking and having fun with them. It's funny, because I am most definitely the BABY of the group. We range in age from 58 - 23. Yup. Not that they would appreciate me saying this, but I hang out with women in their fifties and I love it so much! It is a little weird to think that they are my mom's age though. My mom is one of my best friends and I love spending time with her, but it's weird sometimes to think that my co-workers are my parents' age and I'm on the same professional level as them.

Hmm...

Anyway, the moral of this post is, I don't feel like studying for the GRE anymore!

Just kidding.

I work with some fabulous people, and I am so SO grateful for them.

-Ms. Damron-

"I just tell them I get help with my homework."

Yesterday I had a wonderful, impromptu teaching moment with the students in my 7th period. It made me think about when I will be a mom because spontaneous teaching moments will just happen and you have to be ready. 

We were talking about auditory learners and the classroom next door was being a little noisy. I mentioned that if you are an auditory learner, you might be distracted by the noises next door because as an auditory learner, you are constantly picking up on auditory cues (including distractions). Several students nodded their heads in agreement. One student said, "Why are they allowed to make so much noise?"

This launched us on an explanation of why the students next door can and are so noisy. I explained that next door was the "severe" disabilities in special ed and they do activities that can be noisy. Another student then said, "Why do you say severe?" She then said something along the lines of, "If you call them severe, you're implying that there's special ed that isn't severe..."

This was the teaching moment. 

I told them that special ed was like a spectrum. Using my hands, I gestured toward one side of the invisible spectrum and explained that kids on the severe side were forever stuck in a certain phase: they needed to practice coordination like putting a puzzle together or catching a ball. They also worked on counting numbers and knowing their ABCs. Then there are different levels of disabilities all the way over to the other side of the spectrum. This side of the spectrum is called mild/moderate and includes learning disabilities. 

I then made the comparison using hot sauce. I said, "You know how there is severe, or really hot sauce, and then there is mild hot sauce? That's kind of what it's like."

That same student who asked the "severe" question said, "So we're the mild?"

"YES."

I then got on my soap box and explained that I absolutely hate it when people make fun of other people or have negative impressions about resource. I said that it's horrible that someone would make fun of someone else because of how they learn. 

"It's the same thing as someone walking into the classroom next door and saying, 'Look at these idiots. They can't even pick up and throw a ball.'"

My students looked kind of shocked when I said that and I explained that it's the same thing! How dare someone make fun of someone else because of how they learn. 

This is my favorite part:

Then my students all started talking at once and sharing stories about how their friends ask them what Resource Learning is and it takes them forever to explain it or they say that it's somewhere they get help with homework. It was great watching them all connect and get excited to share their stories with each other. 

In conclusion to our wonderful little chat, I told them that a while ago I heard a boy outside my classroom ask what this class was and then say something like, "You're in resource? You must be stupid. haha just kidding man."

I looked right at that boy, pointed at him and gestured for him to come into my classroom. He looked around and asked if I meant him, and nodded my head. I gave him a little lecture and said, "What did I just hear you say?" 

mumble mumble..."Nothing..."

"I think I just heard you say that someone must be stupid for being in resource."

"Yeah...but I was just joking. We're friends."

"Do you think it's funny to make fun of someone else for being in resource? Even if you think you're friends, it is NOT acceptable or funny to make fun of someone else."

I told my 7th period students that whenever I hear someone make fun of someone else for being in resource, I lay into them! I told my students that if they ever hear anyone say something negative about resource, send me an anonymous tip, and I WILL take care of it. They seemed kind of in awe. Maybe the actually believed me.

It felt so good to have this chat with them and just be honest. Too many students who have a learning disability or struggle with...whatever...just don't talk about things. They need to have a place where they feel comfortable sharing their stories and realizing that they are OKAY. They don't need to be embarrassed or ashamed. They need to take action and be comfortable with who they are. 

-Ms. Damron-

And if you know anyone who needs a talking to - send them my way - and I'll deal with them. 

"You are the best Resource Learning teacher."

Tuesday, which was the first day back from Fall Break, a sweet girl in my first period gave me this note:

It says: "Thank yoo for makeing me be sussesful and for helping me. You are the best Resorce Learning teacher." It has a heart sticker and she included that cute turtle eraser. Isn't that the sweetest?

-Ms. Damron-

By the way, I realize that the spelling may seem funny, but it really is a struggle for some kids. Imagine struggling with reading and spelling or simple math. It would be hard dangit!

Maybe I should cry in class more often...

So here's a quick update as for what followed after my mini meltdown in front of my 6th period.

6th period yesterday went smashingly! It wasn't perfect, but learning actually happened and the students were fairly polite! After the five minute journal, I passed out the letters I wrote and gave the students time to read them. I then said, "Sorry about my...lack of composure yesterday. Let's start over/make this a good year." (or something like that) It was kind of neat watching them read their letters. There were a few students who were nodding their heads in agreement as they read.

The class went well and we made it through the helping verbs worksheet. We didn't have time to correct it, but we'll do that when we get back from FALL BREAK.

Yes - it is currently my fall break! We get Thursday, Friday, and Monday off. I am so unbelievably happy about it! I have so many things to do though. I made a doctor appointment, a dentist appointment, I am booked every night, I want to get my car worked on, and I need to go to the DMV to get a Utah license.
Usually I head to Arizona or Montana to see family if I have any sort of vacation, but since I am flying down to Arizona next weekend for my cousin's wedding, I figured I would stay home for this break. It's a good thing I am because I have a lot to do! Another thing I forgot to mention is STUDY FOR THE GRE! Holy smokes that test is in about a month and I haven't really studied. What am I doing?!

Happy day to you all, and I will write more when I get back from Fall Break!

-Ms. Damron-

Don't worry - I cried in front of my students today.

Sometimes you have a hard day teaching and your students make you want to cry. You NEVER cry in front of them though. You can't let them know that they got to you.

Well, I broke that unspoken rule today during my 6th period class.

My 6th period has been a real struggle for me (which I think I've mentioned before). I love the students and I love teaching the material, but for the life of me, I can't get them to follow the rules. I don't know what I'm doing wrong! I review rules and procedures. I give out consequences...you name it! I haven't had someone observe the class though. And I haven't given out lunch detentions yet...so maybe there is more I can do. I guess I just like students to be respectful so we can have fun and enjoy our time together while learning!

We had about 20 minutes left of class (it was a block day, so we had already been together for about an hour) and I had just handed out a worksheet on helping verbs. The class went crazy saying that they had no idea what to do and they didn't understand the worksheet or helping verbs...
Could I teach them about helping verbs though? No. I tried desperately to rein them back in so that we could do the worksheet and hopefully understand helping verbs more.
After going through three examples, I felt completely useless because most of the students weren't even looking at me because they were doodling, or talking to their neighbor, or staring off somewhere else. Awesome.

