a CATCH UP day in the life of me...

Hello fellow bloggers.
I've been gone for a long time. I think I will try and catch up quickly :)
As you know I received a new job assignment this year at my high school. Well that proved to be full of wonderful experiences and funny joys along the way this last semester. In December I found out that I would be taking over the position of head cheer coach in January. I'm sure it was no more of a shock to everyone out there reading this than it was to myself. I wasn't a cheerleader and have never had any ambition to become a coach, but here I found myself. What I can truly say is that this has been a wonderful learning experience. I have learned much about myself and my style of doing this and I've learned much about the 29 girls that I get to interact with multiple times a week.
Teaching US History and Geography is a delight. I'm so loving getting to know my students and learning how to reach inside of the brain of a teenager and deposit something there that will hopefully stay with them through life.
I've had many students tell me that I'm their "favorite" and that they really love my class or that I am the most animated teacher they've had. I've decided that I'm OK with all of those compliments, because teenagers need those types of adults in their lives.
I have a few darling students that, everytime they see me, insist on paying me a compliment. It really is the sweetest thing. They're not trying to be a brown noser, just sweet 14 year old kids.

I continue to have stories of things they say boggle my mind. Today, for instance, I was talking to them about warm and cold blooded animals (not that this fit the topic of conversation, but I was prompted to talk about it so I did). All of the sudden I had this darling girl in the back of the class raise her hand and confess to her peers that she honestly thought that cold blooded animals were the "mean and predatory" kind and that warm blooded animals were the "prey and kind and rarely mean ever" kind. OK, I'm not going to lie, I had a hard time not laughing out loud with the rest of the class and instead I managed to say, "I'm really glad you came to school today." and proceeded to quiet the class and explain to them the benefit of why we come to school and how important it is that we keep learning about all different types of subjects as we continue to grow up because we really don't know everything. I then told my class about a friend of mine who honestly didn't know that Idaho and Iowa were two different states until the age of 19. He thought they were the same state, just said with a different accent until then. They all laughed at that story and I illustrated further how important it is to keep learning and not ridicule people who don't know as much, but to help give them the correct information.

Needless to say, I really love my job! Talk about rewarding.

a FUNNY TEACHING STORY day in the life of me...

During the last class of the day, I gave my students a test. It was a pretty basic test on WWI. I was pretty excited for it and they were NOT. :-)
We get through the review, the test and the correcting of the test with minor incidents. I then have a student come up to me and the following conversation was had:

Student: Miss Boshard, the test is worth 100 points right?
ME: Yes. I made that very clear.
Student: I got 97 on it so is that how many points I will receive for the test?
ME: Yes.
Student: So pretty much what you're telling me is there is no possible way I can fail this test, right?
ME: Yes. In fact you not only aren't going to fail this test. You earned an A on this test.
Student: (SHOCKED) I earned an A?
ME: Yes. Yes you did.

:-)

a FUNNY STORY day in the life of me...

OK, so I realize I haven't posted in a long time. I'm loving my job this year. Teaching History is just so much fun!! I'm enjoying planning History lessons and feeling incredibly stressed out trying to come up with fun ways to teach all the many different topics that I'm responsible for. I'm also the assistant cheer coach and that is proving to be a great learning experience.

I've had a few funny stories already come out of these darling students and just want to share a few of them. I realize writing something is never as funny as witnessing the actual event, so just use your imagination to fill in the gaps.

1) I was talking to my students about BYU basketball and how I just love Jimmer (I mean, who doesn't right!). They told me that he's always at Costa Vida, which just happens to be across the street. I went on to tell them that I'd love to meet Jimmer and that if they could guarantee him being at Costa we'd take a class field trip. They liked that idea, so we kept talking about him. The fact that he's engaged came up. One of my students asked me why I'd want to see him if he was engaged. I said, "Well ya know. I'd like to get his autograph or a hand shake or ... well you know I'd probably just hug him even though he is engaged."
***for those of you that don't know Jimmer is engaged to a BYU cheerleader
One of my very loyal students looked and me and said, "well I just hate cheerleaders." bahahahahahah - she just wanted me to be able to talk and interact with him - cute huh?!

2) Today I had asked multiple students to please stay on task. Most of them were having an INCREDIBLY difficult time with that. I had stated an expectation and then two seconds later a student asked a question that I had just answered. Student "A" pipped up and said "Gosh she just said that Use Your Brain." Well that wasn't nice so I gave him my best teacher stare. Oh he saw it, quieted down a little bit and then said "please" - just the tone he used would have been funny enough, but the fact that he didn't apologize and instead tried to make the yelling at another student seem OK by saying please made me laugh so hard.

