6th grade debate

Every week at school the kids have a list of spelling words along with 8 vocab words. These vocab words are what they call "real world" vocabulary and are based on one specific real world topic. For example, last week our words were based on the atmosphere and included: ozone, stratosphere, exosphere, etc. Well this week our words were based around the subject of "debate". Our words included: Orator, conviction, controversial, argument, philosophy, consideration, rebuttal, and persuasive. I wanted a way to help the kids remember these terms so I decided to apply them to our own classroom and hold a debate. One thing in 6th grade that is a very controversial issue is that 6th graders don't get morning recess. I split my class in half and had one side in favor of having morning recess and the other in favor of not having it. The half that I told was on the side of not having recess wasn't too thrilled about it at first because they all want recess. I gave them some time yesterday to come up with all their philosophy and all their reasons to support their argument, making sure they were applying the vocab terms. This morning I had them gather up the rest of their thoughts and then we held a debate. They had an orator give their first thoughts and then I let anyone else put in their two cents. It was SOOOO funny! Who knew watching 6th graders argue over having morning recess would be so entertaining. I even had my few quiet kids standing up and giving their opinion (I made them stand up when they were speaking). There was even a few "I objects" and pounding of fists on desks. By the end of the debate each half of my class was fully convinced that their way was right. Even that half that were suppose to argue in favor of not having morning recess convinced themselves that that was what they really thought. One girl had so much fun with it all that she told me she wants to be a lawyer now. I think it did help them with the vocabulary words because every time one came up during the debate I would hold up a card with that word on it and tell them why that term matched the situation. We'll see how they do on the test tomorrow. Anyway, I just thought it was too funny and wanted to share that with you all.

Some day my prince will come

Every girl has their Disney Princess. The one they look like the most or the one they just like the most. Mine has always been Snow White. I think this princess fits me in many different ways.
One of the most obvious reasons why she is my princess is because I resemble her in looks. I have the pale skin (unfortunately) and the shorter dark (not black!) hair.
Another reason is that she has her 7 little dwarfs. They sing and dance with her yet do all her cleaning and work around the house. Well, I have it even better than her, I have 24 dwarfs. I sing and dance with them and they do my cleaning and work around school. Pretty great I know! Here are my dwarfs:

Dopey: Have lots of Dopeys. He was always my favorite dwarf and I have lots of favorite students. I don't think I could pick one Dopey.

Grumpy: I don't have many grumpy kids. If I had to pick one I would probably say Ben who never seems to be happy. He's a good kid though.

Doc: I have a quite a few Docs as well. I have some stinking smart kids! There is definitely Trevor, Sierra, Joe, and quite a few others.

Happy: Allie is definitely one of my Happys, Sierra as well, and others depending on the day.

Bashful: I have a few kids that are a little more bashful than the others. There is Jared who is quite reserved and Esther who is just so quiet, but so sweet.

Sneezy: This is my Christian, he is sneezing all the time!

Sleepy: all 24 of my students! Haha. Depends on the day who is my Sleepy.

Another reason that I am Snow White is because "I'm wishing for the one I love to find me today". As the title says, "some day my prince will come". Hopefully I don't have to eat a poison apple and fall into a deep sleep in order for him to come. But I wouldn't mind waking up to a handsome prince kissing me!
I wouldn't say I am as big of an animal fan as Snow White is, but I do really like rabbits. So I guess I am kind of like Snow White in that way.
When I was a freshman in college all 6 of us were Disney Princesses and I of course was Snow White. Also last year a group of the girls in my class who decided they were all Disney Princesses and they also decided that I was Snow White.
So...this year for Halloween I bet you can guess what I was...

School picture!

Yes, I still get school pictures. In fact, I get LOTS of school pictures. Being a teacher we are forced to get out picture taken, but I don't mind it as much now as I did when I was actually in school. Growing up I had a really hard time posing a natural looking smile. My family always told me I looked constipated. Haha. Well, I think I finally grew out of it and can make myself look somewhat decent in a picture. So here is my 2008-2009 school picture. And check out the package they give to teachers (I don't pick it or pay for it):

1 - 8x10
4 - 5x7 (one with some white boarder thing and "Allison" written on the bottom and another one that is black and white)
4 - 4x6
16 - wallets

What am I ever going to do with all those pictures? If you want one, let me know and you are more than welcome to have one. I thought it'd be a good idea to write my number on the back of them and pass them out to good looking boys. Haha. Ok I am done now. By the way, it is a picture of a picture, so it's not that great of quality. Oh, and you can see my short new haircut if you haven't seen it.

I have great kids!

