I survived!  Actually, today went
by in a flash.  Because I taught a second/third grade combination
class last year, I got to keep my second graders this year as third
graders.  That means that half of my students aren’t new to
me.  It was great to see all of them, but familiarity breeds
naughtiness.  No honeymoon period this year.  They fell right
back into old habits.   Two names on the board already!

I
was probably most excited to see that my former second grade student,
Moses, returned again this year.  Moses is my little Jeff
Spicoli.    “Teacher, what’s that little line thing?  A minus?  Oh, I don’t do minus.” 

Moses is one of those boys who drives everyone crazy, but I just love
the kid.  He’s a handsome boy … very athletic and charming but
naughty and a few crayons short of a box.  Every once in a while
he just announces out of nowhere, ” I love school!”  You’ve gotta
love a kid like that. 

I spent some time yesterday trying to figure out some way that my
students could help Hurricane Katrina victims, and I finally came up
with a plan.  For every point students earn in the next two weeks
on Accelerated Reader (a computer program that tests students’
comprehension of books that they read ) I will donate $1.  My mom
has also offered to donate $1 for every point.  I then plan to
give the final donation to Best Buy where they are offering to match
any donation.  That means that the students can “earn” $4 for
every point in Accelerated Reader.  The students seem really
excited about being able to do something to help.  I’ll keep you
posted on their progress. 

Hey,
I just realized that ten years ago this week I was arriving at Harvard
for my master’s program.  Do you know what that means?  Only
one more year of student loan payments!  Woohoo!  Don’t get
me wrong … just the experience living in Cambridge was worth every
penny, but it sure will be nice to put that $300 a month into savings
instead of writing that big fat check.