Little Moments

Random thoughts and stories from Room 43:

-I’ve had it coming. I’ve asked for it. Between my endless trash talking and yelling at random eighth graders while wearing a Donald Driver jersey, I definitely asked for it. And yet I was somehow still surprised when my 5th block felt the need to use their three minutes of free time to graffiti my board with approximately 13 variances of “Packers suck” and “Packers lost.” Such lovely children I have.

-We’re almost done with The Hunger Games, and we’ve been reading a whole lot of what I’ve been referring to as “the kissy kissy” (not to be confused with what I refer to as the “blood and guts”). My homeroom has really pulled it together and been so mature about it all, listening and hanging on my every word as I read to them about Peeta and Katniss holed up in a cave together. Yesterday, though, they hit their limit. It’s the week before Christmas break, and my poor boys couldn’t take hearing their female teacher read to them about kisses and sentences like “he put his arms around me.” Two such boys got the giggles, and no matter how hard they tried to stop it spread as a contagion throughout the rest of the class too. They all tried so hard to keep it together, but the giggles of Boy 1 and Boy 2 were just too much. After trying to get them quiet several times, one of my girls raised her hand and said – completely seriously with absolutely no sarcasm or attitude: “Miss Melchione, we need a break. It’s too much for us. We’re trying really hard, but it’s just too much.” I smiled and said “We’ve got two more pages. Can we make it that much more and then we’ll move on to the Grinch?”

-Clearly, I read How the Grinch Stole Christmas to my classes yesterday – because it’s Christmas and because it was an excellent way to review plot structure which they obviously loved me for – and in my 5th block I had to fight them per usual. The only difference is that by that time of the day during this week, I didn’t make them copy from the dictionary as punishment because I was a part of the problem too. We’re all checked out. But my kids were grumpy and in the mood to play around instead of be serious for one second, so when I pulled out the Grinch I thought half of them were going to get up and leave. One student – who is probably the most difficult student I have, but who I’ve come an incredibly long way with – decides that she’s going to be as obnoxious as possible. To paint the picture for you, she’s sitting at a desk by herself with her back to the windows, head resting back on the husband pillow from the reading carpet, legs outstretched onto chair that’s out in front of her, completely slumped down and half asleep. So right away, you know we’re off to a great start. She says “Miss Melchione, we’re 13. We don’t read picture books. Why you always gotta read us picture books? The worst I get is I watch Sponge Bob.” Once I started reading, she sat there all slumped over and leaning back on my pillow, announcing to everyone why everything I read was unrealistic. IN A DR. SEUSS BOOK. Literally, one of her examples from page two was, “How you gonna say his head isn’t screwed on just right? His head isn’t screwed on! He’s a person!” At that point, it was about the third thing she’d said and I stopped, closed the book, looked at her and said “Sponge Bob is a sponge who lives underwater but never fills up with water.” There was a pause, and then she said “Man, I only watch Sponge Bob when I’m bored and there’s nothin’ else on.”

-A handful of my 5th block kids genuinely hate The Hunger Games – which makes me simultaneously confused and so sad – and one of my boys has been especially whiny about it. Yesterday, during the three minutes of free time that the rest of my students were using to destroy my board, I asked the whiny boy why he hates it so much. This was our conversation:
Student: Why can’t we read something like The Outsiders again?
Me: What did you love about The Outsiders?
Student: The violence.
Me: …The Hunger Games is nonstop violence!
Student: It’s all murder. Who wants to read about murder all day long?
Me: There’s two murders in The Outsiders.
Student: Yeah, but it’s also got the gangsters. That’s cool.
I. Don’t. Understand. Boys. I give them more violence and blood and guts and demented forced murder than what is actually appropriate, and they still whine.

-My lovely student – you’ll remember him in a moment – asked me a couple weeks ago during lunch to guess what his favorite moment of the year is so far. His response: “The time I asked you if you were pregnant in the middle of class.” He waited a minute and then looked around at the boys at his lunch table with a beaming smile, and said “Yep. I asked her if she was pregnant in the middle of class.” This is the same boy who decided to sit inside my trash can yesterday, caving it in and effectively getting himself completely stuck. Two other boys had to pull him out. Middle school, man. I swear.

Our Deepest Fear

Yeah yeah. Two posts in one day. I know it's a bit much, but...I'm doing it anyway. And I'm not going to talk about the fact that the Packers just lost their first game of the season...to the Chiefs.

I've been working on painting Christmas presents all day and I have the movie Coach Carter playing the background. I love this movie. It blends two of my favorite kinds of movie (epic sports comeback and the education of at-risk kids) into one perfect combination. I've stayed away from all my teacher movies this Fall though, because I read in an article that it's sometimes depressing instead of encouraging for new teachers to do. But I decided it was okay to watch this one, and a lot of the themes are hitting me in a new way through new eyes. So many of the stats that are thrown out about the population of the kids in the movie are so similar to the stats of my own students, and I wish I could communicate to them the importance of school and their work ethic in a better way. Honestly, I wish I could use all the same methods Coach Carter uses, but my boss would probably frown on most of them. My absolute favorite scene, though, and some of the most incredible words ever spoken, is taken in part from a speech made by Nelson Mandela:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were all meant to shine as children do.
It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated by our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
...Sir, I just want to say thank you. You saved my life."