I told them to put their worksheet in the pocket of their binder and then close their binder. It took a few moments for everyone to realize what we were doing because they were so deep in their own extremely important conversations or completely mesmerized by anything but me. (Can you tell I'm still a little bitter? haha)

I told them to get out a piece of paper because they were going to write me an apology letter for not letting me teach them today. At this point I had been fighting back tears of frustration, but all of a sudden I felt like I was in sacrament meeting bearing my testimony and the waterworks just wouldn't stay back. I didn't bawl in front of my students, in fact, I don't even think I shed an actual tear. My voice got tight and shaky though. I said something like this:

"You are all going to write me a letter of apology for not letting me teach you today. It has been over a month [since school started] and I have tried my very hardest to earn your respect. (This is where my voice cracked and I got a bit choked up.)  I can't teach you like this. You are middle schoolers! You should know about nouns, verbs, and adjectives, but you won't let me teach you. I don't know what else to do? Do I need to be more strict? I teach you the rules and procedures and ask you to raise your hand when you have something to say, but you still refuse to follow directions. Do I need to get someone in here every day to watch me teach so that they can tell me what I'm doing wrong? I'm at a loss as for what to do.
You will have 'til the end of the period to write this letter. It had better be heart-felt. Please give me suggestions as to what I can do. At the end of the period you will give me your letter and put your materials away..."

I know. That was quite the little rant. I hope I can skip over that embarrassing moment when I watch the movie of my life in heaven someday.

My students did fulfill the apology letter requirements, and although I shouldn't include these letters without their permission, you will never know who wrote what, so I am going to share some of these:

"I am sorry that I didn't let you teach me. I like to learn I do. Schools almost out and I have energy. If you want me to be quiet or anyone else for that matter, be a little bit stricter in class dojo and if you don't like when someone does this or that be strict. that shut me up when I was in elementary school. If you like this idea then ask for it I want to hear your lesson, but I can't do that if I am a distraction to myself."

"I am sorry that we were disrespectfull today. We sholdn't have been so rude to you to the point that you kryed..."

"I am sooo sorry that i keep talking while you are trying to teach, I feel really bad. You probley dont believe me but its true. I just cant sit still I try all day everyday. I really want to do good in school. I love this class. I love my teacher. Its just really hard not to talk, I try to help and say to other people to stop. I AM REALLY SORRY! Please forgive me...I promise I wont talk anymore (well i will try my very hardest not to talk.) I really didn't try to make you cry. I can't stop saying sorry, and telling myself i'm sooo stupid. I really hope this letter means something. If you still dont forgive me, im sorry. I told you everything i can. SORRY, SORRY."

"...I think that the way to get us to do wat you want us to do is by being more strikt and be mor cler an wat you want us to do..."

"I am vary sorry that we didn't let you tech us we no I am exsquisitly heart felt at this day I need bedere sochal skills..."

"I am really sorry for not letting you teach and I promise I will never do it again or I will lietterally go to the prinsiples office myself if I have to. I have no suggestions for you but ask some of the other teachers about what to do and if we still can't be good be really stricked even if you don't like it..."

"I am sorry that I went ahead of the class with the action verbs. I wish you could forgive me. I rilly sorry that were giving you a hard time because were taking or were taking. I don't now how you can handal it every day. You are one of my favorite teachers even if I don't like writing or languege. So I just want you to now that this note is from my botom of my heart that were being mean to you..."

"I'm sorry for not leating you teach me today. I've just been so hyper the last caple of days and wont stop teaking [talking] to my friends. Also I kind of new what you wear teacheing and got bored and started talking. I'm sorry that I haven been veary respectful to you. you are just doing your job..."

Okay. So that might have been almost all of them. Aren't they endearing though? And so honest it hurts sometimes! I tried to write exactly what they did so that I will always remember their letters.
During 7th period I decided I would write each of them a letter in return, which I just did.
I really do love the students in my 6th period, but I'm frustrated because I know this is information that some students really need. I'll keep you posted on how tomorrow goes!

-Ms. Damron-

Tender Moments

In my 3rd period writing class, I have an array of abilities. Some students can write fairly well and retain information. Other students can hardly write one sentence and look at me with a blank stare even after reviewing the same material for a week, then quizzing them and giving them the answers.
I am doing a final project for my Nouns, Verbs, & Adjectives unit that requires my students to make a powerpoint presentation teaching the class about these different parts of speech. When I came up with that project, I figured I would have to help a couple of these lower-ability kids one-on-one with the project. That was fine with me - I was still excited about the project.

Well, when we started the project last Friday, I told my students they were allowed to work independently or with a partner. Most of the student paired up and I was getting ready to tell a particular 7th grade student that I would help him, when an 8th grade girl (who is much higher ability-wise and probably doesn't need to be in my writing class) asked this boy to be her partner.
As I watched this girl, I saw her explain what she was doing and give this boy a turn to type while spelling the words out for him. She was very patient and not even remotely condescending. I was so impressed with her that I wrote her a note today.
In the note I told her that I was really impressed that she asked this boy to be her partner and I loved how she included him. I concluded the note by saying that I bet she she was a great friend and sister.
This girl read the note in front of me and got quite a lovely smile on her face when she finished.

Do you want to know the best part? The boy who was her partner saw me give her the note and asked what it was. When I told him I had given her a note, he said, "That is so nice of you."
He really is the sweetest kid. I'm so glad that I got to watch this exchange. I have some great kids in my classes!

-Ms. Damron-


Now for some comedy relief - during this same period today, I commented on one of my students who got his hair cut. He used to hide under his hair and I could never see his eyes! He always had to do the Justin Bieber flip of his hair to get it out of his eyes. I told him I loved his new hair cut because I could actually see his eyes. That same boy who is that girl's partner said, "You look so cute!"  It was the funniest, cutest thing. This boy always says the nicest things and he's so sincere. I love it!

Do sheep have suicidal attempts?

It's Friday! Blessed day!

I'm still at work on a Friday and it's 4:30 pm. I helped a student with some science work until 3:40 pm. She told me she felt like a loser for staying after school on a Friday. I told her I understood how she felt!

Anyway, I have a student in my 2nd period that is absolutely hilarious. Today he asked,

"Do sheep have suicidal attempts? My dad says sheep are stupid..."

Oh my gosh. He's so funny because he's always so serious when he asks these kind of questions!

Later on that period he said,

"Ms. Damron? Can I look up if sheep have suicidal attempts?"

I told him no, but later on I heard him saying, "Their brains are so tiny..."

I love what I do.

