Going back... old school

This week was:
1. National PE Week
2. Teacher Appreciation Week

1. "National PE week" (May is actually National PE Month) but our school celebrated it this week... our school had several activities that allowed the students to be physically active: (Can we say "all school song-dance-step" yesterday?! Yeah... we taped it... and are sending it to Congress... hoping to make my premiere on Youtube soon!) ;) , listening to h.s. athletes talk about how to succeed in sports and school, writing essays on how PE/being physically active has helped them, etc... but my FAVORITE part of this week was: dressing up in your favorite sports team/dress athletic... I didn't want to wear my "favorite team" because I don't want my likes to sway my students (jk)- I really just had a BETTER idea... so... what do you think that I wore?! hmmm... not something Fort Knox (I was a cheer coach) and NOT Caleb's sport stuff (I had SEVERAL OPTIONS with that!)... this leaves me with: MY HIGH SCHOOL UNIFORMS!! YES... I WENT THERE... my options were: tennis (umm... yeah, have you seen how short those dresses/skirts are?- we DO have policies at our school)... and cheerleading (YES- IT'S A SPORT!!)... I wore my cheerleading uniform (the top- skirt stayed home... again, we do have guidelines) but yes, I wore my cheer top... and my jacket (with "Sarah") on it- however, some of my students forgot to dress up (and believe me, ONE DAY NOT wearing green for St. Patty's Day and getting pinched by my BEST FRIEND has scarred me- FOR LIFE...) so I let the students wear my jacket... THEY LOVED IT. Remember when I previously stated that my students were my "kids?"... I was the PROUDEST MOM/TEACHER when one of my students was on the TV (Morning announcements) standing, saying the Pledge of Allegiance (brought back so many memories)- and I almost LOST IT (dying of laughter, not tears) when he went to sit down and pulled the jacket tight to show my name... oh.my.word... I don't think my "job" can get any better!

As a teacher I like to incorporate several aspects into each lesson... and I was telling some other teachers that I hula hoop everyday (with a WEIGHTED HOOP I might add!)- I then proceeded to boost my ego and tell them that not only do I do it every day, but I: have won competitions and PASSED physical conditioning in h.s. by "hooping" for over an hour... yes... I.AM.AWESOME. ;) so... to include "National PE Week" into my teaching... I... brought... my... hula hoop... yes... again, I went there (I am a kid at heart!) I showed the teachers before (and after) school... but on recess, hula-hooped in front of my students... WHILE reading... yes, I should back up- I not only hula hoop with a weighted hoop, but read and eat at the same time... if you would like to see a show feel free to come to our house- Caleb thinks it's a hoot... so, at recess, I read a book to my students and HAD to stop for lunch- I have NEVER heard my students so quiet! Their jaws were dropped... just staring at me... I think I may just teach and hoop everyday... speaking of hula hooping- if you go to youtube you can see some AWESOME hula hooping videos... my brother and I found several people who hoop with fire on the rims- I was wanting to do that, but decided not to (as my mom was in the kitchen and astonished that I would even THINK about that! lol- sorry mom!)- HOWEVER, if you look closer... there are people that have taped themselves hula hooping and RUNNING! Before you ask, yes, I can hoop and run at the same time... but only short distances as my basement is only so big... I KNOW that I can run longer, but I don't know how that would go over as an officer's wife running around post... and hooping... Lord knows how many calls we would get on that one... haha... but mark this down, I WILL run a race someday while hula hooping... :)

2. Geez... hope I haven't lost any of you (I tend to ramble.. a LOT... sorry)- I'll keep this post short(ER)... this week was "Teacher Appreciation Week"- our PTO did a phenomenal job showing their appreciation (shout out VV PTO!)... I got several handmade cards/pot holders/etc. from my students... as well as "Mother's Day" cards (I guess my whole "mom speech" hit home...) however, we also talked about the meaning of names (one student made me a "Princess" poster... "Sarah" means "princess")- the girl didn't even know it- she just thought I was a princess and made it for me... so, for HW the students had to go home and ask their parents why they have their name (this was actually humorous as some were named after Soap Opera stars, food, places... thank you mom and dad for naming me after Sarah in the Bible...err... the "Sarah" song or so dad says, and NOT some soap opera star!) In class, we looked in a baby-names book that another teacher let us borrow for our "project"... I looked up the meaning for the students... I will NEVER forget one student's name: it means "little and fiery"- when he came back the next day to share his findings, he answered that the reason his name is what it is was because he was "little and fiery"... and ANOTHER student was named "industrious and hard worker"- she said that she wanted to "live up to" her name... and is now trying very hard and completing every assignment... but my FAVORITE part was when one of my students came up to me and said, "I've always thought that Sarah was a pretty name, but after meeting you, I've realized that I want to name my daughter Sarah... after you..."- not sure if this student was trying to suck up (as he ALSO said he wanted to give me an apple b/c he's always heard about students giving their teachers apples, but he's waited until he got the PERFECT teacher- guess who got an apple this year? ME. haha) but I'll take it for what it is and just think that someday (another!) girl will be named after me... yes, there is ANOTHER "Sarah" named... after me... I'm KIND OF a big deal :)