{jiminy cricket}

are those cheers i hear?  applause?  sounds of fireworks??  perhaps it is just my imagination, however, I HAVE SURVIVED MY FIRST WEEK OF TEACHING!!  (and i think that deserves some fireworks!) the week started off great-- my kids are great and the staff are great and my school is great! smiles all around :)

of course, i have some characters in my class... my little ones always seem to give me a chuckle :)

see example a:   i have one little einstein (and yes, i'll refer to him as little einstein) who is like a little mad scientist-- he has the wide eyes and chin scratching to a T!.  today, while on his trip to the bathroom he found a cricket in the hall.  and like any eight year old, he decided to bring the little cricket back to class.  of course, little E\einstein is not the kind of kid who would hide it in his desk or put it in his pocket for safe keeping... as he entered to a moderately quiet classroom of mathematicians, little einstein proudly announced, "look what i have!!!" and if you work with children you know that "show and tell" trumps any work that is in progress.  so, as the students did their "ooohhhs" and "awwwhhhs" a few of my students thought "this would be the perfect pet!"  "what type of food do critckets eat?"  "do you have a tank where we could store him?"  since no math could be done with a cricket bouncing around the room, i did some quick thinking and grabbed a bottle from our science experiments and put the fella in it.  as any teacher would know, you can't set the little bugger out for all to see.  so, i hid it behind a stack of books so that it wouldn't be a distraction.... as i grabbed my purse and my room keys, i caught a glimpse of the little container with the cricket.  oh, little einstein.  as i released the bugger back into mother nature, i just couldn't help but think...  what a lucky star i've wished on to get these kiddos all year long :)

{back to school}

with a week of workshops under my belt and a solid two days of lesson planning, i think i'm ready for the lights, cameras... i mean, kids. the room is more or less in order and i have a general plan... and if things start to crumble, i have hours and hours of camp songs in the back pocket (thank you cyc!)

school starts... MONDAY!!! i know, i too would like to know who decided to stuff a bunch of kids into a non air conditioned building during the heat of the summer... luckily, the first week of school is my favorite-- the children still have halos and nothing compares to the first use of a crayon or the factory smell of a new text book. mmmmm... back to school. even after 17 years, the thrill still remains!

{the start}

there has been an excessive amount of fist pumping and roof raising lately... i know what you're thinking, "from the queen of hand motions? i expect nothing less!" however, the EXCESSIVE-- meaning between every word i type, no joke!-- is in celebration because THIS GIRL HAS GOT A JOB!!! that's right! i am a fully-employed-real-grown-up-with-a-job!! WHOOP WHOOP! although the initial excitement has not worn off (will it ever?) my sleeping patterns are finally back to normal after a week of 3am list making and classroom planning (yes, i admit it- i was THAT excited!) :) I am thrilled to be on this new adventure and just waiting until my heart EXPLODES of excitement!

so raise those kiddy cocktails and not-so-much kiddy cocktails—here’s to a year full of joys, triumphs, and… finding a place to live. may our adventures be happy and our love like the capital of Ireland…. always Dublin.