-Ms. Damron-

6th period deafens me

The past week or so, my 6th period has been SO LOUD. I'm not just talking about talk-outs and obnoxious noises, I'm serious about the loudness. After class if over, I feel like I just attended a football game where the team was winning and the crowd went wild and you are totally blown away by the noise. Or you can compare how my ears feel to that of being at a rock concert and sitting next to the speakers and the crazy fans.
I don't know if my students somehow have magnified voices in that class or what, but it is an issue that NEEDS to be fixed. Today we played charades to learn about action verbs, and the crowd went wild! Students were really getting into the guessing part and they were totally screaming their answers out! Don't worry, the math teacher next door came into my classroom and told my students that they were being too noisy. And they didn't even hear him come in or acknowledge his presence for a good 20 seconds while he was talking to them because they didn't hear him! This class is straight crazy!

Also, it's important to mention that I could start some sort of drum core with most of these kids. They are constantly tapping their pencils, drumming on the desks with their hands and pencils, making whistling noises with their hands...you name it...it's so frustrating! I am half-serious when I say we might start using these drumming talents to do some sort of concert. Sheesh!

I am highly considering the use of stress balls to hand out during this class in order to (hopefully) keep their hands busy so they can still focus on the lesson. One of the 8th grade girls said that would be a bad idea because then the boys would start throwing the stress balls across the room. I see how much trust she has in those boys and my ability to control them.

Yikes-a-rama something needs to change!

-Ms. Damron-

Just a disclaimer, I do love these students, I just don't love the deaf-feeling in my ears after class is over!

First IEP/Re-eval of the year DONE!

Folks. You have no idea how big of a deal this is!

I have been preparing for this IEP and three year re-eval for weeks! For some reason I was stumped though. You know that feeling when you have serious writer's block and a huge paper is due within HOURS? Yeah. Well try having writer's block on a legal document that is scheduled to be discussed the next morning at 7:30 am. Not fun.

Thank heavens I have a wonderful facilitator who took time after our team meeting (that ended around 4:30 pm) to help me out. I didn't leave work until 6:00 pm though, and I was pretty grumpy when I got home.

All in all, I think it went really well though. This student is in 7th grade and came from a charter school.  Mom was really worried about the transition and she confided in me that when she first brought her son to Centennial to just look around, she just stood by the main entrance and shed a tear thinking, "My son is going to be so lost." She didn't mean lost as in can't find his way around, but lost as in...lost and forgotten in a sea of busy-ness, chaos, and the horror that can sometimes be middle school. After the meeting she told me she felt much better about her son's education.

The meeting almost didn't happen though! The meeting was scheduled to start at 7:30 am and I made it to school early enough to clean up the team room where we would be holding the meeting and I was out by the main office by 7:30 waiting for mom. Mom didn't show up until 7:50 am though. Class starts at 8:00 am! Fortunately I had a para who was able to cover my class until I got there, but I had to find another general ed teacher, because the teacher I had asked to attend the meeting had a class at 8:00! So I had to scramble to find a teacher who had prep at that time. I called several teachers, but Don Johnson, the boys' P.E. teacher, was able to attend. Bless his heart he saved me! I know mom felt really bad about being late. I didn't mind the lateness...I was so relieved that she came! (The IEP is due on Thursday, and I was getting nervous about it being late!)

I'm happy that IEP and re-eval are taken care of, but I have three more re-evals/IEPs to do in the next month. It's going to be a good, but crazy-busy month!

-Ms. Damron-

At a loss for words...

Hello dear friends!

I have been meaning to write in my blog for several weeks now, but for some reason I haven't been able to think of anything to say. (That's strange considering every day is full of adventures and stories.)

Last Friday I took the day off and drove up to Yellowstone to go horseback riding with my dad and some friends. My friend Sarah's husband was my sub, which made me happy! We had an assembly that day and I felt bad having a sub on a weird-scheduled day, but it all worked out.

Here's one of the few pictures my dad took on our Saturday ride in Yellowstone:

The weather was actually really pleasant! We usually do our annual Yellowstone horseback riding trip in July, but we decided September is a much better time of the year to go riding!

This week has been a bit hectic. I feel like every day I'm running around. I barely make it out to the hall to monitor in between classes because I'm cleaning up or talking to students in my classroom. I don't get the chance to use the restroom until lunch, which is around noon (that's a long wait for me...haha). I expect to be at work until about 5:00 pm every day. It just seems like I'm putting in such long hours and yet I still have so much to do!
I decided it's because I've been gone or busy for so many weekends. I usually put in a couple of hours on Saturdays just to catch up and do some prep. I haven't had that recently and it's taking a toll on me!
I'm not complaining or anything, but boy am I busy.

I left work a little after 5:30 pm today and had about an hour break before I headed to the Orem Institute Building for choir practice from 7:00-8:30 pm. When I left work, I still had stuff I needed to do!

I will say that I feel much more on top of things than I did last year. Considering last year was my first year teaching, I frequently felt like I had no idea what I was supposed to do (especially when it came to compliance) and I was constantly coming up with ideas that were short-lived and quickly forgotten. This year I've already gone through all of my folders and written down the students that need amendments done on their IEP (that means they just need a minor fix, generally dealing with their schedule). That's a big deal! I'm meeting with my facilitator tomorrow morning to go through a few of them. I wanted to get them done before Parent-Teacher Conferences so I could have parents sign the necessary papers if they came to Parent-Teacher Conferences.

Don't worry - tomorrow is Parent-Teacher Conferences. I actually need to go to bed because tomorrow is going to be a LONG day! At least we get lunch served by the PTA. Sadly I'm going to miss a ward activity that starts at 6:30. And what do you know, Zupas is catering that activity. How do I always miss the cool activities?!
Oh well. I actually really enjoy Parent-Teacher Conferences. I'll let you know how tomorrow goes!

-Ms. Damron-

Computer Covers

First of all, Happy (belated) Labor Day! We just had a three day weekend and it was BEAUTIFUL. I was telling someone how good it felt to sleep in and be lazy yesterday. My friend said, "Audryn. You do know that it's only been two weeks since school started, right?" Yeah...

I have been planning a sewing project since before school even started: computer covers. I remembered how my students couldn't stop looking at themselves in the mirror-like surface of the computer screen AND how my students' fingers would just worm their way to the keyboard in the middle of my lessons.  My brilliant plan was to sew computer covers. And now that I've made them, I'm just ecstatic!

When I told my plan to one of the district SpEd coordinators, she offered to help me. We've been trying to find a day we could both do the project since school started and today was the day! I bought the fabric and thread from JoAnn Fabric on the same night as Back to School night. I made sure I brought the fabric from home and as soon as Vickie, the coordinator, showed up we headed to the Lora Lee Thompson's sewing room. (The school custodians gave me the idea to use the school sewing room. Genius!) It took us about an hour and a half to get through eight covers. We carried one of the computers down to her room to test the size and make sure the covers fit.

The process was as follows:

Make a demo
Cut fabric and pin the sides
Sew the sides
Surge the sides
Pin up the bottom
Sew the bottom

It was fairly easy and straightforward. I haven't used a sewing machine in ages, so I was glad that it wasn't a complicated stitch. The covers look absolutely beautiful and I can't tell you how excited I am to have them on my computers! Now I won't be forced to watch students stare at themselves all during my class!

