Creeper

"Wow, Miss H! Creeper moved a lot!"  No, we didn't get a new class pet.  Creeper is the name we've given the rug that's in the reading corner.  For some reason, it likes to inch its way closer and closer to the desks.  This morning, my students' crates were actually set on top of it.  I really don't know how it's moving.  It could be the janitor moves it while vacuuming (he cleans Wed. nights) or it could be the way the rubber is on the back of it that causes it to move in a certain direction.  It's still a mystery!


My students' invention reports were due today.  Last week I gave them a list of things that were invented between 1900-1920 and they had to pick one and research how it got its start.  One girl liked the assignment so much, she did three!  Some pretty cool things were invented in the 20s: air conditioning, airplanes, cars, life savers, Hershey's chocolate bars, teddy bears, and the list goes on and on.  I'm excited to see what things they all found!


Yesterday's bell performance went pretty well.  They were really quiet for some reason... but everyone remembered to table damp at the beginning of the song.  While we played it, I thought, "Oh man, I hope this doesn't sound stupid this way.  I bet everyone thinks it sounds dumb.  Why did we change the song?"  But it was just me psychoanalyzing everything again.  One of the grandmas came up to me after church and was almost teary-eyed over our performance.  She was so glad we played recognizable songs (Onward Christian Soldiers, Abide With Me) and she said she saw two ladies (two of our older members) singing along with the music.  And she thought the special clunking at the beginning of the song was neat.  So all in all, she loved our performance.  Whew!  We play bells again April 12th, so we only have six practices to get new songs down.  That's one of the good things about having the 8th graders for so long; I can take extra bell practices if I need them.


After school, a few students stayed to get caught up on their math since the end of the quarter is, well, tomorrow.  One girl did her science lab she missed earlier this week.  They both hung out in my room while Mr. E ran an 8th grader's paperwork over to Nicollet (she forgot it on her desk and needed it to play softball over there).  All my lessons are planned for tomorrow.  We're supposed to have a guest speaker tomorrow... I haven't heard from them since I first set it up, so I'm not absolutely positive they're coming tomorrow.  I did send a "we're so excited for your visit tomorrow, do you need anything?" email as a gentle reminder, but I haven't heard otherwise, so I'm just going to trust that they'll show up.  It's a retired missionary couple that lived in Africa for oh, maybe 20 years or so? (not sure on that number, but they came to talk to the geography class two years ago and I think that's how long they said they were there).  I do have a back-up plan if they don't show up.  Let's hope that they do!


My plans for the evening: get my drivers license renewed, library, grocery store, correct papers... read a book?  Haven't done that in a while.  I've been too busy!