Parent-Teacher Conferences, Jimmer Mania, and Nunks

So last night I was at the school until 8 oclock, not something that I usually do, but it was for a special reason.  It was time for Parent-teacher conferences! When I first heard that it was going to be from 3-8pm and I would be sitting in the commons waiting and talking...I wasn't all the excited. In fact I was pretty honest.  Maybe it is because I am in high school again, or surrounded by all of these students that are a little paranoid whenever an authority figure comes around (I love it when they realize I'm right by them and they go "What?? I wasn't doing anything..." and I wasn't even going to reprimand them for anything)...No matter what the reason was, I was definitely more than a little nervous for Parent-teacher conferences.  They went really well actually and I even learned a few things...
1-if you don't have anything to say about a student...figure it out fast.
2-the better you know a students name, the better it goes and you're not freaking out or beating yourself up because you forgot a student's name.
3-The next day in class...you really do see results.
4-positive reinforcement is the best invention in the world.
Now ahem...on to the next topic...

Jimmer, Jimmer, Jimmer...let's be real I love BYU basketball.  I really do.  I have my favorites just like the next dedicated fan.  I witnessed the whole Jimmer-mania take BYU and Provo by storm.  And silly me...I just figured it would die down a little bit since he's now graduated.  Wrong again.  Once upon a time I'm sitting in my classroom during lunch with some students that are makeing up work and on the intercom they announce that Jimmer is running 15 minutes late...WHAT? -oh also...they told everybody that wasn't a student to get out of the school.
Apparently Tonight is a fundraiser Jimmer "All-star" game and Jimmer deemed Timpview High School students worthy of some free tickets.  And (putting together the stories from my students) he came with some other NBA buds and made an appearance.  WELL he's a part of the tweeting community and tweeted that he was coming to Timpview to hand out tickets...I'm not quite sure what the rationale behind that was, but I guess it's Jimmer so you just enjoy it :/ anyway, so there were a whole bunch of people that showed up at the school and they weren't supposed to be here....I had about half of my class on time ready to learn and then everyone else slowly trickled in later, blaming it on Jimmer like it was excusable.  Oh Jimmer, I'm glad you are happy with life and doing well...but Please please, PLEASE work on a few of the details next time...I'd appreciate it a lot. Thanks! (side note, I thought it was hilarious when one of my students goes "He's not even that cute!"---I love working with High School students so much :)

AND last but not least....Nunks
Funny moment of the day:
   We are talking about Buddhism and we talked about some of the rules that go with the lifestyle of Buddhist Monks.  We were discussing that there are nuns as well.  So a student raises his hand and asked if Monks and Nuns could marry each other and have children.  Another student jumps in, before I can answer and says..."Yeah, they call them Nunks!"

I laughed.

On a serious note, it has been interesting as we've talked about Buddhism and monasticism, how hard it seems at first for most of these students to understand that for some people, living a life as a monk or a nun is where they believe they can find complete happiness and peace.  I know it will be very interesting as I graduate and move on to another school in another state or even another area, to teach in a place where the culture is well...not Provo, UT.

I really do love my job.  And although I love it, I am so grateful it is a 3 day weekend :)

Just when I was getting kind of comfortable...

So it's been almost a month since school started...crazy how time flies.  My world Civilization classes have tests on Thursday and Friday and my Geography Class has their first test next Tuesday.  And I was kind of getting into the swing of things...I still have no idea what I'm doing but it is a more organized feeling of confusion and craziness :) And then...What must be thrown into the mix? My mode of transportation, the beloved van that my wonderful parents decided to loan me...has died.  Meaning? Now after school today I get to go over, my old bishop is going to try and use his AAA to come and get my van-because it's in his neighborhood- and then we're taking it to his mechanic and see what the diagnosis is.  After talking to Papa Brady Automotive extraordinaire and Brady Children go-to-man...the outlook is a bit...not happy but we'll see. Until then...I get to play the fun game of "How in the world do I get to there." I guess I was just too spoiled. Oh well, all part of the grand adventure.

"I'm, like,...Asian!"

Once upon a time we were talking about Ancient China, Yellow River Valley... When it comes to Civilizations there are 5 characteristics of civilizations that students are keeping track of in a chart.  One of these is Record Keeping.  Because of this, we had a slide that talked about Chinese writing.  I have a student that could read and speak it.  Another student was shocked "Wait, you can read that and speak it??" He looked at her kind of funny and said "I'm like...Asian!" Needless to say I never explained why the sudden burst of laughter happened...but it did :)
Which leads me to something that I've noticed over the past few weeks...Students say the darndest things.  I just graded their daily journals and I loved it! There are so many aspects of their personalities that have shown through and once again I feel the weight and responsibility of not letting them down.  But seriously it is a blast and I feel grateful that I have met so many wonderful students thus far.  The learning never ends...and neither do the mistakes. But I'm working on it :)