-Ms. Damron-

Don't you just LOVE them?

Notice how the keyboard is hidden. Brilliant!

Picture Day

Every teacher gets their picture taken. My favorite part is that we also get a complimentary picture packet. (My parents and grandparents love it.)
Today I went down during my prep period to get my picture taken. Luckily, I was the only one in there at the time. The photographers said that because there was no one else there, I would get to look at my picture and re-take it if I didn't like it.

Well...it wasn't that I didn't like the pictures. My photographer kept saying, "Let's try that again..."
After the 5th or 6th time I was starting to get nervous. What in the world was wrong with my pictures. Finally, she said something like, "If you smile like this..." and then she proceeded to smile showing only her upper teeth. I laughed and informed her that I am incapable of smiling without my bottom teeth showing, so she shouldn't focus on my smile. I will admit that some of the pictures were a bit toothy though. My smile is so big that it hurts after 5 or 6 pictures!
Once we got the smile thing figured out, my face hurt from smiling, so I was never ready when she snapped the picture. There was actually a cute one of me laughing though. Sorry you will all miss out on that candid shot. There was also another picture where I was making a silly face. I kind of wish that one was put in the year book.
The last issue was that the flash kept making a glare on my glasses. Finally I just took my glasses off. My students will all freak out because I always wear my glasses and they think I look weird without them, but what can you do. It only took 20 shots, but hopefully my picture turns out. Maybe I'll scan it later to show you the final product. :)

-Ms. Damron-

Life is SOOOOO good.

I absolutely LOVE my job. At the beginning of this school year I remember thinking, "I can't believe this is my job. I get paid to do what I love!" Be jealous.

I have such great students this year! And I had a couple of previous students who are now in high school stop by and say hi. That just makes me feel good!
I also love the students that I had last year. There are a couple that complain quite a bit and they aren't what I would call happy to be in my class again, but for the most part, past students are happy to be with me.

I also feel so much more confident. And I actually have a plan! I know what I want to accomplish with my students and I know how to do it. My prep is so much lighter this year. I'm still getting organized and changing things, but it's not as willy-nilly as last year. (Can I even use that word? haha)

Basically I am happy and excited for another school year. Oh life is just wonderful!

-Ms. Damron-

First week of school - CHECK.

This week has been the most hectic first week of school ever. Granted, it's only my second FIRST week of school, but still. Here's the scoop:

I had to move out of the house I was living in due to my landlords deciding to not rent out to singles anymore. (Do I have to be reminded how single I am every day?!) I had to be out by August 21st, but I couldn't move into my new apartment until the 24th (today). So here is a snapshot of what my week has been like:

Sunday: Pack up as much stuff as I can and move it to my cousin's place.

Monday: Set up classroom. Go home and pack up kitchen and bathroom. Take stuff to cousin's house. Clean house. Eat dinner at SLAB pizza with Alyssa. Go to August Movies in the Park. While at the movie my landlord texted me and asked that I leave my key on the counter the next morning because the new tenants were moving in the next day. Freak out because I thought the new tenants were moving in on the 24th. Rush home after the movie and furiously finish cleaning and packing as much stuff as I could. Shower and then collapse into bed.

Tuesday: Wake up earlier than normal to load every last little thing into my car. Vacuum bedroom. 7th grade day! Medicaid and Time Study meeting. Drive to Salt Lake to visit friends and celebrate a birthday. Leave Salt Lake way too late. Arrive at my friend's house without my air mattress because my sister was in a movie and didn't answer her phone. (She had the air mattress.) Get to bed way too late and then get very little sleep due to the uncomfortableness of the air mattress and my constant need to pee at 4:00 in the morning.

Wednesday: Pry my eyes open and leave earlier than usual to go buy donuts for my WolfPack (homeroom) class. FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! So much fun. Manicures at 4:00pm. Quick nap on my sister's couch. Dinner at Bajio. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory caramel apple. Artistic night at Color Me Mine.

Thursday: Second day of school. Drive to Jo-Ann Fabrics were it takes forever to figure out how much fabric I need to make my computer covers. Dinner at Zupa's with my mom and sister. Back to School Night from 6-8. Somehow stay and talk to other teachers until 9:00pm. Smith's run. Go to my cousin's place to find my checkbook. (Fortunately it was in the second box I found.) Talk with my wonderfully hospitable friends Sarah and Marty and then bedtime.

Friday: (TODAY) I love Fridays. Today went really well actually. I'm about to go move all of my stuff from my cousin's place to MY APARTMENT. My sister was a gem and checked in for me earlier. So I will sleep in my bed tonight!

It's been a crazy week, but I love my students already and I'm excited for this year!

-Ms. Damron-

First day of school YEAR 2!!!!

Hello!

I can't even believe that school has started once again. I don't think a summer has ever gone by faster. I've been working for almost two weeks though. Special Ed got 3 1/2 paid days before our contracted days to go through blue folders. Besides Leslie, our facilitator, I was the only teacher who took all 3 1/2 days before school. By day 1/2 I was struggling with staying focused. Day 3 1/2 was difficult! Sitting in a tiny room going through folder after folder was tedious to say the least. I'm really glad we did that before school started though. Last year we were scrambling all year long to fix problems with folders. This year we are so on top of things. Go Leslie go!

Due to the Special Ed compliance days and my schedule I didn't start setting up my classroom until last Wednesday. I put in a couple hours here and there and stayed until 6:00pm last Friday, August 17th. My classroom was a lot different from the way I left it! The computers were all left on the counter and everything that had been touching the floor (besides tables and chairs) was moved up onto the counters.  

It felt so good to be in my classroom! We had faculty meeting and whatnot on Friday and when I walked into my classroom I just got giddy! Yes - GIDDY. The smell of my classroom made me happy. Teacher nerd? Yes!

7th grade day was yesterday and it went really well. Homeroom with my 7th graders was super awkward at the beginning because they didn't say anything! Fortunately by the end of the day they were much more comfortable.

Today was the first day of school and I LOVE MY STUDENTS! There are going to be some tricky ones, but I am so happy to be back in school. I know most of the 8th graders from last year and I told them all that I missed them. I don't know if they quite believed me, but it's true. And I have to admit that I favor 8th graders over 7th graders. My 8th graders just hold a special place in my heart.

Speaking of 8th graders...two students that I had last year visited me after school! I was so happy to see them. And they've grown so much.

This year is going to be tough and I have several students who are going to teach me a lot, BUT, I'm so happy to be back. Bring on YEAR 2!

-Ms. Damron-

Last Day of School!

Oh my gosh. It's finally here and it's over!