Oh, you didn't know I had kids? Well I do. 23 of them in fact! Haha. Ok, so I like to call my students my kids. Funny thing about that...I teach the other two 6th grade classes science and I was telling one of the classes about how I told my "kids" something and apparently a few of them thought I really had children. Oops! I just had parent/teacher conferences. Except in our district they are called SEPs (Student Education Plan) and the students are suppose to be there. I think I like it that way. I don't think the kids enjoy it so much. Except for one of my girls that was saying how much she loves SEPs. Yes, I worry about her. Anyway, I had SEPs and I had a hard time finding many bad things to talk to the parents about. I have just a great bunch of kids! I pretty much just had a day where I got to tell the parents how great their kids are. Of course I have my few that had a few issues that needed to be brought up, but over all I don't have many problems. I have so many wonderful students! First of all, they are very bright kids! A good majority of them are reading above grade level and they LOVE to read! I could probably just have them read all day and they would do it! Not only do it, but they would love it! I really wish I had that love for reading when I was their age. It will be so beneficial for them throughout their whole life. I have so many smart, smart math students, which make me excited! On top of being really smart, my kids are so responsible! I rarely have to nag them about doing their work and turning in their homework. They are so on top of their school work and the things they need to do. It makes my job as their teacher so much easier! But the best part about my kids is that they are so fun! They really do bring so much joy into my life. I don't think one day goes by where they don't make me laugh. Some of the things these kids do just crack me up! I love seeing them at this age and just watching them grow and learn and have so much fun in life! They are just a wonderful bunch of kids that are going to go far in life, I know that! Last week was Red Ribbon week (drug prevention/awareness). Along with having fun dress up days, we also had an assembly. There is a guy that goes around to schools named Corbin White. He talks to the kids about a "natural high" and how that is where you are just having so much fun you don't want to stop and that is the kind of high you want. He just has a karaoke party with the kids and they have so much fun! I even had my shyest girl get up in front of all the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Of course she wasn't up there alone, but still! It was fun to just see the kids be goofy and have a good time. After we went back to class there was about 5-10 minutes left before we needed to clean up to go home (the assembly didn't last as long as they said it would). So instead of getting into any class work or what not, I just decided to have a little dance party with my kids. Heck! Sometimes you just have to let loose and have fun with your students. I just put on some music and we all danced around the classroom (yes, even I did) and just had a lot of fun. I think it helps the kids to bond as a class and it helps me to bond with them. I even had some of my boys prancing about the classroom like ballerinas. It was quite the site! I had so much fun and I am sure the kids did too. I think that is something they will always remember. And hopefully all the school stuff I teach them too! Anyway, I just wanted to brag about my "kids"!

My Quirks!

Everyone has weird things about them and I think I have quite a few. I read my sister's blog all about her quirks and felt like writing about my quirks!

• My pajamas have to match. I will not wear navy blue pants with a black shirt, or even a white shirt with black writing. I will not wear my red pants with an all red shirt or my navy pants with an all navy shirt. I don't know why, no one really sees me in my PJs, but that's just the way it has to be.

• My alarm clock with never be set to a normal increment of time. If I want to wake up at 7:00am it will be set for something such as 6:57 or 7:01. I won't ever set it to an even time or a multiple of 5. Again, I have no idea why.

• Like my sister, I like the dishwasher loaded a certain way. I just think there is a very logical way to organize it so that you can fit as many dishes as possible and they will all still get clean. I have been known to completely unload a dishwasher to rearrange it. I hate it because I like it when my roommate clean up after themselves but it drives me nuts to put a dish into a poorly organized dishwasher.

• I hate cupboards and drawers being opened. If I am sitting in the livingroom and a cupboard is opened I have been known to get up just to go close it. I just think it looks messy when they are opened.

• I HATE it when people drink the milk out of their cereal bowl. I will not watch you do it and have been known to actually turn away or cover my eyes when someone is doing it. I don't like to drink milk in the first place and for some reason the cold cereal filled milk makes me want to vomit.

• My movies have to be in alphabetical order. I have quite the collection of movies all on a nice little shelf and they are all alphabetized starting with numbers and going to Z. I know when a movie is out of place. My roommates have been known to watch my movies, and not realizing they are in a certain order will randomly put them away. Yes I will go move them to the correct place.

