6th Gradisms

In my 6th Grade class we have a “Special Person” each week, where the special person brings pictures and then the class tells them why they are special. I have been Special Person in all three of my classes, and here are what the kids had to say… including misspellings. (I know you probably don’t want to read through all of them, but oh well! ;) I think they're precious!

• Miss Blasi, you are very special because you are a very good teacher, you make learning fun, you have a kind smile, and a sence of humor.
• Miss Blasi you’re a special person because you want to be a teacher to help kids and I think you’ll be a good teacher. Good Luck!
• Miss Blazi you are special because you are a good teacher and a nice person. When you become a teacher I hope I’m in your class.
• Mis. Blasi you are special because you are soft spoken, kind harted, on the husky team, and so many other things.
• Miss Blasi, you is special because you are smart kind, and soft hearted and nice to everybody.
• Miss Blazi, You are special because you are nice, kind, an awesome teacher, and you have a good heart. I have enjoyed you being here. You are a wonderful person.
• Miss. Blasi you are special because you’re fun to have around, nice & smart.
• Miss. Blasi you are special because you are smashing
• Miss. Blasi you are special because you are a nice teacher and you make reading exciting and you are a plane out good teacher good luck at your school that you are teaching at
• Miss. Blasi you are special because you are nice your a good reader and your a nice teacher.
• Miss Blasi you are special because you are cute, funny and you always teach us about poems, and stories.
• Ms Blasi you are special because you are nice and will make a good teacher
• Dear Miss Blasi, You are special because I have never met a student teacher like you and you make learning fun.
• Ms. Blasi you are special because you go to CCDC too!!! (And she drew me a picture!)
• Mrs. Blasie because you went to Drake
• Mrs. Blasi you are special because you read fast.
• Mrs. Blasi, You are special because you got to be with our class.
• Ms. Blazi your special because your an AWESOME STUDENT TEACHER!
• Mrs. Blasy you are spical because you make me want to come to class
• Ms. Blasi your special because your are teacher
• Mrs. Blasy u r special because ur name is Erin.
• Ms. Blasi your special because your brought pictures and your nice
• Ms. Blaise you are special because you have the same name as me – Erin
• Ms. Blasi, You are special because you are really nice & you are so fun.
• Ms. Blasi, Your special because your really nice Your funny & youll be a great teacher I’m going to miss u soooo much Your a great person I’m going 2 miss you soooo much U make learning fun UR A Great teacher P.S. Your Real Pretty 2
• Mrs. Blasi you are special because you are a good student teacher. You dressed up like an old western person and you brought 8 pictures.
• Mrs. Blasi you are special because you have pretty hair, you are a great student teacher, and a bright smile
• Mrs. Blasi, You’re special because you visited our school & your nice & I always have a good time when your in the class room.
• Ms. Blasi you are special because you make reading sound fun
• Mrs. Blasi, your speical because you have lots of reatives (relatives) and you have a bright personality
• You are special because you are going to be a teacher.
• Mrs. Blasi – you are special because you are the oldest student in here and I saw you in a grocery store
• Ms. Blasi you’re special because youre one of the nicest teachers in Meredith and youre of my favorite teachers! Youre special in your own way. And I like your outfit.
• Ms. Blasi you are special because you are a good teacher and you are nice
• Ms. Blasi, you are special, ‘cause you are a nice teacher
• Your special because in homeroom you let me have a pencil.
• Mrs. Blasi, you are special because you are a nice teacher and because you are fun to be with! You Rock
• Ms. Blasi you are special cause you wear earrings
• Ms. Blasi you are special because you are not easy to get away with like other teachers that are in training & you are serious when people goof around & you told me once to stop having an atitude.
• Miss Blasi, your special because your nice, and I have to classes with you.
• Blasi you are speical because you are funny.
• Mrs. Blasi, you are special because you got a job at a school.
• Ms. Blasi, your special because you go to Drake and your nice
• Ms. Blasi you r special cause u helped me learn the parts of speech, & u r nice, & u helped me with my dialogue. And like [another student] said you would make a great teacher
• Mrs. Blazy you are special because you like kids
• Ms. Blasi you’re special because you’re nice
• Mrs. B. You are special cause you are a nice teacher and we appreciate you being here.
• Mrs. Blasi you are speacial because you are nice to us (sometimes) and because you are our student teacher.
• Ms. Blasi, you are special because your age in on [a student’s] folder and you’re a fun teacher and you’re nice.
• Mrs. Blasi you are spicial because you get to teacher or class.
• Mrs. blasi your special because you’re realy nice you have glasses.
• Ms. Blasi you are special because, you are nice. I think you will make a great teacher.

Flying Spaghetti Monster!

So, I don't know if many of you know about the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was created by a Science teacher in Kansas in response to the controversy over teaching creationism and evolution in schools. The Flying Spaghetti Monster is apparently what created Earth and all things in it. It caused an uproar, but was really just to show the ridiculousness of the fight. Anyways....
Today I saw a Flying Spaghetti Monster decal (like the fish decal for Christians and the Darwin decal) on the back of someone's car!!!! I about died from laughter/surprise. I knew most of Kansas knew about it, but wasn't sure how much the rest of the country knew. I just thought it was interesting.

Relays and Whatnot

So, Relays weekend is over. As much as I like Relays and think they're an awesome thing for Des Moines and the Drake community, I'm always a little happy when they're over. I really don't like having to fight for a parking space in my own parking lot or deal with drunken parties outside my window when I'm trying to go to sleep because I have to get up at 6 AM and go teach...