"They Don't Own Me"

I've watched this approximately 15 times in the last week or so. I basically have it memorized at this point. Can't get enough of it, and I couldn't be more excited for March. Can't wait, can't wait.

If you haven't read these books, drop everything and do it immediately.

http://www.thehungergamesmovie.com/index2.html

Also, Peeta's line gives me goosebumps every time: "I just keep wishing that I could think of a way to show them they don't own me. If I'm gonna die, I wanna die as me." SO fantastic. Seriously, read. this. book.

Don't Mess

I made my 5th block copy out of the dictionary yesterday. This was the conversation that came before they started "You've wasted my time for a week and a half, so now I'm going to waste some of yours. Start with A. I'll tell you when to stop." Not my proudest moment ever as a teacher, but it kind of did the trick.

We got to the kissy parts of The Hunger Games yesterday, which made me ridiculously happy because it's so much fun to read. The things that Peeta says are so painfully smooth and I love reading his words out loud and getting to play them up with a fun, flirty boy voice and then reading Katniss' annoyed and sarcastic attitude-filled responses. That's probably the nerd in me coming out, but I enjoyed it. Two of my classes were even less mature than you would expect them to be when reading things like "You can kiss me anytime if you want" and "Cover up with this backpack and then throw me your shorts so I can wash them," but my homeroom was full of rockstars yesterday. They've been impressing me so much, and yesterday they raised the bar. They were so incredibly into it. I've got some girls in that class that are, sadly, extremely hardened by life already and never tone the attitude down much...but yesterday they were hanging on every word. Gasping appropriately, "ooooo-ing" appropriately, getting caught up in the drama every other page. It was awesome. Then my other classes came and were dumb about it and couldn't stop talking so they copied out of the dictionary. You know. Just a typical Friday.


One conversation (at lunch):

Student: Miss Melchione...do you have a boyfriend?
Me: Nope.
Student: Why not? How old are you?
Me: Old.
Student: 30? 25?
Me: ...Closer to 25.
Student: You should really have a boyfriend by now, Miss Melchione.

Errrbody Dougie

Had "Teach Me How to Dougie" stuck in my head all freaking day.

In other news, I had professional development all day and we were actually extremely productive. My brain pooped out at approximately 2:05 because it had been working so hard all day, though, and it occured to me at approximately 2:55 that saying I would stay after school with a handful of students who wanted to work on their research projects was a terrible idea. A horrible, terrible idea. I was completely brain dead and my kids wanted to play on Pandora and find every single inappropriate rap song ever written and then dance to them instead of do any work at all. I was pretty over it by about 2:56 though. Besides, I'll get them back tomorrow when I tell them how bad their sub report was (they already know because half of them told me in the hallway as I walked back to my classroom: "We were HORRIBLE!") and then punish the heck out of them.

Three conversations:

Student 1: Miss Melchione, what do you want for Christmas?
Student 2: Do you want a teddy bear?
Student 1: Miss Melchione, what do you want for Christmas?
Student 2: Because I'll bring you a teddy bear.
Student 1: What do you want, Miss Melchione? Seriously, I need to know!
Student 2: Yeah. I think you want a teddy bear.
Student 1: Chocolates? Coffee? Just so long as it's reasonably priced.
(notice how I didn't actually say anything at all and they didn't even realize it?)


Student 1: Make a request, Miss Melchione. What song do you want to hear?
Me: Honestly, I've had "Teach Me How to Dougie" stuck in my head all day long.
Student 2: Why?
Me: Why do you ever have any song stuck in your head? I don't know. It just gets in there.
Student 2: Miss Melchione, can you dougie?
Me: (laugh) No. Nope...that wouldn't be pretty.
(a half hour later)
Student 2: I bet you can dougie. I bet you're really good at it and you're just sayin' you can't.


Me: Who's coming to get you?
Student: My dad.
Me: Well where is he?
Student: He said he was leaving the house.
Me: ...it's freezing.
Student: Who told you to wear just a sweater?
Me: Who asked for your input?


It's only Tuesday? You sure it's not Thursday? Or Friday?

Thoughts for Katniss, etc.

We’re reading The Hunger Games in my classes right now, and I think all three of my classes are finally in love with it. I’m shocked to have to say that it took at least one of my classes until Friday (approximately 150 pages) to get hooked, but as soon as we hit what I’ve been affectionately referring to as “the blood and guts” my class full of boys got hooked. Right before we read the Cornucopia chapter where the games finally start, I gave them the following journal prompt: “If you could have a conversation with Katniss right now, before the games start, what would be the one thing you would ask/say to her?” These were some of the responses I got from my male lovelies:

-“Hope you die, in a good way gurl!”

-“Waz up gir umm I have a lot of faith in you winning this Hunger Games. So make sure you stay concealed in the trees and pick people off as you see them. Stay alive!” (no, that’s not a typo on “gir.” That’s how he spelled it. Also, concealed was a vocab words two weeks ago. Sarcastic use of a vocab word? I’ll take it.)

-“I would ask her what her strategy is to win the Hunger Games but I wouldn’t ask her too much BECAUSE SHE’S IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HUNGER GAMES!”

