The Honeymoon, day 1

So far, so good. It's always hard to tell if the first day of school is a very good indication of how angelic students will be next week. I have one Level II class that I can tell is going to be a little rowdy unless I can scare a couple of them away.

Here are the last two days in a nutshell:

-Golfing student enters room. "Hey! I have to leave early so I can eat before my game. Hey!"

-More students than I can count--"Where's computer tech? It's NOT in this room?" (It took some of them a good five minutes to figure out that having the manual alphabet on their desks and a big notice on the board: Welcome to Sign I meant that they were in the wrong class. In their defense, there was an error on a lot of the schedules that went out.)

-The kid named Kip. I've never had a Kip before. The students were supposed to write their first and last names on name cards. I went around taking roll, checking spelling of names, etc. and this kid has just "Kip" written on his, when everyone else followed directions and had a first and last name written down. I assume he's being a smart aleck and a Napoleon Dynamite wanna-be, and ask him: "So really, what's your name?" Ooops. Open mouth, insert foot.

-A vice principal willing to make a fool out of himself for us. Thank you, Nick! We couldn't have made our video for Friday's assembly without you. Well, I guess we could have, but it wouldn't have been anywhere near as funny.

-Kids with weird names. Parents, do your kids a favor. Give them a name that anyone can spell and pronounce, and call them by their first name.

The voice-off thing to start class off went really well. I don't know why I haven't done it sooner. It worked beautifully. I'm hoping it's a prelude for things to come.

No more buy-out!

Yeay! I didn't really want a buy-out (meaning I have 7 classes instead of 6, and get paid for the additional class and loss of sanity) to begin with, but didn't argue the point when I was initially reassigned to my new location. Last week as I have been working on things at school, I've accessed my class rosters a few times, and watched the numbers drop in my Level III class from 16 to 10--and this is before I have even had the chance to meet these kids and scare them off in person. Bummer about no Level III, although this is going to make my life a lot easier. The only problem now is that my schedule is lopsided--4 classes one day, 2 the next. I did that last year, and wasn't in love with it.

Last night as I was going over what I'm going to do tomorrow in class for the first day back, it occurred to me that this is the 9th time I've done this. It doesn't feel like I've done this 8 times already! I love the first day of school, and yet despite the number of times I've met a group of kids for the first time at the beginning of the year, it always makes me nervous. It's the proverbial "box of chocolates"--I never know what I'm going to get.

I'm trying something new this year. In the past, I have always started class off by using my voice to explain rule, procedures, my background, blah blah. I'm going to do something different this time. Chris (another ASL teacher) told me he started class with his Level I students "voices off" last year, and that it went beautifully. The kids got into what he was doing, and caught onto the signs he was teaching pretty quickly. I didn't realize how addicted I am to my voice. I'm going to take the plunge--here's hoping it works. =) I'm not worried about my Level I kids. They are "blank slates" and don't know anything different. It's the Level II classes that are keeping me up at night, because I have no idea where they are as far as skill level, and no idea what their expectations for Sign Language are. I'm anticipating a mass exodus--which wouldn't be bad at this point because I'm pushing 40 in those classes.

Well, I'm going to quit blabbing so I can get my beauty rest for school tomorrow.

First day back.

Yesterday was my first official day back to school. I started the morning off by taking a final for the class I've been doing this summer, and then heading over to school to start getting things in order. On my way to school, I noticed sun flowers blooming next to the road. Yesterday was the first day I noticed them in bloom, and it seemed appropriate that it would be on my first day back. My friend Nancy always decorates her class room with sun flowers and has a vase full of them on her desk at the beginning of school because they are such a happy flower. Nancy is the kind of teacher that for her, the first day of school is always a happy day. I'll miss teaching at the same school with her this year.

So far, so good as far as things go at a new school. I know this sounds like I'm a high school student all over again, but it's always a little unsettling to be the "new kid" at school and have to worry about feeling like I fit in. Everyone has been so friendly though, and I have even bumped in to a few familiar faces. I am feeling much better about things than I did a week ago.