We just had a half day today and we didn't actually have any classes. It was more of a clean-up-your-classroom day. Students are allowed to come, but lunch isn't served, there isn't a bell schedule, and basically they just wander.
I had to finish up some paperwork, so I didn't get to start cleaning up my classroom until about 9:30. Talk about a quick clean up! My room felt like a disaster and I had until our faculty luncheon at 12:00pm. Yikes.
Somehow it worked out though! There are still a few little things I would have liked to clean up, but for the most part, it is taken care of. Summer here I come!

Teacher drawings

At the end of the year, the art classes draw huge, poster-sized drawings of almost every faculty member. The art teacher helps with touch-ups, but for the most part, the students do it all. The posters are then hung up by the main office. One of my students drew mine, so today I had him hold it up so I could take a picture.

A couple weeks ago when he was explaining the project to me, first of all, I had no idea what he was talking about because I haven't been at Centennial. I asked him why he chose me, and he said that no one else knew who I was. How flattering. Besides that, he said that the smile he drew was a crazy one...as in it made me look like I need to be in an insane-asylum. Isn't he just charming? Well, here's the picture, so you can decide for yourself:

Isn't it great? I was the only teacher with curly hair. And the glasses aren't half bad. My eyes aren't blue, but hey, I can't be too picky, right?

-Ms. Damron-

"Five doesn't even exist."

My principal put a self-evaluation sheet in my box today. There were four categories and you were supposed to give yourself a number: 4 being "proficient and competent" and 1 being "needs improvement" so to speak. I filled it out and brought it to him during my prep period. I asked him if there was anything else I needed to fill out. I had given myself a 3, then a 4, then a 3. The last category was "Professionalism" and I felt like I could give myself a good score on that one. Well, what do you know, I gave myself a 5.
So when my principal was looking over the self-evaluation, he said, "You gave yourself a five. Five doesn't even exist." I quickly responded by saying, "It does in my book!" He just laughed and said, "Maybe we should make you the poster child or something." I told him that he should probably frame that paper.
We got a pretty good laugh out of that, but when I saw him later that day, I just help up five fingers and pointed to myself. He just laughed. So basically, I'm so good I'm not even on the scale.
At least that's what I tell myself. ;)

-Ms. Damron-

Lagoon tomorrow!!!

Don't worry. Tomorrow I'm going to Lagoon as a teacher chaperone. HECK. YES. I stinking love Lagoon. And I'm excited to go with my wonderful 8th graders. I will miss them so much. The 7th graders can be endearing...but for the most part, I love my 8th graders more. I made my 8th grade classes take class photos and they weren't all that happy about it, but still. I love pictures and I'm planning on making a cute scrapbook and writing memories about various students. I would put them up on this blog, but I can't due to privacy laws.
Two students in my second period, I call them the bromance boys because they have the craziest relationship, weren't even looking in the picture. So during 7th period I called them down to get a picture of them. They are so funny. They know they have me wrapped around their finger, but it's okay. One of the 7th grade girls in that class period asked me why I didn't act like that around them. I told her I play favorites HARD CORE. (My 7th period is...hmm...tricky to say the least.)

I can't believe this week is half over. I was not looking forward to Monday or Tuesday because they were still "academic days," but I knew that most of my kids would be passing their classes and they wouldn't have any other homework to work on, so what were we going to do for 85 minutes? Free time on the computer I guess. Sheesh. I did help a few kids pull up their grades at the last minute. I had one student stay in my class during my prep period and get the rest of his assignments completed. I told him he should be proud of himself because he worked really hard.
**Interesting story about him actually. We'll call him George Washington in case I need to use his name again. Yesterday I pulled him out of his 3rd period science class to come work in my class. He was taking a test and the classroom was total chaos. There was no way he was going to get that test done...and done well. It was practically a party in there and he was just sitting at his desk staring off into space. So when I came into the room and told him he was coming with me, he said, "Yes!"
I told him to do his very best on his science test because the more problems he got right, the less test corrections he would have to do. Well, he got a 72% on his test!!! I made the biggest deal out of it. (He hasn't passed a single science test in months.) With the re-works, he got a B on his test. I was so proud of him.
Well, after we finished completing assignments during my prep period, I was rambling about how great he was and how he should be excited and proud of himself. He wasn't sounding that excited though, so I said, "George Washington! Show some excitement and appreciation! I helped you pass like three classes." He then said, quietly and meekly, "I got one up by myself." I had to pause because he was right. How dare I take credit. He did the work and I was so proud of him.
I hope that I never take credit for something that my students accomplish. They need to hear positive feedback and they need to know that they can get their grades up by themselves and they can do well in school. They can do it!

-Ms. Damron-

Mr. Christen

Another first year teacher, Mr. Christen, teaches 7th grade science. He's a pretty good friend and we always enjoy sharing stories. He's also great about covering IEPs if I need him at the last minute. Love that man! Anyway, during one IEP I let him look at my computer to see the IEP. When the IEP ended, he said, "You're going to want to look at your computer."

This is what I found:

I am Miss Damron and I think I am cool. Unfortunately I must live with the fact that I am not as cool as Mr. Christen. Oh, how I wish I could be as cool as Mr. Christen. I sure hope that he never finds this secret note about my desire to be as cool as him.


Sniff, sniff.


Adieu.

Is that great or what?

The students all love him because he's such a fun teacher. Some students in the computer classes worked with photoshop and used his picture to make this little gem:

He told me about this picture and said that he was walking down the hall and just saw it. Talk about a shocker! It made me laugh.

I'm so grateful for wonderful teachers who are also my friends. :)

-Ms. Damron-

Last. IEP. Done.

Yesterday (Tuesday, May 15) I finished my last IEP.

YYYYEEEEEEESSSSSS!

It was quite the day though. I started off the morning with an IEP at 7:30. I learned a good lesson because when I got there I explained to the parent that the school psychologist wouldn't be able to attend and the parent was pretty bummed because he likes the insight that the pysch brings. I offered to re-schedule, but he said that since we were all gathered together, we might as well hold the IEP. Shoot. Next time I'll be better at communicating and making sure that the parent is fully aware of the situation.
The IEP went a little into first period, but only about ten-fifteen minutes. One of the paras watched the class until I got there. :)

Then after school I had another IEP. I hadn't written that IEP though, so I spent my prep period with the student whose IEP I was holding. I don't have her in class, so I had to give her several worksheets to check her progress. Poor girl. It took a good half hour or more! Because that took a lot of my prep period, I ended up writing most of the IEP during my lunch, then sneaking away for a few minutes during 7th period to finish it.
When I set up the IEP, mom told me that she works until 3:00, so she would rush over as soon as she could (she said maybe 3:10). Don't worry. I waited out by the main office until 3:30 with the 8th grade school counselor, Dr. Summers. The poor man waited forever with me, but sadly he had to leave at 3:30. I had given up, when all of a sudden, one of the paras, Lisa, called me and said that mom was by the main office. This was at 3:40pm.
Lucky for me (and mom!), Boyd, the vice principal, was still there. I can't hold IEPs without an LEA (if you really care what that means, you can ask me personally), so I would have had to re-schedule with mom after she finally got there.
While I was walking with mom to get Mrs. Scott, a general ed English teacher, mom was very confused and asked why we had to have so many people at the meeting. I explained that we always have an LEA, general ed teacher, and Special Ed teacher...She said that she had never had that many people at these meetings before.
Umm...it's required by law...so I sure hope that she had all of those people at previous meetings!
Because Mrs. Scott had a student in her classroom, and Boyd was supposed to be somewhere else by that time, we had a more...unconventional IEP and held it on a bench in the hall! I flew threw the IEP, got signatures, then everyone was dismissed! Yikes. Mom and I chatted for a few minutes after, but still. I felt a little unsure about everything, but if mom was happy, then it was all okay!