-“If you survive, call me (; see you later babe! <3”


Yup…I get to spend all my time with that. I stayed after school today with some students who wanted some extra time to work on the research projects we’ve got going on right now, and I don’t think I even knew there was a Spanish Pandora channel but…there is. And I’m quite familiar with it now. Also, the following conversation about the way Michael Bay has changed the world (one of their research projects) took place between two students:

Student 1: He changed humanity because we see Optimus Prime and we want to build a robot!
Student 2: He made us more scared of cars. That’s what he did.


On a more somber note, I’ve been working with them a lot on biographies and autobiographies, and I had them spend ten minutes writing their autobiography in their journals last week. Some of the stories of divorce and families separated by continent and jailed parents were so upsetting. But I think the one that has stuck with me the most is the student who shared about how he, after some complicated and unfortunate family issues, has lived on the streets several times with his dad but “it’s okay.” This sweet boy sits in my class and never really talks unless he’s asking me a question about his work, but he works so hard and is so wonderful. It breaks my heart to learn about these private stories and facts about my kids’ lives, but it also makes me feel so honored and privileged that so many of them were willing to share them with me. Not all did, and that’s fine. This year has been hard at times and I know it will be hard again, but I am thankful for the learning experiences it’s given me, and for each new way I can see and know my kids…for each hilarious and tender memory I will cherish.

The Joy of Prefixes

My kids get five prefixes/suffixes each Monday and five vocab words on Tuesday, and then are quizzed on Friday. One of today's prefixes was "dia-", meaning through or across. My example word was "diagonal," but someone obviously yelled out during 4th block that "diarrhea" also starts with the prefix. Instead of getting annoyed or trying to calm the resulting laughter down, I decided to go with it. I just shrugged and said "the meaning of the prefix works for diarrhea." There was a pause while they tried to figure it out and the kid who had yelled out originally said "how?" so I smiled and said "how does the definition 'through' have to do with diarreah?" Pretty much took three full minutes to get them back on track but it was definitely worth it.

Needless to say, I don't think anyone in 4th block is going to get that question wrong on Friday's quiz.

New student

I have a new student in my homeroom starting today. The poor boy is already being hunted and scoped out by all the girls in the 7th grade, and the boys are all trying to take him under their wings. That would be sweet except the boys in my homeroom who are taking him in are my big goofballs who can't ever stop talking or throwing things or flirting with girls or farting in the middle of class. So when I saw him talking to those boys in the lunch line I told him to not be friends with them because they'll get him into trouble. I was just kidding and the goofballs heard me tell him that and objected appropriately...I said it smiling and laughing but the poor kid didn't know whether I was serious or not. When he came out of the lunch line he just stood there, staring at the available seats and not having a clue as to whether he should sit with the goofballs or not. I told him I was just kidding several times but he never really looked like he believed me. Poor kid. I think I might have ruined his first day at his new school.

Who's the coolest?

Today I was reading The Hunger Games aloud to my kids and we got to the part where it describes how Katniss shoots squirrels in the eye every time to save the rest of the meat. I paused to talk about it with them because I wanted them to fully get how crazy this is, so I explained that squirrels are a very small animal that runs really fast, and to shoot one at all takes some skill. But to shoot one in the eyeball while it's small and running very fast, and to do that with an ARROW, means that she is an incredible shot. Before explaining all of this to them, though, I started out with "I don't think I've told you this but I come from a family of hunters, so..." and then I explained all of that. Two of my classes just listened with their full attention because they know nothing about hunting or what is a good shot, but one of my classes stopped me and said "Wait, wait...you're a hunter? AND a boxer?!"

In case you didn't catch that, I'm without a doubt the coolest 7th grade teacher at the moment.

Half Days are My New Fave

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving, which means that today was a half day. We had school from 8 till 11:30. Basically a waste, except for the fact that two of my three classes earned free time/Finding Nemo and my other class sat in perfect silence as I caught them up in The Hunger Games. And except for the Student-Faculty Basketball game that the faculty hilariously dominated in. And except for the rumor that is now running rampant through the 7th grade that I used to be a professional boxer (that one is my personal favorite). All the kids are fully convinced and, I like to think, have a new sense of fear of me. The last reason today was awesome is that my kids are REALLY stepping up their mission to find me a husband. Honestly, it's a little (a lot) ridiculous, but they're trying so darn hard to find me someone inside the four walls of our school - and it appears that there are exactly two options. So my odds aren't looking to hot. Of course, there's always my student who proposed to me the other day...


Happy Thanksgiving!

This is My Life

My homeroom had to come back to my classroom at the end of 5th block today because of a locker cleanout, and while my walkers were waiting to be dismissed they were all acting a little loopy. They've been acting particularly loopy this week and I think the locker cleanout and the lack of any recognizable schedule added to it this afternoon...they were all laughing and teasing each other and being goofy, when my new student who came last week suddenly yells "I farted this morning and no one noticed! Miss Melchione was even standing right behind me at the time!"

Yesterday in my 5th block class I was trying to start class and said that I needed to tell them something, and a student interrupted me and asked "that you love us?" And I said yes of course I love them and he said "that you want to marry me? Okay I accept."

These, ladies and gentlemen, are my children.

Looking Up?

Had a huge and awesome post written and almost done. Then it got deleted. I swear...I need to figure out how that keeps happening and never do it again. Because it was a good post. And I just spent a half hour typing it, and I'm not typing it again. And because my quickie version I'm about to type now is going to stink. Here's the stinky highlight reel:

-This week started out really bad and full of emotional turmoil and frustration, but it's been going much better since and I'm feeling refreshed and at peace. Not perfect, and circumstances still aren't super fantastic, but I'm feeling better. One class still needs to get kicked in the butt but my other two seem to be doing leaps and bounds better...which is really saying a lot considering how much of a challenge they've been.

