Fin

7/6/11: This is the final post for the Desert Duck. I removed the “bus” post because it seems fitting to end with this moment of closure, the empty classroom. I will be in the building next year, and have a Promethean board to boot! I will also be right across the hall from my friend Suzanne!

Thank you for following along the last four years! If you want to follow me elsewhere, this is my writing blog and this is my fledgling teacher blog. Keep in touch!

5/27/11: These are my official “empty classroom” pictures. I am hoping that this is my last experience with the portables. I want to be In The Building next year, especially with a Promethan board! Imagine — indoor plumbing, not worrying that my classroom door is unlocked, not worrying when my kids go to the bathroom, not worrying about someone trying to burn down my classroom …

The maroon thing in this picture next to the closet door is a curtain. That is a second closet, and it had no door. It kept bugging me, so I hung up a curtain.

Kid Pics

I gave my students my camera on the last day of school, and they took turns taking pictures. You’ll notice one ham in particular, if you go to the link to see all of the photos. They took a ton, so I’m just going to post some of them here.

Applesauce

Living in a convent is a strange experience, and apparently it was even stranger before I got there. One thing that I remember is that some of the sisters would put applesauce on their breakfast cereal (in addition to the milk). My guess is that it was because they weren’t allowed to put sugar on their cereal. Applesauce provided at least a little sweetness and a little flavor. (Note that sugar, salt, and pepper were on the table at mealtimes — they just weren’t allowet to use them.)

Why do I think of this now? Because I am sitting here at lunch, with applesauce, and I put some of my Cheerios in it. I caught myself doing that a couple of weeks ago as well. Since Cheerios are bland but crunchy circles, and applesauce has some taste but no crunch and not much body, they actually go pretty well together, in an Odd Couple sort of way. Of course, this doesn’t mean that I’d eat this if I were at home and had plenty to choose from, but I’m sitting in my classroom and it’s … not bad!

I am going nuts trying to finish up my (on-line technology) school project that’s due tomorrow. I made it more complicated than it needed to be for the assignment. Really, it just has to be a lesson or two that go together, but it takes a lot more than that to take my students from being totally ignorant of technology to doing internet research and creating a PowerPoint presentation. The other part is that we have to do it in a way that any teacher can replicate, because it’s going into a database. On the plus side, 12/21 students have finished their individual set of 3 slides, and one is in progress. Plus there are 12 school days left, not counting today.