Sweaty forehead, sweaty pits, frequent showers to smell and feel better, and outside temperatures peaking to the 100's have arrived. The other day, one of my students asked after making an observation when I raised my hands up, "Ms. Durocher, why do you have wet spots on your shirt?" A clever question....now where's the clever response? I have a hard time coming up with the quick humorous answers. Needless to say, there was a short Science discussion on sweating and its function. These kids are very blunt and that's not even the worst question I've been asked. A couple of times, I've been asked, "Where do babies come from?" Luckily even without preparing for a question like that, I had a quick reply, "That would be a good question for you to ask Mom and Dad."
It's fascinating and scary about the things these 3rd graders know. Almost 2 weeks ago we did a ladybug unit in writing and science. One day, we went out to our school's field and collected ladybugs for an afternoon observation. Brought them back to the classroom and I thought there wouldn't be any major problems. One slight factor. I told the groups they could get up to three ladybugs in their observation cup. What I should have told them was to get only 1 per cup. Well, it must have been mating season for the ladybugs because students were shouting out, "Ms. Durocher, our ladybugs are having sex!" The whole classroom heard it. I pushed through the gathering crowd of students and had to have a mini-discussion about not using that word. Frankly, I didn't knows what to say but a thought came to my mind. I told the other groups to return to their seats and I quietly shared with the group whose ladybugs were making quite the scene, how in nature this is called mating. I left it at that. Later on I reflected on my reactions and felt grateful for Heavenly Father giving me the thoughts to say and react how I did considering the tricky situation. Being a teacher is sometimes almost like parenting but possibly trickier as I have to careful put my thoughts into words in a way parents won't find it inappropriate. Whew! I sure was glad when the ladybugs were released. At the same time, my sudden nerves for the uncertainty of events became relaxed too.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
A Trip to the Beach
Last weekend, Dereck and I had the wonderful chance to take a road trip to San Diego, California. It was a beautiful day at the beach. We drove in Friday night with Dereck's friend, Aaron and spent the night in Hotel Circle. The next day, we spent a gorgeous sunny day on the beach, board walk, and even went to the local park & swap. It was awesome to leave our worries and stresses of work back in Phoenix.
It was nice to be able to split the costs of gas with another person. The drive was even more entertaining with another person's humor besides Dereck's or my weird humor.
Although the trip wasn't very long, it was nice and relaxing. Dereck and I both felt rejuvenated after this trip.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Our date night with extras (aka students)
So it has been almost a month since my last post. Nothing majorly exciting happening in our lives. Of late, each Friday, Dereck and I have been trying to have a planned date nigh. A chance for us to get out of the house and purposely spending time together. If we didn't do this, our date would consist of watching a TV show together while I am grading paperwork or doing something work related.
Last Friday's date, let's just say it wasn't just us. We were both chaperons for a field trip. The 6-8th graders from Dereck's school got to attend the Rookie All Star basketball game. We both had a great time and even though we were chaperons, we still got to spend time together and have our groups sit near each other. It was a long night but we had a great time.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Dereck's Father
I forgot to mention, yesterday we got a call from Dereck's mom. They moved his dad out of the hospital and back into a care center. Things appear to be going well.
Rocky Road
What a rough and rocky day! After taking a long day at school with meetings, plus having a head cold, a nose that can't make up it's mind about whether to be runny or stuffed up, and then attempting a nap but being awoken up by two rowdy dogs, I was grumpy tonight. I mean, majorly grumpy with a psychotic emotional breakdown. Maybe I just needed a good cry. Let me tell you a few crazy things that happened today.
Today was our 100th day of school. It started on a pleasant road and I enjoyed working with my reading class and having a few fun 100th day of school activities. Only the students didn't think they were fun, except for maybe one of the activities. Then the whining began. Ugh! I can't stand whining! The last portion of the school day was turned into silence in the classroom as I didn't want to hear anymore whining. Then I get to our staff meeting. Normally, we're contracted to stay until 3:30 for Friday afternoon meetings. We were there until 4:30. Grumpiness began to settle in on me. What a delight.
In hopes of preventing my grumpiness to spread to Dereck, I moved to our bed for a nap. I knew I should have kept the doggies out of the room, especially after they spotted the cat. Too late. I put Willy and Millie outside the bedroom and shut the door. Whiny (Whine + "ee" sound) Willy wasn't happy about that because Whisper, the cat, was still in the room. I gave up on the nap idea.
With my stomach grumbling, I moved to the kitchen. Grabbing the makings for BBQ sandwiches using leftover pot roast presented a new problem. It appears the pot roast may have gone bad. Okay, well how about grilled cheese sandwiches? Then another problem presented itself. We're out of bread. Ugh! This was after I had started preheating the oven and had frozen french fries on the pan. By the time these ideas were tossed out as options, what was I to do about the fries? With a long day of many things going bad, I melt down. Stepping outside on the porch for some fresh air promptly changed Dereck's focus from his video games to "What's wrong with Shannon?" I still don't understand why such petty and stupid things made me freak out. Thankfully, with a wonderful husband trying to think of anything to cheer me up, he decided...we'll go out for a quick bite to eat. At this time, the defrosted fries laying on the counter were in my mind. What to do with them? Dereck jokingly said, "Give some of them to the dogs." With that he threw a few to them. I went from Psychotic Shannon to Extremely Freaky Shannon and realized how much fun it was to toss a small portion of the fries on the ground. Boy, it made me feel so good. I don't understand why but it cracked me up. Such a stupid little thing made my day. I think Dereck was happier than I was because he knew he wouldn't have to deal with the grumpy Shannon the rest of the night.