-I'm learning to see and hear and appreciate God in areas and settings that I haven't bothered to notice Him before, and I'm loving it. It's a different way of looking for Him than I'm used to, I think, and even though I am well aware of areas in my walk with Him that need improvement, idols that need to be cast away, and priorities that need to be adjusted, I am also taking this opportunity to appreciate the gift of these times with Him too.

-The girls in my Bible study that I've joined this fall are fantastic. I love getting to know them and I love every time I am able to spend with any or all of them. Tonight only four of us could make it so we sat and colored and shared personal struggles as well as hilarious stories....laughter is so deeply connected to joy for me personally, and I laughed a lot tonight. I'm so thankful for these developing friendships and the comfort they bring me in this strange new phase of life.

-My kids are making me laugh again. There's been a few rough patches or two in the last several weeks, but we're back on a smooth-ish surface and I'm realizing once again how hilarious they are. I sneezed during silent reading time today and a student waved me over to squirt a ridiculously large blob of hand sanitizer into my hand. Then he whispered "there's stuff going around. You don't want to get sick, Ms. M." Two of my other boys are in the middle of a fake fight about how one of them beat the pants off the other in a computer game yesterday after the benchmark test. They chase each other around and fake threaten each other and fake hit each other. At LUNCH they were doing this today. I mean, come on. As dumb as it is, though, its also hilarious and they know I think so...so they haven't been very motivated to stop. I mean...they're thirteen.

My mother won't like this post.

Reason number one why momma won't like this one: I've been watching too much SVU and all the noises in the creepy woods behind my apartment freak me out every time I step outside after dark. Because I think a man is going to run up behind me and kidnap me and/or rape me.

Reason number two involves my driving habits. I had dinner with a new and special friend tonight, and even though I'm busy and stressed and felt all day like I had too much on my plate for the next two school days, I knew I needed to go so I could have a little bit of Andrea time. It was a wonderful time, full of good food and great conversation about both the surfacy and the spiritual...I cherish my new friendships that are so focused on the Lord and our relationships with Him. It has done so much to make me feel more comfortable with this new town and surroundings and in spite of all the stuff going on at work.

In case you have been wondering why any of this has to do with my driving habits, though...I realized on the way to this friend's house that I forgot my purse. Just...walked out of the house without it. Meaning that I didn't have my driver's license with me. I drive all back roads to get to this friend's house and on the way home I got stuck behind a car that insisted on going much slower than the speed limit. If you have known me for very long or grew up with me, you probably know my hatred for people driving slow on back roads. I get very angry and frustrated and deeply annoyed. This started to happen tonight, but I was really into the music that was playing and was so caught up in the singing that I only got slightly annoyed rather than extremely annoyed. When we passed the hidden, parked cop car about fifteen minutes later, though, I realized why I was following that car. If I had had an open road, there is no doubt in my mind that I would have been going quite a bit over the speed limit when I passed that cop - the speed limit happens to be way slower than what is appropriate for that road, but I doubt he would have cared - and I didn't have my license with me. Maybe I wouldn't have gotten a ticket but I'm sure I would have at the minimum been pulled over. Praise the Lord for slow drivers who keep me in line and protect me when I'm irresponsible and/or itching to break the law. No really...I'm incredibly thankful for that.

Funny thing a student said? On Friday, one of my girls called me over during lunch with an animated wave and a shocked expression. She pointed to her half eaten Tootsie Roll Pop and said "Did you know that there is a Tootise Roll inside of here?!" I said "Yes I did! Did you not know that?" and she said "No! I didn't!" to which I responded "So is it like the best day ever now?" She enthusiastically affirmed that it was in fact the best day ever.

Today kind of sucked.

Today was the day that I promised my first block candy if they behaved for an entire class period and they didn't manage to do it. Today was the day that a student asked me why they're allowed to wear all this crazy stuff during spirit week because it's frustrating how bad everyone is when they don't have to be in uniform. Today was the day that I had a serious conversation with a colleague about not staying at this school another year. Today was the day that a student told me at lunch that if he was dying he would want me to be the one to do mouth to mouth on him. Today was the day that the entire school was packed into one room for the purpose of trying to outscream each other. Today was the day that a group of extremely attractive high school girls came to dance in front of a gym full of middle school boys...which went about as well as you might expect. Today was the day that I slammed a door in order to get the attention of my students who were running around the classroom, screaming at the top of their lungs, and climbing on chairs because they were waiting to be released to the pep rally and they thought that was a logical way to react. Today was the day that I broke up the beginning of a fight that one of my favorite 7th graders was about to start.

But...today was also the day, though, that one of my girls did a hands-free cartwheel in the middle of the gym during a step team performance, and I couldn't have been more of a proud momma. Today was the day that a legitimately awesome drum line from our high school came and performed for our kids, and half our football team decided to spontaneously break it down and have a dance party in the middle of the gym. Today was the day that my fifth block kids had to come back to my room after a pep rally and even though I was DREADING it because they were acting like crack addicts, they ended up making me laugh for fifteen minutes with their silly attempts at stepping and dancing like a bunch of goofballs. Today was the day that gluten free brownies came in the mail from my Grandma. So...I guess it didn't completely suck.

