Student Quote of the Day

"I bet you I got fatter than you." -- My student's unintentionally rude response to my explanation that all I did was eat during the Thanksgiving weekend.

Quote of the Weekend

"Wow! Your car is dirty." -- Ironic first words out of my friend's mouth right after I snapped at grandma, who told me that "You should've washed your car." (after I took a 6 mile hike, mowed the lawn and trimmed the hedge earlier in the day).

"Negative" Thought of the Day

Lately, there have been people who ADD to my stress or those who SUBTRACT from it. Two co-workers came to my rescue today. Another one fought a battle for me with people trying to add to my work. In this sense I need more "negative influences".

Parent Quote of the Day

"I trust your decision. You're the first teacher that has cared so much for *****'s education." -- Just what I needed to hear from a parent at the end of a very exhausting day at work.

Haiku of the Day (Based on a True Story)

End of the steep hill

Clutching sides, gasping for air

Scent of dog doodoo.

Happy Quote of the Day

"I'm buying you lunch and bringing it to your room." -- an unexpected phone call I got before the lunch period started. It's amazing what math skills and some service time can get you in life.

Curiousity Piquing Quote of the Day

"Oh OK, that's what I thought." -- a co-worker's response after I answered her question of "May I ask you a personal question? Are you married?" ...Now it's bugging me why she asked me that in the first place.

Teacher Quote of the Day

"I got today's lesson." -- what my co-teacher told me when he noticed that I was swamped in paperwork stressed with looming deadlines. Just what I wanted to hear.

Top 3 Quotes of the Day: Weekend Workshop Edition

1) "Great! Looks like you've got it now." -- a quote from the notoriously picky presenter at today's workshop after I showed her my work on a completely mind-boggling concept-based teaching strategy.
2) "It's so much easier when you just stand." -- overheard above the ruckus of a roomful of teachers trying to simultaneously do awkward hand motions, look up at the screen and sing, AND do a "simple" 4 step dance that we had learned less than ten minutes before.
3) "I've had people come up to me and say 'I don't care about the stipend.'" --  from workshop's coordinator as she was closing the meeting. Who are these people?
Honorable mention in the sounds-fishy-even-if-you-know-the-context category: "You touched my leg!" :D

Save of the Day

"Elaborate?" -- One teacher's correction for the word I was trying to think of during a high pressure meeting. I knew the word started with an "e" and couldn't think clearly enough to ask the teachers to add to their reports. The only word that came out of my mouth was "embellish". Oops. :D

Discouraging Student Answer of the Day

"I.D.N." -- One student's response to a quiz question. If a student doesn't know the answer, most students abbreviate "I don't know" as "I.D.K." (If you don't get it, think very carefully about why this is blog-worthy.) :D

Teacher Quote of the Day: Workshop Edition

"Good job womens." -- One teacher's aside spoken after he described to the entire roomful of teachers how his group noticed that Hawaiian "womens" helped with the majority of the fishing back in the days.

Student Quote of the Day

"I SWEAR I NEVER SAID THAT!" -- Student's response after I countered his negative muttering by saying in a loud voice, "What?! You said I'm the best teacher in the world?"

Student Question of the Day

"If I shave my head with a razor, will it grow back?" -- Not exactly what I had in mind when I asked the class if they had any questions. :/

Teacher Quote of the Day: Bonus Furlough Edition

"I'm a fan of the stink-eye." -- Overheard during a conversation between two teachers at today's Professional Collaboration Day.

Uninspiring Quote of the Day

"Don't use idioms. Whatever you do, avoid idioms, it only confuses your students." -- A hypocritical plea from our main speaker who repeatedly told us that what he was presenting was "not rocket science" at a workshop to help teachers learn the best practices of instructing "ELL learners" (Just for your information, ELL = English Language Learners so "ELL learners" would be English Language Learners Learners)

Unintentionally Humorous Quote of the Day

"Wow! I had to really dig for my wiener." -- Overheard from a co-worker as we were eating our school lunch that consisted of a lone frankfurter buried beneath a heap of chow-fun noodles.

Co-worker Quote of the Day

"Wow! They're going to look at me like I'm a genius when I show them this!" -- One co-worker's reaction after I showed him how easy it was to set up a gmail account for his friend. And runner up for quote of the day: "What is this for, testing my eyes?" -- The same co-worker's query regarding a captcha.

Depressing Thought of the Day

"The reward for working hard is MORE work." -- The underlying message I got when I found out that the reason my name was passed over for a switch of position that would help me become a tenured teacher was because I'm doing such a great job with the challenging classes that no one else wants to teach.