We did have fun this weekend. Friday night we went down to Court Avenue and listened to the bands and had some drinks with some friends. This was the first time I'd ever actually gone down to Court Avenue for Relays weekend. It was actually pretty fun. Makes me glad I'll be here next year! On Saturday I went to the stadium with a couple of my friends and watched the actual relays events for a few hours. We saw someone break the world record in the Women's 100 Meter Hurdles!!!! That was pretty awesome.

My uncle is now out of the hospital and living at my house in Wichita for a few more weeks. At least he's doing a lot better. This is my last week of student teaching! As much as I love teaching, I'm ready to be done, especially since I won't be doing much more this week because I'm supposed to be giving the class back to my teacher...

We had "Mystery Day" on Friday with the kids, which was basically a long scavenger hunt and they were outside for about 2 hours. It was pretty fun for them, and we had gorgeous weather! It's amazing to me - it was pouring 3 days ago, and now it's 80 degrees and sunny, not a cloud in the sky!

2 weeks until graduation. That's a scary thought.

Job!!!!!

I got a job!!!!! I will be teaching a 7th Grade Language Arts/Reading class at Waukee next year!!! I'm so excited! This was pretty much my ideal job, and I'm so glad that I got it! Granted, I will have to be cold for at least another couple of years, but I think I can deal with it.

Just a quick update! I should have more, but my brain's going too many different directions.

My uncle should be getting out of the hospital this weekend, which is good :)

I got my graduation announcements all done and will be mailing them tomorrow, probably.

2 weeks until graduation.

Pictures!!!

As promised, here are pictures from Street Painting that my friends have so nicely tagged of me on Facebook! I have not quite figured out how to set up the pictures on here in any sort of order, so I'm just going to let the blog do what it wants. Enjoy! As you can see, I don't have much paint on me, but that's because I stay on the square and out of the way of people with paint!!!! :)

Street Painting!!!!

I just got done with Street Painting a few hours ago. Street Painting is the weekend before Relays, and it's a great time to get out and be a part of the Drake Community. Organizations design squares around the theme for Relays and their own theme, and paint them on the Painted Street. Usually, people end up getting painted as well! It was gorgeous weather for it this year!!! I only hope that next weekend is just as nice for Relays. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures because I didn't want to ruin my digital camera with paint, but hopefully some of my friends will have them up soon, so I can borrow some and let everyone see them!

I had an ISEA Student Program Conference this weekend. At first I was a little apprehensive about going because I felt like I'd been through all of the sessions, but it actually turned out to be really fun, like it generally does. It's cool to get to meet new people and network. I hope that we can get our DEA chapter to be bigger in the coming years - it's just hard when the SOE is not part of the campus, and people don't want to participate in things, even when they are part of the organization...oh well.

A good thing!!! My uncle is now sitting up, awake, and they took the respirator out!!!! A step in the right direction. I just pray that things continue to improve and that there are no more setbacks.

I'm graduating in exactly 3 weeks. How scary is that!?!?

Long Weekend

It's just been a long weekend, and I feel like it's going to be an even longer week. Saturday I drove home because my uncle is in the hospital. Right outside of Osceola, I got out of my car to get a pop, and I locked my keys in my car! Of course, I had locked my phone in there as well. Thankfully, pay phones don't cost anything to call the State Trooper. So they had to connect me to a locksmith who came out and unlocked my door - bye bye $50 because I'm sure my mom will forget to send it in to insurance to get reimbursed... The rest of my trip was fairly uneventful. When I got home I went to see my uncle. It didn't even look like him. He had all sorts of tubes and bags and everything sticking out of him. My cousin kept reminding me that that was "good" compared to what he had looked like. Kind of a sad deal. He wasn't doing too well the majority of the weekend, but apparently today he was doing better, so that's good.

Sunday, my little cousin had her first communion, so we had to go to lunch for that, and then it was my grandma's 81st birthday, so everyone was up for that. It was kind of fun, and I got to eat real hamburgers!!! I miss being at all of the family events. I drove to Manhattan and stayed with one of my friends for the night. It was really nice to get to see her and talk to her again, since the last time I saw her was July!

This morning I got up and drove to Topeka to visit the school that offered me a job. I sat in on three classes. I liked the teachers I met, and the students are pretty much just normal high school students. I don't know what I had in my head, but the pictures kind of clashed. So, then I called the assistant superintendent that I have been working with, and told her I tentatively accepted the job. (After recent family events, I really feel that I need to be closer to home.) However, she had to call the principal that I had just left, and figure things out. The only thing I've heard back from them is that she still has to talk to them...therefore, I'm still going to my interview at Waukee tomorrow. Technically, as long as I don't have a contract in my hand, I can do whatever I want. I just feel like I need to keep my options open. I just assumed the principal knew she'd offered me a position and that if I accepted it, everything would be taken care of...apparently not.

I went straight to tutoring when I got into town, and then I went grocery shopping. I went to dance tonight. Some days I really like going, and others I just really don't. Tonight was kind of inbetween. I don't dance 7 days a week like some of the girls. I'm lucky to still be able to turn fairly well and at least look like I know what I'm doing! I did have some good turns tonight, it's been awhile since I've had those. I will definitely miss that studio if I do end up in Topeka. I really like that they still push me and correct me, even though I'm not ever going to be a ballerina...

Tomorrow it's back to the 6th graders and Mystery. It will be nice to see them again. Last week they were upset I wasn't going to be there today! Only 3 more weeks till I'm done student teaching, and 4 more till I graduate. It hardly seems like it should be here. This semester has really just flown by.

I really really need to start addressing graduation invitations.