Finally! Back to School

After three snow days we finally - finally! - went back to school on Wednesday.

Which was a really good thing because the teachers, at least, were getting stir-crazy.

Mrs. Eagle, Mrs. Hummingbird and I got together to do our lessons during morning planning and basically shifted three days, moved our test to Tuesday (which isn't ideal, but it's not like we have a choice), and then came up with three more days of a new unit. So, Wednesday was last week's Friday, Thursday (today) was Monday and tomorrow, (Friday) was Tuesday...Got that?

So even though it was Wednesday, and it felt like Monday, the kids had to turn in their weekly homework (due the previous Friday) and we had to go over our guided outline (also due the previous Friday).

Astounding how many kids honestly couldn't believe I actually wanted them to turn in their homework from last week.

"It's due today?" they'd ask. "Really?"

"Really," I'd tell them. "You had five extra days to get it done."

"Oh."

Many of my students in my Fifth Period Class From the Very Depths of Hell Itself not only didn't have their homework, but they didn't have their outline.

Now we have these fun little slips of paper titled, "My dog didn't eat my homework, because this is what really happened," where the kids fill in their name, the class, what the assignment was, and why it wasn't turned in. I love these things. The look on parents' faces when we slide them ever so carefully across the table during parent meetings is, well, priceless. Nothing like seeing "I didn't do it", "Lost it", "Didn't feel like doing it," and so forth in their darling's hand to kind of wake them up.

Some of the comments written down yesterday were even more amusing. For example:

"I was snowboarding and couldn't do it." (For five days? Five entire days!?)

"It got hit by a snowball and ruined." (You want me to believe you took it outside to work on?)

"I didn't know it was going to be due." (I loved that one.)

"I was too busy." (Doing what? For Five Days??)

Of course, being the little dreamers that they are, they asked if I'd give them an extra day to get it done."

"Hummmmm, No." I said. "No late work. You had five whole days to do it."

Any guesses on how many studied their vocabulary cards?

That's what I thought...