first day of school

I wore my saddle shoes yesterday to start my year and was happy to see a student of mine donning awesome shoes as well (K-funk had on hot pink tennis shoes with crazy green kangaroos...I want a pair!). Every single class was awesome! I couldn't believe it! I had this welcome Bingo game for them to play (thank you, Cathi, for the idea) and I kind of thought that they'd think it was dorky...but, they totally got behind it and had a great time! I instructed my classes on the Rules of the Mixmaster's Jokes (you know, the basics: always say, "I don't know", and always smile or laugh!). I began the year with: How much does it cost a pirate to get his ears pierced? (A buck an ear...a 4 year old told me that joke!). They liked my joke so much that I decided to give them another one: What do you call a student at PBHS who skips class? (Captain Hooky...an ABM original...for those of you who don't know, our mascot is the pirate). Today's jokes were Karen Jane material: What kind of car does a belly button piercer drive? (an Audi) and Where does a belly button piercer go to school? (the Naval Academy). Thank you, Karen! So...as I was saying, all my classes were great! My kids were really responsive and I kind of like the fact that all 5 classes have 30-32 kids! The more, the merrier! I'll be sad to lose some of them (they're in the process of balancing classes now). I wasn't too wild about having B lunch and 5th pd. planning this year (changing from D lunch and 4th pd. planning from last year...which is the best combo because then you get an hour and a half straight). However, I love my new schedule now! It's amazing how things like that work out so brilliantly. After school, my mom and I met Emily Sue, Evan, and their mom at Moo's for ice cream. Yesterday was her first day in the third grade...and her first day in public school! (She's happy she gets to wear regular clothes! Funny how that works, because when I was in school, I always wanted to go to a private school so that I could wear a plaid skirt uniform!) Then, my mom and I met Gayle at the Roadhouse for a first day of school celebration. It was a nice dinner and story telling time :-)! Then it was off to Bible study, where I wrote the post that is 2 below this one. So, I'm flying high! I'm thankful to have so many repeat students from last year and I'm thankful to have some great new ones this year. Also, my class is on K-wing, which is about the middle of the school...so everyone walks by! It's neat to see my old kids and it feels great when they scream up to me from down stairs inbetween classes! Yay! Teaching is fun.