Today as I was chipping away at emptying a filing cabinet, sophomores were picking up their schedule and roaming the school, looking for classes. Several came by and said hello, and one even ventured to tell me that he was going to be my favorite student. Tee hee. I think I'm being buttered up already. Sorry kid, not going to work, although I think you are darling.

One week and a day left until we have students. Better get busy!

Veggilicious

It's taken me a little bit to finally subscribe to Zoe's Garden, the CSA (community supported agriculture) I mentioned earlier. I made the first pick-up on Tuesday, and holy moly! It's a lot of food! This is their small share. If you're curious, this is what it included:

• Purple Top Turip
• Tam Jalapano
• Black Beauty Eggplant
• Black Beauty Zuchinni
• Blue Lake Bean
• Yukon Gold Potatoes
• Red Pontiac Potatoes
• Rainbow Swiss Chard
• Endive
• Kolhrabi
• Salad Mix
• Sweet Danso Basil
• Early Ducth Cabbage
• Honey Select Sweet Corn
• Triple Crown Black Berries

I've looked up some recipes to use all of this, and I'll let you know how they turn out. Ryan found a zucchini pancake recipe that we both gave a thumbs-up too. It belongs to Julie O'Hara on NPR.

Zucchini Pancakes

Makes 10 to 12 pancakes
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (3 1/4 ounces)
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (3 1/4 ounces)
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 to 1 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk (low-fat or whole)
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 medium zucchini, trimmed and shredded on large holes of a box grater
Cooking spray
Maple syrup, powdered sugar, yogurt or sour cream for serving (optional)

Add the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to a large bowl and whisk thoroughly. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Add the milk, zest, lemon juice and butter and whisk until frothy. Stir in the zucchini.

Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and stir gently, just until combined (some lumps are okay; do not over mix). Let the batter rest at room temperature for 10 minutes or up to 30, allowing the leavening agents to start reacting and any lumps of flour to dissolve.

Meanwhile, coat a nonstick skillet or griddle with cooking spray and heat to medium or medium-low. Give batter a quick stir. Using a small ladle or quarter-cup measure, scoop scant quarter cups of batter onto the cooking surface to make roughly 4-inch pancakes. Cook 2 minutes or until holes form on top of pancakes. Flip and cook on second side 1 minute or until golden brown. Serve with maple syrup, powdered sugar, yogurt or sour cream.

My nifty website

Okay, so I spent WAY more time on this than it should have taken, but I'm pretty proud of the result. I designed a website for the Silent Weekend I am assisting with. This is the first time I've had to set up the domain name and hosting by myself--my other projects have been posted through the school district's server. Every time I take on a project like this, I keep telling myself that it will go a lot quicker than the last one because I've already made every mistake I possibly can. Turns out there is always room for more. Anyway, I like it! Ryan did the artwork. I don't know what I would do without him--I would probably have a lot uglier designs for everything I've done over the years.

Calvin-ball

Friday, Ryan and I got a chance to watch our nephews while their parents were at a wedding. We had a blast! In the afternoon, the boys and I decided to go to the park. We brought along my slightly deflated ball to play with. After a few rounds of tag which ended up in me being "It" for the majority of the time, I suggested a round of 500.

The boys seemed to already know how to play, so that part was pretty easy. Jaden started out as the person throwing the ball, and I started to wonder if I really knew how to play 500. He shouted "Mystery box, alive!" Tyson caught the ball.

"Mermaid," Jaden yelled, and Tyson promptly dropped to the ground on his belly and put his feet in the air. "You have to stay like that for three turns," Jaden instructed, "and put your hand under your chin like this." He giggled and made Tyson put his hand oh-so-charmingly under his chin.

Every single throw was a "mystery box" for Jaden. After a while, Tyson was convinced Jaden was making up what the mystery box was depending on who caught the ball. We decided he had to tell Corbin what it was before he threw the ball so it didn't seem like he was unfairly targeting anyone. In addition to "mermaid," there is also "gum", which means that your feet are glued to the ground and you can't move. The only solution is for the person throwing to say "doctor" and toss you the ball. I think if it had been Jaden's turn to throw much longer, we would have had a few more surprises from the mystery box. I guess I really didn't know how to play 500 until Friday. Check back in a month, and I still won't have all of the rules mastered.