Recess Detention Part II

During another recent recess detention, the gentlemen offenders made themselves very useful.  I asked them if they could figure out a way to attach my jingle bells to my classroom door.  (I snagged these for just twenty-five cents at a garage sale this summer and have been anxiously waiting to get them out and add some holiday cheer to my surroundings. For more garage sale finds, click here.)  

While surveying the bell-hanging situation, they noticed that my doorstop was not attached very well.  Being the helpful gentlemen that they are, one of them ran to the utility closet and grabbed the tool box.  Not only did they hang my jingle bells, but they also fixed my door stop.  I'm beginning to enjoy this recess detention thing.  

Recess Detention Redemption

During lunch recess, I like to stay inside.  Thus, I have been appointed to keep an eye on the gentlemen from the 7th grade who have an extra five or ten minutes to spend inside due to an offense of some sort.  One day they were perusing my science and history shelf and brought the Galilean thermometer over to me and asked me what it was.  

After I explained how it worked, they asked me if they could make the glass balls inside it move around by warming it up with their hands.  I thought that was a neat idea, so I told them to try it.  Their time was up before it heated up enough to move the glass balls, so they ran outside.  

What a great way to redeem their recess detention time.  Maybe we'll try it again another day.  

Summer School = Butterflies and 8-Foot-Long Bicycle Thing

     Today was another project sort of day.  We need to enjoy these special days before school starts and we will be spending more time inside and less time outside.   We will also be spending more time on math, English, science, and ironing (for me), and not as much time making huge messes in the garage and getting our clothes all dirty and greasy.   

     Each of my younger children had a little project today.  My son took the engine to our old lawnmower which did not work any more, mounted it on a board, took it all apart and showed me the pistons, spark plug, gas squirter thing, oil squirter thing, timing gears and I’m not even sure what else.  He could manually move all the parts around and he is really learning how all these parts work.  That is educational.  Maybe that is why he has learned to build weird stuff like this out of a unicycle, two-by-fours, an extra bike wheel, lights and brakes.  Yes, he added brakes and lights, too.  Pretty neat-o.  It worked pretty well until my eighteen-year-old tried to make a sharp turn into the park and ended up in the woods.  

     My daughter noticed that this morning our chrysalis had hatched and we watched a lovely swallow tail butterfly stretching its wings.  I was so excited that I forgot to snap a picture as it flew up and away over the top of our house.  That was when I was distracted by the engine.    

      After that we observed several of these lovely creatures on some of our trees.  

     Next we all loaded up the car and went to help dad finish decorating his room.  For now though, we are relishing these last days of summer before a different kind of fun begins.  

 And the title of this picture is "Cats Sleeping on Chairs with Engine".

Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, Maggots Stink

This morning began with my husband and I sanding our hardwood floors.  After sanding, we varnished the beautiful 120-year-old wood.  Next it was time to open all the windows, turn on all the fans, and get out of the house.  Before we picked our older son up at work and took him out to lunch, we ran several errands.  As we were driving around I began to tell my youngest two students how I wanted them to do a few projects over the summer and during the next school year.  I told them they could pick anything which interested them and that I would help them do it.  I had no idea how seriously they would take this, but they did. 

      

At our first stop my daughter spotted a greenhouse next door.  They had a great special--fill a flat for $10.  We did.  As soon as we arrived home she headed for the flower bed beside the garage and began weeding and digging.  It soon looked amazing.  Daughter learns gardening, yard looks better.  Daughter’s grade:  A+

     After lunch we were running a few errands when I spotted a large “FREE” sign by the side of the road.  I slowed down and peered over at the pile.  Old windows.  I’ve been wanting one of those ever since I saw one painted with chalk board paint at a garage sale.   And the time I got 24 of these for my students, I was too busy to do one myself.  (To see the results of those, click here.)  It was time for me to have a project too.  Supply acquisition: A+  Time to paint: ? Mom’s grade:  “I” for incomplete. 