3) I taught my students about the "International Date Line" today. One student, in the very back of the classroom popped his hand up as soon as I said those words and said, "Isn't that an online dating site." Oh my gosh!!!

a GOOD POEM day in the life of me ...

By Maya Angelou

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...
something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...



A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..

a youth she's content to leave behind....
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...



A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .......

a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel honored...



A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..

a feeling of control over her destiny.....
how to fall in love without losing herself..



EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship....


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....

when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...



EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..
that her childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over...



EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she would and wouldn't do for love or more.....
how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...



EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.. .

whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...



EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table..
or a charming Inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing...



EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

What she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...

a CATCH UP day in the life of me...

Wow! I can hardly believe a month has gone by since PHS ended for the summer. I looked at my blog and realized that I haven't written about any of the fun adventures I've had so far this summer. This will be a quick re-cap to catch everyone up.

I went to Les Miserables at the beginning of June with my parents and my sister! It was a beautiful production. That music is SO powerful.

I ran in the Dirty Dash with my friend Jill, her friends and relatives and my sister Jenny. It was a 5K in mud, dirt, freezing cold water, hay and slip-n-slides. It was hilarious and definitely an experience worth having! I was going for the cleanest face award, only to have that thwarted at the end by a huge mud lake that we had to wallow through.

My cousin, Cuyler, got married to the love of his life at the beginning of June. We did a family session, before their sealing, in the Manti temple. That was such a great experience. The followed their sealing with a fun, outdoor dinner. I love that valley - it is so beautiful and my cousin couldn't have asked for a more perfect wedding day!!

I attended a technology and a English as a Second Language Conference - go me! hahaha.

I ran my first half marathon EVER! It was on June 11 at 6:00am! I ran it in 2 hours and 15 minutes!!! I can hardly believe it, but it's true. The best part was getting an hour long massage later that afternoon.

I began my summer job (for real). I had been working during spring term for BYU, but summer school began in the middle of June. I am a teacher mentor to two fabulous, soon to be, teachers. They each have 7 students, teach 3 subjects and are very good at what they do. I'm learning so much about me, my teaching style, my mentoring style and reflecting on WHY I went into teaching in the first place. It's at an elementary school and I have the 5th/6th graders in my classroom. During a class swap this week a little guy looked up at me and said "You are such a good teacher." Yes please!

Elder Parker turned 20 this month and Kelsey had her birthday! My friend Jeana had her anniversary and gave birth to their beautiful baby boy. My frieinds David Paxman, Jen Bloomfield Mooney and Katie Bloomfield Lemke as well as my cousin Stephanie Steiner Standing and friend Michelle Snyder Hunt had their anniversaries. Talk about a busy month!!!

I went to the Manti Pageant, attended a Parachute concert in SLC, have begun re-watching all of the Harry Potter's, went camping by Payson Lakes and LOVED it!

My goodness - my month has been full!!!
I hope you all have been having as much fun as I have!

a MIXED FEELINGS day in the life of me...

Today is the day before graduation. I had many students come into my classroom today and ask me to sign their year book. As I was signing a happy "Hope you enjoy your summer. You were a graet student. Keep up the good work." message I began to miss my students ... and they weren't even gone yet.
It's bizarre how these human beings could drive me out of my mind at times, almost driving me to tears of anguish (forget the almost) and then other times they were making me laugh so hard that tears actually did come out! Now they are going to go away for the next 2 1/2 months of my life. Wow! In fact, some are actually going to graduate and move on with their life. WOW!
One student came in to thank me today for being such a great teacher, this that and the other and I seriously almost lost it. Instead of withering away into a weepy mass, I made some light hearted joke so that we would both have to smile and as he walked out of my classroom I realized I was really going to miss him.

We are definitely on this planet, together, for a reason. We are meant to form friendships, relationships, and help each other out. It's not healthy to stay in a little bubble and guard yourself with walls and defences, just because you think you're going to get hurt - news flash - EVERYONE DOES!!!
I truly have come to love my students and all their quirks and craziness that they bring with them. This has been a roller-coaster of a year, but I am happy to say that I have come through a stronger person and have allowed myself to be changed and schooled by so many wonderful children of God.
Here's to you class of 2011 - I'll miss you.

a GOOD QUOTE day in the life of me...

Impossible is just a BIG word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it.
Impossible isn't a fact. It's an opinion.
Impossible isn't a declaration. It's a dare.
Impossible is temporary.
Impossible is nothing.