Charts and Dragonflies

Made it to the middle of the week. Wednesday. Two days closer to Friday. That's all I have to say about that. It's been a hard week.

These are my charts, at school. The blue chart holds our spelling words for the week. The red charts we completed today. We were alphabetizing. The kids alphabetized their names. The white chart is my favorite. We created a chant for nouns. It is full of nouns, chosen by the kids. Oh, and see my lightsaber, on the stool? I am super cool with the boys in my class, cuz I have my own. It's my pointer. I love to make the lightsaber noise when I let it out. Today I made Jedi Knights of my assistants. Hey, a girl has got to have some fun. Oh and my 21st student? She's sweet. No textbooks for her as of yet, but she's sweet.

Kevin found this dragonfly in our front yard. It was dead when he found it. I had him put it in this container, so I could take it to school to show the kids. They loved it, and it's not often that they get a really up-close look at a dragonfly. This guy is big too, and his eyes are real creepy. Not one kid screamed either. Poor guy. When we are finished staring at him, perhaps we will give him a proper burial. Even our custodian was impressed, and you know they have seen EVERYTHING!

Word of the Day: Sad. I went to funeral services this evening for a friend/colleague, who passed away unexpectedly last week. I had held myself together all week, but as soon as I rounded the corner, face to face with the hearse, I lost it. That, and the casket really sunk in, and it occurred to me that I just hadn't had time to process the information. Too wrapped up in the drama of my own life. That is very selfish of me. This was a dear, sweet, woman, who worked really hard, and retired in 2008, at 65 years old. She raised 5 children, on her own, and was a loving grandmother. She only got to enjoy one year of the retirement she worked so hard to save for. She will be greatly missed. It really puts things into perspective. Love the people who surround you, be good to each other, tell people how you feel.