Peggy Anne McKay

Two brief windows into my morning, revealing my lack of health and sanity:

Today is jersey day for spirit week and I'm, naturally, wearing my Donald Driver jersey. An 8th grader who I've never had a conversation with ever in my life walked by and said "The Green Bay Packers?" And I screamed "WE'RE 7 AND 0!" after him at the top of my lungs in the middle of the hallway.

We did grammar packets all during first block today and kids kept asking me about the contractions, so I had them all stop and look up at the board so I could give them a hint. I explained that even though it doesn't always work, you can sometimes figure out where the apostrophe goes in a contraction by dropping the vowel at the beginning of a word and putting the apostrophe there. Example? Okay. I wrote "who are" on the board. And then explained that you can drop the "a" (I crossed out the "a") and put an apostrophe. Then I wrote the new word, which is "who're," which looks an awful lot like "whore." It was literally all my 7th graders could handle to not completely lose it.

Yeah...it's probably best I called it a day after first block and came home. I have SO much work hanging over my head and stressing me out so much, but the flu-like symptoms I'm feeling are hopefully going to win out and let me rest. I need to just be able to pause time so I can catch up on sleep and rest and stop this beginning-of-the-flu before it really gets started...AND get caught up on the literal mountain of papers and documents starting at me to grade.

Where You Invest Your Love, You Invest Your Life.

Two posts in one is a little excessive, I agree. But I was driving home from Bible study just now, feeling refreshed and reflective, and remembered something else that a student said today. And the full weight of his comment hit me again and it needs to be shared.

In the middle of a writing workshop class period when the kids are all working on their short stories and talking quietly to each other and I'm circulating throughout the room, I keep having to talk to Dahryus about getting back to work and making sure he's writing. After the sixth or seventh time talking to him, Alejandro - who sits next to him - says something about how this is nothing compared to other countries. No one at his table responds and I'm not really sure what he means so I just let him explain. He said "people in other countries would kill for the kind of education we get here." It made my heart absolutely melt, and it still does.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I teach.

My Life.

Actual sentences I heard and conversations I participated in today, all of which involving my 12-year-olds:

"I found you on Facebook. Your profile picture is you in a dress standing with your sister on a farm."


Female Student: Miss Melchione, are you single?
Me: Yes.
Female Student: Have you met [long term math sub who looks like a fourteen year old model]?
Me: Whatever your next question is, the answer is no.
(later during the day I ended up in the same hallway as this student and that long term sub. It was awesomely awkward.)


Male Student: Miss Melchione, are you coming to the game tonight?
Me: No I can't. I already had plans.
Male Student: Oh. I'm going to be there, and I was hoping we could hang out. And go to 7 Eleven to get some Slurpees.
Female Student: ARE YOUR PLANS A DATE?!


Tomorrow's Friday. PTL.

Creepy McGee

So Martin - I only keep using his name because you need to see the consistency of this young man's impact on my life - pulls me aside today during short story writing workshop that his character's name is going to be William Melchione. I looked at him with a look that I'm sure was both confused and impressed and said "...that's my dad's name." And the whole table said "Whoa! Really?!" and Josh said "he should go by Bill." Seriously. After saying that my dad goes by Bill, I also told both boys that they were really freaking me out and to get back to work. And then walked away.

Now that time has passed and I've recovered from the shock of the moment, I'm finding young Martin at his locker tomorrow morning and asking him if he googled me. That's the only explanation I can think of. There's no way that was a coincidence.

Kids say...things.

As a follow-up to this weekend's blog, I suppose today was better than I'd anticipated and I'm feeling better about things I suppose...time will tell with a lot of this stuff. Something happened in my last class, though, that needs to be shared. Insight into who and what I'm dealing with all day every day:

Martin, Jesse, Brenda and Sophie were whispering at the beginning of class in the back of the room. It was bugging me because I was trying to get them to be quiet to start silent reading time and those particular kids are chatty but usually stop when I've asked them multiple times. Today they weren't. And I did notice they were glancing at me periodically too. I finally called them out specifically and told Martin - the supposed ringleader in this discussion - I was tired of seeing his mouth move, and he said "I'm sorry. We were discussing biology. And how things happen scientifically. And how things are made." At this point, Brenda is hushing and poking Martin but he isn't quite getting it. He must have thought I wasn't understanding what he was saying because he added "We were talking about reproduction" for good measure. I told him to hush and save it for health class because I didn't want to hear it. Then they had silent reading time and I kept having to make eye contact with Martin and point at his book because I kept catching him looking weirdly at me. What is this kid's deal? After silent reading time when I was taking page numbers from the kids and the class was basically quiet Martin raises his hand. When I called on him he said "Miss Melchonee (how he pronounces my name even though he knows how to say it right)...are you pregnant?" Brenda and Sophie bury their faces in their hands but Jesse and Martin stare at me fully serious and expecting an answer. I shot daggers into them and said no. And then the rest of the block I pretended to be VERY angry with Martin, and one time even did the Runaway Bride "I'm watching you" move.

I'm fairly certain I'm losing weight, so I can't figure out what the heck is wrong with Martin. Brenda apologized after class and said that he is stupid. And that the style of my dress must have thrown him. And that my straightened hair made me look so different that he was confused.

I kind of love 7th graders.

