No See-ums

Oh man the bugs were HORRIBLE this afternoon. There was a high today of 87 degrees and the skies were hazy with smoke from the California fires. Maybe that's what put them in the biting mood...

Afternoon recess was so bad I sprayed myself with bug spray I keep in my car. I just couldn't stand it anymore! The bus was even worse! My class was out right on time, maybe even a minute or two early, so I had to stand out there even longer... the no see-ums coated my shirt, arms, and neck. Even with the bug spray on!!! After the bus left, all the teachers and the kids who hadn't been picked up yet scurried into school, brushing off the bugs as we went.

I had thought I'd try kayaking again tonight since it's so nice out. Not anymore! I don't want to get bit up!

Our Friday English game was "The Blue Folder Game" aka- calendar writing. Each student gets a folder with a scenic landscape in it (from an old calendar). Keeping it a secret from classmates, they have five minutes to be as descriptive as possible to get their classmates to pick it out of a scenic landscape lineup. They did pretty good for their first try! I threw in some extra pictures to make it more challenging. Plus, all the pictures were fall landscapes, frequently with mountains and/or rivers. 

One student has been learning from home this week, but I found a way she could participate. I sent her a picture of her landscape to describe, then set it aside in a folder to hang up with the rest of the class/extras once we were done writing. After we hung up the landscapes, I sent her close-up pictures of those so she could guess too. My students were shocked it worked so well. Earlier, they had tried to convince me we should play the adjective game again because 'it's the only one [the student] can actually play with us from home!' Ha! Challenge accepted and completed.