One full week then a long weekend...

It just looked like a fly flew out of my computer. I don't think it did, but that's what I saw. And since there are no nother witnesses, I guess what I say goes. So a fly just flew out of my computer. I can't help it that I live in a place where the flies don't die of cold, or migrate, or do whatever it is that flies do during winter. They are always around. I feel like I shouldn't have to worry about bugs in January. Oh but I do.

Another day at school. I don't really know what to say about that. The funniest thing that has happened since we've been back at break is that we got new bathroom doors. I guess they are really hard to open, because it's all the kids have been talking about. Fewer students have asked to go to the bathroom because they are not sure if they are going to be able to unlock to doors. (I'm not talking about the traditional school bathroom stall door... my school used to be an open-air wall-free sort of establishment, so all of the bathrooms are individual, with separate keys, etc.) There has been more talk about the bathroom doors than about the supposed lesbians in the 8th grade. Maybe that's why we got the new doors. It gives everyone something else to talk about.

FCAT prep is in full swing, but I think I'm just going to ignore the fact that testing is coming up in February. I wonder if my students would start asking why we're not doing FCAT practice. I'm not sure they would notice.

Tomorrow in class we're going to work on oral fluency, and since my students can't really read out loud, and it pains me to listen to them, it should be a fantastic way to spend class. But since they hate to read out loud, especially when other people are listening, maybe they will stay quiet tomorrow. Let's talk about wishful thinking for a second.

Back to school

I made it back to sunny Florida. I don't think I've decided if that's a good thing or a bad thing, it just it what it is. Break was too short, and I didn't get to do everything that I wanted. I forgot how pretty much the whole continent closes around Christmas and New Year's. Those Europeans love their holidays!

I went to a few Christmas markets in Germany. It was fun, but so cold, that of course I had to stay warm by drinking hot spiced wine. It was really the only solution to fight the chill. On Christmas, my friend Shannon, her fiance, and his parents and I stayed at Shannon's and make a turkey, potatoes, gravy, vegetables, etc. all with a side of German beer. It was cold in her apartment too. :o)

The five of us did a little bit of traveling around the area, then I said bye and went back on over to France. It was cold there too. I was glad that it didn't snow like it did last year during break. I had to walk through 8 inches of snow last year, but this time the snow stayed away, at least while I was there. For New Year's Eve, I went to my friend Bruno's mom's house, and the two of them and his mom's boyfriend had dinner. Bruno and I got there at 8, dinner started around 9, and was still going on past midnight. Typical French meal. We missed midnight, but realized that it was the new year by 12:30 or so... Happy 2007. We had an impromptu dance party and drank champagne, so I think that counts as celebrating the new year.

I got back here late Tuesday night, went to work yesterday for a teacher work day. The students came back today. I can't say that I really missed them, and I can't say that we really got very much accomplished today. At least when the principal came into my classroom, they were working on a vocabulary word tree, which was pretty much their only activity. They couldn't get it together.

One student today was throwing pieces of eraser, and I gave him a warning in his agenda. He looked me in the eye and said he didn't throw anything. I told him I saw him do it. He said it wasn't him. And he actually believed what he was saying. He really thought he was telling the truth. I saw him throw eraser bits all around. One even hit me. I don't understand how he really thought he was telling the truth. That's pretty much how my whole day went today. Lots of I didn't do it and I wasn't talking. Yes you did. And yes you were.