Today was our 100th day of school. It started on a pleasant road and I enjoyed working with my reading class and having a few fun 100th day of school activities. Only the students didn't think they were fun, except for maybe one of the activities. Then the whining began. Ugh! I can't stand whining! The last portion of the school day was turned into silence in the classroom as I didn't want to hear anymore whining. Then I get to our staff meeting. Normally, we're contracted to stay until 3:30 for Friday afternoon meetings. We were there until 4:30. Grumpiness began to settle in on me. What a delight.
In hopes of preventing my grumpiness to spread to Dereck, I moved to our bed for a nap. I knew I should have kept the doggies out of the room, especially after they spotted the cat. Too late. I put Willy and Millie outside the bedroom and shut the door. Whiny (Whine + "ee" sound) Willy wasn't happy about that because Whisper, the cat, was still in the room. I gave up on the nap idea.
With my stomach grumbling, I moved to the kitchen. Grabbing the makings for BBQ sandwiches using leftover pot roast presented a new problem. It appears the pot roast may have gone bad. Okay, well how about grilled cheese sandwiches? Then another problem presented itself. We're out of bread. Ugh! This was after I had started preheating the oven and had frozen french fries on the pan. By the time these ideas were tossed out as options, what was I to do about the fries? With a long day of many things going bad, I melt down. Stepping outside on the porch for some fresh air promptly changed Dereck's focus from his video games to "What's wrong with Shannon?" I still don't understand why such petty and stupid things made me freak out. Thankfully, with a wonderful husband trying to think of anything to cheer me up, he decided...we'll go out for a quick bite to eat. At this time, the defrosted fries laying on the counter were in my mind. What to do with them? Dereck jokingly said, "Give some of them to the dogs." With that he threw a few to them. I went from Psychotic Shannon to Extremely Freaky Shannon and realized how much fun it was to toss a small portion of the fries on the ground. Boy, it made me feel so good. I don't understand why but it cracked me up. Such a stupid little thing made my day. I think Dereck was happier than I was because he knew he wouldn't have to deal with the grumpy Shannon the rest of the night.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Update on Dereck's father
Okay, so more has happened this week with Dereck's father. He looked in bad shape and it appeared the doctors were just going to let him die. He has congestive heart failure. In English, his heart is failing. They ended up sending him into surgery on Thursday. I'm glad to say he made it out of surgery safely and now has a pacemaker. Things are looking good right now. We hope for the best.
As for the rest of our lives, school has been a struggle this week. I remember the days of my youth, I hated returning to school after a nice break. The same is for me as the teacher. It felt like pulling teeth to get some instruction done. By the end of the week, we all looked forward to the weekend.
Yesterday, was very interesting. With one student that feels it's okay to run away from the classroom without my knowledge. Then he somehow escaped the office to enjoy the benefits of recess. Thankfully, I have great administrators who understands the situation and are great supporters and assistants of my classroom authority. Needless to say, if you asked me yesterday if I wanted to have kids....I would out rightly say for sure "No!" Yet, today is a new day. Hallelujah! I'm sure Monday will be fine with this interesting student.
As for the rest of our lives, school has been a struggle this week. I remember the days of my youth, I hated returning to school after a nice break. The same is for me as the teacher. It felt like pulling teeth to get some instruction done. By the end of the week, we all looked forward to the weekend.
Yesterday, was very interesting. With one student that feels it's okay to run away from the classroom without my knowledge. Then he somehow escaped the office to enjoy the benefits of recess. Thankfully, I have great administrators who understands the situation and are great supporters and assistants of my classroom authority. Needless to say, if you asked me yesterday if I wanted to have kids....I would out rightly say for sure "No!" Yet, today is a new day. Hallelujah! I'm sure Monday will be fine with this interesting student.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
A Dawn of Good News
Dereck's dad moved out of ICU. Yeah some good news! He is still in the hospital though.
With this week, I'm trying to go to sleep at a decent hour but after many nights staying up late...it's not working too well. The dogs are even going to sleep before I do. That's sad.
I've found my new favorite store. Too bad the prices are still a little higher even on the clearance section. You probably would have never guessed. Mom's "favorite" store....has now become a fun place to shop. Bra shopping...well, I used to dread it but now there's a new joy. This is definitely unusual as I hate shopping for clothes.
With this week, I'm trying to go to sleep at a decent hour but after many nights staying up late...it's not working too well. The dogs are even going to sleep before I do. That's sad.
I've found my new favorite store. Too bad the prices are still a little higher even on the clearance section. You probably would have never guessed. Mom's "favorite" store....has now become a fun place to shop. Bra shopping...well, I used to dread it but now there's a new joy. This is definitely unusual as I hate shopping for clothes.
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