Teachers

So, in middle school, my favorite teacher found us a class pen pal. She lived in Russia, and we would all write to her and she would respond to us. Ten years later, that teacher is now retired and my friend. And she found our pen pal on Facebook. We've been getting to know each other again, and she is ALSO a teacher. She teaches English in Russia. So we get to discuss teaching and education. It's such a cool connection. And today was her birthday. But it's already tomorrow there...

In order to find out what time it was there, I used one of my FAVORITE sites: Wolfram Alpha. It solves math problems, gives you information about any date in history, can tell you the about history of the use of any given name, or it can serve as the best world clock ever. It tells you the time at the location you want to know about, the time where you are, and the difference.

Anyway, give it a try. I personally love to check the time in places like Rome, where I spent 5 1/2 weeks in 2009.

**I made a widget that let you type in the place, but it didn't work. So if you want to try it, go to Wolfram|Alpha and type in "What time is it in Russia?" or any other place. Or really, any kind of search!

**Oh, here's the link to my widget... I haven't managed to imbed it, but this is the next best thing. The Best World Clock EVER

Sometimes Being the New Teacher can be FUN!

I've thought about updating a lot recently and I think it was because I've had some things to say, but most of them are slipping my mind at the moment. We had our second conference night and I actually DID meet with some parents this time. That went pretty well. The rest of the 3 1/2 hours I was there I worked on things I needed to get done for school. Unfortunately, I STILL had work to do when I got home... it's never-ending! I did a lot today during my prep and brought next-to-nothing home this weekend! THAT is SO exciting!

For those of you who don't know my secret identity, I'll tell you this. I'm a very petite girl. I don't really look like I'm that much older than my students. Today was payday... a.k.a. Jeans Day. I was standing in the halls between periods and one of my students was telling a friend a story as they walked by. I gave her some sort of look and laughed, and her friend says, "Who is that?!"

Apparently, some kids have no idea I'm a teacher.

More School Spirit!

I chaperoned a "Spirit Bus" to a soccer game tonight. Our boys are doing great, and have won again, which means they've now made it further in the playoffs than ever before. Our awesome assistant principal really wanted to encourage students to come to the game and ride the bus, so he made it completely free. Free ride, free entry, and free food. My mother was skeptical... she didn't think we'd fill a bus. I was supposed to ride a spirit bus to a football game against the school I student taught at, but the bus was cancelled so I didn't go. We were afraid it would be like that... Wow, were we wrong! Not only did we fill a bus, but another full bus left an hour later when some of the sports teams finished their practices.

I love soccer, so the game was great, but the ride wasn't bad either. Got some tests graded on the way there and a power point made on the ride home. I'd call it a successful evening!