• Now there are a number of things that bother me when it comes to my classroom and my students: (the ones I can think of right now, I'm sure there are more)
  
• Messy desks and unorganized papers
• Messy book shelves
• Folding over page corners in books (I threaten my children if they do that!)
• Not showing your work in math
• Writing all the math problem numbers down and then expecting to fit all the work on that one little line
• A messy turn in basket (papers not lined up nicely)
• Crooked desks
• Chairs not pushed in
• Messy floor
• My students calling me "teacher" instead of "Miss Weathers" (I just call them "student" back)
• Papers with not names!
• Misusing supplies
• Not using common sense (I guess they are 6th graders)
• Not reading the notes on the board
• Not listening to directions or following directions
• Disrespect of any kind (I will not tolerate it!)

• I really am kind of weird where I like a lot of things done my way. I have a hard time letting other people do things for me because if they don't do it the way I like to I'll kind of be irritated or I'll do it all over again. I know it is lame and I wish I didn't feel that way because it would make life much easier, but I just can't help it!

Anyway...those are what I can think of right now. I hope you don't think less of me because of them! I think I am still a good person! Haha!

Kids say the darnedest things

I decided last year to start keeping track of some of the funny things my students (kids) say and I picked it up again this year. I think 6th grade is such a fun year because the kids are starting to become teenagers and they just have so much personality. I find myself laughing at the things they say/do on a daily basis. Here are a few things for your enjoyment (I'd have more but they are saved on my computer at school):

From last year:

"Miss Weathers, you need to find yourself a lover!"
~Shania

"I'm in love with Lexi"
~Tyler
"No you're not, you don't even know what love is."
~Me
"Oh I do...I've felt it."
~Tyler

"It doesn't matter what you put, you are going to get it wrong...unless it's the right answer"
~Tyler

From this year:

"I'm a bird" (randomly as she flaps her jacket and heads to her seat)
~Allie

As we are talking about when I get married...
"All the girls can be bridesmaids"
~a girl in the class
"You can be flower girls"
~Me
"And the boys will be those guys that clean the pipe organs" WHAT???
~Jesh

"I'm hot!" (referring to temperature)
~Sierra
"Yeah you are!"
~Jesh

"Last night I had a dream I married a bubble!"
~Krista

"I tired to make a bear, but it didn't work...so I made a beaver"
~Bradley

Well, those are the ones I can remember right now. Some might not be as funny because they are probably "you had to be there" incidents. But maybe you get a laugh out of some of them. I just love 6th graders!

The World Today

I watched this video in a technology teacher workshop I am taking. It was really interesting to me. I want to see what you think of it.



Interesting huh? Sometimes it is sad to think about how things have changed in the world today. That technology has been so useful yet so destructive. It can be used so affectively in the educational world, yet take away from student's learning. I don't know...I am really terrible at expressing my thoughts into words, but I just found it a very interesting video with a powerful message. So were we better off before all this technology or are we better off with all the advancements now?

See what being a Utahan does to you? It makes you not write on your blog for months! I could probably write pages and pages of what has been going on since I last wrote, but you don't want to be bored to death, so I'll do a readers digest version. My summer went by in a flash! I finished of my six weeks of EFY and it was amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my summer. I got to play all summer, get paid and influence so many teenagers' lives. It was truly amazing! I had a whole four days off between EFY and being required to be in my classroom. I hurried and got everything ready and I like how my classroom turned out. I have a great group of kids. Unfortunately they are all pretty good friends, so they like to chat. But overall they are really sweet kids and hard workers. I have 24 little munchkins and I just adore them. I really couldn't ask for a better job. I love being with the kids and they seem to like me enough. Here is a picture of my little children celebrating International Talk Like a Pirate Day. I celebrated that last year and I had a great time! As a whole 6th grade we celebrated it and did some really fun things. I created probably the most amazing treasure hunt! They had to know how to follow an order pair on a coordinate grid which led them to different parts in the school. It was pretty great and they had a lot of fun sneaking around the school like pirates and of course they loved the treasure at the end! We also took regular nursery rhymes and gave them "piratude". I have some creative kids. So far this year we have done some great things. We had a beginning of the year kick off field trip. We went up a canyon near our school and were able to go on a hike and play some fun games together as sixth graders. It turned out wonderful! We also had our school's Fall Festival. It was a huge success and the kids loved the pie eating contests as you can tell from the picture.
Over the summer I was able to go to a rodeo and a demolition derby for the first time. They were so much fun! Who knew you could be entertained by animal cruelty and people destroying cars by slamming into each other.As of recently my friends are slowly dropping one by one into the death trap of marriage! They should learn from my and steer clear of that trap! Well, I had my friend that I've been friends with since was two, get married this weekend. My two best friends from high school are about all gone. One got married last summer and the other one is getting married this December. A guy friend of mine that I have liked since 9th grade is planning on getting married this year. One of my best friends from college got married last weekend. Slowly I am losing them. It makes me really happy that they have found that person they can spend eternity with, but it also makes me sad. Not only am I somewhat losing them as close friends (marriage does that to friendships), but it kind of makes me sad that I haven't found the "one". I'm not the kind to be obsessed with getting married, but when I see my friends so happy with someone you can't help but want the same for yourself. Well, my time will come when it comes. I'm not going to get all worked up over it. I was able to go to Nevada for Addie's wedding and it was wonderful! Here is a picture from that.

