January... blah!

So I realized that it's been a while since I blogged last... I don't even have a good reason for not blogging! It's not that I've been too busy having a life that I didn't have time to blog about it... I haven't done much of anything, really... so what is there to blog about? I'm working on a novel about Christmas break that is back-dated, so in the meantime, here's a few tidbits about January 2009 so far...

Our first week back to school was the longest week ever! The kids were used to sleeping in, being lazy, and getting to play all the time! Not to mention their teacher! It was tough, getting them (and me) back in the routine, but I think we're there... almost!

There were only a few storms that first week back that make the commute treacherous. The school parking lot has been a sheet of ice for the past two weeks - I've gotten great at ice skating across!

Recess duty has been a blast! We've only been inside once, which is okay with me! The kids don't really mind being out in the snow and cold. I have one student who moved to Utah from Arizona this fall, and it's his first winter with snow and all... he's pretty stoked about the snow, and could spend all his time looking at it, playing in it, and talking about it. When the kids get all excited about it snowing outside and try to gather at the windows, I always tell them, "You've seen snow before! Now sit down!" (always using a nicely controlled teacher-voice, of course!), and someone inevitably says, "But he hasn't!" Maybe by May we'll be done with looking at the snow...

My class has earned a few extra recesses for being good for substitutes (finally - it only took until January!), and the boys love playing King of the Hill on one of the mounds of snow on the playground. They don't play at regular recess time, because, as they tell me, they like that they know the people in our class aren't playing and pushing and shoving to be mean... they are comfortable in assuming that boys in our class are playing for fun... and they really have taken pretty good care of each other while playing. Personally, I'll be glad when the mound is melted and they're back to playing football on the field or playing soccer against the girls.

Thank goodness for Martin Luther King! I've always admired the man and the kind of leadership that he showed during the Civil Rights movement... and I'm also grateful that Congress decided we needed the day off to celebrate his memory!