I was just so relieved that I FINISHED!!! Some sort of celebration is definitely in order.

-Ms. Damron-

Most Awesome-est Teacher Ever

The other day, that same student who told me "Thank-you," said,

"Good-bye most awesome-est teacher ever," when he was leaving the classroom the other day. Love him.

-Ms. Damron-

"Thank-you"

Yesterday was a fairly horrible day. In first period, one of my students absolutely refused to do any work. He played with his "finger boards" the ENTIRE period. In my second period, two boys were being totally disrespectful: throwing pencils at each other, throwing paper and binders, not following directions, totally off-task, punching each other...Ug. Plus, second period was just a little rowdy in general.
To make things better, I had three volunteers from BYU in my classroom. How embarrassing! I had warned them that second period was kind of crazy, but when all the students had left, they said, "We don't know how you would have managed without us!"
Yeah...it gets tricky.
Third period I didn't get to do the lesson I had prepared because one of the students was missing. There are only four students in the class, so when one is missing, it's a big deal. So I had them to do some other things. PLUS time I felt like I was running from student to student and not accomplishing anything. Fourth period was much better, but by that time I was just tired! I wanted to call in sick and go home and get in bed!

This morning I had to intervene. I couldn't have another day like yesterday! So I said a very heartfelt prayer and asked that the non-compliant student in first period would do work and the two boys in second period would be good...etc.
Guess what?! (I'll bet you don't even have to guess, we all know prayer works!) Today was wonderful. That student in first period did THREE assignments. And they were poetry assignments! He wrote...well, I wrote while he dictated and played with his finger boards...two haikus, two quantrains, and a free verse (which is 16 lines if you didn't know). I was really impressed. Second period the two boys hardly talked to each other and everyone seemed to be on-task! I even got to help a couple of students study because I wasn't running around getting assignments for kids, answering questions, and keeping students on-task.

During second period, one of the particularly naughty boys asked if I could pull him out of his 5th period (art) so that he could work on assignments. I told him I would think about it. After lunch, he found me and pestered me again. I told him he should do his assignments during Resource Learning and PLUS time. He still wanted to work in my classroom though, so I told him I would pull him out half way through the period.
Another student needed to finish a math assignment before tomorrow and he worked on science for the entire period that he was in my classroom. So, I had two students in my classroom during my prep. Some teachers might complain, but it actually made me happy that they feel comfortable coming to me for help.

So here's Tender Moment #1: While I was at my desk and the student doing his math assignments was...doing his math assignment, he looked in my direction and said something. I thought he had a math question, so I asked what he needed. He said, "Oh - I don't need anything. I just wanted to say thank-you." My heart did a little happy dance right there. It was so sincere and cute. :)

Tender Moment #2: Then after school, I was driving to an appointment and I saw the second student who was working in my classroom. He said, "Thanks for letting me come into your room."

Two very simple statements, but they made me feel good about my day today. Teaching really is the best. :)

-Ms. Damron-

Warning: Inappropriate content

The title is not a joke. My 7th period today was...inappropriate? haha I want to leave details out of this story, but you need to know exactly what happened to get the best understanding of just how awesome my 7th period was today.

After the Daily Language Review, I passed out a Reading Enrichment packet. The topic is "Did you know" and it includes some fun facts. The BEFORE READING section asks students to write five interesting facts. I googled "Did you know" and pulled up a page for students to copy some interesting facts from. I did this yesterday morning with a great website. When I pulled this website up, I quickly scanned the page, but of course my students found this comment first:

Coffee drinkers have more sex than non-coffee drinkers.  They also enjoy it more.

 Awesome. My students totally lost control and were cracking up over this. I even got a, "Ms. Damron? Do you drink coffee?" Oh my goodness. I scrolled up so that they couldn't see that fact anymore. As I was waiting for my students to write down their facts, a student said, "There's more inappropriate stuff on this page." For the love! As I was reading through, I found this fact:

The tongue is the only body muscle that is attached from one end only.  (Please don't send me corrections to add the penis; the penis is not a muscle).

 Yup. That happened.


At that point, I left the page and found the original website from the day before with the innocent did-you-know facts. You can imagine the uproar when they read this fact:


Did you know armadillos have 4 babies at a time and are all the same sex?


My students wouldn't even listen to the explanation that in this case, "sex" means "gender." The student who spotted the word went up to the board and pointed to the word "sex" and then started shouting, at the top of his lungs, "SEX!!! SEEEEX! SEEEEEEEX!"


Are you joking? ARE YOU JOKING? Did that really happen?
Yes. Yes it did.


By the time all of the students had copied down five facts, three of the students were whispering into each others' ears. Well, you know that if the content so far was not that appropriate, then they certainly were not whispering appropriate things. So at this point I separated the entire class. I had each of them take a chair and go to a random place in the classroom. They couldn't touch or play with anything, and if they said one word or made a sound, they got a lunch detention.
I explained to them that it was pretty sad if I had to physically separate them to different places of the classroom to get them to listen and pay attention to what I was saying. I set a timer for ten minutes and then went around the classroom filling out lunch detention slips and setting them near the student. If a student talked, they would sign the lunch detention slip.
It was DEAD silent. Two of the Aides walked in during the "time out." Lisa said she almost started laughing because it was somewhat comical. After the ten minutes of silence I had them write a Rule Essay and answer the following questions:


1. What do you think you did/did not do wrong?
2. How  you should have acted --
3. What will you do in the future?


They were not happy about the essay. When we came back together as a group they were very respectful though.
All I can say is that I learned my lesson about screening websites before I let students look at them. Wow.


-Ms. Damron-

Only two more Mondays left...

That's right folks. Less than three weeks of school left. I just thought I'd share. :)

Vultures

While I had a sub a couple of weeks ago, I had my students do a worksheet on a study skill: drawing pictures to help you understand what you read. Students were supposed to read a short passage, then draw some pictures to help them retain the information. The paragraph was about vultures.
I don't know if my students actually read the passage or not, but the pictures they drew were very interesting. My first period is full of boys, so they drew a lot of blood and included helicopters, bombs, and even alien spaceships. My seventh period was very lazy and didn't really do the assignment. When I told them it was a grade and they needed three separate pictures, they re-did the assignment. One of the girls drew this cute picture:

 

 Notice the ridiculous drawing at the very top, and then the three drawings underneath. I thought the drawing was so cute that I had to show you!

