4 days left

Friday was good day. We had the faculty Christmas party and I walked away with a really nice set of stoneware bowls and a gift card to Wingers. I ate too much, got to know some teachers better, and had a good time relaxing after a crazy week.

I have been working with my journalism and yearbook students on a project I made up in a dream. It's called "Selling the Impossible." Since we've been learning about advertising, I suppose my mind was on the idea and in a dream one night, I dreamed up a cool project. This jist is that students each identify something that would be "impossible" to sell and come up with a whole ad cmpaign for it. I used Pet Rocks as a way to introduce the project, asking students if they would pay $3.95 for a rock. Then they had to write a product proposal letter to a fictional company (ps, dad, I used your name as CEO of the company). Now they are working on actual ad's and by the end of the week they'll each have an actual packaging replica.

As I've been going through the project with them, I used the "impossible" idea of selling ABC Gum (already been chewed) as an example for them to follow. Some students have come up with some really nasty and clever ideas: dead skin, lizard tongue fly catcher, finger-nail clippings, and light switch face plates that are cracked/dirty/ugly. I'm excited that some have really got into the project. It's been fun to hear their conversations about ads.

And update on the swear jar: My current running total is $6. They all did really good Thursday and Friday so I didn't earn much. I don't know what I'll use the money for yet, but I've shared my idea with several teachers and they are considering adding something similar to their rooms.
The journalism and yearbook sweatshirts are all ordered and will hopefully be done by the time the kids come back from winter break in January. I've already had a few complaints with the design I chose, but I said if they didn't like them, I'd donate their sweatshirt to someone who could use it. I hate whiners and complainers.

There are only 4 days of school next week, as the district gave us a Christmas present by adding one extra day to our break. We'll get our paychecks (normally deposited the last day of the month) on Thursday, including a small bonus from the legislature (which, after taxes is even smaller!). The principal predicted yesterday at our party that next Thursday there would be a huge snowstorm coming in around 2:45 (school release time) and that we should all leave school promptly as not to get caught in the storm.

I have struggled to find something good to do next week with my 8th graders because they are already out of control. I came up with something that will have to do. Each day of the week I will focus on a different country/culture's version of a Christmas/Holiday celebration. They'll read something about it and do some sort of activity. On Monday, we're going to read Pearl S. Buck's short story, "Christmas Day in the Morning," and talk about how American's celebrate Christmas. We have an assembly on Thursday and basically the kids all mentally check out. I will probably just have some crosswords and other word puzzles for them to complete that day, just to keep them busy.

I can't believe it's almost the end of the year. This school year is flying by faster than last year. That is a good thing, though, because I'm already ready for next year!

My teacher friend, Adrienne, gave me a start for Amish Friendship Bread last week. I've had to do something with the start each day (the start is in a plastic bag) and finally today I have to cook it. I spent most of the morning making sure I had all the ingredients, then got to work. I now only have 18 minutes to wait to see if it turned out at all. Now I have 4 more starts, off of my original start, to pass along to friends. I'll be honest, it is starting to smell wonderful in my house!

I have a special treat tonight: my mom is taking me and Cassidy to see The Nutcracker at Ballet West. I'm super excited! We're going to dinner at Little America. I'm excited to see how Cassidy does at the ballet. I love The Nutcracker and remember seeing it the first time as a little girl at Ballet West. I was lucky to be able to perform in a local production of the Nutcracker for several years while I took dance. I have great memories of that and I hope Cassidy will enjoy it, too.

Happy Saturday!