      After stopping by the Churchtown garage sales we were headed back home.  Uh-oh-- we spotted a road kill.  My family knows I stop for road kills.  We have found and studied a crane, a coyote, hawks, an owl, a squirrel, a pheasant, and now a near-perfect rabbit. (I’m still upset about that red fox I passed up on I-81 last March after my husband convinced me that the friends with whom we were staying would not appreciate my skinning and tanning a fox in their backyard, or saving it in their freezer.) There were only two problems.  The rabbit’s head was squashed, and it reeked.  Unfortunately, prime time for acquiring road kills is first thing in the morning, and this was the afternoon.  Its coat was gorgeous.  “Stuff it in this plastic bag,” I told my youngest son as he picked it up by the leg.  “They won’t be able to smell it if we tie the bag up tight.”  As we walked back to the car we twisted the top of the plastic bag around several times and then jumped back in the car.  Immediately the entire car smelled like a dead rabbit which had lain by the side of the road baking in the sun for eight hours.  I hastily rolled down all the windows and looked over at my husband.  He was holding his nose making a horrible face, but he didn’t tell us to get rid of it.  We had less than a mile home.  I accelerated to the speed limit and just kept going.

      Once we arrived home he ordered my son to get out of the car as soon as it had stopped.  I began unloading the car as my son deposited the rabbit in the grass under a tree, then ran and grabbed a utility knife and the gas mask my husband had used to apply the stinky varnish.   By the time I made it back to the car to unload my free windows, my son had begun to cut the skin down the middle of the rabbit’s underside and he was calling for help.  He said it was dirty.  It was dirty indeed-- its underside was full of maggots.  I looked at that beautiful coat of fur, held my breath so I wouldn’t smell the awful stink, tried not to think about all those maggots, and decided it was worth it.  I ran and grabbed the hose, but alas, as I was squirting off the dead, stinky rabbit, its skin began peeling off along with all those maggots.  Evidently the underside of the rabbit had baked somewhat on the hot pavement.  Son’s grade:  A for effort.  

      So, we learned a few things today.

1.  Annuals are cheap in August and look pretty in flower beds.

2.  You can always find neat stuff for free in the trash.

3.  Road kills need to be picked up before 3:00 p.m. on a hot summer day.

 

Whales, Flags, Spiders and Tee Pees

     One day a week I allow my students to grab an encyclopedia and write about or draw something they found interesting in their volume.  (They ask me if they can do this on other days, but Wednesday is usually the weekly "encyclopedia day".)  The results are sometimes astounding.  They are learning about animals, insects, history, and art.  They are having fun and learning at the same time.  

Drywall Cardboard Trashcan Desk in the Sewing Closet

     I sometimes let my students go into the fellowship hall in the next room to take tests.  It is quieter in there, I can peek in on them every so often, and they know they can come ask me a question (about the directions only) anytime they need to do so.  So, I went in to check on the sixth graders one morning.  The two ladies were seated at separate tables using normal chairs.  And the gentleman, well, . . . this is what I saw.

 He had a little first grade chair stacked on top of the principal’s outside chair, and he was using a piece of cardboard balanced on a piece of drywall balanced on top of an upside down trash can for a table.  And he was inside the sewing closet.  He usually makes excellent grades on his tests.  (Once my husband found him face down on the bathroom floor sick after a test.  He had insisted that he come to school to take his English test that morning.  After his mother came and picked him up, I graded his test.  He got a 100.) So, I left him on top of his stacked chairs with his cardboard drywall trashcan desk.  He got an A.

 And these gentlemen made honor roll grades as well--and they were taking a five-page American history test complete with maps and essay questions.  Awesome!  I separated all of the students who were taking this test so that they would “avoid every appearance of evil”.  No tests were within eye shot of any of them.  But to do this, we have to really spread out and use extra tables, desks, the couch, and the bench.  As long as they are making good grades and behaving themselves (which they truly do), I give them some leeway. 

Bathroom Art

     I was returning to the front of my classroom when I happened to glance through the door, across the hall, and into the boys’ bathroom-- which I normally don’t do, but the door was open and no one was in there, and . . . I saw . . . bathroom art.

     You see, one of our more creative students has the job of cleaning the bathroom.  And, I guess when he was done cleaning, he got . . . artistic.  I thought it was wonderfully creative.  Here is how it looked from the outside.  Yay for stacked toilet rolls, half-empty spray bottles, and creative students.