-Ms. Damron-

Switch

This past week has been full of...energy? I don't quite know how to explain it. I'm pretty sure spring time does something completely insane to middle school students. They are all crazy! Wednesday I had the craziest 6th period. I was late to class because I was asking my facilitator a question about an IEP I had after school. She talked to me for a couple of minutes after the bell, so I was zooming to my classroom when I ran into the parent and student of the meeting I had scheduled after school! The mom had a doctor's appointment that she forgot about, so she wanted to re-schedule. Awesome. I really needed to get this IEP done in order to stay in compliance with the law and whatnot, so we scheduled it for the next morning at 7:30am.
By the time I got back to my classroom, I would say it had been about ten minutes. Oops. My students had gotten their materials out, but they were all laughing and giggling about these drinks called "Switch" drinks. Apparently one of them had "bought out" the a la carte and had about 5 (maybe more) of these drinks in his backpack. He was giving them out to the other students and so at least four of them were drinking these sparkling fruit drinks:

My heavens. I don't think the drinks are caffeinated, but holy cow were my students hyper and totally incapable of accomplishing anything. We got through our journal entry and the daily review, but after that, I had to relinquish control and just enjoy the show. There was no controlling them! I didn't want to teach a lesson that none of them would retain!
During their craziness, we covered quite a few topics. I don't remember how we got onto the topic of girlfriends, but one of the students said the following,

"Girlfriends are like mustaches...you have to shave her..."

There was a delayed reaction, but everyone started cracking up. This poor kid was like, "No! That's not what I meant! I meant you have to take care of her like you have to take care of a mustache..."

There was no hope. He definitely got mocked for that one. All I can say is that I hope the next three weeks go by quickly because I feel like I'm losing more and more control because spring fever is hitting everyone (especially me!).

-Ms. Damron-

What makes a good parent?

Remember when I talked about the book Surviving the Applewhites?
Well, while we read the book, we filled out a study guide. One of the questions asked about what makes a good parent (I think I've mentioned this in a previous post). These were some of the answers my students in 7th period gave:

-"A good parent is that she feeds you trust you and gives you the freedom she thinks she can trust you with."
-"Well there are good parents because they have fun together, they play togither."
-"They should be nice and fun!"
-"to be a good paret you have to be hard working and fun but with disaplen [discipline]"
-"A good parent is if they are nice to them and have a good job to by them something."
-"They will make you do chors [chores]"
-"The best parents are the ones who don't care what you do as long as you don't get in trouble."

I kept the spelling and grammar errors because it makes them so much more endearing. :)
Aren't these great though. I thought you might enjoy them.

-Ms. Damron-

Sunny "D"

March 19 - 23 was Girls' Week. Monday - Friday there were various dress-up days for the girls only. The next week was Boys' Week and they did the same thing. (Just for the record, the girls were so much better at dressing up then the boys!) My little section of classrooms and teachers was the BEST. Erin Radandt, Lisa Fisher, and I dressed up almost every day. We were a fun corner to walk by. Wednesday or Thursday was "hip-hop" day and I couldn't really come to school dressed like this:

Although now that I think about it, I wish I had found this picture earlier because it's not too bad (except for the exposed midriff, that it NOT even an option with me). ANYWAY, I did my best to find some baggy sweatpants to wear along with a big, trucker-style hat. Fortunately, my sister hooked me up. After school, I took some pictures with Erin Radandt. It was hilarious describing what "hip hop" meant now-a-days. She was thinking hip-hop meant 50s or 60s. When her students told her that hip-hop meant gangster, she didn't believe them! Lisa and I quickly filled her in while doing the gangster walk through the halls. It was hilarious.

Here's what came out of our explanation. She beat me hands down.

Isn't she great? I stinking love this woman.
Well, earlier that day we also had a practice fire drill or something like that. When we went outside, my classroom lined up next to K. Christen's class  (it's all alphabetical). We were joking about giving me a gangster name or something and so we had this converstation:

Kenyon: Heavy D.
Me: I'm still a girl!
Kenyon: Okay - Skinny D.
Me: Wait - Sunny D!

And that is how my nickname, Sunny D came about! I think we may have forgotten about it already, but later that day Kenyon was talking to our principal in the middle of the hall and he shouted out, "Yo Sunny D!" I turned around and made a little peace sign or something and Kenyon and my principal just started cracking up. Good times!

-Ms. Damron-

Are you saying Ms. Damron is a hot babe?

Catchy title, eh?
This is such a great story.

So my dear friend, Kenyon Christen, told me this story Friday after school. He was texting in between classes and one of his old students (and a current student of mine) stopped by and asked him who he was texting. Kenyon replied, "Hot babes." This student paused and said, "Oooo. Are you texting Ms. Damron?" Without skipping a beat, Kenyon said, "Are you saying Ms. Damron is a hot babe?" The student wigged out and said, "Wait! What? No! NO!"

Bahaha I'm so finding and teasing that student tomorrow!

What if you don't remember what it's like to have parents?

In my 7th grade Resource Learning classes, I've been reading a book called Surviving the Applewhites. The idea to read this book came at the end of Term 2 when I was having some serious issues with bullying due to a particularly difficult student who belittled the other students regularly. I was looking up lessons on bullying using the internet and I stumbled upon that book. I immediately bought it on Amazon, read it, and then started reading about a chapter a day. The students took to the book and really enjoyed it. I was a little worried they wouldn't enjoy it because middle schoolers can be tricky, but they liked it (for the most part).

We finally finished the book this week. I meant to finish it last term, but the end of the term was crazy and I didn't want to take up precious homework help time reading that book. The kids were pretty excited to finish the book this week. We also finished filling out their study guide that goes along with it. One of the questions asked about the parents in the book and then asked what makes a good parent. When I opened up this question for a discussion, I got several things:

-doesn't make me do too much around the house like mopping or the dishes, but I can help with my brother and sister

-has routines

-let's me do fun things

-no curfew

-is pretty chill

-trusts me

-helps me take responsibility and learn things for when I go out on my own

It was a pretty good conversation, but one boy innocently raised his hand and asked this question, "What if you don't remember what it's like to have parents?" For a second there I didn't know what to say. This boy's mother died a little while ago, and dad has been out of the picture for a while now. He lives with his aunt now. I told him to write about whoever takes care of him.

The whole conversation made me think about my own parents though. I feel so blessed to have such amazing parents! They love me and they let me know it. They taught me to take care of myself. They go out of their way to help me. We had certain rules in the house and we followed them. Etc. I owe my parents so much because they helped shape and mold me. I love them dearly and I hope they know how grateful I am for what they have done for me.