A different kind of post.

I'm not going to be one of those people who uses her blog to whine and complain about her job. People like that annoy me for so many reasons, the first of which being that it's the opposite of any kind of professionalism. So I won't whine and complain about my job, and I certainly won't use any specifics. What I will say, though, is that I had been feeling so much better about work and about the kids and about classroom management....things have been going smoothly, I've been able to actually teach, and the minor discipline issues that have come out have been (basically) easily diffused. This week, a bomb went off in my nice little work world, though, and now I have no idea what the rest of this school year will be like. On the one hand, my kids behaved terribly on Friday and made me crazy trying to get control back every three minutes and there really isn't an option as far as disciplining and corrective action that is working or that is available. So it's frustrating, but it doesn't even really compare to the rest of the issues. In the last day and a half I've been thinking for the first time about whether I want to stay at my school next year and whether I even want to stay in my county...I sat in stopped traffic yesterday in the middle of six thousand cars and surrounded by orange construction cones and orange construction signs and construction cranes and construction dump trucks and all I could do was sob. I miss my mountains. I miss my cute little downtown and I miss having only one store in all of town and I miss my family. I miss actually being around my family for longer than a day at a time. I miss NOT being surrounded by asphalt and buildings and other people. And I know that there's a definite correlation between my job taking a sudden turn for the worse and my new strong dislike for my surroundings, and I know that I'm also just in my October slump of unhappiness and it will surely pass...but I also feel like possibilities have opened back up again. If I don't stay at my school another year, then why couldn't I look for a job somewhere else? What do I really have tying me to this area that I seem to not love? But then the avalanche of thoughts (that are completely unnecessary considering it's only October) start crashing through, like: my queen bed came with my apartment so if I move then I'll have a queen sheet and comforter set but no queen mattress. I guess that's the stuff I'll realistically have to think about if I move...but not yet. Now I just need to think about...tomorrow.

And I need to talk about something other than the fact that Friday was a really bad day. So I'm just going to type and fill you in on all the random pieces of my life as they pop into my head. Feel free to read or not read as I start to become uninteresting.

I got to see some dear old friends this weekend. One of said friends, who I went to both high school and college with, came up from Winchester Friday night to visit. She hadn't been to my new place yet and it was so good to hang out with her, to sit and catch up with her, and to have an old animated movie from our childhoods playing even though we're not really watching it because I'm painting and she's trying to fix the Amazon Downloader on my computer. I love just being able to BE with friends like that and not feeling like you have to be doing something special. Another one of the friends I got to see is almost 8 months pregnant and there was a baby shower for her friends and family up here in Nova. After completely mismanaging my morning and getting stuck in the stupid traffic I mentioned earlier, I was a half hour late for the baby shower, and I had also had a brain shut down when I was getting dressed that morning and showed up to a formal baby shower in jeans...but there's grace from good friends and no one seemed to notice or care except me. But it was so good to see her and to be able to share in that experience with her. The third dear friend I was able to see was the best because it was a complete surprise. Becca Popp (who technically isn't Popp anymore but will always be in my heart) is the college best friend of the honoree of the baby shower. She lives pretty far away now though so I haven't seen her in a year and a half and wasn't expecting her to be at the shower. It was so good to see her and catch up and to hear about her life.

If you're looking for some fall listening music, I have several recommendations. I made a playlist this week that includes: Mumford and Sons, The Civil Wars, Adele, The Avett Brothers, Brooke Fraser, and John Mark McMillan. There's a fall playlist if I've ever seen one. It's kind of guaranteed to make your iPod or car stereo blow up from happiness, though. So be warned. I've also went ahead and made some music purchases last night that include Amos Lee and Johnny Cash. Because few things make me happier than Johnny Cash. Let's be serious.

Okay...time to start my Sunday of productivity.

12-year-old humor

So every Wednesday is free-write day in the kids' journals, meaning that they can write whatever they want. Some of them have an easier time coming up with material than others...here are two examples from the last couple of weeks (word for word from their journals):

"i went to school what is that oh that's a bus it's yellow omg i forgot my homework a baby goes whaa boom boom boom it's the fuzz nevermind hi grandma you look like justin beiber mommy what's that your face what a puppy i am hungry i want to eat a dragon i go to bed what is this wait this is a dream look it's flying pigs what the it's my sister is married to seth rogen i like cheese." (I think he should win an award for that stream of consciousness, personally.)

"well right now I have to go potty but SOMEONE won't let me go so it looks like I have to write in this stupid journal so here goes. once upon a time there was this boy named ----. he was in Ms. Melchione's class and he had to go potty just like me so he asked his teacher to sign his agenda but she wouldn't so he wanted to walk out but that means he would've gotten into trouble and his phone was gone."

I love it. I love them and I love it. Happy Monday.

My heart belongs to the Shenandoah Valley

...and sometimes cars DON'T cost you money. Sometimes you have really awesome men in your life who fix the problem for you. But more on that in a second.