A Quillow, a Quillow, a Quilt in a Pillow

 

   I think my favorite project from the home economics class workbooks was the quillows.  Quillows are quilts which fold up into a pillow.  They are easy to make, great to take on trips, and make great gifts.   We all enjoyed making these, and my daughter has already used hers several times.

Spring

Spring has sprung!  My students brought me wild flowers.  This is what my desk looked like today.  Happy spring!

A Chunk of Wood and Some Creativity

      I appreciate, encourage, and acknowledge creativity when I see it in my students.  I observed a nice chunk of wood on one of my fourth grader’s desks.  As I looked closer to admire it, I saw that he had turned it into a pencil holder.  Creative.  Neat.  Ecological.  I like it!  Yay for young men who like to do projects, and for their dads who help them.  

Thankful for My Students

       The last day of school before Thanksgiving break we always have a little celebration.  The home economics class was required to fix party snacks for one of their assignments, so they decided to do it for the school Thanksgiving party.  We enjoyed chicken biscuit sandwiches, English muffin pizzas, puppy chow, pumpkin rolls, punch, and jello jigglers.

      The unofficial Lott School band played two tunes, we ate, and then read a few short stories related to American history.  Although I enjoyed my break immensely, it was nice to be back to school today.  Blessings!

Native American Art Project

     I am always looking for different art projects.  I like them to be creative, tactile, and not involve too much sketching and or painting, although we do some of this too.  I learned how to make these back in Girl Scout Troop #257 - Hurrah for Mrs. Tillman -- back in the 1970s.  Traditionally a Pueblo Native American Indian or Spanish craft, they are easy and fun to make.  

     The first day I showed the students how to make them.  An older student helped me make popsicle sticks pre-tied together to make it easier for the younger students.  Then I left all the yarn and extra sticks on the table the rest of the week.  

As usual, the students came up with their own variations including tiny ones made with toothpicks,  different color combinations, reversing the weave so that it comes out three dimensionally, and even large ones made of all one color.  

      We learned two other facts about Ojos de Dios, or God’s Eyes as they are traditionally known.  

      

      1.  They do not make good boomerangs.

      

      2.  My husband also learned how to make these in Spanish class when he was in school.  He loved making them so much he had his mother buy him several different colors of yarn so he could weave more at home.  He was in the tenth grade.  

 

Chicken Lungs, a Bird's Nest and Pineapple

      The nest was petite and lovely.  The pineapple was sticky.  The wood was from a branch which had been growing about seventeen years-- the age of our eldest student.  And the chicken lungs were a little gross.  

 

Flamingos and Friends at Garage Sales

     The first Saturday in November is the day for “Rosebud’s 100+ Garage Sales”.  Even though some of our men were singing in the Southern Singers Men's Chorus, the rest of us grabbed our jackets and held our now annual hot dog and bake sale.  

  

     The night before most of the ladies met to bake and have a little party.  It was Lexi’s fifteenth birthday, and they celebrated in style.  Diana made this amazing cake, the other junior high and high school ladies decorated the room, and we all had a great time--even when the umbrella tipped over and spilled a few drinks.  

     The next morning they were at our house at 5:30 a.m.  I can’t even drink coffee at that hour.  They added breakfast burritos to the menu and they were delicious. I know because I bought one.  Then I bought my neighbor one.  Then another neighbor came and bought twelve.  Eventually we sold out, but that was all right because the gentlemen had fired up the grill and were making hot dogs and fabulous-smelling grilled onions and peppers.  

     The younger students had their own table and sold homemade punch and yummy blueberry and banana muffins.  I ate some and they were so good I bought my neighbor one, too.  

      After the crowds dwindled down they began riding bicycles and taking turns swinging on a homemade swing.  It was a tiring, but delectable and delightful day. 

Yummy Journal Covers

      Last year for art the students tore pictures they liked out of magazines and then decoupaged them onto paper plates, boxes, vases, jars, or whatever they wanted.  One student decoupaged dinosaurs all over his journal cover.  That gave me an idea. . . . 

(I get several good ideas from creative students.)

     So, for the first art project this year we decoupaged our journal covers.  The results were as unique and different as are our marvelous students.  Now each student has their own personally decorated journal for the rest of the year.