I love to laugh!

Cute kid story.

Today, they were finishing up maps they made of fairy tale lands. One of the groups had creatively made a lake out of bubble wrap. It had little tiny poofy orange balls on it. I asked the group if the poofy orange balls were meant to be there. This is the conversation that followed:

Girl: "Those are goldfish, Ms. Croft." (very matter-of-fact)
I smile and chuckle--I thought it was imperceptible.
Girl: "Why did you smile?"
Boy: "She just laughs alot."

Pretty much sums up my life. :o)

Positivity

I'm getting really close to my last day of student teaching (it's 3 days away), which means I'm getting really close to what I have been dreading since I was a sophomore: Graduation. In order to keep myself from getting embarrassingly sad about "the day", I just keep thinking about all the great things that will come after I grow up. Here's what I focus on the most:

1. Affordable laundry. Yes, I am writing this as I wait for my load to dry after the dryer ate $1 of mine, and then I had to go get more quarters.

2. Readily accessibly laundry. I know that the machines are just down the elevator, but it's still a pain and prevents me from washing clothes as often as I should.

3. Slightly more counter space. The current 2 square feet in the kitchen are no longer cutting it.

4. Dishwasher. I hate washing dishes almost as much as I hate doing laundry. Despite the impression my dislikes may give off, I do quite enjoy cleanliness.

5. Parking. If you've ever tried to park at Vandy, you know what I mean.

6. Schedules. Student teaching has given me a schedule, but that's all about to go away. I get much more done when I wake up at the same time daily (and have a reason to do so).

7. Oh, yeah. Income.

The only problem with this thinking is that I begin thinking about all the things I will miss about college. It's inevitable. But, for now, I will enjoy what's left and keep thinking about the positives, as sparse as they may be.



Opening day countdown: 21 days

C'mon, Congress

ESPN's top story on Tuesday was about congressional hearings that hadn't even happened yet. Not the fact that pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training, or that Livan Hernandez, arguably one of the best pitchers in the game, signed with a new team. Nope. I was about an old pitcher who may or may not have had a couple of injections of steroids several years ago. I'm sad for ESPN that they have to report this crap. They can't focus on the reason the sports network exists--to present and promote sports in America. Instead, they have turned into a type of CourTV (which now is called "TruTV"?!).

While I feel for them, the ones I really worry about are those Congressmen who feel there is nothing better to do with their time than to hunt out sports figures. (Let's not forget about Arlen Specter looking into the New England Patriots and SpyGate.) I have a list of 10 things they would be better served spending time on:

1. No Child Left Behind
2. Economy
3. Homelessness
4. Immmigration
5. Health Care
6. Poverty
7. Global Warming
8. Crime Prevention
9. Unemployment
10. "War on Terror"

You might say that many of these things overlap. That's the point. By addressing one of these things, they could have an effect on many others. By addressing Roger Clemens' supposed use of steroids, they affect........high-end drug use? I'm gonna venture that our crashing economy is a more pressing issue.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that the Patriots should be able to secretly tape other teams' practices, NOR do I think that steroid use should be tolerated in any setting. I DO, however, think that these things can be handled internally, within the private organizations. Congress can spend its time much more wisely. Even I know that.

One thing I would like you know about me is...

When I first got to my placement, the teacher had the students write paragraphs to me about themselves. She gave the prompts for the four sentences they had to write ("My name is...", "My favorite color is...", "I like to...", and my favorite, "One thing I would like you to know about me is...").

I thought that you might enjoy reading what my students wanted me to know about them, so here we go....

- One thing i would like you to know about me is you is great.
- One thing I Would like you to Know abut (about) Me is I play with barzs (Bratz).
- One thing I would like you to know about me I am good.
- One Thing I would like you to know about me is i like to dochors (do chores).
- One thing I would like you to know about me is that I am nice.
- One thing would like you to know about me is i am good in school.
- One thing I would like you to know about me is I love to play my laptop.
- one thing I like would to you to know about me is I like play in the snow. (yes, that's how he wrote it)
- One thing I would like you to know about me is I like te (to) eat bananas and orange's.
- One thing I would like you to know about me is I watah (watch) TV.
- One thing I would like you to know adout (about) me is I have three sister and one brother.
- One thing I would like you to now about me is I watch t.v.
- One thing I would like you to know about me is i love to read.
- One thing I would like you to know about me is I play a psp games!!!! (Playstation)
- One thing I would like you to Know about me is I have a bro.
- One thing I would like you to konw (know) about me is I like to ride my bike.
- One thing I would like you to know about me is I like to play games.
- On thing I would like you to Know about me is a (I) like to read book.
- One thing I would like you to no (know) about me is you ar (are) prtty (pretty).
- One thing I would I like you to know about me is I woch (watch) tv.

I'm gonna miss them..... :-(

Cute Kid Story

I've told this story to many people, but just feel like it's too good to keep to myself. We were doing activities for Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday last week, specifically talking about dreams and how to achieve them. This particular activity required the students to fill in two blanks. One blank said "My dream is to:" and the other said "I can help my dream come true by:". So, one super cute 7 year old (who I'm technically not supposed to name on the internet) filled his in.

My dream is to: be an NBA basketball player.
I can help my dream come true by: wishing on a wishing star.

Ummmmm....yeah! Okay, he had to ask me how to spell basketball and player and wishing, but this is still one of the most precious stories ev-er! He's even cuter in real life.

Darlin' I love you, but give me Park Avenue

Remember this?! Okay, old times on TV Land, but I seriously love this show.

1 down, 8 to go

I've successfully completed my first week of student teaching! Sometimes staying awake in the mornings while I just sit there and listen to my mentor teacher teach.... But, I made it. This week, we have today off for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (hooray for places celebrating federal holidays!) and tomorrow we are going on a FIELD TRIP! We're going to see Junie B. Jones at the Nashville Children's Theater. I'm pumped. If you've never read any Junie B., I would certainly have to recommend it. They're chapter books that any normally functioning adult could read in about 45 minutes, and are well worth the time. Wednesday-Friday I will be teaching my first lessons on "The Verb 'be'". Yeah. I'm hoping it turns out more exciting than it sounds. I'll keep you updated.

Maybe someday I'll think of something better than life updates to post about, but this is really all I have time for now. I'll keep you updated!