Frosted WINDOWPANES…

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Today was the last day of school before winter break. Keith dropped me off at school so he could use the RAV4 out in the snow today – it is always lovely to be driven anywhere. Since we had a test yesterday in Human Geography, today I taught the 9th graders to play Scattergories. Only two people in the class had played before. Since they sit in groups of six, it worked out wonderfully to have six simultaneous games going. They loved it, and I love that they loved it. It was soooooo quiet when the timer started (I used a timer on my phone, because I didn’t bring the actual game timer. If you have ever played the actual game from a box, you know the timer is LOUD, and gets faster and more obnoxious as time nearly runs out. It was pretty great to just have quiet).

In World History we finished watching The Road to El Dorado. Since our snow day last week shortened the time we had to finish our unit, I decided to lengthen our unit so we can finish up after break. Part of their test is comparing/contrasting Inca, Aztec, and Maya civilizations. Since the movie is set in the mythical city of gold, El Dorado, I thought we could make a graphic organizer after break figuring out which of the things in the movie represented which culture. Only ONE kid in two classes had seen it before (he said, “Remember when movies came in little black boxes, and you put the little box into a bigger box and watched the movie? I had Road to El Dorado on one of those little black boxes. I bet I watched it 20 or 30 times.” I CANNOT say how much I loved hearing that explanation). Both classes were absolutely silent the whole time they watched, and the one kid who expressed his distaste for cartoon musicals (before we started) said, “Hey, I was wrong. It was really good.” I spent the whole time watching the movie googling small details to find out which culture different bits came from. I had so much fun, and I have a massive list of things to talk about.

That said, I won’t be talking about them. I got the email at 3:00 (school ends at 3:06) that they have hired a new long-term sub and I am done. They said I could come on the teacher workday (Jan 3) and help transition if I want to, but they aren’t sure the new guy will be there, because he is finishing a different LTS in another district. Huh. So, he is possibly just coming on the 4th to teach…to teach what, I wonder. I will be curious how that works out. I will share my copious list of facts about the movie and can point out the two assignments left in the US history unit.

My 11th graders were kind and said they would miss me, but also admitted they were really afraid the new guy would be not nice and that the class would suddenly develop homework. Several kids brought me treats – even a couple from first trimester heard I was going to be done and stopped by with candy canes. In last hour, we did our assignment in 20 minutes and just had the rest of the hour to just be. I knew the hour before we were done for the day wasn’t going to be a killer workday and planned accordingly. I was surprised how the time went, however. After I said we were done and was working with two kids who have been out sick, music started. Music from a speaker that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, playing Vince Guaraldi’s Oh Tannenbaum from Charlie Brown Christmas. And then people began to dance. Legitimate dancing. About half of the class danced. And I want to remember it forever. They were so kind and encouraging and willing to look however they looked. There are groups of friends in that class and it was not limited to one group – people were jumping in without their safety net friends. I just watched and enjoyed.

I got lots of handshakes and thank-yous just before the bell rang. After everyone filed out, with the speaker of Vince Guaraldi trailing the music down the hall, I was left with one student. He cocked his head to the side and threw his arms straight out wide, “I don’t think there is any other way to do this,” and we had a quick hug. You aren’t supposed to have favorites, but sometimes you have favorites.

Then I read the email telling me I am done and was very sad. I’m not still sad, but I certainly had a moment. I cleaned up the room as I listened to people wishing each other Happy Winter Break out in the hall. My helping teacher friend from next door came and said she was mad they were replacing me, and that was nice to hear. Keith had been delivering folks to the airport, where flights were still going before the blizzard winds kick in tomorrow, then came to pick me up. We spent the evening watching the Christmas episode of Ghosts, wrapping presents (which at our house means opening reusable boxes and putting things inside. There is no wrapping paper for me or the children. I will wrap Keith’s presents in actual paper sometime soon), and watching the snow come down. There doesn’t seem to be too much snow, but the wind is supposed to start blowing HARD tomorrow and the snow is really going to fly.

The picture of the day is me being too hot and trying to grab the cold. It is absolutely beautiful out and I am going to go for a walk – in the winter wonderland.

Oh, OH! I almost forgot. Remember how the sisters got Wordle in one on Monday? Donna got it in one again today! It is her sixth time. Incredible and marvelous!