Addie, Scott, and me. Are they adorable?

My two best friends from high school, Ashli and Jessi

Kyle, my really good friend since 9th grade

Jenna and me, back when we were cute. Please admire our amazing outfits!

Outside of teaching and losing friends, life is really great. I moved into a new complex and have a new ward. So far I have really liked it. We have made some friends in the ward (guys of course) and have hung out with them quite a bit. Really overall life is great and I couldn't ask for more. Sometimes I am just amazed at how blessed I really am. Anyway...I think I'm done blabbing. I hope this satisfies some of you!

Traumatizing Experience

Well, I had a very traumatizing experience this week. I had to give up a piece of myself. Here is what my car looked like as of a few days ago...


Here is what it looks like now...


See the difference? Yes, I have come that much closer to being a Utahan. It was a very sad day for me. I guess that's what I get for living and working in Utah for almost 2 years running. I will survive. I still have my Washington drivers license to tie me to my roots.

Where have I been?

You are all probably thinking (the whole 5 of you that sometimes read this), where is Allie? Well my friends, I have been a lot of places over the last month or so. I have been a busy woman with a lot going on in life. I'm not even sure where to start...

Back in April for spring break, my friend Jessi and I were able to take a trip to California. It was amazing! We made a stop in Vegas and saw the strip. It's just something you have to do in your life time. We were then onto California where we were able to go to Disneyland, California Adventures, Hollywood and the beach. I have never experienced Disneyland and it really is the happiest place on earth. I wish I could tell you more but it would take forever. You'll just have to trust me that is was pretty great.


Jessi and I at the top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas and at the "happiest place on earth"

May was very busy with the school year coming to an end. There were so many things I had to get done before I headed out. We enjoyed some fun last weeks of school with field day, a field trip and a PJ/game day. I love those kids so much and was so sad to leave them. I had one of my girls bawling at the end of the last day of school. They are just amazing children and I was sad and very excited to see them move on in their lives.


Some of my girls dancing in the rain on field day and almost all my kids the last day of school

The day I ended school I drove up to Rexburg for my sister Kim's wedding. Her and Tyler were married in the Rexburg temple on May 30th. It was very nice. We had a reception there that night, which was beautiful. Some of my family left that night to drive to Spokane and I drove with my parents early the next morning. Saturday we spent at our home in Spokane getting ready for the reception there. The reception was set up in our back yard and had a "tropical" feel. It all turned out very nice and with a little "rain dance" around the firest we were able to keep the rain away.


Tyler and Kim right after they got married and what the bridesmaids and groomsmen did to their car. They weren't very happy about that.

I flew back to Utah on Sunday, was home for about a half hour, enough time to pack, and then checked in to do EFY (Especially For Youth). That has consumed my life for the past two weeks. You check in Sunday and have a meeting that night at 7pm. From then until that next Saturday around 9am when the kids are gone and your meeting is over, you are on the job. It is the most rewarding and most draining job I think there could ever be. The first week I had the 16-18 year-olds, with a group of 12 amazing girls. I adored those girls and gained so much love for them. We had a "company" of 50 kids, 24 girls and 26 guys. They were all so great. This past week I had the 14-15 year-olds. I had 9 sweet girls and a company of 48 kids, 27 boys and 21 girls. It has really been an AMAZING two weeks. It is amazing how you can gain so much love for these kids in the 5 short days you work with them. I love to see their testimonies grow and the friendships they make. I think I have learned just as much, if not more, from my experience as they have. I wish I could tell you all everything that happened these past few weeks but it would take forever. If you want to know more just ask me, I could go on forever.


My group "Not Ashamed" from the first week and my co-counselors, Enrique, Jes, and Mark

My second group "Believeth" and my co-counselors Eric, Sydney, and Mitchell

If I had favorite kids from these past two weeks these would be them. My girl Calais (Cal-a) from my first week and my boy Dylan from my second week. Calais was an absolute sweetheart and so much fun. She called me "Coach" and I loved it. Dylan was an amazing young man. Struggling a little with the gospel, but I was able to really touch his life. I called him "Precious".

So there is my life in a nut shell; the VERY condensed version. I am alive and life is moving forward and a little too quickly if I do say so myself. But I'm happy and life is great!