-Ms. Damron-

So I do have this job next year?

Could Friday have come at a better time? I feel like I have been waiting and waiting for it to be Friday! I have just not gotten enough sleep this week and it has really affected me!

This morning began a little hectic because Mrs. Radandt's daughter had an emergency C-section last night, so she had to take a personal leave day. Normally that would be fine, but because it's BYU's graduation, she couldn't get a sub! (There are so many students at BYU who sub. Who would have known?) I hadn't even thought about that, but now I know! Anyway, we knew she wouldn't be able to get a sub, so one of the paras ended up watching over her class. She did a great job, but that meant that she was in there all day. The other two paras were helping with the CRT (end-of-year) testing, so they were busy all day too. That meant I was a lone all day. Now, I am the teacher, so it's not a big deal, except that I teach four homework-help classes. That means I have to try to help however many students I have in my class do their homework all at the same time. It is not easy! You would think that they would love the help with their homework and they would cherish their time in my class. In fact, you would think that they would be so grateful for the opportunity to get help on their homework, that they would be perfectly on-task, never waste time, wait patiently when I'm helping another student...

Yeah right. You would think I'm torturing them when I DEMAND that they get homework out and get to work. (Demanding is the only way to get them to do homework these days.)

The day actually went fairly smoothly considering I was on my own. 4th period can be tricky though because it's my largest class. I was in the middle of helping about four students with a science packet when my principal walked in my classroom. Don't worry though, I was managing all of my students and they were being so obedient and quietly working on homework...

Oh. Gottcha! There were three girls in the corner who were "reading"/TALKING and then a boy at a computer goofing off doing who knows what (I had asked him to read his book) and another boy drawing a picture informing me that he was drawing what he was thinking and it would save the world. (Just a side note, when I told him he needed to be doing homework because he was failing four out of seven of his classes, he told me that doing his homework would not help the world. I informed him that drawing that picture would not help him pass his classes, which is what he was supposed to do.)

To say the least, I was a little stressed when my principal walked in. Of all the days! haha Oh well. My students were at least being quiet and it wasn't complete chaos, which was good.

On my way to lunch, I stopped by the office to drop something off. My principal was in there and started talking to me. This is how the conversation went:

Mr. Swenson: Hey! I submitted your name...

me: Oh really? I was going to ask you about that.

Mr. Swenson: You were? Are we talking about the same thing?

me: I don't know. What are you talking about?

Mr. Swenson: Summer school. Every summer some 6th graders go to summer school to help with the transition into middle school. We generally have one teacher from Centennial and then a teacher from the elementary school teach. In the past Erin Radandt, Mary Buynak, and other people have taught those classes. I thought you would be a good candidate.

me: Oh man! I wish I could but I'll be gone in June. :( I was referring to my position next year. I got an email from the district saying I need to re-apply for the position because I'm a first-year teacher. If my principal likes me though, it should be an easy process.

Mr. Swenson: Oh. I have never heard of this. I thought you were an automatic shoe-in for next year.

me: Oh really? So I do have this job next year?

Mr. Swenson: YES! I didn't even get that email so I don't know what you're talking about. This last year they did things differently. It was the first year in my 11 years as principal that I have not had a say in who I got to hire for Special Ed.

me: Wow. Well, I'm glad to know I have a job next year! I'll forward you that email so you will know what they were talking about.

Mr. Swenson: Great!

I felt much better after that conversation. :)

The rest of the day went pretty well. And it's Friday, so that means it's always a good day.

-Ms. Damron-

Why didn't we think of this earlier?

This past Tuesday I had to get a sub because I had an appointment. My friend Katie Thevenin has been subbing since she graduated from BYU in December. I really wanted her to sub for me because I didn't want to be gone the whole day because I hate writing sub plans, and there are some things that are just easier for me to do than for the sub to do.
So, I figured if Katie subbed, then I could come back when I was done and it wouldn't be weird or awkward. (I always feel weird coming back into my classroom when there's a sub. It's like, what do we do now?!)
Well, it worked out just that way! I came back part way through 6th period, and Katie and I manned the classroom together. It's so great having two adults in the classroom. The students were typing out paragraphs for their blogs, and it is really hard for just one person to walk around and help edit every paragraph. Katie was doing a great job when I came in though.

Katie could have gone home, but she hung out with me! The great thing is that she got paid for her subbing job, but then it ended up that we just got to spend time together. So let me explain this one more time in case you're not understanding how cool this was: KATIE GOT PAID TO SPEND TIME WITH ME. -ish- More like she got paid while spending time with me, but you get the idea. How wonderful is that?

We ended up talking after school for about an hour, during which we took these pictures:


Fun, yes? We weren't having a particularly serious/smiley day.

We decided we wanted a treat, so we drove to The Chocolate on State Street. We ate a terribly delicious cazookie after which I wanted to die from pure happiness. I love my dear friend and I'm trying to figure out how I can be gone again, yet come back and have Katie help me. It was such a great idea!

-Ms. Damron-

Running on less than FOUR hours of sleep...

Welcome back from spring break folks!

It was such a glorious week. April 9 - 13 were some beautiful, school-free days! I flew to Arizona Friday night, April 6th and then flew back to Utah Friday night, April 13th. I don't think a week has ever gone by so quickly before! I may or may not have shed a few tears on the plane ride home back to Utah...

A little background on Sunday nights: I almost never fall asleep quickly on Sunday nights because I sleep in Sunday morning. I dread going to bed Sunday nights because I know I will just lie there wishing I could fall asleep while the clock slowly gets closer to morning. Well, last night I knew I would have a hard time falling asleep because I got on a pretty bad sleeping schedule during spring break. Don't worry though - I still was not asleep around 2:30 in the morning! ARG. It was VERY frustrating and when I woke up this morning I felt ill. Somehow I've survived the day so far, but I have two, long block periods left, so we'll see how well it goes.

WolfPack today was funny though. One of my cute 7th grade girls asked me how my dating life was. Then she asked if I had a boyfriend. Finally, she asked me if I would like her to hook me up because she has some cute older cousins. The only ages I remember her mentioning are 25 and 34. The 34-year-old apparently just got a job and finally moved out of his parent's basement. The 25-year-old was just let go by his girlfriend because he hasn't gone to college or served a mission. Apparently he has big muscles though. And he can sing. He tried out for American Idol, but sadly didn't make it.
Did that whole scenario make you laugh as hard as I did (in my mind - because out loud would have been rude)? Anyway, it's been a great day already. (And I'm not being sarcastic.)

For the last ten minutes of WolfPack, some of my students convinced me to look up some youtube videos on my laptop. We got a good laugh out of some Glozell videos (tik tok, bruno mars' beautiful, your love is my drug) and then the video "Bromance," which was quite entertaining.

Just two more periods!!!

-Ms. Damron-