I've been feeling extremely valleysick lately, missing my home and the mountains and the people and the atmosphere. The kind of atmosphere where you drive on only back roads and you almost hit a car on a blind curve because you forget that there are other people driving due to a lack of exposure. The kind of atmosphere where stop lights last (literally) 30 seconds. The kind of atmosphere where you see mountains no matter where you are. I really miss those mountains. Not for nothing, but northern Virginia is ugly. So I gathered up my stuff and went to the hunting cabin for Friday night and Saturday. My extended family was all up in Vermont for my cousin's wedding, so it was just my dad and brother and me at the cabin. The plan was to get work done in the cabin while they were out hunting all day...which kind of worked. But mostly didn't. What actually happened is that it was too hot and buggy to hunt so they got grumpy and we 1. installed a new fridge to replace the broken one, 2. switched the direction of the fridge doors around, 3. spent 45 minutes yelling at the under-the-hood region of my car while he fixed my bulb for free, 4. illegally dropped a broken fridge in an undisclosed place, 5. got turned around 47 times trying to make it to Gander Mountain, 6. followed a teenager around Gander Mountain in awe of his "Andre the Giant-ness", 7. almost hit a cat and a horse who both decided to get in my dad's way as he drove, and 8. took naps.

We also laughed a lot...my dad and brother are extremely funny guys. It was a lot of fun, and so great to see them. They went back out for the evening hunt and my brother got one! We then had to start the process of taking care of the deer...which I'd honestly forgotten about completely but was quickly reminded of when Dad said I was helping him and Peter was packing up the cabin. Peter and his dumb allergies. It's HIS deer. Got blood all over my (extremely ugly) purple fuggs so that's awesome...I went into Arby's on my way back to 81 later on and prayed no one looked at my shoes and called the cops on me. But let's be serious...it's Shenandoah County. They would all know it was from gutting a deer anyway.

It killed me to have to drive down that mountain and come back "home" to flat and asphalt. But I did, and I know that I'm here now for a reason. I would love it if I could spend some time here and then be able to move back to where I truly feel at home, but we'll just have to see I guess. If there is anything I've learned (which is an expression that I hate but that it appropriate here), it's that God's plans aren't ever my plans, but they're the plans I am supposed to be following. I've also learned that my plans generally suck, whereas God's don't. It's crazy, I know.

Sometimes cars cost you money.

So it was brought to my attention this weekend - during that glorious weekend of rest - that my driver's side headlight was out. I finally made it to Auto Zone on my way home from school yesterday and the nice people there sold me a headlight but were understaffed and couldn't come out and install it then. So I decided to come back today. After driving and walking all over Potomac Mills trying to find Books-A-Million in search of a specific book I need to use for a writing assignment for my students next week, discovering that Books-A-Million doesn't carry the book I want even though the website says it does, and driving back to Auto Zone...the guy came out to look at my car and informed me that he can't install that particular headlight because they would have to take parts out of my car in order to get to the right spot. They can't do that. But no problem, he says, because I can go to the mechanic that is literally next door and they'll do it for like ten bucks. So I drive next door and the [cute] mechanic tells me that he can do it, but it will be $40 and not $10. Kind of a leap, there, cute mechanic. He also offered to buy my car from me instead, if the $40 was too much, because he would love to drive that car. I said I'll think about it and did what any 20-something girl on her own for the first time would do: I called Daddy. And he thought about it for a minute but then told me I'll need to suck it up and pay the $40. Well crap on that.

In other news, we finished The Outsiders today in class and my students in one class applauded at the end. Applauded. I loved it. When we read about Dally dying yesterday one girl yelled at me "Why are you making us read this book?!" but all I heard was "I'm really emotionally invested in this novel and I'm not taking this sudden and tragic death very well." See it? I see it. Also - and this is just a funny 7th grade anecdote - my last class of the day is mostly boys. Tough, football playing, thug-like boys. And they are all so convinced that there's something not quite masculine going on with Ponyboy. They have spent the entire book dissecting every single thing the characters say looking for evidence of homosexuality that simply isn't there. Every time Ponyboy describes Soda as good looking, they flip out. Doesn't matter how many times you tell them that they're brothers and he's just describing Soda for us as the narrator. They've talked to me while standing in the lunch line about how "we're not too sure about Ponyboy, Miss Melchione." I love it. LOVE it. They're talking about a novel during lunch. Yesterday we were reading about Ponyboy being so sick he was basically comatose and when Darry called him "baby" one of those boys literally threw the book on the floor and told me he's not finishing it. I told him they're brothers and to suck it up. He picked it back up :)

The Weekend of Rest

I mentioned the other day that I've been going to bed at 9, but I don't think I mentioned why. I mean, besides the obvious. This whole teaching thing has been so exhausting, and this last week was horrible. There were highlights, obviously, and the whole week wasn't entirely terrible, but there was a whole lot of drama and a whole lot of discipline issues to deal with and it wiped me out. I didn't feel well all week, and I couldn't get enough sleep, and I felt at the end of my emotional rope. The climax of the bad week - the "climax" is the "big conflict moment" that everything in the plot builds up to...I've been teaching plot structures - was my biggest problem student having a huge blowup in class, leading to the least productive class period I've ever had and a complete lack of control of my class. I've never had a more frustrating morning...but it ended with an incredible amount of compassion and help from my principal as well as encouragement and advice from a couple of the teachers in my grade who do a great job of looking out for me and offering support. Yesterday was a much better day; everything went smoothly and peacefully, and I am so thankful for the people in my administration who have my best interests and my sanity in mind. Even my students noticed and commented on how different the day was compared to Thursday.

The other thing my students (and peers) noticed, though, was how terrible I looked yesterday. I had a handful of students, at least two teachers, and a resource officer ask me if I was okay yesterday, and one student specifically asked me if I was feeling alright. I was definitely in need of sleep and relaxation and recouperation...I'm definitley fighting some kind of funk on top of being exhausted. So that's what I'm doing this weekend. I'm sleeping. And reading. And watching Parks and Rec on Netflix streaming. And in between all of that I'll grade some tests and get the parts of my personal life that I've been neglecting in order (pay the bills, wash dishes, etc.), but I already feel better. Relaxation and mini escapes from the real world are kind of glorious.

Oh that's right. I started a blog.

Just wrote a super long update, and then I hit that magical combination of keystrokes that deletes epic pieces of written work from my computer every once in a while and it's gone now. Yes, I've looked for a way to stop the shortcut. No, I haven't been successful. So the moral of this story is that this will be a brief update, rather than a long one. You want the long version, call me sometime. Or come visit me.

Life's real. Just doing my teaching thing and coming home exhausted. And sick, apparently? I've been feeling fairly sick all week but I think it's mostly exhaustion. And not eating well/enough. Oops. I went to bed last night at 9...and I'm thinking that it will be earlier if possible tonight. Hopefully that will help?

I planned a really cool SMART board review game for today, and it worked perfectly when I got to school and set it up. Then school started and the kids had silent reading time and a journal entry and the SMART board wasn't working. Just...not responding. Or on. And it wouldn't turn back on. So that was awesome. I was observed today for the first time, too, and had been pretty stoked about how technologically savvy my lesson was going to be. But oh well. I got to have a woman from the county's Language Arts department observe me read aloud for 35 minutes instead (as well as some cool activities I was still able to do). It worked out fine, and she liked my lesson and was very encouraging. The real kicker is that as soon as the kids all left for the day, the SMART board worked perfectly fine. Heyyy 21st Century technology. Fingers crossed for tomorrow?

Insight into my life: (student) Edward asked me today if I like Beyonce. I said yes. Then he asked me if I like Eminem and I said no. Then he asked me if I like Lil Wayne and I said no. Then he asked me if I like Chris Brown and I said it depends on the song. Then he asked me if I like Rhianna and I said no not so much. Then he asked me if I like Nicki Minaj and (student) Jonte yelled "It's not 20 questions with Miss Melchione, you stalker!" ...and then I started class.

Helpful Hints

Here's a tip: if you've planned to stay extremely late setting up your classroom (and have even gone so far as to prepare with dinner and movies to play on your laptop) to try to avoid coming in all weekend, make sure you know when the janitors will kick you out for the night. This plan becomes much less effective when this happens at 6 pm. Fingers crossed tomorrow gives me some awesome productivity. And let's be serious...Monday too.

Another tip: if you maintain more than one blog, make sure you're posting in the blog you think you're posting. Oops. I should perhaps get that bug worked out before I start experimenting with student posts. I'll just have to add that to the list...

Let's Actually Start This Thing...

I was reminded by a good friend the other day that I promised to start a blog about my life and then never actually started it. I promised to start it that night. It's like three or four nights later but now I'm finally following through. But seriously, it's been a hectic week.

I moved into my new apartment in the Woodbridge area a couple Sundays ago, on August 21st. I was only able to bring up whatever would fit in my small car because my parents were on vacation at the beach that weekend...which was a situation made much worse when I threw my 23-year-old back totally out trying to pack up my stuff. It was honestly one of the worst experiences with pain I have every had. So bizarre: I was moving all kinds of really heavy boxes all over the place all week long and then I go to move one little paper bag of toilettries across the room the day before I move and as I was putting it down I felt a sharp pain that I can only describe as being struck by lightening across my lower back. I fell to the floor and was stuck in that position for...basically an entire day. My dad, the incredible PT/MS/DPT/OCS provided me with the best of therapy programs all weekend long and had me go into his office for some help from his staff, and I was so much better by Sunday when I moved (had to delay it a day). So...that was interesting. My parents came up the next Saturday (Aug 27th) with the rest of everything I owned and got me all set up. Ikea is my new favorite store, and I am madly in love with my new reading nook complete with Ikea bookcases and a Poang chair/ottoman. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love my books, and I've never been able to display them all in one place because I have so many (sidenote: after I pulled all the books for my classroom I found out I have much less books to display in said bookcases, but now I'm just ready for Santa to come). This whole week has been staff meetings and professional development galore, and it's been a long, long week to say the least. Really good at moments, really not at others, but overall I think I survived it. Tomorrow's it for staff development and then I'm going to be in my classroom for approximately 15 hours setting up the rest of my classroom, but I'm excited to have it done and ready to go for Tuesday.

SO. CRAZY. that school is starting and I'm going to be a real teacher with real students and real responsibility for real SOL scores...ugh. Again, I'm really excited but really...overwhelmed. Very overwhelmed. Regardless of how ready I am, though, life's about to get real.

Photos of my apartment (complete with reading nook) and classroom coming soon (aka: once I have a finished classroom to take pictures of and stuff on my apartment walls so it looks better).

Well Hello

Well, I decided to start a blog so I can write about my new life in a new town with a new job and all kinds of scary new things to learn. My existing blog will be a strictly book blog, and because I have hopes of incorporating it into my classroom instruction, communication with parents, and an opportunity for students to blog their own reviews, I decided I should probably keep my personal life out of it. And so here we are.